CUBOT H3
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Specs:
Dimensions: 145 x 71.8 x 11.2 mm
Weight: 209g
Chassis: Metal + Plastic
SoC: MediaTek MT6737
CPU: ARM Cortex-A53, 4 x 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-T720 MP2 520MHz, Cores: 2
Network: 4G Cat.4 (150MBps) with VoLTE Support
RAM: 3 GB
Storage: 32 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.0 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 6000 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
Back Camera: 13MP (4160 x 3120), OmniVision OV13850, interpolated to 13MP
Front Camera: 5MP (2560 x 1960), OmniVision OV5024, interpolated to 8MP
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, single-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Fingerprint Scanner, Notification LED (blue)
Colors: Titanium Silver, Titanium Gold, Black
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Official Website:
https://www.cubot.net/smartphones/h3/
Development & Support:
Coming soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own review: Post #2 & #3
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Review (part 1)
Introduction
This is the CUBOT H3.
Hardware
As a successor to the well-made and unique CUBOT H2, this H3 comes with a smaller display size (unknown reason, a bit non-sense) so it may not be considered as a real successor but more like an H2 Mini 2017 edition, since it comes with the upgraded MT6737 SOC instead of the MT6735 used in H2, plus it comes with more internal storage: 32GB instead of 16GB; a battery capacity upgrade (6000mAh instead of 5000mAh) and the addition of a fingerprint scanner complete the upgrade.
Unboxing
Compared to the H2, there is a minor upgrade when it comes to the included accessories, since it lacks an OTG Cable for power-sharing, but the standard set is still included: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/2A Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 2x Certifications Booklets, 1x TPU Cover and the Smartphone (of course). A screen protector is already applied, but i have removed mine since it wasn't in the best conditions.
Even though CUBOT choose to keep the Metal Chassis, on this H3 they had to go for something lighter and probably less sturdy in order not make the device really heavy, since with a 5 inches screen, the extra weight would be noticeable due to the lack of weight distribution.
The device feels solid-enough, no imperfections noticed and the chassis has been slightly rounded in order to make it more ergonomic.
It is 14.55x7.21x1.15cm and weights 209g, probably one of the most compact battery phones i have ever reviewed, and the weight isn't too high considering its battery capacity.
On the front side there is the usual 2.5D curved glass with an IPS panel underneath, and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. The usual mono-color (blue only) Notification LED, common on CUBOT devices, is here.
Here you can see the LED in action.
As regards the lower front side there is the soft-keys touch area with Recents, Home and Back keys.
On the back side there is the removable plastic back cover that, at least on my unit, was slightly marked here and there.
The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED - Single-Tone Flashlight, and the Fingerprint Scanner just below in the center. Here you can notice some scratches on the camera lens, scratches already found and not made by me. Pretty odd.
On the lower rear side there isn't anything important at all because the Speaker is positioned on the lower side of the device.
Device
Screen
Following the CUBOT H2 with its superb screen, also this H3 features an high-quality IPS panel with good color accuracy, proper refresh rate and decent white balance. Unfortunately the oleophobic coating isn't excellent though.
Its light sensor supports partial light changes with a maximum brightness of ~422lux, pretty good for outdoor usage.
As regards its viewing angles, there is nothing to report about, perfectly comparable to other high-quality IPS panels.
Camera
Since my camera lens is almost completely scratched, i decided to avoid to take some outdoor shots since the direct sunlight isn't the best when combined with scratches. That's a pity since the OmniVision 13MP camera sensor is able to take some pretty decent shots, at least this is what i was able to notice on other devices featuring the same sensor. Only low-light results will be considered.
As expected from a Single-LED flashlight, the amount of light provided to the sensor isn't really high, so the camera sensor might struggle slightly in low-light conditions.
Even with the low-end MT6737 SOC, this device is able to record 100% smooth videos at 720p25 (probably 720p30 max) with no stutters or lags, and the quality is also pretty good. Impressive.
Photos taken using the front camera are just sufficient, the GalaxyCore GC5024 5MP camera sensor can't do miracles in taking better shots. It is still a 5MP camera sensor.
Audio
Audio Quality is disappointing unfortunately, since the speaker is pretty quiet and lacks mid/low frequencies, plus the Earpiece sounds treble boosted and under-powered. Not the best for voice calls in loud environments.
Luckily the Microphone is fine, pretty average and with no issues to report.
GPS
The GPS works as bad/good as most other devices without GLONASS support, high accuracy outdoors.
Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
The device comes with full support for European 4G Networks and the antenna, even if the signal is a bit low, is able to provide an excellent data reception with high speeds, even higher than my Redmi Note 4 somehow
As regards the WiFi hardware, it works great even if it doesn't support 5.0GHz networks, reaching almost 48Mbps in download on my 70Mbps VDSL connection, a result that, at least from smartphones, is almost impossible to reach. Well Done CUBOT!
Battery Life
Even though the device is declared to feature a 6000mAh battery, i can't confirm it. Using my USB Tester, the result obtained of ~5492mAh means that ~500mAh of capacity is missing. Weird, especially considering that all CUBOT devices i tested in the past never faced such a serious issue with battery capacity. I may open the device later and check the battery label to be sure.
Running the usual PCMark Battery Test (with WiFi on, Sync on, Airplane Mode off), the result of 18 hours and 23 minutes is quite acceptable for such a large battery, wouldn't have expected a worse result.
This is where CUBOT, just like what happened with another battery phone reviewed recently, made a big mistake in my opinion, since, with such a large battery, they should have provided a Quick Charge (aka MTK Pump Express) charger and not a standard 5V/2A one. As a result, it takes quite a long time to fully charge the battery, more than 3 hours.
Software
Just like most CUBOT devices, and unlike the H2 that was slightly customized, also this one comes with a fully clean Mediatek distribution of Android Nougat 7.0 with September's Security Patches (not the latest, but can be updated with an OTA update). There is no bloatware at all, but there is something funny that i guess has been added by mistake: Power-Saving Mode app! I don't get why, on a battery phone, you would need something like this...
Anyway, the OS runs smooth enough considering the low-end SOC, and there are no customizations at all.
Mediatek Features like MiraVision, Gestures and so on are present.
No Magnetometer/Compass and Gyroscope are here unfortunately.
No malwares detected with Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus using latest definitions. I am testing this new software instead of MalwareBytes just to see which one is more accurate.
It is nice to see the addition of a fingerprint scanner, not present on the H2, and it works reasonably well, not super-fast (takes a while to recognize the finger) but at least it is accurate.
Review (part 2)
Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – GPU Performance is as low as all other MT6737 devices.
AndroBench – Internal Storage performance is excellent considering the CPU.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – As you can see, 3D performance is barely sufficient for smooth light gaming.
GeekBench – CPU Performance is nearly as good as other CPUs with the same configuration (4x Cortex-A53), enough to handle almost every type of basic activity.
