THL 5000 Review – MT6592 5000mA Battery Phone

thl-5000-4THL, one of the mature players in the China phone game has really stepped up to the plate with some great phones recently. The THL W200S has been quite popular, combining a slick, light form with solid all around performance and excellent GPS. The THL T11 has a big 2750mA battery and 1900MHz WCDMA, which makes the THL T11 the perfect phone for Americans.

Now THL is pushing the game even further with the ridiculously huge batteried THL 5000. The THL 5000 will have all the goodies and then some. OTG and NFC are just the beginning. According to the image, the THL will have a gravity sensor, gyroscope and THL will be using an NXP audio box op-amp chip. Great news for audiophiles if the tout becomes fact.

From wikipedia:

An operational amplifier (op-amp) is a DC-coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input and, usually, a single-ended output.[1] In this configuration, an op-amp produces an output potential (relative to circuit ground) that is typically hundreds of thousands of times larger than the potential difference between its input terminals.

This phone provided by Gearbest. Many of their phones will discount with code “chinaphonearena”.

THL 5000 review LCD

The THL 5000 has a 5.0″ LCD@1080p. 1920×1080 with a PPI of 440 makes it beyond retina. The front glass will be Gorilla Glass 3.

THL 5000 review camera

The camera on the THL 5000 will be 5MP front and 13MP Sony IMX 135 back. Excellent to see them taking photography seriously. The recent THL phones have been above average in the camera department, but the Sony IMX135 will be an even greater step up.

The Sony IMX135 is part of the CMOS Exmor RS series. It’s a true 13.13 effective megapixels. The Sony IMX135 supports RGBW coding and HDR movies.thl-5000-760_05.png

From Sony officials regarding IMX135:

The ‘RGBW coding’ function can capture sharp, clear images even when filmed or photographed in low light conditions, such as a dark room or at night by featuring W (white) pixels in addition to conventional RGB (red-green-blue) pixels, and leveraging Sony’s proprietary device technology and signal processing to heighten sensitivity without compromising its high resolution.

‘HDR (High Dynamic Range) movie’ function enables two different exposure conditions to be configured within a single screen when shooting, and seamlessly performs appropriate image processing to generate optimal images with a wide dynamic range and brilliant colors, even when pictures are taken against bright light.

THL 5000 review design

The THL 5000 features a quite square portrait, but without the sharp corners of the THL T11. The back piece is textured similar to Note 3. The profile is 8.9mm, though whether this is the very edge measurement or the thickest part of the phone remains to be seen

THL 5000 review battery

The THL 5000 battery will be a megantic 5000mA. From the early shots of the phone, it looks as if the battery is sealed inside. Not surprising and not a problem for such a huge battery. There could be an issue a couple of years down the road when the battery has lost it’s ability to maintain a decent charge, but by that time it will likely be time for a phone upgrade.thl-5000-760_03.png

The battery in the THL 5000 is touted by THL as being Li-ion using a silicone conductive polymer anode. Using silicone as opposed to graphite enables a battery to contain up to 10x the energy density.

This phone provided by Gearbest. Many of their phones will discount with code “chinaphonearena”.

This is fairly ground-breaking technology and it will be very interesting to see if it’s just the regular China brand game to gain hype or if the THL 5000 truly will contain the new tech. Regardless of the phone containing the touted tech, a 5000mA battery in a 8.9mm 5.0″ phone is a stupendous feat and THL is known for producing quality phones.

Comments

58 responses to “THL 5000 Review – MT6592 5000mA Battery Phone”

  1. Marucok Avatar
    Marucok

    With that mega amp on smartphone, how big its charger currents? If THL provided the charger with only 1A, then it could spend 5hrs or more to fully charged, continues without use. Ideally bigger Amps for this huge battery. Anyway, Can this phone used as a power bank?

    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      Yes, a larger battery means longer charging times. They are touting ‘quick charge’, but we will see how quick quick is once it’s released.

      As it is now, a standard 2000mA phone takes approx. 3 hours to charge from 0 to 100. An extra couple hours is small price to pay for such a giant battery. I don’t see this as a negative, or at least not negative enough to consider it a con. You’re not forced to fully charge it before you can use it.

      Charge it over half a night’s sleep and the average user should then have a charge that will last for several days.

      Not sure if it will be able to be used as a powerbank. Current specs don’t tout it.

      Very much looking forward to this phone.

