Chinese Android Phones

davidfitz22

pelemcg wrote: »

Got this last week. Really nice. Although not to everyone's taste, I like the design. Updated to Kitkat which helped a lot (any audio would stutter when returning to the home screen on 4.2). Amigo is awful but Google Now improves things drastically. There's a project on Xda to bring lollipop to the E7. It might never happen. There's little to no development and my guess is that 4.4 is as far as a usable rom will go. Shame, as it's now great value and deserves a wider audience. Screen is as good as my old G2 and camera is better. Enjoy.

Thanks for the feedback, for that price there is not much better seeing as it can hold its own againt something like the s5 spec wise. you would think there would be a development community seeing as they have some beefy hardware to play with. if it is just a ui issue that this has going against it then it sounds like a great job

wawaman

Sorry if this is the wrong thread but wondering people's opinion on a choice between the huawei g7 and the one plus. Basically don't know which one to get! Any help would be appreciated

Ruu

I bought a Blu Advance 4.0 for $60, dual sim job and it has Jellybean. Works really well so far. Don't think I can upgrade the system any more though, will I run into many problems?

Iseedeadpixels

Ruu wrote: »

I bought a Blu Advance 4.0 for $60, dual sim job and it has Jellybean. Works really well so far. Don't think I can upgrade the system any more though, will I run into many problems?

Did you check if 3G would work here, Im sure they are American phones.

Ruu

I think it is capable of 3G, will be heading back home shortly.

bondja80

Hi, I am thinking to buy XIAOMI Redmi 1S from geekvida.es, because somebody told me that camera on this phone is very good. What are your impressions about this phone and this site?

presuki

Hi,

I'm looking at getting my first smartphone and am looking at the Elephone P6000.

The price on amazon.co.uk is £129.99 and in around $139.99 on sites like coolicool and antelife (sorry, can't provide links, haven't posted enough).

Few questions, first are there any better phones people can suggest for similar money?

Does anyone know if I will have to pay VAT buying through the seller on Amazon.co.uk, who is based in Hong Kong, or is everything on amazon covered in terms of VAT?

How much am I looking at paying for VAT approx if I buy from the other sellers & is there any way of prepaying VAT so it won't get seized?

Lastly, does anyone have any experience buying from either of the other sellers?

bondja80

presuki wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking at getting my first smartphone and am looking at the Elephone P6000.

The price on amazon.co.uk is £129.99 and in around $139.99 on sites like coolicool and antelife (sorry, can't provide links, haven't posted enough).

Few questions, first are there any better phones people can suggest for similar money?

Does anyone know if I will have to pay VAT buying through the seller on Amazon.co.uk, who is based in Hong Kong, or is everything on amazon covered in terms of VAT?

How much am I looking at paying for VAT approx if I buy from the other sellers & is there any way of prepaying VAT so it won't get seized?

Lastly, does anyone have any experience buying from either of the other sellers?

On geekvida.pt on 09/04/2015 is Happy Hour starts at 10 am until 14 00 Elephone P6000 will cost 150e and delivery is free from Spain warehouse. So you do not need to pay import taxes. http://www.geekvida.pt

presuki

Thanks for that bondja80!

Have you ever bought anything from geekvida.pt? It sounds a little suspect, a translation of the page says something along the lines that the sale price is limited and that even though it might display the sale price, you may get charged the full price (€169.99).

bondja80

presuki wrote: »

Thanks for that bondja80!

Have you ever bought anything from geekvida.pt? It sounds a little suspect, a translation of the page says something along the lines that the sale price is limited and that even though it might display the sale price, you may get charged the full price (€169.99).

I did not use them, but my friend in Spain told me that he was using them, and that they are ok. Only they tell a lie about 2 years warranty. They have repair service in Spain and if is something wrong in first 30days with your phone you could send phone to Spain and they will repair it and send it to you. But if your phone became faulty after 30 daysof use, then you need to pay for repair.

And Elephone P6000 on amazon.co.uk, the seller is from China, because delivery date is from 15.April until 15.May. So you will need to pay import taxes at least 35e.And I don't know how is to return phone? do you need to return phone to China or to amazon. You should ask amazon about return policy. When I am buying from amazon, I am buying only products dispatched from and sold by Amazon or Fulfilled by Amazon.

I dont know how can they charge you more, if you are paying exact amount with paypal.

presuki

bondja80 wrote: »

And Elephone P6000 on amazon.co.uk, the seller is from China, because delivery date is from 15.April until 15.May. So you will need to pay import taxes at least 35e.And I don't know how is to return phone? do you need to return phone to China or to amazon. You should ask amazon about return policy. When I am buying from amazon, I am buying only products dispatched from and sold by Amazon or Fulfilled.

