Mid-range smartphone recommendations

[daocat555]

I ordered my Meizu 16th from AliExpress on November 5'th and it arrived on November 22'nd.  I bought it from the Hongkong VT Store for 14,103 baht.

 

It does not have NFC or wireless charging.  The battery is 3010 mAh.  My memory is 6/64 and the ROM is not expandable.  For me, and I suggest that for many people it is the best phone that money can buy right now (ok, for those money is no object folks go for the 8/128 memory.)

 

It is thin and light with a Super AMOLED screen.  The audio is great.  And I got mine in the white color which I think looks really nice.  The build quality appears to be top notch. 

 

I would prefer it to have wireless charging for convenience and NFC for snob appeal, but phones which have those (Mate 20 Pro) do not have, in my opinion, the other desirable features of the Meizu 16th.  Phone features require a trade off.

 

In May the next  Meizu Flagship might be announced and it is expected to be the same basic phone with internal upgrades such a Snapdragon 8150.  For me staying with the same 6 inch screen makes sense.  It is big enough to show taxi drivers where you want to go on Google Maps, but not so large that the phone is bulky to carry around.

 

It has my highest recommendation. 

[Elkski]

Had to Google what is NFC .  I think we can do without.   

Going to mbk soon today.  Will they have the poco f1 in armored? How much more cost to expect?   What does this mean?   I wonder if I can get it for 11000? Or less

And I hope I can convince someone Samsung  doesn't have the only good non Apple phone. Can I get gsmarena text in Thai? 

Edited November 26, 2018 by Elkski

[Elkski]

I am finding the poco at mbk.  About 10000 for 6/64 and  6/128 about 11400.  

There is also a second hand 6/128 for 9500.   What are risks of used?

[Will27]

2 minutes ago, Elkski said:

I am finding the poco at mbk.  About 10000 for 6/64 and  6/128 about 11400.  

There is also a second hand 6/128 for 9500.   What are risks of used?

Why would you pay 9500 Baht for a 2nd hand model when you can get a brand new one for 10 000

or the same model for only 2000 Baht more.

 

Makes no sense.

[Elkski]

This seller specialist in second hand phones.  Has many used 1 day.  Many 1+ , even a xiaomi Mi Mix2 64 dir 9500.  

I just consider 20% lower price and wonder what risks are?  

Edited November 26, 2018 by Elkski

[Will27]

7 minutes ago, Elkski said:

This seller specialist in second hand phones.  Has many used 1 day.  Many 1+ , even a xiaomi Mi Mix2 64 dir 9500.  

I just consider 20% lower price and wonder what risks are?  

How long is the warranty?

[Elkski]

On 11/25/2018 at 8:34 AM, Tradewind777 said:

 

What warranty do any of these shops offer?   There is one shop that has it on display but it's 12,000

[Elkski]

Went with new red Poco f1 128 gb 

12,380 using credit card.  I see on lazoda for 9600 or so

[kuma]

On 9/6/2018 at 3:18 PM, daocat555 said:

My Umidigi One Pro arrived from dealextreme with a screen protector and a paper rear protector glued to the phone.  I don't like or use screen protectors so if I was keeping the phone I would take it to my local shop and have them remove it and remove the protector on the back of the phone.

 

The speaker output is fairly clean but it doesn't seem very loud.  Since that was a major selling point for me I am disappointed in audio output,  The wireless charger works well and is convenient.  The weight of the phone is 180 grams and with only a 3,250 mAh battery that's a bit overweight.  Build quality I would subjectively rate as below average as the edges where the glass meets the metal border feels a bit sharp when holding it.  It has no "gallery" application and to see stored pictures I need to open up the camera and access them from there.

 

In summary I would say that I am disappointed in this model, and can not recommend it going forward.

 

Meanwhile LazMall at Lazada which had the lowest Prices on the Pocophone F1 6.64 dropped its price today to 9,990 baht in black and got in the blue color for 10,990 baht.  This is an outstanding phone at great price, a price which is lower than any International seller.

 

Great info, thanks for sharing

Reading this thread, seems you buy a lot of phones...lol, any nearly new ones you are lookng to part with haha

[daocat555]

Thank you for bringing that up Kuma.  I buy phones too often.  So far I have sold most of the ones I am not using but the Meizu 15 I have is for sale right now.

 

I bought it on May 4, 2018, for 14,886 baht.  I bought it in the Chinese version and the AliExpress seller rooted the phone and installed multi-language and Google Play.  It is the black color.

