Koolnee K1 review
One more enters the massive cluster of China phone brands — Koolnee. What’s in a name? Apparently not much, based on China phone branding. But, let’s not hold it against them. According to Zijin_Cheng. He likes the phone quite a bit and feels it’s one of the best looking (“beautiful” he says) China phones out there.
Lookswise, it’s a combination of the lustrous Huawei Honor 9 back, with a Google Pixel 2 style front. The side-bezels are impressively non-existent and the display takes up a very large portion of the face, 90%+ according to Koolnee. The negatives regarding style are the shiny sides and thick front glass.
Koolnee K1 specs
- Display: Sharp brand 6.01 inch, IPS OGS 2160 x 1080
- SOC: MTK6750T Octa Core 1.5GHz
- System: Android 7.0
- RAM + ROM: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM
- Front camera: 5.0MP GC5025 (GalaxyCore) (8MP interpolated)
- Rear camera: 2.0MP + 13.0MP Sony IMX135 (16MP interpolated)
- Sensor: Accelerometer, Gyro Sensor, Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor, E-compass
- SIM Card: dual SIM dual standby. 2 Nano SIM cards
- Feature: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
- Bluetooth: 4.0
- 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- 3G: WCDMA 850/900/2100MHz
- 4G: FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
- Gyro: Yes
- Compass: Yes
- Battery: 3190mAh
- TF SD slot: Yes (dual-SIM or single-SIM+TF SD)
- Facial Recognition: Yes (after OTA)
- OTA update: Yes
We see they are using a rather popular rear camera sensor. This sensor is used in phones such as Samsung Galaxy A5, LG G3, Bluboo S1, and Motorola Moto X. It’s not a top-line camera sensor, but coupled with a decent camera lens and software should make it more than enough for social sharing and perhaps even printing.
Here I’ve included our gallery from the Bluboo S1 (same sensor as Koolnee K1.) Looking here, I see the S1 produces some very respectable results. The images in the gallery are unedited.
In terms of performance, the MT6750T is on Koolnee K1 is decently smooth.
Koolnee K1 battery
Koolnee has made a terrible decision with the charging rate of the K1. Maxing out at 5V 1A, the K1 takes a ridiculous 4+ hours to charge fully. The good news is that the battery is true 3000+mAh.
Koolnee K1 review summary
The problem with the K1 is that it’s maximum charge rate is 5V 1A. This can be accepted in a sub-$100 phone, but at the price the Koolnee K1 is selling at it’s a big negative. Additionally, there is no compass or gyroscope.
If these three things don’t bother you, the K1 should be a phone you like. Truly, these may not affect the majority of users out there. It’s stable, has a decent camera, smooth OS, and a nice looking, new 18:9 display style.
