Tag Archives: Hybrid SIM

The Huawei Mate 9 (Editor’s Choice Award) Review

4 Replies

Huawei is the world’s third largest smartphone brand in the world, accounting for 9.5% of smartphone sales in Q4 2016. Spearheading their assault on Samsung’s position as the top Android smartphone brand in the world is their Leica c0-branded Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) smartphone.

In this review, we will check out the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) in great detail, including its Leica branded dual-lens camera. Find out why we awarded it our coveted Editor’s Choice Award!

The Huawei Mate 9 Specifications Comparison

In case you are wondering how much of a difference the Huawei Mate 9 brings to the table, here is a detailed comparison of its specifications to its predecessor, the Huawei Mate 8 (Amazon | Lazada). We also added the bespoke Huawei Mate 9 Porsche (Amazon).

Specifications	Huawei Mate 9 Porsche Design	Huawei Mate 9	Huawei Mate 8
Operating System	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Display	5.5" AMOLED display - 1440 x 2560 pixels (534 ppi, 73.2% screen to body ratio)	5.96" IPS-NEO LCD display - 1080 x 1920 pixels (368 ppi)	6.0" IPS-NEO LCD display - 1080 x 1920 pixels (368 ppi, 78% screen to body ratio)
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3	Corning Gorilla Glass 3	Corning Gorilla Glass 4
System Platform	HiSilicon Kirin 960	HiSilicon Kirin 960	HiSilicon Kirin 950
Processor	4 x ARM Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)	4 x ARM Cortex-A73 (2.4 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)	4 x ARM Cortex-A72 (2.3 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.8 GHz)
Graphics Processor	ARM Mali-G71 MP8 (900 MHz)	ARM Mali-G71 MP8 (900 MHz)	ARM Mali-T880 MP4
Memory	6 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM	4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM	4 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM (NXT-L29) 3 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM (NXT-L09, NXT-L19)
Storage	256 GB internal flash storage NO microSD card slot	64 GB internal flash storage microSD slot (supports up to 256 GB)	64 GB internal flash storage (NXT-L29) 32 GB internal flash storage (NXT-L09, NXT-L19) microSD slot (supports up to 256 GB, shared with SIM2)
Front Selfie Camera	8 MP sensor with f/1.9 lens	8 MP sensor with f/1.9 lens	8 MP sensor with f/2.4 lens
Main Camera	Dual-lens camera with f/2.2 Leica lens - 20 MP monochrome + 12 MP RGB sensors - 2X hybrid zoom, OIS support - PDAF and laser autofocus - dual-tone LED flash	Dual-lens camera with f/2.2 Leica lens - 20 MP monochrome + 12 MP RGB sensors - 2X hybrid zoom, OIS support - PDAF and laser autofocus - dual-tone LED flash	16 MP sensor with f/2.0 lens - PDAF autofocus, OIS - dual-tone LED flash
Connectivity	WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth : v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE USB : USB 3.0 Type C port	WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth : v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE USB : USB 2.0 Type C port	WiFi : 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Bluetooth : v4.2, A2DP, EDR, LE USB : microUSB port
SIM Support	Single nano SIM Dual nano SIM, Dual Standby	Single nano SIM (MHA-L09) Dual nano SIM, Dual Standby (MHA-L29)	Single nano SIM (NXT-L09) Dual nano SIM, Dual Standby (NXT-L29)
GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS
NFC	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery	4,000 mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable)	4,000 mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable)	4,000 mAh lithium polymer battery (non-removable)
Dimensions	75 mm wide 152 mm tall 7.5 mm thick	78.9 mm wide 156.9 mm tall 7.9 mm thick	80.6 mm wide 157.1 mm tall 7.9 mm thick
Weight	169 g	190 g	185 g
Available Colours	Black Graphite	Black Graphite, Space Grey, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown, Ceramic White	Space Grey, Moonlight Silver, Champagne Gold, Mocha Brown

Unboxing The Huawei Mate 9

As a premium smartphone, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) comes in a premium black box. Let’s take a look at what’s inside!

[adrotate banner=”4″]

Inside the box, you will find the following items :

One Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) smartphone
One Huawei Mate 9 protective case
One Huawei Mate 9 quick start guide
One 22.5 W Huawei SuperCharge power adaptor
One USB Type C cable
One micro USB to USB Type C adaptor
One pair of Huawei earphones
One SIM card tray ejector pin

The inclusion of the Huawei Mate 9 protective case in the package is most welcomed, even though it only protects the back and the four corners of the Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada). At least it offers some protection out of the box, until you get a better case.

Next Page > The Huawei Mate 9 Key Features

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Huawei Mate 9 Smartphone

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) is a 6″ phablet (officially 5.98″) with an IPS-NEO display. There was some confusion about its display and protection. Let us be clear – the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche (Amazon) has an AMOLED display, while the “regular” Huawei Mate 9 uses an IPS-NEO display. They are both protected by Gorilla Glass 3, not Gorilla Glass 5.

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) runs on the octa-core Kirin 960, with 4 GB of LPDDR4 SDRAM and 64 GB of internal flash storage. It is powered by a large 4,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery. All that is packed into a metal unibody chassis less than 8 mm thick.

The Huawei Mate 9 has a two-slot SIM tray on the left side. Depending on region, this may support a single nano SIM and a microSD card, or a hybrid SIM tray in which a second nano SIM can be used in lieu of the microSD card.

Like many premium smartphones, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) uses the new bidirectional Type C USB port. To support users with existing micro USB cables and OTG drives, Huawei threw in a micro USB to USB Type C adaptor.

Somehow, Huawei managed to squeeze in the 3.5 mm audio port at the top. This will please people who enjoy using their smartphones as music players, but may prevent the use of external microphones.

Hybrid SIM & Fingerprint Sensor

The MHA-L29 version of the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability. However, only the SIM1 supports 4G calls and data, while SIM2 can only support 3G calls. The SIM card tray is located along the left edge, and supports two nano SIM cards.

The second SIM card tray is a hybrid SIM tray, which allows you to install a microSD card instead. In other words, it supports either a second nano SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time. In the MHA-L09 version, the tray only supports one nano SIM card with the second slot dedicated to the microSD card.

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) uses a fingerprint sensor that is located at the back, just under the main camera. This is an all-aspect fingerprint sensor that unlocks the smartphone with just a touch. Huawei promises that it is 20% faster than the Huawei Mate 8’s fingerprint sensor.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

The Huawei Mate 9 Cameras

The Huawei Mate 9’s killer feature is its second-generation Leica-branded dual-lens camera. The camera uses a 12 MP RGB sensor to capture colour, and a 20 MP monochrome sensor to pick up the finer details. Their output are then combined to produce the final image.

The dual-lens camera features f/2.2 Leica Summarit-H lenses with optical image stabilisation. The camera’s ability to reduce handshake in low light condition is further enhanced by the pixel binning ability of the dual lenses.

Its front camera though is more run-of-the-mill. It has an 8 MP front camera with autofocus capability. The wider than average f/1.9 aperture though allows for better low light selfies. That is important because the Huawei Mate 9 does not come with a front LED flash, or even support screen flash.

Next Page > Setting It Up, Ergonomics, Available Memory & Storage

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Setting Up The Huawei Mate 9

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) runs on Android 7.0 Nougat, and is very easy to set-up. If you are setting it up as a new device, it should take you only 5 minutes to finish the setup process.

The Ergonomics

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) is a large 6″ phablet that is almost 8 cm wide, so it is definitely a two-handed device. While it does not boast a QHD AMOLED display of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and the Huawei Mate 9 Porsche (Amazon), its Full HD IPS-NEO display still looks great. No complaints here.

The anodised aluminium chassis is smooth to the touch, with a nice satin finish that imparts a nice shine and yet is resistant to fingerprint smears. If you feel that it lacks grip, slap on the provided clear case – it will give you more grip while protecting the back against scratches.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Available Memory & Storage

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) comes with 4 GB of LPDDR4 memory, of which 2.3 GB (57.5%) is available for use. That’s plenty of free memory to run multiple apps at the same time.

As befits a premium smartphone, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) has 64 GB of internal flash storage. Of that, 59.29 GB is available to use, which is just awesome. If that’s not enough, you can top it up with a microSD card (up to 256 GB).

Next Page > Camera Performance – Photos & Videos

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Camera Performance – Photos

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) has an impressive dual-lens camera that Huawei co-designed with Leica. It boasts two separate RGB and monochrome sensors, both with Leica Summarit-H lenses. The full 20 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio. Each picture has a resolution of 5120 x 3840 and a file size of between 4.5 to 6.5 MB.

Here are 8 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

As these samples show, the amount of detail captured by the Leica dual-lens camera was quite astounding. Even the darker areas showed an amazing amount of detail. Even the night shot of Disneyland showed a surprising amount of detail, and very low noise. Simply amazing.

If there is a word of caution though, we have to point out that the Leica Summarit-H lens has an aperture of f/2.2. This is not as fast as the lenses on other premium smartphones, so low light conditions may result in blurry photos. The optical image stabilisation helps some, but the pixel binning capability only works if you take photos at 12 MP or less.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Camera Performance – Video Recording

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) is capable of recording 1080p and 4K videos. They are also encoded using the H.265 standard, which allows for much smaller file sizes. It also supports optical image stabilisation, although it does not seem to support electronic image stabilisation. To test out these capabilities, we took some sample videos.