I'm not sure about having to pay VAT as it mentioned something in the sellers details about VAT being covered. I will check about return policy if I decide to go with them. Thanks!

mistress_gi

Right so I installed the international rom for the Jiayu S3. If you don't have gapps and/or your calendar and gmails apps do not sync. This will fix everyone of those issues.

I came across a lot of problems as windows (7 FYI), for some reason, it does not like the Jiayu drivers so the first time I flashed the device windows switched it off and corrupted the rom install. I was stuck with a phone that would not boot, it was just suck in the Jiayu logo.
FYI my phone would go into recovery mode!
I got it fixed eventually. This is what I did:

Before following the install instructions below:
On the phone go to settings, security:
- enable superuser and unknown sources
- disable verify apps

1. Format computer
(you may not have to if you have not yet connected your phone to your pc. If you did, try using a different USB port)

2. Download the drivers from here and unzip onto desktop
http://thebroodle.com/microsoft/windows/how-to-install-mtk65xx-preloader-usb-vcom-drivers-in-windows

3. Connect the switched on phone to the PC (via USB) and windows will install some drivers

4. Once install finishes disconnect phone from pc

5. Turn phone off

6. Open pc device manager
(right click on computer, click on manage. New window will open, on the left side of the window double click on device manager)

7. Turn on flashtool
(follow this tutorial and use their tools: http://www.spemall.com/forum/topic/2160-how-to-install-international-rom-for-jiayu-s3-basic-and-jiayu-s3-advanced/) and press download

8. Go back to device manager window

9. Connect switched off phone to PC via USB

10. Go to device manager and wait for MTK65XX to appear under other devices
(this only shows up for a few seconds so keep a close eye on it) - if you miss it, disconnect the phone from PC and start over!

11. Right click on MTK65XX

12. Select update driver

13. Click on Browse

14. Select USB driver folder (downloaded from the above website)

15. Click ok

16. Windows should have now installed the correct drivers

17. Flashtool will start working straigt away (first the bar at the bottom of the flastool becomes green, then red, then purple then yellow with a % progression)

18. Go for a coffee

19. Wait until you get a big green tick on the screen

Flash complete and phone is working! Sigh of relief and curse windows repeatedly

eamonnq

mistress_gi wrote: »

1. Format computer (you may now have to if you have not yet connected your phone to your pc, if you did try using a different USB)

You lost me at step one!!??

mistress_gi

eamonnq wrote: »

You lost me at step one!!??

Ahahah! I had tried this so many different ways that formatting the stupid PC was the only way to go for me!
It helped that my PC was a bit slow and could use a good clean windows install!
I keep editing instructions to make it more complete!

Kilboor

bondja80 wrote: »

Hi, I am thinking to buy XIAOMI Redmi 1S from geekvida.es, because somebody told me that camera on this phone is very good. What are your impressions about this phone and this site?

Hi Bondja, I have owned that phone and I can say that camera is pretty good.

The only issue I had with it was the ROM (MiUI), I found it didn't use ram that well so I flashed the phone and installed Cyanogenmod 11 instead.

There is a new version of it out called the Redmi 2, with a special edition featuring 2gb of ram. I'd be looking to find that if I was you.

eamonnq

mistress_gi wrote: »

Ahahah! I had tried this so many different ways that formatting the stupid PC was the only way to go for me!
It helped that my PC was a bit slow and could use a good clean windows install!
I keep editing instructions to make it more complete!

Jaysus, I actually thought you had meant to type 'format your SD card' or something like that. :eek:

bondja80

Kilboor wrote: »

Hi Bondja, I have owned that phone and I can say that camera is pretty good.

The only issue I had with it was the ROM (MiUI), I found it didn't use ram that well so I flashed the phone and installed Cyanogenmod 11 instead.

There is a new version of it out called the Redmi 2, with a special edition featuring 2gb of ram. I'd be looking to find that if I was you.

Thanks, can you suggest me better phone then XIAOMI Redmi in price range 100-150e(4g is not important)? Beacause I had before Cubot s222 and doogee 550 ( battery problems after 2 months), Honor Holly(don't like camera and tiny sound) and Lenovo p7800 chinese version(didn't like screen)

Kilboor

bondja80 wrote: »

Thanks, can you suggest me better phone then XIAOMI Redmi in price range 100-150e(4g is not important)? Beacause I had before Cubot s222 and doogee 550 ( battery problems after 2 months), Honor Holly(don't like camera and tiny sound) and Lenovo p7800 chinese version(didn't like screen)

Can't really think of anything apart from the ones you've tried. I would have recommended the Ulefone Be Pro but the camera on it isn't great.

spix

bondja80 wrote: »

Thanks, can you suggest me better phone then XIAOMI Redmi in price range 100-150e(4g is not important)? Beacause I had before Cubot s222 and doogee 550 ( battery problems after 2 months), Honor Holly(don't like camera and tiny sound) and Lenovo p7800 chinese version(didn't like screen)

Zenfone 5, can be gotten pretty cheap now as Zenfone 2 is being released soon.

bondja80

spix wrote: »

Zenfone 5, can be gotten pretty cheap now as Zenfone 2 is being released soon.

how much is zenphone and where is the best to buy?

bondja80

Kilboor wrote: »

Hi Bondja, I have owned that phone and I can say that camera is pretty good.

