New android smartphone user - Zopo ZP500+

[oldcpu]

Hello to the forum members,

I am about to become a new Android Smartphone user with my first smartphone on order from China, a Zopo ZP500+. It is a 4" dual-SIM, dual-core, quad band supporting 2G and 3G in North America, Europe, and Asia. I do have some tablet android experience being a user of an Asus TF-101 transformer tablet.

The phone is coming root'd, which will be a first for me as I chose not to root my tablet.

I anticipate phone delivery in 7 to 10 days.

I am looking forward to receiving my phone and participating in this forum.

 

[Devinator]

Welcome to AC!!

Is it just rooted, or, rooted with a non stock ROM?

 

[oldcpu]

Is it just rooted, or, rooted with a non stock ROM?

This being my 1st Android smart phone, I'm not sure I know the significance of the difference. The supplier is providing the phone with a "yyyyyyyy MOD ROM" (where 'yyyyyyyy' is the supplying firm's name). By opting for the 'yyyyyyyy MOD ROM' one purportedly gets a service that:

• includes Multi Language OS
• Google Play Store
• Unlocked
• Rooted
• deletion of all non-useful Chinese apps

I can't say what the definition of a non-useful Chinese app may be. I don't speak Chinese, so if there is any Chinese language in an app, such an app may not be useful to me.

Given that they call this a 'MOD ROM' it makes me think that if I were to install a custom PROM setting that I would lose the 'root' capability and have to figure out how to 'root' it myself. ... But this is speculation on my part, as it will be at least another week before the phone arrives.

 

[Devinator]

Root basically gives you complete access to your phone. Sorta like sudo in linux. You need to root a phone in order to flash a new ROM to it. But you don't necessarily have to flash a new ROM, you can just have it rooted. Some apps require root to work.

I guess it's just a Chinese phone with a custom ROM on it so someone who isn't Chinese or speaks Chinese can use it.

 

[oldcpu]

You need to root a phone in order to flash a new ROM to it. But you don't necessarily have to flash a new ROM, you can just have it rooted. Some apps require root to work.

I guess it's just a Chinese phone with a custom ROM on it so someone who isn't Chinese or speaks Chinese can use it.

Thats my guess also. I've read the 'stock' ZOPO phones come with all sorts of Chinese language apps which a user who does not know Chinese would find a waste of file storage space, and a clutter to the desktop. I've read one needs root permissions to remove these (unlike normal apps which do not require root for removal). I've also read the stock ZOPO phones do not come with Google Play store, where many English language (and other non-Chinese language) apps are stored. Hence for a small fee the supplier 'yyyyyyyy' offers to remove the Chinese apps, and install Google play, and also guarantee that the ZOPO phone is NOT locked to a Chinese mobile supplier. To do some (most) of this requires 'root' permissions, so that is also 'offered', and hence it is all packaged as one 'service package' to buy upon phone purchase.

As to why its on a 'custom ROM' (burned into EEPROM ? ) ... I don't know. Maybe because to do so is the quickest way for the 'yyyyyyyy' to package such custom settings for the phones they sell ?

They also offered to include Tituim backup (with a backup of their mod PROM) for a small fee ($4.99 US) but I declined that offer. In hindsight, perhaps I should have accepted/payed for that 'extra', as I see from my TF101 Transfomer that Tituim Pro costs $4.99 and hence they have no markup there, and that may have saved me time/effort of doing my own backup for a nominal fee.

 

[Lanhoj]

Do Chinese-made Android phones include more North American radios now

I ask because I bought one about a year ago & it was only compatible with one Canadian carrier because of its radios (Rogers, but not Bell or Telus).

 

[oldcpu]

Do Chinese-made Android phones include more North American radios now

I ask because I bought one about a year ago & it was only compatible with one Canadian carrier because of its radios (Rogers, but not Bell or Telus).

What Frequencies and protocols do Bell and Telus use ?

