Is Huawei Ascend G300 the best budget smartphone?

Young TurksYoung Turks Posts: 3,262
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I am thinking of getting this one that it is under £100.00 now.

I can’t find anything matching this price range with 4” screen & 1GHz processor. Considering that I paid nearly £60 for 2g (not 3g) non-smart phone with very small screen (2.4” Samsung chat S3350) a few years ago this sounds a lot of phone for the money but as they say if it is too good to be true it probably is :D

Are you happy with this phone if you have one?

I have read reviews some very good some bad. All I need is, in addition to obvious phone futures, reasonably fast browsing, sending emails and watching BBC Iplayer.

I barely play games if one comes with the phone I might try to kill some time but gaming is never my priority.

My understanding is that the original Android since then been upgraded but some reviews says best to go back to original gingerbread 2.3 because the new update slows it down etc.

Is this the case?

Can this phone play AVI-DIVX-MKV files from micro-sd card? Considering the size of this phone it would be ideal if it could play.

What about flash player, can I access to websites that requires flash player?

Is it possible to download an app for betting websites? (I can’t find them on googleplay but those well-known betting sites all have their android app available.)

So, if not from googleplay, where can these be downloaded to this phone?

And finally;

Overall would you recommend this phone?

Please note: (If it helps I am already on Vodafone payg so no need to unlock it, well at least, not for the time being)

Thanks
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Comments

  • November_RainNovember_Rain Posts: 9,145
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    I've just gone from one to the Nexus 4. I had a bit of a mixed experience with it myself, I tried out both the stock GB ROM and the official ICS update but I didn't get on with either. Then I tried out CyanogenMod which was great to start with but then I had the same problems I had with the manufacturer ROMS (constant lag, apps crashing etc). In the end I decided to give Lightning ROM a whirl and the overall performance of the phone was a lot better, though there was still a slight lag once I got all my apps on there.

    Perhaps I was just expecting too much from it though. I'm quite a heavy app user and I'm playing a lot more games than I used to which just seemed to be a strain on it's limited (compared to costlier phones) hardware. If you're a non-demanding user who isn't a big fan of apps and gaming then you might have a much smoother experience with it. For the basics it is a decent phone and it will handle Internet browsing and e-mails just fine. I'm not sure how it deals with iPlayer as I never bothered with that but I dabbled with TvCatchup a few times and I had no problems running that on here.

    Flash is no longer supported officially on Android but there are third party apps available for it. AFAIK you can play AVI files through VLC player but don't quote me on that, I'm not sure about other video types.

    You can download betting apps (and others) outside the Google Play store by just typing <betting shop name> APK into Google search. I know Ladbrokes have an app but I don't know about the others as I don't bet, I would imagine they do though. :)
  • Young TurksYoung Turks Posts: 3,262
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    I've just gone from one to the Nexus 4. I had a bit of a mixed experience with it myself, I tried out both the stock GB ROM and the official ICS update but I didn't get on with either. Then I tried out CyanogenMod which was great to start with but then I had the same problems I had with the manufacturer ROMS (constant lag, apps crashing etc). In the end I decided to give Lightning ROM a whirl and the overall performance of the phone was a lot better, though there was still a slight lag once I got all my apps on there.

    Perhaps I was just expecting too much from it though. I'm quite a heavy app user and I'm playing a lot more games than I used to which just seemed to be a strain on it's limited (compared to costlier phones) hardware. If you're a non-demanding user who isn't a big fan of apps and gaming then you might have a much smoother experience with it. For the basics it is a decent phone and it will handle Internet browsing and e-mails just fine. I'm not sure how it deals with iPlayer as I never bothered with that but I dabbled with TvCatchup a few times and I had no problems running that on here.

    Flash is no longer supported officially on Android but there are third party apps available for it. AFAIK you can play AVI files through VLC player but don't quote me on that, I'm not sure about other video types.

    You can download betting apps (and others) outside the Google Play store by just typing <betting shop name> APK into Google search. I know Ladbrokes have an app but I don't know about the others as I don't bet, I would imagine they do though. :)

    Thanks for your help, I'll keep reading reviews and keep an eye on this thread. Shame the software doesn't seem to be stable by the sounds of it.

    As I said I am not fussed about gaming but would make use of internet/email/BBC Iplayer and some apps.

