Friends+Design
- Sturdy (plastic based) design - feels good in the hand
Display
- Display is decent, but colours could be better, and an ambient light sensor would have been good to have
Performance
- Fairly decent performance, especially given the very limited hardware of the phone - works smoother than most entry-level phones in this price range - so clearly Android Go does help
- Android Go edition is somewhat less powerful than standard Android - the Go edition apps are not as full featured - for instance, Google Maps runs within a browser instead of a stand-alone app (you don’t get turn by turn navigation, location sharing, reviews, set addresses and so on) - other limitations of the Go edition include no split screen mode, you can multitask/switch between a maximum of 9 apps and Google Assistant does not wake up with the ‘OK Google’ voice prompt (thankfully though, it has all the usual apps including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram and so on)
Camera
- Average rear and front cameras - like other entry-level phones, don’t expect too much here - you might get a half decent photo outdoors in good lighting with a steady hand, but nothing more
Battery
- Good battery life — a single charge will last you a full day
More
- Amongst the first phones in India to come with Android Oreo Go edition - a stripped-down version of Android for entry-level devices with basic hardware - not only does the operating system take up less storage, it has lightweight editions of Google’s popular apps like YouTube, Google Maps and Gmail too
- Comes bundled with special cashback offers from Airtel
- On the whole, the Bharat Go does deliver a decent experience as a first smartphone for someone, and goes head-to-head with the Nokia 1 at this price point (both are pretty similar) - however, if you can stretch your budget a little, you might be better off with the likes of Mobiistar CQ, Moto E4 or the iVoomi Me 3 — all of them offer 2GB RAM, larger displays & better cameras - and if you can stretch your budget even more, you can look at budget Xiaomi devices too
