• Firmware or flashing of a Highscreen smartphone. Before manual setup...

    • Telephone
    • Battery
    • Wired headset
    • Power adapter with USB cable
    • Warranty card

    Maintaining

    The Blast smartphone is an average device in all respects in the updated Highscreen line, taking into account the stand-alone powerful Explosion. The main difference between the new series of devices is the use of a chipset from Qualcomm, in this case MSM8225, and not MediaTek. However, despite the change in chipset, based on benchmarks and the operation of gadgets in practice, performance remained at the level of the same dual-core MediaTek MT6577. However, if your friends or acquaintances ask you what chip your cool device runs on, you can proudly answer that it’s Qualcomm Snapdragon S4!

    Otherwise, the Highscreen Blast is an ordinary good smartphone: 4.5-inch screen diagonal, IPS matrix with qHD resolution, 768 MB of RAM, a capacious 2000 mAh battery, 8 MP camera and, of course, support for two SIM cards. But still, I consider the camera to be the main feature of the device. For an inexpensive device, it takes pictures in any lighting conditions just fine. But I’ll tell you about it a little later in a separate section.

    The phone is already sold in stores for 8,000 rubles.

    Design, dimensions, control elements

    The appearance of Blast is a typical faceless budget Android: a rectangle with smooth edges in black. The edging is made of dark chrome-plated plastic, the rear semi-gloss cover is black and has a relief surface in the form of small recesses. Dimensions are standard for most similar devices - 131x67x9.9 mm, weight - 145 grams. It turns out to be a large and not the lightest brick. It fits well in the hand thanks to the elongated screen, sloping edges and pleasant-to-touch materials.

    The assembly is perfect: the socket is firmly held by numerous rivets, does not creak or play, and when you press on the central area of ​​the back cover, the case is not pressed down to the battery. The screen is protected by glass, not plastic, so it will be difficult to scratch it: after a month of use, not a single scratch appeared. Despite the absence of marketing features such as an oleophobic coating on the display, there are practically no fingerprints left on its surface, or at least no white coating appears. Of course, this is a huge plus.

    The front camera, two sensors - proximity and lighting - and a speech speaker are located on the front panel at the top. The first sensor responds very quickly, and during the operation of the device, no false shutdowns of the screen lock at the time of a call were noticed. The second sensor correctly and smoothly adjusts the backlight brightness level. There are no complaints about him either.


    The volume of the speech speaker is slightly above average, the interlocutor can be heard clearly and intelligibly, the timbre is generally pleasant: mainly mid and high frequencies are heard. At maximum volume there is no wheezing or rattling.

    Below the display there are touch buttons: “Search”, “Back”, “Menu” and “Home”. They are painted with white translucent paint and have a very bright backlight. The microphone is located under "Search".



    At the top end there is a microUSB without a plug and a standard 3.5 mm audio output, and at the bottom there are no elements.



    At the top right is the device on/off button. Small and thin, almost recessed into the body, the stroke is average, and the pressure is soft. On the left is the same type of volume rocker.



    On the back side, the camera module rises 3 mm, framed by a chrome rim, and next to it is a single-section flash. At the bottom there is a speakerphone speaker.




    To open the cover, it must be pryed at the recess in the lower part of the case. The memory card is inserted at the top right (hot swapping is supported), the SIM card slots are to the left.


    Comparative sizes:


    Highscreen Blast and Samsung Galaxy Note II


    Highscreen Blast and Sharp SH930U


    Highscreen Blast and Meizu MX2


    Display

    This smartphone has a 4.5-inch screen diagonal (physical size 55x99 mm) with an aspect ratio of 16x9. Display resolution – 540x960 (qHD) pixels, density – 244 ppi. The pixelation is not noticeable, but if you look closely, you can see a grid of pixels. The touch layer, naturally of a capacitive type, handles up to five simultaneous touches. The sensitivity of the touch layer is excellent and is comparable to the sensitivity of displays in top phones.

    The Highscreen Blast matrix is ​​made using IPS technology and is capable of displaying 16 million shades of color. The viewing angles of the screen are large: when tilted, the brightness only drops slightly. Color rendition is natural. At certain angles, particularly eagle-eyed users may notice a slight purple tint.


