Team Hovatek is currently working on some projects for Spreadtrum Android phones so I went looking for a budget Spreadtrum phone to be my personal Guinea Pig, The Itel IT1513 caught my attention!
Itel IT1513 Specs
- SIM: Dual (1 Micro , 1 Standard)
- 3G: Yes
- 4G: No
- Dimension: 144×74.3×9.1mm
- Screen Size: 5.0 Inches
- Screen Density: 240 dpi (hdpi)
- Body Finish: Metallic
- Colors: Silver & Champagne Gold
- Screen Resolution: 480×854 (FWVGA)
- USB: USB 2.0 Micro-B
- Refresh Rate: 60Hz
- OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
- Camera: 5.0MP Back (2592×1944) ; 1.9MP Secondary (720×480)
- Video: 1280×720 (HD)
- Camera Flash: Yes
- RAM: 1GB
- ROM: 8GB
- Sensors: Accelerometer, Light & Proximity
- External (SD) Storage: Yes (Supports up to 32GB)
- Wi-Fi: Yes
- Bluetooth: Yes
- Processor: Spreadtrum SC7731c
- CPU Architecture: Quad-core, 1.2GHz , ARM7 processor rev 5 (v7I)
- Board: Itel_it1513
- Clock Speed: 768 – 1200 MHz
- Instruction Sets: armeabi-v7a, armeabi
- Kernel Version: 3.10.65
- GPU: Mali-400 MP
- Battery (Removable): Li-ion, 3.7V, 2100mAh, 7.77Wh, Limited charge voltage: 4.2V
- Fast Charge: No
Itel It1513 review
Design
What attracted me to the Itel IT1513 at first glance was the thin metallic finish of the back. The 3.5mm headphone jack is located at the top. The Mic and USB port are located at the bottom. On the Right side are the Power and Volume buttons. Nothing on the left side. The Earpiece, Front Camera, Sensors & Soft keys occupy the front while the Camera, Flash light and Speaker are located at the back. The screen doesn’t have one of the thinnest bezels I’ve seen but is OK. The phone fits quite perfectly into the palm and the curved base of the back case made it easy for me to turn the phone from front to back and back to front with ease (something I oddly do a lot).
Itel IT1513 front view
Itel IT1513 back view
Itel IT1513 right view
Itel IT1513 left view
Itel IT1513 top view
Itel IT1513 bottom view
The IT1513 has a removable battery (Thank goodness!). SIM & SD card Slots are exposed once the back case is lifted off.
User Interface
The user interface was quite neat although it struck me as a bit blurred at times. Here are some screenshots of the Itel IT1513’s user interface (UI):
Lock screen and App drawer
Settings and Hovatek mobile app
Hovatek forum app and software update section
Battery Life
The battery life of the IT1513 was actually OK for light tasks (I could squeeze out over 5 hours) but proved grossly inadequate in the face of battery intensive activities like movies, streaming, downloading and gaming (It barely made 3 hours). For a light user, the battery life will prove sufficient. One thing I found quite impressive about its battery life was that battery consumption in idle state is well optimized. So I could go over 2 days (receiving just a few calls). Its very important that you note that we could have different experiences when it comes to battery life as there are other variables to consider (temperature, screen brightness, volume etc)
Audio
I love music so I had a lot of samples to test in this area. My list comprised of Rock (Black Metal), Salsa, Opera, Yodeling, Reggae, Makossa, Soukus, Country… A lot infact. I also listened to Hovatek’s H-Tech Radio. Each type of music has specific audio components which are dominant. Rock for example is the Strings and Drums; Makossa is the Bass guitar etc. I was quite impressed with the audio volume and clarity. I would however have loved to have had a little more bass (tweaking audio settings provided slight improvements).
Video
The video quality was outright disappointing. here’s a 17-second clip I uploaded.
