So after 2 weeks of delay’s my LeTv X500 has arrived safely
I have been lucky enough to have had some 10 different devices since getting the original OnePlus One, and have had good and bad devices since then.
Everything from the Ulefone Be Pro (looks great but is full of software bugs) to the Redmi Note 2 Prime which I had delivered a couple of weeks ago, and the Bluboo Xtouch which came last week from www.coolicool.com and is a fantastic little device
So what is the leTv X500 like compared to every device I have had this year?
In a word AWESOME!!
Not since opening the box on my OPO have I been so  excited by a new device, from the moment you put this device in your hands you know you have something special, it really does look and feel amazing, and the OS is so smooth and fast.
I think most sellers are shipping this device with a Multi Language Rom which is great, but it does mean you lose the OTA Update feature, this is something I always like to have if possible, so One of the first things I did was to flash over the official LeTV 008s Rom.
This was very simple thanks to a thread over on XDA and S7yler’s links on www.needrom.com
TWRP was also added and SuperSU for full ROOT access (again very simple)
So next was to add Nova Launcher Prime and the device is exactly as I need it to be (Nova gets rid of the LeTV centre button which is useless unless you are actually in China)
There was as expected some Chinese bloatware but this was easy to get rid of with Titanium Backup Pro
So to the device itself, am I happy?
More than you can imagine, and far more then I expected to be with a device which costs around $200 shipped!
I really cannot think of any device which comes close to this for the money right now, great specs, regular OTA updates, premium feel and build quality, great support and already lots of custom Roms available (Including MiUi 7 if you like that) I am hoping we will get a CM Rom at some point too
Running the Helio X10 chip clocked at 2.2GHZ and with OctoCore means this device is lightning fast!
I did perform several Antutu test and the best score I achieved was just over 55.000 which i think you will agree is very impressive
Battery life is more than acceptable with light usage seeing around 2/3 days without issue, and for once the fast charger is actually a “fast charger” meaning a full charge should take around 2 hours with 2.7 amp output
Around 5GB of the 32GB storage is taken up with the system and apps, leaving 26+GB to play with, which is enough for me, but may put some people off as there is no SD card slot.
3GB Ram is more than enough in most devices, and is certainly the case with the LeTV X500
WiFi is super fast and downloads complete quicker then you think they will.
Type C USB slot is something new for me, and I guess is helpful, but I could live without it (but its nice to have)
Another cool feature is the ability to unlock the screen using the fingerprint scanner on the back, first time I have seen something like this.
For the first time since I can remember, I actually have this device in a Gel case, its just to lovely to look at for it to be hidden in a Leather case
Dont expect this to be a Gold Colour as you are used to, this is a very subtle Gold (very light and more of a Rose Gold) it really looks great.
Things I don’t like?
Well I always expect a lot from my device camera’s, and although there is nothing wrong with this camera (Samsung ISO cell) I do think it could be improved with some software updates in the future
Its a shame most are being shipped with Multi language Rom, as this could be a real hassle for some people who are not experienced with flashing Roms, yes you can leave that Rom on there, but as I said, you lose out on OTA Updates
There was some confusion (for me at least) with the keyboard as most of it was in Chinese characters even though I set it to English, so that took some working out, eventually I put “GO Keyboard” on there and all seems fine now.
Lack of SD Card slot is the only real negative for me, but as I said with 32Gb Rom, I have found this more than enough so far.
So to summerise
Should you buy this device?
If your budget is $200 – you should run and buy this device!!!
In fact even if your budget is over $200 you should buy this device
You will not be disappointed!
