Buying china only phones

Hey. I was just looking for curiosity the official china xiaomi store. And I saw the Redmi Note 13 Pro+, it seems to be a great phone with 12gb of RAM and 512GB of storage, 200MP camera (I know that doesn’t determine how good the photos will be) for just 2099 yuans which is approximately 250€, and I was wondering, is it even possible to buy this china only phones for such a great price and import them to europe?

The Redmi Note 13 Pro+ is actually more “westernized” than the rest of the K70 series (the name that it recieves in china) as it even has a western name and I swear I have seen youtube channels who have this phone. (Though if this is doable and someone wants to try, if you look at the K70 Pro you will see an option for 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage for 4099 yuans which is an amazing price for those specs).

I know aliexpress exists and I was able to find the phone but for prices a bit higher and the best price I was able to find was on alibaba for around 210€, I would consider buying on aliexpress but unless someone convinces me of the contrary I wouldn’t buy on Alibaba.

Pantherina,

Nearly every stock Android is a tracking platform. Not wanting to do racist china-hating here as every manufacturer does that, but do you really want a permanent surveillance device “a great phone”?

I had a Pixel 7pro with GrapheneOS, same specs. But 12GB and that size is complete overkill.

Sasori323,

I will install custom ROM anyways. MIUI is trash. So that’s not an issue, I doubt they exist yet but once this phone comes into western market (if it ever does) I will obviously install pixel experience of maybe even graphene (with google).

EDIT: Also, I know a Pixel 7 Pro would probably be much better. But 250€ for those specs if just awesome. That’s my budgets so the better phone I can get with that price the better, and I don’t know what to get for that price.

Pantherina,

Yes for sure. A phone for over 250€ is already insane for me.

GrapheneOS cannot run on that phone but maybe DivestOS can. Its a better LineageOS basically. But its still a LineageOS derivate.

GrapheneOS has amazing tooling and installation. Many devices could support it, its just the relocking and top security that makes them only promote pixels.

liffeyman,

It has a Mediatek chip, you’ll struggle to find a custom ROM

de_lancre,

Have in mind, that custom ROM may not appear at all. My Redmi K30 Ultra is an awesome phone, without ugly dot in the screen, but unlike it’s global counterpart “K30 Pro”, my “china only” phone have different cpu and no other ROM’s for it cause of that. China only also means, that this phone do not have NFC support for gpay (only huawei wallet and some weird china\russian software for some reason) and no gapps installed (like, at all, even tho playmarket will work after manual install). Also, 1/3 of OS is not translated at all, even tho english one of the few languages that supported even on china only rom. Also, you need root to “spoof” your phone ID otherwise some banking soft may not acknowledge this phone (altho, this is very unlikely). Another problem, that all xiaomi phones require you to use official app for windows with connected xiaomi account, then wait for ~2 weeks and only then unlock your bootloader (and for anything bootloader related, like installing different recovery, gaining root or install different ROM).

nostradiel,

I wanted too but customs, tax, shipping, burocratic paperwork. It’s not worth it and you will pay in some cases double the price… Plus waiting and in case of issues the waiting period and risk of lost parcels… Nightmare…

bandario,
@bandario@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I have been buying phones and various other electronics on Aliexpress for years, shipped to Australia.

For Australia, Aliexpress have implemented a system where the required import tax is handled during the transaction. I’ve never had a single issue with customs and there is no further paperwork. It couldn’t be any easier, and there is a level of buyer protection not quite as good as ebay in the medium term, but certainly protection if your goods don’t arrive or they arrive damaged or not as described.

For us, it is a standard 10% tax on all imports so it’s easy enough for them to calculate and pay at checkout. None of those things you mentioned are an issue.

The more realistic concern buying mobiles is if your device will support VoLTE and VoWifi out of the box in your country. Bands are generally OK these days because manufacturers rarely make a seperate device for each country anymore - all bands are generally included. The exception is, if you are using one of those weird US networks that are still using CDMA technology.

bandario,
@bandario@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

EDIT: Found it. Can be ordered with the global rom too, so you don’t have to deal with immediately flashing a rom that isn’t in Chinese. www.aliexpress.us/item/1005006119419693.html

Fredol,

Use Kimovil to check bands and specs. If it’s a mediatek cpu, don’t buy it, it has poor custom rom support. Only buy snapdragon fabbed by TSMC. Make sure this would be a popular phone (because only popular phones get roms) by checking hype. You will have to run Xiaomi.EU as your rom for a good while then maybe after a few years you might get some better roms.

machinin,

Redmi Note phones are great if you can install another Rom on it. They are mediocre/annoying if you can’t. Xiaomi software is full of bloat and has some buggy ram/battery optimization features that will screw with apps. The hardware is pretty nice though.

