Gizchina Exclusive: JiaYu G4 Unboxing and first hands on video!

It’s been a very very long wait, but we have finally received our JiaYu G4 review unit! Keep reading for the first every JiaYu G4unboxing videos and Gizchina hands on photos!

What a great morning! We woke up to see the sun shining, a lovely blue sky, but most excitingly a brand new shiny JiaYu G4 waiting on our doorstep! We couldn’t wait to get the box open and get our hands on the much-anticipated quad-core phone and took the opportunity to record a JiaYu G4unboxing video!

Watch the Gizchina JiaYu G4 Unboxing video

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JiaYu G4 first hands on impressions

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First impressions of the phone are very good! The overall design is very similar to the Xiaomi Mi2/M2s but the larger display makes surfing the web, viewing photos and operating the camera a much more comfortable experience.

Although we haven’t installed any games or apps on the phone just yet, we can report that navigation is very responsive with zero lag, we wonder if the same can be said about the 1080 UMi X2?

Build quality is excellent too, but we’ll report more on this and other aspects of the JiaYu G4 later in the week when we publish our in-depth review.

Like the new JiaYu Mobile International page on Facebook.

JiaYu G4 hands on photos

jiayu g4 gizchina review 2

jiayu g4 gizchina review 3

jiayu g4 gizchina review 4

jiayu g4 gizchina review 5

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
Andi

BrianJackson
May 12, 2013
Thanks Andi been a bit of a wait but worth it…one question…does the 10mm feel particularly chunky and thick or is it ok?
- May 12, 2013
  It depends what you are use to. My Xiaomi Mi2 isn’t the thinnest phone, so the G4 feels fine for me without a case, with a case on it feels a little on the large size though
  - Chris Bhikharie
    May 12, 2013
    Hey Andi. Just wanted to say hi for the first time. If I have any questions on china branded phones, I will be sure to ask you. Talk to you later.

CESAR
May 12, 2013
- Airyl
  May 12, 2013
Simon
May 12, 2013
Excellent, keep the video unboxings & reviews coming. If it possible to get your hands on a IOcean X7 that would be cool (as I think it might be a dark horse). Hopefully Jiayu will up their game now 🙂
- this!
  May 12, 2013
yash3339
May 12, 2013
Hey Andi, do we have the option to choose the full back version instead of black front and white rear as in your case?
- - - - Simon
        May 12, 2013
        Andy is their a G5 ? I know their going to be a G6 & an S1 (with a snap dragon processor)
        May 12, 2013
        Yep, there is a G5. It looks like a big iPhone 5 here are some photos of it: https://www.gizchina.com/2013/04/24/jiayu-g5-hands-on-spy-photos-and-first-details/

wolf
May 12, 2013
Rob
May 12, 2013
Hey andy
Many thanks for this hands on preview!
Is this the advanced model,or the lighter version?
- May 12, 2013
  Yes, it does have an LED notification light. FYI I ran Antutu on it earlier and it got 13,224 which is much better than the previous leaks suggested it would be see the JiaYu G4 Antutu screenshots here: https://www.gizchina.com/gizchina-forum/topic/jiayu-g4-basic-1gb-ram-antutu-screenshots/
  - May 12, 2013
    Wow, that sounds real good. I’ve placed my pre-order, and I’ll pay tomorrow.
    Thanks a lot, Andi.

