Soyes Mini Smartphone Review

This arrived in a simple lift top box with the phone on the top in a rubber protective insert with foam covering the top, below the phone it has a two pin European style charge plug, a USB-C to USB-A charge lead and a small user manual, although the charge plug is a two pin European style it clearly states this will be the case and a three pin UK plug would be an additional purchase, I don’t consider this any sort of issue as the provided lead will charge it via any USB socket.

First impressions, the phone has a good weight to it, is thicker than an average phone, all the finishing on it looks very high quality and with the rubber wrap around it feels like it would withstand being dropped or banged about without causing any damage, it has everything you would expect to see on a larger phone but at a reduced size.

I put the phone on charge via the USB-C socket in the base, this has a rubber cover which can be a bit fiddly to open, and the manual is all very small text with no diagrams or pictures to assist although it does go through all the functions and features. I fitted two sim cards into the phone, the design of the sim card holder is quite neat with the sims going above and below on the slider and it takes a Nano sim and a Micro (USIM) on the bottom, it is also possible to fit a micro SD card for as an alternative to one sim but not in addition to dual sims.

Once it was charged I turned it on, the language defaulted to Dutch so I had to guess/navigate through the menu to switch the language to English, once I had set it to English I had a good look through the features, the phone has facial recognition which I set up and that worked very well, I set up the fingerprint unlocking and this also worked very well with the fingerprint pad being on the back of the phone. I tested out the cameras and they are fairly good with a two megapixel front and eight megapixel rear cameras, the quality more than acceptable.

The phone comes with Android 6 (marshmallow) which is quite an old version but works very well with the phone being nice and fast to navigate and I liked the menu system, I was quite surprised how loud the phone would go considering its size although playing music through the phone speaker is a bit tinny, The battery is 1900mAh and I found it lasts a full day with heavy use and over two days plus with minimum use before it needing charging.

Overall I have been using the phone since it arrived as my main phone and everything works perfectly, I thought phone calls might be a bit difficult to hear but its fine, the menu system is fast, well thought out and easy to navigate, it’s durable, shockproof and waterproof so will put up with a lot of rough treatment, it fits easily into a small pocket and has a good loud ring tone along with some of the most recent features such as facial recognition. The default language being Dutch, opening the charge port being fiddly and the manual only being small text with no diagrams are the only things stopping me giving this top marks. 

Product description

• Colour Name: Black
• Operating system: Android 6.0
• Standard frequency band: GSM: 900/1800 WCDMA: B1/B8 FDD: B1/B3, TDD: B38/B39/B40/B41
• GPS: YES
• Wi-Fi: Dual band (2.4GHz/5GHz) single stream 802.11 a/b/n/g Bluetooth: V2.1+EDR/V3.0+HS/V4.0
• NFC: Support
• Talkback: Supports public network intercom. Supports video calls.
• Processor: MTK6737 ,CPU：4x Cortex-A53, GPU：ARM Mali-T720 MP1 550MHz
• Key: 6 independent keys: PTT Photo Keyboard Boot SOS Volume + Volume- Three virtual keys: Return to the next level Open Background Applications Return to the main interface
• Keypad lamp: Virtual Key 3 White Light
• Memory: 3GB(ROM) +32GB(RAM)
• External storage: Maximum Supporting external TF card default 128GB
• Photography/Camera: The first 2 megapixels and the last 8 megapixels
• Screen: "3.0 IPS", "Color Screen", Touch Screen Support Resolution: 480*854 FWVGA RGB PPI:326
• Battery: 1900mAh
• Fingerprint: Fingerprint unlocking
• Sensor: Vibration motor, gravity, geomagnetism
• Headset: Support TYPE-C earphone(but no include headset in package)
• Hardware interface: TF、SIM、TYPE-C
• Included accessories : 1* type C cable , 1* EU charging adaptor ,1* English user manual

Price: £125.00
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Ulefone MIX 5.5 inch with Triple cameras 4GB RAM 64GB ROM Review

Lovely phone I really like it, I bought my son the exact same phone for Christmas after he smashed his iphone and talked him into giving Android a go as I was converted several years ago and he really loves it, I have been filled with phone envy ever since so when I saw it on offer from this seller £30 below what I paid before I decided I needed an upgrade and went for it.

The phone arrived in a nice and simple Ulefone branded lift top box with the phone on top, manual, sim release pin, little metal phone stand, charge lead and retractable pin three pin USB plug in the bottom. This has a simple manual with good clear and detailed illustrations giving you all the basics you need to know.

