Battle of the cheap Chinese Androids

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827 posts

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# 1431247 19-Nov-2015 16:31

I've had no issues with my TDD model. The only thing the RN2 doesn't have for NZ is Band 28 LTE, which I think spark uses quite a lot?

Most retailers will flash a FDD rom so it works out of the box but I'd recommend flashing the xiaomi.eu rom anyway. This is very easy to do and avoids problems with malware on modified stock roms.

A few issues with apps not being able to sync in background but I think they've been resolved.

richms

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# 1431269 19-Nov-2015 17:11

jonathan18:

Hey there

I'm debating purchasing a Xiaomi Note 2 for my wife (as discussed on this thread), but if I do so I want to be sure I order one that is fully compatible with the NZ bands (especially Spark.

My reading of the above is that the FDD model (which is more expensive than the TDD model by a few $$) is sure to work with all NZ bands, so is a safe bet.

However, is it pretty much guaranteed that buying the TDD model and flashing the FDD ROM will ensure the cheaper model will work with all NZ bands? And is this a relatively easy task to do?

Is the safest option just to buy the FDD model to ensure it'll work out of the box?

Second, having read through this whole thread, I can see some have stuck with the Miui interace - have those that have done so found any ongoing issues with this, especially in regards to problems, eg issues with Google Play store, non-English bloatware etc?

Many thanks

I have not flashed mine with anything and it gets 3g 4g reception fine.

No issues with google play store. It only came with the store, all the other google stuff I had to install like gmail and maps etc.

Richard rich.ms

jonathan18

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# 1431282 19-Nov-2015 17:37

richms: I have not flashed mine with anything and it gets 3g 4g reception fine.

No issues with google play store. It only came with the store, all the other google stuff I had to install like gmail and maps etc.

Good to know; which model did you buy (TDD or FDD), and which telco are you with? (I'm assuming that the potential issue - which you say didn't eventuate with your phone - relates to whether the phone supports Spark's frequencies, which I understand many Chinese-sourced phones don't?)

Thanks.

richms

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# 1431284 19-Nov-2015 17:39

Vodafone on the main sim, and 2degrees as a second sim since that will only do GSM, its no use for my spark sim which still sits in my note 3.

I did have my optus sim in for a bit, and that roams on spark, but I get 2100 3G at home so doesnt prove anything either way.

Richard rich.ms

jonathan18

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# 1431286 19-Nov-2015 17:42

richms: Vodafone on the main sim, and 2degrees as a second sim since that will only do GSM, its no use for my spark sim which still sits in my note 3.

I did have my optus sim in for a bit, and that roams on spark, but I get 2100 3G at home so doesnt prove anything either way.

Sorry, but this is confused me somewhat, as the technical matters are something I know SFA about!

Would either of these models (FDD or TDD) work fully with Spark/Skinny)?

richms

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# 1431288 19-Nov-2015 17:46

I will stick my spark sim into it later and see how it goes, but what is listed it should be fine except for 700Mhz LTE which it doesnt seem any of the cheap chinese phones do. Not even sure if they use it over there or not.

Richard rich.ms

jonathan18

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# 1431293 19-Nov-2015 17:59

richms: I will stick my spark sim into it later and see how it goes, but what is listed it should be fine except for 700Mhz LTE which it doesnt seem any of the cheap chinese phones do. Not even sure if they use it over there or not.

Thanks for confirming that; the lack of 700Mhz support seems like it may make this as not an ideal phone given we're kinda wedded to sticking with Spark for a while.

Whereas it looks like there is a version of the Zenfone which does include 700Mhz (band 28), as detailed in this post, which may make that a more suitable purchase.

richms

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# 1431294 19-Nov-2015 18:06

I find 3g good enough for most things. Perhaps the phone after this there will be enough 700MHz 4G to care, but Im not seeing 4G on my note 4 but not on the redmi anywhere I have looked with vodafone - yet. Im mainly on VF after moving all but one connection off spark when they decided to be idiots about slingshots global mode.

Richard rich.ms

jonathan18

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# 1431532 20-Nov-2015 09:15

richms: I find 3g good enough for most things. Perhaps the phone after this there will be enough 700MHz 4G to care, but Im not seeing 4G on my note 4 but not on the redmi anywhere I have looked with vodafone - yet. Im mainly on VF after moving all but one connection off spark when they decided to be idiots about slingshots global mode.

Ah, I've finally got it, so thanks for this post.

I now get that 700MHz support isn't critical, given it's only used for 4G, and TBH 3G speeds have been fine for my purposes (and my wife even more so!).

Doing some more digging I also found out that 4G (700MHz) had been switched on in Palmerston North back in June but I had no knowedge of this as my phone was still showing 3G . Even then, there was no ability in the standard settings to enable 4G on my G3 D855, but found instructions on how to get into the phone's deeper settings and force it to look for 4G which worked (initially I thought the phone may not have support for band 28 700MHz). Now I get to blow my data cap even faster...

Anyway, now I realise all I need to ensure is the Xiaomi supports the 3G bands for Spark and Voda, which has been confirmed above - so it's certainly a viable option.

