Super hi-res cameras? NO. Latest tech? No. Solidly built? Yes. That about sums up my opening experience with the (fairly new model) rugged Hotwav Cyber 9 Pro Android phone which arrived this morning from Banggood.
My Cyber 9 Pro came with 8GB RAM, 128GB ROM and has the following cameras: 16Mp front, 48Mp main rear, also 5Mp tele and 2Mp macro cameras. I checked the macro facility and photos looked sharp at around 5cm distance. Videos go up to 1080p so nothing special there.
In the camera APP, Under MORE – you have Bokeh, HDR, Panorama, Night, Pro (manual controls), macro and scan.
The Cyber 9 Pro has a 6.3″ water drop screen, a (wait for it) 7500maH battery and arrived with Android 11. The phone is available in various colours, mine came in smoky grey. The front is Corning Gorilla Glass 3. I’ve seen other websites showing this phone being dropped on the ground in the rain and surviving without issue. I’ll take their word for it as I prefer my phones in one piece 🙂
The phone is designed by HOTWAV and assembled in China. Mine came with an EU 5v 2A plug-in-the-wall power supply with USB-C lead and also a USB adaptor for 3.5mm earbuds (earbuds not supplied).
I’m not seeing anything about fast charging on the supply, nor am I seeing “fast charging” or similar when I plug the phone into my normal fast charge lead and supply. The large battery size would indicate very long battery life but as I sit here, the phone is claiming to be 86% charged with an estimated 1 day, 5 hours left – I imagined slightly more charge life for a beefy phone like this but still reasonable.
The phone has NFC and can support 2 nano-SIMs or 1 nano-SIM and a TF card (up to 256GB).
There is a folder called “toolbag” within which are APPs for picture hanging (spirit level), a protractor, a plumb bob. “gradienter”, Height measure, magnifier, compass, Sound meter and more. A SIM toolkit is included as is an FM radio. The phone supports the regular Google Playstore. By default, gesture control is enabled (which I like as it uses up less screen space than the alternative buttons).
I did notice there is a promotional Spring sale at Banggood on this weighty, waterproof and (hopefully) shockproof phone at €144.76 from March 14 to March 31 (2022).
The screen is 1520×720, not particularly high by modern standards but then it is good enough for general use with no indication of pixellation.
On the front of the phone is a light sensor and everything looks rugged including the re-inforced corners. So what else can we say about this phone – it is basically a middle-of-the-road spec phone but built to handle a punishing. I ran the phone on my normal WiFi and that seemed pretty uneventful.
Somewhat annoyingly, I took the Spanish SIM out of my normal phone, put it in the Cyber 9 Pro and the language switched to Spanish. That took all of seconds to put right, however. I turned off the WiFi and checked to make sure I could connect to the Internet on mobile data. I got a full 4G signal just like my current normal phone (Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro).
I checked the speed using the website (popular in Spain) testvelocidad.eu. Results pretty much like my Note 10 Pro, maybe a little slower but then I’d need 2 identical SIMs to take that any further.
I grabbed by usual, modern Mi Bluetooth buds and checked – simple connection, nothing surprising at all. A quick trip to YouTube and I verified Bluetooth operation.
Apologies for the slight tint on some of the photos, the phone is actually dark grey – I’m in the process of replacing office lighting right now.
And that’s really about it, really. Just a little more to report – there is a “gloves mode” which could be handy for use in cold weather – maps works just fine – and the last Android update for this phone was December 5, 2021.
Here’s the sales info (in USA dollars) from Banggood for anyone interested..
HOTWAV CYBER 9 Pro Global Version 8GB 128GB 6.26 inch Helio P60 NFC IP68 IP69K Waterproof 7500mAh 48MP Triple Camera Android 11.0 4G Smartphone
https://ban.ggood.vip/11q8C
Normal Price: $399.99
Coupon Price: $144
Code: BG9224fb
Warehouse: All
EXP: 5.31