8'

Vernee extend Apollo Lite $199 sale for a bit (and offer a discount for reviews)

Yash GargSeptember 5, 2016

Vernee seem to be among the more interesting Chinese brands of late. The Helio X20 powered Apollo Lite (which we expect to receive this week!) seems to be a phone well worth the money, and the company very well realise that.

The phone has a ‘recommended’ price of $229.99, but Vernee have in the past offered it for $199.99 via their numerous e-commerce partners. Well, news is that there’s another 100 units of the phone that will go for the reduced price.

Interested parties can start lining up here, which is where the sale will begin 7th September (10am UTC). Keep in mind, it’s only going be 100 units on sale for the reduced price.

Gizchina News of the week

Join GizChina on Telegram

Vernee are also jumping on to the ‘review’ wagon, and are offering $100 off. Basically, you’re expected to first purchase the phone at its full price, publish a review (on a blog, social media, etc) and then let Vernee know about your review. Eligible participants (find the criteria on the landing page) will get $100 refunded.

A quick recap about the Apollo Lite: it’s a 5.5-inch phone with a design similar to that of the OnePlus 3. It features the MediaTek Helio X20 SoC, 4GB RAM, 16 mega-pixel rear camera, 5 mega-pixel front facing camera, 32GB ROM, fingerprint sensor and a 3180mAh battery.

Stay tuned for the Apollo Lite review on GizChina, which will hopefully be up by the end of next week.

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!

radier
September 5, 2016
This phone has many bugs and issues. I don’t believe they can be fixed by just OTA Updates.
- Floans
  September 5, 2016
  - Chris agnostos
    September 5, 2016
    If a device has issues it shouldn’t be available in the first place.
    Saying they are trying means nothing. I shouldn’t have to pay 200$ to buy a device with issues, unless the phone costs under 50$ this is unacceptable.
    - quodvadis
      September 6, 2016
      then every phone shouldn’t be available in the first place since virtually EVERY phone has bugs.

Chris agnostos
September 5, 2016
- Floans
  September 5, 2016
  i think we don’t need to judge this sentence too much….
- NextHype
  September 5, 2016
  Damn… I’m coming too late for the laugh : the article seems to have been edited.
  BTW you don’t need GC to tell you that you won’t get the reviewer refund if you wrote down negative comments on the product xD
  Interesting strategy. Elefraud should do the same instead of paying employees to spam forums with lousy comments in a very approximate english.
- quodvadis
  September 6, 2016
  so in essence:
  “we’ll give you a rebate if you like our product and is willing to review them as such, otherwise no.”
  sounds fair to me.
  - Chris agnostos
    September 6, 2016
    what they are asking for is not a review, what they are asking is a praise they are asking for…
    A review should be 100% objective.
    - quodvadis
      September 6, 2016
jimberkas
September 5, 2016
very interested in gizchina review of this phone

Paul Sleight
September 5, 2016
I’ve had mine for a week now and I’m loving it! Yes, it has a few issues which I can list for those interested, but for the second phone from a new manufacturer – at a realistic price – I think it’s an excellent effort.
I can only speak of my experience with my phone. I have seen that others have had problems which I haven’t had, and I am comparing with my other “cheap” Chinese phones from the last three years.
Build quality seems very good, the screen is bright and clear with very responsive touch. The cameras are both good, but the auto focus isn’t as quick as I hoped . Battery life so far has been better than average, and recharging is quick even using a conventional charger instead of the supplied quick charger.
I’m even happy with the on-screen navigation buttons instead of capacitive ones.
Issues I’ve had so far :
Out of the box the camera supported 4k video recording and other features but these were omitted in the first ota update. Disappointing, but I believe there was an overheating problem (I didn’t notice but only tried it briefly before updating) which they hope to sort out.
The second ota update fails to install (gets stuck at reboot) so I haven’t been able to try it out. Again, disappointing, but I’m quite happy with the phone in its current state and will wait for the next update.
Customer support did at least respond quickly which is good, although their solutions haven’t worked for me.
Biggest problem is that the phone signal drops off occasionally in areas where I wouldn’t expect it. Usually only for a few minutes, but otherwise the signal is often stronger than other phones have experienced in the same area, and the call quality is usually excellent and clear.
Sounds from the speaker is the best of any phone I’ve had.
Speed and smoothness of the UI is also noticeably better thanks to the x20 soc.
All in all it’s a great phone and I’m happy to give Vernee several chances to iron out the bugs and optimize the software. Looking forward to getting the 4k video recording back… ?

Giovanni
September 6, 2016
The important thing is that this phone is very supported by modders …
Girolamo
September 6, 2016
I want understand why now all phones have the built-in battery?? I hate them!
GGPlayer
September 6, 2016
honestly, when i first heard (haven’t even seen the phone), i was like “it sounds like a really nice phone”… haven’t heard of Vernee company before and haven’t head about any of their products as well. once the first renders came out i told to myself “i need this” (although, i have had bought a phone from another company already, so sadly i won’t get apollo lite).. anyway, this sounds, looks and feels (by the reviews) like a very premium, nice quality and impressive specification phone, so yah… i would love to have this, i think it’s really worth every last cent you pay for it!

TimNotCook
September 6, 2016
they have a really good looking device, hopefully i am not the only one with this opinion!
Michael 9
September 6, 2016
how come they sell it bellow the recommended price?
Gaspar
September 6, 2016