A few weeks ago the Green Orange N1 appeared like a mirage! Its top-level specs and beautiful design appealed to me so much that I didn’t think twice before buying it!
Green Orange offer 3 versions of the N1, the top of the range one being the Green Orange N1 Super, which packs a full HD display and is probably the one which many of you will be interested in buying. After some thought though I decided the mix of a 1080 display and 2000mAh battery wouldn’t go well together, you probably would have to run the brightness as low as possible meaning you wouldn’t take advantage of all those lovely pixels to get your self through the day! So I decided to go for the Green Orange N1 Speed!
In my opinion a 1280 x 720p display is more than enough for most people, unless you happen to read your emails with e magnifying glass that is, so the lower pixel count doesn’t isn’t a big issue as I can enjoy better performance and longer battery life.
Buying the Green Orange N1 Speed
I bought the Green Orange N1 Speed from Android-Cream. I decided to use this company thanks to the excellent service and the considerate customer care they had shown when I bought a ZTE grand S for my brother. The thing i like most about android-cream.com is that they present the worst case scenario instead of fooling you with empty promises like other shops do (in my experience).
In my case, the phone was at my doorstep six days after my order, despite the notice on their website saying that the shipment could take place after a week due to low stocks. Shipment with DHL was fast and I didn’t pay any customs duty since I asked to declare a commercial value below the 27USD threshold set in my country.
I immediately downloaded instructions and tools provided by Jamie (very kind guy at android cream support team) and in 10 minutes my phone was rooted and translated to Italian language- and i’m the noobest android noob on plant earth! AMAZING! Rooting this phone is required to add custom locales, since most of locale switching apps are not supported on Android 4.2.
The only way to get apps in your language is to root the phone, download βMoreLocale 2β and grant it needed permissions through Supersu. (Supersu is automatically installed after rooting process)
Green Orange N1 Speed Review
First Impressions N1 – Simple, clean, and thin!
Green Orange seems to be attentive to details. The packaging is quite elegant and minimalist with an interior layout similar to current iPhone boxes. The phone feels really sturdy and heavier than I expected (The ZTE Grand S feels like a toy compared to the N1 ), in fact it is more or less the same weight as an iPhone 4. I find the power button position, in the middle of the left side, really convenient. The micro usb at the top is also handy when using the phone while on charge.
The N1 design is simple and clean, so thin and sexy that I can’t stop looking at it.
Screen – Bright and crisp!
The 1280*720p 5β display is really bright . The content looks crisp and colors are vivid and not overly saturated (unlike my Oppo Finder). White color leans toward warming tones just like my old iPhone 4.
I’m really happy with this resolution, especially since i discovered it eats up only 2% of the battery!
Camera – 13 mega-pixel camera is beautiful!
You can judge by yourself, the 13 megapixel back camera shots are beautiful,
with detailed colours and contrast in good light.
Green Orange N1 photo samples
Low light shots are better than i expected, but N1strong LED flashlight can help sometimes. Green Orange’s MYUI ROM (not the same as the Xiaomi MIUI ROM) has a lot of built in filters and effects to help you tweak your photos to look how you want in no time.
Green Orange N1 video sample
Battery – Great for heavy phone and internet use!
Since i have received it, N1 is always in my hands. I don’t play games, but i’m an expert battery drainer. I read news, write emails, watch videos, play music and make about 30 phone calls a day.
From 100% to 0% battery lasts about 34 hours, so by the end of the first day, starting from 8:00 am, i still have 50% juice, and it’s a good result considering my sim card only supports 3G.
Sound – Rich, but quiet speaker.
The built-in Green Orange N1 speaker has a rich sound with and wide frequency spectrum, but output volume is not loud enough in my opinion.
There’s an βearphone sound enhancerβ option in the Audio profiles menu called BesAudEnh (?), which totally ruins the sound when listening to music with earphones or aux connection.
It pushes mid frequencies, cuts low-end, and significantly reduces stereo width.
Completely useless. Turning this option off will make the sound clean and warm with a nice bottom end and clear and wide hi frequencies
Performance – Just as fast as I hoped!
N1 Speed is based on a quad-core MTK6589T clocked at 1.5Ghz. Everything runs smoothly as expected except for the custom MyUI launcher which is slightly laggy. Nova Launcher was the first app i installed and performance is much better.
I have downloaded Angry Birds Star Wars for the sake of science and GizChina readers.
It runs perfectly, but i don’t know how resource intensive this game is, so if you have any suggestion just comment and i’ll be happy to make a new test.
On First Antutu benchmark N1 scored 15987, but i didn’t take a screenshot. Here you can see the second test score.
