Open Thread: What is your everyday phone?

With so many Chinese phones available it is quite common for us to own more than one device, so which do you use as your everyday phone?

The last time I counted how many phones we had in the Gizchina office we were way above 30 devices! That’s a mix of low to high end phones from manufacturers ranging from Xiaomi, Oppo and Meizu, to new comers LeTV and affordable phones from Doogee, Mlais and Ulefone.

I believe the actual number of phones is now up to about 40, but with only 2 hands and so many pockets can only carry 2 with me at most and there is only one phone that I would consider my “daily driver”.

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For anyone who has followed me this year you will already have a good idea of which two phones I use on a daily basis, for those of you who don’t they are the standard 16GB version of the Xiaomi Mi Note and the 16GB version of the LeTV Le 1 phone.

What we would like to know is which smartphone do you currently use as your daily driver? Don’t worry if its not a Chinese phone, if its an iPhone or Windows device, just tell us what you use on a daily basis and why.

I’ll start the ball rolling in the comments with the phone I use everyday. I look forward to hearing what you use.

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author
Andi

- - - - Rob
        August 4, 2015
        August 4, 2015
        no hope it is soon and better than the X5 Pro though. Also, hoping for an Xshot 2 as well
        Rob
        August 4, 2015
        Yes the XShot 2 front has gone very quiet since the earlier leaks you mentioned, I was expecting it to be released by now.
        MinusPlusDivide
        August 4, 2015
        hope for Xshot 2 too.Both OPPO and vivo are late to announce this year’s flagship, maybe because Snapdragon hear problem?
- Rob
  August 4, 2015
  How are you finding it? If I can return my Lenovo I may go for this but am worried about the camera quality.
  - William Overmars
    August 4, 2015
    - Rob
      August 4, 2015
      Thanks for that, really don’t know what to do for the best. There just aren’t any 6″ phones been released over the last 12 months.
      - William Overmars
        August 4, 2015
        The best camera I’ve seen on phones have been Nokia, Samsung with the S6 and the iphone 6+ but thats all I’ve tested. The Nexus 6 was a 6 inch (hehe) phone. At this point i’m interested in the new Moto X Style.
        
        Rob
        August 5, 2015
        I’m looking at the nexus 6 on eBay, can get a nearly new one quite cheap (about the same price as a mid range Chinese phone), might get that to use till next year which should hopefully give Chinese manufacturers time to release a killer phone at a cracking price!
        William Overmars
        August 5, 2015
        I’ve just seen leaks about the new phablet from Microsoft and they always have really good cameras so I’m looking at one of those now
        Dante
        August 8, 2015
      - Kenshiro
        August 6, 2015
        
        Rob
        August 7, 2015
        I know I was waiting for that one to be announced. The price is completely crippling though and the helio x10 just isn’t up to running a QHD screen. Better off getting the X2 xtreme as it’s selling for nearly $200 less than the Chinese version and ships from Europe so no worries about customs tax.
        Kenshiro
        August 7, 2015
        You like mammoth phones what? 🙂 But isn’t the x2 also run by x10 on qhd screen?
- Luis Martinez
  August 4, 2015
  Same here. I haven’t found a phone that could replace my Vivo xplay 3s in terms of rich sound from the speakers. Not many updates but the phone is so well optimized that it works great. My battery is losing some steam though. I’ve had it for almost two years now. That’s too be expected.

Andi Sykes
August 4, 2015
My “daily driver” is stil the LeTV Le1 (X600). The reason I use the LeTV Le1 over the other phones I have access to (Xiaomi mi note, Meizu, Vivo, Oppo, Ulefone etc) is the build quality, insane speed, amazing camera and battery life. The only issue I have with the phone is that I have to carry a USB Type C cable with me just in case, as the chances of meeting someone else with one highly unlikely at this moment.
- Rob
  August 4, 2015
- slartiblart
  August 7, 2015
  What’s the charge time like?
- istri
  August 9, 2015
  Hey Andi, I’m looking to purchase my first chinese phone but dont want something as big as 5.5″, otherwise i would get the leTV le1… Could you suggest any phones that are 5″ or under?

Alessio Igor Bogani
August 4, 2015
- Luis Martinez
  August 4, 2015
  What’s your opinion of the umi zero. I am interested in this phone for some reason.
  - Alessio Igor Bogani
    August 5, 2015
    In my opinion it is a very good phone despite it is now an outdated device. Unfortunately it has a lot of minor issues with software (I hope in CM sooner or later). Nowadays in my country you can buy devices with 64bit and LTE at the same price.
    - Yousuf Mohammed
      August 7, 2015
      speaker is not good and voice is low. i used fro some time and thrown. now i am back to Samsung. even a low cost phone of samsung somehow reliable

I use the Ulefone Be Touch 2, pretty good for daily usage I might say.
balcobomber25
August 4, 2015
My daily driver for the past week has been the Meizu MX5. There are some software issues that need to be addressed but so far it hasn’t been anything groundbreaking. My old daily driver was the Xiaomi Mi4, not sure if it will live up to how great that phone was but we shall see
- BenShenzhen
  August 4, 2015
  I just got the Mi4 for 1499RMB direct from Xiaomi in black and so far, despite being 12 months old, I think it’s a great phone.
  - balcobomber25
    August 4, 2015
    Its an excellent phone. And for 1499 that is an incredible deal. The SD801 is one of the best SoC’s ever made.
    - Abrar Arif
      August 5, 2015
      Yeah, the SD801 can handle basically anything thrown at it. Not like the horrendous SD810 that throttles and overheats like a oven.
- Sere83
  August 4, 2015
  be interested to know your thoughts on mx5, was considering it. Have a mi note and mi4i but not feeling miui V6, just too laggy and unresposive compared to CM12 on OPO
  - balcobomber25
    August 4, 2015
    I have never used a Meizu before and had limited exposure to Flyme so i am still trying to get used to it. So far I love it though. The X10 handles everything I throw at it without slowing down. It has never heated up. The camera is excellent. I dropped it once and there was no signs of it.
- Dante
  August 8, 2015
  Nah i. Mostly love meizu for their Audio build and flyme (not the latest ones tho it got buggy as a$$)

