Cheap (<NZ$200) Android phone through Pandawill (for Vodafone network), thoughts please

Forums › Android › Cheap (<NZ$200) Android phone through Pandawill (for Vodafone network), thoughts please

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#875579 12-Aug-2013 08:15

I think PB Tech have some of these phones as well. Ill have a look which models and report back

GZMCC. Lenovo Yoga C640. 8 gb Ram and 256Gb SSD, Cam Am Spyder 2016 F3 LTD. GoPro 5 Black, Samsung S22 Ultra, Huawei Watch D. Samsung S6 Lite Tablet, Amateur Radio Callsign ZL1CJH

psychrn

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#875585 12-Aug-2013 08:33

Gionee Elite E3 4.7" Dual Sim Android 4.2 (Black)-1.2Ghz Quad Core 16GB Storage 8M Camera back /2MP front (Sim1-3G/GSM Sim2 GSM only -Work with Vodafone and 2Degree only)

here is possibly PB Tech best offering but note only with VF or 2 degrees
Price $391 sounds like this might be more than your price range

GZMCC. Lenovo Yoga C640. 8 gb Ram and 256Gb SSD, Cam Am Spyder 2016 F3 LTD. GoPro 5 Black, Samsung S22 Ultra, Huawei Watch D. Samsung S6 Lite Tablet, Amateur Radio Callsign ZL1CJH

deadlyllama

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#875611 12-Aug-2013 09:28

huxtable:
mikenzb:
deadlyllama: Someone on the DX forum has bought a Q9000 and says it works on 900MHz 3G. So I've ordered one. Will let you know what it's like when it arrives.

I like the look (and price) of the Jiayu G3S but it says 2.1GHz 3G only :-(

Looking on that DX it does say it does support 900MHz anyways
"2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900; 3G: WCDMA 850/900/2100 MHz"

Hi mikenzb, that had been noted, although I had questioned whether this could necessarily be relied on - as different websites seem to list different networks supported, and I was concerned it may have been something lost in translation etc on these international websites.

So to hear a buyer actually confirm with a hands-on would be ideal :)

Oh it's worse than that, it's not uncommon for those websites to have specifications that are clearly baldfaced lies. A common example is battery capacity, which is why you'll see batteries on DealExtreme with an "advertised capacity" and an "actual capacity".

nzgeek

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#875993 12-Aug-2013 16:51

farcus:
nzgeek:
I'm quite surprised that they chose 850/2100 over 900/2100, as there aren't that many countries using the 850 band. The vast majority of the Asian networks are using 2100 only, and the only country that has more than one network using 850 is Thailand. Europe is almost completely 900/2100, and the US is largely 850/1900. Being dual-SIM pretty much indicates an Asian audience, but I'm not sure who their target market is.

actually, if you look down this list you will see there are quite a large number of networks using the 850mhz frequency. Other than a concentration of 900/2100 networks in Europe the 850mhz frequency appears to be much more common than 900mhz.

That's where I looked in the first place, and I still stand by what I said. The flaw in your reasoning is where networks use 850MHz in conjunction with frequencies other than 2100. Phones designed around 850/2100 aren't really aimed at these countries, because they lose 3G coverage in areas where the 850MHz signal isn't used. This might only be isolated areas, or it might be the majority of the country.

Let's have another look at the frequency coverage of the networks:

Africa - 1 using 900/2100, 23 using 2100 only
Americas - 10 using 850 only, 25 using 850/1900, 3 using 850/2100, 3 using 900 only, 7 using 1700 only, 11 using 1900 only, 6 using 2100 only, 1 using 850/1700, 1 using 1700/1900,
Asia - 3 using 850 only, 2 using 850/2100, 3 using 900 only, 4 using 900/2100, 1 using 1700 only, 48 using 2100 only, 1 usng 800/1700/2100, 1 using 900/1500/2100
Europe - 1 using 900 only, 34 using 900/2100, 117 using 2100 only
Middle East - 2 using 850/2100, 2 using 900/2100, 15 using 2100 only
Oceania - 2 using 850/2100, 1 using 850/900/2100, 3 using 900/2100

There are 331 networks listed in total. There are 22 use either 850 only or 850/2100. There are 50 that use either 900 only or 900/2100.

