bluemask

i don't agree with this opinion. I bought a Lenovo A789 on Etotalk site: perfect and fast communication, super fast shipping (2 days from China with DHL), phone in perfect condition (rooted and with multilanguage) . I'm very satisfied.
I know a lot of people who bought phones on Etotalk without problem.

Lenovo A789 is a very good phone for price and performance!

hellomnp

please explain

mikedt

From what I've read on AF in the last few months, EtoTalk seems to be one of the very few apparently reputable Mainland Chinese dealers that appears to support what they sell. However you still have NO consumer rights if anything goes wrong though, it's caveat emptor.

__________________
The People's Guide to Android in the People's Republic.
Honorary Grand Poobah Shenzhen University English Corner.
http://welcometomychina.tumblr.com/
There are nine million bicycles in Beijing.
There are nine million Androids in Shenzhen.

oldcpu

I currently don't agree with this either. My dual SIM mobile phone (ZOPO ZP500+) arrived from them (Etotalk) yesterday (but I was not home so missed the DHL delivery).

When I open the package and see what is in place, and how it works, I'll have a better assessment, but I have to say that thus far the correspondence with them has been of a very high quality. Better than many western suppliers I have dealt with in the past.

sostym

I have been following this thread for a while and I have fount the information provided by the other members informative and valuable. So, thanks guys!

I decided to buy the Huawei U8836D based on the specs and other people's recommendations. I've had the phone for four weeks and I am very happy with it. It is responsive, solid with good battery life (two to three days, depending on usage).

I ordered my phone from Etotalk based on their good pre sales service and I was pleasantly surprised to see the phone on my door step 10 days later! I live in Australia by the way.
However, two application I had requested were not installed. I emailed them and they asked me for a photo! I emailed them back several times and after "mentioning" that I would alert other buyers about their lack of service, they decided to act by sending me links to one of the missing apps with, hopefully, more to follow soon.
I am very happy with my "toy" and I would not hesitate to recommend both the phone and the overall service from etotalk to other users.
Thanks again!

hellomnp

Qmobile Noir A8 Review
Qmobile Noir A8 Review Part 2
Model : A8,Product : Qmobile,Hardware : MT6577

Attached Images

	dsc00147.jpg (29.8 KB, 12 views)
	dsc00153.jpg (23.0 KB, 12 views)

Last edited by hellomnp; November 8th, 2012 at 03:17 PM.

kingcedz

Changed my Desire V to Samsung Galaxy S DUOS.

The hardware is neck to neck but the DUOS edges out with slightly more fluid software. It is also on Samsung s upgrade list to Jelly Bean. It has one of the best dual Sim management system i have used so far, quite a pleasant surprise really. Despite having a smaller battery than Desire V, the DUOS battery life is outstanding - i have gone through days of standby with light use on dual sim active. And for Europe based people, it s on sale locally with EU wide warranty.

I can only hope now they ll also bring the Galaxy Note DUOS out soon.

Last edited by kingcedz; November 10th, 2012 at 03:21 AM.

titomi

I can confirm that. About battery - ordinary using, some wifi, some talking (max 20 min a day), no mobile data - and it last for 2 days.
Just discovered a strange thing - after browsing on wifi I recieved a SMS of missed call. I thought that Samsung "always-on" si related only tu mobile data. But maybe I got something wrong set up ...
And from time to time the camera is starting by itsetft without any touch to phone. Does anyone have same experience?

hellomnp

i think Samsung Galaxy S DUOS with these specifications,
(Chipset Qualcomm MSM7227A Snapdragon
CPU 1 GHz Cortex-A5
GPU Adreno 200)
very costly.
and i think zte-t-u960 world's best dual sim mobile.

Last edited by hellomnp; November 10th, 2012 at 04:48 PM.

kingcedz

I have my dual sim "always on" switched off, as one of my SIM is an international roaming sim that doesn't support local forward. I know that "always on" feature utilise phones call forward setting, perhaps check the call forward setting on the line that u receive the SMS miss call? In any case, the dual sim management system in Samsung DUOS is very well constructed.

