Jiayu S3 Review
Category : Smartphones
Published by Luca Rocchi on 20.04.15
Jiayu is a rather new player on the smartphone market and the S3 is their latest high-end offer. It features a 5.5-inch FullHD IPS display, a Mediatek MT6752 octa-core CPU, 3GB of memory and Mali T760 GPU from ARM. In addition there is dual SIM capability and a micro-SD slot. Apart from that it also supports LTE and NFC and overall this sounds like a compelling offer.
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The Jiayu S3 is a smartphone that aims to threaten high-end offering from various other manufacturers. This phablet is available with plenty of different configurations and today we are going to review the top model which comes equipped with a Mediatek MT6752 octa-core 64-bit CPU, a Mali T760 GPU and 3GB of memory. Regarding connectivity you get the traditional WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS as well as LTE, NFC and dual SIM capability. The display of the Jiayu S3 is a 5.5-inch panel with HD-IPS technology and a resolution of 1080x1920. Unlike many other Chinese devices, Jiayu S3 comes with support for Google's Play Store.
Display
As we already mentioned, Jiayu decided to use a FullHD IPS OGS panel measuring 5.5-inch in diagonal. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The display is excellent in almost any scenario, only the black color is not perfect, since there is a grey tint to it. The brightness is even high enough to use the Jiayu S3 outdoors, when the sun is directly shining on the panel. Looking for the backlight sensor, which is crucial for quick brightness changes, we find it in the upper part of the frame and the response time for an automatic adjustment is average compared to other products we’ve tested. Apart from that the feedback offered by the touch screen is perfect, which makes the Jiayu S3 feel very responsive. The graphics chip inside Mediatek's MT6752 SoC on Jiayu S3 is a Mali T760.
Audio and Reception
The sound quality of the S3 is not on the same, good level as the display. While the audio from the headpiece was as expected, the same can't be said for the speakers. The stereo membranes are lacking almost any bass, while being very heavy on the highs. Apart from the audio hardware it’s interesting to see, there is an audio menu, which let’s you play with the different audio settings. It’s quite a pity that even after changing several parameters there was no effect on the audio.
Apart from the stereo speakers there are LDS antennans, which offer good signal reception under almost any circumstances. The Jiayu S3 features LTE, A-GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, WiFi and more. Also the accuracy of the GPS signal is good, but it does take up to a minute until location tracking works when you start GPS.
Specifications
| Model | Jiayu S3 |
| Software | Android Kit Kat 4.4.4 |
| Display | 5.5", 1080 x 1920 Pixel, 401 ppi, IPS, OGS, Gorilla Glass 3 |
| Input | Touch Screen, Status LED |
| SoC | MTK6752 Octa Core CPU up to 1.7 GHz |
| Graphics Unit | Mali-T760 GPU |
| Memory | 3072 MB |
| Micro-SD | Yes |
| Rear Camera | 13.0 Mpx F2.0, AF, dual LED Flash |
| Front camera | 5.0 Mpx |
| GSM / UMTS / LTE / NFC | Yes |
| WiFi | 5 GHz WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.0 |
| GPS | LDS, A-GPS |
| USB | Micro USB 2.0 |
| Infrared | No |
| SIM card | 2x Micro-SIM |
| Battery | 3100 mAh |
| Diemensions | 152 x 75.5 x 8.9 mm |
| Weight | 189 g |
| Bundle |
|
| Price | 196 euro |
Design / Build Quality
The Jiayu S3 uses a classic shape that you can find on most touch screen devices on the market. The "bar" design is timeless and well tested. With dimensions set at 152 x 75 x 8.9 mm and 189 grams of weight, as well as the 5.5-inch display, the Jiayu S3 can be classified as a phablet. Therefore it is quite difficult to use the S3 with only one hand. On the right hand side of the device you can change the volumen and apart from that, there is also the power button. At the top there is a 3.5 millimeter jack for headsets/headphones and at the bottom we find a micro-USB port. Overall the build quality is on a good level, and in our opinion, only the back cover could be improved, since the plastic at this point feels rather cheap.
Camera
The Jiayu S3 comes with a 13-megapixel camera on the back and a 5 megapixel one on the front. The rear camera features a dual LED flash, which allows you to take pictures with decent quality in the dark. A closer look at the sensor reveals that it’s the same model, that can be found with the Oppo Find 7, the OnePlus One and the Sony IMX2014 F2.0. However, we want to make it clear that the sensor is only a small part of the camera module, and sharing the same sensor does not necessarily mean that you will get pictures of the same quality like with other smartphones or phablets.
