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Hey guys, I'm not sure whether I should buy a smartphone in the States before I arrive in China next month or wait until I get there. From what I've researched, there are quite a few decent and affordable phones to choose from (Oppo, Xiaomi, Oneplus) but I still don't know what's right for me. I don't anticipate using it for much else other than Google maps, translation, and occasional web browsing. For whatever reason smartphones make me nervous. So, I'm just looking for something to navigate me when necessary. But, I'd like to be able to use it while traveling to other countries (short and long-term). I'm in need of a new phone anyway but I'd like it to last me a while. Any recommendations? Non-Chinese brands are also in consideration. But, I'm a bit more partial to something like Moto G or Nexus than Samsung and Apple. Confession: This will be my first smartphone.
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Jul 14, 2014 06:49
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I bought a Moto G when I was back in America earlier this year. It's been working great and I'm really happy with it. Just make sure you buy the global version. I ordered it off Amazon.
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Jul 14, 2014 06:53
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Depends on what you want. One issue with the US specifically is it's weirdly hard to get an unlocked phone, which you'll need if you want to use it in China. Amazon generally has a wide selection of grey-market European and HK imports since so many phones are exclusively sold tied to carriers in the states. If you want something just to use WeChat/Maps/Etc you can get about anything. Xiao Mi in China is pretty good for the price. HTC, Samsung and Sony seem to make the best higher-end Android phones. If you're not really into having a phone for a long time and really using it for everything it could be, those lower-end phones are ok. Another thing to mention is you'll pretty much be forced to use China Unicom if you bring a phone from elsewhere. Telecom uses stupid CDMA stuff and Mobile uses weird-rear end 3G and 4G bands almost nowhere else uses. Unicom isn't bad though so this isn't much of an issue. e: As far as actual phones go I have a Nexus 5 and it's pretty great for the price. It's basically like a higher-end Moto G so you can take your pick. The Nexus 5 is on par with the iPhone and Samsung stuff insofar as power and quality, though, so it's kind of a steal. A couple things which should probably be added to the OP:  GOOGLE IS PRETTY MUCH ENTIRELY BLOCKED IN CHINA NOW Before it was "sometimes Gmail/search works, sometimes not", but for the last couple months it's been "nothing works ever". This includes Google Maps (which was poo poo for China anyway) and Google Play. My Android phone can literally not update or even search the store without connecting to a VPN now. There are one zillion other Android app stores, so it's not a HUGE issue but it is a major pain in the rear end. Alternatives- App Store for Android Like I said, Google Play is pretty much 100% blocked as of late. This means updating old apps, connecting to the google play servers, and getting new apps. As a result if you want apps on your phone and don't feel like pirating APKs for everything you should find another app store to use. -Amazon has a decent app store which gets most big Android releases and is updated regularly, also does NOT have weird spyware nonsense that's likely included in the Baidu/360/Tencent/etc app stores. You can connect to the US, UK or Euro one and buy crap with your US/UK/Euro bank if you so desire. It currently works fine. Overall the Amazon App Store is the BEST available Android App store for Chinese Android phones -Chinese app stores are generally garbage. Everything is pirated and just not worth it. Also they install all sorts of wacky stuff on your phone and have INSANE permissions. You will literally get 100 SMS a day about hot new deals for IAP in Plants vs Zombies 2 from the Baidu store and stuff once you install one. -Apple stuff all works fine, outside of services like gmail/google maps/youtube/kakaotalk being blocked. Gmail You're hosed and have to get a VPN. This includes all google services (Drive, Calendar, etc), so if you company uses Google Apps (like most companies) you cannot even check your company email without one. Google maps Google Maps was always sorta bad for China anyway so this one isn't a huge deal. -Apple Maps works but is bad -Baidu Maps works and is better. For public transport especially. -Sougou Maps is also pretty good. Google Search -Bing works, but bing lol -Baidu is better for Chinese language stuff anyway. The NSA reads all your google searches, so if the privacy thing isn't a big deal for you go for it. -DuckDuckGo works fine last I checked. It's alright. Other Google/Android Services An Android phone without a VPN will be severely hamstrung on Chinese internet. It uses online serverside stuff for almost everything, and as a result it will just not work a lot of the time. This includes all Android updates unless you bought a Chinese brand phone from a Chinese carrier which will then serve their updates to you. Basically right now Android kind of sucks in China. Apple is p much working fine though. Ailumao fucked around with this message at 07:16 on Jul 14, 2014 |
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Jul 14, 2014 07:07
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Okay yeah the addendum to my post about being happy with my Moto G is that I live in Hong Kong where none of Magna's stuff is applicable.
