#253 Intex Cloud X3 model first look

The screen of the Cloud X3 is bad enough to be a deal-breaker for many people. It has atrocious viewing angles, which make you have to hold it a certain way to get usable images, let alone true colours. It also has low sunlight legibility and the screen is quite a fingerprint magnet. I understand, with budget phones, you have to be willing to make compromises, like the missing 3G. The Cloud X3's screen, however, literally asks you to look the other way.

In daily usage, the phone was a surprisingly decent performer. It smoothly handled the basic tasks you would need from a smartphone: calls, text messages, email, Whatsapp, internet browsing, social networking, a few games and apps. It can't run something like an Asphalt 7 or NOVA smoothly, but the usual suspects like Angry Birds, Temple Run and Cut the Rope ran fine after the long wait for them to load.

Ah yes, the low RAM does cause a bottleneck quickly. If you have a game or a resource-intense app like Google Chrome running in the background, the X3 will take its own sweet time in obeying your commands. It's advisable to close apps when you can  but that kind of ruins the whole point of Android's multi-tasking system, if you ask me.

Still, the overall Android experience is smooth. The lack of skinning means Jelly Bean can be customized how you like it. But Jelly Bean also does not allow users to directly install apps from the Play Store to their memory card  a huge problem for a phone with limited internal memory, and the X3's biggest downfall, in my opinion.
But while I'm picking on instances that are wrong with the Intex Cloud X3, the overall experience isn't half bad for that price.

The battery life of the Cloud X3 is stellar. I really didn't expect it to do so well because Android smartphones have a reputation for guzzling up battery life. Perhaps it's the lack of a 3G chip that does the trick for the X3, but it lasted 22 hours of heavy usage, and easily went beyond 2 days without a charge on average usage. It rivals or beats even non-smart phones like the Nokia Asha 501. If you are looking for a second phone that syncs with your primary Android and offers insane battery life, then meet your perfect mate.