I ordered this mobile phone because of this in its specification :

Dual sim dual standby, WCDMA/GSM+GSM, (G+ W/G)
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
3G: WCDMA HSPDA 850/2100 MHz
Data Service: GPRS, HSUPA,HSDPA
Data Rate: HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
Mobile World Live - Coverage Maps

I typically visit Regina Saskatchewan when I am in Canada , where SASKTEL provide the phone service. I've was told for voice SASKTEL use GSM 850/1900 which I believe is supported by this phone. And for data I was told sasktel use UTMS/HSDPA 850/1900. I also read separate that 850 and 1900 can operate independant of each other, and that 850 is better for more city-outskirts/rural and inside buildings and indoor parking lots, and that 1900 with less coverage provides faster speed (?). I also read that UTMS and WCDMA are the same (not to be confused with CDMA). This phone supports 850MHz 3G @ WCDMA/HSPDA, hence I believe it will work in Regina Sask for 3G. I have read of Canadian and US users successfully using the ZOPO with 3G (ie 850MHz). But neither stated their mobile phone service provider.

Hence I believe the phone will work in Canada with mobile service provides that offer 3G with WCDMA/HSPDA @ 850MHz (but not if CDMA).

So the question is, what 3G service do Bell and Telus provide ? Note I live in Europe and not Canada. If you live in Canada this should be easier for you to determine than it is for me here in Europe.

 

[oldcpu]

So the question is, what 3G service do Bell and Telus provide ? Note I live in Europe and not Canada. If you live in Canada this should be easier for you to determine than it is for me here in Europe.

You could confirm this is accurate: GSM Coverage Maps | Canada which has :

• Bell Mobility Inc. (Bell Mobility) 3G 850/1900
• Bell Mobility Inc. (Bell shared with TELUS & SaskTel) 3G 850/1900
• Rogers Wireless Inc (Rogers Wireless) 3G 850/1900
• SaskTel 3G 850/1900
• SaskTel (SaskTel shared with Bell & TELUS) 3G 850/1900
• TELUS Communications Company (TELUS Communications) 3G 850/1900
• TELUS Communications Company (TELUS shared with Bell & SaskTel) 3G 850/1900

Where I note for Bell, Telus, and Rogers there is coverage at 850 MHz for 3G which this phone supports.

My assessment is that looks promising, but I do not know the coverage area. I also note this is my first Android Smartphone, so I am far from being knowledgeable in this. I just read the specifications and do my best to interpret them, ... and also try to learn from relevant experience of others (where I note a Canadian and a US user have reported success with this phone with 3G).

 

[oldcpu]

Do Chinese-made Android phones include more North American radios now

I ask because I bought one about a year ago & it was only compatible with one Canadian carrier because of its radios (Rogers, but not Bell or Telus).

One caution here - you need to be careful IMHO with Chinese phones and the specifications they claim. For example a rather popular Newman N1 Chinese phone is being listed on some suppliers sites (but not all) as having 3G @ 850MHz, but in fact on the Newman English website, and on many different suppliers sites it is listed as NOT having 850 MHz 3G support. Users in North America who have purchased the Newman N1 have confirmed it does NOT have 850MHz 3G. So there is some caveat empor here, and one needs to do their best to research this to ensure they do not run afoul of inaccurate functionality claims.

 

[oldcpu]

There is a good thread here that discusses the 3G frequency 850MHz and/or 1900 MHz aspects of North America : UMTS 850 in Americas and as as near I can determine it all boils down to what mobile phone service is in one's area, and what company is providing the service. Hence this is an excellent site to help investigate this: Mobile World Live - Coverage Maps although I think this is not the entire story and I believe that one also needs to determine if there is UTMS/WCDMA or CDMA being offered (as they are different).

 

[oldcpu]

There is a good thread here that discusses the 3G frequency 850MHz and/or 1900 MHz aspects of North America : UMTS 850 in Americas and as as near I can determine it all boils down to what mobile phone service is in one's area, and what company is providing the service. Hence this is an excellent site to help investigate this: Mobile World Live - Coverage Maps although I think this is not the entire story and I believe that one also needs to determine if there is UTMS/WCDMA or CDMA being offered (as they are different).

For US AT&T users, here is a site with good map illustrating the 850MHz 3G coverage in the USA: Cellular Maps.com-AT&T 850 vs. 1900 MHz Coverage

 

[oldcpu]

My ZOPO ZP500+ smartphone arrived last week. This is my first smartphone, so it will be a while before I can say much. The basic smartphone comes with:

• ZP500+ phone
• wall electric charger (with US electric plug connector)
• small US -> Euro plug connector adapter
• USB cable for phone/charger
• 1300mA battery
• very small manual in Chinese (no english manual)

I purchased more than just the phone, and the complete package that I purchased was:

• ZP500+ smartphone package (see above)
• extra desk charger
• extra car charger
• screen cover
• leather case
• extra 3rd party 2000mA battery
• Etotalk MOD ROM (which roots the phone, removes unnecessary chinese apps, installs multilanguage OS, and installs google play.

