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OnePlus One – Review
The OnePlus One is without a doubt one of the most anticipated mobile devices of 2014, thanks in part to it’s awesome hype campaign. Despite over promising and under delivering in regards to availability the device is still very sought after. When you look at the fact that OnePlus are a startup company (yes, with some help from Oppo), it really is amazing the amount of attention they garnered.
So after much waiting I finally have a OnePlus One in my possession. Will it live up to it’s hype or fall flat on it’s face? Let’s have a look at the device and see what it can do.
Unboxing
I received my invite and was informed I had 24 hours to use it or it would be gone. Needless to say, I used it as soon as I got home. Ordering from the site was easy but to my dismay the only shipping option was DHL. Sure DHL are fast, but I always get rather large additional charges from them. With no other choice I put the order through knowing that it would arrive with money owing to the carrier.
Just as expected the device arrived within several days as it shipped out of California and arrived in Canada. Also as expected there was money owing. $61 to be exact. Keep in mind that this is on top of the almost $30 I paid for DHL shipping. So realistically my $349 flagship killer had jumped to almost $449. Still a good deal? Keep reading to find out.
The parcel was in a simple thin bubble wrap envelope. Luckily the actual box and packaging on OnePlus’ part is solid so the device arrived in mint condition. When I opened the box I noticed that they had not cheaped out on the appearance and the presentation gives you the feeling of a quality company and device. The wall charger came boxed separately to ensure you recieve the proper one for your region. In side was the device, a micro USB cable, instructions and a SIM tool. Also included was a wall charger but like I mention that had it’s own box.
So far so good.
You can check out the unboxing video here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg9H5daxRpc
Specs
5.5″ 1920 x1080 display with 401 ppi and Gorilla Glass 3
Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 clocked at 2.5 Ghz
3GB of RAM
64GB storage
3100 mAh battery
5 MP front and 13 MP rear camera
LTE
Android 4.4.2 via Cyanogenmod 11S
Check out the full video review here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbExjYSpKIY
Physical features
The OnePlus One measures 152.9 x 75.9 x 8.9 mm and weights 162g. Despite the 8.9mm thickness the nice contour on the back of the device make it very comfortable and feel much thinner than it actually is. It’s also worth noting that the back is textured and gives it a nice slightly granular feel.
On the bottom of the phone is the micro USB port and speakers.
On the left is the volume rocker and SIM slot (It’s a micro SIM).
The right hand side has the power button.
The top has the 3.5mm headphone jack.
The front facing camera is on the top left of the device.
The rear camera and dual LED flash is located on the top center.
Impressed so far? I am, let’s turn it on.
Display
The OnePlus One carries the typical 2014 Chinese flagship display size of 5.5 inches. The display is 1080p with a 401 ppi and is very crisp. I can’t really complain about anything in regards to the screen. It’s bright, clear, crisp, responsive and solid. Many early customers were complaining about yellowing on the display, I can say my device did not have any of those issues. Either it was just a small number of devices or they fixed it. +1 for the One.
Software
The OnePlus One being sold outside of China is running Cyanogenmod 11s which is based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat and was designed specifically for the device. It retains enough of a stock feel that users won’t feel completely lost but does have customization available. Themes, font, icons etc are all interchangeable, some for free, some for a cost. Everything runs buttery smooth with no real lags, no freezing, and thus no need to change out the launcher unless you simply want to. All apps I tried were compatible and it is important to note that Google apps including the Play Store were already loaded on the phone.
The only thing I didn’t like was the base layout and method of customizing the pulldown menu for quick access to things like wi-fi, bluetooth,gps, etc. It didn’t have all the standard icons available and was overly complicated to adjust.
The boot time was an average 28 seconds.
Wi-Fi
I have recently moved so the layout of my testing grounds has also changed. Where I use to have a main floor, an upstairs, and a basement, I now have just a main floor and basement but they larger. I mention this just in case you are comparing these results to ones from my previous reviews as they will differ.
The OnePlus One has 5 Ghz and 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi so I tested both.
5 Ghz
Router (basement) = 82.61 mbps
Main floor =38.55 mbps (I got to the halfway point of this level and the signal went from around 40mbps to no signal within a couple of feet. This was at one level up and 24 feet from the router.
2.4 Ghz
Router = 47.84 mbps
Main floor = 16.31 mbps at the furthest point of this level, which is one level up and about 48 feet from the router.
Even at the furthest point of the house the OnePlus One had fast enough 2.4 Ghz Wi-Fi for any streaming and or browsing I needed.
Good Wi-Fi results.
Call Quality
The OnePlus One did a very good job with the calls I made. Volume was good on both ends as was the clarity. If you are a talker, you shouldn’t have any issues with what the OnePlus One sounds like.
Speakers
The speakers are located on the bottom of the device as opposed to the back which many companies seem to favor. In general the bottom location is much better because the speaker doesn’t get muffled if you put the phone down on a surface. The only time it ends up being a hindrance is if you play a lot of video games. Then it can easily be muffled by your hand when holding the phone sideways. So it really does depend on how you use your phone.
Location aside, the sound that comes from the OnePlus One is very nice. It’s loud, and capable of impressive sounds in all scenario’s, whether it’s video games, hard rock, dance, dialogue in movies or special effects in movies, it sounds great. It was definitely more than what I was expecting.
Video Playback
I tested the phone using the stock video player as well as VLC. Video playback was fantastic regardless of format. In addition to the SD video’s, and online media, I tested it with some HD movies in various formats and all played equally well. If you like to watch media on your phone, the smooth playback, beautiful screen, and clear speaker quality will certainly impress.
Web Browsing
Stable ROM, 2.5 Ghz Snapdragon 801, and 3 GB of RAM… you can see were this is going. Web browsing, even with multiple windows open is a breeze for this handset. As would be expected, browsing is awesome on the phone. All actions respond quickly, pages load within a short period of time, and the overall feel is snappy.
Cameras
The OnePlus One has a 5MP front camera and a 13MP Sony IMX 214 that promises to give us some pretty good photography for a phone. The 6 lens optics and f/2.0 aperture make it a standout in todays market.
The front facing camera is crisp and perfect for video calls and those that love the selphie. The rear Sony camera doesn’t disappoint and delivers far above average shots. Regardless of environment the camera was consistent and delivered good pictures. The dual LED flash works well and buyers shouldn’t have any fear of low lighting situations. Are there phones that do photography better than the OnePlus One. Certainly. But the One can hold its own with the upper part of the market.
GPS
The GPS on the device is fantastic. The first lock was done outdoors in airplane mode and took less than 5 seconds. Locks after that where almost instant. I tested the handset with Navfree that doesn’t use data and with Google Maps and Waze that use data to assist. In both scenarios the GPS was flawless and quick to adapt. One of the better GPS’ I have used recently.
Benchmarks
With a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 and 3 GB of RAM I think it’s safe to say that most people would expect the phone to score well. The question is “How well?”
Let’s take a look at the results.
Antutu
38,823
That’s enough to take out the best of the best.
Nenamark 2
61.4 fps
CPU Prime
7259
Vellamo
Vellamo has changed recently, and have added a multicore test into the mix.
Metal
1719
Multicore
1864
Chrome Browser
2772
As you can see the OnePlus One holds it’s own and slightly edges out the best phones on the market in the overall picture.
Battery
The battery was my only area of real concern. I know that a 3100 mAh battery was included, but would it play nicely with the ROM and actually last. I put the OnePlus One on auto brightness and used VLC to test the phone on a video loop. The phone lasted a staggering 10.5 hours!
The lower end of the battery actually runs down very smoothly and slower than the top part. I was left with 3% on the phone and am certain it could have lasted another 15 minutes of playback.
Very nice results.
Gaming
I’ve used Qualcomm 800 processors in the past and know they do very well with gaming thanks to the Adreno 330 GPU. The Snapdragon 801 is no exception and the handset played everything very well. Crisp, smooth gameplay with max resolution settings. Add in the beautiful screen and great speakers and you have a winning combo. The only thing I want to mention is the location of the speakers. While great for music and media, having them located on the bottom of the device does make it much easier to muffle them with your hand while playing games that require the screen to be held sideways. Can you work around it? Sure. It’s just your hand location is the last thing on your mind while you are being horded by a half dozen zombies and you are fighting for your life….or something like that.
Final thoughts
Pro’s
Comfortable, stylish design
Nice screen
GPS works well
Cameras are very good
Cyanogenmod 11s is stable and customizable with Google Play Store already installed
Plays media and games with ease
Powerhouse device that doesn’t drain the battery
4G
Con’s
Hard to get an invite
Shipping is expensive due to additional fee’s
Non -removable battery
No expansion slot so make sure you get the model that truly has the storage you need
Wow….this device really delivers. Even with the extra shipping costs the phone is still almost half the price of it’s rivals. Considering this is the first phone from a startup company, I’m really interested in seeing what they release next. With all the hype I was waiting for the phone to fall flat on it’s face and really under perform. That did not happen at all.
Are there better devices on the market right now? I believe so, but they aren’t much better. You just need to decide if they are worth double to cost.
[REVIEW] Siswoo Cooper i7: octa-core, 64 bits, 4G, IPS HD 5", 2GB de RAM, 16GB ROM,
Recently the young Chinese company Siswoo announced their second Android model, taking advantage of the new 64 bits processors from MediaTek.
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As I have already told before, those Chinese manufacturers are each time copying (imitating less) and willing more to highlight something from their own. Today Siswoo is presenting the Cooper i7, and before going into the review, I cannot hide... it's a bullet!
Hardware
Those are the specifications of the last Siswoo smartphone:
And yes, you are right, 64 bits octa-core processor running at 1,7Ghz, GPU Mali T760, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage (of which 12,82GB available for the user) and up to 64GB expandable via microSD, 4G-LTE connectivity ... appetizing, isn't it? Let's go with the review.
