Ulefone say they built the Ulefone Paris to be the perfect balance of performance, price and build, so have they managed to meet their own criteria? Find out in our full Ulefone Paris review.
Ulefone have used the know how they learnt with building the alloy bodied Ulefone Be Touch and Be Touch 2, and created a slim budget phone that (Ulefone says) ticks all the boxes.
Ulefone Paris Review – Design
Design, design, design. Ulefone have gone to town on the design of the Ulefone Paris, adding every possible finishing touch and feature possible to create a handset that they hope will be considered good-looking.
Did it work? Well I like the fact that the Ulefone Paris has a 5-inch 2.5D curved display, and I like that Ulefone have added a plastic bezel around the display which follows the curve so that we end up with a continued rounded design around the alloy chassis.
The metal chassis itself is very slim and has a nice (and so far durable) grey finish, and that too meets a second beveled plastic bezel which meets the curved removable rear panel.
Although a lot of thought has gone in to making the Ulefone Paris as curved and comfortable as possible, it does seem like the design rushed the camera and flash enclosure on a Friday evening.
The single LED flash and rear camera are set in a alloy oval. It doesn’t really suit the rest of the phone’s design and looks like something from an ancient HTC phone not a 2015 device. This is not a big deal though, and overall the Ulefone Paris looks good for the $129.99 price point it currently occupies.
As you will already know (with the removable rear) the Paris is not a unibody design and so adding your SIM (or both SIMS) means taking the plastic rear cover off. While you are also in the back of the phone you can add a Micro SD card, and switch out the battery if you feel the need too.
A final quick tour around the exterior of the Ulefone Paris reveals a single capacitive ‘Halo’ home button below the HD display, and front camera plus LED notification light above. single speaker in the base, power and volume buttons on the right side and headphone jack plus standard USB at the top of the phone.
With just a 5-inch screen the Ulefone Paris measures in at 144.6 x 71.8 x 8.0mm and a weight of just 128g with a 2250mAh battery installed.
Ulefone Paris Review – Performance
The Ulefone Paris is another phone that makes use of the octacore Mediatek MT6753 chipset. The MT6753 runs at 1.3Ghz and has a 64bit architecture like the rest of the 2015 Mediatek line-up. The SoC comes equipped with an ARM Mali T720 GPU, and the phone has 2GB RAM onboard, and an almost stock Android 5.1 install.
The octaocre MT6753 is a good chipset, but it is just a budget processor. Mediatek made this SoC as an everyday chipset capable of simple gaming, regular day to day apps (social media etc) audio, video etc.
Ulefone Paris Review – Hardware
A 5-inch 720 x 1280 HD On Cell IPS display sits under the 5-inch curved display, and it looks really good. Viewing angles are superb, but even on max brightness you might struggle to see the panel in intense direct sunlight. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 is a bonus at this price, so you can feel a little more at ease should you knock or bump it.
Sony provide a 2250mAh removable battery (according to the specs) it’s a small battery compared to other phones of 2015, but with that narrow chassis there is limited space inside the phone. In my testing I managed just under 4 hours of onscreen time, not bad but could be better.
Like plenty of other phones we have been lucky enough to review this year, the audio on the Ulefone Paris is pretty good with earphones, but fails to impress through the built-in speaker. The tiny included speaker is quiet and tinny, better to stick to a set of earphones.
Ulefone Paris Review – ROM
Ulefone chose the Ulefone Paris to be the first phone to ship with their own U-Launcher, to be honest this brings very little to the user experience of the phone and is simply used to switch themes and icons.
Android 5.1 looks and feels just like a stock Android ROM does on most Chinese phones, with the only changes being the option to take screenshots with a 3 finger screen swipe. There are also ‘action’ gestures too allowing you to operate the phone with select movements or gestures, for example picking up the Paris will answer an incoming call, flip to mute, and using the proximity sensor to take screenshots and photos.
Since I received my review phone I have had one OTA update. The update has made the system smoother and more fluid, it also seems to have improved the speed of the camera (both taking and saving photos).
