I have purchased this phone from Gearbest.com for £146 and I have not been sponsored or paid by Gearbest or Maze.
For quite a while it seems that the Chinese phone manufacturers emulated many aesthetics of the current Apple iPhone, Google and Samsung devices. One plus and Huawei came from nothing to being very popular in the West very quickly but they seemed very “samey” but I was hoping to see devices emerge from China that demonstrated Chinese innovation and flair.
Last year Xaomi release the the Mix Mix the first bezeless phone. The yotaphone with its dual screen had techlovers like me sit up and pay attention. The designs and ideas were beautiful and inspiring and not common in the big names devices today!
This year on gearbest I came across the Maze Alpha a company no one has ever heard off selling a almost bezelless phone for £146. I simply thought to myself £146 for a phone that is trying to take on the Xaomi Mi Mix in terms of look but with 4gb of RAM with 64GB storage all for £146?!?! This would be worth investigating further and I happily sent payment.
As no on had reviewed this phone I thought I would read the Mi Mix review for some reviews or things to look for and the big thing that worried me was the sound as there is no ear-speaker and the sound is vibrated through the screen which has been a sore point in reviews and it was something I wanted to see how Alpha addressed this.
On the 28th of July I received my Maze Alpha and made it my personal phone using a clean 256gb Transflash memory card to expand the 64GB storage further.
It is an Octacore P25 chip with cores running at 1.4ghz and 2.5ghz should you need some additional grunt for some serious computation when needed. I have had many chrome pages open in a browser along with other apps in the background and the device performed admirably.
It has all the usual Bluetooth, quick charge and wireless abgn/ac etc … I could regurgitate all the specs but so many other reviewers do this better than I could. I just want to give you my feelings about the device.
Phone Calls: 4.6/5
Very clear sounding phone. I have used this device in a busy city centre street yesterday and the sound was clear and I could be easily heard and they could hear me clearly.
Unlike the Mi-Mix this phone does have a tiny edge on top which holds the speaker so the sound is clear and loud however because it is at the very top edge placing my ear over the speaker to get the best sound took some time getting used to.
Surfing: 4.8/5
With the big screen the browsing, Facebook, sending e-mails or watching Youtube this device is beautiful and fast. I have used this device instead of my tablet in bed and the quality of the screen is amazing
The 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels ) 6 inch screen doesn’t disappoint, text reading is really sharp and visibility in bright lights is very impressive.
Multimedia 4.5/5
I have used this phone for listening to Podcasts in Doggcatcher, Youtube Videos, Netflix, Kodi. I have had video chats on Whatsapp and this phone is a solid performer.
The screen quality is very good and details are very sharp.
The videos are really loud and clear but no hard bass which I don’t mind personally .
The camera is very good I was expecting a mediocre camera but this dual (13MP and 5MP) camera is very impressive and the Front 5MP camera for Whatsapp was really clear to my caller.
The image was taken from my window 10 minutes ago.
For listening to podcasts and music on the go the Headphones and Bluetooth car
connectivity works and sounds great.
Battery 4.5/5
Battery power is a massive thing for me as I come across so many phones that promise to do everything but in actual reality with a bit of use the phone battery is almost died.
4000mah battery is big and the phone is a bit heavier but since the weight is even distributed it doesn’t feel noticeable.
With a full battery I have used it for sending e-mails, facebook, youtube, surfing the web for long stints and listening to music and about 15 calls in a day about 5-20 minutes in length and still have a a decent 30% of battery at 11pm at night.
Quick Charge with this and it has already been a life saver today (forgot to charge it last night)
I have not hammered the phone as of yet with heavy use so far so found no heating or worrying battery issues.
Design : 4/5
The phone “bezelless” design is amazing but the bottom bezel is a bit thick. This obviously is to hold the camera and the other bits but I couldn’t help but think they could of atleast made is a bit thinner.
With the stretching of the screen by minimising the top bezel the screen is much bigger without making it harder to hold in the hand so movies and reading web pages is a dream.
The fingerprint sensor is ok but personally they are all very hit and miss with me as I my hands do get messy from time to time.
Conclusion: 22.4/25
For £146 this is an innovative powerful device. I have spent most of Friday showing people at work my £146 device that has a HD almost Bezel-less screen with loud speakers playing movies trailers from youtube, people just couldn’t believe it was so cheap for such a beautiful big display. After showing this phone to a S8 owner and telling him the price he was upset that he could of purchased an Alpha and had it do everything he use his S8 for but save over £500 and a 2 year contract!
Phone call quality is clear and loud. Having long phone conversations did not become uncomfortably hot on the ear and face.
The multimedia functions of the phone did not disappoint everything that was thrown at it worked and nothing slowed down when I was using many different apps.
The camera is above average but not amazing when it comes to zooming in shots but with normal shots these are great for Instagram or Facebook.
The battery is of a decent size and with normal use you will easily get over a 1 day use out of it. Quick charge is fantastic and helped me when I forgot to charge the phone the night before.
If you are looking for a solid innovative device that does your day to day really well and doesn't cost an arm and a leg well i would recommend the Maze Alpha.
If you like these review and want to read more please do send me your feedback.
Peace and Love
Jazz