    Thanks for advice about finding out betting apps as well I found it. I usually use Bet365 and their website refers me to third party website where Anroid app could be downloaded.

    It is very strange that in this day and age google restrict the use of betting apps.

    By the way I couldn't find VLC on googleplay, Do I need to find it via 3rd party website aswell?

    Cheers
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,538
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    VLC is available as beta from google play apparent,

    http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-android.html


    As for betting apps I think the issue is with online gambling is either restricted or illegal in the US so if google want to be able to process payments from US customers I don't think they would be make available gambling apps.
  • November_RainNovember_Rain Posts: 9,145
    Forum Member
    Thanks for your help, I'll keep reading reviews and keep an eye on this thread. Shame the software doesn't seem to be stable by the sounds of it.

    As I said I am not fussed about gaming but would make use of internet/email/BBC Iplayer and some apps.

    Thanks for advice about finding out betting apps as well I found it. I usually use Bet365 and their website refers me to third party website where Anroid app could be downloaded.

    It is very strange that in this day and age google restrict the use of betting apps.

    By the way I couldn't find VLC on googleplay, Do I need to find it via 3rd party website aswell?

    Cheers

    I never watched videos on my G300 so forgive me if I'm a bit rusty on that department. However, VLC is available here.

    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc.betav7neon

    It's still in Beta, but having done five minutes of research it seems it will handle MKV and DIVX files without an issue, but it may struggle with high-definition MKV and AVI files, if this is anything to go by.

    http://liliputing.com/2012/07/vlc-android-hits-play-store-still-work-progress.html
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
    Forum Member
    If you have the patience it may be worthwhile waiting for the G330 to come out of its exclusivity period with talktalk mobile. Rumour has it that it will sell for £100 SIM free. Only problem is no-one seems to be saying when it will be available SIM free.
  • November_RainNovember_Rain Posts: 9,145
    Forum Member
    konebyvax wrote: »
    If you have the patience it may be worthwhile waiting for the G330 to come out of its exclusivity period with talktalk mobile. Rumour has it that it will sell for £100 SIM free. Only problem is no-one seems to be saying when it will be available SIM free.

    They could be waiting a while, given that the phone was supposed to be out by Christmas and there is still no word of it.
  • dobbin231dobbin231 Posts: 466
    Forum Member
    I am thinking of getting this one that it is under £100.00 now.

    I can’t find anything matching this price range with 4” screen & 1GHz processor. Considering that I paid nearly £60 for 2g (not 3g) non-smart phone with very small screen (2.4” Samsung chat S3350) a few years ago this sounds a lot of phone for the money but as they say if it is too good to be true it probably is :D

    Are you happy with this phone if you have one?

    I have read reviews some very good some bad. All I need is, in addition to obvious phone futures, reasonably fast browsing, sending emails and watching BBC Iplayer.

    I barely play games if one comes with the phone I might try to kill some time but gaming is never my priority.

    My understanding is that the original Android since then been upgraded but some reviews says best to go back to original gingerbread 2.3 because the new update slows it down etc.

    Is this the case?

    Can this phone play AVI-DIVX-MKV files from micro-sd card? Considering the size of this phone it would be ideal if it could play.

    What about flash player, can I access to websites that requires flash player?

    Is it possible to download an app for betting websites? (I can’t find them on googleplay but those well-known betting sites all have their android app available.)

    So, if not from googleplay, where can these be downloaded to this phone?

    And finally;

    Overall would you recommend this phone?

    Please note: (If it helps I am already on Vodafone payg so no need to unlock it, well at least, not for the time being)

    Thanks

    Hi

    I used this phone for about 4months. Bought it from Vodafone shop for £100 + £10 topup. I didn't realise that I didn't need to buy the top up as I had a Vodafone sim.

    I thought it was really good. Not great. It had it's limitations. but good. It was an introduction to an Android phone and I liked Android so much I took the plunge and bought a Nexus 4 for £279 (16Gb) to experience a brilliant Android phone with vanilla version of Android (no bloatware).

    Let me answer your questions where I can.
    I have read reviews some very good some bad. All I need is, in addition to obvious phone futures, reasonably fast browsing, sending emails and watching BBC Iplayer.

