Cubot Magic is a low-end Chinese smartphone that grabbed our attention with its 3GB of RAM, a 5-inch screen, Android 7.0 Marshmallow, and most importantly, its low price at only $80. In this review, we will take a close look at its performance, and we will see if it's worth buying a low-budget device for someone that is looking for an inexpensive phone with decent specifications.
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Cubot Magic
Cubot is among the most well-known Chinese manufacturers, and it mainly releases low-end smartphones at a rather tempting price.
The Cubot Magic we will be reviewing is a recent model, and it is probably one of the cheapest options if we are looking for a dual camera phone with 3GB of RAM.
The name suggests it is a rip-off of the Huawei Honor Magic. In fact, the two devices look very similar on the outside.
It is obvious, though, that Cubot used cheaper materials to reduce the cost. It also has lower specs.
Thus, the phone is made out of plastic instead of the metallic design of Huawei's device, but on the other hand, the Huawei costs more than $500. We couldn't expect the same quality from an $80 phone.
The 5-inch display has a resolution of 720p. On the front side, the selfie camera is at 5MP, while at the back, there's a dual camera setup.
The first camera has a sensor of 13MP. Of course, the dual camera might be more of a marketing trick, since the second sensor is at 2MP.
The Cubot Magic features a 2600mAh battery, with the MTK6737 and 3GB of RAM, as we mentioned earlier.
It also has 16GM of internal storage space, which can be expanded with a microSD card to up to 128GB.
If you have trouble picking an SD card, have a look at our detailed guide.
SD Card Purchase Guide: How To Get The Best SD Card For Your Needs
The phone can hold two SIM cards, but the best has to be the operating system. The Cubot Magic runs stock Android 7, which means no extra Chinese apps and bloatware.
Finally, the smartphone supports 4G, which nowadays is essential, even for low-budget phones.
Unboxing and first boot
The package is square and simple, with the device shown on the outside.
On the back, we will find all the features of Cubot Magic.
Inside the box, we can see the device sitting at the top, the charging adapter, and the micro USB cable.
The phone also comes with a rubber case.
When we first tried to boot the device, we thought we had a defective product in our hands. No matter what we did, the phone wouldn't boot. We tried to charge it, but seemed to be out of luck.
It turns out, some manufacturers still use a removable battery, and that's the case with Cubot Magic. We had to open the back lid and remove the protective film on the battery.
After we did that, the device was able to boot.
Performance
Although the Cubot Magic belongs to the low-end category and our expectations were not high to begin with, we had to run some benchmarks to confirm it.
In the table below, you will see a comparison with the Oukitel U22, which belongs to the same price range.
As expected, the two devices are close enough, with Cubot Magic overtaking Oukitel in most results.
Cameras
We certainly did not expect much from an $80 phone. We all know that if we want a device that can shoot photos of above average quality, we have to spend at least double that money - sometimes even more.
Whatever the case, the selfie camera had a decent result for this price range. The dual cameras at the back did an excellent job as well.
The video looks cheap, too, but we are talking about 480p and 3gp videos.
In this link, you will find all the pictures we shot in the original resolution.
Final impressions
In general, we can say for sure that the Cubot Magic is one of the most VFM devices in the Chinese market.
What impressed us was the display's quality with the "curved" glass design. The colors were amazing, quite vibrant, and it doesn't look cheap at all.
For the average user, Cubot Magic looks like a great choice. Its 3GB RAM is more than enough for any simple use, such as browsing, YouTube, and so on.
It is definitely not the phone for demanding games and high-performance apps. However, at the price of $80, we can efficiently use it as a second device or gift it to our parents, our children, and any amateur user that just wants a simple device for everyday usage.
All in all, the screen is beautiful, the user experience is fine, and the cost is what you need for a low-budget cell phone.
Did you like Cubot Magic?
If you enjoyed the review or if you have any questions regarding the device, feel free to leave a comment below.
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