At first we would like to thank TP-LINK for offering me a sample of their Neffos C5 Max Smartphone for testing and reviewing.

 

About TP-LINK:

"TP-LINK is a global provider of SOHO networking products and No.1 market share holder in China, with products available in over 100 countries to tens of millions customers. Committed to powerful R&D, effective production and strict quality management, TP-LINK continues to provide awards-winning networking products in Wireless, ADSL, Routers, Switches, IP Cameras, Powerline Adapters, Print Servers, Media Converters and Network Adapters for Global end-users.

Based on the confidence of tens of millions of customers, TP-LINK is now growing to become one of the most competitive providers of networking products with aspirations of becoming one of the top 3 networking brands and striving for a larger global market share, while further advancing in the world of networking to better serve our most valued customers with a product that makes their lives easier."

Clarity Redefined

 

The Neffos C5 Max’s 5.5’’ FHD IPS display provides crystal clear picture quality. It sports and impressive 1600:1 contrast ration that immerses you in a new visual dimension that is brighter, sharper and more defined than even before. With high-definition LCD technology, the display outperforms anytime with 178 degrees of impeccable clarity.

 

Capture Great Moments, Day or Night

 

The Neffos C5 Max is equipped with a rear 13MP camera that captures even more details and colors. Its large F2.0 aperture allows more light in to help take truly extraordinary photos in darker environments. The front-facing 5MP wide-angle lens makes it possible to take the perfect selfie with more friends.

 

Powerful Performance

 

The Neffos C5 Max is powered by an octa-core 64-bit processor and 2GB of RAM.

Enjoy powerful system performance that provides you with an unparalleled mobile experience. The onboard chipset supports blazing-fast 4G LTE that keeps up with your pace of life.

 

Personalize Your Mobile Experience

 

Combined with highly customized Android 5.1, the Neffos C5 Max uses

smart technology to simplify your life with a personalized interface, providing natural, colorful, effortless operations.

 

Smart Screenshot

 

Capture multiple screenshots and save them together in one extended shot.

 

Smart Screenshot

 

Awaken your inner artist and have some fun with your shots by drawing a lasso or doodle.

 

Super Camera

 

Intelligent Mode

 

The device automatically adjusts contras, color, and lighting for 8 different scenes including Human, Scenery, Night and more.

 

Artistic Filters

 

Choose between 30 different filters and bring out your artistic side.

 

Beautify Selfie

 

Instantly enhance your natural beauty and craft the perfect selfie with the Beautify Selfie mode. Gesture and smile capture mode makes it possible for you to make perfect portraits.

 

System Management

 

Make sure your device keeps running smoothly with onboard system management applications such as the app manager, cleaner, data usage controller, battery saver and many more.

 

In this following article we will take a closer look at the high-end smartphone from TP-LINKs’ Neffos C5 series and to be more exact the C5 Max. We have upgrades in the SoC area, screen dimension and resolution, camera sensors and battery capacity. The product is shipped inside a larger box but with the same purple Neffos theme we have seen before at C5 and C5L:

 

 

 

On one of the box laterals, we will get to see a white sticker with the product code name, its serial number but also the IMEIs for both card slots:

 

 

 

The bottom side will show us a list of product technical specifications:

 

 

 

The box is also sealed with a light blue sticker:

 

 

 

After lifting the top cover, we will get to see the C5 Max right away:

 

 

 

The bottom layers come with documentation and also the rest of the bundle:

 

 

 

The white envelope is housing the Declaration of Conformity along with the Quick Start Guide:

 

 

 

The guide informs us on how to proceed with the hardware and software initialization, in multiple languages:

 

 

 

As a hardware bundle, we are getting a set of earphones, the USB charge/data cable but also a wall charger:

 

 

 

The earphones were built with the Neffos C5 design in mind and are of decent quality:

 

 

 

These also have a small in-line remote with a microphone port:

 

 

 

 

The wall USB charger coming with the C5 Max has a more solid design and opposed to what we have seen at the C5 (5V, 1A), this model can supply 5V at 2A:

 

 

 

 

The smartphone has its frontal glass covered by a branded transparent plastic film, which must be removed in order to use the product properly:

 

 

 

This is the only model from the C5 series which features a Full-HD IPS screen of a 5.5’’ size, which traduces in a pixel density of 403.4PPI:

 

 

 

On the top area of the screen we will find the light sensor, the proximity sensor, the speaker, one 8MP selfie camera but also a very useful notification multi-colored LED:

 

 

 

Under the screen we do have the bezel with the TP-LINK logo; the buttons are not capacitive, but software:

 

 

 

A look on the bottom portion is revealing a microphone port along with the USB port; a nice, chromed frame can be seen surrounding the Gorilla Glass:

 

 

 

The right side houses both Power/Standby button but also the Volume rocker:

 

 

 

 

The top area comes only with the headphone jack port:

 

 

 

On the left side there are no additional interfaces available:

 

 

 

The back cover of the C5 Max smartphone features a gunmetal grey paint:

 

 

 

On the top area we’ve got the 13MP shooter lens, a dual LED flash but also a Neffos logo:

 

 

 

The loudspeaker grill is placed in the bottom right corner:

 

 

 

Right after removing the back cover (which is a very simple process by the way), we will be able to reveal the internals; the first thing we are going to see is that the battery is non-removable and features a capacity of 3045mAh. Considering that this model is equipped with the MTK6753 SoC which is not known for consuming large amounts of power, thanks to the large battery we may expect this model to last about two days with a normal usage pattern:

 

 

 

On the right of the camera lens, we will be able to spot two microSIM card slots:

 

 

 

The opposite side houses the microSDHC card slot:

 

 

 

The loudspeaker is protected by a small filter, so debris like dust won’t fall into it:

 

 

 

As the two other C5 devices before it, the Neffos C5 Max smartphone comes preloaded with the FineOS Android operating system, which features a custom launcher:

 

 

 

Let’s begin by checking out the applications; first we do have the Themes application, which allows us to choose from a variety of free/paid themes, wallpapers, live wallpapers, lock screens and more:

 

 

Offline content which has been already downloaded can be also displayed in the same application for easy switching:

 

 

The Music application will index the audio content we do have on storage and sort it for easy playback:

 

 

The Camera application is similar to what we have seen with the C5 terminal and we can use it fairly easy:

 

 

By sliding with our finger from left to right, we can access extra settings for both photo and video modes:

 

 

Next we have the well-known Gallery application, which will show us the currently taken photos, screenshots and so on:

 

 

Google Applications are sorted in a separate folder:

 

 

Google application will help us to perform searches in a snap:

 

 

Then we would like to remind you of the Chrome browser, which loads pages quite speedy thanks to the octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 SoC:

 

 

Gmail will allow us to work with email addresses; initially the account which was used to set up our device will be loaded:

 

 

Google Maps is a handy tool for checking out the surroundings but also for navigation purposes:

 

 

YouTube standalone application is easy to use for checking out our favorite videos:

 

 

Google Drive is here for us when we need to save files “in the cloud” for future access on different other devices:

 

 

The online music service from Google is also preloaded on this ROM:

 

 

Hangouts is Google’s version of a social media applications for chat purposes:

 

 

Google Photos allows us to upload our photo collection online for later access:

 

 

We do also have Voice Search application to our disposal:

 

 

Calendar application does not need any introduction:

 

 

Play Store is the place to go for downloading tons of free or paid applications:

 

 

A System Management application comes with FineOS and allows us to perform different maintenance tasks; a similar application is built inside Xiaomi MIUI or MEIZU FlymeOS:

 

 

A standalone Clock application is available for setting up alarms, working with timers, stopwatches and so on:

 

 

The included Notes application allows us to create short memos:

 

 

The default Mail application is not missing from this ROM:

 

 

Video Player is similar to Gallery only that it indexes the video content from internal or external storage:

 

 

