Highscreen Boost 2 smartphone review - how to forget about the outlet for a long time
At the beginning of last year, Highscreen Boost appeared on sale, which became the first “long-playing” smartphone in Russia. The model turned out to be hit, survived even a speculative offer (it was like that) and, in the end, motivated other brands to release models with capacious batteries. It is clear that the Highscreen device was doomed to the appearance of a successor - and indeed it appeared in the fall. Highscreen Boost 2 made it possible to choose between installing a battery of 3,000 mAh or 6,000 mAh, each battery has its own cover. Given that at the time of the release of other “6k” smartphones were not on the horizon, the smartphone was even presented for inclusion in the Guinness Book of Records - guess for what reason. In general, we get acquainted - Highscreen Boost 2. And I immediately inform you that the diagonal of the smartphone has grown from 4.3 to 5 inches. Trend s, gentlemen.
It is worth believing that this year nothing will change, and Highscreen will continue to release (with rare exceptions) all its smartphones in a box of recycled cardboard. In addition to karma for the environment, and packaging costs such a thing clearly minimizes. No less habitually I observe a message about gratuitous 20 GB in the 4Sync “cloud”.
A set in a box is more or less commonplace - a headset, a microUSB cable, a network charger, a warranty book and instructions. A variety of introduces the presence of two batteries of different capacities and, accordingly, a pair of caps.
There is something to be happy about, there are also reasons for disappointment. Let's say the first Highscreen Boost gives me the impression of a kind of charismatic mini-brick. Which, due to size peculiarities, can be pinched in a fist in order to increase rigidity in contact with the skin of hooligans. With Highscreen Boost 2, this is unlikely to succeed, except for people like Denis Tsyplenkov. The smartphone confronts us with a difficult choice, since “buns” like an attractive appearance and good ergonomics go to the user only when choosing a 3,000 mAh battery. But with 6,000 mAh, all the trade-offs outweigh the autonomy.
Now more about each option. With the "troika" we get 9.8 mm of thickness and 151 grams of weight, which is not bad at all. And "live" looks even better. True, at first glance it becomes clear which model of another manufacturer was inspired by the creators of Highscreen Boost 2. Nevertheless, the smartphone came out much more memorable than the same type of device with a similar diagonal and price range. The lack of rounding at the corners and between the sides does not affect the convenience, nothing sticks into the palm.
With an increase in capacity up to 6,000 mAh, the beauty of the exterior has to be sacrificed. In my opinion, just here the roundness of the lid would be in place, because the observed angular design looks at the weak "four", and does not sit like a "glove" in the hand.
The body materials are plastic and metal. In the latter case, we are talking about a metal frame under glass, the main task is to give rigidity to the apparatus, theoretically this increases resistance to various kinds of destructive influences. Covers are made of the most ordinary plastic. This does not add premiumness to the device, but from the point of view of practicality, it was much easier for me to erase traces from the surface in one fell swoop than racking my brains over the removal of deep black marks on the soft touch coating of other smartphones. The average was the build quality. If there are no complaints about the “thin” version, then creaks and backlashes are observed with a large lid. No, the lid does not strive to voice any touch or even fly off, but nevertheless - they saw a better performance. For example, in the same Highscreen Alpha R.
Go to the button connectors. That the smartphone should be exactly above the screen, I think you know no worse than me, for the sim I just give a photo.
But below everything is more interesting. Number one is the plastic part that touches the glass cover of the display. That is, I'm used to the fact that the same protection is usually put in the entire front side. In Highscreen Boost 2, the “innovation” is more likely cosmetic, although it reduces the area of the stained area under the display. Number two - keys. Which are not at all dull - a house / squares / stripes. Two luminous points on the edges, a small circle in the center, such an extraordinary performance.
Volume and power keys are installed on the sides, which is good. And the fact that they play is bad. In the center on the right is the key, which at first glance is responsible for photographing. A closer look at the settings reveals a point where the button options are selected - calling the front or rear camera, turning on the music player or creating a screenshot. It was expected that subsequently the list would be substantially expanded, but so far this has not happened - after firmware 2.1 of October 28 last year, no other updates are visible. Maybe some kind of patch "on the topic" wanders among the masses, but I have not seen one.
