[android] Star N9770 5.08” Phone – Anyone Fancy A Chinese? [Review]

[Dos_Box]

Well, the Nexus One has finally bitten the dust. It's not dead, but for all intents and purposes it may as well be. No updates from Google for a couple of years now and even Cyanogen have called it a day on the old girl leaving it on Android 2.3.2 for the rest of eternity. Even worse was the fact that Google still keeps bloating out the 'extras' it installed via Play store updates, and when you have only 512MB ROM and 512MB RAM it gets a bit disheartening seeing the 'space low' icon flash up every day and no amount of transferring programs to the SD card is ever going to fix that.

So what to do? We had decided that waiting for the Nexus 4 to become available again would be the best option (you may as well go unicorn hunting!), but in the mean time I would need a stop-gap device to tide me over, so I went for a look-see around the net.

eBay was my first port of call and a huge array of used 'droid phones were on offer, all old, and all, IMHO, vastly overpriced.

Why is it that phones do not suffer the same kind of depreciation that computers do, especially given that phone operating systems get superseded and the hardware requirements of newer apps grows as well?

So, rather dismayed at seeing not a lot on offer I toddled off to Amazon and searched for 'Android phones'. It was then that I saw, listed 4 down from the top of the listings the Star N9770 with about 75 very positive reviews (it's now at 100 as I write this). But it was the specs that leapt out at me though.

Dual core! 5.08 inch capacitive screen! Unlocked! 4GB ROM! Dual SIM! Full Play store! And only £117! Surely not?

Smelling a rat I took to the reviews section. This was looking too good to be true. Almost all the reviews and comments were glowing with praise and with (almost) no sign of shill accounts anywhere. There has to be a catch. And I found one or two, but I shall discuss these later on.

 

To cut a long story short, I wanted one, and if it did turn out to be a turkey at least it wouldn't be a £300 eBay turkey. So this time I had a really good look around the reviews and several factors came to light when ordering this device, namely:

 

1. Some people have been stung for courier charges and import duty on their doorstep when it has been delivered. These can come to between £20-£30.

2. There are several sellers on Amazon offering the same device and costs vary by about £30 with Chinese companies being the cheapest and UK based outfits the dearest.

3. If you read the sellers profile they will tell you about shipping and import costs. Some roll this into the price and some do not. Ensure you check!

 

 

After a couple of days reading through all of the reviews I found that the very few low scoring reviews were written by people with little experience of setting up and configuring phones and many of the 'problems' they were reporting were simply down to them not having the device configured correctly. To this end I chose a seller called DrakoTek (China Wholesale Dual Sim Smartphone, Android Tablet PC, Surveillance Equipment & GPS at Dracotek.com - Professional Chinese Wholesaler) who seemed to be very well reviewed.

*Please note that at the time of writing this article it is the Chinese new year holidays and they have taken down their Amazon store for the period*

 

So I bit the bullet and ordered. Precisely 10 days later it arrived looking like a bubble-wrap football.

Once I'd attacked the wrapping with scissors I came to the box, which it must be said is rather well designed and presented, and on opening found the following:

 

1. Phone (which really is a Samsung Note looky-likey)

2. 2x Phone backs, one incorporating a screen cover (which I am now using)

3. 2x 3200 mAh batteries (handy!)

4. Some instructions that are, well, just don't bother ok?

5. Earphones

6. A 256MB micro-sd card (I didn't realise anyone made them that small these days!?)

 

 

And after 5 minutes de-registering some software on my Nexus One I placed my SIM in slot one of the N9770, inserted a battery and switched it on. And it worked first time like a charm. Then came the work. The N9770 comes with a (very) bare bones Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean install. You will have to configure all of the regional, language and other settings yourself, as well as ensuring that all of the GPS assisted settings are activated. There are quite a few gripes in the Amazon reviews of people complaining that the GPS take a long time to lock on to your location. This is not the case. It is a pretty good GPS and will find your location very quickly once all of the correct settings are applied. Mine will now lock on in a few seconds

It also has the most dull launcher imaginable (the stock android one). You don't realise just how much work manufacturers do in putting a decent launcher on their devices. I quick purchased Nova Launcher from the (fully working!) Play Store and it improved matters considerably, especially considering that the screen has a resolution of 480x800 and the icons appear larger than I would be happier with. With Nova Launcher I can shrink these down and fit more on

 

 

So what's it like to use. In short, very nice. It feels very sturdy and well-constructed and the screen comes with a pre-fitted film-type protector (no Gorilla glass here!). The display is a vast improvement on the Nexus One, even though it has the same resolution (the tear-off plastic screen cover that came as part of the phone packing declares it to be 'HD AMOLED'. I remain a bit sceptical about this. However it is bright, clear and the capacitive controls are responsive and accurate. In short, it does a sterling job.

Graphic rendering is also good and I haven't found any games it can't handle.

