iNew V3 Review – Contender for the best mid-range Chinese phone of the year!


When I first read about the iNew V3 last year I, like many of you, was pretty blown away by the high standard of equipment for a phone at such a great price. Now after a few weeks of testing I am just as impressed.

Low-cost Chinese Phones

There was a time when buying a low-cost Android phone from China was a big gamble. You didn’t really know what you were going to get, specifications might be sketchy and build quality might also have been a let down. I’m happy to say I think those times are largely behind us! This isn’t to say I believe you can just rush out and buy any Chinese phone without worry or concern, but I am saying the chances of getting a dud are nowhere near as high as it used to be.

iNew V3 Review

Before receiving the iNew V3 I had a rough idea of what would arrive. I had read the issues that some customers had had with charging and the fact that iNew’s specifications don’t match what the phone actually has to offer.

inew v3 review

After watching how iNew have handled these issues I would like to believe that the company have done their best to rectify things with fast ROM updates and admissions that they might have got a few details wrong. Overall I have been more than impressed with the iNew V3, and believe that if the company continues to make phones like this then they could easily be a much larger player in the future!

iNew V3 Specifications

As mentioned above, the specifications on the official iNew website aren’t as accurate as they might have us believe, but even with these discrepancies the phone is still quite a bargain.

inew v3 review

The big differences between what iNew say and what the phone has are go do with the main camera and the dimensions. According to iNew the main camera is a Sony 13 mega-pixel shooter with an aperture of F2.0, the fact is that phone has an F2.2 aperture (more common on phones of this price) we are still uncertain if Sony or Chinese brand Sonny make the sensor. As for dimensions the phone measures in a 6.5mm at it’s thinnest and tapers out to a thicker 7.9mm which is still more than acceptable.

inew v3 review

The specification also say the phone has OTG support which is true but only after an official ROM update, which iNew seems to be getting sorted on a regular basis.

iNew V3 Specifications

These are the official claimed specifications.

[komper pid=144 compareform=no]

iNew V3 Unboxing Video

Below is the detailed unboxing video, first hands on and impressions of the iNew V3 quad-core MT6582 smartphone after we received the phone review. In the video you will see what you get in the box, accessories and a brief hands on with the phone.

iNew V3 Review – Design

inew v3 review

No matter if you are a first time Chinese phone buyer or a veteran Chinese phone fan it is going to be extremely hard not to be impressed with the iNew V3 when you first open the box. In fact, I’m constantly reminded just how great this 5-inch smartphone is every time I pick it up!

inew v3 review

It doesn’t matter what you compare the iNew V3 too, it is quite simply one of the most original and great looking Android smartphones you can buy at any price today!

inew v3 review

As usual we will start at the front of the device which in this case has a 5-inch 1280 x 720p OGS screen (OGS meaning it is a one piece screen solution which keeps the thickness of the phone to a minimum.

inew v3 review

The display is located in the center of a black surround which makes up the screens bezels, the top section where the receiver and front facing camera live and the chin area where the backlit buttons are found.

inew v3 review

With the amount of details and design work that has gone in to the iNew V3 it would be a shame to leave the description of the front of the device as short as that, so I will go on. On most phones the receive area of the phone is a simple rectangular hole or cut-out, iNew took the initiative and when the extra mile with a metal grill with holes perforated across it. Does this make calls any clearer? No, but it does look much better than a plain old hole.

inew v3 review

The chin of the phone is where we should normally find the generic icon for navigating through the Android operating system, this isn’t the case with the iNew V3. When in standby the glass remains all black, with the icons only lighting up when you press one. Oh and the ‘home’ area has had the boring ‘house’ icon replaced with a rather cool neon band which fades at the edges! Very very cool details, especially for a phone which costs less than $200!

inew v3 review

The black glass area is a nice contrast to the white body of the phone which wraps around from the lower and upper part of the display and around to the rear.

inew v3 review

Following the curve around from base of the phone we meet a pair of external speakers and a couple of screws which could be used for repairs or servicing the handset.

inew v3 review

From the top we find a small recess to help remove the rear panel, micro USB which has a metal surround and 3.5mm headphone jack.

