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Xiaomi phone can't be legit

So, as someone living and working in China, I've been super excited following up on the Xiaomi Phone. When they released the price as 2000 RMB (about $310 USD), I knew it had to be fake, or there was some serious funny business. The numbers just don't add up.
Engadget recently had a review of the Xiaomi phone and had it benchmarking near the Galaxy S 2 in several tests, so I think it makes sense to compare these two:
SGS 2 Advantages: Super AMOLED screen; 4.3 inch screen (vs 4 inch); forward facing camera; 1080p video recording (vs 720p); onboard storage (16 GB vs 4 GB); slightly smaller footprint.
Xiaomi Advantages: Price; processor speed (1.5 Ghz vs 1.2); battery (1930 mAh vs 1650); GLONASS and GPS tracking; highly customizable UI out of the box.
In China, the SGS2 retails for about 4300 RMB (about $670 USD). So how does a phone which is in the SGS2's ballpark retail for less than half the price?
It gets even more peculiar. Here are some questions Xiaomi hasn't cleared up(or at least I haven't seen their responses yet):
1) Xiaomi uses a Qualcomm processor and a LCD screen from Sharp (Japanese import). So they can't be using local parts to save costs, how are they able to offer the phone at only $310?
2) Local competitors like Huawei and ZTE who have much more experience in manufacturing (and much more leverage with suppliers) have yet to produce a phone remotely like this. Also, their closest local competition in terms of specs is something like the Huawei Honor, a single core phone that retails for about $400. Yet Xiaomi, which has never produced hardware before is getting better deals than these guys on components? Samsung also does component development in-house, but Xiaomi is getting better pricing than Samsung?
3) Xiaomi was originally a software developer. How did they pull a piece of impressive hardware like this out of nowhere?
4) Why retail for $310? They could sell it for $500 and it would still be way cheaper than an SGS2. Hell, I paid more than 2000 RMB for the crappy 2 year old Nokia I'm still using over here.
My Chinese is OK so I've been trying to read more on the Xiaomi forums, but I haven't really gotten any new information, other than there's something like 300,000 preorders already. I figure there's got to be some serious funny business going on. Probably:
a) ridiculous free loans and/or development assistance from the government to built up national prestige; or
b) copying another phone's internals verbatim; or
c) fake components of some kind
It looked really smooth in the Engadget video, so I'm inclined to be believe it's option A. Good for consumers I guess, but probably lousy if you're a Chinese taxpayer. Any ideas on why the price is so low?

Smaller companies tend to do these kind of things.
However I'm interested as well.

I believe that it's one part 'a' and another that generally huawei and zte have primarily been marketed for export (to SE Asia, India, EU) but the government is really trying to subsidize local start ups to fight imports (like HTC, Sony, etc...) and get Chinese to spend their money on Chinese things. But if a Chinese phone were 3000 RMB and a Korean or Japanese phone was also 3000 RMB, no one would get the Chinese phone for obvious reasons.

so basically you just made up a thread without any evidence and full of speculation accusing Xiaomi not being legit.

india are making ARM Cortex 9 phones with 4 GB for only $35
if they can do it, so can china
lol

Mmmhmm .
I don't why people have so much comments , no offence though .
Forever living in my Galaxy Ace using XDA App

I support you , and do your know meizu'M9 or MX?

hehe
it is good for everyone. thank you!

AllGamer said:
india are making ARM Cortex 9 phones with 4 GB for only $35
if they can do it, so can china
lol
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Seriously?

cdesai said:
Seriously?
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yes, there is a post with the pictures and spec here in the forum
aprox 5 days old
it's made for the india school system

