Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

NATLOR

Berty wrote: »

I bought a phone from TopOne on Aliexpress. Note4. It was a Christmas present for somebody who handed it back to me basically bricked.

My experience of the phone is not what's important but it's with TopOne. They actively ignored me for the past 2 weeks about it. No response to e-mail, chat or anything. Forums couldn't help with bricking of phone(bootlooping with a locked Bootloader), Xiaomi in the UK couldn't help because it wasn't bought from them. Aliexpress today said they'd refund the cost of the phone but somehow I don't believe them. They might ask me to return it to the seller and if they do hopefully I can just provide a proof of postage to get refund.

Awful experience so basically beware of TopOne. They'll sell you a good phone(usually), DHL is a very sneaky delivery method they use but they will leave you high and dry if anything goes wrong.

I think top one have gone from ali express, firstly all their pricing went haywire and now there is nothing for sale on the website. I had sent them an enquiry message about 2 weeks ago but never got an answer

FlamingMoe

Missymoohaa wrote: »

Did you try the irish shop mishop.ie , next day delivery.

Picked up a Mi5 from mishop.ie for €285, google services installed and no bloatware

I used to use TopOne on Aliexpress but they seem to be kaput now..

Berty

It's only today that people said about Top One about a page back that I delved deeper into their page instead of just the splash page and yeah there's nothing in there but still all Christmas looking on the page. Must have gone pop just before Christmas and scarpered.

I was wondering why Aliexpress were so quick to offer money back but I'm still sceptical so I'll reserve comment till I see the email.

CantGetNoSleep

Anyone spot any good deals on the Zuk Z2 or Xiaomi Mi5? I've been using the Xiaomi Mi Max but the huge screen is starting to annoy me a bit, would like to downsize a small bit

Kavrocks

Digital Solitude wrote: »

Can you take a pic Kavrocks? That's pretty hard to picture for me anyways


MiUi has its own light temperature settings, you've tried them I guess?

Is it like that in Recovery Mode?

Yeah it's definitely a hard one to picture and explain. I've tried all of the settings available and yes it shows up in recovery mode. I'm nearly certain is a hardware fault now as screenshots viewed on another device don't exhibit the behaviour.

Here's an image showing a side by side, the Mi4 with the issue is on the left and a Nexus 5 is on the right



This is a screenshot off the Mi4 that looks perfect, which leads me to believe it's a hardware issue

jozi

Do you have automatic brightness turned on? I never found it to work well for me

FlamingMoe

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Anyone spot any good deals on the Zuk Z2 or Xiaomi Mi5? I've been using the Xiaomi Mi Max but the huge screen is starting to annoy me a bit, would like to downsize a small bit

Mi5 is 282 on honorbuy.com or 280 on mishop.ie with code return5

Can get it for cheaper on aliexpress but customs would probably add up to the same and be waiting an extra few weeks for delivery...

Kavrocks

jozi wrote: »

Do you have automatic brightness turned on? I never found it to work well for me

On or off it makes no difference.

jozi

Second nothing in a row that my redmi 4 pro alarm won't sound! Phone is in silent, volume lowered, no data or Wi-Fi at night when gong to bed and using timely. Alarm won't wake the phone or sound, when I unlock it will immediately go off though otherwise it's silent and there's a notification that it got disabled after as amount of time. Not very convenient as I use it to get up for work!

CantGetNoSleep

jozi wrote: »

Second nothing in a row that my redmi 4 pro alarm won't sound! Phone is in silent, volume lowered, no data or Wi-Fi at night when gong to bed and using timely. Alarm won't wake the phone or sound, when I unlock it will immediately go off though otherwise it's silent and there's a notification that it got disabled after as amount of time. Not very convenient as I use it to get up for work!

I've had the same issue on Xiaomi phones - I think it is related to Xiaomi's RAM management not allowing the Clock app to stay awake. Are you using the stock Clock or Google Clock / another app? Google Clock wouldn't ring at all for me

Kavrocks

Custom clock apps work for me on Xiaomi devices once you give them autostart permissions, including the Google clock app.

Stallingrad

jozi wrote: »

Second nothing in a row that my redmi 4 pro alarm won't sound! Phone is in silent, volume lowered, no data or Wi-Fi at night when gong to bed and using timely. Alarm won't wake the phone or sound, when I unlock it will immediately go off though otherwise it's silent and there's a notification that it got disabled after as amount of time. Not very convenient as I use it to get up for work!

Try: Setting - Battery - Manage apps battery usage - choose apps - system apps - clock - hit no restrictions.

CantGetNoSleep

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

Anyone spot any good deals on the Zuk Z2 or Xiaomi Mi5? I've been using the Xiaomi Mi Max but the huge screen is starting to annoy me a bit, would like to downsize a small bit

For anyone interested the Zuk Z2 is only 156€ on Banggood if you use the code "zukz2new"

danko82

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

For anyone interested the Zuk Z2 is only 156€ on Banggood if you use the code "zukz2new"

what about the customs?

any way to avoid them?

CantGetNoSleep

Choose free shipping and hope for the best!

Stevek101

Kavrocks wrote: »

Yeah it's definitely a hard one to picture and explain. I've tried all of the settings available and yes it shows up in recovery mode. I'm nearly certain is a hardware fault now as screenshots viewed on another device don't exhibit the behaviour.

Have you try switching off automatic contrast?

Settings -> Display -> Colors & contrast
Switch it to Standard

Kavrocks

Stevek101 wrote: »

Have you try switching off automatic contrast?

