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Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

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x9200
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Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by x9200 » Sat, 01 Apr 2017 4:14 pm

I am not a mobile phone guy. I owned few years ago HTC One or something, then I switched to LG G2 mini, and it was a bad experience . The display quality after that of the HTC unit was a complete shit - dark, low contrast, hardly possible to read anything in the daylight conditions. And it was slow in very basic operations like switching between the applications or the screens.
Half a year ago I inherited an Iphone 5s from my wife. As for most of the Apple stuff I like the design, the display quality and other qualities but the software for me is very unintuitive and don't like it. I am thinking of going back to Android but I don't want to land on a mine field like that of the LG phone. I completely don't care about gaming and such. What is important to me is:
- the display
- battery life
- price below SGD200
- LTE
- similar to the Iphone camera quality

Now, for the few encounters I had with Xiaomi, it looks like a decent brand, but so I though about LG and got burned. Both the phones in the subject are priced around SGD170 so I wander if I should satisfy my curiosity and buy the Xiaomi one, or stick to the proven brand HTC (other phones also may come into the focus).
HELP!

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by taxico » Sat, 01 Apr 2017 5:39 pm

i took a leap of faith a few years ago and bought a 200+ $ xiaomi phone directly from mi.com

it worked pretty good. i changed it for another more powerful model less than a year later. (300+)

i'm on my third one (400+). it's not for you if you want the latest android software.

no bragging rights either. mine could only impress the people in a cell phone booth located deep in the jungles of Laos.

but i think it's a phone that gives you a lot of control over its capabilities/options and is very well priced.

i believe i got my money's worth - all 3 of them. i wouldn't hesitate to buy another xiaomi phone - provided it's of a better spec than what i've got right now.
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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by Wd40 » Sat, 01 Apr 2017 7:22 pm

Same here, I am using my Redmi Note 2 since 1 year 3 months now. My wife is using Redmi note 3 since 1 year and I just bought another Redmi note 3 for my mother in law.

No problems with any phones and all of them I bought as export sets without warranty from little India.

The only thing you need to take note when you buy an export set is that it could be a modified ROM. For my Phone there was a global ROM available from Mi website so I flashed it after noticing some lag in the modified ROM. But my wife's phone was the MTK version of the Redmi note 3 which was released only in China so it didn't have a global ROM. Finally I flashed China ROM on it and it didn't have Google apps and play store. I used APK to install them.

It's much more cheaper and fun to buy an export set.

The Xiaomi 4x is a good phone. Go for it. I have seen Xiaomi 4A seems similar and it much more common in Singapore. Where did you see the 4x?

Sent from my Redmi Note 2 using Tapatalk

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by x9200 » Sun, 02 Apr 2017 12:56 pm

Thanks Taxico/WD40, it is an export set:
http://www.lazada.sg/redmi-4x-2gb16gb-b ... .html?mp=1
What is practical implication of this? All in Chinese with no option to switch to another tongue?
I don't see this model even being mentioned on mi.com.sg

Here is the 4A model, local, cheaper by $1. Didn't check yet for any significant differences.
http://www.lazada.sg/xiaomi-redmi-4a-32 ... =1&rb=6116

Have you ever had opportunity to compare the screen quality between an iphone and the lower end Redmis?

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by Wd40 » Sun, 02 Apr 2017 2:35 pm

Redmi 4X is for the China market. There is no original global ROM for this. So I think it will come with a vendor modified ROM. It will have playstore and all that but it could be laggy and may crash as well. How I know there is no global ROM for this, I see the link below, it has China ROM only for download:
http://en.miui.com/download-323.html

In case of 4A, you see there is both China ROM as well as Global ROM for download:
http://en.miui.com/download-319.html

So unless specificationwise or featurewise you see something very special about 4X, avoid it. You could flash original China ROM on it but it wont have google apps and playstore but you can install it using APK. The only other downside is that it will come preinstalled with lot of China specific apps like Mi wallet, yellow pages etc.

It is better to buy a export set of 4A. I saw in little india for like $140 I think. You have the option of installing original global ROM on it, in case it has a vendor modified ROM.

Here is an export set of 4A on Lazada:
http://www.lazada.sg/xiaomi-redmi-4a-16 ... =1&rb=6116

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by x9200 » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 8:07 am

Wd40 wrote:Redmi 4X is for the China market. There is no original global ROM for this. So I think it will come with a vendor modified ROM. It will have playstore and all that but it could be laggy and may crash as well. How I know there is no global ROM for this, I see the link below, it has China ROM only for download:
http://en.miui.com/download-323.html

In case of 4A, you see there is both China ROM as well as Global ROM for download:
http://en.miui.com/download-319.html

So unless specificationwise or featurewise you see something very special about 4X, avoid it. You could flash original China ROM on it but it wont have google apps and playstore but you can install it using APK. The only other downside is that it will come preinstalled with lot of China specific apps like Mi wallet, yellow pages etc.

It is better to buy a export set of 4A. I saw in little india for like $140 I think. You have the option of installing original global ROM on it, in case it has a vendor modified ROM.

Here is an export set of 4A on Lazada:
http://www.lazada.sg/xiaomi-redmi-4a-16 ... =1&rb=6116
Thanks WD40. I think I will buy the 4A model (unfortunately goldish = no go for me), still I am going to see it first with my own eyes.

