PPTV King 7 Review - $ 137 Multimedia Smartphone with Dedicated DAC

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

A smartphone for those who love music but don't want to overpay.

About the manufacturer

PPTV is unknown in Russia: this streaming TV provider only works in China. To expand the zone of influence, following LeTV (LeEco), the company released its own smartphone.

Unfortunately, the developers were expecting a fiasco, since PPTV was unable to provide a low cost of the gadget: at the start of sales, King 7 cost more than $ 300. With similar characteristics to Le Max, the $ 100 difference did not work in favor of the device of an unknown company.

Six months later, the developers were forced to release an international firmware, and then a global sale of warehouse stocks began. However, even now you cannot buy the older version with a 3D screen for adequate money. But the junior smartphone is participating in endless sales, where its cost has dropped to $ 137. Let's see what this gadget offers for content consumption.

Specifications

CPU	MediaTek Helio X10 (8 cores Cortex-A53 2 GHz, 64 bit)
Display	6 inches, IPS (LTPS), 2,560 x 1,440, 85% color space, brightness 350 cd / sq. m, contrast ratio - 1000: 1, Gorilla Glass
RAM	3 GB
Inner memory	32 GB, support for microSD memory cards up to 128 GB
Main camera	13 MP ISOCELL, phase detection autofocus, dual-color LED-flash, aperture f / 2, 0, lens with 5 lenses, video shooting in 4K
Front-camera	8 MP, wide-angle (84 degrees), f / 2.0 aperture
Wireless interfaces	2 SIM cards (nano + micro), combined slot; Wi-Fi b / n / ac, Bluetooth 4.0; gyroscope, infrared
Connection	2G: 850/900/1 800/1 900 MHz; 3G: 850/900/1 900/2 100 MHz; 4G: 1 800/1 900/2 100/2 300/2 500/2 600 MHz
Navigation	GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Sound	Mono speaker, 3.5mm output, ESS ES9018K2M DAC and Maxim MAX97220 amplifier
Operating system	PPOS based on Android 5.1 Lollipop with Ju UINTSC interface
Battery	3 610 mAh
Dimensions (edit)	158, 4 × 82, 7 × 8, 65 mm
Weight	184 g

Appearance, equipment and usability

Gold on black is a fairly common variant of the external design of Chinese devices. The hint of premium in this case does not justify itself, because the equipment is rather poor:

• smartphone;
• charger for 2 A;
• cable;
• waste paper in Chinese.

The box could be much smaller. But the manufacturer decided to emphasize the size of the device. "Shovel" is the main characteristic of PPTV King 7. It is larger than Xiaomi Max or the popular Sony Xperia Z Ultra. But the diagonal is smaller! The thickness reaches almost 9 mm at the maximum point.

But one thing is on the table, another is in the hands. Due to the rounded corners and edges, the smartphone fits comfortably in a medium-sized hand. Fingers are on the main physical buttons, with your thumb you can reach almost anywhere on the screen. With support for gestures and large interface elements, this is enough for a smooth experience with King 7.

The physical buttons are located on the right edge, but are slightly shifted back for more convenience when pressed. Symmetrical volume swing on the left edge is a slot for a SIM card. It does not rattle, does not dangle, but you have to make some effort to pull out the tray.

The smartphone has huge vertical bezels. Add a wide black border around the screen itself and the look immediately loses its appeal. Today this is the lot of budget devices.

The buttons are on-screen, they are not hidden. To hide them, you have to use third-party programs.

The deceptive logo below the screen is actually a status indicator. The 3.5mm port and IR transmitter are on the top.

The bottom end is decorated with a speaker grill and an off-center microUSB port. Such a solution, on the one hand, simplifies the design and imparts visual symmetry. On the other hand, it will be difficult to find a docking station.

The assembly of PPTV King 7 is beyond praise. The gaps between the plastic inserts for the antenna and the main rear panel are minimal, almost invisible. The screen is installed without gaps. All wires are connected without backlash.

Display

Despite the huge bezels for 2017, the PPTV King 7 screen is one of its main advantages. A high-quality 6-inch panel is made using IPS technology and has a 2K-resolution (2,560 × 1,440 pixels). Total - 467 pixels per inch!

Unfortunately, the color gamut has pumped up a bit. Color accuracy of 85% of sRGB for the budget segment looks good both on paper and in real life. But more expensive devices today are able to offer 100 or even 110% coverage. There is no screen color temperature adjustment in the system settings.

However, most will not be able to see the difference (unless they put the flagship smartphone of a large brand, released in 2017, next to it) due to the peculiarities of human vision. For sophisticated users, colors may appear dull.

Brightness and contrast are standard for the mid-range segment. The minimum backlight level allows you to comfortably use your smartphone in the dark. Maximum brightness saves under the spring sun - the screen remains readable. But due to the lack of anti-reflective coating, it collects sunbeams.

The display is covered with a protective Gorilla Glass with an effect of 2, 5D, it will save the screen from minor scratches and bumps. However, you shouldn't rely on it too much: it has an oleophobic coating above it to protect it from dirt and fingerprints. It performs its intended purpose perfectly, but it is easily scratched. And due to the large thickness of the coating, in case of an unsuccessful outcome, it seems that the scratch goes along the screen itself.

