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I figured it might be a good idea to share my thoughts on the Note 4, since I always put a lot of research into smartphone buying and someone might find it useful There are some of you that are still leaning toward different flagships all of the time (like I did!), so I hope this helps.
First of all I would like to mention that about a month ago I made up my mind to give up my LG G2 and switch to a new smartphone.
The Xiaomi mi4 came up first.
I liked the design, UI, price, specs. Everything about the mi4 is just above average, but thats about it. It didn't have that even slightest "wow factor" that I needed to push me to buying one. It's a very good phone, but the warranty would require me to send the phone far into the unknown in case something was wrong, I wasn't sure If I would pay tax as well. Nobody had the 64 gb model either (16gb and no card expansion, really?!). I decided that this would probably be a wise choice but it didn't offer anything more than what I already had on the G2, and in some cases, it was worse (camera). I passed.
My second choice was the LG G3.
So like always, I started researching, checking out different variants and prices, digging through the specs, looking for its strong sides and flaws. I liked the quad hd display at first, the SD 801 SoC, good camera with laser autofocus. The UI was a nice upgrade from the LG G2's cartoonish look. The 32 gb model seemed a good option with its 3gb of ram (although I didn't like the design as I wanted something different from the G2).
As I started to dig deaper though, I noticed that the display isn't all that awesome, as there is more to it than just resolution. I think they might have made the phone much better if they sticked to a 1080p panel and focused on other aspects like color reproduction, brightness, power consumption. I found out that the 801 chip is stretched to its limits (even over them..) with that display, which caused overheating, throttling and lagging in demanding tasks and games. I believe a smartphone should be able to handle anything you throw at it so I dumped the G3 from my plans.
Then the Z3 came up.
So again- researching, digging, looking at the cons and pros. I liked the design a lot better than the G3 (besides the plastic corners, although I can justify the reason they used them for). The display was beytter than the Z2, with very good brightness and color reproduction after making some adjustments to the stock settings. The audio quality is superb as well, the whole phone is waterproof and its battery life was very well above the current smartphones.
The camera in the Z3 is top of the line, but I didn't like how it overheats. Making the phone thinner wasn't necessary in my opinion and sony might have thought about the component allocation in the device, as putting everything in the top part of the phone wasn't too smart of a choice. The UI was something that I didn't like the most though. I know I could throw a custom ROM at it in a while, but I wasn't sure how that would work with the camera, battery life and other features sony offered in the stock ROM.
I almost made my mind up on the Z3, as it had everything I wanted and I could live with its cons but then the price came into my mind: 515 pounds including tax.
Thats the part the note 4 came into play.
I watched the Note 4 presentation: the phone impressed me in overall, I liked the design, UI, hardware etc. So I started digging again.
I've always wanted the best out of my phone, no matter if I was going to use all of the functions it had or not. I used my phone for calling, texting, making notes in google keep, gps, playing games, listening to music, browsing the web, taking pictures. Usually I endep up rooting it and putting a stock like ROM on it (although I used the stock LG G2 ROM all the way). The design of the phone was always important for me, thats why I had an iphone 4s and 5 for a month before ditching it cus of the awfully simple and boring OS.
The Note 4 seemed to be a very good phone that offered what I wanted and much more beyond that:
1. The display
It's resolution could have been not increased. Samsung could have stayed with a 1080p panel. But thats not whats important about this panel. This is what the DisplayMate test results are:
"The Galaxy Note 4 delivers uniformly consistent all around Top Tier display performance: it is the first Smartphone display to ever get all Green (Very Good to Excellent) Ratings in all test and measurement categories (except one Yellow for a Brightness Variation with Average Picture Level) since we started the Display Technology Shoot-Out article Series in 2006, an impressive achievement for a display. The Galaxy Note 4 has again raised the bar for top display performance up by another notch. "
The display is a window through which you interact with your phone, and it is a component that must be top of the line. There should be no compromise here. Samsung exceeded my expectations in this matter.
2. Performance
There are 2 variants of the Note as most of you know. I'm still having a hard time with both of them. At first I thought the Snapdragon is an obvious choice considering it was superior to all of the other chips last year.
But then the 64-bit affair came into place. Anyone would like their phone to be futureproof, and a 64-bit SoC would be a wise choice. The exynos and snapdragon chips offer pretty much the same performance. I tried looking at the benchmarks, real world usage, gaming, but one outpaces the other in different things and it is very hard to tell the difference. I believe the fluidity of the UI and overall performance must be taken into consideration the most, as I believe both chips will handle anything you throw at them when apps and games are optimized. The choice is either taking the 20nm exynos and hope for better battery life and 64-bit support OR the snapdragon one and expect better dev support.
I wanted the Exynos for the wolfson chip, as I like good quality music from my phone. I'll be using good headphones and PowerAmp so I figure I wouldn't notice much difference anyway. At least not enough to pay extra and import the exynos variant.
I'm pretty much set on the Snapdragon 805 as I believe the battery life should be good on both (the andreno 420 is powerful with lowered power consumption). Like I mentioned earlier I might change the ROM after a while if something good comes out. It's a matter of personal taste- NOT performance of the chips. Thats my opinion on the matter.
3. User Interface
Touchwiz was out of the question for me up until I saw the Galaxy S5 UI. I actually liked the flat style and functions it offered. The note 4 UI is pretty similar. I really like the S-Pen experience, it should be a great change for people who haven't used it before. I love taking notes and I'll use it often. I like the functions it offers, the selection in different UI elements, the ease of copy/pasting, more precise touch input.
Touchwiz has a lot of useless apps that I might not like, but I'm sure it will be possible to get rid of the ones you don't like later on, the dev community in here will surely help. I could go on about the stamina mode, multi-window, the ability to resize apps etc, but you've all seen that on videos. The most important fact for is that touchwiz had been improved, it is eye pleasing, smoother and faster than ever. It is the best custom android OS you can get atm.
4. Camera
On paper both of the cameras looked really good to me, but I wanted to wait and see the real world results. I wasn't disappointed. there were some early comparisions done, but some of them were pictures or videos not taken with the note 4, so getting a correct view at the performance was quite hard. We have these results now and the note camera is a top notch performer. I find day pictures top of the line, the details are there, colors are popping, OIS helps as well. 4k shooting isn't all that important to me but its a nice addition. The camera seems to be very capable and will perform great in a day-to-day user's hands as well in an experienced person ones.
You may find the night shots worse than of the lumia or z3, but thats just terribly trying to find a flaw to me. Come on- who the hell is going to photograph a piece of paper in the dark of the night!? insane. There are pictures taken with the note at night, i like how the lights aren't blurred and everything seems very crisp and detailed. Do remember what you'll be using the phone camera for, and the Note 4 delivers more than I want in those terms.
5. Battery life
Many people find this very important. I thought the Note 4 might get bad results cause of that screen so I checked out some vids of the LTE-A Galaxy S5 with the higher res display. The results were the same as the standars S5.
I am not sure if its the chip that is more power efficient, some power saving changes in the OS, or the screen, or maybe all of these at once, but the results people are having on the Notes they recently picked up are very pleasing to me.
Final words
I probably shouldn't, cause its so ridiculous, but I'll mention the gap gate as well- I don't give a crap about it. I wont even notice it. Especially with the case I'm going to put on the phone. And its something that samsung probably addressed already in the new batch of phones. There are other things I should maybe mention, but these 5 are most important for me. I really like the performace of the Note 4, its UI, functions, metal frame design, micro SD storage expansion, camera, battery, IR blaster and everything else that seems to be a full package that many will find good enough to put their money on. I surely will. On the black one of course
You have really done some good work digging up info and comparing them.
Just to add couple points to OP's excellent write up:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already.