      1. gerstavros Avatar

        exaactly, i don’t think anyone will have to charge it from 0 to 100% during the day, there is not such need at all

  2. Manos Avatar
    Manos

    The quick charge is going 0% to 75 in 30min after that we will see who it will go.
    What ROM updates this phone will have?There is a webpage that they post or has ota? Anyone know?

    1. gerstavros Avatar

      Needrom and the say also they have ota but at the moment they don’t update the servers for past models

      1. Manos Avatar
        Manos

        Thanks for your answer I like this phone I have a Jiayu G4A is nice I haven’t any problem last a day easily with all on and screen time 6 hours…
        I’m asking because I don’t need to stuck to a ROM full of problems and no updates for 2 years…. I think I should better buy an one plus with some money more to have every week updates and bug free phone I’m waiting the reviews for a start.

  3. gregzeng Avatar
    gregzeng

    USB3 is a necessity for quick battery charge. USB2 are only for small, simple phones.
    Energy density, per volume, or per weight? Trouble with large batteries is the heat generated with rapid battery charge or discharge. Can the excess heat leave the phone container, or will the phone auto-slowdown?
    If the phone is in a long, high-powered octacore processing (many demanding apps simultaneously), I’d expect the phone to overheat. This could happen if my it has a complex, long boot process in a very hot climate, or is in a long real-time video capture-processing, at elevated temperatures.

  4. O-tech Avatar
    O-tech

    The amount of juice a battery can accept is dependent on the amperage of the adapter and moreso the charging system of the phone.

    Whether a phone is simple, or advanced or small or large or USB 2 or USB 3 does not concern charging rate – assuming you’re not charging via your computer.

    1. gregzeng Avatar

      dubt my experience on USB If I use my smartphone, wifi, etc on … then the battery will charge very slowly through USB2. If it had USB3, the higher current flow will charge the battery quicker. Try it, if you don’t believe the physics of USB design.
      Because of USB2 limits, I use spare batteries, which are charged much faster on an external charger, without the phone output slowing down the charge rate. If you ever know an iphone, ipad user, they might tell you that the standard USB2 outlet (on PCs, etc) only allows a slow charge rate.
      Iphone, ipad, etc users chose a specialized USB charger which enables a charge rate much higher than both USB2 & USB3. If you ever use external rechargable battery packs, these will recharge much faster on the Ipad-friendly external USB chargers. I bought several of these externa chargers. Just as well, because one of them was faulty. Research eBay for these if you doubt wiipedia, etc on the differences between USB2, 3.

      1. Manos Avatar
        Manos

        This quick charge it will work only with the original charger for sure. What will happen when we plug it to a USB for PC we should wait and see but I don’t believe that the quick charge will work .
        The heat they should have solve this problem because that’s the problem with this new tech.

      2. O-Tech Avatar
        O-Tech

        The amount of current which flows to the phone is dependent on the adapter. The charging system of the phone will only allow so much or so little to flow into the battery and has nothing to do with 2.0 or 3.0.

        The contacts for power (+ / -) on 2.0 and 3.0 have the ability to carry far far more power than any modern phone battery could ever accept.

        As phone technology advances, so do the charging systems, so some phones are more likely to have a stronger charging system and some are updated with 3.0, which you would expect on a $600 phone. But it is in spite of 3.0, not because of 3.0 that these phones can accept in excess of 1 AH.

        If you’re charging via PC, it can make a difference because 2.0 is normally limited to 500mA, but via wall charger this limitation goes out the window.

  5. gregzeng Avatar
    gregzeng

    I foound that if I use the phone: wifi from a weal-signal, Youtube replay, etc … simultaneously, the battery will not charge if it is connected to an ezternal USB2 power supply. If I turn the video-play & wifi off (FM RADIO only), then the battery will very slowly recharge.

    The limited current (milliamps) of the USB2 charger cannot charge the battery if the phone is using so much current (wifi + video). I’m assuming that USB3 would allow a higher current flow, so the battery would charge, even when the phone is demanding so mch power in is operation. I’ve yet to experience USB3 charging, do I cannot test this.

    I agree that the battery cannot handle too rapid a charging rate. My understanding is that a high-current power supply would charge the battery, as well as power the phone in a heavy, real time operation.

