Here is the review of Karbonn A30 the big smartphone sporting a 5.9 inch screen with dual core processor, sailing on the ICS OS. The handset is now priced at under Rs. 11,500.
A30 Box pack
The box though looks compact, but when you unbox it the first thing you see is the A30 wrapped inside the complementary leather cover. It does feel good. Inside the box you will find the handset, earphone, USB to Micro USB cable, power adapter, 2500 mAh battery and user manual / warranty & service center list.
You get a complementary leather cover that is attached to the back cover so do not try to remove it. If you already did don’t worry use a glue to stick it back. There is a spare back cover in case you are not happy with the leather cover or want a change for the time being.
Design
The handset is big, really big, the screen is 1 inch smaller than a traditional 7 inch tablet. The handset weighs around 260 grams. I checked the A30 with Wammy Desire and found the Desire to be lighter. Karbonn A30 is 10mm thick but cause of the leather cover you will not feel the size. I would say Karbonn did a good job by proving a free leather cover cause without it the excitement would have lost.
There are 4 touch sensitive buttons on the front, power button on right, volume rockers on left, 3.5 mm jack on top and micro USB port and mic at the bottom.
Karbonn A30 review
Display
It’s huge at 5.9 inches with capacitive touch and 800×480 pixels resolution. You may think the resolution is too much for the 5.9 inch screen, well we have seen the same on 7 inch tablet. Yes it is not that sharp as you would have seen on a smaller screen for example on Micromax A110 with same resolution on a 5 inch display.
However Karbonn has used a good theme and big fonts/icons to fill in the gap between resolution and size. And it really did work to some extent. There is gesture control app that makes use of the front camera.
CPU, GPU, Memory and storage
The Dual core MT6577 @ 1GHz + the PowerVR SGX 531 GPU runs the show. The RAM is 512MB of which you get around 234MB fee. Of the 4GB internal storage you get around 2GB free. The MT6577 hardware is impressive and as for performance, we have already seen that on A110.
Benchmark Scores
- Quadrant Benchmark Score : 2801.
- Antutu Benchmark Score : 7120, 2nd time – 7250.
- Nenamark 2 : 27.6 fps.
- Linpack : Single : 39, Multi thread : 56.
- MultiTouch : 5 Point.
Camera and Video recording
The 8 MP camera does shoot impressive still photos, the LED is no good. The camera is best for outdoor photography. I found the auto focusing / touch focus better than on A110. The camera default settings are perfect and you can start clicking perfect pictures without changing any settings.
You can record 720p videos check the sample at the end of the article. The box pack says you can play 1080p movies, however I tried it and it does not work. It fact it seems the MT6577 cannot play 1080p movies.
Entertainment
The dual speaker does an excellent job. The sound output is excellent; you will notice the difference immediately. It is a delight watching movies on 5.9 inch with dual speakers.
Others
There is G-Sensor and proximity sensor, there is no light and magnetic sensor. There is built in GPS that works well. It could take few minutes to get that fist lock.
There is the video call button in the phone dialer. The dialer looks different with a new skin (check the video review). I found the in call speaker volume lower than what I have experienced on the MMX A110. There is 3G/2G support via SIM 1 and 2G via SIM 2. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth worked well.
Battery
A big size phone will need a bigger battery and the 2500 mAh should be sufficient to get it going for a full day.
Who should buy this Phone?
Those looking for a tablet with all of the features that a smartphone has can opt for this one. It is with MT6577 processor and PowerVR SGX 531 GPU which is not as powerful as the Mali 400 GPU. But you get the smartphone features and nearly the tab size screen (1 inch smaller as compared with 7 inch tabs).
Karbonn A30 is big, good for those who would want to use it more for surfing, entertainment and less for voice calls. Also note the A30 does not fit in the pockets and you will be carrying it most of the time. A price of under Rs. 11K would have been perfect, still it is a good buy if size does not matter.
Image Gallery
Karbonn A30 unboxing and review video
720p sample video shot using Karbonn A30
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Please tell me how to update the software to jelly bean. Also to update the system of Karbon A30.
hi sir plz tell me about the camera Clarity of A30 i heared that camera clarity is not good ..
Hi please check the sample images.
