Glass phone. Why cases and protective glass on a smartphone are ridiculous

I welcome everyone who stopped by. The review will focus, as you probably already guessed, on a thin frameless smartphone Uhans S1. The model is interesting due to its appearance, large amount of RAM and low price. The review will include testing and a short comparison with my previous smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S3. For anyone interested, you are welcome under cat.

General form:


Purchase background:

A few months ago, I accidentally broke my Samsung Galaxy S3 (SGS3), which served me faithfully for about two years:


Replacing the display approximately cost about 7,500 rubles, which was a bit expensive for me. In addition, I absolutely did not have enough RAM, especially when surfing the Internet, so I was in no particular hurry with repairs and began to look for a budget replacement with a large amount of RAM. I didn’t need high performance, because I had already moved away from games, and I consider playing on a 5” screen with finger control the height of masochism. There was basically a trend in the smartphone market - a large amount of memory was only available in top models, which cost well over 100-150 Baku rubles, so I did not consider powerful flagships. I was looking for an interesting new product with budget hardware, a large amount of RAM and a low price tag. I came across this model and took note. And some time after the peak of sales, the GearBest store dropped the price tag on this model. Taking into account the points, it turned out to be about 6,500 rubles, so I decided to buy it, because... The large amount of memory and 4G support were captivating. Well, after the purchase I came across an article about replacing the SGS3 display module and realized that you can replace the display yourself. In addition, there was just a boom in “delicious” eBay coupons and I had to order a display for the third galaxy. Well, why should he disappear? :-). In the end, I got two smart phones, so in the review I will occasionally compare them.

A sore point for many - bought with my own money, taking into account the points it came out to about a hundred dollars:

TTX:
- Manufacturer – Uhans
- Model name – S1
- Case material – metal + glass
- Screen – touch 5" with 2.5D technology, multi-touch 3 touches
- Screen resolution - 1280x720 (HD), pixel density 294 ppi
- Operating system - Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) + proprietary shell Freeme OS 6.1
- Processor - MediaTek MT6753 (eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.3 GHz)
- Graphics - Mali T720
- RAM/internal memory – 3GB RAM (LPDDR3)/32GB ROM
- Tray type – combined, (micro SIM + nanoSIM) or (micro SIM + microSD)
- SIM cards - two SIM cards (micro SIM + NanoSIM)
- Frequencies - 2G (GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz), 3G (WCDMA 900/1900/2100MHz), 4G (FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz)
- Expansion slots - microSDXC up to 64 GB (actually microSDHC 32 GB)
- Cameras – 13 MP Sony IMX 214 (main) and 5 MP (front camera), interpolation (16 MP/8 MP)
- Battery type and capacity – non-removable Li-Pol, 2200mah (BAK)
- Fingerprint scanner - Good GF5118M
- Wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS/GLONASS
- OTG – supports
- dimensions – 140mm*69mm*7.3mm
- weight – 155 g

Equipment:
- Uhans S1 smartphone
- mains charger with Euro plug
- USB->microUSB cable
- protective film on the screen
- quick installation guide in English
- paperclip for opening the tray
- two paper napkins for wiping the device


The smartphone is delivered in a fairly durable white cardboard box. The box is small but very durable. The smartphone model is indicated at the top, the main characteristics are indicated at the bottom, and on the side there is the inscription “The Beautiful Beast”, hinting that there is a beautiful beast inside, :-):


The smartphone itself is located in an antistatic bag in a special plastic box:


In addition, the smartphone is completely covered with transport film:


It also serves as some kind of assistant, since at the back there is brief information on the combination tray and some other elements of the smartphone:


The equipment is quite rich, at least a silicone bumper will be very useful. But why the manufacturer didn’t include at least some simple headphones in the kit remains a mystery to me. Also included is a protective film for the screen and paper napkins for wiping the device. As usual, there are no instructions, but there is a short guide to the combination tray and some specific functions:


Appearance:

