Ideal Phone for Metro

[horsecharles]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/05/the-mi-max-is-xiaomis-new-6-44-inch-smartphone/

This is what Metro should be carrying for non-flagship instead of the recent underwhelming plethora @ 1-2 / 8-16 GB.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Well since it's Chinese-market only that doesn't seem to be an option. No doubt it doesn't have the correct bands and it would have to go through FCC certification before being sold here.

 

[horsecharles]

Well since it's Chinese-market only that doesn't seem to be an option. No doubt it doesn't have the correct bands and it would have to go through FCC certification before being sold here.

Yeah, but
Blu, Huawei, Lenovo, RCA, Sharp, Polaroid, etc. all have FCC certified phablets 6.xx-7" a year now.
I'd rather buy something from that selection than another Alcatel pop7 or 5-5.5" phone--be it flagship or cheap @insufficient storage(and not lose grandfathered Unlimited Plan)...

 

[kate]

Fox is right about the bands, Mi Max doesn't have Metros LTE bands:
http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi_max-8057.php

However you can buy and use any GSM unlocked phone/phablet on Metro with the right bands. I'm not a big fan of those 1GB/8GB phones either, especially the 8GB internal storage... it's not much.

 

[horsecharles]

Yes, agreed. I meant more like.. a phone like that one / make a deal with someone else... a la ZTE a while ago.

I could just give up the plan, go to $60 and use any phone.

Would be nice if the Blu Studio 7 LTE had an upgrade(720/1/16gb).

 

[kate]

I could just give up the plan, go to $60 and use any phone.

Ahhh yes good point, I forgot some plans require a Metro branded phone.

 

[mikedt]

Yeah, but
Blu, Huawei, Lenovo, RCA, Sharp, Polaroid, etc. all have FCC certified phablets 6.xx-7" a year now.
I'd rather buy something from that selection than another Alcatel pop7 or 5-5.5" phone--be it flagship or cheap @insufficient storage(and not lose grandfathered Unlimited Plan)...

There's a few Chinese companies that sell phones in the US under their own brands, and of course Motorola is Lenovo now. But there's literally dozens that don't. Xiaomi, even though it's a major manufacturer and has a huge presence in Asia, doesn't sell phones in Western Europe either, like UK or Ireland. Can buy them from online vendors and import them usually from Hong Kong if you want, with all the caveats and gotchas that entails. Oppo used to sell phones online in the US through their own vendor, Oppo Style, with specific US versions and FCC approval, but they seem to have stopped.

RCA and Polaroid(not many really needed instant film cameras any more) are defunct US companies, that are now just licensed brands, by Technicolor(formerly Thomson) or something, on mostly budget Chinese devices, often from unknown OEMs. And in fact Polaroid branded devices have a disclaimer, that basically states "This thing is absolutely nothing to do with us and we don't support it, good luck!", i.e. PLR IP Holdings, LLC...the company what formed from the bankrupt Polaroid Corporation, and now licenses their trademarks.

 

[horsecharles]

There's a few Chinese companies that sell phones in the US under their own brands, and of course Motorola is Lenovo now. But there's literally dozens that don't. Xiaomi, even though it's a major manufacturer and has a huge presence in Asia, doesn't sell phones in Western Europe either, like UK or Ireland. Can buy them from online vendors and import them usually from Hong Kong if you want, with all the caveats and gotchas that entails. Oppo used to sell phones online in the US through their own vendor, Oppo Style, with specific US versions and FCC approval, but they seem to have stopped.

RCA and Polaroid(not many really needed instant film cameras any more) are defunct US companies, that are now just licensed brands, by Technicolor(formerly Thomson) or something, on mostly budget Chinese devices, often from unknown OEMs. And in fact Polaroid branded devices have a disclaimer, that basically states "This thing is absolutely nothing to do with us and we don't support it, good luck!", i.e. PLR IP Holdings, LLC...the company what formed from the bankrupt Polaroid Corporation, and now licenses their trademarks.

Thank you.
All other concerns aside, it was probably a major feat alone just to supply enough... thinking back to ZTE Zmax, not that I'm lumping them with aforementioned.
I likely just did a Captain Obvious rant, if a doable deal was possible it would have occurred already.
Last year a couple Metro stores carried Blu, and I think Oppo? ... nothing official... discounted almost from the get go.