  6. dave Avatar
    dave

    may i know the antutu benchmark score of this THL T500 tnx,

    1. Manos Avatar
      Manos

      Its clockled at 2Ghz finally and the score may is over 27000. Im thinking to buy it but 200Euros and a bit more is too much when a Xiaomi Mi4 has 310E

      1. gerstavros Avatar
        gerstavros

        Xiaomi mi4 is not yet available, and will be more expensive at first, except u mean mi3. And these dont have 5000mAh battery;)

  7. Everett Avatar
    Everett

    I am looking to buy this phone. Since it said 1900 good in Americas. But have not found a site that sells it currently saying it comes with that bandwidth. Is this statement false?

    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      The THL 5000 only has 850/2100 for 3g. It will work in many AT&T 3g areas, but there’s no guarantee.

      I recommend taking a look at the iNew V8 now coming with 2gb RAM and 1900. See our video review for the coupon code.

      1. Everett Avatar
        Everett

        Tried looking up the one you mentioned. Only found one with 1 gb and same 850 2100.

        1. Damian Parsons Avatar
          Damian Parsons

          The iNew v8 is 850/1900/2100 and the new one is 2gb. Go to our iNew v8 video review and follow the link in the description. http://youtube.com/user/Gizbeat

      2. Everett Avatar
        Everett

        Found it but it’s only 1GBram

    2. Manos Avatar
      Manos

      I can ask people that have the phone to take a photo and see what it can support at both cards! I think you will not have any problem.

  8. Motanbigcat Avatar
    Motanbigcat

    I am hesitant to buy this phone, because the battery of my Thl W200S was swollen after using 4 months. I’ve heard a lot of complaints about the THL batteries.

    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      Hi Motan, I had one of the first W200S and it never had a problem with the battery. I’ve now passed this phone onto a friend who continues to use it regularly without issue. Our moderator Wuddawaste has a T200C and it’s been fine regarding battery. Things will go wrong with electronics all the time. I wouldn’t judge THL based on a swollen battery. They are one of the top mid-range China brands out there regarding physical build.

      1. Motanbigcat Avatar
        Motanbigcat

        Hi Damian, you may be right but there are 4 complainants more with the swollen batteries problem of W200S in the web pages of xda devolopers. I used more than 10 phones and have never experienced any problems with the batteries in their normal using life. I couldn’t find the battery of W200S in my land and waiting it since more than two weeks from China without using the phone. This problem will be more worse if it occurs with Thl5000, because this phone’s battery is not removable, needs technical service to change, so I have no chance to buy it with an extra battery. I am really undecided for buying this phone.

        1. Motanbigcat Avatar
          Motanbigcat

          I have to say, I am very pleased with W200S except this battery problem.

        2. Damian Parsons Avatar
          Damian Parsons

          I will have both a written review and a video review of the THL 5000 coming up within the next few days. The short of it is — Personally I wouldn’t spend $250 on it. The phone was solid, but I couldn’t recommend it unless you really need 10 hours (or so) onscreen. I’m somewhat biased though, as I don’t feel 1080p is required on a 5.0″ LCD.

          Also, it’s worth mentioning mine came with a skewed display, but Gearbest accepted the return no problem when I showed them the pic.

          1. Motanbigcat Avatar
            Motanbigcat

            I really need long hours on screen, because I raad e books very often and am using gps on the long way. I read somewhere that the reason of the swollen batteries is to use the phone in charge and I did it anytime.

          2. Damian Parsons Avatar
            Damian Parsons

            That sounds like a rumor and not based on fact. Plenty of people use their phone often while charging without issue. Battery swelling is a relatively common issue (not limited to THL I mean. Genuine Samsung S4 had the same issue). If batteries get too hot too often they can swell. It can also be due to overcharging.

          3. BP Avatar
            BP

            it also happened to my phone’s battery. I have the same type of phone, the THL W200S. Now, about 6-7 months after first using it, I decided to replace the battery because the phone was shutting down during work. I found out the battery is swollen in a way it disconnects (pushed out) from it’s place. It’s quite scary. I read in some pages that it could be due to charging and using it at the same time. I have an extra battery which I’m going to use now, and I’ll avoid using the phone and charging it at the same time and I’ll watch if this problem occurs again.

          4. Damian Parsons Avatar
            Damian Parsons

            It’s not necessarily due to using the phone and charging at the same time, but the extra heat COULD be a factor.

