Verykool SL5000 Quantum 4G LTE GSM SIM Unlocked Android Phone [Hands-On]

Over the last year or so I have been looking around at some of the smaller device manufacturers. The ones that aren’t in carrier stores. The kind that aren’t exceptionally hard on the wallet and usually considered more low-end to mid-range. I recently had the opportunity to review the Verykool s505 spark, which was a dual-sim unlocked phone. It worked quite well when you considered its price tag, components and trade-offs, but if you need faster than 3G speeds, it just wasn’t going to happen. Shortly after the launch of the Spark, Verykool released a 4G LTE device carrying the SL5000 Quantum name.

The Quantum brings a few changes over the non 4G LTE Spark. Obviously this device does connect to 4G LTE bands. Namely Band 2- 1900, Band 4-1700/2100, Band 17/12-700 and Car-4. I am a T-Mobile customer so getting the 4G LTE connection was as simple as inserting my SIM card. The Quantum isn’t a dual SIM device, rather they opted to only offer one full size sim slot. That forced me to make a SIM card converter from an old SIM card plastic carry card. It works just fine, but not an ideal situation. It is one thing to say it is a 4G LTE device and even to have the icon appear in the navigation bar.

Does it actually connect to 4G LTE and deliver the speeds that the service does? Short answer, yes it does. I ran a speed test on my local T-Mobile service and was pleased to see it actually pull down just over 21mbps.

Another fairly substantial change in the Quantum is the use of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor vs the previous MediaTek. It pulls a clock speed of 1.2 GHz and the device utilizes 1GB of RAM. Internal storage is the same at 4GB, with 2GB of usable storage for apps and things. It does support a micro SD card, but apps to SD is a no go leaving you very little wiggle room for apps. It has down sized my app list and kept me a bit more streamlined than other devices in the past. The processor handles almost all tasks fairly well, but the 1 GB of RAM isn’t quit enough to keep the experience ultra smooth. I ran into a few lags and moments where it seemed unresponsive for a second or so. While it might offer a small amount of storage, most of the pre-loaded apps on the device are easily uninstalled to make room for other more important apps.

With the processor change and 4G LTE compatibility, Verykool had to alter the screen. In the Spark you had a 5-inch 1280 x 720 display, but the Quantum carries a 5-inch display at 480 x 854. It is easily noticeable coming from the Spark unless you are coming from a similar resolution display from another manufacturer. Everything requires a trade-off in order to keep the price low and affordable.

The Quantum does come out of the box with Android 4.4 KitKat, which is the first Verykool device to do so. The previous phones ran Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. They left the stock appearance of the Android OS pretty well intact, but there are some annoying little things that can drive a person nuts that is familiar with Android and the stock OS experience. For instance, there is a persistent Google Search bar at the top of every home screen.When pressed, it brings up some serious old school Google search box. To make things more interesting, you can’t swipe up from anywhere to open Google search since the device also opted for the physical capacitive keys versus the on-screen version.  Next you have the homescreens, you get 5 with no way, that I have found, to remove any or add more. While annoying, it is all easily fixable with a home replacement app like Google Now or Nova. I opted for the Google Now launcher and it runs smooth with all the Google Voice actions.

As you can see in the images below, the amount of apps installed when you first turn it on re minimal. You get your basic Google apps, Skype, Facebook, Twitter, WPS Office, File Explorer, FM Radio, Device Care and their Verykool app that offers up access to wallpapers, Ringtones, manuals, promotions, recommended apps and other little goodies.

The company also has this ‘device care’ app that is pre-installed that helps you keep manage your device. It gives you details like the heath of your device, offers an app manager and quick access to updates. You can clear specific apps that running and remove apps that you don’t use.

On the camera side of things they opted to come down from the 12MP offering to 8MP. Another sacrifice for the cost to value ratio of the Qualcomm processor and 4G LTE. I was hoping for the camera change to a bit better. It doesn’t snap photos terribly fast and it has some issues focusing. Changing from the stock camera app on the device over to the Google Camera helped out some, but the images still weren’t up to speed and were easily washed out if the light wasn’t just right. The photo below was the best out of 8 shots. While it looks ok on the device, you can see putting them to use on anything other than social media and small screen sharing isn’t outstanding.

They did manage to slap a 2,000 mAh battery behind the rear panel. They estimate the talk time to be 8 hours on 3G and standby of 240 hours, also on 3G. Seems odd to put out battery life on 3G when it is a 4G device. I have been using this as my daily driver for a number of weeks. It has lasted throughout one of my days, which is 6:30 a.m. to about midnight. That was with anywhere from 2 to 3 hours of screen on time and the screen brightness set to automatic.

The audio quality from the earpiece is a bit low, even at high volume. On the other side of the coin though the external speaker is quite loud.

From and external design stand point the 5-inch device is quite large measuring in at 143.00 x 72.80 x 8.90 mm and weighing in at 140 grams. It makes it larger than the Galaxy S4, but with a smaller screen. They were keen enough in the design to move the power button and the volume rocker down from the top edges of the device. Both are easy to find and easy to press while on a call. They are plastic, but they are firmly in place and don’t wiggle around like you might expect. While it is a bit larger for the screen size, it isn’t unmanageable for one handed use, even with my little girly hands.

I can see Verycool was trying something different with the Quantum. They wanted to bring a better processor, 4G LTE and a 5-inch screen to market that was affordable. Keeping those things in mind along with the price tag of $229.98, they did an OK job. I consider this the first attempt, since technically it is the first device they have produced with 4G LTE, a Qualcomm processor and Android 4.4. They still have some kinks to work out and I believe they can do better and keep things in the same price range. As the device sits right now, it does its job as an inexpensive SIM unlocked 4G LTE device that would do for an average user who just needs to browse the web, make some calls and keep up with their social media and emails. While it handles your casual games like Angry Birds, it really isn’t suited for gaming. I have been using it exclusively for the last month or so and it has worked out just fine.

If you would like to learn more, please visit Verykool.net and check out the SL5000 Quantum or any of their other GSM unlocked devices.