Will MTK6592 China Phones Work In America and Europe?

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Since writing my last preview of MT6592 THL T100 Monkey King 2 / Iron Man, the shops have changed their tune and are now including 850MHz WCDMA / UMTS in the specs of the T100. Some are now even showing 1900MHz WCDMA. The MT6592 Mlais MX69 Pro is showing quad-band WCDMA (850/900/1900/2100) on shop sites and on the Mlais official page as well. Is it too good to be true? A China MTK phone with both of the major American frequencies?

For those who are scratching their heads right now, I’ll explain a bit. The main frequency of AT&T and AT&T MVNOs for 3G/UMTS is 850MHz. They also use 1900MHz in some areas. T-Mobile and T-Mobile MVNOs are mostly on 1900MHz. Phones with 850MHz WCDMA will get 3G service in most areas serviced by AT&T. However there are very few, if any China phones released with 1900MHz WCDMA, so current China phones will receive only 2G service if on T-Mobile lines.

Two of the major MTK6592 phones currently being released, THL T100 Iron Man and Mlais MX69 Pro are showing wide spread signs of having 1900MHz WCDMA as well as 850MHz. Whether it’s actually reality or not is an entirely different matter, and we probably won’t know until Americans have them in their hands and can test them on T-Mobile networks.

For those in Europe / UK or areas with 2100MHz UMTS, you need not fret as nearly all China phones are compatible with 2100MHz WCDMA / UMTS.

There is one thing even for Europe and United Kingdom to keep an eye on regarding China phones – some of them are set to TD-SCDMA for 3G. Phones that are GSM/TD-SCDMA will work on 2G assuming it’s got your frequency (900/1800 for Europe/UK and 850/1900 for Americas), but 3G will only work in China on the proper network with TD-SDCMA phones.

What is the reasoning for China using this special band only for their country? What they’ve done is try and create their own standard so they don’t have to pay licensing fees for foreign technology. However there are some that think the TD-SCDMA is still largely using patented WCDMA technology and they still may end up having to pay the fees.

So I’ve gone beyond the breadth of what I’d meant to discuss. The main thing – I’m excited at even the possibility of MTK China phones having multiple 3G possibilities. That two of the major players are showing signs of widely opening up their phones to the Americas with both 850 and 1900 is great, however we won’t count our Droids before they hatch.

I’ll be keeping a sharp eye on this and will come back with regular updates regarding the situation.

Further Reading:

Qualcomm RF-360

Does Jiayu G3, G4, G5 support American 3g?

MediaTek to create LTE SoC!

Comments

25 responses to “Will MTK6592 China Phones Work In America and Europe?”

December 22, 2013

ensp

Most of the recent ThL Smartphones are sold in the US AFAIK. I own the ThL W8s and reside in London, UK, not far from t”he square mile”. like hong Kong, Beijing or Shanghai, Mumbai, Rio etc. Lots of WiFi, Mobile traffic, the phone worked almost flawlessly connecting at datarates in excess b/t 5 and 25Mnps. It comments via HSPA+ the most widely used 3G+ technology internationally.

Reply
1. December 22, 2013
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  Yes, it works fine on HSPA+ in London. Many THL smartphones will work on AT&T or AT&T MVNOs in areas where they cover with 850. The important thing to remember – HSPA+ is a standard, it’s not a frequency.
  
  Reply
  1. January 26, 2014
    
    Alex
    
    What about Tmobile and its MVNO customers who need 1700 and 1900 bands? Is there any way to activate/add these to use 3g?
    
    Reply
    1. January 26, 2014
      
      Damian Parsons
      
      No. Or at least, not any way that I’ve heard of. Many people have searched long and spent many hours trying to do it, without success.
      
