Xiaomi products are not allowed through customs. Russian customs unwraps Xiaomi smartphones - how to get around it
All Xiaomi smartphones imported into Russia, so many buyers mobile devices We were never able to receive our parcels from this manufacturer. Chinese online stores and sellers understood this and returned money to customers for undelivered goods. Even though thousands of Russians have already filed complaints with several Russian authorities and the CEO of Xiaomi in China, the likelihood of resolving this situation with customs peacefully is extremely low.
The editors of the site carefully analyzed the situation and found two really working solutions that will help buyers from Russia continue to get their hands on Xiaomi smartphones at very low prices. At the same time, the likelihood of any problems arising with the customs service of the Russian Federation is negligible. If everything is done correctly, the package is guaranteed to end up in the hands of the buyer, bypassing the traps set by the Smart Orange company, which asked not to allow allegedly counterfeit Xiaomi smartphones into Russia, since it owns the rights to this trademark.
Agree with the seller or online store
Russian customs operates very simply. If the postal package contains words like “Xiaomi smartphone,” then such mail will not reach Russia. All Chinese online stores and individual sellers usually mention the name of the company, so Russian customs are actually provided with all the data to complete their task
Before purchasing a Xiaomi smartphone in China, you should contact representatives of the online store or seller in advance, asking them not to indicate the name of the smartphone brand, limiting themselves to only the words “smartphone” or “Android mobile device.” In this case, the customs service will never be able to know for sure which smartphone manufacturer is inside. Of course, the package can be opened, but this almost never happens.
Compliance with this simple rule will allow you to continue to order Xiaomi smartphones from China without overpaying double the price to the Russian representative of the company. At the same time, everything will be fine legally, since the essence of the parcel does not change. Customs officers will still understand that there is a mobile device inside, but what kind of device they will only have to guess.
Order Xiaomi smartphones from the Mall
As part of its integration into the Russian market, the largest Chinese online store AliExpress opened a so-called “Mall” a few months ago, in which Russian residents can order goods not from China, but directly from their country. Thus, postal items bypass inspection by customs services, which means you can buy Xiaomi smartphones in this simple way.
Of course, goods from the Mall cost approximately 10-15% more than those when delivered from China, but the confidence of receiving the parcel and the absence of headaches with customs are definitely worth it. We also note that all postal items moving only in Russia reach recipients within two weeks, and this is another reason to buy a Xiaomi smartphone through AliExpress Mall.
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The environment shapes consciousness, and in Moscow this definition of historical materialism becomes literally visible. We are undergoing the next stage of city improvement, in which it is necessary to dig up the main streets, narrow the roads and create a million traffic jams. Some are ready to endure this, others are throwing thunder and lightning, they want to immediately get a comfortable city without intermediate stages, preferably in one night. I fell asleep, woke up, and here it is, the city of dreams. But I remembered this moment because of how our lives are beginning to transform. On a weekday you can usually drive along the Garden Ring from Krasnoproletarskaya Street to Smolensky Passage in ten minutes, taking into account the heavy traffic. On Friday the same journey took me fifty minutes! During this time it was possible to walk, and another ten minutes would have been left. Considering the density of meetings, I understood that I would not have time to get to the restaurant, order food and eat what I ordered. Therefore, I asked my friend to take a photo of the menu and send it to me so that he could place an order. By the time I got there, the food was ready and we were able to start eating immediately. I told this to my friends as an illustration of the traffic situation, and in response I heard that they often do this now - and not with friends, but order food from restaurants remotely and indicate approximately when they will be there. This service is gaining momentum, at least for regular visitors to expensive and not very busy places. The environment is changing our habits, and I am sure that restaurant applications will begin to appear in which it will be possible to place such guaranteed orders, and the restaurants themselves will immediately write off the money from the linked bank card, and there will be no risk for them that you will not arrive and will not pay for your order. A new approach is being formed, which is dictated by changes in the road situation. And if you look around, you will find many such examples of changes in our way of life, some noticeable, some still hidden from our eyes. I will be glad if you share your experience in the comments and what you have encountered.
Let's start this issue with the topic of cross-border trade and the problems that may await buyers of a number of goods and brands.
Customs confiscates Xiaomi and Sony smartphones - let's look into the reasons
When you have the “best” smartphone in the world, you also need to buy it at best price, preferably in China. The segment of those who buy smartphones from Xiaomi and other similar brands in Russia, ordering them by mail, is quite large. This is approximately 20-30 thousand people every month, plus those who make their own small business on this, buy smartphones for resale, in total Chinese smartphones parcels will total approximately 65-70 thousand monthly. At average price A smartphone like this for $200 can be said to be a significant piece of the pie. Moreover, the user does not pay any taxes on such devices, which makes it possible to achieve a very effective price in comparison with the Russian one, when the product is on the shelves of local stores and the manufacturer or its representative is obliged to honor the warranty, pay VAT and cover other expenses. It is economically impossible to achieve the same price in China and Russia due to different devices market, and also the fact that goods, despite the same name and index, often differ in “little things”, production costs. For the Chinese domestic market, many products receive completely different qualities, this applies to both components and assembly lines. At the level of common sense, we are accustomed to thinking that they make goods better for ourselves; in China, as a rule, everything is topsy-turvy; there, goods for the local market are of worse quality than those that are exported. Almost the same story happened in the USSR.
