Hisense A5

[nystagmus]

Originally Posted by mobile12

hi all,

first of all thanks for all your info, i appreciated the best apps to download for each category.

i have a problem: when the phone is sleeping, when i type the passcode, it just sometimes just returns to the passcode screen.. if i keep trying/reboot it fixes it temporarily..

any ideas? i haven't used adb or root or anything crazy, the only thing i have done is install Noroot Firewall to block some of the traffic, and i recently updated to the latest version of the software: L1657.6.08.06.00

any help would be appreciated, i just bought this thing, this is a pretty major problem.

it must be a bug as I am having it too, that is why I deactivated PIN

[mobile12]

somewhat strangely I realised that the firewall blocking certain IP addresses for "System UI" was causing the unlock screen to not work. even though I solved my own problem I thought I'd put the solution here in case someone else has the same problem.

[ploum]

As anyone find a way to automatically upload pictures taken with the A5?

Dropbox and Tresorit (installed through aurora store) are not picking the picture folder

[ploum]

for those interested, I created a subreddit :*https://www.reddit.com/r/Inkphone

[orebmur]

On Aliexpress seller "Shen Zhen Frank Technology Co., Ltd" appears to be offering multilanguage versions of the A5 with wildly different price ranges. Languages claimed to be supported are English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, and this almost sounds to be too good to be true. For example:

https://aliexpress.com/item/4000750679110.html

https://aliexpress.com/item/4000712778976.html

Is anybody aware if a multilanguage firmware is available from elsewhere?

[Question Mark]

Originally Posted by orebmur

On Aliexpress seller "Shen Zhen Frank Technology Co., Ltd" appears to be offering multilanguage versions of the A5 with wildly different price ranges. Languages claimed to be supported are English, Russian, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Italian, Turkish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Arabic, and this almost sounds to be too good to be true. For example:

https://aliexpress.com/item/4000750679110.html

https://aliexpress.com/item/4000712778976.html

Is anybody aware if a multilanguage firmware is available from elsewhere?

As it is an Android device, you can probably get quite a few different languages to run on it.

How good will the translations of Chinese be? That's another question. Even in English, the translations sometimes leave you scratching your head. And some things still remain in Chinese. But it is not a huge problem if you are familiar with Android devices.

As for the Frank store, I bought my A2 Pro from them and didn't have any issues. It arrived on time and functioned normally.

I got my A5 from the CECT Shop because they seemed to be the only place that had it at the time. I was very happy with their service and am extremely happy with my A5.

[orebmur]

Originally Posted by orebmur

Is anybody aware if a multilanguage firmware is available from elsewhere?

Following up on myself:

Besides the aforementioned Aliexpress dealer, for a meager additional 10 EUR there is now an internationalized version of the A5 available also in the CECT-Shop website: https://www.cect-shop.com/en/hisense-a5.html?v=11374

The additional firmware variant that now can be chosen says "Multilanguage - With Google Play Store (No OTA Updates) preinstalled".

EDIT: In the meantime, the price difference between firmware version choices has been eliminated. No matter what firmware variant you choose, the final price stays the same. Also please note that the internationalized version sold by CECT-Shop is not modified by them but is sourced from a different supplier who seems to have hacked the device.

[rowe]

Got mine from Cect shop yesterday and loving it so far. It came in 12 days (China>UK).

I'm only planning to use it as an e-reader, not a phone (I have an iPhone for that).

Out of the box, I found it a bit tricky to use initially. Although enough is in English to get by, there is a lot of Chinese in the apps, and a little in the settings.

I struggled to use the built in Chinese browser or store with the built in Chinese/Alphanumeric keyboard, so sideloaded APKs of Gboard and Amazon Appstore.

After that, I found the rest of the setup easy. I installed Moonreader Pro from the Amazon store, then customised it to my liking (downloaded Literata font, stripped out all custom formatting, switched off most of the features)

I've deleted most of the pre-installed apps and doubt I'll use anything except Moonreader.

I set the 'E-ink' button to short press back, double press manual front light (thanks to the translations earlier in this thread).

I'm using the 'super power saving mode', which greatly increases the estimated battery remaining time (from 2 to 7 days). How long it actually lasts remains to be seen This mode has the added benefit of switching the device to an even more minimal layout, with a maximum of 6 available apps. You choose which apps.

Doesn't have warm front-lighting, which I've liked on previous e-readers. But the regular front-lighting on the A5 isn't harsh. On minimum it's comfortable to read in the dark.

The size and aspect of the screen give more of a feeling of reading newspaper columns than a traditional book format. I find it very readable and comfortable to hold.

