Aspera AS8 and Aspera AS5 Mobile phone review

Aspera Mobile is an Australian company that specializes in designing and manufacturing rugged and durable mobile phones. Their phones are generally catered towards the budget conscious consumer or those that require a tough and reliable device that can withstand harsh environments. Aspera recently launched 2 new smart phone devices, namely the AS5 and the AS8. These new offerings introduce an array of features that traditionally find their place in higher-tier phones, a remarkable feat given their affordability, both falling under the AU$150 price bracket.

Here’s a quick look into the specs of the two devices side by side.

Aspera AS5

Aspera AS8

Network frequency 4G – Bands 1/3/5/7/8/28A+B 3G – 850/900/2100MHz 2G – 850/900/1800/1900MHz Performance SC9863A1 Octa-core 1.6GHz processor Dual 4G SIM cards and 1 Micro SD card RAM: 2GB + 1GB virtual ram allocated from unused ROM ROM: 32GB (24.3GB after installation of Android 13 Go Edition) OS: Android 13 (Go Edition) Expandable memory by Micro SD card to 128GB maximum (Not included in the box) Facial recognition Design/Display 5″ FWVGA TN display 16:9 aspect ratio SIM one slot – Micro SIM two slot – Micro Separate Micro SD card slot Messaging SMS MMS, picture messaging Email SAR Values Maximum head WCDMA Band 1  0.661 Maximum body WCDMA Band 1  0.919 Connectivity 4G and 3G mobile data Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Hotspot VoLTE USB tethering Bluetooth 5.0 LE (Low energy) Micro USB port for computer connection to transfer files Battery 2000mAh Lithium-Ion Construction Micro USB port for charging and data transfer 3.5mm headphone jack Removable back cover, replaceable battery Dimensions: 1146.5*74*10.2mm Weight: 165g Camera Rear 5MP  Front 5MP Auto Focus Zoom x4 Video recording 14 x Scene modes Multimedia Audio MP3, WAV Video playback MP4, 3GP Video recording to full HD 1920 x 1080 FM radio In The Box 1 x Aspera AS5 smartphone 1 x 2000 mAh battery (Removable) 1 x USB charge and data sync cable + wall plug 1 x Earphones 1 x User Guide and warranty

Network frequency 4G – Bands 1/3/5/7/8/28A+B 3G – 850/900/2100MHz 2G – 850/900/1800/1900MHz Performance SC9863A1 Octa-core (8x 1.6GHz) processor Dual 4G SIM cards and 1 Micro SD card RAM: 2GB ROM: 32GB OS: Android 13 (Go edition) NFC Facial recognition Fingerprint sensor Expandable memory by Micro SD card to 128GB maximum (Not included in the box) Design/Display 6.3″ HD+ IPS display 18:9 aspect ratio SIM one slot – Nano SIM two slot – Nano Separate Micro SD card slot Messaging SMS MMS, picture messaging Email SAR Values Maximum head WCDMA Band 8  0.312 Maximum body WCDMA Band 1  0.875 Connectivity 4G and 3G mobile data Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Hotspot VoLTE VoWiFi USB tethering Bluetooth 5.0 LE (Low energy) USB-C port for computer connection to transfer files Battery 4000mAh Lithium-Ion Construction USB type C port for charging and data transfer 3.5mm headphone jack Removable back cover, replaceable battery Dimensions: 160.75*75*9.6mm Weight: 190g Camera Rear 8MP + 0.08MP  Front 5MP Auto Focus Zoom x4 HD video recording 14 x Scene modes Multimedia Audio MP3, WAV Video playback MP4, 3GP Video recording to full HD 1920 x 1080 FM radio In The Box 1 x Aspera AS8 smartphone 1 x 4000 mAh battery (Removable) 1 x USB charge and data sync cable + wall plug 1 x Earphones 1 x User Guide and warranty Gel case

Packaging and first looks

The Aspera AS8 and AS5 both come in elegant looking boxes, both highlighting the key characteristics of the phone. For budget phones, Aspera have not skimped on elegant packaging for their phones.

