Oukitel WP56 Review

Oukitel WP56 OS, UI and software

Oukitel WP56 runs on stock Android 15 with a UI layout that's typical for the OS. The Lock Screen has a huge Clock widget, a tiny date one, and a shortcut to the Wallet app. The Home Screen has a familiar layout with a Google search bar on top with integrated voice search and Lens, a Clock/Date widget, two rows of favorite apps, and a docked row of apps at the very bottom. The second desktop contains some of the most important applications, another Clock/Date widget, and a few other apps listed in an expanded folder dubbed Tools. Desktop shortcuts are supported. The Task Manager tiles the app previews horizontally. For each application, you have four options: to access the app info, to enter split-screen mode, to lock/unlock the app from being cleared in the background, and to manage it by locking/unlocking it from the whitelist. From the customization picker you can select from different themes, wallpapers, themes, wallpapers, styles, widgets, and Home settings. The latter allows you to switch the launcher to include an app drawer, to turn on/off Google Discover, adjust the icon size, notifications dots, and others. The Notifications shade is accessed after a swipe down from the top left of the display. The Quick Settings are accessed after a swipe down from the top right. The toggles appear on a single screen. The Volume and Power menus are standard. Oukitel WP56 arrives with a standard set of pre-installed apps. They include Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Child Mode, Chrome, Clock, Contacts, Drive, Easy Launcher, Files, Find Hub (former Find Device), FM Radio, Game Mode, Gemini, Gmail, Google Discover, Keep Notes, Maps, Meet, Messages, Phone, Photos, Play Store, QRCode Scan, Service Center, Safety, Settings, Sound Recorder, System Manager, ToolBag, Torch, YouTube, and YT Music. There's a dedicated Cleanup app accessibel only from the Home Screen, it simply wipes off the background clean to free RAM. Another non-standard app is the AI Album one. It lets you tweak your photos and play with them whenever you're in the mood. One of the four features in the AI Album is to circle and delete unwanted elements. The second is to create a virtual person. The third is to add a background of your choice. The fourth is to create a fictional character based on a real photo. The ToolBag contains a compass, sound meter, gradienter, height measurer, magnifier, protractor, plumb bob, alarm bell, mirror, pedometer, and an NFC card emulator. The System Manager contains a shortcut to the Battery settings (Power Manager), a shortcut to managing your storage, a Freezing room, where you can put apps that annoy you but don't want to uninstall, and an App Lock for apps to which you want to have password-protected access. For additional security, you can create a Private Space, but we will get back to this feature when we reach the Privacy options from the Settings app. The Settings app resembles a lot that of Ulefone smartphones with five groups of menus and a color icon for each menu. The first group is about connectivity and sets off with an airplane mode toggle. It continues with SIM cards and mobile data management. The third menu is about Wi-Fi connectivity and the fourth is about connecting to other devices - Bluetooth, Cast display, NFC, Quick Share, Android Auto, etc. The second group begins with the Notifications settings, including the usual app-specific options, notification history, conversations, bubbles, device and app notifications privacy, lock screen settings, DND, wireless emergency alerts, and the usual toggles for hiding the silent ones from the status bar, snoozing, enhancing, and notifications dots. The second menu is about the Display settings with the standard choice between Bright and Dark theme, brightness level bar, adaptive brightness toggle, screen timeout, lock screen settings, display size and text, color mode, color contrast, wallpaper & style, auto-rotate screen, screen refresh rate, top screen display, and screen saver. The Sound & vibration is third in the second group and offers no surprises. It begins with the four standard slide bars for media, calls, rings & notifications, and alarm volume. You can also choose a ringtone, alarm, and notification sound, manage the Live Caption options, the vibration and haptics one, as well as the DND mode. Security & Privacy is the last but one menu in the second group. It contains the usual security system check, screen lock options, device finders, etc. The privacy-related options are listed as privacy controls, dashboard, and private space. The latter is a feature that's generated when you need it. This is an area that appears after the list of apps and can be accessed with your biometrics or password/code. It can be deleted whenever you don't need it. The More Security & Privacy options include Lock Screen Notifications, App Content, Android System Intelligence, Autofill Service from Google, Extend Unlock, and others. The last menu in the group is about managing your passwords and accounts. The third group of settings contains four menus - Apps, Battery, Storage, and Accessibility, which arrive in their standard set of options and layout. The fourth group comprises the Location menu, Safety & Emergency, Digital Wellbeing, Fingerprint, Google, DuraSpeed, Memory expansion, Side Key Function, and Featured Functions. "Fingerprint" is a list of options that enhance the functionality of the fingerprint sensor beyond simple unlocking. "Featured Functions" contains options such as the Smart Touch floating dot, Gesture WakeUp, Gesture motion, Night Light, One-handed mode, Side Application bar, Dynamic capsule, call recording, mistouch prevention, and lift-to-wake. The last group of menus contains the standard System and About Phone. The "System" menu comprises the language and keyboard options, date and time settings, backup and reset, system updates, user management, demo mode, and gestures. This "Gestures" menu contains options for quick camera access, one-handed mode, power button options, and system navigation settings. From the latter, you can select either virtual buttons or onscreen gestures, each with its customization options. The About phone menu provides the standard device information such as model name, basic specifications, the software build version, etc.