Or the Mi Max at 6.44" which I have no issues carrying it in my pocket though it's best removed before sitting. :smiley:

Does anyone know where to get a 3s prime now?

Looks like they no longer sell it

Hi, i followed ur link to xiaomi but 3s prime global version is not available. Band 20 is what I wanted as I live in rural north Wales! hopefully redmi 3s prime global version with all the band frequency support becomes available again I'll probably go for that as it seems pretty good . I've seen good reviews about it, miui software seems good. And the form factor 5" is what I wanted. Thanks for your help again.

i wouldn't worry so much about new with xiaomi. they release so many your phone is out of date super quick, but older phones are fairly well supported and get at least one major update. i purchased the note 3 only a couple of months ago.

as to the phone, there is a redmi 4x, which is an upgrade to the 3s i think, just to add another phone into the mix.

when you say global....are you worried about software or band 20?

because they will normally release a band 20 versions 3-4 months after the normal version. depends if you want / can wait. but as said.....don't worry so much about buying the newest.

if it's software, you can side load play store etc on fairly easy as a stop gap.

for use, i would imagine the 4 prime would be better, CPU and graphics card wise, but then suppose it does need to power a 1080p display.

good luck in whatever you purchase!

Hi alasdairgrey, thanks for your reply. Did you consider the redmi 4 prime before you purchased redmi 3s prime global version? As I'm torn between the 3s prime and 4 prime, obviously the 4 prime is newer but there's no global version yet. From reviews I've seen the 3s prime does better in camera n video than 4 prime? I'm no gamer, my usage is more multimedia music streaming ect,,,, so a good
speaker experience is important and a fluid device I guess. Anyway it's good to hear u had a good buying experience and your happy with phone,so mabe I'll go for the 3s prime global version, what do you think? Thanks again for your help, all the best neo.

Hello Neo, I used https://xiaomionline.aliexpress.com/store/2178148?spm=2114.13010608.0.0.uAoYnb and they were great. Arrived within 10 working days. Yes they sent an EU charger by mistake, but not fussed. my 3S prime is working perfectly, no issues with 4G and it hooks up everytime to Vodafone when theres signal.For delivery just pick the free delivery, i didnt have to pay any custom charges, whereas with DHL I believe you have too. You can pick English language, but no option for UK in locale, however it picks up your time from your mobile phone provider

Hi, can u recommend good reliable Ali express sellers as this will be the first time I've ever purchased Chinese phone. Thank you for your help.

Hi, I'm interested in buying redmi 3s prime global version with band 20,im on three network and live in North Wales area, does it work OK on 4g, 3g, and does dual Sim work good. I realize the redmi 4 prime is available, but not in global variant. Do you recommend redmi 3s prime for UK usage? Thanks for your help.

>>You don't have to spend much on a phone over here anyway with the likes of the Moto G, Wileyfox Swift 2 and P8 Lite 2017 edition all packing good specs for under £200.

oh, you must consider that there is a reason why people are buying chinese phones without warranty - and it is because these beat 'UK-specced under £200' ones hands down... I did a lot of research before deciding to try xiaomi.. to match it spec-wise, quality&battery life you are looking at 300+ probably ..

mine arrived yesterday, 11 days after ordering. Really happy with the phone. First thing I did was run a malwarebytes scan to be on the safe side. That picked up nothing.
Only minor issues are I am able to pick UK(English) as language however there is no UK for setting your locale, thats no problem as it picks up the date/time from the mobile carrier. I opted for the flip cover but that came badly bashed and doesnt look good, also they supplied a euro adapter rather than UK. Using normal usb plug just fine.

I agree they come with a health warning and you should research ALOT before purchasing.

from ROM support to vendor sneaks to import duty there are potential issues.

but they still offer very good value when ordered well. my redmi note 3 se came for under 130. great bit of kit, less than what is pay for comparable UK phone. very happy.

It's issues like this that make me think I will stick to buying phones made for the UK market.

