The Coship Moly X1 became available on Amazon.com a few weeks ago for $300 and it is now arriving on people's doorsteps, including our own. In fact, it only took one week for our order to come all the way from China where the Moly X1 originates.
Let's take a look at a quick unboxing and extensive tour of this budget phone that boasts an ultra slim profile!
Coship Moly X1 specifications
- 5.5-inch HD or Full HD display with Gorilla Glass
- 4G LTE support for AT&T and T-Mobile (US)
- Quad Band 3G: B1(2100) / B2(1900) / B5(850) 4G: B2(1900) / B4(1700) / B5(850) / B17(700)
- Windows 10 Mobile build 10586.00 (with .29 available as an update)
- 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 CPU
- 2GB of RAM
- 16GB internal storage with microSD expansion (14.5GB available)
- micro-USB charging
- 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash
- 5MP front camera
- 2600mAh battery
- Bluetooth 4.0 A2DP/HFP/OPP
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n 2.4/5.0GHz
- Sensors: G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Ambient Light sensor
- Dimensions: 154.8 x 78.6 x 6.9mm
- Weight 4.9 oz (139 grams)
First thoughts
The first thing we need to mention is this phone ships with a Chinese ROM, and thus the default language is Mandarin. Of course, you can change the language in the Settings to anything including English (US), but it did take some tinkering to figure it out – after all, it was all in Chinese. We'll likely do a video on how to figure that out because it was not easy.
The Moly X1 brings some neat features to the table and is reportedly even water- and dust-resistant (hence those port covers everywhere). The Full HD display at 5.5-inches is one of the better ones we have seen, and the 7mm-thin profile makes holding and typing on the phone a joy.
The screen held up well outdoors too and at just 139 grams it will not weight down your pocket at all.
Not everything is ideal, however. Those port covers can be rather annoying if you use wired headphones often or just want to recharge quickly with the micro-USB cable that is included. The phone takes a Micro SIM and not the more current and smaller Nano SIM, so you'll have to bust out your adapters. There is also no NFC on board for those who like to use that wireless technology.
When it comes to performance, there is a noticeable lower frame rate throughout the phone when compared to higher-end devices like a Lumia 950 — it's not bad, but not nearly as smooth as some other phones we have used lately. That performance hit is obviously due to the anemic 1.2Ghz Snapdragon 410 processor combined with a Full HD display. Again, it's not bad, but it's also not ideal. Even with the .29 update, not much has changed.
For power users, it should be noted that Insider Fast or Slow Ring builds do not appear to be approved for this phone, so you will have to sit on the sidelines until updates hit production.
On the plus side, the X1 can charge while completely powered off, which is something Lumias cannot do for whatever reason.
The 13MP rear camera is on the better side of budget phones. In fact, in well-lit scenes, it's quite reliable although it leans towards the red for a hue. Same with the 5MP front-facing camera, which in outdoor lighting is quite sharp but struggles for color contrast indoors and is a bit soft. See our sample gallery below.
The back of the Moly X1 is also all glass (Gorilla Glass to be exact) and although it looks sharp, it is a fingerprint magnet. But hey, it looks cool. Adding to that coolness, there are no speaker grills due to that water resistance thing. The result is sound is emitting from no particular part of the phone. The sound is just okay, but hardly loud and maxed out at '30' you can hear some distortion in the bass.
Overall, the Moly X1 is a solid-looking device for $300. Now, that's not exactly cheap, but you do get LTE support here in the US, a rather nice display and a device that feels quite premium (it is a joy to hold and use). You do sacrifice performance, however, and those port covers could be rather annoying over time.
We'll follow more in the coming days if there are outstanding questions otherwise you can order one from Amazon.com at the link below.
