Database Develop

The Mate 20 Pro Broke my Heart

Hey, apologies if this is too long of a post. Was hoping to share my recent experiences.
Background: Was on contract with a carrier using the XS Max. Needed to switch carriers, so sold iPhone to cover the contract balance. Switched carrier and got the Mate 20 Pro. After a week returned the Mate 20 and got a Note 9. And now I'm here I guess posting with the Note 9.
Mate 20 Pro: I ended up returning it because my top half of the screen had a red tint to it and the center part of the display had greenish colour to it. For the record, I've owned a Mate 8 in the past. To my surprise, when I started using the Mate 20 Pro I could immediately tell that (a) it's a beautiful and fast device, and (b) that EMUI haven't changed one bit... Whether it's android 7, 8, or 9 -- frustration levels remain high. I hope no one gets me wrong, I love Huawei. Kinda always did. I love the fact that they copy everything they can from Apple and other manufacturers. That's a good thing because it means its users can enjoy awesome features like 3D face unlock (which worked great for me! I think they implemented it really well) or no headphone jack (I'm joking), or even new features like in display finger print scanner or having the Google now integrated to the launcher, or what about the small zoomed in screen when you're moving the typing cursor? Nice touch! But the truth is, you're gonna be googling for hours trying to understand why you can't receive notifications or so many other things that are unique to EMUI. Even me being a user that is already very familiar with EMUI, I still couldn't figure out why I'm not receiving notifications until I wake up the screen in the morning, or why I can't set a live lockscreen wallpaper, or why am I getting punished for switching to Nova Launcher? Or why can't my DPI settings apply to the notification shade. No kidding the battery is awesome, nothing is allowed to run in the background and gets closed after you open a few apps. Also, the device is not as smooth as people make it seem. You do notice lag, and sometimes in places you wouldn't expect. For example, when YouTube plays as PIP, there's no way you're not gonna notice lag everywhere. Did that make me return the phone? No. But the screen issue did. And while returning, I decided to give the Note 9 a chance.
Note 9: Overall, the Note 9 has a better screen, slightly worse cameras, worse facial recognition, no notch! Worse one handed usability, slightly worse battery, much better speakers, a headphone jack! Comes with headphones you'll actually try to use, has a s-pen (not useful for me), AOD that is actually useful, and a better software experience. Do I hate Bixby? Yes. Am I able to remove Bixby and use nova launcher with zero problems? Yes. The battery probably gives me an hour less screen on time. But remember, this is with all my regular apps refreshing in the background and multitasking that keeps much more apps ready to go in the background. The screen is also noticibly better with better viewing angles and better implementation of how the rounded corners look. This phone actually seem to perform better as well. I don't care about Android versions or what nanometer is the processor... All I care about is my experience using the phone. And with the Note 9 it's simpler and smoother. Here for example, the phone doesn't lag when YouTube is in PIP mode or lags less when I'm double pressing the multitasking button (quick app switching). Having no notch allows me to see all my notification icons in the status bar, which is awesome. In terms of user and multimedia experience, this device delivers.
Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind in the future. As it stands now, the thought of returning this device and getting another Mate 20 Pro (potentially with a better screen) haven't crossed my mind...

Returning this device and getting another Huawei.
Samsung Note9 is not for you.

Was in the same boat had both, if I could just keep the facial unlock and cameras from the 20

both iris scanner and face unlock are obsolete coming of congress in Barcelona in 3 weeks, all flagships will greet us with punch hole cameras and in display scanners , same for P30 series on 31st march, with trend to get rid of that front facing camera gimmicks at the end of 2019. As for Note 9 vs Mate 20 pro there's absolutely no contest here to speak of, every professional reviewer concluded that current quad bayer sensors are lackluster compared to 12mp offerings which was to be expected.. hype train is pretty much the only thing Huawei has, and it lost momentum with poor processing and worst software experience on android

Hello, i also had the Mate 20 Pro since day one, and i had the famous LG screen problem , i had to return it and get another one, but after few weeks i couldn't stand the screen that is sooo edged, it was annoying to me, also the weird screen size, it looked so long and not even while watching videos, after all i had to return it and get the Note9 and i never looked back, i found Note9 screen to be a lot better, Always on display with full features is awesome unlike the Basic AOD on the Mate 20 Pro, and the One UI/ Android 9 update made the Note 9 even better.
Cheers

p30 pro vs one plus 6

hello, how are you?
I have a one plus 6 256gb
I am thinking to buy a p30 pro 256gb since the recent news about the BAN, it appeared some phones with a very good price.
So I m thinking to enjoy this.
So buy a new phone and after selling my one plus
I have some questions
Does the speaker is better than one plus 6? I hate the speaker of this phone. Is the only thing that make me sad about this phone
Can I do a swipe on the corner right to go back? (gesture ) I love this future on one plus 6. So I don't have to have buttons ( virtual or physical in a phone)
Besides that any reason for not buying or keep my actual phone?
any advice is helpful.
About the resolution of the screen. I don't like but it is the same from the one plus 6, so I think I will not feel.
I want the camera since I am travelling more, I think I will enjoy the camera.
I am worried about the system closing the apps too soon. But this maybe could be good. I got my one plus 6 very hot because I forget to close some apps that make the phone to burn ( example the unlimited VPN or the utorrent)
Thanks