 

[mikedt]

I think Blu is a US company, which AFAIK has phones made for them by Chinese OEMs. I know we've had quite a few posts about Blu phones as well, so I guess they're quite popular, but they are budget and mid-range devices. Could have been some Oppos, I just checked, Amazon sells certain Oppo phones from Oppo Digital.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_5?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=oppo+r7+plus&sprefix=oppo+,aps,426

 

[horsecharles]

I think Blu is a US company, which AFAIK has phones made for them by Chinese OEMs. I know we've had quite a few posts about Blu phones as well, so I guess they're quite popular, but they are budget and mid-range devices. Could have been some Oppos, I just checked, Amazon sells certain Oppo phones from Oppo Digital.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_5?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=oppo+r7+plus&sprefix=oppo+,aps,426

Lots of rants on the web how Blu Studio 7 freezes and lags(1/16gb)...no dev work ...
If you go on their website and patiently click all categories(and sub and sub-sub) new and older there seem to be close to a hundred models / variants - - they just can't be manufacturing substantial amounts of all/each - - all seem to combine one / two great features with a bunch of other underwhelming specs.

 

[hiredgun]

Xiaomi is probably THE hottest "online" Chinese Phone that you can here in Spain right now Mike. Of course HTC and Huawei are here and can be bought at the dealers, but Xiaomi is getting more and more popular here by the day!!!

There's a few Chinese companies that sell phones in the US under their own brands, and of course Motorola is Lenovo now. But there's literally dozens that don't. Xiaomi, even though it's a major manufacturer and has a huge presence in Asia, doesn't sell phones in Western Europe either, like UK or Ireland. Can buy them from online vendors and import them usually from Hong Kong if you want, with all the caveats and gotchas that entails.

 

[horsecharles]

Xiaomi is probably THE hottest "online" Chinese Phone that you can here in Spain right now Mike. Of course HTC and Huawei are here and can be bought at the dealers, but Xiaomi is getting more and more popular here by the day!!!

That's who I meant to type in earlier brands post instead of Huawei, which is already well established here.
They make good products and have been around quite a while, I think they're better than the more prominent(here) ZTE.

 

[mikedt]

Xiaomi is probably THE hottest "online" Chinese Phone that you can here in Spain right now Mike. Of course HTC and Huawei are here and can be bought at the dealers, but Xiaomi is getting more and more popular here by the day!!!

Is that an official Xiaomi vendor, or just whatever grey import vendors with the "caveats and gotchas", often in Hong Kong or Shenzhen or something.

I did see one online vendor claiming to be "Xiaomi United Kingdom" xiaomi-mi.co.uk...and the site looks very real, convincing and professional, but the domain is apparently registered to some private individual in Ukraine, contactable by email only. I know Xiaomi definitely has an official retail presence in Russia, and some other Eastern European countries.

When I was in the UK back in February, Out of interest I went to a Carphone Warehouse store, a large UK phone retailer, have a look see what was available. And the only Chinese brand they had in significant numbers was Huawei, there was a couple of ZTEs as well, but that was it.

 

[hiredgun]

This is where the MAJORITY of the people buy them Mike, how "official" it is you would probably know better than anyone, lol. I haven't heard anyone complain about them selling sub par merchandise so far though!!

http://es.aliexpress.com/es_home.ht...=e&memo1=1t1&gclid=CJvD3fr808wCFc0y0wodBbYOfA

Is that an official Xiaomi vendor, or just whatever grey import vendors with the "caveats and gotchas", often in Hong Kong or Shenzhen or something.

I did see one online vendor claiming to be "Xiaomi United Kingdom" xiaomi-mi.co.uk...and the site looks very real, convincing and professional, but the domain is apparently registered to some private individual in Ukraine, contactable by email only. I know Xiaomi definitely has an official retail presence in Russia, and some other Eastern European countries.

When I was in the UK back in February, Out of interest I went to a Carphone Warehouse store, a large UK phone retailer, have a look see what was available. And the only Chinese brand they had in significant numbers was Huawei, there was a couple of ZTEs as well, but that was it.