Feallan
May 12, 2013
- Burnt_52
  May 12, 2013
  - Clarita
    May 26, 2013
Simon
May 12, 2013
Can I clarify with these Chinese phones whichever one you choose whether it be Jiayu, Umi etc you will be getting stock “vanilla” android, they won’t actually be customised (not that it matters)
- May 12, 2013
  Stock Android isn’t on the G4 it has a JiaYu ROM. A stock install will probably be available in the future though
  - Simon
    May 12, 2013
    Ah ok, is it 4.1.2 Jelly bean ? I have to say the build quality & screen from your video looks very premium especially wheh you showed it side by side with your Xiaomi.
    - May 12, 2013
      This model is running Android 4.2.1. Yes, it is really well made! Easily on par with the Xiaomi. Antutu scores here https://www.gizchina.com/gizchina-forum/topic/jiayu-g4-basic-1gb-ram-antutu-screenshots/
      - Simon
        May 12, 2013
        Incredible, if thats the test sample, the finished product should be mighty fine – bring on the Umi X2
- Nam Tu
  May 12, 2013
  Jiayu use LewaOS which is a fork from stock Android. It is known for faster and lighter than stock. Btw, you can build stock ROM for this.It is not effect in building custom ROM since you can install Clockworld Mod Recovery on the phone. Many cooked roms are ready on needrom.com for Jiayu G3. Hope it will have more cooked ROMs for G4.
  P/S : A guy has been ported Lenovo P770 ROM to G3: http://www.tinhte.vn/threads/jiayu-g3-trao-doi-kinh-nghiem-root-cwm-touch-recovery-fw-update-jb-4-1-2.1641922/page
  -157#post-37685411
  - Simon
    May 12, 2013
    - Buis
      May 12, 2013
      copy the third line of the link too, than it should work
    - TomeG2kc
      May 12, 2013
      - Simon
        May 13, 2013

wacky
May 12, 2013
Good job nice to finally see a english unboxing 😉
How are the buttons? Ive heard that there was a problem with them because they are in the back cover. Do they work good or not?
I hope they will also release a full black version where the capacitive buttons light up. Guess i will wait till next week to decide wich one comes out best the Jiayu or the umi.
William
May 12, 2013
Hi Andi,
Could you please check the charger to see the charging speed?
It is 500 mA, 1000mA..?
Thanks

tomcat
May 12, 2013
GPS performance and lock would be of big interest as many people had issues with the G3 and the 6577 in general
Peter
May 12, 2013
And this piece has no CE-conformitx signs too…
lukis
May 12, 2013
Andi,
1. Does any problems when using G4 that backlight of touch buttons are absent?
2. Why do not you have to wait for the advanced/high version of G4?.. 🙂
- May 12, 2013
  1) No, but I am use to this as the Xiaomi Mi2 doesn’t have backlight on the navigation buttons either.
  2) I didn’t ask for the phone, they contacted me and told me they would send it 🙂

Peter
May 12, 2013
At Pandawill-forum they write that launch date for G4 advanced are canceled too.
Now it should be around the middle of August …
I think the real launch date could be a christmas gift – launch in January 2014 or later 😉
In this case they could use the MT6589T Power Chipset with 2GB RAM
- May 12, 2013
  I spoke to my contact at JiaYu last in the middle of last week (I think) and at that time I asked if they would launch a MT6589T version G4, the answer was ‘Maybe’. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2GB RAM advanced model ends up being a G4 Turbo.
  - Manos
    May 12, 2013
    Good Job Andi ! thats good news for anyone but they are too slow I think!
    We need the G4 Turbo!
    Please tell them to make it faster! 🙂
    - Simon
      May 12, 2013
  - Simon
    May 12, 2013
    Excellent then it will be the Battle of The Turbos: Jiayu G4 vs Umi X2 vs Neo N003 vs the rest…….
- Peter
  May 12, 2013
  - - RobertNL
      May 12, 2013
      @Simon,
      Did order more then once with them and all is fine. You can find these kind of stories about almost all big (web)shops.
      - Simon
        May 12, 2013
  - robert
    May 12, 2013

Albert
May 12, 2013
Andi, when Umi X2 will arrive to u, pls check for me (and for many other peeps) very important phone specs like the real aperture size (schould be F/2.2 or F/2.4 in youth version) and WCDMA support (850 or 900Mhz). This specs are writed on first internal side of “phone-book” box or beter do photo like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=149923345181631&set=a.149923138514985.1073741837.124395347734431&type=3&theater
Airyl
May 12, 2013
How is the camera compared to the Mi2?

