In 2017, the following trend can be seen in the smartphone market: each manufacturer is trying to demonstrate its own version of a mobile device, with a screen diagonal of 5.7” and above. Oukitel also did not stand aside, releasing a 6-inch smartpad.
In addition to its display, Oukitel U16 Max stands out for its good 13 MP camera, Android 7.0 OS, capacious battery and impressive amounts of memory. And at a very nice price:
cost of fresh U16 Max with coupon U16Max - only $112.99, available in gray or gold.
Appearance, body materials and ergonomics
The device comes in two color variations: with a golden or gray back panel in combination with a white or black front part, respectively. The case turned out to be quite large, as evidenced by its dimensions (165.5 mm x 83.3 x 9.15 mm), as well as its weight (222 g). And if the width and height are determined by the size of the display and the presence of frames, then the weight and thickness are mainly influenced by the capacious battery and aluminum alloy of the case.
To provide a more comfortable hand grip, the back panel has a slightly convex shape, and the side edges have polished metal cuts along the edges.
The fingerprint sensor is located in such a way that the index finger fits easily on it. The scanner performs its main job flawlessly: unlocking occurs quickly, with high accuracy of fingerprint recognition. The scanner is multifunctional, can be used as a shutter button, to answer a call, return to the previous menu, etc.
The entire front panel is covered with 2.5D glass curved at the edges. There is an LED indicator above the screen that serves as a light notification of incoming events.
At the bottom there are illuminated touch buttons for navigation in the interface. The elements on the side faces are arranged in the usual order.
The 3.5 mm audio output is on top, the MicroUSB connector, speaker and microphone are on the bottom.
The edge on the right is occupied by the volume/power buttons, on the left – a combined slot for SIM and MicroSD.
Display
The model is equipped with a 6-inch display with HD resolution (1280 x 720), pixel density is 245 ppi. The manufacturer used an LTPS matrix from the Japanese company JDI. As a result, despite not the highest resolution, the screen evokes a very positive impression, since it pleases the eye with a juicy, bright and contrasting image with excellent viewing angles.
The minimum brightness level of the backlight cannot be called comfortable for reading in complete darkness. At the same time, the maximum brightness reserve is more than enough for trouble-free use of the smartphone outdoors in clear weather. Thanks to MultiTouch technology, up to 5 simultaneous touches are supported. The glass has an oleophobic coating of acceptable quality: fingerprints remain, but the finger easily slides across the touch panel. However, the device comes with a protective film already applied from the factory.
Performance and Memory
The smartpad is equipped with a MediaTek MT6753 single-chip system, which includes a 64-bit processor with 8 Cortex A53 cores (1.3 GHz), as well as a Mali-T720MP3 graphics core. The hardware configuration is complemented by 3 GB of LPDDR3 RAM, which in total provides a more than sufficient level of performance necessary for comfortable use of the smartphone. In other words, Oukitel U16 Max can be used not only to solve trivial tasks, but also to run resource-intensive applications.
The smartphone demonstrates a decent level of interface performance and is capable of playing FullHD videos without stuttering. The power reserve is quite enough for 3D games. In particular, World of Tanks: Blitz works great on low graphics settings, with a comfortable FPS value. The internal storage capacity is 32 GB, of which 25 GB is available to the user. The free space is expanded with a microSD card up to 32 GB.
Performance testing results in AnTuTu and 3DMark are quite adequate for smartphones in the Oukitel U16 Max price category.
Camera
The role of the main camera is performed by a 13-megapixel Micron AR1335 sensor, with flash, autofocus and aperture value f/2.0 lens. The manufacturer places special emphasis on the fact that the resolution of the images is real, without the use of interpolation. The camera's potential is best demonstrated in natural daylight conditions, as well as during product photography.
The resulting result will please you with decent quality, good sharpness and a good level of detail. It is worth noting the excellent performance of the HDR mode, with the help of which dark areas in the frame become lighter, and the overexposed area is aligned with the overall tone of the photo.
The smartphone is quite good at shooting indoors, with a good level of lighting. Its disadvantage is compensated by the use of flash, which softly and evenly illuminates objects located at close range.
