Cubot GT99, 4.5-inch, quad-core for less than $160!


The Cubot GT99 has been on sale for some time, but this sub $150 quad-core phone is a great example of trickle down technology in Chinese phones!

It’s hard to believe that quad-core MT6589 phones launched just at the start of this year and just 7 months on were already on the second generation Mediatek chipset (MT6589T)!

The Chinese phone market’s ability to move so fast and adapt with the times is pretty remarkable to say the least, but what is most amazing is how fast technology trickles down to more affordable levels.

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A great example is the Cubbot GT99. This phone costs less than $160 yet it features a quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, 4.5-inch 1280 x 720 display, and 8 mega-pixel camera! In addition it features an SD card slot for up to 64GB cards, 2200mAh battery and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean! These are levels of hardware that most big name entry-level phones fail to reach!

Is it likely that by this time next year we will be able to buy 8-core Meidatek Chinese phones at a similar price? Possibly, but in the meantime the GT99 looks like a great bargain and can be bought here for $155.99.

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Previous Pipo M9 Pro launched with FHD display and built-in 3G
Next Lenovo A850 will boast a 5.5-inch display, Tegra 3 processor and sub $250 price tag!

26 Comments

  1. July 14, 2013

    How soon can we expect a full review?…Looking to buy this very soon..

  2. Mite
    July 14, 2013

    make sure you check Cubot newest creation which is the Cubot One
    i love that phone but it is 190-200$ with shiping

  3. tal levi
    July 14, 2013

    i dont have nor did i ever use this phone, but 1 person on a forum im a part of, bought it and he has major reception issues, loosing reception on either one of the 2 sims, both of them and the mobile data internet

    • diego
      July 14, 2013

      Disconnecting the wcdma 900 band in the engeeniring mode the problem is solved. I have the gt99 and works perfect

      • tal levi
        July 15, 2013

        ill tell him to try, thanks

      • Mateus
        July 15, 2013

        Hi,
        Could you tell us about the screen quality, signal strength a quality of cubot rom?

      • July 21, 2013

        Hi,

        According to the constructor website, the phone doesn’t even support wcdma 900:

        Basic Information
        Model Cubot GT99
        Band 2G: GSM 900/1800MHz
        3G: WCDMA 2100

        I have this phone too and i am experiencing the same issue… unable to call or te be called even the signal strenght shows perfect reception.

        Anyway, can you explain to me how can i reach engineer mode?

        Thank you

        • July 21, 2013

          download an app called MTK Mobile Uncle tools from playstore then open it, enter Engineer Mode( mtk ) and under telephony you will see BandMode…from my side I can see that the sim1 suports wcdma IMT 2000, 800, gsm-900 and wcdma clr-850….

          Out of curiosity…is your cubot gt99 OS 4.2.1 or 4.2.2 ??

          • July 21, 2013

            Hi,

            I did as you said but the issue is still here…
            Any recommanfation?
            Mine is from Pandawill and runs stock 4.2.1 fw.
            What about yours?

            • Aeonia
              July 22, 2013

              Mine is 4.2.1 from geekbuying.com. Try contacting cubot supoort .mine is
              working well with no issues whatsoever

      • September 10, 2013

        I’m sorry, but I did not understand, the gt99 support wcdma 900 or not?

  4. July 14, 2013

    is banggood.com reliable???

    • July 15, 2013

      I bought a Jiayu G3 from them, had no problems

    • quistler
      July 15, 2013

      Yes they are. Ordered a quadcopter and had no problems.

    • miga
      August 6, 2013

      Yes, I bought the Cubot gt99 from them and it arrived in 2 weeks with free shipping.

  5. July 15, 2013

    Managed to order one from geekbuying.com..express shipping to Kenya (201 dollars) included..When and if it arrives, i will do a full review incase anyone’s interested..

    • Oftheclanius
      March 12, 2014

      a few questions as I am also in Kenya.
      1. What shipping courier did you use?
      2.did you have to pay import tax?
      if so how much was it?

      • Aeonia
        March 31, 2014

        sorry for the wait…i used geekbuying.com and selected EMS shipping..they charge 46 dollars for shipping…Once it arrives in Kenya, you pay a tax of roughly 200-1500 KShs..depending on how those guys from EMS Narobi think your parcel is worth..u get a tracking number from geekbuying which alters you when ur parcel arrives in Kenya..usually 9-11 days from ordering..Its somewhat safe and so far havent lost any parcel

  6. July 15, 2013

    How would this compare to the Haier W910 ( http://www.pandawill.com/haier-w910-smart-phone-android-40-msm8260a-dual-core-15ghz-45-inch-720p-ips-retina-screen-ip54-p65878.html ). Also 4.5 inch, 720p screen, qualcom snapdragon s4 plus dual core and gorilla glass 2.

    • Mateus
      July 15, 2013

      The advantages of Haier’s phone are the gorila glass corning and the slightly better price… as the Cubot is most likely to outperform the Haier’s phone, because Qualcomm’s weaker gpu… also Cubot’s phone features a bigger battery and a better camera(not so sure since it’s most likely to be simply a 8MP camera with interpolation)

      • July 16, 2013

        qualcomm’s weaker gpu??the haier has an adreno 225…which if am not wrong blows away the single core powervr544

        • Mateus
          July 16, 2013

          You’re right. My Bad…. I could swear I read Adreno 205 and not 225 ‘-‘

          Adreno 225 is said to score from 10 to 12 fps more than sgx544 on nenamark.

  7. July 19, 2013

    got mine today…works great..build quality (8/10), does not bend at all. fast and smooth (playing ironman 3 and Dead trigger on high with no lags and am using FPS meter to make sure)..CAMERA::.asked Cubot customer care about this and he said its a true 13 mp..vids are recorded in1080p. Hardware Id app also confirms this. bezels are a bit big but it doesn’t really affect me..Plays 1080p videos without breaking a sweat..Antutu 13063..Anything else??

    • Mateus
      July 21, 2013

      Not sure if you still gonna read this but…
      Is the screen brightness good? because most of the sub 200$ phones that i see around with 720p screen features a very poor brightness… and what about wi-fi and 3g signal, are they good? Is i common to loose signal while moving or getting a little far from the source?

      • Aeonia
        July 22, 2013

        3g signal is good(n matter how far i am) and wifi is pretty good(am about 90m away and still works well)…better than my previous phone. as for display its sharp and clear,i comapred it with an s3 and though the s3 is better,the cubot doesnt fall behind much( a little less brighter)….only bad things with the cubot gt99 so far is its crappy earphones and my charger died in the first 2 hrs of use..

  8. Ginger
    November 6, 2013

    I had problems with the network signal dropping out. I am in the US on AT&T, and the phone supports 3g at 2100mhz, but AT&T’s 3g is on a different frequency. Once I disabled 3g on the phone and registered to the 2g network, signal has been constant and great.

    I’m not sure what I’m sacrificing by not having 3g, but I haven’t noticed any difference from the service of my last phone, which was on 3g.