Torque-Droidz-Atom-S-Review

The low-cost smartphone scene have been very crowded last year. Almost every manufacturer in the local industry have maintained this ground before going up high on building their flagship and powerful devices.

Today, we have the a device that belongs to this army. Priced at Php2,899, will the Torque Droidz Atom S make it alive and stand-out on this warfare of budget-friendly devices? Or does it only belong to the norm? Let’s find out on our full review.

Torque Droidz Atom S Specs

  • 4-inch WVGA display, 480×800 pixel resolution
  • 1.3Ghz dual-core Mediatek processor
  • Mali 400 GPU
  • 512MB RAM
  • 5-megapixel rear camera with flash
  • 2-megapixel front camera
  • WiFi, 3G
  • Bluetooth
  • GPS, A-GPS
  • 1450mAh battery

What’s in the box?

This tiny device is housed on a box that’s identical to its size. Nothing fancy with the package’s contents, but it’s filled with all the essential stuff. We got the device itself, microUSB cable, headphones with built-in mic, wall adaptor, screen protector and the user manual and warranty card.Torque Droidz Atom S Box and Accessories

Design

There’s nothing really special here. As what everybody might expect, this Torque smartphone is fully housed in plastic. From the front, sides, up to the back, everything is covered with this cheap and economical material. Still, it has its pros though, it makes the device lightweight. Plus, it has a glossy finish, so it puts fingerprints all over the place.

Taking a tour, we got a 4″ display in front, with the earpiece, 2MP front-facing camera, capacitive buttons and some rather excessive branding.Torque-Droidz-Atom-S

The left side has the oddly-placed microUSB port, while the right has the volume controls.Torque smartphoneSides

The top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and the lock/power switch, while the bottom is empty.Torque Droidz Atom S USB port, earphone Droidz

The back has the 5MP primary camera with flash, and the loudspeakers at the bottom.Torque-Droidz-Atom-S-Specs-Price-Features

Popping-out the back panel reveals the slot for two sim cards and a microSD card slot. A 1450mAh battery is located here. Also, the whole back part of the handset doesn’t entirely come off when you remove the cover, the area where the loudspeaker is placed can’t be removed, a pretty nice aesthetic touch.NoypiGeeks-Droidz-Atom-S

Overall, the phone’s design pretty much met what it’s expected to have – it’s pocketable, and feels very nice in the hands. And I find that placing the lock/power switch at the top, instead of placing it usually at the right side, is more ergonomically appropriate for a smartphone this small. Placing button at the top is perfect for small devices like this, as the buttons being placed at either left or right side, are ideal for larger ones. Just take a look on how Apple shifted the position of their lock/power switch when the iPhones got bigger.Torque Droidz Atom S - NoypiGeeks

Display

The Torque Droidz Atom S has a 4″ WVGA display, with 480×800 resolution and 240 pixels-per-inch. Obviously, this device doesn’t offer a spectacular display, but it’s pretty usable, for what it’s worth.

Texts from websites and social medias looked pleasingly visible. Watching movies and any media content are a fair experience, although it has some weird, and sometimes irritating viewing angles. Outdoor visibility is also mediocre. You might have to block the direct sunlight from hitting the display to visualize the screen.

Performance

The Torque Droidz Atom S packs a MediaTek 1.3Ghz dual-core processor, with 512MB of RAM and a Mali 400 GPU. With that particular chipset, the processing performance is something very lackluster, yet something that’s also expected. Apps, even the light and basic ones, ran on a bumpy road. This performance is anticipated with a device that only has this small RAM capacity and processing power. However, keep in mind that almost every device that are on this price range also possess this identical chipset and configuration – so we can’t complain at all. But considering the fast phase, we can’t help but be disappointed especially with the recent unveiling of the Cherry Mobile Me Vibe – the cheapest octa-core smartphone in the country.

Also, overheating is a common dilemma on these type of devices. Gaming, or even just watching a full-length movie can get a bit irritating when the device starts to heat up.

For a more perspective, I’ve ran some benchmark tests:

Torque-Droidz-Atom-S-Benchmarks Screenshot_2015-01-07-19-18-12 Screenshot_2015-01-07-19-18-01

 

Software

Well, this one is pretty disappointing. The Atom S have been really left-out as it still runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean; far from its competing handsets who are now enjoying the goodness of Android 4.4 Kitkat. If you can recall, Google developed and optimized the OS for smartphones with less than stellar specs, so the Atom S is missing quite a lot. Also, another bummer is that, it doesn’t support OTA (Over-the-air) updates, so you can’t even hope that an update shall be given on this device.Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

Although, the Android 4.2.2 is still pretty good, nonetheless. Browsing the homescreen may not be that fluid, but the UI in general is still pretty snappy.

Camera

The Droidz Atom S sports a 5-megapixel primary camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing one.  I’ll be straightforward about this, the camera on this one is just awful. Contrast and saturation are just bad, and the worst of all, there’s no auto-focus. I’ve seen other 5MP cameras out there, and they turned out quite well.

If you’re coming from a more high-end device and using this device as a back-up is your intention, then you should forget that it has a camera. But, if this is gonna be your daily driver, then you have no choice but to learn to love it instead. Photos taken when there’s good lighting are okay. Given its price tag, though, there’s really not much they can do about it.

Check out these sample photos:

Camera - Torque Droidz Atom S Sample shots Image samples Torque Droidz Camera samples Torque-Droidz-Atom-S-camera Camera shots

Battery

Torque Droidz Atom S is powered by a 1450mAh battery. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a battery as small as this; but it’s also a very long time since we have reviewed a dual-core powered handset.

This miniscule battery is something just-enough for this small device. It was able to make use of the device with 15% of juice to spare for up to almost one and a half day with light to moderate use (casual social media browsing, texting, etc.), and almost three hours of heavy usage.Battery life - Torque Droidz Atom S

Conclusion

Torque Droidz Atom S is an appropriately designed smartphone for those who are looking for a small, handy, and of course, a practical Android device that can suffice your basic telephony needs, and some extra (social media, basic games, camera, etc.)Torque-Droidz-Atom-S-Review

The device fell-short in the performance department, but what do you expect? It’s a below Php3k device, Php2,899 to be exact. Having a dual-core processor and a 512MB of RAM is a norm on this category.

To wrap it up, I can really say that this phone is one of the most handy smartphone I have encountered, and certainly not the most powerful. If you’re looking for a device that fits perfectly to your pocket, or even your purse and willing to sacrifice the processing power, this handset can be one of your options. However, the presence of the competition with a a more updated OS and better specs prevents me from fully recommending this phone. But if you’re a fan of the brand, this one’s a decent choice.

Torque Droidz Atom S is available on all Torque stores and kiosks nationwide for only Php2,899.

Pros

  • Light and small construction
  • Passable display quality
  • Decent battery life

Cons

  • Runs on Android Jelly Bean instead of Kitkat
  • Camera performance could’ve been better
  • Poor performance, even some basic games lags

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