[Review]Kyocera Hydro Life (T-Mo/MetroPCS) - General Topics

I've had this phone for a couple months now as my daily driver, and after reading phonescoops review of it they posted today, i wanted to give a review that touches more on the strengths and weaknesses of the phone from the perspective of a average person.
While its nice to have a beautiful screen and great detail, but who really nitpicms over color tempature.
Kyocera Hydro Life: $129 T-Mobile, $29 Metro PCS
Specs:
Quad Core 1.2ghz Snapdragon 200 processor msm8212
Adreno 305 Graphics (official specs list Adreno 302, CPU-Z says 305)
1.5GB Ram
8GB internal Memory (5gb user)
5MP Front, 2MP rear camera. 720p video recording
4.5" qhd screen 540x960
MicroSD slot reads up to 32gb (would not read my 64gb no matter how i formatted it)
Android 4.3 Jellybean
Phone is IP67 waterproof & Dustproof
The phone is a great device for the price offered @ MetroPCS. The phone is lightly modified and is stock android for the most part. It boots up quick, and the display has rich colors that look great and come in crisp. The brightness is great and can be read pretty well in bright sunlight.
The performance of the phone is not bad for a budget phone, and for those of us that are on XDA is an easy remedy. It has a snapdragon 200 processor, however the msm8212 isnt a cortex A5 like they have been, its a cortex A7 core, and with the Adreno 305 i would just as well call it a snapdragon 400. The MetroPCS version has its fair share of carrier bloat. Its loaded with a ton of MetroPCS apps that most people would find useless and never use. The bloatware is the biggest drain of performance on the phone, with the majority of them running in the background at startup. The 1.5Gb of ram really helps a lot and is a nice bonus in a phone this price. I have had several apps open at once without any noticible hiccups or slowdowns.
The phone is 11mm thick, and has a textured matte plastic back that feels good in the hand, and underneath is a 2000mah battery that is removable, and needs to be out to access the microsim & microSD slot. The call qualitybis good and i have never had trouble hearing anyone voices come in clear. The single speaker on the back of the phone is not loud however, and unless the room us really quiet i wouldnt try using speakerphone with it.
The phone is incredibly easy to root, and can be done so using RootGenius. I used titanium backup to remove the bloat and the performance incfease was easily noticable. I kept a copy of the bloatware apps on my computer incase the OTA for Kitkat is ever released. I emailed Kyocera two months ago and they replied back saying they finished and released the kitkat update to T-Mobile/MetroPCS and that they are holding it back. Two months later still nothing. Xposed framework works great and most of gravitybox works like a charm.
The camera takes OK pictures but nothing to brag about. Its good enough to anap a quivk pic on a whim or for on the go use, but for pictures that you really want to look great i wouldng rely on it. The Front cam is about the same quality wise, takes a decent selfie in gppd lighting and most people wouldnt really know ghe difference vetween cameras on facebook
Overall for the price i think its a great phone and if you are wanting a good phone on a budget, or need a rugged phone for work i highly reccomend this one. I have an LG G2 but i havent used it since i bought this one since it performs so well and does everything i need it to without a hitch.

Related

Galaxy S2

Hey everyone.
I ran across this over at the GS2 forum.
This guy has one.
Check out his blog
http://domarmstrong.blogspot.com/
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Some pretty impressive numbers there, and a very complete selection of benchmarks.
Would seem like the CPU in the GS2 is at least 2x more powerful than the Hummingbird in ours. Also some impressive GPU numbers.
Thing is though... the original Galaxy S was like 6-8 months ahead of the curve in pretty much every facet of the device. Even now, no other device on the market can compare with the Super AMOLED screen. The Galaxy S2 however has some impressive specs, and a very cool looking (and very thin) package, but it doesn't feel like it's going to be the "step above the rest" that the original was.
Guess we'll see when it's actually released!
Not that it matters, but that's got to be some of the highest quadrants ever recorded.
That looks very promising. I could upgrade my cappy to that for sure. To date i have not seen anything worth upgrading to...
I wish it was a 4" screen. Wouldn't want a 4.3" one with that resolution (personally). Because I'm on a two year contract I'm hoping the Galaxy S3 is leaps and bounds above the S in display and processor technology... and comes in a 4" variant for battery savings.
It still looks cool though
SkitchBeatz said:
I wish it was a 4" screen. Wouldn't want a 4.3" one with that resolution (personally). Because I'm on a two year contract I'm hoping the Galaxy S3 is leaps and bounds above the S in display and processor technology... and comes in a 4" variant for battery savings.
It still looks cool though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm really on the fence about it due to the screen size (for battery life, size of the handset) and the resolution. I may be able to live with the lack of resolution, but I'd have to see battery life numbers before I even think about swapping out my captivate.
Just got mine today very impressive and fast. Very responsive and thin.
Camera is brilliant and video recording wow best out there.
I was really looking forward to the galaxy s 2 but I am thinking its gonna be awhile before it is released. I find it hard to believe with the infuse on the way (but to the best of my knowledge also with out a release date) that samsung would cut their own throat by following the infuse with the galaxy s 2. I have been eligible for an update for awhile so I am thinking there is going to be allot of competition when it finally arrives. IMO samsung has really dropped the ball by not releasing here sooner, especially if it has to face the iphone 5. At this point it seems like the sgs 2 will be doa as the next killer phone if released in the fall.
that score in antutu is quite impressive! holy crap that's fast tegra 2's need to run at 1500 mhz to beat that!. the 3d benchmarks are likely heavily held back by a cap on the fps just like the captivate is already. i have gotten 491 points for 3d alone in antutu with a certain kernel and rom combo and that wasnt even with the gpu overclocked or fps cap removed like some of the vibrant kernels and old captivate 2.1 kernels. could do.
i want to see that thing run without any fps caps and some kernel tweaks! no overclocking.
I might upgrade next year. I think it's a good to give 6 months to a year before getting a top of the line handset.