Zoran
August 4, 2015
I use Coolpad 7320, for about a year now….
Mo
August 4, 2015
My current daily driver is the xiaomi mi note pro, upgraded from a meizu mx4. preforms well, everything is snappy and fast, camera is amazing, and the stability of mi ui is also a keeper, also the rear glass design is very nice, the build quality is top of the line. hardly any heating issues, only heats up when i play mortal kombat x other then that normal running tempreture is 36 c

matrody
August 4, 2015
Nubia Z5S! It’s a pretty good phone for ridiculously low price but the OS has some bugs especially in the camera app and the battery could last longer. But overally I’m satisfied with it, now waiting for the lollipop update.
- Amit
  August 5, 2015
  How much did you pay for it?
- Nicola
  August 5, 2015
Chandra
August 4, 2015
- Sere83
  August 4, 2015
  I’m using Mi4i and have Oneplus one too, how are you finding mi4i? I’m finding it much more laggy and slow than OPO. Apps like tinder, instagram, facebook all much better on OPO, Software in general seems much more responsive and fluid on OPO. How are you finding mi4i in comparison to OPO?
  - - Sere83
      August 4, 2015
      Yep, have to agree. Thing is though while mi4i is clearly worse I don’t find the miui 6 experience on mi4i a million miles away from miui V6 on mi note though. I know i keep banging on about it but CM12 on oneplus is in a different league. MIUI 6 is just not as responsive in downlaoded apps or or stock apps, multi touch is so bad on the gallery on MI note I stopped using it straight away. Can literally see frames dropping in miui 6 , very small lags but again something i just don’t experience on CM12 on OPO. Also while the mi note screen is better, the accuracy is again better on OPO, just find it much more responsive to gestures and touch reaction time is noticeably better. Has made me think twice about xiaomi in general, MIUI 6 hogs resources like anything and just feels more clunky even though i love the design. I Think close to stock android builds are still the way forward
    - Uzeir Mansuri
      August 4, 2015
    - Chandra
      August 5, 2015
      Andi, Mi4i is terrible with miui but it is lag free and good in thermal mgmt with cm 12.1. I like this device because of camera and compact factor.
Stewart Venters
August 4, 2015
- balcobomber25
  August 4, 2015
  - Adam Irvine
    August 4, 2015
    This is what I tell my colleagues now…
    They usually turn their lip up to even the possibility of owning one of those ‘poor quality’ Chinese phones…
    Then I ask them, where do you think all the western brand devices are made..? Lol…
    - balcobomber25
      August 4, 2015
      It’s hilarious to see the look on their faces when you show them their phone was made in China, often times in the same factories as dozens of “lesser” brands.
- Aeonia
  August 5, 2015
  Am curious about the “not allowed” part? Is that a work thing? Maybe a security firm?
  - Rob
    August 5, 2015
xi7
August 4, 2015
Lumia 1020 since 2013 ——-> “2016 Flagship Killer”
Paul Sleight
August 4, 2015
Oukitel U8, and liking it a lot. Going for a 5 inch phone next tho.
Ivan Garcia Torregrosa
August 4, 2015
I have a jiayu g5s as daily driver for a year or so and still works fine. However the gps and wyfi are not very useful and also carry with me a galaxy s3 for that purpose. Im thinking of retiring both phones and get instead a letvs1or bluboo xtouch. Im just waiting for the last one to be launched and reviewed

Freeje
August 4, 2015
Still using a dual-sim Note 2 with an S3 as backup. Would like to replace it with a 6 inch screen phablet.
Black Hole
August 4, 2015
Mine is Xiaomi Redmi2, Best value-For-Money phone for daily use.
Kiswum
August 4, 2015
Daily phone: Sony Xperia Z3 compact
Testing: Letv Le1, VKworld 6735
Backup phone: Xiaomi Mi2 (2,5 years old and still in perfect condition)
Next phone: Xperia Z5 compact?
- PBX
  August 4, 2015
  - Kiswum
    August 4, 2015
    I have shared the phone to a Dutch Tech website, http://www.Tweakers.net (together with the Letv Le1).
    I haven’t really tested the VKworld yet, but the build-quality is much better than I would’ve expected for this price-range. The build feels like the Redmi 2, with a “rough” backplate. That’s a good thing actually. You won’t drop it that easily when your hands are clammy. I did some benchmarks (only a few times instead of 12 times).
    Antutu: 19855
    Quadrant: 8884
    Geekbench: 483 / 1369
    GFX Manhattan: 216,3 / 103,3 Frames
    3D Mark Unlimited: 3071
    CaffeineMark: 13413
    The phone was delivered with Stock Android 5.1 rom, no additional software/bloatware from VKworld (or the reseller). So far, it was a very good introduction to this brand. It will return at the end of this month. I will write a complete review of this phone, just like I did with the Letv Le1 and many other phones: http://tweakers.net/productreview/user/129865/
- MinusPlusDivide
  August 4, 2015
  Hope for the next Xperia Compact will be great.
  However, have you tried the Lenovo Vibe Shot? It’s has very Xperia vibe into them such as lanyard hole and design (resemble a lot of older Sony cybershot) albeit lack of IP68.
- Hoàng Vững
  August 4, 2015
  I owning a Xiaomi Mi2 like you, it is still good in almost more than 2 year so far 🙂
  - thoroc
    August 11, 2015
    I have a 2S and that thing is running low on storage space, low on RAM, the screen is getting a bit small to browse web and the camera could be better. Can’t wait to find a decent replacement. :/

