Buying HTC One M8 from Aliexpress, question about model.

Hey guys,

Has anyone here bought or had anything to do with Aliexpress? I want to buy an HTC One M8 my self, but I come across different models, which are usually 16/32GB EU and 16/32GB US version. for example: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Unloc...993568822.html

Does anyone know what is the difference between them? Could I still use the US version in Europe? US version is cheaper and has more space (16GBvs32GB).

And if anybody bought from there, what is your experience, was everything okay?

Thanks in advance :)

Should you buy a refurbished HTC One from aliexpress?

A refurbished HTC One from overseas is pretty cheap, but is it worth it?

I have both an original and a refurbished (aliexpress) model.
I tested the refurbished one with HTCs hidden function test (*#*#3424#*#*, dialer) and everything worked flawlessly, but I found some flaws afterwards:

-the IR-remote doesn't work
-the glass of the front camera isn't flush with the case
-button backlight bleed on the bottom of the front:


I also opened both up to see if there are differences inside (the gold one is refurbished and the black is original):


-there was no glue holding the back in place, only clips:


-some tape, covering the connectors, is missing:

-looks like corrosion on the headphone jacks soldering points:

-two pins(antennas maybe) missing which should touch the back cover(GSM and HSPA work, can't test LTE though):


Conclusion:

I think I made a good choice, the two noticeable flaws(IR-blaster and backlight bleed) don't bother me. Alse unlocking the bootloader via htc-dev worked flawlessly. But your mileage may vary, as there are so many different shops on aliexpress.