Packaging, design and ergonomics
The package is really simple and quite square, the one used by Elephone for the P3000s attired my attention, but this one goes back to the “standards”. Small and with the table of content and smartphone specifications.
[YOUTUBE]http://youtu.be/sF0Pcrfu1Fo
[/YOUTUBE]
Just taking it out of the box, two things surprised me: the design and the weight. It's really light, in a very first moment I even though it didn't have the battery, but yes, it was inside, and even so it stays on 130gr.
As we can see on the video, the device comes inside a small plastic bag and in the bottom inside the box, we will find the charger and earphones. It's very nice from Siswoo's side to include (already applied) the plastic cover for the screen.
Regarding the design, I must confess I didn't like it in a first sight, too simple and too... flat, with round edges.
BUT, once you use it, this feeling changes. And this design influences a lot. As said before, it's very light (although the different of size, exactly the same weight of iPhone 5) and with less than 9mm of thickness, you can carry it very comfortably on your pocket... and being a 5” device.
One remarkably thing on its design are the touch buttons. They are normally off, but when you use the phone or you have a notification, they light in an elegant and practical way. When not, the front part is completely black. On this front, we will also find the 5Mpx camera and the sensors for light and proximity.
Unlike other smartphones, all the physical buttons of the Cooper i7 are on the right side. In the beginning it might be confusing, since sometimes you want to press volume down and you lock the phone.
However, once you get used to that, it's very comfortable, specially because this terminal fits perfectly into one hand, and by having the buttons on the same side, you can manage it completely with just one hand.
The rest on the edges is free... except for the top part, where we find charger plug and jack 3.5 for the earphones.
Turn it. On the rear part, your eyes go directly to the 8Mpx camera with dual LED flash on the top, just below SISWOO logo and on the bottom the speaker and logo with “4G-LTE” like to remember us that we can connect to those networks.
Last on this part, I must say that the Cooper i7 does not slide at all. It's very agreable to touch and it fits perfectly on the hands, so VERY good ergonomics.
Screen
Cooper i7 mounts a HD IPS 5” screen, offering a resolution of 720x1280. It has very good quality, although I think they use dynamic contrast, because I don't feel as much range of tones as in other (first brand) phones. I mean, black is not as black.
The viewing angle is very good and I had no problems using it under bright sun, by having the brightness in automatic mode, it adjusts in seconds to any situation.
We will also find two interesting functions, "Gesture sensing" and "Smart Wake". The first one means that we will be able to navigate through pictures on the gallery and some other apps just by moving our hand over the phone (but without touching it). The second one, allows us to complete some actions by drawing pre-defined patterns on the screen when the phone is locked, like activate radio, camera, change song...
The gesture recognition is working but, at this point is not as perfectioned as in other models like new Samsung Galaxy, with the Cooper i7 you must pass your hand closer to the screen and slower.
The Smart Wake function is really interesting, I liked it a lot. I continually use it for many applications... and with just one movement!
Software, multimedia and games
This terminal comes with Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, although Siswoo has annouced we will receive the update to Lollipop during March.
They didn't apply any customization layer on top of Android (maybe it also influences the high speed this phone goes), in addition it is rooted by default and includes all the usual and popular applications out of the box (Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Skype, Adobe Reader, Documents to Go and the interesting WeCal) so we can start fully using it just after the first booting.
Browsing the web either with WiFi or with 3G/4G connection, it's very fast and fluid, no lags, specially the background applications (like social network notifications)
In the multimedia area is where I really enjoyed myself. Since there were not pre-installed game, I went direct to Fifa 15:UT and another action game called Contract Killer... ¡bingo!
The initial test became some weekend hours playing online tournaments (specially Fifa, I really love it). The fact of being so light and so comfortable on the hands, make this smartphone the perfect portable gaming console, and as I said before, being so fast makes the games start very quickly and loading times are very short. While playing there are no lags, nor freezes and being moving images, contrasts and colors are perceived perfectly.
I have the same feeling when playing videos, the powerful CPU and accompanied with one of latest presented GPUs make the work without any trouble. FullHD, subtitles... even working through the network I had no problem with any type. Regarding the volume, it's OK and the rear speaker has enough relief (inward) so that the sound is not muffled by supporting the phone on any surface.
Coming to the extras, GPS and compass worked very well and once again, without having to wait.
So, in general, the multimedia experience has been very satisfactory.
Camera
The Cooper i7 brings (as usual) two cameras, the front one with 5Mpx and the main one at the rear with 8Mpx, both with interesting characteristics like voice shooting control, the beauty effect (perfect for selfie lovers) or the noise reduction.
However it suffers from the great evil of Chinese phones: lots megapixel unable to perform well in low light conditions.
It was clear that the "buts" would arrive sooner or later.
I have tried the camera inside and outside. Taking pictures outside and with full sun light, the results are very satisfactory for pictures and also recording video.
But when the light is lower, other "first brand" phones like iPhone (who also mounts an 8Mpx main camera) are capable of great pictures...and with this one we will simply prefer not to zoom too much on the pictures.
I would even say that I even like more the results of the front camera (with its 5Mpx and without flash) rather than the main one, so selfie addicts...good for you! Both cameras work perfectly with Skype, just pay attention you don't cover the microphone when holding the phone.
Autonomy
As seen on the specifications, the (removable) battery has a capacity of 2100 mAh, something I found quite tight compared to the more than 3000 mAh we see often on new terminals... but very good compared for example with the 1440mAh on the iPhone 5... and more than enough for one day. I already said I spent several hours playing online.
It's equiped with fast charging technology, nevertheless I would preferred to see the latest ultra-fast charging technology (around 80% in 15min or so).
Conclusions
In the first lines of this review I already stated than although most of Chinese phones have some common points, it is each time more usual to see brands willing to highlight their "personal touch".
In my opinion, Siswoo has been able of achieving a very interesting result in which is only their second model on the market. Not only on the design but specially on the usability, the user experience is very agreable.
We cannot dismiss from our minds that it's not only the aforementioned excellent potential, the Cooper i7 also brings us dual SIM and 4G-LTE connectivity for around 180€ (as per its price on Etotalk including VIP shipping DHL only took 2 days to arrive to my house).
mdabar said:
Recently the young Chinese company Siswoo announced their second Android model, taking advantage of the new 64 bits processors from MediaTek.
As I have already told before, those Chinese manufacturers are each time copying (imitating less) and willing more to highlight something from their own. Today Siswoo is presenting the Cooper i7, and before going into the review, I cannot hide... it's a bullet!
Hardware
Those are the specifications of the last Siswoo smartphone:
[IMG="Specifications"]
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-omHjEmmzagg/VPGBRIFQFlI/AAAAAAAABuY/8la0GNjKY-I/s1600/SiswooCooperI7-specs.jpg[/IMG]
And yes, you are right, 64 bits octa-core processor running at 1,7Ghz, GPU Mali T760, 2GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage (of which 12,82GB available for the user) and up to 64GB expandable via microSD, 4G-LTE connectivity ... appetizing, isn't it? Let's go with the review.
Packaging, design and ergonomics
The package is really simple and quite square, the one used by Elephone for the P3000s attired my attention, but this one goes back to the “standards”. Small and with the table of content and smartphone specifications.
[YOUTUBE]http://youtu.be/sF0Pcrfu1Fo
[/YOUTUBE]
Just taking it out of the box, two things surprised me: the design and the weight. It's really light, in a very first moment I even though it didn't have the battery, but yes, it was inside, and even so it stays on 130gr.
As we can see on the video, the device comes inside a small plastic bag and in the bottom inside the box, we will find the charger and earphones. It's very nice from Siswoo's side to include (already applied) the plastic cover for the screen.
Regarding the design, I must confess I didn't like it in a first sight, too simple and too... flat, with round edges.
BUT, once you use it, this feeling changes. And this design influences a lot. As said before, it's very light (although the different of size, exactly the same weight of iPhone 5) and with less than 9mm of thickness, you can carry it very comfortably on your pocket... and being a 5” device.
One remarkably thing on its design are the touch buttons. They are normally off, but when you use the phone or you have a notification, they light in an elegant and practical way. When not, the front part is completely black. On this front, we will also find the 5Mpx camera and the sensors for light and proximity.
Unlike other smartphones, all the physical buttons of the Cooper i7 are on the right side. In the beginning it might be confusing, since sometimes you want to press volume down and you lock the phone.
However, once you get used to that, it's very comfortable, specially because this terminal fits perfectly into one hand, and by having the buttons on the same side, you can manage it completely with just one hand.
The rest on the edges is free... except for the top part, where we find charger plug and jack 3.5 for the earphones.
Turn it. On the rear part, your eyes go directly to the 8Mpx camera with dual LED flash on the top, just below SISWOO logo and on the bottom the speaker and logo with “4G-LTE” like to remember us that we can connect to those networks.
Last on this part, I must say that the Cooper i7 does not slide at all. It's very agreable to touch and it fits perfectly on the hands, so VERY good ergonomics.
Screen
Cooper i7 mounts a HD IPS 5” screen, offering a resolution of 720x1280. It has very good quality, although I think they use dynamic contrast, because I don't feel as much range of tones as in other (first brand) phones. I mean, black is not as black.
The viewing angle is very good and I had no problems using it under bright sun, by having the brightness in automatic mode, it adjusts in seconds to any situation.
We will also find two interesting functions, "Gesture sensing" and "Smart Wake". The first one means that we will be able to navigate through pictures on the gallery and some other apps just by moving our hand over the phone (but without touching it). The second one, allows us to complete some actions by drawing pre-defined patterns on the screen when the phone is locked, like activate radio, camera, change song...
The gesture recognition is working but, at this point is not as perfectioned as in other models like new Samsung Galaxy, with the Cooper i7 you must pass your hand closer to the screen and slower.
The Smart Wake function is really interesting, I liked it a lot. I continually use it for many applications... and with just one movement!
Software, multimedia and games
This terminal comes with Android 4.4.4 Kitkat, although Siswoo has annouced we will receive the update to Lollipop during March.
