The rugged phone concept is fading with proposals like the Cubot Quest Lite. This model has a much more attractive aesthetic and a lightweight design for comfortable transport. Even so, the little brother of the Cubot Quest maintains resistance characteristics given by the IP68 certification and extreme temperatures. We go over all the features of the Quest Lite in our review.

Rugged and slim design: Cubot Quest Lite, rugged smartphone with slim body

The Cubot Quest Lite is a rugged smartphone that surprises at first glance. It completely moves away from the clunky and ugly phone concept to show off a slim body. It has dimensions of 151.96 x 74 x 8.8 mm thick and a weight of 179 g. That said, it goes without saying that it is a smartphone that can be easily carried in a trouser pocket or used with one hand. Cubot Quest Lite goes far beyond an off-road smartphone to be a good everyday companion.

Rugged smartphone with slim body

Its robust construction is prepared to withstand impacts against the ground, with reinforced corners and a rubber body that absorbs falls. It is completely sealed to offer IP68 resistance against dust and water. It can remain submerged in water for 30 minutes at a maximum depth of 1.5 meters. And not only that, it resists extreme temperatures from -40 to 70 ºC. Take it to any getaway, no matter how hard it may be, it is sure to last longer than you.

It is IP68 certified

Technical characteristics of the Quest Lite 4G: Cubot Quest Lite, rugged smartphone with slim body

Technical performance with MediaTek

At the hardware level, the smartphone responds well according to the sale price. Inside we have the MediaTek Helio A22 chipset , a quad-core with a maximum frequency of 2 GHz and developed in 12 nm. It is accompanied by a total of 3 GB of LPDDR3 RAM and an internal storage of 32 GB. Although its internal memory is quite low, Cubot solves it by adding the possibility of expanding it with a microSD of up to 128 GB.

Cubot Quest Lite technical performance

It is not a smartphone that is going to break any benchmark, but it offers more than enough technical performance for everyday tasks. The important thing is the fluidity of the mobile terminal and it achieves this with the capacity of the RAM memory. However, it has its limitations, such as in the case of demanding video games that require a lower graphic quality.

It comes updated with Android 9.0 Pie with a very simple customization by the brand. It is appreciated that it does not come full of apps but the most important ones from Google. It has facial recognition unlocking, Smart Lock and a fingerprint reader with good recognition.

Screen with Gorilla Glass 5

Rugged smartphones do not usually place large screens and in the Quest Lite this does not happen either. Cubot mounts an IPS LCD panel with a 5-inch diagonal and HD resolution (1,280 x 720 pixels). At first glance it may seem like a rather disappointing display, but it achieves a maximum brightness level of 450 nits and a 1,300: 1 contrast ratio. Therefore, Cubot Quest Lite can be used outdoors without viewing problems.

Screen with good viewing outdoors

As we have commented, its rugged smartphone characteristics are there. The screen has a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 laminate . The tactile response is good although it cannot be used with gloves. Thanks to its IPS panel we have wide viewing angles and rich colors (90% NTSC). Due to its measurements, the front has quite generous frames, since the screen occupies 62%.

Large screen frames

Cameras for your getaways

Despite its limitations, Cubot Quest Lite shows its chest with its photographic section. For this they have chosen to place a double rear photographic sensor from Sony. The main one is 13 MP with aperture f / 2.2 along with a secondary of 2 MP. The objective is more than fulfilled according to the photographs taken, although noise appears in the image at night. However, it includes a night mode that favors image processing with the limitations of a maximum ISO of 1,600. The second sensor is used only in bokeh mode to play with depth of field.

 

The front camera mounts an 8 MP sensor with f / 2.2 aperture and equipped with 4 lenses. This is where we will get the most benefit from the beauty mode, with adjustments even to the contour of the head. With regard to video recording , both the front and rear cameras reach 1080p resolution at 30 fps. Finally, it is worth mentioning that it does not have HDR photography but it does have a professional way to adjust some values.

Connectivity and autonomy

As we mentioned earlier, Cubot Quest Lite has a tray for two Nano SIM cards or one Nano SIM + microSD to expand the storage. Connectivity USB type C (OTG) and 802.11 b / g / n , a pity that is not compatible with the 5 GHz band. Linking with other devices via Bluetooth 4.2. With the use of a headphone adapter we can access the device’s FM radio. Another of the absences is the NFC chip for linking or payment from the smartphone.

Although its 3,000 mAh battery may be scarce, you have to pay attention to the technical performance of the smartphone. The resolution of the screen and the power of the chipset make the battery drain quite low. Cubot Quest Lite thus manages to obtain good autonomy results, reaching 5 hours of screen time . It uses a 5V / 2A charger and the battery is not removable.