Karbonn Titanium S5: Should You Buy It?

We lately purchased two units of Karbonn Titanium S5 smartphone. It’s a great looking phone available at a reasonable price. A lot of people keep asking whether they should purchase this phone or some model of Micromax Canvas. So, we decided to do a review of Karbonn Titanium S5. This review is based on our personal experiences and a gist of opinions gathered from Internet fora.

All in all, we think Karbonn Titanium S5 is a bad buy. Some people have reported a few nagging problems. We are beginning with the problems and then we will tell you what’s good about this mobile phone.

WhatsApp does not Work

When you install WhatsApp on Karbonn Titanium S5, it begins to behave strangely. It messes up the contact book. If you are getting from a person A, phone will tell you the B is calling. This creates a total confusion! The problem and phonebook gets  out of the problem when you uninstall WhatsApp.

Low Volume

This mobile phone has low sound volume and even at the highest level of volume –sometimes you would find yourself pressing the device against your ear in order to listening clearly. The sound although is not VERY low but in noisy environments it may be hard to talk on phone.

Speaker is at the Bottom

Speaker is located at the bottom side of the device. So, when you put it on a table, sofa, bed or any other surface –phone ring gets muffled (ringtone volume reduction is somewhat like 50% of what you get to hear when phone is in your hand.)

Customer Service Quality

Most of the users have reported in the online fora that Karbonn’s customer service centers take a lot of time to respond to calls/emails of customers who face problems with their handset.

Device Heats-up

Users have reported so and also one of our own handset heated up while charging. We returned the faulty unit and promptly got a replacement from the online store we had purchased the device from. Some users reported that the back panel of Karbonn Titanium S5 also heats-up significantly during long calls and Internet surfing.

Frequent Restart

One of our units restarts frequently. Restart happens quite randomly and we are not able to ascertain as to which applications may be causing it.

Touch Panel Problem

When we press the back button on one of our Karbonn Titanium S5 mobile phone, it sometimes activates the bottom-right corner key of on-screen keyboard.

Android is not Upgradable

Phone comes with the latest JellyBean version of Android operating system. But operating system in this phone is not upgradable.

No Secondary Mic

This means it is difficult to talk on this phone using AUX cable.

Now that we have seen problems often encountered with Karbonn Titanium S5, lets have a look on the brighter side. The phone has some great cards up its sleeve:

Price is Reasonable

On an average price of Rs. 10,000 –this smartphone is a great buy. Its memory and processor are good to carry the phone very well. For such a low price, this phone is pretty much irresistible.

Camera is Good

With 8MP camera, Karbonn Titanium S5 can take good photos. Video quality is also good enough.

Front Camera

Phone comes with a front camera to allow you to have video chat.

Latest Android

Android JellyBean, although not upgradable, works like a charm in this phone. We are however not very happy with the customization of Android by Karbonn –they could have done a better job.

Smooth Touch

Touch screen is very responsive and reacts even on the slightest of touch from your finger.

Appearance/Screen is Good

White color model of Karbonn Titanium S5 looks as good as any high end Samsung Galaxy phones.

We hope that this review will help in making up your mind on whether to buy Karbonn Titanium S5 or not. As we said in the beginning, overall and considering the low price, this phone is a good buy if you are not a very demanding customer.

OUR VERDICT:
5 out of 10. This phone is not worth giving a try.