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – The same thoughts said for 3DMark are valid here.
PCMark – Good Overall performance, the maximum obtainable from this SOC.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – Being an super-heavy benchmark, you can clearly see why this device needs to be considered as low-end.
Conclusions
The CUBOT H3, or H2 Mini 2017 as i call it...a device that confuses me slightly when compared with the predecessor H2. I appreciate that companies still work on 5 inches devices in order to cover all kinds of users, but a 5 inches device with such a big battery...isn't the best idea in my opinion, especially because by decreasing the capacity to, let's say 4300mAh, you can make the device way slimmer and lighter.
Still, as is, it is not a bad device, since it features a great back camera, strong battery life and high-quality screen panel. If an OTA Update improves both earpiece and speaker quality, it may be considered as one of the best 5 inches mediatek-based battery phone.
Something sure is that, if you are a CUBOT H2 user, unless you want a smaller device, then i can't recommend it at all, otherwise, if you are looking for a long-lasting 5 inches low-cost device and nothing better is available for the same price, then i can say that it can be considered.
Pros:
Notification LED
Real Dual-SIM (indipendent slots)
Excellent Screen Quality
Clean Android OS with no bloatware
High-End Antennas Reception (WiFi & 4G)
Cons:
No Gyroscope & Magnetometer/Compass
Real Battery Capacity doesn't match the declared value
Some quality issues here and there (at least with my unit)
Non-sense downgrade from 5.5 inches to 5 inches (compared to the H2)
Disappointing audio quality
Rating: 8.2
Packaging and Accessories: 7.5
Design and Materials: 7
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7.5
Screen: 9
Camera: ?
Sound: 6
Battery Life: 9.5
Software: 9.5
OEM Support: 9
Price: 8.5
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: https://imgur.com/a/LSt6WN
Official Website: https://www.cubot.net/smartphones/h3/
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the CUBOT website.
I bought this phone and for the price I am very satisfied with it. Though I'd like to switch from stock Android to some custom ROM. Are there any ROMs available for the cubot H3?
Hi ... I have this phone and am (was) very happy with it. Unfortunately I have in an attack of ignorance flashed the nvram, so the imeis are lost. I think I have tried all and everything now with sp_flash tools, android tools, sn_write and engineering mode to get the imeis back but to no avail. The last resort I see would be would be, if somebody were willing to let me have his nvram.bin such that I could use that to restore nvram and THEN try to change the imeis back to my own (happy, of course to receive an "edited" nvram with dummy imeis). Or if there were somebody here who has succesfully solved that same issue and can tell me which of the 99 methods out ther would really for for exactly this phone. Short of that I will buy a second one, grab the nvram off that and the resell it.
I.
Related
UHANS A6 - Information & Reviews - 5.5" HD | MT6580A | 2GB | 16GB | Aluminum Alloy
UHANS A6
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Specs:
Dimensions: 78 x 156 x 10.5 mm
Weight: 198 g
Chassis: Aluminum Alloy + Plastic
SoC: MediaTek MT6580A
CPU: ARM Cortex-A7, 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-400 MP1, Cores: 1
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.5 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 4150 mAh
OS: FreemeOS (based on Android 7.0 Nougat)
Back Camera: 3264 x 2448 pixels (8MP), Samsung Sensor
Front Camera: 1920 x 1080 pixels (2MP), GalaxyCore Sensor
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, single-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Fingerprint Scanner
Colors: Black, White
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development & Support:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/uhans-a6-development-support-t3661912
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own review: Post #6 & #7
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Reserved
Does this smartphone support 4g?
Michael Melnik said:
Does this smartphone support 4g?
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Unfortunately no.
Looks promising. For those who don't need 4G, it's a good alternative to the Leagoo M8, which has ROM quirks, Android 6.0 and a smaller battery.
Review (part 1)
Introduction
This is the UHANS A6.
Hardware
The device is powered by a Mediatek MT6580 SOC clocked at 1.30GHz, a bit outdated and slower compared to the MT6737, together with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM, and a 5.5 inches HD screen. It can be considered as an A101s big brother, with a much larger battery and a Metal Body. (together with other improvements)
Unboxing
Packaging comes with basic accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Glass Screen Protector with wipes and the Smartphone (of course). A TPU Cover is included too.
Talking about the dimensions, the device isn't the smallest ever made by UHANS, but with its huge internal battery, this was expected, and it is not too thick either. 15.4x7.76x1.05cm, with decent bezels, and weights 204g.
The device feels pretty solid, with the usual great design from UHANS and an amazing back cover almost identical to the one found on the OnePlus One. It isn't the best material for grip though, but i love it. I would like to see the same back cover texture on other devices too.
On the front side there is the usual 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features the Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. Unfortunately there isn't any Notification LED.
On the lower front side there is the classic soft-keys zone, with Recents, Home and Back buttons.
On the back side there is the removable back cover, and the battery is removable. The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED Flashlight, with the Fingerprint Sensor below the Camera Sensor.
On the lower rear side there is the UHANS logo with nothing else because the Speaker is located on the bottom.
Device
Screen
The screen is OK, unfortunately due to the HD-only res the pixel density is low thus you may notice some pixels. Its quality is good though, with an overall balanced color accuracy and white balance.
The Light Sensor supports partial light changes, with a sufficient auto-brightness management. This is its maximum brightness.
Viewing Angles matches IPS screen capabilities, nothing to complain about.
Camera
Being the first device i ever test with this Samsung 8MP camera sensor, i must say that the results are impressive. OK, the noise level is high and low-light shots are just awful, but the color accuracy and image detail (without zooming) is great considering the price target. I guess with some OTA updates this can get even better.
As regards the HDR mode, it works decently well but sometimes it adds a blue-tint to the image.
The Single-LED Flashlight is powerful, nothing to complain about.
As regards Video Recording, 1080p videos are recorded at 25fps, with the same noise level i mentioned before and so on.
Unexpectedly, also the Front Facing camera (GalaxyCore 5MP) is decent for random shots and video-chat, just do not expect superb quality.
Audio
Speaker is decent, produces a nice balanced sound, and is loud enough. It lacks low frequencies as always.
In-Call Quality is decent, no complains about it. Everyone was able to hear me perfectly and Microphone Quality seems to be ok.
GPS
GPS quality is mediocre, with a sufficient amount of satellites locked outdoors and almost inexistent signal indoors.
Outdoors on the left, Indoors of the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
This device doesn't support 4G networks, so you have to use your old 3G HSPA+ (42MBps max) connection to use your Mobile Data plan.
Signal Reception is accurate, but 3G coverage is just perfect here where i live so that's something i would have expected. Just like what happens with other devices, 3G Network Speed is low, thanks to my crappy Mobile Network that has lower than average 3G performance.
WiFi 5GHz isn't supported here. With my 2.4GHz network, i was able to reach ~35mbps, connected at 65mbps, not the best result, neither the worst.
