Android Tablets Forum banner

List of Chinese Phones that work in the Americas (WCDMA 850/1900)

220K views 122 replies 35 participants last post by  Zi Jin Cheng 
#1 ·
I spent some time searching for a list of Chinese phones that will work in the Western Hemisphere, couldn't find it so lets start it. Most Chinese phones do not have 3G or WCDMA capabilities to work on 850/1900 frequencies, this is not to be confused with GSM frequencies.

This list is meant to help the smart shopper out. Please feel free to add phones that you have found. Please do not post phones that only work on 850mhz

Oppo Find
Oppo Finder
Xiaomi M2
Xiaomi M1
 
#2 ·
I've been dealing with this recently.

To begin (or recap in case others don't know), most U.S phones work on GSM(2G EDGE) 850/1900. So, if you see on a site "Works on GSM 850/900/1800/1900 WCDMA 850/2100", this phone will work on your basic network, but will most likely NOT work for 3G unless it specifically shows WCDMA 850/1900. Go to http://maps.mobileworldlive.com/ to see what works where.

If you do NOT see both 850 and 1900, there's a good chance your phone won't take advantage of the 3G network on your SIM card. You'll be able to make phone calls, but don't expect data coverage.

Finding those sweet numbers however, can be an endless headache I'm finding out. For some reason, it all depends on the website. One website may list a Hero H2000+ MTK6577 phone as "WCDMA 850/1900" but another will just list it as "WCDMA 2100". I don't know if this is as per the phone, maybe they list what works in their area or maybe the same model phone has slightly different guts with the same model number. I've also seen that model numbers have different specs between chinese phones. A red crayon is not necessary a red crayon in China.

Some phones I have found during my search to get away from iTunes hell of my current iPhone 4.
(I am not affiliated with any reseller, so if I list a company I apologize if I infringe on any rules, this is where I saw what or who I personally dealt with)

A9300 Quad Band MTK6575 - I bought this from Chinabuye and confirmed it works with AT&T 3G. SIM card needs an adapter. This thing is like a tablet though. It has a 5.25" screen. However, there are different internal specs. They sent me a lesser MK6573 which looks identical and works, but now I am having to deal with terrible customer service. It was pretty much bait & switch, but the phone does work, albeit slow (the MT6573 650mhz I rec'd, not the 1.2Ghz I ordered).

The following are phones I am considering and have found (on different sites) compatible listings for 850/1900. There's more but I was looking for decent specs less than $200 and similar in size to the iPhone and possibly the Galaxy S3:

A9300 Quad Band MTK6575 - S3 look alike but 1" bigger
Star i5000 MTK6575 - nice looking iPhone 5 clone and what I'll probably get
Hero H2000+ MTK6577 - another iPhone 5 clone with various internal differences between models (my runner up)
Newman N1 MTK6577 - nice specs on a rounded edge phone
ThL W1 MTK6575
S9300 White MTK6577 - another S3 look alike
JIAYU G2 MT6577 - another i5 lookalike. There's a G3 version that is super sweet but still in pre-order/not widely available
ShangHe Aone 3G MT6575
Goophone I5 MTK6577 (there's different guts in these and no one stocks the $180 range one)

There were more phones that I had found, but again, not every website I came across had the same network specs for the same model number phone. Also some of the internal specs don't match up between websites. Either they go by manufacturer specs or actual specs. Some phones listed ROM space as 4gb but only had 500MB onboard space for apps? Others had the same specs but when it came to battery, one site listed 1200mAh (you'll need to charge often)while another listed 2050mAh for the same phone. Another thing I've run across is the Android version. Mine was listed as having Android 4.0.4 but was just a custom ROM running 2.3.6 that looked like Ice Cream Sandwich. Some of these sites offer an optional tf card but no one will tell me what Class it is. I bought a Class6 from CB and it ended up being an unmarked Class2 :/

Do your homework/research and good luck.
 
#3 ·
Jiayu G2 2100 only.
Newman N1, hard to know with the confusion on all the different sites..... I'm suspecting 2100 only.
Hero H2000+ - the only ones I have come across have been 850/2100.
THL W1 - the W1+ is 850/2100 (I hope) and the russians seem to think that the W1 is too.

Figuring out what frequencies Chinese phones actually support is soooo confusing. If they say WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100 I do not believe it. It seems to generally mean 2100 only.
 
