Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

wnolan1992

Hey guys,

Recently smashed my Sony Xperia Z2, and decided to have a look at the Chinese market for a replacement (just in case it can't be repaired).

I've come up with 3 that I like, but I'm having some trouble finding out where to buy the Lenovo ones, just wondering if ye had any thoughts on the phones and/or knew where I could get one (obviously tried alibaba, aliexpress and just googling, but came up empty).

- Lenovo K4 Note (may or may not be released, phonearena says tomorrow, google says a date earlier January)
- Lenovo Vibe X3
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

Thoughts or alternatives welcome. Should emphasise I don't really know much about the other different brands, I just chose Lenovo because I've heard good things and I like their laptops, and Xiaomi on recommendations in this thread and people I know.

Iseedeadpixels

wnolan1992 wrote: »

Hey guys,

Recently smashed my Sony Xperia Z2, and decided to have a look at the Chinese market for a replacement (just in case it can't be repaired).

I've come up with 3 that I like, but I'm having some trouble finding out where to buy the Lenovo ones, just wondering if ye had any thoughts on the phones and/or knew where I could get one (obviously tried alibaba, aliexpress and just googling, but came up empty).

- Lenovo K4 Note (may or may not be released, phonearena says tomorrow, google says a date earlier January)
- Lenovo Vibe X3
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

Thoughts or alternatives welcome. Should emphasise I don't really know much about the other different brands, I just chose Lenovo because I've heard good things and I like their laptops, and Xiaomi on recommendations in this thread and people I know.

Note 3 its a great phone.

Allyall

wnolan1992 wrote: »

- Lenovo K4 Note (may or may not be released, phonearena says tomorrow, google says a date earlier January)
- Lenovo Vibe X3
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

Thoughts or alternatives welcome. Should emphasise I don't really know much about the other different brands, I just chose Lenovo because I've heard good things and I like their laptops, and Xiaomi on recommendations in this thread and people I know.

Should be noted that Lenovo branded laptops wouldn't be comparable to their Phones. That said, their phones are pretty good.
The Vibe X3 has apparently got an excellent camera.
The K4 has a very good camera and a broader connectivity spectrum.

Everything else all three are pretty matched.
The Redmi Note 3 is roughly €100 cheaper than the K4 Note and roughly €180 - €200 cheaper than the X3.

If you are willing to spend as much as €400, then you should definitely be looking at the Oneplus 2.

There are a few places you can buy all or some of them.
/Oppomart.com
/HongKongeek.com
/Geekbuying.com
/Geekvida.com (Prices Vary by Country)
/shop.gizchina.com/eu-direct/
/Honorbuy.com
/Coolicool.com
/Antelife.com
/efox-shop.com


And quite a few more.

Iseedeadpixels

Oukitel K6000 arrives tomorrow, ill review as well

Iseedeadpixels

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

Oukitel K6000 arrives tomorrow, ill review as well

Well I love it already, bit heavier but more solid than the xiaomi, shocked at how fast it is for the limited power, cant comment on battery yet but Im sure its great as I haven't put it down/download etc, 12gb memory from 16gb, bluboo only had 4gb from 16gb, screen is beautiful just jumps out at you, camera is ok nothing amazing, no issues with multi apps as the 2GB ram handles it well, 135 euro well spent....if I drop it Im giving up

5.11 Tactical

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

Well I love it already, bit heavier but more solid than the xiaomi, shocked at how fast it is for the limited power, cant comment on battery yet but Im sure its great as I haven't put it down/download etc, 12gb memory from 16gb, bluboo only had 4gb from 16gb, screen is beautiful just jumps out at you, camera is ok nothing amazing, no issues with multi apps as the 2GB ram handles it well, 135 euro well spent....if I drop it Im giving up

How is it 4G wise, I am with Meteor so would be curious if it worked ?

Iseedeadpixels

5.11 Tactical wrote: »

How is it 4G wise, I am with Meteor so would be curious if it worked ?

Ive been on wifi only so far, though I did get a text from three advising I need to set it up manually.

Iseedeadpixels

Iseedeadpixels wrote: »

Ive been on wifi only so far, though I did get a text from three advising I need to set it up manually.

Data is fine, posting now using it, 4G was on while driving never dropped.

morgana

Just pulled the trigger on an Ulefone Power. Sounds like excellent specs for the price (166 e) and initial hands on on gizchina is favourable. Shall write up my impressions when I get it in a few weeks. 😢ðŸ˜

eamonnq

morgana wrote: »

Just pulled the trigger on an Ulefone Power. Sounds like excellent specs for the price (166 e) and initial hands on on gizchina is favourable. Shall write up my impressions when I get it in a few weeks. 😢ðŸ˜

I think with Ulefone it is always better to wait until a few genuine users have bought them and see what their experience is like. Hopefully you will have no problems with it and you can tell us how great it is!!

