[Review] Rugged smartphone Oinom LMV9

[Phoneine]

Hi,

I created this thread because this phone looked promising. I did not find much feedback or reviews, so I just took the risk and bought it.
Now I want to share my experience with others.

For description and specs: [Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]

Here's the feedback I gave on AliExpress:

"Solid, well balanced, high quality phone. Some things annoy me a bit: (1) sound volume is too high, both on speakers and on headphones, installing a volume control or equalizer app helps. (2) not enough room for connectors. Due to heavy insulation, only small and deep connectors for audio jack and usb can fit in the phone. (3) Loud speaker but sharp, unpleasant sound, equalizer helps. For the rest a phone I will appreciate more and more over time: very solid, good performance, good gps, good camera, good wifi and 3G, all software working also after factory reset (google play store, youtube, ...), good phone call quality, nice screen. A 4500 mAmp battery is very nice, never have to worry about battery, as long as you can recharge every night. It lasts the whole day, also with intensive usage. "

I intend to extend this review as time goes by, especially how it will survive (hopefully) the rough treatment my phone gets while being used often in the outdoors (biking, walking, running in all kinds of wheather).

This is the only review (in bad English) I found on the internet:

[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]

[Phoneine]

Physical aspects:

Overall:
Heavy, big and thick, but fits your pocket. It's a men's phone and I like it, never have to worry about treating it rough.

Screen:
Big enough, in sunlight it could be a bit brighter, but it's OK. Didn't manage to handle it well with wet hands.

Power button:
Can not be pressed inadvertedly, which is a big plus when putting it in your pocket or anywhere else.

Audio/USB connector:
Too deep and small, only the delivered cables fit. Solved by cutting away plastic insulation from my existing cable. I consider this a design flaw, but I have a workaround.

Camera button:
I like this, but a pity it doesn't power on the phone, nor does it work when on the lock screen.

SOS button:
Nice to have can be programmed with a number to call, or an SMS to send. Can not be clicked inadvertedly and can be distinguished by touch (lying deeper) so you wont press it by accident. A pity it can not be programmed to sound a loud alarm.

Volume buttons:
Well placed, OK. But sound is too loud and there are not small enough steps to adjust it. I tried "Fine Volume Control" app, but settled for Equalizer app and lowered the volume on all frequencies ([Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=nl). This works, but still a bit of a nuisance.

Answer phone button:
This really is why I've chosen the Oinom over other, better priced rugged phone, and I don't regret it. Phone Answer/Hangup buttons give your phone the feel of a real phone and you can handle it with wet hands or gloves.
Opens the phone app when it is not ringing.

Hangup phone button:
See also Answer button, but also provides additional screen On/Off functionality.
Either use Hangup button as screen On/Off with lock-screen or as screen on WITHOUT lock screen and use power button for screen On/Off with lock screen. Quite handy.
(Switch with "Press End key to light the screen" in accessability.)

Battery:
The 4500 mAh battery is making the device heavier and thicker than it already is. But I wouldn't want to miss it! Always giving you juice. I don't think it's possible to get it empty in a single day. With moderate use it lasts me several days, standby must be ages (I didn't try anything since I'm completely satisfied with the way it works).

Loudspeaker:
The speaker is very load, but sharp and unpleasant. The above mentioned equalizer app also helps here, but this could be done better I think. At least it certainly is loud enough!

Camera/Flash:
No complaints, just a solid, no-nonsense well functioning camera. Bright enough flash.

[Phoneine]

Connectivity:

I suppose this is almost entirely determined by the Soc, which is the MTK 6589 for the LMV9.
This is the third phone with the MTK 6589 I evaluate and connectivity is pretty decent on all three (Jiake JK11 (100 USD), MPai 809t (170 USD), and this one (300 USD)).

FM
Better than anything I experienced before.

GSM
Call quality is perfect. Also must mean phone call microphone and speaker must be good.

GPS
Good GPS, stable and precise positioning, but a few remarks.
- locking sometimes takes a bit longer, connecting to the internet (Wifi or 3G) helps in that case.
- sometimes GPS is not behaving well, I switch it OFF and ON again and that helps.
Other than that I have no complaints, it does what I want it to do and it stays connected when I stuff the phone in my pocket.

3G
All well, speeds up to 10 Mbps.

Bluetooth (I didn't use it yet)

NFC
NOT AVAILABLE, which is a bit surprising because there are other, cheaper rugged phones that do have it. I hope it will be a few more years before NFC becomes commonplace.

Wifi
No complaints, working like the best.

[GizBeat]

@phoneine , Thanks for taking the time to write this out. Would be awesome if more users would follow suit. 500 points donated.

[WuddaWaste]

Sorry I'm late to seeing this, @Phoneine . Thanks for the review! In regards to the problem above, did you already disable "BesAudEnh" and "BesLoudness" from your Audio Profiles? I suspect that may be the problem.

[Athos]

Sorry I'm late to seeing this, @Phoneine . Thanks for the review! In regards to the problem above, did you already disable "BesAudEnh" and "BesLoudness" from your Audio Profiles? I suspect that may be the problem.
Is it the loudspeaker? If you still find it too loud, try adjusting the volume levels using mobileuncle tools. In engineer mode > hardware > audio > loudspeaker. Sph type for phone calls, media type for videos, games etc.

You can set the max volume and step size by setting the desired value per level (0 to 14)

[jawara]

Does the manufacturer of this phone have a website.

[Phoneine]

[jawara]

You got that right.

[Phoneine]

A phone that will take me to 2020.

I'm the type of guy that hates shopping, drives a 17 year old Renault Espace with 300.000km on the counter and only left my Nokia 2310 after 7 years of duty for my first smartphone.
My Acer Z110 ended up in the washing machine, my MPAI 809t fell and broke his screen but my Oinom is with me for 8 months now and looks like it will survive my rough treatment until technology will finally make it obsolete.
I am completely happy with the phone and managed to work around the few weaknesses it has.
I'd like to share my use of the phone with you. This mainly comes down to describing the apps I fequently use, in order of appreciation, most appreciated first!

1/ Osmand.
This navigation app works completely offline, downloads detailed maps for free and supports gpx tracks. It speaks directions while following the gpx route, and on my bike, the speaker is loud eonough to put the phone in my pocket and still hear it. Osmand also has a lot of other nice features.
This is the only app I paid for, although the free version does everything you need, a matter of appreciation.
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=en

2/ Music volume EQ.
This is the best app to work around the sound quality problem of the Oinom.
With the app I can easily choose between pleasant or loud sound. The Oinom's speaker is very loud, but uncorrected sounds sharp (it looks like it is tuned for open air where it sounds better). With the app I turn down higher frequencies and turn up lower frequencies. This gives a pleasant sound which is still loud enough under most circumstances. If I want it louder I turn down the lower frequencies which has the effect of louder sound. Perfect for me and Music Volume EQ is easy to handle with just a few swipes and clicks.
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=en

3/ TuneIn radio.
To play any kind of streaming music all the time, my favourite is Radio Schizoid Chillout and Radio Schizoid Progressive.
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=en

4/ Airdroid.
The perfect tool for easy management of your phone using your PC.
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=en

5/ Wifi Manager
So far I've been too lazy to buy one powerfull wifi router that covers my whole house and garden, so I sometimes need to switch, Wifi manager is the perfect tool to do this with just a few clicks and also is quite handy to switch wifi ON/OFF, which extends my battery life from 3 days to a whole week!
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=en

6/ Battery Widget.
Shows a nice percentage in the top bar and gives easy access to Android battery usage overview.
[Only registered and activated users can see links Click here to register]&hl=en