#4 ·
i took a chance and ordered this one
I7100 Smart Phone Android 4.1 MTK6577 Dual Core 1G RAM 3G GPS 5.3 Inch 8.0MP Camera

i don't have any experience ordering from pandawill so i found the exact same spec'd model on ########### http://r.###########.com/JDxitE
Network Support: GSM 850/900/1800/1900mHZ,3G WCDMA 850/1900/2100(IMT-2000)MHz
I live in southern california where t-mobile has been rolling out their 1900mhz network for unlocked iphones.
wish me luck, i'll report back when it arrives!
 
#6 ·
I'm looking into this phone I7100 and the Changjiang N7300;

but its confusing because theres more than one brand manufacture of this phones;

Changjiang N7300 -> states support for WCDMA 850/1900/2100(IMT-2000)MHz
HDC N7300 -> supports only WCDMA 850/2100(IMT-2000)MHz

OEM I7100 -> supports WCDMA 850/1900/2100(IMT-2000)MHz, while i've seen others that only support WCDMA 2100(IMT-2000)MHz.

And these sellers make used car dealers proud :-(.

Let us know your finding and I'll do the same.
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
#8 ·
Looks like 2 different modals are out there for the n7300;

The HDC (OEM) n7300 shows just WCDMA 850/2100, but a original Changjiang N7300 shows support for WCDMA 850/1900/2100. Padawill was showing the difference between the 2, but I think they only have the HDC.

fastcardtech.com shows both modals with different specs.
 
#10 ·
This is a subject that I'm greatly interested in. Ever since I saw a Galaxy note, I've been wanting a bigger screen. (I currently have a HTC EVO Design 4G) I spent 2 days on Aliexpress looking at SII and Note clones and felt like my brain had been thrown in a dryer. Iv'e been buying Chinese tablets for about a year and am pretty comfortable with them. (removing Chinese apps., flashing ROM's, ect...) I am seriously considering a 7" tablet as my next "phone". I know that would be huge, even compared to the Note... and you certainly wouldn't want to be seen holding one up to your head, but that's what Bluetooth headsets are for. There seem to be a LOT of Chinese 7" tablets that are designed specifically for this purpose. I'm currently looking at a Freelander PD10 3G. According to it's specs., it supports 3G WCDMA 850/1900/2100 and 2G GSM 900/1800. My current provider is Sprint which I think uses CDMA 1900. Will this tablet support voice and data??? I really don't know much about the frequency thing.... I find it pretty confusing... This is a dual sim card tab. If there's a good chance I could make this work as a phablet, I'd be willing to take a chance and try it.. Worst case,I'd still have another 7"tablet to play with....
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/7inch-Freelander-PD10-3G-WCDMA-android-tablet-pc-MTK-6575-1-5Ghz-ROM-8GB-Bluetooth-HDMI/626617382.html
I'd really appreciate it if you guys could take a look at this and offer an opinion....
 
#11 ·
I'm currently looking at a Freelander PD10 3G. According to it's specs., it supports 3G WCDMA 850/1900/2100 and 2G GSM 900/1800. My current provider is Sprint which I think uses CDMA 1900. Will this tablet support voice and data???
Looks like a nice tablet. Read the fine print, if any, when dealing through AliExpress. I've been deterred a few times when it got to shipping and there was fine print to call first or the order wouldn't be placed.

According to http://maps.mobileworldlive.com/, Sprint appears to use GSM 1900/ WCDMA 1900 so you might run into some problems with this tablet, then again you might not since Sprint uses 1900 for both bands. It depends on the coverage map and where you are when you decide to use it to make calls.

The tablet supports 3G (WCDMA) 1900, so you're covered for data usage and voice calls where 3G can be utilized. The only problem you would have is when the Tablet might need to switch to a GSM signal(standard cell phone only service). Since the tablet doesn't support GSM 1900, your call is going to drop and not be able to resume until you pick up 3G-1900 again.

If you were using AT&T you would also have the same problem. AT&T uses GSM 850/1900 and WCDMA 850/1900 frequencies. I could use it with data and 3G calls when available but it would drop calls if I was in a poor coverage, (GSM only) area.

Hope this helps. If you want full coverage, make sure both numbers (in your case Sprint) has 1900 in GSM & WCDMA. Freelander looks like it makes some decent products. Good luck
 
#12 ·
I bought one of these before left for a trip to South America: http://www.bing.com/shopping/x26i-mtk6575-1ghz-android-4-0-dual-sim-quadband-4-0-inch/p/873DC45BB01E23BA5020?q=x26i+android+phone&lpf=0&lpq=x26i%2bandroid%2bphone&FORM=EGCA&lppc=16

It's a Star X26i MTK6575 1GHZ. At the time I bought it, most of the sites listed it as 2G: 850/900/1800/1900 and 3G 850/1900/2100 but this wasn't the case.

