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Orient N9500 is a quad-core Samsung Galaxy S4 wannabe with quad-core chip and 5-inch display

AbbieApril 29, 2013

Chinesephone brand Orient might not be the most famous, but that is likely to change as their latest flagship model happens to be a fully loaded Samsung Galaxy S4 look-a-like!

In the past Chinesephone makers were content with producing a phone which just looked like the original, but as technology has advanced and prices have dropped, many of today’s Chinese ‘alternatives’ are worthy phones in their own right!

Take the Orient N9500 for example, the exterior of the phone does look a lot like the new Samsung Galaxy S4 which is bound to generate a lot of attention, but even if Orient had chosen to go for a unique design we’re pretty sure the hardware alone would draw in the crowds.

Under the hood the N9500 is like many MTK based phones currently on the market. It boasts a 1.2Ghz quad-core MT6589 CPU, 1GB RAM, dual-SIM standby, SD card reader, 13 mega-pixel rear camera and Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean! All good stuff! But as OrientPhone have opted to spec a 1280 x 720 display this phone is capable of higher Antutu scores than many 2GB RAM equipped phones!

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According to these photos the Orient N9500 scores 13,520 on Antutu which is very respectable, and as the display is a 5-inch 720p screen with a pixel density of 320PPi you shouldn’t miss not having full 1080 at your fingertips!

Online reseller OrientDeal are so confident with the N9500’s performance and build that they have even put together this video of the low-cost phone running head to head with a genuine Samsung Galaxy S3!

Pricing for the Orient N9500 is just under $230 and the phone is available now in a choice of black or white body options here.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author

Abbie
Abbie is a self confessed Chinese phone addict! After cutting her teeth on the Meizu M9 she hasn't been able to keep away from Chinese phones keeping her ear to the ground especially for the latest Shanzhai and clone news!

matd2
April 29, 2013
Pity the battery is only 2100mAh, needs to be bigger to compete with the upcoming Umi & Neo models, just not enough for me. I’d be happy enough with 720p but I need a bigger battery.
- Mike
  May 9, 2013
  Think you can use the real S4 2600mAh batts as well.
  BTW anyone having problems getting online with the star n9500.
  wifi is ok but 3g doesn’t work here .
  Otherwise it is a very good chinese phone
  wonder if the cyanogen mod would fit on it….
  grtz

Funky_fart
April 29, 2013
ThinkOutsideTheBox
April 29, 2013
What Is the difference between a 5-inch 720p screen with a pixel density of 320PPi, and a 1080p phone?
Upclose and personal would these 2 phones look the same resolution wise?
- paul
  April 29, 2013
  me too, i don’t understand why they upgrade the resolution of a phone that has small screen size. i think 720p is enough for a 4.5″-5″ screen. 1080p screen is good for 5.3″-6.9″ phablet. 🙂

CESAR
April 29, 2013
LOLLLLLLLLLL??? orient n9500? u r joking me? this is Star N9500 bro, u want cheat us?
Guest
April 29, 2013
Pity the battery is only 2100mAh, needs to be bigger to compete with the upcoming Umi & Neo models, just not enough for me. I’d be happy enough with 720p but I need a bigger battery.
- Guest
  May 9, 2013
  Think you can use the real S4 2600mAh batts as well.
  BTW anyone having problems getting online with the star n9500.
  wifi is ok but 3g doesn’t work here .
  Otherwise it is a very good chinese phone
  wonder if the cyanogen mod would fit on it….
  grtz

Guest
April 29, 2013
- Guest
  April 29, 2013
Guest
April 29, 2013
What Is the difference between a 5-inch 720p screen with a pixel density of 320PPi, and a 1080p phone?
Upclose and personal would these 2 phones look the same resolution wise?
- Guest
  April 29, 2013
  me too, i don’t understand why they upgrade the resolution of a phone that has small screen size. i think 720p is enough for a 4.5″-5″ screen. 1080p screen is good for 5.3″-6.9″ phablet. 🙂

Guest
April 29, 2013
LOLLLLLLLLLL??? orient n9500? u r joking me? this is Star N9500 bro, u want cheat us?