Hi it's my first post and I have no exact figures to support this other than a simple comparison to another industry.
I remember hearing from someone that the mark up on mobile phones (this was a while ago) was a few hundred percent. Remember that it doesn't cost 800 dollars to make a phone and the people that usually make it in third world manufacturing companies or places with poor working conditions only get paid a few dollars an hour to make your 800 dollar phones.
our
My comparison industry is optometry. The following information comes from someone I know who is an optometrist:
"Frames like Gucci and Prada cost $3 per frame to make. In the stores you pay $500 dollars to buy them. That is an insane mark up. However they can't retail it cheaper because of an agreement in place to prevent the devaluation of the brand."
I am sure the same thing happens in the cell phone industry.
Just thought that this might put the legitimacy of the phone in perspective.
Thanks for your time.
andao79 said:
So, as someone living and working in China, I've been super excited following up on the Xiaomi Phone. When they released the price as 2000 RMB (about $310 USD), I knew it had to be fake, or there was some serious funny business. The numbers just don't add up.
Engadget recently had a review of the Xiaomi phone and had it benchmarking near the Galaxy S 2 in several tests, so I think it makes sense to compare these two:
SGS 2 Advantages: Super AMOLED screen; 4.3 inch screen (vs 4 inch); forward facing camera; 1080p video recording (vs 720p); onboard storage (16 GB vs 4 GB); slightly smaller footprint.
Xiaomi Advantages: Price; processor speed (1.5 Ghz vs 1.2); battery (1930 mAh vs 1650); GLONASS and GPS tracking; highly customizable UI out of the box.
In China, the SGS2 retails for about 4300 RMB (about $670 USD). So how does a phone which is in the SGS2's ballpark retail for less than half the price?
It gets even more peculiar. Here are some questions Xiaomi hasn't cleared up(or at least I haven't seen their responses yet):
1) Xiaomi uses a Qualcomm processor and a LCD screen from Sharp (Japanese import). So they can't be using local parts to save costs, how are they able to offer the phone at only $310?
2) Local competitors like Huawei and ZTE who have much more experience in manufacturing (and much more leverage with suppliers) have yet to produce a phone remotely like this. Also, their closest local competition in terms of specs is something like the Huawei Honor, a single core phone that retails for about $400. Yet Xiaomi, which has never produced hardware before is getting better deals than these guys on components? Samsung also does component development in-house, but Xiaomi is getting better pricing than Samsung?
3) Xiaomi was originally a software developer. How did they pull a piece of impressive hardware like this out of nowhere?
4) Why retail for $310? They could sell it for $500 and it would still be way cheaper than an SGS2. Hell, I paid more than 2000 RMB for the crappy 2 year old Nokia I'm still using over here.
My Chinese is OK so I've been trying to read more on the Xiaomi forums, but I haven't really gotten any new information, other than there's something like 300,000 preorders already. I figure there's got to be some serious funny business going on. Probably:
a) ridiculous free loans and/or development assistance from the government to built up national prestige; or
b) copying another phone's internals verbatim; or
c) fake components of some kind
It looked really smooth in the Engadget video, so I'm inclined to be believe it's option A. Good for consumers I guess, but probably lousy if you're a Chinese taxpayer. Any ideas on why the price is so low?
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I'd get the M9 or M9x ( or something.. Quad Core? HELLOOOOO )
I don't see why someone would get a device ONLY for Miui, most phones out there have a build of MIUI.

You really think that $600 phone costs $600 to make?
The markup on electrical goods from brand names can be over 200%

My point is not really related to the idea of a markup, I KNOW all cell phones have a dramatic markup, and I read not long ago an iPhone 4 costs about $180 to make, while they retail for something like $600 out of contract.
I'm more interested in a) How did this company come out of nowhere with this sort of hardware? and b) They don't NEED to sell it for 2000 RMB for it to be a hit. They could have sold it for $400-450 and it would have still been a hell of a lot cheaper than a Galaxy S 2.
That, coupled with the fact that the big guns in China (Meizu, Huawei, ZTE) are not even in the same ballpark with specs or price, is really weird.
If i can demo one and it works well, i'll definitely pick one up, but there must be some serious funny business behind the scenes.

Why must there be funny business?

