My new favourite phone (amazing Xiaomi Mi 9T) has just dropped under £215 on Gearbest
Best price I have seen yet on the amazing Xiaomi Mi 9T phone. Don't know how long it will last at this price. You can even get another 3% off with TopCashBack.
https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009530474746.html
I've long been a Xiaomi fan - in my mind the best quality for the money in phones (and many other devices). Amazing build. Great performance. Mid range yes but fully capable and less than a third the cost of Apple. I've previously owned the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and 4 and Mi A1 and loved them all (especially the stock Android One on the latter).
I recently upgraded to a Mi 9T for around £240 - which I thought was a bargain for such an amazing phone, even though it's the most I've spent since I gave up on iPhones. A cool pop-up selfie camera (which I will use little - other than to impress friends) allows for the stunning OLED screen to reach every edge. Cut-outs introduced by the iPhone X and much copied are so yesterday. The clever behind the screen fingerprint reader is fast and so much more practical than face ID (I love the animations that springs to life as it does it's work)
The camera is outstanding in all lighting (thanks to HDR and AI) - with a great wide-angle option. And the Snapdragon 730 paired with 6GB RAM makes for a super-snappy experience. Only possible downside is the absence of a microSD slot (although it's still dual SIM) - but since I started using Google Photos, I don't seem to need to much storage.
I'm really loving it - even getting used to Xiaomi's MIUI skin again.
https://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_009530474746.html
I've long been a Xiaomi fan - in my mind the best quality for the money in phones (and many other devices). Amazing build. Great performance. Mid range yes but fully capable and less than a third the cost of Apple. I've previously owned the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and 4 and Mi A1 and loved them all (especially the stock Android One on the latter).
I recently upgraded to a Mi 9T for around £240 - which I thought was a bargain for such an amazing phone, even though it's the most I've spent since I gave up on iPhones. A cool pop-up selfie camera (which I will use little - other than to impress friends) allows for the stunning OLED screen to reach every edge. Cut-outs introduced by the iPhone X and much copied are so yesterday. The clever behind the screen fingerprint reader is fast and so much more practical than face ID (I love the animations that springs to life as it does it's work)
The camera is outstanding in all lighting (thanks to HDR and AI) - with a great wide-angle option. And the Snapdragon 730 paired with 6GB RAM makes for a super-snappy experience. Only possible downside is the absence of a microSD slot (although it's still dual SIM) - but since I started using Google Photos, I don't seem to need to much storage.
I'm really loving it - even getting used to Xiaomi's MIUI skin again.
Head of Product at Fing
Tagged:
2
Comments
-
-
What's this about Android not being updated? That's not a thing anymore. With Android One, used on my Mi A1, there is a guarantee to support for a minimum of 3 years. Even without this my old Redmi Note 4 is still getting updates from Xiaomi.
Plus, I could buy another 2 or 3 new phones for what I saved not buying Apple
Head of Product at Fing1 -
I used to use iPhone. And all my kids are on Apple. So I'm more than familiar with the pros and cons.
They make nice kit but not infallible and very, very expensive.
For me the only real benefit over Android are the repair costs. Because so many of us are Apple cult followers, parts are people who can service the billions of identical devices we all use abound. And that makes it much easier and cheaper when repairs are needed - notably with older devices.Head of Product at Fing1 -
Joking aside, I spent about $800 on my iPhone7+ and have gone through one free battery change. Compare that to the idea of 'buying 3 Android phones' I'd argue that that's somewhat of a detriment - you've spent more time buying devices, getting each one set up and have created more of a landfill issue and also more of an ecological impact in having these devices cheaply made.Gidster said:What's this about Android not being updated? That's not a thing anymore. With Android One, used on my Mi A1, there is a guarantee to support for a minimum of 3 years. Even without this my old Redmi Note 4 is still getting updates from Xiaomi.
Plus, I could buy another 2 or 3 new phones for what I saved not buying Apple
Not saying than Apple are somehow green-gods here, just that there's a payoff with everything and there's the bigger picture to consider.
And don't forget, my iPhone 7+ still has value - just random checked on web site and I could get over $150 back for it...
On the plus side, at least Xiaomi seems to be one of the more trustworthy brands Chinese brands out there.People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
2 -
@Pooh. I haven't needed to buy 3x Androids in the space of your 1 x iPhone. I've been able to afford to upgrade twice, and have still not spent as much as buying one iPhone (spending little and often is how I deal with my gadget addiction).
