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

[Guest coolicool]

gionee e7 is very good，it has 3gb RAM and 32gb ROM

[Guest dakok]

Latest MTK6752 phones (China market), under 1000 yuan, under 6" and EU mobile networks compatible

 

[Guest jamie_w]

What's peoples views on the zte blade s6? Its on Amazon for £170 shipped from UK.

[Guest metal.mickey]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/general/general/zte-blade-s6-to-t3018031

No root as of yet...1 instance of poor battery life

Looks nice witha good camera

The s7yler review vid starts at about 8.30mins

[Guest SlyUK]

Hi Guys,

 

I am new to the chinese phone scene, and wish to get my first chinese phone in the next few months. I have narrowed it down the following smartphones:

 

Jiayu S3 3GB

 

Kingzone Z1

 

Possibly Umi Zero as a 5" device.

 

I understand that Jiayu make pretty solid phones, from what I understand from the success of the Jiayu G4 (and will also come with a fair amount of customs roms in the near future, if desired).

 

What I can't really make is:

 

What are these smartphones (not just the ones i've mentioned above) like as daily drivers for making and receiving calls, that primarily what I need a phone for. There doesn't seem to much comment on this generally speaking, having looked at various sources online although a recent comment I read above mentioned that many of these smartphones are hit & miss, and more likely to be miss.

 

I tried to read a fair amount of this thread, and it is now 176 pages long. So my final question is:

 

How many pages does it have to be, before making a Part 2 thread ?

 

Thanks for your time, looking to save money with a quality lesser known branded device.

 

Best Regards

 

SlyUK.

[Guest apple2005]

Hi Guys,

I am new to the chinese phone scene, and wish to get my first chinese phone in the next few months. I have narrowed it down the following smartphones:

Jiayu S3 3GB

Kingzone Z1

Possibly Umi Zero as a 5" device.

I understand that Jiayu make pretty solid phones, from what I understand from the success of the Jiayu G4 (and will also come with a fair amount of customs roms in the near future, if desired).

What I can't really make is:

What are these smartphones (not just the ones i've mentioned above) like as daily drivers for making and receiving calls, that primarily what I need a phone for. There doesn't seem to much comment on this generally speaking, having looked at various sources online although a recent comment I read above mentioned that many of these smartphones are hit & miss, and more likely to be miss.

I tried to read a fair amount of this thread, and it is now 176 pages long. So my final question is:

How many pages does it have to be, before making a Part 2 thread ?

Thanks for your time, looking to save money with a quality lesser known branded device.

Best Regards

SlyUK.

Sorry to say that what you heard is wrong about hit and miss. Many major brands Chinese phone are much better than the known world brands.

Don't count only those people who are having some problems with there phones. As many of the problems they face are due to their playing with their phone and during those experimentation they break the software or hardware.

You go to any forum belonging to the known brands, you will find that they have more problems.

If you buy from the well-known brands, the chances are that you will get the best phone. Some of the best brands are Huawei, lenovo, Xiaomi, one plus one, ZTE, Coolpad, Jiayu etc. Less know but still good are Zopo, elephone, inew, doogee etc.

Right now I am using Huawei ascend mate 7 gold. I think this is the best phone, I have seen with a wonderful battery. My other phone was coolpad 9976A. It is also a great phone but too big for daily use.

Do some research before buying according to your needs.

[Guest SlyUK]

My intention is to buy a good quality less expensive brand, at the moment, with the intention of using it for at least a year, and hopefully for most of 2016 and then go for a more premium brand such as Xiaomi, OnePlus, Huawei etc.

 

The Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Gold must be an amazing phone at an amazing price, I hope you enjoy it and use it to its full potential. I read above also that Coolpad offers great value for  money with their F1 & F2. I understand they have a new flagship the X7. However I wish to have a cheaper phone ideally less than $250. Currently considering Jiayu S3.

 

When I meant "hit and miss" I was referring to Dakok's comments on p175, regarding brands which are unheard of by most people.