I wanted to keep all the apps and data off my old phone so went through the setup selecting ‘Keep your apps & data’ then ‘Another Android device’ which then took me through a simple step by step on screen menu to restore a backup copy from my old phone and after I inserted a sim card and a micro SD card I was soon up and running, I used a micro SD card to test the feature but plan to run it with duel sims so tested that as well which worked fine even setting up different ringtones for them using MP3’s something iphone won’t allow no idea why.

I set up the fingerprint recognition using three of my fingers so I could open it with either hand and also use my thumb on my right hand, I like the fact the finger print recognition is on the front of the screen as it’s on the back of my old phone and I have to take it out of the case to use it. I browsed the net and ran a few videos on YouTube which all worked great giving a great sound and very clear and clean display. I ran a few games and was pleased to see they ran flawlessly without any lag or stuttering with very responsive and accurate movement on the touch screen.

I tested out the camera which was superb one of the reasons I had phone envy as I have seen some of the shots my son has taken with his and I found a nice little free app to test the phone running it with everything checking out and it was working great, I decided I needed a case even though it comes with a rubber case fitted I tend to slip my phone in my front pocket when I go out so wanted a wraparound case and found one I liked on a well-known auction site for £3.50 delivered (bargain) and it had a cut out that fitted the camera everything I wanted.

Overall this is a really nice phone with 4gb of ram and 64gb of rom it’s fast and smooth with a great camera, fingerprint recognition on the front, a great display and sound with the ability to use duel sims or sim and a micro SD card and the reason I have given it full marks. I have added a video and will also add some pictures showing how easy it is to set up and going through some of the functions such as adding the fingerprints and running a phone test.

Price: £119
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OUKITEL K5, 4G 5.7 inch Smartphone with Android 7.0 Review

My daughter cracked the screen on her phone a few weeks ago and although it still worked and had not disrupted the pixels it is still a bit of a mess, I looked into getting the screen replaced but due to the cost it really seemed better to get her another phone after making her suffer the broken one for a few weeks :)

As my daughter listens to a lot of music on her phone along with surfing and social media she needed something smooth, fast and that would have the ability to extend the storage by taking a micro SD card and this looked ideal giving the option of duel sim or sim and a micro SD card which she is now using.

The phone arrived in an orange branded OUKITEL box nicely packed and presented with the instructions and lead in the bottom along with already being fitted with a rubber bumper case for added protection. After unpacking it I said I would set it all up for her and put all her music on a micro SD card for her which gained a ‘thanks dad’ high praise indeed.

Setting it up was very simple just running through a few options most of which I skipped for my daughter to set up her personal settings and then went on to give it a good test going through all the features, first impressions where it’s quite heavy and feels around the same weight as a iphone 6 with a similar look and lightning fast flicking through the menus, the first thing I did was to test out the duel sims although it isn’t something she will be using I wanted to make sure it was all working smoothly if she ever needed it.

Duel sims work perfectly and it gives the ability to set a different ringtone to callers and unlike the iphone it’s a simple case of selecting a music track or ring tone the phone and assigning it to the caller something apple don’t allow, I rang each sim number and it switches automatically with no messing about, I connected it to the home wireless which was very simple and did a bit of surfing on it all very fast and smooth watching some videos on YouTube and reading through the BBC website.

The menu is very clean and easy to navigate with features such as switching the wallpaper almost instant, I got my daughter to set up her finger print to open the phone and also added mine as you can add several finger prints for opening the phone and it seems to work flawlessly or at least I couldn’t get it to fail and it opened every time.

The camera is really impressive and I took it outside to test out the panoramic feature which is extremely impressive with the results giving a picture I have not been able to see any flaws or joins in, the front camera is also very impressive but I didn’t post any pictures as with my ugly mug I didn’t want to frighten anyone :)

After finishing setting it all up and filling my daughters micro SD card and fitting her sim it was handed over with warnings about looking after it, she won’t get another one blah blah blah and she absolutely loves it, keeps raving about the speed and how great the sound and display are compared to her old phone.

• 18:9 Full Screen 2.0 The screen edge is revolutionary narrowed by another 12%, offering more pure viewing experience on the 18:9 full display. The moment you light up the OUKITEL K5, you will find that this is what the full screen really should be.
• Dual-lens Rear Camera OUKITEL K5 prepares a 13MP and a 2MP secondary lens for the rear camera, offering SLR shooting experience. For the front camera, it gets 5MP 80°wide angle camera for shooting.
• Dual curved design Meets IML Craft OUKITEL K5 4G smartphone gets 2.5D curved screen and 3D curved battery cover. With poly-carbonated and IML craft, creating a stunning 3D flowing battery cover and mellow edge.
• XLocker & Large Battery Lock your SIM free smartphone as well as APPs by the press fingerprint of K5, safe and professional. It features 4000mAh long lasting battery. Together with the intelligent power consumption management system, K5 offers longer using time.
• Chinoiserie Style K5 combines Chinese classic ceramic element, modern 3D space design and fashionable IML craft, creating a delicate elegant art.

