Verykool Quantum review: KitKat and LTE can't save the Quantum
Fast data speeds and Android KitKat can't save this disappointing device.
The unlocked Verykool Quantum is the first device from the San Diego-based company to run on Android KitKat and support 4G LTE networks. That's a big step forward for Verykool, which has made only 3G Jelly Bean devices until now.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
Unfortunately, that's pretty much the only nice thing I can say about this phone. Though the phone costs just $230 direct from Verykool, unlocked and without a contract, the company has cut too many corners, especially with the camera and display, to get to that price low.
Design
Sporting a rounded, thin design with a metallic band around the edges, the Quantum looks very similar to the Samsung Galaxy S4, albeit bigger. It also bears a striking resemblance to the Verykool Spark . Its official measurements are 5.6 inches tall by 2.9 inches wide and just 0.35-inch thick (143 by 73 by 8.9 mm). It weighs 4.9 ounces (140 grams), which makes it a tad heavier than the Spark.
It feels large in my hands, bordering on phablet size but still small enough to use one-handed. It's also easy to grip and feels comfortable to hold up to my ear for a phone call. Thankfully, the volume rocker along the left side is low enough that it's easy to press while on a call.
As for the other buttons and ports, you'll find the power/lock button on the right edge, while the headphone jack is situated at the top. The microUSB charging port is at the bottom-right. On the back, there's a small speaker grill for the external speaker.
The Quantum has a 5-inch, 480x854-pixel (198 ppi) display. While five-inch phones have become the norm these days, most have a 1080p display. Despite its lower resolution, the screen is still sharp and readable, though text occasionally appears fuzzy. Icons, menus, and other on-screen elements look large and prominent and fill the screen nicely. Colors look vibrant, though just a touch oversaturated. In direct sunlight, the screen is tough to see, so just keep in mind that you might have trouble with it outside on a sunny day.
Surrounding the phone's 5-inch screen is a thick, white bezel, where you'll find the capacitive menu, home and back buttons, as well as the front-facing camera and ambient light sensor. There's a smooth polycarbonate white battery cover on the back, which is easy to remove but harder to get back on completely. I needed to press all around the sides to get the cover to snap back into place, and even then, I noticed a few gaps between the cover and body of the phone.
Behind that back cover is the thin battery, as well as SIM card and microSD card slots. You don't need to removed the battery to install an SD card, which is convenient. The Quantum uses a full-size SIM, so you'll need an adapter if you have a mini SIM card.
Software features
The Quantum ships with Android 4.4 KitKat, and it's the first phone from Verykool to come with the newest flavor of Android. With KitKat, the phone has all the standard Google apps, such as Hangouts, Maps and Calendar. There's also the standard notification menu, where you can swipe down with one finger to see notifications and swipe with two fingers to bring up a quick settings menu.
Verykool kept many elements of KitKat intact, and didn't do much to modify the phone's software design, but there are a few special tweaks. First, there's a persistent Google search bar at the top of each home screen, which can't be easily removed. That search bar is your only gateway to Google Search, since you can't swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open the app. You also cannot edit the number of homescreens you have; you're stuck with at least five, whether you use them or not.
Verykool also included a handful of extra apps, including Skype, office suite WPS Office, and Verykool Device Care, which monitors your phone's vital signs, such as battery life and RAM usage.
Camera and video
The Quantum is equipped with an 8-megapixel main camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera, yet and neither perform well. In fact, the rear camera is one of the worst I've encountered among Verykool phones, for a variety of reasons.
While shooting, the camera had a tough time focusing, for both wide and close-up shots. There's an automatic focus, and you can also tap the screen to adjust the focus, and I often needed to tap twice or three times to get the right shot.
Even when I focused the lens, the image on the screen viewfinder still looked inexplicably fuzzy, as if I was watching a low-resolution video. I couldn't fix this, no matter how many settings I manipulated. However, after I captured a shot, the photo looked a bit more clear, both on the phone's screen and on my computer. There's definitely a discrepancy between what you see in the viewfinder and the finished photo.
