Battle of the cheap Chinese Androids

Forums › Android › Battle of the cheap Chinese Androids

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... | 19

2858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 171

Trusted

#1323812 13-Jun-2015 08:39

Jaxson:
lokhor:

I reckon just get a local device instead, there are some wicked mid-range devices coming out for cheap as these days. The Vodafone Smart Prime is a lot better than the S3 for $149

Thanks man, will look further into it.
I see it's locked to Vodafone. The wife is on 2Degs work cell. I see the point about shopping local though, and for a 'production' level device, that's often important.

Just saw this too, if of any use/interest to others:
http://deals.banggood.com/deals/edm/topic/DOOGEE150608.html?

In terms of being locked to Vodafone, there are two options - first is to pay $30 to unlock it, second is to switch to Vodafone which is free and you can transfer your number.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

NikT

1710 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 730

Trusted

#1324708 15-Jun-2015 08:04

Option. #3: Buy Smart prime unlocked from the online shop. :)

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

rmt38

320 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 55
Inactive user

#1324711 15-Jun-2015 08:12

NikT: Option. #3: Buy Smart prime unlocked from the online shop. :)

What's the story about updates for vodafone phones?

Jaxson

8172 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1332

Trusted

#1324778 15-Jun-2015 10:04

NikT: Option. #3: Buy Smart prime unlocked from the online shop. :)

Does look good.

There's kind of a big gap between cheap and suitable and the really good.
ie around the say $250 mark and then $800+

(I haven't looked at this much, just from quick investigations).

I wonder if this will go the way of say cameras, and laptops to some degree, where even the basic devices are now so good that they are sufficient for many, and one doesn't need to upgrade as often as they used to.

NikT

1710 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 730

Trusted

#1324796 15-Jun-2015 10:23

rmt38:
What's the story about updates for vodafone phones?

Up to Vodafone Group and their partners vs. the lifecycle of the handset.

Smart prime runs 5.0.2 Lollipop out of the box and includes access to the AppOps permissions manager.

Jaxson:

Does look good.

There's kind of a big gap between cheap and suitable and the really good.
ie around the say $250 mark and then $800+

(I haven't looked at this much, just from quick investigations).

I wonder if this will go the way of say cameras, and laptops to some degree, where even the basic devices are now so good that they are sufficient for many, and one doesn't need to upgrade as often as they used to.

I'm looking forward to telling you guys about the phone I'm using as a daily driver.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

jonathan18

7415 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2850

ID Verified

Trusted

#1324831 15-Jun-2015 10:50

Jaxson: There's kind of a big gap between cheap and suitable and the really good.
ie around the say $250 mark and then $800+

I actually reckon there are a good bunch of phones in the $450-$600 bracket, especially if you're comfortable with buying parallel-imported phones and /or previous models.

Personally I reckon the best deals can be high-spec phones at an excellent price, eg the G3 I bought at the start of the year (when it was a current model) was just a bit over $600, whereas the official NZ version (with half the storage and half the RAM) was still going for over $800 on special. That's a lot of phone for the price! It's even cheaper now the G4's out. Similarly, while I'm not a Galaxy fan, I see the S5 can be got for not much over $500. Then there are the solid mid-range phones like the Nexus 5 - that's now around $450.

I decided that it wasn't worth the potential savings to go for a phone like the One Plus One or other cheaper Chinese-sourced phones; yep, it would be a bit cheaper, but not by much, and I'd rather have the security of knowing the phone would be easily available and supported. With importing one's own phone there's also the issue of having no CGA coverage and potentially having the risk of needing to pay GST/duty.

New World

Shop on-line at New World now for your groceries (affiliate link).

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 171

Trusted

#1324944 15-Jun-2015 12:47

NikT:
rmt38:
What's the story about updates for vodafone phones?

Up to Vodafone Group and their partners vs. the lifecycle of the handset.

Smart prime runs 5.0.2 Lollipop out of the box and includes access to the AppOps permissions manager.

Jaxson:

Does look good.

