Saturday, December 15, 2012

Star S7180 or HDC S7100 or UPAI N7100+ Galaxy Note 2 Clones Review

So I received the HDC Note 2 S7100 from Fastcardtech few days ago and have been using this for the past 2 days. This phone is also known as the Star N7100+ because of there is a label N7100+ under the battery. Star has 2 versions of this phone. A cheaper 512mb ram version and a 1gb version.

I experienced some deficiencies with this product. The rom is really Jelly Bean which makes the phone buttery smooth even when viewing a heavy flash loaded page but the rom should be called Beta at most. In notification panel, auto rotation will get disabled after a while and will not be active even after you restart. UPDATE: In the notifications panel switches on top, some switches do not work properly. Here are the problems I faced in the past 4 days:

Auto Rotation switch: it works once then it gets stuck in that mode till battery is pulled. (the switch gets highlighted or un-highlighted so you think it is in effect)

Flight Mode: After switching to flight mode it gets stuck in flight mode till battery is pulled. Touching the icon switch does nothing after that. After phone is turned on, you need to go to SIM Management in the Settings to re-enable the sim card.
(the switch gets highlighted or un-highlighted so you think it is in effect)

Data Connection Switch: After I disabled connection, I cannot re-enable it. After battery is pulled I still cannot re-enable it. After several battery pulls and reboots, it comes back. (the switch is highlighted all the time even thought data connection is not activated). I dare not disable it now since I don't know when I get it back when I want to enable it.

Proximity sensor flickers on and off all the time so you get a flickering flashing screen when you make or answer a call. Fixed. In Settings>Display, there is a proximity sensor calibration feature.
Wifi signal is good. I was at a place with unstable wifi signal before, so it did not give me a good signal. GPS is good with the phone discovering 12 satellites in less than a minute and locked on several seconds after that. These issues puts it into the DO NOT BUY category until they fix the rom. All the bugs seem to be in the connectivity switches. The rest of the phone is very very good, fast and responsive, and I mean iPhone smoothness, which is a real pity. I have just found a rom and hopefully it will fix these issues. I will release a youtube video of this phone in a day or 2 after I have tested the new rom.
The newer batch may have already been fixed but I will not hold my breath.

So still in number one spot of my recommend Note 2 clones is the HDC Note 2 Ex.


This post has been updated on the 19 Dec 2012

New Update 19 Dec 2012 6pm:
Stable ROM found and tested. Everything is fixed and is great. Go ahead and buy it. Another reader reported good rom on a more recent order.
Youtube review up.
Link HERE

Will post ROM and recovery (english) links tomorrow.




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27 comments:

  1. JimDecember 16, 2012 at 1:22 AM

    Pity. I had hoped this would be better. Looking for a replacement to my aging ZTE Blade and I like the form of the Galaxy Note clones ~£100-150. I would though prefer one with 1gb RAM and a good following regarding custom ROM/fixes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. waveDecember 16, 2012 at 4:18 AM

    Hello ,i should get this Note 2 N7100 280x720 screen,dual core 1.2,1 gb RAM at 209.9$ or i must get for HDC note 2 QHD the one at 178$ ?which one you recommend to me ? HDC Galaxy Note 2 5.4" QHD Screen MTK6577 Dual Core 1.2Ghz Android 4.1 Dual Sim Standby come with 2 batteries?thanx

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownDecember 17, 2012 at 3:11 PM

    HDC S7100 Galaxy Note 2 greg how update the rom ? thanks.-

    ReplyDelete
  4. Greg TayDecember 18, 2012 at 11:30 AM

    I still have not found any rom updates. I found more problems with the ram so please stay away for the time being.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Greg TayDecember 18, 2012 at 11:16 PM

    I found a ROM.....stand by for testing...

    ReplyDelete
  6. waveDecember 19, 2012 at 11:34 AM

    hello you know something about this ? http://www.focalprice.com/MH0409W/55_Android_40_MTK6577_1GHz_3G_Smartphone_with_WiFi_Bluetooth_GPS.html#.UNISZm9JPm4 i hope get an answer...thanks

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Greg TayDecember 19, 2012 at 6:16 PM

      Just use the links I provide and you will be fine.

      Delete
  7. Greg TayDecember 19, 2012 at 6:15 PM

    I wouldn't touch that. There are no 5.5 inch screens on these phones and the resolution is only FWVGA which is too low for the size. You can eliminate the risk by buying the HDC Galaxy note 2 which is discounted now with the same price from Fastcardtech. 512mb ram and stable operating system beats a 1gb ram phone with buggy os. Last thing... there is no such thing as a 5 mp front camera.

