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

Ying HuaJuly 14, 2013

The Cubot GT99 has been on sale for some time, but this sub $150 quad-corephone 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 Chinesephone 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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About the author
Ying Hua
I'm an avid gamer and a bit of a Ninja when it comes to gadgets and technology. When I'm not busy with the latest Android and iOS games and I can be found writing at Gizchina.com.

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

Mrinal
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.
Aeonia
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..
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.