Ulefone Paris Review


ulefone paris review

Ulefone say they built the Ulefone Paris to be the perfect balance of performance, price and build, so have they managed to meet their own criteria? Find out in our full Ulefone Paris review.

Ulefone have used the know how they learnt with building the alloy bodied Ulefone Be Touch and Be Touch 2, and created a slim budget phone that (Ulefone says) ticks all the boxes.

Ulefone Paris Review – Design

Design, design, design. Ulefone have gone to town on the design of the Ulefone Paris, adding every possible finishing touch and feature possible to create a handset that they hope will be considered good-looking.

ulefone paris review

Did it work? Well I like the fact that the Ulefone Paris has a 5-inch 2.5D curved display, and I like that Ulefone have added a plastic bezel around the display which follows the curve so that we end up with a continued rounded design around the alloy chassis.

ulefone paris review

The metal chassis itself is very slim and has a nice (and so far durable) grey finish, and that too meets a second beveled plastic bezel which meets the curved removable rear panel.

ulefone paris review

Although a lot of thought has gone in to making the Ulefone Paris as curved and comfortable as possible, it does seem like the design rushed the camera and flash enclosure on a Friday evening.

ulefone paris review

The single LED flash and rear camera are set in a alloy oval. It doesn’t really suit the rest of the phone’s design and looks like something from an ancient HTC phone not a 2015 device. This is not a big deal though, and overall the Ulefone Paris looks good for the $129.99 price point it currently occupies.

ulefone paris review

As you will already know (with the removable rear) the Paris is not a unibody design and so adding your SIM (or both SIMS) means taking the plastic rear cover off. While you are also in the back of the phone you can add a Micro SD card, and switch out the battery if you feel the need too.

A final quick tour around the exterior of the Ulefone Paris reveals a single capacitive ‘Halo’ home button below the HD display, and front camera plus LED notification light above. single speaker in the base, power and volume buttons on the right side and headphone jack plus standard USB at the top of the phone.

ulefone paris review

With just a 5-inch screen the Ulefone Paris measures in at 144.6 x 71.8 x 8.0mm and a weight of just 128g with a 2250mAh battery installed.

Ulefone Paris Review – Performance

The Ulefone Paris is another phone that makes use of the octacore Mediatek MT6753 chipset. The MT6753 runs at 1.3Ghz and has a 64bit architecture like the rest of the 2015 Mediatek line-up. The SoC comes equipped with an ARM Mali T720 GPU, and the phone has 2GB RAM onboard, and an almost stock Android 5.1 install.

The octaocre MT6753 is a good chipset, but it is just a budget processor. Mediatek made this SoC as an everyday chipset capable of simple gaming, regular day to day apps (social media etc) audio, video etc.

Ulefone Paris Review – Hardware

A 5-inch 720 x 1280 HD On Cell IPS display sits under the 5-inch curved display, and it looks really good. Viewing angles are superb, but even on max brightness you might struggle to see the panel in intense direct sunlight. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 is a bonus at this price, so you can feel a little more at ease should you knock or bump it.

ulefone paris review

Sony provide a 2250mAh removable battery (according to the specs) it’s a small battery compared to other phones of 2015, but with that narrow chassis there is limited space inside the phone. In my testing I managed just under 4 hours of onscreen time, not bad but could be better.

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ulefone paris review

Like plenty of other phones we have been lucky enough to review this year, the audio on the Ulefone Paris is pretty good with earphones, but fails to impress through the built-in speaker. The tiny included speaker is quiet and tinny, better to stick to a set of earphones.

Ulefone Paris Review – ROM

Ulefone chose the Ulefone Paris to be the first phone to ship with their own U-Launcher, to be honest this brings very little to the user experience of the phone and is simply used to switch themes and icons.

ulefone paris review

Android 5.1 looks and feels just like a stock Android ROM does on most Chinese phones, with the only changes being the option to take screenshots with a 3 finger screen swipe. There are also ‘action’ gestures too allowing you to operate the phone with select movements or gestures, for example picking up the Paris will answer an incoming call, flip to mute, and using the proximity sensor to take screenshots and photos.

