GizChina Video: FAEA F1 Penguin Review

AndiJuly 17, 2013

We’ve had the FAEAF1 Penguin for a long time now and have been able to put it though it’s paces. Take a look at the phone in action in our hands on videoreview.

The FAEAF1 Penguin is currently one of the most affordable quad-core, 720p phones available with built-in NFC. The F1 is currently available for international customers at $169.99 which is actually a pretty good price for such a well made phone!

On paper the specs are really very good. There is a 1.2Ghz Snapdragon S4 processor, 1GB RAM, 8 mega-pixel rear camera, 2 mega-pixel front, 4.5-inch 720p display, NFC, 2000mAh battery and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. In use though the phone isn’t quite up to the performance of phones equipped with Mediatek quad-core processors such as the MT6589 or MT6589T.

Video: FAEA F1 Penguin review

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Conclusion

There is no doubt in my mind that the F1 is a great phone for the money. There is nothing with NFC for the same price and if that is an important feature for you then this is the phone to buy.

It is also the phone you should buy if you just want a solid smartphone for browsing the web, keeping up to date on Twitter and Facebook, and casual gaming (games like Angry Birds) if you are a real power user though and like more complex games then the F1 isn’t going to cut it and it might be better to wait for the FAEA F2 to launch.

For those of you wanting to pick up the $169.99 FAEAF1 Penguin you can order it directly from the company at FAEAmobile.com.

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

Michael
July 17, 2013
Thanks for this great review Andi. I have been wondering what the performance of Snapdragon S4 Play will be like when compared to the MTK Quad and Turbo Quad. Now that I know, I am gonna stay away from this Snapdragon for sure since I am a very heavy phone user. I play lots of very complex and graphic intensive games with my phone.
- - how would you compare the build quality of this phone to the cubot gt99?
  - anastasios
    July 17, 2013
    What about batter life? Is MTK better?

Stefan
July 17, 2013
Hi Andy,
thanks for your review. Would be very fine if you could post the promised sampleshoots of the camera. Thanks a lot in advance.
Stefan

Stefan
July 17, 2013
PS: I think for the not so versed readers it would be better to clearly emphasize that the used processor is a Snapdragon S4 PLAY. The Play-Version of the S4 is not compareable to the Pro, Plus or Prime version. They have different GPUs, they are manufactured in 28nm instead of the 45nm of the S4 Play aso.
The S4Pro e.g. the MSM8960T variant which is used in the Xiaomi Mi2, or the Quad APQ8064 used in the Mi2 outperforming the S4Play variants with ease.
I know that most tec-affine users know that fact, but a not so interested user could get it wrong…

Henrik
July 17, 2013
Have you tested the GPS? After getting an MTK6589 phone, I am wary of time to get GPS lock and ability to keep it.
Also, does this phone come rooted?
- Stefan
  July 17, 2013
  According to some users of the german “chinamobiles.de” forum the GPS seems to work good and accurate. Here’s the thread: http://chinamobiles.org/showthread.php?34179-%E5%8D%8E%E6%98%93-Faea-F1-Snapdragon-S4-Quadcore-NFC-4-5-quot-HD-display-dual-sim-1GB-Ram-4GB-Rom-JB/page8
  With google translator it should be understandable, even if german isn’t your native language,
  Also there is a way to root the phone. It works with “Framaroot 1.4.2.apk” from xda-developers.

Smobbo
July 17, 2013
Thanks for the review Andi!
I agree with you, it is not a phone for power users, but it is a which is suitable for the majority of users.
It feels really sturdy, solid. The GUI is smooth, no hiccups there.
I’ve tested the GPS and it is very good. Much better than the MTK6577 devices i’ve had before. A fast lock (<30secs) and more importantly a very solid lock :D!
This for me was the main reason to buy this phone as upgrade from the Jiayu G2s instead of any of the MT6589(T) phones.
So if you're looking for a cheap dual sim phone with good GPS performance and a solid overall Android experience this is a really good choice :)!
P.S. The english forum @ FAEAmobile.com (forum.faeamobile.com) is quite active at the moment, with rom updates and fixes being released often. Might be interesting for other non-chinese speakers 😉

July 17, 2013
Wel for F1 question join/read the english forum
http://forum.faeamobile.com
And Andy……XD
Couldn’t you arange a ‘gift-package’ code. A discount is nice.
But I guess most can use an: Extra battery, screen protector and a case.
And folks…not for me but for you!!! I already ordere myself one using Andy’s first discount code.
Judah
July 17, 2013
A little bit too late for the review.
The discountcode (i thought it was 20$ off) was available till 16-07 🙁

Rob
July 17, 2013
I bought one, it is a good all rounder, I would not expect the most graphic intensive games to play well, but Temple Run 2 is just fine, mine got 10,341 on Antutu, and the GPS is pretty good
ahmed
July 17, 2013
hey andi the review video is nt showing n ur site wht to do help please its urgent

Ahmed do a search on YouTube and Gizchina Faea F1, should show up there
Oemer
July 17, 2013
I prefer any MTK Quad phone over this..

