6.5" Phablet that works!

[Sanxion]

Difficult to find someone who's complained about iOcean. I don't think you can go wrong there.

I will complain here.

I am an iOcean G7 owner. This is a 6.4" device with a Mediatek 8 core processor, a FHD display and some fancy stuff like Gorilla Glass 3 and a sapphire camera lens cover.

It is a great phone in some aspects (display mainly, but the camera isn't too bad).

But...

For a device packing an Octacore Mediatek processor, with the Antuttu score it gets, it's not exactly the smoothest most stable device in operation (my wife's Lenovo S930 runs rings around it with its much older processor, for example).

Also, whilst the GPS is fine for a highly forgiving application like Google turn-by-turn directions, where you want it to actually plot a taken route using an app like Strava (running and cycling) it is pretty hopeless. A lot of the reviews for these devices just focus on the initial lock - which is not really the problem with GPS, you want actual real time, in motion performance.

My best advice to anyone that wants a huge Chinese phone, is to buy from the tier 1 manufacturers such as:

Lenovo
OPPO
Xiaomi
ZTE
Huawei

And then, secondly, avoid Mediatek processors if you can. If you can't, the only larger phones (with MTK) that I know of (or tried) that are stable, and do have half decent GPS are:

Xiaomi Redmi Note (5.5 inches)
Lenovo S930 (6.0 inches)
Huawei Honor 3X (5.5 inches)

Take a look at the 5.5 inch devices, I find that anything 6 inches and over gets pretty tiresome to deal with after the initial novelty has worn off.

I am sure iOcean are trying hard, and have a decent following, but I just don't believe the other manufacturers have the testing facilities, budget and experience that the tier one makers have, and that shows in a lot of the devices out there.

Oh, and as a parting shot, my iOcean has now been send half way around the world to Shenzhen, as the home/back/menu nav buttons broke a week ago. "Go figure" as they say in the USA...

Hi

I too had a few concerns before I opted for the G7 as I also have an iNew i6000 which had several of the classic problems.

However, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that my G7 has no issue with GPS - I use Co-Pilot for navigation - the audio is a step above the usual standard served on Chinese phones and the camera is quite good too...and it supports dual SIM.

I personally love the 6.44" screen and find it the ideal size. I had a 7" Huawei Honor that I found just a little too large for my pockets but this is perfect. I did consider a phablet from the 'First Tier' manufacturers such as the Xplay 3S and Nubia X6 but the Xplay 'only' has a 6" screen and the X6 is still not available...

[bodgerx]

Difficult to find someone who's complained about iOcean. I don't think you can go wrong there.

I will complain here.

I am an iOcean G7 owner. This is a 6.4" device with a Mediatek 8 core processor, a FHD display and some fancy stuff like Gorilla Glass 3 and a sapphire camera lens cover.

It is a great phone in some aspects (display mainly, but the camera isn't too bad).

But...

For a device packing an Octacore Mediatek processor, with the Antuttu score it gets, it's not exactly the smoothest most stable device in operation (my wife's Lenovo S930 runs rings around it with its much older processor, for example).

Also, whilst the GPS is fine for a highly forgiving application like Google turn-by-turn directions, where you want it to actually plot a taken route using an app like Strava (running and cycling) it is pretty hopeless. A lot of the reviews for these devices just focus on the initial lock - which is not really the problem with GPS, you want actual real time, in motion performance.

My best advice to anyone that wants a huge Chinese phone, is to buy from the tier 1 manufacturers such as:

Lenovo
OPPO
Xiaomi
ZTE
Huawei

And then, secondly, avoid Mediatek processors if you can. If you can't, the only larger phones (with MTK) that I know of (or tried) that are stable, and do have half decent GPS are:

Xiaomi Redmi Note (5.5 inches)
Lenovo S930 (6.0 inches)
Huawei Honor 3X (5.5 inches)

Take a look at the 5.5 inch devices, I find that anything 6 inches and over gets pretty tiresome to deal with after the initial novelty has worn off.

I am sure iOcean are trying hard, and have a decent following, but I just don't believe the other manufacturers have the testing facilities, budget and experience that the tier one makers have, and that shows in a lot of the devices out there.

Oh, and as a parting shot, my iOcean has now been send half way around the world to Shenzhen, as the home/back/menu nav buttons broke a week ago. "Go figure" as they say in the USA...

Hi

I too had a few concerns before I opted for the G7 as I also have an iNew i6000 which had several of the classic problems.

However, I have been pleasantly surprised to find that my G7 has no issue with GPS - I use Co-Pilot for navigation - the audio is a step above the usual standard served on Chinese phones and the camera is quite good too...and it supports dual SIM.

