Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - the best NOTE (big phone)

Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - the best NOTE (big phone)

But big phones come with their own set of baggage that isn’t seen on normal-sized phones. They are frequently clumsy to use, awkward to hold, and less attractive than their smaller counterparts. More often than not, a big phone is just a stretched-out version of a small phone, without any consideration made for the larger display.

Samsung has been changing that dynamic lately, building phones with big screens that don’t feel like big phones at all. Its new Galaxy Note 7 is the best big phone ever made for a variety of reasons, but mostly because it feels like a device that was designed to be a big phone from the beginning with features that mitigate the tradeoffs inherent with big devices. I can’t say the same for the iPhone 6S Plus, Nexus 6P, or any other giant phone on the market, which are downright clunky in comparison.

The Note 7 is Samsung’s best device ever, and arguably the best big phone ever made. If that’s all you’re looking to know, then you can stop reading right now and go place your order. It will cost you $849 or more, depending on carrier, and can be preordered now. It will be available in stores starting on August 19th.

But it’s interesting to explore why the Note 7 is the best big phone ever. Samsung has more experience with big phones than any other company, and it is leveraging that to improve the big phone experience. It’s the only company that’s saying a big phone doesn’t have to feel like a big phone or be saddled with compromises often associated with them. Samsung wants you to have your cake and eat it too, and that cake’s flavor is the Note 7.


Apple’s iPhone monopolized the talk about smartphone design for nearly a decade. But in the past year and a half, Samsung’s design department has made dramatic leaps and bounds, cranking out beautiful, functional designs and rapidly iterating on them. Where Apple has been content with a two-year hardware design cycle (and by all accounts, it appears to be moving to an even slower three-year cycle), Samsung has improved and updated its designs on a rapid-fire, six-month basis. Since last year’s Galaxy S6 design revitalization, Samsung has iterated three times on its formula and the Note 7 is the finest design Samsung has ever produced.

A BEAUTIFUL PIECE OF GADGETRY

The Note 7’s combination of metal and glass, symmetrical sides, and rounded corners make it the nicest-looking phone I’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s just a beautiful piece of gadgetry. But the design isn’t just for aesthetics: it’s all in service to that big screen and making sure that the compromises that come with a large display are minimized. The Note 7’s design is remarkably functional, giving the Note 7 a normal phone feel, even though it has a massive display.

Part of that is because the Note 7 is actually smaller than any other phone in this class. It’s 4.7mm shorter and 4mm narrower than the iPhone 6S Plus, 5.8mm shorter and 3.9mm narrower than the Nexus 6P, and 2.2mm narrower than last year’s already trim Note 5. The Note 7’s dimensions make it easier to handle, easier to slip into a pocket, and generally nicer to use than any other phone with a big screen.

The curved sides of the display don’t scream "look at me" quite as much as the S7 Edge’s dramatic bends. They have a subtle curve that provides flatter display area and distorts the image on the screen less, yet still manages to make the Note 7 narrower than if it had a fully flat display. The Note 7’s rear glass panel mirrors the front curves exactly, giving the phone its visual symmetry and comfortable feel.

These qualities of efficient design and premium materials are found on the S7 Edge too, but the Note 7 has been refined even further, with softer edges, cleaner lines, and a nicer feel in my hand. Just five months ago, I said that the S7 Edge was the most impressive smartphone hardware I’d ever held, and now Samsung has trumped itself with the Note 7.

The Note 7 shares a lot of other qualities with the S7 Edge, as well. It has the same type of Super AMOLED quad HD resolution display, albeit larger and slightly brighter; the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of RAM; the same water resistance and expandable storage; the same excellent cameras; and a similar capacity battery with the same fast wired and wireless charging. The only notable spec differences are that the Note 7 comes with 64GB of internal storage as opposed to the S7’s 32GB and it uses a USB Type-C port instead of the old Micro USB jack.

That means that a lot of the things about the S7 Edge apply equally here. The screen is pixel-dense, color-rich, and gorgeous to look at (and can get even brighter than the already blindingly bright S7’s screen in daylight); the processor and RAM combine for fast, reliable performance; and the water resistance is a feature I think every high-end phone should offer. The Note 7’s 3,500mAh battery is 17 percent larger than the battery in last year’s Note 5, and it’s able to last me through a full day of use. At this point, I’d love for a flagship phone like the Note 7 to last multiple days on a charge, but the fast charging features make it easy to top up when I need to.

