The Chinese smartphone companies are growing in number almost every day. They are all competing who will produce a better smartphone that is budget friendly. With the world economy crisis, they are becoming slowly more and more popular all over the world. One of those budget-friendly companies is Shenzhen Huafurui technology Co. that runs the brand Cubot. They became well-known nationally but now they are aiming to become known internationally too. Today we will be reviewing their new affordable smartphone, Cubot H2. The official specs promise a lot for the phone in this price range but let us see if it lives up to those expectations.
Specifications
| Brand | Cubot |
| Model | H2 |
| Color | black, white and gold |
| Screen Size | 5.5 inch |
| Display resolution | 1280 x 720 |
| OS | Android 5.1 |
| CPU | MTK6735 64bit Quad Core 1.3GHz |
| RAM | 3GB |
| GPU | Mali-T720 |
| Internal memory | 16GB |
| Bluetooth | Yes, 4.0 |
| Wi-Fi | Yes |
| Battery | Lithium battery |
| Battery size | 5000 mAh |
| Front Camera | 5.0MP (with interpolation 8.0MP ) |
| Back Camera | 8.0MP ( with interpolation to 13.0MP) |
| Network | 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz 4G?FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz |
| Sim Card | Yes, Dual SIM support |
| Dimensions | 149.9×76.5×9.1mm |
Packaging
| 1 x Smartphone |
| 1 x Quick Start Guide |
| 1 x USB cable |
| 1 x Charger |
| 1 x Screen protector |
| 1 x Protective case |
| 1 x Eject pin |
The phone comes safely packed in a plain, sturdy box. Inside, besides your phone, you will find standard equipment listed in the table above. You will get everything necessary to protect your phone. Unfortunately, you will not get earphones with this phone, so they will need to be bought separately.
Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones worked well while we tested the phone. If you consider buying them, they are on discount.
Get Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones for $18.52/120.77 CNY
Cubot H2 Design
Cubot H2 has kept the simplistic design of its predecessor H1, but luckily there have been made improvements. While the H1 one had plain somewhat cheap plastic design, H2 comes with a metal frame while the rear is made from plastic with discreet fishnet texture all over it. This texture enables a better grip and makes the phone more scratch resistant.
The front design looks like a mix of a Samsung Galaxy line with iPhone, giving it luxurious and expensive look. The screen covers almost whole front side, same like on Samsung Galaxy models, and buttons and front camera are discreetly placed, typical iPhone style. The front camera is located on a upper left side of the phone. The bezels are not thick, but they are still noticeable.
On the right side you will find all the buttons which are small and discreet but easily accessible – volume rocker, and a power button. The company offers this smartphone in three colors: black, white and gold. More than enough options for the phone in this price range.
Display
This phone has a 5.5-inch IPS display. The screen resolution is 1280 x 720 pixels and 267 PPI density. While the colors are surprisingly rich and vibrant, more appropriate resolution should have been chosen. Still, the company has equipped this phone with the Miravision display technology which helps producing soft light for reading. We have tested this, and we can confirm it is true. After three hours of constant reading, eyes don’t feel dry or painful.
Moreover, during the testing of the phone the visibility of the content was surprisingly great. Whether we were outside or inside, the display didn’t lose the image quality even if we tilted the phone. There is no information whether or not this phone comes with scratch protection pre-installed but given the price, it probably doesn’t have any so be sure to put on screen protection.
Processor and RAM
Cubot H2 comes with 1.3 GHz Quad-core processor that’s fueled by MediaTek MT6735A chipset. Having four cores, this phone is extremely efficient at multitasking; the commands are executed fast, and there are no lags. Since MT6735A chipset is also made to be energy efficient, you won’t need to carry the charger with you because the battery will last all day.
The phone comes with 3GB of RAM, which in combination with GPU Mali-T720, makes it ideal for gaming. We played high-end games without any issues. There weren’t any screen freezes or delays.
Camera
The main camera has 8MP lens and is interpolated to 13MP. For those who don’t know, “interpolated camera” means that after taking the picture the program will try to smooth out any imperfections that it notices and pump the image quality up to 13MP. Sadly, it is all guess-work and it is not perfect. Here are the examples:
click for a bigger image
For today standards, this camera is not much, but the picture quality was surprisingly good. The colors were vivid and realistic-looking but nothing impressive. Even zoomed in the images were solid. When it comes to dim-light shots, disadvantages of interpolated camera become painfully apparent. The quality of the pictures drastically drops. The details get lost and there is often irritating purple tint.
The front camera has 5MP lens with interpolation to 8MP. Video calls and selfies have a nice image quality, but don’t take them in dim light places. The quality drops excessively like on the main camera.
Storage Capacity
The phone comes with 16GB of internal memory which is not much, but fortunately, it comes with the possibility of expanding the memory up to 64GB with the MicroSD card. It should be enough for playing games and a solid collection of songs.
Operating System
The system runs on an Android 5.1 Lollipop. Unfortunately, it is not the newest version of an Android, but either way, it runs smoothly. Like on its predecessor, Cubot H1, the design of the icons has been changed but everything else is pretty much the same. Thankfully, Cubot doesn’t have a tendency to pre-install any unwanted apps on the phone, or to skin Android until it is unrecognizable.
Connectivity
Cubot H2 comes with dual Micro SIM card support. The phone comes with standard Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, OTG and GPS with A-GPS assisting it. Network type and frequencies that accompany this phone are:
- Â Â 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- Â Â 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz
- Â Â 4G?FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
Sadly,H2 doesn’t support NFC, but it has Hotknot which compared with NFC, consumes 15% less power and is 30% faster at transferring data.
Battery
Inside of this phone you will find one monster of a battery. It is surprising that they managed to fit this battery in 9.1 mm thick phone. The capacity of 5000 mAh tells us one thing for sure – this phone will last for the whole day and even more without the need to even think about charger.
We tested it and this phone sure did deliver. We watched a movie, played games, surfed the internet, had video calls, regular calls, everything that can be done on this phone and it lasted all day. After a whole day of torture, we still had 7% more to use.
With the regular use this battery will last you for days. You will sooner forget you have a charger than this battery will get empty. What is even more fascinating this is the first phone in the world that has 5000mAh and 3GB of RAM memory. Playing games and listening to music now is free of worry that the battery will get empty.
Additional Features
Some of the other features added to this phone are gravity sensor, proximity sensor, light sensor and accelerometer. Unfortunately, this phone doesn’t come with any additional standout feature.
Pros & Cons
After testing this phone we will summarize some of the major advantages and disadvantages we have noticed.
Pros
- Ultra strong battery
- Hotknot
- Affordable price
Cons
- Weak camera
- Older version of Android
Our opinion
After testing this phone, we can undoubtedly say that this phone is worthy of your money. If you are not social butterfly that is obsessed with posting photos on Instagram, this phone will be a ideal choice. Â You will be able to fulfill all your needs without having to break a bank for a new phone.
If you would like to buy this phone, we have a good news: it is on pre-sale until April 30th. If you act fast, you’ll get a great value for the price.
Get Cubot H2 for $139.99/911.98CNY
What do you think of this smartphone?
Do you consider buying it?
