[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
Review

Introduction

This is the LEAGOO Z5 (the Z5L looks the same).

Hardware

Unlike other brands, LEAGOO released two different, but identical, devices depending on the network support. The Z5 features a low-end SOC, MT6580, that is able to handle almost every basic task, and the Z5L, or Z5 LTE, features a low-mid end SOC, MT6735, that offers (teorically) a nice performance boost and also offers 4G network support. That’s the only difference between the devices. (only the SOC)

Luckily I had the possibility to review both devices, so i’ll provide you a nice comparision. (on the Z5L there is a typo mistake about the CPU)

Unboxing

The Z5 and Z5L have the same design, weight and size so I will show you just one of them.

Both devices come with the same basic accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Earphones with Mic (not in-ear), 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Warranty Certificate and the Smartphone (of course).

As regards its design, it looks pretty stylish with a neutral design. It feels solid enough, but don’t expect extreme toughness, it is still a cheap device, don’t forget it.

It is just 14.6x7.2x0.96cm and weights 146 g. A compact device that can be handled easily in your hands, and one of the most lightweight ever reviewed.

On the front side there is the standard (not 2.5D) Display Glass while on the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece and the Sensors hole that includes Proximity and Gesture Sensors. No Light Sensor is here.

The lower front side of the device there are the Soft-Keys Navigation Buttons.

On the back side, there is the unibody, and removable, Plastic back cover. The upper rear side of the device features a slightly protunding Camera supported by a dual flashlight. This is the first low-cost device I see with a dual-led configuration.

The lower rear side of the device features a noticeable Brand Logo with some Certification logos and an huge Speaker hole.

Chassis is slightly curved on the back, making the device much confortable to use.

Device

Screen

Both devices have a TN Screen with pretty low resolution, just 854x480, neither it is IPS so...yeah the quality isn’t so good. Viewing Angles are not so good, but colors seem to be pretty vibrant though. Screen Brightness is decent, good enough to be used under direct sunlight.

I don’t have a professional Lumen Meter, so this (Lux) is the only value that I can provide you.

About Viewing Angles, as already said before, the screen doesn’t behave pretty well, there is the classical colors distortion on different sides.

Image Contrast and Saturation are sufficient.

Camera

Back Camera is just 5MP, interpolated to 8MP (only on the Z5L), and it doesn’t seem to have a working auto-focus. I didn’t managed to focus on something with both devices, so it might be classical static camera. That’s a weird thing I know, but remember that this is probably the cheapest device even released by a known company. (not from some unknown chinese brands, with unknown quality and so on)

Photos quality is low, with a low level of details and colors are washed out.

The Dual-LED Flashlight is powerful enough for mid-low light shots, but it is slightly “blue” I don’t know why.

About Videos, well...i won’t show you a preview because its quality is low just like photos. 1080p support is here, but it is clearly useless. I doubt that someone would use this device to as a Camera replacement, so just use it for basic photos requirements.

Audio

Speaker is loud enough, much better than expected, and it has also decent quality.

Unfortunately, it is positioned on the back, and, as I have already said for many other devices, if you place the device on a table you could experience volume issues, but this doesn’t mean that it is a bad thing. As always, what matters here is the quality.

Nothing negative to say about the in-call/telephony quality.

Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi

Starting from the Z5, there is no 4G support. 3G Signal Reception is accurate though, with no issues at all with Mobile Data speed or Signal Stability. Unfortunately I got the America version, so can’t provide you a reliable 3G Speed Test.

Built-in Wi-Fi supports 2.4GHz networks, and using my Home internet connection I managed to get almost half of my broadband connection speed. Not bad at all. (I have a 100/20 VDSL connection, WiFi gets connected to 135mbps)

While for the Z5L that’s a whole different story. There is 4G support, it is pretty good even if a bit unstable I don’t know why. Signal Reception is high though, much better than expected. This is a 4G Speed Test made using my poor 4G connection.

As regards Wi-Fi Performance, the Z5L seems to be a bit worse than the Z5, maybe there is a software bug, but WiFi Upload Speed seems to be capped. WiFi Download Speed is as good as on the Z5.

