The Comio S1 Lite has launched alongside the Comio C2 Lite a while ago, and these devices are cut down versions of their siblings, the Comio S1 and Comio C2 which have been available or quite sometime now. The device pack decent specifications for the price that they are offered at including a few software features that are absent in other devices of the same segment. The Comio C2 Lite is slightly cheaper and is more selfie oriented while the Comio S1 Lite puts the primary focus on overall usability and performance without sacrificing any of the necessities.
Display
The Comio S1 Lite comes with a 5-inch HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720, the aspect ratio on the device is 16:9, this has recently become a matter of discussion as more budget-oriented phones adopt the new, modern 18:9 aspect ratio which helps the manufacturer offer thinner bezels. The panel is an IPS panel with M Wall glass protection that helps it endure drops.
The display on the device is just about average, while the viewing angles suffered a little while shifting the position of the device, the color reproduction on the device was not something we could complain about. The sharpness wasn’t the best as the resolution was pretty low and outdated, but honestly, we couldn’t expect more for the price. The saturation levels were a little low and the images appeared a little brighter in some instances that made gave a washed-out effect. The brightness levels were enough for the device to be used in outdoors, it might become necessary to max out the brightness of the display to be conveniently visible in outdoors.
Design
Despite the plastic build of the smartphone, the device doesn’t feel very cheap to hold in the hand. The plastic body of the Comio S1 Lite is covered in matte black that supplements the looks and makes it look a little more premium than it actually is. The device comes with Goldish color accents all over buttons which is unseen in any device pertaining to this price segment.
Although there is a camera bump on the back, the device doesn’t wobble much when placed on a table and stays still, the camera bump is again highlighted with the Goldish accent that compliments the design. There is no fingerprint scanner on the device and you will have to use a passcode or a pattern to secure the device. The power button is on the right and comes with a textured design along with the gold accent while the volume rocker to the left retains the smooth feedback with gold accents. We have the micro USB port on the bottom of the device which has a speaker grill and a microphone grill on either side while the earphone jack is on the top of the smartphone.
Specifications
The Comio S1 Lite is powered by a 1.3 GHz MediaTek processor, the MTK 6737 is not the most powerful processor that the chip manufacturer has to offer but gets the job done in most instances. The RAM on the device is 2GB and the internal storage is capped at 32GB which can further be expanded to up to 128GB via a microSD card. The device comfortably handles most of the daily tasks without any issues and we could use the common apps including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Chrome browser without any issues. Even basic games can run on low settings on the device without any lag or delay being noticed. However, the performance starts to get throttled when we put more load on the device by running graphics intensive games or heavy apps like Snapchat. The Snapchat app experienced slight delays when we started using the filters which were the only noticeable issue we faced with the Comio S1 Lite.
Software
The Comio S1 Lite runs on the Comio UI that is based on Android 7.0 Nougat, this software has been heavily modified to offer more features to the users and make the common features more accessible. The Comio UI is highly modified, the experience might look very unfamiliar to someone who has never used the skin before, there is an app drawer which is a bonus, but the app drawer comes with a completely new design. Everything in the software, from the Quick settings in the navigation bar to the Settings app, have been skinned to a completely different design. The software also comes with additional features such as the Anti-theft feature that can come very handy in case you lose the smartphone. The software on the Comio S1 Lite does come with minimal bloat including apps like Xender, 360 Security, and their Venus browser.
Camera
The Comio S1 Lite comes with a 13MP camera on the rear which comes with a 5P lens and a f/2.0 aperture. The rear camera also comes with dual LED flash that helps in low light photography without disturbing the colors and adding more natural light to the object. The front camera on the device is an 8MP camera with a 4P lens and a f/2.2 aperture, even the front camera comes with a single LED flash that is very effective when we have to take selfies in low light conditions.
The camera app comes with additional features such as the beauty mode which adds a very unrealistic effect to the face even on the lowest setting for beauty mode. There is a noticeable shutter lag on pressing the capture button in the camera app but the overall images are decent. The sharpness of the images captured is decent and the color accuracy is very well retained. The front flash is very subtle and doesn’t hurt the eye while being used.
Battery
The Comio S1 Lite comes with a 3050mAh battery, this is a pretty big battery considering the moderate specifications that the device comes with. The low-resolution display is easily powered by the battery endure over a day full of moderate usage. We could pull in about one and a half day worth of usage while we tested the device as a secondary device with slightly lower usage. The battery optimizations in the customized software can help the device preserve some of its power in certain situations, the device, however, gets hot on intensive usage and that’s when we could notice a considerable drop in battery life.
Conclusion
The device is pretty good overall and offers some decent specifications at a low cost. However, the market is extremely saturated in the price segment that the device is offering to compete and we certainly have better value options available from Xiaomi and 10.or. Also, the Xiaomi Redmi 5 is just launched, but then, the availability is a big problem with the Xiaomi smartphones and with the Comio smartphones being available officially in the offline markets, it takes away a big pain that users have while trying to buy a phone.
The Comio S1 Lite is a decent bet for the price it is being offered at, and it has a different take on the design aspect.
Decent phone, like the simple design ✌️
a great budget device!! #Honor9LiteGiveaway #GizmoArmy
A well balanced low end budget smartphone with decent looks.
#GizmoArmy #Honor9LiteGiveaway