Cubot has released quite a few budget phones over the time and the X18 is one of the latest offerings. It has a nice 18:9 aspect ratio display, decent specs and a pretty big battery for the price of about $130. In fact, you can get it for as low as $80 in one of the flash sales, which is a great deal. Learn more in the full Cubot X18 Plus review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

DESIGN and DISPLAY

A huge 6” display is definitely one of the highlights of the phone. It not only has 18:9 aspect ratio but it also sports tiny bezels making the X18 Plus one of the better-looking phones in this price range.

That display is really good too as I found it to be pretty sharp for everyday use.

The overall build quality and aesthetics are great. Even though the glossy backplate is prone to fingerprints, the phone looks really nice. I’m not sure what the phone is made of but it seems that Cubot used either glass or quality plastic on the back and a metal frame on the sides. I also found the buttons to be pretty nice.

We have a dual camera system on the back with the powerful 20MP shooter, a pretty accurate fingerprint scanner, a 13MP selfie snapper and a bright notification LED light.

We do have a headset jack that provides decent sound quality but the phone still uses the micro USB port.

The loudspeaker is kind of average, just like on most of the cheap phones.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

As far as specs go, we don’t have anything special going on. In fact, the phone uses the same chipset many cheap phones have. Specs: MTK6750T chip, 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM. 

In terms of gaming, the phone could perform better but that’s expected considering the type of chipset inside. 3D games are playable but you should expect to see quite a few skipped frames. Also, the phone gets quite hot even after 5 mins of gaming but does not overheat to uncomfortable levels.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

Where you won’t see any skipped frames is the user interface that is based on Android 8. As usual, I praise Cubot for making budget phones with stock Android and the X18 Plus is no exception. Apart from fingerprint gestures, you are not getting any extra features to play with and I’m glad about that since I would not use them anyway. The phone is fast and responsive all the time and this is what impresses me the most with the Cubot X18 Plus.

IMAGE QUALITY

Keep in mind that I tested the camera on a cloudy day because it’s still dark winter. Anyway, you can get some pretty good-looking shots with this camera for a cheap phone. Also, even night image quality is pretty good for a budget device thanks to the 20MP sensor. The portrait shots are not the best but they will look quite nice on social media.

Selfies look pretty good for social media needs.

1080p video looks surprisingly decent. Also, I like that the continuous auto-focus works well. 720p selfie video looks pretty good too, way better than most of the phones in this price range.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

I found the call quality to be decent and signal reception is great. Also, other connectivity options work just fine.

However, there aren’t too many sensors on board, which is quite frustrating.

BATTERY LIFE

Battery life has been great. I could get over 6 hours of screen-on time while using the phone mostly for the basic stuff, social media and taking pictures.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, the Cubot X18 Plus shapes up to be a pretty good budget phone. My main concern remains 3D gaming performance but that’s expected due to the chip inside and the fact that the phone was not designed for gamers anyway. Also, I’m sad that there is no gyroscope sensor onboard.

On the other hand, I love the design of the phone, display, fast and clean Android 8 UI, good battery life and even pretty decent camera. Therefore, I could say that the Cubot X18 Plus is a pretty good phone for the price, despite a few flaws.

The post Cubot X18 Plus Review – Good Budget Phone with Decent Cameras! appeared first on Gizmochina.

Meiigoo is a newcomer to the smartphone game and the S8 is their latest budget offering. It has a full-screen design, metal and glass construction and a lot more for a low price. Learn more in our Meiigoo S8 review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

The phone ships with some extra accessories like a screen protector and a nice soft TPU case.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

The Meiigoo S8 is yet another budget Chinese phone that offers an all-screen design that is packed into a well-constructed metal and glass body. One thing that I don’t really like is sharp edges on the back but I can live with that.

That 6.1” display is huge and vibrant, and it is easily one of the best-looking panels on any budget phone.

As most of the budget phone nowadays, we have a dual-camera setup on the back. There is also a 5MP shooter on the front.

I found the fingerprint scanner to be reliable and accurate but then there is a slight delay until the display lights up. There are some extra features like a notification LED light and a dedicated camera launch and shutter key. Finally, the phone still has a headset jack and the loudspeaker quality is kind of mediocre, like on most of the budget phones.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Meiigoo S8 ships with great specifications for the price but gaming performance is not so great. The phone can’t handle even some 4-year-old games like Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics. Also, the device gets hot very quickly and that may impair gaming performance too. Obviously, you can still enjoy playing most of the games but you would need to reduce graphics settings.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

The phone runs Android 7 and it has preserved most of its stock look and feel but there are quite a few added features and customization options. You can choose from quite a few transitions effects, themes or wallpapers. You can also use a fingerprint scanner as a navigation pad but I didn’t find this feature to be convenient to use since the scanner is implemented on the back. You can also customize the navigation bar or select from quite a few smart features like a split-screen mode that works well.

My overall user experience with the phone is positive since the device is really fast even after installing numerous applications.

IMAGE QUALITY

Since it’ winter time, I could only test the camera on a cloudy day, meaning that it can take better quality images on a sunny and bright day. Still, I expected better overall image quality but you can take a few decent images for social media needs. The SLR mode takes pictures with blurred background effect but as usual, don’t expect great results from a budget phone like this.

Selfies are usable but there could definitely be more detail.

1080p video looks quite good for a budget phone. The front-facing camera can shoot videos only in 480p resolution and as you can see, the quality is quite bad due to low resolution.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

As far as connectivity, I would rate the call quality above average and other options work just fine. The phone has a hybrid dual-SIM card tray and 12 sensors including a gyroscope for VR compatibility.

BATTERY LIFE

The battery life is okay but it could definitely be better. In fact, I wish the company implemented a larger power bank for a better battery life. I was able to achieve about 4.5 h of screen-on time but your results may vary, depending on the usage. Thankfully, the supplied charger fully charges the phone in about 1.5h.

CONCLUSIONS

The Meiigoo S8 is definitely one of the better-looking budget phones out there and its main attraction is a brilliant and huge display and great build quality. I also love that the phone performs well on the daily basis and it has a few extra features like a dedicated camera launch/shutter key.

However, the camera is inconsistent, gaming performance could be better and I expected a slightly better battery life.

At the end of the day, the Meiigoo S8 does offer quite a lot of value but as always, please consider all the pros and cons before buying it.

The post Meiigoo S8 Review – A Beautiful Newcomer to the Smartphone Game! appeared first on Gizmochina.