**** The Official Chinese Phones Thread ****

Hnngh, can't decide on a new phone.

Usage: basic messaging, web browsing, youtube, music, etc. No gaming at all.

Current phone: iPhone SE - for which I love the size, but hate the battery life (health says 90% now after nearly 2 years) but I'm quite often plugging in to charge as soon as I get home from work, or when I'm at work.

Checked the recycling prices out of curiosity yesterday and one with good reviews is offering £143 which is more than I've seen before (highest last time I checked was £120). Now considering either the Mi A2 Lite or Redmi Note 5, there's only £5 difference but I'm not sure I want a massive phone, don't need the more powerful processor, would prefer the better battery life and I prefer the notched screen of the Mi A2 Lite. This seems to be the problem with Xiaomi, they never quite make a device that ticks all of the boxes. The Mi A2 Lite exterior with the internals of the Note 5 would be perfect.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
Hnngh, can't decide on a new phone.

Usage: basic messaging, web browsing, youtube, music, etc. No gaming at all.

Current phone: iPhone SE - for which I love the size, but hate the battery life (health says 90% now after nearly 2 years) but I'm quite often plugging in to charge as soon as I get home from work, or when I'm at work.

Checked the recycling prices out of curiosity yesterday and one with good reviews is offering £143 which is more than I've seen before (highest last time I checked was £120). Now considering either the Mi A2 Lite or Redmi Note 5, there's only £5 difference but I'm not sure I want a massive phone, don't need the more powerful processor, would prefer the better battery life and I prefer the notched screen of the Mi A2 Lite. This seems to be the problem with Xiaomi, they never quite make a device that ticks all of the boxes. The Mi A2 Lite exterior with the internals of the Note 5 would be perfect.
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Both phones for the money are very good.

You wont find phones at the size of that iPhone SE unless you go for the low end junior ones as such it is something I do not like.

Which ever one you go for don't go for 3gb version you really do want that extra 1gb ram.

The Note 5 version which is around same price as the A2 Lite doesn't have better hardware the Pro version does cpu/gpu but that costs much more around same price point of the A2 so about £180 mark.

Which do you want Android One or Miui? Note 5 does currently have better community support so more options with regard to roms if that is something you may like to do.

I don't like the notch myself it is silly on A2 Lite but if that is your thing that is the phone to go for.
 
edGfaCTor said:
Which ever one you go for don't go for 3gb version you really do want that extra 1gb ram.
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I doubt this. I did say I'm not gaming. There should be nearas makes no difference in most usage between 3GB and 4GB versions.

The Note 5 version which is around same price as the A2 Lite doesn't have better hardware the Pro version does cpu/gpu but that costs much more around same price point of the A2 so about £180 mark.
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I'm not sure where you're getting your prices from. I'm comparing the Mi A2 Lite at £127.99 and the Note 5 with SD636, 12+5MP rear cameras and 13MP front camera at £132.99 currently. Both have band 20 support and are the global versions.
 
MichaelAwkward said:
I doubt this. I did say I'm not gaming. There should be nearas makes no difference in most usage between 3GB and 4GB versions.



I'm not sure where you're getting your prices from. I'm comparing the Mi A2 Lite at £127.99 and the Note 5 with SD636, 12+5MP rear cameras and 13MP front camera at £132.99 currently. Both have band 20 support and are the global versions.
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the ram isn't only about gaming.

The standard Note 5 shouldn't have that cpu/gpu it also has inferior camera so the one you are seeing for that price is either labeled wrongly or they are giving the Pro version to people

Note 5 is a bigger phone.

It's up to you at the end of the day as I said before both are very good
 
The naming convention and pace of new phones from Xiaomi is a bit annoying. I have a Note 4 pro and was looking to get a 5, just because, but it's way more confusing than it needs to be :p
 
MichaelAwkward did you end up going for one and if so which one?

I think i am going to sell the Mi A2 Lite should have gone for Note 5.
 
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Think in set on the Note 5 Pro with SD636 and dual rear camera. Anyone got one?

I'm familiar with Xiaomi as have had a Note 3 (loved it at the time) and Note 4 (smashed it :() and even quite like MIUI :p
 
d_brennen said:
Think in set on the Note 5 Pro with SD636 and dual rear camera. Anyone got one?

I'm familiar with Xiaomi as have had a Note 3 (loved it at the time) and Note 4 (smashed it :() and even quite like MIUI :p
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I have the Note 5 Pro. It has the SD636 with 12+5MP rear camera and 13MP front. Absolutely love it! First ever Chinese imported phone and I cannot believe I didn't think of getting one of these before! Battery life is just fantastic! I can go pretty much 24hrs if not more and that's with the same light to moderate usage I used to do on the LG G4 and that would only last about 8hrs if I was lucky (always carried a spare battery for it).

To give you a real world example on the battery life of the Note 5 Pro: my missus and I went to Rome last month. From full charge (around 7am) the phone was used heavily! Taking pics and using the likes of Google Maps and CityMapper to map our routes. By the time we got back to our hotel roughly 12hrs later, the battery was at around 30-40%. So I would give it another charge of around 20% to use for the rest of the evening. But don't charge the phone overnight! Even if it's at 20%! Charge it the following morning whilst you get ready and such.

