Smartisan Nut Pro 2 Review

Overview

Smartisan is the brand under which Hammer Technology (锤子科技 in Chinese) releases its smartphones to the market. Established on May 15, 2012, this mobile device and software development company originates from China and creates smartphones targeted at the domestic market. The Smartisan brand is a combination of two words: "Smart" and "Artisan," referring to a "smartphone craftsman". The logo of the brand is a hammer placed in a circle. The hammer is a symbol of the artisan spirit as one of the craftsman's tools. The product portfolio of the brand is very limited - there have been eight models released to the market since 2014. However, in each model Smartisan has thrived to leave its distinctive mark in terms of unique and ergonomic design coupled with user-friendly software and quality hardware. Thus each device becomes an everyday companion that makes life easier. Smartisan smartphones have a solid base of fans in home China while remaining largely unknown in the western world, which is a shame. The latest Smartisan model is called Nut Pro 2 and is the subject of this review. Its name in Chinese is 坚果Pro 2, meaning Solid Fruit (Nut) Pro 2 and is pronounced as Jiānguǒ Pro 2. In the software system of the device, it is recognized as U3 Pro, while the model's code name is OS105.

Specifications

Smartisan Nut Pro 2 features a 5.99-inch in-cell IPS display from BOE with a resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels (FHD+), peak brightness of 500 nits, 1500:1 contrast ratio and a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The back of the handset is covered with glass as well, while the frame in between is made of metal. The model is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 MSM8976 Plus chipset, which uses the 14nm node and employs eight semi-custom Kryo CPU cores. Four of them tick at 2.2GHz and the other quadruplet - at 1.84GH. The graphics department is headed by a 650GHz Adreno 512 GPU. The model has plenty of RAM+storage variants. The RAM can measure either 4GB or 6GB. Either way, it is LPDDR4X, double-channel, clocked at 1866MHz. The internal memory varies from 32GB to 256GB and cannot be expanded. The camera department of Smartisan Nut Pro 2 features a 16MP Samsung S5K3P8SP front camera with an f/2.2 lens, an Arcsoft bokeh algorithm and face recognition. There are two cameras on the back of the device. The main one packs a 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor with an f/1.8 lens (6-element), while the auxiliary snapper is equipped with a 5MP Samsung S5K4E8 sensor and an f/2.0 lens. The dual rear camera setup is aided by the Arcsoft bokeh algorithm, dual-tone LED flash and PDAF. The primary shooter has a blue light filter as well. There's a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor made by Fingerprint Cards, concealed by the Smartisan logo on the back of the device. Power is supplied by a 3500 mAh Li-Pol battery that supports Quick Charge 3.0 and is coupled with a 5V/3A~9V/2A~12V/1.5A fast charger. The model supports the following network bands: 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 2.5G CDMA (BC0, BC1), 3G TD-SCDMA (1880-1920, 2010-2025 MHz), 3G W-CDMA (850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 MHz), 3G UMTS (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), 4G LTE-FDD (800, 850, 900, 1700/2100, 1800, 2100, 2600 MHz), 4G LTE-TDD (1900, 2100, 2300, 2500 - only Chinese, 2600 MHz) as well as dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth 5, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou. Smartisan Nut Pro 2 has a USB Type-C 2.0 port with OTG support and runs on Smartisan OS 4.1.6 based on Android 7.1.1.

Complete Smartisan Nut Pro 2 specifications.

What's in the box

Smartisan Nut Pro 2 arrives in a white rectangular box that's covered with a black "sleeve". The latter has the model's name on top with stylized Chinese logograms and looks like this: 坚果 Pro 2. The profile of the smartphone with its distinctive red line in the middle is also depicted. On the back of the "sleeve", there's information about the model's basic specifications. Inside the box, the handset is placed on top of a bunch of standard documents and two boxes containing the charger and cables. Here's a detailed list of what's in the box:

• 5V/3A~9V/2A~12V/1.5A fast charger (EU plug)
• USB Type-C data cable
• Headphone adapter
• SIM tray pin
• User manual in Chinese
• Warranty card in Chinese