Android-smartphone-page-01

Smart phone Dual-Sim, Dual Care Smart Phone procurement from China (9-Nov-2012 notes)
This page describes club experiences in Android Smartphone procurement

For our GNU/Linux user group, I put together some notes on my generic considerations before ordering a smartphone from China (with the Android GNU/Linux operating system), as I was rather sceptical before ordering such a Smartphone (my Thai-Chinese wife put me up to looking into this approach – and she was right for me to look). Having typed that sceptism, I note some of our club members have Chinese Android Tablets, which they brought to a couple of the User group meetings, and seeing the quality of those gave me some confidence.

My view is if one interested in a Smartphone from a Chinese manufacturer and supplier to reduce costs, then it is important to :
 * try to pick a phone that is of a reasonably build/quality from a reasonable Chinese manufacturer, and
 * purchase from a reputable Chinese supplier.

Some of my Requirements:

Before selecting a phone, I created a set of 'specificaiton/requirements' which narrowed down my list :
 * SIM: dual SIM functionality [this eliminated 99% of the western phones from consideration]
 * CPU: minimum dual core CPU [dual core means better performance for Android OS]
 * Frequency: quad band functionality, with 2G and 3G that works in Europe, Asia and North America (ie Canada). Finding a phone with 3G (data) that works in North America eliminated a further 90% of the phones. The key here was look for 2G @ 850/900/1800/1900 MHz and look for 3G @ 850/2100 MHz (more is ok, less is not ok).
 * Camera: both Front camera (min 0.3 Mpixel) and Back camera (min 5.0 MPixel). Having both front and back is great for Skype/video conference.
 * External Storage: external microSD capable up to 16 GB minimum (many phones are 64 GB capable) [I separately purchased a 32GB microSD card]
 * Internal Storage: desire to have 1GB RAM (there is a BIG price jump from 512MB to 1GB RAM for many (not all) phones) <-- I did not meet my requirement here, and I ended up getting 512MB RAM
 * Operating System: minimum Android GNU/Linux operating system version-4.0
 * Display: 4.0" touch display and preferably no larger than 4.7" <<< this is very subjective
 * Other: GPS, Bluetooth, touch screen ....

Chinese Supplier
I searched the Internet looking at different suppliers, and also different smartphone forums, to try and obtain the views of the different Chinese forums. Most my searching was in English language with Google, although I did (using Chrome Browser to automatically translate) look at some Russian, German, and Italian smartphone forums users views.

I obtained many ‘hits’ on http://www.alibaba.com/ but I was not able to find out information as to the reputation of this supplier.

I also noted reports of users ordering from http://www.fastcardtech.com/ but I was not able to find out information on the reputation of this supplier.

Some sort of return policy (and posts by users indicting the policy was ‘honoured’) was important. In almost all cases if one has to return the phone, one pays the shipping both ways (ie pays to ship the phone back to China, and pays to have the repaired phone shipped back to Europe). Typically the shipper does NOT have a European agent.

The supplier I eventually used is http://www.etotalk.com/ I chose them because I liked their price (although they are not the cheapest for all phones) and I liked their response to user’s questions about phones. I asked about ½ dozen questions on their web site, and typically within a few days and often less they responded to my question, in English ☺. I liked the fact they would tune their shipping to user’s requests (where possible). I like the fact that they offered a ‘custom PROM’ with the phone ‘rooted’ for many of the phones they sell (with the PROM giving administrator permissions, removing marketing Chinese applications, providing Google store). I ended up paying by paypal (https://www.paypal.com/) in US$. This is not ideal, as paypal exchange rate was 1.25 US$ to Euro [where 1.29 was the going US-Euro exchange rate when I purchased], but fortunately I had a US $350 credit with paypal that I applied to purchase the Chinese smartphone and thus I did not have to suffer a small % exchange rate cost from paypal.

Chinese Manufacturer
Both Lenovo and Huawei are reputable manufacturers. I went with ZOPO < http://www.zopomobileshop.com/it/ or http://www.zopomobileshop.com/en/ > which is a relatively new supplier, but the company is getting a good reputation for quality in these early 'start up days' of their company, and their web site has good support in Italian (!) and some support in English. [I suspect their Chinese language site support is even better]. One can order from the ZOPO site, but I preferred to order from EtoTalk to obtain their custom PROM and also a lower price.

Shipping to Europe
I chose to pay a small amount extra and have the phone shipped from China to Europe via DHL. This cost $34 US (to Germany). With shipping via DHL one can track the phone’s movement from China, to Germany, as it is shipped almost ½ way around the world on the way to Germany. Since both my wife Kob and I were at work all day, after the first failed attempts to deliver to our apartment (with no one home) we ended up having the phone delivered to ESOC shipping. Kob went down in advance to ESOC shipping, sweet-talked the people there and gave them the cash for the 19% VAT in advance of the phone showing up. It is not clear to me it is possible to do that with EUMETSAT shipping (it may not be so popular). Its best if someone is at home, or call DHL to deliver on the weekend.

Smartphones I considered
For some of the smartphones, I searched the Internet looking at different smartphone forums, to try and obtain the views of the different Chinese forums users. Most my searching was in English language with Google, although I did (using Chrome Browser to automatically translate) look at some Russian, German, and Italian smartphone forums users views.

