Oppo Find7 Ultra

[lsemmens]

I've managed to crack the screen on my current mobile and, rather than F.O.R.d (Fix or Repair) I thought I'd look for summat new. In my searching I've come across the Which looks to be a great piece of kit. Apparently, though, it is only available in China. I have contacts there, so sourcing one should not be an issue. The question, though, is,

Has any one experience with importing a phone from China and managed to get it working on the Aust 5G network?

I'm tempted to risk it, but if I can get a definitive answer I might just go for it!

[hoe]

Oppo are excellent phones, but buying any Chinese region phone can be hit and miss with 5g and volte in au.

Be safer to buy a new or good s/h Australian find x5 pro or even an n2 flip.

I recently went from an x5 pro to a n2 flip and won't go back to a normal phone now.

Im hoping the find n4 flip is released in au this year.

There a couple of x7 ultra on ebay au, maybe ask seller if 5g/ volte works with Australian telcos. If it doesn't then you will have some recourse if you buy from ebay. You will need to manually add google play store, probably after every firmware upgrade.

Sent from my CPH2437 using Tapatalk

[wotnot]

Definitive answer?....how about personal experience?

Q. Why is my computer OS of choice debian linux?
A. Insert any long list of points here that most ppl use, to justify/validate why they choose linux..

Q. What is an Android OS built upon?
A. It's an embedded linux system....

Q. If I bought a prebuilt computer system (lets say from Asus), and it came pre-installed with some linux OS, what's the first thing I'd do upon starting that computer?
A. Format the drives, install debian linux. Why?...because I have first hand experience with Android/linux based devices, that contained malicious code, deliberately put there by the machine provider.

So...a mate gave me his then near new Asus Zenfone 5 (A500CG) back at the end of 2014 ; screen had a slight crack in 1 corner, side-buttons weren't working ~ <$50 later, all fixed (remember when phones were user serviceable?). Next thing to do, was to blow-away the Asus created OS firmware with something more trust worthy and with much less Asus bloatware....this would've been a cyanogenmod v13.x ROM iirc. I chose to make it google compliant (install gapps-suite), and kept on using until the end of 2018, when it needed a new battery, and I could see the writing on the wall that said 4G is next, 3G will be turned off one day. FTR, that phone I gave to my 80+yo mother, and it's still going today (however the side-buttons failed again, and she had to post it to me to replace them). She knows the 3G switch-off starts in Sept, and she'll send that unit back to me, to live out the rest of it's life as a functional media/music player =)

To replace that unit, I bought an Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (ZB602KL... was AU$300 from banggood at the time)...same deal, unbox, check it's OK as is, blow-away the Asus bloatware ROM, flash it with something more appropriate (LineageOS... the continuation of the cyanogenmod project), and it's working just fine still on original battery, where I live the 3G switch-off is inconsequential (not even 3G here, HDSP+ only), by my own estimations (and based on the UK experience), widespread 5G deployment is a long way off... and I'm not even sure if the existing network backbone can even provide the data required, to a whole bunch of devices running at 'true' 5G speeds...so meh, I'll probably be pushing up the daisies before they turn 4G off (the expectation is it'll be there at least to the early 2030's)...so 5G?.. not a consideration. Like the Zenfone before it, this unit is eminently user serviceable, with reasonably priced parts available.

Q. Why Asus Zenfone, am I being a shill?
A. No, I'm not...personal experience ; there are other manufacturers out there, for which the following is true like it is for Asus...this manufacturer always tends to abide by it's GPL obligations, when using open source software components (read: the linux kernel =) in their commercial products, and makes any changes made and/or binary,blobs available to the open source world. This means, it's possible to create other firmware images like LineageOS to replace the device manufacture's idea of how the Android OS presents itself, give you the choice to google compliant or not, and manufacturers that behave like this, allow bootloader/bootblock unlocking, so one can actually make use of the software they've 'returned' to the open source community...in essence, adhering to the intent of the GPL licensing.

As for the Oppo branded unit you mention...

Going by that, there's more tales of woe about this phone in the XDA forums... does an Oppo phone provide for bootloader replacement/unlock, and do they provide the source code/binary.blobs for their hardware (drivers)? If the answer is no, I won't buy it -- linux is open source. They break the rules, I don't buy their product...seems an easy decision to me =)

Mind you...I couldn't justify (to myself) spending more than a few hundred bucks on a phone from the get go...but that's ok -- if ever in the future I actually do need/require 5G connectivity, the 2ndhand market is riddled with the things, and can pick one that ticks all 'my' boxes B)

[lsemmens]

Thanks for those observations, the report that made me interested tended to indicate the Chinese price (with exchange) would work out at about $300AUD which made it VERY attractive. Prices from EvilBay and AliExpress tend to add a 1 to the start of that price. It's unlikely that I would opt to root it as my main use is, surprisingly, phone calls. (yes, I do play with it but that is very low on my list of priorities. Heck! I hardly ever use my phone to take photos! 99% of Messaging gets done on my computer.

[hoe]

I've been using nova launcher on both the x5 pro and n2 flip with zero issues.....

Wotnot, idon't understand the diatribe you're spewing out, it's a phone.....

There is zero need to root or modify Android phones these days.

If you do, chances are you'll lose access to Google pay/banking etc.

$300 aud for a premium phone is, erm, a red flag, good luck with that....

If it doesn't support 4g volte/5g au specs it's a brick....

Sent from my CPH2437 using Tapatalk

[lsemmens]

You are right on all counts Hoe. The review I read listed the price in Yen and Rupee (I think the reviewer was based in India). According to him the phone was only available in China. The issue with ANY Chinese phone, as my son reminded me, is that they need to be rooted to access any Google apps. Google is blocked in China, so the play store, maps, etc, are not available,

This phone was a nice thought, while it lasted, but I shall have to shop closer to home.

[hoe]

You can install playstore on non rooted phones these days, but you generally have to continually do stuff to keep it all working.

Google pay and most aussie banking apps will only work with aussie firmware.

This is a good thing these days.

Ive been down this route, but as I use my phone for business as well as personal use, it's not worth the drama.

I used Huawei phones until the google ban and would be using them now if not for that.

OPPO x5 pro can be had quite cheaply now as there are new models being released in au this year.

Sent from my CPH2437 using Tapatalk

[lsemmens]

I ordered an i15 android, from a "Sydney" seller. Not expecting much, but then I don't need it to do too much.