Itel A70 (A665L) Price, Review And Specifications.

Itel A70 (A665L) Quick Specs.

Display: 6.6" HD+ (1612×720) Drop-Notched IPS-LCD 60Hz Display.

Software: Android 13 (Go Edition) OS.

CPU: Unisoc T603 (22nm).

RAM: 3GB/4GB (Plus up to 4GB of Virtual RAM).

Storage: 64GB/128GB (Expandable to 1TB).

Rear Camera: Dual-lens (13MP+AI).

Front Camera: Single-lens (8MP).

Security: Face Unlock, Side-mounted fingerprint reader.

Port: USB Type-C.

Network: 4G.

Battery: 5,000mAh.

Starting Price:

₦94,000, GH₵ 880, KSh 11,650, UGX 289,100, EGP 5,150.00.

In spite of its cheap price, Itel A70 (A665L) has a premium design, pretty display and decent camera. It also features the same amount of RAM and storage space as the more expensive budget phones. However, compared to the competitions, Itel A70 is fitted with a less capable CPU.

By the way, Itel A70 retain the size and shape of the last year's Itel A60 (A662L). It also features an identical 6.6-inch drop-notch display. However, instead of having fine lines, the back of the new phone is adorned with a more appealing semi-glossy finish. The phone also has a prettier rear camera bump.

These small cosmetics changes give the new phone a more refreshing and premium looks than its predecessor.

In addition to its prettier looks, most of other features of the Itel A70 are also better than those of the A60. For instance, the latest phone has better cameras and USB Type-C port (compared to the microUSB port on the earlier model). The rear-mounted fingerprint reader on the Itel A60 has also been replaced with a side-mounted one. Itel A70 also packs a beefier CPU, higher RAM, and higher storage space than its predecessor.

Nonetheless, it should be noted that most of the recent low-tier budget phones such as Tecno Pop 8 (BG6) and Infinix Smart 8 (X6525), wear the same looks and pack almost the same features as the Itel A70. Though Itel A70 attracts a little lower price than them. But the lower price comes at the expense of a little less capable CPU.

Price And Design Colours:

Itel A70 is available in different colour options of Field Green, Brilliant Gold, Azure Blue, and Starlish Black. Currently, the price of the base (3GB/64GB) model of the phone is about 90,500 naira.

Itel A70 Has A Premium Design:

Like most of the recent budget phones, Itel A70 features a premium design. The phone has flat edges, flat back cover, and a square shaped rear camera bump. The camera bump looks exactly like the ones on the more expensive Tecno Pop 8 and Infinix Smart 8. Also like the ones on these two phones, there're three circular modules (two cameras and LED Flash) inside the camera bump of the Itel A70. The circular modules are also arranged in a manner that's similar to those of the two phones.

In addition to that, you also get the same 6.6-inch screen size on the competing phones. But while the screen of the Itel A70 features a tear-drop notch, the screens of the two phones (mentioned above) have hole-punch cameras. And they support high screen refresh rate.

Still, compared to those phones, Itel A70 features a slightly wider aspect ratio. Which means the phone is hair wider or bigger than its peers.

Nonetheless, the arrangements of ports and buttons on the Itel A70 are similar to those of the competitions. The volume keys and power button (which also serves as a fingerprint reader) are on the right edge of the phone, while its dual nano 4G SIM+microSD slot is found on the left edge. Itel A70 also comes with a mono speaker (Though Pop 8 has two). And it's placed on the phone's bottom edge, alongside USB Type-C port, mouthpiece and 3.5mm audio jack. There's nothing on the top edge of the Smart 8.

Decent Camera:

Like most of the recent budget phones, Itel A70 has an 8-megapixel camera on its front, and a 13-megapixel dual camera on its back. The third circular module inside the bump, as I said, is an LED flash.

And for a phone at this price, photos taken with the rear camera of the Itel A70 are noticeably clear. In short, the photos are as sharp, and as detailed, as the ones taken with the cameras of the more expensive budget phones; which also feature the same megapixel.

However, the photos from this phone are not that bright. So, to get bright photos from the Itel A70, youth need to take the shots in good lighting environments.

In addition to its not so bright photos, the colour representation is on the saturated side too. Though, i think it's the insufficient brightness that caused the colours to appear saturated. Otherwise, colours would have looked moderate.

Because, despite that the photos are nor bright enough, colour representation still looks decent to me.

Like the shots from the rear camera, selfies from the Itel A70 also look nice. They are moderately clear and as sharp as the ones taken with the more expensive phones. Unfortunately, the selfies also have brightness issue (like the rear shots). And this makes the selfies to appear as if they have better contrast than the ones taken with the competitions.

Colour representation and skin tone are also on the saturated side a little. Still, considering the phone's price, the colour representation is okay and passable.

And like most of other budget phones, Itel A70 is capable of shooting 1080p videos at 30fps (frame per second) with both of its front and rear cameras. Also as expected, there's no video Stabilization.

Familiar 6.6-inch Display:

Like that of its predecessor and those of other budget phones with the same screen size, the 6.6-inch screen of the Itel A70 features a 720p resolution of 1612-by-720 pixels (269ppi). And like the ones on the competitions, Itel A70 display has nice colour reproduction. Though, placing them side by side, colours appear a little muted or less vibrant on the Itel A70 screen, compared to those of the competing budget phones.

Also, the peak brightness of the screen is a little on the low side. Which means that, at its maximum brightness level, you'll struggle to see the screen of the Itel A70 under direct sunlight. 

