We analyze the top of energy Sistem’s range, the Energy Phone Pro 4G Pearl, a smartphone with good value for money and a very attractive design.
Design
On this occasion we have had the opportunity to perform the analysis of Energy Phone Pro 4G of Energy Sistem. This smartphone, top of the range of the Spanish company, is available in two versions. We’ve analyzed the Pro 4G Pearl that differs from the Pro 4G Navy because it includes more RAM (3GB), more storage space (32GB) and because it’s white instead of blue.
As for the packaging there have been no surprises. The phone is presented in a cardboard box next to a power adapter, a microUSB cable, a screen protector and along with the relevant documentation. Energy Sistem has opted for a sober presentation. It is fair to note that all their products have a 36-month warranty and, in this sense, offer much more than the competition.
The first impression with the phone is very good. The weight and size ratio is quite pleasant and, in general, the design is reminiscent of some Huawei terminals. It is a unibody smartphone (the battery is not removable) lightweight, elegant and that can boast of finishes. Quality is perceived in its construction, the body, for example, is made of high strength glass with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.
It is 14.2 cm high, 7’2 cm wide and 7’1 millimeters thick. It is therefore as ultraslim a mobile as Huawei’s P9. Its weight, 130 grams, represents a difference of at least 10 grams from the main top range of the market: Huawei P9, 144 grams; Samsung Galaxy S7, 157 grams; iPhone 6S Plus, 192 grams. Good work by Energy Sistem in this section.
The location of the buttons and ports is within the usual. In the upper frame is the headphone minijack and a cancellation microphone; on the right side we find the removable card tray (dual SIM) and the unlock button; at the base of the phone is microUSB port, main microphone and speaker; on the left side, finally, the volume button is located.
The unlock button is worth noting in the design section. The key in question has a very good touch, without slacks or deficiencies of any kind. In addition, it also serves the function of LED notifications, making it one of the most important elements in the user’s interaction with the phone. On the other hand, and as a small inconvenience, it excels too much from the phone’s singing and all those who get used to carrying the mobile in their pocket will have to be careful not to undo the screen unintentionally.
On the front of the Energy Phone Pro we find the selfie camera with an LED flash, the headset for calls and a proximity sensor. On the back, on the other hand, is the main camera next to another LED flash -larger and brighter than that of the secondary camera-, the Energy Sistem logo and the smartphone model, in this case «Energy Pro 4G».
Screen
The display is one of the most important components in next generation smartphones. In this case, the Energy Sistem top-end features a 5-inch AMOLED panel with HD resolution (1280×720) protected by a Dinorex high-strength crystal. It may seem that the energy Phone Pro’s specifications are moving away from those of the main high-end mobiles on the market, but when it comes to truth it behaves quite well.
The weak point of the screen is the resolution. Pixels can be distinguished with relative ease, but in return it offers a brightness and a technical quality not negligible. The AMOLED panel represents the black color with great fidelity and this improves the overall contrast level of the display. In other words, the resolution falls a little short, but the user experience is very satisfying.
The manufacturer has not integrated any novel technology that adds value to the display. Other companies, such as Huawei or ZTE, have dared to implement their own versions of Apple’s Touch 3D. The Energy Phone Pro, on the other hand, doesn’t have Force Touch or 2.5D curved glass, but it does allow us to unlock the screen with a simple double tap on it when it’s at rest.
In short it is a screen that fulfills its task without risking too much. It is up to most smartphones that we can find in stores for this price, although opting for an HD resolution will not convince or seduce the gamer public or the most demanding in the graphics.
Software
The smartphone integrates the Android operating system in its version 5.1, Android Lollipop. It also has Energy Sistem’s Energy 1.0 customization layer, which we will describe in this section. Broadly speaking, we can talk about a very light smartphone in terms of software, without functionalities or amazing applications but also without the hassles typical of Chinese mobiles.
When analyzing a Chinese device it is quite common to encounter strange applications, un translated texts and small details that remind us that we are indeed looking at a cheap phone. In this analysis of the Energy Phone Pro we have proven that this mobile is different, the Spanish company has respected the «purity» of Android as few manufacturers.
We only find an app signed by Energy Sistem and it is worth talking about. Energy Music is an open source player based on ApolloMod that allows many options when it comes to organizing and managing the music library. With this app we can sort the tracks according to the artist, album, song, genre, etc.
Energy Music has an associated widget to play music from your Android desktop. It is very practical and the design is in the Lollipop line. Includes a «play» button, two others to move to the next or the previous song, and two shortcuts to enable random and loop playback. Nothing new, but it’s a very comfortable tool that works in tune with the app.
As for Energy 1.0, the graphical interface of Energy Sistem, highlight that includes a drawer of applications unlike other customization layers like Xiaomi Miui. Customization is one of the weaknesses because, although it allows us to change the backgrounds and other Android, it only includes by default a wallpaper. A gallery of colors, themes and screensavers of the brand is missed.
Hardware
The Energy Phone Pro integrates a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 64-bit processor, the trimmed version of the Snapdragon 615, a hardware that has proven to be very effective and offer good performance on other phones in this range, such as Xiaomi’s Redmi 3. It has eight ARM Cortex A53 cores and operates at a clock speed of 1.5 GHz. These components guarantee us a lifespan of at least two or three years.
This has been confirmed by the benchmarks we have made to the Energy Phone. AnTuTu has evaluated the performance with a score of 36,858 points, which puts it at the level of the main mobiles in the market with prices of around 200 euros. It does not represent a technological leap in mobile telephony, but you can loosely with multitasking, social networks, Internet browsing…
Energy Sistem has also not risked this section. The smartphone has hardware powerful enough to meet expectations, but you can see the absence of some cutting-edge technologies that other manufacturers are accustoming to. We’re talking about the fingerprint sensor, the Press Touch, the iris scanner and, above all, the NFC. Little innovation in general.
It is a mobile phone for users who are looking for a trusted device that includes the necessary components and that works with the most common applications: WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube… but not for gamers, as we said in the section of the screen. Still, for the analysis of the Energy Phone Pro we have played with some arcade games and the experience has been totally satisfactory.
When it comes to running more demanding games, shooters and 3D titles, we notice that it heats up in the processor area. No performance issues have been noticed, but it is not a smartphone designed to support long gaming sessions. However, the display offers better results than it might seem from resolution. Brightness, contrast and saturation provide very interesting image quality.
In this sense, there are two factors that limit the energy phone’s potential when playing video games: the temperature of the processor bothers and affects the grip, after some time the hands sweat and the Dinorex crystal that covers the back becomes slippery; the battery is the other limiting factor we’ll talk about later.