Test #1 : Piano Recital

In this piano recital, the image resolution is so high you can see the sweat glisten off Mr. Yang I-Deun’s forehead. We also liked how clear the recorded sound was. The distinct lack of background noise was very impressive. The Huawei Mate 9’s control of the bright highlights was also pretty good.

Test #2 : Food Trucks

We did this short take of some food trucks to test out the image stabilisation capability. It did a pretty decent job of removing most of the shaking, but the jerking as I walked was rather pronounced. Some electronic image stabilisation capability would have been useful in reducing that.

Test #3 : Night Dancing

I think the first thing you will note is how clear the audio recording is. There is some colour noise from the low light areas like the floor, but the amount of detail you can pick out is still amazing. There is also very good control of the highlights in the background.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life & Recharging Speed

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Huawei Mate 9’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

	Huawei Mate 9	ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra	HTC 10	honor 8
Work Performance Score (Average)	7593	6313	6105	6350
Web Browsing	8717	6257	5782	8073
Video Playback	4987	4287	3321	4396
Writing	7883	7166	7463	6231
Photo Editing	9702	8262	9694	7352

The Kirin 960 is a surprisingly speedy processor. It beat the ZenFone 3 Ultra‘s Snapdragon 652, and even the Snapdragon 820 in the HTC 10!

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Huawei Mate 9’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Amazingly, the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) lasted 13 hours! That’s 40% longer than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, which has the same battery capacity; and a full 1.5 hours longer than the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra with a larger 4,600 mAh battery. This is truly fantastic performance!

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Battery Recharging Performance

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) comes with a SuperCharge adaptor with a power output of 22.5 W. Take a look at how fast it recharged the large 4,000 mAh battery.

It took the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) an astoundingly bad 401.5 minutes (6 hours 41.5 minutes) to recharge its battery from 19% to 100%. This is a battery life : recharging ratio of about 2 : 1 – a truly abysmal performance.

The SuperCharge capability does not seem to be working in our review sample, because the chart shows a linear increase in battery capacity over time. We would have expected a large boost in battery life that would taper off as the battery reached its maximum capacity.

Next Page > Gaming & Overall Performance, Verdict, Award

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Huawei Mate 9’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

	Huawei Mate 9	ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra	HTC 10	honor 8
Gaming Score	27853	17719	23171	18659
Graphics	36605	21124	27512	19993
Physics	15164	11328	14925	15127
Graphics Test 1	202.5 fps	115.2 fps	136.6 fps	122.5 fps
Graphics Test 2	131.1 fps	76.3 fps	106.4 fps	67.4 fps
Physics Test	48.1 fps	36.0 fps	47.4 fps	48.0 fps

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) did very well in this test, coming in 20% faster than the HTC 10, and 57% faster than the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra. It should have no problem handling any 3D game you throw at it.

Overall Performance

AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.

	Huawei Mate 9	ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra	HTC 10	honor 8
TOTAL SCORE	123167	76096	113813	90737
3D SCORE	40114	18816	50700	17706
– 3D (Marooned)	23313	10861	34778	9829
– 3D (Garden)	16801	7952	15922	7877
UX SCORE	39975	26794	30890	34550
– UX Data Secure	7943	5077	6319	7338
– UX Data Process	6985	4198	3379	5513
– UX Strategy Games	11860	7503	5433	9745
– UX Image Process	5580	6879	9521	5017
– UX I/O Performance	7607	3137	6238	6937
CPU SCORE	31992	23689	21915	32255
– CPU Mathematics	9680	6950	8494	10483
– CPU Common Use	11139	6311	5931	8543
– CPU Multi-Core	11173	10428	7490	13229
RAM	11086	6797	10308	6226

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) did well in this test, edging out the Snapdragon 820-powered HTC 10. It did particularly well in the CPU tests, and less so in the 3D tests. However, it was still overall a very powerful smartphone.

Our Verdict

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) was everything we expected of it, and then some. Its headline feature – the Leica-branded dual-lens camera – was more than just marketing fluff. It actually delivered really impressive photos and videos, even in poor light conditions. That’s quite impressive since it uses relatively slow f/2.2 lens.

[adrotate banner=”4″]

The Kirin 960 SoC that powered it did not disappoint either. It delivered great CPU and graphics performance in every test we put it through. It also comes with plenty of memory and storage space. You will never need to worry about the Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) not being able to handle any app or game.

The Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada) also had a very impressive 13 hours of battery life in our test. The only downside though was its abysmal battery recharging performance. You will need at least 6 hours to fully recharge its battery. That, fortunately, seems to be its only major flaw.

Overall, we are most impressed with the Huawei Mate 9 (Amazon | Lazada). In fact, we like it so much, we think it deserves no less than our Editor’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Huawei!

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Wiko U Feel Prime Smartphone Review

Wiko is a French smartphone company based in Marseille, that is focused on producing highly-affordable smartphones with a French flair. In this review, we will take an in-depth look at the Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) smartphone. The name’s a mouthful, but you will see why it is the “prime” model in the Wiko U Feel range.

The Wiko U Feel Prime Specifications

First, let’s start with the Wiko U Feel Prime’s specifications :

Specifications	Wiko U Feel Prime
Display	5.0" Full HD IPS display with 2.5D edge - 1080 x 1920 pixels, 441 ppi pixel density
Operating System	Android 6.0 Marshmallow
System Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 (MSM8937)
Processor	8 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (1.4 GHz)
Graphics Processor	Qualcomm Adreno 505
Memory	4 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM (800 MHz)
Storage	32 GB internal flash storage (eMMC 5.1) microSD card (up to 64 GB), shared with SIM2
Front Camera	8 MP sensor with single LED flash
Main Camera	13 MP PDAF sensor with f/2.2 lens and dual LED flash
SIM Capability	Dual SIM, Dual Standby Hybrid nano SIM tray (SIM2 / microSD)
Connectivity	4G : LTE Cat4 (150 Mbps / 50 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n Bluetooth : version 4.1, LE USB : micro USB 2.0
SAR Value	Head : 0.989 W/kg Body : 0.803 W/kg
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, integrated with Home button
Other Sensors	Accelerometer, Magnetic sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity sensor
FM Radio	Yes
GPS	Yes, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou
Battery	3000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)
Standby Time	Up to 450 hours
Talk Time	Up to 28 hours (2G) / 21 hours (3G)
Dimensions	69.9 mm wide x 142.5 mm tall x 8.7 mm thick
Weight	150 g
Colour Options	Silver, Anthracite, Gold

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Unboxing The Wiko U Feel Prime

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) comes in a flat cardboard box. Let’s take a look inside and see what we find!

Surprisingly, Wiko is quite generous with the U Feel Prime’s package. Inside, you will find a ton of stuff :

One Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) smartphone
One Wiko U Feel Prime clear TPU case
One Wiko U Feel Prime screen protector
One 7.75 W Wiko USB charger
One USB to micro USB 2.0 cable
One pair of Wiko earphones with four spare ear buds
One set of three SIM card adaptors
One SIM tray ejector pin and keychain holder
One set of Wiko U Feel Prime user guide and warranty card

Next Page > The Wiko U Feel Prime Key Features, Ergonomics, Hybrid SIM & Cameras

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Wiko U Feel Prime Smartphone

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) is a curvaceous smartphone with a 5″ IPS display that has a resolution of 1080 x 1920. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 octa-core SoC and the Qualcomm Adreno 505 GPU. It has 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal flash storage.

The U Feel Prime Ergonomics

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) has an all-metal chassis that curves around the back, offering great support to the hand. Even the glass cover has a 2.5D curved edge, which makes the U Feel Prime completely devoid of hard, sharp edges.

The matte finish feels nice to the skin, and is virtually fingerprint smear-resistant. Not that it matters once you slap on the provided TPU case.

Even though it fits our hand very comfortably, the Wiko U Feel Prime is still best used with two hands. You can use it with one hand, but it will require a fair bit of stretching and some juggling.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Hybrid SIM

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) supports up to two nano SIM cards, and it has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability. However, it only comes with a hybrid SIM tray. The second SIM card (SIM2) shares the same slot as the microSD card.

You can either choose to use two nano SIM cards, or one nano SIM card and one microSD card. But not all three cards at the same time. Fortunately, the U Feel Prime (Lazada) comes with 32 GB of internal flash memory, which may obviate the need to install a microSD card for extra storage.

The U Feel Prime Cameras

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) comes with serious photography chops. Its front camera has a surprisingly high resolution 8 MP camera. It even has a dedicated LED flash for selfies in low light!

The main camera at the back has a 13 MP PDAF sensor with a dual LED flash. What’s interesting is the placement of the second microphone next to the camera. This may allow for better audio when you record videos.

Next Page > Initial Setup, Available Memory & Storage, Camera Performance

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Setting Up The Wiko U Feel Prime

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which should be familiar to many Android users. It is very easy to setup. If you are setting it up as a new device, it should take you only 5 minutes to finish the setup process.

