Highscreen Yummy Duo - the most budget smartphone with two SIM-cards and a full set of communications

In this review, I want to talk about the low-cost smartphone Highscreen Yummy Duo. We will talk about the updated model in 2013. It was interesting to see what is now offered in the lower price range, and whether it is worth contacting such devices.



Looking ahead, I will say that everything turned out very well. A smartphone costs 4,990 rubles. For a close price now you can find quite a lot of entry-level models. But, first of all, the Yummy Duo niche is a phone with two SIM-cards. And, secondly, the phone has all the communications: Wi-Fi, GPRS, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS-receiver and various sensors. Well, the price, albeit not much, but lower than competitors.

')

I will tell about both generations of Highscreen Yummy Duo, because the new model is very significantly different from the old one for the better. I mainly tested the new model, so I will mention the old one only for comparison.



First, the characteristics of the phones.





It should be understood that we are talking about very inexpensive models, so one should not expect transcendental parameters.

	Highscreen Yummy Duo New (2013)	Highscreen Yummy Duo Old (2012)
CPU	MediaTek MT6575M, 1 GHz	MediaTek MT6573.650 MHz
operating system	Android 4.0.4	Android 2.3.5
RAM / ROM	512/512 MB
Screen	4,3 '', 480x800, capacitive, TN, multitouch
Cameras	5 Mp + 0.3 Mp
Wi-Fi	there is
3G	there is
GPS navigation	GPS, A-GPS
Bluetooth	there is
Two SIM card slots	There is one radio module
Memory card	microSDHC up to 32 GB
Battery	Li-Ion 1500 mA / h

The main differences of the new Highscreen Yummy Duo (2013) from the old Yummy Duo (2012)

• The new processor - MediaTek MT6575M 1 GHz, Cortex-A9 (ARMv7), performance is significantly higher than MediaTek MT6573, energy consumption is less.
• The new design: the case of the new model looks very nice, it became less angular, the frame appeared “under metal”, the touch keys became 3 (it was 4, which corresponds to Android 2.3, but unnecessarily for 4.0).
• The operating system is Android 4.0 vs. 2.3 for the old one. Firmware updates for both Yummy Duo, as I understand it, are not expected.

Appearance, interfaces

I'm not a very good photographer, so I’ll take photos of the device from the forum w3bsit3-dns.com.

Impressions of work

Screen

To be honest, I was already used to the Samsung Super AMOLED, so I was very skeptical about 800 x 480 screen, and TN too. But, having used the week, I can say that the screen is quite decent. Pixels, of course, are noticeable, even on a 4.3-inch screen, but the eyes do not get tired, especially if you set the brightness to automatic. With viewing angles, everything is predictable for TN - they are small. But with the usual reading from the screen it does not interfere. It is quite possible to use it as a navigator - the brightness margin is large, all objects and inscriptions are distinguishable. The only thing is that it is absolutely impossible to make a small print on such a resolution in order to, for example, look at the entire web page. But this, in general, is rarely required. As a summary - I would recommend the manufacturer to abandon the TN matrix even in the budget model and switch to IPS - this is unlikely to add more than 300-500 rubles to the cost. The rest is quite normal.

CPU

It’s hardly appropriate to talk about the old model now - its processor is not even able to play video with any decent resolution. In the new model, the processor is noticeably faster. I checked out some test videos. With Full HD can not cope unambiguously, but here is 720p H.264 quite pulls. True, on some very heavy profiles it still slows down. But maybe I did not understand something, because MX Player reported that hardware acceleration is off. Maybe some other player is needed, because the MT6575M processor, according to the specifications, supports 720p hardware.



As for the usual work - everything is fine here. Applications run pretty fast. Yandex.Navigator does not slow down, moves and rotates the map smoothly. I did not check the games, but those interested can find a verified list on the page dedicated to this phone at w3bsit3-dns.com (link below). The device under load is practically not heated.

Memory

The amount of RAM by today's standards is small, but I did not notice any problems. There is no need to wait for strong multitasking, but it works quickly with an active application.



About 512 MB ROM is, of course, a strange move. As far as I understand, in this model every penny was counted. Other reasons not to put at least 4 GB, I do not see. On the other hand, Android has enough of this volume, and a microSD card can be put on 32 GB and not know the grief. Funny, but the camera refuses to shoot, if not installed microSD-card. Applications from the market are also installed by default immediately on microSD.

GPS

A cold start takes quite a long time - even with A-GPS turned on for about 2 minutes (perhaps I unsuccessfully picked up a place for testing in the courtyards). But when you restart, the coordinates are determined almost immediately, even at a completely different point in the city. I did not notice any problems with positioning accuracy. Phone when GPS is turned on almost does not heat up For example, the Samsung Galaxy Note is noticeably warm after a long navigation.

