yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
1st OTA Update Comes for Bezel-less Ulefone Future

Ulefone keep releasing new devices while they didn’t forget to support their old users. Today comes the first update for their flaghship Ulefone Future.

With build number of 20160721, the new firmware has mainly brought new animation effects for flip cover besides improving GPS and touch screen. In particular, Ulefone Future flip case has adopted double-window design. A horizontal window will display clock and music controller while a vertical one allow users to answer or reject phone calls.

Follow the Development & Support thread for more info.​
[Device Reviews and Information] biskyt:
on P16 I'm seeing some improvement to GPS and WLAN speed (although this is early days). However, I'm finding that GPS is becoming more erratic as the phone heats up. I have Pokemon Go running on my desk, for quite some time it's shown me static in the same (correct) position, but then after a while my character has started running around all over the map and back!

To be fair, I also have an Asus Zenfone 2 running beside it, and the GPS isn't behaving much better on that.

I was in the process of organising a return of my future, but I may hold off for a few days to see if there really is an improvement, or if my experience of P16 so far is purely coincidence.
[Device Reviews and Information] GeoAT:
Hi,

Where are you seeing this P18 ?

On the baseband version or the build number ?

The baseband version ends with P18

The build number ends with p16
[Device Reviews and Information] biskyt:
Sorry, my mistake. Yes, the baseband is P18, but build is P16. I was looking in the wrong place. I'll edit my post
[Device Reviews and Information] biskyt01:
To add to my earlier report, WiFi speed seems to have reverted back to terrible again. Last night I was getting 65mbps (I have a 72 mpbs connection), but now I'm getting 27mbps from the same position. My Asus is consistently getting 70mbps + from the same spot.

?

UPDATE: I just rebooted and now I'm getting 65mbps. I haven't moved. So this may indicate a software issue. Which is good news, because if it isn't a hardware issue then it may be possible to fix.

It's also worth noting that Wi-Fi crawled to a halt before I rebooted (2mbps), so I switched airplane mode on / off. Then the phone couldn't see the Wi-Fi network at all. It would only see 2GHz networks. This was why I rebooted.
[Device Reviews and Information] Dagris:
Can someone help me? I am trying to update my phone, but for 1 hour I only get this message :

---------- Post added at 06:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:22 PM ----------

here is the image
[Device Reviews and Information] Dagris:
Wtf, now here is the link to the image xD http://imgur.com/Yj1Z3Sh
[Device Reviews and Information] mc_gee:
Just wondering - how come it is only like 1mm narrower than for example Le2? Is there other screen ratio or instead of bezel they hide hardware behind thick frame?
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
All development & support stuff can be posted here:

http://xdaforums.com/android/general/ulefone-future-development-support-t3386260
[Device Reviews and Information] scpion:
I had the chance to prepare order it at 199. But I cancelled it yesterday... After much Google, it seems to me that it's bezeless cos the glass is on top of the metal frame, the frame is still about 2-3mm wider on the side.. Hard to tell but thats what I see from various picture... And the phone looks rather thick.. And gosh.. The hideous antenna band looks more and more offensive...
[Device Reviews and Information] mc_gee:
Well I did pre-order mine today :)

I'd take Le2 right away if there were other colours than pinky-gold in stocks, as it has almost exactly same size at Future, and is a lot thinner but I need a phone now and can't wait until 'maybe later in June'...

I was able to operate Lumia 1520 one-handed and really liked thickness of my Lumia 640XL (i hold mobiles by edges, so rounded ends aren't to comfy for me) so I guess I'll be fine with Future's size, but what pisses me is that no one is mentioning it anywhere! I mean, I can understand Ulefone as company - they want to sell it and it's advandages they will promote, but for God's sake what use we have of all those reviewers if they praise smaller, bezelless concept instead of pointing that obvious fact out?? I'm sure they have access to other 5,5 inchers at same time.
[Device Reviews and Information] Buhuhuhu:
Anyone knows when the phone will be shipped? I ordered mine on 4.5. on bang good, and I thought they ship it on 25.5. and preorders can only be placed until that date at the reduced price.

