Top 30 HD 1.5Ghz MT6589T Turbo Chinese phones


Chinese phone makers continue to stay at the front of the pack for cutting edge Mediatek powered phones. Here are the top 30 1.5Ghz quad-core MT6589T Chinese phones available now!

Chinese phone makers caught quad-core fever late last year with the introduction of the new Mediatek MT6589 chipset. The 28nm, ARM A7 processor has allowed affordable phones to be manufactured with industry leading features including 1080 display, 13 mega-pixel cameras, 1080 video capture and more!

Gizchina News of the week


The original MT6589 SoC was clocked at 1.2Ghz, but just the past few months has seen the introduction of the 1.5Ghz version of the quad-core chip known as the MT6589T (T for Turbo), which also brings faster graphics performance to the current crop of Chinese phones.

Top 30 HD 1.5Ghz MT6589T Turbo Chinese smartphones

The table below lists currently available (or soon to be released) quad-core 1080 phones which use this faster 1.5Ghz MT6589T processor. Excitingly many of the phones mentioned here are already available through international resellers at similar prices to the original 1.2Ghz models.

[table id=40 /]
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132 Comments

  1. Benny
    June 23, 2013

    The Table isnt showing up on any of my browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, Dolphin etc).

  2. viktor
    June 23, 2013

    I cant see it either

    • June 23, 2013

      It’s there now 🙂 Sorry

  3. Danger
    June 23, 2013

    Where is the table?? 🙁 sad panda

    • June 23, 2013

      It’s there now, I pressed publish instead of save. Sorry

  4. kolyamba
    June 23, 2013

    Why there’s no ZTE v987?

  5. June 23, 2013

    G4 Turbo before the end of June!? If that’s true and it supports 850MHz WCDMA then I definitely want one!! Its annoying there are no other <5 Inch phones sporting 2GB RAM and large battery 🙁

  6. -Carlos-
    June 24, 2013

    thanks andy this is great

    • June 24, 2013

      Glad it can be of use!

  7. PPr
    June 24, 2013

    What about eh Tianhe H920+ ? I have this phone (I believe it was the 1st MTK6589T phone available). It has a 5″ 1920×1080 LCD, 1GB RAM, 4GB ROM and runs Android 4.2.1 for now. It is HTC Butterfly inspired in design and the build quality is ok (sturdy device but still room for improvement). Price is around $230.

  8. Sanjeev
    June 24, 2013

    Hi Andy..I have been following your site for a very long time and I love the site and its content. I actually bought Jiayu G3 after reading the review here only and I am very happy with it..I have a request..if you can publish list like this but for phones with Gorilla Glass 2 and 3 as this is very important factor.. please publish this report… I know MX58 has Gorilla Glass 3..I hope’ you’ll honor my request

  9. LinuxMint
    June 24, 2013

    I’d consider it to be so much more helpful, if this table could be expanded to additionallyinclude the supported frequency bands for GSM, W-CDMA (incl. f.e: HSPA+42 and I assume LTE still isn’t on the table yet for those phones), if for WiFi .11n 300Mb/s 2T2R:2 or such is available instead of the primitive 150Mb/s single link version and of course, which version of Bluetooth is built-in, if any at all.
    Thanks

  10. Ruben
    June 24, 2013

    I thnk that you must incluye the tcl idol x. Display 5 ips,, mt6589T, 2gb RAM, 16gb ROM, 13 mpx Sony, 6,9mm thin, 120 gr, 2000 mah battery,…. And the most important thing, it’s on sale now.

    • June 24, 2013

      It is included, but you needed to press the arrow to see it. Changed that now

  11. Simon
    June 24, 2013

    But which one is the top of the 30 of the 5″ phones?

  12. Simon
    June 24, 2013

    Isn’t the iocean x7 commonly known as the Elite rather than Premium? Am in right in that this phone is probably the best of the bunch when you consider it’s price?

    I am keen to buy one of these phones purely because they offer so much for less money – but choosing is a mind field – Gizchina could be so much useful/popular if their was more structured testing and even just personal opinion and ratings.