PadraigL

Hi

I have narrowed my choice to 2 phones (I think);
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 3GB 32GB from Gearbest for €199 from their EU warehouse or €185 from IBuyGou (DHL from China). Other places are €220 or there abouts.

and

LeTv S1 X600 2.2Ghz 3GB 32GB from Tinydeal for €178 shipping from Germany. Other places are €200 approx.

I have seen different reviews about Gearbest and Tinydeal. What are peoples experiences?

P.S. Minideal - http://minideal.com is down from page one.

RIchieNouveau

PadraigL wrote: »

Hi

I have narrowed my choice to 2 phones (I think);
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 3GB 32GB from Gearbest for €199 from their EU warehouse or €185 from IBuyGou (DHL from China). Other places are €220 or there abouts.

The only useful thing I can tell you is that I bought a Redmi 2 (the 4.7 inch one) from GB and it came with an unofficial version of MIUI that the vendor customised. It took me around 5 hours to get the Google Play store working. It's the only Chinese phone I've bought but I'd buy from a different vendor next time.

shanek248

The Redmi2 from honorbuy arrived in 2 days and has been amazing for me ever since.

Gearbest installs their own version of MIUI? Whats different?

RIchieNouveau

The version is 77.00.66.99 and it's the version that at least GB and one other vendor ship with, I think the other one was Geekbuying but I can't be 100% on that.

I can't be entirely what's different because it's the only Chinese phone I've ever actually seen in person but from what I know is that it's not the international ROM that Xiaomi ship but it does have google play. Google play will not work out of the box and GB have no technical support on their site. So I basically had to Google and go through the MIUI forums for hours and try everything everyone else did. This was particularly hard because the MIUI version was different to the vast majority of people's. I finally found someone with an identical issue and he'd found a fixthat involved rolling back google play to a specific version number and then setting the date to 4 years in the future (!?!?) and then registering/signing in to Google play before changing the date back automatic.

You couldn't download Google apps through the usual MIUI channels until performing this fix either. The phone was essential useless as an Android as we know it until I'd done this. Boards is being really slow for me since the DDOS but if you check my post history I did a review almost straight after buying it about 3 weeks ago, there's probably a bit more detail in there and the fix is detailed there too.

Problems aside, it's a great phone at a great price and my only regret is not buying it from someone else. GB had it in the "EU warehouse" and being new to this game I thought that was rare and would be the quickest way to get the phone to me.

RIchieNouveau

2 day delivery is amazing btw! Mine was around 8 days IIRC.

CantGetNoSleep

PadraigL wrote: »

Hi

I have narrowed my choice to 2 phones (I think);
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 3GB 32GB from Gearbest for €199 from their EU warehouse or €185 from IBuyGou (DHL from China). Other places are €220 or there abouts.

and

LeTv S1 X600 2.2Ghz 3GB 32GB from Tinydeal for €178 shipping from Germany. Other places are €200 approx.

I have seen different reviews about Gearbest and Tinydeal. What are peoples experiences?

P.S. Minideal - http://minideal.com is down from page one.

There is no way I would trust Gearbest with that much money, use a reliable aliexpress seller even if it costs you a bit more

shanek248

Thanks for the info. Weird that you had all those issues.

Mine came without any bloat but the basic functionality was perfect. It is such a great phone. Get see any performance difference between it and my friends S5. I don't get into bench-marking etc but I mean in day to day use.

I used honorbuys EU warehouse option too. Is it smarter to risk the international postage? I thought it wasn't worth getting caught by customs. I'm only asking cos I plan to buy one for my wife soon.

RIchieNouveau wrote: »

2 day delivery is amazing btw! Mine was around 8 days IIRC.

Yeh the 2 day postage is amazing. Truthfully I personally got delayed because delivery driver couldnt find my house but that is not honorbuys fault it arrived for delivery within 48 hours. I also recommended the phone and website to my cousin on a Monday afternoon and when I saw him again on the next Wednesday evening he already had the phone. So it seems consistent.

PadraigL

So the fact of the matter is that all online shops have installed bloatware.
Is this a problem in normal everyday use? The phone will be for wife and she will not tolerate any hassle.
Do I have to install a new ROM or can I easily root phone and delete the crap

shanek248

PadraigL wrote: »

So the fact of the matter is that all online shops have installed bloatware.

NO.

As I say above honorbuy do not install anything that I have ever noticed. It works excellently out of the box.

I never knew some shops do it. The guy talking about gearbest doing it on his is the first I have heard of it but Im not exactly an expert. I've only ever bought from honorbuy.

