[minimalist]

The A2 was my first Chinese device purchase. After some fiddling and with the hard work of christian troy, I am pleased with the A2. Are there any phones from Chinese manufacturers with good specs and similar support community worth looking at? It would have to work on virgin in Canada. Value for money most important consideration. Does ainol have any plans for a phone in the future?

[Mr. Splodge]

There are some pretty goood chinese phones out there I think. Just a bit of concern that Chinese phones have a valid IMEI and they support the frequencies they claim to. Like with all Chinese gadgets, there's a lot off rumour, speculation and false information out there. Caveat emptor!!

This post has been edited by Mr. Splodge: 18 November 2012 - 07:09 PM

[mastiandroid5]

minimalist, on 18 November 2012 - 06:57 PM, said:

The A2 was my first Chinese device purchase. After some fiddling and with the hard work of christian troy, I am pleased with the A2. Are there any phones from Chinese manufacturers with good specs and similar support community worth looking at? It would have to work on virgin in Canada. Value for money most important consideration. Does ainol have any plans for a phone in the future?

I am looking forward for the following two devices:

1. Xiaomi Phone 2: www_DOT_engadget.com/2012/08/16/xiaomi-phone-2-quad-core/
2. OPPO Find 5: www_DOT_engadget.com/2012/09/15/oppo-find-5-1080p-441ppi-quad-core/

You might try Xiaomi Phone-2

[Geodex]

mastiandroid5, on 18 November 2012 - 09:41 PM, said:

I am looking forward for the following two devices:

1. Xiaomi Phone 2: www_DOT_engadget.com/2012/08/16/xiaomi-phone-2-quad-core/
2. OPPO Find 5: www_DOT_engadget.com/2012/09/15/oppo-find-5-1080p-441ppi-quad-core/

You might try Xiaomi Phone-2

You don't have to mask your links on here, just code them with the hash tags.

Anyway Xiaomi and OPPO are a bit expensive if you are looking for a budget phone. I got the xiaomi youth though, a very wonderful phone and nice MIUI.

You can consider Jiayu G3, Newman N1 and N2(quad core) just don't buy one of the numerous SIII clones out there. Youtube some videos and check out the corning gorrilla glass on these phones. Massively impressed and with under $250 budget you can snap a Newman N2 which is quad core clocked at 1.5GHz. I've been personally waiting on the Jiayu G3 for 4 months now and still no stock in some of the best known shops. The best shop to checkout new Chinese phones daily will be "fastcardtech" <--- Google for links.

I have personally not bought from them though as I just use their site to checkout the new phones out there and buy from aliexpress from a trusted seller. Fastcardtech got a bad reputation too as well for shipping wrong phones to customers so be careful.

Why I even consider buying a China phone

1. Two sim cards
2. Cheap
3. Some impressive spec for the money
4. Looks cool to be different
5. Design wise and screen size (mostly prefer 4.3 inch - 4.7 inch phones) Anything larger looks weird for use as phone
6. RAM (at least 1gb)
7. Front and rear camera
8. BATTERY

The sad thing is availability of these phones for the international customers is low/non existence as I think the Chinese have no intention of selling overseas to us. Amazing how they sell the xiaomi (through auction), my God who does that? There are a lot of tech site that write news on China phones like gizchina, gizbeat etc etc. Just google your way through. I am mostly on gizchina because of the community base and most people on there comment.

Don't go buying any phone out there because someone recommended it to you Check them out yourself on youtube videos and be very convinced that is what you want. Most China phones don't work on North American frequencies so be careful. I put a lot of thought and research in selecting Jiayu G3 but now I want the Newman N2 now even though it's about $60 more than the Jiayu G3.

I believe you would trash the phone if it gets damaged so don't spend too much on it as well. Too expensive shipping it back and these don't even have warranty.

Anyway just find a good seller with nice reputation on aliexpress and do a bit research through google and youtube to get the best phone you are looking for.

