New Andriod Phone: I-Mobile Iq5.1

[MaiChai]

This is replacing the IQ5. Spec is on the imobile site. Thing that is awesome is it has a 5.3" screen, has a quad core 1.2Ghz cpu, 12MP back camera, 2MP front camera, dual sim and its only 6750 baht! Its got Jelly Bean so bang up to date. I got one three days ago and have been hacking round on it over Songkran. Its really fast, and I have not found any issues so far. Battery seems pretty good too. Only minor issue is display is a little bright and auto sensor doesn't dim it down much, but I recon a new firmware release will fix that. In the meantime its manually dimmed down.

I was contemplating the IQ 5.1 and 6, and decided for the 5.1 as processing power is the thing I always struggle with. The display is higher res on the IQ6, however for me, video is not my major concern, although it very watchable with Youtube HQ videos (try the latest vids from Bruno Mars or Rihanna).

I had some issues getting adb working, but I figured all that out on Windows and Linux (see here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=40391798#post40391798).

It comes with a free imobile 3gx sim which gives you double your topup for a year, free 50b per month and 100mb. They charge 1baht per mb (50 satang if you take the double topup into account), and calling is 2b a minute (again 1 baht really). The 3g pricing is very similar to AIS, unless you go above 500Mb per month, in which case you would want to buy a 3gx sim that allows you to buy the packages (this one doesn't; we asked the call centre).

There is an A model with 900Mhz operation for AIS 3g, but AIS are changing over to 2100mhz in the next few months anyway, so I recon the regular model is the one to go for as True/DTAC are allowed to hang onto 850Mhz for some time to come.

Ideal for farangs with big fingers!

All I can say is it puts an iphone 5 to shame; you could buy 5/6 of these for 1 iphone 5!

Edited April 17, 2013 by MaiChai

[Para]

Nice report thanks.

[Issangeorge]

I have a IQ6, and love it. The only complaint I have is I cannot get any compass apps to work on it.

[defann]

Where to buy 5.1?

Edited April 18, 2013 by defann

[MaiChai]

Think phone was released 12 April so its general availability might be limited. Got mine Big C Ratchada, Bangkok.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 5.1 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MaiChai]

If anyone is interested, managed to get to the hidden sip menus (internet calling via a sip provider). Like alot of phones, these menus are deliberately turned off so you have to use the traditional mobile providers and can't save loads of money using sip! Will probably work with other IQ I-Mobile phones. Install sipswitch from the playstore. This installs a widget where you can get to the hidden sip menus. Left button allows you to get to the sip settings; right button sets the dialer operation (sip calling for only sip addresses, ask or everything calling over sip). For the IQ5.1 the mic and earpiece correctly directed over sip.

Some calling apps don't detect the microphone correctly. Those that work: Line, Tango, sipdriod, skype. Those that don't: Viber, CsipSimple. Tango and Skype works fine with the front camera. Viber and CsipSimple are probably because the handset is not being recognised or maybe Jelly Bean support is a weak?

Also saw the phone in some shops around Fortune Town in Ratchada (but Tesco there still selling the IQ5).

Edited April 19, 2013 by MaiChai

[MaiChai]

Latest tip: the phone does have a recovery that has some features; specifically backup and restore. It also has an adb feature for doing installs (useful for re-rooting a phone or say installing a custom kernel ); adb sideload. Looks like the recovery might be based on twrp? You can get to the recovery via an application like Quick Boot. There is probably a key combination for getting to recovery on boot (up volume/down volume held while powering on). Backup was put in a zip on the sdcard in a folder called backup. It appears to just be a backup of all your apps and settings. I have not tried a restore. Ideally would like to replace the recovery with a cwm one; I could build one, but it would be easier to use a prebuilt one; any pointers on this would be appreciated.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 5.1 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Edited April 21, 2013 by MaiChai

[planemad]

IQ 5.1.a available at Fortune Town, cost about 6800 baht

[Familyonthemove]

I was looking for a dual sim Andoid mobile to replace my (hopelessly slow) Samsung Duo S when I saw this thread.

