Mobile phone teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R: reviews, details

This smartphone promises many extreme sportsmen, active sportsmen and autotourists, that is all those who wanted to distance themselves from the benefits of civilization, but did not dare to abandon the usual and universal gadget for "Android."

Let's try to figure out if the expectations of the fans have justified the sensational domestic smartphone teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R. Reviews, characteristics, pros, cons of the model, as well as expert opinions on the St. Petersburg brainchild "Alcatel" - in the review.

A bit of an illiteracy

Such devices exist on the market of mobile devices for a long time. If we do not focus on different military and industrial equipment like geodesic devices, walkie-talkies and other heavy-duty terminals, we will see that long before the first mobile phone appeared, the mass consumer was offered shock-proof and waterproof watches - first mechanics, and later electronics.

Every year, cellular communication develops and multiplies its consumer, - the waterproof and strengthened designs of mobile gadgets begin to appear. At first, the devices were protected only from splashing water or rain. The pioneers in this segment were the brands Siemens and Nokia, which released in the early 2000s. Shockproof and waterproof models of Nokia 5210/5100/5140 and Siemens Siemens ME45 / M65 / M75. Gadgets have turned out quite a decent, but the times have changed a lot, and this class in today's realities went under the wing of the Chinese.

The constructional recipe for similar devices is almost the same for all Chinese brands. The usual and unremarkable stuffing of some budget gadget is taken, a simple platform with a mediocre screen and camera is put, and then all this is put on in a strong "armor". Some, especially caring about the client and their reputation of the company equip devaysy capacious and high-quality batteries, and sometimes add something interesting like a walkie-talkie.

Next, the resulting device is sold under some great name - "Jeep", "Land Rover" and others like him, or offer to foreign distributors, I mean OEM brands that have the right to stick any label on this gadget and pack it in their original box.

"Texet"

Any sensible OEM brand, which St. Petersburg "Texet", it is necessary to think, is, is struggling with Chinese suppliers not only for the price, but also for the quality of mobile products, which, as a rule, vary greatly among Eastern companies, and in all - in Materials, assembly, electronic components and even in software.

Despite all the factors and nuances, we will consider the smartphone teXet as an independent product that has gone through bureaucratic and very picky Russian certification, which means that it is encumbered with no guarantee and no service.

Equipment

The box is made of quality and quite strong cardboard. It is pleasant to hold it in hands, it does not smell of packaging with second-rate consumer goods: colorful design, a brief description of the gadget on the back side and signs of compliance with Russian standards and communication systems.

Completeness:

• The phone itself teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R;
• The manual is completely in Russian;
• A network charger with USB and micro-USB outputs for synchronization with a personal computer;
• Headset type "without hands";
• A carabiner with a capron strap, a compass and a small element for dismantling the lid;
• Plugs for the headset (3.5 mm) and a network charger.

The bundle is clearly incomplete for this kind of gadgets. If the device is intended for extreme people who are going to conquer mountains, forests and fields, then for sure the only possible source of charging the phone will be a car, rather than the usual 220 V. But here's a car charger, alas, not in the box with teXet X-driver Quad TM- 4082R. Reviews on this matter are unambiguous: the owners believe that you can easily do without a toy compass and straps with a flimsy carabiner, which serve as an unnecessary entourage, but instead it would be better to put at least some adapter for a cigarette lighter.

First impressions

For a person accustomed to working with ordinary smartphones, visually the gadget looks like "Wow!" In terms of tactile sensations, the device offers a completely different operational experience than a regular smartphone.

The design turned out to be quite heavy and thick - 261 grams with a thickness of 18.3 mm. The case is rubberized with massive sidewalls and firmly falls into the palm. It seems that there is some serious industrial device in hand, such as a construction or geodetic tool.

Design teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R

Reviews about the design are ambiguous, it's a matter of taste - someone likes it, but for someone it's alabatic and repulsive. The V-shaped speaker slot, flashes on the back, the shape of the nameplate and the camera holes - all this does not look like frank plagiarism and looks decent, and somewhere even cute and organic. Moreover, all claims to design are dissolved and leveled in the overall brutality of the gadget, that is, in its extreme tourist style.

If you look at modern mobile devices that have captured the entire market, which otherwise can not be called a flat "scapula", the class of impact-resistant and moisture-resistant gadgets remains the only segment where the design idea can somehow unfold (just like in the era of button devices). It's quite another matter that venerable A-brands do not want to take part in the development of the class, and all the stylistic notes are set by Chinese designers with their own specific methods and taste preferences, which could not but be reflected in the teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R . The owners' comments point out the presence in the gadget of the long-forgotten classic style, which also adds retro-style fans to the device. In the rest it is a usual device: a little "rough", but at the same time with a share of grace.

