Since I happen to have the only phone that works with it other than a Pixel I couldn't resist... got mine a few days ago.
All I can say is, it's awesome. Compared to Cardboard, the quality and smoothness of motion is noticeably better, but the real win is the remote controller which is just amazing. Completely intuitive and precise. The potential for gaming is huge. Overall the UI is excellent.
I read a review somewhere that noted a bit of lag during head motion with the Moto Z Force. I can't say I really notice that - or if it's there it's pretty minor. I've never used an Oculus Rift though so I don't have any basis to compare to a high-end platform.
The only complaint I have is the design of the headset is a little awkward. I kind of have to have the strap near the top of the back of my head for it to be secured well, it seem like the angle of my face is just a little off. But it's workable and overall comfortable. Also - it definitely doesn't block all light out, so you can get a little glare when using in a bright room. This feels like a trade-off for having it work with glasses -- which it does, perfectly. I sometimes wear a pretty chunky pair of glasses and it fits over them fine.
This also isn't too big a deal. It's not unworkable in bright light, just not perfect. I can also imagine a simple add-on that could act as a shroud to close the gaps where light is admitted. Or just put a bag over your head
Anyway a lot of fun so far. It seems like a very well thought-out product. I had no issues at all with setup, it just worked. The remote even came charged.
The remote was a nice addition. Really makes it fun to use! I agree with the headset attachment... A little awkward to get it properly aligned. Personally, it makes me nauseous after a while, which kind of sucks. :\
I really enjoy daydream with the Moto Z. I had used it before, but with 1080p it was a little less than pleasant. But the Moto Z's resolution makes up for this and it's a lot nicer. I can also get a great amount of gameplay time without killing the battery completely!
Related
After having my nexus 7 for a while now i decided to make a little review in case someone was wondering about the small things.
Display
It's just so amazing how wonderfully nice the screen on this tablet is, colors are very vibrant, very smooth all around. Viewing angles are ok, not the best in the world but it gets the job done. I have noticed that my display has that ghosting effect, not much but very little ghosting even if on a page for an hour. I also have noticed that the grey's on the display are very lacking, sometimes you can see outlines of certain grays mixing its actually quite weird. So far i have only seen 1 dead pixel which is quite impressive, you know compared to other Nexus 7's in the forum, Other than those little details it is perfect all round.
Touchscreen
I have yet to notice a problem with the touch panel. It is very responsive all around, i dont have any dead spots or anything on the screen, the glass is very smooth compared to the kindle fire, ugh i always hated playing fruit ninja on my kindle fire because it was so sticky and so unsmooth. On the Nexus 7 it is absolutely perfect, no getting stuck or anything. Fingerprints on the tablet is very little compared to the kindle fire, i remember having to wipe the kindle's screen every 10 minutes or else it would get really foggy, not the case on the Nexus 7. I also like that the LCD is stuck to the touchscreen because that reduces the grey on the screen, im not sure if its me or not, but i can not stand a screen that has the LCD all grey and showing up, it just seems like a poor quality device, Again the Nexus 7 has none of this.
Build Quality
Man it is pretty much the highest it can go, i thought the Kindle Fire was just perfect on the build quality side, but the nexus 7 surely does beat it. The plastic around the bezel of the screen is really nice, it almost looks as if it were metal. The glass is very high quality, unlike my Samsung Galaxy Player. The back is really good, the grip it has prevents it from slipping out of my hand like other plasticy tablets i've owned. The weight is just perfect, not to heavy nor to light just right.
Design
Very well designed, just one little detail. The buttons are kinda hard to get to, no matter its fine with me. Seems like a perfect size for media, a 10 Inch tablet is just to big and heavy, unlike the nexus 7. Its easy to hold in the hand without it getting tired, perfect for reading in the night or watching videos. The back is really nice, having all those dimples really helps out with the grip.
Software
Really stable and very fast, a few hiccups here and there but doesnt everything have that. Project butter actually makes the device very smooth and super fast. When playing intensive games such as Modern Combat 3 and you click the home button it does not take long to take you to the homescreen, compared to the Kindle Fire it is a major speed upgrade. Almost feels as smooth as IOS. Very easy to use, if i were to give it to my mom, im pretty sure it wouldnt take long to figure it out. Don't see why everyone is complaining about no camera app, i don't see why you would need it other than video chatting, taking pictures is pretty bad with the Camera Launcher app, it's a 1.2 Mega Pixel camera, don't get your hopes high.
