Oukitel U8 Universe Tap Review – Quad core with touch ID finger print scanner

Oukitel U8 also called the Universe Tap is another smartphone that comes with touch ID based finger print scanner. This dual SIM handset is powered by MediaTek quad core processor and it’s running Android 5.1 out of the box.

U8 unboxing
Inside the box you will find the U8 handset, quick start guide, warranty card, travel charger (5V ~ 1A), data cable and SIM tray ejector pin. Earphone is not included.

Design, Display and OS
The U8 is a premium looking handset using a CNC crafted metal frame. The rear panel is plastic with a matte finish and soft to touch. The side are with a metallic finish with shiny silver borders that look really great.

Build quality and finishing is very good though there are some areas that need improvement (check the video review). The handset is flat on the front. Camera module is a little out on the rear side. Below the camera module there is the touch ID based finger print scanner.

Oukitel U8 looks great unfortunately its quite heavy, it’s weight with battery is 196 grams and dimensions are 76.35 x 151.59 x 8.21 (mm). Power and volume rocker are placed on the right, dual SIM tray on the left, audio jack on the top and micro USB port at the bottom. This handset comes with single microphone.

U8 sports a 5.5 inch screen with 2.5D curved screen for perfect touch feel and supporting 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. Colour reproduction, touch response and viewing angles are pretty good.

There is no LED notification. This is a dual SIM handset with 4G support, SIM slot 1 is hybrid SIM (can use a micro SD card or a micro SIM) and SIM slot 2 is a micro SIM slot. There are 3 sensors – accelerometer, light and proximity.

U8 runs Android 5.1 – it 32 bit version.

Memory and Storage
The U8 comes packed with 2GB RAM and 16GB storage. On the first boot you will get about 1.5GB free RAM and of the 16GB storage, 4.3GB is allocated as space for apps and 8GB is the integral storage space (phone storage). Apps can be installed on the external storage and OTG is also supported.

Performance
This handset houses the 64 bit MediaTek MT6735 quad core processor (cortex A53) clocked at 1GHz. On box pack it is mentioned as 1.3GHz but seems like the CPU is under clocked, it does have an impact on the overall performance. U8 is using Mali T720 GPU.

For normal operations there was no lag, however when playing high end games the lags were clearly visible. Because of under clocked CPU the handset did not heat up much.

Benchmark

Gaming
I played Asphalt 8 that got installed on the external storage. In high and medium visual quality mode the game was clearly lagging. It played well in low visual quality mode and if you reduce the quality further to very low it will play even better.

Camera
There is an 8MP camera on the rear interpolated to 13MP resolution and a 2MP camera on the front interpolated to 5MP resolution. Camera quality is average, there is scope for improvement. Rear camera can shoot 720p videos however the handset can play FHD videos with ease.

You can check the camera sample images and videos at the end of this review.

Others
Sound is loud and quality is good. This handset supports 4G however the 2300 band that is currently used in India is not supported, I was not able to use Airtel 4G, 3G however worked well. No issues with Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi. GPS lock was instant and it worked indoors too.

Battery
The U8 is packed with non-removable 2850 mAh battery. Battery backup is pretty good, you can expect about 5 to 6 hours of continuous usage on a single charge.

Verdict
Oukitel U8 will be available for $129.99 on Aliexpress from 30^th June onwards (limited period). Pricing is good however the CPU is under clocked and that effects the performance, especially when it comes to gaming.

Screen quality, battery backup and touch ID fingerprint scanner are the key attraction.

You can buy Oukitel U8 from Aliexpress.com for $129.99 (from 30^th June 2015) also available on Oukitel website.

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