Trying to decide Huawei Ascend G525 or galaxy j1 or innjoo fire

[Jet-Fighter7700]

So I've whittled down my list for phones

Finally decided to ditch my galaxy pocket and get a proper phone,

I need something easily rootable, and customisable with Roms

Dual sim preferably,

And per the advice of a few forumites, at least 1gb RAM if not more,

I'm finding this really hard deciding, as i tend to keep phones way way past 2 years and i expect them to work well with anything I can throw at them.

So i need a phone that can take the abuse, and wont die on me easily

Can be upgraded with roms easily,

Suggestions? Was also looking at the Experia E1
But that's single sim and only 512 ram
A big no no as was advised to me.....

What other phones could i look at?

 

[Park@82]

Budget?

Maybe also look at these:
http://store.orange.com/za/mobile-phones/sim-free-phones/wileyfox-swift-16gb-sandstone-black-282092/
http://store.orange.com/za/mobile-phones/sim-free-phones/meizu-m2-note-grey-279454/
http://store.orange.com/za/mobile-phones/sim-free-phones/motorola-moto-g-3rd-gen-black-280668/

IMO go for something with 2GB + RAM. There is a thread on mybb about the m2 note, people seem to be happy with it... but the Wileyfox Swift doesn't look bad either and comes with Cyanogen out of the box instead of Flyme overlay that the m2 comes with.

Google for reviews and check out some youtube videos about the ones you are looking at.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

thanks for this,

TBH, Im really looking for something that I know Ill find spares for, something that I can get batteries for easily,

does anybody have that Huawei Ascend G525? whats it like to live with? as that seems to fit everything nicely for me.

thanks guys,

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

It's old. Look at a more recent Huawei like the Y5 or Y6.
I wouldn't suggest taking anything that's not released in 2015 or at the oldest Q3 2014.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

It's old. Look at a more recent Huawei like the Y5 or Y6.
I wouldn't suggest taking anything that's not released in 2015 or at the oldest Q3 2014.

so the innjoo then? isnt that more recent?

problem with the innjoo might be getting batteries and such sent out, I mean its exclusive to takealot.com

I mean I can pop down to china mall and get my phone battery checked , also I sort of want to stick to a budget here,
I cant go for something 2K and above, its really not affordable,

if I have to go huawei, I hope it will be good? nobody here has one so difficult to know.

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

Huawei is up and coming. I don't really like their phones because I hate the lack of app drawer (like iPhones) but it's undeniable that they are very attractive options on a budget.

And I don't know...I still think you're being unreasonable though. I was simply giving you criteria to look within. Too old and you can forget the support, both official and unofficial.

I guess if you've got a Nigerian budget you should get a Nigerian phone.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Huawei is up and coming. I don't really like their phones because I hate the lack of app drawer (like iPhones) but it's undeniable that they are very attractive options on a budget.

And I don't know...I still think you're being unreasonable though. I was simply giving you criteria to look within. Too old and you can forget the support, both official and unofficial.

I guess if you've got a Nigerian budget you should get a Nigerian phone.

what else am I missing then?
I mean my requirements seem quite demanding, you say I should rather look at the wileyfox phones?

I mean the innjoo phone looks nice, but its a bit of a unknown
the other is a huawei, looks ok works well enough, and is good enough for me to use,

but you say its a bit unknown, and you dont like it that much,

you say definetly I shouldn't compromise and go for less ram, 512 you say is unacceptable

unfortunalty most phones otherwise have that amount of ram, only other ones, are your S5 and S6
and Im not prepared to go and take a contract on those phones,

so Im really very little choice, the innjoo or huawei really no other options,

unless Im missing something big here....

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

I didn't say you shouldn't go Huawei, just not that old model.
And then I was telling you what I think of Huawei because you asked. In no way did I say you shouldn't get one. If I'd have had less money I'd probably have their flagship now. And for a while I was campaigning that my dad upgrades to Huawei but in the end the quality of the much stronger Galaxy S4 Mini was more alluring as his contract upgrade.

And the requirement that's most demanding of all, and the only truly unreasonable one, is that you expect a weak phone to last you an eternity. A decent phone now on a shoe-string budget is possible, a decent phone 2-3 years from now is not. It will all be pathetic and weak and useless like your Galaxy Pocket now or even worse, even if the darn thing still runs and you can get batteries for another 10 years. And if you start with a phone that like the Ascend G525 is already 2 years old you're just being even more unreasonable and probably shooting yourself in the foot.

Bond is still quite happy with his Innjoo by the way.

Also look at the Vodafones, at the low-end their specs can be quite decent. (and before you complain I don't know whether any of their phones within your budget fit your criteria)

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

if bond is still happy with his innjoo then thats great
, might just end the stalemate, as he was grateful enough and answered all my questions quite nicely

you say Im being unreasonable with my choice, I get that,
Im just trying to find the best compromise of everything I have looked at,

its really not easy to pick and stick with one phone, knowing how long I keep mine going for,

maybe I should relook that

out of interest schumi, what phone do you have?
and what would you pick from the 2 I put foward?

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

I have a Sony Z3 now, I wanted to go flagship and it was the most appealing. I had a Galaxy S4 Mini before but I wanted to go back to Sony...there's just something about Samsung that rubs me the wrong way somehow. Well, some of it is their lack of support as soon as they've got a replacement model out they generally discontinue support. Of course there are custom roms but I still think that mindset is disgusting, especially for such a giant that could easily keep officially updating phones to the latest Android versions 4 years from now (at least those strong enough to handle the new versions), and Samsung's 2-year/just-out-of-warranty mark failure rate is quite incredible.