    General Youtube and other sites are even less useful – lots of ‘demo’ spec videos and articles – but very few real breakdown and proper reviews – is this just the nature of the fast moving China phone business?

  13. Debashis De
    June 24, 2013

    Is the Umi X2 Turbo version really available and in stock in China?

    Umi India is explicitly saying that X2 Turbo version is not yet out in China and has some problems.

    I just want to know the truth. Umi India is publishing many false statements. Is it one of such?

    • June 24, 2013

      It’s available

      • Debashis De
        June 24, 2013

        Thank you. So, Umi India continues to cheat. 🙁

  14. Alex
    June 24, 2013

    UMI X2 TURBO is out in China. I have one in possession.

    • June 24, 2013

      What do you think of it?

  15. Aapo Tahkola
    June 24, 2013

    it occurred to me that maybe you could include chinese names for the brand in these lists as the english names are not very widely used in china. manufacturer websites are often useful source of info esp. at least for new firmware. googles chrome can do page translations. also thgeir translator app can pick up chines e from images or photos although tha t does not work all thew well.

    • June 24, 2013

      Which name are you after?

      • June 25, 2013

        I guess he meant ‘Dakele’ instead of ‘big cola’ or something like that.

        • June 25, 2013

          Big Cola is the English name for Da Kele

  16. Kiran
    June 24, 2013

    Is there a trusted Chinese website where i can order and get some good discounts as well. Dollar is very expensive right now in India. I can probably order it in Yuan 😀

    I have international shipping facility

    Also which one of these is a good phone , with 1K-1.2K Yuan budget

  17. Senator
    June 24, 2013

    Search: 5-inch, 2GB RAM
    Find: 3 Models

    THX Andi, your table is realy comfortable!

    • June 24, 2013

      Glad it’s of use 🙂

  18. K V Paul
    June 24, 2013

    Andy, I heard about Faea F2 with MTK6589T 1.5/”GB Ram and NFC from aliexpress. Do you know any thing about this?

  19. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    The Table isnt showing up on any of my browsers (IE, FF, Chrome, Dolphin etc).

  20. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    I cant see it either

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      It’s there now 🙂 Sorry

  21. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Where is the table?? 🙁 sad panda

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      It’s there now, I pressed publish instead of save. Sorry

  22. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Why there’s no ZTE v987?

  23. June 24, 2013

    wow, the Mlais MX69 looks goooood! I’ll be waiting for its upcoming release to see how it performs.

    • zaizu
      June 24, 2013

      looks the same specs as Carpad T65 Flagship – wonder where can buy – is it really 1080

  24. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    G4 Turbo before the end of June!? If that’s true and it supports 850MHz WCDMA then I definitely want one!! Its annoying there are no other <5 Inch phones sporting 2GB RAM and large battery 🙁

  25. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    thanks andy this is great

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      Glad it can be of use!

  26. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    What about eh Tianhe H920+ ? I have this phone (I believe it was the 1st MTK6589T phone available). It has a 5″ 1920×1080 LCD, 1GB RAM, 4GB ROM and runs Android 4.2.1 for now. It is HTC Butterfly inspired in design and the build quality is ok (sturdy device but still room for improvement). Price is around $230.

  27. Roberto
    June 24, 2013

    Hello Andi. Long time reader, first time poster (actually I posted earlier today). I’m an American living in Italy.

    I’m finally selling my zp900 so I could get one of these fancy new quad cores. I’ve been waiting for the zp980 2gb version to come out. Seeing as that’s not out yet, or may not even come out (I haven’t seen any news about it in a long while), do you think the C2 2GB/32GB is worth to buy? I feel as though it’s the same as the zp980, especially now that it has gorilla glass.

    Basically, I’m in search of a good quality 5″ 1080 phone, quad core, with 2GB ram, and the C2 seems to be the best looking one to me (that’s available atm). Your thoughts?

    Can’t wait for your review btw! I keep refreshing the site to see if you’ve completed it, haha.

    • June 24, 2013

      ZP980+ (or v2) is now out, with 2G/32G as well

      • Roberto
        June 24, 2013

        The one you see for sale on fastcardtech is actually a C2. They are “false advertising”. I saw in the fastcardtech hands on video a C2 sticker behind the battery.

