Xolo recently stepped up its game with Xolo Black, an online exclusive product with dual camera set-up and a new Hive UI. We got to spend some quality time with the device and here are answers to popular questions that we come across.
Xolo Black Quick Specs
- Display Size: 5.5 Inch IPS LCD, 1920 x 1080 full HD Resolution
- Processor: 1.5 GHz Octa Core Snapdragon 615 octa core Processor
- RAM: 2 GB RAM
- Software Version: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop based Hive UI
- Primary Camera: 13 MP AF camera and 2 MP depth sensor, LED flash
- Secondary Camera: 5 MP, LED flash
- Internal Storage: 16 GB
- External Storage: up to 32 GB
- Battery: 3200 mAh battery, non removable
- Connectivity: 3G/ 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11, Bluetooth, aGPS, 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- Others: Dual SIM – Yes (hybrid)
Question – Does Xolo Black have Corning Gorilla Glass Protection?
Answer – Yes, Xolo Black includes Gorilla Glass 3 on both front and back
Question – How is the Display on Xolo Black?
Answer – The full HD display is pretty decent, but not as sharp or crisp as we expected from a full HD panel. Colors and contrast is good too. Overall, it is a good display but not a dazzling one.
Question – How is the Design and Build Quality?
Answer – Xolo Black uses glass on front and back surface and plastic on the side frame. This is same ideology practiced by Sony Xperia series devices, but it looks very different from Xperia devices. The front and back panel are not smudge free as advertised. Hardware buttons feedback strictly ok.
Question – Navigation keys are on screen or capacitive buttons?
Answer – Backlit capacitive keys are present on Xolo black.
Question – Is there any heating issue in Xolo Black?
Answer – Xolo black includes Snapdragon 615 which is notorious for heating, but the handset doesn’t heat much.
Question – What comes inside the Box?
Answer – Data cable, 2 A Charger, documentation, scratch guard. Headphones are not included.
Question – What size SIM card is supported?
Answer – Dual SIM card are supported. The second SIM slot is a hybrid slot, which means you can either insert a nano SIM or a MicroSD card slot. Most users will end up inserting a MicroSD card.
Question – Does it have LED notification light?
Answer – Yes, LED notification light is present, it is present beneath the power key and looks attractive.
Question – How much is Free Storage?
Answer – Out of 16 GB, slightly less than 11.08 GB is available at user end. You can transfer parts of apps to SD card too.
Question – Does it support USB OTG?
Answer – Yes, USB OTG is supported.
Question – How much is free RAM on first boot?
Answer – Out of 2 GB, a little more than 1 GB free RAM on first boot.
Question – How is the Camera Quality?
Answer – The rear 13 MP camera is a good performer, specially in outdoor lights. You have to be still while shooting images and focus isn’t extraordinarily fast either, but post processing works fine and can even rectify your mistakes. Chromaflash and front selfie flash work well too, though other features like UbiFocus (uses dual camera) and OptiZoom aren’t compelling enough to shed the ‘gimmick’ tag.
Question – How is the performance ? How much did it score on Antutu and Nenamarks?
Answer – Performance is similar to other Snapdragon 615 phones, which is pretty good. Antutu score was 29667 and on Nenamarks, the phone scores 53.9 fps. We didn’t encounter any lag or performance issue while running apps and games.
Question – How is the Hive UI software
Answer – Hive UI isn’t bereft of Lollipop look and feel, but it still feels incomplete in several aspects. Plenty of customization options are available, but several custom features don’t work very well. It is still work in progress, but most elements we didn’t like were replaceable and thus UI shouldn’t be a deal breaker here.
Question – How many sensors does Xolo Black have?
Answer – You can see the full list in the image below
Question – How loud is Loudspeaker?
Answer – loudspeaker quite loud. Audio quality is good as well.
Question – How is the battery backup?
Answer – Battery backup has been above average so far. The battery comfortably lasts for one day of moderate usage. Antutu battery tester score is 8156, which is above average but not great.
Xolo Black Unboxing, Quick Review, Features, Camera Quality Overview
Conclusion
Xolo Black includes powerful hardware, good enough to justify its price tag. It is a simple and modest device which does several things right, but the software is still work in progress.
