Guest Tefaz Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 (edited) Hi everyone. I've been a Skate owner for a few years and it's been a good ride, but it's time to move on. I am looking for a new value phone, here are my requirements:Quad Core1GB+ RAMAt least ~4 inch display, ideally 720pGood 3G connectivity in the UK (my understanding is that I need both 900MHz and 2100MHz for that, correct me if I am wrong)under £200 The phone will ideally have ROM support, although that is not necessary. I have looked at a couple of Chinese phones so far, including Vowney V5 and Jiayu G4, and what's bothered me is the lack of 900MHz 3G support. Is that something I should be too worried about or is it just a matter of slightly lower internet speed? Are there other good value phones that fit my requirements? Edited July 4, 2013 by Tefaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Voxpop2011 Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Well I moved from the Skate to the Huawei Ascend G510 and whilst it is faster, smoother and an altogether better looking phone than the Skate, I am a little disappointed with it so far. I and some others have experienced random re-boots and logo screen freezing, which has necessitated a return to Vodafone. On the upside, it is relatively easy to root and you can apply for a bootloader unlock via the Huawei site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tefaz Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Thanks for the reply, Vexpop. I've checked out the Ascend and it looks a bit dated. The 480 x 854 pixels display and the 512MB RAM are all pretty much equal to what I have now. After I've seen a phone of the calibre of Vowney V5 for about £130, I've come to expect something more modern for that price. I'll update my requirements to reflect this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mi nombre Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Jiayu G3S, search it, this will be my next phone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest omegavesko Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 I was going to recommend the Nexus 4 until you mentioned the price requirement. I don't think you'll find any phones that fit those specs unless you're willing to buy second-hand or Chinese phones (which can be very hit-or-miss). Actually, you could probably get a One X or something for 200 quid. Not sure if you can get it for that much new, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tefaz Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 (edited) The Jiayu G3s looks VERY enticing, but once again I have to voice my concern about connectivity in the UK. I have looked up more information on this matter and it seems that the 900MHz band is used to augment the 2100MHz 3G, providing higher speeds and, more importantly, better penetration and signal coverage. If my new phone can play Flash and display high-fidelity content, I would like to be able to _get_ to that content, if you know what I mean :) @omegavesko, I am willing to buy a Chinese phone, or a 2nd hand phone, for that matter. In fact, the Orange Monte Carlo that I own right now is the Chinese-manufactured ZTE Skate, which I am quite happy with in terms of quality. I have also taken a look at the Nexus 4 and its price seems a bit steep, although it is probably the best value from such a mainstreem brand. There are other concerns with it though, namely the fact that storage cannot be expanded physically and I have to resort to dropbox. There is also the problem of battery capacity. 2100mAh seems a bit low for the rest of the hardware. HTC One X seems very expensive and out of the question at £400+ I think I would be pretty happy with a 2nd hand Nexus 4, if the price is right :P I've been following ebay on that matter but in the meantime, I would like to know if there are cheaper alternatives that I don't know about. Edited July 4, 2013 by Tefaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest omegavesko Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 You could definitely get a used Nexus 4 or One X for 200 quid. I've been looking myself and used One Xs go for as low as 200€ sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GOliath00 Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Check out the Wiko Cink Five ; quadcore, 1Go RAM, 5' display, and under 200£ (but i'd recommend the nexus4, or to wait the MotoX) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tefaz Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 (edited) Wiko Cink Five (France) = Micromax HD A116(India), it would seem. Both seem to be hard to acquire as they seem to mostly be focused on their countries. Chinese phones seem easier to acquire, funnily enough. Their price also translates to £200+, at which point the Nexus 4 is simply the better choice. Edited July 4, 2013 by Tefaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dibbles Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 See my last few posts about the Razr i that I placed in this thread.... We paid £150 for the phone (had to buy a Sim card as well though) and it is simply superb and head and shoulders above the Skate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JetKun Posted July 4, 2013 Report Share Posted July 4, 2013 Jiayu G4, for sure./Quad Core1GB+ RAM4.7" 720pGood 3G connectivity in the UK (my understanding is that I need both 900MHz and 2100MHz for that, correct me if I am wrong)under £200 Also, lovely metal band and 3000mah battery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ilsang06200 Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 You can buy the acer liquid e2: -Have 1.2 Ghz Quad core+ Power VR -1 GB of ram and 2 go of space for apps -4.5" 960*540 ips display -He have a connectivity 42.2 mbps in 3G -Jelly bean 4.2 -Price: 180 -battery:2000 mah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tefaz Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Thanks for the suggestions guys, buy especially you dibbles! At first I was skeptical about what was dubbed as the first single-core Intel Atom phone but I kept on reading. A phone that was only recently £250+, now reduced to £150 (+£10 for a manditory card >_>) hinted about a pretty amazing deal. What pushed me over the endge was the fact that that thing had competitive performance (13k Antutu stock, higher with custom ROMs), had proper suppport for all 3G bands (no LTE, unfortunately, that would have been amazing...) and on top