Platform

The teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R has been built, the performance characteristics of which will be given below), which is called, according to all the "laws of the genre" of protected gadgets. The basis is taken, albeit not the weakest, but the budget platform, which, by the way, outperformed in the benchmarks of quite a few direct competitors. The device is equipped with a quad-core processor of the MT6582 series, has onboard 1 GB of operative and 8 GB of internal memory for user needs.

TeXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R (firmware 4.4.18.02.15 Jelly Bean) feels great in 2G and 3G GSM-networks, and also correctly supports all the basic wireless protocols of Wi-Fi and "Bluetooth". There are GPS modules and FM radio.

As such, brand customization of teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R (software review for this reason, you can not even imagine, because there's simply nothing to talk about): a screen saver for the standby mode and a pair of icons, where one contains a link to the recommended software with "Play Store", and another - a set of paid subscriptions for news, horoscopes, weather, etc. In all other respects, the platform can be called "naked."

We must pay tribute to the St. Petersburg "alcatelovtsy" for not having stuffed the teXet smartphone under an eyelet with all sorts of advertising applets, as many similar companies do, especially on branded devices (MTS, Megafon, Beeline). Of course, they could not resist and still sewed the icon with subscriptions, but here it seems like everything is fair - the amount is announced and nothing is slipped on the sly.

Judging by the benchmarks, teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R (black) with great difficulty scored its 18,845 points and was somewhere in the tail. But this is compared with the "monsters" virtually in performance, whereas the "live" speed is quite comfortable - the system synergizes well with the iron inside: nothing is frisite, does not brake and does not shine.

Screen

As for the characteristics of the screen, it is a matter of habit and pretentiousness. Naturally, if you had previously held a flagship smartphone with SuperAmoled and Retin with headlamps, our 800-screen 480-pixel screen looks like a dull dinosaur. By today's standards, in principle, so it is. But for gadgets of such a plan and characteristics, such screens are the norm, competitors have even more modest devices for the same price, so it's not necessary to turn the face especially.

In defense of such displays, we can say that it loads the system much less, significantly increasing the battery life, which is very important for extreme phones, far from 220 V. Glass for the smartphone "Texet" is designed quite competently, so there are no problems with visualization. The only thing worth noting is that the picture clearly lacks brightness, and in the daytime and even in the near evening time it is necessary to twist the figure by 100%. Under direct sunlight the screen is blinded (the glass for the smartphone reflects all the rays), and to read the information, the gadget should be covered with a hand or look for a shadow.

Connectivity

Flagship smartphone "Texset" is equipped with two-function functionality with one radio module, that is, alternate operation of SIM cards. You can call in standby mode on any of the cards, however, when the subscriber makes a call or transmits any other data on one SIM card, the other one is automatically blocked. In terms of functionality, the SIM cards are also divided: the first works in 2G and 3G networks, and the second one - only with 2G.

To the quality of the connection, there are no critical remarks: the speaker, although not outstanding, but twisted to the maximum allows you to hear the interlocutor on a noisy street. The only drawback, and this is probably the fault of the case of teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R, - the speaker cuts both high and low frequencies, so the voice at the end sounds somewhat unnatural. In the responses of owners, this point has been discussed more than once, but the users do not consider this as a serious problem.

The same thing is observed with a microphone - the interlocutor hears you quite clearly, but unnaturally and with "dry" notes. The manufacturer sins for sealing, responding that the protection from water suppresses high frequencies. The call signal is quite loud, so you can hear it even from the backpack behind your back. Vibration due to the massive body is very weak, which was quite expected.

Work in browsers is comfortable and does not cause serious complaints - the speed of 2G and 3G is similar to competing devices. Owners in their reviews noticed one glitch: if the connection from one card disappears and appears again, then the gadget does not find it, so you have to reboot the device to solve this problem. Apparently, a dust-and-moisture smartphone does not hold a weak signal as well as it would be desirable.

Camera

On the official website of the company in the specification the following characteristics of the cameras are indicated: the front camera - at 1.3 Mp, and the main one - at 8 Mp. Or the manufacturer has confused something, or there are some variational models, but on the main trading Internet sites exactly like on the shelves of stores gadgets with several other characteristics are gleaming: the main camera at 5 megapixels (2880x1720 px) and the front camera at 0.3 Mn (640x480 px).