Even if you add in the networks that include frequencies other than 850/900/2100, there are 49 that use 850MHz and 52 that use 900MHz.

farcus:
nzgeek: , and the only country that has more than one network using 850 is Thailand.

Obviously you missed

Aus, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Uruguay, Venezuela, Israel - all with two networks or more using 850mhz
remember, even the iphone didn't support the 900mhz frequency until the iphone 4. :-)

That part was referring specifically to Asia, not to the world in general. And the lack of iPhone frequency support is because the US was Apple's biggest market at the time, the iPhone only sold on AT&T, and AT&T don't use 900MHz. It took a surprisingly long time for Apple to realise that USA =/= The World.

kiwijunglist

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#876781 13-Aug-2013 22:07

Reference - http://www.gpforums.co.nz/thread/467425/?s=

__________________________________

Decent China Phones (that can be rooted it seems - list in no particular order)

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RAM: 1GB, 16GB ROM
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Phone: Newman N2
CPU: Samsung Exynos 4412, ARM Cortex-A9 quad cor 1.4GHz
MEM: 1GB, 8GB ROM
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Phone: Jiayu G3
CPU: MTK6577 1Ghz Dual Core
MEM: 1GB + 4GB ROM
GPU: Power SGX531
Price: $170-200NZD mark - Rootable
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Phone: Star X920e (a.k.a HTC Butterfly clone x920e)
CPU: ARMv7 quad core, 1.5GHz,
MEM: 2GB + 16GB ROM
GPU: PowerVR SGX531
Price: $200-270NZD - Rootable
Root Guide: http://www.chinapadmall.com/butterfly-quad-core-smart-phone#.UYgzzcqTnCo

Phone: Zopo C2
CPU: MTK MT6589 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 quad-core processor
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CPU: MTK MT6589 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 quad-core processor
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Root Guide:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=43466181
GP User Confirmed Purchase (Thanks jojothemofobro): http://www.pandawill.com/feiteng-h7189-smart-phone-android-42-mtk6589-quad-core-1g-ram-53-inch-80mp-camera-p73651.html
Benchmarks:
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https://i.imgur.com/sKVGRsc.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/zxVGFWe.jpg

_______________________________________

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

LucioFulci

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#878551 15-Aug-2013 09:16

I've ordered the Star q9000. I need it to work on Telecom, as that is the only coverage I get. I bought it, $160US shipped, based on the specs given in the ad. It shipped yesterday, I will report back with findings.

HP

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RoyalWulf

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#878623 15-Aug-2013 11:05

LucioFulci: I've ordered the Star q9000. I need it to work on Telecom, as that is the only coverage I get. I bought it, $160US shipped, based on the specs given in the ad. It shipped yesterday, I will report back with findings.

Is it the same as the Q9000 on the dx site?
There seems to be different spec Q9000 around

LucioFulci

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Wannabe Geek

#878710 15-Aug-2013 12:26

This is the one I bought: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/255484060.html

It doesn't actually say "Star"as the brand name, I'm only assuming. If you scroll to the bottom, you'll see: 2G: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G: 850/900/2100mHz. That is what I based my decision on, I'm prepared to suck it and see. If it doesn't work I'll probably just send it back.

With regards to the inconsistent specs across different sites/sellers, perhaps someone knows; Are they manufacturing different versions with differing ranges? I saw a youtube review of the q9000, and on that actual phone, it appeared that it was 900/2100mhz.

kiwijunglist

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#878770 15-Aug-2013 13:27

You should of just asked the seller.

HTPC / Home automation (home assistant) enthusiast.

