Ekophone Sage Black Edition Full Review!

Few weeks ago, we've had a chance to hold and make our initial impressions of the Ekophone Sage. Fortunately, we've had a chance to grab a demo unit to further test and analyze the phone to answer some of our questions about this gorgeous looking phone.

Ekophone Sage Review!

For our previous hands on and impressions: Click Here!

Unboxing

The new packaging of Ekotek looks very nice!

What's in the box?

The package

• Warranty Card
• Ekotek Sticker
• User Manual
• Customer Support
• USB Cable
• 1 A USB Adapter
• Earphones
• 2X Screen Protector (The other one is attached to the phone already)
• Ekophone Sage

As usual the package of Ekotek won't disappoint! Here you'll get 2 screen protectors, a 1 A, USB adapter, USB Cable and an earphone. However, unlike the Ekophone 5.10 this don't have a free case.

Build quality

2 regular SIM slots and the microSD card slot

Black carbon fiber back

Volume rocker

Power button

USB port, call speaker, 3.5 mm jack

Black and white version

As I've mentioned before the build quality of the Ekophone sage feels top notch and solid! It feels sturdy enough that it won't break that easily even if it's dropped from the floor. The carbon fiber back will help you avoid scratches that is normally a problem with other phones. The metal frame on the middle is set guarantee that this phone won't suffer from bendgates even when you placed it on your ass pocket, the chrome finish on the upper and lower lower part of the phone may suffer a little fade which is not a big deal at all.

Display

Checkout that gorgeous huge display

Event at just qHD, the display of the Ekophone Sage performed nicely. To my surprise the viewing angles are decent, it doesn't hurt my eyes even if I use it for hours, I can clearly read the text on the browser even without zooming it.It is also quite good when watching movies as the big display helps a lot on it. It was also able to perform neatly at sunlight. The colors were good enough for most and not overly saturated, though detail and realism freaks may find it lacking and the  In general the display quality of the Sage is quite decent, but I would love to see a version of the Sage in an HD or even a Full HD mode.

Battery Life

Battery life

I loved the way the Ekophone Sage performed on this part. On a regular usage, I'm just charging this phone once every 2 days even at just 1,900 mAh! The software on hardware of the phone blended nicely in order to give us a nice optimized battery performance. It even outperformed some of the 2,500 mAh battery phones I've tried which is a testament to its battery quality.

Audio Test

The phone has 2 speaker grills, but only the back home has a sound output.

Speaker - The speaker loudness of the phone is loud enough to fill a small room with music. It has a good enough bright sound and decent details on it. You may just miss some of the bass notes as this is not a bassy speaker and there are some hiss in some tracks. It could be good on acoustic tracks (strings), voice oriented songs and some pop songs.

Audio Output - When it comes to playing music through headphones or in ear monitors the Ekophone Sage is a bright source. (which means it has more emphasis on the treble side) It blended very well with the warm sounding RHA MA750i but didn't performed very well with the bright Westone UM Pro 10 and just added more treble harshness on it. It was also able to drive the power hungry Havi B3 Pro I nicely on 80-90% volume. Overall, the audio output in headphones of the phone performed on a good level and has good soundstage. It's far from Hi-Fi, but this one doesn't sound bad and is capable enough to drive some cans nicely.

Note: To those who may find the treble a bit too much, try to lessen that part by a 2-4 dB depending on your taste on the equalizer.

Microphone - The microphone of this phone was able to perform on an average level. The voice is very clear and doesn't have that much noise. I was also able to record the parts of the a live song on a listenable level.

Free IEM with mic - has a better sound compared to other free in ear monitors and earbuds with mic. It has a warm and bassy sound that blended nicely with the bright sound output of the phone.

Camera

Rear cam on low light

Rear Camera with Flash

Rear Camera HDR

Rear Camera regular shot

Selfie on good lighting

Sample video in a dark place

The rear camera of the phone performed well even at just 8 MP. It's great with good lighting, decent on shots with low light and the shutter speed was fast enough. The colors it produced has a good tone on it and not overly saturated. The flash is also quite strong to give dark room shots some life. However, it didn't performed very well on HDR mode, as it just made some of my shots brighter and added more noise in it. It's not the best 8 MP out there, but it's also better than some 8 MP cameras from local branded phones. The front camera doesn't get enough light which may result to a grainy and dark shots when used on a low light condition. With good lighting and outdoor use, it is good enough for most.

Performance

WWE Immortals :)

The overall feel and function of the phone is great! I was able to run most apps buttery smooth and the phone doesn't lag. I also loved the built in app cleaner of the sage that could be accessed by holding the home button to ensure that the phone is always fast. It phone don't have bloatwares to my liking too and the UI was pretty standard which makes it very easy to use and understand.

I just have some issues on its display as it only have 2 points of multi touch that resulted for me to miss some letters on the keyboard while typing. When it comes to gaming this phone is capable enough to run most games, but the 2 point multi touch may hinder your total gaming experience as you may miss some of the controls.

Overall, this is a capable everyday entry level phone especially if you're not a heavy user as it can give you a smooth overall Android Kitkat experience.

Benchmarks

Benchmarks of Sage

Pros - Huge Display, Affordable Price, Great Build Quality, Sleek Design, Thin Body, Above average battery life, performed well on benchmarks

Cons - 2 Point Multi Touch only, Front camera don't perform too well without good lighting, I expected a dual speaker output instead of just one, not CTIA ready 

Specifications

• Display: 5.5 Inches qHD (960 x 540)
• Processor: 1.3 GHz MediaTek MT6582
• GPU: Mali 400 GPU
• RAM: 1 GB
• ROM: 8 GB expandable via microSD card slot
• Rear Camera: 8 MP with LED Flash
• Front Camera: 2 MP fixed focus
• Battery: 1,900 mAh
• OS: Android 4.4 Kitkat
• Connectivity: WiFi / 3G / Bluetooth
• Dimensions: 154 x 79.2 x 7.6 mm
• Price: PHP 5,999 to 6,499.00 (depends if the phone is on sale)

Verdict

If you are looking for a very stylish and slim looking phone with good build quality that doesn't break the bank, this device could be perfect for you. At 5.5 inches this could also be great when it comes to watching movies and viewing large images. It is also pretty fast, doesn't lag on average use and has good battery life.

Copy: Total Rating: 9.03 / 10 | Create infographics