Chinese Android Phones

Thargor

Perfect thanks, not too bad so, hopefully something tomorrow. I'd already have it if they hadn't randomly hung onto it for 5-6 days at the information received stage. Im going to stop going on about it now, its just my current Xperia is getting worse by the day.

Dan_Solo

Mate, I ordered a new screen for my old N97 mini and it didn't fit so I'm still on a SE W580!

OK, this is getting epic. They tried to deliver the phone, which won't fit in a letterbox, which required a VAT payment, to a workplace at 8:29AM.
Guess what happened?

Dan_Solo

Well I managed to get the baby from the depot yesterday, and she sure is nice. Smaller than I expected, a thinnish, though not super skinny.
Had to get MXPlayer off the Play Store as the stock didn't seem to want to play HD MP4 files. No problems now. HD movies play off the SD card smoothly, even if it isn't a Class 10 card.
No rattly home button problem as far as a I can see, though it does make a quiet click noise when you press it. I ran the battery down to 0% and it's recharging to 100% now, which I keep hearing is the thing to do.
Some questions for any other G2 users?
1. Should I take the screen protector off? It's fairly responsive as it is but I don't know how scratch resistant without the protector.
2. Anybody got Flash working properly on Android 4.0.4? I downloaded Dolphin and Flash APK as instructed at XDA-developers, but I only get sound through the stock browser and Dolphin gives garbled video. I'm trying firstrowsports and dubbedanime as test sites.
3. Any need for the 4.1 update? I downloaded it, but it doesn't appear to be one of those updates you just put on the SD card and reboot.

Get In There

Hey guys, can anybody help.. As a ZTE blade user, I treated myself to a G2S phone from mixeshop mainly because of the front camera function which the blade didn't have. This is essential for making video calls. I'm Deaf so making video calls as opposed to sending texts held great appeal.

However the G2S phone arrived today and to my huge disappointment, the front camera quality is pi$$ poor, dark and all weird. Other than that, there are no issues to speak of.

My girlfriend has the G3 phone and her front camera quality is miles better so I know it's not just me.

I complained the Mixeshop asking for a refund with return shipping costs but as luck would have it, they're on holidays today for 2 bloody weeks which is frustrating.

I've googled for results with issues of G2S front camera, but no results. Only got results for the jumping issue which my phone doesn't have. Does any one have any idea if the camera issue can be sorted? Am feeling a bit helpless here.

Thanks.

Thargor

Sorry to hear that, front camera will definitely be where they scrimp on parts in these kinds of phone and I see its only 2MP aswell anyway.

More bad news is that the holiday is the Chinese New Year and these Asian vendors are usually backed up for a month afterwards aswell, let us know how you get on but I doubt firmware is going to do much for you, could be wrong though.

Dan_Solo

Get In There wrote: »

However the G2S phone arrived today and to my huge disappointment, the front camera quality is pi$$ poor, dark and all weird. Other than that, there are no issues to speak of.

I just tried it in natural light (well what we get around here...) on my G2+ and it looked grand to me. I don't used videocall much though.

positron

Its' the same with G3 too I think - both camera is pretty bad in poor light, and reasonably okay with daylight or well lit indoors.

bidiots

If you are looking for any decent camera experience then it's probably safer to stick with a branded front runner such as the S3 or a Sony/HTC/Nokia. I've had the G3 and G2S, both camera's are very basic but not overly impressive. I've no excessive need for the camera so it doesn't bother me tbh...

Dan_Solo

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Some questions for any other G2 users?
1. Should I take the screen protector off? It's fairly responsive as it is but I don't know how scratch resistant without the protector.
2. Anybody got Flash working properly on Android 4.0.4? I downloaded Dolphin and Flash APK as instructed at XDA-developers, but I only get sound through the stock browser and Dolphin gives garbled video. I'm trying firstrowsports and dubbedanime as test sites.
3. Any need for the 4.1 update? I downloaded it, but it doesn't appear to be one of those updates you just put on the SD card and reboot.

OK so, can anyone with a G2 at least answer #1? Do I really need the screen protector, and if not, why do they ship with one on it an a spare one?

bidiots

I don't know what to tell you. I've never used one before, but my G2S came with the protector already applied, even though I didn't order one! It's not bothering me so I'll just leave it be. I guess it's up to you, if it's annoying then take it off, otherwise, if it's not broke, don't fix it....wish I could be more help

Dan_Solo

bidiots wrote: »

I don't know what to tell you. I've never used one before, but my G2S came with the protector already applied, even though I didn't order one! It's not bothering me so I'll just leave it be. I guess it's up to you, if it's annoying then take it off, otherwise, if it's not broke, don't fix it....wish I could be more help

Mine came with one on it too, but it's a bit crooked and one corner is over the edge of the phone a bit so it keeps peeling back there. There's another one in the box, but I hate putting those on because of all the bubbles.... Various places on the web say it has Gorilla Glass, but notably the ejiayu shop doesn't!

archstanton62

I wonder if anyone can help me i have bounced round loads of sites without much luck.I have recently got my hands on a UMI X1 for a week it was fantastic,then suddenly the screen basically lost its colour everything looks grey on it,if i screen shoot it and send it to another phone the screen looks perfect.Has anyone else here had this problem?does anyone think rooting and upgrading to Jelly Bean might help
I have contacted the shop i got it from they said send it back but i dont want to, as I want to avoid the shipping cost and general messing about,added to that it seems the whole of China is on holiday and it could take ages!
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thargor

Try a factory reset and/or new rom but it sounds like a hardware fault if the screenshots are in colour, there wasnt any kids messing with the settings like this link or anything was there?

