UleFone Metal Smartphone Review

Name: Ulefone Metal
Brand: Ulefone

Well-designed penny pincher. The little-known Chinese manufacturer, UleFone, is offering a new entry-level smartphone. The device may be cheap, but as the name suggests, the UleFone Metal offers a metal finish and good technical features.

Marcus Herbrich, ✓ Manuel Masiero (translated by Vinay Pradhan), Published 09/27/2016 🇩🇪 🇪🇸 ...

Android Smartphone Touchscreen

For the original German review, see here.

A phone like the UleFone Metal would have been classified as a middle- or top-class device a little while ago: metal case, octa-core CPU, 3 GB RAM, 16 GB internal memory (can be increased), fingerprint sensor, dual SIM functionality and a rounded IPS HD display protected by Corning Gorilla glass. Nowadays, there are many "China smartphones" available with such features for roughly 100 Euros (~$111, including delivery).

The UleFone Metal can be acquired from importers and is available in gray, silver and black. The competition includes cheap devices with similar hardware strength, such as the UHANS S1 and the UMi Touch. We also include cheap phones with relatively weaker hardware, such as the Wiko Lenny 3, the Archos 50e Neon, the TP-Link Neffos C5 and the Coolpad Porto S.

Test device courtesy of Ulefone

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Ulefone Metal

Processor

Mediatek MT6753 8 x 1.3 GHz, Cortex-A53

Graphics adapter

ARM Mali-T720

Memory

3 GB

Display

5.00 inch 16:9, 1280 x 720 pixel 294 PPI, capacitive, LCD, IPS, glossy: yes

Storage

16 GB eMMC Flash, 16 GB

, 11.79 GB free

Connections

1 USB 2.0, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm audio jack, Card Reader: microSD up to 128GB, 1 Fingerprint Reader, Brightness Sensor, Sensors: Proximity sensor, accelerometer, compass, Hall effect sensor, OTG, Miracast

Networking

802.11 b/g/n (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/), Bluetooth 4.0, 2G: 850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz; 3G: 900/2,100 MHz; LTE: 800/900/1,800/2,100/2,600 MHz, Dual SIM, LTE, GPS

Size

height x width x depth (in mm): 9.35 x 143 x 71 ( = 0.37 x 5.63 x 2.8 in)

Battery

3050 mAh Lithium-Ion, Sony, Battery runtime (according to manufacturer): 320 h

Operating System

Android 6.0 Marshmallow

Camera

Primary Camera: 13 MPix f/2.0
Secondary Camera: 5 MPix

Additional features

Speakers: Mono, Keyboard: Onscreen, Keyboard Light: yes, modular power adapter, USB cable, UleFone UI, 12 Months Warranty, fanless

Weight

155 g ( = 5.47 oz / 0.34 pounds), Power Supply: 42 g ( = 1.48 oz / 0.09 pounds)

Price

120 Euro

Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

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Case

The UleFone Metal looks and feels great for its price. The rounded edges of the smartphone allow it to sit comfortably in the hand, despite its thickness of 9 mm. Like other metal phones, the test model uses synthetic material at the top and bottom of the case to allow the antennas to work without issues. There are definite gaps between the materials, but they have been kept even. The volume control and on/off buttons are seated firmly and offer clear pressure points.

The front of the Ulefone Metal sports a single pane of Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which curves gently into the wide, black metal borders, which frame the IPS display. The top and bottom borders on the front are quite large, which results in a relatively low display-to-case ratio of 67.9%.

The workmanship and sturdiness of the case are quite good. Nothing bends or twists at high levels of pressure (no creaking noises).

Connectivity

The internal eMMC memory measures 16 GB, but only around 11.79 GB of the total storage space is free for use. If you are willing to give up the Dual SIM functionality of the smartphone, you can insert a microSD card into the hybrid slot and increase the storage space by up to 128 GB. The manufacturer has enabled the moving of apps to external memory cards (App2SD functionality).

The UleFone Metal is also equipped with a fingerprint sensor, USB OTG and a UKW radio. There is no LED for notifications. The phone supports wireless transmission to external monitors via Miracast. This feature worked well in our test with a Sony Android TV.