That's enough for bugs to be noticed (and hopefully fixed), for community development to take off and for the apps to catch up with the new phone's technology. Correct me if I'm wrong, but right now the only apps that can take full advantage of the Sgs2 processors are benchmarks.
Sent from my Cappy using kickass FireFly 2.9, oc/uv Onix 2.0.5 and xda premium app.
For those interested, Engadget UK just posted a review of the Galaxy S 2:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/28/samsung-galaxy-s-ii-review/
SO gps works...
BRB preordering
Glad they put the USB at the bottom
yeah but is it using the same type of internal memory? that is the biggest bottleneck of any device or computer is the *hard drive*
the internal memory in current phones is single channel read OR write crap.
and please dont say ddr2 memory.... thats different and only helps a little in comparison to the issue with the storage memory
I think I'll just wait for what samsung promise to have a 2ghz dualcore nxtyr or later, I'm still in my 2yr contact though
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
i like the coment at the end "best smart phone period!" says it all!
that said i am a little disapointed with the 3d performance of the dual core phones. though the tegra is a powerful application processor and the orion is fast beyond description the open gl performance isnt much beyond what the galaxys already does. was samsung just that far ahead in that area or is there power to be unlocked in these chipsets?
bri315317 said:
That looks very promising. I could upgrade my cappy to that for sure. To date i have not seen anything worth upgrading to...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App
Why on earth would u want to upgrade to Galasy S2?
They have so much potential and best tech in screens, internal storage, cameras, processors, and good design builds in past YET lately they rush everything (unfinished drivers, bad gps, same 16GB internal but they could have 64 and average camera and cheap plastic to save on costs) so that they can copy iphone because they want some of their success. i personally hate iphone, but every other company copying them just drives apple to think they r the best.. and personally they did make the right choice on A5 to use powerVR543 because even dual VR 543 is faster than quad-core mali400, (big mistake for Samsung as mali400 alone is almost twice weaker than PowerVR 540 used in previous galaxy, which confirms in benchmarks) and NO 3D in galaxy S2 which puts LG optimus 3d and HTC evo 3D in front. and 3D is the future with more and more 3d movies out. and same wvga res that has been since winmo 6.0. sure u don't need the very highest res in a phone, but when u connect it to HDTV via hdmi u will have to rethink that, but then again does galaxy s2 even have HDMI?? On this site: http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxys2/html/specification.htmldoesn't doesn't list hdmi or anything...
Here where things become worse building a phone with large surface area due to 4.27inch screen and full plastic yet copy iphone in trying to make as slim as possible makes it extremely breakable as the phone will slowly start bending over months as u keep it in ur pocket tightly while playing sports etc. This used to happen with motorola razer
And to top this off Android 2.3 DOES NOT fully support multiple cores, well it supports but doesn't take advantage till 3.0 honeycomb (or 3.1 for phones), so if samsung doesn't give u an update AGAIN, or rushes it out full of bugs like they did for galaxy s, ur phone will never see it's potential
And i also got a bit of info from a tweeter a few month back where it was said that samsung is working on quad-core processor for next year and chances are the next one will also be 3D. This goes well in line with guad-core Tegra 3 to be out this fall, and sony NGP already running quad-core.
Point is unlike galaxy S which had at least the best GPU on the market, Galaxy S2 doesn't have anything that stands out. Sure u have super amoled plus, but others will have higher res, and dual-core is MAINSTREAM now. And it will only be a matter of month before this phone be obliterated by it's succesor.
Also from the lawsuit that apple has recently put on samsung might force them to restart making innovative designs like they did prior "galaxy"
You're wrong in several different ways.
1- There's very little point in putting 64gb of storage on a phone. 16/32 internal + 16/32 sd card is way more than enough for me and for 99.9% of users;
2- Reviews of the sgs2 camera place it as one of the best in the market, not sure I'd call it average;
3- Apple's lawsuit is bs and I honestly doubt it will affect anything on the long run. Android and touch wiz are quite different from Ios in important ways;
4- Why do you need 3d on a phone? Where are the apps for it? Why would you watch a 3d movie on a 4.3 inch screen? It'd probably kill the battery before it was over. Maybe, it'll eventually offer some real world advantage, but right now it's just a gimmick;
5- The Sgs2 supports hdmi out via micro usb through mhl technology. Google it;
6- It's wrong to question the build quality and durability without having ever seen the phone upclose. So far, I've seen nothing but praise on reviews and previews. Plastic not only keeps costs down, it also lowers the weight. And since when is making a phone slim apple's idea?;
7- I don't have the expertise to comment on the cpu and gpu, but the benchmarks seemed impressive as hell to me;
8- Screen resolution could be higher, but super amoled technology is so far ahead of the curve that I bet it will more than make up for it.
In short, why upgrade to sgs 2? Best cpu on the market (according to engadget review), best screen on the market, one of the best cameras on the market, bt 3.0+hs, microusb hdmi out, usb on the go (according to gsm arena) and the fact that the galaxy s is already a great phone.
Obviously, there'll be a better phone, eventually, that's the way it is in the tech world, but right now it seems to be a fantastic device, as engadget review shows.
Sent from my Cappy using kickass FireFly 2.9, oc/uv Onix 2.0.5 and xda premium app.
I dont care the phone is sick and I can't wait to get one. I love my sammy captivate and knowing that's the same thing all jacked up is great. 3d is dumb especially on a phone. Plenty of storage. It will be great to finally have a flash. Super amoled is amazing so super plus is better...what more could you want. We don't need to dwell on tons of worthless info. The phone is gonna be sick and the best anybodies had. Everybody wants it and so do I.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

About MTK MT6575 phone, H5500

i just checked this forum, i find there is no more information about MTK6575, i don't know why, so i just start this thread, and we can talk about the MTK6575 chipset.
it is reported that the newest MTK6575 phone is lenovo A750, but i checked some website in recently, and find one website start to sell the MTK6575 phone, named H5500, i guess you guys may know this news already, but i just see some video on youtube, and share this video here,
http://youtu.be/4ImOD99AHgY
in my opinion, it is better than MTk6573 phones, but it is a new phone anyway, so just view that video, and give your opinions.
hmm, still no one replys, no one is interesting in MTK6575 phone?
