Probably the best value 5 incher in the market. I bought the Agora in February this year, it works a treat if you are on the Optus network (however Kogan should have resolved connectivity to other services by now) and great for watching videos with no lag.
Ainol will have the upper hand but the main thing that differentiates the Kogan with countless of Chinese phones with better specs is that we're dealing with a warranty given by an Australian company.
So you don't expect the 5 incher to stand up to ainol?
It seems that this 5 incher is penetrating the Ainol market….
Actually, I thought ainol dealt with tablets? o.o
Clink.
if size matters definitely ainol
Alot of people would choose size over performance
This is true, but a 5" can perform like a 7" if you know how to use it right…
so whats your prediction in terms of performance with a 10"
So long as the 10" has a good refresh rate you should get some decent performance out of it.
We are still talking about phones here right?
the main thing that differentiates the Kogan with countless of Chinese phones with better specs is that we're dealing with a warranty given by an Australian company.
Ah, no.
"This Product is offered and supplied by Kogan HK Limited pursuant to the Terms and Conditions."
And now for all the inuendo..
Wow! The $30 per inch barrier has been broken.
But it is only 480x800 pixels. Not very impressive in 2013.
Yeah, 480x800 on a 5" screen I just can't imagine looking very nice, especially if it's not a fast device - but hey, it's $150 so I guess you get what you pay for, as long as it works.
It does kinda resemble an S3 though, hmm.
Not very impressive in 2013.
Well it's a cheaper phone. You can get Full HD phones now. You can't expect the latest tech and have the cheapest price.
Unfortunately, the 16 year old schoolboy humour hasn't been broken.
RAM 512MB
This is a big letdown….
1GB should be the minimum.
After OS loaded, there is no much for user applications.
I have used an Android with 512MB RAM, after using Facebook for a while, Facebook was forced to stop.
$149
I have a Kogan. I have not found Ram to be a problem because it isn't filled with the unnecessary extras that Samsungs Touchwiz /HTC Sense fill the UI with.
I had the same thoughts as you but took the gamble and I'm glad I did. I have very occasional lag but nothing compared to the lag of my old Galaxy S2. That phone turned me off Android for so long.
Android 2.2+ : 256-512MB ram
Android 4.0 ICS/4.2 JB: 1GB-2GB ram
That's great mate..
Android 4.0 ICS: I have the phone, I'm typing on it and no issues. When you've used it for two months 24/7 then you'd be able to provide a review but until then, you probably can't provide a constructive review….
What's that? You've used a 512mb ics phone? Was it a Kogan? No? Then how can you definitively state that the Kogan is a poor performer?
I have used an Android with 512MB RAM, after using Facebook for a while, Facebook was forced to stop.
Many newer apps tend to still run in the background for updates while still using up your RAM (can also affect batt life). On a phone that has 512MB RAM w/ ICS or JB; just get a task killer app to free up RAM auto.
Add postage $19 and there are plenty of other options, especially if you look at Kogans support reputation and the faults in the first batch.
The obsession with resolution is silly, it has a higher pixel density than an Ipad mini.
I have an Chinese Android 4.1 phone (not a Kogan) running 512meg of ram and have no ram issues using it all day for work, more would be better as always but mine at least is cheap, fast and reliable.
Thinking of getting a 'no-name' chinese phone, but wondering about the build quality & avg battery life (per batt)?
Do I choose between brandless phone with better specs or a brand-name phone with lower specs….? All about tradeoffs really.
Good build quality and excellent battery life. Mine lasts from the time I wake up to when I go to bed.
I'm a heavy work user. Stacks of email, docs, calls and txts.
Tradeoff is its cheaper…
Thanks. So anywhere between min 8-16hrs use (or 1+ days on standby) on full charge? Also, is your phone a single, dual or quad core?
I'd say 6-9hours is conservative.
Standby time is ridiculously good. I can't emphasise enough just how great it is. I would love to just let it sit and see how many days it'll last but my phone is constantly receiving emails, txts and calls along with my internet browsing and app usage.
I recently had 6% battery left at 5pm but did not have time to charge it before going to dinner. When I got home at 10:30pm it had dropped to 5%. I even used it during this time to demonstrate its performance.
1ghz dual core. I honestly expected more lag. I do not run a task killer but I do turn it off while I sleep. Not sure if that makes a difference.
Thats not shabby at all! May I ask which chinese wholesale site you bought it off?
Hoping the more pop. stores listed below are legit as I don't want to be scammed.
-Focalprice
-Everbuying
-Buyincoins
-Ahappydeal
It's the Kogan. I imagine it isn't for people that want to run RAM heavy games etc (I haven't tried) but for office work and everyday use it's amazing for the price.
One thing though, all reports state that it sux on Telstra. I'm with Voda and it's great.
My friend recently bought one too so I'll soon be able to report if my phone is a freak one off or if this performance is standard with all Kogan phones.
