Cubot S600 Android Smart Phone Review

[section_title title=”Performance and Testing”]

Performance and Testing

Like most reviews, it wouldn’t be worth while if we didn’t look at the performance of the S600 and its capabilities as an android device. We have set to use just 2 key benchmarking software packages available for this model of Android device which are Super Pi and Vellamo. Super Pi will help us see any sluggish performance with high CPU intensive calculations and Vellamo helps us look at a variety of different benchmarking tools in one small app. So, with that said we better run the S600 through a few benchmarks!

Super Pi

To start with, we will be using a small application called “Super Pi” which uses the device’s processor to calculate specific numbers within Pi (a never-ending number) in the quickest time possible. Although this isn’t exactly a comparable statistical figure and may differ upon the age and capabilities of the processor inside the device, it helps to provide a solid basis as to what sort of power is within the chip.

As you can see, working in a x2 multiplication of figures, Super Pi gives us a time figure that the phone has taken to calculate the requested number. While testing the S600, we see a nice and quick response that only slows down under heavy load, something we expect as the processor works to calculate the request. Taking just 0.062 seconds to calculate Pi to 8,000 figures and 177.454 seconds to calculate Pi to 4,000,000 figures, it is simple to see exactly what the benchmark does as a whole.

One thing to note about this is the clear struggle that the S600 quad core has gone through to produce 4M (million) figures as it took an additional 23 (estimate) seconds to process double the amount of figures than the 2M (million) test. This shows to us that under heavy workload, the processor does seem to slip with performance and perfect results would show this with a time stamp roughly double what it took between 2M (million) and 4M (million). Obviously, nothing is perfect and technology can have its flaws but it is something that can clearly be seen through this kind of testing to be a potential bottleneck later on in the devices life if faced with CPU intensive applications or tasks.

Vellamo

As mentioned earlier, vellamo offers a few applications in one for benchmarking from browser benchmarks to see what is better suited for this phone to more CPU benchmarks that show us the raw performance of the CPU and RAM on board the device. For this test, we will be using the CPU/RAM based benchmarking applications to see how the single/multiple cores of this device acts for specific operations requested of it. Memory bandwidth, logic gate CPU testing and much more is what we hope to test so lets being!

Single core performance – Using “Metal”, the name of the single CPU core testing application, we received a total score of 984. This score is a correlation of multiple things, as stated earlier, like processing power, memory bandwidth etc. This score sits nicely between two competitors, the Meizu MX4 (£170 – £55 more than the S600) and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (£120 – £5 more than the S600). Throughout the test, we can see from additional details that there was no form of CPU throttling or overheating as a side effect of the high power demands and CPU usage.

Multiple core performance – Using “Multicore”, the name of the multiple CPU core testing application, we received a score of 1401. This score is a correlation of multiple things, just like the “Metal” single core testing but applied to all cores at once. This score sits between two competitors, the Asus ZenFone 2 (£220 – £100 more than the S6) and the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (£120 – £5 more than the S600). Throughout the test, we can see from additional details that again there was no form of CPU throttling or overheating as a side effect of the high power demands and CPU usage.

In addition to the above, I would like to talk about temperatures and expelled heat from the phone while under intense usage. There is none. Yes, the phone may get a little warm after heavy use for 6 straight hours but this is expected for any solid state device as electricity passes through it but while it is being used for a few hours there is no noticeable increase in core temperatures.

Graphics Test

Rather than tuning a simple benchmark on the on-board graphics chip, we decided to take a look at the quality ourselves and see what we thought. After-all, this phone is not built for graphically intense gaming but more leisure and social life so FPS shouldn’t be of concern above practicality.

Before we begin, we must stress that the screen resolution is only 720×1280 so not full HD. This was a slight let down, understandable for the price but having such a large display at 5.0 inches and not offering low-end 720p capabilities is such a big down for this device. Nonetheless, the graphics still look great on the menu and with use on applications. The quality isn’t too different than most phones at a glance and colours remain vibrant.

Videos, as we have brought up earlier, only run at 720×1280 pixels which is downer for the ever expanding capabilities that sites like YouTube are bringing to capable mobile platforms. The image above is a prime example as of the 720×1280 display in operation, the image looks pixelated and not making for a good viewer experience. Overall, I was impressed with the general display on offer and looks great but break the available resolution down into a site like YouTube or Twitch and expect to be moving to another device for the sake of your own eyes.

Real World Experience

Generally, I really enjoyed using this phone as a back up to my own and even as my primary device for a good few weeks. The transition to this unlocked device was very easy, accounts syncing and backed up images appearing instantly, making it more of an attractive phone for those of you wanting a quick swap out to either your first android phone or a daily back up.

The phone was very comfortable to use, although the case provided was not and the cheap plastic crushed my smallest finger while in use. I would recommend attempting to source another case than that provided as with a slick and ‘easy to slide off the arm of a chair and onto the floor’ glass backing to the phone you will need it.

Performance was there when needed, don’t expect a high end device for the price but expect a bang for your buck. Applications ran smooth and fluid, games were a nice addition while on the go and the occasional use of the root clean-up application kept the phone running well.

The front facing camera was fairly impressive and worked well, even in minimal light. Detailing was there and even with default settings enabled, just for the purpose of a fair test, the quality was great. There are plenty of additional settings for you to play around with, even with the front facing camera being a very limited piece of hardware, which is great for capturing the best selfie. Something I clearly struggle to do!

The rear facing camera is again, impressive and even sports dual flash! Pictures are clear and colours are vibrant. The only downside is that you will need to play around with the setting a lot to find the perfect balance. The automatic options, like for ISO, don’t work very well in some situations and sometimes leaves the subject, in my case a Titan X stock cooler, slightly blurred as the camera struggles to find the perfect focus point.

With some really cool flagship features, like dual flash and the addition of a finger print reader to help keep your device secure, you feel very lucky when you have this device on you. As though the device was built around your needs and added what was needed, some cool features too, but generally everything you could possibly want in an android based smart phone.

Battery life is extremely impressive, lasting roughly 3-4 days idle and a full day without needing charge under a medium level of usage. It is a blessing to go a full day without needing to plug and fill the device with juice. Having said this, it is obvious that the battery is non-removable so make sure you ready up on the statistics of the phone to ensure you keep it in tip top health!

The S600 is very easy to use, even so that a ‘new to Android’ could easily navigate the mass of settings and options available. The interface is crisp and clear, navigation allows for blissful ease of use and the device just works very well as a result.