BQ X5 Phone and BQ M8 Tablet Review
After switching from the BQ E5 HD Phone & BQ M10 Tablet ubuntu edition devices back to android i thought id review these devices. The Ubuntu although is my main desktop / laptop and server operating system just didnt cut it for me on phone and tablet. I did write some apps and hacked a way to get the device to do what i wanted but needed that little bit more. And needed more application power and im afraid the ubuntu touch OS is still early in its days of shining… I must say i was immediately switched onto the BQ devices through buying the ubuntu devices. The BQ company is spanish so not a big player in the UK but in spain most people seem to have one. Whats striking about the BQ devices is the quality for the money and the support is excellent. One of the things i really like is the android operating system installed is not coloured like other devices selling with android, in fact its pretty damn vanilla apart from is say the camera app and a single BQ protection app for a longer warranty. THE X5
I have the standard BQ X5 non cyanogen
which is probably good as they just dropped the company so not sure what happens to cyanogen devices, plus i did try cyanogen edition on the X5 but took it off as it wasnt for me. The plus version sports a bigger battery, finger print reader and NFC for contactless payments and a slightly better camera which wasnt worth all the extra money so i went standard. The device came with android version 5 but as soon as i turned it on it picked up the old version and upgraded to marshmallow 6.0.1 and this gave me a load of new features as well as adding my 64 meg sd card to the internal memory which is a big bonus! The phone sports dual sim and dual camera with dual flash, front and rear, plus a SD slot. The screen is anti finger print coating 5 inch screen which is plenty and the cameras are 13mp and front facing 5mp which aint bad at all. I went for the white phone and it has a amazing feel with aluminium frame and weighs in at 148, also has a nice touch bottom for the home buttons which light up and arent part of the main screen. The phone to me looks just like a iphone but i prefer a droid to be honest. The battery is like 2900 and i take it of the charger at 7.30 and use it quite a bit all day for media, social, work and emails and the battery lasts till 11 at night without having to re-charge. The speakers are great sounding. All i can say if you get this get it to the latest android version and then add your SD card as internal storage and keep it stock. These phones are like £270 i managed to buy mine from ebay for 130 and have to say is the best phone ive owned, Its styled a lot nicer than the HD phones. Id say you would be more than happy for all use.
Now i bought the M8 – 8 inch tablet to match the X5 which it does in a lot of ways. Fits in the hand snug and like the way the speakers are on each of the tablet so when you have it in potrait mode watching a film the speakers are just right for stereo sound. It doesnt have the aluminium frame like the X5 which would have made it a gem. The battery is 4050 mAh which will last moderate use all day although if i connect a external screen and keyboard and mouse and using bluetooth it last for a full mornings work, yes this tablet as a hdmi out so you can plug into a big screen. So this has the same features of the X5 same OS nearly android 6.0.0 at the moment so cant make the sd card internal memory which is a biggy at the moment, It has the SD card slot and has the two facing cameras minus the front facing flash and the cameras are both 5mp which aint that great the forward one should be better, i wanted to take some pictures of the apartment and they weren’t that good. My last moan is the buttons for home and back etc on the X5 light up under the screen but on the M8 there on the screen which after using the X5 and picking up the M8 i forget and then remember to use the onscreen ones so there not the same.Although for general use i prefer to the more expensive M10, for one it fits in the hand !! These are around 150 and come in white so i got the matching pair.
So nice little pair to set up working from, plenty of power for the buck and features you would have to pay a fortune for some of the brands people use in the UK. Now if i ever sway from BQ which i cant see happening id take a look at a meizu these again are amazing devices at the right price..
take a look at the BQ line up here
plus the android 7.0.1 nougat update is around the corner!
to wrap it up watch out for my android app reviews for 2107 ……