InFocus based in US and getting their smartphones manufactured from Foxconn, where iPhones are also made, has probably decided to borrow design language of its recently launched InFocus M812 smartphone from iPhone 6. The M812 is the flagship offering from InFocus and will go on sale in India from 8th October exclusively on Snapdeal. Earlier, it was scheduled to be available in India from 1st October, but according to the company, due to overwhelming pre-registrations sale, its sale date has been pushed by one week. Let us see whether mere good design can convince the buyers to buy this beautifully designed smartphone or it has really substance to convince the customers to shell out Rs. 19,999 to have this phone.
Hardware
This phone has very impressive hardware features and can easily match-up with some of the leading flagships. It flaunts a 5.5 inch Full HD IPS display( 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution) which is complemented by Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Under the hood is 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, running on 64-bit CPU architecture, combined with 3GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Had they provided 32GB then it would have one more plus feature in this phone. But this shortcoming is redeemed by its provision to extend it to 128GB via microSD card.
On the imaging front, InFocus M812 is equipped with 13 MP auto-focus rear camera with a dual tone flash and also houses an 8 MP fixed focus front camera with 80 degree wide viewing angle.
This phone offers 4G LTE connectivity and other options of connectivity such as 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5GHz) WiFi supported, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/AGPS+GLONASS etc. It also comes with Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, E-compass, Gyroscope, magnetic sensor(for smart cover).
InFocus has placed the best possible hardware in this piece of metal in the price range which they are asking the customers to pay.
Design
The M812 comes in anodized aluminum uni-body design, sculpted out of a single block of aluminum which according to the company goes through over 1,000 CNC processes followed by polishing. The look of the phone looks very elegant, sturdy and impressive. This phone gives you the feeling of iPhone 6 and inorder to avoid legal trouble with Apple, the company has altered the rear design a little bit. On the back of this device, they have put black stripes on the top, rear camera has been placed in center and 4G logo has been put at the bottom end to convey it is 4G compatible phone. To some, 4G logo and black stripes may look odd but to keep the wrath of the Apple at bay, that was probably the best way for InFocus.
This phone is bit bulky and will not fit in your pocket easily. But the plus point is that it gives solid grip and will not slip from your hand.
The M812 is a Dual-SIM phone in limited sense, and both slots have been provided on the right side. The second slot is hybrid as it will accept either a Nano-SIM or a microSD card. Since this is just 16GB device, you would definitely require microSD card for extension of memory and hence cannot use Dual SIM capability.
The power and volume rockers are on the left side despite the fact that of late, these buttons now come on the right side in majority of phones for ease of operation. One interesting aspect is rounded power button which looks quite novel and impressive. The 3.5mm headphone socket is on the the top of the device and the Micro-USB port and speaker grille have been placed on the bottom.
Display
The M812 has 5.5-inch HD IPS display which can be rated quite good as it has resolution of 1080×1920-pixels with Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 for added protection, which is the standard norm in mid-segment phones. This display provide sharp and bright images and only concern occurs when you operate in sunlight, which infact happens with almost all the phones and not a big issue. The M812 passes the test of good display with good marks.
Performanc
As mentioned earlier, the M812 has been provided with good hardware to give trouble free performance and InFocus has been successful with this attempt. Its Snapdragon 801 processor with 3GB of RAM are praiseworthy combination to give you enjoyable gaming experience and switching between the apps is quite easy. We have played few resourceful games without any stutter and web-browsing is also quite fast even when you change from one browsing to another.
The call quality of incoming and outgoing call is good on this phone. It works without any problem with 4G LTE connectivity wherever the signals are available. Audio quality is also praiseworthy as we did not experrience any jarring sound while playing music and listening to FM radio.
Camera
The 13-megapixel rear camera provided on this phone provides reasonable quality of clicked images especially those pictures shot at close range. The clicked images taken from closed come out with decent depth and detail and look crisp. However, when you zoom in, the picture quality is not upto the mark which one expects from a 13MP camera. On the camera there is mode icon, which gives you options to click images in different modes such as Panorama, HDR, Burst shot, motion photo, and cinemagraph etc. Its Watermark mode makes it possible to add date, time location and weather information to the image. We have snapped all the images with Watermark mode on.
Besides still photography, you can also do video recording with the camera and it also has slow motion video with maximum resolution of 480p. The front 8MP snapper will not disappoint the selfie lovers as it comes with large f/1.8 aperture and you can capture sharp selfies with this.
Some images taken on M812
Battery
The other plus point of M812 is its 2900 mAh battery which comes with a quick charging capability with which it can charge 40% from zero in 30 to 35 minutes. We have used the phone extensively for watching videos, social networking and web browsing and played some games for around 15 minutes on it. This battery lasted for around 10 hours and we consider it quite good compared to Galaxy S6 phone used by me, which has very disappointing battery life and for similar usage, it does not last more than 6 hours.
Software
InFocus M812 runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS with InLife UI 2.0 superimposed on it. We are not fans of customised users interface as stock Android experience is clutter free and we fail to understand why emerging companies like InFocus do not stick to stock Android. There is not much that InLife UI has to offer and the icons made in circular do not appeal to the eyes. In our opinion this UI layer is just for the sake of it. This phone comes pre-loaded with useful apps such as of Snapdeal, Mobile Assistant, Weather Forecast,App traffic control and FM radio etc.
Conclusion
InFocus is metal beauty and has good aesthetics. There is no performance issue at all; its battery lasts longer, camera quality is reasonable and gives you good feeling when you carry this premium looking phone. On the lower side, we are not convinced with its customsied icons and its price of Rs. 20K, which we think is vey high. Since InFocus is a new entrant in the Indian market, it will be difficult for it to ask customers to pay Rs. 20K for this device when Moto X Play launched recently also has the same price for 32GB variant. Moreover, Moto brand is well-established in India and the USP of Moto X Play is that it gives you stock Android experience and will get updated to the latest Android Marshmallow OS in due course of time.
