[Question] Reliable Chinese Phone

[Blue_Max]

Guys! Can you help a newbie?!
I am looking for a quality under 5" phone, dual SIM, SD card expansion and WCDMA with good sensitivity for GPS and WiFi connectivity.
Huge marketing budgets by the likes of Samsung makes their phones expensive.
Buying a phone direct from China makes a lot of sense.
But lack of after sales service and problems to send a faulty phone back to China is a worry. Reviews of the phones are not able go into long term reliability.
Can the experienced users here suggest Chinese phone manufacturers with a good reputation for reliablity?
Thanks!

[GizBeat]

Hello Blue,

What is your budget?

[Blue_Max]

Hello Blue,

What is your budget?

Hi Gizbeat
$300 but can stretch to $350 if very good.
Have heard that Meizu and Xiaomi are good makes but they don't have dual SIM and SD card.
Thanks

[GizBeat]

So then that disqualifies Meizu and Xaiomi.

Regarding not having to send it back for repair, most likely you'll be okay, but it's really a shot in the dark. This is the same with Samsung/HTC as well. Perhaps their quality control is better, but they fail almost as often as China brands.

I would recommend Huawei, JiaYu, Caesar, Hero, Lenovo, Amoi, iNew, Umi, Neo, THL, K-Touch, Zte, Zopo, Mlais as reliable. You can use coupon code 'arena' here.

What bands do you need for 3G? Will 2100MHz be okay, or do you need 850 or 900?
Do you need OTG?
Do you want OGS LCD?

[Blue_Max]

Thanks Gizbeat for your prompt reply and list of makes.
Have'nt even heard of some of them but will look at their models.
Yes, 2100 MHz is the standard band for 3g in the UK, so don't think 850 or 900 will be needed.
Latest USB On-The-Go and OGS LCD would be cool but not a necessity for me.
Couple of weeks ago, I bought a Lenovo A820 at a greatly reduced price.
My first ever Chinese phone and very pleased with it. So looking to buy something up market.

[GizBeat]

Well the Lenovo phones are relatively good quality. But the resolution is slightly low on the a820. If you want to step up, look for something with OTG OGS and 720p or 1080p and maybe 2gb RAM. First $250-300 5" phones I'd recommend in $250-300 are Jiayu g4, Zopo c2, or newcomer iOcean x7. Keep in mind its not necessarily going to step up build quality. My $180 hero h7500+ is as solid as any $600 Samsung. What we're talking about is stepping up features and experience.

[Blue_Max]

Thanks Gizbeat :-)
Have created an account with Merimobiles.
Your comment, "Keep in mind its not necessarily going to step up build quality. My $180 hero h7500+ is as solid as any $600 Samsung. What we're talking about is stepping up features and experience" is interesting.
Couple of years ago, people here had only bad things to say about Chinese phones.
Now it looks like Chinese phones have improved a lot since and perceptions are changing.
Your three recommendations are on my short list. Lenovo A820 is 4.5". Prefer not to go much bigger.

[stevenma61]

Thanks Gizbeat :-)
Have created an account with Merimobiles.
Your comment, "Keep in mind its not necessarily going to step up build quality. My $180 hero h7500+ is as solid as any $600 Samsung. What we're talking about is stepping up features and experience" is interesting.
Couple of years ago, people here had only bad things to say about Chinese phones.
Now it looks like Chinese phones have improved a lot since and perceptions are changing.
Your three recommendations are on my short list. Lenovo A820 is 4.5". Prefer not to go much bigger.

I would say try to get a phone range 5" to 5.3".
after u had use the above size phone, I will say , u r reluctant to go for something below 5"

[Dew]

Your three recommendations are on my short list. Lenovo A820 is 4.5". Prefer not to go much bigger.

I have to ask. What are you dissatisfied with about the A820, because in guts of the G4 and the A820 are nearly identical. The difference is the camera. Externally they are different and the G4 has a much better display, but that is it for European uses.

Most of the Chinese phones recommended are going to be of the MTK6589 or MTK6589T variety. The difference is that you can get 2GB of RAM on the T and the clock speed is a bit more (1.5GHz vs 1.2GHz).

Before you lay out $300, just be aware that you are really just swapping cases and screens.

[Blue_Max]

Problem with the size of the phone is that the manufacturers keep making them bigger and bigger but my hands stopped growing long time ago. LOL
I still have a not-a-smart phone by Nokia. Just 85 gms and the battery lasts for ages!
But I will try and visit a phone shop and try the 5"+ models for size.