Mintt Y5 – the $379 value class leader

The Mintt Y5 – technically an UltraMintt Y5 – is the $379 value class-leader. it has features punching far above its weight/price that you may happily pay a few hundred dollars more.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Mintt Y5 is 18W fast charge and 10W Qi Wireless Charging that tends to only be in $800+ devices. Or NFC – you generally pay around $100+ more for that.

But what I really like is whole Mintt Y5 package – the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Great 6.3” bright screen, dual sim, 4/128/microSD, decent processor, 48MP tri-cameras and pure Android 10.

This is the first Australian Mintt Y5 review. We ran it through more than 70 hardware and software tests. It earns our highest recommendation in the $399 mass-market range.

Australian review: Mintt Y5, dual sim

• Australian Website here
• Price: $379
• From: Mintt online only although watch for further distribution announcements
• Elevator Pitch: The kitchen sink for $379!
• Warranty: 1-year ACL swap warranty
• Mintt is an Australian company, part of the South-east-Asian Mintt/NWTL Group. Details here.

We use FAIL, PASS and EXCEED against more than 70 test paradigms to arrive at a rating.

First impression – EXCEED

• Nice size – not too big
• Bright screen with GG3 and protector
• Rear fingerprint reader
• Tri-camera
• USB-C
  3.5mm jack
• TPU bumper case, buds, 10W charger
• Qi and optional 18W charger
• My only gripe is its colour – boring black.

After three weeks of use, I have no complaints. Its everything even a phone snob like me could need.

And I guess that is what Mintt strive for in its A5 ($199), X5 ($279) and Y5 ($379) range – a good, better and best scenario to cover Joe and Jane Average. You can read our overview of the range here.

PS – Mintt uses the same OEM as the US brand Blu. It is similar to the Blu G9 Pro, which has accolades as one of the best value smartphones in the US.

Screen – EXCEED

Size	6.3”, water-drop, LPTS TFT-LCD made by AU Optronics
Resolution	2340 x 1080, 60Hz
PPI	409ppi, 91% STBR
Colour	Approx. 83% NTSC, which is approx. 90% sRGB Delta E 5 Modes: standard (sRGB), vivid (DCI), cool or custom Dark Theme Warm to cool slider 16.7m colours (not HDR)
Nits	400 – can go higher with adaptive brightness on (measured 385)
Brightness	1500:1 meaning its OK for daylight readability. (measured 1275:1) Automatic brightness is a little aggressive towards battery life
G-T-G	27ms
Ratio	19.5:9
Viewing angle	80/80/80/80 (equates to 160×160° horizontal/vertical)
Protection	Gorilla Glass 3

Our tests confirm the factory specs, especially the bright and colourful screen.

This is an unusual quality screen at this price bracket. It uses LPTS, which means it has no traditional edge light – nice, even lighting. Overall it is a great screen.

Processor – PASS

SoC	MediaTek Helio P60 (MT6771V/C) 12nm big.LITTLE 4xA73 2Ghz and 4 x A53 2Ghz
GPU	Mali G72 MP3 800Mhz Supports Open CL 3.2, Vulcan 1.1) Decode 1080@30fps HEVC Supports AI for camera Game use: The CPU/GPU is not great for games. It should support most mobile games to 30fps.
RAM	4GB LPDDRX4 dual-channel
Storage	128GB eMMC 5.1 (106GB free) 291/237Mbps sequential read/write
micro-SD	To 128GB
GeekBench 5	Single 289 Multi 1304 Compute Open CL 1129 Roughly equal to a Samsung Galaxy S8 series or Qualcomm SD660
Throttle 15-minute test	Starts at 141,103GIPS, Averages 98,489 (approx. 42% loss of performance) Reasonably typical of the Helio P60  – not a gamers phone.

One way to make a value phone is to use a MediaTek processor. This is similar in performance to a Qualcomm SD660 found in more expensive phones. There is no downside in the Helio P60 for its intended use.

Throttling is acceptable, given its user profile. It does not overheat.

Comms – EXCEED

Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 4 N, 2.4 and 5Ghz, 1×1 Signal Strength -32dBm (excellent) and 433Mbps
Bluetooth	BT 4.2 – SBC and AAC
GPS	GPS+GLONASS+Beidou+Galileo Single-band 10m accuracy fine for turn-by-turn navigation
NFC	Yes PayWave/Google Pay
USB-C	2.0 OTG
Sensors	Accelerometer Gyroscope Magnetometer eCompass Fingerprint rear (100% accurate) Light sensor Proximity

The price compromise is Wi-Fi N and BT 4.2, but you get NFC for Google Pay. It has excellent Wi-Fi signal strength showing good antenna design.

It is impressive that it has a full suite of sensors, including an eCompass.