Edited February 23, 2015 by SlyUK

[Guest dakok]

Here is a straight answer:

 

If you want a new generation China phone (reliable brands, not much experience with models since they are NEW) choose:

 

Meizu Note 5.5"

Jiayu S3

TCL 3N m2u

 

If you want a reliable device choose

 

1. Xiaomi Note 4G – $166
2. Coolpad F2 /HD/Full Netcom – $150
3. Huawei Honor 4x Play Che2 UL00 – $187
4. Lenovo Lemon K3 – $129
5. Xiaomi Redmi 2 (1GB RAM) – $145
6. Coolpad F1 – $134
7. Coolpad F1 Plus – $117
8. Lenovo A806 – $145
9. Xiaomi Redmi 1s – $120
10. Huawei 3c Play HOL U10 (16GB) – $135

Prices are from phone stores accessible to EU buyers

Selection details - here (use chrome translator)

 

Best aliexpres phone stores:

 

Bloomberg Mikki 99.8%
BlackPeach Digital 99.4%
Shenzhen Chigon Technology 99.3%
J-AIR (HK) Technology Co. 99.2%
ETstar 99.2%
E-Sun Mobile 99.2%
FANTACY TECHNOLOGY 99.1%
Shenzhen Ugood Electronics 98.9%
Shenzhen Eternal Technology 98.6% 
Eternal Team 98.6%


Less traffic buth worth considering:
Shenzhen Top-One Trading Co., 100%

[Guest SlyUK]

Thanks very much thats very kind.

 

(I tried to post a link to the new Kingzone Z1 but not sure how to do it. Its entitled "Preorders begin for MT6752 Kingzone Z1" over on Gizchina)

 

If someone would kindly post it, although I am aware its a new brand, people have had good things to say about the K1 Turbo they released previously.

 

 

Edit:

 

Seems to be working now:

 

http://www.gizchina.com/2015/02/23/preorders-begin-for-mt6752-kingzone-z1/

 

and

 

 

Looks more like a perfume advert, however their K1 Turbo was a solid device from what i've read, the only problem with this phone is it has HD instead of FHD & 2GB of Ram, although a Pro version is likely to come soon afterwards with FHD & 3GB of Ram.

Edited February 24, 2015 by SlyUK

[Guest dakok]

Nobody in China buys Kingzone :)

Edited February 23, 2015 by dakok

[Guest apple2005]

Thanks very much thats very kind.

(I tried to post a link to the new Kingzone Z1 but not sure how to do it. Its entitled "Preorders begin for MT6752 Kingzone Z1" over on Gizchina)

If someone would kindly post it, although I am aware its a new brand, people have had good things to say about the K1 Turbo they released previously.

Why you are after kingzone when dakok has given you excellent choices. I think jiayu should be better than kingzone.

[Guest SlyUK]

@apple2005 Dakok's answer was excellent, however I will give fair chance to other brands and yes Jiayu S3 is currently at the top of my list.

 

@Dakok Sorry didn't understand the term "Kina". Although do agree with what you said on p175 that many phones are simply style over substance.

 

Edit:

 

@Dakok Understand what you were saying, people in China don't buy it.

Edited February 23, 2015 by SlyUK

[Guest EvilSeamanRuby]

When dipping your toe into the chinesemarket theres lots of info around in reviews and forums and all that info can be quite overwhelming. with may different views who can you trust?

If you do your research you can bag yiurself a great phone.

Although my first chinese phone was too big, unrootable and had no discernable community so didint suit my needs. In the chinese phone arena you need a community to keep you uptodate with roms and rooting etc. If your just after a new phone then take the plunge and buy your phone.

Id swerve the unkown brands or flagship phones as they tend to have bugs and minor issues with their software which may upset your buying experience. Theres nothing worse than buyers remorse when you cant send your unit back due to the high cost of postage.

Ive jusf bought a cubot s200 from a uk reseller on ebay. Its a nice phone but nowt special but ive no real need for high tech cameraas or 4g.

Keep looking and keep us updated with your thoughts

[Guest SlyUK]

Your post makes alot of sense and I hope the cubot s200 is durable & lasts. What I find most people don't talk about, is call quality (but then maybe its fine and there is no need to mention it). I will purchase a phone around April/May i guess & no later than August by the latest.

 

 

 

I also agree with what you are saying, there are many sellers on Aliexpress, but what happens if things go wrong......shipment back to China and buyer protection (you can't pay with PayPal, although i'm sure Aliexpress offer something similar).

 

The other thing I have observed is that this thread isn't as busy as it used to be, has enthusiasm for these alternative brands died down ?