Software

This entry-level smartphone is packed with Android 6.0 "Marshmallow". At the time of our testing, the device had received the security patch from May 2016. In comparison to Vanilla Android, the manufacturer has not changed the user interface much. The settings menu is the only feature which shows major tweaks.

Communication and GPS

The device offers Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless communication. The integrated WLAN module supports the b/g/n IEEE-802.11 standards and operates at 2.4 GHz. The range and signal quality of the module are good. The Wi-Fi transfer speed between the smartphone and our reference router, the AVM Fritzbox 6490, measures 88 Mb/s (Iperf Server) and 73 Mb/s (Iperf Client), which puts our test model one level above other entry-level devices. These speeds remained constant during our test.

The Dual SIM smartphone has two slots for a Nano SIM and a Micro SIM card. In contrast to manufacturer specifications, our test model only had one LTE-ready slot (both should be compatible). The other slot was limited to the 2G network. The smartphone supports Quadband-GSM, Triband-UMTS and LTE at 800, 900, 1,800, 2,100 and 2,600 MHz frequencies. Although the UleFone Metal is not planned for the German market, it is guaranteed to be compatible with the LTE-band 20. However, the range of covered frequencies remains limited.

Networking
iperf Server (receive) TCP 1 m
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Mali-T880 MP12, Exynos 8890, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	303 MBit/s +243%
Ulefone Metal Mali-T720, MT6753, 16 GB eMMC Flash	88.3 MBit/s
TP-Link Neffos C5 Mali-T720 MP2, MT6735, 16 GB eMMC Flash	44.9 MBit/s -49%
Wiko Lenny 3 Mali-400 MP2, MT6580M, 16 GB eMMC Flash	44.8 MBit/s -49%
Archos 50e Neon Mali-400 MP2, MT6580M, 8 GB eMMC Flash	42 MBit/s -52%
UHANS S1 Mali-T720 MP4, MT6753, 32 GB eMMC Flash	30.4 MBit/s -66%
iperf Client (transmit) TCP 1 m
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Mali-T880 MP12, Exynos 8890, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash	290 MBit/s +297%
Ulefone Metal Mali-T720, MT6753, 16 GB eMMC Flash	73.1 MBit/s
UHANS S1 Mali-T720 MP4, MT6753, 32 GB eMMC Flash	50.9 MBit/s -30%
TP-Link Neffos C5 Mali-T720 MP2, MT6735, 16 GB eMMC Flash	49.3 MBit/s -33%
Wiko Lenny 3 Mali-400 MP2, MT6580M, 16 GB eMMC Flash	49.2 MBit/s -33%
Archos 50e Neon Mali-400 MP2, MT6580M, 8 GB eMMC Flash	46 MBit/s -37%

The phone uses GPS satellites to calculate its position. This features works reliably and quickly outdoors (up to 3 meters accuracy). To determine the accuracy of our test model, we took it for a ride alongside our bicycle GPS, the Garmin Edge 500. A ride of 8 kilometers showed deviations between the two devices of 310 meters. This is quite poor, as other devices, such as the UMi Touch, can offer much better accuracy (deviation: 150 meters).

Telephone Features and Speech Quality

Calls made with the test model over the Vodafone network provided good audio quality. The headpiece is loud enough to ensure coherent speech on our end. On the other end, call recipients felt the microphone did a good job of transmitting our voice.

Cameras

The main camera of the UleFone Metal is a Sony IMX 149 sensor placed on the back of the device. This sensor offers 8 MP and supports picture interpolation up to 13 MP. In our sharpness test (test chart photo in pre-determined lighting), the recordings appeared detailed, but were a little blurry at the edges. Brightly-lit objects are captured very well. The dynamic range is appropriate for this price segment. However, due to a lack of OIS, pictures often suffer from poor clarity. Recordings also show clear color tinges (Scene 1: fruit bowl, blue tinge). In low light conditions, the sensor can only offer blurred pictures.

Pictures taken with the 2 MP front camera can also be scaled up to 5 MP. These offer decent quality and suffice for selfies. The main camera records videos at the FHD resolution (1920x1080 pixels) up to 30 frames per second.

Image Comparison

Choose a scene and navigate within the first image. One click changes the position on touchscreens. One click on the zoomed-in image opens the original in a new window. The first image shows the scaled photograph of the test device.

Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3

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Accessories and Warranty

The delivery includes various brochures, a protective cover (book style), a protective film for the screen, a metal tool to open the SIM slot and a modular 5 W charger (1 A, 5 V).

The warranty runs 12 months.

Input Devices

The capacitive multi-touchscreen reacts reliably to the finger. The Google virtual keyboard is available for text input.

The UleFone Metal can be controlled using the three capacitive buttons below the display. In contrast to standard Android, the order of these keys is reversed. This formation is familiar from Samsung devices (back on the right, multitasking on the left). These buttons do not have a backlight.

The device is unlocked using the on/off key or the "double tap to wake" gesture on the screen. The device can also be activated using the fingerprint sensor on the back. The speed and the recognition efficiency of the sensor have room for improvement.

Display

Like the rest of the entry-level 5-inch competition, the LC display of the UleFone Metal offers a resolution of 1280x720 pixels. Content is displayed on the 12.7 cm IPS panel (pixel density: 294 PPI) very clearly.

The LED backlight of our test model has a max brightness of 338 cd/m², but usually the device is around 315 cd/m². Competitors, like the UHANS S1 or the TP-Link Neffos C5, are much brighter. The ambient light sensor should be turned off as it drops the brightness down to 251 cd/m². The realistic APL50 test (Average Picture Level) with evenly distributed bright and dark regions measures a max brightness of 309 cd/m² in the middle of the screen.


338 cd/m²	317 cd/m²	301 cd/m²
333 cd/m²	312 cd/m²	295 cd/m²
337 cd/m²	310 cd/m²	293 cd/m²

Distribution of brightness

LCD tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2

Maximum: 338 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 315.1 cd/m² Minimum: 23.8 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 312 cd/m²
Contrast: 557:1 (Black: 0.56 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 6.8 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 7.1 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
Gamma: 2.77

	Ulefone Metal IPS, 1280x720, 5.00	Archos 50e Neon TFT, 854x480, 5.00	Coolpad Porto S IPS, 1280x720, 5.00	Wiko Lenny 3 IPS, 1280x720, 5.00	UHANS S1 IPS, 1280x720, 5.00	TP-Link Neffos C5 IPS, 1280x720, 5.00	UMI Touch IPS, 1920x1080, 5.50	Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Super AMOLED, 2560x1440, 5.50
Screen		-16%	6%	15%	-8%	23%	18%	66%
Brightness middle	312	443 42%	407 30%	374 20%	525 68%	508 63%	424 36%	554 78%
Brightness	315	430 37%	403 28%	343 9%	471 50%	491 56%	415 32%	552 75%
Brightness Distribution	87	94 8%	92 6%	85 -2%	82 -6%	89 2%	91 5%	96 10%
Black Level *	0.56	0.38 32%	0.5 11%	0.47 16%	0.92 -64%	0.58 -4%	0.54 4%
Contrast	557	1166 109%	814 46%	796 43%	571 3%	876 57%	785 41%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *	6.8	13.9 -104%	7.9 -16%	6 12%	8.6 -26%	7 -3%	6.9 -1%	1.59 77%
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. *	14	29.5 -111%	18.2 -30%	11.9 15%	19.4 -39%	14.1 -1%	10.9 22%	2.56 82%
Greyscale dE 2000 *	7.1	17.3 -144%	8.9 -25%	6.7 6%	10.6 -49%	6.1 14%	6.8 4%	2.01 72%
Gamma	2.77 ^79%	2.93 ^75%	2.46 ^89%	2.19 ^100%	2.34 ^94%	2.15 ^102%	1.99 ^111%	2.01 ^109%
CCT	7402 ^88%	22878 ^28%	8332 ^78%	8073 ^81%	9487 ^69%	8068 ^81%	8131 ^80%	6321 ^103%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)								82.12
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)								99.98

* ... smaller is better

The brightness and black value of 0.56 cd/m² (APL50: 0.55 cd/m²) combine to provide a modest contrast of 1:557. Analysis with a photo spectrometer and the CalMAN software shows that the entry-level smartphone has small deviations in color (6.8) and gray levels (7.1) with the optimal range being smaller than 3. The measured color temperature of 7,402 Kelvin is a little too cool, but neither the gray levels nor the blue tinge are noticeable in everyday use.