Battery Life
As always, i measure the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity is way higher than the declared value (declared 4150mAh, real ~4620mAh).
Luckily, PCMark run just fine on this device even though it is running Android Nougat. Other Mediatek Devices with Nougat (and also some with Marshmallow) caused the Benchmark to stop by itself after some hours. The result is not superb considering the huge battery inside. an OTA update might be required to adjust the power management.
As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger takes a long while to charge the device completely as expected.
Software
Following the A101s little brother, also this one comes with an almost completely clean Android OS, and most important, based on Nougat 7.0. There is no bloatware pre-installed, and security patches are dated 5th of May 2017.
All Mediatek features are still there such as Gestures, Scheduled Power On/Off, etc…
No Malwares Detected using MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.
The Fingerprint Scanner is sufficiently. I managed to unlock the screen almost everytime (8 out of 10). As regards the unlock speed, it is almost instant.
The device feels smooth enough for almost every task, i am still impressed to see an MT6580 device running Nougat without any major issue.
Review (part 2)
Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – GPU Performance is decent, this is a low-end device with an old Mali-400 GPU so we can't expect something better.
AndroBench – eMMC Performance is maxed out for the SOC capabilities.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – Based on this result, OpenGL 2.0 Games should run pretty smooth here.
GeekBench – CPU Performance is a bit low, there are 4x Cortex-A7 CPUs here that can't provide much computational performance. Sufficient for basic daily tasks.
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – Not the best GPU performance here, but i might have expected something even worse.
PCMark – Somehow the Work 2.0 test was not able to finish properly due to issues with Video Editing tasks so i guess some codecs are not working properly.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – Browsers Performance seems to be decent, nothing to complain about it.
Conclusions
The A101s big brother...can it really be such? Yes, absolutely. With a bigger screen, bigger battery and overall better hardware, this A6 is, with no doubts, an improvement compared to its little brother. Of course this doesn't mean that the device is perfect, but compared to the A101s, it is way better.
If UHANS keeps supporting the device with software updates keeping Android Security Patches updated and, why not, improving the device update by update, it can be considered one of the best low-end devices. I recommend it to those who are not in search for a 4G device, neither in search for superb performance, just the essential.
Pros:
Solid Metal Chassis
Amazing Back Cover texture
Impressive Back Camera
Decent Screen Brightness
Removable Battery
Cons:
No Magnetometer/Gyroscope
Still using the old MT6580 chipset
No Notification LED
Power Management needs to be improved
GPS Antenna could have been better
Rating: 8.3
Packaging and Accessories: 9
Design and Materials: 9
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7
Screen: 8
Camera: 8
Sound: 7
Battery Life: 8
Software: 9.5
OEM Support: 8
Price: 9
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: http://imgur.com/a/JFnTt
Official Website: http://www.uhans.cc/index.php/Design/design.html?id=29
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the UHANS website.
Great review. As I expected, this is a great all-round budget phablet for the money. Good to hear the build quality, camera and fingerprint scanner are decent too - something I thought they would skimp on. Sort of thing I would happily give to a friend or family member who doesn't need much but shouldn't need to pay iPhone prices for.
On the other hand, has anyone found a working TWRP recovery for this device? I did a little googling but came up short. Would a recovery for a similar MTK6580 device potentially work?
Finally got my hands on one of these - seems like a great device for the money. Is anyone able to comment on TWRP? There are a number of devices using a MTK6580 that have TWRP already, would it be possible to use TWRP from another one of these devices or is some porting required to avoid issues?
stephendt0 said:
Finally got my hands on one of these - seems like a great device for the money. Is anyone able to comment on TWRP? There are a number of devices using a MTK6580 that have TWRP already, would it be possible to use TWRP from another one of these devices or is some porting required to avoid issues?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jemmini already made a TWRP (https://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=824829&st=260#entry64019634)
Dev. & Support thread added to the first post.
Sadly that TWRP is in Russian changing the language isn't too hard but it does reset the language if I do full wipes which is annoying. Is there an English version?
DOOGEE Shoot2 - Information & Reviews - 5.0" HD | MT6580A | 1/2GB | 8/16GB | Dual Cam
DOOGEE Shoot2
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Specs:
Dimensions: 142.6 * 72.6 * 9.5 mm
Weight: 174.0g
Chassis: Metal
SoC: MediaTek MT6580A
CPU: ARM Cortex-A7, 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-400 MP1, Cores: 1
RAM: 1 GB/2 GB
Storage: 8 GB/16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.0 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 3360mAh
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
Back Camera: 2560 x 1960 pixels (5MP), Dual Camera (same resolution)
Front Camera: 2560 x 1960 pixels (5MP)
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz, Single-Band
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Front Fingerprint Sensor
Colors: Gold, Black, Grey
Click to expand...
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Development & Support:
Coming Soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
Coming Soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Review (part 1)
Introduction
This is the DOOGEE Shoot 2.
Hardware
Following the Shoot series, this newer model, Shoot 2, is the little young brother of the Shoot 1, with the same design for the front, still two back cameras, but much less powerful and much more affordable. Something important to mention is that there are two variants of this device, 1GB/8GB and 2GB/16GB. I'm testing the 2GB variant. I don't see the point of getting the 1GB variant nowadays.
The device is powered by a Mediatek MT6580 SOC clocked at 1.30GHz, a bit outdated and slower compared to the MT6737T, together with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM, and a 5 inches HD screen.
Unboxing
Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Warranty Card, 1x TPU Cover and the Smartphone (of course). A plastic screen protector is pre-applied.
Talking about the dimensions, the device is pretty compact even though it feels a bit thick due to the big internal battery. It is 14.68x7.32x0.97cm, with medium bezels, and weights 178g. This extra weight is caused by the metal back cover.
As regards the design, it isn't bad at all. I don't appreciate the noticeable plastic bands of the back cover, but everything else looks just fine and without any imperfection. Unfortunately my package was slightly damaged so you may notice a crack near the speaker grill. Luckily everything else was not damaged.
On the front side there is the usual 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. Unfortunately there is no Notification LED.
On the lower front side there is the classic soft-keys zone, with Recents and Back buttons on the side, and a Fingerprint Scanner in the middle that also works as an Home Button. You can notice the hidden microphone somewhere between the recents button and the fingerprint scanner.
On the back side there is the removable back cover, but the battery isn't removable. The upper rear side of the device features the Dual Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED Flashlight, bigger than usual.
On the lower rear side there is only the DOOGEE string with some Certification Logos. The speaker is positioned on the lower side of the device.
Device
Screen
Just like the Shoot 1, also this one features a good screen, even better as regards brightness. Color Accuracy is good, the same for the White Balance. Considering the price target, this may be one of the best screens i have ever seen on a low-end device.
The Light Sensor supports partial light changes, with a sufficient auto-brightness management. This is its maximum brightness. Just Excellent.