inew v3 review

The rear of the phone continues the class look of the front with a simple understated all white rear, slightly protruding 13 mega-pixel rear camera (also protected by a metal ring) and surprisingly affective dual LED flash.

inew v3 review

Both the left and right sides of the phone have a flat brushed metal look finish, a round Sony Xperia style power button on the left and simple alloy volume rocker on the right. All the physical controls fit nicely in place and don’t rattle or wobble in the frame.

inew v3 review

It’s easy to see that iNew have attempted to create a stylish phone with thin body, but they have also kept in mind that many customers of Chinese phones like the ability to remove and replace the battery by themselves. This might be more important on the iNew V3 as the battery is a rather small 1830mAh unit which sounds small but in actual fact can last a day of moderate use.

inew v3 review

Removing the rear cover reveals the battery, NFC chip, space for a regular size GSM SIM, micro 3G (WCDMA) SIM, and SD card for added media space.

inew v3 review

Anyone who is not impressed with the level of design, attention to detail of quality of build has obviously never actually handled the iNew V3. It is quite simply a stunning device regardless of price, and many phone makers producing handsets for double or triple the price should have a good long look at the iNew for a few tips and pointers.

Gizchina News of the week


iNew V3 Review – Display

The 5-inch display on the iNew V3 is an OGS model with a HD resolution of 1280 x 720. While this isn’t the FHD 1920 x 1080 resolution I have been used to using on my personal smartphones, and it is possible to see the difference between this and a 1080 phone, I personally am more than happy with the display.

Read Also:  Android users get three new security features in Apple style

inew v3 review

Touch response of the iNew is top-notch and as the panel is a ultrasensitve unit you can use the phone when wearing gloves. iNew also the display will remain accurate and responsive with wet hands, this never came up during testing and I don’t really fancy intentionally splashing water on the phone.

inew v3 review

Last but not least the display features a Gorilla Glass layer of protection. Again I didn’t want to intentionally try to scratch the display of the iNew, but through out our review, with the included screen protector removed the display remained smooth and scratch free.

iNew V3 Reviews – Performance

inew v3 review

Towards the end of 2013 smartphones have been hitting the market with the Mediatek’s new entry-level quad-core chipset set. The iNew V3 gets the same 1.3Ghz MT6582 processor as the popular Huawei Honor 3C and Zopo ZP700 so we aren’t surprised to see the impressive benchmark results we recorded during the review.

The quad-core MT6582 chipset is designed to run at a maximum of 1.3Ghz and can handle displays of up to 1280 x 720 HD, and 13 mega-pixel cameras. The GPU on the chip is a Mali400 MP2 500Mhz which might explain some choppy 3D rendering during title screens, but overall performance is on par with last year’s 1.5Ghz MT6589T.

Like all current Mediatek SoC chips the quad-core MT6582 also has integrated WIFI b,g,n, Bluetooth, and GPS.

iNew V3 Benchmarks

Below is a video of the iNew V3 running a number of benchmark tools including Antutu, Vellamo and Nenamark. We also ran 3D Mark to test the gaming prowess of the device and uploaded a video of myself playing RealDrift on the phone. Full benchmarks are listed after the videos along with results.

iNew V3 benchmarks video

iNew V3 gaming video

iNew V3 benchmark results

inew v3 quadrant

inew v3 3d mark

inew v3 antutu

inew v3 vellamo

inew v3 nenamark

  • Antutu:17,146
  • Nenamark: 53.1fps
  • Vellamo HTML5: 1910
  • Vellamo Metal: 584
  • Quadrant: 5,813
  • 3D Mark Ice Storm: 2958

iNew V3 Review – GPS, WIFI, Bluetooth, NFC etc

It’s not all that surprising that WIFI, Bluetooth and NFC worked out of the box. 3G and GSM also worked fine for us using a China Unicom SIM (WCDAM 3G network).

One complaint many Chinese phone customers have had in the past is poor GPS with a Mediatek processor. I can report that GPS on the iNew V3 with the MT6582 chipset is much better than in previous phones. In our case we did not have to use a GPS fix, and found the GPS to lock on from first turning the device on in around 5 seconds.

inew v3 review

NFC is a feature we are seeing more often on Chinese smartphones and it is a great feature for anyone wanting the flexibility to share media or contacts quickly between devices. For those of you who haven’t used NFC before and wonder why it is better than Bluetooth here is the basic gist. With Bluetooth you are required to sync device together before sharing, NFC doesn’t require this, just ensure NFC is enabled on both devices touch the backs together and your info will be shared across.