You don't have to spend much on a phone over here anyway with the likes of the Moto G, Wileyfox Swift 2 and P8 Lite 2017 edition all packing good specs for under £200.

Looks like this has expired - now showing at £128

The phone took about 9 days to arrive from the dispatch date.

I selected Falkland Islands as the region at the beginning, it is really strange how there are so few region options.
First I update to the latest firmware
Added my Google account
Updated all the apps (Google play store was already on the phone)
Once this was all up-to-date I then added my Sim card.
Solid 4G at the moment.

I had a lot of teething problems but everything is working really well now.

Could just be the Xiaomi global/international editions with Band 20 haven't been tested properly. They've unlocked support for it but the code that decides which frequency to connect to isn't very good.

I'm just reading that O2 only use Band 20 (800MHz) which severely limits their 4G capacity. Still, the phone should switch to 3G at least. Personally I'm going to avoid O2 and Chinese mobiles in future!

EDIT: Have also seen Xiaomi's sales are dive bombing in China, they won't even publish figures for 2016 they're so bad. Doesn't bode well for their future.

the band 20 and 'normal' versions have separate updates but they do both receive them.

they're not limited, the band 20 versions are just ones for a smaller market xiaomi operate in and they need band 20 for that. think it's Taiwan.....might be wrong.

as to checking.....stick a free o2 sim in it and see if it picks 4g up.

check the miui forums and you'll see they list them separately for ROM downloads.

Is this expired? I can only find for £124

Yes, I opted for the free delivery...

can i ask did you go with free delivery? ive beeb told to pay more as the original dhl payment doesnt cover it. ive told them just send free airmail

Hi guys.

Just wanted to mention that I have received my phone. It was really well packaged and the box was shrinked wrap so it's not been opened and tampered with. Also included were 2 main plugs, 1 for the UK.

I've not had the chance to open it to see what the contents of the box are just yet.

So I'm guessing phones will start being delivered as of today. If people come across any advice/tips setting up please post it up here.

Quick mention to that I ordered on the 2nd, confirmation of dispatch on the 4th, and delivered on the 14th.

Considering a Xiaomi for the missus. One query - Since the vast majority of official Xiaomi models don't normally support Band 20, where do these 'magic ' handsets come from and if they are a limited edition 'special' production run, does buying one then lock you out of the official Xiaomi OTA updates?

Also, if I bought this handset, how could I confirm that it really does support the extra band/bands?

Ok thanks. Im on o2......

Do you think its your handset or this model in general?

Hardly a solution is it?

Also had a couple of other occasions now where it was stuck on 2G when coming out of Airplane mode.

Giff Gaff (O2). People around the world have this problem on many different networks.

The solution on page 118 seemed to work for me the other day but doesn't seem to stick after a reboot.

im currently in china just now with the wife and daughter for new year. Here they have this for £90 obviously chinese version. Can i just stick a global rom on it?

Hi, whats the screen like on this? and can anyone recommend a store that delievers quicker than a month. thanks

what network are you on?

if I read the comments correctly, if there is two sim cards in it, the problem doesn't happen?

Now mine keeps getting stuck on 2G/EDGE only, even when I standing under 2 mobile phone masts!

Witness a 126 page thread for this issue on MIUI forum, no sign of it being fixed:

http://en.miui.com/thread-320293-1-1.html

Final straw, this piece of junk is going on eBay...

got xiaomi redmi 3 pro, via gearbest. very good phone, great battery life, only disappointments are that camera is inferior to high-spec sony/samsung (especially obvious in bad lighting conditions) and it has no NFC.

also, not sure if it is standard xiaomi build or custom one by sneaky reseller, after couple of months some on-screen adverts appeared (popping out at random over the screen). I managed to identify that these are caused by 'system app' com.android.system.v5 (it was downloading adware apk files and starting them) and got it disabled (via builtin app manager).

so beware - there might be built in adware / malware, and no guarantee your sensitive data will not end up in the wrong hands (i.e. it is 100% sending some data continuously to servers in china &etc, open connections could be clearly seen by tools like 'OS Monitor'. but it could be more than 'just statistics', and who would you complain to about any problems ? definitely not to Chinese government )

.. and, of course, no warranty in uk ...

won't allow me to ship to UK ?

