Tiq M5 Phone Review

I have been using a Tiq M5 for several days, and thought I would write a review on it.

Pros:

  • Battery life
  • Light weight and thin.
  • Allows OEM unlock, so should be very easy to create custom ROMs for.

Cons:

  • The physical keypad integration is not great. One of the worst problems is that it doesn’t offer T9 as far as I can tell.
  • The glide typing available in the onscreen keyboard is no replacement for T9
  • Need to hit the keypad button on the screen to use keypad during a call, then need to exit the keypad screen again to avoid your ear registering key presses.
  • The flashlight only works intermittently.

Overall, I would say it has great hardware and average software. I think I will be switching back to my Sunbeam for the long-term.

1 Like

Nice review. See this review on for a more detailed look:
Also, looks like he managed to install T9 fine w/o an issue.

Summary

Hello,

I’ve had the TIQ Mini M5 for a few weeks now and have been using it exclusively. I really needed a phone that supports GPS, MFA apps, Slack, and Gmail so that I can perform my work duties. I don’t have any social media apps installed nor any apps that I am not required to use for work outside of Spotify. Due to my inability to change phone providers, my choices were quite limited on AT&T. I feel a Xiaomi F21 Pro or the F22 would do the job just fine for a better price point.

Build:

For a $300 phone, the build quality is not that great. It feels a bit plasticky and the button clicks are not as satisfying as I would expect for a phone at this price point. The phone comes with a case and a preinstalled screen protector. Unfortunately, the screen protector was quite cheap and caught on my pocket resulting in it coming off. The case is thin and flexible, I do not feel confident that it provides a good amount of protection. I did have the case painted so for me it is a good addition. The screen feels nice to use and has good visibility, I tend to keep the brightness between 25-50% and I am able to see it without issues. I have noticed that the USB-C port feels loose and I am concerned about the longevity of the port.

Battery:

Everyone uses their phones differently, since I use it as a partial work phone I might be using it more than the average person. I get about 2 days of charge from it, which is perfectly fine for me. If you use the phone less or keep it in battery saver I imagine that you could get 3 days from it. The battery does drain pretty quickly when using hotspot.

Connectivity:

I live in a larger city so my cellular connection on AT&T has been good, I haven’t noticed any issues with it. I did get a message from AT&T when I put the SIM in that said the phone isn’t supported by them but I have not been kicked off the network yet. The phone also has the ability to hotspot which is a welcome addition as I do sometimes need to use it for work. The phone is quite a bit slower than a full sized smart phone but I quite like that.

Usage:

After installing Traditional T9, navigating and using the device is as to be expected for a phone like this. I don’t use the touch screen very much unless I need to in an app (like Slack or Gmail). The screen is small so using maps isn’t a great experience. I was hoping to use Android Auto but I get a Connection error 22 when connecting to my car, related to the app not being a system app. I haven’t fussed around with it too much to resolve this error as it isn’t a deal breaker for me. The camera is fine, I sometimes need to take photos for work and so far no one has complained about the photo quality. It reminds me of phones around the 2008-2010 era where they have a distinct look to them.

Pros:

Great form factor, small and not intrusive.

Battery life is adequate, getting me about 2 days of use.

App compatibility is good since it does run full Android.

So far it works on AT&T.

Cons:

Since it does have full Android, there can be impulses to install social media apps.

It is quite costly for what it is.

USB-C port feels a little use, concerning for the long term.

Summary:

The Xiaomi F21 Pro or the F22 would be better options if you need an Android dumbphone but this one gets the job done if you have to choose it for whatever reason. I hope the price on it comes down and it will become viable to more people. If this phone cost ~$100 I would have no issues recommending it to almost anyone as it is a fantastic transition device to the dumbphone lifestyle.

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Is the chipset similar to the Qin F21 Pro? if it is could you share the nvram, nvdata, nvcnfg and md1img partitions, I want to see if the bands will work on the Qin

That was tried already, it didn’t work

The non us version of the tiq (m5s), is much cheaper than the one that works in the USA. is there us bands available and instructions on how to put them on the non us one?

2 Likes

never thought of that. genius!

heres a easy way:

  • Get Root.
adb shell
su 
dd if=/dev/block/by-name/something of=/storage/emulated/0/something.img

Something is for 4 partitions.

  • nvram
  • nvdata
  • nvcfg
  • md1img

flash how you like. fastboot recommended.
thanks bro

1 Like

How does this phone compare to the Qin F21 Pro?

worse screen. better everything

2 Likes

Thanks. Would you be able to provide a more detailed explanation like they have for the qin f21.

2 Likes

I find the keypad to be worse than the F21. It feels junky and isnt stuck on so good.
Software is also a bit buggy - Android Auto has issues, RCS has issues, there are sometime data corruption issues, etc.

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What is the difference between qin f21 and qin s+?

how do i get those files to flash

There are updated software recently that fixes a lot of bugs and there are still a lot in the works to be fixed

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