My tribe x review

I thank God I was able to create time out of my hectic weekly schedules to write this review.

NOTE: This is hands-on review
2. It is as I saw or experienced that I wrote this down (so other users may argue at one area or another)

So let's go into it.

Let me start by introducing the phone, it is called mi-tribe a500s (a.k.a mi-tribe x) also known to be the big broda of the mi-tribe a500

I bought it from Konga (which happens to be the exclusive seller of it [even co-manufacturer sef] that I know of. And by bought I meant got it in exchange for my voucher of a particular return(long story). Price was N30,500 (in dis double-double increase economy of ours, I thought "was" might be a good word to use)


So let me say truthfully that my impression of the device while checking it on Konga website wasn't that good and I happen to have gotten wrong info from some blogs or whatever-they-call-themselves e.g I thought the gpu was mali 400 (which would be very low and backward for me cos I had vowed to upgrade from craps. (I know this brand is not particularly LG or Samsung or Sony, LOL pls pardon me o) and I couldn't get the true DPI details anywhere.

So long story short it turns out that the phone surprised me a lot. I got my package, took it home, EAGERLY opened it up, checked out the accessories which includes a 1A 3-pin white charger + a white USB cable (which is a silver pin by the way - it means it can't be used for connecting to pc for transfer), white earphones (flat cable type not round) and an informative manual.

It charged full in less than 2 hours (with generator because PHCN or Ikeja Electricity fall my hand that day) cos d ba3 was at 60% already then I installed my cpu-z (android info-revealer) from my 32GB SD backup then I began to open my eyes as I saw the following 'goody goody' of the phone

THE BASIC SPECS ARE:

>1.36ghz octa-core (8 cores) [primary reason of purchase]

>Dual micro-SIM slots + plus sd card as well (no worries for exchanging SIM for sd)

>5.0" HD LCD DISPLAY (720x1280)

>Android 5.1

>16GB ROM

>2GB RAM

>2000 mah removable battery. (Not so bad)

>13mp Auto focus back camera/5mp front camera with a LED notification (which really surprised me)

>And finally SD card upto 32GB (lucky me cos that's just what I have)

THE EXTRA UNTOLD AND UNADVERTISED SPECS ARE:

* The LED notification light (I know it's no biggie but it's rare in mid-range devices). Red for charging or low battery at below 15% or sms and green for upto 90% and above while charging and blue is for Facebook notifications (which I rarely have time for, stubborn app!)

* and the GPU is Mali-450 MP (I was like "oshey" ShadowGun plays very smoothly and fast)

* The DPI is 320 (pretty higher than some overpriced not-to-be-named brands flooding our market) Mhen! I love the display o!

* File storage capacity is 11.99GB (approximately 12GB, which is pretty cool)

* HotKnot Technology (the big broda of wifi sharing)

* Smart operation (in the settings) a.k.a Smart gestures: double tap home to sleep, double tap screen to wake, 3 finger swipe down/up for screenshot (I love this [no need for gravity box then])

* Option to swap the function of the back key for the recent key (dope! Another mouth-watering reason for not needing gravity box)

* I would love to state the 3 touch buttons lit only when pressed and goes off in about 5 secs and are SUPER RESPONSIVE (probably because the RAM is doing its job well)

*And lastly the camera shots are pretty good for me, at least when I pitched it against the infinix hot 2 camera it won hands down and against the gionee F103 pro it was a bit of a tie (the gionee F103 pro camera na stubborn something)

* This phone has the same smart gesture and cores as the infinix Note 3 and I can say from pitching it together in speed test that it was a tie too, meaning only the battery 4500mah and camera is the edge the Infinix Note 3 has over it (and maybe the GPU too, LOL)

* The phone is very light in hand, easy to hold and it almost doesn't heat up at all even under 5 hours 3g browsing and downloading. I guess it's PROBABLY because it was made of plastic.

* Did I mentioned it is very flat too?

* The back cover design has this not-so smooth surface but cool feel.

So back to main stuff - A LITTLE DESCRIPTION OF THE PHONE

~ The front camera (which has no flash) is placed at the center of the phone and the LED notification light right under it with an encircled "M" logo to the top right of the phone screen. Makes the camera good for selfie positioning.

~ The back camera is at the top left of the back with the flash right below it. Another encircled "M" logo at the center but almost at the top of the phone and the phone name "mi-tribe x" written at the bottom horizontally.

~ The speakers are placed right under the phone. What I like about the speaker position being below the phone area  is because it won't easily gather dust compared to speakers at the back of phones. For those who are curious of its sound output I would say it's okay (not too loud and not too low)

~ The charging port is in-between the 2 speaker holes

~ While the earpiece port is at the top to the left. The earpiece sound makes sense.