    In the light the picture is clearly visible, in direct sunlight the image fades, but overall everything is fine.


    Settings:

    Battery

    The Highscreen Blast uses a removable lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery with a capacity of 2000 mAh, 3.7 V. Type – blast. Tests have shown that the power consumption of the Qualcomm MSM8225 chipset is almost the same as the power consumption of the MediaTek MT6577.


    If you use the phone for about 8-9 hours, the battery will be completely discharged provided: 20-25 minutes of calls per day, 2 hours of constant use of Wi-Fi Internet (Twitter, mail, downloading applications and installing them), about 5- ten hours of mobile Internet and an hour of listening to music.

    You can listen only to music for 30 hours, watch only video (maximum screen brightness, high volume, movie resolution - HD 720p) - just over 3 hours. If you want to play toys (for example, MassEffect Infiltrator), the battery will run out after 3 hours.

    Communication capabilities

    The phone operates in 2G (GSM/GPRS/EDGE, 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) and 3G (900/2100 MHz) cellular networks. In this case, one SIM card (SIM2 - slot on the right) functions only in 2G, the other - in 2G or 3G (SIM1 - slot on the left). If you use mobile Internet, then traffic is limited in the settings - a special feature of Android 4.0. In the “SIM Card Management” settings section, you set the name of the SIM card and data transfer.

    Available Bluetooth version 3.0 (EDR/A2DP/DUN/FTP/OPP/SPP/HFP/AVRCP) for file and voice transfer. There is a wireless connection Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. The device, of course, can be used as an access point (Wi-Fi Hotspot) or modem. In the settings, this item is listed as “Modem mode”. There were no connection problems, Wi-Fi sensitivity was high.

    USB 2.0 (High-Speed) is used for file transfer and data synchronization.

    Memory and memory card

    The smartphone uses 768 MB of RAM, of which about 340 MB is free. An excellent indicator, considering that the device costs 8,000 rubles. Typically, such gadgets have no more than 512 MB of RAM and approximately 170 MB free.

    1 GB of Flash memory is allocated for data storage, and just under 2 GB for installing programs and games. In the settings, you can select in advance the installation location for applications: on internal memory, on a microSD card, or leave it at the discretion of the system. I would recommend buying a high capacity card and checking the "Removable SD card" box.

    Camera

    Almost every modern smartphone has two camera modules - front and main. In Blast, the first module has a resolution of 2 MP (most likely interpolation, judging by the quality of the images), the second – 8 MP. A single-section LED acts as illumination. The maximum photo resolution is 2560x1920 pixels, video - 1280x720 pixels at 15 frames per second.

    As I said at the beginning of the review, the new product has a very cool camera. Frankly speaking, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen such high-quality footage taken on a budget smartphone. First of all, it is worth noting the natural color reproduction and fairly accurate white balance. Secondly, detail and good lens aperture. Unfortunately, the aperture value is unknown, but offhand it’s f2.2. Interestingly, the Blast takes better photos than the flagship Explosion camera.

    But the videos were somewhat disappointing: the picture quality is more or less good, but the number of frames is only 15. Either the developers cheated, or the chipset cannot handle a larger number of frames in HD resolution. However, the sound recording is decent - AAC 156 Kbps 48 kHz - clean, without overload.

    Skype works fine.

    The appearance of the “Camera” has been slightly changed, but in general the settings are familiar to Android 4.0.x

    Video file characteristics:

    • File Format: 3GP
    • Video codec: AVC, 4000 Mbit/s
    • Resolution: 1280 x 720, 15 fps
    • Audio codec: AAC, 156 Kbps
    • Channels: 1 channel, 48 kHz

    Sample photos:

    Performance

    Almost all modern inexpensive Android smartphones operate on single-core or dual-core chipsets from the Taiwanese company MediaTek. The chip is cheap, power consumption is low, and performance is quite good. In any case, many toys go without problems, videos are played in resolutions up to 720p, which is quite cool, for example, for “androids” for 5,000 – 6,000 rubles.

