Develop Bugs

[Review] ZTE Blade S6 PLUS

Hello,
here is my review of the new ZTE Blade S6 PLUS. The original review is written in German language (my native language) and you can find it here: Link removed. I will sometimes compare the Plus with the normal model that I have already tested some weeks ago Link removed
Order
I have received the ZTE Blade S6 Plus for this review.
Specs
Brand: ZTE
Model: Blade S6 Plus
Betriebssystem: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop
Networking: 2G: GSM (850/900/1800/1900MHz) / 3G: WCDMA (900/2100MHz) / 4G: FDD-LTE (B3/B7/B8/B20 (1800/2600/900/800MHz))
SIM-card: DualSIM with DualStandby (both are MicroSIM-cards)
Attention: Only SIM-Slot1 supports 3G and 4G LTE, SIM-Slot2 only supports 2G
CPU: Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615, 64Bit, 1.5GHz
GPU: Adreno 405
ROM: 16GB
RAM: 2GB
External memory: MicroSD up to 32Gb
Display: 5,5“ IPS Display
Resolution: 1280 x 720 (HD 720p)
Camera (back): 13MP, F2.0 aperture
Camera (front): 5MP, F2.2 aperture
Battery: 3000mAh
Notification led: Yes, blue pulsating homebutton
Radio: Yes, with headphones
GPS: Yes
WIFI: Yes, 802.11b/g/n
Bluetooth: Yes
Size: 157,9 x 78,9 x 8,4 mm / 6,21 x 3,10 x 0,33 inches
Weight: 0,150 kg
Unboxing: What’s in the box?
It is one of the first cellphones that I have received factory sealed. So I was able to say that it was a brand new phone and no one else has ever used it.
After removing the sealing I could see the phone, a small foldable manual and an USB/data cable with a power adapter in two different boxes. The power adapter is suitable to EU wall-socket.
Casing & Build Quality
The build quality is very good. Nothing knars and there is a nice looking silver frame around the front of the phone. The whole body is, like the one of the normal Blade S6, made out of plastic but it doesn’t feel cheap. Some users of the normal S6 mentioned that they are able to push in the back of the phone with their fingers. This isn’t the case here. Maybe because the backcover is removable on this phone (on the normal version it isn’t).
If we stay at the back of the phone we will find the dual LED flash in the top left corner. Next to it the 13MP back camera and a microphone. The camera is framed by a silver circle just like the front of the phone. Approximately 2cm below you can find the ZTE logo imprinted in light-grey.
At low range you can a CE logo, the number „1588“ and a picture of a crossed out bin. The writing „Designed by ZTE in California Assembled in China“, that you can find on the normal Blade S6, is missing. Lately there is the loudspeaker with a small bump next to it so that the phone doesn’t lay flat on the backside and covers the loudspeaker.
On the right-hand side you can detect the volume control and the on-off switch down below.
The micro-USB connector is in the middle of the bottom and next to it in the right corner you can find a microphone. The USB-port is a bit special because you use it to remove the backcover of the phone.
The left-hand side of the phone is clean. There are no buttons or for example SimSlots like on the normal Blade S6.
The 3,5mm headphone jack and the IR-blaster are placed on top of the phone.
If we look at the front of the ZTE Blade S6 Plus we will be able to see the all-white borders and the black display. The position of the earpiece is at top in the middle. Left besides is a sensor bar and lately the front-camera. Below the screen is a blue circle. It’s the homebutton. If the phone is turned off or in standby the two buttons left and right next to the homebutton aren’t noticeable.
There is one more thing to mention. The phone has rounded edges.
As previously reported is the backcover, in contrast to the normal Blade S6, removable on the Plus version. If you remove the back of the phone you will find the 3000mAh battery, the two micro-SimcardSlots and the micro-SdSlot. Of course there are the dual LED and back-camera visible, too.
With its rounded edges and the thickness of 8,4mm the ZTE Blade S6 Plus feels very good in the hand. The plastic housing doesn’t feel cheap because everything is well build and it isn’t too lightweight.
The borders around the screen are big and according to this the dimensions of the phone are bigger than other 5,5“ screens, too.
Display / Touchscreen / Multitouch
The used 5,5” 1280x720 IPS HD-Display is great. I can’t see any pixels and the colors are natural. The viewing angle is stable and watching YouTube videos makes a lot of fun. You can adjust the brightness very high and this is why there should be no problem using this phone in sunlight. The automatic brightness adjustment also works well and reacts fast on changing ambient light conditions. So far there have been no ghost-touches or something like that. The touchscreen is very snappy and precise. Finally I have to say that it is a five point multitouch screen.
Processor & Storage
The ZTE Blade S6 Plus has the same processor like the normal version. It is the solid Snapdragon 615 octacore processor with an Adreno 405 GPU and 2GB RAM.
It’s a 64bit Prozessor and there are no lags noticeable. Not even if you switch fast between the different homescreens. Apps and games starts fast and works well. I could even play graphic intense games like Asphalt8 and RealRacing3 on highest settings without any problems. 2Gb RAM are enough space to run various apps at the same time. For example it is possible to hear music in the background and to surf on the internet at the same time.
The phone has 16Gb of internal storage. The storage is partitioned in System Rom, User Rom and Internal SD card. You can expand it with a micro SDcard with up to 64Gb. I have tested a 64Gb micro SD card from Sandisc and it worked like a charm.
2G / 3G / 4G
The ZTE Blade S6 Plus supports DualSim (two Micro-simcards) and 4G LTE. The reception is very good and without any abortions.
Attention: SimSlot2 only supports 2G! You can only use 3G and 4G LTE in SimSot1. But of course you can make calls or write sms with in both SimSlots.
Sensors
To see the supported/build in sensors please check the GoogleDrive link that I have provided at the end of my review.
Wlan
The Wlan reception/range is very good. It is even better than on my Meizu MX4.
Bluetooth
The Bluetooth range is very long, too. I have tested it with several phones and Bluetooth speaker.
Cameras
The front-camera has 5MP with a F2.2 aperture and a 80° wide-angle lens. The main camera on the back has 13MP with a F2.0 aperture and gets support by a dual LED flash.
The camera quality of both camera is decent in my eyes. The front-camera is good enough for selfies and apps like Skype and with the back-camera you can make snapshots and semi-professional pictures.
Please conceive an opinion by yourself by looking at the pictures at my GoogleDrive folder (link provided at the end of my review). All pictures were made with the preinstalled camera app without any changes in the settings.
Benchmark Tests
Please check the results in the GoogleDrive link that I have provided at the end of my review.
Firmware
The ZTE Blade S6 comes with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop out of the box. Everything works fast and reacts snapppy.
The preinstalled launcher is called „MiFavor 3.0“ and looks good. There is no app drawer, so you find all the installed apps on the homescreen just like on FlymeOS or MIUI. You have to sort your Apps with folders for a better user experience. If you don’t like it you can easily download a different launcher with the preinstalled Google PlayStore.
Sliding up on the homescreen or pressing the menu button (left or right next to the homebutton) opens a menu where you can change the background/wallpaper or the animation when you scroll through the different homescreens. In the settings is possible to change the function of the two buttons around the homebutton. You can select that the back button is on the right and that the menu button is on the left side of the homebutton or the other way around.
If you hold the homebutton for a while (not only touch it) GoogleSearch will open. The ZTE Blade S6 Plus has a multilingual firmware and supports a lot of languages just like German, English, Spanish, French… .
Unlike the normal ZTE Blade S6 the Plus version doesn’t support SmartGestures (I couldn’t find any settings) but on the other hand there is another launcher called „Family Mode“. With this launcher every icon is very big and so it is easier to handle for older people who are sick of the sight of small things.
Moreover ZTE has implemented a service with the name „ZTE AliveShare“. ZTE claims that it is 40 times faster than Bluetooth. With this App you can get connected to your friends, share e.g. pictures and play games against them. I wasn’t able to test it in depth because I’m the only one in my area with a ZTE smartphone.
There is no option to see the battery percentage preinstalled. You can easily fix this if you install the app „Battery Percent Enabler“ by kroegerama. After the installation you have to set a check mark and reboot the phone. Then you will see the battery percentage and you can delete the app without losing the notification.
Root
It is possible to root the ZTE Blade S6 Plus using the curren version of KingRoot (4.0.0.233).
You can download it here: http://203.205.136.145/mmgr.myapp.co...&f=d388&p=.apk
Copy the downloaded .apk file to your phone, install the app, start it and click on "Root".
Audio
The sound quality is good and phone calls are clear as well on both sides of the line. Just like on the normal Blade S6, the Plus version has the little bump next to the loudspeaker as well. It really helps to improve the sound and the loudness if you lay the phone on its back while listening to music or watching a movie.
Notification LED
The ZTE Blade S6 Plus has a notification led in the form of the blue pulsating homebutton. It looks very nice and I like it more than the normal LEDs of the most phones.
Battery
The 3000mAh battery is non removable. It will always be hard to say if the stated value is real or fake because you can’t for example scale the weight of a built-in battery. The battery lasts very long and a screen-on time of more than five hours was unproblematically possible. Please don‘t forget that this really depends on the user behavior and can differ very hard from user to user. Maybe if you play games for a long time you only get three hours of screen-on time.
GPS
Supported
Compass
Supported
IR-Blaster
The ZTE Blade S6 Plus has a built-in IR-blaster on top of the phone. It performs vey well. I have tried it with the free app „Remote for Samsung TV“ from the PlayStore. Even long distances approximately 6m away from my television were no problem.
Radio
There is a radio preinstalled but you have to use headphones to be able to use it. It doesn’t support DRS.
Conclusion
All in all is the ZTE Blade S6 Plus a good looking phone, with great specifications and an outstanding reception of GPS, Wlan and networking. Everything works out of the box and all GoogleApps are preinstalled so that you can directly download tons of apps and games. The phone comes with the newest Android version (5.0.2 Lollipop) and until now I couldn‘t find any bugs or lags. Everything starts fast and reacts snappy. At the moment there is no working method to root this device. So if you definitely need root for some apps I give you the advice to wait a bit of time before you order (there is still no root for the normal Blade S6, too). The display and battery are good and the reception of GPS, Wlan are very good. I really like the IR-blaster but I see it as a gadget and will still use my normal remote. One thing that I can’t understand and where I really see potential for improvement are the large bezels around the display because they make the phone very big in comparison to other 5,5“ and especially to the new borderless smartphones like the Nubia Z9. An improvement would make the operation with one hand a lot easier.
Pro:
- powerful processor
- very good reception of Wlan, Bluetooth and GPS
- Infrared blaster supported
- Android 5.0.2 Lollipop with GoogleApps preinstalled out of the box
Neutral:
- Cameras
- Notification LED with only one color (blue)
- price
Contra:
- only SIM-Slot1 supports 3G and 4G LTE
- less accessories in the box (no case or screen protector)
- huge bezels around the display
To see the pictures of the ZTE Blade S6 Plus please click on the following link:
https://drive.google.com/folderview...BaRW9yT0JaRHZDblh1RUhpc0dvay1Bd0k&usp=sharing
If you have any questions or want me to test something special then please leave a comment in this thread.
Mod Edit: Links to off-site registration removed
Droidriven
Forum Moderator