I bought this to bring to South America with me without taking my iPhone. Real cell phones in some places are like walking around with a bag of cash or that glowing short sword Bilbo had. As soon as you pull it out, everyone's eyes divert to it and you're a target. They sell knockoffs at every corner store where I was going so I figured this would fit right in.

It's a piece of *oops. There's a Sony with almost the same specs/look that I was hoping to get but this ain't it. The frequencies for one are correct for GSM but only 2100 for 3G, oddly enough it worked for my home AT&T, data and everything. The phone itself is plastic crap. It's not even a real cap screen. There's a plastic mesh overlay over glass that detects within a 1/4" space for your finger. In the texting world this is within 9 different letters. I finally put my finger through the screen literally pressing on it to text the correct digit.

Thought I'd share so no one else makes the same mistake. I've given up on Chinese phones for now. I'm back to a frankensteined iPhone
 
#13 ·
If it works on AT&T 3G data it supports wcdma 850 freq. I think probably just supports wcdma 850/2100 frequency, i'm finding thats the case with most of these phones :-(.

I found a seller on dhgate who has a 99.3% positive feedback with over 3700 transaction over 4 years who states that the H7100 phone hes selling supports wcdma 3g: 850/1900/2100 bands.

http://www.dhgate.com/p_ff8080813bdf4af4013bff8dbd3162ae.html
 
#14 ·
Im having the same issue in the bahamas we are using G3 850/1900 as well. i just bought a Star Note II/2 S7180 AKA Star Note II/2 S7100+ AKA UPIA N7100+ AKA UPIA N7100, that right there just shows you the problem in find the right 3g chinese phone. simply put the 3g didn't work, on the bright side i'm actually get free mobile internet but it is very very slow, which leaves me to believe that 850 is for data & 1900 for voice or something like that. when i put in the apn settings the E/H/G but mostly E comes up. if there is no apn enabled the signal doesn't show an EDGE/3G/HSPA icon. this leaves me to believe jiayu, zopo, & thl which all carry the 850/2100 band will not work so beware. also i purchased the phone from merrimoblies
 
#26 ·
I just want to report that neither of these phones " Feiteng H7100 or CUBOT A8809" work on T-mobile 3G 1900 band! I've pretty much given up on these China phones, the specs are all over the place, most of the time they're fake! The Cubot A8809 the specs for the phone on www.cubot.net was listing the phone as supporting "3G 850/1900/2100". I even sent them an email to confirmed I received a reply that it did support 1900 on 3G. But they have since changed the specs to only 850/2100 :-(. and this is the manufacture!

For people on AT&T these phones work great for 3G, but for T-Mobile they don't!
 
#20 ·
I don't have any other phone that supports 1900 band to verify if there is really 3G from T-Mobile in my area.
Nice to hear you got 3G working with a ATT sim card, I ordered one from Net10 yesterday, looking forward getting out of EDGE


PS: ATT serves its 3G from both the 1900 and 850 band, it could be we are picking the signal from the 850 band?
 
#22 ·
I am not an expert, I understand GSM 850/900/1800/1900 is Voice/Text Message and Internet ( GPRS & EDGE), WCDMA/UMT,HSPA is the 3G frecuency 850/1900 Mhz to ATT Network & 1700/2100 & 1900 in some cities to T-Mobile Network.
Now, my question is, We can change the baseband???, Maybe some rom to U.S. can help to fix all this kind problems with the chinese phones. Basically all this phones are working with the same processor Mediatek in differents versions ( 6577/6588/6589), Maybe we can contact some "Kitchen" ( android experts) and finally fix this problem.
My other question is about the codec 3G= HSPA and "4G"...HSPA+, i know the difference is the speed but we can update the codec????, and convert this cellphones in "4G".
Is very important know than this chinese companies are not interested in american market, because they have big markets like China, another Asian countries, east europe, Russia, Brasil, etc, where don't have any problem with copyright by models.
Anyway, this is my first post and I am very happy to be here.
 
#23 ·
I think AT&T is pretty much using just the 850 band for 3g now, not the 1900 band. T-Mobile uses the 1700/2100 for 3G, and also now in certain areas 1900/2100, 1700/2100 bands. For 3g service yes it may just take a firmware update, but for 4G I think it depends on the chip set that's used.
 
