We unbox the THL 5000!

It’s a dilemma for most smartphones as old as time- as devices become faster and faster, battery technology has struggled to catch up. It’s rare that phones last more than a day with a single charge – those that do usually need to make the trip to the charger, fast, or else suffer the same fate as their low mAh kin. Very few have enough juice to stay on for a couple of days, but they’re usually not the nicest looking smartphones around, and are usually bulky devices, a result of having nice, fat batteries.

That’s what makes THL’s 5000 stand out from the pack. The Chinese mobile company’s newest phone (sold by Novo7 Tech), the THL T5000, packs a battery large enough to make the Energizer Bunny blush, in a frame that’s only as thick as a Galaxy Note 3.

THL 5000 specs

• 2.0 GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor
• Mali-450 MP4 GPU
• 2GB RAM
• 5-inch full HD IPS display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 proctection, 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 16GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
• 13-megapixel Sony IMX 135 rear camera with f/1.8 aperture
• 5-megapixel front camera
• WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, NFC, USB OTG
• 3G, HSPA+
• 5,000mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 144.9 x 72.3 x 8.9mm

Packaging and contents

The THL 5000 comes in a plain, white box, much like most of the other THL devices that Novo7 Tech sells. The back of the box bears the THL 5000’s specs, as well as other pertinent information like the IMEI code and the color of your device.

Aside from the phone, the box also contains your typical Android device accessories, like a USB cable, charger, headphones and manual, as well as a free screen protector.

Initial impressions: Has plenty of mAh, but it’s sexy frame doesn’t show it

When we first saw the THL 5000, we were really surprised to see just how thin it was in person. At around 8.9mm it’s not exactly what you’d call ultra-thin, but considering the thing has a 5,000mAh battery, we were expecting more bulk. Instead, we got a smartphone that had rougly the same thickness as Samsung’s Galaxy S3.

As far as overall design goes, the THL 5000 isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s not exactly a homely phone either. The back of the device has a nice texture that allows you to get a positive purchase on the device. The side of the THL 5000 has a dark grey band that tries to add a bit of visual flair to the otherwise plain-looking smartphone.

Aside from having a massive battery, the THL 5000 is also one of the few (if not the only) Android smartphone sporting a MT6592 processor clocked at 2.0GHz. We’ve seen both 1.7GHz and 1.4GHz flavors of this particular processor, so we were interested to see just how the processor manages to score in AnTuTu. It did not dissappoint – the 30341 points in AnTuTu made it one of the highest scoring MediaTek powered devices locally.

Novo7 Tech has also put in their own, modified Android OS dubbed the Hydroid OS. The OS is 100% Filipino made, and is pre-loaded into new THL T100S and THL 5000 devices sold by the company. Tinkerers will be happy to know that the Hydroid OS equipped devices (like the THL 5000) will be rooted out of the box, without voiding your warranty, and allows users to completely tinker with all aspects of the device, making the THL 5000 a great smartphone for people looking to get a running start at tinkering with Android.

The THL 5000 is priced at Php 11,999. We’ll be starting our review of the THL 5000 as of now, hopefully the device delivers on both battery endurance and performance.