Home Reviews ,,,,, The identikit of the smartphone with sufficient performance for all uses, nowadays, is always the same: 5.5-inch panel with HD resolution, and not too small dimensions. Vernee Thor, just tested by Macitynet, tries a completely different approach, and during the tests made us rediscover the pleasure of a small, extremely light, one-handed smartphone; in addition, we have rediscovered how much a simply HD screen can still give satisfactions on a diagonal of only 5 inches.
What we liked
Vernee Thor is the Android smartphone with small dimensions and extremely low weight: 142 x 70.3 x 7.9mm, for 140 grams. Having become accustomed to today's phablets, taking this Vernee Thor in your hand gives you a nice feeling of lightness and handling. It will also be the rubberized plastic on the back to make it comfortable to hold and not at all slippery. The rounded edges, while not giving it an extremely modern look, make it even easier to grip. In short, it holds very well in the hand and even apparently does not look bad compared to smartphones with a more ambitious and modern look. On the front the three touch keys, unfortunately not backlit, while on the right frame the usual power keys and volume rocker. On the upper part the 3.5mm jack connector, while on the back of the camera and Touch ID sensor to remind us, however, that we are facing a low cost terminal. In fact, these two characteristics will be discussed shortly.
Vernee Thor arrives with Android 6.0 installed on board, an MTK6753 Octa Core CPU, an ARM Mali-T720 MP3 450MHz GPU and 3 GB of RAM, which certainly represents the fundamental ingredient. Vernee Thor, in everyday life, is really a splinter, with zero lag or jamming, and is also able to amaze from many points of view. For example, in the management of Android Auto it is particularly fast and reactive in the management of all the tabs, in the opening of the Maps, in the management of the musical part. In short, we were really surprised by how fast a mid-range phone can be, which on paper does not have too many pretensions. Too bad only for the 16 GB of RAM, which fortunately can expand via MicroSD. The 2800 mAh battery is more than good, which can easily ensure a day and a half of use, also thanks to an HD-only display, which does not require too much energy.
Speaking of the latter, we turned on the terminal without too many pretensions, and instead, even in this case, the surprise that we did not expect. The 2.5D IPS panel, with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 coverage, is really of quality, with the right brightness, bright colors, which can be adjusted via software and, in general, a good performance from all points of view. Of course, bringing the screen close to the eyes it is possible to see the pixel grid, but in general the effect it returns is more than pleasant. Always remaining on the subject of usability in everyday life, we decided to modernize the UI by installing alternative launchers, and transforming the little Vernee Thor into a Pixel Phone, with new icons and new widgets on the screen: even these tests have satisfied us in full, and the terminal remains extremely fluid, without any lag.
Therefore, it is not the usual forklift phone that can give satisfactions to an inexperienced user, but a device that really proves to be a valid choice for all those looking for a small, light and handy smartphone. It also performs well with web browsing, always fluid, with the reading of e-mails, with the management of messaging clients. No problem with push notifications, which arrive regularly, even when the terminal is on standby. Good reception, like many other smartphones in the category and good conversations. The hands-free audio is not very high, while the one in the earpiece allows quality conversations, without the interlocutors accusing metallic or barely distinguishable voices.
What we didn't like
If so far so good, of course, compromises could not be missing for a low cost smartphone. What is absolutely mediocre is the fingerprint sensor. We tried to configure the same footprint in the five available slots, but the result was not the best. The terminal, at times, really struggles to recognize the fingerprint, and on the whole it is unlocked at the first shot 6 times out of 10. Even the camera department only navigates in the sufficiency, however promised considering the cost of the terminal, without giving too much prominence to 13 megapixels, which in other smartphones manage to amaze more. The front one, then, is really of little use: even if from 5 MP, the sensor is certainly not the best ever appreciated on a smartphone. Below is a small gallery of photos taken with the Vernee Thor, without any filter or modification. The photos are still sufficient, nothing striking, but still in line with the price of the terminal. In any case, you can always appreciate the fluidity with which the camera app is opened, as well as that in opening many other apps, and in switching from one to the other.
Conclusions
Vernee Thor is the example of the amp that a smartphone from 135 euros, small in size, and maximally usable in everyday life, still exists. For those who want a handy and fully usable smartphone with one hand, and who want to keep it in their pocket almost forgetting they have it, this is an excellent purchase. Of course, if you are looking for a camera phone that can replace a high-performance camera, or particularly use touch ID unlocking, move on.
On Amazon it costs 135.99 euros, you can buy it directly from here.
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