Best Smartphone for THB 12,000 in Thailand

[ongengwai]

I wonder what would you recommend for a budget of THB 12k ? I must buy a phone in these 2 days so I can't wait for the likes of ASUS Zenfone 2. I must buy from physical shop so perhaps Xiaomi phones are out of touch. What else would you recommend, something that can be found in the likes of PowerBuy, Banana IT, Jaymart ?

My top concern is call audio quality. Then camera. Then speed. Then dual sim. Less bothered about SD card slot, removable battery.

Thanks ..

[jbinth2k]

zenfone 5 lte. 6000 baht.

[casualbiker]

Mobile Expo starts today until Sunday.. Queen Sirikit centre. Bangkok..

Xiaomi Mi4 will be there.. 10,XXX

Rumours that zenfone 2 will also be available...

Best bang for buck is probably last years Lenovo K910L Vibe... 6,XXX

http://www.shopat7.com/index.php?lay=show&ac=cat_show_pro_detail&pid=319826

[pauleddy]

I just bought Samsung A5 (12,900) because I refuse to pay 700 pounds for the I Phone 6.

Everything about it seems good...except that it has some kind of gimmickry for taking better selfies (not interested!)

It's also made of aluminium, unlike the older samsungs which were plastic.

A friend who knows more than little me, says that the A5 camera is not as sharp as the Apple phones.

Hope this helpeth

Eddy

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Samsung A7 on Lazada for less than B 12000. Gives you a 5.5 inch HD screen, speed, good camera and aliminium frame. If you want something smaller you can look at the A5. If you want cheaper you can look at the Samsung E range or Chinese brands. If you however go with the Chinese brands support back in your home country can be a problem.

[hkt83100]

I just bought a second hand Samsung S5 for 12,000 and I am quite happy with it's performance. The only problem is that the camera really does not stand up to the one in my 808 Pureview and I am missing the alarm clock (a real one, which works even though the phone is switched OFF) of the Nokia line.

[casualbiker]

Out of the Samsung products I have purchased it was upgrade support that was lacking.. As in NO ROM upgrades.. They were the cheaper products.. But Samsung aren't renowned for software updates!

[casualbiker]

I just bought a second hand Samsung S5 for 12,000 and I am quite happy with it's performance. The only problem is that the camera really does not stand up to the one in my 808 Pureview and I am missing the alarm clock (a real one, which works even though the phone is switched OFF) of the Nokia line.

The 808 was basically a phone built around a camera. No wonder the S5 doesn't match it!

[StefanBBK]

Your choices are endless. I would just go to jaymart etc. and have a look, play with some display models, take a photo. Don't be fussed about spending 12k, you likely find a suitable LG, OPPO, etc for about 8k.

[JDGRUEN]

The LG series of 6-8K units and above are excellent ... I helped two friends recently select phones -- and they ended up buying different models of the LGs ... extremely good... one was a model with a stylus - a fairly large screen... I want one of these - not sure which.

[Rod Wallop]

I have an LG G2. Best phone I have ever owned.

[Silurian]

I second the recommendation for the Samsung A5. Bought one for the father-in-law. Easy to use and very good battery life. Sony also has some nice smartphones in the 12,000 Baht range but Sony is slow for software updates. I personally use a Sony smartphone but that is because the company purchased it for me. It works well and the battery lasts the day for me.

[Dannyboy666]

I just bought Samsung A5 (12,900) because I refuse to pay 700 pounds for the I Phone 6.

Everything about it seems good...except that it has some kind of gimmickry for taking better selfies (not interested!)

It's also made of aluminium, unlike the older samsungs which were plastic.

A friend who knows more than little me, says that the A5 camera is not as sharp as the Apple phones.

Hope this helpeth

Eddy

. Get a 5S iPhone Edited May 7, 2015 by Dannyboy666

[Gtto]

oneplus one. Amazing phone. Available in Bkk at MBK or online at Lazada.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Gtto

[lvr181]

I just bought Samsung A5 (12,900) because I refuse to pay 700 pounds for the I Phone 6.

Everything about it seems good...except that it has some kind of gimmickry for taking better selfies (not interested!)

It's also made of aluminium, unlike the older samsungs which were plastic.

A friend who knows more than little me, says that the A5 camera is not as sharp as the Apple phones.

Hope this helpeth

Eddy

. Get a 5S iPhone

Huh?

