Vernee apollo lite discussion. Review of the Vernee Apollo smartphone: a new body and a few more innovations for last year's Apollo Lite. Information about the navigation and location technologies supported by your device

The Vernee brand appeared quite recently, to be precise - in February 2016 and immediately “shot” with its balanced budget product - Thor. And today on review powerful smartphone on the Helio X20 processor with 4Gb of RAM, which was given the name Vernee Apollo Lite. Well, as Yuri Gagarin said: “Let's go!” The prefix Light means a lightweight version. Vernee is planning to release its flagship Apollo soon, which will differ from the Lite version in its larger amount of RAM (6Gb versus 4Gb) and internal memory (128Gb versus 32Gb). In addition, it will be equipped with a 2K screen (with Lite versions- Full HD). But the estimated price for the product will be about $350, which is much more. Therefore, I think the model will not be very popular. But Apollo Lite has a more than adequate price tag for its functionality. I suggest you watch the video version of the review, where you can see the smartphone in action.

Detailed technical specifications :
CPU: 10 core Helio X20 (MTK6797) with a maximum core clock speed of 2.3 Ghz
Graphic arts: 4 core Mali-T880, 780MHz
RAM: 4GB
Built-in memory: 32GB, expandable up to 128GB
Screen: - 5.5 inches, IPS, 1920x1080, SHARP IGZO - Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. - Oleophobic coating.
Camera: - Main: 16 megapixels, F/2.0, RGBW light-sensor technology, PDAF. Possibility of recording video in 4K resolution (30 frames per second) and Full HD at 60 frames per second. - Front: 5 megapixels.
Networks: 2G: Gsm 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz 3G: Wcdma 900 / 2100MHz 4G: Fdd-lte 800 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600MHz
Available slots: 1 micro SIM+1 nano SIM/TFcard
Additional functions : - USB type C, - Fast charging PUMP EXPRESS 3.0 - Fingerprint scanner, - Dual-band WiFi
Battery: 3180mAh
operating system: Android 6.0
Dimensions: 152 x 76.2 x 9.2mm
Weight: 175 g

A little information about the MTK6797 Helio X20 processor, which is the heart of the Vernee Apollo Lite smartphone. The processor has a three-cluster architecture and ten computing cores. This helps to use the full potential of the smartphone as efficiently and economically as possible. Let me explain, out of 10 cores: 2 Cortex-A72 cores operating at a frequency of 2.1GHz - 2.3GHz, 4 Cortex-A53 cores operating at a frequency of 1.85GHz, 4 Cortex-A53 cores operating at a frequency of 1.4GHz. This allows you to efficiently distribute tasks to optimize performance and save your battery. For example, when performing simple tasks, such as calls, the processor uses only one cluster with cores low frequencies. And at maximum loads the cores begin to work with high frequency. In addition to performance, thanks to the new processor, high-resolution video shooting, up to 4k, has become available. The graphics have also been improved - Mali-T880, 780MHz, although it is quite inferior to the new Adreno, is nevertheless a step forward and provides high performance in the most modern and graphically complex games. In general, in my opinion Helio X20 perfect solution for smartphones medium price category. But let's return to Apollo Lite and look at the package. Everything here is very modest: in a black box except for the smartphone, usb cable, charger, documentation and a paperclip for removing SIM card trays - nothing. The basic package does not include protective glass or a case, although the smartphone itself supports working with a smart case - you need to purchase it separately.
The design can be called classic. Alollo lite does not have any special features that make it stand out from the crowd, but it follows modern trends, offering a discreet, formal style. The 5.5-inch screen size is justified here, because with such performance it can be used as a replacement for a tablet. On big screen It is convenient to read Internet pages, you can comfortably play, watch videos. In my not too big hand, the smartphone lies quite comfortably, there is no feeling of shoveling.
The “face” of the smartphone is very simple, without any special features. Not really though. The manufacturer decided to abandon the usual touch buttons and made them on-screen. The first impression was negative, because the area under the screen allows you to easily place the controls. But just a few days later I changed my attitude towards on-screen buttons. They are implemented very conveniently in the smartphone; at any time you can turn on full-screen mode with one click, and then use a swipe from the bottom of the screen to exit it. The frames are small; in a black smartphone they seem even smaller than they actually are.
There is an event indicator, it is hidden in the upper left corner. Proximity and light sensors were also placed here. They work correctly: when the smartphone is approached to the ear, the screen goes blank, no glitches were noticed. Dynamic brightness change also works correctly, I have the brightness set to about 50% with automatic adjustment, at this level I feel comfortable using it both indoors and outdoors. The front camera takes pictures at a maximum resolution of 5 megapixels. The quality of the pictures is not bad, but the main purpose is video conversations. The earpiece produces clear and high quality sound, volume is average.
A USB type C connector was placed on the bottom edge. Sooner or later everyone will switch to this format, but now it’s more of an additional headache, since the format is not yet very widespread. However, there are many more advantages to it. Firstly, data transfer is much faster. If you shoot long videos, then the difference when transferred to a computer is noticeable to the naked eye. Well, the second thing is my favorite: this cable can be inserted in any direction. For some reason I always insert regular usb always on the wrong side, after which I turn them over and insert them on the right side, let alone children who often simply break them off. On the sides of the USB there are audio speaker grilles. But there is only one speaker in the smartphone, which is easily determined by closing the holes one by one with your finger. The sound is weak. Not in terms of volume, but in terms of quality. There are no low frequencies at all. In general, it can be described as loud, but squeaky.
The back cover is made of anodized aluminum and has a slightly rough texture. The smartphone is not slippery and pleasant to the touch. The upper and lower parts have plastic inserts painted in the color of the lid. In my copy, you can see that the gap at the top is slightly larger than at the bottom. This is not fatal, but this is what distinguishes TOP brands from the rest. In general, there are minor complaints about the build quality; for example, when you press on the plastic parts, you can hear a creaking sound. This often happens when combining plastic and metal. The same Redmi 3 squeaks quite a lot when squeezed.
The camera protrudes from the body by a fraction of a millimeter, and without a cover, scratches may appear on the glass. To the left is a double LED flash, one diode shines in cold tones, the other in warm tones. The overall brightness is high, it can be used as a flashlight. A fingerprint scanner was placed under the camera. I like this placement better than the front one; I can easily reach it with my index finger while holding the device in my right hand. Some prefer frontal placement, citing the fact that it is more convenient to unlock when the smartphone is lying on the table, without picking it up. In my opinion, this is a matter of habit, but personally, I always use my smartphone while holding it in my hands. The scanner's accuracy is not bad, but there have been better ones. For reading accuracy, I simply hammer the same finger into the base 2-3 times, changing the angle as I scan. Having done this operation, I get a reading accuracy of 99%. That is, unlocking almost always happens the first time!
Volume and lock buttons on right side. When tapped, they ring a little - this is the main complaint about the assembly. Although other owners told me that they were fine with it.
Trays with SIM cards in the smartphone are separate. They were moved to the left side. This solution allows you to replace a SIM card or memory card without being left without a connection. They come out quite hard. One of the trays is a combination tray and allows you to install either a SIM card or a memory card, fortunately there is 32Gb built in here, which is enough for most tasks.

