Chinese Android Phones

efahey

Anyone ever had a package sent by Deutsche post (registered airmail, not DHL) and tracked it and get notification that it was received in the International Logistic Centre in Frankfurt (Oct 24) on a certain date and then 5 days later the date it arrived changed (Oct 29).
Any suggestion what this means?

Kristopherus

snaps wrote: »

One of the reasons why Im dubious buying from China. Would rather pay a little more to have it shipped from the EU

Try Amazon.de. I find them a bit cheaper than Amazon.co.uk. For instance the Huawei Y 300 and ZTE Blade 3 are bot €99.00 + about €5.00 p & p. Both still over £100.00 on A.co.uk.

fl4pj4ck

Y300 is e79 on Meteor

davidom2513

My Jiayu G4 died on me yesterday. It turned off and wont turn back on. It wont charge, even though it says its charging. I tried the phone with a friends battery and the phone worked fine, so its either my battery or the charging circuitry on the phone.

It's under warranty, but I will have to post back to China, which will probably cost about 30 euro. Has anyone else on here had a similar experience?

I'm not sure what to do

I bought it off Spemall.com, and they say on the site that postage to them must be paid by the customer.

Are they're any alternatives? I already emailed them and asked them to cover postage back.

Thargor

Try charging it with a plug from a wall socket first. Is there any sign of a USB connection when you plug it into a laptop? Try holding the power button down for ages as in > 1 minute. Pop the battery out for 10 minutes then try all those things again. Try holding the down volume button as you plug it into a laptop, then try the up volume and see if anything happens.

davidom2513

I'll try those Thargor.

I haven't tried a USB connection yet, just the wall socket.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks for the response, much appreciated.

Panthro

yeah, try charging off the laptop.
And try pressing and holding the power button and the volume up button a few times (it's either volume up/down or both, I can't remember but I read that somewhere before) I think it brings up a reboot menu or something.

snaps

Kristopherus wrote: »

Try Amazon.de. I find them a bit cheaper than Amazon.co.uk. For instance the Huawei Y 300 and ZTE Blade 3 are bot €99.00 + about €5.00 p & p. Both still over £100.00 on A.co.uk.

A lot of stuff on amazon.de is in China? Correct me if I'm wrong

joeperry

davidom2513 wrote: »

My Jiayu G4 died on me yesterday. It turned off and wont turn back on. It wont charge, even though it says its charging. I tried the phone with a friends battery and the phone worked fine, so its either my battery or the charging circuitry on the phone.

It's under warranty, but I will have to post back to China, which will probably cost about 30 euro. Has anyone else on here had a similar experience?

I'm not sure what to do

I bought it off Spemall.com, and they say on the site that postage to them must be paid by the customer.

Are they're any alternatives? I already emailed them and asked them to cover postage back.

Did you take the battery out?

davidom2513

I tried:

- charging with wall charger
- charging with usb cable
- holding recovery mode buttons while plugging in usb

None of those worked. I have not tried taking out the battery yet however.

So I tried putting my battery into my friends Jiayu G4, and I charged it for a few minutes. I have now put the battery back into my own phone and turned it on successfully, and it is now successfully charging also.

So fingers crossed it will hold up. Thanks for the help everyone. I will keep you posted on if it keeps working.

Thargor

davidom2513 wrote: »

I tried:

- charging with wall charger
- charging with usb cable
- holding recovery mode buttons while plugging in usb

None of those worked. I have not tried taking out the battery yet however.

So I tried putting my battery into my friends Jiayu G4, and I charged it for a few minutes. I have now put the battery back into my own phone and turned it on successfully, and it is now successfully charging also.

So fingers crossed it will hold up. Thanks for the help everyone. I will keep you posted on if it keeps working.

Ah yeah that happens with a lot of lithium-ion powered devices, a good overnight charge from the wall socket and that should be the last time you ever experience the issue as long as you're not in the habit of letting your phone drain down to zero all the time, which you shouldnt do with any li-ion device anyway.

kerryked

Just wondering if anyone could help me out a little bit, i think some of you might be the right guys to talk to about this.
I'm looking at buying the ThL w200 from mixeshop. It looks like a fairly decent phone with good specs. I;d be interested in hearing from anyone who's used it.
My question is about shipping..What is the story with Customs and Duties and all that craic?

I want to get a 16gig SD card so the total before Shipping comes to €145.86, then if I add on DHL shipping costs of €20 it come to 166..Is this the total amount I'll actually have to pay or will there be another charge when the phone reaches me? I'm honestly very confused by this whole thing, I've never bought anything from China before.

Any help would be appreciated, Cheers

davidom2513

Thargor wrote: »

Ah yeah that happens with a lot of lithium-ion powered devices, a good overnight charge from the wall socket and that should be the last time you ever experience the issue as long as you're not in the habit of letting your phone drain down to zero all the time, which you shouldnt do with any li-ion device anyway.

That's a relief to hear. Was dreading having to send it back to China.

Thanks for the help Thargor

snaps

Kristopherus wrote: »

Try Amazon.de. I find them a bit cheaper than Amazon.co.uk. For instance the Huawei Y 300 and ZTE Blade 3 are bot €99.00 + about €5.00 p & p. Both still over £100.00 on A.co.uk.

The French made Cink Peaux 2 looks a good buy. Seems its shipped from within Europe on Amazon.de/fr

ZeitgeistGlee

Got word my W200 shipped this morning, will be a nice little thing to get at work this week.

kerryked wrote: »

I want to get a 16gig SD card so the total before Shipping comes to €145.86, then if I add on DHL shipping costs of €20 it come to 166..Is this the total amount I'll actually have to pay or will there be another charge when the phone reaches me? I'm honestly very confused by this whole thing, I've never bought anything from China before.