I ve not experienced the camera switch on by itself. it sounds silly but perhaps try reset your phone?

the only strange thing I experienced on my Galaxy S DUOS is that after I switch on full encryption, when i reboot the phone the warning message asking if i want to have the "Always On" feature on or off is in German. though as soon as I booted everything is back in English. so that's a bit strange. Also there s some strange unicode setting in SMS message which means all non english SMS wont be sent properly, but all that needs is a check box to be checked in the setting and that's all.

All in, its a very pleasant and reliable Dual Sim phone. I cant wait for them to roll out the Jelly Bean OTA. Samsung is going down the list, should be soon.

kingcedz

it's not really all about hardware I have to say. The DUOS hardware is not screaming but its not bad. The software has been very well optimised for it, and the overall experience is very good.

One of the problems with Android Dual Sim phones in general is that unless the user has good knowledge of Androids (rooting, customization etc), its very difficult to get the best out of any device. Not to mention most of the good ones are targeted for Chinese release, which makes then hard to use unless installed with customised ROM. and the Galaxy S DUOS (and international version of Desire V) has taken that hassle away from users.

Also worth mentioning that Galaxy S DUOS is made for European market.

U960 is a great dual sim phone but it's just a bit too dated, and lack of manufacturers support. In contrast, Galaxy S DUOS is considered latest line of device from samsung and is scheduled to be upgrade to Jelly Bean OTA soon.

Samsung rolling Jelly Bean out across most of its smartphone, tablet lineup 'soon' -- Engadget

Last edited by kingcedz; November 11th, 2012 at 05:00 AM.

oldcpu

Fortunately many reputable Chinese suppliers will provide customization, either for free or for some nominal fee such as $5.00 US. With the custom PROM Google store is often installed and Chinese apps removed. Plus one has root permissions. Thus Chinese phones can be very nice in this respect. One need not be an Android expert.

Hence having to figure out how to root the phone is not an issue (for the phone comes rooted and already setup for western users with such custom proms).

But it IS important to select the custom PROM when ordering. Etotalk for example, offers such a custom PROM service.

The Chinese ZOPO ZP500+ is my 1st Android Smartphone. IMHO it is very easy to use and from what I have seen no different in operation between this Chinese brand and that of a Samsung or HTC or other Android manufacturer phone. Android 4.0.4 is Android 4.0.4 independant of what phone it is installed ON. With the custom PROM (cost $5 upon phone purchase ) there are no Chinese apps to remove. Googlestore is installed.

Having now compared my ZOPO ZP500+ to the brand new Samsung Galaxy S Duos, I am glad I saved the extra money did not go for the Samsung Galaxy S Duos (and I obtained a functionally superior phone). Having typed that I wish the owners of the Samsung the best with their wonderful phone ... as the Samsung Galaxy S Duos IS a nice phone (albeit relatively poor performance). I simply prefer the dual core CPU (with better performance) and North American 850MHz 3G coverage that I can get with the Chinese ZOPO ZP500+ that I can not get with the Samsung.

Having typed the above, I definitely agree that it is caveat emptor with Chinese phones and Chinese suppliers. One MUST research the quality/reliability/stability of the Chinese phones, and one MUST research the reputability of the Chinese supplier before purchase, where that research goes a long ways (and saves money).

IMHO the equivalent of that research is what one gets by paying the $100 US or more for a lower performance/less capable Samsung duos, is the significant benefit of the Samsung reputation.

Last edited by oldcpu; November 11th, 2012 at 02:40 PM.

EmilF

Just ordered the UMi X1 - beautiful phone, only 8,5 mm thick

It has 4,5" IPC 1280 x 720, 1/4 GB RAM/ROM, 8.0 Mpix camera. The size is just 129 x 68 x 8.5mm, which is pretty sleek :-)

Only possible weak spot, is the battery is only 1750 mAh, but so far the review of battery life is good, rating it at least one day, and some two days.

ZippoM

Hi all! Great forum! I am in the process of buying a dual-sim phone. I have been following this thread and other similar forums for some time and I am still confused about the active/stand-by term. From what I have understood, the ZTE U690 is the only android mobile in the world having real active capabilities, due to it having two separate receivers/transmitters for the two sims carried. Can anyone owning such a phone, please confirm this?

