September 29, 2015 at 11:08Highscreen Pure F: affordable and clean Android Lollipop
A few years ago, A-brands launched a kind of trend in the budget segment of smartphones: until about 2013 it was believed that the brighter the gadget looks, the better. Then the vector changed dramatically - the phrase “looks more expensive than it really is” became the most prestigious characteristic of inexpensive smartphones. Affordable, but rigorous smartphones continue to be released now, but in 2015 they look rather solid and boring: the design of a monophonic rectangle has been exploited so many times that fantasies on this topic have clearly run out.
Released in June this year, Highscreen Pure F is a symbiotic smartphone: in front it is geometrically perfect (and looks really more expensive than the 5,990 rubles that they ask for it), but the back cover breaks all the templates. Firstly, there is a choice of five colors: yellow, turquoise, orange, white and black. Secondly, the lid is slightly rounded - it seems that the device consists of two layers. In a word, Pure F has its own face - this smartphone is not only bright, but also recognizable.
Highscreen Pure F comes in a small cardboard box, decorated with a drawing of the same smartphone. Only the device itself (with a protective film on which the main characteristics are listed), a battery, a microUSB cable for synchronization, as well as a network adapter for charging are given in the kit. The rest is documentation. The only drawbacks may be the lack of a headset, but given the standard 3.5 mm jack, a truncated kit can hardly be considered a serious drawback.
The cover is perhaps the most atypical element of Pure F: it is slightly rough (in turquoise) and differs by touch from the glossy front panel. In addition, the brand name is engraved on the lid - and it looks more advantageous than a bright inscription below or above the screen. Two more noticeable elements left behind are a three-row speaker grid and a five megapixel camera with flash.
The left end of the Pure F is completely free of keys and connectors. On the right is the “rocker” for volume control and the button responsible for unlocking the smartphone. At the top is a 3.5mm headphone jack, at the bottom is a microUSB connector and a tiny microphone hole.
The front panel is extremely concise. Three touch controls, a four-inch screen, a speaker grid and a barely noticeable 0.3-megapixel camera - the exterior of the front panel is exhausted. The proximity and light sensors remained invisible, but they, nevertheless, are present.
Despite the rather wide frames around the screen, using a smartphone is extremely convenient. Even after the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 (which is not so big today), the Pure F is felt in the palm of your hand with a device that you can control with one hand and not be afraid to drop it.
Under the cover, which can be removed without any difficulties, everything is more or less standard: two slots for full-sized SIM cards, a battery connector (1500 mAh), a microSD expansion card slot (up to 64 GB).
Pure F is equipped with a four-inch WVGA screen with a resolution of 800x480 and an aspect ratio of 16: 9. The pixel density is 233 per inch, that is, less than the reference 300 (by the standards of Steve Jobs, it is at this level that the human eye ceases to recognize individual pixels). The graininess of the Highscreen public sector is noticeable, but not critical - it’s still worth remembering that, given the current rate of Pure F, it costs less than $ 100.
Viewing angles are also average (with a significant deviation, color inversion occurs), but at maximum brightness the information on the screen can be distinguished even in sunny weather (unless, of course, avoid direct sunlight). There is also a “smart” auto-adjustment of the backlight. It should be noted that almost always (both at home and indoors) average brightness is enough.
One of the main advantages of Pure F is the sensitivity of the display. Tests showed that multi-touch distinguishes only two simultaneous touches, but more rarely is needed. But these two touches are read at the level of, if not flagships, then smartphones, which are much more expensive. Minimum false positives even when used with just one hand. If you hold the smartphone with both hands, the accuracy will be almost absolute.
Highscreen Pure F was released this summer, so Android 5.0.2 is used as the OS here. The name of the model (Pure - “clean”) is fully justified - there are no third-party launchers, nor dozens of proprietary applications, so Android is not much different from the stock one (for example, in Nexus).
Two main advantages are a stylish and light theme, as well as energy saving settings. In normal mode, batteries with a capacity of 1500 mAh are enough for daylight use, but if the smartphone needs to be prolonged, you can turn on the power saving mode (or set automatic activation when it reaches 5% or 10%). Then the top bar turns orange, and power consumption drops sharply.
Under extreme loads, Pure F behaves exactly like any smartphone with such a battery: 3-4 hours of three-dimensional games, 5 hours of watching a movie at medium brightness, 8-10 hours of continuous reading (depending on the backlight). No overheating was noticed during testing.