Overall this is a very nice phone, fast and smooth, easy and simple menu system, huge battery capacity with my daughter saying she only charges it every few days compared with twice a day with her old phone, great quality cameras with a nice camera app offering loads of features, no messing about with complicated interfaces when you want to add or change anything it’s just a simple case of plugging it into the USB port of your PC and you have full access or dropping stuff to micro SD card and inserting that. I’m impressed with it and my daughter loves it so it gets full marks from me.

Price: £119.99
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DOOPRO C1 Pro Unlocked 4G Smartphone Review

I am really pleased with this phone its exactly what I wanted and needed, it arrived in a black branded box with the addition of a UK USB charge plug, the phone was in a little plastic bag with a plastic film covering the screen which had been ready fitted with a screen protector, in the bottom it had a USB charge lead, a rubber phone cover, a spare screen protector and the instructions.

I am relatively new to using android phones and my main phone is an iphone 6, this is more of an obligation than a choice as my wife is an avid apple fan and always has to have the latest version insisting that I take her old one, I could bang on for ages on how user unfriendly the iphone is not even allowing you to set your own mp3’s as ringtones or making you jump through multiple hoops just to transfer a bit of music over but I think it’s enough to say it annoys me greatly on a daily basis.

I really needed a second phone that was far more user friendly and this seemed to fit everything I wanted, it would take a micro SD card so I could put a load of music on without the worry of running out of memory and also store and more video’s and pictures to it, it can take duel sims something I wanted mainly to keep call costs down, my wife was on the same network as myself but has switched and as I didn’t want to switch I decided the best thing I could do was get another sim on the same network she has now so as to save call costs.

After unboxing I started it up and found it to be lightning quick scrolling through the menu and options, I added a micro SD card with some music on to give that a test and added a two sim cards to test the duel call feature this worked flawlessly and I installed a nice little application called DU recorder my friend had recommended to me a while ago but of course not available on iphone so as to record live action from the phone.

I have added a video and will also add some pictures showing me unboxing it, starting it up testing various features including the duel sim call, taking some pictures and video, browsing through the menus and app store, setting up the security finger print recognition which is a really nice feature and works really well, I also like the shape recognition feature to unlock and found this far quicker than a pin code. My original video is of high quality but the video quality often degrades considerable when uploaded.

• OS: Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with 1.3GHz, Qualcomm MSM8909 Quad-core processor and 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM, dual SIM card dual standby, supporting 4G/3G/2G network and wifi. This processor delivers great performance so that everything on C1 Pro happens faster and smoothly.
• 5.3 inch large 10-point-touch IPS capacitance touch screen, with 1280 x 720 pixels HD screen. Smart wake, quick entry the application with gestures while the phone in the deep sleep mode. Very comfortable for watching movies or videos and playing games.
• 8.0MP (Interpolation to 13.0MP) high definition back camera with auto focus, support full screen mode and standard (4:3) mode. 2.0MP (interpolation to 5.0MP) front camera, make your selfies more distinctive.
• Ultra Experience--Wireless Update. Pre-installed Android 6.0 O.S., download plenty of apps on popular Play Store. Support wireless system update, one-stop, no pain solution for using your phone.
• Supports Android navigation, built-in GPS navigation with A-GPS assisted, makes the positioning swiftly and accurately. Supports most APK format Android game and applications.

What I liked
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- Nice looking and well designed
- Duel sim feature works flawlessly
- Takes a micro SD card giving masses of additional storage
- Really smooth and fast
- Great battery life, lasts for days on a single charge rather than a day if I am lucky on my current phone
- Photo and video quality seems really nice, I know it’s not top of the range but it’s superb for what it is
- Great price, great value at a fraction of the cost of an iphone
- A multitude of features and functions
- The play store is great, I know it’s not so much a phone feature but it really so easy to navigate compared to the apple store

What I Didn’t Like
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- I haven’t found anything I don’t like and if anything this is way beyond my expectations, if I do have any niggles I will return and add them

Summary
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Overall I really love this phone, it fits all my needs and really is so much better than I expected it to be and it gets full marks from me. If you have any questions please feel free to ask I will do my best to answer.

Price: £83.99
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Oukitel K6000 Plus Unlocked 4G Smartphone

I decided it was time to ditch my iPhone, while the iPhone works well enough I always feel like I am being controlled and restricted at every move with limitations being there purely to monopolise my custom rather than to protect or give me greater control and don’t even get me started on how bloated and unfriendly iTunes is.

