Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

horse7 · 18-08-2017 06:29PM

clouter wrote: »

Hi Guys looking for some help.
I ordered a phone off Gearbest at end of June, hadn't arrived after 2 weeks so contacted them and they sent on a tracking number which showed phones passage to arriving in Ireland but no further. Went to Post office and they said Customs probably had it. Contacted customs last week to see what the story was and they say they dont have it.

Have anybody else bought off Gearbest, how do they usually deliver. Is it standard post or is it by courier, DPD, DHL?? According to tracking the parcel was sent to Ireland but nobody seems to know where it is.

All my own fault for ordering off Gearbest, hadn't done my research and see now that lots of people have had bad experiences with them.

Thanks for any advice.

Three words,anyone except gearbest.

k123456 · 18-08-2017 06:35PM

sydthebeat wrote: »

is lack of 802.11ac wifi an issue with a phone?

If your home router is dual band ie 2,4 and 5ghz ssids , a non ac phone prob wont connect to the faster 5ghz ssid

If you dont have a dual band router no issue

What that means is
ie you have 240mb broadband , in general you only get 240mb wired , ie a pc or laptop with a cat5/6 network cable directly attached to router

If you are using a dual band router in your house
802.11ac devices would typically would connect to at 100 to 200mb wirelessly
non ac , would connect at 30-40 mb wirelessly

Iseedeadpixels · 18-08-2017 07:09PM

clouter wrote: »

Hi Guys looking for some help.
I ordered a phone off Gearbest at end of June, hadn't arrived after 2 weeks so contacted them and they sent on a tracking number which showed phones passage to arriving in Ireland but no further. Went to Post office and they said Customs probably had it. Contacted customs last week to see what the story was and they say they dont have it.

Have anybody else bought off Gearbest, how do they usually deliver. Is it standard post or is it by courier, DPD, DHL?? According to tracking the parcel was sent to Ireland but nobody seems to know where it is.

All my own fault for ordering off Gearbest, hadn't done my research and see now that lots of people have had bad experiences with them.

Thanks for any advice.

They have a forum here.

NATLOR · 18-08-2017 07:37PM

horse7 wrote: »

Three words,anyone except gearbest.

I'm aware of the issues with gearbest (have had problems myself) but in this instance if the phone can be tracked to Ireland then its hardly gearbest's fault?

OP I have ordered a few things from Chinese sites this year and found delivery to be painfully slow, worst was 3 months and according to my postman stuff can be left sitting for weeks before being sent out so wouldn't give up hope yet.

ED E · 18-08-2017 10:17PM

clouter wrote: »

Hi Guys looking for some help.
I ordered a phone off Gearbest at end of June, hadn't arrived after 2 weeks so contacted them and they sent on a tracking number which showed phones passage to arriving in Ireland but no further. Went to Post office and they said Customs probably had it. Contacted customs last week to see what the story was and they say they dont have it.

Have anybody else bought off Gearbest, how do they usually deliver. Is it standard post or is it by courier, DPD, DHL?? According to tracking the parcel was sent to Ireland but nobody seems to know where it is.

All my own fault for ordering off Gearbest, hadn't done my research and see now that lots of people have had bad experiences with them.

Thanks for any advice.

If you have to ask the local agent will be AnPost. Previously there have been issues with CN mail not being processed once off the plane but that all cleared up 2mo ago and things have been fast since then. Hopefully it hasnt been pilfered as packets usually aren't scanned once they land here.

steven087 · 19-08-2017 06:05AM

Hi anyone know best place to get a cover for my xioami note 4 just a standard hard back case

CiDeRmAn · 19-08-2017 09:47AM

The Maze Alpha looks interesting.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/maze-alpha
But, it seems there's security cert issues suing banking apps from working, also Netflix doesn't appear to work either.
Any thoughts?

GBX · 19-08-2017 10:19AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The Maze Alpha looks interesting.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/maze-alpha
But, it seems there's security cert issues suing banking apps from working, also Netflix doesn't appear to work either.
Any thoughts?

Decent specced phone.
There will be no custom ROMs as Maze are not releasing the kernel to allow for custom development if that's your thing. You might still get manufacturer updates but that could be few and far between.

smilerf · 19-08-2017 10:20AM

steven087 wrote: »

Hi anyone know best place to get a cover for my xioami note 4 just a standard hard back case

amazon

ED E · 19-08-2017 10:55AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

The Maze Alpha looks interesting.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/reviews/maze-alpha
But, it seems there's security cert issues suing banking apps from working, also Netflix doesn't appear to work either.
Any thoughts?

Not supporting play store security/widevine is gonna cripple it for most.

mikeybrennan · 19-08-2017 11:25AM

Got my note 4x

I noticed the screen protector is slightly narrower than the glass

The sellers all mention something about the size and 2D phones,what's that about?

wiz569 · 19-08-2017 11:34AM

mikeybrennan wrote: »

Got my note 4x

I noticed the screen protector is slightly narrower than the glass

The sellers all mention something about the size and 2D phones,what's that about?