LucioFulci

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#879018 15-Aug-2013 18:15

As expected, the seller confirmed the info in his ad: Band (Network) 2G: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz 3G: 850/900/2100mHz

Upon closer inspection of the picture in the ad, with the back cover off, I can read that the bands are 850/900/2100. Looks good, but I'll post confirmation here when I get it.

deadlyllama

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#882548 22-Aug-2013 08:52

My Q5/Q9000 from DX has arrived. It's ENORMOUS. UI is in Chinese until you find the language setting. As it's running Jellybean you can disable the inbuilt apps that are still in Chinese. Looks like it's already rooted.

It's got two SIM slots, one is labelled GSM and the other GSM/WCDMA. The GSM/WCDMA one appears to be one of the smaller varieties of SIM, so off it'll be to the 2degrees shop to see if they can sell me a smaller SIM.

Mighty Ape

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deadlyllama

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#882967 22-Aug-2013 18:19

deadlyllama: My Q5/Q9000 from DX has arrived. It's ENORMOUS. UI is in Chinese until you find the language setting. As it's running Jellybean you can disable the inbuilt apps that are still in Chinese. Looks like it's already rooted.

It's got two SIM slots, one is labelled GSM and the other GSM/WCDMA. The GSM/WCDMA one appears to be one of the smaller varieties of SIM, so off it'll be to the 2degrees shop to see if they can sell me a smaller SIM.

Okay, phone divison is that my wife will take the Galaxy S2 and I'll use the crazy Q5/Q9000. I've got a microsim so am on 3G. Quick test with speedtest.net at home said I got 7-8megabits down, but as I'm in Wellington that's guaranteed to be 2100MHz.

It says inside the battery compartment that it does 850/900/2100MHz WCDMA.

The screen is amazing, as you'd expect from a 720P IPS display. It's good enough for me to read scanned A4 PDFs, which the Galaxy S2 was not. It fits in my jeans pocket.

Battery life ... we'll see. Likewise I haven't had a good chance to try out the GPS yet.

The dual SIM thing is a bit wierd, it complains it's got one missing when I turn it on. And it took some fiddling to work out how to make SIP calls with the Android dialer.

RoyalWulf

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#882992 22-Aug-2013 19:16

Thanks for the review. What is the build quality like?

deadlyllama

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#884730 26-Aug-2013 14:56

RoyalWulf: Thanks for the review. What is the build quality like?

OK. There's a small gap between the battery and the case backing.

After a few days, battery life is OK -- it lasts a day with my normal usage. No worse than my old Galaxy S2. It sits at 20% for ages, then suddenly lurches to ~10%, then goes flat.

My headset (ultimate ears 4500vi, replacement for non-headset version which broke) doesn't plug into it properly. Will try one of those iPhone adapter cables in case it's the case around the earphone jack that's stopping the plug going in properly.

It doesn't like my (cheapie SP branded) microSD card so I've ordered a proper Samsung one.

Did I mention the display was amazing? The backlight is a little uneven though.

Camera is poor.

RoyalWulf

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#884756 26-Aug-2013 15:16

deadlyllama:
RoyalWulf: Thanks for the review. What is the build quality like?

OK. There's a small gap between the battery and the case backing.

After a few days, battery life is OK -- it lasts a day with my normal usage. No worse than my old Galaxy S2. It sits at 20% for ages, then suddenly lurches to ~10%, then goes flat.

My headset (ultimate ears 4500vi, replacement for non-headset version which broke) doesn't plug into it properly. Will try one of those iPhone adapter cables in case it's the case around the earphone jack that's stopping the plug going in properly.

It doesn't like my (cheapie SP branded) microSD card so I've ordered a proper Samsung one.

Did I mention the display was amazing? The backlight is a little uneven though.

Camera is poor.

Thanks for that.
So is the camera worse than the galaxy S2? Both suppose have 8MP.
What is the GPS like?
Do you know if it can use 900 MHz?
Strange about the microSD card.

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