So, here's the beginning of the story, our reader sent me the following message on Twitter:
For ordinary buyers, buying phones from foreign stores has long become commonplace, but there are several pitfalls that people forget about. First, in Russia there is a FSB notification for encryption tools. This means that the manufacturer or its representative must send the name of the device model (smartphone or any other device) to the FSB and indicate that it does not contain any means of strong cryptographic protection. In turn, the FSB adds this model to the database used by customs. If you ordered a device for which there is no FSB notification, then the likelihood that it will not be delivered to you is maximum. An example of such a device is in the delivery screenshot.
An important point is that customs at postal points does not have the ability to open all items; inspections are carried out randomly. This is not even every tenth parcel, their number is much smaller. In large sorting centers, X-ray machines have appeared that can show the contents of a parcel, so today no one tries to send a phone under the guise of books; those days are irrevocably gone. The actual postal item is indicated.
But those who want to get a phone that does not have notification, as a rule, negotiate with the sender to indicate a model that has this notification. In this way, these obstacles are circumvented. Very often, when buying the same LeEco, people indicate Russian names models, although inside there could be anything from LeEco. And then everything depends on whether there will be a random check on your parcel and how attentive the customs officer will be. As a rule, such parcels pass through smoothly.
Now the second situation, which they wrote to me about, is sending back “counterfeit” goods. Let's look at it using the example of Xiaomi, which became a pioneer in the fight against its own goods, which it was even able to call counterfeit. So, not so long ago appeared in Russia official distributor Xiaomi, RDC Group company. The subsidiary company “Smart Orange” is responsible for sales, marketing and work with the Xiaomi brand in Russia, all relevant rights are received from the parent, Chinese company that owns the brand.
The problem for RDC Group is that the Xiaomi brand is popular in Russia in narrow circles of enthusiasts who know for sure that these smartphones are “better” and defend their honor in online battles, but are not willing to pay a price higher than that for delivery from China. And the difference between Russian and Chinese price can average 30%, which you can see for yourself by looking at the official online store and the same Aliexpress.
It is difficult to explain to the buyer why it is impossible for an official business in Russia to sell at the same price; every person wants to get a favorable price for the product, and all related issues are of little concern to him. Likewise, he considers the quality of the goods to be the same, and attempts to explain that this is not so do not bother him. I especially like how people deliberately go about flashing devices at home, spend quite a lot of time on it, but feel that they have received a benefit. In order to decide on such experiments, you need your hands to grow from right place, or the desire to save money should outweigh everything.
The example of Meizu shows that properly selected sales channels in Russia can easily operate in parallel with cross-border trade and not interfere with anyone. That is, there is a market for gray Meizu, as well as those that were officially imported. The difference in price between them is noticeable, but the gray ones are sold by orders of magnitude less; this market has never become widespread, while the distributor of the brand is developing the business and has made it noticeably larger.
I personally expected exactly the same approach from the RDC Group, but the company apparently thought that parcels with Xiaomi smartphones threatened sales in Russia, so they decided to limit them. The company has legal grounds for this, since the Chinese Xiaomi has granted all rights to the brand to its partner and written corresponding letters to the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation.
In turn, “Smart Orange” listed all partners who have the right to officially import Xiaomi smartphones into Russia. First of all, the company was concerned not with individuals, but with those who put this business on stream, wholesalers. But private individuals fell under the distribution by accident; nevertheless, restrictions also applied to them. Now all individuals or companies that import smartphones and other Xiaomi devices into Russia in any way and are not on the list from Smart Orange violate the rights of the Xiaomi brand. This is the law, and it works. Users have looked for a provision that supposedly exempts private parcels from these restrictions, but, unfortunately, this is not the case. Here is the lawyer's comment:
By virtue of paragraphs. 2 p. 1 art. 313 of the Customs Code of the Customs Union, it is not allowed to send goods prohibited for shipment in accordance with the acts of the Universal Postal Union in international mail. In turn, the Universal Postal Convention (adopted in Doha on October 11, 2012) in paragraph 2.1.3 prohibits the sending of counterfeit and pirated items.
Signs of counterfeit goods are determined by the country party to the Universal Postal Convention.
In particular, based on the interpretation of paragraph 1 of Art. 1515, paragraph 4 of Art. 1252 and art. 1487 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as clause 15 of the Information Letter of the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation dated December 13, 2007 No. 122, the importation into the territory of the Russian Federation of goods marked with a trademark is an independent way of using it. According to Art. 1487 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the use of this trademark by other persons in relation to goods that are put into civil circulation in the territory is not a violation of the exclusive right to a trademark Russian Federation directly by the copyright holder or with his consent. Thus, goods imported without the consent of the copyright holder, whose interests in the territory of the Russian Federation are represented by SMART ORANGE LLC, are counterfeit, since they violate the exclusive rights to the trademark of the copyright holder.
IN in this case The above rules of law apply, and not paragraphs. 1 item 2 art. 328 TC TC, because by virtue of paragraph 4 of Art. 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, generally recognized principles and norms of international law have the highest legal force in relation to internal legal norms.
The prohibition of this method of using a trademark, such as the import of goods marked with a Trademark into the territory of the Russian Federation, is aimed at compliance with the international obligations of the Russian Federation in the field of protection of intellectual property rights in accordance with Part 4 of Art. 15, part 1 art. 44 and paragraphs. "o" Art. 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and does not contradict Part 1 of Art. 74 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation."
The Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation is guided by precisely this interpretation; I was unofficially told by a customs representative that in this moment the restrictions were only at a number of customs points, but they will extend to a larger number of points and will gradually work everywhere. Until the moment we are separate individuals will not go through litigation and cannot prove that such actions are illegal, no changes will be made. It is quite difficult to win a case against the Federal Customs Service, plus it will take years, that is, by that time the whole point of this idea will be lost, since new restrictions on cross-border sales will already be in effect.
