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UZ801 4G USB Modem (V3.0 / V3.31): Buying Guide, Specs & Genuine eMMC

The UZ801 (manufactured by Yiming / Zhihe) is one of the most widely adopted and best-documented 4G LTE USB dongles in the OpenStick community. It is renowned for having clearly exposed test pads and reliable eMMC flash memory.

Video Teardown: UZ801 vs Unshielded Boards

Section titled “Video Teardown: UZ801 vs Unshielded Boards”

Watch this teardown by @glos-os, inspecting the internals of a genuine UZ801 board vs alternative unshielded boards, looking at RF shielding, test pads, and power specs:

Hardware Specifications at a Glance

Section titled “Hardware Specifications at a Glance”
Component Specification
SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 (MSM8916) Quad-Core Cortex-A53 @ 1.2 GHz (ARM64)
RAM 512 MB LPDDR3
Storage 4 GB eMMC 5.0 (BGA chip, e.g. Samsung KLM4G1FETE or Kingston)
Wireless Qualcomm WCN3620 (802.11b/g/n 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.0)
Cellular Modem Integrated Qualcomm LTE Cat 4 (B1, B3, B5, B7, B8, B20, B38, B40, B41)
Power Input Standard 5V USB-A male connector (~300mA idle, up to 1.2A under cellular load)
SIM Slot Standard Micro-SIM (3FF) push-pull or sliding tray

Exterior Appearance & Case Styles

Section titled “Exterior Appearance & Case Styles”

The UZ801 is commonly sold in two plastic case variants:

  1. Curved White/Black Case: Rounded rectangular stick with a removable protective USB cap, small LED light pipes (labeled 4G, Wi-Fi, Power), and sliding back cover for SIM access.
  2. Ventilated Car Dongle Style: White stick with circular heat dissipation holes on the back panel and a lanyard hole at the corner.
       ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
       │ [===]    4G [●]   WIFI [●]   PWR [●]             │
[USB]  │                                     UZ801 Stick  │
       │                                                  │
       └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Verifying the Board Silkscreen

Section titled “Verifying the Board Silkscreen”

Before purchasing or flashing, opening the snap-on plastic shell reveals the main PCB. Check the silkscreen text printed on the circuit board:

  • Confirmed Supported Silkscreens:
    • UZ801_V2.1
    • UZ801_V2.2
    • UZ801_V3.0 (most common)
    • UZ801_V3.2

Look for the Qualcomm logo on the central processor: MSM8916.

Identifying eMMC vs. NAND Storage

Section titled “Identifying eMMC vs. NAND Storage”

Ensure your board has eMMC flash memory:

  • eMMC (Compatible): A smooth square BGA chip with hidden solder balls underneath (usually labeled Samsung, Kingston, SanDisk, or Foresee).
  • SPI-NAND (Incompatible): An 8-pin SOP-8 or 48-pin TSOP chip with visible metal legs extending from the sides (e.g. GigaDevice, Winbond). Standard OpenStick Debian images do not run on raw NAND.

Software Verification (Stock Android ADB)

Section titled “Software Verification (Stock Android ADB)”

If the device powers up with its factory Android firmware, verify its hardware via USB:

Terminal window
# Check if ADB detects the device
adb devices


# Query the SoC platform
adb shell getprop ro.board.platform
# Output must be: msm8916


# Verify block storage partitions
adb shell ls -l /dev/block/bootdevice/by-name
# You should see: boot, aboot, system, userdata, modem, fsg

Purchasing Tips on AliExpress & Taobao

Section titled “Purchasing Tips on AliExpress & Taobao”
  1. Search Keywords: UZ801 4G USB, MSM8916 4G LTE stick, Snapdragon 410 USB modem car router.
  2. Contact Seller: Send a message asking: “Does this board have Qualcomm MSM8916 with eMMC flash and silkscreen UZ801?”
  3. Price Range: Genuine units typically cost between $8 to $14 USD. Anything under $5 USD is almost always an ASR or ZXIC cost-reduced clone.
Section titled “Community-Verified UZ801 Store Links”

The following listings have been tested and verified by community members as shipping genuine UZ801 MSM8916 boards:

Platform Listing Link Confirmed Silkscreen Status
AliExpress 4G LTE USB Modem Dongle (Store 1) UZ801_V3.31 Confirmed
AliExpress 4G LTE USB Wireless Modem (Store 2) UZ801_V3.31 Confirmed
AliExpress 4G Wi-Fi Router USB Dongle (Store 3) UZ801_V3.31 Confirmed
Allegro Modem 4G LTE USB Wi-Fi SIM UZ801_V3.0 Confirmed

Frequently Asked Questions — UZ801

How do I flash OpenStick Debian Linux onto a UZ801 4G USB modem?

Download the automated 1-Click OpenStick Installer (openstick-installer.zip) for Windows, macOS, or Linux. It backs up your factory eMMC partitions, preserves your IMEI/QCN cellular calibration, and flashes OpenStick Debian automatically.

Which UZ801 PCB silkscreen revisions are supported by OpenStick?

Genuine Qualcomm MSM8916 boards marked UZ801_V2.1, UZ801_V2.2, UZ801_V3.0, and UZ801_V3.31 with 4GB BGA eMMC storage have full first-class support.

👉 Ready to flash? Download the 1-Click OpenStick Debian Installer or browse Verified Store Links.