Can anyone with experience with this phone offer a perspective as to whether this would be a better phone than the others I'm considering? (Asus Zenfone 2 or Lenovo K3 Note, both with 16GB/2GB). Appreciate any advice.

jonb

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# 1431543 20-Nov-2015 09:29

Redmi Note 2 still has 1800 MHz 4G (band 3), and 2600Mhz 4G (band 7, beginning to be rolled out by Spark in dense urban areas as back up to 1800 Mhz). 1800Mhz 4G is the main 4G band in NZ. 700Mhz is the future 4G for less urban areas.

The 32GB version is US$165 at GearBest at the moment (thanks to a pertinent geekzone ad for the link): http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_229218.html?currency=USD&gclid=CNCnqaCxnckCFYSWvAodI4YFEw

jonathan18

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# 1431592 20-Nov-2015 10:34

P1n3apqlExpr3ss: I've had no issues with my TDD model. The only thing the RN2 doesn't have for NZ is Band 28 LTE, which I think spark uses quite a lot?

Most retailers will flash a FDD rom so it works out of the box but I'd recommend flashing the xiaomi.eu rom anyway. This is very easy to do and avoids problems with malware on modified stock roms.

Sorry for (edit: three) more dumb questions:

1. Given that the seller can flash the TDD model with the FDD firmware, thereby providing it with the ability to work on the WCDMA frequencies used for 3G in NZ, is there any reason to purchase the more expensive FDD model over the TDD model?

2. If I elect to flash the phone with the xiaomi.eu rom, does this impact on how one can update the phone? I see the site has weekly updates that I assume are in line with the official incrimental updates; but once the xiaomi.eu rom is installed, is making these updates made any more mandrolic or complex than sticking with the seller's original rom? I'd not like to make keeping the phone up to date any more complicated than necessary.

Edit: 3. I'm assuming the xiaomi.eu rom also includes support for all the NZ 3G frequencies?

Thanks again.

old3eyes

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# 1431673 20-Nov-2015 13:08

jonb: Redmi Note 2 still has 1800 MHz 4G (band 3), and 2600Mhz 4G (band 7, beginning to be rolled out by Spark in dense urban areas as back up to 1800 Mhz). 1800Mhz 4G is the main 4G band in NZ. 700Mhz is the future 4G for less urban areas.

The 32GB version is US$165 at GearBest at the moment (thanks to a pertinent geekzone ad for the link): http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_229218.html?currency=USD&gclid=CNCnqaCxnckCFYSWvAodI4YFEw

In places like Tauranga that has gotten 4G in the recent months it's all on 700 Meg band 28 . No band 3 / 1800 at all..

Regards,

Old3eyes

old3eyes

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# 1431677 20-Nov-2015 13:10

jonathan18:
P1n3apqlExpr3ss: I've had no issues with my TDD model. The only thing the RN2 doesn't have for NZ is Band 28 LTE, which I think spark uses quite a lot?

Most retailers will flash a FDD rom so it works out of the box but I'd recommend flashing the xiaomi.eu rom anyway. This is very easy to do and avoids problems with malware on modified stock roms.

Sorry for (edit: three) more dumb questions:

1. Given that the seller can flash the TDD model with the FDD firmware, thereby providing it with the ability to work on the WCDMA frequencies used for 3G in NZ, is there any reason to purchase the more expensive FDD model over the TDD model?

2. If I elect to flash the phone with the xiaomi.eu rom, does this impact on how one can update the phone? I see the site has weekly updates that I assume are in line with the official incrimental updates; but once the xiaomi.eu rom is installed, is making these updates made any more mandrolic or complex than sticking with the seller's original rom? I'd not like to make keeping the phone up to date any more complicated than necessary.

Edit: 3. I'm assuming the xiaomi.eu rom also includes support for all the NZ 3G frequencies?

Thanks again.

Edit 3. If you're talking about a European ROM then you won't see the 850meg 3G band. They only seem to do 2100 and 900 though my Mi4i it has all NZ 3G bands and band 3 LTE..

Regards,

Old3eyes

rmt38

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# 1431682 20-Nov-2015 13:17

jonathan18: Edit: 3. I'm assuming the xiaomi.eu rom also includes support for all the NZ 3G frequencies?

I bought cheap model with chinese bands.
It has xiaomi.eu rom installed by the store I bought it from.
Here are enabled bands as shown by mediatek app.

jonathan18

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# 1431685 20-Nov-2015 13:23

old3eyes: Edit 3. If you're talking about a European ROM then you won't see the 850meg 3G band. They only seem to do 2100 and 900 though my Mi4i it has all NZ 3G bands and band 3 LTE..

rmt38:

I bought cheap model with chinese bands.
It has xiaomi.eu rom installed by the store I bought it from.
Here are enabled bands as shown by mediatek app.

God, there's so much to clarify before pressing 'buy'!

I'm assuming, by the suffix, that the xiaomi.eu ROMs are European, but going by rmt38's experience the cheap model (I assume TDD?) came with a xiaomi.eu ROM that supports 3G 850 (his post pasted below).

Could I expect something similar from the ROMS available at http://miuiandroid.com/?

rmt38 - which retailer did you purchase from? Edit: I searched the thread and it looks like you bought it from Goldway.

rmt38: I installed MTK Engineering Mode on the Redmi Note 2 cheaper chinese version, and it lists as enabled the following bands:
GSM: EGSM900, DCS1800, PCS1900, GSM850
UMTS: WCDMA-IMT-2000, WCDMA-PCS-1900, WCDMA-CLR-850, WCDMA-GSM-900
LTE: 1,3,7,38,39,40,41

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