What’s the world without another Android smartphone? it wouldn’t be the same, right? There’s so many of these phones and tablets popping up that keeping track is a bit of a chore. Probably that’s why all these devices are differentiated by unique and “epic” names.
Joining in the process of giving their products “catchy” names is Hisense with its “Glory series”. Part of the series is the Hisense HS U939 which I had the chance to look over recently.
First impressions
This is a simple 4.5” lower mid-tier phone with a glossy back and unlike its peers, Hisense has opted to place the buttons not just on the same side but on the left of the device. On the top of the HS U939, we have the USB 2.0 connector and the earphone jack. On the bottom, we have the mic.
The back features a 5 MP camera and a mono loud speaker. The front has a VGA front camera, a proximity sensor, speaker grille and soft touch buttons on the base of the front. The HS U939 is not a phone that can be said to stand out, like many phones in its price bracket (hasn’t been priced yet but probably will be sub-$300, subject to the distributor’s discretion) it is there to carry out functions and not much more than that.
Specs
| Operating System | Android 4.2 Jellybean |
|---|---|
| Network | 2G GSM:900/1800MHz 3G UMTS:900/2100MHz |
| BlueTooth | yes v3.0 |
| WiFi | Yes 802.11 b/g/n |
| Display | TFT 4.5″ 854×480, with “scratch resistant” glass |
| CPU | MT6572 DUAL CORE 1.3 GHz |
| RAM | 512 MB |
| Camera | 5MP rear main, no flash VGA front |
| Extra Features | Ambient light, G-Sensor, FM Radio |
| Dimensions | 4 GB expandable up to 32microSD |
| Weight With Battery | 138g |
| Battery | 1630mAh |
Camera
The camera on the HS U939 is a decent 5MP snapper, with good performance in normal light. The camera also seems to have a good back-light compensation, but sometimes this does not work well, and the light gives a glow effect.
Like many entry level phone cameras though, it has terrible low light performance. The low light performance is made worse by the absence of a LED flash. The front camera is VGA and is sufficient for making calls on Skype. Sadly that’s about it with regard to features.
The convention to have video recording readily available as opposed to having to have to go through a series of menus is adopted here as well so video recording is easy. It is however limited to 640 x 480 resolution which the user is unable to change.
Display
The display on the HS U939 is 854×480 which translates to about 218ppi. This is by no means goes anywhere near HD quality, but the display is quite crisp. With colours on the screen looking quite vibrant.
I found that with the screen guard, the HS U939 response was less than satisfactory. This issue was more pronounced on the bottom right-hand corner. I hope this was constrained to my review sample alone, otherwise it would be bad to have to use a phone without a screen guard. A point to note; though this phone is marked as a multi-touch, it only recognises up to two finger input.
User Interface
The HS U939 uses an unskinned version of Jellybean, the result of using this is that the phone is generally able to handle all requests with speed. The only exception for this rule occurring when heavy apps are run, such as graphics-intensive games. But then this being a lower mid-tier phone, it’s not expected to handle heavy gaming.
Synthetic benchmarks
Benchmarks with the HS U939 were a hit and miss affair. The benchmarks that ran were the multi-processing benchmarks and the HTML5 benchmarks. The GPU benchmarks would terminate mid-process.
Telephony
The dialler app is the same as the one for stock Android Jellybean, which is to say simple and easy to use. Nothing has been added to the interface in the way of customising, again making this a phone that is less likely to have lag brought about by unnecessary skinning.
Gallery and media players
The gallery and media player are simple to use, and unlike many of its competitors, Hisense did not implement a system where there is moving previews for the video. Most likely since the phone has limited resources like RAM.
Battery
Battery life for the HS U939 is decent, with normal use the battery can last the greater part of the day. However with Wi-Fi usage the battery life dips heavily; so if one is going to use the HS U939 with Wi-Fi, it is recommended to have a charger near in case of extended use.
Final Thoughts
The HS U939 is a decent mid-lower tier phone that could be said to be sufficient for students on a limited budget. It falls short on RAM and internal storage, hence not a device likely to see many if any future upgrades.
However for those who want screen real estate and performance on par with the major brands but costing less, this is the phone. Otherwise though, if one has sufficient funds and is looking for much more, then I would recommend going for the mid-upper tier phones from the major brands.
Share
Home
32 comments
Very truthful review, it is a good mid level phone and we are looking at retail price of about $150 – $180.