Green Orange N1 review
I’m truly satisfied with this phone, it perfectly matches my taste and needs. Green Orange has done a great job launching a really solid product with a great personality and smart software solutions.
Let’s hope they keep on this track for the next models. I’m sure we can expect other great value phones from them.
Good review!
Hope you will enjoy your phone :)!
I do π ! Thanks
Perfect review, thanks a lot!
Good review! Its fantastic that Gizchina lets readers get involved and submit reviews. Lets us get good, first hand experiences
great review.
>>The micro usb at the top is also handy when using the phone while on charge.
It’s not that obvious π
Anyway, great review!
Thank you π
I prefer having micro usb at top because you have more space to touch the lower buttons.
But answering the phone while on charge can easily break fragile micro-usb connector, if the latter is on top π
Got your point, i will take my time before answering calls while on charge from now π
Great review, looks like a really good phone with good build quality, also like that it has a 720p screen.
Great review.
Thanks :0)
Nice Review! Does this have a notification led? If yes, then is it a RGB type?
Thanks!
No LED notifications for this phone
why many chinese companies forgot to install a simple led for notifications?!?!?!?
They don’t forget they either leave them out for costs or in this case it is likely due to lack of space this phone is pretty stacked and measures just 6.98mm!
Is the battery 2000 or 2500 mah??
Battery is 2500mah.
My experience with the N1 is overall good. However it is difficult/impossible to get a GPS signal with this phone. Google maps and “look around” from Weixin will not work properly. (I live in Shanghai)
The camera is OK unless things are moving fast.
Wifi signal is reasonable.
Screen is perfect.
Size of the phone: a bit too big for my taste. The screensize is the same as the Galaxy s4 but the space above and below the lcd-screen is too large.
@Klive Reytan: what is your experience with the GPS signal?
I agree, GPS signal is not really strong, i have downloaded a signal test tool to check. Google maps does work for me, but it takes some time to get signal
After matching NTP Server GPS is fixed in 30seconds… If you have rooted your phone you chan download FasterGPS or edit gps.conf in System/etc
Don’t know how I missed this. Might be the perfect Jiayu G4 killer! Thanks for the review, Klive, hope you enjoy the phone. Looks like it’s got a great build.
Jiayu g4 killer? Green Orange N1 Speed 360$
Jiayu g4 220$. The real Jiayu g4 killer is Xiaomi mi2s.
thanks to you for reading @Yash3339 π
Good review!
Hope you will enjoy your phone :)!
I do π ! Thanks
Perfect review, thanks a lot!
Good review! Its fantastic that Gizchina lets readers get involved and submit reviews. Lets us get good, first hand experiences
great review.
>>The micro usb at the top is also handy when using the phone while on charge.
It’s not that obvious π
Anyway, great review!
Thank you π
I prefer having micro usb at top because you have more space to touch the lower buttons.
But answering the phone while on charge can easily break fragile micro-usb connector, if the latter is on top π
Got your point, i will take my time before answering calls while on charge from now π
Great review, looks like a really good phone with good build quality, also like that it has a 720p screen.
Great review.
Thanks :0)
Nice Review! Does this have a notification led? If yes, then is it a RGB type?
Thanks!
No LED notifications for this phone
why many chinese companies forgot to install a simple led for notifications?!?!?!?
They don’t forget they either leave them out for costs or in this case it is likely due to lack of space this phone is pretty stacked and measures just 6.98mm!
Is the battery 2000 or 2500 mah??
Thank for the note on GPS as well, thats the sector that I’m really worried about, so rooting is still needed for GPS, is the ZP980 faster or the UMI X2 anyone ?
i wouldn’t say rooting is needed for GPS to work.
After installing FasterGPS, GPS fix time has gone from 1 minute to 30 seconds.
Yes, it’s half time, but i don’t use Google Maps for 1 minute driving distance π
Battery is 2500mah.
My experience with the N1 is overall good. However it is difficult/impossible to get a GPS signal with this phone. Google maps and “look around” from Weixin will not work properly. (I live in Shanghai)
The camera is OK unless things are moving fast.
Wifi signal is reasonable.
Screen is perfect.
Size of the phone: a bit too big for my taste. The screensize is the same as the Galaxy s4 but the space above and below the lcd-screen is too large.
@Klive Reytan: what is your experience with the GPS signal?
I agree, GPS signal is not really strong, i have downloaded a signal test tool to check. Google maps does work for me, but it takes some time to get signal
After matching NTP Server GPS is fixed in 30seconds… If you have rooted your phone you chan download FasterGPS or edit gps.conf in System/etc
Don’t know how I missed this. Might be the perfect Jiayu G4 killer! Thanks for the review, Klive, hope you enjoy the phone. Looks like it’s got a great build.
