Each manufacturer has its own criteria for the production of smartphones. If it is a small business, the flagships that enter the market will have simple features. If we are talking about a superior brand, surely we will be facing a device full of all the latest innovations in terms of design, hardware, and software. Leagoo is a Chinese company that has been growing little by little, with models that stand out for every occasion, an example of this is the T1 launched to fight the Oppo F1; the M5 as the first shockproof phone built in metal, and the M5 Plus as your best economic Phablet, among others. But today is the turn of a Smartphone that was launched recently and that has really caused a stir in the market, we are talking about the Leagoo T5c.
When it comes to SOCs (system on a chip), that is, the chip that integrates the CPU, GPU, and other device controllers, there is not much to choose from, it is either your phone uses a Qualcomm chip, MediaTek, Exynos ( if it’s Samsung) or Kirin (if it’s Huawei). However, this premise is about to change, as Spreadtrum recently formed an alliance with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Leagoo, this with the aim of introducing the first Spreadtrum processors based on Intel’s Airmont architecture into the company’s mobile phones. The first to do this is the Leagoo T5c, which is the undisputed protagonist of this article that we bring to you.
The T5c is the renewal version of the Leagoo T5, a basic range mobile that we reviewed months ago. However, it is not a re-edition where only a handful of features are improved and launched on the market as a new mobile, at all, since the Leagoo T5c has the honor of being the first mobile to incorporate a processor called Spreadtrum SC9853i with eight cores at 1.8GHz, which features a lithograph of 14nanometros and is based on Airmont Intel architecture.
As we have said, in this balance of elements it seems that Xiaomi is the only brand that perfectly dominates the launch of large devices with respectable hardware at an unbeatable price in the market. Although it should be noted that the Meizu N6 Note had a slightly lower price than the Mi 5X, which is the most acceptable rival of the same.
But hey, the time has come for the review of the Leagoo T5c, which as we know has been released months ago. So we have had time to try it out and understand why it is considered as a flagship of the company. Next, we will show you its most important features and the reasons to buy it.
What does the package bring us?
- 1 x Leagoo T5c smartphone
- 1 x Charging brick
- 1 x USB cable
- 1 x Protective silicone housing
- 1 x User’s manual
- 1 x Warranty card
- 1 x Screen protector
Buy Leagoo T5c at Lightinthebox for $ 109.99
Leagoo T5c Review – First impression
First of all, when looking at the package we realize that we are facing a minimalist design, typical of Chinese brands, we have a white rectangular box with the model at the bottom of it and the maker logo at the top. Inside it, we found the Smartphone, the user’s guide, the USB cable, the power adapter, a transparent silicone case and a screen protector already attached to the screen.
The Leagoo T5c has a fairly normal style, which is not at the service of the design without bevels that is so fashionable nowadays among mobile manufacturers, but even, so it is a good design that combines a body of one piece (Unibody) with a metal construction. As you can see in the images, this device sports a rear cover with 3D curvature and a 2.5D crystal on the front.
Leagoo T5c Review – Design
A highlight of the Leagoo T5c is its thickness, which is only 7.9 millimeters, which is very positive for a Phablet of tight budgets. You cannot miss mentioning the presence of a fingerprint reader on the Home button.
It is a unibody phone built in metal with a design worthy of high end. Typically, Chinese smartphones come with a gorgeous appearance and the Leagoo T5c is no exception. Its body is made of aluminum alloy, so it only weighs 171 grams. It has dimensions of 15.78 x 7.45 x 0.79 cm, being quite thin compared to other similar Smartphones. It is currently available in 2 colors – obsidian black and champagne gold.
The Android capacitive buttons are placed in the screen area, while the physical Home button is below it. This works as a fingerprint sensor too and I can currently say that it is not too fast when it comes to unlocking the device, taking about 2seconds to unlock the phone. The fingerprint sensor supports up to 4 different fingerprints, has 360 degrees of readability and Smart Touch technology. It also has an ISP and is able to learn common browsing habits to provide a better user experience over time. Unfortunately, there is no NFC, so this feature can not be used for mobile payments.
As usual, the buttons to control the volume and the on / off button are on the right side of the device.
The SIM card/SD card tray is located on the left. Inside it, we have two slots for SIM cards and both support 4G FDD LTE. However, like every unlocked GSM phone, the Leagoo T5c will work in many regions of the world but not in the United States. Anyway, thanks to the LTE Cat.6 protocol, the download speed can reach up to 300 Mbps. It is also compatible with VoLTE.
In the lower part of the Leagoo T5c, we found the 3.5mm Jack, the micro USB port for charging and transferring data, an external microphone and the only speaker which is not quite loud when playing music.
The back of the Leagoo T5c is simple, it has the logo of the company in the center and the double camera in the upper left corner next to the LED flash.
The device sports a notification led on the front.
The top of the T5c has nothing.
Leagoo T5c Review – Screen
The screen uses a 5.5-inch IPS panel that displays an FHD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and offers wide viewing angles of up to 178 degrees. Its manufacturer assures that said screen provides an excellent visual experience with a reasonable level of brightness, saturation of colors and contrast. As mentioned above, the screen has a 2.5D glass cover that contributes significantly to the aesthetic and ergonomic factor of the device.
This factor is very important for the Phablets, (the Leagoo T5c belongs to this category) because if the edges and corners are not rounded, it is very uncomfortable for one-handed operations. Finally, the screen is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4, which although we know it is not the latest version of this technology, fulfills its function protecting the phone from scratches, scratches, and bumps. The touch works quite well since we did not experience any errors during the tests.
Hardware: The first mobile with Spreadtrum SC9853i processor
As mentioned at the beginning of this review, the Leagoo T5c is the first to make use of a Spreadtrum SC9853i eight-core processor at 1.8GHz. This CPU is based on Intel’s Airmont architecture and promises to be up to 39% more powerful than the typical Mediatek MTK6750 SOC that we are used to seeing in this price range.
This Chip was launched in August 2017, and this will be the first time we see it in action, it is also worth mentioning that it is aimed at the mid-range and that in theory, it consumes 30% less energy compared to the competition.
A Mali-T820 GPU also backs the device for an unmatched graphical experience and 3GB of RAM (Samsung brand) for multitasking operations. At the same time, there is 32GB of ROM memory provided by Sandisk (expandable by Micro-SD up to 128GB).
The Leagoo T5c seems to offer better overall performance than any other mid-range smartphones we have reviewed on TechVaz but lags when used to play PUBG Mobile.
Watch PUBG Mobile gameplay on the T5c in the video below:
Of course, benchmarks are just a look at what real performance is since we know that the best way to understand how a phone behaves in real life is through daily use for some time. However, below is the result we got on AnTuTu Benchmark and Geekbench 4.
This processor obtains acceptable results in the benchmark tests, but for casual users, it will be more than enough. AnTuTu scores 64,054 points, while Geekbench 4 rates the performance of a single core in 733 and multi-core in 2668. As we mentioned these results are not amazing, but the 3 GB of RAM helps to keep it in daily activities, there are few opportunities where there is a delay.
Leagoo T5c Review – Camera
The photographic section consists of a dual camera with a Samsung sensor of 13.0MP + Omnivision sensor of 2.0MP. This lens has a diaphragm aperture f / 2.2 and an ultra-pixel size of 1.12um.
If we talk about the camera application, we will find a lot of available modes to try. Although the absence of Pro mode is noticeable, we have several to choose from, such as HDR mode, Nigth View, Slow Motion, Fast Motion, Continous Shot, Depth mode, and enhanced beauty mode. There is a special button in the normal mode that allows users to switch between color or black and white shots, with which we can make monochromatic photos with great style.
The reproduction of the color of the images is good, but obviously, it does not compare with the market leaders in this aspect. However, I have noticed that even in good lighting conditions, there is a small noise in the images, as well as a bit of graininess. As for the night shots, the camera is able to get some decent shots, although obviously, they could be better.
The front camera is 5.0MP and is equipped with a LED flash with soft light for high-quality selfies.
Operating system and other features
Leagoo T5c Review – Operating system
Leagoo is one of the Chinese companies that have been working on their own user interface for some time. Although they still have a lot of work to do, the software on this phone looks pretty good and it’s satisfying that other companies follow in the footsteps of big companies like Xiaomi or Huawei. This operating system is called Leagoo OS 2.1 and is based on Android Nougat 7.0.
The phone offers smooth performance due to this software and the chip it incorporates. There are some optimizations made especially for this device.
When working with the T5c, we got an update notification to improve the device and fix minor bugs.
Just after the upgrade, we noticed changes in the arrangement of icons on the screen.
However, we encounter an error when we want to use the camera; it showed “Camera has been disabled because of security policies.” and the flashlight refused to work also. These errors were later fixed by resetting the phone to factory settings.
