Hotwav Cyber 18 Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

HOTWAV Cyber ​​18 - Just Steps Away from Potential Success

The Chinese company HOTWAV continues to expand its line of affordable smartphones with IP68 water resistance. It's somewhat disappointing that the developer often fails to bring its products to a truly competitive level. Unfortunately, this is the case with the subject of today's review.

The new device's appearance is far from ideal, but it's still quite attractive thanks to its cleverly styled carbon fiber rear panels, ergonomic side fingerprint scanner, interesting camera module with a unique LED flash design, and a secondary screen for displaying notifications and launching mini-apps. However, the front of the device isn't as attractive or modern. It's hard not to notice the wide display bezels and the 16-megapixel selfie camera, which is five years out of date. The first real disappointment comes from the 6.75-inch IPS panel. The 1600x720 resolution isn't suitable for the chosen diagonal; the image is noticeably lacking in sharpness, and small fonts are washed out. Furthermore, the peak brightness of 450 nits negates the use of the device in direct sunlight, and the color reproduction is dull. The only positive is the 120Hz refresh rate.

The technical specifications are slightly less questionable. The UNISOC Tiger T615 CPU, 8GB of RAM, and Mali G57-MC1 GPU are designed to ensure stable operation of Android 16, which they generally do. However, with an AnTuTu benchmark score of 250,000-270,000, you can't expect excellent gaming performance. Even undemanding 3D games (such as PUBG Mobile) require low graphics settings. However, the chipset is remarkably energy efficient. The 6200 mAh battery easily delivers up to 10-12 hours of screen-on time. Fast charging is virtually nonexistent, with a modest 18W output, meaning you'll have a long time to connect to a power outlet. The storage is limited to 256 GB, but the limited ROM can always be compensated for with a MicroSD card.

Photography isn't as bad as it could have been. The phablet's only auxiliary module is a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor with night vision. A telephoto or wide-angle lens would have been welcome. The main 64-megapixel Omnivision camera module lacks optical image stabilization, but it's still suitable for daytime photography, and it's likely to retain detail even in the evening. However, there will be a fair amount of noise and blur. There are no stereo speakers or a headphone jack. Of the other advantages, we'd note NFC contactless payments. Ultimately, a better IPS display and greater performance would significantly increase the device's chances of becoming a hit. In its current form, however, it's difficult to recommend it definitively.