BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro – smartphone without show-offs – review, specifications, price, reviews, comparison with BQ Mobile Twin

In budget smartphones, the main thing is not to miss out on some seemingly insignificant but important detail in the pursuit of relevance. The BQ Twin Pro strives hard for balance. The rather large bezels around the 5.5-inch display can easily be forgiven for its Full HD resolution. Plastic body - for its neat design and lack of tendency to collect fingerprints. Not a very powerful platform - for a decent amount of RAM.

Was BQ, represented by Twin Pro, able to offer a universal solution to the question “what to buy for less than 10 thousand rubles”? Is this fruit of compromise sweet enough?

It is worth noting at the very beginning the existence of a twin brother (such a pun) Twin Pro under the name Twin - it differs from the Pro version in a reduced amount of memory (2 GB of RAM + 16 GB of storage).

⇡#Technical characteristics

BQ Twin Pro smartphone

The smartphone we are going to talk about today is special. Firstly, this is the first device from BQ that is equipped with a Full HD screen. Secondly, this device has 4 GB of RAM. Thirdly, it uses a dual camera from Sony, which helps you create really cool photos. Surprisingly, with all this, BQ Twin Pro costs less than 10,000 rubles.

It may seem like we're looking at yet another regular entry-level phone from an unknown brand. But that's not true.

If you don't judge the BQ-5517L too harshly, this phone can be called ideal (especially for its price). But still, the small details that bring this device down to Earth are present here; We will talk about them in detail.

Screen, general functionality and security

The BQ Twin Pro case is made of plastic and is non-separable. SIM cards and additional memory are installed in a profile connector that extends from the side of the smartphone.

The device is ergonomic and lightweight, it fits comfortably in the hand, although it is more convenient to take photographs and type text using two palms.

It's all about the 5.5″ display, which is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It has a somewhat non-standard aspect ratio. The screen is quite wide and not very elongated. In our opinion, this is even an advantage. Thanks to this format, more details fit on the display, and viewing horizontal images (as well as videos) is more convenient.

We remind you that this is one of the first Full HD smartphones in the BQ range. The picture is really juicy, bright and detailed, but we did not notice any additional bonuses from the resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. For example, Universe and Space X have a lower figure, however, the image quality of these modifications is no worse.

BQ Twin Pro has several tools to protect user data. In addition to standard graphic/letter passwords, there is a fingerprint scanner, as well as the Face Unlock option, which we fell in love with while testing BQ Universe. The entire listed arsenal of the conspirator works accurately and quickly.

The BQ Twin Pro is great in every way.

The wireless communication modules (4G and Wi-Fi) also quickly cope with incoming requests; in our opinion, this is one of the fastest BQ smartphones in terms of communications; For access to the worldwide network, the BQ-5517L is ideal.

We have no complaints about the quality of voice communication; audibility is excellent, without unnecessary noise or interference.

Operating system, performance and test results

The hardware is one of the most notable features of the BQ-5517L. Firstly, as much as 4 GB of RAM is installed here, and secondly, an 8-core MediaTek 6750T processor is used to process user commands. Yes, this is not Snapdragon from Qualcomm, but still the central chip copes with service tasks quite quickly. There is enough specialized hardware for normal operation of Android 8.1.

We would really like to say that the BQ Twin Pro remained stable throughout the entire testing period (about two weeks of daily use), but one unpleasant incident did occur. After charging the battery again to 100%, the smartphone in question turned off on its own, and the battery almost instantly discharged to 0%. But such an incident never happened again.

The BQ Twin Pro scored enough points in the PCMark system benchmark to compete with powerful mid-range devices (LG Nexus 5X, Samsung Galaxy A3, A6 and Xiaomi Redmi 3S), but the result was not impressive in the 3DMark graphics test (competitors: HTC Desire 12 and TP-Link Neffos X9).

Camera

The BQ Twin Pro uses a dual sensor from Sony (13+2 MP, F/2.2) and is an excellent choice. The camera takes pictures quickly and very high quality. Take a look at the sample photos. It is unlikely that top-end devices costing several tens of thousands of rubles demonstrate more impressive results.

The profile application provides only the most necessary settings and shooting modes. The “Blur” option deserves special attention; with its help, you can play with the aperture very productively, as a result, original photographs with a pronounced bokeh effect will appear in your gallery.

