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[Q] Which phone should I buy ?

So, I am going to buy a phone but cannot decide which one to choose. I mean I want a phone which can be
easily (sim) unlocked
easily rooted
can install ROMS with ease
The phone should be a high speed one and should not lag.
It should have a pretty good built-in memory.
The phone should be compatible with most of of the HD Games available in market.
It's camera should be a nice one.
It should support a wide range of applications.
It should support Flash Player, Java ..., I mean it should support browsing almost like a computer browser.
Personally I would prefer an Symbian or Android based phone. Though if windows phone have a variety of apps and can easily be rooted (if that's a term for windows mobile), I may get that.
And NO !!! No iPhone
Size\Weight\Price is not any concern.
Your help will really be appreciated.
Thanks !!!​

so u should buy the samsung galaxy s2 it's the best phone on market!
It fullfills all your desires

If you want Flash support then you're better off with an Android phone, otherwise WP7 is a good alternative. Wouldn't buy a symbian phone if i were you, its a platform thats slowly dying.

buy samsung galaxy s2 best mobile

Galaxy S2 best phone ever !

P4vLOx said:
Galaxy S2 best phone ever !
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+1
it's the soooooooouuuul train!

Motorola Defy. Nice one, and supported by a great number of custom firmwares (miui, cm, wiui)

downloaderintruder said:
If you want Flash support then you're better off with an Android phone, otherwise WP7 is a good alternative. Wouldn't buy a symbian phone if i were you, its a platform thats slowly dying.
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Do u mean Adobe Flash or ROM-Flash-support ?

I think its hard to choose,because your phone seems perfect! But when you buy it you will find never it perfect. So,I think you can choose HTC(camera may not good,but system nice)or samsung i9100

Ok, so i am considering between HTC & Galaxy S-2, but if I am going for HTC, the question is : which HTC phone is equal to GS2? I mean in ease,speed & features.

Get an htc hd2. Pretty much every custom android ROM for the thing us pre-rooted anyway

[Q] Looking for information

Hey, as of today I bought the Lenovo A880, I know this is an A850 forum but there doesn't seem to be any A880 forums. I looked at the specs and there are little differences between the two phone, same OS, processor etc. But different GPU (Mali-400), 8GB storage etc.
This is my first time buying a phone from China, or even outside of my home country (Ireland), but may I ask is there anything I need to do to the phone in order for it to work in the European market or even in Ireland?
I'd love some decent advice as I said, I'm a noob at this!
Thank you

MichaelCycleTheBycle said:
Hey, as of today I bought the Lenovo A880, I know this is an A850 forum but there doesn't seem to be any A880 forums. I looked at the specs and there are little differences between the two phone, same OS, processor etc. But different GPU (Mali-400), 8GB storage etc.
This is my first time buying a phone from China, or even outside of my home country (Ireland), but may I ask is there anything I need to do to the phone in order for it to work in the European market or even in Ireland?
I'd love some decent advice as I said, I'm a noob at this!
Thank you
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Most shops sent the device ready for use (inside Europe). There are some people saying that they have signal problems (in USA for ex.) but generaly i think you will not have any problems
If the phone does not have a playstore, rooted and install it or flash it with a pre-rooted rom... most times all these are by default.

GreatApo said:
Most shops sent the device ready for use (inside Europe). There are some people saying that they have signal problems (in USA for ex.) but generaly i think you will not have any problems
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This kinda has me confused, the phone is made for the Chinese market but I can use it in Ireland as if I walked to my local phone shop and bought any phone? Am I getting this much right?
GreatApo said:
If the phone does not have a playstore, rooted and install it or flash it with a pre-rooted rom... most times all these are by default.
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Would you mind explaining this to me? I'm well used to working with computers, this will be the first time I having done anything technical with phones, I just generally used them for calls, texts and social media.