This model attracts potential buyers with its design - the front and back panels are made of tempered glass using 2.5D technology, and there are golden metal frames on the sides:


No matter what anyone says, the smartphone looks gorgeous, and it looks a lot like the iPhone 6s, but Apple designers are quite meticulous about the appearance of their devices. It seems to me that the Uhans designers relied specifically on the Apple device when designing the device.
The layout is all standard: on the top of the front panel there is a front camera (5MP), a speaker, a proximity/light sensor and an LED indicator. At the back there is a main camera (13 megapixels), an LED flash and a fingerprint scanner.
On the left is a combination tray that allows you to install either two SIM cards (microSIM and nanoSIM), or one microSIM and microSDHC memory card. On the right are a double volume button and a power/lock button:


At the bottom end of the device there is a microUSB connector, an external speaker and a microphone, and at the top there is only a 3.5mm miniJack connector for connecting headphones, which, alas, are not included in the kit:


The smartphone lies quite comfortably in the hand, but still the rear glass panel of the case is a little slippery to the touch:


Therefore, at first it is better to use the complete silicone bumper:


One of the interesting features of the smartphone is the complete absence of mechanical and touch buttons, instead of which there are on-screen control buttons that can be slightly customized:


The decision is controversial, because the bottom frame is quite wide and is not used in any way. On the other hand, the location of the buttons can be customized to suit your needs. It's unusual at first, but you get used to it quickly enough. In general, it was possible to reduce the width of the top and bottom frames - they are too wide.
The model is available in two colors – black and white. As for me, the white version looks a little more solid, the golden frame around the perimeter of the case plays a significant role in this, so I settled on the light version:


I am very pleased with the presence of a plastic insert in the microUSB connector. With it, the mechanical strength of the port increases slightly:


As for the appearance and build quality, there is nothing to complain about. It looks stylish, nothing creaks or plays. The use of metal and glass brings its own order in terms of tactility - in your hands you feel not a plastic stump, but a solid device.

Dimensions:

The dimensions of the smartphone are 140mm*69mm*7.3mm. The new product boasts a small body thickness, but the weight of the smartphone is already 155g:


But this is not surprising, because the developers used glass and metal in the smartphone, not plastic. Here is a comparison of a smartphone with the Pineng PN-963 and the thousandth banknote:




Display:

The Uhans S1 smartphone is equipped with a capacitive 5" IPS screen with minimal side frames:


As I mentioned earlier, the screen is protected by tempered glass with 2.5D technology, so you can hope that scratches should not appear. Also, according to the developers, thanks to On-Cell technology, the sensor and screen are combined into one layer with a glass panel, which improves color reproduction, quality and responsiveness of the display.
The screen resolution is typical for 5" shovels - 1280x720 (HD), the dot density (PPI) is 294 dots per inch, which allows you to comfortably view images without noticing graininess. Screen diagonal exactly 5"" (12.7cm):


Viewing angles are very good (the shooting angle is minimal):




The anti-reflective coating slightly reduces the maximum possible brightness, but it is still at a sufficient level to comfortably view anything in sunlight. The MiraVision system is responsible for adjusting the brightness. You can customize the modes “to suit you”, and if you wish, enable dynamic contrast:


The display supports up to 3 simultaneous presses:


Although I can’t imagine where more than three might be needed, except in games, and they’re not at all interesting to me at 5 inches and without a mouse.

Combination tray:

As you can see, on the left is a combined tray that allows you to use either two SIM cards, or one SIM and a memory card:


I don’t know why manufacturers always step on the same rake, because there is plenty of space for two SIM cards and a memory card. You just need to add one slot and then you wouldn’t have to choose. On the other hand, the smartphone has 32GB of memory installed and about 25GB is available to the user, which is quite enough, and the presence of OTG allows you to connect flash drives directly to the smartphone.
The tray opens by simply pressing a paper clip:


Two SIM cards are supported. The main SIM card can be configured in the settings:


4G (LTE) support is present.

