Smartphones

Another choice, if you can find one, might be the LG Nexus 4. Cheap, big, has Android 4.2 already, is made by LG, gets reviewed well. I haven't encountered one, myself, but I sorta keep wishing for one while waiting for Samsung to damn well update, the bastards.

Thanks Calach. I'm a big fan of the Nexus 4 too, however I suggested it to the GF and she dismissed it outright without having a clue what she was blathering on about. One of her annoying traits I might add. I introduced as the LG Google Nexus 4 and she said the name is too long. Then she said it won't be the same system as she's used to using (Android with MIUI) so I told her Android is Google's, still no go.

Think she wants a Samsung, prob the i9300 like yours. We went to the local phone/computer city last night and can get one for 250o, 水货 (smuggled goods). I'm wondering now what are the risks associated with buying smuggled goods from these places and what should we be wary about?

No idea about those risks. But *maybe* one simple way to tell the difference between smuggled and China-retailed is the presence or absence of Google Play. An S3 sold legally in China will have Android 4.x but will lack all the Google Apps (Play, G+, Youtube, etc).

And I found out the difference between the i9300 and the i747. The former is "international" and has a quad-core CPU while the latter is meant for the North American market and has a dual-core and (unless I'm mistaken) more RAM and a higher clock speed. They're about equal as far as running Android 4.x goes, but the i747 is cheaper and will NOT upgrade to Android 5. Also, unless mistaken again, the i747 hardware specs are known in detail to dev communities so after-market roms (like Cyanogen and MIUI) are likely to be finished faster and polished better. (Model numbers are found in Menu > Settings > About Device)


ETA: it looks like MIUI is available for both the i9300 and the i747, but only the i9300 has official MIUI support. The i747 MIUI ROM appears to be unofficial. And there isn't one at all for the Nexus 4, although there seem to be people clamoring for it..



*sigh* now I want a Nexus 4.

Maybe I'll get a 5 some day or the Motorola X if it turns out any good.

Well the sellers seem to be pretty upfront about it, it seems some come from hong kong others come from  europe. We'll be going back later to try and buy so I'll be sure to check if google play is installed or not. I don't think my GF is too bothered about actually using the MIUI, she just meant she wants the standard android interface and though the nexus 4 would be completely different.

Those two do sound very promising, but currently I'm salivating over the HTC One. Think I'm gonna wait until that's released and snap one up.

BTW do you know who Robert Scoble is Calach? I had Breakfast with him last Thursday. *bragging* 

When I yahoo'd (because who Googles these days), I thought he might be Philip Seymour Hoffman's younger brother. No?

Also, when I got my i9300 it came with just three languages installed: Korean, Chinese, and English. Android 4.x from outside China has, like, 56 or more, including several variants of English. But, and I'm not sure about this, for the purposes of firmware I suspect HK belongs to China, so it might be that none of these tips apply.

Smuggled tech is good because it's cheaper?


#outofmydepth.

Possibly one thing to look at is storage.

Menu > Settings > Storage

The 16GB Galaxy S3 will list a total space of 11.25Gb (or smaller), which *is* right. The card is internal and the operating system takes up a lot of its room. If the phone is the 8Gb model, your useable storage space will be pretty small.




#needskickbacksfromsamsungorisbuyinganotherbrandnexttime

Yeah no one knows who he is, crappy bragging rights haha. I hadn't the slightest clue who he is myself until a few weeks ago. One day I'll find someone in the know and hopefully they will be amaaaaaaaaazed.

That's another great point about storage. 'er indoors will be wanting to watch and download plenty of videos, not sure 11.25GB is going to be enough.

On the subject of search engines, you don't DuckDuckGo??! Get with it https://duckduckgo.com/

BTW do you know who Robert Scoble is Calach? I had Breakfast with him last Thursday. *bragging* 

Rackspace guy?

Yes! At last 

I've bought a 水货 phone before (about 5 years ago, pre-smartphone) and there were some issues. I would be a bit wary, check it out very thoroughly, realize it won't be under any sort of warranty, and cross your fingers.

NATO is your GF willing to change her cellular plan? You can get some really good deals on new phones if you buy a package of minutes along with it.

My iPhone 5 I got for 4600rmb, and that's with 3500rmb in minutes loaded onto the SIM card, to be distributed to me over a period of three years, 80RMB each month. My cellular package is 189rmb a month, so that means each month I still need to top up 109 rmb. If you're looking at getting a higher end phone, I'd definitely check out China Mobile, Telecom, and Unicom and see what sort of deals they're running. Oftentimes you can get the unit itself practically free.

My cellular package is 189rmb a month[...]

Good lord, that seems like a very lot. I guess that includes data and lots of call time? I practically never use mobile data, and will SMS much more than call, so I don't spend much at all. But then if I didn't have home wifi, probably 90% of what I do on the phone each day wouldn't happen, so there's that I guess.

Yeah, that includes a whole lot of mobile data, like 1G a a month a bunch of phone time, unlimited sms, free long distance roaming, free answering. I actually use mobile data quite a bit -- my main workplace doesn't have wifi and I spend a lot of time commuting to and from work. I use wifi at home of course. I don't talk that much compared to some, but I do make calls daily, mostly to my husband and parents who are hopeless at texting.

I used to have a cheaper package but I was topping up my phone constantly. I didn't think I used that much data or talk time but apparently I was wrong. If I manage to ting ji with this new package I'll lose it on someone.

Hmm, so actually, you're using a smartphone pretty close to exactly how they're intended. And your verdict is... iphone.

I should probably own up, if it's not obvious, to liking my tech toys as toys, so I still like playing with Android, but there it is as far as actual devices go.

Very interesting from a marketing point of view. It is a little bizarre that Android has become so widespread given how, I dunno, unfinished it is.

Then again, is a product ever "finished"?


Lol. Thoughts gone squirrelly.

I think Android is widespread in China basically because you can pick up a cheap Android phone for under 1000rmb, while iPhones, even if you don't go with the newest model, are easily triple that. I take the subway every day and basically except for the old grandmas, everyone has a smartphone that they're playing with, right down to the migrant workers.

Chinese people seem to mostly like the iPhone as a status symbol (and I've seen quite a few people for whom an iPhone should be beyond their means, my own Chinese niece for one, but who have one anyhow). I don't really care about that so much, but I just can't be arsed messing around with the OS so much in order to get the apps I want, not when with iPhone it is simple -- like you said a couple months ago in the thread, it just works. There are very very few apps that I can't access from the app store here in China, I think actually I've run across just one so far, and that's because there's a Chinese version they're selling instead. Even a VPN, is one-click to turn on (and works with 3G), and then I can be on Facebook and YouTube with my iPhone.

If I lived in the States or anywhere outside of China I might still be using Android. It is just that China's antagonistic relationship with Google has made it hard on those of us that need/want a wide variety of useful English language apps. If I justed wanted Weibo and Taobao and Angry Birds I'd be set on a Chinese Android but I'm not a 20 year old Chinese person so there's that.