The gap between screen and frame around might be by design, due to combination of plastic, glass and metal having different expansion rate due to temperature changes. My thinking is that if the phone was brought from very warm room into very cold outside, metal frame would cool and shrink much faster than the rest and could even possibly crack the glass, doing so. The gap possibly allows for contraction/expansion without doing any damage. Either way, outside of aesthetics, it doesn't affect anything and it's a non issue. Probably blown out of proportions as an attempt to shift attention away from bendgate.
pete4k said:
The battery life concern in #5 is actually addressed in already mentioned DisplayMate article, right towards the bottom it clearly states that the new screen, despite having larger number of pixels is more power efficient than 1080p screen of Note3 (0.05W for 50% and 0.2 W for 100% brightness), about 5 to 10% more efficient and Note 3 has proven itself to have very good battery life already
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think he was referring to the increased GPU load due to the higher resolution which is a valid concern.
But as it has already been said, even the S5 LTE-A with its Snapdragon 805 and QHD resolution has the same battery life as the regular S5 with Full HD and Snapdragon 800.
Still, it would be interesting to see the battery life on a Snapdragon 805 device with only a Full HD display.
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
han4mi said:
I would prefer the note 4 to have a 1080p panel with the same characteristics. But how many people actually use their head before buying a phone? It's a spec war for android phones..
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Click to collapse
Normally I would agree that FHD 1080p would be more than enough. However, since the GN4 is going to host the Gear VR, with magnifying lenses, I'm happy it went for the QHD
Sent from my Surface Pro 3 using Tapatalk
Audio Quality
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
ymmp said:
Thanks for taking the time for the write up.
One area I would really like to know about is the quality of the rear speaker.
The sound quality is much more important to me than the placement (and sometimes the rear placement actually helps when you put it on a flat hard surface). I ruled out the Note 3 because its speaker was worse than the Note 2 which is still my current phone. The Note 2's speaker is actually pretty decent if the 4's is equal or better I would be thrilled.
Any input?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same question, ´cause I am afraid, that speeker-quality will be on low level and I am used to fantastic stereo sound of my current htv one m8.
I think, the price for Note 4 ist extremly high. Meanwhile Samsungs flagships are playing in the same €-league with the latest iphons. So I want to hold it in my own hands first before buying it. In center of Europe the Note 4 will be available in about 2 weeks.
Maybe the new Nexus 6 has a better balance between price and specs. We´ll check it out.
Just read Phone Arena's review. Here's a quote:
"Unfortunately, the audio portion of the media experience isn't so spectacular. The single speaker of the Galaxy Note 4 is rather quiet and lacking any depth, making it sound thin and weak. It's not too bad, but it's far from the best we've heard"
How disappointing! The new Moto X is supposed to have an amazing front speaker. I just wonder if it is more like the Note 2 or 3.
I believe the speaker will be good enough to play the ringtone I choose. I prefer earphones+ Poweramp for my music. Like I said, it depends what you're expecting to use the phone for. The Note 4 meets my demands in key aspects and thats why I'm going for it. I don't want THE BEST PHONE. Such a phone does not exist. All of the flagships have their strenghts and weaknesses and a smart person would take the one with the most personally suitable set of features.
I am considering either getting A2 or Nokia 7 Plus.
The A2 has the same hardware platform but is considerably cheaper but there are a few things/questions that I am considering:
1. the updates on A1, if I read comments or on the A1 forum seem to be late and buggy. This is one of the major drawbacks for me as I want a stable device and I am afraid the same thing will happen with A2
2. on Nokia there seem a way to enable gcam without doing root on the device, on A2 I saw that root is needed... this would be a drawback as gcam seems to improve picture taking on many devices
3. How does the device feel in hand? Is it slippery? Is the camera bump annoying?
4. Any software/hardware issues reported so far? I read something about proximity sensor but other than that not much.
The reviews for the device aren't stellar. Most complain about nfc, jack and sd card. None of this are important to me, I care about updates and camera.
So, should I get the Nokia (better build, bigger battery, stable and fast updates, probably a bit better camera, gcam working, better screen, no PWM for brightness)
I'd like to hear your advices. Thank you for your time.
It'll be better if you buy the Nokia 7 plus Android One version! You'll get most the things needed in a flagship phone (not all) and it's better than Mi A2 in most of the time except the camera!
You should also bear in mind that Nokia phones have no official way of unlocking bootloader for now, so there won't be lot of custom development for their devices until HMD decide to provide way to unlock bootloader. And according to HMDs head twitter, they won't do it because of security (proof: https://twitter.com/sarvikas/status/910421837661790208)
There certainly are a ** lot ** of things to consider when buying a phone now-a-days.
One of the very first things I look at is appearance, and weight. So right off the bat, 2 knocks on the 7plus; it's gaudy looking with the faux gold trim, and it's 183 grams (and I thought 165 gram phones were heavy!).
I'm shocked you would say an issue with the Mi A2 would be build quality? I don't have mine yet, but the unibody construction of these devices, like the Huawei Mate SE, are as good as it gets. Could not feel more solid. There's a marked difference to how a device with a unibody and 2.5D raised glass feels compared to how a device (like the 7plus) that has a 'flat' band all around it, holding the top and the bottom panels together.
I much much prefer the rounded unibody, way more comfortable in the hand, less likely to slip. And the metal body of them isn't slippery.
Yes, the A1 has had some issues with updates / bugs. But the A2 already has the ota security patch / bug fixes for August available. Someone mentioned they seem to be doing better with the A2 and it may well be because it's Project Treble.
As someone else mentioned; Is the bootloader unlockable? That's right near the top of the list for me, if not the top. If the Nok is locked down (as said), it's off my list. At some point, and you might keep the phone that long, updates will stop. If you can't unlock it, then the phone is basically done.
As far as reviews go, actually the ones i've read, are stellar. Yes, the lack of nfc, expansion, no jack, are mentioned. They all mention it. I guess they have to or it won't be considered a decent review. But to me, I can live without them, not that much of a big. What is a big, and it's mentioned a lot in the reviews I've read, are the cameras. The f1.75 cams on the back will let in a ** lot ** of light. All reviews indicate they do well in low light (as you would expect), some even say the great cameras make up for the loss of the other items.
So what's important to you? I"m going with Android One is big, good cameras is really big, unlockable bootloader is huge, not too heavy helps to keep me from constantly pulling my pants up, available in black... I like black (not gaudy pls).
We all have our criteria don't we...
Build quality of the A2 is amazing. Feels like a flagship device. I was afraid how it would compare to my light Nexus 5x but man was I wrong. I loved it from the start
Custom roms were my main deciding factor compared to Nokia or bq even if there is no NFC or RGB notification LED. So I am ready to use the hardware until it breaks.
Headphone jack I don't care too much, get a fiio btr Bluetooth headphone amp and you are smartphone independent and can use your cable headphones which I won't change to anything purely bluetooth based unless Sennheiser comes out with some usb-c based ie80s.
SD card? You really need more than 64GB or 128Gb even? I am happy with the 64GB but depends a lot on what you are planning to do.
Oh I forgot the amazing camera. You can find some of my pics in the gcam thread. Guess I will upload a little camera showcase soon.
Thank you all for your thoughts.
@AsItLies I did not say there's an issue with build quality on A2. As you say, I am kind of convinced that it will fell better in hand as it is rounded, and that matters on big phones a lot. What I have noticed is that the camera bump is really big and that could make it wobble on the table.
So to set the list of pros and cons
A2
+ good feel in hand
- no way to use gcam without root and bootloader unlock which is something I don't want to do.
- no double tap to wake
+/- the software remains to be seen... A1 wasn't really great in that department
7Plus
+ double tape to wake
+ better screen quality
+ stable software with quick updates
+ google camera works without root
- like 25% more expensive
- not sure the looks in live preview with the copper accent.
- finger print scanner seems a bit too high, but A2 kind of looks at the same spot
- no notification led and glance uses battery since it has LCD
- bulkier and heavier
To be honest, I don't care for rooting the device. In 2 years, after no more updates, I am sure there will be other cheap alternatives to get.
Looks like you're not power user, doesn't need rooted device or custom ROM, etc. Based on this I recommend the 7 Plus, I think it's better than A2 for general usage. A2 to me strong in the community support and development since it has better value for budget phone.