[csabo]

Can you explain the benefits of dual sim? I think I grasp it but just curious if I understand it correctly. Thanks

[canarysun]

I would buy a Huawei ( not Samsung ) fabulous phones and have great cameras too viewers! (Farang Jaidee reporting....)

[vento]

What about a Xperia z3 Compact. Aboit 12500 (import prices) in mbk. Get very good reviews

[meltingpot2015]

Bought Samsung Galaxy Grand II Duo (Dual Sim), because I can have both a Thailand (local) sim and an Australian sim (mainly for receiving SMS messages from Oz) on one phone at the same time. This bit works fine. But it has bad battery life. If I use location services in Google Maps or another app, it just uses-up the battery in no time. So have to buy a powerbank.

Performance sucks. changing from one menu to another takes forever. Same with opening apps, sometimes really slow. Paid 8000 Bhat, but I reckon I should have paid a bit more and gone for an iphone or one of the lesser known brands (with good reviews).

Edited May 7, 2015 by meltingpot2015

[ongengwai]

Can you explain the benefits of dual sim? I think I grasp it but just curious if I understand it correctly. Thanks

Dual sim allows you to have 2 mobile number in one phone. In countries like India and China, many people have two sims so that they can pick and choose the number with the cheapest rate to call.

For me, dual sim is useful when I travel abroad. So I can buy a foreign local sim and put it in the phone. I can still receive call if my customer call my usual Thai number. And I can use the foreign local sim to get cheaper data.

[casualbiker]

Lenovo K910L ..5,700baht.. Clearance deal at CSC IT UNLIMITED @ Mobile expo.Queen Srikit Centre.excellent..

Edited May 8, 2015 by casualbiker

[nev]

Lenovo K910L ..5,700baht.. Clearance deal at CSC IT UNLIMITED @ Mobile expo.Queen Srikit Centre.excellent..

My wife has a Lennovo S850 and she loves it, i like it too and find Lennovo good value for money, i have a Ulefone be pro and all i can say it is excellent and has high end specs, they not sell here in Thailand i bought mine online,It has 4G and a 64 bit CPU www.ulefone.com.

[meltingpot2015]

Looked at some VIVO phones the other day, the performance is really great. Even the 3G ones perform really well. But personally I would go a 4G phone with any brand. All (most) VIVo's I looked at were dual-sim and available for under 7,000 thai bhat.

There are showrooms in shopping complexes like Central World, Bangkok. I listened to a track on the audio player, both loudspeaker and through headphones (they have decent headphones beside every display phone, so they must recognize this is one of the top priorities of customers), and the sound was crisp and clear. To be fair I am not an expert in this, because have not listened to the audio on many phones. The video also performed well.

Don't know about support back in your home country though. So best check this before buying.

[ricklev]

Imobile IQ 9.2 now on sale at big c for 6000. Brilliant!

[casualbiker]

I mobile have a new phone out called the BIG because it has a 5,000 mah battery.. 5,995.. Lollipop.. 5" screen.. Looked OK for the price.

http://www.siamphone.com/spec/i-mobile/iq_big.htm

Edited May 10, 2015 by casualbiker

[Argus Tuft]

I mobile have a new phone out called the BIG because it has a 5,000 mah battery.. 5,995.. Lollipop.. 5" screen.. Looked OK for the price.

http://www.siamphone.com/spec/i-mobile/iq_big.htm

Looks excellent on spec and price, the battery should be a winner

Just a shame it has an in-built DVB TV tuner, would be great if they had an option for this same model without it.

My first i-mobile model was an IQ 1.1, had a TV which I never used. Great phone, just didn't need the TV

[OmegaRacer]

I just bought a Samsung Galaxy A5 on Lazada for 11.111Baht. Was 1800Baht cheaper than in the shop.

Came to my house after 2 days, paid on delivery.

It might not be the best phone specswise, but it's ohh so beautiful! Very happy with it.

[Argus Tuft]

11,111 baht, love it

Lazada seems to be growing in popularity, the delivery you mentioned of 2 days is great.

Was it by courier or EMS?

[OmegaRacer]

A courier that works only with Lazada and 2 other such companies (don't remember the names).

I tried Lazada for the first time last week with something small and inexpensive and was very happy with the service. Then I got the phone, same experience.

Will definitely use them again.

[dddave]

I'm curious. Does the A-5 have normal dual SIM slots in addition to a SD slot or is one of the SIM slots dual purpose; SIM or SD, but not both at the same time?

This relates to a discussion on another thread.

Thanks