HOTWAV is not new to making smartphones that provide a specs-to-price ratio that blows competitors out of the water, and this time is no different with the new HOTWAV Note 12, by equipping with very high specifications made with the latest technologies, some only found in much pricier options, this phone could very possibly be the best of its kind this year.
This phone is in the entry-level segment featuring a slim design, an Unisoc T606 octa-core processor, a 6.8-inch HD+ display, a 6180mAh battery with 18W charging, and support NFC, And much other hardware from cameras, memories, and even the new Android 13. You get strong performance for a low price, so if you’re looking for a low-cost phone at this point, you’re not getting anything better than the Note 12 in this price range. Here is my first impression of this phone.
HOTWAV Note 12 Features
- Android 12 OS
- Unisoc T606 Octa-Core SoC
- 8GB RAM + 128GB ROM
- 6.8” HD+ Display
- 48MP Rear Camera, 16MP Front Camera
- 6180mAh Battery, 18W Fast Charging
- Dual 4G Network, NFC
Design And Build Quality
We see definitely one of the most beautiful HOTWAV in recent years, the HOTWAV Note 12 makes a good impression and has got a rendition of the budget phone design. In front, it features a large screen on the front of 6.8 inches overall, the bezels look thin except for the chin on the bottom which is quite thick with a screen-to-body ratio of roughly 93%, also the glass used is Panda. The notch for the front camera is a Hole punch with a 16MP camera on the middle of the top for taking selfies and video chats.
The body is plastic and Aluminum with a length of 172.5mm and a width of 77.5mm with a frame that gives a kind thickness of 9.5mm, On the back side, you have a clean, panel of premium-looking with a leather texture, and it comes in two colors, black, and Orange. What catches your eye is that the island’s cameras stand out located on the top left side where we find an outer square that contains the HOTWAV logo, then there is the inner square which contains the three cameras and the flashlight.
As for the ports, the phone comes with a USB Type-C port from the bottom with a microphone, and speakers. The buttons are, as usual, the power button integrated with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner which is surprisingly good at this price. Also the volume button, and the dual SIM with the memory slot. If you ask me about the quality of the manufacturing, HOTWAV is always working to provide high-quality products to users all over the world at affordable prices.
HOTWAV Note 12 – Display Quality
The HOTWAV Note 12 screen is a good one for an entry-level smartphone, especially the brightness and the rich & vibrant colors, it is a 6.8” HD+ IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 720*1640 pixels with 260 PPI and an aspect ratio of 20:9, and it is protected by Panda glass against scratches and falls, this display offers a better media consumption experience than other smartphones in the same price range thanks to the brightness and the color saturation, and even though it is an LCD screen with low resolution, the Text and graphic information will be very legible.
All in all, the screen is acceptable because usually, that’s where companies cut corners to reduce the price and make the device affordable for more people while keeping the experience enjoyable, especially since this phone can run high-quality games on medium graphics and watch videos on HD quality.
HOTWAV Note 12 – Cameras
The cameras could very well be a good reason you might want to get the HOTWAV Note 12, this device packs a triple camera setup with a 48MP primary lens with an F/1.2 lens slot with the Sony IMX582 sensor and a 2MP ultra-wide sensor and Auxiliary sensor. On the front, we find a 16MP S5K3P3 sensor with an F/1.3 lens.
The main reason Note 12 give you great photos and images is the AI processing carried by the CPU, the processing is good and the photos come out beautifully detailed with the right colors, the rule for getting a good image with the Note 12 is to take photos in enough light, but not too much sunlight so the photos don’t look burnt. The front-facing camera also provides great photos under enough light and is used for facial recognition to unlock the phone.
HOTWAV Note 12 – Performance
One of the two main selling points of the HOTWAV Note 12 is its performance, it would be no exaggeration to say that this phone offers by far the best specifications and performance at this price point and nothing comes close, that is all thanks to the UNISOC T606 chipset inside, the experience you get using this phone is great for all purposes whether you like to watch high-quality videos or even play video games. With the Unisoc T606 as SoC, HOTWAV makes a solid choice for the Note 12.
Technically, Note 12 is powered by the UNISOC T606 built with the 12nm technology from ARM, paired with a G57 1*Cocre (650MHz) GPU, which is the heart or brain of this smartphone. Octa-core UNISOC T606 is responsible for providing superior image processing quality, maximum performance, and reduced latency while there is the simultaneous execution of several tasks. Further, It is packed with 8GB RAM and 128GB ROM which is enough for most of the tasks that you can do with a smartphone such as keeping many applications or large games running in the background. In Short, for multitasking, this smartphone will give you a positive experience.
Software
The HOTWAV Note 12 comes out of the box with the new Android 13, So expect that the software is very stable and offers great features such as a wallpaper and theme store, news, and cool animations, but more importantly, it is significantly faster than Android 12. Also, bringing new features like chat bubbles, conversation-prioritizing, screen recording, one-time permission, privacy dashboard, and some interesting customization additions with UI that has better gesture navigation controls, a dark theme, and contains most of the features that come with the system, the most important of which is the presence of all Google services, Making the phone experience smoother and more personalized.
Connectivity
The HOTWAV Note 12 is a 4G LTE device, that also supports GSM and HSPA (3g), it has a sim tray on the side where you can put two sim cards, and it also has Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with support of 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, and Bluetooth 5.0 to connect to any other smartphone or headphones with high stability. It’s worth mentioning that HOTWAV added the Multi-function NFC according to the feedback of users so that it’s easy to use Google pay as well as contactless cards, though NFC is a feature found daily on pricier options, it is nice to have it on this smartphone.
HOTWAV Note 12 Battery And Charging
The other main selling point of the HOTWAV Note 12 is the battery life, the combination of a 6150mAh battery, you will be able to squeeze over 10 hours of on-screen time with the appropriate brightness, additionally, the phone supports 18 watts of fast charging through the USB C interface, with that you can fully charge your phone from 0 to 100 in around 1.6 hours which means that battery will never be an issue. However, I can say that the battery was good.
Final verdict
HOTWAV Note 12 is a very good phone that has the potential to beat its competitors to dust in the price range it belongs to. So, it’s a good smartphone, and this is due to the experience that it will give you, given that it is a low-cost smartphone with a stylish design and a fingerprint scanner, excellent battery life, quite good performance, and a new android 13 and with the competitive price tag make Note 12 is a good choice and will not disappoint you.
HOTWAV Note 12 Price & Availability
Usually, better performance means a higher price, but not in the case of HOTWAV Note 12. The smartphone will be launched on the 20th of this month in HOTWAV’S Aliexpress stores with big discounts and the price will be $99.99. Also, there is a giveaway on the HOTWAV website, for those who leave their email addresses, ten of them will get a Note 12 phone for free. So, don’t miss the chance to snatch one.
