TECH BREAK: The impressive yet affordable Maze Alpha

Tech enthusiasts world over will acknowledge 2017 as the year that bezel-less phone craze caught on with consumers. So, what does a bezel-less phone mean? It’s simply the idea of having the screen cover as much space on your phone as a design feature.

Samsung and iPhone makers joined this ‘revolution’ and the smaller phone companies have followed suit. If you’re on a tight budget and want to experience the bezel-less phone, then the Maze Alpha smartphone could be your answer.

The Maze Alpha smartphone makers kicked off with interesting teasers on social media displaying an interesting bezel-less concept which eventually went into production. Here’s what I think about the phone:  

DESIGN

The design of the phone is quite impressive and arguably its strongest selling point. What catches your attention instantly is the lack of a top chin above the 6 inch screen, giving the phone a bezel-less look.

GORILLA GLASS FOUR

The main chassis is made of metal with both the front and back covered by glass. The front panel is made of Corning Gorilla Glass 4 to help it resist scratches. The backside adopts a simple look with two main cameras positioned on the top left corner, but let’s put a pin on this for now.

Both glass panels covering the front and back are prone to fingerprint marks. At 225 grams, this phone is quite heavy for its size. One can argue that you can get used to a heavy phone but the problem is if it accidentally falls on a hard surface, it can be a costly affair to replace the broken screen.

It's a good thing the Alpha comes with a glass protector for extra protection.

POWER AND PERFORMANCE

Inside the Alpha is a powerful Mediatek Helio P25 processor with 4GBs of RAM and an internal storage of 64 GBs, enough to handle anything you do on a daily basis. Tasks ranging from browsing the web to gaming are handled effortlessly thanks to the chipset.   

Internal temperatures tend to rise under prolonged heavy usage but this is to be expected of smartphones as processors dissipate heat as a by-product. A stock version of Android 7.0 operating system runs the device with no bloatware Applications installed on it, which is what you want for a smooth android experience since these additional Apps strain the CPU while adding little to no value.

Powering the phone is a whopping 4,000 mAh battery capable of sustaining the phone through a day of regular usage or longer if you are a light user. 

CAMERAS

Back to those lenses. Images captured on the main camera, which is a 13MP sensor are average in quality to say the least. There aren’t any bells and whistles even with its dual cameras. Using the ‘blur’ doesn't excite unless you frame your subject carefully.

The selfie camera in front is a 5MP shooter and it does get good shot although it takes a little getting used to due to its positioning at the bottom rather than where you’d expect.

Here’s the low-down of the good and bad of the Maze Alpha:

THE GOOD

Outstanding design (loved the thin bezels)

Powerful for day to day usage and gaming

Big and bright 1920 by 1080 resolution screen for media consumption

Snappy fingerprint scanner (doubles as a ‘back’ button)

Outstanding battery life

USB type C (faster than micro USB)

Generously big internal storage at 64GBs

Premium look and feel on the cheap

THE NASTY

Heavy feel

The glossy glass panels are a fingerprint magnet

The dual camera effect is a bit of a hit and miss

The loud speaker sounds flat

All in all, the Maze Alpha is value for money inspite of its faults. The device currently retails at just under Sh20,000 shilling on Gearbest although this does not include taxes so you’ll need to set aside an extra Sh5,000 (average) if you consider shipping it.