You would get a lot more bloatware buying from Irish providers in my experience. Thats one of the major advantage of buying one of the Chinese phones IMO. You dont have to root and install a custom rom if you hate bloatware it just arrives bloat free and working the way you want it too. Much less fiddling.

Others may have opposing views....

fixXxer

galwaycyclist wrote:

On phone so difficult to give links so I will stick with sources. In Irish traffic law a bicycle is a vehicle and a cyclist is a driver (see 1961 Road Traffic Act). Under the Roads Act 1993 a roadside footpath is termed a "footway". Under the 1997 Traffic and Parking regulations it is an offence to drive (or cycle) along a footway aka "footpaths".

PadraigL wrote:

So the fact of the matter is that all online shops have installed bloatware. Is this a problem in normal everyday use? The phone will be for wife and she will not tolerate any hassle. Do I have to install a new ROM or can I easily root phone and delete the crap

It depends honestly. The Redmi 2 I got had adware installed that kept showing pop ups during normal use. The only option was to reflash a different ROM. Having said that, if you use an official MIUI you should be fine once the play store is set up. The updates that xiaomi put out never caused problems with Google services in my experience.

Iseedeadpixels

Thought I was in the wrong thread for a second

Allyall

OnePlus 2 £40GBP off with code TUBE40 until Feb 2nd.

https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/oneplus-2-40-off-now-249-00-until-feb-2nd.426149/

delph09

anyone know the news of elephone p9000? I really look forward to this model

Chad_Fantastics

Allyall wrote: »

OnePlus 2 £40GBP off with code TUBE40 until Feb 2nd.

https://forums.oneplus.net/threads/oneplus-2-40-off-now-249-00-until-feb-2nd.426149/

That doesn't look to be working from my attempt, pity as I'd have pulled the trigger, anyone else have luck with it or UK only?

<update>
It's for the UK store, lets see if it's Parcel Motel for the win!

RIchieNouveau

Chad_Fantastics wrote: »

<update>
It's for the UK store, lets see if it's Parcel Motel for the win!

Good news or bad news?

_Kaiser_

Hey all,

So I'm looking for a decent-enough 5 inch Android phone as a present. I could go and spend €150-200 on some underpowered Samsung Galaxy variant, but thought I'd ask here if ye had any suggestions?

Cheers!

CantGetNoSleep

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Hey all,

So I'm looking for a decent-enough 5 inch Android phone as a present. I could go and spend €150-200 on some underpowered Samsung Galaxy variant, but thought I'd ask here if ye had any suggestions?

Cheers!

OnePlus X? Although slightly over budget, but there is a 40GBP discount code going around perhaps

RIchieNouveau

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Hey all,

So I'm looking for a decent-enough 5 inch Android phone as a present. I could go and spend €150-200 on some underpowered Samsung Galaxy variant, but thought I'd ask here if ye had any suggestions?

Cheers!

http://www.honorbuy.com/632-xiaomi-redmi-3-2gb-ram-16gb-rom.html

I just bought my wife the previous version of the phone in that link and it's great. That version as bumped all the specs by quite a bit. 165 dollars, I don't think you'd get a better phone for that price.

If you want to keep it in Ireland then the latest Moto G is probably your best bet. It's far better than any of the low/mid end Galaxy's I've tried. I use a S5 and I'd order that Redmi 3 right now if it croaked. Similarly, if I needed a phone right now and couldn't wait for shipping I'd go out and get a Moto G. The Vodafone Smart 6 is meant to be a great phone but I haven't used one so couldn't recommend it.

T-Bird

delph09 wrote: »

anyone know the news of elephone p9000? I really look forward to this model

First batch will be full of problems. Best wait about 3 months, read about problems etc about the device and then make a judgment call.

_Kaiser_

CantGetNoSleep wrote: »

OnePlus X? Although slightly over budget, but there is a 40GBP discount code going around perhaps

Thanks, but as you say it's a bit over the budget I was thinking

RIchieNouveau wrote: »

http://www.honorbuy.com/632-xiaomi-redmi-3-2gb-ram-16gb-rom.html

I just bought my wife the previous version of the phone in that link and it's great. That version as bumped all the specs by quite a bit. 165 dollars, I don't think you'd get a better phone for that price.

If you want to keep it in Ireland then the latest Moto G is probably your best bet. It's far better than any of the low/mid end Galaxy's I've tried. I use a S5 and I'd order that Redmi 3 right now if it croaked. Similarly, if I needed a phone right now and couldn't wait for shipping I'd go out and get a Moto G. The Vodafone Smart 6 is meant to be a great phone but I haven't used one so couldn't recommend it.

That Redmi 3 looks like it'll fit the bill nicely - cheers