High End Mobile Recomendations

daocat555 · October 12, 2018

I think we are all with you Henryford on your OnePlus 6 purchase. You got the exact phone you wanted in the color you wanted and it's a great phone. For me RAM is more important than ROM, especially when the ROM is expandable and memory cards are inexpensive. So the 6/64 Poco should meet the needs of most Poco buyers. For 12,990 they can get the 6/128 armoured edition, which I think is kind of a lark, and it should be available soon in red color and 6/256 armoured edition, which again is just fun (for some).

Early this morning I tried to buy the Pixel 3, 4/128 in "not pink" and the Google store wouldn't let me because I am physically in Thailand. I tried live chat help for three hours and still couldn't get the purchase. Which probable is a good thing as I can wait untill gsmarena reviews it and it is at Amazon where I get 10% cash back immediately and another 10% cash back at the end of the year when I purchase it with my Discover card. A tidy $180 cash back, so I was a fool to even think about buying it direct from the Google Store. 4 GB of RAM is terrible for a $900 phone, but as I said before, although I might be buying it I am not recommending it. Oh, and I pretty much had to get the $900 4/128 instead of the $800 4/64 as the ROM is not expandable on the Pixel 3.

Knowing me I'll want to upgrade before 2 years, but if I don't then it's $7 a week, just barely in my budget (if I eat more often from the Street Venders).

toniwascoke · October 13, 2018

you are so knowledgeable, daocat. Appreciate your comments

poanoi · October 14, 2018

the one i'm eyeballing is ulefone power 5,

since the rest of the bunch is so useless i dont even bother carry the phone on me, its constantly on charge

https://www.banggood.com/Ulefone-Power-5-6_0-inch-13000mAh-Wireless-Charge-6GB-RAM-64GB-ROM-MT6763-Octa-core-4G-Smartphone-p-1287016.html?gmcCountry=US&currency=USD&createTmp=1&cur_warehouse=HK&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc_elc1&utm_campaign=dm-12th-rm-asia-pc&utm_content=livia&utm_design=&creative=287705793489&gclid=Cj0KCQjwr4beBRDNARIsAGZaZ5ddEKO1RcvkeCpNpLJBM-84MwEsQ3w7p-dKOaGc31oa7jR2Ew3-rPAaAl0hEALw_wcB&ID=3162

daocat555 · October 14, 2018

Here are a couple of big battery phones you might also want to consider; the HomTom HT70 and the Blackview P10000 Pro which have a 10000 mAh and a 11000 mAh battery. All three phones were released about the same time in March or April 2018.

The dimensions of the Ulefone are 80.2 x 169.4 x 15.8 vs 77 x 165 x 14.7 for the Blackview vs 77 x 165.5 x 14.5 for the HomTom. The weight of the Ulefone is 330 grams vs 293 grams for the Blackview and 309 grams for the HomTom.

The HomTom is the least expensive with the weakest CPU and camera. Tha Ulefone is the most expensive with the best rear camera and the same CPU as the Blackview.

I don't really get the point of lugging around a phone with a 10000 mAh battery when there are many phones with a 6000 mAh battery in a smaller, lighter body such as the Cubot Power which has a sleek 74.39 x 158.39 x 10.75 body, a 215 gram weight, a 6000 mAh battery, and the same 6 inch screen. The display area of the Cubot Power is 78.84 % vs 68.6 % for the Ulefone.

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/e44412215e

https://www.kimovil.com/en/compare/blackview-p10000-pro,homtom-ht70,ulefone-power5

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-cubot-power-128gb

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/3170116ecc

poanoi · October 14, 2018

1 hour ago, daocat555 said:

Here are a couple of big battery phones you might also want to consider; the HomTom HT70 and the Blackview P10000 Pro which have a 10000 mAh and a 11000 mAh battery. All three phones were released about the same time in March or April 2018.