Since I received my review phone I have had one OTA update. The update has made the system smoother and more fluid, it also seems to have improved the speed of the camera (both taking and saving photos).

Ulefone Paris Review – Camera

That last points brings us nicely to the camera hardware and performance of the Ulefone Paris. Both sensors are Omnivision, the front sensor os a 5 mega-pixel shooter and performs well in good natural light conditions.

ulefone paris review

On the rear is a 13 mega-pixel F1.8 aperture camera, and again we have a solid performer in nice bright conditions but performance suffers as light dries up. I would say that the Paris doesn’t perform as well as a regular Xiaomi Redmi 2 if that gives you an indication of how it works.

Ulefone Paris Review – Gallery

Ulefone Paris Review – Specifications

 

Model: Ulefone Paris
Sim Card:
  • Dual 4G LTE SIM
Color: White | Grey
Capacity RAM: 2GB LPDDR3 RAM 1866 MhzROM: 16GB

Micro SD up to 128GB

Multi-Languages All Android languages supported
Chipset CPU: Mediatek octacore MT6753GPU: Mali T720
System Android 5.1 OS
Screen Display Size: 5-inch On CellResolution: 1280 x 720

Multitouch: Yes

 

Camera Rear: 13 mega-pixel OV13850 F1.8 Apertre

Front: 5 mega-pixel OV5648

Network and Wireless Connectivity
  • GSM 850/900/1800/1900
  • WCDMA 900/2100
  • FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600

GPS:GPS, AGPS,GLONASS,Positioning by BDS(BeiDou Navigation Satellite System)

Bluetooth:Bluetooth 4.1,Bluetooth HID

WiFi: 802.11 b/g/n, WIFI 2.4Ghz

OTG:Yes

 

Battery capacity

2250mAh Sony

Price $129.99

Ulefone Paris Review – Conclusion

Ulefone wanted to make a phone that was a perfect balance of all features, while maintaining a low price. It was a tall order and overall we do end up with a phone with a good balance of features, but nothing is mind-blowing, everything is just average.

ulefone paris review

Battery life, camera, phone performance, audio are all good, but the Paris only really shines in the design and build department, where at this price it is one of the best options. A slim metal CNC body, and 2.5D display really do look the part and if these are details are important to you then take a look.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

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95 Comments

  1. tech mi
    October 19, 2015

    Ulefone Paris choice is correct,A balanced configuration, powerful than any single aspect of the much better.The price is very attractive,Batteries is enough, after all, its size is 5 inches.Of course, if a larger battery would be better, I have a brand power bank 16000mAh of xiaomi.

  2. tech mi
    October 19, 2015

    Also, I did not see the video review……

  3. Captain Cook
    October 19, 2015

    Hi, Andi you just said what i want to say. It’s a good phone in general.

  4. Fabio
    October 19, 2015

    Ulefone Paris choice is correct,A balanced configuration, powerful than any single aspect of the much better.The price is very attractive,Batteries is enough, after all, its size is 5 inches.Of course, if a larger battery would be better, I have a brand power bank 16000mAh of xiaomi.

  5. Fabio
    October 19, 2015

    Also, I did not see the video review……

  6. Captain Cook
    October 19, 2015

    Hi, Andi you just said what i want to say. It’s a good phone in general.

  7. Muhammad Yasir
    October 19, 2015

    wait …

    THE CAMERA IS BAD ?!

    AGAIN !??!?!?!??!?!?

    those guys at ulefone JUST DONT LEARN … do they ?!

    • balcobomber25
      October 19, 2015

      Judging by his comments it is a very good camera with plenty of light but not as good as the budget leaders.

      • erer
        October 19, 2015

        please list the budget leaders with similar or better camera

        • Kubis
          October 20, 2015

          I guess Elephone Trunk can produce better colors accuracy for 89 USD.

          • Muhammad Yasir
            October 21, 2015

            yep…

    • tech mi
      October 21, 2015

      Ulefone Be Touch 2 there is a great camera performance, almost all users agree.

