Pretty good for pre-teens/teens and elderly as well as those who need warranty/local support.
6.79"
90Hz FHD+ Display
Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Chipset
NFC
Android Enterprise Recommended
IP53 Dust & Splash Resistant
5000mAh Battery
50MP AI Dual Camera
Compare:
https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12328&idPhone…
Does Taobao ship to NZ?
Surely the lack of warranty would be an issue?
Nope. And when is the last time you've claimed warranty on a phone?
Besides, warranty will always be an "issue" if you buy from outside NZ. That goes for Amazon, Ebay, Aliexpress, Temu, etc.
And if the phone does break within what you consider the "warranty period" … well you saved so much money that you just buy another one.
I absolutely see the value in a warranty for certain goods, but if I'm paying half the price for something then it means I can afford to simply replace it should there be issues.
You just need to weigh up weather or not you are happy with the savings made from importing equaling more than the cost for repair/replacement on the rare chance there are issues.
@Tmurder91: Exactly.
My friend bought a OnePlus 11 for $1100 and thought it was a good deal. Mind you, OnePlus 11 was the flagship OnePlus phone that came out last year.
I bought a Redmi K60 with very good specs and a OnePlus 12R (which is basically overall better specs than a OnePlus 11) and all this for around $900 total.
It's a valid concern especially when you are comparing it to a product sold inside NZ.
If the phone is faulty or a fake it will definitely be an issue for the buyer.
Amazon to be fair have always been great with returns.
@Seanni: Well that's why you do your homework before buying. Just because it's Amazon, doesn't mean everything there is genuine.
If the goal here is to save money, then I don't see why people can't spend a bit of time doing homework. It's also not time consuming and hard either.
I spend a lot of money, mostly on electronic items, ranging from things like tablets, phones, monitors, laptops, etc. I own most of the newest tech out these days and a lot of them are either 2nd hand from Trademe or bought outside of NZ, and never once did I have to claim warranty or have any issues.
@NovaAlpha: With Amazon i was talking about them being good with returns, I agree with you re fake items.
Personally i've never bought a counterfit item from Amazon. But hey maybe I'm good at doing my homework too! :)
I'm delighted you've never had an issue purchasing off Taobao however it still doesnt stop the lack of a Warranty being an issue for many, including myself.
@Seanni: Yeah, there's always gonna be risks buying things that aren't local. That's the tradeoff, you either pay significantly less and get a good deal, or you pay more for "peace" of mind. If someone buys a fake item on Amazon, warranty is completely out of the question at that point. Sellers won't even bother working with you to come to a resolution.
Not to mention that if you do claim warranty on a phone and you need to send it back, well sometimes you'll have to pay for the postage and that could be expensive. If I recall, a friend of mine had to pay $80 at NZ Post to send a phone overseas, because anything that contains a battery will need this extra form to be filled out and the postage for that is just a rip-off.
@NovaAlpha: Of course the risk is there.
It's not one i would take, particularily from a site where i cant read what i'm buying.
But yes each to their own.
I feel though if you were to post either of the two phone's you've listed it the first reply, they wouldnt get as many up votes at the OP,. But hey maybe I'm wrong? 🤷♀️
@Seanni: It really depends on how you buy it.
Language barrier is one thing, but that shouldn't deter someone from saving heaps of money. I posted a guide on how to buy from Taobao as well, if you're interested in reading.
There IS actually warranty on Taobao. From memory, I think it's 7 days money back guarantee. But by the time you receive the item, it would have been at least 2~3 weeks already. However, that doesn't mean that you can't get a friend who lives in China to buy it for you, check that it's all good, then just send it to you or bring it to you.
And Taobao is just one example. I believe that most people would be willing to do this to save money. That's why there are services like NZ YouShop that helps you buy stuff from overseas (at a cheaper price) and get them redirected into NZ, for example. If not enough people use this service, they wouldn't even provide this to the entire country, and none of the external sites like Aliexpress, Temu, etc wouldn't even ship overseas because there would be so little demand.
Anyway, just my 2 cents.
@NovaAlpha: Yeah I just managed to get a Moto G84 5G/12GB/256GB for about NZD $340 from Amazon AU.
Beats the pants of the Budget mid range sold in NZ:
https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?&idPhone2=12446&idPhon…
But yea gotta do your home work and not be worried about warranty.
I also run Lineage OS on most of my phones (after warranty if its local purchase) but most people wouldn't tinker like that.
@Amosbosshogdog: This is the stock they have atm, if you know someone in Aus could get them to post it over
https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=g84&rh=n%3A4851799051%2Cp_89%3…
Best to follow this wait for deals to show:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/product/motorola-moto-g84
Last year for the speaker on an iPhone, was fixed for free under warranty. CGA is also pretty good in edge cases. I have had to claim warranty quite a few times for things that just fail, I had an issue with the motherboard in my TV a few years back, instead of getting rid of it, Noel Leeming fixed it under warranty. See where I'm going with this?
