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Hi all,
I am after the new samsung galaxy S7 but was quite surprised by the 4888 yuan China market price. Can anyone recommend a place or person to buy this phone from cheaper which wont end up getting home to find a toy car in the box instead of the phone! Cheers WeChat M_Fray86
If you want google services framework installed, I would not buy from China. Maybe Hong Kong instead.
If you want google services framework installed, I would not buy from China. Maybe Hong Kong instead.
I always buy a HK version from a reputable taobao seller for this very reason. Samsung will honour the warranty in mainland China if you have a receipt from an official retailer too.
If you buy the Chinese version you can not install the google service framework, a requirement for google apps, without invalidating the phone’s warranty.
Never thought about that Chris. Thanks for the great feedback too Ben. I’ll get on the taobao hunt. Just out of interest, would you recommend any of the Chinese brands and phones like, Huawei, Oppo or Meizu?
Thanks
I have heard good things about Huawei, but have had no experience myself. I had a Oneplus 2 for about 8 months. It’s a good phone, especially for the price, but not in the same league as the Galaxy s7.
The good thing about the Oneplus 2 is that you can easily flash the International ROM (OxygenOS) on the Chinese version of the phone. This gives you a fairly stock android experience complete with Google apps.
Never thought about that Chris. Thanks for the great feedback too Ben. I’ll get on the taobao hunt. Just out of interest, would you recommend any of the Chinese brands and phones like, Huawei, Oppo or Meizu?
Thanks
I would recommend trying to find a Nexus 6p (made by Huawei) arguably the best android phone of last year and retailing for pretty cheap now.
I would recommend trying to find a Nexus 6p (made by Huawei) arguably the best android phone of last year and retailing for pretty cheap now.
The problem with stock android phones is Google’s captive portal detection. When connected via wifi it tests to see if the internet is available against googles servers then reverts to mobile data if necessary. The problem is that Google’s server aren’t accessible in China which means wifi is completely broken unless you use a VPN. Even when not connected over wifi, you have to live with a permanent exclamation mark by your data connection indicator telling you that the phone can’t connect to Googles servers.
The fix to this problem is rooting the phone, then changing the captive portal server or turning off captive portal detection. This is undone each time the phone updates which is at-least once a month for security updates. Rooting your phone also means unlocking the boot loader which I personally feel is a security risk if your phone is ever lost or stolen.
The problem is that Google’s server aren’t accessible in China which means wifi is completely broken unless you use a VPN. Even when not connected over wifi, you have to live with a permanent exclamation mark by your data connection indicator telling you that the phone can’t connect to Googles servers.
This isn’t that big of a problem is it? The exclamation mark is just a slight visual annoyance that you would quickly get used to. But functionally, everything works as should in China.
The biggest annoyance would be if you first turned the phone on in China. You wouldn’t be able to get past the setup wizard without being able to connect to Google and you can’t even setup a VPN at that stage to connect. That’s the absolute worst headache.
This isn’t that big of a problem is it? The exclamation mark is just a slight visual annoyance that you would quickly get used to. But functionally, everything works as should in China.
WiFi doesn’t work without a VPN. That’s the biggest headache. The phone thinks you have no internet connection and defaults to using mobile data instead.
Edit: This has been a feature since Lollipop. It is more clearly explained here.
This isn’t true in my experience. I have a Nexus 7 tablet on version 6.0 Marshmallow, and my roommate just received a Nexus 9 tablet also on Marshmallow. We both have the “this wifi connection has no internet” error with the ! over the wifi symbol, but we can access the normal Chinese internet without VPN.
My LG G2 on Lollipop also works fine over wifi.
This isn’t true in my experience. I have a Nexus 7 tablet on version 6.0 Marshmallow, and my roommate just received a Nexus 9 tablet also on Marshmallow. We both have the “this wifi connection has no internet” error with the ! over the wifi symbol, but we can access the normal Chinese internet without VPN. My LG G2 on Lollipop also works fine over wifi.
You have cellular internet on those nexus tablets? It only applies to devices running stock android with cellular radios.
LG G2 doesn’t run stock android
EDIT: Just to be clear. The problem only occurs if you have a working cellular data connection on the device.
Hmm interesting. My Nexus 7 tablet does have 4G capability, but I don’t normally keep a sim in there. So if the device can’t reach Google on wifi, then switches to cellular and still can’t reach Google… it will continue to use cellular data? Well that’s a major flaw then.
Seems silly that Android would do this only on stock Android. But anyways, using an Android device in China is a pain in many other ways as well.