CalMAN Color Accuracy (sRGB), "Standard"

The viewing angles of the panel are really good. Even at extreme viewing angles, the content is only affected by slight color deviations. Outdoors, the device offers limited use as the LC display is not bright enough. In everyday use, the max brightness (without ambient light sensor) is good enough.

Display Response Times

ℹ

Display response times show how fast the screen is able to change from one color to the next. Slow response times can lead to afterimages and can cause moving objects to appear blurry (ghosting). Gamers of fast-paced 3D titles should pay special attention to fast response times.

↔ Response Time Black to White
28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 11 ms rise
28 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 17 ms fall
The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 67 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms).
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey
250 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↗ 19 ms rise
250 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined	↘ 231 ms fall
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 100 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.7 ms).

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

ℹ

To dim the screen, some notebooks will simply cycle the backlight on and off in rapid succession - a method called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) . This cycling frequency should ideally be undetectable to the human eye. If said frequency is too low, users with sensitive eyes may experience strain or headaches or even notice the flickering altogether.

Screen flickering / PWM not detected

In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17900 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured.

Performance

The UleFone Metal uses the MediaTek MT6753. This ARM-SoC (System-on-a-Chip) has a 28 nm finish and offers 8 64-bit CPU cores (Cortex A53 architecture). The Mali-T720 MP4 provides graphics output and supports modern standards, such as OpenGL ES 3.1.

As expected, the MT6753 of our test model dominated the MediaTek SoCs (MT6580M, MT6735) in the competitors. The test model leads the benchmarks alongside the UMI Touch and the UHANS S1. The combination of the octa-core SoC and 3 GB DDR3-RAM ensures strong system and browser performance. Applications are quickly opened and closed. The internal eMMC memory offers good transfer rates, as is reflected by the Work-Performance score of the PCMark benchmarks. These benchmarks measure the performance potential of system components - the test model scores 4,079 points.

The integrated microSD card slot is also fast. The performance was tested using the reference memory card Toshiba Exceria Pro M401 (max. read 95 MB/s, write 80 MB/s). At 50 MB/s (read) and 28 MB/s (write), the performance of the SD-card slot is very good for this price segment.

AndroBench 3-5
Sequential Write 256KB SDCard (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	27.6 MB/s
Archos 50e Neon	18.87 MB/s -32%
Wiko Lenny 3	19.59 MB/s -29%
UHANS S1	20.71 MB/s -25%
TP-Link Neffos C5	18.89 MB/s -32%
UMI Touch	21.02 MB/s -24%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	50.4 MB/s +83%
Sequential Read 256KB SDCard (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	49.6 MB/s
Archos 50e Neon	35.27 MB/s -29%
Wiko Lenny 3	40.59 MB/s -18%
UHANS S1	48.15 MB/s -3%
TP-Link Neffos C5	39.11 MB/s -21%
UMI Touch	42.92 MB/s -13%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	76.4 MB/s +54%
Random Write 4KB (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	7.87 MB/s
Archos 50e Neon	5.18 MB/s -34%
Coolpad Porto S	13.95 MB/s +77%
Wiko Lenny 3	6.2 MB/s -21%
UHANS S1	12.95 MB/s +65%
TP-Link Neffos C5	6.85 MB/s -13%
UMI Touch	14.63 MB/s +86%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	15.79 MB/s +101%
Random Read 4KB (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	22.18 MB/s
Archos 50e Neon	15.29 MB/s -31%
Coolpad Porto S	22.52 MB/s +2%
Wiko Lenny 3	15.1 MB/s -32%
UHANS S1	20.25 MB/s -9%
TP-Link Neffos C5	17.16 MB/s -23%
UMI Touch	19.88 MB/s -10%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	86.7 MB/s +291%
Sequential Write 256KB (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	39.91 MB/s
Archos 50e Neon	8.33 MB/s -79%
Coolpad Porto S	39.99 MB/s 0%
Wiko Lenny 3	11.6 MB/s -71%
UHANS S1	74.4 MB/s +86%
TP-Link Neffos C5	52.4 MB/s +31%
UMI Touch	72.5 MB/s +82%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	145.1 MB/s +264%
Sequential Read 256KB (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	228.8 MB/s
Archos 50e Neon	130.3 MB/s -43%
Coolpad Porto S	168.2 MB/s -26%
Wiko Lenny 3	132.5 MB/s -42%
UHANS S1	240.8 MB/s +5%
TP-Link Neffos C5	145.8 MB/s -36%
UMI Touch	219.3 MB/s -4%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	487.3 MB/s +113%