Available Memory & Storage

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) comes with 4 GB of LPDDR3 memory, of which 3.6 GB is available for use. The Android 6.0 operating system and pre-loaded apps use 1.2 GB, leaving 2.4 GB (60%) free for you to use.

The U Feel Prime (Lazada) comes with 32 GB of internal flash storage, of which just over 22 GB is free to use. If that’s not enough, you can top it up with a microSD card (up to 64 GB).

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Camera Performance

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) has a 13 MP main camera, with a f/2.2 lens. The full 13 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio. Each picture has a resolution of 4160 × 3120, and a file size of 2-4 MB.

Here are 8 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

As you can see, the the camera has good resolution. It can produce good images but you must be very, very careful about the lighting. Too little light – the images come out blurry. Too much light, the highlights get blown out to kingdom come.

Next Page > The Performance Of The Wiko U Feel Prime

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the U Feel Prime’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

	Wiko U Feel Prime	ASUS ZenFone 3	Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)	OPPO F1s
Work Performance Score (Average)	5449	6405	4954	3884
Web Browsing	5151	8045	5143	3688
Video Playback	5033	3469	4515	3789
Writing	5351	7316	4948	4141
Photo Editing	6355	8246	5243	3933

The Snapdragon 430-powered U Feel Prime (Lazada) did well in this test, coming in between the ASUS ZenFone 3 and the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017).

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the U Feel Prime’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

	Wiko U Feel Prime	ASUS ZenFone 3	Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)	OPPO F1s
Gaming Score	9590	13956	13540	7666
Graphics	9764	13484	13548	7511
Physics	9025	15903	13510	8265
Graphics Test 1	55.2 fps	80.5 fps	81.1 fps	49.4 fps
Graphics Test 2	34.5 fps	46.1 fps	46.2 fps	24.4 fps
Physics Test	28.7 fps	50.5 fps	42.9 fps	26.2 fps

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) is not meant to be a gaming smartphone though. It was faster than the OPPO F1s, but it was nowhere as fast as the ASUS ZenFone 3 or the Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017).

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Overall Performance

AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.

	Wiko U Feel Prime	ASUS ZenFone 3	Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)	OPPO F1s
TOTAL SCORE	44446	62761	56431	41486
3D SCORE	9443	18816	15458	4868
– 3D (Marooned)	5794	10861	10511	3188
– 3D (Garden)	3649	7952	4947	1679
UX SCORE	15803	26794	18496	17640
– UX Data Secure	4070	5077	5295	4885
– UX Data Process	2129	4198	2612	2542
– UX Strategy Games	2860	7503	3671	2829
– UX Image Process	4065	6879	3373	3885
– UX I/O Performance	2679	3137	3545	3499
CPU SCORE	14438	23689	16459	14336
– CPU Mathematics	2938	6950	3132	3142
– CPU Common Use	4727	6311	5199	4805
– CPU Multi-Core	6773	10428	8128	6389
RAM	4762	6797	6018	4643

Again, the Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) did not do well in the 2D and 3D graphics tests. It matched the OPPO F1s in CPU and memory performance.

Next Page > Our Verdict On The Wiko U Feel Prime Smartphone

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Our Verdict

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) is kind of a hidden gem. It is not a smartphone that you will hear people clamouring to buy. Wiko is, after all, a relatively unknown brand in these parts. But Wiko sure surprised us with what they were able to pack into the U Feel Prime.

Packed inside its 5″ metal chassis, is an octa-core Snapdragon processor, 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, with a 3,000 mAh battery. It also has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability, albeit with a Hybrid SIM tray. But that’s not all.

[adrotate banner=”4″]

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) boasts an 8 MP front camera with an LED flash, and a 13 MP main camera with dual LED flash. The only problem with the main camera – it doesn’t perform well in poorly-lit or overly bright conditions.

The Wiko U Feel Prime (Lazada) has a physical Home button, with a fingerprint sensor integrated into it. But curiously, the U Feel Prime uses virtual buttons too, so you end up with two Home buttons. This curiosity aside, the U Feel Prime smartphone comes across as a rather polished design.

You may not have heard of the Wiko brand, but if you want a smartphone that offers great value for money, good performance, the U Feel Prime (Lazada) is worth considering. Especially if you want a complete package that includes the case, screen protector and earphones.

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Evolution Of The Samsung Galaxy S8 Smartphone

1 Reply

Samsung has done it again – creating a smartphone with features that make people go oooh and ahhh. Two of them actually. But they didn’t start from scratch. The new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones had their genesis in their two highly-acclaimed predecessors – the Galaxy S7 edge and the Galaxy S6 edge. Let’s take a look at the evolution of the Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone!

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge

The Samsung Galaxy S6 edge is famous for being the first smartphone to feature a display that curved at the two edges. But it also marked Samsung’s first foray into an all metal-and-glass design with a non-removable battery. It had an aluminium unibody chassis with Gorilla Glass 4 protection on both front and back aspects.

You may not recall it, but it was also the first Samsung smartphone to support wireless charging and Samsung Pay. Needless to say, the Galaxy S6 edge was very sexy, and impressed us greatly. The only things we didn’t like about it – the lack of a microSD slot, and the bottom location of the 3.5 mm audio port.

The Samsung Galaxy S7 edge

The popularity of the Galaxy S6 edge ensured that Samsung would retain the curved edge display for the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. They also retained the magnificent Quad HD Super AMOLED display. Why fix something that’s not broken?

Samsung fixed the biggest gripe users had with the Galaxy S6 edge, restoring the microSD slot in the form of a Hybrid SIM tray. They also renewed their emphasis on the main camera by using a new 12 MP Dual Pixel camera with f/1.7 lens. It was arguably the best smartphone camera of 2016.

But what the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge is probably best known for is its IP68 design. It is the first non-ruggerdised smartphone to be IP68 dust- and water-resistant all the time. That means you can immerse it in water without prior preparation, and it does not look like a brick!

What we didn’t really fancy – the limited internal storage (it had just 32 GB of storage initially), and the 5 MP front camera, which was so 2015.

The Samsung Galaxy S8

Samsung built upon their highly-successful Galaxy S7 edge to create the new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. It maintained the same curved screen and IP68 protection, albeit with a higher resolution WQHD+ display and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

The removal of the edge moniker suggests that Samsung has decided to only use the trademark curved AMOLED displays in their Galaxy S family going forward. Samsung also removed the Home button completely, creating an incredible Infinity Display.

Samsung maintained the same highly-acclaimed 12 MP Dual Pixel camera from the Galaxy S7 edge, but gave the front camera a new 8 MP sensor with autofocus capability. The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ also boast the iris scanner that was first introduced with the Galaxy Note7.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones have a dedicated button that activates the new Bixby artificial intelligence assistant. They can also be connected to the Samsung DeX dock, which provides you with a desktop-like computing experience.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

The Evolution Of The Samsung Galaxy S8

To better illustrate the evolution of the Samsung Galaxy S8, we prepared this detailed specification comparison of the new Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, with their predecessors.

Specifications	Samsung Galaxy S8+	Samsung Galaxy S8	Samsung Galaxy S7 edge	Samsung Galaxy S6 edge
Display	6.2" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (529 ppi)	5.8" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2960 pixels (570 ppi)	5.5" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2560 pixels (534 ppi)	5.1" Super AMOLED dual-edge display - 1440 x 2560 pixels (577 ppi)
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (front & back panels)	Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (front & back panels)	Corning Gorilla Glass 4 (front & back panels)
Operating System (At Launch)	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 7.0 Nougat	Android 6.0 Marshmallow	Android 5.0 Lollipop
System Platform	Samsung Exynos 8895 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835	Samsung Exynos 8895 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 835	Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa or Qualcomm Snapdragon 820	Samsung Exynos 7420
Memory	4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM	4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM	4 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM	3 GB LPDDR4 SDRAM
Storage Options	64 GB internal flash storage One microSD slot (shared with SIM 2) - supports up to 256 GB	64 GB internal flash storage One microSD slot (shared with SIM 2) - supports up to 256 GB	32 GB / 64 GB internal flash storage One microSD slot (shared with SIM 2) - supports up to 200 GB	32 GB / 64 GB / 128 GB internal flash storage No microSD slot
Front Camera	8 MP sensor with f/1.7 lens	8 MP sensor with f/1.7 lens	5 MP sensor with f/1.7 lens	5 MP sensor with f/1.9 lens
Rear Camera	12 MP Sony / Samsung (1.4 µm) sensor with f/1.7 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash	12 MP Sony / Samsung (1.4 µm) sensor with f/1.7 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash	12 MP Sony / Samsung (1.4 µm) sensor with f/1.7 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash	16 MP Sony / Samsung sensor (1.1 µm) with f/1.9 lens, optical image stabilisation (OIS) and LED flash
Dual SIM capability	Hybrid dual SIM (dual active capability) - SIM 2 + microSD shared slot	Hybrid dual SIM (dual active capability) - SIM 2 + microSD shared slot	Hybrid dual SIM (dual standby capability) - SIM 2 + microSD shared slot	None, single SIM only
Connectivity	Network : LTE Cat. 16 (1 Gbps / 150 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 5.0 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 3.1, NFC, GPS	Network : LTE Cat. 16 (1 Gbps / 150 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 5.0 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 3.1, NFC, GPS	Network : LTE Cat. 8 (450 / 50 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 4.2 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 2.0, NFC, GPS	Network : LTE Cat. 6 (300 / 50 Mbps) WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2.4 GHz & 5 GHz), MIMO (2 x 2) Bluetooth : Version 4.1 LE, ANT+ Others : USB 2.0, NFC, IR Remote, GPS
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, Rear Mounted	Yes, Rear Mounted	Yes, Home Button	Yes, Home Button
Iris Scanner	Yes	Yes	No	No
Other Sensors	Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM	Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM	Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM	Accelerometer, Proximity, RGB Light, Geo-magnetic, Gyro, Barometer, Hall, HRM
Water & Dust Resistance	IP68	IP68	IP68	None
Battery	3,500 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired & wireless) - wireless charging (WPC and PMA)	3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired & wireless) - wireless charging (WPC and PMA)	3,600 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired & wireless) - wireless charging (Qi and PMA)	2,600 mAh lithium-ion battery (non-removable) - fast charging capability (wired only) - wireless charging (Qi and PMA)
Dimensions	159.5 mm tall 73.4 mm wide 8.1 mm thick	148.9 mm tall 68.1 mm wide 8.0 mm thick	150.9 mm tall 72.6 mm wide 7.7 mm thick	142.1 mm tall 70.1 mm wide 7.0 mm thick
Weight	173 g	152 g	157 g	132 g
Colour Options	Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold	Midnight Black, Orchid Gray, Arctic Silver, Coral Blue, Maple Gold	Black Onyx, Silver Titanium, Gold Platinum	White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum, Green Emerald

