Soldato
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That's not true. There's a chance of customs charges with any shipping method from China.
**** The Official Chinese Phones Thread ****
- Thread starter King4aDay
- Start date
That's not true. There's a chance of customs charges with any shipping method from China.
Im still struggling to decide between the following:
Huawei P20 64GB £210
Motorola Moto G6 64GB £200
Honor 9 £64GB £240
or the Redmi Note 5 you lot are all buying... I assume its the pro version for about £160-£200 depending on import tax that you have all chosen? Seems to be several very similar models.
Why have the majority of you gone for the Redmi over the above 3 models if you don't mind me asking?
Huawei P20 64GB £210
Motorola Moto G6 64GB £200
Honor 9 £64GB £240
or the Redmi Note 5 you lot are all buying... I assume its the pro version for about £160-£200 depending on import tax that you have all chosen? Seems to be several very similar models.
Why have the majority of you gone for the Redmi over the above 3 models if you don't mind me asking?
Soldato
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The Note 5 (Global Pro/AI model) has a Snapdragon 636 with Kyro 260 cores... and costs as little as £121 (if you manage to avoid customs charges) for the 32GB model.
All of those other phones are a generation behind with either A53 or A73 cores (Snapdragon 450, Kirin 970).
All of those other phones are a generation behind with either A53 or A73 cores (Snapdragon 450, Kirin 970).
The Mi Pad 4 prices are much cheaper on Aliexpress than Gearbest.
UK priority line shipping method ships from their China/HK warehouse to a UK address and then forwards it to you via Royal Mail 24/48 service and they declare the parcel under $20.
I have ordered several phones, tablets and Mi Notebook Pro (£600) from Gearbest and no customs charge with the shipping method above.
Soldato
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- 22 Jul 2014
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I didn't know that. Must be a recent change as it has been a while since I used Gearbest. However, I can see that their prices are £20-30 more than Aliexpress and elsewhere so you're still effectively paying the customs charge, just not the processing fee. It does still say on their website that even with Priority Line that you should check the customs charges yourself though, so it doesn't look guaranteed that it avoids them either.
Assuming I did not want to go down the importing/avoiding the charges route... Which of the above 3 would you go for please? With importing I am concerned that if/when the phone plays up there is no real UK support/someone to moan it! The idea of having to deal with someone in china if something goes wrong does to appeal to me.
Iv ruled out the Motorola so its:
Huawei P20 64GB £210
Honor 9 £64GB £240
The P20 seems to be a 'better deal' as its got the most 'discount' applied to its price at the moment at only £210 where as the Honor 9 price is available from several retailers and is 'normal'. But from reading a few reviews the Honor 9 seems to have better reviews.
Thoughts very welcome.
I don't think they would state on their website about avoiding or no customs charge with one of their shipping methods.
Probably the P20 Pro.
Oh, I was leaning towards the Moto G6 I think. Can I ask why it's a no go? I've not tried the Honor 9, but I think they're all very similar tbh and you probably can't go far wrong with any of them.
I've also been looking at Chinese imports Vs
P20 lite
Honor 9
Honor 10
Motorola Moto g6
First of all, the p20 lite and honor view were cheaper yesterday on prime day. The p20 lite was £209 but this now back to £300+ for the dual SIM 64gb one. The single sim is £250 ish.
The honor 10 view I think was also on offer but much more now. Might have been just the 10 can't remember. Both too expensive now anyway.
The Moto g6 is about on par with the p20 lite both being fairly new phones. Check the specs as the cameras vary slightly. The thing I can't excuse on the Moto g6 is the rear camera appears to have a significant hump. The finger print on the p20 lite is on the rear if that matters to you. I have a p9 lite at the moment and like that feature but could probably get used to a front one.
The honor 9 despite being older appears to destroy both phones in performance tests on GSM arena specs. It's about twice as good performance apparently. Not sure how much that is felt in real world. Battery also larger but tests say life is about the same.
Then with the redmi note that everyone is going for, it appears to not feature NFC on any of the models. Otherwise it has good spec and performance kind of in the middle of the p20 lite / Moto g6 and the honor 9.