But now it seems the extend the preorder phase, but won´t ship it. At banggood it shows for me the expected shipping date will be 3.6., but I don´t trust this.
[Device Reviews and Information] juv3nal:
I bought the Vienna from Gearbest on pre sale and they shipped it few days before the date the were giving originally and the phone arrived in about 6 days. I have also bought the Future from Gearbest and I'm expecting it to be shipped around 15 June so maybe Banggood will do the same. ;)
[Device Reviews and Information] scpion:
I thought they were going to ship on 25 may... I even paid a premium shipment for it to arrive faster... Lucky I cancelled...
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
They are probably facing stock issues, many users have pre-ordered it.
[Device Reviews and Information] mc_gee:
If I understand it correctly, it was Ulefone who supposed to start shipping on/after 25th of May. Guess that mins that they ar delivering phones to resellers atm.

Most places I've seen (from official shops mentioned at Ulefones site) states shipping after 30th of May.
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
Don't worry guys, Ulefone started to ship all devices to retailers starting from the last week, so you just have to wait some days so that all retailers manage to distribute all shipments in the best way possible.

That delayed pre-sale date is correct, because they can't ship the device as soon they receive it, it isn't so easy.
[Device Reviews and Information] dommels:
Banggood (where I preordered mine) still says stock is due to arrive on 31st, so tomorrow. We'll see.
[Device Reviews and Information] theColeHardTruth:
Any clue if this will work with TMobile in the US? Especially with LTE? Thanks!
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
It supports LTE Bands 1,3,7,20,40 (maybe also Band 8, but it hasn't been officially declared). Compare your mobile operator LTE bands and see if this device can work with T-Mobile US :)
[Device Reviews and Information] theColeHardTruth:
Right, well T-Mobile supports Band 2 (1900 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz), Band 12 (700 MHz) LTE, and Band 2 (1900 MHz), Band 4 (1700/2100 MHz) HSPA+. This confused me, since the phone states that it supports 800/1800/2100/2600 (band20,band3,band1,band7) FDD-LTE, and 2300 (Band40) TDD-LTE. The bands don't match up, but both seem to support 2100MHz. Am I missing something here, or should it work? :)
[Device Reviews and Information] Buhuhuhu:
Again postponed?

Now Banggood States on their site that they will receive the phone on 15.6.2016 :(

It gets frustrating
[Device Reviews and Information] mc_gee:
As Ulefone wrote on Facebook 30mins ago:

I'm doing my best to cancel my order, but it is not that easy when you make business with eFox-shop :-/
[Device Reviews and Information] Buhuhuhu:
Thank you for the info!

I checked the ulefone website and their blog this morning, where they did not announce anything.

It's a pity you have to check every canal to get informed about the preorder status, when they originally announced in their blog that they will ship already on 25.5.2016...
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
I can't find this message on Ulefone's FB page, maybe it has been removed.

EDIT: nvm, it is a comment, not a post.
[Device Reviews and Information] mc_gee:
https://www.facebook.com/uleFoneMobile/posts/1026955004060243

under comments

[edit] bad timing :)
[Device Reviews and Information] juv3nal:
Yes, I hope we don't get big delays in receiving our phones.

When I bought it from Gearbest they were being more realistic and always said that the shipping was going to start after the 15th June so I new I had to wait until then.

Reading your comments about delays I'm starting to worry, let's hope it's only us, eager users, desperate to get our hands on it!

Also getting in touch with these Chinese shops it is very difficult!

Fingers crossed!
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
Did you try it again? My phone restarted within seconds.

but since I installed the update from P12 to P18, my battery drains very fast (within 6 hours). I can't find a power consuming app, nor did I install a new app... does anyone have th same problems?
[Device Reviews and Information] Dagris:
What does it mean P12 and P18?
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
The firmware version.
[Device Reviews and Information] fanfan7110:
You can download it and upgrade it manually .. It's very easy..
[Device Reviews and Information] UschiT:
Same like me. Over night many activity, but i has a good sleep, my phone not ;)
[Device Reviews and Information] jaytee86:
I played around with the GPS a little bit more... I realized the following:

only google location services (Battery saving mode): fairly accurate position and FIX

only GPS: Fairly accurate position and only a little bit of "wandering"

High accuracy mode (GPS and Google Services): zero accuracy and "blue dot" wildly jumping around

To me it seems now that the REAL problem with the GPS is that google play location services and GPS somehow "don't work together"... [MENTION=2386505]Alberto96[/MENTION] any suggestions? Have you heard of something like that before?
[Device Reviews and Information] Dester31:
For those whose phone stuck in the "Reboot..." phase, do the following:

Download and install the new, 0721 ROM and flash it with the SP Flash tool manually. It worked for me.