Oh and you can always get your money back when a seller screws you up on aliexpress so I recommend it 100% just don't go buying from any unrated store

Good luck

This post has been edited by Geodex: 19 November 2012 - 03:51 AM

[mastiandroid5]

Geodex, on 19 November 2012 - 02:34 AM, said:

You don't have to mask your links on here, just code them with the hash tags.

Anyway Xiaomi and OPPO are a bit expensive if you are looking for a budget phone. I got the xiaomi youth though, a very wonderful phone and nice MIUI.

Good luck

Thanks. Will do so henceforth.

Although Xiaomi M2 and OPPO Find5 are expensive, they have amazing specs and features (OPPO Find5 is probably the thinnest phone at 6.9mm).

Also, thanks for sharing two good places (fastcardtech and gizchina) to check out the new devices and prices.

The biggest problem of getting these devices from Aliexpress or other online portals to India is, we can never be sure whether we will get the devices, as anything may happen at the customs

In fact, the only reason I bought an Ainol tablet (A2) was because Indian vendors were selling them.

I hope some Indian vendor sells some of the above phones

[Denizci]

My picks so far, after tips from Geodex (in a different topic), are Xiaomi mi2 and OPPO Find5 (has 5"screen). They look great and have some really solid specs. But yet again, prices a little bit high according to an ordinary cheap Chinese phone.

[Geodex]

mastiandroid5, on 19 November 2012 - 02:57 AM, said:

Thanks. Will do so henceforth. Although Xiaomi M2 and OPPO Find5 are expensive, they have amazing specs and features (OPPO Find5 is probably the thinnest phone at 6.9mm).Also, thanks for sharing two good places (fastcardtech and gizchina) to check out the new devices and prices.The biggest problem of getting these devices from Aliexpress or other online portals to India is, we can never be sure whether we will get the devices, as anything may happen at the customs In fact, the only reason I bought an Ainol tablet (A2) was because Indian vendors were selling them.I hope some Indian vendor sells some of the above phones

Denizci, on 19 November 2012 - 03:01 AM, said:

My picks so far, after tips from Geodex (in a different topic), are Xiaomi mi2 and OPPO Find5 (has 5"screen). They look great and have some really solid specs. But yet again, prices a little bit high according to an ordinary cheap Chinese phone.

Meizu is also up there with the Xiaomi. Impressive specs as well but I don't consider them

My reasoning is simply based on pricing and i will trash the phones should anything happen so I wont spend lots of money on a China phone. More reason why I bought the A2

There are a lot of phones there if you use the fastcardtech website. The Jiayu G2 and G2S are both available on the market now and below $200 with good specs.

Why buy dual core when you can get quad core in December for $250?

About aliexpress I can give you my sellers store site but that dude is lazy making links for the new phones He hates preorder links since customers want their neck when the companies delay the phones. IF he puts any of these phones up and it's available I will provide links here as he doesn't charge $1 more like the other stores on aliexpress.

If your customs open the parcels up I think you are screwed but he can hide the phones well. Trust me hahaha

This post has been edited by Geodex: 19 November 2012 - 03:27 AM

[yash3339]

There's a phone called Vivo X1 which claims to be the thinnest at 6.6mm. To be practical, that would be too thin to use.
I am a fan of Chinese electronics now. Just bought a UMi X1 10 days back =)

Sent from my UMI X1 using Tapatalk 2

[Geodex]

yash3339, on 19 November 2012 - 03:27 AM, said:

There's a phone called Vivo X1 which claims to be the thinnest at 6.6mm. To be practical, that would be too thin to use.
I am a fan of Chinese electronics now. Just bought a UMi X1 10 days back =)

Sent from my UMI X1 using Tapatalk 2

Hahaha I thought same when I saw the photos on here

http://www.gizchina.com/2012/10/31/worlds-thinnest-phone-vivo-x1-real-photos-leaked/

Is that a phone

Nice phone you got yourself. The UMi X1 is a very good phone. In fact many readers from gizchina opted for the UMi when Jiayu G3 was out of stock.

