Cheaper to buy a (legit) cell phone in China?

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S

skimple

Golden Member
Feb 4, 2005
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Trip to Shanghai, Singapore, & Malaysia coming up next month. I'm in the market for a new cellphone (GSM w/LTE). Does anyone have experience on whether it would be cheaper to buy it while I am there?

I'm not interested in iphones or knock-offs.
 
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J

jaedaliu

Platinum Member
Feb 25, 2005
2,670
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So what are you interested in? Like a cheap GS4? or HTC One? Or an off brand phone that isn't available in the US?

Just make sure that the phone you get has the right frequency bands for your carrier.
 
S

skimple

Golden Member
Feb 4, 2005
1,283
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Probably quad-band GS3 or GS4. Maybe HTC or Nokia. Just trying to feel out what my options would be.
 
Eureka

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
3,822
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MontyAC said:
The prices in Hong Kong will most likely be cheaper.
Click to expand...

Not even close. Got plenty of HK friends who are buying phones here at full retail price to ship back to HK. Maybe if you're talking the price of legitimate off-brand phones in HK.
 
Svnla

Svnla

Lifer
Nov 10, 2003
17,986
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I haven't been to mainland China yet so I do not know but from my own multiple trips in Asia, if you want "real" electronic items, it is cheaper to buy them in the US from my own experience.

Here is my list: Dell laptops, Apple Ipads, Apple Iphones, Mac laptops. As you can see, them stinking rich folks in Asia are brand name whores and I am not joking.

Plus if you have the boxes, receipts from US, even better.
 
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ponyo

ponyo

Lifer
Feb 14, 2002
19,688
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US has pretty much the cheapest price on everything shopping related.
 
B

bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
11,288
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No. The only thing you're gonna get for cheaper in China are cheap shitty knockoffs.
You aren't going to get legit electronics for cheaper than in the US in very many places. The risk of getting a forgery is also much higher.
 
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jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
3,676
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I've been all over the middle east in the past two years and it's damn near impossible to buy anything that is genuine, meaning it's not a fake. There are some damn good fakes out there too. I even bought a few of them but they never lasted very long and the guy selling them absolutely will not stand behind them. Not only did it happen to me a couple times, but I saw it happen to a lot of other people too.

I once was looking at iphone knockoffs and had my genuine iphone to compare it to in my right hand and the fake in my left hand. The only way I could tell the difference between the fake and the genuine article was because the camera lens and the touch screen was a slightly different color. When I turned it on, I could tell that it was a cleverly designed android OS that looked nearly identical to IOS. Pretty cool, but no thanks, even for a $150 ipad fake.

Trust me, you get a better deal overall when you buy electronics in a real store or from a real vendor here in the US. Unless you're really careful and knowledgeable, it's super easy to get ripped off.
 
Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,062
1,707
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jemcam said:
I've been all over the middle east in the past two years and it's damn near impossible to buy anything that is genuine, meaning it's not a fake. There are some damn good fakes out there too. I even bought a few of them but they never lasted very long and the guy selling them absolutely will not stand behind them. Not only did it happen to me a couple times, but I saw it happen to a lot of other people too.

I once was looking at iphone knockoffs and had my genuine iphone to compare it to in my right hand and the fake in my left hand. The only way I could tell the difference between the fake and the genuine article was because the camera lens and the touch screen was a slightly different color. When I turned it on, I could tell that it was a cleverly designed android OS that looked nearly identical to IOS. Pretty cool, but no thanks, even for a $150 ipad fake.

Trust me, you get a better deal overall when you buy electronics in a real store or from a real vendor here in the US. Unless you're really careful and knowledgeable, it's super easy to get ripped off.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but the way to getting a cheaper phone in China is not to get an iPhone or whatever, but as mentioned, to get a Chinese-branded Android phone. It's not a knockoff of anything, just another Android-sporting brand, but some of them are actually quite well-received.

For example, the Xiaomi Mi2s seems quite interesting to me, and reviews have been positive.

mi2a_sc.jpg


Mind you, the best deal out there right now is the Nexus 4, after this week's price drop, if you don't the lack of official LTE.
 
J

jemcam

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2001
3,676
0
0
Eug said:
Yeah, but the way to getting a cheaper phone in China is not to get an iPhone or whatever, but as mentioned, to get a Chinese-branded Android phone. It's not a knockoff of anything, just another Android-sporting brand, but some of them are actually quite well-received.

For example, the Xiaomi Mi2s seems quite interesting to me, and reviews have been positive.

mi2a_sc.jpg


Mind you, the best deal out there right now is the Nexus 4, after this week's price drop, if you don't the lack of official LTE.
Click to expand...

I don't disagree. My point is, it's very very difficult to NOT get a fake when you walk into a bazaar or other shop right off the street. You pretty much have to assume it is a fake.
 
J

jaedaliu

Platinum Member
Feb 25, 2005
2,670
1
81
I'd get the Chinese HTC One. the one with a microSD slot. Even if you don't like it, it should be easy to sell in America.

However, I'm on Sprint, so I'll just stick with buying directly from them.
 
C

cousin

Member
Aug 13, 2013
38
0
0
Why hadn't you just bought it in America? I think there are the cheapest prices.
 
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Eug

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,062
1,707
126
jemcam said:
I don't disagree. My point is, it's very very difficult to NOT get a fake when you walk into a bazaar or other shop right off the street. You pretty much have to assume it is a fake.
Click to expand...
Well, it depends. There are nice phone shops in China, and my friends tell me the stuff in the better ones is genuine. If you go to some random flea market though, most of the stuff is fake, but then again usually the bargain basement price tells you that already.
 
D

Dari

Lifer
Oct 25, 2002
17,133
38
91
jaedaliu said:
I'd get the Chinese HTC One. the one with a microSD slot. Even if you don't like it, it should be easy to sell in America.

However, I'm on Sprint, so I'll just stick with buying directly from them.
Click to expand...

Assuming it'll work on our networks...
 
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