Bluboo S1 Hands-on, First Impressions

Yesterday, we provided you our first impressions of the Bluboo S8. Today, we’re going to take a look at another smartphone from the same brand which packs a 5.5-inch Full HD display with slim bezels, MediaTek Helio P25 chipset, 4GB RAM, and dual-rear cameras. Meet the Bluboo S1.

If the Bluboo S8 looks similar to the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Bluboo S1 is like the twin of the Doogee Mix, which took inspiration from the Xiaomi Mi Mix.

The S1 features a 5.5-inch Full HD IPS display on the front which equates to a pixel density of 401ppi. Mounted on top is Corning Gorilla Glass 4.

Housed above are the earpiece and proximity sensor. While down below is a thick chin for the fingerprint scanner and 8MP camera located at the lower right corner.

Found on the left is the hybrid SIM card slot that can accommodate two nano-sized SIM cards or a microSD card in the SIM 2 slot.

On the right are the power/lock and volume buttons. They’re made of plastic but has a firm and clicky feel when pressed.

At the bottom are the loudspeaker, the USB-C port, and microphone. Like the S8, it doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio port but comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm adapter in the package.

Looking at the back we have the dual-rear 16MP and 3MP cameras. Found beside it are the dual-LED flash.

In the hands, the Bluboo S1 feels nicer to hold than the S8 thanks to its glossy yet solid plastic build. The 2.5D curved glass on the front and back bends almost seamlessly to the frame for a unibody feel. It’s a bit chunky at 7.9mm thick and has some reasonable heft, but still comfortable to hold with one hand.

Like the S8, the S1 runs on an almost stock Android 7.0 Nougat with some slight customization on its UI. Icons are cleaner-looking compared to the S8 and it doesn’t come with bloatware, just Google’s usual applications. Powering it is a Helio P25 chipset, 4GB RAM, 64BG of storage, and a 3,500mAh battery. So far performance is smooth but we’ll discuss more of it in our full review.

The Bluboo S1 is priced at Php7,799USD 133INR 11,266EUR 127CNY 968, which is just Php300USD 5INR 433EUR 5CNY 37 more expensive than the Bluboo S8, and you’re getting more RAM and a bigger storage. Check out the listing here.

Bluboo S1 specs:
5.5-inch FHD IPS display @ 1920 x 1080 px, 401ppi
2.5D Curved Gorilla Glass 4
2.5GHz octa-core MediaTek Helio P25
Mali-T880 GPU
4GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB storage
expandable up to 256GB via microSD (uses SIM2)
16MP + 3MP dual rear cameras with dual LED flash
8MP front camera
4G LTE Cat.6
Dual SIM (hybrid), Dual standby
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 4.0
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
Fingerprint scanner
USB Type-C
Gyroscope
Android 7.0 Nougat
3500 mAh Li-Poly battery w/ Fast Charging
148.6 x 74.3 x 7.9 mm