Unfortunate owners of Be Touch 2 rejoice! Be Touch 3 is about to hit the market (translate: you're history)!
Owners of a Be Touch (#1) and Be Touch 2 who are still hanging on Ulefone promises to fix everything soon will be happy to discover yet another release: The Be Touch 3! (Tadaaaaa!)
uForget, but customers won't!
It seems that a new Be Touch model is released every quarter as a response to the users complains about their phone. Of course, the phone seems to work flawlessly as a hammer or as a nut cracker. Using it as a phone is another story.
Ulefone failed so far to update the Be Touch 2 to Android 5.1, and despite being still advertised as such, it comes only with a 5.0 (Build ID LRX21M) masqueraded as 5.1!
After announcing MIUI and Cyanogenmod ROMs for soon (back in July 2015) , they eventually produced a minor update as a way to calm the users. Unfortunately that turned into a major disaster for those who jumped on it. Not only failing to fix bugs with the proximity sensor and implementing the Hall sensor functionality, that OTA release reportedly broke further basic phone functions.
To some extend Ulefone blames Mediatek for not providing the proper drivers on time for release, but why have other MT6752 devices like iOcean Rock been updated fine 6 months ago?
Yet, Ulefone advertises Be Touch 3 with Android 5.1 (let's hope it's true this time), now with a slightly cheaper MT6753. If this new release is only about a different chipset, it sounds like some major road blocks with the MT6752 forced Ulefone to drop the curtain on it for good.
If your Android phone keeps the screen off when taking it away from your hear, the proximity sensor doesn't do its job properly. The following solution worked consistently for me.
I've seen this recently with Mediatek-based phones produced by Alps (Elephone, Ulefone, ...) and it seems that many other phones are affected by a bug with the proximity sensor.
The symptom: After a time of normal operation (phone turns the screen off during a call and restores it once away from your face) , the proximity sensor suddenly stops working and the screen remains off.
The normal corrective operation is to go to Display setting, and run the "Proximity Sensor Calibration". In many cases, the calibration fails with an error like "als ps calibration failed"
In most cases, the proximity sensor hardware is fine but somehow, the calibration values gets messed up at some stage, obviously because a software bug.
Note: the solution below does not prevent the problem from re-occurring ut provides a temporary solution until Mediatek comes up with a real bug fix.
First think to do: Verify that the Proximity Sensor works This can be done via the the Engineering mode. The right code to dial varies within the models. The one below is for the MTK 6752 phones: *#*#3646633#*#*
Once in the Engineer Mode screen, go to Hardware Testing > Sensor > Light/Proximity Sensor > PS Calibration.
Although this different calibration screen would seem like a alternative to the main one, it didn't fix any problem back in Android. At least you can see the "PS" value changing is real time by waving your hand over it: that means the sensor is ok.
Now try this workaround: The method below basically consist in ... doing the opposite of the on-screen instructions!
You may need to re-try a few times, but I now manage to have it working consistently within maximum 3 attempts.
First of all, go to the Proximity Sensor Calibration in the Display settings:
Step #1, "Retrieving effective parameters": What the instructions say: "remove objects in front of distance sensor" What you should do: Keep it well covered during that phase (while it counts from 1 to 3). Covering and uncovering the screen a few times during that phase may also work.
Step #2, Calibrating...
What the instructions say: "place objects in front of the distance sensor" What you should do: Don't cover it.
If all goes well, the screen should show a countdown from 3 to 1, which indicates that the calibration process succeeded.
The last screen allows to test the brightness varying with proximity.
Further sensor tests can be done with apps like CPU X or Phone Tester.
The phone screen should now behave normally during phone calls...at least for a while...
I pre-ordered the Be Touch 2 in June ago and it eventually arrived 2 months later! Now I can't wait to smash nuts with the screen and pour soda on it like they do in their promotional videos!
I wanted to replace the Elephone P3000S-64 quickly and didn't listen to my own advice:
Never buy on pre-sale!
It does not guarantee the lower price, you don't get it faster, and you're first in line to discover whether the device meets the announced specification.
By the time the Ulefone Be Touch 2 arrived from Geekbuying, it was available roughly at the same or lower price (~250$/220€) everywhere.
Highlight: MTK6752 Octa Core 64Bit 1.7 GHz with ARM Mali-T760 GPU Android 5.1 (According to Ulefone, read further) 3GB Ram / 16GB Rom 5.5" 1920 * 1080 Pixel FHD IPS Screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. 13.0MP Back Camera (Sony IMX214 sensor) w/flash 5.0MP Front Camera (OV5648) w/flash 4G LTE, OTG, WIFI, GPS/GLONASS, Bluetooth, Touch Fingerprint scanner Dual SIM and Micro SD card slot Battery: Sony 3050mAh Lithium-ion Polymer Dimensions: 77.4 mm x 158.1 mm x 8.4 mm Weight: 170 gr
Like the THL 2015 and Elephone P3000S-64 seen previously, the Be Touch 2 is based on MT6752. The build quality is similar to the THL 2015 with a sober and clean design.
