£100 Smartphone ? - General Questions and Answers

Hello,
I am going to buy a new smartphone soon and I only have £100 to spend on it. What I want from it is to have a big screen (Maybe 5"?) with a a quiet large battery so it would work a bit, maybe dual sim and to be able to root it easily and put custom Android on it such as CyanogenMod etc. The rest stuff like camera, NFC etc I don't really care about, The most important for me is the screen size and battery life and various modifications I can do with such smartphone. What do you guys think and what would you recommend to buy ? I have found Samsung Galaxy S4 SGH-I337 16GB 13MP Unlocked from Hong Kong for a £100 on Ebay but I think that price for such device is suspicious, what do you people think about it ? The eBay item number is 111849677878.
Many Thanks !

B4N1K said:
Hello,
I am going to buy a new smartphone soon and I only have £100 to spend on it. What I want from it is to have a big screen (Maybe 5"?) with a a quiet large battery so it would work a bit, maybe dual sim and to be able to root it easily and put custom Android on it such as CyanogenMod etc. The rest stuff like camera, NFC etc I don't really care about, The most important for me is the screen size and battery life and various modifications I can do with such smartphone. What do you guys think and what would you recommend to buy ? I have found Samsung Galaxy S4 SGH-I337 16GB 13MP Unlocked from Hong Kong for a £100 on Ebay but I think that price for such device is suspicious, what do you people think about it ? The eBay item number is 111849677878.
Many Thanks !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A good phone for 100 quid is hard to find. They will start most likely around 200 quid. Try looking for the OnePlus One. If not new maybe used and it will save you some money. I see the OnePlus one starting at 200 quid atm.

Related

Witch tablet to buy for under 150 $

Hi.
I am planing to buy a cheap tablet. But I dont have a clue witch one to buy.
I'm thinking 7-8 inches, good dev-support (root, custom rom etc), cheap (not over 150$).
"China-products" is a solution if performance and dev-support is good
Any suggestions?
I guess you wont find what you are looking for in this price range, but if you want to checkout some chineese tabs checkout this website here: www dot ibuygou dot com /categories/android-tablets-1.html
Regards,
Glenn
150$ budget ,there are wide range of china tablet can be
your choices .here is china better supplier of tablet pc ,
you can check it by yourself .
banggood.com
kingsbuying.com
dx.com
chinavasion.com
tinydeal.com
of course you can search it on the amazon or ebay
if you're ok with refurb stuff, then a refurb nexus7
Occasionally you can find a new 2013 Nexus 7 16gb for $150.
jfm91 said:
Hi.
I am planing to buy a cheap tablet. But I dont have a clue witch one to buy.
I'm thinking 7-8 inches, good dev-support (root, custom rom etc), cheap (not over 150$).
"China-products" is a solution if performance and dev-support is good
Any suggestions?
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Click to collapse
Please use the sticky in this forum for your question
Thread Closed

Help for contents and box of "new" S4 Black Edition i9505. Is it new or refurbished?

