Xolo Q700 review and Unboxing – powered by MT6589M quad core processor

Xolo Q700 with a 4.5 inch is powered by 1.2GHz MT6589M processor and comes with 5MP camera running Android 4.2 OS. This handset is priced at Rs. 8,969.

Q700 Box Pack
The box pack clearly mentioned the chipset i.e. MT6589M – it is a little different that the MT6589. Inside the box there is the Q700 handset, earphone, travel charger, screen guard, warranty / user guide and data cable.

Design and Display
The dual SIM Q700 looks completely different from the images that you might have seen on other websites.  The first look at the handset will definitely impress you.  The front view it full black, it is hard to make out the 3 touch buttons. This black look gives it a more professional and premium look. The handset is 10.2mm thick and light weight at 151 grams.

The sides are glossy black and the rear cover is brownish black with matte finish. The handset is comfortable to hold with gives a good grip. The built quality is very good. This doesn’t look like an under 10K phone.

The micro USB port and the 3.5mm audio jack are placed on the top side, the power / lock button on the right side and volume rockers on the left side. On the rear there is speaker out and the 5MP AF camera with LED flash.

The capacitive touch display screen is 4.5 inches with qHD (960×540 pixels ~ 245ppi) resolution. It is with OGS technology (One Glass Solution). The OGS brings touch closer to the screen by eliminating the space between the display and the touchscreen. The touch is smooth, responsive and viewing angle is very good. There is light, proximity, G-sensor, magnetic sensors and LED notification.

Storage, Memory and OS
The internal storage allocation is a bit different on the Xolo Q700 handset. There is total internal storage space of 2.68GB (of the 4GB) (there is no special space for apps and for phone storage). 2.68 GB space is good for enough; however you cannot move apps or install apps on external storage. This is a limitation.

As for the RAM of the 1GB you get around 656MB Free. This handset runs on Android 4.2.1 jelly Bean OS. It also comes with multi user profile app that adds multi user functionality i.e. multiple users can use the handset (just like on a Windows PC). There is also the Kid mode. Power Saver and Anti theft app are also pre-loaded.

Performance and Benchmark
As mentioned the Q700 is with MediaTek MT6589M processor clocked at 1.2GHz with PowerVR SGX 544 MP GPU that is clocked at 156MHz.  The performance is slightly lower than what we have seen on the MT6589 chipset like on Micromax A116, Xolo Q800 and so on.

Benchmark scores

  • Quadrant Benchmark : 3890.
  • Anututu Benchmark : 13493.
  • Nenamark2 : 39.7fps.
  • Linpack : single 36, multi 98.
  • Multi Touch : 5 point.

5MP AF Camera
The 5MP camera on the rear is with BSI sensor and there is a front facing VGA camera. The camera output looks good. This handset can record videos in max 720p resolution at 30fps. You can check the sample images and videos at the end of this article.  If you check the video sample you will notice a strange sound when the camera is in motion, not sure if it’s a bug on the review unit or if it is the same on all the handset (Q700 users may confirm this). The still image dimension is 2560×1920 pixels and size is surprisingly less than 1MB.

Gaming
This handset can play a lot of HD games, though there is a limited space of 2.6GB as already mentioned above. I tried NOVA 3 it did not work because of free space issue. But MC3 did work. You can check out the Gaming video at the end.

Entertainment
This phone cannot record videos in 1080p resolution at the most it can, of 720p resolution at 30fps. I tried playing the 1080p videos using MX player.  Full HD or 1080p videos do not work in H/W mode but they do work pretty well in S/W mode. So I guess there is not much of an issue here.

Others
The sound is loud and clear. Phone experience is good; in call speaker sound is clear. I did face an issue with auto rotation, it stopped working. I had to switch off and restart the phone, to get it to work (happened only once).  3G (21Mbps), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS worked well.

Battery
The battery is of a good 2400 mAh capacity and there is the power saver app that will help extract more juice for a longer backup. I believe it will easily last for more than 24 hours with moderate usage.

Xolo Q700 review
It’s quad core with a price tag under Rs. 10,000. It is better than the Karbonn S1 Titanium handset. Good enough for budget users looking for a low cost quad core option. The handset is priced at Rs. 8,969.

Image Gallery

Sample Images

Xolo Q700 unboxing and review video

720p video sample shot using Q700 handset

1080p PlayBack, Nova 3 and MC3 gaming on Q700