I was unable to receive official comments about the situation at Smart Orange; the topic is too sensitive. However, I met with one of the company's employees and, on condition of anonymity, he was able to say the following:
- Restrictions for private individuals were a consequence of the fight against wholesalers, but not an end in themselves;
- As soon as these restrictions arose, the company decided that this was an interesting approach and planned to increase pressure on this market segment, without planning to make any concessions.
Circumstances have developed in such a way that people who have bought and are buying Xiaomi equipment in China are almost guaranteed to encounter problems when delivering it to Russia by mail. While there is a gap when not all customs points wrap such items and there are a sufficient number of “lucky” ones, but their number will decrease more and more every day. The only way removing the ban may involve retracting the letter from Smart Orange, but this will open the door for wholesale supplies, which automatically means this is impossible.
What can I say? The company has the right to independently decide how to conduct business in other markets, including the Russian one. This means that buying Xiaomi equipment turns into a kind of lottery, and the only guaranteed way is to buy it within the country. For example, Meizu is not going to go the same route, leaving this channel for those consumers who want to have a choice of which device to buy, Chinese or Russian. The same can be said about most companies operating in Russia. Of those who tried to learn from experience, I can only note Sony, a source at customs said that it had prepared a similar appeal for a number of goods and the restrictions would be similar to those imposed on Xiaomi in private parcels and not only in them.
Those who are faced with this problem are already trying to find a way out. If your phone is stuck on the road or has already been sent back, try to get your money back from the seller. Those who are just making a purchase try to come up with a workaround, for example, simply indicating “smartphone” on the box, without the name of the manufacturer. This is an almost guaranteed check of the parcel, and then your “smartphone” will go back in the same way. It’s also not worth making up names, since there is no notification for fictitious phones, and they will also be turned back.
Buying abroad has always been a kind of lottery, it’s just that now the chances for the buyer have worsened, this is worth taking into account. If Xiaomi's example turns out to be effective, and the outrage on social networks quickly falls silent, as is usually the case, then other manufacturers may adopt this experience and begin to do the same. So you can consider this story as the first sign. Whether this business approach will continue depends on the reaction of people and its strength.
First quarter in the smartphone market - version from IDC
Data has arrived from IDC about who was great in the first quarter of 2017 in the smartphone market. Let me remind you that these are exclusively shipments to the channel, that is, in fact, the figures for wholesale deliveries, and not retail sales. Let's look at the sign.
The first thing you notice is the constant sales volume of both Samsung and Apple, both companies look stable in terms of sales volume, they have reached the saturation point. To grow in sales, they need to make major changes to their product line and how they position and market their products. Both companies are experiencing the same difficulties, in particular, the flagships of both Apple and Samsung have faced a drop in demand in China; the local market consumes local brands with great pleasure. Oddly enough, the reason for the fall in the share in China is not that Chinese phones are cheaper, the flagships from Vivo and OPPO are comparable, but the lack of a wide network of retail stores that promote these products. It is impossible to find exact data on exactly how many stores Vivo/OPPO (BBK Corporation) built in 2016. Moreover, BBK Corporation does not have an exact number, since many stores open as franchisees and purchase goods from local players, a kind of hubs. Conservative estimates suggest that Vivo had around 200,000 stores in China, while OPPO was far behind and was only able to cover most of the country with 150,000 stores. In 2016, there was a retail war in China, when the same BBK Corporation took over LeEco (LeTV) stores, offering Better conditions and a kind of profit guarantee for local players who repainted their outlets depending on the choice of a particular brand. What is surprising here is that both OPPO and Vivo use the same approach, strategy, they have a similar model range, but they really compete with each other for the same stores and sellers. They do not come as a single proposal, with a single control center represented by BBK Corporation. Marvelous? Not that word.
In the first quarter, a qualitative change occurred for these two brands; it is associated with expansion into the foreign markets of Asia, in particular into India; it is not even worth mentioning other countries against the backdrop of India. The surprising thing is that the same Vivo has completely adapted its Chinese strategy for India and has already achieved success in this. They come from small towns and settlements in big ones, they open stores in rural areas and only then do they enter big cities. The result is already noticeable, this strategy is working, and it is completely contrary to what we see in the approach of Apple and Samsung, they go to the market from the top down, first open stores in large, rich cities and only then go down. The problem for them is that in the person of BBK Corporation they have received their antagonist, a company that is eating the market from the other end, while having a comparable model range with the same Samsung in the budget and mid-range segments.
The expansion of these Chinese companies won't last forever, they are already facing a growing problem. Without access to other foreign markets, for example, American or European, further growth cannot be expected. There is no doubt that BBK Corporation will try to do this. How far they will be able to do this remains an open question. So far, they are successful due to the fact that they work according to a proven scheme in countries where it is applicable and where the costs of opening retail outlets are borne by the sellers themselves. In Russia, for example, such a scheme will not work; a completely different approach is needed here. Can they learn it quickly? Not sure. But there is no doubt that BBK Corporation can still grow in 2017 and the first half of 2018. Together with OnePlus, the company has already overtaken Apple in the first quarter of 2017 in unit sales, becoming number two after Samsung.
Interestingly, Huawei achieved significant growth due to the situation in China; the company adopted the strategy of BBK Corporation, which immediately yielded results. The key to success in China today is simple - the maximum number of retail outlets that sell your product. Against this background, Lenovo looks amazing, which was born thanks to this understanding, but during the transformation process forgot about it and became more European than Chinese. For which she was punished by the local market.
