[REVIEW] uleFone Be Touch: 5,5" IPS, 4G, 64bits octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM, fingerprint

mdabar

uleFone is one of new Chinese brands making good things lately. And in the same way some players are doing, they also wanted to present something interesting before the summer period.

But they want to be like "the others", so they have come with an amazing smartphone which they have presented as their flagship device for the season: the uleFone Be Touch

Something very interesting, since this brand is very young. They’ve worked designing and making parts for other brands during years, but it wasn’t until 2014 they moved to manufacture their own smartphones.
When I opened the box my first though was about that size "It's huge!". But then, I started it and as Megan Trainor sings... "It's all about that bass"
Only that smartphone is not fat at all, it's very thin and light. It's even thinner than other thin devices like the Siswoo Cooper i7 I reviewed some weeks ago.
But let's go step by step.

Design and package
The box is quite standard, white, same shape that we can typically find for the iPhones or Samsung devices, for example. With a sticker showing some info and then most of the specifications on the bottom part.
Once opened, we can see the amazing Be Touch with its huge screen inside a soft bag and on the lower level, we have all the rest which is USB cable, charger (attention 1.5A! more than common units), headphones and quick start guide in English and other European languages... it's not something very necessary (we all know how to start the phone and take a picture) but it's really the first time I see it. And not one single item in Chinese. Sincerely that feels like more quality.
I live you that video with those impressions and something more:

Summarizing, on the front we have the 5,5" screen. On the top, frontal camera for selfies...with flash!!, light and proximity sensor. And on the bottom we have the navigation buttons: menu, back and home... which integrates a great surprise in form of fingerprint reader. Of all that I will talk more in detail.
On the left side we will find the lock/power and the volume buttons.
Going to the bottom side, just the micro and speaker (very iPhone-like). We have the holes for micro USB and jack exit on the top side, and nothing at all on the right side.
If we flip the phone, on the rear part we will see the main camera (using the Sony IMX214 4th gen sensor) with dual led flash and on the middle the uleFone logo.
All that within very tight dimensions of 158.1x77.4x8.6mm and another advantage is that it fits very well on the hand. It’s true that it’s big, but it doesn’t slip.

Hardware specifications
When you put the mark "flagship" over a product, you really want to mean that device is your top-range. Especially when you are a new player on the field and you want to set up what is your quality level and left aside your “Chinese stamp mark”. The Be Touch is much more than 64 bit octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM…So here it is what hides inside this thin beast.


Model uleFone Be Touch
Color Metal Grey / Silk White
Dimensions 158.1 x 77.4 x 8.60
Weight 160g
Operating system Pre-install Android 5.0 Lollipop
Touch ID Front Fingerprint Scanner, Unlock in 0.1-0.5s
CPU 64Bit MTK MT6752 processor Octa core 1.7GHz CPU
GPU Mali T760 MP2/7000MHz GPU
RAM 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
ROM 16G
Battery 2550mAH
Charger Quick charger 1.5A ooutput
Display 5.5 inches, HD 1280*720pixels, IPS OGS (NEW 2.5D Arc screen) with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Cameras 13MP 4th generation camera Sony IMX214 (main) and 5.0MP (OV5648) for the Front camera
Video 1080P, 2K, 4K
Network GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (band5,band8,band3,band2) ; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 (band5,band8,band2,band1) ; FDD-LTE: 800/1800/2100/2600(band20,band3,band1,band7)
SIM Dual sim dual standby, Micro SIM and Standard SIM
WiFi WiFi802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Support dual-band Wi-Fi(2.4GHz/5GHz)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0
Positioning GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Digital Compass
Hall Effect Sensor, Gravity Sensor,
Ambient Light Sensor,
Touch Sensor, Digital Compass

Regarding the connectivity, needless to say it fully covers all our needs. The WiFi connects and transfers very fast, probably the improvements from Lollipop help, because I haven’t had any troubles of losing signal (as it happened with other devices). I have tried the BT with headphones (Digicare DO) and also with a BT keyboard, working both very well, quick pairing.
The SIM (standard and micro sizes) are located just next to the microSD slot, so sincerely a little bit hard to introduce the card, but once done, the networks are fast detected and connected, so I could use 3G/4G and also make calls very successfully. The voice is very clear and with enough volume.

Display
This is one of the most attracting points of this device. Its 5,5” IPS OGS screen with Corning Gorilla Glass of 3rd generation offers a resolution of 1280x720ppp. I can say that up to the date it’s the best display I’ve seen on a not first brand phone. The quality of the colors and the bright is amazing.
It comes with the dynamic control (adaptive brightness), so it automatically adapts to the lighting conditions to increase or reduce the bright level, making perfectly viewable even under sunshine.
Following the last trends, it also have the “Off-Screen Gesture” function, each time more common and sincerely very useful, since we can program several applications or functions to start without having to unlock the phone: camera, radio, calendar,.. any of the installed apps can be started by drawing a pattern on the locked screen.

Camera
We arrive to one of the most critical points of each review, since normally the manufacturers include camera sensors with a high number of megapixels but not offering the expected quality. uleFone advised they wanted to make the difference and present a great device, so they equipped the Be Touch with a main camera of 13Mpx with a Sony IMX214 4th generation sensor. Apparently this should be a warranty, but we’ve seen many other phones with good lenses giving poor results.
Fortunately this is not (so much) the case with the Be Touch. Until now this is the best (Chinese) one on the quality of pictures and videos. There is still the point to improve when there are poor light conditions. But I repeat the quality even though is much better than with other smartphones.
Here below some examples:




Another surprise comes with the front camera, the chosen sensor is OV5648 from Omni Vision, a high-performance, low-cost 5-megapixel CameraChip sensor for smartphones and tablets, which uses the latest 1.4-µm OmniBSI+ pixel architecture. But what surprised me was to find a led flash next to this camera. No questions about the selfies fever we’re immersed on, so the flash is doubtless a way to increase the quality of our portraits.
Regarding the videos, you can see this FullHD sample recorded outdoors, and even using zoom the quality is really good.

Software
This model comes directly with Android 5.0 Lollipop, so very good news since we have the almost last version of Android since the beginning, with all the improvements already mentioned on different articles like the better battery consumption, more secure environment since first boot, RAM management, WiFi connectivity issues solved, OK Google,…
By the other hand, need to say, that no Chinese stuff (apps) were installed on the phone, very clear Android [Símbolo] Only an icon called “ulefone” which brings us to the manufacturer website.
Another of the key points on the Be Touch is the fingerprint scanner, integrated on the “Home” button. It works really fast (some people say it’s even faster than the TouchID on the iPhone 6), and the way it register new fingers is different from other sensors where we had to slide our fingers. On this case we just have to put the desired finger repeatedly on the sensor until we have the full print marked on red on the screen. Meaning it has been fully recorded.
My suggestion is to place the finger on different positions, so it catches it from different angles and completes the task faster. We can register up to 5 fingers, which is a significant improvement against other devices allowing only 3 prints.

Due to the size of its screen and its powerful hardware, the Be Touch is perfect for entertainment. I installed Kodi (formerly known as XBMC), so I can play FullHD movies and TV shows directly from my NAS over the LAN, without any lags, smoothly and with very high quality of image and sound.
Normally I just try some games like Asphalt or Fifa (no need to say they go like lightning), however, bearing in mind the fingerprint sensor I decided to install my company’s software and use it as mobile office.
Yes, the BYOD is a real trend all around us I installed MaaS360, and configured mail, agenda and other tools. Once again it’s not only the speed of everything I try, jumping quickly from one task to another, but also the size of the screen makes this device very comfortable to read emails, see (and edit) Office documents, use CRM tools… really comfortable, especially when I compared to y iPhone 5’s tiny screen.

Autonomy
As stated above on the specifications table, the Be Touch is equipped with a removable battery of 2.550mAh, more than enough for a full day with average use: calls, wifi browsing, emails, whatsapp, pictures, social networking, Office documents editing… and all that thinking that the use of corporate tools and apps consume more battery.

Conclusions
A couple of months ago I saw the announcement of the Xiaomi MiNote and I really liked it. I though it was a real alternative to first brands smartphones with quality enough and a restrained price. I sincerely didn’t know so much about uleFone yet, and others brand had showed important improvements but still not at a comparable level to first brands.
I’m not meaning that the Be Touch has the same quality of the last Samsung Galaxy S6, but honestly it’s getting close. uleFone should still improve the management of taking pictures with dark conditions and polish some other minor details.
When I opened the box, I presumed that phone was very powerful but maybe too big for a daily use and still had to test the camera results, I take pictures every day. After using it, I can say that it’s a very comfortable device, not heavy at all (just 160gr) and since it’s very thin, it fits very well on the pocket.
I completely recommend it if you are looking for a new smartphone with a lot of possibilities and for a moderated price, around 205€ with Etotalk.com

mdabar

And now, to complete the info from the review above, here some pictures putting the Be Touch (in black) together with an iPhone 6 (white)

CantGetNoSleep

How much do you get paid for writing these reviews?

mdabar

In fact I'm not getting paid, I like to write about everything related to technology, I have a blog in Spanish some years ago (www.baquia.com/tecnologia-y-negocios/blogger/listings/manuel-daza) , and in addition by writting them I have reduction on the prices.

I think I'm not breaking any forum rule since I'm not saying "buy that here" or putting advertisements, I'm just making the review and telling where I got the product. I'm not faking info or spamming anyone.

I guess in the review I give useful information for anyone interested on the product.

Cheers

CantGetNoSleep

If you have a reduction on the prices then that is a benefit to you from posting these reviews here. I use this forum to get objective views on new things I buy, and there are some great people on here always willing to help, but if you get discounts to review products then there is now way these can be objective reviews.

mdabar

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

If you have a reduction on the prices then that is a benefit to you from posting these reviews here. I use this forum to get objective views on new things I buy, and there are some great people on here always willing to help, but if you get discounts to review products then there is now way these can be objective reviews.

Well, even if I get a certain benefit I cannot tell a product is wonderful for everything if I don't think so. I have done a few reviews, not only here but in other forums/blogs too. And I always give my real opinion about the products.

As I said on the first post, this is up to now the best chinese phone I've tried, but if you see other reviews, I clearly say when the screen is no good, when I see missing features, or the camera sucks, or it comes too hot, whatever...

Here I write with my nickname, but in the Spanish blog where I started (http://www.baquia.com/tecnologia-y-negocios/blogger/listings/manuel-daza), I always sign with my full name, so at the end if I cheat on my comments it goes against my reputation which is something that I care much about.

The Corinthian

mdabar wrote: »

Well, even if I get a certain benefit I cannot tell a product is wonderful for everything if I don't think so.

If you get any benefit from posting these reviews, then I and the other moderators will judge your reviews to be advertorials, they will be deleted and you will be permabanned.

Given this, I've not seen how or where you might profit from this, thus no action will be taken. However, do not make the mistake that just because you don't get paid financially for your reviews that they will not be treated as any other commercial breaches of the forum's charter.

mdabar

The Corinthian wrote: »

If you get any benefit from posting these reviews, then I and the other moderators will judge your reviews to be advertorials, they will be deleted and you will be permabanned.

Given this, I've not seen how or where you might profit from this, thus no action will be taken. However, do not make the mistake that just because you don't get paid financially for your reviews that they will not be treated as any other commercial breaches of the forum's charter.

Thanks for your full answer and explanation.
Just to make myself clear and don't break any rule. I like to do reviews since I like technology and writting them helps me improve my writting skills in English (I'm not native).

So if I do objectively, and I just include the link of where I bought the product (not saying buy here or promotion or coupon...) is it a violation?
I'm not promoting the purchase on that place. Just saying where I did it. As I said, I'm not doing any business with this, just giving my personal opinion. I've been cheated before because I bought in a chinese online shop that I though was ok, so now I'm very carefully of were I send my money...

Thanks in advance.

chrisire

Thanks for the review,looks interesting

RossieMan

Did you actually buy the phone or get it for free?

marcbrophy

Thanks OP, nice review.
I was interested in this phone before and there was very little info around about it.
I ended up with a OnePlus One, but maybe this review can help others!

The Corinthian

mdabar wrote: »

So if I do objectively, and I just include the link of where I bought the product (not saying buy here or promotion or coupon...) is it a violation?

Anything that can be reasonably interpreted promotion for a specific product or etailer would likely be seen as in violation.

So, for example, if the link redirects to an affiliate counter, then this would be seen as a violation. If most or all of your links end up pointing to the same etailer, then this would also be seen as a likely violation.

Ultimately it's a question of common sense. If you are de facto advertising, then you are advertising, even if this is not your intention, and treated accordingly.

You don't appear to be, but I did have to point out that just because you're not getting paid money for something, doesn't mean you're not benefiting, let alone advertising in the first place.

spix

For anyone interested in this phone, it works out about $15 cheaper here with DHL delivery and it has guaranteed no vat since its shipped from the UK. If anyone finds a better deal feel free to post it

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Ulefone-Be-Touch-5-5inch-HD-4G-FDD-LTE-Cell-Phone-Android4-4-3GB-16GB/32355076642.html

mdabar

chrisire wrote: »

Thanks for the review,looks interesting

Happy you liked it! that was my idea. I would appreciate if you clic on thanks ;-)

RossieMan wrote: »

Did you actually buy the phone or get it for free?

I paid for it. I like gadgets and when it's possible I "recycle" them often (buy - sell - buy - sell...)

marcbrophy wrote: »

Thanks OP, nice review.
I was interested in this phone before and there was very little info around about it.
I ended up with a OnePlus One, but maybe this review can help others!

