[General Topics] IceTea7:
Hello,

here is my review of the new BLUBOO X550 in color black. The original review is written in German language (my native language) and you can find it here: http://www.chinamobiles.org/threads/testbericht-bluboo-x550-mit-5300mah-akku-android-5-1-lollipop-lte-von-icetea7.45297/.

Order

I have received the Bluboo X550 from efox-shop.com (http://www.efox-shop.com/bluboo-x55...dschirm-android-50-4g-lte-smartphone-g-301504).

You can order it from a warehouse in Germany for 159,99€ or from China for 129,99€. It is possible to buy a sort of insurance so that you get the taxes back.

There are two colors (black and white) available.

My X550 was sent out with DHL Express from China. DHL picked up the package on Sunday (14.6.15) and I have received it on Friday (19.6.15) here in Germany.

Specs (according to efox-shop.com)

Brand: BLUBOO

Model: X550

Operating-System: Android 5.1 Lollipop

Networking: 2G: GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) / 3G: WCDMA (850/900/2100MHz) / 4G: FDD-LTE (B1/B3/B7/B20 (800/1800/2100/2600MHz)

SIM-card: DualSIM

CPU: MTK6735P

GPU: Mali-T720

ROM: 16GB

RAM: 2GB

External memory: Micro-SD

Display: 5,5“ OGS IPS

Resolution: 1280 x 720 (HD 720p)

Camera (back): 8MP, F2.0 aperture with a BSI CMOS lens

Camera (front): 2MP

Battery: 5300mAh

Notification led: Yes

Radio: Yes, with headphones

GPS: Yes

WIFI: Yes, 802.11b/g/n

Bluetooth: Yes, 4.0

NFC: No

Size: 148 x 78 x 9,5 mm / / 5.82 x 3.07 x 0.37 inches

Weight: 0,186 kg

Unboxing: What’s in the box?

I have received the device very well packed in an air bubble mailer. Next to the packaging there was a free silicon case in color brown.

The black boxing of the phones is made out of high quality and big cardboard. “BLUBOO Beyond Your Life!” is written on top of the box and on the other side you can find a sticker with the specifications of the X550.

If you open the packaging you will find the device, a screen-saver and a user manual. And there are two boxes. One contains the USB-cable and the other one two chargers. One is labeled with “Fast Charging” but both look exactly the same and there are no differences in size.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflo2cnREVUFxekd3SXM3OHl5VjEwQXRmZTJVeUdkTG1BNUc5bl81Sy1BSTQ

Casing & Build Quality

At the beginning I was a bit surprised because I thought that a 5,5“ smartphone with a 5300mAh battery would be much thicker, heavier and wouldn’t lay good in the hand but Bluboo showed me that it can work. The whole body is made out of plastic and the display front panel is outlined by a chromed frame that looks good in combination to the black front.

Above the 5,5“ screen you can find the earpiece in the middle, the sensors on the right and a little notification LED and the front camera on the left.

Underneath the display are the three touch buttons (back, home, return). They aren’t lighted and the symbols are only printed in silver.

If you look at the backside you will find the 8MP and a LED besides it. The lens is a bit overhanging. In the middle you can find the silver Bluboo logo and at the bottom there are two grids for the loudspeaker but you will only hear sound out of the right one. Above are some other signs like a CE logo and others. The back of the device is rounded at the edges and that is the reason why it lays good in the hand.

On the right side of the X550 you can find the volume control and the power on/off button.

The left side is clean. There are no keys or something else.

The 3,5mm headphones jack together with the Micro-USB port are positioned on the upper surface of the device.

In the end you will find the microphone in the left corner of the bottom and a small notch for an easy removal of the battery cover.

If you take off the battery cover you will directly see the huge battery in the middle, two simcard and one microSD card slot, the loudspeaker and the main camera with LED.

All in all the build quality is good, there are no loose parts and nothing creaks.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B...NqcVFzaVVmOWVsVXQ0cXZXbmc2Q0ZiWVF0V3FvZ3FDZGM

Display / Touchscreen / Multitouch

The used 5,5” 1280x720 OGS IPS HD-Display looks good, I can’t see any pixels and the colors are natural. It is possible to change color rendering in the settings (“Mira Vision”). The viewing angle is stable and watching YouTube videos makes a lot of fun. You can adjust the brightness very high and this is why there should be no problem using this phone in sunlight. The automatic brightness adjustment also works well and reacts fast on changing ambient light conditions. So far there have been no ghost-touches or something like that. The touchscreen is very snappy and precise. Finally I have to say that it is a five point multitouch screen.