#24 ·
From a bad experience I can tell you one phone to avoid. That is the Star (Ulefone) N9330. It is a 5.5", MTK6577 dual core Note-2-ish phone, widely advertised from Chinese suppliers as supporting 850/1900/2100 WCDMA (as well as quad band GSM). The "engineering mode" "band mode" page even highlights WCDMA 1900-PCS as available, and you can check it and it will stay checked. However, the phone absolutely does not communicate on 1900 WCDMA. It's GSM(EDGE) only.

The problem is not the SIM card or service availability. I can take the SIM card and stick back in my old phone and get a nice 1900 MHz "H" connection.

The problem is not the APN settings. I've had multiple conversations with technical support and they are correct.

I've tried every combination of "mobile networks" settings imaginable. I've tried every reasonable adjustment in "engineering mode". I've tried multiple hacks to build.prop that I've found on the net. After two weeks of trying everything I can think of, nothing works.

The N9330 DOES NOT receive 1900MHz WCDMA.
 
#27 ·
#38 · (Edited by Moderator)
As far as I can see these Blu phones use a tegra 3, which from what i recall is widely known for its being NON-moddable. So the google play problem may be a very large problem, unless you are willing to sideload everything using APK's downloaded online. I dont use many programs anyways so if its cheap enough itd be worth considering, also the battery life sorta sucks for an integrated battery, tegra 3 is not known for being battery efficient either.

edit) oops there are a lot of blu models that dont use tegra 3. Though I doubt they will work in America.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100019170&isNodeId=1&Description=Blu+Quattro&x=23&y=12
 
#56 · (Edited by Moderator)
Does yours have HSPA? Some resellers state that there's HSPA while others don't!

I'm not sure if anyone here is from Canada, but I'm with Virgin Mobile and I'm not really familiar with network bands and all that (I only know I want an MTK6589 phone!).

How do I know which phones will work? I know Virgin uses HSPA (maybe WCDMA but which bands?), so most phones won't work?
 
#58 ·
Here's a clarification I'd like to get:

I'm considering a phone (THL W100) whose specs state support for 2G on 850/900/1800/1900. The specs also state 3G support on 850/2100. So it supports 850/1900, the bands AT&T broadcasts 3G, AND it supports 3G, but it doesn't explicitly state that it supports 3G ON 850/1900. Can I infer that it supports 3G on 850/1900?

The vendor states that it will support 3G on 850/1900, but I'm skeptical.

By the same logic, they are saying that it will support 3G on T-Mobile, where they are transmitting 3G on 1900.

IE: If a phone states support for specific 2G frequencies and also states support for 3G, does this imply that the phone also supports 3G on those frequencies, even though it doesn't explicitly state so?

What do you think?
 
#59 · (Edited by Moderator)
You are 110% correct in your skepticism. I am a firm believer in "show me" when it comes to these Chinese phones. The vendors will say ANYTHING (I repeat, ANYTHING) to make a sale. Just keep in mind that once it ships, you're pretty much on your own, so choose carefully and wisely. You are absolutely without question right to be cautious.

That said, I have seen for myself there are phones that do indeed support the 3G (aka WCDMA) 1900 Mhz band though that was not stated in the advertising. I strongly believe that's because most of the world does not use the 1900 band for data, and there are more of "them" (aka, other human beings on this planet) that "us" (as in, well, the US), so from a marketing standpoint I get that.

Here is how I track down the truth about phone bands:

1) See if you can find the phone manufacturer and ask them directly (NOT a reseller). Overall, I have gotten very straightforward answers from the real makers.
2) Check reputable vendor sites to see how the phone is listed. I personally have bought from Geek Buying, and have frequently visited Antelife. I also hear Deals Extreme is good, as is Merimobiles. Send those sites the same question. I usually ask, "Does this phone have WCDMA 850 AND 1900?" or something similar. As I've posted before, get the vendor to say it IN WRITING so that you can open a winnable dispute later on if needed.
3) If the above is not possible, request an actual screen shot from the Android system itself. I forget offhand the specific key sequence, but there is a way you can see what bands are active on a phone.
4) XDA Developers - yeah, if a phone exists, there is probably a thread about it, and these guys get REALLY technical. STRONGLY recommend poking around in there.
5) If you decide to proceed with purchase, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a payment method that protects you, such as PayPal, etc. I don't like using my direct credit card number with these vendors, and PayPal, for all its faults, does offer some sort of payment protection. Another option, as Paypal isn't always possible, is an escrow service, where money is not released to the vendor until you receive the goods AND the goods are satisfactory to you. Of course, investigate the escrow services to see who has high marks for security, business practices, and so forth.

