Which Mobile Phone?

[PeteC]

Which did you finally buy, and I hope the new one isn't the one you lost.

[buksida]

Samsung J8, and yes I only had it for six week ...

[thecolonel]

Would like to compare notes with anyone who has(or had) a Xiaomi Redmi note 4x (or similar) and

-upgraded to newer similar model
-changed to another brand eg Huwaei(and why)

I'm in Hua hin with my redmi note 4x(32gb) and it's starting to get quite laggy and slow. Yes I could reset it but it's a real ball ache. Or is there a simple way to speed this up. I'm always running out of space/clearing cache /and have loads of apps. Would it really help if I dumped say 5gb of music?

As its nearly 2 years old I'm considering buying new similar model and making this my back up(it cost 6000 baht ish to import from China to UK).

Saw some new ones in IBIZ in market village today prices attached

I'm favouring 64 GB this time(32 now)

I'm also interested to hear if anyone bought a good 'used' smartphone and experiences thereto.....

All feedback/tips appreciated, thanks



Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk

[JohnD]

You could wait for the Redmi Note 7, not generally available in Thailand as yet?
Getting a lot of good reviews.

https://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_redmi_n ... w-1883.php

https://shopee.co.th/Redmi-Note7-64GB-i ... gKuHvD_BwE

Price quoted as Baht 8,700 for 4GB/64GB.
First Thai advert I've seen.

[VincentD]

Was phone shopping with my son over the last few weeks, and saw a lot of phones. He finally got his way and has a new Samsung Galaxy S9. They are heavily discounted now that the S10 is making it's debut in the next week or so. The Huawei Mate 20 pro was the other consideration, but like most Chinese phones it has a modified Android system and one is sometimes suspicious when you are forced to use 'their' software exclusively.
I did a bit of shopping around for myself (for when the present one will give up the ghost) and the Asus Zenphone Max Pro 2 ticks all the right boxes, especially battery considerations, for the price. At 6.3", I'll probably have to live with the fact that you can't get a decent small phone anymore. My Sony compact is less than 5". The Asus also has a 2.5" headphone jack but an adapter cable is just around 100 baht so no big deal.

[VincentD]

Well, my Sony has finally been made redundant after a fairly good run. I will miss it. The Asus has been out of stock and is rumoured to be out of production for this model so went shopping for another with my son, who is a bit of a phone geek. We looked at the Samsung A30 but as the A7 was heavily discounted that is what I finally went with. I'm still trying to come to terms with the size of the thing...

One feature I do like is the SOS function where, once set up, will call a pre-programmed number with three quick presses of the 'on' button. And now have 4(!!) cameras to play with..

[JohnD]

A screen replacement on my LG G3 in Market Village turned out really well. The new screen was ordered from Bangkok; seems like OEM quality and still 100% ok after one month, all for 1500 baht.

A few days later, I went looking for a dumb or non-smartphone nearby. I bought a Nokia 6300 for 800 baht. I did not do a close inspection having had such a good experience with the smartphone repair.

I took 2 photos and the memory was full. The tiny memory is in KB, not MB. Now obvious the phone is fake; no Nokia logo or music on start up. Waste of time to put a sim in and test, I guess the worst part would be the sms full after a few messages, so you would have to constantly delete messages. However, the phone feels great in the hand, solid workmanship outside but just rubbish inside.
BTW, I now see this same Nokia phone everywhere priced between 650 and 1250 baht. Also, a few dumb Samsungs – got a feeling they may be fake too.

Still looking for a good dumb phone – any suggestions?

[VincentD]

Just a quick one with regard to 'dumb' phones. I do have an original Nokia 6230i but it does not work with the newer 3G SIM cards. The only one that does work right now is the Samsung Hero GT-E1200T. This thing is so dumb it does not even have a camera.. But standby is weeks, not days..

[handdrummer]

Google: best dumb phones.

[JohnD]

Google: best dumb phones.

I have several times...
For Thailand – get fake phones like the one I bought. Discontinued years ago, except for the copies or fakes in the market.
For elsewhere – get unfamiliar brands, or high-end dumb phones costing as much as mid range smartphone.
Google does not help; that’s why I asked for any personal experiences.

[STEVE G]

A screen replacement on my LG G3 in Market Village turned out really well. The new screen was ordered from Bangkok; seems like OEM quality and still 100% ok after one month, all for 1500 baht.

A few days later, I went looking for a dumb or non-smartphone nearby. I bought a Nokia 6300 for 800 baht. I did not do a close inspection having had such a good experience with the smartphone repair.

I took 2 photos and the memory was full. The tiny memory is in KB, not MB. Now obvious the phone is fake; no Nokia logo or music on start up. Waste of time to put a sim in and test, I guess the worst part would be the sms full after a few messages, so you would have to constantly delete messages. However, the phone feels great in the hand, solid workmanship outside but just rubbish inside.
BTW, I now see this same Nokia phone everywhere priced between 650 and 1250 baht. Also, a few dumb Samsungs – got a feeling they may be fake too.

