Arstechnica reviews 10$ Walmart Phone. Any good?

[Germshroom]

As most people know Walmart started selling a pre-paid10$ phone this is the review from Arstechnica. 

 

Its the LG sunrise. The guys at Arstechnica have already done some cheap phone reviews like the Intex Cloud FX a $35 smartphone that ran Firefox OS. They also compared it to the Android One and the Nexus 5X.

 

 

 

Here are its specs.

 

Screen: 480×320 3.8" (152ppi) LCD

 

Os: Android 4.4 KitKat

 

CPU: 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 200

 

Ram: 512 MB

 

GPU: Adreno 302

 

Storage: 4GB plus MicroSD slot (1.15GB usable)

 

Networking: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS

 

Ports: MicroUSB 2.0, 3.5mm headphone jack

 

Camera: 3MP rear camera

 

Size: 113 x 63.5 x 12.44 mm (4.43 x 2.50 x 0.49 inches)

 

Weight: 119 g (4.20 oz.)

 

Battery: 1540 mAh (removable)

 

Other:  A 4GB MicroSD card!

 

 

 

The display is easily the worst part of the Sunrise, and if we were designing a higher-budget version of this, the display is the first place we would spend more money. The 3.8-inch, 480×320 is very grainy, and with Android and LG's skin optimized for higher-resolution devices, text can often be difficult and unpleasant to read.

 

The viewing angles are absolutely awful. At a straight-on 90 degrees the screen looks OK, but tilt a few degrees in any direction and the screen will change to either a hazy white or go completely negative with inverted colors. The viewing angles are so exact that just normally holding the device creates a "shimmering" effect, where the slight changes in angles makes the colors fluctuate.

 

I feel that even for a 10$ phone this is disappointing. The fact that you can only look at it dead on means that it will be a pain to use and it will make everything very irritating.

 

 

 

It feels weird saying this about a device that runs an OEM-skinned version of Android 4.4 KitKat in 2015; but the software is the highlight of the LG Sunrise. It runs a real version of Android, complete with all the apps and features you would expect from any other smartphone. You've got the Play Store and access to over a million apps, along with all the Google apps and access to just about every Google service. Running on Android 4.4 doesn't really slow the Sunrise down when it comes to Google apps.

 

This is what surprised me the most. For a 10$ phone that it runs Android 4.4 KitKat seem good. The fact that you have access to all the apps makes it even more impressive. So now lets get on to the camera.

 

 

 

Of course the 3MP camera in a $10 phone is going to be bad, but it's not the worst camera we've ever tried. That distinction still belongs to the $35 Cloud FX phone that runs Firefox OS. It's hard to say how good a $10 phone camera should be really.

 

Here are a few pictures taken by the phone.

 

Normal room light:

 

Here is a picture on a rainy day:

 

And here is a picture in low light:

 

Final thoughts

 

So from the thing I have read it is what you can expect for 10$ it will not replace your top of the line phones but thats not what its made for. It's made for the people that cant afford a brand new supper advanced phone but still need one but all that they want to do with it is brows the internet or to use some apps.

 

Here is what the guys at Arstechnica thinks

 

 

If only the screen were better...

The Sunrise is slow, it's small, it feels like a toy, it's shipping two-year-old software, and the camera is bad. We could forgive it all though if the screen just worked. The low quality screen hurts just about every activity you can do on the Sunrise. You really can't use it at a table because the slight angle makes the screen unreadable. The graininess and constant "shimmering" effect makes reading unpleasant and video difficult to discern.

Other than the screen issues, and it being very slow, it's a surprisingly functional little device. While it looks and feels like a toy replica of a phone, it can run just about any 2D app that serious phones can run. If you can snag one for $10, it's better than nothing. Maybe you could gut it or install some software and turn it into some kind of little project phone. And if you desperately need to get up and running with some Android software, it's hard to beat a price like this.

Good

• It's TEN DOLLARS. We've spent more than that on a USB cable just to charge a smartphone.
• It can run all the 2D apps your big $600 phone can run.

Bad

• It's really slow.
• The camera is awful.
• It's shipping Android 4.4 KitKat and it's almost 2016.
• LG's skin was designed for a 1440p display and downscaled to a 320p device.

Ugly

• The low-quality screen ruins most of the activities you would want to do on a phone.

 

Source: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/12/a-review-of-the-10-walmart-phone-better-than-nothing-but-not-by-much/

[Venomz1337]

for $10, that's fucking cheap.

I'd buy one just to use it on nights out.

[Ekin]

I would use it as a cheap DECT phone with color display and spread multiple of them all over my house.

[AverageHardware]

I'd say this is a pretty good value. I'm honestly surprised at the quality of the photos. Of course the screen is terrible. According to time.com, the iPhone 6 720p screen costs 45$ to manufacture, over 4x the price of the entire phone. You get what you pay for.