Sound
The back speaker are pretty quiet, but in sound quality they don't lack anything. Very nice and very good with bass, especially with games such as war games, the kindle fire would start crackling if you put the volume over %75. The headphone jack actually isn't as bad as everyone says, i used some cheap little Samsung in ear headphones and they worked quite nicely without any crackling or lose in quality of the audio. I did notice that some songs that are in low quality such as 128, would sound a little weird, but most of my songs where 320 so it didn't matter to me.
Networks
NFC works really good on this tablet easy to use no problems at all while i was using it. Wifi works extremely well, never disconnected once and it was actually faster than my Desktop computer. While downloading games like Dead Space and Modern Combat the download completed succesfully without interuption once, unlike the Kindle fire, it would constantly disconnect from the wi-fi, it made the Pain in the A** Downloading seem not so bad. Browsing and using youtube works very well, no buffering issues at all. Bluetooth seems to be working just fine, connected it to my bluetooth speakers in the living room and they worked just fine without a problem. Have not tried keyboard or anything like that.
Shipping, Customer Support
Customer Support is useless, they just tell you that it will ship soon, no help at all. The shipping was actually fast, i ordered on the 20th and got a shipping email today and it said it had shipped yesterday and i got it today in the morning like 3 hours after my shipping email.
OTG
Waiting for my adapter will update you guys once it arrives.
So how was my review did i miss anything leave a comment below.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the nexus 7. I'm definitely getting one by the end of the week.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Nice write up!
Couple of things I respectfully disagree with however.
I believe the viewing angle is excellent. Most excellent. At every degree. The picture remains just as sharp, smooth and visible.
I also feel the camera is quite amazing given it was put in this device as an afterthought.
In full light the pictures and video are marvelous!
Only thing really I am not completely head over heels about is the battery life.
Sure, while its sleeping it sips juice like an ant. But hammering away with activities while on, I was expecting a little more out of a single charge. Maybe that will improve after a few drain cycles.
Terrific review and glad to see you are enjoying it. I know I sure am!
My only other tablet experience has been a Touchpad.
My otg cable I ordered from amazon shipped 2 days ago but will take 17-8 days! WTF!?! Psshhaawww I hope it doesnt
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Good review. Thanks!
Speaker is very quiet for me. Was just watching Reservoir Dogs on netflix with headphones and had to have the sound set to max. When I watch Top Gear UK on the speaker I have to use speaker boost and up the output by 20%.
Another complaint is that the tablet ui isn't official. Current hacks are great, but I'd like it included.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
So the Nexus 7 is my first and probably my only tablet for the next long while. I have been a fan of owning Nexus devices since I got my Nexus S (Which is still on duty today!)
When I saw Google I/O I think we all had the same reaction... "WOW! A quad core, HD tablet with Jelly Bean and from Google, For only $199!" and I was no exception. After some thinking, I figured that I would probably enjoy owning a tablet and I went and got a 16gb model.
First Impressions...
The tablets box was just beautiful and I couldn't help but take a picture of it before opening it up. Simple, colourful and elegant. After opening up the box (Man that slip cover is on tight eh?) I was greeted to the 100% clean and clear screen and a small overlay showing the button functions. The tablet set-up was a breeze and looked wonderful, just like ICS and other JB devices all do, but what was sweet is the tablet some how entered my gmail address automatically for me, so I am guessing that is because it recognized the Wi-Fi network I connected her to, but none the less the first time start up took no more then a minute.
As I said I have a Nexus S rooted running JB so this is not my first JB device, but the Nexus 7? This was a whole new playing field for me. Every single touch and swipe was instant and smooth, much more so then my Nexus S ever has been. It to this day is running smooth as silk on the stock ROM. Well done Google.
Screen was very clear and responsive, not quite a retina display (I know, blasphemy) but still very very good. One downer was it's colours aren't quite as vivid as an AMOLED screen, but in fairness, they are more natural on the Nexus 7.
Feeling and weight wise was no compromise. The tablet feels great in the had and I can say that I can easily use it one handed for videos for a fairly long time before my arm gets the least bit tired. The back of this baby is textured just right in my taste. My parents have a Lenovo Ideapad and in my comparison, it is rather heavy, and after a while feels bad in the hands, but the Nexus 7 is curved just the right amount to be easy to hold, yet still modern in design so this one is just as Matias Duarte says: "Feels perfect in the hands".
After Some Time?
The tablet is still holding up as I have said with only one complaint...
