Posted under Tech
I went to Burma bazaar a few days ago along with Arun and Jerome for buying some accessories for Jerome’s mob and found out that, lots of stores here are selling Korean mobiles only. Only few shops here have the normal Nokia or Ericsson mobiles and all other mobile stores are full of Korean mobiles and i found a lot of crowd in these stores. People don’t hesitate to buy these mobile phones which has no warranty, but the dealers promise us that there are lots of service centers now in Richie street and other parts of the city for these cell phones. And yesterday Arun sold his W800i and brought a korean variant of the iphone for just RS 2200/- which comes with 2 batteries,1.3 mp cam, great audio effect and most importantly looks like a iphone.
Why do people go for these ?
Well the answer is quite simple
* These phones are really cheap
* Most of the phones come with a dual SIM option and 2 batteries.
* These mobiles have incredible audio effect.
* Funky looks.
Do you people think this will affect the sales of other cell phones which are meant to be sold in India.
Karthik on 21 Feb 2008 at 4:40 am #
I guess it’s left to personal choice. There’s nothing right or wrong in buying these phones. I would personally not buy these phones and rather buy an entry level Nokia for the same cost.
Gowtham on 21 Feb 2008 at 12:26 pm #
But these mobiles are simple irresistible for their low price and great audio.
Marc on 21 Feb 2008 at 5:36 pm #
Karthik, have you seen these phones? Massive features.
Praveen on 22 Feb 2008 at 7:01 am #
Oooh! I dint know that dual sim phones were available Chennai at that rate! Who cares if its illegal to buy Korean phones? I guess it wud be useful once we start working in a different state…
Karthik on 23 Feb 2008 at 9:45 am #
Theres always a catch. You find out about it sooner or later.
@Marc,
I want a phone to make calls and send messages maybe.
So as far as massive features go, no thank you.
Deepak on 23 Feb 2008 at 1:56 pm #
Hi…. Does anybody know the OS installed in these? I want to install softwares like google map and gmail ( the mobile versions) . Does these mobiles support the softwares. Are they durable. I sometimes charge the phone for 2 days continously( I download movies through EDGE
). Sahre your opinion. Anybody there with bad experiences with these phones?
Gowtham on 23 Feb 2008 at 4:13 pm #
Deepak, The OS purely depends on the model you have, which you didn’t mention. But i am sure that these mobiles are compatible with lots of software.
And no body knows when these phones die, If you are a resident of chennai, and if you have any problem with your phone, you can find some service centers in Richie st.,
Marc on 24 Feb 2008 at 8:40 am #
Dai mokka PSP, it isn’t illegal to buy these phones. What’s wrong with you?
I don’t know if any of those programs will run. The OS seems to have basic Java midlet support.
meyya on 25 Feb 2008 at 9:11 am #
arun exchanged it for 2200 bucks or the price of that mobile was 2200 ?
Gowtham on 25 Feb 2008 at 9:30 am #
The price is 2200/-
meyya on 25 Feb 2008 at 10:38 am #
hmmm , thanks da.
Deepak on 26 Feb 2008 at 5:12 pm #
Thanks Gowtham :)! What OS does your phone have? Have u tried using gmail and gmap and moneycontrol softwares on the mobile,have u installed any games on it?…
And I am yet to buy one…I think the one I am looking to buy costs Rs.6200 with dual sim,3 cameras(one webcam and 2 front and back) , two bluetooth( he did not give me an answer for 2 bluetooths) , and the usual TV and radio and off course touch screen. He said the model is some 88. I enquired in Spenecers. He said he will provide service if something goes wrong. But he did not know about the OS.
Gowtham on 27 Feb 2008 at 7:44 am #
Deepak, Well i don’t own a phone like this. some of my friends do.
Its nice to hear that the dealer promised you a service in case of any problem, these phones support java midlet. I afraid these phones will not be compatible with gmail and gmap.
Find out exactly how the model is called and google out the OS that is used in it. And i don’t recommend you of buying it in spencers, it might be costly there, go to burma bazaar and use all your bargaining skills.
Deepak on 28 Feb 2008 at 10:59 am #
If it supports java midlets then i guess it may support other softwares because I presently have Nokia 6085 which supports only java midlets and I am using both these on it. What is ur model and what OS do u have?
