http://gloimg.gearbest.com/gb/2015/201505/source-img/1432493772443-P-2661563.jpg
This review is sponsored by Gearbest.com, they are currently selling this product for $119.99 USD, in black (Which is actually grey) or silver, with free delivery.
I was approached by a Gearbest representative requesting me to do a review on this product, and I happily accepted.
It was a pre order product, so I had some time to inspect the specifications and marketing before receiving the product. The features of most interest to me were the supposed metal unibody, which I will touch on shortly, the curved screen, and the not-too-bad 2200mAH battery.
Gearbest shipped this DHL express, and it arrived in just 4 days after leaving their facility, however the free shipping is via China Post, and would take 3 - 4 weeks to arrive.
The phone specifications are listed as:
- Display: 5.0 inch HD IPS OGS Screen 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass
- CPU: MTK6735 64bit Quad Core 1.0GHz
- GPU: Mali-T720
- System: Android 5.1
- RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM
- Camera: 8.0MP front camera + 13.0MP back camera
- Bluetooth: 4.0
- GPS: GPS, A-GPS
- Smart gestures + Wake Gesture + 3 finger fast screenshot + Ultra effective power saving mode + Hotknot+ PIP mode + Xender makes sharing easier
- SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby, ordinary SIM, micro SIM
- Network:
- 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- 3G: WCDMA 900/1900/2100MHz
- 4G: LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
The packaging was a standard courier bag, no additional support or wrapping, and the box was quite damaged after it arrived, but the product inside was fine. It had previously been opened before being sent, and I was concerned that I had been sent an RMA’d product, or a second, but it still powered on with no issues. The box contained a study feeling pair of earphones, a US charger, a USB cable, what appeared to be a solid plastic phone case, and a plastic screen protector.
On to the phone, standing out before anything else was the fact that the apparent metal unibody was nothing more than a thinly painted plastic back cover, and the whole external of the phone is in fact made of plastic.
https://files.choicecheapies.co.nz/upload/4/119/img_20150727_021658.jpg
Before using the phone, a plastic tab had to be removed from the battery to expose the contacts, at this point I decided to peel back the blue cover, just curiously, and revealed that the battery actually has 1800mAH printed on it, not the promoted 2200mAH.
https://files.choicecheapies.co.nz/upload/4/118/img_20150726_192835-convertimage.jpg
While on the point of false promotion, I have tried to find the curved screen, but it doesn’t appear to exist, as well as this, the CPU seems to be lacking a number of features present in the MT6735, instead it is more likely they have used the MT6735P, with a lower clock speed, and fewer capabilities.
Powering on the phone was fast, for a first boot, until I noticed that some apps were running, and one was the camera, of which there was someone’s face in the app preview view, proving my suspicion that the product had already been used. There were some updates required to be installed, so it mustn't have been powered on for update purposes. I have since contacted Gearbest, and have been advised that they check all phones before being sent, and run benchmark tests, as well as basic functionality tests to confirm all is working.
The UI is extremely responsive, with no lag visible at all when moving between windows, programs, and menus. Software installed is pretty clean, with just a couple of extra software packages installed, such as GO Keyboard, and it comes with Play Store preinstalled.
Whether or not it will receive the latest version of Android some time after it is released will remain to be seen. One feature that I have missed is backlit function keys, making it very difficult to navigate while unfamiliar with the phone.
Overall, I’d struggle to recommend this phone at this price point, while not far out of it’s depth, Gearbest do offer more highly regarded devices, that don’t conceal their specifications, at a similar price.
I will see how the phone holds up to daily use over the coming weeks, run some benchmarks, as well as test the camera, and update with any findings of note.
Please take note that we have strict restrictions on posting of company sponsored reviews, these can be found on the Community Guidelines Wiki page.
Cheers for the honest review, I suspect the line about them testing each phone is false as I don't see why this would be done after the product is sealed in the box or subsequently restored to factory.
Unfortunately these sites try too hard to oversell products by offering things that do not exist or work as intended, people like myself just want to know the real facts and fortunately there are usually reviews to base buying decisions off of.