Reach Allure Rise and Allure Rise 2 Review: A decent entry-level smartphone

Display and Design

While looking at the design of the Allure Rise, we can clearly say that this is not an edge-to-edge display featuring phone but comes with a basic design. The rear panel is made out of plastic and houses a rear camera with an LED flash, along with company's branding. The speaker grille can be found at the bottom.

On the front, we have the bezel-less looking display on the sides but actually isn't. The company has played a good move to give this phone a bezel-less feel. On the top and the bottom, it has broad-bezels. The Allure Rise houses volume rockers on the left side of the phone along with a power button. On the top, it has a 3.5mm audio jack, and on the bottom, it comes with a micro USB port.

On the top, the phone houses the front camera sensor, earpiece and a proximity sensors. While on the bottom front it has the capacitive touch buttons.

While looking at the screen, we can say that the company has delivered a big screen in such tight budget. Talking about the screen size and resolution, the Reach Allure Rise comes with a 5.5-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. The screen seems to be bright enough, but on the flip side, the bigger screen turn is a less quality screen for this phone.

During the use of the smartphone, we figure out that the touch response of the screen is a bit slow, and there is a lag of some micro-seconds. All together screen looks good but you need to be patient while using the phone. The company claims that the screen has a scratch-proof hard coated surface.

Hardware and Software

On the hardware front, Reach has chosen a 1.3GHz quad-core, Cortex A7 processor to complement its new device. The phone is powered by 2GB of RAM along with 16GB of onboard storage. But, if that is not enough, then you can expand the storage up to 64GB with the help of a microSD card. The smartphone also offers 4G and VoLTE on both SIMs. The smartphone doesn't come with any fingerprint scanner which might be a deal breaker for some.

The Reach Allure Rise 2 comes with 3GB RAM. The other aspects such as storage and processor remain the same. With 3GB RAM, the device handles basic multitasking and gaming with ease. We tried playing not-so-graphic heavy games to appear without any flaw. However, games like Shadow Fight 3 took a while to boot. The good thing is that there were no noticeable lags. 

Software-wise, the Reach Allure Rise runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. Yes, the one which launched a couple of years back. The Android P is already here and the company is still offering the Nougat with the phone. This might upset some of the users. So, it might not make sense when you see two-generation old OS.

To compete with the latest smartphone UIs (user interface) Reach has introduced an assistive touch on the screen. The one which you see on the iPhones, this option gives you a shortcut to different apps, like Setting, lock, camera, Booster, Screenshot, Alarm, Wifi, GPS, Display light and more. You also have an option to customize it manually and set as per your requirement.

In addition to VoLTE, the Reach Allure Rise 2 comes with ViLTE (Video over LTE). This feature will help in enhancing the quality of video calls. 

Camera

The Reach Allure Rise boasts a single camera setup on the back. It features an 8-megapixel snapper with an LED flash. For selfies, the phone houses a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The camera app offers several modes such as Panorama mode, Auto, Manual, Burst, Scene, Gif, Frame, Audio Picture.

Users can switch between the different modes to click some creative pictures and videos. It also offers a beauty mode which comes with a set of filters or you can say effects to click pictures.

While testing the camera features of Allure Rise, we have come across two features which really impressed us - the Gif feature and the Audio Picture. In Gif mode, you have the option of clicking 15 pictures one after the other and at the end, it will be produced as a Gif image. This feature is really fun, users can use this feature in a very creative way to show up on their social media accounts. The second one is the Picture Audio, it allows you to record the audio after clicking a picture.

Performance

All though you don't get the latest processor with this smartphone, it is still good enough to handle basic tasks with ease. However, we have noticed the device lagging in few instances and the screen stopped responding to the touch gestures.

We ran some benchmark tests on the Allure Rise and the device managed to score 20,365 on AnTuTu benchmarks. While on Geekbench it scored 404 and 1020 in single core and multi-core tests respectively. Which is not bad considering the price of the smartphone.

If you like playing basic games then this phone is good for it, but the battery drains quickly. Also, it doesn't come with any quick charging support, so you might have to carry a power bank with you. The smartphone is powered by a 2,600mAh battery.

Overall, the performance of the phone isn't outstanding but not too bad either. You might face some bumps during heavy usage. But, considering the price of the device, it's a decent phone or basic use.

As mentioned above, the Reach Allure Rise 2 comes with Face Unlock feature. During our usage, we felt this facial recognition feature to work fine except for a few misses in matching the registered face to unlock the smartphone. 

Verdict

Reach Allure Rise doesn't give you hopes or any fake promises, this phone accepts that its a budget phone. It doesn't offer anything exceptional. This can be a good buy for someone with a low budget who is looking for a 4G phone.

It doesn't offer a 5.5-inch big screen and in this range, no other brand offers such big display. However, there is no fingerprint scanner on the smartphone. Meanwhile, there are phones in the same range from Beyond which also offers a biometric sensor on the back.

But If you are looking for a phone in this price bracket, you can also have a look on Nokia 1, Moto C Starry 10.or D (Beyond Black, 3 GB), and also Lenovo A6600. It can be a good alternative for a first time smartphone buyer.