Hotwav Cyber 15 Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 - a camera phone that can withstand any difficulties

Rugged smartphones in the mid-price segment are getting better every year. The performance and functionality of such devices are gradually catching up with those of models without increased strength. The hero of today's review is one of the first phones whose photographic capabilities are responsible for the latest 200-megapixel photo module. However, HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 has many other competitive advantages that are ready to make it a real hit.

Brief characteristics of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15:

• case materials: front panel - glass, back panel - plastic;
• screen: IPS technology, 6.6 inches diagonal, resolution 2408x1080 pixels;
• processor: MediaTek Helio G99, video chip: Mali-G57 MC2;
• RAM/ROM: 12GB / 256GB;
• operating system: Android 14;
• battery: 6280mAh, 33W charger;
• main camera: 200MP main Samsung ISOCELL HP3 + 24MP night vision module;
• front camera: 32MP Sony IMX616;
• sound: mono speaker;
• navigation: GPS/GLONASS/Beidou/Galileo;
• dimensions and weight: 174.6 x 82.3 x 12.8 mm, 292 g;
• NFC: yes.

Consideration of any new product begins with its configuration. In the case of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15, it is standard, and the same as other phones from the developer in the price segment. It includes:

• the smartphone itself;
• 33W charger;
• USB Type-C to USB Type-C cable;
• OTG cable;
• SIM tray clip;
• User's Manual.

It should also be noted that the display comes with a complete protective film out of the box, which can easily last for several months. Unfortunately, its gluing by the manufacturer is not ideal. So, in the middle of the specimen in question there was an air bubble. Perhaps some will miss the included headphones, but even our competitors cannot boast of having them. As a result, it is simply impossible to express any complaints about the smartphone’s configuration.

The design of the device is original and interesting. First of all, I would like to praise the specialists of the HOTWAV company for the original design of the block of photomodules and the additional display into a single element of the exterior. As a result, the back panel looks expensive and beautiful. Of course, the ergonomic mesh texture of the rear panel also helps in achieving this effect. The only pity is that it gradually becomes clogged with small debris, so wipe it vigorously with a damp cloth. In addition, the device has a reasonable thickness of 12.8mm, which leaves many opponents out of work here. From the front, the device is not so pleasing. You can see the thick display frames and the outdated design of the selfie camera. There is a hole for a microphone on the top edge, and the power and volume buttons are located on the right. At the bottom, in addition to the second microphone, you can find a USB Type-C port covered with a plug and speaker holes. The left side of the smartphone is marked with a programmable button and a slot for SIM cards. Thus, the appearance of being protected from howling and newness leaves a rather positive impression.

The 6.6-inch IPS display is ahead of many phablet opponents in terms of image smoothness, because it supports a 120 Hz picture refresh rate. The Android interface with 120Hz enabled becomes really smoother, as does web surfing in Google Chrome. It’s a pity that in many games, increased Hertz will simply not be relevant due to the performance of the device. For this, flagships are already needed. FullHD+ resolution allows you to not see individual pixels; there are no problems with the image when tilting the phablet. The brightness reserve is not bad; partial visibility is maintained even in direct sunlight, although not as good as with AMOLED panels. Color reproduction is not bad, but white still has a somewhat dirty tint compared to the more expensive screens of the Realme GT2 and OnePlus 9RT.

The technical characteristics of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 are the MediaTek Helio G99 processor, 12GB of RAM and the Mali G57MC2 graphics accelerator. A similar combination has been seen dozens of times in phones in the mid-price segment, but it still has few analogues. It combines performance and energy efficiency well, as proven by the tests performed on the device.

In the AnTuTu V10 benchmark, the gadget scores 428,211 points.

Geekbench 6 showed the processor scoring 724 in single-core testing and 1,998 in multi-core testing.

Of course, a significant part of the audience is also interested in the gaming capabilities of the device. Let's figure out how good the phone is for modern games using the example of several current projects.

PUBG Mobile is one of the first and most successful representatives of the battle royale genre on smartphones. The game is still popular to this day and has millions of users thanks to its addictive gameplay, excellent optimization and, of course, high-quality graphics with a huge draw distance. HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 copes with high graphics settings and high frame rates without any problems. The gameplay is smooth, devoid of freezes and stutters.

Tank Company is a noticeably more resource-intensive multiplayer shooter that largely follows the mechanics of World Of Tanks for personal computers. Equally large-scale battles of 15 by 15 tanks are complemented by similar maps, very detailed graphics for mobile devices. With medium graphics settings, we get a fairly stable 28-30 frames per second with rare drops to 22-25 frames. Playing on HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 is more than comfortable.

Genshin Impact still retains the title of one of the most beautiful and at the same time demanding games on the Android OS. This is an excellent benchmark for modern flagships, which do not always provide a stable 60 FPS at maximum graphics settings. As for the hero of today's review, he is capable of providing fairly comfortable gameplay with average graphic presets and a frame limit of 30FPS. Surprisingly, the gameplay remained quite smooth even during large-scale battles with a lot of special effects.