I considered many phones, but in the end chose the ZOPO ZP500+ as it had the North American 3G coverage that I wanted and also the dual sim, 4" display, dual core, dual camera (Neman N1 claims to have it, but research proved otherwise) and was relatively inexpensive.

Galaxy Y Duos

 * DUAL SIM, Asian/Europe/North American Frequency coverage.
 * Only Android-2.3
 * Only single Core CPU
 * Display resolution at 320x240 is poor
 * Only one camera
 * Only 512M RAM http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_y_duos_s6102-4385.php
 * Basic cost 125 euros [ie ~134 US before 19% VAT] in Nov-2012

Galaxy S Duos

 * brand new phone!
 * NO North American 3G coverage
 * Only Single Core CPU
 * 4.0” display. 768MB RAM. Dual Cameras. Android-4.0.
 * More expensive than superior performance Chinese smartphones.
 * Link with info: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_duos_s7562-4883.php
 * Basic cost ~260 euros. [ie ~$280 US before 19% VAT]

My Top Chinese Smartphone Contenders
This is a list of some of my 'top contenders' [I say top as there were others I looked at] as of mid-Oct-2012 (just before I ordered). (All prices in US $$, and NOT included is VAT (19%) and shipping (~26 euros via DHL, euro exchange rate dependant). So that needs to be added to the price.  There is NO customs duty on mobile phones shipped to Germany). Again I also looked at other phones which were appealing.

Huawei-U8836d

 * good brand name (ie good quality),
 * more expensive,
 * with 1GB RAM has better performance, display 4.3", but no North-American 3G. No North-American 3G (data) eliminated the phone from consideration (it does have North American 2G (voice))
 * link with info: http://www.etotalk.com/huawei-u8836d-ascend-g500-pro-shine-gorilla-glass-ips-android-dual-sim-43qhd-dualcore-10ghz_p3029.html
 * Nov-2012 cost: $229.99

Newman N1
This had been my preferred phone until I learned it did not have North American 850MHz coverage. :(
 * unknown brand name, very very popular because of its superb price / performance,
 * display 4.3" and same specs/better-performance as Huawei-U883d with 1GB RAM.
 * There are many web sites offering 3rd party configuration advice/support on this phone. But no North-American 3G (data) eliminated the phone from consideration (it does have North American 2G (voice))
 * link with info : http://www.etotalk.com/newman-n1-gorilla-glass-ecompass-android40-dual-core10ghz-3g-dual-sim-43qhd-ips_p3115.html
 * Nov-2012 cost : $169.99

Lenovo p700i

 * good brand name, and p700i has the best 'relatively' long battery life (w/2500mA battery) compared to other smartphones,
 * display 4.0", only 512MB RAM (so average/ok performance). No North-American 3G (data) eliminated the phone from consideration (it does have North American 2G (voice)).
 * link with info: http://www.etotalk.com/lenovo-p700i-p700-pro-dual-sim-android-40-fm-transmitter-dual-core-10ghz-40ips-3g-wcdma_p3141.html
 * Nov-2012 cost : $229 <<< a bit expensive for its specs ... one is paying for the 'name' and the longer battery life.

The following is the phone I purchased:

ZOPO ZP500+

 * ZOPO is a new company (but research indicates quality good),
 * 4.0" display, only 512MB RAM (so only average/ok performance).
 * The ‘+’ indicates a ‘Dual Core’ in a ZOPO phone (the older ZP500 is only a single core).
 * The phone is a Dual Core, Quad Band, North American (850MHz) 3G data coverage, Dual cameras, ... etc ...
 * Phone is very slim. Available in white or black.
 * Phone is only 512MB RAM ☹ but I find it still reasonably responsive with the Dual Core CPU.
 * link with info: http://www.etotalk.com/zopo-zp500-zp500-plus-zp500-pro-libero-dual-core-1ghz-3g-dual-sim-android-40-ics-ips-99mm_p3226.html
 * When researching, I learned that the Chinese plant that manufacturers the ZOPO phone also produces a phone called ‘Hero’ which has identical models to the ZOPO smartphones, typically at a slightly cheaper price – BUT the PROM may be different between Hero and ZOPO, and it is questionable to me if the ZOPO Q.A. is applied to the Hero. I have read of quality problems with the Hero which had no ZOPO equivalent, and I have read of Hero phone users going to the ZOPO website to download the ZOPO PROM to apply to their Hero phone (mostly with successful results – but not always) as the ZOPO PROM has a better reputation.  Having typed that I am using a EtoTalk PROM which is a further modification (improvement ? ) on the ZOPO PROM ☺ ....
 * Oct-2012 cost: Cost of ZP500+ - $184.99 [Note December-2012 price $159.99]

Smart phone Accessories
I also purchased accessories:
 * leather case - $5
 * car charger - $10
 * extra desk charger - $10
 * screen cover - $1
 * custom PROM - $5 (where custom PROM removes Chinese applications, sets up Google Store (which is very important) and provides administrator/root access (which is useful, albeit a bit dangerous).

On many of the above phones, there are video reviews on http://youtube.com