I dont really understand why people buy those strange brands when There are cheap and good brands like Lenovo and Xiaomi.
**** The Official Chinese Phones Thread ****
- Thread starter King4aDay
- Start date
I dont really understand why people buy those strange brands when There are cheap and good brands like Lenovo and Xiaomi.
Xiaomi until recently only put out phones with cack all over android (imho) so they've been a non starter.
I already have a Lenovo P2, it'll be interesting what a similar priced but riskier brand like elephone are putting out with the S8 (if it ever arrives).
My previous lenovo A820 was actually a mediatek CPU, it was a bit pants but at £45 it was hard to knock.
Are you talking about two similar priced items bang for buck with the vernee and s7/s8, tell me you don't mean samsungs?
With the P2 I'm pretty willing to forgive short comings in a range of areas, because dat battery
It's a punt and probably will be way worse than it's spec sheet suggests but I'll take a look at the Elephone S8 and compare it with the P2 real world.
Soldato
No no DailyGeek mentioned his elephone s8 being comparable to a GS7 - it's comparable but they aren't as good.
And Trans, people take a punt because the price is right. There is risk involved but it's a calculated risk. You mentioned levono and Xiaomi but they were also unknowns at one point. The Vernee apollo was priced well for what it offered - x25, 2k screen, vr goggles in the box, all alu construction etc. But it just didn't work out.
The phone is a bit of a lemon - it runs hot and the battery doesnt last long and perfomance is all over the place - and Vernee don't care. They are absolutely useless at software and customer support not to mention they flat out lie about everything; about the antutu scores on their x25 phones, about the battery capacity on one of the Thor models, about promised software updates we are still waiting for 10 months later across multiple models, not just the Apollo. Then there's complete lack of response from vernee on any support issues, the deleting of posting on their Facebook group, deleting entire support threads that they started on their own forums to hide the real scale of the problems their customer base is having, announcing competition winners only for winners to either not exist or, in the case of actually living people who win, end up chasing Vernee for months and months only to be completely stonewalled by them.
Vernee are a terrible terrible company... but that's the way it goes sometimes.
Last edited:
Have you used an Elephone S8 and are you/people trying to compare it to a Samsung Galaxy S7?
If so a refurb Samsung S7 is still well over £100 (or an extra 50%) more expensive than an Elephone S8.
The relevant comparison will be to the Lenovo P2 (snapdragon 625/3Gb type device) as it was (before lenovo lost interested) pretty much king of the £200 android category.
Associate
- Joined
- 8 Jun 2007
- Posts
- 1,821
The Cubot i had was only £55 and a stopgap phone till i decided what i wanted (Xiaomi Mi5S) but worked just fine most of the time.
Just a pity the MTK cpu at that time had issues with BT,Wifi.
Just a pity the MTK cpu at that time had issues with BT,Wifi.
Id like mediatek to be more competitive as the big names seem comfortable with each other.
If they'd open up to community/free software efforts more it could be a start.
That said, the others have zero interest in £45 phones!
The more people (who probably haven't seen it) shoot down the elephone s8/x25 the more I want to test it!
Soldato
Not likely the case as software is relevant, but maybe, I'll double check for you, but I wont try and compare it to a processor or phone that costs an extra 50%No but I know everything I need to know about x25
Soldato
I don't know if that 50% comment was aimed at me or not but it wasn't me who originally compared the es8 to the gs7. Not that i see an issue with doing so - just because they are budget phones doesnt mean we shouldn't be comparing the phones to premium models. It allows us to remain objective.
Look I own an x25 phone, I've owned it long enough to know which issues are chipset related and which ones are software/other hardware. Unless you think the elephone s8 is somehow in a different league then it will be very similar in performance, positives and drawbacks to the vernee apollo I'm looking at right now. No need for you to double check, I already know enough. I would take a mid range Snapdragon over the decacore x20/x25. Maybe x30 will switch things up being based on a new smaller process, but it won't change whats already available.
Last edited:
I've got a midrange snap dragon so Ill see soon enough, if you believe phones with similar specs but different oems/software generally perform the same, that hasn't been my experience!
Soldato
Besides the obvious physical differences, both the s8 and the apollo are very similar phones. Both very close to stock android. Both have a 2k screen, both x25 with the same clocks, same amount of lpddr3 ram, same 64gb storage. Same mediatek pump express (quick charge) that only quick charges when the screen is off. The elephone has a bigger screen and bigger battery but worse camera (no phase detection autofocus but that doesn't count for much on the apollo) and no second SIM card/SD slot. S8 I think has wireless a.c.? Apollo doesn't.