Still looking for a good dumb phone – any suggestions?

I have a cheap Nokia dumb phone that I use for emergencies and you have to put an SD memory card in them to use the camera, that's normal, I bought mine from a major retailer in Europe and it's the same, about 200k of memory built in.

[Dannie Boy]

The OPPO Reno 4 offers most of what the OP was asking for at 5800 Baht - no idea what it’s like but they are a popular brand in Thailand


Processor And operating system
Processor type Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G
Processor Octa-core
speed 2.3 Ghz
Operation system Android
Operating system version ColorOS 7.2 based on Android 10
Display and camera
Display size 6.4 "
Screen resolution 1080 x 2400
Screen type AMOLED
Color on screen 16.7M
Rear camera 4 Rear Camere 48M (f / 1.7) + 8M (f / 2.2) + 2M (f / 2.4) + 2M (f / 2.4)
Front camera 32MP (f / 2.4) + AON Sensor
video Video 4K (30fps) 1080P @ 60fps / 30fps
720P @ 60fps / 30fps
Memory and SIM card
RAM 128GB
Body memory 8GB
Memory card support Up to 256GB
SIM card slot Dual Nano SIM + SD Card (Total 3 slot)
SIM card type Nano SIM
The connection
Support 2G network GSM: 850/900/1800 / 1900MHz
Support 3G network WCDMA: Bands 1/5/8
Support 4G network FDD-LTE: Bands 1/3/5/7/8 4G TD-LTE: Bands 38/40/41 (2535-2655MHz) "
Data transmission speed LTE DATA RATE: UL 75Mbps / DL 200Mbps
Browser N / A
Send a message N / A
EDGE Yes!
GPS Yes!
GPRS Yes!
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, OTG, Wifi 802.11b / g / n / a / ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth BT2.1 + EDR, BT5.1
Style and size
Pattern Touch screen
size 160.3 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm
weight 165g
battery
Battery type Li-polymer
Battery capacity 4,015 mAh
Time to leave the device on (hrs.) Max 350 Hours

[thecolonel]

The OPPO Reno 4 offers most of what the OP was asking for at 5800 Baht - no idea what it’s like but they are a popular brand in Thailand


Processor And operating system
Processor type Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G
Processor Octa-core
speed 2.3 Ghz
Operation system Android
Operating system version ColorOS 7.2 based on Android 10
Display and camera
Display size 6.4 "
Screen resolution 1080 x 2400
Screen type AMOLED
Color on screen 16.7M
Rear camera 4 Rear Camere 48M (f / 1.7) + 8M (f / 2.2) + 2M (f / 2.4) + 2M (f / 2.4)
Front camera 32MP (f / 2.4) + AON Sensor
video Video 4K (30fps) 1080P @ 60fps / 30fps
720P @ 60fps / 30fps
Memory and SIM card
RAM 128GB
Body memory 8GB
Memory card support Up to 256GB
SIM card slot Dual Nano SIM + SD Card (Total 3 slot)
SIM card type Nano SIM
The connection
Support 2G network GSM: 850/900/1800 / 1900MHz
Support 3G network WCDMA: Bands 1/5/8
Support 4G network FDD-LTE: Bands 1/3/5/7/8 4G TD-LTE: Bands 38/40/41 (2535-2655MHz) "
Data transmission speed LTE DATA RATE: UL 75Mbps / DL 200Mbps
Browser N / A
Send a message N / A
EDGE Yes!
GPS Yes!
GPRS Yes!
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi Hotspot, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Display, OTG, Wifi 802.11b / g / n / a / ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth BT2.1 + EDR, BT5.1
Style and size
Pattern Touch screen
size 160.3 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm
weight 165g
battery
Battery type Li-polymer
Battery capacity 4,015 mAh
Time to leave the device on (hrs.) Max 350 Hours

Thanks Dannie Boy will investigate

We all have our favoured specs for phones but for me it's a listening device as much as anything. So I don't want to feel like I have to have it on max volume most of the time to listen to music

On all these YouTube reviews hardly anyone ever tells you what that is like.

Yet they go into huge micro detail on cameras and gaming performance(the latter of which I can understand, even though I've never played a game on a phone in my life!)



Sent from my Redmi Note 4 using Tapatalk

[Dannie Boy]

You shouldn’t have to resort to it, but for better sound experience, you could consider investing in a small Bluetooth speaker?

[buksida]

While on the topic, I'll be in the market for a new device shortly. Reluctant to get another Samsung as IMO they're no better than anything else in terms of spec, software and longevity. Had a Lenovo that lasted longer than the Samsung which has only managed 2 years, and the mrs has had an ASUS for nearly five years.

So the question is, what alternative brands are recommended? Huawei/Xiaomi/Oppo/Vivo/Wiko - I realize they're all Chinese but anyone using them and what are their thoughts.