May 12, 2013
Andy,
pretty please use https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.aatt.fpsm when testing smoothness of device in UI and the webbrowser. It shows frames per second rendered at the topright side of the screen.
Thank you.
do you have any 1080p 5″ phone to compare the screen with andi?

cpurage
May 12, 2013
Hi Andi,
I love you guys, I am very pleased to see that video and Andi please, you owe me this … check the WCDMA BandMode in the MTK Engineer Menu and post some pictures of it or just include it in the next video review, cause I just want to be sure what kind of frequencies is the G4 supporting, cause for the UMI X2 I can asure you that it supports WCDMA 800/850/900/1900/2100 and here is the proove:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ikGgyVzUhoA#t=615s
- just go on 10:15 and there is the MTK Engineer Menu and the supported BandModes 😉
- Baylex
  May 14, 2013
  So.. Umi X2 has backlight capacitive buttons.. and the Jiayu G4 doesn’t?? don’t like that…
  can anyone confirm if the Umi X2 has corning gorilla glass 2 has the Jiayu G4??
Lola
May 12, 2013
well let’s just say it didn’t impressed me much
they had some sort of original design now the phone looks just like a goophone

Anthony
May 12, 2013
Andi please test
first gps lock time
and generally gps lock time
fran
May 12, 2013
So jiayu is going to delay the advanced version g4 phone? really it will be delayed until after summer?
bitmax
May 12, 2013
Hi Andi,
Been following your blog for quite some time 🙂
I must say its awesome!
Can you please also test the battery performance for Jiayu G4 and Umi X2 (when you get it ) as well please? 😀
- May 12, 2013
  umm..also Andi how would you rate the build quality of Jiayu G4 vs Umi X2?
  Which one should I go for? (in short starting from screen ppi quality and build quality to performance and battery consumption 😀 )
  I am sure more people would now get themselves stretched out in-between these two competitors :s
  Thanks..

Yuki
May 12, 2013
I think theyre needlessly removed the symbols from touch buttons.
Aeonia
May 12, 2013
hi Andi..huge fan of ur site and just wishing that in the next video u would show us some gameplay of a HD game probably gameloft like NOVA 3..or Modern Combat 4 not temple run…we would all like to see the performance of the powervr 544 in gaming..and if possible load up some 1080p videos….

Simon
May 12, 2013
I think Andi has quite a few videos which he will post up during this week. So don’t worry its all to come.
Looks to be a very nice device. Looking forward to more videos/hands-on.

andrew
May 12, 2013
Andy, I would like to see some benchmark testing done by this site using the popular Antutu.
If Chinese manufacturers really do consider this site a viable way to giving their latest product exposure, then I’m sure there would be no objection to benchmarking pre-release.
We as consumers need to be more fully informed and what better way than through this already ‘trusted’ site.
I want to know about ‘bang for buck’, as does everyone else.
There are 2 or 3 tech sites that do amazingly comprehensive reviews on the big brand name smartphones etc. So rarely do they benchmark and if they do it’s a combo that no ones heard of, with the exception of a few hardcore techheads.
Back on topic though. The G4 looks great and your partial review is positive. I’m interested though in the JiaYu G6 & ZTE’s Nubia Z7, but I want assurances before I spent another 4 – 500 dollars on another Chinese phone.
My Huawei Ascend Mate scored 15468 when I ran Antutu. 1080p & 720p video replay are very poor & scrolling web pages lack fluidity.
Both Samsung’s S4 & the HTC one scored around 22,000+.
Both have double the RAM and more highly clocked quadcores.
It appears though that vertical integration & optimization are much more refined on the known brands, and yes if Samsung alone has an annual R & D budget of $6 billion,
you would expect the product to work very well.
- May 12, 2013
  Hi, I’m working on a full review now which will include all the benchmarks ETC, however if you go in to our forums you can see that I have already uploaded screenshots of Antutu on the G4 (https://www.gizchina.com/forums).
  Once the G6 is out I’m sure we will get a review unit.
  If you want a phone with benchmarks above 22,000 get a Xiaomi 🙂

2PointOBoy
May 12, 2013
Andi, could you please tell us if the G4 supports Bluetooth v4.0 and Wi-Fi b/g/”n”? There are conflicting specs on the web…