Maybe the reason is that geekbuying flashed the phone with a custom ROM and recovery prior shipping. (It was possible to request the phone from them without this flashing, but it would have lacked the languages (except for English and Chinese) and Google Play Store.)

---------- Post added at 11:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:11 AM ----------

I try these settings! Thanks!

(I'll share the results as well.)
[Device Reviews and Information] jaytee86:
I found a thread where (lots) of Android 6 users report similar problems... some exactly the same: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=190376#c207

However, all the suggested solutions (esp. turning of doze and installing a GPS widget don't work).

I believe it might be one of the two apps causing problems:

Google maps (because on GPS test I get a good and fast fix with GPS only - and if I open Google maps afterwards, it has a very good and exact location for a second or two)

the fused location app: as I said, in high accuracy mode everything gets MUCH worse.

Do you know if it's possible to install an older (android 5) version of the fuse location app on the phone?
[Device Reviews and Information] Dester31:
No, I didn't. Did someone try it?

However, if it's more an Android core problem, I don't see why it has not been detected and fixed yet, either by Google or the manufacturer. (Somehow...) I'd consider this as a serious issue.
[Device Reviews and Information] jaytee86:
I fully agree...

BTW I tried an older version of Google Maps - did not help... So google maps should not be the problem
[Device Reviews and Information] Dester31:
It's wrong with any software, it's a generic issue. It is clear that the origin of the problem comes from a deeper source than the client tries to use the location services.
[Device Reviews and Information] jaytee86:
I realized something else:

I read the cause for ****ty GPS can be a compass not being calibrated correctly... so I downloaded GPS essentials and another app. And I found out the compass is not working! (and the future should have a compass?!)... also, I never saw an arrow in google maps

In "GPS Status and Toolbox" (app on play store) I get warnings that the following sensors are not working/broken after I test the not-working compass:

(- compass)

- acceleration

- magnet field

- orientation

- pressure

- rotation
[Device Reviews and Information] xecuttor:
Are you sure? Because my Sygic just doesn't work and I doubt it has a connection to google play location.
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
I've got an answer from Ulefone:

It's obviously a bug and I doubt that the suggested procedure helps...

By the way, they also answered my questions regarding Wifi and GPS, and I think I've got another answer than you guys:
[Device Reviews and Information] jaytee86:
That's a copy paste answer I received a few days ago too.

Either they have no idea what's wrong with the GPS ("no one could be sure") or they are ****ing with us... And do exactly know that the GPS is broken and can't be fixed.

And no I'm not sure anymore. I tried GPS only again today and accuracy was as terrible as on high accuracy mode

oh and by the way... after they send me that "no one could know if it is a hardware or software issue"-eMail, I asked them, why the hell they tell me that after other people have clearly received an eMail that the GPS problem is a hardware issue...

Their answer:

service@ulefone.com an mich

Mehr anzeigen

1. Aug.

Dear Jan,

These email was sent by one of our staff--the one who is totally a newbie in the workplace---Carol, she just rambled around without knowing the true situation. But Jan you need know, Not everybody is a sage. Who can be entirely free from error? We will not fire that newbie because she is in her process of learning, and we hope you can kindly forgive our fault and give us a chance to make things right!

Best regards.

with all respect, I think Ulefone is a ****ing joke... they should eat their phones for breakfast
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
haha, that's china. I've been to Shenzhen several times, that's how they do business there.
[Device Reviews and Information] jaytee86:
I think I don't want to go to China ?