And since the Note 7 has the same 12-megapixel camera as the S7 series, it has arguably the best smartphone camera available right now. (It’s certainly not a downgrade from last year’s 16-megapixel camera. Check out our interview with Samsung’s Kim Gae-youn for more on why.) The optically stabilized, f/1.7 lens is excellent for low light shots and focuses quicker than any other phone’s camera, and the camera app launches rapidly with a double-press of the home button. The app has been cleaned up for the Note 7, with a simpler interface that relies on gestures for switching between front and rear cameras and changing modes.

The big new headline feature on the Note 7 is the iris scanner, which uses a special front-facing camera array to scan your eyes and unlock your phone. It provides an alternative to using a password, PIN, pattern, or fingerprint for authentication.

The iris scanner works as advertised, often quickly scanning my eyes and unlocking the phone. It uses infrared technology, so it can work in low light. But it’s clumsier to use than the already very quick fingerprint scanner, as I have to turn on the display, swipe up, and then bring the phone awkwardly close to my face to trigger it. It’s a fun party trick, but I ended up just forgetting about it and using the fingerprint scanner instead.

The second most important thing that separates the Note 7 from Samsung’s other devices and every other big phone is the updated S Pen. The S Pen has been a hallmark feature of the Note line since its inception — it’s really what makes a Note a Note, and not just another phone with a big screen. The S Pen can be used to jot down notes, draw pictures, or navigate the phone’s interface.

THE S PEN IS MIGHTIER

But by far the coolest new S Pen feature is the ability to create GIFs from any video in just a few taps. In a matter of seconds, I can create a GIF from a YouTube video, add notes or stickers to it, and then share it right from my phone. It’s not something I’d have guessed the S Pen would be able to do, but it’s fun and easy to use. Further, the S Pen has the same level of water resistance as the phone itself, and it can even work when the phone is wet, making it the most over-the-top way to jot down ideas in the shower.

Samsung has tweaked the hardware of the S Pen this go around, too. The pen tip itself is narrower and has twice as many levels of pressure sensitivity for a more natural writing feel. And, unlike with last year’s Note 5, it’s impossible to put it in backwards and damage the phone.

I like that I can now use the S Pen to magnify parts of the screen, multitask between two apps, or instantly translate text using Google’s Translate services. Artists might appreciate the new color blending features available when drawing in Samsung’s app. The four disparate apps that Samsung used to package on the Note have been combined into a single Samsung Notes app that’s easier to use and simpler to navigate. The ability to take notes right on the phone’s lock screen that debuted with last year’s Note 5 has been expanded with the ability to "pin" notes there for quick access. My only complaint with Samsung Notes is that it doesn’t easily sync with other services, such as Evernote or OneNote, instead relying on Samsung’s own proprietary backup and sync. (You can share notes to other apps, but that can only be done one note at a time and is rather tedious.)

Earlier versions of the Note weren’t able to convince me that the S Pen was a necessary tool, and I’m not sure that the Note 7 does the job either. But its enhanced features at least have me thinking about it more.

To go along with its refined hardware design, the Note 7 has a refined version of Samsung’s software interface on top of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. (An update to Android 7.0 Nougat has been promised, but Samsung has not yet provided any timing for when that might happen.) It’s both nicer to look at and easier to use than Samsung’s earlier software efforts.

There are a couple new features that have been cribbed from other devices or third-party apps, such as the new nighttime display mode similar to Apple’s Night Shift that can be triggered based on sunrise and sunset. The always-on display feature from the S7 has been improved with more calendar layouts and support for all third-party app notifications, making it much more useful than before.

BLOATWARE REMAINS AN ISSUE

Despite the improved interface, Note 7 still loaded with the carrier and redundant applications viruses, things that have been dogging Samsung phones for many years. T-Mobile version I've been testing a half-dozen applications, including pre incredibly useless Lookout scanner application, and you can be sure that other models are similar carriers. There are also two e-mail application, two browsers, two photo applications, two voice assistants, as well as Samsung's own version of the calendar and calculator Android application, rather than those that Google is already developing. The only real way to avoid fully carrying viruses to wait for an unlocked version of Note 7 to arrive, but Samsung still say when it will be available, and it will still probably have duplicate applications. This is not the case-breaking problem, but they provoke, which does not coincide with the rest of Note 7 in a stellar experience.

