Tuesday, August 14, 2012

THL W3+ and MTK6577 review!


ThL W3+ Review

UPDATES
Click HERE to update the firmware.
Click HERE to root and fix Play Store.
Click HERE to fix Viber, LINE etc using Custom ROM.

Why
Because of the dual-core SOC. There is little information on it (in English) on the net so I was curious. Curiosity kills. And it makes me broke.


Specifications
CPU: MediaTek MTK6577 Dual-Core Cortex A9 at 1.0GHz
GPU: PowerVR SGX 531 Ultra
RAM: 1GB
OS: Android 4.0.3
Firmware: 06/08
Internal Memory: 1GB Apps, 2GB internal.
Screen Size: 4.5"
Screen Resolution: 1280x720.
Webcam: 8.0MP Rear and 2MP Front.
Battery: 2000mAH Li-Ion.

Packaging
Small and compact box. I like the packaging, everything was simple and non-excessive. 

There is a warranty card inside as well as a user manual in chinese. And of course, the phone. Looks like an iPhone at this angle.

The phone in terrible picture quality. Damn I need a proper camera.

Included were the USB cable, charger, in-ear headphones and 2 batteries. Thats two batteries! This was nowhere stated in Pandawill website so it was a pleasant surprise. Actually Pandawill also shipped one screen protector but I was so stupid that I ruined it with dusts hahaha.


Build Quality
The phone generally feels solid and does not in anyway feels cheap. However, I would have preferred a textured finish over the smooth surface but as it is, it is okay. I think I just need to adjust to the smooth feeling without feeling that it might fall off my hands anytime.

On the left side is the volume rocker. The buttons are responsive and there is enough feedback. No faults here.

On the top are the power button and the 3.5mm headphone jack.

On the right side is the Micro-USB port.

On the bottom is the microphone.

On the back are the two LED flash lights and the 8.0MP camera as well as the loudspeaker.


Screen




I wasn't aware of the type of the screen used in this phone so I was not really expecting anything great but boy oh boy, the screen is gorgeous. It is bright, vibrant and most importantly the viewing angle is fantastic. Considering all these quality, if one told me that this is an IPS screen I would have no trouble believing but without more information my guess is as good as yours. The important point to take away here is that the screen looks great. The high resolution (1280x720) definitely pays off.


Camera
Rear Camera
The camera autofocus function works well and it was quick (sub 2s). 

Indoor with some sunlight, the quality is acceptable but using the automatic setting there is a lot of noise whenever there is not enough light. Colour also suffer under lack of lighting.

This is in almost total darkness with flash turned on. The flash lights are bright enough to light up a medium sized room. See what I mean about the noise and colour? The colour and noises are improved when there is enough light.


Outdoors, the camera did quite well. The images are vibrant and there is less noise compared to indoor images. However, the images are still rather noisy but is not really visible unless you view it in its original resolution. I only edited the license plate so the picture is otherwise unedited.


Front Camera
The front camera is surprisingly a decent performer.


The colour is rather dull and details are mostly lost but enough to make out what things you are looking at. It performs better under limited lighting than the rear camera so Skyping using this should be a non-issue. 


Speakers and Headphone jack
The loudspeaker performs acceptably. It is as loud as most modern android smartphone. Nothing remarkable and it does not distort under full volume. There is no hints of bass and treble is bright bordering on being harsh but is no way fatiguing.

Using headphones to listen to musics, there is no audible static noise which is good. Musics played fine with plenty of volume and no obvious colouration. The dynamic range is good and to be honest one would be hard pressed to differentiate this to the integrated audio controllers used in most computers nowadays.

Battery Life
I have been using the phone for just a little bit more than a day so I will definitely need more time to test this section. So far the battery life looks promising. I used the phone with the wireless turned on, WhatsApp on the background with lots of texting and occasional browsing. It arrived with about 87% battery and after about 7 hours of heavy usage it still have about 37% left. This is a preliminary data as I will need to charge cycle the battery to know the definite performance so will update this after a day or two of proper usage.

Update:
After using this phone as my primary phone, I now have more data about the battery life. It generally lasts about 12hrs of browsing on wi-fi. If you do not use it that much and allow its screen to turn off periodically it can last about 15-16hrs.

As the charger is rated at 0.5A it is rather slow to fully charge the phone. Using this charger, it took me about 5hrs to completely charge the phone from 0%. On interesting thing I noted is that when the battery reached 15%, it will deplete faster than usual and reach 0% quicker than I expected. Also note that the provided charger's USB connector is longer than those of well known manufacturers. I tried to charge using a SIII charger only to find that its extremely loose although it does work if you let it stay stationary. Currently I used my N900 charger which is rated at 1.2A and it charges a little faster.

Wireless Performance
After being disappointed by the wireless performance of the Ramos W17Pro, it was refreshing to use the ThL W3+. It performs well under acceptable distance. My room is quite far from my main router so most phones cannot connect to it. Even some netbooks have trouble connecting but the ThL W3+ connects fine although it displays just one bar. The performance is at par with my Nokia N900 with much better battery life.

GPS
I do not really use this feature but using Google Maps, it accurately determined my location within 3s so I guess it works well as long as you have internet access. I have yet to use the GPS outdoors so cannot comment on that. In my opinion, the Google Location service is accurate enough that you only need internet connection anyway.

