Five Technology revealed a new iPad Mini clone within the past few weeks, the iFive Mini 4s. The full specs are now out and some retailers are selling it.
Click to enlarge the specs:
And don’t argue with me about it being called the Mini 5 here …
… that’s from Five’s own English-language page! Apparently, it was going to be a 5 but then they switched it to 4s, probably because of the RK3288. And notice that in English, a card slot is listed! Not in the Chinese version.
Aside from the different shell, there’s really not much new here. It has a flatter design with glass instead of solid aluminum. The iFive Skin is gone. There’s now Android 6.0, whereas the original Mini 4 is still stuck at 4.x [Google Translate].
But this is still the Rockchip 3288 CPU, which was last seen at large in the Best Buy Insignia Flex Elite 7.85.
Five has never been known for having good cameras, so I’d expect this one to have bad ones too.
The only intriguing thing is its price, around US$140.
In spite of the Chinese specs, a retailer video shows a card slot three times in its hyperactive promo video:
While it’s listed at Taobao [Google Translate], there are zero buyer reviews for it. That’s not a good sign. It means no one has bought it. The Chinese are not shy about leaving buying reviews! They’re very demanding.
And the 5Fans forum has a single post about it [Google Translate]. Even the fans haven’t been buying and leaving posts showing it off.
Here’s the only video on YouTube:
FNF Ifive Mini 4S Tablet PC – Gearbest.com
The AIDA64 seen in it…
… is a utility app.
Despite my distaste for linking to resellers, this seems to have just one importer carrying it — Gearbest, which even Five links to on its English-language page: FNF Ifive Mini 4S Android 6.0 Tablet PC – BLACK.
It’s rather sad that the Android tablet market has collapsed like this. There’s still merit in an iPad Mini clone if only for that screen size.
Here’s a test I did displaying the same two books on the borrowed Asus MeMo Pad 7 (HD 7″ screen) and an iPad Mini 4 (by the way, the coloring of the Asus screen is due to the Bluelight Filter being on):
Neither book had an iPad Mini aspect ratio and were more suited to a seven-inch screen in terms of width. However, the screen of the Mini did make the text a bit larger. Between the two, I’d rather a Mini-sized screen for reading.
Anyway, if anyone is adventurous enough to buy the new iFive Mini 4s, leave a Comment to let us know how it is.
Mike Cane's Atomic Supermen 
I will buy whatever you will buy Mike.
And my guess is it will be 8-inch version of that 10-inch Asus you have been fondling recently.
I’m not sure about the 8-inch Asus unless they dump the Intel CPU in a new version. The Asus tablet I’m borrowing has a distinct lack of vigor.
I purchased this (on March 18th) and am waiting for it”s arrival (gearbest is pretty slow in getting them out). Came across a root and install CWM tutorial at https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/tutorial-fnf-ifive-mini-4s-custom-t3583184. Thanks again to Oma and CrewRKTablets!!
Ah! That’s promising, although I’m hard-pressed these days to know why I’d want root on it since there’s no bloatware. Still, thanks.
With my Hyundai T7 sporting Android 4.02 & key apps informing me that this version is to be unsupported after late April, I dug around online in the hope that I would be lucky enough to find another little gem. I did – the FNF IFIVE 4s – even better than the T7 being a shade more responsive with a superb screen. The vanilla Marshmallow Android app is a snip to use. Delivered with German tracked thoroughness by DHL to my door from GearBest Hong Cong for under a ton – less than a third of the extortionate IPad mini with identical screen..If you are concerned with functionality with a degree of style (6.2 mm deep), at a sane price this device could well fit the bill. Well pleased.
Posting this from the ifive mini 4s, not horrible except the battery is horrendous. Like something very wrong with it bad, 10 minutes of Clash Royals sucked up 25 percent of the remaining battery life?
OUCH!
It looks like they had force GPU rendering for all 2d set to on by default, sort of unnecessary. I turned it off and after about 10-15m in a standard game it was doing way better, estimating about 2h of battery life. But my 4 year old Nexus 7 2013 is still WAY better with battery life, and just slightly slower than this, just half the capacity :(
Rockchip basically gave up optimizing Android for their chip because the bottom of their market fell out.
If you are interested, FNF Ifive Mini 4S is now at a flash sale, do not miss: [link redacted]
I have a policy of not allowing vendor links in Comments because it encourages astroturfing.
I recently purchase the I five mini 4 s tablet from gearbest. It worked well at the beginning but now it doesn’t charge anymore. I tried the different battery Chargers I have for my different tablets I have ought from gearbest and banggood but the I five mini 4 does’nt want to charge. So I warn people to be carefull before buying this tablet for it’s attractive price and quality. It looks to me like à lure.