By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: What is the best/cheapest phone to buy in China?
My old phone just broke. I don't feel like spending a lot of money for a new one.
Out of all of the cheaper brands, which one is the most reliable? Coolpad, Nokia, Lenovo etc.... Which ones should I avoid?
Your question is way too vague considering the galaxy of needs and requirements one might have to a phone : solidity, reliability, capacity, etc? Do you care about the long run or do you really just want cheap crap? Do you want value for money? Do you care about your personnal data?
Different questions, different answers
Daveblax:
Good point.
I really don't use my phone too much. I take the occasional picture, and like to check my email. If it could do those things, I'm happy. I don't need an amazing camera, just as long as it works. I will probably get a better phone In America when I go back in one year.
Can anyone tell me more about the XiaoMI phones?
TMaster:
It is probably the best choice of the moment. Chinese smartphones nowadays offer similar performance to their Korean/American/Japanese counterparts, I'm not sure about the long term though.
Now, if you go for a Xiaomi/Huawei/ZTE, you might want to consider that all the data contained within your phone will be freely accessible to the manufacturer and most probably the government on some level. You might care or not, but as for myself, I wouldn't risk to put anything sensitive on them, or on any phone with official mainland firmware for that matter.
Xiaomi. Fast delivery (if you go for a model in stock) the phones work super smoothly, my wifes, despite being overloaded with WeChat, QQ etc boots fast, apps work great, data connection seems fairly reliable, camera is great.
My best (and cheapest) is Nokia. Phone, only! Cost HK$ 190
xiaomi by far. i just gave up my iphone for the xiaomi s2. amazing phone. super fast, reliable, great memory, incredible camera, lighting fast internet. i should have made the change a while back. cheap too. 1799 on the internet. delivered in two days, and i live in the sticks.
My first phone was a cheap Samsnug. It worked fine as a phone. Then I decided I needed a smart phone for translator etc., mostly LG phones. It worked great. I love google translation. Now I understand that when it asks ''where is the bread'' that it says ''my monkey is red'', so I don't have to be funny and witty, google does it for me.
Why does it have to be Chinese? You can get a Google Nexus 4 for less than Xiaomi these days, amazing phone.
Scandinavian:
can that actually be bought in China ? I thought about picking one up next time I'm in Hong Kong, but haven't researched how to yet.
Iron_Monkey:
I've never been able to find a newer Google Nexus phone (Nexus 4 or the new 5) in Hong Kong at a price that hasn't been artificially inflated by grey market resellers. You can only get the regular low price buying directly through Google, otherwise, the price is right up there with other manufacturers flagship model pricing.
manasyt:
I bought a Nexus 10 tablet on Taobao, from Shenzhen I think...My wife bought a Nexus 4 from the same shop for 2400 some months ago...The same phone is much cheaper now...all the Google stuff works on it...also on the tablet ;). I could give you the link if you want...but many reliable shops sell it...
Since I will be moving to America soon, which phones that I can buy here work/don't work with American SIM cards? More specifically, T-Moble and Sprint