      • Muhammad Yasir
        October 21, 2015

        can i get some sources/articles/proof to go with that ?

  8. balcobomber25
    October 19, 2015

    I like the overall design (minus the weird Camera housing) and for $129 it is not a bad set up but I would prefer a TCL or Xiaomi Redmi if I was buying in that price range.

  9. Kubis
    October 19, 2015

    Some how quite a weak review in my opinion. Viewing angles are not superb as on all videos have a big tendency to colors change.
    Camera is weakness, the optics is bad with lot of artefacts, sky is overblown. Focusing can be fixed by updates but not this sort of glass.

    • Hieu Nguyen
      October 19, 2015

      Agree on the camera too. Slow to focus and a lot of photos produce crazy noise and artifacts. Sometimes even purple tint. Also, the camera software is so outdated and it performs so poorly. In well-lit conditions, photos are acceptable, but dim the lights slightly and it’s a whole different story. Camera software looks like it’s from a smartphone more than 5 years old. Same with the gallery app.

      • Steven
        October 20, 2015

        Do you have the phone?

        • Hieu Nguyen
          October 20, 2015

          I bought it for my mother in law. But set it up and tested it for 3 days before giving it to her.

          • Steven
            October 20, 2015

            Thanks, thats a pity about the camera

            • Hieu Nguyen
              October 20, 2015

              true. I don’t consider it well “balanced” as ulefone claim if they’re sacrificing on camera.

            • tech mi
              October 21, 2015

              Equilibrium is to contain prices, OV13850 is a shot in the end relative to its price, ulefone Paris design and configuration are very good.Performance of the camera, is also the need to continue to optimize,Of course, any camera in a bad light when performance is in general.

    • Steve B
      October 20, 2015

      cheap fast glass is never good. Even on high quality standard camera lens you need to stop down a few clicks for best results, so cheap fixed f/1.8 no chance.

      • Kubis
        October 20, 2015

        Agree on that. Only big name producers can make a great fast glass under f2.2. I was watching if Ulefone can produce one with f1.8 but ends up on the fail side. Would be better if they go with some better glass with f2.2.

  10. Guest
    October 19, 2015

    wait …

    THE CAMERA IS BAD ?!

    AGAIN !??!?!?!??!?!?

    those guys at ulefone JUST DONT LEARN … do they ?!

    • balcobomber25
      October 19, 2015

      Judging by his comments it is a very good camera with plenty of light but not as good as the budget leaders.

    • Guest
      October 19, 2015

      please list the budget leaders with similar or better camera

    • Kubis
      October 20, 2015

      I guess Elephone Trunk can produce better colors accuracy for 89 USD.

    • Fabio
      October 21, 2015

      Ulefone Be Touch 2 there is a great camera performance, almost all users agree.

    • Guest
      October 21, 2015

      can i get some sources/articles/proof to go with that ?

    • Guest
      October 21, 2015

      yep…

  11. balcobomber25
    October 19, 2015

    I like the overall design (minus the weird Camera housing) and for $129 it is not a bad set up but I would prefer a TCL or Xiaomi Redmi if I was buying in that price range.

  12. Kubis
    October 19, 2015

    Some how quite a weak review in my opinion. Viewing angles are not superb as on all videos have a big tendency to colors change.
    Camera is weakness, the optics is bad with lot of artefacts, sky is overblown. Focusing can be fixed by updates but not this sort of glass.

    • Hieu Nguyen
      October 19, 2015

      Agree on the camera too. Slow to focus and a lot of photos produce crazy noise and artifacts. Sometimes even purple tint. Also, the camera software is so outdated and it performs so poorly. In well-lit conditions, photos are acceptable, but dim the lights slightly and it’s a whole different story. Camera software looks like it’s from a smartphone more than 5 years old. Same with the gallery app.

    • Steven
      October 20, 2015

      Do you have the phone?

    • Hieu Nguyen
      October 20, 2015

      I bought it for my mother in law. But set it up and tested it for 3 days before giving it to her.

