Related
Doogee has increasingly improved their products to their customers. Since Doogee DG580, Doogee will release Doogee DG900 and Doogee DG850. I am lucky to get a sample now. And i am glad to share with you. First, i will test Doogee DG900 with you. Because i really like this smartphone with high-end performance.
Exquisite 5inch FHD IPS Corning Gorillia Glass 3 Touch Screen
Doogee Turbo 2 DG900 has updated overally compared with other models, this time, it has 5inch FHD IPS screen with 1920*1080pixels screen resolutions. It is euipped with third generation Gorilla glass touch screen, which can help me prevent scratching. When i open the movie like "The flash", the definition is really high, and screen color is very vivid and real. It's worthwhile to have a try.
Powerful MTK6592 Octa Core 1.7GHz Processor
CPU is quite important for me to play 3D games, when i play Temple Run, the speed is quite swift. Due to MTK6592 Octa core 1.7ghz processor, the overall performance has been improved largely. Couple RAM 2GB ROM 16GB, it has added the speed of the smartphone to search the Internet, play games, watch videos or download any apps and so on. You got know how influential the real tech affect us.
18.0 MP Rear Camera 8.0 MP Front Camera
About the smartphone dual camera, it supports 18MP rear camera and 8mp front camera, as is known to all, most majority of smartphones has the main camera is up to 13.0MP, instead of 18.0MP, however, Doogee DG900 has 18.0mp back camera to shoot the real and ultra-clear pictures to record the unforgettable memory of our life. And 8MP front camera is also incredible to auto shoot for me. I can also beautify the myself by this smartphone.
Rear touch panel, making me do the apps easier
With the rear touch panel, i can now as easy as single handed double tap on back, giving me more freedom to use my hands.
Support 3G, GPS, WIFI, Bluetooth, Multilanguage, Play Store, etc.
Morever, of course it can support 3G and dual sim card, dual standby, which means i can use a 3G network by inserting 3G sim card, the other 2g network by inserting GSM sim card. This smartphone also supports Multilanguage, i can set up it in my mother tongue, which provides the much convenience without language barrier. Google Play store is installed in this smartphone, i can download more than 700,000 apps to perfect my needs. It is built in 2500mAh battery, which can support long working time for me. As for the standby time, it depends on the specific enviorment.
In conclusion, Doogee DG900 is the latest 5inch fhd octa core smartphone with RAM 2GB ROM 16GB. The trendy looks, hardware, functions and so on has increased me to not put it down.
Isn't doogee dg900 a crap?
cdd3111 said:
Doogee has increasingly improved their products to their customers. Since Doogee DG580, Doogee will release Doogee DG900 and Doogee DG850. I am lucky to get a sample now. And i am glad to share with you. First, i will test Doogee DG900 with you. Because i really like this smartphone with high-end performance.
Exquisite 5inch FHD IPS Corning Gorillia Glass 3 Touch Screen
Doogee Turbo 2 DG900 has updated overally compared with other models, this time, it has 5inch FHD IPS screen with 1920*1080pixels screen resolutions. It is euipped with third generation Gorilla glass touch screen, which can help me prevent scratching. When i open the movie like "The flash", the definition is really high, and screen color is very vivid and real. It's worthwhile to have a try.
Powerful MTK6592 Octa Core 1.7GHz Processor
CPU is quite important for me to play 3D games, when i play Temple Run, the speed is quite swift. Due to MTK6592 Octa core 1.7ghz processor, the overall performance has been improved largely. Couple RAM 2GB ROM 16GB, it has added the speed of the smartphone to search the Internet, play games, watch videos or download any apps and so on. You got know how influential the real tech affect us.
18.0 MP Rear Camera 8.0 MP Front Camera
About the smartphone dual camera, it supports 18MP rear camera and 8mp front camera, as is known to all, most majority of smartphones has the main camera is up to 13.0MP, instead of 18.0MP, however, Doogee DG900 has 18.0mp back camera to shoot the real and ultra-clear pictures to record the unforgettable memory of our life. And 8MP front camera is also incredible to auto shoot for me. I can also beautify the myself by this smartphone.
Rear touch panel, making me do the apps easier
With the rear touch panel, i can now as easy as single handed double tap on back, giving me more freedom to use my hands.
Support 3G, GPS, WIFI, Bluetooth, Multilanguage, Play Store, etc.
Morever, of course it can support 3G and dual sim card, dual standby, which means i can use a 3G network by inserting 3G sim card, the other 2g network by inserting GSM sim card. This smartphone also supports Multilanguage, i can set up it in my mother tongue, which provides the much convenience without language barrier. Google Play store is installed in this smartphone, i can download more than 700,000 apps to perfect my needs. It is built in 2500mAh battery, which can support long working time for me. As for the standby time, it depends on the specific enviorment.
In conclusion, Doogee DG900 is the latest 5inch fhd octa core smartphone with RAM 2GB ROM 16GB. The trendy looks, hardware, functions and so on has increased me to not put it down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you really think mt6592 can work smoothly on 1080p display? MT6592 can only work smoothly on 720p display and all slim glassphone heats up fast. You may say you just like the glass design, but can you really endure the TINY battery life? If you want to buy a good looking phone at $200 budget you can buy umi zero, even it's also a crap, but it got AMOLED display, SONY IMX135 and METAL design!
I'm looking for good real user reviews. Sound like spam the whole of it like you're selling it.
Spec wise it sounds great but we all know Chinese phones are mostly poor despite specs. However some companies are pulling their fingers out and making good solid devices. I like the look of this as I said so if anyone has one, can you please do a real review with the pros and cons.
Thanks
Short review from an owner...
jerico9 said:
I'm looking for good real user reviews. Sound like spam the whole of it like you're selling it.
Spec wise it sounds great but we all know Chinese phones are mostly poor despite specs. However some companies are pulling their fingers out and making good solid devices. I like the look of this as I said so if anyone has one, can you please do a real review with the pros and cons.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a review, but just a few points...
After my Samsung Note died (finally I am so happy), I bought 2 of these off Alliexpress, I for myself and 1 for my wife 2 weeks later. That was back in November/December of 2014. So we have had 6 months of daily use out of these.
The bad:
1. Started giving errors about no sd card and no sim card inserted. Used some sticky tape on the back of the sim and sd card to keep them in place and slightly increase the thickness. No issues since.
2. On a hot day using navigation (Google maps) and charging the battery, the phone will warn of a thermal shut down while sitting on the dashboard. I guess this is partly due to the protective case not allowing any heat to escape. Th next case will b a more open design.
3. One of the orientation sensors is not right. Google Sky maps gets disorientated when you view op. Down works.
4. Need for Speed crashes. (all other apps I've installed, over 130, works)
The good:
In short, everything else!
1. The 18MP Sony camera is fantastic, even in low light. The Samsung Note camera would not even take a picture in where the Doogee still takes good pictures in low light.
2. It's thin and light.
3. The colors are not as vibrant on the Doogee as on the Note, but the resolutions is exceptional at 443 ppi. Clear and a very good reading angle.