I bought this phone in SA for R999 end of November and i was HUGELY dissappointed by the lack of FLASH(LED light). I returned it 5 days later and took the Hisense U980. Great phone it is. Still making me happy. And the dual sim functionality is a great +
I bought HS-U939 mobile phone in november and i have drooped it by mistake.,my phone screen split and i dont know what to do please help..
need cover
my HS U939 IS SLOW AND THE SCREEN LOSES ITS SENSITIVITY AT TIMES. WHAT MUST I DO TO BETTER THIS?
PLEASE HELP.
OTHER THAN THAT , THINK ITS AN AWESOME PHONE.
IVE ALSO GOT AN XPERIA AND S4 AND MY HISENSE DEFINITELY STANDS BY THEIR SIDE CONSIDERING THE HUGE PRICE DIFFERENCE.
I had purchased HS-U939 one year back. Three time I had send it for rectification for same problem that is it hangs frequently and don’t start again. Now after warranty the same problem happend. With just 12-14 months 4 time same problem. Any suggestion or idea what to do with.
The phone was working fine until recently, it suddenly switched off and started working slow and nwo freezes on the logo. What should I do?
I brought the phone and I regrets buying it always it loose network and I have to take out battery to restart it to have network or robot it. I’m in SA
i want to know why doesnt the notification led light
I bought hisense u939 in a month ago my interested is the dual Sim card bt I WS so disappointed hearing that but I bought it anyway it working great no wrong or faulty I v seen or experience anyway I love my phone n where can I find pouch,screen protecter for it plz?
MY HISENSE PHONE IS FAILING TO BOOT SO WHAT COULD BE THE PROBLEM?
I bought this phone yesterday,as I was trying to upload or add a yahoo account,I was prompted to create a password ….which I did. Now when I try to unlock the phone using the password I get a message that the password is wrong! I only use this password in all my passwords. Please advise as I don’t know how to unlock the password pls!.
Regards,
HM
Please I need a back case otherwise my hisense u939 doesn’t want to unlock
My phone does not allow me to type on the keyboard, it does not appear at all. Please advice.
If the system keyboard is giving you issues, try getting swiftkey keyboard. (make sure you’re on wifi) To install it, make sure you have a google account, then sign into that account with your phone, and also sign into your account on a PC using Chrome browser, (since you may not be able to type on the phone to search for the app on the playstore). If your phone is set to synchronise with your accounts; when you visit the google playstore on your browser, you can then install the app onto your phone using Chrome browser, then set it up on the phone. When you’re done setting it up, it will be your default keyboard (it’ll guide you through the process of setting the phone up to use it as the keyboard). Hope that helps
I have this phone an I dnt wish to have it again because it hang on welcome screen an I can’t find solution even to flush the phone it fail
my keyboard stopped working,and they told me to go to my apps
click on the tap “all”i did that
than they said i should clear data under android keyboard(asop)..i did that
than they said i should click on dictionary provider,the problem is that i cant find,this phone is really stressing me out…
My
I buogth hisense in march now 8 can’t connect on network (search ,Google) it tell me to do setting please send to me that setting
Please send manual setting for internet go hisense cell phone
these android is sh*t i bought it 5months ago nw it fails to boot,it hangs on the logo n does nothing
I have a problem with my keyboard, letters like b, h & u cannot be pressed at their location but abit higher, so that makes type me Incorrect words.. how do I fix that problem?
Too I brought did hisens last year November my problem is I can’t send music video it dasnt show where I should sher
I bought ths hisense u939 my battery has blust so i dnt get it i’ve looked almost everwhr cn u guys plz help m where cn i get the battery im truly desparate
I need battery plz
My his sense u939 is failing to connect to the network on sim 2 and for me to connect to a WiFi network or Bluetooth I must be at least 10cm closer
i need two piece , gray and golden
I FLASHED MY HISENSE U939 IS STUCK ON BOOT ,,PLEASE HELP
My hisense is always getting stuck on the logo the first time it happened i flashed it and it came right not even 3 months later the problem started again. Flashed it about 3 times but still not starting up just getting stuck on. Logo
I have a problem with the data roaming on my Telkom sim, the data does not work when the roaming is not on, on the mtn sim I do not have issues with roaming,please advise how to resolve the issue,thank you
my phone s sound is off, but the sound settings is on. how do i fix it.
I bought my hisense DF2 phone 6months ago i can’t use my camera it says I must switch off some app using flash but I really don’t know which app. May you please help me so that I can enjoy my phone?
MY HISENSE HS U939DISCONNECTED TP WIFI AND NOW IT CANT CONNECT AGAIN