[OFFTOPIC] China Phone Discussion - UPDATED 30/10/2013

[Guest dalyer]

Any idea about where to buy THL W200 now?

 

Why - is there a supply issue? I see that they're on pre-order with DealsPrime

 

http://dealsprime.com/thl-w200-android-4-2-phone.html

 

but BangGood and DealExtreme seem to have them in stock:

 

http://www.banggood.com/ThL-W200-5_0-Inch-8G-ROM-Android-4_2-MTK6589T-1_5GHz-Smart-Phone-p-79615.html

http://dx.com/p/thl-w200-quad-core-android-4-2-wcdma-bar-phone-w-5-0-screen-wi-fi-gps-ram-1gb-and-rom-8gb-243125

 

I didn't check the rest of the usual suspects but there's a list of reputable online sellers in a post somewhere earlier in this thread.

 

Hope this helps.

[Guest srm1973]

Few on ebay. Uk seller

One went for £127 a few days back. Seller is based in cardiff

[Guest deuse]

I'm trying to find a phone that will flash the official MIUI rom. 

[Guest ovecka]

Why - is there a supply issue? I see that they're on pre-order with DealsPrime

 

http://dealsprime.com/thl-w200-android-4-2-phone.html

 

but BangGood and DealExtreme seem to have them in stock:

 

http://www.banggood.com/ThL-W200-5_0-Inch-8G-ROM-Android-4_2-MTK6589T-1_5GHz-Smart-Phone-p-79615.html

http://dx.com/p/thl-w200-quad-core-android-4-2-wcdma-bar-phone-w-5-0-screen-wi-fi-gps-ram-1gb-and-rom-8gb-243125

 

I didn't check the rest of the usual suspects but there's a list of reputable online sellers in a post somewhere earlier in this thread.

 

Hope this helps.

 

It's just that I saw one being sold for $150 somewhere (with a coupon of some sort) few days back but I can't find it now. I thought someone might know. :)

[Guest dakok]

I'm trying to find a phone that will flash the official MIUI rom. 

 

If you skipped the subject just a few pages back, here it is again:

 

These are the mtk6589 phones that will have the full official MIUI support by the end of october:

 

 

1 Amoi N821 released 

2 Amoi N820 released

3 Amoi N890 released

4 Huawei G610T released

5 Newman K2 released

6 GooPhone I9 released

7 BFB 100% S7 released

8 Huawei G520 released

9 ZTE Grand S released

10 Lenovo 8920 released

11 Lenovo A830 released

12 Kivu Big 7 (G`Five G9) released

13 Jiayu G4 released

14 Zopo C2 released

15 Amoi N828 released

16 ZTE v987 released

17 Xiaocai X9 released

18 Lenovo P780 released

19 Lenovo S820 released

20 Verne V5 released

21 Verne V5T released

22 ET100 (ISA T45E) released

23 ZTE V967s released

24 MIGO VIVI G200 released

25 UMI X2 released

26 Huawei G700 released

27 ZTE V970 released

28 ZOPO ZP950H soon

29 ZOPO ZP800H soon

30 ZOPO C3 soon

31 Big Easy W1 soon

32 Neken N6 soon

33 FAEA F2 (HY509) soon

34 Newman K1 soon

35 ThL W11 soon

36 ThL W8 soon

37 ThL T3 soon

 

Now just remove TD SCDMA phones from list and that´s it.

 

I suggest to wait until sunday, since lewa is releasing their redesigned v5 version.

Then take a look of their supported flagship models and there you are :)

[Guest Ascend]

Anybody got any ideas on a 4G phone for UK?

[Guest invertedgoatie]

What sort of battery life do you consider average? Post a screen shot of your usage screen and screen on time?

Screenshot is vol down + power button right? Didn't work...so you'll have to take my word for it.

Standby time is pretty good, but with some reasonable use battery is about 6-8 hours. It's half a shame really cuz the phone is so fast and slick it makes you want to use it constantly. I'm still cycling the battery though.