What differences there are, other than the casing and screen size, are minor. But Yes, i do expect them to be broadly similar because the specs and benchmarks say they are
Anyway, not my intention to turn anybody away from mediatek chipsets. I might have a preference but that's just me. My problem is with Vernee, not mediatek.
What differences there are, other than the casing and screen size, are minor. But Yes, i do expect them to be broadly similar because the specs and benchmarks say they are
Anyway, not my intention to turn anybody away from mediatek chipsets. I might have a preference but that's just me. My problem is with Vernee, not mediatek.
Last edited:
Caporegime
I put my sim card back in my iPhone last night when I got home and spent all day with it. I have to say I kinda like it. I had put on a leather case for the iPhone and it feels so much nicer than the bare bone Maze Alpha with the sharp corners and glass back. Also, psychologically I feel the more secure too in the Apple ecosystem, I know that's weird but that's just a psychological thing.
It's been a solid 2 weeks with Android, I think the OS is good, the negative things about the OS, I think most if not all can be customise if I dig deep enough. Its the Maze Alpha I have the most problem with:-
1 - Bluetooth disconnects randomly from car or wireless headphone.
2 - It's quite heavy, may be 10% lighter would be about right.
3 - No NFC, I like it as a back up in case i need it.
4 - Signal is not as strong as my iPhone
5 - The Camera at a glance looks okay but it really is not (that said, I have never seen a phone camera that impresses me considering where I set the bar)
6 - Phone call, if my ear is not lined up perfectly with the edge of the screen, due to so narrow that is, it makes it quite hard to hear.
Things that I like
1 - Screen estate is great
2 - Expandable memory is great, if I know i am staying 100% with Android I would get a 128G card for it.
3 - Finger print scanner is snappy and quick log in
4 - Battery life is epic
All of which makes me want to try a better Android phone to see if I like the platform more, one with NFC, with 2k AMOLED screen, perhaps a touch smaller, GOOD bluetooth connection,
The only thing I miss from the Maze Alpha going back to my iPhone 6 is the size of the screen, don't get me wrong, for £155 or something that i paid for it, it is a lot of phone for the money and it is certainly a phone I can live with but it certainly has its flaws and a bit rough round the edges.
It's been a solid 2 weeks with Android, I think the OS is good, the negative things about the OS, I think most if not all can be customise if I dig deep enough. Its the Maze Alpha I have the most problem with:-
1 - Bluetooth disconnects randomly from car or wireless headphone.
2 - It's quite heavy, may be 10% lighter would be about right.
3 - No NFC, I like it as a back up in case i need it.
4 - Signal is not as strong as my iPhone
5 - The Camera at a glance looks okay but it really is not (that said, I have never seen a phone camera that impresses me considering where I set the bar)
6 - Phone call, if my ear is not lined up perfectly with the edge of the screen, due to so narrow that is, it makes it quite hard to hear.
Things that I like
1 - Screen estate is great
2 - Expandable memory is great, if I know i am staying 100% with Android I would get a 128G card for it.
3 - Finger print scanner is snappy and quick log in
4 - Battery life is epic
All of which makes me want to try a better Android phone to see if I like the platform more, one with NFC, with 2k AMOLED screen, perhaps a touch smaller, GOOD bluetooth connection,
The only thing I miss from the Maze Alpha going back to my iPhone 6 is the size of the screen, don't get me wrong, for £155 or something that i paid for it, it is a lot of phone for the money and it is certainly a phone I can live with but it certainly has its flaws and a bit rough round the edges.
155 is actually expensive for such bad phone imo.
Well my experience with the X25 in the Elephone S8 so far is pretty positive. Battery life has been pretty good (though charging seems slow?) and performance has been excellent to the point of not having any concerns to make me look any closer at performance.
Soldato
I'm going to China in November and am tempted to bring back a few phones; have a request from 2 friends, and sell the rest. I know it's a little 'how long is a piece of string' but is that worth it or would you guys rather buy direct than from eBay etc?
Associate
Be careful with this. If you're intending to declare them to Customs on the way back then you'll be fine (if a little poorer). If you buy a single phone then you should be able to have it tax free as part of your personal allowance. If you have a few and don't declare them then they're likely to take the attitude you're smuggling on a commercial scale and could end up having the phones seized with additional charges including penalties to pay.
Soldato
Yeah, that's fair!
The prices appears to be the same in India and Aliexpress, and I dont think China is different.
Much safer to buy from a well known seller on Ali than do it yourself in China and bring it home.