While the last couple weeks have been spent reviewing 1080p phones – the Zopo ZP980+ and H9008, we now have a couple of 720p offerings on the way. We recently did a THL T200C review of specifications. Now on to the W200S.
The MT6592 THL W200S is a 5″ LCD phone. Resolution is 720p, RAM is 1GB and ROM/storage is a whopping 32GB.
Looks
Nothing particularly striking about the THL W200S. It’s got a fairly slim profile at under 10mm and squarish corners. There is an interesting slice of greyish plastic that adds a slight bit of character to the phone. We like that. It’s not much, but it does add at least some bit of style.
RAM and Storage (ROM)
Though the W200S doesn’t include 2GB of RAM like it’s bigger cousin, the THL T200C, 1GB should be enough for most everyone. When many apps are installed and running in the background, there may be some slight twitches when navigating Android, but Android is excellent at closing what it’s not using. This is where it’s nice to have 2GB, as more apps can stay in memory, but for general use, the vast majority will not notice a difference between 1GB and 2GB RAM.
The storage is huge. For the price this phone comes at, it’s something special to have 32GB of storage included. The THL W200S also includes an SD slot for memory expansion.
Resolution & LCD
The LCD on the THL W200S is 5.0″. The resolution is 720p. That’s a PPI of 294. 720p on a 5.0″ phone should please most everyone. It’s not exactly retina, but it will present a very crisp picture and in many circumstances for many people, it would be very difficult to tell the difference between 1080p and 720p on a 5.0″ LCD.
The other side of the lowish resolution coin is that you should get better battery life due to the SoC moving less pixels. Our experience with battery life with MT6592 and 1080p has not been so great – giving us around 3-4 hours on screen. That should get most users through the day, but it wouldn’t win any extended play awards. Game performance and general Android performance will benefit as well by having a 720p LCD.
Frequency support
As is standard with most THL mobiles, the THL W200S supports 850/900/1800/1900 GSM and 850/2100 WCDMA. We’d like to see quad-band WCDMA as is included in the big-screened H9008. It would add huge value, but it’s not to be.
Battery
Most shops report the battery as 1800mA, however the THL W200S actually comes with a 2000mA battery. With the 720p LCD, we’re hoping to see at least 5 hours on screen. We’ll know soon whether it meets the prediction.
Price
This is another positive about 720p phones compared to 1080p. Given other aspects of a phone being the same, the cost can be reduced by approximately $50. The THL W200S is now showing up in shops in the $200-225 ballpark shipped. For a THL phone with the given specs, it’s a fair price. The fact that it has 32GB is a huge plus here and puts it ahead of many phones in the same price range.
Extra Features
While we hesitate to call OTG ‘extra’, as it’s about par for the course for decent phones in 2014, it’s still a relatively new thing for OTG to be included in phones, so let’s call it ‘extra’ for the near future at least. No exception here, the THL W200S includes OTG.
The phone is also reported to have Gorilla Glass III.
THL W200S review specification verdict
The PPI of 294 is good. Maybe not as retina as some would like, but given the benefits of increased battery life, increased performance and decrease in cost we think it’s a fine trade off.
It would have been cool to see 2GB RAM in this phone and add an extra $20. It would have been an excellent selling point, but 1GB should be sufficient for most everyone.
The looks are fine. The little sliver of greyish silver plastic on the side adds a bit of character to the phone. It’s quite square which is good as well.
We’re looking forward to testing this phone and we should have the unboxing up next week. If we can get 5 hours on screen out of her, we may have found our new keeper.
On a side note, THL W200S THL T200S THL T200C THL T100S. It can make your head spin a bit. Especially since THL W200S and THL T200C are different sized phones, with one being 5.0″ and the other 6.0″. We actually like the naming scheme, but it would possibly benefit THL to switch it up a bit. Perhaps THL T100, THL T200, THL T300 etc…
Another thing that would be nice is to see them get rid of “Technology Happy Life” from the back cover. Where they come up with these things, we can only guess at. It would be much classier to just have a simple, stylish logo.
Further viewing and reading
- THL W200S Review Unboxing
- THL W200S Battery Test
- THL W200S YouTube Unboxing
- THL W200S Review Conclusion
– This THL W200S acquired by 1949deal. They are currently offering a $10 discount with code ‘thlw200s310’
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