Evening and night photography is not the strong point of the U16 Max. Firstly, in such conditions, focusing does not always work correctly. Secondly, the frames are characterized by the presence of noise and loss of detail. On the other hand, the result obtained is quite consistent with the price category of the device.
The main camera is capable of recording FullHD@30fps video in good quality. The front camera is powered by a 5-megapixel OmniVision GC5005 sensor (also without interpolation). Provides quite satisfactory photo and video quality under proper lighting.
Battery and autonomy
Considering the size of the display, the manufacturer demonstrated a rather serious approach to the issue of smartphone autonomy, equipping it with a 4000 mAh battery. Thanks to this, you can actively use the gadget throughout the day without worrying about the need to recharge. In less intensive use scenarios, the charge lasts for one and a half to two days. Active gaming significantly affects the rate at which the battery drains: this results in about 5 hours of gaming time.
The indicators are not record-breaking, but the owner of the phablet will not have to constantly be at the outlet. Oukitel U16 Max is also interesting with its support for OTG Reverse Charge technology, which allows you to recharge other devices connected to the MicroUSB connector. The smartphone comes with a power adapter (5V/1.5A) with a separate USB cable.
Sound
The main speaker has an average volume reserve; when playing a melody, the mid-frequency ranges are most clearly audible. The speaker turned out to be quite loud: indoors you will have to lower the level to a comfortable level, but in noisy public places you can easily hear the speech of your interlocutor.
Wireless networks and navigation
The combined tray is designed to install 2 SIM cards in Micro and Nano format, for connecting to 2G, 3G and 4G mobile networks (b1/3/7/8/21). The model is also equipped with a Wi-Fi module of the a/b/g/n standard and Bluetooth 4.0 LE wireless technology (with reduced energy consumption). Built-in GPS (aGPS) and GLONASS navigation modules provide connection to satellites within a few seconds.
OS and software
Oukitel U16 Max runs on the Android 7.0 operating system, which is successfully combined with phablets due to its support for multi-window mode. When you launch it, the screen is visually divided into 2 separate areas, for convenience when working with two applications at the same time. Minor changes from the manufacturer have been made to the OS interface: the design of the desktop icons has been redesigned and new beautiful wallpapers have been added. You can choose the style of displaying programs: all icons on desktops, or the classic version with the “Menu” button.
There is a mode for one-handed operation: with one movement the working area of the display is reduced to 4”. You can also activate a “floating button” with shortcuts for quick access to functions such as taking a screenshot, recording screen video, etc. A variety of gestures are supported, among the most useful are taking a screenshot with three fingers and turning the screen on/off with a double tap.
The system integrates Parallel Space software, which allows you to use multiple Facebook, Skype, etc. accounts. within one device. A separate utility, PowerSaver, is designed to fine-tune energy-saving functions. And using the Software Locks application, you can restrict access to installed software by setting a password.
The OS interface supports various language localizations. However, some items in the settings section responsible for managing gestures and the “floating button” are not translated from English into Russian. Perhaps this will be fixed in future firmware versions (the smartphone supports receiving wireless OTA updates).
Results
The obvious advantage of Oukitel U16 Max is its large display, which is ideal for comfortable content consumption (Internet, e-books, games, videos), as well as for convenient work with navigation and other applications. However, the advantages of the device are not limited to this.
Pros:
- high-quality, bright screen;
- 4000 mAh battery, good autonomy;
- decent quality of pictures on the main camera;
- volumes of main and RAM memory;
- fingerprint scanner with support for additional functionality;
- current OS version and support for multi-window mode;
- a set of useful gestures and one-handed control mode.
Minuses:
- a hybrid tray for SIM and memory cards is used, although the dimensions of the case do not prevent the installation of separate slots;
- some settings items were left without translation into Russian;
- Touch navigation buttons lack backlighting.
To summarize, Oukitel has managed to create a product that strikes a balance between adequate quality, decent performance and an attractive price:
cost of fresh U16 Max with coupon U16Max - only $112.99, available in gray or gold.