Processor & Storage

The Bluboo X550 has the MTK6735P quadcore processor with a Mali-T720 GPU and 2GB Ram and 16GB Rom built-in.

The 1GHz processors seems weak in the product data sheet but works pretty well. There are no lags and the sytem runs very smoothly and Apps start quickly. The only problem are graphic intense games. “Asphalt 8” and “Rayman Fiesta Run” were no problem but games like “N.O.V.A 3” or “Gangstar Vegas”. Of course more simple games like “Angry Birds” or “Candy Crush” are playable. 2Gb RAM are enough space to run various apps at the same time. For example it is possible to hear music in the background and to surf on the internet at the same time.

The phone has 16Gb of internal storage. You can expand it with a micro SDcard with up to 64Gb. I have tested a 64Gb microSD card from Sandisc and it worked like a charm. Furthermore you can connect an OTG-cable to move or to access data on it.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfkxqYU5YaEtYNkFGZmNHV2xTbVNOTzBjTk93d0tPOXRIZ1BfOERZbU95bHc

Firmware

I have received the X550 with a stock Android version of Android 5.1 Lollipop. There is no special launcher or something like that preinstalled by Bluboo. Everything runs very smooth and everything works directly after the first boot. There are no Chinese Apps preinstalled but on the other hand all Google Apps just like Google+, Google Maps and of course the Google PlayStore. So you are able to install all your favorite Apps and games.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfkZyN3RTbUE0RzBJTWN0N0VoUjZjU21NQVdobFBxa0Z6SGZnSFZMUi1sODg

Two helpful Apps were preinstalled. On the one hand it is the App „Direct“ and on the other hand it’s „Smart Wake“. With Smart Wake you can choose a gesture to wake up the device from standby mode or to start an App. This could for example be “DoubleTap” to unlock the X550 or “SlideUp” to start/open the browser. Of course you can choose the gestures by your own. The App „Direct“ is an addition to that where you for example can take a picture when you put your hand in front of the proximity sensor while you have opened the camera App. HotKnot is supported, too.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfmxCakI4amtsOFJUajItdTZZMUZFQkhmTXNqaEY5ZU96UXEycUJ2UHdoZHM

Out of the box a there are lot of languages supported just like English, German,... .

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflNMZUM4cjdzU1FfU1FKcEFvTVRpMGZjbHRpcjlhdG45Q0QzWXVtd3RCbms

Root

It’s possible to root the device with KingRoot 4.1.

2G / 3G / 4G

The X550 supports DualSim with DualStandby and 4G LTE. The reception is good and without any abortions.

Attention

: SimSlot2 only supports 2G! You can only use 3G and 4G LTE in SimSlot1. But of course you can make calls or write sms with both Simcards.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfkNYeHdyWlNkRG1RMTg4bWJ6WmdSYU1jcllwaFFBNXpNSUZSdnUwRHFpS2M

Sensors

To see the supported/build in sensors please check the following GoogleDrive link:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflJXQVVJUFhPWjgwWkpFQkR6VFluWm5KTzdmaVY3SVRKTXhDV01OWkFQQ2s

WLAN

The WLAN reception/range is very good and comparable to the ZTE Blade S6 Plus.

Bluetooth

The Bluetooth range is very long, too. I have tested it with several phones and Bluetooth speaker.

Compass

The X550 doesn’t support a compass.

Notification LED

The notification LED is next to the frontcamera on the left side. It’s very small and only glows in color red.

GPS

GPS is ok but devinitely not the best.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfmpHSG5YTTRzRXF4TW5uSC1FSHlWSnR3d0FhcDJOWnVqSEpBSkk5ZGhqZ1k

Audio

The sound quality is good and phone calls are clear as well on both sides of the line. It is possible to raise the volume very high but the sound isn’t that great. It’s good enough for some short YouTube videos or other short clips but I would suggest to use earphones/headphones or Bluetooth speakers.

Attention

: My device always reboots/freezes after a short time if it is connected to a computer speaker via AUX-cable. I have tested different speakers but the result was always the same. There are no problems with Bluetooth speakers. The reason could be the external power supply of the speaker.

Battery

The battery of the BLUBOO X550 is built-in and advertised with a capacity of 5300mAh. BLUBOO claims that the X550 can last about four days of normal usage and 30 days in standby mode with only one single charge.

