LeTv/LeEco Le1S Review | A Power Packed Device at 11K

I got the new LeEco (formerly LeTv) Le1S. With all the hype I opened the package and was stunned to see the power packed device at first.Further digging in I got the fast charger, USB Type C cable and some instruction manual.No headphones were included with the device. Will the new comer in India will stand up to the hype it created? Lets see it in this review.

On the paper:

•  Mediatek Helio X10 chipset Octa core 2.2 GHz (Cortex a53)
• PowerVR G6200 GPU clocked at 700 MHz
• 3GB LPDDR3 RAM 
• 32GB eMMC 5.0
• 13 MP Samsung ISOCell sensor at the rear and a 5 MP sensor at the front, 
• 3000 mAh Li-Ion battery, 
• 5.5 inch Full-HD (1080x1920) IPS display with 403ppi 
• Corning Gorilla Glass

Design and Build: 

The power packed device is enclosed by all metal body.It is a uni-body device so nothing can be removed from the device. On the right side, Volume rockers and Power button is present which is also made of metal. The buttons are sturdy and dint feel cheap.To the left it has nothing but a SIM card tray. The SIM card tray holds both the SIMs. At the top we have a 3.5 mm Audio jack, IR blaster and plastic bands for signal reception.Again at the bottom we have signal reception bands and USB Type C port in the center. There were two grills are present at the bottom, right one holds the main speaker and in the left where the main mic settles. 

At the back there is absolutely nothing except the rear camera unit, LED flash and the fingerprint sensor. The placement of fingerprint sensor lies where our index finger reaches easily.The front looks like the device has a bezel less display but it is not. It has a very thin bezel which is coloured black to look like a bezel less display.The edges of the device is chamfered giving it a more premium look. 

Overall the device seems to be a premium device by its look. Kudos to the designing team!

Hardware and Performance:

Under the hood, the device is powered by MediaTek MT6795T Octacore chipset clocked at 2.2GHz coupled with PowerVR G6200 GPU runs at 700MHz. The MediaTek Helio x10 is a flagship GPU from MediaTek which delivers high performance at the same time providing good battery life.The device is lag free and heats up a which charging. This is because it supports fast charging 2.0 which could charge this device from 15-100% in 1 hour.It heats upto 45 degrees on heavy gaming not more than that but the heat can be easily felt.This is because the device is a all metal device so the heat can be easily passed to the metal.Of course every metallic device heats up!

The device scores around 55k in AnTuTu benchmark.The display is 10 point multi touch.

Storage and OS:

Le1S comes with 32GB internal storage which can not be expandable.Out of 32GB user get around 25GB of space for apps and data storage.

It runs on eUI 5.5 which is based on Android Lollipop 5.0.2.For AOSP users the UI at first feels difficult to use since it is more customised from vanilla android.But on daily usage the device comes handy.On hitting the multi tasking key the device launches the control center which looks like the iOS control center. The UI is snappy no lags or shutters found on usage but some bugs are there which can be resolved in further OTA updates. eUI is not a perfect build.There is an inbuilt Feedback app through which users can directly send their feedback.

Camera:

The device sports a 13MP Samsung ISOCell sensor at the rear with f 2.0 aperture, 5P Lens, PDAF, 0.9 second  focus and a LED flash light.The rear camera could record 4K videos at 30 frames per second.The camera UI also looks like iOS seems the developer has liking towards iOS. The camera also capable of recording Slow motion videos at 120 FPS. The rear camera is good at times. It takes good pictures in very good lighting conditions but in low light and average lighting it comes out with average pictures.Though it has a good camera hardware it seems to be the software optimisation which cause to perform average in certain conditions.The exposure plays while manual focusing which makes some images over exposed and in night macro shot if the flash light is used it spoils the whole image with fully exposed flash light.

The front camera features a 5 MP sensor which is good for selfies. The camera is optimised in such a way that the front camera has ever on beauty mode it clears up wrinkles, dark spots naturally. 

I would say that the camera could be better but remembering the price point it is quite good considering the features it provide.

Update : After the 5.5.012S update the camera has improved a lot.

Display:

It features a 5.5 inch Full HD IPS in cell display with 403ppi and protected by Corning Gorilla Glass.The sunlight readability of the display is very good in this price range. The display could produce 450 nits brightness.You can also customise display colours modes like vivid, soft, natural and default (LeTv).

Gaming:

The device played all games easily without any lags.It heats up a bit but does not exceeds 45 degrees. Heating is something which we can encounter in many devices these days.

Fingerprint sensor and IR blaster: 

The Fingerprint sensor works exceptionally well than many other devices which is priced higher than this device.The sensor has given a mirror finish which looks good.You can also use the fingerprint sensor to capture images with the default camera app. Other than this the fingerprint sensor has no other use. It is locked by the company so it cant be accessed by any other apps.But LeEco says in future updates this lock will be removed. The same for Infrared blaster also.It works with the inbuilt remote app but can not be accessed by other apps.It works with most TV's, AC's, projectors and can also be used as a universal remote.

Connectivity and Sensors:

It is a dual SIM device which supports 4G in both the SIMs. It supports TD LTE Bands 38, 39, 40, 41 and FDD Bands 1, 3 and 7. If a SIM is connected to 3G or 4G network the other SIM will only connect to 2G network. Mostly the SIM which is set for data connection is preferred for 3G and 4G network. On using the device I did not faced any network issues. GPS connection is instant and accurate. WiFi support dual band. Type- C USB connector is present which is the first in this price range. NFC not available.

Sensors include Gravity, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light sensor, Magnetometer are present. Gyroscope is not there hence making the device not suitable for VR headsets but LeEco has announced 3D helmet which will work with Le1S for 360 degree videos.

Battery :

The Le1S has a Lithium Polymer battery of 3000 mAh capacity. The company has provided fast charging capabilities which could full charge the device from 0-100% in 70-80 minutes. The device gets warm while heating this is because of the presence of fast charging feature. It gives about 5-5.30 hours of screen on time with connected to WiFi, browsing, chatting and online gaming.

Verdict :

The LeEco Le1S is a powerful device at this price range and gives something which other device manufacturers would not like the USB type-C connector with 32GB internal storage, fast charging etc. There are some drawbacks with the device UI like some little bugs which can be resolved in the future updates and the absence of Gyroscope makes this device to stand out when people looking for a device to support Virtual Reality. Though there are some cons the pro list is high hence making this device worth the money we spend. A value for money device.