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Evercoss One X - a standard, yet special smartphone

Several years ago, Cross Mobile, now is better known as Evercoss, was a local brand that produced a feature phone containing various feature with affordable cost. Nowadays, after changing their brand from Cross Mobile to Evercoss, they start to change join smartphone and tablet competition. One of their movement is to create a cooperation with Google three years ago. This cooperation resulted in an exclusive Android smartphone with full software support by Google. This smartphone is called Evercoss One X. This smartphone is the first generation of Android One series that targets Indonesian entry-level users. Besides its exclusive software update support, what are the features that make this smartphone worth having? Find out in the review below!

Evercoss One X

Strengths: ü Inexpensive Cost ü Full Google’s Support for the Software ü IPS Screen	Weaknesses: x Battery Capacity x Standard Camera
Price: IDR 699,000.00

Screen and Design

Evercoss One X adopts a candybar design with a proportional size to make it comfortable to hold, especially for Indonesian users. The bezel of this smartphone is thick. That makes this smartphone not so special in terms of design. The back-cover is designed with rough texture, making it not easy to slip when you hold it.

Evercoss seems to make a bad choice in placing the buttons. Volume and power buttons are put on the right side of the device. That means that you will need to use two hands to make a screenshot which can be done by pressing volume down and power button at the same time. You won’t find any soft keys at the bottom of the device’s bezel. All those keys are replaced with virtual keys that can be found at the bottom part of the screen.Evercoss One X gets a 4.5-inch High Quality IPS LCD display which is likely enough to present brilliant details of an object in High Quality pictures and videos. The colors are quite sharp with controllable brightness level. Sadly, the screen is not protected with tempered glass which means that the screen may be easily scratched, so you will need to install screen protector by yourself.

Software and Processor

Evercoss One X adopts Android Marshmallow which is kept original with no modification, especially in its user-interface. It means that you will get the pure user-interface of Android Marshmallow. There are several bloatwares – pre-installed applications - found in the device. Luckily, most of the bloatwares are removable. The software features some useful functions such as “doze mode” which lets the system to stop unused programs in order to save the battery, “apps auto backup” which allows the user to back up their important data into Google Drive automatically, and app permission which lets the user to allow or to deny an application that is going to access the device’s data.

To provide a good performance, a 1.3GHz Mediatek quad-core processor is planted. This processor is supported with 1GB RAM for multitasking pleasure. For the desire of playing games, A Mali-400 is ready to run high-quality any games. So far, the device can run apps fast and smooth. You may find several lags when playing heavy games.

Camera

Taken by the main camera © Personal Collection

From the photo that can be seen above, it can be concluded that Evercoss One X is not a smartphone that is made for photography purpose. The camera which is planted in the device itself is not special. Its main camera only has a 5-megapixel lens with LED flash. Surprisingly, the camera can take good quality photos with minimum noises when there is enough light, thanks to its camera sensor and Google Camera. The front camera has 2-megapixel sensor which is likely enough for video chatting purpose. Anyway, the quality of camera may be glitchy when being used in-app, for example, Instagram.

Storage and Battery

Evercoss One X is a general Android smartphone with standard battery durability. It can only last less than 8 hours in normal use. It is because the device only adopts a 1.700 mAh battery which is standard for an entry-level smartphone. Besides, to make the battery get full capacity, users need to charge the battery for about 2 hours.

The storage of this smartphone is likely enough for daily use with standard apps installed. Those standard apps may be instant messenger, productivity apps, entertainment apps, games, and many more. To be more clear, this smartphone has an 8GB internal storage, but the storage which is available to users is only 5.7GB. Luckily, you can expand the storage up to 32GB with a microsd card. And thanks to “adoptable storage” feature by Android Marshmallow, the microsd card can be treated as if it is internal storage.

Conclusion

Evercoss One X may have standard hardware, but it gets awesome software. The standard camera of the device can take a good quality picture with the help of its pre-installed software, Google Camera. The internal storage can be enlarged by inserting a microsd and formatting it to be internal storage with the help of its adoptable storage feature. In conclusion, the minus aspect of this phone, in this case, the hardware, can be improved with its awesome installed software. For a smartphone immigrant, this device is a good start to have a standard, yet special smartphone at affordable price.

Polytron Prime 7S - a Premium Taste Smartphone

Polytron is a brand that is firstly found in Kudus. They focus on manufacturing electronics. They also join smartphone competition in Indonesia. Polytron Prime 7S is the proof that they are serious to provide an awesome smartphone. It is the first Indonesian premium smartphone available today, making it the first brand who dares to compete with other global brands in premium-class segment. The Prime 7S is equipped with variety advanced hardware such as fingerprint sensor, big camera lens, a brilliant colorful display, and many more, making it a wonderful smartphone to be owned. The Prime 7S comes in two color variants, black white, and gray. This smartphone is a premium smartphone that targets middle-end users.

Polytron Prime 7S

Strengths: ü Octa Core Processor ü Fira OS ü Cameras ü 3GB of RAM ü 16 GB of Internal Storage ü Screen	Weaknesses: x Battery Capacity
Price: IDR 3,700,000.00

Screen and Design

The Prime 7S blends together metal and glass for its body adopting a unibody candybar design, making it look luxurious and premium. A though glass makes up the front of the body, where touchscreen panel, front camera, speaker, and virtual keys reside. Metal covers the back body where the main camera with its double flash tone, and fingerprint reside.

