mi-Tribe A500: Unboxing and First impressions

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February 17, 2016
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4 min read

In the culture of the recent trend for mobile phone manufacturers to partner eCommerce stores in Nigeria to release smartphones, mi-Fone has partnered Konga, one of Nigeria's largest online marketplaces, to unveil the introductory series by both companies, the mi-Tribe A500.

According to Konga, the primary concept behind the development of the mi-Tribe A500 smart phone was to create a device that uniquely caters to the need of the people of Nigeria with uniquely tailored features. I think the OEMs are finally listening to what Nigerians want from them this year and beyond

We have a review copy of the mi-Tribe A500 here and the device is a real beauty to behold. Come with me let's see the contents of this "Nigerian phone"

Specifications

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  • 5" HD Screen with LCD Display
  • 8 MP back camera with flash and 2 MP front facing camera
  • 2,300  mAh battery
  • Dual Standby(Micro and Mini) Sims
  • Android 5.1 Lollipop
  • 1.3 GHz Quad-Core processor
  • 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory that can be upgraded to 32GB

What's in the box?

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So many beautifully stacked little green boxes inside the main box. By the way, I think the green colour is a play on the "Nigerian-ness" of the smartphone. You know, like green in our flag. I'm just saying though.

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We open the green boxes and there is a charger head, USB cable,the almighty earpiece and a user manual.

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About user manuals, it's been a while I saw one as informative and colourful as the one in the mi-Tribe A500.

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And the almighty "hearpiece", it would surprise you how many people would actually pass on a good phone for the lack of earpiece. The mi-Tribe A500 has one though, even if it looks very fragile like a one week affair.

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The mi-Tribe A500 is powered by a removable 2,300 mAh battery, the sim and memory card slots are all situated in the back of the device as against the traditional side sim trays we are used to. Saves the hassles of needling your phone anytime the sim card is about to come out.

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The 8MP back camera is situated at the top left corner on the mi-Tribe A500

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The USB/Charging port is at the top beside the space to plug in your earpiece

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A microphone for making calls and recording voice is at the bottom of the device and that slit slightly above it to the side is the finger space for prying the back cover open

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Volume buttons are up on the right side of the mi-Tribe A500, slightly above the power and screen lock button

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Lastly, the speaker is at the lower part of the back of the mi-Tribe A500.

First Impressions

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The plastic casing of the mi-Tribe A500 is designed with a sandstone textured back that is luxurious to the touch, like the stuff nail files are made of. The device is so light, it reminds me of the near weightlessness of the Infinix Zero 2.

And the simplicity of the design is wonderful. I like this phone. Scratch that, I love it. Maybe not so much when I'm done with the review, but I like what I see, don't you?

Lest I forget, I powered on the device and a snippet of the "Found On Konga" campaign song came on. That was expected, but cool all the same.

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Pricing

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When I heard all the features of this device, I was a little bit apprehensive about the price. But rest your "economy awareness" antenna, the mi-Tribe A500 is available on Konga  for ₦22,500.

[affiliatemonkey_product_box store="konga" title="mi tribe A500 black" /]

That is real small money for a device packing all this fire.

And as a special introductory offer, buyers of the mi-tribe A500 will get ₦2,000 off their first ride on UBER on providing the code ‘miafrica’.

tech. media. startups. africa. vc | Twitter: @victor_ekwealor
tech. media. startups. africa. vc | Twitter: @victor_ekwealor
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tech. media. startups. africa. vc | Twitter: @victor_ekwealor
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