Users can also rearrange the order of the navigation bar, touch the screen with three fingers to take screenshots, swipe down on the home screen to perform a search on the entire device, (such as applications and other things ), slide sideways to enter the menu and change the wallpaper or add a transition effect, among other things. This user interface also allows changing the color temperature of the screen, allowing to make the colors warmer or colder.
The operating system of the Leagoo T5c is none other than Android 7.0 Nougat, and it is known that the mobile will support the CAT 6 protocol as well as 4G networks, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and Dual-VoLTE. The supported bands and frequencies are the following:
- 2G – GSM 850/900/1800 / 1900MHz
- 3G – WCDMA 900 / 2100MHz
- 4G – FDD-LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100 / 2600MHz TDD-LTE B40
Leagoo T5c Review – Battery
The battery of Leagoo T5c is probably the section that has disappointed me the most. It is equipped with a 3000 mAh battery and although the manufacturer tries to prove that it is sufficient for daily use, we obtained other results. According to Leagoo, this battery should provide approximately 10 days of standby time, 36 hours of normal use, 20 hours of continuous calls and 8 hours of video playback. But we have tested it through PCMark, and the results were unsatisfactory. First, if you use it intensively, the phone will require a charge after 5 hours. If we run an average use, then hopefully could reach 24 hours with a single charge.
As for the charge, this device is compatible with the 5V / 2A fast charging technology, which means that it will charge 35% in 30 minutes. At least this is a positive aspect that will help us keep our Phablet energized.
Buy Leagoo T5c at Lightinthebox for $ 109.99
Leagoo T5c – Table of specifications
| Basic information | |
| Brand: | Leagoo |
| Kind: | Phablet 4G |
| Unlocked: | YES |
| SIM card slot: | Dual SIM with standby mode |
| SIM type: | Nano SIM |
| Screen and dimensions | |
| Type of screen: | IPS Capacitive LCD, 16M colors |
| Screen size: | 5.5 inches |
| Screen resolution: | 1080 x 1920 (FHD) |
| Dimensions | 15.30 x 7.60 x 0.79 cm |
| Weight | 168 grams |
| Hardware | |
| CPU: | Spreadtrum SC9853i 14 nanometer |
| Nuclei: | SC9853i Octa Core 1.8GHz |
| GPU | ARM Mali-T860 MP2 |
| RAM: | 3 GB of RAM |
| ROM: | 32 GB |
| External memory: | Yes, expandable up to 128 GB |
| Connectivity | |
| Band technologies | 2G – GSM 850/900/1800 / 1900MHz
3G – WCDMA 900 / 2100MHz 4G – FDD-LTE 800/850/900/1800/2100 / 2600MHz TDD-LTE B40 |
| Wireless connectivity | Wi-Fi – 802.11 a / b / g Bluetooth version 4.1, |
| Interfaces | Nano SIM slot, 3.5 mm audio port, micro USB 2.0, GPS |
| Cameras | |
| Main camera: | Dual Camera 13 MP Samsung + 2 MP Omnivision |
| Front camera: | 5 MP |
| characteristics | Autofocus, Dual-LED (Dual-tone), Flash, Geographic Location, Face Detection, Tactile Focus, Panorama |
| Battery | |
| Battery Capacity | 3000 mAh. |
| Removable | Not removable |
Leagoo T5c Review – Conclusion
Compared to the best brands, this Phablet should be considered a smartphone with an excellent entry level features. A Snapdragon chip could certainly save the day, but it does not. Surely there are features that could be improved, but the fact is that the Leagoo T5c offers a fairly stable performance, a dual rear camera with average quality, a large Full HD screen, fingerprints, 4G LTE technology and more.
Without a doubt, the best part is that you only have to pay $ 109.99 for all this. It turns out that you could get in your hands a middle-class Phablet with attractive features for an extremely low price. Thank you for joining us in this in-depth review of the Leagoo T5c and we hope you enjoyed it.
Pros
- Great construction quality
- Price
- Good performance
- Dual Camera
- Front soft light for selfies
Cons
- Battery duration
- Not too good camera
- Thick
Leagoo T5c Review – Availability and price
The Leagoo T5c is valued at $216.98, but you can buy it for a much lower price if you take advantage of the sale promotion, leaving it at only $ 109.99 or € 94.81 in Lightinthebox.
Buy Leagoo T5c at Lightinthebox for $ 109.99
