It just so happened that before the Russian technology come very late, especially for contemporary algorithms for wireless communication. 3G network is not everywhere, and 4G and is available only to residents of very large cities, and smartphones with their support in the budget segment yet very little. One of the first devices with 4G, officially sold in Russia in the category “up to 7000 rubles,” became BQ Strike LTE.
Smartphone BQ Strike LTE is estimated at 6000 rubles at the time of this writing, making it a budget – given the exchange rate, the cost is about 100 USD as of October 2017. But, in addition to supporting 4G, this model has another feature: it has a very bright appearance and a wide range of body colors, and we got the most unusual shade available.
Packaging
Smartphone BQ Strike LTE is available in double cardboard box, which immediately have information about his external appearance and hardware specifications. Everything was done very nicely, even with the gold stamping, in a word, and stylish, and quite informative.
However, the pictures provided don’t show all the options heydays of the housing, of which there are five – there are only two, including one that is directly in the box. About the other colors mention do not exist.
Equipment
Being a budget smartphone BQ Strike LTE can not qualify for an expanded range, so as a manufacturer we need to save in order to keep the price at the desired level. In this case, the victim of the economic crisis in the country fell headphones – their set was not as bad.
Package contents BQ Strike LTE, in fact, very modest, even for a fast charging of the chances left, putting in a set of network memory with a current of 1 ampere. In addition to it, in the box we found manual, warranty card and data cable for charging and PC synchronization. The film on the screen too is – it pre-printed on the front panel.
Features
In terms of hardware filling smartphone BQ LTE Strike is consistent with its price and is at the level of analogs, is officially sold in the country. Of course, from China for the same money you can order something better or more affordable camera, but, first, there is no guarantee, and secondly, the support networks of 4G Band 20, are relevant for Russia, it will not be mandatory.
Listed the specifications of the smartphone found on the official website and partially on the box and complete instructions, plus there is some additional information from Yandex.Market.
screen: IPS, HD, 5 inches, 1280×720 pixels;
– processor: MediaTek MT6737, 4 cores, 1,25 GHz;
– video card: built in, Mali-T720;
– memory: 1 GB RAM, 8 GB ROM, microSD up to 64 GB;
– operating system: Google Android 7 Nougat, interface, Material UI;
interfaces: microUSB 2.0, microSD card, 2xSIM, 3.5 mm;
– wireless connectivity: GSM, 3G, 4G, GPS, FM, Bluetooth 4, WI-FI 802.11 n;
camera: basic 13 MP, front 8MP;
– battery: removable, Li-ion, 2500 mAh;
– housing material: plastic, metal;
– housing color: gray, silver, rose gold, blue, gold;
– dimensions: 144х73х9 mm;
– weight: 159 grams;
– features: support VoLTE;
Of the above, be sure to leave support VoLTE, although the Protocol has yet not all the Russian operators, as well as five fairly bright colours, which look unhackneyed and even quite fresh. In addition, please note the amount of memory: this is the weakest point of the smartphone due to the presence of competitors with 2 GB of RAM and 8 GB ROM for a similar amount.
Appearance
On the test we came to the BQ mobile Strike LTE in the color called “blue”, although in reality it is “piercing blue”: very rich color, bright and iridescent in the sun, especially when the light hits the back of the metal. Last occupies a significant portion of the back cover, but the top and bottom faces, and all four end made of plastic of the same blue color. If you want to see the smartphone in blue color, look at the new ugly Google Pixel 2.
Faceplate in our case, black, with separate touch-sensitive buttons below the screen, for which BQ thank you very much, because in recent years they are increasingly rare, and even the most BQ there are plenty of models without them, for example, Strike a Selfie Max.
The location of the elements of the case are all quite standard and familiar, without experiments, which usually lead to a deterioration in usability. Except, the volume rocker in this smartphone is not: instead, two separate buttons next to the power key on the right side.
The front has a touch button control, the screen is large by today’s standards framework, earpiece, front camera and light sensors and proximity. On the back side of the case, the manufacturer brought the main single-chamber single-well flash and the main speaker, from the bottom of the smartphone there is only the microphone and the inputs under the headphones, and charging cable.
The back panel goes on the side of the case and removed together with them. Under it there are the niche under the battery, and three slots: two SIM cards in which you can potentially change to a hot (although the inscription is No Hot Plug suggests otherwise) and a microSD slot. You can reach it when the smartphone battery is impossible. Battery cover the collection of fingerprints are not affected, however the front panel gets dirty very quickly – after a few minutes of usage it will be completely covered with traces of hands.
Ergonomics
Smartphone BQ Strike LTE differs slippery side ends, which was too smooth for confident grip. If not for this defect, dropping the camera would be problematic because the optimal convenient thickness.
One-finger controls hampered the wide part of the screen, but it’s possible, plus a very important point: the smartphone has the ability to change the order of the touch buttons under the screen. Surely the touchscreen responds to touch in different points, including the ends, and raw positives remains.
The weight of the smartphone in hand is not felt: there is much heavier 5-inch copies, the same is easy enough.
To remove the battery cover without supply of patience, cards and swear words you will not leave: she sits like a glove, and have notably to Tinker before the smartphone will open before you. The side buttons have a tactile feel and tactile feedback, but the volume rocker split into two keys do not all seem comfortable, although we such a decision had to liking. At the same time there is a question to the main speaker: it can be found in the back, and he always closes hands or countertop, and even molded protrusion does not help to avoid this.
