Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

ImARebel

Ciderman - how long did your phone spend in NL? My tracking is still saying "2017-09-29 02:32 NL, Order Processed: Ready for UPS"

what are UPS doing, lol

Ada Lovelace

Does AliExpress not let you use coupons from the t'interweb? I've got none in My Coupons.
It seems it only permits ones that they bestow upon you.

seamus1980

I bought a elefone s7 from gearbest,april 6 2017,but the volume button stopped working and also the home button,the said to send it back for free repair but i have to pay postage back even i bought it from EU store,would paypal be able to get my money back,i said i would keep the phone and they would refund me 30 usd even though the phone cost me 175 euro should i ask for more of a refund or try paypal dispute,any info would be great guys

GBX

In before the Gearbest haters arrive.
This is a manufacturer issue but Gearbest hold the cards. It may be outside the timeframe for a paypal dispute but you could ask for more if you are willing to keep it. Sending stuff back is always a pain especially when buying from Asian vendors. I personally wouldnt keep it as the 2 issues you are saying would be very annoying to me but would ask for a refund on it and send it back.

Iseedeadpixels

Don't buy Elefones, they are the dodgiest phones out there.

eamonnq

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

Don't buy Elefones, they are the dodgiest phones out there.

Probably a bit late telling him that now!!

Digital Solitude

seamus1980 wrote: »

I bought a elefone s7 from gearbest,april 6 2017,but the volume button stopped working and also the home button,the said to send it back for free repair but i have to pay postage back even i bought it from EU store,would paypal be able to get my money back,i said i would keep the phone and they would refund me 30 usd even though the phone cost me 175 euro should i ask for more of a refund or try paypal dispute,any info would be great guys

Ask them for a larger refund with no repair and see how it goes, should still be under warranty.

Might be a little consolation, you can use Magisk to force your phone to use the on screen buttons, you know the little black bar at the bottom of the display as opposed to the physical home button. Many custom roms allow this too. Not familiar with Magisk myself however.

Ask and see, if you're not happy with the answers force a PayPal dispute.

Iseedeadpixels

eamonnq wrote: »

Probably a bit late telling him that now!!

Hindsight is great

gooner99

That's a pain in the arse dealing with returns/repairs.

Is it the general view that Xiaomi are the best of the Chinese phones to buy?

eamonnq

gooner99 wrote: »

That's a pain in the arse dealing with returns/repairs.

Is it the general view that Xiaomi are the best of the Chinese phones to buy?

Probably are (at least one of the best anyway).


Just on a side note, I know LeCo/LeTV are not recommended, but at under €100, this must be worth a punt, don't expect updates or support though.

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/LeTV-LeEco-Le-S3-X622-5-5-Inch-3GB-32GB-Smartphone---Gold-382508.html?source=ShareAsale

fixXxer

eamonnq wrote: »

Probably are (at least one of the best anyway).


Just on a side note, I know LeCo/LeTV are not recommended, but at under €100, this must be worth a punt, don't expect updates or support though.

https://www.geekbuying.com/item/LeTV-LeEco-Le-S3-X622-5-5-Inch-3GB-32GB-Smartphone---Gold-382508.html?source=ShareAsale

They have 5 days left on e LeTV Le Max 2 for €151 and I'm very very tempted at that price. Free shipping from Hong Kong.

Iseedeadpixels

gooner99 wrote: »

That's a pain in the arse dealing with returns/repairs.

Is it the general view that Xiaomi are the best of the Chinese phones to buy?

Yup sure I'd say 75% of the posters here have one.....I myself am not a sheep

GBX

gooner99 wrote: »

Is it the general view that Xiaomi are the best of the Chinese phones to buy?

They basically have a range that suits most peoples needs and budgets so come out on top on a lot of peoples searches. They have a huge community for support - rom development - not hugs if you are feeling down.

It can be a bit confusing with all the different variants, whether they have the proper bands etc but ask away on a certain model and we will do our best to help.

gooner99

GBX wrote: »

They basically have a range that suits most peoples needs and budgets so come out on top on a lot of peoples searches. They have a huge community for support - rom development - not hugs if you are feeling down.

It can be a bit confusing with all the different variants, whether they have the proper bands etc but ask away on a certain model and we will do our best to help.

