Benco S1 Pro Review: Premium Design and Impressive Fast Charging

Benco gained solid momentum with the Benco S1 in Nepal. It is the first phone from Benco’s S-series and it looks gorgeous. But, Benco takes it to the next level with the S1 Pro.

Benco S1 Pro is the “Pro” variant of the Benco S1. It is priced at Rs. 19,999 for the 8/128GB variant in Nepal. It was launched a few days ago in Nepal.

Like the Benco S1, the S1 Pro is a stylish phone but it is one of the few phones under Rs. 20,000 to come with a glass back. And, that’s not the only upgrade it gets from the S1. The S1 Pro gets an updated chipset, a new main sensor, and faster charging.

So, is the S1 Pro worth the price? Let’s check it out in this review of the Benco S1 Pro.

ALSO READ: Benco S1 Pro Price in Nepal (July 2024 Updated)

Benco S1 Pro Review

Awesome Design

• 166.91 x 74.91 x 8.47mm
• Dual SIM (Nano-SIM)
• Glass Back

Benco S1 Pro looks almost the same as the Benco S1. The camera module has been slighlty revamped, and a third camera ring has been added below the flash module to accommodate the third sensor. Previously, the Benco S1 had two sensors in a single camera ring.

The AG Matte Glass gives it a premium finish. It surely gives mid-range phones a run for their money in terms of design.

Just like the Benco S1, it has a flat design with flat plastic frames. Also, it is slightly thinner than the S1 at 8.47mm.

The S1 Pro has a big footprint, making it difficult to use with a single hand. Moving on, the right side of the phone has volume rockers and a power button. The fingerprint sensor is embedded in the power button and it works well. However, it is a bit slower compared to some other sensors at this price tag.

On the left, it has a triple slot that accommodates two nano sim-slot and a dedicated micro-sd slot. On the bottom, the S1 Pro has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a mic, a USB Type C port, and a speaker.

Good FHD Display

• 6.8 inches IPS
• 1080 x 2460 pixels
• 60Hz

The S1 Pro has the same size display as the S1 but it is now a Full HD+ panel instead of an HD+ panel. So, the 6.8 inches panel of the S1 Pro is sharper than that of the S1.

The color profile is similar to that of the Benco S1 though, it has a cold color profile by default. Nonetheless, it is a good display and I enjoyed watching YouTube videos on the Benco S1 Pro. The brightness is adequate as well, I did not have any issues using the phone outdoors under sunlight.

The slim bezels of Benco S1 Pro is ages ahead of its competitions.

It is a normal 60Hz display which doesn’t help interms of response rate and smoothness. You can get a fast 90Hz display at this price tag in the likes of Poco M5.

Average Performance

• Mediatek Helio 7200 (4nm)
• Octa-core (2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A715 & 6x Cortex-A510)
• Mali-G610 MC4
• 128/256GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, UFS 3.1

Benco S1 Pro gets a new chipset, the Unisoc Tiger T616. It is a 12nm chipset announced on January 1, 2021.

Unisoc T616 has an Octa-Core CPU with 2 Cortex-A75 cores at 2000 MHz and 6 Cortex-A55 cores at 1800 MHz. Likewise, it has a Mali-G57 MP1 GPU. Furthermore, it comes with 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 storage.

Benco S1 Pro is good for normal use cases but doesn’t provide good gaming performance.

The phone feels decent while opening apps and switching between apps. However, there’s a visible animation lag while opening/closing apps which gives it an impression of a slow phone. But, you can get rid of animations to make the phone feel faster.

In terms of gaming, it is not good enough. You can easily get more powerful phones at this price range.

We tested PUBG Mobile in Smooth graphics and Ultra frame rate setting. The S1 Pro was only able to achieve an average frame rate of 25 fps. At the mentioned configuration, we should be getting 40fps but it was not even hitting 30fps. So, the Benco S1 Pro is clearly not optimized for gaming.

Upgraded Camera

• Rear Camera: 64MP, f/1.89, (wide)
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • Unspecified AI camera
  • Video: 1080p@30fps
• Front Camera: 16MP, f/2.0
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

The S1 Pro has a triple camera setup just like the Benco S1 but it gets an upgraded 64MP sensor instead of the 48MP sensor. The other two sensors remain the same, a 2MP macro sensor and an AI camera which is most likely used for depth sensing.

MAIN CAMERA

The main sensor is improved compared to the Benco S1. Still, there’s not much detail in the picture but it’s decent. The color reproduction is neutral, a bit more saturation would have made images more appealing. Likewise, the exposure is not consistent.

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Also, the HDR is turned off by default and it is meant to be this way I guess. The HDR photos have lower detail than the normal photos and the boosted color makes it unnatural.

PORTRAIT CAMERA

The S1 Pro captures fine portrait photos. In good lighting conditions, the subject is in focus and the edge detection is also good. However, the blur effect is not convincing.

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FRONT CAMERA

The front 16MP sensor of the S1 Pro is only average. If you zoom in on the photos, you will notice that there’s not much detail. The HDR is also not enabled by default which leads to an overexposed background. Overall, I’m not impressed with the selfies of the S1 Pro.

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VIDEOS

Moving on to videos, the S1 Pro can capture videos up to 1080p 30fps with the main camera.

As we expect from a budget phone, the video quality of the S1 Pro is not good. It lacks detail and sharpness. The video footage is noisy even in daylight and there’s a noticeable focus hunt.

Impressive Fast Charging

• Non-removable Li-Po 5000mAh battery
• Fast charging 33W

The S1 Pro has the same 5000mAh battery capacity as the S1 but it has superior charging rated at 33W. The 5000mAh battery lasts more than a day with 6 hours of screen time. This is pretty good for a budget phone at this price segment.

As I mentioned earlier, it has superior charging compared to the S1. It takes it to another level by including a Type-C to Type-C cable. The included 33W charger can take the S1 Pro from 0 to 60% in 30 mins and up to 100% in just 60 mins. This is certainly one of the fastest-charging phones in this price segment.

Software

• Android 13
• INONE UI

Benco S1 Pro comes with Android 13 out of the box along with INONE UI. The INONE UI provides an almost stock-like Android experience but it has removed some features. The obvious omission here is the removal of the app drawer.

It has customized icons that look tacky, to be honest, and it lacks customization options as well. You cannot change icons, accent color, or even theme. Some of the few features are “Lift To Check” and “Smart Motion”.

Final Thoughts

There is no denying that the Benco S1 Pro has the best design and build quality for a phone under Rs. 20,000. It can even compete with phones priced at 30-40k interms of design and build quality.

It is not a slouch interms of the display either, the 60Hz FHD+ display is a good one. However, some manufacturers do provide a 90Hz panel at this price tag. Similarly, the 33W fast charging is one of the fastest among budget phones. However, the performance, software experience, and camera are not impressive. It is fine but it could have been better.

So, the Benco S1 Pro is surely an upgrade from the Benco S1 but it would have been better if it brought good upgrades in terms of performance. Except that, it is a good overall package.

What do you think of the Benco S1 Pro? Let us know in the comments!

Also, watch our review video of the Benco S1 in Nepali.