7 Plus wins in many aspects, but A2 is slightly better at camera department based on some reviews I read. 7 Plus prices is very high compared to other mid range devices, I think if you have the money and can add few bucks more, you can buy flagship phone with Snapdragon 8XX instead of 7 Plus.
I care about:
1. updates - I have my concerns on updates given the previous history with A1.
2. camera - some say nokia is better, some say a2 is better. Probably nokia with gcam is better
3.handling- a2 seems to be more rounded, slimmer but has that huge camera bump what probably makes it wobble on table. Together with no double touch to wake makes it no so ergonomic.
Nokia kind of ticks most of the boxes really, however, a2 is 25% cheaper and may have life after 2 years with the community. At the price of 7plus, I could get a used pixel 2 for instance and that has better camera and updates.
Tough choice to make.
alinescoo said:
I care about:
1. updates - I have my concerns on updates given the previous history with A1.
2. camera - some say nokia is better, some say a2 is better. Probably nokia with gcam is better
3.handling- a2 seems to be more rounded, slimmer but has that huge camera bump what probably makes it wobble on table. Together with no double touch to wake makes it no so ergonomic.
Nokia kind of ticks most of the boxes really, however, a2 is 25% cheaper and may have life after 2 years with the community. At the price of 7plus, I could get a used pixel 2 for instance and that has better camera and updates.
Tough choice to make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well hopefully you won't mind my version of your concerns, but always remember, these things are evolving and changing, due to experience. It's only natural with complicated things like this.
1. updates - While the A1 did run into a few issues, I'd say remember, this is a new thing for them. They'll probably get it right soon, evidenced by the August patch available now... and it's August! That's almost unheard of in itself.
2. Camera - I certainly like the Zeiss optics on the Nok, but Sony is no slouch either. Keep in mind the aperture of the 2 rear cameras on the A2 are f1.75. The Nok are f1.8 and f2.6 (for the optical zoom one). I don't know exactly, but the diff between the 1.75 and 2.6 is a Full Stop, if not more. That means, if u don't know, that the 1.75 will let in TWICE the amount of light. That's a huge difference, resulting in much better pictures.
The other thing re the GCam. I have a port on my LG G6 now. It's very good. Except it doesn't have all the features the OEM app has. For instance; taking a selfie in portrait mode, there is no timer. Also note the GCam ports won't use both lenses, as the pixel phones only have one lens. Some OEM apps use info from both lenses to create bokeh effects etc.
3. Handling - it is an individual thing for sure. My take on the camera bump is - I'd prefer it didn't have it, but I just don't set the phone down on the back (unless it's in a case). If I set it down I'll set it on the front. It's usually just in my pocket.
All cameras (except the G6!) have a bump, the A2 is just a bit bigger. Oh well. As far as double tap, for me... I've never used it, even once. Just use the finger print scanner.
Again! not knocking your concerns, they are valid for you, that's all that matters. Just giving a different perspective on them. Tomorrow, I may think differently! Haha, phones, they've become so complicated it's more and more time consuming to evaluate them. I've bought and sold so many lately, I never thought I would do that! I think I have a new addiction
About the handling, if you don't use a case with Mi A2, it is a bit slippery for me. The device is actually round but it is also thin. The metal at the back is very smooth and could be slippery for some.
And I think the cameras between two are not so different, depends on your taste. But the sensor with Nokia 7 Plus is larger so it should produce better images in low light.
@AsItLies thank you for your detailed info. I am very glad to receive info from an owner.
@Marciano09 thank you. To be honest, my comfort zone ends around the sizes of pixel 2, but the trend now is to have phones bigger and bigger so I guess I need to get used to it. So, bigger and slippery is not something that sounds comfortable. Nokia seems to have some ceramic back cover which probably improves handling but has rougher edges.
I saw some comparison videos on camera samples, sometimes I liked A2 ones, sometimes the Nokia ones. Nokia with gcam has some really nice photos where on xiaomi I depend on the OEM camera.
Really tough choice to make.
alinescoo said:
I care about:
1. updates - I have my concerns on updates given the previous history with A1.
2. camera - some say nokia is better, some say a2 is better. Probably nokia with gcam is better
3.handling- a2 seems to be more rounded, slimmer but has that huge camera bump what probably makes it wobble on table. Together with no double touch to wake makes it no so ergonomic.
Nokia kind of ticks most of the boxes really, however, a2 is 25% cheaper and may have life after 2 years with the community. At the price of 7plus, I could get a used pixel 2 for instance and that has better camera and updates.
Tough choice to make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. they're both android one devices, sure, the nokia may not have as much dev support but it will get the same 2y official treatment because of android one.
2. both good cameras yep, the a2 will probably take some better nighttime pics, the nokia might be better at portrait mode.
3. forget about the double tap to wake... it's so much nicer to use the fingerprint to wake up instead! and yes, the a2 isn't stable on a flat table. even with the tpu case it still wobbles. the case helps, but it's still not standing nicely.
if you care about the price difference, go for the a2. but be aware that the a2 will drop in price over the next few months. this is the most expensive it will ever be. the nokia may have started to drop in price already.
the features that may point you to the nokia:
- nfc
- bigger battery
- 3.5 jack
- sd card support
- sturdier
a2:
- slimmer, lighter
- maybe better dev support (on the long long run however it's probably irrelevant since both phones are android one supported) - see LE
- maybe better night shots (it's still a phone however, and anything but the highest end flagships pale in comparison to real cameras - if you ask me never pick a phone based on cameras)
- cheaper (however expect the price to drop over the next months! this is the launch price)
did you consider/looked at the redmi note 5 pro (whyred)?
- already has some good custom roms (lineage)
- better battery
- 636 is a 660 running at a lower clock speed (even better use of battery)
- way cheaper
L.E.
- yes, the proximity sensor on the a2 seems a bit wonky, but not as bad as some reviews describe it
- updates are always a bit weird at first, android one is the fix for that (on both phones), only difference is the nokia had the time it needed to fix some already
- without a case yes, the a2 is slippery. use the included case from the moment you unbox it.
- yes, i own an A2, i love it and dont regret getting one, i recommend it to anyone looking to buy one.
- dev support...
*yes, it's very possible the a2 will get better unofficial support. however, and i don't know how i'm gonna say this without getting the full wrath of the forum thrown at me... that's irrelevant.
*you get a android one so you don't have to worry about the official support! you get one of these to be able to stay on the stock rom.
*either way you look at it, and in all honesty i really appreciate the work all the devs pull of unofficially for devices, thank you all and keep up the good work!
*however you cannot expect a handful of devs to be able to compete with google or big oem's. - again, this may seem like i am ungrateful, that's not the case. (only exception is when those oem-s choose to drop support). with android one they cannot do that even if they wanted to.
*both phones will get security patches and android updates for a minimum of 2 years. by then, regardless which one you buy you'll want a newer one that supports 6g or vr over lte or 5 cameras or a bendable screen. or whatever else gimmick they pull out of the hat by then. (if anything, i would be sorry for having to dump the nokia more)
I personally was debating between this or the 6.1 plus. I don't recall off hand what the deciding factor for me was. But I went with the a2 and it will be here Tuesday.
Nickdroid86 said:
I personally was debating between this or the 6.1 plus. I don't recall off hand what the deciding factor for me was. But I went with the a2 and it will be here Tuesday.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
now that's a better comparison!
picked the a2 for the large screen and better cameras?
enjoy the new a2! and piece of advice... dont switch away from the standard android one for as long as you can. unlike the other xiaomi-s with miui, it's actually not a bad idea to stick to stock.
if you find the time share your opinions about it after a few days
Doing a little research and found on gsmarena u can not only compare phones, but also photo comparisons;
There are 3 categories it compares them in: Lowest ISO, Good Light, Low Light. There's some explanation of how they got their results, but they seem a bit vague (but at least they have SOME control they're doing).
