Karbonn Titanium S5 : Hands On Review

Gone are the days when India manufactures were unable to deliver their devices at par with foreign counterparts. Being tagged as ‘Indian tech vendors', is indeed a good thing for lot of low time manufacturers eyeing big cities and smaller markets at the same time.

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One such brand Karbonn known for distinctive styling has seen its market growing in India. Counted among the top player selling smartphones, the device maker made a mark into Indian consumers mind. GizBot got a review unit of Karbonn Titanium S5.

Today, it's time to reveal whether one should go for S5 Titanium or not. This very device is clearly targeting mid-end Android users, who are looking for a quad-core handset under Rs. 12,000. GizBot used this handset, as its primary smartphone for more than 7 days. Let's find out what was our experience with Karbonn Titanium S5( Dual SIM).

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What's inside the box?

• Karbonn Titanium S5 (handset)

• Adapter cum USB cable

• Headset

Design and Aesthetics

At first glance, the device would remind you of Samsung's hugely popular Galaxy S3. Remember its ‘pebble shape' that made some people confused. Anyways, the same can be said for Karbonn Titanium S5. On the front panel you will get to see USB mini hub on the right -hand side, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the upper-left corner. Of course the styling is simple and clutter free. The more you stare at the device, the more you thought about LG Nexus 4. The handset is a mashup of Nexus 4 and Galaxy S3. Talking about the display, it comes with a 5-inch IPS qHD display, which is fairly response in the outdoor conditions.

The same cannot be said in the bright sun light. The standard capacitive Android buttons beneath the display works fine. Like many other handsets under same price range, it is seen that the display is not fingerprint -free. The same can be said for Karbonn Titanium S5. A front facing camera sits atop the screen, in the right, while the volume -rocker and power buttons are easy to use. On the pack panel, you will find an 8-mega pixel camera along with LED Flash light....very Samsung types. The device is made of bendable plastic. The manufacturer chose speaker down at the bottom. Overall, the smartphone is comfortable to carry. It feels sturdy and solid, when handle with one hand.

Processor, RAM and OS

The Karbonn Titanium S5 uses 1.2GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The performance is not an issue. When played heavy games like Temple Run 2 and Subway Surfers, no lag was found. The handset effortlessly entertained us for few good hours. The handset is powered by stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean under its hood. The standard lock screen will greet you every time you unlock the Karbonn Titanium S5. When unlocking the device, you can customize the apps, make folders, have a look at notification bar---it's comes standard with every stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean handset. Whether the handset is upgradable to Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or not, is known as yet. The call quality on this device is fairly decent. In our browsing test, the Titanium S5 passed with flying colors. The pinch-to-zoom feature blended with response screen.

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Here are the results that GizBot tested on Karbonn Titanium S5. And the results are in. Have a look:-

Karbonn Titanium S5 Benchmark Scores

AnTuTu Test Score - 9063

Quadrant Score- 4522

NenaMark 2 - 38.0fps

SmartBench 2012 - 3972

Camera

These days no one likes to carry around another camera just for the sake. So, your smartphone camera should work at par with at least point and shoot camera. This very device packs an 8-mega pixel camera with Auto Focus and LED Flash light. On the front side you have a 2-mega pixel front facing camera. What to say about the camera performance? It gave us a mixed feeling. When tested the camera outdoors; it worked well. The close-shots aren't good. GizBot pit Karbonn Titanium S5 camera with Sony Xperia Z and Zen Ultrafone 701 HD in low light condition. The results will shock you. The handset should better use to record 720p HD videos than Full HD videos at 1080p.

Multimedia, music player and more

The headphone bundled with Karbonn Titanium S5 is depressing. While at almost same price, the Zen Ultrafone 701 HD offers Noise cancellation headphones. C'mon Karbonn, users need to have better sounding headphones in order to get more juice out of your smartphone.

GizBot tested the video player too, and found it laggy when played MP4 videos in 720HD format. On the other hand the Sony Xperia Z can smoothly run 1080p MP4 videos without any distraction. There is a problem with viewing angles too.

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The battery life drained like anything. On a full charge, it gave only 5-6 hours that is a bad thing. It should give at least 8-9 hours of continue back up. The device houses 2,000mAh battery.

The Karbonn Titanium S5 is comes with dual SIM functionality, which is of course not a bad thing. It is easy to switch one between two different SIMs.

The device can be expanded up to 32GB through microSD cards. The internal memory stands at 1.40GB ( available for users).

Conclusion

To be fair and honest, Karbonn Titanium S5 is a great looking handset. But the same cannot be said about its performance. It is good for those, who actually do not want power packed performance from their smartphone. Yes, the handset has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, but it looks like you are still using a dual-core phone. The camera is pretty much Okay types. The video player can play MP4 videos, but the lag is clearly visible. At Rs.11, 990, it shouldn't be recommended. It would be great, if Karboon sells Titanium S5 between Rs.8000-9000 at retail. Stay tuned to GizBot.

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Highlighted specifications

Let's re-enchant the internal specifications. It has a 5-inch qHD display, 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 4GB of ROM, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, an 8MP rear camera with Auto-Focus , 2MP of front facing camera, 3G, Wi-Fi. Bluetooth, GPS, Dual -SIM, and a 2000mAh battery.

Up side

Display size

Design

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Speakers

Downside

Camera

Battery

Headphone

Video player