For those who’ve not heard of Ulefone before, it is a Chinese company that manufactures high-quality Android-powered smartphones. Just like every other Chinese manufacturer out there, the main selling points of their smartphones are also the high-end specifications and very affordable price tags. The same goes for their latest flagship smartphone named Ulefone Gemini 4G Phablet, that is now available for a price of $139.99 on GearBest.
Edit 02/18/2017: You can get the Ulefone Gemini 4G phablet at Amazon here
First Look at the Ulefone Gemini 4G Phablet
From the very first look, we were impressed by the build quality of Ulefone Gemini 4G Phablet. Unlike most other Chinese smartphones, this one is not a rip-off of any popular smartphones in the market, instead, it features a brand new design. Although the metallic unibody design and dual-rear cameras of the Gemini Ulefone phablet reminded me of the infamous HTC One M8, good thing it looks nothing like the HTC One M8.
Design and Build Quality
Now, we are talking about the best part of the Gemini phablet. Ulefone deserves nothing less than appreciation for making a budget priced smartphone that matches with any high-budget flagship from popular tech biggies, in terms of design and build quality. As I mentioned earlier, it boasts a classy brushed metal unibody design that looks pretty luxurious.
There is a fingerprint scanner located at the bottom of the 5.5-inch screen, which in my opinion, is the ideal location for the placement of the scanner. Moving on to the rear side of the smartphone, you will find a dual camera setup along with dual LED flash.
The phablet weighs 185 grams and sports 15.40 x 7.68 x 0.91 cm dimensions. The I/O interface slots include a Mini SIM card slot, a Nano SIM card slot, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microUSB slot, and a microSD slot.
Also, the device comes in three color variants: Black, Grey, and Gold.
Ulefone Gemini 4G Phablet’s Display
The Ulefone Gemini 4G phablet comes with a 5.5 inch Full HD LTPS display, with a resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. The display boasts over 401 pixels per inch density, which helps it deliver pictures and videos at super high quality with vibrant colors. It’s worth mentioning that the display deals with all sorts of visible colors with ease and delivers vivid yet balanced pictures.
Besides that, the phablet can also survive pretty a good number of serious drops; thanks to the Gorilla Glass 3 protection on top of the display. The Gemini’s display is also scratch-resistant for that matter.
Performance
Ulefone Gemini is powered by a MediaTek MT6737 SoC, that comes with a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor along with ARM Mali-T720 MP2 GPU. It features 3 GB LPDDR3 RAM and 32 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 256 GB via a microSD card slot. The expandable storage is of great advantage to those users who prefers to keep their photos and videos on their phone, rather than using the cloud storage.
Talking about the processor, the MediaTek MT6737 outperforms its competitors like Snapdragon 410 in terms of energy efficiency, slashing energy use by more than half in GPS and FM scenarios, and by a third in video playback and gaming scenarios. During our review, the smartphone performed pretty well while using top Android apps without any considerable lags. The device managed to run 3D games like Temple Run 2, Fruit Ninja and Clash of Kings at acceptable frame rates.
Camera
What really makes the Gemini 4G stand out from other Chinese smartphones is its camera. The smartphone is equipped with a dual camera setup at the rear end. Dual camera setup consists of a 13 MP sensor to capture high-quality pictures and another 5 MP sensor to achieve the detailed depth of focus. It also features dual LED flash.
The rear camera offers Bokeh effect to your photos, meaning that you can blur the background and focus on a particular object. The front camera is a 5 MP sensor, which is pretty good for video calling and clicking selfies.
Ulefone Gemini’s Battery
The Ulefone Gemini 4G phablet is backed by a decent 3250 mAh Lithium-ion Polymer battery, which managed to last a day with moderate usage such as browsing the web, listening to music and a bit of gaming.
Also, the MediaTek MT6737 Soc used in the phone is highly power efficient, as it optimizes the energy use by more than half in GPS and FM usage and by a third during gaming and video playback. So, battery life wouldn’t really be an issue if you’re getting this smartphone.
Operating System
The Gemini runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, although the company promises to provide the latest Android 7.0 Nougat update to the device.
The OS runs perfectly smooth on the smartphone without any major issues.
Fingerprint Scanner
The Ulefone Gemini features a fingerprint scanner in the front, just below the 5.5-inch screen. In my opinion, the company has made a good decision by placing the sensor in the front, rather than at the back. The front mounted fingerprint sensor is especially nice for when your smartphone is sitting on a desk and you don’t want to pick it up.
Besides, the jewelry-making craftsmanship has offered jewelry-like touch feel and abrasion invulnerability on the face of the scanner.
Package Contents
- The smartphone
- A power adapter
- A USB cable
- An English user manual
Quick Recap of the Specs
- Processor: 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737
- GPU: ARM Mali-T720 MP2
- RAM: 3 LPDDR3 GB ; Internal Storage : 32 GB (expandable)
- Battery: Non-removable Li-Polymer 3250 mAh battery
- Cameras : Dual rear camera (13 MP + 5 MP); 5 MP front camera
- OS: Android v6.0 Marshmallow
- Connectivity: 3G, 4G, Bluetooth, GPS, Wi-Fi
- Connections/Ports: a Mini SIM card slot, a Nano SIM card slot, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a microUSB slot, and a microSD slot
- Fingerprint scanner: Yes (front)
Pros
- Solid build quality
- Impressive design
- Fingerprint scanner present
- Decent battery life
- Dual-rear camera
- 3 GB RAM
- Super affordable price
- 4G support
- OTA update for the latest Android OS v7.0 Nougat
Cons
- Low-end processor
- Not good for Graphic intense games
- Average front camera
Should You Buy It?
If you’re looking for a budget-priced Android smartphone for business use, then the Ulefone Gemini 4G phablet wouldn’t be a bummer. The smartphone can handle your daily activities like browsing the web, video calling and chatting, video streaming and low graphics games with ease. But running graphics-hungry games on the device is definitely not recommended.
As an icing on top of the cake, this pretty decent specced phablet is now available on Amazon. If you’re interested in buying this device anytime soon, this is a deal you cannot afford to miss.
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