Bluboo S8+ Review

Overview

Bluboo S8+ is Bluboo S8's bigger sibling. It is slightly bigger, actually, and 10 grammes heavier, mainly due to the bigger screen that retains the HD+ resolution and the bigger battery - 3600 mAh for the S8+ vs 3450 mAh for the S8. Both devices are also based on one and the same chipset but the S8+ has more RAM and storage - 4GB+64GB for the S8+ against 3GB+32GB for the S8. All the rest is identical in terms of specs. On paper, it seems that Bluboo S8+ has everything it needs to become a much-loved mid-ranger not to mention the appealing price of USD 150! Our detailed and unbiased review below will give you all the information so you can decide for yourself if this smartphone is worth having.

Specifications

Bluboo S8+ features a 6-inch in-cell IPS display with an HD+ resolution (720 x 1440 pixels), 18:9 aspect ratio and GFF full lamination. It is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The model is powered by a 3600 mAh battery and its performance depends on a 64-bit MediaTek MT6750T SoC. It combines an octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU with four 1.5GHz cores and four 1GHz cores and a dual-core 650MHz Mali-T860 MP2 GPU. There are 4GB of single-channel, LPDDR3 RAM clocked at 833MHz and 64GB of built-in memory that can be expanded with up to 128GB. Bluboo S8+ supports a standard set of network bands: 2G GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), 3G W-CDMA (850, 900, 2100 MHz), 4G FDD-LTE (800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2600 MHz). 4G LTE speeds are Cat. 6 ones and VoLTE for enhanced call quality is supported as well. The model has the following wireless connectivity options: dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, Wi-Fi Calling, Bluetooth 4.0. The device is equipped with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, a USB Type-C 2.0 port, single bottom-firing speaker, a hybrid, dual-SIM tray and no 3.5 mm jack. It works with GPS and GLONASS. The camera department includes two rear shooters and a single front one. The primary rear shooter combines a 13MP Sony IMX135 Exmor RS sensor (interpolated to 16MP) and an f/2.0 lens. The auxiliary rear snapper has a 3MP sensor. The two are aided by PDAF and dual-LED flash. The front-facing camera is equipped with a 5MP OmniVision OV5468 sensor (interpolated to 8MP) and an f/2.4 lens. The model runs on 360 OS based on Android 7.0 Nougat.

Complete Bluboo S8+ specifications.

What's in the box

Bluboo S8+ is placed inside a rectangular black box with accents in copper-gold colour - the brand and model names, model variant (RAM+storage) are imprinted on the lid in this colour. Inside you will see the smartphone lying in the top level compartment. The one below it has a cover with a sign in italic using the same copper-gold colour. It reads: "It is the one you can't resist". Below it, you will find the following accessories:

• 5V/2A fast charger (EU plug)
• Two USB Type-C data cables
• Two headphone adapters
• Screen protector
• Silicone case for the back
• SIM tray pin
• Quick start guide