Meiigoo Note 8 Hands-On Review: A Cheap Clone of Samsung Galaxy Note 8

I could write that the Chinese are always surprising me, but you know what, I think I’ve got used to it. I just knew it would come to this, that as soon as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 appears, then some very exotic sounding company will show its version of “Note”, how strongly inspired by this one and true. Long did not have to wait because we have a clone of Galaxy Note 8, which is hidden under the name Meiigoo Note 8.

Do you know Meiigoo? Probably some of you see this brand for the first time. I got a glimpse of it several times before my eyes as I browsed the offer of Chinese stores, somehow I was not interested in it, but I still wonder how to pronounce this name correctly. Maybe “Mejgu” or “Meeju”? It does not matter, but if you know it, let me know. Returning to this Chinese, the last time he flashed me on the occasion of the Meiigoo S8. Yes, by anticipating the questions, they also did a copy of the Eights (8). And now the time has come for Meiigoo Note 8, which costs about 6 times less compared to the real “Note 8”.

The Meiigoo Note 8 smartphone looks a bit like a smaller, slightly uglier and less well-known brother, the Galaxy Note 8 clone. Strongly refers to it in terms of housing, especially looking at the back, where you can see an almost identical arrangement of cameras and fingerprint reader. The front does not make such an impression, but you can see that they followed the trend, because we have a 5.99-inch display in elongated proportions and a resolution of 2160 x 1080 pixels. Looking at the specification, the smartphone does not even brush up to Note 8, but if we compare a smartphone for 600-700 USD, the situation is quite different. Whether the smartphone can convince in practice, you will learn in the following review.

When unpacking the Meiigoo Note 8, I particularly noticed the beautiful Appearance of the device and the packaging. Here great effort was made to create a visually good impression. Truly almost flawless, the transitions on the smartphone were concealed, creating a valuable design. Only the fingerprint sensor was slightly slanted, but this is hardly apparent. When I unpacked the device, I noticed how easy this smartphone is for its size. At just 188g, the Meiigoo Note 8 is a lightweight in its class. This feels quite good in the hand. Big thanks to Gearbest for providing this Meiigoo Note 8 Review unit The Meiigoo Note 8 is available for about $149.99 at the time of review and thus joins the middle class. Use Coupon Code For Discount: MEIIGOONOTE8

Meiigoo Note 8 – Technical Specifications

• Brand – Meiigoo
• Model – Note 8
• CPU – Octa-Core 4×1.5GHz ARM Cortex-A53 + 4×1.0GHz ARM Cortex-A53
• Chipset – MediaTek MT6750T
• GPU – ARM Mali-T860 MP2, 650 MHz, 2-Cores
• Camera – 13MP+5 Megapixels with Dual-LED Flash and AF Dual Rear Camera | 5 Megapixel Front camera
• Memory – RAM- 4GB LPDDR3, 833MHz | ROM 64GB External Memory Support up to 256GB
• Display – Screen size 5.99 inches IPS, LCD, FHD+ Display (1080 x 2160 Pixels)
• Battery – Non-Removable 3,300mAh Lithium-Polymer
• SIM – Dual SIM (Micro + Nano), Dual Standby
• Sensors – Proximity Sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Compass Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor
• Color – Black, Blue
• Operating System – Android 7.1 Nougat
• I/O Interface – 1 Micro SIM card + 1 Nano SIM card, 1 TF card, Type-C USB Port, 3.5mm Audio Out Port, Power Button, Volume Button, Microphone, Speaker
• Dimensions – 159.3 mm x 75.8 mm x 8.3 mm
• Weight – 188 Grams (With Battery)
• Versions – 4GB/64GB
• More Feature -Metal Body Design, LTE Cat 6 300 Mbps Download, 50 Mbps Upload, Dual Side 3D Curved Glass Design, 18:9 Aspect Ratio Screen, Computer Sync, OTA Sync, Tethering, OTG Support, FM Radio, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, Bezel-Less Display, Fast and Secure 360 Degree Fingerprint Scanner Mounted on the Back Side of Device, Reversible Type-C Connector.

Unboxing

The Meiigoo Note 8 will be delivered to you in a black box and with the logo in blue, which is very simple. But back to MEIIGOO Note 8, the box looks really premium and on the back, there are the main specifications: For the Meiigoo Note 8, you have come up with a new packaging. This consists of a “main box”, which is closed with a magnet and is rolled up. Supplied directly with the Meiigoo Note 8 you get a clear silicone case. The case looks a little big, but it provides greater protection in case of a fall on the edges of the smartphone. Also included are two screens. One is already applied to the phone and one is available as a replacement. Of course, the power plug and the matching USB-C cable should not be missing. Also, a small manual in English language and a SIM needle are included in the beautiful packaging.

