Aspera Mobile has launched its latest budget phone: a GEM of a 4G dual-SIM smartphone for just $149.
With an affordable price, the smartphone packs a strong range of impressive features, including Android 9 pie, 4G Dual Sim, 8MP rear camera and 5MP front camera, SD Card slot, fingerprint sensor, 5.5-inch display, 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM, 2500mAh battery, as well as Quad Core 1.5GHz.
Additionally, the Aspera GEM also comes with an internal system that is easy to navigate and straight forward – meaning less time figuring out an entirely new system if you’re planning on making a change to the company.
With Bluetooth connectivity and WiFi Hotspot, owners can be assured of connectivity just like any other high range smartphone on the market.
And despite the impressive features, the smartphone is surprisingly light, weighing less than my naked iPhone XR.
However, although the phone boasts of many nifty features that is sure to make this budget phone a great purchase for money, it falls short of its promises.
The latest model from Aspera is slow and lags often – with many features needing to shut down even if it’s being used in isolation.
I found the fingerprint reader to be unreliable, despite how many different angles of my finger it read, it still was regularly unable to read my print to unlock the screen.
The awkward placement of the reader positioned on the back of the device, under the camera, was even more off-putting, as it did not feel like a natural position for my hand to be in.
The company undoubtedly put it on the back to minimise bezel size on the front screen, but this enlarged screen also didn’t live up to expectations.
Another disappointment was the typing response time was lagged, and I often struggled to communicate without having to wait for entire words to roll out before my eyes as I waited.
The accuracy of the screen picking up where my finger hit was also slightly off – as I regularly had to go back to correct words that had been typed correctly but read differently on the screen. This is not an issue I have encountered with Apple’s iPhones.
The camera, however, was decent enough for what you pay for. Although the picture was still slightly pixelated and darker than normal, it’s still good enough for a phone costing you $149.
Overall, I would not recommend this phone for professional use as it is too slow and unreliable.
Instead, I see it is a perfectly suitable first phone for juniors who don’t need the fancy features of top-line smartphones.
Perhaps the lag may also teach them patience.
The Aspera GEM 4G Dual-SIM smartphone is available for purchase at select retailers or through their official website for $149.
Overall Rating: 5/10
Design: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Function: 4/10