        I think i might just order that one, though.

        • June 24, 2013

          I’ll tell you the truth in a couple of days 😉

  28. mon
    June 24, 2013

    hi andy, the table says that the zopo zp980 flagship is on sale now, but zopomobileshop.com on has the c2 platinum with 1gb/16gb internals. where can i check the 2gb/32gb version of the 980? nice list by the way, it tells me which one is really available in the market. sometimes sellers say they have stock but in fact the phone is not released yet.

    • June 24, 2013

      check ZP980+ on FCT

      • June 24, 2013

        Is real 6589T 2g/32g or is something like “cooked” rom?
        We all know Chinese e-shops what is capable to make because profit…

        • mon
          June 25, 2013

          i was ordering this on fct, but it doesnt have an option to pay via paypal. i’ll wait till you get your zp980+ then i’ll try to order from them. if it’s not available to other sellers, it might be falsely advertised.

          • June 25, 2013

            Paypal is not available because price exceeds 300USD or something, so you won’t have a chance to order that way (unless prices are cut down :P).
            Some sites (maybe zopomobileshop) are less restrictive (500USD).
            Obviously, i found 3 sites claiming to be “official Zopo resellers” :S but none of them advertise the “new” ZP980… “ZP980+” or “ZP980 Plus” is maybe NOT the real product name (refer Andi’s post and his surprise with the sample he got). BTW, none of them advertise the C3, neither… So…

        • June 25, 2013

          It sometimes happens, right. But i’m rather confident with FCT. Anyway, you DO have to read between the lines 😉

          • mon
            June 25, 2013

            thanks. maybe you can do a guest post of your zp980+ when you get it. 🙂 a review of some sort.

            • June 25, 2013

              Yep, scheduled 😉

  29. Simon
    June 24, 2013

    Neo N003 looks promising.

  30. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Hi Andy..I have been following your site for a very long time and I love the site and its content. I actually bought Jiayu G3 after reading the review here only and I am very happy with it..I have a request..if you can publish list like this but for phones with Gorilla Glass 2 and 3 as this is very important factor.. please publish this report… I know MX58 has Gorilla Glass 3..I hope’ you’ll honor my request

  31. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    I’d consider it to be so much more helpful, if this table could be expanded to additionallyinclude the supported frequency bands for GSM, W-CDMA (incl. f.e: HSPA+42 and I assume LTE still isn’t on the table yet for those phones), if for WiFi .11n 300Mb/s 2T2R:2 or such is available instead of the primitive 150Mb/s single link version and of course, which version of Bluetooth is built-in, if any at all.
    Thanks

  32. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    I thnk that you must incluye the tcl idol x. Display 5 ips,, mt6589T, 2gb RAM, 16gb ROM, 13 mpx Sony, 6,9mm thin, 120 gr, 2000 mah battery,…. And the most important thing, it’s on sale now.

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      It is included, but you needed to press the arrow to see it. Changed that now

  33. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    But which one is the top of the 30 of the 5″ phones?

  34. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Isn’t the iocean x7 commonly known as the Elite rather than Premium? Am in right in that this phone is probably the best of the bunch when you consider it’s price?

    I am keen to buy one of these phones purely because they offer so much for less money – but choosing is a mind field – Gizchina could be so much useful/popular if their was more structured testing and even just personal opinion and ratings.

    General Youtube and other sites are even less useful – lots of ‘demo’ spec videos and articles – but very few real breakdown and proper reviews – is this just the nature of the fast moving China phone business?

  35. Debashis De
    June 24, 2013

    Is the Umi X2 Turbo version really available and in stock in China?

    Umi India is explicitly saying that X2 Turbo version is not yet out in China and has some problems.

    I just want to know the truth. Umi India is publishing many false statements. Is it one of such?

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      It’s available

    • Debashis De
      June 24, 2013

      Thank you. So, Umi India continues to cheat. 🙁

  36. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    UMI X2 TURBO is out in China. I have one in possession.

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      What do you think of it?

