Homtom Zoji Z9 Review | TechSwitch

It’s possible you’ll not have heard of Homtom but, however the Chinese language vendor has a minimum of 31 smartphones in its present line-up. Zoji is the sub-brand that takes care of Homtom’s rugged handsets, of which the Z9 is the most recent.The place to purchase?On-line Chinese language retailer, Gearbest, despatched us the pattern and sells the Homtom Zoji Z9 for £219 (round $280) on the time of writing. Be aware that, whereas this worth consists of supply, it’s unique of any taxes that could be levied by HMRC or the courier firms on behalf of the seller. Wish to purchase tech from on-line Chinese language retailers? Learn this primary. In keeping with the badly translated web site: “Zoji strives to alter the impression on rugged telephones like cellphone is brick-alike.” In different phrases, the producer goals to make modern and fascinating IP68 smartphones, and the Z9 goes some solution to reaching that.That mentioned, this outsized phablet nonetheless feels fairly ‘brick-alike’, however then it’s packing an enormous battery and display screen for a really cheap worth. The HD show measures 5.7-inches and the battery is rated at a good 5.7Ah.The primary digital camera makes use of a pixel-popping 21MP sensor and there’s a coronary heart charge monitor beside the fingerprint reader on the again. Mixed with a reasonably quick ARM processor and the most recent version of Android, this handset seems to be like being yet one more price range rugged hit.DesignThis is a big phablet and there’s no denying that the rugged casing provides to the majority. The massive slab of Gorilla Glass overlaying the 5.7-inch show is surrounded by an aluminum and polycarbonate chassis that acts as a bumper and may defend the display screen from a fall of some toes onto concrete. Homtom makes no rash claims in regards to the cellphone’s drop resistance, thoughts you, however the casing is IP68 licensed, which implies it’s impervious to water and mud.Flip the cellphone over and its plastic rear is not any much less shiny. The highly effective 21MP twin digital camera lens might be seen beside a fingerprint reader and a coronary heart charge monitor. There are solely two bodily buttons on the facet of the handset – an influence button and quantity rocker – and unusually, there are solely two rubber-sealed ports.One of many latter is for the SIM tray, which may maintain two nano SIM playing cards and a microSD card, whereas the opposite opening hides a USB-C port. Via this versatile socket you possibly can fast-charge the battery, switch information rapidly, and even plug in a pair of headphones utilizing the bundled adapter if required.Few would describe this as a horny design, and moreover it isn’t helped by the intrusive silver Zoji emblem on the back and front, however at the least it is available in a alternative of orange and black trim finishes. Spec SheetHere are the total specs of the Homtom Zoji Z9:CPU: ARM octa-core 2.5GHzGPU: Mali-G71 MP2 700MHzRAM: 6GBStorage: 64GBScreen dimension: 5.7-inchResolution: 1440 x 720Weight: 130gDimensions: 164 x 79 x 15mmRear digital camera:  21MP + 5MPFront digital camera: 13MPOS: Android eight.1Battery: 5.5AhSpecifications and featuresThe price range rugged cellphone class is surprisingly vibrant with loads of Chinese language manufacturers jostling for place. Homtom’s newest handset seems to be very similar to the remainder and it has comparable specs and options too.It’s constructed round a 2.5GHz ARM CPU with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is sufficient to obtain respectable ends in all of our benchmark checks. As talked about, the cellphone is provided with a USB-C port for fast-charging, a twin SIM tray with room for a microSD card, and a fingerprint reader.Nearly all the rugged telephones we now have seen embody all these parts, and though the Zoji Z9 is on the upper-end of the worth vary, the one function it provides is a coronary heart charge monitor which gained’t be of curiosity to many out of doors professionals.In truth, the Z9 is missing a number of key options, resembling wi-fi charging or an exterior perform button. PPT (press-to-talk) for walkie-talkie fashion comms would have been a very good function to incorporate. The show is pretty massive at 5.7-inches, however at 1440 x 720-pixels, the decision is fairly low.The twin lens digital camera has loads of megapixels, which interprets to numerous element, however there’s no optical zoom and it might have been extra helpful to have a devoted perform button to open the digital camera app. Disappointingly, there aren’t any particular or software program options to distinguish this rugged cellphone from a daily smartphone – apart from the IP68 ranking and enormous battery.BenchmarksHere’s how the Homtom Zoji Z9 carried out in our suite of benchmark checks:Geekbench: 791 (single-core); three,806 (multi-core); 2,946 (compute) Antutu: 83,658PCMark (Work 2.zero): four,847Passmark: four,138   Passmark CPU: 98,636 Androbench (sequential): 289 (sequential learn); 212 (sequential write)Androbench (random): 56 (random learn); 19 (random write)3DMark Slingshot: 6643DMark Slingshot Excessive: 4463DMark IceStorm: 10,937HWBot Prime: four,264In useOnce you get used to the burden of this notably heavy phablet, it handles similar to some other Android machine. The fingerprint reader didn’t work each time for us, nevertheless it unlocks rapidly sufficient once you use a gesture, PIN or face unlock, anyway.The Android interface is unmodified and the cellphone has sufficient grunt to run just about any app from the Play retailer. Solely the extra graphically difficult Android apps, like 3D video games, brought on the handset to run slower. These type of efforts additionally spotlight the truth that the display screen decision is simply HD high quality and never Full HD. Put this show subsequent to any iPhone and the display screen seems to be comfortable and missing in depth.Aside from the heavy strengthened casing and enormous battery, there’s nothing about this cellphone that tailors it to out of doors use. There aren’t any shortcuts to the torch or digital camera apps and no out of doors toolbox app, as an example. It’s awkward to make use of with gloves on and there’s no lodging for a lanyard or belt clip.In brief, the Z9 is nothing greater than a lavatory customary Android machine in metallic casing, which makes you marvel why you wouldn’t simply purchase a rugged case in your present cellphone, and easily use that as a substitute.Remaining verdictIt’s exhausting to get excited in regards to the Homtom Zoji Z9 when its solely standout options are a tricky IP68 shell, a coronary heart charge monitor and a shiny emblem. The machine presents the minimal of options and specs to maintain it on a par with rival rugged choices, nevertheless it seems to be just a little costly alongside aggressively priced rivals.The Z9 brings nothing new to the class and doesn’t embody any options that make it notably helpful for out of doors employees. Given the abundance of rugged telephones clamoring in your consideration, the Zoji Z9 is more likely to sink with out a hint.