AnTuTu v6 - Total Score (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	37103 Points
Archos 50e Neon	24509 Points -34%
Coolpad Porto S	25415 Points -32%
Wiko Lenny 3	25237 Points -32%
UHANS S1	39029 Points +5%
TP-Link Neffos C5	32681 Points -12%
UMI Touch	38617 Points +4%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	128749 Points +247%

3DMark
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Score (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	7059 Points
Archos 50e Neon	2930 Points -58%
Coolpad Porto S	3028 Points -57%
Wiko Lenny 3	2920 Points -59%
UHANS S1	7259 Points +3%
TP-Link Neffos C5	4906 Points -31%
UMI Touch	6795 Points -4%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	28671 Points +306%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Graphics Score (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	6469 Points
Archos 50e Neon	2485 Points -62%
Coolpad Porto S	2590 Points -60%
Wiko Lenny 3	2476 Points -62%
UHANS S1	6705 Points +4%
TP-Link Neffos C5	4223 Points -35%
UMI Touch	6186 Points -4%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	33031 Points +411%
1280x720 offscreen Ice Storm Unlimited Physics (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	10371 Points
Archos 50e Neon	7848 Points -24%
Coolpad Porto S	7413 Points -29%
Wiko Lenny 3	7849 Points -24%
UHANS S1	10211 Points -2%
TP-Link Neffos C5	9291 Points -10%
UMI Touch	10368 Points 0%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	19610 Points +89%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	293 Points
Wiko Lenny 3	Points -100%
UHANS S1	298 Points +2%
TP-Link Neffos C5	203 Points -31%
UMI Touch	291 Points -1%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2710 (2421^min) Points +825%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Graphics (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	243 Points
Wiko Lenny 3	Points -100%
UHANS S1	248 Points +2%
TP-Link Neffos C5	167 Points -31%
UMI Touch	241 Points -1%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	3015 (2895^min) Points +1141%
2560x1440 Sling Shot OpenGL ES 3.0 Physics (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	1057 Points
Wiko Lenny 3	Points -100%
UHANS S1	993 Points -6%
TP-Link Neffos C5	810 Points -23%
UMI Touch	1045 Points -1%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2002 (1539^min) Points +89%

GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
T-Rex Onscreen (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	12 fps
Archos 50e Neon	4.4 fps -63%
Coolpad Porto S	4.8 fps -60%
Wiko Lenny 3	8 fps -33%
TP-Link Neffos C5	8.3 fps -31%
UMI Touch	12 fps 0%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	51 fps +325%
1920x1080 T-Rex Offscreen (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	19 fps
Archos 50e Neon	11 fps -42%
Coolpad Porto S	8.6 fps -55%
Wiko Lenny 3	4.4 fps -77%
TP-Link Neffos C5	14 fps -26%
UMI Touch	12 fps -37%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	81 fps +326%

GFXBench 3.0
on screen Manhattan Onscreen OGL (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	6.4 fps
Coolpad Porto S	1.6 fps -75%
Wiko Lenny 3	fps -100%
TP-Link Neffos C5	2.8 fps -56%
UMI Touch	4.5 fps -30%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	27 fps +322%
1920x1080 1080p Manhattan Offscreen (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	2.9 fps
Coolpad Porto S	3.6 fps +24%
Wiko Lenny 3	fps -100%
TP-Link Neffos C5	6.1 fps +110%
UMI Touch	4.5 fps +55%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	38 fps +1210%

GFXBench 3.1
on screen Manhattan ES 3.1 Onscreen (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	4.5 fps
Wiko Lenny 3	fps -100%
UMI Touch	2.9 fps -36%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	15 fps +233%
1920x1080 Manhattan ES 3.1 Offscreen (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	8.9 fps
Wiko Lenny 3	fps -100%
UMI Touch	2.9 fps -67%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	28 fps +215%