4. On low usage, it will last easily 2 days between battery charges. Where the Note would be dead by 5 PM on a busy day, the Doogee will still have 40% battery life at 9PM . I manage to drain it once by 9PM on the same day. Where on the Note, I had nothing running in the background and did my best to conserve the battery, I have every bit of eye candy installed on the Doogee, from live backgrounds to anything that sucks juice.
5. The Note was sluggish point. With Google Maps running, it was incapable of doing anything else... With the Doogee, I have never see it slow down, ever. Even with Google Maps and Open Street maps both running and navigating at the same time while watching a HD video clip. 8 cores wins every time!
6. The phone comes pre-installed with a screen protector, and there is an envelope with a few spares. After 6 months, the original screen protector is still clear.
7. The sound volume is much louder than the Samsung. You can actually hear the speaker phone even when there is a lot of noise.
8. Has more app storage space than the Note. Always had the Note complaining about storage. Never on the Dogge with more apps and more data installed.
9. Received 3 OS updates from Samsung in the 1st year. Received 3 OS updates from Doogee in the 1st 4 months!
10. The fast charger will charge it from flat to 100% in less than 2 hours!
The phone stays responsive, no matter what you do.
Will I buy another Doogee product, sure, any day.
Hope this help somebody....
ROOT
How can we root dg900?
Krystyna said:
How can we root dg900?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use kingo root pc app.
Are there any custom roms for dg900? i can't find any :/
Still nothing...Some people have published a custom recovery for it , but without any usage in my opinion.
Doogee is a Chinese company which's making quality Android phones for a budget-friendly price. Doogee has a great selection of Android phones but what really caught my eyes is the Doogee DG800 Valencia.
Inside the Box:
The unit itself with white back cover, another back cover (without Back Touch), 2 screen protectors (One of them is already installed), Headset with built-in microphone, Wall charger and USB 2.0 Cable.
Specifications:
The Doogee DG800 comes with a Quad-core CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM, 13MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing camera and last but not least, Android 4.4.2 Kitkat.
Display: 4.5" qHD IPS screen (960 x 540).
CPU: MTK6582 Quad-Core CPU 1.3GHz.
RAM 1GB (962MB user access-able).
ROM: 8GB (3.35GB for Apps, 2.76GB for media).
Camera: 13 Megapixel (rear). 8 Megapixel (front-facing) [The cameras got a 88° ultra-wide angles].
Battery 2000 mAh.
Connectivity: GPS, MicroUSB 2.0, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0.
Networks: 3G/WCDMA: 850/2100 MHz
Operating System: Android 4.4.2 with Google Play and OTA Updates.
Dimensions: 138 x 67 x 9 mm.
Weight: 138g.
Colors: White (with Back Touch) & Black, Blue? Purple, Orange or Red (Regular back cover).
SIM Slots: Normal SIM + MicroSIM.
Design:
At the top of the phone there is a speaker grill, front-facing camera and a light sensor. At the button we find three capacitive buttons. The phone's front is black with a silverish bar.
On the left side there are the volume buttons, on the other side there's the power button and on the top there is the MicroUSB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone buttons are part of the back cover (which is great, so you can kick-out the dust so easily).
Over-all, the design is simple yet stylish.
Back Touch Panel:
The Back Touch panel allows you to swipe between pages, open an app of your choice and makes the camera lens focuses. It's so smooth yet you need a bit of time to get used on it.
Performance:
the devices scores 17.645 on AnTuTu benchmark which makes it a little bit slower than the Samsung Galaxy S3. The phones performs well, there was no lags and it feels so smooth.
Epic Citadel shows that's the Doogee Valencia gets 60 FPS in high quality mode. That's mean it can run 3D graphics smoothly.
Battery:
The phone is claimed to have a 2000 mAh battery, however it doesn't stand too much. On one charge, you can run 3D games for around 2hrs, online streaming for 2.9hrs, local MP4s for 3.2hrs and 8hrs of MP3 Playback. This may be a frimware issue.
Connectivity:
The unit has all the connectivity that we use nowadays. WiFi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0, 2G and 3G GSM. The device has dual SIM slots. However, it GPS misses the target sometimes. I live in Tunisia, sometimes it gives my exact location on Facebook Messenger and sometimes it puts me in Vietnam or Kuala Lampur.
Camera:
Both front and back camera comes with Auto-focus, touch to focus, HDR (rear only), Face beauty and Panorama. The phone also supports Google Camera App I was quite impressed with the photo quality. So far, I only took couple of shots of my Zippo and my BIC lighter but I'm willing to take so other shots sometime during the next week.
*As I'm a new user, I can't post outside links so please replace the [dot] with . in the following link so you can see the photo examples or check the attachments.
postimg[dot]org/gallery/5kxui0k6/fa1d5324/
Operating System:
The phones comes with a custom Android 4.4.2 KitKat, it also comes with Back Touch configuration and some extra gestures called "Smart Somatosensory" which seems useless for me.
Conclusion:
For it price, I can't complain about anything. I just hope for a frimeware update to fix the battery issue.
Where to buy:
I got my unit from ChinaVasion and got it shipped via registered AirMail.
Bare in mind that you'll have to pay taxes at your country's customs. And even if you decide to go for DHL or FedEx shipping you'll pay taxes.
Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to post links as I'm a new user. Anyways, there is some unboxing videos of the phone over YouTube. Go and check them out if you want!
I hope you enjoyed the review, and let me know if you need anything else about the phone.
Hello,
here is my review of the new BLUBOO X550 in color black. The original review is written in German language (my native language) and you can find it here: http://www.chinamobiles.org/threads/testbericht-bluboo-x550-mit-5300mah-akku-android-5-1-lollipop-lte-von-icetea7.45297/.
Order
I have received the Bluboo X550 from efox-shop.com (http://www.efox-shop.com/bluboo-x55...dschirm-android-50-4g-lte-smartphone-g-301504).
You can order it from a warehouse in Germany for 159,99€ or from China for 129,99€. It is possible to buy a sort of insurance so that you get the taxes back.
There are two colors (black and white) available.
My X550 was sent out with DHL Express from China. DHL picked up the package on Sunday (14.6.15) and I have received it on Friday (19.6.15) here in Germany.
Specs (according to efox-shop.com)
Brand: BLUBOO
Model: X550
Operating-System: Android 5.1 Lollipop
Networking: 2G: GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) / 3G: WCDMA (850/900/2100MHz) / 4G: FDD-LTE (B1/B3/B7/B20 (800/1800/2100/2600MHz)
SIM-card: DualSIM
CPU: MTK6735P
GPU: Mali-T720
ROM: 16GB
RAM: 2GB
External memory: Micro-SD
Display: 5,5“ OGS IPS
Resolution: 1280 x 720 (HD 720p)
Camera (back): 8MP, F2.0 aperture with a BSI CMOS lens
Camera (front): 2MP
Battery: 5300mAh
Notification led: Yes
Radio: Yes, with headphones
GPS: Yes
WIFI: Yes, 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth: Yes, 4.0
NFC: No
Size: 148 x 78 x 9,5 mm / / 5.82 x 3.07 x 0.37 inches
Weight: 0,186 kg
Unboxing: What’s in the box?