I have just enquired in spencers and ritchie street and found spencer to be cheaper than ritchie… I l try in Burma too!
Gowtham on 21 Mar 2008 at 3:12 am #
Then why do you wish to change a good phone and when it satisfy your requirements.
Viswanathan.A.S on 26 Mar 2008 at 4:49 pm #
My two friends bought 2 korean phones from ritchie st, both for 5000 Rs. one is nokia model and other normal design. awesome phones. one has 6 speakers with gr8 sound effects, FM Radio, mp3, video with 1gb memory, bluetooth,ftp transfer, web, sms, ems,mms, email, touch screen, 5.3 Mega pixel front and back camera, Photo and text editor,dual sim, head phone set, gr8 screen resolution and many more… with no warranty.
I am going buy one shortly. Though it does not carry any warranty, shops in ritchie st have service people. V have to see even if we buy a original phones with 1 yr warranty, what will happen if we lost the phones, not functioning some issues, or lost the phones?? Its better to go with these phones and enjoy the features…
Nokia type model has battery bit poor, the charge comes for 12 to 24 hrs… If we replace the battery with original Nokia battery( 300 to 500 rs) problem solved….
Also it does not mean that all models have battery or other issues.. i felt in his phone.
best to buy these phones between 3000rs to 6500 rs and enjoy these features.
I will buy one phone next month for sure.. I am shocked by the features at very lesser price.
Gowtham on 28 Mar 2008 at 2:19 am #
Yeah all these features are astonishing me. And service center right around the corner, we could just blindly buy these phones.
And are sure the cam is 5.3 mp, thats f*&^*ing cool dude.
Karthik on 28 Mar 2008 at 4:42 am #
Why would we need 3 cameras, 6 speakes in a phone ? And 2 bluetooth ? Are you planning on having lunch with your phone ? And 5.3 MP ??? Frigging N95 and K850i have only 5MP. But then MP alone is not an indicator of how good the camera is. Autofocus and optical zoom are important.
The VGA photos i used my phones to capture are better than 6600 VGA pics.
Touch screen is pretty cool though. But then I saw this one touch screen i my friends Korean phone. Not so hot.
krishna on 09 Apr 2008 at 10:02 am #
hi i am thrilled to see these many features for such a low price.
can i know the memory capacity in the iphone variant which u have said is it touchscreen?how about talk hours?
krishna on 09 Apr 2008 at 10:39 am #
hi i am thrilled to see these many features for such a low price.
can i know the memory capacity in the iphone variant which u have said is it touchscreen?
govinda on 09 Apr 2008 at 10:40 am #
hi great to hear about these mobiles.
may i know the price range and which one is worth buying with many features
Gowtham on 09 Apr 2008 at 11:35 am #
Krishna, No its not touch screen. It doesnt look more like a iphone either, but its just Rs 2100/- with 1.3 mega pixel cam, small and compact, supports up to 2 GB of memory and an awesome audio clarity, the only sad thing about the phone is that its a bit slow while saving videos and pictures.
Govinda,
The price range starts from 2000/- to 7000/- or more
The more the features, the more the price is(obvious)
The models don’t really matter here, most of the phone looks alike
But i recommend you not to invest more in these phones, may be not more than 4000/- , as there is always a risk factor.
govinda on 11 Apr 2008 at 6:15 am #
thanks for the reply gowtham and r there any phones which looks like iphones if so how much does it cost
Gowtham on 11 Apr 2008 at 4:17 pm #
No problem dude!!! Feel free to ask questions(even though i don’t answer them properly)
I can’t be sure about it. But as i told, my friend’s phone has a apple symbol in it, but doesn’t look like an iphone.
nitish on 19 Apr 2008 at 2:52 pm #
how can i install games in korean mobiles and how can i find the format which the phone supports. please reply soon.
Gowtham on 20 Apr 2008 at 10:09 am #
Nitish, Most of the phones run in Java midlets, so most of the java games should run in it.
Venky on 15 May 2008 at 5:13 am #
Viswanathan, where in ritchie street? Can u gimme the mobile stores name please?
