8.6.2017

I like my gadgets particularly phones and smartwatches. I don't tend to spend a lot of money on a high end phone because I still remember that one time I leaned over the side of my boat to fish something out of the water when my rather expensive phone fell out of my pocket and sank to the depths of the lake! So my current phone is (was) a Samsung S5, but I also have a really old iPhone 4s kicking around too as well as a couple of tablets.I've used my S5 for a couple of years now and I've found it to be a great phone for what I need - which is checking emails, using the internet and very occasionally watching some streaming TV service like Amazon Prime Video. Oh and sending texts and making the occasional call!But I was really bored of the Samsung TouchWiz UI that they use to dumb down the Android experience. The latest update to Android 6.x made virtually no difference to the interface on the S5, it was very disapointing.Screen-wise, I'd always thought 5" was plenty. The 4" of the iPhone was too small for reading emails and browsing the web - but it was a nice size for a phone. 6" was great for browsing the web and reading emails, but was too big for a phone. So 5" was just about right. However, the trend is now towards larger 6" phones (note the current range of iPhones) and my S5 was beginning to look a little small compared to others.When I saw this phone and realised that I could buy it new for about the same or less money that I would get second hand for my S5, I decided to give it a shot. I figured that if it was rubbish I could return it and if it was good, I'd sell my S5 and get my money back. So I gave it a go and the following is my comparison of the Cubot Max against the S5 and how the Cubot Max fares in daily use.1. PresentationThe phone is very nicely presented. I got the black and silver one just for a bit of contrast and the back looks like something straight off a sci-fi set. It's gorgeous. Of course, you could blend in more and go for the less obvious black. But I really like the metallic silver and I'm glad I picked that one. As a tip to the manufacturer: It would be nice if you also sold the backs seperately for a few pounds so that we could change them as we please.The screen is nice. It's advertised as curved and it sort of is. Not curved like the S7 Edge, but nonetheless, it is curved and does give the phone a really nice finish to it. Just like some of the HTC phones, the back also covers the sides so when you remove the back, you are also removing the buttons too. This does give an element of edge protection, but only if you can replace the back if you damaged it.It has dual sim slots and an SD card slot - all of which can be accessed without turning the phone off or removing the battery - a huge improvement on my S5 which you had to turn off and remove the battery first - even just to get your SD card out.Size-wise, it looks huge - AT FIRST. But you very quickly get used to it. Even after just 10 minutes of using it, I swapped back to my S5 to do some comparison benchmarking and I found the S5 screen looked tiny! :)You get a charger in the box and a rather short charging lead. There is a quick start guide and a useful website where you can download user-guides as well as firmware for you phone.2. SpecificationsThe phone supports 4G and the usual wifi standards apart from the 5GHz band. An odd ommission since most wireless chipsets support both bands. But you won't notice in practice as no wifi access points support 5GHz only. 5GHz is always in adittion to the standard 2.3GHz band.The phone has 3GB of RAM compared to the Samsung S5 which only has 2. So half as much again. It has an Octocore (8 core) processor running at 64bit compared to the S5's quadcore (4 core) running at 32bit. But each core runs slightly slower (1.7 vs 2.3 from memory). The result is that the Cubot Max is faster in some areas than the S5, but not all areas. For example, the Cubot Max is a faster phone for web browsing and photo editing, but slower than the S5 for video editing (see pics). I assume this is due to the processor speed and graphics chipset. For gaming, I noticed no difference at all in frame speed, but the Cubot felt better due to the bigger screen.The rear camera on the Cubot Max is 13mp compared to the 16mp of the S5 - but the front facing camera on the Cubot is much more powerful at 5mp compared to 2mp on the S5. As the human eye can't tell any difference above 4mp anyway, this is all down to what you do with your images - ie will you be zooming in a lot? For daily use, I can't tell any difference in the rear camera between the 2 phones.Whilst it runs a true HD screen, it is 720x1280 with 16m colours and this helps the battery life.2. OnlineOnline is where this phone really excels. The phone is much faster to browse the internet with than my S5 and the larger display makes it an absolute joy to use. Everything is larger and that 1" really makes a difference. Font is easier to read, pictures have more detail and the onscreen keyboard is tons easier to use. I have my work email, personal email and favourite browswers set up on it and each one of those is better to use on this phone. Texting is a breeze - I still can't match the speed of my kids, but I'm getting there! :)As a satnav in the car using "Here We Go" offline mapping from (ex) Nokia, it is also better than the S5. If you think about the placement of a satnav on the windscreen of a car, it is quite a way from you, so the larger screen makes it easier again.SkyGo, Amazon Prime Video and BBC iPlayer are all much better on this. In fact I didn't tend to bother on my S5. I used to take an iPad or my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 with me for watching TV, but with this phone, I've put those apps back on and actually use them! There's no lag and no display issues. It plays TV and movies very nicely.3. GamingI don't really game, sorry. But for the purposes of testing the phone to make sure it was any good, I played Real Racing and I couldn't tell any difference between the handsets except that the bigger screen on the Cubot Max made the game look nicer and it was more fun to play that it was on the S5.4. Battery lifeThis is one of the phones strongest selling points to me. The battery is twice the capacity of the S5. Just using my S5 on an average day at work could result in my battery getting below 20% at which time you start to worry about it running flat on you and then you needing it in an emergency or something. Not so with this phone. I've not had it that long, but even after hammering it for a day, I've still not had less than 51% remaining and on typical use, I have about 70% remaining at the end of a day meaning that the phone should be good for *at least* 2 days of good use or 3 days of casual use. A marked improvement.5. SummaryBad points:Charger looks cheap and charging cable is too short.Minor niggles:It's quite heavy - but then it's a bigger phone than I normally have.It would be nice if Cubot sold the backs seperately so they could be changed.Good points:Price - great priceScreen - lovely size screen - great for watching TV and browsing the internetBattery life - 2 to 3 days easily!So am I happy? Yes. It's a change going from Samsungs TouchWiz to stock Android and a change I like. But the biggest plusses for me are the price, screen size and battery life. If I was in the market for a new phone because I didn't have one, this would be my first choice at this price. But in my case, I replaced a perfectly good phone with it and I'm still happy I did. I don't think I'll go back to a 5" screen now!