LTE – PASS+

SIM	Dual hybrid with microSD (DSDS – one active at a time)
Ring tone	Single
Support	VoLTE – carrier dependent but generally yes Wi-FI calling – Yes
UL (Mbps)	50Mbps Cat 13
DL (Mbps)	150Mbps Cat 7
Band	1/3/5/7/8/12/13/17/28A/28B/40
Test	-102dBm in a 3-bar reception area (average) Found next tower at -110dBm (good)

It has all the bands, including band 28. Reception is average for the test – it is more of a city/suburbs phone.

Battery – EXCEED

Battery mAh	4050 (3950 rated)
Charger	Comes with 5V/2A 10W Supports 9V/2A (18W) fast charge or a USB-C PD charger QI Wireless charge (10W)
AI	The battery learns charge patterns and adapts
Tests	Qi 10W charge – 4 hours 10W charge – 2.75 hours 18W charge – 1.5 hour Discharge screen on – <300mA – good for 25 days standby Video Loop 1080p/50%, aeroplane mode – 10 hours MP3 music – 20+ hours 100% load Battery drain – 6 hours T-Rex – 387.4min (6.46hr) 1503 frames

Under typical use, this should give at last 1-2 days use. By ‘bedtime’ it has 30-40% left.

Sound – PASS

Speakers	Mono earpiece and down-firing speaker*
AMP	5.2W (RMS, THD 1%)
Mic	Dual MEMs with noise cancellation (THD 1%) FR 100Hz-8kHz
3.5mm	Yes
Tests dB	Media 75 Ring 77 Alarm 81 Earpiece 55 The sound boost setting does little.

* It is not fair to measure the sound signature on a mono speaker system. The primary use is for clear voice.

It is reasonably loud all around and with the dual mics makes for a good handsfree speakerphone.

The 3.5mm buds are surprisingly good with offset ear tips for a better canal seal. I cannot measure frequency response, but there is a hint of bass, peaking mids and a fair amount of treble – bright vocal.

BT output to our reference Sony WH-1000XN3 (M4 review soon) on SBC and AAC codecs is loud and clear -more than CD quality.

Build – PASS+

Size	157 x 75.1 x 8.6 mm x 181g
Build	Gorilla Glass 3 with factory fitted protector Plastic Frame Rear is either plastic or glass paint deposited
IP	None
Cover	TPU bumper cover provided

It appears Solidly built and is as good as I have seen in this class. Mintt claims a <.05% failure rate – excellent. You can buy a PU leather-look flip case for $25 from Mintt.

Android 10 – PASS+

Android	Pure Google Android 10 security patch 4 April 2020
Google	All standard apps, Google Lens and Assistant
Bloatware	None
Update Policy	Assume that no OS update although security patches should come

Few low-cost phones have Pure Google Android (except Nokia), and we have inquired about Mintt upgrade policy.

Mintt Y5 Camera – EXCEED

Rear Camera	48MP Wide Bins to 12MP	8MP Ultra-wide	2MP Depth
Sensor	Samsung S5KGM1	Samsung SK54H7	OV2680
Lens	6P	5P	3P
Focus	PDAF	Contrast AF	FF
Aperture f-stop	1.7	2.2	2.4
Pixel size um	.8 (bins 1.6)	1.12	1.75
FOV° and cropped	79 (66.5)	118.8 (96.6)	85
Flash	Dual
Video	1080p@60fps
AI	Beauty Night Slo-mo Pro Filter HDR

This is a great setup. A 48MP that can shoot in 48MP or 12MP, PDAF, large pixels (when binned) and takes excellent shots in day or night.

Portrait (Bokeh) could use some improvement.

Front camera

Front Camera	16MP
Sensor	OV16885-4C
Focus	FF
Aperture	F2.0
Pixel size	1.0um
FOV°	86 (77.6)
Flash	No
Video	1080p@60fps
Face unlock	2D Face unlock passed 6 out of 10 tests

The selfie camera is excellent offering a wide enough FOV for group selfies. 2D Face unlock is about average and is most affected in low light.

GadgetGuy’s take – Mintt Y5 ticks all the boxes for the price – and then ticks them again

As we said at the start – this is a mass-market price for a phone you would easily pay more for if you wanted Q charging.

When we reviewed the Y3 (4.9/5) in September last year, we were blown away at the feature/value ratio. It was a breath of fresh air in a pretty dull segment.

The Y5 is an upgrade of the same phone. Better screen, more storage, better camera but pretty well the same internals. We rated it so highly as it was so far ahead all around and offered Qi/18W fast charge and NFC.

So, what has happened in that time? Well, the $399 price bracket has become a little more crowded with some terrific phones as well.

OPPO A9 128GB (4.8/5)  $349
Moto G8 Plus (5/5) $349
vivo X50 Lite 128GB 128GB $399
OPPO A91 128GB (4.9/5) $449
Samsung Galaxy A31 128GB $399

So, the pack caught up giving it Qi as the main differentiator. It is still worthy of the 4.9/5 rating at this time.

But Mintt’s annual refresh policy means that soon the later models like the Moto g9 and new OPPO A-series may creep ahead. Then you have realme, Xiaomi, Nokia, TCL and LG entering that market segment. It is a continually changing landscape.