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Warning: Buying Cheap Chinese Phones Online.

dddave

By dddave
in Mobile Devices and Apps

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dddave Platinum Member

dddave

Posted
Posted

If you browse AliExpress or other Chinese electronics websites you will see many phones, especially LENOVOs for very low prices, often under US$60.

Be very careful buying any of these, especially if the model number ends in the letter "t". These phones were built for the Chinese market only, specifically for CHINA MOBILE, the dominant service provider there. Their 3G standard is TD-SCDMA, not the WCDMA most of the world uses. 3G will not work anywhere outside of China...Internet not available.

They will work on 2G for voice calls & SMS and internet can be accessed by Wi-Fi. Rooting, jailbreaking or unlocking can not fix this problem. It is baked into the devices firmware.

I bought two Lenovo A586's that turned out to have this problem. Only $35 each so no big loss. The kids who got them were still thrilled to be able to make calls and play games.

Two friends on another forum just encountered the same problem so that is why I'm warning about.

Most of the AliExpress sellers do mention it somewhere buried in their spec. pages but it's easy to miss if you are not aware of it. Also, just because a phone does not have the "t" in it's model number does not mean it's OK....make sure to double check.

RichCor Platinum Member

RichCor

Posted
Posted

3 months ago it was your friend who bought the phones.coffee1.gif

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/807502-aliexpress-warning-mobile-phones/

Read it again. I clearly said I ordered the phones for a friend.

Now, let's look at all your postings for consistency, shall we?

Fine, now what is the point of starting a new thread with the exact same topic and content every 3 months?

Because, this time, it WAS his friend who bought the phone.

Anthony5, please try to keep up.

Doc46 Silver Member

Doc46

Posted
Posted

If you buy online from China,,,That says it all,,there is a 50/50 surety (not chance) that it will not work or its fake,,,Waste of money buying online from China ,,,,Can't get spares for anything you buy,,,,OKAY cheap,but chuck away ,,,,

Chivas Platinum Member

Chivas

Posted
Posted

I bought an Xgody a Chinese Phone via Ebay for just over £50 a C5000 just checked and doesnt appear to have "t"

Best bit of kit value for money have ever had. 3G is always showing if Sim Data activated

casualbiker Platinum Member

casualbiker

Posted
Posted

3 months ago it was your friend who bought the phones.coffee1.gif

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/807502-aliexpress-warning-mobile-phones/

Read it again. I clearly said I ordered the phones for a friend.

Now, let's look at all your postings for consistency, shall we?

Thanks for the heads up. I was about to buy a Lenovo.

Ignore the whingers and moaners. Nothing better to do.

Lenovo are a world wide brand. The one's sold in Thailand work in Thailand. I have a Lenovo K910L.. Great phone.. On promotion at CSC inter for 5,700b (if they still have stock)

edwardflory Advanced Member

edwardflory

Posted
Posted

I have been buying from 3 Chinese companies for years ( while I lived in the USA ) Have never had a problem, In fact, one of the BEST mobiles I ever had came from China. It is 3 Sim, 3G - works here ( AIS Th ) and in the US. In US BOTH the TH and US numbers are active, Have switched off the US network ( $$$.$$ ) here, ( 3rd sim is Th - number I give out to ladies )

The mistake I did make, I didn't check the ROM and RAM memory - it is minimun. As stated everything else works fine epecially the WiFi Came with 50 some languages pre installed - reason for low memory (? )

Going to buy a new phone end of month, bounced my mobile off the floor too many times, time to retire it.

Oh, cost was $119 ( 3 years ago ) shipped to my home is US

Since I cant post websites here, drop me a line if interested,

guzzi850m2 Platinum Member

guzzi850m2

Posted
Posted

If you buy online from China,,,That says it all,,there is a 50/50 surety (not chance) that it will not work or its fake,,,Waste of money buying online from China ,,,,Can't get spares for anything you buy,,,,OKAY cheap,but chuck away ,,,,

Are you saying that they copy the cheap Chinese phones as well?

It must really be a blow to get a fake copy of a 100$ phone.

Some of the Chinese phones should be very very good for the money.

casualbiker Platinum Member

casualbiker

Posted
Posted

If you buy online from China,,,That says it all,,there is a 50/50 surety (not chance) that it will not work or its fake,,,Waste of money buying online from China ,,,,Can't get spares for anything you buy,,,,OKAY cheap,but chuck away ,,,,

Are you saying that they copy the cheap Chinese phones as well?

