itel Color Pro 5G review: terrific value for the price

Itel’s smartphone portfolio is unique, with its key focus being budget smartphones that rarely spill over Rs 10,000 in price. The newest entry to its lineup, the itel Color Pro 5G, sings a similar tune. Its price is just under Rs 10,000 and is designed for entry-level users looking to buy a 5G-capable smartphone. The phone also packs a very capable MediaTek Dimensity 6080 SoC, a rare find at this price point. Let’s find out if the device is worth its asking price in this review.

Verdict

The itel Color Pro 5G delivers impressive value for its price. It provides excellent performance output, comes with 5G support, has versatile cameras that offer good results even in low-light environments, and has a long battery life. If you’re looking to purchase a well-rounded 5G smartphone under Rs 10,000, the itel Color Pro 5G is an easy recommendation. 

Design and display

The itel Color Pro 5G has a very sleek design and doesn’t feel cheap. The rear panel comes in a plastic finish that is smooth to the touch and has a dual-tone design. The lower half is segregated with a thin divider and incorporates the brand’s special IVCO (itel Vivid Colour) technology. In simple terms, the panel can change shades under sunlight. Though Delhi’s weather has not been forgiving in the past couple of weeks, I managed to capture the panel changing colours while it was raining. Rest assured, the tech actually works (even in the absence of sunlight). The phone is available in two colour variants: Lavander Fantasy & River Blue. 

You can find a 3.5mm jack, speaker grille, and Type-C charging port towards the bottom, while the volume rocker and power button are situated towards the right edge as usual. The rear panel has rather large circular cutouts that hold the rear camera sensors and flash unit. 

The itel Color Pro 5G comes with a 6.6-inch LCD panel with HD+ resolution (720 x 1612p) and a 90Hz refresh rate. The display panel has a drop-notch that houses the front camera, and does make the phone look a bit outdated. There’s also a prominent bottom chin, which is common in the segment.

The viewing experience is acceptable for the price bracket; however, the brightness level falls short once you’re outdoors. The paired mono speaker gets reasonably loud, though the audio doesn’t sound as rich as competitors with stereo speakers. Overall, the phone delivers an adequate multimedia experience considering the price. 

Cameras

The phone’s camera setup is quite humble and includes a 50MP AI primary camera and an 8MP AI front camera. Despite its seemingly modest camera setup, the itel Color Pro 5G delivers impressive daylight images. The photos have good dynamic range, sharpness and a satisfactory amount of detail. The colours do look boosted compared to the real world, but they are not overdone, and the images turn out social media-ready. The low-light photography on this phone is perhaps one of the best I’ve encountered in this price bracket. The images have a decent level of sharpness, less noise, and good details. Here are some sample images I took:

Daylight

I compared the daylight shots captured using the itel Color Pro 5G with samples shot with the Moto G24 Power. Due to the overcast conditions in Delhi currently, the skies are dark and there’s not a lot of natural light to accurately assess a camera’s capabilities. the Moto G24 Power captures a much brighter image with HDR enabled and blows out the highlights.

The itel Color Pro’s colour reproduction is inaccurate as well, but the exposure level is more balanced compared to the Moto G24’s actual scene. In terms of detail level, both phones are quite similar, but the Moto G24 Power has better sharpness. Overall, the itel Colour Pro takes better daylight images.

The Infinix Hot 40i represents the actual scene best, with more natural colours but struggles with handling exposure. The top half the image appears hazy and there’s noticeable noise when you zoom in. Discounting that, the environment is more detailed compared to the itel Colour Pro 5G. 

Low-light

The itel Color Pro 5G takes some exquisite low-light shots for a smartphone priced under Rs 10,000. It has the Moto G24 Power beat squarely, be it in terms of detail level, colours, brightness, etc.

Comparing it with the Infinix Hot 40i, you can clearly observe that the itel Color Pro’s image is much cleaner, sharper, and looks a lot more appealing.