Settings -> Display -> Colors & contrast
Switch it to Standard

Yes, it has no effect on the issue I am facing.

I appreciate all of the suggestions people are making. A part of me did think for a while it was some setting I had mistakenly hit as it was working fine, I then put it down on cloth and when I picked it back up a few minutes later the problem appeared.

I now believe it is a hardware issue for several reasons. Screenshots are unaffected when viewed on other devices. A small sliver about 2 or 3mm wide on either side is unaffected and you can see where the transition to the broken (for want of a better word) section occurs. Light bleed (this can be pictured as the black start up screen having a faint glow and looking grey) can be seen on start up as a large oval like shape that takes up most of the screen. I can see this same bleed in recovery but overall the issue is hard to see because of the colours used. Multiple wipes and resets have not solved the issue and neither has manually applying any of the MIUI update packages available online.

If there is something somebody thinks I've missed I would still like to know. It would help me build evidence and you never know may fix my issue.

FlamingMoe

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

For anyone interested the Zuk Z2 is only 156€ on Banggood if you use the code "zukz2new"

Its up to €167 now for white and €177 for black

There is EMS shipping option for €18. I often used EMS few years ago and they never charged customs

If it gets caught with Airmail, you're looking at about 38.41 + 8 handling fee, so ~46.41

Does it come with an English ROM with Google services?

CantGetNoSleep

FlamingMoe wrote: »

Its up to €167 now for white and €177 for black

There is EMS shipping option for €18. I often used EMS few years ago and they never charged customs

If it gets caught with Airmail, you're looking at about 38.41 + 8 handling fee, so ~46.41

Does it come with an English ROM with Google services?

Code still works so it is still 157 in white. Not sure about ROM support, I think there is an Indian one in English, and CM but that may not be the most stable. It is certainly possible to activate Google Services on it though.

danko82

something like Zuk Z2 but with band 20? not redmi note 3 pro international, but something more new.

CantGetNoSleep

danko82 wrote: »

something like Zuk Z2 but with band 20? not redmi note 3 pro international, but something more new.

There may be a new version of the Redmi Note 4 next week with Band 20 & a Snapdragon processor

loyatemu

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

There may be a new version of the Redmi Note 4 next week with Band 20 & a Snapdragon processor

& NFC? That's the one feature it's missing for me.

danko82

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

There may be a new version of the Redmi Note 4 next week with Band 20 & a Snapdragon processor

cool..where did you hear about it?
link?

corkie

corkie wrote: »

......

There is rumors of an Redmi Note 4X due to be release soon, .....

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

There may be a new version of the Redmi Note 4 next week with Band 20 & a Snapdragon processor

danko82 wrote: »

cool..where did you hear about it?
link?

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 expected to launch in India on January 19

Wheety

Nearly pulled the trigger on a Mi5 from Gearbest last night? Is it as good as it looks? Are there any downsides to the phone?

GBX

Wheety wrote: »

Nearly pulled the trigger on a Mi5 from Gearbest last night? Is it as good as it looks? Are there any downsides to the phone?

Not the phone per se but if you order from GB be prepared to get hit for taxes etc.

Wheety

GBX wrote: »

Not the phone per se but if you order from GB be prepared to get hit for taxes etc.

Is there another way of buying it? Any sellers in the EU?

Equium

Wheety wrote: »

Is there another way of buying it? Any sellers in the EU?

GeekBuying and Honorbuy sell it from their EU warehouses. I haven't used either though so can't pass comment.

I bought a 64gb Mi5s for €280 from HK Goldway on AliExpress last week. They 'guarantee' that there won't be any more VAT due on the phone if you use their shipping method. It hasn't arrived yet, so let's see.

As an aside, does anyone have any experience with shipping from HK Goldway? How long does it usually take to reach Ireland? Tracking says my parcel has been stuck in Paris since Friday.

BannerBoy1

Equium wrote: »

GeekBuying and Honorbuy sell it from their EU warehouses. I haven't used either though so can't pass comment.

I bought a 64gb Mi5s for €280 from HK Goldway on AliExpress last week. They 'guarantee' that there won't be any more VAT due on the phone if you use their shipping method. It hasn't arrived yet, so let's see.

As an aside, does anyone have any experience with shipping from HK Goldway? How long does it usually take to reach Ireland? Tracking says my parcel has been stuck in Paris since Friday.

I got a xiaomi mi5 from them a couple weeks back. From when it was shipped it took 10 days to arrive. And you're guaranteed not to pay customs because they ship it to the Czech republic first, which i found out doesn't charge vat on phones, so its a bit like an EU warehouse

Berty

Aliexpress, although they said Refund, are not to refund my Bricked Note 4 after Top One vanished. Instead they call it "a courtesy" are going to "propose" a Coupon to me of the same value as what I paid. Hardly a slap in the face but just means I will have to use Aliexpress to buy a replacement phone.

Seeing as I've already replaced the phone for the person who handed it back to me bricked I'm now left with a choice of what to buy and how to get it. I was happy with the Top One paying for DHL through a delivery to the UK and then another DHL to my door. I don't seem to see other sellers on Aliexpress offering the same thing.

I'm thinking of maybe the OP3T but they don't seem to offer that type of shipping just lower value $ declaration by slow boat from china post. Can't buy from OP either because I can't use the Coupon.

Anybody know of sellers offering quick shipping, no customs on Ali?
Anybody want to buy my unlocked S6, as I'll have to sell that to facilitate the purchase?