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Jul 14, 2014 07:17
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My new China unicom contract goes allows me to have VPN abilities when I'm in China  mrgoodtrips posted:Hey guys, I'm not sure whether I should buy a smartphone in the States before I arrive in China next month or wait until I get there. From what I've researched, there are quite a few decent and affordable phones to choose from (Oppo, Xiaomi, Oneplus) but I still don't know what's right for me. I don't anticipate using it for much else other than Google maps, translation, and occasional web browsing. For whatever reason smartphones make me nervous. So, I'm just looking for something to navigate me when necessary. But, I'd like to be able to use it while traveling to other countries (short and long-term). I'm in need of a new phone anyway but I'd like it to last me a while. Any recommendations? Non-Chinese brands are also in consideration. But, I'm a bit more partial to something like Moto G or Nexus than Samsung and Apple. Get a phone when you are in China. There's going to be a new Xiaomi next month and you can get a deep discounted xiaomi. Don't feel bad about getting a smart phone, at least you are willing to get one unlike some goons who  Oh and you will probably drop / lose your cell phone so don't get the fastest bestest phone. Just get a xiaomi and replace it with a new phone every 2 years
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Jul 14, 2014 07:55
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Is using a VPN in China tough or is it as trivial as elsewhere?
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Jul 14, 2014 08:49
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Trivial.
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Jul 14, 2014 09:17
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Eifert Posting posted:Is using a VPN in China tough or is it as trivial as elsewhere? I've heard some people have issues, especially recently. I have an enterprise level one for work so I can One issue I've noticed recently is a lot of regional sites like Hulu are getting better at detecting VPNs and won't let you watch if you're on one. I usually switch servers and can get one that works, but this is new in the last couple months.
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Jul 14, 2014 09:17
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I use Astrill and I can stream 720p youtube videos all day no problem.
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Jul 14, 2014 10:04
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It probably has more to do with their lovely internet (I am a turbonerd and pay for fibre) than their VPN the more I dwell on it. That said my local telecom branch doesn't take cards and only takes cash. It was pretty weird when I went in to pay and they upsold me to get 6 months of 100M fiber optic for like 700rmb or something and then were very put out that I didn't just have 700rmb on me and had to find a bank first. They also sell like iPhones there and junk which makes it even more 
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Jul 14, 2014 10:39
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Cool, I'll use Astrill for a month while visiting.
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Jul 14, 2014 14:00
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Which VPN is the best these days? Best in like the sub-$100/year range anyway. And which pollution mask was the recommended one?
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Jul 14, 2014 14:39
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Grand Fromage posted:Which VPN is the best these days? Best in like the sub-$100/year range anyway. And which pollution mask was the recommended one? 3M N-95 masks
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Jul 14, 2014 14:48
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Grand Fromage posted:Which VPN is the best these days? Best in like the sub-$100/year range anyway. And which pollution mask was the recommended one? Most of them have deals where if you get a year its only like 60. Most people have Astrill or PandaPow.
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Jul 14, 2014 15:04
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Thanks guys.
