Mobile Network Comparison

Up-and-coming Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Zopo have just dropped a bombshell – in just a few days time, they’re about to launch the world’s first true octa-core mobile phone. The new handset is going to be called the Zopo ZP700 and the official launch date will be 21 November.

Zopo are a relatively new mobile phone manufacturer and are currently pretty much unknown outside of China – after all, they have only been around for less than a year now and they are only marketing themselves in East Asia. However, they are already starting to make a name for themselves in the Chinese market and are already one of the most popular brands in the region.

Zopo also caught the eye of us with their recently-released and very impressive Zopo ZP980 Android smartphone which got out highest-so-far handset score in our comprehensive video review last month.

The newly-announced ZP700 model will be a significant step up from the ZP980. Like almost all Chinese Android smartphones, it will be based on a chipset from Taiwanese company MediaTek – the MT6592. This is the world’s first true octa-core system on a chip and will be able to leverage increased parallelisation in order to provide greater power efficiency and blazingly-fast processing speeds.

Existing smartphones on the market with octa-core CPUs can actually only activate half of their cores at once. In comparison, the MediaTek True Octa-Core allows for all eight of its cores to run simultaneously. In combination with the new 28nm die size, this will offer the ultimate combination of performance and power-efficiency.

The exact clock speed of the ZP700’s processor has not yet been announced, but we can’t wait to see the performance of this new chipset. We do know that the chipset is capable of running between about 1.7GHz and 2GHz per core – pretty impressive speeds we’re sure you’ll agree.

Not only will it come with that beastly eight-core CPU, but the new ZP700 phone will come with a complete set of technical specifications to die for. The latest rumours are suggesting that the device will have a screen larger than 5 inches with a 1080p full-HD resolution. The chipset will also likely boast ramped-up graphical capabilities as we have exclusive information that the graphics chip will be upgraded from the PowerVR SGX544MP to a much more powerful ARM Mali-450 MP GPU. Certainly great news for all you gamers out there 🙂

The other specs that we expect to see on the new phone will be a full 2GB of RAM and 32GB ROM as the internal SD card. Of course, it’ll have dual cameras including a stunning 13 megapixel main camera and, of course, dual-SIM capability. We also are hoping for an even higher-capacity battery to keep the phone running for days and days.

As for the design and form factor for the ZP700, it looks like Zopo will be aiming to take a leaf out of Apple’s book. The handset has a very iPhone 5C-type feel to it with a colourful pastel-shaded battery cover and a stylish and unobtrusive look to the whole phone.

How much difference do you think having a true eight core processor will make to the ZP700? Well Zopo finally break into the Western mainstream with the release of this phone? How much do you think it will cost, what scores do you think it will get on benchmarking software and how will it compare in real-world usage to current top-end smart phones like the HTC One, iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4? Stick around as we report all the latest view following the launch event on 21 November.

Continue Reading

How does the two year old £200 Samsung Galaxy S2 compare to the much newer £170 Zopo ZP980?

Sure the Zopo might have a 5″ 1080p full HD screen compared to the Samsung’s 4.3″ AMOLED. And it does have a quad-core CPU and higher-resolution cameras whereas the Galaxy S2 (i9100) is running the dated Exynos chipset and only has a dual core processor. However, the Samsung was the flasgship handset when it originally came out and it is running a Cortex A9 instead of a Cortex A7. Thanks to CyanogenMod, it’s also running Android 4.3 already while the Zopo is left lagging behind.

But can the S2 keep up with the new phone from China? Even though it still costs more to buy, is the Galaxy S2 actually any better than the ZP980? In the video above we subject both handsets to a rigorous benchmark test to check their processing speed, RAM performance and how good the graphics are on both their (very different screens).

For more information about the Zopo ZP980, please head over to check out our full in-depth handset review.

Which phone will win? Have the advances in mobile technology combined with the power of Android equalised the market so that Zopo can now compete evenly with Samsung? Has the Galaxy S2 had its day? Or is there still something to be said for the older device? Give us your predictions in the comments below then watch the video benchmark test for our full verdict.

Continue Reading

New handset review: Zopo ZP980

We’ve been hard at work out the last few weeks and is much new content to the site as possible. One thing that many of our users requested, is to have more high-quality and extremely detailed reviews of mobile phone handsets. While these are very time consuming to do well, so far we have published three handset reviews, two of which also have in-depth video reviews posted on our new YouTube channel which we strongly encourage you to check out 🙂

Up till now, due to popular demand, we have been focusing on Chinese phones made by manufacturers such as Lenovo and Zopo. While these models aren’t yet available on UK high street, they are becoming increasingly popular choices in this country and we think are some of the best value options for money currently available. We are also one of the few English language websites we are aware of that are taking the time to look into these types of phone and we hope to continue to lead the way in making useful information more available about them.

Our latest review and currently our high-scoring handset is the Zopo ZP980. It’s a quad core phone with 1 GB of RAM and it is running Android Jelly Bean. It also has a full HD 5-inch screen and 13 megapixel main camera as well as an 8 megapixel front-facing camera. If you want to know more, we encourage you to check out the full review (especially the video).

Furthermore, if you have any suggestions for the next handset for us to review whether it is a Chinese phone or more standard choice, please leave your picks in the comments below.

Latest 4G coverage updates

In other news, 4G is finally starting to take off in the UK. At last, after much faffing about, consumers have a real choice between network providers high-speed mobile Internet access. However, as public access to this technology is still bleedinh-edge new, the geographic availability of coverage is changing incredibly rapidly.

Because of this, we’ve put together a new page dedicated only to 4G mobile coverage. This will keep track with most up-to-date information about the roll-out of 4G services from all of the mobile networks. We aim to make this a one-stop shop which will allow you find out all you need to know to make an informed decision about which 4G service to go for.

At the moment, we’ve got for information about all the current network providers offering 4G services as well as the frequencies they use and the rough percentage of the UK population that is currently covered by their 4G signal. We also have a full run down of the specific towns, cities, regions and general areas where 4G signal is available from each mobile network.

As things progress, we hope to keep this completely up-to-date and we will even cover the roll-out of 4G services on virtual networks when it becomes available. Please go and check it out now to see the full list of information. As ever, we would be really grateful if you could help out by putting out any inaccuracies you might find as new details get released 🙂

Continue Reading