Do not forget that the comfortable, ergonomic and smoothed 2, 5D edges of the glass are much less resistant to impacts and falls. Due to the lack of protective frames, the screen always takes the brunt.

Performance

The smartphone uses the MediaTek Helio X10 platform, released back in 2015. It has 8 2 GHz cores and a PowerVR G6200 video core on board. This bundle was outdated in 2016 both morally and technically.

The X10 is powered by devices such as the HTC One M9 +, Meizu MX5, LeEco Le 1s. But they all have FullHD displays, and in King 7 it consumes significantly more resources. The amount of RAM in 3 GB does not change the situation much.

In this regard, the results of synthetic tests do not break records. AnTuTu shows about 53-56 thousand points, Geekbench - about 750 for single-threaded computing and 3300 for multi-thread.

Real performance is sufficient for efficient smartphone operation in standard user scenarios. The interface works smoothly, flawlessly. Most programs, including office ones, do not lag. Heavy PDFs are slow to open, but viewable without problems.

Games in native resolution are quite slow, but acceptable. For comfortable gameplay, you should use one of the programs for lowering the resolution.

Cameras

You shouldn't expect something supernatural from PPTV King 7 cameras, as we have seen above. The main 13 megapixel camera is equipped with an ISOSELL sensor and a good lens. This ensures that the photos receive the correct white balance, adequate contrast and color saturation.

Focusing is slightly slower than in the latest Xiaomi models. But getting a grainy shot with PPTV King 7 is almost impossible, even in difficult artificial lighting. The result is not ideal, at an average level for devices in the price category up to 15 thousand rubles.

The native photography application is quite powerful, but its structure is copied from MIUI. It turned out to be an extremely inconvenient clone. But you can immediately see that there is stabilization, which can be turned on if necessary.

The front camera is suitable for undemanding users for video conferencing and selfies. You shouldn't expect highly artistic pictures from her.

Sound

Music smartphones are quite rare among modern devices. The built-in codecs are enough for streaming music and the undemanding user.

The correct audio path, consisting of separate chips for decoding the digital stream, amplifying and processing sound, is the lot of flagship devices. The recognized leader in mobile sound quality is Meizu MX4 Pro, which has an ESS ES9018K2M digital-to-analog converter and two TI OPA1612 amplifiers.

PPTV went on the already beaten track, copying the audio path from a little-known in Russia, but nevertheless much more musical BBK Vivo Xshot smartphone. Its audio path has the same DAC as the MX4 Pro, but uses a more powerful amplifier - Maxim MAX97220 (120 mW). A very successful combination that gives the sound of a proprietary monitor coloration.

By default, the DAC and the amplifier are not involved - they need to be activated, a special patch installed after obtaining root rights. The smartphone is then able to decode audio files up to 24 bit / 96 kHz directly without loss of quality and resampling.

When listening to the corresponding audio material, the sound is impressive. Of course, bulky audiophile players and stationary systems have more powerful sound. But PPTV King 7 in terms of the quality of this parameter easily bypasses most smartphones (except, perhaps, Meizu MX 4 Pro and Pro 5, Lenovo X3 and Highscreen Boost) and portable budget players.

Compared to the legendary MX4 Pro, the King 7 sounds smooth, calm, with no prominent parts of the spectrum. The sound can be called a monitor sound, it is suitable for any style of music. In some cases, you will need to work a little with the equalizer, because not every recording contains enough bass or treble.

Software

The device runs on Android 5.1 with a proprietary shell. Of the global shortcomings - not a very high-quality translation into Russian. Of course, the settings are much less than in MIUI. Otherwise, this is a normal AOSP build. The basic theme may seem tricky, but changing it won't be difficult.

Autonomous work

Most of the resources are consumed by the working screen and its backlight. In a mixed mode of use, the smartphone provides up to 5.5 hours of operation with the included wireless interfaces (4G) and screen brightness.

Increasing the brightness to the maximum level reduces the battery life by 40 minutes. Likewise, lowering to a minimum increases the operating time by half an hour.

In airplane mode, the smartphone can play video for about 7 hours at medium brightness and about 6 hours at high brightness.

The smartphone supports fast charging, but a suitable charger is not supplied. However, whether it is worth using the old revision MediaTek Pump Express is up to the buyer. When using these chargers, smartphones get very hot and their batteries degrade faster.

Bottom line: musical and cheap

The failure of PPTV King 7 is due to the discrepancy between the declared consumer qualities and the high cost at the start of sales. If the company had offered it straight away for $ 150-200, it would not have had to sell off stock today.

Considering the balance of characteristics, the King 7 could be a good choice. Among its advantages:

• good large screen;
• excellent musical potential;
• good camera;
• comfortable shape and unusual design;
• low price.

But there are also disadvantages:

• low autonomy;
• lack of support;
• lack of a fingerprint scanner;
• the need for fine tuning with obtaining root rights.

The current price tag of $ 137 makes the device the cheapest music smartphone ever. The closest analogue of the Lenovo X3 will cost no less than $ 400. The popular Highscreen Boost 3 SE costs the same, but cannot be used for VR headsets.

Therefore, PPTV King 7 can be safely called the cheapest multimedia combine with great potential and is recommended for purchase.