 

I like the phone a lot and I replaced it with the Meizu 16th.  This time I waited for the Global version and the white color.  People who are ultra security sensitive don't want to use a phone that has been rooted as it is inherently less secure after being rooted.  The seller warns that the phone may not upgrade OTA after being rooted but Google Maps, Google Play Store, and the one game I play all do upgrade OTA on this phone.

 

Here are the specs of the phone.

 

https://www.gsmarena.com/meizu_15-9159.php

 

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/c14649ef

 

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-meizu-15

 

Some things I like about this phone is its lightweight and compact body size.  The audio is excellent, loud and clear.  The cameras work very well especially in low light.  Although the screen is only 5.46 inch in diagonal the width of the screen is 67.99mm, which is the same as typical phones with a 6 - 6.3 inch diagonal screen (Poco, Mate 20).  It's the width of the screen that is most often used when dialing a number or typing in a short web address (unless you rotate the phone before you type).

 

Few high end phones are this compact, it can be carried in a shirt pocket.

 

Hongkong VT on AliExpress currently has this phone on sale in black for $248.99 (8,231 baht).

 

I live in Jomtian, and the buyer would need to come to my room to buy the phone, which I am selling for 6,000 baht.

[kuma]

2 hours ago, daocat555 said:

Thank you for bringing that up Kuma.  I buy phones too often.  So far I have sold most of the ones I am not using but the Meizu 15 I have is for sale right now.

 

I bought it on May 4, 2018, for 14,886 baht.  I bought it in the Chinese version and the AliExpress seller rooted the phone and installed multi-language and Google Play.  It is the black color.

 

I like the phone a lot and I replaced it with the Meizu 16th.  This time I waited for the Global version and the white color.  People who are ultra security sensitive don't want to use a phone that has been rooted as it is inherently less secure after being rooted.  The seller warns that the phone may not upgrade OTA after being rooted but Google Maps, Google Play Store, and the one game I play all do upgrade OTA on this phone.

 

Here are the specs of the phone.

 

https://www.gsmarena.com/meizu_15-9159.php

 

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/model/c14649ef

 

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-meizu-15

 

Some things I like about this phone is its lightweight and compact body size.  The audio is excellent, loud and clear.  The cameras work very well especially in low light.  Although the screen is only 5.46 inch in diagonal the width of the screen is 67.99mm, which is the same as typical phones with a 6 - 6.3 inch diagonal screen (Poco, Mate 20).  It's the width of the screen that is most often used when dialing a number or typing in a short web address (unless you rotate the phone before you type).

 

Few high end phones are this compact, it can be carried in a shirt pocket.

 

Hongkong VT on AliExpress currently has this phone on sale in black for $248.99 (8,231 baht).

 

I live in Jomtian, and the buyer would need to come to my room to buy the phone, which I am selling for 6,000 baht.

Hey I hope you find a buyer. i am not in Jomtien and not buying now, but I will keep watching in the new year to see what you are up to with phones. I have an HTC 10 now, and my last 4-5 phones have been HTC, find them to have been very good, but next time I might try something different.

Thanks for the detailed posts!

[NanLaew]

Thread bump... because I STILL haven't bought Mrs NL a new phone yet.

 

How does this new release fit in? Is it a high-end budget phone or a low-end mid-range phone?

 

https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2019/1/10/18176538/xiaomi-redmi-note-7-camera-specs-price-release-china-india

[daocat555]

I would label the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 as almost exactly in the middle of the Mid-range phones at a budget price.  However I prefer the Meizu X8.  Here they are compared to the iconic Poco.

 

Comparison between: Meizu X8, Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, Xiaomi Pocophone F1

 

And available right now from Lazada the X8 is 7,990 baht and the Poco is 10,799 baht in blue, cheaper elsewhere.

 

Meizu X8 (4/64) สีดำ: ซื้อขาย โทรศัพท์มือถือ ออนไลน์ในราคาที่ถูกกว่า | Lazada.co.th

 

I've said this before but the Meizu X8 has a narrower body with a wider scree (very thin bezels) and is light and compact with a very energy efficient CPU.

[phutoie2]

just bought my wife an Oppo A7, for 6990 Baht. Battery life and finger print scanner are good.

I am still running with an Asus zenfone, the one with the 5000 amp battery, not sure what glass they put on those phones but not a mark on it, no protective screen cover and I tend to treat my phones roughly, ie dropped a few times.

