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I want to take Android to China. Wat do?

R

RuiXi

Lurker
Hai everyone,

I'm going to China for a year in September. I obviously want to contact my family and I've decided to use skype over WiFi to do this because it's cheap and easy.

I'd like to get an Android that does CDMA, GSM, WiFi, and is otherwise just awesome. Price really isn't an issue for this expense, as I want to have a reliable and fast method of communicating with my family back home.

So, I'm guessing that "omg best android phone?!?" threads are probably discouraged, so as I have no idea which phones are the most recent, when they've come out, what version of the Android OS is good..etc. I've decided to ask what phone is best for me? I don't like flip out keyboards, I like large touch screens and slim designs. The phone I last had was from before the era of smartphones, and although I tend to enjoy getting into the nitty gritty of everything, I'm taking a top-down approach here and want to work from a desirable specification to understand how and why it's desirable, and go from there.

I'm looking for examples of phones that would suit these criteria - I understand it's a wee bit vague, but a long list of possible phones is welcome. Also I'd like something recent, as newer technology tends to just be better in general by Moore's Law.

Thanks a lot for the help =)

睿熙
 
I use a UK purchased Samsung Galaxy S in China, does everything I need.

Maybe look around the threads here, and and choose a phone you think you might like. As long as its GSM, unlocked and has WiFi you should be OK. China Telecom does operate a CDMA network, but AFAIK it only works with phones supplied by them.

BTW if you need any paid apps, get them before you come to China as they're not available here, except for Hong Kong and Macau.
 
You (first poster) didn't tell what originating country are you from. US? Europe? Asia?

You got different paths on this one.

1. GSM Android would get you EDGE with China Mobile.

1A. As the Android Market may occasionally get blocked by the Great Firewall, you may like to consider a phone that allows sideloading. That may put the AT&T phones out ot the equation unless AT&T has updated your phone to allow so (meant so you can use the Amazon Appstore). In China, Android apps can be obtained directly from websites and various independent app stores too, but so is the danger of malware.

1B. Get your paid apps before you leave your country.

2. Find an Android with 2100 3G band, preferably unlocked out of the box or try to unlock it yourself. That can give you 3G with China Unicom.

2A. T-Mobile smartphones generally have a 2100 3G band as an option.

2B. Some, but not all, AT&T GSM smartphones do. The ones that don't have it are generally HTC. The ones that do have it, are Samsung, like the Galaxy S variants, some Motorola ones, like the Defy, Cliq 2, and the Atrix.

3. China has a CDMA carrier, China Telecom. But I am not sure if they can take, or be willing to make the effort, to try to unlock and force a US CDMA phone to work in their networks. From my understanding, China's CDMA technology happens to use a SIM card too, while the US ones are internally programmed.

3A. Should this be the case, look for a CDMA phone with a global band, like 2100. The Droid Pro, Droid Incredible 2, Droid 2 Global and the HTC Merge are the candidates.

4. Get your phone unlocked, or buy it out of the box unlocked.

4A. Best and only phone that is unlocked out of the box in the US is the Nexus S. The Nexus S is a triband phone, with two versions that has both the 2100 global 3G. One version has the T-Mobile AWS band, the other version, sold in Canada and mail order dealers in the US like Negri, comes with the AT&T band.

4AB. In other countries, the unlocked phone options are much more plentiful that actually includes most phones but you have to go with an independent dealer, pay full price without a contract. The options are most plentiful in places like Hongkong or Singapore, where it is very easy, and very plentiful to find all sorts of phone models that are unlocked. Please note these phones generally have 900/2100 band and would only work on EDGE in the US with ATT or T-Mobile in the US.

5. Just buy your Android in China. There are many you can find there, including models you won't see in the US. However, if GSM, probably will work on on EDGE when you go back to the US. If you are Europe or Asia, stick with China Unicom for the phones as their 2100 3G band phones will also work on 3G on other countries with the 2100.
 
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