Viewing Angles matches IPS screen capabilities, nothing to complain about.
Camera
Unfortunately, this is where the difference between the Shoot 2 and the Shoot 1 is noticeable. This device features a 5MP Rear Camera made by GalaxyCore, and quality, in my opinion, isn't superb for a camera-phone. I guess the software isn't 100% ready to handle this sensor, causing some image quality issues especially when it comes to low-light shots.
Photos taken outdoors do not look bad at all, and the 1.5x camera zoom seem to work decently well.
Just like most dual-camera devices i have reviewed, macros aren't the best. I guess this is a technical limit of the dual camera implementation.
The Single-LED Flashlight is barely sufficient to provide enough light, and as a result the camera wasn't able to focus at all.
As regards Video Recording, 1080p videos are recorded at 25fps, with a decent amount of details and no major stuttering.
Front Camera, somehow, manages to shot better photos in the same light conditions where the rear camera isn't able to get a photo as good as this one. Pretty interesting.
Audio
Speaker's Quality is decent, with the usual absence of low-frequencies and medium-high maximum volume with almost no distortion. I don't understand why the second speaker grill hasn't been used at all, considering that the microphone is on the front side.
As regards the Microphone, it seems to work pretty well, with an impressive clarity and balanced volume.
Something that requires to be fixed is the Earpiece. At least on my review unit, the volume is too low. I have to increase the volume to the maximum in order to hear the third-party. Luckily this can be easily fixed with an OTA Update.
GPS
The GPS is decent, with a sufficient amount of satellites outdoors, and the possibility to lock satellites even indoors.
Outdoors on the left, Indoors of the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
This device doesn't support 4G networks, so you have to use your old 3G HSPA+ (42MBps max) connection to use your Mobile Data plan.
Signal Reception is accurate, but 3G coverage is just perfect here where i live so that's something i would have expected. Just like what happens with other devices, 3G Network Speed is low, thanks to my crappy Mobile Network that has lower than average 3G performance.
WiFi 5GHz isn't supported here. With my 2.4GHz network, i was able to reach 38mbps, connected at 65mbps, one of the best results ever obtained on a low-end device.
Battery Life
As always, i measure the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity almost matches the declared value (declared 3360mAh, real ~3320mAh).
Unfortunately PCMark Battery Test crashes on this device, so i had to switch to Antutu Tester with its heavy battery benchmark. Maximum Brightness, everything enabled. Not too bad.
As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger isn't the fastest when it comes to recharge a 3360mAh battery, but this is a software limit, so even if you use a better charger, it won't charge faster. More than 3 hours required to full charge.
Software
Following the Shoot 1 also this one comes with a completely clean Android OS, and most important, based on Nougat 7.0. Something rare to find with MT6580 devices, such an old chipset with such a new Android Version, something that i would have never expected from Mediatek. There are some pre-installed apps that can't be disabled without any issue, so don't worry about bloatware.
All Mediatek features are still there such as Gestures, Scheduled Power On/Off, etc…
No Malwares Detected using MalwareBytes Anti-Malware, unlike what happened with the Shoot 1.
Again, i'm using the 2GB variant, and after using it for a long while, i can say that it is smooth enough for daily tasks. I doubt that the 1GB variant will be as smooth as this one, due to RAM issues.
Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – GPU Performance is decent, this is a low-end device with an old Mali-400 GPU so we can't expect something better.
AndroBench – eMMC Performance isn't the best i have ever seen.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – Based on this result, OpenGL 2.0 Games should run pretty smooth here.
GeekBench – CPU Performance is a bit low, there are 4x Cortex-A7 CPUs here that can't provide much computational performance. Sufficient for basic daily tasks.
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – Not the best GPU performance here, but i might have expected something even worse.
PCMark – Well, it isn't possible to get better performance on this MT6580 SOC, low-end performance is confirmed.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – Browsers Performance seems to be decent, nothing to complain about it.
Conclusions
I have to admit that writing some conclusions about this device isn't as easy as you would expect. This device is interesting but in the same time confusing. Being a "Shoot" series device, the camera software should be ready and optimized out of the box, but, unfortunately it isn't. Excluding the camera department, everything else is pretty good. Of course, being a low-end device with a cheap price, it is normal to not expect superb performance, or anything that could be found on more expensive devices.
With an OTA Update, that i hope to see in the near future to improve camera and earpiece volume, this device could become a best-buy for a camera-phone.
So, do i recommend this device? As mentioned before, currently, if you plan to use as a camera-phone, you need to consider all words i wrote in the Camera Paragraph, and if they are OK with you, then i can recommend it. This is a device with a great potential, it just needs to be unlocked
Pros:
Good Battery Life
Great Screen Brightness
Metal Back Cover
Dual Camera
Android 7.0 Nougat with latest security patches
Impressive WiFi Performance
Cons:
No Magnetometer/Gyroscope
Still using the old MT6580 chipset
Camera Quality not as good as expected
Earpiece Volume is too low
No Notification LED
Rating: 8.3
Packaging and Accessories: 8.5
Design and Materials: 8
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7
Screen: 9
Camera: 6.5
Sound: 7.5
Battery Life: 9
Software: 10
OEM Support: 9
Price: 9
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: http://imgur.com/a/kO5Cs
Official Website: http://www.doogee.cc/detail/Shoot-series/105
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the DOOGEE website.
Great review!
I need some method to rooting this device.
Can you help me?
Regards
CUBOT Magic - Information & Reviews - 5.0" HD | MT6737 | 3GB | 16GB | Full-Curved
CUBOT Magic
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Specs:
Dimensions: 71 x 146 x 10.0 mm
Weight: 165g
Chassis: Plastic
SoC: MediaTek MT6737
CPU: ARM Cortex-A53, 4 x 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-T720 MP2 520MHz, Cores: 2
Network: 4G Cat.4 (150MBps) with VoLTE Support
RAM: 3 GB
Storage: 16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.0 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 2600 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Android 7.0 Nougat
Back Camera: 4160 x 3120 pixels (13MP), Samsung Sensor
Front Camera: 2560 x 1960 pixels (5MP) with Flashlight, OmniVision Sensor
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, single-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Notification LED
Colors: Gold Black, Grey Black
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Official Website:
http://www.cubot.net/smartphones/magic/
Development & Support:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/cubot-magic-development-support-t3689086
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own review: Post #2 & #3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Review (part 1)
Introduction
This is the CUBOT Magic.
Hardware
Copying the name and design from the Honor Magic, this CUBOT Magic could be considered its cheap clone. Powered by a Mediatek MT6737 CPU with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM, it is clear CUBOT only wanted to get the same design, and not the same performance.
Unboxing
Packaging is for the first time different than all previous CUBOT devices, and comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x TPU Cover (no more shock-proof unlike previous CUBOTs), and the Smartphone (of course). Somehow they are not including any screen protector in the box.
