Breaking: JiaYu announce JiaYu G4 launch for the 28th April! However….


The wait is finally over and surprisingly the JiaYu G4 launch has come earlier than expected, as JiaYu have announced that the first batch of JiaYu G4 phones will go on sale this Sunday, 28th April.

The first batch to go on sale will be the 1GB ‘Youth’ version with 3000mAh battery. Retail price is 999 Yuan ($160) for the 10mm thick phone which features a quad-core MT6589 CPU, 4.7-inch OGS display, 13 mega-pixel rear camera and Android 4.2.

Being JiaYu there are a few catches.

Gizchina News of the week


  1. The JiaYu G4 still doesn’t have it’s network license yet and as China will go on Holiday from May 1st for the national vacation the chances of it being delayed are high. Jiayu are saying it will take 7 days for delivery, don’t be surprised if it’s longer.
  2. Only 2000 phones will be available in this first batch, but anyone who attended last weekends JiaYu show will get first refusal.
  3. If you must have this first version of the G4 make sure you can live without OTG support as this early release model doesn’t have it!

With limited stocks, a national holiday looming and no network licence we can assume that only Chinese Jiayu fans will be lucky this time around, but if you do want to try your luck then this is the link you’ll need to order the JiaYu G4 on launch day.

Previous Exclusive first look at the Snapdragon powered JiaYu S1
Next UMi X2 laboratory test shows us just how tough this new phone is!

38 Comments

  1. wacky
    April 25, 2013

    Great news! But i will wait for the advanced version i hope that wont be to long. I hope the button issue is going to be solved to.

  2. ivo001
    April 25, 2013

    1GB is good enoug for me, i just really wanted the 3000mAh battery 🙂

    But no network license means that I can’t use it in the Netherlands?

    • Marius
      April 25, 2013

      No network license in China mean they probably won’t start selling it, to anyone.

    • Marius
      April 25, 2013

      So this is still a may launch at best as previously announced.

  3. Camaman
    April 25, 2013

    Only 2000, that will last for the whole 2 seconds…
    And no OTG support. Why? Are they so hard pressed to release this that they are releasing it half baked

    • Brian from Manchester
      April 25, 2013

      I agree but at least it shows they are on the way….and lets get the half baked ones out of the way so in a week or perhaps we will be able to get(perhaps) a fully baked one in the post

  4. Abir
    April 25, 2013

    Waste of time waiting for JIayu and UMI, here in India similar speced phones are widely available already, people were waiting for UMI X2 and Jiayu G4 as they had spec bumps over their Indian rivals but whats the point waiting for months when by the time they are available the phone world would have already moved on case in point being the Jiayu G3, it was so late to the party that Mediatek 6589 phones were already on the verge of launch and all its buzz faded away

    • yash3339
      April 25, 2013

      Yes good point. And finally when we are starting to see protoypes, they do not come with the promised specification and only at par with other widely available brands.

      • April 25, 2013

        @Yash3339 yes we have prototypes but what use less than 12 K for benchmarks in umi X2 lolz the xolo and gionee gets more and better scores even the karbonn S1 which as q core A5 has almost identical scores

  5. cpaun
    April 25, 2013

    The Jiayu G3 saga once again :)) I ordered G3 in september last year and 2 months later still wasn’t available. I gave it up of course and buyed another phone. So… patience 🙂

  6. ivo001
    April 25, 2013

    If i click the link i find this information:
    ” 2013 28 april 2011″

    Should have been 2013 i think?

  7. Norman Zakaria
    April 25, 2013

    Hey Andi, If i’m not mistaken, I read on that post in the forum that the 2nd batch will start selling another 2000 units on May 1st. Things are looking up =D

  8. newbie
    April 25, 2013

    2000 units! “Xiaomi sells 200,000 Xiaomi M2S in just 45 seconds”. Possibly 2000 units in May and we are supposed to feel hopeful!? Jiayu, you have a group of followers, including me, but do not get to a point of being cruel and rude. A chinese phone manufacturer in a land of how many users just inside the country, can only push out 2K units, what a joke!

