I made sure that I will have the chance to review one of the country's first smartphones powered by a relatively new Speadtrum SoC with LTE connecitivity. Here's my O+ Venti LTE Review.
On it's first boot, you will be greeted by this typical O+ wallpaper with custom Android skin and icons based on Android 5.1 Lollipop. From a Speadtrum SC9832 quad-core processor, I saw almost the same speed as I experienced in the number of Speadtrum SC7731 non-LTE capable processor upon navigation of random apps and multi tasking. I am expecting at low on the 6 inch IPS qHD display which I am right. It is a-ok for HD videos and short website browsing but as you will go longer, you might be in an uncomfortable state mainly of the low PPI and expect pixelation. The handset is a bit on the heavy side but no surprise mainly coz of the size.
I got no problems on texting and calling using this handset. On connectivity, I love that O+ put the LTE toggle button in the pulldown menu which allows you to use LTE only even that your phone was set for 2G or 3G speeds (just like in Huawei GR5) for quickie uploads or downloading without going to the entire settings navigation. WiFi and Bluetooth are also a-ok. The LTE reception on both Globe and Smart is good enough but not at it's best. Out of 8 GB ROM, you will get around 3.96 GB of app storage. Too bad, this phablet does not support USB OTG.
On benchmarks, it has only the 4 basic sensors. Antutu app scored this device at 23,161 and it has 2 point multi touch.
One of the bright spots of this device is the battery life. In my standard battery video rundown procedure, the phablet survived at 11 hours and 28 minutes from 100% to 2 out of 3,000 mAh removable battery. Using it as a daily driver for a number of days, I can use it in 30 hours with 5 hours of screen on time and in battery saver mode.
Audio is typical normal in terms of the budget of this phone for both the single speaker at the bottom and headphone jack so no complains for me. Yes, it can play Full HD but I had difficulty of rewinding or fast forwarding HD or Full HD videos even on SW decoder of MX Player which might the showing of limitations of this device.
The camera app has the resemblance of Google Camera app with some familiar controls. Both shooters come in 4:3 aspect ratio. The performance in low light is kinda not so good so I chose to put some daylight shots.
Pros: Nice body even it was made on plastic, LTE toggle button in pulldown menu, single front speaker, battery life
Cons: A bit pricey if to compare with other global or local counterparts, no OTG support, qHD display, difficulty on HD and Full HD video rewinding or forwarding.
Even with a free 32 GB Class 4 micro SD inside the box, I hope the guys from O+ will reduce the price of O+ Venti LTE as it will face some stiff competition with LTE capable phablets made from other processors. I will gonna give this phablet a 3.5 out of 5 rating.
