Mobiistar XQ Dual Review- Good selfies on a budget

June 8, 2018

A lot of new Original Equipment Manufacturers have forayed into the Indian smartphone in the recent times. We saw new brands like 10. Or, RealMe, COMIO etc coming up with their budget and mid-range offerings. A new brand from Vietnam has made its entry into the Indian smartphone market with two new budget smartphones.

Mobiistar, one of a popular smartphone brand in Vietnam launched budget smartphones XQ Dual and CQ Dual in the Indian market. We tested the former i.e., XQ Dual which sells for quite some time now and here is our review of the same. It retails for ₹ 7,999 and is available exclusively on Flipkart. We also posted our first impressions of the smartphone. In case you missed it, you can check it out here.

Specifications of Mobiistar XQ Dual:

Display: 5.5″ FULL HD display

Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430

RAM: 3GB

ROM: 32GB

Camera: Rear-13MP and Front 13MP + 8MP 120-degree wide-angle camera (f/2.0 + f/2.2)

Battery: 3000mAh

OS: Android 7.1.2

Colors: Black and Gold

Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, E-compass, and Gyroscope

SIM slot: Hybrid SIM slot(Dual SIM / 1SIM+1MicroSD)

Other features: Freeze App, SOS, Anti Theft, Themes, Smart Battery Saving, Intelligent Assistant

Design and Build Quality:

Mobiistar XQ Dual has a standard design that you would see on a modern day smartphone. It comes in black and gold colours and the black variant has golden antenna lines running through the back. The back of the smartphone has a metal feeling but its predominantly plastic. Having said that, it gives a solid feel in hand and is built very well. There are no creepy noises and the buttons feel tactile. Mobiistar has taken care of the build and the overall build quality is good on the XQ Dual.

Display:

The XQ Dual from Mobiistar sports a 5.5 inches FULL HD Display that has a resolution of 1920X1080 pixels. It is a standard 16:9 display and not an 18:9 display that has been the trend in the smartphones launched this year. When it comes to the display on this smartphone, it is quite good, to be honest. The colors are natural and well saturated. It is a 2.5D display protected by Asahi Dragon Trail Glass. You cannot expect protection like what Gorilla Glass offers, but this offers basic protection for the display. When it comes to sunlight legibility, it is just average on the XQ Dual. We would have wished to see an 18:9 display used by Mobiistar, but nonetheless, the quality of the panel used by Mobiistar is quite good.

Performance:

Mobiistar XQ Dual is powered by an Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor clocked at 1.40 GHz. It is coupled with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. The storage can be expanded via MicroSD.

When it comes to the raw performance, XQ Dual handles day to day tasks with ease. The UI is pretty smooth with almost no lags whatsoever. Thanks to the 3 gigs of RAM, the multitasking is decent. We also tested the smartphone with some casual games and graphics-intensive titles. It handled casual games without any issues. But, in games like Asphalt 8, Modern Combat 5 we noticed a slight lag in the gameplay. Overall, the performance was smooth and good. We will talk about the software in the coming lines.

Software:

Mobiistar has heavily customized the software on the XQ Dual. It is running on a custom skin on top of Android 7.1.2 Nougat. We do not have information regarding Oreo update for this smartphone. Once we have the information, we will update the article.

The software experience on the XQ Dual was a mixed bag for us. There is no app drawer, which is likely as most smartphones launching recently, do not come with one. We noticed some bugs in Dialer, Notification Panel etc. For instance, when you get a notification, you will not be able to swipe the same. This was not happening often, but still, a point to be mentioned. Secondly, during a call, the in-call UI froze and we had to reboot to get it fix it. Thirdly, unlocking via power button doesn’t respond sometimes. This was a rare issue and did not occur often.

Mobiistar has added some nifty features like Intelligent Assitant, Anti Theft and more. The built-in Anti-theft feature requires you to log in via your Google/Facebook account to store and sync data. Some of the nifty features in the Anti-theft present on this smartphone are as follows

Add a trusted alternative number
Update location during low battery situation
Auto Sync option
Verify your password during shut down of the smartphone
Ability to connect to the internet automatically after restart

The software still could have been more refined. Nevertheless, we hope Mobiistar will address these issues with an OTA update. Overall, the software experience was decent and the minor issues could be fixed via an update.

Battery:

Mobiistar XQ Dual is backed up by a 3000mAH battery and the battery life we got on this smartphone was average. With casual usage, you can stretch it up to 1 and half days. But with heavy usage, you have to charge the smartphone at the end of the day. Mobiistar has also three battery saving modes to extend the battery life. Regular power saving, Smart power saving, Ultra power saving are the three battery saving modes. When it comes to charging speed and time, it charges up in ~2 hrs 20 mins with the supplied charger. It is a 5V 1.5A charger.

Fingerprint Scanner:

Mobiistar XQ Dual sports a fingerprint scanner to the rear and we did not face any issues during our testing. It was highly responsive and very fast.

Camera:

Mobiistar XQ Dual is marketed as a selfie-centric smartphone as it sports Dual cameras to the front. It has a 13MP camera to the rear which has an aperture of f/2.0 and there is a dual camera setup to the front. It is a 13MP+8MP combination and the second lens is a 120-degree wide angle lens. For group selfies, the second lens would be helpful as it covers a wider field. The front-facing cameras are also accompanied by a Soft LED flash to aid in dark situations.

We have tested the camera for quite some time now and here is what we felt. The pictures that were taken in daylight turn out to be good. There was a decent amount of detail and the colors were natural. The camera has slight issues with exposure, though. When it comes to pictures in low lighting conditions, here is where the XQ Dual struggles as most smartphones in this price segment do. There is a considerable amount of noise. But considering the price at which the smartphone is being sold out, it is expected.

The USP of this smartphone is the front-facing cameras. Yes, you read it right. There are Dual Front facing cameras on the XQ Dual. The primary lens is 13 MP shooter which has an aperture of f/2.0 and the second lens is an 8 MP shooter with an aperture of f/2.2. The secondary shooter has a 120-degree field of view. Thanks to the wide angle camera, you can accommodate more people in your selfie. The quality of the selfies taken on this smartphone is very good. The wide-angle selfies have a good amount of detail and the colors look natural. As stated before, the camera has slight issues with exposure though. But we hope Mobiistar addresses this issue with a software update.

Our Verdict:

Mobiistar is a new entrant in the Indian smartphone market and for their first launch, they have done a quite good job with the XQ Dual. If you are looking for a smartphone under Rs. 8,000 with good quality front facing camera and love taking selfies, then the XQ Dual from Mobiistar is recommended and it won’t disappoint you for sure.