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (helio X20) Phablet Review

1 Reply

Xiaomi broke ground when they launched their first smartphone. They were hardly the first to come up with an Android smartphone, and they won’t be the last company to try and break into that competitive market. But in just 4 years, they became the 4th largest smartphone manufacturer in the world.

How did they achieve this? By making high-end Mi smartphones that are highly affordable. Their mid-range Redmi series are even more affordable. Today, we are going to take a close look at their latest phablet – the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada). To be specific – this is the helio X20 version of the Redmi Note 4.

Originally posted @ 2017-02-14

Updated @ 2017-03-26 : Updated various parts of the review, including the specifications of the helio X20 and Snapdragon 625 models.

The helio X20 Model

This is the Chinese model, powered by the 10-core helio X20, instead of the 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625. It also comes with the unique combination of 3 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

The Qualcomm models come with 2 GB or 3 GB models with 32 GB of storage, and a rare, high-end 4 GB model with 64 GB of storage. Here is a comparison of both models for your perusal :

Specifications	Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (10-Core Version)	Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (8-Core Version)
Display	5.5" IPS display (1080 x 1920) - ~401 ppi pixel density, ~72.7% screen-to-body ratio - 72% NTSC colour gamut	5.5" IPS display (1080 x 1920) - ~401 ppi pixel density, ~72.7% screen-to-body ratio - 72% NTSC colour gamut
Operating System	Android 6.0 Marshmallow	Android 6.0 Marshmallow
System Platform	MediaTek helio X20 (MT6797M)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953)
Processor	2 x ARM Cortex-A72 cores (2.1 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (1.85 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (1.4 GHz)	8 x ARM Cortex-A53 cores (2.0 GHz)
Graphics Processor	ARM Mali-T880 MP4	Qualcomm Adreno 506
Memory	3 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM	2 GB / 3 GB / 4 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Storage	64 GB eMMC 5.1 internal flash storage microSD card slot (up to 128 GB), shared with SIM2	32 GB / 64 GB eMMC 5.0 internal flash storage microSD card slot (up to 128 GB), shared with SIM2
Front Camera	5 MP sensor, f/2.0 lens - supports 1080p video recording	5 MP sensor, f/2.0 lens - supports 1080p video recording
Rear Camera	13 MP BSI sensor, f/2.0 lens, dual-tone LED flash - supports PDAF (Phase Detection Auto-Focus) technology - supports 1080p video recording	13 MP BSI sensor, f/2.0 lens, dual-tone LED flash - supports PDAF (Phase Detection Auto-Focus) technology - supports 1080p video recording
Connectivity	4G LTE : B3, B5, B40 bands 3G : B1, B2, B5, B8 bands 2G : B2, B3, B5, B8 bands WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, WiFi Direct, WiFi Display Bluetooth : 4.1, HID	4G LTE : B3, B5, B40 bands 3G : B1, B2, B5, B8 bands 2G : B2, B3, B5, B8 bands WiFi : 802.11a/b/g/n, WiFi Direct, WiFi Display Bluetooth : 4.1, HID
SAR	SAR 1g limit: 1.6W/kg SAR Value: 0.375W/Kg (Max 15mm distance)	SAR 1g limit: 1.6W/kg SAR Value: 0.375W/Kg (Max 15mm distance)
SIM Capability	Dual SIM, Dual Standby - primary SIM : 4G calls and data - secondary SIM : 3G calls only	Dual SIM, Dual Standby - primary SIM : 4G calls and data - secondary SIM : 3G calls only
SIM Card Options	Hybrid SIM tray - nano SIM + micro SIM, or - micro SIM + micro SD card	Hybrid SIM tray - nano SIM + micro SIM, or - micro SIM + micro SD card
Sensors	Electronic compass, accelerometer, proximity sensor, infra-red sensor, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, Hall sensor	Electronic compass, accelerometer, proximity sensor, infra-red sensor, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, Hall sensor
GPS Capabilities	GPS + AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou	GPS + AGPS, GLONASS, BeiDou
Battery	4,100 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)	4,100 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)
Dimensions	76 mm wide x 151 mm tall x 8.45 mm thick	76 mm wide x 151 mm tall x 8.45 mm thick
Weight	165 g	165 g

Unboxing The Redmi Note 4

Now that you know the difference between this Redmi Note 4 model, and the “regular” Redmi Note 4 models out there, let’s unbox it and see what we find inside!

[adrotate banner=”4″]

Inside the box, you will find the following items :

One Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) phablet
One set of three documents – user guide, warranty, safety guide
One micro USB cable
One 10 W travel charger
One SIM tray extractor pin

If this seems minimalistic, this is how Xiaomi keeps their prices so competitive.

Next Page > The Redmi Note 4 (helio X20), Hybrid SIM, Fingerprint Sensor, Cameras

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (helio X20 Model)

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) is a small 5.5″ phablet with an IPS display that has a full HD resolution of 1080 x 1920. That gives it a high pixel density of 401 ppi, the same as that of the ASUS ZenFone 3 (ZE552KL). It also boasts a 72% NTSC colour gamut.

The Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) has a sleek aluminium chassis with two antenna bands running across the back at the top and bottom. The matte anodised finish is not only hard-wearing but virtually impervious to fingerprint smears. The aluminium chassis also gives the Redmi Note 4 a nice heft. At 165 g, it has a premium feel to it.

The Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) has a SIM tray on its left side, with the Power and Volume buttons on the right. It maintains the 3.5 mm earphone port at the top, next to an infra-red emitter. Yes, you can use the Redmi Note 4 as a remote control!

Sadly, Xiaomi stuck to the old micro USB 2.0 port, instead of the new bi-directional USB-C port. It’s a minor point though.

Hybrid SIM & Fingerprint Sensor

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability. However, only the SIM1 supports 4G calls and data, while SIM2 can only support 3G calls. The SIM card tray is located along the left edge, and supports two nano SIM cards.

The second SIM card tray is a hybrid SIM tray, which allows you to install a microSD card instead. In other words, it supports either a second nano SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time.

The Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) uses a fingerprint sensor that is located at the back, just under the main camera. This is an all-aspect fingerprint sensor that unlocks the smartphone with just a touch.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

The Redmi Note 4 Cameras

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) has a 5 MP front camera with f/2.0 lens. The lens is fast, but the sensor is a little inadequate in this day and age.

However, the main camera has a 13 MP BSI sensor that supports phase detection auto-focus (PDAF), and is supported by f/2.0 lens and a dual-tone LED flash. It supports 1080p video recording with electronic image stabilisation (EIS). Later in the review, we will show you samples of the photos and videos we took.

Next Page > Setting Up The Redmi Note 4, The Ergonomics, Available Memory & Storage

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Setting Up The Redmi Note 4

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow, which should be familiar to many Android users. It is very easy to setup. If you are setting it up as a new device, it should take you only 5 minutes to finish the setup process.

The Ergonomics

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) isn’t a big phablet, so it fits well in our hands. That said, it is still a two-handed device – you need both hands to fully make use of it. The display is nice and sharp – no complaints there.

The anodised aluminium back is smooth to the touch, but watch out because it has less grip than other smartphones. You don’t want it falling because there is no Gorilla Glass protection! But the good news is – the surface is totally impervious to fingerprint smears.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Available Memory & Storage

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) comes memory options of 2 GB, 3 GB and 4 GB. This model came with 3 GB of memory, of which half is available for use. That’s a decent amount of free memory to run several apps at the same time. 4 GB of RAM is nice to have, but not necessary is most cases.