11.12.2016

I bought the Cubot max originally as backup line phone but I've been so impressed with the phone I'm now using it for my main line to, helpful as it's dual sim . I have had a few Chinese phones over that last few years some have been better than others but it must be said that the improvements on these mid range-budget handset has made them hard to beat on price and functionality. The Max feels well built in the hand and even though the back has a plastic removable cover its feels strong with no flex . The Max it a large phone with huge 6in bright HD screen. "Screen protector already fitted it a nice touch" good job Cubot. Although I'm not sure that screen is gorilla glass so a protector is advisable.Set up was very easy and clear as it's uses stock Android (6.0)its super quick and all you have to do is transfer numbers etc via Google "simples"! One thing I like a lot is that there is no bloatware on this phone Cubot have done a great job Not filling the huge 3Gb of ram with junk that slows the phone down a real bonus ! The ROM has an impressive 32Gb of storage which is great , more than enough for most people and you can increase this simply with a micro SD card if you wish. I've had no lag on any functions or apps so far and the Mt6753 Octa core processor is quick and smooth I know that compared to some more powerful snapdragon processors it's AnTuTu score is just okay but for emailing, Facebook and browsing it's fine. Video playback is good and smooth . Im surprised that the tiny Speakers produce such a good sound as well, not Dolby fantastic but sound is clear and crisp, plus via headphones music is very good indeed.Battery is amazing for such a large phone. It is a large 4100mAh capacity so a days usage would be expected but I've manage to get 2 days of usage from a single charge !! Brilliant .It's partly down to the processors but also Android 6.0 uses less power and for such a large screen phone it's quite impressive. My last Lenovo 5.5in screen phone lasted day at most. Okay so with any purchase there is always a minus and in this case it's the camera. It's not terrible but compared to to my last 13mp camera that used a Sony sensor this is far less crisp. Shots look good and clear but you need to keep the phone very still . I can put this down to keeping the cost of the handset down the sensor is an older cheaper omni sensor and is the only reason I only gave the Max 4 stars and not 5! UPDATE After using the phone on holiday the last week I have now can say that I am suitabley impressed with the camera it's seems that after using it day or so the sensor has improved the auto function works better and pictures are crisp and colours good video is also good. Hence the reason for my increased star rating..Very impressed with this phone!!One other thing is that if you want a light phone in your pocket then this is not the phone for you! at 200g is much heavier than some But to me it's okay as I'm less likely to drop it knowing it's there. All in all the Max a great cheaper alternative to most of the mainstream phones on the uk market.I have purchased plenty of Chinese phones before direct from China which can be a risk if you have a problem with the phone but with Cubot available on Amazon you get the 1 year uk warranty which gives you peace of mind if anything does go a miss . But I feel quite positive about this product. Check out the black Friday sale codes on their site for reductions on most of Cubot handsets available on Amazon uk.

