Final Thoughts

While Kogan has been a player in the Australian smartphone market for a few years now, the Agora 4G is one of their best efforts yet to expand their horizons into the global market. In some respects the device is quite capable, but I'm definitely not convinced that it's worth a buy over some of its bigger-name competitors.

I'll first with what I liked about the Agora. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the rear camera, and even though grain can exist an issue in moderately lit conditions, it produces well exposed images in many circumstances. Compared to similarly priced devices the Agora definitely wins in this department, although information technology'southward still several steps backside the high-terminate sector, as you'd look.

On the less surprising side, performance from the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC inside, paired with 1 GB of RAM, is more than adequate for everyday tasks. Near-stock Android 4.iv is kept smooth and responsive, while there'south too enough grunt to play nigh games at the display's native 720p resolution. Battery life from the nine.5 Wh internal cell is also adeqaute, although not as skilful equally I was expecting.

I was disappointed with the display quality on the Agora, with BenQ clearly opting for the cheapest IPS console, which delivers mediocre color quality even though its resolution is on-par with other devices at this price betoken. It's also very hard to view the console outdoors, with a lack of reflection reduction techniques hampering its usage despite adept indoor effulgence.

The design is also bland and uninteresting. The use of by and large plastic makes the Agora 4G experience inexpensive in your hands, and it's not the most ergonomic device I've ever used, especially every bit BenQ decided to place the ability button forth the pinnacle border. It simply looks like a generic smartphone, which when you consider its hardware also, you realize information technology basically is.

There'southward zip incorrect with a generic smartphone though, so long as it'south priced accordingly. In that respect, Kogan has done reasonably well for the Australian market, slapping an AU$229 price tag on it that matches the local price for the LTE-equipped Moto G. The Moto G is a marginally better device across the lath, only if yous want a better camera and battery life the Agora 4G is definitely worth considering.

Outside of Australia, the Agora 4G is a much harder sell. At United states$219, information technology'south $twenty more than the Moto 1000 4G with the added uncertainty of non supporting all the LTE bands in Europe or North America. If information technology doesn't support 4G in your area, the second-generation Moto G for $179 looks like a much ameliorate deal, and for a whole $50 less the Asus Zenfone 5 seems like an absolute bargain.

Pros: Surprisingly decent 8-megapixel camera. Practiced functioning for a mid-range device. Runs near-vanilla Android 4.4.

Cons: Bland, generic smartphone design. Below average display quality. About $40 too expensive in a very competitive price segment. A few strange software bugs.