Buying Xiaomi phones in Australia - tips and warnings?

• 

  Hithere on 07/02/2021 - 17:03

  +2

  Purchasing any phone from Banggood and other sellers like Tecobuy, based in Hong Kong (?) etc, can sometimes be false economy.

  Delivery times can sometimes be painfully extended.

  They are Grey Imports without any local support or warranty unless you are prepared to take to risk of sending them back to the manufacturers if something goes wrong.

  If you go that way make sure the phone has Band 28 capability, if your telco is Optus or Telstra, especially outside city areas.

  Having said that I have been guilty of purchasing a Grey Import in the past and haven't had any issues - if the savings are big enough it may be worth taking a chance.

• 

  Frank Murphy on 07/02/2021 - 17:05

  +1

  Of the sellers you mention, only Mobileciti sells Aussie stock. This is what you want if your priority is to minimise warranty issues and network compatibility problems.

• 

  Gazpacho on 07/02/2021 - 17:48

  Thank you all that is so helpful !

  EDIT: are there any other good sellers you'd recommend?

  • 

    frondono on 07/02/2021 - 19:23

    Aliexpress will be worth a look.

• 

  ams898 on 07/02/2021 - 19:28

  +1

  I bought a Redmi 9C from Kmart-also AU Panmi stock with band 28:
  https://www.kmart.com.au/product/redmi-9c-3+64-smartphone---…

• 

  [Deactivated] on 07/02/2021 - 21:54

  Both phones will work on the AU network.
  Look for offers in OzBargain.
  Amazon and Kogan in my experience tends to be more lenient on warranty terms.
  Choose Global or EU ROM

  I recently got a Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC (Global ROM) from Bangood through one of the OzBargain offers. The main difference between the Global ROM and EU I think, is less bloatware and ads on the EU ROM probably because of the EU regulations, but I got the Global just cause 'it felt right'. Also if your ever in doubt if the phone will work, make sure to check the company's official site for specs. If its got Band 28, it should work. In this case, both the Mi 10T and Mi 10 have Band 28 support.

  • 

    peterpeterpumpkin on 13/02/2021 - 12:11

    Does the EU version out-of-the-box affect SafetyNet? I don't understand if it's a custom ROM or an original EU ROM…

• 

  this is us on 07/02/2021 - 22:16

  I think Xiaomi and Huawei have by far the best hardware; I had my Huawei for 3 years and changed to the Pixel 5 only two weeks ago. Pixel is just an average hardware, but it's more clean, and probably safer. My concern regarding Xiaomi is that the conflicts between US and China might lead to difficulties for them to keep offering updates and Google based services, but that is just speculation. Maybe they will be fine…

  I do feel that I have more control of my phone now using the Pixel. The Huawei has too many "Huawei" apps working in the background, which I think is reason for concerns. Moving from Huawei is part of my personal decision as I want to avoid supporting a company that is very likely involved with the Chinese government. Xiaomi might be more distant, but we don't really know.

  I appreciate Xiaomi hardware and was very interested in the M10 and M11 (still not available), although I like the idea of having a cleaner Android version as I see in the Pixel 5.

  Anyway, I'd buy from Mobileciti or Amazon and use Paypal if possible. Stay away from Tecobuy (refer to my previous comments)