  37. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    it occurred to me that maybe you could include chinese names for the brand in these lists as the english names are not very widely used in china. manufacturer websites are often useful source of info esp. at least for new firmware. googles chrome can do page translations. also thgeir translator app can pick up chines e from images or photos although tha t does not work all thew well.

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      Which name are you after?

    • Yash Garg
      June 25, 2013

      I guess he meant ‘Dakele’ instead of ‘big cola’ or something like that.

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      Big Cola is the English name for Da Kele

  38. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Is there a trusted Chinese website where i can order and get some good discounts as well. Dollar is very expensive right now in India. I can probably order it in Yuan 😀

    I have international shipping facility

    Also which one of these is a good phone , with 1K-1.2K Yuan budget

  39. Edward
    June 24, 2013

    How do I get an iocean in china?

  40. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Search: 5-inch, 2GB RAM
    Find: 3 Models

    THX Andi, your table is realy comfortable!

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      Glad it’s of use 🙂

  41. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Andy, I heard about Faea F2 with MTK6589T 1.5/”GB Ram and NFC from aliexpress. Do you know any thing about this?

  42. Harald
    June 24, 2013

    It’s of huge use

  43. June 24, 2013

    Andi Will you update the list when the phones are available that have the status soon? 🙂

    • June 24, 2013

      Yes 🙂

      • June 25, 2013

        Aaight thx 😉

  44. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    wow, the Mlais MX69 looks goooood! I’ll be waiting for its upcoming release to see how it performs.

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      looks the same specs as Carpad T65 Flagship – wonder where can buy – is it really 1080

  45. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Hello Andi. Long time reader, first time poster (actually I posted earlier today). I’m an American living in Italy.

    I’m finally selling my zp900 so I could get one of these fancy new quad cores. I’ve been waiting for the zp980 2gb version to come out. Seeing as that’s not out yet, or may not even come out (I haven’t seen any news about it in a long while), do you think the C2 2GB/32GB is worth to buy? I feel as though it’s the same as the zp980, especially now that it has gorilla glass.

    Basically, I’m in search of a good quality 5″ 1080 phone, quad core, with 2GB ram, and the C2 seems to be the best looking one to me (that’s available atm). Your thoughts?

    Can’t wait for your review btw! I keep refreshing the site to see if you’ve completed it, haha.

    • pa5t1s
      June 24, 2013

      ZP980+ (or v2) is now out, with 2G/32G as well

    • Guest
      June 24, 2013

      The one you see for sale on fastcardtech is actually a C2. They are “false advertising”. I saw in the fastcardtech hands on video a C2 sticker behind the battery.

      I think i might just order that one, though.

    • pa5t1s
      June 24, 2013

      I’ll tell you the truth in a couple of days 😉

  46. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    hi andy, the table says that the zopo zp980 flagship is on sale now, but zopomobileshop.com on has the c2 platinum with 1gb/16gb internals. where can i check the 2gb/32gb version of the 980? nice list by the way, it tells me which one is really available in the market. sometimes sellers say they have stock but in fact the phone is not released yet.

    • pa5t1s
      June 24, 2013

      check ZP980+ on FCT

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      Is real 6589T 2g/32g or is something like “cooked” rom?
      We all know Chinese e-shops what is capable to make because profit…

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      i was ordering this on fct, but it doesnt have an option to pay via paypal. i’ll wait till you get your zp980+ then i’ll try to order from them. if it’s not available to other sellers, it might be falsely advertised.

    • pa5t1s
      June 25, 2013

      Paypal is not available because price exceeds 300USD or something, so you won’t have a chance to order that way (unless prices are cut down :P).
      Some sites (maybe zopomobileshop) are less restrictive (500USD).
      Obviously, i found 3 sites claiming to be “official Zopo resellers” :S but none of them advertise the “new” ZP980… “ZP980+” or “ZP980 Plus” is maybe NOT the real product name (refer Andi’s post and his surprise with the sample he got). BTW, none of them advertise the C3, neither… So…

    • pa5t1s
      June 25, 2013

      It sometimes happens, right. But i’m rather confident with FCT. Anyway, you DO have to read between the lines 😉

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      thanks. maybe you can do a guest post of your zp980+ when you get it. 🙂 a review of some sort.