Check XDA Developer forums to see if there is active development for the phone you’re interested in. You have to be careful because Xiaomi’s naming schemes are horrible, there are so many different versions with similar names. There really isn’t any meaning to it.

Sasori323,

Yeah I know. This phone, Redmi K70e is also Redmi Note 13 pro+ buuuut now I think it is also Poco X6 like wtf

pfaca,

I have a Redmi Note 10S and can confirm this.

Stock ROM with android 11/12, almost 2 days of battery. Upgraded to android 13, and the battery lasted like half a day(even after a factory reset). Unlocked the bootloader a week later and flashed lineageos 20 (android 13), almost 2 days of battery again.

Great hardware, but flash another ROM once you can. I only stayed with stock ROM so long because there was no official support for this model until android 13.

the_q,

Are you not concerned with potential CCP backdoors?

Sasori323,

I don’t know what is that but I suppose it’s related to “spying from china government”. So I will use a custom ROM anyways so it’s not a concern…

firewyre,

It’s cute that you think the software is the only problem. Good luck tho!

sir_reginald,
@sir_reginald@lemmy.world avatar

if the hardware is compromised, then most phones are since they are all manufactured in China, even Apple’s.

firewyre,

You’re not wrong.

pankuleczkapl,
@pankuleczkapl@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

As if Chinese phones didn’t have backdoors already

puppy,

All major laptops and most of the smartphones (including the iPhone) are made in China. Are you worried about CCP backdoors in those devices?

the_q,

I mean somewhat, yeah. I also don’t like the idea of my own government having access to my electronics either, but companies like Huawei have been caught having them in their devices. In the US I can put something like GrapheneOS on my phone and at least hope it’s more secure.

MargotRobbie,
@MargotRobbie@lemmy.world avatar

This Reuters article and NPR podcast transcript from 2014 directly contradicts what you said.

key,

So not only do the backdoors in Huawei’s equipment reported on in 2020 allow them to spy on network traffic for China, but the NSA might have implants on Huawei’s backend that would allow them to also get a copy of that information. That sounds like all the more reason to avoid Huawei and go the GrapheneOS route. Not sure why you think any of that is contradicting.

MargotRobbie,
@MargotRobbie@lemmy.world avatar

My point is, when the NSA and US intelligence had essentially full access to Huawei’s infrastructure and private documents, as shown in the leak in 2014, they could not produce the smoking gun that that proves Huawei had allowed the Chinese government any kind of backdoor access, nor did they claim that until 6 years later, and again, without any presentable evidence despite full access to Huawei’s internal infrastructure besides “take our word for it”, so forgive me for doubting the Trump administration’s honesty during the middle of the US-China trade war.

I’m not saying that the backdoor doesn’t exist, but I would like to see evidence, logs or leaks that proves unauthorized access, before making any kind of conclusion, otherwise, it is all just conjecture and not "have been caught having them in their devices.”

Otherwise, remember the Bloomberg story on the “spy chip” on the Supermicro motherboard a few years back? To date, nobody has ever produced examples of a Supermicro motherboard with this “spy chip” after years, but Bloomberg has never retracted that story as far as I know.

the_q,

So erring on the side of caution is wrong? I should go out and buy a $200 phone with the same specs as a $1200 phone and just think I got a great deal? C’mon, bud.

the_q,

They do?

Bizarroland,
Bizarroland avatar

What do you think the possibility is that this fear of a Chinese back door in every bit of technology is just fear mongering designed to control what people purchase?

I mean, we have at our disposal the ability to say you can't import technology from China anymore and yet America does not do that, but then American tech companies say OMG back door China bad and people eat that shit up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't a back door. We have found the ones in the $14 Android boxes, but I am saying that it's not in every single piece of tech that gets shipped to America from China

the_q,

Oh sure. But also a rugged individualism and going against the grain attitude would also be a means of controlling what you buy.

Marketing being the most powerful and arguably the most evil thing ever created by humans can do just about anything in making someone act or believe a thing.

LanternEverywhere,

One thing to check when using a phone meant for a different region is to see if the phone has antennas for the spectrum that's used in your country. Like if the cell service in your area uses frequency band A, B, and C, but the phone only has antennas for bands X, Y, and Z, then that phone won't work in your country. The phone doesn't have to have all the bands that your cell service provider uses, but the more bands match then the better your connection and coverage area will be.

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