Please note that, if you have to return an item, you most probably will need to pay out of pocket for that, so do keep this in mind. So far, I've only had to return one (1) phone - and it was due to a malfunction, not the incorrect bands. Yep, I paid $35 for SECURE mail with tracking (worth every penny for the peace of mind), and I got a full refund of the purchase price.

Oh, and regarding the THL phone model you ask about - there is a thread on XDA Developers (a LONG one) dealing with this model phone (see here). Btw, I have never personally seen any late-model THL phones with 3G 1900 Mhz. Not that it can't be possible, just I haven't seen it.


Forgot to add Link to THL
 
#60 ·
People need to stop slagging the Chinese vendors. Most of them want to sell 3g 850/1900 phones direct. The problem is that most of them also manufacturer for Samsung, Apple, Motorola, etc either directly or as subcontractors. Every time they come out with a North American compatible smart phone that they market direct (direct meaning not through a big name), their manufacturing contracts for the big brand names get threatened.

They will often try and slip it in on the sly for a while. Sometimes they try and hide who's really manufacturing it, sometimes they just try and keep the fact that it supports our frequencies on the down-low. But sooner or later the big names here catch on and figure out where it's coming from. They threaten them that if they don't "quietly" strip out North American frequencies they'll lose contracts. So the phone gets quietly lobotomized, and customers scream about how awful and sneaky Chinese vendors are. Meanwhile the big names are happy because the clones get a bad rap yet again.

This sort of thing doesn't happen nearly as much in Europe because of the consumer laws there. No laws protect American consumers from American companies strong-arming foreign manufacturers. If the European Commission caught wind of anything like that happening over there, the company would be slapped with a multi-billion dollar fine so fast you'd think what they did to Microsoft was friendly. European countries have a history of working together for common standards anyway. This sort of thing is just something they don't tolerate. So, you can find a gazillion phones that work there.

Frustrating, isn't it.
 
#61 · (Edited by Moderator)
Damn right it is! I don't think anyone really meant to slag on the vendors. It's just the frustration of wanting to give someone your money... and you CAN'T!


But I believe you are absolutely correct; what you say makes perfect sense. I just did more digging at Alibaba and noticed several companies who sell goods there are OEM - meaning they supply parts to other companies. So you can obviously see why Samsung et al would get a bit miffed at one of these suppliers striking out and selling their own phones. Just think what they are privy to - they know EXACTLY how to make a Galaxy Note, S4 or any other product because few if any of these "big name companies" actually do their own work.

For some reason, here in the US, people are under the notion we have a "free market." We don't. If we did, we wouldn't be slaves to so many virtual monopolies (cell phone service providers, cable companies, etc.). However, I do believe that real capitalism is growing by leaps and bounds in China, as several of the phone makers (the ones who actually build them) are now selling phones directly to individual buyers.

On a completely different tangent, another thing to consider at least for those of us in the US. We really are a very small portion of the world's population. From a supplier viewpoint, it makes more sense to mass produce phones for the majority consumer - namely, those with WCDMA 2100. WCDMA 850/2100, IIRC, would cover most of the planet. When you think about it, we're the oddballs.

I am spotting an interesting trend. Some phones, as it turns out, can be ordered with different bands if you ask for it. The iNew i4000 FHD MTK6589 for example has the option of WCDMA 850/1900/2100Mhz or WCDMA 900/1900/2100Mhz. I've sent an email to the vendor to confirm, and am waiting to hear back. If this turns out to be true...
 
#62 · (Edited by Moderator)
I do not understand anything anymore. I have a Chinese phone and the MTK engineering mode from mobileuncle lists the WCDMA-PCS-1900 and WCDMA-CLR-850 bands as available. I live in Canada and I tried to no avail to get a signal (voice or data) from Koodo (Telus) or Virgin(Bell). I would like to know if it is possible that Bell and Telus use the HSPA protocol and the phone does not have it or it is for some other reasons? Anyway, my phone works only on the GSM network which means I am forced to use Rogers/Fido and forget about 3G/4G speeds.

Take my post as a warning... It does not mean your phone will work on your favorite carrier even if the seller and the phone confirm that WCDMA 850/1900 is available.

edited to fix typos..
 
#69 ·
I would like to add "Faea F2" to the list. I know that alot of phones with mtk6589 aren't supporting wcdma in 1900 mhz, which lead me to believe that Faea F2's specs are not 100% correct even if that information is from the offical site. They'll be releasing "Faea F2 Elite" soon, and hopefully by then somebody can confirm its compatability.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top