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

[Ploki]

Can someone help me find a phone please?

My demands
* 5.5 inch
* Aluminium build
* Good build quality
* Minimum 10h Wifi time (battery)
* Maximum weight 200g
* Maximum £150

My usage
* Calling
* SMS
* Web browsing
* Take some photos sometimes.

 

[gsf600y]

Look into a Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro (with the Snapdragon 650).
Mine was delivered yesterday. Very impressed.

 

[Begbie]

Mine came today. Such a nice phone, very impressed

Feels like a premium product too, much nicer than the Samsung Note 3 it replaced

 

[Christmas themed thank]

Be careful with Xiaomi as they don't support all the UK's 4G LTE bands. With Three and EE now using 800MHz, indoor coverage will suffer on Xiaomi devices.

 

[gsf600y]

yes - I realised this too after I bought it. GiffGaff and O2 use a band that the Redmi Note 3 wont support

 

[kona786]

Gigabit...

Is there an app to see which band I'm currently on?

 

[gsf600y]

Dunno - what network are you on?

 

[Ploki]

Look into a Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro (with the Snapdragon 650).
Mine was delivered yesterday. Very impressed.

Yes, it appears to be a great phone but I am pretty heavy browser user and I fear that after a few months the battery will not be enough. RedMi Note 3 pro has 9 h wifitime from what I have seen in tests. 7,5 h 3G browsing.

Also looked into Ulefone Power but it is just very bulky.

 

[kona786]

Dunno - what network are you on?

EE

Edit, sorry I was meant to quote Gigabit, not yourself earlier

 

[gsf600y]

EE should be ok, as they're using 1800 (band 3) and 2600 mhz (band 7) which it supports.

Band 20 (800 mhz) it doesn't do.
O2, and its various resellers like GiffGaff, use 800mhz
http://www.4g.co.uk/4g-frequencies-uk-need-know/

EDIT
Gotta say, all these different bands and varying support from mobile makers is an utter pain in the bum.
They label their networks as "4g", labels phones as "4G", then you find out there's a complete lack of compatability.....stupid. Bad labelling.

 

[gsf600y]

And as if it wasn't complicated enough:
https://community.ee.co.uk/t5/EE-Mobile-Network/When-is-800MHz-not-800MHz/td-p/386065

Ok, I've no idea if the Redmi Note 3 would work with EE

 

[scrivz69]

The redmi note 3 should be fine on EE.

 

[sanaxe1]

I have a Redmi Note 3 with EE and 4G works fine.

 

[Lopéz]

After much deliberation ordered a Ulefone BeTouch 3 from Gearbest.
£106 delivered with no import duty. The screen seems a tiny bit less sensitive than my Galaxy S5 but otherwise I'm really happy with it.

 

[Sighn]

After much deliberation ordered a Ulefone BeTouch 3 from Gearbest.
£106 delivered with no import duty. The screen seems a tiny bit less sensitive than my Galaxy S5 but otherwise I'm really happy with it.

Did it come with a UK electrical plug?

 

[AndyCr15]

For anyone interested -

Really quite impressed so far for £120.

 

[scrivz69]

A great video as always Andy.

 

[Feronix]

Got my Redmi 3 Pro on pre-order, should be shipped soon. Good timing too, as xiaomi.eu will probably have a fully functioning ROM ready by the time mine has arrived and the bootloader has been unlocked.

Will post report back once I have it!

 

[Lopéz]

Did it come with a UK electrical plug?

It came with a UK adapter loose in the jiffy bag, but I plug the USB lead into my old Samsung mains adapter anyway.

 

[Tealc]

I'm looking to buy a Redmi Note 3 Pro 3GB version but am somewhat befuddled by all the various sellers.

What I'm looking for is a decent price and a good chance that import duty will be avoided.

Anyone kind enough to point me in some good directions?

I can see Gearbest have them for £159, Top One for £177 via DHL, Buygou £162. Would these be good options?