The ZP500+ per the zopomoble website is a dual SIM, dual Core (MTK6577 ARMv7 Cortex-A9 Dual-core 1.0GHz), Quad Band (see above post for frequencies), Dual Camera phone. Dual camera means 5Mpixel back camera and 0.3 MPixel fronta camera. The phone has 512MB RAM and 4GB ROM. In addition to the dual SIM, the Etotalk site note it has a G-sensor, P-Sensor, L-Sensor, FM radio, Wifi, GPS, Multi-touch, Schedule Power on/off ... I can not say much about all of that yet.

As noted, this is my first Android Smartphone, so my views are those of a beginner. I do have an Android Tablet which helps. Last week (before phone delivery) I looked at some Internet Android tutorials which helped. I also last week read up on some unofficial user guides on the phone which helped. The manual was in Chinese which did not help - but I expected that given I am buying the phone from China.

I inserted a 32-GB microSD card (class-10) that I had purchased separately. I also inserted two SIM cards , one into each of the SIM card slots, which are clearly labeled slot-1 and slot-2 on the phone.

The phone powered up in the German Language. Given I live in Germany that is not too surprising, but I had asked them to put English as the default in the phone, and they did not do that, so that was a minor and very brief puzzlement. My wife speaks/reads German, so she was able to quickly set the phone back to English. Once in English, it was a simple matter for myself (as an Android tablet user) to setup the phone's wifi functionality to use our house wireless.

On the 1st use of the phone 'voice' function (calling someone) the phone screen went black and was totally unusable and non-responsive. Fortunately I had read on the Internet that could happen, and I applied a calibration to the proximity sensor (in settings under display) per the zopomobile guide here on youtube: zopo zp500 zp500 plus setting for proximity sensor calibration-- screen off when making calls - YouTube

After that the phone worked great for phone calls. The mic was reasonable, which was a pleasant experience, as I had read reviews stating this phone had a horrible mic. I installed Skype and was most impressed with the Video functionality of the phone for Skype video chats.

I also installed AirDroid (for easy transfer of files back/forth to the phone) , installed a local bus/tram schedule program, and MXPlayer (so I could play more videos). And finally I configured the phone to pick up my email from a couple of my email accounts.

I see the phone has a backup function in Android. But I also note Titanium backup for ROM and data is popular and not expensive.

If anyone has a recommendation as to the best backup app, I would be curious/interested to learn.

Thus far it has been an enjoyable experience with this new phone.

 

[Fairclough]

I was considering buying one of these! You could try wondershare mobileGo for android, it works on most phones and a few Chinese phones which i was looking at.

 

[oldcpu]

I was considering buying one of these! You could try wondershare mobileGo for android, it works on most phones and a few Chinese phones which i was looking at.

I confess I am so new to this ... I struggle a bit in understanding the benefits/differences between different backup approaches.

I read somewhere that "Wondershare MobileGO" will allow one to backup on their computer, while Titanium will backup on one's smartphone's SD external card. Do I have that correct ? And if so, what are the merits of each approach ? [I have a 32-GB SD card in my ZOPO ZP500+ so I do have a lot of unused space on that SD card].

 

[Fairclough]

I am not 100% sure myself, I know Wondershare does it on the pc. Which is handy because you do get all your pics/aps/settings etc placed onto your pc. I found with wondershare even though my phone screen broke i could text as it has as you can access your messages while its plugged into the pc. I am not too sure but maybe you can reboot from an sd card like pc's do with cd's. God knows I am not the best with this stuff too, I use wondershare just for the texting part.

 

[oldcpu]

... while Titanium will backup on one's smartphone's SD external card ...

I installed Titanium backup (the 'free', not PRO version) and backup my Apps. I don't think thou ( < not sure > ) it backup up the PROM. ... I confess I am so new to this I don't even know if backing up the PROM is something that is nominally done/possible.

 

[Bobgeezy]

I want to do this but I don't know how to make them put it in English or get google play

 

[oldcpu]

@ Bobgeezy, What do you have in mind by the term "this" and whom do you have in mind by the term "them" ?