What is really awesome to have in this Redmi Note 4 model is the 64 GB of internal flash storage. Of that, 55.6 GB is available to use, which is just awesome. If that’s not enough, you can top it up with a microSD card (up to 128 GB).

Next Page > The Redmi Note 4 Camera Performance – Photos & Videos

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Camera Performance – Photos

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) has a very respectable 13 MP main camera. Resolution aside, it has a bright and fast f/2.0 lens, which should help in low-light conditions. The full 13 MP resolution is attained with the 16:9 aspect ratio. Each picture has a resolution of 4208 x 2368 and a file size of between 1.6 to 2.8 MB.

Here are 12 high-resolution samples for you to check out. Click on them to load the full-sized photos, which you can also download to examine.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Camera Performance – Video Recording

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) is capable of recording 1080p videos, with electronic image stabilisation enabled. It does not have any optical image stabilisation built-in. To test its video recording capabilities, we recorded a public piano performance, and a street market. Check them out!

In the piano scene, the image quality is very good. There is also very good control of the highlights, with minimal blowouts. You can see that in the Padini store, and the bright entrance in the background. However, the audio recording is clear but sadly rendered horribly useless by a complete lack of noise reduction.

The street market shows how Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) suffers from a lack of image stabilisation. You can get pretty nauseous after a while! So if you are recording videos, try not to do it while you are walking. There is only so much electronic image stabilisation can do.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life & Battery Recharging Performance

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the Redmi Note 4’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 4	ASUS ZenFone 3	honor 5C	OPPO F1s
Work Performance Score (Average)	5311	6405	5357	3884
Web Browsing	6038	8045	5643	3688
Video Playback	3873	3469	4487	3789
Writing	5862	7316	5944	4141
Photo Editing	5803	8246	5469	3933

It is important that the key advantage of the deca-core MediaTek helio X20 is not performance, but power efficiency. As the results show, it is about 17% slower than the octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 that powers the ASUS ZenFone 3, and roughly equivalent to the octa-core Kirin 650 in the honor 5C.

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the Redmi Note 4’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

The Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) has a large 4,100 mAh battery, but surprisingly, it only lasted just over 9 hours in this test. This is 2.5 hours less than the ASUS ZenFone 3, which only has a 3,000 mAh battery!

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Battery Recharging Performance

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes with a 10 W fast charger. Take a look at how fast it recharges the large 4,100 mAh battery.

It took the Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) 133.5 minutes (2 hours 13.5 minutes) to recharge its battery from 8% to 100%. This is a battery life : recharging ratio of about 4.5 : 1 – a decidedly lacklustre performance.

The recharging profile shows that the fastest charging up to the 85% charge level, before it tapered off to a slower recharging speed.

Next Page > Overall Performance, Gaming Performance, Our Verdict & Award

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Overall Performance

AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 4	ASUS ZenFone 3	honor 5C	OPPO F1s
TOTAL SCORE	85504	62761	53417	41486
3D SCORE	15453	18816	9842	4868
– 3D (Marooned)	9003	10861	5795	3188
– 3D (Garden)	6450	7952	4047	1679
UX SCORE	37378	26794	19297	17640
– UX Data Secure	6761	5077	5577	4885
– UX Data Process	4601	4198	2706	2542
– UX Strategy Games	8668	7503	4109	2829
– UX Image Process	13199	6879	3144	3885
– UX I/O Performance	4149	3137	3761	3499
CPU SCORE	25988	23689	19254	14336
– CPU Mathematics	8896	6950	4198	3142
– CPU Common Use	6835	6311	5947	4805
– CPU Multi-Core	10257	10428	9109	6389
RAM	6685	6797	5024	4643

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) is very fast in 2D graphics, but has rather average performance in the 3D tests. In this benchmark, its CPU performance actually beat that of the ASUS ZenFone 3, which is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 used in the “regular” Redmi Note 4 models.

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the Redmi Note 4’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

	Xiaomi Redmi Note 4	ASUS ZenFone 3	honor 5C	OPPO F1s
Gaming Score	14608	13956	11560	7666
Graphics	16285	13484	11067	7511
Physics	10737	15903	13698	8265
Graphics Test 1	94.5 fps	80.5 fps	63.4 fps	49.4 fps
Graphics Test 2	56.6 fps	46.1 fps	38.8 fps	24.4 fps
Physics Test	34.1 fps	50.5 fps	43.5 fps	26.2 fps

The ARM Mali-T880 MP4 GPU powering the Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) was just a tad faster than the average-performing Qualcomm Adreno 506 GPU in the ASUS ZenFone 3. It will handle most 3D games quite well, but don’t expect it to handle the more strenuous 3D game titles.

Our Verdict

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) was everything we expected of it. It offers a ton of remarkable features in a well-built package at a very affordable price point. That has always been Xiaomi’s core strength, and they did not stray far with the Redmi Note 4.

The Redmi Note 4 boasts a 10-core processor with a decent GPU, a large amount of RAM and a very generous amount of internal flash storage. All packed in a sleek anodised aluminium chassis. Even its 13 MP main camera performed better than expected for its price point.

Sure, it is not the best device for 3D gaming, but it was never meant to be one. The Redmi Note series was designed to be a range of affordable phablets, not 3D gaming devices. And Xiaomi sure delivered on their promise with the Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada).

[adrotate banner=”4″]

If there is something we feel we must point out, it is its rather lacklustre battery life. Xiaomi may boast about the large 4,100 mAh battery, but it lasted far less than smartphones with smaller batteries. It also takes longer than expected to recharge the battery.

Again, please note that this is the 10-core helio X20 model, not the 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 model.

Due to its tremendous value for money, we think the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (GearBest | Amazon | Lazada) deserves no less than our Reviewer’s Choice Award. Congratulations, Xiaomi!

Go Back To > First Page | Reviews | Home

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL) Phablet Review

9 Replies

The ASUS ZenFone 2 family of smartphones and phablets was notable for its use of Intel Atom processors, as well as their ambidextrous design. While the Intel Atom processors were powerful, they guzzled power and had trouble gaining traction in the smartphone market.

Hence, it comes as no surprise when ASUS revealed in Computex 2016 that the new ZenFone 3 series would be powered by Qualcomm processors instead. That decision probably contributed to Intel’s decision to quit the smartphone market for good.

You may have already seen our sneak peek of the new ASUS ZenFone 3 models at Computex 2016. Today, we are going to take a look at the big daddy of the ZenFone 3 series – the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL) phablet!

ASUS ZenFone 3 Specifications Comparison

Here is how the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra compares against the other two ZenFone 3 models :

Specifications	ZenFone 3 Deluxe (ZS570KL)‏	ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL)	ZenFone 3 ‏(ZE552KL)‏
Display	5.7" Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080 pixels, 386 ppi) 79% screen-to-body ratio 3,000,000 : 1 contrast ratio ASUS TruVivid technology Bluelight Filter	6.8" IPS display full-screen lamination (1920 x 1080 pixels, 324 ppi) 79% screen-to-body ratio 178˚wide-viewing angle ASUS TruVivid technology Bluelight Filter	5.5" Super IPS+ display (1920 x 1080 pixels, 401 ppi) 500 nits brightness 77.3% screen-to-body ratio 2.1mm slim bezel
Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 4	Corning Gorilla Glass 4	2.5D contoured Corning Gorilla Glass
Operating System	Android 6.0 Marshmallow ASUS ZenUI 3.0	Android 6.0 Marshmallow ASUS ZenUI 3.0	Android 6.0 Marshmallow ASUS ZenUI 3.0
SoC Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (MSM8996)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 (MSM8976)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (MSM8953)
Processor	Quad-core Kyro (2.15 GHz)	4 x ARM Cortex-A72 (1.8 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.4 GHz)	4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (2.0 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.4 GHz)
Graphics Processor	Qualcomm Adreno 530 (624 MHz)	Qualcomm Adreno 510	Qualcomm Adreno 506
Memory	Up to 6 GB	Up to 4 GB LPDDR3	Up to 4 GB LPDDR3
Storage	Up to 128 GB (UFS 2.0) internal flash storage microSD slot (Supports up to 2 TB)	Up to 128 GB internal flash storage microSD slot (Supports up to 2 TB)	Up to 64 GB internal flash storage microSD slot (Supports up to 2 TB)
Front Camera	8 MP, f/2.0 aperture 85˚ wide-viewing angle, Auto Focus	8 MP, f/2.0 aperture 85˚ wide-viewing angle, Auto Focus	8 MP, f/2.0 aperture, Fixed Focus
Rear Camera	23 MP Sony IMX318 sensor 0.03 second TriTech auto-focus 6P Largan f/2.0 aperture lens 4 Stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) 3-Axis EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) Dual-LED real tone flash Sapphire lens protection	23 MP Sony IMX318 sensor 0.03 second TriTech auto-focus 6P Largan f/2.0 aperture lens 32 second long exposure 4 Stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) 3-Axis EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) Dual-LED real tone flash	16 MP Sony IMX298 sensor 0.03 second TriTech auto-focus 6P Largan f/2.0 aperture lens 32 second long exposure 4 Stop OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) 3-Axis EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) Dual-LED real tone flash Sapphire lens protection
Connectivity	FDD Band 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 26 / 28 / 29 / 30 LTE Cat. 13 (600 Mbps / 150 Mbps) UMTS: Band: 1/2/4/5/6/8/19 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB 3.0 Type-C, BT4.2 + A2DP + EDR GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/BDSS	FDD Band 1 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 26 / 28 LTE Cat. 6 (300 Mbps / 50 Mbps) UMTS: B1/B2/B5/B6/B8/B19 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac USB 2.0 Type-C, BT4.2 + A2DP + EDR GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/BDSS	FDD Band 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 20 LTE Cat. 6 (300 Mbps / 50 Mbps) UMTS: B1/B2/B5/B8 GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 Wi-Fi 802.11ac/USB 2.0 Type-C BT4.2/GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS/BDSS
Dual SIM capability	Dual SIM Dual Standby	Dual SIM Dual Standby	Dual SIM Dual Standby
Sensors	Accelerator / E-Compass / Gyroscope / Proximity sensor / Hall sensor / Ambient light sensor / RGB sensor / IR sensor	Accelerator / E-Compass / Gyroscope / Proximity sensor / Hall sensor / Ambient light sensor / RGB sensor / IR sensor	Accelerator / E-Compass / Gyroscope / Proximity sensor / Hall sensor / Ambient light sensor / RGB sensor / IR sensor
Fingerprint Sensor	Yes, rear mounted below camera bump	Yes, integrated with Home button	Yes, rear mounted below camera bump
Audio Capability	5 magnet speaker ASUS SonicMaster 3.0	Dual 5 magnet speakers ASUS SonicMaster 3.0 FM Radio	5 magnet speaker ASUS SonicMaster 3.0
Battery	3000 mAh	4600 mAh Talk time: 34 hrs (3G) Wi-Fi browsing (14.5 hrs) Video Playback (12.5 hrs)	3000 mAh
Fast Charging	18 W (9V, 2A) Adapter Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology BoostMaster Fast Charging : 60% battery capacity in 39 minutes	18 W (9V, 2A) Adapter Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 technology BoostMaster Fast Charging : 60% battery capacity in 45 minutes	10 W (5V, 2A) Adapter
Size	156.4 mm tall x 77.4 mm wide x 4.2 ~ 7.5 mm thick	186.4 mm tall x 93.9 mm wide x 6.8 mm thick	152.59 mm tall x 77.38 mm wide x 7.69 mm thick
Weight	170 g	233 g	155 g
Available Colours	Metal finish: Glacier Silver Titanium Gray Shimmer Gold	Metal finish: Glacier Silver Titanium Gray Metallic Pink	Glass finish: Sapphire Black Moonlight White Shimmer Gold Aqua Blue