Hey, very nice review.
Can you confirm, that shaking phone don't turn the LED on? I really like this gesture on my blade S6.
IR blaster is nice to use in pub, where is something ugly in TV you don't want to see
But for practical use I doubt about using it at home...Maybe if you lost your remote.

Do I have to change something in the settings before I test it?
With normal setting nothing happens when I shake the phone.

Settings - gestures & motions - turn on.
If you don't have this menu in settings, it is probably not supported.

This menu doesn't exist on the Plus model.

It is now possible to root the device. Please check my review for more information.

IceTea7 said:
It is now possible to root the device. Please check my review for more information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And follow these steps to switch to SuperSu http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=60818978

Firmware ZTZ_Blade_S6_Plus_B02 available for download since 26/05 rom ZTE Hong-Kong support.
For rooting B02 I used KingRoot-4.1.0.249-release-nolog-201505211812_105001.apk (previous one did not work) and then I used SuperSUme.zip making it easier to replace the Kingsroot against SuperSU.

Thank you very much for the information.

hi, i have this phone its good but one thing i can not get to work is usb OTG. i have used 3 cables and 4 or 5 usb sticks all formated to different formats but to no use. all work fine on other android tablets or phones etc
any idears? thanks.
oh its on android 5.0.2 not rooted

Sorry for my late reply.
At the moment I can't test it because I have only a damaged OTG-cable. I will test it soon.

wonderful thank you. i have re set phone but still not working.
Sent from my ZTE Blade S6 Plus using XDA Free mobile app

Is the headset plug 3 pin or 4 cos I need 4 pin for a card reader

The answer to my own question is yes
Sent from my MID using XDA Free mobile app

jonezy8873 said:
wonderful thank you. i have re set phone but still not working.
Sent from my ZTE Blade S6 Plus using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today I was able to test OTG with a brand new cable.
I'm sorry but it doesn't work with my S6 Plus on StockRom B01.

IceTea7 said:
Today I was able to test OTG with a brand new cable.
I'm sorry but it doesn't work with my S6 Plus on StockRom B01.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks. What rom is used in video then as its working on that?

Hello,
How is the partitioning style of the internal flash? One big partition or the 4/4/7 of the S6 EU/AS version?
Sent from my Blade S6 using XDA Free mobile app

this phone suport double tap?

It's not a built-in feature but maybe you can fix it with an app.

it possible instal another s roms in this device?
how best to install root for this phone?

Elephone Trunk, Snapdragon 410, 5 Inch IPS HD, 4G LTE, Android 5.1.1

Camera samples: http://www.mediafire.com/folder/b7gw08bpoyimm/Elephone_Trunk_Camera_Samples
Geekbench 3 Battery Test: http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/120146
In this review I will tell you the Pros & Cons about the Elephone Trunk. I will for sure not tell you that it is perfect! as I never have seen the perfect phone yet.
But for the price of 111 USD you get a really nice entry-level phone. And it does also have some surprising good things too! like the camera, build quality & UI speed!
This phone also has no stagefright vulnerability! So I believe it runs with true Android 5.1.1. The camera should be from Samsung, but unfortunately I could not verify this in any way, other than the camera does shoot some pretty good pictures.
Highlights
- 5.0 inch screen, 1280*720 pixels
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 MSM8916 1.2 GHz Quad Core
- Advanced 64-bit SoC
- Android 5.1.1 OS
- 2 GB RAM + 16 GB ROM
- Arc back cover design
- 13 MP Samsung main camera + 2 MP front camera
- Dual SIM Dual Standby
- microSD card support
- 2100mAh battery
- GPS with GLONASS support
- Supports 2G & 3G & 4G LTE network
- Network: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz - WCDMA 850/900/2100 MHz - FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B20
Again a new model from Elephone, this time using the Snapdragon 410.
Some say that "Trunk" will be a new sub-brand of Elephone.
Just like "Huawei" for example has the "Honor" name.
More info on the manufacture page: http://www.elephone.hk/trunk.html
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just arrived:
good first impressions.
I got mine white color.. and my wife is in love with it ..
Android 5.1.1 with Ele Ui interface and Rom of 10 September 2015.
Root currently not possible.
Battery 40g, and in the first measurement after shutdown (2000mAh say in line with the declaration):
GPS with glonass (8 of 14 satellites outside with clouds).
No OTG
Antutu 23000 points, but graphics Adreno 306 trudging in HD (3400 point in the test chart, as or slightly less than the Mali T720 of cpu mt6735p).
Good screen and brightness, there isn't the double tap to turn on the screen (double tap on the center button soft, you can choose to turn off a screen), but you can configure the volume keys to do wake up: D
The frames are not too thick and the total weight is about 140g:
Led white on middle button that reveals even the side dot.
Internal memory only one partition 10,7gb available.
2GB RAM with 1.2GB available on startup
good camera output quality and soof software for capture
Now Battery on test

@megthebest
Thanks! I also just added my full video review to post #1 It actually confirms everything you just posted! Only thing you didn't mention is that it is also missing a notification LED.

s7yler said:
@megthebest
Thanks! I also just added my full video review to post #1 It actually confirms everything you just posted! Only thing you didn't mention is that it is also missing a notification LED.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks to you too, i have to test is circle white led also works for notification purpose, have you tested it?

megthebest said:
Thanks to you too, i have to test is circle white led also works for notification purpose, have you tested it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I have tested it, didn't work for me I don't know if they could implement it with just software or if it is also something with the hardware...

