Is the JiaYu S1 the phone JiaYu should be making? Full specifications and photos, have your say!


Are JiaYu making a huge mistake with some of their hardware and feature choices on the JiaYu S1? Take a look at the complete hardware, specifications and exclusive photos here and have your say!

Yesterday we posted the full specification details of the JiaYu S1, and as with all JiaYu news it attracted a lot of attention along with comments both positive and negative. As you can see from the S1’s specifications (see below) the new phone is going to feature a lot of ‘firsts’ for JiaYu some of which are great to see while others have received a mixed reception.

What we have below is the full specifications of the JiaYu S1 along with exclusive hands on photos plus details of each of the major features. Do you think that JiaYu have made the right decisions with the S1’s hardware? Take a look and let us know what you think in the comments!

JiaYu S1 Specifications

[komper pid=7 compareform=no]

With those specifications fresh in our minds lets take a look at a few of the major features which are generating the most praise/complaints.

5-inch 1080 display

jiayu s1 1080 screen

The S1 will be the first JiaYu phone to have a 5-inch display and the first JiaYu to offer full HD resolution. We are quite happy to see that JiaYu have put off entering the 1080 phone market till now and have continued to offer a quality 720 phone with a smaller display (the JiaYu G4). But the market is changing and the norm for most flagship phones is 5-inch, 1080.

Do you think a 5-inch, 1080 panel is a good choice?

Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 CPU

jiayu S1 full specifications

This is also going to be the first JiaYu to use a non MTK (Mediatek) chipset. Although this will raise the price of the phone when compared to current JiaYu models, it could also fix a few details G4 owners have struggled with such as poor or slow GPS.

jiayu s1 specifications

We don’t think anyone could argue that the 600 isn’t a powerful processor so performance won’t be an issue and early benchmarks suggest scores of over 24,000!

Is the Snapdragon 600 the wrong choice?

Single Sim Support

This is going to be a sore point for many Chinese phone enthusiasts who turned to Mediatek powered options to get dual-sim support! The JiaYu S1 won’t have dual-SIM (similar to the Xiaomi Mi2S and phone from larger phone makers), however it is still going to be priced less than the competition and have better hardware than most.

Is the lack of dual SIM support a deal breaker on the JiaYu S1?

No memory expansion

jiayu s1 memory

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Although this is not confirmed, it is widely believed that the JiaYu S1 won’t have an option to install a memory card to expand storage. Instead the phone will come with either 16GB or 32GB of built-in memory. Personally we would prefer to see at least 32-64GB as 16GB just doesn’t cut it anymore.

16GB enough? Is the S1 DOA thanks to no memory expansion?

Built-in battery

Many have complained that a built-in battery design is ridiculous and as soon as the battery has been through cycles of charging and de-charging the life of the phone will be seriously affected. You could on the other hand argue the a built-in battery allows for less resistance and better performance and helps to make a thinner phone!

Built-in battery on JiaYu S1 yes or no?

Wireless charging

jiayu S1 full specifications

Wireless charging means that the S1 can be conveniently set on a dock and allowed to charge, however it also means having that dock with you to do so.

jiayu s1 wireless charging

Obviously the phone will still charge through a traditional cable too, and charging through a dock or matt with help reduce wear and tear on the USB, it this really necessary though?

Wireless charging, useful feature or pointless gimmick?

NFC

jiayu s1 nfc

NFC has been an option on some phones for a while now, but it is only this year that we are seeing NFC built-in to more and more Chinese handsets. As well as allowing for payment at certain shops and on public transport (in some places) NFC can also be used to share photos and files between phones, share web pages and apps and even pair devices to your phone quickly.

NFC will you use it?

Are JiaYu making the right choices? Have your say

Personally we are really excited about the JiaYu S1 and we like all the features (apart from the minuscule amount of memory) which JiaYu have chosen for their flagship. A built-in battery doesn’t bother us and neither does the lack of dual-sim support, but obviously these are features some of you want/need.

So what are your thoughts of the JiaYu S1 and it’s specifications? Are JiaYu on to a winner or have they made to many errors in specification for you to consider it? Let us know in the comments section below!

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.

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24 Comments

  1. August 19, 2013

    Many people will rule it out because it has no SD card and dual SIM facility.
    Wireless charging could have been better implemented. A gimmick as it is.

  2. August 19, 2013

    If they can make this reliable, it is great value for the price. Its a 600 series now in upper 6589T price range. No disrespect to MTK, I own a device myself but the 600 series is a league above it especially for more avid gamers.

    Great to see Jiayu diversifying and attempting to make ever better devices. I hope it goes well for them.

  3. Vasili
    August 19, 2013

    I would prefer to have something very similar to G3or G4 but with Snapdragon SOC. I personally don’t care at all about wireless charging and NFC. Dual SIM is not required for me but SD is a must!

    • DEF
      August 20, 2013

      Yep, G4 Advanced is almost perfect, and Snapdragon could make it even better.

  4. Petri
    August 19, 2013

    More storage space would be nice

  5. krida
    August 19, 2013

    have sdcard expansion would be better, no need nfc since the technology still lack of implementation support from vendors.

