Colors S11: The Online Shaman

By Samrat Amatya

Colors in partnership with Daraz is revolutionising the e-commerce space for smartphones,for the first time in Nepal, Colors S11 a phone made by a home ground company is being sold exclusively online. This definitely is a much-needed upheaval and a breakage from the retail monopoly. The Colors S11 is the first of its kind and now is available for you to purchase. Priced at Rs 12,495, is the S11 worth the buy? Is it the best smartphone at this price point? Let's find out.

Design

The Colors S11 is a good-looking smartphone with its unibody construction and smooth metallic finish. It not only looks good but also feels quite premium. The phone can also be easily maneuvered by a single hand all thanks to its rounded edges and curved back. For those expecting the trendy bezel-less design, it sadly isn’t here. That been said, the phone looks good on its own right even with a large chin by today’s standard.

Display

The S11 packs a 5.2-inch HD (1280*720) IPS display with a pixel density of 282PPI. The display itself is edged out by a 2.5D glass aiding in a fluid experience. Being an IPS panel, the display provides accurate colors and adequate amount of brightness. The viewing angles were also great and I didn’t notice any kind of pixelation whatsoever.

Performance

The phone, with the MediaTek MT6737W processor backed by 3GB of RAM, had no trouble keeping up with my day-to-day activities. I didn’t notice any visible lags or stutters while doing so either. The Mali-T720 MP2 GPU, that the phone comes with, was able to play smaller game titles without any hitch. Graphic hungry titles, however, were not its forte! I encountered a lot of dropped frames and choppiness while doing so. Nevertheless, the phone will be able to play all general titles without much dismay.

Software

The phone packs an almost stock version of Android 7.1 Nougat. This makes the experience very smooth and effortless. The phone, however, packs some preinstalled apps like SastoDeal, Hamro Police, Online Khabar and Colors’ very own app. It would have been much better if they hadn’t included them. Luckily, these apps can be easily uninstalled if you feel you have no use of them. The phone also comes with theming capabilities, with three avatars to choose from. You can always download a third-party launcher, but it’s nice to have some level of customizability built-in. Overall, the software experience of the S11 has been very good and I enjoyed using it.

Camera

The Colors S11 brands itself as a selfie smartphone! It packs a dual front camera set up made by two 8MP sensors. Among the two, the latter is a wide-angle shooter with 120° of coverage. This is great to fit all your friends in the frame while taking a wefie/groupie. Additionally the image quality of the camera is also amazing with great details and clarity. Consider your friends impressed! In addition, it also has a front-facing flash. The phone also has an 8MP rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It takes some lustrous pictures with great details and vibrancy in optimal lighting situations. Turn the lights down, and a bit of grain is introduced into the photos. But the camera is still a great performer especially for the price it is available for.

Biometrics and others

The phone has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner which works extremely well. I was easily able to unlock the phone without a hitch. It also has a bottom firing speaker which packs some decent audio. Though not the loudest and bass-rich, the output definitely gets the job done.

Connectivity

Connectivity wise the phone offers a dual-sim card slot and a memory card slot. The storage of the phone can be upgraded up to 128GB from the 16GB of inbuilt storage that it comes with. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, and USB 2.0. The S11 also supports 4G but only in the primary sim card slot.

Battery

The Colors S11 packs a 3000mAh non-user removable battery. The battery life of this phone is decent as it lasted me a good 4-5 hours on a single charge. Casual users will not have any problem getting a full day worth of battery life out of this phone. The battery life is great and all but the phone lacks the now standard USB Type-C and Fast-Charging capabilities. Expect the phone to be plugged for almost 2-3 hours before you get a 100% charge.

Conclusion

The Colors S11 is a great mid-tier device that is available for the price of a budget smartphone. The dual front cameras, that it packs, is a game changer and probably is its key strength. For anyone looking to take great selfies without having to break the bank, the S11 is a splendid option.