Review: InFocus Epic 1 is Beautiful, But It is Only Skin Deep

InFocus Epic 1 has a good metal and glass body, with a decent battery life. Should you buy it? Read the review.

InFocus Epic 1 is a mid-range smartphone, but is it value for money? (Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/TheQuint)

If you have been focusing on the recent activities in the Indian smartphone market, you'd know about InFocus, the smartphone brand. If not, it's an American consumer electronics company, which has launched a range of smartphones and televisions in India.

Though they have largely targeted the budget segment with their products and pricing, InFocus Epic 1 has been launched in the mid-range. At a price of Rs 12,999, does it make for a sensible investment?

InFocus Epic 1 has an impressive battery packed inside. (Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/TheQuint)

Pros:

• Metal and glass construction
• Decent battery life
• Deca core processor

Cons:

• Slow fingerprint scanner
• The camera is disappointing

What’s Good?

InFocus Epic 1 looks and feels great. The smartphone's polished metal back gives a very premium feel. On the front is a very vivid 5.5-inch full HD display. The back is curved to help it fit into the palm for a better grip.

However, the metal-finished back and the Gorilla glass on the front makes it very prone to slippage. And you know what happens when a phone slips nowadays.

InFocus Epic 1 is good to hold, easier to slip. (Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/TheQuint)

The phone runs Android 6.1 Marshmallow, with a custom InLife UI overlaid. There's 32GB space on-board, which can be extended to 128GB. Under the hood, the phone packs quite a powerful punch with 3GB RAM paired with a 10 core processor. Must be blazing fast right? Well, sometimes yes.

Even after having such specs under the metal, there were no uncomfortable signs of heating. Maybe because of Delhi winters? Let's give this our benefit of doubt.

InFocus Epic 1 is slim, but is a technical powerhouse with a 10 core processor. (Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/TheQuint)

The 3,000 mAh battery lasts for a day of average usage, which includes music, a few videos on YouTube, social media scrolling, and constantly connected WiFi. The phone supports fast charging, pushing it from zero to full, under 2 hours.

Epic 1 has a mono speaker at the bottom. (Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/TheQuint)

What’s Bad?

The camera disappoints.This maybe because we were expecting better from this phone. A 16 megapixel snapper on the back, and an 8 megapixel selfie camera fail to bring about any magic to the photos.

The colours, in fact, look a bit washed, and the photographs grainy, when shot on Epic 1. It needs decent light for a good photo, and more such pampering.

Camera sample on Epic 1. (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

Camera sample on Epic 1 (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

Camera sample on Epic 1 (Photo: Aaqib Raza Khan/The Quint)

The fingerprint scanner is slow. You place your finger on the scanner. It scans. The screen goes blank. Stays blank. You wait. And after sometime, the home screen appears. That's it, you've unlocked your device. Cheers to patience.

Epic 1 looks beautiful with the gold finished back, but the fingerprint scanner is painfully slow. (Photo: Shiv Kumar Maurya/TheQuint)

Why Buy It?

Buy InFocus Epic 1 if you like to show-off a good looking phone. The metal and glass design does stand out, and the battery is impressive too.

But, if you want a phone which also performs exceptionally well in this budget, look for Moto G4 Plus, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 or even the Lenovo Z2 Plus. Also keep a lookout for the upcoming Xiaomi Redmi Note 4. It's an exciting space indeed.