Meiigoo Note 8 comes with dimensions of 7.48 x 4.13 x 2.68 inches and has a weight of 480 grams. Inside this box we will find the following Contents:

• Type-C USB Cable
• Power Adapter
• Screen protector
• User Manual
• Plastic Cover
• Sim Ejector

Design & Appearance

We received our test device in blue. The color looks very noble and makes the Meiigoo Note 8 an eye-catcher. Even the screen border, as well as the buttons, are kept in the same blue. The Similar device with the 18: 9 display has the stately dimensions are 15.93 x 7.58 x 0.83 cm, but brings only a handy 188g on the scales. The Meiigoo Note 8 is available in three colors: gold, black and blue. The body of the Meiigoo Note 8 is made of lightweight plastic which should have a mirror finish, but which ends up being covered with fingerprints without reflecting anything.

As with the original, the glass front bulges around the case. This is instead of 2.5D, in the 3D glass, which is very pleasant to use. The frame is kept very narrow on the long side due to the curved glass. Meiigoo advertises with a face width of 3mm. What exactly this is supposed to mean, has not become clear to us. The Meiigoo Note 8, unfortunately, has no glass back get donated, but the plastic shines in high gloss.

On the front, we have a Single 5.0MP camera for selfies and 3 soft keys (without start button), in addition to the screen.On the back, you will find the dual camera with a 13 MP main sensor (16 MP by software interpolation) and a second 5 MP sensor, arranged horizontally. On the same line, to the left of the camera, there are the Dual LED flash and the fingerprint reader and then, a little lower down, in the middle, the company logo label. Unfortunately, the transparent cover of the two camera lenses made of plastic and know after a few days use visible scratch marks on.

On the sides, you’ll find the standard buttons, the volume buttons and the power or lock button (both on the left side), and on the right, there is a button for the camera that will allow you to take photos much faster. The charging port (USB Type-C) is always on the bottom, together with the speakers and the 3.5 mm audio jack. The SIM card slot (which can hold 1 Micro SIM card + 1 NanoSIM card) is curiously on the top.

Display

The Meiigoo Note 8 sports a 5.99-inch IPS screen that occupies 90% of the front and has Full HD resolution + (2160 x 1080 pixels). With a density of 403ppi and the screen-body ratio of 18: 9 the images and videos on the screen are defined and the colors sharp. Furthermore, it is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass glass; good protection for a smartphone in this price range.

The huge 5.99-inch display, in 18: 9 format takes almost the entire front. This resolves in FullHD + and has a pixel density of about 403ppi. So you can recognize individual pixels with the naked eye only on the most accurate viewing. The corners are rounded, giving a contemporary look.

The built-in touchscreen should recognize up to 10 touches at the same time. However, after more than 5 simultaneous touches, it has a relatively great difficulty placing the other fingers. The brightness is rather weak compared to other devices. I am used to using a smartphone with half brightness. For the Meiigoo Note 8, I need a brightness of 75% for my usual use. In sunshine, the screen is easy to read. Maybe not all contrasts are perfect to recognize, but this did not restrict my use.

Performance & Operating System

Also known is the hardware of the device. Unfortunately, this has not turned out as potent as we would have liked it – so you get only the same processor as offered in Meiigoo S8. The centerpiece is the MT6750T from MediaTek. The Octa-Core consists of 4 ARM-A53 cores taken at 1.5GHz and 4 others at 1.0GHz. This has the advantage that the slow-clocked cores take over the standard tasks and thus save battery. If power is needed, the faster cores will be added. The MT6750 is supported by the Mali-T860 GPU.

This combination is already familiar to us and will also be found in many lower-middle-class devices that will be released soon. Combined with rich 4GB of RAM, the system has reached 40,010 at AnTuTu. That is enough for the normal smartphone user completely. Only with compute-intensive games, such as NOVA 2 or Asphalt 8, you will have to sacrifice graphics quality. When using simple apps like Whatsapp or Youtube the system shows a very good speed with minimal load times. The Meiigoo Note 8 comes with 64GB memory and Android 7.

This processor obtains acceptable results in the benchmark tests, but for casual users, it will be more than enough. AnTuTu scores 40,010 points in 6.xxx Version and 48,874 Points in 7.xxx Version, while Geekbench rates the performance of a single core in 613 and multi-core in 1904.

The system of the Meiigoo Note 8 is a slightly different Android 7. The optics have been changed and the app overview button removed. The icons have a tile look reminiscent of the iPhone. Unfortunately, third-party apps are not adapted to this look, resulting in a mixed picture on the home screens. Sometimes it happens that the system is slightly overloaded and the launcher gets stuck with a blank screen for 1-2 seconds. If you want a clean Android layout, you can install an alternative launcher like Google Now or Nova Launcher. However, I had my efforts to completely integrate a foreign launcher, It always comes back to the query, which launcher should now be used, even if you acknowledge this with the selection “Always”. The following launcher was tested: Google Now, Smart Launcher Pro and Nova Launcher. With all the tested launcher, this problem occurred again after a short time. We checked the entire system for malware and found no malicious software.