Being the best in the category as competitive as the smartphone is not something that can be done on the back of one or two characters. Note 7 is not the best because of its 5.7-inch screen is larger than the display of each of the other phone (though it may be better); it is not because it is much more powerful and faster than any other mobile phone; it is not because its battery is much more durable than the other; and it is not because his camera is much better than anything else you could buy, including other Samsung's phones. This is better because it has the best combination of all these qualities, wrapped in skin, nice look and nice

The price is high, though not unheard of, and if you want the best, paying a lot for it shouldn’t come as a surprise. And while the carrier bloatware is still a problem, the Note 7 is easily the best big phone I’ve ever used and quite a few steps ahead of its competitors. If you’re debating between the also excellent S7 Edge and the Note 7, it’s hard to go wrong either way, but the Note provides more features and a better design for a minimal cost over the S7.

THE NOTE 7 IS QUITE A FEW STEPS AHEAD OF ITS COMPETITORS

Apple’s take on the big phone Future of Computing was seen as a revelation for millions of iPhone users, but it didn’t feel like a full commitment to the big phone concept. It’s just a bigger iPhone, with the same hardware design and software experience. The same can be said of the Nexus 6P and many other big Android phones, which aren’t markedly different than smaller options. The Note 7, however, leverages Samsung’s years of expertise building big phones, and its hardware design and software features lift it up above the fray. It’s the least compromised big phone you can buy, and it
doesn’t force you give up anything that makes big phones so great.

If you haven’t yet been sold on why a phone with a big screen can change how you think about mobile computing, the Note 7 is the best pitch yet.
Ofcource you can buy this smartphone here list-phones.com/catalogue/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-7 
 will be released on August 24, 2016. ($969 or less)

The best smartphone of 2016 year - OnePlus 3. Review.

ONEPLUS 3 REVIEW

The OnePlus 3 is official and we've been lucky enough to spend almost two week with the smartphone ahead of the VR launch event. With a new metal design, upgraded specs and the latest software it does a fantastic job of taking on the big name flagship phones like the Galaxy S7, iPhone 6S and LG G5. Here's our full and in-depth OnePlus 3 review. Also see: Best smartphones 2016.
Now in its third-generation, the OnePlus 3 is the best phone from the popular Chinese firm aiming to take on the big name flagships of 2016. This year's model is a stunner featuring a metal design which is thinner and lighter than before. It also has lots of upgraded specs including 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage as standard and a 16Mp Sony camera. Then there's the price which is around £200 cheaper than rivals.

full specification about OnePlus 3

ONEPLUS 3 REVIEW: PRICE, AVAILABILITY AND RIVALS

Update: It will still be available in the UK, but customers elsewhere may soon find themselves having trouble purchasing the OnePlus 3. Following higher than anticipated demand, OnePlus has taken the difficult decision to pause sales of the smartphone between 9 August and 12 September 2016. Affected countries include: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Hong Kong. More details here.
OnePlus has confirmed that the price of the OnePlus 3 is going up following Brexit and the falling value of the pound. Following a warning, OnePlus said "Given the effects of the unstable markets on our extremely thin margins, we’re reluctantly going to have make some small changes to our pricing structure for the device."

There's still time to buy the OnePlus 3 at the original price but it will be hiked up to £329 on 11 July. Accessories will remain the same price, more info here.
You can also go check out the OnePlus 3 in the flesh via the Euro Tour which starts on 15 July in Manchester. The bus will tour 13 European cities and although you can't buy the phone from it, you'll be able to "engage in some fun activities, win some exclusive swag, and hang out with OnePlus staffers." Find out more about the OnePlus 3 Euro Tour here which will include the soft gold colour.
It seems that OnePlus is hitting its stride in the smartphone market as the OnePlus 3 is available straight away and not only do you not have to wait for a release date, you also don't need an invite to buy it. Those days are over and good riddance to them as it was harder to full recommend a phone which was difficult to buy.
The OnePlus 3 price is a very mid-range £309 ($399) and this will get you the lone 64GB model – there's no choosing here this time around.
Although that price is a little more than the OnePlus 2 at launch (£289) it's a small increase considering the upgrade (read on to find out) and even more so when you consider that you'll save around £200 or more compared with flagship devices like the Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 6S, HTC 10 and LG G5. Also bear in mind that you get a lot more storage for this price, double that of most rivals.