They didn't apply any customization layer on top of Android (maybe it also influences the high speed this phone goes), in addition it is rooted by default and includes all the usual and popular applications out of the box (Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Skype, Adobe Reader, Documents to Go and the interesting WeCal) so we can start fully using it just after the first booting.
Browsing the web either with WiFi or with 3G/4G connection, it's very fast and fluid, no lags, specially the background applications (like social network notifications)
In the multimedia area is where I really enjoyed myself. Since there were not pre-installed game, I went direct to Fifa 15:UT and another action game called Contract Killer... ¡bingo!
The initial test became some weekend hours playing online tournaments (specially Fifa, I really love it). The fact of being so light and so comfortable on the hands, make this smartphone the perfect portable gaming console, and as I said before, being so fast makes the games start very quickly and loading times are very short. While playing there are no lags, nor freezes and being moving images, contrasts and colors are perceived perfectly.
I have the same feeling when playing videos, the powerful CPU and accompanied with one of latest presented GPUs make the work without any trouble. FullHD, subtitles... even working through the network I had no problem with any type. Regarding the volume, it's OK and the rear speaker has enough relief (inward) so that the sound is not muffled by supporting the phone on any surface.
Coming to the extras, GPS and compass worked very well and once again, without having to wait.
So, in general, the multimedia experience has been very satisfactory.
Camera
The Cooper i7 brings (as usual) two cameras, the front one with 5Mpx and the main one at the rear with 8Mpx, both with interesting characteristics like voice shooting control, the beauty effect (perfect for selfie lovers) or the noise reduction.
However it suffers from the great evil of Chinese phones: lots megapixel unable to perform well in low light conditions.
It was clear that the "buts" would arrive sooner or later.
I have tried the camera inside and outside. Taking pictures outside and with full sun light, the results are very satisfactory for pictures and also recording video.
But when the light is lower, other "first brand" phones like iPhone (who also mounts an 8Mpx main camera) are capable of great pictures...and with this one we will simply prefer not to zoom too much on the pictures.
I would even say that I even like more the results of the front camera (with its 5Mpx and without flash) rather than the main one, so selfie addicts...good for you! Both cameras work perfectly with Skype, just pay attention you don't cover the microphone when holding the phone.
Autonomy
As seen on the specifications, the (removable) battery has a capacity of 2100 mAh, something I found quite tight compared to the more than 3000 mAh we see often on new terminals... but very good compared for example with the 1440mAh on the iPhone 5... and more than enough for one day. I already said I spent several hours playing online.
It's equiped with fast charging technology, nevertheless I would preferred to see the latest ultra-fast charging technology (around 80% in 15min or so).
Conclusions
In the first lines of this review I already stated than although most of Chinese phones have some common points, it is each time more usual to see brands willing to highlight their "personal touch".
In my opinion, Siswoo has been able of achieving a very interesting result in which is only their second model on the market. Not only on the design but specially on the usability, the user experience is very agreable.
We cannot dismiss from our minds that it's not only the aforementioned excellent potential, the Cooper i7 also brings us dual SIM and 4G-LTE connectivity for around 180€ (as per its price on Etotalk including VIP shipping DHL only took 2 days to arrive to my house).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good, very good to review, but I wonder what is the most interesting device, and what it may have longer duration in time ... this I 7, or R8 ...
now my thanks for the review ...
Hi bodyjoao, from my point of view they are very different devices.
Think that Siswoo is a really new (young) company and up to now they have just launched 2 smartphones, being the first one the R8 Monster. In my opinion they did like that to show everybody what they were able to do, so top of hardware specifications.
Then they presented the Cooper i7 to show that they want to do also more affordable products, but without going to low end range. My impressions have been very good testing the i7, I insist that the weak point for chinese phones is always the camera, but leaving that on a side... I'm really enhoying the i7, it's very very fast on everything... and delicious to play with very light and thin hehe
The R8 Monster costs around 100$ more and... still I'm not sure the camera will be much better.
We have very good news coming from other brands like Xiaomi, were people insist that their cameras are quite good, so I'm confident that chinese companies have already understand that people demand quality and they are giving it little by little... better finishing, better, screens, better storage... It's not always the amount that counts, but the quality
mdabar said:
Hi bodyjoao, from my point of view they are very different devices.
Think that Siswoo is a really new (young) company and up to now they have just launched 2 smartphones, being the first one the R8 Monster. In my opinion they did like that to show everybody what they were able to do, so top of hardware specifications.
Then they presented the Cooper i7 to show that they want to do also more affordable products, but without going to low end range. My impressions have been very good testing the i7, I insist that the weak point for chinese phones is always the camera, but leaving that on a side... I'm really enhoying the i7, it's very very fast on everything... and delicious to play with very light and thin hehe
The R8 Monster costs around 100$ more and... still I'm not sure the camera will be much better.
We have very good news coming from other brands like Xiaomi, were people insist that their cameras are quite good, so I'm confident that chinese companies have already understand that people demand quality and they are giving it little by little... better finishing, better, screens, better storage... It's not always the amount that counts, but the quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am under This phone or the jiayu s3 , But the site don't have now the jiayu s3 for now, and I like this look...I wait for one or tree days and then I decid....
Sent from my HUAWEI G750-T20 using XDA Free mobile app
bodyjoao said:
I am under This phone or the jiayu s3 , But the site don't have now the jiayu s3 for now, and I like this look...I wait for one or tree days and then I decid....
Sent from my HUAWEI G750-T20 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Jiayu is very good one too, I found available on the same store I took the Siswoo -> http://www.etotalk.com/jiayu-s3_p7545.html
And as usual customer they gave me these coupons... first in first served
5 USD Available 77571b3b8a 2015-04-02
5 USD Available 7ef04c0bff 2015-04-02
5 USD Available fc8cabfe8e 2015-04-02
5 USD Available 9c7b4d8e1d 2015-04-02
5 USD Available 857faaa218 2015-04-02
5 USD Available bf36c5bfe8 2015-04-02
I prefer them because of the DHL VIP shipping ... take a look and decide, you will tell later which one you take!
I've been using mine since a couple of weeks, but the home button backlight somehow stays on all the time. Any idea why? Cheers, great review!
yash3339 said:
I've been using mine since a couple of weeks, but the home button backlight somehow stays on all the time. Any idea why? Cheers, great review!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have not had this issue... and since yesterday I'm thinking on it and surfing my Cooper i7 up and down to find anything :-/
The only I can think on is, go to Settings -> Display -> BreathLight and try to unable all of them, reboot the phone and then activate them again.
Normally it should light only to notify something.
Goos luck and tell us if it works!
cooper 17
hello
i also plan to buy it, but i fear about the small battery..
could you tell us more about that matter ?
thks
jdcesari said:
hello
i also plan to buy it, but i fear about the small battery..
could you tell us more about that matter ?
thks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More than 1 day with my normal use,... I mean a lot of wifi: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Opera, weather and Youtube for the baby
I've also been using radio and trying 2 different GPS applications (Navmii and Navigate 66) for which I have not only tried the apps but also downloaded the maps for a couple of countries (so more than 1GB downloaded over wifi for those apps)
And planning the trip I have moved cartoons for the baby from my NAS to the smartphone using the wifi, so another 1GB moved there and the battery resisted
It's true it went faster when playing Fifa, because it was online and playing, but with normal use it's much longer.
So it's true that the battery is not as long as for other devices, but you see that also on its thickness, it's really comfortable to bring it on the pocket.
5" HD 720p is poor
it's a great screen with 5" FHD
MTK6752 support screen solution 1080P
thks a lot
you are perfect
Hahaha thanks! but just trying to help and share my experience through reviews
If you liked it, I would appreciate you clic on the "Thanks!" button
Have a nice one!!
Weak wifi on Cooper i7?
Hello,
I just received my siswoo cooper i7 yesterday. I'm also lucky with until now except for one issue: the Wifi is very weak. It has an ok connection next to the router (54 Mbps), but if I move away 4-5 meters (staying in the same room even), it drops the connection or goes down to 12/ 5 / 2 Mbps. I also tried at my office, it wouldn't work if not directly at the router. All my other devices (Moto MB 526, XT320, iPad Air) have good connection even 2 rooms further away and work like a charm.
Anyone else having similar issues? Any good ideas to solve this?
IF SISWOO IS READING -> PLEASE DONT BLOCK ROOT !
ROOTED WITH iROOT SUCCESS
Back and other Button LED = (su) echo 255 > /sys/class/leds/button-backlight/brightness // 0 to turn off
Breathlight (HomeLED) = echo (CODE) > /sys/devices/virtual/breathlightdrv/breathlight/open // 0 to turn off
CODE -> defines blinking rate - havent figured out the system but any numbers between 12 to 20.
Will add if found out more...
What about the storage? Is it unified or partitioned?
I'm still worried about the battery. Otherwise it looks great.
chat1978 said:
What about the storage? Is it unified or partitioned?
I'm still worried about the battery. Otherwise it looks great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you mean with unified that all the available storage is on the same partition then it's a yes, available storage appears all together as internal SD Card and it all can be used to install apps.
The battery life depends on the usage. I consider it will last a full day with moderate usage (2 - 3 hours SOT, some gaming, some calling, some music listening), but no more that that.
alresave said:
If you mean with unified that all the available storage is on the same partition then it's a yes, available storage appears all together as internal SD Card and it all can be used to install apps.
The battery life depends on the usage. I consider it will last a full day with moderate usage (2 - 3 hours SOT, some gaming, some calling, some music listening), but no more that that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes about the storage. Thanks.
On my daily life, I don't have high expectations from the battery.
But last year, while on route to an island, I drained the battery of THL W200 within a couple of hours just by looking at the ship's location and doing some reading.
Very disappointing. I have a portable battery back but still, I would like something bigger for vacation time!