Memory:

As I mentioned earlier, the smartphone has 3GB of RAM (memory loading after restarting the device is on average about 1 GB) and 32GB of built-in flash memory (about 25 GB available to the user):


Thanks to the card reader located in the combined tray, the user can easily supplement the built-in microSDHC memory with a card up to 32 GB. According to the developer, the device supports cards up to 64 GB, but, unfortunately, the smartphone does not understand the exFAT file system, so without dancing with a tambourine (formatting the card in NTFS), it will not be possible to attach such a card - an error appears that the SD card is damaged. The OTG function works properly. The Eaget V90 flash drive was identified without problems. In the photo below: on the left is a 64 GB microSDXC card with an error, in the middle is a 16 GB microSDHC, on the right is a connected OTG flash drive Eaget V90):


File system speed can be assessed using the AndroBench application:


Fingerprint's scanner:

The multifunctional model Good GF5118M is used as a fingerprint scanner:


The glass panel of the sensor is protected by durable glass, protecting it from keys, coins and other hard objects:


This model has high sensitivity and allows fingerprint recognition from any angle in 180 ms.
In your smartphone settings, you can choose what actions can be performed using your fingerprint:


Based on my experience of use, I can say the following: the scanner works correctly in 9 out of 10 cases, the main thing is to scan the fingertip itself correctly.

Smartphone power supply and battery capacity:

To charge a smartphone, you use a typical network adapter/power supply unit with a 5V/1A Euro plug and a good cable of average lousy quality, about 1 m long:


The power supply produces the declared parameters without problems (5.13V/0.9A), but it cannot cope with a more serious load at all - the voltage sags very strongly (4.05V/1.16A), this is when connecting a 2A load:


The cable itself does not shine with characteristics, the drawdown is 0.2V at a current of 0.9A (by the way, the Orico meter cable draws down by only 0.1V):


Since the battery in a smartphone is non-removable, we will use a charging doctor to roughly estimate the battery capacity. I connected the charger when the smartphone showed 8% capacity, the red indicator lights up when charging:


Unfortunately, the developers have not yet finalized the event indicator in the firmware, so the green LED does not light up when finished. After a full charge, I got 1640mah and this is without taking into account losses in the converter:


Hardware platform and performance:

The smartphone has a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek MT6753 processor (eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at up to 1.3 GHz) and a Mali-T720 graphics coprocessor. The RAM capacity is 3 GB, which allows you not to think about the number of applications running in the background. The memory should be enough for most “heavy” applications and games. By the way, in my SGS3 with 1 GB of RAM, the navigator often did not start after minimizing it, and numerous open tabs in the browser caused discomfort in operation and the smartphone lagged a little. You can view the intestines without opening the device using the popular CPU-Z application:


It was also impossible to ignore the synthetic tester Antutu Benchmark 6.2.0:


System information from Antutu:


Another Geekbench 3 test:


To check stress resistance, we will use the StabilityTest application:


Software:

The smartphone runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS with the manufacturer's proprietary Freeme OS 6.1 shell:


This shell is quite similar to MIUI. It is developed by a Chinese company and has more than 70 million users worldwide. This shell implements about 3,000 new functions, the main objectives of which are to add functionality and aesthetics to the operating system:








The smartphone has an OTA wireless update function. The stock version was V3.02, but V3.09 appeared just recently, and just a few days ago V3.10 appeared:


Unfortunately, event notifications were never finalized.
The settings menu is standard:


You can activate the hidden settings item “System UI Tuner” by holding the gear icon near the “pop-up curtain”:


This way you can remove unnecessary icons or add your own.
The file manager is the simplest; for convenience it is better to install something more functional:


Multimedia:

For convenience, entertainment is hidden in a separate group:


The smartphone has its own music player:


Equalizer standard:


When you connect headphones, you can listen to the radio:


As you can see, the functionality of the program is basic, there is an auto scan and broadcast recording.
But with the video, not everything is as rosy as it would seem. Antutu Video Tester 3.0 showed that some file types are not supported by hardware:


But on the other hand, what prevents you from processing them programmatically by installing, for example, BSPlayer or MX Player, which have a built-in set of decoders, fortunately there are enough resources for this. The only negative is that these formats will be played programmatically, spending a little more resources.
Now let’s see if the smartphone can digest “heavy” test videos from the site IXBT.com (http://www.ixbt.com/multimedia/video-methodology-1.shtml#4) without the help of third-party players.
Video files 1080p-25p-high5.1.mp4 and 1080p-50p-5.1.mp4 (L5.1, playback without problems, many household players/TVs will refuse to play):


Video files 2048x1152.mp4 (L5.0) and 4096x2160.mp4 (L5.1) are not played by hardware, but with the help of the same BSPlayer they look great:


At the same time, playback of a 2048x1152.mp4 video file occasionally slows down, but 4096x2160.mp4 slows down quite a lot.
Surfing the Internet is a pleasure:


Wireless interfaces:

The smartphone supports all modern modules - GPS/GLONASS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.1. There are no complaints about the WiFi module - the connection is reliable, reception is stable through a thick wall. The smartphone can operate in access point mode, i.e. distribute the Internet via WiFi, for example from a mobile operator’s network:


A frequent application is the distribution of Internet to devices from an unlimited tariff of a cellular operator (in the absence of providers or outside the city).
But GPS/GLONASS works slowly. It finds satellites quite quickly, but it doesn’t always connect willingly; you have to wait about a minute. If the third galaxy, for example, has 13 active satellites, then the Uhans S1 has only about 8-10 satellites. Russian GLONASS supports (right screen):


Battery life:

I haven't found any verified battery tests, so I'll give my subjective opinion. My previous smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S3, with a 2100mah battery, initially lasted for a day with average use: several calls, surfing the Internet, briefly watching videos. A couple of years later, by the end of the working day, he was no longer alive and PB Pineng PN-963 came to the rescue. The Uhans S1 smartphone has a similar battery and hardware. While it is consistently enough for a working day, in the evening, of course, it needs to be recharged. I’m already used to it and for me it’s not strange, it’s in the order of things, besides, the time-tested thin Pineng PN-963 is always in my purse...

Camera:

The Uhans S1 has two cameras: a Sony IMX 214 13MP main camera (up to 16MP interpolation) and a 5MP front camera (up to 8MP interpolation). Basic settings are present, plus some effects can be downloaded from the Internet:


Autofocus works well and photos are saved quickly, faster than the SGS3. Examples of photos compressed to 1980 pixels in width in sunny weather (photos of the Uhans S1 come first):
Uhans S1 vs Samsung Galaxy S3:




Photos of Uhans S1 are somewhat lighter. Both of them do well with greens:




Front cameras:

A few more comparisons in clear sunny weather:

Carrot:

Shooting in an unlit place. Uhans S1 blurs the photo a little, so it looks a little better:


But SGS3 is very noisy, although the detail is much higher:


And finally, macro photography in a dimly lit place:


To summarize, we can say the following: the camera in the Uhans S1 smartphone is not that bad. In good lighting it shows good results. Of course, it is far from the level of top brands, but for normal use it is quite enough. In low light, the camera loses its position, however, like the SGS3.
Well, in conclusion, video recording from the main cameras (Uhans S1 vs Samsung Galaxy S3):

Here Galaxy has no competition. Video recording in the Uhans S1 smartphone is clearly not its strong point...

Pros:
+ Stylish appearance
+ high quality case manufacturing
+ productive filling for this price category
+ large memory capacity
+ bright, responsive screen
+ 4G (LTE) support
+ good performance of the fingerprint scanner
+ support for microSDXC cards (64GB and more)
+ silicone bumper included

Minuses:
- Small battery capacity
- average video quality
- combination tray
- without coupons the price is a bit expensive

Conclusion: The device is not bad, I'm happy with it so far. Of course, the small battery capacity by modern standards scares off many, but I’m already used to it and don’t consider it a big minus. But still, for those who like to actively use smartphones, it is better to look at other models with more capacious batteries. I needed a device for surfing, so the main criteria were 4G support and a large amount of RAM for glitch-free operation. In my opinion, the current price for it is around $100; for the current price without coupons, there are better models...
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One of the essential components of our smartphones is glass, which covers the display and protects it from shocks and scratches. There are different types of glass. We will try to tell you whether they differ from each other, and how big the difference is. If there is a difference, then which glass is the safest.

