Hello Guys, was wondering, would you guys recommend a chinese smartphone to use in Tmobile's 4G network? I was thinking of buying rollmid(dot)com/new-arrival-mtk6577-n9776-6-inch-fwvga-smartphone-1-2ghz-dual-core-3200mah-wifi-5-0mp-camera.html
or one of the phones mentioned in some other threads such as Haipai I9220 etc. My question is, would you guys recommend using any chinese smartphone? If so which one would be best for the tmobile 4g network and that can be rooted?
Thanks.
You and i think alike! I am looking at 6-inch, 854 x 480 phones, or "phablets" . For now, the N9776 appears to be the best: It's shortest (158mm), narrowest (87mm), has the largest battery (3200 mAH), and is the only one with Dolby 5.1 speakers, if the specifications are correct. At about $200 shipped, it's also just about the cheapest.
The CarPad Note5 F6 was the first. It may be the best-built and most intelligently designed, like an Apple product Available with an MTK5675 or MTK5677 dual-core CPU. The LCD is definitely IPS; maybe the others, are, too.
The a9800 and i9800 use the older MTK6575 CPU.
The n9880 (corrected from n9800) has only 260,000 colors, so it is not IPS. But it has 8GB of ROM. The Viewsonic n9880 claims to use an MTK6577; other n9880 variations, only the MTK6575.
All have only 512MB of RAM, even if the seller says 1GB.
Although none has the 1700 MHz band, they all have 2100 and of course 850/1900. I plan to join T-Mobile's $30-a-month prepaid online plan: 5GB of 4G data, only 100MB of voice. Yes, I will only get 2G speeds for now. But where I live and work, in the Washington, DC, area, HSPA+ will migrate to 1900 MHz by January 2013.
A friend of mine advised me, "Don't get a cheap Chinese phone! You'll regret it! A smarphone is difficult to make." But I am a family man; I don't have $600 for a Samsung Note, and even a used Note, at $350 to $450, i s a lot of money. T-Mobile will have a Note with 1700 MHz and 1900 MHz for $250, but only if you accept a 2-year contract. No, thanks.
If 6 inches is too large, by mid August there will be 2, 3, or 4 phones with a 5.3-inch display whose resolution reaches 960 x 540. The best-known of these is the MeePad i5270.
Paul in Maryland said:
You and i think alike! I am looking at 6-inch, 854 x 480 phones, or "phablets" . For now, the N9776 appears to be the best: It's shortest (158mm), narrowest (87mm), has the largest battery (3200 mAH), and is the only one with Dolby 5.1 speakers, if the specifications are correct. At about $200 shipped, it's also just about the cheapest.
The CarPad Note5 F6 was the first. It may be the best-built and most intelligently designed, like an Apple product Available with an MTK5675 or MTK5677 dual-core CPU. The LCD is definitely IPS; maybe the others, are, too.
The a9800 and i9800 use the older MTK6575 CPU.
The n9880 (corrected from n9800) has only 260,000 colors, so it is not IPS. But it has 8GB of ROM. The Viewsonic n9880 claims to use an MTK6577; other n9880 variations, only the MTK6575.
All have only 512MB of RAM, even if the seller says 1GB.
Although none has the 1700 MHz band, they all have 2100 and of course 850/1900. I plan to join T-Mobile's $30-a-month prepaid online plan: 5GB of 4G data, only 100MB of voice. Yes, I will only get 2G speeds for now. But where I live and work, in the Washington, DC, area, HSPA+ will migrate to 1900 MHz by January 2013.
A friend of mine advised me, "Don't get a cheap Chinese phone! You'll regret it! A smarphone is difficult to make." But I am a family man; I don't have $600 for a Samsung Note, and even a used Note, at $350 to $450, i s a lot of money. T-Mobile will have a Note with 1700 MHz and 1900 MHz for $250, but only if you accept a 2-year contract. No, thanks.
If 6 inches is too large, by mid August there will be 2, 3, or 4 phones with a 5.3-inch display whose resolution reaches 960 x 540. The best-known of these is the MeePad i5270.
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Click to collapse
I've seen the youtube reviews, and so far I'm liking these cheap chinese phones! Currently, my sister's and mom's phone and mine took a dumb on us! Since I am on a special plan I have to purchase phones retail price. Do you know if the N9776 is available to be rooted? And have you purchased any of these yet?
Thanks
I don't know whether the N9776 can be rooted. If it becomes popular, I am sure that someone at XDA will figure out a way.