Edited February 24, 2015 by SlyUK

[Guest SlyUK]

Out of interest how many of you are running custom roms on your Coolpad F2. I understand this smartphone & the Yu Yureka are basically the same device, so is anyone running CM12 ?

[Guest SlyUK]

For those of you interested in a phone well under £100, you maybe interested in the Huawei Honor Holly.

[Guest dakok]

This thread is buried down inside Huawei g300 topic and was very popular while g300 was attractive and

later on, while g300 owners were looking for a new China phone. Most of them changed the phone and 

left to another topics and forums.

I asked mods and admins to move this topic to some general discussion Modaco topic but they wouldn't listen :)

 

 

Yureka CM12 is still in experimental phase but is is present at Spanish Movilesdualsim forum, Coolpad F2 topic.

[Guest SlyUK]

This thread is buried down inside Huawei g300 topic and was very popular while g300 was attractive and

later on, while g300 owners were looking for a new China phone. Most of them changed the phone and 

left to another topics and forums.

I asked mods and admins to move this topic to some general discussion Modaco topic but they wouldn't listen :)

 

 

Yureka CM12 is still in experimental phase but is is present at Spanish Movilesdualsim forum, Coolpad F2 topic.

 

Oh right, I agree if its buried nobody will find it. How much effort does it require to move it. Also at 176 pages this thread is also far to long & should have a Part II. Perhaps the Part II thread could be made elsewhere with a link at the start to this one. Tobe honest I've never seen a thread so long. By now on another forum, the 176th page would be a Part 4 and not part 1. If I'm making sense.

 

Just a suggestion.

 

Are there any influential people here, yourself or Tillaz, who can do that or indeed Moderators (if they exist) ?

Edited February 24, 2015 by SlyUK

[Guest SlyUK]

I think these Chinese smartphones (certain brands at least) could do well if more people knew about them. Why spend excessive amounts of money, if you can get something really good at much cheaper price, especially if their are updates as well.

[Guest dakok]

Bingo! :D

 

You may try to poke few mods and admins to make a separate topic.

 

We managed to get a separate Device topic for Coolpad devices

You can read here how it went (even Paul bought one Coolpad F1 :))

 

http://www.modaco.com/topic/372543-coolpad-f1-8297w-review-info-software-custom-roms/page-90

[Guest SlyUK]

I'm new here so I won't have any influence, but it would a very good idea, because surely these unknown brands are surely only going get better (hopefully).

 

Out of interest what do you think about the new Coolpad X7 ?

[Guest EvilSeamanRuby]

im running MyUI on my coolpad F1.

 

+1 for a move for the thread.

 

With regards to call quality, you should maybe checkout a guy called S7YLER. He reviews chinese mobes on his YouTube channel. Thats where i found my S200 review. Many of the forums icluding here, xda etc have quite a lot of chinese fone users and you pick up the tone of the threads with respect to call, quality, build quality and software.

 

Keep looking and you wont be disappointed if you do your homework.

 

Dont let your money burn a hole in your pocket.

 

Maybe wait for some more lollipop phones over the next few months. But given you can get a decent spec phone for a ton, you can  get an new one every 12months or so.

 

ive bought a coolpad f1 a doogee dg2014 turbo and a cubot s200 over the last 18 months all have work well and at that price, they're pretty much disposable, but better than any UK upgrade for the cheaper contacts.

Edited February 24, 2015 by EvilSeamanRuby

[Guest dakok]

Coolpad F1 and F2 will get official Lollipop during August.

When I bought F1 it had official Jellybean, then updated to Kitkat and it will get Lollipop

this summer. Not bad for a China phone :D

[Guest SlyUK]

Thank you both for your responses, I believe the Jiayu S3 will be getting Lollipop at the end of April as well. Like I said I am in no desperate hurry, but at the very latest August. Hopefully use through 2016 as well.

 

If a part 2 thread can be placed in a more prominent position, because after all it will be to the benefit of many, it can't possibly be difficult

 

Is it possible to ask what other english language forum(s) exist which to check out all this kind of stuff (with the exception of XDA).

 

Have a good night :)

[Guest SlyUK]

Dear Mods,

 

Please start a Part 2 thread in an easy to access place, as it will be beneficial to all, as chinese phones will only gain in popularity, as they become more widely known and i'm sure it is easy to do.

 

Best Regards

 

SlyUK