Unboxing & Deep Review (Italian Language):
Review Elephone Trunk
Package, Content, Aesthetics:
The packaging is a pleasant surprise for the canons Elephone, white box with reason "floral" color from yellow to purple, the brand and model Elephone top Trunk moved to the multiplex on the right; the indications there are no indications about the characteristics of the smartphone, we find only the adhesive side with the two (IMEI could be a box no final product to be sold).
Box contents: Smartphone, 1 Power Adapter with USB socket Italian 5V 1A, 1 USB cable, 1 instruction manual in English. There are no screen protectors (the only 1 is applied) and there are no in ear headphones.
- External dimensions of the smartphone in line with other china phone 5 "; it measures 143 x 71.5 x 8.9 mm for just over 139g of weight.
- Construction of good quality, the use of relatively inexpensive materials.
The white model has received slightly turning to yellow, but a good impression.
- On the left side we find keys, and the right side we find the volume rocker on the top and the power button slightly lower.
- At the top we find the audio jack and the micro USB socket; on the underside of the microphone.
- In the back at the top center are slightly protruding from the camera 8 megapixel f / 2.2 (do not know if Samsung or Sony) (13 megapixels interpolated) and the LED flash, and the lower the speaker (unfortunately with a planar shape of the cover, the audio will be muffled with a minimum device on the table).
- In the front we find the earpiece at the top, the camera 2Mpixel f / 2.8 autofocus, LED flash and the light sensor / proximity.
- The keys have a soft touch white backlight fairly widespread and visible, the central circular shape, the side keys are simple dots; backlight / white LED does not seem to be associated with the arrival of notifications.
- Cover quite robust and with good joint with the body. The keys are on the cover, the finish is smooth, then a minimum slippery remains, we cannot see footprints because of the white color of our model.
- Screen with pre-applied film from the house which offers a good flowability and has a minimum of oleophobic treatment; there aren't more films in the package
- Display brightness is good, good viewing angle; HD IPS LCD screen with colors and sharpness well played good for the category.
- Touch-sensitive and comes with multitouch 5 touches, writing rapidly and with Swype function that you type with two fingers (keyboard used Google)
- Two sim slots: Both Micro Sim 4G (with dynamic selection software).
- Presence MicroSD slot with a capacity of 32Gb (I tested Samsung 64Gb and are properly recognized).
- Removable battery 2100mAh declared, to the test with amperomento, we found about 2000mAh; Geekbench test was not very positive, absolute, I expected more hours of screen instead maybe we are still a little rom and kernel optimized and standby power consumption is quite high.
- Android 5.1.1 with customization in icons and launcher Elephone UI (to be replaced immediately with something better like Nova, Apus, Cm Launcher).
- Open the app and switch between apps very quickly, stock browser with a few bumps as always (we recommend Chrome). Task manager by pressing and holding the center button and option to clear all apps.
- Excellent management 16Gb of internal ROM that are available in a partition to 11.7 GB for apps and data.
- Good management 2Gb ram by Android 5.1.1 .. more than 1.2GB of RAM free after loading some apps into memory at startup.
Connectivity:
WiFi b / g with no problem hooking stable, good power (not tested it in wifi dual band).
BT 4 tested pairing with headsets and car, no problems
OTG: NOT Working
GPS: fast enough, with cloudy sky outside has also fixed in 20 seconds 8 satellites (out of 14), with accuracy of 5 meters .. compatibility with satellites glonass.
Camera:
- Main camera Samsung 8Mpixel f / 2.2 (13Mpixel interpolated) that produces valid shots with daylight; good focus and flash of good power; camera interface optimized Qualcomm has many options; when using the flash or light conditions unfavorable, the quality of the shots falls but not overly, interesting seal at high ISO that allows to bring home click the "acceptable" even 1200 ISO.
- Sufficient video performance, slightly slow the focus and during the displacement along the axis of rotation, is present shuttering.
- Secondary camera for Selfie 2Mpixel with autofocus and face recognition, quality of the shots enough for video calls to some emergency selfie with good light.
Bench:
Antutu 5.7.1 over 23000 punti..risultato in line with that of other cpu quad core Snapdragon 410 1.2GHz.
Geekbench 3 with 1484 points in multi-core test and 490 in the single-core test.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/3578356
Geekbench Battery Test (approximately 6 hours of screen on time, I would say not great for a real 2000mAh perhaps due to poor optimization kernel / rom).
https://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/118368
Audio:
Good sound quality overall, good volume of speaker and earpiece.
Position of the speaker rear which happens to be unhappy if you usually place the device on the table and then playing Expect a loss of volume.
Good vibration and sound with headphones pretty good.
Conclusion:
PRO:
- Good quality of the screen has a resolution HD adequate to the class of the device, has a good brightness, good color and viewing angle of the display.
- Good assembly and product design, weight evenly distributed and good ergonomics.
- Price of about 100 € for a quad core CPU Snapdragon 410 2Gb Ram 16GB Rom, 2 SIM and Micro SD
- 4G bands 1,3,7,20 (then there is also the band 20 to 800Mhz essential especially with the wind)
- Dual SIM (both Micro SIM) and support up to 64Gb MicroSD least tested (declared support up to 32GB)
- GPS with Glonass
- Soft touch buttons illuminated with white light (at least in the white version of the phone)
- Android 5.1.1 practically stock of Sept. 2015
- Setting the device to wake from standby through the volume keys and turn off the display by double tap on key soft-touch center
AGAINST:
- The Adreno 306 graphics card hard with heavy games at HD resolution, however also titles like Asphalt 8 are still enjoyable without excessive sacrifice framerate
- Battery below expectations, 6 hours of screen with Geekbench could turn into about 3 hours with the backlight on using SIM and Internet traffic; definitely missing optimization software, there is still the possibility to enable the energy saving that seems only slightly affect performance.
- No No Compass and Gyroscope
- No support OTG
- No notification LED (illuminates the soft touch is not used for notifications)
- The keys to the screen though excellent, steal valuable space on the desktop and the keyboard while typing
- No cover or film since it is a brand new product
- Root currently not possible with the usual software tools.

so about 2050mAh , more or less as i have seen with my measurements..
today i used he phone with screen on and some operations fot 1h 20" and battery goes from 100 to 72%.. in this case i expect more than 4 hours SOT .. not really bad f
geekbench battery test i my sample, with brightness automatic, gave me about 6 h:
https://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/118368
i have seen that yours is lower by 1h and 30 minutes!!

megthebest said:
so about 2050mAh , more or less as i have seen with my measurements..
today i used he phone with screen on and some operations fot 1h 20" and battery goes from 100 to 72%.. in this case i expect more than 4 hours SOT .. not really bad f
geekbench battery test i my sample, with brightness automatic, gave me about 6 h:
https://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/118368
i have seen that yours is lower by 1h and 30 minutes!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made a second test (but from 93%) and got this, a bit better http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/120146
Maybe it gets better after more charging cycles.

Tjos trunk seems to be good..
From 27th up to now, with heavy use 2h yesterday and more than 3h today, battery lasting a lot!
6h screen on time, automatic brightness (half bar) and some viseos, surfing, music..
...

I think for the first time, that in normal use the battery last longer than during the geekbench battery test.
On the other phones testd, if i had 9 hours of screen on time in geekbench, during normal use, i had about 4/5 hours of screen on time.. Very strange and interesting too...

oh, good, this is really a good smartphone, which website provides this phone coupons?
I ordered Elephone Trunk phone from POMPMall

Hi, You can see at elephone reccomended stores, such as Geekbuying, Gearbest, Coolicool, Myefox, TinyDeal

please do a backup TWRP 2.8.7.0 of system and boot partition and place on a cloud

Hi guys ,
Your phone is a copy Ark Benefit A3, please visit our forum 4pda registration required (use the translator, answer only using Russian translator). There is a way of getting the Root, Restore Imei .Please make a backup boot.img

I just ordered one yesterday.
It seems like a good phone for $90.
Does it support quick charging?
Thanks

NFound said:
please do a backup TWRP 2.8.7.0 of system and boot partition and place on a cloud
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ho, is that twrp for trunk? How to install without root? Adb?
fastell said:
Hi guys ,
Your phone is a copy Ark Benefit A3, please visit our forum 4pda registration required (use the translator, answer only using Russian translator). There is a way of getting the Root, Restore Imei .Please make a backup boot.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, tried some times, but also with translator and keyboard config for russia, when captcha request, is impossibile to write correct
lukic said:
I just ordered one yesterday.
It seems like a good phone for $90.
Does it support quick charging?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No quick charge for snapdragon 410, but is not a problem, because of a maximum of two hours and half to full charge

But Snapdragon 410 supports Quick Charge 2.0.
Battery Life
Tight integration and support for Qualcomm® Quick Charge™ 1.0 and Quick Charge 2.0 technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See here: https://www.qualcomm.com/products/snapdragon/processors/410

Not implemented on trunk battery circuit.
It charge with about 1A even with aukey quick charge 2 power supply

Root - trunk
Attention !!! All operations are doing with the phone at your own risk!!
=======================================
We need
View attachment AdbDriverInstaller.zip
View attachment Root.zip
-Turn On USB debugging
=======================================
Getting ROOT
Unpack the archive Root.zip and run Root.bat. After completion of the option switches, hold down the switching ON Smart.
Please make a backup boot.img (kernel) and send me to the cloud .