Cons:
- Resolution noticeably lower than 300PPI e-readers, but ok
- Front-light much less even than modern kindle/boox/pocketbook, but ok

Pros:
- Runs my favourite reading software
- Comfortably fits in my pocket (which means I'll use it a lot more)
- Volume rocker as page up/down buttons

[kyteflyer]

Originally Posted by rowe

Got mine from Cect shop yesterday and loving it so far. It came in 12 days (China>UK).

I'm only planning to use it as an e-reader, not a phone (I have an iPhone for that).

<snip>

I've deleted most of the pre-installed apps and doubt I'll use anything except Moonreader.

I set the 'E-ink' button to short press back, double press manual front light (thanks to the translations earlier in this thread).

I'm using the 'super power saving mode', which greatly increases the estimated battery remaining time (from 2 to 7 days). How long it actually lasts remains to be seen This mode has the added benefit of switching the device to an even more minimal layout, with a maximum of 6 available apps. You choose which apps.

Doesn't have warm front-lighting, which I've liked on previous e-readers. But the regular front-lighting on the A5 isn't harsh. On minimum it's comfortable to read in the dark.

The size and aspect of the screen give more of a feeling of reading newspaper columns than a traditional book format. I find it very readable and comfortable to hold.

Cons:
- Resolution noticeably lower than 300PPI e-readers, but ok
- Front-light much less even than modern kindle/boox/pocketbook, but ok

Pros:
- Runs my favourite reading software
- Comfortably fits in my pocket (which means I'll use it a lot more)
- Volume rocker as page up/down buttons

Thanks for your assessment of it as a reader. I am in the same situation, looking for an e-ink reader thats smaller and easier than kobo/kindle/Sony, but not wanting to give up the iphone.

[patjee]

Originally Posted by orebmur

Following up on myself:

Besides the aforementioned Aliexpress dealer, for a meager additional 10 EUR there is now an internationalized version of the A5 available also in the CECT-Shop website: https://www.cect-shop.com/en/hisense-a5.html?v=11374

The additional firmware variant that now can be chosen says "Multilanguage - With Google Play Store (No OTA Updates) preinstalled".

That's great to know, thanks for the info. I've got mine ages ago, and could actually use Google Play Store... Any idea if there is a way to change the firmware if one already has the phone? How would that be possible?

Also, I'm super happy with the phone, and it replaced my other phone (iPhone). The only recent issue is that the sim car seems to be moving somehow. The phone asks for my sim code at least once a day now, and every couple of days I have to open the sim drawer and put it back in. The sim hasn't visibly moved though, and I even attached it with a (very tiny) bit of tape. The issue is still there. Anyone else noticing that?

[norweger]

Originally Posted by orebmur

Following up on myself:

Besides the aforementioned Aliexpress dealer, for a meager additional 10 EUR there is now an internationalized version of the A5 available also in the CECT-Shop website: https://www.cect-shop.com/en/hisense-a5.html?v=11374

The additional firmware variant that now can be chosen says "Multilanguage - With Google Play Store (No OTA Updates) preinstalled".

Amazing!

Do you think CECT would be able to do the same for Hisense A6L?

[Anghirrim]

Hello, for your information, there are also two threads for this phone on XDA developers.

I've asked more information about the so called multi-lingual rom at cect-shop directly, they kindly answered. Unfortunately, the link to the rom they gave me is pointing to the right thread (from a chinese forum), but the dowload link into the thread is pointing to another file.

I've then done some research and found several links in Chinese forums. You can have a look at the two XDA developers topics below.

I am really interested in buying this phone, but it'll be without me if we can't tweak the rom. Stuff dedicated to Chinese market is always full of crap/spyware/bloatware calling home, this is a big no go for me.
Regarding bootloader unlock, given the bunch of custom roms available for hisense devices to be flashed with the QPST tool under EDL mode, I'd agree as well with the person who wrote here previously that this device may likely be unlocked by default.

Now challenge is to grab some rom .zip and see if it can be tweaked.

See below the XDA threads.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/and...se-a5-t4058081

https://forum.xda-developers.com/pro...e-ink-t4067825

[cartz]

The CECT SHOP are now offering the A5 with an optional firmware that has Google Play. It won't have OTA updates so it is not official but they have obviously found a way to hack it on there.

[patjee]

Originally Posted by cartz

The CECT SHOP are now offering the A5 with an optional firmware that has Google Play. It won't have OTA updates so it is not official but they have obviously found a way to hack it on there.

Any way to install this firmware if one already has the phone?

[Anghirrim]

Originally Posted by patjee

Any way to install this firmware if one already has the phone?

Originally Posted by cartz

The CECT SHOP are now offering the A5 with an optional firmware that has Google Play. It won't have OTA updates so it is not official but they have obviously found a way to hack it on there.

Hi both, you may have you answers in my post just above yours.

The link I was given by the cect-shop guys is unfortunately not good. Maybe one of you can ask them an updated one.

I am at two questions already