It looks good, but I'd wait for Android 4.0 before buying a phone with this chipset seeing as MediaTek announced that it supports ICS.
http://www.mediatek.com/en/News/news_content.php?sn=1052
oh, that's why.
i will continue to notice the MTk MT6575 products, maybe it will come up soon.
Look for zopo zp200
Sent from my VitMod_ExtraLite 1.6.5.fullodex for HTC HD7 Pro using Tapatalk
Its just an overclocked MTk6573
eraldo said:
Its just an overclocked MTk6573
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. 6573 is ARM11 (ARMv6) while 6575 is Cortex A9 (ARMv7). Big difference.
Yeah It will be much superior to the old ARMv6 MTk6573
Hotmid are selling the Lenovo a750 already for $200. The only downsides are it has no camera flash and the Power VRX 531 GPU is pretty dated now. Although it does include dual sim and a 2000mah battery.
http://hotmid.com/lenovo-lephone-a7...screen-android-2-3-dual-sim-mobile-phone.html
I asked about ICS support and they said 'maybe later', so nothing definitive yet. They have also including a bench mark screen shot claiming scores of 2178, which is not bad if true.
ZOPO ZP100 w/ MTK6575
Doesn't look like anyone has had an opportunity to play with a phone using the MTK6575. I just was notified that my shipment of 1 x ZOPO ZP100 has left Singapore. As soon as it arrives, I'll let you know if it lives up to my expectations. I'll do a proper review when it arrives, and compare it to my previous phone, the motorola droid 2 on verizon.
Since the Droid 2 used the omap3630 (cortex a8) @ 1ghz w/ PowerVR SGX530, and the ZOPO ZP 100 uses the MTK6575 (cortex a9) @ 1ghz w/ Power VR SGX531, I'm expecting about a 20% performance increase, which considering a total cost of $210 USD including shipping seems awesome!
I'll be using the unlimited talk, text, web service from straight talk for $45 a month. I think this will be a winning combination!
There are 6+ highly available phones now available using the MTK6575 chip, and I've seen prices ranging from ~$200USD - $300+USD. The only major differences seem to be the cases, and the screen. While the of them have WVGA resolution (480x800), the ZOPO ZP100 has qHD resolution (540x960).
And no, I'm not trying to sell the ZOPO ZP100, just seems to be a fantastic phone, at a very reasonable price.
The highlights of the unlocked ZOPO ZP100 phone are:
·Operation System:Google Android 2.3.4
·CPU:MTK6575 (Cortex A9) 1GMHz ,GPUower SGX531
·4GB ROM+512MB RAM extend to 32GB max
·GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA HSPA
2G GSM:850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G:2100 MHz
·Dual sim cards dual standby
·WIFI:802.11b/g wireless internet
·Built in GPS and support voice navigation
·4.3 inch Sharp ASV Capacitive multi-touch screen,QHD:960*540
·FM radio
·Support Compass
·G-sensor
·Light-sensor
·Dual cameras
·5.0 Mega Pixel wifh Auto focus
·3.5mm stereo audio jack
·Support word,excel,ppt, pdf format document
·Language:English/French/Spanish/German/Italian/Arabic/Russian/ Turkish/Portuguese/Bahasa indonesia/ Bahasa Melayu/Thai/Vietnamese/Chinese
6575 is supposed to be Mediatek's ICS chip. Wonder how close are they to the release.
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2
Lenovo A750 Root Method
hi , i found a link showing way to root the Lenovo A750
www[dot]7xz[dot]com/topic/16618
but since all in chinese , i don't really understand it , and reluctant to try
may someone here translate this for me (and maybe useful for some of us )
disclaimer : i do not responsible for any failure caused by this rooting method
Peace!
I found etotalk.com have many MTK6575 phone. Lenovo A750, Lenovo A65, zp100...
And it have many video:
youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=r_vEZYQkXmU
youtube.com/watch?v=QMX2wUy8A24&feature=player_embedded
youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o-VVsTO4p_g
I used to buy dual-sim phone with MTK6753 chip. I was surprised at its good build quality and smooth GUI (I do not play games). However, I was let down by two major things.
1. available ROM for additional applications: it has around 160MB which is too small. Some well-known apps won't be able to move to external microsd card. So I was not able to install some apps due to insufficient internal rom. I would like to buy the MTK6575 phone, but would be nice if the available free ROM is at least around 300-400MB.
2. camera: quality is not good at all. Mine didn't come with auto-focus feature. Hope to get MTK6575 with auto-focus back camera.
Yesterday I had a chance to see the Galaxy Note clone (MTK6573), the build quality and ROM GUI are very nice. It supports auto-focus; but again, the free ROM is just 30MB!.
Thanks in advance for those who would share with me the above issues.
bthoven said:
I used to buy dual-sim phone with MTK6753 chip. I was surprised at its good build quality and smooth GUI (I do not play games). However, I was let down by two major things.
1. available ROM for additional applications: it has around 160MB which is too small. Some well-known apps won't be able to move to external microsd card. So I was not able to install some apps due to insufficient internal rom. I would like to buy the MTK6575 phone, but would be nice if the available free ROM is at least around 300-400MB.
2. camera: quality is not good at all. Mine didn't come with auto-focus feature. Hope to get MTK6575 with auto-focus back camera.
Yesterday I had a chance to see the Galaxy Note clone (MTK6573), the build quality and ROM GUI are very nice. It supports auto-focus; but again, the free ROM is just 30MB!.
Thanks in advance for those who would share with me the above issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the G11i pro is also based on the MT6573 chipset. this phone has a rom developer working on improving roms. one of thefeatures he added is ext2 file system support. so your free romspace can be as big as you like. read here
http://www.eten-users.eu/index.php?/topic/21427-g11i-mt6513-g11i-pro-mt6573-support-thread/
hope this helps. use this phone myself since 3 month and very happy with it.