OnePlus 3 price

Once again, OnePlus is killing it on value for money with only really Google's Nexus devices and the Huawei P9 able to compete. That said, the Nexus 6P and Huawei P9 are still a lot more at £449 and while the Nexus 5X is marginally cheaper at £299, it has a plastic chassis.
One phone which can compete on value is the Xiaomi Mi 5 which can be yours for just £230 at the time of writing from Gearbest but you'll need to pay import duty of around £40.

ONEPLUS 3 REVIEW: DESIGN AND BUILD

While we've been big fans of previous OnePlus phones, we've been a little put off by how bulky they have been (bar the smaller OnePlus X). Well the firm has addressed this with the OnePlus 3 which is a much more slender 7.35mm and a more manageable 158g.


More obvious is the switch to a metal uni-body chassis which is machined from a single block of aluminium. It looks and feels extremely premium and the resemblance to a few other metal phones – Apple, HTC and Huawei spring to mind – is unavoidable really.
What we really like is the attention to detail here where it's clear that OnePlus has been thorough, leaving no stone unturned as it were. We particularly like the angles which not only look good but make the phone very comfortable to hold. Then check out those chamfered edges which adorn the USB port and even the speaker holes.

OnePlus 3 metal design

The 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 front meets the metal chassis in a smooth and luxuriously flush way and the Alert Slider on the left side even has a solid and satisfying motion with its grippy textured surface. It's this attention to detail which is missing from flagships like the LG G5.
If for some reason you don't like the metal look or you want to protect it from scratches, OnePlus is offering the usual range of cases which are extremely thin so don't add much weight. You can get (from left to right) Rosewood, Black Apricot, Bamboo, Karbon and the classic Sandstone – they all cost £19.99 each.

OnePlus 3 cases

To begin with, the OnePlus 3 is only available in Graphite silver but there will be a Soft Gold option soon. We've now taken a look at one and it's rather nice - a very subtle colour as the name suggests, although it's worth noting that the front is white instead of black and the fingerprint scanner has a gold trim around it.
OnePlus 3 soft gold
We're really impressed with the OnePlus 3 in terms of design and build; it's easily the firm's best work yet. It will be a little bit big for some people despite 5.5in being the 'sweet spot' for OnePlus. It's a very tall phone but the tiny bezels on either side of the screen help things. We're hoping that a smaller version will come in the future but we'll have to wait and see – perhaps a OnePlus 3 mini or new OnePlus X.
The only thing missing from the design compared to some rivals is waterproofing. For some this will be a big deal and for others it won't matter at all. Nevertheless, it's not a feature of the OnePlus 3 so you'll need to look to phones like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Sony Xperia Z5 for this.

ONEPLUS 3 REVIEW: HARDWARE, SPECS AND PERFORMANCE

As usual, there's a lot to talk about when it comes to the OnePlus 3 specifications with some rumours being spot on and others being way off the mark. We'll go through all the different elements of the hardware in manageable sections so you can read about what most important to you.

OnePlus 3 screen

OnePlus has stuck with both a 5.5in screen size and a Full HD resolution for the new phone. It feels that this is the sweet spot on both fronts as the firm tells us it believes you can't see the difference compared to Quad HD. The resolution also helps with things like performance and battery life.
What is new is a change to Optic AMOLED technology, which is OnePlus' take on SuperAMOLED. This looks better thanks to more vibrant colours and better contrast and also is what enables the phone to have those tiny bezels.

OnePlus 3 screen

Although we'd argue that you can see the difference between Full HD and Quad HD, the OnePlus 3's screen is still excellent quality. We can particularly understand the choice from a performance point of view as the GPU has less work to do rendering the interface so it feels slicker in use.
Our only real complaint on the display side of things is that even at full brightness we occasionally found it hard to read outside in bright sunlight. This is despite a dual-polarising layer which is supposed to make this easy.

