HOMTOM S7: Getting a good smartphone doesn’t have to be expensive!
Years and years ago, owning a decent smartphone meant you literally had to break the bank to get yourself one. But recently, thanks to “budget smartphones”, smartphone users can now own as many devices as they want without breaking any financial sweat. In plain words, budget smartphones are one of the few reasons why you see at least 2 individuals in 10 owning more than one smartphone. Or perhaps they are just filthy rich!
The HOMTOM S7 is a perfect example such budget smartphone and falls under the “Under $100” category when price tag is used as subject of classification. If you are on a low budget and you want to have a feel/taste of what using an Android phone with modern day features looks like, I’ve found you the perfect smartphone; the HOMTOM S7.
Peek the basic space of the device below;
Table of Contents
HOMTOM S7 Specifications
- Dimension: 15.07 x 7.17 x 0.89 cm
- Weight: 207 grams (with battery)
- Display: 5.5 inches 1280 x 640 IPS LCD touchscreen
- Processor: 1.25GHz Quad-core MediaTek MT6737 SoC
- GPU: Mali T720
- Operating System: Android Nougat v7.0
- RAM: 3GB
- Internal memory (ROM): 32GB, expandable to 64GB
- Rear camera: Dual 13-megapixels + 2-megapixels with dual LED flash
- Front camera: 8-megapixels
- Battery: Removable 2,900mAh
- SIM number & type: Dual SIM (Nano + Nano)
- Sensors: Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Fingerprint (rear-facing)
- Colours: Black, Blue, and Silver
- Price: Rs. 6,500 ($99)
Homtom S7: Design
The body of the HOMTOM S7 is made from plastic material but it is quite tricky how the body shines and reflects light like it was made of glass. The front glows as well but made from glass. The S7 is a full view smartphone which makes the device’s front almost covered by the screen, giving more room for display.
The fingerprint scanner is in the rear at a not-too-good location. Placed beside the dual rear camera, there is a high chance that users will blur out the lenses with their finger tips while trying to unlock the device. Embedding the sensor beneath the fingerprint scanner would have been more logical.
Power/lock button and volume adjustment keys are all on the right-hand side of the S7, 3.5mm headphone jack at the top and micro USB port at the bottom.
Display
Being an 18:9 aspect ratio smartphone, the display of the HOMTOM S7 is long but sized at 5.5-inches. The screen is curved at the edges and is of HD quality (640 x 1280 pixels resolution). Sadly, there is no protection mechanism in place to guide the glass screen against shattering and easy breakage but an “external glass protector” accessory can guide the screen against breaking or cracking when it goes against hard or rocky surfaces.
Processor, OS, and Storage
In this aspect, the HOMTOM S7 isn’t much of a top player, and it is very much understandable – the device is a budget smartphone.
HOMTOM used a MediaTek MT6737 SoC which is accompanied by Cortex-A53 Quad-core CPU with a frequency of 1.25GHz on the S7. Storage-wise, there is 3GB of RAM under the hood and this is particularly impressive when the price tag of the device is taken into consideration.
In addition, there is 32GB of built-in memory available for storage needs. There is also a dedicated slot that can take up to 64GB of memory stick for expanded storage capacity. The HOMTOM S7 runs on the Android v7.0 Nougat operating system.
Camera
HOMTOM did a pretty good job with the kind of optics that was featured on the S7. On the rear, you get to enjoy the goodness of the 13-megapixels and 2-megapixels duo on your photographs. The two LED flash also help brighten up subjects and very useful for night time photography.
On the front, there is a single 5-megapixels lens in charge of selfie duties. The lens can be beefed up to 8-megapixels through software interpolation and like the rear camera, it comes with its LED flash too.
Battery
The HOMTOM S7 is powered by a 2,900mAh battery that can give up to 10 hours of talk time and 6-7 hours of web browsing time. One thing I like about the battery is that fact that it is removable/detachable – this allows for use of spare/extra battery.
Price and Availability
The device was launched with a price tag of about $120 but presently costs $99 on GearBest. You can cop a unit of the HOMTOM S7 via the button below.
BUY THE HOMTOM S7 FROM GearBest at $99