Mintt A5 is a $199 wonder

Mintt A5

As I was reviewing the Mintt A5, I began to wonder at what price you had to sacrifice too much to make a capable smartphone.

Thankfully the Mintt A5 both surprised and delighted me. At $199 it does all you need and is quite a step up from the competent Mintt 2019 Duo 3 and A3 models.

You can read about the Mintt 2020 smartphone range here. The Y5 at $379 4.0/5 is a terrific value phone that managed to include Qi wireless charge and NFC. The nearest brand with Qi charge phone is $799! The X5 has a huge 6.5″ screen for $279. Note Mintt has just dropped to these prices – courtesy of a stronger Aussie dollar.

The way Mintt can get such good pricing is that they sell and support via an online model only – no middlemen and retailers profit to add on.

In fact, the Mintt A5 and X5 (technically an UltraMintt X5) – share similar internals. The X5 extra price pays for a larger screen, more RAM/Storage, and upgraded camera. The hallmark of both is that they have Wi-Fi 5 AC, BT 5.0 USB-C charging (still an oddity at this price), dual sim and microSD and pure Google Android.

Australian review: Mintt A5

  • Australian website here
  • Price: $199
  • Colour: Classic Black
  • From: Mintt online
  • Elevator pitch: As low as you can go and still get a decent phone
  • Warranty: 12-months ACL
  • Country of Manufacture: China
  • Mintt is an Australian company, part of the South-east-Asian Mintt/NWTL Group. Details here.
  • Other reviews here

As this is a lower cost device, we don’t go to the time expense of executing all tests. We use FAIL, PASS and EXCEED to arrive at a rating.

First impression – PASS

The Mintt A5 is a boring classic piano black, fingerprint magnet, glass slab. Oh, how I wish for the bright greens, oranges, reds, and yellows of Nokia Lumia past.

Having gotten my black ‘phonist’ adversity off my chest, it looks pretty good. It has a tri-camera back (stable on the desk) and a rear fingerprint button just above the Mintt logo. It has a 3.5mm combo audio jack. The winning feature is a dual sim and a dedicated microSD slot – tri-slot card. This is very rare at $199!

Mintt A5

It’s a nice flat, bright screen with a pre-fitted screen protector and a TPU bumper case.

Screen – PASS+

Size6.088″
TypeCentre teardrop selfie-and largish chin and bezels
Resolution1560 x 720
PPI/Ratio282/19.5:9
Colours
Brightness
Contrast
Delta E
Gamut
Temp
HDR
16.7m
400 max (tested 470 max)
1500:1
Not relevant but colours are quite accurate
Adjustable Standard, Vivid, Cool Colour or Custom
Adjustable
No
Daylight
Dark
Blue light
Odd-angle – Barely, typical of any IPS screen*
Yes
No
DRMDRM Info finds L3 so not for Netflix streaming
ProtectionPre-fitted plastic screen protector over PANDA toughened glass
Face ID2D face id accuracy depends on light levels – Tested 4/10

This is a terrific bright screen for the price.

Processor – PASS

SoCMedia Tek Helio P22  (MT6762V/WD)
4 x 1.8Ghz + 4 x 1.5Ghz
GPUPowerVR Rogue GE8320
Game useLimited – the GPU will play most games at minimum frame rates. Fine for browser-based games
RAM3GB LPDDR4X
Storage32GB (21.6 free) eMMC
Androbench Mbps sequential read/write 255.54/125.07
micro-SDDedicated slot to 256GB
Geek
Bench 5
Single: 139
Multi: 870
Throttle
15-minute
Max: 82,278 GIPS, Average: 78.493 13% loss over 15 minutes
CPU temp reached 50°
Mint A5

It’s a low power processor. Don’t expect fast performance or no lag! It is competent and fit for purpose.

Interestingly its most often compared to the Qualcomm SD630/636. It is in the Mintt X5, LG K40/42/50, Samsung A10, OPPO A1. Realme C2, Nokia 3.1. Moto e6s and about 140 more phones.

Comms – PASS+

Wi-FiWi-Fi 5 AC 1×1 MIMO
Signal Strength 5Ghz – distance from ASUS AX1100 router
– 2m:  -33dBm/433Mbps (excellent strength)
– 5m:  -61dBm/390Mbps
– 10m: -75/5Ghz not usable but 2.4Gz was 65Mbps
BluetoothBT 5.0
GPSSingle and adequate 10m radius for turn-by-turn navigation
NFCNo
USB-CUSB-C 2.0
SensorsCombo Accelerometer
Magnetometer
Proximity
Mint A5 tri-slot

This is everything you can expect for the price. A tri-slot is amazing.

LTE – PASS

SIMDual sim (one active at a time)
Ring toneSingle
SupportVoLTE – carrier dependent – generally yes
Wi-Fi calling – Yes
ViLTE – Yes on Vodafone
UL (Mbps)Test: 4.2 Mbps
DL (Mbps)Test: 26.8 Mbps
LTE Band1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28A, 28B, 38 – fine for Australia
Test-106 dBm in a 3-bar reception area (average)

It has all the bands, including band 28. Reception is average for the test – it is more of a city/suburbs phone. This reflects the antenna design and MediaTek modem capabilities.

