6.5" Phablet that works!

[lookylooky]

I'm familiar with all of the above methods but with certain models it's just no use. Yes it's the same GPS but the most important thing you mentioned is the last part about the GPS antenna. Poorly designed, placed GPS antenna hardware will cause all sorts of problems.
I believe the GPS portion of the newer Mediatek SoCs works just fine, and that the hardware is the true problem. There are many threads sound the web about the zopo zp998 gps. The zopo zp990 was also beyond help.
I've found several models recently that will lock when being tested with apps but when you try to actually use them they aren't very good.
Careful or your car will end up inside a shopping mall or underwater....lol

[Sniper47]

You're familiar, but did you attempt all suggested solutions as above? If so, I guess our experience has just been different. Have had several zopo phones. Never had an issue with them or any other MTK phone.

Regarding incorrect location in navigation apps, this will sometimes depend on which app you use. Not are all calibrated to work with MTK GPS data. Some will work fine, others not.

[lookylooky]

I don't want to steal the thread so we'll have to agree to disagree...lol.
Cheers

[Sniper47]

I don't disagree with you. Just asking whether every non-invasive solution had been tested. We're not stealing the thread. I think it's relevant. Anyways... Good to note 998 and k1 are problematic.

[Sanxion]

Why do you guys think the manufacturers have not resolved the GPS issue? I find it strange that after all these years of having GPS enabled phones that have worked (generally) fine from Nokia, HTC, Samsung and LG, the Chinese ones still have problems. It really does take the shine of what is usually a very good and cost effective alternative to the mainstream manufacturers.

[Sniper47]

I've never had an issue with MTK GPS, but have had issues with Qualcomm based phones.

As many models work fine with GPS, its likely due to antenna placement and/or buggy ROMs.

Also, I can't count the number of times GPS problems were due to not allowing enough time for the first lock.

[Sanxion]

Difficult to find someone who's complained about iOcean. I don't think you can go wrong there.

I am delighted to say that I purchased an iOcean G7 and have been using it for the last two weeks without encountering any significant issue.

Screen: Bright, vibrant and has excellent viewing angles.
Audio: A definite improvement over the standard issue. The speaker is louder and less 'tinny' in comparison to my iNew i6000.
GPS: Quick and accurate. This is a relief as it was a reason for upgrading from my iNew i6000.
Battery: I consider myself a 'heavy user' and the 35000mAh provides approximately 7/8 hours continous operation.

My only complaint would be the 'knock to wake' feature. It does not always work. I suspect a software issue.

However, in conclusion I am very pleased...although an OS upgrade to KitKat would place the proverbial icing on the cake!

[rihval]

However, in conclusion I am very pleased...although an OS upgrade to KitKat would place the proverbial icing on the cake!

Don't worry about that. Probably this month or next will see KitKat in our G7.
Iocean just released the KitKat betas for X7S and X8 and the next one is ours (at least this is what they told me when I asked in their facebook. Also in the official chinese forums they told the same to the people: KitKat for G7 is very close.
Greetings

[Sanxion]

However, in conclusion I am very pleased...although an OS upgrade to KitKat would place the proverbial icing on the cake!

Don't worry about that. Probably this month or next will see KitKat in our G7.
Iocean just released the KitKat betas for X7S and X8 and the next one is ours (at least this is what they told me when I asked in their facebook. Also in the official chinese forums they told the same to the people: KitKat for G7 is very close.
Greetings

Thanks for the information.

Releasing KitKat would demonstrate iOcean's software support and concern in addition to their hardware excellence.

[bodgerx]

Difficult to find someone who's complained about iOcean. I don't think you can go wrong there.

I will complain here.

I am an iOcean G7 owner. This is a 6.4" device with a Mediatek 8 core processor, a FHD display and some fancy stuff like Gorilla Glass 3 and a sapphire camera lens cover.

It is a great phone in some aspects (display mainly, but the camera isn't too bad).

But...

For a device packing an Octacore Mediatek processor, with the Antuttu score it gets, it's not exactly the smoothest most stable device in operation (my wife's Lenovo S930 runs rings around it with its much older processor, for example).

Also, whilst the GPS is fine for a highly forgiving application like Google turn-by-turn directions, where you want it to actually plot a taken route using an app like Strava (running and cycling) it is pretty hopeless. A lot of the reviews for these devices just focus on the initial lock - which is not really the problem with GPS, you want actual real time, in motion performance.

My best advice to anyone that wants a huge Chinese phone, is to buy from the tier 1 manufacturers such as:

Lenovo
OPPO
Xiaomi
ZTE
Huawei

And then, secondly, avoid Mediatek processors if you can. If you can't, the only larger phones (with MTK) that I know of (or tried) that are stable, and do have half decent GPS are:

Xiaomi Redmi Note (5.5 inches)
Lenovo S930 (6.0 inches)
Huawei Honor 3X (5.5 inches)

Take a look at the 5.5 inch devices, I find that anything 6 inches and over gets pretty tiresome to deal with after the initial novelty has worn off.

I am sure iOcean are trying hard, and have a decent following, but I just don't believe the other manufacturers have the testing facilities, budget and experience that the tier one makers have, and that shows in a lot of the devices out there.

Oh, and as a parting shot, my iOcean has now been send half way around the world to Shenzhen, as the home/back/menu nav buttons broke a week ago. "Go figure" as they say in the USA...