I'm considering buying a new phone in China next month and would like recommendations on what phone to buy. My budget is $1.4k CAD and I value a good camera. Software updates and Google Services are a must but I'm not sure how I can enable them since Google is blacklisted in China. My friend said it's possible but I think it involves side loading? The big brands like HONOR, Huawei, and Xiaomi come to mind, and there's OnePlus too, but OnePlus has fallen from its peak.

Coming from a pixel 7. Want a mid range option with good support and clean bloat free android. I don't mind startups (loved my old essential phone).

Absolutely cannot be a Chinese company, so no Lenovo/moto, one plus, redmi, etc. Prefer not made in China (so Korean Japanese Taiwanese or factories in Vietnam or India fine) but I'm willing to compromise on the factory location because of the reality of manufacturing.

I got the nothing 3a and it ticks almost all my boxes EXCEPT the 14 day warranty and the fact it's not supported by AT&T. Going to return it and looking for another option.

Would like at least 256gb storage but I can work with whatever - expandable storage would be great but not a requiremen. I'd like to avoid having a noticeable step down in performance from my pixel 7 but a lateral step is fine.

Budget should be $300-400 preferably, can stretch it to $500 maybe (after tax the nothing 3a was $440 iirc).

Trade in my half busted pixel 7 for a pixel 9a with a budget stretch? Look at the Xperia 10 VII or a zenphone option? Any other enthusiast phone offerings like the nothing/essential not on my radar that'll work with AT&T? I'm not the biggest Samsung UI fan but open to their options, what's available?

Currently using a S23+. Pretty happy with it, just the battery doesn't seem to last as it used to (need to top it up during the day).

Don't play any mobile games atm. Used to a lot in the past and might pick up in the future but power is not that important.

I am looking for a better camera, happy with user experience with the S23+ (speed to) and battery life.

Main usage is Android Auto (trying to use tethered when I can due to the battery drain), browsing etc.

I am going on a trip to China in late October so can try to purchase the next phone in Hong Kong.

From what I have been reading the Honor Magic8 Pro and the Vivo X300 Pro seem to be great contenders. The alternative is the S25u but Samsung seems to have stagnated in the camera front.

Edit/added: Throwing the Poco F9 Ultra in the consideration

So had an iPhone forever, recently though ran into hardware issues that caused the phone to fail and not happy about that. So looking for my first android phone, originally liked the concept of the fairphone, but feels like lot of trade off with functionality. I also will say I work in an industry that is heavily target by China in cyber threats, so a Chinese phone company will not qualify. Ironically I get it that basically all phones are manufactured in China…

What is everyone’s thoughts on Google pixel?

Title says it all, really. Budget aside, what's the best non-Chinese? Are Galaxies and Pixels basically it?

EDIT: To add, I'm talking about the brand here. So, no OnePlus, Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo, Oppo, etc. Parts from China / manufactured in China is OK. I know there are many Chinese brands with many strong offerings. That's the point of the question, really. Those are basically the ubiquitous recommendation here, along with Galaxies and Pixels. I'm curious about what else is out there right now.

Been using a OnePlus 12 China import with a global ROM for the past 2.5 years. Love the phone and battery life, camera is good enough, occasionally annoyed with the lack of eSIM. However, after several drops, the screen is cracking up and I thought I might get a new phone. It's also a little too big for comfort so I'm looking into more compact devices.

My main uses are watching videos, light gaming, and basic photography (travel, and covering events as part of my volunteer work where I help with managing social media). I do expect apps to run smoothly and for the battery to last.

My last few phones were either OnePlus or Samsung Galaxy S base models. While I enjoyed OneUI, the battery life is sad. I recently got an Oppo Pad Mini while travelling in China, ColorOS is easy to use and it made me open to considering an Oppo phone too.

Now deciding between the OnePlus 15, OnePlus 15T (for the compact size), and Oppo Find X9s Pro (compact size and supposedly better camera). OP15 global version with eSIM is available in my country through official retailers, but prices are still kinda high. It's around 10% cheaper to import the CN version of OP15T or X9s Pro, but that means giving up eSIM support and potential issues with some banking apps and government services.

Welcome any suggestions, especially if it's still worth getting a OP15 now. Thank you!

Hello everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well. I am kinda torn between the two since they have similar specs but I kinda like the back screen gimmick a little bit more but I'm very open to deinfluencing. I am currently rocking an iPhone 13 Pro Max.

1. I really like taking random photos and videos in highest quality as possible.
   
2. Buy now or wait for the new update (kinda scared of the price increase of RAM to take effect Fuck AI)
   
3. I originally plan to treat myself this December but am somewhat panicking after realizing the price surge like apple.
   
4. I would love for it to work on Bank apps and BYD Key Card. (I hope someone here uses them)
   
5. I tinker a lot so I'm good with China ROM since I'll just use Shizuku and Canta for the ones I don't use.
   
6. I kinda want to

Would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations. It can be a different phone as long as the back doesn't look like the vivo X100 where there is a big circle. I am hoping for recommendations with same price range as them.

