iBall Andi 5C - A 5 inch value for money daemon

Last week I saw one of my colleagues holding onto a hulk of a phone. Until recently he could be seen using a tame Nokia touch and type slider so I was quite surprised by this change. As far as I knew, he wasn’t much of a geek when it came to mobile technology, so I was quite intrigued about knowing his choice and reason behind the same. So, without wasting much time I started discussing with him about his new phone, which he said was a “find” for him and an absolute “value for money” instrument. To tell you guys about the kind of usage he would be making out of that slab, he hadn’t even got the EDGE/3G connection activated yet!!!!

So, to cut a long story short, let me do what I do best, here goes my review of the “find” of my friend, the iBall Andi 5C:

Key Details:

Brand:                                        iBall

Model:                                       Andi 5C
Sim Option:                                Dual Sim
OS:                                             Android
OS Version:                                4.0.3 ICS
Processor:                                   1GHz Cortex A9 Processor
RAM:                                         512 MB
Release Date:                              27th Aug 2012
Display:                                       5" screen with IPS WVGA display
                                                   Capacitive Touch
Internal Memory:                         4 GB
External Memory:                        microSD card upto 32 gb
Data:                                           3G HSUPA 5.76Mbps HSDPA 7.2Mbps (2100MHz)
                                                   EDGE / GPRS Quad Band 850/
                                                   900/1800/1900 MHz
                                                   WiFi, internet Hotspot & Tethering
                                                   S-GPS
 Bluetooth:                                   Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP
Primary Camera (back):               5MP Autofocus with LED Flash
Secondary Camera(front):             0.3mp
Battery:                                        2300mAh
Audio Out jack:                           3.5 mm Stereo jack
Sensors:                                      G-Sensor, Proximity Sensor & Light Sensor

 So, here are a few pics of the phone:

The first one shows the three controls for Menu, Settings & Back with the centre button being a physical button, while the other two are touch sensitive controls.

This picture shows the volume rocker on the left side of the phone:

 This next picture shows the company logo at the bottom centre of the back panel. the speaker slot is also visible to the right of the logo:

The next picture shows the 5 mp primary camera and LED flash on the top centre of the back panel along side the model name. The camera is a bit protruding out, but is shielded well by its chrome borders:

On the right hand side we have the lock/unlock button:

On the top we have the micro usb port for data connection and charging, along side the 3.5mm audio jack:

The specs as visible on the phone:

The next pic will give you an idea of its size, when placed alongside an IPhone 4S:

Performance:

About the performance, the touch was pretty responsive and the phone was not as smooth as I would have liked it, but could be lived with.

Access to Google Play was pretty fast over the WiFi.

Video playback (an mp4 file) was also pretty good with good stereo playback, but the colors looked a bit washed out.

Cost:

This is the biggest differentiating factor, as we don't have any decent 5 incher under the INR 15k tag, but guess what, this beauty comes at a fiercely competitive price tag of INR.12,999/-

Final Verdict:

At this cost, it doesn't get any better than this. My final rating would be a very good 8/10.

I recommend a buy option for this, with the only thing to keep in mind being the brand, that raises questions over the build quality. So, if you are daring enough, go try it out!