QiKU is a new brand that recently launched their first handset called the Q Terra in the Indian markets. Qi here stands for Chee and hence pronounced as Cheeku. The QiKU Q Terra is a hex core powered smartphone sporting a 6 inch screen and priced at ₹21,999.
Box Pack
The box packing is impressing that looks like a book, in fact the pickup guy who came to pickup the review unit indeed mistook it for a book. Inside the book shaped box you will find the Q Terra handset, travel charger (5V ~ 2A), micro USB cable (unique design with LED light – check video review), screen guards, plastic protective case, micro SIM adapter and SIM tray ejector pin.
Design
The handset is big and using a metal Magnesium + Aluminium uni-body. Build quality is really good and inspite of the big size the handset will fit perfectly in your palm, though it is not that easy to operate with single hand. Dimensions are 79.8 x over 154 x 8.50 (mm).
This handset also comes with the thinness t bezel. The review unit I got was silver coloured with shiny silver border on the top edge. Power button and volume rocker is placed on the right side. Audio jack is on the top, dual SIM tray on the left side and primary mic, micro USB port and speaker out vent is at the bottom. There are dual Microphones.
This is a dual SIM handset – SIM slot one is a micro SIM slot and SIM 2 is a hybrid slot you can either use a nano SIM or a micro SD card in that slot.
There is LED notification and good number of sensors – accelerometer, proximity, light, gyro, magnetic and hall.
Display
The QiKU Q Terra sports a 6 inch screen with 2.5D glass and is corning gorilla glass 3 protected. It supports 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. Colour reproduction, viewing angles and touch response are very good, and impressive because of the size.
Handset comes with a thin Bezel you need to be extra careful while holding it so as you are not accidentally touching the screen on the edges.
Memory, Storage and OS
The Q Terra is packed with 3GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage space. On the first boot you will get around 1.8GB free RAM and about 11GB free storage. You can use a micro SD card and apps are getting installed on the external SD card. OTG is supported.
360 OS based on Android 5.1 runs out of the box. This OS comes with interesting features like freezer – that can be used to free unused apps, heat source tracer – that can trace apps that are heating up the system and permission to control app behavior.
Performance
This smartphone is using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 (MSM8992) hex core processor (64 Bit) clocked at 1.8GHz (2x 1.8GHz dual core + 4x 1.4GHz quad core) coupled with Adreno 418 GPU. Performance is very smooth, lag free, the 360 OS works impressively well. Handset does heat up but battery temperature is well under 45 degrees. The max temperature I encountered was 42 degrees. This handset is using aerospace heat dissipation system also using Liquid cooling technology that helps control heat-up.
Benchmark
- Quadrant – 23533
- Antutu (32 bit) – 1st time 46141, 2nd time 49916
- Nenamark 2 – 60.6fps
- Internal storage Speed – Read (180 MB/s), Write (26 MB/s)
- Multi Touch – 10 Point.
Gaming
I installed the Asphalt 8, that got installed on the external storage space. The game was playable in high visual quality mode, very smooth no lags. Handset can play high end games, it’s a powerful hardware and since apps are getting installed on external storage – storage space will never be an issue.
Camera
Q Terra comes with dual cameras of 13MP resolution each (13MP Colour + 13MP Mono) on the rear with dual tone LED flash. The colour output and mono output combined together gives true to life picture quality.
The camera is using IMX278 SONY sensor with f/1.8 aperture. Camera quality is above average, and in some cases can shoot excellent images.
There are many modes including pro mode that allows manual control and a new mode called SLR that gives SLR kind of capabilities. SLR mode works great for close up / mid range objects / subjects.
Front camera is 8MP resolution. Rear camera can shoot 4K videos. The handset can no doubt play 4K videos.
Do check the sample images and videos at the end of this review.
Others
Sound is very loud and clear, no issues found with in-call sound or the network. Handset supports 4G and 2300 band worked. WiFi, GPS and Bluetooth worked well.
There is touch ID based finger print scanner on the rear just below the camera. Finger print detection is fast and accurate. You can place the finger on the scanner, and wait for few seconds to unlock without having to press any other button.
Battery
This handset houses a 3700 mAh battery with quick charge support. Battery backup is very good you can expect about 4 to 6 hours of continuous moderate to heavy usage on a single charge. I got an easy 27 hours of mixed usage.
