# anyone looking for a high powered cheap unlocked phone



## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Anyone looking for a new high powered, cheap unlocked Android 4.4 phone may want to check out *this deal*:

http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6553314416.html?orderId=66347913819485
(NOT an 'affiliate' link)

I'm still a bit of a geek at heart...
I use a second mobile phone for business purposes and to provide an 'always available' wifi hot-spot for other devices. I picked up an inexpensive Chinese brand phone to use for Uber purposes last fall and it's been great - especially at around $110 with no contract (and set-up with a $35/mo unlimited data plan).

It's time for to retire my 4 yr old Motorola RazrM phone, and I'm taking a shot with another China phone. But this is the stuff... that makes geeky people giddy:

2 years ago, Motorola sold it's mobile phone business to Google (for $12+bil) because Google wanted control of Moto's patents relating to Android. Then in Jan 2014 Google made a deal to sell off the phone business (for ~$2bil) to Chinese manufacturer LENOVO who wanted a bigger piece of the US market.
Google and LENOVO closed their deal in Oct, 2014.

Now the first new generation of Lenovo/Google/Motorola phones are rolling out.

For $94 including shipping, I just ordered a dual sim, Android 4.4, 4G LTE/FDD phone with a 5" HD screen. Even if the thing doesn't work it will make a great paperweight.

*Lenovo Model:s850c4G: LTE FDD2G*

 CPU: Octa Core (MTK6592)
Cellular: GSM/WCDMA/LTE
Display Resolution:1920x1080
Touch Screen 
Type: Capacitive Screen
Display Size:5.0
SIM Card Quantity: Dual 
SIM Cards
Release Date:2015
RAM:4G
Band Mode:2SIM/Dual-Bands
CPU Manufacturer: MTK (6592)
Camera:20.0MP
ROM:16G
Operation System: Android 4.4 Kit-Kat

Features:
GPS Navigation, Email, FM Radio, MP3 Playback, Touchscreen, QWERTY Keyboard, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Memory Card Slots, Video Player, Front Camera, Message, HD Video Player, GPRS

Battery Type: Detachable
Item Condition: New 
Battery Capacity(mAh): 2800mAh
Camera Type: Front & Back Camera
network: GMS 850/900/1800/19003G 
network: WCDMA 850/2100.
GPS: in-built
Play store: support
FM radio: support
Smart wake: support
Wifi: support


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> Anyone looking for a new high powered, cheap unlocked Android 4.4 phone may want to check out *this deal*:
> 
> http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6553314416.html?orderId=66347913819485
> (NOT an 'affiliate' link)
> ...


POST # 1 /@Michael - Cleveland : Plenty
of Sexagenarian
Members here, including Myself. Why
the reticence with The Number?


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Casuale Haberdasher said:


> POST # 1 /@Michael - Cleveland : Why the reticence with The Number?


What reticence?
What 'Number'?


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## UberTaxes (Feb 5, 2015)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> I'm still a bit of a geek at heart...
> 
> I use a second mobile phone for business purposes and to provide an 'always available' wifi hot-spot for other devices. I picked up an inexpensive Chinese brand phone to use for Uber purposes last fall and it's been great - especially at around $110 with no contract (and set-up with a $35/mo unlimited data plan).


Thanks for the advice on the Lenovo unlocked phone, "geek at heart" 

Which $35/mo unlimited data plan do you suggest ? Is that $35 including fees and taxes ? Is it 4G ?


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberTaxes said:


> Which $35/mo unlimited data plan do you suggest ? Is that $35 including fees and taxes ? Is it 4G ?


Brightspot, sold through Target Stores is a T-Mobile product.
The $35 unlimited plan includes a couple of GB of 4G and is then is throttled down to 3G.
The china phone I have on a BrightSpot plan right now doesn't use 4G - it's a 3G china phone (iRulu Victory 1) and I have no problems at all using it for Uber driving and/nav.

There are no other fees on the BrightSpot plan - just a couple of bucks in taxes.
And after each 5 months service renewals (there is no contract) they also send you a $25 Target gift card.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

Have you received the phone yet? Is it any good?