An issue that comes up when comparing Cameras is some think it has to be an apples to apples comparison; Same ISO, Same Aperture, Same exposure time. They think that's the only way to have a true comparison.
But here's the thing; A comparison really should be 'take the best picture possible' for ea camera under the exact conditions and exact subject matter. That way, if one camera has pixel binning, it can use that. Or another camera has a wider aperture it can use that, etc.
But this does give 'some' idea of how the 2 phone cameras compare, it's pretty cool to fool around with, click in the design on the left to change what's focused on. Also note, the pictures do seem to indicate when a lense has a wider angle than another, noted by what's captured in the 'viewing box'.
https://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=5&idPhone1=9140&idPhone2=9058
I think the build quality of A2 is very good but the metal back is really slippery. I have to use the TPU cover provided. After using the cover, the camera bump is not a big issue. The bump becomes much smaller.
I also considered Nokia 7 Plus but I think it's too bulky and heavy for me. As I don't need NFC and SD card because it's not my main phone, I can live with it.
The screen is vibrant and crisp. I really didn't expect that in such a low price phone.
Thank you all for your valuable informations. The price of Nokia 7 plus is around the same as a Pixel 2 (the smaller one) and I think I'll keep an eye on the market for a good deal. Pixel is more compact, has great camera and another 2 years of software updates.
Thank all again you for your time.
laviniu_c said:
now that's a better comparison!
picked the a2 for the large screen and better cameras?
enjoy the new a2! and piece of advice... dont switch away from the standard android one for as long as you can. unlike the other xiaomi-s with miui, it's actually not a bad idea to stick to stock.
if you find the time share your opinions about it after a few days
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will for sure. I love Android One software. I had it with my regular Nokia 6.1
Comparing 7 plus and a2 is like comparing apples to oranges (both are phones). In terms of price there is a stellar difference, if you can afford the 7 plus, better go for a pixel 1 (you said you wanted updates and camera), i personally bought a2 because it's cheap as hell and even if i'd be the richest person on the planet i would not pay more than 300 dollars for a phone.
Android is made for SD8XX, nomatter what these cheapsters hide under the lid (SD6XX) they will always hang, lag, overheat and die fast.
Component wise the a2 feels like a joke (sorry, copying the iphone x in this manner it's way beyond shame) and a toy for kids with the ir blaster (come on it's 2018) and the lack of nfc (if you're european you'll understand).
If you have the money buy the pixel 1, if you're a cheapster like the a2, go for it. I don't se the reason to buy the 7 plus.
strapabiro said:
Comparing 7 plus and a2 is like comparing apples to oranges (both are phones). In terms of price there is a stellar difference, if you can afford the 7 plus, better go for a pixel 1 (you said you wanted updates and camera), i personally bought a2 because it's cheap as hell and even if i'd be the richest person on the planet i would not pay more than 300 dollars for a phone.
Android is made for SD8XX, nomatter what these cheapsters hide under the lid (SD6XX) they will always hang, lag, overheat and die fast.
Component wise the a2 feels like a joke (sorry, copying the iphone x in this manner it's way beyond shame) and a toy for kids with the ir blaster (come on it's 2018) and the lack of nfc (if you're european you'll understand).
If you have the money buy the pixel 1, if you're a cheapster like the a2, go for it. I don't se the reason to buy the 7 plus.
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Click to collapse
Android is made for SD8XX? Each phone is optimized for it's precessor, among other hardware. Some better than others. The sd660 in my mi a2 is hanging in there up against my sd845 in my s9+ and the sd835 in my pixel 2 xl..
After almost 4 years of this beast its finally time to move on, but I'm not sure if I want to go to the OnePlus 6 (6t is basically the same as the 6 for my needs, except no headphone jack, which I want) or should I get the Pixel 3/3XL. I am leaning towards the 3XL since I'm used to a huge screen, but the 3 doesn't have the notch, which I think could be an eyesore. I have seen great development for the 1+6, but Dirty Unicorns doesn't support the device, but they don't support the Pixel 2 either. Note 9 is in the running, but i think it has a locked bootloader, smaller dev community, and less frequent updates (i'm also on ATT).
So, what do you think I should get? I am likely going to wait for some Pixel 3/3XL reviews before I make the purchase. I don't really care about price.
Xiaomi Pocophone F1 is very popular right now. May turn out to be the 2018 phone with the most custom roms.
Myself, I like the wide screen of my Nexus 6. I don't think there is any other popular phone with as wide a screen as that. But I miss a fingerprint reader.
I came from a long line of nexuses that ended with the Nexus 6P. Held off from the pixels and got me an OP6 on launch day. Price is not a factor for me here. The OP6 is a great phone, believe it or not the software is better than stock Android, it's like a custom ROM on a Nexus phone with all those extra cool stuff. The phone blazes through everything it's crazy fast. However, the camera sucks so bad that it is in usable to me. The speakers are very bad. It lacks that special thing Google phones have . I'm getting the pixel 3XL myself. I cannot live with the OP6 camera.
I'm afraid I'm moving on as well. I chose the pixel 2 xl, as money is a priority for me. i was looking at specs( I live in rainy Washington), and wasn't impressed with waterproofing. Wasn't ready to move on but battery in my 6 wasn't making it through work schedule. I chose pixel (should be here any day now) cause I love updates and not ready to leave Google yet. Nexus 1, Galaxy Nexus, 4 and 6
ONEPLUS SIX .... ACTUALLY, ONEPLUS 6T .... ya might as well wait 2 more weeks for the T-variant to be released.
I'm sure the Pixel 3/XL are damn fine (though hopefully, relatively flawless - I'm purposely leaving out any thing other than the fact I'm not even gonna comment on the XL & it's chin,etc buuut daammmn my Shamu, <xc for side bezels & far superior sOC, other internals of the Pixels> doesn't look as outta date as it actually is .... which is damn near 4 years now, the uneven bezels & other irritants I've found since buying last December [for a respectable $140/mint] definitely detract buuut I'll be damned if the ol sea world corporate orca isn't still holding it's own .... Buuueller? Buuuueller?)
ANYWAYS, TO YOUR INQUIRY, unless you have DEEP pockets for your significant disposable income & want to overlook the superior front design: namely, the rumored but easily believable teardrop front cam (& the almost certain inclusion of an under screen fingerprint scanner & supposed vastly improved camera)>>
[[PARDON ME, A PERSONAL ASIDE .... HEY GOOGLE, JUST EXACTLY WTF IS GOING ON OUT THERE IN MTN VIEW THE PAST, IDFK, 5 YEARS ?!?!?!