      Reply
      1. January 26, 2014
        
        Alex
        
        Thank You Damian.
        Looking for phone:
        5.7 – 6.1 HD (FHD is not important)
        MTK6592 or equal in speed
        3g to use with T-Mobile
        RAM 2-3 gigs, ROM 8 & up.
        May be thick enough to adopt big enough battery.
        Price – up to $350.
        Any propositions?
      2. January 26, 2014
        
        Damian Parsons
        
        There is no MTK phone that has 1900WCDMA. Some sellers show No. 1 N3 as having it, but I’m very skeptical. If it’s true, it would be the only Mediatek model to have it. I recommend you the Huawei Ascend Mate. It has penta-band WCDMA and a huge 4,050mA battery. In tests, it lasted 12+ hours playing a looping 720p video on 50% brightness. Amazing.
January 26, 2014

Alex

Huawei Mate is very close to SGN GT-N7000 which I have and use :) with extended battery. SGN 7100 has too narrow screen, that is why looking for something bigger. 6.1 is great.

Reply
1. January 26, 2014
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  They only downside is that it’s 720p, but you said FHD wasn’t important. Let us know which you end up choosing. I think for the price range, size, brand quality and having pentaband, it’s a good buy. There are several decent 6″ China brands, but the Mate is one of the only ones with 1900 3g.
  
  Reply
  1. January 27, 2014
    
    Alex
    
    But in other specs they are very close. Would like to get something faster and more stable then Huawei Mate. Seems that only Koreans and Japanese take care of USA market
    
    Reply
March 7, 2014

Dray

I wanna buy a phone from china but I wanna kno before I buy do I have to flash the phone and all that stuff before i can even use it in the us. Or can I just buy a sim card from at&t and it will work?

Reply
1. March 7, 2014
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  Many China phones have 850 3g, which is most of what ATT is on. Some ATT 3g is on 1900MHz. In that case most China phones will not work on 3g. It depends what coverage area your in. 2g is not a problem for most China phones. Flashing has little to do with it.
  
  Reply
March 11, 2014

Steve

My new MTK6592 seems to be impossible to set to the WCDMA/UMTS 850/2100Mhz as per its specifications. The phone’s stuck on GSM850 and WCDMA-IMT-2000 and I cannot change it – at least not through Mobileuncle’s Eengineer Mode (MTK)

Geekbuying.com simply warned me against flashing my ROM and are since refusing to reply and I’m considering claiming back on my credit card since there’s no GSM where I work. I’ve tried everything. Do you have any idea what’s going on?

Reply
1. March 11, 2014
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  WCDMA-IMT-2000 is same as 2100. If your device didn’t show WCDMA-800/WCDMA-CLR-850 on the stock firmware and you didn’t make any baseband or ROM changes to your phone, then the phone very likely doesn’t have 850 and the listed specifications are incorrect. Flashing a new firmware is unlikely to help and could just make things worse. I’m just presenting the most likely scenario.
  
  If you did something to your phone, like flashing a new firmware and then lost the functionality, then you need to try to find the full backup firmware and reflash.
  
  Which phone is it?
  
  Reply
March 12, 2014

Steve

Thanks, Damian.

It’s a Neken N6+ MTL6592. Right from the start I noticed random changes to its network icon (“3G then GPRS, Edge or “H”) but didn’t pay enough attention. It seemed to me that its connectivity was unstable, if that makes any sense. I swear I remember being able to change its UTMS setting to 850/2100 but late 850MHz became only a GSM setting.

I never flashed the ROM.

How do I find out if the listed specs are correct? I’ve heard of “Fake MTK phones.”

Reply
August 14, 2014

Jason

Hi Damian,

I have been searching the web for the last 48 hrs to look for solution for the issue that I currently have. You seems to be the most knowledgeable person and perhaps you can point me to the right way.
I am currently live in Canada and using Rogers as my carrier. I bought a Xiaomi Note WCDMA version from Hong Kong (Mediatek MT6592). The phone currently support 3G on 900/2100 frequency but my carrier is only support 850/1900. As a result I can only run on 2G which is unacceptably slow.
Will there be a way to change the frequency on the phone?
Some people say most manufacturers are blocking certain frequency instead of making different version for different market, is that true? I saw Xiaomi offer quad bands, will Xiaomi Note has 2 bands blocked?

Any help will be greatly appreciate.

Regards,
Jason

Reply
1. August 14, 2014
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  There is no known way to change the frequency. You are stuck with 900/2100 until you buy a new phone. Sorry for the bad news.
  