Well, you can build a cheap phone if you want.
The question is: can you sell it cheap?
Operating costs, brand advertisement etc. They have no problem there, they just build a phone having no ad space on western media.They can do it, they are smart enough.Plus: we enthusiasts are their advertisement plan, we buy it for cheap, all our friends will buy it.
It's a win win scenario.My 2 eurocents.

andao79 said:
My point is not really related to the idea of a markup, I KNOW all cell phones have a dramatic markup, and I read not long ago an iPhone 4 costs about $180 to make, while they retail for something like $600 out of contract.
I'm more interested in a) How did this company come out of nowhere with this sort of hardware? and b) They don't NEED to sell it for 2000 RMB for it to be a hit. They could have sold it for $400-450 and it would have still been a hell of a lot cheaper than a Galaxy S 2.
That, coupled with the fact that the big guns in China (Meizu, Huawei, ZTE) are not even in the same ballpark with specs or price, is really weird.
If i can demo one and it works well, i'll definitely pick one up, but there must be some serious funny business behind the scenes.
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Click to collapse
The issue is risk. Do you risk spending $300 on a new unknown brand or do you spend $450 on a noname brand when you can get a well known brand for $600?
There is obviously going to be a greater curve of buyers the lower the price you go and finding the balance is where your marketers need mettle. I think the current price is going to be very good to get users into buying the phone. Obviously, if they can become the new HTC, their markup is going to increase hugely.
My concern is going to be: at ~$300, what is the customer service going to be like? HTC's is mediocre here in the UK, but if Vodafone, Orange et al resell this phone, it's going to be VERY attractive to us as the carriers are held responsible until end of warranty.

russ18uk said:
The issue is risk. Do you risk spending $300 on a new unknown brand or do you spend $450 on a noname brand when you can get a well known brand for $600?
There is obviously going to be a greater curve of buyers the lower the price you go and finding the balance is where your marketers need mettle. I think the current price is going to be very good to get users into buying the phone. Obviously, if they can become the new HTC, their markup is going to increase hugely.
My concern is going to be: at ~$300, what is the customer service going to be like? HTC's is mediocre here in the UK, but if Vodafone, Orange et al resell this phone, it's going to be VERY attractive to us as the carriers are held responsible until end of warranty.
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Just to clarify, the retailer is responsible until you have had a reasonable amount of use out of it irrespective of warranty
The law doesn't care about warranties, they're in the best case an agreement that the device will be repaired without the need to take legal action, and in the worst case used to illegally convince consumers they have no rights.
Take my Sensation, afaik it has a 12month warranty.
Say the screen dies after 18 months, I'll be demanding O2 repair or replace it otherwise I'll be contacting trading standards as being a phone provided on a 24 month contract I should be able to expect it to last at least 24 months and more especially considering the price when new.
I love being a consumer in the UK

Xiaomo said:
I support you , and do your know meizu'M9 or MX?
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yes~ Meizu much better than xiaomi

kerwin_pig said:
yes~ Meizu much better than xiaomi
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WHY DID YOU DIG UP OLD THREADS
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

[Q] What on earth is the TF700?

So I've been planning to purchase a transformer prime TF-201 for a while, and I was going to purchase it within the next few weeks. Now I'm finding information on this TF-700, whatever it is, but not enough to understand if it's a replacement or an upgrade or what?
Does anyone know about it?
Any details helpful
Cheers!

here: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Transformer+Pad+Infinity&l=1
Basically it is a Transformer Prime that will have a higher resolution screen, 3G/LTE in some models and a slightly higher price tag. It also has a partially plastic back panel which should improve GPS and WiFi performance.

Is it worth waiting for? I'm a student, any information on the price range yet?

joncy92 said:
Is it worth waiting for? I'm a student, any information on the price range yet?
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It will also have gorilla glass 2 on it. Price range being thrown around is $599 for 32gb and $699 for 64gb.
The processor is supposed to be a little faster and a higher resolution front facinf camera. It may not get as long of life for the battery, but the higher resolution, improved glass and hopefully better GPS and WIFI are a go for me.
I liked everything about my Prime except it seemed like the glass wasn't up to snuff, mine scratched while docked and also started micro cracking along the black bezel. So I sent it back waiting on this now.

joncy92 said:
Is it worth waiting for? I'm a student, any information on the price range yet?
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not till end of June or july. Price, supposedly starts at $599 for 32gb wifi model. lte model much more expensive. Likely $699+data plan.
Prime is more than worth getting now. its the better deal.