Performance

One of the key highlights of the smartphone is its MediaTek Dimensity 6080 SoC, which comes paired with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The storage is expandable as the phone offers a dedicated microSD card slot. There’s also virtual RAM support up to an additional 6GB but it does not have a major impact on performance. That’s not a point of concern either, as the phone is one of the top performers in this price segment. 

The MediaTek Dimensity 6080 offers a satisfactory performance in day-to-day usage, and I did not experience too much lag during my use. The RAM can feel limiting at times, especially when you try to multitask, but the phone is not intended for heavy use. I primarily used the device for browsing social media, watching YouTube videos, and taking pictures. It was mostly a pleasant experience, with little hiccups here and there.

The device can work as a casual gaming phone, but it’s best to stick to lower resolutions to enjoy a comfortable gaming experience. We tested out some moderately demanding games like COD: Mobile and BGMI on this device, and the phone delivers an average of 27FPS at medium graphics settings. On low-resolution settings, you can expect a steady frame rate of around 35-40FPS.

Software and 5G connectivity 

The phone comes with itelOS based on Android 13 out of the box, which is a shame considering Android 15 is just around the corner. While the software does come with some pre-installed apps, thankfully, most of these third-party apps can be uninstalled. There’s also a dynamic island-style feature that pops up for face unlock, call background, charging reminders, low battery, and more.

The feature, however, is not interactive and is only available for a select few actions. Social Turbo comes with some nifty features like a voice modulator, retouching videos, and more. These features are all geared towards WhatsApp to improve your usage experience. 

The itel Color Pro 5G, staying true to its name, is a 5G-capable device and comes with NRCA (New Radio Carrier Aggregation) technology. The phone delivers roughly 70Mbps download speed with my Airtel SIM, which usually offers me almost double the speed with my OnePlus Nord CE4. I did encounter a few issues with network coverage in places I frequently visit. The device naturally has limited 5G bands, which is understandable considering its price point.

Battery and charging

The itel Color Pro 5G incorporates a standard 5,000mAh battery paired with 18W fast charging support. In the PCMark battery test, the phone registered a total time of 12 hours and 38 minutes, which is an average result for the price point. During our performance tests, which included roughly 2 hours of gaming and streaming tests, the battery registered a total drain of 24 percent.

This is a respectable battery drain, which is on par with other smartphones in the price bracket. The phone comes with an 18W charging block in the retail box, and it takes about 1 hour and 41 minutes to recharge completely from 20 percent battery capacity.  The charging time is slightly better than its competitors, which offer similar fast charging support.

Final Verdict

The itel Color Pro 5G is currently available for purchase on Amazon and is priced at Rs 9,999. The itel Colour Pro 5G is a solid value-for-money smartphone at this price point. With the Dimensity 6080 chipset, the phone delivers excellent day-to-day performance and can also work as a casual gaming device. The phone’s cameras are quite versatile and deliver good results in both daylight and low-light environments, and its battery life can easily last most users an entire day. The cherry on top is that the device is also 5G capable, so you can enjoy fast network speeds. 

The key competitors of the device include the Moto G24 Power (review) and the Infinix Hot 40i (review). The Moto phone comes with a larger 6,000mAh battery and offers significantly better battery life. The device, however, doesn’t match up to the itel Color Pro 5G in terms of performance or cameras. This holds true for Infinix Hot 40i as well, but the latter has a capable 32MP selfie camera, which could appeal to users who often take video calls or enjoy taking selfies. The itel Color Pro 5G is an easy recommendation for entry-level users who want a capable all-rounder 5G smartphone at a budget price.

Editor’s Rating: 8 / 10

Reasons to buy:

• The itel Color Pro is one of the top performers in the price segment. 
• The rear cameras click good-looking images in both daylight and low-light settings. 
• The phone easily delivers a full day of battery life for most users. 
• The smartphone is 5G-capable. 

Reasons not to buy:

• The smartphone’s brightness falls short outdoors.
• The custom OS is based on Android 13, which launched last year.
• The phone does not offer stereo speakers.

Smartphone tested by: Ujjwal Sharma