MTK6577
General Performance
Using the Android generally feels smooth with some stutters with there are lots of background apps. Browsing feels smooth and I cannot differentiate browsing using this or the Ramos speedwise. Of course, the experience is different (better) thanks to the higher resolution of the ThL. Embedded flash also works. The SOC plays all the different kinds of videos I have well. This is to be expected though as they have considerable experience in hardware accelerating the video decoding process.

Performance
Sunspider 0.9.1


Rightware Browsermark



GLBenchmark 2.1.4


Basemark Taiji



Linpack



Antutu


Comparison with other SOCs
-To be updated-


Call Quality
Although I have not used to phone to call anybody, the mic worked well during skype calls so I assumed that it will work just as well for normal phone calls.

The mic appears to be an omnidirectional mic hence picking up any nearby voice and noise in all direction. This is of course a matter of personal preference but I personally like it.

Issues
On the hardware side, the only issue is that it gets quite warm while using it for browsing. Otherwise, the hardware side is really good.

Now on the software side... The main issue is that when it arrived, the Play store did not work at all although it was preinstalled.. And to fix this I need to root the phone. And to root the phone I need the ADB drivers for the phone. Pandawill does not have information on this so I was really on my own. Thankfully, after some attempts I managed to root it and hence installed and fixed the Play store. There is also an updated firmware on the net (dated 06/08). If any of you need the instructions on how to do it, comment below and I will try to  write up the tutorial as soon as possible.

Conclusion
To be honest, I was not expecting much from this SOC as rightfully so it performs just as I expected. The processors are fine really and is competitive with the other dual-core SOCs out there. The main weakness of the  SOC and hence the phone is the GPU; it is too weak for the native resolution and is really weak for today's game. While most 3D games today perform fine (barely), I have no doubt it will nowhere be enough to support any new upcoming game.

As for the phone, I have to say that I am impressed. I guess it would be a much better performer if ThL would have used the TI OMAP 4430 but I guess that is asking too much considering the selling price. The features alone made it worth it. The issues can easily be fixed while the others are liveable. I have no trouble recommending this phone to anybody seeking for an entry level smartphone. Just don't have any high expectation on the performance as it really is just acceptable.


ThL W3+ Android Phone 3G WCDMA 4.5 Inch 720P IPS Screen MTK6577 1GHz Dual Core 1GB RAM 4G ROM  Dual SIM Dual Camera 8MP White

ThL W3+ Android Phone 3G WCDMA 4.5 Inch 720P IPS Screen MTK6577 1GHz Dual Core 1GB RAM 4G ROM Dual SIM Dual Camera 8MP White

Original THL W3+ MTK6577 Phone Android 4.0 4.5 inch IPS Screen 1028x720 pixels 1GB RAM 4GB ROM Front 2MP/ Rear 8MP


117 comments:

  1. Hi,
    Just received also my W3+
    Can you post tutorial to root and perhaps install cynogenMod?

    Thanks for your review...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey there,
    Sure I will try to post the tutorial on how to root the device by tomorrow. I don't think there is a cyanogenMod ROM for this device yet as it is too fresh and to be honest I do not think there will ever be one.

    Regards,
    YS.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I will try to make an AOSP/CM10 ROM for the ThL 43+, I am having an Email contact with the English division of ThL and asking him about pre-rooting and pre-installing of Clockwork Mod, my ThL phone will be pre-rooted when I get it, not sure about the CWM yet, still waiting for an answer.

      When I have the phone I will look on getting either CM10 or AOSP 4.1 running on it.

      Delete
    2. That is good news indeed!
      Do update us on your progress. I would love to help but I do not think that is possible with my current schedule.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    3. Hi Adam,

      did you have any luck with making cm10 for this phone?

      Thanks

      Delete
    4. hello buddy !does gr stands for greek?are u greek?anyway iam interested for this phone and i would like to know if it supports greek language....if not can i install greek?would it function well after ?thanks in advance m8!!have a nice day

      Delete
  3. Hey Thanks Alot for Posting this great review..i have ordered one from the Aliexpress. hope it gets delivered soon and in right condition! do share more stuffs when u notice something.,.thanks again for showing how to root it :) that will help alot :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are very much welcomed. I am going for a holiday in the next 2 days and took a risk by only bringing this phone as my computing/communication device so will see how it holds up. Hopefully everything will be fine.

      I hope you will get your device soon and do share your thoughts on it. It really is a well built device hampered only by its limited gaming capability.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
  4. Hi,

    Thanks so much for the rooting and solving the play store...it works...although it a little sluggish for me..
    I later found out that the THL W3 still have problems :

    1. LINE apps : not compatible
    2. VIBER apps : not compatible
    3. SOund Hound : can installed but can't be run
    4. Have problems on sync with google calender.
    5. GoogleServiceFramework seems not working if reinstalling..

    Please help. Rgds, Wong.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey there,
      Latest versions of LINE and VIBER cannot be installed at all and I have no idea why. Might be able to troubleshoot using adb but right now I do not have the time. Oldest version of VIBER can be installed (from iapktop.com) but it makes the phone unstable somehow.

      Sound Hound ran fine on my device. Maybe try updating your firmware? As for Google Calendar, have you installed all the related apks in the app folder? I recommend trying to install everything in that folder. As for Google Framework, if Play Store works, I don't think that should be a problem :)

      Sorry if thats not helpful, not really free this month to investigate further.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
  5. Hi YS,

    Thanks. I agreed. I try it too. For line, even old and new version won't work. For older viber, it become crazy and drain alot of battery...my W3 became hot and it hangs...

