itel S24 First impression in Hindi: Rs. This Rs 10,000 phone changes color!

The year 2024 is not even half over and itel has launched its third model in the form of the itel S24 in the Indian market. The handset is the successor to the itel S23 which was introduced in June last year. The company has introduced the new smartphone with many changes compared to the previous version. Instead of the previous model’s waterdrop-style notch, the new phone includes a hole-punch cutout, and the processor, camera, charging speed have also been upgraded. The good thing is that the main feature of the itel S23, namely its color changing panel, has been retained in the new itel S24 as well. The itel S24 has been launched in India at a price of Rs 10,999. Many giants already dominate this segment. Still, the color-changing panel and 108-megapixel main rear camera set the Itel S24 apart from the competition at this price point. I got hold of the itel S24 for some time, after which I am here to share with you my initial opinion about this affordable smartphone.

The single 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant of Itel S24 was launched at Rs 9,999. It comes in Dawn White and Starry Black color options and I got the White color variant. The handset comes with a charging brick (18W), charging cable, a TPU case and a user manual in the box. The quality of the transparent case was above average, but it definitely suffers from yellowing over time. itel is also promising one time free screen replacement with this phone (within 100 days).

Well, without further ado, let me start with the features. At this price, the first thing that caught my attention was its color-changing panel, which changes from white to pink when exposed to sunlight or UV light. It’s definitely not a practical feature, but it’s a nice addition to have at such a low price. The panel appears to have a glass finish, but is actually made of polycarbonate. It may not be light with a weight of 192 grams but the weight distribution has been done well in the body due to which it does not feel too heavy in the hand. The same is the case with the build, where the smartphone is relatively thick at 8.3mm thick, but the display stretched over the thin frame makes it look thinner.

As we mentioned above, itel has made a lot of changes in the new handset compared to the itel S23. The new model has a large circular camera island on the back panel with a golden ring around it. Along with this, a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera has been added on the front display. On the right side of the plastic frame with a metallic finish is the power button, which is equipped with a fingerprint sensor to unlock the phone. Just above it are the volume rockers. The placement is fine, I didn’t have to work too hard to get to it. A SIM tray is available in the left site, which can accommodate two SIMs as well as a microSD card. The frame has a Type-C port at the bottom, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a speaker grill with a mic and another smaller speaker grill at the top. The presence of dual speakers is also a nice addition at this price.

The itel S24 runs on a custom skin based on Android 13. On the first boot I encountered a lot of bloatware, most of which could be removed. Within a short period of use, native apps started spamming me with notifications. If you are already an itel smartphone user, then there is nothing new in the UI for you and even if you switch from another smartphone, it won’t take much time for you to adapt to its UI. .

The itel S24 features a 6.6-inch HD+ (720 x 1,612 pixels) IPS display, which supports a 90Hz refresh rate. The company claims that the panel supports a peak brightness level of 480 nits. The presence of an AMOLED panel here would have boosted the display quality, but at this price point it can’t be taken as a complaint. During my brief usage, I found the display to perform well in indoor use. The colors in the material were vivid and the brightness was sufficient. However, there was some difficulty viewing content when the display was exposed to direct sunlight. There’s also a ‘Dynamic Bar’ feature, very similar to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island, but with major differences in functionality. This feature in the itel S24 shows you basic notifications around the selfie camera and animations when unlocking the phone.

Instead of the UniSoC T603 processor found in the S23, itel has upgraded the S24 with a more powerful MediaTek Helio G91 chipset. The chipset was launched in February this year. The new chipset built on the 12nm process claims to be budget gaming. However, due to the limited time spent with the phone, I did not test its gaming capabilities. It has 8 GB of RAM, which can practically be expanded by another 8 GB via Memory Fusion technology, after which you will have a total of 16 GB of RAM. Without virtual RAM enabled, the phone performed basic scrolling, app loading and switching between apps without any problems. Some heavy apps took a little longer to load. However, the true potential of the chipset can only be known by subjecting the phone to different uses.

Another highlight of the itel S24 is its 108-megapixel Samsung HM6 ISOCELL sensor with Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS) support. Its presence in the Rs 10,000 sub-category is impressive. Although I didn’t get much chance to play with the camera, I managed to capture some photos during the daylight, which were able to be shared directly on social media. The second camera in the dual camera unit is a QVGA depth sensor. There’s an 8-megapixel selfie shooter on the front, which took some decent selfies in daylight, but the performance wasn’t consistent. Both the rear and front cameras can record videos at up to 2K resolution at 30fps.

The camera app was simple and easy to use. On the main screen of the app there were options like AI Cam, Video, Portrait, Super Night and other options can be accessed through More. I didn’t see any shutter lag in it. The camera also supports features like Pro Mode, Document Scanner, Slow Motion, Time Lapse, Dual Video.

The itel S24 has a 5000mAh battery, which supports 18W charging. The charging brick is available in the box. Although I didn’t test the battery, it should last a full day on a full charge with normal use. Additionally, with an 18W charging output, this battery should also take more than 2 hours to fully charge.

Overall, the itel S24 smartphone has the power to stand out from the competition with a price tag of Rs 9,999. The phone has everything we expect from a smartphone of this price. At this price, the color changing panel, 108 megapixel camera, dual speakers and attractive design were some of the elements that many competing models missed. Of course, I’ve only spent a very short amount of time with this phone, so it should also be kept in mind that conditions are likely to change with long-term use.