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Buying parallel import mobiles

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  1. #11

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    Aug 2005
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    Mengfei mentioned purchasing several "water goods" phones without problem. Any other feedback about how much risk I could be taking? (I understand there is a risk, but I am trying to assess how much.)


  2. #12

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    Dec 2006
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    IF the store has a 7 day replacement then go ahead & get one then run a few Benchmarks to test all the features if it survives then you get to keep it. Most Branded phones don't easily fail as all of those, official/ parallel/ water, will go through the same QA test.

    clarify also about parts & labor coz when phone fails it's non-repairable & usually the whole module would be replaced just like what i did with a huawei mate9, had to replace the whole motherboard.


  3. #13

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    Oct 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by abcdef:
    I am shopping for a Oneplus 8 Pro. I am able to find parallel imports with only "shop warranty" and not company warranty. I am thinking it should be okay because mobile phones usually don't fail in the first year. Any feedback?
    I just bought the EXACT same model a used one last month from Taobao at about HK$3k (I actually bought 2, I shipped the other to an ex-geoexpat guy in Singapore). Love it. My oneplus 3 is X years old, Smashed the screen twice and still working like a horse. My oneplus 6 is now my son's phone. My view is they are build pretty well to last for up to 5 years

  4. #14

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    Oct 2007
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    On the subject of water goods, buy only those products that has quality. I once did a Xiaomi which died after few weeks, the shop replaced it but it kept dying. So for 1 year I had to keep going to shenzhen to their official repair shop in huaqiangbei to get it fixed, thank god it was a backup phone. Needless to say after 1 year I threw it against the wall and never bought xiaomi stuff again


  5. #15

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    Also if you are buying the 8pro for a better camera, I think you will be disappointed like me. I actually have a 9R on my desk which cost slightly cheaper, Hell I just realised I bought too many oneplus phones...........


  6. #16

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    Last edited by ArrynField; 01-09-2021 at 12:33 PM.

  7. #17

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    Misses got a 'grey' Samsung back in March and it's fine. You can see how long some of these shops have been operating on Price.hk, I've gone back to the same shops more than once over the years.


  8. #18

    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Posts
    218

    Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I just wanted to get back and update you all -

    I ended up buying Xiaomi Mi 11. It is currently available in Fortress with a HKD 300 discount and came with a 2-year official warranty. Given the phone specs and the warranty, I thought it was not worth saving money by buying "shop warranty, parallel, water goods".

    Thanks again.

    shri and jgl like this.

  9. #19

    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    411

    I've loved my Redmi phones for their great value. One thing I didn't like when I bought a China version one was that it's focus wasn't Google. You can root a phone and then do whatever at your own risk, but I really like it when it works nicely out of the box. That's what my POCO X3 GT (another Xiaomi brand) is like. With Xiaomi if you wait ~two months, most of their phones will be officially sold in HK with Google at the forefront on their OS.

    I've also experienced price.com.hk sellers' listing saying their listing was updated with today's date and then they don't have stock. Again if you can wait a bit you'll usually get what you want, but if you want it today maybe not.