My main is a Vivo X300 ultra. I need a 2nd phone for work. I don't need global rom. I have been using a redmi 14c. It's awful and slow.

I'm thinking of buying the Xiaomi Redmi Turbo 5 max. It's china rom and the specs to price ratio is insane. I know theres a poco variant that is global, but I dont wanna pay 200 usd extra just for android auto or Ive heard some banking apps?

THe banking apps thing does concerne me even tho i dont use them frequently.

How was your experience with China roms?

PLEASE ONLY THOSE WITH EXPERIENCE WITH RECENT CHINA ROM PHONES (2026 + released)

I need some help if this should be my final decision or if I should consider looking for smth else another version, another brand, etc. Redmi Turbo 5 max seems like a great phone that has everything I'm looking for: good camera, excellent gaming performance, huge battery, fast touch processing (I dunno what it's called tbh) and obviously all aspects are a huge jump from my current Samsung A13 4g. Anything I should expect? Any issues? I'm fine with China ROM tbh so that itself isn't too much of an issue.

Hey everyone!

I’m currently using an iPhone 17, and I’m in a bit of a dilemma about whether I should switch to another phone.

For the most part, I’m actually **very happy with the iPhone 17**. iOS has really “grown on me”. Everything feels extremely smooth and well optimized, I haven’t experienced any noticeable stuttering or lag, and overall I really enjoy using the phone. One bad thing that I experienced: When I watch Youtube videos with the lower end of battery, the phone becomes extremely hot.

That said, I should also mention that **even though I like iOS, I’ve always been an Android user before this**. I never had any real issues with Android either — but I’ve mostly used lower-end, budget Android phones, so my experience wasn’t exactly with flagship devices. Still, I never felt like Android was “bad” or unusable for me.

The **one major problem I have is battery life**.
I get around **10 hours of screen-on time per day**, which I know is a lot, but there’s a reason for it. My job has a lot of downtime where I basically can’t do much, so I end up using my phone to pass the time — mainly YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, watching movies/series, etc.

Because of that, battery life is pretty important to me.

My current iPhone 17 sometimes struggles to get through the day with my usage, and I often feel like I’m constantly thinking about charging it. When the phone gets hot, the battery drain can also become pretty ridiculous. I have currently a 95% battery health. I know that there are much better choices when it comes to an Android flagships (especially with battery and charging)

So I’ve started considering switching phones.
**The problem: I actually like iOS. (but I can leave it peacefully because the iPhone is my first apple product so I don’t have the “Im closed with the ecocystem” thing.**

I’m also planning to buy the **AirPods Pro 3** again. I previously had AirPods Pro and absolutely loved them, but unfortunately they broke, and despite trying other earbuds, I still haven’t found anything I like as much.

I know AirPods work with Android, but you lose some of the Apple ecosystem features, which makes switching to Android a little less appealing.
That said, I’m willing to give up the Apple ecosystem if the advantages of switching are significant enough.
**The AirPods alone aren’t enough of a reason for me to stay with the iPhone. I love the Airpods pro 3, but I am currently using a budget 30$ earbuds and honestly? It’s good enough for me. So I want that Airpods, but it’s not that important.**

**There’s another important factor: content creation.**
In the future, I want to start creating fitness/gym content.
Nothing professional yet — mainly things like workout videos, TikToks, Instagram Reels and eventually YouTube content. I want to start it probably within a year after my bodybuilding competition.

Because of that, **camera and especially video quality are becoming increasingly important to me**.

I want a phone that can produce genuinely good-looking video without needing to buy a dedicated camera immediately.
So ideally, I’m looking for:
Excellent battery life
Excellent video quality
Very good stabilization
Good thermal performance during longer recordings
Smooth and reliable software
Minimum 120Hz display

A phone that can comfortably handle heavy daily use
I’ve been looking at phones such as the **iPhone 17 Pro Max, Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, OPPO Find X9 Ultra, Xiaomi 17 Ultra (or 17 pro max China version)**

The OPPO is particularly interesting to me because of its huge battery and camera hardware, but I’m worried that I might regret leaving iOS after getting used to it.
For the Samsung: Mehh, it’s good, I love the UI, love the many years of support, but they can’t product any significant upgrade for years now.
Vivo: Seems good, but it’s 2200$ lol.
Xiaomi: I have no idea.

On the other hand, the iPhone 17 Pro Max seems like the obvious choice if I want to keep iOS while getting a much better battery and camera system, but I don’t know if it’s worth stay or should I leave the IOS ecosystem.