    It's a great phone for the money. It's not fast though. And it's not slow. It's somewhere in between!
    It's fast enough for emails, a little on the slow side for browsing and I usually found it too slow for iPlayer and it stuttered a bit.

    I barely play games if one comes with the phone I might try to kill some time but gaming is never my priority.

    I played some games and never had a problem (Solitaire, Angry birds etc.)
    My understanding is that the original Android since then been upgraded but some reviews says best to go back to original gingerbread 2.3 because the new update slows it down etc.

    Is this the case?

    I think the phone upgraded itself to ICS and I had no trouble with it. It seemed much better than HC to me. There were users trying to update it to Jellybean. That seemed to be when their troubles started. I don't know what the current situation is and whether there is (or will be) an official upgrade for the phone to JB. Look on the Huawei Ascend 300 forums.
    Can this phone play AVI-DIVX-MKV files from micro-sd card? Considering the size of this phone it would be ideal if it could play.

    No. I tried half a dozen android media players but they all had trouble when playing AVI (or any other type of divx type files). Some players played one but not another. The big problem when they played was synchronization with the sound. It was miles out. Unwatchable really. I eventually gave up trying. I did use VLC but it was no better.
    What about flash player, can I access to websites that requires flash player?

    Yes you can sideload FlashPLayer. You need to download the flash player and copy it to the phone. You then need to disable the security check in settings to run apps from OTHER sources. Run the flash player app. Then change the settings in the browser to use flash. I used Boat Browser and it worked ok.

    In summary I would definitely recommend this phone to anyone. For the money it's amazing value. The 32gb microSD card only costs about £15 so also a good upgrade.

    However don't expect it to do what the latest, fastest phones can do.

    Now I'm using a Nexus 4 I can see what I was missing on the Huawei Ascend 300. Again the Nexus 4 is amazing value for money at £239 for 8Gb. So if you can stretch to that I would say you won't regret it. It does all those things that the Huawei couldn't. It plays AVI files brilliantly, fast on the web, iPlayer is no problem etc. The Nexus 4 is my new love...!

    The only thing it's missing is a MicroSD card slot. I suppose you can't have everything!

    NOTE: The camera is not all that good on the Huawei Ascend G300. Don't know if you would use it for snaps but I found the results pretty disappointing for both photo and video.
  • konebyvaxkonebyvax Posts: 9,120
    Forum Member
    They could be waiting a while, given that the phone was supposed to be out by Christmas and there is still no word of it.


    AFAIK it did arrive at Xmas but exclusive to talktalk mobile contract

    http://mobile.talktalk.co.uk/handsets/g330
  • Rodney McKayRodney McKay Posts: 8,143
    Forum Member
    I am thinking of getting this one that it is under £100.00 now.

    I can’t find anything matching this price range with 4” screen & 1GHz processor. Considering that I paid nearly £60 for 2g (not 3g) non-smart phone with very small screen (2.4” Samsung chat S3350) a few years ago this sounds a lot of phone for the money but as they say if it is too good to be true it probably is :D

    Are you happy with this phone if you have one?

    I have read reviews some very good some bad. All I need is, in addition to obvious phone futures, reasonably fast browsing, sending emails and watching BBC Iplayer.

    I barely play games if one comes with the phone I might try to kill some time but gaming is never my priority.

    My understanding is that the original Android since then been upgraded but some reviews says best to go back to original gingerbread 2.3 because the new update slows it down etc.

    Is this the case?

    Can this phone play AVI-DIVX-MKV files from micro-sd card? Considering the size of this phone it would be ideal if it could play.

    What about flash player, can I access to websites that requires flash player?

    Is it possible to download an app for betting websites? (I can’t find them on googleplay but those well-known betting sites all have their android app available.)

    So, if not from googleplay, where can these be downloaded to this phone?

    And finally;

    Overall would you recommend this phone?

    Please note: (If it helps I am already on Vodafone payg so no need to unlock it, well at least, not for the time being)

    Thanks

    I have one and find it fine. I don't play games and I find it handles video like the BBC or NASA just fine.

