The Mstar M1 Pro is looking exactly like the previously reviewed Mlais M4. This is one of the heavier phones I’ve reviewed with a very solid metal frame and some fair bit of heft to it. Overall a very solid phone in regards to physical build. It’s also got character with it’s leather-styled back piece and angled sides. (more…)
Category: MTK6752
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Lenovo K3 Note review 2GB MT6752 Lenovo K50 review Lemon Note
Lenovo has been an interesting player in the budget smartphone game. They’ve put out some good phones, but curiously many of them have had only 2-band GSM and single-band WCDMA. I overlooked the Lenovo K50 K50-t5 K3 Lemon Note because when news regarding it’s release first came about, the specs going around the web showed only dual-band WCDMA. (more…)
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Umi eMAX review 2GB MT6752
As mentioned in the preview, Umi has been around for quite awhile. Recently they’ve stepped up their game in regards to marketing towards Westerners and it should be interesting how the older tried and true Umi competes against the up & comers. (more…)
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UMI eMAX preview 2GB 3780mAh
Well known as one of the top-quality budget brands, UMI, a long time player in the China smart phone market has now fully entered the battle on the Western front. They’ve always marketed towards Westerners, but recently have upped their game. (more…)
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Newest MTK Droid Tool replacement for MT6752 MT6732
Over the last few months a large portion of the new phone models have MTK’s newer SoC’s in them. Unfortunately, the creator of MTK Droid Tools has not updated his excellent MTK Droid Tools to fully support these chipsets. (more…)
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Mlais M7 camera pictures images
These are pictures from the Mlais M7. The images are unedited other than resizing and cropping.
[flickr_set id=”72157654316846549″]
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Ulefone Be Touch review 3GB MT6752
A couple of months back I reviewed the surprisingly decent Ulefone Be Pro, a phone that has now dropped in price to under $130. The next phone up from Ulefone is the Be Touch. (more…)
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Elephone P3000S review MT6752 3GB 16GB OTG 1080P IPS
Several months back I reviewed the Elephone MT6582 P3000. This model from Elephone carried the fine distinction of being the only Elephone I’ve reviewed (out of 6) that didn’t have critical issues. Elephone’s just getting their engines revved though, as they’re a relatively new company. Very smart regarding marketing, but the QC/software build/hardware build departments require some serious shaping up.
Now up for review is the MT6752 P3000S. Style wise there have been no changes from the MT6582 P3000. As well, many of the components are working in similar fashion, so several sections will be pasted from the previous review, with edits where necessary.
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MT6752 Maxes out 3DMark Ice Storm!
Recently testing the Elephone P3000S, I gained a result of Maxed Out! on the 720P standard test on 3DMark Ice Storm. While this isn’t the actual resolution of the P3000S (1080P), the result was fun to achieve.
Interestingly, the Mlais M52, which also has the MT6752, didn’t max out Ice Storm. While GPU and CPU are certainly the main factors in graphics performance, it goes to show that there’s more to a phone than just SoC. Areas such as RAM speed and storage IO can affect graphics performance, as well as the main board.
Head over to the 3DMark Ice Storm / Antutu results section to see how the various SoCs and phones compare going head to head.
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Mlais to release 2 new budget models
New M7 images from Mlais. Looks to have similar type fingerprint reader as the Elephone P7000.
Mlais is one of the older brands making China phones. While not so well known to the West prior to the Mlais M52 release, they are well known to budget phone lovers in China.
The Mlais M52 was a successful launch for the company, and while the battery life could be a bit better, for the price the phone was a winner. What I really liked about that phone was that they stuck with 720P.
They also launched the Mlais M9, a budget MT6592 SoC phone that retailed for $90. This too was a winner for those looking for an ultra budget phone.
Not content to sit on their heals, and in addition to the Mlais M4, Mlais will also be releasing two new models — the Mlais M7 and Mlais MX.