            This is not limited to W200S, it’s been a problem with Samsung Galaxy and many other models. Batteries are the cheapest and easiest to replace. If a swollen battery after 7 months is the worst thing to happen to you with your phone, then you got an excellent deal.

          5. Motanbigcat Avatar
            Motanbigcat

            I think, the parable of this conversation is to buy the android phones with an extra battery..

  9. Motanbigcat Avatar
    Motanbigcat

    What are you thinking about Xiaomi Note with 3,300 mAh removable battery?

    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      I think anything from Xiaomi is a good buy. You can’t go wrong there if it’s within your budget.

      1. Motanbigcat Avatar
        Motanbigcat

        X Note is much cheaper than Thl5000, even with 2 gb ram. I think I’ll buy it, thanks for advise..

        1. Damian Parsons Avatar
          Damian Parsons

          I do want to mention that I don’t feel the THL 5000 is a bad buy, it’s just not for me. Actually if you’re reading a lot, the 1080p could be of some benefit if you’re reading small text often, and if you need the big battery, it could be worth considering.

          The other side of the coin is that with any of the recent phones such as THL T11, Doogee DG550, iNew V8, they all charge very quickly – 2 hours flat. Also you might consider an extra battery. Just charge it up in an external charger overnight and you’ve always got 5000mA ready to go (in phone battery + spare externally charged).

          Nothing wrong with the Xiaomi. It looks like a good price for the specs..

          1. Motanbigcat Avatar
            Motanbigcat

            I have no problem to read with Thl’s hd screen, fhd screen may be better but not necessary. I bought before a Xiaomi Hongmi with hd screen, but I have felt better with Thl’s hd screen. So, I’ll try to see X Note’s screen before buying.

          2. Damian Parsons Avatar
            Damian Parsons

            Right. I didn’t mean any problem with 720p. I think 720p is fine even on 6.0″ LCDs. With small text though, the 1080p shines. If you’re not reading small text, the difference is negligible and with most things isn’t even noticeable to many. I read all of my novels on 720p and even 480p without any issue.

          3. Motanbigcat Avatar
            Motanbigcat

            I could buy a Thl5000 if there is a possibility to change the battery in some hours at a technical service but it’s not possible with the present conditions.

  10. rpdon Avatar
    rpdon

    Seems to me this reviewer mentions the Inew and doggee brands as often as he can.
    Mentioning the two brands only in such a crowded market makes me think someones a salesman and not a reviewer.
    To the comment section about the battery charging time and blah blah, damn your going to be happy to get the damn phone out your hands after 3 days on one charge.

  11. bk Avatar
    bk

    THL 5000 is a strange phone, it has been more than 3 weeks, I charged only thrice, with moderate use. I noticed sometimes there has been gain in charge; from 89%, it went up to 93%, and came back to 86%.
    It stayed at 45% for almost a day. So,seems like there is some problem with battery management. OTG feature is awesome. Dissapointed with Camera, not a 13mp (my grand duos’ 5mp can put it to shame!). Good looks and design.

  12. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    Hi, is there a THL 4000 review? I have one. I’m experiencing three fatal annoyances making me think that the THL 4000 bargain price is an expensive trap :

    1. When the THL 4000 is ringing, the beginning of each ring gets truncated, making each ring duration very short, and increasing the silence period – putting the phone in your trousers pocket will make you miss many incoming calls.

    2. Reading ebooks using the SVOX Text-To-Speech, the first word of the sentence don’t get properly rendered – when a new paragraph is started, it happens sometimes that the first word of the sentence gets rendered at a low and barely audible audio volume.

    3. The 3G internet doesn’t work, even after carefully creating the internet.proximus.be APN.

    I’m currently facing the same issues on two THL 4000 phones (one black, one white) ordered on dx.com on Nov 26th, 2014. Am I the only one, facing the same issues? What’s the solution?
    The black one, I smashed it on the floor after losing two hours of my life, trying to debug it.
    The white one, I’m considering returning it to dx.com.

    The 4000 mAh battery reads THL Polymer Li-Ion Battery, Model BL-07, and measures approx. 77mm x 58mm x 7mm. Are there better smartphones using the same 4000 mAH battery ?

    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      I’m testing the THL 4000 now. It’s not just good for the price, I’ve found it to be outstanding.

      Regarding your specific issues, 3G/H+ is working no problem at all for me. Are you on a T-mobile network? Many areas require 1700 for 3G on T-mobile. Also make sure you have 3G set to the correct SIM.