The last thing worth paying attention to is the sales of smartphones in the “Other” category. We are not seeing any growth in this category, which perfectly characterizes the situation of many B/C brands. They are having a difficult time because the market is very saturated. In foreign markets, Chinese brands also feel in the best possible way, they are feverish. The example of Russia shows this very well. The problem for them is that the same Samsung launched an increase in prices for components and the cost of production has increased significantly. The best illustration of this may be Samsung's quarterly report, in which record sales were achieved by the components division, and not at all by mobile devices. Samsung's revenue for the quarter was $44.6 billion and operating profit was $8.75 billion. Phone revenue fell nearly 50% year-on-year, partly due to write-downs on the Note 7. However, it was components that made it a record quarter. But in the second quarter, the appearance of the Galaxy S8/S8+ in reporting will make this record a thing of the past, and profits will increase noticeably. The whole of 2017 promises to be successful for Samsung, and individual problems, for example, with TVs and their sales against the background of LG OLED TVs, will not be particularly noticeable. In the same LG, the first quarter was also successful, but the reason was solely due to televisions, while the mobile division has remained unprofitable for two years.
I’m interested in how LG/Samsung, for example, will reinvest the income they receive in new directions, what companies will do in the market and what they will get in the end. In 2017, they will make decisions to adjust their strategies based on the additional revenue they receive.
To summarize what I said about the market, I would like to repeat what I said earlier. In 2017, we will see a stable market with moderate growth. Large companies will improve their positions, weak players may experience serious problems and will begin to optimize their costs.
Frequency aggregation in Galaxy S8/S8+ and an example of use in practice
Even during the deployment of 3G networks, I encountered an interesting phenomenon - there is always some grumbling, eternally dissatisfied user who declares that all these new technologies are of no use to anyone, do not work and everything is a hoax. And it leads specific examples, for example, says that in his city/village/metropolitan area the operator cannot even provide normal EDGE, and you are talking about some 3G speeds. And the main thing is that we don’t need to show these speeds, we will never see them in practice. There are many such people, and they come up in discussions every time there is a story about new technologies. We even have a whole country nearby in which the majority of the progressive population argued quite seriously that 3G is not needed, and Wi-Fi is enough for everyday life. This is how we lived, switching from EDGE to Wi-Fi.
After the launch of 3G, and then the emergence and development of 4G, the deployment of LTE Advanced in Russia in many regions and cities, only a very narrow-minded person can say that new technologies and the speeds they provide are something unnecessary. We are not talking about any individual records; no one needs them. We are talking about the continued evolution of communication networks, and this is very important point for all of us, the industry does not stand still, but develops.
My main operator is MegaFon; in Moscow it has an excellent 4G network that works without any complaints and is absolutely ideal for data transfer. I can be called a “heavy” subscriber, since in a week I receive 20-30 GB of data through my phone, mostly work files. And for me, the speed of network access and its reliability are critical. It’s difficult to sit and download a large file from ftp for hours, as was the other day in Vienna, where I was faced with restrictions of local networks, after the first gigabyte they simply cut my speed, although there were no restrictions in the package, the reason was the local load on the base station .
After I switched to S8+, it seemed to me that files loaded faster, this was my subjective impression. I attributed this to the perception of the new device, and not to reality. Moreover, having run Speedtest a couple of times, I didn’t get anything extraordinary, ordinary numbers, quite comparable to the S7 EDGE. In one of the conversations with the operator’s engineer I mentioned this, and he said the following: “Speedtest can not be used for these purposes, it will not show you the speed, since it uses small file“In LTE Advanced, it’s good to test the speed on files of 300-500 MB to see the upload or download speed, but in this software the file is small, and you simply won’t notice anything.” I was advised to put free utility“Connection speed”, since it demonstrates the real speed in the moment. And here a new wonderful world opened up, the download speed really increased, and this is clearly visible in this utility. I tried downloading files from an ftp server, I admit that when downloading from other servers the speed will be greater, but there was no goal to achieve maximum speed. In Moscow, MegaFon has already updated about a thousand stations and supports frequency aggregation, which is available in S8/S8+. In theory, the speed ceiling for devices is 450 Mbit/s, in practice it is about 400 Mbit/s, and in my case on my server it is about 380 Mbit/s. Fine? Undoubtedly.
They even recorded a short video about it, since it seemed interesting to me, when without much fanfare or any special messages your network allows you to transfer files very quickly.
You can moan about the fact that these speeds are not needed, there is no way to use them, and the list goes on. But why? Progress cannot be stopped, and the evolution of networks is good and correct. Within a couple of years, such opportunities will become available to all residents of Russia in one form or another. Whether you need it is another matter. A good question, which directly depends on what you do and how actively you consume data. It is possible that an EDGE connection is enough for you, the only question is where you find it.
Tell us, what do you think, is it necessary for networks to develop? Or will they be enough for you in the form they are today for many, many years?
2017 Vertu Constellation - first impressions
Vertu Constellation goes on sale in June; due to the sale of Vertu, the release was postponed from spring, and it falls at an unusual time. A review of the device will appear in the coming days, but for now I’ll present a few impressions, however, we already had a first look at the model.
The price of this smartphone starts from 301 thousand rubles in the basic version, that is, this is the most inexpensive Vertu that exists today, and this in absentia guarantees the public’s interest in it. The first thing you pay attention to is the size; the phone turns out to be very massive and rather large - 161.5x77x10 mm, weight - 241 grams. It fits in my pocket, but it sticks out, I can’t call it thin, I’m even somehow unaccustomed to such sizes.
