Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

X6.430macman

Digital Solitude wrote:

So your total is €100+23+15 for €138 total

Starting to get cold feet about buying in China

Digital Solitude

Depends on what you get tbh

A €200 China phone will come to about €260 with taxes, and won't be beaten by any phone you can buy in the Carphone Warehouse for €260

X6.430macman

Digital Solitude wrote:

A €200 China phone will come to about €260 with taxes, and won't be beaten by any phone you can buy in the Carphone Warehouse for €260

Yeah was looking at an umi plus for 185 Euro I think

savemejebus

X6.430macman wrote: »

Starting to get cold feet about buying in China

Check out amazon.fr for getting some decent Chinese phones without any worries about customs and for not too much more than from China

jozi

I can echo the spec vs useability pov. I have a Xiaomi mi5 lovely piece is of kit but I think the Redmi 5 pro would have done an equally good job with 2x the battery! Ok it's not as nice and polished and miui not as good as vanilla android but it works none the less.

muy next phone will be mid range, good batteryv nice size, close to android stock and nice in the hand

Glen_Quagmire

jozi wrote:

muy next phone will be mid range, good batteryv nice size, close to android stock and nice in the hand

Name that phone?

jozi

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

Name that phone?

I couldn't as it's not something I've looked into. The Redmi 4 pro nice but not perfect, maybe honor has something nice to?

For the next while my mi5 will keep me happy

mrtom

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

I have a problem

Got the Galaxy note 3 last week after the Umi Super broke.......went and bought the PPTV King 7 today :pac:

I have my pptv king 7 a couple of months now but I cant find any manual focus settings in video mode, just auto focus.
In photo, I can touch screen, get a green circle and select focus, not in video. Does yours behave the same? (Great phone by the way)

lafors

Does anyone have a mi max here?
I had an oppo r7 plus which was a great phone. I switched to a note7 which was amazing but they took them back
Then I got an s7 edge thinking it would be like the note 7 but honestly it's not a patch on it, dunno why but it's not.
So I want to go back to a big phone.
I'd love a mi mix but I heard it wouldn't work here?

So I'm thinking of the max. Any input would be great.

Framed10

Hi I'm wondering if someone could recommend a phone or two that might suit me.
I currently have and iphone 4s. I'm out of contract on Vodafone. I was looking at the upgrade options, ridiculous prices ☹

I do like the layout of the iphone and its navigation but prices of new iphones are off putting.

I'm not too sure how'd I'd like or manage the larger screens/phones these days.
Perhaps I'd get used to kt.
Anyway I'd like a recommended OS and a fairly decent camera. The Ram can be 3-4gb and a decent battery.
I mainly use my phone for whatsapp, some browsing online, reading articles and a few other apps and some photos when I'm out n about without my main camera.

The tech speak here about flashing ROM and band 20 had me unsure what to go with.
Budget I guess would be €150-250.
many thanks for the help.

howdoyouknow

Framed10 wrote:

The tech speak here about flashing ROM and band 20 had me unsure what to go with. Budget I guess would be €150-250. many thanks for the help.

Framed10 wrote:

Hi I'm wondering if someone could recommend a phone or two that might suit me. I currently have and iphone 4s. I'm out of contract on Vodafone. I was looking at the upgrade options, ridiculous prices ☹

Framed10 wrote:

I do like the layout of the iphone and its navigation but prices of new iphones are off putting.

Framed10 wrote:

I'm not too sure how'd I'd like or manage the larger screens/phones these days. Perhaps I'd get used to kt. Anyway I'd like a recommended OS and a fairly decent camera. The Ram can be 3-4gb and a decent battery. I mainly use my phone for whatsapp, some browsing online, reading articles and a few other apps and some photos when I'm out n about without my main camera.

Framed10 wrote:

Hi I'm wondering if someone could recommend a phone or two that might suit me. I currently have and iphone 4s. I'm out of contract on Vodafone. I was looking at the upgrade options, ridiculous prices ☹

Framed10 wrote:

I do like the layout of the iphone and its navigation but prices of new iphones are off putting.