 

 

3G and Wi-Fi work excellently and seem to download and render web and app pages faster than the old Nexus, which may have been down to the processor struggling.

The camera however, leaves something to be desired (like a better one) and when even on settings like 'Best' and 'HDR' don't even produce anything like an image you'd really want to use. Thankfully I don't use phone cameras very often, so it's a minor point for me, but I shall try and see what can be done about the image quality in the future.

 

Call quality is a lot better than the Nexus One, so I have no complaints there and it connected to my cars Parrot system without a fuss, but the phone does have a couple of bugbears apart from the camera.

The first is that the headphone socket is slightly recessed and out of my 3 pairs of headphones only my AKG's fit correctly. My Sennheiser in-ears and a set of Philips 'sports' headphones do not. This can be fixed by purchasing an iPhone headphone adaptor for a few pounds from Amazon or eBay apparently.

The other is a lack of magnetometer (compass) which means that if using Google Maps or dedicated sat-nav software such as CoPilot, as I do, it takes a tiny bit longer for the map to orientate when travelling. It also means that Google Sky Map does not work correctly *grrrr*. Neither of these issues is particularly large or show-stopping, but just go to show what we take for granted in a well specced/designed phone these days.

 

 

Specs:

I should have put these earlier, but needed to verify a couple of things first so please check below as some specs are different than those shown on the Amazon listings:

 

Processor: 1.0Ghz dual core ARM7 on the widely used (by Chinese clone manufactures) MTK6577 chipset

RAM: 512MB

ROM: 4GB

Micro-SD slot: Yes, up to 32GB

Android: 4.1.1

Screen: 5 Point capacitive 480x800

Wi-Fi: 802.11 b\g

Bluetooth: 2.0

3G: Yes

GPS: Yes

Camera: Front-1.2 megapixel. Rear 8.0 megapixel - Some people have complained the rear camera is only 5MP, however I have run two hardware reporting tools and both show as 8.0.

AnTuTu Benchmark Score: 6700

 

Verdict:

I like it. A lot, and as a stop-gap it is more than worth the money. TBH, if you are short of cash and need an upgrade it will fit the bill more than nicely and save you quite a bit of money in the process. It isn't a £400 phone being sold for £117 though. All of the technologies on-board (apart from the processor) are several years old, but, let's face it, do you really need Bluetooth 4.0 or 802.11n over 'g'?

As for long term reliability, that remains to be seen. Like many here my phone goes with me everywhere and is subject to the usual scuffs, drops and day-to-day bashing that all but the most pampered and protected devices have to put up with. I'll also let you know when, and if, it goes 'pop'.

And the future? Once I've got a new phone this little lovely will be used in my car as a sat-nav and entertainment system for music and internet on the move thanks to a PAYG Tesco SIM.

I'm going to be using this phone for several years to come I think, and am getting really curious as to how good the other ones available are.

 

*Please note that the phone spec may differ depending on just which seller you buy from as earlier models do have 5MP cameras and come with 4.0.1 ICS. If in doubt ask!

 

Links:

Amazon: STAR N9770 - 5.08 inch MTK6577 1.2GHz dual core CPU android 4.0.4 ICE CREAM SANDWICH 3G smartphone dual sim 8MP camera WIFI GPS, new google play store and flash player supported, with flip case (black, white): Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Amazon Reviews: http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B008MKGNF6/ref=pr_all_summary_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

XDA Developers: STAR N9770 DUAL CORE MT6577/ulefone N9770. - xda-developers

Edited August 26, 2013 by Dos_Box

[CHR1S]

Seems great for £117

 

By comparison the Samsung Galaxy S3 scores 12071 in the same AnTuTu Benchmark

[Domino]

Chris, I thought I saw some photoshop artefacts on one of those pictures...after a bit of digital restoration it tells a VERY different story :-p

 

[Dos_Box]

Chris, I thought I saw some photoshop artefacts on one of those pictures...after a bit of digital restoration it tells a VERY different story :-p

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]17110[/ATTACH]

 

I'm surprised there's not a cat in that

[Dos_Box]

I've been fiddling around with the stock camera to no avail, however I have just downloaded Camera MX onto it and the image quality has shot up! It may be the default Android camera app is badly configured for that phone.

I shall post some shots later.

[Ric_]

I don't know what the problem was with your Nexus One... a perfectly capable phone - UK Scientists Are Launching a Satellite Powered By... a Google Nexus One? | Gizmodo UK

[Dos_Box]

It’s really a testing ground, which might explain why it’s powered by a now-defunct smartphone.

 

Their words, not mine

[Dos_Box]

If you want to root the Star N9770 then simply follow the instructions here: 5 Easy Steps to Root Your MT6577/MTK6577 based Android devices

Just done mine and it has rooted successfully on a Jelly Bean install.

WOOT!!!

