BQ Balance is impressive with its autonomy - this gadget can live without recharging 3-4 days.
At the end of May, the company BQ introduced a smartphone, which, apparently, is ready to "take over the relay" at the Advance and Strike Power Max models known to their impressive autonomy. BQ-5206L BALANCE is equipped with a battery capacity of 5,000 mAh - it is the ability for a long time to do without a socket called the key advantage of the device. But how is it doing with other functional? Our review will answer this question.
Specifications
- Materials: Plastic, Glass
- Operating system: Android Nougat
- Processor: 4-nuclear MediaTek MT6737V, clock frequency up to 1.25 GHz
- Operational / user memory: 2 GB / 16 GB (free 9. 6 GB )
- Slot for memory cards : is, maximum volume 64 GB
- Display: 5.2 inches, resolution 1280 × 720 [4. 6]
- Main Camera: 8 MPIX (Interpolation up to 13 MPIX)
- Front Camera: 5 MPIX (Interpolation up to 8 megapix)
- Fingerprint Scanner : No
- NAVIGATION: GPS
- Wireless modules: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi 2.4 GHz
- Battery: 5000 mAh
- Dimensions: 74 × 149.5 × 9.9 mm
- Weight: 176 grams
Equipment and design
BQ Balance came to us in a rectangular cardboard red and white box. Inside the package, in addition to the smartphone itself, we found:
- 5 volt power supply.
- MicroUSB cable.
- User Guide and Warranty Cover.
- coupon, giving the right to a 20% discount on accessories in the BQ brand store.
- Clip for seizure tray on SIM.
Yes, you can't do without a paper clip - Balance can't be disassembled, the back cover can't be removed. Moreover, there is a sticker on the back with a stern warning that you should never try to remove the battery yourself. The manual says that an attempt to "open" the smartphone leads to the loss of the manufacturer's warranty.
The SIM card slot is located on the left side of the device. It is combined, so if you install a flash drive, one of the SIMs will have to be “sacrificed”. Card size is nano.
Apart from the SIM tray, there is nothing on the left. On the right are the mechanical buttons - the volume rocker and the power button. At the top, there is only a standard headphone jack. On the bottom there is a charging connector and symmetrical perforations: the right one is a speaker, the left one is a microphone.
The design of the BQ-5206L smartphone is certainly not extraordinary, but it is not repulsive. The case is a bit thick (almost 10 mm) due to the capacious battery, but this seems to be a “justified sacrifice”. In general, the smartphone, made in the spirit of minimalism, looks very neat and tidy.
Display
Smartphone B-Q Balance did not touch the hysteria with displays 18: 9. Here is a screen with an aspect ratio of 16:9, made using Full Lamination technology. There are no air gaps between the display components (glass and films). In theory, this should mean juicy saturated colors of the image on the screen and maximum viewing angles. But what about in practice?
The screen of the smartphone looks hazy out of the box - which is especially noticeable when using the device on street. But eliminating this effect turned out to be surprisingly simple. The gadget is equipped with the MiraVision function, which allows you to adjust the sharpness, contrast, saturation and other image parameters on the display. Any user can configure the image "for itself."
As for the viewing angles, this criterion for the smartphone really no complaints arose. The contents of the screen remains distinguishable as the device is neither tilting.
Performance and operating system
on Balance is android 7.0 without branded firmware - as on many other BQ phones. Upgrading to more modern versions is not provided, but this user of the smartphone is hardly wicked - with the "seven" device works smartly and without failures.
The amount of memory to the number of pluses of the smartphone will not be possible - and it usually concerns RAM and ROM. The fact that the Balance has only 16 GB of user memory - the trouble is small. You can fix, putting a flash drive - the gadget reads microSD to 64 GB. "RAM", alas, you will not expand. The user will have to "accept" with 2 GB RAM - that is, in fact, with a lack of opportunity to work with resource-sensitive programs and enjoy 3D games.
However, we will not forget that the price segment of Balance refers. The smartphone, which, at such a cost, demonstrates the wonders of performance - is something from the genre of utopia.
Cameras
Both Balance smartphone cameras are able to do surprisingly decent images. This is especially true of the front, which is equipped with an outbreak and branded beauty, " Beautiful face."
Among the advantages of the main chamber can be attributed a huge number of shooting modes (fashionable bokeh mode among them), support for a powerful post editor, as well as smart autofocus.
Gadget is capable Remove rollers with resolution up to 1280 × 720 (HD). By the way, we recommend to include stabilization before shooting (through settings) - then the video will be smoother.
Audio
The BQ Balance smartphone is provided with a software amplifier called “ Audio Enhancer ”. You can activate it through the sound settings.
However, you should not expect a big “profit” from the amplifier. And it’s not at all that “ Audio Enhancer ” does not cope with the duties assigned to it - it’s just that the smartphone itself sounds quite loud.
There is no sound amplifier in the headphones on the gadget, but this did not upset us at all, since “ BesAudEnh ”, the tool that BQ prefers to use for this purpose, makes the sound “on amateur "- as a rule, too" tall.
Autonomy
Finally, “dessert” is a BQ-5206L Balance battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh. For clarity, we made a table from which it is clear how long a gadget can actually “live” without recharging:
| Mode (short description) | Runtime |
| Passive (picked up the phone a couple of times a day, the rest of the time the smartphone was idle) | 4-5 days |
| Active (smartphone is used for 2-3 long calls per day, as well as for Internet surfing (3-4 hours)) | 2-2.5 days |
| Hyperactive (smartphone is not released from the hands, used to watch videos, constantly connected to Wi-Fi) | 14-15 hours |
Unfortunately, Balance does not support fast charging - it takes about 3 hours to fill the battery up to 100%. But in the list of functions of the device there is OTG - which means that the owner of the BQ-5206L will be able to save a friend by recharging his smartphone from his own.
Conclusion
BQ likes to give its smartphones "speaking" names - and, as a rule, "hits the mark." Model 5206L looks exactly balanced: there are no amazing features and innovations, but there are no glaring shortcomings either. The smartphone adequately copes with everyday tasks - and, obviously, this is exactly what a person expects from a device that he purchased for 8,290 rubles.
