Overview of ZTE Open C - the next phone on Firefox OS

Not so long ago, about a year ago, I was spinning the first smartphone on Firefox OS in my hands, see the review of Geeksphone Peak . It was positioned as a Developer Preview and the OS itself was on the alpha update channel, everything was in full bloom and evolving. Therefore, it was possible to close eyes on the doorposts and it was necessary to wait for the release of both the operating system and the hardware platform.

As time went on, in February 2014, the release of the ZTE Open C phone was announced - “Phone with a new Firefox OS 1.3 for $ 100,” this time for a wide audience. And so, the device running Firefox OS 1.3 got on my table. It turns out, waited. Further in this post are photos, screenshots, sniffing and snorting.
')
By the way, if you like Android - I advise you not to pass by and look at the end of the post.

1. Price and features

The main trade in devices takes place officially on eBay , where pre-order was initially available in February. But they don’t ship to Russia, and shipping can increase the cost of the device. Of the alternatives, the phone can also be purchased on TinyDeal (coupon 5%: zte5off), in translation into rubles the cost is 3300 rubles.

For this price we get the following characteristics:
================================================= ===

• OS: Firefox OS 1.3 (or Android 4.4.2 - see the end of the post);
• Screen: WVGA 480 x 800, 4 "(~ 233 ppi), TFT 256K colors;
• RAM: 512 MB, ROM: 4 GB (+ microSD), 1 GB available;
• Communication: GSM 850/900/1800/1900, HSDPA 900/2100;
• WiFi: 802.11 b / g / n, Wi-Fi hotspot
• CPU: Dual-core Qualcomm MSM8210 (1.2 GHz Cortex-A7), GPU: Adreno 302;
• Camera: 3.15 MP, 2048 x 1536 pixels, video: 352x288 @ 15fps;
• Optional: FM-radio, GPS, A-GPS, Bluetooth, microUSB 2.0
• Battery: Li-Ion 1400 mAh
• Dimensions: 126 x 64.7 x 10.8 mm
• Weight: 125g

================================================= ===

2. Appearance

Fig. 1-2: A box with a fox.

I think the box is the most beautiful part of this device. Glossy logos on top of a matte blue canvas draw the eye. I bet you opened this text because of a photo of a box above a habrakat.


Fig. 3-4: Instructions and object of instruction.

The guide meets the reader with the slogan “Made for the Purpose” and explains: “Firefox OS is designed to free you from the rules and restrictions imposed by other mobile operating systems. It is designed to give you complete control over the information you share and store. FFOS was developed in Mozilla as one of the steps towards our goal - to make the full power of Web technologies accessible to everyone . ” From the creators of the “JavaScript in every home” movement, so to speak.


Fig. 5-6: Device on the other hand.

The device pleasantly lies in a palm, the opaque cover behind prevents spitting. Dimensions and thickness, in my opinion, are optimal. On the side there are sound adjustment keys, a power button on the top and a 3.5mm audio jack, and a micro usb port on the bottom. The real thickness of the device.


Fig. 7: “Under the hood” view and battery.

The battery has a noticeable thickness, the volume - 1400mAh. With the active use of FirefoxOS (walking around the menu, launching applications like a clock or calendar), it keeps 2-3 hours (yes, FFOS eats mercilessly, but here I can be inaccurate, see the comments ). SIM-card and microSD-card slots are convenient, there is no need to otkovyrivat caps or use auxiliary tools for changing cards. However, the back cover itself snaps very tightly and cannot be removed without the help of a plastic card. Build quality and performance inspire respect, given the cost of the device. This is a branded thing and here you can feel the approach of engineers to the dense placement of parts, the optimal placement of antennas. You didn’t spare the materials - if there is a microphone, then it is not only glued in a special slot with glue, but also pressed on top with a small sponge-shaped rubber band so that it does not hang out. Photos of the entrails Please note that the board has legs under the second SIM slot.


Fig. 8: Screen.

The screen here is still good. Yes, he will not be able to compete with other screens in the sun, but for his price he accepts a picture from different angles in a normal room. No bands (as on Peak) were noticed. Taschkrin ( goodix gt968 ) is fairly accurate, although the FirefoxOS interface still prevents accurate hits.
In the photo you see a circle in the center of the bottom panel - this is the "home" button. But in fact, there are 3 touch buttons, the other two FFOS do not perceive.

3. Software stuffing

With the software part of the phone, things are much sadder. FFOS is developing, a year ago they said “give the system another year”. At the time of the release of the phone for sale, the newest version was considered Firefox OS 1.3. Screenshots of 1.4 have already appeared, but judging by the reviews, both 1.4 and 2.1 (the next major version) are unstable. I did not rant the phone, update the firmware to the most extreme commit from the master branch of the repository, catch the bugs, I just turned it on and tried to compare it with what I saw a year ago on Geeksphone Peak. All screenshots can be opened in a new window, they will be 480x800.