 

*Edited to add, it's a bit weird, just ran a couple of root checkers and they are reporting that root is not enabled. The rooting app showed that it was successful. Back to the drawing board *grrr*

Edited February 8, 2013 by Dos_Box

[Poults]

Just flash again, even on my s3 I have to flash a root kernel a couple of times occasionally for root apps to work.

[Dos_Box]

I shall try again on Monday. Apparently JB is not the most friendly of Android O/S to root, and the method I was using dates back to October time last year, so the version on this phone may not yet be rootable.

Still I did come across this very handy app yesterday: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tweakker&hl=en called Tweakker. This enables you to easily recreate APNs for almost all networks and import the settings into a no-brand/unlocked phone (or any Android phone come to think of it).

Very hand when you have a Virgin SIM like me and it wants to latch onto T-Mobile all the time!

[featured_spectre]

How is it for tethering? I was looking at it as a replacement for my phone should it ever break whilst in contract (insurance is free on my contract, but the excess is £100 for 18 months of the contract, then drops to £5 for last 6 months. I use mine for tethering an awful lot and its a functionality I would look at heavily.

[Dos_Box]

Tethering is fine. In fact, I'm typing this reply using it as a test.

[featured_spectre]

Thanks, it is the primary feature I look for. Much appreciated.

[Dos_Box]

*UPDATE*

Someone asked me about battery life on the device. I've been charging it for infrequent periods (including a couple of overnight charges) for the past week or so and had decided to see just what kind of life I can get out of the 3200mAh battery.

It's now been running for about 26 hours on battery alone with several calls made/received as well as the wi-fi (lots of browsing) and Bluetooth having been on almost constantly and the batt is showing 45% capacity. Which isn't too shabby given the screen size

I'll post up when it eventually does kick the bucket. I do have the full version of Juice Defender running on it though which helps quite a bit.

[CHR1S]

That battery life is amazing! Would kill to get over a days use from my S3

[Dos_Box]

When I got home it was at 25%. That was over 30 hours use. And I had spent about half an hour on calls with it today. Very impressed.

[Snowflame]

To Dos_Box: Many thanks for some good info on the Star N9770. I ordered this phone BEFORE reading your review via Amazon from TTsims. Price £116.69p - Free Delivery!!

I am looking for a hands free solution my car. You mentioned using Parrott. Which model would you recommend - without breaking the bank!

[Dos_Box]

@Snowflame. Sorry for the late reply, I didn't notice your post. I have a Parrot CK3100 which is quite low down in their range but does everything I need it to: Parrot - Hands free systems

You can pick these up for about £85 on Amazon.

As regards the Star N9770, the price has now dropped below £100 to £99. It's proving very popular, and as those who had a play with mine in Manchester will tell you, it's quite a nice device.

[sgrant31]

I wonder if anyone can help. I recently bought myself one of these phones and i'm having a small problem with it. The only way i can get it to pair to my wireless router is if i stand beside it. The second i walk away from it, it disconnects. The phone doesn't even pick up other wifi connections at various other locations. Is there something i need to do or could there be a fault with it.

Any help would be totally appreciated.

Thanks

[Dos_Box]

It sounds like you may have a duff wireless aerial and it may have to be returned. The wireless on mine has been faultless since I got it and has teh same kind of coverage that my other phones have had. Where did you buy it from (was it a Chinese supplier)?

There shouldn't be an issue getting it swapped out. I've returned a device in the past and all the Chinese company wanted as proof of postage (scanned and emailed) and they sent the replacement out the same time I returned the broken one.

Very good service I though

Oh, and I'm still loving the N9770.

[sgrant31]

Thanks for the help. It was a Chineese supplier. Will now get back to them regarding this. Got to say i'm thrilled with the phone also.

[mrmond]

anyone managed to root this, and if so how ?

I've tried two different programs/batch scripts (Superoneclick & Root with restore from Bin4ry) but neither worked.

Managed to corrupt the apps and had to reset and re-install everything though

Edited April 12, 2013 by mrmond

[aerospacemango]

It sounds like you may have a duff wireless aerial and it may have to be returned. The wireless on mine has been faultless since I got it and has teh same kind of coverage that my other phones have had. Where did you buy it from (was it a Chinese supplier)?

There shouldn't be an issue getting it swapped out. I've returned a device in the past and all the Chinese company wanted as proof of postage (scanned and emailed) and they sent the replacement out the same time I returned the broken one.

Very good service I though

Oh, and I'm still loving the N9770.

 

Yeah, come on @Dos_Box.....

 

How about an update on life with the chinese phone?

 

2 months in, what are the pros and cons?

 

How reliable has it been? Etc etc etc!!!

[Dos_Box]

I'll get something sorted for you all in the next few days. Currently out of action with a bad dose of flu. Got some more Chinese goodies on their way too so keep an eye out.

[pj1600]

I look forward to your update, I have just ordered one. How is the sound quality through earphones, nice and loud?