of that, unprecedented battery life for an android phone. I suspect that this phone might have the best single-core performance out there and the Hyper-Threading offsets the multi-core problem quite a bit. Since it's an X86 processor, you can do other exciting things such as installing proper desktop Linux on it :) The phone seemed so good at that price that I decided to immediately go to Three and buy it, before they ran out :) Thanks again dibbles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dibbles Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 (edited) You are most welcome. We both have that phone and it is simply phenomenal for the price. The speed of that processor and the quality of the camera in single photo mode (esp HDR) and then when shooting 1080p is incredible to be seen. Streaming direct to the TV is great and it is a must buy for that price for anyone looking for a suitable upgrade for around £150 or so. Even though I was kinda tempted at one or two of the Chinese type phones my personal impression is that they can be a litle lacking of consistant build quality and the photos etc that they produce are not that great - big generalisation but that swayed me enough to pop to my local 3 store and grab two of those Motorola phones. Any issues or problems I'm dealing face to face with a local phone shop and not like my father in law in spending ages in anguish tracking his two returned phones bought from Amazon and Dealextreme. Edited July 5, 2013 by dibbles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tefaz Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 By the way, dibbles, can you confirm that the RAZR I phones Three are selling are unlocked? I am currently with GiffGaff it would be annoying to have to go through the whole unlock process again... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dibbles Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 We bought both of our phones separately, but from the same 3 store, and we were told that they would be both locked to 3. Apparently that is quite common for them to say that as they are perhaps hoping you will use their service or pay them £15 to unlock it via their website. However we got each of them home to find that the GiffGaff sim (once cut down to micro size) worked a treat and they were indeed completely unlocked. From the many others who have bought them I have yet to read anything different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tefaz Posted July 5, 2013 Report Share Posted July 5, 2013 Awesome! That was the only thing I had left to worry about, just have to wait until Monday now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveCl Posted July 7, 2013 Report Share Posted July 7, 2013 I've ordered myself one of these from 3 online. It looks a good deal - particularly if it comes unlocked. I also got £12.50 off using Quidco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xander21 Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 (edited) There is no point to choose a quad-core if you take an average CPU. I think you better go for Nexus 4 or any other phone with the Snapdragon CPU like the MI-2 S or Tegra CPU. . Maybe this could help a bit : http://www.androidbe...k.net/index.php Edited July 8, 2013 by xander21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bAzYx Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 If you are more concerned by ethics than by bigger bang for the buck, do like me:get a www.fairphone.com It is a very good phone and completely open (i.e. rooted) Plus they will most probably support installing other OS'es like FireFoxOS and Ubuntu Touch. Not many phone producers go that far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest omegavesko Posted July 8, 2013 Report Share Posted July 8, 2013 If you are more concerned by ethics than by bigger bang for the buck, do like me:get a www.fairphone.com It is a very good phone and completely open (i.e. rooted) Plus they will most probably support installing other OS'es like FireFoxOS and Ubuntu Touch. Not many phone producers go that far. Eh. I've seen that before, and it really doesn't seem convincing to me. They claim to put 'social values' first, and then make a phone with a MediaTek chip produced in a random Chinese cheap labour factory. And I'm guessing that's the case for some of the other components as well. I'm glad that they're leading the way by making sure the phone itself is made in good working conditions, but that doesn't mean much unless they closely monitor where the components come from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest xander21 Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 In theory, electric devices are made to never fail and never age. Some 2000 phone (Nokia as example) are still working and they were far, 10 years ago, to have the quality of our "cheap labour factory". I never had a phone that break itself so far. Only some parts fails : battery, buttons, SD slot connectors. And this was mostly after the end of the warranty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bAzYx Posted July 9, 2013 Report Share Posted July 9, 2013 They claim to put 'social values' first, and then make a phone with a MediaTek chip produced in a random Chinese cheap labour factory. And I'm guessing that's the case for some of the other components as well. Every little step counts... At the very least, they are advocating for a "cleaner" phone which might trigger the other producers to turn their heads to that issue also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SteveCl Posted July 11, 2013 Report Share Posted July 11, 2013 Got my RAZR I yesterday and I'm well impressed. I can confirm it is unlocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kamango604 Posted July 12, 2013 Report Share Posted July 12, 2013 Eh. I've seen that before, and it really doesn't seem convincing to me. They claim to put 'social values' first, and then make a phone with a MediaTek chip produced in a random Chinese cheap labour factory. And I'm guessing that's the case for some of the other components as well. I'm glad that they're leading the way by making sure the phone itself is made in good working conditions, but that doesn't mean much unless they closely monitor where the components come from. http://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/List-of-Suppliers.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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