    About the calender, oohhh..my head spin due to it...
    there is no calender for the W3...
    I am working days to install the original calender from ICS 4.04. I can't find it...do you have it ? it keep try to install JB 4.1 calender but it could not add any event in there..it just hang..more over...even i d/l some free calender ...it won't create an event and it can't be sync with google calender in the web...
    i am tired of it...

    about the googleframework, i try to get the older files from 4share.com, it could works...it show no more the process.com.google.gapps things....

    about soundhound...i try to reboot after install the older framwork from google... then it can be used...
    maybe.. :)

    Hope these problem could be fix as soon...if not plan to changed the phone... :(

    If you have any better idea...please inform asap.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you still need help to fix the calendar? I might have a solution for that...

      Delete
    2. Hi YS,

      I still need help...i can;t sync my google calender,,i have to do double job...now...

      Delete
  6. I have an HTC Chacha right now. Do you think this phone is a step-up? Should I get it? Thanks x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Up to you really. Your phone is a single core device so generally this phone will perform much faster (thanks to the dual core SOC and ICS) and the screen is much much bigger with 2x the resolution. If you don't mind the problems (read review and comments) and not having a physical keyboard, I see no reason why you should not get this phone.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
  7. Hi YS,

    when you receive the phone, is the OS completely in chinese ?
    I bought the phone from china and its all in chinese.
    It can run google play...

    Btw, could you share all the sytems\apps apk files ?
    I think it miss some files like calender sync, calender, googleframe work, some others...

    now my phone have some error with" com.google.gapps not working !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah it was in Chinese but changing the Language in the Settings is easy. There's a link for that in my rooting tutorial.

      Delete
  8. Where i can find leather cases and etc for this phone? Greets

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I honestly don't know. Maybe other readers can help you on this. One of the readers suggested www.thlphone.com but there is no accessories for W3+ yet. Hopefully the accessories will be available on aliexpress soon. In the meantime, you can use the accessories of some HTC phones as they have the same exterior.

      Delete
    2. Do you know a forum where they upload custom ROMS?

      Delete
    3. I found this Russian forum from my traffic sources. http://forum.china-iphone.ru/viewtopic.php?f=74&t=22015&p=707154#p707154

      Delete
  9. Hi,

    Thanks for the infos/ review.
    How bout the GSM / WCDMA reception?

    TQVM

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In my limited experience it is really good. UTMS speed is as fast as my provider can provide.

      Delete
  10. Any news about the viber app?
    I'm waiting to see if the problem can be fixed to order this phone.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As of now, it is still not working. If Viber is important to you, you might want to wait for the upcoming Xiaomi phone :)

      Delete
  11. How long have you owned this phone for? Have you found problems with deteriorating battery life and such? I have a couple of friends who bought phones from China which didn't last more than a month.

    Also, what other phones have the same exterior as the THL w3+? I'm looking for cases. Thanks!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have only had this phone for about 18days now but so far there has not been a noticeable decrease in battery life. It fluctuates with my usage of course but nothing extreme.

      As for the cases, I am not sure but try looking at HTC phones especially the HTC One X. If memory serves me right, the rear camera is about at the same position as this phone.

      Delete
  12. ah one more thing? does this phone actually have a Dual sim ?
    when i look at videos i cant see that it is even it is advertised as dual sim

    Thanks again

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, it does have dual sim card slots although I rarely use it. In my opinion, it is rather confusing to manage two lines using one phone although the OS tried to make this simpler. You can turn off video/voice/data on any of the sim.

      Hope that helps.

      Delete
    2. Hi Richard,

      Dual Sim for these phone works fine....
      I am using 1 for data and 1 for call...
      But when there is a call, the data will stop and resume back after the call....

      Delete
    3. I noticed that you have been quite active commenting on this phone MinLeong :). Would you like to write a review (summary of anything you found out to be working and things which are not working like Viber etc.) and I will post it on this blog. I am sure it will help other users as well.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    4. Hi YS,

      So for so good for ThL W3+...1Ghz with 1GB Ram is good for the phone,
      I am using CPU master (hybrid), Battery saver, NQ Mobile security...
      In summary,

      1. Phone Battery (with battery saver) is good enough to power up 1 day+ with approx. 1~2 hrs of surfing news with the phone, making total calls about 1hrs...sync with my emails account for the whole day...the battery won't last for a day if the phone is not on rest mode..means continue for 2 to 5 hours of surfing or playing games...

      2. Calls quality is good, proximity sensor is working well. I using this phone because it could support 2 sim cards. So my company phone# is on slot2, and my personal phone# is on slot1 with 3G net. Data wise is good enough. When there is a call, this phone will automatically disable the data and resume back when call is hangup. So there is no problem at all when 2 sim card is been active at the same time. You could still receive call from your 2nd sim while 1st sim in another call.

      3. Phone stability, sometimes the phone will re-start or hangs, maybe due to overload or when it is hot ! But re-booting again, and it just fine...

      4. ICS on this phone, when received this phone it totally in chinese and all d/l apps is in chinese apps...i am dissappointed that time due gmail could not work, no google play,
      Thanks to YS to share the method to make the phone work with google play. For this type of phone its advisable to root the phone to make it more useful for English apps. But be careful not to delete some important files...
      basically i just playing around on the sytems apps...and remember to make all necessary backup in the system files..