The Redmi Note 7 appeals as a replacement.

[kuma]

On 1/13/2019 at 12:26 PM, daocat555 said:

I would label the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 as almost exactly in the middle of the Mid-range phones at a budget price.  However I prefer the Meizu X8.  Here they are compared to the iconic Poco.

 

Comparison between: Meizu X8, Xiaomi Redmi Note 7, Xiaomi Pocophone F1

 

And available right now from Lazada the X8 is 7,990 baht and the Poco is 10,799 baht in blue, cheaper elsewhere.

 

Meizu X8 (4/64) สีดำ: ซื้อขาย โทรศัพท์มือถือ ออนไลน์ในราคาที่ถูกกว่า | Lazada.co.th

 

I've said this before but the Meizu X8 has a narrower body with a wider scree (very thin bezels) and is light and compact with a very energy efficient CPU.

Daocat, do you ever look over the HTC lineup? Any comments? I ahve had HTC for many years now, they are out of favour in Thailand, but I find they stack up well. I imagone when they steal your data it goes to the US, whereas the Chinese mainland phones would send the data to China? What a world.

Cheers

[daocat555]

Recently my Meizu went high diving into my toilet.  I needed a new mobile and I wanted it fast.  I went for the Realme 3 Pro.  Here are some thoughts about my former Meizu.  A 15,000 baht phone should ether have a very careful owner or IPS 68.  The man at the shop said the insides of the phone are ok just the screen is broken.  A new screen is 9,000 baht from Aliexpress....more than the value of the phone.

 

I like skinny phones and the Realme 3 Pro is 74.2 mm from side to side.  The realme has a very nice battery and a 6.3 in IPS screen.  So in many ways it goes against what I have been preaching.  Now I am seeing things a bit differently.  Bigger battery, bigger screen is good.  IPS screen is ok.  So I am please with my Realme 3 Pro.

 

I will post this on Low end, high end, and mid range sites as I think there is a lot of good info on those threads so keeping them active might be a good thing.  Comments? please? 

[faraday]

Dunno, but nice to see you back on here.

 

My Oppo F9 is still clap, takes great pics though, & only paid 11k in August.

[dddave]

8 hours ago, daocat555 said:

Recently my Meizu went high diving into my toilet.  I needed a new mobile and I wanted it fast.  I went for the Realme 3 Pro.  Here are some thoughts about my former Meizu.  A 15,000 baht phone should ether have a very careful owner or IPS 68.  The man at the shop said the insides of the phone are ok just the screen is broken.  A new screen is 9,000 baht from Aliexpress....more than the value of the phone.

 

I like skinny phones and the Realme 3 Pro is 74.2 mm from side to side.  The realme has a very nice battery and a 6.3 in IPS screen.  So in many ways it goes against what I have been preaching.  Now I am seeing things a bit differently.  Bigger battery, bigger screen is good.  IPS screen is ok.  So I am please with my Realme 3 Pro.

 

I will post this on Low end, high end, and mid range sites as I think there is a lot of good info on those threads so keeping them active might be a good thing.  Comments? please? 

I learned the same lesson about putting my phone in my shirt pocket: my Redmi Note 3 did a half gainer with a triple loop...barely a ripple.  

Currently liking my Redmi Note 5 pro but hot, Hot HOT for a K20 Pro!

[RoadWarrior371]

If you are in Thailand look at the newly released A30 or A20 from Samsung.  So much phone for the buck, or baht.......

[oxysong]

looking atXiaonmi Redmi note 6  for around 5600 global  (not phone fan)  but the  thai model is around 3500    Anyone have knowledge to root it to global and how much  thanksi

[Isaanbiker]

I was asking a similar question only two weeks ago and had many very negative post regarding the Huawei. People were concerned about America's decision to boycott them, and and and, but nothing is affected. 

 

I just bought a Huawei A 9, a 2019 model from Lazada ( my first purchase from them) 

 

    I checked on it at a Telewiz shop and it was 6,500 baht without a case, etc...

 

  I paid 5670 baht including 65 baht for the delivery and was positively surprised about the phone. It cam with two different cases for free, a plastic screen that really makes it impossible to have scratches and it's really a great phone.

 

   4 GB of DDR memory, a 64 GB hard drive and a fast processor make it to a nice phone. The monitor is huge for such a phone, a great resolution and the sound is also good.

 

You can even add a 256 GB SD card, which other phones can't handle.

