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Cheap Android Phone Hack; Use as mini-tablet or handset for Google Voice
Topic Started: Jun 4 2015, 02:06 PM (1,452 Views)
cwatkin


One of my buddies decided to purchase a ZTE Whirl 2 Z667G from Dollar General the other day for $9! I was like WHAT??? This is a low-end Android smartphone but with a quad core processor at least. It has 512MB of RAM and 4GB storage capacity. Anyway, it is designed for the Net10/Tracfone network but runs on the AT&T towers. I figured it would be locked so you had to use Net10 and it was but for $9, I figured I would buy one anyway as I had some other ideas.

Without paid cell service, the phone essentially becomes a mini-tablet. I turned off the cell radio which isn't hard to do so it wouldn't just be sucking power looking for a network when it isn't activated. Go to the phone settings and turn on airplane mode. This turns off ALL the radios within the phone. You will notice the WIFI gets turned off. Then go turn it back on. All the others stay turned off so no more cell radio. I assume you could turn on bluetooth if needed but I don't need it right now.

I use Google Talk/Google Voice numbers for personal and business use. I use the Google Hangouts app/plugin to talk through my computers and Android smart phone. Cell reception is poor where I live and the phone either has to reside in the window or I can talk outside. But I do have high speed internet and can connect through WIFI.

So, I installed the Hangouts app and setup my accounts and now use it as a handset for my Google Voice numbers. It is a mini-tablet for $9 that can serve as a phone wherever you have WIFI. This is pretty neat.

I am sure the company is losing money on things like this. I expect the cost of the device to be a "loss leader" and they expect to make it up on the cost of the minutes over time. Also, I have no idea how good the thing is or how well it will hold up but it was $9 and something interesting to play around with. When it dies, it goes in the recycling or gets resold on eBay for parts, likely for more than I bought the working phone for. This one got decent reviews from what I could tell. I know ZTE is rather hit or miss at times.

I just thought I would share this idea. I understand the same phone is also available at Family Dollar for $1 more. My friend intended to go there but was at Dollar General and they had it for $9.

Conor
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Freeman
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The Family Man

Dang... we have WiFi at work and home. I could get behind something like this for $10.
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rmcelwee
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This guy says it is a dual core:

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cwatkin


I read that somewhere too. It says QUAD CORE big as like on my Net10 one so maybe it is incorrect. Either way I am not too worried for $9. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/net10-zte-whirl-2-no-contract-cell-phone-black/8728026.p?id=1219362861847 also says it is a dual core and it looks like the same phone.

Conor
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cwatkin


This is strange: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Net10-ZTE-Z667G-Prepaid-Android-Smartphone/39443662
They list it as a quad core here too so maybe there were multiple "flavors" of the phone.

Also, I cannot seem to find the specs for the CPU in the phone. I see available RAM, storage, etc. but not the CPU.

Conor
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iamgeo
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Big League

Not a hack at all.
I use Skype on my old android phones.
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rmcelwee
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Some specs for the phone:

http://specdevice.com/showspec.php?id=a7b9-7cb0-ec56-3c90041b97dc



Manufacturer zte
Model Z667G
Android version 4.3; 20140529.033010.24400; SDK18
CPU 2 cores; Qualcomm MSM 8610 (Flattened Device Tree) msm8610; Max: 1190.4 MHz; Min: 300.0 MHz
Display 480 x 320; DPI: 160; Evaluated Size: 3.6"
Touch screen Multitouch 2 points
GPU Adreno (TM) 305; Qualcomm; OpenGL ES-CM 1.1; OpenGL ES 3.0 V@53.0 AU@04.03.00.134.065 (CL@)
RAM 424 MB
Flash 0.188 GB; 4 GB (3.641 GB actual); 16 GB (14.837 GB actual) (see memory map tab)
Communications
Phone GSM
WiFi wlan
USB Host Yes
Bluetooth Yes
GPS Yes
Advanced Features
Front camera Photo: 3.1 MP; Max: 2048x1536; Video: 0.4 MP; Max: 800x480; Focus: fixed; No flash
Back camera No
Sensors AK8962 3-axis Magnetic field sensor (Asahi Kasei Microdevices); range: 0...4912.8; resolution: 0.06 (0.001%); power: 0.35mA;
Freesacle MMA845X Accelerometer (ADI); range: 0...156.906; resolution: 0.038 (0.024%); power: 0.145mA;
TSL2771 Proximity sensor (Taos); range: 0...5; resolution: 1 (20%); power: 0.5mA;
TSL2771 Light sensor (Taos); range: 0...10240; resolution: 1 (0.01%); power: 0.5mA;
Vibrator Yes
Supported languages 52; Afrikaans; Amharic; Arabic; Belarusian; Bulgarian; Bengali; Catalan; Czech; Danish; German; Greek; English; Spanish; Estonian; Persian; Finnish; Filipino; French; Hebrew; Hindi; Croatian; Hungarian; Indonesian; Icelandic; Italian; Japanese; Korean; Lithuanian; Latvian; Marathi; Malay; Norwegian; Dutch; Polish; Portuguese; Romansh; Romanian; Russian; Slovak; Slovenian; Serbian; Swedish; Swahili; Tamil; Telugu; Thai; Filipino; Turkish; Ukrainian; Vietnamese; Chinese; Zulu
Battery Technology: Li-ion; Voltage: 4207
SD Version: 1.1 5
Edited by rmcelwee, Jun 5 2015, 06:39 AM.
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cwatkin


OK, I was talking to someone that said the "Quad core" was a misprint that has spread all over. I guess QCing the specs written on the box isn't a huge priority since the phone is selling for $9. Either way, I don't really care for that price.

Conor
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rmcelwee
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I bought one this morning as soon as DG opened. They were priced wrong and I had to argue with the management that they were $9 vs the $40 that was on the sticker. Why did I buy one even though I had 4 smartphones already? For Google Cardboard of course...

Oh, on the way back home I stopped at BoJangles and bought my wife and I breakfast. I thought it was funny that our breakfast cost more than my new smartphone.
Edited by rmcelwee, Jun 5 2015, 09:26 AM.
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Woodie
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rmcelwee
Jun 5 2015, 09:25 AM
For Google Cardboard of course...
And here I was certain it was for Trivia Crack.
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rmcelwee
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OOPS, the new phone does not have a gyroscope. Don't buy one for Cardboard - waste of money...
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