Ecoo E04 Aurora (3GB RAM, MT6752): Hands on and first impressions

It has been a while since Ecoo was the most talked about maker here at GizChina. The company’s first phone, i.e., the Ecoo E01 Focus was, at one point, known as the world’s cheapest 1080p octa-core phone.

The Aurora was announced earlier this year, but in a 2GB RAM variant. It still made a lot of sense, because not a lot of MediaTek MT6752 64-bit octa-core phones were available for under US$200 back then. Ecoo took their own sweet time in shipping the phone, but it is regarded as one of the better ones if you’re looking for the best bang for your buck. A few weeks back, an upgraded E04 Aurora was announced; with the same specifications, the phone got an added gig of RAM to bring the total to a respectable 3GB.

Geekbuying sent one over to us for review, and after spending a couple of days with the device, I’m happy to say I’m impressed. The best part about the device is the fingerprint sensor, which works near-flawlessly!

A quick recap over the specifications: the Ecoo E04 Aurora has a 5.5-inch 1080p display, 1.7GHz octa-core 64-bit MediaTek MT6752 processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB on-board storage, dual SIM, 8 mega-pixel front camera, 16 mega-pixel rear camera, 3000mAh removable battery and a fingerprint sensor.

The phone has impressed in almost every aspect. One niggle (which might be more than just ‘little’ for you OCD victims) is that there’s an unusually thick black strip below the screen, about double the size of the rest of the strip.

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The textured rear of the device gives it not only a nice look but also makes the phone grippy and comfortable to hold. Performance too seems top-notch, as we’ve seen with other MT6752 phones like the JiaYu S3, iOcean Rock, Gionee Elife S7 and more.

We haven’t really spent a lot of time with the camera yet, but from what we can tell already, the listed 16 mega-pixel resolution is a bit of an optimistic move. We’re pretty certain it’s an interpolated value, perhaps taken up from 13 mega-pixel.

Ecoo E04 Aurora 3GB Gallery

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Battery life so far seems pretty good, and the phone hasn’t shown signs of heating up. The MT6752 is starting to build a sort of a reputation for being one of the most power efficient MediaTek chips out there; that combined with the 3000mAh battery of the E04 Aurora, we’re looking at a battery life of more than one average day.

Overall the phone looks and feels like a quality device… one that a company with global ambitions would make. The curved glass over the screen and the lovely (not exactly an adjective usually associated with fingerprint scanners) fingerprint scanner give the phone some extra value.

This is only a very quick hands on post, if you’re interested, stay tuned for the full review which will come next week. Meanwhile, feel free to comment below about anything that you would like to have tested on the phone, and we’ll try our best to include it in next week’s review!

The Ecoo E04 Aurora with 3GB RAM can be had at popular reseller GeekBuying‘s online store for US$190!

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author
Yash Garg
Yash is a blogger by profession, builder of things by passion and foodie by birth. You'll usually find him talking about technology, music, travel and the game of cricket on the streets of Pune when not busy writing or speeding his way through the country! Read more on retro handheld gaming on RETRO91

You can learn more about Yash, add him to your Google+ circles or follow him on Twitter to stay connected!

Sorin Balan
April 10, 2015
Is the capacity of the battery real?
How is the sound quality through the headphones jack and Bluetooth?
Does the gps work as expected?
I have a Kingzone z1 on the way but i’m kind of thinking of selling it and buy something else that doesen’t have false specifications…
- ret*tarded
  April 10, 2015
  Why it’s so fcking hard for them to test this as well.
  When I read this bullsh*t I think they turned the phone on/off and tested it just for 1 minute..
  - April 10, 2015
    Be patient, battery (and everything else) will be tested in depth for the review. This is only a quick hands on post for eager readers.
    - Shurikata
      April 10, 2015
      And I thank you alot Yash. I was waiting for this “hands on” for a while. It would be great to have that full review prior to 15 of April… a game changer I predict. 🙂
      - April 11, 2015
        We’ll try pushing the review before our readers give up everything to follow the next Game of Thrones season. 😉
        Shurikata
        April 11, 2015
        Just wanna make the most of the pre-sale… no GoT here. No time to waste there!
  - Airyl
    April 10, 2015
    It’s called first impressions. It’s literally just first impressions. What do you expect from first impressions?
- April 10, 2015
  Can’t say for now, the review next will will provide a better picture about the battery.
- Airyl
  April 10, 2015
  The capacity is real this time.
  Through headphones, it’s on the lower end of decent. Sounds are muddy at times, and the clarity isn’t too good, but it’s decent enough to listen to music. I haven’t tested Bluetooth earphones because I can’t get a good pair yet.
  GPS is not really good, and pales compared to other MTK6752 phones.
  - Sorin Balan
    April 11, 2015
    Thank you. Looks like I just have to wait for a decent model. Maybe the telephone p7000/8000 will hit the spot. ?
    - Aman
      April 11, 2015
  - Zay
    April 12, 2015
- Richard
  April 13, 2015
  I have a KINGZONE Z1 the only 2 things that are disappointing is the reception of 4G and the GPS reception which is awful, I have a ulefone be pro which is far better at these 2 important features, the kingzone is better at each everything else.