File Explorer application is similar to the one we can find when using MIUI and besides the preset categories, we can also check out all folders from Internal/External storage:

 

 

An included Weather application is also available, which seems to pick up the current location right away:

 

 

Applications which are considered as Tools are sorted in a separate folder:

 

 

First we’ve got the well-known FM Radio application, which works properly when plugging in the headphones, which will be used as a FM antenna:

 

 

Then we can remind of the Flashlight application, which allows us to use the dual-LED assembly in the back when we need some extra artificial light:

 

 

A Sound Recorder can be accessed for recording short audio clips:

 

 

Calculator application is next:

 

 

Downloads section is just a shortcut to the Downloads folder on the main storage:

 

 

Photo Editor will allow us to apply different effects, frames, stickers and so on to the photos in order to personalize them further:

 

 

A Compass application is also preloaded on this ROM:

 

 

Next we do have a Feedback application which allows us to send bugs to the manufacturer directly:

 

 

We can also perform system updates OTA when they become available:

 

 

On the bottom area of the launcher we have some extra applications available; the first three icons placed there lead to a single application, which has different tabs: one for viewing the recent calls, one for viewing the contacts from the contacts list and also one for writing/receiving SMS messages:

 

 

The default Android browser can be also accessed from the last icon:

 

 

It is time now to navigate to the Settings application, which allows us to fine-tune the system settings:

 

 

WLAN is the menu to go to when we would like to connect to the nearby wireless networks, given that we have the correct credentials handy:

 

 

One feature we haven’t seen with other ROMs or smartphones so far is the Turbo Download feature, which allows using both Wi-Fi and Data connection for downloading large files:

 

 

Bluetooth menu allows pairing with the nearby compatible devices:

 

 

SIM Cards options and services can be configured from the next section:

 

 

Data Usage can be monitored on both interfaces and from the next tab we can set a data usage limit or enable/disable the Cellular Data service:

 

 

Cellular Network Settings menu allows us to enable Data Roaming, choose Proffered Networks, choose the Network Type priority and more:

 

 

The More menu allows working with the Airplane mode, choose the default SMS applications, enable Tethering or work with VPNs:

 

 

The Display menu allows setting a different Wallpaper, adjust the Brightness level, enable Adaptive Brightness, Sleep timer and more:

 

 

Sound and Notification menu comes with different preset profiles, along with some sub-sections:

 

 

Each profile does have the possibility to adjust the Alarm and Ring volumes, the Phone ringtone, choose a Default Notification sound, enable/disable Vibration for incoming calls and so on:

 

 

Here is the content of the previously-mentioned sub-menus:

 

Notification

 

 

Interruptions

 

 

Sound Enhancement

 

 

Storage is the menu to go for checking out the remaining free space on the internal or inserted microSDHC card:

 

 

From the Battery menu, we can check out the consumption chart, enable the battery percent indicator but also enable the “Standby intelligent power saving feature”, which is available with most MTK terminals:

 

 

The Apps menu gives us a more detailed look on the installed and running applications, but here we can also disable/uninstall certain apps we do not need anymore:

 

 

The Location menu allows working with the hardware GPS and we can also adjust its precision here:

 

 

Security menu comes with the usual options:

 

 

From the Accounts menu, we are able to work with the accounts from different applications:

 

 

Language & Input menu allows the user to select a default system language, enable Spell Checker, choose a keyboard from the currently installed ones and so on:

 

 

Backup & Reset menu allows to back-up settings to the Google servers but also perform a factory reset when needed:

 

 

Date&Time menu is pretty self-explanatory:

 

 

Schedule Power On&Off is regular with all MTK devices:

 

 

The Accessibility menu has the usual options available to us:

 

 

Lastly, we have the About Phone menu, from where we can check the current System Updates, Status, smartphone code name, installed Android version, Baseband version, Kernel version or Build number:

 

 

While the clock frequency has been left the same for each core versus the MT6735, the MTK MT6753 SoC is incorporating a total of eight ARM Cortex-A53, while the GPU-side is occupied by an ARM Mali-T720MP4 @ 600MHz. Thee SoC is paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. While the memory expansion is mentioned as being supported up to 32GB, we have installed an 128GB microSDXC card and was operating just fine!