Ulefone Paris Review – Camera
That last points brings us nicely to the camera hardware and performance of the Ulefone Paris. Both sensors are Omnivision, the front sensor os a 5 mega-pixel shooter and performs well in good natural light conditions.
On the rear is a 13 mega-pixel F1.8 aperture camera, and again we have a solid performer in nice bright conditions but performance suffers as light dries up. I would say that the Paris doesn’t perform as well as a regular Xiaomi Redmi 2 if that gives you an indication of how it works.
Ulefone Paris Review – Gallery
Ulefone Paris Review – Specifications
| Model: | Ulefone Paris |
| Sim Card: |
|
| Color: | White | Grey |
| Capacity | RAM: 2GB LPDDR3 RAM 1866 MhzROM: 16GB
Micro SD up to 128GB |
| Multi-Languages | All Android languages supported |
| Chipset | CPU: Mediatek octacore MT6753GPU: Mali T720 |
| System | Android 5.1 OS |
| Screen | Display Size: 5-inch On CellResolution: 1280 x 720
Multitouch: Yes
|
| Camera | Rear: 13 mega-pixel OV13850 F1.8 Apertre
Front: 5 mega-pixel OV5648 |
| Network and Wireless Connectivity |
GPS:GPS, AGPS,GLONASS,Positioning by BDS(BeiDou Navigation Satellite System) Bluetooth:Bluetooth 4.1,Bluetooth HID WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, WIFI 2.4Ghz OTG:Yes
|
| Battery capacity |
2250mAh Sony
|
| Price | $129.99 |
Ulefone Paris Review – Conclusion
Ulefone wanted to make a phone that was a perfect balance of all features, while maintaining a low price. It was a tall order and overall we do end up with a phone with a good balance of features, but nothing is mind-blowing, everything is just average.
Battery life, camera, phone performance, audio are all good, but the Paris only really shines in the design and build department, where at this price it is one of the best options. A slim metal CNC body, and 2.5D display really do look the part and if these are details are important to you then take a look.
Ulefone Paris choice is correct,A balanced configuration, powerful than any single aspect of the much better.The price is very attractive,Batteries is enough, after all, its size is 5 inches.Of course, if a larger battery would be better, I have a brand power bank 16000mAh of xiaomi.
Also, I did not see the video review……
Hi, Andi you just said what i want to say. It’s a good phone in general.
Ulefone Paris choice is correct,A balanced configuration, powerful than any single aspect of the much better.The price is very attractive,Batteries is enough, after all, its size is 5 inches.Of course, if a larger battery would be better, I have a brand power bank 16000mAh of xiaomi.
Also, I did not see the video review……
Hi, Andi you just said what i want to say. It’s a good phone in general.
wait …
THE CAMERA IS BAD ?!
AGAIN !??!?!?!??!?!?
those guys at ulefone JUST DONT LEARN … do they ?!
Judging by his comments it is a very good camera with plenty of light but not as good as the budget leaders.
please list the budget leaders with similar or better camera
I guess Elephone Trunk can produce better colors accuracy for 89 USD.
yep…
Ulefone Be Touch 2 there is a great camera performance, almost all users agree.
can i get some sources/articles/proof to go with that ?
I like the overall design (minus the weird Camera housing) and for $129 it is not a bad set up but I would prefer a TCL or Xiaomi Redmi if I was buying in that price range.
Some how quite a weak review in my opinion. Viewing angles are not superb as on all videos have a big tendency to colors change.
Camera is weakness, the optics is bad with lot of artefacts, sky is overblown. Focusing can be fixed by updates but not this sort of glass.
Agree on the camera too. Slow to focus and a lot of photos produce crazy noise and artifacts. Sometimes even purple tint. Also, the camera software is so outdated and it performs so poorly. In well-lit conditions, photos are acceptable, but dim the lights slightly and it’s a whole different story. Camera software looks like it’s from a smartphone more than 5 years old. Same with the gallery app.
Do you have the phone?
I bought it for my mother in law. But set it up and tested it for 3 days before giving it to her.
Thanks, thats a pity about the camera
true. I don’t consider it well “balanced” as ulefone claim if they’re sacrificing on camera.
