first smart phone ever

[linr76]

well lets just say you get what you pay for.
if you buy a phone for 100USD dont expect it to be perfect. i did not know that there are that many problems with the w450.
i honestly do not know which chinese company of those discussed is "best".
what i do know is that for example the inew is very popular in germany and russia, with little problems reported.
most people seem to be pleased with its quality. most negative discussions are about sub par battery life which is admittedly directly dependent on how you use it - its probably not a good phone for a gamer and tinkerer. a big plus is that it has practically nearly stock Android 4.2.2 on it, comes with google implementation (play store and sync works etc) and doesnt have to be rooted to add google services and remove loads of chinese apps noone outside of china uses.
of course you can have bad luck and your phone can break, but that can and will also happen if you buy Samsung, Apple, HTC or other "brand" phones which cost 3-4 times as much.
simply put - if you need a reliable phone with warranty then DO NOT BUY a chinese phone!
no matter if its Zopo, THL or any other (few exceptions exist but are priced much higher and almost all of those are single sim)
i personally have owned many Samsung phones, most of them the top of the line variety at their time.
since dual sim is an absolute must for me (as i do not want to carry 2 or more phones) and where i live you can practically not buy any dual sim phones my current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Grand, which i will replace with an iNew V3. this might give you an idea of what i was searching for when making my decision.
it is fairly easy to find a satisfactory chinese smartphone when you have low expectations and are not used to a top line smartphone (eg. Samsung Galaxy Note or S3 which i both still own).
if the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Dual Sim would offer a working International ROM i personally would buy that instead.
unfortunately it does not and also comes with a hefty price tag (900 USD)
it really depends on what you want and how much money you are willing to spend.

since coffegirl has outlined what she is willing to pay and what she is looking for i think there were many good suggestions here, in the end she has to compare and decide for herself.

PS - my native language is not english - so if something sounds weird please excuse.

[Sniper47]

Of course you can compare the two. [Snip: Rude comment removed. Be kind to your fellow CPA members]

For the average user the difference between the two is not that great. They both are fairly quick. Dual core vs quad but 90 - 99 % of the time you are not going to tell the difference. The pictures from the Timmy are great. The pictures from the iNnew are great.

Do most people know or even care about 13 Mpixel vs 5? Not on your life. A 5 Mpixel picture is excellent from a phone and they look awesome. And less than half the size of the iNew pictures. On Facebook they all look the same.

You are comparing the two from a techie point of view. Don't. Compare the two from an average user's point of view.

At less than half the price it is a great phone. One I highly recommend.

if you are out for a cheap phone maybe the timmy is a good choice, but i would strongly disagree that it is in any way comparable to the inew for example.
for around 70 USD more you get:
quad core instead of dual core (big difference, new CPU generation actually performs well)
a decent 13MP F2.2 camera instead of 5MP with probably F2.8 and a crappy lens
a good screen with gorilla glas (720p IPS instead of 854x480 with probably plastic cover LCD)
1GB Ram instead of 512MB (and believe me that makes a world of a difference)
12.5GB of Storage instead of 2.3GB - no need for a microSD card
also the Timmy does not support OTG and NFC (if that is important, otherwise disregard)

coffegirl wanted a quad core phone,
maybe a cheaper alternative would be the Landvo L800 - specs wise comparable to the timmy but with the newer mtk6582 quad core.
also check the w450, its a decent quality quad core phone for cheap.

as coffegirl mentioned she wants to use the camera a lot, and i do not think she will be happy with the cheaper alternatives.

The big difference in performance will come with the RAM differ. 512 vs the 1giga. There also a big difference between 720p and the 480p. If you want an inexpensive phone for your kid or for just basic use, or as a backup, the Timmy you mention about is maybe okay.

One thing is Coffegirls said budget E100. If can up it just E20, then the Timmy becomes impossible to recommend. Too many other good option. (but at E120, that not include inew v3).

[linr76]

Of course you can compare the two. [Snip: Rude comment removed. Be kind to your fellow CPA members]

For the average user the difference between the two is not that great. They both are fairly quick. Dual core vs quad but 90 - 99 % of the time you are not going to tell the difference. The pictures from the Timmy are great. The pictures from the iNnew are great.

Do most people know or even care about 13 Mpixel vs 5? Not on your life. A 5 Mpixel picture is excellent from a phone and they look awesome. And less than half the size of the iNew pictures. On Facebook they all look the same.

You are comparing the two from a techie point of view. Don't. Compare the two from an average user's point of view.

At less than half the price it is a great phone. One I highly recommend.

i did not mean to offend you!
but they really are not comparable, just like noone compares a VW Polo to a BMW 3.
regarding price - where can you buy this Timmy for 85 USD or less?

