Zopo C2 Platinum (MT6589T) Review

Hands on, in-depth review of the Zopo C2 Platinum Chinese Android smartphone with quad-core MT6589T processor.

Zopo now have quite the range of quad-core, 5-inch 1080 phones which sport the new 1.5Ghz MT689T processor. Originally the Zopo C2 shipped with the 1.2Ghz MT6589 quad-core chip, but a processor upgrade isn’t the only must have feature of the new phone.

Zopo C2 Platium: Great updates to an already fantastic phone

When browsing the specifications of the new Zopo C2 Platinum the faster 1.5Ghz MT6589T chipset is the first obvious upgrade. The sought after new processor not only brings up bump in CPU speed but also an increase in GPU speed.

The chipset isn’t the only upgrade to the new variant of the Zopo C2 though. The C2 Platinum also packs a much tougher Gorilla Glass 2 5-inch display, 16GB of built-memory (the original had only 4GB) and a redesigned battery bay.

All in all these updates make an already powerful phone faster still while also allowing it to be more flexible (in more ways than one) and offer better durability.

Zopo C2 Platinum Review

Zopo C2 Platinum Video Review

Design: Great looking, well built but not perfect.

Zopo sent us a white version of the Zopo C2 Platinum, this isn’t really my favourite colour choice for a phone and I much prefer the black option when offered. Still the white body does look good and from our experience in the past with the UMi X2, a white body allows us a better look at the phone and easily highlight any manufacturing issues.

Thankfully the Zopo C2 is a well made device with no notable gaps and a nice fitting body.

Speaking of fit, the C2 has narrower bezel edges when compared to some other phones on the market, so although it has a 5-inch display it feels much smaller in your hand. The overall thickness of the phone also helps it to feel comfortable and allows easy one handed operation.

Looking around the phone we have a 5 mega-pixel front camera located to the right of the ear-piece, the 5-inch 1920 x 1080 display and 3 traditional capacative navigation buttons on the chin. For those of you who prefer backlit buttons you will be happy to know the Zopo C2 Platinum has them.

Along the right hand side is the power button, which also locks the screen. The position is perfect and can easily be pressed with the thumb of your right hand or the index finger on your left.

A volume rocker sits at the top of the left hand side, 3.5mm headphone jack on the top and micro USB in the bottom.

Turning the Zopo C2 over to the back we can see the 13.1 mega-pixel rear camea with LED flash located in the top left hand corner and an average size speaker grill on the bottom.

The overall design is very nice, looks classy, and feels great. But it would be that bit nicer if the silver band which runs around the phone was really alloy rather than plastic.

Removing the rear panel we can gain access to the 2000mAh battery, dual SIM slots and micro SD card expansion bay. It’s nice to see that Zopo have also labeled the different antennas to. We can see the GPS is located at the top, WIFI and Bluetooth to the left and the WCDMA/GSM radio safely tucked away in the base.

So it’s all great and as you can see we have no major complaints, well except the fact the phone is very easy to bend! Holding the phone like a hamburger with your thumbs along the bottom, you can easily flex the Zopo C2 with very little effort! In normal use this is never really going to be an issue, however we can see that placing it in the back pocket of a pair of tight jeans might crack the display or even break the phone in two when sitting down!

Screen: Beautifully clear and bright!

When we have reviewed Zopo phones in the past we generally loved their design and performance but were never really over the moon by the displays. Yes, they offer great viewing angles and lovely colours, but take an older Zopo phone to a sunny beach (where I happen to be writing this) and you wouldn’t be able to seen the screen.

The Zopo C2 Platinum is unlike previous Zopo models as it not only 1080 resolution for awesome HD video and gaming, but it is also bright enough to be seen in direct sunlight. In fact comparing the C2 to my personal Xiaomi Mi2 the Zopo is easier to see.

Viewing angles are superb and I have to say that using the Zopo C2 Platinum is really the first time I have really appreciated a 1080 panel. It just seems to be much better than the FHD display on the UMi X2

As for the tech specs the display is a 5-inch 1920 x 1080 Full HD panel with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection.

