With an aim to create a space for itself in the crowded Indian smartphone market, US-based InFocus has been consistently producing affordable devices to attract budget buyers. While its first phone for the Indian market promised some potential, the rest of the offerings turned out to be average performers, and therefore, failed to make to our recommendation list.
But the company has been continuing with its efforts to flood the Indian market with mid-range devices and the latest phone to have come from their stable is the Bingo 50. We played with the phone for weeks and put it to our exhaustive tests to check if it actually holds true to its name.
Priced at Rs 7,499, the InFocus Bingo 50 runs the latest Android Marshmallow 6.0 with InLife UI 2.0 skin atop, which makes it one of the cheapest phones out there to come packed with the newest Google Android OS.
The first thing to notice about this sleek, easy-to-hold phone is its rear panel. The review unit we received was in Sandstone Grey – an element borrowed from the OnePlus 2 – albeit one that lacks a smooth finish and might make you want to hide it with a separate snap-on cover. While I personally disliked its rear panel, the phone is also available in a Leather Black finish which might be in tune with some consumers' liking.
The 5-inch HD display offers comfortable viewing both in brightly-lit conditions as well as indoors and the phone manages to offer a decent experience while watching movies or playing games. The front panel encases the secondary camera and the speaker; the power button rests on the right while the left side of the phone sports the volume controllers.
The rear panel of the phone is removable and under it rests a battery, speakers, dual SIM slots and a slot for microSD card. Unlike the growing fetish of smartphone makers to include a hybrid dual-SIM tray, the phone houses dedicated slots for SIM and memory cards. InFocus has been able to score a plus one on this front for keeping the slots different in Bingo 50. However, be careful in removing the rear panel; it is a little too tight to come off easily and one might end up damaging or breaking it in the process.
The second highlight of InFocus Bingo 50 is 8 megapixel cameras both at the rear and front – something that we got to see in their first-ever smartphone (InFocus M2) for the Indian market. However, the front snapper lacks flash in the new Bingo 50.
When it comes to the native camera app, there are a number of customisation options for better results. During our review period, we tested the phone’s camera in a variety of light conditions and discovered that shots taken in bright lights were much sharper as compared to the ones clicked in low light, shadowy, or indoor environments. In terms of sound quality, the phone offers a decent output both via earplugs and rear speakers.
The phone is powered by a 1.3GHz MTK MT6735 quad-core processor coupled with 3 GB of RAM which did not lead to any sudden app crashes or device freezing. However, continuous video streaming heats up the device up a bit. Powered by a 2500mAh battery, the phone easily survived through an average daily use.
While the phone scores on many fronts, it, as a whole, fails to impress. It has a lot of room for improvement. The InFocus Bingo 50, therefore, doesn't make to our recommendation list.
Our Rating: 2/5