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## ReviTULize (Sep 29, 2014)

Just be careful that its not a fake

http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/official-rom-request-lenovo-s850c-t2919640


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

[QUOTE="Michael - Cleveland, post: 
What 'Number'?[/QUOTE]

POST # 3 /@Michael - Cleveland: "Inclined
to keep one's
Personal Affairs to Oneself" :From the
Latin "reticere": to keep silent. Your
AGE, sir! THAT number. If that stat is
so precious...fine. Just say so.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

ReviTULize said:


> Just be careful that its not a fake
> 
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/official-rom-request-lenovo-s850c-t2919640


A fake, fake? It's a China phone.


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## Scenicruiser (Oct 17, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> A fake, fake? It's a China phone.


So is my iphone


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## ReviTULize (Sep 29, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> A fake, fake? It's a China phone.


Lots of fakes come out of China and are sold on ali...


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

ReviTULize said:


> Lots of fakes come out of China and are sold on ali...


yup -
but there's a difference between a fake Samsung S4 or iPhone 5
and a not-known-brand that looks like an S4.

Just know what you're buying.
Amazon carries a some china brand phones, like iRulu (and that's where I bought mine).
Ali is horrendously bad at screening vendors - you can go through a half dozen before you get one to actually ship a product. But Ali does live up to its guarantees and will refund your money if the product doesn't ship - or it's not what was ordered.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Scenicruiser said:


> So is my iphone


Your iPhone is made to Apple's specs in a factory under license from Apple.
A 'china' phone is an off-brand that buys the same components to put together off-brand phones.
For me, since even the best branded phones are obsolete in a year, it's just not worth the money to pat for them (either through a long-term contract with a carrier or upfront). If I'm going to need a new phone every 12 to 24 months, I'd rather spend $100 than $500-$600.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

elelegido said:


> Have you received the phone yet? Is it any good?


Nope - just ordered it about 10 days ago. It should show up by summer - if it shows up at all.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2015)

Anybody looking for a used bar-b-que grill?


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## Go3Team (Aug 20, 2014)

mike888 said:


> Anybody looking for a used bar-b-que grill?


I'm looking for a used left shoe, to match the one I lost.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2015)

Go3Team said:


> I'm looking for a used left shoe, to match the one I lost.


I can hook you up with that.


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## Go3Team (Aug 20, 2014)

mike888 said:


> I can hook you up with that.


Good, because the dude at Pick and Pay wanted to force me to buy 2. I don't need 2, just 1.


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## UberRyan (Oct 8, 2014)

You might want to double check with your carrier as I don't think those bands are compatible with AT&T or T-Mobile on anything above 2G ... and EDGE is pretty slow. You would want at least 3G to run maps , etc. 

2G network: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
- 3G network: WCDMA:850/2100MHz


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

UberRyan said:


> You might want to double check with your carrier as I don't think those bands are compatible with AT&T or T-Mobile on anything above 2G ... and EDGE is pretty slow. You would want at least 3G to run maps , etc. 2G network: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz
> - 3G network: WCDMA:850/2100MHz


Yes - always check to see if you can use a china phone with a carrier in your area.
My other china phone (iRulu V1) works with T-Moble/Brightspot's 3G in my area. And this one *should* work with their 4GLTE service - but we'll see (if it ever shows up).


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

Well I'll be damned - right on time, USPS has picked up the tracking number for my phone, so it looks like they shipped me SOMETHING. Can't wait to see what it is.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

I'm selling my unlocked Moto G (Google model XT 1032) for $100.

3G, works great for Lyft. I used it on Cricket (at&t) $35 for unlimited calls, text and data. First 2.5Gb is high speed, throttled after that. But even when throttled the bandwidth is perfectly fast enough for Lyft and Gmaps, which don't use much data.

Should also work fine with Uber's Android driver app but I've never tried it on this phone.

Pm me if interested.


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## Fauxknight (Aug 12, 2014)

UberTaxes said:


> Thanks for the advice on the Lenovo unlocked phone, "geek at heart"
> 
> Which $35/mo unlimited data plan do you suggest ? Is that $35 including fees and taxes ? Is it 4G ?