Ps: this is just from a quick skim of GSM arena on the train. I'm also looking to buy but want NFC and good battery and under £250, ideally under £200
P20 lite
Honor 9
Honor 10
Motorola Moto g6
First of all, the p20 lite and honor view were cheaper yesterday on prime day. The p20 lite was £209 but this now back to £300+ for the dual SIM 64gb one. The single sim is £250 ish.
The honor 10 view I think was also on offer but much more now. Might have been just the 10 can't remember. Both too expensive now anyway.
The Moto g6 is about on par with the p20 lite both being fairly new phones. Check the specs as the cameras vary slightly. The thing I can't excuse on the Moto g6 is the rear camera appears to have a significant hump. The finger print on the p20 lite is on the rear if that matters to you. I have a p9 lite at the moment and like that feature but could probably get used to a front one.
The honor 9 despite being older appears to destroy both phones in performance tests on GSM arena specs. It's about twice as good performance apparently. Not sure how much that is felt in real world. Battery also larger but tests say life is about the same.
Then with the redmi note that everyone is going for, it appears to not feature NFC on any of the models. Otherwise it has good spec and performance kind of in the middle of the p20 lite / Moto g6 and the honor 9.
Ps: this is just from a quick skim of GSM arena on the train. I'm also looking to buy but want NFC and good battery and under £250, ideally under £200
Very good post jayvee. You have touched upon everything I have read/was thinking also. I also need NFC and wish to spend approx £200. I was really tempted by the P20 lite yesterday as the discount available was huge but I, like you, can see that the Honor 9 seems to be better than the P20 even at the reduced price. As the P20 has now gone back up to £300 I guess its irrelevant now.
And as the Moto has the ugly camera sticking out of the back that leaves only the Honor 9. Now just to look for the best price as I can't find it much less than £240.
I think my requirements are:
- NFC
- 5ghz wifi
- At least semi decent battery
- USB-C charging port
- Some level of fast charging
- 4 GB ram minimum
- No larger than 6 inch display
- finger print reader
- 32gb on board memory minimum (preferably 64gb)
EDIT:
Also:
- SD Card slot
- Headphone jack
My current P9 lite is only 16gb which is a killer these days, plus no 5ghz wifi. Also has an issue (not sure if other phones have the same problem) whereby if I use bluetooth to connect to a speaker/headphones, the wireless download speed is crippled down to about 2mbps, which means I can't live stream audio to bluetooth devices.
- NFC
- 5ghz wifi
- At least semi decent battery
- USB-C charging port
- Some level of fast charging
- 4 GB ram minimum
- No larger than 6 inch display
- finger print reader
- 32gb on board memory minimum (preferably 64gb)
EDIT:
Also:
- SD Card slot
- Headphone jack
My current P9 lite is only 16gb which is a killer these days, plus no 5ghz wifi. Also has an issue (not sure if other phones have the same problem) whereby if I use bluetooth to connect to a speaker/headphones, the wireless download speed is crippled down to about 2mbps, which means I can't live stream audio to bluetooth devices.
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Does the Honor 9 have 5ghz wifi? There is so much info our there I cant work out for sure what it does/does not have. Why does it matter what type of charging port it has just out of interest? Its got the ram, most phones don't have more than 4GB unless we pay a lot more. I also want a large screen but not a huge phone as the Plus iPhones are just to big to hold. The one benefit that the P20 did have was a big screen size as its like 90% of the phone which the Honor 9 is not. But I'm sure its big enough.
Also not sure if the Honor 9 has a Magnetometer and a Barometer. iPhones have them but the Honor 9 I don't think has. Not even sure what they do and If I really need them.
Iphone 8 seems to have everything but then its 2-3 times the price!! So I guess its all about compromise. Im shocked so many on this thread are buying the phone without NFC. Yes its a good spec and its cheap but surly NFC is needed these days. I don't use it very often but when its needed its a god send.