Does anyone have an MT6575 phone here? Any feedback with its performance?
Zopo100
I had this phone for almost two weeks now. Superb phone. I love it more than my HTC Evo 3D.
Advantages:
------------
1) Quick boot up. Only takes about 30s to boot up.
2) High quality LCD by Sharp ASV. I would say it's 100% identical to my Evo 3D.
3) Good camera quality, Sony 5MP. Although can't compare with Evo 3D's camera, this camera is unlike those cheapo low quality type commonly found in China phone. It's good, really good but not superb.
4) Dual sim standby but if you're talking on one line, the other line will get busy tone.
5) Great battery life even though smaller battery 1600mAh. I can use almost 24h with both line active. Evo 3D lasted about 12h only with equal usage.
6) Dedicated camera button.
7) High quality finish, up to 90% of HTC's quality. Can easily mistaken as the real HTC if someone pass the phone to you without you noticing the Zopo logo at the back.
8) Minimal RAM usage. I'm getting >300MB free memory out of 512MB after the phone boot up using stock ROM. Evo 3D only have around 230MB free memory out of 1GB!
9) The phone is really fast even though only 1Ghz single core. Zooming in and out, scrolling and clicking on appz was very very smooth.
10) Value for $$$
11) Upgradable to ICS 4.0 end of this month.
Disadvantages
--------------
1) Simple interface/launcher. Uses default ADW launcher (maybe that's why it's faster.
2) No Google Market or Play Store. Need to install myself after rooting it.
3) Rooting the phone is a real pain. Most of the appz for rooting not working. Need to find a rooted ROM from Zopo site and flash it.
4) Can be laggy if the phone is busy reading from SDcard, probably due to single core.
5) Camera button is a single touch. Can't depress a little for focus and fully depress to capture picture.
6) Small internal memory. Only around 500MB available. The rest is mounted as internal sdcard around 2.2GB. Prefers if everything is mounted as internal memory and uses external sdcard as storage.
7) No custom ROM available. No tun.ko drivers, so no VPN for this phone.
8) Can't find any casing that fits this phone because of the reverse position of 3.5mm audio jack and power button. Initially I thought can use Evo 3D's casing.
9) Weak GPU. Plays simple games really well but those 3D intensive might be a little laggy (still playable though).
10) No analog TV commonly a/w China phones.
Anyone who manages to compile tun.ko drivers for this baby kindly pass me a copy as well. Really needs it. Thanks in advance!
Is it upgradable to ics.? I doubt lol
Sent from my HTC HD7 Pro/+ using Tapatalk 2
According to Zopo's forum, the admins claimed that new ICS will be out end of this month. They even posted a video of successful incorporation of ICS into their test phone. Hope the info is accurate unless I'm reading wrongly from Google's translation from Chinese to English. LOL!
1 Does skype and gtalk video calls work?
2 flash player?
3 temple runs smooth?
Sent from my HTC HD7 Pro/+ using Tapatalk 2
Zopo100 Antutu Benchmark
I'm sorry. So far haven't try skype and gtalk, as a matter infact, I never did use those on my Evo 3D either. However, this is the only android phone I've encountered so far (among my friends and colleagues) that supports 3G video call just like in those dumb phones. Dunno why HTC phones don't support 3G video call.
I don't use Temple for benchmark but I'll include the scores taken from Antutu Benchmark.
More of the good stuffs:
-----------------------
1) Flash worked flawlessly.
2) Camera has anti-flickering function. Very useful when taking photos of X-rays on the x-ray box with fluorescent tube lighting. Would e useful if you're taking screen shots from CRT monitor and even some LCD screens.
3) The plain vanilla Android 2.3.6 is very stable. Rarely got crashes.
4) Built-in ROM was pretty fast, at least equivalent to Class 6 sdcard. When I use the built-in ROM (automatically mounted as 2.2GB internal sdcard), things ran pretty quick on the phone. Now that I've switch the internal sdcard (mounted as external storage /sdcard2) and my Class 4 32GB sdcard (mounted as internal storage /sdcard), things are noticeably slower now.
More of the bad stuffs:
----------------------
1) The infamous disappearing videos/photos plaguing many android devices also present here but only if you put video/images on /sdcard2. So the workaround is to put video/images on /sdcard.
2) GPS lock takes long time, average 5min from cold start compared to under 1min in my Evo 3D. This is after I've changed the GPS regional setting and enable the EPO function. Even when locked, single is pretty weak. Easily looses lock when cloudy or driving under slightly covered area. Evo 3D GPS lock and signal was superb and the best so far.
3) Good luck in finding custom ROM/kernels. Maybe it's still new and not many users at the moment.
4) Built-in VPN function is a little flaky. Can't use 3rd party VPN appz becaus no compatible tun.ko drivers.
Could be good or bad stuff:
--------------------------
1) There are also no drivers included in the package. Luckily, it's fully compatible with HTC drivers. As a matter in fact, it's being recognized as HTC phone in Windows 7
2)Rubberized outer shell. Feels good and firm when you hold it in your hands. My only worried is that if it becomes sticky later on like what happened to some of my usb drive and writing pens which has a rubbery coating.

Xiaomi M2 Review - with sample Camera shots and videos

Where to get one: http://www.ibuygou.com/crazy-discount/
Specifications: http://goo.gl/T6PaQ
How to get one:
The one I got was a 32 GB version of the Xiaomi M2. You can get one here. The offer is for a limited stock but keep watching this space for offer on the device. The website (www.ibuygou.com) accepts PayPal as well as other standard online payment methods. They have various shipping options including DHL, Fedex, EMS and Registered Airmail and Airmail and ship internationally. The cheapest is the Airmail (free). But I recommend at the very least opting for a registered airmail so that you can track the package. I personally changed my shipping to DHL because I couldn’t wait for the device to arrive. The customer care executive was extremely helpful when changing the shipping method.