But anyway, I doubt that Ulefone will last long... The first mobiles and their customer service are too bad... For every country in the world
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
yeah, chinese phone manufacturers come and go. Ulefone at least offers OTA updates (I own several china phones and none of these companies delivered OTA updates), and they answer to emails in english.

Let's wait, maybe they're able to fix it.
[Device Reviews and Information] fanfan7110:
Me too.. Their solution is a remake of "back to the future", with battery of 1980"s year...

If it's necessary to charge 2 times and empty 2 times, the battery included in ulefone future is very very very old technology :)

But !

Actually we can tell that ulefone have changed several bug :

- 3G and 4G are most stable

- Wifi seems to be ok in my phone now

- Ulefone seems to work on the problem of the GPS.

now we will see if they work for GPS and fingerprint really..
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
Mine isn't... loses signal all the time and reconnects after 2-3 seconds, while my other china phones are always connected.
[Device Reviews and Information] Dester31:
I did some testing with the location services.

- I put it in battery saver mode (no GPS is allowed, only wifi/cellular). Swarm found my location instantly.

- I put it into device only mode, GPS (satellites) only and navigated to my workplace from home with Waze inside Budapest, among tall buildings. It was not too accurate, but far more usable than when I tried using the same app while driving on open areas last week with mixed mode. It was unusable that time, now it was fair.

Based on the above, I think it's more a software issue than a hardware error.
[Device Reviews and Information] GeoAT:
Hi oliversum,

I was having this issue but only occasionally.

I am wondering are you using WPA or WPA2 in your wifi security (or both) ?

Also AES only, TKIP only or both.
[Device Reviews and Information] etienne954:
Ota update

Hey guys,

Did somebody try the upgrade firmware provided by ulefone ? They've post something on there website about this. Is the GPS issue solved with this patch ?

Many thanks for you answers
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
Hi GeoAT,

actually it's WPA2 PSK.

Their support told me to reload the website, haha... I hope Ulefone's engineers are better than their support staff.

Btw. According to my battery stats, Google Play Store is responsible for the battery drain...
[Device Reviews and Information] Dagris:
Where can i download the latest firmware version? I want to flash my ulefone, i am doing it right with SP Flash Tool and MTK_AllInOne_DA.bin as the download agent?
[Device Reviews and Information] UschiT:
Strange .. Now drops my Akku from 50% down till 0%

---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:17 PM ----------
[Device Reviews and Information] Dagris:
Where can i download the latest rom?
[Device Reviews and Information] dommels:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8NC4kBpjQhYdm56ZGlmUDdSWWM
[Device Reviews and Information] biskyt:
So I had a long drive at the weekend and thought I'd give the GPS a good test on the Future. I'm happy to report that it worked very adequately! It was mounted on my dashboard, and using GPS Toolbox I could see that it was connected to 5+ satellites with reasonable signal strength. The road position was reported accurately, however the speed was jumping around a little.

I also noticed that if I took it off the dashboard to make any changes, view messages, etc., then it quickly lost all satellites and took 10-30 seconds to re-acquire them when it was returned to the dashboard.

BTW: I'm using firmware P16. I'd previusly tried with the old P12 firmware, but that was unusable (location jumping around all over the place)

So my conclusion is that in real-world usuage, the phone is now serviceable. However, the signal strength of GPS, WLAN and WiFi is definitely an issue, which means the phone can become unusable in low-signal areas. For this reason I have decided to sell my unit on (I did look into returning, but it's too much of a faff getting it back to China).

I hope ulefone can make further improvements with firmware, and that on newer phones they employ a decent radio engineer to design them properly. Everything about the various ulefone handsets I've tried in the past has been excellent apart from radio signal, which is arguably a very important feature for a phone! For now though, I'm out.
[Device Reviews and Information] honcho3000:
Updates not appearing by ota and by download no change

Hi,

I've still no Update by OTA even Pressing the Search for Updates every day, still at Future_20160608014033

Now I've downloaded update file from ulefone page by phone and then packed it to zip-file then started update via future's update function, update started loading, future restarted, everything seems to be good, but when restarted and looking at version it's still same old - do you guys please have an advice what to do?