No, I have not bought yet. I was going to get the N9776 because it's only $200 shipped and "may" have Dolby 5.1 speakers (I don't know how). But now I plan to buy the Note5 F6 because of this comment by XDA member Robarnold:
Everything works well so far -.seems much slicker and quicker than my Haipad (though no complaints about that) Although externally it is only a very little larger than the Haipd the increase in screen size is quite noticeable. It came with ICS but suppliers expect a stable JB rom soon and say they'll provide me with a link."
and, perhaps even more so, because of the F6's design details explained on the manufacturer's F6 home page.
I bliv it can be rooted , just like u mentioned, once it gains popularity, Rooting procedures will be made available
Paul in Maryland said:
I don't know whether the N9776 can be rooted. If it becomes popular, I am sure that someone at XDA will figure out a way.
No, I have not bought yet. I was going to get the N9776 because it's only $200 shipped and "may" have Dolby 5.1 speakers (I don't know how). But now I plan to buy the Note5 F6 because of this comment by XDA member Robarnold:
Everything works well so far -.seems much slicker and quicker than my Haipad (though no complaints about that) Although externally it is only a very little larger than the Haipd the increase in screen size is quite noticeable. It came with ICS but suppliers expect a stable JB rom soon and say they'll provide me with a link."
and, perhaps even more so, because of the F6's design details explained on the manufacturer's F6 home page.
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Click to collapse
N9776 forum
There's already an N9776 forum. The brand appears to be either Dapeng or Star.
I just bought one of these phones.. and yes you can use it on Tmobile.. for safety sake make your purchase through aliexpress.com they have an escrow service that holds your funds until the seller ships the device and you confirm receipt.. if its not to your liking or it never gets sent you can request a refund and they put the cash back on your card.
Back to the phones.. most of the chinese market is built on the MTK processor The current build is the MTK6577 which is their current dual-core @ 1.2ghz the 6577 is single core @1.0ghz DO NOT purchase any phone with MTK6516 that was their first phone processor and is slow as **** on android.. 6575, 6577 and the 6589 (quad-core) due out this december.. make sure the phone has at minimum a 4GB rom because the OS plus the MTK support software will take up half of the internal memory.. I bought a 7" phone tablet (search for A70 mtk6573) and it was decent for a full tablet with calling ability (rare back then) but it 0nly had a 1gb rom ( I learned though) and its okay its just that all programs have to be installed to SD card. Most of the suppliers will root the phones for you too.. Good luck!! I have 3 of them coming monday ..PS.. always choose DHL shipping 3 days from china to your door.. EMS and china post take FOREVER (up to 21 days) and sometimes lose the parcel. its totally worth the extra 25 bucks!!!
Chinese 6-inch phones: CarPad F6, N9776, and N9880
Great tips, Vinski. I just bought a Star N9880 from Fastcardtech.com and arranged for it to be sent by EMS, which the seller strongly recommends. EMS was at least $15 cheaper than DHL. Here's hoping all goes well. With a spare battery, a case, protective film, and a 4.5 percent Paypal fee (yes, I had to pay it), my total came to about U.S. $275
I had been leaning toward two alternative 6-inchers: The Carpad Note5 F6 and the (Star?) N9776. The Carpad is a class act of design and manufacture; at 256 grams, it's also the heaviest by a good 2 ounces. But in 6577 trim, it would have cost $35 more than the comparably spec'd N9880. More to the point, the F6's designer/developer, "Kay send" (as he's called in the Google translation of the Note5 F6 forum), is continually improving the model (better battery, free second-color back) and hinting at successors. I would have felt like a chump paying a premium for a phone that would soon be eclipsed. The forum members are clamoring for a 6577 version with an IPS display and 960 x 540 resolution, or an MTK6588 version in January with IPS and 1280 x 720. I haven't owned a phone in more than 3 years, and I'm tired of waiting.
Most N9880s come with a slim flip case; that's a plus, since the phone-case aftermarket hasn't caught up with the size of these jumbo phones. In truth, I tried to order an iron-colored N9776 at Rollmid.com. But PayPal reported something like "This seller cannot currently accept payments," and my purchase was automatically canceled. I then almost ordered it from Alibaba for the same price. But on Alibaba it was offered only in white and I saw no way to order the "optional" case. (The case was listed nowhere on rollmid, either.)
N9880s are starting to appear on eBay. But they all use the older, MTK6575 CPU and have only 260,000 colors. The N9776, with 16 million colors, a shorter length, a narrower width, and Dolby 5.1 speakers (don't ask me how), handily beats them. Nearly all of Alibaba's 9880s likewise use the older CPU and claim to have only 260,000 colors.