Thanks. Yeah I've posted and read about the different bands, etc on here. I am torn between the Redmi Note 4 and the Mi A1 at the minute. I like the big battery of the Note 4 and the stock Android and gorilla glass on the A1. Otherwise both phones are great value for money. I will probably wait until after Golden week, by then some boardsies might have the A1 delivered and reviewed.

wiz569

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

Yup sure I'd say 75% of the posters here have one.....I myself am not a sheep

Thats why yours keep breaking

Iseedeadpixels

wiz569 wrote: »

Thats why yours keep breaking

Nope they keep getting replaced with boredom

wiz569

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

Nope they keep getting replaced with boredom

Thats not what you tell us lol

What you running with at the moment anyway?

smilerf

wiz569 wrote: »

Thats not what you tell us lol

What you running with at the moment anyway?

Good question I can't keep up

funkey_monkey

gripcasey wrote: »

I just got the Xiaomi RedMI Note 4 and am very happy with it.
I paid €188 for the 4 Gb Ram 64 Gb Rom Snapdragon with Cover and a good screen protector from MI Global Store on Aliexpress .
It took 10 days to get here with no customs .

Link

I bought one of these myself. Was the €188 inclusive of DHL shipping? Sounds like a decent price

gripcasey

No Voucher.
TPU case light but ok.

Not glass but not the flimsy plastic.

gripcasey

funkey_monkey wrote: »

I bought one of these myself. Was the €188 inclusive of DHL shipping? Sounds like a decent price

Yes including DHL . Very happy. For a while anyway until I see something else to tempt me,

Iseedeadpixels

wiz569 wrote: »

Thats not what you tell us lol

What you running with at the moment anyway?

Oukitel U11 plus, great phone 5.7 inches suits me as I liked the Galaxy note 2 when I had it.

GatsbyGal

I have to return my UMI plus to China as the battery is kaput. I'm a bit dubious about ever seeing it again. What have been peoples experiences of returning broken items to the vendor and getting a successful resolution? Also what's the approximate cost involved in returning the phone to them? Thanks.

Kenny Logins

GatsbyGal wrote: »

I have to return my UMI plus to China as the battery is kaput. I'm a bit dubious about ever seeing it again. What have been peoples experiences of returning broken items to the vendor and getting a successful resolution? Also what's the approximate cost involved in returning the phone to them? Thanks.

I'd imagine it would be much easier and cheaper to buy a battery for it.

GBX

GatsbyGal wrote: »

I have to return my UMI plus to China as the battery is kaput. I'm a bit dubious about ever seeing it again. What have been peoples experiences of returning broken items to the vendor and getting a successful resolution? Also what's the approximate cost involved in returning the phone to them? Thanks.

Plenty for sale here:
https://www.aliexpress.com/af/replacement-battery-umi-plus.html?SearchText=replacement+battery+umi+plus&ltype=wholesale&d=y&tc=main&blanktest=0&initiative_id=SB_20171005001505&origin=n&catId=0&isViewCP=y

Iseedeadpixels

I have a UMI Super sitting there going to waste as the screen is wrecked, if the battery works on the plus you can have it.

CantGetNoSleep

gooner99 wrote: »

That's a pain in the arse dealing with returns/repairs.

Is it the general view that Xiaomi are the best of the Chinese phones to buy?

Build quality of Xiaomi devices is also great - gf has a Redmi Note 2 since it was first released and it still works perfectly, usually she can't get 6 months out of a phone

Squiggle

GBX wrote: »

Honorbuy sometimes mess people's addresses and it gets delayed en route.

I took this issue up with Honorbuy, after a recent purchase from their Italian warehouse. Here is the response which I got within a day.

Message: Hello,
We are so sorry for the inconvenience caused.
We just contacted our warehouse , they said that they need to choose the city name in the DHL system, if there is no the city name you write in the order in the DHL system,
otherwise, they can not ship out your order ,then they will choose Dublin as city name.
Hope to receive your understanding.
Yours sincerely,
June

Looks to me like the default settings in the DHL system are the problem, especially if you live outside Dublin ! Half my address was replaced by DUBLIN !! All told I still had my phone in 4 business days. When I saw in tracking the phone was on hold in DHL I rang and clarified my address and had the phone the next day.

GatsbyGal

Thanks so much for your offer iseedeadpixels. Really kind of you.

However, it may be something more serious than the battery and I'd rather not start prying it open just in case it isn't the battery and is a different hardware fault instead. Vendor seems to think it's a battery issue but who knows. I'd rather the phone went over fully intact with no tampering.

Any ideas on cost involved in shipping them back?

Kenny Logins

GatsbyGal wrote: »

Thanks so much for your offer iseedeadpixels. Really kind of you.

However, it may be something more serious than the battery and I'd rather not start prying it open just in case it isn't the battery and is a different hardware fault instead. Vendor seems to think it's a battery issue but who knows. I'd rather the phone went over fully intact with no tampering.

Any ideas on cost involved in shipping them back?

About €40 I would think.