Crake

That is true, but you also have two more choices:

- HTC T528w One SU Dual Sim Full Active DSFA Beats Audio Dual Core 1GHz 4.3" WVGA
- CoolPAD 7728 Cheer DSFA Dual Core 1.0GHz Android4.0 Dual Sim 4.0"WVGA 3G WCDMA

Hope to help you.

hellomnp

ZTE becomes world's fourth largest smartphone maker

Last edited by hellomnp; November 13th, 2012 at 02:14 AM.

htc_desire_

Apologies for this message as I recognize it is not relevant to the topic of discussion but I did not find any appropriate forum/thread to post.

If you have dumped your Motorola XT532 (dual sim phone), would you mind selling me the battery cover? Mine is slightly cracked and I have not been able to purchase a replacement anywhere. I intend to continue using the phone for a while and so would greatly appreciate if anyone can help. My cover has a slight crack (~6mm) near the mini-USB port.

I am willing to swap my cover (so that you have one), pay for the postage and also willing to pay something extra. I am in the UK. Please send your offer via private message.

Many thanks and apologies once again for the spam!

ZippoM

Thanks for the replies!


From what I have read the two models mentioned by Crake -
the HTC T528w and the CoolPad 7728
are dual stand-by phones like the Samsung Galaxy S Duos.

I would very much like to know how the ZTE U960, or alternatively the ZTE V970 behave in practice.
Has anyone actually used either of them handling two calls simultaneously?

One other thing I like to know is, that since most of these phones are intended for the Chinese and far eastern markets, do the European branches/dealers of these makers give any kind of support, or even guarantee these models?

oldcpu

You could, I suppose, contact ZTE and see what they say.

I note the English language ZTE website is here: ZTE Corporation - English lanaguage web page

And I note the English language support page from the website is here: ZTE Corporation - support

cha_indian

hello guys... did anyone buy the Jiayu G3 phone ?? apparently it is available for as little as $207 on many stores on **********. The thing managed to get my attention because of the 'claim' of 2750mah battery...was wondering if this is true ?

And how do we measure and verify the actual capacity of the battery if it appears low ?

mikedt

It appears to be quite a thick chunky phone, I would say that it does have a large capacity 2750mAh battery. The battery in my Lenovo is only slightly less than that, at 2500mAh. Don't know who the manufacturer is though. Seems to be distributed by quite a few Shenzhen trading and wholeale companies. Also it more than likely has Chinese software and is Googleless.

mikedt

It all depends on the individual makes, how they handle international warranties, and if the European repair offices and agents even have information and spare-parts for phones that were originally meant for sale in China and SE Asia.

Samsung and HTC possibly, but you'd have to check. I don't know if ZTE does phones in Europe. I'm pretty sure Coolpad is China and Far East only, no European presence at all.

There is an issue with the ZTE U960 and V970 though. These are specifically meant for use on China Mobile's TD-SCDMA 3G network, which is unique to China. They're incompatible with 3G in Europe, they'll work but it will be GSM/EDGE only.

Last edited by mikedt; November 14th, 2012 at 09:02 AM.

zumtotal

This may be true for the U960 (I don't know), but it is certainly not true for the V970. I have one, I live in Europe and 3G works just fine on WCDMA/HSDPA. It even has a custom ROM, and a very good one, created by a European, which can be found on XDA-developers.

EmilF

Absolutely NOT TRUE... I have had the U960, and currently use the V970, both phones works fine on 3G in Europe (WCDMA). Please try not to spread false information.

ZippoM

Thank you mikedt!

The more I read about these dual-sim phones, the more I get the picture that the "Chinese" models' buyers from the rest of the world, are more or less on their own, as far as guarantees and servicing goes.

What has puzzled me is the policies of the bigger brands like Samsung, HTC etc. with the dual-sim models.They seem too reluctant to introduce such models in European or N.America markets, and when they do, they do it half-heartedly.
I understand the priorities of promoting their multi-media loaded models and targeting the younger customers, but I don't understand the neglecting of the (quite large I believe) market segment, which still uses these contraptions as..... phones!!!
What would it cost to them -I often wonder- to have just added dual-sim active features to, let's say, the Galaxy S III or, (God forbid!).... the iPhone 5??