OTG didn’t work on our iNew V3 out of the box, but updating the firmware enabled USB On The Go to work properly. Finally air gestures are something which are claimed to work but at the moment don’t. Again a firmware fix will sort this out and is coming soon.

iNew V3 Review – Battery

If we had to find a weak link in the specification of the iNew V3 then it would have to be the battery. Almost every aspect of phone design is getting better as months go buy, but battery technology is still lacking.

inew v3 review

With this in mind it is rather odd that iNew had chosen to use a 1830mAh battery on their phone, especially on a phone which is so great to use and performs so well! As it is the battery on our test model would could be drained from 100% to flat in around 3 hours of gaming. Careful, moderate use get’s you through a work day, but if you were to watch video, game or listen to music on your commute to and from work you are going to either have to carry another battery or a USB cable with you to top the phone up through the day.

iNew V3 Review – Camera

I have read comments from people worried about the quality of the main 13 mega-pixel camera on the iNew V3. After using the phone and camera myself I can say that the camera is about average in terms of captured image quality but above average in actual use.

inew v3 review

We get to test a lot of phones with good hardware which only manage to produce average photos when in actual use. In the case of the iNew V3’s camera the speed of taking a photo, performance in most conditions and the powerful LED flash make for an actual useable camera.

inew v3 photo samples

If you want to be picky you can take a close look at the photos taken with the iNew and find faults but as a complete package iNew have got more right than wrong. Taking photos is fast and fun, as it should be, and most images saved are of useable quality with very few issues.

iNew V3 Sample Photos

If you do find the images here below your expectations though I would say that you should save an extra $100 or more and get a more costly phone. At this price the V3 is difficult to beat.

Here you can see more iNew V3 sample photos.

iNew V3 Review – Conclusion

The iNew V3 is a smartphone which costs just $178.99, yet manages to house a powerful quad-core processor, excellent 5-inch 720p display, usable 13 mega-pixel camera, NFC, OTG and more all in a very sharp-looking body.

inew v3 review

After many years of testing Chinese phones I have to say that iNew have done an amazing job with the V3. Not only is the phone a great package, but it comes in at an attractive price and is already easily available to international customers!

Would we recommend the iNew V3? Yes, most certainly! Pick one up, get out there and enjoy it, but just make sure you pack an extra battery or take a charger with you on your travels!

inew v3 review

Thanks to Coolicool.com for supplying this iNew V3 for review, and also allowing us to set up a giveaway for the phone which is coming very soon!

The iNew V3 costs just $178,99 from Coolicool.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.

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101 Comments

  1. Colonel Zap
    February 3, 2014

    Great review! I totally agree, this is one of best buys in a LONG time, I totally love this phone! One thing: There are no speakers on the bottom, those are “fake”, there is only one speaker on the back, as far as I can tell 😉

  2. oscar8u2
    February 3, 2014

    The Inew V3 is an amazing phone, I’ve had it for a few days and have to say that the camera is absolutely magnificent, in the review its classed as usable but I feel this is an injustice to the phone, if you’re going to compare it to DSLR than obviously this camera isnt as good but if you’re comparing it to other phones on the market I can only think of a few which can actually beat it. Another thing I’d like to mention is that once you buy this phone you wont care if its a sony camera or a sonny camera because the quality of the images are beyond excellent. Great phone and you wont be dissapointed if you buy it. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say this but the best websites to buy this phone from are coolicool and 1949deal.com, I got mine from 1949deal.

    • February 3, 2014

      I believe for the money the V3 has the best camera, its the most usuable and gets the best results for a sub $200 phone. Obviously there are better out there but you would have to pay a lot more.