Volume and power button can be found on the right side of the device. To me, putting two buttons at the left side of the body is not really a good choice because, if you like to take a screenshot, you will need to use both of your hands to take a screenshot which can be done by pressing volume down and power button at the same time. Other buttons that can be found in this device is three soft buttons that reside at the bottom part of the bezel. Those buttons function as menu, home, and back button.

Polytron Prime 7S adopts a 2.5D 5.2-inch High Definition IPS LCD which is well known for its ability in providing brilliant combination of colors. You will experience of seeing an object like in reality, thanks to the 2.5D technology applied in the screen. A good resolution as can be found in almost all premium smartphone. The combination of colors is very sharp with controllable brightness level, thanks to IPS Technology. The display is protected by Dragon Trail glass, so you don’t need to worry about the screen.

Software and Processor

The Prime 7S adopts Android Marshmallow which is fully modified to provide the new experience when operating it. It means that the user will user-interface which is fresher than the pure Android interface. There are several bloatwares – pre-installed applications - found in the device. Some of them are removable.

Adopting a powerful processor, MediaTek Helio, makes this smartphone able to provide high performance for you. The processor has 8 cores that are able to achieve 2GHz maximum speed. Plus, the processor is helped with 3GB of RAM, making this phone powerful to run heavy apps and open many apps at the same time. For your gaming pleasure, A Mali-400MP4 is ready to process heavy graphics. As the result of that hardware combination, heavy games such as DC’s Injustice, Asphalt, Call of the Duty, and many more can be played smoothly with no lags at all, make you feel like playing games from a game console. In conclusion, the Prime 7S is a smartphone that can do everything for you.

Camera

For your photography pleasure, Polytron Prime 7S is equipped with a Sony sensor and a 13-megapixel lens with dual-tone LED flash. One thing you need to know is that Sony’s camera sensor is known for its quality in reducing picture noise. The result is that the camera can take quite good quality photos with very minimum noise even in low light place. Compared with the camera lens of Sony Xperia C4 Dual, the Prime 7S has a better one.

Taken by the main camera

As you can see, the picture taken by this smartphone is good enough. The autofocus of this smartphone is not the fastest, but it can detect the object perfectly. You can see the focus really well. The blur of the unfocused object is not too much, making it look natural. The weakness of the camera is actually when you take picture in low light place, the color won’t be really sharp. But hey, this camera is more than enough to fulfill your photography pleasure.

The Prime 7S can also accommodate your hobby of taking selfies. Its front camera is equipped with 5-megapixel lens plus other features such as autofocus, filters, and other features for selfie purpose. In conclusion, Polytron can be a choice for you who are one of selfie seekers.

Storage and Battery

The internal storage of this smartphone is quite big. It has a huge 16GB internal storage. Plus, the storage can be expanded with an microsd card up to 32GB. Well, you can whoa. Though, it has 16GB internal storage, the storage which is available to users is only 13GB. Well, to me, that storage is still huge for an entry-level smartphone.

The Prime 7S is a high-performance Android smartphone with a bit more than standard battery durability. It can last less than 10 hours in normal use. It is because the device only adopts a 2,100 mAh battery. That battery is not really standard for an entry-level smartphone. Compared with the Xperia C4 Dual, Polytron’s smartphone can standby almost the same long as Sony’s even though the Xperia C4 Dual’s battery is bigger than Prime 7S’. It is because Polytron’s screen resolution is less than Sony’s.

Conclusion

Polytron Prime 7S comes with great hardware at affordable price. The good quality camera of the device can help you take your best moment that can satisfy your photography and instagraming pleasure anytime and anywhere. The internal storage is quite huge for a smartphone around IDR 3,700,000. For a smartphone immigrant, the Prime 7S is a recommended choice for you who want to taste a sensation of a premium smartphone at affordable price. Taste every premium feature in it without spending too much money of yours.

Evercoss Winner Tab S4 - an inexpensive 4G tablet

Evercoss Winner S4 is Indonesian branded tablet launched in the end of 2016. An ultra-fast 4G internet connection becomes one of plus points of this device. Besides that, Android Marshmallow has been installed as its system which can let you download almost all up-to-date application in the Play Store. The Winner S4 is also costed at IDR 1,099,000.00. So, what can you get from this inexpensive tablet? Check it out on the review below!

Evercoss Winner Tab S4

Strengths: ü Inexpensive Cost ü LTE	Weaknesses: x Camera
Price: IDR 1,099,000.00

Screen and Design

The design of this tablet is almost familiar with other entry-level tablets. There is almost nothing special in its design. Plastic materials cover the whole body of this tablet. First time you hold this tablet, you can sense how cheap the tablet is. The positioning of hardware such as camera, speakerphone, and loudspeaker is similar with other tablets. You can find a front camera and speakerphone at the top of the device. There are three soft keys you can find at the bottom of the display. Those keys function as recent apps, home, and back. Move to the right side, there are two physical buttons that let you control sound volume and device power. USB port, for charging and data transferring, can be found at the bottom of its body. At the back, there are main camera, and loud speaker. Even though its design is not beautiful, it can give you a comfortable experience when using the device. It is because its back cover which is designed with bee-like contour signage that is nice to hold. The back cover is not fixed. It means that you can remove its battery if necessary.

The Winner S4 relies a 7-inch HD IPS LCD to be its display. Nothing special? Yes, there is nothing special in its display. It cannot show objects clearly below the sunlight, so it is better to find low-light place before using this tablet.