Gorilla Glass

Glass from the company has existed since 2007. In 2012, the second generation of Gorilla Glass appeared. A year later, the third generation appeared. Today, most flagship smartphones use Gorilla Glass 5, introduced in 2016. The sixth generation glass was recently announced.

The glass manufacturing process does not change much from year to year. The glass becomes stronger by being in a bath of molten salt at a temperature of 400 degrees Celsius. Potassium ions create a layer that adds strength to the glass.

Scratch resistance does not change from year to year, but resistance to shocks and falls increases with each generation of Gorilla Glass. According to Corning, the latest generation of their glass can withstand up to 15 drops from a height of one meter. That's twice as many drops as Gorilla Glass 5 can withstand.

Dragontrail

Another popular glass is made by the Japanese manufacturer Asahi. It can be called the second most popular. There are Dragontrail, Dragontrail X and Dragontrail Pro. The latest variety was released in 2016. No new glass from Asahi has been announced yet.

Tempered safety glass

There are glasses that many people stick on top of the main glass of their smartphone. It's hard to be sure that all of these glasses are made to the same standard, but let's hope that most of them are tempered at 600 degrees Celsius. These tempered glasses are the most affordable to manufacture.

Sapphire crystal

The least accessible are sapphire crystals. They are made from artificially grown crystals in a barrel that is exposed to 2200 degrees Celsius. The process takes about 16-17 days. This is why sapphire crystals are so expensive. Sapphire has a hardness of 9 on the Mohs scale, while Gorilla Glass can withstand scratches from objects with a hardness of no higher than 5 on the Mohs scale.

Which glass is better

There is practically no difference in scratch resistance between glasses from Corning and Asahi. Sapphire crystal can only be scratched by a diamond, and this is where it wins. Regular tempered glass will lose the battle.

When it comes to flexibility and strength, the situation is different. Sapphire crystal is more likely to crumble than bend. Gorilla Glass is significantly more flexible. This means that the glass can withstand greater pressure. Corning assures that sapphire crystal will not be able to withstand 73 kilograms above itself, while their solution holds 195 kilograms under it. Dragontrail crystals are catching up with Corning and surpassing sapphire crystals. Tempered protective glass may not even be considered.

And it turns out that you have to choose between greater scratch resistance and greater shock tolerance. Manufacturers today choose lower costs and install glass from Corning and Asahi. Sapphire crystals are not used in all products, and they are not necessarily used to protect the screen, but many consumers would like to have a smartphone whose screen is not scratched. True, smartphone users have found their way out. They buy smartphones with Gorilla Glass and cover it with tempered protective glass.

A smartphone made of metal looks solid and expensive. This was the case before, and it is still the case today, although metal has already moved down from the top segment to the budget segment and, in general, does not add much value to the smartphone.

pros

1. Looks expensive. If you have a metal smartphone, then you are definitely not a poor person. At least, many will think so.
2. Fashionable. Metal has become the main material of modern industrial design. It's a thing in itself. If the body is made of metal, then no additional elements and design effort are required. Metal is beautiful as is.
3. Thermal conductivity. The metal is cold. That same feeling when you hold a smartphone and feel how pleasantly cool it is in your palm. Tactile sensation is also important.

These advantages create a feeling of high cost.