Thanks
Gowtham on 16 May 2008 at 9:35 am #
@Venky, Dude, just walk in to richie st and ask around, i hope there will be many shops there to repair these phones.
Microeyes on 07 Jun 2008 at 10:26 am #
is there any website with details of avail models and their prices…?
Sunil George on 19 Jul 2008 at 5:48 pm #
In my experience the warranty and support offered by the branded phones is only a gimmick. They will not cover you in warranty if you need - ie if there is any physical damage, any breakage or for any problem happened because of rain water.
Last day my friend’s Motorola (flip model) display got some trouble. When the phone is opened fully, the display goes off, which is a problem with connecting wire to display. The shop which he bough the phone plainly directed him to the Reddington service center at TTK Road (Chennai). After waiting for one and a half hours we got our turn, but I was shocked to hear that, for simply changing the wire they asked him Rs.6500/- We just walked out and he decided to buy a new Korean phone for Rs. 4000/-, having much better features than the best Motorola model available in the market. .
Now answer me why we need to trust these branded phones.
iphone games music on 20 Jul 2008 at 4:04 pm #
Nice blog, i have added it to my favourites, greetings
Sakthi Arun on 30 Aug 2008 at 6:37 am #
Hi Gowtham,
I buy yesterday the Nokia N95 8GB (Korean-Model). It’s see the mobile like Orginal Nokia N95 8GB. But, i know features difference between for orginal & korean model. But, Cost wise is very low in Korean model. What you think abt Nokia Korean Model. Please guide with me abt install for additional software.
viky on 08 Sep 2008 at 6:37 am #
where can i get this in chennai.
donjave on 08 Sep 2008 at 11:06 pm #
this is whack man these korean phones are nt trustworth u cant use blootooth in these coz the os gets corrupted the battery life sucks cameras whack ya’ll gotta get sum gud branded ones coz no korean phone works more than 8mnths, if a drop of sweat goes in the phones dead, hash 10 gives breakage warranty n theft insurance free with any mobile, n the music clarity in these phones suck earphones r total waste man, branded has gud music clarity n cams gr8 luk at the pics in the pc then u’ll knw these suck, no point in praising them man, i’ve used many had many probs with korean, branded had no probs, get a life boys go branded.. ur mobile is a part of ur personality dnt make n cheap n fake, adios amigos.. beuno surte…
Gowtham on 09 Sep 2008 at 12:06 am #
@donjave
Yeah happens!! But still you should have some luck, i suppose !!
Cos some of my friends are using these phones and they are not having any problem with that.. And most of the functions are working good,
Marc on 09 Sep 2008 at 7:26 am #
@donjave,
For a third of the price, what do you expect? It’s like complaining that your second hand family car doesn’t perform like a Lamborghini.
vijayaragavan on 09 Sep 2008 at 6:22 pm #
what is the garenty&warenty for the korean cell phones
donjave on 16 Oct 2008 at 12:10 pm #
im not telling you that my second had car should perform like a Lamborghini im tellin ya that it should atleast perform like a second hand maruthi 800, these phones are a waste of money and your not gonna use the touch screen often and you dont use mp3 in this often, any decent guy wouldnt shoot pics in it, so whts the point? 3000 bucks for a piece of shit.. earth to marc… even a nokia black an white 1200rs will give you god battery life and voice clarity, if you go for the same 3500 you do have phones with mp3 and cam.. in motorola and the clarity in that is pretty good.. and they look cheap.. ive never had problems with the mobiles.. they are not worth it…
donjave on 16 Oct 2008 at 12:10 pm #
what phone is that in the pic?
Marc on 17 Oct 2008 at 9:57 pm #
donjave, your comment shows that you have never used such a phone. They perform well. Are you saying the phone is useless because ‘I might not use the touch screen or MP3 features often’? What kind of rubbish reasoning is that?
Why wouldn’t anyone shoot pictures with it? The camera works great.
You have never tried these phones and you blindly badmouth them based on your prejudices.
shadefox on 27 Oct 2008 at 2:16 am #
do u kno if this particular fone works in places outside of india? i bought a chinese mobile that was supposedly a GSM fone, but doesnt work in america. do u have any ideas???
Gowtham on 27 Oct 2008 at 3:45 am #
It should would work!! And its GSM !