Seems like a great deal, has a 4" screen, 1GHz processor. Gpu is ok with an adreno 200, but definitely worth it for $160.
Referrer & referee receive $25-$50 credit after referee's 3rd monthly bill.
I would HIGHLY suggest reading websites such as GsmArena or any other tech website, don't blindly believe Vodafone's spec sheet, its a general overview and at times incorrect !
http://huaweimobile.com.au/ascend-g300
Review of G300:
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/mobile-phones/huawei-ascend-g300-r…
The Huawei Ascend G300 has the lowest of the Cortex-A Series, the Cortex-A5 clocked at 1Ghz…
Review of the Cortex A5 chip:
http://www.itproportal.com/2012/03/01/cortex-a5-cortex-a8-co…
You need to be careful with GSMarena too. For my old phone (Nexus S), GSM arena gave the specs for 1 of the 4 "versions" that exist for that model. Apparently Vodafone's staff use GSMarena as reference, and I had a very hard time convincing them that my phone did not support their new 850MHz network (because GSMarena stated that it did). In this case, Vodafone's own website had it right.
Probably best not to blindly believe anything on the internet and check more than 1 source….
ok firstly the Nexus S doesn't go by that name, it goes by versions and models, like i9020, i9023, etc…, many are specifically manufactured for countries and carriers, thats a whole different scenario, high end phones $200>, especially when we have Google and Samsung working together… ;)
besides that's exactly what i said "check other tech websites" not only GSMarena… :)
I would suggest simply ignoring Vodafones specs and Google it instead…
Probably best not to blindly believe anything on the internet and check more than 1 source….
yeah, right!
Seems better than the Sonic which still goes for $188.
I suppose this is 850mHz in line with their new network which of course means good for Telstra.
Actually, it seems pretty good for the Optus network as well:-
GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900MHz
UMTS 1: 900/2100MHz
UMTS 2: 850/1900/2100MHz
Huawei also lists the cpu as 1 ghz.
http://www.huaweidevice.com/worldwide/productFeatures.do?pin…
Seems like a pretty good deal really. The only fly in the ointment is gingerbread. Although Huawei say that an ICS update is in the works. Australia as usual will get the usual bollocks about "carrier partners" no doubt.
http://www.modaco.com/topic/354373-any-word-from-huawei-abou…
Isn't the UTMS band one or the other? Either 850 or 900 but surely not both?
Perhaps UMTS 1 and 2 are different radio sets that can be ordered by carriers (not both together).
They also list different battery options - 1350 mAh (1500mAh in Europe & VDF)
Hope we get the 1500mAh one.
I'm sure the CPU is 1Ghz thats the only option shown.
Note: don't trust Vodafone info - certainly been wrong before.
sorry, I guess you're right. The voda site has it as 850.
thats odd, even gsm mention it as 1ghz
anyways, can this be unlocked free via the voda site just like other ones?
Maybe yes, maybe no, ts always random.
Should be a 1GHz processor for the Ascend G300, probably a mistake on vodafone's end
yeah Huawei says it's 1Ghz
http://huaweimobile.com.au/ascend-g300/
as does Voda UK
http://shop.vodafone.co.uk/shop/mobile-phone/huawei-ascend-g…
Hopefully it is a mistake on Vodafone AUS. The earlier batch of the Qualcomm CPU is 800Mhz. Later batches are 1GHz.
Finally, a low end Android phone with okay amount of ROM (4GB/2.4GB usable to the user). However, Huawei decided to put 750MB on app/ directory and most of the space in internal_sd (would have been better to just allocate the lot to app/). CPU is a modified first gen Snapdragon (beefed up a bit to drive 480 x 800). IPS screen.
Remind me of Acer Liquid Metal. G300 probably a weaker CPU (definetely a weaker GPU), but the much better ROM size and the IPS screen are more useful (if you are not into heavy 3D gaming on the phone). No front camera.
Many good reviews, great price!
How do you buy it for $152 or does it have to be purchased with recharge?
Yeah it looks like your stuck buying some kind of Voda recharge.
$10 is the cheapest one I can see.
Am considering pulling the trigger on this - lotsa bang for buck here.
Just need to find out about the speakerphone volume and quality as I tend to use it a lot.
Apparently if you perform a firmware update from within settings, about phone, online upgrade, the speaker volume improves dramatically:-
http://www.modaco.com/topic/353401-huawei-loudspeaker-issue-…
otherwise apparently the speaker is a dog just like all other huawei phones
Cheers.
Yep read the thread at Modaco and it seems the patch fixes things nicely.
Very interesting.