I have received the device very well packed in an air bubble mailer. Next to the packaging there was a free silicon case in color brown.
The black boxing of the phones is made out of high quality and big cardboard. “BLUBOO Beyond Your Life!” is written on top of the box and on the other side you can find a sticker with the specifications of the X550.
If you open the packaging you will find the device, a screen-saver and a user manual. And there are two boxes. One contains the USB-cable and the other one two chargers. One is labeled with “Fast Charging” but both look exactly the same and there are no differences in size.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflo2cnREVUFxekd3SXM3OHl5VjEwQXRmZTJVeUdkTG1BNUc5bl81Sy1BSTQ
Casing & Build Quality
At the beginning I was a bit surprised because I thought that a 5,5“ smartphone with a 5300mAh battery would be much thicker, heavier and wouldn’t lay good in the hand but Bluboo showed me that it can work. The whole body is made out of plastic and the display front panel is outlined by a chromed frame that looks good in combination to the black front.
Above the 5,5“ screen you can find the earpiece in the middle, the sensors on the right and a little notification LED and the front camera on the left.
Underneath the display are the three touch buttons (back, home, return). They aren’t lighted and the symbols are only printed in silver.
If you look at the backside you will find the 8MP and a LED besides it. The lens is a bit overhanging. In the middle you can find the silver Bluboo logo and at the bottom there are two grids for the loudspeaker but you will only hear sound out of the right one. Above are some other signs like a CE logo and others. The back of the device is rounded at the edges and that is the reason why it lays good in the hand.
On the right side of the X550 you can find the volume control and the power on/off button.
The left side is clean. There are no keys or something else.
The 3,5mm headphones jack together with the Micro-USB port are positioned on the upper surface of the device.
In the end you will find the microphone in the left corner of the bottom and a small notch for an easy removal of the battery cover.
If you take off the battery cover you will directly see the huge battery in the middle, two simcard and one microSD card slot, the loudspeaker and the main camera with LED.
All in all the build quality is good, there are no loose parts and nothing creaks.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B...NqcVFzaVVmOWVsVXQ0cXZXbmc2Q0ZiWVF0V3FvZ3FDZGM
Display / Touchscreen / Multitouch
The used 5,5” 1280x720 OGS IPS HD-Display looks good, I can’t see any pixels and the colors are natural. It is possible to change color rendering in the settings (“Mira Vision”). The viewing angle is stable and watching YouTube videos makes a lot of fun. You can adjust the brightness very high and this is why there should be no problem using this phone in sunlight. The automatic brightness adjustment also works well and reacts fast on changing ambient light conditions. So far there have been no ghost-touches or something like that. The touchscreen is very snappy and precise. Finally I have to say that it is a five point multitouch screen.
Processor & Storage
The Bluboo X550 has the MTK6735P quadcore processor with a Mali-T720 GPU and 2GB Ram and 16GB Rom built-in.
The 1GHz processors seems weak in the product data sheet but works pretty well. There are no lags and the sytem runs very smoothly and Apps start quickly. The only problem are graphic intense games. “Asphalt 8” and “Rayman Fiesta Run” were no problem but games like “N.O.V.A 3” or “Gangstar Vegas”. Of course more simple games like “Angry Birds” or “Candy Crush” are playable. 2Gb RAM are enough space to run various apps at the same time. For example it is possible to hear music in the background and to surf on the internet at the same time.
The phone has 16Gb of internal storage. You can expand it with a micro SDcard with up to 64Gb. I have tested a 64Gb microSD card from Sandisc and it worked like a charm. Furthermore you can connect an OTG-cable to move or to access data on it.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfkxqYU5YaEtYNkFGZmNHV2xTbVNOTzBjTk93d0tPOXRIZ1BfOERZbU95bHc
Firmware
I have received the X550 with a stock Android version of Android 5.1 Lollipop. There is no special launcher or something like that preinstalled by Bluboo. Everything runs very smooth and everything works directly after the first boot. There are no Chinese Apps preinstalled but on the other hand all Google Apps just like Google+, Google Maps and of course the Google PlayStore. So you are able to install all your favorite Apps and games.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfkZyN3RTbUE0RzBJTWN0N0VoUjZjU21NQVdobFBxa0Z6SGZnSFZMUi1sODg
Two helpful Apps were preinstalled. On the one hand it is the App „Direct“ and on the other hand it’s „Smart Wake“. With Smart Wake you can choose a gesture to wake up the device from standby mode or to start an App. This could for example be “DoubleTap” to unlock the X550 or “SlideUp” to start/open the browser. Of course you can choose the gestures by your own. The App „Direct“ is an addition to that where you for example can take a picture when you put your hand in front of the proximity sensor while you have opened the camera App. HotKnot is supported, too.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfmxCakI4amtsOFJUajItdTZZMUZFQkhmTXNqaEY5ZU96UXEycUJ2UHdoZHM
Out of the box a there are lot of languages supported just like English, German,... .
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflNMZUM4cjdzU1FfU1FKcEFvTVRpMGZjbHRpcjlhdG45Q0QzWXVtd3RCbms
Root
It’s possible to root the device with KingRoot 4.1.
2G / 3G / 4G
The X550 supports DualSim with DualStandby and 4G LTE. The reception is good and without any abortions.
Attention: SimSlot2 only supports 2G! You can only use 3G and 4G LTE in SimSlot1. But of course you can make calls or write sms with both Simcards.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfkNYeHdyWlNkRG1RMTg4bWJ6WmdSYU1jcllwaFFBNXpNSUZSdnUwRHFpS2M
Sensors
To see the supported/build in sensors please check the following GoogleDrive link:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflJXQVVJUFhPWjgwWkpFQkR6VFluWm5KTzdmaVY3SVRKTXhDV01OWkFQQ2s
WLAN
The WLAN reception/range is very good and comparable to the ZTE Blade S6 Plus.
Bluetooth
The Bluetooth range is very long, too. I have tested it with several phones and Bluetooth speaker.
Compass
The X550 doesn’t support a compass.
Notification LED
The notification LED is next to the frontcamera on the left side. It’s very small and only glows in color red.
GPS
GPS is ok but devinitely not the best.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfmpHSG5YTTRzRXF4TW5uSC1FSHlWSnR3d0FhcDJOWnVqSEpBSkk5ZGhqZ1k
Audio
The sound quality is good and phone calls are clear as well on both sides of the line. It is possible to raise the volume very high but the sound isn’t that great. It’s good enough for some short YouTube videos or other short clips but I would suggest to use earphones/headphones or Bluetooth speakers.
Attention: My device always reboots/freezes after a short time if it is connected to a computer speaker via AUX-cable. I have tested different speakers but the result was always the same. There are no problems with Bluetooth speakers. The reason could be the external power supply of the speaker.
Battery
The battery of the BLUBOO X550 is built-in and advertised with a capacity of 5300mAh. BLUBOO claims that the X550 can last about four days of normal usage and 30 days in standby mode with only one single charge.