Help for contents and box of "new" S4 Black Edition i9505. Is it new or refurbished?
Hi,
I've just bought online in UK a brand new Samsung S4 Black Edition i9505.
However in the box S/M/L sizes eargels are missing (but earbuds are ok and sealed) and the UK charger is a ETA0U70XBE with only 1A output instead of 2A and it's missing its film wrapping. I also noticed that the small seal was not well applied outside the box so it's not clear if the box was sealed or unsealed. I've also found finger prints on the front sticker/screen protector (but not on the screen) and on the camera lens. The metal-plastic terminal of the usb cable is also a little dirty (but comes with plastic wrapping).
OS installed is already 5.0.1 but I thought that S4 comes with 4.4 preinstalled. Or maybe it is due it was assembled recently? Battery was also completely empty.
And I also found this sticker that seal the outside of the box with strange letters: A, B ,C (see attachment). What do they mean?
I would like to know if someone else has similar experience or maybe they sent me a refurbished/open box?
It probably is a refurbished or returned phone.
The box should contain the phone, the USB charger and USB cable (black), in-ear headphones with replacement buds, a manual and I think that's it.
If the box has been tampered with, then I would worry more about the phone itself than the contents.
I also have a black edition (or so it says on the box).
Mine's got a leather-like back cover and the whole phone is pure dark black. The original model had a brighter black tone and it was spotted.
Hi,
thanks for the answer. The only thing missing are the replacement buds but also rest is suspicious as written above.
The charger for example had no plastic wrapping but most of all it's only a 1 amp model. How many amps has your charger? Which model? An EU model (long and slim) or a UK model (bulkier and short)? See attachments. Mine is a UK model but looks like an S3 charger which is slightly different from S4 charger and has only 1 amp output. Does anyone else got a 1 amp charger with its S4???
Mine's a 2.0 Amp EU model, black. It also had wrapping around it.
Did you get any warranty with the phone?
GDReaper said:
Mine's a 2.0 Amp EU model, black. It also had wrapping around it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While mine is a S3/S4-Mini charger at 1.0 Amp with no wrapping...
Did you get any warranty with the phone?
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Click to collapse
The seller said it has 2 year UK/European warranty but it had to say this because he's selling them as new. Of course I had the invoice but it's just a piece of paper printed from internet.
I found a new strange thing: as you can see in the first picture there is a EAN code on the sticker. I searched that code on Google and the result was: Samsung S2 (TWO!).
Does the EAN on your box match with Samsung S4 on Google?
I can't check because my box was sealed on 3 sides, and one of those seals had the number on it and it is now torn apart.
But I don't have any reason to believe it would correspond to anything other than an S4.
The phone was bought from one of the biggest electronics store in my country.
GDReaper said:
I can't check because my box was sealed on 3 sides, and one of those seals had the number on it and it is now torn apart.
But I don't have any reason to believe it would correspond to anything other than an S4.
The phone was bought from one of the biggest electronics store in my country.
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Click to collapse
I checked some pictures of S4 boxes that I found on Youtube, reviews, Google and all the EAN on them match the ones of a S4! So probably the second seal (the one in the attachment of my first message) is a FAKE seal!!!
I found another strange thing: the protective plastic on the front of the S4 was the colored one of S4 white and black mist (see attachment). But on unboxing video on Youtube the Black Edition always have a transparent one!
Which one did you find?
I think that A,B,C has some mean to it.
A- IMEI remains on the box
B- Seller(Vender) keeps it with them so that non can complain whether or not it was steal product,in short security reason
C- Buyer get it stocked on warranty card/ Billl to claim for warranty.
Now that phone is old, it usually stays as was. Nothing to worry about as long as device is fully functional.
dr.patron99 said:
I think that A,B,C has some mean to it.
A- IMEI remains on the box
B- Seller(Vender) keeps it with them so that non can complain whether or not it was steal product,in short security reason
C- Buyer get it stocked on warranty card/ Billl to claim for warranty.
Now that phone is old, it usually stays as was. Nothing to worry about as long as device is fully functional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer. But another problem with the seal was that there was printed a EAN of a Samsung S2 (TWO!) instead of one of a S4. So it was clearly a fake seal. And I've never saw in any unboxing photo or video a seal like that for Samsung S4. I also contacted Samsung UK which confirmed me that the phone was not in proper condition. They also checked the serial number of the device and told me that it was invalid! So it was a refurbished unit.
However I sent the phone back to the seller and received a full refund. Last week I bought a new S4 Black Mist from another seller and this one is perfect. New, sealed (seal with a S4 EAN on it) and with all accessories and plastic wrappings. The OS installed is still Android 4 as expected and not already 5. And a 2A charger. It works very well. :good:
How much did you pay? If it was a good price then ignore the fact it's not new. My S4 was second hand, and I specifically chose it for that reason.
skezza said:
How much did you pay? If it was a good price then ignore the fact it's not new. My S4 was second hand, and I specifically chose it for that reason.
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I paid it 267 euro with shipping. Too much for a used one with missing parts and the wrong charger (only 1A instead of 2A). So I sent it back to the seller.
For the one I bought last week I paid 275 euro with shipping but it's new and sealed (with all accessories and a 2A charger which 2 times faster than a 1A one).
Alfhw said:
I paid it 267 euro with shipping. Too much for a used one with missing parts and the wrong charger (only 1A instead of 2A). So I sent it back to the seller.