Jiayu g4 killer? Green Orange N1 Speed 360$
Jiayu g4 220$. The real Jiayu g4 killer is Xiaomi mi2s.
thanks to you for reading @Yash3339 π
Is the back removable?
no it is not removable
Thank for the note on GPS as well, thats the sector that I’m really worried about, so rooting is still needed for GPS, is the ZP980 faster or the UMI X2 anyone ?
i wouldn’t say rooting is needed for GPS to work.
After installing FasterGPS, GPS fix time has gone from 1 minute to 30 seconds.
Yes, it’s half time, but i don’t use Google Maps for 1 minute driving distance π
Thanks for the review !!!!
thanks for reading
Nicw review thanks
Is the back removable?
no it is not removable
Happy you like it π
Thanks for the review !!!!
thanks for reading
Great review but what about the google play store? does it work after rooting?
Nope, you must do this:
Root the phone first with a MTK6589 root.
Then you have to download on the phone:
GoogleServicesFramework
GoogleLoginService
Google play store
Copy them in system/app with RootExplorer
Press mount R/W
Set permissions like the other files in that folder:
R-W
R
R
Reboot your Phone and open Play store
Nicw review thanks
Happy you like it π
Great review but what about the google play store? does it work after rooting?
Nope, you must do this:
Root the phone first with a MTK6589 root.
Then you have to download on the phone:
GoogleServicesFramework
GoogleLoginService
Google play store
Copy them in system/app with RootExplorer
Press mount R/W
Set permissions like the other files in that folder:
R-W
R
R
Reboot your Phone and open Play store
Guys, does this phone have microSD card slot? I was waiting for Faea F2 but they have changed tech specs and ruined all my plans about of buying it.
no..this phone does not have card slot..only internal memory..
Guys, does this phone have microSD card slot? I was waiting for Faea F2 but they have changed tech specs and ruined all my plans about of buying it.
no..this phone does not have card slot..only internal memory..
Can you give me a contact Email from android-cream? I ordered a day ago with paypal and i have not even revived a confirmation Email! Also nobody has answered the messages I wrote in the “Contact Us” option.
I don’t know who Android-cream are.
Thanks Andi! The question was more ment for klive reytan, because he wrote that he had contact with them.
SPAM folder is always the first thing to check π
I am going to have to dig a deeeeeep hole for this embarrassment… π
thanks again!
Are you good at Android tweaking? pls contact me when you receive N1, i want to ask you a question
I have been playing around with my HD2 and various ROMs but I don’t think that counts as good π I will do that!
i guess you are still better than me, i’ll be waiting for your email
Will see, till then! π
Can you give me a contact Email from android-cream? I ordered a day ago with paypal and i have not even revived a confirmation Email! Also nobody has answered the messages I wrote in the “Contact Us” option.
I don’t know who Android-cream are.
Thanks Andi! The question was more ment for klive reytan, because he wrote that he had contact with them.
SPAM folder is always the first thing to check π
I am going to have to dig a deeeeeep hole for this embarrassment… π
thanks again!
Are you good at Android tweaking? pls contact me when you receive N1, i want to ask you a question
I have been playing around with my HD2 and various ROMs but I don’t think that counts as good π I will do that!
i guess you are still better than me, i’ll be waiting for your email
Will see, till then! π
Really good review and very informative. @Matthiess did that company get back in touch with you about your purchase?? I maybe in the market and need a reliable vendor to buy from…
Everything cleared up! π
Really good review and very informative. @Matthiess did that company get back in touch with you about your purchase?? I maybe in the market and need a reliable vendor to buy from…
Everything cleared up! π
Launched by XOLO in India in the name of Q1000S, for 17,999 INR which is quite a bit less than what Chinese stores ask for the device! I think this device is a major win.
Launched by XOLO in India in the name of Q1000S, for 17,999 INR which is quite a bit less than what Chinese stores ask for the device! I think this device is a major win.
In india its named as q1000s
i was just leaping to buy ths device bt i believe its not upto the mark
1 sim slot only
no sim card support
no gorrila or dragontail glass
also i see as per this review benchmark is not upto the standard,the downgraded ver of this phone which is q1000 scores above 13500 in antutu,so plz lool before u leap.
In india its named as q1000s
i was just leaping to buy ths device bt i believe its not upto the mark
1 sim slot only
no sim card support
no gorrila or dragontail glass
also i see as per this review benchmark is not upto the standard,the downgraded ver of this phone which is q1000 scores above 13500 in antutu,so plz lool before u leap.