Review of VKworld S8 – durable smartphone in titanium case

VKworld is known as a manufacturer of cheap push-button phones, which are usually bought by parents or as a backup device for a dacha. However, the popular Chinese game called “released clone Samsung Galaxy S8” did not pass by this company. As a result, the VKworld S8 model appeared, which stands out among its competitors with a beautiful design and its ability to prick nuts.

Specifications

Engineers VKworld decided not to reinvent the wheel and took a well-known and well-proven set of components. Chip MediaTek MTK6750T – one of the most popular in the lower and middle price segment due to a good price-performance ratio. Smartphones on its basis successfully cope with the main mobile tasks and at the same time have low power consumption.

With 4 GB of RAM, the device provides smooth operation of the operating system and quick switching between running programs. To store user data, the smartphone is equipped with 64 GB of internal memory, which is enough for photos and music, as well as installing all the necessary applications.

Particularly stands out the capacity of the battery – 5 500 mAh. It should be enough for a few days of moderate use. We’ll find out whether this is so or not.

Package Contents and Appearance

VKworld S8 comes in a modest white box with the name of the company. Unlike the device itself, it looks not very presentable and modern.

Inside were a smartphone, a charger, a connecting cable, a silicone transparent case and a plastic shield for the screen. A standard set, which is now supplied almost all Chinese phones.

The first impression of the VKworld S8 design is shock and awe. A stylish glossy-sparkling body with smooth contours looks great. We got a copy in blue, which further strengthened the impression – the black body still looks not so impressive.

The back side is made of metal, because of this the device turned out so weighty. Glossy shiny surface attracts admiring glances, but only as long as you gently hold the smartphone with two fingers behind the side faces. It is worth starting to use it for real, as all the beauty is instantly covered with fingerprints.

Almost the entire front surface is occupied by the screen. There are side frames, but rather thin – about 2 millimeters. The thickness of the upper frame is twice as large, but there all the necessary sensors were placed. But the eye of the front camera moved to the bottom of the smartphone.

The layout of the controls is standard: the power button is on the right, the volume rocker is on the left. On the lower edge are placed a microphone, an external speaker and a charging slot, and the SIM card tray is placed on the upper edge.

The design of the VKworld S8 does not give the impression of an ordinary and pass-through. Smartphone looks chic, the assembly does not cause any complaints.

In addition, developers swear that the smartphone uses an extremely strong titanium base, and the front side is protected from damage with real glass Corning Gorilla Glass 4. And as evidence, a visual video was published, where they use their product for grinding walnuts. We did not venture to repeat such a risky experiment, but put a plus for the strength in the mind.

Screen and sound

Screen VKworld S8 has a diagonal of 5.99 inches at a resolution of 2 160 × 1,080 pixels. It’s easy to calculate that this provides such a high pixel density that all fonts, icons and other design elements look as if they were inscribed by the master of Japanese calligraphy.

We can not say a single bad word about white balance and color rendition. The image on the screen looks quite natural, the colors are juicy, the contrast is high. For fans of fine settings, there are MiraVision options, which make the image a little colder or warmer.

Special thanks should be said for adequate brightness levels. This phone is perfect for night reading, and for watching movies somewhere on the beach.

But the audio component of the smartphone is absolutely not impressive. The sound can be characterized from the terrible when we talk about external dynamics, to acceptable, if we are talking about headphones. In addition, to connect ordinary headphones, you will need a special adapter. Fans of high-quality sound, this smartphone just does not fit.

Performance

The MediaTek MTK6750T chip is well known to us, but its results in tests on different devices may differ slightly. This is due to the fact that smartphones differ in the amount of RAM, the screen resolution and other technical characteristics. The optimization of software also influences.

In the case of VKworld S8, no miracle happened. In the tests he performed, he showed approximately the same results as previous Leagoo S8 and Bluboo S8 Plus.

This means that with normal loads, the smartphone will cope without any problems. Users will not experience any discomfort when surfing the Internet, listening to music, watching movies and other activities. The processor capacity is enough to work with any applications, and 4 GB of RAM is enough to run several resource-intensive tasks and quickly switch between them.

Do not be offended and fans of mobile games. All favorite “Tanks” are launched and successfully run on average graphics settings, for simpler games and can not speak.

Autonomy

The VKworld S8 battery, which has a capacity of 5,500 mAh, is one of the features of this smartphone, to which the manufacturer places special emphasis in the advertising campaign. Indeed, the ability to charge the phone every few days is expensive. For this, it would be possible to forgive other minor shortcomings.

However, the reality was not so rosy. In the PCMark Battery Test program, the device lasted only 8 hours and 53 minutes. Such a result is difficult to explain by poor software optimization, so it’s logical to assume that the battery capacity of the VKworld S8 is somewhat less than the claimed capacity.

Camera

At the start of sales on the site of the company VKworld said that the smartphone will be equipped with the module Sony IMX298. However, a little later this message disappeared, and the device appeared OmniVision OV13850 at 13 megapixels. This is not a big problem – the manufacturer has the right to change parts if necessary. But users who pre-ordered before, felt cheated.

Nevertheless, the quality of the images of the main camera is quite decent for its price category. If the street shines bright sun, you can safely get your smartphone and click to the right and left – the results will not disappoint you. But in the evening or in dim artificial lighting, a smartphone is better for taking pictures. Do not use it. Noises are obtained such that no graphic editor will help.

An interesting situation with an additional sensor, which should be used to get the bokeh effect. We have already written that in most inexpensive Chinese smartphones this module does not perform any useful work and is used purely for imitation. Engineers VKworld went on the same path and installed instead of the second lens some kind of stub. In any case, no test program of the second module of the camera was found.

Software

As an operating system in the VKworld S8, Android 7.0 is used with its own shell. Its main difference from the stock launcher is that the icons of all installed applications are placed directly on the desktop, much like in iOS. Thanks to the support of themes, you can make this similarity more complete.

However, the default launcher is not very fast, so we recommend changing it to a more decent version. The benefit of this in the operating system is not blocked, for which the developers thank you very much.

I would like to separately say about unlocking the device with the help of face recognition. This feature has become popular after the appearance of Face ID in the iPhone X. Enterprising Chinese manufacturers pulled on this occasion for a long time in Android the unlock function with the help of the front camera, a little shook off the dust and decorated it, and then began to advertise as almost an analog Face ID .

In fact, this is certainly not the case. The face recognition in Android is arranged in a completely different way and does not have the same degree of reliability as the technology of Apple. But in VKworld S8 it works, and this is the main thing.

Outcomes

As a result of testing, VKworld S8 leaves a contradictory impression. And it’s not even the device itself that is to blame, but the advertising campaign that accompanied his exit. Too many statements were made about the extraordinary quality of photos, the extremely long-lasting battery and the advanced technology of face recognition. Now do you understand why we did not dare to repeat the publicity stunt and split the screen with a couple of nuts?

But in general, the device was not bad. Its performance in no way inferior to competitors, and the appearance, quality of the screen and the assembly of some even surpasses. If over time VKworld S8 will acquire a more adequate price tag, it will become a worthy option for purchase.

At the time of writing, the cost of VKworld S8 is 9,937 rubles.

The author thanks VKworld for providing the device for testing.