[Guest deuse]

 

If you skipped the subject just a few pages back, here it is again:

 

These are the mtk6589 phones that will have the full official MIUI support by the end of october:

 

 

1 Amoi N821 released 

2 Amoi N820 released

3 Amoi N890 released

4 Huawei G610T released

5 Newman K2 released

6 GooPhone I9 released

7 BFB 100% S7 released

8 Huawei G520 released

9 ZTE Grand S released

10 Lenovo 8920 released

11 Lenovo A830 released

12 Kivu Big 7 (G`Five G9) released

13 Jiayu G4 released

14 Zopo C2 released

15 Amoi N828 released

16 ZTE v987 released

17 Xiaocai X9 released

18 Lenovo P780 released

19 Lenovo S820 released

20 Verne V5 released

21 Verne V5T released

22 ET100 (ISA T45E) released

23 ZTE V967s released

24 MIGO VIVI G200 released

25 UMI X2 released

26 Huawei G700 released

27 ZTE V970 released

28 ZOPO ZP950H soon

29 ZOPO ZP800H soon

30 ZOPO C3 soon

31 Big Easy W1 soon

32 Neken N6 soon

33 FAEA F2 (HY509) soon

34 Newman K1 soon

35 ThL W11 soon

36 ThL W8 soon

37 ThL T3 soon

 

Now just remove TD SCDMA phones from list and that´s it.

 

I suggest to wait until sunday, since lewa is releasing their redesigned v5 version.

Then take a look of their supported flagship models and there you are :)

 

 

 

Thanks. I want a new phone(MTK6589) that will have\flash the official MIUI as they update every friday after noon

because I'm fed up of the chinese companies never updating their rom even though they say they will.

 

No V5 on ebay so it looks like getting one from china again and get stung for taxes  

 

EDIT= Just seen the Cube Talk 5H A5300 I think that has MIUI

  Edited September 27, 2013 by deuse

[Guest dakok]

I have ZTE v987 with regular MIUI updates. 

New Lewa v5 looks promising, too (friday updates as well):

 

[Guest Dovahpig]

I ordered mine v967s. Which rom do you recommend?

[Guest dakok]

Official rom would be the best solution in this early phase.

Check this topic on xda

 

Miui and Lewa are good already and will get better soon.

You can find them in ZTE v987 Chinese Rom Collection

in my sig

[Guest deuse]

Official rom would be the best solution in this early phase.

Check this topic on xda

 

Miui and Lewa are good already and will get better soon.

You can find them in ZTE v987 Chinese Rom Collection

in my sig

 

I just shot off a email to Cube to see if the Talk 5H will take the official MIUI or their own version of MIUI.

I got a Cube tablet and they ant very helpful at all.....so

[Guest apple2005]

I have ZTE v987 with regular MIUI updates.

New Lewa v5 looks promising, too (friday updates as well):

@dakok : what is the major differences between stock ROM and MIUI?

And what they are updating every week?

[Guest Maringer]

MIUI is a highly integrated and modified version of stock Android which has it's own apps for areas such as messaging, camera, contacts, dialler, etc etc. It also has integrated control over root access and program permissions, downloads and the like. The MIUI launcher doesn't have an app draw unlike most launchers - the app icons appear on the homescreens which can be modified and moved into folders and the like. A bit iOS-like in this respect.

MIUI is also highly themeable so you can download lots of different themes and lockscreens. Quite a large range of these available, though many come from the Chinese homeland of MIUI. MIUI tends to be a pretty good looking OS as well and is very slick in usage. Frequent (weekly) updates are available for many devices with new features added.

All in all, I've used MIUI on a couple of phones and quite like it. I don't use too many apps so the launcher works fine for me but it all depends on personal usage - some people like it, others don't.

Worth a try, providing you've got yourself a backup so you can switch back if you don't like it!

[Guest dakok]

Just to add few thoughts:

 

Good thing for mtk phone owners is that Xiaomi (miui OS maker) now has Red Rice (Hongmi) phone.

Why?

All of mtk miui roms were not actualy 100% optimised for mtk soc.

Miui official shows off its best on Xiaomi phone chips.

Now, when Hongmi (Red Rice) with MTK6589 is in play, new miui builds for mtk phones should be a lot better.

 

Why is this so interesting?

Because MTK wont release source code (most probably) and (for now) the only nice OS we can get

is a stock MTK OS. Without frequent factory updates. 

 

And no CM, too.

 

With MIUI and Lewa and, possibly Baidu, our phones have a chance to be much better in near future.

 

 

@apple2005

 

Miui updates its rom builds :)

 

Version meaning:

 

3.9.27 = 27.09.2013. (friday)

3.9.20 = 20.09.2013. (friday)

etc..

 

Latest changelog (in english):

http://en.miui.com/thread-8423-1-1.html

 

There are 17 international fan sites.