    • pa5t1s
      June 25, 2013

      Yep, scheduled 😉

  47. Danger
    June 24, 2013

    What’s the best camera-wise? Or only the big names have good camera? (xiaomi, meizu, etc)

    • June 24, 2013

      I watched a youtube video of a Zopo ZP980 and the camera quality was extremely good.

  48. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Neo N003 looks promising.

  49. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    How do I get an iocean in china?

  50. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    It’s of huge use

  51. Guest
    June 24, 2013

    Andi Will you update the list when the phones are available that have the status soon? 🙂

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      Yes 🙂

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      Aaight thx 😉

  52. Guest
    June 25, 2013

    What’s the best camera-wise? Or only the big names have good camera? (xiaomi, meizu, etc)

    • Guest
      June 25, 2013

      I watched a youtube video of a Zopo ZP980 and the camera quality was extremely good.

  53. Excelter
    June 25, 2013

    There other mtk6589t.
    Star b6000 or bluebo b6000 it’s not on the list

    • Dimas
      June 26, 2013

      +HDC B6000 and Orient N3 Plus (B6000).

  54. Valmiki
    June 25, 2013

    Dear Andi,
    Please answer my question: Which Of these Companies have the Best Built Quality overall??
    1) Gionee
    2) Zopo
    3) Oppo
    4) Umi
    5) Iocean

    • June 25, 2013

      Well Oppo is number 1, Ginoee 2, Zopo and iOcean 3 and Umi last

      • VALMIKI
        June 26, 2013

        than dude… that was a fast reply… and just by the way how does the quality of oppo and gionee compare with the standard Nokia/Samsung/Sony?

        also… how are the camera’s in oppo and gionee?

        • June 26, 2013

          It depends on which phone you are interested in. If you’re thinking of the Find 5 then the build in on par if not better than many of the larger phone makers. Camera is good too!

  55. Guest
    June 25, 2013

    There other mtk6589t.
    Star b6000 or bluebo b6000 it’s not on the list

    • Guest
      June 26, 2013

      +HDC B6000 and Orient N3 Plus (B6000).

  56. Guest
    June 25, 2013

    Dear Andi,
    Please answer my question: Which Of these Companies have the Best Built Quality overall??
    1) Gionee
    2) Zopo
    3) Oppo
    4) Umi
    5) Iocean

    • Guest
      June 26, 2013

      Well Oppo is number 1, Ginoee 2, Zopo and iOcean 3 and Umi last

    • Guest
      June 26, 2013

      than dude… that was a fast reply… and just by the way how does the quality of oppo and gionee compare with the standard Nokia/Samsung/Sony?

      also… how are the camera’s in oppo and gionee?

    • Guest
      June 26, 2013

      It depends on which phone you are interested in. If you’re thinking of the Find 5 then the build in on par if not better than many of the larger phone makers. Camera is good too!

  57. MTW
    June 26, 2013

    The only thing keeeping me from ordering X7,N003,N6 or X2 (all with MT6589T of course) is the fact that MediaTek announced MT6605 NFC solution in January (http://www.mediatek.com/_en/01_products/04_pro.php?sn=1084), so it is possible that most of the mentioned phones will be upgraded with NFC once again in the near future, especially if the rumor about FAEA putting NFC in their F2 turns out to be true.

  58. Guest
    June 26, 2013

    The only thing keeeping me from ordering X7,N003,N6 or X2 (all with MT6589T of course) is the fact that MediaTek announced MT6605 NFC solution in January (http://www.mediatek.com/_en/01_products/04_pro.php?sn=1084), so it is possible that most of the mentioned phones will be upgraded with NFC once again in the near future, especially if the rumor about FAEA putting NFC in their F2 turns out to be true.

  59. Ozi
    July 6, 2013

    Andi, Excellent job. but may be you can add 3G frequencies support in the table.

  60. Guest
    July 6, 2013

    Andi, Excellent job. but may be you can add 3G frequencies support in the table.