The processor is played by the MediaTek MT6582M chipset with four ARM Cortex-A7 cores (1.3 GHz) and an ARM Mali-400 MP2 graphics accelerator. The amount of RAM is gigabytes. Both specifications are far from flagship, but Android Lollipop on Pure F, if it does not fly, works as smoothly as possible. There were no crashes of applications, jams of the interface in "heavy" three-dimensional games at medium settings, too.
With the built-in memory, everything is also in order. Of the claimed 8 GB, 1.37 GB is reserved for software installation, 3.5 GB for file storage, and the rest is occupied by the system. It’s not worth it to be upset - it’s easier to immediately get a memory card (fortunately, they are supported up to 64 GB).
It is hard to wait for masterpieces from a five-megapixel module without autofocus, but the Pure F camera copes with the main tasks: in good lighting, landscapes and portraits are more or less clear, and in poor lighting the white balance is slightly disturbed. The lack of autofocus most affects the quality of the text (relevant for schoolchildren and students), but the letters are still quite distinguishable, especially if you activate the HDR mode.
Video is recorded in FullHD at 15 frames per second. The front camera (maximum resolution - 640x480) is focused exclusively on video conferencing.
At first, the menu is shocked by the presence of two applications called “Camera”, but then everything falls into place. The second “Camera” is one of the few proprietary programs found in Android on Pure F. The alternative “Camera” differs from the stock application by the presence of a huge number of modes and settings: for example, you can select a filter before shooting, adjust the exposure, or choose one of three brightness values contrast or saturation. All this helps to compensate for the lack of autofocus with software tools.
As for the rest of the multimedia component, the sound in this model also does not correspond to the adjective "budget". The speaker produces a volume higher than average (especially if the smartphone is lying on the table with the screen down), and in the headphones (tested on Apple EarPods) the tracks sound loud, clear and volume. If you wish, you can adjust the sound using the equalizer. As a bonus, there is an FM radio, but it requires headphones to be used as an antenna.
Highscreen turned out to be super-affordable (taking into account the current course), a bright and stylish two-sim card with an up-to-date OS, a minimum of third-party applications (all pre-installed ones are useful), a sensitive and responsive screen, and excellent ergonomics. The list of shortcomings can be a stretch to bring the battery (1500 mAh - not enough) and lack of autofocus. At the same time, Pure F fulfills its money entirely and completely - if budget smartphones on Android are most often advised to younger students and older users, then this gadget is universal.
Official site Highscreen - highscreen.ru
Online store - shop.highscreen.ru
Released in June this year, Highscreen Pure F is a symbiotic smartphone: in front it is geometrically perfect (and looks really more expensive than the 5,990 rubles that they ask for it), but the back cover breaks all the templates. Firstly, there is a choice of five colors: yellow, turquoise, orange, white and black. Secondly, the lid is slightly rounded - it seems that the device consists of two layers. In a word, Pure F has its own face - this smartphone is not only bright, but also recognizable.
Kit
Highscreen Pure F comes in a small cardboard box, decorated with a drawing of the same smartphone. Only the device itself (with a protective film on which the main characteristics are listed), a battery, a microUSB cable for synchronization, as well as a network adapter for charging are given in the kit. The rest is documentation. The only drawbacks may be the lack of a headset, but given the standard 3.5 mm jack, a truncated kit can hardly be considered a serious drawback.
Design
The cover is perhaps the most atypical element of Pure F: it is slightly rough (in turquoise) and differs by touch from the glossy front panel. In addition, the brand name is engraved on the lid - and it looks more advantageous than a bright inscription below or above the screen. Two more noticeable elements left behind are a three-row speaker grid and a five megapixel camera with flash.
The left end of the Pure F is completely free of keys and connectors. On the right is the “rocker” for volume control and the button responsible for unlocking the smartphone. At the top is a 3.5mm headphone jack, at the bottom is a microUSB connector and a tiny microphone hole.
The front panel is extremely concise. Three touch controls, a four-inch screen, a speaker grid and a barely noticeable 0.3-megapixel camera - the exterior of the front panel is exhausted. The proximity and light sensors remained invisible, but they, nevertheless, are present.
Despite the rather wide frames around the screen, using a smartphone is extremely convenient. Even after the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 (which is not so big today), the Pure F is felt in the palm of your hand with a device that you can control with one hand and not be afraid to drop it.
Under the cover, which can be removed without any difficulties, everything is more or less standard: two slots for full-sized SIM cards, a battery connector (1500 mAh), a microSD expansion card slot (up to 64 GB).