Owsley_66
August 4, 2015
Ulefone Be Pro for about six months. Lots of better phones have been released since the Be Pro.
Peeter
August 4, 2015
My phone is a LG G2, due to the high import taxes from Brazil, LG g2 was the best value-for-money at the time I bought.
- MinusPlusDivide
  August 4, 2015
  - carlos
    August 6, 2015
    I bought a brand new LG G2 two months ago and flashed it with LG G3 FW with 4K video recording and I can use all the flip cases, waterproof cases etc. I bought G2 as G3 is too big and I owned a big phone for two years my old Umi Cross with MIUI which still works as the first day. I Just wanted something smaller for running and doing sports. When I went running at the time I had Umi Cross I used iphone as a running phone. Now I use G2 for everything.
- Creazydea
  August 6, 2015
Anderson
August 4, 2015
- Uzeir Mansuri
  August 4, 2015
Nokia N95 8GB

Maximilian Falkenström
August 4, 2015
LeTV One 32GB. The only phone I have atm since my Galaxy S3 broke a few months back. Love the phone and have no plans to switch in the near future. Seem to have problems receiving texts sometimes but it should have been fixed in the last update, haven’t had the time to try it properly.
Adam Wasilewski
August 4, 2015
Mine is Letv le 1 at this moment.

Alexis T
August 4, 2015
Hello folks
I’m using a Oppo Find 7A (Chinese Version) since April 2014, without any backup phone …’cause i like to unbrick my phone at night when i screw my phone flashing sh*t ^^
Amazing camera quality, fat sound quality, instant reactivity and build quality (i broke a glass throwing this phone by mistake) make this phone a winner for me.
BTW My girlfriend is using a Lenovo K3 note (best bang for the bucks one month ago IMHO)
- Irv
  August 7, 2015

Dangi
August 4, 2015
- Amit
  August 5, 2015
BenShenzhen
August 4, 2015
Xiaomi 4 (2GB version in black). Recently switched to it from an IUNI U3 and couldn’t be happier due to it’s great build quality, better than anticipated audio quallity, weight and feel in the hand and MIUI’s much more polished OS/ROM. The black Mi4 really looks better in the flesh than in pics or videos. Only downside is I feel the IUNI U3s camera took better pictures for an average phone snapper like me.

bilyng
August 4, 2015
- Adam Irvine
  August 4, 2015
Yury
August 4, 2015
lg optimus l3 🙁
tomikitwo
August 4, 2015
My daily smartphone since 1 month is Letv x600 32GB. It’s amazing device but, I am user of VR and I’m heavly thinking about something with QHD. Maybe MX4 pro?
tiktaktik
August 4, 2015
Mine is xiaomi mi3.. Hehe..! A bit old hu… But its still an amazing phone

yalok
August 4, 2015
I use OnePlus One for the past 9 month. I wish it was smaller 🙂
CM12 is not as optimized as CM11 was, but it never failed when I needed it.
DrX
August 4, 2015
- - DrX
    August 5, 2015
    it’s fine I guess but after a month of use I got bright pressure spots, wifi is not stable and there are quite a few software bugs..

Tadej
August 4, 2015
wackenroader
August 4, 2015
My daily driver is kingzone z1… Lenovo k3 note for music and Lenovo A850 as backup phone.
- Bruce S
  August 4, 2015
  Despite all the awful reviews; I bought the Kingzone Z1 and it has become my daily driver phone as well. I get brilliant photo’s with it using the Lenovo Super Camera app; call quality is magic; WiFi and 4G speeds are fantastic; so won’t be in the market for a new phone for sometime to come.
  - mosbd
    August 5, 2015
    could you pls provide the app link. i’m using the same phone though photo is not that good with the stock app.
    - Bruce S
      August 6, 2015

Max
August 4, 2015
August 4, 2015
You guys are not gonna believe this, but …
At this moment, I dont have a smart phone. After my Nubia z7 Max broke down, I have not bought another smartphone. Still looking out for a good but not expensive smartphone to buy. Aside for my Cube Talk 9X tablet (which has refused to go bad no matter what I throw at it), I am currently using a small Samsung phone just for 2G calls as it doesnt support 3G network connectivity.
- Sprime
  August 4, 2015

Tim
August 4, 2015
Meizu MX4
Akhtar Parvez
August 4, 2015
Rare one ..Elephone P8 pro in india…sourced from ebay.in… surviving with a shitty GSM antenna…build quality on par with Note 4 of which its been copied…waiting for One plus 2 or Meizu MX5 or just laid my eyes on Xperia C5 Ultra – the True Bezeless king.
Lakshman
August 4, 2015
stefan djordjevic
August 4, 2015
xiaomi mi4 🙂

Sprime
August 4, 2015
I’m using a 2 year old Jiayu G3S but I’ll be on the hunt for a new one soon :v
Duarte Bruno
August 4, 2015
LG G2 here too.
Flagship performance at upper mid range price.
Top notch body weight and size balance.
- MinusPlusDivide
  August 4, 2015
Kristi1603
August 4, 2015
Xiaomi Redmi 1S with CyanogenMod 12.1 (Lollipop 5.1)
Mr Tjin
August 4, 2015
Daily driver is the Umi eMAX ..Im verry surprised by this phone ..Just for the price 99$ that i payed im getting alot of Bang for Bucks !! Verry good phone .I hardly miss my Note 4 that is still sitting on my desk 🙂
- Georgea
  August 8, 2015
  wow! I hope i get the same experience! I have a note 4 but out of curiosity and my love for chinese stuff, I ordered an elephone p8000! I hope it serves me well and will be selling my note 4 to make some money!