  Reply
August 24, 2014

Joe

I just got the wife a Tronsmart PS7 Phablet. She doesn’t currently have a data plan. I’m trying to find out what I can do to have it “sniff the air” and see if there is HSPA+ in the area that it can connect with. It has:

Frequency 2G:GSM850/900/1800/1900MHz; 3G:WCDMA850/2100MHz
Data transfer GPRS/HSDPA+/EDGE

Ok *#*#3646633#*#* got me into Service Mode. But I don’t know what I’m looking at.

– Joe

Reply
1. August 25, 2014
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  Hi Joe,
  
  Where do you live and who is your carrier? Many areas in Europe will need 900 and many areas in the Americas will need 1900.
  
  Reply
  1. August 25, 2014
    
    Joe
    
    Lansing MI USA 48911 We tend to use T-Mobile. I think they are running 850 WCDMA off of AT&T towers here but not sure. That’s why I wanted to poke at the Service Mode and see what is out there. My local T-Mobile store has no clue. The phone is awesome for $220 or so. It’s marketed under the names Ulefone U69/U7, Carpad T69, Tronsmart PS7, Yuandao M87, OrientPhone Mega Pro 7.0, Created N7. 8 core, 19200×1200, on and on.
    – Joe
    
    Reply
    1. August 25, 2014
      
      Damian Parsons
      
      You can check band modes by downloading “Mobile Uncle” > MTK Engineering > Band mode. It will show you what the baseband is programmed for, however it’s not the end all be all. Just because a band is listed doesn’t necessarily mean you have a radio functioning on that band. Generally though, you can trust what the band mode says. Most all China phones comes with at least 850/2100. Some are 900/2100. Fewer still are 850/1900/2100 and hardly any with quad-band.
      
      Some T-Mobile areas used to lease 850 from AT&T, but it’s very unlikely and uncommon, if they do it at all anymore. If your phone is 850 and you aren’t receiving 3G, then you’re carrier isn’t operating on 850. As well, all of T-Mobile and AT&T are currently refarming all 3G to 1900. My advice would be to get a 1900 phone. The Doogee DG310, iNew V8, Doogee DG580, THL T11 are few of the recently released mobiles with 1900.
      
      Reply
      1. November 16, 2015
        
        dawn
        
        Damian. I bought the HK Note 5 Sm-N9200 I want to pop my Net10 sim in it and use it on the 4GLte network. But I only get H+.. Is there something I can do to this phone to make it work on 4Glte?
      2. November 16, 2015
        
        Damian Parsons
        
        Hello Dawn,
        
        Sorry, there’s nothing you can do. Actually it’s quite fortunate you’ve got 3G/H+; not all China phones have the required 3G frequencies for Western use.
    2. September 14, 2014
      
      Sumir
      
      Hi Joe..I live in the Detroit and have the same Tronsmart phone clone (Orient Mega 7)…it works on 850/1900 GSM and catches some 850 3g but switching is very finicky back to GSM at times especially when traveling (I keep it mostly on 2g)..same when I come to Lansing area. The mobile uncle tools or *#*#3646633#*#* in the dialer will take you to the same MTK engineer mode as Mobile uncle tools does. I am on ATT.
      
      Reply
August 25, 2014

Joe

I just had an idea. Take it to a T-Mobile store and have them toss a SIM in it and see what it can do. And it will be fun to see the looks on their faces. 7″ WXGA 8 core phone with 80GB of storage. 16GB+64GBSD card.
– Joe

Reply
1. August 25, 2014
  
  Damian Parsons
  
  If you are on T-Mobile now, taking it to a T-Mobile shop won’t help.
  
  Test an AT&T SIM in it would be the next step. You can get the SIM cards for $.99 for AT&T MVNO’s off of eBay (H20, or AirVoice). Or borrow AT&T/AT&T MVNO from a friend. If you still can’t get 3G, it doesn’t necessarily mean the phone doesn’t have 850, as I said much of AT&T and T-Mobile are refarming over to 1900.
  
  Reply