Oukitel U18 Review | iPhone X Look Alike

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Oukitel U18 which is another budget device from Oukitel provides decent value for the money you pay. Following the notch mania, it comes with a big display with a big notch on top of it. Talking about the specifications, the internals is powerful enough to handle general apps but you will not be able to play high-end games. One thing which is great is the battery life. U18 comes with a big battery to keep it going without the need of recharging again and again. With that being said, there is no headphone jack on this device which seems weird on a smartphone this thick.

Let's jump right toward the review of Oukitel U18 starting with the stuff that comes in the box.

Inside the Box

Oukitel U18 comes in a bigger than usual square package which enhances the unboxing experience. You get a white color box with Oukitel branding on the front and some key specifications of the device on the back. Overall the package box is made out of high-quality material. Cracking up the box open, you will find the following stuff.

• Oukitel U18
• Power adapter
• USB Type-C CableCable
• Screen protector
• Transparent back cover
• Warranty card
• User manual
• Type-C to 3.5 mm audio jack dongle
• SIM ejector

There is no shortage of any important stuff except the earphones. Although, almost every other smartphone nowadays ships without earphones in the box. The screen protector comes preinstalled on the device. Another useful thing which is the transparent back cover is made out of quality material to keep the device safe. As said earlier that the package is big. The dimensions of the box are 7.09 x 4.72 x 2.36 inches. While the total weight of the box including the Oukitel U18 is 360 grams. Overall the unboxing experience is great.

Enough about the packaging, let's talk about the device now.

Design and Build

Holding the device for the first time, I was actually amazed at how comfortable the device is to hold considering the thickness and bulkiness. Honestly, Oukitel U18 is not a thin or light device but it manages to fit comfortably in the hands. Oukitel is using zinc alloy for the frame which makes the device durable. The front of the device is covered with 2.5D curved glass and the rear is covered by a 3D curved back cover. The rear cover has a brushed metal finish with another texture running around the camera module. You can get a better understanding by looking at the image down below. There are two color options Black and Golden and for the black model is the one to go with.

Talking about being thick and heavy, Oukitel U18 will actually make you feel uncomfortable by the numbers on paper. The device is 10 mm thick and has an overall weight of 213 grams. However, as I said earlier, in reality, the device is comfortable to hold because of its design language.

Coming towards the front, Oukitel U18 comes with a large 21:9 display with a notch just like the iPhone X. The notch portion houses the front camera, proximity sensor, earpiece and the ambient light sensor. However, unlike the iPhone X, there is a chin at the bottom which some will find ugly. Since the cost of eliminating the chin by folding the display is too much, U18 goes with the chin option just like many other Android smartphones.

Other than that, the volume key and the power button is on the right while you have the Hybrid SIM slot the left of U18. Coming towards the bottom, you have a USB Type-C charging port along with a speaker. However, there is no audio jack and you get a dongle in the box. Turning the phone around, you will find the dual camera set up along with LED flash, fingerprint scanner, and Oukitel branding.

Wrapping it up, the overall build quality is amazing for the phone in the budget segment.

Display

Following the iPhone X notch trend (iPhone X was not the first phone with a notch), Oukitel U18 comes with a gigantic display along with a big notch. But the story here is a little different. Let me tell you why. Since the display on this device is a 21:9 Full HD+ panel. The 21:9 ratio is not usual and most of the apps will end up with black edges on this display. But that does not mean the display is bad or something. Oukitel U18 also uses a 2.5D curved glass for giving a premium look to the display.

Since the display has 1512 x 720 resolution, the quality is decently sharp with great color reproduction. Viewing angles are amazing due to the IPS LCD panels on this device. Talking about the notch, it will be uncomfortable for users who will be using a notch phone for the first time. Since there is less space for the icons to fit, only useful information like clock, signal strength etc are displayed. Which means that not all your notification icons will be visible to you immediately. The can be uncomfortable for many users.

Taking the phone out for a walk, you are not going to face any issue as the brightness is enough to be decently usable under direct sunlight. Reading news, blogs etc are also not going to be an issue, however, you might be able to notice some pixelation. Taking care of the display protection, Oukitel U18 ships with a pre-installed screen protector which can protect the display from minor dust particles or scratched from the stuff in your pockets.

Well, honestly if you can bear the black edges on 3rd party apps the display on Oukitel U18 is pleasant enough to enjoy anytime anywhere.

Performance and Memory

For moderate users who frequently use general apps like Whatsapp or Facebook and does not play any heavy games much, Oukitel U18 is gonna be a great buy. As like other devices in the similar segment, U18 is also powered by a mid-tier SoC which is unable to handle model 3D title at max settings.

Powering up the usage we have an Octa-Core MediaTek 6750T chipset. It is a 64-Bit SoC which is divided into two batches of four core each. The lower batch can max up to the clock speed of 1 GHz while the power batch can match up to the clock speed of 1.5 GHz. While 6750T is responsible for the performance, the ARM Mali-T860 MP2 GPU is there for the graphics related tasks. The GPU is clocked to reach a max frequency of 530 MHz.