And those 3 phones - total cost around $600 - are all still being used, delivering value to 3 different people not one.
There's a reason Apple have more cash in the bank than many Nations.
Head of Product at Fing1 -
@Gidster - you might not have, others will have though. Equally, I may still have my 7+, others have indeed continued to enrich Apple's bottom line with 7+'s, then 8+'s, X's XR's and now 11's.... Like I said, it's a bigger picture...
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.1 -
In the end I think its a bit dependent on which echo system you have bought into, even above price. In my case I pay for and use the convenience of each piece of apple kit working with one another fairly seamlessly. Can android do that? Sure, as can Microsoft and Apple. They all have their pros and cons in terms of features and price so weigh which is more important to you and where you are willing to compromise. That’s how I went from a mostly Microsoft world to a Google one and then finally settling on Apple.
Thats Daphnee, she's a good dog...1 -
In defence of Android I'll try and avoid pushing us into the old Apple vs Android debate, especially as I like Apple kit (I'm writing this on it) and they are certainly the source of many valuable innovations.
But I'm not sure what the ecosystem benefit is you are referring to @Marc. What is it I can't do with an Android phone and the rest of my equipment and services, I could if I had Apple plus a lot of other Apple equipment?
Indeed the Apple ecosystem is these days more often cited to me as a trap by those I know who have invested in a lot of Apple kit, rather than an appeal, as the Apple services or devices they use ONLY work on Apple devices. Think iTunes or Airpods.
I understand I can't watch a movie I bought on iTunes on my Apple TV on my Android phone. But that's just not relevant to me. There are now numerous cross-platform services arguable better than anything Apple has to offer. Today I seamlessly use Netflix, Amazon Music, Alexa, Google Docs and so on across all my devices, from multiple manufacturers (including Apple). I'm not aware of any limitations if there are any.
And Android is available on a wider variety of devices, giving me more choice. While I agree Apple's phones are as good as any of those out there, for instance I also own a portable projector with Android built in. Without it I'd also need to cart a laptop or other media player device on my travels.Head of Product at Fing0 -
@Gidster - I can
- Control my iPhone Camera with my watch.
- Log into My Macs with my watch.
- Copy some text from my watch or iPhone and paste it to the Mac.
- Take a call on my watch then move it to my iPhone.
- Copy files from my Mac direct to my iPad
- Locate my iPhone with my watch.
- Have a meeting reminder sent to my watch if I'm wearing it, else alert my phone.
- Start a call on my Mac that uses my phone to complete.
- Switch my airpods between devices with one swipe.
- Instantly be alerted on purchases made with my Apple card (like with 2 seconds yesterday!)
- Use my iPad as a third monitor to my MacBook.
- Open a web page on my iPhone then continue reading it on my Mac.
- Use Apple Maps on my iPhone and have my watch give me directions.
- Control my music on my iPhone using my watch (very useful when in the car).
- Use iMessage on all my iDevicen (Watch thru Macs)
That's just right off the top of my head. Unsure how much of this you can do with Android - pretty sure there are analogs for some, however you did ask what could one do with the Apple ecosystem and all these are items I use either daily or weekly.People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
2 -
And that’s the beauty of either ecosystem. I use Apple because I am vested in wearables, phone, tablets etc from them. So it suited me. To me ecosystem is the world it encompasses and I live in that world except at work. For you Android provides just what you need so your good with it. I don’t like Android wearables so it cannot work for me, that’s a nod for me to use Apple. It’s all about needs and individual choices.
Thats Daphnee, she's a good dog...
3 -
Which is fine, but...the question asked was What is it I can't do with an Android phone and the rest of my equipment and services, I could if I had Apple plus a lot of other Apple equipment?Gidster said:@Pooh pretty sure there's nothing there I'd want to do that I can't - In don't really have an interest in a wearable
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.3
Categories
- 5.8K All Categories
- 2.8K Ask about Connected Technology
- How To...
- 1.1K Devices & Security
- 1.6K Network Troubleshooting & Connectivity
- 114 General Discussion, Weird & Wonderful
- 45 Network Infrastructure
- 5.4K Ask about Fing
- 548 Fing Account Change Request
- 1.1K Fing Desktop
- 1.4K Fing App
- 1.7K Fingbox
- 534 Announcements, Beta Testing & Release Notes
- 160 Community Updates
- 29 Getting started
- 15 Community User Guides