The device was shipped in a day and arrived within a couple of days once I changed my shipping method to DHL from registered airmail. The packaging was appropriate and there was no damage. The device however, ships with minimal accessories and in-box items. The seller fortunately, added a connector for my country.
Device Hardware:
The Quad core 1.5 GHz device flaunts a 2GB RAM and Adreno 320 GPU. The amazing 342 ppi – 1280x720 4.3 inch screen is supported by a 2000 mAh battery. It has an 8 MP rear camera and 2 MP front facing camera. The only thing I miss in this device is the memory card slot so make sure you opt for a highest possible capacity version you can afford. The phone has all the other standard stuff that smartphone have like GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.
One thing I was concerned about was the battery life. Even though there is an option to buy a battery with 3100 mAh capacity (here); the only downside you need to put on an ugly black color cover instead of the standard one. But to my surprise the battery is powerful enough to last for about 8 hours with heavy usage and a whole day for light users.
The camera on the device is extremely responsive and has a good quality lens. The photos are crisp and have no lag between continuous shots. There is a led illumination available. The front facing camera is decent and enough for video chats. The GPS works as expected. The hardware is powerful enough to play graphics intensive games like Vector. But the hardware does tend to heat up with extensive use on GPU intensive games. The heating is something Xiaomi has to look into.
The call quality is crystal clear but the speak phone volume is limited. The speaker volume for the device is to a lower side in general but not so low that it becomes unusable. The signal quality is decent and does not cut off at poor signal reception places.
Device Software:
The device comes preloaded with MIUI JBLv11 (based on Android 4.1.1). For international users, there is no Google play store. But one can go to the MIUI market app and download it without any hiccups. MIUI is basically an acquired taste but is an excellent shell over the standard Android OS. It comes preloaded with a number of features that provide excellent customization options.
With the 2GB RAM the device runs like butter. Even with around 200 applications installed on my device it still runs very fast and has 1GB of RAM available at all times. MIUI comes with preinstalled task manager, specialized apps like Anti-Spam, Anti-Virus, MIUI market, themes, etc. People who miss the Android JellyBean experience can install a custom launcher like GO Launcher EX and get an Android JB theme.
One thing about MIUI that a user can appreciate is there are frequent updates available and if you choose to root the device and install a development build there are weekly updates. The OS still has some quirks that you would notice from time to time on the English version but overall the experience is fulfilling and not incomplete. Some things you have to get used to are Chinese names/characters in names for online library of themes, wallpapers, etc.
There is something called a MiDrive that serves the same purpose as the Apple Cloud service. You can backup many things online along with files you specify and are available at i.xiaomi.com
Overall review:
The Xiaomi M2 is a great phone at a great price. The specifications are amazing and are available at a relatively cheap price. The hardware performance is great and the software is highly customizable. The camera performs well and the battery life supports the superb device. My opinion is if you want something compact at a reasonable rate that fits in your pocket unlike the latest trend of 5 inch phones, this is a great device. The seller has multiple reviews and accepts PayPal so your purchase is protected. The only problem I found was the lack of a memory card slot on the device. My experience using the device has so far been great and I would recommend this to anyone who plans on upgrading to a quad core super powered Android device.
Note:
Screen Shots, Camera Shots and other images available at http://goo.gl/UkoKz .
Sample Video from Xiaomi M2 primary camera at http://goo.gl/LqBv9

1.8GHZ Quad Core + FHD display - in depth Review the CUBE U30GT2

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The CUBE U30GT2 has actually been on sale for quite a while now. The ten inch tablet runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), with 1.8GHz quad-core processor, the display’s resolution is WUXGA (1920 x 1200). It has a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. It is 9.6 mm thick, comes in black & white.
For:
1. The High-resolution screen rivals the iPad4's display in sharpness and clarity.
2. Extremely powerful, Apps launch quickly, 3D games run smoothly.
3. Excellent battery life, probably the best among all Chinese slates with FHD or Retina displays.
Against:
1. A littile bit heavy and porky.
2. Outdoor visibility is still unsatisfactory.
3. The rear-facing camera is really not much more than just decoration.
Key Features
◇10.1 inch 16M-color super IPS display at WUXGA resolution (1920X1200 pixels), 224PPI
◇Rockchip RK3188 SoC., 28nm quad core 1.8GHZ Cortex-A9 processor, Mali-400MP4 GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM
◇Stock Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
◇32GB of built-in-storage
◇2MP front facing camera, 5.0MP rear-facing AF camera
◇Stereo speakers
◇HDMI TV-out
◇Bluetooth 2.1
◇Anti-rolling frame
◇USB host
◇MicroSD card slot
◇1080p video playback
◇7200mAh Li-Po rechargeable battery
First Impressions​
The CUBE U30GT2 feels like a solid tablet. I really fancy its white plastic chassis, which makes me forget how much a fan I am of the feel of black technology.
Contrary to my worries before receiving this slate, the RK3188 SoC. seems to support the FHD display very well, tasks from scrolling image-heavy webpages to running graphic-intense games were all handled with ease. And the tablet remains incredibly responsive while running several big applications at the same time!
Design and Build​
The CUBE U30GT2 uses the kind of design which most large-screen tablets look like. It’s thinner than its predecessor, the dual core U30GT, at just 9.6 mm. It is also a little bit lighter at just 659 g, but still way too heavy for single-handed use. There’s sufficient amount of bezel on either side of the screen, so you can use it in any orientation comfortably.
A 2MP front-facing camera sits comfortably in the middle of the bezel above the display, which can be used for online video chatting. The intelligent light sensor, which helps the tablet to automatically adjust the display brightness, is located on the upper left corner of this flagship slate, covered by the sticker.
All the keys and connectors are hosted on the left edge. You will find a power button, a volume rocker, a mini HDMI port, a MicroSD card slot, a 3.5mm audio jack and a 2.5mm DC port there. The metal frame around the edges looks very cool.
The stereo speakers are hosted on the middle of the right edge, which is not reasonable at all, as they are easily covered by our palm while we are holding the tablet with both hands.
The back of the U30GT2 is ABS plastic, which is not only good-looking, but also very durable. The UV coating process also helps with avoiding the feel of plasticky or cheap. The 5MP AF rear side camera and a LED flash sits on the top-left corner, but don’t get excited too soon, the quality of the shots is nowhere near images coming from a 5.0MP cell phone camera.
Display and Sound
The LCD-backlit IPS display on the U30GT2 is a lot better as compared to the MVA screen on the U30GT. The full HD resolution (1920 x 1200) at that size offers a decent pixel count of 224 PPI. This is not too far off from Apple’s 264 PPI on the iPad4, which means you won’t notice a huge difference between them in everyday use. The display is bright and text is sharp and crisp; perfect for web browsing or catching up on your TV shows. The viewing angles are wide -- so wide, in fact, that you can easily watch a movie with the tablet placed face-up on a table in front of you (not that you'd need to do this ever). The display also has a screen guard protecting it, just like the other CUBE tablets, but I left it alone this time.
The brightness of the display is decent, but not amazing as the one on PIPO M9, which can boast 600nit brightness. While I am using the U30GT2 outdoors, the screen glare sometimes overpowers whatever's on screen.
Like many other CUBE tablets, the U30GT2 comes endowed with ACC speakers, which make for some loud, though not exceptionally rich sound. Just keep in mind that the speaker is located on the right edge, which means if you are holding the tablet with both hands, any songs and movie dialogue will sound muffled.
Performance
The CUBE U30GT2 packs an 1.8GHz quad-core Rockchip chip (RK3188), which is built on Cortex-A9 frame and 28nm process, paired up with 533MHZ quad core Mali-400MP GPU and 2GB of DDR3 RAM. Although this is not the first tablet I've tested this setup, it is truly the first one with FHD display, and it didn't disappoint—the U30GT2 scorched the benchmarks, recording some of the highest scores I've seen across the board. The 16,413 overall Antutu benchmark score handily beat the 10,401 notched by the Onda V973 and approached the 18,000-20,000 marked by the Sony Xperia Tablet Z and Asus Padfone Infinity, both of which use Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4 APQ8064 quad core chipset.
High CF-Bench and Vellamo HTML5 scores confirmed anecdotally speedy Web browsing performance during day-to-day use, while Nenamark2 frame rates were among the best I’ve seen. From rapidly switching between multiple running apps to playing graphically intensive games like NFS17, the U30GT2 handled everything I threw at it easily. Sliding between widget-loaded home screens and scrolling down media-heavy websites was smooth, with very rare choppiness.
The U30GT2’s benchmark score compared with other tablets with quad core processor.
The tablet has 32GB of internal memory with the option of adding up to a 32GB microSD card, which will suffice the need of majority of users. If that’s not enough, you can always connect an USB disk or mobile hard drive to the slate via OTG.
Software
The U30GT2 isn’t skinned with CUBE’s much loved yet also much hated Win8-like interface, instead it uses the original launcher of the stock Android 4.1.1. There are indeed some very cool and useful preinstalled applications, but none of them actually developed by CUBE, and you can find them in Google play or any third-party app market.
Multi-media
Media playback is solid with the U30GT2 and it breezed through anything I threw at it, including MPEG-4, RMVB, and MKV files at resolutions up to 1080p. The sound the speakers produce is of relatively high volume and nice quality.
Also, the U30GT2 has HDMI support, you can output the display to much bigger monitor and TV screens in Full HD resolution via an HDMI cable, enjoying movies and funny videos with friends and family.
Communication
New tablets should have an easy time in the connectivity test. However, many voices spoke out about the poor WLAN performance of many of CUBE’s slates. This was not really the case for the U30GT2, as I am pleasantly surprised with its Wi-Fi reception.
The U30GT2 uses 802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth 2.1. A version with a 3G module has not yet been announced by CUBE. In my standard Wi-Fi reception test, the U30GT2 beats most Chinese tablets in test results:
Cameras
There are two cameras on board here, a 5-megapixel F2.8 rear-facing camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera disappointed in my tests, with noticeably grainy images in both indoor and outdoor settings. Images are moderately sharp, but the U30GT2 struggles with dynamic range, blowing out highlighted areas and losing detail in shadows. You can record video at 480p resolution, but I'd use it as a last resort—video is shaky and riddled with image noise. The front-facing camera is serviceable for Skype calls, but not much more. This, however, is pretty typical of most tablet cameras.
Battery
The U30GT2 packs a 7200mAh battery. In my battery rundown test, which loops a video with screen brightness set to 30% and Wi-Fi turned off, the U30GT2 lasted 10 hours, 38 minutes. That's pretty impressive compared to the Onda V973's 8 hours, 5 minutes and the Nexus10's 8 hours, 47 minutes on the same test.
During testing, I also noticed the U30GT2 seemed to charge faster than competing models, a full charge only took about 4 hours with its bundled 12V-2A charger. But, contrary to most other Chinese tablet products with RK3188 chipset, the U30GT2 cannot be charged under a shutdown state. And I believe this is gonna annoy quite a number of people.
The competition
With a 1920 x 1200 screen and a $204 starting price to match, there's little question that the CUBE U30GT2 was intended as a cost-efficient device. By now, most Chinese tablet makers have lowered the price of their goods, leaving the U30GT2 with only a handful of competitors in the 2-hundred-dollar range. Starting with the obvious, there's the ifive X2, which sports an 8.9-inch, 1920*1200 PLS screen, along with a RK3188 processor and 2GB of RAM. All told, these are similar specs, except ifive's model costs $40 less and runs a slightly more skinned version of Android. As it happens, I am in the process of testing one now, but not quite ready to post my impressions and benchmarks results. In the meantime, then, it's at least safe to say that the X2 sits in the same class as the Infinity U30GT2 and is definitely worth your consideration, although it is beaten by the U30GT2 in internal storage (16GB: 32GB).