Screen
Pure F is equipped with a four-inch WVGA screen with a resolution of 800x480 and an aspect ratio of 16: 9. The pixel density is 233 per inch, that is, less than the reference 300 (by the standards of Steve Jobs, it is at this level that the human eye ceases to recognize individual pixels). The graininess of the Highscreen public sector is noticeable, but not critical - it’s still worth remembering that, given the current rate of Pure F, it costs less than $ 100.
Viewing angles are also average (with a significant deviation, color inversion occurs), but at maximum brightness the information on the screen can be distinguished even in sunny weather (unless, of course, avoid direct sunlight). There is also a “smart” auto-adjustment of the backlight. It should be noted that almost always (both at home and indoors) average brightness is enough.
One of the main advantages of Pure F is the sensitivity of the display. Tests showed that multi-touch distinguishes only two simultaneous touches, but more rarely is needed. But these two touches are read at the level of, if not flagships, then smartphones, which are much more expensive. Minimum false positives even when used with just one hand. If you hold the smartphone with both hands, the accuracy will be almost absolute.
Operating system and battery
Highscreen Pure F was released this summer, so Android 5.0.2 is used as the OS here. The name of the model (Pure - “clean”) is fully justified - there are no third-party launchers, nor dozens of proprietary applications, so Android is not much different from the stock one (for example, in Nexus).
Two main advantages are a stylish and light theme, as well as energy saving settings. In normal mode, batteries with a capacity of 1500 mAh are enough for daylight use, but if the smartphone needs to be prolonged, you can turn on the power saving mode (or set automatic activation when it reaches 5% or 10%). Then the top bar turns orange, and power consumption drops sharply.
Under extreme loads, Pure F behaves exactly like any smartphone with such a battery: 3-4 hours of three-dimensional games, 5 hours of watching a movie at medium brightness, 8-10 hours of continuous reading (depending on the backlight). No overheating was noticed during testing.
Performance and memory
The processor is played by the MediaTek MT6582M chipset with four ARM Cortex-A7 cores (1.3 GHz) and an ARM Mali-400 MP2 graphics accelerator. The amount of RAM is gigabytes. Both specifications are far from flagship, but Android Lollipop on Pure F, if it does not fly, works as smoothly as possible. There were no crashes of applications, jams of the interface in "heavy" three-dimensional games at medium settings, too.
With the built-in memory, everything is also in order. Of the claimed 8 GB, 1.37 GB is reserved for software installation, 3.5 GB for file storage, and the rest is occupied by the system. It’s not worth it to be upset - it’s easier to immediately get a memory card (fortunately, they are supported up to 64 GB).
Camera sound
It is hard to wait for masterpieces from a five-megapixel module without autofocus, but the Pure F camera copes with the main tasks: in good lighting, landscapes and portraits are more or less clear, and in poor lighting the white balance is slightly disturbed. The lack of autofocus most affects the quality of the text (relevant for schoolchildren and students), but the letters are still quite distinguishable, especially if you activate the HDR mode.
Video is recorded in FullHD at 15 frames per second. The front camera (maximum resolution - 640x480) is focused exclusively on video conferencing.
At first, the menu is shocked by the presence of two applications called “Camera”, but then everything falls into place. The second “Camera” is one of the few proprietary programs found in Android on Pure F. The alternative “Camera” differs from the stock application by the presence of a huge number of modes and settings: for example, you can select a filter before shooting, adjust the exposure, or choose one of three brightness values contrast or saturation. All this helps to compensate for the lack of autofocus with software tools.
As for the rest of the multimedia component, the sound in this model also does not correspond to the adjective "budget". The speaker produces a volume higher than average (especially if the smartphone is lying on the table with the screen down), and in the headphones (tested on Apple EarPods) the tracks sound loud, clear and volume. If you wish, you can adjust the sound using the equalizer. As a bonus, there is an FM radio, but it requires headphones to be used as an antenna.
conclusions
Highscreen turned out to be super-affordable (taking into account the current course), a bright and stylish two-sim card with an up-to-date OS, a minimum of third-party applications (all pre-installed ones are useful), a sensitive and responsive screen, and excellent ergonomics. The list of shortcomings can be a stretch to bring the battery (1500 mAh - not enough) and lack of autofocus. At the same time, Pure F fulfills its money entirely and completely - if budget smartphones on Android are most often advised to younger students and older users, then this gadget is universal.
Official site Highscreen - highscreen.ru
Online store - shop.highscreen.ru