Minuses

1. It bends and becomes deformed. Moreover, in order to bend a smartphone, you don’t need to mock it at all - just put it in the back pocket of your jeans and sit down. Thus, many smartphones turn into iPhone 6 Plus. Remember what bendgate is? Exactly.
2. Shields. Metal does not transmit radio waves. LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth - all these signals have a hard time getting through the metal case, so you have to make ugly external leads for the antennas. This first became clear under Steve Jobs, when Apple released the iPhone 4 and it had poor network reception. A few years later, Samsung stepped on the same rake by launching the Galaxy A line of all-metal smartphones. The new products received network reception 20% worse than the plastic Samsung Galaxy S5. Also, the all-metal case does not allow for wireless charging.
3. Thermal conductivity. A plus easily turns into a minus. When powerful metal smartphones work at full capacity, the body can get so hot that it’s enough to fry eggs on it!

So, a paradox: the very material that makes a smartphone premium does not allow premium functions to be implemented in the device. And it bends too!

Plastic

LG G Flex. theverge.com

Smartphones made of plastic can be of any color and, in general, of any shape, for example curved, as the LG G Flex was at one time. Plastic also opens the way to a variety of finishing types. Glossy, matte, leather-like, metal-like - with plastic, designers gain absolute freedom. Despite the fact that plastic is cheaper than other materials, the smartphone itself can be more expensive than metal and even glass competitors.

pros

1. Price. Plastic smartphones are cheaper to produce.
2. Elasticity. In general, plastic is a very durable material, it is resistant to bending, twisting, and perfectly absorbs impact energy. Sony has used this property to create many smartphones, such as the Sony Xperia Z5. Its body was made of metal, and the corners were plastic. When a smartphone was dropped at an angle, the energy was not transferred to the internal components of the device, but was absorbed by the plastic. Note that complex composite materials, such as fiberglass-reinforced plastic, have even greater strength. Developed for the military industry, it is now used to make smartphones. For example, the new Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact.
3. Does not shield. Plastic conducts radio waves perfectly, regardless of thickness and strength. This is why we see plastic wiring for antennas in metal smartphones.
4. Color. Plastic can be any color, and Nokia took advantage of this when releasing orange, light green and yellow smartphones.

Plastic gives the manufacturer more freedom when creating a design, and the material is interesting enough to be used even in expensive top-end smartphones.

Minuses

1. Feels cheap. Many plastic smartphones are perceived as simple crafts, although they can be expensive.
2. Looks cheap. Making a plastic smartphone look expensive and rich is not so easy.
3. Painted. Plastic may change color when in contact with other colored surfaces. For example, a white smartphone, after being in a jeans pocket, can become denim colored.

As a rule, a plastic smartphone is a cheap device in every sense.

Glass

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Glass first appeared in the iPhone 4 and Nexus 4, but the real boom began after the release of the Samsung Galaxy S6. Glass smartphones look expensive, are expensive, but are also quite fragile. Glass backs shatter just as well as glass screens. Even despite Gorilla Glass 5.

pros

1. Does not shield. Glass does not interfere with radio waves, therefore, unlike metal smartphones, glass ones do not need any plastic inserts for antennas.
2. Looks amazing. Glass allows you to create beautiful visual effects, such as a sense of depth, change the color of the panel depending on the angle of incidence of light, catch light spots and reflect them in the form of rays.
3. Feels expensive. Like metal smartphones, glass ones pleasantly cool the palm, delight with the smoothness of the surface and awaken the feeling that you are holding a luxury item in your hand.

A glass smartphone is, as a rule, an expensive device with a claim to premium status.

Minuses

1. Fragile. No one has yet succeeded in creating indestructible glass, so dropping a glass smartphone is strictly prohibited.
2. Scratched. It doesn’t matter what the manufacturer says, but the glass is covered with scratches once or twice.
3. Slippery. Glass smartphones slip out of your hands like an ice cube.

You need to be extremely careful with a glass smartphone, because it is not only an expensive thing, but also very fragile.

So which is better?

Aesthetes will love smartphones made of glass, and it doesn’t matter that they are fragile. Plastic is universal, found in all segments and can be presented both as a budget material and an expensive high-tech composite. But metal is the worst thing that can happen. It is deformed and does not transmit radio waves. However, it is metal smartphones that are especially popular today.