The dimensions of the Ulefone are 80.2 x 169.4 x 15.8 vs 77 x 165 x 14.7 for the Blackview vs 77 x 165.5 x 14.5 for the HomTom. The weight of the Ulefone is 330 grams vs 293 grams for the Blackview and 309 grams for the HomTom.

The HomTom is the least expensive with the weakest CPU and camera. Tha Ulefone is the most expensive with the best rear camera and the same CPU as the Blackview.

I don't really get the point of lugging around a phone with a 10000 mAh battery when there are many phones with a 6000 mAh battery in a smaller, lighter body such as the Cubot Power which has a sleek 74.39 x 158.39 x 10.75 body, a 215 gram weight, a 6000 mAh battery, and the same 6 inch screen. The display area of the Cubot Power is 78.84 % vs 68.6 % for the Ulefone.

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/e44412215e

https://www.kimovil.com/en/compare/blackview-p10000-pro,homtom-ht70,ulefone-power5

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-cubot-power-128gb

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/3170116ecc

i'm unable to remember to charge the phone every_day,

and as a result i have no phone if i carry it.

it wasnt like this 20 years ago, 20 years ago a man could charge his phone once a week and that was the end of it

Ks45672 · October 14, 2018

1 hour ago, daocat555 said:

Here are a couple of big battery phones you might also want to consider; the HomTom HT70 and the Blackview P10000 Pro which have a 10000 mAh and a 11000 mAh battery. All three phones were released about the same time in March or April 2018.

The dimensions of the Ulefone are 80.2 x 169.4 x 15.8 vs 77 x 165 x 14.7 for the Blackview vs 77 x 165.5 x 14.5 for the HomTom. The weight of the Ulefone is 330 grams vs 293 grams for the Blackview and 309 grams for the HomTom.

The HomTom is the least expensive with the weakest CPU and camera. Tha Ulefone is the most expensive with the best rear camera and the same CPU as the Blackview.

I don't really get the point of lugging around a phone with a 10000 mAh battery when there are many phones with a 6000 mAh battery in a smaller, lighter body such as the Cubot Power which has a sleek 74.39 x 158.39 x 10.75 body, a 215 gram weight, a 6000 mAh battery, and the same 6 inch screen. The display area of the Cubot Power is 78.84 % vs 68.6 % for the Ulefone.

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/e44412215e

https://www.kimovil.com/en/compare/blackview-p10000-pro,homtom-ht70,ulefone-power5

https://www.kimovil.com/en/where-to-buy-cubot-power-128gb

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/3170116ecc

I like the big battery phones and i will probably buy one when they start putting sd 845 and modern guts in them

The ones that are available now are mostly lower end chipset and camera and components

Also from reviews they hit the ground a lot harder due to the extra weight of the huge battery so be careful ,1 drop on anything harder than carpet is probably game over

daocat555 · October 15, 2018

Is 5000 mAh enough? Is a MediaTek Helio P60 with an Antutu score of 131,000 enough? I couldn't find any high spec'd phone with a battery bigger than 5000 mAh, but as armoured phones go my favorite is the Blackview BV9600 Plus. With Gorilla Glass 5 and fully armoured it covers your concern about dropping it. It's a tank at 81.4 x 162.9 x 8.8 mm, but you are getting a 6.21 inch AMOLED screen at high resolution and it's weight of 201 grams is very reasonable.

Here are the Blackview, Ulefone, and your daily driver the Huawei Mate 10 compared.

https://www.devicespecifications.com/en/comparison/8bf51223d8

https://www.kimovil.com/en/compare/blackview-bv9600-plus,huawei-mate-10-pro-6gb-128gb,ulefone-power5

poanoi · October 15, 2018

i checked out the Blackview P10000 Pro,

battery seem like it might be up to snuff,

and it seem to be more rugged than ulefone.

ulefone power 5 otoh has 1/3 more ram and a wireless charger,

and for sure will outlast anything else on the market on my #1 priority, -the sucker wont be dead if i want to use it or someone phone me.

it would be nice to say the least if it came in a ruggedized version

Edited October 15, 2018 by poanoi

daocat555 · October 17, 2018

Last evening I watched live the Huawei announcement of the Mate 20, the Mate 20 Pro, and the Mate 20 X. In my opinion these models completely blow the door off of the Apple iPhone XS Max, the Pixel 3 XL, the LG V40 ThinQ, and every other flagship out there.

