The Hisense Infinity Prime 1 (HS-U970) smartphone is billed as being able to deliver a stylish, powerful and value-based device to users. This is how the phone fares in these three categories.
Style
In the styling department, the Prime 1 is more functional looking that its competitors. The front of the phone is practically all-screen, with all inputs - USB and headphone - and the buttons strategically arranged around it and once the user is familiar to the layout, these features are accessible.
Being a new entrant to the market and a lesser known one, I'm not aware of any accessories that are available for the Prime 1. This means if you like to bling your phone with colourful, protective covers, you won't be able to.
Power
If you're buying a smartphone based only on the power of its specifications, you can find better. The specifications of the Prime 1 are good, but not great. Most similar sized opposition have faster processors, larger capacity batteries, higher resolution screens and even cameras that offer much more mega pixel.
One feature that does stand out and is worth mentioning is the dual SIM capability, and this lets users - for example - set the phone to use one SIM for calls and another for data. The savings in being able to optimise data and call rates could be significant.
A phone, or any other electronic device for that matter, is more than a sum of its specifications and it's how it actually works that really counts.
Here, I was suitably impressed with the Prime 1. It comes pre-loaded with enough apps and widgets to get you going. More importantly, using these apps was good as the Prime 1 did react quickly to inputs.
My daughter loved playing the games that were pre-loaded on to the phone and while she played, I kept a lookout for any processing glitches. The games never hung, so processing power here is more than adequate.
With lots of people using their phones to take pictures, I naturally had a look at the camera on the Prime 1. This focused and shot reasonably quickly, offered a decent array of adjustments and once said adjustments were made, offered good image quality.
On the battery power side, not having cameras with as many mega pixels as the opposition, or as fast and power hungry processors, meant that battery life was about par for a smartphone. (so daily charges would probably be the norm).
Value
There are more highly specified smartphones than the Hisense Infinity Prime 1 and certainly more stylish models that have tonnes of accessories. These all cost significantly more than the Prime 1 and unless you're a power user who really needs the speed of the latest processors, have to have long-term evolution or a camera that works in absolute darkness, you'll find that the Infinity Prime 1 offers a good balance between price, performance, features and functionality.
Conclusion
Ever since Hisense launched in SA, it has pretty much been seen as the more affordable alternative to many of its competitors. More recently, however, the company has taken the decision to be more than the poor second cousin to the likes of Apple or Samsung; it wants to be seen in the same light with regards to quality and technology as its Japanese, Korean and American counterparts.
When, for example, consumers are looking at a new TV - and Hisense has its own assembly plant for TV and other appliances in Cape Town - the company wants to be at the top of the consumers' wish list. If Hisense happens to be more affordable while offering the same feature set as the others, then that's an additional bonus.
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