13.6.2017

Right, my overall feeling first: this is a lot of phone for the money, and I am generally very happy with it. My criteria for purchasing included a good-size screen, a removable battery, a micro SD card slot and a headphone jack. So, this phone ticks all those boxes, and at a very good price for what you get. So, overall, yes, I would recommend it. Now, more detailed opinions on each notable aspect follow.Display: I wanted a phone with a decent size screen, without paying a fortune for a Galaxy Note or similar. I was initially a little put off by the "low" screen resolution of 1280x720, when there are higher-res options out there. Then,I got a grip and realised that I remember when 1024x768 was considered a perfectly adequate resolution on a 17" monitor, and this is a 6" panel. In real-world usage, the screen looks just fine - I don't see individual pixels or anything, and I think a higher resolution would just add cost and decrease battery life for very little real-world benefit.Build quality: perfectly adequate - feels solid and well put together - in fact, feels like a more expensive phone.GPS / location: this is my biggest criticism so far. GPS performance seems a lot worse than my previous phone (a Sony Z3). I use RunKeeper to track runs/walks, and it's not unusual for the same route to return much different distance, and looking at the maps, there'll be some spurious points where the location wandered. Using Google Maps in the car, it will periodically think I'm in a field, or on a road next to the road I'm really on - I didn't have that problem with my last phone. Also, this phone has no compass, so navigation-type apps don't know what direction you're facing in.Battery life: generally good - I use several apps fairly heavily during the day, and it doesn't have a problem making it through the day on one charge.Performance: generally good, although sometimes a little laggier than I would expect from a phone of these specs; need to troubleshoot a bit further to see why.Dual SIM: handy stuff - I have an EE 4G SIM and a Vodafone 4G SIM in. Only one of them can use 4G data at a time, though. You can set which SIM is the default for outgoing calls, or can be prompted to select each time. Unlike some dual-SIM phones, you can have two SIMs *and* a micro SD card in at the same time (I've seen some where the second SIM slot shares a location with the micro SD card, so you can't have both in).Wifi: holds on to my home wifi network with no problems at all, and returns decent performance.Bluetooth: good - holds a Bluetooth connection to my headphones from a different room, seems to have much better BT range than my Z3 did.Software: Android 6.0, minimal added bloat. As with all my Android devices, I immediately installed Nova Launcher. I've had a few problems with certain apps refusing to run: The Simpsons Tapped Out, Skype, and one or two others, which just get the standard Android "Unfortunately, $name has stopped" error when I try to open them. I've not yet figured out why, sounds like some ADB debugging may be needed there. The vast majority of the apps I use run fine, though.There doesn't seem to be an official LineageOS (formerly Cyanogen) build for this device yet. I've not yet received any OTA updates. Cubot provide firmware downloads on their site, albeit a download link to Mega.nz which is a touch shady.

18.6.2017

A few years ago I had a Samsung S3. It was slow, and frustrating, despite its reputation. I decided to buy a Cubot X12 as a backup, having read good stuff about it. Having got that working, I played with the S3 and managed to root it. Once I removed some of the bloat applications, it was really quick and nice to use. But the Cubot suited me better and I stuck with it and sold on the "freed" Samsung. My girlfriend was having all sorts of problems with her Samsung phone, and I showed her mine and told her I'd get her one. But I couldn't. By then the X12 had gone off the market and was dearer second hand than I'd paid for it new, which tells you what a good phone it is.So I ordered another cheap Chinese phone (but not a Cubot) and gave her the X12, which is still in use and she's very happy with it. The new phone was very frustrating to use, so I did what I should have done earlier, tried another Cubot, the Max. I got it "Used like new" for £99.99. It arrived in perfect condition and working order.All the frustration was gone! The 3Mb RAM ensures that there are no bad holdups (except when receiving slow internet). The 32Gb internal memory removes another source of frustration, in that, despite Android 6 merging the internal and SDXC card memories, apps are by default loaded onto the internal memory and have to be manually moved one at a time to the SDXC card. Not all will move, and some will but won't work properly. Now I don't have to worry about running out of app space and I can leave them all on the internal memory. All the files and media I add automatically goes onto the SDXC card. With the other phone, the 8Gb internal memory was a royal pain in the backside.Generally I have noticed the prices of Cubot's phones sneaking up, and to be honest, if they are all as good as the X12 and the Max, it's hardly surprising. They are still much cheaper than the big brands. They contain a basic set of software, so you might need help setting them up in terms of having enough software installed for your needs, if you know what you're doing, they are a much better alternative than some main brands full of bloatware that you don't need.Specifically, the Max has a good touchscreen, the resolution is as good as my old eyes can use, the battery lasts all day and more, it seems to pull in a weaker wireless signal with fewer problems, and it's hard to fault. Of course this may need to be revised as I've only been using it a couple of days, but everything seems fine.Not too impressed with Amazon's delivery on this occasion though. It was left on my doorstep when we were away a few days, even though the message I got said I had signed for it. Fortunately a neighbour with our spare keys saw it there and put it inside the house.UPDATE: Nerd's Corner — This phone proved to be easy to "root". I won't go into details here, find stuff on the net. However a slight disappointment in that I couldn't get Xposed to run properly on the rooted phone. But there are plenty of useful rooted apps available, plus a few standard ones that work better if root is available (including the Nova Launcher).

