Blackview has made quite a few budget phones over the year and the A9 Pro is one of their latest models. It has decent specs for the price of just about $90. Is it any good? Learn more in the full Blackview A9 Pro review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

Blackview A9 Pro ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a screen protector, a pair of earphones and a soft TPU case.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

As far as design goes, I love that the phone is compact since it has only 5” 720p display, which may not be the sharpest out there but it is not bad for a cheap phone.

We have a quality metal trim that goes all around the device, tactile metal buttons and in general, the phone is well-built.

We have a notification LED light, which sits next to the 2MP selfie shooter.

The fingerprint scanner may not be the fastest out there but it gets the job done and it unlocks the phone straight from the standby mode. Also, the sensor has a touch panel. If you tap it, it takes you back, if you tap and hold it, you will go home. You can also switch to traditional on-screen navigation keys.

One of the key selling points of this phone is the dual-camera setup that consists of one 8MP shooter and another 0.3MP sensor.

The loudspeaker quality does not really impress like on most of the budget phones.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The phone sports okay specs for the price. The device ships with a quad-core MTK6737 chip (1.3GHz), 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.

The gaming performance is pretty good if you play the 3D games like Asphalt 8 on medium graphics. Still, you may see a few skipped frames but nothing major. The phone gets warm pretty quickly but it does not overheat.

USER INTERFACE

The Blackview A9 Pro comes with the Android 7.0 out of the box with the proprietary skin on top of it. The skin removes the app tray and redesigns the icons whether you like it or not. The are quite a few gesture and motion controls that work quite well but some of them are quite slow to respond. You can also use a one-hand operation mode that works quite well, use a floating dock and so on.  Most importantly, the user interface performance has been smooth and fluid, no complaints here.

BENCHMARKS

IMAGE QUALITY

The Blackview A9 Pro can take decent daylight images considering this is a cheap phone. Sure, the level of detail could be higher, the dynamic range adjustment could be more accurate but in general, you can take some decent-looking daylight images.

The dual-camera setup allows you to take some good-looking pictures with bokeh effect. Sure, this is not the flagship-grade quality but the results are quite impressive for such a cheap device.

The low-light camera performance does not impress like on most of the cheap phones.

Selfie pictures will definitely do the trick for social media needs but there could slightly more detail.

The 1080p video quality is above average. Selfie video quality is again, kind of mediocre but it is possible to use the camera for video chats or other stuff.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the call quality is above average, the Wifi works fine and GPS is usable for navigation although it is not the most accurate out there.

BATTERY LIFE

The 3000mAh battery performs quite well. I was able to get almost 5 hours of screen-on time, which is a good result considering the fact that I used the phone quite intensively.

CONCLUSIONS

The Blackview A9 Pro is yet another cheap phone from China that aims to deliver a lot of value for the price and it succeeds in quite a few ways.

The phone is plain-looking but it is well-built and it uses a quality metal frame, the display is great for everyday use, the user interface performance is decent and the battery life is good.

Obviously, you should consider some caveats like a poor low-light camera performance, mediocre loudspeaker and the MTK6737 chip is not designed for hardcore gamers.

At the end of the day, the Blackview A9 Pro is still a decent offering for the price but as always, make sure to consider a few shortcomings like on any other budget phone.

The post Blackview A9 Pro Review – A Decent $90 Dual-Camera Phone! appeared first on Gizmochina.

Cubot is known for producing cheap smartphones and the Rainbow 2 is one of their latest models. The phone costs just about $70 but it offers a dual-camera setup and decent design for the price. Learn more in the full review.

VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZVK8MNA3HU[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The Rainbow 2 ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

When it comes to the design, the phone looks pretty good and it is well-built but it uses mainly plastic in the construction. It is quite comfortable to hold and manage the phone in one hand since it sports only a 5” 720p display.

The display is definitely not the sharpest out there but it is pretty good for a cheap phone. We have a 5MP front-facing camera that even has a flash for night selfies.

The star of the show is the dual-camera setup, which is designed to take pictures with bokeh effect. We have a combo of 13MP/2MP camera sensors to do that trick.

