PPTV King 7 Review – The Most Underrated Cheap Android Phablet?

You know, I’ve reviewed quite a few smartphones over the time but some of the devices keep astonishing me. I just came across the unknown and unheard 6” all-metal phone that is called PPTV King 7. It not only looks great but it is powerful and it costs just $130. Learn more in our full review.

Thanks to Banggood.com for sending the PPTV King 7 for a review

PPTV King 7 Review: VIDEO REVIEW

PPTV King 7 Review: UNBOXING

The phone ships in a premium box where all the items are packed neatly but there are no extras included.

PPTV King 7 Review: DESIGN

The King 7 is a truly premium-looking device since it is made almost entirely of metal (except for the top and bottom parts for antennas), the metal buttons are tactile, and they do not rattle, and finally, the phone sits nicely in the hand.

The phone is huge due to its 6” display, which has 2K resolution and it is definitely one of the best panels you can’t find on any device in this price range. I know that many people complain about the black bezels around the display but I’m okay with that. Well, you can’t have it all at this price point.

We have an 8MP camera and a nice pulsing notification LED light on the front. I don’t like the fact that there are only the on-screen navigation keys but at least you can switch the position of them.

As for the main camera, we have a 13MP shooter that is coupled with a dual-tone dual LED flash.

When it comes to audio, the loudspeaker is easily one of the best in this price range.

Also, the sound quality via earphones is just great since the PPTV phone has a built-in Hi-Fi audio chip. Finally, the top-mounted IR blaster works just fine with my Samsung TV.

PPTV King 7 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

When it comes to the specs, the King 7 is a little outdated but it is still plenty powerful for such a low price.

The phone ships with the Helio X10 chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which can be further expanded via the microSD card slot.

The 3D gaming experience is pretty good. Although you may see some skipped frames on the highest graphics in some games but switching graphics to medium solves the issue.

PPTV King 7 Review: BENCHMARKS

PPTV King 7 Review: USER INTERFACE

As far as the user interface, you will love it or hate it. The phone runs on the outdated Android 5.1 and there is a heavily customised PP OS UI skin on top of it.

The performance of the UI is pretty good as I didn’t have any lags or stutter. You may love the user interface because there are plenty of customization options, various settings and tweaks to play with. On the other hand, you may hate it since there is no app tray, the icons look cartoonish and you may not need all those extra features if you are a more conservative user.

Well, I can definitely live with this user interface as it has been running smoothly but I always prefer stock Android, so I downloaded the third-party launcher.

PPTV King 7 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

IT IS HIGHLY-RECOMMENDED TO DOWNLOAD FULL RESOLUTION CAMERA SAMPLES TO SEE THE ACTUAL IMAGE QUALITY. THE PICTURES UPLOADED ON THE WEBSITE ARE 50% SMALLER IN RESOLUTION.

As for image quality, you should not expect any stellar results from a cheap phone like this. Still, you may get some nice-looking photos that are pretty sharp and detailed. However, the camera has some issues with the edge-to-edge focusing and there could a little bit more detail in some of the shots.

The selfie camera has a pretty aggressive beautification mode so the images will definitely look great on social media.

The video quality is just mediocre as on most of the cheap phones. Unfortunately, I could not play any 4K video samples on my Mac due to format compatibility issues but make sure to check out the video description for original camera samples. See the video review or download original camera samples using the link below.

Download full resolution camera samples 

PPTV King 7 Review: CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the phone performs well. The signal strength and call quality are good, the Wifi, Bluetooth and GPS work fine.

PPTV King 7 Review: BATTERY LIFE

The King 7 ships with the 3610mAh battery and it has to power a huge 2K resolution display. I was sceptical once I first saw the spec sheet but surprisingly, I managed to get over 5 hours of screen-on time on a mixed use, which is a good result. Unfortunately, the phone does not ship with the fast charger.

N.B. charging graph indicates the time when the phone was connected to the computer for approx. 1-2 mins for data transfer.

PPTV King 7 Review: CONCLUSIONS

Honestly, I have never heard about the PPTV company before but the King 7 exceeded my expectations, to say the least.

For the price of just $130, this phone is a great value since it has an excellent build quality, very nice and sharp 6” 2k display, a little outdated but still decent specs, feature-rich UI and a pretty good overall performance.

Obviously, the phone is not for everyone due to its size. Also, some may hate the black bezels around the display, the phone runs on the outdated Android 5.1 and there is no fingerprint sensor.

Still, if you consider that this phone has a decent camera, great sound quality and a pretty good battery life, the PPTV King 7 is an awesome phone for the price, despite previously mentioned shortcomings.