Crake

No my Friend, you're wrong.

The phones i told you are DSFA, that means, DUAL SIM FULL ACTIVE, no more information is needed !

mikedt

About the ZTE U960.
¡¾ÖÐÐËU960¡¿±¨¼Û_²ÎÊý_ͼƬ_ÂÛ̳_ZTE Òƶ¯°æSkateÖÐÐËÊÖ»ú±¨¼Û-ZOLÖйشåÔÚÏß
The page is in Chinese, however the specs do clearly state "GSM，TD-SCDMA" and not UMTS or WCDMA. And I do know this one is sold by China Mobile, and is used on their TD-SCDMA 3G network.

There's two versions of the V970.
This one...
¡¾ÖÐÐËU970 ¡¿ÖÐÐË£¨ZTE£©U970 3GÊÖ»ú£¨ºÚÉ«£©TD-SCDMA/GSM ·Ç¶¨ÖÆ¡¾ÐÐÇé ±¨¼Û ¼Û¸ñ ÆÀ²â¡¿
"中兴（ZTE）U970 3G手机（黑色）TD-SCDMA/GSM 非定制"

and this one...
http://product.958shop.com/zte/31180/index.html
"WCDMA/GSM"
Which will be able to use 3G in Europe no problem. So it would best to double-check what you're actually getting, especially when ordering from Mainland Chinese wholesalers.

They should both be dual-SIM full active. Most modern ones are, except the real cheapo ones that only have one radio.

This issue came up a few months ago. Someone had a Samsung Galaxy Ace they bought from China, couldn't make it work with Three in the United Kingdom. Phone was a GSM/TD-SCDMA phone and Three is a UMTS/WCDMA only carrier.

Last edited by mikedt; November 14th, 2012 at 05:16 PM.

mikedt

I'm sure it's the way the carriers operate as well, seems in North America especially, you're pretty well expected to be buying a phone subsidised by the carriers and taking out a two year contract with them. The phones are probably SIM-locked to the carriers. Would be rather pointless having a SIM-locked dual-SIM phone.

Whereas in Asia phones are usually not subsidised, not SIM-locked and most people seem to use non-commitment pre-paid plans.

The whole idea of dual-SIM phones started in China, because of the provincial roaming they have here. I've got SIM for China Mobile Inner Mongolia, which offers very cheap calls within the province. However I frequently go to Beijing, I get charged much more for calls and have to pay for incoming calls as well. So it pays me to have a China Mobile Beijing SIM as well, for the time I'm there. However I don't wish to carry two phones around with me.

BTW you can also get triple-SIM, and even quad-SIM phones as well.

Last edited by mikedt; November 14th, 2012 at 08:27 PM.

cha_indian

Thanks for the reply mikedt.....I wonder if there is there a way to know the exact or approximate capacity of a battery using ??? This would help us is claiming refunds from the seller if we pay with Paypal ...

ZippoM

Maybe I am wrong, but until a real user confirms that a "DUAL SIM FULL ACTIVE" phone really behaves like one, as in the first part of my question:
handling two calls simultaneously then I will accept the definition.
What the manufacturer/dealer/seller , or "tester" says, can be very misleading.

So, yes, more information is needed at least for me.

DUAL SIM covers me for the foreseable future, thank you very much!

EmilF

V970 is not Dual Sim Full Active. The U960 is, and it works without problems (you can call your self on the other sim :-)

The U960 supports WCDMA on SIM2 and TD-SCDMA on SIM1.

I know that because I owned a U960 and have a V970 now (here in my hand).

No MT6577 chipset phones are DSFA, it is simply not supported by the MT6577 chipset. However both sims are online at the same time and can receive calls, also while using internet. Only when one sim is active in a call, the other one will be offline.

ZippoM

Thanks again EmilF!
The "FULL ACTIVE" feature may seem trivial to some users, but I will have to make sure that it is a real feature, if I have to end up buying a chinese phone with all the risks that come with it.