    When I read in the specifications of the new line of devices from Vobis Computer that they have the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chipset installed, I was quite surprised. However, it later turned out that although the chip belongs to the S4 generation, MSM8225 is considered the weakest in its class: 45 nm process technology, AMRv7 instruction set, maximum frequency of 1.2 GHz (two ARM Cortex-A5 cores), Adreno 203 graphics accelerator.


    If we compare the Qualcomm MSM8225 and MediaTek MT6577 chipsets, I did not notice any difference. Both have difficulty “digesting” HD video, not all toys are available (you shouldn’t dream of powerful ones*), the speed of the interface is relatively smooth. Actually, performance tests say the same thing.

    In general, miracles do not happen.

    *- Installed, but did not start: “The Amazing Spider-Man”, “NOVA3”, Dead Space.

    Brief technical description of the smartphone and benchmarks:

    Unfortunately, this function does not work on all of our smartphones.

    List of supported devices:

    Highscreen Spade

    Highscreen Ice 2

    Highscreen Zera F - any revision

    Highscreen Zera S - any revision

    Highscreen Zera U

    Highscreen Hercules

    Highscreen Boost 3

    Highscreen Boost 3 PRO

    Procedure:

    1) Turn off the device.

    2) After turning off your smartphone completely, press and hold the Power and Volume Up keys at the same time.

    Some devices will require you to choose which mode to start them in. You must select “Recovery mode” with the volume up key and confirm the selection with the volume down key.

    The Android logo and the message “No command” may also appear on the screen. In this case, you should press the central touch key “Home” or press the power button once.

    3) In the menu that appears, use the volume down key to select “backup user data”.

    *On different devices, you may need to press the Volume Up key, the left touch Menu key, or the left touch point to confirm your selection.

    4) Wait until the process of copying your data is completed.

    5) After it is completed, you will again be taken to the recovery menu, where you should select the top item “reboot system now” and confirm your choice.

    6) After turning on the device, connect the smartphone to the PC and go into the device memory (or SD card, if installed).

    7) A recovery file has been created in the root directory of the device memory, which looks approximately like this: “userdata_20141101_000026.backup” (numbers may vary). It should be copied to your PC.

    *If you have an SD memory card installed, the file is created on it. When formatting, the removable drive will not be cleaned. In this case, there is no need to copy the recovery file to your PC.

    8) Now you can perform the standard reset or hard-reset procedure. This procedure completely clears the built-in memory of the device.

    9) Once the reset is complete, completely turn off your device again and go to the “recovery menu” as described in step 2.

    10) When this menu appears, select “restore user data”.

    Select the path to the recovery file: “userdata_20141101_000026.backup”.

    Confirm your choice.

    11) The recovery process will begin. You should wait for it to finish and select “reboot system now”.

    Congratulations! All the data you had before the factory reset is now completely restored.

    Before you learn how to flash Highscreen Zera F and Highscreen Zera F rev.s, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic recommendations:

    1. You perform all actions performed at your own peril and risk.
    2. You may lose the official guarantee from the company.
    3. Use only the original USB cable.
    4. Charge your Highscreen Zera F smartphone to at least 70 percent.
    5. Since you will be downloading a large amount of data, use unlimited data plans to access the Internet.

    Now you can proceed to the most important thing: flashing your Highscreen smartphone. There are two ways - the official update and using a third-party utility. We choose the appropriate option and run to flash our favorite gadget.

    Updating the software using the official method

    1. Connect to a Wi-Fi wireless network. Just in case, we save all important data to an external storage device (computer, hard drive, flash drive, etc.).
    2. Go to “Settings”. This item is easy to find in the main menu of the device.

    1. Now we look for “About device”, where there is an “Update” tab. Click on “Update”. If your smartphone says that updates have already been installed on your device, then it means there are no available firmware for your device. Otherwise, you need to agree to download the updates and wait for it to complete. When finished, click on the Install button.
    2. After the update, you will see the device's home screen.

    Firmware Highscreen Zera F

    Please note that all the following operations are only suitable for revisions A and B! If you have rev.S, then move on to the next paragraph.

