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My G2 has hardware problems. What phone should I get now?


Guest Shahmatt

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Guest Shahmatt

It's unfortunate but my G2 has a hardware issue on the USB female end.

The charging light does not come on unless I sit the plug in just right, and tilt it in a certain way.

I think it's just a matter of time before I am unable to charge it at all. So I am now on the lookout for a new phone.

I intend to use Aliexpress. The delivery has been reliable to me so far.

Of the Chinese phones, I am only familiar with ZTE, Xiaomi and Jiayu.

I think I will not go with Jiayu again. The phone has unfortunately been less durable than I expected (my screen is cracked on the side as well). It is also not up to par hardware wise, i.e. I have a weak microphone (solved using mobile uncle) and weak GPS antenna. The camera has also been just so so.

A good phone for the money but I am not the most careful person with my electronic stuff.

I did not have the same troubles with my Orange San Francisco though, so I do find the differences in hardware quality to be puzzling. Not all Chinese phones are made alike.

Anyway, is there anyone else that has moved on from this phone? If so what has been your replacement?

I'm pondering over the ZTE V970 but the battery size is a bit of a turn off.

I am also considering a Xiaomi phone. Either the M1s or M2. I understand also that there have been a few new phones from this company but I don't know anything about them. I guess the appeal would be MIUI straight from the company. Regular updates and whatnot. But is the hardware there? Does the GPS work? Does the microphone give any problems? The answers to this I don't know.

Comments are welcome. I will spend about 3 days researching and make my buy on May Day!

Edited by Shahmatt
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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Shahmatt

Actually I'd already installed the Lewa custom ROM. It improved the phone quite a bit. Software wise Jiayu remains good.

The trouble is that the Jiayu seems to have cut corners in other components. The stuff that nobody cares too much about and assume will just work fine, or the stuff that don't really show up on the specs sheet. I mean, for example in my case, the microphone and GPS antenna. It seems to me that they've picked these components from the bottom of the bucket in order to keep the phone cost low. You may get a fast processor, big battery, great RAM, sharp screen etc., but if the GPS doesn't work properly a part of the modern smart phone experience is lost. If the microphone is weak you can't use the phone as a phone, and so on. Perhaps others have earpiece problems. The problem with picking out low quality components is that you have to be lucky.

Anyway I bought the Xiaomi 2A. Took the gamble without reading any reviews. I got it in about 1 week with fast shipping. Cost me around 290USD$ all included.

The phone software is all MIUI. It doesn't come installed with gapps etc. but the community forums were helpful.

GPS works! The microphone is clear. The screen looks better than the G2. The battery life is good. My only niggle is that MIUI seems to take up a lot of RAM (I only have 200MB free to start), but perhaps this has to do with some of those Chinese apps which maybe can be deleted.

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Guest Shahmatt

Thanks. It came with MIUI V5. I do not know what changes there have been over previous MIUI versions. But it seems a well integrated ROM. And yes, everything seems to work just fine.

On average I'm using up about 50% of battery life per day. Will have to see if this continues.

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silly me..of course it came with MIUI - it's Xiaomi! I've must have been too sleepy to get the facts straight..lol

anyways I agree that Jiayu may have cut corners to keep the pricing competitive but still attractive spec-wise..with the Nexus Devices going mainstream, I don't see how the Chinese brands are going to compete, unless they embrace the dev community like what Xiaomi does..

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Shahmatt

I'm really impressed with this phone people. Compared to the G2 it's a true upgrade. But of course it costs a lot more too but I've come to realize the additional numbers are justifiable. Lighter and thinner body, better outer finish, great software, fabulous screen that is far superior to the G2, hardware (GPS, microphone etc.) that work very well, absolutely superb battery life - I can't even run my phone down 50% in one day, this despite the battery being the same size as the G2. Also there seems to be great audio hardware in the phone - my music sounds ever so much nicer and clearer.

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