Does anybody know how this compare to the HTC Desire ? I don't need a better GPU, but like the 4" screen and the increase ROM/RAM
HTC Desire probably has a slightly faster CPU (I would think Snapdragon first gen 8 series CPU is better than a first gen 7 series CPU). GPU is the same. Desire is better in terms of build quality and it has a front facing camera. I like HTC Sense (even though I don't have an HTC phone).
This phone, however, has more phone memory (still not very happy with the way Huawei configured it - too much space allocated to internal_sd), but it should let you install lots more apps than HTC Desire.
How is it compared to iPhone 4, not the 4s, and compared to galaxy s2-3?
The CPU is roughly the same as iPhone 3GS. However, screen, camera, wifi are all better than iPhone 3GS. But then, the smallest 3GS has 8GB.
From the Galaxy side, it cannot even compare to Galaxy S(1), let alone S2 or S3. Galaxy S(1) is roughly equivalent to iPhone 4. Therefore, no point comparing this phone to iPhone 4.
The main selling point for this phone is the internal phone memory is enough so that by using SD card, you should be able to install quite a few apps. However, it is REALLY still a low end phone. The way Huawei organise the phone memory is also not ideal (it is better to keep /app as big as possible so users can then have a better flexbility to take advantage of microSD cards). That said, compared to other low end phones, this is already a lot better.
I'm staying clear of Huawei phones after the experiences I've had with my Ideos X5 - the biggest gripe I have is lack of updates (so as to also fix numerous bugs).. Took them over a year to release 2.3.5 and nothing since …. I'm tempted to try rooting it and installing the alternative non-official ICS firmware that is available for the phone (once I get a new Samsung Galaxy III or some other high end phone and if I brick my X5 it won't matter).
root it, you will not regret doing so.
I rooted and installed custom firmware on my SGS weeks after getting it.. (pretty much the time required for me to read up on what to do and feel confident)
I'm now running Cyanogenmod 9 nightly and feel no urge to upgrade at the end of my 2 year contract (coming soon), cause my phone is still up to date and has all the features I use.
There is a miniscule chance you'll brick the device if you can't follow instructions, but if it's bricked, it's not like the supplier can tell if you rooted anyway, it's just as bricked for them as it is for you…
That Vodafone "enter promo code" box is tempting… still remember the "Ozbargain" one that worked for months afterwards for the pocket wifi.
Anyone have any active Vodafone codes to buy this ?
If you put this in your cart and then save your cart (by entering your name and email at the top of the page) it then sends you an email with your saved cart. It then offers you a $25 credit by using the code 25CREDIT and a link to take you back to your cart. But then the code does not work. Anyone manage to get it to work? Maybe could call Vodafone sales and tell them the code is not working and they may be able to apply it manually. Worth a try.
Good find -sounds promising.
EDIT:
Gave it a go and received the $25 off email, same as you but yep, the code doesn't work.
Should be able to email or call Voda and get something happening. They ought to give it once offered.
Not even vaguely surprised that it doesn't work off the bat.
Vodafone….
So if we can get the $25 off happening and select the cheapest forced recharge ($10)
Total should be $162 - $25 = $137 Bargain!
You can just buy the phone outright (scroll right to the bottom of the page): http://shop.vodafone.com.au/offers/all-prepaid-mobiles?pid=v…
Just a matter of whether it's free to unlock or not
Excellent!
So if we score the $25 off… $127 BARGAIN!
BTW Ebay already has unlock codes available ~$7
keep us posted. For $127, I'd buy it whether I needed it or not.
I must be stupid but don't seem to be able to add just the phone to my cart without a $10 recharge. Help please….
There you go
Thanks, got it. have now concluded I am stupid
no worries at least you admit it. :-X just kidding
Can anyone tell me how this might compare to the original galaxy s…. all the specs on paper seem to be similar or better, but i've been fooled before with the galaxy ace…
Other than screen resolution, which is probably roughly on par with Galaxy S (I would think Galaxy S is still better). CPU - no contest, Galaxy S wins (esp. if you want to watch mkv videos or play 3d games). Pretty sure Galaxy S as a front facing camera. Galaxy S also has minimum 8GB ROM on board. You also get Nagivon navigation (for Galaxy S) and maybe some other apps.
Like I mentioned before, Huawei Ascend G300 is roughly the same as a iPhone 3GS (in terms of performance). I would class Galaxy S and iPhone 4 being definetely one class above this phone.
This is okay as a secondary phone, or you are on a limited budget (or you want to try out Android but want to limit the spending). It is the benchmark all future low end Android phone. Let's hope we don't see new low end phones with 270MB or 300MB phone memory (where you end up with about 100MB or less /app space). A camera with LED, IPS screen with decent resolution… every Android phone should have those.
The iphone 3gs cpu definitely isnt as good as this one.