PCMark for Android - Work performance score (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	4079 Points
Archos 50e Neon	2796 Points -31%
Coolpad Porto S	2893 Points -29%
Wiko Lenny 3	2832 Points -31%
UHANS S1	4191 Points +3%
TP-Link Neffos C5	3443 Points -16%
UMI Touch	3787 Points -7%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	4660 Points +14%

BaseMark OS II
Overall (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	273 Points
Archos 50e Neon	389 Points +42%
Coolpad Porto S	458 Points +68%
Wiko Lenny 3	399 Points +46%
UHANS S1	807 Points +196%
TP-Link Neffos C5	683 Points +150%
UMI Touch	717 Points +163%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2074 Points +660%
System (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	1691 Points
Archos 50e Neon	990 Points -41%
Coolpad Porto S	905 Points -46%
Wiko Lenny 3	988 Points -42%
UHANS S1	1281 Points -24%
TP-Link Neffos C5	1199 Points -29%
UMI Touch	1343 Points -21%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	4080 Points +141%
Memory (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	802 Points
Archos 50e Neon	317 Points -60%
Coolpad Porto S	467 Points -42%
Wiko Lenny 3	293 Points -63%
UHANS S1	843 Points +5%
TP-Link Neffos C5	991 Points +24%
UMI Touch	787 Points -2%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2072 Points +158%
Graphics (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	433 Points
Archos 50e Neon	138 Points -68%
Coolpad Porto S	173 Points -60%
Wiko Lenny 3	138 Points -68%
UHANS S1	431 Points 0%
TP-Link Neffos C5	281 Points -35%
UMI Touch	429 Points -1%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2203 Points +409%
Web (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	10 Points
Archos 50e Neon	525 Points +5150%
Coolpad Porto S	599 Points +5890%
Wiko Lenny 3	632 Points +6220%
UHANS S1	640 Points +6300%
TP-Link Neffos C5	638 Points +6280%
UMI Touch	576 Points +5660%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	994 Points +9840%

Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	13397 ms *
Archos 50e Neon	15157 ms * -13%
Coolpad Porto S	32901 ms * -146%
Wiko Lenny 3	14863 ms * -11%
UHANS S1	12510 ms * +7%
TP-Link Neffos C5	12783 ms * +5%
UMI Touch	13953 ms * -4%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	2564 ms * +81%

JetStream 1.1 - Total Score (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	17.83 Points
Archos 50e Neon	14.12 Points -21%
Coolpad Porto S	14.17 Points -21%
Wiko Lenny 3	14.07 Points -21%
UHANS S1	18.42 Points +3%
TP-Link Neffos C5	18.21 Points +2%
UMI Touch	17.61 Points -1%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	75.1 Points +321%

Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value)
Ulefone Metal	2738 Points
Archos 50e Neon	2103 Points -23%
Coolpad Porto S	2088 Points -24%
Wiko Lenny 3	2133 Points -22%
UHANS S1	2972 Points +9%
TP-Link Neffos C5	2738 Points 0%
UMI Touch	2562 Points -6%
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge	13191 Points +382%

Legend

Ulefone Metal Mediatek MT6753, ARM Mali-T720, 16 GB eMMC Flash

Archos 50e Neon Mediatek MT6580M, ARM Mali-400 MP2, 8 GB eMMC Flash

Coolpad Porto S Mediatek MT6735, ARM Mali-T720, 8 GB eMMC Flash

Wiko Lenny 3 Mediatek MT6580M, ARM Mali-400 MP2, 16 GB eMMC Flash

UHANS S1 Mediatek MT6753, ARM Mali-T720 MP4, 32 GB eMMC Flash

TP-Link Neffos C5 Mediatek MT6735, ARM Mali-T720 MP2, 16 GB eMMC Flash

UMI Touch Mediatek MT6753, ARM Mali-T720 MP4, 16 GB eMMC Flash

Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Samsung Exynos 8890 Octa, ARM Mali-T880 MP12, 32 GB UFS 2.0 Flash

* ... smaller is better

Games

The integrated GPU of the MediaTek MT6753 is the Mali-T720 MP4. This GPU offers 4 clusters, which can run at up to 600 MHz. Games from Android Play Store, such as N.O.V.A. 3 or Need for Speed No Limits, run without issues on the Mali GPU.

