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I have gotten fascinated by several Chinese phones lately, and plan to own one with Straighttalk or simpletalk soon.
I want to use this thread discussing the top Chinese phones by price/budget. I have added some names below - please suggest more. I also intend to put the supported bands, so people looking to use it on specific carriers will have best luck with these phones.
(Copied from a different thread For AT&T, the band is 850/1900 MHz for both GSM and WCDMA 3G. For T-Mobile 850/1900 MHz GSM and 1700 MHz for WCDMA 3G. If your phone is WCDMA 900/2100, 3G will not work for both AT&T and T-mobile. You must have at least one band that matches with your network. For best 3G coverage, both bands must be supported by the phone.
For under $200
Jiayu G3 - not yet release - MTK6577 chipset, 1GB RAM, Android 4.1
Star ule v12 - MTK6577 chipset, 512MB RAM, Android 4.0.3
HDC Star One - MTK 6577 chipset, 512MB RAM, Android 4.0.3
For over $200
Meizu M2
Good places to buy
AliExpress.com
DHGate.com
365Gate.com
FastCardTech.com
walletless said:
I have gotten fascinated by several Chinese phones lately, and plan to own one with Straighttalk or simpletalk soon.
....
Good places to buy
AliExpress.com
DHGate.com
365Gate.com
FastCardTech.com
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Hi, did you ever get any of the chinese phones? If so, wher did you buy your phone?
I'm fairly settled on the upcoming 1GB RAM version of G2, but I'm having trouble deciding where to actually make the purchase. I've been in talks with etotalk, and while they don't seem to be out to scam people, it has become apparent that specs on pre-release devices are totally unreliable and should be triple-checked with their salespeople prior to purchase.
On XDA, it's apparent that FCT has some very bad rep and only people with single-digit post-count come to their defense. (Yeah.. totally trustworthy. )
So, have you any experience to share?
I wouldn't trust my money with those phones it's much better to save up and buy an official, 'real' phone for the security and support
jman2131 said:
I wouldn't trust my money with those phones it's much better to save up and buy an official, 'real' phone for the security and support
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Jman, you're entitled to your opinion. I value your input. I'm not looking at the chinese phones because of the money, and would in fact gladly pay up to twice their price if they were on purchase here, with EU-mandated consumer protection and warranties.
The reason I'm looking at them is because I have looked at the offerings from the brands established-in-the-western-world and they're all pathetic. Show me a dual-core dual-SIM phone with screen no larger than 4.0", and a battery with a capacity at least 1.7 Ah.
Goophone Y5, soon launching Goophone I5 are great. Also S3 clones are quite trustworthy.
johhu12 said:
Goophone Y5, soon launching Goophone I5 are great. Also S3 clones are quite trustworthy.
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Hi Joh, thanks for the suggestions, but I'm asking about which e-shop to choose. Have you made a purchase at any?
Before I had the Honor 6X I used to have a Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. Now back when I bought it, I couldnt use LTE because of the band 20 not working (I guess). After about a year and one software update later LTE just started working (even in custom roms)
Now with the H6X, LTE does not seem to be working (Nougat/EMUI5/BLN-AL30). Do you think it will some time in the future?
definitely, they will notice and release a patch,
Yes but we must flood them with request so they'll do it.
Skotska said:
Before I had the Honor 6X I used to have a Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. Now back when I bought it, I couldnt use LTE because of the band 20 not working (I guess). After about a year and one software update later LTE just started working (even in custom roms)
Now with the H6X, LTE does not seem to be working (Nougat/EMUI5/BLN-AL30). Do you think it will some time in the future?
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Was the band 20 enabled in other models ?
Hello,
is it realy possible to activate Band 20 only in Software/Firmware or must also the Hardware adapt ?
I think the internal antenna for exmaple could be optimized for several frequenzes ?
Maybe there are hardware differences in EU market phones compared with China Phones.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/330...&terminal_id=de458ebb0dce4d89b0355a0cd30df9d9
Hopefully this will entice developers to buy the phone and develop more ROMs and kernels for it. $385 is really cheap and to me, it's like a flagship killer all over again.
Only difference is in LTE bands between global and China/Indian variants
If anyone has friends in China, OnePlus China has the OnePlus 7 8GB/256GB for 2,500RMB.
You better buy from Gearbest - it's the same price using the code GBOP712256G. If you are from EU than you don't have any problem with the customs as if you buy from Aliexpress.
Just don't. Oneplus 7T is $415
Looks like it'll be $315USD on Singles Day! Solid price for a solid phone. Really tempted to get one now and replace my faulty OnePlus 5T.
keaheng said:
Just don't. Oneplus 7T is $415
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90Hz isn't worth extra $100
keaheng said:
Just don't. Oneplus 7T is $415
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Where is it available for that price and is it us compatible?
where do u see $315? im only seeing 375 for nov 11.