CUBOT X16 MTK6735A 2.5D JDI FHD Dual Glass 6.2mm 4G Smartphone

CUBOT X16 MTK6735 1.3GHz Quad Core 5.0 Inch IPS FHD Screen Android 5.1 4G LTE Smartphone
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Highlight of CUBOT X16 :
- 5.0 Inch Screen, 1920*1080 Pixel
- MTK6735 1.3GHz Quad Core
- 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM
- 16 MP (13MP Interpolation) Back Camera + 8 MP (5MP Interpolation) Front Camera
- Android 5.1 System
- Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz, WCDMA 900/2100MHz, FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B20, Support 2G & 3G & 4G LTE Network
-2500mAh Battery
Cubot Official Site, More about cubot x16: http://www.cubot.net/index.php/mobile/view/id/247.html
Full Review By S7yler
Camera samples:
http://www.mediafire.com/folder/os96izi98mwz0/Cubot_X16_Camera_Samples
Geekbench 3 battery test (on screen time):
http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/157970
Highlights:
- 5.0 Inch JDI IPS, 2.5D ARC
- FHD 1080x 1920 pixels, 440 PPI
- Double Faced High Strength AF Film (Glass)
- 2GB RAM / 16GB ROM
- MTK6735 Quad-Core 1.3GHz (64 bit) / Mali-T720
- Android 5.1 OS with OTA support
- Camera main: 16MP interpolated (13MP real)
- Camera front: 8MP interpolated (5MP real)
- CNC alloy frame (frame alone is 4.1mm thin)
- 2500mAh Built-in Li-polymer battery
- OTG/USB/GPS with GLONASS/Bluetooth 4.0/Hotknot
- Phone size: 143.4x69.4x6.66mm
- Dual SIM Card Dual Standby
- 2G:GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- 3G:WCDMA 900/2100MHZ
- 4G:FDD-LTE 1/3/7/20 (2100/1800/2600/800)

How about battery life and screen on time?

geekbuying has it in a good price at the moment... wonder if the battery is good on that device

I thought this phone was 5.5", but now that it's 5" I like it a lot more!

Cubot Official Site, More about cubot x16: http://www.cubot.net/index.php/mobile/view/id/247.html

Unboxing & Review:
Review Cubot X16 bought on MyEfox
Packaging, Content, Aesthetics:
The package is a stylish box with gold finish and brand Cubot on the front, on the back there is a label with the model and on the low side of IMEI numbers.
Box contents: Smartphone, 1 Power Adapter with USB socket Italian 5V 1A White, 1 USB cable, a cover transparent hard plastic, an instruction manual and the first protective film screen.
- External dimensions of the smartphone average of cinafonini 5 "; it measures 143.4 x 69.6 x 6.5mm for just over 150g of weight, very thin with its 6.5 mm.
- Construction of high quality, the materials return a good feeling to the touch, the metallic finish of the side frame and the back cover mirror lend elegance and style.
- On the left side we find not only the keys but the removable trolley sim / sd, while on the right side we find the volume rocker on the top and the power button slightly lower.
- At the top we are the only audio jack; at the bottom we find the micro USB plug the microphone nearly invisible in the metal frame.
- In the back on the upper left we are the 13 megapixel camera from Omnivision OV13850 f / 2.2, slightly to the side with dual LED flash and lower, decentralized to the level of the camera, the speaker.
- In the front we find the earpiece at the top, the camera 8Mpixel Omnivision OV5670 f / 2.8 and light sensors / proximity.
- The soft touch buttons are three and NOT are backlit.
- Cover not removable; the presence of a knurled machining, allows to obtain very good grip.
- Outer pane without pre-applied film; has a rounded machining 2.5D but not good oleophobic treatment, then it holds the fingerprints and is quite reflective.
- Display brightness and good viewing angles; Full HD IPS LCD screen (advertised as JDI) with pretty good color, good sharpness for the category White Balance on balance good, but black improvable.
- Touch-sensitive and comes with multitouch 4/5 touches, writing rapidly and with Swype function that you type with two fingers (keyboard used google)
- Two sim slots: 1 slot and 1 Nano Sim Slot Micro Sim 4G (if used both, you can not put the MicroSD).
- Presence slot MicroSD up to 64Gb (putting waste MicroSD slot Microsim)
- Battery is not removable 2500mAh declared, the ammeter test we found about 2400mAh, which can cover the busy day with no problem.
- Android 5.1 without any customization and usually launcher 3
- Open the app and switch between apps quickly .. browser stock enough usable but suggest that Chrome while consuming a lot of ram speeds up navigation.
- Excellent management 16Gb of internal ROM that are available in a partition to 12.1Gb for apps and data.
- Good management 2Gb ram by Android 5.1 .. more than 1.2Gb ram vacated after loading some apps into memory at startup.
Connectivity:
WiFi b / g with no problem hooking stable, good power.
BT 4 tested pairing with headsets, car and other smartphones without problems
OTG: Properly functioning
GPS: good, the outside has fixato cold in 20 seconds, 12 satellites, with an accuracy of a few meters; GLONASS compatibility and Baidu
Camera:
- Main camera Omnivision 1/3 "13Mpixel f / 2.2 that produces good shots in daylight; quite fast focus; mediatek camera interface, enhanced by quick settings overlay Beautification Face, Panorama, Picture in Picture, Photo Live, 3d Photo; the flash of good power with dual LED allows some shots in most light conditions poor. Without using the flash, using iso camera bundled with the app, it stops 450Iso, not allowing to go up. Using third-party apps, such as Camera FV-5 we were able to make good shots even 1600Iso (limited use)
- Good performance with FullHD video file format 3gp
- Secondary camera for Selfie 8Mpixel with face detection function, shots and discrete video
.
Bench:
Antutu 5.7.1 more than 25000 punti..risultato slightly lower than at any other CPU MT6735 1.3Ghz.
Geekbench 3 with 1799 points in multi-core test and 617 in the single-core test.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/3930649
Geekbench Battery Test (over 7 hours and 33 'screen on time) slightly low for a 2500mAh but sufficient for at least 3 hours of screen on the busy day of work with active data traffic.
https://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/139395
Audio:
Good sound quality, good volumes of speaker and earpiece (even slightly too high in this case), the other party has no problem and feel the item is free from noise and interference or metallic effect.
Position the rear speaker that unfortunately suffers from sound attenuation if we usually place the smartphone on the table.
Good vibe and the sound with headphones.
Conclusions:
PRO:
- Price of about 128 € for a terminal with characteristics of medium range 2Gb RAM / 16GB ROM and 5 "FullHD.
- Full HD screen that shows good brightness, color and viewing angle of the display.
- Very good assembly, the materials employed, the distribution of the weight (150g).
- Good reception and good also the audio industry.
- Support MicroSD (tested support up to 64Gb); the microSD can be set as the main memory for app.
- 4G supported in the bands 1,3,7,20 all to the advantage of compatibility with all operators in Italy.
- Android 5.1 practically stock of 23 September 2015.
- Main camera from Omnivision 1/3 "13Mpixel f / 2.2 with good quality if good light.
- Battery 2500mAh which will take you to end the day in an easy way.
- Double tap to wake and gestures off screen; possibility of double tap the home button to send the device to sleep.
- OTG supported.
- Notification LED RGB.
- Houses rigid plastic included.
- Certifications and CE marking
AGAINST:
- 'fake dual SIM " in the sense that if you use two SIM, you'll have to do without the expansion MicroSD
- Battery 2500mAh NOT Removable .
- Soft Touch Keys NOT Backligthed
- Screen little oleophobic and quite reflective.
- Location speaker on the back side which limits the volume if it resting on a flat surface.
- Unfortunately not practicable root trying different tools; as soon as possible to verify with other instruments.

This is the comparison video between Cubot X16 and Umi Emax Mini:
(Italian language Comments)

How to root Cubot X16 via TWRP-Recovery
Dear Cubot-Users,
rooting MT6735 with Lollipop installed is often a challenge und currently not possible with common One-Click-Tools. However, it is possible to root your Device via TWRP-Recovery. It worked very well for me and my X16 and also the Xposed Framework could be installed. I'd like to give you an introduction "starting from zero". You won't loose your data and applications, but make a backup just to be sure!
1) Things you need (i did it with windows 10 x64):
- The recovery file from here
- The flash tool "SP Flash tool" (google gives you the newest version)
- USB Driver for Android/MTK (e.g. from here; there are a few driver-packages in the file; "New inst. win 7&8x64" worked for me; maybe you have to try another one)
- A SuperSu-Installer-Zip (e.g. from attachements)
2) Install the drivers (if you have none installed!); Download the Flashtool and the recovery-file (and unzip it); Inside the zip you will find a scatter-file and revovery.img
3) Start the Flashtool as admin and go to the download window. Click at "Download-Action" and choose the file "MTK_AllInOne_Da.bin" (comes together with the flash tool). Click at "Scatter-loading" and choose "MT6735_Android_scatter.txt" from the unpacked recovery zip. The section below should now be filled with the recovery-file, only the recovery-checkbox should be ticked (otherwise you may loose your smartphone-data)! Choose "Download only" from the dropdown-menu.
4) Connect your phone to the computer (just normal booted, no special recovery- or download-mode). Click at Download in the Flashtool. The application is now ready to install the recovery. Now reboot your phone via the normal power-menu. The Download should start automatically, when the phone reboots. If nothing happens, just try it a second time (sometime windows recognizes a new device very slow ). When the download was completed sucessfully, a green snag should appear in the flash tool. You can now disconnect your phone.
5) Now lets test your new recovery: Restart you phone holding the power & vol+ buttons. If you have seevral reboots while holding these buttons, you have to release them for a short period of time after the bootscreen appears. A blue screen should appear (you can release the buttons) and you are now entering recovery (maybe you have to allow the recovery to change your system at first). Restart your phone and boot system. Place the SuperSiu-zip at the Sd-Card.
6) Reboot to the recovery holding the above-mentioned combo. Install the SuperSu-Zip in the "install"-menu of the recovery. Reboot normally, you should now have a rooted Cubot X16.
Enjoy!
Bonus:
I installed Xposed-Framwork from here. I flashed xposed-v78-sdk22-arm64.zip (only for android 5.1) and installed XposedInstaller_3.0_alpha4.apk. When you reboot the first time after flashing, you will see a very long process of application optimizations and reboots.