I don't see the need for that high resulotion on a 10,1 tablet. The battery life will probably get worse unless they put in a bigger one. That's what apple had to do with the new lolpad anyway
I do however see the point of the plastic cover making wifi and gps better. I don't have any wifi issues myself on my "c2" prime but gps is not that good. But i don't use it anyway. Got gps built into my car and if i'm on foot looking for something i just use my phone

joncy92 said:
Is it worth waiting for? I'm a student, any information on the price range yet?
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Depends on when you need a tablet, and if you need a higher resolution screen or 3g/LTE.
If you need/want a tablet right now, the Transformer Prime is excellent. If you don't it might be worth waiting for. The WiFi model is allegedly going to start off at $599 for the 32GB model, which would make the 64GB model priced at around $699.
The 3G/LTE models will probably start off at $699 for the 32GB model and go up from there. There is no solid info on what networks the 3G/LTE models will be compatible with and if they are carrier exclusive that will affect the price.
The TF Infinity is rated at 9 hours of battery life, instead of the 10 that the Prime is rated for. Also it will be pushing more pixels with only a slightly updates processor so performance wise it might be a little bit slower (WiFi model, anyway).
If Price is an issue, Asus is also releasing the Transformer Pad 300 which is nearly identical to the Prime, however it loses the Super IPS screen capability (its less bright at maximum screen brightness) and comes with only 16GB of internal storage. It also comes in brighter colors (red, blue & white) has a plastic back (which will improve WiFi and GPS) and a price tag expected to start at $399.

Nobody mentioned it is also a different proccesor.
It runs a 2 core snapdragon (if I remember right).
That brings up other issues.
I know the difference between 2 cores at "x" speed can be as fast or faster than 4 cores at "x" speed IF the code is written to take advantage of it. Remember that the 5 core Nvidia Tegra platform has a lot of support so I am hesitant to say this new one will be as fast.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk

scrufy said:
Nobody mentioned it is also a different proccesor.
It runs a 2 core snapdragon (if I remember right).
That brings up other issues.
I know the difference between 2 cores at "x" speed can be as fast or faster than 4 cores at "x" speed IF the code is written to take advantage of it. Remember that the 5 core Nvidia Tegra platform has a lot of support so I am hesitant to say this new one will be as fast.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Supposedly wifi models still have Tegra3 while it's the lte models that have the s4

Where din you get the info about it being launched only in June-July? I am currently looking around for a tablet and I am oscillating between the TF201, the iPad3 and the TF700T and I would go for the latter but only if I can buy it around May...

You have to guarantee that the TF-700 is really going to be released in June/July. If I remember correctly the TF-201 was supposed to be released in November, but it wasn't really available in the UK until February. If this happens again, you might have to wait until September/October for the new tablet.

Felisek said:
You have to guarantee that the TF-700 is really going to be released in June/July. If I remember correctly the TF-201 was supposed to be released in November, but it wasn't really available in the UK until February. If this happens again, you might have to wait until September/October for the new tablet.
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Click to collapse
There is no gurantee, most are just guessing based on various info from various tech news site.

allex82 said:
Where din you get the info about it being launched only in June-July? I am currently looking around for a tablet and I am oscillating between the TF201, the iPad3 and the TF700T and I would go for the latter but only if I can buy it around May...
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The rumors indicated that the TF700T will be launched in the June/July time frame. However there has been no official word from Asus on the matter, and even if they are "released" in June/July they might be in very short supply for several months after that.
The TF Prime was technically released in November, but most retailers are just now starting to get a steady stock of them.

Felisek said:
You have to guarantee that the TF-700 is really going to be released in June/July. If I remember correctly the TF-201 was supposed to be released in November, but it wasn't really available in the UK until February. If this happens again, you might have to wait until September/October for the new tablet.
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in Portugal, same thing. only in February they started to be at stores.

Thanks for all the info guys.
To be honest I'm having trouble finding a prime in the UK anyway. I mean I'm in London and I can't even find a store with a bloody display model so I can play with it before I actually buy it. I can find it online without a problem usually but every bloody shop that sells the prime out here only has online delivery. Does anyone know of any shops in London who hold stock in-store so I can use one?
Cheers.

only if you have a Gamestop store that carries tablets. possibly Bestbuy should have them. maybe an office depot.

