Plz help chosing a new phone!

[jesperhla]

Dear Chinaphonearena, I'm in need of advice regarding phones and brands. A little more than a year ago i bought a Huawei Honor 3x (g750) from China with dual Sim, the phone itself was fine, but "device encryption" was not working on the stock firmware, so i could not use this phone for my work frown emoticon
I had to find all kind of Custom firmware to make the device work with Googles required "device encryption" but then i had alot of other problems that came with the custom firmware frown emoticon
I'm now looking for a New phone with Dual Sim, the specs are not important, as it is not used for anything else but calling, texting and reading mails. This is what i absolutly need from it:

- Android based (KK preferably)
- minimum of 4,7" screen
- Dual Sim
- 3G band - LTE would be nice but not a necessity
- A fluid feel when using the phone
- Camera doesnt need to be great, but OK
- NO NEED for gaming
- Device encryption enabled in stock firmware (Very important!)
- Chinese brand, with a decent aftersale service (firmware upgrades)
Can you please guide me in the direction of some decent brands/models?
- Anything below 500dollars/400 euroes would be fine.

I hope you can help me,
Thank you!

[cookiedough]

Your budget is way more than it needs to be. $150-200 (Kingzone Z1, Mlais M52) will meet all of your criteria...Maybe even less. There are phones for as little as $90 that are quite good. (MLAIS M9, THL 4000).

The one tough spot is the device encryption...This is a little used feature, so it's tough to find in reviews if it works properly. You will need to find someone with the phone who can test the encryption feature.

Also, where do you live? It can make a difference because of 3G frequency support.

[jesperhla]

Your budget is way more than it needs to be. $150-200 (Kingzone Z1, Mlais M52) will meet all of your criteria...Maybe even less. There are phones for as little as $90 that are quite good. (MLAIS M9, THL 4000).

The one tough spot is the device encryption...This is a little used feature, so it's tough to find in reviews if it works properly. You will need to find someone with the phone who can test the encryption feature.

Also, where do you live? It can make a difference because of 3G frequency support.

Thanks for your reply Cookiedough, I'll be using in in northern europe and scandinavia.

As mentioned, the device encryption is a priority. On the Huawei i had, the European firmware didnt have the option, even though its standart in all androids past 4.2, as when i changed to the Chinese firmware, the option was there. In my opinion Huawei just "deleted" this option, for whatever security reasons they may have

200 USD sounds very appealing

[cookiedough]

I'd recommend taking a look at THL 2015

Official specs: http://en.thl.com.cn/ProductSpecifications.aspx?pid=481 . It has 900/2100 (3G for all of Europe) and LTE for Europe too.

Gearbest shop: http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_152888.html

Coupon: chinaphonearena (takes $15 off looks like)

But tough to safe if encryption is working. It should be, but can't guarantee unless someone with the same model can confirm.

Also, there are inexpensive phones that will cover your other criteria, but THL is one of the more quality China brands and this is a high powered device with 1080P.

[jesperhla]

I'd recommend taking a look at THL 2015

Official specs: http://en.thl.com.cn/ProductSpecifications.aspx?pid=481 . It has 900/2100 (3G for all of Europe) and LTE for Europe too.

Gearbest shop: http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_152888.html

Coupon: chinaphonearena (takes $15 off looks like)

But tough to safe if encryption is working. It should be, but can't guarantee unless someone with the same model can confirm.

Also, there are inexpensive phones that will cover your other criteria, but THL is one of the more quality China brands and this is a high powered device with 1080P.

Thank you so far, i will have a look at this model and ask the manufacturer if he can garanty that the necryption is working.

I talked to a friend from indonesia the other day, he was recommending a certain model from Elephone, but cant remember which one, he said that they were targeting europeean customers and therefor the aftersale service was good. I also hear good things from Xaomi, but mostly from tablets. I know for sure i do not want another Huawei, even if many say that the P7/P8 are good.

[cookiedough]

Aftersales from Elephone is not going to be any better than other companies. What matters is the shop you purchase it from. If you're thinking you'll get better service buying direct from Elephone, think again. They are almost entirely concentrated on marketing and style and not much on substance. That's not to say there aren't a couple of good Elephone models, but generally you want to concentrate on a tried and true model, regardless of brand.

Regarding asking a company about encryption, assuming they understand what you're asking, and assuming they do reply to you, you still can't assume it's the truth

Really what you need is someone already with the phone who can test it for you.

You can't go wrong with Xiaomi. With your budget, you might want to consider the Mi4.

In regards to choosing a shop, I recommend you use one of the forum sponsors. Chinaphonearena has communication with the shops if there's a problem. It's not a guarantee every problem can be fixed, but they work to make sure customers aren't scammed and warranty issues are properly handled.

[WuddaWaste]

That budget truly is huge. The Mi4 is a monster of a phone and a flagship by which many others are compared. If the OnePlus One were Dual SIM I'd have put that at the forefront of your contenders as well, since it's so well documented it'd be easy to find if encryption was working.

The ZTE Blade S6 seems to be popular: http://www.chinaphonearena.com/forum/sho...p?tid=9085
The Kingzone Z1is popular too: http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_152870.html

You may be able to find users who can confirm regarding encryption on these devices. I'll second the above vote for THL being a reputable manufacturer too.

[elmoel]

i was use jiayu s3 basic. mlais m52 and kingzone z1.. now using tcl m2u.. if your option 1from that phones.. i am serious recommend u tcl m2u

hehehe

[jesperhla]

i was use jiayu s3 basic. mlais m52 and kingzone z1.. now using tcl m2u.. if your option 1from that phones.. i am serious recommend u tcl m2u

hehehe

Well thanks for all you guyz help, i reviewed and did some reading with all the suggestions and was going to opt for a Mlai or a THL, but then i met a friend that had bought a Asus Zenphone 2 with 2 gig, i tried it out and it was really nice.
I also got a comfirmation on the phone being able to encrypt device, which was very important.

Then i found out that the Zenphone 2 comes in a greater spec, so i ordered that:
ASUS ZenFone 2 (ZE551ML) 5.5 inch FHD 64bit 4GB / 32GB Android 5.0 4G Phablet

Looking forward to get it

[Cleopatra]

KINGZONE Z1 5.5 inch Android 4.4 4G Phablet

Cores: Octa Core, 1.7GHz

GPU: ARM Mali760 MP2

RAM: 2GB RAM

ROM: 16GB

External memory: TF card up to 64GB

SIM Card Type: Micro SIM Card, Standard SIM Card

4G: FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz

3500mAh Battery INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE !!!

:-)