antigag said:
Dear Cubot-Users,
rooting MT6735 with Lollipop . . .
. . .
you should now have a rooted Cubot X16.
Enjoy!
. . .
Bonus:
I installed Xposed-Framwork from here. I flashed xposed-v78-sdk22-arm64.zip (only for android 5.1) and installed XposedInstaller_3.0_alpha4.apk. When you reboot the first time after flashing, you will see a very long process of application optimizations and reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:fingers-crossed: Thank you so much for this Tutorial! Vielen Dank... :fingers-crossed:
I trembled so with the reboot....
When you reboot the first time after flashing, you will see a very long process of application optimizations and reboots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that lasts really long.
But: IT WORKS !!! :highfive:

After rooting process, OTA updates will still work?
What is the latest firmware on this device?

kaja008 said:
After rooting process, OTA updates will still work?
What is the latest firmware on this device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
probably OTA will fail after root.
And of course TWRP is not possible to use for ota.
Latest firmware is 20151116

@frankandwendy please add to Post #1 thanks!
Full Review
Camera samples:
http://www.mediafire.com/folder/os96izi98mwz0/Cubot_X16_Camera_Samples
Geekbench 3 battery test (on screen time):
http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/157970
Highlights:
- 5.0 Inch JDI IPS, 2.5D ARC
- FHD 1080x 1920 pixels, 440 PPI
- Double Faced High Strength AF Film (Glass)
- 2GB RAM / 16GB ROM
- MTK6735 Quad-Core 1.3GHz (64 bit) / Mali-T720
- Android 5.1 OS with OTA support
- Camera main: 16MP interpolated (13MP real)
- Camera front: 8MP interpolated (5MP real)
- CNC alloy frame (frame alone is 4.1mm thin)
- 2500mAh Built-in Li-polymer battery
- OTG/USB/GPS with GLONASS/Bluetooth 4.0/Hotknot
- Phone size: 143.4x69.4x6.66mm
- Dual SIM Card Dual Standby
- 2G:GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- 3G:WCDMA 900/2100MHZ
- 4G:FDD-LTE 1/3/7/20 (2100/1800/2600/800)

WMM Enable
Enabling WMM can help control latency and jitter when transmitting multimedia content over a wireless connection.
Had to disable this function in the router settings (Dlink dir-615), otherwise my X16 would connect but not get anything thru. My other Be Touch 2 from Ulefone works fine with this setting enabled so this must be a bug with the Cubot. Problem with WMM disabled is that my DL speed is stuck at max 20Mbits and my Windows 10 laptop refuses to connect.
Other than that, Cubot X16 is a great phone. It even seems faster in menus than my octa-core Be Touch 2, to the point that I’m considering selling the latter.

r3lu84 said:
WMM Enable
Enabling WMM can help control latency and jitter when transmitting multimedia content over a wireless connection.
Had to disable this function in the router settings (Dlink dir-615), otherwise my X16 would connect but not get anything thru. My other Be Touch 2 from Ulefone works fine with this setting enabled so this must be a bug with the Cubot. Problem with WMM disabled is that my DL speed is stuck at max 20Mbits and my Windows 10 laptop refuses to connect.
Other than that, Cubot X16 is a great phone. It even seems faster in menus than my octa-core Be Touch 2, to the point that I’m considering selling the latter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you received latest OTA for X16?

I think so... build number is dated 2015 10 28

Hi Cubot X16 users!
Exchange server emails are working with stock email app?
I cannot make it work...
Or do you suggest other email app for exchange server?

Battery % percentage sign can be put somehow on notification bar?

Charly0001 said:
:fingers-crossed: Thank you so much for this Tutorial! Vielen Dank... :fingers-crossed:
I trembled so with the reboot....
that lasts really long.
But: IT WORKS !!! :highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How long did you wait for the optimizations?
I stopped after 4 hours and flashed the uninstall.zip

your solution works whith my CUBOT X17 thanks you ANTIGAG !!!

Hi,
Latest firmware 20151116 is not offered via OTA.
Why?
How can I install 20151116 ROM? Can someone give me a step-by-step guide?
First I have to do the root process?
Can someone confirm if camera makes less noisy photos in low light conditions than 20151028 firmware?
How can I force the phone to offer 20151116 firmware by OTA?

GRETEL A9 - Information & Reviews - 5.0" HD | MT6737 | 2GB | 16GB | Front Fingerprint

GRETEL A9 - Information & Reviews - 5.0" HD | MT6737 | 2GB | 16GB | Front Fingerprint
GRETEL A9
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Specs:
Dimensions: 146.6 * 72.8 * 8.7 mm
Weight:
Chassis: Metal
SoC: MediaTek MT6737
CPU: ARM Cortex-A53, 4x1250 MHz, Cores: 4
GPU: ARM Mali-T720 MP2 520MHz, Cores: 2
Network: 4G Cat.4 (150MBps) with VoLTE Support
RAM: 2 GB
Storage: 16 GB
Memory cards: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXC
Display: 5.0 in, IPS, 720 x 1280 pixels, 24 bit
Protection:
Battery: 2300mAh, Li-Polymer
OS: Android 6.0 Marshmallow, update to 7.0 in April
Back Camera: 3,264 x 2,448 pixels (8MP), Samsung 3H7 Sensor, Interpolated to 13MP
Front Camera: 1920 x 1080 pixels (2MP), GalaxyCore GC2155, Interpolated to 5MP
SIM card: Dual-SIM, Dual-Standby
Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n, 2.4GHz, Single-Band
USB: 2.0, Micro-USB
Bluetooth: 4.0
Positioning: GPS, A-GPS
Other Features: Front Fingerprint Scanner, Hotknot
Colors: Matte Black
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Development & Support:
Coming Soon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reviews:
My own review: https://forum.xda-developers.com/ge...gretel-a9-information-reviews-5-0-hd-t3568919
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
​

Reserved

After many days of waiting time, the device has been delivered
Review coming soon.

Introduction
This is the GRETEL A9.
Hardware
This is the first device ever released by GRETEL, which was a OEM company making smartphones for other brands. Powered by a Mediatek MT6737, with 2GB RAM, 16GB ROM and 8MP Back Camera, it is clear that this is a device targeted for the low-end market.
Unboxing
Packaging comes with some accessories: 1x Micro-USB Cable, 1x 5V/1A USB Charger, 1x Quick Start Guide, 1x TPU Cover, 1x Plastic Screen Protector and the Smartphone (of course). Another screen protector is already applied.
Talking about the dimensions, it is 14.66x7.27x0.89cm, not the smallest 5 inches device you can find. It weights 165g, acceptable considering the metal back cover.
Similar to most unibody devices, also this one features two plastic bands at the top and at the bottom of the back cover, with metal in the center. As regards the materials quality, the plastic parts seems to be a bit too much cheap. (compared to the premium looking metal)
On the front side there is the standard 2.5D Curved Display and the upper front side of the device features a Front-Facing Camera, an Earpiece, and the Sensors hole that includes Light, Proximity and Gesture Sensors. No Notification LED is here.
On the lower front side there is the Touch Keys area, with Menu, and Back buttons, together with the Fingerprint Scanner in the center.
On the back side there is the unibody back cover.
The upper rear side of the device features the small rounded Camera Sensor supported by a single Flashlight.
On the lower rear side there are some certification logos together with the Speaker hole.
Device
Screen
Compared to other budget devices, the screen used here seems to be surprisingly good (expect for the Brightness), even though i notice a small purple halo on the left side, probably an issue of my review unit.
The Light Sensor supports almost smooth light changes, with a proper auto-brightness management. This is its maximum brightness. Not the best to be used under direct-sunlight.
Viewing Angles matches IPS screen capabilities, with no major issues.
Maximum 5 points are supported here.
Camera
Something that surprises me even more is the Back Camera, GRETEL choose to use a Samsung 8MP sensor that, considering the price target, seems to behave pretty good. The Front Camera though...is rubbish unfortunately. (well you can't get everything).
"HDR off" on the left and "HDR on" on the right.
Macro Photos are discrete, not the best neither the worst.
Photos taken in medium and standard light conditions seem to be pretty good too.
Considering the single flashlight, the result isn't too bad.
As regards Video Recording, 720p videos are decent, with stable 25fps.
Even though the front camera has a dedicated flashlight that should be provide better image quality, the sensor itself is really crappy. (OmniVision 2MP, not Wide-Angle)
Audio
Speaker Quality is decent, nothing to complain about, just the standard speaker with almost inexistent low-frequencies and medium-high volume.
As regards the Microphone, it works decently well in any case (in-call, VOIP, etc...), and the earpiece is surprisingly clear and loud.
GPS
GPS Signal is good, not the best, but on a MT6737 this is probably one of the best results.
Indoors on the left, outdoors on the right.
Telephony, Mobile Network & WiFi
Thanks to the 4G Band 20 support, i'm almost everywhere connected to the 4G Network of my Operator, with a good signal reception.
3G Signal Reception is accurate too, actually I never managed to get connected to the 2G Network of my Mobile Operator because there was always some 3G Signal available. (luckily there are no coverage issues here)
4G Network Speed is average, even though it highly depends on your Mobile Operator and mine isn’t pretty good.
WiFi 5GHz isn't supported here. With my 2.4GHz network, i was able to reach almost 42mbps, connected at 65mbps, with the same ping that i get on my Desktop PC.
Battery Life
As always, i have measured the real battery capacity using my USB Tester, and it seems that the real battery capacity much lower compared to the declared value (declared 2300mAh, real ~2030mAh).
This is the PCMark Battery Test. Minimum Brightness and WiFi On. Considering the battery capacity, this is decent.
As regards battery charging times, the 5V/1A charger is enough for a normal charging runtime, but you can't expect super-fast times.
Software
GRETEL choose to use a partially customized Android OS, based on Android 6.0, named FreemeOS (probably familiar to some users). The level of customization is luckily pretty low, so everything can be removed and replaced with Google Apps. Luckily Android Security Patches are updated, and an Android 7.0 OTA is coming soon.
Just like other last-gen Mediatek Devices, there are some typical features such as Gestures, Scheduled Power On/Off, etc…
The Fingerprint Scanner is sufficiently fast, not lightning fast like some other devices, but it is pretty reliable and fast to configure.