I have charged the battery to 100% and used it as my daily driver. With two simcards, WLAN always on, downloading apps, running benchmark tests, playing some games, surfing the internet, synchronizing several e-mail accounts and using diverse messenger the result was a screen-on time of 11h24min. This is in my eyes a very good result. So you should easily come over the day with one charge. But as always it really depends on the user behaviour.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflNzUDQzWjgtWl9GS3lwR2xNSjJUZW5ZdmRFZHJqa1hrR1dhaUh3dUN1Nms
I think it is a nice idea to use the X550 with an OTG-cable as powerbank but in combination with my Gionee Elife E7 and my Meizu MX4 I wasn’t able to charge one of these devices. So, it is a nice idea but it doesn’t work properly in my case. I have tried it with a powered off Gionee but the only result was a bootloop. I have tried a different OTG-cable for sure. On my MX4 it says that the MX4 is loading but after 15min there was still no change in battery percentage.
I have tried „Fast Charging“ with the fast charging adapter but the results weren’t like advertised. Bluboo says that it only takes 60min for 75% (3975mAh) respectively 40min for 50% (2650mAh).
These are my results:
- after 40min: 25%
- after 60min: 37%
0-100%: 3h38min
With Geekbench 3 Battery Test the result was over 15h (Wlan off and without simcards). I can’t tel the exact time because there has been an error while trying to upload the score. The last time I have checked the percentage was after 15h20min with 8% battery left. So I think the final result was approximately 16h.
Cameras
The front camera has 2MP and is good enough for some selfies or video chatting.
The main camera on the back has 8MP and isn’t that great but please decide on your own and check out my pictures.
As always all the pictures were made by me with the standard settings and the preinstalled camera app.
Main camera: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfk1zQW9wNVp3X1VJVWJFbFFSX1ZRVHIyaXVWRk9MbUpWV0ZjZmZSVUVuMDg
with HDR: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfmpFUjBPMXdSZ1Q3WFFHRHdpRlFCc2tJV3BycXN5U2hwazBQUmthR1lEaW8
Front camera: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflFSWHl4WWdqY25kZW1aWEpscHlaeHFRbnVaMDJBS3Etd1U4OWZlanEyUU0
Radio
The integrated radio works pretty well and supports RDS. To be able to use the radio you have to plug in some earphones/headphones.
Benchmark Tests
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfk14TFFKQWRnX0paQVRiLUhlTHljcFpfdzBETkxHMWRFUmpDblU5MGkzYUU
Conclusion
The Bluboo X550 is a nice 5,5“ smartphone with a huge battery that lasts very long. The device is directly ready after unpacking with preinstalled multilanguage firmware and all Google Apps. I really like that there are no Chinese Apps and no special launcher. Android 5.1 Lollipop runs great and with it you should be up to date for the next few months. The build quality is good but the whole device is made out of plastic. WLAN reception is very good but the GPS signal good definitely be better. In everyday life is the 1GHz processor enough but „Gamer“ should look for another device.
I don’t like that the whole battery advertising wasn’t true. I wasn’t able to charge the X550 in 40min to 50% and using the phone as sort of powerbank hasn’t worked properly either. Furthermore my phone always reboots/freezes if I connect it to some computer speaker.
So if you are searching for a 5,5” smartphone with a big battery that easily manages to last more than 10h screen-on time and don’t graphic intense games should definitely consider to buy this phone. But please don’t take the „Fast Charging“ to serious on this device because I couldn’t confirm all the promises.
Pro:
- very big battery
- nice display
- smooth operation
- very good WLAN reception
- Android 5.1 Lollipop with GoogleApps preinstalled out of the box
Neutral:
- price
- GPS
- camera
- no lighted touch buttons
- small notification LED that only glows in color red
Contra:
- weak processor (some games aren’t playable)
- I couldn’t confirm the advertised highlights of the battery and the fast charging
- the phone freezes/reboots if I connect it to speakers via AUX-cable
- only SIM-Slot1 supports 3G and 4G LTE
To see all pictures my pictures of the Bluboo X550 please check out my GoogleDrive folder:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfjdndFRZcTF0R3UzWEpHTEdZM0h5T281aDJVc1FsMmpQYWxPU3Vna1V5aUk
If you have any questions or want me to test something special then please leave a comment in this thread.
That battery looks awsome!
It doesn't only look awsome. The screen-on time is just amazing.
I'm waiting for the Doogee HOMTOM, shoud be a Smartphone with 6250mAh battery comming in september.
It's seems different smartphone will be launch soon with battery over 5000mAh.
nice review thank you!
Thank you very much for your positive feedback.
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The good:
Elegant design and great build quality
Gorgeous display
Superb front-facing cameras
Hi-Fi sound
The bad:
Expensive
The rear-facing camera lacks OIS
The Snapdragon 625 processor isn’t future-proof
No NFC
While other smartphones are battling it out on the benchmark front, vivo, a Chinese smartphone brand which ranks at No.5 in the world in terms of shipment, takes a very different approach in marketing their products. The vivo X9 is one of the newest additions to their “camera & Music” smartphone line. Rocking dual front-facing cameras, the X9 is anticipated to attract consumers with ultimate enthusiasm for selfies.
Key features of the vivo X9
• 5.5″ Super AMOLED of 1920*1080px resolution
• 20MP & 8MP dual front-facing cameras with moonlight LED, F2.0 aperture
• 16MP autofocus camera with LED flash, F2.0 aperture
• 4K video recording (both front and rear cameras)
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (octa-core 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53, Adreno 506 GPU)
• 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal storage
• Funtouch 0S 3.0 (on top of Android OS v6.01)
• AK4376 DAC
• Dual SIM, dual standby
• 2G Network: GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
• 3G Network: HSDPA
• 4G Network: LTE, TD-LTE
• Wi-Fi 802.11, Wi-Fi Direct, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
• Bluetooth v4.1
• USB host (dongle required)
• Standard 3.5 mm audio jack
• 3,050mAh irremovable Li-Po battery
Retail package and Accessories
The vivo X9 comes with very elegant packaging and lots of accessories. Inside the box you will find a phone, a charger, a cable for charging and data transmission, two protective cases and two screen protectors.
Design and build
At a glance, the X9 looks like just another extremely refined smartphone from vivo: a large display is dominating the front, and there is relatively small bezel around.
The only major difference you will instantly notice is that there are dual front-facing cameras now, both located on the left side of the ear piece. On the right side, you will find a light sensor and a moonlight LED flash.
There are some less obvious differences which makes the X9 more aesthetically pleasing than its predecessors: the width of the bezel on the left and right side is only 1.59mm each, compared to the 1.82mm of the vivo X7. The black frame around the display has also been reduced. The corners are more rounded, as well.
There is an oval Home button below the display, with a built-in fingerprint reader embedded in it. This key is both capacitive and physical, and offers decent key travel when pressing on it. The oval home button on my Samsung S7 Edge often failed to read my fingerprints due to its narrow reading area, fortunately I haven’t experienced the same problem with the vivo X9, thanks to the relatively larger reading area.