You cannot rely just on clock speed alone. Apple did underclock 3GS, but this is the first gen Snapdragon we are talking about. The higher resolution on this phone also means the CPU/GPU will need to work harder. In terms of GPU, iPhone 3GS should win.
I am actually being nice by saying they are on par with each other (3GS probably still win out a bit).
Put it this way, a Snapdragon gen 2 CPU with Adreno 205 (even clocked at 800Mhz) will easily beat this CPU. HTC did at least pick a Snapdragon gen 2 for their cheapest One series. Huawei obviously picked the cheapest possible CPU/GPU for this phone.
The iPhone 3gs CPU has an ARM Cortex A-8 core clocked at 600 mHz. The Huawei has a Cortex A-5 core clocked at 1Ghz.
Bizarrely, the A-5 performs more than amply against the A-8, despite the price difference. Add to that the different clock speeds, and this phone's CPU bests not only the iPhone 3gs but probably the Galaxy S (1) as well.
http://www.itproportal.com/2012/03/01/cortex-a5-cortex-a8-co…
Thanks for your advice. Any tips on how one can compare phones properly? I need telstra coverage and wasted money on changing from a Galaxy S to a Galaxy Ace and it is absolutely USELESS in comparison… I just want Next G coverage and a usable phone (Incredible s, Galaxy S, even HTC Legend were all good… just struggling to find a usable phone on Next G… Any tips would be greatly appreciated
Galaxy S / Incredible S are still okay (assuming you get ones which support NextG). The problem with Galaxy Ace is basically lack of phone memory (so you can only install very limited number of apps / even if you root it and put Link2SD on, it is still very limited; the CPU/GPU isn't that good either - Galaxy Ace is inferior to Galaxy S by a decent margin).
Comparing phones. For Android, anything with less than 8GB phone memory cannot be considered a mid range nowadays (except some HTC phones). GPU is actually not a bad indicator of performance (of course CPU is important, but the clock speed trick could make you think a 1Ghz Gen1 CPU is better than a 800Mhz Gen2 CPU - but the GPU indicates the generation of the CPU, which is a better indicator than clock speed). Comparing a phone with respect to either Apple iPhones or Galaxy S series phones is also good.
iPhone 3GS or below - low end
iPhone 4 / Galaxy S(1) - mid range
iPhone 4S / Galaxy SII - higher mid range
iPhone 5* / Galaxy SIII - high end (*iPhone 5 yet to be announced - we'll assume it will have a quad core CPU)
The reason I +ve voted this deal is because this phone is probably the first low end Android phone where you can install decent number of apps (whereas most of the cheap $180 or below phones… you don't even have enough space to install apps, let alone games). Thing is, if I were to carry a phone with 4 inch screen, I probably would want one that has more raw power.
P.S. This phone is better than HTC Legend. I am not a HTC Legend fan though.
I hope I don't overtake this thread, I wish there was another way to contact you. I really wanted to say thank you for all this info.
I agree that the HTC legend is a very old, and not so great phone now, it is still miles ahead of the galaxy ACE the…. The lack of ability to install apps doesn't bother me… it's responsiveness to commands, like when I remove the phone from my ear to hit the end call button, should I really have to wait 15 seconds before the phone's screen will activate?
Incase, you or someone else here knows, is it possible to get a UMTS850 Incredible S (preferred) or Galaxy S somewhere?
Good deal.
Edit: double post
problem with this is it will be limited by your SD card speed, it is always better and faster to have apps on internal memory, over time, more apps on SD card will make the phone extremely laggy in accessing anything.
Dunno where to get Incredible S or Galaxy S with NextG support at a decent price.
However, what you are planning to do is good. Anything that is inferior than Galaxy S shouldn't be your primary phone nowadays. I would suggest going for a dual core CPU phone though (assuming it is your primary phone). You can feel the noticable difference between a single core and a dual core phone.
Anyone know the SAR for this - couldn't find it on google.
Is this worth upgrading to from the acer liquid metal?
liquid metal rules!
No. Acer Liquid Metal runs faster. Acer LM does have very limited phone storage (even if you use Link2SD to workaround it, it is still limited).
If you want to "upgrade" from Acer LM, you need to at least pick a Samsung Galaxy S equivalent or better. Acer LM has more raw power than iPhone 3GS and a bit less power than iPhone 4 (but the lack of phone memory really is an issue with LM - and that's why LM was sold at a bargin price here). Even at $128 today, it will still be a decent phone to get (esp. how easy it is to unlock it for free).
How well would this phone work on the Optus network?
If I buy this from Vodafone will it be locked to their network? If so how do I unlock it to use on my current service?
you might be lucky and be able to unlock via the voda webpage for free. Otherwise, you'll need to buy an unlock code for around 10 quid on ebay.