MichaelCycleTheBycle said:
This kinda has me confused, the phone is made for the Chinese market but I can use it in Ireland as if I walked to my local phone shop and bought any phone? Am I getting this much right?
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Yes, most times it is like getting the phone from your nead store.
ZTE are chinese phones but you can go out and buy one from a near store. On the other hand, Lenovo has not expand its phone devices in europe, so there may not be your language in the phone (but good devs have cooked the officials ROMs so these things are available).
An other issue is when the phone is "locked" and this means that is ment to be for only specific companies (ex Vodafone) but most phones are unlocked
MichaelCycleTheBycle said:
Would you mind explaining this to me? I'm well used to working with computers, this will be the first time I having done anything technical with phones, I just generally used them for calls, texts and social media.
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Root means gaining administrator access over your phone. Normally, when you buy a phone you are a user not an administrator. When we talk about android, root access is having administrators rights, on iPhone it is called jailbreak (also on playstation 3 or PSP ). Why to gain access? Then you will have the full control of your phone, which for a normal android user it is not so usefull BUT since you have an XDA account your are not a normal user
The Google Play is the largest app store on androids (most devices have it as a default) but if you do not have it you need root access to install it. Then you can download apps easily from there
Flash means sth like formating/changing the operation system (ex. windows) of your phone. There are ROMs (phone firmwares) made by some developers that may be better than the one you may have. Example: you may be able to move apps to SDcard, the google play will be installed and the phone will be rooted. Most chinese stores install such ROMs before they sent the phone to you
The difference with the PCs is that each ROM is specified for each phone (drivers issues). So you can't just grap a ROM from a850 and put it in a880. The flashing process is also defferent from phone to phone (most times between companies). Ex: if you want to flash a sony phone you do not use the same program you use for a MTK device (like Lenovo's), and yes you flash your phone while you have it connected with your computer.
I wrote you some general info, you can google anything for more details. I hope you got the general idea

GreatApo said:
Yes, most times it is like getting the phone from your nead store.
ZTE are chinese phones but you can go out and buy one from a near store. On the other hand, Lenovo has not expand its phone devices in europe, so there may not be your language in the phone (but good devs have cooked the officials ROMs so these things are available).
An other issue is when the phone is "locked" and this means that is ment to be for only specific companies (ex Vodafone) but most phones are unlocked
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Gotchya, I definitely made sure that the phone was unlocked before I actually bought it, I just can't get over the price difference between Chinese phone companies and International phone companies, for the A880 I paid in the region of €100-€150 I've done a bit of research and what not on it and it's a tad more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy S3 which would cost someone €600-€700
GreatApo said:
Root means gaining administrator access over your phone. Normally, when you buy a phone you are a user not an administrator. When we talk about android, root access is having administrators rights, on iPhone it is called jailbreak (also on playstation 3 or PSP ). Why to gain access? Then you will have the full control of your phone, which for a normal android user it is not so usefull BUT since you have an XDA account your are not a normal user
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Click to collapse
Aha! :highfive: I know what you're talking about now, the word 'root' was throwing me off
GreatApo said:
Flash means sth like formating/changing the operation system (ex. windows) of your phone. There are ROMs (phone firmwares) made by some developers that may be better than the one you may have. Example: you may be able to move apps to SDcard, the google play will be installed and the phone will be rooted. Most chinese stores install such ROMs before they sent the phone to you
The difference with the PCs is that each ROM is specified for each phone (drivers issues). So you can't just grap a ROM from a850 and put it in a880. The flashing process is also defferent from phone to phone (most times between companies). Ex: if you want to flash a sony phone you do not use the same program you use for a MTK device (like Lenovo's), and yes you flash your phone while you have it connected with your computer.
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I have a slight idea of it now, I nearly **** myself earlier because I thought I made a HUGE mistake aha! I'll definitely look into it more, thanks for the replies, really appreciated. I'll definitely let you know how I get on and how well the phone works, if you are interested

MichaelCycleTheBycle said:
Gotchya, I definitely made sure that the phone was unlocked before I actually bought it, I just can't get over the price difference between Chinese phone companies and International phone companies, for the A880 I paid in the region of €100-€150 I've done a bit of research and what not on it and it's a tad more powerful than the Samsung Galaxy S3 which would cost someone €600-€700
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Price differences are true. Lenovo a850 (my phone) costs 120€ from china and 240€ in Greece. This is because of the taxies, some stores order these phones (since lenovo has not open its phones in Europe) so there are more taxies.
On the other hand, there are some good choises made by Lenovo to hit the market with a lower cost. Your screen is not the same with S3, it may have twice the pixels your phone has, with a better screen quality. Is this so important? For me, no, but it is for sure more expencive.
The phone's camera most times is lower, and most people (people that do not know anything of computers) search for a new phone based on the camera and the logo on the phone, plus it is more expencive to have a better camera. Less RAM is an other feature of Lenovo phones, based to other devieces you can compare them...
From my stand point, you take what you pay. The trick is to take the phone from China, its half the price. Since i want to have a fast phone, i am ok with a lower camera, i do not care. About the screen, MY TV IS FULL HD, why the hell should my phone also be??? This is far too much...

