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The new True Smart 4G is the perfect phone for those who never slow down
AN AFFORDABLE 5.5-inch smartphone with fast 4G LTE connection and good performance, the True Smart 4G 5.5 is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8926 processor running at 1.2 Ghz.
The smartphone, which runs on the Google Android 4.4.2 operating system, has 2 gigabytes of working memory or RAM (random access memory) and 8 GB of internal storage, 5 GB of which is available for use by the user and which can be expanded by a microSD card up to 32 GB.
The Smart uses a micro SIM card and it supports connections of up to five modes and 14 bands – one 2G mode, two 3G modes and two 4G modes.
Its 3G modes support LTE-FDD bands of 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, and 2,600 MHz and LTE-TDD bands of 2,300 MHz, 2,500 MHz, and 2,600 MHz.
For their part, the 4G modes support LTE-FDD bands of WCDMA 850 MHz, 1,900 MHz and 2,100 MHz and LTE TDD bands of GSM 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz and 1,900 MHz.
The phone uses a 5.5-inch IPS OGS display with 720 x 1,280 pixels capable of displaying 16 million colours. The display supports both glove touch and five-point multi-point touch.
I was pleased with the phone’s performance when I put it through its paces. The menus and touch screen were very responsive, the scrolling of the screens was fast and smooth and video clips played smoothly.
I tested the phone on TrueMove H's 4G LTE network and was impressed by its connection speed.
As usual, I used the Ookla Speedtest app to measure the speed and here again it was more than impressive, achieving a blazing download speed of 60.74 megabits per second and upload speed of 20.94 Mbps. The test was done at the front of Soi Patanakarn 65 and speeds might vary depending on the bandwidth of test servers and the location.
I took snapshots and uploaded them to my Facebook wall in no time. Downloading and installing applications and updating applications were achieved fast when the phone was connected to TrueMove H’s 4G network. My snapshots were also quickly backed up to my OneDrive and Dropbox accounts.
As yet more proof of the good performance of the phone and fast 4G connection speed, the phone played the PrimeTime app smoothly and I was able to watch movies from the PrimeTime video on demand provider without disruption.
I also tested the TrueVisions Anywhere app and HTV apps and was pleased to find that they played streamed TV programmes from TrueVisions and TrueMove H smoothly.
The smartphone comes with 8-megapixel main camera with f/2.0 lens and back illuminated image sensor, allowing it to capture good quality photos. Its front camera has 5-megapixel resolution and it uses an f/2.4 lens with 84-degree angle with beauty face mode for those must-have selfies.
The main camera captured good-quality shots in most lighting conditions, including indoors.
The phone’s camera can select the scene modes automatically, using the Auto scene shooting option. If you prefer to be in charge, select the Manual scene options, which include Low light, Portrait, Back light, Landscape and Food.
You can also select other available shooting modes by swiping to the left or right on the top of the screen. The available modes include Face beauty, Panorama, Night, HDR, and Best face.
The HDR captured clear photos in most light conditions. A special stand should be used to secure the phone in Night mode though, as this opens the shutter for several seconds for the light to pass through.
The True smartphone also plays good quality music. It supports High-Resolution songs of FLAC 24bit/96 kHz, which is one notch lower that the full Hi-Resolution of FLAC 24bit/192 kHz format.
I tested the music playback with Sony MDR-1ABT Hi-Res headphones, using an audio cable, and the FLAC 24bit/96 kHZ songs came out with good detail and a deep and powerful bass. I could hear every instrument on Ozzy Osbourne’s “Mama, I'm Coming Home” and the bass all but blew me away.
The music player has good sound effects too. Dubbed Snapdragon Audio+, it lets you select from several equaliser settings, including Classical, Dance, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Electronic and Custom. The smartphone has one nice gesture and motion sensing function. It lets you wipe three fingers across the screen to capture the screen easily.
True Smart 4G 5.5 has a suggested retail price of Bt8,990. You can get a Bt2,000 discount by subscribing to one of 4G iSmart packages, which start at a monthly fee of Bt499.
Key Specs
- OS: Android 4.4.2
- Networks: GSM 900/1800/1900 (BAND 2/3/8); 3G: WCDMA 850/1900/2100 (BAND 1/2/5); TD-SCDMA 1900/2000 (BAND 34/39); 4G: LTE FDD 1800/2100/2600 (BAND 1/3/7); LTE TDD 2300/2500/2600 (BAND 38/40/41)
- Processor: Snapdragon Quad-core 1.2 GHZ, Adreno 305 graphics
- Memory: 2GB
- Storage: 8 GB, upgradable with microSD of up to 32GB
- Display: 5.5-inch IPS OGS display with 720 x 1,280 pixels, 16 million colours
- Cameras: 8 MP f/2.0 BSI main camera; 5 MP f/2.4 84-degree wide-angle front camera
n Wireless connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0; Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
- Battery: 3,100 mAh
- Dimensions: 150x76x8.5 mm.
- Weight: 147 g