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Jul 14, 2014 15:13
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Remember goon run host vpn has a special price of 2 cents first month. Perfect for short term folks
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Jul 14, 2014 16:44
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Killer info, guys. Thanks! I'm leaning to buy the Mi2S. Any marketplaces or stores in Beijing/Chengdu you guys can vouch for? Only visiting Beijing for a few nights before I move to Chengdu next month.
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Jul 14, 2014 17:54
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Do you know when you're arriving now? I've been too lazy to make any plans to travel so I should be here when you arrive, I can take you to Taisheng lu (the phone shop district) when you get here if you want.
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Jul 14, 2014 19:01
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mrgoodtrips posted:Killer info, guys. Thanks! I'm leaning to buy the Mi2S. Any marketplaces or stores in Beijing/Chengdu you guys can vouch for? Only visiting Beijing for a few nights before I move to Chengdu next month. You can't buy the 2s anymore and xiaomi don't really sell their wares brick and mortar retail. Just move to chengdu and order online. Magna is in Chengdu and I'm sure he can help you out.
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Jul 15, 2014 00:59
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Did they discontinue the 2s, or did they just sell out for the nth time? The recent price drop suggests the former is likely, but it could also cause the latter. It's still on the website, but you're right, you can't buy one right now. Regardless, I recently got one. It's pretty good; and if I get sick of MIUI it's pretty well-supported with other ROMs. edit: My wife got a 3. Those are currently available, but have the disadvantage of not having a removable battery and being big enough that you can't really use it with one hand without risking dropping it.
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Jul 15, 2014 01:09
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Magna Kaser posted:Smartphone & Google I'll note this in the OP.
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Jul 15, 2014 01:21
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caberham posted:You can't buy the 2s anymore and xiaomi don't really sell their wares brick and mortar retail. Hahaha, poor caberham... stuck in the land of cheap-every-phone-except-for-Xiaomi! Chengdu has 3 official Xiaomi brick and mortar stores and a zillion fakes that most definitely sell a lot of phones, though which exact models I will admit I am not up to date on. I can figure this out today and get back to you.
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Jul 15, 2014 01:46
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Not sure if anyone has said this, but if you want to be able to use this phone outside China you need to get a GSG phone. A lot (the majority I think) of phones sold in China are CDMI only.
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Jul 15, 2014 01:53
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Magna Kaser posted:Before it was "sometimes Gmail/search works, sometimes not", but for the last couple months it's been "nothing works ever". This includes Google Maps (which was poo poo for China anyway) and Google Play. My Android phone can literally not update or even search the store without connecting to a VPN now. "poo poo for China" as in would place nearly every search result a couple hundred meters from its actual location, and was even worse at differentiating between supermarkets and cigs-and-baijiu shops than Baidu. quote:-Chinese app stores are generally garbage. Everything is pirated and just not worth it. Also they install all sorts of wacky stuff on your phone and have INSANE permissions. You will literally get 100 SMS a day about hot new deals for IAP in Plants vs Zombies 2 from the Baidu store and stuff once you install one. Half the poo poo on the Xiaomi store will try to read your contacts and send SMS messages. quote:Gmail Freegate works for Gmail, and AFAIK all Google services. I know for a fact it works for Google Voice. It used to be a little flaky for Facebook but I think they've got it working now. quote:-Baidu Maps works and is better. For public transport especially. Sogou maps android app is better than Baidu, the opposite for the websites. quote:Google Search Baidu has better data for anything Chinese, but they still suck at searching it. If Google is aware of something it will be easier to find on Google, but Baidu is more likely to be aware of it. And WTF if you think Baidu will give you any more privacy than Google. quote:Other Google/Android Services Google was blocked in May. But last I checked (about 2 weeks ago, when I was still using my old phone) Play would still push updates without a VPN. However, you cannot log in to Play without one now, so unless your device is already registered, you are hosed. Not having Play does mean apk hunting (or seeing if the Amazon app store is worth a drat now, I guess, been a couple years since I bothered), and yeah, I'd like to have Gmail working on my phone dammit, but I wouldn't characterize android as "severely hamstrung" beyond that. It uses online serverside stuff for almost everything, but if you aren't using Play, Gmaps or Gmail, most of that stuff isn't Google, and isn't blocked.
