Ulefone Note 16 Pro Review

OS, UI and software

Ulefone Note 16 Pro runs on stock Android 13 and the UI theme uses colors that complement the color of the handset - purple, powder pink, light violet, etc. The Lock Screen has a classic layout with a big Time widget in the center, a date widget in the top left, status bar icons in the top right, a shortcut to the dialer in the bottom left corner, and a shortcut to the camera in the bottom right corner. The Home Screen is accessed via a simple upward swipe for unlocking the device. It has a huge Time widget with an oval background which we removed. The rest of the elements include a Google search bar with voice search and Lens embedded into it, a row of favorite apps, and a row of docked apps. By default, there's an App Drawer that lists the apps in alphabetic order and can be accessed after an upward swipe on the Home Screen. Desktop shortcuts are supported. The Widgets menu can be accessed in the usual way and offers a choice of widgets, wallpapers, and UI style customization, along with home screen settings. Among all else, the latter offers you an option for a launcher with no app drawer. Here you can check out screenshots of how the Home Screen and apps look without it. On this one, we did not remove the oval Time widget. Google Discover is on by default and you can reach it after a rightward swipe from the Home Screen. It can be disabled from the home settings. The Task Manager lists the apps horizontally and for each, you can activate split-screen mode or access the app-specific info. The Notifications shade has a classic Android 13 layout and design and can be brought on after a swipe from the top of the screen. A second swipe from the top opens the quick settings toggles which are listed on two pages below a brightness level bar. Ulefone Note 16 Pro has the bare minimum of apps pre-installed. The Google apps include the Assistant, Calendar, Chrome, Drive, Files, Find Devices, Gmail, Discover, Keep Notes, Maps, Meet, Photos, Play Store, YouTube, and YT Music. There's also the Safety app which is probably here to stay on all the latest smartphones. It lets you set up critically important information for situations like accidents, for example - emergency data, emergency contacts, SOS signals, etc. The standard Android apps comprise a Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, FM Radio, Messenger, Phone, and Sound Recorder. The additional applications include the Toolbox one (usually found on every rugged smartphone), Wireless emergency settings (also available from the Settings app), and the Ulefone service app. The Settings app has a minimalistic design that follows the latest paradigms with all menus listed without any visual grouping. The list begins with the settings search bar and is followed by the "Network & Internet" and "Connected devices" menus both of which manage the various connectivity options of the smartphone and are detailed in the corresponding section of this review. The third menu is about managing the applications on this device Apps menu lets you manage your apps and monitor your screen time. It is followed by the "Notifications" menu where you can manage your device and app notifications, monitor the notification history, check the conversations, and choose to display them as floating icons. DND mode settings, Wireless emergency alerts, and other standard toggles are also part of this menu. "Smart Assistant" is fifth with plenty of features and we think that everyone will find at least one useful among those. The first is "System Navigation" with a choice between on-screen gestures and on-screen buttons with additional customization options. The second sub-option is about settings several toggles on/off when you make screen records. The third one is dubbed "Emergency Rescue" and complements the Safety app giving you the option to open/close such an event, edit it, and manage your emergency contacts. "Gesture Control" has two toggles - for making screenshots by swiping three fingers on the display or opening the camera with the same gesture. "Scheduler power on/off" used to be a regular feature in older Android smartphones but we now see it is coming back to some devices. "Smart Controls" contains a toggle that enables waking the phone when you pick it up. There are also three other toggles for auto-answering calls when the device is placed to your year, for decreasing call volume, and for muting incoming calls. Back to the main list of settings. The next menus are "Battery" (check the corresponding section of this review) and "Storage". They are followed by "Sound & vibration" which contains the usual volume level bars, DND mode, ring tones, live caption settings, vibration and haptics settings, general sound-related toggles such as toch sounds, dial pad tones, etc. The "Display" menu is ninth and offers plenty of options for customization and we will repeat some of those here as well - brightness level, auto-brightness, lock screen settings, display theme, size and text, night light, colors and contrast options, video display enhancement, background power saving, screen saver, wallpapers, etc. The "Security" menu includes the four default services - Google Play Protects, Find My Device, Security Update, and Google Play system updated, screen lock settings, and more security options listed on an additional screen such as Smart Lock, Device Admin apps, Encryption & Credentials, Trust agents, and App pinning options. The "Face and Fingerprint Unlock" is removed from the "Security" menu and listed after it as a separate one. The next menu is the "Privacy" one. It begins with the Privacy Dashboard that offers an overview of which apps recently have used permissions. It continues with the permission manager to control app access to your data, several toggles for app-specific permissions, autofill service from Google, location history, activity controls, ads management, and usage & diagnostics. The "Location" menu follows and again deals with privacy but in the context of granting access to your location information to apps and services. The "Safety & Emergency" settings contain options for entering emergency information, managing your SOS reactions and contacts, setting your emergency location service, and other features which are also present in the Safety application. The "Passwords & Accounts" menu is next and manages your passwords saved on the device, autofill service, synced accounts, etc. It is followed by the "SmartWakeUp" which is a simple toggle for a feature that allows you to turn on the screen if you double-tap on it when it is off. Then there are the usual menus such as "Digital Wellbeing & Parental Controls", and "Google". They are followed by the "Memory expansion" by 2GB, 4GB, 6GB, or 8GB. The last but one menu is "System". It begins with the "KLanguages & Input" settings which also include voice input ones supported by Google's Assistant. The second sub-menu is "Gestures" and from here you get toggles for quickly opening the camera app, entering the one-handed mode, activating Assistant by pressing and holding the power button, preventing ringing, and making screenshots by sliding three fingers on the screen. The "System" menu also includes multiple users settings, backup and reset options, date and time settings, and system updates. The last menu is "About phone" with an option to check for OTA updates and data about the model.