Within the same price range there’re also the Yuandao N90HD, the Aoson M33 and the PIPO M9 Pro, all of which pack a Retina display and the same RK3188 set-up, posting serious threat to the U30GT2’s market share.
It's also worth noting that the U30GT2 could face competition from within the CUBE line: the U30GT1 has already been on sale for a couple of weeks, at only $169 it is very likely to draw lots of users’ attentions away from the U30GT2.
Conclusion
The U30GT2 is a truly impressive tablet. It's exquisitely designed, exceedingly fast, and has a sharp full-HD display. Throw in extras like anti-rolling frame, built-in Bluetooth, expandable memory, and dual cameras and you have a seriously loaded Android tablet.
If you want arguably the fastest Android tablet with a full HD display for under $250, the U30GT2 is the way to go, since it is much more pleasant to use than those Allwinner A31 powered tablets with Retina displays. But my suggestion remains with the PIPO M9, as a standard resolution still has much better compatibility with most applications.
Price Incorrect - Or Changed?
Hi.
Nice review. I like that I can compare it to your Pipo review.
Question: you state that the cube can be found for around $200.00 or so. Where was that? I realizes prices can change, but your review is just a few weeks ago, and the typical price is around $250.00. The U30GT (version 1) goes for around $200.
Thanks!
-Pie
Hardware is good, but the rom is poor. it is always the problem of china tablet.
EatingPie said:
Hi.
Nice review. I like that I can compare it to your Pipo review.
Question: you state that the cube can be found for around $200.00 or so. Where was that? I realizes prices can change, but your review is just a few weeks ago, and the typical price is around $250.00. The U30GT (version 1) goes for around $200.
Thanks!
-Pie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The price that I presented here is turned from the retial price in China (RMB) to USD according to the exchange rate, the actual price in your country or some online stores might differ.
jupiter2012 said:
The price that I presented here is turned from the retial price in China (RMB) to USD according to the exchange rate, the actual price in your country or some online stores might differ.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, so they cost less when in China. Makes sense. But a road trip across the Pacific to save $50.00 is probably out of the question for me at this point.
BTW, can U30GT2 do chroot and run Linux distros like Ubuntu under Android? I use LinuxonAndroid and it made the process really easy on my Nook HD+... and it left me wanting for speed, which is why I'm interested in the UG30GT2.
Thanks.
-Pie
The best review i've ever read. Thank you mate!!
antooonn said:
The best review i've ever read. Thank you mate!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank u for your support!
Sent from my XT910 using xda premium
Screen on/off power button no workee
I just got the Cube U30GT2 in the mail earlier this week. You're right, it's got a bit more heft to it, but not so bad, just a tad heavier than my Galaxy tab 10.1. However, unlike that tablet, the U30GT has lots of options for connecting things, micro USB, micro SDHC, micro HDMI. My tab 10.1 couldn't do any of those.
On the bummer side, the momentary power button, screen on/off doesn't seem to be working. The tablet is new with all the wrappings on, but that button is slightly busted. It will reboot the tablet, but won't turn the screen on or off. I worked around it for now with a screen always on app, and screen off app. I also discovered plugging or unplugging the power cord from the tablet also turns the screen back on. But aggravating. I have yet to succeed at getting the attention of the seller (androidtablet.com).
The price was middle of the road: $250 or so. But that's terrific compared to a Galaxy Tab or other recent tablet.
---------- Post added at 08:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:34 PM ----------
I forgot to mention, I read lots of reviews online for the Cube U30GT2 before popping for it. Most rated it as one of the currently best Chinese tablets, and not withstanding the power button issue, I tend to agree. However, all of the Chinese Android tablets seem to suffer from weak wi-fi signals, and in my table at least, this is true.
I tested my Galaxy tab laying right next to the Cube tablet. The Galaxy was able to knock out 10mbs on my wi-fi router from my family which is 15 feet or so away. The cube tablet only hit 2 to 5 mbs. Mind you, I couldn't tell much of a difference when hitting youtube, but it is a distinct disadvantage. I'm going overseas next month and the weaker reception could mean I won't get reliable wi-fi reception in the hotel.
Looks good.
I have the previous one and it's great .
Recommended.
Looks OK. Just wished they opted to put a slightly better GPU in it. The Mali 400 is good for phones but for a tablet that had a 1080p + display needs a bit more power. However, this is a good bargain considering it's original nexus 7 price tag.
Sent from my YP-G1 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for the nice review.
I think according to the price its a good tablet. But I agree to obscuresword, that the GPU it too weak for the Resolution. My Galaxy S3 has the same GPU and many benchmarks show, that its not as good as many people think.
The HP Touchpad tought as, never trust the hardware, if the software isnt good. Because of that, i never bought a Tablet from China. Android is not efficient enough, to ignore new Android versions...
artoni said:
Thanks for the nice review.
I think according to the price its a good tablet. But I agree to obscuresword, that the GPU it too weak for the Resolution. My Galaxy S3 has the same GPU and many benchmarks show, that its not as good as many people think.
The HP Touchpad tought as, never trust the hardware, if the software isnt good. Because of that, i never bought a Tablet from China. Android is not efficient enough, to ignore new Android versions...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How come I don't understand your last sentence....
Android has its advantages and disadvantages, that all comes down to personal preference. As for myself, I could never get used to the iOS system. I used to own an ipad2, but got too sick of the system after using it for just 2 months and gave it away.
Very comprehensive review! Thanks a bunch!
The deal-breaker for me is the placement of the "stereo" speakers on the righthand side. You'd think they would have separated the two speakers, one on the left side of the tab and one on the right side, but they didn't.
1.8?
