As MKBHD stated in his one of the review "Good phones are getting cheap, Cheap phones are getting good"
Okay, basically I was always skeptical about cheap phones from Chinese manufacturer as they didn’t appeal to me in sense like other costly and branded phones appealed!
But then I was a guy who loved rooting and modding my phone.My android journey started with Galaxy nexus which I used for around a year and a half and broke it down, then went with htc one as it was fabled King of smartphones and one of the best device ever made and I loved the built quality and sound, then unfortunately one day it stopped working and I went with LG G4 for camera, I didn’t get samsung as it was quite cliché and common(though loved it too, especially the edge variant) but then One day my G4 at evening faced an infamous bootloop issue caused by loose connection of hardware on initial batch and decided to get it repaired, as owning an international variant it is a very lengthy procedure so I decided to buy Letv 1s, I was not able to get in flash sale so I bought it from my friend.
Confession:I got this phone purely on spec basis as I am a guy who likes raw power though admittedly I also know that specs are just half the story and it is optimisation that plays a crucial factor in any hardware.
Aesthetics and ergonomics:the moment I unboxed the phone it was like unboxing a premium phone and hands on feeling felt like a piece of jewellery and a phone from class apart willing to pay asking price felt cold to the touch and a feeling that was nostalgic and reminded me of my htc one days.
Performance & features: Okay 3 Gigs of RAM, 2.2 Ghz heio x10 processor one of the fastest fingerprint sensor, 5.5 inch 1080p display, dual sim 4G support IR Blasteretc at around 11k?Mind blown, I mean common what can you ask at this price?performs extremely well and blows competition away, call quality is also decent.
Camera it performs well in daylight but struggles a bit at low light during night shots, Video recording is decent too.keep in mind that this phone can also record 4K footages making it one of the cheapest phone to record 4k.
Software and Battery life:i got a decent battery life of around 1.5 Day and about 4 hours of SOT with Medium use, though I haven’t tried heavy use and will follow up soon after testing.phone is also packed with fast charging feature with future proof USB type-C
Talking about a bit negative side of spectrum:
-Due to metal body though gives an elegant feel is susceptible to nicks and dings and dents and scratches and feels warm sometimes not extremely hot though
-Camera is average in my opinion especially at night.
-No micro Sd slot or removable battery.
-EUI may take a bit long for future software updates.
(nit picking)
Pricing and availability
Phone retails for around 10999 and if you have axis bank debit card or any other credit card, you can get it for as low as 9900 which is insane for such amazing package which is sold via flipkart.
Conclusion
Overall phone is steal at this price and competition doesn’t even come close.if you are looking for best phone around 15k save some bucks and get this phone unequivocally, as the matter of fact I was going to use it as a temporary phone but there’s a coefficient of friction between me and phone and I planning to use it as my daily driver for a longer duration.The precision and amazing device built wins my heart and performs equally good it looks, except which needs a minor improvement this is for sure king of budget phones and a threat to costly flagships!
Letv kudos!
Now Its your move Xiamoi.