THE FUTURE OF SMARTPHONE UI & UX DESIGN SHOULD, SHHOOOULD, HAVE BEEN ALL YOU, BUUUT YOU HAVE SO MANY IRONS IN THE PROVERBIAL FIRE THAT YOU LET SAMSUNG TAKE IT RIGHT OUTTA YOUR VERY CAPABLE HANDS & YOUR BOTTOMLESS POCKETS FROM YOUR ENDLESS FORTUNES ..... AI IS COOL n ALL BUT WHY SCRAP NEXUS FOR THE (cheap) iPOD COPYCAT PIXEL ONE (but the seeds were there to be green instead of ignored ) & CREATE SUCH A BEAUTIFUL ECOSYSTEM AS MATERIAL DESIGN IF ONLY TO GET DESTROYED BY SAMSUNG'S NOW UNDENIABLE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE DOMINANCE and their faaaar superior "infinity display" using the world's BEST AMOLED/OLED displays (in fact, SOOOO SUPERIOR that Sammy's hated rival, crApple buy up more of their displays -by the literal ****-TON- than anyone!!!) ???? (Material Design, now, is as fine as she's ever been xc for those 9.0 settings colors, whaaatthaeff guys, at least show some thoughtfulness by using the new Contacts color palette for goodness sake!!!!! Hideous ....) I DIGRESS, YOU ARE THE COMPANY (or damn sure seemed like the across-the-board, trend-MAKERS for a long time before you lost perspective ? At first I didn't understand WTF Samsung was doing with the one sided slant/Edge thing & I ALWAYS hated that stupid APPLE home button BUUUT The SGS-7 Edge actually caught my eye .... Then came the SGS-8 AND HOLY EFFING ****E, THAT'S WHAT SHOULD'VE SHAKEN "OUR FAVORITE COMPANY" OUT OF ITS LETHARGY OF HAVING MADE TOO MUCH DAMNED MONEY, I GUESS BUUUUT ALAS, IT DID NOT ..... I KNOW A LOT OF THOUGHT & BRAINS GO INTO MAKING PIXELS SPECIAL, IT'S JUST THAT THE GOOGLE I KNOW (KNEW?) & LOVE(D?) COULD, WOULD, DAMN SURE SHOULD BE THE INNOVATORS, YOU SHOULD BE SOOOO INSANELY FAAAAR BEYOND MOST OTHER COMPANIES, NOT ONLY IN INTERNAL SMARTPHONE/OS AESTHETICS BUT FFS, APPLE & SAMMY SHHOOOULD BE TRRYING TO COPY YOU AGAIN, LIKE IN DAYS PAST INSTEAD OF YOU GUYS CUTTING CORNERS, TAKING THE BEST OF WHAT'S ALREADY OUT THERE, MAKING A PASSABLE OVERPRICED MASHUP WITH A GREAT CAMERA (FINALLY, THAT STUNNING CAMERA THAT NONE, NOT ONE, OF THE NEXUS' EVER GOT, WHICH FOREVER RELEGATED THEM FROM MAINSTREAM ALONG WITH EACH NEW NEXUS RELEASE CAME NEW YEARLY ISSUES STEMMING ULTIMATELY, FROM CORNER CUTTING) ..... I am sorry .... I have simply lost the passion with which my initial aside started ....
ONEPLUS SIX - OR - ONEPLUS 6T ..... they're ACTUALLY innovating, they turned this once fledgling company on unsteady footing grab the XDA & former GOOGLE/NEXUS DIE-HARDS by the balls and NOW LOOK WHERE THEY ARE, 2 RELEASES A YEAR, PROLLY THE BEST CURRENT FRONTAL TOP BEZEL SOLUTION, MOSTLY BEAUTIFUL DEVICES WITH ALL THE COOLNESS WE ARE LOOKING FOR IN A SMARTPHONE YET ..... AT A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER PRICE, SIGNIFICANTLY MORE RAM, EXPANDABLE STORAGE (??) .... IMHO, ONEPLUS has finally, truly earned the "Flagship Killer" moniker from the not so clear flagship killer OP-1 they'd have you believe back then.
..... I hope that helps instead of hinders .... If so, by all means, disregard & Happy hunting.
I was looking at the 3, but now thinking 2XL when they go on fire sale. Price on the 3 and 3XL is just crazy.
That's a tough call, I am generally a pixel guy, with the freedom of knowing it will be updated monthly and get the quickest platform updates. The 6t looks promising and has a robust dev community from what I can see. I am rocking the pixel 2 (not xl) and the pixel 3 is not super exciting for me. I would go with 6t but I am on fi. Doubt 6t is will be on fi or we would hAve probably heard about it by now. I think the pixel 2/XL are damn good phones and worth picking up on the cheap.
I know it's not on your list and not too high on the media's radar, but the Razor Phone 2 should maybe be another to consider.
- Nexus 6 screen ratio (16:9) which I prefer
- 120hz panel for silky smooth interface
- front facing speakers
- large 4,000 MAH battery
- SD 845 with Adreno 630 GPU
- in place thermal reduction copper plate that acts as a heat sink that is almost the size of the phone.
- 8GB of DDR4 RAM
- no headphone jack, but quality dolby dts DAC
- expandable storage up to 1TB
- hopefully great cameras with new Sony hardware. (Wide angle lens on the 2nd camera)
- wireless fast charging
- QCOM QC 4+
- Treble support
Myself, I'm in no hurry to leave shamu. Running AOSiP 8.1 and getting around 4-5 SOT. This phone, minus the headphone jack, is the only phone to truly provide an actual upgrade to our phone. Plus having expandable storage is awesome. Hopefully the initial impressions and community develops since it has treble support.
I am in the same boat, however I am not beholden to a flagship phone or major company name. If it has everything I need ( everything my shamu has) or more I dont care who makes it..I know there are phones out there every bit as good as the flagships for a lot less money but Ive been a bit out of the loop and not sure what to look at. That being said if the flags are the way to go this time I can do that too. I am on Tmo. I do take my phone mountain biking with me so I think anything bigger than me N6 would be a no. Any recommendations guys?
That sounds really nice. I'll have to look into that one. Would like to get my wife a phone that'll keep up with her for a good while.
wavedashdoc said:
I know it's not on your list and not too high on the media's radar, but the Razor Phone 2 should maybe be another to consider.
- Nexus 6 screen ratio (16:9) which I prefer
- 120hz panel for silky smooth interface
- front facing speakers
- large 4,000 MAH battery
- SD 845 with Adreno 630 GPU
- in place thermal reduction copper plate that acts as a heat sink that is almost the size of the phone.
- 8GB of DDR4 RAM
- no headphone jack, but quality dolby dts DAC
- expandable storage up to 1TB
- hopefully great cameras with new Sony hardware. (Wide angle lens on the 2nd camera)
- wireless fast charging
- QCOM QC 4+
- Treble support
Myself, I'm in no hurry to leave shamu. Running AOSiP 8.1 and getting around 4-5 SOT. This phone, minus the headphone jack, is the only phone to truly provide an actual upgrade to our phone. Plus having expandable storage is awesome. Hopefully the initial impressions and community develops since it has treble support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
huawei mate 20 X
def1003 said:
huawei mate 20 X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not bootloader unlockable.
"find somebody that you think is undeserving of your compassion and give it to them" - Christian Picciolini
ktmom said:
Not bootloader unlockable.
"find somebody that you think is undeserving of your compassion and give it to them" - Christian Picciolini
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not determined yet from what ive found
This isn't a rant, just things which I've noticed of considerable concern.
Hi, just a full disclosure. I bought a K20 Pro Chinese rom from Aliexpress, waited 3 months and watched a lot of reviews. I'm english speaking, so none of these issues were brought up in the video's I watched.
1) The speaker at the bottom is too easy to cover, as a right hand user. I cannot comfortably watch videos in portrait mode without accidentally concealing it.
2) The camera reflects its own infrared on closeup images of shiny objects.
https://imgur.com/9iCMfut
3) The display is not sharp. This clarity is comparable to the Galaxy S3, you can see the pixels individually and quite vividly. This makes icon edges appear blurry. I'll put this down to the low resolution, as compared to my 2k display of the Galaxy Note 5.
https://imgur.com/rExaM1Z
4) The display is very thin. Having come from the Galaxy Note 5, I'm used to a wider phone. But this is much to small to consume media in vertical form.
5) The battery life isn't great. It lasts a day, and only a day with medium use.
6) Gestures in Android 9 are broken. Specifically the 'recents gesture' and the 'go back'. I only had about a 10% success rate with the 'recents gesture', it just didn't want to work. Whereas the 'go back' gesture works a bit too well and I was constantly going back accidentally as you can swipe from either side.
7) MIUI is not good. I personally do not find it enjoyable to use.
Three months is a long time. I was getting impatient and got it after 30 days. I'll say I agree with the speaker being easy to cover, that being said you can just turn the phone upside down.
1) just turn device upside down.
2) weird thing indeed
3) pretty okay for the price, not best display ever, but not uncomfortable to me..
4)there's a choice here, if you make it too wide, you make it hard to use with a single hand...
5) pretty great here, I don't know what you call "medium use", but here I'm getting all day long (lasting around 25% in the end of it) with 7 hours of screen on... I consider it as hard use. It is not great compared to what, exactly?
6)never used it, can't opine...