Framed10 wrote:

I'm not too sure how'd I'd like or manage the larger screens/phones these days. Perhaps I'd get used to kt. Anyway I'd like a recommended OS and a fairly decent camera. The Ram can be 3-4gb and a decent battery. I mainly use my phone for whatsapp, some browsing online, reading articles and a few other apps and some photos when I'm out n about without my main camera.

Framed10 wrote:

The tech speak here about flashing ROM and band 20 had me unsure what to go with. Budget I guess would be €150-250. many thanks for the help.

Redmi 3 pro would cover you.

jozi

Larger screens are great to a point, for me 5" is about a big as a screen I like.

Coming from an iPhone maybe look into some of the Chinese phones, Xiaomi, honor etc, their operating system is android but it's modified enough and has some resemblance to iOS

Ryback

lafors wrote: »

Does anyone have a mi max here?
I had an oppo r7 plus which was a great phone. I switched to a note7 which was amazing but they took them back
Then I got an s7 edge thinking it would be like the note 7 but honestly it's not a patch on it, dunno why but it's not.
So I want to go back to a big phone.
I'd love a mi mix but I heard it wouldn't work here?

So I'm thinking of the max. Any input would be great.

The Mi Mix should work here in the same way as any other standard Xiaomi phone. There is no global version so you're missing band 20. You'll still get decent 4g coverage with band 3.

CantGetNoSleep

Xiaomi is a great choice for coming from iPhone as layout etc is similar. Mi5 would be a good choice.

CantGetNoSleep

lafors wrote: »

Does anyone have a mi max here?
I had an oppo r7 plus which was a great phone. I switched to a note7 which was amazing but they took them back
Then I got an s7 edge thinking it would be like the note 7 but honestly it's not a patch on it, dunno why but it's not.
So I want to go back to a big phone.
I'd love a mi mix but I heard it wouldn't work here?

So I'm thinking of the max. Any input would be great.

I've got a Mi Max - I alternate between that and a Zuk Z2. Huge screen, decent performance and absolutely amazing battery life - I really like it for traveling etc - on the other hand I find it too big for just using standing on a busy bus etc. You really need to use 2 hands.

Build quality is decent but it will feel a bit plasticky compared to a Note 7 I'd imagine (although it is 20% of the cost).

meathman0

Hi has anyone had to replace a screen on MI 5 phone, if so where did you get one and did you fit it or will one of the Chinese phone shops do it,thanks.

Digital Solitude

meathman0 wrote: »

Hi has anyone had to replace a screen on MI 5 phone, if so where did you get one and did you fit it or will one of the Chinese phone shops do it,thanks.

http://www.myfixguide.com/manual/xiaomi-mi5-teardown/

Screen is glued to the body, can be sorted with a hairdryer but its a lot of effort. Unless you can't get anyone, I wouldn't do it myself, glued screens are a bitch to get straight.

Ring a few local shops and see if you can find anyone, where are you located?

Glen_Quagmire

CantGetNoSleep wrote:

I've got a Mi Max - I alternate between that and a Zuk Z2. Huge screen, decent performance and absolutely amazing battery life - I really like it for traveling etc - on the other hand I find it too big for just using standing on a busy bus etc. You really need to use 2 hands.

How do you find the Zuk Z2?

Framed10

Can I ask about the global rom Ive seen mentioned a few times.
How does one know if the phone has this/can access this and if it doesn't have, is it easy to install?
thanks

Kavrocks

Framed10 wrote: »

Anyway I'd like a recommended OS and a fairly decent camera. The Ram can be 3-4gb and a decent battery.
I mainly use my phone for whatsapp, some browsing online, reading articles and a few other apps and some photos when I'm out n about without my main camera.

The tech speak here about flashing ROM and band 20 had me unsure what to go with.
Budget I guess would be €150-250.

If those are your needs you don't need 3 - 4GB RAM. Your iPhone 4S has 512MB of RAM and if that works for your needs then there is no need to go 8 times that at 4GB RAM. 2GB RAM will suit you. Band 20 is a 4G band used by some operators in rural areas. 4G in Ireland isn't that much better than 3G so its not as crucial as some would leave you to believe.