I just wanted to point out that the clock is running at 1.6Ghz and not 1.8Ghz as advised. It is still a good choice for the price thought.
vondroid CFW
http://vondroid.com/resources/cfw-vondroid-cube-u30gt2-1-x.374/
4GB Internal Storage
CWM Recovery (ClockWorkMod)
Rooted
Debloated Chinese Software
Add apps (Youtube, ES File Explorer)
Apps updated
Ads block
Partial Build.prop optimise
Solved Settings crash issue
Fully Build.prop optimise
Fully market support
Init.d support
Init.d tweaks
Update apps (GoogleSearch)
General system optimise (Launcher.apk, Framework-res.apk)
Vondroid Boot animation
Support extra .ko files (Tun.ko, cifs.ko, nls,...)
antooonn said:
The best review i've ever read. Thank you mate!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yaah men i agree
WHich one
I have been looking at the cube u30gt2 and still undecided which one to get.
i have looked at.
1. Cube u30gt2
2. Pipo Max m9 pro
3. Ramos W30HD
4. Ramos I9
each seem to have similar pros and cons,
I am just nervous I buy the wrong one and nervous I am buying from china?
Please help me decide
Quite a good review. Ordered mine from China together with the Onda. Yet to receive them. Will post impressions after I drive the two.
Root
I can´t find a rooting tutorial for this tablet. Can some one give a clue about that?
Thks
Pirex
jy_P said:
I just wanted to point out that the clock is running at 1.6Ghz and not 1.8Ghz as advised. It is still a good choice for the price thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got one, and mine is runnig at 1.8Ghz
Cheers

Cube Talk 9x still the best tablet you can buy under $160!

I just got my Cube talk 9x. I really like it. I know it is old about two years but for me it is new. I have been wanting an octa core tablet just because I am a nerd and just to experience it on a tablet. I do not like Samsung Tablets and certainly did not want to spend that kind of money. I already have an Nvidia K1 and I really like it for a lot of reasons but I wanted a bigger screen and an Octa core processor with longer battery life than my Nvidia. I love the Nvidia but the battery life leaves a lot to be desired.
I did not want to spend a lot of money, $200 being my limit. As you can imagine that does not buy much in larger format tablets. First I started with the cheap amazon octa cores with the Allwiner a83t and the likes of Dragon Touch. Thank God for Amazon prime returns! Those devices were just awful and the Allwinner A83t was not a good processor. I was very wary of buying a tablet direct from China. Heard some horror stories but I took a risk anyway.
Had a bad experience with Gearbest.com but had the Cube talk 9x enough to know it was a good device even though the first one was defective. Dealing with Gear best turned into a PayPal claim.
I tried Geekbuying and had a much better experience.
So now I have my Cube and I received new March 17th update. Of course I was hoping for Lollipop but no. Still on KitKat but I have to say it is very smooth. Very stable build of Android. Ram usage seems very well optimized.
So what makes this tablet special? Well for the cost only one other tablet in this size range has the same amount of ram which is the Lenovo tab2 a10. The Lenovo is nice with a 64 bit quad core cortex a53 media tek processor clocked at 1.7, full HD screen. However the Cube has a 32 bit octa core cortex a7 clocked at 1.7 and a retina screen. The Cube is made from a solid Aluminum body while the Lenovo is plastic. The Cube also has gorilla glass 2 while the Lenovo just has glass. Acer has a new 10.1" tab with a mediatek 8151 cortex a53 octa core processor and 1 GB ram and a 1280 x 800 screen. Unfortunately the low res screen and 1 GB of ram really hurt the user experience. The acer also feels cheap and is full of pre loaded apps. I bought the Acer only to return it because of the glitchy or defective WiFi and other things I mentioned.
Of course you could spend a lot more and have a super experience but I just can't justify $500 or more on a tablet. My computer costs about that much.
The Cube seems really well made. The updates after 2 years since it's release from a no name company is impressive as some of the brands I have had above barely udate their tablets. I still think Cube should release Lollipop but KitKat works well.
This tablet has the 1.7 GHz octa core processor, 2 gigs of ram, retina screen, 3g, 16 gig ROM, stereo speakers at the bottom of the tablet, 10,000 mah battery. Pretty impressive specs even for an older device. The limitations of the of the device are the 32 bit a7 cores used are better for power efficiency than performance. The newer mediatek 8151 which has the newer cortex 64 bit a53 cores perform much better while still being rather power efficient. For example the Acer with only 1gb or ram scored over 37,000 points on Anutu while the talk 9x with double the ram scored only 28,000 points roughly. Acer did a very good job of optimizing the ROM on their tablet. The Cube T9 has the newer octa core processor but it was over my price range.
However this tablet stock unrooted performs really well. There was not a lot of junk apps installed and most apps give you an option to install to SD card. Really the only drawback to this tablet is the partitioning. Seems like a common practice on the tablets from China. Not sure why. A horrible practice. You can root the device and try to repartition it but you could also brick the device in the process. The mediatek tools at not the easiest for me to use so I am not going to go there. Specially when the tablet runs great .
So I highly recommend this tablet with a couple of caveats. It is at the end of its life so it is really cheap but if you think it will be updated to Marshmallow or N you can forget it. Lollipop could happn but I would not hold my breath. The 2 gig app limit really sucks and there is no easy way to solve the problem.
So if you are looking for an amazing device for a good price I do not know of a better deal anywhere. Is the Octacore hype. Personally I don't think so. Sure there is marketing hype but the Octacore really feels snappy while the huge battery makes it last!
There are not a lot of these devices left. Seems Cube is now focused on dual boot tablets with Intel processors. I wish they would come out with a new octacore processor android tablet like the Nvidia x1 or the newer cortex a53 octa core from mediated. The t9 if you can find it would perform even better but the build quality and aluminum frame just really make this an enjoyable experience. If you want one I would act now.
Thanks for the first details of the tablet. Have you had a chance to test battery life yet?
I haven't let it run down yet. The lowest I got was to 79%. The charger and cable that come with the device are pretty much useless. Using a Lenovo 2amp tablet charger seems to charge pretty quickly. It does not have fast charge but so far it seems to charge up pretty fast and last pretty long. I will try and see if I can run down the battery to give a better approximation of the run time.

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