Cell Phones

the Chinese-Phone Thread

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Deal Addict
Jul 12, 2009
1399 posts
82 upvotes

the Chinese-Phone Thread

Not sure if I am the only one, but my jaw dropped in seeing the OnePlus One release and it blew the lid off the China Phones that are about to emerge from a growing marketplace.

China phones in the past may have been pretty sad, but these specs and the specs of the THL 5000, and other octa-core phones are quite impressive.

Is it time for the market to be blown wide open with mature hardware android powered devices? We know the chinese handsets are not too innovative, but if they are cranking out really great value handsets, then there really is no need for me to cough up $719 for an iphone 5c....

what are other users experiences with xiaomi/jiaya/thl/doogee, etc?
"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC
3018 replies
Deal Addict
Sep 26, 2013
3725 posts
479 upvotes
MONTR
all phones are made in china nowadays, first them make it to steal the technology and then mass produce it cheaper with better specs.
Deal Fanatic
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Aug 3, 2006
5351 posts
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Xiaomi only yesterday announced their Mi 4. Pretty much all the Chinese phones in the 5"-5.5" range have the same specs and are $350-$400 USD for 64 GB. Chinese companies are afraid to take risks but it looks like the major players have settled on $400.

Considering that the specs of the Mi 4, OnePlus One, HTC One (M8) (it's too bad these companies can't come up with better names), Galaxy S 5 and Galaxy Note 3 are all pretty much the same, you end up deciding based on other factors like price or availability. Customer service and warranty repair on all of them suck. The price of the Mi 4 and OnePlus One are $200-$300 less than the Galaxy S 5, but good luck trying to get one.

Xiaomi and now OnePlus compete more with Samsung, HTC, Lenovo and Asus than Apple.
Deal Addict
Jul 12, 2009
1399 posts
82 upvotes
im trying to dig up everything i can on the THL 5000 but cannot source a reputable seller..

checking aliexpress/ebay/amazon etc..

i did find an interesting youtube channel on a guy that reviews a lot of these phones.. no affiliation, but figure it should be in this thread.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylQQZKal67Q

oneplus is going to world-wide get attention to these lesser known manufactures.. hope they can ride the wave, since the days of $700 phones are really going to be behind us...

if only the crtc and rogers could be rid of, so easily.......

oh an xiaomi did a keynote............ copying apple to the letter

[IMG]https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BtIojfjCQAAwKUK.jpg[/IMG]

http://www.businessinsider.com/xiaomi-mi4-phone-2014-7
"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC
Deal Addict
Apr 30, 2011
3633 posts
444 upvotes
RICHMOND HILL
AA0913 wrote: Not sure if I am the only one, but my jaw dropped in seeing the OnePlus One release and it blew the lid off the China Phones that are about to emerge from a growing marketplace.

China phones in the past may have been pretty sad, but these specs and the specs of the THL 5000, and other octa-core phones are quite impressive.

Is it time for the market to be blown wide open with mature hardware android powered devices? We know the chinese handsets are not too innovative, but if they are cranking out really great value handsets, then there really is no need for me to cough up $719 for an iphone 5c....

what are other users experiences with xiaomi/jiaya/thl/doogee, etc?
Problem is the highest-performing phones by Chinese companies are still powered by components made by foreign companies. That's not really progress at all. It's the phones assembled with locally-sourced parts that are really significant for the industry, and at the moment they're still lagging behind.
Deal Addict
Jul 12, 2009
1399 posts
82 upvotes
loserga wrote: Problem is the highest-performing phones by Chinese companies are still powered by components made by foreign companies. That's not really progress at all. It's the phones assembled with locally-sourced parts that are really significant for the industry, and at the moment they're still lagging behind.
i think it has to be looked at in a simpler perspective.
don't expect anything ground-breaking in terms of its own engineering creativity.. but instead, look at mass manufacturing and its ability to multiply fox-conn style execution and precision and that quickly becoming the new standard affordable at a pricepoint that was never possible before giants like apple/samsung pushed their products out.

if the can mass produce and get product out on a good schedule, that satisfies my buying power - leave the marketing/sales/after-sales support to the bigboys.
"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC
Deal Addict
Apr 30, 2011
3633 posts
444 upvotes
RICHMOND HILL
AA0913 wrote: i think it has to be looked at in a simpler perspective.
don't expect anything ground-breaking in terms of its own engineering creativity.. but instead, look at mass manufacturing and its ability to multiply fox-conn style execution and precision and that quickly becoming the new standard affordable at a pricepoint that was never possible before giants like apple/samsung pushed their products out.

if the can mass produce and get product out on a good schedule, that satisfies my buying power - leave the marketing/sales/after-sales support to the bigboys.
The thing is that they aren't. If you look at Xiaomi, Meizu, and more recently Oppo and One PlusOne, they aren't keeping up with customer demand at all. The companies that manufacture the lower-end phones in China are the ones who have the most to gain, as they are the ones who have been sourcing locally-manufactured components, and have been able to keep up with demand. Companies like the one I mentioned above are simply building a path to other markets for them.
Deal Expert
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Nov 15, 2004
21786 posts
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Toronto
nomdesplumes wrote: all phones are made in china nowadays, first them make it to steal the technology and then mass produce it cheaper with better specs.
Chinese hardware is one thing, Chinese software is another.
Deal Addict
Sep 26, 2013
3725 posts
479 upvotes
MONTR
Piro21 wrote: Chinese hardware is one thing, Chinese software is another.
Chinese will just pirate the software so basically it is the same as the competitors.
Member
Aug 15, 2012
357 posts
82 upvotes
Mississauga
The Xiaomi Mi3 sold out in 40 minutes when it went up for sale on Flipkart. Crazy. I'm looking forward to the ZTE Nubia Z7 and the Mi4.