Opening up the box, you’re welcomed with a neatly packaged phone with all its accessories at the bottom. And unlike some of the flagship phones entering the market, Aspera do include a USB charge and data sync cable along with a wall plug. The data cable feels quite solid in construction and given the price point of just AU$99 for the AS5 and AU$149 for the AS8 it’s truly remarkable that they have maintained such standards. While both phones come with a screen protector installed, the AS8 further comes with a clear gel case to protect your investment from day one.

The AS8 offers a more premium construction to the AS5 and the removable back cover comes in a metallic green color giving it an impressive look. Both phones are surprisingly light and thin which fits snugly on your hand. To give a perspective of size, the AS8 is almost the same size as a Pixel 7 in terms of its width while the AS5 is slightly smaller.

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Performance

In terms of performance both the AS8 and AS5 have similar technical characteristics with a Octa-core 1.6GHz processor and 2GB of RAM along with a 32GB ROM. Both phones come with Android 13 Go Edition and their storage can be expanded upto 128GB using a Micro SD card if required.

There’s dual SIM cards that support 4G and both phones support facial recognition to unlock the phone. The Aspera AS8 further offers a fingerprint sensor at the rear along with NFC capabilities which the AS5 does not. Furthermore the AS8 offers VoWi-Fi and comes with a USB-C port giving you seamless integration with modern devices.

Battery life

While the Aspera AS5 is offered with a 2000mAh Lithium-Ion battery, the AS8 is comes equipped with a modest 4000mAh Lithium-Ion battery. Both batteries are removable which is a pleasant surprise given most of the higher end flagship phones these days have moved away from giving users this flexibility.

We found that the AS8’s battery would easily last a full work day with moderate to high usage on Youtube, web browsing and still have around 30% battery remaining. Actual standby time was around 9 days and still had around 10% battery remaining. The AS5’s battery was modest with around 10% battery left after high/moderate use throughout the day and provided 3 days of standy time.

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Display & Camera

The Apsera AS5 offers a 5″ FWVGA TN display which is probably offered to keep costs down. There’s nothing fancy here and obviously offered to users who require a stock standard phone. The AS8 on the other hand offers a 6.3″ HD+ IPS dispay. While you can’t do a direct comparison with a higher end phone the AS8’s display is quite impressive for its price point.

The AS5 offers a 5MP rear and front camera while the AS8 offers a 8MP rear and 5MP front camera.

For basic photo taking requirements both phones do a decent job with the AS8 leading with it’s higher resolution rear camera. What’s interesting is that both these phones offer facial recognition for unlocking your phone. While this feature is common ground in higher speced phones, it’s quite rare to see it being offered on budget phones such as the AS5 and AS8. The facial recognition worked quite flawlessly during our testing and we found the AS8’s facial unlocking worked even better than on the Pixel 7 which was a pleasant surprise.

Here are some sample images taken from each phone. As you can see the Aspera AS8 has much better detail on the images in comparision to the AS5 which looses a lot of the finer details in the images.

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Conclusion

The Aspera AS5 and AS8 weigh a mere 165g and 190g respectively. While competition in the smart phone market is very high, it’s great to see Aspera continuing to share a nitch market share and continuing to innovate and offer its users great value.

The fingerprint sensor on the AS8 worked flawlessly and we particularly love the location it’s placed on the phone. Your index finger would normally rest quite close to the sensor giving you the ability to easily unlock the phone while it’s on your palm.

While the AS5’s look and feel matches closer to a budget phone, the AS8 on the other hand has a premium feel to it. The target user base for both the AS5 and AS8 will be varied. Some may just want a basic phone to carry with you while travelling overseas or you may want a no frills phone at a budget for an older relative. What ever the use case maybe, both these Aspera phones will do justice as long as your expectations are within reason.

Both phones offer the same processor and have 2GB of memory which is modest however isn’t going to provide snappy responses. We did notice that while typing or trying to search contacts, there was like a 1 second delay when trying to type on the virtual keyboard. This isn’t in any way a surprise and what needs to be factored in is that the AS5 and AS8 retail for a mere $99 and $149.

Overall we were pleasantly surprised how well both these budget phones worked and if you’re on the look out for one, the Aspera AS8 for just $50 more would be our best recommendation given its extra functionality.