Equilibrium is to contain prices, OV13850 is a shot in the end relative to its price, ulefone Paris design and configuration are very good.Performance of the camera, is also the need to continue to optimize,Of course, any camera in a bad light when performance is in general.
cheap fast glass is never good. Even on high quality standard camera lens you need to stop down a few clicks for best results, so cheap fixed f/1.8 no chance.
Agree on that. Only big name producers can make a great fast glass under f2.2. I was watching if Ulefone can produce one with f1.8 but ends up on the fail side. Would be better if they go with some better glass with f2.2.
wait …
THE CAMERA IS BAD ?!
AGAIN !??!?!?!??!?!?
those guys at ulefone JUST DONT LEARN … do they ?!
Judging by his comments it is a very good camera with plenty of light but not as good as the budget leaders.
please list the budget leaders with similar or better camera
I guess Elephone Trunk can produce better colors accuracy for 89 USD.
Ulefone Be Touch 2 there is a great camera performance, almost all users agree.
can i get some sources/articles/proof to go with that ?
yep…
I like the overall design (minus the weird Camera housing) and for $129 it is not a bad set up but I would prefer a TCL or Xiaomi Redmi if I was buying in that price range.
Some how quite a weak review in my opinion. Viewing angles are not superb as on all videos have a big tendency to colors change.
Camera is weakness, the optics is bad with lot of artefacts, sky is overblown. Focusing can be fixed by updates but not this sort of glass.
Agree on the camera too. Slow to focus and a lot of photos produce crazy noise and artifacts. Sometimes even purple tint. Also, the camera software is so outdated and it performs so poorly. In well-lit conditions, photos are acceptable, but dim the lights slightly and it’s a whole different story. Camera software looks like it’s from a smartphone more than 5 years old. Same with the gallery app.
Do you have the phone?
I bought it for my mother in law. But set it up and tested it for 3 days before giving it to her.
Thanks, thats a pity about the camera
cheap fast glass is never good. Even on high quality standard camera lens you need to stop down a few clicks for best results, so cheap fixed f/1.8 no chance.
Agree on that. Only big name producers can make a great fast glass under f2.2. I was watching if Ulefone can produce one with f1.8 but ends up on the fail side. Would be better if they go with some better glass with f2.2.
true. I don’t consider it well “balanced” as ulefone claim if they’re sacrificing on camera.
Equilibrium is to contain prices, OV13850 is a shot in the end relative to its price, ulefone Paris design and configuration are very good.Performance of the camera, is also the need to continue to optimize,Of course, any camera in a bad light when performance is in general.
read a user report of over heating and camera module becoming (more) unreliable longer phone is on. Any similar issues?
My concern with this phone is that it was supposed to be a $169 phone and went on presale at that price, before being suddenly cut to $129, leaving some resellers quickly adding poor value case and screen protector to justify $169 listed offering.
In addition, i’m impressed by the smoothness, which i never expect for a phone of 129.99 dollars. And the 2250mAh battery capacity, which was supposed to be a hidden problem, is not a problem at all. 5-inch HD display and MTK6753 is indeed very energy efficient.
Ulefone has used a good piece of display, with which i’m quite satisfied. It look not grainy at all, just like Full HD display in the 5.5-inch size. And i appreciate ulefone for they allow people to tune the display in color temperature, saturation via Miravision.
Battery life is OK. What i’m afraid of does not come. Thanks Ulefone.
Good look, good quality, good display, average camera, good battery life, good three-finger screenshot. That’s all i feel about Ulefone Paris.
Release the golden version please, one of my friends like my Paris very much, only that he likes the golden version.
Tell your friend (s)he has horrible taste.
Though not perfect, it is a good phone and more than worth the price. Hope Ulefone will keep their promise to make the phone excellent.
I agree with Andi’s review in general. But he didn’t mention that the phone support the switch of left hand and right hand mode. Which is very good for single-hand operation.
When Ulefone will release the 6000mAh phone?
I was in Paris yesterday with Ulefone Paris, and i don’t find the phone has anything to do with the city. Well, it is a good phone though.
Have a nice trip, and don’t forget to take a few pictures with Ulefone Paris and show us.
