Leagoo is probably not the name that comes to your mind while talking about smartphones due to its origin and limited presence exclusively in China. But this company has some interesting smartphone models. After reviewing the company's Elite 1 back in May, we took the Shark 1 for a spin.
In our initial views, we found the handset to be a worthy contender to some Chinese handsets as it packed everything one wants in a phone. A massive battery, large and unique design, fingerprint scanner and cameras forced us to think the handset has been pushed to the backseat owing to the growing competition in the world's largest smartphone market.
After using the device for quite a long time, we have derived new conclusions about Leagoo Shark 1.
We are still praising the Shark 1's design, as it is not even close to one of the plenty iPhone mockups available in China. It has its own design, which is not bad at all. The display curved edges all around give it an elevated look and the rear is rugged and durable. It may be one of the few devices that combine strength with the right degree of elegance.
Before we jump to the performance of individual specifications, we would like to refresh your memory with the specs that this enormous piece of hardware offers.
- Display: 6-inch Full HD display by LG with 368ppi and 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 3.
- Camera: 13MP primary camera with PDAF, LED flash and f/2.0 aperture, 5MP front snapper with f/2.4 aperture.
- Processor: 1.3GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6753
- RAM: 3GB
- Storage: 16GB
- Battery: 6,300mAh with quick charging technology
- Software: Android 5.1-based Leagoo OS 1.2
- Add-ons: Fingerprint sensor, Dual SIM and 4G LTE, power sharing feature, IR remote control.
- Weight: 240 grams.
- Dimensions: 158.6x82.8x8.5 (LxWxH)
Now, the display. The edge-to-edge screen gives Shark 1 a wide screen layout, which is pretty impressive. The readability is also good in sunlight, provided the brightness levels are set at maximum. But the touch is not as smooth as we have seen in other smartphones. The screen fails to respond to touches occasionally and requires a harder press.
The massive size and the heavy weight of the handset can be one of the major drawbacks, as it gets difficult to carry around. Also, the large screen size of the Shark 1 isn't comfortable for one-handed usage.
In terms of performance, Leagoo Shark 1 needs a lot of tinkering on the software end. The UI is good, simple and snappy, but there are certain options that fail to operate the way they should. For instance, the hotspot, once turned off, switches back on unnecessarily.
We played a couple of games on the device, and it surprisingly handled them without heating up. This is mainly because of the non-metallic structure of the Shark 1. But over longer gaming sessions, we experienced some lags. Overall performance needs improvement, but the good thing is that the company can do so simply by releasing software updates.
In terms of camera, we found the Shark 1's sensors decent enough to get you a good shot. Low light photography is better, but the true colours are being lost with the Shark 1 camera using LED flash. Given below are some samples we shot using Leagoo Shark 1.
As seen above, macro shots during the day deliver great results and the focus is pretty impressive. The camera captures details on both macro and landscape shots.
We had high hopes with the Shark 1 for its battery, but the results did not impress us much. As much as the fast charging helped a lot while charging the device from 20 to 80 percent in less than 90 minutes, we hoped it would last for two days with high usage. But only by controlling gaming and constant data usage, were we able to run the phone for two days. With heavy usage of music, videos, games and calls, Shark 1 will get you through the day easily.
Leagoo Shark 1 also has a fingerprint scanner at the back, which fails to authenticate in one go. But it can recognise fingerprint from any angle. Accuracy levels, however, should've been better considering the competition.
Our say
Leagoo Shark 1 is essentially a good smartphone, but some features such as battery optimisation, camera configuration, performance tweaks could make it an ideal fit in the fast-growing smartphone market. Moreover, Leagoo is available only in China, but can be shipped internationally. Lack of after-sales support for the device makes it a hard sell in the sub-Rs 20,000 category, where there are plenty of options that offer a lot more and pose a serious competition to the Shark 1.
