Ulefone U007, a review of yet another smartphone

There are lots of phone models, and new ones keep coming out all the time: big and small, fast and slow, good and not so good. But I always want to see how Chinese engineers have put together the latest mobile companion, so that's what I'll do in this review.
If you're interested, come on in.

Basically, most phones designed and manufactured in China (though not only there) are built on the same platform. They take a processor and a set of documentation, then simply change the surrounding components—for example, adding or removing sensors, a fingerprint reader, NFC, and so on.
That way, manufacturers try to cater to different buyers. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but if a product is on sale, someone must be buying it.

That's why reviews of different devices come out: they help us get some idea of what the manufacturer is offering. This review is one such example.

The rest will be as usual, in the same order: a look around, teardown, tests, and so on. But first, the technical specifications.

Colors: black, white, gray
Processor — MTK6580, 4 cores
GPU — Mali-400 MP
Operating system — Android 6.0
Memory — 1 GB RAM, 8 GB flash storage.
Display — 5 inches, 1280x720 resolution
Network type GSM: 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
WCDMA: 850/1900/2100 MHz
Wireless interfaces — Wi-Fi: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0
GPS
Memory card slot — MicroSD, supports up to 32 GB.
Audio output/microphone — 3.5 mm jack.
SIM card type — 2 micro-SIM cards
Front camera: 2 MP
Main camera: 8 MP
Battery: 2200 mAh
Dimensions: 142x71x8.5 mm

The phone comes in a small black box.


Brief technical specifications are printed on the bottom.


The package contents are standard for most phones:
1. Ulefone U007 smartphone
2. Charger (power adapter)
3. USB-to-microUSB cable
4. Manual


I wouldn't have paid any attention to the manual if it weren't for the fact that it even includes Russian. The translation is a little clumsy, of course, but it's nice to see.
The USB-to-microUSB cable is about 80 cm long and as standard as they come. These cables are included with the vast majority of inexpensive smartphones. It's not clear, though, why the phone is black but the cable is white.
The charger has the familiar plug and is rated for up to 1 A. It also has a branded sticker.


A little about the charger.

The phone as it comes, with the shipping film still on (there’s another protective film underneath) and lots of explanatory labels.


The corners of the body are rounded, and it looks perfectly decent. It’s noticeably nicer than my Doogee X5 Max, though maybe I just prefer this design.
One nice touch is that the phone comes with a silicone case (or bumper). It does make the phone bulkier, of course, but it feels great in the hand, and the case is thin.




The case is clearly made specifically for this model, so all the cutouts are in the right places: at the bottom for the microphone, and at the top for the charger and headphones.


The case is completely transparent, with practically no tint.


The only downside is that it doesn’t fit quite snugly in a few places, though elsewhere it seems to become one with the body.


All right, let’s take the case off. The phone is a little lighter and noticeably thinner. The case is thin, but without it the phone looks even sleeker.


As soon as I took off the case and peeled off the film, the phone became just a little black slab, with no hint of individuality. Then again, that’s true of almost all modern smartphones, which are pretty much identical to one another. Though I’m not sure what else you could come up with besides different body colors.


There are three familiar buttons on the right side of the body: volume and power/sleep.


I like the ridges on the power button. It seems like a minor detail, but it really does make the phone easier to use.


1. At the top are a 2 MP camera, earpiece, and proximity sensor. You can actually see the sensor working with the naked eye, like the LED on some IR remotes: it gives off a barely noticeable red blink.
2. The top edge has a microUSB charging port and a 3.5 mm jack for headphones or a headset.
3. The touch buttons are easy to see.
4. The microphone hole is at the lower right.


On the back are an 8 MP camera and an LED light, often proudly called a flash, though it’s really just a white LED.
There’s also an additional speaker at the bottom of the back, covered by a grille. Two small protrusions nearby probably keep the speaker raised above the surface. The speaker is fairly loud, and I didn’t notice any distortion at maximum volume, though it struggles with high frequencies.
The back cover isn’t smooth but textured, so the phone doesn’t slip in your hand and gets less dirty than Soft Touch.


The phone isn’t very heavy, especially compared with the X5 Max: just 134 grams, or 148 with the case. This is partly due to the smaller battery and probably a lighter body.


Let’s remove the back cover. I noticed that it’s shaped like a little tray rather than being flat. In other words, the cover also forms the sides of the body.


1. Slot for a memory card and two micro-SIM cards.
2. The Wi-Fi and GPS antenna is in the upper-right corner.
3. The phone is powered by a battery rated at 2200 mAh. That’s not much for a modern phone, but as you know, battery life depends heavily on how much you use it.
4. The speaker, covered by a grille, and the GSM antenna are at the bottom.


The slots have sliding mechanisms. At first, when I inserted the memory card, the phone wouldn’t recognize it for some reason. Once it did, I had no problems, no matter how many times I swapped it. The SIM cards worked without any issues.


Being a very curious person, I had to take a look inside.
The rest of the teardown, along with an accurate measurement of the battery capacity, is under the spoiler.

We turn the phone on normally. The flash slightly washes out the screen; in reality, the image is a little brighter.
The display panel is like those in most phones in this price range. I think there isn't much choice of panels, really. The image is readable from any angle and the colors don't invert, but backlight bleed is also noticeable, especially when viewed diagonally.


