Sciphone I68 + or Scellphone I68 +?

If you have spent some time on the net looking for information on the i68 +, you will certainly have noticed that they are different types of i68, the Sciphone i68 + is often called the “original” and all other types are called “clones”. . The Sciphone i68 + is produced by Bleulane Communication, while the other phones are produced by different factories in the Shenzeng area and are basically OEM or unbranded phones. Among others, you will hear about i9 +, i9 ++++, i9 3G or even i68 +.

So which one to choose and is it worth paying more for the branded cell phone? Since we have two types of i68 + in our lab, we just ran a comparison test.

The presentation

We received our Sciphone i68 + in a nice shiny box with pictures of the phone. Our clone, a Scellphone i68 +, was delivered in a plain brown cardboard box. But as they say, you don’t eat the box.

Both phones come with headphone, car and wall chargers, 2 batteries, and a user manual.

Sciphone accessories are packaged in bags with a label that reads “Original Sciphone Accessory” with a serial number, while Scellphone accessories are packaged in plain clear bags without markings.

The wall charger has a built-in slot for a battery where the Scellphone can only charge its batteries with the phone plugged in. The car charger comes for the Sciphone with its own cable, while the Scellphone has to mutualize its cable for the car, wall charger and USB connection.

In general, Sciphone accessories are better built.

What is also striking when comparing the content of the 2 boxes is the color of the batteries. Sciphone batteries are white, others are gold. To check their respective capacity, we put both phones on standby side by side, connected to the same operator for several days: our Sciphone worked for 185 hours and our Scellphone for 240 hours. We had often read on the forum that gold batteries were useless, but our test shows different results.

The Sciphone ships with a 24-page user manual and quick start guide, while our Scellphone is provided with a quick start guide, which is just a low-quality reprint of the Sciphone quick start guide.

The look

Now wait at the two terminals. At first glance, they appear identical; the same buttons, speaker grilles, and USB connectors are all in the same places.

Taking a closer look at the 2 phones, the original device is slightly better built, the battery cover better fitting the rest of the phone. Weight-wise, 10 grams separate the two phones and guess which one is the heaviest.
The label underneath the Sciphone battery is written exclusively in English and displays a serial number and IMEY codes, while the Scellphone is written in a mixture of English and Chinese.

Performance

Both phones are already charged, turn them on, the Sciphone shows “SciPhone” in white letters on a black background and the Scellphone shows a small animation on a white background.

At rest, they show the same wallpapers (the earth, the clown fish …). The small icons at the top of the screen are larger on the Sciphone and more refined on the second. Both devices have a 3 page menu and share some of their icons.

We must admit that the user interface is more pleasant and ergonomic on the ScellPhone.

Most of the functions are the same on both phones: dual SIM, quad-band, GPRS / WAP, Bluetooth, USB, microSD card slot, camera, digital camera, photo and video viewer, MP3 player and sound recorder, game, FM radio, electronic book reader.
The Sciphone adds: a calendar, a call recording, a melody builder and can wake you up with a choice of radio, MP3 or alarm ringtone.

Even if both phones offer the same multimedia features, the quality of delivery is quite different. In fact, it is not possible to change the resolution of photos on the ScellPhone which offers a pitiful definition of 320×480 pixels while the original i68 + offers various levels of definition up to 640×480. It’s even worse for the Scellphone’s digital camera: the video stops recording after 20 seconds and displays the following message: Storage too slow or busy.
For audio functions the main difference is the quality of the speaker, here again the Sciphone is still the best.

Both phones offer Java functionality so you can install new applications. Note that the Scellphone comes with an Opera Mini V4.2 pre-installed, while the Sciphone comes with a very limited standard WAP browser. So if you want to enjoy the browsing experience or use email services, you will have to install an Opera Mini.

On the hardware side, both phones are quite similar, they use the same processor (MTK MT6225) and the same types of components.

Which to choose?

It’s the perpetual question, well; It all depends on what your needs and budget are.

The Sciphone has a slightly better build quality, it comes with a manufacturer’s warranty, and the apps provide more settings or options, but they look a bit stark.

The Scellphone has a much better user interface. Its price is also more interesting, you save at least 15 USD. But don’t count on the still and video cameras.

In the end, take the time to choose the right store and here, the price is not necessarily the most important. Good after-sales service and a good reputation are worth a few dollars more.

Don’t necessarily trust everything you read on the forums, make your own opinion by contacting the supplier directly and asking a few questions about the phone and the purchasing and shipping processes.

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