Are there any issues? Well I have noticed some ghost touches now and then. For example an app will launch when you attempt to swipe the screen, or a menu will think it has been chosen when scrolling. The issue isn’t always present and seems to just kick in now and again then disappear for a while. Hopefully Zopo will address this in a software update.

Performance: Excellent, more than enough for on tap for today’s uses

The C2 Platinum has a 1.5Ghz quad-core MT6589T processor which features a faster GPU and 1GB RAM. Some would have you believe that even with a Turbo MT6589T processor, 1GB RAM is just not enough to run a 1080 display. To these people I would have to ask if they had honestly used one of the current generation Mediatek phones, as I have not had any issues yet.

With a 1080 display the quad-core Turbo SOC still manages to score a very respectable 14,097 even with ‘just’ 1GB RAM.

The Zopo C2 Platinum manages 51.0 FPS in Nenamark1 Version 1.8 test.

Quadrant results are equally impressive with the C2 managing to get a very respectable 4646!

And while we were at it we also ran Vellamo. Zopo C2 Vellamo benchmarks below. For those of you who read our UMi X2 review you will have seen that Vellamo actually ran quite slowly on the 1.2Ghz MT6589 1080 X2, however the Zopo C2 Platinum coped fine with no notable lag or slowing down.

As you can imagine with the above benchmark results (and even just looking at the hardware) the Zopo C2 Platinum handles games very well and we had no issues when playing Nova 3 and Modern Combat 4.

Zopo C2 Platinum gaming test video

Camera

Not bad, but not quite a point and shoot replacement.

The rear camera on the Zopo C2 Platinum is a 13 mega-pixel unit, and when lighting is just right the photo’s it produces are actually quite good.

Unfortunately we live in a world where the lighting is very rarely perfect and we rely on our phones to make up for this with their sensors , lens and overall image capturing abilities. The C2’s rear camera is fine for use when a ‘proper’ camera isn’t at hand, but I wouldn’t want to rely on it as my only camera.

I am always amazed by the quality of photo I can capture with the 8 mega-pixel rear sensor on my Xiaomi Mi2, I never really felt the same ‘wow’ moment from the Zopo’s camera.

Zopo C2 Platinum photo samples

Video capture on the Zopo C2 is the best of any current MTK phone we have reviewed this year so far! The camera does a good job of keeping the subject in focus and we never had the focus ‘hunting’ issue which plagued the UMi X2 and JiaYu G4. That said the video isn’t all that great and again the Xiaomi Mi2 produces much better footage.

• Download the untouched Zopo C2 Platinum photo samples here.

Zopo C2 Platinum video sample

Zopo C2 Platinum review: Conclusion

As you can see above we haven’t mentioned call quality and the speaker and that is simply because we didn’t have an issue. Similary GPS is good to, but like most Mediatek powered phones it can take sometime for the C2 to actually find a signal and lock on.

Also not mentioned above is support for OTG, again that’s because it works and does exactly what it should and how it should.

So what are our impressions of this 1080p Turbo phone? Very good! The design is comfortable, the display is really outstanding and performance is better than most people will ever need. If you are a heavy gamer the 2GB RAM model might be the way to go (either of the C2 or ZP980), but for regular use 1GB has been fine.

There are areas where the phone does need some improvement. The camera could well be optimised better in further updates, and the ghost touch issue needs to be resolved, but our main complaint is the flexy body.

We’re guessing that Zopo haven’t gone for a metal chassis which has helped to keep the weight and cost of the phone down, however it also puts the phone at risk of bending and an easily cracked screen (regardless of the Corning Gorilla Glass update).

So the big questions is this, would we recommend buying the Zopo C2 Platinum? The answer is yes, even with the rather flexy chassis, we have been suitably impressed with the Zopo C2 Platinum and have enjoyed our time testing the phone. However, if you really don’t need to have a Turbo 1080 phone this second we wouldn’t say ‘rush out and buy this phone’, instead wait and see what updates come over the months and what rival companies have to offer.

For those of you wanting to buy a Zopo C2 Platinum head over to the Zopomobileshop where they are selling the phone for $279.99 and have warehouses in Europe and India.