Since it was the Chinese new year and nothing would have been shipped till after the celebrations were over I took my time deciding on whether to order this phone.

I have ended up going for it. I ordered this on Thursday 2nd and received a dispatch confirmation today, Saturday 4th.

Thought I'd mention it so others are aware...

Had this phone for about a month now, love it. Would strongly recommend

I've got the note 2, so an earlier model. Great phones but the camera is a big let down. In great light it's fine. Get it indoors and the camera is terrible in all honesty.

the redmi note 3 with band 20 is not much more but has a better processor, plus slightly larger screen.

they are both great phones. I have the note 3.

Banking apps should work as long as you don't root. would presume it's the same as the banking app.

camera.....not sure. best case it's comparable, more likely to be less impressive than the s5. cameras are the big negative against the redmi phones.

otherwise they're ace

Should I go for this phone?

I have always gone for "the latest Samsung" but have got fed up of paying top money for a new phone. I am currently using a S5 on a sim only deal but would like a new phone as the camera has slipped!

Compared to a S5- is it better/the same? Can I use banking Apps? Sky Go? Is there a better phone for the same price/similar price?

If you bought from aliexpress, got should use standard shipping as DHL often gets customs checks.

Mine took about 3-4 weeks to arrive using standard shipping but didn't leave the warehouse for nearly ten days

ordered, will i get tax charges??? can i email seller to make sure there are no tax chargers? and how long roughly to arrive in UK?

After 2 months my USB port has gone bad, impossible to connect to a PC unless through a USB 3 hub.

MIUI is too glitchy as well. Chinese market products are still built down to a price, not up to a standard.

EDIT: Appears to have been dust in the USB port causing a short or the fact it was low on battery and drawing too much current. Either way, never had these problems on any device in the past.

A little thicker than most phones, which explains the huge battery. You could probably get 3-4 days out of this, considering the resolution and 5" screen.

yes for ee SIM working out of the box.

this phone isn't actually for the UK market, so the software, when it asks you where you are on startup, doesn't have a UK option.

so people will either chose something with the same GMT time for the clock, or some set it to India. I think that earlier on people saw the update quicker by doing this, though not 100% on that.

So straight out the box I can put my micro ee SIM in it and it'll work with 4g and everything?

What's the reason people set it to different areas like Falklands and India??

Sorry for sounding like a newb

I got mine from the last deal I saw on HUKD via aliexpress xiaomi store. The one with the international rom and play store pre installed.

Hey guys.
Where is the best place to pick up a mi max for the best version to use in the UK?

Thanks

Yeah it's just an app. You have to go into the settings to change the launcher from stock to Nova, but it's very simple. There are plenty of youtube videos to show you where the toggle is in settings.

There is a free version of the app which has loads of features, but the paid version is often on sale for less than £1. (I paid with google opinion survey credit so free effectively!)

Internal storage on mine is showing as 26GB currently available (that's with a full offline mapping set of the UK installed and a few other apps). It comes with a matte finish screen protector as standard which peels off fairly easily and which also covers the front camera aperture.

[/quote]Gatey is nova launcher able to be installed without rooting these phones?[/quote]
Yes. Just install it and you should be given the option to choose which one is the default launcher. I have Nova on another phone but have left the Xiaomi with the stock MIUI 8 interface which I quite like...

Gatey is nova launcher able to be installed without rooting these phones?

Thanks for the info, is the camera the most significant difference. I

Hi I'm looking for a redmi note 3 or 4,can anyone please tell me the difference between the two, the 4 is an upgrade and surely better. and finally can anyone recommend a reputable buyer to order one. Sorry for so many questions.