Talk about battery the Mate 20 Pro has a 4200 mAh battery and with the 7nm process technology of its CPU that is going to lead to awesome battery time. A 6.39 inch screen in a svelte 72.3mm wide body makes a joke of the Pixel 3 XL with its 6.3 inch screen in a body width of 76.7mm.

Three rear cameras, stereo speakers, and super fast charging with wireless charging available by which you can charge your Mate 20 Pro or wirelessly charge a friends phone are just some of the goodies of this monster phone.

It's a Swiss pocket knife of a flagship with no weaknesses that I can see. Awesome phone.

Henryford · October 17, 2018

39 minutes ago, daocat555 said:

Last evening I watched live the Huawei announcement of the Mate 20, the Mate 20 Pro, and the Mate 20 X. In my opinion these models completely blow the door off of the Apple iPhone XS Max, the Pixel 3 XL, the LG V40 ThinQ, and every other flagship out there.

Talk about battery the Mate 20 Pro has a 4200 mAh battery and with the 7nm process technology of its CPU that is going to lead to awesome battery time. A 6.39 inch screen in a svelte 72.3mm wide body makes a joke of the Pixel 3 XL with its 6.3 inch screen in a body width of 76.7mm.

Three rear cameras, stereo speakers, and super fast charging with wireless charging available by which you can charge your Mate 20 Pro or wirelessly charge a friends phone are just some of the goodies of this monster phone.

It's a Swiss pocket knife of a flagship with no weaknesses that I can see. Awesome phone.

Yes it looks like the one to get. Weaknesses, price 40,000 baht !! and no headphone jack.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Henryford

Ks45672 · October 17, 2018

3 hours ago, Henryford said:

Yes it looks like the one to get. Weaknesses, price 40,000 baht !! and no headphone jack.

The headphones plug into the charging port via a 2 inch adapter

It's not the end of the world for music lovers

daocat555 · October 17, 2018

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is on pre-sale at its VMALL online sales site in all colors for 9999 Chinese Yuan or 47,118 baht in the 6/128 version, which turns out to not have an in-display fingerprint sensor, which is on the 8 MB RAM version which is not yet listed for sale. That's quite a bit higher than the announced price of 39,480 baht.

Lazada offers nice discounts on some Huawei phones, but on the high end models they may not discount by much, but it will be interesting to see how Lazada sets the price.

daocat555 · October 19, 2018

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro had been listed at Aliexpress in all colors and memory and at a discount. It's $1,040 (33,899 baht) for the 6/128 version. If Lazada will list it for that price then people in Thailand might want to consider this awesome flagship.

HAKAPALITA · October 19, 2018

I will stick with my Apples.All the family have one and never had a fault.Got fed up with 12000 bht fire lighters [emoji602]

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

Ks45672 · October 20, 2018

On 10/19/2018 at 11:39 PM, daocat555 said:

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro had been listed at Aliexpress in all colors and memory and at a discount. It's $1,040 (33,899 baht) for the 6/128 version. If Lazada will list it for that price then people in Thailand might want to consider this awesome flagship.