I was considering the Samsung Galaxy Grand (11,500 THB, 5 inch screen, dual core) but nipped in to Fortune Town and shuttled between Tesco Lotus and a small mobile shop (Target) trying to decide on which Mobile would be the best for me.

iMobile has a bewildering range of phones - but what I could figure out was that the IQ 4 and 6 have an HD display and dual core processors and the IQ 5.1 has a lower res display but a quad core processor and a larger screen (5.3 v 5.0). If you use AIS and want to access 3G you need to get the IQ 5.1A (or IQ 6A, but apparently the IQ 4 is good for any service as it has the full frequency range).

The IQ 4 has a slightly smaller case with rounded edges and is better for smaller hands. The IQ 5.1 has squarer corners and needs big felang hands.

IQ 4 and 6 were 8,400 THB in the small/specialist shop and the IQ 6 was 7,400 in Tesco after you got some sort of 1000 THB discount that applies to certain phones. The IQ 5.1 was priced at 7,450 THB in Tesco Lotus but it was out of stock and Tesco did not stock the IQ 4.

The small increase in screen size of the IQ 5.1 made the on-screen keyboard much easier for me to use and I couldn't see any real difference in the screen resolution.

The specialist shop gave a small discount so the IQ 5.1 was 6,900 THB including an 8 GB micro SD card and a case.

Bigger screen and quad core for less money seemed good for me (but to be honest it took a coffee and a walk to decide as they both the 4 and 5.1 look like decent phones for the money.

First impressions are good. The phone is fast and smooth in operation and it has a nice solid feel similar to the LG 'L' range of phones. Touchscreen is very responsive and everyhting is so much quicker than the Duo S. The screen colours look slightly washed out compared to my Samsung and the auto-brightness control is a bit hyperactive.

Camera (12 MP) seems to be about average, twin LED flash is decent and setting up work email and downloading apps was simple.

The volume when using it normal 'phone mode' is a little low but the speaker phone option is good and loud. Installed ring tones are a bit quiet but I'll be downloading some 'traditional' ring tones which will fix that. (Samsung had the same problem). I like the ability to set ring and vibrate at the same time - Samsung could not do that 'out of the box'.

I'm not too keen on the directory - there's no letters down the side so you need to guess how far down the directory you need to scroll and it's not simple to send a text message to a person you've just phoned (or had a call from) as you can't do it from the call log. I'm not sure if I can download a better directory?

Integration with the main messaging tools has been set up for you (Line, What's App Hotmail etc) so you can start to use it without any extra Apps.

I'm a heavy 'business user' of dual sim phones but I don't tend to tinker much with the system or 'root' phones (whatever that means) ..... so I see it as a work tool rather than something to tune and improve. I'll post an update after I've given it some real use.

Thanks again to the OP - if the phone lives up to it's early promise I've saved over 5000 THB!

Edited May 5, 2013 by Familyonthemove

[Familyonthemove]

Quick Update:

I've set up my wallpaper, installed my photos on to the SD card, set up email and Facebook and then used it to catch up with mail, Line and FB (one hour of reading and typing) made 4 calls and I've installed my favourite photo editing App (Pixlr) and taken some shots. Only found three issues so far ....

1. In the Profiles you cannot have the the Ringer volume on but the Notifications (mail/messages) on silent. This seems to be an Andoid 4.1 issue and I could do this on the Samsung Duo S - but I installed a free App (Notification Silencer) to fix this.

2. The camera is just average

3. The slightly low contrast screen with muted colours is not ideal for extended use. You can set the brightness to max (which is eyeball searingly bright) and then old gits like me can read the screen fine but it gives you a headache, or you can set it to auto (or manually turn it down) and then it's a bit washed out. I can't see a way to boost the contrast?

Not a huge issue and typing on a phone for an hour is not normal - but if screen quality is more important to you than processor power then perhaps the IQ 4 is a better bet? The up-side is that photo editing and all other processor hungry activity is very quick and I can have as many Apps open at the same time as I want without any noticeable slowing down. And it's not crashed or frozen after 3 hours of messing with it!

I don't need to make the usual comment about second tier phones that 'it's good for the price' - as there's not much competition. I don't know of any other quad core/dual SIM phone with a large screen?