Battery Performance
- Ran Benchmark app for 17 minutes battery % dropped by 5 and battery temp was 40 degrees.
- Played Asphalt 8 for 18 minutes battery dropped by 8% and temp was 42 degrees.
- Watched 4K video with full brightness (WiFi on) for 25 minutes battery dropped by 7% and temp was 38 degrees.
- Handset charging (wall charge) 1 hours 38 minutes from 25% to 100%. From 0% to 100% estimated under 2 hours.
- A 5 minutes charger will give you approx 2 hours of usage time.
Verdict
The QiKU Q Terra is 64 bit hexa core powered smartphone running 64 bit 360 OS based on Android Lollipop. Performance is impressive, camera quality is above average and battery backup is also pretty good. Overall an impressive blend of hardware, software and design.
QiKU Q Terra is a very good buy for ₹21,999 (₹19,999 – Invite based).
Image Gallery
Rear Camera sample
Front Camera sample
I rated to this phone 4 out of 5, but service center is not easily available for this phone.
2 months before my phone screen get break down and till now i’m not getting the screen in market.
Everyone say sorry no such screen available for this module.
Otherwise phone quality was good and best part is camera, its’ awesome.
still can’t save anything (apps) on external memory can someone please help me
even i am looking to do the same not able to do please help me
I want to move apps to SD card
Gogiji… Any info about jio compatibility with Qiku q-terra…?
Anyone know how to move apps to SD card in qiku
Anyone knows from where I can buy Tempered glass and flip cover for this handset
Sar value of qiku terra
Best phone ever seen its beautiful n sleek amazing battery life. I used Samsung ,one plus 2 etc but this is best one of them just bought in jan 22. Currently using the same but no issue at all no heating issue or lag issue like samsung & One plus….
Gogiji can we move and make sd card as default storage for music,videos and pictures? Will really appreciate your view on this as I am about to buy this phone now.
The only issue is no accessories available in market for this. So screen guard or anything u just keep wandering with no solution rest phone is a good buy.
Can u tell me on which date this phone will be in stock?
What about the display quality I heard that it is very low in appearance during sunlight to use the phone?????
I did not find any such issues.
Hi friend, I want to buy this phone can u pls give invite for me.(senthilbfa.a@gmail.com) thanks in advance.
Is it better buy than oneplus two?
Hi Gogi!
Have you confirmed that this device has gorilla glass 3, as I haven’t found this info on their website!
Got invite. Should I go with? Suggest gogiji.
You can but if there is time better wait for next week as LeTv will be launched then.
Hi Gogi,
Hppy New Year!!!!!!! 🙂 May God fullfil all your wishes!!!!
I want to know the sar value and exact weight of this Phone. could you check it and update,
The phone is too big! Is there any other smaller Qiku models ??
ya its big!!! But its smaller than nexus 6!!!! Nexus 6 seems big but its easy to hold and doesn’t seem heavy either.
Does Qiku terra support nfc?
No it does not.
How do i find service centre! or how do i get repair Q Terra here in india?
This handset is probably the best bang for buck.. And most value for money. The main problem is the after sales service and there is a risk of this brand may not survive in Indian market and may just disappear in a year or two.
I just joined your blog, can you tell me will this mobile be available at other online stores.
Hybrid SIM SD CARD slot is better than no SD support. Whenever memory is full, you put the SD card & move your stuffs to SD. & there’s OTG support too. I have a phone with no SD card. I had to make an OTG card reader using a micro usb cable & card reader since OTG cables not easily available in offline shops.
Doesn’t it have fingerprint lock to lock application like coolpad note 3 (FP Lock)?
It does have Privacy space option that will let you hide data / apps.
Gogi ji how will the resale value be for these phones? I usually keep switching phones , For example , Redmi being a china phone got me 70% of its original price even after 14 months. Can we expect atleast 50% resale for these phones . Like YU , QIKU , LETV and similar phones?
Well depends, any smartphone over 15K is hard to sell at the price you want.
Hybrid sim. Its not for me.
Does this phones camera has any image stabilization like ois or dis?
I did not find that option. It does not have OIS.