Andi so which phone would be the best all-rounder under $150-160 in your opinion? I’ve read the Top 25 article but only the Zopo phone caught my attention.
PS: Obvious Ulefone employees leaving comments are obvious. That’s one of the things that makes you a 3rd class brand in my eyes, Ulefone.
Agree on that, Xu Tan is Ulefone employee example.
Look at this Discuss comments history. In various European China phones blogs, different languages like an Italian, only positive comments how great Ulefone phones are and how happy Paris owner he is etc. POOR job Ulefone…
BTW: Cubot X16 looks quite interesting. Waiting for some reviews to come…
Redmi Note 2 is the best phone under $160 by a wide margin in my opinion.
read a user report of over heating and camera module becoming (more) unreliable longer phone is on. Any similar issues?
My concern with this phone is that it was supposed to be a $169 phone and went on presale at that price, before being suddenly cut to $129, leaving some resellers quickly adding poor value case and screen protector to justify $169 listed offering.
In addition, i’m impressed by the smoothness, which i never expect for a phone of 129.99 dollars. And the 2250mAh battery capacity, which was supposed to be a hidden problem, is not a problem at all. 5-inch HD display and MTK6753 is indeed very energy efficient.
Ulefone has used a good piece of display, with which i’m quite satisfied. It look not grainy at all, just like Full HD display in the 5.5-inch size. And i appreciate ulefone for they allow people to tune the display in color temperature, saturation via Miravision.
Battery life is OK. What i’m afraid of does not come. Thanks Ulefone.
Good look, good quality, good display, average camera, good battery life, good three-finger screenshot. That’s all i feel about Ulefone Paris.
Release the golden version please, one of my friends like my Paris very much, only that he want a golden version to buy. Now every phone maker make some golden phone, why ulefone don’t?
Tell your friend (s)he has horrible taste.
Though not perfect, it is a good phone and more than worth the price. Hope Ulefone will keep their promise to make the phone excellent.
I agree with Andi’s review in general. But he didn’t mention that the phone support the switch of left hand and right hand mode. Which is very good for single-hand operation.
When Ulefone will release the 6000mAh phone?
I was in Paris yesterday with Ulefone Paris, and i don’t find the phone has anything to do with the city. Well, it is a good phone though.
Have a nice trip, and don’t forget to take a few pictures with Ulefone Paris and show us.
Andi so which phone would be the best all-rounder under $150-160 in your opinion? I’ve read the Top 25 article but only the Zopo phone caught my attention.
PS: Obvious Ulefone employees leaving comments are obvious. That’s one of the things that makes you a 3rd class brand in my eyes, Ulefone.
Agree on that, Xu Tan is Ulefone employee example.
Look at this Discuss comments history. In various European China phones blogs, different languages like an Italian, only positive comments how great Ulefone phones are and how happy Paris owner he is etc. POOR job Ulefone…
BTW: Cubot X16 looks quite interesting. Waiting for some reviews to come…
Redmi Note 2 is the best phone under $160 by a wide margin in my opinion.
Check out this video .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycFGAeNFYmU
After Ulefone published this and another video showing it how Ulefone Paris is capable in video gaming, i doubted about that and though it was some trick. But when i play ashalpt 8 with the phone my self, i released they were sincere, at least on this aspect.
I’ve seen them in the evaluation, has purchased two sets, but, but until now they did not give me delivery. Merchant said out of stock, but this week will be issued upon receipt I will give an evaluation, I hope ulefone Paris is worth the wait.
Ulefone Parisa battery capacity turned out to be 2300mAh. Reviews XDA still very good. http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/ulefone-paris-5-inch-hd-mtk6753-t3161553
Wow, no wonder i feel the battery is enough, though it’s only 2250mAh. It comes out that Ulefone has marked down the value?
Check out this video .
After Ulefone published this and another video showing it how Ulefone Paris is capable in video gaming, i doubted about that and though it was some trick. But when i play ashalpt 8 with the phone my self, i released they were sincere, at least on this aspect.
I’ve seen them in the evaluation, has purchased two sets, but, but until now they did not give me delivery. Merchant said out of stock, but this week will be issued upon receipt I will give an evaluation, I hope ulefone Paris is worth the wait.