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/1148/Why+is+my+display+screen+in+black+and+white+only

Id say take it apart, give the cable going into the screen a shake and make sure its firmly seated, send it back if none of that works.

archstanton62

Thanks for your reply Thargor,I managed to update the ROM and the screen did almost get back to normal,but now is back to Grey with lines coming down the screen,I am waiting to find out about a new screen but have to wait until the end of there holidays!
Not had the balls to take it apart to reconnect the screen!

Thargor

Thats weird that a software change nearly fixes it, it definitely sounds hardware related. Does it flicker back to coloured mode if you tap it against a surface at all?

Still haven't received my G3, still in transit according to the tracker :mad:

archstanton62

The umi x1 is my daughters,she liked the look of my G3( I got from Mixeshop it took 8 days to get to the UK via DHL)but didn't want the same as me so she got the UMI
The jiayu so far has been faultless put the sim card in(3mobile) worked first time,its bigger than the Umi but i cant knock it my only complaint is the flash, photos in the dark aint great,but i wanted a different phone not a camera.
My daughters UMI is on Tesco,I had to take it in the shop so they could set the APN setting then until the screen went she loved it

bidiots

Thargor wrote: »

Thats weird that a software change nearly fixes it, it definitely sounds hardware related. Does it flicker back to coloured mode if you tap it against a surface at all?

Still haven't received my G3, still in transit according to the tracker :mad:

Ah, someone is taking the pish with your phone dude. Did you pay with Paypal? Cancel that straight away if you did....

Thargor

Well it says wait 20 working days before you cancel so Ill give them that at least, Paypal will say the same thing, plus its a registered package so as long as I dont sign anything I can get my Paypal money back any time.

bidiots

You have a lot more patience than me in this regard....hope it gets sorted for ya.

positron

I am starting to think Thargor works for Jiayu, specialising in drumming up some sales.. a bit like hiring people to queue in front of the shop so that everyone else will also join the queue, just to see what's up...

Dan_Solo

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Mine came with one on it too, but it's a bit crooked and one corner is over the edge of the phone a bit so it keeps peeling back there. There's another one in the box, but I hate putting those on because of all the bubbles.... Various places on the web say it has Gorilla Glass, but notably the ejiayu shop doesn't!

Well I lifted the offending corner of the screen protector and snipped it off. This leaves about a square centimeter exposed and a few days later that part still looks pristine while the protector itself gradually get micro-scuffs. Probably pretty tough, whatever the screen is made of.
I agree with the G3 people on the camera flash being pants though. Pity, as it can take lovely snaps in good light.

Thargor

My G3 is here! Im snowed under at work so probably wont get to open it until the weekend now but at least its here, Merimobiles sent a lovely free gift of a pair of gloves with the piezoelectric fingertips that work on touch screens aswell

Thargor

Well Ive been using the G3 since Thursday and I am officially in love with it

Seriously it is one of the nicest phones Ive ever held in my hands and I include the iPhone 4S and Galaxy SIII in that, its just a solid block of phone if you know what I mean, just a black rectangle like a mini tablet, no pointless decoration, lovely weight to it and really well-built feel. I cant believe I got it with rubber case, charger, spare battery, screen protectors, spare cable and a free gift of some nice touchscreen gloves (even the plastic lunchbox sized case it came in will come in handy) for €170, €120 if you count the €50 I got for my knackered Xperia.

By far the best feature has to be the screen which is what I bought it for since I found I was reading way more books on my phone than I was on my Kindle, 4.5 inches and it is glorious, Im still using this stock fruity wallpaper because it looks so good every time you turn it on:



Text and images on webpages is so crisp, it really is like something Apple made or Samsungs AMOLED screens or whatever, I cant fault it, 4.5 inches is the perfect size aswell, I was debating going for a 4.7 or 5 inch phone but I think anything bigger would get annoying.

Menus, games, videos are all smooth as you could want, I use the Apex Launcher on all my devices and you can flick around and hop back and forth between apps with no stuttering and juddering. GTA III and Temple Run II are demanding games and they run flawlessly, downloading Vice City now to see what that's like. 720p video is no problem for MX player on it once you set it to software decoding, smooth as on the laptop, likewise for Youtube and RTE Player in the Dolphin browser (had to track down the Flash apk on the Pirate Bay and manually install it to get the players working but thats Adobe fighting with Google not the phones fault).