Headphones, standard - 3.5 inches, the connector is placed on the top edge. The sound was extremely surprising, in a good way. For a device that does not have an amplifier and a dedicated audio chip, the Apollo plays very powerfully. I assessed the music on smartphone headphones - xiaomi pistons 2 and powerful Benwis H600. Was amazed. Powerful and clear sound, abundance of low frequencies. This sound will satisfy the vast majority of listeners, with the exception of audiophiles.
One of the main features of the smartphone is support for Pump Express 3.0 fast charging technology., the smartphone is already equipped with such a charger. This latest technology developed by Mediatek, according to the manufacturer, is capable of charging the device by 70% in 30 minutes. At the same time, the battery capacity is not specified and is essentially just beautiful marketing. We will consider real job technology using the example of Vernee Apollo Lite, which was one of the first to support it. Essentially Pump Express 3.0 is a response to qualcomm quick charge 3.0. And the answer was more than worthy. Judging by the characteristics, charging can occur at 5V, 7V, 9V with a maximum current of 2A. And at a voltage of 12V, the maximum current will be 1.5A.
I decided to check the capabilities of this charger in detail. For this purpose, a tester with support was used high voltage. I’ll say right away that I couldn’t see 12V voltage. Charging starts at 5V, quickly jumps to 7V and almost immediately to 9V. In this case, the maximum current is 1.55A - 1.8A. In this mode, charging continues almost until the very end. And even at the end, the voltage does not drop, only the current gradually decreases, to zero.
The next thing I measured was the total charging time. Along the way, I monitored the temperature on the battery, because the smartphone gets noticeably hot. I started charging at 1% and checked the charge level and temperature every 10 minutes. When you turn on the screen, charging switches to 5V mode, so there is a slight error. When the screen turns off, charging quickly returns to 9V. After 10 minutes the charge level was 11%. Another 10 minutes and the charge level is 27%. The battery temperature varies from 44 to 47 degrees.
Another 10 minutes of charging - level 44%. That is, in half an hour the smartphone can be charged almost half. We continue taking measurements. The next 10 minutes - 60%, another 10 minutes - 76%. It turns out that to charge your smartphone to 70% you need to spend about 45 minutes. The temperature rises to 49 degrees.
Final part. 10 minutes - 91%. In exactly one hour, the smartphone charged from 1% to 91%. Then the charging current begins to drop, and with it the temperature. 10 minutes - 99%. After another 5 minutes, the charge was 100% and the current dropped to 0. The last 10 percent of the smartphone is charged with a low current of 0.8A, 0.6A, 0.4A, and so on until zero.
What can we understand from this? First, Mediatek's claim to charge your smartphone to 70 percent in 30 minutes is a simple trick. That is, this can actually be done, but the battery capacity should be about 1500 mAh. A larger battery means it takes longer to charge. Everything is logical. Secondly, I did not see the 12V charge mode. Although the power of 9V and 2A will be the same as 12V and 1.5A. Third, the maximum current obtained at 9V does not exceed 1.8A. Either the charger is no longer capable of delivering, or the cable does not allow more to pass through. Fourth - Despite the above, the technology is very cool and allows you to fully charge a smartphone with a battery capacity of 3180 mAh in just over an hour. Fifth, when charging the battery does not heat up slightly, which of course will shorten its service life. As is known, for lithium, high temperatures are harmful. After a year of constant charging, the battery will lose capacity.
What conclusion did I draw for myself? Is Pump Express 3.0 evil? In no case. I just see this use case: If you charge your smartphone overnight, there is no point in using a fast charger. Any one with a voltage of 5V will do, all the same for the whole night. But if you need it urgently, quickly fill in as much as possible, this is where it will help new technology. In just 10 - 15 minutes you can charge your smartphone to a level that allows you to use it as a dialer for the rest of the day. Now about the battery capacity. With fast charging, the tester refused to adequately calculate the “filled electricity”. Therefore, I took a regular 5V charger from Aukey and completely discharged the smartphone and put it on charge in the off state. The maximum current was 1.23A, more smartphone refused to accept it, although the charger is designed for 2.5A. When charging was completed, the amount of current infused was 3490 mAh. Taking into account charging losses, we can say that the capacity corresponds to the declared 3180 mAh. And in the budget Thor with battery, the manufacturer also didn’t seem to deceive.
Now let's move on from numbers to real use. Under very active loads, the smartphone is able to work during daylight hours. With moderate use, it lasts about 2 days. On the first firmware (from the store) there was an incomprehensible battery waste. With the RAM cleared and WiFi turned off, 12% - 15% of the charge was consumed overnight. With the latest update they changed something and under the same conditions the discharge is 2% - 3%. In games, the charge simply melts before our eyes; a fully charged smart device runs out in a powerful game in 3 - 4 hours, depending on the brightness of the screen. In Antutu Battery Tester, at maximum brightness and sound volume, the smartphone lived for 3 hours 43 minutes and scored 5702 points.
In Geekbench 3, the battery scored 3845 points, the test lasted 6 hours 24 minutes. The results, let's say, are average, but no one promised us a long-lived life. Typical autonomy, the main thing is that it can withstand a day of active use.
But let's return to the smartphone. Or rather, his screen. Having removed the shipping film, I was surprised when I didn’t see anything underneath it. There was no film included. However, after 2 weeks of daily use, not a single scratch appeared on the screen, because the screen is covered with corning gorilla glass 3. It copes with scratches perfectly, but you shouldn’t drop your smartphone, because even gorilla glass is quite fragile and if it goes wrong, by coincidence, it can be broken by dropping it even from a height of half a meter, which is confirmed by the first “lucky ones” on 4pda. In addition to protective functions, the glass has an oleophobic coating. Moreover, it is of quite high quality, the finger glides perfectly over the surface, leaving almost no marks. And even if the screen is smeared, the grease can be easily wiped off with a regular cloth; run the screen over your jacket or jeans a couple of times and it’s as good as new. The quality of the oleophobic coating is also confirmed by the “drop test”; water collects in drops without leaving marks on the screen. This is especially clearly visible in the video (will be at the end), where I roll these droplets on the glass.
The quality of the display itself is also good. The picture looks juicy, the colors are natural. The detail is high, with Full HD resolution it is almost impossible to see the pixels. The manufacturer's website says that the display is from SHARP - IGZO. Its advantage over competitors is lower power consumption. But what’s more important to me is the image quality, and there are no complaints here. Indoors the picture is very colorful; outdoors in direct sun it certainly fades, but everything is visible even when the rays hit the screen directly.

Viewing angles correspond to IPS, there are no color distortions. There are no dead or overexposed pixels. On a black background, the absence of highlights is clearly visible, but the fact that they are not present on one copy does not guarantee their absence on another.
Next we move on to system operation and performance.
The smartphone has a “naked” Android version 6.0 installed without additional applications. Regular stock. There has been information on the official forum for a long time that Vernee is developing its own special shell for a smartphone whose name is V-OS. But my opinion is that all these shells only “weight down” the system, so I’m even glad to have a clean one Android versions. Although with any subsequent update this may change. It would be nice if they left a choice. Updates, by the way, come regularly - there is still something to improve. In three weeks, I have already installed two updates, the last of which came out quite recently - on August 29.
The system interfaces work quickly - pop-up menus, scrolling through screens, opening applications and other basic tasks are performed quickly and smoothly. A clean system is not loaded with junk. Thanks to 4 GB of RAM, you can comfortably work in the browser with a large number of tabs and minimize resource-intensive applications. During simple operation, the smartphone does not heat up, the temperature on the processor is 43 - 48 degrees, on the battery around 40 degrees. The sensors are impressive: accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, orientation sensor, magnetic sensor, vector rotation sensor, linear acceleration sensor and gravity sensor. The following is information from CPU-Z.

