I have had quite a run in with budget smartphones this year. Some impressed, some failed to impress, others that I had high hopes for deeply disappointed and others were simply “meh”. With such a background, the Snokor Rocket Z5000, one of the newest smartphones in the Kenyan market, is quite a godsend. It has, in the space of about 2 weeks, changed completely my view of the budget smartphone.
There are so many things one looks for before buying a smartphone. However, there is a tendency to overlook most of those things when it is a low-cost smartphone one is going for. Less cash at hand to splash on a new smartphone purchase mostly means going for third rate stuff. Some not well-thought out design, a grainy display, flimsy software, below par performance and poor battery life. While I try to be fair to every budget phone I review, that is mostly what you will always get. And since you are not paying top dollar for such a phone, you’ll hardly be justified making any noises about what you end up with. As you make your bed, so you must lay on it, so they say.
Why the Snokor Rocket?
The Snokor Rocket is a budget smartphone meant for everyone. It’s the kind of device that most people in the market for a smartphone should consider. Forget what I said about that Android One phone I reviewed not long ago. That was then, this is now and until I use something better… The Snokor Rocket makes for a solid smartphone purchase if you’re on a budget and is most certainly the best for a first time smartphone experience. I say this for two reasons, of course besides the price point.
One, it runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop. Android is the most widely used mobile operating system in the world and while sales of high-end Android devices have stagnated, the budget segment is just getting started. Android’s popularity means that every developer makes sure they release their applications on the Play Store, Google’s Android application store. That means that for just Kshs 6,500, anyone getting the Snokor Rocket has access to millions of applications for educational, social, entertainment and other purposes. This is worth noting because some of the cheapest smartphones in the Kenyan market worth recommending don’t run Android and that is their biggest disadvantage thanks to the app situation in those platforms.
Two, battery life. At the moment, the smartphone with the best battery life at the low-end segment costs twice what the Snokor Rocket costs. There are hardly any other options I can think of or point at right now.
The Snokor Rocket Z5000 won’t be in the running for any awards for a number of its features like the camera but it will, definitely, be in the running for that special gift as you travel home for the holiday season.
Read the full review of the Snokor Rocket Z5000 here.