The BQ Twin Pro's dual camera reproduces colors realistically, which is why there are no built-in filters or other embellishments; the resulting material already looks impressive and juicy. The main thing is to focus correctly and manage the available light. The sensor will do the rest for you.

Battery

Under the plastic cover of the BQ Twin Pro lives a non-removable 3080 mAh battery. We must admit that this is not the most long-lasting option. However, do not forget that this device uses a screen with a large diagonal and high resolution, plus a powerful processor with 8 cores. All this requires energy resources. As a result, the built-in battery will be enough for a couple of days of more or less active use.

If you're a dedicated WhatsApp fan (it's a battery eater) and a photography enthusiast, you'll need to plug in the BQ Twin Pro every day.

Conclusion

If you do not take into account the random shutdown of the BQ-5517L with lightning-fast battery discharge, which happened once, the reviewed smartphone can be called exemplary (for the budget category of mobile devices).

The BQ Twin Pro is great in every way; It has a powerful 8-core processor, 4 GB of RAM, a bright Full HD display with a responsive sensor, a high-aperture camera from Sony, Android 8.1 OS and a stylish ergonomic body. Finding such a combination of useful functionality for $150 is not so easy these days.

It may seem like we're looking at yet another regular entry-level phone from an unknown brand. But that's not true. The BQ-5517L is a unique device with its own striking features and memorable aesthetics. You understand this immediately after the first turn on. We recommend.

Keywords: Android MediaTek

⇡#Design, ergonomics and software

When a company “copies” the design of a well-known and much more expensive device in its budget smartphone, it is easy to understand and accept. Usually it goes to Apple, which makes damn sense. The roots of the BQ Twin Pro's appearance are not easy to discover right away - on the one hand, the smartphone looks classic, on the other, at first glance it does not look like anything in particular. However, it is still possible to find the ends by rummaging through the memory - the back panel is copied from the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. Not the most obvious and very interesting source of inspiration. It’s even awkward to scold the manufacturer for this.

The front part of the BQ Twin Pro is covered with tempered glass, and under the screen there is a place for touch navigation keys. It’s old-fashioned, but the space of the 5.5-inch display is left untouched - by today’s standards this diagonal can already be considered small, so such savings are justified.

BQ Twin Pro, front panel: above the screen – front camera, light sensor and earpiece, below the screen – touch navigation keys

The back is covered with plastic - either gray or golden. From the outside, it’s easy to mistake a smartphone for a metal one – the camouflage is quite successful, but it’s impossible to “hide” the plastic tactilely. The advantages of this solution are the smartphone’s resistance to micro-scratches and fingerprints, as well as its low weight – 157 grams.

BQ Twin Pro rear: Dual camera, dual LED flash, fingerprint scanner and main speaker in the bottom corner

The two camera lenses are located in a corrugated transverse stripe, which is reminiscent of last year's Huawei flagship. The power key is also ribbed - a nice attention to detail for a smartphone of this level.

BQ Twin Pro, left side: slot for nano-SIM and microSD cards

BQ Twin Pro, right side: volume key/camera shutter and power button

But this attention was still almost not enough when the creators decided where to place the fingerprint scanner. It is located at the back - this is logical and correct, this is a natural position for the hand, but the fact that it is located very close to the lower lens of the camera inevitably leads to regular misses and touches of this very lens. Thank you, although the bottom camera is not the main one, but an auxiliary one (for the formation of artificial bokeh), and its permanent staining rarely makes itself felt.

BQ Twin Pro, top edge: mini-jack (3.5 mm) for headphones/headsets

BQ Twin Pro, bottom: microUSB port, microphone

The layout of the BQ Twin Pro is without surprises; it is truly a classic smartphone of the year for 2016: there is microUSB (located at the bottom), and a triple, rather than hybrid, slot for SIM cards and memory cards, and a mini-jack. A stingy tear of nostalgia comes to your eyes and you feel a slight joy that everything can be so reasonable and simple.

You can unlock the BQ Twin Pro in a variety of ways: using a password, PIN code, pattern, fingerprint scanner and facial recognition system. By default, the smartphone offers to use the fingerprint method - a capacitive sensor is used for this. The speed of work is quite normal. Facial recognition is performed using a single front camera - this is not a very reliable and slower way to unlock the phone.

Screenshot gallery

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BQ Twin Pro runs on Google Android 8.1 Oreo operating system. Compared to the same BQ Universe, nothing has essentially changed: a pure “robot”, but with a lot of pre-installed software. It works quickly and with a minimum of blots.

BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro – review, specifications, comparison with BQ Twin

Specifications of BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro and comparison with BQ Twin:

BQ Twin Pro and BQ Twin are the same smartphones. The difference is only in two points: the amount of RAM and built-in memory. On board the new product has 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of user memory, while the BQ Twin has a pair of 2/16 GB. Of course, this affects the speed of the smartphone, so if you are faced with a choice: take BQ Twin Pro or BQ Twin, then take the “Pro” version. There are no options here. Now let's move on directly to the review of BQ Twin Pro.

BQ Twin Pro is a budget smartphone, but this does not mean that it cannot look decent. The gadget has a classic design with a hint of modern. BQ has always been able to make cute smartphones and the BQ Twin Pro is no exception. The smartphone is sold in two colors: gold and gray. BiQ Twin Pro looks most advantageous in gray. The body of the smartphone is clad in plastic, which is skillfully disguised as metal. The back cover is decorated with a corrugated stripe. It immediately catches your eye and shows some kind of design thought. On the strip itself there is a dual camera module and a flash. Just below you can find a fingerprint scanner. But you can unlock the BQ Twin Pro with more than just one scanner: on the front, the smartphone has a front camera that has a face unlock function. This function works only during daylight hours, but even then, “thank you” - a rare function for this price category. Above the screen there is an LED indicator and a light level sensor. Mechanical buttons are present only on the edges of the BQ Twin Pro: a volume rocker, an unlock/power button - everything is standard. The screen of the BQ Twin Pro ignores all trends: 5.5 inches, IPS matrix, resolution 1080×1920, 401 PPi, occupies 70%, 2.5D glass, aspect ratio 16:9. Here you can see frames, a pronounced earpiece, and on-screen touch buttons for controlling the system. The screen itself is not bad: the picture is juicy, clear, with correct color rendition. The smartphone lacks a little brightness reserve, but this is a problem with all inexpensive IPS matrices. Overall, the BQ Twin Pro's screen is a pleasure to interact with. The eight-core MediaTek MTK6750T processor is responsible for the operating speed of the smartphone. Its power is enough for basic needs. It has all the necessary technical characteristics, but is subject to heating and throttling. Of course, this is not the best solution for a smartphone in 2020. In this price category there are many more options with more adequate “brains”. The pride of the BQ Twin Pro is 4 GB of RAM. This is a really nice bonus that expands the capabilities of the smartphone, but do not forget that this does not make a gaming smartphone a new product. 4GB is for multitasking, not productivity.

Inside the BQ Twin Pro there is a built-in storage of 32 GB, which can be expanded using microSD memory cards up to 32 GB. Of the base 32 GB, 24 GB are available. In the synthetic Antutu test, the gadget scores just over 40,000 points. In addition, BQ Twin Pro supports dual SIM cards in 4G networks, unlike other budget smartphones, where one SIM card can work in data mode, and the second can only be used for voice. The photographic capabilities of the smartphone are responsible for the main dual camera of 13+2 MP and a single front camera of 8 MP with a wide shooting angle (80 degrees). The main camera of the smartphone has an f/2.2 aperture and dual flash.

An additional sensor is present to evaluate the focal length. The main camera takes photographs at a level that can compete with more expensive models. The autonomy of the BQ Twin Pro is its weak point. Inside the smartphone there is a battery with a capacity of 3080 mAh. It would seem that this is standard power, but for BiQ Twin Pro it is not enough, since the optimization of the energy consumption system of a budget device is not the best. In active mode, the BQ Twin Pro barely lasts until the end of the day. Most likely, the problem is with Pixel Launcher and a huge number of pre-installed programs. By cleaning your smartphone from unnecessary services and programs, BQ Twin Pro will work 30-45 minutes longer. The new product runs on the Android 8.1 operating system.

⇡#Display and sound

The BQ Twin Pro has a 5.5-inch LCD display with an IPS matrix with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. Pixel density – 401 ppi. For a smartphone costing 10 thousand rubles, a Full HD display may not be a feat, but it is still a rarity. Once again I draw attention to the classic screen format – 16:9. This means that you will not see any black frames in various applications.

There is both a polarizing film and an oleophobic coating - today it is almost impossible to find a smartphone devoid of these layers. Viewing angles are average - color rendition does not change when the view is strongly deviated from the perpendicular, but the contrast drops significantly. The touchpad responds to five simultaneous touches, supports multi-touch gestures, and has a glove mode.