SeyMedia said:
You better buy from Gearbest - it's the same price using the code GBOP712256G. If you are from EU than you don't have any problem with the customs as if you buy from Aliexpress.
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Do you happen to know the difference between the $419 version and the $499 "international" version?
Seems like a steal at that price.
It's such a great phone I'd almost consider having a spare one.
Absolutely don't understand the appeal of the Pro — the battery is bigger but not better because of larger screen, and as a non-gamer the OP7 screen is way fast and accurate enough, wouldn't see the difference.
who ah way said:
Do you happen to know the difference between the $419 version and the $499 "international" version?
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If you post the links of those, i can check them out and tell you the difference.
SeyMedia said:
If you post the links of those, i can check them out and tell you the difference.
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Thank you.
$419 https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009591521059.html?wid=1349303
$499 https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009431793745.html?wid=1349303
who ah way said:
Thank you.
$419 https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009591521059.html?wid=1349303
$499 https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009431793745.html?wid=1349303
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It's the same version - GM1900 a.k.a. Chinese version with flashed global ROM, the only difference is the RAM: first has 8GB RAM, second has 12GB RAM.
https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009591521059.html?wid=1349303 - this is what i bought a month ago, now it says i have an "email only price" (i think that you need to add it to favorites to get this offer) - $389.99. You can also buy it with a discount code - GBOP7GSBW - it should be $389.99.
Is there any difference in the OP7 models, 1900 vs. 1903? Isn't LTE band support the same?
mr3p said:
Is there any difference in the OP7 models, 1900 vs. 1903? Isn't LTE band support the same?
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There's a slight difference in LTE bands but the China/Indian variants support most LTE networks around the world. I updated the OP with a site for you to check the LTE bands and see if they work with your wireless network provider.
geokilla said:
There's a slight difference in LTE bands but the China/Indian variants support most LTE networks around the world. I updated the OP with a site for you to check the LTE bands and see if they work with your wireless network provider.
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I compared the 1903 (Global) vs. 1900 (China) on Kimovil and it looks like the Global version has support for a couple of extra LTE bands although according to OnePlus website there isn't any difference? If there really is any difference in LTE band support in 1903 vs. 1900, is it just a firmware difference or an actual internal hardware difference?
If there really are additional LTE bands supported in 1903, is there any way to know which model you get from Gearbest or you don't just get a 1900 loaded with a Global ROM? Based on some of the pictures posted in reviews, Gearbest appears to be selling 1900 although maybe they are all the same and it doesn't matter.
mr3p said:
is there any way to know which model you get from Gearbest or you don't just get a 1900 loaded with a Global ROM?
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I bought from GearBest. They are selling GM1900 with a global rom flashed(the GM57AA if not mistaken)... i flashed the latest(10.0.1.GM57BA) and it's working great.
Today's the day! Any developers buying it?
I also bought GM1900 variant of Oneplus 7 8GB RAM 256 GB ROM flashed with global ROM. I am now at 10.0.1 GM57AA Oxygen OS version. Phone works great and i saved around 80$ compared with the international version. I also checked the supported bands at the link provided by OP (thanks for that) and here are the differences in a brief summary for everybody who wonders.
4G (LTE) - Global version supports bands B25 (1900+) and B30 (2300) in addition to those supported also by the China version (GM1900). These two bands are exclusively used in USA and operators there support many more bands also. So the only case when you need international would be if you live in USA and are sure that your operator uses exclusively B25 and/or B30 LTE bands at your location. In all other cases you are safe with China GM1900 flashed with global ROM.
3G - China version (GM1900) supports band B9 (1800 Japan) which is not supported by Global. Everything else is the same.
2G - Same frequencies support for both China and Global versions.
To sum it up - GM1900 flashed with global ROM looks great deal to me.
I also bought the Red limited Chinese edition with 256GB and 8GB of RAM and I'm supper satisfied especially that I sold my 1 year old 6T for 370e and bought brand new OP7 for 396e!
Flashed EU Rom (BA) and everything works flawlessly. Also I have to say OP7 is a heck of an upgrade. FP sensor is miles better and works so fast no matter what. Speakers are better, touch responsiveness is better, camera is better, overall speed and fluidity is better. Design is the same but in my opinion it's still a nice looking phone and I think build quality seems better on OP7.
I'm still on Pie as the first builds of Android 10 are too buggy but if someone contemplates whether to upgrade or not I would really recommend it. All those little annoying things from 6T were fixed and this phone especially for that price has no match!
mlodykaras said:
I also bought the Red limited Chinese edition with 256GB and 8GB of RAM and I'm supper satisfied especially that I sold my 1 year old 6T for 370e and bought brand new OP7 for 396e!