The only issue I had with it was the ROM (MiUI), I found it didn't use ram that well so I flashed the phone and installed Cyanogenmod 11 instead.

There is a new version of it out called the Redmi 2, with a special edition featuring 2gb of ram. I'd be looking to find that if I was you.

how was battery life on this phone?

bondja80

presuki wrote: »

Hi,

I'm looking at getting my first smartphone and am looking at the Elephone P6000.

The price on amazon.co.uk is £129.99 and in around $139.99 on sites like coolicool and antelife (sorry, can't provide links, haven't posted enough).

Few questions, first are there any better phones people can suggest for similar money?

Does anyone know if I will have to pay VAT buying through the seller on Amazon.co.uk, who is based in Hong Kong, or is everything on amazon covered in terms of VAT?

How much am I looking at paying for VAT approx if I buy from the other sellers & is there any way of prepaying VAT so it won't get seized?

Lastly, does anyone have any experience buying from either of the other sellers?

Hi, did you buy the phone? how is return policy for chinese sellers on amazon?

Phibsboro

Can anyone who has the Jiayu S3 say what the screen glass quality is like? I've seen a couple of reviews saying it had small scratches after very little use. I tend to not use screen protectors so that could be a dealbreaker for me

BobbyPropane

bondja80 wrote: »

how was battery life on this phone?

It was average. Lasted for around a day with just moderate use

mistress_gi

Phibsboro wrote: »

Can anyone who has the Jiayu S3 say what the screen glass quality is like? I've seen a couple of reviews saying it had small scratches after very little use. I tend to not use screen protectors so that could be a dealbreaker for me

Hi! Mine came with an original jiayu tempered glass screen protector (not al all like those crappy plastic ones) which I find really good. It also came with one of the silicone covers. Not sure if it comes with all of that from everywhere. I bought mine from coolicool.

presuki

bondja80 wrote: »

Hi, did you buy the phone? how is return policy for chinese sellers on amazon?

Hi Bondja,

I didn't buy the phone yet, but I sent an email to the seller to find out about the returns policy.

On Amazon.co.uk's page about Marketplace Returns (sorry, can't add link), it does say that "The returns policy offered by Marketplace Sellers must be equivalent to or better than the returns policy offered by Amazon.co.uk".

bondja80

BobbyPropane wrote: »

It was average. Lasted for around a day with just moderate use

thanks

bondja80

presuki wrote: »

Hi Bondja,

I didn't buy the phone yet, but I sent an email to the seller to find out about the returns policy.

On Amazon.co.uk's page about Marketplace Returns (sorry, can't add link), it does say that "The returns policy offered by Marketplace Sellers must be equivalent to or better than the returns policy offered by Amazon.co.uk".

Ok thanks, maybe I will order phone from geekvida.es soon. They told that delivery takes from 7-15 days from their Spanish warehouse. I will give you a replay later.

Pyrrhic

Pyrrhic wrote: »

I understand that the Chinese postal service can take some time, but I'm fed up now because Etotalk have been ignoring me for days now when they told me they would contact China Post on my behalf for an update.

I also contacted China Post myself and of course, that was nearly 2 weeks ago and no reply.
I rang Paypal a few days ago and they contacted Etotalk on my behalf, no reply because I rang Paypal again today and they told me that my transaction has been marked as a dispute for their seller account but because I bought the phone a good while ago that they cannot give me my money back.

Paypal have recommended contacting Legal support in this matter, what should I do?

Guys I really need some help please.

I just received my phone back from getting 'repaired' by Etotalk today and it literally is the exact same as when I sent it back towards the end of January.

The phone will not turn on and it will not charge.

I had to pay customs on their end to get them to send the phone back after 'repair' and just there today I also had to pay customs for getting it returned.

I have removed the plastic film on the battery it has not been repaired at all?

I am literally shaking with anger can somebody please help me or guide me on how I should deal with this legally I am not sending this phone back and waiting the guts of 4 months and paying anymore customs.

presuki

bondja80 wrote: »

Ok thanks, maybe I will order phone from geekvida.es soon. They told that delivery takes from 7-15 days from their Spanish warehouse. I will give you a replay later.

I got a reply from the seller (hamswan):

our return policy is that if the item exactly has problem, we will issue you a refund or a replacement in one year.