Great skin, memorable appearance and, of course, the same call that you recognize from thousands. Perhaps this is why I always leave the ringer on on Vertu and don’t switch to vibrate. This sometimes creates funny situations, the other day this phone rang on the subway, the whole car looked at me carefully and then the phone, which can play so loudly and melodiously. It is clear that this phone is not for the metro, but increasingly, owners of expensive cars are losing the battle with Moscow traffic jams and are sent underground in a figurative sense. Although the well-known Moscow snobbery allows some to spend hours in traffic jams, just not to get out of the cozy and artificial world outside. As for me, snobbery has already turned into folklore, and the majority have simply begun to live a quiet life, in which there is no place for outright showing off. Perhaps it's age related? Are there many young people around who have not followed this path? I don’t know, but it feels like all this is happening in different age groups, and this can only be welcomed.
You can criticize Vertu for anything, but no one will deny that this device has its own unique appearance. I like Constellation for this reason; it cannot be confused with anyone else on the market. The operating time on one charge is good, however, I use it as a second phone for calls, and less so for everything else. During the work we must thank the AMOLED screen, it is very, very good.
Sound, screen operating time and appearance are all advantages of the model. Minuses? There is exactly one of them - few people can afford to buy such a device. As a result, discussions of Vertu usually come down to a simple thing - who needs all this? A well-fed person does not understand a hungry person, and the opposite is also true.
I won’t run ahead of the locomotive, I’ll write a review, and in it we will discuss the technical characteristics, as well as the positioning of the device. It turned out well, but will the old Vertu audience return to such models? This issue is the main one for the company, and not something from the field of technical achievements.
P.S. A day off is a day off, and therefore I want to wish you excellent weather and a boost of energy for the rest of the week. Let not only the sun warm you, but also the mood inside.
Meizu M5
The whole fuss with customs restrictions began with the order of Xiaomi Mi5, but de facto the distributor “covered up” the supply of all models that are officially supplied to Russia. The youngest of them is Redmi 4A.
Enthusiasts are well aware of what this Redmi is - it is the only one in the modern model Xiaomi line A truly budget smartphone. That is, not when “we are creating an inexpensive mobile phone, but just in case, here’s eight cores in the processor, a metal case, 3 gigabytes random access memory and hefty
battery". Redmi 4A has only the “vital” bells and whistles for a new smartphone - 4 cores/2 GB of RAM, LTE, HD display, 16 GB of internal storage. For all this, depending on the color of the case, the Chinese ask 5500-7000 rubles.
The alternative will not appeal to all enthusiasts (the more smartphone models you know, the fewer the choice seems), but it exists.
Even slightly cooler egg characteristics, and even the iPhone design is absolutely free. The display is 5.2 inches (and brighter and more contrasty), HD, eight Cortex-A53 cores in the processor, this time MediaTek MT6750. Not as respectable as Snapdragon, but MediaTek's eight low-frequency cores are better than Qualcomm's four high-frequency cores. Meizu's operating speed is noticeably higher, and there is also an option with 3/32 GB for those who are willing to pay a little extra.
The case is about the same in quality, and in black it looks very expensive - much more presentable than the black modification of Redmi 4A. Yes, and there is a fingerprint scanner, unlike the similarly priced Xiaomi.
The “victims” in comparison with Redmi will be the volume of sound in the headphones and the volume of the speaker (it’s generally a problem), which can only be partially normalized using engineering menu. In terms of the quality of shooting with cameras, smartphones are approximately equal, but Meizu does not have freedom for firmware lovers (and neither does MediaTek, hee hee) - “put on” old smartphone You certainly won’t be able to use some Android 9 after a couple of years. But there is global multilingual firmware, which does not have to be Russified through “hard to reach places”, as is the case with Meizu smartphones for the Chinese market.
Options to replace Redmi 3S, 3X, Redmi 4, 4X
The same thing with a different sauce. Models with a 5-inch HD display, Snapdragon 430 processor, unsightly cameras and 4100 mAh batteries. In fact, there is little difference, except for the design of the cases and the fact that Redmi 3S/3X are “elite” modifications of the third generation of Redmi, and Redmi 4 and 4X are mid-equipped versions of the fourth generation.
So that life doesn’t seem like honey to newcomers in the world of Xiaomi, all these smartphones are also available in two versions - with 2/16 and 3/32 GB of memory. But the younger version is still more popular, because instead of the “luxury” Redmi 3S it is much more reasonable to take the Redmi 4 Prime with a much faster processor and Full HD display. All these models are Chinese
Sellers today estimate it at 8,500 - 11,000 rubles, depending on the color, modification and impudence of the individual seller. From here we will dance.
Be mentally prepared for the fact that you will not find a smartphone comparable in terms of autonomy and openness to flashing at a similar price; you will have to make compromises.
Meizu U10
In this article, the number of Meizu will definitely set your teeth on edge, but there is nowhere to go. Because, excluding Xiaomi, this is one of the few manufacturers who, unlike all sorts of Elephone and Doogee, produce high-quality smartphones without “childhood diseases”, but still do not ask impressive sums for them, like Lenovo and Huawei.
So, Meizu U10 is a “clone” of Meizu M3/M3s mini in a glass-metal case. Gurus will say that it would be wiser to contrast the mid-range Redmi configurations with Meizu’s symmetrical answer - the M5s, but this model is so “neither fish nor fowl” and the self-quote of the M3s mini that it is better to prefer the U-series. Moreover, the smartphone is very beautiful in black.
Everything that was said about the Meizu M5 is also true for the U10, with the only difference being that you get not 5.2, but exactly 5 inches of display and unsightly battery life (“it would last until the end of the day”) in exchange for a much more humane price - about 6700-8000 rubles for models with 2/16 GB on board. The quality of the display, cameras and operating speed are about the same as the Redmi in the title, the sound is worse, the battery life is worse (alas).
