Elephant U Pro is definitely one of the most talked about smartphones in the latter period because of the innovations that the company is slowly entering into its products. Starting from software, passing throughhardware and concluding with the design. Yeah, because this Elephone with Snapdragon 660 It was like a bolt from the blue and aroused a lot of interest, even though the price is not very low.
In short, how did this device behave during our tests? Let's find out together in our review!
Elephone U Pro Review
Unboxing
The sales package is in black hardback and inside we find the following equipment:
- Elephone U Pro;
- silicone cover;
- wall power supply with European socket and quick charge (5V = 2A; 9V = 2A; 12V = 1.5A);
- USB data transfer cable - USB Type-C;
- mini-jack adapter to USB Type-C;
- plastic film to protect the display;
- instruction manual;
- pin for the SIM slot.
Design and construction
Despite memories a lot Galaxy S8, design of this smartphone is really spettacolare. In fact, we have soft lines and rounded at the sides with a large display and curved edges. In short, as you will have understood, it is very similar to the top of the Korean range and, at first glance, we can later see a certain resemblance to the renderings of the next Galaxy S9.
Also the back cover è curved on the sides and we have a beautiful color blu with a processing pearly / mirrored which gives beautiful light effects. Furthermore, the fingerprint sensor it has been inserted under the cameras in a rather harmonious way.
Another gem not to be underestimated is that the logo Company bottom place, which is actually a LED that you illumina upon receipt of one call. Theoretically it should light up even during the recharge (as the company had announced), but in reality this does not happen.
The dimensions are of 72.5 x 154 x 8.4 millimeters for a weight of 166 grams. THE'Elephant U Protherefore, it is a lot light and holds well in hand, even if it turns out to be a bit slippery if resting on other surfaces. In fact, I fell a couple of times but without ever being damaged. We can not say the same for i scratch because unfortunately a couple are left.
Later we have one glass shell which turns out to be a bit economic e not very oleophobic, while the perimeter frame it is in aluminum.
On the right side we find the volume rocker and the power button, unlike the left one which is completely empty. It is also possible to notice the microphone useful for the reduction of ambient noise and the dual Nano SIM / nano SIM + microSD slot, while the lower one houses the main microphone, the USB Type-C input and the system speaker.
On the rear profile we find the dual camera, the dual LED flash, the fingerprint sensor and the logo / LED of Elephone in the bottom part. On the other hand, on the other hand, there is the notification LED, the brightness and proximity sensor and the ear capsule.
Display
L'Elephant U Pro has a display AMOLED curved da 5.99 inches made by BOE format 18:9 with protection Corning Gorilla Glass 5, resolution Full HD + and density of PPI 403.
The company has focused a lot on the display and I have to say that He convinced me decisively, although unfortunately it is not free from defects because ad extreme angles the panel tends to green. The touch screen è good, does not lose touches and the app is also present edge.
Another very interesting thing is that we can count on some sort of always-on display, which will only activate when a notification arrives. I really appreciated this feature, as it was extremely useful.
Hardware and performance
On board we find a chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 including a processor octa-core with a maximum clock frequency of 2.2 GHz, a Adreno GPU 512, 6 GB di RAM e 128 GB di internal memory, expandable through microSD.
Le performance I'm definitely compelling, the smartphone is a lot fluid and the app opening takes place in rather short times for a medium range. In principle we have never encountered lag or slowdowns that could compromise the user experience.
Also the GPU it behaves well with both the heaviest games like Asphalt 8 e Real Racing 3, which turn fluids and without frame drops, than with lighter and less detailed ones.
Camera
Unfortunately, the camera still can not live up to its price range, in fact, although Elephone has renewed the software and hardware, still must improve on the front of the photographic industry. Posteriorly we find one dual chamber with sensors from 13 + 13 mega-pixel (RGB + mono) with opening f / 2.2 and double LED flash.
The results are under the sufficiency and probably the software it is the largest guilty. In fact, in the next few days we will try to install the Google Camera and we will bring you a video with all the changes. At the moment it is not possible to do it because it is necessary to unlock the bootloader. So once developed the GIZROM we will do all the appropriate tests.
15 April update: We took a photographic test by comparing the Camera Camera app with the Google Camera. We invite you to see the surprising results at this link.