The firmware is completely stable. In three weeks I did not find any bugs. There were no freezes or reboots. The connection is good. There is a problem with 4G on the operator - tele2, it supports the necessary frequencies, but the connection is often lost (info from w3bsit3-dns.com). On the same MTS it works fine for everyone. Apparently the operator has a problem. Of course, one of the main features is powerful processor. Productivity is very high. Soon smartphones will be able to be connected to a monitor and used like computers. Seriously. 10 cores with huge processing power. Where is the progress going? On latest firmware V Antutu smartphone scores 86618 points. On earlier firmware the result was about 90,000 and I think the slight reduction was done deliberately to avoid rapid overheating and throttling. Even with this result, Apollo Light looks impressive in the ranking, ahead of such smartphones as Xiaomi Mi Max, iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
In Geekbench 3, the results are very impressive, especially in MultiCore mode, where the smartphone took the lead, leaving last year far behind Samsung flagship Galaxy S6.
Performance allows you to run any of the most graphics- and resource-demanding games. After spending the whole day on game tests, I wondered what the most beautiful and graphics-heavy games exist on Android? Asphalt 8, Real Racing 3, Modern Combat 5 - this is all clear, they launch and work perfectly. Mortal Combat X, X-Com and Dungeon Hunter were not impressed either. I wanted to find something newer and more powerful. After studying the topic, I selected 4 of the most powerful and beautiful games in my opinion. Perhaps someone will disagree with my list and name a more beautiful and powerful game - I’ll be happy to check it out. So, the first game is a mega hit, previously exclusive for iOS - Infinity Blade Saga. Action game with stunning graphics, storyline and online battles. It works without the slightest strain, but the smartphone is barely warm.
The second game is Godfire. Action RPG with excellent graphics and dynamic battles. A game in the style of Good of War. The game works normally even during battles with multiple opponents. Graphics settings are maximum. The heating of the smartphone is quite noticeable; after half an hour of playing it is already hot.
Next, the game Hellraid. A very atmospheric, creepy and incredibly beautiful adventure game. Full 3D with first person view. It works perfectly, fps does not drop at all, everything is very smooth. For some reason, the smartphone heats up the most during this game. It is necessary to take breaks every 30-40 minutes, otherwise it will not be comfortable to play.
The latest game is new, Assassin's Creed Identity. An adventure game with graphics like on a console. There are no problems here either - everything works without freezes or slowdowns.
You can see the launch of games in the video game test.

The overall performance of the device is undoubtedly influenced by the read and write speed of the internal storage and the speed of the RAM.

WiFi supports operation in two bands - 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Within the apartment, the reception level is high, then from left to right: in the room with the router, the next room has one wall, the far room has two walls. The maximum download speed is about 50 megabits in the room with the router and about 30 megabits in the far room. The router is the cheapest TP-Link with one antenna.
GPS has recently gone from being an Achilles' heel to one of MTK's advantages. You can and should use Apollo Lite as a navigator! Cold start (without Internet and WiFi) was 4 seconds! There was good cloudless weather outside, after 15 seconds the GPS connection was already with 17 satellites, and the smartphone found 18 of them in total.
Positioning accuracy - 5 meters. In reality it's even better. I checked the quality of positioning and connection stability by taking a 30-minute walk around the area, recording a track. After which I looked at the result on the map at home. The entire path was quite accurate, it didn’t point at houses or the road, it showed exactly the way I was walking. The smartphone was in the bag during the test.
Well, we have analyzed in detail all the functions of the smartphone, there is only one left - camera. Apollo Lite installed a camera with Samsung sensor S5K3P3 which uses Isocell technology. The camera takes pictures in a maximum resolution of 16 megapixels. But in fact, the camera disappointed me somewhat. That is, it’s not completely terrible, but still, I expected more in a smartphone for $200. But in fact she doesn’t film better cameras, which are installed on smartphones for $150. Perhaps the camera has not yet been finalized in the firmware. In the latest update, for example, work in HDR mode has been improved. But for now I can’t call the pictures good. Of course, she takes pictures instantly; before I have time to touch the screen, it is already saved in memory. Instant photo. But the number of blurry pictures is high, every 3 pictures are not clear. Therefore, you have to take 2-3 frames at once so as not to miss a beautiful moment. Below are examples of pictures under different lighting conditions (): Morning, in the shade.

I liked the panorama. It's very easy to get a high-quality photo. You can quickly move the camera while shooting. The gluing and overlapping areas are not visible. You can also view the photo in 360 degree mode on your smartphone. On the computer there is only a panorama.

In the evening, in low light, the pictures become simply terrible. Detail is lost and noise appears.

I didn't really like the photo at night with the flash. Incorrect synchronization is noticeable, causing the photo to come out overexposed.

The overall impression of the camera is average. In good conditions with normal lighting the pictures are good, in the evening and in low light they are terrible. Not everything is going smoothly with the flash either. There is something to work on. But the video unexpectedly pleased me. Although there are nuances here too - on the first firmware, there was a video recording mode in 4K resolution. In the next firmware it was removed, limiting the quality to FullHD. This is most likely due to overheating when recording long videos. They promised to return it after modification. Nose latest update, received a few days ago, it was not returned. Videos in FullHD turn out to be of high quality, here small example: When I was recording a test video, I witnessed the demonic essence of two kids :) At the beginning, at 20 seconds, I was amused by a boy who screamed as if the kid had torn his stomach open) And after the kid showed that he was still clearly with sadistic tendencies, when 58 seconds did a painful hold on a duck.

What alternatives are there in this price range with similar performance?
First of all, this is the recently released xiaomi redmi note 4. Advantages of Xiaomi over Apollo Lite:
- Battery 4000 mAh, versus 3180 mAh for Apollo.
- A more well-known brand that has won people's trust and a large community.
- Larger internal memory - 64Gb versus 32Gb
Advantages of Apollo Lite over Xiaomi redmi note 4:
- Charging Pump Express 3.0
- More RAM (4Gb vs 3GB)
- Connector USB type C
- Camera 16 megapixels for Apollo Lite, versus 13 megapixels for Xiaomi. Xiaomi, by the way, inherited the camera from its predecessor, which many, to put it mildly, are not happy with.
The rest is parity: a fingerprint scanner, a metal cover, a high-quality display and a powerful Helio X20 processor - both smartphones have all this. Stock Android or MIUI shell is a matter of taste, and both have their fans. The cost is also almost identical (I am not considering the younger version of redmi note 4 due to the small amount of built-in and RAM - 2GB\16G). To sum up, I can say that Vernee have released a worthy device. The advantages include: Powerful processor, high performance, high-quality screen, dual-band WiFi, GPS module, support for Pump Express 3.0 fast charging, modern interface USB C, normal operation of the fingerprint scanner. Among the shortcomings I can highlight: dangling volume buttons (in my copy) and a mediocre camera.

