Oukitel WP15 Review - Smartphone with Largest Battery

For users who lack the autonomy of conventional Android smartphones, Oukitel has prepared a real gift: a smartphone with a 15600 mAh battery. A novelty called Oukitel WP15 promises a record time of work away from the outlet, but the weight of the smartphone is also record-breaking - almost half a kilo! In addition to an outstanding battery, this Leviathan got a modern MediaTek Dimensity 700 processor and support for 5G networks. Let's see how balanced and "tenacious" the novelty has turned out.

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Specifications

SoC

MediaTek Dimensity 700 (two Cortex-A76 CPU cores up to 2.2 GHz and six Cortex-A55 up to 2 GHz; GPU Mali-G57 MC2, 7 nm process technology

RAM - 8 GB

Flash memory -128 GB

Memory card - microSD

Display - 6.52 ", LCD display IPS, 1600х720pixels

Cameras

Main camera with 48 MP sensor (Sony IMX582 sensor), 2 MP macro camera (GalaxyCore GC02M2 sensor), bokeh camera (GalaxyCore GC032A), front camera (MX314)

Mobile network

WCDMA ： B1 / 2/4/5/6/8/19 (RXD)

CDMA ： BC0 / BC1 (RXD)

FDD: B1 / 2/3/4/5/7/8/12/13/17/18/19/20/25/26 / 28A / 28B / 66

TDD: B34 / B38 / B39 / B40 / B41

5G: N1 / 3/5/8/20/28/38/41/77/78/79

Communications

NFC, GPS, BeiDou, GLONASS, Wi-Fi 802.11ac 2.4 / 5 GHz, Bluetooth 5.1

Battery - 15600 mAh, non-removable, charging via USB Type-C port

Dimensions (edit) - 86.2 x 178.2 x 24mm

Weight - 487 g

Packaging and equipment

The smartphone comes to the buyer in a square box made of thick and durable cardboard. The key characteristics of the mobile device are indicated on the back of the box. The contents are reliably protected from damage during transportation by padding made of dense and resilient material.

Includes a paper manual (Russian language), Type-C cable and HJ-FC017K7-EU power supply with an output power of up to 18 W (up to 9 V / 2 A or 12 V / 1.5 A). A protective film is glued to the smartphone screen, there is no transport film.

Appearance and design

In the Oukitel WP10 review, I called the smartphone a "bar". Such associations arose because of the weighty and overall case, which hid a solid 8000 mAh battery. But against the background of Oukitel WP15, the previous model looks very slender. Here, up to 25 mm thick and as much as 487 grams of weight - the new smartphone is very heavy and thick, it will not look appropriate in every pocket. This is the fee for the built-in battery of a gigantic capacity of 15,000 mAh; Such a smartphone does not need a power bank, it is itself a power bank.

Oukitel WP15 adopts design and materials from other rugged smartphones. The familiar black TPU protects the back panel and corners from scratches and drops. The corners most often suffer from falls, so they are sagged to dampen the force of the impact. The screen is protected by a thermopolyurethane edging along the entire perimeter, the edging is raised above the screen by about a millimeter.

The sides are covered with metal panels. The beveled edges of the rear panel successfully conceal the dimensions of the device. At the back there is an extensive insert that imitates carbon fiber, and the designers have also revived the look of the smartphone with a camera unit in a metal "frame" with powerful backlighting from four LEDs. There are TPU protrusions around the perimeter of the camera block to protect it from scratches. They serve as a reliable support when the smartphone is on the table.

Right side

left-hand side

bottom (USB port)

top

On the right side, there are volume control and unlock buttons, on the left there is a programmable button and a compartment for a SIM card and memory card, hidden behind a waterproof flap. The USB Type-C port is also hidden by a flap at the bottom of the smartphone. The build quality of the Oukitel WP15 smartphone is high, I did not notice squeaks or uneven joints. But there are questions about ergonomics: the unlock button is located low, it should have been moved 1.5-2 cm higher. It is small and weakly felt in comparison with the large and grooved volume buttons, although it should have been done the other way around: the unlock key is larger, the volume keys are smaller. The thing is that a fingerprint sensor is built into the unlock button, although it could be placed separately on the side of the smartphone case.

Screen and sound

Oukitel has installed a 6.52-inch screen with a resolution of 1600x720 pixels in the smartphone. To be honest, it remains unclear for me the decision in 2021 to put a low-resolution screen in a not the cheapest smartphone. I see two advantages of this solution: an increase in battery life and performance in games with intense graphics. In comparison with modern screens, graininess is noticeable, although it does not hurt the eyes.