Mlais M7 details:
- MT6752 [email protected]
- 5.5″@720P OGS IPS display
- 3GB RAM
- 16GB storage
- Touch finger print reader
- 5MP front/13MP Sony IMX135 rear camera
- Android 5.0 out of the box
- 2600mAh removable battery
- 3G WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100
- 4G FDD-LTE: B1/3/7/20 (800/1800/2100/2600)
- 149.5*76.8*8.6MM (L*W*H)
I really like what Mlais is doing here with the 720P in an otherwise highly specced phone. This keeps cost and heat down, and significantly improves battery life. Very much looking forward to giving the M7 a review to see if it can improve upon the already quite good Mlais M52.
Mlais MX details:
- [email protected] CPU
- 5.0″@720P OGS IPS display
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB Storage
- 4800mAh *removable* battery
- 13MP rear / 8MP front cameras
- 3G WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100
- 4G: FDD-LTE: B1/3/7/20 (800/1800/2100/2600)
- 4G: TDD-LTE:B40(2300-2400MHz)
- 145.8*71.5*9.9 mm (L*W*H)
07-MAY-2015: New specs added and some adjustments made to the specs. Dimensions and frequency support have been added.
Notably, the M7 is now scheduled to have a Sony IMX135 13MP rear camera and the MX will have the MT6735 (not MT6732 as previously reported).
Most interesting for me is that the MX will have a *removable* 4800mAh battery. I’ve been looking for a replacement for the THL 4000. While it’s been a great phone for me over the last six months, something with a bit more oomph would be very welcome. I still feel the MT6582 is a fine SoC, but stepping up into some higher specs should be fun.
I’ve also added the latest images. These appear to be mock-ups, but well represent what the end product will look like.
According to Mlais, the pre-sale price of the Mlais M7 will be $190, and for the MX, $140. Both these phones look like they may end up winners. I’ll be looking hard at the MX as my replacement main mobile due to the 5.0″ display, 720P resolution and huge battery.
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Top five 3GB RAM super-powered, big battery phones coming your way
For those of you following smartphone technology, you know it wasn’t much more than a year ago that you needed to pay $170 for a phone with 1GB of RAM, and that was considered cheap at the time. Warp speed to May 2015 and we now have phones with 2GB of RAM for significantly less than $170, with far more powerful SoCs, better displays and sharper cameras than the previous generation.
a wave of 3GB and even 4GB RAM phones
Technology moves fast, but the rate at which budget mobiles have transformed is astounding. Ever pushing the edge further, now comes a wave of 3GB and even 4GB RAM phones. Here are five phones already on the market, or to be released shortly, for budget power users to keep a keen eye on.
Jiayu S3 2015
Jiayu is one of a handful of brands that started the game and are still in it. While many have died off, Jiayu has clung on and remained very popular both in China and with outside nations.
The Jiayu S3 ($200 no code needed) style has been around for awhile and unlike brands that continually make new model names and new designs, Jiayu seems to mostly stick with tried and true. Not getting too fancy, just putting out good phones with solid builds, both in terms of software and hardware.
Jiayu S3 details:
- MT6752 SoC
- [email protected] CPU
- Mali-T760@700MHz GPU
- 5.5″@1080P IPS/OGS
- 3GB RAM/16GB ROM storage
- Android 4.4 (will likely update to 5.0 Lollipop)
- Dual-SIM standby
- 3000mAh battery (removable)
- 5.0MP Samsung front camera
- 13.0MP f/2.0 Sony IMX214 rear camera
- OTG/NFC
- 900/1900/2100 WCDMA
- 3,7,20 4G-LTE
It’s extremely curious that Jiayu is using 900/1900/2100 WCDMA for 3G/WCDMA, as not including 850 cuts a lot of Asia and the Americas out. 900/2100 wouldn’t have been so strange, as this would have been obviously a phone targeted at Europe and UK, but including 1900 and not 850 is a very odd decision, though this wouldn’t be the first time Jiayu has made a mistake with their marketing specifications.
