OK, Infinix rolled out a final XUI 5.1 lollipop OS update for the Zero 2 x509 phone a couple of days back and I have been quite too busy to download and flash since it isn’t a OTA update.
Thanks to Desmond who has been sorta pushing me to test run the new update and feed the readers on what to expect if they decide to flash the XUI lollipop OS update on Zero 2.
Last night, I decided to give it a shot and although it took a long while for the update to be completed, it was worth it.
Infinix Zero 2 XUI 5.1 Android Lollipop OS Hands-On
According to the infinix forum page, the update comes with quite a lot of bug fixes and features which include:
- Added gesture snapshot
- Functionality to Vibrate when receiving notification
- Added more options in the ringtone setting
- Optimized camera quality
- Optimized camera focusing speed
- Fixed issue torch can’t be turned on or off
- Crash issues of third-party apps have been fixed
- Fixed display issues in AR language
- Fixed display issues on the lock screen
Compared to the initial lollipop release on the Zero 2 x509, this final update packs virtually all of the cool features you find on the hot note lollipop as well as Note 2 running Android 5.1 lollipop with XUI.
User Interface
Just as seen on the Note 2 x600, the new update on the Zero 2 x509 comes with the magazine lock screen style.
The home screen and apps menu has a much sleeker feel. Much better than what it used to be.
Unfortunately, apps are not arranged alphabetically thus making it quite difficult to find a particular app. However, thanks to the A-Z app pre-installed makes it very easy to find apps via their first letter.
Performance
While the Infinix Zero 2 runs on an Octa-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz with 2GB RAM, performance on the new OS update has been fluid.
Multitasking has been working well as I could switch between apps and continue where I left off.
The OS comes with smart gesture features (it’s always been on the device since day 1 though) which enables you quickly launch some apps even from the locked screen.
The notification tray now has a screenshot feature as seen on the hot note and note 2 (wasn’t present on the initial Zero 2 lollipop release).
If you ain’t conversant with the key combination required for taking screenshots, simply swap the screen downwards to display the notification tray and tap on the screenshot and a screenshot of the current screen will automatically be saved to Gallery.
Software
Unlike the initial lollipop 5.1 release on the Zero 2 x509 phone which wasn’t exactly running on XUI, this update right here, brings XUI 5.1 lollipop to the table.
You get a better User Interface, better RAM management, and more features like XWallpapers, Font Manager, and Theme amongst others. Thanks to the HD display on the Zero x509, display pixels look more appealing.
Battery
Now, I know that this is one of the basic focuses. The initial lollipop release on the device had a major flaw and that’s the battery. Thankfully, the battery has been improved upon compared to what it used to be.
I am not saying the battery is at its best now, but certainly better than it used to be.
Camera
While the back camera on the Zero 2 x509 still produces quality pictures, I am particularly concerned with the front camera.
The front camera on the phone still produces cool pictures but basically under decent lightning conditions.
The front camera doesn’t have good low-light control. Funny enough, the hot 2 now seems to produce clearer pictures under low light conditions compared to the Zero 2.
Interestingly, you get more camera features on the Zero 2 (I do not know if it’s always been the same with earlier OS releases) from color effects to ISO amongst others as seen in the pictures above.
Verdict
I honestly would advise everyone still running the previous Android 5.1 Lollipop OS on the infinix Zero 2 to update to this latest OS update.
Another issue I forgot to mention is the sound when typing messages on Zero 2. All efforts in disabling the sound via the sound settings have proved abortive.
Perhaps, that’s a bug infinix needs to fix and I honestly hope future updates will be rolled over via OTA updates and not have to go through the stress of downloading huge files and then flashing.
How To Upgrade Infinix Zero 2 X509 To The New Android 5.1 Lollipop XUI OS Update
While infinix gave a step-by-step guide on how to get this done on their forum, the steps didn’t work on my two laptops. Hence, I had to revert to the traditional method which involves using the SP Flash tool.
Just download the new OS update file (it’s a .exe file instead of the usual .zip file), turn off the anti-virus protection on your computer, and extract using WinZip to a location on your computer.
Launch the SP Flash tool and select the MT6592_Android_scatter file under the X509-J5800-L-20160112 folder as the scatter file. Please refer to the tutorial for a step-by-step guide on how to get it done.
Please note. After flashing in the new OS, booting for the first time might take a very long time which may get you worried.
Not to worry, as long as it’s on the XUI logo, your device is fine. For any questions, please feel free to ask using the comment form below.