The bottom side plays host to a Micro USB port, stereo speaker gates and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It is quite disappointing that vivo decided to choose a Micro USB port instead of a more advanced USB Type-C port for its latest phone. As the latter becomes increasingly popular, it is for certain that Micro USB will be abandoned in the near future.
The power button and volume rocker are hosted on the right side, both of them are very easy to locate and offer tactile feedback to the users.
On the left side is a SIM Tray slot, you can use the stock tool to take the SIM tray out.
As you can tell from the picture above, the X9 supports using dual nano-SIM card in one phone.
The uniqueness in the X9’s design is more pronounced on its rear side. The plastic strips which allow signals to travel through are now located more towards the top side and bottom side, giving the back of the phone a more unified look. The rear-facing camera does pop up a little, but as the lens is covered by sapphire glass, it won’t get scratches easily. If you are still concerned, the cases which can be found in the retail package will save you from those worries.
The vivo X9 measures 152.6*74*6.99mm, about the same dimensions as the Samsung S7 Edge (150.9*72.6*7.7mm) and One Plus 3 (152.7x74.7x7.35mm), more compact than the Apple iPhone 7 Plus (158.2*77.9*7.3mm). Using the phone with one hand shouldn’t be a problem for most people, and for folks with smaller hands, there's a one-handed mode that resizes things onscreen to make apps easier to reach. The X9 weighs 154g, also about the same as the Samsung S7 Edge (157g) and One Plus 3 (158g), significantly lighter than the Apple iPhone 7 Plus (188g). Thanks to the balanced weight distribution, the X9 feels even lighter than the number suggests.
The build quality of the X9 is amazing. The front side of the phone is covered by Corning Gorilla glass 5, which is super resistant to scratches, and may be able to survive many occasional drops. The metal structure also feels extremely solid.
Display and sound
The X9 rocks a 5.5-inch Super AMOLED display at the resolution of 1920*1080px. Although it is not the most cutting-edge in terms of pixel density, as most of the flagship smartphones have 2K displays now, it was still impossible for us to pick out individual pixels while using the phones in a normal distance. Putting the phones in a VR set we started to notice the difference, as my Samsung S7 Edge does look a lot sharper and more natural than the X9.
Despite the lower pixel density, the display of the X9 is still breathtakingly gorgeous. Like most AMOLED panels, the color saturation and contrast ratio here are simply great, you get very deep black and rich tones. The X9’s display looks generally more pleasing than most of the LCD panels used on other smartphones, as everything appears more vivid and alive.
Viewing angles are excellent as well, looking at the display from an extreme angle the colors are still not distorted. The brightness of the display is also great, you won’t have any problem using it outdoors in direct sunlight.
One of the major selling points of vivo smartphones is Hi-Fi. The X9 features an AKM4376 DAC to boost its audio performance. Specs-wise, this converter isn’t really so impressive as the quad-core DAC used in the LG V20 or the dual ES9028 DAC used in vivo’s very own Xplay 5. But coming from the S7 Edge, my audiophile ears did notice a significant improvement in overall sound quality when plugging in my B&O H3 in-ear monitor. The bass has a lot more punch, the vocals are crisp clear, instrument separation and positioning are as good as some of my earlier DAPs. I even asked a few of my non-audiophile, iPhone using friends to try listening to music with the X9, all of them actually said that the X9 sounded a lot better than their iPhones, although they couldn’t really pinpoint what the differences were. Acoustic nuts may still find their DAPs with Amplifiers irreplaceable, but for average smartphone users, the X9 is certainly one of the best phones out there to enjoy music.
On the speaker front, the X9 is also outstanding compared to many other smartphones. Not only are the built-in speakers louder, but the sound coming from them also has more clarity, layers and strength. Enabling the “Super Audio” mode in the settings, the X9 can sound as loud as some of the portable speakers and laptops, very impressive given the phone’s relatively small footprint.
System, UI and Apps
The X9 runs Android 6.01 Marshmallow out of the box, with a heavily customized skin called “Funtouch OS 3.0” on top. I know many folks prefer stock Android skin to those customized UIs, but vivo has really taken measured steps into developing their own UI, especially for the Chinese customers.
Like many customized skins, the Funtouch OS doesn’t include an application drawer, everything lays on the homescreens. Users can create folders to keep them in order.
And personalization freedom is what the X9 gives a lot of: You can rearrange the navigation buttons and even add extra ones. You can make the on-screen keyboard larger or smaller. You can hide the icon of the apps which you don’t want people to know that you are using. You have many interface themes to choose from. There are the so-called signature wallpapers, generated around the first initial of the user. And the list goes on.
Like I said earlier, many of the features of the Funtouch UI are tailor-made for Chinese customers, whether vivo will use a different UI on the units for oversea market is still unknown. Fortunately, this is Android and you can always install third-party launchers such as Google Now launcher to get the stock Android experience.
Cameras
Most of smartphone makers have realized now that people need better front-facing cameras for selfies. That’s why you get greatly improved front cameras on the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge, the Apple iPhone 7 and many other flagship smartphones. However, no brand went as far as vivo did, as the newly released X9 has featured dual front-facing cameras: a 20MP primary camera complemented by an 8MP secondary camera and a moonlight flash, arguably the best selfie camera setup on any smartphone currently available. The 20MP front-facing SONY IMX376 CMOS lens is in charge of taking the picture and capturing all the details, while the 8MP sensor deals with blurring the background.
To everyone’s delight, the impeccable specs do translate into outstanding selfies. The dual front facing cameras capture lots of details and very rich colors under optimal conditions. HDR is available for those tricky scenes and it works pretty well.
The vivo X9 easily crushes other market-leading smartphones when it comes to taking photos with the front-facing cameras.
Even in low light conditions, the selfie cameras are still usable, thanks to the front-facing moonlight LED flash, which provides just the right amount of illumination to light up your face without dazzling your eyes.
The X9 adopts a 16MP SONY IMX298 Exmor camera with F/2.0 aperture on its rear. The lens offers a sensor size of 1/2.8" and a pixel size of 1.12μm, and has been commonly featured on lots of flagship smartphones such as the Xiaomi Mi5, Huawei Mate 8 and One Plus 3. The camera focuses fairly quickly, has a fast shutter and takes nice photos in general.
In automatic mode, images are not as sugarcoated as the photos taken by some other smartphones. There are no excessive amounts of contrast or saturation to the photo, and sharpness is also kept at a reasonable level. As a result, photographs are natural, delivering a very close representation of reality. Unfortunately, the rear-facing camera on the X9 isn’t accompanied by optical image stabilization, which is now a standard feature for flagship smartphones. As a result, ghosting and blurs could happen when you are not holding the phone steadily.
The camera app also offers lots of effects and modes for the users to play around with. The users are provided with 7 modes and dozens of different filters when shooting with the rear-facing camera, including the popular time-lapse photography. With the front-facing camera, the users has many different beautification functions to choose from as well.
Videos taken by the X9 look fine, with lots of details and rich colors. The phone is also capable of taking smooth 4K videos.