I did a lot of research before purchasing this as there were several things I wanted/needed, I wanted a fast interface, plenty of memory with the ability to fit extra storage space with a micro SD card, finger print recognition a great feature on most new phones now, I wanted a good quality camera for video and snaps, decent battery life, I wanted something the same size as I already had as I am used to the screen size now (iphone 6), something that could be used with duel sim having an auto switch type feature so it would ring instantly on either sim, the Oukitel K6000 Plus had all this and anything else would be a bonus.

The phone arrived in a solid orange box well protected and already fitted with a rubber protective case, a USB adapter cable so I could plug in USB devices something I longed to do on the iphone but they wouldn’t allow it, and charge cable with a myACT fast charger plug in a separate box with a UK plug, a basic manual, spare screen protector and a sim removal pin. The phone looks really sleek with an aluminium back and the front glass being ever so slightly bevelled towards the edges and around the same weight as an iPhone 6 maybe slightly heavier but hardly noticeable.

It was time to fire it up, the first start up took me through the setup all very easy to follow and a lot of options I just skipped as I would be adding them later and first wanted to give it a good test with the duel sim and using a micro SD card. The interface is really clear and very responsive and it hasn’t been overloaded with apps so I didn’t have to spend ages removing things I didn’t use or would never use.

I have added a video running through the first start-up, adding two sims and testing them, adding a micro SD card and testing that by running a bit of video off it, I also tested a few other things and had to slightly speed the video up to get it down to the size limitations, please be aware the video quality often degrades considerable when uploaded but hopefully not too much.

I set up the Fingerprint Sensor very simple process and this not only works instantly it’s mega fast and I have yet to have a fail, you just have to rest your finger or thumb on the start button not press and that’s it, I have set it up for both my thumbs which saves switching hands if you are holding it in your fingerprint hand.

I tested the cameras both front and back and am really pleased with the quality of both video and pictures, I really liked the clarity of the FHD (Full High Definition) screen, really sharp and crisp as was the playback quality of the video. The battery life is superb and is a welcome change from my iPhone which needs charging twice a day, the charging is nice and quick using a fast charger and you also have an estimated remaining battery life statistic in the settings.

• Powerful & Long-lasting Performance: Battery life is becoming more and more important as well as battery safety. We choose SCUD battery which are all strictly tested for the K6000 Plus. Just have fun with the phone freely as it equopped with 6080mAh high capacity battery, it can serve you longer. Besides, the 12V/2A FLASH CHARGER will charge your smartphone at top speeds, from 0-80% in just about 1 hour and 40 minues.
• Brand-new MT6750T Octa Core processor can easily handle all situations and perform incredible fast. Running on the newest Android 7.0 OS with ultra-large 4GB RAM+64GB ROM, K6000 plus makes sure better user experience and provides smoother, and more fantastic game screen effects.
• Unlocked 4G Smartphone with Dual Sim Dual Standby: compatible with 2 Nano SIM Card or 1 Nano SIM Card+1 TF card, one smartphone allows you to have more freedom and choice of Mobile Network Operator on your own without paying extra money. The only issue is to confirm your SIM card support 4G network: FDD-LTE Band 1/3/7/8/20; 3G network: WCDMA 900/2100 MHz; 2G network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz.
• High Definition 5.5" FHD Screen with 1080*1920 pixels screen resolution. Very comfortable to watch movies or videos from youtube. Main camera 16MP for nice shooting, it adopts PDAF tech to offer extremely faster focus, you would fall in love with your smartphone as it provides serveral phone taken modes. Plus, the front Camera 8.0 MP makes you have a charming selfie.
• Safer Fingerprint Sensor: making smartphone personal on a whole new level. Press your finger gently on the sensor and it unlocks in just 0.1s, yon can regain a safe and secure personal space.

What I liked
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- Very nice looking and designed phone
- Battery life is superb
- Great quality camera for both pictures and video
- Fingerprint sensor, not only a great feature but works flawlessly on this phone
- Very fast to charge
- Takes duel sims switching between them instantly
- Ability to expand the storage capacity with a micro SD card
- The price, I know I could have spent twice this but I wouldn’t have got twice the phone, this zips through the menu and gives me all the speed and power I could need
- Nice simple menu with a bright clear screen

What I Didn’t Like
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- I haven’t found anything as I am really loving this phone but if I do have any issues I will return to this review and list them.

Summary
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This is my first Android phone and I am delighted with it, I have not gone into technical details as they are listed and for myself the real reality is how it stacks up when you use it and I find this phone superb, flying through the menu’s and applications, switches between sim cards flawlessly when you get a phone call and not constantly having to be on charge, for all these reasons I have given it five stars. If you have any questions please feel free to ask I will do my best to answer.

Price: £182.99
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