The Vernee Apollo Lite smartphone can be purchased in the store for $199. I recommend using it for any purchases in China and returning up to 10% of its value from each purchase to your account.

The Vernee brand appeared quite recently, to be precise - in February 2016 and immediately “shot” with its balanced budget product - Thor. And today we are reviewing a powerful smartphone with a Helio X20 processor with 4Gb of RAM, which was given the name Vernee Apollo Lite. Well, as Yuri Gagarin said: “Let's go!” The prefix Light means a lightweight version. Vernee is planning to release its flagship Apollo soon, which will differ from the Lite version in its larger amount of RAM (6Gb versus 4Gb) and internal memory (128Gb versus 32Gb). In addition, it will be equipped with a 2K screen (the Lite version has Full HD). But the estimated price for the product will be about $350, which is much more. Therefore, I think the model will not be very popular. But Apollo Lite has a more than adequate price tag for its functionality. I suggest you watch the video version of the review, where you can see the smartphone in action.

Detailed technical specifications :
CPU: 10 core Helio X20 (MTK6797) with a maximum core clock speed of 2.3 Ghz
Graphic arts: 4 core Mali-T880, 780MHz
RAM: 4GB
Built-in memory: 32GB, expandable up to 128GB
Screen: - 5.5 inches, IPS, 1920x1080, SHARP IGZO - Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. - Oleophobic coating.
Camera: - Main: 16 megapixels, F/2.0, RGBW light-sensor technology, PDAF. Possibility of recording video in 4K resolution (30 frames per second) and Full HD at 60 frames per second. - Front: 5 megapixels.
Networks: 2G: Gsm 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz 3G: Wcdma 900 / 2100MHz 4G: Fdd-lte 800 / 1800 / 2100 / 2600MHz
Available slots: 1 micro SIM+1 nano SIM / TFcard
Additional functions: - USB type C, - Fast charging PUMP EXPRESS 3.0 - Fingerprint scanner, - Dual-band WiFi
Battery: 3180mAh
operating system: Android 6.0
Dimensions: 152 x 76.2 x 9.2mm
Weight: 175 g

A little information about the MTK6797 Helio X20 processor, which is the heart of the Vernee Apollo Lite smartphone. The processor has a three-cluster architecture and ten computing cores. This helps to use the full potential of the smartphone as efficiently and economically as possible. Let me explain, out of 10 cores: 2 Cortex-A72 cores operating at a frequency of 2.1GHz - 2.3GHz, 4 Cortex-A53 cores operating at a frequency of 1.85GHz, 4 Cortex-A53 cores operating at a frequency of 1.4GHz. This allows you to efficiently distribute tasks to optimize performance and save your battery. For example, when performing simple tasks, such as calls, the processor uses only one cluster with low-frequency cores. And at maximum loads, the cores begin to operate at high frequencies. In addition to performance, thanks to the new processor, high-resolution video shooting, up to 4k, has become available. The graphics have also been improved - Mali-T880, 780MHz, although it is quite inferior to the new Adreno, is nevertheless a step forward and provides high performance in the most modern and graphically complex games. In general, in my opinion, Helio X20 is an excellent solution for mid-price smartphones. But let's return to Apollo Lite and look at the package. Everything here is very modest: in the black box there is nothing except a smartphone, a USB cable, a charger, documentation and a clip for removing SIM card trays. The basic package does not include protective glass or a case, although the smartphone itself supports working with a smart case - you need to purchase it separately.
The design can be called classic. Alollo lite does not have any special features that make it stand out from the crowd, but it follows modern trends, offering a discreet, formal style. The 5.5-inch screen size is justified here, because with such performance it can be used as a replacement for a tablet. On the large screen it is convenient to read Internet pages, you can comfortably play games, watch videos. In my not too big hand, the smartphone lies quite comfortably, there is no feeling of shoveling.
The “face” of the smartphone is very simple, without any special features. Not really though. The manufacturer decided to abandon the usual touch buttons and made them on-screen. The first impression was negative, because the area under the screen allows you to easily place the controls. But just a few days later I changed my attitude towards on-screen buttons. They are implemented very conveniently in the smartphone; at any time you can turn on full-screen mode with one click, and then use a swipe from the bottom of the screen to exit it. The frames are small; in a black smartphone they seem even smaller than they actually are.
There is an event indicator, it is hidden in the upper left corner. Proximity and light sensors were also placed here. They work correctly: when the smartphone is approached to the ear, the screen goes blank, no glitches were noticed. Dynamic brightness change also works correctly, I set the brightness to about 50% with automatic adjustment, at this level I am comfortable using it both indoors and outdoors. The front camera takes pictures at a maximum resolution of 5 megapixels. The quality of the pictures is not bad, but the main purpose is video conversations. The speaker produces clear and high-quality sound, the volume is average.
A USB type C connector was placed on the bottom edge. Sooner or later everyone will switch to this format, but now it’s more of an additional headache, since the format is not yet very widespread. However, there are many more advantages to it. Firstly, data transfer is much faster. If you shoot long videos, then the difference when transferred to a computer is noticeable to the naked eye. Well, the second thing is my favorite: this cable can be inserted in any direction. For some reason, I always insert a regular USB on the wrong side, after which I turn it over and insert it on the right side, not to mention children who often simply break them out. On the sides of the USB there are audio speaker grilles. But there is only one speaker in the smartphone, which is easily determined by closing the holes one by one with your finger. The sound is weak. Not in terms of volume, but in terms of quality. There are no low frequencies at all. In general, it can be described as loud, but squeaky.
The back cover is made of anodized aluminum and has a slightly rough texture. The smartphone is not slippery and pleasant to the touch. The upper and lower parts have plastic inserts painted in the color of the lid. In my copy, you can see that the gap at the top is slightly larger than at the bottom. This is not fatal, but this is what distinguishes TOP brands from the rest. In general, there are minor complaints about the build quality; for example, when you press on the plastic parts, you can hear a creaking sound. This often happens when combining plastic and metal. The same Redmi 3 squeaks quite a lot when squeezed.
The camera protrudes from the body by a fraction of a millimeter, and without a cover, scratches may appear on the glass. To the left is a double LED flash, one diode shines in cold tones, the other in warm tones. The overall brightness is high, it can be used as a flashlight. A fingerprint scanner was placed under the camera. I like this placement better than the front one; I can easily reach it with my index finger while holding the device in my right hand. Some prefer frontal placement, citing the fact that it is more convenient to unlock when the smartphone is lying on the table, without picking it up. In my opinion, this is a matter of habit, but personally, I always use my smartphone while holding it in my hands. The scanner's accuracy is not bad, but there have been better ones. For reading accuracy, I simply hammer the same finger into the base 2-3 times, changing the angle as I scan. Having done this operation, I get a reading accuracy of 99%. That is, unlocking almost always happens the first time!
Volume and lock buttons on the right side. When tapped, they ring a little - this is the main complaint about the assembly. Although other owners told me that they were fine with it.
Trays with SIM cards in the smartphone are separate. They were moved to the left side. This solution allows you to replace a SIM card or memory card without being left without a connection. They come out quite hard. One of the trays is a combination tray and allows you to install either a SIM card or a memory card, fortunately there is 32Gb built in here, which is enough for most tasks.

