Cheap Chinese smartphones have you bought one

gjchester

seaviewing wrote: »

If you buy from reputable places (like I mentioned) fakes arent an issue

...


If you use MIUI on a genuine xiaomi phone - you'll have a high spec handset at a fraction of the cost of the usual Samsung/iPhone handsets (who are also made in China don't forget)

Unfortunatly this is entirely the issue.

Genuine handsets are fine, but there are too many knockoffs originating in China, be that for a phone, memory card, flash USB drive and so on.

Many product may be made in China but unles there is traceability you may end up with a device that fails and is difficult to repair.

This is not meant to be a slight against Chinese companies, Many will be open, honest and relaible, Many also sell clones as clones, not as the original, but there are always people (and many will not be Chinese) looking to make a fast buck dishonestly.

You can be misled into buying a knock off anywhere, what adds to the complexity here is distance and language. an Apple or Samsung phone form a UK supplier may be more, but you know you are getting a genuine handset.

If you really want to get a Chinese handset try and use a UK supplier, but remember VAT and Duty will add to the purchase price for any legitimate seller.

carlbhoy

Interesting, many thanks for your replys, very uncertain about whether to see the deal through or not, I'm normally very cautious but it did seem like a good item, and I had seen the link on a page reviewing phablets, so I believe the site itself is genuine, by the way can anybody give me any idea what kind of duty I would have to pay for a mobile? Thanks

Rusty!

forgotmyname wrote: »

Maybe a dodgy copy of Android where they have not paid the licence fee.

Android is open source, there is no licence fee. Anyone they wants to use it can do so.

It might not be certified for GMS though.

forgotmyname

Ive never had a tax or duty issue with anything from China.

If your unlucky then VAT @20% Duty @?% + handling fees.



The OS is open source and freely available. But google maps and the playstore etc requires a licence.

Thats why the cheap chinese tablets come with dodgy versions of the play store with APK's clearly visible in the folders.

mrcamp

The specs of those Chinese phones are always over inflated. Do not believe most of what you see in the specs.

Harald

It is safe to order well known chinese brands like Oppo or Xiaomi.
Good phones for good money. Only problem is they have been caught redhanded spying on users and sending contacts, texts and call logs to China. On other hand this is allegedly part of "cloud backup" service and - again - allegedly, can be disabled in options.

seaviewing

Harald wrote: »

It is safe to order well known chinese brands like Oppo or Xiaomi.
Good phones for good money. Only problem is they have been caught redhanded spying on users and sending contacts, texts and call logs to China. On other hand this is allegedly part of "cloud backup" service and - again - allegedly, can be disabled in options.

it's been said it wasn't anything bad certainly no worse than the "big" manufacturers who used to put things like Carrier IQ into their phones not so long ago

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2014/08/hugo-barra-addresses-xiaomi-miui-privacy-issues-google.html

http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/carrier-iq-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-what-you-need-to/

On the latest MIUI rom you can opt out of cloud message altogether

OnTheRoad14

Anyone had any experience with these cheaper, mostly Chinese made phones?

Xiaomi, Cubot etc seem, on paper at least to provide great value for money when comparing the specs to mainstream manufactures.

Cheap phone plus a sim only contract would be a lot cheaper than what I'm paying now.

kingrulzuk

OnTheRoad14 wrote: »

Anyone had any experience with these cheaper, mostly Chinese made phones?

Xiaomi, Cubot etc seem, on paper at least to provide great value for money when comparing the specs to mainstream manufactures.

Cheap phone plus a sim only contract would be a lot cheaper than what I'm paying now.

First tell me what is ur budget?

OnTheRoad14

kingrulzuk wrote: »

First tell me what is ur budget?

No fixed budget but £200 or less would be nice, (if still value for money)