 

 

The Device tab informs us on the supported screen resolution, manufacturer, screen density, total RAM and usage but also total internal storage and usage:

 

 

The System tab will supply us more information regarding the board type, Android version, kernel, resolution, free memory and so on:

 

 

The Battery tab will show the current status; the battery sensor is working properly on this model:

 

 

 

The new Thermal tab will update us with the live temperatures in different areas:

 

 

The application also shows live data from the available sensors:

 

 

To test out the performances of the TP-LINK Neffos C5 Max smartphone in more detail, we have installed some freeware benchmark apps from the Google Play Store in the internal memory (did not transfer them to a 3rd party microSDHC card, in order not to influence the test results). Afterwards, the applications were ran one-by-one, and we recorded the final scores; the obtained results were also compared with the previously tested systems, in order to spot the performance differences.

 

AnTuTu

 

 

Basemark GUI

 

 

 

Quadrant

 

 

Vellamo

 

 

3DMark

 

 

Real Pi

 

PCMark

 

 

GeekBench 3

 

Optionally, we have extracted more info about the terminal and its modules thanks to the free CPU X application:

 

CPU

 

 

System

 

 

Network

 

 

Battery

 

 

Sensors

 

 

Features

 

 

Rear Camera

 

 

Front Camera

 

 

The IPS Full-HD display of the C5 Max is of good quality, can display crisper details when compared to the screens on the C5 and C5L and has no issues when viewed at an angle.

Coming from the C5, we now have an upgraded camera sensor of 13MP; by using the easy interface of the Camera application, we were able to produce clear shots in decent lighting conditions, both in landscape and macro modes. If we propose on taking shots with low-light conditions and the dual-LED flash is not able to compensate the necessary lighting, the photos will appear washed-out. This is a regular behavior we have seen with mainstream 13MP sensors.

 

Of course, you can always check out the full-resolution, unaltered versions at this LINK.

C5 Max smartphone from TP-LINK is meant to complete the C5 series which has been recently launched and includes the most powerful hardware from all three models. Despite of being a 5.5’’ screen variant, the design with the rounded edges make it easy to hold inside the pocket, while the Full-HD resolution can display crisper details than before. Since the screen resolution has been increased, a SoC upgrade was in order so TP-LINK has gone this time with the MT6753 octa-core model, which also has a more powerful GPU, running at a higher frequency. As we have seen with many mainstream smartphones, the C5 Max is equipped with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory, but we can upgrade the storage further at any time by installing a microSDHC card.

 

One of the strong points of this model is indeed, the battery; while it is not removable, it sports a 3045mAh capacity and its benefits can be clearly seen when using the smartphone heavily. With the backlight at about 75%, we have run the AnTuTu-specific benchmark and got a high score:

 

 

 

The GPS module functions well for a MT6753 SoC, but does not succeed to beat the accuracy we have found with the C5L model, which featured a Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC.

 

 

 

The camera sensors have been also upgraded from 5MP to 8MP in the front and also from 8MP in the back to 13MP. We can take well-focused and color-accurate photos while in good light conditions, but expect washed-out shots when at night.

 

FineOS Android distribution which comes with the C5 series has proven as very stable, but it won’t hurt to see in the future revisions some extra features like tap-to-wake or call recording.

 

Since this model is featuring Gorilla Glass, TP-LINK did not feel the need to include a screen protector as with the C5. Some people would still prefer using such accessory and it would be even better if it would have been applied from the factory, in order to eliminate extra hassles; a transparent silicone case could not have hurt either, in order to avoid scratches developing on the frame and also on the back cover.

 

The TP-LINK Neffos C5 Max smartphone is currently available for purchase for about 179 Euros.

TP-LINK Neffos C5 Max Smartphone is Recommended For:

 

 

We would like to thank again to TP-LINK for making this review possible!