Yeah, so my phone is pretty much breaking and I need a new one. My mom convinced me to upgrade from my iPhone 8 to an iPhone 15 because we got a really steep discount, but goddamn I fucking hate this phone. I’m still using my iPhone 8 just because I really can’t stand the 15 at all, and the 8 was already a downgrade from the phone I had had before.

Well, I’ve wanted to get out of the Apple ecosystem for years and I think now might be the time. I feel okay about it since I really did get this iPhone 15 at a really nice discount so it’s not the hardest loss (also I’m pretty sure I can still return it, but even if not). But I know nothing about non-Apple phones. Is it possible to get a Xiaomi phone in the USA? Does Samsung still have issues with their phones exploding? Any insight is appreciated.

  • sovietknuckles [they/them]
    ·
    1 day ago

    I was with you at first when you mentioned OnePlus until you started recommending against Chinese phones in general for some reason

    But thats the main issue with importing a Chinese version of those phones or importing a Xiaomi is that your signal will be terrible when everyone else is fine.

    I have a OnePlus 11 5G and my signal is fine. Admittedly, I had to email my MVNO carrier directly to find out what APN to enter in order for data to work properly, but that is specific to the MVNO, not my phone.

    Then some carriers may have trouble activating the phone for you.

    It sounds like you've bad a bad experience. Carriers that require you to activate your phone are unnecessarily giving you extra hurtles, and this issue is generally limited to big carriers whose users don't know about MVNOs/don't know any better. Any respectable carrier will let you just insert your SIM card, maybe input an APN, and call it a day without having to activate anything.

    I really don't recommend buying a phone without US carrier support or WiFi bands to save yourself a lot of trouble.

    My OnePlus 11 5G reception and Wi-Fi support are excellent, and I really don't recommend counting out all Chinese phones because you, personally, weren't able to get them working

    The main problem with Google is their phones are objectively worse hardware wise to just about every other brand at the same price

    Agreed, Google's hardware is subpar, but that is a Google-specific problem. Several users have found (1, 2, 3) that their OnePlus cameras are better than iPhone cameras.

    • Inui [comrade/them]
      ·
      1 day ago

      I wasn't recommending against Chinese phones at all. And I made the mistake of assuming OP/anyone reading was in the US, when they might be from Europe or elsewhere where the phones work fine.

      But you can find a lot of other people experiencing poor reception issues with imported phones. It isn't just me.

      I said I have a OnePlus 12 and its great. But it has full band support because OnePlus makes domestic versions of phones in other markets.

      Last I looked on GSM Arena, there's like 1 Xiaomi device that has this, and many other Chinese brands are also lacking the specific bands.

      • trinicorn [none/use name]
        ·
        1 day ago

        yeah this is very true, although not universal. It's just worth at least researching ahead of time, or being prepared to try it out and return it if it doesn't work (which might involve significant shipping costs). Or just going with a US market device if that all seems like too much of a pain.

        I bought a primarily chinese-market aimed device (low end and kinda old, so not directly comparable to a relatively new smartphone but still), and it does not have the correct LTE bands to get T-mobile or the VoLTE profiles for Verizon, so its definitely not an ideal experience though I have gotten some use out of it still. I haven't tried ATT but I don't think it will be better (and ofc MVNOs all piggyback off of the above)

      • sovietknuckles [they/them]
        ·
        1 day ago

        I wasn't recommending against Chinese phones at all. And I made the mistake of assuming OP/anyone reading was in the US, when they might be from Europe or elsewhere where the phones work fine.

        I'm US, and I bought my OnePlus phone directly from them online. I haven't noticed the issues you're talking about, but maybe that's because I use Wi-Fi for calling and apps whenever I can, and not carrier data.

        • Inui [comrade/them]
          ·
          1 day ago

          I think thats where our disconnect is. I'm talking about the hardware in the phone itself.

          You shouldn't have those issues because your OnePlus is a US version made for US markets, so has the proper bands/antennae to work fully on our networks and take advantage of things like 5g.

          The same phones sold in China are not likely to have these to save money because they aren't necessary.

          It's not "Chinese phones bad", but "imported phones usually lack US-specific hardware". OnePlus is a notable exception to this because they make phones for the US, unlike companies like Xiaomi. Which is why I keep mentioning that buying from their US store is fine.

          This is also why imported phones may have trouble with activation. They're not recognized by some US carriers or blacklisted, like Huawei, to where they don't work or you may need to activate the SIM in a compatible phone and then swap it to your real one.