The specification of the Be Touch 2 has been subject to discussion on the forum lately so lets take a look at each of them:
Android 5.1...??? ...they all have to lie about something it seems...
The "About Phone" screen proudly shows 5.1 as the Android version, but any good system information app (CPU X, Hardware Info, ...) will also return the build ID, which is here LRX21M ... which means 5.0.0_r2! That alone can explain the Wi-Fi, battery and other issues experienced by some users.
Bad point, unless they eventually provide an update to the real Android 5.1. Ulefone claim they keep working on further updates.
3050mAh battery ? While Ulefone didn't try to object on the fake Android version, they actually reacted quickly to the rumours about the fake capacity with a battery test video.
I personally get the phone going for a full day (Battery Monitor Widget report an average of just 12h) with mixed use, not intensive, but Wi-Fi always on, phone calls, in-car music via BT and occasional GPS use. This varies widely of course with each other usage and energy saving strategy.
Various options in Android allow to keep the energy use under control. Disabling the useless background push services via the Auto-start management can help. Also, a power hog feature like "off-screen gestures" should only be activated if really used. Ulefone recommended to calibrate the battery which I didn't.
The most interesting discussion on this topic is found here.
Quick charge: full charge in just over 1 hour. I'm fine with that. Really that's a nice difference with my previous phones.
Performance: I only tested the phone with the latest ROM received via OTA (Ulefone_be_touch 2_20150811). The Antutu score is close to 45000 (Geekbench: 800/4022) which is respectable for a MT6752 with Mali T760. Lower scores have been seen by other users and maybe it was with a older release. Also, no overheating while gaming, the phone may become warmer, not hot, which is common. The animations don't feel always smooth despite high FPS.
Fingerprint Scanner: No longer a gadget, it works fast and well: just touch the button, no more swipe! I usually prefer the face unlock which is missing from this release, but the fingerprint is an even faster way to unlock the phone, just press the centre button to wake up the phone, and leave the finger on it: it unlocks instantly. Neat!
Wi-Fi: Another area of argument where Android 5.0 has its share of responsibility. However, I didn't have any problem connecting to my usual access points and the range was also slightly better than with the non-Lollipop Elephone P3000S-64 and THL 2015. Again I started with the OTA from 0811 which improves things in that area.
Screen quality:
Backlight from P3000S and THL 2015
The 5.5 inch FHD screen is just as beautiful as the smaller THL 2015, with nice saturated colours and no backlight-bleeding issue like the P3000S.
Auto-brightness has been replaced with Adaptive Brightness in Lollipop. The difference is that the display brightness will only slightly vary above or below the manually pre-set brightness level.
Tempered glass protection: I received 3 of them! (1 as part of the promotional sale, 1 as apology for delay from the shop, 1 more as apology for delay from Ulefone) So I felt I might as well try one. Ulefone advertise this as a way to push the date we'd go completely blind because of the blue light emitted by all those LED screens we use everyday. While I didn't find its oleophobic property really convincing, the filter offers an excellent readability and better feeling on touch than the tradtional plastic filters.
Sound quality: For sure, the tiny speaker is not a Hi-Fi boombox, the sound is just about loud enough once the BesLoudness from Sound enhancement is enabled. It does the job though on the phone call department, and there's no complaint from either side of the call.
Music listening only makes sense through (Lossless) BT mode or with proper headphones anyway, and in that context, the Be Touch 2 does a good job.
Camera(s): Back: Sony IMX 214, F1.8, 13MP. The software part does not do justice to the excellent sensor. It is clearly not optimized and the results are frustrating, in particular once you've seen what that IMX214 sensor (and the previous IMX135) could do under KitKat. Instead, here we get very noisy low light pictures, and a lazy auto-focus that struggles on close-up's. The IMX214 can do 4K video recording but the option is just not there, the slow-motion videos can be recorded but fails to playback.
Achieving good pictures require several shots as, most of the time, the camera tends to go off focus just when taking a shot that looked great on screen he second before. So much for the WYSIWYG!
