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Which unlocked phone for the US to buy?

Hi folks,
Looking for a cheap(er) Android 4.0 phone to run on AT&T network in the US, with occasional use in Europe. Which one of the Chinese clone phones has a better reputation/compatibility/service? The basic requirements:
- Android 4.0+
- unlocked
- within $150-$250 price range
- 4.3"-5" screen
- SD card support (ideally, up to 64GB)
- decent battery life (or, at least, not much worse than of the mainstream phones)
- ideally, 1GB of RAM
Also, the question is where to buy? I came across antelife, are they decent/reliable?
So far I've looked at:
- Hero 9300+ MTK6577
- Star i9220 MTK6575
- Zopo ZP300 MTK6575
- Freelander i10 MTK6577
- ThL W1 MTK6575
Is there any preference in this set? Anything else I should consider?
Thanks!

I dont know a good AT&T phone thats cheap but i know the Chinese developed phone, The Huawei Mercury for Cricket is a great cheap phone with very powerful specs, runs better than most other high end phones but it is very underrated...The speed is flawless with a 1.4ghz processor, takes striking pictures with a 8.0 megapixel camera, front camera is decent for a front camera its vga front camera so dont expect something huge. But i would suggest this phone to anyone, only drawback is that it doesnt have very much dev support but that can be changed.

Please see the **DEVICE SUGGESTION THREAD** for all such questions. Thank you. Thread closed.

Question: Mi4c , Mi4 deal breaker?

Hi Guys, I'm wondering if Mi4 is still worth it to get today. I have the chance on also getting the Mi4C instead. So I would like to know your experience with it and if you have had the chance to try and compare it to the Mi4C, what would you recommend me to go for.
Mi4 or Mi4C
I wonder if is it a deal breaker to get the Mi4c over the Mi4, taking in count both cameras and the processor. Considering also both with 3 gb ram, and software development such as custom roms and xiaomi official firmware.
Thanks

SD808 vs SD801... I would think the choice is obvious.

There are many things
MI4c - Newer - Faster Processor - Dual SIM - USB Typ C (very great to charging) - locked Bootloader (it is no problem to unlock!)
Mi4 - Older - but more Development custom ROM - camera2 API - Global ROM (MM 6.0.1) - Metal Frame
btw send early enough a unlock request! i have done that many days before i recived my Mi4c

are you really ok with the 16GB of Mi4 ?
you will have like 12gb available which i personally find super low...

I has Mi4 last year, and now i switched it to Mi 4c, as far no problem with two devices. No Lag or heating Issues.
but i more prefer to choose Mi 4c, its easy to use with one hand

Planning to upgrade phone but unsure of 'latest technology' etc

Firstly, appolgize if wrong thread & I know there's probably many posts asking the same thing...
I'm planning to get a new Mobile - after having a Galaxy S4 (stuck on Android 4 since KNOX trip) since they first came out.
I'm a VERY light user, only using it for occasional text/calls, the occasional game & a little bit of Web Browsing (if I find any free Wifi hotspots)
.. Been looking at 'mid-range' SIM-free phones at about £200-£300 (could go as high as £350-ish IF the phone offers better 'futureproofing) with the following basic specs
5" (or larger) screen
32Mb (or more) / 3Gb (or more) RAM
3000mA battery (or more)
SD Card slot
Android 6/7 (6 as long as there's planned update to 7)
As little bloatware as possible - not too fussed if not quite 'vanilla' android but close to it would be nice
Now at first I narrowed it down to possibly a Moto G4 Plus but I find that the UK version does NOT have a compass, which I believe (wrongly perhaps) is usually essential if you plan to use any sat-nav software (which I occcasionally have to use).
Then I considered waiting for the Nokia 6.. possibly even the Arte Black version (when it FINALLY arrives in the UK) - since it's virtually 'Vanilla' Android & would probably won't have too much Bloatware - but I then read reviews that it can be a 'little laggy' opening apps
Then the Huawei Honor 8 was thought about but then read that some reviewers don't like the Emotion UI very much (not knowing the actual reason why they don't like it I won't know if I'd like it)
& finally the Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017) or Galaxy J7 Pro (if I can find a shop that sells it) is added to my short list but considering how much bloatware was installed on my aging S4 I'm concerned the A5/J7 will also have umpteen apps I will never use installed
Now I know the Moto G4 / Nokia 6 have larger screens than the Honor 8/A5 & the specs are not quite the same between phones (I've been using another website to compare specs.. not sure if allowed to post link/name but hopefully it'll be allowed - GSMARENA) but since I've been out of the Android game for a while - I'm confused over many of the specs
Examples:
Chipset: Which is considered 'better' - a Qualcomm MSM8952 Snapdragon 617, Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430, HiSilicon Kirin 950 or Exynos 7880 Octa
CPU: Octa-core (4x1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4x1.2 GHz Cortex-A53), Octa-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53, Octa-core 1.9 GHz Cortex-A53, or Octa-core (4x2.3 GHz Cortex-A72 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex A53)
GPU: Adreno 405 , Adreno 505, Mali-T880 MP4, Mali-T830MP3
Screen: is 'IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen' better or worse than 'Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen'
what is a 'Li-Po 3000 mAh battery' - is it any better/worse than a 'Li-ion'
So , can anyone explain which is considered 'better' than the other specs..
Which phone would you consider from my short list... any suggestions of other phones I may've overlooked that have similar basic specs ??
Edit: So many views - no answers
Anyway, Still looking at phones
- what do you think about the Huawei P10 Lite??
Thanxs in advance