Of course, it’s worth saying a few words about the HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 operating system. The device runs on Android 13 without any major modifications to the standard shell. Thanks to fairly powerful technical characteristics, applications launch almost without delay, transitions between windows are free of lags, and web surfing even on fairly large pages does not disappoint with freezes. But the camera application is not perfectly optimized. Sometimes you have to wait more than a second to take a photo, this is especially true for frames with a resolution of 200 megapixels. Unfortunately, due to such a defect, some of the frames may be blurred. Also, some of the settings items were not fully translated, but this fact is unlikely to cause serious discomfort, since these are usually very specific options. While using the device, the software received a couple of small over-the-air updates aimed at eliminating minor bugs and increasing the stability of the OS. Unfortunately, sometimes applications still crashed, namely once Google Chrome crashed, once Genshin Impact decided to end its work ahead of schedule. But it seems that with the update the problem has ceased to be relevant.

You can see the interface design in the screenshots above.

The “Second screen” settings item controls the additional 1.45-inch IPS touch display. You can set both the time the screen turns off, the brightness level, the activation of the pedometer, and the design of the dial. You can also specify active functions, the list of which includes music control, compass, camera control. Thus, the user can take a high-quality selfie using the main photo module. As a result, the additional display turns out to be a really interesting and useful feature of the device.

The autonomy of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 is ensured by a battery with a capacity of 6280 mAh. This is not the largest battery by the standards of IP68 protected smartphones, but the results of testing in applications and actual use of the phone are quite good. PCMark Work 3.0 Battery Life with a display brightness of 50% and the same speaker volume shows a result of 14 hours and 18 minutes of device operation. With active use, the smartphone worked for 2 days. Let's move on to more precise numbers:

• approximately 4.5 hours of gameplay in Genshin Impact (battery lost 23% in an hour);
• approximately 5 hours of gameplay in Tank Company (battery lost 21% per hour);
• approximately 6 hours of gameplay in PUBG Mobile (battery lost 16% per hour);
• approximately 8 hours of screen time per day with active use (25% of the time - games, 75% of the time - web surfing and other activities).

Fully charging the battery from 1 to 100% took just over two and a half hours.

Let's touch on the photo capabilities of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15, because the developer definitely focused on them. Thus, the 24-megapixel monochrome night vision module is quite functional, but finding real scenarios for its use is not so easy. Just to have fun, and at night with the sensor turned on, look at your feet on poorly lit sections of the streets. But the main 200-megapixel camera from Samsung is pleasing. Yes, this is still not at the level of the best camera phones in the price segment with Sony IMX766, IMX882 modules with optical stabilization, but the module used is capable of really high-quality daytime shots. Natural color rendition, good detail, the absence of strong “soap” at the edges of the picture, decent autofocus leave purely positive emotions. The only real problem was the exposure was not always correct. The camera absolutely does not like direct rays of the sun, the photo is too overexposed, you have to adjust the settings manually.

Daytime photo is an interesting and useful feature of the device.

Photo on the night vision module

A single speaker is responsible for the sound when playing movies and music. You can’t call it loud even if you want to, because the actual maximum volume was only 82-83dB with rare peaks up to 88-89dB. At the same time, a lack of lower frequencies is felt, distortion also appears, and there is a not entirely pleasant segment of the upper mid frequencies that hurts the ear. Thus, the speaker is suitable for notifications or listening to podcasts, but nothing more. There is no jack for wired headphones, so you will have to make do with either a headset with a USB Type-C connector or TWS headphones. LDAC is supported, so modern headsets will give you the full potential of their sound, but headphones with the AptX codec will have to be left for another smartphone or switched to lower-quality SBC/AAC.

The quality of communication is at a good level for the price segment. The voice is transmitted without severe distortion, the timbre of the person on the other side of the tube is recognized without any problems. Noise reduction is far from ideal; ambient sounds are still clearly audible, but do not drown out the interlocutor. In the elevator, the connection was completely lost, but 80% of smartphones suffer from this. The Internet connection is approximately at the level of the more expensive Realme GT2 and OnePlus 9RT; 4G works almost always outdoors, and most of the time indoors. WiFi worked flawlessly, the connection was maintained through 2 walls and 5-7 meters from the router.

GPS Test HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 passed well. The device was connected to satellites even indoors; in a relatively open area on not the sunny day, the error in determining the location was only 2-3 meters. The gadget can be used as a GPS navigator, which will definitely please a significant part of the audience.

GPS test indoors

GPS тест на улице

Let's note the main pros and cons of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15.

Advantages:

• dust and moisture protection according to IP68 standards;
• nice-looking design of the rear panel, relatively good ergonomics of the case;
• current high-resolution IPS display with a picture refresh rate of 120Hz;
• the combination of the MediaTek Helio G99 processor and 12GB of RAM provides good performance in the price segment;
• 256GB of ROM with expandability;
• high-quality main 200-megapixel photo module;
• monochrome photo module for night photography;
• NFC support;
• autonomy is above average thanks to a 6280mAh battery;
• good communication reception;
• no problems with GPS navigation;
• reasonable price.

Flaws:

• large screen frames spoil the impression of the exterior;
• unsuccessful main speaker;
• Some menu items are not always translated.

The final impression of HOTWAV Cyber ​​15 is purely positive. This is a convenient and durable smartphone that pleases with both performance and photographic capabilities. We would like to thank HOTWAV Official Store for providing the phone for review.