In your position I'd be swayed by the power of the Innjoo as I've said before. The stronger the phone is now the happier you will still be with it in 2 years time. Of course I can't vouch for it's development cycle or lastability (and repairability) but what's the point of having a phone with plenty of life in it if it's so weak that it makes you unhappy enough to want to throw it against the wall every other day. I come from the PC gaming world and I know that what looks like a marginal difference in performance now can mean the difference between getting playable frames from a game and an unplayable slideshow years down the line. In other words the difference between your phone making acquaintance with the wall and staying in your pocket.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

I have a Sony Z3 now, I wanted to go flagship and it was the most appealing. I had a Galaxy S4 Mini before but I wanted to go back to Sony...there's just something about Samsung that rubs me the wrong way somehow. Well, some of it is their lack of support as soon as they've got a replacement model out they generally discontinue support. Of course there are custom roms but I still think that mindset is disgusting, especially for such a giant that could easily keep officially updating phones to the latest Android versions 4 years from now (at least those strong enough to handle the new versions), and Samsung's 2-year/just-out-of-warranty mark failure rate is quite incredible.


In your position I'd be swayed by the power of the Innjoo as I've said before. The stronger the phone is now the happier you will still be with it in 2 years time. Of course I can't vouch for it's development cycle or lastability (and repairability) but what's the point of having a phone with plenty of life in it if it's so weak that it makes you unhappy enough to want to throw it against the wall every other day. I come from the PC gaming world and I know that what looks like a marginal difference in performance now can mean the difference between getting playable frames from a game and an unplayable slideshow years down the line. In other words the difference between your phone making acquaintance with the wall and staying in your pocket.

I can live with that, since you say you have a sony, and I used to have a reliable feature phone sony,

what do you think of the E1? as that was also on my list, but discounted as its under the Ram threshold you've advised me on.

so innjoo is best then, I do tend to agree though, as there is at least a page on XDA devs for that phone
Id love for a G525 owner to advise me on how they find their phone?
as I got a nice feedback from mickZA and bond regarding their innjoo phones,

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

Both the E1 and G525 are too old as I said. If you want to keep the phone forever you don't want a phone that already has waning (official) support, that's already technically 2 years old and will be 4 by the time 2 years are up. Makes batteries that much harder to get. Not to mention if they were low-range then, then they are already quite weak now and will be fully functioning paperweights in 2 years time, about as useful as an old ring-dial phone.

Other than the now discontinued M2 Aqua (which was out of your budget anyways) I'm not very impressed with Sony's weaker phones (not that I'm impressed with any weak phones really). And remember these phones are more Playstation than they are Ericsson like your feature phone was since Sony bought them out a few years ago, so you can't compare them.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Just pm bond and Mick, Mick said Gobi was what he had previously, not sure about bond what phone he coming from, but both said innjoo all the way

What about you? Innjoo as well?

Really hard to decide, but 3 votes will clinch it...

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

Well Bond also has a LG G4, one of the cream of the crop phones out there at the moment, so if he says to get the Innjoo (and he said in his own thread that he didn't really miss the G4's superiority when dealing with the Innjoo) then you really can't find a better endorsement than that. If that doesn't convince you, then nothing will. He should be disgusted with the Innjoo given the other phone he has, but he really doesn't mind, so that says a hell of a lot (mind you I don't think he'd ever be willing to give up the G4 completely though).

And if we are talking VS 2013 phones like the E1 and G525 then I'd also definitely say Innjoo, simply because it's both newer and stronger.

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Innjoo it is then, as quite a few here say that's the phone for me....

Think its a worthwhile investment....

Shame but my procrastinating didn't get me the 1,2k deal i now need to pay another 400 randelas....

Unless somebody got a takealot voucher

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

I think all vouchers are currently going towards Xmas

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Yeah, innjoo then seems like ill be most happy with that, one final question,

I understand the innjoo takes micro sims

What do i need to do here? Do sim swap with mtn to smaller Sims? Cost on prepaid.

As my pocket takes full size and i don't want to cut up my sim cards and make a mistake!

Also, network lock, dosent exist on this phone?
Hate to find out it does

 

[SCHUMI-4-EVA]

Network locks are illegal in this country. So takealot wouldn't be allowed to sell the phone if it were locked.

I guarantee that your Pocket doesn't take full size sims cuz full-size are about as big as the entire phone, they're the old full credit card sized ones. Full > Mini > Micro > Nano
Yes, you get MTN or whoever you are with to do a sim-swop to whatever you need for you. Standard cost of R120 (with Vodacom at least)

 

[Jet-Fighter7700]

Jeez I'm so out of date, so i got one size less than full, that's mini right?

So i need to ask for a starter pack and migrate to a micro sim? That should work right?

I on prepaid mtn, so hows it usually done?

 

[MickZA]

It was a couple of years ago when I upgraded my prepaid MTN SIM and iirc it was done for the cost of a starter pack at a MTN shop. Just take your ID with (and RICA stuff just in case).

When I installed my SIMs I found the MTN SIM was already pre-cut to pop out the nano version and I cut my 8ta SIM to size using this guide - http://www.iphones.ru/forum/index.php?app=core&module=attach&section=attach&attach_id=31965