Earlier this month, Hong Kong based smartphone vendor Zuri launched their range of Smartphones in East Africa.
PC Tech Magazine was able to get their hands onto the S56 which is one of their flagship devices.
Priced at UGX 620,000, the S56 has a look and feel of premium quality, and comes with a free 8GB TF Card inserted in the phone.
The Specs:
| Dimensions | 8.1 inches thickness |
| Weight | 117 g |
| Display | 5.5-inch HD IPS touchscreen display |
| Design | Plastic |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Proximity and Ambient light |
| Network Support | GSM 850/ 900/ 1800/ 1900
WCDMA 900/2100 |
| Dual SIM | Yes |
| Processor Type | 64-bit Octa-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 |
| Operating System | Android 5.1 Lollipop |
| RAM | 1 GB |
| Internal Storage | 16 GB |
| External Storage Support | Yes Up to 32GB |
| Camera Rear | 13 MP, autofocus, LED flash |
| Camera Front | 5 MP |
| Video recording | Yes |
| FM Radio | Yes |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
| WiFi | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| GPS | Yes |
| Battery | 2,300 mAh |
Display
The 5.5 inch display, makes the S56 standout especially when it comes to watching videos or doing any activity which requires a large screen. It has a screen resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels IPS display.
The Display features an Accelerometer, Proximity and Ambient light sensors.
Camera
The Primary camera is 13MP and comes with inbuilt autofocus and LED flash it a must have for the phot moments. The front camera is 5.0MP which is equally good..
Processor, Memory & Storage
The S56 houses 64-bit Octa-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A53 processor, 16GB Internal storage and 1GB Ram.
From our test drive the 1GB Ram does not match up to the processing power of the S56, probably a 2GB RAM would have increased the performance. The S56 also has an expandable storage of up to 32GB, meaning you don’t need to delete those precious moments before you can capture new ones.
It has dual Sim support meaning you can have two different network Sims at the same time.
Pros
- Great Design
- 5 inch screen comes in handy when you want to watch movies.
- The 2300mAh battery can take last you the entire day on a single charge.
- Dual SIM support.
- Expandable memory of up to 32GB.
Cons
- The price of UGX 620,000 is high, considering there are cheaper devices with equally matching specs.
- No LTE support.
- Slow response of the Camera Auto Focus
Overall User Experience
We found the overall user experience to be average, but apps started closing often when we run them concurrently, which is most likely because of the 1GB RAM.
The response time of the Auto focus feature was low requiring one to wait longer.
The S56 will have to get a unique offering if they are to match up against already existing competition.
Price/Availability
You can own the ZURI S56 at UGX 620,000.
It is available at Simba Telecom outlets, Go Phones, Gadget Phones, and Africell Shops. When you buy it from the Africell Shops, it comes with 750MB plus a free Sim Card.
