Buying a OnePlus phone in NZ

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Karlosnz

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#289976 12-Oct-2021 19:26

Hi all

It's time to replace my 5t and would like another OnePlus either a 8t or 9 my problem is all of the NZ retailers don't seem to have the global models so no band 28 and on the 9 no wireless charging.
I can live without the wireless charging just not sure about the band 28?
So where is everyone purchasing their OnePlus phones from and am I over thinking the no band 28?

Cheers
Karl

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#2794233 12-Oct-2021 19:43

When I bought a 5T years ago, it was from PB Tech. Are they not selling that anymore?

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MaxineN

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#2794236 12-Oct-2021 19:47

Previous owner of a OP8.

B28 I'd say is pretty damn important honestly. What's more important is VoLTE and you can get it to work via root but it's not stable(don't set the phone to 4G/5GNR only, you'll have a bad time in my experience).

I've had a pleasure(or the displeasure depending on how you ask what my experience was with both variants) of using both Chinese and European variant(this one has B28) and frankly putting, the one without B28 kept on dropping 4G/LTE more often because it couldn't latch on to a tower that had B28 in some areas around Christchurch where I live. The European variant certainly stayed on 4G/LTE until it absolutely could not.

The Oneplus 9 isn't worth it and with the integration of Oppo's software stack and ColorOS, OxygenOS is dead. Not to mention https://www.anandtech.com/show/16794/oneplus-9-performance-examination this happened(all for 1 extra minute of battery life according to some users).

PBTech is/was a supplier of Oneplus phones and all of their OP8s and OP8 pros shipped with the UK/European variant(IN2013 and IN2023 respectively) and they didn't get any of the OP9s so I would have pointed to PBTech but no one else is shipping any of the European variants so you may have to import it via other means. None of the usual suspects are shipping them here, only the Chinese variant.

Anyway enough ranting good luck to OP.

edit:

freitasm: When I bought a 5T years ago, it was from PB Tech. Are they not selling that anymore?

Nope!

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jonathan18

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#2794240 12-Oct-2021 19:59

I got my wife's Nord from Noel Leeming's - but their stocking of One Plus products has been sketchy at best. I also didn't do due diligence at the time and ended up finding out after the event that the version they brought was one that didn't have band 28 support, not that this was advertised (frustrating in a city where it's critical for 4G coverage).

Looks like NL's do still sell OP products, but don't make the same mistake I did! https://www.noelleeming.co.nz/search.html?q=oneplus#sortOrder=rel&page=1&layout=grid

(I bought the Nord on the strength of the 6 I had owned, which I really did like. I've not been so impressed with the Nord, and while I know it's probably unfair to judge their higher-spec'd phones on this experience, I am unlikely to purchase another One Plus, especially given this is on top of the loss of earlier advantages like faster updates/longer support.)

MaxineN

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#2794249 12-Oct-2021 20:19

jonathan18:

I got my wife's Nord from Noel Leeming's - but their stocking of One Plus products has been sketchy at best. I also didn't do due diligence at the time and ended up finding out after the event that the version they brought was one that didn't have band 28 support, not that this was advertised (frustrating in a city where it's critical for 4G coverage).

More important for some rural areas where there's only B28 due to it being an RCG site and NO 3G fallback(so voice calls will not work flat out unless you get VoLTE working on it).

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Karlosnz

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#2794336 13-Oct-2021 09:14

Ok thanks for the reply's, pretty much confirmed what I thought.

Maybe time to look outside the Oneplus box which is a shame as the 5T has been a great phone

timmmay

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#2794339 13-Oct-2021 09:18

Pixels are solid phones, really like my Pixel 4a, but need to be imported. Pixel 5a is out, Pixel 6 being released soon. Samsung are widely available, and plenty of options. Xiaomi are another Chinese brand, but if you're going for one of those suggest you hold one in your hand and check it works well for you first, including basic things like fingerprint unlock. I sold my 9T because behind screen fingerprint unlock was slow and unreliable for me.

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#2794344 13-Oct-2021 09:26

Karlosnz:

Ok thanks for the reply's, pretty much confirmed what I thought.

Maybe time to look outside the Oneplus box which is a shame as the 5T has been a great phone

I am about to go for another phone as the Huawei P30 Pro seems to be end of life - no update in seven months now. Shame the OnePlus is not an option here.

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MaxineN

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#2794362 13-Oct-2021 10:05

timmmay:

Pixels are solid phones, really like my Pixel 4a, but need to be imported. Pixel 5a is out, Pixel 6 being released soon. Samsung are widely available, and plenty of options. Xiaomi are another Chinese brand, but if you're going for one of those suggest you hold one in your hand and check it works well for you first, including basic things like fingerprint unlock. I sold my 9T because behind screen fingerprint unlock was slow and unreliable for me.

I am in the process of reviewing the Xiaomi Poco F3. Fun fact the side mounted finger print sensor works 100% of the time and has yet to fail. It's also super fast. Xiaomi learned from their mistakes 🤣

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#2794386 13-Oct-2021 10:48

MaxineN:

I am in the process of reviewing the Xiaomi Poco F3. Fun fact the side mounted finger print sensor works 100% of the time and has yet to fail. It's also super fast. Xiaomi learned from their mistakes 🤣

Nice. Other than that the phone was super fast, great cameras including wide angle which is fun, OS was good other than a few minor annoyances such as smart lock being disabled. With a working fingerprint sensor I would consider another one because price / performance is great. But the Google hardware is reliable, gets updates and upgrades immediately, and while the A series is not super fast they're plenty fast enough and stock android is good.

jonathan18

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#2794448 13-Oct-2021 13:04

Karlosnz:
Ok thanks for the reply's, pretty much confirmed what I thought.

Maybe time to look outside the Oneplus box which is a shame as the 5T has been a great phone

When I dropped my OP 6 and broke the screen, my insurance company gave me two options - an S10+ or a cash settlement for much lower; I was really divided on the decision, based on how much I liked the OP, but was persuaded by others here on GZ to give the Samsung a go.

Never regretted the decision, TBH, and I have to admit I’ve become somewhat of a Samsung fanboi. Chances are I’d look to another from the same brand for my next phone (but given the 10+ is still going so well over two years on and will get 12 when that’s released plus security updates for a while longer, that won’t be in a hurry).

mattyb

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#2794485 13-Oct-2021 14:34

Checked out this thread as was also considering getting a OP9 to replace my trusty OP5T which has done me great service over the last 4 years! Interesting info about the band issues, I knew it was something to look out for but hadn't looked into it in detail.

Do the Pixel phones have any similar issues? Am now looking at the Pixel 5a as an option.

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#2794521 13-Oct-2021 15:21

Pixel 4a works very well on Vodafone. I made sure I got a model with band 28, I think they all do but not sure on that.

mattyb

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#2794538 13-Oct-2021 15:42

Looks like B28 version of OP9 available from here. Don't know much about Mobile Station though - reputable??

https://www.mobilestation.co.nz/oneplus-9-5g-8+128gb.html

MaxineN

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#2794542 13-Oct-2021 15:50

mattyb:

Looks like B28 version of OP9 available from here. Don't know much about Mobile Station though - reputable??

https://www.mobilestation.co.nz/oneplus-9-5g-8+128gb.html

I would email and ask them before even thinking about it. The model you want is the LE2115 which is the NA unlocked variant that has B28. The EU model is also fine as well.

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Karlosnz

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#2794604 13-Oct-2021 16:08

Yea I asked Mobile station and they had none of the correct model only the LE2110 which as far as I understand dosent have B28

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