I think its to do with the slight curve of the glass,as the protector will only stick to a flat screen.

mikeybrennan · 19-08-2017 12:14PM

What's the best options for security on these devices re; malware or virus

cranefly · 19-08-2017 06:06PM

GBX wrote: »

Decent specced phone.
There will be no custom ROMs as Maze are not releasing the kernel to allow for custom development if that's your thing. You might still get manufacturer updates but that could be few and far between.

Got my maze alpha yesterday, a couple of otas already beautiful phone, works straight out of the box, no bloatware on it, dedicated owners group on facebook, maze fix any bugs on the phone with otas faster than any other company.

GBX · 19-08-2017 07:53PM

cranefly wrote: »

Got my maze alpha yesterday, a couple of otas already beautiful phone, works straight out of the box, no bloatware on it, dedicated owners group on facebook, maze fix any bugs on the phone with otas faster than any other company.

That's good to hear!

CiDeRmAn · 19-08-2017 07:56PM

cranefly wrote: »

Got my maze alpha yesterday, a couple of otas already beautiful phone, works straight out of the box, no bloatware on it, dedicated owners group on facebook, maze fix any bugs on the phone with otas faster than any other company.

Can you tell me how banking apps and Netflix work on it?
Thanks
I'll be buying one, depending on the answer!

cranefly · 19-08-2017 09:47PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Can you tell me how banking apps and Netflix work on it?
Thanks
I'll be buying one, depending on the answer!

I do not do banking on the phone, i just downloaded the netflix app from the playstore, and everything looks ok, i cancelled my netflix last month, so can not say for sure if it will play, i know some owners said this alpha had trouble with netflix, but even more said it was fine, you will probably find more definitive answers on facebooks maze international buyers page i think it is, hope this helps in your decision, but i find the phone stunning, the six inch screen is crystal clear, it is a pity their are not any decent leather cases for it, aliexpress only has the magic sticker kind, and they have a decent looking hard plastic back cover, which i ordered, as well as one of the magic sticker cases, you really need some type of case for this phone, as sweaty hands would not be a good idea with this phone, as the back is glass as well.

Suckit · 19-08-2017 10:55PM

They published the new stock rom a few days ago. I would take that as a good sign for any issues that were known, although it is early days.
Netflix does not bother me, i watch very little. Banking had me looking the other day also.

https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/rom-maze-alpha-v0520170816-t3659190

I had a read of this and looked up the phones mentioned in it. The phones are compared on Kimovil here. There are so many reviews almost saying polar opposites of each other. But i think none of those phones are for me. I keep going back to the new Yotaphone 3, although i believe it is to be around €300. So regarding the price it is not really comparable, but the battery and e-ink screen are the clincher for me. My understanding is also that it is due to be released in the coming days.

keano25 · 20-08-2017 11:44AM

Any thoughts on the Oneplus 5 or am I in the wrong thread?

ED E · 20-08-2017 01:22PM

keano25 wrote: »

Any thoughts on the Oneplus 5 or am I in the wrong thread?

Has its own thread, not considered a normal chinsese brand with zero aftersales support.

Digital Solitude · 20-08-2017 01:56PM

keano25 wrote: »

Any thoughts on the Oneplus 5 or am I in the wrong thread?

You might get some criticism or other suggestions if that's what you're after

If you're after general notions about the OP5 or confirmation its a good buy, the other thread is probably better.

gn3dr · 20-08-2017 05:29PM

cranefly wrote: »

Got my maze alpha yesterday, a couple of otas already beautiful phone, works straight out of the box, no bloatware on it, dedicated owners group on facebook, maze fix any bugs on the phone with otas faster than any other company.

Will be interesting to see how you get on with that. Please post back here to let us know about performance - particularly battery life. I only recently came across the phone but never heard of the company. 6 screen is appealing but I'm used to the battery life of a Ulefone Power and Oukitel K6000 pro.

CiDeRmAn · 20-08-2017 08:14PM

cranefly wrote: »

Got my maze alpha yesterday, a couple of otas already beautiful phone, works straight out of the box, no bloatware on it, dedicated owners group on facebook, maze fix any bugs on the phone with otas faster than any other company.