25.8.2018

Cheap, good call quality and excellent screen (720p), does everything you need for a very reasonable cost!I have had this phone/Phablet for a couple of weeks and used on a daily basis as my main driver. It's a a big handset and can be a little awkward to carry around if you do not have large pockets available, however anyone buying this phone would be well aware of this prior to purchase! It does everything reasonably well, texts, playing music, playing movies etc. Watching movies/videos on my daily train commute to work via this phone has been a joy. The build quality of this handset is cheap in that it's made of plastic so no glass or metal frame inside,but nevertheless it's still very well put together and feels sturdy and somehow provides the user with a reassuring feel in the hand.It's a hefty phone in not only size but also in weight, I am well aware I have it in my pocket, this is probably more evident to me personally as I was using an iPhone 5s previously which by comparison is light weight and tiny in terms of screen dimensions.This phone is only running Android 6, and I do not believe it will be updated to a newer operating system, this did not bother me as I downloaded Evie Launcher and I love the user experience that this launcher provides I also have modified how the apps are displayed, so there are no issues for me personally that it's not running the latest Android OS.It houses a big battery (removable), I have read other users talk about fantastic battery life of 2 days, I get a days use at most and I'm not a heavy user, I resort to top ups at work and tested this by not watching films on the phone, it still lasts a day. This leads me onto my other con, it takes an age to charge this phone, I charge it overnight, unsure if this is just my handset but it takes over 3 hour! That's a real negative for me it's too long especially given the battery life I mentioned earlier.Overall, it's a good cheap package, it's dealt effectively with everything I have thrown at it, I am tempted to keep as a cheap back up phone or to use specifically when I want to playback media on commutes, it's certainly a cheap enough purchase to justify retaining it solely for that purpose. I would definitely recommend buying and experiencing for yourself whether you can live with this handset, it's far from perfect but at this price it's is mightily (pun intended) impressive and does things just as well as handsets that are twice as expensive, I know this as I bought more expensive handset road tested that and kept this handset as for the difference in price this handset offered much better value and performance, more bang for my buck!I hope my review assists you.

23.9.2017

UPDATE : See below.It just arrived and has been setup with T3 launcher so this is a 'out the box' review for now. Also, I purchased a second hand one not brand new, labelled "nearly new". To be fair, it has one scratch on the top of the chassis but it looks like part of the design, yet clearly not lol.Initially, setup went very smoothly, connected to wifi without issue, fully uptodate system wise and googleplay is setup nicely too, having installed the launcher. Android 6.0 launcher is great but I am used to the T3 launcher and kinda like it.Camera works nicely, giving a clear pic that isn't pixelated when zoomed in.Phone is very smooth to use, scrolling and such, unhindered.Heavy phone mostly due to the huge battery,

10.10.2017

Does all of what it does, without a fuss. Delivered a day early, go figure! Not an edge-to-edge phone, so viewable areas less than 6 inches measured diagonally. Nice packaging, just remove the battery isolator plastic tab first. Bigger than my Motorola Xplay, and way faster. Dual Sims are micro not nano, so got a converter and then it took seconds to set up. Synching with a Google count is a cinch, duh. It installed all 67 (yikes) of my apps in wink. I put a 32gb storage card in and it registered it straightforwardly.On/off switch is below the up/down volume, on the rhs, which is where it should be, for average hands/fingers to reach. it takes a moment to get used to.