It must really be a blow to get a fake copy of a 100$ phone.

Some of the Chinese phones should be very very good for the money.

Actually yes.. The bigger Chinese manufacturers have a huge problem with smaller companies copying their products.. My tablet is made by Teclast and they have warnings on their website about it!

dddave Platinum Member

dddave

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I bought an Xgody a Chinese Phone via Ebay for just over £50 a C5000 just checked and doesnt appear to have "t"

Best bit of kit value for money have ever had. 3G is always showing if Sim Data activated

It's only Lenovo phones that use the "t" designation. Other manufacturers have different means of denoting specific models.

Muhendis Platinum Member

Muhendis

Posted
Posted

3 months ago it was your friend who bought the phones.coffee1.gif

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/807502-aliexpress-warning-mobile-phones/

Read it again. I clearly said I ordered the phones for a friend.

Now, let's look at all your postings for consistency, shall we?

Fine, now what is the point of starting a new thread with the exact same topic and content every 3 months?

The advice is good no matter the details or the repetitions. Stop criticising for the sake of it.

Thaijack2014 Senior Member

Thaijack2014

Posted
Posted

You shouldn't buy a cheap phone, presuming it can do what the really expensive ones can do. But a few days of research will save you trouble and money. Then you also would see the difference between a chinese version, a Thai version or an international one.

Besides that, you might come up with a complete different brand of phone. Some good and decent cheap phones you can get from AIS, Alcatel (on Lazada) or Wiko. All between 3500 and 5000 Baht. The Wiko Ridge has very good specs for a phone that cheap.

In a world where every few month you can get a better and faster model with more features for less money, I would not go for the expensive brands anymore. But that is what you were doing anyway, right?

Just google the phones and the specs and see what you get.... at least, that's my way of doing it and the result: I was not disappointed.

thailandforumaddict Explorer Member

thailandforumaddict

Posted
Posted

Exactly ! And even Samsung (which I hate but anybody wit ha brain understands that we have no choice) sells good ones with lots of rom and ram for 5000 thb...

Ridiculous to buy from China anyway !

You shouldn't buy a cheap phone, presuming it can do what the really expensive ones can do. But a few days of research will save you trouble and money. Then you also would see the difference between a chinese version, a Thai version or an international one.

Besides that, you might come up with a complete different brand of phone. Some good and decent cheap phones you can get from AIS, Alcatel (on Lazada) or Wiko. All between 3500 and 5000 Baht. The Wiko Ridge has very good specs for a phone that cheap.

In a world where every few month you can get a better and faster model with more features for less money, I would not go for the expensive brands anymore. But that is what you were doing anyway, right?

Just google the phones and the specs and see what you get.... at least, that's my way of doing it and the result: I was not disappointed.

  • 3 weeks later...
jadee Advanced Member

jadee

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the heads up, I've bought a number of things from aliexpress and had noticed the cheap phones. I found this thread through a google search to see whether the phones would work in Thailand, lucky I found it before ordering.

alocacoc Gold Member

alocacoc

Posted
Posted

I wouldn't buy anything from China. Even they improved quality of products, they still have to learn a lot about customer service.

Chicog Star Member

Chicog

Posted
Posted

I wouldn't buy anything from China. Even they improved quality of products, they still have to learn a lot about customer service.

Well since most stuff is made there now anyway, technically I don't see how you can avoid it.

biggrin.png

alocacoc Gold Member

alocacoc

Posted
Posted

I wouldn't buy anything from China. Even they improved quality of products, they still have to learn a lot about customer service.

Well since most stuff is made there now anyway, technically I don't see how you can avoid it.

biggrin.png

Well, i did expect such a comment. It's easier than you might think. If i buy a Panasonic TV, or a Nokia Phone, may be it was made in China. BUT, under observation of the Japanese or US Company. I wouldn't buy a Harddisc from a Thai brand. But Seagate, Western Digital do produce this drives here in TH which is no problem since the quality standards are set by the Manufactures in Japan.

Makes sense? I hope.

edwardflory Advanced Member

edwardflory

Posted
Posted

Foxcom ( spelling might be bad Foxcomm?) makes phone motherboards for many US companies < Apple >, also computer motherboards for many companies, they then private lable the computer MB's and phone MB's with the ''companies name'' as the companies product / production. I had one of their stock MB's and over clocked by 25% - took a little over 3 years to burn out.

It is a Chinese owned company with basically NO oversight from anyone. Google the company, they have quite a history.

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