As an owner of the mate 10 it was the first Huawei I've ever bought and it's as good as Samsung or apple when it comes to build quality if not better in some ways (wifi range is very impressive on this phone and if used as a hotspot the range of device's than can connect is better than any device I've used, even through walls other devices can connect to it)

I have tested stuff most people wouldn't bother about because I'm interested in tech in general

Coupe of negatives I've noticed about the kirin 970 (mate 10 SOC) is the quoted charging speed for the Huawei supercharge only works when the phone is cool

(the published results have tiny writing at the bottom that explain the advertised speeds were achieved by Huawei in controlled settings at 25 degrees with 4g on standby (my Thai house is about 32 thesedays so the phone throttles the charging speed by a large %)

(i was wondering why charging was taking longer than it should but i figured out the house was just too hot for it and the battery throttles the current when it reaches 38-39° for safety

(antutu benchmark average is about 210,000 and i got 160,000 odd so i put the phone in the fridge for 5 min and run it again and got 215,000ish so it's definitely a temperature thing) ????

It also doesn't seem to pickup the strongest nearest wifi signal as fast as snapdragon and switching between sim 1 and 2 doesn't seem as fast as on the Samsung s7 or s8 while walking around the property

Apart from minor niggles the mate 10 pro was and still is a great phone if you want to pick one up they're getting very cheap in the box shops

the new flagship looks amazing and 70% of 4200Mah in 30 min is a huge improvement over even the top dogs

Huawei also know how to make excellent cameras if you take a lot of pictures it may be the phone for you

Henryford · October 21, 2018

On 10/19/2018 at 11:39 PM, daocat555 said:

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro had been listed at Aliexpress in all colors and memory and at a discount. It's $1,040 (33,899 baht) for the 6/128 version. If Lazada will list it for that price then people in Thailand might want to consider this awesome flagship.

I would be nervous about buying an expensive item from Aliexpress, which has to be prepaid. Will it arrive? If there is a fault how do you get it replaced? Will you get stung by thai customs? Even 34,000 baht is hardly a bargain.

daocat555 · October 21, 2018

I agree that there is anxiety when buying from aliexpress. I have bought four phones from them. My Meizu 15 and three inexpensive phones. The only problem I had was that I ordered one of the inexpensive phones in blue and I was sent it in black. But I agree that it would be aggravating if I ordered from aliexpress and received a defective phone.

For those willing to put up with the anxiety of ordering from aliexpress there are benefits to be had. Take, for example, the Meizu X8. This model is unlikely to ever be available online from a Thai seller. It has a Snapdragon 710 CPU, a 6.2 inch screen, a 86% useable display area, a 3210 mAh battery, and decent cameras. Like most Meizus the body is relatively svelte and light, at 74.6 x 151.2 x 7.8 mm and 160 grams heavy.

This can be had for 7,605 baht from aliexpress. That's a lot of phone for a pretty small price. The seller is the one I bought my Meizu 15 from, so I can report a buyer with one good experience in buying from them.

I am considering buying the Huawei Mate 20 Pro from aliexpress but the seller has less good buyer feedback than the Meizu Online store, so that's a concern to me. And I am going to wait and see what Lazada sells it for, and wait for the reviews to come out on it before I make such an expensive purchase online.

I am just really grateful that the Google online store rejected my purchase of the $900 Google Pixel 3 which I tried to buy. I think that if I am going to buy an expensive phone in the next month or so that it will be the Huawei Mate 20 Pro; which for $140 more than the Pixel 3 would give me quite a few better features. So in the future I will try to be more considered before I click on "buy now".

Oh, and for people unfamiliar with the Meizu brand the build quality tends to be excellent and it is a major brand in China

Edited October 21, 2018 by daocat555
more info added

Ks45672 · October 22, 2018

Looks like theres a new sheriff in town.... ????

marcusarelus · October 23, 2018

18 hours ago, Ks45672 said:

Looks like theres a new sheriff in town.... ????

Where to buy in Thailand? I think it is 10,000 more than the Note 9 now on sale AIS and Dtac?

Ks45672 · October 23, 2018

7 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Where to buy in Thailand? I think it is 10,000 more than the Note 9 now on sale AIS and Dtac?

