My very first post!
Another user posted a YouTube video review of this phone in Russian. After almost a week of constant usage, I figured I will do a written review in English.
I currently own the LG Optimus G (which I am passing to my wife, who is on the ancient Samsung Nexus S) so that is my frame of reference throughout this review.
Summary – In the context of a $100 cell phone, I say it is good value for the money (FYI, I paid $695 for the Optimus G when it first came out and it was brand spanking new. Don’t think I can justify that kind of spending again). Fast enough for what I need to do, good reception, decent screen. But the camera is rather disappointing. And I simply cannot get Google Authenticator (or Authy) app to work (see below), any help is appreciated!
Here are the review details:
Packaging – Well packaged with screen protector pre-installed, and included a second screen protector in the box. I purchased it from DX and they threw in a clear plastic back cover for the phone, so it was nice of them.
Exterior – Decent looking. Thin. Plastic so it feels a bit light sometimes, but well made. It doesn’t have that heavy duty feel to it like my Optimus G.
Screen – Nice and bright. When outside there is no problem using it in the shade or inside the car. Haven’t tried it under the sun.
Screen Resolution – The phone’s screen resolution is low and it shows if you really look at it. When you stare down at the icons it is visibly inferior to my Optimus G. A low resolution screen also means you get less information displayed. Think of it as a 24 inch computer monitor but your graphics card can only output 1280x720.
Screen (Touch) – Responsive enough. Did not notice any problems.
CPU & Responsiveness – Quite good. I didn’t notice any lags when swiping and doing stuff. Launches apps quickly.
Games – I only played Subway Surfer. While it is very playable, it was not as responsive as my Optimus G. Without the Optimus G, however, it probably would not have occurred to me that it was slow.
Video – I loaded a 1080P MP4 into the phone and it played this file smoothly.
Wifi – No complaints. Fast connectivity to my lan.
Wifi Throughout (Ookla App) – 22Mbps down and 8Mbps up. My internet connectivity is 25Mbps down/10Mbps up.
Network – No complains. Very quick connectivity to Rogers/Fido 3G network.
Network Throughput (Ookla App) – on Rogers/Fido 3G, I get 7.8Mbps down and 1.2 Mbps up.
Call Quality – Works fine. It was clear, and the other caller can hear me fine.
GPS – I get GPS sync pretty quickly, probably the same lock time as the Optimus G, if not faster. Works well with Google Maps while travelling.
Camera – I think the biggest disappointment is the camera. Focus ‘appears’ to be quick, but I just can’t seem to get a good focus at anything I point at. Maybe it’s my high expectations? On the other hand, it scans QR code fine.
Bluetooth – Works properly when sync to our car. Bluetooth calls works fine. But the weird thing is that the Bluetooth audio volume comes across very low. I couldn’t find the setting to adjust that, but there are apps that supposedly can help. I will give it a try later. This issue seems to appear on other brands of androids phone, so it’s not unique to DG310.
Battery Life – I say it’s average. When in use the DG310 (2000mAh) seems to drain faster than my Optimus G (2100mAh). I say on average usage you can go day and a half. I do charge mine every night.
Sound – Nice and clear.
Memory Card – I put in a 32G microSD card and it works fine.
Antutu Score – 18381
Root – Rooted with Baidu Root 2.4.6 (in Chinese) app. There seems to be different versions/clones of this app floating around, and only version 2.4.6 worked. I first tried the newer 2.4.7 and that one did not work.
Google Authenticator (and Authy) – The app installed and runs fine, but it does not generate the correct 6-digit code. I spent hours searching through many forums, executed “Time correction for codes” within the Google Authenticator app many times, but it still does not generate the correct code. I rooted the phone and then used ClockSync app to sync the phone to NTP time. Still does not work. Poor clock/crystal quality inside the phone? Don't know. HELP!!!!
Other thoughts – I have now transferred all my apps and data off the Optimus G and onto the DG310. So far so good. My plan is to simply use it for a year and then upgrade to next latest and greatest $100 phone
Hopefully this review helped somebody.
Clear, succinct, informative without overspilling or keeping important details. Excellent review indeed. :good:
I ordered mine (DG310), but hasn't yet been posted, so waiting.
Can you -- following your review -- compose a clear, noob-oriented tutorial for proper root procedures?
voiceferous said:
Clear, succinct, informative without overspilling or keeping important details. Excellent review indeed. :good:
I ordered mine (DG310), but hasn't yet been posted, so waiting.
Can you -- following your review -- compose a clear, noob-oriented tutorial for proper root procedures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw some sites selling DG310 phone.Why do prices vary considerably?
Krystyna said:
I saw some sites selling DG310 phone.Why do prices vary considerably?
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LINKS?