The chassis is amazing in my opinion, even though it isn't made of metal. They managed to make it as curved as a piece of soap, and i am not kidding. It literally slips if not used with the TPU cover. There is also something negative though, it is a fingerprint magnet. The oleophobic treatment is completely absent.
It is 14.64x7.09x1.00cm, pretty compact but a bit thick considering the battery size, and it weights 165g, i think it should have been slighly lighter for the same reason written before.
On the front side there is the super-curved screen (more than the usual 2.5D) and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera supported by a Single-LED Flashlight, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. A Notification LED is here, but it only supports one color: Blue.
Here you can see the Notification LED in action.
As regards the lower front side there is the soft-keys touch area with Recents, Home and Back keys.
On the back side there is removable back cover that hides the removable battery and all slots.
The upper rear side of the device features the Dual Camera Sensor supported by a Dual-LED - Single-Tone Flashlight, and the CUBOT logo slightly below.
On the lower rear side, excluding the usual certifications and model name, there isn't anything at all because the Speaker is positioned on the lower side of the device.
Device
Screen
Another really positive thing about this device is the screen. It is bright, super-sharp and with an excellent color accuracy with no banding, probably one of the best 5 inches screen i have ever found on a smartphone.
Its light sensor supports smooth light changes with a maximum brightness of ~500lux.
Viewing Angles are as good as you would expect from a good IPS screen, but the more-than-usual curved screen reduces slighly the viewing angles on the sides.
Camera
Of course not everything can be excellent on a device, and this is where it lacks some points. First of all, it is important to say that, even though this device has an MT6737 (not T), the Dual Camera implementation is REAL. The device handles two cameras properly, and both back cameras are recognized.
The software though is still the same as on all dual camera mediatek devices, with the only difference that if you cover one of the back camera sensors, it automatically switches camera between the left or the right one.
Photos look detailed and with some noise pretty noticeable, i would say average quality for the price target.
The Flashlight is powerful, synced with the shot, but as you can notice macros are insufficient.
Here you can see some shots taken using the Bokeh mode that SHOULD be using both cameras in the same time.
As regards Video Recording, with the quality set on "Fine", videos are recorded at 720p30 with a pretty stable frame-rate.
The front-facing camera is decent, usable for video-calls or such, just do not expect super-detailed photos even though there is a Flashlight supporting the shot.
Audio
Just like on most CUBOT devices, the speaker is sufficient, with the usual lack of low-frequencies and average volume. The earpiece though is a completely different story, it is just perfect, with no lack of frequencies at all and a pretty high volume.
As regards the Microphone, it works decently well in any case (in-call, VOIP, etc...), nothing to complain about.
GPS
GPS Quality is average, as good/bad as most MT6737 devices, it might be improved with future OTA updates.
Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
Providing full european bands support (with 4G Band 20), the device was able to keep a stable connection to my 4G Network, but the speed, somehow, seems to be capped. This is something that should be improved with an OTA Update as soon as possible.
Thankfully the WiFi hardware is noticeably better, even though only 2.4GHz networks are supported, i was able to reach almost ~46Mbps, a pretty rare result for MTK hardware. Impressive.
Battery Life
Battery Capacity seems to be slightly higher than declared, common on CUBOT devices (i will never forget the CUBOT Dinosaur, check my review if you want to see something unbelieable). Declared 2600mAh vs Real ~2850mAh.
The PCMark Battery Test provided a barely sufficient result for a battery with this capacity, i guess this can be improved with future OTA updates. (Lowest brightness, WiFi on, Airplane Mode off, Sync on)
As regards battery charging times, due to limited 5V/1A charger, it isn't possible to charge the device completely in less than 2 hours and 45 minutes more or less. It is limited by software so do not expect faster charging times with a more powerful charger.
Software
Running on Android 7.0 Nougat with latest July 2017 security patches, and most important, with no bloatware preinstalled, the device runs with no issues at all, even though the CPU isn't that powerful. But...the secret was easy to find. In order to avoid the well-known MT6737 performance limitations, they choose to compile the OS with no 64-bit support, meaning that there is less load on the CPU and less RAM usage. The result is just perfect.
All Mediatek Features such as MiraVision, Gestures (somehow in Spanish ), and other features are present.
As expected, there is no Magnetometer/Compass and Gyroscope.
No malwares detected with Malware-Bytes Anti-Malware using latest definitions.
Review (part 2)
Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – Thanks to the 32-bit OS, GPU Performance is higher than some other MT6737 devices.
AndroBench – eMMC Performance is sufficient as regards the Write Speed, good as regards the Read Speed.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – Reaching almost 30fps, 3D performance is barely sufficient for smooth gaming.
GeekBench – 4x Cortex-A53 CPU Cores clocked at 1.25GHz, can't be any better.
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – The poor Mali-T720 GPU doesn't have any oxygen to run any of these tests decently.
PCMark – Just like what happened with my last review (MT6580 device), also on this one the Video Editing test fails so i guess there is something wrong with the latest PCMark version.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – This is where you can notice that you are dealing with a low-end SOC.
Conclusions
CUBOT Magic...even though i don't like to see any brand copying a device's design, i have to say that they managed to do a great job with this one. Its design together with the touch-and-feel (i hope this is the right way to say it), does not make it look like a cheap low-end MT6737 device.
Overall the device is good, with enough performance to handle most daily tasks, easy to carry thanks to the compact size and with an in-call quality rare to find on a chinese device. It isn't perfect though, just like all devices, since you have to forget about macro photos and high-speed 4G connection (hopefully fixable with an OTA update).
So, do i recommend it? Unless you can find something more appealing for the same price, yes.
Pros:
Mind-blowing touch-and-feel
Excellent in-call quality
Removable Battery
Plenty amount of RAM (3GB)
Great WiFi Performance
Cons:
Single-Color Notification LED
No Gyroscope & Magnetometer/Compass
Low 4G Connection Speed
Fingerprint Magnet (no oleophobic coating)
Out-of-focus Macro Photos (while using the Flashlight)
Rating: 8.3
Packaging and Accessories: 7.5
Design and Materials: 9
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7.5
Screen: 9.5
Camera: 7.5
Sound: 8
Battery Life: 7
Software: 9.5
OEM Support: 9
Price: 8.5
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: http://imgur.com/a/l9aYe
Official Website: http://www.cubot.net/smartphones/magic/
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the CUBOT website.
Great review and device.
However, maybe I have overviewd, but is there an Fingerprint Sensor?
Napfgeist said:
Great review and device.
However, maybe I have overviewd, but is there an Fingerprint Sensor?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately no.
Alberto96 said:
Unfortunately no.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh, thank you for the quick reply.
Thats a pitty, the specs and design looks really good.
Are there at least some smart gestures to start camera or to wake up the screen?
Great review Alberto96, if you need help with dev, im happy to do what i can!
i just recieved my Cubot Magic, so far so good im just trying to find a way to root it..