Coming to the real-life usage, the performance is good enough to cater to your basic requirements like using social media apps, browsing the web, watching movies etc. Although, Oukitel U18 is not capable enough to run heavy titles like PUBG, Asphalt 8, Riptide GT etc. Sure you can play some of them at medium or low graphics setting but do not expect any smoother performance out of it. Hence, for people who use their device just for work and multimedia consumption, Oukitel U18 will be a great buy.

Multitasking is not an issue as you have 4GB of RAM at your disposal. This means you can multitask with plenty of apps without any issue. Talking about the storage, you are getting 64GB of inbuilt storage which is enough for casual users. However, you can use a microSD card anytime to expand the memory up to 64GB more.

Software

Sadly, Oukitel U18 still runs on Android 7.0 Nougat which is more than two years old now. Although, the skin which Oukitel is using on U18 is near stock providing a smooth user experience. But unlike the swipe up action for app drawer, you still have to tap on the button to access the app drawer.

Overall, the software experience is smooth and navigating through the UI feels fast. However, there is a short delay while opening the apps which is due to the budget level internals. But overall there is nothing significant to ruin your experience. The only issue here regarding the software updates. There is no official announcement regarding the Oreo update by Oukitel. This means like many other budget smartphones, you will be stuck on Android Nougat for a long time.

Camera

Coming to the cameras, Oukitel U18 comes with a 16 Megapixel + 5 Megapixel setup on the back along with a 13 Megapixel camera on the front. The camera app comes with all the basic features like Panorama, HDR, Video recording etc.

The overall quality of the rear camera is good. However, the secondary 5 Megapixel sensor is actually weird as covering up the second sensor gives no difference in the final result. Honestly, I feel like the second sensor is totally fake but the primary 16MP f/2.0 sensor is capable of capturing some impressive images.

Sharpness and colors are good but the dynamic range could have been better. The focus is a little inaccurate at times but nothing significant. Unlike the image quality degrades at night and lots of noise and grains peep up in the images. You can also record videos in 1080p resolution at 30fps.

Oukitel U18's front 13 Megapixel camera is good enough for casual selfie lovers. It is capable of capturing great looking images during the day but at night the image quality drifts towards the lower side. Overall the camera is capable to capture images which can directly be used on Social media without any editing. The front camera is also capable of recording videos in 720p at 30 FPS.

Battery

Honestly, the battery life on Oukitel U18 is phenomenal. Utilizing a big 4000 mAh non-removable battery, it was able to perform well in the battery life test cycle. You can easily get somewhere around 7-8 hours of screen on time with moderate to heavy usage.

Starting with the test cycle, my test includes short phone calls, casual games, extensive use of social media apps etc. With all these, Oukitel U18 manages to get through around 1.5 days without any issues. While the battery life is not the best you can get, it is good enough for a power user to stay connected with the smartphone.

However, bigger battery means bigger charging time. Oukitel U18 can charge from dead to full within 2.5 hours which is somewhat slow. But remember you are getting a amazing battery life at the expense of longer charger time. With that being said, there is no wireless charging support on this device. However, this is nothing new at such a nice price tag.

Overall the battery life of Oukitel U18 is great for casual or heavy users.

Connectivity and Features

Similar to every Android device, Oukitel U18 also comes with Dual-SIM and Dual Standby support. Remember only nano SIM cards are supported on this device. Also, U18 comes with 4G LTE support which means you have access to the faster data connection. General connectivity features include FDD-LTE, GSM, and WCDMA. While the other connectivity features include Wi-FI 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, and A-GPS. Although, Oukitel U18 does not come with NFC or an infrared sensor. While these two features are of great use, you can hardly find them on any mid-tier smartphone.

Oukitel U18 comes with the following useful sensors

• Ambient Light Sensor
• Gravity Sensor
• Proximity Sensor

You will find a fingerprint scanner on the rear panel of this device. The scanner works flawlessly however, it is not the fastest but it is reliable. U18 also comes with a face unlock feature which utilizes the front camera to scan your face and unlock the device. While this feature is handy to use, the level of security is still lower when compared to other unlocking options like Fingerprint, Pin unlocks, pattern lock etc.

Speaker on the Oukitel U18 sounds good actually, although the level of bass is somewhat low. On the other hand, there is no audio jack on this device as it ships with a Type-C to 3.5mm dongle. Sound quality through the earphones or headphones is impressive.

Why should I buy the Oukitel U18?

Well, Oukitel U18 may not be the most powerful device in the segment but it has an advantage with its looks. The build quality is great with dual texture back panel that gives a premium feel to the device. It also comes with a big screen which also has good quality except for the flaws which I talked about earlier. The performance on Oukitel U18 is great enough for users who use their device mainly for work. Camera performance is decent too and the battery life is great. It also comes with a fingerprint scanner and face unlock feature which are convenient options to unlock your device.

Oukitel U18 is worth considering during your next smartphone purchase.