Scott O'gorman
August 4, 2015
I live in the states and being we don’t have access to really any of the Chinese phones, I use an lg g4 as my daily driver, the best feature of the phone? bye far the camera, it is a good as any DSR that you could have I your pocket and even better I do like the specs of the LeTv1 and Xiaomi Note though

Scott O'gorman
August 4, 2015
I am waiting though for the note 5, the Exynos 7422,
All in One chipset, curious to see how it stacks up against the rest of the world and power consumption
Lukas
August 4, 2015
- Steve B
  August 5, 2015
  - Lukas
    August 6, 2015
    there is quite a lot of small scratches, but you have to look really close to see them
    - Steve B
      August 6, 2015
      Ok thanks. Mine is quite noticeable, annoying as I’ve had it in a case and in my coat pocket most of the time, so only material rubbing against it. I presume it’s just the coating as I also have a Gionee E7 with same lens, sans coating, and that hasn’t a mark.

Krys-001
August 4, 2015
Honor 3c best and the worst at the same time
MinusPlusDivide
August 4, 2015
Mine is LG G2 but now considering Lenovo Vibe Shot for the next phone.
aratron
August 4, 2015
LG G2 here as well. Its got a good PP ratios. Outstanding battery life and good enough camera, HD display. They are going for about $180 on the bay so its on par with the MT6753 midrange flagships from China. Downside is the uni-body non-removable battery and no expandable storage. I have a SISWOO C55 on the way and is thinking about a LeTV one. I’d really want a MT6752 or Helio phone with decent battery life and good camera. Current offering like the Lenovo K3 note’s camera is only mediocre and Chinese version of Meizu’s OS is not optimize for US use.

sudione
August 4, 2015
JiaYu S3 Advanced. My next phone is a Siswoo R9 Darkmoon.:)
Adam Irvine
August 4, 2015
OnePlus One for 13 trouble free months now ☺
And I have no interest in replacing it anytime soon given what’s currently on the market…

loller
August 4, 2015
Giaonee E7 32GB/3GB.
+camera(front one struggles to focus in dim light but outperform everything when in focus).
+Everything Is Working Perfectly for 1/2 year.
-3.5-4hr screen time without gaming.
-no fast charge.
-high power drainage when idle, the radios(wifi/wcdma)consume to much power.
-5.5′ screen is just to much, yes it is fun to use but no so to carry.
- Steve B
  August 5, 2015
  Snap, plus an Iuni U2, better for the pocket, plus extra blue lens coating makes a difference (scratches if you look at it though).

blizzet
August 4, 2015
Honor 6 here! Best phone I have used. Awesome batterylife, great screen, light weight, good fast camera, can be used onehanded. Kirin cpu performs good. And I really like Emotion UI. Had OPO before, and never liked it. This device owns it in most areas in my opinion. Waiting for Honor 7.

MaxPower
August 4, 2015
using a MI4 but I’ve got tired of it.
My wife just got the OPO (thanks to GizChina)
which proved me that I’m getting tight with a 5″ phone and i need a bigger one.
i can’t believe how it has been barely a year since I’ve got my MI4 and it already looks outdated.
I won’t go crazy this time pretending to fall in the river once again so i guess I’ll wait for the perfect phone to come out.
i need a 5.2″ – 5.5 and it has to be black (I’m still talking of a phone!!!) with a great camera and minimum 32 GB. no laggy software.
- iKosh
  August 5, 2015
  - MaxPower
    August 5, 2015
    right now my eyes go on LeTV Le1, Meizu MX5 and OP2, but for one reason or another they don’t satisfy my list completely so no diving in the river for now.
    - iKosh
      August 6, 2015
      LeTV did a pretty good job with their first mobile devices. It seems like the Le1 is on everybody’s list.
      - MaxPower
        August 6, 2015
        oh yeah.
        I can’t believe they came out with a phone like that at their very first attempt.
        I’m more impressed how they managed to make a good ROM.
        and the price is a steal.
        thoroc
        August 11, 2015
        What about the Huawei Honor 7 or the new Moto X style?
        
        MaxPower
        August 11, 2015
        I’m keeping an eye on the Honor 7.
        on paper is one of the best out there and IMO also the best looking phone.
        I’m not a fan of EMUI though, so I’m waiting for reviews and feedbacks from random users to figure out how it goes.
        i haven’t checked the new Moto X but I’m afraid it’s way over my budget
        MaxPower
        August 11, 2015
        thanks for the tip.
        I’ve just checked the Moto X style and I’m sold.
        at 399$ from amazon is a steal.
        great specs and i love the design.
        what’s even better is that it will support LTE on any US carrier since i can’t make my wife’s OPO work on AT&T’s LTE because it’s not certified.
        
        thoroc
        August 11, 2015
        Lucky you, the official price in the UK is 400 GBP which is more like 600+ USD. Otherwise, I agree, spec wise it is one of the most attractive announcement so far. Although I really like the MIUI ROM.
        