demandarin said:
not till end of June or july. Price, supposedly starts at $599 for 32gb wifi model. lte model much more expensive. Likely $699+data plan.
Prime is more than worth getting now. its the better deal.
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Click to collapse
I definitely second that thought. Prime is the undisputed king of tablets right now and by the time TF700 comes out, the competition will be much tougher (other Tegra3 tablets or windows tablets). There are a lot of uncertainties coming with the TF700 also. No guarantee on the exact launch date, and like everybody mentioned, Asus is quite inacurate when it comes to precise dates. No guarantee that the battery life will be as awesome. No guarantee that the plastic cover will totally erase the issues with GPS and Wifi performance.

joncy92 said:
Thanks for all the info guys.
To be honest I'm having trouble finding a prime in the UK anyway. I mean I'm in London and I can't even find a store with a bloody display model so I can play with it before I actually buy it. I can find it online without a problem usually but every bloody shop that sells the prime out here only has online delivery. Does anyone know of any shops in London who hold stock in-store so I can use one?
Cheers.
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Click to collapse
Joncy...your best bet is to pop into a currys as they have them on display when theyu have stock and they should be ablt to check on their systems to see which shops have them in stock. PC World (same group) can also do the same, but for some reason the staff do not seem as interested or as helpful as the currys staff!!
I don't know if carphone warehouse shops have any on display in their shops but if there is one locally it might be worth a punt!!
The other option is to get one from ebuyer or Amazon and use the 7 days distance selling regs to try out the TFP...the trouble with this option is that it will cost you 500 sovs for the pleasure and given that amount of testing time you might be more tempted to keep it once you have played with it.
Remember there are far more happy punters out there than unhappy ones.
One little tip is that when booting for the first time you might think that there is light bleed (I did) but once it is fired up and displaying whatever, this is nowhere near so visible.
Good luck
Andy
demandarin said:
only if you have a Gamestop store that carries tablets. possibly Bestbuy should have them. maybe an office depot.
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Click to collapse
Oh Demandarin ! I know you are trying to be helpful but please remember that the UK is not a state of the USA Over here on this side of the pond Gamestop are online only, bestbuy in the UK went tits up a while ago and office depot is also an online company.
ps Joncy there is a dedicated thread on pre-orders in the uk

joncy92 said:
Is it worth waiting for? I'm a student, any information on the price range yet?
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Click to collapse
I would suggest you wait for the 700. The 700 is going to replace the Prime no matter what other people tell you. For $100 more you are getting a higher res screen, option of LTE for another 100, and wifi and gps that actually function. If it weren't for Prime owners complaining, ASUS would've slipped the Prime under the rug like it never happened. There is no reason for ASUS to have so many lines of products with such minor differences.
Also, because of the aluminum backing, the Prime has significantly crippled wifi range. The range is weaker than my 3 year old Sony x10 phone. So if your University is like mine in which the wifi isn't the greatest everywhere on campus then that might become a problem.

xGary said:
I would suggest you wait for the 700. The 700 is going to replace the Prime no matter what other people tell you. For $100 more you are getting a higher res screen, option of LTE for another 100, and wifi and gps that actually function. If it weren't for Prime owners complaining, ASUS would've slipped the Prime under the rug like it never happened. There is no reason for ASUS to have so many lines of products with such minor differences.
Also, because of the aluminum backing, the Prime has significantly crippled wifi range. The range is weaker than my 3 year old Sony x10 phone. So if your University is like mine in which the wifi isn't the greatest everywhere on campus then that might become a problem.
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For students, I would think the TF300 might be more probably price range.

[Q] Looking for an unlocked Phone

Hi All,
I am planning to buy a smartphone in couple of weeks and requires your help in making the decision. Below are my requirements
1) Should be under 400$ (US dollars)
2) Screen size should be > 4 inches
3) Mobile OS should be Android or Mango (Windows phone). More inclined towards Android
4) Looking for dual core processor as Android runs best on Dual core in my opinion
5) Phone should be unlocked
I liked Galaxy nexus but do you guys think its really worth 440$ (including taxes and shipping)?
**********************************************
Updated the poll section with my short listed phones
**********************************************

Ever considered unlocking a phone yourself? Not that hard to do. Guarantee may fly away though.

alexander.rangelov said:
Ever considered unlocking a phone yourself? Not that hard to do. Guarantee may fly away though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply, I dont mind loosing warranty but i dont see much price difference between network unlocked phones and network locked phones. If you do , could you please post a link or guide me . Thanks

Please suggest

Unlocked Phone might seem expensive at the front but you are not tie to 2 yrs contract with network assuming that you are in USA. You can find alternative data and phone plan much cheaper. Good luck

BUMP ...Please help . I need to decide in couple of days.