      TTS text-to-speech is working without a hitch with FBreader and Ivona. I’d recommend trying Ivona and perhaps a different eReader for troubleshooting g.

      Phone ringing comes fine for me. Are you maybe using some custom ringtone? Or default?

      This is the best phone I’ve reviewed in quite awhile. Phenomenal deal at this price.

      Please let us know if you get the issues ironed out.

      1. Steph Avatar
        Steph

        Many thanks for the detailed suggestions.

        Regarding TTS text-to-speech, once equipped with FBreader, FBreader TTS plugin, and Ivona, the THL 4000 doesn’t swallow leading words like he was doing when equipped with Mantano Premium and SVOX. Please note, the THL 4000 is still swallowing leading words, on some rare occasions like short isolated words. Doing some more tests, I see that SVOX is the bad guy causing the issue. This is bizarre as my old V1277 equipped with Mantano Premium and SVOX, never swallows leading words.

        Regarding the ringtones, when using the stock “Digital Phone” ringtone appearing in the list, the THL 4000 plays a 5.6 second silence between consecutive ringtones, while my old V1277 only plays a 4.6 second silence between consecutive ringtones. IMO, a 5.6 second silence is much too long. On both device, the active part of each ringtone is only 1.6 second. There is however an important rendering difference between two smartphones what’s regarding the active part of the ringtone. The THL 4000 outputs a 1.6 second burst at constant amplitude, while the V1277 outputs a burst that’s growing in amplitude, making it easier to discriminate when there is background noise. The combination of the two factors, make the THL 4000 ringtone barely noticeable in background noise, compared to the V1277.

        The THL 4000 is running Android 4.4.2 build thl.4000.168B.1479M.8P64.
        Can somebody tell me if all Android 4.2.2 appear to regress this way, compared to an old V1277 running Android 4.0.4?

        Regarding the 3G with the THL 4000, as I only have a fullsize-SIM card, I cannot try the other SIM slot, designed for a micro-SIM card. On the THL 4000, is a micro-SIM card required for getting the 3G internet?

        1. Damian Parsons Avatar
          Damian Parsons

          You can switch which SIM is 3G in Android setting. Also, which carrier are you using?

          Good we got at least one of your issues solved. Re ringtone, Have you tried using a different tone?

          I’ll be honest, and this isn’t to belittle your issues, but they are extremely minor compared to what could go wrong. For $100 I’ve found the phone to be exemplary.

          That is, other than the 3G problem. Hopefully we can get that worked out for you.

          1. Steph Avatar
            Steph

            Agree about the TTS : the workaround is to use another TTS engine than SVOX, SVOX appearing extremely sensitive to the leading words swallowing issue.

            Regarding the ringtones, I’ll try to hand-edit the “Digital Phopne” ringtone, making a custom MP3, determining if this is a way for shortening the silence period between consecutive ringtones.

            The issue is still there regarding the 3G. My country is Belgium. My carrier is Proximus. I have a fullsize-SIM card. I created the internet.proximus.be APN. I activated the data. But the THL 4000 refuses to access the web. “Webpage not available”, that’s all I’m getting when Googling.

          2. Damian Parsons Avatar
            Damian Parsons

            I’ve never had to edit APN to use SIM data/net (on any phone). Did you edit APN before you tried data/3G?

            There is another possibility that the THL 4000 doesn’t truly have 900, but this would be the first time that THL faked specs if so.

            It’s more likely an APN or setting issue as you’ve surmised. Can you tell if any data is coming through at all? Are the little up/down arrows showing?

  13. Everett Avatar
    Everett

    internet.proximus.be as APN. Leave the user name and the password fields empty. You may need to restart. Is what i found online. When getting my phone to work in the Americas I had to tweak the apn settings to get it to work for pic messages. Like for apn type I had to select default and mms. My provider had no instructions for this step. Although I have never been to your area and own the InewV8.. Just know it took me many trys to get my phone operating right. With the featuring as promised. Keep trying before you give up is what I’m getting at. Sorry if this proves useless.

  14. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    Thanks for your feedback and encouragements.
    I have now the 3G working.

