First of all, let’s make one thing clear, this article is based on full paper-and-pen specs as per Symphony’s official website and official Facebook page, the images are also taken from the official website. I have not used the smartphone myself. This text does not represent real life experiences. Please keep this in mind while reading the article.
In recent times, we have seen very aggressive pricing from Symphony on their smartphones. Keeping that continuity, they have brought a new smartphone in the market, whose model is Symphony Innova 30. The smartphone comes in two variants, 6/128 and 8/128, priced at Taka 11,700 and Taka 12,700 respectively excluding VAT.
When the Symphony Z60 Plus came out 9 months ago with almost the same specs at a slightly higher price, I was, to say the least, enthusiastically praising the smartphone. But the Syphony Innova 30 won’t repeat the rave reviews it wrote – because the lack of uniqueness in smartphones is increasing day by day, and because it has a 108 MP UHD camera. That’s not to say that it’s a bad smartphone, but rather that it offers the best value and performance-packed package in the market, at least on paper, at this price.
Symphony brings devices from the Z and Innova series in the same budget range. As such, I think that the two series should have some distinctive features. But on paper specs at least, the Innova 30 looks more like a successor to the Innova 10 than the Z70 Plus, like the Z60 Plus.
Currently budget range smartphones are at a stage where variety is lacking. The Innova 30 also doesn’t add any variety there. It is another device with an iPhone-ish design, 6.56″ display size, 90 Hz refresh rate, HD+ resolution, 5000 mAh battery, 18W fast charging and Unisoc T616 chipset.
Let’s start with the design. This is the most iPhone-ish design smartphone brought by Symphony. Along with the three cameras, the position of the flash light is also similar to the recent Pro models of the iPhone. Trying to emulate the iPhone is nothing new on a budget. As I said earlier, there is a lack of ‘personality’ among budget smartphones. The Mirror White color looks good, the other two color variants are named Reflective Green and Space Green.
The notification light feature was pretty much lost, now we see it coming back in a new form in the latest smartphones from Walton and Symphony. In the case of Symphony, they have named this feature Smart Blink Light. It will glow to indicate charging, phone-calls and notification messages. It’s stylish on the one hand, but also functional in some situations.
The build material is PMMA plastic. Being reusable, Symphony says it is more environmentally friendly than ordinary plastic. But it should be noted here that they are using the term ‘reusable’ and not ‘biodegradable’. That is, even if there is a ‘comparative’ advantage, at the end of the day it is a variation of plastic.
On the front, it has a 6.56″ IPS Incell display with HD+ (1612*720) resolution, which supports 90 Hz refresh rate. 90.7% screen to body ratio with a punchhole cutout for the camera. 450 nits of brightness is the maximum brightness, which will make it a bit difficult in daylight outdoor situations. But considering the budget, the display can be said to be satisfactory.
Externally, the smartphone weighs 193 grams and has a thickness of 8.45 cm. There is a side-mounted fingerprint and a noise cancellation microphone that is not seen in many smartphones.
In terms of performance, Symphony Innova 30 offers something good. While I would have preferred the MediaTek chipset to be used in the Innova series following the Innova 10, it’s true that any other processor as powerful as the Unisoc T616 is hard to come by in this budget. Even with the Helio G88, there was maximum eMMC 5.1 support for the storage type, while the Unisoc T616 used Symphony uMCP5 technology for memory and storage, which is basically a combination of UFS memory and LPDDR4x RAM. With 6 GB and 8 GB RAM options, the Innova 30 is the best in terms of performance in this budget.
Here are some screenshots of Geekbench 6 test scores from Geekbench Browser for those interested. Basically the same as all other T616 devices.
When it comes to RAM, Symfony has to be especially praised because while many companies have taken a misleading marketing approach with virtual RAM, Symphony has not gone there yet, only referring to hardware RAM. Hopefully they’ll keep it up in the future and other companies should at least get out of promoting virtual RAM with real RAM in such a way that there’s at least some risk of mislead.
And I wish I could do the same on camera, but sadly I can’t. One reason not to repeat the rave reviews I said at the start is the 108 MP UHD camera. What is the problem here? The problem is that Symphony uses the term UHD to refer to a software-based super-resolution technology for producing high-resolution images.
If you notice the phrasing of Symphony’s description of the 108 MP UHD camera, “The advanced image-processing engine captures 108MP of rich data, creating high-quality images with striking details, realistic colors, and significantly less noise. Photographers have the creative freedom they need to zoom, crop, enlarge, and ultimately bring their vision to life.”
See, it’s not talking about the 108 MP lens, it’s about capturing 108 MP of data through image processing. Basically this technology works by combining multiple images from lower resolution cameras. And by the way, I’m not just building a conspiracy theory based on this description, Symphony UHD has been using the word in this sense for a long time. The description of the Innova 10 made this point a little clearer:
While I don’t know specifically about the actual camera of the Innova 30, I assume it will be around 50 MP. Now 50 MP doesn’t sound bad, so why say 108 MP UHD? It’s simple, if a lower resolution camera is called 52 MP UHD, then it has to go some way to convey the greatness of 50 MP. At this point I would expect a change in marketing approach, I don’t see the difference between mixing virtual RAM with real RAM.
However, megapixels are less important than ever when it comes to cameras. Megapixels basically determine the resolution of the image, i.e. the amount of detail. It’s true that you can take pictures with 108 MP resolution on this phone. But with 4K resolution equivalent to 8.3 MP, it’s hard to see any real need for 108 MP. On the other hand, due to the limitations of its processing power, video ends up being supported at a maximum of 1080p on the front 8 MP camera, as well as on the rear 108 MP camera.
What is the essence? The bottom line is that megapixels aren’t the best measure of camera quality, and often megapixels aren’t even ‘megapixels’. What the real life experience is like, that’s the point of looking at the camera.
The battery is now almost invisible except for 5000 mAh. Same here. Expect good backup with 12 nm chipset, HD+ display. There is also 18 W fast charging, you can’t ask for faster than that considering the budget. It should be fully charged within two and a half hours.
In terms of software, there is actually Android 13. The Symphony’s interface remains close to stock, but some useful extra features remain with the Innova 30. Which includes features such as App Lock, Parallel App, Dynamic Island, Three Finger Screenshot, Side Application Bar. And yes, Symfony does not provide regular software updates other than the occasional CQT update.
The security section has a side mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock. The sensor section will feature gravity, proximity and light sensors as well as a compass sensor, which is not always seen in this budget. But there is no gyroscope sensor here.
This was the case with the Symphony Innova 30. It seems that Symphony has once again come up with the best in terms of price-to-performance. If it can deliver real life output as per the specs, then it will be a great deal.