Not sure if it's officially on sale here yet

The note 9 has been out for awhile now so the price has likely come down some at the box shops in mbk

The mate 20 pro will come down similarly if you want to wait until its a few months old

Huawei will probably be the fastest android phone you can buy until the 2019 models launch with the snapdragon 855

Edited October 23, 2018 by Ks45672

anon7854 · October 23, 2018

I don't trust these "speed tests" , actually I don't trust anything online in regard to product reviews. Nobody is doing stuff for free without an incentive and of course companies do all they can (including delivering "boosted models e.g better processors" to reviewers) to promote and they know that enthusiast always check online reviews first.

Every years it's the same bullshit - X is faster that Y and Z is faster that X mumbo jumbo...and in reality your experience is 99.9% the same.

daocat555 · October 23, 2018

Where to buy in Thailand? Well, when in Thailand you can order from AliExpress. I guess that's not really answering your question. The Mate 20 Pro is not yet at Lazada but it will probably get there pretty soon. My guess is that Lazada will discount it but not as heavily as AliExpress. I am currently checking Lazada daily for it as I am interested in the model. Because of its price I would not expect the box shops at MBK to stock it.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in 6/128 is 30,900 baht at Lazada and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro in 6/128 (and emerald green no less) is 34,131 baht at AliExpress, so 3,231 baht more.

Anon7852, I don't trust this whole "the earth is round" nonsense. It's flat, it's always been flat, and sponsored review sites get paid to say that it's round.

Um,

anon7854 · October 23, 2018

Hey at least you tried to be funny. I appreciate that. It's always nice to live in denial and have no idea what goes around in the marketing business. But at least you tried and I'm glad that the sun shines everyday in your world ????

Ask 99% of the professional reviewers where do they get their devices from and if they can afford to not receive them anymore ???? Heard that big brother doesn't send it that often and with priority pre-launch if you say bad about them ????

Edited October 23, 2018 by anon7854

poanoi · October 23, 2018

On 10/21/2018 at 9:07 AM, Henryford said:

I would be nervous about buying an expensive item from Aliexpress, which has to be prepaid. Will it arrive? If there is a fault how do you get it replaced? Will you get stung by thai customs? Even 34,000 baht is hardly a bargain.

i have bought a number of stuff from aliexpress & alibaba,

it all went well except the last item the thai postal office phoned me and told i had to go there myself and pick it up

because i hadnt used all the suffixes in my address.

the issue is that a thai address is so long so formal letters with a windows dont fit it all, and there is only so many spaces available when ordering online, i think its 160 keyboard points including spaces between words, i tried to ditch 'nongprue & banglamung to fit it all, that didnt go down well with the post.

one item i got flogged with import tax

Edited October 23, 2018 by poanoi

daocat555 · October 23, 2018

I know exactly what you mean and I also live in Nongprue, Banglamung. I managed to get it all in for my AliExpress profile by using all the lines that are available because you can only fit so much on any given line. By all means know your precise address if you want to order from Aliexpress, and take care that AliExpress has your address precisely. Once accomplished then it's a snap to repeat when you order again.

marcusarelus · October 23, 2018

4 hours ago, daocat555 said:

Where to buy in Thailand? Well, when in Thailand you can order from AliExpress. I guess that's not really answering your question. The Mate 20 Pro is not yet at Lazada but it will probably get there pretty soon. My guess is that Lazada will discount it but not as heavily as AliExpress. I am currently checking Lazada daily for it as I am interested in the model. Because of its price I would not expect the box shops at MBK to stock it.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 in 6/128 is 30,900 baht at Lazada and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro in 6/128 (and emerald green no less) is 34,131 baht at AliExpress, so 3,231 baht more.

Anon7852, I don't trust this whole "the earth is round" nonsense. It's flat, it's always been flat, and sponsored review sites get paid to say that it's round.

Um,

AIS quoted me 24 something on some friendship deal and I think Dtac too. Now's the time to buy if you want a Note. Does the Huawei have a stylus?