    Here are the APN parameters I’m specifying with the Proximus carrier in Belgium (Europe).
    This is not official, as Proximus currently has no webpage dedicated to Android 4.4.2.
    Proximus only seems to care about the phones they promote (mostly Samsung). Most of Proximus help pages are outdated, dating before the advent of Android 4.4.2.
    Proximus seems not to realize that we are in 2014, with customers purchasing the phone they want, from the shop they want, including from dx.com, and needing to connect the phone the Proximus network, a proper way.

    Name : Proximus Internet
    APN : internet.proximus.be
    APN type : default
    Proxy : not set
    Port : not set
    Username : Not set
    Password : Not set
    Server : Not set
    MMSC : Not set
    MMS Proxy : Not set
    MMS port : Not set
    MCC : 206
    MNC : 01
    Authentification type : None
    APN protocol : IPv4
    APN roaming protocol : IPv4
    Bearer : Unspecified

    Very important :
    After editing the parameters this way, you need to explicitly save them using the contextual menu.
    On the contextual menu will find “Save” and “Discard”.
    Press “save”.
    Reboot the phone, kind of insurance.

    Is this a 100% complete setup? Do I need to deal with the MMS stuff?

    1. Everett Avatar
      Everett

      It did for me when it came to pictures messages. Only time will tell for you.

  15. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    More facts about the TTS leading words swallowing issue, and TTS volume instability issue.

    I confirm this appears to be a SVOX bug. And there is a workaround.
    Digging into SVOX TTS parameters, you will find the “SVOX TTS volume”. By default it is 100%. Decrease it to 90%. Once this is done, set the volume to the max using the hardware side button. The TTS volume is now massive and stable, and no words get swallowed. The volume is so high, that you want to decrease it. Now comes the real issue. If you happen to decrease the general volume by more than 2 steps, after one minute the audio volume instabilities will appear. You may think that you can decrease the SVOX TTS volume parameter to 50%. Unfortunately, doing so seems to reintroduce the bug to some degree. That’s bizarre. Going into my old V1277, I can see that the volume is 90% over there. Now I remember, two years ago I faced the same audio volume instability bug, and used the “SVOX TTS volume” 90% workaround. Doing so on my V1277, the TTS audio volume is not excessive when the general volume is at the max. It’s quite amazing to see such SVOX bug in 2014, where Audio DSP is supposed to happen using 32 bit, possibly using floating point arithmetic.

    ***

    More facts about the Ringtone behavior of the THL 4000 (or possibly Android 4.4.2).

    I’ve recorded the audio coming out of the THL 4000 speaker using Wavosaur.

    Go into “Audio profiles” and select “Outdoor” (Loudest ring and vibrate).
    Receive an incoming call. The THL 4000 (or Android 4.4.2) wants to play the smart guy, applying some brutal amplitude modulation. The problem is that the amplitude modulation is 12 dB deep. That’s too deep. The dimmed portions are barely audible in a noisy environment. You end up getting only 1.6 second at the nominal amplitude, from a 7.2 second period. That’s ridiculous. You will miss many incoming calls. Is this a THL 4000 idiosyncrasy, or is this an Android 4.4.2 idiosyncrasy ?

    Now, set the general audio volume one small step under the max, using the hardware side button.
    Visiting the “Audio profiles” menu you will realize that decreasing the general audio volume made you move to the “General” audio profile. You are not anymore in the “Outdoor” audio profile.
    Receive an incoming call. The THL 4000 (or Android 4.4.2) now outputs the ringtone at a constant, diminished audio volume. You will miss many incoming calls. Is this a THL 4000 idiosyncrasy, or is this an Android 4.4.2 idiosyncrasy ?

    There is still work required regarding the “Digital Phone” ringtone, as both settings (max volume, and also one little step before max volume) make me miss too many incoming calls. As I said before, I’ll try generating a custom MP3 ringtone using a 90% digital amplitude for avoiding triggering any digital saturation watchdog. I’ll try various active ringtone lengths for persuading the THL 4000 (or Android 4.4.2) to insert only 3 second of silence between recurrent ringtones. Any advice?

  16. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    I’m sorry to report that I just smashed my second THL 4000 (the white one). This morning, it rang because of an incoming call, however after dragging the sleep menu icon (right side) several times, it continued refusing picking up the call, staying in the sleep menu. It ended up, the caller getting my answering machine.