Both the audio output and the microUSB connector are installed at the top. I will voice my usual complaint - due to the wires sticking out from above, it can be inconvenient to have a conversation on the smartphone while charging. It’s good that they didn’t put the power button here.
We remove the cover, remove the battery and study the insides. All slots are clearly signed, although vague doubts torment me that far from all citizens associate WCDMA with “three ge”. The format of the SIM cards is microSIM. I can’t call this an objective claim, but I don’t quite understand the periodically occurring dual-SIM cards with slots of different formats within the same device.
As I said, the size of the display has increased to 5 inches. I admit, I'm not a fan of such a diagonal and prefer 4.5-inch models. However, the industry trend is not dependent on my specific opinion, and sales of the Samsung Galaxy S IV once again push manufacturers to release “shovels”. Although, on the other hand, I note that the same 5-inch models do not make me feel too bulky. The screen resolution of Highscreen Boost 2 - 1280 x 720 pixels - is expected taking into account the price, qHD here would not look too appropriate. Accordingly, the clarity of the picture is good.
The IPS matrix is not bad, I did not notice any special color rendering distortions. Viewing angles are average - if you look diagonally to the left and right, blue and orange shades are clearly visible, respectively. It is clear that this is a predictable moment of the matrix, but in other IPS smartphones this did not strike my eye. The glass cover of the screen is not “branded”, therefore no one gives guarantees of strength. I can only say that in about two months of use without a case, no markings appeared on the display of my copy. By the way, the screen is made using OGS technology, which is only good for the perception of the picture. The “solar” qualities of the matrix are moderate, although I did not set the brightness above 50-70% for dialing or reading SMS on the street.
The front 2MP module was not surprised, but it didn’t upset it - it’ll do for video chat, and even take a picture on Skype’s avatar. The main 8 megapixel camera left a double impression. In principle, my main complaint is periodic problems with exposure. This is especially noticeable either in frames with a predominance of shadows, or in complex scenes with different lighting. The problem is solved by two or three frames and the choice of the most successful one.
In general, Highscreen Boost 2 seemed to me to be a strong middling and certainly a better “photographer” compared to the first Highscreen Boost. No, the predecessor was also shooting quite for himself, but the wildest rush to extremes with exposure was too annoying - and, judging by the reviews, not only to me. Highscreen Boost 2 does not openly “soapy” photos regardless of distance, which I can only welcome. There is even a distinct macro shot, only sometimes you have to torment with focus (I don’t even talk about “cars”).
The shooting app was left unchanged in Android 4.1. This is not very good, since I was always annoyed by unreasonable abbreviations of item names, and in general I consider the camera interface unsuccessful. I’m somehow closer to the design of the camera program in smartphones with MediaTek MT6589, at least there’s no need to spend time switching photo / video modes.
"Heart" Highscreen Boost 2 - Qualcomm 8225Q quad-core processor. It was not once or twice in Highscreen models this year, and it has been seen on other brands more than once. For example, I now have a December December Philips test with the same processor on my test. It is enough for the average consumer to know that there are 4 cores, and that’s “cool.” However, more advanced comrades are aware that this is the Cortex-A5, 45nm process technology and the Play line. And the Adreno 203 graphics chip to boot. There are no questions only on the amount of RAM - 1 GB. ROM - 4 GB, of which about 2.7 GB is available in total.
Benchmarks do not try to hide the fact that the filling of Highscreen Boost 2 has a budget status, nothing can be done about it.
As usual, everything is relative. In the system menu, web surfing and other tasks, the smartphone slows down extremely rarely, in this regard, the model is a cut above the first “boost”, which at any time, even in the simplest application, could start giving out slide shows (at least for me) . And if the predecessor (in my case) even refused to start the camera a couple of times, then this did not happen with Highscreen Boost 2.
With video, the situation is predictable and has been mentioned more than once in smartphone reviews with Qualcomm 8225Q. In a good way, the limit of possibilities here rests in HD, under certain circumstances (say, low bit rate) - in Full HD. If you are going on a long journey and downloading movies to Highscreen Boost 2, I would highly recommend that you start each file first to avoid disappointment. I myself am used to confining myself to all kinds of DVDrip on mobile devices, of the six proposed films, all played normally.
