After a few days of waiting, we finally get hold of one of the most powerful China smartphones available on the global market nowadays — the octa-core Cubot X6.
What we’ve got in hand is a priority package, containing the Cubot X6 white variant running on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, complete with accessories.
We’ve spent several hours and even days just to scrutinize each and every attribute and feature entrenched into this new handset we received from Chinavasion. After performing a series of hands-on tests on the device, we came up with these subsequent findings.
Unboxing: First Impression
While this may not be that necessary, we just want to note that we’re impressed with the unit’s external packaging; it’s neat and simple but totally protects the phone.
And to ensure we don’t miss any important detail on it, we deliberately took these very first photos while unboxing the new Cubot X6.
6 Design: Closely akin to Sony Ericsson, Xperia Arc S
First glance on the handset, it seems to look similar to the elapsed Sony Ericsson that is schemed with a rectangle front side, with top and bottom edges that are slightly curved outside. Meanwhile, the protective glass that curves into the bottom lip so as its back cover that curves into the left and right edges, makes the device looks closely similar to that of the Xperia Arc S.
As of its texture, the X6 delivers a premium feel as its rear side adopts an HTC One-style matte finish.
The new X6 handset however seizes one distinctive feature, and that is its aluminum-rounded swelling back camera with a gilded earpiece mouth.
Apart from its curve edges, the new Cubot X6 also has some clever parts. If you can see in the previous images, the handset is schemed with two lips with a joined back cover, replacing the top and bottom edges. Such design, combined with the seemingly Arc S, make the device look fairly slim.
There are no redundant physical buttons but you’ll find the volume rocker and power keys on the device.
Overall craftsmanship is reasonable, except the seams that are a little bit wide, allowing more dusts to lodge in later exposure.
X6 Display: Good yet not that amazing
It’s good to see a 5-inch phone with IPS display sporting 1280 x 720 resolution but the Cubot X6’s pixel density of 294 PPI is not as high as that of THL T100s or Zopo ZP998s with 401 ppi. This makes the X6’s color display less amazing that other China phone variants.
But then again, you will see no traces of granules or mosaic textures from the graphical user interface or on-screen HD images.
One thing we like most of the X6 in terms of its display feature is its 720p presentation with its eye-comforting mild contrast.
X6 Performance: Buttery smooth
As you may all know, the 8-core MTK6592 CPU with Mali-450 GPU is among the toughest powerhouses seen on low-cost China phones to date. Given its 8-core processor, we already expected and later, have proven that the new Cubot X6 is absolutely responsive and buttery smooth. This is by far what we’ve deemed the phone’s vital asset.
You too will be amazed to see how such an affordable smartphone can complete many different actions with no delays, as we tried to toggle between home screens, widget layouts and applications. Loading of images are likewise very smooth. Opening and closing of applications are even twice as fast than on other high-powered Chinese smartphones like Zopo ZP998. No lags, no freezes.
I tried toggling between games that require high graphics performance like Asphalt 8: Airborne, Real Racing 3, and NFS: Most Wanted and I wasn’t a bit disappointed.
X6 Battery: Long-lasting
Battery life is definitely a key factor for high-powered smartphones so its owners could enjoy all day without having to charge every 3 to 4 hours. And we’re glad to know Cubot supplied the X6 with the 2200mAh battery — good enough to play NFS all day, literally.
X6 Camera: Neat capture but not impressive
Apparently, we’ve noticed that the 13MP back camera can hardly record details and also the color of the pictures is somewhat lifeless. In short, the X6 camera has low contrast and resolution.
Bottom Line
The Good
The new Cubot X6 proves that MTK6592 is definitely superior and better than the prior versions of MTK chipsets, given its smooth operation and fast performance. On top of all its stock features is USB OTG, which allows you to just plug and play a thumb drive and copy files to and fro.
The Bad
Most notable weakness of the X6 is its low contrast, low resolution camera.
As for network connectivity, the X6 also lacks LTE service since the MTK6592 chipsets are purportedly not compatible with the LTE network. This means that users won’t be able to use the phone for 4G network access. In addition, the Cubot X6 also lacks the NFC module.
Conclusion
Bottom line, Cubot X6 is primarily schemed for swift performance operations in addition to its being affordable and highly responsive performance. If you’re into China phones, Cubot X6 is actually a good and powerful smartphone to start with.
