Mediatek has been teasing its deca-core chipset, namely the Helio X20 since the second half of last year. But it took more than six months for the first smartphone with this chip to be actually announced. And we were all surprised to see that it was a local brand, ZOPO who could boast of this feat.
ZOPO Speed 8 became the first Helio X20 deca-core powered smartphone in the world. We were at ZOPO’s booth at MWC 2016 and got a quick hands on with the device.
Unlike other flagship smartphones, ZOPO has decided to go with a plastic body on its ZOPO Speed 8. The back is matte plastic which means you don’t have to worry about it being a fingerprint magnet. Further, the texture helps you to get a good grip on the device, even while holding it with one hand.
The frame that goes around the body looks like metal, but its actually plastic. Despite the plastic body, the overall built is sturdy.
Both the power button and the volume buttons are located on the right side of the device. While on the left, you have the dual SIM card slot.
The bottom features the new-age USB Type-C port, along with an opening for microphone.
The top is rather clean, with just a 3.5mm headphone jack. At the back, you have the 21MP camera sensor with dual tone dual LED flash. You will also find the fingerprint just below the rear camera sensor, which is placed well for your index finger. The speakers are located up front, as you can see in the picture down below.
As for the specs, apart from the powerful deca-core Helio X20 and 4GB RAM, the phone features a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with FHD 1080p resolution. At the back, there is a 21MP Sony IMX230 camera with PDAF and dual tone LED flash. Up front, you have an 8MP selfie camera, with an LED flash as well. Under the hood, there’s a decent 3600mAh battery. Other features include USB Type-C, 4G LTE support and fast charging. As for software, the phone runs on Android 6.0 which gives you almost stock like experience.
Pricing is yet to be confirmed, but it is rumored that the ZOPO Speed 8 will retail for less than $300. As for the availbility, the device will go on sale globally in April.
The benchmark results for the Helio X20 inside the device haven’t been impressive. From the initial tests, AnTuTu scores were below 90K, but it could be because the app is not customized for its tri-cluster architecture. So, we will have to wait and see whether there is any change to the score after an update.