I personally love the 6.44" screen and find it the ideal size. I had a 7" Huawei Honor that I found just a little too large for my pockets but this is perfect. I did consider a phablet from the 'First Tier' manufacturers such as the Xplay 3S and Nubia X6 but the Xplay 'only' has a 6" screen and the X6 is still not available...

Co-Pilot (like all navigation apps) is probably flattering the performance of the GPS - like all of these apps there is serious amount of error correction going on - as long as you are roughly somewhere near-ish to a road and the compass has you in the right direction, you are golden.

The app that I use a lot (and so do millions of other runners and cyclists) is Strava. Basically the G7 is hopeless with this kind of app as it posts highly flattering times based on an horrific GPS track that is wildly out, with zig-zig path jittering all over the place. No mobiletools/MTK fix solves it. I have to delete most of my runs as they are basically a nonsense.

I think there are general issues with the G7 and ROM optimisation too. Just a side by side comparison selecting apps and menus from the OS with a well optimised ROM like the default Lenovo S930 shows just how smooth things should be - even with a lesser device like the S930.

[Bacon_Puffs]

Oh, and as a parting shot, my iOcean has now been send half way around the world to Shenzhen, as the home/back/menu nav buttons broke a week ago. "Go figure" as they say in the USA...

Where did you think you would have to send it if it had a problem?

About navigation, I have a W200S and the thing navigates flawlessly with Google Navigation.

The S930 is a 720p. Your iOcean is 1080p. It is because it is double the pixels, not because the S930 is Lenovo that you see performance difference. Yes, 1080p on MT6582/92 phones will not be as responsive as 720p.

[bodgerx]

Oh, and as a parting shot, my iOcean has now been send half way around the world to Shenzhen, as the home/back/menu nav buttons broke a week ago. "Go figure" as they say in the USA...

Where did you think you would have to send it if it had a problem?

About navigation, I have a W200S and the thing navigates flawlessly with Google Navigation.

The S930 is a 720p. Your iOcean is 1080p. It is because it is double the pixels, not because the S930 is Lenovo that you see performance difference. Yes, 1080p on MT6582/92 phones will not be as responsive as 720p.

I'm not daft, I knew I'd have to send it China if it broke...when something does go wrong though, the reality sets in with these devices that there really is very little support when stuff goes wrong, with long wait times to get anything done.

Again, Google Navigation is flattering this device's GPS - this type of app is the most forgiving type of GPS application in existence. Try Strava, or any other app that actually plots a track, and you'll just see how bad it is.

[Sniper47]

I'm not daft, I knew I'd have to send it China if it broke...when something does go wrong though, the reality sets in with these devices that there really is very little support when stuff goes wrong, with long wait times to get anything done.

Yes. That is what happens when you buy an inexpensive device from overseas. I do not think anyone was accusing you of being daft, but perhaps take a step back and look at it again. Something has got to go when you buy a product like this at such a price. Of course customer support is going to be at a bare minimum. Perhaps consider purchasing retail locally next time might be a good option for yourself.

@Bacon_Puffs is correct regarding the 720p and 1080p performance differences, but obviously it doesn't rule out the possibility that part of the issue could be a smoother ROM from Lenovo as you have suggested.

Regarding the tracking apps, there are several that do work with MTK GPS. There was a thread about this in the H7500+ forum a while back and I'll try and find it.

[bodgerx]

I'm not daft, I knew I'd have to send it China if it broke...when something does go wrong though, the reality sets in with these devices that there really is very little support when stuff goes wrong, with long wait times to get anything done.

Yes. That is what happens when you buy an inexpensive device from overseas. I do not think anyone was accusing you of being daft, but perhaps take a step back and look at it again. Something has got to go when you buy a product like this at such a price. Of course customer support is going to be at a bare minimum. Perhaps consider purchasing retail locally next time might be a good option for yourself.

@Bacon_Puffs is correct regarding the 720p and 1080p performance differences, but obviously it doesn't rule out the possibility that part of the issue could be a smoother ROM from Lenovo as you have suggested.

Regarding the tracking apps, there are several that do work with MTK GPS. There was a thread about this in the H7500+ forum a while back and I'll try and find it.

I think you have misunderstood - I knew full well what I was getting into, if it broke, it was going back to China. My comment at the end of my original post was more to point out the fact that it had broken really...

I am unsure what you are referring to as other tracking apps that work with MTK...

Strava is THE defacto social training/fitness app, suggesting alternatives is not really an option - it would be like suggesting an alternative to Facebook. It is unlikely any alternative would be any different anyway as the problem with the GPS exists at the hardware/ROM level with these devices.

---

Oh, and as a parting shot, my iOcean has now been send half way around the world to Shenzhen, as the home/back/menu nav buttons broke a week ago. "Go figure" as they say in the USA...

The S930 is a 720p. Your iOcean is 1080p. It is because it is double the pixels, not because the S930 is Lenovo that you see performance difference. Yes, 1080p on MT6582/92 phones will not be as responsive as 720p.

