BQ Berkeley - how useful is an Android smartphone with a full Russian keyboard?

For many years of using the iPhone, I generally got used to the iOS ecosystem and definitely enjoyed it. But recently, I needed a second phone, and I decided not just to try something from Android, but to take some really unusual, and at the same time, budget device. I was really lazy to rummage through a variety of Chinese shops, and BQ Berkley turned around, having bribed me with the presence of a full russified keyboard (as far as I know, this is the only one of its kind) and a very affordable price of 3990 rubles. As I write a lot of texts, I decided to try whether it is possible to type at least drafts on the phone.

The phone, in general, is very budget, the price dictates all possible restrictions. I suspect that he will have competitors comparable in hardware (even the BQ itself has better models, such as Stanford), but the Russified keyboard, the main feature of the phone, has no analogues.

Specifications

• Processor: dual-core, MT6572 @ 1200 MHz
• Display: 3.5 "TFT TN, 320x480, 16M colors
• ROM: 4 GB of internal memory, microSD up to 32 GB
• RAM: 512 MB
• Camera (interpolation): 5 MPks main, 2 MPks front
• Mobile Internet : GPRS, EDGE, WCDMA 2100
• GPS: have AGPS support
• Wireless interfaces: WiFi, Bluetooth
• Battery: Li-ion, 1450 mAh
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 62 mm x 11 mm
• Weight: 120 gr
• OS Version: Android 4.2

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Appearance

The packaging is quite pleasant: a compact cardboard box with a neatly made print, everything inside is traditional: the phone is on top, under it is everything that comes in the package. And it includes: a protective film, USB-cable, charger, simple in-ear headphones with a headset and a few pieces of paper. The battery is not inserted into the phone and is also in the box separately.

Appearance personally in my opinion is quite good. There are no fancy and complicated materials, but plastic from soft-touch is the best solution for a budget phone, it feels pleasant to the touch and does not collect fingerprints. The proportions of the device are chosen normally, in the hands it lies comfortably, even though the height increased due to the keyboard.

Build quality is normal for such a price. The only thing that causes a censure is the creaking of the case with a strong pressure on the upper left corner of the smartphone, but this is not observed during normal operation.

The volume rocker is located on the right side, the off and lock button is under it. Given the increased height of the device - the decision is reasonable.

The screen is what causes the biggest complaint in this phone, the budgetary impact not only on its resolution, but also on the viewing angles, they leave much to be desired, and modern Android versions are clearly optimized for higher resolutions, although using the screen is, of course, quite can. It is necessary to understand that everything is dictated by price, and the best screen would affect the price of the phone in the direction of its increase. The touch sensor is normal, although the press on the corners of the screen must be “weighty” in order to be fixed. It was pleasantly pleased that the “Back”, “Home” and “Menu” control keys are made by a separate sensor unit under the screen and do not occupy screen space.

The second major niggle is the conversational speaker, the voices in it acquire a tangible metallic ring tone, especially the high female ones.

The phone supports two SIM cards, and one of them is of a reduced size, as an iPhone user, this was most welcome.

Software

It's all quite simple, you get almost stock Android 4.2.2 with the addition of separate applications from Yandex, 2GIS and the trial version of Navitel. Thanks to the manufacturer for not adding any improvers from myself.

Of course, I would like the OS version to be fresher, especially since the updates are unlikely to wait, but what is - that is.

By the way, root rights are easily obtained using Framaroot.

Battery, performance and camera

The performance of the phone is clearly not close to the flagships. The latest version of AnTuTu gives him 10567 points, and Geekbench 259 points Single Core and 473 Multi Core. Of course, demanding applications and 3D games can not be pulled. Berkeley, if I may say so, the smartphone “for office work” and for these purposes resources are quite enough for him.

I have enough battery for about a day and another half a day, since I’m not a very active user of the phone and I do most of the operations using a tablet.

The camera in the device is also the easiest. There is no autofocus, the native resolution is 2 megapixels, but there is software interpolation up to 5. In general, this device is not very intended for artistic photography, its maximum is to take a picture of some documents or a memory card. And, of course, scan QR and barcodes.

Keyboard

That, for which I, in fact, decided to try this phone. I liked the keyboard. The buttons are quite tough, with a good move and a click. They have a bevel in the left half of the keyboard - to the left, to the right, respectively, to the right, therefore, having adjusted, you can quickly type with your thumbs.

Button illumination is not perfect, but it copes with its tasks perfectly; dialing in the dark is not a problem.

I was wondering how Android behaves with a hardware keyboard, it turned out that it was normal. When you select the input field, the on-screen keyboard appears, but once you start typing something on the hardware, the on-screen keyboard is hidden. I am satisfied with this behavior, but if you just want to not see the on-screen keyboard right away, you can use ruKeyboard, for which we have already made an optimized configuration on the 4PDA forum.

The keyboard layout is very close to traditional YSTUKENG with a few exceptions. The letters X, E and Yu have moved to two additional buttons in the bottom row near the space, and a soft and hard sign side by side with the letters W and Y. The latter is a bit illogical, since the soft sign is found more often in texts, but you get used to it quickly. The second row on the remaining keys is occupied by numbers and punctuation marks, they can be typed with the Alt button. If Alt is pressed and held, the device will switch to the permanent set of these characters.

In the notification area is the current layout indicator, it is convenient.

findings

In general, the phone is as budget as possible. It doesn’t bother me, because my goal was to try it for typing, he does it quite well with this, this review is proof of that (yes, he typed in Berkeley). If you don’t need a full keyboard, I think for the same money you can pick up something else, but if you need speed in communication, then there are no alternatives as a whole, especially since I don’t really complain about the keyboard: I’m comfortable typing texts, communication in messengers also became significantly more comfortable.

I hope BQ will release something less budget with the same features in the future, but for now they are experimenting with new formats.