To make matters worse, many photos I shot with the Quantum had lighting issues. Most photos looked darker than they should, and colors looked muted and flat. Check out the following photos to see the Quantum's camera in action, and click on each photo to enlarge.
While the Quantum's camera didn't do well with photos, it performed better for shooting video. It shoots 720p-resolution video, and the clips I shot looked clear and well defined. Even the preview in the viewfinder looked better than when I was taking photos. While you cannot manually change focus while shooting, the camera did a decent job of automatically adjusting for lighting while recording.
Though the phone is running KitKat, it uses the stock camera interface from Jelly Bean, with minimal on-screen controls and a simple shutter button. However, the swipe-up controls to change the lighting, start a timer, or adjust the shooting mode can be finicky. The camera has a handful of features, including a panorama mode, scene settings and HDR.
Call quality
The Quantum is an unlocked phone that can run on any GSM network in the US or around the world. You can just pop a SIM card in the back to make calls and access data. I tested the phone's call quality on T-Mobile's network in San Francisco and was impressed overall with the results. Calls sounded loud and clear, with no crackling or static. My calling partner sounded a bit muffled, but it was still easy to hear what he was saying. On his end, he said I sounded natural.
On speakerphone, the Quantum has trouble picking up my voice unless I held the microphone right next to my mouth. The audio also wasn't very loud from the speaker, even at full volume, and my calling partner's voice sounded distorted at times. Likewise, the external speaker didn't sound very loud or full when playing music or video.
Podcast
Performance: Processor, data, and battery
Inside, the Quantum has a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and 1GB of RAM. The processor didn't blow me away with its performance, and in the graphics-heavy game Riptide 2, the performance was choppy and sluggish at times. However, the phone felt fast enough when opening apps and zipping through menus. It also handled videos well, with smooth playback.
VeryKool Quantum (unlocked) performance times
Average 4G LTE download speed | 14.68Mbps |
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Average 4G LTE upload speed | 14.42Mbps |
App download (Temple Run 2) | 45.8MB in 38.15 seconds |
CNET mobile site load | 2.4 seconds |
CNET desktop site load | 4.8 seconds |
Boot time to lock screen | 33 seconds |
Camera boot time | 2.05 seconds |
The Quantum supports 4G LTE, and I was able to get a signal using T-Mobile's network in San Francisco. With that network, websites loaded lightning-fast and apps download in less than a minute. I was able to pull impressive though inconsistent download and upload speeds too, averaging 14.42 Mbps up and 14.68 down.
The phone runs on a 2,000mAh battery, which Verykool says can last for 240 hours (10 days) on standby. In my testing, the phone held up very well over a few days of light use and can easily last a full day with lots of phone calls, checking email, and using the camera. However, it only lasted 5 hours and 30 minutes during the CNET video battery test.
For your storage needs, there's 2GB of internal storage for apps, photos and other files, and you can add up to 64GB with an SD card.
Should you buy it?
I had high hopes for the Verykool Quantum, since it's the first model from the company to offer KitKat and 4G. Unfortunately, the phone didn't keep me excited for long, because of its inferior camera, sluggish performance and few features. Like many Verykool models, the best feature of the Quantum is that the phone comes unlocked, ready for you to use on any GSM carrier that you want.
However, if you're willing to be tied to a carrier, the Samsung Galaxy Avant on T-Mobile costs $230 and offers similar specs and more features than the Quantum.
Another option is the 2014 Motorola Moto G . Even though it doesn't support 4G LTE, it's a better buy, for both specs and cost. The phone costs $180 unlocked in the US (£150 in the UK, and AU$269 in Australia) and has a higher-resolution screen, a more capable camera and snappier performance. If LTE is a must-have for you, there's also the later-model Moto G 4G LTE for $220.