I dropped this girl from about 2 feet off the ground when I got out of my car, and it feel on to gravel. It works just fine, but the damage to the silver outter ring was not very good looking.... It seems like a very easy to scuff little ring so I would be careful with that part... The screen to had a very very minor scratch which I often forget, but still is there and all from one very small drop. I guess I should get a case very soon hahahaa. Again, very minor drop and damage, but it reflects how it would handle if it were dropped while standing for example. Hopefully, I won't find out...
Am I satisfied? Yes. I am very happy with my purchase, and I recommend it to anyone really. This has fit into my daily schedules more then I have ever thought! 60% of the time I use this over my laptop for web browsing and YouTube videos. It is just wonderful for daily interwebz, videos, games etc. The build quality I assume could be better (judging from peoples other reviews) but to me it seems very substantial and I am completely happy with it, especially at $249 for 16gb.
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And this is the damage if you were wondering. Keep in mind it is only from 2, maybe even 1.5 feet high from out of my car.
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As for the first run problems, I am guessing they are there, but bare in mind... When there is a issue with a new device, you go online but when there isn't, you don't. Think of all the other tablets that are working fine that have shipped. For what it's worth mine is of the C7 serial.
I agree devices no matter how cheap they may be, should ALL be put through equal quality control. Asus I think is doing a decent job with their devices, and my Asus laptop is handling better then better. Call me a fan boy but I think it really is a pretty good device. As for the comparison people make to cars, there is none. Often times I wonder if cars are built like disposable cameras these days but what ever. Phones are not wonderful either but most all the ones I have had, have done their work.
Hey guys, so I got My Nexus 5 on Monday the 3rd, and wanted to post my thoughts,maybe discuss and criticize the Phone.
Hardware:
Pro's
The phone is very light, has a great build feel to it even thought is plastic;it even feels more solid than the Nexus 4, the way the back "bezel" is held on the N4 feels plasticky, and cheap, these materials are wayy better, it feels actually the same quality as the 2013 N7,the back, the bezel rim and slab finish are almost identical. Buttons feel nice stiff,clean crisp display, and does not feel huge in one's hand even though is a 5 incher!.
Con's:
The smooth back matte panel can easily get damaged, a case is a good idea on this phone, but the most annoying flaw,for me is Low Speaker Volume, and I'm guessing its hardware since the GNEX had the same issue and it did not get fixed with software updates. Compared to the N4 is quite noticable.
Software:
Pro's
Fast, and I mean Blazing Fast maybe the fastest phone i've used, no lag at all whatsoever ,OS looks clean new features are nice,stability ,Battery life is comparable increased to the N4's .The new dialer is amazing ,the hangouts app is a bit confusing at first.the rest is just your tipical google awesomness. Camera is not too bad, people seem to compare cameras only on low light situation, which on this case is not so brilliant but not tooo bad either, in daylight its a great camera producing amazingly sharp and well balanced photos.
Con's
A Few Features are missing, like having a standalone SMS app, or Profiles (home, work,etc) but nothing that cannot be fixed with 3rd party apps!
Wireless charging:
Wireless charging is GREAT on this device, for more info I actually have a Wireless Charging Discussion Thread Link -->http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2521318
Slimport
Works like a charm. Nuff Said
Also feel free to check out My HD Photo Thread of the device Link -->http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47205950
I can't see any other thread covering reviews on the Huawei P10 Plus at the moment.
My review will come soon but in the meantime my wife is using the phone and penned her thoughts along with some camera shots. She is not a tech person so she does get candid sometimes on her views
https://gavinsgadgets.com/2017/04/29/huawei-p10-plus-first-impressions-and-camera-samples/
Surprised nobody else has added any other reviews yet.
Anyway here's mine. I also included a comparison with the P10 to P10 Plus in terms of specs. Any questions just ask.
https://gavinsgadgets.com/2017/05/0...iew-with-the-new-upgraded-leica-rear-cameras/
I will put my 2p worth in.
I came from an LG G4. I was an LG fan for a long time until they started being funny with who got what on the new phone's.
So. I came to the p10 plus. Has everything I'm looking for. Big battery. Massive onboard storage and a great camera.
So far I am very impressed. Battery life is still settling down so can't really comment on it at the no but it seems to be lasting a day with about 4hrs sot and that's most of the day on a poor 4g signal.
I expect it to improve once I have a play with APS and settings etc.
The phone is quick. No lags at all. Plays all the games I can throw at it with ease.