MrPsanter
April 30, 2013
To Gizchina:
Can you guys compare the main Chinese phones using the late MT6589 either with a 720p or with a 1080p screen?
I’m sure this could be very useful to many readers in order to understand which device is crap and which is not.
Thanks in advance and by the way, very nice site.
- MrPsanter
  April 30, 2013
  By ‘compare’, I didn’t mean put an Excel sheet with all the specs of these phones (useful also but not enough to make a buying decision), I ment for example to put in evidence which device has a higher Antutu score or to see which screen is either good or bad (have a look at Phonearena).
  Thanks!
  - - - Jan M
        May 2, 2013
        Well, moste likely that what you’re asking for is inconsiderated. If you want a Phonearea article, get it at Phonearea.

Guest
April 30, 2013
To Gizchina:
Can you guys compare the main Chinese phones using the late MT6589 either with a 720p or with a 1080p screen?
I’m sure this could be very useful to many readers in order to understand which device is crap and which is not.
Thanks in advance and by the way, very nice site.
- Guest
  April 30, 2013
  By ‘compare’, I didn’t mean put an Excel sheet with all the specs of these phones (useful also but not enough to make a buying decision), I ment for example to put in evidence which device has a higher Antutu score or to see which screen is either good or bad (have a look at Phonearena).
  Thanks!
- What do you mean exactly?
- Guest
  May 2, 2013
  Well, moste likely that what you’re asking for is inconsiderated. If you want a Phonearea article, get it at Phonearea.

Jan M
May 2, 2013
On a different note; Is this just a rebranded Star N9500, or is there something actually different here? Because the Star N9500 seems pretty identical, and sells for MUCH less.
Guest
May 2, 2013
On a different note; Is this just a rebranded Star N9500, or is there something actually different here? Because the Star N9500 seems pretty identical, and sells for MUCH less.

MrPsanter
May 2, 2013
To the Author:
Can you explain how is it possible to achieve a pixel density of 320 dpi with a 720p 5 inch screen?
With these data, we should get something similar to 293 dpi instead.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
- Jan M
  May 2, 2013
  It could be just boasted numbers. It could be that the display size is 5″, but only ~4,6″ visible. It could be the predefined dpi setting /in android/ . The last one is changeable, and doesn’t really work the same way as changing the screen resolution on a (windows etc) computer. Android rescales icons, text etc, acording to the set pdi. It would be easier (but quite sloppy) for a ROM manufacturer, to lock the i phone to one dpi setting – this way they don’t have to make drawables (icons etc) for several dpi-ranges.

Guest
May 2, 2013
To the Author:
Can you explain how is it possible to achieve a pixel density of 320 dpi with a 720p 5 inch screen?
With these data, we should get something similar to 293 dpi instead.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
- Guest
  May 2, 2013
  It could be just boasted numbers. It could be that the display size is 5″, but only ~4,6″ visible. It could be the predefined dpi setting /in android/ . The last one is changeable, and doesn’t really work the same way as changing the screen resolution on a (windows etc) computer. Android rescales icons, text etc, acording to the set pdi. It would be easier (but quite sloppy) for a ROM manufacturer, to lock the i phone to one dpi setting – this way they don’t have to make drawables (icons etc) for several dpi-ranges.

Camaman
May 17, 2013
The hardware is the same like 90% of current Chinese hones. It can be called a clone only if the cases fit.
I seriously doubt it it is anywhere near a good fit.
Chinese makers still must be satisfied with just the looks of the original.
Maybe next year when high tech stuff will be more readily available. 🙂

Guest
May 17, 2013
The hardware is the same like 90% of current Chinese hones. It can be called a clone only if the cases fit.
I seriously doubt it it is anywhere near a good fit.
Chinese makers still must be satisfied with just the looks of the original.
Maybe next year when high tech stuff will be more readily available. 🙂

MasterofNone
June 3, 2013
Hello. I bought the n9500 but need to know how to connect it to the Sprint in the United States. Please help me and explain how to connect this phone to the sprint network in the United States. Thank you
- Little Momma
  June 24, 2013
  I was looking at purchasing the N9500 for my daughter but can’t get an answer on if it can be used with T-Mobile in the U.S. It says its the Samsung Galaxy S4 Clone but if it can’t be used in the U.S. with the carriers then it’s no good to me. Does anyone know the answer???

Guest
June 4, 2013
Hello. I bought the n9500 but need to know how to connect it to the Sprint in the United States. Please help me and explain how to connect this phone to the sprint network in the United States. Thank you
- Guest
  June 25, 2013
  I was looking at purchasing the N9500 for my daughter but can’t get an answer on if it can be used with T-Mobile in the U.S. It says its the Samsung Galaxy S4 Clone but if it can’t be used in the U.S. with the carriers then it’s no good to me. Does anyone know the answer???