I’m experimenting with a custom rom (Cyanogenmod) without google services, using alternatives for all Google apps and it has not been a good time. I’m probably like most Western users, too invested in the Google ecosystem to find this solution convenient. ugh do I need to buy an iPhone?
I always buy a HK version from a reputable taobao seller for this very reason.
How do you determine who is a reputable Taobao seller? I am wary of everything on Taobao with all of the fake reviews and whatnot.
Hmm interesting. My Nexus 7 tablet does have 4G capability, but I don’t normally keep a sim in there. So if the device can’t reach Google on wifi, then switches to cellular and still can’t reach Google… it will continue to use cellular data? Well that’s a major flaw then.
I think it is an important feature. There have been a few times when I have been connected to a broken wifi network with no internet and not realised, or connected to a network with a captive portal that requires a login before an internet connection is established. This means that you don’t loose connectivity in those instances.
I’m not sure if it is turned off by default in Android source or if manufacturers turn it off or change the servers used on their own ROMs.
I’m probably like most Western users, too invested in the Google ecosystem to find this solution convenient. ugh do I need to buy an iPhone?
I bought an iPhone for my wife recently, and briefly considered buying one myself. That was before I saw the s7 edge. I don’t have any issues connecting to google services from home or work which is where I am 90% of the time. When I am out and about, I often just dial a VPN and leave it connected.
How do you determine who is a reputable Taobao seller? I am wary of everything on Taobao with all of the fake reviews and whatnot.
Good question. I guess the same way other people do, by looking for a seller with a large amount of mixed reviews. If I can’t find a few negative reviews of a product then that is definitely a red flag. I think the Alipay escrow system gives me a bit more confidence . There is still risk involved, but I don’t see any other viable options when it comes to purchasing an android phone with google services preinstalled.
Hi Ben,
From you above message did it sounds like you bought an S7 Edge? If so how have you found it and did you buy through Taobao?
Cheers
Hi Ben, From you above message did it sounds like you bought an S7 Edge? If so how have you found it and did you buy through Taobao? Cheers
I would advise only buying something like this on JD.com or T-mall (天猫) due to the issue of fake products which is prevalent on Taobao. Another local place in Chengdu to check out is 太升南路 which is known as cell phone street. If you go there and negotiate in person, do research before you go to makes sure you are getting a good price on genuine products.
From you above message did it sounds like you bought an S7 Edge? If so how have you found it and did you buy through Taobao?
It is easily the best phone I have owned. The software and hardware are solid. My only complaint is the glass back which attracts fingerprints and grease. I ended up putting a thin Ringke slim case on it.
I bought on taobao from a seller who had already sold a few hundred other SGS 7 Edges. If you do buy from Taobao then go for the popular shops that have hundreds of thousands of phone sales. If there is an issue then send the phone back immediately. I bought an LG G3 a few years back and they sent me the wrong model, Korean instead of HK. I had no trouble returning it, but had to wait a few weeks for stock of the HK model.
Another tip is to request a receipt for the phone from an authorised Samsung reseller. I paid a little bit extra for this. Samsung will not honour the warranty in mainland China without it.
Thank for all the information people. So I got my S7 Edge through Taobao (wrong colour but not bothered). Now I have come to the issue of
Chris wrote:
The biggest annoyance would be if you first turned the phone on in China. You wouldn’t be able to get past the setup wizard without being able to connect to Google and you can’t even setup a VPN at that stage to connect. That’s the absolute worst headache.
Other than rooting the phone or leaving China is there any other way around this?ThanksOther than rooting the phone or leaving China is there any other way around this?
The simplest way is to use a phone with a VPN and a mobile data connection. Set the phone up as a mobile hotspot then dial the VPN. Connect your new Galaxy s7 Edge to the hotspot then follow the normal setup procedure.
You can do the same thing with a computer and a VPN. You just need to share it’s internet connection by configuring it as a gateway or proxy. You should be able to find some guides on how to achieve this. It isn’t difficult.
If you have no luck with the above 2 methods then let me know.
What colour did you end up with?
I did think about doing that but didn’t have a spare phoen to hand so i put my UK Sim (with roaming disabled) into the phone and was able to go through the set up procedures.
I actualy tried to order the gold but they sent silver which is actually realise nice so im just gonna keep it instead of going through the hassle of sendign it back. Love the phone so far. I had an S2, S3, S4 then i switched to iphone 6. I know i wont be going back there again.
Thanks for all the help Ben and everyone else.
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