The main problem with the BQ Twin Pro display is insufficient brightness. The measured level was 342 cd/m2. Using a smartphone on a sunny day outside is uncomfortable - you can still see the image, but the colors will fade, and there will be a lack of contrast when perceiving text.

The contrast level is 1059:1. The usual level for a mobile IPS matrix in this price category.

BQ Twin Pro, gamma. Yellow line – Twin Pro indicators, dotted line – reference gamut

BQ Twin Pro, color temperature. Blue line – Twin Pro indicators, dotted line – reference temperature

BQ Twin Pro, color gamut. Gray triangle – sRGB coverage, white triangle – Twin Pro coverage

The display is set up tolerably. The average gamma of shades of gray is 2.06, and the curves behave quite stable. The color temperature is elevated, but not much - fluctuations are at the level of 8,000 K. The color space is wider than the sRGB standard. Here BQ is most likely following in its own footsteps - you can recall the same Universe model with a display configured rather for the NTSC space. The average DeltaE deviation for the extended Color Checker palette (shades of gray + a wide range of color shades) is 5.44 with a norm of 3.00 and a standard of 2.00. For an inexpensive smartphone this is quite a normal level.

The BQ Twin Pro has a mini-jack that allows you to connect traditional headphones without using an adapter. The power reserve allows you to count on comfortable listening to music even in the subway. You shouldn't expect any audiophile feats from Twin Pro. There is Bluetooth, but without support for the aptX or LDAC protocols, wireless transmission of high-resolution audio is impossible. The single speaker is loud, but is located on the back - the sound will be muffled on a smartphone lying with the screen facing up. Everything is fine with the microphone and speaker - you can talk using the BQ Twin Pro without the slightest problem.

⇡#Hardware and performance

One of the main gaps in the BQ Twin Pro, caused by the compromise that is inevitable when creating an inexpensive gadget, is the hardware platform. This is a MediaTek MT6750T from three years ago, which is already quite rarely used in modern smartphones. It is a complex of eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores (4 × 1.6 GHz + 4 × 1.0 GHz) and an ARM Mali T860MP graphics subsystem clocked at 650 MHz. The platform is manufactured using a 28nm technological process.

In the end, the BQ Twin Pro does not shine with its computing capabilities - the smartphone copes well with the stable execution of basic applications and the relatively smooth operation of the operating system, but you can only play the simplest games. At the same time, during the two-week testing there were no cases of critical freezes requiring a hot reboot.

But the MediaTek MT6750T platform is distinguished by good energy efficiency (of course, it uses only “auxiliary” cores for the standard big.LITTLE scenario) and low heat dissipation. Overheating of the smartphone is almost impossible - unless you try to run some fancy game with 3D graphics on it, which will confuse the platform. According to the CPU Throttling Test benchmark, the average performance is 62.1 GIPS, and the operating frequency averaged 84% of the maximum. Throttling and forced switching to auxiliary cores under heavy load are unlikely.

But what the BQ Twin Pro is good at is RAM. There is already 4 GB installed (DDR3, 1866 MHz). This is more than enough for the smartphone; it maintains high performance even with a large number of running applications. The non-volatile memory here is 32 GB, which is not much even taking into account the low status of the device. You can double the capacity using a microSD memory card (yes, double the maximum - cards with a capacity of up to 32 GB are supported), without sacrificing precious dual-SIM capacity.

BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro comparison with Meizu M6T, Lenovo K5, Honor V9 Play

What can other manufacturers offer, what alternatives does BQ Twin Pro have? To compare with BQ Twin Pro, we took smartphones running on the same hardware platform and in the same price category (all of them are 1000-2000 rubles cheaper). Having made a small sample, we received three smartphones for the BQ Twin Pro: Meizu M6T, Lenovo K5, Honor V9 Play. For this money, other manufacturers offer smartphones with a more modern design. All three new products have an elongated screen. Lenovo K5 and Honor V9 Play are clad in a metal body. The screens of Meizu M6T, Lenovo K5, Honor V9 Play have HD+ resolution, which is inferior to the FullHD resolution of BQ Twin Pro. The photographic capabilities of all devices are at the same level: it is impossible to single out just one. All four gadgets have problems with autonomy - the MTK6750 is to blame. Which smartphone should you buy? In this case, you should focus on cost: you should buy the cheapest one. At the time of writing this review, the Lenovo K5 was the cheapest. Here you can take it.