~ The volume key is at the right side of the phone, so also is the power on/off key right under it

~ And lastly the battery lasts about 5h41m under heavy usage oooo (pretty tough for a 2000mah)


You may be wondering "so what's the downside of this device?" well I would only say it's the battery but for me all I ever wanted (just like the boot up tone sings) is speed and I got it 100% in browsing and navigating from apps to apps (I have over 120 apps on the phone besides pre-installed ones o [some are large e.g Clash of Kings, ShadowGun and some are small (but maybe more than 100% at the browsing part coz I tweaked the speed, no mind me o, I just can't resist tinkering my devices). But not to worry about the battery, I did my research b4 buying d brand, I have the address of their office where a frnd got a replacement battery for mi-a500.

So before I conclude this I must say that I rooted it successfully (but not easily at all, it proved really stubborn and at the risk of bricking it without backup). I removed some bloatwares, added a few tweaks of mine, from launcher & icon pack, 3g speed tweak, build props, to fonts (even to system fonts [VERY RISKY] and well, down to expanding the app storage location [all tnx to my 32GB ADATA sd card]

So in conclusion this phone is well worth the money (30.5k) and if you are reading this and having the thought of getting a new phone pls use the speed of Xender to order yours from Konga sharply.

Pls note that I am not affliated with the company in any way and not a marketer nor a sales rep for Konga.

A frnd of mine called me "Tech enthusiast" and that would rightly describe me but I am known on WhatsApp as Da Seeker (I look for the most hard-to-find details on Androids, etc and in this case create one if there isn't any for the explicit goal of spreading it to others in dire need of it). So my intention for this post is NOT to brag about ANYTHING but to let all viewers on Nairaland get this detailed info of this dark horse for a cost not more than FREE (I might have described it too accurate sef).

Drop me a qstn and I will try to reply as fast as possible. Thanks for taking your time. Pictures are below.

When new...

...

More...

More pix

More

Cpu-z

After full tweaks is completed

3. System Font evidence

Beautifully written. You finished work. I use the younger brother A500 and I must say its my best buy ever!

they just added few things ..
why did they reduce the battery mAh?
love the inclusion of led light and upgrade of the back cam to 8mp.

we still using the younger bros..
need parts oh
nergergy how far?

gee message me back on WhatsApp.
lost contacts

Donsammi:
they just added few things ..
why did they reduce the battery mAh?
love the inclusion of led light and upgrade of the back cam to 8mp.

we still using the younger bros..
need parts oh
nergergy how far?

The back camera is actually 13mp sir

Donsammi:
they just added few things ..
why did they reduce the battery mAh?
love the inclusion of led light and upgrade of the back cam to 8mp.

we still using the younger bros..
need parts oh
nergergy how far?

Which parts you need?

Please i just bought one and wish to say the battery drains fast... Please where is their office so that I can get a battery replacement

ryfoz:
When new...

OMG! Why do I see China's UC browser?

2000mah with the current power supply is a NO NO

funmey:
Please i just bought one and wish to say the battery drains fast... Please where is their office so that I can get a battery replacement

4 Dice Technology, 20 Francis Oremeji Street, Computer Village, Ikeja Lagos

08187573269

08098987808.

cnboy90:

OMG! Why do I see China's UC browser?

Do you care to elaborate on your question that my addled mind doesn't seem to comprehend?

Hmmm, Mister, Can I make a review of your review?

Firstly, I'd like to state that this shouldn't be taken to be an insulting post or a post geared to spite your work, rather, it should be seen as a positive and constructive criticism of a subject that interests me a lot.

Mr. ryfoz, you've done well in trying to let us know about the device called Mi tribe A500s. At least, you've brought to our awareness the device's existence.

But then, That which you called a 'Hands-on review' has not done well enough to deserve that title. You only ran through everything the device has and doesn't have in a manner that wasn't too organized. Ordinarily, a Hands-on review needs to have Order of analysis; it could look like - overview, Look and feel, Battery life, Camera, OS and processor, etc- in any order you choose! And then, each order has to be explained in details. Your review lacked the ordering, which made it lack the efficiency it could have had otherwise.

adeboyewareez:
Firstly, I'd like to state that this shouldn't be taken to be an insulting post or a post geared to spite your work, rather, it should be seen as a positive and constructive criticism of a subject that interests me a lot.

Mr. ryfoz, you've done well in trying to let us know about the device called Mi tribe A500s. At least, you've brought to our awareness the device's existence.