    Why smashing a phone? Couldn’t I try returning it to dx.com for asking a refund?
    Over the past years, I realized that using a phone to answer professional calls, and using a phone while driving, can be extremely prejudicial, in case the phone is not doing what he is supposed to do.
    A phone refusing to pick incoming calls makes you losing business opportunities.
    A phone that you need to battle against puts your life in danger, when you are driving.
    Recycling a buggy phone, doesn’t cure the issue at the source.

    I wasted more than 8 hours of my life with this, booting and rebooting the THL 4000 many times, abusing my old V1277 because of opening it so many times for putting and extracting the SIM for comparing against the THL 4000, searching on the web, etc.

    We need to dump all buggy phones, and tell it loud, so their makers cannot sell them anymore. That’s be best way, IMO. If there was the slightest Quality Control at THL, they never would have sold the phones, the way they are. The fact that the THL 4000 phone are cheap, doesn’t provide any excuse, IMO. And I don’t care whether the bug is in Android, or whether the bug is in THL implementation.

    Smartphones are like cars. If you own a car, and the car is working well, keep it until it dies. Buying a new car, may bring new and fatal annoyances.

    Those reviews on YouTube, unboxing a phone and measuring the AnTuTu performance, are useless. The lazy kids issuing those reviews don’t care if the smartphone is able to ring like it should, able to pick up a call like it should, able to TTS read an ebook like it should. The lazy kids are only interested in how the tiny screen delivers a HD video (that’s truly stupid), and how the tiny CPU an GPU render some useless videogame. The lazy kids don’t even measure the mike and speakers (front and rear) audio quality, and certainly not the noise and the distortion when connecting a headset.

    Are there some serious reviewers down the earth? The present website is a nice step forward. It’s more about user experience, than bare specs, and that’s what the world needs, IMO.

    Thanks for reading.

    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      Sorry things didn’t work out for you Steph. For me the phone has been nearly perfect. Out of the last 10 phones we’ve reviewed at Gizbeat, its the only one I’ll be keeping. That’s not to say the other 9 were bad phones, the THL 4000 has really impressed me and the excellent battery life is a huge bonus.

      You got the 3g working and in my opinion, your complaints about SVOX and ringtones were about as nitpicky as it gets. Sorry, but I call it as I see it. These were extremely minor issues.

      Hopefully the next phone you purchase works out better.

      Regards

      1. Steph Avatar
        Steph

        Have you been using the THL 4000 on a daily base ?

        – What ringtone are you using? Is it audible and effective outdoor, when the THL 4000 is in your trousers pocket?
        – You never experienced the phone refusing to wake up on an incoming call, even when right-dragging the sleep screen icon ?

        Possibly you are wearing a Bluetooth headset, isolating you from the above annoyances, that appear to be deal-breaking to me. Please tell me.

        Regards,
        Steph

        1. Damian Parsons Avatar
          Damian Parsons

          Hi Steph,

          Yes on a daily basis for the last week. No, I don’t use a bluetooth headset. I’ve tested the ringer on Themos and Rain Drops and it stays at full volume (no rising / falling). It’s effective enough to hear in a yard full of playing children at a local school. The phone calls pick up fine. I’m on the latest firmware (28-NOV-2014).

  17. Everett Avatar
    Everett

    Dang that unfortunate news. Was very close to getting this phone as well. HAPPIER about my choice now hearing your side. Small question though. How legit is the web site you went through? I went through gearbest.com. I have heard of other web sites selling clones. Not sure if yours is a possible case of this happening. Beware of counterfeiters.

    1. Steph Avatar
      Steph

      I got my two THL 4000 from dx.com (dealextreme). Usually they appear to be okay with smartphones. About one year ago I bought a gorgeous iNew i6000, nothing to complain. Regarding the THL 4000, how can we discriminate between genuine and counterfeit?

      1. Everett Avatar
        Everett

        Check if the specs match up with what the phone says to the web site. See if the anutu scores match as well. Sounds like a legit Web site. Some times there are factory f*** ups. Maybe this is your case. Sorry to hear of your misfortune though.

  18. Bijay Avatar
    Bijay

    THL 5000 usage exp:

    – 8 days standby, does not discharge fast while talking
    – battery status sometimes shows going up as if being charged of its own
    – Custom ROM solves the above battery status problem (you need to root the phone first)
    – I could use 128GB SD card with no issues at all
    – Rear camera is 13 mp flop! My grand duos 8 mp cam is far better
    – if you continuously use on wifi / otg / gallery / camera, battery discharge is astonishingly fast, that way, Sony C3 is better

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