Hisense A5

[eReader fan]

Received my phone 4 days ago and played a little with it.

Its a good phone. The size, the touch, the weight are excelent. You can set the refreshing option to all the phone, including the system menus and window changing, not like with the A2 pro. Some other things like native apps are shit, but you can install your usual apps, so no problem. Also had the same problem Question mark statted, and with some apps it worked very well the Aurora store, but for some others not. I can install the podcast app I use EVERYDAY, but when I open it it always crash. That's a big problem for me.

GPS, being in Europe, it's not working properly. It works, but not enough precisely for using it confortably to find a certain street. If yu are on a unknown city you will have a problem. Waze worked as I described, but OsmAnd and others didn't even gave me a location. (I tried all this without a SIM card and connected to a WIFI, but I don't think it should influenciate)

About the screen, I love the possibility to adjust the contrast, black and white parameters. It let's you get the better image as this technology can bring. Hisense A2 pro lacks of this, but I think Hisense A6 has it. Yotaphone 3 also has it but it is a dead phone

Frontlight: here comes a point where I can't speak well, but probably 99% users of this forum will have a different result than me. It is a good one, and it works well, but for me who I have an extreme eye strain problem, it's dizzyness. Have to test the phone without the light and see what happens, but for someone like me who can't use a normal-coloured backlighted screen it would be impossible to use the light, maybe for just one minute in a momentaneum situation. This should be for the PWM of the screen when dimming the brightness, so one of this days I will do a test with the light at 100%.

Something it irritates me a little is I can't get rid of the chinesse keyboards. Everytime I want to write it is prompted first the chinesse keyboard, and then cliacking one button it appears the "google" keyboard, but even there there are two buttons in chinesse. More or less, everything is in English, but you are seeing chinesse from time to time

Wanted to try the OTG but I am afraid I throw to the rubbish my cable when I realised all my devices where USB-C. I really thought this phone was USB-C, but no

[Waiting4somethin]

Originally Posted by eReader fan

Frontlight: here comes a point where I can't speak well, but probably 99% users of this forum will have a different result than me. It is a good one, and it works well, but for me who I have an extreme eye strain problem, it's dizzyness.

Same here. I use clip on light even on the phone. And the official amazon kindle case light.

Originally Posted by eReader fan

Something it irritates me a little is I can't get rid of the chinesse keyboards. Everytime I want to write it is prompted first the chinesse keyboard, and then cliacking one button it appears the "google" keyboard, but even there there are two buttons in chinesse. More or less, everything is in English, but you are seeing chinesse from time to time.

I don't know, I think I maybe possibly had a similar problem when I first got the a2pro, but I don't remember the solution, besides disabling in settings and adding other keyboards.

[DaleDe]

The wiki Android article contains substitutes for Google and lots more.

[cartz]

Originally Posted by eReader fan

I can install the podcast app I use EVERYDAY, but when I open it it always crash. That's a big problem for me.

There are plenty of podcasts apps that work great. I use AntennaPod available for free on f-droid. When buying a phone without Google Play you need to be prepared to make some changes to the specific apps you've used in the past, but pretty much everything should be able to be replicated in some way or another.

Originally Posted by eReader fan

GPS, being in Europe, it's not working properly. It works, but not enough precisely for using it confortably to find a certain street. If yu are on a unknown city you will have a problem. Waze worked as I described, but OsmAnd and others didn't even gave me a location. (I tried all this without a SIM card and connected to a WIFI, but I don't think it should influenciate)

With regards to some apps not giving you a location I have found that you often need to kill a previous app that may have been using your location. For example if I use Google Maps and then go to use Here We Go (my preferred app) then it won't get a location. I kill both apps then re-open Here We Go and I am fine.

With regards to your inaccurate location. I haven't had a problem with my A5 (I'm in Australia) but I did have an initial problem with my A2 Pro. After days of experimenting it eventually asked me to recalibrate it by moving the device in a figure 8 motion until it told me to stop. That resolved the inaccuracy issue for me, I don't know how to force it to recalibrate but maybe it is possible.

Originally Posted by eReader fan

Frontlight: here comes a point where I can't speak well, but probably 99% users of this forum will have a different result than me. It is a good one, and it works well, but for me who I have an extreme eye strain problem, it's dizzyness. Have to test the phone without the light and see what happens, but for someone like me who can't use a normal-coloured backlighted screen it would be impossible to use the light, maybe for just one minute in a momentaneum situation. This should be for the PWM of the screen when dimming the brightness, so one of this days I will do a test with the light at 100%.

The latest update to the OS provided a Night mode for the frontlight. If you don't have this option then update and see if that mode is better for you.

Originally Posted by eReader fan

Something it irritates me a little is I can't get rid of the chinesse keyboards. Everytime I want to write it is prompted first the chinesse keyboard, and then cliacking one button it appears the "google" keyboard, but even there there are two buttons in chinesse. More or less, everything is in English, but you are seeing chinesse from time to time

This is easy to resolve. I installed the AnySoftKeybaord from f-droid and remove the other keyboards. I never see any Chinese characters on my keyboard.

[patjee]

Originally Posted by cartz

When buying a phone without Google Play you need to be prepared to make some changes to the specific apps you've used in the past, but pretty much everything should be able to be replicated in some way or another.

Thanks again for everyone on the forum for suggestions for alternative to specific apps. Very useful! Personally, I don't need Google apps per se (i.e. Gmail, etc.) and am happy to change my habits.

