Just bought a Chinese knockoff. Now what?

[lifeblood]

I just received my new cell phone from China. It’s a Jiayu G3ST. I paid for it through PayPal and chose DHL as the shipper so I got the phone in less than a week. It was exactly as expected and included all the accessories I’d ordered. It also came with the default language set as English.

Although I didn’t request it, the QA checklist says it was rooted. Is that a bad thing from a security standpoint? I don’t use custom ROMs or install apps that require rooting. I heard that unrooted phones were more secure than rooted phones; that Trojans and such can’t (as easily) get control of an unrooted phone.

I looked but did not see the Google Play Store installed on the phone. None of the Apps on the phone were the same as what is installed on my Nexus 7. I guess China uses its own versions of the apps. Most of the Apps installed were in English although a couple were only in Chinese. It had a Theme app that is in Chinese only which will be the first thing I uninstall. The home screen has a nice picture that tells me the current weather but it’s written in Chinese.

Any idea how I get a copy of the Google App store installed on this thing?

 

[zerogear]

Because in China, they block a lot of Google services. You way want to find a custom rom just so you get a more android experience and to get play store back.

 

[lifeblood]

So I looked again and my phone was rooted for me. It also has the Play store installed, it just had a different icon then I was use to. I've been able to remove the Chinese only apps that were on there and put English apps in their place.

I have been using the phone for 48 hours now and its battery is still over 50% charge. I do not use data, only WiFi so that certainly has helped it. I also am a light phone user so I've not been hitting it real hard. Still, 50% after 48 hours for a 1.5GHz quad core CPU is pretty damn good.

I bought the phone from Merimobiles website, paying for it via PayPal, and had it shipped via DHL. Maybe I was lucky but I got it in less than a week and it was precisely as advertised. I'm very pleased so far.

I may still switch to a custom ROM, but it's nice to know I don't have to.

 

[swanysto]

What network is it working on?

 

[lifeblood]

AT&T.

I refuse to pay for a data plan I don't want or need. I have access to free WiFi in most of the places I hang out. If AT&T offered a cheap 200Mb data plan with no subsidized phones I would sign up for it, but it doesn't.

 

[QuietDad]

You can always scan Google and find sites like http://www.needrom.com/mobile/amethyst-rom-jiayu-g3sg3st/ that you can download the original root firmware and make it original

 

[luv2liv]

AT&T.

I refuse to pay for a data plan I don't want or need. I have access to free WiFi in most of the places I hang out. If AT&T offered a cheap 200Mb data plan with no subsidized phones I would sign up for it, but it doesn't.

i concur! but doesnt ATT still somehow detect your phone is indeed a smartphone??? and eventually will force you onto data plan? let us know how long you go undetected by ATT

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Wait, U.S. mobile operators can FORCE you to buy a data plan, if they "detect" (how?) that you have a smartphone? And nobody has sued them yet?

 

[lifeblood]

The quick explanation is that phone companies can recognize smartphones by their IMEI. They have the IMEI ranges of all the popular smartphones, but not ALL smartphones. Chances are they do not bother looking for the Chinese knockoffs. Also, some believe that as long as you leave data turned off they won't detect you. I have data off and I use an obscure knockoff so I think I'll be ok.

While I would love to sue AT&T for their policy, I don't think their is legal grounds. I'm sure its in the service agreement somewhere allowing them to do it. If they detect the smartphone they automatically add a data plan and send you a text saying they've done so.

 

[paperwastage]

Wait, U.S. mobile operators can FORCE you to buy a data plan, if they "detect" (how?) that you have a smartphone? And nobody has sued them yet?

yep, they all force you(not sure about t-mobile, but definitely ATT, and verizon, sprint)

my oppo find 5 hasn't been detected so far


how would you sue them? you are agreeing to their terms (which say you need a dataplan with a smartphone). there isn't really any FCC regulation that conflicts with that terms, and no antitrust concerns.

 

[bearxor]

AT&T.

I refuse to pay for a data plan I don't want or need. I have access to free WiFi in most of the places I hang out. If AT&T offered a cheap 200Mb data plan with no subsidized phones I would sign up for it, but it doesn't.

Why not just switch to Aio Wireless or Straight Talk with an AT&T SIM?

 

[tum]

I just went to China and bought a Samsung Note knockoff. I haven't tested with a SIM yet since I have a free work phone on verizon. Is there a way for us to update with an american version of android? Or would that be too complicated?

 

[WelshBloke]

Cant you just side load the appropriate Google apps package?

http://goo.im/gapps

 

[lifeblood]

I just went to China and bought a Samsung Note knockoff. I haven't tested with a SIM yet since I have a free work phone on verizon. Is there a way for us to update with an american version of android? Or would that be too complicated?

Search XDA Developers. They have lots of instructions, some pretty detailed, on how to side load stuff or install custom ROMs. That is what I was going to do until I found the App Store was already on my phone. Still might do it.

 

[lifeblood]

Why not just switch to Aio Wireless or Straight Talk with an AT&T SIM?

I get a substantially reduced price with AT&T because of where I work (one of my companies VERY FEW employee benefits). I am not on contract but If I leave I take my discount with me and my wife and daughter will have to pay full price. And since they just renewed this spring, it will be 18 months before they can leave.

I wanted to drop AT&T before they renewed but my wife's family are all on AT&T and they get free cell to cell calls. We pay for the minimum number of minutes and still have extra minutes which rollover at the end of the month, despite the amount of time my wife is on the phone. When I suggested switching to a different provider I damn near got my head bit off.

It was so much easier when I was single. I only had to worry about me and could be as selfish as I wanted, and life was so much simpler!

 

[bearxor]

Yeah, I get 21% off myself. Even then, moving to TMobile is cheaper. The main problem is that TMobile's HSPA network is very limited. If they had focused on bringing their entire network footprint to HSPA instead of trying to roll out LTE I would have probably switched.