Furthermore, and as i said earlier, unlike those of the two slightly more expensive contenders, the screen of the Itel A70 doesn't support high screen refresh rate. Yet, the display feature 120Hz Touch Sampling rate. This feature makes the screen of the A70 to be more sensitive or more responsive to touch. Also as a result of its slightly wider aspect ratio, this Itel screen has better screen real-estate than the most of the competitions.

Another noteworthy feature of the Itel A70 is Dynamic Bar. This feature mimics the Dynamic Island of the previous iPhone X. In other words, and by toggle On Dynamic Bar in display settings, the Tear-drop notch on the Itel A70 will be transformed to a wider-shape notch or Dynamic Bar. And afterwards, some of your notifications will start to show inside the Bar.

Notwithstanding, i prefer the implementation of this feature on the Tecno Pop and Smart 8. Because instead of notch, both of these phones come with hole-punch cameras. As a result, their Bars (Dynamic Port and Magic Ring) look exactly like ones on the recent iPhones. 

Performance And Software:

Under the hood, there's not much difference between Itel A70 and the competing slightly more expensive budget phones. Apart from the fact that it's running on the Android 13 (Go Edition) OS like most of them, Itel A70 also comes in various RAM and storage options of 3GB/64GB, 4GB/64GB, and 4GB/128GB.

The phone also features RAM Virtualization or MemFusion like them. By converting some amount (up to 4GB) out of the phone's inbuilt storage to virtual RAM, MemFusion enables Itel A70 to maintain consistent smoother performance.

In a similar manner, the 64GB or 128GB internal storage capacity of the Itel A70 can also be expanded, via microSD card, up to 512GB.

However, while the OS, RAM, and storage configurations of the Itel A70 are exactly like those of the competitions, the phone's CPU packs a little less power. Especially in terms of graphics and power efficiency. In details, and compared to the Unisoc T606 that accompanied the likes of the more expensive Infinix Smart 8 and Tecno Pop 8, Itel A70 is powered by Unisoc T603. 

Though T603 is newer than the T606, but it is more of an upgraded version of the SC9832E that's inside Itel A60. Because like the SC9832E, T603 is a 22nm entry-level processor. And it features the same PowerVR-GE8322 GPU.

So again, in term power efficiency and graphics related tasks, such as basic games (which most of the phones in this category can only withstand), Itel A70 falls a little behind the Tecno and Infinix phones. Because the T606 that powered those two phones is a 12nm processor. And it has a slightly better Mali-G57 MC1 GPU.

Still, despite that T603 is a 22nm entry-level CPU like the SC9832E that's inside the previous Itel A60, the latest CPU is a 1.8Ghz octa-core processor, while the SC9832E is a 1.4Ghz quad-core processor. As a result, Itel A70 was able to deliver a more smoother performance than its predecessor. In fact, in a single and multi-core operations, the performance of the Itel A70 is exactly like those of other budget phones that feature T606. Because T603 has 1.8Ghz maximum clock speed, while T606 has 1.6Ghz.

In other words, and when it comes to day to day usage, there's no noticeable difference between the Itel A70 and the two slightly more expensive Tecno Pop 8 and Infinix Smart 8.

Same Battery Capacity:

Apart from the fact that the Micro-USB port on the earlier A60 has been replaced with a USB Type-C port on the Itel A70, the earlier phone's 5W charging has also been increased to 10W charging. And this is also what you get on the likes of the Pop 8 and Smart 8. Yet, Itel A70 is powered by a 5,000mAh battery like these phones and its predecessor.

And with the phone's out of the box 10W charger, it'll take you over three hours to fully charge its battery from zero percent.

Full Specifications Of Itel A70 (A665L):

GENERAL

Maker: Itel Mobile.

Name: A70 (A665L).

Year Released: October, 2023.

Dimensions: 163.7x75.6x8.6mm

Weight: 192g.

Protection: N/a.

Colour: Starlish Black, Azure Blue, Brilliant Gold & Field Green.

DISPLAY

Screen Type: IPS-LCD capacitive Touchscreen.

Size and Resolution: 6.56-inch, HD+, 1612-by-720 pixels, 60Hz (standard) Refresh Rate.

Aspect ratio & Pixel Densities: 20:9, 269PPI.

Protection N/a.

PORTS:

3.5mm Audio Jack: Yes.

USB Type-C Port: Yes.

MicroUSB port: No.

Lightning Connector: No.

Google Assistant Button: No.

PERFORMANCE

Chipset: Unisoc T603 22nm Octa-core Processor, 1.8GHz.

GPU: PowerVR-GE8322.

RAM: 3GB/4GB (With up to 4GB of Virtual RAM).

Operating System: Android 13 (Go Edition), Itel OS 13 Custom UI.

STORAGE

Internal Storage: 64GB/128GB.

Micro-SD card slot: Yes, up to 1TB (One Terabyte).

SIM AND NETWORK

SIM: Nano, Dual SIM slots.

Network: GSM, HSPA+, & LTE.

CAMERA

Rear camera: Dual-lens; 13MP +AI, Dual-Flash.

Front camera: Single-lens, 8MP Dual Front Flash.

VIDEO RECORDING:

Rear Cameras: 720p, 1080p @ 30 fps.

Front Camera: 720p, 1080p @ 30 fps.

CONNECTIVITY:

Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.3, HotSpots, USB-OTG.

BIOMETRIC, SENSORS & LOCATION: 

Security: Face Unlock, Side-mounted fingerprint reader.

Sensors: Ambient light, Virtual Proximity, G-sensor, Accelerometer And

Barometer.

Others: GPS, Location (Geo, Glonass), Beidou.

BATTERY

Battery Capacity: 5,000mAh.

Qi Wireless-Charging: N/a.

Fast Charging: 10W (Wired).