My brother is a long time iPhone users, and although he still likes Apple products he had started to see he light and realised that (for phones) Android is the way to go. This weekend I helped my brother buy a new Android phone, this is what he bought!
Switching from iOS to Android
Since Apple launched the original iPhone my brother has owned each and every model from the original iPhone to the iPhone 4S. At around the time the iPhone 5 launched though, he was already starting to see the lure of Android smartphones, and when I introduced him to some of the phones which were available from Chinese manufacturers he was smitten!
His reasons for wanting to switch from iOS to Android were a mix of performance related issues, frustration and value for money. His iPhone 4S (bought late last year) was already running slowly, crashed randomly and wasn’t holding a charge.
However, with so many amazing smartphones from Chinese phone makers he was a little overwhelmed and didn’t know which phone he should choose.
Criteria
With all good purchases a bit of planning is necessary to ensure you will be happy with your purchase, so to start we sat and wrote a list of features he wanted:
- A larger display (but no larger than 5-inch)
- Either 720p or 1080p display.
- Fast processor.
- WCDMA (for use outside of China).
- Good camera.
- Quality build.
- Good looking design.
- Value for money.
The shortlist
With this in mind and a budget of up to 2700 Yuan ($444), we made a list of possible phones candidates which fit the bill. Here was his shortlist.
Xiaomi Mi3 (Snapdragon 800)
This was at the top of the list for my brother. He loved the design, the large 3050mAh battery, and he is already familiar with MIUI V5 after playing around with the various Xiaomi devices my family owns.
The Mi3 hit every bullet point on my brothers list, and well within his budget even if he opted for the 64GB version. The only issue was that the Mi3 S800 still hasn’t launched, and with such a demand for the phone he wasn’t willing to wait.
Meizu MX3
When I suggested the Meizu MX3 my brother laughed and pointed out all the issues I had once had with the M9. I quickly explained that the M9 was Meizu’s first Android device and they have come along way since then, plus the fact that we can walk in to an actual Meizu store, buy the phone was a great bonus.
My bother also like the design, quality and specifications especially the rear F2.0 camera and audio quality. The MX3 could have been a purchase is the day had panned out differently!
Nubia Z5 Mini LTE
By far the best value for money on the list (yes, better than the Mi3). The Mini Nubia phone is a very underrated device, but should really be one everyone’s list for possible next phone.
Specifications include a 4.7-inch display, Snapdragon 600 processor, 13 mega-pixel camera and stylish design for just 2300 Yuan ($378) for the 4G LTE equipped 32GB model! If you’re willing to drop LTE (as my brother was) the regular Mini is just 1499 Yuan ($246) with 16GB memory and SD card expansion!
Unfortunately for Nubia there is no store in Qingdao for the brand and the LTE model is still in pre-order. Next!
Oppo Find 5
Although the oldest phone on the list (it has been available for nearly 12 months now) the Find 5 boasts great hardware all wrapped in a very high-quality body.
From the start of my brothers search I had suggested the Find 5, as I myself was tempted to get one due to the great developer support the phone has not to mention the looks and great rear camera.
The Find 5 also comes with NFC, which was a feature my brother had just been reading about and decided he quite fancied, however prices when he originally looked were still high and at 2999 Yuan ($493) were out of this price range.
And the phone he bought was….
Living in China means we can head to the local phone market, take a look at most models on sale, play around with then and make a decision. The local market in Qingdao offers official resellers, and ‘underground’ markets where prices are slightly cheaper’
Our plan was to visit Meizu, Oppo then head underground to see if there were any bargains to be had.
In the newly opened Oppo store our plans went south when we discover the Find 5 had just been dropped in price from 2999 to 2499 Yuan! A quick play with the phone and I could see that my brother had the look of an Ofan in his eye’s.
After dragging him away from the Find 5 we headed to Vivo to take a look at the Xplay and X3, both of which he liked but wasn’t overly impressed with. We didn’t make it to the Meizu store before heading underground.
If you have never been to a phone market before you are missing out! Basically it is a huge hall full of various small stores selling everything from local knock-offs to the latest Nexus 5 and everything in between.
As luck would have it the first small store we stopped at told us she could sell a new Midnight Black Oppo Find 5 at an even lower price of 2300 Yuan ($378).
My brother is now the proud owner of a Find 5 which he says is faster and more fun to use in just about every way when compared to his old iPhone! I think he is converted! Mission accomplished!
Which would you have chosen?
Do you have a similar story of converting a family member of friend to Android? Which phone did they end up with? Or perhaps you think my brother made the wrong choice? Let us know in the comments section below!
Nubia Z5 Mini. Why: Snapdragon S600 @ 720p imo is as good as S800 @ 1080p better processor than mx3 / find 5 has expandable memory cost less than mi-3 LTE is not important heck i always have my device on edge i use wifi for downloads. Cam department mx3 has all the 13mp beat @ F2.0 / 1.4 micron
I would of took the Find 5 also. I freaking love the Oppo N1 right now, pretty much the best phone for the following months. I don’t even feel like going back to my iPhone 5s.
I agree about the N1, I couldn’t hold out for the WCDMA model so getting the TD one. Really a great phone! Can’t wait to see the Find 7!
Could you help me to buy Xiaomi Mi3 when it available, Mr Andy 😀
Haha, are you in China? 😉
No, Im in Viet Nam, next to China, that’s the problem. In my country, there an invidual seller assure that Xiaomi Mi3 are available now, this made me so confused. He said that the 16GB and 64 GB also available.