Crake

You are definitely a Hard Guy to get convinced of something !!!

No matters how many times anyone tells you something, you still don't get sure...

Cheers Man.

GSM Nation

Samsung Galaxy Duos (Y, S and ACE) are some great full active dual sim phones. They sell really well and have a track record of beating user expectations. We have seen a bunch of people use these phones to to handle multiple phone numbers and they all seem very satisfied with the way the phone manages both sims.

ZippoM

O.K. EmilF (and other ZTE U960 users)!

Can you please list what a ZTE U960 need in terms of flashing/ROMs/SW updates, etc. to work properly in a European environment?
The Android version is dated and it doesn't look like ZTE updating it at all!

Last edited by ZippoM; November 16th, 2012 at 06:45 AM.

oldcpu

I'm not a U960 user, but I am a user of a Chinese smartphone. What can make it easy for good European use is to (1) ask for a custom PROM and (2) ask the phone be setup by default in one's native language, and (3) ask that Chinese apps be removed, and (4) ask that googlestore be installed.

For example for the U960, Etotalk, a Chinese supplier provide for an extra $4.99 a Etotalk MOD ROM that provides the aspects I noted. According to Etotalk their custom MOD ROM provides:
I suspect other Chinese suppliers will do the same.


Indeed Android-2.3.5 is very dated.

gsmgeeks

I agree. Samsung Galaxy Duos Ace is one of the best dual sim cell phones that I have used.

EmilF

There is a U960 dedicated section of this forum: http://androidforums.com/zte-u960/

ZippoM

Thanks again guys!

After some research, I think I 'll have to pass the ZTE U960 and make a compromise with the "full active" feature.
I have the following in mind, so whoever has any experience with any of them please comment:

Huawei U8836D

ZTE v970

SAMSUNG GALAXY S DUOS

By the way, I noticed that this thread is by far the biggest in the androidlounge: 1,687 posts and 496,625 views!!

Do the mobile manufacturers do serious market research???

babatunde23

Can you tell me why you decided to pass on the ZTE U960? Is it because of the dated Android version?

I am in the same boat looking for a suitable android dual sim after having used samsung B5702 and C6112 for a while. Dual sim full active doesn't seem to be an option in android versions.

oldcpu

I have none of these phones. I did look at their specs, liked them all, but in the end went with a phone with 850MHz 3G, which meant I could no longer consider those phones. Still, I had this in my notes (price is an etotalk price - there may be cheaper prices on the web - I put the approximate price in only for relative comparison purposes between phones):

• Huawei U8836D, dual core, 4.3" display (540x960), gorilla glass, 1GB RAM/4GB ROM, camera(s) 5.0MPixel back/0.3MPixel front, 1930mA battery, ~$219.99
• ZTE V970, dual core, 4.3" display (540x960), scratch resistant (?) glass, 1 GB RAM/4GB ROM, camera(s) 5.0MPixel back/0.3MPixel front, 1600mA battery, ~$179.99
• Samsung Galaxy S Duos, single core, 4.0" display, (480x800), gorilla glass (?? < not sure > ), 768MB RAM/4GB ROM, camera(s) 3.0MPixel back/VGA (0.3MPixel ?) front, 1500mA battery ~$239.99

It was clear to me (in my research) that one is paying more $ for the Samsung name for a more expensive phone with quite a bit less capable performance. I guess the question is, by going Samsung does one get better support/quality ?

Out of curiosity, did you consider the Newman N1 ? My guess thou, the Newman N1's quality of build may not be as good as the phone's you listed. But it does mostly have the equivalent specs at a cheaper price.

Last edited by oldcpu; November 18th, 2012 at 05:31 PM. Reason: corrected Samsung S Duos camera details

htc_desire_

Hi Kingcedz,
Do you have any further update/comments to make on your experience on Samsung vis-a-vis the HTC? A qualitative feedback on what you feel is good/bad in Samsung/HTC would be very useful.

Have you used ZTE/Huawei/Newman/Lenovo to make a first-hand comparison?