I use a Virgin phone on a similar $35 no contract plan, after taxes it's just over $37. It is 4G LTE, but of course only if you buy a phone capable of such. They have two different plans with the unlimited data at that price, one throttles at .25GB but has unlimited talk, the other at 2.5GB with 300 talk minutes. I use the latter, enough data to not get throttled running Uber full time and I haven't run anywhere close to out of minutes since I only use the voice calling for passengers, and I usually text first which is unlimited usage in both plans.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

I split the difference and got the OnePlus One (16 GB) for $299 + Shipping. Chinese company, made in China, with international team. Purchased directly through their US website. More than the cheapies and lest then the flagship headliners.


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

That's a really good 2.5GHz Quad-Core phone with a lot of ram and a 5.5" HD screen.
(but much more than I'll spend on something that I'll want to replace in 12 - 18 months)
I'm really trying to keep my phone purchases to under $150.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> That's a really good 2.5GHz Quad-Core phone with a lot of ram and a 5.5" HD screen.
> (but much more than I'll spend on something that I'll want to replace in 12 - 18 months)
> I'm really trying to keep my phone purchases to under $150.


That's my policy also. But I held off so long getting a new phone that I was able to hold my purchase to under $150 twice. So I then broke down and got the OnePlus One


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

elelegido said:


> Have you received the phone yet? Is it any good?


It arrived yesterday. That's a good thing.
I always have to wonder if anything I order from China will actually show up.

First step was to verify that it really had all the goodies inside they said it had
(I was pretty skeptical it would be an 8 core proc. with 4MB RAM and 16GB storage and a 1920 x 1080 screen at this price)

Right now, with WiFi only it's a terrific 5" Android tablet.
I still have to see if I can find a carrier that supports it's phone frequencies in the US.
Using my T-Mobile sim I'm only connecting at 2G Edge speeds (as UrbanRyan said).

But still...
Wonder of wonders, it tests out at all the correct specs:


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

For me, the critical part of this phone - and why I bought it - is the 4MB ram
(cheap US phones have 512k, better phones have 1MB and really good phones have 1.5B - 2MB ram)

I'm tired of the Uber partner app tripping up all over the place when I'm also running maps, navigation and messaging.
I wanted the ram headroom and a fast processor.
16GB of storage without having to add an SD card is also a plus.


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

Can you post the 3g and LTE frequencies it runs on? Geek request, I know, but I'm wondering if it'd work on my network with high speed data


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

elelegido said:


> Can you post the 3g and LTE frequencies it runs on? Geek request, I know, but I'm wondering if it'd work on my network with high speed data


They're listed at the bottom of the very first post/description:
4G LTE FDD
GMS 850/900/1800/19003G 
WCDMA 850/2100.


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## ReviTULize (Sep 29, 2014)

Michael - Cleveland said:


> It arrived yesterday. That's a good thing.
> I always have to wonder if anything I order from China will actually show up.
> 
> First step was to verify that it really had all the goodies inside they said it had
> ...


Are you having luck with this phone?
How your you rate it?


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## Michael - Cleveland (Jan 1, 2015)

It is a great phone... but not for the US. It has no 4G capability here in the USA with any carrier that I can find... and the best mobile connection I've found so far is only EDGE speed, which doesn't really cut if for what I need. However, using it with a WIFI connection is as good or better than my Samsung tablet... so I'm keeping it and using it that way. Since the phone number I use with Uber is a GoogleVoice #, I can make and receive calls on the phone using Google Hangouts.

My new 'main' phone for use with Uber is a BLU 'Vivo Air' that I got through Amazon:
http://tinyurl.com/jvrdbkl
It's pretty amazing, at only .51mm thin. Has a loud speaker for its size - and has 4G connectivity in the US (I'm on T-Mobile with it). It also uses the MTK Octacore chipset and has 16G of storage... but that can't be expanded and the ram is only 1MB )I think(... but that surprisingly hasn't been issue so far. The battery life is also excellent - which surprised me. The phone is so light and thin that I often forget what pocket I put it in!

It seems the price has gone up to $189 since I bought it a few weeks ago for $149 <shrug>


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