Performance
The heart of the vivo X9 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 Octa-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz, beating alongside 4GB of RAM. It's not quite the Snapdragon 820 and 821 you'll find in those mainstream flagship Android smartphones, and the differences did show in benchmark tests.
In the Antutu V6.0 benchmark test, the X9 was returned a score of 61,544, far below the scores of the One Plus 3T and Samsung S7 Edge, and also many points behind the LG G5 SE. Only when compared to entry level smartphones such as the Meizu M5 Note and Huawei P9 lite, the X9 could have an advantage.
On the Geekbench 3 benchmark, the X9 scored 785 in single-core performance and 4,050 in multi-core. That's definitely nowhere near the Samsung S7 Edge and One Plus 3T in either category.
In the more graphics-focused 3DMark, the X9 scored 13,829 in the Ice Storm Unlimited test and 473 in the Sling Shot ES3.1 test.
In the PCMark Work 2.0 test, the vivo X9 was returned a predictable score of 4,780.
The X9 has 64GB internal storage, which is very generous considering many flagship smartphones only have 32GB storage on board. However, the eMMc 5 used here is not as fast as the UFS 2.0 used on high-end smartphones, the Androbench test scores told the difference. As you can see from the chart above, the X9 doesn’t match high-end smartphones in terms of Sequence Read Speed, but its Sequence Write Speed is actually quite similar to those flagships.
Fortunately, the benchmark scores didn’t entirely translate into real-world performance, as the X9 felt almost as fast and responsive as the Samsung S7 Edge while dealing with everyday tasks such as social networking, video feeds and web-browsing. The only difference that I noticed was it did take a little longer to install an application, and screen rotation didn’t happen as instant as it was on the S7 Edge.
Running graphics-intense 3D games, which I didn’t always do myself, the differences showed. Hiccups and lags did happen with big titles such as GTA: San Andreas, NFS17 and Asphalt 8, and we did notice significantly extended loading time and lower frame rates. With that said, the X9 still handled most of the games pretty well: Temple Run, Plants VS Zombies, Vitua Tennis and many other popular titles were as fast as they were on those cutting-edge smartphones.
Multitasking was generally fast, and the X9 could hold many applications in the background for a relatively long period of time, thanks to the 4GB RAM. Switching between applications on the X9 was not always as instant as it was on the S7 Edge, but for average users, the difference was ignorable. The internals may seem adequate for most people now, but with the upgrades of Android and many applications, how long will the Snapdragon 625 be able to keep everything running smoothly on the X9 is simply unknown.
Battery life and charging
The X9 has an irremovable 3,050mAh battery under the hood, pretty average for a 5.5-inch phone. As the X9 sports a more power-conservative processor, we actually expected it to do very well in battery life. Unfortunately, the result was just not as promising as we had hoped.
In the battery rundown test, in which we streamed full-screen videos over Wi-Fi with screen brightness and speaker volume at maximum, the phone lasted 5 hours and 38 minutes, which is 1 hour shorter than the S7 Edge’s result in the same test. In my nearly two weeks of testing, the X9 could power through a full day of moderate use, with around 30% charge remaining when I decided to call it a day. For intense smartphone gamers, carrying a mobile charger will still be inevitable.
The nice thing is, the X9’s battery consumption has been kept at minimum during standby. I once connected the phone to Wi-Fi and left it on my desk to receive messages and alerts for 12 hours, the battery only dropped 2%.
The X9 supports vivo’s very own dual-engine charging (5V-2A or 9V-2A), which supports up to 18W input, so topping up the battery takes very little time. With the stock wall charger, it only took around 1.5 hours to fully charge the phone.
Cellular and connectivity
The vivo X9 supports all major cellular networks, you can just insert any SIM card into the slot and start using the phone immediately. There are two Nano SIM card slots on board, which means the phone supports dual standby.
Like all other smartphones, the vivo X9 also features Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, and all of them work like a charm. There is no micro SD card slot for you to expand the storage, but the 64GB internal storage should be sufficient for most users. For me, the real disappointment is the missing of NFC. Users with the latest iPhones and Galaxy S phones should know how convenient Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are, and with the X9, you may never be able to use similar functions. Lots of new speakers and wireless headphones also features NFC for faster pairing with the smartphone, but with the X9, you will still need to take a number of steps to get them paired, shame on vivo!
Competitions
The vivo X9 is priced at RMB2,798 ($406) in China, and in the same price range you will find many powerhouse smartphones. Although none of them offer equally impressive front-facing cameras, they do make up with horsepower and other unique features. The One Plus 3T features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor clocked at 2.5GHz, 6GB RAM, 64GB UFS2.0 storage and 3,400mAh battery. The nubia Z11, which is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, has a breathtaking bezel-less design and the same AK4376 DAC. The Xiaomi Mi5s (Enhanced Edition) features a Snapdragon 821 processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB UFS2.0 storage, and a cutting-edge ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. Affordable flagships aside, many mid-range offerings run more capable chips like the Snapdragon 65X. Even the X9’s predecessor- the vivo X7 - is powered by a Snapdragon 652.
Verdict
For $406, the vivo X9 represents a really attractive mid-range offering. It has a simple and elegant design, great build quality and while performance isn't quite up to the level of its similarly priced rivals, it offers fantastic acoustic experiences and arguably the best front-facing cameras on a smartphone.
If you are looking for a future-proof powerhouse handset which will do very well in benchmark tests and intense 3D gaming, there are many affordable flagships out there, some of them priced even lower than the X9. But if you rank selfies and music as your top priorities, and horsepower is far down the list, then you won’t be disappointed with the vivo X9.
Hello, how can I change (or add) other language instead English and Chinese? My phone does not have google play and services. Is there a ROM with this stuff? Thanks!
Hi guys I'm @gmnabeel
This year was a comeback for MotoRola owned by Lenovo,it has launched two great gadgets moto g5 and moto g5 plus
Which have created a rush in the smartphone market and Moto g5 plus is worth getting crowned as the "Budget King"
with affordable price and great performance.
Moto g5
*Pros
Good camera
Smooth performance
Very cheap
*Cons
Lackluster design
No NFC
Poor sunlight visibility
G 5 plus
*Pros
Good camera
Smooth performance
Very cheap
*Cons
Lackluster design
Poor sunlight visibility
No infrared
No NFC (US model)
The smaller, 5-inch Moto G5 offers reliable performance thanks to Android 7.0 Nougat, and a surprisingly good 13-megapixel camera. The design is a little uninspiring though.
Motorola's new Moto G5 Plus is easily the best affordable smartphone out there right now. It features the same great camera as the g5 and its octa-core 2GHz processor paired with Android 7.0 Nougat make it a slick performer. It's design is not so good at the front with a galaxy type button at the button which supports gesture and the on screen navigation keys can also be disabled and the US model doesn't include NFC for some reason.With the G5 and G5 Plus, Motorola has continued down that road to the extent that its latest smartphones bear little resemblance to their storied predecessors
G5 series has a 13mp camera with a little hump which makes it attractive and the standard 3.5mm headphone jack sits on the top edge of the G5 and on the bottom edge of the G5 Plus, next to the micro-USB charging port, but that pretty much covers the exterior differences.