Main thing they do is MIUI localisation to their native languages

 

 

 

http://youtu.be/QXM7QmgM7yc

[Guest apple2005]

Thank you very much Maringer and dakok for your excellent explanations. I will give it a try when they make MIUI ROM for my zopo zp950 plus. Hope you will keep us updated when they release one for my phone.

[Guest akarana]

If you skipped the subject just a few pages back, here it is again:

 

These are the mtk6589 phones that will have the full official MIUI support by the end of october:

 

8 Huawei G520 released

...

26 Huawei G700 released

...

 

Now just remove TD SCDMA phones from list and that´s it.

 

 

 

Be advised that Huawei G520 and G700 are available in both TD-S and W CDMA versions.

Caveat Emptor  :ph34r:

[Guest SG8]

I ordered mine v967s. Which rom do you recommend?

Am looking for a phone for a friend at a reasonable price, he likes my Mlais MX58 Air, and was thinking that the V967S might do the job for him, anybody anything bad (or good!!) to say about the V967S ?

[Guest dakok]

Once again:

I have zte v987 which is very similar to v967s

and I'm very pleased with my phone.

v967s has lower resolution, lower camera specs

and screen is not as good as v987 has but you

can notice that only when you put them side by side.

Good thing is that you can buy v967s for the half

of its better brother's price.

Edited September 28, 2013 by dakok

[Guest SG8]

@bladebuddy

Regarding v987:

Touchcsreen - no problems at all

Back & Home "buttons" - depending on rom. Now on latest MIUI - not perfect but much better than on another build. It is probably up to software. I guess it will be solved.

No compass.

GPS - no much testing, but it locks within a minute. For car navigation - OK, for tracking - probably not so good, as it usually is with MTK chip.

Battery - close to 2 days with cca 8h of screen on. Sattisfied :)

Volume - Good. Better than on g300, phoning sound volumes - good. Phoning is very good.

Build quality is very good, except for a spot on back cover where one clip doesn´t click in. But Nillkin hard case fits like a phone body part, so it doesn´t really matter. :)

There are few roms for v987, all very smooth and good. There is a bunch of others I didn`t try.

It has official support from MIUI and Lewa, which is an important fact when you have to decide which phone you should buy. Same goes to v967s.

Thanks!! Much appreciated!!

[Guest deuse]

Well Cube haven't got back to me about their Talk 5H having an official MIUI so it looks like the search is still on.

 

Wish there was a good chinese to english translation site as google is very bad.

[Guest george109]

Some more promo codes for Merimobiles:

 

Use

hao

for 6% off on orders over $350 (about £215)

 

 

 

Use

yeah

for $10 off on tablets over $200

 

 

These codes expire on the 30th of September (2013)

[Guest GTRX3]

Well been playing with the a850 today, which arrived this morning. At first it actually feels a little too big. I haven't used and hd screen phones so the 200ppi doesn't bother me at all (going down from 233ppi). The brightness isn't so great so i'm not looking forward to those really sunny days, but it's fine otherwise.

 

The performance of the MTK6582M is pretty impressive and very smooth. The camera quality at first seems not so great but comparing it to my samsung omnia 7, it seems to zoom in further when double tapping on an image (accounting for the greater noise and fuzziness of pictures) so its probably comparable to the samsungs 5mp.

 

The back speaker on it seems a bit rubbish, you lose a lot of clarity when going above 50% volume.

 

The touchscreen as actually very responsive and it has a neat lenote app which you can draw in and its quite nice to use. The only thing is that with two finger actions, such as pinch to zoom, you need to exaggerate them a little on the bigger screen.

 

Came with english language preset and also has playstore and root out of the box.

 

Aside from the speaker and the response to two fingers, some other annoyances include:

-the lenovo ui (as it seems to be missing options in the settings menu such as battery etc.).

-the youtube app (HQ looks rubbish on it and the HD resolution is missing as its not an HD screen; apparently there is an youtube apk which enables HD again so will need to try that).

-The preinstalled email apps crashes (not gmail so can be easily fixed).

-The system update option in the settings causes the phone to crash.

 

Not had a chance to test the battery or gps yet.

Edited September 28, 2013 by GTRX3

[Guest dalyer]

Well Cube haven't got back to me about their Talk 5H having an official MIUI so it looks like the search is still on.

 

Wish there was a good chinese to english translation site as google is very bad.

Is Chrome any better? Or just the same as Google? Edited September 28, 2013 by dalyer

[Guest apple2005]

Is Chrome any better? Or just the same as Google?

Chrome is a browser by Google. The actual translation is done by translate.google.com... You can try bing.com which is provided by Microsoft.