Well, or you can still buy the M5s, its autonomy is already quite good, and the body is metal. It's time to give Meizu a medal for its ability to “spread” the same model into several families, in the best traditions of the classic Zhiguli.
ZTE Blade V7
No need to grin, gentlemen, geeks - even though ZTE does not produce the most functional and problem-free smartphones for its price, but after Oukitel or Leagoo you will understand that worse can happen.
ZTE tried to sell this model in Russia, but to pay 16 thousand rubles for a smartphone in which the proprietary shell periodically “hiccups”, and the body is cheap even in appearance, there were few takers - Huawei and Samsung took them all away.
But for 10 thousand - quite an option! Albeit a little “crooked” in color rendering, but still a Full HD display, eight-core MT6753 processor, good front camera and “one-day” battery life. In terms of sound quality, GPS/GLONASS reception level, design and speed of the system, autonomy, the smartphone is inferior to Redmi, but the display and front camera are cooler, the rear camera is similar in quality to Redmi, and performance in applications is also not bad. An equivalent alternative if you don't need custom firmware or super-endurance.
Options for replacing Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime (Pro)
Xiaomi Redmi 4 Prime
If you should miss any of the Chinese Xiaomi “banned” in Russia, then Redmi 4 Prime is one of the best smartphones of 2016, and in general an unprecedentedly cool “state smartphone”. If only because the same combination of a capacious (4100 mAh) battery, display clarity (Full HD) and processor performance (Snapdragon 625) in one model is still
no one has offered it yet. And, by and large, 11-12 thousand per Chinese stores versus 16 thousand in Russian retail no longer looks like an exorbitant overpayment, but let’s not be like our jaded colleagues in the capital, for whom 4 thousand rubles is not money. Let's look for alternative options.
ZUK Z2
Hand on heart - no for Redmi 4 Prime full replacement. Any analogues will be either slow, or not so hardy, or without a Full HD matrix (that is, they smack of “economy class”). But if you arm yourself with the idea of a model (a powerful geeky budget non-phablet), you can find analogues.
For example, there is already a “most exclusive” (because Lenovo is burying this subsidiary brand) glass smartphone with a 2016 flagship processor, Snapdragon 820, and a Full HD matrix at the core. Exciting? Very! Against this background
smartphone Redmi 4 Prime is a “brake”, especially since mind Xiaomi cheaper even after the Chinese added a design in the style of the spectacular Redmi Note 4 to the younger model. And the cameras in the ZUK Z2, although not a masterpiece in themselves, are certainly better than that despondency that haunts Xiaomi compact budget phones, starting with Redmi 3.
But there are no freebies even on Aliexpress (or “especially on Aliexpress,” as buyers of fake flash drives would say), so immediately familiarize yourself with the shortcomings of the Beetle, and don’t say that we didn’t warn you:
- The body is glass and very slippery, so any “ boom“becomes more likely and, more importantly, “deadly” for the body panel, even if the smartphone falls on its “back.” Scratches on the body also appear very quickly, even without any extreme measures. In Redmi 4 Prime, everything is much better in terms of durability.
- With firmware, everything is quite gloomy - new smartphones do not always come with Russian language pack, reflashing this model is quite tedious. Although in terms of “dirty perversions” nothing compares to modifying a USB cable in order to “flood” global firmware in Redmi 4A. Everything is relative, but be prepared to modify the smartphone software yourself.
- The display brightness is so-so. Using a smartphone on the street is painful.
By and large, ZUK Z2 is a “degraded” and more affordable Xiaomi Mi5, but in the absence of fish among the search for replacements for Redmi 4 Prime, it is good in its own way.
Huawei nova
Perhaps, officially imported Huawei will be the main “gravediggers” of Xiaomi in Russia if there are no smartphones left on the market at prices from Aliexpress. But with foreign models, not everything is so simple - the Chinese carefully “castrate” Huawei and Honor for the Middle Kingdom in such a way that they do not operate 4G frequencies (and sometimes 3G) in foreign markets. Therefore, Honor 5C and 6X are very attractive in price Aliexpress is better bypass. Or don’t bypass it, but before that, find the only working version of the Chinese modifications and make sure that multilingual firmware is installed on it. Why live like this, as they say?
Therefore, you better grab a rare look - a Huawei smartphone with a Qualcomm processor! The Chinese are importing American chips with their Kirin, if you are not aware. Huawei nova started out as a middle-class mobile phone with an emphasis on glamor and these endless selfie-beautifications (when automation removes pimples from the “face” of the face, widens the eyes and disguises the double chin) at a not very adequate price, but now it has dropped in price on Aliexpress to about the same the same 12 thousand rubles that are asked for Redmi 4 Prime. For a smartphone with 3/32 GB of memory with the same exact Snapdragon 625 processor, no longer budget body materials and incomparably more cool cameras- not a bad exchange, isn't it?
By and large, nova is inferior to Redmi 4 Prime only in speaker quality, headphone sound and battery life. All other functions in it work on the same or more high level. And, of course, don’t expect support for LTE Band 20 in models for the Chinese market, but standard B3/B7 are available in absolutely any modification. You can take it without looking.
