i tried to find a "chinese" phone a couple months ago.. you definitely cannot buy one from any remotely legit looking site you can search for. but hey this is the price of freedom, free markets, and freedom, and apple pie, and flags, and freedom and stuff.
I personally prefer OnePlus phones, and every phone I've gotten from them has been directly from their website. I haven't seen a "buy" button yet on Huawei's site
There's a name I haven't heard in a long time. How are they these days? I was considering one years and years ago until they announced a partnership with... Facebook, iirc?
I was considering one years and years ago until they announced a partnership with... Facebook, iirc?
I had not heard of that and wasn't able to find an article about it, do you have a link you could share?
There's a name I haven't heard in a long time. How are they these days?
OnePlus was bought by Oppo and doesn't do cool stuff it used to like giving custom ROM devs free devices. They also tried to make themselves the only repairers of OnePlus phones by making the MSM tool (hardware level device restore, meaning the phones are unbrickable) that a OnePlus employee leaked at one point no longer work on newer devices after OnePlus 9 Pro. Except the OnePlus community got the newer Oppo EDL DownloadTool working anyway, so same difference.
AFAIK, OnePlus still sells some of the best hardware you can get for Android phones.
AFAIK, OnePlus still sells some of the best hardware you can get for Android phones.
Unfortunately they make some baffling decisions from phone to phone, adding good features on one model and dropping it the next. I believe their current flagship doesn't have wireless charging, which I don't use often but is a nice feature to have, and pretty much standard on all but the most budget of brands
I can see why some people might like wireless charging, but because it degrades battery life, it's not something I'm interested in (I generally avoid wireless devices like mice and headphones, I'm not a fan of disposable electronics).
OTOH, OnePlus's warp charging is some of the fastest in the industry. Sure, it's not for everyone, but in terms of things OnePlus does do, it seems to do well.
I had a OnePlus. I want to say a One Plus 3. Phenomenal phone until it got software obsoleted. It ran perfectly for over four years then slooooowed more or less overnight.
Then I tried the Nord and returned three before giving up. Something funny with the screen. I can't remember what exactly. I think the 'black' gave off green and purple light. Not good enough on a device on which I constantly use dark mode to read. It wasn't as good as the 3; and when you get used to something it's hard to get used to something that's not as good.
Sure, the WiFi, Bluetooth, ram, and processor, etc, were probably 'better'. Call me old fashioned, but I don't gaf about that; I just want it to play music, display crisp text, let me take pictures (one camera is more than enough), and plug in my headphones with a 3.5mm jack.
I couldn't afford one of their flagships but I bet it would've been better than the Nord. Or was it Nord II? It might depend on what you use it for.
Still, I prefer OxygenOS to any other Android that I've used. I'd definitely consider one of their higher end phones. If you don't like it, I found the customer service to be really good for returns.
The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 effectively prevents Americans from being able to use many (but not all) modern Chinese phones. While you may see them for sale on Amazon etc, you cannot activate them on any carrier.
I saved a lot of money back in the day by buying a phone secondhand and getting my phone number through Google voice. I'm sure there are other similar services that can give you a VOIP phone number, you'll only have connection when there's wi-fi but if that's not a dealbreaker it's a route you can take.
I believe some brands have official stores on Alibaba, but it’s hard to actually filter them. You’ll come across like 50 different resellers and there’s no moderation so sometimes they have “Huawei” in the name. It’s best to find a website from a free country and import it from them
how do I buy their stuff. I want out of the cpu spyware
i tried to find a "chinese" phone a couple months ago.. you definitely cannot buy one from any remotely legit looking site you can search for. but hey this is the price of freedom, free markets, and freedom, and apple pie, and flags, and freedom and stuff.
I personally prefer OnePlus phones, and every phone I've gotten from them has been directly from their website. I haven't seen a "buy" button yet on Huawei's site
There's a name I haven't heard in a long time. How are they these days? I was considering one years and years ago until they announced a partnership with... Facebook, iirc?
I had not heard of that and wasn't able to find an article about it, do you have a link you could share?
OnePlus was bought by Oppo and doesn't do cool stuff it used to like giving custom ROM devs free devices. They also tried to make themselves the only repairers of OnePlus phones by making the MSM tool (hardware level device restore, meaning the phones are unbrickable) that a OnePlus employee leaked at one point no longer work on newer devices after OnePlus 9 Pro. Except the OnePlus community got the newer Oppo EDL DownloadTool working anyway, so same difference.
AFAIK, OnePlus still sells some of the best hardware you can get for Android phones.
Unfortunately they make some baffling decisions from phone to phone, adding good features on one model and dropping it the next. I believe their current flagship doesn't have wireless charging, which I don't use often but is a nice feature to have, and pretty much standard on all but the most budget of brands
I can see why some people might like wireless charging, but because it degrades battery life, it's not something I'm interested in (I generally avoid wireless devices like mice and headphones, I'm not a fan of disposable electronics).
OTOH, OnePlus's warp charging is some of the fastest in the industry. Sure, it's not for everyone, but in terms of things OnePlus does do, it seems to do well.
Love the warp charge, so convenient
I had a OnePlus. I want to say a One Plus 3. Phenomenal phone until it got software obsoleted. It ran perfectly for over four years then slooooowed more or less overnight.
Then I tried the Nord and returned three before giving up. Something funny with the screen. I can't remember what exactly. I think the 'black' gave off green and purple light. Not good enough on a device on which I constantly use dark mode to read. It wasn't as good as the 3; and when you get used to something it's hard to get used to something that's not as good.
Sure, the WiFi, Bluetooth, ram, and processor, etc, were probably 'better'. Call me old fashioned, but I don't gaf about that; I just want it to play music, display crisp text, let me take pictures (one camera is more than enough), and plug in my headphones with a 3.5mm jack.
I couldn't afford one of their flagships but I bet it would've been better than the Nord. Or was it Nord II? It might depend on what you use it for.
Still, I prefer OxygenOS to any other Android that I've used. I'd definitely consider one of their higher end phones. If you don't like it, I found the customer service to be really good for returns.
I have a OnePlus 11. Good phone, can confirm.
"But now the Chai knees will spy on you!"
-- most burgerlanders
Why do I care if the Chinese spy on me? They're not my government, and they're not likely to share.
That is a good question. Everytime I've asked this they either sidestep the issue or treat me like I just said the sky is red.
Red sky at night, Shepard's delight.
Red sky in the day, Lenin's up. Yay!
The Secure Equipment Act of 2021 effectively prevents Americans from being able to use many (but not all) modern Chinese phones. While you may see them for sale on Amazon etc, you cannot activate them on any carrier.
You can't just buy a sim card and pop it into whatever?
No, the IMEI number on the phone are explicitly blacklisted for not being FCC approved.
I saved a lot of money back in the day by buying a phone secondhand and getting my phone number through Google voice. I'm sure there are other similar services that can give you a VOIP phone number, you'll only have connection when there's wi-fi but if that's not a dealbreaker it's a route you can take.
I believe some brands have official stores on Alibaba, but it’s hard to actually filter them. You’ll come across like 50 different resellers and there’s no moderation so sometimes they have “Huawei” in the name. It’s best to find a website from a free country and import it from them