Wammy Neo octa-core Android smartphone: Review

High-end smartphones from renowned brands, namely Samsung, Apple, Nokia, HTC and others are pretty much unaffordable by the middle-class segment. Usually, a high-end flagship smartphone from well-known brands are priced between Rs 40,000 and Rs 75,000 when they are launched. Within a span of a few months, the prices drop by almost 30-50%, simply to boost sales and make space for the new entrants. However, there are a few manufacturers in India that are determined to make their presence in catering similar smartphone with higher performances to the common man.

Micromax, Spice, LAVA, Karbonn, iBall, and a few others are Indian manufacturers, who also release near-high-end smartphones, based on Android and Windows operating systems, in an extremely affordable price bracket. Within a few months of the major brands launching their flagship handsets, the Indian manufacturers try to give them a run for their money by introducing similar performing smartphones. Wickedleak, an Indian smartphone manufacturer, based in Chembur, Mumbai, is also on the same track. With smartphones ranging from quad-core to octa-core processors and high-definition screens to a waterproof chassis, they have it all. We have one of their latest flagship models, the Wammy Neo, with us for scrutiny and here is what we have to say about the product.

The Wickedleak Wammy Neo is a 5-incher Android smartphone with a powerful hardware within. The display is a simple HD IPS based capacitive multi-touch OGS screen sporting a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. The Wammy Neo is built using a MediaTek MT6592 chipset, which sports a 1.7GHz octa-core processor, coupled with 2GB of RAM and a MALI450 graphics processor. The chipset may not be as powerful as the latest Snapdragon or Exynos SoCs pushed by known brands Samsung, HTC and alike, but it can do almost everything the latter can. Since Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets are highly expensive with recent releases, the price of the handset also rises accordingly.

Moving on, the internal storage is a little too low—just 8GB. While around 4.2GB is allocated for user data, 2GB is kept for apps, and the rest is kept aside for the operating system. However, a microSD card can be used to expand this storage to 32GB. Connectivity options on the dual-SIM handset include 2G/3G, Wi-fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The rear camera has a 13Mp sensor, while the front is equipped with a 5MP camera. The phone is powered using a 2200 mAH battery, and the operating system installed is Android Jelly Bean v4.2. Wickedleak promises an OS update to KitKat soon.

The Wammy Neo is available in two variants—A regular smartphone and an optional one with AquaProtect. Wickedleak is one of the first manufacturers in India to offer affordable smartphones with a completely waterproof and water-resistant unit. Unlike Sony and Samsung who claim their handsets to be waterproof and dustproof, Wickedleak begs to differ. While the other brands have a water-tight chassis that prevents the water from entering, the AquaProtect technology used by Wickedleak prevents water from damaging the internal components, even if water enters inside. They also claim that the smartphone can be kept for more than 10 hours under water, even with the battery compartment open. Wickedleak offers the AquaProtect handset for an additional price of Rs 1,500 and also throws in a water-damage warranty if the handset if ruined due to water, humidity or moisture.

On the build front, the Wammy Neo has a sturdy chassis with smooth and rounded edges, neatly flushed with the display and the rear panel. It sports a dual-tone body with a glossy front and matte-finished sides and rear. The front panel is equipped with a factory-fitted screen protector film, so you won’t have to hunt for one yourself. The display panel sports the earpiece along with the proximity and light sensor on the left and the front camera on the right. On the lower, half is the three capacitive buttons for Menu, Home and Back. The volume rocker and the power button take their places on the left and right sides of the chassis, while the top and bottom take care of the audio jack and mic and microUSB slots respectively.

The rear sports the 13MP camera and a flash against it, placed towards the top-left corner. On the bottom half is an opening for the speaker. The rear-panel fits very snug to the chassis, but is a bit stubborn to remove and place back. Though this feature could be considered bad since you could end up damaging the rear panel, we look at it the other way since you won’t need to open this panel as often. We did have a tough time pulling apart the rear panel ourselves. Wickedleak has also thrown in a free magnetic S-View flip case with the product.

Below the rear panel is the large 2200 mAh battery, which needs to e removed in order to access the two SIM cards and the microSD memory card. A double-decker SIM slot houses a mini SIM on the lower half and the microSIM and microSD cards above it. Don’t get alarmed with the number of openings seen below the rear panel—even if water enters inside, it cannot damage any component (AquaProtect variant only).

The user interface is based on stock Google Android Jelly Bean v4.2. a usual home screen, quick app dock and an app-drawer. There is absolutely no bloatware installed—no third-party apps and stuff. This is great as t leaves plenty of room for users to install their own favourite apps and on the other hand, it won’t pull down the performance of the smartphone by adding up background processes, which tend to hog the memory.

Though the device is powered using a stock Android v4.2 operating system, Wickedleak has provided a few additional features on it which you would regularly find on custom developer-based ROMs. Firstly, there is a Flash alert, which when enabled, can alert you when you receive calls and MMS by flashing the camera’s LED. A Gesture feature is equipped, whereby you can simply wave your hand over the display area (especially the camera zone) to flip through pages, music, camera pics and within the launcher. Other basic options such as scheduled power on/off and notification LED colours can be changed too.

The display is crisp and clear. Colours are good and so are the brightness and contrast levels. Thanks to the IPS panel, the display has a great viewing angle and the OGS panel, which helps reduce the thickness of the handset.  Watching full high-definition videos are not an issue. Using the phone is broad sunlight is no issue, unless you have the bright sky/sun reflecting back at you from the highly glossy display surface, or if your phone has fingerprints smudged across the surface.

The audio quality on the handset below average and the audio volume is pretty low too. The audio lacks bass while the highs are a bit sharp. Secondly, since the speaker is on the rear, you would have to cup your palms in order to get a clearer and louder volume. The bundled headphones are equally bad. The quality of the headphones is below average, and the earbuds are badly constructed. They are just not comfortable to wear. The audio quality is equally below average. Make sure you use your own choice of headphones along with this handset.

The internal chipset is powerful enough for all your daily tasks such as mail, chat, social, videos, camera and surfing. The user interface is pretty smooth, and we did not notice any lags or stutters while it was with us. You could choose to use your own user interface or launcher in order to personalise your experience with the phone. Gaming is equally good and here again we did not notice any lags and sluggish behaviour.

Moving to the camera's performance, we seriously think Wickedleak needs to work on this area. The 13MP camera, though fast and feature-rich, captures below average pictures. The images and videos lack decent sharpness, and the colours are faded. While broad daylight pictures suffer from brightness, night shots, even with the flash kept on, could not capture images as close as a meter. Check out a few samples given below. If you are considering this phone with the need for a good camera, we would not recommend unless you are looking for selfies and casual photography during the day.

To sum up, the whole experience with the Wammy Note, we would say, was pleasant. What impressed us were the hardware features, the build, its display quality, its performance and the retail price. What failed to get past us is the camera's performance, onboard speaker’s audio quality and the bundled earphone’s audio performance and build. However, if you are looking for a high-performance phone (keeping the photography needs aside) on a budget price, the Wammy Neo is a good choice. If camera performance is also what you want, then we suggest you look at other brands. The Wammy Neo is available for Rs 11,990 for on the Wiskedleak.org website, and the next batch handsets will start shipping out from June 30, 2014 onwards.