In our opinion color reproduction is on a good level and so is field of view. Apart from that the shutter releases almost immediately. The supplied application includes numerous camera modes and settings, and while using the menu you can adjust almost every aspect of the camera, which includes ISO and white balance. We’ve also shot a few videos at the highest possible quality but we can't say that the video quality is on the same level as the picture quality. It appears there are some software issues causing an aliasing effecty. In addition, the audio sounds very distorted and far from reality, with excessive background noise.
User Interface
The Jiayu S3 ships with Android 4.4.4 KitKat. If you’re looking for an Android 5.0 Lollipop base smartphone we can tell you that the update for this phone should be rolled out soon. The ROM is slightly customized by the Jiayu and there are quite a few interesting features. In general this ROM is kind of a mixture of MIUI and Color OS ROMs. We love the fact, that there is no bloatware and you can unlock Super User permissions using the dedicated option. As you can see from the screenshots, there are many shortcuts that make the usage of the S3 easy and intuitive. Like many other devices on the market, you also get a small themes menu where you can change the main looks of your S3.
The performance of the ROM is great, and the device is quick and fast and there is no freezing, which is something we certainly expected from a device with an octa-core SoC and 3GB of memory. In our opinion, only the 3D performance could be improved.
Battery life
The battery is probably one of the best parts of this device as the Jiayu S3 ships with a removable 3100mAh model. It makes the devices run for a full day easily even if you’re working with the S3 heavily. During our tests in 4G mode, we were able to exceed 12 hours of browsing with brightness set to maximum. The Mediatek MT6752 SoC does a great job, when it comes to power consumption. In daily usage, we managed to squeeze out almost 48 hours or in other words two full days before we had to recharge the battery. A power user will still be able to get around 36 hours out of the 3100 mAh batter pack. The charging time is rather slow and with 1A charger, which is included in the delivery, it takes about 3 hours and 30 minutes to fully charge the battery.
Benchmarks
Benchmarks
Conclusion
| Overall | + | - | |
| With the S3, Jiayu has created a very good and solid device. The smartphone (or phablet) is fast and it can be found with a very low price, close to 200 Euros for the 16GB version with LTE, on Geizhals.eu. Apart from that there are only minor flaws. For example the sound quality could be improved and the aliasing effect in videos should be dealt with. The Mediatek SoC performs very well and in combination with the 3100 mAh battery you'll not have to recharge Jiayu very often. |
- Performance
- LTE - Dual-SIM - NFC - Display - Battery - Price |
-
Speaker quality
- Video quality - 3D perfomance |
|
| Design / Bild Quality | + | - | |
| Jiayu decided to go for a proven classic "bar" design on the S3 and it includes rounded corners as well as a slim profile. Although this is a well-built smartphone and there is no cracking noise, even when you squeeze it tightly in your hand, we would like to find higher quality plastics, which feels more comfortable. As far as the display is concerned, Jiayu used a decent HD-IPS OGS panel, which is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Since this is a 5.5 inch phablet it will be difficult to use this device with one hand. Despite this aspect, the Jiayu S3 fits perfectly in every pocket. |
- HD-IPS |
- Cheap plastic cover | |
| Performance / Battery | + | - | |
| Inside the S3 we find a Mediatek MT6752 octa-core SoC with Mali-T760 GPU. We tested the performance of this device with the basic settings and the Dalvik runtime and results are pretty good. Repeating the benchmark with the ART runtime, the performance is slightly better. Only the graphics perfomance is a little low we expected it to be. During the tests, we haven't detected any overheating issues. The 3100mAh battery on the S3 is removable and in our opinion battery life is excellent. If only there was a more powerful charger in the delivery. |
- Overall Performance
- Battery life |
- Perfomance 3D | |
| Display / Camera | + | - | |
| The Jiayu S3 is equipped with a 5.5-inch display HD IPS OGS panel which provides life-like colors while both contrast and brightness are really good. Only the reproduction of black better since it looks greyish way too often. The 13-megapixel rear camera is doing a decent job. While the quality of pictures, including macro shots, were decent, we can't say the same for videos we've taken. Even with highest quality settings there was aliasing and there was excessive background noise in the audio signal. | - Life-like colors - Sharp images | - Strong background noise in the audio while recording video | |
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| The Jiayu S3 is a pretty decent device, especially considering its low price, which makes it perfect for those looking for a dual-SIM solution. Also on the connectivity side there is nothing to complain, since there is for example support for LTE and NFC. At the moment, the Jiayu S3 is bundled with Android 4.4.4, however, the update to Android 5.0 Lollipop is under way. The price of the Jiayu S3 is currently at about 196 euro on Pandawill. | - Pricing | ||
| Rating | |||
| The S3 from Jiayu receives very good 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