Well if you're ready to face what the future holds for Huawei, then by all means make the jump. In my opinion it will definitely be a good choice.
As for the speaker, the p30 pro has a single firing one so in terms of loudness i guess you won't notice it too much but probably the quality would be better. Cant confirm this since it has been long since i sold my 6t.
Use Fluid Navigation Gestures app and you will be able to set it as you like , for instance bottom right to go back. Been using this since the mate 20 pro and never had any issues. Even used this app on my oneplus 6t last time.
Main reason for you to jump ship would definitely be the camera. It's far more superior than the oneplus 6/t.
You can always set app launch to manual so that the system wont close running apps and auto for it to auto manage apps. Never had any issues with my smartwatches and other apps which needs to be running in the background.
Overall , in due time if the ban on google is not lifted, you may be facing delayed updates with the OS. So end of the day, it's really up to you if you wan't it or not and for me , it's worth-it for the camera. Im on .161 firmware and most issues are resolved. There's no more red tint, videos no longer stutter when panning and battery is excellent.

Thanks for the reply. I did the jump and I am happy
I still miss the gesture from oneplus but overall It is very good phone
Speakers are better
Screen speaker for calls is very good, because I dont need to aim my ear to a sweat spot
Camera is superb, I feel I should use more
Fast charger os fantastic
I only charger after I sleep and not before
Thanks

alcalina said:
Thanks for the reply. I did the jump and I am happy
I still miss the gesture from oneplus but overall It is very good phone
Speakers are better
Screen speaker for calls is very good, because I dont need to aim my ear to a sweat spot
Camera is superb, I feel I should use more
Fast charger os fantastic
I only charger after I sleep and not before
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at Google Play Store and search for "gesture".
I think one of these apps can help you

P35 plus
trapcoder666 said:
Well if you're ready to face what the future holds for Huawei, then by all means make the jump. In my opinion it will definitely be a good choice.
As for the speaker, the p30 pro has a single firing one so in terms of loudness i guess you won't notice it too much but probably the quality would be better. Cant confirm this since it has been long since i sold my 6t.
Use Fluid Navigation Gestures app and you will be able to set it as you like , for instance bottom right to go back. Been using this since the mate 20 pro and never had any issues. Even used this app on my oneplus 6t last time.
Main reason for you to jump ship would definitely be the camera. It's far more superior than the oneplus 6/t.
You can always set app launch to manual so that the system wont close running apps and auto for it to auto manage apps. Never had any issues with my smartwatches and other apps which needs to be running in the background.
Overall , in due time if the ban on google is not lifted, you may be facing delayed updates with the OS. So end of the day, it's really up to you if you wan't it or not and for me , it's worth-it for the camera. Im on .161 firmware and most issues are resolved. There's no more red tint, videos no longer stutter when panning and battery is excellent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello guys.
I have a big problem
I flashed P35 plus with another firmware and it does not start
MTK-6797 scarett firmwer ... please
I'm from Romania I can't find this stock roum.
Smart Phone flash tool
CHIP TYPE NOT match
Scatter chyp type 156
targhet cype type 160

Jump from S10+ to P30 Pro?

Hello,
I came from Mate 20 Pro and now I own S10+ but I'm thinking to make a change and buy an P30 Pro. I want to know how is the camera and the display (can you see the pixels)? I don't use RAW format only normal shoots (day and night). The S10+ camera is a joke on the night shoots but on daylight is excelent.

alexxutzu said:
Hello,
I came from Mate 20 Pro and now I own S10+ but I'm thinking to make a change and buy an P30 Pro. I want to know how is the camera and the display (can you see the pixels)? I don't use RAW format only normal shoots (day and night). The S10+ camera is a joke on the night shoots but on daylight is excelent.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera is honestly a hit or miss. Some shots come out amazing... others look like they were taken on an android phone like 5 years ago. I am a professional photographer so I can pick up on many details quite well.
Have I ever used the 5x camera - nope, kinda gimmicky and only fun to show friends
Portrait mode has way too aggressive of a blurring with o k a y edge detection
Front facing camera is hit or miss with exposure and also more importantly focus and sharpness
Rear camera photos are a lot of time wayyy too sharp where it looks like you purposefully pumped the sharpness up in an editor.
Night time photography is amazing though, like actually really really amazing.
Camera is overall pretty meh though tbh
Display:
Nice colors, pretty accurate.
Pixel density is low, coming from a 2k device I will never choose a 1080p panel ever again.
Only thing keeping me on this phone is the battery life

