Entry-level smart phone in China

[JustinJJ]

Can anyone recommend a cheap but trusty smart phone (i.e. able to use programs such as 微信, email, anki, etc). Unfortunately when I went to the police to report my stolen Iphone I happened to be detained by them for a few hours! 

 

Hoping to find a cheap phone as soon as possible that I can hopefully get delivered from e.g. 京东 later today to sort any details required with the police, make other calls, change passwords, make any other complaints/reports as required etc.

 

Cheers!

[Sinofaze]

Try getting the Samsung Galaxy Mini II. Its just 800rmb and can find it in any store. Does all the apps listed above as well as QQ, Weibo, Evernote and lots more. Its a neat, compact little thing, fits nicely in the pocket. Very useful to have when shopping and coversing in China.

 

Any smartphones from Huawei and Reeko are good. I've seen a couple of Americans buy them and they seem happy. Also, Huawei have since become more reputable in the UK. Because Huawei are pushing for the European market, their smartphones are running the lastest Android OS. So you'll have a good choice of apps. 

 

Find the biggest tech market within your area and take a trusted Chinese-speaker with you and make a day of it. You're going to need time to explore the market, buy periphials and cables, haggle and, should there be a problem with the new phone, return to vendor.

 

You will also need to pop into Chinamobile to get a new Simcard.

 

You can also get one on Taobo. But that may be a little more risky. 

 

I strongly recommend buying two and then setting up Avast Anti-theft between them, which is free and downloadable here in China. This should prevent further thefts. Also, everyone has a Samsung, so why steal it.

 

Iphones and Apple stuff are empty status symbols here and more targeted by criminals, which is why I will never own one.

 

My guess is that you were probably detained by the police because your school/employer hasn't yet got round to registering you at your local station. This doesn't mean they haven't got you a valid visa or the proper papers and such, its just that the new laws brought in last summer requires the extra signing-on at nearest police station.

 

Don't bother with police in instances of theft and damage. From what I hear, the expense and hassle of seeking justice just isn't worth it for either you or the authorities (example: you will have to Beijing for court-hearings and the like). 

 

Post here if you need help changing language settings.

 

Really feel for you here. Must really sting being here in China and not having translators/dictionaries/contacts. Not a nice feeling at all

[Shelley]

I have a Huawei Blaze here in the uk, I really like it. Good little phone does all the usual smart phone stuff well. Not the most up todate v2.3.5 but it works fine.

[JustinJJ]

Thanks for the suggestions. Ended up going for one of the large Samsung phones as the features all seem the same, but that one is handy for reading books and watching video clips. Noticed there's a huge difference between the price of Apple and other brands, however the specs seem extremely similar. Unfortunately can't seem to find the 锵锵三人行 app which is so convenient with Apple phones and anki seems different, but otherwise the phone seems good for my needs (just phone calls and Chinese).

 

 

My guess is that you were probably detained by the police because your school/employer hasn't yet got round to registering you at your local station.

 

 

That's a good guess but this situation was just bizarre. Shortly after entering the station I was talking to my friend, when one officer out of the blue accuses me of 骂ing him (note that I had not yet spoken to this officer, or any for this matter, at this stage). I explained that it was a misunderstanding and that I had come with the purpose of reporting a stolen phone, however this came to no avail. I was then lead to another area and detained. I asked another officer why I was detained and he said he didn't know and to wait. Finally (after about 3 hours) another police officer spoke to me and said that it was a misunderstanding and that I wasn't friendly (不友好). At that point I couldn't see any advantage to explaining that I had not even spoken to the officer before my so-called unfriendliness.

 

I don't have any issues talking with the police, I think they were just trying to show-off their power and perhaps initially when I expained it was a misunderstanding, he wanted to demonstrate his power by keeping my there. After leaving I learnt that my friend had given the police gifts and then they let me out! Perhaps a motivation could be to extract presents out of people.

 

Needless to say they were useless with providing assistance with my phone. During detainment I had my friend's phone which I used to call the embassy, they mentioned that this sort of situation is actually not too uncommon.

 

 

Ironically, the only other time I have been to the police was to re-register after I moved house once, since the landlord (二房东）refused to bring in the owner's ID and Property Deed to the station for photocopying as the police require. Turns out she wouldn't bring in the documents as that apartment was located in a building which by law is not meant to be rented (it was constructed to provide housing for low-income people i.e. not designed to be available for purchase to those with enough money to own a second property, to rent out).

[anonymoose]

Where are you? Sounds like a scam to me. Dodgy police wherever that is.

[JustinJJ]

This happened in Beijing.