For the one I bought last week I paid 275 euro with shipping but it's new and sealed (with all accessories and a 2A charger which 2 times faster than a 1A one).
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Click to collapse
Oh wow, yes that is a lot for a used one. I paid £120 for mine last February. It's in pretty good condition (only a few marks on the silver bezel, no scratches on the screen) but it came only with a single generic charger, and a crappy USB cable. No headset or anything, but I wasn't overly bothered because the phone itself is where the money goes and £120 for an S4 is a bargain, even today. 267 Euro's is over £205, which is absolutely top money, even for a brand new model, so to be told it was used, I would be sending it back tbh.
skezza said:
Oh wow, yes that is a lot for a used one. I paid £120 for mine last February. It's in pretty good condition (only a few marks on the silver bezel, no scratches on the screen) but it came only with a single generic charger, and a crappy USB cable. No headset or anything, but I wasn't overly bothered because the phone itself is where the money goes and £120 for an S4 is a bargain, even today. 267 Euro's is over £205, which is absolutely top money, even for a brand new model, so to be told it was used, I would be sending it back tbh.
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And most of all the seller was selling it as "new". I even emailed him before buying to be sure and he answered it was new and sealed... And the one he sent me had missing parts and a S3 charger (with only 1A output)!
Anyway 275 euro for the one I bought last week from a different seller is a good price for a really new and sealed S4. It is still a very good mid-range device. I was also considering a Samsung A3-310-2016 which came out in January this year for 240 euro with shipping but the S4 has still better specs and a huge XDA and custom rom support!
Alfhw said:
And most of all the seller was selling it as "new". I even emailed him before buying to be sure and he answered it was new and sealed... And the one he sent me had missing parts and a S3 charger (with only 1A output)!
Anyway 275 euro for the one I bought last week from a different seller is a good price for a really new and sealed S4. It is still a very good mid-range device. I was also considering a Samsung A3-310-2016 which came out in January this year for 240 euro with shipping but the S4 has still better specs and a huge XDA and custom rom support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's an extremely good mid-range device. The way I like to look at it, is like this:
You can see from my phone history (in my signature), that I go from an i9000 to an LG N4 to a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G, which is quite a deviation. The i9000 was a premium device at the time and it felt like one. The N4 was a premium device and it really really felt like one (and still does to this day). The Xiaomi was a great phone, but you could tell it was manufactured for the Indian market. It wasn't that it was cheaply made. I actually think Xiaomi are quite nicely made, it was the fact there was never any commitment to updates. Getting Lollipop was a bit like playing a game of roulette. Are they going to get it? Who knows? Kind of thing..... eventually some devs ported it, but rather than the 100's that work on Samsung and the Nexus devices, there were a few kids in their bedrooms doing it. I simply didn't have time to get stuck into any ROM development at that point in time either. The Xiaomi was let down by the lack of devs, the poor camera and the general unreliability of updates and software fixes etc.
So here's the point I'm making. You can own a brand new Xiaomi, which for the money seems decent and performs okay and stuff and yeah, they're decent enough phones, if you're going for a new model....
OR, you can get yourself a second hand S4, which will blow away the majority of Xiaomi phones because here's the thing. It's not just about specs on paper. The camera destroys the Xiaomi camera's, the screen destroys the majority of Xiaomi screens and the fact there are 100's of devs knocking out great ROM's means this phone will last a lot longer than the Xiaomi ones ever will.
My modus operandi has now changed. I will never buy a new device again. Every 2 years, I will buy a last gen Samsung (or other brand) device when they become cheap and enjoy all the benefits of XDA devs and what not
skezza said:
It's an extremely good mid-range device. The way I like to look at it, is like this:
You can see from my phone history (in my signature), that I go from an i9000 to an LG N4 to a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G, which is quite a deviation. The i9000 was a premium device at the time and it felt like one. The N4 was a premium device and it really really felt like one (and still does to this day). The Xiaomi was a great phone, but you could tell it was manufactured for the Indian market. It wasn't that it was cheaply made. I actually think Xiaomi are quite nicely made, it was the fact there was never any commitment to updates. Getting Lollipop was a bit like playing a game of roulette. Are they going to get it? Who knows? Kind of thing..... eventually some devs ported it, but rather than the 100's that work on Samsung and the Nexus devices, there were a few kids in their bedrooms doing it. I simply didn't have time to get stuck into any ROM development at that point in time either. The Xiaomi was let down by the lack of devs, the poor camera and the general unreliability of updates and software fixes etc.
So here's the point I'm making. You can own a brand new Xiaomi, which for the money seems decent and performs okay and stuff and yeah, they're decent enough phones, if you're going for a new model....
OR, you can get yourself a second hand S4, which will blow away the majority of Xiaomi phones because here's the thing. It's not just about specs on paper. The camera destroys the Xiaomi camera's, the screen destroys the majority of Xiaomi screens and the fact there are 100's of devs knocking out great ROM's means this phone will last a lot longer than the Xiaomi ones ever will.
My modus operandi has now changed. I will never buy a new device again. Every 2 years, I will buy a last gen Samsung (or other brand) device when they become cheap and enjoy all the benefits of XDA devs and what not
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Agree! :good:

Buying nexus 5

Hi guys, I am sorry because this is probably 1828318th time someone asks this.
I have samsung galaxy s6, I love it. I could get this phone for 120-150 euros, is it worth ? It probably wouldn't be my primary phone, something to have in reserve but I would also use it, one of the reasons I would like to try it because on my sgs6 is first time I flashed rom, so I would also like to experiment with it.
Thank you
It's a great phone, hardware-wise it's perfect. Great chipset (cpu, gpu), 2gb of ram is enough, go for the 32gb version since it doesn't take a sd card. The camera is very good, the screen even better, and it's a nexus, so you have many people working on it. It's cheap and you can find replacement parts cheap and easily on eBay (screen, battery etc.).
If you're planning on buying from eBay (specifically those from honk kong) be careful, I bought 3 of them (1st motherboard broke on its own, didn't have backlight, 2nd came with a literally broken motherboard) because they were all broken or faulty. Suspicious things I found when I removed the back covers. The 3rd was finally good.
I bought 2 of them for 180 dollars [emoji14]
Sent from my fx-82MS CAF using Tapatalk

Does anyone know this phone Geotel A1 ?

My phone is broken now .. I wanna buy a budget model ( around $100), I saw a phone called geotel A1 which is a rugged handset and the specs seems fit me and what is most important is the price is really low, does anyone know this phone? what about it ? Appreciate it.
Or do you guys have any recommendations ? Thanks!
I'm using this phone. Well can't expect much on this budget model. 8GB Internal Memory, 1GB RAM, can expand until 64GB SD card and is running on stock Android Nougat 7.0! So far I have no issue using this budget phone. I use it to track jogging, cycling beside this I use it for smartphone photography too!
toughouse said:
My phone is broken now .. I wanna buy a budget model ( around $100), I saw a phone called geotel A1 which is a rugged handset and the specs seems fit me and what is most important is the price is really low, does anyone know this phone? what about it ? Appreciate it.
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Click to collapse
I bought 50 pieces of this phone for my field technicians in my telecom company.
Here are my observations.
The phone is very good for the price. (around 65$)
The phone has a very clean rom, absoltuely no bloatwares at all. Android 7.0 has a bunch of cool options, gestures etc ...
It is pretty fast for a 1 Gb of RAM and there's space to install apps, despite the 8 Gb of ROM (4,2 Gb available) which is not fantastic but minimal.
Battery life for 3400mAh is pretty decent, that's promising for the future.
It is very tough too.
The cons are for me principally focused on 1 thing: the waterproof membrane on the mic and the earspeaker.
You need to drill the 2 membranes if you have sound troubles.
You can do this externally without disassembling the smartphone.
Last thing, you have to use the original USB DC cable. The original is bit longer than other micro USB cables.
Purchased one of these for use in the US. Hardware is solid and chunky with buttons which take a strong press but it is usable. Unfortunately my network (straighttalk/at&t) won't give it service! Same sim works fine in other phones.
Anybody have luck using this phone on At&t?
Probably sending it back if it is at all cost effective to do so.
Oops let me answer my own question... A little research shows that AT&T dropped 2G this year and does not support the 3G bands on this phone.
No wonder they are cheap!!
Avoid this phone in the US.
Sent from my D5803 using XDA Free mobile app

not sure where to post this because no thread for it

Umdigi s5 pro any good? if it is i found a place selling em from california on Fleabay https://www.ebay.com/itm/UMIDIGI-S5...3728:g:AhQAAOSwWcBe2bgJ&LH_ItemCondition=1000
leo5111 said:
Umdigi s5 pro any good? if it is i found a place selling em from california on Fleabay https://www.ebay.com/itm/UMIDIGI-S5...3728:g:AhQAAOSwWcBe2bgJ&LH_ItemCondition=1000
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I very much don't recommend you to buy this phone at that price, you have sooooo many other option, Umdigi and other Chinese less known brands often are a problem when in comes to Customer services. Same when you need to flash ROMs on it or have a problem with it, no devs are buying this.
Plus if you have trust issues with Chinese products, this one won't fit your expectations.
Please don't buy that. Just for the price point, that would be a loss for you.
Okay what do you suggest with about the same size screen and the same horsepower that chipset is slightly faster than a 730 g I looked also it needs to have bands for for Sprint so if you know of anything with a screen size that size and slightly more horsepower than a 7:30 g and 6 GB of RAM in that price range let me know thank you
leo5111 said:
Okay what do you suggest with about the same size screen and the same horsepower that chipset is slightly faster than a 730 g I looked also it needs to have bands for for Sprint so if you know of anything with a screen size that size and slightly more horsepower than a 7:30 g and 6 GB of RAM in that price range let me know thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite seems to fit your expectations. Idk the price where you live, but for me it's close to 250$ (270€). It might be because of a sale, but if you want those specs, wait a bit longer till you have more budget or till the price is down to 250$.
Have a good day
The Umidigi S5 pro is a good phone. I have used it for over 8 months and I love it. Very fast and have had no hiccups. If you are overly concerned about it being a Chinese product (Which most of the phones are manufactured in Asian countries) then throw a custom rom on it. One that I know works for it is Havoc OS which is perfect because it is classified as a gaming phone.
leo5111 said:
Umdigi s5 pro any good? if it is i found a place selling em from california on Fleabay https://www.ebay.com/itm/UMIDIGI-S5-Pro-6GB-256GB-6-39-FHD-Smartphone-Pop-up-Camera-Octa-Core-Dual-SIM/283946465064?hash=item421c873728:g:AhQAAOSwWcBe2bgJ&LH_ItemCondition=1000
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Change this thread's idiotic title to "Umdigi s5 pro any good?" TIA

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