FRANCE, the country of the Enlightenment, the land of human rights, the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral, and Paris—the City of Love.
The French are also known for being very passionate about their culture and art, which is showcased in many museums like the Louvre. If you love food, French cuisine is internationally renowned, from bread and macaroons to wine and champagne, it’s no surprise that a trip to France is probably on every Pinoy’s bucket list.
But while visiting the European country may not be on your plans anytime soon, a smartphone brand is actually offering a taste of “France” via their devices.
From the sky-high districts of France to other parts of Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia, WIKO has finally landed and is set to ignite the Philippine tech sphere. Established in 2011, WIKO is an international mobile brand original to Marseille, France. Following its success in the European market, it rapidly expanded its reach and visibility in more than 30 countries worldwide.
WIKO is known for fusing the latest tech innovations and the refined artistic taste of its French roots, promising to take its users to the upscale streets of France just by having it in the palm of their hands.
We were able to try their newest budget-friendly devices—the WIKO 10 and WIKO Buds 10, which indeed gave us a taste of what the brand can offer.
WIKO 10: A FRENCH KISS OR JUST A SMACK ON THE CHEEK?
THE WIKO 10 is the inaugural smartphone of WIKO’s new digital series representing a fusion of aesthetic design and advanced technology. The brand said it is specifically created for young users who are stylish, trendy, tech-savvy and passionate about their expression of individuality, offering a flawless experience with a fresh and elegant design that reflects the latest trends among Gen Z.
The WIKO 10 comes in color finishes Klein Blue, Silver and Black. The Klein Blue color variant has a matte finish and is probably bluer that any blue phone I’ve ever tested, no doubt channeling the classic French Blue.
The iconic blue is described as creating a stark visual contrast with the environment, showcasing its owner’s style and individuality. The alluring Silver, on the other hand, resembles the ashen hues of classic European architecture similar to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Meanwhile, the black is a ray of bright light that disrupts the tranquil yet mystique pitch-black night, colliding decorative art with architectural structures.
The phone weighs about 199g (the battery included) and measures 168.3mm (H) x 77.6mm (W) x 8.98mm (D), so it still fits and feels comfortable to hold in the hand, though the big screen makes it a challenge for one-handed typing, especially for those with smaller hands.
One of the top features of the WIKO 10 is its large 6.74-inch HD+ screen. This LCD display has a 1600 x 720-pixel resolution, pixel density is up to 260 PPI. The 90.69 percent screen-to-body ratio is exceptionally competitive compared to other smartphones at the same price level, giving you a more immersive viewing experience whether you are watching videos, playing games, or just browsing your social media feed. The display of the WIKO 10 delivers good brightness, decent color and viewing angles, and the resolution is enough to please casual users.
For audio output, the WIKO 10 has a 3.5mm audio jack for your wired earphones and a single-firing loudspeaker at the bottom. The sound quality is OK, loud enough for a small quiet room, but I suggest you plug in your cans for a more enjoyable sound experience, or use the WIKO Buds 10 instead.
The WIKO 10 has a triple camera with a main 50MP sensor (f/1.8 aperture). The JN1 sensor’s pixel isolation technology allows more light for every pixel, ensuring high color fidelity for vibrant colors. This sensor is slowly becoming a popular choice among budget smartphones as it offers good overall performance in general shooting conditions.
The camera works best when outdoors and in great lighting conditions and as you’d probably expect, it diminishes in quality in darker environments. Night mode does help give it a boost making photos brighter with additional details, though there are times that photos come out overexposed so you might want to experiment on the best angle and take lots of photos to be sure you get a good shot.
For portraits, WIKO has this Bionic Stereo Vision—a WIKO-exclusive technology that makes portraits more prominent with a more natural blurring effect. This is done with the collaboration of both the main camera and the depth-of-field camera, and a 5-layer imaging optimization algorithm. While the 50MP main shooter works hard and can capture nice photos, it would have been better if they just swapped the two other lenses and replaced them with an ultra-wide-angle camera for added versatility. The WIKO 10 is powered by a 12nm Octa-core MediaTek Helio G37 processor, comprising four Cortex-A53 CPUs 2.3GHz and four Cortex-A53 CPUs 1.8GHz for faster single and multi-threaded performance. This Helio G37 is a workhorse and is enough for ordinary day-to-day use, such as social-media browsing, Internet surfing, watching movies, listening to music and a bit of light gaming.
The WIKO 10 runs on the latest Android 12 and provides a smooth user experience, thanks to its near-stock and bloatware-free build—yup, no pre-installed apps or folders filled with app suggestions.
Another impressive feature is the WIKO 10’s 128GB storage—this space is enough to store over 10,000+ HD music files, 900+ HD TV episodes, or 20,000+ pictures on the phone that users can immediately access, even when not connected to the Internet.
For the battery, it has a 5,000mAh capacity with support for 22.5W fast charging. The battery of the WIKO 10 can last you a day of moderate to heavy use. The 22.5W WIKO SuperCharge allows it to be 70 percent charged in 60 minutes, while a quick 10 mins charge can refuel the phone to 15 percent battery for 2 more hours of video enjoyment. A complete charge takes about 96 minutes. Besides its fast-charging ability and large battery capacity, WIKO 10 also supports wireless reverse-charging for other devices. A quick 10-minute reverse-charging can cover 40 percent of a headset or 25 percent of a smartband’s full power, which only takes up 1-2 percent power cost of WIKO 10. Now you do not have to worry about other devices as long as you have WIKO 10 with you.
The WIKO 10 is a solid debut for the brand’s new digital series and gives tech enthusiasts a good taste of what it can offer. Priced at P8,999, the WIKO 10 offers solid performance, a large screen for multimedia enjoyment a reliable camera performance, and a long-lasting battery with a very useful reverse charge feature. It may not be a passionate French kiss, but it could still be a memorable “une bise” for those looking to buy their first smartphone and bargain hunters looking to try out a different brand.
Alongside the launch of WIKO 10 smartphone, the brand is also presenting the WIKO Buds 10. I’ve been using the earbuds for the past few weeks and I must say I’m quite impressed with what it offers: 30 hours playback, stable Bluetooth 5.2 connection and a dynamic driver that delivers some deep bass—something that I often find lacking in other buds within this P1,499 price range.
The WIKO Buds 10 is very lightweight at just 4.2g each and fit so snugly you would barely feel them. As an added bonus, the Buds 10 IPX4 water resistance allows uninterrupted listening anywhere. So you don’t have to worry about using it during those sweaty workouts or fear the drizzling rain.
For the sound quality, it’s good enough for its price. The volume gets loud enough with good balance of mids and highs and, more importantly, the heavy bass was noticeable. n