Ştefănescu Liviu
April 10, 2015
Just one thing to check. The 3gb ram change is the only difference? Of what I remember, jiayu had a phone with some other differences between a 2 and a 3gb version.
I don’t know what, nfc or anything like that. I’ll order one, but I don’t know if this or the 2gb version, I don’t see yet the necessity of a 3gb version
- April 10, 2015
  The 2GB RAM and 3GB RAM version of this phone cost the same, so its basically like they moved on to making it a 3GB RAM phone.
- Abdul Azeem
  April 10, 2015
  It has fingerprint scanner for which you may set upto 5 apps/functions with each fingerprint to switch directly from off screen.

metalboyz
April 10, 2015
i’ve check for this device in some review and websites, but there are some websites that mention this device are using gorilla glass 3, and many other’s not.
Can you check this for sure in the next review?
Steve B
April 10, 2015
Just see the 2gb reviews. Good phone not much else to say. Can we have new reviews of interesting stuff e.g. Cubot X10, Amkov lens OX-5, TCL M2U

Sorin Balan
April 10, 2015
Is the capacity of the battery real?
How is the sound quality through the headphones jack and Bluetooth?
Does the gps work as expected?
I have a Kingzone z1 on the way but i’m kind of thinking of selling it and buy something else that doesen’t have false specifications…
- Guest
  April 10, 2015
  Why it’s so fcking hard for them to test this as well.
  When I read this bullsh*t I think they turned the phone on/off and tested it just for 1 minute..
- Yash Garg
  April 10, 2015
  Can’t say for now, the review next will will provide a better picture about the battery.
- Yash Garg
  April 10, 2015
  Be patient, battery (and everything else) will be tested in depth for the review. This is only a quick hands on post for eager readers.
- Shurikata
  April 10, 2015
  And I thank you alot Yash. I was waiting for this “hands on” for a while. It would be great to have that full review prior to 15 of April… a game changer I predict. 🙂
- Airyl
  April 11, 2015
  It’s called first impressions. It’s literally just first impressions. What do you expect from first impressions?
- Airyl
  April 11, 2015
  The capacity is real this time.
  Through headphones, it’s on the lower end of decent. Sounds are muddy at times, and the clarity isn’t too good, but it’s decent enough to listen to music. I haven’t tested Bluetooth earphones because I can’t get a good pair yet.
  GPS is not really good, and pales compared to other MTK6752 phones.
- Sorin Balan
  April 11, 2015
  Thank you. Looks like I just have to wait for a decent model. Maybe the telephone p7000/8000 will hit the spot. 😊
- Yash Garg
  April 11, 2015
  We’ll try pushing the review before our readers give up everything to follow the next Game of Thrones season. 😉
- Aman
  April 11, 2015
  Lol its Elephone but indeed a Telephone 😛
- Shurikata
  April 11, 2015
  Just wanna make the most of the pre-sale… no GoT here. No time to waste there!
- Zay
  April 13, 2015
  What headphones are you using? That certainly affects the outcome of the headphone jack test.
- Guest
  April 13, 2015
  I have a KINGZONE Z1 the only 2 things that are disappointing is the reception of 4G and the GPS reception which is awful, I have a ulefone be pro which is far better at these 2 important features, the kingzone is better at each everything else.

Ştefănescu Liviu
April 10, 2015
Just one thing to check. The 3gb ram change is the only difference? Of what I remember, jiayu had a phone with some other differences between a 2 and a 3gb version.
I don’t know what, nfc or anything like that. I’ll order one, but I don’t know if this or the 2gb version, I don’t see yet the necessity of a 3gb version
- Yash Garg
  April 10, 2015
  The 2GB RAM and 3GB RAM version of this phone cost the same, so its basically like they moved on to making it a 3GB RAM phone.
- Abdul Azeem
  April 10, 2015
  It has fingerprint scanner for which you may set upto 5 apps/functions with each fingerprint to switch directly from off screen.

metalboyz
April 10, 2015
i’ve check for this device in some review and websites, but there are some websites that mention this device are using gorilla glass 3, and many other’s not.
Can you check this for sure in the next review?
Steve B
April 10, 2015
Just see the 2gb reviews. Good phone not much else to say. Can we have new reviews of interesting stuff e.g. Cubot X10, Amkov lens OX-5, TCL M2U

