After we Unboxed Ekophone 5.10, Ekotek's flagship device we tested it further and it was a greaaat device for the price! So for those who are looking for a very capable good looking quad-core phone, this might be the device for you.
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| The beautifully crafted 5.10 |
Accessories
Very much like Ekophone 4.20, Ekophone 5.10 presents a wide array of very useful and impressive freebies to the phone. There you can find the much improved flip cover, the screen protector, the usb cable charger and this time a black earbuds with mic.
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| The very stylish freebie :) |
What I like about the accessory package of Ekophone is its lovely faux leather cover with hard case, this one is definitely an upgrade compared to the case included with 4.20, because it gives more protection to your unit.
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| My favorite accessory from the package |
As an audio aficionado, I tested the earbuds again and very much like its baby brother 5.10's earbuds again isn't as good sounding as most of the free earbuds I've tried. The good thing is this time they included a left and right markings. Fortunately, that is forgivable because you can always use your favorite headphones, earbuds and in ear monitors.
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| The black earbuds :) |
Build Quality
If I thought 4.20's build quality is already good, then I'm wrong! Ekophone 5.10 definitely have a more solid feel compared to its baby brother.
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| Looking solid as usual! |
5.10 sports high quality plastic that wont break that easily, there is still some touch of aluminum in the sides of the phone which makes this one really robust. One thing I like with ekophone 5.10 is it is very easy to hold given its large 5 inches body.
Aside from its tough and a little heavy aesthetics, Ekophone did not forget to add style into this unit! It was a very classy looking premium phone at a not so premium price. Well done Ekotek!
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| Dat build and looks! :) |
Display
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| Check out the display! :) |
Ekophone 5.10's display is just right, even at only 240 ppi and it is not sporting an HD display it doesn't lag behind MyPhone A919i's display quality. Watching movies and viewing photos were decent enough and you can see the colors and details just right. However, I believe that ekophone should step up their game as other local competitors are already offering higher resolution for as low as 4k only. Not a deal breaker though. :)
Audio Test
As I surprise this phone can definitely use most headphones becauseI guess ekophone 5.10 complies with the ctia standard. So headphone compatibility won't be a problem for most people here.
The sound quality output from headphones was unexpectedly good too, I was able to hear most of the details of the songs with good depth and soundstage when using some good quality headphones. Honestly, I think this can drive most earbuds, iems and low powered headphones nicely even without amping it. The audio quality level of this one is close to the performance of iPhone 3G from my memory.
When using the phone as a speaker, it is loud enough and even louder than 4.20. In that regard, 5.10 is good enough for playing music and watching movies on a not so noisy place. :)
Call Quality
Quite decent! Without using the earbuds, you can hear the vocals properly even if you don't maximize the volume. However, when using the earbuds included you can still hear everything but not as good when you don't use the earbuds.
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| Check out the calls UI! |
Performance
Welcome to the most important part of the review, as expected from a Quad Core 1.2GHz MTK6589 the you add a not so high resolution, the overall performance of the phone is very smooth, efficient and optimized. I can't hardly feel lag on gaming and internet browsing except from those really heavy applications. Given its 1GB memory, I can switch to one app from another with ease compared to Ekophone 4.20.
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| Ekohone's beautiful UI |
Another thing that I like about this phone is it also have the must HAVE OTG support. I can easily view the files on my hard drive and usb using an OTG cable. Another plus point for me here is the very easy to use custom user interface of Ekophone. the skin looks like samsung most of the time.
Just like Ekophone 4.20 there are very few bloatwares on this phone, it is much like using a stock android. That could be another factor why this phone is so optimized. Another notable feature is that this phone supports gesture sensing. :)
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| There you go sensors! |
I'm also getting very good hspa+ signals on this unit, so even if it doesn't support LTE I feel that the internet speed on this one is a very capable performer. As a matter of fact I used is for a day as my portable wifi and hardly felt internet drops. :)
Though I have one complain with its UI, they removed the one click clean of apps that is present with 4.20.
Though I have one complain with its UI, they removed the one click clean of apps that is present with 4.20.
Benchmarks
See the results of our benchmark test below:
See the results of our benchmark test below:
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| Antutu Benchmark Scores |
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| Nenamark Results |
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| Quadrant Results |
Battery Life
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| Battery Stats |
Even Ekophone 5.10 uses a quad core processor and its battery is only rated at 1700 mAh, its usage of just a medium resolution display helped a lot in improving its battery life. Ekophone 5.10 lasted me a day of full use with normal text and call usage, gaming when bored and occasional 3G and wifi usage. In general, 5.10 have enough juice for a whole day of daily use.
Camera Test
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| Rear Camera with Flash |
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| Rear Camera Outdoor |
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| Front Cam (I did not include my face this time LOL) :) |
Ekophone 5.10 camera quality is pretty average, it utilizes an 8MP Rear Camera and a 2MP Front Camera. Based on my observations the rear camera is the performer here, it can shoot good shots even in not so good light conditions with good contrast and colors. Surprisingly, even the phone only have a single LED flash, it can still provide enough light when taking photos in the dark. The selfie cam of the phone is also decent, just don't use it in low light areas.
Pros
Pros
- Top notch build quality plus elegant looking design
- Really optimized performance
- USB OTG
- Surprisingly good sound quality output (headphones)
- 2 weeks outright replacement
- Fast HSPA+ Internet
- Gesture Sensing
Cons
- Priced a little high for the specs compared to other local brands
- Again no, enter key on the keyboard
- Subpar Earbuds
Verdict
Ekophone 5.10 is a powerful smartphone for your daily use. For the price the specs may be a little low compared to the budget quad core phones from other local brands, but this one is still worth the price due to its outstanding design and build.
We would like to thank Ekotek for sending us this unit. Cheers! :)