I have charged the battery to 100% and used it as my daily driver. With two simcards, WLAN always on, downloading apps, running benchmark tests, playing some games, surfing the internet, synchronizing several e-mail accounts and using diverse messenger the result was a screen-on time of 11h24min. This is in my eyes a very good result. So you should easily come over the day with one charge. But as always it really depends on the user behaviour.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflNzUDQzWjgtWl9GS3lwR2xNSjJUZW5ZdmRFZHJqa1hrR1dhaUh3dUN1Nms

I think it is a nice idea to use the X550 with an OTG-cable as powerbank but in combination with my Gionee Elife E7 and my Meizu MX4 I wasn’t able to charge one of these devices. So, it is a nice idea but it doesn’t work properly in my case. I have tried it with a powered off Gionee but the only result was a bootloop. I have tried a different OTG-cable for sure. On my MX4 it says that the MX4 is loading but after 15min there was still no change in battery percentage.

I have tried „Fast Charging“ with the fast charging adapter but the results weren’t like advertised. Bluboo says that it only takes 60min for 75% (3975mAh) respectively 40min for 50% (2650mAh).

These are my results:

- after 40min: 25%

- after 60min: 37%

0-100%: 3h38min

With Geekbench 3 Battery Test the result was over 15h (Wlan off and without simcards). I can’t tel the exact time because there has been an error while trying to upload the score. The last time I have checked the percentage was after 15h20min with 8% battery left. So I think the final result was approximately 16h.

Cameras

The front camera has 2MP and is good enough for some selfies or video chatting.

The main camera on the back has 8MP and isn’t that great but please decide on your own and check out my pictures.

As always all the pictures were made by me with the standard settings and the preinstalled camera app.

Main camera: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfk1zQW9wNVp3X1VJVWJFbFFSX1ZRVHIyaXVWRk9MbUpWV0ZjZmZSVUVuMDg

with HDR: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfmpFUjBPMXdSZ1Q3WFFHRHdpRlFCc2tJV3BycXN5U2hwazBQUmthR1lEaW8

Front camera: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVflFSWHl4WWdqY25kZW1aWEpscHlaeHFRbnVaMDJBS3Etd1U4OWZlanEyUU0

Radio

The integrated radio works pretty well and supports RDS. To be able to use the radio you have to plug in some earphones/headphones.

Benchmark Tests

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfk14TFFKQWRnX0paQVRiLUhlTHljcFpfdzBETkxHMWRFUmpDblU5MGkzYUU

Conclusion

The Bluboo X550 is a nice 5,5“ smartphone with a huge battery that lasts very long. The device is directly ready after unpacking with preinstalled multilanguage firmware and all Google Apps. I really like that there are no Chinese Apps and no special launcher. Android 5.1 Lollipop runs great and with it you should be up to date for the next few months. The build quality is good but the whole device is made out of plastic. WLAN reception is very good but the GPS signal good definitely be better. In everyday life is the 1GHz processor enough but „Gamer“ should look for another device.

I don’t like that the whole battery advertising wasn’t true. I wasn’t able to charge the X550 in 40min to 50% and using the phone as sort of powerbank hasn’t worked properly either. Furthermore my phone always reboots/freezes if I connect it to some computer speaker.

So if you are searching for a 5,5” smartphone with a big battery that easily manages to last more than 10h screen-on time and don’t graphic intense games should definitely consider to buy this phone. But please don’t take the „Fast Charging“ to serious on this device because I couldn’t confirm all the promises.

Pro:

- very big battery

- nice display

- smooth operation

- very good WLAN reception

- Android 5.1 Lollipop with GoogleApps preinstalled out of the box

Neutral:

- price

- GPS

- camera

- no lighted touch buttons

- small notification LED that only glows in color red

Contra:

- weak processor (some games aren’t playable)

- I couldn’t confirm the advertised highlights of the battery and the fast charging

- the phone freezes/reboots if I connect it to speakers via AUX-cable

- only SIM-Slot1 supports 3G and 4G LTE

To see all pictures my pictures of the Bluboo X550 please check out my GoogleDrive folder:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B233-Yi0ZAZVfjdndFRZcTF0R3UzWEpHTEdZM0h5T281aDJVc1FsMmpQYWxPU3Vna1V5aUk

If you have any questions or want me to test something special then please leave a comment in this thread.