The G5 and G5 Plus both sport full HD (1,920 x 1,080) LCD displays, which is the best resolution you can reasonably expect at these prices. Last year's G4 models offered the choice of 5- or 5.5-inch panels, but this time you have your pick of either a 5-incher on the regular G5 or the 5.2-inch screen of the G5 Plus
Thankfully, both Moto G5s are running Android 7.0 Nougat and support feature of the Samsung multi screen.You can use two apps at the same time
If there's one thing I like about a camera app, it's simplicity, being able to point and shoot without feeling like I should be picking a different scene mode for every snap. That's why Motorola's camera app is exactly my cup of tea. It boots up almost immediately and has a clean interface, with HDR, flash options and a countdown timer the only settings you can fiddle with from the viewfinder. In addition to familiar modes including panorama and slow-mo video, there's a "professional" option that puts additional settings in the viewfinder. They allow you to manually adjust ISO, white balance and exposure -- standard stuff. I've never been one to labor over settings when I just want to grab a quick snap, so it's fortunate that Motorola make it easy to ignore them.
That's because, even in the regular point-and-shoot mode, if you tap the screen to select your focal point, a little exposure slider appears around the perimeter of the reticle. It's a stroke of genius. How often do you look at the viewfinder and question the white balance setting? Likely never. But I bet you've been in a situation where you frame your shot and the exposure meter picks up a bright blue sky and hides your subject in darkness.
Moto G5 and G5 Plus review: Still the best budget phones
With upgrades including great cameras, these phones are the best at this price.
The year was 2013, the company was Motorola, and the device was the Moto G. It set a new standard for affordable smartphones, offering a user experience that left the existing sea of cheap, crappy Android handsets in the dust. Years later, it seems the Moto G bloodline can do no wrong. As another generation of G emerges, can Motorola do with the G5 and G5 Plus what it does best, striking an ideal balance between hardware and price point?
Another year, another pair of great affordable handsets from Motorola. The smaller, 5-inch Moto G5 offers reliable performance thanks to Android 7.0 Nougat, and a surprisingly good 13-megapixel camera. The design is a little uninspiring and the display is hard to read in direct sunlight, but this little smartphone does everything you need it to for a bargain price.
Motorola
Moto G5 Plus
from $229.99
Motorola's new Moto G5 Plus is easily the best affordable smartphone out there right now. It features the same great camera as the Galaxy S7 and its octa-core 2GHz processor paired with Android 7.0 Nougat make it a slick performer. It's a bit dull on the design front and the US model doesn't include NFC for some reason, but when you can pick one up for a mere $185 (with lockscreen ads through Amazon Prime), one can hardly complain.
Hardware
Every year since Motorola released the first G, it's made relatively minor tweaks to a common design language. Last year's G4 series represented the biggest shift at the time. The domed back was abandoned in favor of a flatter, boxier shape, making for a more serious look compared to past G models. With the G5 and G5 Plus, Motorola has continued down that road to the extent that its latest smartphones bear little resemblance to their storied predecessors. But I'm not convinced that's a good thing.
The Moto G concept has always been about putting affordability first. That hasn't changed with this generation, but the value proposition now includes metal, a premium building material that hasn't featured on any previous models. For me, though, this is little more than a gimmicky selling point. Motorola has been careful in its description of the new phones' "metal finish." That's important because you aren't getting an aircraft-grade aluminum unibody (which would be a significant leap in construction) but a lone metal panel that fills the majority of the back plate on both devices.
This is most obvious on the G5, as you have to pry off the back piece to get at the SIM and microSD slots. Looking at the entire rear panel inside-out, you can clearly see where a thin metal sheet has been bonded to an otherwise all-plastic frame. The G5 Plus uses a drawer to absorb all your little cards -- a clever double-sided one that accepts two SIMs and a microSD, in fact -- so the limited amount of metal isn't as conspicuous. There's also virtually no discernible difference in texture between the metal and plastic parts, which further disguises the marriage of materials.
I've probably labored the point enough already, but my final word would be to ignore the marketing spiel. The G5 and G5 Plus are not metal phones; they're plastic with a sliver of metal glued to the back. That said, I don't want you thinking they're flimsy or fragile. Both are solid, well-built handsets that laughed off my feeble attempts to bend and twist them.
There are other things to like about the design of the G5 and G5 Plus. For starters, both are small enough that you can easily use them one-handed, with no sharp corners digging into your palm. I'm also a fan of the bold black ring encircling the primary camera and companion flash on both handsets. It reminds me of the old Nokia Lumia 1020, though it's actually a design element borrowed from Motorola's higher-end Z line.
On the G5, this camera enclosure is flush with the back plate, whereas on the Plus it's elevated by roughly two millimeters. This hump is actually quite attractive, highlighting what's arguably the phone's only eye-catching accent. Aside from this obvious difference, the G5 and G5 Plus look almost identical. You can barely tell the G5 Plus is a couple of millimeters taller and one millimeter wider than the G5 (all in the name of accommodating its slightly larger display). The standard 3.5mm headphone jack sits on the top edge of the G5 and on the bottom edge of the G5 Plus, next to the micro-USB charging port, but that pretty much covers the exterior differences.
Whereas past iterations have been colorful and playful, this year's models are just a bit boring by comparison. The little dimple on the back of previous Gs where the Motorola logo sat (also serving as a natural finger rest) is gone, replaced by a raised, shiny plaque that has as tendency to collect hand grime. I get that Motorola is going for a more mature look, but it lacks a certain refinement. There's a significant amount of dead bezel framing the displays, for instance.
Furthermore, the G5 and G5 Plus don't allow for Moto Maker customization, meaning you're torn between either the drab two-tone gray/silver color scheme or the slightly ostentatious gold. A "sapphire blue" model has begun hitting some markets and is the best-looking option from what I've seen online, but it's not widely available yet. In general, I feel the signature characteristics of the G line are progressively being eroded. The peak, for me, was the 2015 Moto G, which was the first model to offer Maker personalization and the only member of the lineage to boast true waterproofing.
The G5 and G5 Plus both sport full HD (1,920 x 1,080) LCD displays, which is the best resolution you can reasonably expect at these prices. Last year's G4 models offered the choice of 5- or 5.5-inch panels, but this time you have your pick of either a 5-incher on the regular G5 or the 5.2-inch screen of the G5 Plus -- at least you do in some parts of the world, anyway, as only the G5 Plus is sold in the US.
Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better and I actually prefer the display of the G5 over the G5 Plus, though it's worth noting that the latter is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and the former soda-lime glass. Blacks are excellent on both devices and white balance accurate, but colors appear a bit more vibrant on the smaller model. You need to see them side by side to catch this slight difference, though, and colors are still nicely saturated on the G5 Plus.
This discrepancy is likely due to the fact the G5's display has a bit more power behind it. Neither panel performs particularly well in bright sunlight. You can still check the time and read your emails, but even at maximum brightness, glare is very obvious.