    • Steven
      October 20, 2015

      Thanks, thats a pity about the camera

    • Steve B
      October 20, 2015

      cheap fast glass is never good. Even on high quality standard camera lens you need to stop down a few clicks for best results, so cheap fixed f/1.8 no chance.

    • Kubis
      October 20, 2015

      Agree on that. Only big name producers can make a great fast glass under f2.2. I was watching if Ulefone can produce one with f1.8 but ends up on the fail side. Would be better if they go with some better glass with f2.2.

    • Hieu Nguyen
      October 20, 2015

      true. I don’t consider it well “balanced” as ulefone claim if they’re sacrificing on camera.

    • Fabio
      October 21, 2015

      Equilibrium is to contain prices, OV13850 is a shot in the end relative to its price, ulefone Paris design and configuration are very good.Performance of the camera, is also the need to continue to optimize,Of course, any camera in a bad light when performance is in general.

  13. Steve B
    October 20, 2015

    read a user report of over heating and camera module becoming (more) unreliable longer phone is on. Any similar issues?
    My concern with this phone is that it was supposed to be a $169 phone and went on presale at that price, before being suddenly cut to $129, leaving some resellers quickly adding poor value case and screen protector to justify $169 listed offering.

  14. Captain Cook
    October 20, 2015

    In addition, i’m impressed by the smoothness, which i never expect for a phone of 129.99 dollars. And the 2250mAh battery capacity, which was supposed to be a hidden problem, is not a problem at all. 5-inch HD display and MTK6753 is indeed very energy efficient.

  15. Iron Thor
    October 20, 2015

    Ulefone has used a good piece of display, with which i’m quite satisfied. It look not grainy at all, just like Full HD display in the 5.5-inch size. And i appreciate ulefone for they allow people to tune the display in color temperature, saturation via Miravision.

  16. Android Hound
    October 20, 2015

    Battery life is OK. What i’m afraid of does not come. Thanks Ulefone.

  17. Director Fury
    October 20, 2015

    Good look, good quality, good display, average camera, good battery life, good three-finger screenshot. That’s all i feel about Ulefone Paris.

  18. Gigi Grace
    October 20, 2015

    Release the golden version please, one of my friends like my Paris very much, only that he likes the golden version.

    • John
      October 20, 2015

      Tell your friend (s)he has horrible taste.

  19. Xu Tan
    October 20, 2015

    Though not perfect, it is a good phone and more than worth the price. Hope Ulefone will keep their promise to make the phone excellent.

  20. Geek Tech
    October 20, 2015

    I agree with Andi’s review in general. But he didn’t mention that the phone support the switch of left hand and right hand mode. Which is very good for single-hand operation.

  21. ljan ryan
    October 20, 2015

    When Ulefone will release the 6000mAh phone?

  22. Wall Will
    October 20, 2015

    I was in Paris yesterday with Ulefone Paris, and i don’t find the phone has anything to do with the city. Well, it is a good phone though.

    • Bryan
      October 21, 2015

      Have a nice trip, and don’t forget to take a few pictures with Ulefone Paris and show us.

  23. Jasper
    October 20, 2015

    Andi so which phone would be the best all-rounder under $150-160 in your opinion? I’ve read the Top 25 article but only the Zopo phone caught my attention.

    PS: Obvious Ulefone employees leaving comments are obvious. That’s one of the things that makes you a 3rd class brand in my eyes, Ulefone.

    • Kubis
      October 20, 2015

      Agree on that, Xu Tan is Ulefone employee example.

      Look at this Discuss comments history. In various European China phones blogs, different languages like an Italian, only positive comments how great Ulefone phones are and how happy Paris owner he is etc. POOR job Ulefone…

      BTW: Cubot X16 looks quite interesting. Waiting for some reviews to come…

    • balcobomber25
      October 20, 2015

      Redmi Note 2 is the best phone under $160 by a wide margin in my opinion.

  24. Steve B
    October 20, 2015

    read a user report of over heating and camera module becoming (more) unreliable longer phone is on. Any similar issues?
    My concern with this phone is that it was supposed to be a $169 phone and went on presale at that price, before being suddenly cut to $129, leaving some resellers quickly adding poor value case and screen protector to justify $169 listed offering.

