Jiake V8 MTK6592 6 inch 1.7Ghz Octa-Core HD Dual SIM Smartphone Review

Jiake is a Chinese based smartphone manufacturer that has popped up on the scene dawning the Mediatek MTK6592 octa core platform. Aside from the aesthetics appeal that it has to offer, the Jiake V8 has enough under the hood for even for the most demanding of smartphone users. This baby here can very well take on the likes of the iPhone 5S and 5C as well as the Samsung Galaxy line up on phones and whatever else you want to pair it against.

If we were using Antutu Score as the sole basis as to whether or not a phone was a better choice than another, then the V8's 27,321 benchmark score would put it at one of the very top spots. This is considering a Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-i9500 version scores 26,147 respectively.

The phone is running on the Android 4.2.2 version of Jellybean, which has proved to be a very stable version for most Chinese branded smartphones. The key to the majority of it's benchmarking is held in the Cortex A7 1.7Ghz octa core CPU and further proves that the use of four additional cores adds substantial value to the smartphone market.

The GPU comes by way of the Mali-450 this go round as opposed to previous Imaginations Technologies SGX versions that were found alongside the MTK6589T, MTK6589 as well as the iPhone 4S. ROM is pretty standard at 16GB but can be expanded and additional 32GB, which is plenty of space providing you do a little house keeping from time to time. Another nice touch is that 2GB of RAM is now the standard for many Chinese smartphones looking to take on the likes of Samsung and Apple.

For those of you still holding a 4.3 inch device in your hand, the Jiake V8 6.0 inch phablet might feel a bit clunky and cumbersome to you at first. I'll be the first to admit that when I picked up my first phablet (device greater than 5") it felt quite awkward and did take some getting use to. What I quickly found out was that the benefits far outweighed the awkward felling that first ensued. The Jiake V8 while not Full HD (1920 x 1280) does offer 720P HD with a screen resolution of 1280 x 720. Given it's sheer size it makes doing whatever 10x's better. Whether is be reading an ebook, playing your favorite 3D game, watching a movie or just surfing your favorite social site; the 6.0 inch IPS capacitive touchscreen is a joy and places far less strain on the eyes of an old man like me....well I'm not truly, but it sounds good.

The Jiake V8 has two very nice front and back cameras by way of 5.0MP front camera and a 13.0MP back camera

with flashlight and auto focus. The front camera is a step up from you would typically see on most Chinese smartphones at 5.0MP. Typically Chinese smartphones have on average 2.0MP with many having just from 0.3MP - 1.3MP. With that said, I found the 5MP front facing camera to be fairly good for you face to face chatters and also for you women out there who use your phone's front facing camera as a compact mirror.

The rear camera is awesome to say the least. At 13.0MP it has the ability to take high quality images up to 4864 x 2736 pixel resolution. Somewhat disappointing though is it's low light capability and I found that taking pictures in the dark is not something that you will want to do without flash or additional lighting support. The built-in flash is good, but could be improved upon. As far as daytime photos and indoor images with adequate lighting goes, the camera beats some low to mid range digital SLR's.

The video recorder shoots movies in 720P HD and is crystal clear with playback at 30fps. One additional feature that is nice is the device's full screen capturing support. Overall I will give the camera an 8.5 out of a possible 10.

As you would come to expect from most Chinese smartphones today, the Jiake V8 is an unlocked world phone that can be used with any GSM network around the globe. While it is not LTE compliant it does offer both 2G and 3G bands. With LTE having still not reached every market, 3G service can be found on every corner of mother earth. The 2G frequencies include GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz and 3G: WCDMA 850/2100MHz. The Jiake V8 also has Dual SIM Card Dual Standby availability.

As we all know battery life is one of the most important selling features for smartphones today. One of the issues that MediaTek engineers really took into consideration with this octa core platform is battery consumption. Although the chip set has more power and multi tasking ability power consumption is limited and dispersed minimally with multiple cores in use. In addition, the Jiake V8 has a 2600mAh Battery that offers 2-3 days standby time and easily last a full eight hours performing the most demanding of task. This is one of it's many highlights and one that I think regular and power users alike can appreciate.

With the laundry list of great features that we have already covered there is still more. The Jiake V8 also comes equipped with a built-in GPS sensor that can be easily be used with Google Maps and any other GPS app available at the Google Play store. It is a great companion for turn by turn directions.

The device also has a built-in FM radio. I don't know if many of you still listen to the radio, but I tend to on occasion and it's a nice add on. The only caveat is that it has to be used with headphones.

The Jiake V8 comes in black, grey and white. My favorite is the grey model because the back has a very sleek look to it that resembles carbon fiber. You can view this one in the posted video.

One of the other nice and relatively new features that I have yet to catch on to is the smartphone's ability to recognize hand gestures to perform certain actions. This technology is about a year or so old and while I see many people beginning to use this, I personally have not yet adapted and accepted this as a useful technology for myself. Over the coming months I will be using this function more and more to determine it's usefulness to me.

Currently priced under $300USD the phone is a great deal and will serve you for years to come or at least until Q2 when the next souped up smartphone comes out with retina and fingerprint identification and some other new bells and whistles. All jokes aside, a great place to buy this and many other Chinese smartphone and tablets for cheap, right here in the good 'Ole USA is Gadgetlesstech. The site was founded in 2010 and offers great post sales support as well. Check 'em out!