Any comments from the St. Petersburg "alcatelovtsy" do not give, so it is unclear whether individual parties are so completed, or whether such immodest interpolation was made. In any case, if you need to get right, you can get the spare parts needed for the teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R (preferably branded ones) and replace the cameras with more sensible ones. To do it better in the service center, there can also be all the components necessary for this procedure.

By modern standards, the images are not that bad, but some faceless ones: the module is obviously budgetary and it's not worth waiting for anything special from it. In the classical mode (pointing and removing) the result can turn out to be the most unpredictable: sometimes even in poor light the pictures are more or less normal, and in ideal light - some blurriness and fading.

Very often the frame blurs sharpness and almost everywhere visible zamylennye area. Also, the camera suffers from improper calibration of the scale (the color lies). In general, for the "Instagram" of the available options will suffice, and to show friends "how we went on a campaign" will come down quite.

With regard to the front camera, there is nothing to say - lovers of beautiful selfies against the backdrop of picturesque places will have to rest. Of course, if you "shy" the portrait for memory, then the face can be seen, but on something serious this camera, alas, is not good.

Video

The device can record video in a resolution more or less acceptable by modern standards in 1920 at 1088 pixels (namely at 1088, not 1080), which also indicates the presence of interpolation (stretching the frame programmatically).

The quality of the video roughly corresponds to the photographs - the same budget and dull. Particularly noticeable are the shortcomings of the camera in conditions of poor illumination: the sharpness, detail, and fog appear. In denser twilight or drizzly weather, you can not record any more or less sensible video.

The gadget can be used as a car DVR, downloading the necessary software from the same "Play Store", which there, without exaggeration, a pond-pond. About the picture, we told (everything is bad), but what can boast a dusty-proof smartphone "Texet", so this is the range of reading car plates. The gadget's features are slightly superior to similar profile devices that write in HD-resolution, although they do not hold out until Full HD-development. The angle of capture, of course, is less than that of ordinary navigators, but we still have a smartphone in our hands, and not a full-fledged automotive gadget.

Autonomous work

The smartphone is equipped with a very good battery for 3100 mAh. In the most active mode, the device will last about 4.5 hours. Web-surfing, calls, sms-ki put the battery in 6.5 hours. If you use the headset and minimize the brightness, then the phone will last for 12-13 hours of viewing the video. You can use the gadget directly as a phone within a few days.

To install all kinds of "optimizers", "accelerators" and "doctors of batteries", so actively advertised by the company "Texet", there is no sense. All these applications will hang in the memory of the device and also "eat" the battery.

Protection

The protection class declared by Petrograd in accordance with a single European classification is IP68. And this means the ability to work in a submerged state (figure 8) and complete isolation from dirt and dust (figure 6). There are also nuances here: the classification does not specify the time or depth of immersion with the apparatus, leaving this moment to the producer's conscience.

The official resource "Texset" and detailed manul to the gadget are silent about this, and in the instructions sometimes there are light puns like: "despite the impact resistance, the case of the smartphone can not be called anti-shock." On the one hand, it's kind of right, because ordinary gadgets can have IP68 protection. The same Sony devices have one, but the manufacturer strongly does not recommend dropping them. The standard that allows you to "drop" the device on any solid surface is the MIL-STD-810G (military), and in our case it is not claimed.

Nevertheless, the impact resistance of the gadget, both on the site and in the description, is unequivocally emphasized. Specifically, it is told that the case was reinforced with metal plates on the rear wall and under the screen, and in addition, the display is additionally equipped with a special glass Asahi, which is "three times thicker than conventional glasses for smartphones."

Summarizing

If you look at the cost of a smartphone teXet X-driver Quad TM-4082R (the price is about 10 000 rubles), its main characteristics and other secondary indicators, then in comparison with direct competitors the gadget looks very advantageous and even damps down somewhere. And this despite the fact that the venerable device from some "Sony" or the same "Apple" passes for a mark of 60 thousand rubles and differs, as a rule, only high-speed stuffing (well, why, in fact, the extreme tourist game device ).

In general, the model leaves a pleasant impression of exploitation. The smartphone is really durable, and, having passed "fire and water", continues to work without any glitches and other failures. I think if you deliberately do not heat the unit at depth and do not kill about stones, then it will live happily ever after. And anyway, when buying such kind of gadgets, you should not flatter themselves that they will withstand an atomic strike or a worldwide flood. By and large, such a device for a good 50% has an image function, to some extent harmoniously complementing the beautiful outfit.

As a permanent mobile help, "Texet" can be recommended only to those who by all means want to be unique among friends and colleagues, lovers of extreme tourist style and financially limited to patriots.