Very good buy mate.

EDIT: I forgot, I edited my post above to add BATTERY to my list. You don't want a smart phone with a dumb battery

Jiayu G3 has 2700mAH
Newman N2 got 2500mAH

Both last for a good 24hr period without needing charge I think.

Lastly check why the xiaomi m2 kicks ass

http://www.gizchina.com/2012/09/24/xiaomi-m2-is-faster-than-the-samsung-galaxy-s3-and-more/

This post has been edited by Geodex: 19 November 2012 - 03:55 AM

[Denizci]

Hey check out the video on this page
http://www.gizchina....ith-its-screen/

They smash walnuts with the phones screen LOL

[jimac]

http://www.etotalk.c...200c7c7fbccd975

seems to be in-stock here.
I bought a ZTE V970 from them a few weeks back

[Geodex]

Denizci, on 19 November 2012 - 06:25 AM, said:

Hey check out the video on this pagehttp://www.gizchina.com/2012/09/06/watch-the-jiayu-g3-smash-walnuts-with-its-screen/They smash walnuts with the phones screen LOL

Nice right? I like the one the tester scrapes the screen with a sharp object several times.

jimac, on 19 November 2012 - 07:28 AM, said:

http://www.etotalk.c...c7fbccd975seems to be in-stock here.I bought a ZTE V970 from them a few weeks back

It's very expensive there considering the retailers get them for $140 and it's sold in China for $180. DHL shipping of about $30 to North America should sum the total cost to $210. I think etotalk will charge more if you want to ship with DHL which is ridiculous imho. At that price of about $300 I will consider the Nexus 4 even without SD slot considering the support I will get from google, CM and xda.

This post has been edited by Geodex: 19 November 2012 - 08:24 AM

[minimalist]

Wow, great responses here. It seems like Chinese phones are at least worth looking into. Are any of you using these devices in North America? What is the benefit to having two sim cards? Is there such a thing as a (quality) sub $150 phone, or even sub $100? Or is this simply not possible with the hardware inside a phone? Are you finding accessories such as cases, etc available for your devices? What brand offers best community support?

[fcsabika]

I have the Newman N1
It has community support, has a big topic on XDA with good ROM.
I'm very satisfied with the phone.
I bought it for $170 and it has dual-core CPU, qHD 4.3" screen, 8 MP camera and 720p video recording.
It is thin, very fast, nice, and shots beautiful photos and videos.
It was absolutely a best-buy.
I really like Gommers' ICS rom on it, but if Christian Troy would have it and would make CM10 for it, then it would be a dream

[mastiandroid5]

Yes, the big problem with customs in India is they open up stuff and sometimes send you neatly repackaged empty boxes.

I might consider buying xiaomi if I can get it via ########### in India.

Also waiting for some quad core tablet from Ainol

Sent from my LG-P880 using Tapatalk 2

[Nickos-V]

Geodex, on 19 November 2012 - 03:42 AM, said:

EDIT: I forgot, I edited my post above to add BATTERY to my list. You don't want a smart phone with a dumb battery

Jiayu G3 has 2700mAH
Newman N2 got 2500mAH

Both last for a good 24hr period without needing charge I think.

I was looking into buying a Chinese phone for about $150 but never did because I was worried about the battery life.

I believe they do 2-3 days on standby? That is what lots of sellers say for these phones. Is this true or not? 2-3 days standby would be too little for me. I would want at least 7 days minimum standby.

The Nexus 4 is supposed to have a maximum of 15 hours talk time and 390 hours (16.25 days) standby. I need to look for the minimum to see the lowest it does. It costs around $300 in USA & Canada. You also will get very good build quality and latest & most stable Android releases. Anyone that can get it for $300 and looking to spend $275+ on a phone should really consider the Nexus 4 instead.