  6. August 19, 2013

    well, no dual-sim, no SD card, built-in battery…
    5″ FHD is the norm now, nothing a 160USD phone does not provide…
    #fail

  7. anony
    August 20, 2013

    The microsd and the built in battery is deal breaker for me, but I’m sure there’d be a lot of people who are fine with it.

    The charging dock is a niche feature but it’s ultimately just an accessory, so I don’t care either way. It’s still a bit ridiculous though.

  8. -Carlos-
    August 20, 2013

    No Sd Card, No Dual sim… Almost perfect

  9. RobertNL
    August 20, 2013

    The processor and screen are fine. Lets hope they take a better display then on the G3 as the colors where not right on that phone. But i think they will manage that with this Sharp OGS screen.

    The battery will do fine. No it will not last 2 days+ like a Jiayu G4 but it it takes me trough the day it will be fine.

    That the memory is not expandable could be a deal breaker but with a 4GB data bundle (14€/mo) and WIFI a lot of the time i could just manage it with dropbox and music streaming services (tune in, spotify and alternitive versions of these apps).

    NFC is great, i own a few tags and some speakers / headphones that pair with NFC. Its verry nice to pair to things with NFC w/o going trough the menu every time.

    What i like more about the phone is the Sony 13MP camera sensor. Looking at the specs of the back camera 13MP F2.2 i can only hope its a Exmor S senor :D.

    Only thing i can hope for now is that you will be able to pick it up for a decent price from a re-seller or TaoBao

  10. August 20, 2013

    For diversification, its great move. But still not my choice.

    Plus point :
    – Processor, although not the best, but its better than MTK
    – Display, 5″ 1080, OGS, good choice

    Minus point :
    – Single SIM. Maybe some dont need Dual SIM, but me personally prefer Dual SIM.
    – No Memory Expansion. Apps and data getting bigger and bigger…
    – Built-in Battery.

    Neutral point :
    – NFC
    – Wireless Charging

  11. Bert
    August 20, 2013

    The band frequencies are missing from the specs. A phone that supports all 3G frequencies would be great: 850/900/1900/2100. If it only supports 2100 then that limits the market. Also 4G/LTE support would be a real bonus.

    Built in battery and no memory expansion = bad idea.

  12. Mik
    August 20, 2013

    the features are great but the price can only determine the success of this terminal, as if the nexus 5 will have the same characteristics as lg G2 and the price of the 349 for the rest of the world of mobile phones there is no future!

    • anony
      August 20, 2013

      Nexus devices are only cheap in Google’s subsidized countries.

  13. adri
    August 20, 2013

    Big minuses:single sim card-for me
    non-removable battery
    2300mAh I’d say isn’t enough with this display of 5inches.
    Plus:Snapdragon 600 like Samsung S4 and it’s seen in Antutu.
    Obs:I waited for this smartphone but now I think I don’t want it anymore.

  14. z1george
    August 20, 2013

    I say its a gr8 idea. Bring on the S1, the S2 etc. All those useless features nfc, qi charging, full HD, batteries dead after 3 hours because of huge screen with crazy resolution.
    Why its great ? Well it makes price of great phones like G3s, G4 get lower and affordable faster. No more out of stock.
    Just wanna finally buy these for less than 99$.
    I can live with useful text apps and call ID with the ugly 720p resolution…

  15. anony
    August 20, 2013

    What puzzle me is the no microsd slot. Do they really think they can compete with Xiaomi, which although also don’t have microsd slot have much bigger brand recognition.

    Heck they could have positioned their device as “better Xiaomi” with more features and similar spec, instead they’re shooting themselves in the foot with more lack than features.

  16. Roko
    August 20, 2013

    no dual-sim, no SD card, built-in battery, 5″ :/

  17. Domkeane
    August 20, 2013

    Looks pretty good. A nice step up from a lot of Jiayu’s previous smartphones. Whether we’ll see it anytime soon? That’s questionable.

  18. roni24
    August 20, 2013

    MTK chip is not that good: gps, memory problems, support 1920x 1080 very bad, so it should work with 1024×720.
    OGS is a must.
    1GB is enough but 2GB is better.
    OTG is a must, MHL is a plus.
    SD is a must.
    dont need NFC.
    build in battery is bad, and it should be 2600 and more.
    gorilla glass 2 is a must.
    i would have take G4, but it doesnt have 5′.
    the g4 cost around 280$ for us, so this S1 that you say will cost in chaina 320$ will cost us around 380$.
    on November MTK is going to ship her new 8 cores chip with clock of 2GHz.
    i say buy something cheap and good, and wait to December.

    • Ace
      August 20, 2013

      Rockchip 2014.

  19. Domkeane
    August 21, 2013

    Well if Jiayu really wanted to even the playing field then they could at least throw in an ad card slot, removable battery, Snapdragon 800 CPU and Adreno 330 gpu.

  20. Domkeane
    August 21, 2013

    *sd

  21. Richard
    August 24, 2013

    Hi guys i just received the jiayu G3 Turbo . there is a website called jiayu.es and there is also on google play an app for receiving jiayu downloads guides and roms anyway i have just installed what they call the Jiayu Offical rom from this month then ran outlook security it has found adware in contacts and in phone.apk ..not sure what too do cant remove them 🙁