    • TerrorSpawn
      April 25, 2013

      That’s right Newbie…

    • Norman Zakaria
      April 25, 2013

      Ok look, u have to understand something. They haven’t got their network license yet so right now they’re just trying 2 get rid of pre-production models and engineering models while they produce the proper Jiayu G4. Once they receive their network license, they’ll start selling the real Jiayu G4 in large quantities about 10000 units per week(That was how much their factory produced Jiayu G3 last time during launch).

      So don’t worry, just wait for a May launch. these 1st n 2nd batches r just their way of getting rid of useless test units, creating more hype by making people think their launching and also shutting up some people who wont stop asking Jiayu to start launching the Jiayu G4 all in one. It’s a very smart marketing tactic and they don’t lose money from making a lot of those test units.

      • yash3339
        April 25, 2013

        +1

  9. Feallan
    April 25, 2013

    Somebody tell me it will support 3G 900 mhz. Please.

  10. curious
    April 25, 2013

    What is a “Network Licence”? Is it China specific or does every global manufacturer need one?

  11. wesleeuw
    April 25, 2013

    Patience is the best thing to do. without this u won’t see the light shining from this (aaaawesome) G4 because u wont get it.
    When it’s there I know it’ll all be worth the waiting ^^

  12. Jon
    April 25, 2013

    Andi, do you have any more info about the quad core version of Jiayu G3 (G3S?)

    • April 25, 2013

      not yet

  13. ArthurLeRoy
    April 25, 2013

    Actually I lost my faith in Jiayu and think the same as some users here.

    Paying not even 100$ more and you can get a quality phone like the Google Nexus 4. And you can be sure that you ll get quality components, 2-year full warranty (in Europe) and the latetest Android updates, as soon as the are launched. (not speaking about, a better performing processor (Antutu G4: 13K vs Nexus4: 16-22K (with franco OC), gpu, etc.)

    I was really hyped by Jiayu phones, but considering the rather small difference in price, and the quite big gap between quality, performance (and I also guess endurance) of the phones, I hardly think that I will decide for Jiayu. Also because of their poor communication policy and behaviour towards clients.

    Anyway, correct me, if you think otherwise 😉 I am curious what you think about it.

    • Feallan
      April 25, 2013

      You could have written this under one article.

    • stachu
      April 25, 2013

      if only Nexus would be dual-sim… That’s the problem with those phones, all are single sim.

  14. newbie
    April 25, 2013

    10K per week.
    1. when? I just started to follow this forum and chinese smartphone, so apologize if I made any wrong accusation. Seem like May is a remote possibility. plus ““Xiaomi sells 200,000 Xiaomi M2S in just 45 seconds”, so 10K is really not much help.
    2. Just take G2S(for my daughter), I have been waiting to buy from their official webshop since after chinese new year(was that early feb). No luck. End up paying 100 yuan extra to purchase from showroom (early April)(plenty available- how come?). Plus adding accessories, all included in some other less known brands – even 2 batteries, bumped the price up another 100 yuan. Probably still a good buy. Just the availability is annoying, frustrating and downright insulting.
    I guess there is just not enough comparable options, so followers like us have to ENDURE. Are there really no other comparable options? how about Amoi(I guess their battery 2050 is a bit weak and camera is a bit less), not much noise about this, in this forum?? I really like to get one now.

    What does “3G视频通话 不支持”, not supported. Does that mean cannot use as phone with 3G?
    Still work in GSM countries ? Still work if use in US? So much to learn!

  15. Norman Zakaria
    April 25, 2013

    China specific. Basically it’s a license to sell phones in China. We have something similar here in Malaysia called SIRIM. All electronics must pass SIRIM in order to legally be sold here.