Headphones, standard - 3.5 inches, the connector is placed on the top edge. The sound was extremely surprising, in a good way. For a device that does not have an amplifier and a dedicated audio chip, the Apollo plays very powerfully. I assessed the music on smartphone headphones - xiaomi pistons 2 and powerful Benwis H600. Was amazed. Powerful and clear sound, plenty of low frequencies. This sound will satisfy the vast majority of listeners, with the exception of audiophiles.
One of the main features of the smartphone is support for Pump Express 3.0 fast charging technology., the smartphone is already equipped with such a charger. This latest technology developed by Mediatek, according to the manufacturer, is capable of charging the device by 70% in 30 minutes. At the same time, the battery capacity is not specified and is essentially just beautiful marketing. We will look at the real operation of the technology using the example of Vernee Apollo Lite, which was one of the first to support it. Essentially Pump Express 3.0 is a response to qualcomm quick charge 3.0. And the answer was more than worthy. Judging by the characteristics, charging can occur at 5V, 7V, 9V with a maximum current of 2A. And at a voltage of 12V, the maximum current will be 1.5A.
I decided to check the capabilities of this charger in detail. For this purpose, a tester with high voltage support was used. I’ll say right away that I couldn’t see 12V voltage. Charging starts at 5V, quickly jumps to 7V and almost immediately to 9V. In this case, the maximum current is 1.55A - 1.8A. In this mode, charging continues almost until the very end. And even at the end, the voltage does not drop, only the current gradually decreases, to zero.
The next thing I measured was the total charging time. Along the way, I monitored the temperature on the battery, because the smartphone gets noticeably hot. I started charging at 1% and checked the charge level and temperature every 10 minutes. When you turn on the screen, charging switches to 5V mode, so there is a slight error. When the screen turns off, charging quickly returns to 9V. After 10 minutes the charge level was 11%. Another 10 minutes and the charge level is 27%. The battery temperature varies from 44 to 47 degrees.
Another 10 minutes of charging - level 44%. That is, in half an hour the smartphone can be charged almost half. We continue taking measurements. The next 10 minutes - 60%, another 10 minutes - 76%. It turns out that to charge your smartphone to 70% you need to spend about 45 minutes. The temperature rises to 49 degrees.
Final part. 10 minutes - 91%. In exactly one hour, the smartphone charged from 1% to 91%. Then the charging current begins to drop, and with it the temperature. 10 minutes - 99%. After another 5 minutes, the charge was 100% and the current dropped to 0. The last 10 percent of the smartphone is charged with a low current of 0.8A, 0.6A, 0.4A, and so on until zero.
What can we understand from this? First, Mediatek's claim to charge your smartphone to 70 percent in 30 minutes is a simple trick. That is, this can actually be done, but the battery capacity should be about 1500 mAh. A larger battery means it takes longer to charge. Everything is logical. Secondly, I did not see the 12V charge mode. Although the power of 9V and 2A will be the same as 12V and 1.5A. Third, the maximum current obtained at 9V does not exceed 1.8A. Either the charger is no longer capable of delivering, or the cable does not allow more to pass through. Fourth - Despite the above, the technology is very cool and allows you to fully charge a smartphone with a battery capacity of 3180 mAh in just over an hour. Fifth, when charging the battery does not heat up slightly, which of course will shorten its service life. As is known, for lithium, high temperatures are harmful. After a year of constant charging, the battery will lose capacity.
What conclusion did I draw for myself? Is Pump Express 3.0 evil? In no case. I just see this use case: If you charge your smartphone overnight, there is no point in using a fast charger. Any one with a voltage of 5V will do, all the same for the whole night. But if you urgently need to quickly fill in as much as possible, this is where new technology will help. In just 10 - 15 minutes you can charge your smartphone to a level that allows you to use it as a dialer for the rest of the day. Now about the battery capacity. With fast charging, the tester refused to adequately calculate the “filled electricity”. Therefore, I took a regular 5V charger from Aukey and completely discharged the smartphone and put it on charge in the off state. The maximum current was 1.23A, the smartphone refused to accept more, although the charger is designed for 2.5A. When charging was completed, the amount of current infused was 3490 mAh. Taking into account charging losses, we can say that the capacity corresponds to the declared 3180 mAh. And in the budget Thor with battery, the manufacturer also didn’t seem to deceive.
Now let's move on from numbers to real use. Under very active loads, the smartphone is able to work during daylight hours. With moderate use, it lasts about 2 days. On the first firmware (from the store) there was an incomprehensible battery waste. With the RAM cleared and WiFi turned off, 12% - 15% of the charge was consumed overnight. With the latest update they changed something and under the same conditions the discharge is 2% - 3%. In games, the charge simply melts before our eyes; a fully charged smart device runs out in a powerful game in 3 - 4 hours, depending on the brightness of the screen. In Antutu Battery Tester, at maximum brightness and sound volume, the smartphone lived for 3 hours 43 minutes and scored 5702 points.
In Geekbench 3, the battery scored 3845 points, the test lasted 6 hours 24 minutes. The results, let's say, are average, but no one promised us a long-lived life. Typical autonomy, the main thing is that it can withstand a day of active use.
But let's return to the smartphone. Or rather, his screen. Having removed the shipping film, I was surprised when I didn’t see anything underneath it. There was no film included. However, after 2 weeks of daily use, not a single scratch appeared on the screen, because the screen is covered with corning gorilla glass 3. It copes with scratches perfectly, but you shouldn’t drop your smartphone, because even gorilla glass is quite fragile and if it goes wrong, by coincidence, it can be broken by dropping it even from a height of half a meter, which is confirmed by the first “lucky ones” on 4pda. In addition to protective functions, the glass has an oleophobic coating. Moreover, it is of quite high quality, the finger glides perfectly over the surface, leaving almost no marks. And even if the screen is smeared, the grease can be easily wiped off with a regular cloth; run the screen over your jacket or jeans a couple of times and it’s as good as new. The quality of the oleophobic coating is also confirmed by the “drop test”; water collects in drops without leaving marks on the screen. This is especially clearly visible in the video (will be at the end), where I roll these droplets on the glass.
The quality of the display itself is also good. The picture looks juicy, the colors are natural. The detail is high, with Full HD resolution it is almost impossible to see the pixels. The manufacturer's website says that the display is from SHARP - IGZO. Its advantage over competitors is lower power consumption. But what’s more important to me is the image quality, and there are no complaints here. Indoors the picture is very colorful; outdoors in direct sun it certainly fades, but everything is visible even when the rays hit the screen directly.

