Battery life is one of the most important factors that a user looks for when purchasing a new smartphone. But when it comes to Chinese value for money devices, this is one area where most phones slack. Many phones have Quad core and even Octa Core processors, but they feature less than 2500mAh battery, which gives only a few hours of usage available to the user.
However, there are some manufacturers who have taken special care in this regard. For example, we have seen multiple launches from the Chinese smartphone maker THL which came with a large battery. Today, we look at the two smartphones with a large battery from THL, the THL 4000 and the THL 5000.
While both feature a 4000mAh+ battery, their specifications are totally different. THL 4000 is aimed at the budget crowd who long for a better battery life, while the THL 5000 offers much more than a large battery as it comes with many of the premium features usually found only in flagships these days.
So, here’s the comparison between THL 4000 and THL 5000 in detail.
THL 4000 vs THL 5000
DESIGN
Like always, we start off with the design.
THL 4000, being a budget device comes with a 4.7 inch screen as opposed to the 5 inch display found on the THL 5000. However, there isn’t much difference between the two devices when it comes to design and dimensions.
THL 4000 measures 140 x 68 x 11.2mm while THL 5000 measures 145 x 72.3 x 8.9mm. As you can see, the length and the width are almost the same. But the 5000mAh battery does increase the thickness of the device by around 1.2mm.
On top of the display of both the devices lies the ear piece, sensors as well as a camera. Similar at the bottom lies the three capacitive buttons namely menu, home and back. You’ll also notice the small microphone opening at the bottom.
Like the front, the back too looks the same on both the devices. You have the camera sensor and LED flash at the top, followed by the THL logo just below it. At the bottom, you have the official THL slogan, technology-happy-life along with the speaker grill.
Inside, you have the large 4000mAh battery and 5000mAh battery on THL 4000 and THL respectively. Once the back cover is removed, you’ll see the two SIM card slots along with the MicroSD card slot.
THL 4000 has no buttons on the left but THL 5000 has the power button on the top left corner.
Both the power and the volume buttons lie on the right of THL 4000. However, the 5000 model only has the volume rockers on this side.
On both the models, the MicroUSB port and the headphone jack is situated on top.
Finally, at the bottom, you have the microphone hole on both the devices.
HARDWARE
While the design was similar on these devices, their hardware specifications differ significantly.
THL 4000 comes with MT6582 Quad Core processor clocked at 1.2Ghz with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal memory. On the other hand, THL 5000 comes with a much powerful MT6592T Octa Core processor clocked at 2.0Ghz with 2GB RAM and 16GB/ 32GB internal storage options. Both the models feature a MicroSD card slot which support cards up to 32GB in size.
While the THL 4000 features a 4.7 inch display with just qHD 960 x 540 pixel resolution, the THL 5000 sports a 5 inch screen with 1080p resolution. As a result, you will clearly see the difference between the display quality on both the devices.
As for the camera, the THL 4000 has a 5 MP rear sensor along with a 2MP front camera sensor. This is much smaller than the 13MP Sony IMX135 sensor and a 88 degrees 5MP wide angle camera found at the back and the front respectively of the THL 5000. So the image quality will be much better on the latter.
Even in the battery department, THL 5000 outdoes THL 4000. Just like their names suggest, the former comes with a much larger 5000 mAh removable Li-Polymer battery as opposed to the 4000mAh removable battery found on the latter. Moreover the 5000mAh battery can be used to charge other devices too, so the THL 5000 can also act as a powerbank, which we feel is a very neat feature, especially when you have a lot of gadgets around with much smaller batteries.
Both support dual SIMs as well as the following network bands: 2G:GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz & 3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz. As you can see, even with the higher price THL 5000 lacks 4G LTE, which is a bit of a disappointment for those who were looking to take advantage of high speed LTE networks.
Other connectivity features are common on both the devices like Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, GPS/ AGPS, FM Radio etc. However, for the additional price, you do get NFC on THL 5000.
PRICE
While we have seen that the THL 5000 outdoes the THL 4000 in almost every aspect, the purchase decision will totally depend upon the difference in their price tags.
At present, THL 5000 is available for $239 at Coolicool. So, you have to pay a premium of exactly $150 for the better features as compared to $99.99 price tag for THL 4000.
Personally, we feel the upgrades are enough to pay the extra $150, however if you are short on cash, THL 4000 can be a great alternative. You don’t get such a large battery on a device of this price, so even it features a sloppy camera sensor or a less powerful processor, it will easily last you for more than 2 days.
Buy THL4000 for $99.99 (NO IMPORT DUTY IN EUROPE)
If you are looking for a reason not to buy the pricier THL 5000, then the lack of 4G LTE support should be on top. THL 5000 could easily have been one of the best value for money devices in the market if it supported LTE. Moreover, the larger 5000mAh battery would have been a much needed feature for a battery sucking tech like LTE. But if you are happy with 3G speeds, the device looks like a good buy.
Buy THL5000 for $239.99 (No IMPORT DUTY IN EUROPE)
So which THL device would you choose if you wanted a large battery?