Fig. 9-10: System Information.

The interface of system applications has changed for the noticeably worse side. I do not know, as in 1.4, but in this version low-res pictures for icons are used, everything is in soap! The readability and the overall appearance of the standard controls have deteriorated significantly, compared to the assembly a year ago. I did not understand the reasons for this, the versions are different - a) experimenting; b) hi-res pictures ship for a long time. Or instill fashion in soap.


Fig. 11-13: Settings Screens.

Nothing has changed on the home screen. The first page is a collection of links to sites that can be opened as applications (i.e. a full-screen site and no tabs). The remaining two pages contain system applications and, again, sites packed as applications.


Fig. 14-16: Home screens.

In the process of exploring the changes, the feeling that I was being deceived somewhere, just did not understand where exactly. Yes, the old version of the interface is far from ideal, but the new version brings to the era of Web 1.0. Does the new have to return a well-forgotten old?


Fig. 17-18: Left - E-Mail in Firefox OS 1.0.1 prerelease (2013), on the right - SMS in Firefox OS 1.3 (2014).

If you discard the standard applications of the hello world level (for example, a text editor without the ability to even select text - all input in the system is just input), then discard apps like Android 1.5, then discard apps that are just websites, then discard the system setup application, then There will be only three icons left: the first is the dialer, the second is the E-Mail client, which is very simple, but in case of emergency it will fit, and the third is the FM Radio, which personally suits me the most. As if I had bought not a telephone, but a radio.


Fig. 19-21: Oh yes, business apps%)

There is nothing in the market. There are no guidelines for applications. There is no bootstrap for fast interface layouts. System developers can not impose three buttons in a row, controls differ from application to application. Everything wildly slows down and behaves like a heavy html5 site in the browser of a cheap phone. Actually, this is what happens: you start the phone, a browser starts up there, another browser starts up in it ...

A simple switch between standard system applications occurs with a slowdown, the phone heats up, the battery perceptibly quickly sits down. Somewhere I've seen it all before. Oh yeah, exactly a year ago at Geeksphone Peak .

4. Android 4.4.2

The radio can be safely sent to the trash, if not for one thing. As it turned out after a short googling, ZTE released two models at once on the same base. ZTE KIS 3 was released for Indonesians, and for Europeans and the United States, which is not yet a simple Android, ZTE released ZTE Open C. Differences? We recall the photo of the entrails where there was a place for the second SIM slot. We recall the fact that there are actually three touch buttons on the panel, they are simply not marked.


Fig. 22: ZTE KIS 3, identical to ZTE Open C.

In open access there is a firmware that allows you to replace FFOS on Android and vice versa. ( Original Mirror ). In this archive there are both service packs, just throw one of them onto the card and run the update process through CWM Recovery. Call CWM - VolUp + Power when the phone is turned off.


Fig. 23: CWM Recovery menu.

Also on the site where update packages for CWM are available, there are rooted firmware and a utility for flashing directly from a PC:

• ZTE_OPENC_US ( Original , Mirror );
• ZTE_OPENC_EU ( Original , Mirror );
• Open_C_upgrade_Tool ( Original Mirror );

The package that allowed replacing Firefox OS with Android has worked for me in a half-turn and the phone has rebooted. And ... the device just started a new life. I have not seen such responsiveness for a long time, probably someone had a hand in setting the timings in this firmware. The interface works smartly, applications start quickly, KitKat is beautiful. Using the provided update tool, you can root the device and then install Google Apps, including the market, since this firmware is practically AOSP and does not contain any extra services.


Fig. 24-25: Power and Endurance Benchmark.

The results of life from the battery have pleased me. The first two days I thought it was a glitch, but in fact the phone is able to lie all week, receive SMS, be on the cellular network and at the same time stay alive. I will definitely leave it to myself as a dialer in case I go for a walk to dangerous areas.

5. Conclusions

Once again, I was disappointed in Firefox OS. From the side of the external observer, everyone is treading water. In general, the Web is not the best thing that can be transferred to native platforms. The developers at Mozilla believe that we have to endure all the pain of HTML + CSS layout and all the JS brakes for the sake of their ultimate goal of smearing the Web wherever possible, but they themselves are not capable of setting an example in principle. Anyone in the subject will notice that this way you cannot catch up with the native tools (ObjC / Java / C #) of mobile development, neither in terms of performance, nor in terms of convenience and speed of development. I do not know why FFOS is actively promoting and positioning as an axis for budget phones, when the same Android works on a budget iron several times better than a matryoshka from VM and JS shells. Let's give, perhaps, another year.