The Omnivision sensor is in charge of the selfies with also a flash but no autofocus. It's nowhere near the IMX sensor in any way but does what it's there for. NFC: No NFC but Mediatek's HotKnot instead. I have no other equipped device to try this tap-and-share technology. According to Mediatek, "it can do everything NFC does", ...obviously only between two LCD screens, so it won't match the wider field of application given by the NFC tags, for instance, and I don't see wireless payments, access control or Bluetooth pairing possible either.
GPS/Glonass and Compass: First, find a quiet and empty room, where you can do your compass-calibration dance in peace: this is definitely needed but once done, the compass is accurate. The GPS gets the lock in a matter of seconds, even indoor. This is normal for the MediaTek 6752, but I still remember how pathetic it with their Quad-core range.
Hall sensor is present but not supported yet by the ROM provided
Conclusion: Unachieved potential...
I still need to get use to the size of that phablet, but for most of it, it turns out to be a nice looking, and pleasant to use.
Maybe receiving it so late was my luck? It is possible that the the early batch had issues that have been fixed since.
The Be Touch 2 is a well designed phone, maybe a bit too basic: no backlight for the soft buttons and not notification LED (I would have traded the front flash for that one instead).
Along with the phone specification, the communication efforts from Ulefone was part of my decision to buy from them. However, just like their competitor, Elephone, they tricked their customers about the real specification (version of Android in this case). Let's hope they really intend to release a true 5.1. Ulefone so far indicated in every update notice that there was more to come. I suspect Mediatek to be partially responsible for the unachieved potential of this phone.
Without a proper software implementation, and a working proximity sensor in particular, it is difficult to recommend this phone. However if they fix the software issues very soon, it might become a good deal. From my experience, it is always risky to bet on promises for future development. Sooner than later, all their efforts will be diverted to the next flagship which is always around the corner. I really wish Ulefone will prove me wrong just this time!
Good: - fast and effective fingerprint scanner! - stable phone despite its unfinished version of Android (avoid the update 20151012 at all cost!) - great FHD screen quality, bright and colourful - comfortable 3GB RAM and good performance overall
Not so good: - Fake Android version. It's really 5.0 not 5.1! - No backlight for the soft buttons - No notification LED - Unfinished software implementation (Lazy camera autofocus, slow-motion video playback not working, Hall sensor not operational, battery can act weird for some, ...)
Added on 7/10/2015: - Proximity Sensor stops working, see workaround.
The newest release of Elephone P3000S has potential to be another THL-killer. Would it meet your expectations?
The earlier P3000S phones were no thread compared to the THL 2015, but for the new version, Elephone refreshed the specification to either equal or exceed its rival, at least on paper:
Look and feel: The big logo, the red circle surrounding the camera unit, the shiny 4G stamp on the front, ...nothing contributes to make the P3000S a beauty (this is subjective of course). No nice finishing touch and a weird decision to locate the volume button on the left side which the flap will cover. The phone feels solid and firm in hand. Strangely it also feels thicker despite being so only by 6mm. The flip cover feels and look cheap and tends to snap out a little too easily. While I prefer its transparent window makes the touch screen less reactive for answering a call, but gives a more complete protection of the screen where the THL leaves with just an empty hole.
At the opposite of the THL, the 3 soft buttons don't have back light but the notification LED has a color selector for each type of event. The app history (when you keep the Home button pressed) includes an app killer to quickly clean up the memory. A nice addition that THL used to have in some models but not the THL 2015.
No back light for these buttons
Analog and digital clock can be
selected from the S View Cover settings.
Sliding to the right reveals a music player.
What they have in common:
Processor: MT6752 Octacore 64bit, 1.7GHz . The phones are equally snappy and stable.
Dimensions: almost the same, with the Elephone being a bit bulkier and somewhat heavier by 10gr.
THL 2015
P3000S
Thickness
8.3
8.9
Height
149.8
149.3
Width
77.1
77.1
Diag. (screen)
126
126
Weight
147
157
Finger print reader: The smaller finger print reader works fine. The secondary unlock method is always a password. It would have been nice to revert to a pattern like the THL allows. The finger scanner can also be used to restrict access to chosen apps or to scroll up and down within any application. In the security department, the device encryption is available as well as a mobile anti-theft function Screen gestures: while THL did not advertise it, it also has the same feature. It is located under the Accessibility menu. Using this function on either phone contributes in draining the battery faster.
GPS/Glonass: The compass tends to act a bit crazy (even after calibration, you know... the esoteric flat-8 dance). It is less than ideal for AR apps like Sky Map or FlightRadar24 but at least this doesn't seem to affect the GPS functionality which is fast and accurate just like the THL.
Wi-Fi/USB/OTG: no bad surprise here, they perform as expected and the Wi-Fi reception is comparable to the THL.