GreatApo said:
On the other hand, there are some good choises made by Lenovo to hit the market with a lower cost. Your screen is not the same with S3, it may have twice the pixels your phone has, with a better screen quality. Is this so important? For me, no, but it is for sure more expencive.
The phone's camera most times is lower, and most people (people that do not know anything of computers) search for a new phone based on the camera and the logo on the phone, plus it is more expencive to have a better camera.
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I've always had an under-powered phone compared to family and friends, and being into computer I'd much rather have processing power, RAM and the likes. The screen on the A880 will be probably be the best screen I ever had as well as the camera. The most pixels I ever had is probably 2.5 haha
GreatApo said:
Less RAM is an other feature of Lenovo phones, based to other devieces you can compare them...
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Really? The A880 has 1GB of RAM I thought that was good since the bog standard desktops at work have 2GB of RAM
GreatApo said:
From my stand point, you take what you pay. The trick is to take the phone from China, its half the price. Since i want to have a fast phone, i am ok with a lower camera, i do not care. About the screen, MY TV IS FULL HD, why the hell should my phone also be??? This is far too much...
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Yeah and you could buy a half decent camera for €50/60 and still save a couple of hundred Euro!
I just found out that the phone comes already rooted with Google Play installed, sweet!

MichaelCycleTheBycle said:
Really? The A880 has 1GB of RAM I thought that was good since the bog standard desktops at work have 2GB of RAM
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Lenovo A850 is a cheap edition of Samsung Note 2 (no in the appearance). Note 2 has 2 GB of ram... i do not know if is is too much but i know 1GB is good enough for me
MichaelCycleTheBycle said:
I just found out that the phone comes already rooted with Google Play installed, sweet!
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I told you, most sellers take care of such things.

Malware: Change ROM if Fake Phone

The affected model “N9500″ is produced by the Chinese manufacturer Star and looks very similar to a smartphone from a well-known manufacturer. It is not possible to remove the manipulated app and the spyware since they are integrated into the firmware. Large online retailers are still selling the Android device at prices ranging from 130 to 165 euros and distributing it across Europe.
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http://beforeitsnews.com/science-an...n-firmware-by-chinese-manucturer-2701904.html

Lol, easy to say.
I want to see one ROM that is built for those phones and does not include that malware.

I want to see one firmware update for this phone....

Even the BBC ran this story. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-27908105
The phone doesn't even look like a Note 3. It looks like an S4/S5. Try there.

[Q] Rom compatibility on regional s6 variants?

I am planning to buy the s6, my country has the 920I model. My question is will there be enough rom support for this variant? As I see the 920F is the global variant, and it will get major support from rom developers. Will the 920F roms run on the 920I version too? I read somewhere that the Roms for the F version can be flashed on the I version by modifying the updater script. Most s5 and Note 4 users follow the updater script technique. How safe is it ? Will there be support from roms like (Liquidsmooth, Temasek, Crdroid, Beanstalk, Slim, DirtyUnicorns, Euphoria)? Any input is appreciated

You will find support limited at best. Most developers will not developer for Samsung devices unless they have the Qualcomm chip which we all know the S6 doesn't. So you may get some support but I know almost for sure that DU won't support it.

zelendel said:
You will find support limited at best. Most developers will not developer for Samsung devices unless they have the Qualcomm chip which we all know the S6 doesn't. So you may get some support but I know almost for sure that DU won't support it.
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Lol. I had a s3, exynos chip and DU supported it although I do not like DU. Well, the good thing is that there is no snapdragon variant, so ROM support will be universal. The question is the global version is 920F, and there will be a 920I version in my country. Will the F version roms be install friendly on the I version? I saw the note 4 forums and some people were able to flash roms by changing the updater script.