Viewing angles correspond to IPS, there are no color distortions. There are no dead or overexposed pixels. On a black background, the absence of highlights is clearly visible, but the fact that they are not present on one copy does not guarantee their absence on another.
Next we move on to system operation and performance.
The smartphone has “bare” Android version 6.0 installed without additional applications. Regular stock. There has been information on the official forum for a long time that Vernee is developing its own special shell for a smartphone, whose name is V-OS. But my opinion is that all these shells only “weight down” the system, so I’m even happy with the pure version of Android. Although with any subsequent update this may change. It would be nice if they left a choice. Updates, by the way, come regularly - there is still something to improve. In three weeks, I have already installed two updates, the last of which came out quite recently - on August 29.
The system interfaces work quickly - pop-up menus, scrolling through screens, opening applications and other basic tasks are performed quickly and smoothly. A clean system is not loaded with junk. Thanks to 4 GB of RAM, you can comfortably work in the browser with a large number of tabs and minimize resource-intensive applications. During simple operation, the smartphone does not heat up, the temperature on the processor is 43 - 48 degrees, on the battery around 40 degrees. The sensors are impressive: accelerometer, proximity sensor, light sensor, gyroscope, orientation sensor, magnetic sensor, vector rotation sensor, linear acceleration sensor and gravity sensor. The following is information from CPU-Z.

The firmware is completely stable. In three weeks I did not find any bugs. There were no freezes or reboots. The connection is good. There is a problem with 4G on the operator - tele2, it supports the necessary frequencies, but the connection is often lost (info from w3bsit3-dns.com). On the same MTS it works fine for everyone. Apparently the operator has a problem. Of course, one of the main features is a powerful processor. Productivity is very high. Soon smartphones will be able to be connected to a monitor and used like computers. Seriously. 10 cores with huge processing power. Where is the progress going? On the latest firmware in Antutu, the smartphone scores 86618 points. On earlier firmware the result was about 90,000 and I think the slight reduction was done deliberately to avoid rapid overheating and throttling. Even with this result, Apollo Light looks impressive in the ranking, ahead of smartphones such as Xiaomi Mi Max, iPhone 6 and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.
In Geekbench 3, the results are very impressive, especially in MultiCore mode, where the smartphone took the lead, leaving last year's flagship Samsung Galaxy S6 far behind.
Performance allows you to run any of the most graphics- and resource-demanding games. After spending the whole day on game tests, I wondered what the most beautiful and graphics-heavy games exist on Android? Asphalt 8, Real Racing 3, Modern Combat 5 - this is all clear, they launch and work perfectly. Mortal Combat X, X-Com and Dungeon Hunter were not impressed either. I wanted to find something newer and more powerful. After studying the topic, I selected 4 of the most powerful and beautiful games in my opinion. Perhaps someone will disagree with my list and name a more beautiful and powerful game - I’ll be happy to check it out. So, the first game is a mega hit, previously exclusive for iOS - Infinity Blade Saga. Action game with stunning graphics, storyline and online battles. It works without the slightest strain, but the smartphone is barely warm.
The second game is Godfire. Action RPG with excellent graphics and dynamic battles. A game in the style of Good of War. The game works normally even during battles with multiple opponents. Graphics settings are maximum. The heating of the smartphone is quite noticeable; after half an hour of playing it is already hot.
Next, the game Hellraid. A very atmospheric, creepy and incredibly beautiful adventure game. Full 3D with first person view. It works perfectly, fps does not drop at all, everything is very smooth. For some reason, the smartphone heats up the most during this game. It is necessary to take breaks every 30-40 minutes, otherwise it will not be comfortable to play.
The latest game is new, Assassin's Creed Identity. An adventure game with graphics like on a console. There are no problems here either - everything works without freezes or slowdowns.
You can see the launch of games in the video game test.

The overall performance of the device is undoubtedly influenced by the read and write speed of the internal storage and the speed of the RAM.

WiFi supports operation in two bands - 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Within the apartment, the reception level is high, then from left to right: in the room with the router, the next room has one wall, the far room has two walls. The maximum download speed is about 50 megabits in the room with the router and about 30 megabits in the far room. The router is the cheapest TP-Link with one antenna.
GPS has recently gone from being an Achilles' heel to one of MTK's advantages. You can and should use Apollo Lite as a navigator! Cold start (without Internet and WiFi) was 4 seconds! There was good cloudless weather outside, after 15 seconds the GPS connection was already with 17 satellites, and the smartphone found 18 of them in total.
Positioning accuracy - 5 meters. In reality it's even better. I checked the quality of positioning and connection stability by taking a 30-minute walk around the area, recording a track. After which I looked at the result on the map at home. The entire path was quite accurate, it didn’t point at houses or the road, it showed exactly the way I was walking. The smartphone was in the bag during the test.
Well, we have analyzed in detail all the functions of the smartphone, there is only one left - camera. Apollo Lite installed a camera with a Samsung S5K3P3 sensor, which used Isocell technology. The camera takes pictures in a maximum resolution of 16 megapixels. But in fact, the camera disappointed me somewhat. That is, it’s not completely terrible, but still, I expected more in a smartphone for $200. But in fact, it shoots no better than cameras that are installed on smartphones for $150. Perhaps the camera has not yet been finalized in the firmware. In the latest update, for example, work in HDR mode has been improved. But for now I can’t call the pictures good. Of course, she takes pictures instantly; before I have time to touch the screen, it is already saved in memory. Instant photo. But the number of blurry pictures is high, every 3 pictures are not clear. Therefore, you have to take 2-3 frames at once so as not to miss a beautiful moment. Below are examples of pictures under different lighting conditions (): Morning, in the shade.

I liked the panorama. It's very easy to get a high-quality photo. You can quickly move the camera while shooting. The gluing and overlapping areas are not visible. You can also view the photo in 360 degree mode on your smartphone. On the computer there is only a panorama.

In the evening, in low light, the pictures become simply terrible. Detail is lost and noise appears.

I didn't really like the photo at night with the flash. Incorrect synchronization is noticeable, causing the photo to come out overexposed.

The overall impression of the camera is average. In good conditions with normal lighting the pictures are good, in the evening and in low light they are terrible. Not everything is going smoothly with the flash either. There is something to work on. But the video unexpectedly pleased me. Although there are nuances here too - on the first firmware, there was a video recording mode in 4K resolution. In the next firmware it was removed, limiting the quality to FullHD. This is most likely due to overheating when recording long videos. They promised to return it after modification. But with the latest update received a few days ago, it was not returned. Videos in FullHD turn out to be of high quality, here is a small example: When I was recording a test video, I witnessed the demonic essence of two kids :) At the beginning, at 20 seconds, I was amused by a boy who screamed as if the kid had ripped open his stomach) And then the kid showed that he still clearly with sadistic tendencies, when at 58 seconds he performed a painful hold on a duck.

What alternatives are there in this price range with similar performance?
First of all, this is the recently released xiaomi redmi note 4. Advantages of Xiaomi over Apollo Lite:
- Battery 4000 mAh, versus 3180 mAh for Apollo.
- A more well-known brand that has won people's trust and a large community.
- Larger internal memory - 64Gb versus 32Gb
Advantages of Apollo Lite over Xiaomi redmi note 4:
- Charging Pump Express 3.0
- More RAM (4Gb vs 3GB)
- USB type C connector
- Camera 16 megapixels for Apollo Lite, versus 13 megapixels for Xiaomi. Xiaomi, by the way, inherited the camera from its predecessor, which many, to put it mildly, are not happy with.
The rest is parity: a fingerprint scanner, a metal cover, a high-quality display and a powerful Helio X20 processor - both smartphones have all this. Stock Android or MIUI shell is a matter of taste, and both have their fans. The cost is also almost identical (I am not considering the younger version of redmi note 4 due to the small amount of built-in and RAM - 2GB\16G). To sum up, I can say that Vernee have released a worthy device. The advantages include: Powerful processor, high performance, high-quality screen, dual-band WiFi, GPS module, support for Pump Express 3.0 fast charging, modern USB C interface, normal operation of the fingerprint scanner. Among the shortcomings I can highlight: dangling volume buttons (in my copy) and a mediocre camera.

