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Ladies and gentlemen, your two cents.

Hey XDA,
My beloved Omnia 7 has sailed off into my sister's hands, and I was left stranded on an island of sadness, phoneless.
But no matter, as the power of the intertubes brought me here, and much other places.
I am looking for a savior budget phone.
And I found one.
No, folks, it's not a WP7 device as you may have anticipated, ala the shining turd that is the Nokia Lumia 610 (or some other
generic, faecal device). I have ventured to the lands of china and have explored options I would have not dared to before due to fear
of SARS, rape, and being casually ripped off by scamers.
And guess what, brotha? It appears like the Hero 9300+ is my guy.
Yeah, yeah, I know. A clone, not to mention a modified one. But if this is a turd, it's a sparkling one, worth a whole $200 dollars.
Some specs (the most important + drawbacks):
-CPU: MTK6577, two cores running at a generic 1GHz. Seems like a piece of ****, but one that flies pretty fast. Antutu scores look rather promising.
-GPU: SGX-531. The old cousin of our modern SGX-540's and 544's. Not bad, not great. It does the job for me given I can play
generic time wasters like Dead Trigger at a solid 30fps with next to no lag.
--OS: Android 4.0.4 (marketed off as 4.1 JellyBean; the developers thought they could fool us English folks by editing the SDK during ROM creation, har har har. ******s.)
-RAM: 512MB. This may be a problem given ICS takes up what, 300MB? Plus I want to run a launcher (Why? Because **** you, that's why) which will take up additional memory space.
-Camera a world class piece of ****. 5MP marketed as 8MP, records video at who knows what resolution. (I will be installing another ROM for this bad boy which will enable 1080p recording unless you guys have better suggestions how to pimp this thing up).
BEST PART: Gorgeous 5.3 inch display.
Anyways, that's that for specs.
Price is $210, with Fedex delivery, from Pandawill (Safe? Not safe? Hm, got PayPal covering my ass anyway).
THE ULTIMATE QUESTION:
Is there anything around this price that beats the **** out of this but has a display which is not too small?
Am I making the right decision here?
Thanks matey for giving this your two cents. It's all appreciated.
LINK:
http://www.pandawill.com/i9300-smar...oid-40-mtk6577-1g-ram-3g-gps-wifi-p66034.html

I highly doubt you would find another phone that isn't from china that has those specifications and price tag, however, I still wouldn't buy the phone because...well it's from china and not of a legitimate/recognised phones manufacturer. I would instead pass this phone and maybe save up another 100 dollars and get a phone of similar specs (maybe not the same screen size) from htc, sony, samsung etc. just for the security, support, safety and the mods

jman2131 said:
I highly doubt you would find another phone that isn't from china that has those specifications and price tag, however, I still wouldn't buy the phone because...well it's from china and not of a legitimate/recognised phones manufacturer. I would instead pass this phone and maybe save up another 100 dollars and get a phone of similar specs (maybe not the same screen size) from htc, sony, samsung etc. just for the security, support, safety and the mods
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey matey, thanks for the reply.
I don't think I can agree with you more. This is a huge risk and I know it, although review have been rather positive (which, I must say, is encouraging).
Given the price point and the fact that I need a phone ASAP, I am not so sure I can bang out another $100 bucks for an imaginary phone with similar specs; I mean, this thing performs closely to the galaxy nexus- a ~$500 device. I also found out that Chinese phones are going to be blessed with new quad and oct core processors in Q4 2012 and Q2 2013, respectively. Going to be an insane jump, but I bet they will be price accordingly.
Thanks for your response nonetheless, I'll definitely go ahead and snoop around for brand devices right now.

Israeleet said:
Hey matey, thanks for the reply.
I don't think I can agree with you more. This is a huge risk and I know it, although review have been rather positive (which, I must say, is encouraging).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to see you coming around in your mindset... imho, buying some Chinese knockoff is only asking for trouble. If it were my decision to make, I'd find a friend with an old Android you can use and buy a real phone with a warranty, a little support, and some quality behind it. The specs may be one thing, but if I know Chinese knockoffs, everything about the case/finish/etc will be absolute junk.
I'd rather use a non-Android for a while, personally...