Full Review Video
Pictures from http://s7yler.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLB3C60yvcc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYR-Y3umZaM
As usual, you can find the full review in a nice format and all pictures in a higher quality here :
http://klonom.com/doogee-turbo-mini-f1-review/
The Doogee Turbo-mini F1 is a compact budget dual SIM LTE smartphone. It runs on an MT6732 64 bit quadcore SoC with 1 GB RAM, 8 GB ROM, Android 4.4 KitKat and a 4.5″ display with qHD resolution. We kindly received the Turbo-mini F1 from the TinyDeal Online Shop. You can get it for around 125$ from →here.
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Spezifikationen:
-MT6732 64 Bit Quadcore SoC (each up to 1.3 GHz)
-Android 4.4.4 KitKat
-1 GB RAM
-4.5″ qHD IPS Display (960×540, OGS)
-Dual SIM (4G/2G) (1xMicro, 1xMini (Normal))
-MicroSD Slot
-5 MP rear camera, 2 MP front camera (8 MP + 5 MP interpolated)
-1700 mAh battery (measured, officially 2000 mAh)
-Sensors: Acceleration, Light & Proximity
-USB OTG
-HotKnot
-WiFi, BT
Items delivered:
The Doogee Turbo-mini F1 is delivered in a valuable looking box, which is kept in a white and partly blue color. On the side you can find a genuine certificate, similiar like the ones you can find on Xiaomi products. Beside the smartphone itself the following accessoires are delivered with it: An USB-data/-charging cable, an USB charger, a white headset with control button, a quick start guide and a second screen protection foil (one is already applied). The first three enumerated items are placed very neatly in a foam-like material, which gives the whole box a kind of valuable impression: Thumbs up here! Attached you can see an overview of all items delivered.
Unboxing Video:
First Impressions:
What you will probably notice first when you take the Doogee Turbo-mini F1 in your hands, is that it weights way less than any smartphone you hold in a long time. At first sight (and also at second) this is a very nice combination with its quite compact size. Although its very little weight it still has a valuable feeling due to the metal edging.
Like usual, on the front bottom you can find the three capacitive Android buttons. These are printed in silver color and do not have a background light. At the top you can find the loudspeaker, the front camera and the light/proximity sensor. The transition between display and case can be seen slightly whilst turned off screen, but not very remarkable.
At both long sides metal bars are placed. They feel cool when being touched and give the smartphone a valuable appeal, way more as you would probably expect from a price around 125$. The volume rocker (also made out of metal) is placed on the left side. It is not perfectly enclosed, so it has a little free space to move. You can hear a very faint metal “clicking” when you move the phone as the volume rocker moves as well. The pressure point is, anyhow, very nice.
On the right side the power button is placed. Also this one is made out of metal and has a nice pressure point. As a kind of design elements, both metal stripes have visible screws at the ends.
MicroUSB and 3.5 mm headphone jack are placed on the top side of the Doogee. While I personally would prefer the MicroUSB on the bottom, this is not a very big drawback.
The bottom side of the F1 does not have any connectors. Top and bottom side does not have metal elements. Plastic elements in a chrome look were used here.
The backside of the Turbo-mini F1 is kept simple. On the lower part you can find the mono-loudspeaker, while the camera is placed on the top left. A little highlight is the metal bordering of the camera, which can be felt nicely.
The back cover is sitting pretty tight. Pretty damn tight . Beneath it you find the battery as well as the SIM slots (1xMicro, 1x Mini (“Normal”)) and the MicroSD slot. There is no dedicated 4G slot. Via the Android menu it can be chosen which card should be using LTE, the other one is running on 2G.
All in all the Turbo-mini F1 makes a good impression, nothing is creaking and has an overall serious look. Single downside is the volume rocker which is not perfectly enclosed.
UI/Android:
The F1 is delivered with Android 4.4.4. It comes preinstalled with a launcher from Doogee. Anyhow, the launcher is quite close to the stock laucher, only the icons are modified with a colorful background. The launcher is very snappy, the animations are fluent. The phone is delivered with the FW revision from 31.01.2015. The Turbo-mini F1 also supports “Wireless Update” (FOTA). Below some impressions of the launcher.
Performance:
Like already mentioned in the Android section the system runs very smooth – the strenghs of the MT6732 can be noticed easily. An update to Lollipop would be great since then the whole advantage of the 64 bit architecture SoC could be exploited. But already with the preinstalled KitKat the smartphone reaches above average benchmark results in this price section. The results of the Antutu v.5.6.1, Geekbench 3 and 3DMark (Icestorm Extreme) benchmark can be seen in the next pictures:
Only the small RAM of about 1 GB is limiting the performance of the F1 for using it with massive parallel programs. Personally I did not hit that border yet, while using several opened Chrome tabs (>7) and messenger apps in the background the system still ran smoothly.
Storage:
The budget 4G phone from Doogee comes with an officially 8 GB ROM. This is divided into internal and phone storage. The exact partition can be seen in the next screenshots:
-Internal Storage: 1.12 GB (0.95 GB available)
-Phone Storage: 4.59 GB (4.58 available)
-Total: 5.71 GB (5.53 GB available)
The internal storage (which can be used for apps) is unfortunately quite small with around 1 GB.
The memory can be extendend via MicroSD-slot and and external USB storage via USB OTG (tested).
Camera:
...check out here the camera sample pictures and more :
http://klonom.com/doogee-turbo-mini-f1-review/
Sensors:
According to shop information the Turbo-mini F1 comes with acceleration, proximity and light sensor. The app “Sensor Box” shows several more, but the shop remains correct: The “additional” sensors don’t return any values and are fake. In general the sensors work as expected. Similiar as in the DG280 the proximity sensor has a quite low resolution with just 2 values: Covered and not covered. Still totally enough turning off the screen while talking.
GPS:
The GPS in the mini-F1 is usable. The first fix out of the box was done after a few seconds outside, while the accuracy improved up to 3 m in the next few seconds. At the start of one from several test navigations the GPS showed a similiar behaviour as the camera did – the device could not get a fix (although it worked short before without any problems). Once cleaned the system quickly with Clean Master and the GPS works flawlessly again: GPS fix immediately. When the GPS is once locked the signal is stable – navigation worked without any problems. No “improvements” like updated EPO files or similiar were used. The Turbo-mini F1 uses GPS (no GLONASS or BeiDou). Below you can find a screenshot from GPS Test and the used satellites.
Battery:
Officially the phone comes with a 2000 mAh battery. The measurement of the battery revealed a real capacity of roughly 1700 mAh. The MT6732 is an energy efficient SoC and in combination with the small display the battery can live with average use (subjective!) about one day. In areas with often changing signal strengths (or types) you will notice the increased battery drain due to the constantly tried switch between 2G/3G/4G. In this situation the battery life is getting hardly over one day. This downside can be partly reduced by manually setting one network type while not using. Below you can see the charging history of the battery.
Battery charging history of the Turbo-mini F1
Supported Bands:
The Turbo-mini F1 is fully functional for LTE in Europe due to the coverage of all relevant european bands. An overview is given in the next screenshots. As already mentioned, the 4G service can be switched between the SIM cards.
WiFi Receiption:
The WiFi receiption is above average good. A direct comparision with the Doogee DG280 and Cubot Zorro 001 you can see in the next picture (all tested at the same location, 2 walls in direct sight line).
From left to right: WiFi receiption Turbo-mini F1, DG280 and Cubot Zorro
Display:
The display diagonal measures 4.5″, while the resolution is 960×540 (qHD). Officially it is an IPS display as one-glass-solution (OGS). Both specifications seems to be correct at near observation. In other ratings of the Doogee Turbo-mini F1 it can be read that the low resolution is a major drawback of the phone: The display is not HD and of course it can be seen. Anyhow, the qHD resolution is in my eyes (wordplay, hehe ) still suficient for the compact display and no pixels are jumping right into your eyes. Comparision: The Turbo-mini F1 has a pixel density of roughly 245 PPI, while a 5″ display with HD resolution has a pixel density of about 294 PPI. The difference is not that huge.
Virus-Scans:
The initial virus scan with G-Data shows an infected system:
The Anti-Virus app reports that the system is infected with the “SMSReg” malware. According to internet reports this program can cause (unasked) sending of messages to a chinise number and rise costs. This app can be removed with root (for example via “System App Remover”), the app to be removed is called “Device Management”. Afterwards the system is virus free (…except of the SuperUser App which is recognized as malware):
Speedtest:
…will be added soon .
More Infos:
-Weight: 114 g
-3 Point touchscreen
Misc:
The Turbo-mini F1 has no notification LED. The smart wake function (double tap to wake up, also gestures) is supported and works without problems. Google Apps are preinstalled. The F1 can be easily rooted via One-Click-Tools (iRoot successfully tried). It also supports the budget alternative to NFC called HotKnot (had two HotKnot devices at hands for the first time – it even works !).
Review Video:
Conclusion:
The Doogee Turbo-mini F1 makes a pretty good impression overall. The smartphones combines several decent functions at a low price and weight: Full european LTE coverage, good processor performance, good GPS and nice manufacturing quality. Of course the F1 also has some (mostly budget class typical) downsides like the camera or the storage division. A small FW update which corrects some small software issues wouldn’t hurt either. Anyhow, all in all it is a smartphone with a very nice price/performance ratio which we can especially recommend to friends of sub 5″ displays. (Since I am one myself I think this device will accompany me on ).
Nice review. My compliments. Quite insightful.
I was impressed with the F1 and positive specs for a phone of that price, so I took a risk and ordered 3. One for the missus, one for the mother and one for the brother. All three have been using them for a while now and are quite positive. The phone is fast, cheap and feels snappy
But, and that is where it becomes tricky, all three have issues. One phone doesn't seem to last very long with battery at all and also seems having trouble charging. The others have persistent problems with the camera, constantly having the 'can't connect to camera' bug. Nothing so far has helped solve that, no cache wipe, no other apps, but it usually starts working only after a few reboots. This behaviour disappears after a factory reset, but comes back again after a day or two of use.