Many thanks

jago25_98

Stop Press:

The best are now the MTK6577 based phones. The GPS is slow and the build quality is poor but I can attest that they are very good for the money.

The only thing is... you can buy my X710D off me because I went for a massive 5" screen intending it to be a tablet/backup phone and then had my main phone stolen!

The other thing is which is a major bummer is no kernel source but if you don't hack around it's the best imho

ZippoM

Yes, it is clear that you pay more for the support of the manufacturers and you have their guarantees, as long as you don't mess with their product.
It is interesting though, that as far as the DS phones are concerned the SAMSUNG Galaxy S Duos was officially announced and released only in Germany.It is on sale in other European countries also, but they are nowhere in the respective official SAMSUNG pages! Here in Finland the phone is not on sale (actually very few DS models are and they are of the older types).
I called the local official SAMSUNG rep, to ask about whether the S Duos will be released in Finland and the answer was that.... they know as much as I do!!!In my question if they support this model if it's bought from some other country, their answer was that as long as there is a valid international guarantee for the product, they fully support it.
I haven't been able to contact other brands yet.
No, I haven't consider it as it is completely unknown to me.
Yes, I guess it is.Plus the fact that it is more expensive.

oldcpu

A number of Chinese suppliers sell the Newman N1. I first read read about it on Etotalk's site. Specs are good for the price:

• Newman N1, dual core, 4.3" display (540x960), gorilla glass, 1GB RAM/4GB ROM, camera(s) 8.0MPixel back/0.3MPixel front, 1700mA battery, ~$169.99

... but I could find nothing on the Internet about the company that produces it (in English - I did find a Chinese website: http://bbs.newman.mobi/portal.php). In contrast to ZTE, Huawii and even ZOPO where there is a fair amount of information on those Chinese smartphone suppliers. Hence I would be worried about quality. There is a very long thread about it on XDA-Developers: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1888501 ...

The Newman N1 did not have the frequency coverage for North American 3G that I was looking for (850MHz) so I struck it off my list for that reason, and I did not pursue further checks into the quality of the phone.

Last edited by oldcpu; November 18th, 2012 at 05:41 PM.

Dbout

Have you checked if the SIM menu of U8836D can be configured in an "always active mode" in order to be able to receive calls to SIM2 when you are on a call on SIM1, like in Samsung Galaxy S7562. Of course you need to activate call waiting in both SIMs and call forwarding (with the charges of your provider of course) from SIM1 to SIM2 and vice versa in order to have it working from the SIM menu.

Also does it support Skype video calls?
Thank you.

wecaz

Great discussion about Dual SIM phones here. I have Samsung Galaxy S Duos GT-S7562. I am quite happy about it.

Here I would like to advice the users who are exploring various devices to check SAR value of the set beforehand. One of the reason that I chose this model that it's SAR value is well below many preferred single SIM phones.

My 2 paise.

abynk

Chinese supplier warranty example

ZTE U960 ROM Discussion

mikedt

It's certainly an interesting thread.

Etotalk are supposed to be one of the few apparently reputable Chinese wholesalers. But at the end of the day, it's still caveat emptor. So if they refuse to honour the warranty or turn round and say it's only three months warranty for the screen....tough luck!!...you're on your own. Trading Standards or Better Business Bureau won't be able to help you. This is what can happen if you buy phone from Shenzhen, and not Best Buy or whatever.

Last edited by mikedt; November 23rd, 2012 at 07:23 AM.

hellomnp

Now What Noir A10 is gonna be like ?

1. Screen Size would be 4.3 or 4.5

2. Dual core process 1.4 or above

3. 8 MP Camera and front 1.3 MP

6. HD resolution Display

7. HD Recording 1080p Video

9. Internal Storage 8GB or more

0. Android OS 4.1 Jelly Bean


What it appears like, it’s gonna compete with S III in market cause Noir A8 accept Storage Capacity has already stands equals , more likely the shape of it is going to be like Samsung SIII type almost same. will be available in two colors Black and White. OS JB consume less battery and speed efficient as compared to ICS . It Gives a Phone a whole new meaning, which is why Noir A8 is upgradable to 4.1 OS JB.