Options for replacing Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro/Note 4/Note 4X
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4
A durable 5.5-inch phablet with a very fast processor by the standards of “state employees” - this is what Redmi Note is all about, of any generation. People, of course, love the Redmi Note 3 Pro most of all with its Snapdragon 650, good endurance and reliability, but many people also like the more beautiful Redmi Note 4 with a ten-core MediaTek, which eats up the charge indecently quickly, but “heaps” in benchmarks. Redmi Note 4 with a Snapdragon 625 processor, to be honest, is not so interesting, but it is just the golden mean between the first two models. One way or another, we are talking about smartphones with a Full HD display, powerful processor, so-so cameras and good autonomy at a price of 10-12 thousand rubles. Alternative options not as many as we would like, but they are there.
Meizu MX6
When did the MX6 come out? Russian market and they asked for 28 thousand rubles for it, the first thought was “who needs you anyway?” For almost 30 thousand it was already possible to take aim at much more thoroughbred and faster models, but a beautiful “shovel” with a cheap processor without outstanding features was not impressive against this background.
But the Chinese sell the same Meizu for 12 thousand, and these, as they say in Odessa, are two big differences. Because the display in Meizu is slightly brighter than in Redmi Note 4, the processor is the same, and the cameras are much better. Autonomy is approximately at the same level as that of Xiaomi, the sound in headphones without tuning is better than in Redmi, with tuning it is worse. There are no problems with firmware (that is, there are, but they can be easily solved), Russian cell phone ranges LTE networks supported at Band 3 and Band 7. You can take it.
LeEco Le S3 X522
Offering a Xiaomi fan to buy a LeEco instead is like giving a pink Volga to a lover of American muscle cars. But after Smart Orange unwraps your package at customs, you may change your mind.
In general, LeEco Lately doesn’t feel very good - just look, it’s going to be a big deal due to the fact that the costs of promotion were significantly higher than the profit from sales of mobile phones and televisions. Specialists who had previously joined the company from JD and Lenovo “fled” from the Russian LeEco - is the trend clear?
But we are not buying a painting by a classic artist in order to predict several years in advance whether it will be valuable, so we will not delve into the jungle. Let's go deeper into new model LeEco - Le S3. Well, like new, this is a “rethought” Le 2, from which custom (“amateur”) firmware is even suitable for the new model.
A slightly more advanced smartphone than the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Pro in terms of hardware - Snapdragon 652 (vs. 650 in Xiaomi), a slightly more elegant-looking body and more bright screen. Disadvantages - sound quality in headphones, less endurance, amputated headphone jack (as an alternative, there is an adapter with USB Type-C). Well, the rear camera is worse. That is, not “so-so” like the Redmi Note 4, but “bad”.
But it's still good smartphone, which “bangs all the money” in benchmarks and in real use, and it costs only 9-10 thousand with full Russification and good characteristics. Who knows whether the reliability of budget LeEcos has improved since the days of Le 2, but outside of Xiaomi and Meizu, no more sensible alternative comes to mind in the same class of devices.
Option to replace Xiaomi Mi Max
I don’t envy fans of “shovel phones” - there are already few smartphones with near-tablet display diagonals, and Mi Max among them is one of the best and certainly the best in terms of price/quality/autonomy ratio, if we are talking about
Chinese prices. But all this is lyrics, and here we have “counterfeit” products, so here are options for large-sized, high-quality smartphones costing 13-18 thousand rubles.
ZTE Nubia Z11 Max
A little popular phablet, but in vain. Yes, it doesn't have the wow factor of the standard bezel-less Z11, and it doesn't even have the audiophile chip of the 5.5-inch model. But this is the only model in the “6 or more inches” category with a price of up to 20 thousand rubles, which cannot be called a “budget bucket”. Not counting Mi Max, of course.
ZTE Nubia Z11 Max
At the same time, Nubia cannot be called cheap either - it looks much cooler and more expensive than Xiaomi, the proprietary shell is also beautiful, the characteristics are about the same (Snapdragon 652, 4000 mAh, 4/64 GB), except that the display is smaller (6 inches exactly). The Russian language is already included in the firmware, there are no problems with frequency support, the quality of the cameras is about the same as in the Mi Max, or even a little better. The autonomy is worse, but also not bad, and the main problem is the disgrace with software support. For a long time, owners were content with Android 5.1, and Android 6.0 came out when smartphones the same age as the Z11 Max began to update to Android 7.0 Nougat! And in general, in the case of Nubia smartphones, there are plenty of times when the developers said “come on, this phone, we changed our minds!”, and users were left with nothing, sometimes even without custom firmware at all.
Smart Orange LLC, a distributor of smartphones from the Chinese brand Xiaomi, now has full rights as the copyright holder in Russia. As a result, customs is carrying out a massive seizure of parcels containing Xiaomi smartphones and accessories and returning them to Chinese sellers. And at the moment, you can purchase Redmi and Mi series smartphones in Russia with an impressive markup. We want to tell you how you can replace Xiaomi smartphones with other worthy Chinese smartphones.
Xiaomi phones can be replaced with decent alternative Meizu smartphones. The most important thing is that you don’t have to overpay. And you can buy a decent chinese phone at the same cost.
What can replace Redmi 4A?
The Xiaomi Redmi 4A smartphone belongs to the budget series. Has a 5-inch display with HD resolution. Runs on 4-core Snapdragon processor 425 with Adreno 308 graphics. This budget solution, and you shouldn’t expect high performance from it. RAM is only 2 GB and 16/32 GB of storage. The smartphone is equipped with a 13 megapixel main camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. Xiaomi Redmi 4A has a 3120 mAh battery and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS with MIUI 8.2 interface. You can watch the full review.
A good alternative would be Meizu smartphone M5. Yes, indeed, many may not like the company’s special corporate design and even the interface. But these are all minor things.