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Jul 15, 2014 02:10
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Arglebargle III posted:Not sure if anyone has said this, but if you want to be able to use this phone outside China you need to get a GSG phone. A lot (the majority I think) of phones sold in China are CDMI only. GSM CDMA A lot of sellers don't know what the gently caress those things are, so if you're buying in person (don't) just tell them you want a China Unicom phone. China Unicom = 联通 (liantong) edit: Are there carrier-locked phones in China?
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Jul 15, 2014 02:13
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VideoTapir posted:
Really if you're nervous about a buying a phone before coming to China and having it work elsewhere later I highly suggest getting a Moto G global. If you want to navigate buying in China then there are many options.
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Jul 15, 2014 02:19
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I knew I shouldn't be directing people to buy German military police phones.
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Jul 15, 2014 02:20
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SB35 posted:I think so. I'm gonna presume those are the contract phones; because my WCDMA/Unicom Mi 2S works just fine on China Mobile 2G. China Unicom/Liantong, China Mobile/Yidong, and China Telecom/Dianxin are used as shorthand for their network types. I'll be sure to let you guys know if there are any problems using my Xiaomi in the US.
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Jul 15, 2014 02:26
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VideoTapir posted:I'll be sure to let you guys know if there are any problems using my Xiaomi in the US. Just get t-mobile. It works fine everytime when I'm in the States. Prepare to wait for a while just to get a sim card 
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Jul 15, 2014 02:29
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caberham posted:Just get t-mobile. It works fine everytime when I'm in the States. Prepare to wait for a while just to get a sim card Do they offer prepaid cards? There's basically no good short term prepaid sim card options in the US, they're all designed to bleed the last drops of money out of poor people.
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Jul 15, 2014 02:36
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caberham posted:Just get t-mobile. It works fine everytime when I'm in the States. Prepare to wait for a while just to get a sim card The problem with T-mobile is that their 3G uses a band (1700mhz, IIRC, the other being IIRC 850) that very few phones sold outside the US use, so depending where you are you may be stuck with degraded 3G service or 2G (or nothing?); while AT&T uses more common frequencies. I'll be going prepaid, as I will never sign another contract with a telecom company as long as I live. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 02:54
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Come on guys, you are talking to one of the biggest America-boos in the world. I know my way across the land of the free  Most GSM phones are actually quad/penta/X band phones. So no problems with T-mobile. And there is a quasi-prepay. More pay for the first month or pay for 2 weeks etc.
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Jul 15, 2014 02:57
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caberham posted:Come on guys, you are talking to one of the biggest America-boos in the world. I know my way across the land of the free Give us the deets on that T-mobile deal.
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Jul 15, 2014 03:05
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Jimmy Little Balls posted:Do you know when you're arriving now? I've been too lazy to make any plans to travel so I should be here when you arrive, I can take you to Taisheng lu (the phone shop district) when you get here if you want. I'm set to arrive in Chengdu on August 25th. Still waiting on my invitation letter, though. I don't want to pester Wang Dan too much, but I guess I'll send her an email in a week or two if it hasn't arrived. I'd like to get my visa asap. I'll send you a message when I get settled. I owe you! And, thanks again to everyone for the input!! So many options to choose from...
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Jul 15, 2014 03:06
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Xiaomi's work great on AT&T. I've used both a 2 and a 3 on their network.
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Jul 15, 2014 03:07
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caberham posted:Come on guys, you are talking to one of the biggest America-boos in the world. I know my way across the land of the free If T-mobile has only one (or zero? I don't know if there are any 1700-only areas) 3G bands your phone can access, and AT&T has two, the latter is the better choice. Either way, though, I'm going with a reseller. RocknRollaAyatollah posted:Xiaomi's work great on AT&T. I've used both a 2 and a 3 on their network. That is good to know. Thanks.