Gogi Sir, Please tell me How can I update my Karbonn A30 to jelly bean plz sir help me plz
Sir ,
In the last comment you mentioned that in A30 we could install apps in
external SD Card . I own this phone since a month now and could not
find any means to install apps on the external card …
I put in a external card of 8GB BH the apps could not be transferred
to this card nor they could be installed on the card ….The apps
could only be installed in the two inbuilt memories which are 2.05 GB
and 500MB …..When we select proffered install location , there are
only two locations phone storage (2.05gb) and internal storage (500mb)
…There was no option of installation on external card ..
I want to ask you that , is it really possible to install apps on
external SD Card … If yes then how ..??
Sir kindly reply to this as soon as possible …
Root the device
Sir ,
In the last comment you mentioned that in A30 we could install apps in external SD Card . I own this phone since a month now and could not find any means to install apps on the external card …
I put in a external card of 8GB BH the apps could not be transferred to this card nor they could be installed on the card ….The apps could only be installed in the two inbuilt memories which are 2.05 GB and 500MB …..When we select proffered install location , there are only two locations phone storage (2.05gb) and internal storage (500mb) …There was no option of installation on external card ..
I want to ask you that , is it really possible to install apps on external SD Card … If yes then how ..??
Sir kindly reply to this as soon as possible …
Gogi sir I have watched most of your videos and a big fan of yours . I want to know whether I should buy this phone or karbonn titanium s1 as I am getting free 6 months data usage on both these phones and I want phones mostly to play games and good quality camera with call facility
hi
m using karbonn a30 from last 1 month amazing phone it is.
gogi I have doubt
1. can I update a30 ics to jelly bean?
2. can I use OTG cable to connect my pendrive?
pls help me out
thanks
Sir, in near future
which smart phones will come with best features,latest android version,improvement of ram with affordable price
gogi sir please tell me if i should buy from the indian brand. because they are offering nice features at lowest prices…but i recently saw some extremely bad reviews about micromax a110. and both karbonn and micromax are indian. so is it worth buying the karbonn a30 or it will showcase problems frequently?
thanks in advance
Plz reply gogi will a 32 gb memory card work on karbonn a30 without hanging.
gogi ji… i have bought Karbonn one week back and this is the second time iam experiencing this problem. my motion sensor/orientation sensor stops working. i took it to the service centre and they have updated my software. But of no use.. as the problem has reoccured.. Please suggest me what to do..
Aamir, there seems hardware issue ask them to repair.
Bhai ji mujhe A30 best hai ya mx110 please mujh bhi bata do mujhe 3G mail or HD video. Bs
Dear Sir, How can i move application to sd card in karbon a30, because in setting the set never show any option for sd card. just show to internal memory or phone memory.
Is Karbonn A30, OTG compatible, How to connect a pendrive with It.
Gogi Sir , Have u olayed youtube videos on this phone ? How Was the experience ? Did the Phone Hang or LAG while using APPS ? Please reply soon as soon as possible as i am also planning to buy this phone ..
It was smooth, works best with 3G.
Sir from the pictures of this phone or the videos on youtube , i noticed that the wallpaper which is set on the homescreen is really pathetic.. There could be blocks seen at places where those concentric rings are formed .. Though i know that this phone does not have the best in class display but that thing looks pathetic.. i wanted to know that those blocks which are present are in due to the wallpapers texture or is it the screen`s fault ?
Its the texture.
Gogi sir , how is the Brightness of the screen is it good ? Or is it Dull ?
Its good.
Thank u Gogi Sir , with the help of ur Review and tips , today i finally Bought this phone .. Seems good till Now .
Sir, the An tutu score given by u here is 7250 , but when I checked my device , it came out to be 6934 . What causes the difference between the two scores and why is my device’s score lesser than urs ?
Its good enough, the scores depend on many thing like (SIM used or not / microSD used or not) and so on.
Very Nice review , the video review is also very good .. Thanks Sir …
Hi gogi
pls tell me the type of ram of a30.is it DDR3 like swipe mtv volt???
and plz give benchmarks score for mtv volt
hii gogi its just 1 question which is better a30 or iball andi 4.5h coz andi has 1gb ram on board with dual core processor which one is better ????
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