      5. Sync - It work on google photo, google contact, FB contacts, but sadly it is not working with google calender...
      I suppposed the phone did not have calender and calender storage...i try to add apps of calender and calender storage but is not working...
      For calender, i am using jorte calender and it works fine so far...

      5. Keyboard - since this phone is manufacture in china, English Keyboard is a problem...it did not have dictionary or T9 text...so every word need to add or it will have a redline to show the word you type is not correct...even if you use a ICS keyboard free with T9..you will still get the redline showing the word is not correct... quite annoying.every time you type a word...if i have time, will add one by one in the user dictionary...

      6. Communication tool...
      Watapps, Kakao talk, talkbox could be used in ThL W3...however most frustrating is that phone is not working with LINE and VIBER,,, which 99% of my friends is actively using LINE and VIBER...so i am out of the loop currently...
      I don;t know when LINE and VIBER could be used on this phone...I hope anyone could help on this...other wise i still have plan to change to other phone...

      7. For others software, mostly any software that you could d/l through Google Play, the phone could run it...Thanks to Google that able to check the ThL phone compatibility with the software in Google Play...

      8. Since the phone is working fine, i did not wan to change the firmware since YS states that even changing the firmware, LINE, VIBER and sync of google calender could not work also...so i better keep out of problems since most of the software and others working well now...

      8. Lastly, i found that the Bluetooth is not working so well with the my handfree (Jabra) have some lagging problems to connecting the handfree device...but it still could be used when it was connected...

      That;s all i have to comment about the phone...

      YS : I hope you could help to work on the LINE and VIBER :)
      Thanks in advance.



      Delete
    5. Hi Minleong,

      In your second paragraph of your post you said that you can receive a call from your second sim while first one is in another call. Can you explain to me how did you manage to have both sim cards active at the same time? Because, if I have an active call on my first sim, than the other sim is in out of reach state or busy.

      Thank you very much for your answer!

      Delete
  13. Hi.
    Thanks for the review.
    I want to know where I can buy this phone on the internet. I've watched on thlphone.com but it is out of stock and I don't know when it will be available again.
    Can you recommand me a site that sells it and that is trustworthy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there,
      I bought it from pandawill and it arrived safely. Just remember, do not use DHL-HK as apparently they do not ship phones anymore and this will cause unnecessary delays.

      Here's a referral link:
      http://www.pandawill.com/points/invitation/new/from/MTMyMTM0/

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    2. Hi YS,

      Planning to buy this phone this week.
      So, which shipping company you recommended? FedEx HK, EMS or DHL HK?

      OR this two less option :
      Reg Airmail By China Post &
      Reg Airmail By Singapore Post.
      As this in the only option to my country.

      Which company did u use last time? How long it takes to arrived?

      TQVM

      Delete
    3. I used DHL-China as DHL-HK wont ship phones anymore. It arrived in 2 days, amazing I must say.

      If you are willing to pay more, go for EMS or FedEx but ask the company first if they can ship it using these options.

      I ordered from Pandawill.com but apparently they are now out of stock (see comment below).

      Delete
  14. Hey I ordered one of these from Pandawill last thursday and asked for it to be delivered by HK DHL
    this morning had an email to say they haven't got any in stock .. would i like to wait or order a different phone:(
    unsure what to do now really wanted one of these .. wish i knew about the HK DHL

    ReplyDelete
  15. Leon these are out of stock at the moment with pandawill i have asked for a refund .. always ask them if they have them in stock before you buy one

    Thanks

    Richard

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the tip! Sorry that its out of stock now, from the traffic I get lately I assume there must be quite a big demand for them.

      Have you considered the JiaYu G3 instead? It was supposed to be released today but I have no idea when it will they be in stock. It is also considerably cheaper with everything else (specwise) being almost equal. It also have a larger battery apparently.

      Delete
  16. Hi thanks for that i think i will order one of those but not sure where i can buy it or order it from any ideas ?
    Thanks again
    Richard

    ReplyDelete
  17. What about JiaYu G3? I coudn't find good review of it. Do you think its better than this THL, because I would like to buy one of them

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The specifications are the same, with the only difference being the case and the battery (JiaYu is bigger) but I cannot say whether Jiayu G3 is better than this as I have not personally used them.

      Delete
  18. Ordered one of the JiaYu G3 from http://www.fastcardtech.com/search.php?encode=YTo2OntzOjg6ImNhdGVnb3J5IjtzOjE6IjAiO3M6NDoibGFuZyI7czoxOiIwIjtzOjg6ImtleXdvcmRzIjtzOjg6IkppYVl1IEczIjtzOjE6IngiO3M6MjoiMjQiO3M6MToieSI7czoyOiIyMCI7czoxODoic2VhcmNoX2VuY29kZV90aW1lIjtpOjEzNDY5NDgxNDg7fQ== today ..there is a wait still but yes i like the look of that cantwait when i get it will let you know what its like :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hopefully they will get the stock soon. Do let us know your experience with the company and the phone when it arrived, thanks!

      Delete
  19. After using this phone for even longer, did the battery still keep up with the good work?