This post has been edited by Nickos-V: 19 November 2012 - 12:26 PM

[Geodex]

Nickos-V, on 19 November 2012 - 12:25 PM, said:

I was looking into buying a Chinese phone for about $150 but never did because I was worried about the battery life.

I believe they do 2-3 days on standby? That is what lots of sellers say for these phones. Is this true or not? 2-3 days standby would be too little for me. I would want at least 7 days minimum standby.

The Nexus 4 is supposed to have a maximum of 15 hours talk time and 390 hours (16.25 days) standby. I need to look for the minimum to see the lowest it does. It costs around $300 in USA & Canada. You also will get very good build quality and latest & most stable Android releases. Anyone that can get it for $300 and looking to spend $275+ on a phone should really consider the Nexus 4 instead.

What phone is it? I know for a fact some Chinese clone phones and snap some numbers on the battery to sell. I was surprised to see a 2000mAh battery lasting for 5-6hrs on an SIII clone running ICS.

Some China phones with 1880-1930mAh(min/typ) is the usual 2-3 days on standby but the known brands like Xiaomi, Meizu, Zopo, Oppo, Beidou, Jiayu, Newman etc can last a little longer than 7-8 days on standby. I got the xiaomi youth personally with battery marked at 1950mAh and it's good for 2-3 days with wifi on and normal phone usage before needing charge. Honestly I don't consider standby when buying phone as I am constantly using it every time of the day so only thing that matters to me is the usage time and I think at least 2 days before recharging is ok for me.

We have the same thinking on buying these China brand phones above $300 mark Nick. I initially have my mark set at $200 for China phones but the n2 really at $250 is a no brainer. I personally wont high cost China phones no matter what and that's why I buy a phone from China well among other reasons. To get cheap prices since I have no way of returning them if it's damaged in anyway.

I will get the Newman N2 rather than the Nexus 4 though if the December release really has the $250 price tag on it else it's Jiayu G3. Support is good and has external sd card slot with better specs than the Nexus 4. Nexus 4 will obviously standout with massive OS support considering there is already Official CM roms and good warranty. No replaceable battery on the Nexus is a very big let down for me as well.

This post has been edited by Geodex: 19 November 2012 - 05:48 PM

[minimalist]

Anyone tried the Lenovo Lephone? I see a few models around $100. Looks like decent specs.

[yash3339]

Geodex, on 19 November 2012 - 03:42 AM, said:

Hahaha I thought same when I saw the photos on here

http://www.gizchina.com/2012/10/31/worlds-thinnest-phone-vivo-x1-real-photos-leaked/

Is that a phone

Nice phone you got yourself. The UMi X1 is a very good phone. In fact many readers from gizchina opted for the UMi when Jiayu G3 was out of stock.

Very good buy mate.

EDIT: I forgot, I edited my post above to add BATTERY to my list. You don't want a smart phone with a dumb battery

Jiayu G3 has 2700mAH
Newman N2 got 2500mAH

Both last for a good 24hr period without needing charge I think.

Lastly check why the xiaomi m2 kicks *arse

http://www.gizchina.com/2012/09/24/xiaomi-m2-is-faster-than-the-samsung-galaxy-s3-and-more/

Thanks! I am pleased with it

Well, if your budget permits, go for brands like Huawei and Xiaomi and lenovo.. better quality, better support, and these are companies selling internationally..

Xiaomi M2 does kick *arse, and in style! Phones like Jaiyu G3 (it is like folklore for me ) do not even come close to these.
Check out Huawei Honor 2. Although I'm not sure about the battery..


Sent from my UMI X1 using Tapatalk 2

[Mr. Splodge]

I would go for the Xiaomi M2 if is wasn't for the fact it doesn't do WCDMA 900. I'd have to switch networks to use 3G in rural areas. I like the look of the UMI X1 but it's only 1GHz, which is a shame. My current phone is 2 years old and it's 1GHz. I think they could have put a faster CPU in it for not much more money.