[LAwLz]

They must be losing money on that. Even if the phone is crap it is still amazing value. I can see people buying these and then using them for different projects.

[Mister Snow]

It's only $5 more than Raspberry pi zero and comes with a better SoC, a screen, battery, case, camera, connectivity... They must be losing money on this.

Sad thing is, this device is better than my "smart" phone which was around 100 euros 3 years ago.  

[FPSwithaWacomTablet]

I'll stick to my older iPhone 3Gs. 

[TheMidnightNarwhal]

They must be losing money on that. Even if the phone is crap it is still amazing value. I can see people buying these and then using them for different projects.

 

Probably not, or else they wouldn't do this.

[RagnarokDel]

I'd buy a hundred, if I was a drug dealer.

[Memories4K]

I'd buy a hundred, if I was a drug dealer.

Literally the first thing that came to mind.

 

I'm still using an I-Phone 4s because i prefer smaller phones.

If i could i'd go back to a sweet flip phone in a heartbeat.

[Mew]

They took the phone outdoors to take pictures but don't mention outdoor usability for the screen? Does it even get bright enough to see what's on the screen? 

[QueenDemetria]

I really wanted this phone, but the 3 Wallmarts near me were out of stock for over a week(2 weeks?) and they apparently only get 10 at a time. I got the Moto E on Black Friday instead for the same price, which is probably a good thing since the screen on the E isn't bad at all and it has more storage. I might still get this phone, despite the harsh review from Arse'Technica, just I'm not going out of my way to get it.

[MrDynamicMan]

I would use it as a cheap DECT phone with color display and spread multiple of them all over my house.

I can see this being used in a lot of home automation and similar projects.

[qwertywarrior]

just turn on art is dev options and u  would see a considerable increase  in performance

[qwertywarrior]

It's only $5 more than Raspberry pi zero and comes with a better SoC, a screen, battery, case, camera, connectivity... They must be losing money on this.

i would say this cost around 30$ to make

ive seen phones in Shenzhen being sold with around the same specs

[Mister Snow]

i would say this cost around 30$ to make

ive seen phones in Shenzhen being sold with around the same specs

 

That price makes a lot more sense. Even if they somehow managed to cram it down to 20$, it's still double the price of what they are selling it at.

[crystal6tak]

I could see this phone being a great buy for scrappers. The 1540mAh battery alone probably costs as much as the phone bought separately. And if the display and camera is salvageable as well I'm sure someone will find this to be a great buy.

[patrick3027]

RIP night-theme users

[LAwLz]

Probably not, or else they wouldn't do this.

Well they are making money some way.  I just find it hard to believe it is on the hardware.

[Master Disaster]

This phone is aimed at con artists and drug dealers, they'll love being able to buy 10 smart phones for $100.

[Guest Kloaked]

I'd say this is a pretty good value. I'm honestly surprised at the quality of the photos. Of course the screen is terrible. According to time.com, the iPhone 6 720p screen costs 45$ to manufacture, over 4x the price of the entire phone. You get what you pay for.

 

It doesn't cost just $45 to get made. They don't just send mock-ups to their manufacturers to make the phone. They have to do actual work in their R&D to get prototypes made, then decide on a final product, which costs a shit ton of money that they need to make back, as well as their "Apple" premium markup. IT's way more complicated than that, but tl;dr no it doesn't just cost $45 to make.

 

 

EDIT: Also, I guarantee you either LG or Walmart are taking a hit with these phones - probably Walmart as they will rely on the phone to bring back customers to shop at the store. I also bet the phone is loaded with some Walmart app or some such.

[Guest]

Literally the first thing that came to mind.

 

I'm still using an I-Phone 4s because i prefer smaller phones.

If i could i'd go back to a sweet flip phone in a heartbeat.

There are Android flip phones you know

[Memories4K]

There are Android flip phones you know

Are you for real? No way, that's awesome. I'm all over that fam.

[LAwLz]

It doesn't cost just $45 to get made. They don't just send mock-ups to their manufacturers to make the phone. They have to do actual work in their R&D to get prototypes made, then decide on a final product, which costs a shit ton of money that they need to make back, as well as their "Apple" premium markup. IT's way more complicated than that, but tl;dr no it doesn't just cost $45 to make.

Calm down dude. He said 45 dollars to manufacture, not 45 dollars to develop.

Besides, it's not Apple that developers the screens. They buy the displays straight from companies like LG. Apple have used some custom sensors which they probably funded the R&D for, but for displays I am fairly sure LG just does the R&D by themselves (because they are a display manufacturer) and then sell a finished panel to Apple.

[Guest]

Are you for real? No way, that's awesome. I'm all over that fam.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/29/samsung-galaxy-folder-android/

 

Not here however. But you could import I guess?