Cubot X18 Plus custom ROMs with Project Treble? ($130 phone)

I follow Chinese brands phones quite often and read news related to these more-obscure manufacturers quite often on multiple websites. Today, while browsing found that Gearbest is selling a Cubot X18 Plus at $130. The phone is cheap and normally it would not attract many views, but this one stood out a little bit. It has some nice specs (octa-core CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage). It also comes with FullHD+ screen. All in all, not bad for such a price. However (having a B-Brand smartphone in the past) I know that the software often has bugs and problems.
Now, Cubot X18 Plus runs Android 8 out of the box. This reminded be of another news from here on XDA (https://www.xda-developers.com/obscure-mediatek-phone-kernel-source-android-oreo-project-treble/ ) where another Mediatek phone ran a different ROM with almost no hassle. Could the Cubot X18 Plus also do the same? Even if the original ROM is buggy or unstable, could we easily just flash a different ROM? For this price, it would be an awesome buy if we could.

Hello all. I order the cubot x18 plus too and probably it will have poor ROM. So i am interested in some alternatives too.
Does someone have some ideas?

Look no further: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=75887156&postcount=1222

I have tried AOSP and it works perfectly

Hi iNFeRNuSDaRK !
Can you tell me more about the AOSP you tried?
Is it the one from the post : https://forum.xda-developers.com/project-treble/trebleenabled-device-development/experimental-phh-treble-t3709659 ?
Does it mean that thee Cubot X18 Plus is fully compatible?
How did you unlock the bootloader?
Thank you for the reply

What would you replace a S7 with in 2019?

Hi there,
my S7 which is my one and only phone has currently reached the end due to repeated drops the hardware seems pretty damaged and not worth repairing anymore. It will still work for a couple of months but I need to replace it within the next 3 months I'd say.
Requirements:
- superb camera (at least as good as the one of the S7,8,9 or 10)
- Camera2 API
- rootable (I need magisk and xposed)
- ideally having a supported Custom OS available - any minimal one will do
- the size should not be much bigger than an S7 - I really don't like to handle those huge phones.
- must be available in Europe
I'm a very casual user, I don't play any games requiring great graphics power, I use gmail, whatsapp, facebook daily and listen to music.
The S7 / 8 / 9 / 10e are pretty close to each other price-wise here in Europe but I thin S10e is too new to have reliable Custom Roms and rooting solutions.
Can you recommend a phone to repalce it with keeping in mind the requirements I have for a phone?

Hello,
After the display of my S7 is broken I just bought my second S7: 1 year old and without any issues - looking like new - for 150€. There's no smartphone on the market better than the S7.
Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk

wolfloestoffel said:
Hello,
After the display of my S7 is broken I just bought my second S7: 1 year old and without any issues - looking like new - for 150€. There's no smartphone on the market better than the S7.
Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my display is perfect but I have replaced the back of the phone twice already, and I guess it dropped so oftern it now has random reboots (definitely hardware related) so its time to replace it.
pricewise, an S7 slightly used can also be bought for about 150€ an S8 used for about 200€, S9 is used about 350€ and S10e is about 500€ new.
So I might well go for an S8 as its only slightly more expensive than an S7 and custom ROMs seem to be available for S8

Just be careful with the S8's if custom ROM's is on your list. I didn't follow it closely but I recall reading several times that the S8 can't be bootloader unlocked right away due to a timer, and some people have never had it become unlockable, even after trying all the tricks.

Note9
variant with Exynos processor (international version)
or
variant with Snapdragon processor and dual sim (9600 US version)
the others have locked bootloaders, and devs haven't figured out how to root.
only downside is curved screen edges, but Samsung isn't smart enough to figure out that is not ideal for the Note format.

gruuvin said:
Note9
variant with Exynos processor (international version)
or
variant with Snapdragon processor and dual sim (9600 US version)
the others have locked bootloaders, and devs haven't figured out how to root.
only downside is curved screen edges, but Samsung isn't smart enough to figure out that is not ideal for the Note format.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but Note 9 is about 650€ - way higher than say an Samsung S10e.
I'm busy researching obviously and will post my findigns here as well once I'm done.

ovizii said:
Thanks but Note 9 is about 650€ - way higher than say an Samsung S10e.
I'm busy researching obviously and will post my findigns here as well once I'm done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm seeing Note9 on Amazon for $595USD. That's about 542€
I bought my Note9 many months before the Note10 release, and I see the Note10 release has NOT really caused much more of a drop to the Note9 price. Obviously these are all very expensive phoes, but the 10 has some design elements that many are not happy with.
I brought mine new on ebay for about $100 less than amazon.