The Vernee Apollo Lite smartphone can be purchased in the store for $199. I recommend using it for any purchases in China and returning up to 10% of its value from each purchase to your account.

The Celestial Empire never ceases to amaze. For a low price in modern times, you get not only a ten-core SoC, but also 4 GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel Sony camera, a fingerprint sensor and a 64 GB flash drive, which can also be expanded. All that remains is to study this whole matter thoroughly.

Appearance of Vernee Apollo X

Externally, the device does not stand out much from the “gray mass” modern smartphones, made in a monoblock form factor. The frames around the screen cannot be called minimal, but they are close to it. The main camera protrudes a little, but this defect can be corrected with a case. At the same time, the thickness of the device is 9.5 mm, which is currently the norm, and the productive filling with capacious battery cannot be discounted. There was also a full-fledged 3.5 mm jack - another factor in the direction of increasing thickness. At the same time, the case cannot be called budget. This is a durable “monolith” without backlash or creaks, which fits perfectly in the hand and is made of anodized aluminum with special polishing.

If we talk about design, we get slightly rounded corners and decorative metal inserts. Moreover, there is no hint of Apple products, yes, parallels with HTC and LG can be drawn, but there are no obvious borrowings. To be honest, unification is now common not only to gadgets, but also to cars. To be fair, it should be noted that in this case it was done well. The smartphone looks much more expensive than it costs. By the way, you can choose not only a matte dark body color, but also silver.

Function keys and sensors are in the usual places. The fingerprint sensor is medium in size and is located on the back side below the camera eye. Not a very good location, since at first you will be wiping the optics with your finger. Maybe that’s why the camera protrudes a little so that it can be tactilely distinguished, because no one bothers to recess the optical sensor into the body, since its thickness allows it. You can guess as much as you like; sometimes the logic of the Chinese is difficult to understand.

Dimensions of Vernee Apollo X: 151x75x9.5 mm, weight - 179 grams. In general, it won’t stretch your hand too much, and this is all thanks to the material used to make the shell.

Screen Vernee Apollo X

As a result, we get wide viewing angles, a rich picture and an image readable in the sun. It is also worth noting the oleophobic coating, the quality of which will only be shown by long-term use. Electronic pen support is not implemented.

Interfaces Vernee Apollo X

Other interfaces include 2-band Wi-Fi, unfortunately without the ac protocol, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and a 4G module. This set won’t surprise anyone now, but still. It would not hurt to integrate the technology for fast data transfer - HotKnot, but the developers can understand that this solution is not widely used outside the Middle Kingdom. There is also a slot for microSD cards up to 128 GB, which is very good, but in this case you will have to sacrifice a nanoSIM card. The second slot is for a full-size microSIM. Other features include USB OTG support, which means you can connect an external drive.

Vernee Apollo X firmware

At the same time, there is no junk Chinese software, there is the necessary minimum of programs, themes, the bootloader is unlocked at the factory, and there are OTA updates. In short, everything that we love about the Chinese brand.

Vernee Apollo X filling

The picture is completed by 4 GB of RAM operating in dual-channel mode at a frequency of up to 933 MHz. The video core is Mali-T880, 780 MHz - an excellent graphics accelerator for modern mobile games. 64 GB of flash memory is responsible for data storage, which is enough for everything. If you want to take pictures and film everything, then, as mentioned above, you can expand it without any problems.

Thus, we get balanced characteristics, a kind of workhorse standard for everyone, more precisely, for those who cannot afford a flagship, and who cannot afford an ultra-budget product.

Vernee Apollo X test

Vernee Apollo X Camera

Vernee Apollo X autonomy

Cost and video review of Vernee Apollo X

Vernee Apollo X can be safely called the standard smartphone of the average river with all that it implies. At the same time, the disadvantages here are more than compensated for by the advantages, for example, a powerful processor outshines the scarcity wireless technologies, a universal slot for a SIM card and a memory card - a large storage device, etc. Don’t discount the latest generation of USB.

The design of the device is laconic, the characteristics are balanced, the shell is without unnecessary frills, and the cost is more than acceptable. There may be pitfalls associated primarily with the firmware, but they can only be found with long-term use, which, for obvious reasons, no one has. Let us remind you that the device was released in early April this year.

Check out the video review below:

Vernee is a company with a six-month history, which during this time managed to bring two smartphones to the market. The first was the budget Thor, with rather modest characteristics and a low price, and the second was Apollo Lite, positioned in advertising materials as a competitor to the expensive . This contrast, of course, only causes a slight smile, but for that matter, let's figure out what Vernee Apollo Lite offers us for its 200 dollars.

Contents of delivery

The smartphone comes in a neat black box with a basic set of accessories. A protective film is pre-applied to the display.

The cable and power supply are not branded; similar accessories can be found in many smartphones from other Chinese brands.

Design, usability and fingerprint scanner

Vernee Apollo Lite is available in two colors: white (" clean " aluminum) and black (anodized with a subtle purple tint). The back cover and control keys are made of metal, and for unhindered transmission of wireless network signals there are plastic inserts at the ends.

After 2 weeks of relatively careful use, several barely noticeable dots formed on the back cover, exposing the metal. Also be prepared to periodically clean the joints between the plastic plugs and the main metal part, as dust gets clogged there.

The glass covering the main camera protrudes beyond the body (and this is with a smartphone thickness of 9.2 mm!) and is NOT recessed relative to the protective rim. In other words, a protective case is strictly prescribed for this smartphone, since the author’s copy, due to the constant contact of the camera’s protective glass with hard flat surfaces, acquired several very deep scratches in close proximity to the lens (photos were taken during the unpacking process, so they do not reflect the current condition ).

On the right side of the Apollo Lite there is a micro SIM tray and a combined slot for a memory card or nanoSIM. The lack of a separate slot for microSD, taking into account the dimensions of the smartphone, should be considered a disadvantage.

The keys on the left side are slightly loose in their niches, but there are no complaints about the tactile response.

The USB Type-C port is located at the bottom. Don't be fooled by the identical grilles on either side of the connector, because... there is one multimedia speaker in the smartphone (on the left), and a microphone is hidden under another galaxy of holes.

The fingerprint scanner on the back of the smartphone works stably when one fingerprint is entered into several memory slots, of which there are 5 in total. Successful recognition occurs in 8 out of 10 cases, the response speed is at the level of budget phones from Xiaomi (Redmi 3 Pro, Note 3).

According to the manufacturer, the front panel is covered with a protective Gorilla glass Glass third generation. The surface has a slight rounding at the edges and is positioned as 2.5D. Like any other protective coating, the glass on the Vernee Apollo Lite, after several weeks of use without additional protection, becomes covered with microscratches, which can be detected in the reflection of a bright light source. A pleasant surprise was the presence of a good oleophobic coating.

The speaker and the grille covering it are recessed relative to the glass. Dust gets clogged into the hole formed during operation and will need to be cleaned periodically. To the left of the speaker: an RGB LED indicator, front camera and proximity/light sensors. There are no dedicated touch keys under the smartphone’s display, so you’ll have to make do with the on-screen ones.