Camera
The camera of the Itel IT1513 wasn’t exactly flattering but was just OK for a 5MP Spreadtrum phone. Here are some shots I took:
Here’s an outdoor picture of a Golden Palm Plant taken around 8:00 am and with the primary / back camera (no flash)
Here’s an indoor picture of an art work taken in low light (with flash) and with the primary / back camera
Here’s an indoor picture of an inverter set taken in low light (with flash) and with the primary / back camera
Here’s a Selfie taken with the front / secondary camera
Antutu Score
The Antutu Benchmark test score for the Itel IT1513 was 20137
For CPU: 8196
- CPU Mathematics: 1320
- CPU Common Use: 2833
- CPU Multi-Core: 4043
For UX: 8490
- UX Data Secure: 2572
- UX Data Process: 1295
- UX Strategy Games: 1644
- UX Image Process: 1425
- UX I/O Performance: 1554
For 3D: 440
- 3D [marooned]: Unsupported
- 3D [Garden]: 440
Performance
I have a weakness for car racing games so I downloaded Asphalt 8 (almost 1GB) and selected a track I’m so familiar with that I could turbo and drift through blind folded. Racing wasn’t too smooth and I had a number of crashes because of the lag. Overall, the gaming experience was OK but not all that. Wasn’t expecting much from a 1GB RAM phone anyways but it did OK. The Itel IT1513 would definitely serve well for light games but come under stress (and overheat) under GPU and RAM intensive games.
Temperature
I didn’t experience overheating while carrying out regular tasks, only when I put the unit under a lot of stress 😉 . This is very much unlike like the Injoo Halo and Itel 1452 I had earlier used.
Price
As at the time of this publication, the Itel IT1513 goes for about ₦26,500 . Click here to place an order for the Itel IT1513
Itel 1513 Key Specs
- OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)
- Dimension: 144×74.3×9.1mm
- Screen Size: 5.0 Inches
- Camera: 5.0MP Back (2592×1944) ; 1.9MP Secondary (720×480)
- RAM: 1GB
- ROM: 8GB
- Battery (Removable): Li-ion, 3.7V, 2100mAh, 7.77Wh, Limited charge voltage: 4.2V
Verdict
The Itel IT1513 is a budget smartphone and considering the ongoing recession in Nigeria, I would say its not a bad deal at all (specs:price). If you’re looking to do regular stuff like surf, download occasionally, make calls, chat, stream occasionally etc then the Itel IT1513 will serve you well. If on the other hand you’re a selfie or picture freak, gamer or carry out heavy tasks regularly and over long periods then you’ll have a number of issues with the Itel IT1513. Overall, I think its a good buy.
How do i take a screenshot on my itel1513
Hold Power + Volume decrease at the same time
I have a problem with my itel 1513 to do screen shots.. he am suppose to do it?
Hold Power and Volume down together
my Bluetooth is always on, any attempt to put it off the phone restarts… What should I do
Oh no! Please help good pm, how do I overcome this draw over other apps? I can’t make or received calls, my WhatsApp is not working it keep asking me to turn on storage but the storage refused to on, please wat can I do?
Refer to https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-20100.html
Please I have problem with the same phone. Whenever i off the Bluetooth which on itself, the phone restarts on its own. Please Help me
Have you tried doing a Factory reset?
For the Bluetooth go to settings, click the search icon and search for “Bluetooth scanning” and turn it off. solved!!
my itel1513 dose not allow me to safe my contact. it always say “required permission disabled” and my Bluetooth is always on stand by when I try to close my itel1513 goes off.
Pls I need help with it
what should I do?
Concerning the contacts error, you need to to give necessary permissions by going to Settings > Apps > Contacts > Pemissions
Enable all permissions
As for the Bluetooth issue, have you tried doing a factory reset?
For the Bluetooth go to settings, click the search icon and search for “Bluetooth scanning” and turn it off. solved!!
Pls how can I fix the problem of not receiving incoming SMS not showing on my itel 1513 and also when i try to switch off the Bluetooth the phone will restart automatically.
Have you tried doing a Factory reset?
i did that,it displays incoming messages for some times thn we go back to the same problem
Have you posted this issue at our Forum?
For the Bluetooth go to settings, click the search icon and search for “Bluetooth scanning” and turn it off. solved!!
I have two problems. Kindly assist.
1. My itel it1513 doesn’t display incoming messages, consistently. It displays some, and doesn’t others. I have a major problem with the Mpesa messages, whenever Im sent money. Kindly help.
2. I have a problem with this screen overlay error message. I’ve really tried solving this, but I just cant get around it and its real nuisance. Please help.
Please, create a new thread at our forum and our forums reps will provide free step by step assistance
see https://forum.hovatek.com/thread-514.html for how to create a thread
My itel it1513 doesn’t display incoming messages, consistently. It displays some, and doesn’t others. I have a major problem with the Mpesa messages, whenever Im sent money. Kindly help
Are you referring to SMS alone or other apps?