SparkyXI said:
Glad to see you coming around in your mindset... imho, buying some Chinese knockoff is only asking for trouble. If it were my decision to make, I'd find a friend with an old Android you can use and buy a real phone with a warranty, a little support, and some quality behind it. The specs may be one thing, but if I know Chinese knockoffs, everything about the case/finish/etc will be absolute junk.
I'd rather use a non-Android for a while, personally...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was actually looking into WP7 devices earlier because my previous device was one. I am sad to note that nothing compares other than an old Samsung Focus (much like my Omnia) from the US for $170. I mean, it's not too bad, but I feel it's time for an upgrade. I snooped around other shops, nothing comes close to the Hero, but your suggestions have shaken me up a bit. I'll be wary as this online buying thing is no game of tag- they can disappear on you.

What did you eventually purchase?
I have X710D and did have a bad experience with the seller, but eventually found another seller who I have now purchased many phones from with great success.
In relation to Chinese phones, I have to say walk with care as many fiddle the OS version number and it always pays to ask as many questions as possible prior to purchase. If there are features that you want then ask for confirmation, if they don't know then treat this as a warning about the seller.
Quality: I have no problem with the quality of build of Chinese phones. I do however have an issue with some stupid design decisions - like the 3.5mm headphone jack on the X710D - can't take standard headphones.
Just found out that the X710D has stopped manufacture, so hope that a better design is coming.
9300+ looks promising.

Hi all.
I too was in the market for a new phone and purchased a 9300+ from a site called Android for cheap and I can tell you it's a great phone. It's zippy and handles anything you can throw at it. I'm running wp8 custom on mine and it looks beautiful on the big screen. I'd recommend this phone to others as have I already. Gaming on it has no lag and due to the multi touch screen its really responsive.
I've had mine for 3 months and I think when I eventually purchase a new phone it will probably be a newer model of the same phone..... If they are still in existence then lol.
All in all its an awesome phone. I don't think you will be disappointed
Sent from my 9300+ using xda premium

[Q] Android phone up to 200$ - what to buy? Are chineese clones woth the money?

Hello,
I'm looking for Android phone up to 200$.
Not sure if should I buy something kinda outdated (like htc desire with old android) or rather fairly new construct like chineese clones (something like hdc i9300 or something else on mtk6575/6577). with recent android version Those chineese phones have quite good specs, but it's a lot of mess with them (sometime they claim to have ips screen, sometime the vary same model say it's amoled, even single alieexpress auction in one place is stated that it has ips screen while few lines lower says its amoled).
Very hard for me too choose. Are there any reputable reviews of those clones? Lots of reviews look more like commercials saying only good thigs about phone.
What would you choose?
I just want pretty standard things like :
responsive UI (hate lagging)
wifi (really working not just 1m away router)
good screen usable in sunlight (perfect would be ips) between 3.5 and 4.8 inches.
web browsing option
capable of runinng few apps at the time (browser, calendard etc) - don't care about games, although it would be nice to view movies.
and pretty decent battery (so like 2days at least of working)
GPS
decent camera which could replace separate compact camera.
Phone must be new.
Is anyone really happy with clone bought from china? Not only after buying but also after few months of use?
Could you point sellers you've been satisfied with? I know there are ratings with aliexpress, but many users buying barely know what they are buying, and even if phone is lot worse then specs say they give good feedback. E.g. Few months ago on polish auction site (like ebay) there was a guy selling fake pendrives (256mb capacity while claiming to have 32gb - altered somehow to show fake capacity) and most users left him positive feedback.
thanks in advance

Please use the sticky at the top of this section for all phone decision questions. Thank you. Thread closed.

Some cool android Devices and gaming possibilities [Discussion]