I was interested on the OnePlus One, but it was quite expensive :-( They have already announced the plans for launching OnePlus Two later this year... let's see what it brings!

The Corinthian wrote: »

Anything that can be reasonably interpreted promotion for a specific product or etailer would likely be seen as in violation.

So, for example, if the link redirects to an affiliate counter, then this would be seen as a violation. If most or all of your links end up pointing to the same etailer, then this would also be seen as a likely violation.

Ultimately it's a question of common sense. If you are de facto advertising, then you are advertising, even if this is not your intention, and treated accordingly.

You don't appear to be, but I did have to point out that just because you're not getting paid money for something, doesn't mean you're not benefiting, let alone advertising in the first place.

Once again thanks for your explanation. As said before I have a spanish blog and I have Google Ads on it, so I get from the traffic and ads clics, but I'm not redirecting people to my personal blog.
About the retailers, I have tried a few but at the end I have learnt to go to the same ones... that I trust. Already

Kimbot

spix wrote: »

For anyone interested in this phone, it works out about $15 cheaper here with DHL delivery and it has guaranteed no vat since its shipped from the UK. If anyone finds a better deal feel free to post it

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Ulefone-Be-Touch-5-5inch-HD-4G-FDD-LTE-Cell-Phone-Android4-4-3GB-16GB/32355076642.html

Thats not coming from the UK

RossieMan

it is if you ask for DHL. They send it there first.

Kimbot

RossieMan wrote: »

it is if you ask for DHL. They send it there first.

But if they send it there first then DHL will charge as they know its after coming from outside the EU. They are not going to pass up more money after all.

RossieMan

they pay the VAT thats due if its caught.

Kimbot

RossieMan wrote: »

they pay the VAT thats due if its caught.

DHL or Aliexpress?

RossieMan

The seller on aliexpress. Why would DHL pay the VAT?

they ship it to themselves in the UK, They have someone over there. Then its shipped to you.

Kimbot

RossieMan wrote: »

The seller on aliexpress. Why would DHL pay the VAT?

they ship it to themselves in the UK, They have someone over there. Then its shipped to you.

Just making sure I was presuming it was the seller on Ali alright that was paying it.

TheMilkyPirate

Thanks OP had been contemplating a new phone to replace my HTC one M7 and this looks right up my street. Looks gorgeous and only 200€ I'll have a proper look tonight after work.

mdabar

spix wrote: »

For anyone interested in this phone, it works out about $15 cheaper here with DHL delivery and it has guaranteed no vat since its shipped from the UK. If anyone finds a better deal feel free to post it

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-Ulefone-Be-Touch-5-5inch-HD-4G-FDD-LTE-Cell-Phone-Android4-4-3GB-16GB/32355076642.html

Hi all... I really don't understand why I was asked so much and this one arrives putting just the link saying "it's 15$ cheaper here" and nobody says it's advertisement or how much are you getting for this promotion. :-O

Anyway from my side. I hope you like the review. It's indeed a great device.
Cheers

eamonnq

mdabar wrote: »

Hi all... I really don't understand why I was asked so much and this one arrives putting just the link saying "it's 15$ cheaper here" and nobody says it's advertisement or how much are you getting for this promotion. :-O

Anyway from my side. I hope you like the review. It's indeed a great device.
Cheers

Because this is a discussion site, and thankfully people are free to post links to other sellers etc., if they can find it cheaper elsewhere.

mdabar

eamonnq wrote: »

Because this is a discussion site, and thankfully people are free to post links to other sellers etc., if they can find it cheaper elsewhere.

Sure, that's what I though. But since after posting my review everybody started asking if I receive money or I paid, or whatever... and then without giving any other info another person pastes a link to buy it... I was surprised.

spix

mdabar wrote: »

Sure, that's what I though. But since after posting my review everybody started asking if I receive money or I paid, or whatever... and then without giving any other info another person pastes a link to buy it... I was surprised.

Well... you did say you get discounts for posting reviews and in your other review that you talk to etotalk often. Does seems like you have some kind of affiliation with them

RossieMan

He obviously is affiliated with them. He writes reviews for them.

as long as he doesn't try and flog etotalk's ****ty service on here where they try and con every last penny out of you, i don't mind his reviews.

your website also looks pretty bad, the google ads aren't placed very well.

irishpancake

mdabar wrote: »

Hi all... I really don't understand why I was asked so much and this one arrives putting just the link saying "it's 15$ cheaper here" and nobody says it's advertisement or how much are you getting for this promotion. :-O

Anyway from my side. I hope you like the review. It's indeed a great device.
Cheers

Usually because they are not promoting anything, just finding what you promoting cheaper somewhere else

First thing I always do is look for a cheaper option.

