After getting a good amount of response on Elite, Swipe Technologies introduced the next generation, Swipe Elite 2. Well, the company claims that it is the most affordable smartphone that supports 4G connectivity and looking at the price tag it bears, we surely agree!
So, without further ado, let’s get ongoing with the review of Swipe Elite 2.
Design & Build
Talking about the design & build of the smartphone, the left chassis is clean, having volume rockers on right side followed by a power key. A 3.5mm audio jack and micro USB 2.0 port at the top. The front has a selfie camera and earpiece. Well, LED notification is missing here. The bottom has a microphone and capacitive touch buttons right below the display.
Since the back is removable, the dual micro-sim card slots and a slot for the microSD card are under the cover. To insert SIM cards, you will have to remove the battery first.
Carbon matte back seems to be smudge and scratch proof.
I wouldn’t say it has drop-dead looks, but the sleek black carbon matte body comes with attractive curves and a great finish that grabs attention wherever you go. Although it comes with a jelly cover, carbon matte back seems to be smudge and scratch proof. It’s quite easy to hold this lightweight smartphone.
Display: 4.5-inch qHD
It sports a 4.5-inch qHD display with screen resolution of 960×540 pixels resulting 245 PPI pixel density. The display is quite vibrant and has wide viewing angles. The scratch resistant glass makes it worth even more.
It’s probably the best display I’ve seen so far in sub 5K range.
Brightness is adequate, and yes, adaptive brightness is there too. So I did not feel any discomfort using the device under sunlight. It’s probably the best display I’ve seen so far in sub 5K range.
Impressive I must say!
Performance: 1.3GHz Quad-Core Processor and 1GB RAM
Powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core 64-bit processor coupled with 1GB RAM. The phone performs pretty well. I watched videos and played games, and needless to say, I did not feel like keeping the device aside due to any performance issues.
Now cool part about this phone is that it doesn’t dissipate any heat even after a prolonged usage. The phone has an internal memory of 8GB out of which 4GB is available to use, which is of course very less when it comes to storing movies or apps and games, but it is expandable up to 32GB via microSD card.
Software: Android 5.1 Lollipop based Freedom OS
Swipe Elite 2 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out-of-the-box. It comes with a custom launcher running on top of Android, known as Freedom OS from Swipe. UI response is good, but not very smooth. Little sluggish I would say.
The toggles can appear on the lock screen as well, and I found them quite useful as to turn on mobile data, Wi-Fi, and flashlight, you don’t have to unlock the device.
It also features Swipe Search. You can choose among the apps and services they have tied up with, and you can search all of them at one place. Swipe beauty allows you to download different cool themes for your phone.
So these all few bloat that Swipe has pre-installed in Elite 2. But don’t worry, you can uninstall them if you don’t find them useful.
You do have a different kind of gestures also supported here which many smartphones are featuring these days. Such as drawing C in locked state opens up the phone, W to open up contacts, M for music and so on.
Swipe’s own custom UI enables you to customize your experience. You can edit app drawer, and effects help in customizing how you want the screen to appear, the layout of icons, icon font color, etc. That’s again cool thing to get rid of monotony.
Camera: 8MP Primary & 5MP Selfie
Talking about the camera, it has 8-Megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash. Images taken in natural light produce good colors, clarity, and details. You have an option of HDR mode to enhance picture quality in low light conditions.
You’ll not find much clarity and images will be grainy. You have got a flash that is very rare in the device of this price segment. Overall, rear shooter produces good pictures. However, you just need to keep your hands steady.
Also, 5-megapixel front-facing camera with fixed flash captures good selfies. It has the option of face detection and beautification. So overall, it does an excellent job regarding details and clarity.
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS are the connectivity features available on the device. It is dual sim 4G LTE band supported device and has accelerometer sensor onboard.
Battery: 1900 mAh
The 1900 mAh battery lasted all day long on my typical usage, which included browsing, watching videos, and a little gaming as well. You know sometimes they work as a stress buster! Well jokes apart, there is a battery saver option also to help you in critical times stretching juice to a little longer. For me, it took around two hours to get the device fully charged. Overall, the experience was entirely satisfactory.
In-The-Box Content
- Swipe Elite 2 Phone Unit with pre-installed Screen Guard
- 1 Amp USB Wall Socket Charger
- Tangle Free USB 2.0 cable
- Silicon Jelly Cover
- Removable 1900 mAh Battery
- User Manual and Warranty Card
Pros:
Now here I would be highlighting few points about the device
- Lightweight & sleek form factor
- Camera performed well for the offered price
- Smudge free back and look & feel of the device attracted me much
- 64-bit quad-core processor doesn’t show any lag
- 4G/LTE connectivity that too at 4,666 INR
Cons:
- Apart from battery, everything lived up to my expectation. 1900 mAh is still less for handling 64-bit processor.
Price & The Verdict
[ps_prices]
Swipe Elite 2 is available online in an exclusive partnership with Flipkart at a price of Rs. 4,666.
Phone works as expected and makes an excellent option for people having a tight budget. You get so much that too for so less. I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone wanting to buy an entry-level budget-friendly smartphone.
