Smartphones are no longer luxuries but everyday necessities for the common people in South Africa, nay Africa and one factor that plays a may role in determining which brand to go for is the price.  Since price plays a big role, there has been a steady in-flow of substandard devices which lets users accept sub-standard devices. This situation is now set to change as Chinese phone maker Cubot collaborates with one of the largest retailer in South Africa, Arbalest. they were expecting for trendy smart phones with reasonable price.

The partnership makes Arbalest the exclusive importer of Cubot phones in the country and perhaps the region. Although Cubot phones are well known in ither regions like the EU, South America, Soudi Arabia, Russia and even Kenya, this is the first time the company is making an officil entry into the Africa market and South Africa. With this agreement, Arbalest has the right to bring the most favourable and trendy phones with different sizes ranging from 5 inches to 5.5 inches and with 13MP rear camera and selfie shooters ranging from 5MP to 8MP. The first batch of smartphones that would be landing South Africa will include Cubot Rainbow 2, Cubot Echo and Cubot Cheetah 2.

Related: Cubot Rainbow 2 Review – Dual Cameras for $70!

The Cubot Rainbow 2 is the company’s most popular smartphone is 2016 and its biggest feature was the ability of the camera to take clear photos with high resolution. The storages on all the models are also pretty good, with the smallest being 16GB and the biggest 32GB. All models will come with expandable storage to 128 or 256GB through SD cards.

Apart from the decent hardware, the Cubot models will also come with premium design and the prices would be their srongest selling point. The recommended prices would range from R1,599 ($119) to R3,499 ($261). In essence, Cubot’s entry into South Africa will be with budget phones but together with Arbalest, the Chinese company will further introduce mid-range models in the market and thus, gain acceptance from more customers.

(source)

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The market is flooded with cheap smartphones from China and I just came across a cheap Cubot Echo device that gets most of the basics right for the low price of $85. Learn more in the full review.

Thanks to Tomtop for sending the Cubot Echo for a review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a high-quality TPU case.

DESIGN

The Cubot Echo does not sport exceptional looks but it is a very well made phone as it has a solid metal frame that goes all around the device. The buttons, however, are plasticky and they feel cheap.

One thing you are going to notice is that the phone is very thick, measuring at 11cm. That is not only due to a pretty large 3000mAh removable battery but also due to the fact that the phone has an enormous speaker built-in.

The speaker can get really loud and the sound quality is pretty good for a cheap phone. However, the sound may get distorted at the highest volume settings.

Speaking of the display, the 5” 720p panel is pretty sharp and bright for a cheap phone but we have those enormous bezels on each side.

It’s great that we have a 5MP front facing camera and the LED notification light but the capacitive buttons are not backlit.

As for the main camera, there is a 13MP shooter.

HARDWARE

The Cubot Echo runs on a little outdated Mediatek 6580 chip with the clock speeds of 1.3GHz. Also, the phone has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.

Honestly, the spec sheet does not really impress but some 3D games like Asphalt 8 run absolutely fine on medium graphics.

USER INTERFACE

The phone ships with the Android 6.0 but we have a few added features by Cubot. Some of the extra features include a variety of gesture and motion controls. Some of them work well but others are very slow to respond.

In general, the UI performance is good. I didn’t have lag or stutter on the daily basis and I think that’s the most important thing for a cheap phone.

BENCHMARKS

IMAGE QUALITY

You should never expect any miracles from the cameras of budget phones but the Cubot Echo can take some pretty nice daylight photos for the phone this cheap.

Obviously, the quality decreases in lower-lit situations as on all cheap phones.

The selfies won’t look as sharp as you may expect but it may be enough for social media.

As for video, the quality of the footage is kind of poor like on most of the cheap phones.

CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the phone does everything quite well. The GPS lock speeds are fast but it could be more accurate when you use it with navigation apps.

BATTERY LIFE

The 3000mAh battery performs great. I could get about 1.5 days of usage out of this phone, which is a good result.

CONCLUSIONS

Cubot Echo is not going to be your next powerhouse device but it gets the basics right.

We don’t have any exceptional looks but the phone is well made, it has a metal frame, it is compact to carry around and stock Android is what the cheap phones need.

You can also take some okay looking photos and the battery life is great thanks to a pretty large capacity.

However, the processor is a little outdated if you are a spec head, the capacitive buttons are not backlit and there are those huge black bezels that a lot of people hate.

At the end of the day, Cubot Echo may not be the only cheap device out there but it gets all the basics right and it is a pretty fast phone on the daily basis. However, you have to consider if the previously mentioned shortcomings are important to you or not.

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