You can have no complaints, surely?

eamonnq

Was wondering about the 'redirectingat' links that were coming up on links, but it looks like this is boards doing (not the posters themselves) http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057430725

mdabar

RossieMan wrote: »

He obviously is affiliated with them. He writes reviews for them.

as long as he doesn't try and flog etotalk's ****ty service on here where they try and con every last penny out of you, i don't mind his reviews.

your website also looks pretty bad, the google ads aren't placed very well.

I'm not affiliated with anyone, I can promise that. I talk to them because they have a chat service through Skype. It's the same with Geekbuying, Dealsmachine, Gearbest, DX,... I have talked to almost everyone either to ask for a product before buying or to complaint about a product that I received wrongly or that I had to return because malfunctioning.

All what I care is doing the reviews, if you like them that's the important for me.

About the spanish web... I'm just writing on it, not owning , neither did the design. but do agree with you that it can be improved a lot...

eamonnq

mdabar wrote: »

In fact I'm not getting paid, I like to write about everything related to technology, I have a blog in Spanish some years ago (www.baquia.com/tecnologia-y-negocios/blogger/listings/manuel-daza) , and in addition by writting them I have reduction on the prices.

Therefore you are benefiting by writing these 'reviews'.

RossieMan

Its a strange one this. If he's getting discounts surely that's gaining from posting reviews? How can you be subjective if you gain from writing reviews, they don't want to see bad reviews, no one would buy the phone then.

mdabar

RossieMan wrote: »

Its a strange one this. If he's getting discounts surely that's gaining from posting reviews? How can you be subjective if you gain from writing reviews, they don't want to see bad reviews, no one would buy the phone then.

I don't want to make this the endless story. I'm not getting paid. I write my reviews because I like, and if you read them, you will see that I put what I like and what I don't like and what should be improved.
Until now I was doing them just in Spanish, but I am now living in Ireland, so I try to improve my English as much as I can, and one way is by doing this.
I never say "buy it here" just say where I bought it.

Sorry if I bothered anyone. I would really prefer if the answers to this review were related to the product I just reviewed...

That's all from my side, have a nice day.

ITBhoy

Nice review !

Did you get to test the headphone jack with premium headphones ? I have had to send back an Ulefone Be Pro as the headphone jack was faulty. I then bought a Kingzone K1 which ticked all the boxes but sadly the headphone jack did not perform well at all with my Logitech UE 4000 and Senheiser HD202 Headphones .

ITBHOY

mdabar

ITBhoy wrote: »

Nice review !

Did you get to test the headphone jack with premium headphones ? I have had to send back an Ulefone Be Pro as the headphone jack was faulty. I then bought a Kingzone K1 which ticked all the boxes but sadly the headphone jack did not perform well at all with my Logitech UE 4000 and Senheiser HD202 Headphones .

ITBHOY

I don't have premium headphones :-/ so I have tried with the original headphones, with bluetooth headphones (Digicare DO) and with old headphones from a Nokia Lumia 820. In all the 3 cases the quality of sound is very good, but I guess you're quite professional user for sound hehe

ITBhoy

Good to hear

I am soon to be on Chinese Smartphone no 3 - as mentioned I've went through the Ulefone Be Pro - and Kingzone K1 and THL 2015 coming next week , The Ulefone Be Pro audio jack was faulty , the Kingzone K1, a very good phone but did not deal well with Logitech UE 4000 and Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones , it did work with the basic ear buds. A friend got the THL 2015 and that handled good headphones well so fingers crossed !

ITBHOY

eamonnq

mdabar wrote: »

I would really prefer if the answers to this review were related to the product I just reviewed...

I would really prefer if the reviews of products were done by people who were not benefiting from writing the reviews.

beardo81

What is the sound from the speaker for say watching YouTube videos etc?

mdabar

beardo81 wrote: »

What is the sound from the speaker for say watching YouTube videos etc?

As far as I have used until now is good. Not as high for example as an iPhone, but you can see a video full volume.
What I have noticed (and should be something to improve) is that when you're increasing the volume, it seems to be very low all the time, and then suddenly in the last 2 or 3 increasing movements (2-3 times I press the up touch) it really increases a lot.

So when watching Youtube videos for example I almost always have the volume at max or almost max level. Personally I prefer when the volume level is more gradual in all the path.

Dozen Wicked Words

Is battery still doing an OK job?

mdabar

Dozen Wicked Words wrote: »

Is battery still doing an OK job?

Yes, it's reaching the end of the day still with battery after a lot of web browsing and listening audio with BT headsets :-)