The M5 smartphone belongs to the budget series and has a plastic body, like Redmi 4A. Meizu M5 has a 5.2 inch HD screen with a protective 2.5D. Powered by 8-core Mediatek MT6750 chip clock frequency 1.5 GHz. There are two memory options available: 2 GB + 16 GB will cost $103 and 3 GB + 32 GB will cost $132. The main camera is 13 MP with F/2.2 aperture with PDAF, fast auto focus and dual-tone LED flash, and a 5 MP front camera. You can see the full review of the smartphone.
Replacement option for Redmi 3S, 3X, Redmi 4, 4X smartphones
The main advantage, which is also its main disadvantage, is a huge 6.44-inch display with Full HD resolution, covered with 2.5D glass. Powered by 6-core Snapdragon 650 processor, 3 GB RAM and 32/64 GB storage permanent memory, 4850 mAh battery.
Both smartphones have Full HD resolution, Corning Gorilla glass protection, but different displays. The PHAB 2 Plus has a 6.4-inch with 2.5D curved glass, while the Mi Max has a 6.44-inch display. Lenovo PHAB 2 Plus runs on an eight-core MediaTek MT8783 processor with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory + a slot for a MicroSD card up to 256 GB. Phablet Mi Max Powered by a higher-quality 6-core Snapdragon 650 chip with 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory + a hybrid slot for a MicroSD card up to 128 GB. The phablet has a dual 13 MP main camera and an 8 MP front camera, while the Mi Max has a 16 MP and 5 MP selfie camera. The Mi Max has a 4850 mAh battery, while the PHAB 2 Plus has a slightly smaller 4050 mAh battery.
I also want to note that it is another worthy competitor for the Xiaomi Mi Max smartphone. The Nubia Z11 Max phablet has a 6-inch Full HD screen, 16-megapixel main and 8-megapixel front camera, 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory expandable with microSD cards up to 200 GB. Battery capacity 4000 mAh.
Options for replacing the flagships Xiaomi Mi 5, Mi 5S, Mi5S Plus, Mi 6
Xiaomi Mi 5 is the first smartphone in history Xiaomi devices, which was equipped with a physical front button, instead of the classic three capacitive keys. Smartphones have very good technical characteristics. I wonder what can replace them?
Yesterday I received my Xiaomi Mi6 at the Russian Post office, which I ordered less than a month ago from China. In modern times, consider yourself lucky, because customs, together with the Russian representative office represented by Smart Orange, are clearly against such fraud. I’ll tell you how I did it right now.
Yaroslavna's cry
Let's start with the fact that I have to cry. I was not invited to the first official presentation of Xiaomi in Moscow that recently took place in Moscow. Why? I don't know. I communicate with PR services of almost all vendors, including Samsung and even Apple. The latter, however, very politely send me (and not only me), but nevertheless. But somehow the relationship with Smart Orange did not work out, so my absence from the presentation is not surprising. Although no, on the contrary. Considering how much material about Xiaomi is published on the site, this is doubly strange.
In any case, I still have to buy smartphones and other devices from China in order to write interesting and comprehensive reviews on them. And the main thing is to try to do it quickly. And Mi6 was purchased for the same purpose.
Where did you buy it and what about customs?
I buy most Xiaomi devices on AliExpress from this seller. We communicate closely and he promptly sells me new items. In return, I always include links in my reviews of this store, because it would be a sin not to recommend a reliable site, and secondly, we cooperate, and such relationships should be mutually beneficial.
I ordered my Xiaomi Mi6 on April 30th. Literally a day later, it turned out that at some customs points problems began with newly arrived phones - they were returned back, since the presence of gray supplies disrupted the orderly order of the universe. I immediately informed my supplier about this, to which he replied: “Don’t worry. All our orders are sent by Singapore Post, and there are no returns through it. The Finnish post office is problematic, yes, but the Singapore post office is fine.”
On May 14, the departure was registered at Vnukovo airport. On the same day, customs clearance began and on the night of the 15th the parcel was transferred for delivery throughout Russia. No delays.
On May 16, I received a smartphone at the Russian Post office in Kaluga. Thus, delivery took less than 20 days. In my opinion, an excellent result.
I unpacked the box, turned on the phone - everything works great, as it should. We'll talk about the phone in detail in the review, which will be released next week, but for now let's talk about delivery.
It is noteworthy that the customs declaration stated the following:
"ANDROID PHONE. VALUE $18.” In other words, the seller did not indicate that the phone was specifically Xiaomi inside and its actual cost ($422). And this is despite stories on the Internet that such a lengthy formulation is guaranteed to lead to opening the package in order to check what kind of “Android background” is there.
Perhaps such a scenario would actually take place if there were 150 border service officers at the customs office in Vnukovo and they processed no more than 50 parcels per day. It’s a sin not to open something, because it’s boring. However, I am sure that a little more than 50 shipments arrive at Vnukovo every day.
Push
I have ordered and will continue to order smartphones (including Xiaomi) from China. After all, even taking into account the month-long wait and at least a week of testing the device, my reviews are still published promptly. There is no point in waiting until the device officially arrives in Russia, samples appear at the representative office, and only then they get to me.
Briefly about the current situation. I don’t think the prices for Xiaomi smartphones in Russia are overpriced. Yes, perhaps they could be a little lower, but even for 30 thousand rubles it looks like a completely adequate offer. After all, we get a flagship device, and in addition official guarantee, support and system with Russian language out of the box.
I only condemn the fact that a simple user gets slapped on the wrist when he personally, on own funds and is trying to buy some device abroad exclusively for himself. Cunning individual entrepreneurs who organized a one-page website and resell something from China should go the distance, but ordinary citizens should not follow them. Can not be so.