Battery – PASS

Battery mAh4000mAh (3930 test)
Charger5V/1.5A/7.5W USB-C
Charge Time under 5 hours
You can use any USB-A  charger and any USB-C PD charger, but it does not fast charge topping out at 7.5W
Tests
Most at 60hz screen
Video Loop test: 1080p/50%/aeroplane mode – 19 hrs
Typical use 4G, Wi-Fi Test –  16 hours
MP3 music test: 50% volume played from storage – 20+
100% load Battery drain –  10 hours
T-Rex – 615m/1480 frame
Drain screen off: about 15 days)

 The battery is quite large and will last 2-3 days with power-saving measures (assuming screen time of about 3 hours per day). It has a low drain (screen off but idle) and should go three weeks without a charge.

Sound – PASS

SpeakersMono earpiece and down-firing speaker*
AMP1W/8Ω
BT codecsSBC (standard)
MicSingle
3.5mmYes
Tests dB
Anything over 80dB is excellent
Media – 75-80
Ring – 80
Alarm – 80
Earpiece – 50

* It is not fair to measure the sound signature on a mono speaker system. The primary use is for clear voice. It is not for music or movies with no bass or mid before 1000Hz and no treble after 10kHz.

It is reasonably loud all around. But a single mic makes this an average handsfree speakerphone.

The 3.5mm buds were poor with no bass, high mid and harsh treble.

BT output to our reference Sony WH-1000XM4 on SBC and AAC codecs is loud and clear – more than CD quality.

Sound quality

We don’t measure this on mono devices.

Build – PASS

Size/Weight154.6 × 73.8 × 8.8mm x198g
ColoursBlack
BuildGlass – Panda toughened
Frame – polycarbonate
Back – plastic paint deposited
IPNo
In the boxBumper cover
7.5 W charger
USB-A to USB-C cable
3.5mm standard buds

It is well-made and should stand up to the rigours of daily use.

You can buy a PU leather-like flip case for $25 from Mintt.

Pure Android 10 – PASS+

AndroidGoogle Android 10
Security patch date 5 June 2020
UIPure Google Android
GoogleAll standard apps, Google Lens and Assistant. Dedicated Google Assistant key.
BloatwareFM radio and some productivity apps
Update PolicyAssume that no OS update although security patches should come
SecurityFingerprint reader on the back
FaceID on front

Pure Android at this price is amazing. There are a few light changes that allow for screen colour gamuts and sound profiles.

Camera – PASS+

It’s a social media class camera and a huge step up from the 2019 model.

 CameraPrimary
13MP
Macro 2MPDepth 2MPSelfie 8MP
SensorSamsung S5K3L6OV2680OV2680GC8034
Lens5P2P2P4P
FocusAFFixedFixedFF
Aperture f-stop1.82.42.42.0
Pixel size um1.121.751.751.22
FOV° and cropped65.8  66.5
StabilisationNone   
FlashSingle LED   
Zoom4x Digital   
Video Max1080p@30fps  1080p
FeaturesLimited AI provided by Helio P22
Scene recognition
Portrait
Food
Backlight
AI Beauty
Bokeh
  AI Beauty

Daylight, outdoors

Mintt A5
1X and all is well – good accurate colours and details.
Mintt A5
3X Digital zoom. Not bad but a little overexposed and soft due to post-processing and cropping.
Mintt A5
Dedicated macro lens for perfect macro

Indoors Office Light (400 lumen)

Mintt A5
Accurate colours and details

Low light (room <40 lumen)

Not a low light camera
Night mode brings up the brightness and a little detail – suggest you use this mode when you can

Selfie

Its 8MP with fixed focus a fairly narrow field of view. Add to that the F/2.0 and 1.22um pixels and its a great daylight camera and a very average office/night camera. It has basic AI beauty filters.

Video

Video is not a strong point at a maximum of 1080p@30fps with a mono mic. Quality is OK in daylight but falls off quickly in lower light.

GadgetGuy’s take – Mintt A5 is a $199 wonder

This is a mass-market phone in a contested $199 market. Its USPs are Pure Android, 3/32GB/microSD, Wi-Fi AC, colourful and bright screen and a decent battery.

Rating explanation

A PASS mark is 4/5. We add points where it EXCEEDs and vice versa. For a $199 phone to PASS everything deserves credit, and it got a few PASS+ as well.

Competition (rating if reviews are the last figures)

Nokia 1.3 2020 1/16GB $139 4.1/5
Motorola e6s 2020 2/32 $149
ALCATEL 3X 2019 4/64GB $169
vivo Y12 3/64GB $199 4.4/5
Nokia 2.3 2/32GB  $199  4.2/5
Alcatel 1Se 3/32GB $199
OPPO AX5s 3/64GB $229

Faced with this selection, I would be happy to recommend it as a leader in the <$199 bracket.

Features
Value for money
Performance
Ease of Use
Design
Build quality – well made
Battery life – 2 day
Camera – better than social media class
Display – bright and colourful
Android – Pure Android but you can't expect updates at this price
Wi-Fi AC
None at this price
4.4