Sound: Speakers and microphone provide a good quality. The speaker is loud enough once the BesLoudness option (volume booster for speaker) is enabled in the Audio Profiles menu.
Cameras: The Elephone's main camera is a Sony IMX135 and offers 13 mpx so the expectation is once again to retrieve something similar as in the THL 2015. In broad daylight pictures are comparable to the THL (see here for pictures taken with the THL 2015). It's a different story indoor where the P3000s struggles to focus and fails to deliver the same sharpness. It looks like the Sony sensor hasn't been combined with the lens it deserves. The resulting pictures are prone to glare and flare. The good news is that we're still light years ahead from an Omnivision camera!
P3000S-64bit - click for full size
THL 2015 - click for full size
The selfie side is 5 mpx. The face-unlock would often fail in poor lighting condition and has a too narrow field of view which is probably down to the firmware settings because, for the rest, this camera performs like the THL 2015.
The differences:
RAM: 3GB (THL: 2GB): 1 extra GB with a fast processor potentially helps unleashing the phone performance. In reality it is not easy to measure but the heaviest games will certainly not complain.
More Battery: 3150 mAh (THL: 2700 mAh): This gives a correct autonomy for a day of mixed use but very similar to the THL really. It has been seen in the past already that the advertised capacity was not always the real one...
Rooted from factory: There's no bloatware within the Android 4.4.4 installed and the phone comes rooted with SuperSU already installed. Great!
Display: 5", 1080 x 1920 px, 440 ppi with DragonTail glass (scratch resistant) and 5 points touch screen which is appropriate for that screen size. The important difference is in the display quality. No need to use a backlight bleed test app to see the difference. On the left in the picture below: the Elephone and the THL 2015 on the right. It is crucial to run the Als_ps calibration (proximity sensor) in order to keep the auto-brightness from making it even worse.
The MiraVision options can help but also can make things worse if you push the contrast or select the Vivid mode. In any cases it would never match the THL which has excellent contrast and stunning colors naturally.
NFC?
This is where I understood the real meaning of Elephone's motto: Keep expecting and be surprised
See the 2 empty holes up there? That where the NFC antenna contacts should be.
Don't you think you're paying too much for 3GB RAM smartphones? Take a look at P3000S 3GB version. It's as powerful as those 3GB RAM flagships on the market. It's powered by 64bit MTK6752 Octa core processor and the most advanced GPU of Mali-T760.
The phone packs other high performance hardware such as 13MP Sony camera and JDI FHD display. It also supports fingerprint ID, FOTA update.
The phone ought to support NFC, but considering that NFC don't have popularity in most of the countries and lower the cost by 5 dollars. We have taken NFC out for the first batch of P3000s. 100.000 pieces of P3000S were sent out in April don't support NFC function. However, if you think you probably need NFC function, we have the next batch of P3000S which packs NFC for you.
[Sarcastic mode ON]...so, yes, no big deal, you probably didn't want NFC anyway, and if you did, just buy it once more... [Sarcastic mode OFF]
The same trick was used for the previous Quad-Core release of the P3000S in 2015. Keep expecting...a Sony camera Be Surprised...As you know, Elephone P3000s should pack Sony camera sensor. However, we'd like to inform you that some of P3000s use OmniVision sensor instead.
Other thoughts: On the performance side, the Elephone P3000S-6752 is on par with the THL 2015, as expected since they're both built on the MTK6752. The P3000S is on the right in the pictures below. Generally the Elephone tends to produce less heat than the THL.
Engineering mode: *#*#3646633#*#*
Test mode: *#*#33#*#*
Conclusion: The P3000s-6752 is a lower cost version of the THL 2015 but fails to qualify as a THL-killer due to its lower quality in most departments: design, ergonomic, compass, display, but also the camera, ...
It does however perform perfectly and delivers the great performance of the solid MTK 6752. So this is not a bad phone as such, and currently for 161€/175$ (vs 220€/240$ for the THL) @ Gearbest.com, it is good bang for the bucks.
My real concern is about Elephone themselves: Elephone is playing a dangerous game with its announcement effects and false promises. For the second time in a year, they fooled their customers, and not just a few, by changing the advertised specification, in particular during some pre-sale deal!
As a result, it is hard to trust that brand and buy with confidence. So the lesson learned here with Elephone is: never be the first to buy! Don't rush for their latest P7000 yet, wait to see if they won't remove the touch screen or the microphone this time...who knows!?
At time of writing (15/05/2015), there are still many P3000S from batch #1 on sale, so if you need the NFC function, ask the seller to confirm before buying!
Update (June 2015): It also appears from the forum the anounced release of Lollipop for this model was another lie.
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