The camera is lovely. Really really nice. It proper impressed me. Even though I managed to smash the glass covering the lenses. (I walked into the corner of a steel table at work) I am still getting great images.
It is a tad bigger than the G4. That being said; it is so thin it is very easy to use one handed.
The UI I really like. I find it straight forward to use and actually quite pleasing on the eyes.
I have opted to use the finger print scanner as my nav keys.
Took 30 mins to get used to it and I love it.
Finger print scanner is as fast as a fast thing on a fast day out.
Binned the head phones that came in the box as I have my own preferred set. Music is crisp and clear and big. Perfect. In fact the only way to get music on Poweramp to sound better would be with Viper4android.
Anyway. That's just some ramblings from an LG convert.
Need to now find a replacement rear glass lol.
bagedntaged said:
I will put my 2p worth in.
I came from an LG G4. I was an LG fan for a long time until they started being funny with who got what on the new phone's.
So. I came to the p10 plus. Has everything I'm looking for. Big battery. Massive onboard storage and a great camera.
So far I am very impressed. Battery life is still settling down so can't really comment on it at the no but it seems to be lasting a day with about 4hrs sot and that's most of the day on a poor 4g signal.
I expect it to improve once I have a play with APS and settings etc.
The phone is quick. No lags at all. Plays all the games I can throw at it with ease.
The camera is lovely. Really really nice. It proper impressed me. Even though I managed to smash the glass covering the lenses. (I walked into the corner of a steel table at work) I am still getting great images.
It is a tad bigger than the G4. That being said; it is so thin it is very easy to use one handed.
The UI I really like. I find it straight forward to use and actually quite pleasing on the eyes.
I have opted to use the finger print scanner as my nav keys.
Took 30 mins to get used to it and I love it.
Finger print scanner is as fast as a fast thing on a fast day out.
Binned the head phones that came in the box as I have my own preferred set. Music is crisp and clear and big. Perfect. In fact the only way to get music on Poweramp to sound better would be with Viper4android.
Anyway. That's just some ramblings from an LG convert.
Need to now find a replacement rear glass lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a great summary. Thanks for sharing.
My thoughts after a little over 1 week of full use:
Battery
I've been happy with it overall in the very short term - with very limited SOT usage, I've usually got ~70% battery life when I'm hope at 6-7pm at night after taking off charge at 7am. I have read degradation of Huawei batteries is more 'evident' than other brands and the battery length may drop fairly quick, but I'll wait until that happens. My only concern is the battery drains a little too easy when is basic sleep/standby mode if there's pending icon notifications/LED flashes.
Size/Screen/Resolution:
I've moved over from the LG v20 with a 5.5" TFT 2K display, which is the same for this device. The body design is much smaller compared to the LG v20 despite the same screen(5.5"), so its much more comfortable in hand. Using the Huawei supplied clear case makes the phone, in my opinion, fairly slippery with its rounded edges. The diamond cut finish is very nice (I've got the champagne gold version), but blemishes, if you have oily fingers 9etc) will still show up outside of fingerprints and smudges that are otherwise hidden. Just throw on a clear RINGKE FUSION case and be done with it! I can't really see any difference in the LG and Huawei 2K displays; would've preferred AMOLED, but I believe the icons/colours/resolution as just as crisp, so no real complaints.
LED notification light:
This was a highly attractive feature to come back to for Huawei, but the LED light is FAR TOO SMALL. Even behind a front-facing white panel, some colours don't come through properly when using a 3rd party app like lightflow. The 'always on' is not 'always on' rather is a very VERY slow flashing over a period of time. There is DEFINATELY a "happy medium" they could reach between their Mate 9/P10 Plus LED and the Blackberry Bold LED's in my opinion...a very useful feature.
Infrared:
Another great feature to have in a smartphone as a universal remote replacement. It works flawlessly. Even if you can't find your device in the list of pre-programmed devices, you can teach the IR as it has an inbuilt sensor of its own to learn and program specific keystrokes from your other IR remotes.
Camera:
First I'll say this: I've had two dozen smart phones in the last 7 years and say that each branded camera iteration across all brands ALWAYS has a big 'pro' with 1 or more 'cons'. Iphone 6/7's take some of the better still images with accurate colour reproduction and crisp details; despite its low MP rating and aperture. LG probably has the best video-rendering ability when taking FHD video (or at least from the LG G4 and v20 when I tested) and most other branded cameras EITHER excel in low light but suffer around clarity/crispness in details regular daylight photography, or vice versa - which is where the P10+ sits. The camera is nice in well-lit areas, but really struggled with 'grain' and excessive ISO in low light. I've yet to test much of the video to provide a review on that. Just accept every phone - MP/aperture aside, is going to have something great about it, but also something it does very poorly compared to the competition.