Benchmarks
I have used 3DMark, AndroBench, Antutu Benchmark, Epic Citadel, GeekBench 4, GFXBench, PCMark (Work 2.0, Computer Vision, Storage & Work 1.0) and Vellamo to stress the device to the limit. I won’t test Games or Video Playback because there are already some related tests included in these Benchmark suites.
3DMark – GPU Performance is as low as all other MT6737 devices.
AndroBench – eMMC Performance is decent, write speed lower than read speed. (as expected)
Antutu Benchmark – I won’t say a lot about this benchmark, this isn’t as reliable as others. I’m providing this just for benchmarks lovers.
Epic Citadel – As you can see, 3D performance is barely sufficient for smooth gaming.
GeekBench – CPU Performance is nearly as good as other CPUs with the same configuration (4x Cortex-A53), enough to handle almost every type of activity.
CPU
Compute
GFXBench – As already said, GPU performance is low, and somehow lower than MT6735. (just like all MT6737 devices)
PCMark – Good Overall performance, the maximum obtainable from this SOC.
Work 2.0
Computer Vision
Storage
Work 1.0
Vellamo – Being an super-heavy benchmark, you can clearly see why this device needs to be considered as low-end.
Conclusions
Well...GRETEL A9...can it be translated to GREat-TEL A9? Maybe. Being the first device released with this brand, it is normal to say that there are some things that need to be improved, just like the first device of all new companies. But, most important, there isn't much to complain about. This is probably the cheapest device available that offers a decent rear camera and 4G support, together with a guaranteed Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade.
Ok, the Front Camera is crappy and the build quality might not be the best ever reviewed, but considering the price target, i'm impressed.
So, do i recommend it? If you are looking for a budget device and can't spend more, yes!
Pros:
Included TPU Cover
Decent Rear Camera
Front Flashlight (but useless)
Front Fingerprint Scanner
Good Multi-touch Panel
Cons:
No Notification LED
Mediocre Build Quality
Crappy Front Camera
Declared Battery Capacity higher than Real
Rating: 8.0
Packaging and Accessories: 9
Design and Materials: 6.5
Performance and Heat Dissipation: 7
Screen: 7.5
Camera: 7
Sound: 7.5
Battery Life: 7
Software: 9
OEM Support: 10 (considering the upcoming upgrade)
Price: 10
You can find full-res images (I know, Quality isn't excellent) here: http://imgur.com/a/A6lMI
Official Website: http://www.gretel.cc/en/product/a9
You can buy it on many online shops. Official, and authorized, Retailers are listed in the GRETEL website.​

Gretel A9
Hello everyone
I'm really hoping someone can help me. I recently purchased a Gretel A9 and seemed to be working ok. Then one day the google chrome app opened itself and directed to a website aibcoo.cc (or something like that) and suddenly a second settings app has appeared on the phone (calling itself v7.0), with the name as com.comona.bac. I have learned that this is a virus and no matter how many times I uninstall it, it will always return. After many hours of googling I eventually flashed the firmware with what was advertised as stock rom. However in doing so, I have lost my back and home buttons from the screen and my themes app will not recognise the internet and therefore will not work.
I am hoping somebody has different firmware that I could use to revert the phone back to the way it was. I also hope somebody would know how to remove the virus also. Please help me as I have a half functioning phone right now Thanks in advance to those who take the time to read this and who help me! Much appreciated!

mondeo91 said:
Hello everyone
I'm really hoping someone can help me. I recently purchased a Gretel A9 and seemed to be working ok. Then one day the google chrome app opened itself and directed to a website aibcoo.cc (or something like that) and suddenly a second settings app has appeared on the phone (calling itself v7.0), with the name as com.comona.bac. I have learned that this is a virus and no matter how many times I uninstall it, it will always return. After many hours of googling I eventually flashed the firmware with what was advertised as stock rom. However in doing so, I have lost my back and home buttons from the screen and my themes app will not recognise the internet and therefore will not work.
I am hoping somebody has different firmware that I could use to revert the phone back to the way it was. I also hope somebody would know how to remove the virus also. Please help me as I have a half functioning phone right now Thanks in advance to those who take the time to read this and who help me! Much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have two ROMs for it + TWRP: https://unibari-my.sharepoint.com/:...1PhKRPkgyzGpIBytfK0o8lKLQQGHOVcHSXWw?e=nzrum9
The OSHIYAMA ROM is untested but, based on the properties, should be compatible with the A9 (same codename, and if you search for photos you will see that it is almost identical)

TWRP Success but no custom rom
Hello
So TWRP worked! Thank you so much! I had viper os installed on my sdcard and tried to install that but it failed. Can you recommend any custom rom that I could install instead and where I would be able to source the rom and how exactly I would go about installing it on the phone? Thank you so much for all your help! I'm so grateful for everything!

mondeo91 said:
Hello
So TWRP worked! Thank you so much! I had viper os installed on my sdcard and tried to install that but it failed. Can you recommend any custom rom that I could install instead and where I would be able to source the rom and how exactly I would go about installing it on the phone? Thank you so much for all your help! I'm so grateful for everything!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No i am sorry but i have no custom ROMs for it. I have manually removed the viruses from the Stock ROM before giving it to one of my family members.
Try to flash that OSHIYAMA ROM first, it may be clean from viruses. If it is still infected, then remove all infected APKs using TWRP.

Gretel A9
Alberto96 said:
No i am sorry but i have no custom ROMs for it. I have manually removed the viruses from the Stock ROM before giving it to one of my family members.
Try to flash that OSHIYAMA ROM first, it may be clean from viruses. If it is still infected, then remove all infected APKs using TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. If I remove the sdcard while TWRP is turned on in the phone will that cause any problems? If I turn off the phone and then go to switch it on will it automatically boot into TWRP or how do I get it back into TWRP? Sorry for all the questions, I'm new to all this!

mondeo91 said:
If I turn off the phone and then go to switch it on will it automatically boot into TWRP or how do I get it back into TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to turn it on in recovery mode via the usual procedure (volume up + power).
mondeo91 said:
If I remove the sdcard while TWRP is turned on in the phone will that cause any problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.

Google- error communicating with the server
Success! I now have a virus free phone, running on lineage os 14.1-20170518-unofficial-AC55HE, Android version 7.1.2.
However I now have a major problem, I cannot access the google play store. I try and add my gmail account and receive a message "error communicating with the servers, please try again later". I have googled and attempted some way to fix this, clearing and deleting all google data and cache and rebooting with no luck. I attempted various internet connections again no luck. I tired flashing with GAPPS- did not work, received an error about an ? MD5 file missing. Tried installing an apk file but came back as corrupt and unable to install. So I'm at a complete loss, have an amazing virus free phone but with no apps! Has anybody any idea how to fix this? Please! Any suggestions/solutions would be extremely welcome! Thanks for taking the time to read this and hopefully help!