 

  I think it's up to 400 Gb, or so.

 

          The phone has so many functions that I'm still trying to figure that all out. 

 

    But to be honest, when I've heard that the battery is "built in", I had some thoughts what will be when the battery dies?

 

    For that reason, I'd reckon to buy a Samsung and you don';t have to spend 10 K for one. One of our specialists here pointed out the Samsung J 7, go for that and you won't be disappointed.

 

  I still got my old Samsung now with the seventh or eighth battery, which is pretty annoying to buy so many batteries in a relatively short period of time. 

 

  

 

  

 

  

[Tuvoc]

5 hours ago, RoadWarrior371 said:

If you are in Thailand look at the newly released A30 or A20 from Samsung.  So much phone for the buck, or baht.......

 

Just bought an A70 here in the UK, amazing phone for the money.

Ended up paying £209 net after a £100 trade-in offer for which I gave them a 5 year old phone which was worthless, and also after a £60 cash-back.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

50 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

For that reason, I'd reckon to buy a Samsung and you don';t have to spend 10 K for one. One of our specialists here pointed out the Samsung J 7, go for that and you won't be disappointed.

 

 

One difference between the some (not all) of the older Samsung J7 series phones is they had/have user replaceable/removable Lithium Ion batteries, whereas the entire A series line released by Samsung this year all have NON user-removable Lithium Polymer batteries.

 

Android phones with user removable batteries are getting increasingly hard to find, and among the few out there, most of the current ones haven't gotten particularly good reviews.

 

Edited June 23, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Isaanbiker]

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

One difference between the some (not all) of the older Samsung J7 series phones is they had/have user replaceable/removable Lithium Ion batteries, whereas the entire A series line released by Samsung this year all have NON user-removable Lithium Polymer batteries.

 

Android phones with user removable batteries are getting increasingly hard to find, and among the few out there, most of the current ones haven't gotten particularly good reviews.

 

Just thinking about what Apple did to their customers...selling them shitty batteries and telling them to buy a new phone?

 

  Honestly speaking, what do you do when the battery's done? 

 

  I prefer to have a phone where I can take the battery out. Just got a new battery for my Samsung J 7, it's slowly because of the low memory but it's reliable.

 

  

 

    

Edited June 23, 2019 by Isaanbiker

[Isaanbiker]

6 hours ago, RoadWarrior371 said:

If you are in Thailand look at the newly released A30 or A20 from Samsung.  So much phone for the buck, or baht.......

I saw one, a A 30, at a shop and I'm planning to buy it for me. The Huawei is now in my wife's hands. Can you take the battery out? 

Edited June 23, 2019 by Isaanbiker

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

Just thinking about what Apple did to their customers...selling them shitty batteries and telling them to buy a new phone?

 

  Honestly speaking, what do you do when the battery's done? 

 

  I prefer to have a phone where I can take the battery out. Just got a new battery for my Samsung J 7, it's slowly because of the low memory but it's reliable.

    

 

My wife has a 2016 version J7. Then we both have newer 2018 J7 Cores, all dual SIMs and all with removable batteries. They've been solid performers throughout. And the J7 Cores just this week got their Android Pie/Samsung One UI firmware updates OTA from Samsung.

 

Those may be about the end of the line, though, as Samsung seems to be joining the industry's bandwagon for non-user removable batteries.

[RoadWarrior371]

1 hour ago, Isaanbiker said:

I saw one, a A 30, at a shop and I'm planning to buy it for me. The Huawei is now in my wife's hands. Can you take the battery out? 

The A30 looks like the battery is not replaceable by direct access, but could be easily replaced by a shop?  Noting that this phone supports Fast Charging, which is a good feature to have at a very low price point.

[balo]

Samsung J6+ works nice , I paid 5900 baht (promotion).

It got all you need really, including a nice camera. Remember to ask for J6+ version, very different from the standard model J6. 

 

Edited June 23, 2019 by balo

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 hours ago, balo said:

Samsung J6+ works nice , I paid 5900 baht (promotion).

It got all you need really, including a nice camera. Remember to ask for J6+ version, very different from the standard model J6. 

 

But non user removable battery....

 

[4evermaat]

20 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

But non user removable battery....

 

Most mid-range phone nowadays with a 3000+mAh battery will be non-removable. Part of it is also for the waterproofing. 

 

Usually the screen will break before the battery does. 

Edited June 25, 2019 by 4evermaat