  3. jacu
    February 3, 2014

    battery killed that phone…

    • February 5, 2014

      i think it’s common and enough,many such Samsungs

  4. Guest
    February 3, 2014

    Great review! I totally agree, this is one of best buys in a LONG time, I totally love this phone! One thing: There are no speakers on the bottom, those are “fake”, there is only one speaker on the back, as far as I can tell 😉

  5. highwind
    February 3, 2014

    I really dont understand the hype on this phone…

    – it isnt nearly as thin as advertised
    – F2.0 is fake as well
    – OTG does not work out of the box
    – NFC doesnt work at all (form what I read on other sources)
    – Home button has issues
    – the battery has very low capacity
    – the price of ~180$ is quite high for the given hardware

    Comparable phones like the Tronsmart TS7 or the Star HD5000 offer better battery life time and only cost 140-150$.
    Both also have buttons with backlight and the Star even offers 8GB ROM.

    On a side note:
    Deadmau5 – Strobe is just a totally awesome song 🙂

    • antidumb
      February 4, 2014

      agreed, 6.5mm thin is FAKE it’s 7.9mm body even cannot manage 2000mah battery! what a shame

    • RobertNL
      February 10, 2014

      I did not get it until i had it in my hands.
      – It feels/looks thin / sleek.
      – F2.0 is fake indeed, pictures are quite good for a phonei n this range non the less.
      – OTG does work out of the box, only with the first 1K units (test run) it did not (is not uncommon for first batches to have these things, had tablets/phones from first batches that had worse problems then this.
      – NFC works, not sure where you did get this from. If its not working you may have to bend these pins a bit: http://imgur.com/qXWID9W
      – Home button does not have any issues with me, nor i am aware that i have seen a lot of issues with it.
      – Battery has a low capacity indeed, but overall the battery lasts a day with normal/moderate use. I think its fine for most users.
      Compared to my Jiayu G4 which i’d drain 60% on a normal day i think i manage just fine with ”only” 1830mAh and have a bit juice left.
      Compared to my Xperia Z the battery is better in screen/use time i think.

      – The price for the screen, hardware feel is just ”ok” to some.
      For NFC, for the price a good camera and 16GB ROM are all pro’s that get the phone more expensive. Next to that, till now on there seems to be proper firmware support from Inew (a lot of clones do rely on community only).

      You compare with 2 clones there, these are mostly cheaper then the brands using there own design. Remember there are lots of people that do not want a device that is a clone, but something different.

  6. GreenEagle
    February 3, 2014

    I’m on the look out for this phone too – the kind with Wireless charging, Apparently Fasdtcardtech has this option, guess they made a 1000+ to get this feature added.

    Anyone know any other sellers selling the iNew v2 with wireless charging for a reasonable cost ?

    • February 5, 2014

      inew v2? i never heard this model.

      • RobertNL
        February 10, 2014

        He did make a typing error.

        Does the factory offer wireless charging with 1.000 units+? And are you able to buy and sell 1.000 pcs with the wireless charging.

        You have me buying two when you can get the with wireless charging for a decent price ;).

        • Ivan Kolev
          April 6, 2014

          Hello !
          How can I realize whether my inew v3 supports wireless charging or not ???
          I have bought a standart QI charger, but nothing dedicates when I put my phone over it.

  7. Fjante
    February 3, 2014

    I bought a HDC galaxy s4 Exynos 2gb ram (200$), the performance is great, almost everything is great.. however the battery life is poorly and only holds maximum 8hours no matter what. I hate this phone simple for this reason!
    If Inew V3 has the same problem assuming: 1work day = 8hours
    I will never buy it, and I recommend you not to buy. You will hate the Phone more than anything. For that only reason I think Huawei will win this Mid-range Competition! They better learn to optimize their phones.

    • February 7, 2014

      So you need bigger smartphone with bigger screen and larger battery.

      • Dessi
        February 18, 2014

        what about the flip case of this phone? do you have it in stock?

  8. Tanja
    February 3, 2014

    I bought some inew V3 for us to use and I also sold alot on ebay (USA). Great phone. My daughter had a samsung galaxy note 2 before she got the inew v3 and said the inew v3 is alot better than the galaxy note 2. My daughter is 16. I would recommend this phone to everybody.
    I hope the price doesnt go up now once the chinese holidays are over. I guess I have Andy pay the difference if the price goes up, haha.
    Oh..inew also releases the 4G LTE version soon.
    I do not order from fastcardtech, I order from inewmobile.com

  9. Vlastimil Čech
    February 3, 2014

    Please make 8core version with 32GB rom and 2Gb ram.. If you add LTE and 3000mah battery you can take my money 🙂 720p display and camera are good. Price tag max 300USD… If you agree ++ my comment THX

    • February 3, 2014

      It would be great to see such a phone 🙂

    • February 5, 2014

      it will be much thicker if you want 3000mah battery.