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ever dropped it? Did it still work?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually laughed when I saw this comment :) haha. But yeah, I have dropped it a couple of times in the morning but nothing too severe. Mostly it fell from my bed which is not too high and so far it has endured all the falls :)

      Oh, on another note, the phone is very sensitive to water! Yesterday I used it after washing my hands and i guess some of the water crept inside the phone and the touch screen just stopped working (i.e. it wont register any touch). Fortunately after taking the battery out and restarting it, it was fine :)

      Delete
  21. Hello I was thinking about these two phones (THL W3 and JiaYu G3) and finnaly decided to buy JiaYu G3. I will get it from here - http://www.pandawill.com/jyg3-smart-phone-45-inch-ips-retina-screen-android-40-mtk6577-3g-gps-wifi-p66077.html

    But is it good idea to pre-order it?
    And what is wrong with DHL - HK, is there any probles with shipping to Europe?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you can wait for it, I don't see why not :) JiaYu is (i think) a better known brand than ThL so the software support should at least be as good if not better. Although personally, I am waiting for Xiaomi Mi-2 :)

      DHL-HK apparently no longer ship phones so you would have to choose DHL-China which is a little more expensive. Even if you chose DHL-HK during paying, Pandawill will email you stating this issue and you would have to pay extra to use DHL-China or use EMS and this will cause unnecessary delays so might as well avoid this in the first place.

      And I have no idea if there is any custom issues to all European countries in general as I live in the UK. Maybe other readers can comment on this?

      Delete
  22. Hi!

    I just discovered all those china sale sites (I don't know why I didn't try it before), and I am already in the mood to buy some. Especially W3 and G3, like you talked about. Are all MTK 6577 or 6575 dual core chips? JiaYu looks like more compact and more premium, but picture can take anything. How is the black color on this IPS of yours THL? Because currently I am on ZTE Blade with OLED screen, so the screen quality is really good, like with any highend Sammy. I guess those two (W3, G3) have a bit greyer screen?

    Thanks for the great review of such a nonEU/USA product, and keep up the good work!

    Gasper

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sorry for the extremely late reply, your comment was in between all the spams so it was easy to miss :( I can only compare it to Samsung Galaxy SIII and my Nokia N900. Well compared to my N900's screen, the black level is actually better on the W3. Compared to the Galaxy, the difference is obvious but not as bad as I first thought it would be.

      I think the main difference is that the ThL screen is more reflective than the Galaxy SIII. I hope that helps, I tried to take a picture to show this but my limited equipments doesn't allow the pictures to convey this information :)

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
  23. Have you got any clue how to install Jellybean on this device? And if it's not available now, will it ever be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't think it will be long before JB comes to this phone. A similar phone from ZOPO (ZP900?) with the same SoC is already shipping with JB so it is only a matter of time before ThL releases an updated firmware.

      Usually Chinese manufacturers support their products well for the first 3 months. Even the cheap Ramos W17Pro already have JB (review here http://randomness0110.blogspot.com/2012/07/ramos-w17-pro-and-aml8726-mx-review.html).

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
  24. Czech language for THL W3? Upgrade? Firmware? Want to have a Czech localization.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nope, no Czech in the factory and custom firmware unfortunately :(

      Delete
  25. Any1 with THL-W3...is LINE and VIBER apps solved to install in this phone ?
    \Thanks..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have faced this problem with my Newman N1 too. Thanks to Russian guy, he told me to install latest gapps and finally I can install line and viber by apk file

      Delete
    2. Hello my dedicated reader :)

      You can read here http://randomness0110.blogspot.com/2012/09/fixing-incompatible-apps-on-thl-w3.html

      I have personally tested this and Viber/LINE/Calendar worked.

      Delete
  26. What about size of the phone in the pocket? Is it comfortable to carry it?
    Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it is like carrying a Galaxy SIII with a little bit more weight. Not too big to fit my jeans.

      Delete
  27. I couldnt change my imei. do you have any idea?
    I updated the device first, then I rooted. I tried to change imei via terminal emulator apk. But access denied

    ReplyDelete
  28. Pandawill has received a new firmware from THL, which seems to have more languages. As I don't have the phone yet, can somebody please DL the firmware mentioned here -->http://www.pandawillforum.com/showthread.php?12997-Request-Multilangue-Rom-for-THL-W3-%28MT6577%29 and say which languages it supports now? Thx!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello there,
      As I have just recently flashed my phone with a custom ROM, I do not want to reflash it this soon :)

      However, I did dig into the firmware Pandawill given (by the way, in case people want to download it, the correct link is http://www.pandawillforum.com/soft/W3+%20multiple%20language%20ROM.rar ) and that it supports the following:

      Arabic, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese (BR and PT), Russian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese and Chinese (TW).

      I got this link by extracting the files from the ZIP file. You can see where I get the list above in the following image: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?joz7v76x6omfptp

      The original shipping firmware only supports these languages:
      http://www.mediafire.com/view/?6de46atvmq5graj

      German, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian and English.

      Delete
    2. Thanks! When I unzip it I can only see 2 maps, in which I cannot find the folders of your picture. Is it in one of the bins?

      But do you think that that Russian ROM has fixed certain issues that this official one hasn't? If so, do you happen to know which languages there are in this tweaked Russian ROM?

      Lastly, if I decide to update to the multilanguage official ROM(in case the russian ROM doesn't have Dutch included), do I need to root it before or should it directly work when I go into recovery and select the ROM to install? I don't wanna ruin my phone the day I receive it haha ;-)

      Muchos appreciatos!