I've had the phone since late June/early July and I cannot fault it. The missus is now after a new phone herself (using a SGS6), so I think I might tempt her into buying the same as I have. She's had a look at my phone and whilst it is bigger than her current one, she says it would do fine.

And I bought mine from AliExpress at £170 all in! Of course, did have to pay customs charge of £13, so really £183 for a mid-range phone with near enough flagship features? Why the heck not! :D
 
Looking at a new phone and the Xiaomi A2 Lite is my current front runner from a quick look

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xiaomi-A...509943?hash=item1cb529f477:g:-vMAAOSwjM9bc~su

What is the difference between EU and Global/International?

I'm on Tesco (o2) will this give me 4g data?

I like the idea of Android One - i generally hate the manufacturer customised roms/apps. Can anyone suggest any alternatives I should look at?
 
jellybeard999 said:
Looking at a new phone and the Xiaomi A2 Lite is my current front runner from a quick look

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xiaomi-A...509943?hash=item1cb529f477:g:-vMAAOSwjM9bc~su

What is the difference between EU and Global/International?

I'm on Tesco (o2) will this give me 4g data?

I like the idea of Android One - i generally hate the manufacturer customised roms/apps. Can anyone suggest any alternatives I should look at?
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Make sure it has Band 20 (800Mhz) in the frequency list. Otherwise you will struggle!

Just had a look at the item and I can see it does have 800Mhz in the 4G list. So you are good to go! :)
 
jellybeard999 said:
Looking at a new phone and the Xiaomi A2 Lite is my current front runner from a quick look

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Xiaomi-A...509943?hash=item1cb529f477:g:-vMAAOSwjM9bc~su

What is the difference between EU and Global/International?

I'm on Tesco (o2) will this give me 4g data?

I like the idea of Android One - i generally hate the manufacturer customised roms/apps. Can anyone suggest any alternatives I should look at?
Click to expand...


https://www.eglobalcentraluk.com/xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-4gb-64gb-dual-sim-black.html

Cheaper and this is global version.

I have this phone and personally I would got for the Note 5 over it.

This place is listed on topcashabck/quidco as well
 
edGfaCTor said:
https://www.eglobalcentraluk.com/xiaomi-mi-a2-lite-4gb-64gb-dual-sim-black.html

Cheaper and this is global version.

I have this phone and personally I would got for the Note 5 over it.

This place is listed on topcashabck/quidco as well
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What extra does the note 5 offer / what don't you like about the a2 lite? I think the Note 5 has a newer chipset, but I don't think that will benefit me much as I don't really game/run anything intensive.

I want an Android One phone, and I understand the Note 5 uses Miui?
 
jellybeard999 said:
What extra does the note 5 offer / what don't you like about the a2 lite? I think the Note 5 has a newer chipset, but I don't think that will benefit me much as I don't really game/run anything intensive.

I want an Android One phone, and I understand the Note 5 uses Miui?
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Note 5 has newer hardware and no notch.

Yes it uses Miui but has very active community with many roms available so big choice with others available the A2 community has nothing to offer at minute.

I posted before about dislikes which range from the notch to Android One also found signal not so great.
 
I would go for the note 5 as well. More custom roms etc. I have a MI A1 and the updates are terrible and take ages, so I cannot see the A2 being any different.
 
scrivz69 said:
I would go for the note 5 as well. More custom roms etc. I have a MI A1 and the updates are terrible and take ages, so I cannot see the A2 being any different.
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I thought Android One was stock android and would be updated more regularly, with guaranteed updates for a couple of years :s

I'll look into the note 5 then :)

Does the notch cause problems? I was led to believe notches were becoming more common on phones and google had added new options to android for them, so presumed the OS/Apps would deal with it?
 
Lol tell Xiaomi that, always last to get updated as they seem to concentrate on MIUI. The rom on the MI A1 is pretty cack even though it is stock android.
 
jellybeard999 said:
I thought Android One was stock android and would be updated more regularly, with guaranteed updates for a couple of years :s

I'll look into the note 5 then :)

Does the notch cause problems? I was led to believe notches were becoming more common on phones and google had added new options to android for them, so presumed the OS/Apps would deal with it?
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It is a very basic stock Android very cut down way more then other ones I have used before.

There has been 3 updates on mine so far and the phone was released a month ago but as was mentioned above they state about supporting it for so many years but looking at negative A1 gets not sure also they are bit slow with the updates.

The notch for general use on the stock Android is fine it's an issue with some 3rd party (the thing is a gimmick and pointless on this phone because it has a bezel bit at bottom with led which they could have just stuck up top)

The led is white only as well not sure why they did this strange move and annoying.

For the money it is still very good to get something on par if not bit better excluding other Xiaomi phones you would need to spend £60+ on top.

I would suggest watching videos for Note 5 and A2 Lite then compare which features appeal to you both was around same price point i last checked.
 
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