Narayan
May 12, 2013
Of particular interest (above what everyone else publishes in videos):
Ring:
1. How loud is the ring? Can it be heard on noisy streets?
Microphone:
1. Does it have noise-canceling microphone?
Can it filter out street noise for the other end?
2. Can it record voices clearly in a large room?
Speaker:
1. How loud is the speakerphone (hands-free) mode?
Camera:
1. The “glass” of the camera seems huge compared to other phones.
So how is its low-light performance? (candle-light and indoors, such as basement parking)
2. How is the burst mode? (what’s the frames-per-second, and how many taken in a burst?)
3. Can we zoom in/out during video shooting?
GPS:
1. How fast does the GPS lock?
2. Does it lock indoors, or does it need outdoor?
3. Does it have GLONASS?
FM Radio:
1. Can it record the FM radio?
Battery:
1. How long does it last on video?
Regards,
Narayan
- Simon
  May 13, 2013
  One step at a time Narayan, hes only had the phone for a short period. I’m sure he will get round to doing a full review

Nova5lag
May 13, 2013
I had one on order with Merimobiles for months and without warning they cancelled my order and (at least) instantly refunded my money. I ended upgrading to a Galaxy S4 instead because of the wait. It does look great though.
- buyer
  May 13, 2013
  Hi, those the luck of USB-OTG function is a hardware problem or a software problem that can be solved?
Francisco Martins
May 13, 2013
andy where you order this phone?
what you recomend
Francisco Martins
May 13, 2013
i andy whre you recomend to buy this phone?
May 13, 2013
Review is not complete. Forgot the most important thing – the work.
WIFI-internet surfing, Audio and Video (at max. Brightness).
Put prog Battery HD Pro and re-test and write all.
It is advisable to Jiayu G4 Advance version.

robert
May 13, 2013
Hmmm, they would’ve had my cash in an instant but the delays….. I see the ascend p2 launches in UK in a couple of weeks, and with the jiayu delays I ‘could’ afford it, and the lte looks tasty, esp as we still don’t know what frequencies the g4 rolls with.
- Simon
  May 13, 2013
  - robert
    May 14, 2013
    Looks like being £350, so with the jiyau delays it is now in budget. Lte ………unlimited data…….payg……..drool…………:)
    - Simon
      May 14, 2013
      What do you think about the Huawei Ascend D2 Mini, I think that will launch soon too ?
      - robert
        May 14, 2013
        Saw the spec in April ?? on here, to be honest I never looked too closely as heart was set on g4 …….but now I will have a search about for more info. Bands for 3g be important though….
- Simon
  May 14, 2013

Fan
May 13, 2013
Hi Andi,
I love you site, i broke my horriable phone last month and i am going to buy Umi x2 or Jiayu g4 for sure. I would be happy if you will test heavy games like modern combat 4 on them and make a Versus review between them.
thx
jaaber
May 13, 2013
- - - Simon
      May 14, 2013
drftxs13
May 14, 2013
Hi Andi, yeah I also want you to check the WCDMA BandModes of the phone please, can you please check them from the MTK engineering menu ?

May 14, 2013
Hi Andi,
Very good site, I have been following in the last few month. How does the G4 feel in compare with the Xaiomi Mi2s?
I want to buy one of these two phones and I am leaning a bit more to the Mi2s because of MIUI, which look good. Do you know if there is a MIUI ROM coming for the G4?
The advantage for me with the G4, is the dual sim. Does it work probably?
If I get a single sim phone, then I have to get the nokia 105 aswell, 35 days battery for only 20$:)
Thx
- May 14, 2013
  There will probably be a MIUI port for the G4 in the future. I love my Mi2, the G4 feels very similar and the design is the same, but the MIUI on the Xiaomi is much better, but I would expect so as it’s double the price 🙂
  - Simon
    May 14, 2013
    As it should be, if you pay alot more you should be getting alot more in total fairness.

Simon
May 14, 2013
Is it true Xiaomi are the developers of MIUI ?
Cyrux
May 14, 2013
Hi Andi, just another question about thickness.
How does G4 compare to G3?
Simon
May 14, 2013

Andi

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