[Android General] MobileInkSlinger:
THL 5000 – Review

We hear lots of news about thin phones but we all know that with that cool thin factor comes very limited battery life. There has always been a portion of mobile users that value long battery life (I’m one of them), so it’s really good to see companies starting to recognize this and make phones based around it. The THL 5000 comes with a lot of good hardware and a fairly low price tag which makes it a very appealing device. Lets have a look and see if the package as a whole comes together to deliver the performance it’s capable of.

Unboxing

I ordered the THL 5000 from 1949deal and had it shipped via EMS. The handset was shipped and arrived in a timely manner. As with previous purchases from the reseller the phone was very well packaged ensuring the product arrived undamaged.

The 5000 came in a somewhat plain white box with the main device specs listed on the back of the box. Inside was the phone, a micro USB cable, a wall adapter, head phones, instructions and a few unexpected extras. These included an OTG adapter, a generic case, a flip cover case, a screen protector installed on the phone and an extra screen protector.

You can check out the unboxing video here.

Specs

5″ 1080p display with Gorilla Glass 3

2GB RAM

Mediatek MT6592T clocked at 2.0 Ghz

Sony IMX 135 13MP rear camera

5000 mAh battery

You can check out the full video review here.

Physical Features

The THL 5000 measures 144.9 x 72.3 x 8.9 mm and weights 146 grams. Fairly compact and light for a device with a 5000 mAh battery in it if you ask me.

On the top of the device is the micro USB port and 3.5 mm headphone jack.

On the right side is the volume rocker.

On the left side is the power button.

On the front right side is the front facing camera.

On the back left side is the main camera and on the bottom left is the speaker.

Display

The THL 5000 has a 5 inch IPS 1080p display with 441 ppi and Gorilla Glass 3. The display is responsive and crisp, viewing angles are good but it isn’t a vivid capture your attention type display. It gets the job done but doesn’t wow you in the process.

Software

The phone comes preloaded with Android 4.4.2 KitKat and the ROM has very flat looking icons to help capture the newer feel. In general it’s a very standard ROM with very little extra added but it does run quite well. I didn’t experience any major issues to report. Boot time was 28 seconds.

Wi-Fi

The 5000 has 5 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz wi-fi. My router is now located at the mid point of the basement level.

5 Ghz

Router= 87.52 mbps

Main level(directly above the router)=22.13 mbps

2.4 Ghz

Router=30.88 mbps

Main level (directly above)= 30.14 mbps

Far side of the main level=10.63 mbps

The wi-fi results for the THL 5000 are quite good. I do find it odd that the router reading of the 2.4 Ghz wi-fi is so much lower than the 5 Ghz but it was fairly consistent and covered my entire house.

Call Quality

I had no issues with the making calls on the phone. Everything was fairly clear both using the phone and receiving a call from the phone on a landline.

Speakers

The loud speaker is located on the back of the device and was tested using a variety of different audio tracks and music styles. The speaker volume was average but the sound quality was pretty good. It was clear and did well with all music types. There wasn’t a ton of bass but it was definately present in the sound which is better than many handsets on the market.

Video Playback

I tested the 5000 using VLC and a variety of video clips both online and physically on the phone. The MT6592 has always done well with media and with the bump in clock speed up to 2.0 Ghz the THL 5000 is no exception. Everything played smoothly regardless of format. If you enjoy watching your movies on your phone, the 5000 should definitely be up to the task.

Web Browsing

I used Maxthon browser to test the phones browsing capabilities. i’ve said it many times in the past, that the Mediatek MT6592 does a great job online. The MT6592T at 2.0 Ghz obviously continues with that tradition. Pages load quickly, even if they have images and everything transitions smoothly. No issues here.

Cameras

The THL 5000’s 5 MP front facing camera does a nice job with selfies but it’s really the rear camera that is the superstar. THL used a 13 MP Sony IMX135 Exmor RS with a f/2.0 aperture as the main camera and it really surprised me how well it works. Low light, outdoors, you can put the camera in any situation and it does a nice job with the pictures it takes. Have a look.

GPS

As always the GPS is a concern for many people with a Mediatek based phone. The device does fine in this category which is no doubt a relief to many people looking at purchasing it. My initial lock in airplane mode took several minutes but after that I didn’t have any problems.

I always like to take the phone for a drive to make sure the GPS also works in the real world situations. I tested it out with Google Maps for data assisted navigation and Navfree for no data and both worked well. I’m not saying it’s as responsive as the Qualcomm based handsets I’ve tried but the GPS is certainly usable.

Benchmarks

Antutu

30,490

As can be seen this score puts the phone very close to Snapdragon 800 territory.

Nenamark 2

52.2 fps

CPU Prime

6497

Vellamo

Multicore

1258

Metal

986

Browser

1852

As the benchmarks show, this handset can handle itself very well, especially in the browser area.

Battery

No doubt, this is the area most people are really curious about. With a 5000 mAh battery in a regular size device, the thing should last forever, right?

I put the screen brightness on auto and put the phone on a video loop. The phone lasted just 7 hours 36 minutes. I find this a bit disappointing, and was expecting much more.

Now to be fair, that is not a bad number for on screen time, but many phones do as well or better with a much smaller battery.

In a daily application the phone does much better. It’s the on screen time that drags the times down quicker than they should. Talk time and standby times are fantastic. If you are a light to medium user the phone should be able to go several days between charges.

Gaming

The Mediatek MT6592T with Mali-450 MP4 proves to be a very competent SoC especially considering the price. As always, it performed well with all types of video games. I tested it with Into the Dead, Go go ghost, Frontline Commando 2, Dead Trigger 2, and Asphalt 8. All the games play well but with games like Dead Trigger 2, and Asphalt 8 the phone will lower the graphics settings to help keep things running smoothly.

Final Thoughts

Pro’s

Good battery life

Very good performance for the price

Very good cameras

Con’s

was expecting a bit more out of the battery

the THL T11 has WCDMA 850/1900/2100 but the THL 5000 has reverted to 850/2100 Mhz

Overall this is a great phone for the price. If you don’t need LTE then this phone is loaded with great hardware making it one of the better buys among Chinese phones. The bump in CPU clock speed from 1.7 Ghz to 2.0 Ghz is a bonus, as are the surprisingly nice cameras. It’s hard to find fault with this handset as THL have covered all the bases well making it a stand out in the shrinking 5 inch and smaller phone segment.

I’ve been very impressed with THL’s progress this year. If they continue on this path with the upcoming MT6595 and 64-bit SoC’s I’m sure they’ll deliver some outstanding phones.