      Delete
    3. Yeah, you would have to get to the Framework-res.apk which is in the system.img file (to extract it requires the use of several software to convert and mount it, basically a lot of works just to get the Framework-res.apk :P)

      I don't think ThL have actually released any new firmwares so my guess would be that this is just a modified version of the last firmware (0816). And the Russian firmware is also based on the same version.

      As far as I can read (from Google Translate), basically the Russian firmware fixes all the incompatibilities with Google Apps (mainly by pre-installing the Google Framework Service), prerooting the phone and some other minor fixes. And unfortunately the Russian firmware only adds Russian to the list of the official firmware so no Dutch :(.

      You dont need to root the phone before updating. I am not sure whether you can straight away flash your phone that way using the original firmware. I was told to use the SP Flash Tool (can be found at https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BxY9LBM71uV2NGV3V1lfWDdpOGc/edit if is it not included in the firmware) for the original firmware. Instructions on how to use the tool is available at http://randomness0110.blogspot.com/2012/08/updating-firmware-on-thl-w3.html

      Fuhhh, that was a long reply. Hope that helps! Enjoy your phone and don't worry, as long as you don't flash the wrong firmware you won't ruin (or brick) your phone.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    4. @YS

      Hi,

      where did you get the custom Rom for the w3+ ?
      I spent a very long time in searching a usable custom Rom and did not find anything :-(
      Pls, can you give me a hint ?

      BR from Germany,
      Michael

      PS: Is the CWM Recovery included in your custom Rom ? And what about the LED notification (missed calls, sms, ...) Does it work now ? In my W3+ with original firmware (2012/08/22) the LED notification is dead :-( Thank you !

      Delete
    5. Hi YS,

      thank you very much for your tutorials and your time you spend to create it.
      A few posts before you wrote that you have flashed a custom rom. I have searched for many days but did not find anything. Pls can you give me some details about the rom you have flashed ? (A link where to download would be perfect :-) )
      Is CWM recovery included in this rom ? And is the LED notification problem fixed ? (I mean notification for new emails, missed calls, ... it does not work with my original rom, dated 2012/08/22)

      Thank you very much and BR from Germany,

      Michael

      Delete
    6. You can get the link here http://randomness0110.blogspot.com/2012/09/fixing-incompatible-apps-on-thl-w3.html

      I got it off http://forum.china-iphone.ru
      As for the LED notification, there is no such thing included in our device. The best you can get is to use the capacitive buttons instead. You can get the program to do that here http://forum.china-iphone.ru/viewtopic.php?p=599800#p599800

      Just to clarify, everytime you get new SMS/Missed Call/low batt your buttons will flash to warn you. You would have to be rooted to install this.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    7. Thank you very much, YS.
      Flashing the custom rom works as described in your tutorial !
      But I went back to the original rom, that I backed up with the changed recovery (after first "update.zip") because the email app did not work and the german translation is ... lets say poor (mixed english/german) and some apps, that were in german language before, now start in english.

      Pls allow one more question: How to install the LED app ? I got it from the russian forum but did not manage to install. Installing with recovery after changing name to update.zip does not work - installation aborted.

      Best Regards,
      Michael

      Delete
    8. Thanks for the feedback, hope this will helps other users :)

      Just extract it first, you will get an apk file which you then can install by transferring to your phone and opening it using any file manager. You would have to be rooted to use it though.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    9. *.apk ??

      No - if it would be so, I would have known how to install ;-)
      The *.zip only includes 3 Folders ("res", "META-INF" and "assets") and 3 Files. Nothing else :-(

      BR,
      Michael

      Delete
    10. Err, that is the contents of an apk file. Just simply rename the file to .apk instead of .zip

      Delete
    11. YES ! Now it works.

      Thank you !
      Michael

      Delete
    12. @Anonymous and YS

      Regarding the led reminder, I have downloaded it. When I extract, I get directly an APK file.
      After installing on my THL-W3, it seems working. But it's all in russian so I can't understand anything.
      When I call my phone, there's no led blinking or switched on at all.
      Can you ex^lain to me how it works, and also the meaning of all these numbers present on the les reminder screen.
      Is there any way to put in English ?
      Thank for your help

      Delete
    13. Hi Michael
      I see that you have the Led Reminder working...
      I just download and install it, but it's all in russian language, so I understand nothing.
      Can you help me please ?

      Delete
  29. Hi. Has anybody tried the Pandawill official multi-language ROM update yet? Did you use the same flashing method outlined by YS? Is the Play Store working? Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I tried the Pandawill multi language ROM (dated 2012/08/22). It works fine with nearly perfect integration of german language. Many other languages available, but I did not try them out ;-)

      No - I used SP Flash. If you have updated/changed recovery.img before as described in YS tutorial, remember to DEselect flashing recovery.img in SP Flash ! If not, the original recovery menue is back ;-)

      I have never had problems with play store, so I can not say anything about changes in this.


      Regards,
      Michael

      Delete
    2. Addendum to my last post:
      Did not try it to flash with the "update.zip-via-recovery" method, but I think it is working too.

      BR,
      Michael

      Delete
    3. Thank you. I'm still waiting for my order from Pandawill. Will try this update as soon as I receive my ThL W3+. (-:

      Delete
  30. Very nice! Extremely in detail. :thumbup:

    ReplyDelete
  31. Hi it is Yash again. Sorry for the double post, just want to ask something.