The 9880 sold by Fastcardtech can't match the N9776's smaller area, but it does match its internal specs: 6577 1.2 GHz CPU, 16 million colors, largish battery (2800). In fact, it has two features the N9776 doesn't: Bluetooth 2.1 (vs. 2.0) and a lithium-polymer battery (vs. lithium-ion). So I bought it. I dunno whether the brand is Dapeng, Star, Telsda, or Viewsonic. When I receive it, I'll report what I find in this thread. I'm hoping the claimed 1GB of RAM is for real.
My only reservation about this model is that, unlike the N9776 and the F6, it currently has no enthusiast forum. But maybe the three phones, and the lesser Dapeng i9800 / Star i9800, are all similar enough that ROM tricks and OS updates will work for all of them.
N9880 with MTK6577
Hmmm. FastTech just dropped the price of their high-end N9880 from $234 to $212. I wonder whether they'll credit me the difference. Next to the price, it says, "in stock; ships in 1-3 working days." But in a response to a comment posted today, the company says that it's not yet in stock. A delay no longer than a week or so would be worth it if it means the phone would then come with Android 4.1.
4g working?
Does the 4g or 3g actually work in North America? I had bought a Gooapple V5 3G but the 3G never worked in North America because of the band it operated on. It does however work in the UK and Europe which is what I wanted.
The 4G and 3G on these phones won't work on 3G networks that use CDMA (Verizon, Sprint), 3G networks that use HSPA+ on 1700 MHz, or 4G networks that use LTE (Verizon, AT&T). But they should work on 3G networks that use HSPA+ at 1900 MHz (AT&T, and increasingly, T-Mobile).
Hi Paul,
Can you confirm the CPU (1.2 GHz, dual-core), the RAM (1GB), the screen quality (IPS? wide-viewing angle, 1.6M colors) and camera (8MP) when you receive the device please?
Seeing different specs on sites regarding cores, RAM, 356K vs 1.6M colors and camera (5 vs 8 MP).
Thanks!
I'm planning on getting this to use on the T-mobile network.
Paul in Maryland said:
Great tips, Vinski.
The 9880 sold by Fastcardtech can't match the N9776's smaller area, but it does match its internal specs: 6577 1.2 GHz CPU, 16 million colors, largish battery (2800). In fact, it has two features the N9776 doesn't: Bluetooth 2.1 (vs. 2.0) and a lithium-polymer battery (vs. lithium-ion). So I bought it. I dunno whether the brand is Dapeng, Star, Telsda, or Viewsonic. When I receive it, I'll report what I find in this thread. I'm hoping the claimed 1GB of RAM is for real.
My only reservation about this model is that, unlike the N9776 and the F6, it currently has no enthusiast forum. But maybe the three phones, and the lesser Dapeng i9800 / Star i9800, are all similar enough that ROM tricks and OS updates will work for all of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bet I will, webdoctors. I'm guessing my N9880 will arrive shortly before September. I, too, will be using my phone on T-Mobile.
I completely agree that some of the specs are suspect. Here are the N9880 specs that may be worse than we have led to believe:
- 1GB RAM (will probably be 512MB)
- 16 million colors (may be 260K, like the display on the MTK6575 variants)
- IPS (never claimed, but we all inferred this from "16 million colors"
At the same time, here are specs that may turn out to be BETTER than we had thought:
- Android: Spec says 4.0, but today I saw an N9880 screen shot or video somewhere that definitely said 4.1, with a ROM or installation dated July 30.
- Cameras: Spec says 0.3 / 5.0MP, but I've started to see claims of 2MP / 8 MP.
- Bluetooth: Spec says 2.0 but I'm also seeing 2.1.
- Battery: Spec used to say lithium-ion but now says lithium-polymer.
It seems to me that if you want to be sure of getting a 6-inch phone with the best specs, you go with the N9776 or Carpad Note5 F6. If you want to be sure of getting the lowest specs, get an i9800 or N9880 with an MTK6575. If you want to spin the wheel and take your chances, go for the N9880 MTK6577.
---------- Post added at 09:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 PM ----------
To appreciate the size of these phablets, here's the N9880 beneath an iPhone 4. I explain to people that on a 6-inch phone, the glass is about the same size and shape as a 3 by 5-inch index card.
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"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
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---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 PM ----------
Soon there will be a handful of sixes:
1. Note5 F6
2. i9080
3. N9776
4. N9880
5. HiLive [awaiting name]
It was announced 2012-08-04.
