Karbonn A5+ review and Unboxing – better and cheaper than A5

The Karbonn A5+ is an upgraded version of Karbonn A5 and the only difference as compared to its predecessor is that the A5+ comes powered by 1GHz processor and with a 3MP rear camera. The A5+ is also cheaper than the A5 handset.

Box Pack
The box contains the handset, earphone that look kind of cheap,  power adapter, USB to micro USB cable, screen guard, user manual and service center list. The box size, packing is the same as with A5, so make sure to watch for the A5+ mentioned on the pack.

3.5 inch Display
The Karbonn A5+ touchscreen is 3.5 inches with 480×320 pixels resolution.  Touch is smooth and responsive. If you have used a higher resolution handset before you are not going to like the display quality. The pixels are clearly visible and fonts are not that sharp. There is proximity sensor and there are no front cameras.

Processor, memory and performance
Its 1GHz processor (MSM7627a) single core ARMv7 with Adreno 200 GPU. The performance is slightly better than as seen on the A5 model. The flow is slow but smooth. The handset comes with 512MB RAM and runs on Android 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) OS.

  • Of 512MB RAM you get around 333MB free.
  • Internal storage for apps is 158MB free of the 202 MB total space; you will need the micro SD card to start with.

The benchmark scores are listed below.

  • Quadrant Benchmark : 1416.
  • Antutu Benchmark : 3774.
  • NenaMark2 :  14.1fps.
  • Linpack : Single : 22, multi : 17.
  • Multitouch : 2 point.

Entertainment
The A5+ cannot play 720p videos. You will need to convert videos to smaller format to be able to run on this handset. There is built in FM radio.

Gaming
This handset can play many games like angry birds, I even tried temple run which did work well. Do note that the internal storage is less and even though you can move apps to external storage you will still have limited space so install only the apps and games that you will be using. (Check the video review at the end).

Connectivity
The handset supports 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and also has built in GPS receiver.  The GPS lock is pretty fast got the first one within 10 seconds. USB tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot is supported.

3MP Camera
The Karbonn A5 came with 2MP camera whereas this karbonn A5+ comes with 3MP camera. Videos in VGA mode can be recorded. The camera is fixed focus and there is no flash support. The camera quality is not at all good.

Check the sample images on flickerhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/gogirana/sets/72157632531594561/

Others
Sound is loud and clear. The in-call sound is also good and clear. Icons are not sharp; you can clearly see the pixels and viewing angles are also not great.

Battery
The 1420 mAh battery will last for over a day of moderate usage. There is no light sensor so you will need to manually adjust the brightness as per your comfort level. Try to keep the brightness at the lowest, turn off services not required to get a better battery backup.

Karbonn A5+ review
The dual SIM A5+ is more powerful than the A5 model, yet cheaper. It makes sense to buy the A5+ instead. However before you do that, do note that it runs on an outdated OS (at least for now), would be better if you spend some extra money and go for an ICS phone.

Image Gallery

Karbonn A5+ unboxing and review video

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