Siddheshpatil said:
Lol. I had a s3, exynos chip and DU supported it although I do not like DU. Well, the good thing is that there is no snapdragon variant, so ROM support will be universal. The question is the global version is 920F, and there will be a 920I version in my country. Will the F version roms be install friendly on the I version? I saw the note 4 forums and some people were able to flash roms by changing the updater script.
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That was when people trusted Samsung. Once They lied to people about offering the Documentation on the device so roms would work properly people walked away from them.
Will they be universal? No one can say for sure until they start getting the devices. The updater script works but you run a huge risk when doing something like that.

zelendel said:
That was when people trusted Samsung. Once They lied to people about offering the Documentation on the device so roms would work properly people walked away from them.
Will they be universal? No one can say for sure until they start getting the devices. The updater script works but you run a huge risk when doing something like that.
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well, Looks like I dont have many options then. I cannot have my Nexus 6 because of Uneven display, I can buy the one plus one but it is a year old. There are no good developer friendly phones out there

Siddheshpatil said:
well, [emoji14] Looks like I dont have many options then. I cannot have my Nexus 6 because of Uneven display, I can buy the one plus one but it is a year old. There are no good developer friendly phones out there
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So what if it is year old? The hardware is still good. Heck my 2 devices are 3 and 4 years old.
There are many great developers devices still out there. The newest device is not always the best device. But if your looking for a device that will most likely see lots of development then you could look at the m9.

zelendel said:
So what if it is year old? The hardware is still good. Heck my 2 devices are 3 and 4 years old.
There are many great developers devices still out there. The newest device is not always the best device. But if your looking for a device that will most likely see lots of development then you could look at the m9.
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Naah, not htc. You do have a point, even if it's a year old it is still a good device and reasonably priced almost half that of n6 with double storage capacity. I heard rumors of oneplus two coming this april. I dont know how true those are but looks like opo is the best option to go with right now, it has a lot of rom development going on.

Siddheshpatil said:
Naah, not htc. You do have a point, even if it's a year old it is still a good device and reasonably priced almost half that of n6 with double storage capacity. I heard rumors of oneplus two coming this april. I dont know how true those are but looks like opo is the best option to go with right now, it has a lot of rom development going on.
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I heard it is as well. I have been keeping an eye on them for a while and almost bought one but after they got some of the PA team to work on the rom I changed my mind.

Does the Gear S3 Frontier work with the Nokia 6.1(2018)?

Hello! I have a Nokia 6.1, the 2018 model. I'm looking for a smartwatch and so far this is the best one. I found one at a really good price and I want to buy it. However I was scrolling through the compatibility list on the Samsung Gear website, and I couldn't find any Nokia devices. To my surprise, there was no Google phone as well. I have seen tho Pixel 3s connecting to the Gear S3. My question is, will the device work with my phone, or will I get "scammed" and I'll lose aprox. 200$? There are some ancient smartphones on the device list, like the Sharp Aquos? ( how many ppl do use that?). Thanks

mattdiamond17 said:
Hello! I have a Nokia 6.1, the 2018 model. I'm looking for a smartwatch and so far this is the best one. I found one at a really good price and I want to buy it. However I was scrolling through the compatibility list on the Samsung Gear website, and I couldn't find any Nokia devices. To my surprise, there was no Google phone as well. I have seen tho Pixel 3s connecting to the Gear S3. My question is, will the device work with my phone, or will I get "scammed" and I'll lose aprox. 200$? There are some ancient smartphones on the device list, like the Sharp Aquos? ( how many ppl do use that?). Thanks
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I don't see why any Android phone wouldn't work. Nevermind they aren't updating the compatibility list this late in it's life and I'd imagine it wasn't updated at all since the device was first released. One issue you may have is the native texting app not working with the watch but the fix is using something like Textra or Google Messages.

I'm using the S3 with a Nokia 7 plus, and it runs perfectly.
My guess is that it will also work well with the 6.1

pcriz said:
I don't see why any Android phone wouldn't work. Nevermind they aren't updating the compatibility list this late in it's life and I'd imagine it wasn't updated at all since the device was first released. One issue you may have is the native texting app not working with the watch but the fix is using something like Textra or Google Messages.
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Click to collapse
Oh okay thanks. Well the phone has Android One, which means it runs the same as the Pixel. So it should work right? I'm asking because I saw some threads here on XDA about people having problems with Nokia devices and the gear S3. Well then I'll go ahead and buy it!