Pulled the trigger on this myself.
Ordered from Tomtop, no idea what they are like except they appear to have it in stock.
Worked out at €175 with shipping and a case included.
Fingers crossed all will be well.
I had an Elephone a few years ago and it was a wretched phone, GPS all over the place, terrible build quality.
In those two aspects the Maze Alpha seems fine.
We shall see.
At least it's different from the iPhone/S8/standard smart slab everyone else is using.
I went for expedited shipping too, so I guess I'm going to get nailed for duty

fixXxer · 21-08-2017 08:44AM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Pulled the trigger on this myself.
Ordered from Tomtop, no idea what they are like except they appear to have it in stock.
Worked out at €175 with shipping and a case included.
Fingers crossed all will be well.
I had an Elephone a few years ago and it was a wretched phone, GPS all over the place, terrible build quality.
In those two aspects the Maze Alpha seems fine.
We shall see.
At least it's different from the iPhone/S8/standard smart slab everyone else is using.
I went for expedited shipping too, so I guess I'm going to get nailed for duty

Be curious to see how you get on with this. Mediatek used to have GPS issues, wondering if the Helios 20/25 have cleared that up. If they have looks like a great bargain.

CiDeRmAn · 21-08-2017 01:19PM

fixxxer wrote: »

Be curious to see how you get on with this. Mediatek used to have GPS issues, wondering if the Helios 20/25 have cleared that up. If they have looks like a great bargain.

What I see in the handful reviews and comments is that the GPS is pretty solid.
Hopefully that's not just from the position of customers in Asia but reflected in local European conditions.

My biggest concerns are quality assurance in it's manufacture, so that things don't just randomly decide to work no more, the stability of the OS and that it gets security updates so I can use apps that need that sort of thing.
Reports suggest it's well made, great screen, stable OS and it's getting the updates.

No app tray as standard means I'll use Nova with it, but I rate that second only to the standard vanilla Android launcher.
I'm using Android 8.0 via beta on a borrowed 6p so I'm going to miss that, but Nova should give me much of those advantages built in.

This seems to be the most detailed of the reviews Link with only the camera being a disappointment, which I don't mind.
Plus, the camera seems to be getting updates to improve it's performance, so it should be a feature that moves more towards mainstream quality.

Suckit · 21-08-2017 01:45PM

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I went for expedited shipping too, so I guess I'm going to get nailed for duty

I am back looking at the Maze

i can not make up my mind.

Tomtop ship through Switzerland and Spain. Sometimes items come straight from their Spanish Warehouse and skip duty. I do not know if they do it on purpose, or if it is just a more convenient way of shipping for them, depending on the amount of orders and where they are going etc.
Swiss post items can get stopped as they are not in the EU.
Less often, the seller on Tomtop can ship direct to the UK, afaik they all get stopped now (whereas they did not a month+ ago).

Fingers crossed it goes to the Spanish warehouse first

.

CiDeRmAn · 21-08-2017 01:49PM

Suckit wrote: »

I am back looking at the Maze i can not make up my mind.

Tomtop ship through Switzerland and Spain. Sometimes items come straight from their Spanish Warehouse and skip duty. I do not know if they do it on purpose, or if it is just a more convenient way of shipping for them, depending on the amount of orders and where they are going etc.
Swiss post items can get stopped as they are not in the EU.
Less often, the seller on Tomtop can ship direct to the UK, afaik they all get stopped now (whereas they did not a month+ ago).

Fingers crossed it goes to the Spanish warehouse first .

I'm oddly hopeful about this phone.
I know, I know that it's likely not to last the 12 months I expect, but in general Chinese phones appear to be only be getting better in terms of quality.
The bezel less nature, well mostly bezel less, is the USP on this one, and it certainly makes more sense that the mental Xiaomi Mix that costs savage money.
I use my phone for the very occasional game, mostly texts, FB and browsing, as well as voice calls, which this phone does.
Also, I had the Nexus 6 before now so I'm comfortable with a larger screened phone.

Just wish it'd get here now!

Suckit · 21-08-2017 03:10PM

I look forward to hearing what your first impressions are, and how the shipping went for you. - Hoping you will update.

CiDeRmAn · 21-08-2017 05:06PM

Suckit wrote: »

I look forward to hearing what your first impressions are, and how the shipping went for you. - Hoping you will update.

If you see it on Adverts things didn't go well!

cranefly · 21-08-2017 09:26PM

My maze alpha seems fine, battery life is pretty good, i can get 2 days easily, but i am not a heavy user, mostly you tube videos calls, texts and mostly browsing the web, it is not as heavy as i thought it would be, super bright screen, i got mine for 164 euro that included postage and insurance, sent on the slow boat so to speak, an post sent it to customs, so had a charge of 37 euro plus 10 euro handling charge, paid to the postman at the door

I am really pleased with how it feels in the hand, and it does look fabulous compared to run of the mill phones you get now a days, i got mine from gearbest, because it was the presale i was waiting nearly two months, it should be a bit faster now if they have the stock. I got a leagoo m8 pro before as well and had no problem with gearbest. I wish their was a better selection of leather cases for the alpha, their is only the magic sticker kind, which i do not really like that much, but a good case is a must in my opinion, with a glass back it could get fairly slippy in the right conditions.

Chinese Android Phones 2 - Read First Post!

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