Unboxing The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra comes in a very premium black cardboard box, with a drawer for the accessories! Check it out!

Inside the box, you will find the following items :

[adrotate banner=”4″]

One ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL) phablet
One set of ASUS ZenEar earphones
One set of ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra Quick Start Guide and warranty card
One 18W ASUS quick charger (supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0)
One Type C USB cable
One SIM tray ejector pin
Two serial number and IMEI stickers

ASUS is marketing the ZenFone 3 Ultra as a premium phablet, and they sure made sure it came with premium accessories. Very nice!

Next Page > Hands On The ZenFone 3 Ultra, Hybrid SIM, Fingerprint Sensor, Cameras

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL) Phablet

With a 6.8″ display, the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra is a large phablet. It is just a little smaller than the ASUS ZenPad 7.0 tablet, albeit thinner at 6.8 mm. The large screen is just perfect for watching movies, because it has a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920. Flip it horizontally for the ultimate full HD movie player on-the-go.

Thanks to its metal chassis carved out of aerospace-grade aluminium alloy, it has a very premium feel. It has a significant heft at 233 g / 8.2 oz though, so calls are best made with a Bluetooth earpiece.

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra places the Power button on the right, but retains the centrally-aligned Volume buttons at the back from its predecessor, the ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE601KL). We would still consider it an ambidextrous device.

Incidentally, it boasts two powerful 5-magnet speakers. However, they are both located at the bottom, so you can’t really enjoy stereo sound when you watch movies on the ZenFone 3 Ultra horizontally.

Hybrid SIM & Fingerprint Sensor

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra has Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability. The two nano SIM card trays are located along the right edge, just above the Power button. The second SIM card tray is a hybrid SIM tray though. It supports either a second nano SIM card, or a microSD card, but not both at the same time.

The ZenFone 3 Ultra boasts a fast fingerprint sensor, integrated into the Home button. ASUS did not quote a specific detection time, but we can confirm that it is a fast fingerprint sensor. It takes 18 finger presses to train the fingerprint sensor though.

Cameras

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra sports a decent 8 MP front camera for selfies. While not as good as the 16 MP front camera of the OPPO F1s “Selfie Expert” smartphone, it has a higher resolution than the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, and is capable of recording 1080p videos. The only downside? It doesn’t even support screen flash.

The killer feature of the ZenFone 3 Ultra is its new PixelMaster 3.0 camera at the back. It features a 23 MP Sony IMX318 sensor, which boasts new features like fast hybrid autofocus and 3-axis electronic image stabilization.

[adrotate banner=”4″]

ASUS paired it with f/2.0 Largan lens with 4-axis, 4-stop optical image stabilization, and a second-generation laser auto-focus sensor.

What all that means is you can capture very high resolution photos and videos in poorly-lit conditions. Any blurring that occurs due to hand shakes and wobbles will be greatly reduced or eliminated.

Focusing is also much faster, thanks to the new laser sensor that accurately detects the range of objects in low light at up to 1.5 m away.

In addition to 1080p videos, the PixelMaster 3.0 camera can also shoot 4K videos. To top it off, it encodes the 4K videos using HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding) to keep the file size small while maintaining a high level of image quality.

Next Page > Setting Up The ZenFone 3 Ultra, It’s Alive!, Available Memory & Storage

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Setting Up The ZenFone 3 Ultra

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow, which should be familiar to many Android users. It is very easy to setup. If you are setting it up as a new device, it should take you only 5 minutes to finish the setup process.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

It’s Alive!

When you power it up for the first time, you will revel in how sharp the 6.8″ IPS display looks. This is partly because the screen is laminated with the Gorilla Glass 4 cover. This not only makes the display thinner, it also increases contrast and reduces internal reflections.

Holding the ZenFone 3 Ultra in one hand is possible, but the weight means you will end up hooking your little finger around the bottom to prevent it from slipping. There is a One Hand Operation mode you can enable, but the ZenFone 3 Ultra is best used with two hands.

Available Memory & Storage

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra comes with either 3 GB or 4 GB of LPDDR3 memory. Our review sample came with 4 GB of memory. Only 3.5 GB is usable, of which 1.5 GB is used by the Android operating system and background apps. This leaves only 2.1 GB of free memory to use.

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra also comes with generous storage capacities of 32 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB of flash memory. Our review sample came with 64 GB of flash memory. Out of the box, just under 52 GB is available for use. That should be plenty enough for most users, but is expandable via a microSD card (up to 2 TB).

Next Page > PixelMaster 3.0 Camera Performance – Photos & Video Recording

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Camera Performance – Photos

The resolution of the new PixelMaster 3.0 camera is amazing. The full 22.5 MP resolution is attained with the 4:3 aspect ratio. Each picture has a resolution of 5488 x 4096 and a file size of 4-7 MB.

The noise level is remarkably low for such a high resolution sensor. The edges can get fuzzy at the edges, but only noticeable when you fully blow up each picture. The biggest issue is probably the camera’s tendency to blow out the highlights. You can see that in the clouds that lack definition, and light reflecting off the fruits and rubber balls.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Camera Performance – Video Recording

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra is capable of recording 1080p and 4K videos, with both 4-axis optical and 3-axis electronic image stabilization enabled. To test its video recording capabilities, we recorded a piano performance and a koi pond in both 1080p and 4K resolutions. Check them out!

As the videos show, the optical and electronic stabilization worked very well, greatly reducing the amount of hand shake. Remember, this is a rather heavy and large phablet, so the user will tend to shake more.

The amount of detail captured, especially in the 4K videos, is amazing. However, you can also see how the highlights are blown out. This is especially noticeable in the bright background behind the pianist, and the surface of the koi pond.

Until ASUS fixes this propensity to blow out the highlights, you will lose the details in the bright areas of any image.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life, Battery Recharging Performance

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Work Performance – PC Mark

We tested the ZenFone 3 Ultra‘s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

	ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra	HTC 10	honor 5C	Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
Work Performance Score (Average)	6313	6105	5357	4892
Web Browsing	6257	5782	5643	6908
Video Playback	4287	3321	4487	3218
Writing	7166	7463	5944	4629
Photo Editing	8262	9694	5469	5563

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor powering the ZenFone 3 Ultra did very well in this test, beating even the Snapdragon 820 processor used by the HTC 10, and the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge‘s Exynos 8890 processor.

Battery Life – PCMark

We then tested the ZenFone 3 Ultra‘s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

Thanks to its 4,600 mAh battery, the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra lasted almost 11.5 hours in this test. This is twice the battery life of the HTC 10 smartphone! Of course, the ZenFone 3 Ultra has 50% more battery capacity, but it also has a much larger display that uses more power.