Screen
The basis of the screen of the smartphone BQ Strike LTE amounted to IPS quality slightly above average, which certainly contributed to keeping prices from rising, but affected the image quality. The richness of the shades does not cause problems, although the white leaves in warm colors, but the brightness of the screen noticeably lacking.
In the sun the display is not readable at all, but at the same time in the room the brightness can be reduced to 35-40 percent, and this is quite enough for a comfortable interaction with the device. Distortion of colors was observed, neither vertically nor horizontally. The sensor layer handles no more than two simultaneous touches that can be critical in some applications and video games.
The screen of the BQ Strike LTE can put 4 out of 5: overall it’s not that bad, only zero readability in the sun can put out.
Sound
Located on the back side of the main speaker of the smartphone has an intermediate volume level that can prevent to hear the call when in a noisy place. For listening to music or watching movies the volume and sound quality would be sufficient, but the dynamics is still lacking low frequencies due to the total of the budget smartphone. Wheezing at high volume do not exist, so we would recommend to visit the engineering menu and slightly increase the volume of the main speaker – his share is not affected, but the audibility is much better.
With earpiece on the front panel, everything is much simpler: it is quite loud by default, so no action from him to make not have to. The same goes for the microphone, which showed good sensitivity, except that the wind protection is not enough.
Camera
Surprisingly, the front camera of the smartphone BQ Strike LTE, despite the fewer megapixels, performed better compared to most in the daylight. The selfies are quite decent quality, even at frontali no autofocus, and this applies also to the saturation of the colors. At night or under artificial light selfie-camera, of course, begins to surrender, but the day benefit from it very much. Our rating 4 out of 5.
The main camera shows itself at the level of 5-megapixel matrix detailing is lame, even by day, and at dusk there is a lot of noise. We put 3 points, but only for the good fast autofocus, but the flash of her disappoint: dim, on the basis of small single led light, so her destiny is to work as a flashlight, and nothing more.
Software and memory
Firmware BQ Strike LTE based on Android operating system 7 with a large number of additional settings. To MIUI from Xiaomi, of course, does not hold, but there are very good to customize the smartphone. In particular, it is possible to change the order of the touch buttons under the screen and very fine tuning of gesture control. With their help, to use a mobile phone becomes much easier and faster.
There are such traditional and modern devices BQ chips as zoom not only text, but all images and prompt release of updates firmware install them over the air. In addition, the smartphone has built-in led indicator, which can also be customized to your liking.
But there is software BQ LTE and Strike the dark side: this whole set of garbage software, which is free. and desktops, constantly rolling notifications and all kinds of irritating. Remove programs is possible only after rooting support, and without them, this mess will only disable.
The presence of useless adware leads to the presence of free 308 MB total RAM of 1024 MB and 3,32 GB out of 8 GB ROM, so phone memory is really very little to 2017.
Performance
Lack of RAM leads to certain difficulties in working with BQ Strike LTE: smartphone constantly terminates the application, leaving one or two depending on their weight. For example, the two Navigator he did not pull, and browser pair of running messengers would be unloaded at a time. 1 GB RAM is the most major drawback of the smartphone, in our opinion.
In synthetic tests this shortcoming is manifested not so much in AnTuTu monoblock received a little more than 28900 points in Quadrant Standard – 10232 points, and GeekBench put it to the processor 530 and 1498 points in single-core and multicore modes. Looked very good built-in CPU video card: the smartphone managed to play Tanks, even on minimum settings, but almost no lag. Heating of the cell is, but it is not overheating then it is possible not to expect.
Work offline
Strike LTE operates from a battery capacity of 2500 mAh, and with a standard load, including mobile Internet, video streaming, music, social networking and of course phone calls, but all it without fanaticism, drains the battery in 1-1. 5 days. Increased load discharged smartphone to zero in six hours, and in Navigator for 3G and GPS, the device can withstand up to three hours, no more.
Complete memory produces a current of 1 ampere at a voltage of 5 volts, which is still the standard. During charging of the battery heating is not observed, but the process itself sometimes takes quite a long time: from 0% to 100% smartphone charge in 3 hours.
Conclusion
The result of all tests got that BQ mobile Strike LTE is primarily a communication tool, and then the camera and music player. Support LTE Band 20 is a huge advantage, because even the budget Xiaomi ordered from China, Band 20 just did not catch.
Also BQ Strike LTE it is possible to position as a brilliant smartphone for extraordinary individuals wishing to further stand out from the crowd: the shades of the case is quite nice, and the blue color is very pleasing. Android 7 can also be attributed to the benefits, which ultimately makes BQ Strike LTE good smartphone for your money.
But don’t expect miracles from him the performance of memory he’s got damned little, and in 2017, and even more in the upcoming 2018 it will be sorely missed. Also, do not expect high quality of images obtained on the main camera, but on the other hand, frontlucka takes excellent. In the end we have a kind of contrast smartphone at the lowest price – 6000 rubles.
Pros BQ Strike LTE
– bright design;
– Android 7;
– support 4G and VoLTE;
Cons BQ Strike LTE
– pre-installed adware;
– not enough RAM and internal memory;
– weak camera.
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