Taiwanese electronics company BenQ makes plenty of different products, and they’re widely known for some of their gaming displays and other monitors for desktop computers. Although BenQ stated last year that they would not be making smartphones again thanks to chinese news site ePrice, we know that they had a change of heart and are re-entering the market with two of their very own smartphones.
BenQ has named the handsets the A3 and F3, and they’re both powered by 1.2GHz processors. There is a difference though despite the same power of the processor. The A3 uses a Snapdragon MSM8225Q, while BenQ has decided to go with a MediaTek MT6589 on the F3. Aside from the different processor, both devices also have a different design as well as different cameras and prices(the A3 will cost about NT$5,990 while the F3 costs around NT$7,990) Both those prices are off contract, and are equal to around $200 and $270 respectively.
It seems that most other specs for the A3 and F3 are the same, as both devices are going to come with 4.5 inch IPS displays with a 960×540 resolution. Both the A3 and F3 will also have 4GB of internal storage, and 1GB of RAM. the storage and RAM specs are a little low compared to most of today’s devices, but when you consider the prices these phones will cost, its not all that bad. Although both phones will be fairly similar the F3 is clearly the higher end model of the two, sporting a 13MP rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture, HDR imaging and zero shutter lag. The A3 comes with an 8MP rear facing camera with no mention of any special imaging features. Both phones have 2MP front facing cameras, so video chat and easy self portraits will be available.
On the battery side of things the F3 has a slightly larger capacity for a charge with a 2,100 mAH battery and the A3 has 2,000 mAH battery. 100 mAH won’t give you much extra juice, but some is better than none. Both phones seem to be pretty decent for the price, and would be a nice mid range device if you don’t have a need for anything power hungry. As far as availability goes, customers in Taiwan can already purchase the F3 while there is still a wait on the A3. There is also no mention of whether or not the rest of the world will have access to purchase these phones, but we’ll keep you posted if that changes. Has anyone used BenQ products before? Would you be interested in buying a smartphone like these from BenQ if they were available to you?