Reception for wi-fi and data is perfect as far as I can tell, our router is 2 floors below my room and reception is perfect, Youtube, Filmon, RTE Player all perfect streaming on 3's unlimited data, no dropped calls or missed texts or anything in the last 4 days. Tethering and portable wi-fi hotspot all present and working great.

I stayed on the stock Ice Cream Sandwich ROM, all I did was root it with steps 1 and 2 in this tutorial then manually uninstalled all the Chinese sh1te myself, I was planning on trying out Jellybean but I was enjoying it too much so I never got around to it. I think I am noticing the battery problem with the stock ICS rom though so I will be upgrading to JellyBean ASAP, nothing fatal like on cheap Chinese tablets, it will last for days on standby but an hours browsing or watching videos/games will cost you about 25% of the battery, it takes a few hours for a full charge aswell, its fine though, definitely no need to carry the second battery around or anything, you'll get 48 hours a charge at a stretch.

The camera is grand, cant fault that either, hit the camera icon and its instantly active and likewise hit the shutter and it takes the pic instantly, no delays or slowdowns like you see on other cheap devices, heres a few quick snaps I took on a cycle around Bray this morning, nothing special but nothing terrible about it either, good detail if you click to zoom in:

Gallery

I took some nice panoramic pictures of the Seafront and Bray Head aswell and they work great on the phone, you press the shutter then swing the camera to the right to grab Google Streetview style images but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to upload them, its a great feature and works fine anyway.

I cant really fault it, Ive used a lot of piss poor Chinese ICS tablets and all the problems you get on them just aren't present here, no annoying Chinese text everywhere (once you root and uninstall about 5 Chinese apps and install a launcher like Apex, the dialer and text input is a mess of Chinese out of the box), acceptable battery life hopefully to be good after the Jellybean update, completely smooth and stable, haven't managed to crash it yet, no marketplace problems whatsoever, shows up as a Jiayu G3 and everything can be installed on it, no "not compatible with your device" errors for any apps like you usually get with generic Chinese stuff.

Well that about covers it I think, maybe its because Ive been nursing a half dead Xperia for the last 3 months but I couldn't be happier, I cant put it down and its easily the best phone Ive ever owned, still cant get over the screen quality, its so crisp and bright.

Just bear in mind if you're getting one the G4 is about to be released and theres already talk about the G5 on Gizchina so maybe you might want to hold off and see.

Justin10

I was thinking about getting a Nexus 4 but the value for money seems to be fantastic with the G4 and G3, not sure about the look of the G5 being an I Phone knock off.

The Umi X2 seems to be an option too.

Dan_Solo

Dan_Solo wrote: »

Well I lifted the offending corner of the screen protector and snipped it off. This leaves about a square centimeter exposed and a few days later that part still looks pristine while the protector itself gradually get micro-scuffs. Probably pretty tough, whatever the screen is made of.
I agree with the G3 people on the camera flash being pants though. Pity, as it can take lovely snaps in good light.

BTW, I've stopped "using protection" on my G2 now, and a few days later the screen is absolutely pristine. I never share my phone pocket with keys or coins mind you. Touchscreen is a little better and the IPS is even more gorgeous.
Hope it stays that way!

CaSCaDe711

Hi G3 owners Am getting more interested in this phone the more I read, seems really good, especially for such a price.

Have you tried the Dual SIM options on these, and if so, how are they?

Thanks in advance,
CaSCaDe711

ThunbergsAreGo

Hey, whats the music experience like on these? Volume sufficient on podcasts etc when out and about, if someone could test would be great

Thargor

Definitely no complaints there, well able to push any of my headphones into painfully loud/distortion anyway. The FM radio works great aswell, there are apps on Play to enhance it but the stock radio rom is great, fast scan, names the stations automatically and the song thats playing.

Thargor

CaSCaDe711 wrote: »

Hi G3 owners Am getting more interested in this phone the more I read, seems really good, especially for such a price.

Have you tried the Dual SIM options on these, and if so, how are they?

Thanks in advance,
CaSCaDe711

I dont use dual sim but read the first page and Bidiots bought it for that feature and says its perfect, seems like an easy swap in the notifications menu from what I can see here with my one simcard.

Dan_Solo wrote: »

BTW, I've stopped "using protection" on my G2 now, and a few days later the screen is absolutely pristine. I never share my phone pocket with keys or coins mind you. Touchscreen is a little better and the IPS is even more gorgeous.
Hope it stays that way!

Im not bothering with screen protectors on the G3 either, still pristine after 5 days, Im using it normally aswell, stick it in any pocket with anything as long as its not a set of keys, not a hint of any damage yet.

T-Bird

Wouldn't try this myself (cringe with every tap)

G3 Wall-nut test