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

Introduction

This is the UHANS i8.

Hardware

Just like all manufacturers, also UHANS joined the 18:9 party with the new flagship. This is what i would call a "soft-entrance", since it isn't maxed out as regards its specs but neither so banal. It comes with a 5.7" HD+ 18:9 screen, a Mediatek MT6750T chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of Storage.

Unboxing

Finally, UHANS is back with the great accessories bundle, together with a premium looking packaging: 1x Type-C USB Cable, 1x 5V/2A USB Charger, 1x Quick Guide, 1x SIM Card Tray Removal Tool, 1x Type-C to 3.5mm Headphone Jack, 1x TPU Case, 1x Glass Screen Protector (yes, it's back!) and the Smartphone (of course). A plastic screen protector is already applied.

The device features a metal chassis that feels really solid, even though the painting isn't perfect to be honest (as you can notice), and it appears to be following the Galaxy S-series design with an almost full-rounded chassis for more grip. Unfortunately they removed the headphone jack though, something that Samsung didn't... :urgh: :urgh:

Something i really appreciate is the placement of Volume Keys. Nowadays most devices feature both power and volume keys on the same side, probably to save costs, and i find the UHANS choice pretty smart.

As regards its size, it is pretty compact thanks to the 18:9 screen, one of the smallest 5.7" inches devices i have ever tried, 15.27x7.17x0.86cm, with a decent weight considering the metal chassis: 209g.

Starting from the front side, there is the today standard 2.5D Glass with the IPS panel underneath, while the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing, an Earpiece and the Sensors hole that includes Light and Proximity Sensors. A Notification LED is here, but it only supports one color: green.

Here you can see the LED in action.

On the lower front side there isn't anything at all since on-screen navigation keys are used instead of hardware buttons.

The back side features a glossy plastic/glass (not sure about the material) surface with no fancy light effects found on most devices i have reviewed in the past few weeks. This looks elegant and sober imho.

The upper rear side of the device features the Camera Sensor with a Single-LED - Single-Tone Flashlight, and a Fingerprint Scanner just below it. The scanner features a glossy surface just like the whole back panel.

On the lower rear side there is the UHANS logo plus some certification logos, nothing really important. The speaker is located on the lower side of the device.

Device

Screen

Even though UHANS opted for an HD+ only screen, they seem to have choosen an high-quality one. Sure, you can notice some pixels if you place your eye really near to the panel, but that's something required for VR apps only. Color reproduction is really good, and the white balance appears to be decent too.

Nothing to complain about the Light Sensor either, and the screen brightness is excellent, reaching almost ~450lux. No issues at all while using it outdoors under direct sunlight.

Viewing Angles are as good as you would expect from an high-quality IPS panel.

Camera

Just like 99% of chinese devices released in the past few months, also this one features a Sony IMX135 (13MP) camera sensor for the Rear Camera. There must be a big clearance in China for this sensor considering the amount of devices featuring it...

Photos Quality is OK, decent quality considering the hardware. The noise level isn't high and colors look realistic enough. Probably the best results ever obtained with this sensor, excluding HDR photos.

Luckily the Flashlight is still powerful enough even though it is a Single-LED only variant. There is no weird tint caused by the light, neither reflections on the lens.

Videos are recorded at 1080p30 with an overall stable frame-rate and acceptable quality, not the best neither the worst.

Featuring an unknown Sony IMX190 (8MP? no datasheet available online) for the Front Camera, the device seem to struggle a bit with the noise level. It might be a software issue. Can't recommend it for selfies/portraits.

Audio

The speaker used for this device is pretty powerful and provides a minor amount of low frequencies at maximum volume, but a minor distortion is noticeable. In-call Quality is just fine, and the earpiece is loud but lacks low frequencies completely.

Something that is perfect, even though there is no second microphone for noise suppression, is the main microphone. It provides a crystal clear recording with no issues with the volume.

GPS

One of the most impressive parts about this device is the GPS, able to lock lots of satellites even indoors and with a really high accuracy. Well Done UHANS for using a proper antenna.

Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.

Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi

Providing full european 4G bands support (including Band 20), the device was able to stay connected to my mobile operator's 4G network almost everywhere, with a not so high signal but excellent speed considering my 4G network connection in my room.

Even though the device supports 5.0GHz WiFi Connections, something is limiting the maximum speed. It is not able to use my internet bandwidth completely, some firmware improvements might still be required.

Battery Life

No doubts on the declared 3500mAhs of battery capacity.

As a double confirm, even the PCMark Battery Test provides a reasonably high result considering the power-hungry chipset, reaching 8 hours and 47 minutes. Not bad at all.

Thankfully UHANS choose to include a 5V/2A charger for this device. Sure, it isn't a Quick Charge variant, but at least it is able to recharge completely the device in more or less 2 hours.

Software

The device comes with the usual Mediatek variant of Android 7.0 Nougat with some old-style apps here and there, with November 2017 security patches and no bloatware at all except an annoying launcher that i do not trust too much (known to be infected in the past, can't confirm it now). It feels smooth, no lags noticed unless you run super heavy apps/benchmarks and the HD+ only resolution helps too.

I really hope to see an Android 8.0 Oreo upgrade for it though, or at least Android 7.1. I will ask UHANS for a confirm about this.

Most Mediatek "Goodies" such as MiraVision are there, but i wasn't able to find any gesture such as Double tap-to-wake and similar.

An extra feature has been included with this model: Face ID/Face Unlock. How does it work? It just uses the front facing camera to recognize your face, do not rely on it if you care about your device's security. Period (also clearly written in the warning).

Just like all UHANS devices, also this one doesn't feature a Magnetometer/Compass neither a Gyroscope. I hope to see at least one of them in the upcoming models.

No malwares detected with the Malware-Bytes Anti-Malware app using latest definitions.

The fingerprint scanner works decently with no accuracy issues and the unlock time is acceptable, not the fastest neither the slowest. Perfectly usable.

[YOUTUBE]XmxCTbk2rys[/YOUTUBE]​