EMUI 5.1:
I'm new to Huawei with both the Mate 9 and P10 Plus. is there a difference between 5.0 and 5.1? I don't really notice it. Didn't take much 'getting used to' coming from a mostly android background. I did have to change the settings to APP DRAWER as a preference as well as removing the fingerprint sensor as a preference for swipe/back/home etc, as that's just foolish. I prefer the softkeys, but that's just me.
Loudspeaker and Call Qaulity
The loudspeaker is too quiet...and even at low volume settings, there's too much noise or speaker vibration, probably one of the worst loudspeakers I've used in recent memory. However, the audio split over 2 speakers actually reproduces quite well and the 3.5mm audio jack with basic headphones works as expected, nothing special. Call quality is also not worth much of a mention. It's very clear, I don't really notice anything negative about it...nor should I, this is supposed to be a high-end flagship
Internal storage speeds, Benchmarks and 6GM RAM
Sorry guys I'm not much of a benchmarker myself. So...if it takes an extra 2.1 seconds (or whatever) for the same data file to copy over USB or transfer between SD to internal storage vs a competitor phone etc, I really don't care. Yes, it sucked to learn Huawei cut corners on the internal storage with EXTREMELY poor quality control measures, but I've not had a problem with my phone and copying data to/from the device. I've also not really much of a speed/reactional/buffer difference when playing games from a 6GB RAM phone to a 4GB RAM phone using the same chipset. You'd have to be a very VERY high-end demanding user with 20-30 apps open simultaneously to see the real benefit of have 6GB memory, as I certainly can't see it.
Happy to take any questions or do some basic tests. I'm currently using the B126 latest software updated with an unlocked bootloader and TWRP installed. I have NOT rooted the phone yet, as there's NO point until I can get full system access.
RoOSTA
I've been considering getting a new phone for a while now as my S8's battery life has fallen off a cliff and the screen also has a minor crack.
My Xperia Z3 is probably my favourite phone I've ever had and I've always been tempted by going back to Sony. I've heard some brilliant things regarding the screen but wondered if anyone could tell me what the camera and battery life are like on this phone? The S8 has a very good camera and I would want something that is at least on a par with that.
I'm toying with the idea of getting this or waiting until April for the P20 Pro's successor. Would really appreciate any user opinions of the XZ3 to help inform my decision.*
I've used the phone for two days now (so not too much time) but battery seems to be great! Had 60% left after my day (with relatively light usage: messaging, an hour or two of youtube a few calls). The camera is not special though. With good lighting the shots are really good, but performance drops fast with lower light (even compared to my previous phone a Nexus 6P). I would check out some camera reviews as I haven't had that much time.
Oh and btw the thing I was most scared about, the fingerprint scanner placement, isn't really a problem now I have it. It's not as cramped as it looks to reach it.
Battery life is great, camera is mediocre. The screen is also great, and the fingerprint reader placement is surprisingly ergonomic. The phone is way too slippery though, and will slide & fall off any surface that isn't perfectly level. The curved screen edges are nice in that they give you a sense that there are no bezels, but in practice when faced head-on, there is a viewing angle effect where the edges are darker than the rest of the screen, which is pretty annoying. Android Pie is great and the skin is almost purely AOSP as we've gotten used to with Sony, although there are the usual suspects with a locked boot loader and no root where certain notifications can't be dismissed and other annoyances like apps that you can't uninstall but only "disable" (I call this "Microsoft syndrome").
The battery life is pretty much at par with the other flagships. Around 6-7 hrs SoT with medium to heavy usage. The camera is good, however there's a very annoying lens flare present. It was mentioned also in one of the reviews on YouTube. Lowlight photos IMO are great. Clean, and definitely does not have the "oil painting" effect.
Screen is super great. I upgraded from the XZP, so it's a huge difference from the IPS display on it.
The phone is indeed slippery, so you might want to throw a case on it.
Check out my full "observations" after 2 days with Camera Images over at Android Central Forums:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/sony-xperia-xz3/921989-i-own-xz3-any-questions.html#post6393260
Ide be interested what you think of the images... Sorry theyre in jpeg
Just an FYI... I just ordered mine from Clove, headed for me here in the states. The Clove price in USD is about $100 less than I can get here, AND it includes the Sony BT speaker.