OnePlus 3 processor, RAM and benchmarks

It's fairly predictable that the OnePlus 3 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, considering the OnePlus 2 uses the 810. This means it joins the 820 club frequented by the HTC 10 and LG G5. The quad-core chip comes with the Adreno 530 GPU and is clocked slightly higher than other phones at 2.2GHz – the other two cores are 1.6GHz.
Not only is the phone clocked higher than rivals, the slightly outrageous sounding rumours surrounding the memory are true. The OnePlus 3 comes with a slightly insane 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM. That's a full 2GB, or 50 percent, more than any other phone we've seen.
In both benchmark results and real life, the OnePlus 3 offers outstandingly slick performance – especially the latter. The firm has done a great job of making the interface feel extremely responsive and fast. The phone does everything you throw at it without hesitation. Check out the OnePlus 3 benchmark results below compared to its predecessor and rivals in Geekbench 3, GFXBench and JetStream - higher scores are better.

OnePlus 3 storage

Although there were totally understandable rumours of different OnePlus 3 models, the firm has gone for just one capacity this time around. You won't need to spend time deliberating as it's a OnePlus 3 with 64GB of internal storage or nothing at all.
That's an impressive amount considering the price where rivals tend to starts at 32GB or even 16GB. The only down side here is that there's still no Micro-SD card slot for expanding storage which may put off some users - 64GB will be enough for most, though.

OnePlus 3 fingerprint scanner, NFC and connectivity
The fingerprint scanner is still a key feature and sits below the screen as usual. The fingerprint is extremely fast and accurate when scanning (under 0.3 seconds according to OnePlus) and can be used to unlock the phone from sleep and mobile payments including Android Pay.
We've got good news as OnePlus has listened to its fans and put NFC back into the OnePlus 3 – this can be used for a variety of tasks including Android Beam sharing, quickly pairing with Bluetooth devices which also feature NFC and mobile payments.
Remaining connectivity is about what you'd expect from a high-end smartphone with 4G LTE (Cat 6), 11ac Wi-Fi, GPS and Bluetooth 4.2. Although there's no expandable storage, the OnePlus 3 feature a dual-SIM setup featuring two Nano-SIM slots.
OnePlus 3 battery life
The OnePlus 3 has a slightly smaller battery than its predecessor at 3000mAh (down from 3300mAh) but that's still a reasonable size. If you're thinking that you'd rather have a fatter and heavier phone with a larger battery then OnePlus' answer is fast charging. As usual, the battery is non-removable. Also see: OnePlus Power Bank review.

OnePlus 3 Dash Charge

As usual, the phone has a reversible USB Type-C port and is a supplied with the new Dash Charge charger which provides 5V and 4A of electricity (favouring current over voltage). OnePlus touts over 60 percent in 30 minutes which means you can top the battery up with minimal hassle despite its lower capacity. There's also a Dash Charge car charger if you want to top up quickly when driving which costs £24.99.
What's interesting here is the OnePlus has moved the power management controller to the charger instead of housing it in the phone. This means the phone keeps cooler during charging and can continue to fast charge while doing things like gaming as a result. To avoid any mishaps, when a different charger or cable is used the charging reverts to regular speed.
Inside the OnePlus 3 is a 3000mAh battery which is a little smaller than the OnePlus 2's (3300mAh). It still features the reversible USB Type-C port and now supports fast charging with the supplied Dash Charge (5V, 4A) which can give you over 60 percent in 30 minutes and can continue to fast charge even when you're gaming as the controller is in the charger rather than the phone.
In our test the OnePlus 3 charged a total of 61 percent over a period of half an hour and was only warm to the touch despite having a case on during charging. We recorded a benchmark time of six hours and 13 minutes in Geekbench 3 with a score of 3735 which is decent but a little way of some rivals which have hit nine, 10 or even 11 hours.

OnePlus 3 cameras

Going by specs alone, you’d be forgiven for getting excited about the OnePlus 3’s main camera. It has a 16Mp Sony IMX298 sensor (the same as in the Xiaomi Mi 5) and a lens with an f/2.0 aperture. There’s optical image stabilisation (OIS), electronic image stabilisation (EIS) and phase detection autofocus. Read next: Best new phones coming in 2016.
OnePlus claims the camera will give you clear shots in just 0.2 seconds, so you’ll easily catch a Formula 1 pitstop. There's support for shooting in RAW as well as JPEG files, plus a new manual mode if you want to take control of the ISO, shutter speed and focus.
The camera app’s interface is so minimal it takes a while to figure out how to find the settings, but you’ll have to resort to the manual to understand why there’s an HD button at the top which, when tapped, disables HDR. To save you the efforts, HD mode enhances detail, sharpens lines and increases clarity - Much like you can in an image editor such as Snapseed.
Overall, we’re impressed with the camera. That fast AF means photos were generally in sharp focus, although pushed to the limit (when attempting macro shots) it can be hard to judge whether your subject is too close and blurry.