Henryford · October 24, 2018

The Samsung Note 9 is 27,500 baht on the NASA box shop at MBK. I would be hard pressed to pay upto 40,000 for the Mate 20 even with it's extra "features". The P20 Pro is down to 20,000.

Edited October 24, 2018 by Henryford

daocat555 · October 24, 2018

The Huawei P20 Pro is one of my favorite phone models and I didn't know it was down to 20,000 baht for which you are getting a great phone. In my opinion it had the best camera of any phone until the Mate 20 Pro and I see no weaknesses of the P20 Pro.

Having said that that the Mate 20 Pro is better. Is it 13,899 baht better? That depends on what the buyer wants and what the buyer can spend.

There actually is a stylus for the Mate 20 Pro available as an additional purchase but gsmarena found problems with the software implementation of the stylus and there is no built in place to store the stylus on the phone. So people wanting a high end phone with a stylus would probably opt for the Note 9.

SooKee · October 24, 2018

12 hours ago, anon7854 said:

I don't trust these "speed tests" , actually I don't trust anything online in regard to product reviews. Nobody is doing stuff for free without an incentive and of course companies do all they can (including delivering "boosted models e.g better processors" to reviewers) to promote and they know that enthusiast always check online reviews first.

Every years it's the same bullshit - X is faster that Y and Z is faster that X mumbo jumbo...and in reality your experience is 99.9% the same.

I really do agree that for all the hype the user experience for me has never noticeably improved, OK maybe it has vs the iPhone 3GS of 2009(?) compared to now but I'd say that's at least as much down to app development as it is the hardware. I guess the end user benefit may well depend on what you use the device for. I rarely watch video on a phone, have zero interest in games, so it comes down to camera (it doesn't need to be the best but it needs to be decent) along with a few chat, info (maps, news & cinema times etc) and utility (banking, to do & fitness etc) type apps with the chat apps being used most and even that's not much and tends to happen in bursts. Then, a few years ago, having been an Apple die hard for years, I decided I had got really fed up with paying ever (and rapidly) increasing (and never discounted - at least here) prices for their devices for Apple to continue to fail to address the ONLY thing I have really ever cared about, battery life.

STILL, after the years of the big manufacturer claims and hype of "#% better at this and that" battery life is still absolute %hite and you can pretty much be sure that after a year of use you'll be lucky to get through a day. So all the tests might well be accurate but insofar as end-user benefits, for me it's squat because for all the 'X% better, faster, more efficient' all the apps I use seem to open and work at the same speed as they did a few years ago. Improvements in efficiency also come with ever more power hungry displays that seem to negate any gains that might otherwise have been made. There's certainly no noticeable difference for me between individual phone upgrades. I tend to run the same apps year after year too so it's not like the phone is getting junked up with poorly designed battery draining apps, the drive for light weight credit card thin phones just keeps the batteries way too small to provide enough power for more than (or, after a while, even) a day.

So phones and all the latest specs for me aren't that much of a concern. My plan these days is buy a phone, keep it a couple of years, then buy last year's flagship Samsung, so next year I'll likely pick up a Galaxy S9, after the 10 is released. I'm not expecting to get a faster or better user experience over the current S7 Edge and expect about the same with regard to battery life. Crap! Exactly the same as EVERY other phone I've had. Crap.

I quite like(d) the idea of the Pixel 3 but pure Android doesn't appeal to me enough to pay the exorbitant prices for them (or indeed any other flagship) given what I use it for and given that fact that the Pixel 3 design is still in most respects pretty lacklustre IMO. Maybe if I lived somewhere where prices on contract bought the cost down I'd look at it, or if a telco here ever got a deal with them. As I've said before, biggest concern for me is warranty, esp if I was paying top-bat flagship prices. I'd risk 30,000 on a Samsung bought in Thailand with full warranty but no way would I risk it on a grey import Pixel 3 or grey import anything. iPhones I'd also be less wary of given you can buy direct from Apple online (I'd never buy from these Apple-esque re-seller stores) and given that they are supposed to be opening one or two stores here soon. Given what I need the phone still needs to be fairly powerful I suppose, difference is, these days your'e not constrained to paying Apple / Samsung premium prices and neither is the competition crap any more, esp with the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei.