I have the mi max by xiaomi and I am really impressed by it and xiaomi in general.

I won't be jumping back on the Samsung/Htc establishment offerings again if they continue to make such good cheap alternatives.

Mine worked out of the box with no issues at all and for what, 1/4 - 1/3 of the main players prices sim free? Is an easy choice and easily worth the wait for shipping.

I have the mi max by xiaomi and I am really impressed by it and xiaomi in general.

I won't be jumping back on the Samsung/Htc establishment offerings again if they continue to make such good cheap alternatives.

Mine worked out of the box with no issues at all and for what, 1/4 - 1/3 of the main players prices sim free? Is an easy choice and easily worth the wait for shipping.

why would u remove the warranty, is it not worth it?

you have to pay for the one year warranty £5.37 it doesn't come included and I can't see anyway of removing it in the basket

Hi being an iPhone user I don't know much about android phones or these but looking at getting new phone
I normally jailbreak my iPhone Etc and wondering is it similar to do to these?

What o/s do these phones run?

Hi. Could anyone answer any of the following...

1.Do UK banking apps work with this?
2.Is this compatible with adoptive storage?
3.Can this be used straight out the box without having to flash any sort of ROM to it?
4.Is there any type of malware or suspicious looking app installed?
5.How would this cope with games such as Hitman, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Tomb Raider?

Many thanks.

To the ones who have already bought this, did it come with a screen protector already fitted?

Also, what do you have the ROM storage showing as? The Antutu pics posted by the seller have it showing as 23-24GB...

​oops sorry my bad :/

I guess it will be out soon then...

thanks for the heads up :smiley:

​This ROM is not for this phone. The ROM. you have linked is for the redmi 3(Ido), not the redmi 3s (land). So it wouldn't work.

Great phone. Got one for Christmas.
Battery life is insanely good! If you're not a fan of MIUI then just install Nova launcher or Google now launcher, which will make it look like stock android UI.
The 5 inch screen is plenty big enough for me, especially since it had capacitive buttons instead of on screen buttons.

Great deal but if you can afford to go for the redmi note 3 5.5. Or Meizu M5 Note

Good idea, especially sat opposite a young lady on a train.

Got the grey one of these a couple of months ago and I'm really impressed. It arrived and I powered it up got a pretty much instant OTA update. It seems to be well made, is fast and has great battery life. I didn't really want anything bigger than a 5" screen and this phone is also nice and slim. The fingerprint unlock works a treat and you can add a 128gb micro SD too. It's also possible to get good cases cheaply which isn't always possible with some other Chinese phones. There are quite a few clips floating around regarding modifying a micro sd card to take a SIM chip in the second slot but I haven't summoned up the courage to try this! For the money I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this.

antutu not great on this ....

5" or 5.5"? If you want to carry it in a trouser pocket i'd go 5" rather than 5.5". I found the 5.5" just that bit too bulky in a trouser pocket.

I ordered this over a week ago for my sister from the same seller but still it's not been dispatched yet....I think the business is closed due to the Chinese new year celebrations.

looks a good phone though for the money :smiley:

excellent price. very very tempted.

​agree. this is great deal. heated

​i would agree and I have the redmi note 3. love it.

but if youre someone who wants to stay at 5 inch screen the 3s would be a fantastic phone during day to day usage.

I had a look. ​snapdragon 430 vs 650. screen 5" (720x1280) vs 5.5" (1080vs1920). I think note 3 > this.

this or note 3?

Ordered this phone 3 weeks ago and had it delivered within 2 weeks from China, paid around £5 more at the time! Great phone, daughter is pleased with it as she was after a 'small' profile phone (not more than 5"). Also I have seen a hack that allows for both sims to be installed with a hacked sd, not that you will need to add more memory to it yet.

Heat added.
If anyone knows a better spec for the money can you please post a comment because my Mrs is after a new phone.

Can anyone recommend this bit of kit