        MaxPower
        August 11, 2015
        holy moly,it’s 50% more!
        At least Chinese phones work on UK LTE frequencies.
        since you love Miui just wait for the MI5 that should be released this fall as well.
        I’m pretty sure it will as good as the Moto X and priced around 320$
        through resellers is still going to be below 400$
        thoroc
        August 12, 2015
        I am waiting impatiently to the next Xiaomi announcement, although not with great hopes as their offering have been anything but conservative.
        As for the pricing for the Moto, this is what we get on this side of the pond. Parity dollar/british pound. It happens on every single tech kit, unfortunately. 🙁
    - Zeeshan Nathani
      August 10, 2015
      how about Galaxy Note 4/5 ?
      Note 4 Still has one of the best cameras
      Or maybe Xperia Z5 ? ‘cuz after Z3+ SONY should’ve taken customer views..!
      - MaxPower
        August 10, 2015
xteamchinax
August 4, 2015
Currently the original Ulefone Be Touch. Good phone, feels great, nice effort by Ulefone, but wasn’t convinced to upgrade to Be Touch 2 (not real battery capacity, not real Android 5.1, plus unnecessarily awkward bottom bezel still.) Ulefone could have at least been honest and just say less than 2550mAh battery and only Android 5.0 and I would at least respect the honesty. Looking into Huawei Mate 8 or P8 Max.
tilmue
August 4, 2015
using a Xiaomi Mi Note Pro as my daily driver.

Hoàng Vững
August 4, 2015
My daily driver now is Vivo Xshot. Most because of Andi used it during 2014.
Before this, I use a Mi4 and Vivo Xshot is better then Mi4 in overall. I also used a iphone 5s and One Plus One.
But now I love the way that Xshot operate, it fast and responsive, its camera is good in most of scenario (bokeh and night mode works good, fast focus).
Functouch is responsive than MIUI :).
Waiting for next generation of Xshot.

mopsert
August 4, 2015
I am using the iOcean M6752 right now. Couldn’t help it, when it was available for $139.99 to give it a try.
Roger
August 4, 2015
Tronsmart TS7 (rebadged Cubot One-S), MTK6582, 1GB of RAM, Android 4.2 and very limited storage space. Hopefully, soon I will be able afford to replace it.

shadowspar
August 4, 2015
Heh, don’t laugh too hard, but my current daily driver is a ZTE Z667t (aka the Zinger, lol.) My smartphone before it was felled by a faulty power switch, and this is what I’ve got ’til I get hold of something nicer. =)
Dual-core A7@1.2GHz, 512MB/4GB, 3.5″ 320×480 screen. While I can’t actually recommend it to anybody, I’m surprised at how workable it is given the rock-bottom price and hardware spec. Yes, it lags a lot when switching between memory-intensive apps; the screen is cramped, let alone the internal storage; the camera is a joke and not even a good one. But the GPS performance on this thing is excellent; the build quality is solid; it runs KitKat as opposed to something truly old; and moreover, it handles all the mundane calls/texts/web stuff one needs a smartphone to do. For $20 USD outright, the price/performance ratio on this one is shockingly good. =)

Aeonia
August 5, 2015
Mine is a Jiayu G4S..Anyone still remember it? Planning to upgrade as soon as the Helio x20 becomes mainstream
Rasmus
August 5, 2015
Andy which one would you suggest Mi note or Letv1. Coming from mi4 I am leaning towards Mi note…
Thang Cheong Pin
August 5, 2015
My daily phone is Meizu M2 Note and I’m happy with it up to date.

Karate Chop chop
August 5, 2015
Huawei mate 7 for now, waiting for honor 7 plus
Michal
August 5, 2015
One year ago i buy Xiaomi Mi3 64gb version. I use it every day and never had better phone like this.
Sorin Balan
August 5, 2015
Since I sent the broken Kingzone z1 back for a refund i ude my trusty old Lumia 920. When I’ll get my money back I’ll be in a market for a sub 200$ device with good batery life, camera and audio quality. The main contenders right now are the k3 note and the m2 note but I’m open for suggestion. ?

monkeytree
August 5, 2015
My daily driver is a humble but never failing Xiaomi Redmi 1s; great value for money. Planning to purchase a more upmarket 4G phone though, but a really decent one with LTE-band 20 is hard to find. For starters Xiaomi doesn’t seem to implement band 20 at all. Bummer!
TheOracle
August 5, 2015
Asus Zenfone2 4gb 32gb and THL 5000T. They’re both excellent phones overall with the Zenfone being my main daily driver but I always carry both. The battery life on the THL is absolutely incredible. Second to none.

RoS
August 5, 2015
I use Jiayu S1 and except battery this is perfect phone for me.