Thank you and regards,

Sebastian
[Device Reviews and Information] Trolillo:
Hello

You can download from here https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0BxhU4oDpvylvamRwc2Z1S3d1YmM&export=download
[Device Reviews and Information] honcho3000:
Hi Trolillo and thanx for your quick reply, but I already downloaded it from another source given by someone here and as written, everything seems to work, but at the end of installing process it restarted, but there was no new firmware version after restarting.

Do I need to root it or something like that before or is it possible just to download it as file, put it to zip format and then install it with futures update by file possibility?
[Device Reviews and Information] dunn0w:
Just to let u know, i will send the phone back to my supplier.

Im done with Ulefone.
[Device Reviews and Information] Trolillo:
Hello

Rom stock can install with SP flastool or wait for the automatic update you skip the phone but if you want to install the custom ROM, you have to have the modified recovery, as it is a .zip

Come by this forum http://xdaforums.com/android/general/ulefone-future-development-support-t3386260
[Device Reviews and Information] xecuttor:
How exactly you're going to do it? I'm thinking about it (Antelife) but I'm sure they will not give me a refund, they will just test it, see that the phone is working and they will send it back.

If I wanted an exchange I'm still afraid that they won't accept it as the phone "works"
[Device Reviews and Information] Trolillo:
Open a dispute on pay-pal
[Device Reviews and Information] xecuttor:
Alright, good luck then. That's no option for me.
[Device Reviews and Information] oliversum:
I've been running for 45 minutes in California, and my tracking app wasn't able to find my location all the time... worst GPS experience ever
[Device Reviews and Information] dunn0w:
I e- mailed alot with Banggood.

I send them the mail Conversation i had with Ulefone Stating Its a hardware issue.

I will get my money back, and half of shipping return cost.

Send from my One Plus One
[Device Reviews and Information] honcho3000:
Hey Guys, now I have the next strange behavior from my Future - since I was in a foreign country it won´t go to LTE anymore - I´ve checked everything like APN and things like that, everything is fine, but it stops with EDGE or even don´t has any connection - damn f***** phone, I wish I´ve never ever had bought it

but it is like it is - so please could someone help me with that?

Many thanks in advance, Sebastian
[Device Reviews and Information] zero6341:
Try to open data roaming. My phone get R almost the time.
[Device Reviews and Information] fanfan7110:
Yes roaming can help you to find 3G or 4G in your country
[Device Reviews and Information] Losika:
Is it Brick?

Hi all!

I have received my Ulefone Future. It's very nice phone, but does not work.

If I push the power button the screen is black, and nothing happen.

When the phone is in charge the led light is blinking in red. If I push the power button for a short time, nothing happen, but when I push it 15sec, the phone is vibrate once and still blinking in red, and that's all. :(

What's the problem? What do I wrong? What can I do? :confused:

thanks

P.
[Device Reviews and Information] UschiT:
Need longer charge, than try to push it on. If the blue led ist blinking.
[Device Reviews and Information] Losika:
Thanks for the reply.

I charged it yesterday with the original charger for 6 hours, and it is still blinking in red. Now I use the old LG nexus charger... maybe it will help.
[Device Reviews and Information] lucacicco:
Hi,

I have the same problem. Did you solve it?

Thank you
[Device Reviews and Information] fanfan7110:
No, i dont' think that your phone is brick, because it's very very hard to brick a MTK CPU.

Normaly with good mtk drivers, if you connect your phone, launch spflashtools with latest rom, and push the on button for long time, you can reflash your phone with no problem..

---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 PM ----------

You can update it manually with spflashtools. Very easy and secure.

You can see the post here : http://xdaforums.com/android/general/ulefone-future-development-support-t3386260
[Device Reviews and Information] Alberto96:
Guys i'll get the Ulefone Future next week (if DHL is fast enough) :) As soon as i get it, i will try to handle this GPS issue.
[Device Reviews and Information] fanfan7110:
Good news ! When we see all you have already do with no phone, we can imagine that you will do with the phone in your hand :)

Very very good news :)
[Device Reviews and Information] Losika:
It's a brand new phone. I opened the package, and I wanted to use the phone.

It did not respond to the power button. I charged the phone less than 20 hour, and it's still blinking in red.

Do you think I should be reFlash?