HTC One S - should be able to get international version unlocked for around that price. 4'3 inch screen, good battery life, really thin phone and fast read a review on it. This phone is newer and built on better technology than nexus, it has sense UI if that's your style. I used it and it felt really nice to hold aluminum casing. built solid.

HTC one S is 100$ more than Nexus which is 500$ .I already stretched my budget from 250$ to 400$ .

HTC A9 vs Xiaomi Redmi 3

What you think about the Redmi 3?
It's the better/cheaper A9 from China?

Definitely wayyyy cheaper, but the A9 has the better components to it. Better when compared to the price difference? Probably not, but still better.
If you live in a region where you can easily get the Redmi 3 and it matched your network bands, it's probably the better choice. The only region where the A9 makes sense is in North America.

jellmoo said:
Definitely wayyyy cheaper, but the A9 has the better components to it. Better when compared to the price difference? Probably not, but still better.
If you live in a region where you can easily get the Redmi 3 and it matched your network bands, it's probably the better choice. The only region where the A9 makes sense is in North America.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery life is almost 100% bigger. LOL. I'm in Singapore and usually the phone will release in China itself first before making way to other countries after few months. by that time, they are ready to out another new model of redmi/note/Mi series again. with their price being so close to each other, it's hard to justify the purchase when another model is coming out soon again.

n0_yi said:
The battery life is almost 100% bigger. LOL. I'm in Singapore and usually the phone will release in China itself first before making way to other countries after few months. by that time, they are ready to out another new model of redmi/note/Mi series again. with their price being so close to each other, it's hard to justify the purchase when another model is coming out soon again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup. Much bigger battery.
The only problem with that line of thought is that you just never end up buying anything, as something new is always just around the horizon. If the OP needs a phone right now, the Redmi 3 offers some great bang for the buck *provided* you live in the target market. The A9 is a great device, it's just priced too high (and comes with weaker internals outside of NA).

jellmoo said:
Yup. Much bigger battery.
The only problem with that line of thought is that you just never end up buying anything, as something new is always just around the horizon. If the OP needs a phone right now, the Redmi 3 offers some great bang for the buck *provided* you live in the target market. The A9 is a great device, it's just priced too high (and comes with weaker internals outside of NA).
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Click to collapse
Ya it's sgd798 which is usd554.38 for the 32GB version.
I've gotten a 16gb export version for usd329. Not a heavy user so I guess 2gb ram is good enough.
& I already got 64GB memory card standby for it.
There's only Xiaomi that price is comparable to their original market (in this case, china, because anything under $200 is dirt cheap).
Even OnePlus doesn't feel cheap over here, around usd 30-40 more expensive than US itself (the hype starts in US afterall)

Exynos S9 + in US for $780!!

Ebay seller with 99.1% positive review selling S9+ dual sim with EXYNOS processors for $780! Only works with gsm carriers in United states. Ships from Texas! https://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-Ga...CKED-6-2-64GB-6GB-RAM/202233919297?rmvSB=true

I got my s9 plus without lease for 540 from Tmobile. Much better deal!

IllyaK said:
I got my s9 plus without lease for 540 from Tmobile. Much better deal!
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Not Exynos

jcrompton said:
Not Exynos
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Click to collapse
SD trumps Exonys in GPU and rooting is a thing of the past. Saving 200-300 of this phone is my priority.

I hope the sale works out - seems fishy to me that he could be selling a new Exynos for that price but if you already received it or everything turns out - that is awesome. And to those that prefer SnapDragon, Personally I will take the flexibility and freedom of an EXYNOS device over SD any day of the week..but we each have our own preferences -

Yeah ..... Without root or no hope of it
What would be the purpose of even being on XDA ?