Just do it. I missed the screen first couple of days then got used to it ... Camera, battery life, super fast charging even using car charger made my life easier. Even video recording, there is no 60 4k but zooming and night mode on this thing makes it unbeatable

Thank you for reply. I wait for other impressions.

dannyqanaah said:
Camera is honestly a hit or miss. Some shots come out amazing... others look like they were taken on an android phone like 5 years ago. I am a professional photographer so I can pick up on many details quite well.
Have I ever used the 5x camera - nope, kinda gimmicky and only fun to show friends
Portrait mode has way too aggressive of a blurring with o k a y edge detection
Front facing camera is hit or miss with exposure and also more importantly focus and sharpness
Rear camera photos are a lot of time wayyy too sharp where it looks like you purposefully pumped the sharpness up in an editor.
Night time photography is amazing though, like actually really really amazing.
Camera is overall pretty meh though tbh
Display:
Nice colors, pretty accurate.
Pixel density is low, coming from a 2k device I will never choose a 1080p panel ever again.
Only thing keeping me on this phone is the battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree in most parts!
I don't think that worth change a S10+ for a P30 PRO, for me they are equivalents.

dannyqanaah said:
Camera is honestly a hit or miss. Some shots come out amazing... others look like they were taken on an android phone like 5 years ago. I am a professional photographer so I can pick up on many details quite well.
Have I ever used the 5x camera - nope, kinda gimmicky and only fun to show friends
Portrait mode has way too aggressive of a blurring with o k a y edge detection
Front facing camera is hit or miss with exposure and also more importantly focus and sharpness
Rear camera photos are a lot of time wayyy too sharp where it looks like you purposefully pumped the sharpness up in an editor.
Night time photography is amazing though, like actually really really amazing.
Camera is overall pretty meh though tbh
Display:
Nice colors, pretty accurate.
Pixel density is low, coming from a 2k device I will never choose a 1080p panel ever again.
Only thing keeping me on this phone is the battery life
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel the same way ... After mate 10 pro i swear to myself would be iPhone or pixel only , than my provider came with and offer the P30 Pro cheap...i got and lemme Tell you .. is a great peace of hardware but seems that chinese companies cant code ... And software is almost everything nowadays!

i agree with danny....EMUI and screen resolution are the main downsides. My previous phone was the Samsung Note 9. Low resolution makes the finer details look pixelated.
Zoom and bokeh are pretty nice and useful (for me since i can take pic of notes from the blackboard from far away). Battery life is amazing. If only the P30 Pro has OneUI and a QHD screen, this phone would be perfect.

Thanks guys! For me the resolution is not a peoblem even my s10+ stays on full hd resolution. Also I like the EMUI it's not a big deal for me . My concerns are the low pixel density of the screen and the camera on daylight.

I just moved to the P30 Pro from an iPhone 6
I looked at both in teh store, read reviews, watch reviews and they both seem to be as good as each other depending on what the situation is
I went with teh P30 just to be a bit differenet

Cameras on both S10+ and P30 Pro are excellent, but I think Night Mode on Huawei is superior to Samsungs, although Sammy has improved it in last update. As for EMUI, well, it depends. It's kinda messy but once you tune some things here and there I think it's nice. At least I have no problem with it. It feels more responsive than Samsung's One UI (and previously TouchWiz). Super Charging is extremely helpful, I remember when I had Note9 it's fast charging was a joke, it was comparable to 2015 charging rate.

Monnq said:
Cameras on both S10+ and P30 Pro are excellent, but I think Night Mode on Huawei is superior to Samsungs, although Sammy has improved it in last update. As for EMUI, well, it depends. It's kinda messy but once you tune some things here and there I think it's nice. At least I have no problem with it. It feels more responsive than Samsung's One UI (and previously TouchWiz). Super Charging is extremely helpful, I remember when I had Note9 it's fast charging was a joke, it was comparable to 2015 charging rate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I compared S10+ Night mode with Mate 20 Pro Night mode and I tell you that S10+ Night mode it's a joke even with last update.