Another issue is that after reboot, the shortcuts placed on the desktop are gone. Apps put from the app list into the main screen are gone after a reboot.
I've contacted Doogee about these, but the support is lackluster, as to expected for a china phone, but they did hint to a firmware update. Interestingly enough, they didn't allow my remarks to remain public.
I think the Doogee would benefit immensely from an update to Lollipop and I actually would prefer a full stock Android on the phone. All in all, it is a budget phone, and you could do much worse for a 100 euro's a piece.
Thanks for the positive feedback, always nice to hear . About the camera bug: I have the app Clean Master (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cleanmaster.mguard ) installed and the problem disappears (even if it's just temporary) after I "cleaned" the RAM of the device. Does this help for you too?
But yes, all in all I also think it is a quite nice device for around 100€ (especially since most china devices under 5" have rather bad specs).
By the way, how do you mean that part with "didn't allow my remarks to remain public"? Did you post it on the Doogee site or how?
KloNom said:
Thanks for the positive feedback, always nice to hear . About the camera bug: I have the app Clean Master (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cleanmaster.mguard ) installed and the problem disappears (even if it's just temporary) after I "cleaned" the RAM of the device. Does this help for you too?
But yes, all in all I also think it is a quite nice device for around 100€ (especially since most china devices under 5" have rather bad specs).
By the way, how do you mean that part with "didn't allow my remarks to remain public"? Did you post it on the Doogee site or how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I will try that app. I'll let you know.
And yes, the Doogee site has a public feedback part, and although I did get an answer, it wasn't public anymore.
Just added a small Review Video .
@CrimsonRid: That's kind of bad public behaviour of Doogee. Although it already happened some weeks ago that Doogee tried to push a review author (for the same device) to remove his negative remarks from the review since it is not good for them. It's in german language, but the screenshots are in english:
http://www.gizchina.de/so-nicht-liebe-freunde-aus-dem-fernen-osten.html
Hi,
i am having some gps issues with this phone. The lock is very fast but it is unusable for navigation because the accuracy is very bad. I don't know if it is dropping the gps connection al the time! When i stop somewhere the gps position is jumping/turning around on the screen and sometimes even does not register that i stopped but keeps going forward. I am also experiencing the problem that it can't connect to the camera. Mostly it works again after a reboot.
beograd59 said:
Hi,
i am having some gps issues with this phone. The lock is very fast but it is unusable for navigation because the accuracy is very bad. I don't know if it is dropping the gps connection al the time! When i stop somewhere the gps position is jumping/turning around on the screen and sometimes even does not register that i stopped but keeps going forward. I am also experiencing the problem that it can't connect to the camera. Mostly it works again after a reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To the GPS: That is bad to hear, there seems to be some variance in the GPS quality then in the devices. I could use mine for navigation without problems (tried some test navigations in the car).
To the camera: Did you try what I wrote in this post? I also experienced that problem, but then I did not need to reboot the phone at least again.
Thank you very much for the great review.
Krystyna said:
Thank you very much for the great review.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the positive feedback .
Lollipop please
Storage full after only short time, is it a bug or do I need sdcard, cheers.
Would love root and custom rom.
jazz452 said:
Storage full after only short time, is it a bug or do I need sdcard, cheers.
Would love root and custom rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fear it's not a bug, but just because the internal storage is quite small. You can root the device via iRoot. Then you can try to use apps like App2SD and see, if you can free some space from the internal storage.
i have bought two doogee's f1, i quote your good review.
If someone wants to see , this is video of unboxing and comparison Blue - White:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frGQ0lDajlw
also with root access, moving apps from internal 1,2Gb rom and Sd is not possible
Unfortunetaly there is no way yet to repartition the memory in devices with the new 64 Bit Mediatek SoCs as far as I know . But hopefully this will change in the future.
bad day
first laptop mouse and keyboard died. Now f1 mini is dead , will not charge or turn on :crying:
jazz452 said:
first laptop mouse and keyboard died. Now f1 mini is dead , will not charge or turn on :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sucks . Did you try to charge for a longer time? Does it not even boot into recovery menu?
KloNom said:
That sucks . Did you try to charge for a longer time? Does it not even boot into recovery menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's dead as a dodo, ordered knew battery but I fear it's something more sinister. Went flat and then never charged again, left on charge for 12 hours. Bought from China so not going to bother sending it back, it's a poor quality phone that can't handle more than a few apps before storage full messages.
Would I buy another china phone? yep but not one from doogee.
Will update either way when new battery arrives. It's my sons phone so can't be sure of what happened
I got the oneplus one and it's an excellent phone.
jazz452 said:
It's dead as a dodo, ordered knew battery but I fear it's something more sinister. Went flat and then never charged again, left on charge for 12 hours. Bought from China so not going to bother sending it back, it's a poor quality phone that can't handle more than a few apps before storage full messages.
Would I buy another china phone? yep but not one from doogee.
Will update either way when new battery arrives. It's my sons phone so can't be sure of what happened
I got the oneplus one and it's an excellent phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try to get into the recovery mode? If you connect it via USB to your computer, does it recognize it? Also try without battery.
Not recognised with or without battery, just tried, thanks.
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app
jazz452 said:
Not recognised with or without battery, just tried, thanks.
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's bad . Does something happen if you keep holding VOL- and Power? This should bring up the (chinese) recovery menu... At least hopefully.
Nothing happens,think it's fried,still waiting on battery from China.
Sent from my A0001 using XDA Free mobile app
[REVIEW] uleFone Be Touch: 5,5" IPS, 4G, 64bits octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM, fingerprint
uleFone is one of new Chinese brands making good things lately. And in the same way some players are doing, they also wanted to present something interesting before the summer period.
But they want to be like "the others", so they have come with an amazing smartphone which they have presented as their flagship device for the season: the uleFone Be Touch
Something very interesting, since this brand is very young. They’ve worked designing and making parts for other brands during years, but it wasn’t until 2014 they moved to manufacture their own smartphones.
When I opened the box my first though was about that size "It's huge!". But then, I started it and as Megan Trainor sings... "It's all about that bass"
Only that smartphone is not fat at all, it's very thin and light. It's even thinner than other thin devices like the Siswoo Cooper i7 I reviewed some weeks ago.
But let's go step by step.
Design and package
The box is quite standard, white, same shape that we can typically find for the iPhones or Samsung devices, for example. With a sticker showing some info and then most of the specifications on the bottom part.
Once opened, we can see the amazing Be Touch with its huge screen inside a soft bag and on the lower level, we have all the rest which is USB cable, charger (attention 1.5A! more than common units), headphones and quick start guide in English and other European languages... it's not something very necessary (we all know how to start the phone and take a picture) but it's really the first time I see it. And not one single item in Chinese. Sincerely that feels like more quality.
I live you that video with those impressions and something more:
Summarizing, on the front we have the 5,5" screen. On the top, frontal camera for selfies...with flash!!, light and proximity sensor. And on the bottom we have the navigation buttons: menu, back and home... which integrates a great surprise in form of fingerprint reader. Of all that I will talk more in detail.
On the left side we will find the lock/power and the volume buttons.
Going to the bottom side, just the micro and speaker (very iPhone-like). We have the holes for micro USB and jack exit on the top side, and nothing at all on the right side.
If we flip the phone, on the rear part we will see the main camera (using the Sony IMX214 4th gen sensor) with dual led flash and on the middle the uleFone logo.
All that within very tight dimensions of 158.1x77.4x8.6mm and another advantage is that it fits very well on the hand. It’s true that it’s big, but it doesn’t slip.
Hardware specifications
When you put the mark "flagship" over a product, you really want to mean that device is your top-range. Especially when you are a new player on the field and you want to set up what is your quality level and left aside your “Chinese stamp mark”. The Be Touch is much more than 64 bit octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM…So here it is what hides inside this thin beast.
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Model uleFone Be Touch
Color Metal Grey / Silk White
Dimensions 158.1 x 77.4 x 8.60
Weight 160g
Operating system Pre-install Android 5.0 Lollipop
Touch ID Front Fingerprint Scanner, Unlock in 0.1-0.5s
CPU 64Bit MTK MT6752 processor Octa core 1.7GHz CPU
GPU Mali T760 MP2/7000MHz GPU
RAM 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
ROM 16G
Battery 2550mAH
Charger Quick charger 1.5A ooutput
Display 5.5 inches, HD 1280*720pixels, IPS OGS (NEW 2.5D Arc screen) with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Cameras 13MP 4th generation camera Sony IMX214 (main) and 5.0MP (OV5648) for the Front camera
Video 1080P, 2K, 4K
Network GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (band5,band8,band3,band2) ; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 (band5,band8,band2,band1) ; FDD-LTE: 800/1800/2100/2600(band20,band3,band1,band7)
SIM Dual sim dual standby, Micro SIM and Standard SIM
WiFi WiFi802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Support dual-band Wi-Fi(2.4GHz/5GHz)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0
Positioning GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Digital Compass
Hall Effect Sensor, Gravity Sensor,
Ambient Light Sensor,
Touch Sensor, Digital Compass
Regarding the connectivity, needless to say it fully covers all our needs. The WiFi connects and transfers very fast, probably the improvements from Lollipop help, because I haven’t had any troubles of losing signal (as it happened with other devices). I have tried the BT with headphones (Digicare DO) and also with a BT keyboard, working both very well, quick pairing.
The SIM (standard and micro sizes) are located just next to the microSD slot, so sincerely a little bit hard to introduce the card, but once done, the networks are fast detected and connected, so I could use 3G/4G and also make calls very successfully. The voice is very clear and with enough volume.
Display
This is one of the most attracting points of this device. Its 5,5” IPS OGS screen with Corning Gorilla Glass of 3rd generation offers a resolution of 1280x720ppp. I can say that up to the date it’s the best display I’ve seen on a not first brand phone. The quality of the colors and the bright is amazing.
