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It’s pretty brave to launch a new brand in the Philippine smartphone industry. Even braver to bring in a new player in the competitive entry-level market. With a lot of contenders already taking the spotlight, it’s a tall order to even be noticed.

But that doesn’t stop the French smartphone brand WIKO as they introduce the WIKO 10 in the country. So the question remains – would this phone’s features be enough to get the attention of the market? 

I guess that’s what we’ll find out in this review. 

Classic never goes out of style 

Smartphone designs these days are mostly shiny and eye-catching, but you can never go wrong with a classic look. The WIKO 10 variant we have is Black with a matte finish. To me. it looks premium and sophisticated especially when you don’t put the clear jelly case on. 

Its body is made of plastic but it doesn’t feel cheap. There are no body flexes as its construction is pretty solid. 

Having used it for days, this phone actually reminds me of the Infinix Note 11s. It is similar when it comes to its weight, size and round edge design. 

My partner Andre also tried using the WIKO 10. He shared that it has a similar feel with the ROG Phone 5s he previously reviewed in terms of its size. That might be a big plus for gamers since even with this budget phone, they get to have a similar feel of using such an expensive gaming smartphone. Size-wise, that is. 

As for the camera design, I liked that the cameras are not as big and embossed compared to new smartphones these days. It gives us that subtle look which actually looks pleasant. 

Big display for media consumption 

The WIKO 10 comes with a 6.74-inch 720p IPS LCD Display. Surprisingly for a budget phone with an IPS panel, the WIKO 10’s display doesn’t lack on vibrance and details. 

Though, with its large display size, some images do get stretched. Even the icons have noticeably rough edges and images have the tendency to be pixelated. But despite that observation, I still enjoyed watching Netflix series on it having a bigger screen.

I also have this habit of browsing the internet before sleeping while the lights are already off (which is not advisable lol). So, I appreciate that the WIKO 10 has a Night Light under its Display settings. It gives the screen a warmer tone so I don’t strain my eyes.

As for the sound quality, this has a single bottom firing speaker that actually produces decent sounding audio and works just fine when playing games and watching videos. 

With soundtripping, I think it would still be better to use your earbuds or your wired earphones since this has an audio jack anyway. 

Performance and Software

Under the hood, the WIKO 10 sports MediaTek Helio G37 chipset. It also has 6GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage which is plenty for a budget phone. So we don’t have to worry about downloading a lot of apps or games since this phone definitely can handle it.

With this chipset and amount of storage, apps run pretty smoothly with just occasional lags on its interface. 

And speaking of games, I assume these also benefited from the large available RAM. This phone is already good for casual gamers as you can play popular games at decent speeds. But don’t expect too much since you have to run most games at low settings. 

Even as someone who isn’t much of a mobile gamer, I enjoyed playing Pokemon Cafe Remix that ran very smoothly and Call of Duty: Mobile while putting it at low settings. 

As for its software, this runs on Android 12 with very minimal preinstalled apps. This is probably to keep the phone from slowing down. But as someone who’s pretty old school, a preinstalled one that I actually liked was an FM radio app that lets me listen to my favorite radio stations even while I’m on the road.

Competent cameras  

At its rear, the WIKO 10 comes with a triple camera setup. A 50MP main camera, 2MP depth camera, 2MP macro lens. While in front, it has an 8MP selfie camera.

I actually missed doing photo walks so I brought this phone out for a couple of days around the neighborhood. I didn’t expect much but using the main camera, photos taken during daytime actually look pretty good.

Comparing this to older budget phones, I can surely see an improvement in terms of the clarity and processing.

I did have a bit of a struggle since I sometimes miss taking some good photos due to the camera’s slow shutter response. I also noticed that photos have a tendency to sometimes be over-saturated.

As for night photography, I was pleased that even without a designated night mode, the camera was still able to take acceptable shots of static subjects with some exposure adjustment. 

On the other hand, selfies taken with the 8MP front camera looked okay with good lighting conditions. But in low light scenarios, photos from this did show its weakness and probably aren’t for the gram anymore.

I also did try the camera’s Beauty mode and I didn’t find it flattering. 

And upon checking the photo gallery, I also noticed that photos are in low resolution which is probably an effort to make it easier to scroll through and review the photos. 

Massive battery 

As for its battery, the WIKO 10 packs a 5000mAh battery which is common on budget smartphones. But what gives it a bit of an advantage over its competitors is its 22.5w USB-C charging. 

I tested out its battery over the weekend and it lasted me a day web browsing, using it for taking photos catching up on Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and even used it for a while to charge my phone while I was out as the WIKO 10 has wireless reverse charging. 

As for juicing it up, it was able to go from 0% to 16% in just 10 minutes and was able to fully charge it in one hour and 44 minutes which is a little bit faster compared to similarly priced phones. 

Is the WIKO 10 your GadgetMatch? 

The WIKO 10 might not still have all the features you usually desire especially on its performance and camera capabilities. But at its price range, it still has some advantages that make it a competitive choice.

It has a large vibrant display which is enough to enjoy watching videos and playing games, a capable battery that can last you for a day and even charge up other devices, plus it can be easily juiced up with its 22.5w fast charging.

It also has a big storage for dumping a bunch of apps and photos if you find yourself needing it.

All in all, I think the WIKO 10 is a decent fit for people on a budget but I think this also goes very well for people planning to get a secondary phone.

The WIKO 10 is available in 3 colors – Klein Blue, Silver and Black and retails for PhP 8,990 on Lazada, Shopee and authorized WIKO stores and kiosks.