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

Introduction

This is the LEAGOO M8.

Hardware

Following previous Mx devices, this one features the same design, just bigger. It is powered by a Mediatek MT6580 SOC clocked at 1.30GHz, a bit outdated and slower compared to the MT6737M used in the M5 Plus, together with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM. It features a 13MP (interpolated from 8MP) rear camera and a 5MP (interpolated from 1.6MP) front camera.

Unboxing

Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x Warranty Certificate, 1x 3.5mm Earphones (not in-ear) and the Smartphone (of course). No TPU Cover is included, and a plastic screen protector is pre-applied.

Talking about the dimensions, this isn't the smallest device available, a real phablet in my opinion. It is 15.7x8.03x0.94cm, with medium bezels, and weights 221g, a bit heavy.

As already said, the design is the same found on Mx devices, a nice metal chassis, with not-so-rounded corners and solid build quality.

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 isn't anything at all, on-screen keys are used instead.

On the back side there is the removable back cover, that looks awesome in my opinion, even though it doesn't feel premium.

The upper rear side of the device features the slightly protruding Camera Sensor supported by a Dual-LED Flashlight, together with the fingerprint scanner.

On the lower rear side there is the Model Name together with the usual large speaker hole.

Device

Screen

Screen Quality is great, especially considering that this is HD-only with low pixel density. I wasn't able to notice any pixel. I don't like the deafult color temperature though, MiraVision is here luckily.

The Light Sensor supports almost-smooth light changes, with a proper auto-brightness management. This is its maximum brightness. Excellent Brightness.

Viewing Angles matches IPS screen capabilities, with no major issues.

5-points multi-touch panel has been used here.

Camera

WARNING: you will find a Fake SLR Mode in the Camera App, it is useless, adding just a software blur effect to photos so i won't show it to you. Use it just for fun.

Just like the M5 Plus, this device features a GalaxyCore 8MP Rear Camera together with a GalaxyCore 2MP Front Camera, and the results are not so bad oonsidering the price. (except for Macros and HDR)

A nice amount of details is here, low-light shots are decent and the level of noise isn't really high.

"HDR off" on the left and "HDR on" on the right. No great improvements noticed between the two modes.

Macros are not great too, unlike Wide photos. Auto-Focus management needs to be improved.

Flashlight is powerful enough, but i would have expected an higher amount of light from a Dual-LED Flashlight.

As regards Video Recording, 1080p videos are decent, with no serious stuttering or low-light framerate issues.

Front Camera records sufficient photos for video-chat and occasional shots. Also, it seems to be a Wide-Angle variant.

Audio

Luckily, the Speaker Quality doesn't any previous Mx device. It is much more powerful here, even though it still lacks low frequencies. It isn't the best i have ever tried, but it might be one of the loudest without distortion on maximum volume.

As regards the Microphone, it works decently well in any case (in-call, VOIP, etc...), and the earpiece is loud enough (not too much though) to be used in any condition.

GPS

Just like all MT6580 devices, and unlike MT6737 ones, the GPS is working sufficiently well here, able to get some satellites even indoors with a decent signal.

Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.

Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi

This device doesn't support 4G networks, so you have to use your old 3G HSPA+ (42MBps max) connection to use your Mobile Data plan.

Signal Reception is accurate, but 3G coverage is just perfect here where i live so that's something i would have expected. Just like what happens with other devices, 3G Network Speed is low, thanks to my crappy Mobile Network that has lower than average 3G performance.

WiFi 5GHz isn't supported here. With my 2.4GHz network, i was able to reach almost 30mbps, connected at 65mbps, this is probably the slowest WiFi performance i have ever seen. LEAGOO, take a look at this issue.

Battery Life

As always, i have measured the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity is slightly lower compared to the declared value (declared 3500mAh, real ~3380mAh).

This is the PCMark Work 2.0 Battery Benchmark, the battery runtime is great considering the battery capacity, definitely an improvement compared to previous Mx devices.

As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger doesn't allow any fast charging. More than 3 hours are required to charge the device completely, a bit disappointing. Even with a faster charger you won't get any improvement, this is a software limit.

Software

Just like previous Mx devices, also this one is using FreemeOS 6.0 (based on Android 6.0) that provides some extra features to the OS without customizing lots of stuff. Basically you can get rid of almost all FreemeOS apps by using an alternative launcher.

All Mediatek features are still there such as Gestures, Scheduled Power On/Off, etc…

Even though the OS has been customized, it feels as smooth as others that haven't been customized.

Fingerprint Scanner management is as easy as on all Android 6.0 devices. I admit that you won't find the best fingerprint scanner on this device, but it is still better than nothing, just do not expect lightning fast unlock times and perfect accuracy.

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