Do you have any comment on this, Mr Andy 😀
The Nvidia Tegra 4 model has been on sale for months, pehaps he is selling that version?
No, he confirm that is WCDMA (snapdragon 800). So I’m very confused 🙁
That would be impossible (unless he’s a reseller from the future 🙂 ). The WCDMA is not even yet available in China!
If I remember correctly, it will be made available on the 18th of this month, and you can bet that this phone is going to sell like hotcakes (and we will definitely have heard it here in GizChina).
It may be yet a little more while before it will be available for international market or resellers.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/xiaomi-mi3-cell-phone-smart-8-core-RAM-2G-Android-M3-XIAOMI3-16G23G64G-5-0inches-1080P/1529150110.html
Is this to good to br true ?
No, he confirmed that it is WCDMA model (16 and 64 GB). That made me so confused 🙁
yes it has sell in china few month ago
I’m in China and have a f-code for tomorrow. I’m with HSBC bank and I just noticed Xiaomi don’t have them on their checkout page. If I’m getting this phone tomorrow I’m going to need your help!!
Any idea about this new Goophone V92 pro
$349.99 Out of stock
Be the first to review this product
* 5-inch HD display screen, 1280*720 pixel
* Corning Gorilla Glass 2 touch screen
* 1.7GHz MTK MT6592 octa-core processor
* 2GB DDR3 RAM, 32GB storage
* Support 4G FDD-LTE network
* 13MP rear camera with LED flash light, 5MP front camera
* Super slim body, only 6.5mm
* Support NFC feature
Link Please.
Goophone Official International
http://www.goophone.cc/phones/goophone-v92-pro.html
Goophone Official International website.. goophone(dot)cc
Love the 5. It has a premium feel and with ColorOS v1.0.2i, the enhancement goes up a notch in the desired phone category!
Agreed, latest ColorOS makes is smoooooooooth
My problem with the Nubia is that it only has the 2100Mhz WCDMA band. The phone has VERY limited use for travelling. It may be okay in China or main cities in Europe but that is it!
Unless it actually supports additional bands that aren’t advertised on the nubia website?
Here in spain, I bought to my mother for her birthday an amoi n828 (same phone I have right now, but I ordered a newman n2), helped my sister to buy a jiayu g4, my aunt and her boyfriend to buy a g4 advanced and they bought to his son a g3t, bbut yesterday I helped a friend to buy a moto g.
Androism
As LTE is a must here in hong kong (3G wcdma is totaly overcrowded which you only get 2~4Mbps in the city’s commercial area on hsdpa and basicly over 10mbps all the time on lte)
The best buy for us would be the LG Optimus G Pro only selling under hkd 3200 (with official 1 year warranty, and 500~600 hkd off for the one without )
Nexus 5 is the next with the 32G model for 3588 hkd and 3198 for the 16G one but the downside would be only available online via google.
Those chinese brand need to keep up the pace as 4G lte is widly being use outside China, (and within China very soon as the 4G lte pocket wifi is give out as a gift when you apply for the China Mobile 4G experiment 600 yuan/year plan in quite a few big city) a phone lack of 4G lte wouldn’t be able to attract people pretty soon unless the pricing is so attractive.
We have a really good LTE infrastructure here in Canada (provided that you’re living in a big enough city), however, even I wouldn’t mind sacrificing LTE capability.
I could really use faster speed, but unlike most of Asia and Europe, the kind of pricing we have here for our data plans really sucks. Plans with 1 GB of data cost between 40 and 50 CAD. The last thing I want is 80 or 90 dollar cell phone monthly bill due to overages. My Nexus 4 has no LTE, and I usually use up all my monthly data limit in maybe a little over 2 week. With LTE, I would, naturally, use my data more, and may go over my monthly limit in maybe 3 or 4 days.
I agree though that eventually, these Chinese phones will need to keep up, and things are indeed changing, with China Mobile rolling commercial TD-LTE in less than a week if everything goes according to plan. Local manufactures will be following suit, with several already releasing 4G capable phones (Vivo, Gionee, etc).
its good to move for chines mobiles .. this will teach greedy mobile company that price is a main factor for customers…with time we wont see big mobile name shining like before.. GOOD LUCK ( made in china )
Let’s convert them one iPhone user at a time lol
Also with the official Oppo forum you can’t go wrong !
hey bro, just want a lil help.. im keen on getting a china android phone just dont know whether to go with snapdragon 800 or mt6592
the specs im after are
Snapdragon 800 or Mt6592
2gb
1080p
5″
great camera
preferably LTE
if you can point me in the right direction it’ll b much appreciated
I also helped my brother to buy his first android phone… He bought a Nokia Lumia 1520 (WP8). I sure did a good job there.
i just buy a find5 white for my girlfriend for ~270euros from the european oficial reseller. Personally i think that is a great phone. specs and Quallity built. But for my girlfriend who isn’t a ‘geek’, she values the desing(hard and soft) and the quality of the screen.
Trully amazing phone, ‘specs people’ and ‘good looking devices people’ love him!
He should’ve bought Oppo N1 instead :3
He does like it but not to keen on the large display, plus only the TD-SCDMA version is available in China now and he needed the phone straight away.
Xiaomi Mi-2s has not been on the list? why?? I enjoy it very much.