The phone looks to be 850/2100 in terms of its 3g radio capability. That means that you will get decent 3g reception on optus in metro areas but it will drop off outside those areas, as this phone cannot receive the the 900 mhz network that Optus uses in more regional areas.
It is more suited to the telstra network than optus. On the other hand I am thinking of getting it anyway, its pretty gosh darned cheap if it can be had for $127.
Called Vodafone this morning and explained that I had been browsing their web site and saved my cart, then been offered the $25 discount to go back to the saved shopping cart and complete the purchase @$127 but the discount didn't work.
First got the foreign call centre, then transferred back to an Australian sales person who seemed to understand and is taking it up with his supervisor (allegedly). They apologized about the stuffed code and said they would get back to me today.
Its Vodafone, so we will see…
sounds good. I will put one in my cart as well. It doesnt hurt to try.
Good idea.
They may well pull the discount code once they realise its being sent out but doesn't work, so make sure you save the phone @$152 with your name and email.
That's if they do anything at all…
Prick didnt call back before 3PM as he promised and now when I call the direct sales number diverts to the billing department in an Indian call center, where they explained that most of their incoming calls are diverting incorrectly and no, they couldn't connect me to sales and yes, the best advice they had was try calling a again in 24 hours as they were stuck.
Go Vodafone…still got that winning feeling Lol/
Keep fighting the good fight man. If you dont have any luck I guess I will purchase for 152 quid anyway.
Thanks for doing this. For what it's worth, I've also emailed and tweeted them to let them know about this issue. Hopefully they will fix it soon and allow us to use the $25 off code. My suspicion, however, is that they will simply say that it can't be used with this offer. We'll see. I'll certainly let you know as soon as (if!) I hear back from Vodafone.
I called them this morning - still waiting for a call back. They offered me a $25 credit against my Vodafone plan… should have taken that…
They certainly now know about the problem so it will be interesting to hear their response. I'm not on Vodafone & don't intend to use them so $25 credit wouldn't be much good to me. I'm still hoping they will honour the vouchers.
Reading the email it looks a bit ambiguous - it could mean that the discount can be used to go towards a recharge. I guess that is what they will argue
No. It simply means they give you a $25 credit. It has nothing to do with a recharge. They offer this same credit on post paid phones too.
The emails reads as follows:
Hi, Interested in buying the the Huawei Ascend G300 from us?
To take advantage of this ofer simply…
Go back to shopping cart
Enter promo code 25CREDIT
Get $25 credit
So if this worked properly you would see the phone for $152 then see a credit of $25 and thus making a final price of $ 127.
The promo code kind of grey-out. Anyway entered the code but was rejected.
Anyone got it ?
I brought this one, the model is u8815.
Paid $8.18 for the unlock code from ebay, it takes 24 hours.
Nothing wrong with it, the scrolling is slightly less smoother than my iPod touch with retina display but it's still quick. Tried a 3d game(temple run), it ran pretty quick, no problems.
Only real issue with Android phones is their Battery Life, and their' automatic updates that will charge you battery life.
you can turn off automatic updates
Android charges you to use your battery? WTF!
I got the following reply to my email about the 25CREDIT promo code offer :
"Hi
Thank you for your email.
I apologise for the issues are having receiving this current promotion.
Unfortunately this is a know issues and what you will now need to do is to call our online store at 1300-300-404.
They can then add the credit to you account for you.
I know this is inconvenient and I do apologise for this and hopefully the problem will be fixed.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further queries.Take care and enjoy the rest of the day.
Wendy
Online Help and Support
Vodafone Pty Limited ABN 76 062 954 554
www.vodafone.com.au"
(Obviously Wendy didn't proof read her email very well)
I phoned up. The person I spoke to said she couldn't process my order and apply the code as they use the same system and it also doesn't work. She then transferred me to someone else who said that they would credit it to my account. Trouble is you need a phone number to get a Vodafone account so they can't credit it until I have one (which I have no intention of getting). They have no ETA on fixing the website problem (or whether it will ever be fixed). She did say though that "soon" the discount would be applied directly on the website.
So it looks like a vicious circle…
I phoned up & the person said this is a current system problem. So instead they would credit it to my Vodafone account.
There is no further information about the website being fixed.
I have purchased Huawei (pronounced WAH-way)for $152.00
Note delivery requires signature and photo id
I phoned too. The guy said the promo code "25CREDIT" only apply to postpaid phone plans but not for prepaid phones. He answered he don't know either why I received the promo code with the email.
Hmm, makes sense I suppose. I guess we have to buy it for 152 or not at all.
Hmm, makes sense I suppose. I guess we have to buy it for 152 or not at all.
You probably need to amend the description. It's not 1Ghz processor. Cheers
Main Screen Resolution
480 x 800 pixels
Operating System
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Processor Chip
800Mhz