Even when selecting a point to focus on, the smartphone will tend to overexpose excessively the scene, forcing us to intervene manually. Also, if you do not have a very firm hand it will be easy to move the photos.
I have found some problems also with the auto focus which is a bit 'too much slow and not always precise. THE'HDR instead, it manages to return discreet results. In the evening the quality drops significantly and the digital noise becomes evident.
Frontally we have a sensor from 8 mega-pixels and, in favorable light conditions, the photos are not bad, but you must always have one steady hand and moreover, already in dim light it is possible to notice the background noise. In the evening, the same speech as before is valid.
I video can be registered up to a maximum resolution 4K and with the film we find a bit 'the same problems described above, with a focus that is not instantaneous and an electronic stabilization only in the average.
Audio
L'audio coming out of the lower speaker of this Elephant U Pro è good, but sins a bit 'in the bassi, as the high and medium frequencies are more emphasized. However, in the headphones the situation is still improving.
Good audio on call as well as the microphone that will allow us to converse without problems with our interlocutor.
Despite this, sometimes there is a problem with the microphone during video recording and voice messages on messaging apps or on social media like Instagram where it will appear that the audio has been recorded to intermittence. Probably only an update will be needed to fix everything.
Connectivity
L'Elephant U Pro supports connectivity LTE Cat. 12 with the possibility of inserting two nano SIM or a Nano SIM and a microSD. The second card, however, has signal reception problems, in fact the smartphone will be unreachable. However, it could only be a problem with our unity.
Also, it happened a couple of times in the Switch between 3G and 4G the signal has dropped.
Needless to say, the 20 band since all the Elephone and all smartphones belonging to brands like Oukitel, Doogee, Ulephone & Co. they support it.
For the rest we find the Wi-Fi Dual Band and Bluetooth 5.0 characterized by a very stable signal, then theNFC, GPS / A-GPS / GLONASS, which work just as well.
The device supports also there wireless charging which, however, works well only if the smartphone is not positioned precisely on a certain area of the base.
Il fingerprint reader è accurate, but it's not a splinter. In principle we can successfully unlock the smartphone around 8 times on 10.
The must also be present face ID owner of Elephone, but this has not yet been implemented. However, do not despair guys, because the company has confirmed that it will come soon with the next update. So for the moment we have to use the classic face ID di Google, who funziona bene and smoothly. After recognition, however, you will need to do one swipe upwards to actually unlock the device.
Software
Finally Elephone it is breaking away from those brands that use classic stock software poco custom and full of bugs and is starting to develop his own, a little more elaborate, but minimal appearance.
The software is based on Android 8.0 Oreo, customized with proprietary interface and with 5 February 2018 security patch.
Esthetically I must say that I like very much and gestures that have been integrated to replace the software keys are a lot functional, but based on my habits, I preferred to put those on screen. Moreover, within the interface there are also the temi.
However, some small bug is present, but the company has made many steps forward in this field and could improve over time, perhaps with an update. Among these it is worth mentioning theincompatibility momentary of Netflix and the impossibility of listening to i voice messages di Whatsapp from the ear capsule because of the display block (with Telegram it does not happen).
However the UI it runs smoothly and without a hitch, in fact, moving between apps will no longer be a pain as with other smartphones a few months ago.
Autonomy
Under the body we find one battery da 3550 mah, which is able to guarantee us aexcellent autonomy, in fact with use a bit stressful we have totaled around 5 / 5.30 hours di active display, which also become 7 with use medium low, but in any case we arrive safely at midnight.
Thanks to the power supply with quick charging supplied, the smartphone will use 1 45 hours and minutes to fully recharge.
Conclusions
L'Elephant U Pro is a smartphone that surely hits thanks to his beautiful design and thanks to some excellent performance but unfortunately, it is not free from defects. The company is making great progress, but it is still not in step with some competitors in the same price range.
Il software for example it was improved a lot, but there are still a couple of bugs that should be fixed with the next updates. Among other things, during our test, a Update da 350 MB that went to file some aspects.
The only point I feel like reject right now it's the camera because it is not up to the 330 € (with "NYGBMP" coupon) that serve to bring this smartphone home.
However, our mission will be of create a GIZROM that can distort this side and improve even more theuser experience el 'photographic experience, because this device of potential he has it very very much, but at the moment the price is too high to take it seriously considering that, for example, we can buy without the already tested Xiaomi Mi Note 3 with the same chipset.