I got mine from eBay UK, They sell it really cheap on DX.com, I managed to root mine from some help from a member on this forum
voiceferous said:
Clear, succinct, informative without overspilling or keeping important details. Excellent review indeed. :good:
I ordered mine (DG310), but hasn't yet been posted, so waiting.
Can you -- following your review -- compose a clear, noob-oriented tutorial for proper root procedures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks voiceferous for your kind words!
As for my rooting experience, you know what they say, third time's a charm...
My first attempt was with Baidu rooting, PC version. This is were you plug the DG310 into the USB port of the PC and run the rooting application on your PC. The phone was detected by the application, but rooting simply did not work.
For my second attempt, I found an XDA user who used Baidu rooting app version 2.4.6 and reported success. I downloaded the latest 2.4.7 of that app and installed on the phone. It kind of worked, since it was able to install Baidu's version of super user app into the system (it didn't ask if I wanted that app installed), but the root does not persist after reboot (and the app forces a reboot). So I attempted to root again, and again on reboot the root goes away. So this is a fail. Worse still, I now have Baidu's super user app in the phone but it is completely useless because the phone is not rooted. And I can't uninstall it because it's a system app.
On my third try, I downloaded version 2.4.6 of that app, installed on my phone, execute, and this time it worked. The only thing is that I had to manually reboot the phone.
After I confirmed my root with the Root Checker app, I installed SuperSU from the Play Store, uninstall the Baidu root app and also uninstall Baidu's super user app. I reboot the phone to make sure my root is permanent.
A few things to note:
1. There seem to be different variants of Baidu rooting app floating around. Not sure if they are created equal or not. If you are interested I can either send you or post the link of the exact Baidu rooting app I used. Newbie question: am I allowed to post links like that here?
2. The app is in Chinese, but I say you don't need to know Chinese to use it. Just press that elongated button on the top half of screen and you are good to go.
3. Many people have apprehensions regarding Chinese apps like this one since it has access to the core system of your phone, and that is totally understandable. In my case, after I uninstalled the two Chinese apps, I was getting Chinese advertisements on my phone notification like once a day. Annoying! I traced those ads to an app called com.android.service.memmagr. I used the System App Remover app from the Play Store to remove it and now all seems good. When I googled com.android.service.memmagr, only a small number of Chinese websites turned up. So looks like it was installed by Baidu root. But I stand to be corrected.
I know some people have successfully rooted the DG310 using ClockmodWork. But the instructions are just too complicated for me to follow right now. As an aside, I have used CWM in the past to root my Acer Iconia A500 tablet, so I am familiar with it.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Krystyna said:
I saw some sites selling DG310 phone.Why do prices vary considerably?
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Click to collapse
I got mine from DX for $89 USD. I am in Canada so my $100 in the review is in Canadian currency.
DG310 no internet from network
Please help me. i just got my DG310, but cannot connect to the internet vie sim. over wifi is working, but not from the provider of the sim. On my old HTC it works.
GDeftimov said:
Please help me. i just got my DG310, but cannot connect to the internet vie sim. over wifi is working, but not from the provider of the sim. On my old HTC it works.
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Perhaps you already done it, but I would start by checking two places:
1. check the APN (Access Point Names) is setup properly. This setting is specific to your carrier, so they would have that published on their website somewhere. In my case my SIM has that info and it was setup for my automatically.
Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Access Point Names
2. check that your mobile data connection is enabled.
Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Data connection
Hope this helps.
Artog said:
Perhaps you already done it, but I would start by checking two places:
1. check the APN (Access Point Names) is setup properly. This setting is specific to your carrier, so they would have that published on their website somewhere. In my case my SIM has that info and it was setup for my automatically.
Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Access Point Names
2. check that your mobile data connection is enabled.
Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Data connection
Hope this helps.
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Click to collapse
Thank you very much. it was the APN's. It seems the phone cannot set the APN automatically.
voiceferous said:
Clear, succinct, informative without overspilling or keeping important details. Excellent review indeed. :good:
I ordered mine (DG310), but hasn't yet been posted, so waiting.
Can you -- following your review -- compose a clear, noob-oriented tutorial for proper root procedures?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
DO NOT BUY FROM ANTELIFE.COM ---> SCAM, FRAUD, THEFT ALERT!
I ordered this phone over 10 days ago, it has not been posted, money have not been refunded, the "customer service" keep giving me the run-around and are basically wasting my time with lies. I've initiated PayPal procedures to claim my money back and I know it's going to be long, drawn-out process. I regret the day I visited this web site. STAY AWAY FROM ANTELIFE - FRAUD, SCAM, CHEATERS!
voiceferous said:
DO NOT BUY FROM ANTELIFE.COM ---> SCAM, FRAUD, THEFT ALERT!