[Coffeegirl]

its not really a problem, but with all these phones that have no "brand" name you never know what you get.
might be good, might be the worst crap.
and the small price difference is not worth the gamble imo.

good brands also include:

THL, TCL, iOcean, Elephone, UMI, Coolpad

you have to make some compromise in any case, as there is always something that could be better.
Some of the phones are full of chinese apps for example, some do not come with google play store installed, and so on.
you need to do a lot of research or simply spend more money.

if you do not need dual sim support you may also want to check for used non-chinese phones, there are good offers around.

Sorry for not replying to posts everybody, only just realised that there were more.

New to the forum so you will have to excuse me!

You know, used ones are a brilliant idea, I just didn't know where to get them as none seem to be getting anywhere! Any help on where I can get them or who to contact?

---

exactly - that is also why i chose to buy an iNew V3.
after a long line of top shelf Samsung i finally deem the chinese phones have evolved enough and from what i read so far the iNew seems to be pretty sweet for the money.

A load of you have mentioned the iNew V3 - its alright but I am looking for a pink phone. That would be a bonus!! The V3, in terms of looks just does not appeal to me!

http://www.chinabuye.com/n3-octa-core-3g...s-otg-pink

This one however

---

well lets just say you get what you pay for.
if you buy a phone for 100USD dont expect it to be perfect. i did not know that there are that many problems with the w450.
i honestly do not know which chinese company of those discussed is "best".
what i do know is that for example the inew is very popular in germany and russia, with little problems reported.
most people seem to be pleased with its quality. most negative discussions are about sub par battery life which is admittedly directly dependent on how you use it - its probably not a good phone for a gamer and tinkerer. a big plus is that it has practically nearly stock Android 4.2.2 on it, comes with google implementation (play store and sync works etc) and doesnt have to be rooted to add google services and remove loads of chinese apps noone outside of china uses.
of course you can have bad luck and your phone can break, but that can and will also happen if you buy Samsung, Apple, HTC or other "brand" phones which cost 3-4 times as much.
simply put - if you need a reliable phone with warranty then DO NOT BUY a chinese phone!
no matter if its Zopo, THL or any other (few exceptions exist but are priced much higher and almost all of those are single sim)
i personally have owned many Samsung phones, most of them the top of the line variety at their time.
since dual sim is an absolute must for me (as i do not want to carry 2 or more phones) and where i live you can practically not buy any dual sim phones my current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Grand, which i will replace with an iNew V3. this might give you an idea of what i was searching for when making my decision.
it is fairly easy to find a satisfactory chinese smartphone when you have low expectations and are not used to a top line smartphone (eg. Samsung Galaxy Note or S3 which i both still own).
if the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Dual Sim would offer a working International ROM i personally would buy that instead.
unfortunately it does not and also comes with a hefty price tag (900 USD)
it really depends on what you want and how much money you are willing to spend.

since coffegirl has outlined what she is willing to pay and what she is looking for i think there were many good suggestions here, in the end she has to compare and decide for herself.

PS - my native language is not english - so if something sounds weird please excuse.

Your English is awesome!

Some really helpful tips in there, keeping them in mind

I have decided to increase my budget to about £130.00

So keep the suggestions coming

What I am really after now is reviews/comments/views about the N3 seeing as that phone is calling to me (no pun intended )

---

The big difference in performance will come with the RAM differ. 512 vs the 1giga. There also a big difference between 720p and the 480p. If you want an inexpensive phone for your kid or for just basic use, or as a backup, the Timmy you mention about is maybe okay.

One thing is Coffegirls said budget E100. If can up it just E20, then the Timmy becomes impossible to recommend. Too many other good option. (but at E120, that not include inew v3).

Yes I understand, I'm thinking of going for 2gb RAM now

Also


I'm 19 and no mom yet!! Hehe

[linr76]

if it has to be a pink phone, why not buy a pink case instead for a good phone?
in the end you will want a case anyways.

btw sweet 19 hehehe those were the times

---

check this post of danyno1 for example:
http://www.chinaphonearena.com/forum/Thr...0#pid16890
pink case for inew....

doesnt have to be the v3 of course, i am sure you can find one like this for most better phones.