Camera not working
Hello, I was wondering if anyone could help please?! I have the viperos installed on my Gretel a9 phone but am having a slight problem. I cannot record videos on my phone. The camera sometimes works but when I click into the video record option the camera flashes an error and closes. Does anyone know how to fix this? All advice welcomed!

HOMTOM HT70 6.0" HD+ 18:9 - MT6750T- 4GB - 64GB - 10000mAh

Hi There,
HT70 seems to be one of the best Battery Phone for 170$/150€ price tag.
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I received some days ago and i'm able to give you my thoughts:
5.99 "HD +, Mediatek MT6750T 1.5Ghz, 4Gb Ram 64Gb storage, Android 7.0, Cam IMX135 13Mp + 2mp secondary (not specified) + Flash dual led and front 8Mp, 10000mAh, Type-C, Led Notification, OTG, GPS Glonass , Dual Band Wifi, Gyroscope + Compass.
Bundle
Very compact package for this HOMTOM HT70, does not reveal the brick inside ... matte black box containing the phone, the English manuals, the USB Type-C Red cable, the OTG Type-C USB-A cable (Also for Reverse Charge), a Transparent Silicone Case, an additional plastic protection for the front glass, the 9V 3A charger with EU socket and a Type-C adapter to 3.5mm headphone jack. As mentioned the charger is 9V 3A and allows a complete charge of the 10000mAh integrated battery in about 3 hours 30 minutes.
Design, Display, Materials, Ergonomics, Keys, Performance
Good use of materials for the price range of the device, the frame is in metal and the back in plastic with a "reflective" effect like the Honor 8 (holds the fingerprints), 2.5D rounded front glass and 5.99 "18: 9 display with resolution HD + 720x1440 and about 268ppi Very cumbersome and bulky (165x77x14.4mm approximately for weight 310g), although heavy it seems to be balanced in handling.
At the top right of the headset there is a notification LED, hiding screen keys (with the possibility of customizing the back and multitasking position) and rear fingerprint reader moved to the left with respect to the dual camera. The MT6750T CPU with a Nougat stock ROM guarantees fair performance and usability of all contents.
The rear fingerprint reader is just a touch (no physical), you have to make a hand a little bit, since the position is not really natural for the right hand.
The 5.99 "screen proves to be a discrete IPS LCD unit, HD + resolution and has a density of 268 ppi. Good color rendering (customizable in various aspects with Miravision) unfortunately , no rounded corners as we have seen in the least screen 18: 9.
Volume and Power keys on the left, tray for two Sims (NANO format) on the right hybrid 2in1 (by renouncing the second sim you can use a MicroSD).
Memory, Battery, Sensors, Reception and Audio
The memory cut for this Homtom HT70 is equal to 4Gb Ram + 64Gb Storage, possibility of expansion with MicroSD (up to 128Gb definitely supported) renouncing the use of the second sim.
The battery is performing very well and allows records in terms of lasting, (at least 13 hours of screen, allowing about 3 days of intensive use mixed WiFi + 4G).
the sensors are complete and we have Sensor Brightness, Proximity, Accelerometer, Gyroscope and Compass .. the Type-C port has OTG compatibility.
The telephone reception is of good quality, stable 4G hookup with the tested some carriers, audio quality of the headset capsule and the speaker (placed in the lower left frame), more than discrete, very high volumes and good range of frequencies. The presence of the Dual Band Wifi 2.4 and 5Ghz is interesting.
FM radio present using type-c adapter and headphones (not supplied).
Photos and Videos
The rear camera sensor is Sony IMX135 f / 2.8 13Mp (interpolated to 16Mp), focus of the previous generation (not PDAF), good quality of the day shots, even if the focal aperture does not help; the photos enabling the HDR function lead to a good dynamic range, but the very clear areas appear during the shooting of purple (the shot is still good). Video side is the FullHD at 30fps. Only the dual LED flash is sufficient, which in any case helps in the dark. The yield in critical lighting conditions is very poor .. both for focusing and for details ..
The front camera is an 8Mp F / 2.4 module, the results are more than discrete for all uses.
Final Considerations
it HT70 the Battery Phone of the year?
Let's say that this Homtom HT70 does not reach excellence in anything in particular, it combines an old-fashioned cpu with the new "fashion" 18: 9 form factor, but it does it trying to keep the price low and adding the Type-C that in the price range to is proposed, do not mind.
Obviously we can not expect miracles, both for the nature of the Homtom itself, and for the price range.
An honest terminal, for those looking for a robust terminal and to bring with them without worries in case of distance from the socket.
The price that varies between € 150 and € 180 based on the shop, puts it in the low-end market ... and take those figures a 6 "HD with 4 + 64Gb of memory and 10000mAh battery, is not to be underestimated .
PROs:
- 10Ah HUGE battery
- Low price range for 4GB of Ram and 64GB of storage.
- Design and excellent construction.
- 6 "HD + 18: 9, 2.5D glass with Gorilla Glass protection with good characteristics.
- Good support of 4G, including B20 (there are also other bands for USA / World) and good Audio.
- Package Contents, Extra Film and Silicone Case, OTG Type-C Adapter and Type-C Jack 3.5mm ..
- Off-screen gestures and various personalizations included in the ROM.
- Wifi both at 2.4Ghz and at 5ghz.
- Rear fingerprint reader, LED notification, OTG compatibility.
- GPS with good accuracy and quick fix
- Compass and Gyroscope
CONs
- Resolution is "only" HD + that maybe is poor for a 5.99 " screen.
- Cpu is an old gen, perhaps the use of a P23 would have been more appropriate.
- Very heavy and cumbersome (it's pretty normal for a 10000mAh 6 inches screen).
- No 3.5mm audio jack and need to use the adapter type-c (provided)
- Secondary rear camera for "bokeh" is useless (software effect)

Some reviews :
English:
https://youtu.be/LvK8rOaACJM
https://youtu.be/cXsaU4bgeBk
German
https://youtu.be/SuUh2zT9ezM
Italian
https://youtu.be/MP6nYSezvlI
Versus
Ht70 vs p10000
https://youtu.be/gHDTBDfqzZ8
Ht70 vs Redmi Note 5
https://youtu.be/xVPASHq0ywo

How to root this monster?

dcoelho said:
How to root this monster?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems that a custom recovery TWRP was compliled and with the help of Magisk, you can have root. Please check :
https://www.stupdroid.com/2018/06/HOMTOM-HT70-root-twrp.html
P. S. I'm not responsible for any damage or brick, the guide was not tested.

I already tried but seams to be impossible to unlock bootloader of the monster.
I have flashed the TWRP recovery with spFlash tools with no problems but after reboot the stock recovery is always present.

I am throwing this as an open question to everybody here!
I have checked the firmware of HomTom HT70 MTK ROM structure. (Maybe I am a bit outdated, but based on all previous "old "MTK firmware that I have "modified" , I am familiar with them). In this stock newer HT70 ROMs there included a duplicates file e.g."recovery-verified" or "boot-verified" whereas in the older ROMs there are only "recovery" or "boot" image files. I have checked on SPFlashTool either one of these will be read as normal e.g if in one ROM there is only "recovery-verified" or "boot-verified" without the "recovery" or "boot" files it will be loaded as normal. I have checked on a Lenovo ROM K9-Lite there are only "recovery-verified" or "boot-verified" files and the SPFT load it all the same.
Now what if we modified the structure to load only the "recovery" or "boot", etc (without the "-verified") and change the stock recovery to TWRP? (this is what I usually do with my ROMs). Will the TWRP recovery stick? Normally with my Lenovo ROMs after a full reflash with stock revovery substituted with TWRP recovery , I could immediately boot into TWRP and there is no trace of the stock recovery accept for the function of "power & vol+ button".my I will be receiving HT70 sometime towards the end of August. ( got it at USD 128) and as usual will immediately root an install TWRP (all my 11pcs personal Androids have TWRP +rooted)My main worry is what is contained in the "trustzone.bin"??
,
https://pin.it/ynx7elcbal4juw

Keep us posted whatever you try

Please try it and post here your results.

hi i try it and dont work bootloop and reflash stock firmware with sp flash tool
I want to root this phone please how to make this?

^Stand in the line buddy, you're not the only one

Yes . The litlle monster is a hard one.

hi Any new news about the root?