A little ahead of myself, I'll digress for another test.
The phone has a GPS navigation module, but somehow I never got along with it. It works pretty well in open areas.


But in a side-by-side test at home, the phone came up short—or, more precisely, it started behaving a little strangely.
At first, the software detected satellites, but after 20-30 seconds their signal seemed to weaken and drop into the yellow zone—in other words, they were visible, but the signal was unreliable.
Here are three phones compared under the same conditions.
1. Doogee X5 Max
2. Ulefone U007
3. Vernee Thor


A few screenshots of the initial setup menus. Since not many people are interested in them, I've put them under a spoiler.

The welcome screen and app menu. There aren't many apps installed, and there are no Chinese apps, which is nice.


Phone information as reported by the phone itself.
It has the latest firmware available at the time of writing.


About 5 GB of storage is available to the user, of which 840 MB is already taken up by preinstalled apps.
One thing I have to give it credit for is that the phone “remembers” which mode it was in the last time it was connected to a computer. With previous phones, having to select the connection mode every time was a bit annoying.


The phone arrived almost fully charged—or, more precisely, it had barely discharged.
One of the first things I check is WiFi performance. The phone “sees” quite a few access points, including mine. I usually start testing under the worst conditions for the device.


A screenshot of the connection speeds. As always, here's what the numbers in my reviews mean:
1. About 12 meters away, with lots of reinforced-concrete walls and no line of sight.
2. About the same distance, but with a better connection thanks to a clearer line of sight.
3. About 7 meters away, with a couple of reinforced-concrete walls in between (though my apartment doesn't have any other kind—unless you count interior and load-bearing walls), and no line of sight.
4. In the room next to the router, with a clear line of sight.
5. One meter from the router.


General technical information from CPU-Z.


When I launched the sensor testing app, the phone initially showed quite a few of them.


But in reality, only four are functional:
Accelerometer
Light sensor
Proximity sensor
Sound level.


Next, the standard performance tests. Given that this smartphone is built around the well-known MTK6580, though, their results are more of an indirect indicator.
AnTuTu 5


AnTuTu 6, along with some additional information from the app.



3DMark and PCMark


Phone information from the popular Aida64 app.


I put the additional information under a spoiler, since there's quite a lot of it.

A speed test for the SD card, internal storage, and RAM. It also compares the speed with other phones and with the same model tested by another user (data taken from the same app).


Epic Citadel in Standard and Ultra modes. I should note that the software runs very reliably. Some TV boxes had trouble launching this test in Ultra mode.


AnTuTu Video gives a rather poor result. It's not exactly a deal-breaker, but it's a bit low.


The second downside is the touchscreen, which supports only two touch points. I've heard that using phones limited to two touch points can be tricky. I haven't run into any issues so far (at least when using it as a phone, rather than as a multimedia device), but I can see how it might happen.


The phone has 1 GB of RAM. Some people consider that far too little, but I have a different opinion (although, of course, you can never have too much memory).
I used the phone for a couple of weeks, or rather, tried various apps on it, installing and testing them. In my case, memory usage was around 600 MB, which is perfectly fine even with 1 GB. On my Doogee X5max, which I've been using for 2.5 months, that figure is currently 786 MB.


With the screen brightness at 75% and Full HD video playing, the phone lasted almost 4 hours. I started the test at exactly 2 p.m., and the phone shut down at around 5:50–5:55 p.m.
The Doogee X5max lasted about 8 hours with the same file, although its screen brightness was set to 50%.
Wi-Fi was connected the whole time.


And, of course, here are some sample photos taken with this phone.
First, some comparisons with the Vernee Thor. The photos were compressed so I could include them in the review; higher-quality versions are available via this link.










And here are some photos taken with the phone. I took them in the evening; I think that's exactly the kind of conditions in which a camera is best tested.






A4 sheet of paper


So what conclusions can we draw about this smartphone? First, the pros and cons:
Pros
Appearance, although that's very subjective.
Neat assembly.
The battery capacity matches the stated specification.
Decent camera performance.
Stable software, root access out of the box.
A case is included, and the phone's surface doesn't show fingerprints.

Cons
GPS performance isn't great in challenging conditions.
2200 mAh battery.
The touchscreen supports only 2 touch points.
No OTG.

My take: this is a basic, no-frills phone. You can browse the internet now and then, check your email, or see your current location on a map. You can even play games, but the small battery capacity means you won't be able to play for long. I think it's a decent phone. The only real drawback for me would probably be the small battery, but if a woman is going to use it, that also has an indirect advantage: the phone is light, especially compared with my Doogee X5 max. I also prefer its design; in that respect, it looks more like the Vernee Thor, which I've already reviewed.
I was somewhat pleased that it doesn't have a fingerprint sensor, since I don't use one anyway, and it would only add to the price.
I was disappointed by the GPS performance when satellite visibility is poor, although it works fine in open areas. I don't think it would be very convenient as a dedicated navigation device, but it's perfectly adequate for checking your location from time to time.

That's all. I've tried to cover everything important. If you'd like me to run any other tests, let me know and I'll see what I can check.

With the Ulefone coupon, the price is $50.99.

The product was provided by the store for review.