o/t: Buying Phones from Hong Kong/Asia

[Barrel of Fun]

Does anyone have any success / horror stories of buying smartphones from Asia via Amazon?

I had mine nicked, inadvertently cancelled the insurance a while back and have 8 months left to run on my contract, so in the market for a replacement.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JCL - the new kid in town]

My brother bought an "iPhone" from somewhere over there via ebay a few years back and it felt like a cheap imitation and didn't work particularly well. This was about 4 years ago so things may have improved

 

[Matrix10]

I just bought a very good tablet from China, great price, but got stung an extra £30 import duty by UPS

 

[dougdeep]

I just bought a very good tablet from China, great price, but got stung an extra £30 import duty by UPS

A little unfair on UPS there, the government impose import duty.

 

[bennibenj]

What phone you after BoF? Literally got a brand new iphone here atm that im whacking on ebay soon

 

[CheeseRolls]

I just bought a very good tablet from China, great price, but got stung an extra £30 import duty by UPS

Nothing compared to the Apple tax people willingly part with here.

 

[Matrix10]

A little unfair on UPS there, the government impose import duty.

To be fair to UPS I think it was picked up by customs at the airport, they charged UPS and they charged me. I have ordered a few thing fron China, sometimes you are lucky and it gets through sometimes it does not.

I ordered 20 LED Bayonet Lamps at £2.40 each and they got throuh OK, so my home is now lit with 12Watt lamps to replace 60Watt and much better than those early low wattage bulbs

 

[beorhthelm]

be aware that some phones have models that are region specific and might not work here, as they dont support the frequencies used here.

 

[Guinness Boy]

be aware that some phones have models that are region specific and might not work here, as they dont support the frequencies used here.

That used to be ALL Japanese phones. Not sure if it's changed in the last few years.

 

[danielson81]

There are some cheapAndroid phones on Ebay from UK Sellers:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_s...=cubot+smartphone&LH_PrefLoc=1&rt=nc&LH_BIN=1

Might work out slightly more, but you have more protection if it goes wrong etc.

Eg: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Unlocked-...02407?pt=UK_Mobile_Phones&hash=item43c37f3447

- What does that look like?

 

[severnside gull]

I bought a Samsung S4 last year in Hong Kong for HK$300 which is just over £20 Add a payg SIM bought over here and it works although very obviously not "real". My wife has it for occasional use. Internet connection and phone signal can be a bit iffy but by and large it is okay for what it is.
Would I recommend it to someone? No.
I bought my (legit) S3 from a dealer in Shanghai two year ago and it cost £150 or thereabouts and I switched in my existing SIM but I could go in the shop and check it was a genuine dealership. Buy unseen online? No way!

 

[jmsc]

My last 3 phones have been bought via ebay from Hong Kong with
no problems at all. One of them had a problem and they even paid
for the phone to be returned for repair.

As I am out of the country a lot, I want a high quality dual sim
phone, these are not available in the UK (apparently the HTC
One dual sim phone is just about to be released to the UK market!)