Incoming Ulefone U7 + extras! Have you ordered yours yet?

[Nickos]

@"Nickos" Hey, so it turns out that the issue 1949deal was talking about was actually with the LCD backlight. Is everything ok with yours?

LCD backlight is fine, I could actually tolerate auto setting on this phone, it fits most situations.
The issue... so 1949 had nothing to say about button backlight ? Is mine screwed up then ?

[Pirate_Freder]

@"Nickos" Hey, so it turns out that the issue 1949deal was talking about was actually with the LCD backlight. Is everything ok with yours?

LCD backlight is fine, I could actually tolerate auto setting on this phone, it fits most situations.
The issue... so 1949 had nothing to say about button backlight ? Is mine screwed up then ?

Oh ok good, probably an isolated issue then. No the button backlight thing is not a defect so don't worry about it, as I said before, the manufacturer decided to disable them. 1949 doesn't know that they use to have backlights on the buttons because they never got a pre-production model, so to them everything is normal. Still waiting to find out if they are just disabled via software or not.

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Just got an answer from Yatay on the button backlights, they are completely removed, or in her words "hardware, not software".

[Nickos]

Just got an answer from Yatay on the button backlights, they are completely removed, or in her words "hardware, not software".

Thank you for clearing that out, it will help people looking for the same answers, since early video "reviews" out there show button backlight.

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Help! I can't kill the battery
I left the phone alone for 6 hours at night, (not completely dormant because of Exchange push and emails coming over 3G), and battery level dipped 2% or less... that would mean weeks of standby if it was just sitting there.
Over 27hrs since I took it off charger, some heavier use last night, and still 24%.

[Pirate_Freder]

Just got an answer from Yatay on the button backlights, they are completely removed, or in her words "hardware, not software".

Thank you for clearing that out, it will help people looking for the same answers, since early video "reviews" out there show button backlight.

---

Help! I can't kill the battery
I left the phone alone for 6 hours at night, (not completely dormant because of Exchange push and emails coming over 3G), and battery level dipped 2% or less... that would mean weeks of standby if it was just sitting there.
Over 27hrs since I took it off charger, some heavier use last night, and still 24%.

You're welcome, yeah that certainly was an odd ordeal. Their engineering department is considering re-enabling them but we'll see. Maybe when I pick up the 850/1900 WCDMA model they'll be back on.

Holy crap! And my dumba* * bought an extra battery :p. I'll be going for ages lol, especially using the smartwatch. I'm loving this manufacturer, minus there silly form over function preference on lights. Fantastic feature set, unbeatable price, and thus far top notch quality(except your GPS hiccup) plus now it seems that they deliver outstanding battery life.

[nickdollahz]

If it had 1900mhz. I would be all over this. Plus I have a Mlais MX69T Pro I'm suppose to be getting in exchange for the 1900mhz-less MX65.

[Nickos]

GPS continued working poorly yesterday, It acquires quickly, but then it seems to lose accuracy (it maintains fix but the location estimation varies wildly).
I know that there are tweaks, reset/refresh methods, some specific to MTK platform (and posted here) that one would need to try before judging GPS performance, I'm only reporting lame "out of the box" observation.

[Pirate_Freder]

If it had 1900mhz. I would be all over this. Plus I have a Mlais MX69T Pro I'm suppose to be getting in exchange for the 1900mhz-less MX65.

Not sure if you saw it but I mentioned earlier that the manufacturer has an 850/1900 design ready but no one has ordered it yet. I told them about our need for it thought. In the meantime this will still provide a good data connection for many AT&T/StraightTalk customers.

@Nickos That sucks, we'll see how mine is in a day or two. If need be I'll mess with the config.

[Nickos]

@Pirate_Freder
Did you get yours yet ?

I'm still happy with mine. One thing I learned: 7" phone, especially with 16:10 screen ratio, is too big for one-handed use
I'm 6'2" (187cm) and I previously handled 6.5 inch phone, where I could reach all corners of screen (with some stretching). I can longer do it with this beast, mainly because it's much wider (16:10 vs. 16:9).

For past few days, I was obsessing with improving single handed use, and I found some ways. There was nothing in software like "one handed" Samsung options. The one decent dialer that has it is Swipe Dialer Pro.

In keyboard department, A.I. Tablet Keyboard has everything I need: numbers row, split landscape option and resizable floating keyboard.

For launcher, I settled with Apex, for its added gestures: I have double-tap to turn off, swipe down to pull down notifications, up to pull QuickSettings. I also keep ButtonSavior menu near right edge of screen - all of these free my thumb from traveling to far edges of screen.

One usability problem is the location (and tiny size) of power button, you will find yourself hunting for it. I set volume buttons to allow waking (in GravityBox), but it only works 50% of the time, something to do with different sleep stages.

One app that helps here is "Awesome On Off" - it can turn the device on if you hold it under certain angle. It's also not 100% reliable and it costs some battery power, as it keeps watching the gyro sensor in the background. I'm still testing it, but I already know that it's alternative, Gravity Screen, is not good on this device - the proximity sensor is not the way to control it.

The back cover of the phone creaks during use, it adds that "cheap" feeling. It comes form compromise of thin form factor and ability to replace battery so I guess we can't complain.

[Pirate_Freder]

Apparently DHL is making a special run from El Paso with mine tomorrow, just my package on a 4 hour drive lol.

Glad you're enjoying it! Im actually pleased that it's the wider format, Ive always felt that the 16:9 phones seems too skinny. As far as the one handed operation goes, I two hand an 8.9" iPad all day at work so this'll be a breeze . I'm thinking I'll love the stock launcher seeing as it's mildly enhanced stock Android but who knows.

Hmm, well we'll see on the waking. I did get the smart flip cover so that should take care of it.

Meh, I doubt it's much worse than my old Note. Plus the cover may solve that one too.

[ChrisX]

Hi @all,

i have mine PS7 since yesterday, and this phone is really amazing
Very good screen , WIFI and GSM signal (better wifi signal as my zp990). First GPS Fix after one minute (4 meters) without root.
The orange smart view flipcase also feels very good. So i dont need the power button to wake up ;)
I've made a full backup with droid tools, and root access was very easy with framaroot.
More i have not tested yet.
But i also have non menu and back button backlight. It's a pity, and i can't understand that the manufacturer deactivated the backlight????

Best regards, chris