The entry-level smartphone market is and so big these days that basically every visitor out there wants a piece of the sales pie. Everyone from HTC, Nokia and Samsung to Asus, Motorola and Xiaomi accept devices on sale in the $200 cost segment, some of which are decent and others which crave a bit more than polish.

1 visitor looking to increase their exposure worldwide and grab a slice of that sugariness entry-level pie is Kogan. For those of you exterior of Australia, you've probably never heard of the proper name 'Kogan'; for the Aussies reading this commodity, you'll probably exist familiar with their low-toll electronics, specifically televisions, which they sell through their online-just store.

Kogan has dabbled in the mobile phone marketplace a few times, just the Agora 4G is their get-go real button into non only the Australian market, but worldwide. The Agora 4G is bachelor from their online store in well-nigh countries around the globe, including the United States, where information technology retails for just $219. This places information technology in very close company with handsets like the 2022 Motorola Moto Chiliad, and the recently-reviewed Asus Zenfone five, admitting for a $fifty premium.

Kogan Agora 4G - $219 unlocked

  • 5.0", 1280 x 720 LCD brandish (293 ppi)
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC
  • 1.2 GHz quad-cadre CPU, Adreno 305 GPU, 1GB RAM
  • 8 GB internal storage, microSD bill of fare slot
  • 8 MP camera, i/3.2" sensor, 1080p video
  • ii,500 mAh, 9.5 Wh battery
  • LTE, Wi-Fi b/1000/n, Bluetooth four.0
  • Android 4.4 'KitKat'
  • 135 grams, 9mm thick

The Agora 4G is a Kogan-branded phone, although it's actually manufactured by BenQ'south ODM partitioning, as indicated by a small BenQ logo on the back of the handset. The phone's standout feature is its 5.0-inch 720p display, paired with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC. On the back you'll observe an eight-megapixel camera, and inside is a sizable 2,500 mAh bombardment.

The specifications of the Agora 4G are very similar to the newly-announced Motorola Moto M, which ways that execution needs to be perfect on Kogan's end to go it to compete. The Agora has a leg upward in that it supports LTE connectivity, but will that be enough for it to secure the cash from a prospective buyer?

Design-wise the Agora 4G is bland and uninspiring, offering the necessities without going overboard on style or ergonomics. The handset is a bones rounded rectangle, with glass protecting the big display on the front, inexpensive plastic around the edges, and a soft-touch removable back embrace. It'southward a basic combination that you could easily apply to whatever generic smartphone.

In amalgam this smartphone, BenQ have attempted to add together a bit flair to the blackness slab design through a few reddish highlights, which tin can be plant in both speaker grills and around the camera lens. It'due south a nice touch on, merely non enough to lift the Agora 4G into the same aesthetic category as Nokia'south entry-level devices, for example.

The build quality of the Agora 4G isn't anything to write dwelling most either: the bulk of the device is made from plastic, which is cheap and unappealing. The back encompass is a slightly different kind of plastic to the sides, coated with a material that'southward softer to touch. Information technology feels reasonable in your easily, although it has a addiction of getting easily coated with greasy fingerprints.

The back cover is removable, revealing the microSD carte slot, micro-SIM card slot, and… well… a giant slice of metal. Despite the fact the back cover can be removed, there's no removable battery to be institute, with the nine.v Wh jail cell sitting behind the slab of metallic. This is pretty disappointing to see, and makes the removable back cover well-nigh pointless.

Capacitive touch on buttons are used for the master navigation controls on the Agora 4G, with BenQ deciding to backlight them, unlike with the Asus Zenfone v. To a higher place the brandish, which occupies 66% of the front panel's surface surface area, y'all'll find a two-megapixel forepart-facing photographic camera, the in-call speaker and some sensors.

For some bizarre reason, the power button on the Agora 4G is along the tiptop edge of the handset, beside the 3.5mm headphone jack. For a 5.0-inch smartphone with a top of 143mm, the power button tin can be a tad awkward to press; I'd prefer it if it were located on the right edge, roughly where the book rocker is currently establish. In that location'southward cypher on the device's left edge, while the microUSB port is on the bottom.

Similar the design, the display isn't annihilation to write habitation about. The panel is a 5.0-inch TFT LCD with a resolution of 1280 x 720, which equates to a pixel density of 293 PPI. Just on specs you'd say this is a decent mid-range panel that is more than enough for a sub-$250 device, and in some cases this is truthful. However the use of a low-end IPS display makes its quality junior to that of its competitors.

The main issue with the Agora 4G's display is that it's not equally saturated as either the Moto K'southward or the Zenfone 5's. I'm not expecting flagship-similar color accuracy or quality, but the Agora 4G's console appears less vibrant than its competitors. This leaves photos and other imagery looking a bit underwhelming compared to what yous'd expect.

That said, the white balance exhibited by the display is good, and you even accept the ability to alter it in the device'due south settings. Turning on "low blue light manner" reduces the blue level of the display, making it appear much warmer than usual. There are 3 levels of depression blue low-cal mode, each with increasing warmth, which could come in handy when reading stuff on the handset at dark. Other than that, I'd go out information technology disabled for the majority of usage.

While the Agora 4G's display is more than bright enough for indoor usage, it can be hard to read when outdoors. Total brightness just doesn't seem to cut it, with the panel seemingly lacking any sort of reflection-cut layers. Viewing angles aren't terrible, simply at that place is a noticeable reduction in clarity when the display is viewed at off-normal angles.

I was impressed with the clarity of the Agora's brandish, which can exist put down to its 720p resolution. More and more manufacturers are including Hd panels with their entry- and mid-range handsets, replacing qHD and WVGA units, which is great to see. Of course it's no 1080p or 1440p, but text looks well-baked and generally fantastic on this display, and photos have enough item in them to satisfy.

The brandish's size will also appeal to a number of people, with nigh options in the price range of the Agora 4G including smaller or lower-resolution panels. The obvious exceptions are the Zenfone 5 and Moto Thou that I've mentioned before, both of which pack similar 5-inch displays. How the Agora fares in other aspects volition exist disquisitional if it'south to shell those devices.