The backplate is glossy and it attracts fingerprints very quickly. You can easily remove it and underneath it, you will find 2 SIM card slots, a microSD card slot and a 2350mAh battery.

The loudspeaker is placed on the bottom, which is great but the sound quality is quite terrible like on most of the cheap phones.

Cubot Rainbow 2 in pictures:

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

As for hardware, Cubot Rainbow 2 has low-end specs that include a quad-core MTK6580A chip, just 1GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.

Unsurprisingly, the gaming performance is kind of mediocre but it is still possible to enjoy some 3D games like Asphalt 8 on the medium graphics with just a bit stutter and some skipped frames.

USER INTERFACE

It is pretty cool to get Android 7.0 out of the box in a $70 phone. The Rainbow 2 will provide you with pretty much stock Android experience, with just a few added features. For example, you can use some gesture and motion controls. Some of them work pretty well while others are kind of slow to respond.

In general, the the user interface is fast and responsive and I didn’t have major lag or stutter.

IMAGE QUALITY

As for image quality, that dual-camera setup can take some awesome-looking photos with the shallow depth of field effect. Obviously, you can’t compare the quality with some more expensive handsets but I’m quite impressed with the results from the $70 phone. As for regular photos, you can’t expect much from any super cheap phones but you can still take some pretty good-looking pictures that are usable for social media.

However, the quality decreases quite dramatically in lower-lit situations.

The selfie image quality is not so great and the front-firing flash does not really help in low-light.

The video quality does not impress like on most of the cheap phones.

CONNECTIVITY

As for connectivity, the call quality and signal reception are decent. Unfortunately, the phone does not support 4G and the GPS lock speed are kind of slow at times.

BATTERY LIFE

2350mAh battery performs quite well but don’t expect wonders. I could get up to 4 hours of screen-on time but your mileage may vary, depending on the usage.

CONCLUSIONS

Cubot Rainbow 2 is another cheap device from China that aims to deliver a lot of value for the price. Well, you get some nice features like a dual-camera setup and a pretty good overall performance for the price of $70 but as always, there are some drawbacks that are common to all cheap phones that you need to consider before buying.

The post Cubot Rainbow 2 Review – Dual Cameras for $70! appeared first on Gizmochina.

Oukitel has made quite a few phones last year and this year is probably going to be the same. Today we have the Oukitel C5 Pro model that costs just below $70. Is it any good? Stay tuned to find out.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

In the box, you can find all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

The C5 Pro is one of those better built super cheap phones out there. It uses a metal frame that goes around the device and tactile metal buttons.

Also, the backplate has a pretty cool-looking textured finish, which is nice to the touch.

In addition, the phone is compact due to its 5” 720p display, which is pretty good for the price but it may be slightly reflective outdoors. One of the key selling points is the toughness of the display. I did not have a chance to fully test it but it is said that to have 9H hardness.

A few drawbacks would be that there is no LED notification light and the capacitive keys are not backlit.

The loudspeaker is not really impressive but it is pretty good for the phone this cheap.

You can easily remove the backplate and underneath it, you will find two SIM card slots, the microSD card slot, and a replaceable 2000mAh battery.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The phone ships with a quad-core MTK6737 chip, 16GB of storage and 2GB of RAM.

These are not very impressive specs if you are a gamer. You should expect quite a few skipped frames and a bit of stutter when playing games like Asphalt 8 even on medium graphics.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

The phone ships with Android 6.0 out of the box and we have some redesigned icons and added features by Oukitel. For example, there are some gesture and motion controls. As usual, I use only a couple of them and they work fine.

Most importantly, the phone runs fast and fluid most of the time. Well, I had a little bit of stutter a couple of times but nothing major.

CAMERAS

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 phone has a an 8MP main camera and 5MP shooter on the front.

You can be picky with each cheap phone once you talk about the image quality but you should never expect any stellar results from cheap phones. The C5 Pro is no exception.

The images look okay but they are usually overexposed, oversaturated, there could be more detail and so on.