VOTING SORRY IT WAS MISLEADING ( VOTE YES! FOR HELPFUL) ( VOTE NO! FOR USELESS )
First of all Not sure if this is where it should be i thought putting this in off topic was too far from the point and reading through other threads it didn't seem to fit anywhere, Anyway i'll post it here anyway i would like to think most people on this website would appreciate this and see if i have to valid points and some cool things to show you maybe.
I would firstly like to start with some cool Android game consoles being developed by a company called JXD http://www.jxd.hk/ they're other companies doing this (not as good and more expensive) in my opinion but i'll supply information for you do to your own researched at the bottom of this thread.
Anyway This is the newest console released the S7300 just released a day ago it's quite amazing system and extremely cheap ( older models if you have a budget to test these out starting as low as $20 - $40 USD) This latest one is about $150 it's android the specs are listed here
As you can see the device has possibility for some good gaming and a start to some innovative ideas and maybe bigger companies creating devices similar to this.
What is the point?
Well i was a huge user of my Xperia play and Galaxy s3 which i recently sold for a Android iphone 5 rip off mainly because it looked good worked great and was light enough to go jogging without it annoying me, but this gave me a lack of gaming which i love about my android mobile so i decided to look for an android gaming device it took an hour or so but i found hundreds some on ebay some on random websites, after separating the over priced devices and the ones with poor design and bad hardware i found a website or 2 with the device i was going to purchase, and after looking all day i found there is a good start to this android gaming, but how come it hasn't set off bigger or faster yet, i find it a shame.
What to do?
Well many may disagree but this is the only website i use for anything remotely android related, but i was thinking if XDA could add apart of the forum for unpopular devices such as these underground branded ( Non rip off android devices and the emerging gaming android console and devices ) to increase the speed it picks up i believe if we have people talking about it more and helping sharing in customized apps themes etc... it might help set off the community to use it more which may encourage developers to add more support.
I mean Why Not! we have tablets but everything seems to be big brands Sony, Samsung, Apple, Nokia, i thought this was a website for unlocking your device for better use and doing things with it the majority of us think is "Cool".
I might add more later But for now i'll leave some links to a few devices i looked through and website to purchase or compare prices for your curiosity.
Developer jxe website all their devices are listed there but no purchasing options but good to get the names to Google
Another product i thought would be good to mention just for the hell of it if you go jogging like me or like high quality sound with less wires and cheap at the same time would be to purchase a MW600 it's a Bluetooth headset and you just plug your headphone into it and it connects wirelessly to you phone.
http://www.willgoo.com/ - This website seems to sell any modded gaming android devices from all the companys making them at the moment at the cheapest price and a vast collection to choose from.
The latest device out is http://www.willgoo.com/jxd-s7300-du...ons-8gb-p-306.html?referrer=CNWR_771331638507
Reason i liked this among the rest?
for one the touch screen isn't the out dated touch resistant most others use.
First to have an actual dual analog joysticks! and not like the xperia play with the stupid touch slide which i found tedious after a day of use.
2 back buttons and simple nice thin design.
highest resolution offered.
and does say it has 3G i don't know if it's via a sim card or it means through wifi tethering with another device who knows but i'm happy either way
another product i thought would be good to mention just for the hell of it if you go jogging like me or like high quality sound with less wires and cheap at the same time would be to purchase a MW600 it's a Bluetooth headset and you just plug your headphone into it and it connects wirelessly to you phone.

Unmarked android phones.
I'll list a few android phones i think are semi decent and can be cheap and stilll good looking on a budget here is the top 2 websites i trust and can be cheap if you search well
eForChina and Dhgate
These 2 websites have plenty mobile phones people could check out at a cheap price, the one i purchased because i wanted a decent phone that runs android but looks like an iphone 5 is zophone 5
It's a little more steep in price than the others but i managed to get it for £120 off ebay but its light and does what i need it to do.
Done more research the website most china branded (unbranded) mobiles are released to http://android-sale.com/
this website's most famous brand seems to be the goophone for the iphone 5 android clones but they also make some really good unique none clone designs packing quad core 2gb ram models, would be good if you're looking for some unique designed phone you won't see any friends using.

That thing looks slick. Will do more research.

Yeah it would be nice to see games compatible

liamguest said:
Yeah it would be nice to see games compatible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has a dual core mali 400, and a dual core a9 clocked at 1.5, it should run most games other mali 400 devices run. I pre ordered one and now waiting for it. I hope it gets popular enough to have a community and a few custom rom builds. It has quite decent specs for emulation(main purpose its being promoted for) and should run almost every game on the android market. The main issue with JDX devices is battery life (is why I hope for custom roms), but the device claims to come pre rooted, you can see pictures of it supposedly having play store support, so if a community does surge for it it could be as popular as the kindle in terms of a dedicated community interested in custom android builds that support better battery use and remove some of its bloatware. im replacing the free 8g card ill get for pre ordering with a 32(64 if it takes it) card and have a decent 40gig snes/ps1 emulation device with touch controls that will let me do the basic things i do on my phone. Since i plan to tether it from my phone, I'm aiming to keep my phone pocketed the whole time, Headset calls, redirect texts to the JXD, and play/browse on the 7 inch screen so if a call comes in my gaming wont be interrupted something that ruins some games that reboot when a call comes in.

Maybe Padone 2 ? over 7k mAh, four core etc... Nothing but fine gaming devices with possibilities

They should make a special section in the forum for JXD Devices. Especially for developers that wants to help with making the device easier to use.
Sent from my HTC Rezound 4G LTE Smartphone

what to do for a new tablet??

