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0 pointsrasz_pl11y ago0 comments

>A budget phone doesn't work because it won't be geared up to play the music and video

wait what? do you realize even $40 chinese phones are 2 core 1GHz with dedicated hardware decoders for every popular codec?

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6 comments · 1 top-level

Max_Mustermann11y ago· 5 in thread

Everyone keeps implying there are super cheap super good chinese phones. Is there a site that reviews these or a link where an uninitiated can check the best options out?

maxsilver11y ago

Depends on what you mean by "super cheap", but :

$350 Nexus 5 http://www.google.com/nexus/5/

$250-ish - Lumia 1320 https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phones/smartphones/noki...

$200 - ZTE Grand X Max http://www.androidcentral.com/hands-zte-grand-x-max

$180 - Motorola G http://www.motorola.com/us/Moto-G-2nd-Gen/moto-g-2nd-gen-pdp...

They've all gotten good reviews for their hardware.

I don't think it's crazy to expect that Amazon could build a really solid "Basics" phone at around $200 - $250, since their competitors all do so with reasonable margins to spare.

blisterpeanuts11y ago

You can take the Nexus 5 off that list. It's been end-of-life'd, though Google now says it will continue to be sold until end of 1st quarter 2015. http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobil...

kefka11y ago

Well, there is and isn't.

I bought my phone from aliexpress last year. Since then, Haipai Noble has had 3 major versions, and a dozen minor hardware updates.

Decide on price, and find reviews online of popular Chinese phones. Make sure the have the hardware features you want at the price you want. And then follow safe buying rules. Don't buy from low sales vendors, nor bad scored vendors.

rasz_plOP11y ago

there are super cheap phones with okish hardware, but software is universally SHIT, from broken functions, lazy implementations, to malicious rootkits and spyware in factory roms

yellowapple11y ago

To expand on this, if the phone isn't particularly well-known, then you'll end up on your own if you want to replace the ROM/firmware with, say, CyanogenMod, since there won't nearly be as much development/porting momentum as there would be for a household-name device.

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