What's really weird to me is that almost all of these phones have a 13MP camera. Why (as opposed to 16-20MP), especially when some of them can record in 4K?
Deal Fanatic
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Aug 23, 2004
9468 posts
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London
Branding is important. I see people rather buy Alcatel or Acer instead of Huawei. Anyway if One plus One were named Chongdon, it will be a different story. Remember "Lucky Goldstar"
Deal Addict
Mar 5, 2005
2367 posts
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Vancouver
Where would we find Chinese smarphones in Canada? Are there any places to buy them locally or online without shipping from China?
Deal Addict
Jul 12, 2009
1399 posts
82 upvotes
ok guys, i took the plunge.

going to blog this out here, and use it as a record of how long it takes to get a device and then take some youtube videos of the unboxing and a review and followup -post one week review.

had my iphone5 die with the dreaded U2 IC failure, and apple wanted $330 for a refurb iphone5.... I had no idea that a new 5c is upwards of $719.

After doing some research, the Android phone cameras are not too great in low light, but the rest of the hardware seems to be pretty up to task, provided its a newer generation device..

Image
- Cpu:MTK6592 Turbo Octa Core 2.0GHz
- Screen:5.0 Inch 1920 * 1080 Pixel FHD Gorilla Glass Screen 441PPI.
- System:Android 4.4 KiKat Smartphone 2GB Ram 16GB Rom
- Camera :D ual Cameras, 5MP front camera and 13MP Sony IMX 135 back camera

also supports dual sims
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/2100MHz

NO LTE!!!!!!, but im ok with that. The phone does not come with 4G LTE support, but offers HSDPA+ speeds of up to 42.2Mbps where available.


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Took a look at this and decided the specs are good

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and its coming from here:
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Contact Us

Add:
6 Floor,Block 12,Dongfangjianfuyusheng Industrial,Gushu,Baoan district,Shenzhen city
Tel:
0755-82876345
E-mail:
adamsliao@thl168.com



Hope this can address any curiosity that we users have in witnessing these China phones emerge out of foreign markets.

oh and that 5000mah battery is so nuts, they show a pic of it charging another device.

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But we all know android devices are usually less than the sum of its parts.. so i'll wait and see.

videos will be up and i hope the device arrives by early next week.

its been spec'd here
http://bgr.com/2014/06/19/meet-the-beas ... h-battery/
http://www.phonearena.com/news/Monsters ... ry_id57305
"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC
Deal Addict
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Nov 10, 2005
4302 posts
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Farm
I wonder how long until people realize specs aren't everything in a phone.
Banned
Jul 26, 2009
4315 posts
663 upvotes
Toronto
Wow impressive. Its just that usually Mediatek's SoC solutions are usually more power hungry than Qualcomm/Tegra chips at the same performance level, minus any firmware overhead of course.
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Deal Addict
Apr 30, 2011
3633 posts
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RICHMOND HILL
How much did you purchase the phone for? I'm concerned about the company's commitment to provide continuing support for the product.
Deal Addict
Jul 12, 2009
1399 posts
82 upvotes
the phone was $305 shipped DHL express, but its still on the way. I haven't received it yet.

It could be a big flop.

THL appears to have a lot of investment in china and it actually just provided an OTA update for its sister phone, the quad core THL 4400.

I was here, and it looks like it has opened over 300 stores in China over the last few years..

yep, I was trolling their site..
I can't read chinese, but in clicking the top province with the lower city, it manages to output a list of pictures of the actual storefronts.

http://www.thl.com.cn/Store/Index.html

they seem legit..

I am currently hobbling along with an S3 on kitkat and i am not so hot on updating android on older hardware - battery life on this thing is a total joke, like hello Motorola StarTac joke...
"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC
Deal Addict
Jul 11, 2010
2959 posts
139 upvotes
al3x89 wrote: I wonder how long until people realize specs aren't everything in a phone.
+1

You get what you pay for

300 HP on one car is not the same as 300 HP on another car.
Deal Addict
Jul 12, 2009
1399 posts
82 upvotes
^^ agree 10000%

I work in IT and i openly told everyone i wasn't going to get a new iphone when the new 6 is released. My 5 did everything i needed it to do and didn't have the annoyances of Android (i am not an apple fanboy, but i just like my phone being simpler than my android tablets)

the battery life was not great however, in the last couple months it i had to charge 2x/day.. eventually the mainboard gave up and there are just too many products available that are more competitive - even if the eco system isn't so hot.

believe me, i am not one to like android and its constant fiddling, wakelocks etc, but i'll keep updating this thread with my likes/dislikes..
I am just not in a position to throw so much money on another iphone, when other options are avail... i hope I am not alone in this boat..

I can totally see how the iPhone5 has aged, but compared to this galaxy s3, the s3 has really aged far far worse...

i would almost want an iphone4, compared to this s3 on kitkat....
"Remember: a bicycle is an elegant and efficient tool designed for seeking out and defeating people who aren't as good as you."

--BikeSnobNYC

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