Added screen captures
I just got my HT70 and had already reflashed it 5 times in order to find a method to flash TWRP recovery. But I got my phone with a flaw it doesnt respond to recovery using Vol+Power buttons and it always shows a blank screen out of the box.
But a word of CAUTION here! There are many claims to TWRP for "HOM TOM HT70" from TWRP 3.1 to TWRP 3.2.2 and I found out the hard way when I tried to flash the 3.2.2 version that it was a dud. It got my HT70 into a frozen state stuck at boot up screen forever even its size is questionable the stock is 12k but the TWRP 3.2.2 is 16k normally difference in size are 15-25% only. So be careful what you try to flash on your device.
But I have unlocked the bootloader successfully and I can confirm it is permanent even after a reflash of the ROM (using "download" , I have not done an "upgrade" reflash after unlocked in SPFLashTool)but you will have a slightly "dirty" boot up screen with " Orange State - Your device has been unlocked and cant be trusted" message written on "HOMTOM" colored boot up logo. (lucky thing it is in a very tiny font).
The best I can think of doing is temporary reboot into TWRP without flashing(if you found the correct one) and doing your operations from TWRP and after reboot it is back to stock recovery. ( Oh! wait I cant even access my stock recovery!)
I did all my operation on Win 10 Pro x64 using Windows PowerShell (Admin) - less headache. I found my \adb folder somewhere in my C:\Users\**yourname**\adb\ and since Windows PowerShell (Admin) defaults to C: Windows\system 32\, I copied the adb folder into that address and as you can see all my commands were executed from there. ( the reason I used PowerShell (Admin) is because it is an elevated privilaged command and on some occasion using normal PowerShell it will request for an Admin privilage.
If you are having problems "boot unlocking" (seems like the PC is waiting on you and you waiting on PC) assuming that you got everything correct upto "fastboot oem unlock" and hit enter. You actually have to immediately press the "Vol +" button. and within a split second it is unlocked permanently.
I even managed to flash recovery but it was a dud. I am really puzzled as to all this prolifiration of TWRP recovery supposedly for HT70 because the model was only launched in April then suddenly by June/July there were many claims that they had TWRP ported to HT70 already. Based my other MTK unlocked/no lock bootloader models especially my favorite Lenovos it will take at least a few month for a dedicated modder to mod a TWRP recovery (that is if he happens to buy the same model as us and he has free time) Please remember HT70 is a 4Gb/64Gb MTK 6750T model and if I am not wrong, there arent many 6750T 4Gb/64Gb models floating around and 6750 and 6750T would require different version of TWRP.
I would have to ask my MTK specialist friends to see whether they are willing to help out. But nobody is working on TWRP as far that I know.If you still insist then try a temporary boot into TWRP rather than flashing these questionable TWRP (especially if the website is based in India).
If you trying to flash or just reboot or flash anything on your gadget , please ignore other forum advise that you copy the "recovery.img" or "**.img" into the same folder i.e. in ":\adb" folder it will give you error message [ cannot load '**.img' : No such file or directory ]. For me to make it simple I copied whatever *.img file onto my root D:\ directory and there immediately got no error message. Thats all folks! I will visit again when I have an actual working TWRP and root methodoloy in the future hopefully somebody would beat me to it.

My observation of the performance of HT70 thus far. After 1 week of heavy usage of device the battery lifespan seems to be getting shorter. Standby is reasonable for an active gadget (I guess my daughters Lenovo Tab A8-A5500 can last longer in standby mode than my touted HT70 almost 3 weeks in sleep mode with instant on at that).
The camera really, really sucks : in room 10 feet away from a window in broad daylight (of course at 10 feet away it gets darker - low light but not to the point that you have switch on the light, at worst it is "romantic") I want to take the picture of my 3 months old grandaughter lying on the bed and it was so "grainy" using the native camera app that it was unusable. But picture is alrite in outside the house. Even my 6 year old Lenovo 8Mp camera have not captured a low light picture so grainy that it is unusable even at night without flash.
But then I installed my favorite Open source camera "Open Camera" (I always installed a second camera app on my gadget)and the picture quality significantly improved without the grainy effect that I got using the native MTK camera app. So I guess it was the MTK app that played a significant role in the poor camera performance. have not tried any other special effects camera yet.
It is best for you to place your replacement battery order ASAP with its Charger also. Have you notice that it doesnt conform to any USB C fixed charger specs. It is a 9V /3.3A power behemoth. The USB 1/2/3/C all calls for a 5V supply for fixed voltage charger only variable voltage chargers have different specs. Your power banks, after market USB chargers, PC (intelligent) USB outputs would have a tough time coping up. And tough times means you run the risk of premature death of your PC USB port , USB, chargers, Power Banks not to mention the slow charging up time. The current standard charger can charge the HT70 to 100% from <5% in 1.5- 2hours. In case of emergency your best bet is to use your PC USB port.
And my assumption is correct you can or should remove from you ROM all files with "**.verified" into a temp folder out from the main ROM and flashed without problems. And when you have found out the correct TWRP find a way to root it first and in the "build.prop" of the HT70 delete the last entry line as it contains a reference to the stock recovery with this line
"ro.expect.recovery_id= 0x5c4eb26c22b2e0939f468197a33940618b8e170200000000000000000000000" it expects to read the recovery signature everytime it reboots! I have a copy of the "build.prop" that I was able to extract. But unable to do much until I can root it successfully. Feel free to check out the "build.prop"

I am thinking of getting this monster device. It seems to have good performance and a strong battery. If it has the google feeds then I won't need to root, these days I only root to get the feeds and that's it.

^What feeds are you referring to?

ashafura said:
I am thinking of getting this monster device. It seems to have good performance and a strong battery. If it has the google feeds then I won't need to root, these days I only root to get the feeds and that's it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I belief what he is referring to is it Google compliant.
Yes, it is a "world" ROM. "ROW" - Rest of World" ROM rather than CN(China) ROM. What heck would anybody wanna buy a gadget with CN ROM when you are outside of China, I am puzzled? If you ordered online then clearly you had been scammed , if you come across a model that is not available on AliExpress (a reliable yardstick that the model is either Google compliant or if the seller scammed you that a ROW ROM is available somewhere). There are models that is CN only and no matter how much mod you do (a bastardised ROM that have some Google apps but non functional) will not get you YouTube, Playstore to function. Dont be fooled by the price, there is always a catch. Example 2Gb / 32 Gb specs for less than the price of those memory chip and it actually turns out 1Gb/8Gb. Have seen those on local online store with customer screaming murder at the seller. Guess people are suckers from their own stupidity. Experience makes you wiser. I bought many years ago a Lenovo A880/A889 with a bastardise ROM and when it boot up it welcome users in Chinese it set up as China Unicom model but that model has a version with a barely Google ROW ROM (Gmail,Google Search, Playstore, non functional YouTube) that I managed to stitched together with a Russian modder but it took us 2 month. Never again!

So far no one click root is able to root HT70. I have tried nearly all of the known One-click-Root on Android or on PC (result from the same root prgram on PC can vary. Like a device I currently owned it cannot root using the PC version but successfully rooted using the "***.apk" bear that in mind.)
This is the list :
VRoot.apk(MgyunRoot.apk/Romastersu)
KingoRoot.apk/PCversion
KingRoot.apk/PC version
Framaroot.apk
360Root.apk
RootMaster.apk
UnversalAndroot.apk
BaiduRoot.apk
UniversalAndroot.apk
At least these are the only root app from China that I dare to install the rest I'll pass!
Need to write up a script to install using ADB exploit.
Cant live without root!

cracktech said:
I belief what he is referring to is it Google compliant.
Yes, it is a "world" ROM. "ROW" - Rest of World" ROM rather than CN(China) ROM. What heck would anybody wanna buy a gadget with CN ROM when you are outside of China, I am puzzled? If you ordered online then clearly you had been scammed , if you come across a model that is not available on AliExpress (a reliable yardstick that the model is either Google compliant or if the seller scammed you that a ROW ROM is available somewhere). There are models that is CN only and no matter how much mod you do (a bastardised ROM that have some Google apps but non functional) will not get you YouTube, Playstore to function. Dont be fooled by the price, there is always a catch. Example 2Gb / 32 Gb specs for less than the price of those memory chip and it actually turns out 1Gb/8Gb. Have seen those on local online store with customer screaming murder at the seller. Guess people are suckers from their own stupidity. Experience makes you wiser. I bought many years ago a Lenovo A880/A889 with a bastardise ROM and when it boot up it welcome users in Chinese it set up as China Unicom model but that model has a version with a barely Google ROW ROM (Gmail,Google Search, Playstore, non functional YouTube) that I managed to stitched together with a Russian modder but it took us 2 month. Never again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you saying the HT70 is CN based rom and not Stock Android? I am not talking about the Google Compliant, From the videos it appears that it is running stock android, or looks like stock android. I like Stock android especially the launcher, I only root phones now just to get the Pixel Experience. If this has the Swipe Left too Google Feeds then i'll go for it. I am currently using Leagoo T5c and it does everything. Had to unroot and stick to Lawnchair, though the Lawnfeed needs root to give me what I need, but I will manage for now. Hometome is my next Gadget. Jumia in Nigeria has made it easy to buy stuffs only and the return policy makes it interesting.

Actually, you swipe to the right in order to get to the panel that's on the left, and there is Google Assistant and feed, yes. Swiping to the left reveals right-side panels with randomly scattered app icons.
I just wanted to say that I didn't see any updates, but now I checked manually and there's a June patch available.