  25. Captain Cook
    October 20, 2015

    In addition, i’m impressed by the smoothness, which i never expect for a phone of 129.99 dollars. And the 2250mAh battery capacity, which was supposed to be a hidden problem, is not a problem at all. 5-inch HD display and MTK6753 is indeed very energy efficient.

  26. Iron Thor
    October 20, 2015

    Ulefone has used a good piece of display, with which i’m quite satisfied. It look not grainy at all, just like Full HD display in the 5.5-inch size. And i appreciate ulefone for they allow people to tune the display in color temperature, saturation via Miravision.

  27. Android Hound
    October 20, 2015

    Battery life is OK. What i’m afraid of does not come. Thanks Ulefone.

  28. Director Fury
    October 20, 2015

    Good look, good quality, good display, average camera, good battery life, good three-finger screenshot. That’s all i feel about Ulefone Paris.

  29. kik
    October 20, 2015

    Release the golden version please, one of my friends like my Paris very much, only that he want a golden version to buy. Now every phone maker make some golden phone, why ulefone don’t?

    • Guest
      October 20, 2015

      Tell your friend (s)he has horrible taste.

  30. Windows 10
    October 20, 2015

    Though not perfect, it is a good phone and more than worth the price. Hope Ulefone will keep their promise to make the phone excellent.

  31. Guns 'n' Vegetables
    October 20, 2015

    I agree with Andi’s review in general. But he didn’t mention that the phone support the switch of left hand and right hand mode. Which is very good for single-hand operation.

  32. Tarantino
    October 20, 2015

    When Ulefone will release the 6000mAh phone?

  33. Mengkih
    October 20, 2015

    I was in Paris yesterday with Ulefone Paris, and i don’t find the phone has anything to do with the city. Well, it is a good phone though.

    • Bryan
      October 21, 2015

      Have a nice trip, and don’t forget to take a few pictures with Ulefone Paris and show us.

  34. Guest
    October 20, 2015

    Andi so which phone would be the best all-rounder under $150-160 in your opinion? I’ve read the Top 25 article but only the Zopo phone caught my attention.

    PS: Obvious Ulefone employees leaving comments are obvious. That’s one of the things that makes you a 3rd class brand in my eyes, Ulefone.

    • Kubis
      October 20, 2015

      Agree on that, Xu Tan is Ulefone employee example.

      Look at this Discuss comments history. In various European China phones blogs, different languages like an Italian, only positive comments how great Ulefone phones are and how happy Paris owner he is etc. POOR job Ulefone…

      BTW: Cubot X16 looks quite interesting. Waiting for some reviews to come…

    • balcobomber25
      October 20, 2015

      Redmi Note 2 is the best phone under $160 by a wide margin in my opinion.

  35. tech mi
    October 21, 2015
    • Captain Cook
      October 21, 2015

      After Ulefone published this and another video showing it how Ulefone Paris is capable in video gaming, i doubted about that and though it was some trick. But when i play ashalpt 8 with the phone my self, i released they were sincere, at least on this aspect.

    • Suskind
      October 21, 2015

      I’ve seen them in the evaluation, has purchased two sets, but, but until now they did not give me delivery. Merchant said out of stock, but this week will be issued upon receipt I will give an evaluation, I hope ulefone Paris is worth the wait.

  36. Suskind
    October 21, 2015

    Ulefone Parisa battery capacity turned out to be 2300mAh. Reviews XDA still very good. http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/ulefone-paris-5-inch-hd-mtk6753-t3161553

    • King Leer
      October 21, 2015

      Wow, no wonder i feel the battery is enough, though it’s only 2250mAh. It comes out that Ulefone has marked down the value?

  37. Fabio
    October 21, 2015

    Check out this video .

    • Captain Cook
      October 21, 2015

      After Ulefone published this and another video showing it how Ulefone Paris is capable in video gaming, i doubted about that and though it was some trick. But when i play ashalpt 8 with the phone my self, i released they were sincere, at least on this aspect.