It was not the best battery life we have seen in a phablet though. The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro still has the most exceptional battery life at 13 hours, albeit with a slightly larger 5,000 mAh battery and a longer recharge time.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Battery Recharging Performance

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra comes with an 18W fast charger that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. What this means is you can recharge 60% of its battery in just 45 minutes.

It actually took the ZenFone 3 Ultra just under 114 minutes (1 hour 55 minutes) to recharge its battery from 16% to 100%. That’s a battery life : recharging ratio of 6:1 – very impressive!

As the chart shows, the fastest charging happens up to about the 80% point. It took only 60 minutes to recharge from 16% to 80%.

Next Page > Overall & 3D Performance, Our Verdict

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Overall Performance

AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.

	ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra	HTC 10	honor 5C	Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
TOTAL SCORE	76096	113813	53417	131246
3D SCORE	18816	50700	9842	40824
– 3D (Marooned)	10864	34778	5795	23336
– 3D (Garden)	7952	15922	4047	17488
UX SCORE	26794	30890	19297	42765
– UX Data Secure	5077	6319	5577	8169
– UX Data Process	4198	3379	2706	5966
– UX Strategy Games	7503	5433	4109	10745
– UX Image Process	6879	9521	3144	13878
– UX I/O Performance	3137	6238	3761	4007
CPU SCORE	23689	21915	19254	37882
– CPU Mathematics	6950	8494	4198	11831
– CPU Common Use	6311	5931	5947	10875
– CPU Multi-Core	10428	7490	9109	15176
RAM	6797	10308	5024	9775

The ZenFone 3 Ultra was fast in 2D graphics and CPU performance, but it did rather poorly in the 3D tests. It was far slower than top-of-the-line smartphones like the HTC 10 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, but it was also twice as fast as the Kirin 650-powered honor 5C.

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the ZenFone 3 Ultra’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

	ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra	HTC 10	honor 5C	Samsung Galaxy S7 edge
Gaming Score	17719	23171	11560	28650
Graphics	21124	27512	11067	33685
Physics	11328	14925	13698	18810
Graphics Test 1	115.2 fps	136.6 fps	63.4 fps	162.9 fps
Graphics Test 2	76.3 fps	106.4 fps	38.8 fps	133.1 fps
Physics Test	36.0 fps	47.4 fps	43.5 fps	59.7 fps

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra did better in this test, coming in just 24% slower than the HTC 10, and 38% slower than the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

Our Verdict

Make no mistake – the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra is a large, weighty phablet. You will either love it, or hate it.

If you want a large phablet to replace the cumbersome tablet + smartphone combo you have been using so far, you will love the large, beautiful 6.8″ display, and appreciate how solid and premium it feels. No cheap plastic for ASUS’ premium phablet. It even comes with the best earphones ASUS makes.

But if you want something svelte and light, the ZenFone 3 Ultra is definitely not for you. You will never fit it into a pocket, or actually use it with a single hand. That’s why ASUS made the ZenFone 3 and ZenFone 3 Deluxe models. The ZenFone 3 Ultra is meant for those who want a large phablet, period.

As far as performance goes, you are unlikely to be disappointed. It may not do well in 3D games, but it’s speedy enough in everything else. And it is absolutely fantastic as an entertainment device. Videos look great on the 6.8″ display, and the audio output is remarkably clear and loud.

It also has a long battery life, and recharges quickly – something you will appreciate if you are always on-the-go and have little access to a power point. Heck, it even supports reverse charging, allowing you to play the hero to your friends when they forget to bring their power banks.

[adrotate banner=”4″]

The PixelMaster 3.0 camera is really quite something. With 22.5 MP of resolution with a fast lens and advanced optical and electronic image stabilization, it can really deliver great photos and videos. The blown-out highlights are a disappointment though. ASUS should really work on correcting it.

The ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra is, no doubt, the best phablet ASUS has ever made. A premium phablet, made out of metal and glass. It represents a massive upgrade in features and build quality over its predecessor, the ZenFone 2 Laser (ZE601KL). ASUS is definitely trying to move up the value chain.

However, such premium features come with a premium price. ASUS actually priced it at a premium over its nearest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro. You will have to decide if that the better PixelMaster 3.0 camera, larger storage capacity and screen size are worth the price premium.

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Kirin 650-Powered honor 5C Smartphone Reviewed

1 Reply

When the honor 5X (Amazon) was announced in CES 2016, it was one of the most anticipated smartphones to hit the market in 2016. After all, it offers a 5.5″ full HD display with a metal allow body, a second-generation rim-free fingerprint reader, and a Qualcomm octa-core processor for less than US$220.

However, it was just a matter of time before honor introduced a variant powered by the new Kirin processors processors (more accurately known as SoCs) from HiSilicon, a sister company under Huawei. Check out the differences between the two models :

Specifications	honor 5X	honor 5C
Operating System	Android 5.1.1 with EMUI 3.1	Android 6.0 with EMUI 4.1
Processor Platform	Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 (MSM8939 v2)	HiSilicon Kirin 650
Processor	4 x ARM Cortex A53 (1.5 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex A53 (1.2 GHz)	4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (2.0 GHz) 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 (1.7 GHz)
GPU	Qualcomm Adreno 405	ARM Mali-T830 GPU
Display	5.5" IPS display - 1080 x 1920 resolution - 403 ppi pixel density - 72.5% screen-to-body ratio	5.2" IPS display - 1080 x 1920 resolution - 424 ppi pixel density - 68.7% screen-to-body ratio
Memory	2 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM	2 GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Storage	16 GB flash memory microSD card slot (up to 128 GB)	16 GB flash memory microSD card slot (up to 128 GB)
Main Camera	13 MP sensor f/2.0 lens with single LED flash	13 MP BSI sensor with 5-element f/2.0 lens and single LED flash
Selfie Camera	5 MP sensor 22 mm wide-angle f/2.4 lens	8 MP BSI sensor with 4-element f/2.0 lens
Dual SIM Capability	Dual SIM, Dual Standby capability - One MicroSIM slot + One nanoSIM slot	Dual SIM, dual standby capable - Second SIM shared with microSD card
Connectivity	802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz) WiFI Bluetooth 4.1 (Class 1) micro USB 2.0	802.11 b/g/n (2.4 GHz) WiFI Bluetooth 4.1 micro USB 2.0
GPS	GPS / AGPS / GLONASS	GPS / AGPS / GLONASS
Fingerprint Sensor	Second-generation, rim-free touch sensor	Second-generation, rim-free touch sensor
Battery	3,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)	3,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery (non-removable)
Chassis	Diamond-polished aluminium alloy body	Aircraft-grade aluminum-alloy with brushed metal-effect finish
Dimensions	76.3 mm wide 151.3 mm tall 8.15 mm thick	73.76 mm wide 147.1 mm tall 8.3 mm thick
Weight	158 g (including battery)	156 g (including battery)
Available Colours	Sunset Gold / Dark Grey / Daybreak Silver	Sunset Gold / Dark Grey / Daybreak Silver

The honor 5C (Amazon) comes in 3 colour options, with the Grey and Silver options priced at ~$200 (RM 799), while the Gold model retails at ~$213 (RM 840). However, all three models have the same features and performance.

Now, let’s take a look at the new Kirin 650-powered honor 5C smartphone!

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Unboxing The honor 5C

The honor 5C (Amazon) comes in a hard aqua-coloured cardboard box, with a security seal on each side. In this video, you will witness our unboxing process and check out each component inside the honor 5C box. Take a look!

Inside, you will find the following items :

One honor 5C smartphone (Amazon)
One honor 5C travel charger
One micro USB cable
One honor 5C Quick Start Guide
One Huawei Warranty Card
One SIM card slot extractor
One strip of 6 IMEI number stickers

Next Page > The honor 5C Smartphone, Buttons & Slot

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The honor 5C Smartphone

The honor 5C (Amazon) has a large 5.2″ IPS display that covers almost its entire front – with a 68.7% screen-to-body ratio. To achieve that, honor eschewed the use of physical buttons, in favour of virtual on-screen buttons.

The back metal chassis comes protected with a plastic film that doubles as an information sheet, with labels and tips. This plastic film has cut-outs for the fingerprint sensor and camera, so you can use the honor 5C without removing it, especially if you intend to fit a case over it.

The honor 5C (Amazon) uses a second-generation rim-free fingerprint sensor. As you will later see in the Initial Setup video, it registers your fingerprint in fewer steps. It is also much faster and more accurate than the previous generation sensor at reading your fingerprint. Once you have used it, it will become second nature to turn on and instantly log into the honor 5C by simply touching the fingerprint sensor.

Although higher-end smartphones are trying to go ridiculously thin, the honor 5C (Amazon) is reasonably thick at 8.3 mm. The slight increase in thickness not only allowed the inclusion of a large 3,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery, as well as an earphone port at the top.

Although not explicitly mentioned, the honor 5C has stereo speakers. The second speaker emits through the left row of ports in the picture above. The right row of ports is for the microphone. The honor 5C still uses a micro USB 2.0 port, instead of the newer reversible USB-C port.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Buttons & Hybrid SIM

The honor 5C (Amazon) only has two physical buttons, because it uses virtual on-screen Android buttons instead of physical buttons. They are both on the right side – a volume switch and a Power button.