The IPS display provides good viewing angles and is protected from damage by the Corning Gorilla Glass coating. The screen brightness adjustment range is wide: at minimum brightness, the smartphone will be comfortable to use even in complete darkness; the maximum value is not a record, but sufficient for operation in sunny weather outdoors. In the settings, you can enable automatic brightness control and a dark theme, which I personally have by default on all smartphones with OLED. The color rendition is good when evaluated by eye, but with a slight bias towards warm shades. Gradients are smooth, but detail in the darkest areas of an image can be lost. There is no ripple at any brightness setting, which means the screen does not overload the eyes.

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As with the screen, the Oukitel WP15 lacks stars in the audio field. The monaural speaker on the rear panel produces medium volume, while the sound is "dull", which is felt on recordings with female vocals. If you put your smartphone on the table, the volume rises noticeably, while hissing notes are emphasized. In the sound settings, you can turn on the BesLoudness function, with which the volume rises noticeably.

The kit does not include an external DAC (like the Oukitel WP10 ) and there is no headphone jack either. It is not good. Given the gigantic dimensions of the smartphone, the designers, if desired, could find a place for the minijack connector and the accompanying electronic strapping.

Camera, photo, video

The Oukitel WP15 smartphone inherited the photomodule from the WP10 model, but not without changes. So, the main Sony camera with a resolution of 48 megapixels (Sony IMX582 sensor) remained unchanged, but the wide-angle camera was gone. Remaining is a 2 megapixel macro camera (GalaxyCore GC02M2 sensor) and a “depth camera” (GalaxyCore GC032A sensor), which should help to get a more realistic blur effect.

The camera app interface has also changed. The main menu has disappeared from the application, along with the ability to change the resolution of photo shooting. Now photos are always taken in maximum resolution. While 48 megapixels (at a 4: 3 aspect ratio) are not always needed, for most photos 12 megapixels are more than enough. And the noise in the 12 megapixel resolution is usually less, and the detail is sometimes even better. Hopefully, the manufacturer will return the ability to change the resolution in firmware updates.

Shooting modes are mostly familiar. There is black and white, HDR and night shooting, panoramic and slo-mo, face beautifier with a basic set of applied filters, QR code scanner.

The "Bokeh" mode is a simple software filter, so you can't get the real optical depth effect you know from DSLRs with it. The intensity of the filter and the radius of the field of focus can be set using the sliders.

all these photos were taken in "Macro" mode

In the "Macro" mode, you need to take pictures with the smartphone close to the subject. There is no autofocus in this mode and it is very important to position the smartphone still to avoid blurring. Macro photos, although they have a low resolution, are distinguished by normal detail and color reproduction. Without revelation, but successful macro photos can be used for social networks and Instagram.

Oukitel WP15 and WP10 smartphones are equipped with the same sensors of the main camera (Sony IMX582) and this can be seen from two comparative photos taken with these smartphones:

Their good news: the color rendering of the Oukitel WP15 has improved, the picture no longer "yellows" like its predecessor. Focusing speed is not a record, but defocused photos are no longer there, the WP10 had problems with this. Detailing is also at a good level, but there is one caveat: WP15 has forgotten how to take photos in 12 Mp resolution (preferred mode), and at 48 Mp resolution all sorts of artifacts of software processing "climb out". In some parts of the photo in WP15, small details seem to disappear, while in WP10 they are visible. I contacted Oukitel and offered to return 12MP mode in future firmware updates. But I was not notified about the timing of the update (and whether it will be at all).

 Another photo on the main camera:

OS and interface

Oukitel rarely updates the firmware of its smartphones, so it's good that the new product comes immediately with the current Android 11 OS, with the kernel version 4.14.186. On first launch, the 128GB onboard storage is occupied by 8.38GB. The stock launcher has a minimum of settings and groups all applications on desktops and in folders, there is no main menu. Also, there is no usual Gallery, instead of it, photos and videos are offered to be viewed through the file manager.

In the settings, you can choose navigation using gestures or the more familiar option with buttons at the bottom of the screen. You can activate on-screen gestures even when the display is off: if you draw the letter "c" on the screen, the camera will start, the letter "e" is assigned to the browser and the "o" YouTube. Of course, any other application can be assigned to each gesture. On the left side of the Oukitel WP15 smartphone there is a programmable button and it can also be assigned to launch any application. There is a Smart Panel pop-up window that can be invoked by swiping to the left. This is a kind of analogue of the quick launch menu, in which you can add up to four applications that you need at hand at all times.

The built-in Basic Service utility comes in handy to find unused files, clear memory and optimize battery consumption. It also allows you to change applications assigned to certain actions. This way you can change the launcher, browser, camera application, and others. There is the "Toolbox" utility, familiar to protected smartphones, which includes a compass, sound level meter, electronic level, plumb line and flashlight. However, the flashlight can be turned on by pressing the icon in the notification panel. You can freeze an installed program or game using the Freezer utility. This blocks any local or network activity of the application and even its icon disappears from the launcher. But the program remains on the smartphone and can be “unfrozen” when required.