While above I said I'd likely pick up a S9 next year it'll actually more likely be whatever the Mi flagship is then as I prefer MiUi over Touchwiz (now Samsung Experience) simply because the specs on the Mi will be right up there and there's far less bloat on the Mi than comes with the Samsung. I prefer the Mi's iPhone style settings 'app' to over the standard Android / Samsung version. My girlfriend has the Xiaomi Mi 8. Outstanding device IMO and, given we are both on AIS contracts, you can get some great deals from them. The Mi 8 cost 9K vs 16K from Xiaomi. I'd look at Huawei too, no Meizu for me, again, warranty concerns. I wouldn't buy a phone from outside Thailand personally and no way would I buy one from Ali Express.

I have used Ali Express a lot with no problems. I'd say AE is fine UNTIL you get a problem. As a result of my experience in that regard I only EVER use AE now for small value ($20 or less) items that will not need warranty (the cost of shipping stuff back to China for repairs can get expensive and that's if you can get the warranty honoured) and where, other than for failure to deliver, their buyer protection won't be needed. The experience I have with them is that their buyer protection is complete BS and isn't worth the paper it's not written on, completely and utterly useless, as is their customer service who's primary role in disputes seems to be to get rid of the customer and avoid paying out while trotting out 'feel good CS BS and platitudes - "I'm here to help", "Let's see if we can resolve this". Their CS agents can't deal with or even escalate anything and when they offer to contact the seller for you that amounts to them copying you in on an email where they say "our customer is trying to contact you, please log in to customer chat and check." Completely useless. You can Google Ali Express customer service complaints / problems to see just how bad they are. IMO, AE are totally in cahoots with the sellers in the event of a problem, even if goods are misrepresented. I use them as an absolute last resort now, only EVER order from official brand stores (like Xtar for chargers etc) and, these days, I order from them using a European credit card and with the slightest hint of a problem contact the credit card company for charge back (which they hate - tough!!!), as the protection AE offer isn't worth a toss. With Ali Express for me it's a case of buyer beware, take your own steps for customer protection and don't buy anything you can't afford to lose. YMMV.

Edited October 24, 2018 by SooKee

Ks45672 · October 24, 2018

9 hours ago, SooKee said:

I really do agree that for all the hype the user experience for me has never noticeably improved, OK maybe it has vs the iPhone 3GS of 2009(?) compared to now but I'd say that's at least as much down to app development as it is the hardware. I guess the end user benefit may well depend on what you use the device for. I rarely watch video on a phone, have zero interest in games, so it comes down to camera (it doesn't need to be the best but it needs to be decent) along with a few chat, info (maps, news & cinema times etc) and utility (banking, to do & fitness etc) type apps with the chat apps being used most and even that's not much and tends to happen in bursts. Then, a few years ago, having been an Apple die hard for years, I decided I had got really fed up with paying ever (and rapidly) increasing (and never discounted - at least here) prices for their devices for Apple to continue to fail to address the ONLY thing I have really ever cared about, battery life.

STILL, after the years of the big manufacturer claims and hype of "#% better at this and that" battery life is still absolute %hite and you can pretty much be sure that after a year of use you'll be lucky to get through a day. So all the tests might well be accurate but insofar as end-user benefits, for me it's squat because for all the 'X% better, faster, more efficient' all the apps I use seem to open and work at the same speed as they did a few years ago. Improvements in efficiency also come with ever more power hungry displays that seem to negate any gains that might otherwise have been made. There's certainly no noticeable difference for me between individual phone upgrades. I tend to run the same apps year after year too so it's not like the phone is getting junked up with poorly designed battery draining apps, the drive for light weight credit card thin phones just keeps the batteries way too small to provide enough power for more than (or, after a while, even) a day.