Xalis
April 10, 2015
3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz
I want this phone for personal use, but I can’t deal with the lack of 3G ;_;
- Desmog Daniel
  April 12, 2015
Muhammad Yasir
April 11, 2015
aww.. MAN!!! , PLEASE LET THE CAMS BE GOOD!
Guest
April 11, 2015
3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz
I want this phone for personal use, but I can’t deal with the lack of 3G ;_;
- Desmog Daniel
  April 13, 2015
Guest
April 11, 2015
aww.. MAN!!! , PLEASE LET THE CAMS BE GOOD!

neger uit nederland
April 11, 2015
- Desmog Daniel
  April 12, 2015
  - HAJDARBEGOVIC
    April 13, 2015
    http://gearbestreview.blogspot.hk/p/gearbest-coupon.html You can find any product discount code from here. ECOO E04 3GB just need $179.99
- Anthony_Schumacher
  April 13, 2015
  what about efox-shop.com has 10 euro coupon for it: efoxecoo
- Creazydea
  April 20, 2015
  There is a code E04PLUS.
- Creazydea
  April 20, 2015
Marco Ismail
April 11, 2015
please review Lenono K3 Note
Guest
April 11, 2015
- Desmog Daniel
  April 13, 2015
  Please send me a message for 11usd discount code
- Guest
  April 13, 2015
  http://gearbestreview.blogspot.hk/p/gearbest-coupon.html You can find any product discount code from here. ECOO E04 3GB just need $179.99
- Anthony_Schumacher
  April 13, 2015
  what about efox-shop.com has 10 euro coupon for it: efoxecoo
- Creazydea
  April 21, 2015
  There is a code E04PLUS.

Václav Hoš
April 11, 2015
This “review” said nothing about it. I had the 2GB version 1 month and send it back to the seller, as the CPU got very hot while playing games. I played Star force all the time and managed all levels on it. The problem was, the CPU area got so hot, that I could not hold a finger on the usb connector, when the back cover removed, so hot it was. And it freezed and restarded, a window showed up, that I have to replace hot battery. Then, the camera does good pics on good light, but once you try to take a pic like in restaurant with much less strong light, you will get huge pink&green noise, very annoying. The battery disappeared in front of your eyes and is very thin and light, so, the capacity can be maaaaxxximally 2200 mAh, 3000 mAh is fake capacity. The GPS fix works fine outside, when you are in any open space office at the window – no fix. GPS used in car by other tester, who wrote also a negative review on this phone on gizchina.cz, wrote, that it was sometimes very hard to get accurate information and you need a help by usage of data.. So, you will probably have problems with any offline maps. Max CD card capacity was announced 32 GB max. I inserted 64 GB card in it, uploaded about 50 GB of music and movies and worked just fine. What was really terrible for me – very low maximum loudness for the head speakers and the sound quality… U use my old zte v970 + Creative EP-630 headphones over 2 years and this phone has for me great sound, so I did comparative tests, listened to the same music on sd card and on spotify and the difference was really very big – zte – loud, plastic, dynamic, bassy sound, ecoo – cheap, no bass, no dynamics, if you try to enhance it with that 3D effect boost and Sound enhancement for earphones, it changes, looks like better, but, it is not, but it just demolishes the real sound of your music. A bit helps the Neutron player. I checked the sound settings via MTK engineering tool and zte – it was set on 135 out of 160 by default and loooud and good sound, my ecoo was set on 160 out of 160 by default and quiet… What was nice for me was the display, vivid colors, but many other have same good display. The finger print sensor let say works, but, you will not use it, why would you… any pattern lock is much faster, works more precisely and with one hand… for fp sensor you will need mostly two hands and repeat it from time to time… So, for me it was a disappointment for that price I paid – 180 USD + 28 USD DHL and then in our country 23 USD extra fee, that DHL did customs on behalf on me and then another 50 USD for the VAT, so, by the end, final price was 280 USD, so, no big deal for chinese phone. For that money I can buy Samsung S4 as a second hand with also 1 year guarantee, (we have two years guarantee in our country) which really works!!! great camera, great display, great gps, great sound,great LTE, great GPS!!! and many custom roms, maybe LP too. My total loss for this experience will be about 35 USD :-). I will rather buy second hand Note 3, which is beside missing dual sim and lower ppi better in all parameters and has also many custom roms and also Lollipop from dec 2014. Never buy new phones!!! Maybe after 3-6 months of testing by other unpatient customers, who will give you the real review and experience… New chinese phones have often many, many bugs, cos the producers try to keep the developer costs as low as possible, and not always detect and restore all hw and sw issues… On the other hand, the ecoo phone (produced by Elephone!), is nice phone, looks good, not like boring Yiayu S3, just the gay pinky ring about camera is somewhat crazy :-).
- overlord
  April 12, 2015
  - Václav Hoš
    April 12, 2015
    - overlord
      April 13, 2015