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Jul 15, 2014 03:13
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On the subject of Xiaomi smart phones, they come with their own app store. The app store even has apps like Facebook and Twitter, even updating versions already installed while the Play Store cannot. My guess is that Google is watched more closely than Xiaomi. Apps like Facebook though still need a VPN to work, even if you download it from Xiaomi. There's also an app that gets you all the Google apps but I don't know if it's mining data or not. On the subject of Xiaomi info, there's a small community of people who use Xiaomi phones outside of China and write extensively about them. I would look into their forums if there's info you're looking for that you can't easily find in your usual circles.
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Jul 15, 2014 03:26
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VideoTapir posted:"poo poo for China" as in would place nearly every search result a couple hundred meters from its actual location, and was even worse at differentiating between supermarkets and cigs-and-baijiu shops than Baidu. I could have specified better. As a map Google maps has always been fine, as a direction giver and public transport navigator I've had a lot of issues in Qingdao, Hangzhou and Chengdu. it might be better in bigger cities, but it doesn't keep up with route changes very well compared to the Chinese alternatives. quote:Half the poo poo on the Xiaomi store will try to read your contacts and send SMS messages. As someone who works with a lot of these app stores I can tell you they are very fun and have cool requirements. quote:And WTF if you think Baidu will give you any more privacy than Google. I think they're both really bad for privacy, personally. Duck duck go is much better and works in China fine of you are privacy minded. I don't care all that much myself but many do! quote:Google was blocked in May. But last I checked (about 2 weeks ago, when I was still using my old phone) Play would still push updates without a VPN. However, you cannot log in to Play without one now, so unless your device is already registered, you are hosed. Not having Play does mean apk hunting (or seeing if the Amazon app store is worth a drat now, I guess, been a couple years since I bothered), and yeah, I'd like to have Gmail working on my phone dammit, but I wouldn't characterize android as "severely hamstrung" beyond that. It uses online serverside stuff for almost everything, but if you aren't using Play, Gmaps or Gmail, most of that stuff isn't Google, and isn't blocked. I guess I am pretty bias. I work in apps and from my phone a lot so a lot of those issues make me wish I had an iPhone despite liking android more overall. You're right that for the average user it's more of an annoyance. The lack of updates is really annoying tho. Also the Amazon appstore has p much everything Google play has insofar as major apps these days. If you're looking for any game or basic app it'll have it. It doesn't have the massive number Google play boasts but for most people it'll have like 99% of what they're looking for without going the way of Chinese app stores (don't) or hunting down apks. e: Does anyone else have weird connectivity issues with VPNs across different devices? Basically I have 2 VPNs, one from work and a personal one that has more flexibility with servers/regions. On my mac and windows desktop I can connect to both basically anywhere I go and the speed only seems limited by the actual internet. On my phone (nexus 5) I can connect to both fine on 3/4G and my office and some public places (starbucks, etc...) but at my home and some other random places like friends' houses or it won't connect at all, even to the same servers that my computers will with no issue. On my iPad they connect fine at my home, but at my office and public places like starbucks it has issues. I'm wondering if anyone else runs across these issues. Ailumao fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Jul 15, 2014 |
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Jul 15, 2014 03:35
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VideoTapir posted:If T-mobile has only one (or zero? I don't know if there are any 1700-only areas) 3G bands your phone can access, and AT&T has two, the latter is the better choice. Either way, though, I'm going with a reseller. If anyone is coming back to America for any significant amount of time Cricket (AT&T) is where it's at now. Tmo is really only decent in cities, provided your phone supports 1700mhz or Tmo finally activated 1900mhz in your area. Prepaid thread is where us nerds hangout. Most China phones should have no problem with 3G service, but if you're wanting LTE it gets real iffy.
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Jul 15, 2014 03:52
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Yeah but what if you're going back for like, a week or two? I haven't found anything good.
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Jul 15, 2014 04:02
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