Neo N003 to get updated MT6589T processor? Neo N003 Turbo?

AndiMay 9, 2013

By now you should all know the frustrating news that the Neo N003, aka the worlds cheapest 1080 phone, won’t launch until late June, but is there a silver lining to this delay?

Sources close to Neo have reported that the Neo N003 will receive a similar processor update as the UMi X2. What this could mean is the N003 will in fact be a N003 Turbo and will be rocking the new and improved Mediatek MT6589T SoC.

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Not only is the MT6589T a faster chip, running at 1.5Ghz rather than 1.2Ghz, it also sports a faster GPU and is rumoured to handle 1080 displays much better than the current MT6589 chip.

Although the rumours do come from sources very close to Neo we are still waiting for official confirmation.

Thanks to Tjoe for the tip.

[ Source ]

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About the author
Andi

BrianJackson
May 9, 2013
Keep them coming! Surely all the MT6589 phones will have to update to stay competative which will in turn introduce further delays in availability….

kmans
May 9, 2013
i was really looking forward to purchase this phone while i was visiting china this year, but unfortunately my flight back is scheduled for 26 june.
I wonder if more MT phones will get OTG support with later updates, the Iocean X7 is one of the better looking ones but i cant find any information if it will get OTG support.
May 9, 2013
Andi, any chance that the Jiayu G4 gets this update? I’m about to pre-order the device.
- - - May 9, 2013
      given the feature set (if it holds), id go for it. I do, eventhough that means I have to use my ZTE Grand X In for some more time.

XrainX
May 9, 2013
You can imagine where is Neo now with their smartphone if they announced the N003 two or three months ago and today they even don’t know what processor to use. So I can say they have nothing.
The road of a chinese smartphone is simple: they are reading some news about a chipset, making some Photoshop smartphone, launching some… “spy” photos and receiving some sample from the real factory. And this story will be kept hot for about 4 months with some “breaking news” and another photos (fake or not) until they will receive from the real factory their order.
In this all story, the most important thing is the price. The first thing they announce is the price even they don’t know the final cost.
Announcing a price like 799 – 899 – 999 Yuan will keep the readers from buying another smartphone for months. But if they will say from the start the real price of it which will be about $250, people will forget their “story”.
- Camaman
  May 9, 2013
  True,
  Sometimes they are like children! You gotta sift through the bull very carefully.
  Online sellers don’t help much. They are very secretive if the phone you are buying is a pre-order re not. And worst yet stock availability info is no where to be found in 90% of the sites.

May 9, 2013
Here is my interpretation of the story: By the time, chinese phone makers announced their 1080p phones with 2 GB RAM for April/May (none of which are actually shipping yet, to my knowledge), it was clear to them, that MediaTek would produce a version of the MTK6589 which natively supports 2 GB RAM. I dont think hacking around so phones with the “regular” MTK6580 would run with this amount of RAM is not a viable solution.
So my assumption is now, that they thought, this chip – now known as the MTK6589T – would arrive in April, most likely that could have been the announced date by MediaTek. Now, either MediaTek has finally announced the “final” release date for the MTK6589T and the phone makers have to follow.
I wonder, if phones like the Umi X2 (MTK6589, 2 GB RAM) are ever going to be shipped and really deliver the promised specs. Im quite convinced, that the Umi X2T actually is, what was formerly called the X2.
- May 9, 2013
  Addendum: This would also explain, why those companies said to be “changing” the chips in their announced models dont come up with a higher pricing for them.
  - XrainX
    May 9, 2013
- May 9, 2013
  I agree that the “Youth” or “Basic” versions with 1GB would be running the standard MT6589 and that the “Advance” or “Ultimate” 2GB versions would be doing the MT6589T with the upgraded RAM support as well.. Hopefully since I changed my N003 order to the Advanced one.
sere83
May 9, 2013
hmm this throws a bit of a spanner in the worx, as I was under the impression the MT6589 handled 1080p displays pretty well, so doesn’t given the fact that the MT6589T handles them ‘much better’ does this mean the regular MT6589 doesnt?
Also whats this obsession with 2Gb ram? Surely its main use is to aid in multitasking, who need to use loads of apps on their phone at once? Seem stupid to me
- Howea
  May 9, 2013
  You are basing on RAM and display on current OS levels … Do you think it can handle when Android 5.x and improved UI becomes available?
  - May 9, 2013
    By now it seems very certain, that the next upcoming Android version will be 4.3, not 5.0. I highly doubt, that the requirements on the hardware rise for most things. I expect a few new software features that might demand a bit better hardware, but since the mTK6589 already handles Android 4.2 very well, I dont think there will be a problem.
    The really relevant question is whether the chinese phone makers, especially Neo, will deliver an update to the next Android version or not. I wonder if they and Mediatek will someday come up with proper open sourcing, so devs can do their own updates like CyanogenMod.