IllyaK said:
SD trumps Exonys in GPU and rooting is a thing of the past. Saving 200-300 of this phone is my priority.
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Click to collapse
The difference in gpu is only important in intense emulation and benchmarks. Both are more than capable of running android apps. So the gpu arms race is arguably unimportant for now. The big issue, assuming that you plan on keeping the device, is that the Exynos variants will get new versions of Android via custom roms for a very long time. Prime example is my old AT&T Note 3. It is capped at 5.1.1, whereas the unlocked models are getting 8.0 right now. This greatly matters, because they are running fast again.
Everyone has their priorities, though. Mine was to not get stuck with another 64GB phone, and to root for PoGo spoofing, and ad blocking.

I got mine from that seller ... The device is from Singapore and it was brand new ... Very pleased with it so far

I bought the 128gb exynos from them for 919-50 eBay coupon for 869. Make sure it's the 965f/fd exynos not the 9650 that's the snapdragon version with unlocked bootloader.

That's a smoking deal!
One question though with dual sim model...does that mean no support for microSD expansion?
EDIT: Looks like the space for the 2n SIM can take microSD. They also have the 128GB version as well.
That's so damn tempting. I'd LOVE to have device I have control over again!

I bought that and had to return it. I have Tmobile. Maybe my phone was a dud but it was factory new. The seller is good but my particular phone may have been messed up. I was only getting between 1.5-2mbps on LTE. I reset the APN settings and got up to about 15 but nothing even close to the 30-40 I was getting on the US version. Every cally I had would drop. I couldnt get through a single call. The Camara would stutter big time with video. It was very very bad. See here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lidWcMX_fGI . Another bad problem I had was sometimes the phone would jsut go to static in the microphone. It was just random and it would go back to normal if I reboot but just a few hours later it was just static again. No calls, google assistant or voice typing would work. Not even voice recorder. I really wanted to have root but it wasnt worth it with the problems I was seeing.

jrharvey said:
I bought that and had to return it. I have Tmobile. Maybe my phone was a dud but it was factory new. The seller is good but my particular phone may have been messed up. I was only getting between 1.5-2mbps on LTE. I reset the APN settings and got up to about 15 but nothing even close to the 30-40 I was getting on the US version. Every cally I had would drop. I couldnt get through a single call. The Camara would stutter big time with video. It was very very bad. See here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lidWcMX_fGI . Another bad problem I had was sometimes the phone would jsut go to static in the microphone. It was just random and it would go back to normal if I reboot but just a few hours later it was just static again. No calls, google assistant or voice typing would work. Not even voice recorder. I really wanted to have root but it wasnt worth it with the problems I was seeing.
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Ouch!
I'm on TMO here as well.
Planned on using two TMO lines via dual SIM.
I have the femtocell below ground and get about 96/30 (down up) via that consistently.
But the other issues certainly would be a deal breaker as my S9+ unlocked is perfect minus TWRP.

Quite tempted but want the Snapdragon version because of the GPU (yes I use emulators) and it's 64gb only

cpufrost said:
Ouch!
I'm on TMO here as well.
Planned on using two TMO lines via dual SIM.
I have the femtocell below ground and get about 96/30 (down up) via that consistently.
But the other issues certainly would be a deal breaker as my S9+ unlocked is perfect minus TWRP.
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Click to collapse
A software update supposedly fixed the speed issue where the phone wasn't connecting to T-Mobile LTE bands (I don't have this issue on T-Mobile). I bought two of these because my wife needs dual SIM for her business lines. The only issue I've had so far is call quality and an update was just released this morning to address that (hopefully). Keep in mind, it'll probably take two weeks to get your phone from this seller. Very slow to ship. You will also get a foreign charging adapter and they will send you a generic adapter to make it work in North America. We just bought wireless chargers because these adapters feel like fire hazards.

Just got the phone yesterday. I have at&t and haven't had many issues other than major battery drain. But I assumed it was just because my school is an awful service area. Phone's fine anywhere else in my area.

Anyone get the 256GB version?
I don't get the deal with the charger. I never even take them out of the box. Ditto for the headphones and charging cord.
That seller has some negs including fake devices, kind of scary.
I usually pay with PP LOC so no worries there.

jefffriscotx said:
how?
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My guess is that he traded it in and got a good 200$ discount.

Well I pulled the trigger on the 256GB version. It should be here Tuesday.
It will be nice to have something I have control over!