    If you get one you can stick with 2.3 as that works just fine. Don't know about betting apps but you should be able to sideload them.
  • Echo1Echo1 Posts: 7,673
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    The G300 works perfectly fine with iplayer and 4od as it does with avi files. In fact, the picture quality of SD video is great.
  • Young TurksYoung Turks Posts: 3,262
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    dobbin231 wrote: »
    Hi

    No. I tried half a dozen android media players but they all had trouble when playing AVI (or any other type of divx type files). Some players played one but not another. The big problem when they played was synchronization with the sound. It was miles out. Unwatchable really. I eventually gave up trying. I did use VLC but it was no better.
    Wash wrote: »
    The G300 works perfectly fine with iplayer and 4od as it does with avi files. In fact, the picture quality of SD video is great.

    Now I am confused :D

    One user says AVI files are unwatchable the other says it works perfectly.

    Which one is it guys?

    Note: Dobbin I'd like the idea of Nexus 4 but I am amazed to hear that it doesn't come with Micro SD slot when cheaper budget models do.
  • Mr. CoolMr. Cool Posts: 1,551
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    I bought this phone around 6 months ago. It's okay for the price but Huawei clearly doesn't test updates before they roll them out (slow and unoptimised). You can hear some creaking around the bottom left and right sides and my power button also was hard to push but it resolved itself in a matter of weeks. In all, it's performance is OK for the price but nothing special. I plan on replacing it with a Nexus 4.
  • Ultraman1966Ultraman1966 Posts: 271
    Forum Member
    You're better off spending a little more to get the Lumia 620, far superior phone for the money (I have a Nexus 4 but I doubt you want to spend that much).
  • doom&amp;gloomdoom&amp;gloom Posts: 9,051
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    Yes I think the best budget smartphones are Nokia Windows Phones, the best budget phone was the Nokia 710, then the 800 and now the 620, although it will be even better when they sort the battery issues out.

    Go to Carphone Warehouse where they have the 620 on display as well as dual-core budget Android phones like Xperia U and Galaxy Ace 2 and see which is quicker.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 799
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    i hated the nokia lumia 800.
  • Ultraman1966Ultraman1966 Posts: 271
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    kcspurs wrote: »
    i hated the nokia lumia 800.
    Windows 7 Phones were very average and definitely behind on the curve. MS admitted that they only pushed it out to have some market presence and hence why they've pretty much abandoned it now.

    WP8 is a different kettle of fish and definitely worth a try.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 799
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    oh right. i found the 800 so slugish and slow . but it looks nice lol

    i perfer htc phones
  • doom&amp;gloomdoom&amp;gloom Posts: 9,051
    Forum Member
    I have a Nokia 800 and don't find it slow, the first version of 7.8 slowed it down a bit but the latest one sped it up again.

    The speaker isn't that good and I wish the screen was at least 4" but other than that I like it, Nokia's apps are great as well and quite innovative.

    I wouldn't have bought it at full price but at £150 it was a bargain, it's a very solid bit of kit compared to Android phones at the same price.
  • macharemachare Posts: 940
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    Car Phone Warehouse have an upgrade offer on many of their PAYT phones. The upgrade is £10 cheaper than the normal price + you don't have to buy a network SIM. So if you have a 6month old PAYT Sim you can save £20. They don't want the old phone. They do check that the network operator will allow the upgrade. The phones are not network locked (or branded)
  • lamblamlamblamblamlamb Posts: 654
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    I have this phone, bought it last year for £70 in total. I like it. Some problems with the display time to time with a blob mark but easily correct. I not fan of the video recording on this the quality of the sound is so terrible in loud settings. Also battery seems to die rapidly for some reason but I had that problem with my other smart phone (orange san francisco)

    Not watched video on this phone so can't say if it does avi etc but my older phone could so I can't see why this one wont. Played games on it like plague inc. jewels etc. Flash works too.
  • macharemachare Posts: 940
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    I have this phone, bought it last year for £70 in total.
    I have seen similar claims but never managed to get even close to that.
  • neo_walesneo_wales Posts: 13,625
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    The wife has one and its been problem free to date, superb value for money.
  • Trsvis_BickleTrsvis_Bickle Posts: 9,202
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    machare wrote: »
    I have seen similar claims but never managed to get even close to that.

    Available in Argos for £85 (although you have to buy £10 of vodaphone credit at the same time).
  • doom&amp;gloomdoom&amp;gloom Posts: 9,051
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    machare wrote: »
    I have seen similar claims but never managed to get even close to that.

    It was on offer at Tesco for that price.
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