OnePlus 3 camera macro

Colours are lifelike without being overblown, and dynamic range seems good even without using the HDR mode. A feature that works effectively is Dynamic De-noise. Our shot in a dimly lit bar shows no noticeable noise, but another taken in our office during the day proves the algorithm does work well in all scenarios.

OnePlus 3 low light camera

We took several comparison shots to see the difference between HDR and HD, but none existed. Whether looking at our usual framing of St Pancras or a macro photo, it was impossible to see any improvement in clarity or detail when using the new HD mode.
OnePlus 3 HDR vs HD
The rear camera is also capable of recording video in up to 4K, but while there’s OIS for photos, this doesn’t appear to be used for video, which relies on EIS. It’s reasonably effective if you stand still, but start walking or moving the phone around and you’ll soon find its limitations, with slightly jerky movement and odd sparkling effects in skies.
4K video quality is very good, though: sharp and packed with detail. What’s unimpressive is the soundtrack. Voices sound distant and muffled, as though underwater – this could well be a failure of the noise cancellation of the dual microphones. Hopefully it’s fixable in a software update.
Extra modes include a great panorama function which deals well with changes in brightness across a scene, and a slo-mo mode which records at 720p.
At the front is an 8Mp camera with 1.4um pixels. It can record 1080p video at 30fps. Selfies are sharper than we expected, and the field of view is easily sufficient for two people at arm’s length. A Smile Capture option saves you stretching for the shutter button.
OnePlus 3 selfie camera

ONEPLUS 3 REVIEW: SOFTWARE AND APPS

As you'd expect, the OnePlus 3 comes with Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out-of-the box. OnePlus provides its OxygenOS 3.1 which is a very close to stock Android with a few different features and ways to customise the interface.
Update: OnePlus is rolling out OxygenOS 3.2.0 to OnePlus 3 owners. The software update brings bug fixes and improvements such as sRGB mode in developer options, RAM management, enhanced audio playback and camera quality/functionality. Find our more here.
For starters, it's nice to see OnePlus hasn't gone down the route of some rivals by keeping the app draw/menu. Open it up and you'll notice that there is next to no bloatware installed on the phone. You get the usual suite of Google apps plus the odd duplicate from OnePlus such as Gallery, Music and Files. Control over apps is very good as OxygenOS allows you to set permissions for individual apps as well as control notifications, too.

Lenovo ZUK Z1 - full review

The Lenovo Zuk Z1 is a $320 Android phone that looks a lot like an iPhone 6S Plus. Its rear camera takes mediocre pictures and its fingerprint scanner doesn't always read your fingerprint. Its biggest saving grace is the phone's super-long battery life.

The Zuk Z1 comes to us from the Chinese electronics giant's subsidiary brand, Zuk Mobile. The phone is not officially available in western markets, but can be found at Zuk's online third-party retailers that sell Chinese phones.

Founded in April this year, the Z1 is Zuk Mobile's first smartphone, and like most Chinese handsets, it retails at an incredibly attractive price. Unfortunately, the phone has flaws you won't find in similarly priced competitors.

However, if you're a fan of the iPhone's design and Android's software -- in this case, the open-source CyanogenMod, which is basically a modification of stock Android designed to replace the default operating software on some phones -- well, this is probably the closest you can get without picking up a full-on copycat iPhone.

It's not a bad phone, but there are other phones available that more successfully achieve a balance among features, performance and price.

5.5-inch display with 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution
6.13 by 3.04 by 0.35 inches (155 by 77.3 by 8.9mm)
6.17 ounces (175 grams)

Comes in white or dark gray
It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the Zuk Z1 serves this sentiment well. If you were to put the Zuk Z1 and the iPhone 6S Plus side by side, you'd be hard-pressed to make out which was which at a glance. Both devices share an identical front color scheme -- pure white with metal antenna bandings, and while the Z1's fingerprint sensor and home button are different shapes than those on the iPhone 6 Plus, the positioning feels the same under your fingers.

