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Introduction
Just like the Bluboo S1, this ala-“Galaxy S8” smartphone, dubbed the Bluboo S8 plays almost the same performance, but in a different premium chassis which was heavily inspired from the South Korean flagship device. In this review, we will analyze how the phone performs and beats other entry-level alternatives. With an attractive price tag of P7,499, is it worth to spend? Let us find out.
Key specs:
- 5.7-inch HD+ IPS Sharp LCD display, 1440 X 720 resolution, 282 ppi
- Android 7.0 “Nougat”
- Dual-SIM, dual standby
- 1.5Ghz 64-bit MediaTek MT6750T octa-core processor
- Mali-T860 GPU
- 32GB internal storage
- Expandable microSD slot up to 256GB
- 3GB RAM
- 16-megapixel + 3-megapixel dual rear cameras, auto-focus with dual-LED flash
- 8-megapixel front camera
- 1080p at 30fps of video recording
- Fingerprint scanner
- 4G LTE (Category 6)
- Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n
- Bluetooth 4.0
- GPS, with A-GPS
- USB-OTG capable
- USB Type-C connector
- 149.5 x 70.6 x 8.4 mm
- 192 grams
- 3,450 mAh non-removable battery
Unboxing
Display and build
The 5.7-inch 720p display, manufactured by SHARP is very bright and sharp. At maximum brightness, we actually saw the full content of the screen when using the phone in outdoor, but not under direct sunlight. Using the 2.5D curved glass assists us to get better colors and saturation.
The slim bezels are rarely to be seen in such an affordable device. The small bezels at the top will leave a small space for the selfie camera, sensors and a tiny speaker. Holding the phone has an excellent one-handed operation, though a bit heavy as it weighs almost 200 grams. Even so, the 18:9 screen-to-body ratio produces a well-balanced multimedia experience with superb grip.
Audio quality
The single speaker at the bottom right edge is weak enough to play music. Pushing the volume to maximum volume will give enough loud, but it lacks bass. Although, the quality is pretty clean and we never heard any crack when playing upbeat songs. When plugging a pair of earphones (Note: It doesn’t have a 3.5 mm audio jack, but there’s an adapter included in the package), the nature of the sound has a pleasing shape with almost no distortion in the highest amount of loudness.
Software & UI
Bluboo carries the S8 with 360 OS, based on Android 7.0 “Nougat”. The security patch level available was December 1, 2017, thus outdated. The UI is very fast and undemanding.
After unlocking to the main screen, we noticed that all of the applications are all situated on the home screen, as it wasn’t have an app drawer. Some apps can be grouped, depending on their roles and there are few pre-loaded that can’t be uninstalled. The on-screen navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen have an option to hide if we’re going to watch videos and taking pictures thru the camera. The fingerprint scanner is fast as it can unlock the handset in just 0.1 seconds. As a standard for many phones today, the sensor can recognize up to five different fingerprints.
Performance
The 3GB RAM on the phone’s MediaTek’s MT6750T chipset that clocks at 1.5Ghz with four Cortex-A53 cores has a sufficient power to handle most of the applications, though some lags when opening like Facebook and Pages Manager (not crucial). Surfing the net is very stable. The 700Mhz Mali-T860’s graphics unit with two cores can play 3D games flawlessly with downgraded settings.
Camera
Bluboo S8’s main camera comes with a 16-megapixel shooter and a secondary 3-megapixel lens for taking “bokeh” pictures, accompanied with Sony sensor, auto-focus, and a dual-LED flash. The selfies can be taken by an 8-megapixel snapper.
The daylight photos seem to have a great quality with lots of details, though some are slightly overexposed, especially on the front camera. Surprisingly, the HDR mode really helps the performance of the camera, including the sharpness and dynamics, especially in indoor scenes and low-light conditions. “Bokeh” photos appear to be convincing, while there’s a beautify mode to make our faces look younger and fresh.
Rear camera samples:
Front camera samples:
Connectivity
In terms of communication, the Bluboo S8 is not well-positioned with the help of four GSM quadband, only two WCDMA bands and five LTE bands. Therefore, this is not intended for worldwide 4G access. Wi-Fi standards support the 802.11 a/b/g/n. But, the signal reception is decent and can transmit up to 44 Mbps of upload speed and 27 Mbps of download speed (these are based on the server from the test application). Bluetooth v4.0 is also onboard, as well as GPS, with GLONASS global navigation. And unfortunately, the GPS signal can’t locate us, both indoors and outside our house.
Battery Life
Despite the high consumption of the processor, the Bluboo S8’s 3,450 mAh battery capacity maintains an average runtime, scoring 6 hours and 52 minutes in our PCMark benchmark, not good, but not too bad. In real time, we managed to get almost a full day of usage on a single charge. Speaking of the latter, there’s a fast charging technology, and we only took less than 2 hours until the phone becomes fully charged.
Verdict
The Bluboo S8 is simply not a bad device overall, with some features offered in a very affordable device: 18:9 full-screen display with a bright display, and solid build quality. It might be a quite problem for some as it is heavy, but the premium feels is definitely an interesting feature, which is now available at such a low price.
Pros
- Solid build chassis
- Sharp display
- Clean UI
- Few bloatware apps
- HDR camera performance
- USB Type-C port
- OTG capable
- Affordable
Cons
- No 3.5 mm audio jack
- Heavyweight
- HD resolution (the S1 with much affordable has FHD resolution)
- Average battery life
