IMO Q2 Plus 2019 Mobile Phone Review
Reviewed by Catherine Joyce
I do wish mobile phones had been invented earlier as it would have made my teenage years so much easier. Living in a tiny village, just having the ability to ring home and ask for a lift or change plans at the drop of a hat was something I could never even have imagined back then. As soon as my sons started high school we bought them phones as we live quite a distance from school and wanted them to be able to contact someone if they missed the bus.
My son has just turned 14 and up to now has been using our old phones so he was quite excited when I told him that we would be reviewing a new mobile phone. When it arrived, the phone was well packed and came with a battery, “Quick Start Guide” and a charging cable. The removable battery was easy to fit as was the nano sim which we transferred from his current phone. Like most teenagers he is quite confident with technology and he quickly had it out of the box and was setting it up before I even realised what he was doing. Judging by the speed that he set it up I can only assume that it is easy to do! I did read the instructions and they were concise and easy to follow and if he hadn’t done it so quickly I would have felt confident doing it myself.
Mobile phones can be very expensive but not everybody needs or can afford a top of the range handset, the IMO Q2 Plus 2019 mobile phone has a RRP of just £39.99 which is a great price for a starter phone and I won’t worry about him damaging it or losing it quite the same as I would with a more expensive one.
Despite the low price, it is an Android phone and my son is already familiar with the Android operating system so found the phone very easy to use. It is quite compact so perfect for keeping in a pocket or school bag. The screen is 4” so tiny by most modern standards but is adequate for reading emails or watching YouTube on the school bus which is what he tends to use it for. The 8GB memory is about as low as you can get away with and with only 4GB available I suspect that my son will soon have to choose which game he wants to install and which to delete. The phone is using Google Go apps which are intended for use on lower specification devices so we might yet be surprised!
With a 2 megapixel main camera and a 0.3 megapixel camera on the front of the phone we won’t be taking any high quality pictures and the camera struggles in low light but as they say, “the best camera is the one in your pocket”, and it’s always handy to be able to take an unplanned photo.
With a plastic body and weighing just 110g this phone is very light, so it won’t feel heavy in a pocket or bag. It doesn’t feel flimsy and seems well put together and has already survived a drop on the tiled kitchen floor.
I’m very impressed at just how much can be included in a smartphone that costs just £40. It has Bluetooth, GPS, a touchscreen, two cameras, a quad core processor and Face Unlock function to unlock the phone using facial recognition . As an adult I’d use one of these as a spare phone or perhaps take it with me when I go hiking or camping rather than risk losing my main phone. As a first phone for a child it is perfect as it has all the features you look for in a phone but at a budget price.
If your child has been asking for a phone then this is definitely worth considering and would make a lovely gift without a hefty price tag.
It is available in 2 colours True Blue (from Vodafone) and Love Pink (from Argos).
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £39.99 (True Blue is currently £37 from Vodafone, and Love Pink is £40 from Argos)
For more information and where to buy visit www.imomobile.co.uk.