Ordinary things can be made from the same ordinary materials, but made like this. that they will seem unusual. You can take, for example, anything. For example, leather boots, they contain leather, padding and material for the sole. Nothing else is needed, but they all look different: some are higher, others are lower; some with rough soles, and others with thin soles; after all, they all have different shapes. That is, any thing, no matter what it is, slippers or a car, can have completely different interpretations of its appearance, although the materials needed are approximately the same.
So, for example, without delving “into the depths” and into the spare parts of a car, any person who knows absolutely nothing about its internal structure can determine that externally we see a metal body and glass. But in different cars the metal body is also made differently: in some places it is embossed, in others it is straight, and in others there are such and such places. Glasses have different placements. Somewhere there is more glass, and somewhere less, somewhere they are connected to each other, and somewhere they are separate.
It is precisely these opportunities for the flight of imagination of designers that have become key to creating a variety of cars, and sometimes even very original ones. Thus, the car created by designers Liu Shun, Gao Zhiqiang, and Chen Zhilei is one of those original cars. Its originality lies in the fact that its entire body is made of glass. That is, its appearance is very original, it is difficult to describe it, it is better to admire it in the photo.
Besides being a beauty, the Dolphin (that's the name of the car) is also a sports car. But the fact that this car is a sports car does not at all become an obstacle to placing the whole family in it, since it is very roomy.
Its cover is made of carbon fibers, which are popular as sports car covers due to the fact that they are very light.
Beauty, originality. lightness, spaciousness - what else is needed for an ideal car!?
Transparent phone
The phone market is so full that it would seem there is no room for it to develop! At first, we could only communicate without leaving home, via a wired telephone, which still had to be twisted to dial a number. Nowadays, even home telephones exist with a database, that is, with a telephone directory in which all the numbers you need are recorded. Previously, such a “database” was a telephone book, or telephone numbers in the brain’s memory. Her need simply disappeared, and, by the way, this is bad, because often phone numbers are stored in the phone’s memory, and not on the SIM card, so if your phone is broken, then it is impossible to restore all contacts. But now we’re not talking about phone books, but about phones themselves.
Those home phones have been replaced by mobile wireless communications, which we all now successfully use. Phones are not the end of wireless communications. Now we can communicate via Skype, and not only hear the voice of the person we are talking to, but also see him on the monitor screen, if, of course, he has a webcam.
The phones themselves were originally simple, black and white, but we still remember them. Nowadays, the telephone is not only a means of communication, it is also a means of entertainment. Recently, they have been trying to make phones as light as possible, so they become not only light in weight, but also visually light.

Everyone knows that the normal external frame of a phone (that is, what we see visually) is a metal, or plastic, case and a screen, which has recently often been touch-sensitive. But all these “phone stereotypes” may soon come to an end! This is due to the fact that the Taiwanese company Polytron Technologies is engaged in a project to make a glass phone. The entire phone cannot be completely glass; rather, its base is glass, but the “internals” on which it generally functions, the flash card and SIM card, are not glass.

The idea is certainly interesting, but from a practical point of view, it is unnecessary, since we already have multifunctional gadgets. In addition, those who like to “drop the phone” will not be able to be content with a glass phone for so long.

Among the gray mass of modern smartphones, it is so difficult to find something unusual - both in terms of design and functionality. Most gadgets look the same and do the same things. Against such a background, it’s easy to stand out by coming up with something original. This is what the Russian brand Highscreen did, which at the end of 2014 presented its “ice novelty” Highscreen Ice 2.

The body of the smartphone is made of durable glass, and there is an additional display on the back cover. Intriguing, isn't it? Further more.

In the box

The smartphone comes with a charger and a cable with a built-in LED, which serves as an indicator of the current process. Lights up red – the battery is still charging, blue – it’s ready. A very convenient thing. In addition, the box contains: a decent red headset, a clip for removing the SIM card, as well as instructions and a warranty card.