Xalis
August 5, 2015
I been using a Mlais M52 for over 2 months, and if you ignore the fact that I had to tear it apart to fix ghost touches, I’m pretty happy with it, coming from a 2014 true flagship (Nubia z7 Mini) I don’t see a difference on the performance, I don’t see how anyone would complain about this phone at all, for $130 the CPU is a beast, the GPU is fairly decent, the RAM is fast enough, the internal memory is not that fast but not slow at all, the camera is pretty good with good lighting a disaster with poor lighting but the flash is above average, the sound is loud enough but of poor quality, the screen is pretty good, the digitizer is good(not taking into account the ghost touches I had to fix, the battery is a little above average.
Waiting for a Meizu M2 Note that I plan to use for at least 3 months before getting a new phone, but so far no 2015 flagship has caught my attention mostly due the lack of Dual SIM + Micro SD.
James
August 5, 2015
Nubia Z9 Max – large screen, has my work and personal sims in so I don’t have to carry multiple devices, with a 128gb microSD for music and work documents (of which I have to carry quite a lot). It cost me approx £300gbp, but I think it’s actually pretty good value. The only issue I have had with it, was that the wifi reception was a bit poor – that was resolved by the next firmware release and I’m very happy with it. Also, the speaker on the bottom is very easy to obscure – other than that it’s been pretty much perfect! Camera is surprisingly good, better than I had anticipated. No heat issues with it at all, runs cooler than my old HTC One M7 did.
- Kenshiro
  August 6, 2015
  Hey James,
  Good lord, someone finally with a Z9 Max, glad I found you 🙂 I’ve had my radar on it since it came out.
  Have you tried the video slow-motion function ? I’d really appreciate if you could give me your impressions on that, best resolution and FPS ?
  It’s good to see that the SD810 has no heat issues at all. It sort of tires me of people paraphrasing in all the forums :”this is a heating machine, you can fry eggs on it, worst SOC ever…” etcetc… most probably they don’t even own one, so it’s really great to hear this from someone that HAS actual experience with it.
  Thanks!
  - James
    August 7, 2015
    Hi Kenshiro,
    No, I have not tried the slow motion video – I can do if you like?
    Yes, no heat issues at all – it runs a lot cooler than the other half’s Z9 mini (of which I received phone number 2 today from geekbuying – I got the Max from Ibuygou, as she put the first one through the washing machine and I can’t resurrect it…. 🙁 which is a bit annoying)
    It’s easy to root and get google apps on it too. The OTA update function didn’t seem to work (downloads the package and goes through the motions of updating, but doesn’t actually update), but downloading the newer firmware from nubia.cn and installing was very easy.
    Is there anything you would like to ask about it?
    cheers
    James
    - August 7, 2015
      Hey James,
      First of all thanks for replying, that’s very kind of you 😉
      If it’s not too much of a burden for you it would be awesome if you could test the slow motion function. A good target are bikers or joggers 🙂 Going through the specs I think it does 30 fps – hope it is more ;), but it would be great to know on which resolution as well…
      Don’t know how you can check it though, maybe someone around here can give us an advice.
      Wow that baptism with the z9 mini sure is a bummer.
      There are ways of reviving “drowned” phones.. the first thing is to turn it off and remove the battery, which for your mini is kinda difficult, since your battery is non-removable…
      You need to disassemble your phone as far as you can… Have you tried putting it into rice or silica gel? I can prove it works as I rescued a camera that fell into a river this way.
      For the z9 max a CM12 exists already, check it out in xda. And by end of August Nubia b will apparently release a beta LP 5.1.1.
      If OTA doesn’t work but download yes, no problem for me, as long as it gets installed.
      I’m really fond of this phone, but now I’m also very curious about the Moto x style… I’ll wait until September to make a decision, if my wallet allows it hihi 😉
      Tough times to decide for a phone that should last as long as it can…
      Take care,
      Ken
      - Dante
        August 8, 2015
        Yo ma man Ken Wait for the Moto X style Their software is excellent – Youl be makin’ hadoukens in your grave by the time youll like the z9 max
        
        Kenshiro
        August 9, 2015
        Hehe, HW on both is excellent, but the price for the Moto X will most probably be above 500€, which is too much for me. Z9 max is right on the limit. Who knows, maybe in the end I’ll get the Lenovo k3 and save some bucks to get an action camera…
        Dante
        August 9, 2015
        Lol no official price for 16 gb version is just 400 bucks
        
        Kenshiro
        August 9, 2015
        395€ official base price for the Moto X Play here in Spain, for the Style we will have to add 100 € I guess… We’ll see in September 😉
        Dante
        August 9, 2015
        Damn your in spain the taxes are high there – maybe you should try to graymarket import or buy through local craiglist site (Dont get murdered by the local Psycho tho lol) At least you are not in brasil , i was there on a holiday at the launch of the ps4 and it costed 1000 euros
        
        Kenshiro
        August 9, 2015
        Yeah, even in UK it won’t be as cheap as in the US. 279£ for the x Play, comes close to 395€. I guess best option is to know someone in the US and hope he/she makes a visit to Europe 😉
        Dante
        August 10, 2015
        well i usually gray market export (evil me) but locally i can buy the lg g4 for 480 euros
        
        Kenshiro
        August 11, 2015
        I’m not aware of these buying methods lol, I doubt I can do that 😉
        Dante
        August 11, 2015
        Lol u can buy these gray market phones from ebay
        Dante
        August 11, 2015
        Just Dont use the deep web NEVER USE TOR TO buy something
        Kenshiro
        August 11, 2015
        Lol I don’t get your comment, maybe some irony here? What’s TOR TO?
        Dante
        August 12, 2015
        TOR is a very private deep web browser … Search deep web on youtube and you will be uhhh… Amazed?? ( in case you like weapons from the black market stolen payapl account. Iphones,illegal porn , classified documents etc.)