Emissions

Temperature

The temperature emissions of the UleFone Metal are relatively balanced. While idle, the entry-level smartphone barely heats up on the back. We measured an even distribution of heat with a max temperature of 31.8 °C. Even at load, the back heats up to a max of 37.5 °C, which is acceptable. In everyday use, the temperature emissions are comfortable.

Max. Load

Idle


40.7 °C 105 F	37.4 °C 99 F	38.6 °C 101 F
39.8 °C 104 F	37.4 °C 99 F	39.7 °C 103 F
38.6 °C 101 F	37.1 °C 99 F	37.9 °C 100 F

Maximum: 40.7 °C = 105 F
Average: 38.6 °C = 101 F


36.7 °C 98 F	37.1 °C 99 F	37.3 °C 99 F
36.8 °C 98 F	37.4 °C 99 F	37.5 °C 100 F
36.6 °C 98 F	37.4 °C 99 F	37.4 °C 99 F

Maximum: 37.5 °C = 100 F
Average: 37.1 °C = 99 F

Power Supply (max.) 44.5 °C = 112 F | Room Temperature 21.7 °C = 71 F | Voltcraft IR-350

(-) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 38.6 °C / 101 F, compared to the average of 32.7 °C / 91 F for the devices in the class Smartphone.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 40.7 °C / 105 F, compared to the average of 35 °C / 95 F, ranging from 21.9 to 56 °C for the class Smartphone.
(+) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 37.5 °C / 100 F, compared to the average of 33.8 °C / 93 F
(±) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 33 °C / 91 F, compared to the device average of 32.7 °C / 91 F.

Speakers

The mono speaker on the back of the device can reach a max volume of 76 dB(A). This puts our test model behind other competitors, which offer an average volume of 85 dB(A). The sound quality is at a very high level for the price of the smartphone. The sound output is not very linear as the middle to high notes range from 500 Hz to 8 kHz. Bass is not noticeable.

Ulefone Metal audio analysis

(±) | speaker loudness is average but good (76.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 25.6% lower than median
(-) | bass is not linear (15.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 3.7% away from median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 5.6% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (6.5% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (24.4% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 52% of all tested devices in this class were better, 8% similar, 40% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 70% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 24% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Archos 50e Neon audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (85.5 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 43.8% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (6.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 8.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (10.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.6% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (30% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 74% of all tested devices in this class were better, 4% similar, 21% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 86% of all tested devices were better, 3% similar, 11% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

UHANS S1 audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.8 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 37.7% lower than median
(+) | bass is linear (6.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | higher mids - on average 7.8% higher than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (11.9% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(±) | higher highs - on average 9.4% higher than median
(+) | highs are linear (6.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(-) | overall sound is not linear (35.7% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 82% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 17% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 92% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 7% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Coolpad Porto S audio analysis

(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.9 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(-) | nearly no bass - on average 37.1% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (9.4% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(±) | reduced mids - on average 5.2% lower than median
(±) | linearity of mids is average (8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 2.4% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (3.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(±) | linearity of overall sound is average (25% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 55% of all tested devices in this class were better, 7% similar, 37% worse
» The best had a delta of 12%, average was 38%, worst was 134%
Compared to all devices tested
» 73% of all tested devices were better, 6% similar, 22% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%

Energy Management

Power Consumption

The UleFone Metal is not very power efficient. For a 5-inch smartphone, it consumes a lot. Even a 5.5-inch device, like the UMi Touch (same SoC), has a 25% less power consumption.