It comes with the dynamic control (adaptive brightness), so it automatically adapts to the lighting conditions to increase or reduce the bright level, making perfectly viewable even under sunshine.
Following the last trends, it also have the “Off-Screen Gesture” function, each time more common and sincerely very useful, since we can program several applications or functions to start without having to unlock the phone: camera, radio, calendar,.. any of the installed apps can be started by drawing a pattern on the locked screen.
Camera
We arrive to one of the most critical points of each review, since normally the manufacturers include camera sensors with a high number of megapixels but not offering the expected quality. uleFone advised they wanted to make the difference and present a great device, so they equipped the Be Touch with a main camera of 13Mpx with a Sony IMX214 4th generation sensor. Apparently this should be a warranty, but we’ve seen many other phones with good lenses giving poor results.
Fortunately this is not (so much) the case with the Be Touch. Until now this is the best (Chinese) one on the quality of pictures and videos. There is still the point to improve when there are poor light conditions. But I repeat the quality even though is much better than with other smartphones.
Here below some examples:
Another surprise comes with the front camera, the chosen sensor is OV5648 from Omni Vision, a high-performance, low-cost 5-megapixel CameraChip sensor for smartphones and tablets, which uses the latest 1.4-µm OmniBSI+ pixel architecture. But what surprised me was to find a led flash next to this camera. No questions about the selfies fever we’re immersed on, so the flash is doubtless a way to increase the quality of our portraits.
Regarding the videos, you can see this FullHD sample recorded outdoors, and even using zoom the quality is really good.
Software
This model comes directly with Android 5.0 Lollipop, so very good news since we have the almost last version of Android since the beginning, with all the improvements already mentioned on different articles like the better battery consumption, more secure environment since first boot, RAM management, WiFi connectivity issues solved, OK Google,…
By the other hand, need to say, that no Chinese stuff (apps) were installed on the phone, very clear Android [Símbolo] Only an icon called “ulefone” which brings us to the manufacturer website.
Another of the key points on the Be Touch is the fingerprint scanner, integrated on the “Home” button. It works really fast (some people say it’s even faster than the TouchID on the iPhone 6), and the way it register new fingers is different from other sensors where we had to slide our fingers. On this case we just have to put the desired finger repeatedly on the sensor until we have the full print marked on red on the screen. Meaning it has been fully recorded.
My suggestion is to place the finger on different positions, so it catches it from different angles and completes the task faster. We can register up to 5 fingers, which is a significant improvement against other devices allowing only 3 prints.
Due to the size of its screen and its powerful hardware, the Be Touch is perfect for entertainment. I installed Kodi (formerly known as XBMC), so I can play FullHD movies and TV shows directly from my NAS over the LAN, without any lags, smoothly and with very high quality of image and sound.
Normally I just try some games like Asphalt or Fifa (no need to say they go like lightning), however, bearing in mind the fingerprint sensor I decided to install my company’s software and use it as mobile office.
Yes, the BYOD is a real trend all around us I installed MaaS360, and configured mail, agenda and other tools. Once again it’s not only the speed of everything I try, jumping quickly from one task to another, but also the size of the screen makes this device very comfortable to read emails, see (and edit) Office documents, use CRM tools… really comfortable, especially when I compared to y iPhone 5’s tiny screen.
Autonomy
As stated above on the specifications table, the Be Touch is equipped with a removable battery of 2.550mAh, more than enough for a full day with average use: calls, wifi browsing, emails, whatsapp, pictures, social networking, Office documents editing… and all that thinking that the use of corporate tools and apps consume more battery.
Conclusions
A couple of months ago I saw the announcement of the Xiaomi MiNote and I really liked it. I though it was a real alternative to first brands smartphones with quality enough and a restrained price. I sincerely didn’t know so much about uleFone yet, and others brand had showed important improvements but still not at a comparable level to first brands.
I’m not meaning that the Be Touch has the same quality of the last Samsung Galaxy S6, but honestly it’s getting close. uleFone should still improve the management of taking pictures with dark conditions and polish some other minor details.
When I opened the box, I presumed that phone was very powerful but maybe too big for a daily use and still had to test the camera results, I take pictures every day. After using it, I can say that it’s a very comfortable device, not heavy at all (just 160gr) and since it’s very thin, it fits very well on the pocket.
I completely recommend it if you are looking for a new smartphone with a lot of possibilities and for a moderated price, around 205€ with Etotalk.com
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button
Just to complete the info from the review above, here some pictures putting the Be Touch (in black) together with an iPhone 6 (white)
Couple of questions.
1. How about the audio quality, through speaker, through headphone?
2. How much heat is generated by the phone when watching youtube or when playing games?
And Lastly, Can you upload some full size images? Thanks for a great review.:good:
Hi, answering your questions:
The sound is very good in both cases. For example, with the Elephone P3000S I clearly notice a lack of volume that I don't appreciate here, I mean watching movies, listening music,... more than enough. In addition the speaker is on the side, not in the bottom, so it always deliver at maximum
Regarding the temperature. After a couple of hours watching Gotham (I finished the 1st season recently hehe) chapters on the Be Touch, it was just a little hot, but for example the iPhone5 gets much much hotter when using 3G for long.
About the pictures... I have published the same review in here -> http://dabarsocialmarketing.blogspot.ie/2015/05/ulefone-be-touch-simply-amazing-with-64.html
I hope the pictures are bigger in size at least if you download them. I can tell you the quality is really good. Some friends viewed those pictures and asked me if they were the samples included on the phone or real pictures taken by me... that's why I take one of my dog (the same that appears on the video sample).
Until now it's from far, the best chinese phone I've used.
Cheers
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button
mdabar said:
Hi, answering your questions:
The sound is very good in both cases. For example, with the Elephone P3000S I clearly notice a lack of volume that I don't appreciate here, I mean watching movies, listening music,... more than enough. In addition the speaker is on the side, not in the bottom, so it always deliver at maximum
Regarding the temperature. After a couple of hours watching Gotham (I finished the 1st season recently hehe) chapters on the Be Touch, it was just a little hot, but for example the iPhone5 gets much much hotter when using 3G for long.
About the pictures... I have published the same review in here -> http://dabarsocialmarketing.blogspot.ie/2015/05/ulefone-be-touch-simply-amazing-with-64.html
I hope the pictures are bigger in size at least if you download them. I can tell you the quality is really good. Some friends viewed those pictures and asked me if they were the samples included on the phone or real pictures taken by me... that's why I take one of my dog (the same that appears on the video sample).
Until now it's from far, the best chinese phone I've used.
Cheers
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again. But I think those captured pictures are softer in the edges, sharper in the center. May be a software prob.
What is the data rate of video files? (In different resolutions)
My question is actually what kind of sd card to buy for that phone?
Doesn't it make sense to go for the expensive ones with higher speeds or 10mb/s is enough?
drkbg said:
What is the data rate of video files? (In different resolutions)
My question is actually what kind of sd card to buy for that phone?
Doesn't it make sense to go for the expensive ones with higher speeds or 10mb/s is enough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, bearing in mind that it records video on FullHD, I wouldn't take a slow card. Personally I always take class 10 at least. If you can take a UHS class it will be better. Think that it's not only the video recording, at least I use to put a lot of stuff on the SD, so accessing apps, taking pictures, games, videos,... everything falls on the SD card, so the fastest the better.
For me, the class 10 is working well.
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button
Has anyone tried 128GB sdcard?
drkbg said:
Has anyone tried 128GB sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha I'd really like, but they are soooo expensive
Tell us if you have the chance!
cheers
67EUR is not that much... ok compared to 23EUR for 64GB is a little bit more per GB but still this phone did cost me 180...
Hey dude. thanks for sharing that.
r_kalar_2 said:
Thanks again. But I think those captured pictures are softer in the edges, sharper in the center. May be a software prob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've checked but don't have the impresion about soft edges... I have published on my spanish blog -> http://t.co/w9CK2Y2w6H
and there you can view full size
Think also that for example the flower picture was very focused very close, I wanted the rest appear unfocused (I don't know the correct term in english). Anyway I hope these full size pictures help I'll try to post some ones else
Cheers!
Will this phone work with USA 4G/LTE? Specifically AT&T? I've heard the wifi range on it is pretty poor, can you confirm that?
Does anyone knows how to root this device? I tried with iRoot but didn't work.
alresave said:
Does anyone knows how to root this device? I tried with iRoot but didn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kingroot?
let us know, which rooting method worked
Maor545 said:
kingroot?
let us know, which rooting method worked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah please, I was also thinking, although I have not yet investigated. :good:
hello I bought the phone and I'm very happy, but I read in the specifications that the phone can 'do video in 2K or 4K, you did it ???
Sorry for may bad english
gagias said:
hello I bought the phone and I'm very happy, but I read in the specifications that the phone can 'do video in 2K or 4K, you did it ???
Sorry for may bad english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4k will be supported after an ota update as far as I know
scottharris4 said:
Will this phone work with USA 4G/LTE? Specifically AT&T? I've heard the wifi range on it is pretty poor, can you confirm that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes this phone works with AT&T but no LTE does not work. as far as the wireless connection, this is true, it's not as strong as a g3 or an S five or an iPhone 6 but it isn't horrible. the build quality is very nice. it's worth what they're asking for it.
---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------
mdabar said:
Yeah please, I was also thinking, although I have not yet investigated. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried Kingroot , I root, and framaroot.
All were unsuccessful.
Also just read this phone will get 5.1 within the next 30 days.
EDIT September 17 2015: ATTENTION!
Don't buy this phone unless you get it almost for free.
My initial review of the X9, which is no longer valid, comes first in the text below.
See the edits at the end for details.
___________________________________________________________________________
iocean X9
This review is based on my experience with one of the first regular production samples of the iOcean X9. It is not supposed to be a pre-production sample, but in some ways it behaves like that. The Android 4.4.4 it came with isn’t ready developed for the hardware and it probably never will be. I guess that the company is concentrating on developing the Lollipop rom for it instead. I suspect that iOcean were in a hurry to get this phone on the market and pushed it out too early on an unfinished Kitkat, instead of waiting for a well working Lollipop. It’s a pity because this phone has a lot of potential and deserves a better rom!