July 4, 2013
Hi.
I bought one of these for use in the US. You can only get decent 3-4g speeds if you connect it to AT&T. I bought a new AT&T Straight Talk SIM from someone on Craigslist and have this on the Straight Talk unlimited plan for $45/month. You’ll have to look around to find an AT&T ST SIM because they haven’t been available new since January. Try Craigslist or eBay. A Tmobile SIM will not work, so don’t get tricked into buying one.
About the phone: It has been very good until the last few days. It was fast and took great photos with it’s 13MP camera, but in the last 3 days it has started lagging so much that I can’t even use it. I tried resetting it but it didn’t help. I sent a message to OrientDeal but I haven’t heard back from them.
Sean
- September 17, 2013
  Hi,
  Sean thanks for the great info, this is what I was wanting to know, if it could be connected to straight talk! My question is: Can I connect it to Straight talk verizon just by activating the phone w/ no sim card WCDMA enabled, for verizon towers? I don’t care if I only get 3g, but was wondering if I can do this.. Thanks for any info.
- Ken
  September 17, 2013
  O Yea, btw: the reason it is lagging is not the phone, I have a real galaxy S1 running Cyanogenmod 4.2.2 and had the same problem, but found out it was google apps maps! Once I approved the maps update my phone got out of lag mode and is quite useable.. surprisingly, must have been some severe memory leak or something..
  - Daniel
    October 7, 2013
    I am looking to buy one of these clones for straight talk as well. We spend $1600 a year on Verizon. I’m on an old Alltell plan and if I change anything I lose my plan. My iPhone has been through one too many drops and is on it’s last leg. If I replace it, my bill will increase by about $60/month. What do I need to do in order to make this crazy thing work if/when I buy one.

Guest
July 4, 2013
Hi.
I bought one of these for use in the US. You can only get decent 3-4g speeds if you connect it to AT&T. I bought a new AT&T Straight Talk SIM from someone on Craigslist and have this on the Straight Talk unlimited plan for $45/month. You’ll have to look around to find an AT&T ST SIM because they haven’t been available new since January. Try Craigslist or eBay. A Tmobile SIM will not work, so don’t get tricked into buying one.
About the phone: It has been very good until the last few days. It was fast and took great photos with it’s 13MP camera, but in the last 3 days it has started lagging so much that I can’t even use it. I tried resetting it but it didn’t help. I sent a message to OrientDeal but I haven’t heard back from them.
Sean
- September 17, 2013
  Hi,
  Sean thanks for the great info, this is what I was wanting to know, if it could be connected to straight talk! My question is: Can I connect it to Straight talk verizon just by activating the phone w/ no sim card WCDMA enabled, for verizon towers? I don’t care if I only get 3g, but was wondering if I can do this.. Thanks for any info.
- Guest
  September 17, 2013
  O Yea, btw: the reason it is lagging is not the phone, I have a real galaxy S1 running Cyanogenmod 4.2.2 and had the same problem, but found out it was google apps maps! Once I approved the maps update my phone got out of lag mode and is quite useable.. surprisingly, must have been some severe memory leak or something..
- Guest
  October 7, 2013
  I am looking to buy one of these clones for straight talk as well. We spend $1600 a year on Verizon. I’m on an old Alltell plan and if I change anything I lose my plan. My iPhone has been through one too many drops and is on it’s last leg. If I replace it, my bill will increase by about $60/month. What do I need to do in order to make this crazy thing work if/when I buy one.

Jambo
September 8, 2013
Any ideas why my Star n9500 s4 is showing R for roaming when I’m in my own country and how to fix.
Guest
September 8, 2013
Any ideas why my Star n9500 s4 is showing R for roaming when I’m in my own country and how to fix.

Maher
October 25, 2013
I bought tow PCs n9500 (galaxy Iv) before five month but now one of them not work properly and sometime not turn on, when turn on not keep the date and time and go off itself.
Please if any one have any ieada about this problem help me.
Thank you
Guest
October 26, 2013
I bought tow PCs n9500 (galaxy Iv) before five month but now one of them not work properly and sometime not turn on, when turn on not keep the date and time and go off itself.
Please if any one have any ieada about this problem help me.
Thank you