The next version of Android, simply called "O" for now, is already available for developers to poke around. It would be slightly disappointing, then, if your new phone didn't have a relatively fresh public release out of the box, which is something I've experienced recently. Thankfully, both Moto G5s are running Android 7.0 Nougat. It may not appear to be lightyears ahead of Marshmallow, but many of the tweaks are hidden, designed to improve performance and stability, among other things.
If you're not familiar with the functionality specific to Nougat, there's little to catch up on. You can now run apps side by side, similar to how the deceased Xbox One Snap feature works. Except here, running two apps on a 5-inchish display isn't particularly useful; switching between full-screen apps typically gets the job done more comfortably. This leaves the richer notification drawer as the only genuinely useful improvement. The way it groups notifications and allows you to expand your recent emails (as an example) so you can see progressively more info after every tap is neat. This means you can do more micromanaging within the drawer, instead of having to go into individual apps.
Motorola has never been one to stray too far from stock Android, and the G5s are no exception. Better yet, the few customizations the company included are all much appreciated. Motorola's circular clock widget, which shows the time, date, local weather and remaining battery charge is gorgeously minimalist. Also, the icon to bring up the app drawer has been removed and replaced with an arguably more natural up-swipe gesture, giving you an empty spot for another homescreen shortcut.
With one-button navigation, you can also free up space on the screen by using the fingerprint sensor as all three standard Android keys. You tap it as if it's a normal home button and swipe left for back or right for recents.
The handy little tweaks continue on the lockscreen, should you choose to enable Motorola's special notifications feature. Move the phone to any degree after it's been left alone for a few seconds and the time plus a record of any unchecked notifications will briefly flash on the screen. Hold your finger on any of the bubble icons signaling something unseen, and it expands to show more info. From there, opening it fully or dismissing it is only a swipe away. It's not a revolutionary new take on lockscreen notifications by any means; it just looks prettier than the white bars you get when you fully wake your phone.
By far the best feature contributions by Motorola are the whole-phone gestures you can enable. Without needing to unlock the G5 and G5 Plus, two successive chop motions turns the flashlight on, while two wrist twists opens the camera. They may sound gimmicky but the camera quick-launch feature is genuinely the first I've found myself using naturally, probably because it's so physical (as opposed to more fiddly implementations like entering the Konami code on a volume rocker). It certainly made grabbing camera samples on both phones while strolling around London much more spontaneous.
Otherwise, the G5s run the flavor of Nougat you know and like, with Motorola slipping in only helpful additions that don't hinder Android performance.
If there's one thing I like about a camera app, it's simplicity, being able to point and shoot without feeling like I should be picking a different scene mode for every snap. That's why Motorola's camera app is exactly my cup of tea. It boots up almost immediately and has a clean interface, with HDR, flash options and a countdown timer the only settings you can fiddle with from the viewfinder. In addition to familiar modes including panorama and slow-mo video, there's a "professional" option that puts additional settings in the viewfinder. They allow you to manually adjust ISO, white balance and exposure -- standard stuff. I've never been one to labor over settings when I just want to grab a quick snap, so it's fortunate that Motorola make it easy to ignore them.
That's because, even in the regular point-and-shoot mode, if you tap the screen to select your focal point, a little exposure slider appears around the perimeter of the reticle. It's a stroke of genius. How often do you look at the viewfinder and question the white balance setting? Likely never. But I bet you've been in a situation where you frame your shot and the exposure meter picks up a bright blue sky and hides your subject in darkness.
It's normal -- auto-exposure is a fickle beast -- but Motorola solves that problem with one, simple slider. Between that, the wrist-twisting quick-launch gesture and the uncluttered interface, the camera app is a joy to use. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention you can use the camera to scan QR and bar codes. Not something you'll be doing all that often, I imagine, but it's convenient you don't have to install another app for this.
Though the G5 and G5 Plus carry different cameras, there's little that separates them where image processing is concerned. Shutter and focus response are basically immediate across both devices; and even in low-light conditions, or when you force HDR mode (it's set to auto by default), you're only waiting an extra few milliseconds for these photos to process before you can grab your next shot. In short, both handsets lend themselves well to moments you have to be quick to capture.
Both devices have the same front-facing 5-megapixel camera with wide-angle lens and f/2.2 aperture. You don't find many front-facers with lower resolutions than that these days, but it does the job if you're the type who doesn't demand selfies or video calls of the highest quality. There's a beautification mode if you prefer your skin homogenized, an HDR mode that works as expected, and the display will double as a makeshift flash in a pinch. So, not a great number of megapixels, but all the features you might want.
The regular G5 plays host to a 13-megapixel primary camera with f/2.0 aperture and phase detection autofocus. And for a device as cheap as this, it's a pretty impressive shooter. I recently spent time with a succession of affordable devices (for review purposes) that had 13MP cameras or better (on paper), but the G5 is on a completely different level. Images are full of detail and color reproduction is almost always accurate. The HDR mode does what it's supposed to, adding a bit more depth to already well-saturated images. White balance is on point, and only infrequently does auto-exposure require manual correction
Video clips filmed on the G5 are good enough, but not great. At 1080p/30 fps, you get a fair amount of detail
The Moto G5 runs on a 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430 chip and Adreno 505 GPU, while the G5 Plus steps things up a notch with a beefier 2.0GHz octa-core Snapdragon 635 processor and Adreno 506 GPU. Beyond that, there are bunch of different configurations. In the UK, there's one G5 option with 2GB of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage, as well as a dual-SIM, Amazon-exclusive config with 3GB of RAM and the same amount of memory. There's just one G5 Plus variant, with three gigs of RAM and 32GB of storage.
The G5 Plus is the only handset you can buy in the US, and you have the choice between two variants. One with 2GB of RAM and 32 gigs of storage, and another with double both those values. Other territories have different builds, too, like the 4GB/32GB model available only in Asia. Storage isn't something you need to focus on that much, since both the G5 and Plus support microSD cards as large as 128GB. And in terms of RAM, you're probably going to want to get as much as you can afford.
It's all about future-proofing. Choosing a G5 Plus over a G5 doesn't just get you a faster chip -- it also means your phone stays faster for longer as OS, app updates and general use begin to take their toll on performance. Similarly, more RAM simply means there's more to tap, whether that be to support multitasking or resource-intensive apps.
Another area where the G5s differ is battery capacity. You're looking at a 2,800mAh removable battery in the G5 and a 3,000mAh unit hidden under the G5 Plus' shell.This one's simple: There isn't any. If you're in the market for an affordable, off-contract phone, trust me when I say you want it to be running Android Nougat. But this seriously limits your options.
In the US, the 2GB/32GB G5 Plus will set you back $229 while the 4GB/64GB version costs $300. The only phone that I'd consider in the running right now is the $250 Honor 6X. It has a comparable processor, 5.5-inch 1080p display, three gigs of RAM and dual rear cameras that let you play around with focal point and background blur, among other tricks. The only issue is that it's still running EMUI 4.1, which is based on Android Marshmallow. An update to the latest version of EMUI, which uses Nougat as its backbone, is coming in the relatively near future, though.
Thank you-Jamie rigg,engadget