Review of Vernee Thor E - a compact, inexpensive smartphone with a large battery

A bit of history

Vernee entered the market a little over a year ago. Her first smartphone was Thor. The model at the time of its release had such attractive characteristics and a favorable price that it quickly became popular. It still sells successfully, which rarely happens with budget models.

As the name suggests, Thor E is positioned as an improved version of last year's hit. Many users expected it to retain all the Thor's strengths and add a larger battery. And that's just $ 120! However, in reality it turned out a little differently.

Specifications

Display	5 inches, HD (1 280 × 720), IPS
Platform	Processor MediaTek MTK6753 (8 cores at 1, 3 GHz); graphics accelerator Mali-T720 MP3
RAM	3 GB DDR3
Built-in memory	16 GB, expandable up to 128 GB
Cameras	Main - 8 Mp; frontal - 2 Mp
Connection	Two slots: nanoSIM and nanoSIM + microSD; 2G (GSM): 850/900/1 800/1 900 MHz; 3G (WCDMA): 900/2 100 MHz
Wireless interfaces	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n, 2.4G / 5G, Bluetooth 4.0 BLE, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Expansion slots	microSD (up to 128 GB, instead of the second SIM card), OTG
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyroscope, proximity sensor, magnetic field sensor, fingerprint scanner
Operating system	Android 7.0 Nougat
Battery	5,020 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions (edit)	144 × 70, 1 × 8, 2 mm
Weight	165 g

The main characteristics of the smartphone are the same as those of its predecessor. But a year has passed, and the processor that looked good then does not look very good now. Yes, 3GB of storage is still enough for most tasks, but 16GB of internal storage is not enough. The user will have to choose between a second SIM card and microSD to increase space.

The resolution of the cameras has become smaller. 8 and 2 MP in 2017? But what if there is a very high-quality matrix that allows you to take great pictures? Let's see if there is joy in pixels.

Completion and appearance

The first alarm bell sounded at the sight of the box. Yes, of course, this is a budget device, but somehow too simple. Modest white cardboard, miniature size, poorly distinguishable inscriptions. Delivery set to match the design - smartphone, cable, charger.

The body of the device is made of metal with plastic inserts at the top and bottom of the back cover. The assembly and materials are not satisfactory. All body parts are well-fitted, nothing bends or creaks.

The appearance of Vernee Thor E stands out from the general range of modern smartphones. Most of them use streamlined shapes, rounded screens and one-piece housings with a minimum of detail.

Thor E is not like that. It is rectangular in shape with sharp edges. From the side, the body looks like a sandwich of three layers - a screen, a metal frame and a back cover. But most of all, the decorative overlay of the camera block, imitating a solar battery, is surprising.

Thor E's design is clearly not for everybody. Perhaps someone will like it for its pronounced personality, but personally I prefer the streamlined lines of the first Thor.

Screen and sound

The technology for producing screens of even the cheapest smartphones is already so matured that they all look like twin brothers. Most of them use inexpensive but high-quality matrices from Sharp, thanks to which a bright and vibrant picture is displayed. Thor E distinguished himself here too, but not in the best way.

I don't know how the Vernee engineers were able to achieve this, but the Thor E's screen looks like parchment paper. When viewing color images, this is still not too striking, but as soon as you open any service page with a white background, it becomes clear that the white color here is not at all white. And no amount of MiraVision settings can save the day.

As for the sound, it fully corresponds to the budgetary status of the device. The volume and quality of the speaker is enough to ensure that you don't miss a phone call. But it is clearly not enough for listening to music. The situation is slightly better in headphones.

Performance

In 2016, Thor on the MT6753 processor with 3 GB of RAM tore all competitors. A year has passed and Vernee has released the next generation of this smartphone with the same processor and the same amount of memory.

Therefore, the performance of the Thor E is fully in line with last year's budget smartphone. No progress. Decide for yourself whether it is good or not.

For surfing, communication, listening to music and video, social networks, this is enough. However, fans of computer games will have to give up too demanding 3D games, as the frame rate may be too low.

Autonomy

Autonomy is the most important characteristic of Thor E. It is because of it that other parameters were sacrificed.

The smartphone has a 5,020 mAh battery that supports fast charging. The developers assure that the battery can ensure the full operation of the gadget for 3-4 days without the need for recharging.

During testing, Vernee's words about autonomy were confirmed. Thor E really withstands several days in normal use (calls, internet, instant messengers, simple games). And it charges fast enough - in just two hours.

Separately, it is necessary to mention the special screen saving mode E-link. To activate it, there is a special button on the side of the device. After pressing it, the screen switches to black and white mode, the brightness decreases, all communications are turned off, except for cellular communications, and the processor performance is forcibly reduced. The user can only work with a few pre-selected applications. In this mode, the smartphone consumes 20% of the charge during the day.

Camera

When reviewing the cameras of budget smartphones, everyone writes about the same thing: "Yes, the pictures are not very good, but you yourself understand that you cannot demand anything more for this money."

However, Vernee Thor E photos look so bad that this excuse cannot be used in this case. Even under the most favorable conditions, the images are dark, dull and lackluster. Color rendering, focusing, white balance, exposure are lame.

Software

The Thor E smartphone runs on Android Nougat operating system. However, Vernee programmers made several additions and visual improvements to it, after which they called it VOS (Vernee OS). Do not be confused by this name, because this is almost the original Android.

Among the additions, we can highlight the ability to mute the sound by flipping the device screen down, wake up with a double tap, control music playback, turn on the flashlight using gestures and other useful functions.

A big plus is the absence of extraneous applications in the firmware. However, some useful programs were also removed for some reason. The clock and calculator were left, but the standard gallery, mail and music player were cut out for some reason.

Outcomes

Thor E has almost nothing to do with the sensational first model, except for the name and the outdated processor. This is not an improved version of the smartphone that many users liked so much.

If you start to scrupulously calculate all the pros and cons of this model, then it becomes a little sad. In my opinion, Thor E surpasses its predecessor and numerous competitors only in autonomy. In all other directions, either marking time or regression.

Should you pay $ 120 for this smartphone? Yes, but only if you need a slim gadget that can be recharged every few days. In all other cases, you can find more interesting models.