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

Psypher5 said:
saw this thread the other day, my samsung s5 died over the weekend and will be needing a stop gap phone 'till september/october.

So, im away for a month on hol and wont need a phone, so is anything coming out, whats the best buy etc etc?

I spose i'm looking for up to around £150quid. I've seen the redmi note 3 pro (£127 atm), but theres also the prime? (£157) Ahh the pro only has 2gb ram :)

anything I should keep an eye on?
Click to expand...


The 16GB version has 2GB of ram
The 32GB version has 3GB of ram
 
Got my Redmi Note 3 Pro. Spent a bit of time yesterday trying it out. It has the chinese rom (7.1.18.0). I decided rather than putting the global rom on, I can just stick to this. Doesn't seem to be any downside to doing so. Setup Apex Launcher and various apps, but then hit a problem. The Google Navigation voice is an American accent.

I looked all over the web, and pretty much every post says that you need to set Text-To-Speech to be Google and choose English (United Kingdom). Done all of this, and the test voice is English accent, but Google Nav continues to use the American accent! Finally worked out, by experimenting on my LG G4, that it's the "system language" which dictates what accent is used. If I set English (US), it switches to American. And if I choose English (UK), it switches to English. You have to wipe data/cache for Maps in between to make the switch.

So the problem with the chinese rom (I think) is that it only has one English option. And it must be US. Hopefully the global rom will sort this, as I use Maps a lot, and can't stand the American accent. If anyone has the global rom already, would you mind checking and confirming if you are able to get an English accent voice?
 
I take it when you're buying a phone from a Chinese seller, you're effectively on your own if it develops a problem a few months down the line?
Looking at this topone seller, on aliexpress, for example, you're not going to be able to return it and get it replaced if the camera stops working?
 
fezster said:
Got my Redmi Note 3 Pro. Spent a bit of time yesterday trying it out. It has the chinese rom (7.1.18.0). I decided rather than putting the global rom on, I can just stick to this. Doesn't seem to be any downside to doing so. Setup Apex Launcher and various apps, but then hit a problem. The Google Navigation voice is an American accent.

I looked all over the web, and pretty much every post says that you need to set Text-To-Speech to be Google and choose English (United Kingdom). Done all of this, and the test voice is English accent, but Google Nav continues to use the American accent! Finally worked out, by experimenting on my LG G4, that it's the "system language" which dictates what accent is used. If I set English (US), it switches to American. And if I choose English (UK), it switches to English. You have to wipe data/cache for Maps in between to make the switch.

So the problem with the chinese rom (I think) is that it only has one English option. And it must be US. Hopefully the global rom will sort this, as I use Maps a lot, and can't stand the American accent. If anyone has the global rom already, would you mind checking and confirming if you are able to get an English accent voice?
Click to expand...

For anyone else having the same issue, this worked. The global rom has English (UK) as a system language, which gives you the english accent in Google Maps.

I did have a few problems with no voice directions initially, but eventually got it working.
 
elrasho said:
I've been looking at one of there. The ZUK brand is a sub brand of Lenovo hence my interest :D

Can I ask where you got it from? Also what's the camera like in doors?
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I got it from a popular online auction site from a seller called "ilastone" - their ebay profile states that they are based in China, but my ZUK Z1 came with an EU plug so I assume it was shipped from somewhere in the EU.

As for the quality of indoor photography, I honestly couldn't say - all I use the camera on my phones for is taking photos of serial numbers on servers/printers/PCs etc to raise support tickets :$ The reviews I read before purchasing the phone weren't exactly overwhelmed by the quality of the camera - I think "adequate" is probably the only way I can describe it...
 
gsf600y said:
I take it when you're buying a phone from a Chinese seller, you're effectively on your own if it develops a problem a few months down the line?
Looking at this topone seller, on aliexpress, for example, you're not going to be able to return it and get it replaced if the camera stops working?
Click to expand...

A mate of mine has been buying stuff off gearbest for a while and he says their customer care is good.
 
Hmm..I suppose I can live without it.... :(
Can't use 3, as they have zero signal, literally zero, where I work (in Swindon).
I'll check the EE prices....sigh....

EDIT: £7.50 vs £12.99....I'll live with 3g.
 
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My main service is with 3 which use the 800mhz & 1800mhz bands for 4g and the Mi4c i'm using doesn't work with the 800mhz. The 4g signal i get is not much different than with my nexus 5, but usually crap indoors at home.

I have found an EE payg sim and stuck that in as well and am getting a full signal at home & work. They use 1800mhz & 2600mhz for 4g which the Mi4c is compatible with so may account for the better signal... may have to consider swapping over to EE.
 
So my phone is knackered and away for repair. Note 3.

But I'm off on holiday soon and a mobile is pretty essential. Thinking about a Redmi note 3 or Pro. Any advantages to the Pro? Does the Pro have an SD slot?

Any good UK sellers to buy it off? Could do with it within the next week ideally!
 
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