Appearance

There seems to be nothing unusual in the design of the smartphone, but I liked Highscreen Ice 2 at first sight. Probably it’s all about the unusual “shimmering” color of the device.

The front and back panels of the smartphone are made of durable Gorilla Glass 3. That is, the body is not afraid of scratches, impacts and other delights of life with keys in one pocket. It is also worth noting that the smartphone is resistant to fingerprints - thanks to the oleophobic coating, the glass remains clean for a long time, and, if necessary, can be easily cleaned with a regular napkin.

The frame of the case does not appear to be metal, but is actually made of durable plastic, although the control buttons are made of metal.

The touch buttons located under the screen are devoid of the usual icons and represent ordinary circles. The same solution can be found in Meizu and ZTE smartphones.

The central, largest, circle can blink in different colors, thereby informing the owner of different notifications. For example, you can assign the color red to missed calls, blue to email, and so on.

The lock button is on the top edge. Reaching it is not a problem, but it would still be more convenient if the button was on the side. In general, all the keys are made very carefully, they do not stick out from the smartphone, but are easy to press.

Highscreen Ice 2 supports two SIM cards; the slots for them are made in the same way as “iPhone” ones and are located on the left side of the smartphone. On the right is a slot for a microSD memory card.

The body itself is well put together. All parts fit perfectly together, there are no gaps or cracks. Highscreen Ice 2 is available in three colors - black, white and cosmic dark blue.

Display

The main screen has a diagonal of 4.7 inches and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. The IPS matrix in conjunction with OGS (technology for producing displays without an air gap) provides good color reproduction, high brightness, contrast and wide viewing angles. Under normal conditions, a brightness level of 15-20% is sufficient. The screen is very responsive, responding quickly even to light touches.

The second display is located on the back cover of the smartphone. Externally, it is a small strip with a diagonal of 0.88 inches. In essence, this is a monochrome (black and white) notification board. This narrow screen displays information about the date, time, missed calls and other important things.

The list of notifications can be increased or decreased in the settings. Unlike a large screen, a small screen allows you to save personal information from strangers, and at the same time all the necessary data will always be in front of your eyes (for example, at a business meeting or in a couple).

In progress

Highscreen Ice 2 is powered by an 8-core MediaTek MT6592 chipset (frequency up to 1.7 GHz). In conjunction with the Mali-450MP4 video accelerator and 2 GB of RAM, the processor provides excellent performance in games, applications and when playing high-definition video. In “heavy” 3D games, the smartphone shows its good side: graphics load without lags or freezes. Here are the results of Highscreen Ice 2 in popular benchmarks:

16 GB of internal memory is provided for data storage, part of this volume is occupied by the system, for a total of 13.32 GB of “clean” space. You can increase the reserve using a microSD memory card (up to 32 GB). It’s also worth reminding us of a gift for all Highscreen Ice 2 users – as much as 128 GB of cloud storage in the 4Sync service. Of course, it's free.

The smartphone has bare Android 4.4 installed. In the absence of pre-installed programs, I see only a plus: everything you need can be downloaded yourself, and all sorts of uninstallable “branded” services only take up space.

Since only one radio module is installed in the smartphone, during a conversation on one number, the second one will be “out of reach”. The smartphone works on 3G networks, but, unfortunately, does not support LTE. Other wireless joys in the form of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS work flawlessly.

The 2,500 mAh battery lasts approximately 1 – 1.5 days of moderate use. By moderate I mean calls for 15 minutes a day, a few short trips to the Internet, launching GPS and a few toys. When playing HD video, the battery runs out in about 4.5 hours; with Wi-Fi always on, the smartphone will want to “eat” after about 7 hours.

Camera

Highscreen Ice 2 has a high-quality 13 megapixel camera with a Sony IMX214 sensor and BlueGlass optics.

Photos come out good even in poor lighting. Separately, I would like to note the decent quality of shooting in the “macro” mode; all the cracks and texture of surfaces can be captured in great detail.