      • Vlastimil Čech
        February 7, 2014

        Lenovo P780 have 9.9mm and i think thats great phone, but now i need 32GB rom, micro SD, and 2GB ram and if its possible 8core with Glonass support.. but i couldnt find so good phone on the market for good value. Under 350USD..(better 300USD)

    • February 7, 2014

      How about ULEPHONE U9592?octa core,2gb ram. http://goo.gl/A2cfYq

      • Vlastimil Čech
        February 8, 2014

        Screen Resolution854*480?? year 2011?? 720p is much better dont need 1080p..

        • February 10, 2014

          it is a octa core smartphone at the lowest price.

    • Chris
      February 1, 2015

      They have made one 🙂 inew v3 plus, its octacore, and has an improve second gen sony sensor in its camera. Ima buy 1

  10. Vincenzo Barresi
    February 3, 2014

    etotalk insists V3-E is a pre-production model….this is why web specs are not respected on the device

    real V3 (not E model) will be released in a few weeks and will have real sony camera

    • Danial
      February 3, 2014

      WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? are you sure?! you mean the phone that i have right now in my hand is a pre production model?! not possible. they wont sell pre production model! they wont even make thousands of pre production models!

      • Vincenzo Barresi
        February 4, 2014

        i was perplex myself on etotalk statement….yet it might be they decided for a certain spec sheet and they run short on parts…..you are right for sure when saying that going on the market with thousands of preproduction units does not make sense……at the same time….the phone is identified as V3-E (engineer model)……someone should check the black version after chinese new year and see if it’s v3 or v3-E

      • Vincenzo Barresi
        February 4, 2014

        Etotalk “Those are the engineer samples. The official version should be available in February. Thanks”

    • Guest
      February 4, 2014

      That does not make any sense. I do not believe, they would sell so many phones in the past couple of weeks and those were just pre-production models. They may have some newer model soon of course as e.g. Samsung does it when selling phones with slightly different either better or worse specs after launching the first one, but it does not mean this current version is pre-production model. Like i would say that Lumia 520 was just pre-production model and 525 with 1GB of RAM is the official one.

  11. Guest
    February 3, 2014

    The Inew V3 is an amazing phone, I’ve had it for a few days and have to say that the camera is absolutely magnificent, in the review its classed as usable but I feel this is an injustice to the phone, if you’re going to compare it to DSLR than obviously this camera isnt as good but if you’re comparing it to other phones on the market I can only think of a few which can actually beat it. Another thing I’d like to mention is that once you buy this phone you wont care if its a sony camera or a sonny camera because the quality of the images are beyond excellent. Great phone and you wont be dissapointed if you buy it. I’m not sure if I’m allowed to say this but the best websites to buy this phone from are coolicool and

  12. Guest
    February 3, 2014

    I got mine from 1949deal.

    • Andi Sykes
      February 4, 2014

      I believe for the money the V3 has the best camera, its the most usuable and gets the best results for a sub $200 phone. Obviously there are better out there but you would have to pay a lot more.

  13. Guest
    February 3, 2014

    battery killed that phone…

    • Coolicool
      February 6, 2014

      i think it’s common and enough,many such Samsungs

  14. provokanter Tabellenführer
    February 3, 2014

    I really dont understand the hype on this phone…

    – it isnt nearly as thin as advertised
    – F2.0 is fake as well
    – OTG does not work out of the box
    – NFC doesnt work at all (form what I read on other sources)
    – Home button has issues
    – the battery has very low capacity
    – the price of ~180$ is quite high for the given hardware

    Comparable phones like the Tronsmart TS7 or the Star HD5000 offer better battery life time and only cost 140-150$.
    Both also have buttons with backlight and the Star even offers 8GB ROM.