    You said "The main weakness of the SOC and hence the phone is the GPU; it is too weak for the native resolution and is really weak for today's game"
    Could you please elaborate? Too weak for the native resolution, does this mean it is sluggish during menu transitions and stuff too?

    I am considering getting myself an MTK 6577 phone. I have seen quite a few, and one thing noticeable: Phones with 1GB RAM and those with 512MB RAM (and both with mtk 6577) have basically no difference in benchmark scores. It would be great if we could have your thoughts over this.

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Yash,
      Dont be sorry, I love elaborating :))

      What I meant by that was:
      1) the SGX 531 was introduced back in Oct 08. Back then 720p phone is a rarity if it exists at all.
      2) Yeah, you can definitely sense the lag (0.5 to 1sec) between your actions and the effects/transitions in the UI. However, it is livable and I don't think it is fully the GPU's fault. We would have to wait for Jelly Bean to come to this phone (or any MTK 6577 phones) to fully determine whether its the GPU's fault or the SOC as a whole as JB offload most of the UI operations to the GPU.
      3) Today's games run okay on the phone but during some complex scenes it will slow down although not bad enough to affect playability. This is primarily why I said the GPU is too weak for the native resolution. It would probably run the games better if the screen resolution is lower.

      I have not personally tested other MTK 6577 phones but if I may offer you some advice on choosing:
      1) Benchmarks are usually run with nothing running on the background hence most of the RAM is free which is why the scores are similiar across phones of different configurations. They are great tools to find out and rank raw power but most are useless in the sense that they (at least most of them) do not represent any actual real life workloads.

      2) When you are actually using the phones, you WILL forget to close the background apps using those precious RAM so the general advice is that more RAM is better. Of course Android can deal fine with small RAM but then you would often have to wait for it to reload the suspended apps to the RAM and this constant swapping of data is bound to annoy you :)

      3) On my phone, with no user apps running on the background and some typical widgets on my homescreen, the free RAM typically hovers around 500MB to 450MB. Running Chrome alone can use up all those free RAM depending on the number of tabs open and the contents of course. The conclusion; don't settle for anything with less than 1GB of RAM.

      I think I deviated from your questions a bit but I hope that helps!

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    2. Very nice. I got your point about benchmark scores being equal.
      Anyway, how many really play games on their phone? I don't think many do, they just use it for testing purposes.

      Well of its not too much to ask for, could you do a small video review, of the UI? I'll be obliged if you could, and I'll stay a dedicated reader even if you don't. Hahaha :) but I have sort of made up my mind, I'm gonna wait for the JY G3 and if it takes too long, then maybe Newman N1.

      Thanks,
      Yash

      Delete
    3. Yeah, that is true I guess. Most people only play simple games and fortunately the GPU is sufficient for that.

      Hahaha, I wouldn't mind making the video but I have packed everything into my luggage as I am leaving tomorrow so the video won't be up till next Wednesday?

      If you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to wait for the JiaYu? I have noticed quite some people willing to wait for it for months. Its almost like the Apple's followers but not quite as obsessed haha. Anyway, I read somewhere that they just got their license approved so limited stocks should be in next week? The waiting game ain't fun ;)

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    4. HI,

      Is there anybody from Europe, that is willing to sell this phone to me? I am from Slovenia (also EU) and I am affraid that our custums wont allow to import this phone, because they reject every phone from china. Does this phone have all nessesary certificates (CE)?

      We can do the transaction over ebay.

      Thank you verry much!

      JB

      Delete
    5. @ Bovha

      I'm from Croatia, and croatian custom also wants to se EC Declaration of Conformity...Yesterday I ordered W3+ from AliExpress - some lady said to me that THL and Star(?) phones have this EC Declaration. She promis me to put this paper into the package - i will se when the package arive...:)

      Delete
  32. Sure I'll be waiting for the video too then :P

    Why I would wait for the JiaYu:
    Umm, this will be my first Chinese phone, and I'm rather apprehensive spending too much on it. Although I type this on my Chinese tablet which has exceeded expectations. :)
    JY G3 seems to be the cheapest 6577+1GB phone out there.
    Plus the gorilla glass and high res screen.
    Also the fact that it's not meant to be a clone unlike other S3 and note clones. Even thl seems to be inspired by HTC for that matter.

    Not gonna wait for months! I don't think I'll have any patience when I'll have saved up enough for a phone! Haha :)

    Thanks man!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really sorry for the long delay, I just moved to my new house and have to wait 5 days for the internet (cable) installation! Using pre-paid (expensive) broadband right now and the uploading speed is too slow so can't upload the video right now :(

      And yes, I agree that you should not spend too much on unknown chinese products. That and unless you like to take risks and experiment with new stuff, don't buy products that have not been reviewed by some random guy on the net :P

      Delete
    2. Its alright.

      Well, I have finished saving up now :). I am now confused between this ThL W3+ and the UMI X1. The UMI is way way prettier but has a smaller battery (1750mAh), so I'll read around a bit. Hope I didn't deviate from the topic much. Thanks for your review and prompt replies, YS, and look out for a review from me soon! ;)
      Hahaha. Cheers!

      Delete
  33. Hey! I just received my phone and I wanted to ask does your phone have a lag between pressing the unlock button at the top of the phone and the screen turning on to unlock? How can I get rid of that?
    I'm waiting for the Jellybean update to maybe get rid of it. How will we know it's out?