@ Napfgeist, there are none in the settings that i can find however if we can root im sure we can figure something out..
Any news on custom rom development?
Hi, i bought this device 1 month ago and is going good, my question is: if I unlock bootloader and root this device will I lose Warranty?
Dev. & Support thread added to first post.
AndroidGamer02 said:
Hi, i bought this device 1 month ago and is going good, my question is: if I unlock bootloader and root this device will I lose Warranty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need to unlock the bootloader, but you need TWRP in order to root it, something that isn't available yet.
Did you maybe have Cubot R9?
I dunno to buy R9 or Magic. So Magic has 7h SOT?
I read that R9 had 4h of SOT but it looks like with same battery.
Battery request
Thank you for this extensive review. I wish I understood the importance of most of the details but some things are meaningful for me and I have ordered this model online. While waiting for my phone I'd like to know which manufacturers sells batteries for this model - I prefer a real battery to some item that needs attaching and holding if the fitted battery is too low/empty. And is it possible to use this model with more powerful batteries - I'd like a little more time from a charge. Thanks again, I feel confident to be getting a no-nonsense reliable phone to enjoy.
BLUBOO S8+
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Specs:
Dimensions: 72 x 156 x 9 mm
Weight: 202 g
Chassis: Metal
SoC: MediaTek MT6750T
CPU: ARM Cortex-A53, 4 x 1500 MHz + 4 x 1000 MHz, Cores: 4 + 4
GPU: ARM Mali-T860 MP2 650MHz, Cores: 2
Network: 4G Cat.6 (300MBps) with VoLTE Support
RAM: 4 GB
Storage: 64 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 6.0 in, IPS, 720 x 1440 pixels, 18:9 Aspect Ratio
Protection: Gorilla Glass
Battery: 3600 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: 360 OS (Android 7.0 Nougat based)
Back Camera: 13MP (4160 x 3120), Sony IMX135
Front Camera: 5MP (2592 x 1944), OmniVision OV5648
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz/5.0GHz, dual-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Type-C
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Other Features: Fingerprint Scanner
Colors: Blue, Black
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Official Website:
http://bluboohk.com/s8plus/
Development & Support:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/bluboo-s8-development-support-t3734065
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own review: Post #2 & #3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Review (part 1)
Introduction
This is the BLUBOO S8+.
Hardware
Some parts of the review have been taken from the S8 review where possible, since most parts of the device are just identical
Just like the little brother S8, this S8+ features almost the same hardware and follows the same design, basically an S8 on steroids, not improving much compared to the predecessor though.
This device comes with a Mediatek MT6750T (just like the S8), with 4GB of RAM instead of 3GB and 64GB of Storage instead of 32GB, everything packed with a 6 inches HD+ IPS screen (18:9). No changes have been made to the camera hardware, but the front camera sensor is now made by OmniVision instead of Sony.
Unboxing
I am not sure whether this is the standard packaging or not, but mine came with 2x the amount of accessories: 2x Type-C USB Cable, 1x 5V/2A USB Charger (no extra for it), 2x 3.5mm to Type-C Adapter, 1x TPU Cover, 1x Plastic Screen Protector, 1x SIM Card Tray Eject Tool, 1x User Manual, 1x Warranty Card and the Smartphone (of course). There is no screen protector pre-applied.
There must be something wrong with the production line responsible for the black variant, the first review unit i got was not in the best conditions, and the second one...is more or less the same, as you can notice. The black paint is, somehow, weirdly applied and not uniform. It looks like the machine was running out of ink e.e
Other than that, there are no imperfection on the front and the back, the device feels solid enough thanks to the metal body, and thanks to the curved body it is really comfortable to handle. Still, it is sad to this decrease of build quality compared to the S8.
It is 15.8x7.41x0.92cm, bigger compared to the S8 (of course, bigger screen) but still small considering the screen size, and weights 202g.
On the front side, underneath the 2.5D glass, there is the 18:9 IPS screen with pretty nice rounded corners and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. A notification LED is here, and seems to support only two colors: Red, Green.
Here you can see the Notification-LED in action.
On the lower front side there isn't anything at all, on-screen software keys are used.
On the back side there is the Plastic not-removable back panel with a really glossy surface, can't avoid fingerprints.
The upper rear side of the device features the Dual Camera Sensor supported by a Dual-LED Flashlight (not Dual-Tone), with a rectangular fingerprint scanner just below, and not on the side luckily.
On the lower rear side there isn't anything at all because the speaker is located on the bottom.
Device
Screen
Still featuring an HD+ panel, this S8+ provides a better viewing experience thanks to the bigger screen and also a more reliable color accuracy, but due to the low pixel density there a noticeable lack of sharpness and it is also possible notice a sort-of smearing effect while scrolling into menus. I am not a display expert, but it should be caused by a too high pixel response time.
The light sensor is accurate supporting smooth light changes, and screen brightness is brighter compared to the S8.
Luckily the viewing angles issue i noticed on the S8 doesn't seem to be anymore here, there is not gap between the glass and the screen so it looks as good as a decent mid-range IPS panel.
Camera
BLUBOO choose to use a mature camera sensor on this device, the good and old Sony IMX135 camera sensor, able to shoot decent photos in good light conditions. Of course it can't be compared with the Galaxy S8's camera sensor, this is just a low-mid range device.
Something that impressed me is the flashlight, probably one of the most powerful i have ever found, able to provide an huge amount of light to get almost perfect shots.
As regards Video Recording, 1080p videos are recorded at 30FPS with a pretty interesting stable 30fps frame rate, and the Front Camera is a Wide-Angle variant made by OmniVision (OV5648), no big changes compared to the Sony IMX190 camera sensor found on the S8.
Audio (identical to the S8)
In the past, BLUBOO released a device with the best speaker i have ever found on a smartphone, the Maya Max, but in this case, unfortunately, the speaker is pretty bad. Low volume, missing low-frequencies and with a noticeable static noise.
As regards the Microphone, it is good, everyone was able to hear me properly in-call.
Similar speaker situation applies for the Earpiece too, where the audio has low volume and lack of low frequencies, but the sound is pretty clear with no noise.
GPS
Unfortunately the GPS antenna seems to be worse compared to the one found on the S8, barely able to get a medium GPS signal outdoors and with no signal at all indoors. Weird.
Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.
Battery Life
Just like on the S8, also on this S8+ i faced serious issues in measuring the battery capacity. Do not consider this result as accurate because i had to keep the device turned on in order to get something "more reliable" otherwise it was constantly sucking power from the USB port while turned off. The result shows ~3595mAh of capacity that, apparently, matches the 3600mAh capacity declared but, again, can't be sure.
