China Phone - To Be or Not To Be Bought

3 reasons why you just might love that ‘China’ phone

-          You don’t get a brand new camera phone with memory card for N6000 anywhere else

-          Two SIM slots

-          Free Nigerian tv stations straight from your ‘China’. 

2 reasons you might regret buying ‘China’ phone

-          The speaker might be loud, but the sound production is very crude. If it rings, we just know it’s ‘china’.

-          The battery doesn’t last as many hours as other brands do.

-  The build, like everything 'china', doesn't look authentic/original.

 

When A Phone Thief Is Busted

Why do we not have tails? Why do we eat with our mouths and not our nose? Why are all girls beautiful? Why do we tend to yawn when others yawn?

Why is it that when a thief is caught, everyone who ever lost something to a thief steps out and makes him feel their displeasure? Have you never experienced such an incident in Nigeria?

Were! Your own don bi today!

I love to name names, but my friend wants to be anonymous. Let’s call him ‘Paul’. Paul and I were talking about an incident that occurred in UNILAG. A ‘laptop thief’ was caught and students came out to beat him, even one who lost his laptop two years ago. The thief was shouting that it was his first time, but that did not make a difference. 

It is tradition. Every day is for the thief, one day for the owner of the phone. Paul said to me, ‘That one day, it won’t matter if he was the one that stole from me or not, as long as he deals in the area of my loss, I will clobber him to my heart’s fill.’

To Any Phone Thief (When You Are Caught)

Now, Nonso does not know if he will join in and beat the beautiful sunlight out of you, but I sure know one part of me will feel like there is justice when you are being pummelled by others. Take a care and desist. Jesus loves you. Can I hear a hallelujah?

When That Dead Man Steals Your Phone

In Nigeria, when that dead man takes your phone, you can do nothing but to buy another phone. See here.

Losing one’s phone can be an ugly, heartrending experience. Some experiences are more pitiful than others.

Have you ever bought a phone, used it for three weeks only to have it stolen by ‘a dead man’? I have. 

I bought a Nokia E71 last month, July. My Nokia E71 and I were bonding getting along just fine. Someone must have been jealous of our bond because the third week, he stole it (definitely a he seeing as I am in Biobaku Hall, Boy’s Hostel).

Nah, the phone was taken when I was asleep. Embarrassing!

The theft of my phone was not funny the first two weeks. Thanks to the love, support and condolences of my friends and family, I now see just the funny side of the story. Actually, there isn’t a funny side. If I catch a phone thief, I might indulge in patting his face.

Choosing the Best Browser For Your Phone

The best browser

This review is based on my personal experience with them. I use OM 5, Bolt 2 and UcWeb 7.0

	Opera mini	Bolt	UcWeb
Downloads	You can download everything except java or symbian apps (OM would require you use your phone browser to download these.	You can download everything.	You can download everything
User friendly	5	4	3
Page	Makes websites fit within phone screen.	Opens  the main web site, hence, pages are bigger than phone screen.	Same with OM

 

Clash of the Phone Brands - Nonso Compares Phone Brands

These ratings are according to my experience and that of some of my friends.

	Blackberry	Nokia	Sony Ericsson	Samsung	‘China’
Durability	4	5	4	4	3
Battery life	4	5	4	4	2
Speaker	4	4	3	4	Loud, but not refined
Swag	5	4.5	4.5	4	2 (though, if it’s one of those TV phones, I’d rate it 4)
Look	5	4	4	4	3
Screen size	Normally have big screens (320 x 240 or more)	Mostly 320 x 240	Depends on phone	Depends on phone	Depends on phone
Screen resolution (how colourful is it)	5	4	5	4	3

13 Things You'll Need To Look Out For When Buying Phone

We all use our phones for different reasons. Before buying a phone, it would help to write down what you want in your new phone.  

1.    The make: Believe me, almost every phone out there has a ‘China’ version of it. Here is why you don’t want China and how to identify one.

2.    Brand: The major ones are BB, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, iphone, China. Check ‘Clash of the Phone Brands’ to see comparison of these makes.

3.    The phone antennae – What is a phone if you can’t call with it? Nigerian networks 900/1800 MHz Check the phone pack for GSM 900/1800 & WCDMA 900/2100

4.    Capacity for external memory: does it have a memory card slot?

 

5.    Battery life: How long does the battery last? Compare here.

  

6.    Durability: We want to throw a phone away because we want a new one, not because the current one ‘died on us’. I know how it feels. My SE k810i died on me. Check here to compare durability between brands.

7.    Screen resolution: How big is the screen? Typical phones are 176x220, but becoming more popular are 320x240. The larger the screen, the sweeter it is to play games, watch movies on it.

8.    Camera: Life is too short not to take pictures. Some people don’t lay much stock by it though. If you do, go for 3.2 megapixels or more (tip – SE c902, N24, 000, has a whooping 5 MP! Great camera for a comparatively cheap phone).

9.    Navigation key: You might prefer the typical Navi-key to joystick because the former tends to last longer.

10.  Flat, flip or slide? I prefer flat phones. Flip and slide phones tend to have problems with their ‘flex (that’s what my phone techie calls it. When the flex is fried, your screen becomes blind)’

11.  Music player, phone speaker: How loud is that speaker?

12.  Internet: The larger the phone screen, the larger the pages it can open (although, you could just install a browser eg Opera Mini, Bolt or UCWeb). The higher the RAM, the faster it can open pages.

13.  Wifi/WLAN: Sometimes, our network providers might have problems and no one wants to be offline for too long. If you find yourself within a hotspot (that’s what UNILAG students call free wireless internet), browse away using your phone WLAN.

  

Visit gsmarena.com to check out the specs of your desired phone and to read user reviews