Aftab Ashraf
August 5, 2015
I use the IPhone 5S as my daily driver. It is very compact for my pocket and I just can’t spend my day without some of the apps. The only downside is battery life
gadget_ocd
August 5, 2015
Lg G2, looking to upgrade this year.
Maybe the next Nexus, Note 5 or OP2.
Ivan Kolev
August 5, 2015
OnePlus One aka OPO. I like the design. It elegant, well build. And i like the sandstone because It has better grip-ability than others. It has beasty performance and its among top performers on antutu. Not just on benchmark, in real life condition, everything is buttery smooth and gaming experience is really enjoyable, even for high intensive graphics games. Great battery life. 6 hours streaming on youtube continuesly isn’t a joke. The os is great, customizable, and many extra features that really make sense at least for me i. e double tap to wake, gesture for short cut and with screencast i can record my screen activities while im playing a game and then upload the recorded video to social media like YouTube, etc. Lot of supports from developer and have so many choices for custom rom. One thing many people complain about is screen yellow tint, but i personally not affected with the issue. The sreen itself is very bright, even i can read it in direct sunlight with 10 percent brightness. And all those good things are all packed with cheaper price than others, in other word it is a phone with the best price for features ratio.

junior_poa
August 5, 2015
Jiayu S3
Bailey
August 5, 2015
I use a mi4i because I love it and I use the meizu m2 note because I love the big screen and the fact I can read the kondle app on it and download lots of music because of the SD card slot. Bit my fav is the mi4i
intruda
August 5, 2015
Nexus 6 cause I don’t have baby fingers.
David
August 5, 2015
I am waiting for a dream phone: wireless charging is a must!

Cpaun
August 5, 2015
Xiaomi Mi Note. Very good phone. The best I had… So far 🙂
Tone H
August 5, 2015
Xiaomi MI4. Fell from my google cardboard (whilst on my head standing up) a few months ago. Capacitive keys stopped working, but installed 3rd party buttons app and still luv it to bits. Perhaps time for a MI note (old version from Andi’s advice), or LETV. Will wait for further Oukitel news or even see if Doogee can finally come up with the goods with their upcoming ‘flagship’.
- Dante
  August 8, 2015
  NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN NEIN KEIN DOOGEE FASCHISTEN NEIN KEIN DOOGEE BITTE – Hitler’s Last words before his death

iKosh
August 5, 2015
Gionee Elife E7 3GB32GB. Fantastic phone. I would recommend to anyone who doesn’t need 4g. For $150 it is the bargain of the year.
- MaxPower
  August 5, 2015
  - Steve B
    August 6, 2015
    Have one as well, software doesn’t bother me for general day-to-day usage, can’t really see the problem with it. Though I haven’t yet upgraded to Lollipop as I heard the camera performance dropped.
  - iKosh
    August 6, 2015
    I doesn’t like it either, although it is very well optimized, everything is snappy and fluid, lot better than I expected. I don’t like the typical chinese ROM look so I use Google Now launcher.
    There’s a lot of bloat that I have to remove and OTA doesn’t work. I downloaded the KitKat update from the internet, but I didn’t have time to install it, maybe next week. Other E7 owners say it’s a lot better than Jelly Bean.
    Anyway, the software shouldn’t be a reason for not buying it, my overall experience on this device is very positive.
    - MaxPower
      August 6, 2015
      i don’t care of the look either since there are launchers and eye candies on Google play.
      when I hear complaining about the software I’m assuming they are referring on lags, crappy transitions, bugs,non removable bloatware…
      i would not go for a phone if it’s affected by those things listed above and that’s what i was worried about.
      Good to know that’s not the case of the E7 which IMO wins the trophy of the best deal out there.
      - Fly agaric
        August 7, 2015
        I can confirm that none of things you mention arethe case in here. I use Nova launcher, because it’s my favourite one, not because the genuine one sucks so much. Soft is fast, smooth and nicely optimised. It’s not in any way close to old JB (apart of similar look of course).
        
        MaxPower
        August 7, 2015
        I’m really getting confused now.
        now we have You and iKosh saying that the software is snappy and optimized.
        from the other side Andi and Balcobomber25 say that the software is a mess and laggy.
        maybe the opinion changes according to experience.
        I, for example, have always found MIUI very smooth until i tried CM12 a week ago on OPO and made me totally change my mind about MIUI.
        i would still consider it as a nice ROM, but heavy and not so smooth compared to CM
        
        Fly agaric
        August 7, 2015
        Or maybe theyre just basing on experience from previous and default JB ROM. I bet that’s it.
        MaxPower
        August 7, 2015
  - August 7, 2015
    I used an Elife E7 a while back and the optimisation was crap. Gionee make amazing hardware, their ROMS are a bit junk though.
    - MaxPower
      August 7, 2015
      that’s a pity.
      hopefully they will follow Zopo releasing custom roms
    - Fly agaric
      August 7, 2015
      Huh? That was the JB situation. KK is very well optimised and doesn’t suck at all. Smooth, quick and holds the battery nicely. Your opinion is so very 6 months ago!
      Not heavily bloated, but removing some stuff is obvious thing. First thing I do is installing my favourite apps.
      I haven’t even tried looking for different ROMs, because I like the genuine Indian KK so much.
- Dante
  August 8, 2015
  Agreed – For the price you get an amazing camera performance on par with sd801 great build quality and screen – software sucks a bit tho it still on friggin kitkat

Nicola
August 5, 2015
My daily phone is Lenovo k3 note,awesome phone for the price,next will be a Xiaomi,maybe mi 5,I miss this brand on my own phone and I want 1
Pappy
August 5, 2015
HTC One Mini, does everything I want it to with plenty unwanted facilities.
jalebi Singh
August 5, 2015
I got a Galaxy S6 Edge 64GB. Im in Canada, so this thing is worth $1080 lol