5.9.2017

UPDATE: i have increased the rating to 4 stars to reflect the excellent customer service which ended up with them providing a downloadable firmware update to V14. The phone was shipped with a version that would not update by wireless and I downloaded from the link to my PC (it wouldn't download to my phone) then put it in my Dropbox from where I could load it on my phone and carry out the manual update procedure. This has fixed the issue with apps failing to load, crashing and self deleting but not the Bluetooth sound quality which I guess must be hardware related. However overall this is a terrific phone for the money and several of my friends have been impressed and said they would consider

23.8.2017

IMPORTANT, read this first. If you purchase this phone and you are using an sd card to expand the memory size ( I put a 64gb in ) this will save you a lot of frustration. When you get the phone out of the box and have taken the protective strip off the battery and put your sim card in I suggest you do not put an sd card in yet. Turn the phone on an input your google details and connect to your home wifi, after this swipe down from the top of the screen and turn on " data connection "(the phone is not automatically switched on for data) , after this google services will update automatically(let it update all the apps).DO NOT START INSTALLING YOUR FAVOURITE APPS YET. Then in settings go to "about phone",

27.9.2017

I was looking for a Smartphone to give to a close relative as a surprise present.I soon realised that with my very limited means I would not be able to afford one of the well known brands with the specs I was hoping to purchase, so decided to consider one of the cheaper "Chinese" phones. I never realised there were so many!When I came across the Cubot range I looked further into them, (specs. reviews etc.) I am no expert, far from it and most of the spec I read mean nothing to me, I have to Google what they mean/do.This Cubot Max 6 seemed to have so much that was also found in the much more expensive brands and at a much lower price I decided to take a chance on one because of the warranty protection.

4.9.2018

I ordered this on the basis of the spec and the product reviews on these pages figuring that it must be possible to find a decent phone which doesn't cost upwards of £300 and isn't made by Apple or Samsung or the other usual suspects. Having now used it for a couple of months I've now come up with the following pros and cons.ProIt has a nice robust feel, comes with a screen protector already fitted and has already survived a few drops.The sound for conversations, video and music is fineIt's camera is as good as any I've used on previous phones including i-phone and Samsung Note. The second 'selfie' camera is as great but more than good enough for skyping.My app needs are less than most but Facebook,

21.6.2018

I needed a new phone but didn't want a contract or spend a fortune. This fits the bill. Its faster than my old LG G3 (which went wrong).Only used for a couple of days - but battery seems to last over a day easily. Used on train journey for an hour each way and a few Whatsapps stuff and the like.To answer some concerns I had:Yes - you can read the folders on the phone from a W10 PC - used it to transfer music and ringtones to phone.No - it cannot play WMA filesIt has a few gesture commands that are useful - and loads that aren't IMHOYes - its big - but you knew that when you aorder it didn't you?

3.2.2017

If all you need is to text and call, there are plenty that will do that sort of thing for under £50. However, if you want a decent Android phone but without the crazy prices (£300 plus), this is one to consider. This phone rivals phones made by a certain South Korean company, with no disrespect to them.Some things to think about:1. The screen is a 6 inch LCD screen. In this case, size does count. Not small pocket size but what the hell.2. Octa-core 3GB of RAM.3. Internal storage capacity of 32GB. Is your mouth watering yet.4. 4100mAh Big Battery.5. It comes unlocked and can take two sims, plus a memory card.6. Front Camera: 1.3MP (interpolated 5.0MP).7. Back Camera: 8.0MP (interpolated 13.0MP)

1.3.2017

Great product for the price.The phone is something of a behemoth and certainly isn't for anyone but those with large hands or weak wrists. It is by far the heaviest smartphone I have ever used at a little over 200g.The display, whilst not HD, is still pretty good and colours are fairly bright and vivid.Camera is average, at best and front facing selfy camera is quite poor but at the phone's price point, I didn't really expect anything different.The (removable) battery is the main place where this phone comes into its own. The 4100mah battery lasts a full day with almost constant use and should easily last a couple of days with moderate use. (I wouldn't know the latter for sure, though,

14.5.2017

Good phone , with a decent battery life. There are things that give it away as not premium like it's casing which isn't bad but a bit plastic.The other things are the display which isn't as colourful and deep as my note 3.The speaker loud but a bit tinny too in sound and although it's a 13mp camera it isn't any better than a premium brands 8mp camera (at least not indoors)But still all the above are good enough. The thing that might annoy me over time is its very slow charging time. From empty to 100 percent is closer to three hours , which im not use to .On the positive side all together it's a phone that does what you need it to and can do just about everything any other phone can,

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