    On a side note:
    Deadmau5 – Strobe is just a totally awesome song 🙂

    • Guest
      February 4, 2014

      agreed, 6.5mm thin is FAKE it’s 7.9mm body even cannot manage 2000mah battery! what a shame

    • RobertNL
      February 10, 2014

      I did not get it until i had it in my hands.
      – It feels/looks thin / sleek.
      – F2.0 is fake indeed, pictures are quite good for a phonei n this range non the less.
      – OTG does work out of the box, only with the first 1K units (test run) it did not (is not uncommon for first batches to have these things, had tablets/phones from first batches that had worse problems then this.
      – NFC works, not sure where you did get this from. If its not working you may have to bend these pins a bit: http://imgur.com/qXWID9W
      – Home button does not have any issues with me, nor i am aware that i have seen a lot of issues with it.
      – Battery has a low capacity indeed, but overall the battery lasts a day with normal/moderate use. I think its fine for most users.
      Compared to my Jiayu G4 which i’d drain 60% on a normal day i think i manage just fine with ”only” 1830mAh and have a bit juice left.
      Compared to my Xperia Z the battery is better in screen/use time i think.

      – The price for the screen, hardware feel is just ”ok” to some.
      For NFC, for the price a good camera and 16GB ROM are all pro’s that get the phone more expensive. Next to that, till now on there seems to be proper firmware support from Inew (a lot of clones do rely on community only).

      You compare with 2 clones there, these are mostly cheaper then the brands using there own design. Remember there are lots of people that do not want a device that is a clone, but something different.

  15. Guest
    February 3, 2014

    I’m on the look out for this phone too – the kind with Wireless charging, Apparently Fasdtcardtech has this option, guess they made a 1000+ to get this feature added.

    Anyone know any other sellers selling the iNew v2 with wireless charging for a reasonable cost ?

    • Coolicool
      February 6, 2014

      inew v2? i never heard this model.

    • RobertNL
      February 10, 2014

      He did make a typing error.

      Does the factory offer wireless charging with 1.000 units+? And are you able to buy and sell 1.000 pcs with the wireless charging.

      You have me buying two when you can get the with wireless charging for a decent price ;).

    • Ivan Kolev
      April 6, 2014

      Hello !
      How can I realize whether my inew v3 supports wireless charging or not ???
      I have bought a standart QI charger, but nothing dedicates when I put my phone over it.

  16. Fjante
    February 3, 2014

    I bought a HDC galaxy s4 Exynos 2gb ram (200$), the performance is great, almost everything is great.. however the battery life is poorly and only holds maximum 8hours no matter what. I hate this phone simple for this reason!
    If Inew V3 has the same problem assuming: 1work day = 8hours
    I will never buy it, and I recommend you not to buy. You will hate the Phone more than anything. For that only reason I think Huawei will win this Mid-range Competition! They better learn to optimize their phones.

    • Coolicool
      February 8, 2014

      So you need bigger smartphone with bigger screen and larger battery.

    • Guest
      February 18, 2014

      what about the flip case of this phone? do you have it in stock?

  17. Guest
    February 3, 2014

    I bought some inew V3 for us to use and I also sold alot on ebay (USA). Great phone. My daughter had a samsung galaxy note 2 before she got the inew v3 and said the inew v3 is alot better than the galaxy note 2. My daughter is 16. I would recommend this phone to everybody.
    I hope the price doesnt go up now once the chinese holidays are over. I guess I have Andy pay the difference if the price goes up, haha.
    Oh..inew also releases the 4G LTE version soon.
    I do not order from fastcardtech, I order from inewmobile.com

  18. Vlastimil Čech
    February 3, 2014

    Please make 8core version with 32GB rom and 2Gb ram.. If you add LTE and 3000mah battery you can take my money 🙂 720p display and camera are good. Price tag max 300USD… If you agree ++ my comment THX

    • Andi Sykes
      February 4, 2014

      It would be great to see such a phone 🙂

    • Coolicool
      February 6, 2014

      it will be much thicker if you want 3000mah battery.

