Creo Mark I: Good Thought, Needs Refinement

Creo has taken the brave (or some might say foolhardy) step of entering a very crowded mid-range smartphone market with Chinese phone makers ruling the roost. Knowing well that it's difficult to differentiate easily and in expensively on hardware design, the company has decided to set itself apart with its software. The promise is that every month new features will be pushed out over the air that will be created based on user suggestions. That's why a review of the Creo Mark I, as the phone is named, difficult because only time will tell whether the promise is fulfilled to the delight of users.

The Mark I is a hefty phone. It's large, with a 5.5-inch QHD 2560 x 1440p display, and weighs a fair bit. It's a familiar thick black slab, glass back and front, with some metal trimming all around. What shows most is the overwhelming black solidness of it all and very often, if the phone isn't switched on, I confuse the backs with the front for a moment. A minimalistic design to be sure, but also an uninspired one.

Ergonomics have nothing to do with anything on the Creo Mark 1 as little has been done to make it easy to hold and use. I even found it tired my hand out. I was thankful I wasn't really a one-hand user, because that would be quite difficult with the weight and size of this phone.

Another strange choice on this device is the three little round knobs that make up the power and volume up and down buttons. They're all identical and lined up in a row like buttons on a coat. Of course, you quickly know which one to press without even looking, so I won't hold that against the designer, except to say that it isn't a pretty sight.

I have no major quarrels with the screen. The brittle cold blue-white can be fixed with a blue light filter app, which I promptly set up. While viewing angles and colours seem largely okay, the 2K display doesn't really look as fine as it's supposed to be. It's perfectly workable but not something you'd glance at and say wow, that is some screen.

Other hardware specs include a 1.95 GHz octa-core Helio X10 Processor, with 3GB RAM, 32GB storage expandable by up to 128GB with microSD card, USB OTG support, a 3,100mAh battery and USB Type C charging port -- which means you can't afford to go losing it.

But getting past the hardware and diving into the software, let's see what we have. First, regrettably, we have a lot of lag and stutter. Even with a device that's all new and hasn't been slowed down with lots of apps and data, just scrolling on say, the Play Store, or on the web, has a distinct stop-and-start feel to it. It also gets pretty heated up with any processor intensive task, say like shooting video or even taking a lot of photos. Let's hope with the gradual refinement of its own system on top of Android,, FuelOS, this gets ironed out.

The basic interface Creo has given this smartphone is quite clean and clutter-free. And honestly, Android users like it that way so they can personalise their devices to the hilt. What's special is a few features in Creo's "Refuel" offering. This is where you'll be able to suggest a features and if they're feasible, hopefully they'll come your way. What's more, you'll be thanked for it within this section. This is the heart of the device but one can only see how practical it will be over time.

For now, the ones that are there to explore are pretty nice. Echo is perhaps the best and is your answering machine -- one that doesn't incur carrier costs. Sense is an intelligent search across the device. Notifications is more than the usual and easier control over how you get your notifications. Retriever is a feature which helps trace your phone if it's lost. That includes getting SMSs when someone puts in a new SIM. There are other features and each of them is impressive and what you'd wish for on every phone.

The camera, a 21MP IMX 230 Exmor, may have a lot of megapixels but is disappointing in its performance. Indoors, the colours and image are quite washed out. Light sources look burnt out. Using the camera isn't particularly enjoyable either.

If it's a well-designed phone you're looking for, look elsewhere. If it's a smooth performer you want, I'm afraid you'll still have to look elsewhere because there are too many glitches, including heating, to make for a good experience. If you're looking for a good camera phone, 21MP isn't translating to beautiful images on this device. And that leaves the promised features... While these may be interesting for lovers of Android and gadgets in general, they have to be incoming against a background of solid performance at the very least. A tweak here and a tweak there won't matter unless the basics are sound. And that's where the Creo Mark I is falling short.