Something that might confirm the incorrect result is the PCMark Battery Test, reaching just some minutes extra compared to the S8 result (8h 18m vs 8h 2m). Test run at Minimum Brightness, WiFi on, Sync on. Later, i will remove the back cover and see if i manage to get the real battery capacity in any other more reliable way, the battery label might be helpful too.
The included 5V/2A charger is fast enough to charge the battery in ~2 hours, it is limited by software so even a more powerful charger won't make it any faster.
Software (identical to the S8)
I am not 100% sure, but this is might the second device i review running on 360 OS, this time based on Android 7 Nougat though. The OS is clearly a chinese-only operating system, adapted to be used with Google Services, and this is noticeable by the missing Google Setup Wizard after a factory reset.
Anyway, the OS is pretty snappy, but full of bloatware. Some apps can be disabled, but others no. Hopefully Bluboo will at least reduce the amount of preinstalled apps because some of them must be avoided. (e.g. UC Browser, terrible!)
Except from Mediatek's MiraVision, there is no other feature such as gestures or double tap-to-wake available.
A Magnetometer/Compass is here, useful to improve on-foot navigation.
When lots of bloatware is preinstalled, it isn't a surprise to see that Malwares are detected.
The Fingerprint Scanner is decent, being rectangular it requires some practice before getting the finger recognized properly, but it is accurate and unlocks the device almost instantly.
Review (part 2)
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi (identical to the S8)
The device has full support for European 4G Networks, and signal reception is good. Running a standard speedtest, the result is decent, just a bit lower than what i usually get in the same position. (technically it should be way higher but this is how 4G networks are in Italy...)
WiFi Performance is great considering the WiFi Chipset used on the MT6750T, connected at 135mbps to my 5GHz WiFi Connection, it almost gets the maximum reacheable with my VDSL internet connection.
Benchmarks (identical to the S8)
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – Pretty standard performance for this SOC, low-mid end GPU.
AndroBench – This result is a bit confusing, since read speed is outstanding for an eMMC, but write speed is pretty low.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – Probably due to the HD+ resolution, this benchmark crashes everytime i try to open it.
GeekBench – CPU Performance could have been better for single-core performance, a bit lower than usual, but multi-core performance matches the maximum obtainable with this SOC (MT6750T: 8x Cortex-A53).
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – Thanks to the limited HD+ resolution, OpenGL benchmarks are not as bad as on devices with the same SOC but running on a higher res screen.
PCMark – Quite decent results, not the best, neither the worst.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – The same consideration said for the Geekbench benchmark is valid also here regarding CPU power.
Conclusions
Well...what to say about this S8+. It is not better compared to the S8, that's obvious considering that some there are some downgrades such as the lower build quality and worse GPS antenna. Still, it is not a bad device. If you exclude the painting issue that, hopefully, is limited to the black variant, it can be considered as a good Galaxy S8 clone.
As already said for the S8, it only lacks a better OS (Stock Android instead of 360 OS) with no bloatware or malwares. If BLUBOO doesn't fix this malwares issue, found also on the S8, i still can't recommend the device, unless you can, and want, to mod the device and remove them manually (or install a custom ROM).
So, if you agree with my words written above, then go for it, otherwise, it is better to look for something else.
Pros:
Decent Camera Sensors
Presence of a Magnetometer/Compass
Notification-LED
Compact considering the screen size
Lots of RAM and Storage
Cons:
Absence of a Gyroscope
Infected and Bloated 360 OS
Suspicious Real Battery Capacity
Missing Headphone Jack
GPS Antenna should have been better
Rating: 7.5
Packaging and Accessories: 9.5
Design and Materials: 7.5
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 8
Screen: 8
Camera: 7.5
Sound: 6
Battery Life: 7
Software: 4
OEM Support: 8
Price: 9
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: https://imgur.com/a/gl1Ry
Official Website: http://bluboohk.com/s8plus/
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the BLUBOO website.
New OTA Update available. Screenshot attached.
Dev. & Support thread added to first post.
Alberto96 said:
Dev. & Support thread added to first post.
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Sir that coolshow app is not malware, it's just a theming app present in all 360 os and other os which are based on it like Cool UI (Indian variant of 360 os by coolpad),umi os and the app is designed by Coolpad
KENXINDA S9 - Information & Reviews - 5.5" HD | MT6737 | 2GB | 16GB | 5000mAh
KENXINDA S9
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Specs:
Dimensions: 154 x 76 x 9.2 mm
Weight: 205g
Chassis: Plastic
SoC: MediaTek MT6737
CPU: ARM Cortex-A53, 4 x 1300 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-T720 MP2 520MHz, Cores: 2
Network: 4G Cat.4 (150MBps) with VoLTE Support
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.5 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 5000 mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Kenxinda OS (Android 7.0 Nougat based)
Back Camera: 4160 x 3120 pixels (13MP), GalaxyCore GC8024, with Secondary BW Camera.
Front Camera: 2560 x 1960 pixels (5MP), GalaxyCore GC5025
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: b, g, n 2.4GHz, dual-band, Wi-Fi Hotspot
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Fingerprint Scanner
Colors: Gold, Black, Red
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Development & Support:
Coming Soon
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Reviews:
My own review: Post #2 & #3
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Review (part 1)
Introduction
This is the KENXINDA S9.
Hardware
Part of the low-cost battery phones, this Kenxinda S9 (or KXD, as the boot logo says) features a low-end Mediatek MT6737 chipset, still better than the crappy MT6580, together with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of Storage. Everything is powered by a big 5000mAh battery.
Unboxing
It comes in a classic package with a basic set of accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1.5A USB Charger, 1x 3.5mm In-Ear Earphones, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Warranty Card, 1x TPU Cover, and the Smartphone (of course). A screen protector is already applied, but i have removed mine (low-quality).
As regards the build quality, the device feels solid enough considering that it is 100% made of plastic, but the same can't be said for the sliding mechanism used to remove the removable back cover. One of the sides leaves a noticeable gap between the cover and the chassis, probably a minor manufacturing defect.
Please ignore the big scratch near the camera lenses, that's something i made while measuring it with the caliper (...dammit...).
This is the gap i was talking about.
Featuring a pretty classic design, with thick bezels and so on, this isn't a battery phone that can be considered compact (15.4x7.79x0.93cm), and, even if it is made of Plastic, it isn't light either: 201g. I am not sure whether this weight is caused by the metal back cover or by something else, but it feels a bit bulky.
On the front side there is a Classic Flat Glass (no 2.5D) with an HD IPS panel underneath, and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light and Proximity. Thankfully, an RGB Notification LED is here.
Here you can see the LED in action. Pretty bright, only the blue color is, somehow, a bit dim.
The lower front side features two soft-touch keys (recents/back) with a physical home button in between that also works as a fingerprint reader. It is extremely soft to the touch, probably the best physical home button i have ever found on a smartphone.
On the back side there is removable metal (with a plastic part on the bottom) cover featuring the sliding mechanism i mentioned before. The brushed aluminum looks gorgeous in my opinion, and the metal also behaves as pseudo-heatsink.
