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GizChina Video: FAEA F1 Penguin unboxing video and first impressions

AndiJune 28, 2013

This morning we received the FAEAF1 Penguin for review, we’ve already put together an unboxing video along with photos of this low-cost device here.

We have high hopes for FAEA, which is why I was pretty excited when I received the FAEAF1 Penguin this morning from the official international distributors Faeamobile.com.

Although I knew the phone was on it’s way I didn’t actually no what was going to be in this morning’s package until I tore open the box and got inside. There I found the large cardboard packaging which house the FAEAF1 Penguin.

You can see a brief hands-on and hear my initial impressions of the phone in the video below, but in case you can’t watch it now I’ll tell you what I though here. Opening up the packaging and upon getting in the box you will find the phone, 2000mAh battery, charger and data transfer cable, there are no earbuds.

Removing the rear panel, which seems to have been manufactured in the same 2 step injection moulding process as the Meizu MX2, is a little trickier than usual thanks to a tighter, more snug fit (a good thing). The rear panel also holds the built-in NFC chip.

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Under the cover is space for an SD card and their is an odd shape SIM arrangement which I have yet to play around with.

The front of the phonefeatures a 4.5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) display, capacitive buttons (which don’t light up) and a 2 mega-pixel front camera.

FAEA F1 Penguin specifications

I have yet to run Antutu on the phone, but according to the official FAEA F1 Penguin specifications the phonefeatures a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 8225Q quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8 mega-pixel rear camera, 4GB of memory, 2000mAh battery, Android 4.1.2 and support for GSM 900/1800/1900 mhz+ WCDMA 900/2100MHz.

A full reviewFAEAF1 Penguin will review should be posted by the end of next week.

Watch the FAEA F1 Penguin unboxing video

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About the author

Andi

Joosie200
June 28, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2ZKHhCQrJM
Faea F1 scores 10100 on Antutu versus 11800 for example iOcean X7! That shows the difference between the Mediatek MTK6589 SoC and Qualcomm MSM8225Q SoC. Of course it’s Cortex A7 versus Cortex A5 as well and different gpu. And then there’s different resolution and screen sizes, but still.. it’s nice to see how the Qualcomm Snapdragon holds up to the Mediatek MTK! 🙂
- Benny
  June 28, 2013
  It doesnt.. The Antutu score also takes into account many factors including memory, storage and Screen resolutions. The Faea F1 is only a 720p screen whilst the iOcean is a 1080p screen. There is as much as 25% differences between the 720p and 1080p since most of the MTK6589 @720p phones hit around 13-14k. The Snapdragon on the FAEA F1 is the bottom of the range Snapdragon 200 so dont think it is anything like the high end Snapdragon 600 range of the Galaxy S4.
  - Vladi78
    June 28, 2013
    Thats true. But still after reading about some Wifi/GPS issues it’s nice to have some alternative to MTK. On the other hand Snapdragon 200 may be more battery unfriendly. I prefer perfect functionality (GPS,Wifi) than some +25% (10k vs. 14k Antutu numbers) speed. (Now I am fine with some 5000 Antutu of my UMI X1)
- thierry
  June 29, 2013
  - vladi78
    June 29, 2013
    - thierry
      June 30, 2013
      Wifi gives me only 2 out of 4 bars but its still a solid signal and stays solid when im on the terrace whereas my newman n1 tends too loose teh signal on the terrace.
      For the GPS, first fix took a few minutes (about five). After that it took just a few seconds to get a fix the second time…. seems very good. Im very impressed by this phone after a week of use.
      - Vladi78
        June 30, 2013
        Thanks for answer. Well that’s exactly what I expected. Fair results in Wifi and GPS. I had enough of praying for GPS on my UMI X1. Wifi is also nothing special and disconnecting in weak signal. I was hoping for massive improvement with MTK 6589. But it looks like only small step ahead (I had 2 MTK 6589 phones in hand so far). I was waiting for Jiayu G4, but now I am really confused. I guess most of the people here are focused on dual SIM support (Its somehow connected with China phones) than it is price and after that maybe unique design. But what for is MTK’s thousands of Antutu rating, when some important functionality is missing ? Maybe for gamers. My wifes Sony Experia TIPO with shity parameters on the paper but on the other hand GPS and WIFI on Qualcomm chipset are from another league and Android 4.0.4 is very well balanced while only 512 MB of RAM and under 1GHz single core on board.
  - Rob
    June 30, 2013
    That’s still OK at the price point, UK side you would be lucky to get a Samsung Galaxy Ace, or a Sony Experia Tipo sim free for the same coin as an F1

Qrious
June 28, 2013
kermitos
June 28, 2013
Looks great. Can’t wait for the review. 🙂
Airyl
June 28, 2013
Andi, my big question is does it feel as well built as a Meizu phone? How is the build quality in general?
- June 28, 2013
  It feels extremely good considering the price. To compare it to the Meizu might seem a little unfair as the FAEA doesn’t have buggy OS or overheat 😉
J-Bird
June 28, 2013

Rob
June 28, 2013
Looks good, would make a nice new phone for my missus, size is right too, I prefer a smaller screen and a smaller phone myself also. Wonder what the Antutu will really be, and what battery life will be like with that low end Snapdragon?
Camaman
June 28, 2013
That button on the side looks like an afterthought.
Pretty cheap. Whats your opinion in it Andy?
- Cranky
  June 28, 2013
  I thought it was supposed to stick out a bit from the chassis so it wouldn’t be too shallow. Shay do you think Andi?
pell
June 28, 2013
No led notification or focus led on camera right? 🙁
Still seems pretty good
- Cranky
  June 28, 2013
  If you’re talking about notification led, it’s that breathing light feature in the settings menu.

Patrick
June 28, 2013
Looks like an interesting phone for the price. I was at some stage even close to hitting the ‘buy’ button. But the GSM frequencies have kept me off. Seems a bit strange that GSM at 850 MHz is lacking when other phones are usually all quadband.
- Patrick
  June 29, 2013
  I would say that in the UK and in Europe you should be fine with the F1 on all networks (if the specs really are true). However if you plan to take the phone to the US, you should expect to be without a connection anywhere without 1900 MHz GSM (T-Mobile) service (=outside of large metropolitan areas – and even inside metropolitan areas connections will be spotty).
  - June 29, 2013
    Yes thanks, it looks that way, the price is attractive, shall i or shan’t I, only thing is how that snapdragon 200 stacks up against Mediatek, 6589 for games

CESAR
June 29, 2013
June 30, 2013
Done some more research, Have ordered an F1 it will do until that Mediatek chip supporting 4G surfaces for 2014
- Vladi78
  June 30, 2013
  - - - July 3, 2013
        🙂 Great This shows that Gizchina is respected by the phone manufacturers, it opens up their exposure worldwide.
Cj Escuadro
July 4, 2013
I was really ecstatic when I had this phone because for the fact that it carries the Qualcomm’s quad-core processor (in which I’ve had some good experience also) plus the price point is just about right for my budget.Bought mine from here: http://www.merimobiles.com/faea-penguin-f1-qualcomn-quad-core-1-2ghz-4-5-inch-ips-1280-720-android-4-1-1gb-ram-4gb-rom-nfc-smartphone_p/meri8352.htm In pure accident I found their site and I think they had cheaper price.So yeah, I grab the opportunity.tehee..