    • Vlastimil Čech
      February 7, 2014

      Lenovo P780 have 9.9mm and i think thats great phone, but now i need 32GB rom, micro SD, and 2GB ram and if its possible 8core with Glonass support.. but i couldnt find so good phone on the market for good value. Under 350USD..(better 300USD)

    • Coolicool
      February 8, 2014

      How about ULEPHONE U9592?octa core,2gb ram. http://goo.gl/A2cfYq

    • Vlastimil Čech
      February 8, 2014

      Screen Resolution854*480?? year 2011?? 720p is much better dont need 1080p..

    • Coolicool
      February 10, 2014

      it is a octa core smartphone at the lowest price.

    • Guest
      February 1, 2015

      They have made one 🙂 inew v3 plus, its octacore, and has an improve second gen sony sensor in its camera. Ima buy 1

  19. Vincenzo Barresi
    February 3, 2014

    etotalk insists V3-E is a pre-production model….this is why web specs are not respected on the device

    real V3 (not E model) will be released in a few weeks and will have real sony camera

    • Danial
      February 3, 2014

      WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? are you sure?! you mean the phone that i have right now in my hand is a pre production model?! not possible. they wont sell pre production model! they wont even make thousands of pre production models!

    • Guest
      February 4, 2014

      That does not make any sense. I do not believe, they would sell so many phones in the past couple of weeks and those were just pre-production models. They may have some newer model soon of course as e.g. Samsung does it when selling phones with slightly different either better or worse specs after launching the first one, but it does not mean this current version is pre-production model. Like i would say that Lumia 520 was just pre-production model and 525 with 1GB of RAM is the official one.

    • Vincenzo Barresi
      February 4, 2014

      i was perplex myself on etotalk statement….yet it might be they decided for a certain spec sheet and they run short on parts…..you are right for sure when saying that going on the market with thousands of preproduction units does not make sense……at the same time….the phone is identified as V3-E (engineer model)……someone should check the black version after chinese new year and see if it’s v3 or v3-E

    • Vincenzo Barresi
      February 4, 2014

      Etotalk “Those are the engineer samples. The official version should be available in February. Thanks”

  20. Danial
    February 3, 2014

    well , i own the phone , and I have to say that I still have charging problem! the battery status is a total joke. I can’t rely on what the remaining battery power percentage is. but generally it gives me around 3 hours of on screen time.
    everything else is fine and works well.

  21. February 3, 2014

    mmm, this is my first candidate to new dual sim. My heroic previous Chinese cell phone is still working after three years but lately it’s losing sometimes the signal and there is no warning in the task bar.
    My one problem with this inew is the capacitive buttons arrangement: I would prefer that the back button was the first button as in windows phones (I am tired to wait for a dual sim wp) but I suppose is a subjective issue and not a very important, not at that price.

  22. Danial
    February 3, 2014

    well , i own the phone , and I have to say that I still have charging problem! the battery status is a total joke. I can’t rely on what the remaining battery power percentage is. but generally it gives me around 3 hours of on screen time.
    everything else is fine and works well.

  23. ReinoldFZ .
    February 3, 2014

    mmm, this is my first candidate to new dual sim. My heroic previous Chinese cell phone is still working after three years but lately it’s losing sometimes the signal and there is no warning in the task bar.
    My one problem with this inew is the capacitive buttons arrangement: I would prefer that the back button was the first button as in windows phones (I am tired to wait for a dual sim wp) but I suppose is a subjective issue and not a very important, not at that price.

  24. Victor
    February 3, 2014

    I sold this phone for Huawei Honor 3C (2GB RAM model) , i wish Andy will also cover this crazily sale phone when available..

    • February 4, 2014

      Yep trying to get one 🙂

    • February 5, 2014

      it is hard to buy in china so that it is even harder to buy out of china,my friend.

  25. Guest
    February 4, 2014

    I sold this phone for Huawei Honor 3C (2GB RAM model) , i wish Andy will also cover this crazily sale phone when available..

    • Andi Sykes
      February 5, 2014

      Yep trying to get one 🙂

    • Coolicool
      February 6, 2014

      it is hard to buy in china so that it is even harder to buy out of china,my friend.

  26. Ivo001
    February 4, 2014

    I have used the phone for around 1 month and am still very happy. Sometimes when I pick it up, I just realize how good looking the phone is.

    @Andi, Could you compare it to the ZTE Geek v975? That phone has dropped to ~$200, and would appreciate your opinion.