G'n'T
August 5, 2015
I am now using the Ulefone Be Touch 2. Has been a good phone so far with only a few minor gripes. Loving the fact I have a BIG FHD screen on LTE in Oz compared to my previous phone.
Victor
August 5, 2015
I am using 2 phones :Coolpad Dashen F1 running MIUI and Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G

10basetom
August 6, 2015
My current daily driver is a Sharp AQUOS 304SH. I enjoy the 304SH’s two-day average battery life, the deep blacks on its IGZO screen, and its relatively small size and weight. Negatives? You can’t update the firmware, I can’t get tethering to work, and no physical navigation buttons (I don’t care for soft buttons).
I’m also eyeing the Siswoo R9 Darkmoon and Umi Zero 2 because I do a lot of reading on the tube (and toilet) and would benefit from the e-ink screen.

Phil
August 6, 2015
After using Jiayu , then Xiaomi MI3w for the last 2 year . have been using a Mi Note Pro for 4 months now. Best phone ever ..and No heating issue ..inspite of whats being said by those who do not have one ! Great screen, Excellent camera and audio. Good battery

The Special Juan
August 6, 2015
Just changed from the elephant p7000 (which I used daily for 2 months and would have stuck with had the screen not have been poor with white spots)
I now use my Meizu mx5. Only been using for a few days but very fast, no lags, the best speakers I have had on any phone, and a cracking camera. I also like flyme….
Frank Wu
August 6, 2015
My daily companion is the Vivo Xplay 3S which I got when it first came out. I have also an Oppo Find 5, One+One and the Lenovo K3 Note with I occasionally used during my travels due to dual sims support!!

Rafayel Mirzoyan
August 6, 2015
I use Asus Zenfone 2 Intel Atom Z3580 (4 GB RAM model). The reason I bought one, is it was cheap and it is quite fast.
bassa
August 6, 2015
Lenovo K3 Note.
E8hffff
August 6, 2015
Gifted Jiayu S3 to Sister, which is a fantastic phone, and about to get Elephone Vowney if no other takes its storm.

Krzysztof S.
August 6, 2015
Moto G 1st gen :F
James Thompson
August 6, 2015
IOcean M6752 so far so good still on KitKat until IOcean sort out the bugs with Lollipop … a long term phone? lets wait and see how it performs over the next few months but for $138 very little to complain about
Samir Maric
August 7, 2015
Yousuf Mohammed
August 7, 2015
really not a Chinese phone. my latest experience is meizu Mx4. in papers a good phone but believe me unreliable as always any Chinese phone. software again software never trust it. i loved the phone first impression was good said too many good words about it to friends .Now started hating this . buggy it can happen to you any time that contacts suddenly missing . you have to restart . if this phone 100 points on it’s hardware it will lose 200 points on software and overall minus for it’s rating . i thank cnet for giving this phone 2 stars for such a buggy software. i suggest meizu to use a normal android firmware found is & 50 phones it would have been better

Fly agaric
August 7, 2015
Elife E7 – Premium phone that became really cheap recntly. I love very well optimised and fast Kitkat ROM on it. I love build quality. I love the quality of the pictures it makes – not the best but still very good. And I love the 3GB RAM / 32 GB ROM situation, too.
I am very tempted by Le1, too.
Alex K
August 7, 2015
Mine is the xplay 3s for over a year now ….great phone….but im in the market for a new 6″er

Georgea
August 8, 2015
Believe it or not my current phone is a note 4 but out of my love for chinese stuff (i had a oneplus one and got my wife a mi note 64gb) I ordered an elephone p8000!
Don’t ask me why I felt in love with that phone despite that ugly black cavity around the screen!
I hope it will be a good phone for me and I will be ready to sell my note 4 and keep it!

Gizfreak
August 8, 2015
An Elephone P6000. It does what it has to do and that’s enough for my everyday’s use.
Zhen
August 8, 2015
Run the Oppo Find 7 as my daily and the Nokia 1020 as on-site shooter.
lovegadget15
August 9, 2015
My daily driver phone was Huawei Ascend G7 for 6 months until I dropped it & now am using Lenovo K3 Note for a month now. Both are great midranger phone. K3 Note at about $150 is really value for money for its specs.

Jay
August 9, 2015
The OnePlus One. Daily driver because it’s only a year old, and am happy with it
Marcello23
August 10, 2015
meizu mx4 pro to take pictures and watch movies when it works but flyme drive me crazy..too buggy. my other phone its moto g first generation.. its my main phone….

Loopy
August 10, 2015
Have an Huawei Honor 6 Plus, great phone, easily a full day of battery life, performance is good but not the best (gaming wise) but the software of Huawei has been great (EMUI 3.0, no lagging, quite snappy and looks nice). Comes with a higher wattage charger as well, so battery charging is fast. Build quality and feel is good, nice screen as well. The camera is quite good as well, though I havent tested it that much yet.
justyfier
August 10, 2015
mine is op1

calvin greene
August 10, 2015
I am going to be buying a smartphone in two weeks for my girlfriend, I was really considering getting her a xiaomi note pro, does anyone have any other recommendations?? Thanks
AdamH
August 10, 2015
Oneplus one 😀 since august 2014
Nareit Ly
August 10, 2015
Thl 4400
istri
August 10, 2015
can someone please suggest a phone thats 5″ or under and has a sd card slot and a decent camera?? cheers dudes
londen langham
August 10, 2015

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