  16. Norman Zakaria
    April 25, 2013

    +1

  17. Umby
    April 26, 2013

    hello Andi

    Could you advise a reliable dealer and that gives us a good price for the G4?

    I am very interested in knowing the different duration of 2 batteries of both the 1850 of 3000 with a normal phone use.

    When you receive the test phone, you (or any lucky owner) could do this test (battery life) for us?

    thanks Andi

  18. j0p3Y
    April 26, 2013

    Is there a possibility to put a tech-dictionary for this blog/site? OTG support makes me turn to Google to find out what it means. With all info in a glossary that would be history.

  19. Peter
    April 26, 2013

    G4 without gorilla!!!

    • April 26, 2013

      It has Gorilla Glass

      • Peter
        April 27, 2013

        Hi Andi,

        but actually he say it doesn’t have Gorilla …

        www youtube com/watch?v=yXaEScQMcg8

        At 4:17 he say definetly “no no no gorilla”.
        But Jiayu are looking for the international market.. (in the future?)

        But now it has no gorilla….

  20. Kashif
    April 27, 2013

    He is just an indian RETAILER … not a Jiayu representative

  21. Peter
    April 27, 2013

    And what does this mean?

    He dont know what he sells or only in India no gorilla?

  22. Narayan
    April 28, 2013

    Just saw a video that shows an Indian representative (or was he the owner?) of the AndoroidGuruz that is supposed to sell 42 Chinese brands in India in his 200 stores-cum-service centers.

    He says in the movie that-
    1. The target is to sell 6,00,000 pieces in India alone (expected in May-June).

    2. The glass is NOT Corning Gorilla 2.
    According to him, Jiayu will add Gorilla 2 glass later for “international” market.
    (He seemed to imply the developed countries: USA and Europe.)

    However, he seemed to be uncertain on some issues.
    So I hope Gorilla 2 glass is standard and Jiayu does not cut corners in Indian market.
    No point in buying the phone otherwise.

    3. He was also unsure about the size of the SD card (32 GB or 64 GB?)
    He did turn to the Jiayu’s Chinese employee to cross-check, but just then the interviewer moved on to the next question.

    4. He says that AndoroidGuruz will provide warranty-replacement within 3 months.
    THREE months??? What’s the customer supposed to do in the mean time???

    To begin with, Chinese products do not enjoy good reputation for quality/reliability in India (and AsiaPac). So low price is THE critical factor.

    Another critical need is speedy repairs and replacements (to be done through AndoroidGuruz).

    But since AndroidGuruz is playing a critical role in the supply chain, they may be able to convince Jiayu to cut a few corners and grab a few bucks. But it will surely harm Jiayu’s brand-building efforts.

  23. Brian from Manchester
    April 29, 2013

    Ok So that was yesterday ..what happened? Anything or was it postponed another month?

    • April 29, 2013

      It was all very uneventful. All the phones have been bought and the lucky customers are receiving the payment details today. Should ship this week.

  24. Jan M
    April 30, 2013

    With the knowledge of it commercial opponents lagging behind alot, I think it was quite a great move by Xiaomi to pre-produce units before launch. Without this, they would never have had the capablity to push that many items.

    Now Jiayu is lagging behind, this will take a quite notable impact on their sales. As with the G3.

    But keep in mind, the final production models of the G3 was quite a piece of work considering the price. If it hadn’t been, It would /never/ have sold as well as it has – considering how late the release was.

    Chinese phones have had a bad reputation for quality – but this has been changing too, atleast the last year. There are still plenty of oem clone manufacturers that push out crap, unlicenced sets for bottom dollar, but those that have had the posibility to establish their brand in the market – have quite a different production quality. The chinese have a stronger economy, and can afford a few extra $ for better quality – and with MediaTeks developement the last few years, the international market for these phones have exploded.

    With prices being so low already – you can’t really compete much on price-basis, so better quality, stability and performance is the way to go.