check out their rating , see how long the delivery will be and what sort of delivery it is, and if it is in stock and will it be sent immediately.  Sometimes the cheapest phone is not the best. if you dont trust Aliexpress , then try Banggood , they are rated higher than Mighty Ape on the "do i trust them " reviews and i know you get refunds quickly from them if something goes wrong and their service is really good.

 i've bought ONE smart device from china - that will be my last smart device chinese clone. not worth a cent. but you may have better luck.

I have been recommended hong kong goldway on there, and used them for several phone purchases and have always got what I ordered quite quickly, never had to deal with them for service or anything so no idea how they perform for that, but have heard 3rd hand good things.

richms:

 

I have been recommended hong kong goldway on there,

Actually thats the same place I was recommended a year back for another phone which work out really well, thanks for reminding me. Ill check out their price.

joker97:

 

 i've bought ONE smart device from china - that will be my last smart device chinese clone. not worth a cent. but you may have better luck.

 

Basing it all on one purchase is a bit foolish IMO. I have probably bought 10 reasonable value smartish devices from aliex and always got what I expected from it. In the case of the $40 tablet it was a piece of crap, but I kinda knew that going into it.

richms:

 

Basing it all on one purchase is a bit foolish IMO.

Well said.

I was going to go Goldway but they only have the pink gold. So found another shop with good rep, they have the 6gb 64GB hdd GREY version for $340 NZD delivered. IMO the grey looks a lot smarter than the gold and definitely nicer than the pink gold. Thanks for your help mate.

lookout: I'm keen to see how you get on. I'm looking at getting something as a backup for my Nexus 5x. Le Max 2 looks a lot of phone for the money.

yeah thats where im going with it, i wanna try a phablet before i buy a mi6 and while i wait for the mi6 to drop in price. aside from battery and maybe the SD 820, there is very little not to like for a $300 phone, certainly slams the meizu and xioami notes.

the le max 3 is overdue for release, i believe they are using the sd821, im not sure on pricing but i doubt id be able to import under GST threshold etc. so for me the le max 2 will do while i trial the form factor.

TeaLeaf:

 

richms:

 

Basing it all on one purchase is a bit foolish IMO.

 

Well said.

 

I was going to go Goldway but they only have the pink gold. So found another shop with good rep, they have the 6gb 64GB hdd GREY version for $340 NZD delivered. IMO the grey looks a lot smarter than the gold and definitely nicer than the pink gold. Thanks for your help mate.

 

Lol I youtubed this thing and it's gorgeous! You guys better be right about this :)

lookout: I find phablets really comfortable to use.

I was worried at first as I still use my nokia windows 10 4" phone as my go to device due to pocket ability and battery life. not to mention ive dropped it screen down on rocks and even into a puddle while fishing lol, it just keeps going.

but i have ultra fat fingers due to my physical size, so i figured a phablet would give me nice wide keys? also it would go nicely in that logitech BT keyboard for phones and tablets (the one with the slot you sit your device in).

Do I need to worry about which version I buy on aliexpress, I mean, there is no international version as such, they all just update to the latest ROM?

vexxxboy:

 

check out their rating , see how long the delivery will be and what sort of delivery it is, and if it is in stock and will it be sent immediately.  Sometimes the cheapest phone is not the best. if you dont trust Aliexpress , then try Banggood , they are rated higher than Mighty Ape on the "do i trust them " reviews and i know you get refunds quickly from them if something goes wrong and their service is really good.

 

Only buy stuff where there have been previous orders, and preferably feedback.

Don't buy stuff from an "omnibus" vendor... the kind of place that sells all kinds of cheap crap of all different kinds. They probably don't have anything in stock and just order it from elsewhere for shipment to you.

Get one with an actual AU mains plug... the adapters are cheap and crappy and tend fall out of the socket.

TeaLeaf:

 

 

 

I was going to go Goldway but they only have the pink gold. So found another shop with good rep, they have the 6gb 64GB hdd GREY version for $340 NZD delivered. IMO the grey looks a lot smarter than the gold and definitely nicer than the pink gold. Thanks for your help mate.

 

Ask them if they have what you want, they have to load quantities on the aliexpress listings and when they are gone it greys out on the item page, They will either say they have it and just to put it in the notes on the order what you want, or else add more stock for you.

richms:

 

TeaLeaf:

 

 

 

I was going to go Goldway but they only have the pink gold. So found another shop with good rep, they have the 6gb 64GB hdd GREY version for $340 NZD delivered. IMO the grey looks a lot smarter than the gold and definitely nicer than the pink gold. Thanks for your help mate.

 

 

Ask them if they have what you want, they have to load quantities on the aliexpress listings and when they are gone it greys out on the item page, They will either say they have it and just to put it in the notes on the order what you want, or else add more stock for you.

 

Thanks Rich, I didnt realise that, I thought the greyed out box actually reflects their inventory !