⇡#Communications and wireless communications

The triple slot of the BQ Twin Pro, in addition to a possible microSD, can accommodate two nano-SIMs - with a single radio module. The MediaTek MT6750T platform modem works with LTE category 4: maximum data reception speed is 150 Mbit/s, transmission speed is 50 Mbit/s.

BQ Twin Pro, slot for SIM cards and microSD memory cards

Alas, another element sacrificed to the status of the device is the NFC module. You won’t be able to pay for purchases using this smartphone, nor will you be able to quickly pair it with various wireless accessories. Bluetooth is version 4.0, but Wi-Fi is dual-band (802.11 a/b/g/n, the gadget sees networks on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz). The navigation module works with GPS (A-GPS) and GLONASS, it works moderately quickly and without failures, but you should not expect high accuracy from it.

BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro – price in Russia, buy, reviews

BQ-5517L Twin Pro is a budget smartphone that plays on the feeling of nostalgia. It doesn’t have any special bells and whistles, but it can give the user everything they need: dual-band Wi-Fi, acceptable performance, dual camera, neat design. At the start of sales, the price tag of the BQ-5517L Twin Pro is frankly stinging - 10,000 rubles for a smartphone with similar technical characteristics is a lot. Other manufacturers also agree with this statement: analogues from more famous brands cost 2000-3000 rubles less. If the price of the BQ-5517L Twin Pro drops to 6,500 rubles, then it has a chance. If not, then it will remain a pass-through device, which was only talked about at the time of release. We will leave our review of the BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro in the format of the pros and cons of the smartphone.

BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro advantages:

• Neat design
• Dual camera
• Dual-band Wi-fi
• 4 GB RAM

BQ-Mobile BQ-5517L Twin Pro disadvantages:

• The design is beautiful, but it reeks of antiquity - not for everyone
• Weak autonomy
• Most likely, it will get lost compared to other smartphones in the price category up to 10,000 rubles

⇡#Camera

The very name of BQ Twin Pro is based on the simple fact that this smartphone has two rear cameras. True, the scheme is simplified - along with the main camera (resolution - 13 megapixels, aperture - ƒ / 2.2) there is a 2-megapixel auxiliary module, which serves exclusively for correctly blurring the background when shooting portraits.

The autofocus of the BQ Twin Pro camera is not very fast, but quite stable, and mistakes are rare even in difficult lighting situations. There is a dual LED flash. There is no optical stabilizer or optical zoom in the Twin Pro.

Example of a portrait with software background blur

Despite the presence of a special camera added here specifically for correct blurring of the background, the smartphone copes with this mediocrely. There are too many artifacts - sometimes part of the face will fall into the blur zone, sometimes, on the contrary, a sharp “halo” will form around the head.

The camera app is the same as in other BQ smartphones this year (Universe, Aurora and Space X), but with noticeably cut down features: there is no manual mode, no built-in filters, and HDR is only available as a standalone format. The application starts up quite slowly, but works without any glitches.

In terms of shooting quality, the BQ Twin Pro doesn't have enough stars in the sky, but it doesn't fail either. During the day, it allows you to take pictures with good detail, albeit with cool colors. At dusk or dawn there will be problems - there is not enough aperture and stabilizer, getting a sharp picture is problematic. But probably. In the dark, it’s also possible, but the noise level will go off scale, and the picture doesn’t look very good even on a smartphone screen.

Gallery of pictures

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BQ Twin Pro can shoot Full HD video - there is no support for 4K shooting.

The front camera in the BQ Twin Pro - with an 8-megapixel sensor and an ƒ/2.2 aperture lens - lacks autofocus and flash, but this does not prevent it from taking very good pictures in normal lighting.

⇡#Autonomous work

The BQ Twin Pro has a battery capacity of 11.7 Wh (3080 mAh, 3.8 V) - quite good for a 5.5-inch smartphone with a relatively weak, but energy-efficient hardware platform. The charge is sure to last for a day; you won’t have to charge your smartphone more than once a day. Under extreme load, the operating period is reduced to daylight hours.

The BQ Twin Pro performed unexpectedly poorly in our traditional test with HD video playback at maximum brightness, with wireless modules turned on and BQ Universe updates active - just over six hours. Optimization when working with video is weak.

MicroUSB is used as a charging port. With the original cable and adapter, the battery fills up in just under two hours; there is no fast charging system.