itel S16 Pro unboxing and hands-on

itel S16 Pro was released in September 2020, alongside its two siblings, the non-Pro model and the Pro 4G model. Yes; this is a 3G device. It does not support 4G LTE. You have to get the Pro 4G model to be able to use a 4G network.

In case you are new to these things, itel Mobile makes smartphones for the entry-level smartphone market. Which is why there are no mid-range or high-end itel phones. The brand caters exclusively to the bottom end of the market.

The S16 Pro is one of their top 2020 models, perhaps only below the S16 Pro 4G and Vision1 Pro on the ladder.

itel S16 Pro Unboxing: Key Specs

• Operating System: Android 10 (Go Edition).
• Release Date: September 2020.
• Network Type: 2G/3G.
• Display: 6.6-inch, 720 x 1600 pixels resolution, punch hole
• Processor: Quad-core Unisoc SC7731E chipset
• Selfie Camera: 8 MP
• Rear camera: 8 MP triple
• RAM: 2 GB
• ROM: 32 GB
• Battery: 4000 mAh.

itel S16 Pro unboxing

What is in the box? The usual suspects, and an unusual one.

• the itel S16 Pro device itself
• paper documentation
• transparent hard silicon case
• USB cable
• wall power adaptor
• Solopod T1S wireless single earbud in a charging pod
• 2x spare earbud rubber tips

Yes; you read that right. Itel Mobile includes a wireless earbud in the retail pack of the S16 Pro. That is a nice touch, if you ask me.

itel S16 Pro hands-on

As always, we eagerly peeled off the wrapping to get our hands on the phone itself. Our unit is of Gradient Green colour. It is a nice colour that compliments the S16 Pro’s glossy back cover finishing. The back is not removable.

The only thing you can open on the body is the SIM tray, which houses two SIM card slots and a 3rd slot for a memory card. This is located on the left side of the phone.

On the opposite side are the volume and power buttons. The top of the phone has no openings; the 3.5mm audio jack, USB port, microphone, and speaker grill are all located at the bottom end.

After powering on the phone, I counted 15 pre-installed apps from Transsion’s portfolio. Bloatware. Many of them can be uninstalled, thankfully. The device runs the Go Edition of Android 10, which is optimised for smooth performance and better memory management on low end hardware like the S16 Pro has.

I grabbed my micro USB OTG flash drive and plugged it in the itel S16 Pro to see if by any chance it supports USB-OTG. That didn’t work. But the specs sheet already told us that. I just wanted to be sure.

As mentioned earlier, the itel S16 Pro is a 3G smartphone. Both SIM card slots support 2G and 3G networks.

The phone has an interesting network feature that I noticed while setting it up, called Smart dual SIM. If you enable, it authorises the phon eto intelligently and automatically switch to the other SIM for mobile data whenever service is poor on the default data network.

I like it. However, it means that you need to have an active data bundle on both lines. If mobile network quality is important to you and you do not want to be bogged down doing a manual network switch when your data connection goes south, you will like this.

The itel S16 Pro supports Dark Mode, and I quickly switched to that. Does anyone still prefer a white background these days? Dark theme all the way, please.

itel S16 Pro hands-on video

Our first impressions of the itel S16 Pro have been good. We will bring you more details in our comprehensive review, so hang around. If you have any questions you will like us to answer in our review, please ask in the comment section.

Author: Mister Mobility

Master storyteller and founder of Mobility Nigeria, Mister Mobility, has used and reviewed hundreds of mobile phones since 2001.