Gadget review: The InFocus M370 smartphone

M370

This reviewer never imagined that a smart phone would have such a deep impact on his life, where its presence would affect everything around. But it did.

What we didn't like
Ever since we began reviewing the M370, a budget level smart phone by InFocus, an American company that recently launched smart phones in India, everything that was held dear has been through a testing time - from the food consumed, to breathing and sleeping patterns, as well as the personal relationship.

This reviewer has never been so upset and frustrated with technology since the time when an Indian-made tablet was accidentally purchased, four years ago. It was tough to review this product; yet sharing its features was important to inform mid-day's readers in case they planned to buy the InFocus M370.

Everything about the dual-SIM M370 makes one angry - its façade, which has a good one-inch wasted at the bottom to focus on the company logo, its super slow 1GHZ quad-core Qualcomm S210 processor and 1GB RAM (always runs short of memory), which made it difficult to work with, including accessing the app drawer, or the 8GB internal storage that leaves to little space for anything. Simply put, the specifications don't suit the current apps, whose requirement for memory and processing power are growing everyday or that of the Android Lollipop 5.1.1 OS. Though, one can expand the memory, it will limit you to just one SIM card.

We also didn't like the high SAR values in the M370 that supports 2G, 3G as well as 4G networks. Though, we are not sure what caused it, we felt a warm sensation in our hands on all occasions while browsing on the 3G networks.

What we liked
Fortunately, the M370 does have a few good sides, including its five-inch 720x1280 screen. With a pixel density of 320ppi, it makes viewing anything on the screen a pleasure.

The 2,230mAh battery gives a decent power back up, as it nearly lasts a day on regular usage and limited browsing. The 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera do a decent job in daylight conditions, but night shots aren't impressive. The back cover also offers a good grip, but all that may not be enough to knowingly drop the M370 on the floor.

Though, one shouldn't expect much for R5,999, InFocus seems to have created a poorly thought-of device. the guide would advise its readers to avoid the M370 as there are better 4G phones available in the same price range.

Overall rating
5.8- 10