The honor 5C is Dual SIM, Dual Standby capable. However, you cannot use two SIM cards together with a micro SD card. Instead, it comes with a hybrid SIM slot on the left side. The tray inside fits two nano SIM cards, or one nano SIM card and a micro SD card.

Next Page > The Initial Setup, Memory & Storage, OTG Support, The Cameras

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

The Initial Setup

This video will show you the initial setup process when you power up the honor 5C (Amazon) for the first time. If you do not need to restore a backup, the whole setup process should take about 2.5 minutes. Note how fast it takes to register a fingerprint.

Available Memory & Storage

The honor 5C (Amazon) comes with 2 GB of memory of the LPDDR3 type. The Android 6.0 OS and honor pre-loaded apps takes up about 1.1 GB of memory. This leaves you with only 692 MB of free RAM to use. It would be helpful if honor can cut down on the pre-loaded apps.

The honor 5C (Amazon) also comes with 16 GB of internal flash storage. This is expandable via a microSD card (up to 128 GB). Fresh out of the box, the honor 5C has 10.4 GB of available space (excluding the system files), of which 9.78 GB is free to use.

OTG Support

Please be aware that the honor 5C (Amazon) does NOT support USB OTG (On-The-Go) drives. If you plug any USB OTG flash drive into its micro USB 2.0 port, it will not be detected.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Cameras

The main camera has a 13 MP sensor with a 5-element f/2.0 lens, supported by a single LED flash. The photos have a maximum resolution of 4160 x 3120 in the 4:3 format. If you prefer a wider format, the honor 5C will do that by cropping the image to 4160 x 2336 (16:9). It is capable of recording video in full HD quality (1080p) with electronic stabilisation.

The honor 5C’s front camera is a significant improvement over the honor 5X, boasting an 8 MP BSI sensor with a 4-element f/2.0 wide-angle lens. It will deliver a maximum photo resolution of 3264 x 2448 in the 4:3 format. Again, a wider 16:9 format will crop that to 3264 x 1840. It will record videos in 720p quality.

For a smartphone in this price category, the honor 5C (Amazon) comes with a pretty good set of cameras. We will examine its photographic and video recording performance later in the next page.

Next Page > honor 5C Camera & Video Recording Performance

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Camera Performance – Photos

The honor 5C’s main camera has a 13 MP sensor with a fast f/2.0 lens, which allows it to take pretty decent photos in relatively low-light conditions. The photos have a maximum resolution of 4160 x 3120 in the 4:3 format.

honor did not reveal what sensor was used in the honor 5C (Amazon) smartphone, but the pictures we took look like they came from the same Samsung ISOCELL S5K3M2 sensor used in honor 5X.

The Samsung ISOCELL S5K3M2 is a relatively noisy sensor. If you blow up the picture on a desktop, you can see consistent noise (speckling and artifacts). However, they are only of real concern if you are going to make large prints of these photos.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Camera Performance – Video Recording

The honor 5C (Amazon) can record full HD (1080p) videos with electronic stabilisation. This is an improvement over the honor 5X, whose main camera does not support electronic stabilisation. Here is a sample video we recorded of a piano performance by Mr. Yang I-Deun.

And this is a sample video taken at an ice skating rink.

The honor 5C (Amazon) did a better job of controlling the exposure of the subjects than the honor 5X. However, we noted some focus issues – it can sometimes lose and readjust focus, causing the subject to be temporarily blurred. Still, it was a decent performance for a smartphone at this price point.

Next Page > Work Performance, Battery Life & Recharging Performance

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Work Performance – PCMark

We tested the honor 5C’s performance using PCMark, which simulates work applications like web browing, playing video, writing text and editing photos.

	honor 5C	ASUS ZenFone Zoom	Samsung Galaxy S6
Work Performance Score (Average)	5357	5829	5078
Web Browsing	5643	5751	6788
Video Playback	4487	4536	3091
Writing	5944	5270	5918
Photo Editing	5469	8400	5357

The honor 5C (Amazon) may be powered by the mid-range Kirin 650, but these PCMark results show that the Kirin 650 is no performance slouch. In these work-related tests, the honor 5C actually keeps up with top smartphones like the ASUS ZenFone Zoom and the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Battery Performance – PCMark

We then tested the honor 5C’s battery performance using PCMark. It basically ran the PCMark work tests until its battery capacity dropped to 20%.

The honor 5C (Amazon) lasted just over 11.5 hours on the PCMark stress test. That was a really amazing result, as this is a stress test that simulates the worst possible workload using work apps. In our real world experience, we had no problem using it for 16-18 hours with light loads, although its battery life dropped to about 8.5 hours while playing games.

[adrotate banner=”5″]

Battery Recharging Performance

The honor 5C (Amazon) has a large 3,000 mAh lithium-ion battery, but it does not have Fast Charging capability. In fact, it only comes with a 5 W travel charger. Even so, it was able to recharge its battery pretty quickly.

Our tests showed that the honor 5C (Amazon) will recharge from 19% to 100% in just 180 minutes (3 hours). This is very good performance, especially since it only uses a 5 W charger.

Note that it only took the honor 5C just over 2 hours to recharge its battery to 90%, and that the battery temperature did not go beyond 35°C.

Next Page > Overall & Gaming Performance, Our Verdict & Award

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Overall Performance – AnTuTu Benchmark

AnTuTu is a nice benchmark for testing various performance aspects of Android devices.

	honor 5C	ASUS ZenFone Zoom	Samsung Galaxy S6
TOTAL SCORE	53417	65914	75222
3D SCORE	9842	16839	20579
– 3D (Marooned)	5795	9863	12475
– 3D (Garden)	4047	6976	8104
UX SCORE	19297	21371	24065
– UX Data Secure	5577	5896	5507
– UX Data Process	2706	4353	4392
– UX Strategy Games	4109	4118	6948
– UX Image Process	3144	2926	3413
– UX I/O Performance	3761	4078	3805
CPU SCORE	19254	23110	25402
– CPU Mathematics	4198	5196	7823
– CPU Common Use	5947	8699	7585
– CPU Multi-Core	9109	9215	9994
RAM	5024	4594	5176

The honor 5C (Amazon) did well in AnTuTu, coming in only 19% and 29% slower than the ASUS ZenFone Zoom and the Samsung Galaxy S6 respectively. This is surprising performance, since the Kirin 650 is only a mid-range chip.

Gaming Performance – 3DMark

We tested the honor 5C’s gaming performance using 3DMark, using the Ice Storm Unlimited test.

	honor 5C	ASUS ZenFone Zoom	Samsung Galaxy S6
Gaming Score	11560	21372	21166
Graphics	11067	21748	23298
Physics	13698	20152	16031
Graphics Test 1	63.4 fps	112.6 fps	120.6 fps
Graphics Test 2	38.8 fps	81.5 fps	87.3 fps
Physics Test	43.5 fps	64.0 fps	50.9 fps

The honor 5C (Amazon) is pretty fast in 3D, but only half as fast as the ASUS ZenFone Zoom and Samsung Galaxy S6. The Kirin 650 may boast the ARM Mali-T830, but it still cannot beat the ZenFone Zoom’s PowerVR G6430 graphics processor, or the Galaxy S6’s ARM Mali-T760 graphics processor.

Our Verdict

When we reviewed the honor 5X, we were very impressed by its value proposition. It offered a solid set of features in a smartphone that costs less than US$220. The honor 5C (Amazon) follows the same philosophy but takes it one step further.

[adrotate banner=”4″]

Thanks to the use of the Kirin 650 chip, the honor 5C offers even better performance at a lower price point. The other key features of the honor 5X were maintained or even enhanced :

Full HD display? Check!
Aluminium alloy body? Check!
Dual SIM, dual standby capability? Check!
13 MP main camera with 1080p video recording? Check!
Fast fingerprint sensor? Check!

The honor 5C (Amazon) has one disadvantage though – it only comes with a hybrid SIM slot. That means you can choose to use a second nano SIM card, or a micro SD card; but not both at the same time. This may be a deal breaker for those who need to use two SIM cards since the honor 5C only has 10.4 GB of free storage capacity to use, and does not support USB OTG drives.

On the other hand, the honor 5C (Amazon) comes with a much better 8 MP front camera, with either a Sony or Hynix sensor. The front camera also has brighter f/2.0 lens, allowing for much better selfie shots in dim conditions. In addition, both front and rear cameras now support electronic stabilisation.

The honor 5C (Amazon) comes with the same 3,000 mAh lithium-ion polymer battery as the honor 5X, but it now lasts 11.5 hours of non-stop benchmarking on PCMark. In real world usage, it should have no issues lasting 16-18 hours of non-stop use.

honor continues to impress us with their ability to focus on creating no-nonsense Android smartphones with practical features. The honor 5C is not flashy, but it’s sleek and packed with the only features you will really need. If you were impressed with the honor 5X, you will be even more impressed with the honor 5C (Amazon).

In fact, we like it so much, we are awarding it our Reviewer’s Choice Award! Congratulations, honor!

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!

Exit mobile version