Cubot are our of the gates strong for 2016, and are already releasing their 2nd phone of the year, the Cubot Note S with large battery and customisable rear panels.
Cubot are slowly becoming a favourite of ours, they launched the rather good Cubot X16 and X17 (Cubot X17 Review) phones last year and already announced two new phones for 2016.
The new Cubot Note S is a budget device costing from only $69.99 through international resellers, yet despite the low-cost the phone maker has managed to fit a 4150mAh battery in to the 8.8mm chassis.
Update: This low-price is a promotion price only available from today until the 27th (21st Jan – 27th Jan) and after this date pricing will increase.
Gizchina News of the week
Upfront is a 5-inch HD display, there is 2GB RAM, 8 mega-pixel F2.0 rear camera, dual SIM and 16GB internal storage (plus micro SD tray). Keeping costs down the phone uses the cost effective Mediatek MT6580, a quad-core processor with support for 3G and GSM networks only.
Cubot show the usual white/gold and black/silver colour options on their website along with some more interesting customisable rear panel options with inspiration from African paintings.
Why companies insist on building phones with MT6580 is beyond me. Just add $10 and put a 64bit and LTE enabled SOC in it.
I’d never buy such a thing right now, no matter how little money I have.
The point aren’t the couple of dollars they must add to get a 64bit soc, it’s all about internal competition.
Take cubot x16 for example. It costs almost double than this.
If note s had the same soc (6735), many would take it instead of the x16 because they’re trading a fullhd screen (hd on 5″ is acceptable) and some mpxs on the camera with a really bigger battery!
Buuut… Putting that 6580 soc on the balance does change everything, so only people interested in a long-lasting phone will consider it, the others will go for the x16 (as long as we consider only cubot’s customers, of course).
That’s it: they’re not saving 2$ on the soc, they’re just earning extra 70$ on your preferences!
Cubot are also heavily targeting African markets. I’m not sure that LTE networks are very mature there yet.
And the cost of the subscription S must be really expensive because for me to call Haiti right next door country is 12 times more expensive than calling London wich is 2000miles away. So depending on the market they are aiming it, it might not make sense to use an LTE enabled device.
Even without LTE 64bit sounds really well in marketing terms these days.
MattD does have a point but while you’re protecting your higher end models you also risk people going for a 64bit and LTE from the competition ( like Doogee )
Cubot really isn’t in a position to have this kind of brand loyalty as Apple have. I’m not sure how many people will go “I really want a Cubot” 😀
Fair enough, but I’m not totally convinced since it’s not a device specifically launched in an established area… Surely it’s an entry level, but we’ve seen entry level devices with better socs for similar pricing, and in 2016 we’re going to see even more coming, so if it’s not for external competition, I’m assuming it’s because of internal competition
I’m a wizard, Muharry! :V
?
I was studying management, actually, but sadly I’m no major (for now ?)
Translation are hard actually xD like “management sciences” or something xD
haha , no sweat. i got the gist
I think most of these phones are meant for developing markets like Andi pointed out where LTE either isn’t full implemented or is very expensive. As popular as LTE is there is still a significant portion of the population that don’t have realistic access to it.
that last line , esp that latter part of it … suits me 😀
LTE is useless on an entry device, 3G is more than enough, and it preserves battery life.
Performance wise the 6735 SoC is not that much faster than the 6580, just in some gaming, but browsing the web and watching videos you can`t tell them apart.
I would buy this at that price if it has international rom.
For the average consumers this is a perfect bargain.
If the camera is at least decent it’s a brilliant offer.
“decent” is what we all would hope, I hope for 850mghz 3g band.
it is said that cubot note s ‘s rear camera is 8MPX, and the flashlight can support SPD technology