Chink Shit General/Phones

Main article: Chinese Stuff general

Warning: Recently there have been users adding referral links to products listed on the wiki. Make certain that you are not clicking on these links (click.aliexpress.com and more) or alternatively, find the products on Ali, Gear, &c on your own. If you spot any, please feel free to remove them.

Chinese phones can be had for a fraction of the price of the big brand name phones with all the power you need.

For up to date Chinese phone quality comparisons and current lowest prices check Kimovil [1] as Chinese smartphones come out so often it's impossible for all of /csg/ to review everything.

Before you buy a phone, make sure it's compatible with your carrier at frequencycheck.com or willmyphonework.net.

Also note that cheap android phones from china are likely to contain backdoors which send your contact list and full text message history to china multiple times per day.

Phone guide as of March 2016:

Under $100

[Homtom HT7 Pro, 5.5"]

It's still on pre-order so the reviews have yet to come out, but the Homtom HT7 Pro looks like the most promising phone for poorfa/g/s. This could be a good phone if you're going to be traveling somewhere dangerous but still want a decent smartphone, or simply for someone too wary of buying a used phone.

Check out the reviews of the HT7 to get an idea of what to expect

Pros:

• LTE for a sub $100 phone (this is not the case for the older non-pro Homtom HT7)
• 2GB of RAM and microSD
• Large and removable Battery
• 720p IPS screen
• Mediatek MT6735P is more powerful than other phones under $100.

Cons:

• Shitty camera
• If you have 70 bucks to spare, the Redmi Note 2 is a good upgrade.
• Feels cheap (what did you expect)

[Oukitel K4000 Pro, 5.5"]

5" 720p display with a MTK6735, 2gb RAM, 4600mAh battery and 32gb storage

Pros

• Good build quality
• Dual sim - Both supporting LTE
• Almost stock Android with a few minor tweaks and additions
• Huge battery with up to 6 days of light usage (according to PhoneArena)
• Easy to root

Cons

• Bad camera - Front and Back
• Still on Android 5.1 (as of 7/08)
• No NFC
• Mic isn't the best
• Heavy and bulky - harder to use single handed than most 5-5.5" phones
• Screen is really sensitive when double tap to wake is enabled
• Volume buttons are low quality and does not feel nice
• Some bloatware (which can be removed)

• Anon's review after using the phone for a week

Under $150

[Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro (Snapdragon 650), 5.5"]

The de-facto recommendation for budget smartphones. Do not skimp and get the regular Mediatek powered Redmi Note 3, which doesn't even have microSD support (a necessity when buying phone with 16GB or 32GB of storage)

Pros:

• MIUI.
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 is extremely powerful and power efficient. More powerful than the flagship Snapdragon 805, 808 and 810 in many cases (does have a slightly weaker GPU despite having a superior CPU).
• Excellent battery size (4000mah), and excellent battery life. Should last you much longer than a Samsung Galaxy S6, S7 etc...
• Because it's a Qualcomm SoC, you can/will get ROMs. This is in contrast to many MediaTek (Helio X10 etc...) SoCs.
• Basically improved upon the Redmi Note 2 in every way.
• Good build quality

Cons:

• Battery is not removable like the Redmi Note 2. You could change it but you would need to disassemble the phone. Then again the battery life is miles ahead of the Redmi Note 2.
• You will need to get the 32GB variant if you want 3GB of RAM.
• Check the prices below to get an idea of what you should be paying, don't overpay. Ask in the thread if you can't find a retailer selling at those prices.
• LTE support in the US is practically nonexistent (T-Mobile US has been proven to work using LTE Bands 2 & 4; other carriers are TBD).

Variants:

• 16GB w/ 2GB RAM Current cheapest price: $140
• 32GB w/ 3GB RAM Current cheapest price: $180

Review

[Oukitel K6000 Pro, 5.5"]

Pros:

• Huge battery.
• Better SoC than the K10000 at a lower price (also it's an octacore).
• 3GB RAM, 32 ROM (SD card up to 32GB).
• Fingerprint reader (if you aren't afraid of "the botnet").
• Full HD display.

Cons:

• Fingerprint reader (if you are afraid of "the botnet").
• The metal frame makes it somewhat heavy.
• shitty camera.
• some complain about the software being buggy.

$160

[Oukitel K10000, 5.5"]

10,000mAh battery! You can use this phone as a power bank to power other devices. If you value battery life above everything, and want a phone that will last as long as an old Nokia dumbphone, this is for you.

Pros:

• BATTERY. The largest in the world. Quotes from review: "take your device off charge on a Monday morning and you won’t need to put it on charge until Friday night". A "Battery bigger than the iPad Pro" "After fully charging 3 iPhone 6 Plus devices, the K10000 still has 10% battery power left" to name a few.
• Original looking design and nice metal build that should turn some heads.
• Like most Chinese phones, the 720P IPS screen is quite decent and helps prolong battery life.

Cons:

• Bulkier than the avg smartphone, due to the battery.
• For $20 less, Redmi Note 2's Helio X10 and 1080p screen beat this phone handily. Then again if you're getting this phone it's not because you want the greatest performance in the world.
• Shitty camera.
• For $40 more the Redmi Note 4 is a better phone overall, and it also has a great battery. But you already knew that.