Battery Life

Battery seems to be pretty good, and both devices have almost equal battery life.

This is a Geekbench Battery Test.

Declared Battery Capacity matches Real Capacity, as you can see here.

Software

Starting from the Z5 & Z5L, LEAGOO is using a new OS, LEAGOO OS v2, that on the Z5 is based on Android 6.0 while on the Z5L, for an unknown reason, it is based on Android 5.1. Even if the OS base is different, features are identical. Unfortunately they removed the menu where you can see the hardware modules (camera, screen…), so I don’t know the manufacturer of the Screen, Camera and Sensors.

Just like other last-gen Mediatek Devices, there are some typical features such as Gestures, Smart Wake, etc…

The UI is clean, a bit slow, but it doesn’t freeze even under high load.

Benchmarks

On the left you can see Z5 benchmarks while on the right Z5L ones. Remember, MT6580 on Z5, MT6735P on Z5L.

I have used 3DMark, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 3, GFXBench, AndroBench, PCMark (Work & Storage) and Vellamo (Browser & CPU) to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.

3DMark – GPU Performance isn’t too bad, but it is better on the Z5 even if it doesn’t have OpenGL 3 support. Strange, but true.

Z5L Only (due to OpenGL 3 support)

Other ones can be found on the imgur albums.

AndroBench – eMMC Performance is much better that expected on the Z5, but low on the Z5L.

Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmarks, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.

Epic Citadel – As you can see, Gaming performance isn’t extremely low, there is enough power to handle games without major issues, you just won’t get ultra-high framerates. But...again...Z5 performance is higher.

GeekBench – CPU Performance is as good as other CPUs with the same configuration (4x Cortex-A7 on the Z5, 4x Cortex-A53 on the Z5L), probably also a bit better. Here, the Z5L performance is higher.

GFXBench– GFXBench result is….ultra-low. You have to forget heavy games on this device. More or less same performance on both devices.

PCMark – Except for Video Playback Score, it isn’t pretty bad on both devices. Z5 score is a bit higher though, especially as regards the Storage score.

Work

Storage

Vellamo

Browser score is decent, and this time higher on Z5L.

While for the CPU score, both devices managed to get more or less the same score.

Summaring all results, I can say that the LEAGOO Z5 has been better optimized than the Z5L, I might retry to benchmark the latter after some OTA Updates. Anyway, both devices provide good performance for basic usage.

Conclusions

Being the first low-cost devices I ever try from LEAGOO, I must admit that they are pretty good, but the Touchscreen isn’t great (just 2 points, and not so sensitive. You have to forget fast typing speed), Screen Quality is low and Camera Performance is super-low. All the rest is pretty good though, with excellent WiFi performance on the Z5 and useful 4G support on the Z5L.

So...do I recommend any of them? I might advice you to get the Z5 if you don’t need 4G support because it has a newer OS and better performance. Both devices are ultra-cheap, never seen a so cheap device from a well-known company, so...yeah this is something rare to see and if you need a basic or emergency device, then both are good choices.

Pros:

Ultra-Cheap

Lightweight

Great Performance (Z5 only)

Dual-LED Flashlight

Good Battery Life

4G Support (Z5L only)

Unexpected WiFi High Performance

Cons:

No Notification LED

No Light Sensor

Crappy Camera Performance

Low Screen Quality

Mediocre Performance (Z5L only)

Low Touchscreen Sensitivity

Rating: 7.6

Packaging and Accessories: 8

Design and Materials: 7

Performance and Heat Dissipation: 6.5 - (7 for the Z5)

Screen: 6

Camera: 5

Sound: 8

Battery Life: 8.5

Software: 9

OEM Support: 8

Price: 10

You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here:

http://imgur.com/a/lsoj5

Z5 Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/WstGp

Z5L Screenshots: http://imgur.com/a/WcYD8

Official Website

Z5: http://www.leagoo.com/mobile/Z_Series/20160528/Z5.html

Z5 LTE: http://www.leagoo.com/mobile/Z_Series/20160531/Z5 Lte.html

Both devices are now on sale on many e-shops.​