I was super excited when I found out about this phone. I dug through the importers to find one that would ship it to the U.S.
When it arrived I was very impressed with the screen, speed etc. The price was fantastic at around$150. So what’s the problem?
Well here’s the deal with the Chinese import.(I certainly hope they eventually make one designed for the U.S.) it is FULL of bugs ranging from goofy bloatware to full on virus and malware filled apps. It comes installed with a fake version of youtube that gives you pop up ads whenever you use ANY browser. I tracked down a developer blog and painfully went through the steps to remove the fake youtube app.
Then there is this fake twitter app spelled twiter(if you get into the file system you can see the miss-spelled version. This lovely app gives itself superuser access and control over EVERYTHING on your phone. You can’t just uninstall it either. It is set up as a system app that you can NOT uninstall. If you really have time on your hands there are reports that you can disable it if you want to pretend you’re a developer. Personally I’m a business person that needs my phone to just work.
Then I noticed the phone would start downloading apps randomly.(Something about a Korean beauty contest?) Now it downloads odd data daily. Needless to say I’ve taken off any personal info from my unit and will be tossing it. If you use this just assume it’s sharing you personal data with a 3rd party. This is a real shame. It’s a pretty amazing piece of hardware for the money.
However, if you really want to use a phone as a tool and not a novelty for the price you’d be better of buying a used mainstream phone like a Note or s4. As a last note I’m typing this review on my Lenovo laptop that has served me well for 3 years. While I assumed that I’d replace it with another Lenovo after this phone experience I might not give the company any more of my money. If you STILL decide to buy one of these K3 notes don’t say I didn’t warn you.