    • February 4, 2014

      If I can get my hands on the ZTE I will.

  27. CocaColaManager
    February 4, 2014

    No no no not the battery! 1 mm thicker it’d be still thin and the battery life would be longer. WHY?!! aarggghhg hahahaha iNew sorry kids I’m gonna go with Nubia 5s mini

    • February 4, 2014

      I honestly think there is enought room in the phone for a slightly thicker battery. I wonder if there is another battery option out there.

  28. CocaColaManager
    February 4, 2014

    Anyway Andi does the cam stick out a bit? I can’t quite see. Or the phone seems to be thicker at the top and it doesn’t hmmm.

    • February 4, 2014

      Yep it sticks out slightly from the rear of the phone

  29. Ivo001
    February 4, 2014

    I have used the phone for around 1 month and am still very happy. Sometimes when I pick it up, I just realize how good looking the phone is.

    @Andi, Could you compare it to the ZTE Geek v975? That phone has dropped to ~$200, and would appreciate your opinion.

    • Andi Sykes
      February 5, 2014

      If I can get my hands on the ZTE I will.

  30. CocaColaManager
    February 4, 2014

    No no no not the battery! 1 mm thicker it’d be still thin and the battery life would be longer. WHY?!! aarggghhg hahahaha iNew sorry kids I’m gonna go with Nubia 5s mini

    • Andi Sykes
      February 5, 2014

      I honestly think there is enought room in the phone for a slightly thicker battery. I wonder if there is another battery option out there.

  31. CocaColaManager
    February 4, 2014

    Anyway Andi does the cam stick out a bit? I can’t quite see. Or the phone seems to be thicker at the top and it doesn’t hmmm.

    • Andi Sykes
      February 5, 2014

      Yep it sticks out slightly from the rear of the phone

  32. February 5, 2014

    Cool! This is going to be a bestseller!

    • February 24, 2014

      i can not agree more,sir

  33. Multicorechina.com
    February 5, 2014

    Cool! This is going to be a bestseller!

    • Coolicool
      February 24, 2014

      i can not agree more,sir

  34. BBQ88
    February 5, 2014

    Does the V3 have notification LED on the front screen? Thx!

    • RobertNL
      February 10, 2014

      Yes it has.

  35. Guest
    February 5, 2014

    Does the V3 have notification LED on the front screen? Thx!

    • RobertNL
      February 10, 2014

      Yes it has.

  36. Jeff Nield
    February 6, 2014

    Andi Nice and balanced review. The site has come a long way from the early days. Now the companies are sending in phones the product is becoming first rate and the reviewers are doing an exemplary job. Thanks for you time and effort sir.

  37. Jeff Nield
    February 6, 2014

    Andi Nice and balanced review. The site has come a long way from the early days. Now the companies are sending in phones the product is becoming first rate and the reviewers are doing an exemplary job. Thanks for you time and effort sir.

  38. win
    February 10, 2014

    Could i trust coolicool shop and buy there two pieces of inew v3?

    • swan
      February 14, 2014

      same question, can i trust coolicool? because it’s a new website, just view monts

      • March 5, 2014

        my friend, please do trust us that coolicool is honest and reliable,we have the lowest price guarantee all over the world.

  39. Guest
    February 10, 2014

    Could i trust coolicool shop and buy there two pieces of inew v3?

    • Guest
      February 15, 2014

      same question, can i trust coolicool? because it’s a new website, just view monts

    • Coolicool
      March 5, 2014

      my friend, please do trust us that coolicool is honest and reliable,we have the lowest price guarantee all over the world.

  40. Miroslav
    April 9, 2014

    I bought one for my wife and she finally understands smartphones. Now I just wish she would pay some attention to me… great camera, smooth operation, crisp screen, battery is fine for medium user.

  41. Miroslav
    April 9, 2014

    I bought one for my wife and she finally understands smartphones. Now I just wish she would pay some attention to me… great camera, smooth operation, crisp screen, battery is fine for medium user.

  42. Joke
    April 22, 2014

    Is there someone who can tell me how to hard reset this smartphone? Thanks

  43. Guest
    April 22, 2014

    Is there someone who can tell me how to hard reset this smartphone? Thanks