7)I used to be a vanilla guy, miui stock is just awful for me. But, xiaomi.eu rom is pretty great, I believe you could give it a try. It is just what miui should be...
Cheers
I wasn't pleased too when i went from Galaxy s8 to one plus 5t about the display but you will get used to it believe me , it's a good display you will not notice any pixel after some time , almost every phone nowadays comes in FHD+ except high end Samsung , besides it's 6'4 inch it's really big
---------- Post added at 09:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:42 PM ----------
And you're completely wrong about the battery life maybe you have a faulty unit because the battery is amazing I'm getting 7 to 9 SOT
In my opinion:
1) Agree with you, but although I always (almost) use headphones it doesnt bother me. But, you can flip the phone to avoid this scenario...
2) Never noticed.
3) It is really not an ultra sharp display, but it is far from S3, which was ~300ppi, K20 is ~400ppi. Amoled pentile will hardly give an sharp display on FHD+ displays.
4) You are a long time whitout upgrading, thin phones are a trend since 2018. Last decent 16:9 phone was Huawei Mate 10.
5) Luckily you didnt buy other phones as this one have a great battery life on today standards.
6) It is necessary some time to get used and increase accuracy on gestures.
7) Having had mainly Samsungs, LGs, Motos, Huaweis and Xiaomis, I think MIUI is on par with EMUI (Huawei) and better than Samsung/LG/Moto.
Edit: Item 5. According to GSMArena, battery on K20 stands ~45% longer than Note5 for video playback. ~15% more for talking time, and ~25% more for browsing.
I don't know if the K20 Pro is different from the Mi 9T Pro but i can't agree on the unsharp display. Maybe with a magnifying glass but it is as sharp as any other phone i had before including my P30. Same for the battery life, i can easily hit 10 hours SOT in a day without having to charge it. Tried gestures, works well for me. The thin display isn't as good for videos, yes but overall it's quite nice to use/ handle. Also i'm okay with MIUI. It looks pretty nice and got some good customization options and it's certainly better than EMUI. But i can agree on it being a bit weird to use if you're used to stock Android.
Thanks for your positive feedback.
Someone suggested that I just rotate the phone 180 degrees to avoid covering the speaker, how does one enable this rotation in miui?
A suggestion was made about miui.eu, I plan to flash this when the 7 day unlock period expires.
Regarding the battery, it's just not revolutionary. Sitting around the 1 day mark. Has anyone had any positive battery life improvements using a custom kernel?
Turbine1991 said:
This isn't a rant, just things which I've noticed of considerable concern.
Hi, just a full disclosure. I bought a K20 Pro Chinese rom from Aliexpress, waited 3 months and watched a lot of reviews. I'm english speaking, so none of these issues were brought up in the video's I watched.
1) The speaker at the bottom is too easy to cover, as a right hand user. I cannot comfortably watch videos in portrait mode without accidentally concealing it.
2) The camera reflects its own infrared on closeup images of shiny objects.
https://imgur.com/9iCMfut
3) The display is not sharp. This clarity is comparable to the Galaxy S3, you can see the pixels individually and quite vividly. This makes icon edges appear blurry. I'll put this down to the low resolution, as compared to my 2k display of the Galaxy Note 5.
https://imgur.com/rExaM1Z
4) The display is very thin. Having come from the Galaxy Note 5, I'm used to a wider phone. But this is much to small to consume media in vertical form.
5) The battery life isn't great. It lasts a day, and only a day with medium use.
6) Gestures in Android 9 are broken. Specifically the 'recents gesture' and the 'go back'. I only had about a 10% success rate with the 'recents gesture', it just didn't want to work. Whereas the 'go back' gesture works a bit too well and I was constantly going back accidentally as you can swipe from either side.
7) MIUI is not good. I personally do not find it enjoyable to use.
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Click to collapse
hmmm no way its comparable , fyi i still have mine retired S3 , a sammy user since galaxy S , size wise k20 pro its pretty standard , note series i is always consider a bigger size phone , similar one perhaps might be mi max ? battery seem good so far , sorry but older sammy phones model, battery life always fail me , gestures , never use , maybe i am old school , miui does take a while to get used to , just throw in a poco launcher ,never like miui messy home screen , and the price you paid for a sd855 , not sure what country you are from , a samsung comes with exynos chipset most of the time , cant expect top quality hardware in all aspect ?
1. This issue isn't exactly exclusive to the K20 Pro, many devices have bottom firing speakers, not really and issue for me. I am also right handed and I rarely cover the speaker when using it in landscape.
2. You can avoid the infrared reflection issue by switching to manual focus.
3. Imo the display is fine. You are just coming from a phone with a QHD display (you should have done your research before buying)
4. The display is supposed to be taller and the fact that its taller make its naturally narrower for its size (6.39") The aspect ratio (18:9) on the K20 Pro is is used on all modern flagships now as it is better suited to the portrait content that is consumed on a smartphone. and as for "This clarity is comparable to the Galaxy S3" either your device is faulty or you're just talking crap. The galaxy S3 has a pixel density of 306 ppi and the K20 Pro's display has a pixel density of 403 ppi which is more than a noticeable difference
5. Most people have reported great battery life. I have gotten 2 days on a single charge before and in some cases getting over 10 hours of screen on time unless you game then of course it wont last as long.
6. I haven't had any issues with MIUI gestures, they work perfectly fine for me.
7. I love MIUI, this is my first Xiaomi device. When I first ordered the device I didn't think I'd like MIUI and thought I would end up switching to a custom rom like Pixel Experience or Lineage but I learned to love it. MIUI has the best gestures, it looks awesome, it is well optimised and performs great with great battery life.
I did a considerable amount of research before buying. Some of the issue you have stated were mentioned like the bottom firing speaker, the display being FHD+, the infrared reflection wasn't an issue on your note 5 because the note 5 doesn't have laser autofocus (which can be disabled) this isnt really an issue its just an extra feature on the K20 Pro which you don't have to use.
The K20 Pro is far cheaper than any other current flagship out there, so you cant expect it to have all the same flagship features. They obviously had to save money in some areas, for example the display is FHD+ unlike some Samsung, LG, Sony and OnePlus devices which have QHD Displays, Gorilla Glass 5 instead of 6, no wireless charging, the type-c port is only USB 2.0, no IP rating when this devices has been proven to be considerably water resistant
lordkiller347 said:
1. This issue isn't exactly exclusive to the K20 Pro, many devices have bottom firing speakers, not really and issue for me. I am also right handed and I rarely cover the speaker when using it in landscape.
2. You can avoid the infrared reflection issue by switching to manual focus.
3. Imo the display is fine. You are just coming from a phone with a QHD display (you should have done your research before buying)
4. The display is supposed to be taller and the fact that its taller make its naturally narrower for its size (6.39") The aspect ratio (18:9) on the K20 Pro is is used on all modern flagships now as it is better suited to the portrait content that is consumed on a smartphone. and as for "This clarity is comparable to the Galaxy S3" either your device is faulty or you're just talking crap. The galaxy S3 has a pixel density of 306 ppi and the K20 Pro's display has a pixel density of 403 ppi which is more than a noticeable difference
5. Most people have reported great battery life. I have gotten 2 days on a single charge before and in some cases getting over 10 hours of screen on time unless you game then of course it wont last as long.
6. I haven't had any issues with MIUI gestures, they work perfectly fine for me.
7. I love MIUI, this is my first Xiaomi device. When I first ordered the device I didn't think I'd like MIUI and thought I would end up switching to a custom rom like Pixel Experience or Lineage but I learned to love it. MIUI has the best gestures, it looks awesome, it is well optimised and performs great with great battery life.
I did a considerable amount of research before buying. Some of the issue you have stated were mentioned like the bottom firing speaker, the display being FHD+, the infrared reflection wasn't an issue on your note 5 because the note 5 doesn't have laser autofocus (which can be disabled) this isnt really an issue its just an extra feature on the K20 Pro which you don't have to use.