Any help would be appreciated, Cheers

You may have to pay customs fees as well seeing as the phone is coming from outside the EU, at €160 you'd be liable for about €35ish IIRC. Still a decent bargain compared to what you'd get for €200 new in Ireland anyway.

kerryked

Cheers ZeitgleistGlee, just one other quick question..who do i have to pay this €35ish to? Is it to the courier or...?

ZeitgeistGlee

kerryked wrote: »

Cheers ZeitgleistGlee, just one other quick question..who do i have to pay this €35ish to? Is it to the courier or...?

Not sure, I think someone said earlier you get a letter from customs afterwards although I think someone else said they'll hold the goods until you settle up the difference. Suppose I'll find out in the next few days.

Barr

Could be a noob question but what happens when 4G gets more prevalent. Would these phones be compatible ? If not could prices drop sharply.

AtticusFinch86

kerryked wrote: »

Cheers ZeitgleistGlee, just one other quick question..who do i have to pay this €35ish to? Is it to the courier or...?

Got my iOcean X7 elite yesterday via DHL. Had to pay a 25e charge on it. I got a text message, almost as soon as it entered the country, telling me that I was liable to a 25e customs charge, and to ring a certain number to pay it (had to use credit card). It was all very simple. You'll be given an authentication number to give to the delivery driver so that he knows you've paid the charge.

From what I gather, if you don't pay by phone, you'll be asked to pay it when it's delivered. As I said, I paid by phone, but when the driver dropped off the package, he still asked for the 25e charge, so he obviously wasn't aware that I'd paid the import duty, yet he dropped it off anyway.

ZeitgeistGlee

Barr wrote: »

Could be a noob question but what happens when 4G gets more prevalent. Would these phones be compatible ? If not could prices drop sharply.

Unless a phone is LTE compatible it won't be able to pick up 4G speeds. TBH I find 4G a bit of a white elephant, 99% of people have no real need for the kinds of speeds that'll be available, would rather see 3G spread out more available so those of us living outside major urban areas could benefit (much like the high speed broadband fiasco currently afflicting the country).

Doubt there'll be major price drops in the nearish future. Maybe after a few years when 4G is more established as the norm.

Notorious93

Im about to buy my first Chinese Android phone and im willing to spend up to about 150 on the phone. My mind is split between 3 phones after reading through this forum so im just wondering which out of these 3 should i buy..The Jiayu G3ST, the Mlais MX58 Air or the THL W200?

poitinstill

"willing to spend up to about 150 on the phone." duty is 23% + 6 euro customs if you get caught... so be prepared for your 150 phone to cost 190...similarly a 100 euro phone comes in at 130 with customs....

efahey

Tracking my phone with an post and current status is that it has been sent to customs on Nov 1. Does everything that gets sent to customs get caught for charges or is there still a chance it will get through without anything being charged?

michael999999

efahey wrote: »

Tracking my phone with an post and current status is that it has been sent to customs on Nov 1. Does everything that gets sent to customs get caught for charges or is there still a chance it will get through without anything being charged?

Ya you can guarantee they will charge you, unless the value is under 30 euro or so!

efahey

michael999999 wrote: »

Ya you can guarantee they will charge you, unless the value is under 30 euro or so!

Thanks, the value on it is understated at $10.50 so will probably be opened. Thought might still be chance it would get through. Would the fact that it came through Germany with deutsche post (Airmail not DHL)make any difference

michael999999

efahey wrote: »

Thanks, the value on it is understated at $10.50 so will probably be opened. Thought might still be chance it would get through. Would the fact that it came through Germany with deutsche post (Airmail not DHL)make any difference

They take no notice of the value written on the item anymore. They will look for a receipt or screen grab of the item from the site you purchased it from.

efahey

michael999999 wrote: »

They take no notice of the value written on the item anymore. They will look for a receipt or screen grab of the item from the site you purchased it from.

Figured as much, was hoping it would get through but doesn't look like it.

Notorious93

Just ordered this... http://www.merimobiles.com/mlais-mx58-air-mtk6589-quad-core-1-2ghz-5-0-inch-ips-1280-720-with-android-4-2-12-0mp-camera-3g-smartphone_p/meri7517.htm . Im just wondering what type of charger will come with it and will i have to buy an adapter myself or will it come with it?

eamonnq

Notorious93 wrote: »

Im about to buy my first Chinese Android phone and im willing to spend up to about 150 on the phone. My mind is split between 3 phones after reading through this forum so im just wondering which out of these 3 should i buy..The Jiayu G3ST, the Mlais MX58 Air or the THL W200?

Don't buy the MX58 Air, you could consider the MX58 PRO but the Air does not have the MTK6589T chip. The THL W200 is an excellent phone, but no gorilla glass, which the MX58 PRO does have.

Thargor

Notorious93 wrote: »

Just ordered this... http://www.merimobiles.com/mlais-mx58-air-mtk6589-quad-core-1-2ghz-5-0-inch-ips-1280-720-with-android-4-2-12-0mp-camera-3g-smartphone_p/meri7517.htm . Im just wondering what type of charger will come with it and will i have to buy an adapter myself or will it come with it?

Micro USB, same as for all of them, thats pretty much EU law these days so most brands have moved to a micro USB port for data and charging, except Apple for some reason but even they have to include a microUSB adapter in the box. You might recieve an Asian plug with it that will require a travel adapter like the kind you see for sale in airports to turn it into a 3 pin plug but you can get USB chargers for nothing on Ebay these days, or just charge it from any USB port.