I ordered this phone over 10 days ago, it has not been posted, money have not been refunded, the "customer service" keep giving me the run-around and are basically wasting my time with lies. I've initiated PayPal procedures to claim my money back and I know it's going to be long, drawn-out process. I regret the day I visited this web site. STAY AWAY FROM ANTELIFE - FRAUD, SCAM, CHEATERS!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A quick update. After opening the PayPal dispute, they kept insisting on the same narrative: "We'll refund you in the next 1-3 days" - which is something I heard quite a lot over to past 10 days, so I escalated without wasting any more time to a CLAIM. An hour later I was fully refunded.
Conclusion - the moment you suspect something is amiss - immediately take action by opening a PayPal procedure and keep things monitored. If you let them prolong it - they might send you some junk to your address with tracking number and you're toast.
voiceferous said:
A quick update. After opening the PayPal dispute, they kept insisting on the same narrative: "We'll refund you in the next 1-3 days" - which is something I heard quite a lot over to past 10 days, so I escalated without wasting any more time to a CLAIM. An hour later I was fully refunded.
Conclusion - the moment you suspect something is amiss - immediately take action by opening a PayPal procedure and keep things monitored. If you let them prolong it - they might send you some junk to your address with tracking number and you're toast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear you had to go through this. But your PayPal dispute experience is good to know.
Dg310 data connection
Artog said:
Perhaps you already done it, but I would start by checking two places:
1. check the APN (Access Point Names) is setup properly. This setting is specific to your carrier, so they would have that published on their website somewhere. In my case my SIM has that info and it was setup for my automatically.
Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Access Point Names
2. check that your mobile data connection is enabled.
Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Data connection
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, another new user: just bought dg310 and what a great phone. But same problem, no data without wifi. So no internet, no maps etc. checked my APN but it looks alright, Vodafone set up. Any thoughts?
AlastairH01 said:
Hi, another new user: just bought dg310 and what a great phone. But same problem, no data without wifi. So no internet, no maps etc. checked my APN but it looks alright, Vodafone set up. Any thoughts?
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Sorry AlastairH01, nothing comes to mind immediately. I will give it some thoughts.
Update
Quick update. Have now manually entered APN After checking on providers website. Job done and connects perfectly.
The phone is great apart from its name, but for £60 all in I can live with Doogee!
AlastairH01 said:
Quick update. Have now manually entered APN After checking on providers website. Job done and connects perfectly.
The phone is great apart from its name, but for £60 all in I can live with Doogee!
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Click to collapse
I am glad you got the APN sorted out and got it working AlastairH01. Yes the name could have been better :laugh:
BT Audio Level
Hi Everyone,
Just got this phone and wondeing what third party apps that people tried and it worked for increasing the BT audio volume when paired in your car for music. If you can let me know that would be great.
Cheers
Speed220 said:
Hi Everyone,
Just got this phone and wondeing what third party apps that people tried and it worked for increasing the BT audio volume when paired in your car for music. If you can let me know that would be great.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I looked and tried many apps for increasing BT audio volume when used in my car, and none worked. So please let me know if anybody finds anything.
It's weird because BT phone volume inside the car works fine. Just BT audio that's very low.
Hello, i have a problem and i want to share it with you.
Today i received the phone from minideal.net as rooted but it won't charge no matter all my efforts.
Any ideas about it?
Is it hardware problem or false battery?
Can i do something to fix it?
For nearly a year we have not be able to upgrade our 1000+ Android devices operating with 4.1 Jellybean because the Bluetooth will not work properly. We recently discovered that this problem apparently began with Android version 4.2, coinciding with the change in the Bluetooth stack from BlueZ to Bluezoid. Here is the story: We use an Anoto digital pen with bluetooth and an app installed on an Android device (Kyocera Torque cell phone). After pairing the pen with the phone, individual transactions, written by the pen on paper are sent to the phone after a "send" box is checked. The phone then responds by activating its camera, pictures are taken then pen data and photos are sent to our server. This is the process which has been working flawlessly. The problem: After 4.1, the pen must be paired then the phone restarted. The "send" box must be checked twice before phone responds. After 8 sends, the process reverts to the correct process and remains until 20 total "sends" upon which the bluetooth function stops. The phone must be restarted. The pattern repeats. We have tested this on a variety of devices using Android 4.2 all the way to Marshmallow, all with the same results.
Please advise as to where we might to go or with whom we may consult to resolve this problem. Our engineer is very capable and is hoping we can find someone who can help us find a work-around or hack without having to re-install the BlueZ stack, which if it is possible is likely a very big project.
Hello,
Welcome to XDA.
I'm not sure what kind or how much help you will find with something like that but I'm sure that you will be a lot closer to having a solution with help here at XDA.
Try posting your question/issue in the forum linked below.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help
The experts there may be able to help.
Remember to register an XDA account so you can post and reply in the forums. Good luck.