Been meaning to post this for a minute.

The smartphone market is a highly contested one, particularly within the Android segment, considering from a mobile OS perspective, the ecosystem is basically the same. We hear about the ones that make the most noise but that does not necessarily imply that they are the best ones because, let’s be honest, best is subjective.

The campaigns and sponsorship are necessary to build awareness around products and brands, but when we are looking to buy a smartphone, the reality is that we look at features and functionality, we look at aesthetics and design, and we look at what we can afford.

Hisense, while known, at least in my mind, for household appliances, have been gradually establishing a strong presence for their smartphones with products that are solid, dependable, functional and don’t look too shabby, either.

The C30 Rock is the first Hisense smartphone I have had the opportunity to play with and I was not disappointed. Running Android 7.0 Nougat, the phone is 153g light, 7.95mm thin device with a 5.2” full HD screen and Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 64-bit processor. It is a dual nano sim phone with 32GB storage. You can add up to 128GB with an external MicroSD card, but with the card going into the SIM 2 slot, you will have to manage your data, if you have two SIM cards. Do people still use two SIM cards, though?

In terms of build, the Hisense C30 Rock is made with a combination of metal frame and soft rubber outer-casing, which feels textured and, therefore, not particularly slippery, when you hold it. While it feels a little fragile because of the lightness and thinness, it is actually quite durable, which I can attest to, having dropped the phone, by accident, twice – don’t tell the Hisense people. This is probably due to the stated IK04 level shock resistance.

It can also handle being submerged in water for up to 30 minutes and a depth of 1.5 metres. Obviously, it isn’t meant to be taken for swims but, should you accidentally end up in water with it, you should be good for as long as it takes to get yourself and your phone out of the water.

With our smartphone battery taking a general pounding from the increased usage, the Hisense C30 Rock has a 3000mAh battery and data saving modes to help you go further with your data but, it is important to note that, to try stretch data these days, you have to get a handle on all the stuff that runs in the background.

From a picture-taking perspective, it has a 16 megapixel rear camera with quick focus of ‘less than 0.1s’ and a 5 megapixel fixed focus front camera.

Overall, the Hisense C30 Rock is a good smartphone, especially at the recommended retail price of R4,499, which is decent compared to other smartphones in the market. As I stated upfront, this is the first Hisense phone I have tested so I can’t really compare it with their other devices.