Camera

The dual camera with 13MP + 5MP (min aperture f / 2.2) has surprised me positively for this price range and makes in good light sizable images and also focuses properly. The focus is very fast when there is enough light and the Meiigoo Note 8 makes sharp, clear shots. As soon as you are in the interior of room lighting, the camera has trouble focusing and image noise occurs. The digital zoom as well as the digital image stabilization are very good and convinced me. The second rear camera with 2 megapixels is supposed to bring dual-camera features on the phone. This is, as always in the low price range, a marketing lie. In fact, none of the typical dual-camera features such as bokeh or 2x zoom mode is usable.

The 5MP front camera delivers an even weaker picture. The colors are pale and the noise increases. The camera of the Meiigoo is a fake dual camera and qualitatively subterranean for a 13MP camera. So it is not good for one or the other snapshot, the pictures are just not nice to look at.

The camera of the Meiigoo Note 8 is not the best and definitely not a masterpiece, Even in daylight, the shots in the distance are relatively blurred and grainy. The selfie camera is not convincing because the pictures are very grainy and overdrawn. For occasional selfies, however, the camera is just enough.

Among the various functions, we find autofocus, continuous shooting, digital image stabilization, digital zoom, exposure compensation, face detection, Geotagging, HDR, ISO configuration, manual focus, timer, white balance, touch focus.

Fingerprint and Face Unlock

The Meiigoo Note 8 has a fingerprint on the back, which almost always ensures a quick release. Since this is a multi-functional fingerprint is, it can with different commands are occupied. The fingerprint sensor unlocks in about 0.3 seconds.

On the left side of the device are the volume buttons and an additional button on which the camera is controlled. With a long press of a button, the camera app can be opened and also take pictures. Unfortunately, the button cannot prove otherwise. One can only hope that Meiigoo there with an update to help.

As already mentioned, the latest litter from Meiigoo has a facial recognition, by means of a front camera. The detection works flawlessly and flawlessly. Even with big headphones or Schaal my face was well recognized and the device unlocks itself. In low light, the unlock also works reasonably well. Only in complete darkness is it impossible for the camera to recognize the face. The lock screen shown on the left of the screen can be removed by pressing once and you will return to the usual lock screen view. Unfortunately, this unlocks protection does not offer too much security because you can unlock the phone with a photo!

Connectivity

You do not have to be constrained with connectivity. All necessary frequencies are installed, including the important LTE band 20. The SIM card slot either two Nano SIM card space or only one and a MicroSD card for memory expansion. Locally one comes to the Wifi over b / g / n and connects itself to Bluetooth 4.0 with other devices perfectly.

also, the navigation works very well, since GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS and a compass are installed. In addition, there are the three usual sensors: proximity, light and acceleration sensor. A gyroscope is not available. It is also great that the new USB-Type-C connector is now used more and more in the devices and was also installed here.

The speakers installed on the device surprised me positively. Slightly excessive is the sound, but otherwise really well done! Alone the basses are missing almost completely. Voices in the song are quieter on the speaker than other devices, but clear in the playback and these do not overturn.

About the audio jack, the sound is slightly echoing and the basses are a bit “open” but okay. Surprisingly good in this price category. The volume is not as loud as in my comparison device, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, but sufficiently loud. Again, there is no distortion or the like in the sounds and voices.

Battery

What I’m not very convinced, however, is the battery: this is just 3300 mAh Non-Removable large. With the 5.99-inch FullHD + display, the battery is sometimes emptied faster than it is right. In battery benchmark test, the device has reached a timestamp of 5h 15min. However, I think, compared to other devices, the battery empties extremely fast. Throughout the day you get active use of about 3 to 4 hours. Many a user should be enough, a long-running or even a 2-day smartphone you do not get. The device can be charged within 2h 45min via the USB-C, from 15% to 100%. For power users but the power bank should be ordered directly to the phone!

Conclusion

If you are looking for a lightweight and optically very elegant device, you are in the right place. The Meiigoo Note 8 shines in its colors by immediate high-gloss optics and our blue test version was quite convincing. The processing, as well as the component tuning, is very successful. Unfortunately, however, was saved in the cameras and the battery. Power users cannot recommend the device! The device is very similar to the original Samsung note 8 and can definitely compete with the look of the more expensive idol. Personally, the device convinced me despite the bad camera. The too low battery, is with a short Acquisition during the day, also tradable. Big thanks to Gearbest for providing this Meiigoo Note 8 Review unit The Meiigoo Note 8 is available for about $149.99 at the time of review and thus joins the middle class. Use Coupon Code For Discount: MEIIGOONOTE8