Smartphone advice- how to work in UK and China?

alyth

hello, I'm seeking advice on a smartphone - I'm a total idiot when it comes to them, I've never had one and have no idea how they work hence asking here.

I'm a teacher in China, but I'm coming back to the UK in the summer. I want to buy a smartphone, probably an iphone as I've got an ipad and can work that. I'm totally confused as to how they work and how to buy one, by that I mean should I go into an Apple store and buy one on a contract, and would it work in China, or should I buy a second hand unlocked one and then how would that work in the UK and then in China. If I buy one in China it will be in Chinese, as I found out when my company gave me a new laptop!

From the information I can find on google, I can buy a second hand one and then put in a simcard but then how do I pay for credit in China - buy a simcard here? How do I pay for usage (I've a Chinese mobile and I give it to my boss to top it up and it's a very basic one, no internet access).

Could anyone either give me advice on what to do, or point me in the direction of where to find information? I really would appreciate any help as my ignorance is becoming annoying even to me!

I_have_spoken

Key question is whether you want to be contactable on the same phone # whether in UK or CHina. If so, you'll need to find a service where the roaming £ isn't too silly.

If you are happy with different numbers, just get an unlocked iPhone 5s/5c as sold by Apple Stores and a PAYG iPhone SIM for when in Britain and a SIM from China Mobile - whatever 3G/4G plans they offer for iPhone - and swap the SIMs when you travel.

Alternatively buy a phone with two SIM card slots, IIRC Nokia do some.

alyth

Thanks so much for your advice. Different numbers is fine, in china people are obsessed with mobiles and I'm finding that I need to be contactable via social media e.g. Weixin, QQ out here even when mobile, such as my boss advising me of a change of class last minute.

To get this clear in my head...I can buy a second hand iPhone and get an iPhone SIM card...how do I top up the simcard when in the uk and where do I buy a simcard? Trying to figure how to top it up in china is slightly easier via the network of teachers but I'm figuring I would then have to buy another top up SIM card out here? I'm thinking of an iPhone purely because I understand my iPad and it looks as though iPhones have the same layout.

Cisco001

Buy your phone from apple.
Than go to three to by 3-2-1 PAYG. Or get Giffgaff, you can order it online.

alyth

Cisco001 wrote: »

Buy your phone from apple.
Than go to three to by 3-2-1 PAYG. Or get Giffgaff, you can order it online.

What is three and giffgaff? Sorry, not only do I live in china but I've utterly no idea about mobile stuff, I never even had a mobile in the uk before I moved out here last year.

woody2234

Basically A smartphone is like a pc and displays a webpage on the screen and uses apps which when downloaded from an app store dispays an icon on your home screen and when you click on the icon it sends you to a webpage basically its a short cut to a webpage.

The main things people look at when choosing a smartphone are

1 screen size at least 4.5 inch
2 battery power
3 processer ie snapdragon

alyth

woody2234 wrote: »

Basically A smartphone is like a pc and displays a webpage on the screen and uses apps which when downloaded from an app store dispays an icon on your home screen and when you click on the icon it sends you to a webpage basically its a short cut to a webpage.

The main things people look at when choosing a smartphone are

1 screen size at least 4.5 inch
2 battery power
3 processer ie snapdragon

I'm guessing the apps are similar to the ones I have on my iPad? What is snapdragon? It took me a long time to get used to my iPad after a standalone pc. So all these things,like screen size don't really apply to me' or at least I don't understand them.

woody2234

1 How long have you been a teacher in china for

2 Why are you coming back to the uk ie 2 week holiday or for 5 years so why buy a smartphone anyway

3 Everything is cheaper in china so if your going back there or coming from there then buy a chinese model

4 Its 2014 so you now have 3 choices of smart phone, 1 apple, 2 android ,3 windows

5 you say you have an ipad well a smart phone is the same but smaller

paddyrg

Forget iPhone, you're in China where dual-SIM phones are everywhere. Dual-SIM means the same phone works with the same contact list but with 2 phone numbers - it's like carrying 2 phones in 1. They're really rare in the UK but huge in Asia, plentiful and cheap. Get a SIM for your Chinese network and one for your UK network.

It means you can route your call by your preferred network for where you are, receive calls on either, send texts from either, have your contacts shared between both.

People who work overseas and don't use dual sim phones don't realise what they're missing!

buglawton

Cisco001 wrote: »

Buy your phone from apple.
Than go to three to by 3-2-1 PAYG. Or get Giffgaff, you can order it online.

I'll second that, only an Apple store bought one is truly unlocked for international SIM cards and warranty should be worldwide too.

There are questions about which networks a UK sourced iPhone can use with proper 3g/4g data in China but you will always get enough data speed for social purposes.

Its also worth noting that an iPhone or iPad sourced in China itself will have slightly different firmware that will prevent Google being set as a proper default search engine in Safari even when you are outside China and even if you do a total re-install of software. Bing and Yahoo are OK, Google always needs extra clicks. Very disappointing that Apple cooperates with such nonsense.

Anne_Marie_2

OP, regarding the laptop bought in China, I assume that you meant it came with a Chinese, and not English language keyboard? This wouldn't be the case with a smartphone, unless you specifically wanted one with soft keys, and you would be able to choose English as your language, rather than Chinese.

I live in Cyprus, and have a contract sim for using with my phone here. I buy a pay as you go sim card when visiting the UK for short holidays. There are numerous operators in the UK such as O2, Three, GiffGaff, Tesco, Vodaphone etc. etc.

I would suggest you check in China what prices you would be paying for a contract phone, compared to pay as you go over there, and make sure it is unlocked. Then compare with buying an unlocked phone in the UK, as can't really see the point of you buying a contract phone in the UK.

You really would be better going into some shops and trying them out to see what suits you, whether it be an iPhone, android or Windows phone, and taking someone with you, who has a bit of knowledge on smartphones, and can advise you on pay as you go and contract over in China.

As someone else said, a dual sim phone may just be right up your street.