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 10:37 am

I don't know if you have considered getting a phone with the stock android OS? like the nexus or something? the main reason I don't like Android is its myraid UI's and vendor customizations..
There is also the option to install cyanogenmod OS on your phone X9 if you want.. I had tried that out many moons ago on Android tablet and it was very good. maybe worth a look ?
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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 12:04 pm

the other option is a Nokia 6 on Android

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioRixGbY8Lc
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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by x9200 » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 2:42 pm

I am not going to use any Android phone for any sensitive information. In general, I don't trust any mobile device for that, but for the very rare occasions I may need to process some sensitive data on a mobile device, I still carry an Ipad in my backpack.

A smart phone for me is a gsm phone (voice + txt), plus a functional backup to the Ipad and a camera (I also have a full blown regular camera in my backpack). Very occasionally I may post some stuff on FB, take photos, and that's roughly it.

IIRC the Nexuses are pricey.

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by rajagainstthemachine » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 3:23 pm

x9200 wrote:I am not going to use any Android phone for any sensitive information. In general, I don't trust any mobile device for that, but for the very rare occasions I may need to process some sensitive data on a mobile device, I still carry an Ipad in my backpack.

A smart phone for me is a gsm phone (voice + txt), plus a functional backup to the Ipad and a camera (I also have a full blown regular camera in my backpack). Very occasionally I may post some stuff on FB, take photos, and that's roughly it.

IIRC the Nexuses are pricey.
the Nokia 6 runs a stock android and it is quite cheap. i use a 73$ Lumia 540 atm and i upgraded it from windows 8 to windows 10 .. its a bit slow but for a device with 1GB RAM its pretty decent.
I don't believe in buying expensive smartphones anymore, they are all the same crap in a year or two's time.
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Re: RE: Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by Wd40 » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 4:52 pm

rajagainstthemachine wrote:
x9200 wrote:I am not going to use any Android phone for any sensitive information. In general, I don't trust any mobile device for that, but for the very rare occasions I may need to process some sensitive data on a mobile device, I still carry an Ipad in my backpack.

A smart phone for me is a gsm phone (voice + txt), plus a functional backup to the Ipad and a camera (I also have a full blown regular camera in my backpack). Very occasionally I may post some stuff on FB, take photos, and that's roughly it.

IIRC the Nexuses are pricey.
the Nokia 6 runs a stock android and it is quite cheap.
Nokia 6 is in the $300 price range. The xiaomis we are talking about are in the $150-180 range.



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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by ScoobyDoes » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 5:13 pm

I bought a Xiaomi 3S last year for $150 as a back-up, and to use as a Hotspot for my main phone, running WP10.

The OS works fine, has some pretty good options such as Dual Apps and even Dual Zone where you can run two different instances side-by-side. The battery simply lasts.......and lasts. It has the Chinese ROM, in English, but the guys I bought it from installed Google Play. There are still a few issues of things popping up in Chinese but it's not often and usually is not for anything important.

The great thing about it, it has an Infra-Red output so I can use it as Remote Control for my A/C, Media Box, TV etc. That function came in really handy, and a nice surprise, when the remote for my media box connected to the TV failed.

Some nice features, anyway......but I still prefer Windows as an OS.
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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by Wd40 » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 5:33 pm

Yupp the dual apps in Xiaomi is awesome. But the best thing I like about Xiaomi is the cool button at the left that lets me kill all apps that are running to free up RAM. I can lock some apps so that they are always running like WhatsApp for example. Other Androids like in Lenovo and Samsung you need to swipe and kill every app.

Also the other cool thing about MiUi Android is that it has a single home page for apps and no separate home page for apps that you use often, like Samsung and Lenovo has. I don't see the need to have one home page with few apps and then go 1 level down to see all apps. The Mi remote too is cool. I use it often to switch off on my TV.

Overall, I have got so used to this UI that I can't go back to Samsung or Lenovo. My next phone will be Redmi note 4. I think my Redmi note 2 will last another year at least.

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by x9200 » Mon, 03 Apr 2017 7:47 pm

rajagainstthemachine wrote:
x9200 wrote:I am not going to use any Android phone for any sensitive information. In general, I don't trust any mobile device for that, but for the very rare occasions I may need to process some sensitive data on a mobile device, I still carry an Ipad in my backpack.

A smart phone for me is a gsm phone (voice + txt), plus a functional backup to the Ipad and a camera (I also have a full blown regular camera in my backpack). Very occasionally I may post some stuff on FB, take photos, and that's roughly it.

IIRC the Nexuses are pricey.
the Nokia 6 runs a stock android and it is quite cheap. i use a 73$ Lumia 540 atm and i upgraded it from windows 8 to windows 10 .. its a bit slow but for a device with 1GB RAM its pretty decent.
I don't believe in buying expensive smartphones anymore, they are all the same crap in a year or two's time.
Windows ... eeee... but I see somthing like this that lacks any details:
http://www.lazada.sg/nokia-x-4gb-black- ... .html?ff=1

and Nokia X can come in different flavors (e.g. 1 vs 2 sims).
I must say one thing what Nokias are famous for is here pretty tempting - the max standby time up to 17 days vs 7 days of Redmi 4A.

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Re: Redmi 4x vs HTC Desire 825 (or similar)

Post by Wd40 » Fri, 07 Apr 2017 11:54 pm

Xiaomi is the number one phone is India. This is a big achievement for a Chinese brand in India:

http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/xi ... ia-1678448

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