The video quality is okay… for a cheap phone. However, the sound quality is just terrible.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

I didn’t have any connectivity issues. However, the GPS could be slightly more accurate.

BATTERY LIFE

The 2000mAh battery does not impress on paper but it could still get me through the day on a mixed use. With my usage, I could get around 4 hours of screen-on time.

CONCLUSIONS

The Oukitel C5 Pro is another cheap phone from China that costs about $70. For the price, it is a decent offering and this is what you have to expect from a cheap phone. Most importantly, it does not have any major shortcomings but as most of the cheap devices, it has a few drawbacks that you have to consider before buying it.

The post Oukitel C5 Pro Review – A Decent $70 Phone appeared first on Gizmochina.

Oukitel is a smartphone maker that produces mainly affordable smartphones. The U20 Plus model is one of them and it has a dual camera setup and decent specs for the price of just about $100. Stay tuned for a full review.

Thanks to Tomtop for sending Oukitel U20 Plus for a review.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: VIDEO REVIEW

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

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: UNBOXING

The phone comes with all the usual accessories and some extras include a nice TPU case to protect your phone.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: DESIGN

Design-wise, the phone is made entirely of plastic. It does not feel premium or anything but I have no complaints about the build quality.

We have a 5.5” 1080p display, which is sharp and good enough for daily use for a cheap phone.

The buttons are made of plastic too but they have a decent tactile response. One thing that I hate is that the power button is on the left. It is simply inconvenient.

On the back, we have a dual-camera setup that allows you to take pictures with bokeh effect. There is one 13MP shooter and another that has only 0.3MP. A fingerprint sensor is far from the fastest I’ve seen but it works 8/10 times.

We have the LED light but the capacitive buttons are not backlit.

The loudspeaker is like on most of the cheap phones – the sound is flat.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The phone sports okay specs for the price. The device ships with a quad-core MTK6737T chip (1.5GHz), 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage.

The gaming performance is pretty good if you play the 3D games like Asphalt 8 on medium graphics. Still, you may see a few skipped frames but nothing major.

The phone gets warm pretty quickly but it does not overheat.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: BENCHMARKS

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: USER INTERFACE

The Android 6.0-based user interface will give you a pretty much stock Android experience but there are some added features like a theme store or a bunch of gesture and motion controls that work pretty well.

I didn’t have any major lags or hiccups even after installing quite a few apps and I believe this is the most important thing for a cheap phone.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: IMAGE QUALITY

When it comes to the image quality, you should never expect any great results from cheap phones. Still, the Oukitel U20 Plus can take some decent daylight photos but obviously, there is quite a bit of noise and the level of detail could be higher.

If you want to use a secondary camera, you have to select the SLR shooting mode. I have to tell you that the results are pretty good and you get a nice shallow depth of field effect.

The low-light camera performance does not really impress but that it the case for most of the cheap phones.

The selfies look okay for social media needs.

The video quality is okay… for a cheap phone.

Download full resolution camera samples

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: CONNECTIVITY

I didn’t have any connectivity issues and even the GPS lock speeds and accuracy were okay.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: BATTERY LIFE

The 3300mAh battery performs pretty well. With my usage, I could get around 5 hours of screen-on time, which is a pretty good result.

Oukitel U20 Plus Review: CONCLUSIONS

Oukitel U20 Plus is another cheap phone from China that aims to impress you and it does by offering a dual-camera setup on a budget.

The image quality is not stellar but you can definitely get some decent photos for social media. Also, you get a nice and sharp display, a decent all-around performance for a cheap phone, a fingerprint scanner and a decent battery life.

On the other hand, the phone looks kind of cheap since it does not sport any premium materials in the construction. Also, I don’t like that the power button is on the left side and the capacitive keys are not backlit.

At the end of the day, the Oukitel U20 Plus is an interesting and pretty good phone for the price of just above $100 but as always, you have to consider a few shortcomings before buying it.

The post Oukitel U20 Plus Review – Dual-Camera For just $100? appeared first on Gizmochina.