Firmware version: X9_20150608-192523
Despite the buggy Kitkat rom I have done many tests and made many observations in the phone. I could rewrite my notes to a regular short review in a wordier format, but in order to be able to come back here and add more information later on, I keep the text in a notelike form. Refer to the edits at the end of this post for updates. I attach some screen dumps of some of the tests I have done. More screen dumps and links to camera test photos etc. will probably come in a later edit.
NOTE:
There will be a part 2 of this review as soon as I have a final release LP rom in the phone. It’s not really fair to review it entirely on a buggy KK or LP Beta.
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Specs:
5.0” LCD, 1920 x 1080 pixels FHD screen
CPU: MTK6752 Octa Core, 1.7GHz; GPU: Mali-T760
Android 4.4.4 OS (will get Android 5.x soon)
3GB RAM + 16GB ROM
Dual SIM card, dual standby, micro SIM slot + nano SIM slot
Front camera 5 MP, back camera 13 MP with flashlight and auto focus
Support FDD+TDD LTE/4G/3G/GPS/Wifi/Bluetooth/Miracast/OTG
Networking:
2G: GSM BAND 850/900/1800/1900
3G: TD-SCDMA BAND 1900/2100, WCDMA BAND 900/1900/2100
4G: FDD-LTE BAND 800/1800/2600, TDD-LTE BAND 1800/2300/2600
Design
This phone is thin. Very thin! 6.6 mm in my measurement (specs say 6.5 mm). It also feels very solid and a bit heavy despite the thinness (or maybe due to?). The weight is 145 g (specs say 140 g) but I think it feels heavier, in a good way. The design is very nice. It looks like a tall and very slim iPhone 4. The build quality and the quality feel is very high for the price, but a little bit lower then in a Huawei P8 for example. The texture of the metal frame and the opening for the speaker on the backside don’t give that premium feeling you could wish for. Also the buttons feels a little bit below premium. But for the price the quality feel is really excellent. The power button is in the middle on the right side, below the volume rocker. I don’t like this position as it’s too easy to accidentally switch on or off the phone just by holding it, but it seems standard in many new phones now.
Screen
The screen is excellent. It’s rather bright and vivid and it has good viewing angles. Generally I think that FHD is a bit overkill on a 5” screen. 1280 x 720 pixels is enough “retina” on a 5” screen and a good HD screen is better than a not so good FHD screen, but this is a really good FHD screen. I honestly didn’t expect that for the price.
Cameras
The main camera has a 13 MP Sony Exmor RS IMX214 sensor, which is a well-known and acclaimed sensor that is used in for example Xiaomi Mi4, OnePlus One and Vivo XShot. The camera is excellent and works very well even in low-light. It starts fast, focuses fast, has high sensitivity, little colour crosstalk and most of all the HDR function is really fast (important if you can’t hold the camera really still, or for moving objects). That’s all very rare in Chinese phones no matter what price range they are in. In fact this is the best camera I have ever seen in any Chinese phone (I haven't tried the ones in OnePlus One and Vivo XShot myself). The only little problem I had with the camera is to lock the focus on a certain object in the view by tapping on the screen and get the focus to stay there until I have time to make the shot. Probably that is software related.
The front camera is a Chinese 5 MP OmniVision OV5648. It’s also quite good and it’s even capable of capturing 720p HD video at 60 fps and 1080p HD video at 30 fps.
Performance
The phone is fast, but not as fast as I thought it would be, maybe due to the buggy rom. I get a score of ~37000 in AnTuTu 5.7.1. In Geekbench 3 I get ~4000 in multi-core score, which is almost twice as much as in the MT6732 devices. But as they say in the AnTuTu test, ”many apps only can use one core”, and the single-core score is 810, which is only ~10% better than in a MT6732. In Basemark OS II I get an overall score of 854, which is ~+50% faster than a FHD MT6592 device on Kitkat. In the graphics benchmark in Epic Citadel I get ~40 fps in average in Ultra High Quality mode.
However, the phone is running a buggy 32-bit Kitkat on a 64-bit SoC and I expect the performance to go up a bit once iOcean has put out a final release Lollipop upgrade for it.
Web browsing is fast and the Sunspider 1.0.2 test finishes in ~910 ms in Chrome and ~780 ms in the stock browser (yes the old stock browser is faster than Chrome). The MT6752 seems to be only ~10-15% faster in the Sunspider test than a MT6732, which corresponds to the +10% better single-core score in Geekbench 3. As a reference, my reference phone, an iPhone 6, only need ~330 ms to finish the sunspider test.
Network
4G LTE is really very fast in this phone and I didn’t know how fast download speeds my 4G network was capable of until I got this phone. The phone must have high sensitivity and a really fast 4G modem. Probably it’s true as they say in the specs that it can handle download speeds up to 150 Mb/s. I get over 100 Mb/s down and 27 Mb/s up. In comparison the up speed is a bit low, but that's probably limited by the network, since I only get a few percent higher up speed in my reference phone (and a lot lower down speed at the same time).
WiFi
The wifi has good sensitivity and it measures almost the same signal level in average in WiFi Analyzer as my reference in that, an 8” Xiaomi MiPad (tabs can have much larger antennas). Even on a very remote wifi the X9 and the tab measures the same signal level.
GPS
The GPS is also excellent. It locks in fast and I have never seen so many satellites in view and in use in GPS Test before. In my tests outside my house it sees 21 satellites and use 20, with a 3D fix accuracy of 1 m.
Battery
The battery run time is actually quite good, despite the relatively low capacity battery (2050 mAh), FHD screen and 8-core CPU. It manages to stand the Geekbench 3 battery test for 5 h and 10 min, with a battery score of 3100. The run time and score will definitely increase after a few charges, but already the runtime and score is ~50% better than an iPhone 6 (sorry for the iPhone references but it makes sense I think).
Sound
The sound quality in phone calls is really good and the volume is more than enough. The built in speaker on the backside is useless for music (as usual in phones), but good for phone calls. Also here the maximum volume is more then enough in an office environment. The sound quality in high quality earphones is very high, provided that you switch off the BesSurround function which is on by default. The sound volume is more than enough in good earphones (high sensitivity).
Root
The phone comes unrooted, but it becomes rooted with just a switch in Settings -> Security -> Superuser. In the Superuser setting you can control which apps you have given superuser privileges to. Basically it works in much the same way as SuperSU. Brilliant! Reason enough to buy the phone just for that as soon as it comes with a LP rom. Also there is no bloatware at all installed.
Launcher
The launcher is the CyanogenMod Trebuchet. I’m not sure how and why it ended up in this phone because the phone is not on CM and unlike in CM the launcher can’t be configured in any way in this phone, except the scroll effect between desktop screens, but not between drawer screens. The launcher works well but it’s a waste of a nice FHD screen to only have 5 rows and 4 columns of icons on the desktop and in the drawer and not be able to change that. Hopefully there will be a better launcher in the Lollipop rom.
Dual SIM?
The phone is a dual SIM and dual standby phone, but that's only partly true since one sim slot is a combined SIM/SD slot. Users have to choose between dual SIM standby or single SIM and extended memory, and with only 16 GB storage I would classify this phone as single SIM.
To be continued…
__________EDIT_1___________
I have received an email from an iocean representatve saying:
This problems should be related to the ROM. We have a new ROM update (for 4.4 software) that should be able to solve the problems of your iocean X9. We have already released the iocean X9 Beta version of android 5.1, and we should have a new update for it soon.
Please find below the iocean X9 update link. You can download it and upgrade the ROM, this needs to be done through PC.
https://mega.co.nz/#!fp9HwKDA!T2mqzWsAOaNSWGLomRqMEmNXnE_zuTY9tSweTZRsdSA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have flashed the rom in the link above and it brought the firmware in my phone from version X9_20150608-192523 to X9_20150624-143035.
However, it didn't change things much. This rom feels a little bit more stable, but the phone is still not stable. Often when I stress it with something CPU or GPU intense, the phone reboots. In the previous rom I had to force reboot it by holding the on button pressed for 10 seconds in the same situation, which might be an improvement, I'm not sure.
__________EDIT_2___________
I tried the Lollipop beta 20150618 with no better result than with the two previous KK roms and I start to believe that the phone has some hardware issue. I used the EngineerMode to switch on the MTKLogger and then stressed the phone to freeze two times. Then I tried to analyze the log files and figure out what's causing the stability problems. However, I'm no expert and can't really figure out what's causing the crash. The engineers at iOcean asked for the log files and they have them now. I'm currently waiting for their result.
__________EDIT_3___________
Yesterday, September 16, 4 months after I purchased this phone I got it back from "repair" from the dealer. It took 2 weeks for it to reach the dealer, and then they held it for a while before they sent it "to the factory", whatever that means. Small brands like iOcean have no factories by themselves, it's just a brand name and an office with a few employees. After the so called repair at the so called factory, the dealer got the phone back and according to themselves, their QC people took care of it and tested it before they sent it to me. All together it took 2 months for this warranty service.
However, the phone is exactly as faulty as when I sent it back for repair. It froze completely at first AnTuTu test and had to be force restarted by pressing powerbutton for 10s. The phone has an obvious hardware error but they didn't open the phone to change any components. All they did was to flash a fresh firmware to it and change the CPU governor and I/O handler. Probably in some belief that it would cool down the phone a bit and get rid of some of the overheating problems, as if that would help much when the max clock freq. still is 1.69 GHz. Changing governor, thermal policy and max clock freq. could have saved this phone from breaking when it was new maybe, but now it obviously have some hardware problem and the dealer did nothing about that when they had it.