There's kind of a big gap between cheap and suitable and the really good.
ie around the say $250 mark and then $800+

(I haven't looked at this much, just from quick investigations).

I wonder if this will go the way of say cameras, and laptops to some degree, where even the basic devices are now so good that they are sufficient for many, and one doesn't need to upgrade as often as they used to.

I'm looking forward to telling you guys about the phone I'm using as a daily driver.

I'm pretty excited to find out about that! My wife needs a phone to replace her ageing M7 which runs out of battery by mid-afternoon

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

P1n3apqlExpr3ss

853 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 31

#1328116 19-Jun-2015 22:12

NikT:
I'm looking forward to telling you guys about the phone I'm using as a daily driver.

Is this the one you were alluding to by any chance?

http://www.androidcentral.com/vodafone-smart-ultra-6-offers-4g-and-55-inch-full-hd-display-125

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 171

Trusted

#1328271 20-Jun-2015 13:18

FYI my Elephone P7000 arrived on Thursday :) it seems pretty good so far. Battery isn't as great as expected but its generally fast, stable and has some extra features like permission controls and an autostart manager built in.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 171

Trusted

#1328272 20-Jun-2015 13:20

P1n3apqlExpr3ss:
NikT:
I'm looking forward to telling you guys about the phone I'm using as a daily driver.

Is this the one you were alluding to by any chance?

http://www.androidcentral.com/vodafone-smart-ultra-6-offers-4g-and-55-inch-full-hd-display-125

We can only hope that it is!

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

linw

2893 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1205

#1328521 20-Jun-2015 23:16

lokhor: FYI my Elephone P7000 arrived on Thursday :) it seems pretty good so far. Battery isn't as great as expected but its generally fast, stable and has some extra features like permission controls and an autostart manager built in.

This one interests me so keep the reports coming! Elaborate on the battery comment if you wouldn't mind.

Lego

Shop now for Lego sets and other gifts (affiliate link).

lokhor

2858 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 171

Trusted

#1328615 21-Jun-2015 11:25

On the first day I only get ~2.5hrs screen time before hitting 30% battery. I have since uninstalled the Facebook app and am using the mobile website instead. It's definitely looking a lot better now (day 3) on 87% with 50 minutes screen time and off charger since 9am (so 2.5hrs). I installed a couple of games this morning as well.

The worst thing so far is the charging takes forever, it comes with only a 1A charger and takes ~4hrs to charge. I bought a 2.4A charger hoping it would help, but it's still incredibly slow. I also tried a Logitech UE Boom charger (2A) and that charges much more quickly, so haven't quite figured this out.

All comments are my own opinion, and not that of my employer unless explicitly stated.

NikT

1710 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 730

Trusted

#1329173 22-Jun-2015 12:23

P1n3apqlExpr3ss:
NikT:
I'm looking forward to telling you guys about the phone I'm using as a daily driver.

Is this the one you were alluding to by any chance?

http://www.androidcentral.com/vodafone-smart-ultra-6-offers-4g-and-55-inch-full-hd-display-125

Yep. More info soon.

Product Manager @ PB Tech

Smartphones @ PB Tech | Headphones @ PB Tech

jaypeegee

62 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 5

ID Verified

#1329816 23-Jun-2015 11:09

Be interesting to see what the new VF handset can do and for what cost.
I'm hoping the ele vowney is as good as the marketing suggests it will be

madeinnz

2 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1355774 31-Jul-2015 10:18

I have the K3 Note and it is a great phone. Works flawlessly on Spark mobile network. I also got one for my brother and he uses it on 2 degrees.
I got mine a couple of months ago. Mine was shipped with a dodgy Lenovo vibe 2.5 UI repackaged with a lot of bloat.
I have been following the custom ROM developments for this phone. I currently run the AOSP v4 ROM. I've also tried the LiMoNcHeLo ROM. Both are very good.
Now that the phone has been released in India I have heard that the stock ROW ROM from Lenovo is now bloat-free and very good.

For $230NZD (NZD has shifted since I bought mine) it is a great alternative to essentially the same thing but over 4X the price from Samsung.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ... | 19