Hands-on review: Aspera Nitro 2 smartphone
The first thing that struck me was the premium feel of the phone. The Nitro 2 does not look cheap. The curved corners and slab-like face look more like a two-grand iPhone than a $180 handset.
The phone comes with a factory-fitted screen protector and a protective case is included in the box. There's also a pair of earphones, a USB C to A cable and a power socket adapter.
The 6.6" 18:9 1600x900 HD+ screen is vivid and great for watching streaming shows. The built-in speakers are a bit on the tinny side, but still more than adequate for catching up on some shows when you've not got the included earphones or a headset handy.
Under the hood, a 1.6Ghz octa-core processor is paired with 3GB of RAM to power your experience. There's 64GB of included storage with the option to expand via a MicroSD card up to 128GB.
It is a surprisingly fully featured phone with NFC (for contactless payments), Bluetooth 5.0 LE, Wi-Fi (inc. hotspot) and VoLTE connectivity. It's even got a fingerprint sensor and facial recognition.
The 4G Nitro 2 is a dual sim phone, so you can insert two sims and switch between them for calls. This makes it great for those that want a work and private phone in one, or when travelling.
Calls are clear and the recipient had no trouble hearing me. Even in a spot in my house notorious for a poor 4G signal, the phone worked perfectly. The speaker is not up to the quality of a premium phone but does the job.
The 13MP rear camera can take photos at a maximum resolution in 4:3 aspect at a maximum resolution of 13 megapixels and 16:9 at nine megapixels. The 8MP front camera can take photos at a maximum resolution in 4:3 aspect at eight megapixels and 16:9 at six megapixels. There are a variety of presets including panorama and night mode.
The rear camera can take video in 1080p,720p and 480p at 30 frames per second. The front camera can capture video in 720p, 480p and 11:9 CIF at 30fps. Photos and video are OK for snaps and capturing memories but are not the phone's strong suit. I'd say you are, however, getting what you've paid for plus a few extras.
I'm not a fan of the 5000mAh Li-Po battery being sealed in the device. This is a design trait copied from premium phones that I'd sooner not included in a phone that isn't even touted as being waterproof. Ok, it's a cheap phone that will likely be obsolete by the time the battery fails, but it would be nice to be able to swap it out if something goes wrong early.
The only obvious compromise is the Android 13 Go Edition operating system. This is a pared-down version of the Android OS that is optimised for budget smartphones. Whilst it allows apps to make better use of the device's hardware, some more processor-intensive apps will not work with the phone. During my tests, this meant that whilst I could run games like Grand Theft Auto Vice City very well, I couldn't use my Backbone game controller as the app software was not supported.
As budget smartphones go, the Aspera Nitro 2 is pretty good. It in no way looks as cheap as the AU$180 price tag suggests. This makes it perfect for a kid's first phone or an elderly relative that's not going to want all the bells and whistles, but still wants a smart-looking handset. There are compromises, but nothing that shouldn't be expected at this price point.