Marco
April 11, 2015
please review Lenono K3 Note
Chilungamo Ndalama
April 11, 2015
please test the flash properly – dark room conditions not outside xD
edit – consider testing the different roms – lollipop, kitkat, flyme os and colour os
edit 2 – talk about these black borders on the phone which made the bezels look thinner but is pure fakery in real life -_-

Václav Hoš
April 11, 2015
This “review” said nothing about it. I had the 2GB version 1 month and send it back to the seller, as the CPU got very hot while playing games. I played Star force all the time and managed all levels on it. The problem was, the CPU area got so hot, that I could not hold a finger on the usb connector, when the back cover removed, so hot it was. And it freezed and restarded, a window showed up, that I have to replace hot battery. Then, the camera does good pics on good light, but once you try to take a pic like in restaurant with much less strong light, you will get huge pink&green noise, very annoying. The battery disappeared in front of your eyes and is very thin and light, so, the capacity can be maaaaxxximally 2200 mAh, 3000 mAh is fake capacity. The GPS fix works fine outside, when you are in any open space office at the window – no fix. GPS used in car by other tester, who wrote also a negative review on this phone on gizchina.cz, wrote, that it was sometimes very hard to get accurate information and you need a help by usage of data.. So, you will probably have problems with any offline maps. Max CD card capacity was announced 32 GB max. I inserted 64 GB card in it, uploaded about 50 GB of music and movies and worked just fine. What was really terrible for me – very low maximum loudness for the head speakers and the sound quality… U use my old zte v970 + Creative EP-630 headphones over 2 years and this phone has for me great sound, so I did comparative tests, listened to the same music on sd card and on spotify and the difference was really very big – zte – loud, plastic, dynamic, bassy sound, ecoo – cheap, no bass, no dynamics, if you try to enhance it with that 3D effect boost and Sound enhancement for earphones, it changes, looks like better, but, it is not, but it just demolishes the real sound of your music. A bit helps the Neutron player. I checked the sound settings via MTK engineering tool and zte – it was set on 135 out of 160 by default and loooud and good sound, my ecoo was set on 160 out of 160 by default and quiet… What was nice for me was the display, vivid colors, but many other have same good display. The finger print sensor let say works, but, you will not use it, why would you… any pattern lock is much faster, works more precisely and with one hand… for fp sensor you will need mostly two hands and repeat it from time to time… So, for me it was a disappointment for that price I paid – 180 USD + 28 USD DHL and then in our country 23 USD extra fee, that DHL did customs on behalf on me and then another 50 USD for the VAT, so, by the end, final price was 280 USD, so, no big deal for chinese phone. For that money I can buy Samsung S4 as a second hand with also 1 year guarantee, (we have two years guarantee in our country) which really works!!! great camera, great display, great gps, great sound,great LTE, great GPS!!! and many custom roms, maybe LP too. My total loss for this experience will be about 35 USD :-). I will rather buy second hand Note 3, which is beside missing dual sim and lower ppi better in all parameters and has also many custom roms and also Lollipop from dec 2014. Never buy new phones!!! Maybe after 3-6 months of testing by other unpatient customers, who will give you the real review and experience… New chinese phones have often many, many bugs, cos the producers try to keep the developer costs as low as possible, and not always detect and restore all hw and sw issues… On the other hand, the ecoo phone (produced by Elephone!), is nice phone, looks good, not like boring Yiayu S3, just the gay pinky ring about camera is somewhat crazy :-).
- overlord
  April 12, 2015
  Viper4android app easily solves sound problem!
- Václav Hoš
  April 12, 2015
  I guess I had it installed, but it was all in chinese 🙂
- overlord
  April 13, 2015
  Odd, Mines in English & works great!
Chilungamo Ndalama
April 11, 2015
please test the flash properly – dark room conditions not outside xD
edit – consider testing the different roms – lollipop, kitkat, flyme os and colour os
edit 2 – talk about these black borders on the phone which made the bezels look thinner but is pure fakery in real life -_-

hacker power
April 12, 2015
Test GPS and sound quality speaker/headphones please
- NoteAndroid .
  May 17, 2015
  Although the picture has 2; in reality only 1 speaker working, the Right side, if the phone is facing you. It’s loud but not loud as HTC M8 with powerful and functional dual speakers.
hacker power
April 12, 2015
- NoteAndroid .
  May 17, 2015
  Although the picture has 2; in reality only 1 speaker working, the Right side, if the phone is facing you. It’s loud but not loud as HTC M8 with powerful and functional dual speakers.

Yeti hand
April 13, 2015
depending on the price of the m7, I may buy this one.
Yoyo
April 13, 2015

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