Software:



It’s safe to say that the software is my least favorite part of this phone. Let’s dive in.



First, the launcher. They’ve done away with the app drawer. To some, that’s a huge no-no. I didn’t mind the implementation on the Nextbit Robin. There’s something about the lack of an app drawer on this device that really grinds my gears. To the left of the default is the LeEco landing page. It’s a nice way to consume what LeEco has to offer. I haven’t been able to use it enough to have a decided opinion on it, but it seems decent.



Another software quirk is the notification drawer and quick settings. In most (if not all) the android phones I’ve used in the last two or three years, if you need a setting you can quickly get to it from the notification drawer, either in the quick settings or in the full settings that’s available when you pull open the notifications. This is gone with LeEco’s EUI. That space is reserved for 100% notifications 100% of the time.



Instead, if you want quick settings, you have to go into the multitasking pane. Multitasking mode is half totally useful and half a total mess. When you go into multitasking pane, you will immediately be hit with a quick launcher for tools, media controller, quick settings bar, screen brightness slider, open apps, and a RAM cleaner button. It’d all be useful stuff if it didn’t slam across your screen all at once when you press the recent apps button.



And the quickest way to get into settings is in the multitasking pane on a top slider. It's fine. It actually didn't work for me right away and instead brought up the slider settings. Now it's working and much less annoying than it was before.



I also think they got the back and multitasking buttons switched around. I know that’s been an issue on phones in the past. I don’t know what it’s supposed to be, but it feels backwards. I’ll adjust soon enough.



The launcher is something you can replace, but that shouldn’t be your responsibility as the consumer, and when you do replace it, you still don’t get an easy way to settings unless you have the app on your home screen.



Camera:



The camera app isn’t as full featured as I’ve been used to. There aren’t manual controls, there is an HDR mode, and there is a setting for a LeEco watermark. The camera takes good pictures. In HDR it improves the blowouts a little, but it does take a relative eternity to save the shot. This won’t be a Google Pixel or iPhone 7 camera, but it gets the job done, and it does well considering it’s not (as far as I can tell) doing any sort of HDR magic.



Pictures in the daylight are darn good. Even in average lighting, there’s enough information to at least Snapseed my way into a great picture. Night shots are a little harder. It gives you a reminder that you need to keep your phone still when it’s taking a night photo, but it still ends up with some noise. I’ve had some surprisingly good photos and some surprisingly bad pictures at night. There’s potential there, but no consistency. It will be interesting to see if that gets fixed by an update eventually. I’ve taken some surprisingly nice night shots.