EMS from China to the USA should be quite fast. From previous experience buying stuff from Taiwan/Japan, EMS is less than 4 days door-to-door.
Paul in Maryland said:
You bet I will, webdoctors. I'm guessing my N9880 will arrive shortly before September. I, too, will be using my phone on T-Mobile.
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Click to collapse
did anyone see the iHTC One X posted at fastcardtech? Is it legit?
Its advertised as having a 4.7 inch IPS screen, 960*540 pixel, 1 GB RAM, dual core 1.2 GHz, and under $200 (199).
Too good to be true? I don't see the model posted at any other stores, so not sure if the specs arae a typo. Not sure of iHTC build quality, it could be some fake company trying to create poor HTC knockoffs rather than their own brand/quality control.
The quality gap between 'cheap Chinese phones/clones' has narrowed
Has significantly narrowed due to the evolution of the wireless chip sets: Microtek has come more up to the 'phone kit' packaged design that Qualcomm has traditionally offered the market. MTK provides the device manufacturers with increasingly inclusive kit designs through their network of suppliers of moldings, software, supplementary circuit components etc. The device suppliers job becomes more of selecting among the suppliers and doing final development and assembly operations. As many experience, the added refinement from the Chinese suppliers often is not much: many simply take the designs and burn the ROMs packaged up with Android software... rushing the products out even while some things do not work or do not work well. That is why GPS, WiFi, motion sensors may not work well until upgrade ROMs are available.. they hack the products to get them to the market in time to meet the window of market demand. XDA and other groups then serve as the talented group of folks that put together the fixes while the Chinese suppliers move on to the next product. That is what happened with many of the MTK 6575 devices. Those are more mature.. the stuff like GPS and WiFi now works and the devices can load up many apps and run most any software on par with expensive name brand devices costing 2-3 times more. Samsung. Apple, HTC maintain a leading edge in interface camera and video, software and hardware refinements that make the clones look second class in comparison but the gap has closed compared to where it was just a year ago.
The next step up for the Chinese suppliers will be improved screen resolution and more refined hardware... for them to stop using their customers as unwitting guinea pigs for pushing out half-baked products on the market. The first MTK 6577 products will be interesting to look at: will this prove to be similar to MTK6575 in which the YouTube videos look impressive but once you get it in your hand, some will find the Wi-Fi reception is weak, the sensors do not work or only work with some programs and not others due to incompatibilities between the ROM and Android or whatever?
Thus far, the MTK6577 products are still in the experimental entry into the market stage where the early adopters serve as guinea pigs to test out what works and what doesn't and for the many experts here to contribute their great skills to fixing the problems that will almost certainly be found.. and adding refinements that the rest of the market never gets or must wait for the operator upgrades.
I am very interested in the new 6 inch 'Phablet'/'car pad' devices - but will likely wait until others report how well they work and that there is a support group that is interested in supporting the ROM upgrades, etc. beforehand. I would like to see higher resolution 6"-7" models which would more aptly serve needs for both a tablet and a SmartPhone.. the 'one device' solution for personal and road use. qHD to HD quality screen with a mini HDMI output would be hot imo.
N9776 - Where to buy?
The N9776 looks like the best of the 6 inch phones to me. Does anyone know a reputable place to buy it from? The only place I can see that sells it is Aliexpress and none of the sellers that are offering it there fill me with confidence.
andymac66 said:
The N9776 looks like the best of the 6 inch phones to me. Does anyone know a reputable place to buy it from? The only place I can see that sells it is Aliexpress and none of the sellers that are offering it there fill me with confidence.
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Click to collapse
IMHO, I think CarPad note5 F6 is better than N9776. It has 8MP real camera and 2MP front camera. And they have their own forum for support of ROM update or custom ROM, although it is in Chinese. However, if you can wait, you may want to wait for 6-inch 540x960 resolution version, as I think 400x854 is still not good enough.
I'm giving this a try :silly:
http://www.androidforcheap.com/note...3-os-wcdma-3g-gps-wifi-smart-phone-p-310.html
or this
http://www.androidforcheap.com/i930...-pixel-camera-micro-sim-card-phone-p-453.html
amazing what they can produce here :cyclops:
check out some china phone reviews
http://www.chinaphonereview.com/
mengfei said:
I'm giving this a try :silly:
http://www.androidforcheap.com/note...3-os-wcdma-3g-gps-wifi-smart-phone-p-310.html
or this
http://www.androidforcheap.com/i930...-pixel-camera-micro-sim-card-phone-p-453.html
amazing what they can produce here :cyclops:
check out some china phone reviews
http://www.chinaphonereview.com/
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Click to collapse
You may want to consider Haipai Noble I9220 or X710D as both phones has support thread in this XDA forum, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646544
Hi everyone
I'm new to the mobile phone scene but after a bit of research on deciding which phones to invest in I've noticed something; Chinese phones (not easily available in Western countries) have better specs and prices compared with the phones we have from brands like Samsung, Apple, HTC, Sony etc.