    ReplyDelete
  34. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Hi,

    i have a question about buying this phone. Can anybody from Europe tell me where did you buy this phone? Did you have problems with custums? I am from Slovenia (EU) and i am affraid that our custums wont allow to import this phone from china!

    Thank you verry much for your answer!!!


    JB

    ReplyDelete
  36. Hi all,

    can anybody from Europe please tell me where did you buy this phone? I am from Slovenia (EU) and i am affraid that our custums wont allow to import this phone from china!

    thank you verry much for your answer!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Hello
    Can you tell me if GPS is working OK? Can you test it in your car?
    How is it working now with new ROM. Is it still hot?

    Thank you, Denis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Denis,
      Unfortunately I have no car so if you want I can only test it while walking.

      With the new ROM, it is slightly cooler although still quite warm. But that is only when you are surfing for a long time or been playing some 3D games. It is acceptable really and is only a little uncomfortable.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    2. Hi Denis,

      No problem at all for GPS...it bring me to anywhere if there is a map...
      I am not sure about your area...i am using waze apps...


      Delete
  38. Hi YS,

    did you just started to sell your thl w3 on ebay? If you did, can you send it to Slovenia?

    Regards,

    JB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi,

      Yeah I did, that was fast! If you want one I guess I can buy a new one for you and then ship it out to you from the UK? But that means that you would have to pay for the shipping twice (from China to UK and then UK to Slovenia)? Or you could just try ordering from Pandawill using DHL-China assuming your customs will not seize the phone.

      Regards,
      YS.

      Delete
    2. Hi YS,

      first of all thank you for your help and effort. I got my THL W3 a week ago. I tried to root it with instructions from your other post! When i open unlock root software and click root, it doesn`t show thl w3 model but thl cj. and also in antutu benchmark it says that my model is thl cj.

      Do you know anything about that? will i have problem with updating firmware?

      thank you very much!

      Delete
    3. Nope, no idea why it shows CJ. If I remember correctly, mine showed THL W3+. I would recommend asking your seller about this and don't update the firmware yet.

      Delete
    4. As i know CJ refers to the manufacturer, the company that works for THL, its called ChangJiang.

      Delete
  39. Hello again

    @ YS
    Yes please test GPS when walking or on a bus or train and see if it is working OK.

    @ Bovha
    Jaz sem tudi iz Slovenije in sem naročil že telefon iz Kitajske, kot tudi cca 20 tabličnih računalnikov in nikoli nisem imel težave s carino. Res pa je, da zadnja 1/2 leta nisem nič naročil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lepo pozdravljen,

      A mi lahka zaupas se sam par podatkov:

      - na kateri strani narocas,
      - kaksno posto uporabis, ko narocis (hitro ali navadno)
      - nisi mel problemov z carino, torej nic carine in nic davka??


      Hvala za odgovor!

      Delete
    2. - www.dx.com - vse cene so s poštnino
      - za zneske nad 15 USD dobiš sledilno številko zastonj
      - carino sem plačal 20%, davek pa se plača, če naročiš v vrednosti nad 150 EUR (nisem 100% siguren, da je ta znesek pravilen, boš se moral pozanimat). Niso mi pa nobenega izdelka zasegli

      LP Denis

      Delete
  40. hi, i from argentina, could you confirme de 3g bands ?

    ReplyDelete
  41. Hey!

    I got my THL w3+ and it works wonderfully. However, I have a bit of a problem and I am wondering whether you could solve it for me. I got a pair of earphones: the Skullcandy Ink'd 2 and they have a microphone with them and when I plug them into my phone, the sound is terrible. It's like music sounding very wrong without any bass, however when I press the call button it has in-built with the headphones, the audio sounds amazing for as long as I press the button.

    What could be the cause?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is because of the different arrangements of ports in the jack in Android and iOS devices v/s other manufacturers. I think it is called a TFFS jack. Your headphones will work fine with say a Nokia but not with an iPhone or an Android.

      Delete
  42. I brought one from the eBay.
    ThL W3+
    3G 850/2100 MHz

    The screen quality is more i expected.
    The overall performance is acceptable.
    Antutu benchmark, it better than Galaxy S.

    Please don't be expect more than it's price!
    Not good for 2D/3D, but enaugh for business and social.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Hi, can anyone let me know how the security for storage works. I have a password for this but cannot work out if I set it or it comes with a default. I changed the battery and it wouldn't start so ended up leaving it for a while and now it has started properly but I'm locked out. Is there a default password to decrypt the storage and if not what is the likely make-up of the password; i.e just numbers or a mixture of characters, numbers etc any help would be appreciated as my phone is dead as a door nail.

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  44. hi, i got a THL W3 dual core, may i know how to root it, i have try many times with different method but still can't get it done!

    Anyone can help : ckchok@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is a tried and tested method because I had the same problem;

      http://mtk6577gamingrig.blogspot.com/p/root-instructions.html

      Delete
  45. Is there any way to brighten the screen? At it's brightest level, it's still not that bright and it's bothering my eyes.

    ReplyDelete
  46. I want to update my thl w3 + to Jelly Bean 4.2. Does anyone know if the update will come out sooner or later? or if there is a custom rom that allows the update? thanks in advance for any replies

    ReplyDelete

  47. Thanks for review, it was excellent and very informative.
    thank you

    ReplyDelete