Cubot X18 Review

OS, UI and software

Cubot X18 runs on pure Android 7.0 Nougat out-of-the-box. If you have prior experience with Android N, you won't have problems getting around with the UI and apps. The Lock and Home screens are standard. A long tap on an empty space on the Home screen opens the Widgets menu with a choice of wallpapers and widgets. There's a shortcut to the Settings as well. The Task Manager is quite simple and does not offer split-screen mode. It is accessed from the Menu button. Speaking of the latter - the on-screen navigation bar cannot be customised in any way and definitely takes up a serious portion of screen estate. The Notifications and Quick Settings hold no surprises. The applications are listed on one screen in alphabetic order. You can access them from the App Tray on the Home screen. The list of applications is minimal and includes all Google services (Chrome, Drive, Duo, Gmail, Google, Hangouts, Maps, Photos, Play Games, Play Music, Play Store, Voice Search, You Tube). The rest of the applications are the default Android ones - Calculator, Calendar, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Downloads, Email, File Manager, FM Radio, Gallery, Messenger, Music, Phone, Sound Recorder. Only the Music app has a different skin than the stock one, while the functionality and architecture remain the same. The Settings menu offers stock Android 7.0 experience. It begins with a list of suggestions, which may be deleted or collapsed. Of course, the first group of settings is the Network & wireless one, followed by the Device group. The latter lets you manage the Display settings, Notifications and Applications, Sound and Battery, Storage and Memory usage, Users working with the device and DuraSpeed. The Display menu contains the MiraVision suite of settings but in a limited form and without the Cast display function. The DuraSpeed option is switched off by default. If you turn it on, it will boost foreground apps at the expense of the background ones and some notifications may be delayed or not received. The third group of settings is called Personal and it manages the device's security, location, accounts, Google settings, language & input options, backup & reset ones. In this case, this group also contains a toggle for the LED notification light. The Security settings are standard ones and contain the usual Smart Lock and Fingerprint options. The latter is quite extensive and allow you to assign various actions to a selected fingerprint ID, including in-app control functions, application locking/unlocking, app encrypting and launching. The fourth and final group of settings is dubbed System and from there you can manage the date and time, adjust the accessibility options, schedule power on & off, use printing services, check the About Phone data and tweak the device with the System UI Tuner. The About Phone menu contains an option for checking for software updates. Upon making this review, our unit has the latest software.