Zen Ultrafone 701 HD is a good alternative to Micromax A116. It is powered by quad core processor and sports a 5 inch HD screen with 8MP rear camera and a 3.2MP front camera. The handset is priced at Rs. 11,999.

Ultrafone 701 HD Box pack
Inside the unique box pack you will find the handset, power adapter, earphone, 2000 mAh battery, USB data cable, user manual, warranty card / service center list, an extra back cover and a free flip cover.

Design, Display and OS
The design looks identical to the MMX A116 but A116 is slimmer towards the edges. The 701HD I think weighs around 156 grams and thickness is 11mm. There is an extra back cover, in all you get black and off-white color option and a flip cover that makes it a little more attractive.

The IPS screen is 5 inches with resolution (HD) 1280×720 pixels (293.72 ppi). The viewing angle is good. There are light, proximity and accelerometer sensors. There is no magnetic sensor. Colour reproduction is better on Ultrafone 701 as compared with A116. There is LED notification.

This 701 HD handset runs on the Android 4.2 OS.

Zen Ultrafone 701 HD box pack

Memory and Storage
This dual SIM / Dual standby handset comes with 1GB RAM of which 633MB is free. Of 4GB internal storage 0.98 is allocated for apps (free = 780MB) and phone storage is 1.74GB (free = 1.65GB). You can install / move apps to external storage (max 32GB microSD card) which is a plus point as this option was not available on the MMX A116.

Ultrafone 701 HD review

Performance and Benchmark
Zen Ultrafone is powered by MT6589 MediaTek processor clocked at 1.2GHz with PowerVR SGX 544MP GPU. The benchmark scores are as follows.

Benchmark scores

  • Quadrant Benchmark : 4120.
  • Anututu Benchmark : 13202
  • Nenamark2 : 44.9fps.
  • Linpack : single 36, multi 107.
  • Multi Touch : 5 point.

8MP AF Camera with BSI sensor
The still capture and the video output is good. You can check the sample images / videos. It is auto focus camera with BSI Sensor and with LED flash support. Front camera is of 3.2 MP resolutions. The 701 HD can record 1080p videos at 30fps.

8MP camera on Ultrafone 701 HD

Entertainment
The handset can play 1080p and can also record 1080p videos. The sound is loud and clear.

Others
I got the GPS lock in less than 10 seconds. For first time make sure to enable 3G, go to GPS settings and enable EPO / enable EPO Auto download and also enable A-GPS. You can use this process on any android handset that supports A-GPS; this will ensure a faster lock within seconds.

The incall sound is good and clear. I did not face any issues. I tried Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth all of which worked without any problems.

Battery
The 2000 mAh battery lasted for over a day as per my usage.

Zen Ultrafone 701 HD review
This is a very good option to the Micromax A116 which is selling for approx Rs. 14,000. The 701 HD also beats the Xolo Q800 that now comes with MT6589M processor (downgraded). For Rs. 11,999 this is best quad core option, for now, that comes with extra cover and a free flip cover.

Image Gallery

Sample images

Zen Ultrafone 701 HD unboxing and review video

1080p video shot using the Zen 701 HD handset

Nova 3 on Zen 701 HD handset

 

By Rajeev Rana

Founder and Chief Editor - gogi.in