Opinions of these China phone sellers

sunil237

I want to get a phone (ZTE V987) but not used any of these websites before. I've used Dracotek and found them to be good to deal with but they don't have this phone.

Tmallbox, provide the cheapest price, a case, screen protector, rooted and updated ROM.
Antelife, 2nd cheapest. no perks
Merimobiles, about £10 more, plus extra 10 to get root, case, screen protector... but looks like a decent amount of customer support.


Could you please leave some feedback on your opinion of these 3 sellers (a forth if you know of a trustworthy one).

JJ_Egan

Personally never ever ever anything from any supplier in that country .
Simply to many problems and difficulties .

jje

MillicentBystander

When you can get a phone as amazing as the Nexus 4 direct from Google with full warranty for £210 delivered I genuinely have no idea why anybody would consider importing a phone from China. I just don't get it at all...

gjchester

MillicentBystander wrote: »

When you can get a phone as amazing as the Nexus 4 direct from Google with full warranty for £210 delivered I genuinely have no idea why anybody would consider importing a phone from China. I just don't get it at all...

Could be lots of reasons,

The OP may be Chinese and needs a Chinese language set that the Nexus 4 does not have.

ZhugeEX

MillicentBystander wrote: »

When you can get a phone as amazing as the Nexus 4 direct from Google with full warranty for £210 delivered I genuinely have no idea why anybody would consider importing a phone from China. I just don't get it at all...

Main reason is dual sim functionality.

It's very useful for a number of people. Myself included.
Please understand that ZTE is not a "no name" or "knock off" brand. They make genuinely good phones and this one is no exception. There are other phones which are cheaper and other phones which are more expensive but at the end of the day they all do the same thing.

The Nexus 4 may be a good phone. But when i can go to China and pick up a Xiaomi Mi3 which is better spec than the Samsung Galaxy S4 for the same price as a Nexus 4 it's a no brainer for me. Or when i can go to China and get a cheap dual sim phone with the similar specs of nexus 4 for half the price it's a no brainer again. And like i said the dual sim functionailty is very useful.

Had my current dual sim phone for over a year now (and 2 in the past since 2009) and they've all been excellent and had no problems (apart from me smashing the screen of one of them. still works though).

sunil237

JJ_Egan wrote: »

Personally never ever ever anything from any supplier in that country .
Simply to many problems and difficulties .

jje

Had zero issues ordering from Dracotek. Although I only had presales contact with them, which was pretty good, I read reviews on Amazon giving them credit for their good after sales CS too.

MillicentBystander wrote: »

When you can get a phone as amazing as the Nexus 4 direct from Google with full warranty for £210 delivered I genuinely have no idea why anybody would consider importing a phone from China. I just don't get it at all...

£159 for 8gb, looks good, specs are good.. but battery life seems like I'd get a day at a push.
I bought my last phone from China, bought it a year ago, and still working fine, although the screen did crack the second time I dropped it on concrete. Only a £10 replacement, but my plan was to buy another china phone in a year as they are cheap.

gjchester wrote: »

Could be lots of reasons,

The OP may be Chinese and needs a Chinese language set that the Nexus 4 does not have.

Nope, English, but I like the quality of these phones and the specs. Also as ZHugeEX just posted too, the Dual sim is a useful feature for me.

Cisco001

sunil237 wrote: »

I want to get a phone (ZTE V987) but not used any of these websites before. I've used Dracotek and found them to be good to deal with but they don't have this phone.

Tmallbox, provide the cheapest price, a case, screen protector, rooted and updated ROM.
Antelife, 2nd cheapest. no perks
Merimobiles, about £10 more, plus extra 10 to get root, case, screen protector... but looks like a decent amount of customer support.


Could you please leave some feedback on your opinion of these 3 sellers (a forth if you know of a trustworthy one).

No idea.
Would it be better go for aliexpress?

Also, I have used DX,com and focalprice. When thing not arrive, I do manage to get refund, but it just a bit time consuming

nickcc

I bought a brand new Galaxy S3 unlocked from a eBay seller, the phone was a problem from the word go with such a poor signal reception that I was unable to use indoors. After trying to update the software online, and being notified that the serial number could not be recognised, I contacted Samsung. It turned out that the phone was for the Chinese market and was unsuitable for the UK and my only option was to return the phone to China if I wanted a software update. Most of the Apps were in English and the keyboard was also English so it looks as though someone had had a go at some form of unauthorised modification. Therefore I would also recommend buying from a UK seller, I bought my replacement from Amazon.

easy

I have no personal experience to draw on, but am seriously considering this http://www.amazon.co.uk/S7189-MTK6589-Android-Smartphone-UNLOCKED/dp/B00BG8F9G0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8&colid=21X16K625MKPD&coliid=IORZSX58O3ZHX#productDescription.

For half the price of a Nexus 16gb, this is a phablet - it will take dual sims (tho doesn't have to) - and will take an additional SD card (my big objection to the Nexus).

looking at the reviews, it seems a good buy for the price.

if you don't like the bigger size, then there is this http://www.amazon.co.uk/capacitive-SmartPhone-Android-camera-white/dp/B009PM8NG2/ref=pd_cp_ce_1, similar to an S3.

I know lots of folk will poo-poo these because they don't carry the big brand-names, but frankly, if you want the facilities that a smartphone offers, then these seem a reasonable buy. If you want to flash round your phone as a fashion accessory (and pay the additional price to do so), then that is fine, do so.

I know that if I lost/broke my current Samsung Galaxy S2 tonight, I'd be buying one of the above as a good way of continuing to use my contract.

paddyrg

The problem with Chinese no-names is support. If you buy in the UK you get UK law protecting your purchase. If you buy from China you're relying on the good will of the selling company to help you out to resolve issues. In the UK for instance, Samsung or HTC will turn a phone around in a few days, insured post paid, 2 year warranty. If you have to post a phone back to China for repair, you're not going to get it back within 5 days (if at all - there are some horror stories pretty regularly on this site), and hope the vendor is good for the warranty. You also face duty and VAT not just on the initial importation, but also potentially on the exported and re-imported repair (unless you do all the appropriate paperwork and possibly leave a bond).

There are certainly deals to be had, but it's not quite as simple as looking at the headline price.

sunil237

Cisco001 wrote: »

No idea.
Would it be better go for aliexpress?

Also, I have used DX,com and focalprice. When thing not arrive, I do manage to get refund, but it just a bit time consuming

How come aliexpress? It looks like they are just a marketplace for all these companies. Do they support you in case of problems?