[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
Review (part 1)

Introduction

This is the LEAGOO M5 Plus.

Hardware

This device is powered by a Mediatek MT6737M SOC clocked at 1.25GHz, a new CPU from Mediatek that is basically an MT6735 with a new Modem that supports VoLTE, together with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM. It features a 13MP (interpolated) rear camera and a 5MP (interpolated) front camera.

Unboxing

Packaging comes with many accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Warranty Certificate, 1x 3.5mm Headphones (not in-ear), 1x TPU Cover and the Smartphone (of course). A screen protector is already applied.

The device has the same chassis used in the M5 (not Plus), just bigger. It is pretty well-built, feels solid and has some plastic bands for the antenna. Even though the Chassis is made of the metal, this isn't a full-metal device. (no unibody)

It is 15.17x7.64x0.96cm, not extremely compact, with pretty thin bezels. It weights 209g, decent for a device with a metal chassis.

On the front side there is the usual 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. No Notification LED is here.

On the lower front side there is the Touch Keys area, with Menu, Home and Back touch buttons.

On the back side there is the removable back cover, identical to the one found on the M5 (not Plus).

The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor supported by a single rounded Flashlight, and the compact, rounded, Fingerprint Scanner.

On the lower rear side there is just the Speaker Hole.

Device

Screen

The screen is a bit dark, seems to be extremely calibrated to get natural colors (even though there is MiraVision), and the brightness is low.

Light Sensor supports smooth light changes, this is its maximum brightness. Under direct sunlight i had some difficulties.

Viewing Angles are good, just like on all IPS screens, but its low brightness issue makes it a bit darker on the sides.

Camera

Compared to the M5 that had issues with the Camera Software, there are huge improvements on the M5 Plus. Rear Camera takes some great photos with no major noise issues, even on low-light conditions. Daylight photos are detailed and sharp.

"HDR off" on the left and "HDR on" on the right.

Photos taken on medium light conditions are pretty sharp too, i would not have expected such a good camera quality from this device.

Flashlight is powerful enough, sufficient to improve low-light photos but do not expect superb light. (do not compare it with Dual-LED configs)

As regards Video Recording, 720p videos are recorded with a decent level of details, just remember that there is no OIS so you can’t expect stable videos.

Front Camera records noisy pictures and isn't a Wide-Angle variant, sufficient for some occasional usage.

Audio

Just like on the M5, the Speaker is extremely loud. Even if it lacks low frequencies (unfortunately this is a common negative aspect), its sound is pretty good.

As regards the Microphone, it works decently well in any case (in-call, VOIP, etc...), and the earpiece is loud enough to be used in any condition.

GPS

This is probably what has been downgraded compared to the M5 (not Plus), its signal is lower than usual and i wasn't able to use it indoors.

Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.

Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi

Thanks to the 4G Band 20 support (some other Chinese Smartphones don’t have it), I’m almost always and everywhere connected to the 4G Network of my Mobile Network Provider (TIM Italy).

Also 3G Signal Reception is accurate, actually I never managed to get connected to the 2G Network of my Mobile Operator because there was always some 3G Signal available.

4G Network Speed is sufficient, it highly depends on your Mobile Operator and mine isn’t pretty good. While 3G Network Speed is a bit lower than usual.

WiFi 5GHz is supported here. The first low-cost device with WiFi 5GHz support, even if the signal is low, it is still better than nothing. Well Done LEAGOO!

Battery Life

I have measured the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity is a bit lower than the declared one. (declared 2500mAh, real ~2400mAh).

This is the Geekbench Battery Test, the battery runtime is decent for a 2500mAh battery, even though it is lower than its little brother (M5) but Battery Score is higher, it means that it has been calibrated in a better way.

https://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/390638

As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger is enough for a normal charging runtime, but you can't expect super-fast times.

Software

Just like on the M5, LEAGOO choose to use FreemeOS, a customized version of Android 6.0 that provides some nice features. If you don't like any those features, most of them can be disabled or replaced with third-party launchers such as Nova Launcher.

As already said before, the MT6737M is a newer MT6735 with VoLTE support. Here you can see the Enhanced 4G LTE Mode option.

There is no Gyroscope or Magnetometer, but for a low-cost device this is acceptable.

As regards the Fingerprint Scanner management, it is pretty easy to configure, pretty fast unlock times with almost no issues with its accuracy.

[YOUTUBE]h0V2OdestNg[/YOUTUBE]​