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KitKat 4.4.2 for China Phones Has Arrived

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Damian Parsons

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There was a lot of complaining a couple of months back about KitKat not arriving to China brand phones. Many accused them of being ‘behind the times’

The truth of the matter was that even many major brand models had just gotten KitKat officially released. That included models from Samsung and Sony to name just a couple. On top of that, the KitKat releases were plagued with bugs. I was in no hurry to see KitKat come to China brands and certainly did not look down on them for not yet releasing it.android

Fast forward to the present, the newer models from Doogee and iNew, such as iNew V8 and Doogee DG310 are all coming with KitKat. Even the iNew V3, which is a 9 month old model has been blessed with the upgrade. The couple of months old model Doogee DG550 has had a KitKat version officially released as well.

Still other major brands have not released KitKat for many of their phones. Though the development community has released KitKat for the more popular models, the officially released KitKat lags behind for them.

That includes the likes of Oppo N1, a $600 phone which still officially sits on Jelly Bean 4.2.2. Considering this, it does give China brands a bit of a shining moment to have them ahead of such a well known flagship phone as the N1.

Download KitKat for Doogee DG550

Download KitKat for iNew V3 link 1

Download KitKat for iNew V3 link 2

Comments

9 responses to “KitKat 4.4.2 for China Phones Has Arrived”

  1. Marucok Avatar
    Marucok

    AFAIK, the UMI C1 also released with KK 4.4.2 out of the box.
    Exclude KK, it’s specs also impressive yet in sub-$150 and not forget, it’s shape looks elegant just like Meizu’s.
    Have ordered C1 from FCT for my daughter to replace the old ZTE v970m, MT6577.
    I am quite sure, the full support for KK will be MT6595 and I’ll wait for phone powered MT6595 than to buy MT6592 phones. Since majority of MT6592 phones are always with JB 4.2.2, it’s a waste of money to buy without KK and lots of them lack of WCDMA 900.

    Reply
    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      I’ll have to disagree with you on at least one point Marucok. The only thing I’ve found useful about KitKat in comparison to Jelly Bean is the Google Camera app from Play which allows for extreme bokeh pictures. But even that functionality is hit or miss depending on the shot.

      Regardless, the majority of new phones being released from iNew and Doogee and a few other brands (UMi as you mentioned) are coming with KitKat.

      Surely one of the issues with China phones is the lack of quad-band WCDMA (900 for Europe and 1900 for Americas), but even the major brands such as Samsung, HTC etc… do not release quad and pentaband WCDMA with their budget phones. It isn’t until you get into their more expensive models (usually, not always) that you find worldwide 3G support.

      Umi is an excellent choice. Can’t go wrong there.

      Reply
      1. Marucok Avatar
        Marucok

        Yes, I do concern of it, KK also stripped the sdcard support for App2SD.
        For camera, I still stick to SuperCamera of Lenovo, running side by side with stock google camera of NEO N003. SuperCamera is way better than stock.
        One new feat I like in KK is it’s Wireless Printing and new internal storage management.

        On Doogee, from all products they released, none of them supporting WCDMA900, they kept made only 850/2100. It’s useless when we are going to sub-urban area, no 3G detected. Indonesian provider officially only in WCDMA 900/2100 and GSM 900/1800.
        This is the reason why Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE, Jiayu and iOcean are very popular in Indonesia. Consistenly they made products which officially support WCDMA 900/2100.

        First I choose Doogee DG550 but soon I rejected since no WCDMA 900 and no Gyroscope, that’s a shame for MT6592 SoC. Also THL 5000, no WCDMA 900 and non-removable battery.

        Since UMI C1 will be presented to my daughter, I pick it since it’s have all I need, WCDMA 900/2100, Gyroscope, LED Notification, Miracast and the new Wireless Printing of KK.
        If Jiayu G4S has 5″ LCD with KK, I will buy it, but you know it’s has only 4,7″ LCD, looks bulky (10mm), not KK and with price nearly $200 will not match to my criterion compared to $138 UMI C1, 5.5″, slim 7.9mm, a perfect companion to girl hands.

        I’m glad you said that :), now I know I have made the right choice.

        Reply
        1. Damian Parsons Avatar
          Damian Parsons

          I guess if you need to wirelessly print, KK might be useful.

          If you require 900MHz WCDMA, then finding a phone with 900MHz WCDMA would be the intelligent choice. Miracast, 900MHz, gyroscope, SuperCamera has nothing to do with KitKat, which is what the post is about.

          I’m no sure what you mean in reference to ‘I’m glad you said that’, but I’m very happy you’ve found a phone that matches what you require. The UMi C1 is a great choice.

          Reply
  2. Phil Freeman Avatar
    Phil Freeman

    I have to disagree entirely about delays to KitKat.

    It has been available for quite a long time now and most of the major manufacturers have long since introduced KitKat for their devices.

    The Chinese manufacturers have and still are churning out models with JB, with no intention of supporting them into newer upgrades that were available even at the time of launch.

    It’s more of a box shifting exercise and the more it continues, the more that people will start to realise that a quick bargain today is going to be a less so in just a few months of use.

    Couple that with the refusal of so many to adhere to releasing sources, it does begin to make China made phones less of an attractive proposition.

    Reply
    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      KitKat didn’t come officially come out for Samsung’s flagship S4 until May (ref: http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/android-4-4-kitkat-release-date-when-can-i-get-it–1196266 ) and other major brands until after that. Some relatively new (2014) Sony models didn’t get it until just a few days ago (ref: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/13373/20140818/android-4-4-kitkat-firmware-arrives-for-sony-xperia-m2.htm). Oppo is still churning out their $600 N1 with JB and no official KitKat update available.

      Meanwhile Doogee, iNew and UMi are releasing their new models with KitKat.

      Obviously when you purchase a China brand phone you are giving up some support and resources. That’s a given. If you’re a developer that needs the source and/or need more support, definitely go with a major brand phone. I’ll stick with China brand phones as they are currently offering more bang for the buck than ever before. The ridiculously priced $89 OTG 5″ IPS 1900MHz 3G MT6582 DG310 is perhaps the bargain of the decade.

      Another great bargain if looking for a major brand phone is the Huawai Honor 3C. Great choice for Europeans. I saw this phone for $230 sold retail. 2GB RAM 8GB ROM MT6582 SoC IPS LCD.

      Reply
  3. ShyJuan Avatar
    ShyJuan

    I have the Kingzone K1 Turbo. And from the up and down ratings about kit-kat I’m cool without it. It doesn’t feel like a neccessity

    Reply
    1. Damian Parsons Avatar
      Damian Parsons

      You are correct ShyJuan. You are not missing out on much, if anything. Most people will never even notice the difference. You can see the “feature” list of KitKat here. 90% of it is fairly boring and available without KitKat (ie, keyboard emoji, SMS in hangouts) and the possibly interesting features (ie, improved touch) are Nexus device only.

      Reply
      1. ShyJuan Avatar
        ShyJuan

        HA! You’re right! The only thing I would want that I don’t have is that smart caller ID.

        Reply

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