[jojo16]

Hi,
I need some advice on which phone to get. No matter which phone I pick, it's going to come from Hong Kong, since I'm gonna get my relatives to bring it over for me when they come visit.

I live in Canada, and am currently on the Rogers network.

I was browsing on the HK Fortress website, and found a few within the price range and features that I wanted. They're all quad band, since I'll need that in Canada.

So, from my understanding, all phones from HK are unlocked and will work with any sim card, including Rogers sim card right? --This is the first thing I need to clarify.

And second of all...I need some advice on which phone to pick. So...the first phone.

1.) Nokia 5630 XpressMusic --The features and price (around $250 CDN) are very attractive. There's wifi, document reader..and has a processor apparently so the phone is said to be fast. The only major concern I have is the battery life...judging from the reviews it only lasts about 2 days...which is too little in my opinion.Its features can be found here: http://www.gsmarena.com/nokia_5630_xpressmusic-2670.php
For its price, I believe that it's jam packed with features.


2.) Sony Ericsson t700 - Nothing special about this phone...but it seems to be a sturdy phone in general. Just your everyday essentials like bluetooth, camera...etc...
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_t700-2481.php



Does anyone have any of these phones? If you do please share your personal experiences with them. And also some advice on which phone to buy. Or, if you have another suggestion around the price range if around $250 CDN, please do speak up!

Thanks in advance.

EDIT;;
I have a new phone that i'm considering now! The SE C510. Another concern...it's only tri band. Relying on the tri-band alone definitely won't get me anywhere in Canada. But i noticed that there's a 3.5G (HSDPA) on the spec chart too, and i searched it up and apparently rogers supports that thing now? So, will the phone work okay in Canada? Or do I have to buy the more expensive version in the USA for around $270 CAD?

So here's the 3.5G article. http://www.cellphones.ca/news/post004685/
and here's the phone review page. http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_c510-2640.php

[silver-typhoon]

I have the T700 in red/silver. It is love <3 Unfortunately, not as sturdy as you may imagine. The screen on mine has blacked out (as in the screen is black, doesn't "turn on" per say) but everything else works after a 1m fall out of my pocket onto a gym floor. I must be very unlucky for it to have fallen at an exact angle for something inside to have come loose I still need to get that fixed... but that's off topic

There's this interesting function on the phone that lets you take photos and edit them right on your phone. The downside to the camera on this phone is that if you set it to high quality pictures, you cannot zoom while taking photos. When using the "flash" on the camera, it's not really a flash... it just turns on the flashlight option thing to illuminate the entire area. Yes, the phone has a flashlight... Music player on the phone is decent for the casual listener, but not up to par for the audiophiles. Battery life on this is phenomenal... I can get away with charging once a week if I don't touch the music player option at all, but usually charge about 2 times a week. When buying in HK, you will get a spare battery pack too, so if you keep this on hand, you'll essentially charge once a week. The phone itself is slim and feels nice to hold because it's rather solid. It fits nicely inside pockets etc. One thing you may have issues with is the buttons... they're rather small, but I got used to them pretty quickly. Some people with er... thicker fingers (ie my friend) wouldn't like this type of phone because of the button placement.

Considering I paid $220 CAD for this phone (when the dollar had fallen), it's not too bad. Yes, MOST phones from HK are fully unlocked and should work with Rogers. I'm with Fido and my phone works... so yea Hope this helped

[jojo16]

^ Thanks for replying!
Would you mind explaining a little more about the screen blacking out? I didn't really get that part.
And also, how is the call quality? Is the 3G compatible in Canada? Thanks =)

[JUST-5MILE]

^ 3G is compatible with Canada. :3

I was also gonna get the SE T700 in HK 3 weeks ago, but then this salesperson at one of the big electronic stores (I forgot the name..but not Broadway or Fortress) suggested me to get SE C510 instead. It's actually quite similar to the T700 if you look it up. There was a difference of 100 HKD in price, but he also explained that the camera for C510 was better. C510 has a cover for the camera and it also has smile shutter, auto focus and LED flash. I guess this is good if you like taking photos. I have yet to try taking photos at night, since I saw some other people on another forum complain about the night pictures. @__@" It also has this editing program like the person above said. In addition, I thought the keys on C510 were easier to press compared to the T700. I've used the phone in HK for a few days; however, I have not tried it in Canada yet so I don't really know about the reception. I'm planning to get a plan with Fido this weekend. ^^ I found out that you can get the C510 for $49 or so with Rogers if you sign a 3 year contract, but it's only within a few Rogers stores here. @__@ I got mine for 1680 HKD which is about $240 here. ^^" I also got an extra battery with it. :3

Oooh~ I just remembered. Another difference between the two was C510 has a camera in the front (where you talk) for video calls. T700 only has the camera on the back.

[jojo16]

^ haha I know it is, but it depends on which frequency it is. In the T700 case, it's not compatible

Anyway..thanks for your advice! I have a concern though...according to the fortress website the C510 is only TRI-BAND, meaning that if I were to use it here in Canada, there are definitely going to be reception problems because the frequencies in hong kong are different from the ones here in Canada. Maybe you should go back to the store and ask the people there if the phone will work in Canada. Or did they confirm that it would work? (Unlikely though)

On a brighter note, i realised that there is a quad band version of the C510, it's called C510a. And...it's available at sonystyle! (USA though)...but this problem can be solved easily as I will be heading to seattle this weekend. So does anybody know if the phones are unlocked at the sonystyle store?

[absinthe_faerie]

Can you read chinese?

This website may be quite helpful for you : http://www.eprice.com.hk/

Some phones they have the prices on them, well they have a price on them but you can use it as an estimate...

[~~:Usagi-Ayumi:~~]

if your ordering a phone from Hong Kong you must remember that all of their phones a unlocked for Hong Kong / other country use, but different SIM cards might have the effect on auto locking itself, since they are not in their original network, and do keep this in mind all the phones in Hong Kong a made in China ... so there a some part that might come off...

[silver-typhoon]

More info on the T700 http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_t700-2481.php you can also surf around this site for more info on other phones.

I didn't really need 3G etc because I do not have a data plan (nor do I ever intend to).

Screen blacking out... meaning when you turn on the phone, the screen is black. It does not seem to want to turn on at all... but everything else is working. The screen itself is not cracked, so I have no idea what's going on there. It's such a bother I have such a pretty phone and I cannot use it

[jojo16]

^ thanks.
So basically you dropped the phone? Or this blacking out is caused by itself?

[andyroxs]

nokia looks and feels crap in person. Plus no autofocus. i would go for the cybershot

[JUST-5MILE]

I went to Rogers to ask for a plan and when they asked me what model my phone was, they said my C510 would work. same goes for Fido...but I'm not too sure on how good it will be. ^^" Ahaha~ I guess I'll find out soon. xP

As for unlocked phones at Sony Stores in the states? Not too sure. @__@ You can always get it unlocked afterwards. ^^" But then that costs another $20 or so. D:

[jojo16]

^ Oh, thanks so much for the info.
Yeah, I think the sonystores in the states have unlocked phones, but sadly their model of the phone costs $249.99 US dollars...which means significantly more when we convert back to CAD.