    ReplyDelete
  8. waveDecember 20, 2012 at 1:36 AM

    yes i know that...but onfastcardtech they don t use free shipping only when the order is >200$...i must get something like 180$ i must choose from i7100 s7100 or that one with 1 sim only...all of them are avaialble on focalprice at very good prices...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Greg TayDecember 20, 2012 at 1:52 AM

    If the free shipping logo is displayed then shipping is free even the phone is less than $200. $200 free shipping applies to all phones (selected countries). The hdc note 2 has got free shipping. $20 extra for shipping is worth it because if order from another place and get a crap phone then you would have wasted $180 which is worse.

    ReplyDelete
  10. waveDecember 20, 2012 at 2:47 AM

    yes but at checkout it can t be shipped to my country...however i ahve to pay for it like 180+25+6 taxes etc...however i already make a order for that one,i found some infos is GT-N7177 model(is available on fastcard too),i must try something new...hope to be a good model

    ReplyDelete
  11. bhargavDecember 21, 2012 at 12:00 AM

    Where r the roms?

    ReplyDelete
  12. bhargavDecember 21, 2012 at 12:02 AM

    All this Chinese phones have network issues in India ?
    Can u help

    ReplyDelete
  13. diakonosDecember 21, 2012 at 8:40 AM

    Just got mine in today. Saw your site. Looking forward to ROM. Been playing with it all day, it's lightning fast. I got the 1gb version they have up now. Very very pleased.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nasos NikolaidisDecember 31, 2012 at 3:33 AM

      Geia sou patrida Xronia ! APo pou to phres kai poso kairo ekane na sou rthei ?

      Delete
  14. icarusDecember 22, 2012 at 9:36 PM

    hello, its interesting reading some review here,, i want to buy hdc galaxy note 2 but there is 2 option between hdc galaxy note 2 (1 gb ram)and hdc galaxy note 2 ex (2 gb ram) what the best do you think?
    i really want phone that run fast smooth and no bug,,,thank you for your recommendation,,, nice to meet you

    ReplyDelete
  15. Greg TayDecember 22, 2012 at 10:41 PM

    The note 2 ex is actually the Zopo 900 leader and a very good phone with zopo ROM updates. It has 1gb of ram (not 2gb). If you want Jelly Bean right now then n7100+ is the phone to get.

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownDecember 26, 2012 at 5:06 AM

    Hello everyone,

    Hello Greg...

    I'm wondering if the screen is IPS? Can you confirm? Please?

    Thanks in advance,
    Regards,

    fjorger.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nasos NikolaidisDecember 31, 2012 at 3:35 AM

    Hello Greg,
    Thanks a lot for the review :)
    Can you pls upload somewhere the rom because i cant find it ?
    Happy Holidays,
    Nasos

    ReplyDelete
  18. UnknownApril 9, 2013 at 5:55 AM

    Hi Greg! I don't know if you are still responding to these posts but I have the star note7100. I purchased the phone from everbuying.com. I used the phone without it completely charging for 2 days. It came with 2 batteries and after the phone died at the mall, I cannot get it to charge at all, (either battery). I'm considering sending it back but I want to make sure it's the battery. They are 3.7v 1400mAh and on the inside of the phone it says 3.7v 1800mAh. If you think it is just the batteries, can i purchase a compatable Galaxy note 2 battery? thanks in advance if you are able to help me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Greg TayApril 9, 2013 at 6:57 PM

      This phone has a different battery to a real Note 2. 1400mAh battery is really very small. My star S7180 came with 2800 mah batteries. Looks like you have been cheated. Have you tried to charge the batteries using an external universal battery charger? I think you should send the phone back because it is highly unlikely to have both batteries die at the same time.

      Delete
    2. UnknownApril 10, 2013 at 4:08 AM

      oh wow! I have not tried to charge them using a universal battery charger but I just received a message and the company said they were going to send me another battery. I guess I'll try to wait for the battery if it does not take to long. In the message I sent to them, I told them I was gonna send the phone back and that's when they offed the battery.Where did you purchase your phone from? maybe i'll give them a try...

      Delete
    3. Greg TayApril 10, 2013 at 4:15 AM

      My phones are all from fastcardtech. I bought one from merimobiles in the beginning.

      Delete
  19. UnknownApril 9, 2013 at 12:06 PM

    Hey Greg, sry I didn't read the above post in green. I did email your personal acct. please disregard and respond to my post.

    ReplyDelete

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