**So what would you do in my situation?**

Thanks!

I want someone that has daily driven the turbo 6 to help me decide

1. Did you get the region lock thing? (where if the phone got restarted 10 times outside china, then it disables cellular connectivity)
2. Can the bootloader be unlocked with Deeptesting app in 2 days or is the policy of needing an account for 2 months + 2 weeks of waiting already got applied? link for the oneplus blog
3. Did you tried flashing the nord 6 global rom on it ?

point 1 and 2 are my main concerns as the china version already has google services as far as I know but It would be more convenient to have the global version Its price is close to the nothing 4a but the nothing is more expensive and has a worse cpu and battery but allows bootloader unlock and is already global with minimal android look which is what I need.

Hi guys! I’m planning to buy a second phone around September and I’d like to hear your recommendations.

I already use an iPhone 15 Pro as my main phone, so I’m not really focused on cameras. What I’m mainly
looking for is:

• Great display and speakers for movies/YouTube
• Smooth and reliable software/UI
• Good battery life + fast charging
• Durable, flagship-level build quality
• Good performance for occasional gaming
• Preferably an official PH/global unit, not China + flashed ROM

I was originally looking at the OnePlus 15, but I’m having trouble finding a legitimate global/PH unit.

Which brand/phone would you recommend for my needs, and why? Especially interested in long-term reliability and software experience.

Thank you po!!

So i want to buy new phone from china(because of price) and i have problem deciding which is the best one. So here is a list of this phones:

-vivo x200 ultra/pro

-vivo x300 pro

-oppo find x9 pro

-oppo find x8 ultra/pro

-xiaomi 17/15 ultra

(So pls help me)

I'm looking at replacing my Samsung A71. I have 128GB storage plus a nearly full 256 GB SD card in it, so looking for something that will allow at least that much storage.

I do not want any phone from China.

From what I can find it looks like the A35 is the last Samsung with an SD card slot, but they're 3+ years old already. Everything else with 512+ GB seems to be $1000+ phones which is out of my price range.

I tend to keep my phones long term until they break, so want something for 5+ years if possible. WPT would be nice, since it seems like the charging port is the weak point for some phones. I don't play games or do that much, so doesn't need to be top of the line. I do take a lot of pictures though.

Hello I’m planning on buying a new phone and since these two cost the same I’m wondering what to buy?

I’m interested in the nord 6 for it’s battery but the oneplus ace 5 has better performance

Hello guys, just want to ask what is your experience in using Vivo S30 Pro Mini China on ROM variant. I ordered it since I do want a compact phone and has decent gaming and great camera for a budget. How is your OS experience? Performance? Battery? Camera?

Thank you for those who will share their experience on this post✨

Hey,

I'm using my s23 for few years and im less and less happy about the battery life, so I would like to switch it for something with better battery life but I'm limiting myself to just few phone producents (i dont want any chinese owned due to privacy/european union stuff so there is only Apple, Samsung, Google from the top companies).

So I wonder about taking 10 pro xl or new 11 pro xl, or Samsung galaxy s25+.

As a someone who didnt have pixel, is it worth to go for 11 pro xl? Or is better to take much cheaper (~450-500 euro/USD) 10 pro xl?

Or am i missing some other phone options?

With iPhone my issue is that i Have Galaxy watch 6, and it would be an additional cost to switch smartwatch too + im kinda addicted to Android gestures.

I'm not power user of a phone, mostly YT, Spotify, watching some movies, ocasionally working (using AI tools) on a phone, travelling with android auto.

Also im enjoying using pixelsnap/magsafe feature

Hey guys, I’m looking for a new phone and I’m honestly confused as hell with all the options 😭
My budget is around ₱18k, but I might be able to stretch it a little. I’m mainly looking at phones from **Oppo, OnePlus, iQOO, vivo, Redmi, Realme, Poco**, or other brands if there’s something better.
What I want is strong gaming performance, preferably Snapdragon but I’m open to MediaTek if it performs better. I want good thermals because I sometimes game for long sessions, a good AMOLED display with 120Hz, decent cameras, a big battery, fast charging, and ideally IP68 or IP69 water resistance.
I don’t really want a dedicated gaming phone. I want something that can game hard but still feels like a normal phone for everyday use. I’m also okay with China ROM if the mobile data and basic apps work properly, but Global ROM is still preferred.
Some phones I’ve been considering are the Redmi K70 Ultra, Realme GT series, iQOO phones, OnePlus Ace phones, and similar models.
What would you guys recommend? Also, if any of the phones I’m considering have major issues like overheating, bad battery drain, annoying software, or throttling, please let me know. I’d rather know the ugly stuff before dropping my money