Hardware platform and performance

The hardware basis of the Oukitel WP15 smartphone is the MediaTek Dimensity 700 single-chip system (SoC). It includes four powerful Cortex-A76 processor cores and four economical Cortex-A55 cores. If in the processor part this SoC is in no way inferior to the older Dimensity 800, then in the graphic part there is a noticeable simplification: the GPU has lost two (out of four) execution units. However, the screen resolution of this smartphone is low, so the Mali-G57 MC2 should also cope well with games. As a plus for the smartphone, we will write a large amount of RAM in 8 GB, and 128 GB of flash memory is enough to store a considerable part of the content. It remains to complain that in such a large smartphone there was no room for a separate microSD slot. A memory card can be installed, but only instead of a second SIM card.

Let's evaluate the performance of the Oukitel WP15 smartphone in synthetic tests:

SoC Dimensity 700 can be called a "transitional step" between the old SoCs of the Helio family and modern older Dimensity. In 3D tests, SoC Dimensity 700 is twice as fast as Helio P70, but one and a half times inferior to the older Dimensity 800. The Oukitel WP15 smartphone is equipped with a nimble storage, which is many times faster than the usual eMMC flash memory. The speed of working with the RAM is also pleasing, as is the cooling of the smartphone: under prolonged load, the frequencies almost do not decrease, so the performance remains stable. Let's see how the Oukitel WP15 smartphone performs in games:

Asphalt 9 is a spectacular arcade racing game that is quite demanding on the performance of a smartphone. In this game, the FPS is high enough for a comfortable gameplay, even at high image quality settings. Except that when there are a lot of cars on the screen, slight slowdowns occur.

Fighting Injustice 2 still stands out with high-quality graphics and good detailing of character models. The frame rate is consistently high, it is comfortable to play.

Darkness Rises is a Korean grinder with an overcomplicated interface, but an attractive picture. FPS is kept at a high level, without drawdowns.

Communication and communications

In terms of communication, the Oukitel WP15 smartphone is not deprived: thanks to the modern SoC, 5G mobile networks are supported, the presence of an NFC module pleases. Unlike support for fifth generation networks (more for the future), contactless payments are in demand here and now. Wi-Fi speed (ac, 5 GHz) was tested in conjunction with a Redmi AC-2100 router in the iPerf test with a PC as a server connected via a wired connection, the smartphone plays the role of a client:

Place of the test

Bandwidth in Mbps,

maximum / minimum, average

1 - 331/229/313

2 - 316/160/291

3 - 302/211/279

In the iPerf test, the smartphone was tested three times: in line of sight a meter from the router (site 1), without line of sight at 5 meters (site 2) and without line of sight at 8 meters behind a closed door (site 3).

The speed indicators of Wi-Fi in the Oukitel WP15 smartphone do not shine: it is almost two times inferior to the Oukitel WP10 model. Presumably, a simpler 1x1 radio module is installed here. At the same time, the speed characteristics are stable: even in conditions of poor reception, the average speed decreases slightly.

Autonomous work

A smartphone weighing half a kilo is clearly being bought, counting on decent battery life. Let's see how Oukitel WP15 performs in this discipline:

In the PCMark test, the smartphone showed an outstanding result: almost two days of battery life! Other rugged smartphones fit within 15 hours, at best 20 hours. But 15600 mAh does its magic and Oukitel WP15 takes the first place on the pedestal of the longest-lived smartphones without a plug.

Conclusions

Oukitel WP15 is a unique smartphone in its own way. It sacrifices many characteristics to one goal - to maximize battery life. The manufacturer has achieved this goal, the smartphone is really impressive in the tests of autonomy.

 Another question is, how exactly do you need such autonomy? It is achieved at the cost of the gigantic weight and dimensions of the smartphone, in a pocket such a device will look out of place, if it fits at all. Isn't it easier to throw a power bank into your backpack and take it out as needed , and not carry a smartphone-power bank in your pocket all the time ? The screen resolution is frankly low for a smartphone  over $ 300 . There is no minijack for headphones and a separate slot for memory cards, but there is a place for them on the body of the smartphone. The USB Type-C connector is "recessed" again, so standard cables do not fit, cables with extended contacts are needed.

Buy Oukitel WP15 Smartphone with Largest Battery on Aliexpress

At the same time, Oukitel WP15 received a modern platform, a good camera and an up-to-date version of Android. The smartphone shows itself very confidently in games, therefore, in addition to fishermen and "survivalists", it can appeal to avid gamers who want to charge their smartphone less often. At the same time, the forearms will pump :-)