July 17, 2013
Hi,
I think you should include a GPS review of the phones.
Lot of people use GPS everyday and sometimes MTK phones fail in this point.
iOcean X7 is a very good phone but has poor GPS. if I had known it beforehand I would not have purchased it.
Xiaomi 2S has good GPS but is Qualcomm…
- Airyl
  July 18, 2013
  - July 18, 2013
    There´s nothing wrong with Qualcomm, it works great.
    The problem is that most of this phones use MTK chips and all have GPS issues.
    So i love this phones but if they don´t improve their GPS they are not for me
- Michael
  July 18, 2013
  I own the phone and its GPS fix is quite fast, with no signal lost during navigation.
  There is a softare issue that GPS looses its fix when the phone is on sleep, but FAEA promised an update soon.
  Xiaomi is far more advanced of course, due to GLONASS support.
  - July 18, 2013
    Thats the point, everything works well, from a GPS point of view, like this FAEA F1, as long as they don´t use MediaTeK chips
    - July 18, 2013
      The FAEA F1 is a great all rounder. Price is good, screen is good, performance is fine for anything but really heavy gaming.

- July 18, 2013
  Mine managed 10341, with no sim cards and apps running, 10,337, with both sim slots activated, picture is on the Faea Mobile forum, along with some othre shoy=ts from the camera I feel Andy’s review is honest and gives a good picture of what this phone is about, I bought it as a cheap workhorse, it will do most things people will want. It is brilliant for the money.
  Now if Andy can negotiate a discount on the upcoming Faea F2 advanced,…
  - - July 18, 2013
      That would be great, I think if Faea Mobile keep up the standard they have set, they could well mix it with the best of them.
Matthew
July 17, 2013
Hi Andi,¨
Could you test a camera pls ?
Thanks a lot !
- Michael
  July 18, 2013
  Better than 5″ FHD MTK phones but worse than an MTK with the same specs like Jiayu G4.
  - Anastasios
    July 18, 2013
    Jiayu G4 has a 4.7 inch screen and a 3000mAh battery and FAEA F1 has 4.5 inch and 2000mAh battery so Jiayu G4 has better battery life because of bigger capacity or because it has the MTK 6589 processor?
  - Michael
    July 19, 2013

Mariner
July 18, 2013
All else being equal, the Cortex-A5 CPUs in the FAEA F1 should draw a good bit less power than the A7s in the Mediatek chips.
However, as I understand it, all things aren’t equal as the Mediatek chips are manufactured on the 28nm process and (I believe), the Snapdragon in the F1 is manufactured on the 45nm process.
It’s quite possible that the Mediatek devices will therefore draw less power from the chipset, even though they have higher-power CPUs.
Hopefully not too much, however. I’ve got an F1 on order myself and could do with decent battery life!
- July 18, 2013
  Judging by my use since it arrived you should get a working day’s use, but as with any Android, installing a battery saver app, like battery Doctor or Juice defender is a must.
  - Mariner
    July 19, 2013
    Never needed to use a battery saver myself in the past but then I’m not a user of many widgets which seem to me to be the main culprits when it comes to battery drain.
    I also have pretty light usage most of the time so battery life shouldn’t be an issue to me. I was slightly concerned by Andi’s review which mentioned the phone gets quite hot as I’d have thought a quad Cortex-A5 device ought to run pretty cool. Hopefully, shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
    - July 19, 2013
      Used the phone mixed mode a few calls, email updates, GPS for an hour, 20 minutes Temple Run 2, Wi-Fi for an hour, as I was on the road, some Google searches on 3G data, several texts, over a 0 hour period, battery is now at 47% Battery Doctor reports 8 hour 43 minutes left
Jovha
July 21, 2013
Hi Andi,
What about video recording resolution? hd or fhd? quality of pics?
Thanks 😉

faea lover
August 7, 2013
hi andi can you please make a review of the faea F2 i would be great!! thx! 🙂
Kris
September 27, 2013
Hi Andi, I have bought this phone for my wife and she’s not happy, the power/ wake button stucks, you have to push very hard and most times it don’t work, you have remedy or more complaints about this? I want refund from faeamobile but then pay shipping or lose the phone!
- September 27, 2013
  If you’re not happy with it then you should talk to the people you bought it from