Flashed EU Rom (BA) and everything works flawlessly. Also I have to say OP7 is a heck of an upgrade. FP sensor is miles better and works so fast no matter what. Speakers are better, touch responsiveness is better, camera is better, overall speed and fluidity is better. Design is the same but in my opinion it's still a nice looking phone and I think build quality seems better on OP7.
I'm still on Pie as the first builds of Android 10 are too buggy but if someone contemplates whether to upgrade or not I would really recommend it. All those little annoying things from 6T were fixed and this phone especially for that price has no match!
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Who told OP7 Android 10 is buggy?
Well OnePlus forums is flooded with people having issues all over. On top of that you can't hide the notch and there is no two button navigation on Android 10 which is something I use and I don't know if I can live without
I was surprised how well this phone is supported on XDA and it looks quite good on paper, i have 1 question i cannot find answer to:
Does this phone support Carrier Aggregation in Europe? (4G+)
It you buy EU version then yes. If you buy India, China (RMQ) or any other version than EU then definitely not. So I heard.
greenys' said:
It you buy EU version then yes. If you buy India, China (RMQ) or any other version than EU then definitely not. So I heard.
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It's a small world.. lol.
k3lcior said:
It's a small world.. lol.
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I am also planning buying this mobile in Pakistan. Here mostly Global Version are released. Is eu global version?
waqar bukhari said:
I am also planning buying this mobile in Pakistan. Here mostly Global Version are released. Is eu global version?
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Yes i think so, homever i got Mi 9 Lite (got really nice deal 6/128GB variant for $205)
k3lcior said:
Yes i think so, homever i got Mi 9 Lite (got really nice deal 6/128GB variant for $205)
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Nice. But in my country mi 9 lite 6gb and realme xt 8gb are similarly priced. If I decides to increase my budget then I will go for realme xt. Sd712 over sd710.
According to realme support no it doesn't.
Also I'm based in Italy and can confirm you there is no sign of 4g+ even though I live near a Tri-Band bts (3-7-20) and my place is full of two and three bands bts.
Considering to return the phone for exactly this reason. My old op3t had full 4g+ in the same position
k3lcior said:
It's a small world.. lol.
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Indeed, friend.
Ormad said:
According to realme support no it doesn't.
Also I'm based in Italy and can confirm you there is no sign of 4g+ even though I live near a Tri-Band bts (3-7-20) and my place is full of two and three bands bts.
Considering to return the phone for exactly this reason. My old op3t had full 4g+ in the same position
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I still can't believe eu version doesn't support 4g+. I mean did you check sites if they show whether or not this device supports it or not? I mean I definitely did before buying but I only see which bands does the device support. Not the technology (3g and 4g is present but I don't see 4g+). If you didn't check for it then why did you buy? If you did check but it was written to be present but it is not, shouldn't you get s full refund or device return + refund??
greenys' said:
I still can't believe eu version doesn't support 4g+. I mean did you check sites if they show whether or not this device supports it or not? I mean I definitely did before buying but I only see which bands does the device support. Not the technology (3g and 4g is present but I don't see 4g+). If you didn't check for it then why did you buy? If you did check but it was written to be present but it is not, shouldn't you get s full refund or device return + refund??
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I can't believe it either, it was a BIG surprise to see it lacks it. In 2019, ANY and i mean ANY device you buy got a form of CA, even a Huawei MTK I just bought for dad for 99 euros. Of course this is also specified, for example as you can see there is mention for LTE-A (which is LTE+)
https://www.gsmarena.com/realme_5_pro-9801.php
I couldn't believe it so I sent an email to Realme customer service asking if the phone indeed supported LTE-A like specified and like supported by its chipset (snapdragon 712 is a 3*20mhz capable chipset) and they replied "realme 5 pro doesn't support LTE+"
Then, after more than TEN days, they replied again to the same email by saying that they were sorry for the previous reply and that the phone DOES support LTE+ (is this a professional service?)
I asked them how I can check which bands gets aggregated and why there is no sign of a 4g+ or lte+ icons like all other phones and... they never replied
I've read around that Realme support is a total crap, but I really tried and hoped they can answer about specs of a phone they produce and sell directly.
To dig further another guy here on xda sent some network guru screenshots where it is clearly shown that it only can catch a single band and not multiple.
So at this point I'm thinking about it. I've got until 31/01/2020 to be able to get a full refund but kinda I still like the phone speed, but this network problem and the camera (which is the worst 48Mpixel sensor I've ever tried, but it seems to be a software issue) kills my willingness to keep it. I was also waiting if any new update can fix either of the problems so I guess I'll wait a lil more, but still I can't advice to buy this phone. Xiaomi on the same price level doesn't have any of these major issues even though their chipsets are a little behind.