The upper rear side of the device features the REAL Dual Camera Sensor supported by a Single-LED - Single-Tone Flashlight. I am happy to see a real dual camera sensor on a Chinese device.
On the lower rear side, excluding the usual certifications, there isn't anything at all because the Speaker is positioned on the lower side of the device.
Device
Screen
Apparently, Kenxinda opted for an high-quality IPS panel even considering the price target. The screen looks quite decent, the low pixel density caused by the HD-only resolution doesn't seem to have impacted much the viewing experience, and there are no issues with color accuracy neither with the white balance.
The same can be said for the screen brightness. It is decently bright, enough for a mediocre outdoors visibility.
Nothing to complain about its viewing angles, they are as good as on most high-quality IPS panels. Still, it is possible to notice a minor banding issue on one of the angles.
Camera
Kenxinda did a great job with this device with the camera department. Unlike 99% of chinese devices, this one features a REAL dual-camera setup, even though the implementation isn't that helpful to be honest.
Do you want the proof? Here it is.
The main camera sensor is a GalaxyCore GC8024 (8MP, interpolated to 13MP), while the secondary camera sensor is only black and white (monochrome) and isn't a wide-angle variant. Sure, this isn't helpful at all to get the so-called BOKEH effect, neither it is useful to take B/W photos considering that filters are good enough to do it, but at least the second camera is not fake. Well Done Kenxinda!
Here you can see some samples, it isn't possible to expect anything better from a 8MP camera sensor.
Unfortunately the Single-LED flashlight appears to be a bit underpowered.
Videos are recorded at 720p25, the quality matches what you get with the photos, and the frame-rate suffers a bit. Definetely not a camera phone.
As regards the front-facing camera, it is as good as you would expect from a 5MP camera sensor (GalaxyCore GC5025), not super-detailed, but enough for some occasional video-chats or portraits/selfies.
Audio
Audio-wise, this device is a bit messy, since it features a decent speaker, loud enough, with the usual lack of low frequencies, but the earpiece is terrible. There is some sort of distortion even at low volume that doesn't allow to hear the other end properly. Quite disappoiting.
The microphone instead is just fine, no issues noticed in-call or during VOIP calls.
GPS
Nothing really positive can be said about the GPS either, since it doesn't support GLONASS and even with a decent amount of locked satellites, the accuracy is pretty low. Indoors it isn't able to lock satellites at all.
Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
This is probably the Chinese device with the highest amount of supported 4G bands i have ever reviewed: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B17/B20. As usual i test run a speedtest in the same position i test other devices too, and even though the signal was quite high, i wasn't able to obtain any decent result. This is usually a software issue, may be improved with an OTA update.
Luckily, something rare with MT6737 devices, it supports WiFi 5.0Ghz networks, and the result was quite impressive for such a low-end chipset. An excellent WiFi antenna has been used.
Battery Life
Tested with my usual USB tester, the real battery capacity seems to match the declared value (real ~4950mAh, declared 5000mAh).
The PCMark Battery Test seems to confirm my battery test, providing a result of 12 hours and 10 minutes (WiFi on, Sync on, Min. Brightness). It is possible to squeeze even more battery life considering the low-power chipset so i expect it to improve in the future.
I am not sure why Chinese Companies keep providing slow chargers with devices with such big batteries inside. Kenxinda choose to include a 5V/1.5A charger but, based on my testing, the software has been capped to ~1.1A, and as a result of that, it takes more than 4 hours to fully charge!
If you are including a 1.5A charger, at least calibrate the software to use its full power. Unbeliavable.
Software
This is the first Kenxinda device i review and, apparently, the company seem to have an internal software department (no HCT or others). I am not sure whether this is something introduced with Nougat-based devices or not, but this S9 features their own Kenxinda OS, renamed by me iOSXinda OS, since they heavily customized it to look like an iPhone.
For an Android Enthusiast and Developer like me, the first impressions on the OS were, literally, disgusting (i hate iOS as most XDA users!), but at least, unlike no name iPhone Clones released in China, this OS has been properly polished. Really well-made, an impressive job has been done by the Kenxinda Software Department. This is the most optimized MT6737-based device i have ever tested.
Still, if Kenxinda provides an alternative ROM with the same level of optimization, but without this iOS-ish look, everyone would appreciate it.
Some iOS-ish screenshots... (prepare your stomach)
Some Mediatek Features have been removed, but the MiraVision menu is available.
Finally a low-end device featuring something so essential: a Magnetometer/Compass!
No malwares detected with the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware app running on latest definitions.
The Fingerprint Scanner is a bit slow just like on all MT6737-based devices, probably due to the low performance, but it is really accurate.
Review (part 2)
Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0), V1 GPU Benchmark and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – Expected low results for the poor Mali-T720 GPU, you can barely game with it.
AndroBench – The internal storage seem to be decently fast, with pretty decent read speeds and mediocre write speeds, the real bottleneck.
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
GeekBench – CPU Performance is just enough for some basic daily tasks and light apps.
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – Not so bad results considering the GPU.
PCMark – The storage bottleneck does have an impact on some results, but most of them are just fine for this chipset.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
V1 GPU Benchmark – Using the Snapdragon 410 preset, the benchmark barely reaches 30 fps in some scenes so do not expect a smooth experience with games.
Vellamo – Nothing to say about this benchmark, low-end SOC = low-end performance of course.
Conclusions
The Kenxinda S9, this is probably the device with the most mixed results i have ever reviewed. It is really good in some areas, but really bad in others. It gains some value thanks to the REAL dual camera setup, but in the same time, it loses some value due to the lack of voice calls quality and low 4G speeds.
Anyway, it is an overall decent package that doesn't lack any feature, both Notification LED and Compass are present, and the OS is also well-optimized even though it looks iOS-ish.
So, do i recommend it? Well, it is hard to say yes or no. This time it really depends on what your real requirements are, and if you accept what has been reported about the device. If you agree with what has been written above, then it can considered as a good choice, otherwise, it might be better to look for something else.
Pros:
REAL Dual Camera Setup
Decent Screen Quality
Notification LED
Magnetometer/Compass
WiFi 5GHz Support
Cons:
Slow 4G Speeds
iOS-ish UI (Kenxinda OS)
Terrible Earpiece Sound Quality
Slow Charging Speed
Rating: 7.7
Packaging and Accessories: 8.5
Design and Materials: 7.5
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7
Screen: 7.5
Camera: 8
Sound: 6.5
Battery Life: 9
Software: 7
OEM Support: X (don't know yet)
Price: 8
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: https://imgur.com/a/CFbt1
Official Website: http://www.kenxinda.com/en/s9/id/8.html
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the KENXINDA website.
Thank you for your work. Any way to root? Moreover, I would like to get rid of that KOS ui and get back original Nougat ui. Thanks a lot!