The K20 Pro is far cheaper than any other current flagship out there, so you cant expect it to have all the same flagship features. They obviously had to save money in some areas, for example the display is FHD+ unlike some Samsung, LG, Sony and OnePlus devices which have QHD Displays, Gorilla Glass 5 instead of 6, no wireless charging, the type-c port is only USB 2.0, no IP rating when this devices has been proven to be considerably water resistant
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Click to collapse
+1 to all of this except 7.
MIUI does have some plus points, but for me, nowhere near enough to compensate for it's bad points. The only thing I miss is MIUI gestures.
I bought the phone knowing I'd be going to custom ROMs as soon as the bootloader could be unlocked.
With a good custom ROM, I cannot fault the phone for it's price point.
I gotta say that I think the battery life is absolutely insane (I came from a jailbroken iPhone X, but had tons of Xiaomis etc before). I charge it every evening but sometimes I just dont, because I got 60+ % and it jsut doesnt feel right.
I use the MIUI 11 ROM from xiaomi.eu, and I really loved MIUI since MIUI 6/7. I enjoyed some extra features(really great dark mode, always on display, dual apps, ...) and the visual look of it. As far as I know there are already quite a lot of roms with stock android for the phone.
Robbo.5000 said:
+1 to all of this except 7.
MIUI does have some plus points, but for me, nowhere near enough to compensate for it's bad points. The only thing I miss is MIUI gestures.
I bought the phone knowing I'd be going to custom ROMs as soon as the bootloader could be unlocked.
With a good custom ROM, I cannot fault the phone for it's price point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say it doesn't compensate for its bad point. If you're gonna say something like that then maybe you should enlighten us on what those bad points are.
lordkiller347 said:
You say it doesn't compensate for its bad point. If you're gonna say something like that then maybe you should enlighten us on what those bad points are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My main issues are
Data Harvesting - on a worse scale than Google
Ads - which are convoluted to turn off, though it's supposed to be easier in MIUI 11
Bloatware - There is an immense amount of bloat, most of which cannot be removed. Compare the running services of a freshly booted phone running MIUI with, say, an AOSP ROM and see the vast increase MIUI is running, the majority if which you have no idea what or why.
It was developed to be, and still is to some degree, an iOS clone.
There were others and if I were to revert back to MIUI I'd remember what they were.
Turbine1991 said:
Thanks for your positive feedback.
Someone suggested that I just rotate the phone 180 degrees to avoid covering the speaker, how does one enable this rotation in miui?
A suggestion was made about miui.eu, I plan to flash this when the 7 day unlock period expires.
Regarding the battery, it's just not revolutionary. Sitting around the 1 day mark. Has anyone had any positive battery life improvements using a custom kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you own the indian variant or chinese? Apparently the indian has a lower quality display, that could explain why some people aren't finding that themselves, because I own the chinese and its pretty damn clear; Even comparing it to friends S9/S10's and latest iPhones.
The screen doesn't seem pixelated to me. Perhaps you're used to higher resolution displays. I've upgraded from the OnePlus 5 and haven't seen a reduction in image quality.
Gestures work fine for me. I didn't need an adjustment period, they were pretty intuitive and back works pretty much every time (with no accidental back swipes), while recents works like 9/10 times.
I don't have a problem with covering the speaker. When watching YouTube I grip the phone by the middle section with one hand, I don't hold it with both hands like when you play games.
Battery life isn't extraordinary, but it's decent compared to my OnePlus 5.
You can debloat most MIUI ROMs using the Xiaomi ADB/Fastboot tool.
Looking forward to trying miui 11. It's not officially available yet to Chinese rom users outside China.
Turbine1991 said:
Looking forward to trying miui 11. It's not officially available yet to Chinese rom users outside China.
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Click to collapse
xiaomi.eu is the way to go
Okay, real talk
point 5 is straight up trolling?
I have to charge mine like once in 2 days and you're talking about not great battery life - what the hell
A full charge gets me like 11 sometimes even 12 hours SoT with medium/normal usage (youtube, spotify, browsing, mails etc. - basically everything except games).
Do you game all day long or what?
what battery life do you expect anyway? Theres not many devices which can even last that long as the K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro does (with somewhat similar pefomance obviously)
NZ Razer said:
Do you own the indian variant or chinese? Apparently the indian has a lower quality display, that could explain why some people aren't finding that themselves, because I own the chinese and its pretty damn clear; Even comparing it to friends S9/S10's and latest iPhones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OP must have a defective unit (battery, display). There is no way the display is 'poor' quality, compared to my 6T its much sharper and vivid. Battery life is also one of the best I have seen (less than 2% discharge overnight) I have been playing games on Dolphin, PPSSPP, etc and a full charge can easily last 4+ hours, and that's using emulators which are extreme battery hogs. Xiaomi have been pretty transparent about how and when they collect our data by giving us optout options nearly everywhere, which is something I cant say about other shady companies out there who are in the same line of business. Besides, data harvesting and adds can easily be tackled by debloating/flashing EU rom, where the 1st done doesn't even need root.
Finally coming from OOS the MIUI can be a pain to use but now I am beginning to like the features that it offers, for example, full-screen mode and gestures which I never thought would make my life so much easier. All in all this phone has been a wonderful upgrade for me and I couldn't be any happier.
Turbine1991 said:
Looking forward to trying miui 11. It's not officially available yet to Chinese rom users outside China.
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Click to collapse
whats weird is many of mine country already gotten android 10 update , i didnt received any
I am looking for new phone from past 4 days and I am not able to find better option than this K20 Pro, due to sd855 present in it. For the price it's available right now I couldn't find another. My main priorities are:-
1) it should handle game fluently
2)good rear cameras (not for printing photos but uploading on instagram)
3)have a good community for custom rom development (this phone have that)
4)have decent battery backup as i am not going to game whole day but yeah approx. 2hrs game session
5)last but very important for me a HEADPHONE jack is a must thing.
I wanna ask is that, is it worth to buy this phone even when its 1year old. Also, I wanna know if there is an alternative to this phone or should I go with it without having any thought.
Earlier I considered realme x3 pro(due to sd855+ but there was no headphone jack, no custom roms) and ONeplus nord( i think it's overpriced and without headphone jack).
I am gonna use new phone for atleast 2yrs, so what are your thought about this phone? is it worth to buy or to wait to for another flagship killer(which is very hard to see in near future)?
prakharayush31 said:
I am looking for new phone from past 4 days and I am not able to find better option than this K20 Pro, due to sd855 present in it. For the price it's available right now I couldn't find another. My main priorities are:-
1) it should handle game fluently
2)good rear cameras (not for printing photos but uploading on instagram)
3)have a good community for custom rom development (this phone have that)
4)have decent battery backup as i am not going to game whole day but yeah approx. 2hrs game session
5)last but very important for me a HEADPHONE jack is a must thing.
I wanna ask is that, is it worth to buy this phone even when its 1year old. Also, I wanna know if there is an alternative to this phone or should I go with it without having any thought.
Earlier I considered realme x3 pro(due to sd855+ but there was no headphone jack, no custom roms) and ONeplus nord( i think it's overpriced and without headphone jack).
I am gonna use new phone for atleast 2yrs, so what are your thought about this phone? is it worth to buy or to wait to for another flagship killer(which is very hard to see in near future)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't think too much now, go for it. I had similar questions before buy it, but for me they were: no notch, fm radio, jack, custom roms, a fair battery (4000 is the minimum). I didn't care too much about the cpu but this one is a beast. The cameras are just fine since I'm not a photographer. The only con for me is not having an external sd card. The biggest pro for me is not having to look at a f#cking hole or notch. We already have an aosp 11 rom if you need it & we'll probably have some more android os versions. This phone is worth to buy & if you ask, I would bought it again without think twice.
I kind of regret it. There's noting really wrong with the phone, it just leaves a lot to be desired.
-The screen is very small and narrow & the bezel is quite large for a modern phone.
-Battery life is pretty good, but not great.
-The screen quality/resolution is not good. I find it quite distracting, although you get used to it somewhat.