    1. Before carrying out manipulations with flashing the device, you will need to download and install the following list of materials on your computer or laptop: appropriate drivers http://Highscreen.org/uploads/ZeraF12Upd/HM_Drivers.rar, special software for firmware - http://Highscreen .org/uploads/ZeraF12Upd/SP_Flash_Tool_exe_v3.1344.0.212.zip, and, in fact, the firmware files themselves. http://Highscreen.org/uploads/ZeraF12Upd/Zera_F.v12.20140529.zip
    2. Please note that it is recommended to unpack all these files to the C:\ drive directory.

    1. Launch the SP Flash Tool program on your PC using the Flash_tool.exe application. Click on Scatter-loading and in the dialog box that appears, select the text document MT65XX_Android-scatter_emmc.txt, where XX depends on the version of the downloaded firmware. This file is located in the unpacked archive in the folder from the first point.
    2. Next, click on Firmware-Upgrade, install the battery back into the smartphone and connect it to the computer via USB. Please note that you need to insert the cord into exactly the same connector that was used in the fourth point.
    3. All you have to do is wait until the firmware is installed on the Highscreen Zera F. This process may take some time.
    4. When finished, you will see a green circle on the screen - then you can close the SP Flash Tool application and unplug the USB cable.
    5. The final touch: remove the battery from the device, reinsert it and turn it on. Now you can close the back with the lid and use the device as usual.

    Firmware Highscreen Zera F rev.S

    1. The process is very similar to the previous one, but there are some nuances. Therefore, be careful.
    2. Download the drivers, firmware file and SP Flash Tool, as in the previous instructions in the first paragraph. But now you need files specifically for your device. The previous ones will not work. Please note that it is recommended to unpack all these files to the C:\ drive directory.
    3. Next, take your Highscreen Zera F smartphone and turn it off using the corresponding button on the case.

    1. Then you must remove the battery from the device (first remove the back cover covering the battery). Then return the battery to its place, but without turning on the phone, connect it to your personal computer. Install the drivers manually, specifying the path to them - the directory from the first point. Wait while the Found New Hardware Wizard installs the files on your computer. You can disconnect the device from the PC.
    2. Turn off the smartphone again and remove the battery again.
    3. Launch the SP Flash Tool program on your PC using the Flash_tool.exe application. Click on Scatter-loading and in the dialog box that appears, select the text document MT65XX_Android-scatter_emmc.txt, where XX depends on the version of the downloaded firmware. This file is located in the unpacked archive in the folder from the second point.
    4. Uncheck the Preloader box. Then disconnect the device from the PC.
    5. Click on the Download button in the SP Flash Tool program window and immediately connect the device to the PC via USB. When finished, you will see a green circle on the screen - then you can close the SP Flash Tool application and unplug the USB cable.
    6. We remove the battery from the device, reinsert it and turn it on. Ready!
    7. Attention! If you didn’t succeed in flashing it like this, then for the second time try leaving the Preloader checkbox unchecked and click on firmware-ugrade (steps seven and eight).

    Let's sum it up

    Today we learned how you can flash or reflash Highscreen Zera F and Zera F rev.S smartphones. Good luck, dear friends! Let's share in the comments what worked and what didn't. This will help other users avoid making your mistakes.

    How to set up the Internet on Highscreen.

    In the modern world, almost every person has a mobile device, or rather a smartphone. A necessary condition for a modern smartphone user is the ability to connect to the Internet.

    Highscreen devices provide this opportunity. But just purchasing a smartphone does not mean immediately connecting to the Internet. First you need to buy the service from your mobile operator. It is very important to choose the right tariff. Depending on your requests, you can choose either unlimited or tariffed access.

    It is also important to know how to set up such a connection. As a rule, the settings come automatically, you just need to save them. In some cases, it is not possible to set up the Internet the first time; in such situations, manual setting.

    If you don’t know how to manually set up the Internet on your Highscreen device, then this material is just for you. We will tell you in detail how to set up the Internet using GPRS. This process will not require much effort from you. Just carefully follow everything written in the instructions. It is also important to know why you were unable to gain access the first time. We will also provide a list of these reasons.

    Before manual setup...