Ulefone Be Touch (AKA Dare N1)
About a month back we released a story regarding the upcoming Ulefone model – Ulefone Dare N1. According to official Ulefone sources this model has been renamed to Ulefone Be Touch.
The Ulefone Be Touch looks curiously very much like the iPhone 6 and no doubt will be a popular model if the software and hardware builds live up to high standards.
The Ulefone Be Touch (Dare N1) details:
- 64-bit MT6752 SoC
- MT6752 SoC
- [email protected] CPU
- Mali-T760@700MHz GPU
- Android 5.0 Lollipop
- 3GB RAM
- 5.5″ display
- Front fingerprint scanner
- All metal frame
- Front 5MP OV5648 camera
- Rear 13MP Sony Exmor IMX214 camera
If you remember our review of the Ulefone Be Pro, it turned out that their marketing information regarding the rear camera being Sony was incorrect. Admirably, they came forward and corrected this error publicly. It will be very interesting to see if Ulefone has learned from their mishap.
Regardless of whether or not you call this phone a clone, it looks very good. Generally speaking I shy away from them, but if specs, software and hardware are good, the Ulefone Be Touch could be a winner.
Elephone P7000
The powerful Elephone P7000 ($197 w/code EP7000) has been rumored and speculated about for a couple of months now. We haven’t had the best of luck with Elephone, but they are a relatively new company, so hopefully they’ve had some time to mature and the P7000 will be up to solid standards.
The Elephone P7000 details:
- 1080P (FHD) 5.5″ OGS/IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3
- 3GB of RAM
- 64-Bit MT6752 SoC
- Fingerprint scanner
- 3450mAh battery
- 850/900/1900/2100
Unlike some manufacturers, it appears that Elephone is correctly representing their battery sizes
I want to note here that originally the information I had regarding P7000 was that it would be coming with 900/1900/2100, but according to the more recently released official information, the P7000 appears to be coming with 850/900/1900/2100 WCDMA, which gives it worldwide 3G and makes a lot more sense, as not including 850 would cut a lot of Asia and the Americas out of the mix.
The Elephone P7000 has a huge amount of RAM, a super powerful SoC, 1080P display and large battery. Unlike some manufacturers, it appears that Elephone is correctly representing their battery sizes. The official Elephone shop is currently pre-selling P7000 for $230.
I’ve liked much of what Elephone has done in terms of style and they’ve been very smart regarding marketing, but it remains to be seen if they’ll be able to pick up the pace a bit in terms of releasing phones without critical issues.
Asus Zenfone 2
Always innovating, Asus came on the scene with the Zenfone about a year back. It wasn’t overly popular with the China phone crowd, but they have something that many China brands do not — a global retail presence.
Not content with 3GB, Asus has upped the ante and will be releasing a 4GB RAM version of the Asus Zenfone 2. This is an astounding amount of RAM and is equal to what most decent consumer notebooks come equipped with. A 2GB version will also be available.
I expect the Asus Zenfone 2 to have excellent components in outstanding working order
Not only the RAM is premium specced, the phone is premium all around.
The Asus Zenfone 2 details:
- Intel® Atom™ Quad Core [email protected]
- PowerVR G6430 GPU
- 2GB or 4GB of RAM
- 1080P HD IPS/OGS display
- 16/32/64 GB eMMC ROM/storage
- External TF-card SD expandable (up to 64GB)
- Color choices of Black/White/Red/Gray/Gold and Transfusion / Illusion special editions
- Android 5.0 Lollipop
- Worldwide GSM and 3G (850/900/1900/2100)
- GPS/GLONASS/QZSS/SBAS/BDS
- 5MP front camera
- f/2.0 13MP rear camera w/dual-LED flash
- G-Sensor/E-Compass/Gyroscope/Proximity/Ambient Light Sensor
- 3000mAh non-removable battery
These premium specs come with a price tag we wouldn’t necessarily consider budget, but for the specs the price isn’t so outlandish, with the 2GB/1.8GHz/32GB version at $288 ($245 w/code ASUSZ2GB) and the 4GB/1.8GHz/32GB version at $367 ($313 w/code ASUSZ4GB).
Along with the price comes the knowledge that build and QC should be top notch. I expect the Asus Zenfone 2 to have excellent components in outstanding working order all around. In addition, there should be regular software updates available from a company who’s been in the game for a long while.
Elephone P3000S
The MT6582 Elephone P3000 is one of the better phones I’ve reviewed. It has a great screen and camera, a big battery, and very strong GPS. The P3000 is a thick phone due to it’s big 3000mAh battery, but this doesn’t keep it from being good looking. One of the things I like about the P3000 is that it has a 5.0″ display which keeps it narrower and shorter than many of the flagship offerings coming with 5.5″ displays.
Now Elephone is putting out a revision to the MT6592 Elephone P3000S with a MT6752 SoC ($187 w/code EP3GB)
Elephone P3000S MT6752 details:
- 64-bit MT6752 SoC
- 8-core [email protected]
- Mali-T760 GPU@700MHz
- 3GB RAM/16GB ROM storage
- 5.0″@1080P OGS/IPS display
- External TF-card SD expandable
- OTG
- Android 4.4.4 (likely will update to Android 5.0 Lollipop)
I’ve been disappointed with several Elephones I’ve reviewed, but if the P3000S manages as well as the last generation P3000, it will be a big winner.
NOTE: Some of the content of this article has been copied with permission from Be Pro Touch, P7000
Phones from this article 
Elephone P7000 ($197 w/code EP7000)
Jiayu S3 2015 ($200 no code needed)
Asus Zenfone 2 (2GB: $245 w/code ASUSZ2GB)
Asus Zenfone 2 (4GB: $313 w/code ASUSZ4GB)
Elephone P3000S MT6752 ($187 w/code EP3GB)
Ulefone Be Touch (currently unavailable)
For those of you who’ve been following China phones, you know things have progressed extremely rapidly over the last year, with a plethora of new brands coming out making things very competitive spec and price wise. While the MT6582 and MT6592 are still very capable SoCs, the new generation MT6732 and MT6752 have really brought things to the next level.
Regardless of whether you’re new to China brands, or you’ve been hanging out for a bit, this is indeed a very exciting time to be shopping for a new phone.
We welcome you to drop by the forum and post a thread in the “Which China phone should I buy” forum, or comment below if you have a question or would like to shout out another phone you think should be on this list.
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3GB RAM Hosan S7 review specs 1080P
It seems that brands are popping up left and right to join the MTK revolution.
The kicker here is that apparently the Hosan S7 will have a frame formed via nano-injection technology.
Joining the fray is Hosan and they’re coming in at full force:
- 3GB RAM
- 5.5″ 1080P IPS OGS display
- Metal alloy frame
- 13MP camera
- KitKat 4.4.4
- Custom in-house OS “HaloUI”
- LTE 4g
- 3000mA battery (non-removable)
- MT6752
- Black/Blue/Gold colors
As we see, the Hosan S7 will be coming with the very powerful MT6752 SoC. The pictures could be better, but they do give a decent idea of what the phone looks like, and to my eyes it looks quite good.
The kicker here is that apparently the Hosan S7 will have a frame formed via nano-injection technology.
Sounds good and looks good. The price? About $322 in China, which means outside markets will be paying about $350. A bit steep I’d say, but if you want a premium looking phone with premium specs, it looks about right.
The problem I see here is that the brand is completely unknown and it’s a vicious market right now.
What’s more, the MT6752 SoC is now available in devices costing as little as $140 and the difference between 2GB of RAM and 3GB of RAM will be hardly noticed, if noticed at all.
Still, there is the 1080P and large battery. Taken all together (specs+style), the phone could be an option if the budget allows.