Cos QiKu is a join venture of Qihoo and Coolpad.
Gogi, check at 3.40 mint of the video.. You got a Cat’s face on the screen and above it, you can see an owl.. 😀 lol..
Everything is good except lack of dual sim with sd card support…..
Why all companies are opting for hybrid sim nowadays…
Because handset bezels are small and even top/bottom strips are small. It would be great if you show comparison of size with 5.5 inch phones like zenphone or coolpad note 3. Thanks
Put in a couple more and get nexus 6
Awsome specs. There should be a mini version of this smartphone.
Look wise its same as coolpad note 3 though .5 inches bigger.
Why the hell do these companies go for Hybrid sim slot?
Thats a big negative point for many customers.
hi gogi
Does qiku q terra have wifi direct?
Yes all recently launched smartphones will have that by default.
Thanks gogi
Does this phones camera has any image stabilization like ois or dis?
Gogi..ji how to buy this phone without invite
Check the link in verdict section – https://gadgets360.com/shop/qiku-q-terra-silver-16-gb-3235322d333938
Gogi ji…here only for registration option is available which I had done few days back…no option to buy button
The sale starts on Jan 7th at 10am.
How the camera performs overall? Can it give a fight to flagships of this year in camera department?
Now no need to spend on costly flagship from tire one brands, thanks to Chinese we get everything at affordable price.
But these chinese phones are like use and thro, no proper service centers in India. Even MI doesn’t have service center in my city/state (Uttarakhand 248001). My Redmi 1s, Redmi2, Redmi note3g screen broken and now they are useless for my family coz lack of service centres. So better to avoid these phones..
Sir is this the best phone under 20k?
Hello gogi ji, which one is good, letv max or qiku q terra ? coz I got invite. Suggest please.
Not sure yet what LeTV will launch and at what price.
Gogi brother I’m on the way to attend Le meet which is in Bangalore today
Will inform you brother
Hello varun, how was Le meet ?
I always install the app, it by default saved the data on external storage.
Hi Gogi… I tried it on mine and it installs the apps in internal memory only… Did you change some settings?
Hi not all of the apps will get installed on external, some apps will only install on internal, that depends on app to app. Some apps that are depended on the system, they will most likely get installed on internal and you will not find move to SD option for such apps.
Gogi, please review moto x style, many websites saying its 2nd best camera phone after galaxy s6 till now.
What abt service centers in india gogi bro.do they provide list of them?
Any news about marshmallow update
Screen should be 5.5″ then i will definitely buy it..
The Lenovo Vibe X3 has that. This is a nice alternative for larger phablet lovers. The battery life seems a little less than what you would expect given that they’ve stuck with the lower FHD resolution but maybe that’s because of the larger screen and a slight lack of optimization in the ROM they’re using. Overall decent option. Only disappointment is that internal memory is only 16 gb instead of 32 gb which we should be able to expect at this price. They also could also have tried for a technology that rejects touch commands too close to the edge of the screen(like Apple’s palm rejection but slightly different) to make life easier even with the super-thin bezel.That bit of creativity would have made the device stand out a little more in a crowded market.
Gogi, any idea what the maximum expandable storage is? These new Chinese companies never explicitly mention it. Always please review the Zenfone 2 Laser 6.0 as soon as possible. Same screen size and resolution and better specs all round(except for the fingerprint scanner and processor) than this.
128GB external card supported.
2 things that r not impressive in this handset: one is camera optimization and another is less internal memory (only 16 gb) and rest is top notch in this handset.
Camera can be improved, if you go manual there are a lot of unique options. As for internal memory apps are getting installed on external storage so not a big issue.
In terms of storage if we use 2nd sim card then we will have to sacrifice micro sd card, well that was I talking about and in terms of camera, many do not opt for manual settings as they click pics as soon as the camera app gets open.
Yes if you are using dual SIM then you cannot use SD card. As for camera if you are getting better shots using manual control when compared to auto mode, all that needs is a camera app tweak, hopefully we will get updates and camera quality in auto mode will get even better.
well, all in all it is a decent and well thought smartphone from a startup company. Hopefully we will get a much more and better experience in their next smartphones.
Gogi Ji one correction, 2×1.8gz dual core
Yep, thanks and updated.