An attempt to use a memory card with a prepared universal cache for a dozen games was not entirely successful, for more than half of the titles it was necessary to download the content manually. The capabilities of Qualcomm 8225Q in the gaming issue are well known to me, the only concern was the load due to HD resolution. Fortunately, it worked out - Adreno 203 out of habit routinely simplified the schedule and painlessly allowed time to spend on Modern combat 4: Zero Hour and others like him. Of course, the smoothness of the gameplay is not ideal, but even below 20 FPS the frequency has not fallen for a long time anywhere. Plus, due to the resolution, the picture seemed to me much more beautiful in comparison with the similar configuration of hardware with qHD.
Android 4.1.2 in Highscreen Boost is devoid of special decorations, there is almost no additional software - it is understandable given the lack of memory. There are Hangouts, 4Sync client (remember about the "freebie"), a very convenient file manager, as well as a firmware update utility "over the air". There are a couple of shortcuts like EQ and Wi-Fi hotspot activation. The settings of SIM-cards, the program of calls and SMS, and so on, have not been modernized in any way - I think you have already seen enough of these menus over the past year.
The most interesting moment of the review. So, I present the results obtained for a 6,000 mAh battery.
“Think for yourself, decide for yourself”, as it is sung in one well-known song. I will also give the test results of the site x-drivers.ru. Their methodology is described here and allows you to approximately simulate a one-day more or less active use of the smartphone. After testing with the guys, the smartphone showed 90% of the remaining charge . For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S IV in the same test left 62%.
Highscreen Boost 2 is a purely evolutionary product. The battery has become larger, the camera is better, there are not many software “sores” of the predecessor. Plus, the “trick” with interchangeable batteries of different capacities looks like an interesting solution. The model seemed to me the same "hard worker" as the first Highscreen Boost. That is, you can’t take the device to top-end smartphones even if you don’t touch autonomy, but the model does not look like an unnecessarily low-cost solution. Probably, I would recommend Highscreen Boost 2 to people who periodically have to remain without an outlet for a long time - hiking enthusiasts, comrades with regular business trips, etc. The model sells for 10 990 rubles (~ $ 340). Just in case, after the release of Highscreen Boost 2, the price of its “grandparent” dropped to 6,990 rubles (~ $ 220).
Equipment
It is worth believing that this year nothing will change, and Highscreen will continue to release (with rare exceptions) all its smartphones in a box of recycled cardboard. In addition to karma for the environment, and packaging costs such a thing clearly minimizes. No less habitually I observe a message about gratuitous 20 GB in the 4Sync “cloud”.
A set in a box is more or less commonplace - a headset, a microUSB cable, a network charger, a warranty book and instructions. A variety of introduces the presence of two batteries of different capacities and, accordingly, a pair of caps.
Appearance and controls
There is something to be happy about, there are also reasons for disappointment. Let's say the first Highscreen Boost gives me the impression of a kind of charismatic mini-brick. Which, due to size peculiarities, can be pinched in a fist in order to increase rigidity in contact with the skin of hooligans. With Highscreen Boost 2, this is unlikely to succeed, except for people like Denis Tsyplenkov. The smartphone confronts us with a difficult choice, since “buns” like an attractive appearance and good ergonomics go to the user only when choosing a 3,000 mAh battery. But with 6,000 mAh, all the trade-offs outweigh the autonomy.
Now more about each option. With the "troika" we get 9.8 mm of thickness and 151 grams of weight, which is not bad at all. And "live" looks even better. True, at first glance it becomes clear which model of another manufacturer was inspired by the creators of Highscreen Boost 2. Nevertheless, the smartphone came out much more memorable than the same type of device with a similar diagonal and price range. The lack of rounding at the corners and between the sides does not affect the convenience, nothing sticks into the palm.
With an increase in capacity up to 6,000 mAh, the beauty of the exterior has to be sacrificed. In my opinion, just here the roundness of the lid would be in place, because the observed angular design looks at the weak "four", and does not sit like a "glove" in the hand.
The body materials are plastic and metal. In the latter case, we are talking about a metal frame under glass, the main task is to give rigidity to the apparatus, theoretically this increases resistance to various kinds of destructive influences. Covers are made of the most ordinary plastic. This does not add premiumness to the device, but from the point of view of practicality, it was much easier for me to erase traces from the surface in one fell swoop than racking my brains over the removal of deep black marks on the soft touch coating of other smartphones. The average was the build quality. If there are no complaints about the “thin” version, then creaks and backlashes are observed with a large lid. No, the lid does not strive to voice any touch or even fly off, but nevertheless - they saw a better performance. For example, in the same Highscreen Alpha R.
Go to the button connectors. That the smartphone should be exactly above the screen, I think you know no worse than me, for the sim I just give a photo.
But below everything is more interesting. Number one is the plastic part that touches the glass cover of the display. That is, I'm used to the fact that the same protection is usually put in the entire front side. In Highscreen Boost 2, the “innovation” is more likely cosmetic, although it reduces the area of the stained area under the display. Number two - keys. Which are not at all dull - a house / squares / stripes. Two luminous points on the edges, a small circle in the center, such an extraordinary performance.
Volume and power keys are installed on the sides, which is good. And the fact that they play is bad. In the center on the right is the key, which at first glance is responsible for photographing. A closer look at the settings reveals a point where the button options are selected - calling the front or rear camera, turning on the music player or creating a screenshot. It was expected that subsequently the list would be substantially expanded, but so far this has not happened - after firmware 2.1 of October 28 last year, no other updates are visible. Maybe some kind of patch "on the topic" wanders among the masses, but I have not seen one.
Both the audio output and the microUSB connector are installed at the top. I will voice my usual complaint - due to the wires sticking out from above, it can be inconvenient to have a conversation on the smartphone while charging. It’s good that they didn’t put the power button here.
We remove the cover, remove the battery and study the insides. All slots are clearly signed, although vague doubts torment me that far from all citizens associate WCDMA with “three ge”. The format of the SIM cards is microSIM. I can’t call this an objective claim, but I don’t quite understand the periodically occurring dual-SIM cards with slots of different formats within the same device.
Screen
As I said, the size of the display has increased to 5 inches. I admit, I'm not a fan of such a diagonal and prefer 4.5-inch models. However, the industry trend is not dependent on my specific opinion, and sales of the Samsung Galaxy S IV once again push manufacturers to release “shovels”. Although, on the other hand, I note that the same 5-inch models do not make me feel too bulky. The screen resolution of Highscreen Boost 2 - 1280 x 720 pixels - is expected taking into account the price, qHD here would not look too appropriate. Accordingly, the clarity of the picture is good.
The IPS matrix is not bad, I did not notice any special color rendering distortions. Viewing angles are average - if you look diagonally to the left and right, blue and orange shades are clearly visible, respectively. It is clear that this is a predictable moment of the matrix, but in other IPS smartphones this did not strike my eye. The glass cover of the screen is not “branded”, therefore no one gives guarantees of strength. I can only say that in about two months of use without a case, no markings appeared on the display of my copy. By the way, the screen is made using OGS technology, which is only good for the perception of the picture. The “solar” qualities of the matrix are moderate, although I did not set the brightness above 50-70% for dialing or reading SMS on the street.
Camera
The front 2MP module was not surprised, but it didn’t upset it - it’ll do for video chat, and even take a picture on Skype’s avatar. The main 8 megapixel camera left a double impression. In principle, my main complaint is periodic problems with exposure. This is especially noticeable either in frames with a predominance of shadows, or in complex scenes with different lighting. The problem is solved by two or three frames and the choice of the most successful one.
In general, Highscreen Boost 2 seemed to me to be a strong middling and certainly a better “photographer” compared to the first Highscreen Boost. No, the predecessor was also shooting quite for himself, but the wildest rush to extremes with exposure was too annoying - and, judging by the reviews, not only to me. Highscreen Boost 2 does not openly “soapy” photos regardless of distance, which I can only welcome. There is even a distinct macro shot, only sometimes you have to torment with focus (I don’t even talk about “cars”).
The shooting app was left unchanged in Android 4.1. This is not very good, since I was always annoyed by unreasonable abbreviations of item names, and in general I consider the camera interface unsuccessful. I’m somehow closer to the design of the camera program in smartphones with MediaTek MT6589, at least there’s no need to spend time switching photo / video modes.
Performance and system
"Heart" Highscreen Boost 2 - Qualcomm 8225Q quad-core processor. It was not once or twice in Highscreen models this year, and it has been seen on other brands more than once. For example, I now have a December December Philips test with the same processor on my test. It is enough for the average consumer to know that there are 4 cores, and that’s “cool.” However, more advanced comrades are aware that this is the Cortex-A5, 45nm process technology and the Play line. And the Adreno 203 graphics chip to boot. There are no questions only on the amount of RAM - 1 GB. ROM - 4 GB, of which about 2.7 GB is available in total.
Benchmarks do not try to hide the fact that the filling of Highscreen Boost 2 has a budget status, nothing can be done about it.
As usual, everything is relative. In the system menu, web surfing and other tasks, the smartphone slows down extremely rarely, in this regard, the model is a cut above the first “boost”, which at any time, even in the simplest application, could start giving out slide shows (at least for me) . And if the predecessor (in my case) even refused to start the camera a couple of times, then this did not happen with Highscreen Boost 2.
With video, the situation is predictable and has been mentioned more than once in smartphone reviews with Qualcomm 8225Q. In a good way, the limit of possibilities here rests in HD, under certain circumstances (say, low bit rate) - in Full HD. If you are going on a long journey and downloading movies to Highscreen Boost 2, I would highly recommend that you start each file first to avoid disappointment. I myself am used to confining myself to all kinds of DVDrip on mobile devices, of the six proposed films, all played normally.
An attempt to use a memory card with a prepared universal cache for a dozen games was not entirely successful, for more than half of the titles it was necessary to download the content manually. The capabilities of Qualcomm 8225Q in the gaming issue are well known to me, the only concern was the load due to HD resolution. Fortunately, it worked out - Adreno 203 out of habit routinely simplified the schedule and painlessly allowed time to spend on Modern combat 4: Zero Hour and others like him. Of course, the smoothness of the gameplay is not ideal, but even below 20 FPS the frequency has not fallen for a long time anywhere. Plus, due to the resolution, the picture seemed to me much more beautiful in comparison with the similar configuration of hardware with qHD.
Android 4.1.2 in Highscreen Boost is devoid of special decorations, there is almost no additional software - it is understandable given the lack of memory. There are Hangouts, 4Sync client (remember about the "freebie"), a very convenient file manager, as well as a firmware update utility "over the air". There are a couple of shortcuts like EQ and Wi-Fi hotspot activation. The settings of SIM-cards, the program of calls and SMS, and so on, have not been modernized in any way - I think you have already seen enough of these menus over the past year.
Autonomy
The most interesting moment of the review. So, I present the results obtained for a 6,000 mAh battery.
- Watch HD video - 13 hours 50 minutes. FPS - 23, bitrate 4,924 kbps, MKV. Screen brightness and sound - maximum;
- Epic Citadel 3D, cyclic "tour" - 8 hours 50 minutes. Screen brightness and sound - maximum;
- GPS and Yandex.Maps - 16 hours 10 minutes. Screen brightness - maximum;
- Telephone conversation - 50 hours. Maximum volume, screen off, active 3G connection;
- Music - 50 hours. Maximum volume;
- 3G Internet - 7 hours 20 minutes. Test on a 34 kb page with a full reload every three seconds;
- Wi-Fi Internet - 17 hours. The same conditions as in the 3G test.
“Think for yourself, decide for yourself”, as it is sung in one well-known song. I will also give the test results of the site x-drivers.ru. Their methodology is described here and allows you to approximately simulate a one-day more or less active use of the smartphone. After testing with the guys, the smartphone showed 90% of the remaining charge . For comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S IV in the same test left 62%.
Conclusion
Highscreen Boost 2 is a purely evolutionary product. The battery has become larger, the camera is better, there are not many software “sores” of the predecessor. Plus, the “trick” with interchangeable batteries of different capacities looks like an interesting solution. The model seemed to me the same "hard worker" as the first Highscreen Boost. That is, you can’t take the device to top-end smartphones even if you don’t touch autonomy, but the model does not look like an unnecessarily low-cost solution. Probably, I would recommend Highscreen Boost 2 to people who periodically have to remain without an outlet for a long time - hiking enthusiasts, comrades with regular business trips, etc. The model sells for 10 990 rubles (~ $ 340). Just in case, after the release of Highscreen Boost 2, the price of its “grandparent” dropped to 6,990 rubles (~ $ 220).
