The Amoi N820 Big V is one of the first sub 1000 Yuan dual-core Android phones to launch in China with the superb MTK MT6577 dual-core CPU, but just how good are these low cost machines? Keep reading to find out.
Amoi have joined the leagues of other local Chinese phone makers who are either in the process or planning stages of launching a low cost dual-core machine.
Beidou have the little pepper, JiaYu will offer both the G2 and G3, Zopo are launching low cost dual-core offerings and of course Amoi have a few options too.
What all these phones offer are the same dual-core MTK MT6577 cpu, large display and sub 1000 Yuan ($157) price tag.
Amoi N820 First Impression
The Amoi N820 arrives in a large black box with simple branding with a few included accessories. As you would expect a charger, USB cable and a pair of headphones, all in black, come with the N820 and while not the best looking options are all workable and do their job well.
The handset itself features a nice black design with simple white logo which is quite an understated yet classy design to the back panel.
The front is even more understated and only features a front facing camera and the standard Android key below the screen.
As you can see from the pictures the overall design and build quality are fine especially for this price range and for the rather good specification.
Amoi N820 Design
Amoi have given the N820 Big V a similar design to the Samsung i9300 but with a less prominent ‘chin’ area where the buttons are located.
For a device which is going to spend most of it’s time either in your pocket or in your hand the feeling and texture of the rear panel on the Big V are spot on with the very rounded ‘arc’ design of the rear lending itself well for sitting comfortably in the palm of your hand.
As mentioned earlier the front of this Chinese phone has no logo, which gives a simple and clean look, but you do get a front facing camera, hidden light sensor plus a very flat overall front which makes cleaning the screen very easy.
Compared to the Xiaomi M1 the Amoi N820 is slightly larger and has a bit of extra space below the Android home, menu and options buttons which you will either love or loathe.
The rear of the Amoi N820 features the rear camera which sits off to the side rather than in the center as most phone companies are going for these days and the cover is coated in a rubberized plastic which gives nice grip in your hand.
Compared to the Xiaomi M1 the Amoi is a little thinner, but does have a protruding which might get knocked and bumped a little more often than some designs, it will also mean the N820 will always sit on it’s lens while place on a desk or table, which could also cause problems.
Amoi N820 Big V Camera
Amoi haven’t cut any corners with this budget dual-core Chinese phone, and have given the N820 a great 8 mega-pixel rear camera!
While it isn’t going to be a good as the camera on more expensive machines, it does a great job of capturing clear and bright photos for a $150 Android smart phone!
A nice feature is the ‘smile capture’ option which will take photos when your subject puts on a nice wide grin. It’s a great feature and a lot of fun, however it can be a little slow to register happy faces at times.
Auto focus along with touch to focus are both supported, but again they are a little slow.
Overall both photos and videos are good quality as long as you’re not expecting to much from such a low cost Android device.
Amoi N820 Big V Performance
The N820 get’s Android 4.0 Ice-cream Sandwich which runs on the dual-core MTK Mt6577 cpu, which combine together to make for a very impressive and responsive device with performance almost on par with the much costlier dual-core Meizu MX.
The touch screen is responsive, but the glass feels a little too thick at times which can bother some users, other than that though the display is very good producing crisp colours and nice grain-free images.
Calling is good with no problems or dropped signals and Wi-Fi signal performance is also fantastic.
Due to the large 4.5 inch screen on the Big V Amoi have made the sensible decision to give the N820 a rather large battery. The 2050 mAh battery in the Big V is one of the largest we have seen in a phone of this price and in initial trials easily lasted a day and a half even when left to download apps during the night.
Amoi N820 Dual Sim
Like many Chinese phones the Amoi N820 get’s dual SIM support which is a useful feature for those who have 2 phone numbers, perhaps one for business and another for pleasure.
However for those of us who like to mix the two and only have one SIM card in the phone the Amoi shows two large red X’s in the notification screen. This is a bug which makes the phone think no Sim is installed when in fact only one sim is in the phone. Call functions, text and 3G aren’t affected, but the red X icons can be a little annoying.
Amoi N820 in the hand and conclusions
Although quite a big phone, the is very comfortable in the hand and gives a nice large, easy to read display and great performance for such a low price!
There were a few problems though such as the annoying red X and also the headphones sometimes performed very poorly, but overall for the price the Amoi N820 is a very competent phone and a bit of a bargain.
After seeing just how good low cost dual-core MTK MT6577 Android phones are from China, I’m really excited to try similar spec phones such as the JiaYu G3 and Newman N1 later this month!
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