Swipe Elite 2 is a basic smart phone from Indian based startup called Swipe Technologies. Swipe Elite was launched earlier this year and it was lauded for its Freedom OS. It lacked 4G connectivity and the second generation Swipe Elite 2 is a 4G enabled device. It is priced at Rs 4666 and that makes it the cheapest 4G enabled mobile in the country. It is a basic mobile and if you are looking for blazing gaming performance or uber awesome camera performance, stop reading and head over to our reviews, devices or recommendation section for other options.

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Design

The Mobile is a 4.5 inch device. It has a matte finish at the back and smooth rounded corners. It is very comfortable to hold. It is made of plastic and it does not spell premium when it comes to build quality. It does not feel cheap either. The back panel is removable and though it is flimsy, when it is fitted back in the mobile, it fits snugly. The right side has volume and power button made of plastic. The top has the 3.5mm audio socket and a microUSB socket. The mic is at the bottom. The 8 MP camera is at the back assisted by a single LED flash. The 4.5 inch display takes over most of the front apart from the 5MP selfie camera, sensors, earpiece and non-backlit android keys. Overall, the build quality is decent and the design is very minimal. It feels very good to hold in the hand because of its size and it is comfortable to operate as well.

Swipe has included a flexible clear back cover along with the device. It is becoming increasingly common for manufacturers to include back covers with mobile. The case protects the mobile from all side and has cut outs as needed.

Display

Elite 2 has a 4.5 inch IPS display which supports quarter HD resolution. The display is bright and it suits the needs of a handy smart phone. It has optimal brightness, saturation and color reproduction. The viewing angles are decent and has average sunlight legibility. Frankly there is nothing to complain for the price you have paid with respect to the display.

Screen protector film is pre-applied on the mobile. It is a clear film and protects the display to an extent. Otherwise the display is not protected by any branded glass protection.

Hardware and Performance

The Swipe Elite 2 is powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor clocked at 1.3 Ghz. It has 1 GB of RAM and an internal storage of 8 GB and expandable by upto 32 GB with microSD card.  It supports USB OTG. It has a 8 MP camera at the back and a 5 MP camera on the front. It has WiFi and supports dual SIM cards. But only one SIM can be active at a time. Elite 2 supports 4G network. I faced WiFi connectivity issues with my review unit. The WiFi gets disconnected when the screen gets locked. I have set the WiFi to be always on under setting, but still the issue was persistent. I had to disable and enable WiFi to get back the connectivity. But with 4G connection, there was no issues and I got decent speeds with Airtel 4G in Bangalore.

I also had an issue with storage. Images clicked from the camera never got stored and I realized that the data was not getting written on the ROM or SD card. I had to restart and the issue was resolved.  This is not a consistent issue, but something that can frustrate you easily. Both these issues can be resolved with OTA updates and with my interaction with Mr Shripal Gandhi, the founder of Swipe, I can tell that Swipe is committed to give you frequent updates to resolve any issue and improve stability.

The device handles UI smoothly and there was no issue with apps and games as well. The sound out of the speakers are not loud enough, but it is clear. The audio quality on the headphones were decent and provided that the device has FM radio, it offers good music experience.

Camera

The Swipe Elite 2 has a 8 MP sensor at the back and its assisted by a single LED flash. The camera is also capable of recording video at 1080p resolution with 30 fps. The front facing camera is a5 MP sensor. The image quality from the rear facing camera is decent. The color reproduction is natural. The focusing is slow but locks on fairly accurately. Also new to the Elite 2 is focus tracking which tracks the focus on a subject even when it is moving. The images are good on ample daylight. But the camera is almost useless on low light. The flash is not of much help either. The HDR shots are good, but bit over sharpened and the exposure interlacing in uneven. Again, the HDR images come handy only on ample light conditions. The front facing camera is decent for fairly pleasing self portraits. The camera application is straight forward and is easy to use.

Check out these sample shots.

Software

Swipe Elite 2 runs on Android 5.1 with Freedom OS UI skinned on top. The Freedom OS is rightly optimized for a basic mobile like the Elite 2. The UI is snappy and provides a bunch of handy features. The pure Android experience is still retained. Freedom OS rightly compliments the Swipe Elite 2.

Battery

The device is powered by a 1900 mAh battery and the small display and freedom OS optimization helps the device to last for over 1.5 days on a single charge. All the while during my review period I was on 4G network and I check whatsapp and Facebook frequently. I clicked a few pictures now and then and listen to FM radio from the mobile, on speaker while commuting to office. Even with such heavy usage, the device lasted for more than a day on a single charge.

Verdict

Swipe Elite 2 is a very compact and economic smart phone. Build quality is good and the camera is decent. Freedom OS offers a lot of features but it needs to fix the WiFi and memory issues. The Swipe Elite is one of the best options available at this price bracket. Check out the other options compared below

The Phicomm Energy 653 is a good option, but Swipe Elite 2 is compact and the Freedom OS on the Swipe Elite is stable and functional. I would pick Swipe Elite 2 when compared to the 3 options if I am tasked to pick up a 4G enabled mobile under Rs 5000.