{"id":65924,"date":"2024-09-17T18:13:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T10:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/?p=65924"},"modified":"2024-09-18T10:59:16","modified_gmt":"2024-09-18T02:59:16","slug":"itel-a80-how-to-get-4gb-128gb-for-less-than-php4000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/2024\/09\/17\/itel-a80-how-to-get-4gb-128gb-for-less-than-php4000\/","title":{"rendered":"itel A80: How to get 4GB\/128Gb for less than PhP4,000"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Yep, you can still count the so-called \u201cleaders\u201d in the smartphone market in one hand; these are the big brands that release overpriced \u201cflagship\u201d units every year, forcing buyers (and cultists) to \u201csupport\u201d them every year even if we\u2019re actually just given token \u201cchanges\u201d that, definitely, do not enough to justify the gargantuan prices.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is definitely why newer players are making waves in the market, offering products with (some) flagship features sold for non-flagship prices. Note that comparing 2022 and 2023 (YOY)<\/a>, Apple only grew by 2%, but Honor experienced a 27% growth, Xiaomi by 23%. In a gist: there is room for more players with better offerings at much, much lower prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter itel, particularly its follow-up to the P65: itel A80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it\u2019s a budget phone; but to start, let\u2019s highlight its selling price, PhP3,999, and always remember this when looking at key features of this unit.<\/p>\n\n\n

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INITIAL IMPRESSIONS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Opening the white box with that itel logo contained in a speech bubble, you get the unit itself, a plastic case (which has a print of the magnetic ring at the back even if this phone isn\u2019t compatible with wireless charging), SIM card ejector, Type C charging cable, and wall charger\/adapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A80 is light (undisclosed weight, but 8.5 mm thickness). So for those who associate \u201cpremium quality\u201d with weight (like in the earlier days of iPhone), this doesn\u2019t feel that. But for those who know how tedious taking pics can get when you use just one hand when you use heavier phones, then\u2026 this one ought to please you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No buttons at the top part; you get the a MicroSD card slot at the left; the volume bar + power button (which is also the side-mounted fingerprint scanner) at the right; and the charging port + sound jack + speakers at the bottom part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the glass-like back, you get the 50 MP, AI camera with autofocus; and at the front, the 8-megapixel selfie camera (via the punch-hole cam).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yeah: there are two A80 colors, and there are different texture patterns depending on the color.<\/p>\n\n\n

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WHAT\u2019S INSIDE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Setting up the A80 took over 2 minutes for me, which is \u2013 to be frank \u2013 a long time these days (hey, an unpaid IG or Twitter\/X reel only lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds). But once you\u2019re in \u2013 in a manner of speaking \u2013 the very first thing you\u2019d notice is 720 x 1600 resolution. And not because it\u2019s bad (I was expecting pixels all over), but because it\u2019s surprisingly crisp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a 120hz touch sampling rate and 500nits of brightness (said to be for a better display experience), A80 doesn\u2019t strain the eyes even when checked outdoors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A80 uses the Unisoc T603 octa-core processor, and itel OS 14 (Android 14) OS. An observation, if you will: there are times when there\u2019s a seeming \u201clag\u201d when you use the phone \u2013 e.g. when I opened Google, for instance, there\u2019s this nanosecond lag. Nanosecond is nothing, you say, and this is true; but I noticed it all the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 6.7-inch HD+ IPS LCD is\u2026 just right, basically the same size as flagship phones out there. Note, though, that it (only) has a 90% screen to body ratio, so you\u2019d notice the bezel (particularly at the bottom), even if it\u2019s easily forgotten the moment you start using the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n

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THE CAMS, THE CAMS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A pleasant surprise for me were the cams. This is due to two things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One: when you open the A80\u2019s cam, you won\u2019t necessarily be impressed. It has the usual features you could say you\u2019d find in other units with the same price tag \u2013 e.g. 2x zoom, special filters out of the box, et cetera<\/em>. Heck, even what you see on-cam while you\u2019re shooting is not exactly impressive; images that you are about to take tend to appear dark and muddy and undefined and\u2026 you get the point. So you actually catch yourself thinking you need to lower your expectations because this is a PhP3,999 phone after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second: But then you see what you shot\u2026 and then you\u2019re surprised. While not true-to-life, the photos were actually crisp, able to capture the colors properly. Yep, the zooming is a limitation, but if you\u2019re just into \u201cnormal\u201d shots, this is actually\u2026 not bad.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The selfie cam is similar to many phones that target the socmed-crazy; that is, it \u201cchecks\u201d if you\u2019re in a dark(er) area and auto-adjusts the lighting. Meaning, you\u2019re always well-lit, and yep, fresh-looking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TAKE NOTE OF THAT BATTERY LIFE<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The A80 has a 5000mAh battery (with USB-C charging), and yes, this is more than enough to last you a day (if using extensively) or even more (if on standby, perhaps as your second phone). Even while touring parts of Europe where there were charging outlets even when catching public transportation, you are bound to run out of juice\u2026 almost always. So having more juice to start with is always a big plus, and here, A80 delivers.<\/p>\n\n\n

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IN THE END\u2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For those looking for an under-PhP4,000 price tag phone with not-too-shabby features, then consider A80. Here, you get a 6.7-inch HD+ screen that guarantees a surprisingly not bad screen; Unisoc T603 octa-core processor that allows you to do more than one task without experiencing pronounced lag; and a long-ish battery life. It doesn\u2019t hurt that \u2013 even if it doesn\u2019t feel \u201cpremium\u201d \u2013 A80 doesn\u2019t look bad, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long live affordable phones, indeed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ITEL A80 SPECS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BATTERY CAPACITY: 5,000mAh battery
CHARGE: 10W Type-C
PROCESSOR: UNISOC T603Octa-core
DISPLAY: 6.7-inch HD+ (1600 x 720) IPS LCD
O.S.: itel OS 14 (Android 14)
RESOLUTION: 720 x 1600
FRONT CAMERA: 8 MP
PRIMARY CAMERA: 50 MP
NETWORK: 4G\/3G\/2G<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those looking for an under-PhP4,000 price tag phone with not-too-shabby features, then consider A80.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":65925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[7577,4866,7230,96,2727,1656],"class_list":["post-65924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-itel","tag-smart-phone","tag-smart-phones","tag-technology","tag-technology-adaption","tag-technology-investment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.upgrademag.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}