Zest T1

Bumping this thread with awesomeness.

For those of you who still have their Zests, you can enable android ART in the developer options.
Your phone will reboot and take a while to compile all the apps you are using.

There is a very noticeable speed difference. All the little lags that sometimes occur are gone.
 
I've been running on ART for about two months now. I'll be honest, I didn't really notice a difference. I still very much have lag in some apps, especially media-heavy groups on whatsapp, the gallery also sometimes.
 
konfab said:
Bumping this thread with awesomeness.

For those of you who still have their Zests, you can enable android ART in the developer options.
Your phone will reboot and take a while to compile all the apps you are using.

There is a very noticeable speed difference. All the little lags that sometimes occur are gone.
Click to expand...

Tx. Trying it now.
 
I am still using my Zest and I really enjoy it so far.

The initial package had a small partition scheme which caused space issues for installed apps. I downloaded the new firmware and tools from the Zest mobile site, the repartition helped a lot - 4GB phone storage free post-reformat, and 1.8GB internal free :)

* The update tools look either outsourced or provided by the hardware manufacturers directly, and it would be nice to have seen these built locally too.

* These tools are for Windows users, us GNU / Linux folk have to make due by borrowing work PC's, or a friend's, to run the tools. It would be a very nice gesture to have multi-platform tools. (@Zest mobile, if there is a specification on the communication API for the device, and it is made available to the public, I am sure some of your user-base will pick it up. I for one would!). It could even be packaged as a Live CD.

* I have a hard time finding a protective cover for the phone. I have the flip-cover, but running around outside (geocaching/Ingress) I have had a couple drops. I would love to protect the corners/edges of the phone for this reason.

I am not sure what some of you are whining about it - I am prepared to push through teething problems to support new and local business.
 
Archvile said:
I am still using my Zest and I really enjoy it so far.

The initial package had a small partition scheme which caused space issues for installed apps. I downloaded the new firmware and tools from the Zest mobile site, the repartition helped a lot - 4GB phone storage free post-reformat, and 1.8GB internal free :)

* The update tools look either outsourced or provided by the hardware manufacturers directly, and it would be nice to have seen these built locally too.

* These tools are for Windows users, us GNU / Linux folk have to make due by borrowing work PC's, or a friend's, to run the tools. It would be a very nice gesture to have multi-platform tools. (@Zest mobile, if there is a specification on the communication API for the device, and it is made available to the public, I am sure some of your user-base will pick it up. I for one would!). It could even be packaged as a Live CD.

* I have a hard time finding a protective cover for the phone. I have the flip-cover, but running around outside (geocaching/Ingress) I have had a couple drops. I would love to protect the corners/edges of the phone for this reason.

I am not sure what some of you are whining about it - I am prepared to push through teething problems to support new and local business.
Click to expand...

I also like supporting local business, however Zest Mobile has not been the most transparent and open of companies. It is not just hardware teething problems. It is things like packaging the updates with software that we don't need.
 
I still have my Zest - I bought the phone mainly for two reasons - to work on a Chinese made phone and to support a local company/ entrepreneur.
That said I'm sorry on both counts and the company is dead in my books.
 
chrismine said:
I still have my Zest - I bought the phone mainly for two reasons - to work on a Chinese made phone and to support a local company/ entrepreneur.
That said I'm sorry on both counts and the company is dead in my books.
Click to expand...

FYI, just about every single phone in the world is made in China...
 
True - I meant more specifically the 1.3GHz quad-core (ARM Cortex A7), MT6582 processor....not widely know locally ....
 
Just a question...
I nosed over to the Zest website just now and this caught my eye:
Zest_T1_Website.jpg

So... Has anyone actually received any OTA updates since they made the reflash software available?
It seems to me that once you flash, no more OTA updates. I'm curious if those people who haven't reflashed have received any updates or have they just stopped completely?

Edit to add: I just saw that their download page contains a firmware that is abut 250mb smaller than the original, with a 20140903 date, whereas the original has the date as 20140714... Now I'm curious...
 
Last edited:
SykomantiS said:
Just a question...
I nosed over to the Zest website just now and this caught my eye:
View attachment 164203

So... Has anyone actually received any OTA updates since they made the reflash software available?
It seems to me that once you flash, no more OTA updates. I'm curious if those people who haven't reflashed have received any updates or have they just stopped completely?

Edit to add: I just saw that their download page contains a firmware that is abut 250mb smaller than the original, with a 20140903 date, whereas the original has the date as 20140714... Now I'm curious...
Click to expand...

They might have listened and taken out the bloatware..

The real question is if we will be getting Lollipop or not.
 
Not even a question mate. I'd be seriously surprised if we do. Everything points to a great,big fat resounding "NO!!"
 
SykomantiS said:
Just a question...
I nosed over to the Zest website just now and this caught my eye:
View attachment 164203

So... Has anyone actually received any OTA updates since they made the reflash software available?
It seems to me that once you flash, no more OTA updates. I'm curious if those people who haven't reflashed have received any updates or have they just stopped completely?

Edit to add: I just saw that their download page contains a firmware that is abut 250mb smaller than the original, with a 20140903 date, whereas the original has the date as 20140714... Now I'm curious...
Click to expand...

Haven't repartitioned, haven't had any more OTA updates.. I imagine I saw something about not planning more OTA updates on heir FB page...

(I'm considering the repartitioning, but not having a rooted phone means a full setting wipe is annoying and involves a trip to the bank for example...) (ADB backup helps, but apps can prevent themselves from being backed up that way) (Also, I need to boot into Windows...)
 
MoHaG said:
Haven't repartitioned, haven't had any more OTA updates.. I imagine I saw something about not planning more OTA updates on heir FB page...

(I'm considering the repartitioning, but not having a rooted phone means a full setting wipe is annoying and involves a trip to the bank for example...) (ADB backup helps, but apps can prevent themselves from being backed up that way) (Also, I need to boot into Windows...)
Click to expand...

Repartitioning is well worth the hassle of reactivating your banking apps.

The phone at it's latest firmware is pretty stable, so I don't really see the need for OTA.
I would rather their devs(if such people exist) focus on porting Lollipop and getting that to run perfectly.
 
You know that the Zest T1 is sh*t when the CEO of Afrihost (the man that initially promoted this phone) moves over to an iPhone.
 
Yasheel said:
You know that the Zest T1 is sh*t when the CEO of Afrihost (the man that initially promoted this phone) moves over to an iPhone.
Click to expand...

Probably got it free from his new MTN overlords.

To be fair, the Zest is a budget phone whilst an iPhone is regarded by some as a premium device. They are not really in competition with each other.
 
I disagree. The two phones aren't even aimed at the same target market. I don't think you can make that assumption/conclusion unless he specifically said he moved over to iPhone because poo-poo.

Edit: what konfab said (beat me to it).
 
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