    1) You need to activate the “data transfer” option in the settings. This is necessary to open access for data transfer from the network. You can find this option in the “mobile network settings” menu item.

    2) If you do not have enough funds in your account, you should top it up, otherwise it will not be possible to go online.

    To understand when you are connected to the network, look at the link indicator. There should be a letter symbol next to it, indicating an Internet connection. If you have taken into account all the above points, then move on to manual settings.

    Setting up the Internet manually.

    1) Go to the “Settings” menu.

    2) Open the “more” item, and then go to the “mobile networks” column.

    3) Here you need to select the “access point” option.

    4) If in the list of access points there is one that belongs to your operator, then just activate it and access is obtained.

    5) Otherwise, we proceed to create a new access point. To do this, select the line “new...” in the list of functions.

    6) A new window will open. There will be empty fields and they need to be filled with certain information (). You must fill in the “APN” field without errors.

    8) Save the created access point.

    9) Pay attention to the connection indicator; if there is a letter next to it, then the connection was successful.

    10) If the connection is not activated the first time, reboot the device.

    There are several reasons why you cannot access the Internet. Among them are such as: incorrectly filling out fields when creating a new account, a faulty device, or being outside the network coverage area. Analyze all factors and identify the problem. If you yourself cannot determine what the reason is, contact a specialist.

    This is the official instruction for Highscreen Power Ice in Russian, which is suitable for Android 5.1. If you have updated your Highscreen smartphone to a more recent version or “rolled back” to an earlier one, then you should try other detailed operating instructions that will be presented below. We also suggest that you familiarize yourself with the quick user instructions in question-answer format.

    Highscreen official website?

    You have come to the right place, because all the information from the official website of the Highscreen company, as well as a lot of other useful content, is collected here.

    Settings-> About phone:: Android version (a few clicks on the item will launch the "Easter egg") ["Out of the box" Android OS version - 5.1].

    We continue to configure the smartphone

    How to update drivers on Highscreen


    You need to go to "Settings -> About phone -> Kernel version"

    How to enable Russian keyboard layout

    Go to the section "Settings->Language and input->Select language"

    How to connect 4g or switch to 2G, 3G

    "Settings-> More-> Mobile network-> Data transfer"

    What to do if you turned on child mode and forgot your password

    Go to "Settings-> Language and keyboard-> section (keyboard and input methods)-> check the box next to "Google voice input"


    Settings->Display:: Auto-rotate screen (uncheck)

    How to set a melody for an alarm clock?


    Settings->Display->Brightness->right (increase); left (decrease); AUTO (automatic adjustment).


    Settings->Battery->Energy Saving (check the box)

    Enable display of battery charge status as a percentage

    Settings->Battery->Battery Charge

    How to transfer phone numbers from a SIM card to the phone memory? Importing numbers from a SIM card

    1. Go to the Contacts app
    2. Click on the "Options" button -> select "Import/Export"
    3. Select where you want to import contacts from -> “Import from SIM card”

    How to add a contact to the blacklist or block a phone number?

    How to set up the Internet if the Internet does not work (for example, MTS, Beeline, Tele2, Life)

    1. You can contact the operator
    2. Or read the instructions for

    How to set a ringtone for a subscriber so that each number has its own melody


    Go to the Contacts application -> Select the desired contact -> click on it -> open the menu (3 vertical dots) -> Set ringtone

    How to disable or enable key vibration feedback?

    Go to Settings-> Language and input -> Android keyboard or Google keyboard -> Vibrate response of keys (uncheck or uncheck)

    How to set a ringtone for an SMS message or change alert sounds?

    Read the instructions for

    How to find out what processor is on Power Ice?

    You need to look at the characteristics of Power Ice (link above). We know that in this modification of the device the chipset is MediaTek MT6735, 1300 MHz.


    Settings->For Developers->USB Debugging

    If there is no "For Developers" item?

    Follow the instructions


    Settings->Data transfer->Mobile traffic.
    Settings->More->Mobile network->3G/4G services (if the operator does not support, select only 2G)

    How to change or add input language on the keyboard?

    Settings-> Language and input-> Android keyboard-> settings icon-> Input languages ​​(check the box next to the ones you need)

    Read more: