Hello! Going to buy my 1st smartphone, need advice.

[ftomas]

I think that xiomi and thl are good chinese brands...

But i also think that for the budget.... you can also think on LG G2 here in europe, and its a very good phone, good screen, good battery, good CPu, etc... and far better warranty in europe!

[NightLunya]

I knew the last Google Nexus 5 is based on LG phone, so I suppose LG could also make a good choice. I don't think Google choose bad brands for it's phones. They also worked with Asus and HTC, who they are also really great brands.

I also heard great things about Lenovo.

I should check those brands too.

About "waterproof" phones, I think there is only a very few phones who is certified IP57... like the Huawei Honor 3... those specifications are also quite new, but smartphones exist since some years, no?

[widh61]

Just got a THL w200s 3 days ago, this one is a bit different maybe another revision. It shipped with 20140421 rom, all previous custom recovery i managed to found didn't work. Root achieved via vroot, as everything else failed me. CWM compiled by mtkdroid tools(newest one, as the previous didn't work).

The gps chip listed as mt9592 and is very good, achieved cold lock in around 14s. Accuracy are under 2 in clear condition, it even got 2.3 in heavy rain under a roof. Just for comparison, GPS on Jiayu achive cold lock in more than 100s and accuracy above 10 feet at the same place even when the weather is clear.

The default camera software is kinda bad, 8MP saved as 500Kb jpg. After I installed lenovo super camera, the pictures taken is quite good(2,66Mb for 8MP res.). The downside is only the loose power and vol button, shake the phone and you'll hear click2 sound from this two button.

Today is the third day off charger(charged overnight when it arrive), now it is mid day and my battery @40%. I think that MT6592 is better at power management, for normal use aside from gaming this chip use less juice. Been tweaking the phone here and there, doing 4 CWM backup, several hour of music, & watching 1 full movie. Unbelievable for 2000mah Li-ion.

PS: I got a dark grey case it was awesome and well matched with the phone which also black. From some review I know that most got blue case, which I think a bit mismached with the phone color, LOL

[aus9]

maybe you could put together a priority list that it must have?

eg if yours was
corning gorilla glass
large battery storage
waterproof -----optional
price

short and crude I know......it will make your buying decision easier
found another one for your consideration somewhat based on that list
http://www.merimobiles.com/thl-ultraphon...i10212.htm

THL 4400 US$190 - coupon plus DHL to get it there quicker than 6 weeks surface mail
gorilla glass....check
battery.....4400 mah....check
under US$350 roughly 250 euros check
not waterproof
no glove love

[stevenma61]

after having bought so many china phone, now recently i was getting to buy more branded phone.

the last 4 phone that I bought

1- Lenovo S939, 6" - (one month ago)
2- Lenovo A850+ (black), 5.5"
3- Lenovo A850+ (white) 5.5"
4 - Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.5" , (just received it 2 days ago)

the reason is that the branded phone's price is getting closer n closer to the non branded phone, but the quality of the branded phone is much better. they are usually better in camera, GPS, sound, build, weight(lighter) and flash.

if i were to buy the phone again in near future, the foloowing 4 brands will be in my list
First - Lenovo
then, Huawei, then Xiaomi, then ZTE

[WuddaWaste]

It's also worth noting that the quad-core MediaTek processors did have some issues endemic to that particular SoC's architecture. GPS being the leading problem. My experience with the 8-Core MTK processor has been rather favorable.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with any of the phones or brands you're mentioning so I'm going to distance myself from this discussion and hope someone more knowledgeable about them can chime in.

But, is a octo-core phone really useful? Or quad-core is really enough for "everything" ?
You don't have to distance yourself from this discussion, I mentionned 3 brands I know, but I'm always hearing another advices with others brands.

It's not about all 8 cores being useful, which is another discussion. It's more about the octo-core's architecture being much more mature and exhibiting less problems than the old MTK quad-core processors. I'm not trying to push you towards MediaTek, but if you do -- I'd recommend the octa-core.

(And yes, my new phone is noticeably hella-faster than my S7589.)

Also, @stevenma61 is a true veteran around these parts. He really, REALLY knows his stuff. Every time I see one of his posts, I pay close attention. To that degree, I've heard good things about Lenovo phones as well.

I owned the LG Nexus 4 and played with the LG G2 and LG Nexus 5 (very similar phones) and very much stand by them as being solid as well. You're on the right path for sure.

Good luck in your decision process!

[ftomas]

I forgot 1 option that can be fine for you

Sony Z, if you can find it... its a nice phone and its ip55 or ip57, and because z1 is coming out you can find it for less then 300€

[savior]

Hi
Please check some smartphones of gionee,especially elife E7 - elife s5.5(slimmest phone) and E7 mini or E5.You may like them,I personally like s5.5.It's the slimmest phone with an Amoled Fhd screen powered by mt6592 with 2GB ddr3 Ram but the storage isn't expandable (just 16 GB).it's price is about 350$,similar to E7(but it has snapdragon 800).Good luck

---

I forgot to say that with 350$,you can buy oneplus one.It's also one of my favorites and it has the best specs available at such a price(snapdragon 801,3gb ram,13 mp Sony camera with 4g-16 and 64 GB versions and no SD card) good luck

[ranand]

Hello,
i have a No.1 S7i with Octa Core in white. Its very fast.Looks like S5 and all features of it are very cool.
Its my second China-Handy. I can only recommend.

[cookiedough]

It's also worth noting that the quad-core MediaTek processors did have some issues endemic to that particular SoC's architecture. GPS being the leading problem. My experience with the 8-Core MTK processor has been rather favorable.

Unfortunately, I have no experience with any of the phones or brands you're mentioning so I'm going to distance myself from this discussion and hope someone more knowledgeable about them can chime in.

But, is a octo-core phone really useful? Or quad-core is really enough for "everything" ?
You don't have to distance yourself from this discussion, I mentionned 3 brands I know, but I'm always hearing another advices with others brands.

I'm too from Belgium, also speaking French.
I already ordered chinese phones, and I am very happy with the first one:
It's an HTM H9001
I am waiting two Star N8000
The HTM has a big battery, and comes with a spare one.
It's a Samsung Galaxy S4 clone, with few differences. Resolution is lower, but still very good. The camera is not the best but it's working.
No bug after six months.

Parfait ça, j'aimerais bien qu'on parle en privé pour en savoir un peu plus ;)
Aucun souci coté réseaux?
________________________________________________________________________

I'll take note about the Xiaomi phones...

And the iOcean is really interesting for it's price, but this screen is... FHD 6.44", way to big for me x) ... this, and octocore, it wouldn't run more with a smaller phone with smaller battery ^^"

But... what worth iOcean and THL? And what about the Star and HTM mentionned too? Are those phones in as good quality as Huawei/Xiaomi?

I would say the octo is not so much more useful, but the mt6592 is higher max CPU.

If talking about build quility, the iocean phones and THL phones are nearly as good if not as good. But support and updates and such probably not.

Star normally considered a step down.