Power Consumption

Off / Standby	0.68 / 0.69 Watt
Idle	1.41 / 2.46 / 2.83 Watt
Load	5.15 / 7.05 Watt


Key: min: , med: , max: Metrahit Energy Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

	Ulefone Metal 3050 mAh	Archos 50e Neon 2200 mAh	Coolpad Porto S 2000 mAh	Wiko Lenny 3 2000 mAh	UHANS S1 2200 mAh	TP-Link Neffos C5 2200 mAh	UMI Touch 4000 mAh	Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge 3600 mAh
Power Consumption		31%	26%	22%	40%	19%	25%	29%
Idle Minimum *	1.41	0.56 60%	1.16 18%	0.76 46%	0.7 50%	0.72 49%	0.89 37%	0.63 55%
Idle Average *	2.46	1.58 36%	2.21 10%	2.16 12%	1.13 54%	1.87 24%	2 19%	1.1 55%
Idle Maximum *	2.83	1.8 36%	2.24 21%	2.35 17%	1.25 56%	2 29%	2.1 26%	1.56 45%
Load Average *	5.15	5.22 -1%	3.34 35%	4.65 10%	4.39 15%	5.99 -16%	3.87 25%	5.95 -16%
Load Maximum *	7.05	5.34 24%	3.95 44%	5.35 24%	5.43 23%	6.45 9%	5.79 18%	6.7 5%

* ... smaller is better

Battery Life

Due to the high power consumption of the phone while idle and at load, the device lasts a mere 6 hours and 52 minutes in our practical WLAN test. For this test, the brightness is set to 150 cd/m². The only competitor which performs worse is the UHANS S1. For a 5-inch smartphone with a 3,050 mAh battery, this is really disappointing.

Battery Runtime


WiFi Websurfing		6h 43min

	Ulefone Metal 3050 mAh	Archos 50e Neon 2200 mAh	Coolpad Porto S 2000 mAh	Wiko Lenny 3 2000 mAh	UHANS S1 2200 mAh	TP-Link Neffos C5 2200 mAh	UMI Touch 4000 mAh	Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge 3600 mAh
Battery Runtime
WiFi v1.3	403	498 24%	504 25%	549 36%	309 -23%	453 12%	553 37%	732 82%

Pros

+ metal case

+ fingerprint sensor

+ IPS panel

+ 3 GB RAM

+ performance potential (entry level)

+ relatively fast eMMC memory

Cons

- high power consumption / average battery life

- brightness

- contrast

- navigation keys do not have lighting

Verdict

In review: UleFone Metal. Test model provided by UleFone.

UleFone has created a cheap yet successful device. The success of the test model can be accredited to its pricing and technical features. The workmanship and system performance are also quite good for an entry-level device.

The largest flaw of the UleFone Metal is the quality of the LCD panel. This IPS panel is too dark and offers low contrast in comparison to the competition. Furthermore, the power consumption is too high for a 5-inch device, which results in modest battery life.

Despite lacking in display and battery life, the UleFone Metal is an interesting entry-level smartphone which is worth the investment of around 100 Euros (~$111).

Ulefone Metal - 2016-09-23 09/23/2016 v5.1^(old)
Marcus Herbrich

Chassis

84%

Keyboard

60 / 75 → 80%

Pointing Device

86%

Connectivity

40 / 60 → 67%

Weight

92%

Battery

89%

Display

80%

Games Performance

19 / 63 → 30%

Application Performance

32 / 70 → 45%

Temperature

88%

Noise

100%

Audio

56 / 91 → 62%

Camera

65%

Average

69%

81%

Smartphone - Weighted Average

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Editor of the original article: Marcus Herbrich - Senior Tech Writer - 420 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2016

I have always been very passionately interested in mobile technologies, especially smartphones. Being a tech enthusiast means the half-life of my devices isn’t exactly long, and being the latest hardware is not enough to suffice as the manufacturer and operating system play a minor role – the most important aspect for me is that the device is state-of-the-art. After posting for Mobi Test I joined Notebookcheck in 2016, where I have been pursuing my enthusiasm for technology by reviewing the latest smartphone, tablet, and accessory trends.

contact me via: @Marcus_Herbrich

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Reviews > UleFone Metal Smartphone Review

Marcus Herbrich, 2016-09-27 (Update: 2016-09-27)

UleFone Metal Smartphone Review

Case

Size Comparison

Connectivity

Software

Communication and GPS

Telephone Features and Speech Quality

Cameras

Accessories and Warranty

Input Devices

Display

Display Response Times

Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)

Performance

Games

Emissions

Temperature

Speakers

Ulefone Metal audio analysis

Archos 50e Neon audio analysis

UHANS S1 audio analysis

Coolpad Porto S audio analysis

Energy Management

Power Consumption

Battery Life

Pros

Cons

Verdict

Pricecompare