Xiaomi Mi4 or other direct from China smartphones?

[MTNRCKT]

Hey guys,

Thought this was slightly related to this forum: Am in the process of going through the ole phone upgrade ritual and have seen reading about the sort of chiner version of smart phones. Much in the same way these Chinese carbon manufacturers are providing the option of a lower cost, direct from China, MTB frame - A company called Xiaomi is kinda doing the same thing in the smart phone world, if I understand it correctly.

Anyways, I don't really have a point to make    Looking into this made me think of this forum and I just thought it was an interesting parallel. And the phones are pretty nice, and get pretty solid reviews, and can be had for a reasonable price. If you haven't seen them:

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Original-XIAOMI-MI4-M4-Cell-phone-Qualcomm-quad-core-moblie-phones-4G-LTE-3G-RAM-16G/1684098_32285006952.html

[JohnnyNT]

Well, I got a Jiayu G4S phone recently (I needed Dual sim and preferably big, exchangable battery). Also 2gig ram and 8core is not to shabby, eventhough it's MTK chip. All this for $180. Very happy with it so far. So yeah, chinese phone manufacturers (especially Xiaomi, ZTE, OPPO and OnePlusOne) are worth looking into

[MTB2223]

Recently, I was looking for a replacement of my iPhone 5. I don't like Apple, it's to expensive in my eyes.

Some nice phones on the Chinese market:
- zte nubia z7 mini
- kingzone k1s
- IOCEAN X8

Why paying a lot if it can Chinese

Jiayu G4S looks also very nice. I take it in considering.
Does the G4s have smart screen wake-up (tapping on the screen), like in this video ?
 

[JohnnyNT]

Jiayu G4S looks also very nice. I take it in considering.

It doesn't have it as a default and I couldn't find any  option like this, so I guess no.

[Oolak]

Good thread - I've also been looking into these "chiner phones". The prices are sometimes cheaper than the subsidized price that AT&T and other major carriers offer you for signing a new 2 year contract, and like already stated, the phones are getting good reviews. Really close to pulling the trigger on one of these, and I'll post a review and my general thoughts on the device and the ordering process, if I do. Would be cool if you guys did the same! Looking forward to spending a couple of hundred bucks and have the latest tech in my phone without being committed to a contract.

It seems skipping the middle man and using the web to transact directly with manufacturers in China is going to be a trend across the board in a lot of industries. Will be interesting to watch, for sure.