Battery

I did not use the phone for very long and did not make special measurements. But it was surprising that with episodic use during the day (mostly reading the Internet), the charge without problems lasts for 2-3 days. This is also confirmed by the owners at w3bsit3-dns.com. I also launched an extremely voracious Yandex Navigator and left it for 3 hours (the screen was on, the brightness on the machine). During this time, the battery is 30% discharged. Those who know what navigation is on the phone will confirm that this is a very good indicator.

Camera

I especially did not check the front camera, and the rear camera shoots well. I did not notice any post-processing artifacts. Although, in low light the picture is noisy. Video shoots up to 720p.

Android

The new model has Android 4.0.4 installed. Officially announced that updates will not be released. But for a budget phone, I think it is not so critical. The device is installed pure Android without any branded shells, which, in my opinion, is a plus. I was surprised that many programs from the usual set there. I guess because of the limitations in the amount of internal memory. The user is available only 192 MB. But, quite possibly, thanks to the minimal set of programs, everything works quickly.







Of the third-party programs, only the dialer dialer program is installed, quite convenient, by the way.

Radio module and two SIM cards

The device has one radio module. The principle of operation of two SIM-cards is described in the review of the old Yummy Duo model on iXBT: “just like in a regular phone, only one radio module is installed here. Therefore, a full-fledged "dvuhsimosti" here we can talk only in relation to the standby mode. Then both SIM-cards are really active and are in simultaneous access. But it is only necessary to establish a connection or begin the process of transferring data using one SIM-card, as the other immediately becomes unavailable. At the same time, the caller to the second number will not hear the invitation to wait on the line, but will receive a release and a message that the subscriber is unavailable. ”



However, the new Yummy Duo has a more modern chipset, in the description of which there is such a phrase: "No lost calls on either SIM - even with active data transmission on either SIM". I checked and made sure that when loading data through one operator, the incoming call through the second one comes without problems. However, two simultaneous incoming calls did not work, as described above.

Connect to computer

The device has a standard micro-USB-input. And if on the old model there were cases of pushing the connector into the case, then the input looks somewhat more reliable for the new device. However, I did not test for strength.



The phone is defined as “Linux File-CD Gadget USB Device”, which gives it Chinese roots. The speed of writing to some kind of ancient memory card I swam from 5 to 10 MB / second, which is quite acceptable.

Convenience of work, ergonomics

The phone looks nice, comfortable in the hand. The back cover with "pimples" is pleasant to the touch and does not slip. All three buttons on the front of the touch that I personally do not really like. The power button is located on top of the case, and pressing it to turn on the screen is inconvenient. In addition, it is pressed somehow not very clearly and with effort - perhaps this is a feature of a particular apparatus. I still didn’t like the button illumination on the front panel - not the whole icon is evenly highlighted. On the other hand, in many budget phones on Android, the keys on the front panel are not highlighted at all.



The touch screen works acceptable, the system is very responsive. But sometimes pressing doesn’t work. Either I did not adjust to this screen, or, indeed, the presses are sometimes not recorded. Multitouch works well.



The new model Yummy Duo is much more conveniently located connectors SIM-cards - next to each other, and not one above the other. Pull them out quite easily. True, this will have to remove the battery.

findings

In general, I liked the new Highscreen Yummy Duo. It works stably and quickly enough. I did not expect such functionality from the phone for 5 thousand rubles.

pros

• Dual SIM
• long battery life
• all communication interfaces and GPS
• price

Minuses

• screen
• internal memory
• slowing down on some 720p films encoded with high profile
• no update

useful links

• MT6575 chipset features
• Differences MT6575 and MT6575M
• Highscreen Yummy Duo 2013 page at w3bsit3-dns.com
• Highscreen Yummy Duo 2012 page at w3bsit3-dns.com
• Highscreen Yummy Duo 2012 review on iXBT

Separate remark about “cheaper in China”

Yes, in China will be cheaper. Because if a person buys in a Chinese online store with mail delivery, he actually buys in China. The price does not include customs duties and VAT.



And the guarantee and support of such purchases are not provided.



Those. you can buy for yourself, and many do. But it will not be possible to trade in large retail networks - this is, in terms of our laws, smuggling, in fact.



If the company imports devices from China officially, officially customs clearance, pays duties and taxes to the state and officially puts the goods in large retail chains (these are the so-called “white devices”), then the pricing is:



Price in China = $ 100 (for example).

As soon as the goods cross the border + 26% (customs duty, VAT - 18%, delivery, insurance, etc.) = already $ 126.

Distributor takes interest + 10% minimum = $ 125 * 1.1 = $ 139.

The retail network takes interest + 30% minimum = $ 139 * 1.3 = $ 181.



That is, in our retail network, any product will be more expensive by 80% -100% (almost twice) than it is worth in China. And this is not a whim of sellers, but the realities of a legal white electronics market in Russia.



The distributor (vendor-brand) earns the least here, that is, Highscreen. Most of all earns retail, which is forced to pay retail space, warehouses, pay salaries to sellers, provide logistics, distribution of goods throughout the country.