Got one from Focalprice, Dualsim phone works fine. Battery last up to 2 days if not used often. Ram 512 ROM 4GB.Dual core 1.2g No problems for me(average user).
kogan used to sell quality electronics. nowadays, its just all crap.
Now I'm not advocating the following links for a product, nor the company selling them, but it seems you can get quad core Samsung Galaxy Note 'knock-offs' for as little as $159 (512mb ram version) or $199 for a 'decent' version.
Considering the one from Kogan is really just a Chinese import anyway, and the last cheap item I bought from Kogan was absolute rubbish anyway…
Alos, isn't $149 the usual price for Kogan?
Yes, standard price as far as I know. Also, they don't actually work on the 850MHZ band. No Next-G support.
Phone specs say opposite. Should work on Next-G fine but all others won't get 3G.
Now I'm not advocating the following links for a product, nor the company selling them, but it seems you can get quad core Samsung Galaxy Note 'knock-offs' for as little as $159 (512mb ram version) or $199 for a 'decent' version.
It will only be good if the spec is like what they claim.
Be warned, their included AnTuTu benchmark program might give out fake spec.
2GB RAM might be 512MB RAM in disguise.
1280x720 resolution might be 854x540 resolution in disguise.
My friend got a phone from FCT.
The included AnTuTu says 2GB RAM, 1280x720. After installing and running other System Info app, it is found that the RAM is actually 512MB and resolution is actually 854x540.
Wow, didn't know that they started 'faking it' on the specs front on phones similar to what they do with SD cards coming from China….gonna be more cautious now
This particular phone claims to be having 2GB RAM.
After a few crashes with facebook app, my friend decided to download 3rd party System Info app to test.
The test result was not surprising at all. It confirmed my friend's suspicion.
One particular interesting thing is, the included AuTuTu benchmark app shows that there is 16GB storage + 4GB phone storage. 3rd party System Info only shows 4GB phone storage.
Luckily, my friend paid with Paypal. Not sure if he can get refund via Paypal by telling Paypal about the seller's dishonesty.
Nice to hear some local experience with FCT. I knew that most of the camera Mp where exaggerated eg 8mp is usually 5mp 'interpolated' (aka software up-scaling). But misrepresenting ram is a big issue for me (camera = cgaf). I guess if I was expecting 2gb of ram I would be very suspicious (too good to be true), but 1gb is more believable…. or maybe that's what they want me to think…
Paid for the phone on 27/2.
Kogan stated that it would be shipped on 22/4
On 22/4 Kogan sent me an email saying sorry that the phone would be shipped by 03/5 !
How is this on telstra now? Espec in country areas like Gippsland? & which android version is shipped on the phone?
That's odd. Mine hasn't frozen like this at all. I sometimes have an unresponsive back button but I've put this down to it being dirty. A quick clean on the touchscreen and I'm back in business. I also run a live wallpaper and apps should slow mine down more than the one in this pic as it doesn't have any connectivity (you can see there's no sim inserted.)
I know there was a guy on Whirlpool who had issues with his touchscreen. I'm guessing that's his clip? But in any case type in issues + (phone of your choice) and you'll find a problem with every phone on the market. My mate has returned his Note 2 three times now and in the 4 months of owning it has probably on used it for a quarter of that time due to being in for repairs. Should everyone write off a Note 2?
For those people actually interested, don't let the fearmongerers turn you off. You're obviously looking for a budget smartphone that does the job and you probably don't expect the world from it. Everyone is different but I feel this is the best phone I've owned and the price only makes it better.
Please take the time to read my comments from someone that uses the phone 24/7. If you haven't owned it, how can you properly review it?
Please feel free to ask me questions and I'd be happy to answer them for you.
All this is is a cheap rebadged Chinese product. Much better ones if you buy direct from China through aliexpress etc. Don't pay a premium for Kogans bullshit marketing.
Check out GizChina for some reviews.
That's true but atleast you have some sort of buyer protection by buying it from Kogan. I know their customer service sux but I assessed Kogan vs China and Kogan won. When my mate recently made a preorder, I still encouraged him to buy from Kogan just so there's the benefit of being able to chase it up with Fair Trading (if it ever comes to this).
I also took the 5 yr warranty for $29.
They offer a 5 year warranty on this? That phone will probably stop working by then!
Lol probably. I'll get a new phone if that happens. Very smart investment I think.
you have some sort of buyer protection by buying it from Kogan.
I still encouraged him to buy from Kogan just so there's the benefit of being able to chase it up with Fair Trading (if it ever comes to this).
Not applicable with this item (the phone). As it is a private import sold by a Hong Kong supplier - Kogan HK Pty Ltd
this is so old, it is the same price from the moment they started to sell it, how is it a bargain
Good five incher but how does it compare with ainol?