-The back camera is not good compared to other devices.
-There might be no more support for Xiaomi. Meaning we may never get Android 11 for the device. As we've technically had our 2 updates. Which is pretty bs.
The screen size of the Pocofone F2 or the Mi 10 Ultra is where I'd probably put my money.
Turbine1991 said:
I kind of regret it. There's noting really wrong with the phone, it just leaves a lot to be desired.
-The screen is very small and narrow & the bezel is quite large for a modern phone.
-Battery life is pretty good, but not great.
-The screen quality/resolution is not good. I find it quite distracting, although you get used to it somewhat.
-The back camera is not good compared to other devices.
-There might be no more support for Xiaomi. Meaning we may never get Android 11 for the device. As we've technically had our 2 updates. Which is pretty bs.
The screen size of the Pocofone F2 or the Mi 10 Ultra is where I'd probably put my money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First time I've heard of a 6.4" screen described as too small???
The aspect ratio is identical to almost all current phones, so it's certainly not narrow compared to anything else. The resolution of FHD+ is absolutely fine. The human eye cannot distinguish higher resolutions, at typical reading distances. This is why going to QHD is pointless and a waste of money.
Currently almost all phones with the SD865 and SD865+ have jumped in price by quite a margin over the previous SD855 phones. So this phone still represents very good value for money. It's certainly better value than the current SD7xx midrange phones, that are similar in price.
However the K30 Pro/POCO F2 Pro came with only a reasonably small increase in price, so is not much more expensive and is probably the best value SD865 phone currently available. This would be my choice if I was buying a 'budget flagship' today. If this is stretching the budget too much, then this (K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro) phone is definitely still worth buying.
Turbine1991 said:
I kind of regret it. There's noting really wrong with the phone, it just leaves a lot to be desired.
-The screen is very small and narrow & the bezel is quite large for a modern phone.
-Battery life is pretty good, but not great.
-The screen quality/resolution is not good. I find it quite distracting, although you get used to it somewhat.
-The back camera is not good compared to other devices.
-There might be no more support for Xiaomi. Meaning we may never get Android 11 for the device. As we've technically had our 2 updates. Which is pretty bs.
The screen size of the Pocofone F2 or the Mi 10 Ultra is where I'd probably put my money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to sound rude, but what the f*** are you talking about?? small screen??? quality not good??? Bro its 6.4" 1080p Super AMOLED panel! And android 11 is confirmed for this phone and we got 1 update to android 10 not 2. Do you even know what you are talking about??
I would absolutely recommend buying this phone.
bilal.fanatic said:
Sorry to sound rude, but what the f*** are you talking about?? small screen??? quality not good??? Bro its 6.4" 1080p Super AMOLED panel! And android 11 is confirmed for this phone and we got 1 update to android 10 not 2. Do you even know what you are talking about??
I would absolutely recommend buying this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
++
Robbo.5000 said:
First time I've heard of a 6.4" screen described as too small???
The aspect ratio is identical to almost all current phones, so it's certainly not narrow compared to anything else. The resolution of FHD+ is absolutely fine. The human eye cannot distinguish higher resolutions, at typical reading distances. This is why going to QHD is pointless and a waste of money.
Currently almost all phones with the SD865 and SD865+ have jumped in price by quite a margin over the previous SD855 phones. So this phone still represents very good value for money. It's certainly better value than the current SD7xx midrange phones, that are similar in price.
However the K30 Pro/POCO F2 Pro came with only a reasonably small increase in price, so is not much more expensive and is probably the best value SD865 phone currently available. This would be my choice if I was buying a 'budget flagship' today. If this is stretching the budget too much, then this (K20 Pro/Mi 9T Pro) phone is definitely still worth buying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes dude I agree with you K30 Pro came with reasonably small price increase, but it's not available in India. If it was launched here I would definitely go for K30 Pro, that is why I was considering this K20 Pro. Well thanks for the help bro I got my answer. Going to get this phone on upcoming sales with exchange and bank offers.
bilal.fanatic said:
Sorry to sound rude, but what the f*** are you talking about?? small screen??? quality not good??? Bro its 6.4" 1080p Super AMOLED panel! And android 11 is confirmed for this phone and we got 1 update to android 10 not 2. Do you even know what you are talking about??
I would absolutely recommend buying this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah 6.4 is sufficient for me, and now I have decided, I am gonna buy this phone in exchange of my very old Moto G turbo. Thanks a lot bro for giving advice about this device
Turbine1991 said:
I kind of regret it. There's noting really wrong with the phone, it just leaves a lot to be desired.
-The screen is very small and narrow & the bezel is quite large for a modern phone.
-Battery life is pretty good, but not great.
-The screen quality/resolution is not good. I find it quite distracting, although you get used to it somewhat.
-The back camera is not good compared to other devices.
-There might be no more support for Xiaomi. Meaning we may never get Android 11 for the device. As we've technically had our 2 updates. Which is pretty bs.
The screen size of the Pocofone F2 or the Mi 10 Ultra is where I'd probably put my money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
worth considering you points bro that you told, but I think it's gonna a huge upgrade for me as I will be switching from my Samsung Galaxy S7. May be screen quality will not be that good compared to samsung, but I currently I use my device on 720p to reduce battery drain.:good:
bro can you tell how are the pictures captured with google camera mod is? (compared to stock camera)
mauam said:
Don't think too much now, go for it. I had similar questions before buy it, but for me they were: no notch, fm radio, jack, custom roms, a fair battery (4000 is the minimum). I didn't care too much about the cpu but this one is a beast. The cameras are just fine since I'm not a photographer. The only con for me is not having an external sd card. The biggest pro for me is not having to look at a f#cking hole or notch. We already have an aosp 11 rom if you need it & we'll probably have some more android os versions. This phone is worth to buy & if you ask, I would bought it again without think twice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the help bro.
Turbine1991 said:
I kind of regret it. There's noting really wrong with the phone, it just leaves a lot to be desired.
-The screen is very small and narrow & the bezel is quite large for a modern phone.
-Battery life is pretty good, but not great.
-The screen quality/resolution is not good. I find it quite distracting, although you get used to it somewhat.
-The back camera is not good compared to other devices.
-There might be no more support for Xiaomi. Meaning we may never get Android 11 for the device. As we've technically had our 2 updates. Which is pretty bs.
The screen size of the Pocofone F2 or the Mi 10 Ultra is where I'd probably put my money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you are talking about are phones from 2025. The K20P/Mi 9T Pro is an amazing phone. The screen is actually quite large, but not oversized (the phone's dimensions are about as equal to the OnePlus 3). The bezels are thin enough to not be annoying, but not too thin for you to accidentally press the screen while holding it (looking at you, Samsung phones with edge display. Even though there's a rejection algorithm in place to solve this).
The battery life is decent with 4Ah, but we already see that the next-gen phones have a capacity of 4.5Ah to 5Ah. 4Ah is still enough to last a day, the problem I face with MIUI is that idle drain is a lot.
The 1080x2340 screen is pretty good, especially in terms of PPI (I mean, you shouldn't complain if you compare this to your desktop monitor, laptop, or television). Color space is also pretty good with D3 color space when you use the "warm" preset.
The main rear camera is superior (IMX586) and gcam modders are busy with unlocking the full potential of the sensor by modifying the driver.
The only thing you are correct about is the support from Xiaomi (or should I say, Xiaomeme), with not only lack of updates, but lack of security updates. The latest MIUI 12 EEA v12.0.2.0 rom came with a 1-month outdated security patch. It's a shame to see that they simply don't care about their flagship phones, or they have too many devices and rom variants to maintain, so they rather focus on the China beta roms and push completed changes over to stable Global, EEA, CN, RU and IN.
If you have no issues with MIUI (MIUI 12 is actually pretty good, I prefer it over stock android, because of the split notifications), I'd suggest staying on it till Xiaomi decides to end the support and then switch to a custom rom.
Go for it, good phone overall no notch and cheap.