Techy advice needed

[Scott]

Thanks all for the replays and suggestions. Will check out Amazon with the above advise in mind. Cheers for that.

[Laighin Break]

I've been considering taking a punt on a sim-free phone from a Chinese manufacturer such as Xiaomi. A lot of them come dual-sim and have competitive specs and usually for less than £300.

Not sure the best retailers though as Amazon isn't always reliable and they don't have any approved Ire/UK/EU distributors.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Yeah I would only go with genuine retailers on Amazon. Got a Motorola Moto G there a few years back and was very happy.
OnePlus and Xiaomi and such phones you can probably buy from their site(?) but they usually build by orders, so you may have to queue for one. Worth keeping in mind with Chinese brands that if your phone takes a tumble, you may have issues getting it repaired in Ireland as nowhere will have parts. Apparently it's mad expensive to get phones fixed where I'm living due to labour costs so I decided to see if I could get the screen fixed when I was back in Dublin. Tried a few places but none of them had parts (Lenovo phone).

[The Doc]

I've been considering taking a punt on a sim-free phone from a Chinese manufacturer such as Xiaomi. A lot of them come dual-sim and have competitive specs and usually for less than £300.

Not sure the best retailers though as Amazon isn't always reliable and they don't have any approved Ire/UK/EU distributors.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I've gone with a OnePlus a number of times - and got them for my kids. You can order on their site (www.oneplus.net). You can choose an Ireland sub-site so pricing is in EUR. The delivery is from a European centre so no issues with customs etc. There is European repair but may have to send off. But the fact that they are under European sales and delivery gives some comfort. Pretty decent specs and their version of Android is pretty clean (and you can load the standard Google Android "skin"). Overall I was happier going through them than buying off Amazon - especially third party sellers on Amazon

It's a bit more expensive than some of the Chinese ones. The top of the range is €499 (5T) - but there are cheaper ones. They are all decent phones though.

[FLIP]

I've been considering taking a punt on a sim-free phone from a Chinese manufacturer such as Xiaomi. A lot of them come dual-sim and have competitive specs and usually for less than £300.

Not sure the best retailers though as Amazon isn't always reliable and they don't have any approved Ire/UK/EU distributors.

Anyone have any experience with this?

I've gone with a OnePlus a number of times - and got them for my kids. You can order on their site (http://www.oneplus.net). You can choose an Ireland sub-site so pricing is in EUR. The delivery is from a European centre so no issues with customs etc. There is European repair but may have to send off. But the fact that they are under European sales and delivery gives some comfort. Pretty decent specs and their version of Android is pretty clean (and you can load the standard Google Android "skin"). Overall I was happier going through them than buying off Amazon - especially third party sellers on Amazon

It's a bit more expensive than some of the Chinese ones. The top of the range is €499 (5T) - but there are cheaper ones. They are all decent phones though.

Can recommend the OnePlus. I have the 5 to myself. If you can hold off a month the new OnePlus 6 will be released

[jimbobjoe]

Yeah, I'm familiar with OnePlus and like the phones but I was looking for an even better deal. I've seen some of the Xiaomi, Elephone or Blu phones going for around £150 GBP.. Relative peanuts but I still don't want to throw money down the drain.

[The Doc]

Yeah, I'm familiar with OnePlus and like the phones but I was looking for an even better deal. I've seen some of the Xiaomi, Elephone or Blu phones going for around £150 GBP.. Relative peanuts but I still don't want to throw money down the drain.

Of that lot - Xiaomi are probably the one to go for. Very established in China / Asia. But make sure you're getting the right spec (i.e. bands etc) and make sure it is from a reputable seller (there is quite a bit of dodgy or tampered Chinese phones out there).

You may need to be able to do some minor tech tweaks when you get it - if you're comfortable side-loading an APK to install Google services (Xiaomi comes installed with MIUI which is quite different to standard Android). You also might have issues that require solving when your Irish SIM hits the phone - I had an unlocked Samsung and there were a number of issues around text messaging and the interaction with the carrier which took me a while to solve

[Scott]

Went for the OnePlus in the end - very happy with it now after about a month. Thanks for the suggestion

[Peg Leg]

Not sure if this is the correct thread, but does anyone know how to wash the smell of smug off hands? I think some of it leaked from the phone when I was browsing the forum.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Actually while I'm here...anyone know how to stop Spotify from going to random songs after a playlist has finished? I don't usually mind it because you hear new stuff that you'd never have discovered otherwise, but it annoys me when I'm driving and I can't go back to my own songs. Thanks!

[Peg Leg]

Actually while I'm here...anyone know how to stop Spotify from going to random songs after a playlist has finished? I don't usually mind it because you hear new stuff that you'd never have discovered otherwise, but it annoys me when I'm driving and I can't go back to my own songs. Thanks!

Go to your library on the bottom rhs. Then hit the settings cog on the top rhs. Scroll down and turn off autoplay

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Brilliant, thanks a mill!

Pretending to laugh at your posts all these years finally pays off!

[Peg Leg]

Brilliant, thanks a mill!

Pretending to laugh at your posts all these years finally pays off!

It's your laughs that keep me going LRIP.

[John86045]

thanks

[TerenureJim]

Anyone use VPN's at all to get around get blocks, any recommendations?

[Laighin Break]

Anyone use VPN's at all to get around get blocks, any recommendations?

Hola used to be very good. Seems that more sites are copping onto it now though so doesn't always work.

[domhnallj]

Anyone use VPN's at all to get around get blocks, any recommendations?

I have Nord VPN which works very well for me.

[FLIP]

Anyone use VPN's at all to get around get blocks, any recommendations?

I have Nord VPN which works very well for me.

How does it work with steaming services like NowTV and Netflix? It would be very useful for my travels.

[domhnallj]

Anyone use VPN's at all to get around get blocks, any recommendations?

I have Nord VPN which works very well for me.

How does it work with steaming services like NowTV and Netflix? It would be very useful for my travels.

I'm afraid I don't have any streaming subscriptions. I just use it to link into Irish and UK tv and it works for me for this. There should be online info about streaming and VPNs out there which may help.

[jimbobjoe]

Anyone use VPN's at all to get around get blocks, any recommendations?

I have Nord VPN which works very well for me.

How does it work with steaming services like NowTV and Netflix? It would be very useful for my travels.

Don't know about NowTV but Netflix had a crackdown on VPN stuff a couple of years ago so I don't think they're too effective these days. Better for accessing BBC iPlayer or US based TV sites.