    • Kieslowski
      October 21, 2015

      I’ve seen them in the evaluation, has purchased two sets, but, but until now they did not give me delivery. Merchant said out of stock, but this week will be issued upon receipt I will give an evaluation, I hope ulefone Paris is worth the wait.

  38. Kieslowski
    October 21, 2015

    Ulefone Parisa battery capacity turned out to be 2300mAh. Reviews XDA still very good. http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/ulefone-paris-5-inch-hd-mtk6753-t3161553

    • King Leer
      October 21, 2015

      Wow, no wonder i feel the battery is enough, though it’s only 2250mAh. It comes out that Ulefone has marked down the value?

  39. Pan
    October 24, 2015

    received Ulefone Paris with white spot on display, bottom left. s7yler also reported “Clouding” on gizchina.de forum (http://www.gizchina.de/forum/testberichte/1024-ulefone-paris-review-5-zoll-hd-2-5d-metallrahmen-octa-core-android-5-1.html). Anyone else?

    Otherwise, phone seems decent after one week. Coming from cubot x9, which has been reliable, and Paris is not a very big improvement (bought it to bridge time until an affordable camera phone is on its way). Somewhat disappointed by camera, but have been used to wife’s mx5. On charger in my car, with display on and spotify blasting, the Paris discharges. Cubot x9 never does that.

  40. Pan
    October 24, 2015

    received Ulefone Paris with white spot on display, bottom left. s7yler also reported “Clouding” on gizchina.de forum (http://www.gizchina.de/forum/testberichte/1024-ulefone-paris-review-5-zoll-hd-2-5d-metallrahmen-octa-core-android-5-1.html). Anyone else?

    Otherwise, phone seems decent after one week (but is going to be returned due to issue described above). Coming from cubot x9, which has been reliable, and Paris is not a very big improvement (bought it to bridge time until an affordable camera phone is on its way). Somewhat disappointed by camera, but have been used to wife’s mx5. On charger in my car, with display on and spotify blasting, the Paris discharges. Cubot x9 never does that.

  41. Bart
    November 18, 2015

    Mmmh, Shame for the screen too small and faked battery. Luckily there is the UMI Rome which will have a nice 5.5 AMOLED screen, octacore mt6732 and 3gb ram at an even lower price point… after all the problems with be touch 2, that’s another great reason to steer away from them!

    • Milo
      November 20, 2015

      Really looking for this product, I’ve also read that has metal finishing and a thickness which is less than 8mm… along with the great processor, ram and the amoled screen, it’s incredible how such a product can be offered for so low!

    • Elkif
      November 23, 2015

      Rome’s specs have been officially confirmed, that’s an impressive piece of hardware for less than 90$!

      CPU: MT6753, 8 Core 1.3 GHz
      Memory: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROM
      Screen: 5.5 inches HD AMOLED
      Battery: 2500 MAh
      Camera: Back 13mpx Sony IMX179 with double flash led, Frontal 2mpx with flash led
      Dimensions 153.8 X 77 X 7.9mm

  42. Bart
    November 19, 2015

    Mmmh, Shame for the screen too small and faked battery. Luckily there is the UMI Rome which will have a nice 5.5 AMOLED screen, octacore mt6732 and 3gb ram at an even lower price point… after all the problems with be touch 2, that’s another great reason to steer away from them!

    • Milo
      November 21, 2015

      Really looking for this product, I’ve also read that has metal finishing and a thickness which is less than 8mm… along with the great processor, ram and the amoled screen, it’s incredible how such a product can be offered for so low!

  43. paulodani
    January 19, 2016

    Can anyone tell me the battery dimensions ?

    I wanted to see fits on my smartphone.

    I’m looking for something like 75 x 57 x 4 mm

    Thanks !

  44. Guest
    January 19, 2016

    Can anyone tell me the battery dimensions ?

    I wanted to see fits on my smartphone.

    I’m looking for something like 75 x 57 x 4 mm

    Thanks !