Review Oukitel U13: metal budget smartphone with 13MP Front Camera
Oukitel is one of the fastest growing companies in the Chinese market. Like many manufacturers from China, Oukitel produces many different smartphones per year. In this article, we want to make a detailed review of one of the latest smartphone called Oukitel U13. It is an excellent entry-level device with high-end features.
The smartphone was given on the review by our friends from GearBest. Currently, online store offers interesting price for a smartphone Oukitel U13 – only $129.99.
So, now let’s look at the packaging, design, performance and other features of Oukitel U13.
Packaging
The smartphone comes in a compact box of cardboard bright orange color. The front panel is very simple, without any unnecessary elements – there is only the name of the company.
The other side is a sticker with some technical information and model number.
After you open the box, you’ll find smartphone in a bag. Under the cardboard box divider hides following accessories:
- Compact Charger 1 A;
- USB- cable;
- The clip for the removal of SIM tray;
- Silicone cover;
- User manual.
Despite the fact that Oukitel U13 has arrived to us from China, the charger is already adapted to the European type sockets, so you do not need to use an adapter.
The quality of production of all elements of the supply is on the traditionally good level. Complete accessories will delight fans.
In general, the packaging leaves a good impression and protects smartphone during transportation.
Design
Despite its fairly low price, Oukitel U13 looks like a premium device. The big screen, metal body, calm color scheme and good build quality.
The smartphone has 5.5-inch display, but it is comfortable to hold in hand.
The back panel is made of metal, but there are plastic strips for antennas, which will help to avoid problems with network signal. They are reminiscent of the previous generation of iPhone 6S.
Oukitel U13 has full metal uni-body. We have a model of smartphone in gray color, and it looks fantastic.
The front panel is entirely covered with a protective glass. It is present oleophobic coating. We love smartphones with 2.5D curved screens, and Oukitel U13 is one of them. Also device has factory protective film.
On the front top panel we can see speaker in the center, a set of proximity and light sensors, and front-facing camera.
At the bottom only on-screen virtual buttons. They take up more space on the display but at a certain moment they can be hidden if desired. This option is available nominally.
Let us study the rear panel. Oukitel has quite big main camera and fingerprint reader. It is very comfortable and familiar. Recognition takes place correctly and quickly-class standards, with defined slightly damp fingers. There were no problems even in the street with a light frost.
On the left side is located power button and volume rocker. It’s a bit strange that the buttons are located on the left side, we are accustomed to see them on the right, but press them easily and conveniently.
On the opposite side, there is slot for memory card and SIM-card. It is a hybrid slot, which means you can use two SIM cards, or one SIM card and memory card. A special clip in packaging allows removing slot.
Below there is microUSB port on the center and two speakers. The right of the microUSB port is a hole, which is a microphone.
The upper side we can see Mini-Jack 3.5 mm connector and infrared port for remote control.
Display
Oukitel is equipped with a screen diagonal of 5.5 inches with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, which corresponds to the standard Full HD. Thus, the smartphone screen has excellent quality, because density of pixels per inch is about 400 PPI.
As can be seen in the example above, the smartphone provides normal color reproduction and wide viewing angles.
We have no claims to backlight, because it is really black and white background. There are no color stains or other defects even at angles.
Hardware and performance
Oukitel U13 runs on MediaTek MT6753 Octa Core platform, which has the maximum frequency of 1.3 GHz. For graphic processing responsible Mali-T720.
CPU-Z info (Click to enlarge)
The smartphone has 3 GB of RAM, which became the standard for many entry-level devices. Therefore, you should not worry about the performance.
For clarity, we made few synthetic benchmarks. The results you can see below.
Antutu benchmarks (Click to enlarge)
If we look at figures, the performance is as good as in real life. We did not notice any delays while switching between applications and opening games. The smartphone can run all modern games at middle and slightly higher setting.
Geekbench score (Click to enlarge)
During the gaming, Oukitel U13 a little heated, but nothing serious. If you are using a smartphone in a case, then you will not even notice the heat.
New Oukitel smartphone offers 64 GB of internal memory, which is quite unusual for a smartphone of this price range. Typically, such devices come with 32 GB of memory. Also Oukitel U13 supports MicroSD memory card up to 128 GB.
The speed of the system is satisfactory and is optimal for everyday use. Synthetic tests AndroBench is confirmed. For connecting the smartphone to computer used protocols MTP and PTP.
Software and firmware
Oukitel U13, like many other smartphones from the Chinese manufacturer, runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. In the settings we have found that it uses Launcher3, but you can install any other launcher.
All the main controls are at the usual places, the logic of the system is clear and simple. There are three on-screen buttons – Home, Back, All applications. They may be open or hidden with the help of swipe from the bottom of the screen.
The root-access is not available by default. The user interface works smoothly and quickly, without any delay. We have positive impression from software Oukitel U13.
User interface and settings (Click to enlarge)
Wireless interfaces and communication
Oukitel U13 works in networks GSM GPRS / EDGE (2G), UMTS HSPA + (3G) and LTE (4G – 1, 3, 7, 8, 20). The signal in our region was strong, high and stable.
Also the smartphone supports wireless networks of Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac and Bluetooth 4.0. The data transfer speed is normal, close to the stated.
For navigation, you can use GPS and GLONASS. During the first start, smartphone begins to find the first satellites in three to four minutes. After the recent launch of the system it takes almost instantaneously.
Battery
Oukitel U13 has the battery capacity of 3000 mAh. Given Full HD screen and powerful hardware, let’s see how much the smartphone can offer a battery life.
Full charging takes about an hour and a half.
In practice the results are as follows:
| Using | Working hours |
| The maximum load (heavy 3D game) | 2.5-3 hours |
| Watching movie (720p) | 5-6 hours |
| Web surfing | 5.5-6.5 hours |
| Music | More 1 day |
The resulting picture is not very different from other smartphones on the market. The difference is not more than a few hours, which is not critical.
Camera
Oukitel U13 offers a rather unusual combination of cameras: 16-megapixel main camera and 13-megapixel front camera. Manufacturer says that you can take surprising selfies without any downloading apps. We are inclined to believe it.
In fact, smartphone has 13-MP main camera, which was software increased to 16-MP, and 8-MP front-facing camera which also improved software to 13-MP. In any case, they make good pictures.
The main camera has LED flash and OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). It can record video in HD quality.
Camera application interface is almost standard. There is a small range of possible settings, which will be shown in the screenshots below.
Camera interface (Click to enlarge)
Below you can see a few examples of the photos on the main and front camera.
Conclusion
Oukitel U13 has left a good impression. The smartphone has a stylish, full metal uni-body design, good performance, long battery life, and most importantly – attractive price. If you are looking for a decent smartphone for the low price – Oukitel U13 will be a great choice.
Advantage Oukitel U13:
- High quality of materials and assembly;
- Full metal uni-body;
- Full HD display;
- Fast fingerprint reader;
- Stable user interface;
- Low price.
Disadvantage Oukitel U13:
- Hybrid slot SIM + MicroSD;
- Average camera.
Buy Oukitel U13 4G for $129.99