Also:

• Note you can get a K6000 for 110-120$ and a K4000 for around 100$, which are internally the same phone, just with different battery sizes, 6000mAh and 4000mAh respectively.

Review

Under $200

[Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 (MediaTek Helio X20), 5.5"]

The de-facto recommendation for budget smartphones.

Pros:

• MIUI.
• MediaTek X20 is extremely powerful and power efficient. More powerful than the flagship Snapdragon 805, 808 and 810 in all cases. Trades blows with Snapdragon 820, and is outright superior in some benchmarks (Geekbench) that do not measure GPU performance, which is where Snapdragon has the edge.
• Excellent battery size (4100mah), and excellent battery life. Should last you much longer than most Android phones.
• SDcard support.
• Slight improvement over the Note 3 variants in terms of SoC, storage space, and so on.
• Camera is quite a bit better than its predecessor's.
• High end build quality.
• In a few months, this will probably cost $150, which is the MSRP in China.

Cons:

• MediaTek SoC, known for violating the GPL, meaning custom ROMs will be scarce.
• Battery is not removable like the Redmi Note 3. You could change it but you would need to disassemble the phone. Then again the battery life is miles ahead of most phones.
• You will need to get the 64GB variant if you want 3GB of RAM.
• Just released and in very high demand. This means retailers may inflate the prices and it may be hard to find. Check the prices below to get an idea of what you should be paying, don't overpay. Ask in the thread if you can't find a retailer selling at those prices.
• LTE support in the US is practically non-existent (T-Mobile US has been proven to work using LTE Bands 2 & 4. other carriers are TBD).

Variants:

• 16GB w/ 2GB RAM Current cheapest price: $185
• 64GB w/ 3GB RAM Current cheapest price: $220

Review

$300

[Xiaomi Mi 5, 5.15"]

Pros:

• Compared to flagships from non-Chinese brands, this is priced much more competitively ($310-$345-$415 respectively for each variant).
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 (same as the brand new flagships from Samsung, Sony, LG etc...) There won't be anything faster than that in the near future. To give you an idea of how quick the 820 is, single core performance is almost twice as good as the flagship Snapdragon 810 on the GB single core test.
• Best GPU performance of any Android phone. Will perform better in graphically intensive tasks than the S7, G5 etcetera.. because of the 1080p screen.
• Great camera with the best image stabilization out there (only phone with 4-axis IS. Provides better IS than even the iPhone 6s plus).
• Ridiculously bright screen (over 600 nits).
• Excellent design and build quality.
• One of, if not the best audio output of any smartphone. If you're a snobbish "audiophile" this phone will please you with it's great audio output.
• USB type C.
• No camera lens bump, something present on every other flagship.
• No overheating issues like the Snapdragon 810.

Cons:

• Diminishing returns. The Redmi Note 4 has the best bang for the buck.
• No microSD! This is a dealbreaker for some, but to you it may not matter much.
• 1080p screen is lower-res than most other flagships. If you're into Google Cardboard type VR, that's a big con. Otherwise it's probably an advantage for the battery life and performance.
• Glass back doubles your chances of tears.
• Battery on the cheaper Redmis is larger and longer lasting... Not that this one is bad by any means. The Mi5's battery life is about equivalent to the Samsung s7.

Variants:

• 32GB model with Snapdragon 820 chipset (2x 1.8 GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores). 3GB RAM $410
• 64GB model with Snapdragon 820 chipset (2x 2.15 GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores). 3GB RAM $460
• 128GB model with Snapdragon 820 chipset (2x 2.15 GHz and 2x 1.6GHz cores). 4GB RAM Ceramic back (32 and 64GB variant come with a glass back) $520

You should pay the extra $50 for the 64GB model since this phone doesn't have microSD support and the 64GB variant has a better SoC. My advice is to wait a month or two for the prices to drop, as this phone is currently $100 over the Chinese MSRP. Since you're buying from stores that ship internationally, eventually the price should drop to around MSRP +$20 as it did in the past with other xiaomi phones.

Review

[Xiaomi Mi5s, 5.15"]

Right now you can find the upgraded version : Mi5S, it's almost the same as the Mi5 but with a Qualcomm 821 instead of a 820, and 3GB/4GB or LPDDR4 RAM. You can buy it for ~300€ on some websites.

Xiaomi Mi5s

Recommended brands

• Xiaomi phones.
  • There are known network issues with the Redmi 3s which results in users only getting 2G speeds. [2][3]
• Meizu phones (As of March 2016, the new Meizu MX6 with the Mediatek Helio X20 SoC is right around the corner so you should wait, or get Xiaomi phones that are currently better offerings for the price.) The distinction with Meizu phones is that they use Samsung AMOLED displays. Some people enjoy AMOLED because of the infinite contrast and "popping" colors, while others hate it because of the often over saturated colors and the propensity for screen burn-in. Meizu uses the FlymeUI.
• OnePlus phones. (As of March 2016, the Oneplus X is not really worth buying thanks to the Redmi Note 4 offering a much better battery life, the newer and faster SD X20 SoC, and a lower price tag while still offering more storage and memory.) Same deal with the OnePlus 2 dethroned by the Mi5. Mid-2016 should see the Oneplus 3, which could undercut the Mi5 and prove to be a better value. We'll have to wait and see.
• Previous generation refurbished flagships.

Upcoming developments

http://www.androidauthority.com/soc-showdown-2016-732870/