The resemblance is also noticeable at the sides -- the Zuk Z1 sports curved metal bands with white antenna strips. The bottom of the phone is where this resemblance is the closest -- the Z1 has similar speaker grilles and the Type-C USB port looks very much like Apple's Lightning port.

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The design feels very similar to the iPhone.
Aloysius Low
It's only when you flip the phone over that things start to look different -- instead of a metal rear, the Z1 sports a glossy plastic white shell. I was worried the phone would feel slippery, but this wasn't an issue at all.

Apart from the Apple resemblance, there aren't really any risky design decisions. The phone has a 5.5-inch full-HD display with a pixel density of 401 pixels per inch (ppi), and has touch-sensitive navigation keys below the display. You'll also find the fingerprint sensor there -- and oddly, I did encounter occasions where the sensor just simply failed to detect my finger when attempting to use it.

The screen also has a LiveDisplay mode, where it customizes the brightness and colors to your surroundings -- at night, it turns the display to a warmer, eye-friendly hue. Overall, the quality of the display is good. Colors are vibrant and viewing angles are decent.

Located on the left, and within easy reach, are the volume and power buttons. The 3.5mm audio jack is located on the top. The phone supports dual-SIM 4G, with the SIM card tray located on the left side. As is becoming more common with new phones, there's no microSD card slot for expandable memory.

On the rear, you'll find the 13-megapixel camera and the dual-LED flash. The rear cover isn't removable, and you won't be able to swap out the embedded 4,100mAh battery should you run out of juice.

The one thing that bothered me was how easily dirt could get trapped in the edges of the front glass and on the rear edges between the metal frame and the plastic chassis. I'm not sure if it's because the phone's a review-ready production sample, but if the final retail units have the same problem, the dirt will be an eyesore for sure.

Overall, the phone is comfortable to hold in one hand and other than the finicky fingerprint sensor, I didn't experience any major comfort issues.

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The design of the Zuk Z1 feels very much like an iPhone clone.
Aloysius Low
Hardware
2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor from Qualcomm
64GB of storage
No expandable memory
3GB of RAM
4,100mAh embedded battery

Meant to compete somewhat with the flagships of today and the other higher-end phones from its Chinese competitors, the Zuk Z1 sports last year's Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 octa-core processor clocked at 2.5GHz. While some of you may scoff at the fact it's using an older processor, I found the performance of the phone to be buttery smooth. You'll have no issues with games either, as Asphalt 8 ran without a hitch.

The slightly dated processor aside, the phone otherwise packs decent hardware -- it has 3GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. It also has a large 4,1000mAh battery and has the new USB Type-C port. Do note that this port isn't compatible with your current Micro-USB cables, so you'll need to rely on the bundled cable, get yourself extras, or snag one of Xiaomi's super cheap converters.

In terms of 4G support, the Zuk Z1 will work with LTE networks in the UK such as Three and EE, while in Australia, it should work with Optus and Telstra networks. Unfortunately, it lacks support for US carriers' LTE bands.

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The phone packs 3GB of RAM, 64GB of onboard storage and a huge 4,100mAh battery.
Aloysius Low
Software and apps
Google Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS
CyanogenMod 12
Customizable themes
Close to stock Android experience
If an experience close to what you'll find on the Nexus phones is something you desire, then the Zuk Z1 is your best candidate. The phone runs popular, community-built Android-based firmware CyanogenMod, which is designed to improve on performance and reliability compared with the usual Android operating system.

It has support for themes, the FLAC audio codec, a built-in OpenVPN client and tons of customization features, such as the ability to tweak how your status bar looks, the sort of notifications that appear, the buttons on your notification drawer, and so on. The options can be a tad overwhelming for casual users, but don't worry: the default settings give you basically everything you need you won't get prodded to change settings.

One of my grouses with phones with larger screens is how they don't properly make use of the space, by having huge gaps between app icons. Thankfully, CyanogenMod lets you customize the grid layout -- you can choose from three icon sizes as well as a super-packed mode or customize the size of the grid to your liking.