Disagree with this.

The CPU in the S930 (a much older quad core affair) is much slower than the iOcean, it also has 1Gb of RAM vs 2Gb in the iOcean. More than an enough to deal with the step up from 720 to 1080.

[Sniper47]

I think you have misunderstood - I knew full well what I was getting into, if it broke, it was going back to China. My comment at the end of my original post was more to point out the fact that it had broken really...

I am unsure what you are referring to as other tracking apps that work with MTK...

The CPU in the S930 (a much older quad core affair) is much slower than the iOcean, it also has 1Gb of RAM vs 2Gb in the iOcean. More than an enough to deal with the step up from 720 to 1080.

I did not misunderstand. No offense, but I think you have misunderstood. My point is that electronics always have the potential to have hardware problems that need repair. Yes Samsung, HTC and iPhone too.

I'm telling you there are fitness tracking apps that work fine. Samsung and HTC and Sony all have ROM issues. App force closes and the whole bit.

The S930 has MT6582. MT6582 came out a tad before MT6592. At least some of the smoothness difference is due to 1080p. Whether you choose to believe is another story. Of course some of the difference could be due to Lenovo's ROM, I will readily admit that.

[bodgerx]

I think you have misunderstood - I knew full well what I was getting into, if it broke, it was going back to China. My comment at the end of my original post was more to point out the fact that it had broken really...

I am unsure what you are referring to as other tracking apps that work with MTK...

The CPU in the S930 (a much older quad core affair) is much slower than the iOcean, it also has 1Gb of RAM vs 2Gb in the iOcean. More than an enough to deal with the step up from 720 to 1080.

I did not misunderstand. No offense, but I think you have misunderstood. My point is that electronics always have the potential to have hardware problems that need repair. Yes Samsung, HTC and iPhone too.

I'm telling you there are fitness tracking apps that work fine. Samsung and HTC and Sony all have ROM issues. App force closes and the whole bit.

The S930 has MT6582. MT6582 came out a tad before MT6592. At least some of the smoothness difference is due to 1080p. Whether you choose to believe is another story. Of course some of the difference could be due to Lenovo's ROM, I will readily admit that.

Strava is THE fitness app. I have two years of history built up on it. Its hugely popular. I don't really want another fitness app and I don't see how any other app would be any better on the G7 as the GPS is essentially useless for any serious work other than a highly forgiving guidance app.

The benchmark gulf between those two CPU's is huge - the time between their release doesn't really tell you anything. The AnTuTu score between the two devices is also large - Double the RAM also helps. Sadly this doesn't translate into real world performance - there is a reason for that.

Yes there are devices from major manufacturers that are problematic - I remember my Galaxy S1 having broken GPS too. Samsung never did really fix it in the end either.

But, my initial point was aimed at the OP that was looking to step up from a device from a second tier Chinese supplier: iNew. In my experience, in general, and if you want to play safe, I would say avoid Mediatek, and avoid the second tier suppliers.

I currently have a Xiaomi Redmi 1S. Its got a Qualcomm processor in it, with only 1Gb on board, everything about it is fast and butter smooth and has probably the best GPS of any device I have owned (supports GLONASS and the Chinese GPS system too). It also doesn't have the Facebook app crash problem that every Mediatek octacore device has at the moment.

It is classed as a budget device, but it doesn't feel like it.

The reason for this is that companies like Xiaomi (and Huawei, Lenovo and Oppo) just have simply more resources and experience to throw at testing and optimisation, and it shows in their output. Heck, some of these suppliers can even get a Mediatek processor to have a decently behaving GPS function!

They aren't problem free, but on average they have significant advantages over the tier 2 manufacturers.

[Sniper47]

You stated you doubted any tracking app would work with MTK, I'm telling you that is false. Your iOcean didn't work with Strava. Okay, got it.

You stated the MT6582 was "much older". I was replying to that false statement.

The total benchmarking results from Antutu are much higher because of the consideration given to 8-cores. The real world performance levels are minimal. I have used both 1080p MTK6592 1080p and MTK6582 720p and there is certainly a real world performance difference between the 2 resolutions. Whether you choose to believe. That is another story.

Facebook app does not crash on every MTK phone. Untrue. I am using it on my W200S, it has never crashed.

To suggest Xiaomi makes a better supported phone with better QC, well I will agree with you there, but ROM performance differences with any MTK phone given the same SoC and resolution will be minimal.

[Sanxion]

I think I will try Strava and then post my opinions of it.

I am under no illusions that a device costing half of what its equivalent Samsung/HTC competitor would be is going to be as optimized or supported to the same level. However, in saying that, I made the transition from Samsung to iNew precisely because my Note 3 developed a hardware fault! Sometimes we just have to accept that man made devices will fail.