@kfr23: Not really.
What's the ratio of warranty claims you've made? If out of 100 items you've bought, you've had to claim warranty more than 50% of the time, then you should really be questioning what it is that you're doing wrong. Perhaps you're misusing the products and not taking good care of them. If most things you bought last a long time, then warranty would be irrelevant and you might as well have bought them cheap elsewhere. It's not like if you buy from China, they'll be worse quality than buying in NZ. They're made in the same factory from the same place.
If warranty claims is something so regularly carried out by everyone, then marketplaces for used-items wouldn't exist. Trademe wouldn't exist. And there would be no 2nd-hand sales whatsoever, whether it's a car, phone, tablet, laptop, whatever. And people wouldn't be importing stuff from overseas. In NZ, most people buy cars 2nd hand and it's simply because they just don't break that easily. It's just not smart to buy new and get warranty for a car.
The truth is, the majority of the world do not make regular warranty claims. It's such a small %. Most people just buy a new phone every year, or every 2 years. The number of 2nd hand devices in working order that are being sold on e.g. Trademe is itself statistics that backs my point. They are engineered and designed to work well and for a long time, not designed to be so commonly replaced under warranty. Good products are just good products. Things just don't break that often. Maybe you and some others are unlucky, but if you're looking at the overall statistics, you guys are the outliers.
Besides, a lot of deals posted on Cheapies are for overseas sites and it's not like they are all tagged with warranty information in the post. And it's not like most people who are interested in those deals will have warranty high up in their priority list. To me, warranty is mostly useless and extended warranties are mostly scams. The truth is, people just don't claim warranties that much.
Over the last 10 years, how many times did you have to claim warranty? How many iPhones have been sold around the world and what % of people had to claim warranty? Apple would be out of business if most people had to return their phones because it's faulty.
And warranty is generally 1 year. Are you telling me the items you've bought can barely last 1 year, because they just break within that period? Then why bother buying that particular brand & model in the first place? Again, maybe you're making the wrong purchasing decisions, or just doing something wrong. I still have items that I've owned for more than 20 years and they still work fine. I can't even recall the last electronic item that I've had to repair. The few things I've had to replace over the last 20 years have already lasted for more than 3~5 years and by then, warranty has already expired and I could just get a new one anyway.
And I don't think buying a TV from overseas is a good idea. I'd just buy that locally.
Grab a credit card with phone insurance, just saying.
How do you guys opem taobao site? It keeps crashing for me. Switched off all blockers, different browsers, devices, private windows.
I followed that thread. problem is I cant even open home page
@ace310: More to follow/ask
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/forum/taobao.com
I tried on a factory reset android but got pinged with needing to identify myself so guessing it needs a china mobile no.
Please be aware that all phones purchased in China will have a built-in National Anti-Fraud Center, which will track your behavior on the phone.
https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2021/09/anti-fraud-app-tracks-…
Additionally, Android phones purchased from China will not come with Google services pre-installed. While you can install the Google framework, some features may still be unavailable. For example, adding cards to Google Wallet might be rejected by your bank due to security reasons. Additionally, Xiaomi's XiaoAi will automatically replace Google AI services even if you've set Google as the default.
Not "all" phones will have this. It depends on the ROM you're using. MIUI for example doesn't come with this. I know this because I've debloated a bunch of stuff and never saw this app, nor have I seen any network packets going to servers in China.
NFC / Google Wallet works fine on my Redmi K60, which is purchased from China. OnePlus Ace 3 is China variant of OnePlus 12R and yes while it's true that ColorOS does have some oddities when it comes to Android Auto, but it's completely fine if you put it on OxygenOS. Both are official ROMs made by OnePlus/Oppo, just that ColorOS is for the Chinese variants and OxygenOS is for the global variant.
And for Xiaomi, if you use xiaomi.eu custom ROM, it works for everything.
If you actually dissect the phone itself, it's really just down to very small hardware differences (e.g. Chinese Xioami variants tend to have a much higher fast charging than the global variant), as well as ROM differences.
Is this the same as the redmi note 12?
Anyone here know whether these - or any of the other phones mentioned in the comments - support VoLTE and/or WiFi calling with 2degrees?
The official list is pretty limited outside Samsung/Apple/Oppo, and I've gotten mixed messages reading Geekzone threads about 2degrees VoLTE.
The non-5G version is $16 more but has an ultra-wide 120° camera which is an essential feature, I use my ultrawide all the time. It's currently $316 but has been on sale for $284 in the past.
How long does companies like Xiaomi, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo, and chinese brands provide OS update for. Think Samsung cover over 4 years and Apple lot longer.
For reference, you could also just pay around $315~$330 for a Redmi K60 (Poco F5 Pro). The specs is every bit better, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, 120hz display, 5500mah battery, etc:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?abbucket=9&id=756090766223&…
Or pay around $400 for a K60 Pro with Snapdragon 8 Gen 2:
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?abbucket=9&id=755832308127&…