Itel A32F hands-on review



About a month ago when Itel announced the Itel A32F; their first Android Oreo 8.1 (Go Edition) powered device, I knew I just had to lay my hands on it. I had in fact been anticipating this phone since February when Itel announce their partnership with Google for two reasons:

  1. Its Android Go Edition and I wanted to experience it on Itel first hand
  2. Itel has been making some serious moves and I was in fact impressed by the Itel S42 to say the least

I now have a copy of this smartphone and have been going through it for the last two days. I was sure you guys would want to see this gadget from my perspective so I thought “Hey! why not drop an Itel A32F review?”

My First Thoughts

When I saw the battery while unboxing, I smiled. Thank you Itel for sticking with a removable battery on this one. I got the starry blue color and do like it. The phone felt quite light compared to my Qualcomm Doopro P1 Pro, Mediatek THL T7 and Mediatek Infinix X510; all of which I’ve been actively using lately to test some Android Mods we’re working on (the rest of my phones are resting in my drawer). The Itel A32F fit right into my palm so this was definitely going to work for one-hand use.

To make this hands-on review easy for you to digest, I’ve dissected it into sections so feel free to jump to any segment of interest and jump right back up.

Price

The Itel A32F goes for between ₦20,500 and ₦21,500 depending on where you purchase it from. Click here to buy an Itel A32F

Unboxing

I created a short unboxing video for the Itel A32F (pardon the video quality)

The items in & on the box are:

  • 12 months warranty sticker on the box & Free 1.5 GB from 9mobile on PIN activation
  • 1 Itel A32F smartphone
  • 1 Charger head
  • 1 USB cable / cord
  • 1 Battery
  • 1 plastic protector
  • 1 Earpiece
  • 1 Android 8.1 (Go Edition) pamphlet

Itel A32F accessories (usb cable, charge head, earphone, plastic protector, battery, smartphone, user manual)

Specifications

Itel A32F (F8007) specs

  • Android 8.1 (Go Edition)
  • 5.0″ screen (480×854 resolution ; 240 dpi)
  • 5.0 MP rear camera (with flash)
  • 2.0 MP front camera (with flash)
  • 8GB ROM
  • 1GB RAM
  • 2050 mAh removable Li-ion battery
  • Fingerprint sensor
  • WCDMA (No 4G LTE  or OTG support)
  • Processor: Quad-Core 1.3GHz ; 604 MHz – 1300 MHz clockspeed ; ARMv7 rev 3 (v71)
  • Graphics: Mali-400 MP
  • Chipset: Mediatek MT6580M (Build Number: A32F-F8007-8.1-OP-V028-20180410 ; Kernel: 3.18.79+)
  • Sensors: Fingerprint, Accelerometer , Proximity
  • WiFi & Bluetooth support
  • Dual SIM (1 standard & 1 micro)
  • External SD card slot

Design

The Itel A32F is quite light and ideal for one-hand use. It has a (flexible back cover) plastic finish and this makes sense for people like me who take out their batteries a lot. It also ships with a plastic protector for those that drop their phones like its hot.

Now, for a closer look at the Itel A32F’s design

Front view

Itel A32F front view

At the front, there’s the Fash, Speaker and Front camera at the top (LTR) then the Menu , Home and Back buttons at the bottom (LTR).

Back view

Itel A32F back view

It has a Rear camera and flash at the top left corner and a fingerprint sensor center aligned just below them

Right view

Itel A32F right view

On the right side are the Volume (increase & decrease) buttons above the Power button

Top view

Itel A32F top view

At the top resides only the head phone jack

Bottom view

Itel A32F bottom view
At the bottom, it has the Mic and USB port.

Performance

I took the Itel A32F for a spin for several hours and it did well for a ~₦21,000 phone. I first tested in stock state before installing third party apps.

Responsiveness / speed

Startup, shutdown and app responsiveness was good. I’ve used the Itel 1452, Itel 1508 and Itel 1513, the experience on the Itel A32F was smoother.

Battery life

I ran a combination of light and heavy tasks (music, videos, surfing the internet, gaming & reading) and the battery did OK so far. 3 hours of non-stop music (on speaker) + surfing the internet (no downloads) took the battery from 100% – 82%. Not bad at all for its price.

Fingerprint

Setting up fingerprint lock was straightforward.  I tested fingerprint unlocking with display on and off; unlocking was fast. Took me a few attempts to get used to holding the phone but once I did, the partial fingerprint detected errors stopped.

Camera

The Itel A32F’s Camera isn’t WOW but it did OK for an entry level Mediatek device. Here are some shots taken on the Itel A32F (I didn’t tamper with the image quality):

Indoors (curtains drawn) with flash: 3D clock & Indoor plant

Itel A32F camera quality review (3D clock & Plant)

Indoors (curtains drawn) with flash: Itel A32F accessories & Hovatek T-shirt, Cufflinks & Pen items

Itel A32F camera quality review indoor shot with flash

Outdoors without flash: Potted plant
Itel A32F camera quality test

Additional features

The Itel A32F also includes:

  • Phone Manager (Storage Manager, Data Monitor, Power Saver, App Lock, Autostart Manage, App freeze, Lock Screen Clean)
  • DuraSpeed (boosts foreground apps by restricting background apps)
  • i-Smart (One hand mode)
  • Google security & location

Drop test

If you were expecting a drop test on this one then its not coming. The phone feels quite rugged and should withstand a decent fall. Itel even went the extra mile to throw in a free plastic protector to guard against accidental drops & keep your case looking new. If you’re bent on seeing a drop test then do give it a spin on your own Itel A32F. Just don’t forget to record and share the video (if it goes South) so we can console you how we know best:

Itel A32F drop test

My Final Thought

From my few hours with the Itel A32F, I would say Android Go Edition on Itel is definitely worth a shot at the price. While you might be doubtful due to the entry level specs, I assure you that with the right usage culture, you should find this phone very handy. I’d already dropped a guide on how to optimize Android Go Edition devices so ensure to read it as it’ll surely equip you for a better experience.

What do you think about the Itel A32F? Would you buy one? Drop your questions and opinions in the comment box below


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