www.chinaphonearena.com

I received the beast today
I'm still "forming opinion" but so far, I'm loving it.

It came with 2 screen protectors, 1 already pre-applied (nice touch). The protector de-sensitizes the screen a bit too much, I'll probably remove it soon.
Build quality better than I expected, back cover not so much.
Screen is bright and crisp, evenly lit. I liked call quality and speakerphone.
First trip with navigation was spot on, but on second trip few hours later GPS fell all over. Compass is present.
Data/3G performance - it seems good (max 6.5Mbps in my area). I tested against another phone on same provider and Tronsmart won in every test.
Dual band Wi-Fi checked out OK.
Camera w/flash/autofocus performs well, much better than U650 did.
My blabbing about DPI was pointless, as Pirate_Freder said, these come with tablet-scaled OS, I see no need to mess with it.
My Antutu score was 26802.
The ROM I have on it is... buggy. I noticed the bottom capacitive buttons unresponsive in Antutu and Google Nav at times. Antutu scores got me worried when they hovered around 19000 no matter what, until I pulled the battery (and I had another reason to do so).
I'll continue with some real usage tomorrow if anyone is interested.

Nice , glad you got yours so quickly. Although, do the backlights on your menu and back buttons work? It seems that there is a batch or more out that have non-functional backlights on those, that's why mine is delayed. Hopefully it will pay off though because they are going to try and get me one with NFC when they exchange it. I spoke with Yatay today and they said that the NFC models are ready and that the 1900mhz WCDMA is still in the works. Unfortunately it seems like, as always, they were a bit rushed. The release date actually got pushed back because of software bugs but apparently they didn't get them all.

Glad to hear the data works well too, I was a bit worried about that because of the lack of the 1900 band. How is your reception? I'm definitely surprised about the GPS but I would guess that it's another software bug, especially seeing as the performance is inconsistent like that going from great to crap.

Anywho, can't wait to hear more. I am overwhelmed with angst :/

I see you did your homework. I didn't
Button backlight doesn't work. This makes it annoying because they happen to be hard to hit (small). It's not fun to hunt for buttons, double tap, or try to figure out "did I miss it or was it unresponsive".
I need to ask seller some inconvenient questions.
The power button is small and almost flush with chassis, some hunting is needed there too. I may need to allow volume buttons to wake the device.

So apparently they aren't defective, Yatay disabled the lights, apparently they think it looks better. I told them that we need them on and it was passed on to engineering...we'll see. Flush buttons don't bother me though, that's what muscle memory is for ;).

(2014-04-16, 04:54)Pirate_Freder Wrote: [ -> ]So apparently they aren't defective, Yatay disabled the lights, apparently they think it looks better. I told them that we need them on and it was passed on to engineering...we'll see. Flush buttons don't bother me though, that's what muscle memory is for ;).

Thanks, I was worried that it was component/quality problem, which would be hard to accept up front (lower value). Is it disabled in software ?

First 10 hours on battery, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth on, 35 mins of calls, 1.25hr screen time, 50 texts... battery at 71%. Time to go home and light up that screen for some serious drainage.

Some good battery time so far. If it does same as that and battery drains even, will be 1.5 hours of calls, 4.5 hours on screen over a period of 35 hours. Very interested to see end result. Got a GSAM running?

@Pirate_Freder welcome to the forums, man! I've seen a handful of your posts around here over the past day or two. Looks like you're knowledgeable, friendly AND helpful! Awesome combo. We're lucky to have you on board! Thanks in advance on behalf of the community for all your contributions.

Prior to reading this thread I wasn't considering a U7 but now.... well, my ear is to the ground. I'm a T-Mobile USA loyalist, so eventually getting a 1900 MHz WCDMA band would be stellar. Thanks to you and @Nickos for being the guinea pigs here! Keep us updated on how you like your toys!

@Nickos Not sure yet, I asked how they were disabled but I guess she went afk or something. I'll ask again tonight. Battery life sounds quite good so far

@WuddaWaste Thank you! Great to be a part of a growing community for my new found love, Chinese phones .

Glad we have peaked your interest! The deal on the 1900mhz is it will be 850/1900(not sure about 2100 but that doesn't matter for the US) and they are ready to make them BUT no one has ordered them yet; it is a minimum 3,000 piece order because of new parts.I made it clear Yatay just how important these frequencies are o US customers and how some of there key competition is offering them.

I would love to use T-mobile myself but last I checked the service map for my area was a lie. Map says LTE and good to great reception all around town...reality...no LTE and spottiest reception in the area. Even driving down main street you constantly go in and out of service. Stopping at Whataburger, forget about it, dead zone right on Main St....*shakes head*

(2014-04-16, 05:51)NexusTrix Wrote: [ -> ]Some good battery time so far. If it does same as that and battery drains even, will be 1.5 hours of calls, 4.5 hours on screen over a period of 35 hours. Very interested to see end result. Got a GSAM running?

GSAM is on now, although this is only after first full charge, the battery stats may not be accurate; I will drain it dry with this type of use and retry tomorrow.

@"Nickos" Hey, so it turns out that the issue 1949deal was talking about was actually with the LCD backlight. Is everything ok with yours?