Ormad said:
I can't believe it either, it was a BIG surprise to see it lacks it. In 2019, ANY and i mean ANY device you buy got a form of CA, even a Huawei MTK I just bought for dad for 99 euros. Of course this is also specified, for example as you can see there is mention for LTE-A (which is LTE+)
https://www.gsmarena.com/realme_5_pro-9801.php
I couldn't believe it so I sent an email to Realme customer service asking if the phone indeed supported LTE-A like specified and like supported by its chipset (snapdragon 712 is a 3*20mhz capable chipset) and they replied "realme 5 pro doesn't support LTE+"
Then, after more than TEN days, they replied again to the same email by saying that they were sorry for the previous reply and that the phone DOES support LTE+ (is this a professional service?)
I asked them how I can check which bands gets aggregated and why there is no sign of a 4g+ or lte+ icons like all other phones and... they never replied
I've read around that Realme support is a total crap, but I really tried and hoped they can answer about specs of a phone they produce and sell directly.
To dig further another guy here on xda sent some network guru screenshots where it is clearly shown that it only can catch a single band and not multiple.
So at this point I'm thinking about it. I've got until 31/01/2020 to be able to get a full refund but kinda I still like the phone speed, but this network problem and the camera (which is the worst 48Mpixel sensor I've ever tried, but it seems to be a software issue) kills my willingness to keep it. I was also waiting if any new update can fix either of the problems so I guess I'll wait a lil more, but still I can't advice to buy this phone. Xiaomi on the same price level doesn't have any of these major issues even though their chipsets are a little behind.
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Wow... Just wow. All these bits and pieces of info are priceless and shocking to me. Thank you. Me too, I prefer the speed of the phone, the battery and ufs file storage, furthermore vooc charging. Amazingly conformable for my hand as well. Overall I'm really in love with it but kind of hate it at the same tine. My major problems are camera and connectivity. Both are extremely crucial when you take a look at a smartphone. Btw even oneplus uses the same sensor as our device. A developer of rm5p guessed that perhaps the difference is using different lens, not the sensors. I'm not sure. Anyway, we know more now at least. It's a start.
waqar bukhari said:
Nice. But in my country mi 9 lite 6gb and realme xt 8gb are similarly priced. If I decides to increase my budget then I will go for realme xt. Sd712 over sd710.
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They are not similarly priced at all, mi 9 lite was on sale for 45,000 which is much cheaper than xt 54,000, sd712 vs sd710 very slight difference but 9 lite has its own advantages such as better selfie cam.
If you are looking to buy mi 9 lite box pack you can contact me, I can get you a good deal.
I am reading that people are really disappointed the Global version is Exynos based and not snapdragon but my requiremetns are these
I need it rooted, after I found out that S8 Snapdragon had no root for longest time - and even now the solution is not good, I was totally put off by Samsung
I understand Exonys versions have root come out fairly quick
I need to use Samsung Pay or Google pay( which If i am not mistaken can be done via Magisk? ) as its currency not possible in S8 or S9 Snapdragon due to its rooting method
Dual SIM - MAIN Reason - I beleive US version wont have Dual and Exonys wil?
Bring out the inner artist in doing some sketching
So considering he above, is the Exynos chip t hat and compared to my requirements above?
Any other recommendation? seek Note 10+?
Hello, on all that i still suggest you using Snapdragon version. As far as i can see you need root for custom rom. I have rooted Note 10+ (Exynos) and going for also Note 20 Ultra Snapdragon, since the Exynos is still prone to overheat and underperform. I dont know which is having dual sim and which not, but as far as updates go Samsung change their game... official updates are really fast they even announce 3 year support with updates. Rooted phone i think it means so much less now since google is closing everything good about it. Thats my opinion. And from my Exynos 9825 there is 33% performance increase on Snapdragon where Exynos is only about 15%. And i am from Europe and i feel offended by Exynos...
It is my understanding that the South American and Hong Kong varians twill be Snapdragons with an unlocked bootloader. Although they can be rooted, traditionally development might be slow on these variants.
Sent from my Pixel 3 XL
Eudeferrer said:
It is my understanding that the South American and Hong Kong varians twill be Snapdragons with an unlocked bootloader. Although they can be rooted, traditionally development might be slow on these variants.
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the Korean versions are snapdragon this year also which is new since they have always been exynos.
i may go this route since the idiots at samsung only have the 512gb version in black in Canada and the US.
they are so stupid...did the sme thing last year with the 10 plus..only 512gb in black.
Here is a question, is the model/variant: SM-N9860, will it come in 512GB / 12GB RAM / Dual Sim (is it dual physical sim or hydrid dual sim - 1 slot for SD/Nano SIM & and 2nd slot for Nano SIM), and it will be the snap dragon variant with unlocked bootloader.
Also, will these models support Canadian Telcom's 5G network?