Leagoo may not be the first manufacturer name when you think of smartphones but the company has produced some solid super cheap devices. The M8 model has a 5.7” display, decent specs and a lot more for just below $70. Learn more in the full review.

Leagoo M8 Review: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cwWLojeiuU[/embedyt]

Leagoo M8 Review: UNBOXING

In the box, you can find all the usual stuff and some extras include a pair of cheap earphones.

Leagoo M8 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

Honestly, it’s hard to believe that this phone does not even cost $70. It is really well-made and it uses a high-quality metal frame, and tactile metal buttons. The phone just feels very solid in the hand.

Even though a huge 5.7” display has only 720p resolution, it is plenty sharp and vibrant for such a cheap phone. Surprisingly, the display is covered with the Gorilla Glass 4 for scratch resistance. The only complaint is that the screen is slightly reflective outdoors. 

We have an 8MP selfie shooter on the top. However, there is no LED notification light and I’m not a huge fan of the on-screen navigation keys.

The backplate looks kind of nice but it attracts fingerprints quite easily. As for optics, we have a 13MP camera, which is coupled with dual LED flash. The fingerprint scanner may not be the fastest on the market but it is accurate and it unlocks the phone straight from the standby mode.

The loudspeaker is pretty good too. In fact, it is one of the best in this price range.

Leagoo M8 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Leagoo M8 does not have the best specs out there but it still has enough power to handle most of the stuff. We have a quad-core MTK6580 chip (1.3Ghz), 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.

You can’t expect much from this phone when it comes to gaming but I have to say that you will be able to enjoy playing games like Asphalt 8 on the medium graphics without any issues.

Leagoo M8 Review: USER INTERFACE

When it comes to the user interface, the phone ships with a highly-customized FreemeOS, which is built on top of Android 6.0.

The user interface has a ton of features and customization options. Just to name a few, you can change themes, select different transition effects or choose from a variety of gesture or motion controls that work pretty well.

Most importantly, the phone runs quite smoothly and I didn’t have lag even after installing quite a few apps.

Leagoo M8 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.

The image quality is probably the best I’ve seen on any $70 phone. There is a good amount of detail, the colours look quite nice and in general, the pictures look pretty sharp.

There are some other shooting modes like bokeh. However, the results are not impressive at all.

Even the low-light photos look okay for the phone this cheap. Also, the selfies are quite sharp and will definitely do the trick for social media.

Also, the selfies are quite sharp and will definitely do the trick for social media.

The 1080p video is not really impressive but you can’t have it all for such a low price.

Leagoo M8 Review: CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, I have no major complaints. The call quality is decent and the wifi works well. However, the GPS could be slightly more accurate.

Leagoo M8 Review: BATTERY LIFE

The phone has a replaceable 3500mAh battery that performs quite well. I was able to get about 4-5 hours of screen-on time, depending on the usage, which is a decent result.

Leagoo M8 Review: CONCLUSIONS

To be honest, I didn’t expect the Leagoo M8 to be this good for the device that does not even cost $70.

It is very well-made, it has a metal chassis and the phone feels nice in the hand. Also, you get a decent 5.7” display, decent specs and a pretty good overall performance.

Obviously, there are some tradeoffs e.g. there is no LED notification light, the display may be reflective outdoors and the video recording quality could be better.

However, if you consider that this phone produces really good photos and the battery life is pretty good, you can’t really go wrong by spending less than $70, even if there are a few minor shortcomings to consider.

The post Leagoo M8 Review – The Best Phablet for under $70? appeared first on Gizmochina.