Still I think you should look at the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Special Edition. It has band 20 so you don't need to worry about that. It also comes with a global ROM so again you don't need to worry and the model I've linked has 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, an SD card slot and a very large battery. It suits all your needs and comes in under budget with shipping within the EU so you don't need to worry about customs.

Iseedeadpixels

mrtom wrote: »

I have my pptv king 7 a couple of months now but I cant find any manual focus settings in video mode, just auto focus.
In photo, I can touch screen, get a green circle and select focus, not in video. Does yours behave the same? (Great phone by the way)

I kept the Galaxy note 3 instead, Snapdragon all the way

Framed10

Kavrocks wrote: »

If those are your needs you don't need 3 - 4GB RAM. Your iPhone 4S has 512MB of RAM and if that works for your needs then there is no need to go 8 times that at 4GB RAM. 2GB RAM will suit you. Band 20 is a 4G band used by some operators in rural areas. 4G in Ireland isn't that much better than 3G so its not as crucial as some would leave you to believe.

Still I think you should look at the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Special Edition. It has band 20 so you don't need to worry about that. It also comes with a global ROM so again you don't need to worry and the model I've linked has 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, an SD card slot and a very large battery. It suits all your needs and comes in under budget with shipping within the EU so you don't need to worry about customs.

Thanks very much. Just having a look at it on kimovil.
Looks like an option.
is there any similar to this or even a bit more expensive but maybe with a better camera?

Kavrocks

Framed10 wrote: »

Thanks very much. Just having a look at it on kimovil.
Looks like an option.
is there any similar to this or even a bit more expensive but maybe with a better camera?

Xiaomi Mi4, Mi4c or Mi5. I've the Mi5 by the way.

Framed10

Kavrocks wrote: »

Xiaomi Mi4, Mi4c or Mi5. I've the Mi5 by the way.

Thanks. don't suppose there's a global version of these?
if not what does it entail to set it up?
Id be willing to give it a go.

Kavrocks

Framed10 wrote: »

Thanks. don't suppose there's a global version of these?
if not what does it entail to set it up?
Id be willing to give it a go.

There's no versions with band 20 but there is a global ROM available for the Mi4 and Mi5. All it entails is downloading the correct file (from here), putting it on the phone and using the inbuilt updater app to apply it (except if you get a vendor ROM but there are still ways around this). You should ask for a device without a vendor ROM always (in my opinion).

Framed10

Kavrocks wrote: »

You should ask for a device without a vendor ROM always (in my opinion).

http://www.honorbuy.com/675-xiaomi-mi5-32gb-smartphone-white.html
From their Q&A

"At present we send the Mi 5 with Official Global Multilanguage ROM of xiaomi. Best regards! "
"We flashed the Mi5 with Official Global Multilanguage ROM ....We send the phone with a Quick Charge 3.0 and a Usb Type-C Data Cable"
"Before shipping out the phone, we will pre install the Google Play and set the phone into English as default. Then you can download the apps when you receive the phone."
so all of this would be ok? no vendor rom etc
thanks again.

CantGetNoSleep

Glen_Quagmire wrote: »

How do you find the Zuk Z2?

Spec and build quality are great but not happy with any of the ROM's I have tried - haven't been able to get used to one of them although i am expecting a stock Indian ROM to be updated to Android 7.0 soon

yellowbear

SM01 wrote: »

Jesus, last post full of typos and I can't edit for some reason. I got the Lenovo p2 in the UK. Three we selling them for £200. It's the 4gb version with 32gb hard drive.

I've been looking at this phone seems like a great option for the price from three. Did you have any issues unlocking it to use with an Irish sim card?

Bahanaman

I've also been thinking of getting the Lenovo P2 from three in the UK. Can it work over here?

Iseedeadpixels

Bahanaman wrote: »

I've also been thinking of getting the Lenovo P2 from three in the UK. Can it work over here?

Yep once unlocked or if you're with three already.