Still there are a handful of proprietary apps that I would need/want in order to make the A5 my only phone: Uber, Spotify, a couple of newspapers I subscribe to, the SNCF app (I'm in France)... I suppose if the app doesn't work there is still the option to create a shortcut to the webpage.

I would also need to be able to have an Exchange account (my work account) where I have all my emails, contacts and agenda. But I guess that's not a problem...

[Thepilator]

Guys did we all hurry up and not wait for a New hisense color e ink phone?
What do you think?

Also do you wear tempered glass or gorilla glass is enough for protection?

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by Thepilator

Guys did we all hurry up and not wait for a New hisense color e ink phone?
What do you think?

Also do you wear tempered glass or gorilla glass is enough for protection?

Now that I've been able to use the Aurora Store to get virtually all the apps I need (have not yet, but will eventually try getting some paid apps using a dummy account and a gift card), I am extremely satisfied with the device.

Because I am so happy with this device, I don't feel any need to rush out and purchase a colour eink phone when it comes out. I can wait and see how well the technology holds up, letting others test it out. And who knows, maybe other companies like Onyx will also come out with colour eink phones. So I feel like I can now wait and see without immediately jumping in.

I also suspect that a colour version of the A5 would be significantly more expensive so I can now wait until they improve the tech still further and/or come down in price.

As for the screen on the A5, mine came with a matte screen protector already applied. Not sure if it was put on at the factory or by the CECT Shop. Or perhaps it was an open box item and was put on by somebody else. However, I do like it because it cuts down on the glare.

Did anybody else's A5 come with a matte screen protector already applied?

[orebmur]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Did anybody else's A5 come with a matte screen protector already applied?

Yes, mine too. AFAIK, before actually shipping it, CECT shop opens the box and verifies the device is fully functional. The package we received had a manually filled check list of function tests.

And to answer Thepilators question whether waiting for a color e-ink screen version would have been worth it: No, not for me.

Apart from my dislike of the typical smartphone "experience" i do welcome the A5's greyscale display simply because i don't care for colors. Much prefer using a laptop with a proper keyboard and screen for anything that goes beyond my largely reduced smartphone needs.

[cartz]

Originally Posted by patjee

Still there are a handful of proprietary apps that I would need/want in order to make the A5 my only phone: Uber, Spotify,

Spotify is available on the Amazon App store. I just tested installing Uber via the Aurora Store. It installs fine and I could connect it to my account that I set up ages ago but never used. But I can't test it beyond that as I am currently in a remote location that has no Uber service. Given I got that far with it though, I suspect it should work although I wouldn't expect notifications from it as that would be handled through Google Play Services. So you'd need to have the app open.

[cartz]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

Did anybody else's A5 come with a matte screen protector already applied?

Mine did too, although I didn't realise it was a screen protector until you asked this question. I've never used screen protectors before and thought it was as manufactured. I assume these things don't last indefinitely so I guess I should be looking for where to get replacements and stock up on some.

[cartz]

Originally Posted by Thepilator

Guys did we all hurry up and not wait for a New hisense color e ink phone?
What do you think?

The A5 is such a perfect phone for me I am not interested in a colour version at all. Looking at the video of the colour prototype made me wonder why I would ever want such a phone. Back when I had an iPhone I would frequently go through phases of setting it to greyscale only so I'm not your average user but for those keenly interested in e-ink I question how important colour really is.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by cartz

I've never used screen protectors before and thought it was as manufactured. I assume these things don't last indefinitely so I guess I should be looking for where to get replacements and stock up on some.

I don't really know that there is any need to stock up on the screen protectors. I did precisely that with a different phone a number of years ago and hve never needed any of my back-up protectors which don't fit any of my other devices.

My guess is that, barring any accidental drops or similar mishaps, the screen protector should last a very long time since it will see no stylus use.

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by cartz

The A5 is such a perfect phone for me I am not interested in a colour version at all. Looking at the video of the colour prototype made me wonder why I would ever want such a phone.

Although I don't have a great need for a colour screen on my phone, I could see how it might come in handy at times.

With certain apps, it can sometimes be difficult to navigate them in grayscale because they have not been optimized for an eink device. Having a bit of colour might significantly help with such apps.

For me, it would depend on both the price and the performance of such a device. If a colour eink screen were significantly more expensive or consumed significantly more power, I could easily and happily make do with phone that I've got.

[Villain]

Originally Posted by Question Mark

As for the screen on the A5, mine came with a matte screen protector already applied. Not sure if it was put on at the factory or by the CECT Shop. Or perhaps it was an open box item and was put on by somebody else. However, I do like it because it cuts down on the glare.

Did anybody else's A5 come with a matte screen protector already applied?

Mine came with the matte protectors too. CECT said they had already received them like that. But it was giving me headaches. It reflected the indoor lights in too many directions. I took it off and it's much better now.

[Villain]

Originally Posted by eReader fan

Frontlight: here comes a point where I can't speak well, but probably 99% users of this forum will have a different result than me. It is a good one, and it works well, but for me who I have an extreme eye strain problem, it's dizzyness. Have to test the phone without the light and see what happens, but for someone like me who can't use a normal-coloured backlighted screen it would be impossible to use the light, maybe for just one minute in a momentaneum situation. This should be for the PWM of the screen when dimming the brightness, so one of this days I will do a test with the light at 100%.

I can't use the frontline at all either. It gives me vertigo after a second. But I wanted it to be always off. I have an extreme light intolerance and I can't use LED backlit displays at all. So now that thay developed a color e-ink smartphone, I really hope they will develop a color e-ink monitor as well.