Oukitel WP27 Review - lovely design, excellent battery life, and reliable performance in an affordable package

OS, UI and software

Oukitel WP27 runs on stock Android 13. The Lock Screen has a huge Time widget, a small Date widget, and shortcuts to the voice search and camera in the bottom left and right corner. The Home Screen has the most minimalistic layout possible with a search bar at the top and the usual two rows of apps at the bottom. The default launcher uses an app drawer that lists the applications in alphabetic order with a row of the latest used ones on the top. A swipe to the right from the Home Screen opens Google Discover. Desktop shortcuts are supported. The Task Manager tiles the apps horizontally with options to access the app info and/or enter split-screen mode. There's an option to snap a screenshot and clear the cache at the bottom of the list. The customization picker menu contains a very basic list of home settings, a shortcut to the wallpaper and style menu, and a list of widgets. The Notifications and Quick Settings have a classic Android 13 layout. Oukitel WP27 arrives with a very basic set of pre-installed apps. They include Assistant, Audio Recorder, Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Chrome, Clock, Contacts, Drive, Files, Find Device, Flashlight, FM Radio, Gmail, Google Discover, Keep Notes, Lens, Maps, Meet, Messages, Outdoors (Tools), Phone, Play Store, Photos, Safety, Settings, YouTube, and YT Music. The Settings app has a clean and minimalistic layout as well. It begins with the settings search bar. The first two menus are about connectivity - "Network & Internet" and "Connected devices" - these are listed in detail in the Connectivity section of this review. It is followed by the "Apps" menu with the standard default apps settings, special app access, screen time management options, etc. "Notifications" is the fourth menu with specific app settings, history, conversations, bubbles, lock screen notification settings, DND, wireless emergency alerts, and others. These are followed by the "Battery" and "Storage" menus. "Sound & vibration" is next with the traditional four volume level bars, DND mode, ringtones, Live Caption, vibration and haptics, alarm sounds, and other related options. The "Display" settings are eighth with a brightness level bar, toggles for the adaptive brightness, dark theme, night light, auto-rotate, and lift to wake. You can also set the screen refresh rate, lock screen, color scheme, and screen saver. "Wallpaper" is the ninth menu with options to choose from a list of Live Wallpaper, The "Accessibility" menu comes next followed by the "Security" one with options for setting face and fingerprint unlock, smart lock, etc. The "Privacy" menu features the usual settings with Android System Intelligence, autofill service, activity controls, dashboard, etc. "Location" is the next menu and offers settings again in the context of privacy. The "Safety & emergency" menu follows with options for entering your medical information, emergency contacts, setting an emergency SOS, alert notices, etc. "Passwords & accounts" and "Digital Wellbeing" are standard menus along with the "Google" and "DuraSpeed" ones. "Memory expansion" is a separate menu for enabling virtual RAM expansion with 6GB, 8GB, or 12GB. For the changes to take effect, you have to restart the device. The next menu is dubbed "Smart Key" and allows you to assign an action or app to the physical button placed on the left frame. The last but one menu is the standard "System" with languages and keyboard settings, date and time, backup and reset, multiple user settings, and gestures. It is from the gestures part that you can set the system navigation, enable tap to wake, etc. The last menu is "About phone" with the standard set of data about the device itself.