Hi guys, long story short, I'm in vacation with my grandma and she came to know the pleasure of using a tab, for reading books newspaper and play candy crush and cut the rope.
She uses both my galaxy tab 2 7" p3100 with CM 10.1.2 and my mother's ipad 3. Now she want to buy one for herself, and asked me what to do.
Now i have few things run trough my head:
Option n.1: buy her a cheap android tab, maybe from chinese manufacturer, she does not need super specs so who cares. But she is gonna use it for read books and newspaper so what to buy with a good screen? I'm not an expert in that range of things, what do you guys suggest?
Option n.2: make her help me buy a new one for me and give her my 6 month old galaxy tab, but so what can i buy? I dream of an xperia tablet z but i need a smaller then 10" screen and anyway my budget is limited to around 300€ also with my granda help. oh and i need it it with 3G built in support.
I wait for your suggestion!
Cheers
dagothe9

I would recommend the new nexus 7 just because the screen resolution makes text super clear. And it has an awesome price. I picked one up about a week ago, and I've only been using it for browsing, reading, and news, it's exceptional. I prefer the 7" personally because it can be more like a book and the portability and ability to type easily is nice. Find out if she prefers the ipad or galaxy tab screen size first. If the 7" seems to be too small you might want to consider 8-10".
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

China Tablet poor quality.

Thewalrus0034 said:
I would recommend the new nexus 7 just because the screen resolution makes text super clear. And it has an awesome price. I picked one up about a week ago, and I've only been using it for browsing, reading, and news, it's exceptional. I prefer the 7" personally because it can be more like a book and the portability and ability to type easily is nice. Find out if she prefers the ipad or galaxy tab screen size first. If the 7" seems to be too small you might want to consider 8-10".
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She said is much or more the same for the screen. O already thought of the new nexus 7 but the with wifi-3G option is expensive to buy it for her. Moreover I'm in Italy and g-play does not exist here so it will surely be more then 349$. The nexus 4 here costs 500€ that are about 450$. ( if it is just for her I would prefer to spend a little bit less. If it is for me yeah it would be a great option. But pet's see when it is shipped to Italy.
Thanks for your precious opinion!
Edit: crazy idea make her fund a bit for the new plan with xperia z ultra in bundle XD
@augustine: i know that much but a 300€ device for a woman that turns 80 in september is bit too much. Maybe someone knows of a china fair enough tab

what do you believe of this tab.. price would be around $225 to $267 nd no it is NOT CHINESE... here is the link- http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=2392059

Do NOT skimp on a tablet for an elderly person. If things do not work right and/or are laggy, she WILL not use it. She expects a premium feel now. If you get her a crappy a$$ Chinese tablet (or any tablet less than 200 USD), she will hate it. Old people don't have patience for that kind of stuff.

If the tablet appear problem, the old people don't know how to fix it, buy a high quality tablet.

There are 2 threads devoted to questions about devices, please repost your question in one of these two threads: The what should I buy thread or The Device Suggestion Thread.
Thanks!

Is traveling with a modern premium smartphone possible anymore?

Hello,
first, I'm happy i've found this forum, so many cool people discussing simply everything psosible about Android is great.
I'd really like to know your oppinion to this topic:
Do you think travelling with the premium smartphones of today (with full possible protection like cases and screen protectors) is nearly possible anymore?
If I look at the premium smartphones from right now: the S9, S8, LG G6, the iPhone X...
I see: smartphones with big displays, really small bezels and bodys totally out of glass!
Can a modern smartphone with the best cases and screen protectors be a relatively reliable partner on a travel or are they just 100% designed to look good?
If I look at for example the Galaxy S8 active, I see that beautiful design and functionality can harmonize together! Sadly there are nearly no active versions from other manufacturers at all and the S8 active is really rare.

Addition to the starting post
I don't want the main question of this topic (if modern smartphones can be taken on a travel anymore) to move into the background because of my personal question, that's why i'm not adding this into the starting post:
My story behind this is:
I'll probably go to Mexico for a longer time soon (that's a big thing belonging to where I live) and because I don't like carrying big cameras with me, I want to buy a good smartphone camera.
The problem is, that the best smartphone cameras are new smartphones (S8, S9, G6 etc.) and all of these have the extremely weak attributes I described above.
So the dilemma I am into now is:
Should I buy an older or cheaper smartphone with a relatively bad camera or should I risk to take a modern glass smartphone to Mexico, which could be destroyed after one drop?
Please take into consideration that this is my first post and I'm no native english speaker.