[gerstavros]

well lets just say you get what you pay for.
if you buy a phone for 100USD dont expect it to be perfect. i did not know that there are that many problems with the w450.
i honestly do not know which chinese company of those discussed is "best".
what i do know is that for example the inew is very popular in germany and russia, with little problems reported.
most people seem to be pleased with its quality. most negative discussions are about sub par battery life which is admittedly directly dependent on how you use it - its probably not a good phone for a gamer and tinkerer. a big plus is that it has practically nearly stock Android 4.2.2 on it, comes with google implementation (play store and sync works etc) and doesnt have to be rooted to add google services and remove loads of chinese apps noone outside of china uses.
of course you can have bad luck and your phone can break, but that can and will also happen if you buy Samsung, Apple, HTC or other "brand" phones which cost 3-4 times as much.
simply put - if you need a reliable phone with warranty then DO NOT BUY a chinese phone!
no matter if its Zopo, THL or any other (few exceptions exist but are priced much higher and almost all of those are single sim)
i personally have owned many Samsung phones, most of them the top of the line variety at their time.
since dual sim is an absolute must for me (as i do not want to carry 2 or more phones) and where i live you can practically not buy any dual sim phones my current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Grand, which i will replace with an iNew V3. this might give you an idea of what i was searching for when making my decision.
it is fairly easy to find a satisfactory chinese smartphone when you have low expectations and are not used to a top line smartphone (eg. Samsung Galaxy Note or S3 which i both still own).
if the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Dual Sim would offer a working International ROM i personally would buy that instead.
unfortunately it does not and also comes with a hefty price tag (900 USD)
it really depends on what you want and how much money you are willing to spend.

since coffegirl has outlined what she is willing to pay and what she is looking for i think there were many good suggestions here, in the end she has to compare and decide for herself.

PS - my native language is not english - so if something sounds weird please excuse.

Agree. But..difference between a W450 and a THL or Zopo for example, is very big.
We buy chinese phones, but we should select the good ones in terms of quality and reliability ;)

[Sniper47]

well lets just say you get what you pay for.
if you buy a phone for 100USD dont expect it to be perfect. i did not know that there are that many problems with the w450.
i honestly do not know which chinese company of those discussed is "best".
what i do know is that for example the inew is very popular in germany and russia, with little problems reported.
most people seem to be pleased with its quality. most negative discussions are about sub par battery life which is admittedly directly dependent on how you use it - its probably not a good phone for a gamer and tinkerer. a big plus is that it has practically nearly stock Android 4.2.2 on it, comes with google implementation (play store and sync works etc) and doesnt have to be rooted to add google services and remove loads of chinese apps noone outside of china uses.
of course you can have bad luck and your phone can break, but that can and will also happen if you buy Samsung, Apple, HTC or other "brand" phones which cost 3-4 times as much.
simply put - if you need a reliable phone with warranty then DO NOT BUY a chinese phone!
no matter if its Zopo, THL or any other (few exceptions exist but are priced much higher and almost all of those are single sim)
i personally have owned many Samsung phones, most of them the top of the line variety at their time.
since dual sim is an absolute must for me (as i do not want to carry 2 or more phones) and where i live you can practically not buy any dual sim phones my current phone is a Samsung Galaxy Grand, which i will replace with an iNew V3. this might give you an idea of what i was searching for when making my decision.
it is fairly easy to find a satisfactory chinese smartphone when you have low expectations and are not used to a top line smartphone (eg. Samsung Galaxy Note or S3 which i both still own).
if the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Dual Sim would offer a working International ROM i personally would buy that instead.
unfortunately it does not and also comes with a hefty price tag (900 USD)
it really depends on what you want and how much money you are willing to spend.

since coffegirl has outlined what she is willing to pay and what she is looking for i think there were many good suggestions here, in the end she has to compare and decide for herself.

PS - my native language is not english - so if something sounds weird please excuse.

Agree. But..difference between a W450 and a THL or Zopo for example, is very big.
We buy chinese phones, but we should select the good ones in terms of quality and reliability ;)

Yea. My China phones (normally always the THL. Had inew v3 too) been as reliable as any Samsung or Apple phone. Never any warranty issue. Yea, if have warranty issue, then it can become a pain if need to send back and waiting. That the risk we take. Buy good brand China phone from reliable shop. You should be okay. Just think of it as saving $300-600 to forget the warranty from your down the street shops

[Coffeegirl]

Thank you to everyone who helped me and gave me good advice.

As I mostly will be using my phone for whatsapp and mostly the camera I feel I don't need to go all out there and have amazing specs.

I have decided to buy this phone after having a look at all the reviews on you tube and other websites. If it functions like a phone, and allows me to use whatsapp - I am good to go.

The pink won in the end!!! Hehe

However, before placing my order, I would like to just confirm with someone here ( the sellers don't seem to be responding to any of my messages? ) , Will I be able to access Google Play store ? If not, I need to root the phone as I worked out, is rooting an easy process? I'm not very techy but do need the Playstore and don't want to make any mistakes!

Thanks once again!

[Sniper47]

That because it's the weekend.

Any the main brand China phone will have Google play. Which phone you want? I don't see that link in your previous post.

[Coffeegirl]

That because it's the weekend.

Any the main brand China phone will have Google play. Which phone you want? I don't see that link in your previous post.

Hoping to get this one

http://www.chinabuye.com/n3-octa-core-3g...s-otg-pink

Ahhh