In general, the build quality of the smartphone is good, but some design solutions (the protruding glass of the main camera, the earpiece in the recess, the gap between the plastic inserts on the back) leave much to be desired.

Display

Apollo Lite has a high-quality IPS matrix with good viewing angles and color reproduction. The measured contrast is 1 in 711, and the brightness adjustment range varies from 17 to 437 cd/m². The minimum threshold may seem too bright when interacting with a smartphone in the dark, but the upper value will be enough to use the device outdoors even on a bright sunny day.

Default Colorful temperature display is somewhat overestimated, but in Mediatek smartphones this parameter (like many others) can always be adjusted thanks to MiraVision technology. To do this, go to Settings - Screen - MiraVision and swipe from the left side of the display to call up the options menu.

Automatic brightness adjustment in a smartphone does its job well. However, for a couple of years now there have been no complaints about displays in devices that cost more than $100 and come from the Middle Kingdom.

Hardware platform

The hardware platform used is MT6797 (Helio X20) from MediaTek. The system-on-chip has 10 cores in three clusters (4+4+2), which operate using big.LITTLE technology. In fact, the previous generation chip (Helio X10) with 8 Cortex-A53 cores (up to 2 GHz) was equipped with two high-performance Cortex-A72 cores (up to 2.3 GHz), and the maximum frequency of the Cortex-A53 cores was reduced to 1.4 GHz in order to save energy. The indicated frequencies correspond to the chip installed in Vernee Apollo Lite and may vary in other smartphones.

Despite all the theoretical power of this solution, in practice the Helio X20 still competes with last year’s flagship SoC from Qualcomm, and in terms of the graphics accelerator it barely reaches the level of the Snapdragon 801 (Adreno 330), released in 2014. And if when working with basic software there are no complaints about the chip, then in games the Mali-T880 MP4 can barely cope with average graphics settings. In the famous WoT: Blitz, full 60 frames per second can only be achieved on low settings, which indicates poor optimization of resource-intensive applications for the Mali GPU.

In addition, it was not withoutproblems with the scheduler (operates in clusters and activates cores according to load), which sends single-threaded workload execution to slow Cortex-A53 cores, instead of using a high-performance cluster based on two Cortex-A72 cores. This flaw is especially evident in the Google Octane browser test.

But with throttling, surprisingly, everything is fine. The drop in performance under long-term load barely reaches 10 percent, while in Xiaomi smartphones on a similar platform (Redmi Note 4 and Note Pro) throttling manifests itself much more significantly (up to 40%). The temperature of the back cover when performing resource-intensive tasks does not exceed 40-42 degrees Celsius.

Work with RAM, like most other Chinese smartphones, leaves much to be desired. Despite as much as 4 GB of RAM, resource-intensive applications are unloaded from memory after minimizing. What's wrong - even the tabs in the browser are reloaded. And use more than 2.5 GB"RAM" Over the entire period of using the smartphone, I never succeeded.

Of the 32 GB of internal memory, about 25 are allocated for user needs, but by donating a nanoSIM it can be expanded using microSD cards up to 128 gigabytes.

Communications and multimedia

Apollo Lite is equipped with Bluetooth 4.0 modules, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac (2.4/5 GHz) and GPS/GLONNAS. With active A-GPS, satellites are detected quickly enough; there are no complaints about location accuracy and signal stability. To simplify orientation in space, there is a digital compass.

In terms of telephone functionality, the smartphone works well: the speaker is loud and of high quality, the vibration signal is felt in trouser pockets, and both the first and second SIM can work in the 3G/4G network. The quality of speech transmission does not raise any questions, although I was unable to detect a second microphone on the body (usually used for noise reduction).

The multimedia speaker is quiet, and the sound from it is completely devoid of low frequencies and any volume. The quality of music playback in the headphones is comparable to other smartphones - the volume is sufficient, there is no extraneous noise. FM radio only works with connected headphones, which act as an antenna.

Autonomy

The smartphone has a built-in battery with a capacity of 3180 mAh and, judging by the results of synthetic tests, should demonstrate the standard 3-4 hours of screen activity in a fairly intensive mode of use.

In fact, Apollo Lite had to be charged every 12-13 hours, and the screen activity time barely reached two. The fact is that after installing the necessary set of software, which the author uses with all Android smartphones without exception, Apollo Lite lost the ability to go into sleep mode when the screen is off. Unfortunately, it was not possible to identify the reason for this behavior even after obtaining root access and installation necessary programs monitoring. The problem is not widespread, but on the forums there are people who have already sold their smartphone because of similar behavior.

For fast charging, MediaTek PE+ technology is used, and the package includes a corresponding power supply capable of providing the device with a current of 2 Amps at 5/7/9 Volts and 1.5 A at 12 V. From 0 to 100 percent, the smartphone charges in 65-70 minutes , while the body temperature over the entire surface reaches 45° C.

Software

The Apollo Lite software platform is built on Android OS version 6.0. So-called" clean " We can see Android, for example, in smartphones from the Nexus line from Google, while in many Chinese devices we see the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).

This is a set of sources from which anyone with sufficient knowledge can assemble a full-fledged firmware. The quality of the final software depends on the sufficiency of knowledge of this person (or team). It seems to me that this is one of the least expensive processes among Chinese smartphone makers.

When you turn it on for the first time or after resetting Apollo Lite, it does not prompt you to initial setup, where starting from the sixth version of Android you can install applications from backup copy from the previous smartphone. Time and date, security settings - all this must later be looked up independently in the settings.

There are minor shortcomings everywhere in the system, such as the inability to set the display of the remaining battery charge as a percentage, and some applications have the spirit of Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

Fortunately, the manufacturer took care of implementing OTA updates and in 2 weeks of use the smartphone has already been updated twice. The corrections are minor, but no less pleasant.

If they continue in the same spirit, then all the bugs will be eradicated in a couple of months, but I wouldn’t have much hope in this regard. Localization is fine" from the box " , no additional manipulations are necessary.

Cameras

In Apollo Lite, Vernee used photo matrices from Samsung. For front camera used S5K5E8 at 5 MP, and for the main one - S5K3P3 at 16 MP. The aperture number of the main camera is f/2.2.

During the day, the smartphone takes pictures of tolerable quality, but in the evening or in low light artificial lighting It’s better not to take your smartphone out of your pocket. Digital noise in photos"eaten up" all possible details.

Minuses: constructive nuances; performance in resource-intensive applications; problems with autonomy and software optimization; quality of pictures from the main camera; quiet multimedia speaker.

Conclusion: in Chinese online stores, the price of Vernee Apollo Lite fluctuates around $200-230. Taking into account all the advantages and disadvantages, it’s hard to call such a price justified. If you have been looking closely at this smartphone and are familiar with the specifics of shopping in China, then it would be much more advisable to spend these $200 on solutions from brands that have been tested by many users, be it Xiaomi, Meizu or the increasingly popular LeEco. And if you think about increasing the budget by at least 50-60 dollars, then the ZUK Z2, LeEco Le Max2 and Xiaomi Mi5 on the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chip immediately burst into the circle of contenders.

Specifications