I'm talking about Vivo phones, Xiaomi etc. These phones routinely have 16mp cameras with OIS, large 2.0 (or even bigger) sensors, full HD or QHD 5 to 6" screens, 2 to 3GB of RAM, very large front facing cameras (5 to 8mp with flash, 1080P recording), Snapdragon 805 chips and batteries 3500mh+. All this in bodies thinner than 7mm (in some cases, the low5mm range). Many have aluminium chassis too.
Im wondering why we still see phones from Samsung, HTC, Apple and even the Nexus 6 (which is supposed to be absolutely premium in specs & quality) selling for such high prices but with specs lower than the Chinese phones. Surly Samsung & these other brands can release a phone, keep their prices the same but match or exceed the specs of these Chinese phones.
Why does the Galaxy S5 have a comparably low front facing camera, smaller battery and is thicker than these Chinese phones? Or the Nexus 6 - why is the FF camera smaller, why is the rear camera smaller, why does it have a smaller battery and why is it so much thicker? Surly these phones could match the specs of the Chinese phones.
Example: The upcoming VIVO PD1305 rumoured specs (below) should best (or at least match) the Nexus 6 in every respect. Thinner, same chipset, same amount of RAM, better front and rear cameras, stereo speakers, NFC, larger battery etc. Why couldn't Google have these specs in the Nexus 6 and sell it at the current price? The VIVO is expected to be cheaper by $100+. The specs are leaked; previous VIVO leaked specs matched very closely to the final product and there is strong evidence to support that this new VIVO phone's specs will match to the leaked specs as all the technology has been around for a short while now.
Basically what I'm trying to establish is why the Western market is so full of overpriced phones which can't complete on every front with cheaper Chinese phones? Will Samsung etc actually match or best these Chinese phones in terms of specs?
Specs:
6-inch IPS display with 2560×1440 resolution and 490ppi
5.68mm (0.22") thin
162g (5.71 ounces) weight
Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot that goes up to 128GB
13MP rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and dual-LED flash, 8MP front camera with 88-degree wide view lens
Dedicated ES9018 and OPA2604 audio chips
NFC
LTE Radio support (confirmed at some sources; still in debate as it is useless in China)
Wireless charging
Basic water resistance
Heart rate monitor and a fingerprint trace the source function
3500mAh battery
NOTE: Before anyone says it - that most Chinese phones don't support LTE networks - from some reading there is talk that the latest and upcoming Chinese manufacturers are including support for LTE networks as their market expands. So, they are covering ground fast and innovating far faster than any of the phones we see in our Western markets.
In my opinion the specs for the latest Chinese phones (especially for the VIVO listed) put the Nexus 6 and its rivals to shame. A bit sad.
The problem with these chinese phones is, that you hardly have any warranty.
[email protected] said:
The problem with these chinese phones is, that you hardly have any warranty.
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Who needs a warranty for a hundred dollar thing...?
Never thought about this question, but now i am really thinking that it's a great idea to buy Chinese phones!
i have had a friend that bought a phone, he was using it for two months until i told him that it is a Chinese device.......
Newyork! said:
Who needs a warranty for a hundred dollar thing...?
Never thought about this question, but now i am really thinking that it's a great idea to buy Chinese phones!
i have had a friend that bought a phone, he was using it for two months until i told him that it is a Chinese device.......
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Click to collapse
Okay, maybe you are right, but you have hardly any support and if its an chinese phone who hardly anyone has, you can be sure you will not get any updates.
[email protected] said:
Okay, maybe you are right, but you have hardly any support and if its an chinese phone who hardly anyone has, you can be sure you will not get any updates.
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When i buy a old Motorola phone i also don't have any support or updates....
For 100 dollars or lower it pays!
Newyork! said:
When i buy a old Motorola phone i also don't have any support or updates....
For 100 dollars or lower it pays!
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Click to collapse
Ok you are right and if you are lucky and buy a chinese phone with an large userbase it pays twice because you get support by the community around that phone