So phones and all the latest specs for me aren't that much of a concern. My plan these days is buy a phone, keep it a couple of years, then buy last year's flagship Samsung, so next year I'll likely pick up a Galaxy S9, after the 10 is released. I'm not expecting to get a faster or better user experience over the current S7 Edge and expect about the same with regard to battery life. Crap! Exactly the same as EVERY other phone I've had. Crap.

I quite like(d) the idea of the Pixel 3 but pure Android doesn't appeal to me enough to pay the exorbitant prices for them (or indeed any other flagship) given what I use it for and given that fact that the Pixel 3 design is still in most respects pretty lacklustre IMO. Maybe if I lived somewhere where prices on contract bought the cost down I'd look at it, or if a telco here ever got a deal with them. As I've said before, biggest concern for me is warranty, esp if I was paying top-bat flagship prices. I'd risk 30,000 on a Samsung bought in Thailand with full warranty but no way would I risk it on a grey import Pixel 3 or grey import anything. iPhones I'd also be less wary of given you can buy direct from Apple online (I'd never buy from these Apple-esque re-seller stores) and given that they are supposed to be opening one or two stores here soon. Given what I need the phone still needs to be fairly powerful I suppose, difference is, these days your'e not constrained to paying Apple / Samsung premium prices and neither is the competition crap any more, esp with the likes of Xiaomi and Huawei.

While above I said I'd likely pick up a S9 next year it'll actually more likely be whatever the Mi flagship is then as I prefer MiUi over Touchwiz (now Samsung Experience) simply because the specs on the Mi will be right up there and there's far less bloat on the Mi than comes with the Samsung. I prefer the Mi's iPhone style settings 'app' to over the standard Android / Samsung version. My girlfriend has the Xiaomi Mi 8. Outstanding device IMO and, given we are both on AIS contracts, you can get some great deals from them. The Mi 8 cost 9K vs 16K from Xiaomi. I'd look at Huawei too, no Meizu for me, again, warranty concerns. I wouldn't buy a phone from outside Thailand personally and no way would I buy one from Ali Express.

I have used Ali Express a lot with no problems. I'd say AE is fine UNTIL you get a problem. As a result of my experience in that regard I only EVER use AE now for small value ($20 or less) items that will not need warranty (the cost of shipping stuff back to China for repairs can get expensive and that's if you can get the warranty honoured) and where, other than for failure to deliver, their buyer protection won't be needed. The experience I have with them is that their buyer protection is complete BS and isn't worth the paper it's not written on, completely and utterly useless, as is their customer service who's primary role in disputes seems to be to get rid of the customer and avoid paying out while trotting out 'feel good CS BS and platitudes - "I'm here to help", "Let's see if we can resolve this". Their CS agents can't deal with or even escalate anything and when they offer to contact the seller for you that amounts to them copying you in on an email where they say "our customer is trying to contact you, please log in to customer chat and check." Completely useless. You can Google Ali Express customer service complaints / problems to see just how bad they are. IMO, AE are totally in cahoots with the sellers in the event of a problem, even if goods are misrepresented. I use them as an absolute last resort now, only EVER order from official brand stores (like Xtar for chargers etc) and, these days, I order from them using a European credit card and with the slightest hint of a problem contact the credit card company for charge back (which they hate - tough!!!), as the protection AE offer isn't worth a toss. With Ali Express for me it's a case of buyer beware, take your own steps for customer protection and don't buy anything you can't afford to lose. YMMV.

Phones are constantly improving every aspect of the hardware and software experience

Maybe you don't notice because......

You're either not very observant or you don't use your phone to its full capabilities.....

Simple tasks like sending an email will be the same speed on a $100 junk phone as the $1500 phone but what did you expect to Happen ? ????

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