But then, That which you called a 'Hands-on review' has not done well enough to deserve that title. You only ran through everything the device has and doesn't have in a manner that wasn't too organized. Ordinarily, a Hands-on review needs to have Order of analysis; it could look like - overview, Look and feel, Battery life, Camera, OS and processor, etc- in any order you choose! And then, each order has to be explained in details. Your review lacked the ordering, which made it lack the efficiency it could have had otherwise.

Okay tnx adeboye, I appreciate your personal opinion and suggestion for improvement, I will take it under advisement on any next post.

adeboyewareez:
Hmmm, Mister, Can I make a review of your review?

Sure, it's okay, I would love that sef

ryfoz:


Do you care to elaborate on your question that my addled mind doesn't seem to comprehend?

I'm just curious, how many users of the UC browser in foreign countries, first of all I know it is popular in India.

cnboy90:

I'm just curious, how many users of the UC browser in foreign countries, first of all I know it is popular in India.

if you are implying how I got the uc browser app den I will say I "downloaded" it from playstore just like other apps, I don't seem to see the correlation of it with China ooo

ryfoz:
if you are implying how I got the uc browser app den I will say I "downloaded" it from playstore just like other apps, I don't seem to see the correlation of it with China ooo

Oh Baby, you're so cute. The first use of the Internet?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCWeb

No wonder. After all, you come from low -HDI countries.

cnboy90:
Oh Baby, you're so cute. The first use of the Internet?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UCWeb
No wonder. After all, you come from low -HDI countries.

your point is?

ryfoz:


your point is?

Learn how many users of UC overseas. So simple.

cnboy90:
Learn how many users of UC overseas. So simple.

cnboy90:
Learn how many users of UC overseas. So simple.

ryfoz:
* The phone is very light in hand, easy to hold and it almost doesn't heat up at all even under 5 hours 3g browsing and downloading. I guess it's PROBABLY because it was made of plastic.

* Did I mentioned it is very flat too?

* The back cover design has this not-so smooth surface but cool feel.

So back to main stuff - A LITTLE DESCRIPTION OF THE PHONE

~ The front camera (which has no flash) is placed at the center of the phone and the LED notification light right under it with an encircled "M" logo to the top right of the phone screen. Makes the camera good for selfie positioning.

~ The back camera is at the top left of the back with the flash right below it. Another encircled "M" logo at the center but almost at the top of the phone and the phone name "mi-tribe x" written at the bottom horizontally.

~ The speakers are placed right under the phone. What I like about the speaker position being below the phone area  is because it won't easily gather dust compared to speakers at the back of phones. For those who are curious of its sound output I would say it's okay (not too loud and not too low)

~ The charging port is in-between the 2 speaker holes

~ While the earpiece port is at the top to the left. The earpiece sound makes sense.

~ The volume key is at the right side of the phone, so also is the power on/off key right under it

~ And lastly the battery lasts about 5h41m under heavy usage oooo (pretty tough for a 2000mah)


You may be wondering "so what's the downside of this device?" well I would only say it's the battery but for me all I ever wanted (just like the boot up tone sings) is speed and I got it 100% in browsing and navigating from apps to apps (I have over 120 apps on the phone besides pre-installed ones o [some are large e.g Clash of Kings, ShadowGun and some are small (but maybe more than 100% at the browsing part coz I tweaked the speed, no mind me o, I just can't resist tinkering my devices). But not to worry about the battery, I did my research b4 buying d brand, I have the address of their office where a frnd got a replacement battery for mi-a500.

So before I conclude this I must say that I rooted it successfully (but not easily at all, it proved really stubborn and at the risk of bricking it without backup). I removed some bloatwares, added a few tweaks of mine, from launcher & icon pack, 3g speed tweak, build props, to fonts (even to system fonts [VERY RISKY] and well, down to expanding the app storage location [all tnx to my 32GB ADATA sd card]

So in conclusion this phone is well worth the money (30.5k) and if you are reading this and having the thought of getting a new phone pls use the speed of Xender to order yours from Konga sharply.

Pls note that I am not affliated with the company in any way and not a marketer nor a sales rep for Konga.

A frnd of mine called me "Tech enthusiast" and that would rightly describe me but I am known on WhatsApp as Da Seeker (I look for the most hard-to-find details on Androids, etc and in this case create one if there isn't any for the explicit goal of spreading it to others in dire need of it). So my intention for this post is NOT to brag about ANYTHING but to let all viewers on Nairaland get this detailed info of this dark horse for a cost not more than FREE (I might have described it too accurate sef).

Drop me a qstn and I will try to reply as fast as possible. Thanks for taking your time. Pictures are below.

Is it a better buy than tecno l8 lite, sorry if it sounds funny.... #justasking... Need to know which to get. Cheers

It's a mid-range phone. Not that powerful but still nice phone.