Ulefone Parisa battery capacity turned out to be 2300mAh. Reviews XDA still very good. http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/ulefone-paris-5-inch-hd-mtk6753-t3161553
Wow, no wonder i feel the battery is enough, though it’s only 2250mAh. It comes out that Ulefone has marked down the value?
received Ulefone Paris with white spot on display, bottom left. s7yler also reported “Clouding” on gizchina.de forum (http://www.gizchina.de/forum/testberichte/1024-ulefone-paris-review-5-zoll-hd-2-5d-metallrahmen-octa-core-android-5-1.html). Anyone else?
Otherwise, phone seems decent after one week. Coming from cubot x9, which has been reliable, and Paris is not a very big improvement (bought it to bridge time until an affordable camera phone is on its way). Somewhat disappointed by camera, but have been used to wife’s mx5. On charger in my car, with display on and spotify blasting, the Paris discharges. Cubot x9 never does that.
clouding: http://www.gizchina.de/forum/ulefone/1062-ulefone-paris-review-vorab.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ec8Y4aebFk
19:20
received Ulefone Paris with white spot on display, bottom left. s7yler also reported “Clouding” on gizchina.de forum (http://www.gizchina.de/forum/testberichte/1024-ulefone-paris-review-5-zoll-hd-2-5d-metallrahmen-octa-core-android-5-1.html). Anyone else?
Otherwise, phone seems decent after one week (but is going to be returned due to issue described above). Coming from cubot x9, which has been reliable, and Paris is not a very big improvement (bought it to bridge time until an affordable camera phone is on its way). Somewhat disappointed by camera, but have been used to wife’s mx5. On charger in my car, with display on and spotify blasting, the Paris discharges. Cubot x9 never does that.
clouding: http://www.gizchina.de/forum/ulefone/1062-ulefone-paris-review-vorab.html
19:20
Mmmh, Shame for the screen too small and faked battery. Luckily there is the UMI Rome which will have a nice 5.5 AMOLED screen, octacore mt6732 and 3gb ram at an even lower price point… after all the problems with be touch 2, that’s another great reason to steer away from them!
Really looking for this product, I’ve also read that has metal finishing and a thickness which is less than 8mm… along with the great processor, ram and the amoled screen, it’s incredible how such a product can be offered for so low!
Rome’s specs have been officially confirmed, that’s an impressive piece of hardware for less than 90$!
CPU: MT6753, 8 Core 1.3 GHz
Memory: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROM
Screen: 5.5 inches HD AMOLED
Battery: 2500 MAh
Camera: Back 13mpx Sony IMX179 with double flash led, Frontal 2mpx with flash led
Dimensions 153.8 X 77 X 7.9mm
Mmmh, Shame for the screen too small and faked battery. Luckily there is the UMI Rome which will have a nice 5.5 AMOLED screen, octacore mt6732 and 3gb ram at an even lower price point… after all the problems with be touch 2, that’s another great reason to steer away from them!
Really looking for this product, I’ve also read that has metal finishing and a thickness which is less than 8mm… along with the great processor, ram and the amoled screen, it’s incredible how such a product can be offered for so low!
Just got one of these from the EU warehouse. Perfect as a back up to mi4, http://www.banggood.com/EU-Warehouse-Ulefone-Paris-5-Inch-2GB-RAM-Android-5_1-MTK6753-64bit-Octa-core-1_3GHz-4G-LTE-Smartphone-p-1012778.html?p=2O21111526893201504H
Just got one of these from the EU warehouse. Perfect as a back up to mi4, http://www.banggood.com/EU-Warehouse-Ulefone-Paris-5-Inch-2GB-RAM-Android-5_1-MTK6753-64bit-Octa-core-1_3GHz-4G-LTE-Smartphone-p-1012778.html?p=2O21111526893201504H
Can anyone tell me the battery dimensions ?
I wanted to see fits on my smartphone.
I’m looking for something like 75 x 57 x 4 mm
Thanks !
Can anyone tell me the battery dimensions ?
I wanted to see fits on my smartphone.
I’m looking for something like 75 x 57 x 4 mm
Thanks !