According to GSMArena specs listed, yes. It has dual band wifi: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot
I don't know about you, but I have found the Micro-B USB standard to be the worst one we have had. Yes it's smaller, but the male cable ends wear out (by design faster than the female ports so you only have to replace the cable) and the cables just get so loose in many of the ports so you have to hold them in at an angle for things to charge. This has happened on my kindles, ps4 controllers, my p9 lite. I'm pretty sure it's the cables that wear and not the ports but the whole thing is just a farce. A lot of people fumble around trying to work out if they are putting the cable in the right way around, further contributing to wear and tear on both the cable and port. Annoying to try to plug it in in poor light having to check the orientation by feel. USB-C solves all that and is a good standard going forward because you can put it in either way around. Better bandwidth. Also, if you have Apple devices in your house and Android, finally you only need one cable type. A few years away granted in my house whilst the old devices die out.
Don't know either. I think the gyro is the important one for some apps?
I don't use NFC a lot yet, but the shift is happening. I know a lot of people now that go out with only a phone and a front door key. It's also handy as a backup to cards. There's been a few times I've needed it.
I've just noticed some other things to consider with recent mobile purchases which I had not previously considered.
- This display notch thing
This at first glance looks fine to me having the gap in the middle of the upper parts of the screens to house the camera etc, and give you slightly more screen area for notifications in the corners. Fine.... But then I watched a youtube video of what happens when you watch a video. It seems mixed depending on the phone. Some allow you to then darken or exclude the additional corner areas to make the viewing area be a normal rectangle, but on others (iphone X) it actually just expands out fully where the video wraps around the notch so some of the output is basically covered. Hmm.
- 3.5mm jack / headphone port being dropped in some phones
Bluetooth headphones that I have used did not lip sync correctly during films. They obviously carry the burden of having to be charged and the sound quality is often worse than wired. They also tend to be heavier than earbud wired ones.
- This display notch thing
This at first glance looks fine to me having the gap in the middle of the upper parts of the screens to house the camera etc, and give you slightly more screen area for notifications in the corners. Fine.... But then I watched a youtube video of what happens when you watch a video. It seems mixed depending on the phone. Some allow you to then darken or exclude the additional corner areas to make the viewing area be a normal rectangle, but on others (iphone X) it actually just expands out fully where the video wraps around the notch so some of the output is basically covered. Hmm.
- 3.5mm jack / headphone port being dropped in some phones
Bluetooth headphones that I have used did not lip sync correctly during films. They obviously carry the burden of having to be charged and the sound quality is often worse than wired. They also tend to be heavier than earbud wired ones.
Has anyone with the RN5 or MIUI in general tried using the Do Not Disturb (DND) mode?
I want to use DND because it has a whitelist (I don't want to block calls from school, wife etc.), where are silent just blocks everything.
When I use DND I find that no notification sounds are blocked, everything comes through - very annoying and I can't work out why. All it does is silence media, which is odd since I don't expect random media to start playing.
I want to use DND because it has a whitelist (I don't want to block calls from school, wife etc.), where are silent just blocks everything.
When I use DND I find that no notification sounds are blocked, everything comes through - very annoying and I can't work out why. All it does is silence media, which is odd since I don't expect random media to start playing.
Is the 6X (£180) the same as the Mi A2 (£216)?
https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Xia...Quick-Charge-Metal-Unibody---Gold-400402.html
https://www.geekbuying.com/item/-HK...id-8-1-Touch-ID-OTG-Type-C---Gold-400471.html
https://www.geekbuying.com/item/Xia...Quick-Charge-Metal-Unibody---Gold-400402.html
https://www.geekbuying.com/item/-HK...id-8-1-Touch-ID-OTG-Type-C---Gold-400471.html
Father in law needsa new phone, sub £200.
Doesn't want any messing with importing etc Amazon are selling honor 9 lite at £169 sold by Amazon also, so you get the 2 year warranty direct.
Good deal?
Edit: would a redmi note 5 better at £200? Amazon's product descriptions are aweful but after a lot of trawling I'm relatively confident the one sold by Amazon is the global version which supports band 20 (he is on Tesco) seems like a lot more phone for another £30.
Doesn't want any messing with importing etc Amazon are selling honor 9 lite at £169 sold by Amazon also, so you get the 2 year warranty direct.
Good deal?
Edit: would a redmi note 5 better at £200? Amazon's product descriptions are aweful but after a lot of trawling I'm relatively confident the one sold by Amazon is the global version which supports band 20 (he is on Tesco) seems like a lot more phone for another £30.
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