To make things extremely much more complicated the iOcean company went bankrupt in July. The rumour has it that they will restructure the company and make a come back, but I'm not so sure. And even if they will be back it's very uncertain if they will support previously relased models at all. The X9 never got the LP firmware it was supposed to have before the company went bankrupt. Not a working KK either.
As an edit on top of this long post I add a warning to buy this phone because: 1. The KK fw it comes with is a disaster. 2. The LP Beta is a disaster. 3. iOcean went bankrupt. 4. There will probably never be an official well working KK or LP fw for this phone. 5. Even with good fw it would overheat a lot unless the clock freq. is lowered a lot.
__________EDIT_4___________
I have now sent this phone back for good to where I got it from. If some other misfortunate X9 owner wants to take over this thread please PM me. Otherwise I will close this thread soon. I'm through with with this device.
iocean x9
thanks for review.
it answered to my question, i was thinking to buy this phone from a few weeks ago...
i wont buy it if iOcean wont release a good rom for this phone.
one question, at this moment: this phone have a notification led?
gigiunu said:
thanks for review.
it answered to my question, i was thinking to buy this phone from a few weeks ago...
i wont buy it if iOcean wont release a good rom for this phone.
one question, at this moment: this phone have a notification led?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it has a small notification led on the front. It's a beautiful phone with a lot of potential and I really hope they fix it soon, or there is something terribly wrong with just my device, but I don't think so. Let's wait and see how iOcean reacts to my complaints.
MacArthur67 said:
Yes it has a small notification led on the front. It's a beautiful phone with a lot of potential and I really hope they fix it soon, or there is something terribly wrong with just my device, but I don't think so. Let's wait and see how iOcean reacts to my complaints.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somebody posted your review on official page of iOcean, i hope they read it and solve the problems. Right now, i'm using as regular phone Jiayu G5s, it's very good phone, but without 4G function and bad GPS... this iOcean X9 looks same but is bigger and thinner and with a good specs...
Another question, 4G can be switched from sim1 to sim2 , or sim2 slot support only 2G?
gigiunu said:
Right now, i'm using as regular phone Jiayu G5s, it's very good phone, but without 4G function and bad GPS... this iOcean X9 looks same but is bigger and thinner and with a good specs...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I know the G5S, it's a nice iP5S design rip-off, especially with the silver and black backside, but I only have good experience with Jiayu devices. Bug free and stable but maybe a bit overpriced. I didn't know the G5S had GPS problems, but it's a 3G phone so I see why you're looking for a replacement.
Another question, 4G can be switched from sim1 to sim2 , or sim2 slot support only 2G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you can switch the 3G/4G to any of the slots in the settings, so there's no need for physical swap. Only one can be 3G/4G at a time though.
iOcean X9
What a ugly launcher... it is the stock one?
Also, we're waiting your feedback about battery life, 2100mAh for an 5 inch fhd display seems to be not enough for a day, even in a normal use, with moderate talking and mobile data/wi-fi on all the time...
gigiunu said:
What a ugly launcher... it is the stock one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and no. The phone has the Trebuchet launcher, which has a theme chooser. It comes with 6 stock themes and in the pic I posted I was on the ugly "Sky" theme. Next time I might be in the girly "Pink" theme!
Also, we're waiting your feedback about battery life, 2100mAh for an 5 inch fhd display seems to be not enough for a day, even in a normal use, with moderate talking and mobile data/wi-fi on all the time...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I added battery information in the original review above. Like the MT6732 SoC the MT6752 seems to be very energy efficient. In fact it seems to be even more energy efficient than the MT6732. I get 5 h and 10 m out of it in the Geekbench 3 battery test (screen on) and that value will increase for sure. In my MT6732 device with a 5" 1280x720 display and a claimed 2250 mAh battery (it's not) I get less than 4.5 h in the GB3 battery test and that phone easily lasts a day. But of course it depends on how you use your phone. Remember that an iPhone 6 only lasts ~3.5 h on a full charge in the GB3 battery test.
can you tell me where did you buy it and how much you paid for?
I was looking for it, but nowhere is in stock...
gigiunu said:
can you tell me where did you buy it and how much you paid for?
I was looking for it, but nowhere is in stock...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can buy here: http://www.pompmall.com/iocean-x9.html
gigiunu said:
can you tell me where did you buy it and how much you paid for?
I was looking for it, but nowhere is in stock...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to say how I got it at this stage, but it's an official production phone and not a pre-series phone. I know that Geekbuying had it for pre-orders before @ $249, but they seem to have pulled it off for orders now. Maybe it's not out for pre-orders any more because of the problems I'm also experiencing. I mean I'm not the only one who got one of the first regular production X9's.
At present I'm having a direct contact with iocean about the problems I'm experiencing with my phone. I'm thinking that if the problem is software related, it has something to do with the thermal management. It freezes and reboots when it gets stressed and consequently a bit hot. But of course that sounds more like a hardware problem.
It's up to you if you want to take the risk and buy it from some less known source, but make sure you get some warranty then. You have read my review so you know that it could be a fantastic phone without the freezes and reboots that I'm experiencing.
they released a BETA version of Android 5.1 for iocean X9, did you try it?
https://mega.co.nz/#!S5sTnC5B!s0v94zWHIkanhvR8ThEb59tfxO_tSngc-wh0tnBTMnU
gigiunu said:
they released a BETA version of Android 5.1 for iocean X9, did you try it?
https://mega.co.nz/#!S5sTnC5B!s0v94zWHIkanhvR8ThEb59tfxO_tSngc-wh0tnBTMnU
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have it but I didn't want to try it because the KK rom I have was supposed to be stable, and still it's far from stable in my phone. If I install a buggy beta I have no clue to what comes from software bugs and what comes from hardware malfunction. I might give it a spin later.
i supose it can't be worst then stock kk rom ...
Hi
Thank for the review. I've mine in hand since 2 days. I have the same rom (Firmware version: X9_20150608-192523)
--- :
Sometimes it's getting HOT, very HOT
It tried Google map and... i was able to see the battery lowering at sight. 1% every 20sec. Very funny or not
I don't think kitkat is good with octo core managing
+++ :
All running well and fast
thin, nice
No freeze, no shutdown, all good
Phone very hot but seems battery is ok for 1 day.
I think like you about a bad kitkat rom. Hope the 5.1 will be great. At the beginning the phone was a 5.1 phone but seems they run out of time and so we have kitkat. I didn't tried the 5.1 beta rom. I'm waiting the good one.
vodnok said:
Hi
Thank for the review. I've mine in hand since 2 days. I have the same rom (Firmware version: X9_20150608-192523)
--- :
Sometimes it's getting HOT, very HOT
It tried Google map and... i was able to see the battery lowering at sight. 1% every 20sec. Very funny or not.
I don't think kitkat is good with octo core managing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also noticed that it gets very hot during CPU/GPU intese processes. My initial thought about the freezes I have was that there was something wrong with the thermal management in the initial KK rom. However, it didn't seem to get much better in the updated KK so now I'm not so sure.
KK works very fine in "old" MT6592 octa core devices, so I don't think that the 8 cores in MT6752 is the main problem.
+++ :
All running well and fast
thin, nice
No freeze, no shutdown, all good
Phone very hot but seems battery is ok for 1 day.
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Nice to hear that it runs smooth without app/system freezes. I suppose you flashed the updated KK in the link above then? If you did that, did you notice any difference in the heat problem? The battery is definitely good enough for a days use and more. Also, if I buy the thinnest 5" FHD phone on the market at present, I don't expect it to last much more than a day. I'm happy with the battery time.
I think like you about a bad kitkat rom. Hope the 5.1 will be great. At the beginning the phone was a 5.1 phone but seems they run out of time and so we have kitkat. I didn't tried the 5.1 beta rom. I'm waiting the good one.
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Yes, it was promoted as a LP phone when I decided to get an early one. Then they changed the specs to KK. I tried the LP Beta but it was no improvement and I don't have time to be an unpaid beta tester right now, so I went back to the 20150624 version again. Also I wanted to be on KK for the EngineerMode, MTKLogger and MTK Catcher to work like I'm used to.
Nice review
Sent from my GT-I9082 using Tapatalk
for owners of iOcean X9: can you make some speedtest of internet connection in HSDPA (H) and HSPA+ (H+)?
Thanks.
gigiunu said:
for owners of iOcean X9: can you make some speedtest of internet connection in HSDPA (H) and HSPA+ (H+)?
Thanks.
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Yes I already did that before but I'm not sure if it makes any sense because the phone easily reaches the max speed in my network. I get 8/3 Mb/s in HSPA and 27/7 Mb/s in HSPA+ (H+). I think the 3G H+ is DC-HSPA but I can't check that easily. I should be able to get up to 32 Mb/s with DC-HSDPA in my network with good signal.
thanks for reply...
i just replaced my Jiayu G5S with an Xiaomi MI 4i black and there's no differences between them, max speed on H+ is under 7 Mbps... If i put my sim in other regulary phone i can get easily ~27 Mbps.
So, i keep an eye to this iOCEAN x9 , i like it and probabily i'll buy it when it get a good firmware.
gigiunu said:
thanks for reply...
i just replaced my Jiayu G5S with an Xiaomi MI 4i black and there's no differences between them, max speed on H+ is under 7 Mbps... If i put my sim in other regulary phone i can get easily ~27 Mbps.
So, i keep an eye to this iOCEAN x9 , i like it and probabily i'll buy it when it get a good firmware.
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I don't think it will be long before the LP firmware will be out in official release form. A few weeks at the most. The bug-/to-do list isn't very long at the moment.
Off topic:
I had a Mi4i to test for a while and it had the WCDMA 850 and 2100 bands. The 850 band is only used in Asia as far as I know. In Europe it's 900/2100 everywhere I think. Can it be that your network has a higher speed on 900 MHz than on 2100 MHz? Then your Mi4i is partly incompatible with your network. There are probably different versions of the Mi4i for different markets. Mine was bought in Thailand and they have 850/2100. The JiaYu G5S don't have HSPA+.