itel is well known in Nigeria for providing budget-friendly smartphones that offer great value without compromising on features. Their latest device, the itel A50, carries on this tradition and looks well positioned to be a top seller in the competitive Nigerian market.
Design and Build Quality
Available in stylish Ocean Blue and Ice Blue color variants, the itel A50 sports a compact yet comfortable form factor. Measuring 165.7 x 76.3 x 8.8mm and weighing 198g, it fits easily in the palm thanks to rounded corners and a smooth finish on the back. The front is dominated by a 6.6-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen with thin bezels on the sides for an immersive viewing experience.
Build quality seems solid for the price, with no noticeable gaps or creaks. The back panel and frame are made of plastic but don’t feel too cheap to hold. Overall, itel has achieved a well-balanced design that is appealing without being flashy.
Display
The 6.6-inch screen on the A50 has an HD+ resolution of 720 x 1600 pixels. Text and images look reasonably crisp, while videos and games display brightly. Itel has also included scratch protection to safeguard the display from daily wear and tear.
Touch response is swift without any lag. The screen gets decently bright outdoors too. At this price point in Nigeria, the A50’s display competently handles all general usage from browsing to multimedia consumption.
Hardware and Performance
Under the hood, the itel A50 relies on a MediaTek Helio A22 quad-core processor clocked at 2GHz along with 3GB RAM. This drives the phone smoothly through routine tasks without any stuttering. Loading social media feeds and browsing the web is slick.
Storage-wise, there is 32GB of built-in memory that can be expanded by up to 256GB via a dedicated microSD slot. Android 11 Go Edition handles multitasking efficiently while staying light on resources. Even playing graphics-intensive games like PUBG was fairly manageable at low settings.
The side-mounted fingerprint reader unlocks instantly. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS and a 3.5mm headphone jack. In terms of performance, the A50 delivers well above what many may expect at this 7,999 Naira price point in Nigeria.
Cameras
For photography tasks, the dual rear camera system of the itel A50 consists of an 8MP primary sensor and a secondary AI lens. Selfies are managed by a 5MP front-facing shooter.
Daylight shots show accurate colors with good details, while portraits come out naturally blurred in the background. Night snaps understandably have noise. Video recording caps out at 1080p30fps.
Overall, photographic abilities may not beat higher-end phones but serve adequately for casual clicks to share on social media platforms. A single LED flash also helps in low-light environments.
Battery Life
One area where the itel A50 truly delivers maximum value is its battery capacity. It packs a massive 5,000mAh unit that easily lasts over two days of regular use on a single charge.
Even with more intensive usage involving photography, gaming, streaming music, and videos regularly, the phone went past a full day before needing to charge. Itel bundles a 10W charger that takes around 3 hours for a full refill while supporting 18W fast charging is also compatible.
Software and Features
The A50 runs on Android 11 (Go edition) out of the box which has a clean interface optimized for low-end hardware. Preloaded apps include Google Duo and Candy Crush Friends Saga. Safety features like face unlock, fingerprint sensor, app lock and more are all present.
Other notable specs are 4G VoLTE calling, Wi-Fi, GPS, OTG functionality, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. itel also provides a one-year warranty and service support across Nigeria to ensure customer satisfaction.
Verdict
At 117,999 Naira, the itel A50 is hard to fault given the immense value on offer. Be it design, display, capable performance, extended battery life, storage expandability or basic user-centric features – it ticks all the right boxes for competence on a budget.
While cameras could be improved, they still take good-quality shots for casual sharing. Overall as an entry-level smartphone for Nigerian customers who prioritize dependable everyday usage over unnecessary frills, the A50 emerges as a very strong contender to consider.