s10+ day shot is very good but its look like editing the color are not normal , night shot is not usable its not good charge is slow and battery life is bad the screen is perfect but because of battery life i was use it on FHD+ and if you buy it you will too , in QHD the battery life almost 4 H OST , the stereo sound is perfect .
the P30 pro i love this camera in day and night , very speed charge and a good battery life . the screen is good for me and the sound is high but not stereo , i change from s10+ to p30 pro because of battery life and heating over gaming , if you have any Question just ask man

Recently swapped to the p30pro from s10plus.
Things I really miss.
Great video recording
Excellent stereo speakers
Headphone jack
Screen
Ui.. A little
Ear piece speaker for phone calls.
Things to consider when buying a P30pro.
Tiny symmetrical notch.
Camera zoom... Obviously.
Battery life.
Bluetooth audio lag is worst on this phone.
Speaker sucks ass
Video recording is OK.
Cannot turn off EIS in video like you can on the s10plus... Annoying.
Weird ui.
You will need nova launcher prime
Still Camera is amazing.

ipmanwck said:
Recently swapped to the p30pro from s10plus.
Things I really miss.
Great video recording
Excellent stereo speakers
Headphone jack
Screen
Ui.. A little
Ear piece speaker for phone calls.
Things to consider when buying a P30pro.
Tiny symmetrical notch.
Camera zoom... Obviously.
Battery life.
Bluetooth audio lag is worst on this phone.
Speaker sucks ass
Video recording is OK.
Cannot turn off EIS in video like you can on the s10plus... Annoying.
Weird ui.
You will need nova launcher prime
Still Camera is amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How does the battery life compare

Hazzay88 said:
How does the battery life compare
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
P30 Pro = 2 days between charges, almost unknown with moment smartphones of any brand

dezborders said:
P30 Pro = 2 days between charges, almost unknown with moment smartphones of any brand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is the battery life better than your S10+

Hazzay88 said:
Is the battery life better than your S10+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it's a lot better than the S10+

gnasher666 said:
Yeah, it's a lot better than the S10+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is good to hear

I went from S9+ to P30 Pro and I am really satisfied so far.
Battery life is way better.
Screen is less sharp, but also less warm-leaning then Samsung with its orange tint (which may actually more accurate but doesn't look as good subjectively). I cannot distinguish single pixels
Camera is indeed a hit-or-miss that also was the case on my Samsung. The photos that do come out better are incredible and low light performance just obliterates. the S9+. In my opinion all modern flagships are good enough when lighting conditions are easy, but low light is where it matters. Macro is amazing but arguably a bit gimmicky, Zoom is a nice addition on vacations.
S10 has better screen, better UI, better support for Samsung peripherals like 360° cam and Smartwatches, can easily be rooted and flashed. Also gaming performance is better if you are into emulating Wii and PSP games.

I had an S10+ and broke it recently. I decided to get a P30 Pro dual sim and have no regrets. Aurora blue is an awesome looking phone!! I don't notice the screen resolution all that much, I don't play games so I don't need high res. The battery is a lot better on this phone. Went golfing this weekend and left phone in car, after 5 hours battery dropped 2%, my S10+ would have dropped at least 10-15%. One thing I really miss is Smart Lock. I can't find an equivalent on the P30. I think the camera is just as good as my S10+. Still not convinced on the USB headphones. I know the first trip on a plane I go on and watch a movie without being able to charge my phone while I have the headset on will probably bug me. Might have to use Bluetooth from now on. Also, what's with the Nano memory. You can't buy them anywhere other than Amazon. I ordered one but it said two weeks delivery. I hate proprietary devices!! Under screen fingerprint is the same on both phones, sometimes it works well, other times it fails. After using the P30 Pro over the weekend I think they are comparable phones and the P30 Pro was a LOT cheaper than the S10+. Bought the S10+ off Samsung site for $1700 CDN and the P30 Pro was $1199 CDN off Amazon.

7 things I wish I knew before buying the K20 Pro

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.
Click to expand...
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
Click to expand...
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.
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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.
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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?
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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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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.
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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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whats weird is many of mine country already gotten android 10 update , i didnt received any

Question Thinking about getting the ZenFone 8, is it worth it?

I am thinking about switching phones from my OnePlus 9. I like my OP9, but it is very glitchy for what it is supposed to be and really the only thing that impresses me is the WarpCharge feature. I am very fond of smaller phones, such as the ZenFone 8. I haven't purchased an ASUS device at all before, not even a computer.
Who has it and do you think it is worth even considering? My daily use consists of social media, internet browsing, and watching videos. It is very rarely that I download a game and play it on mobile. I also prefer somewhat swift updates, but have been an avid Motorola user before and was perfectly fine with their update timings.

I'm also in the same boat however 'm using Nord now..not very much satisfied with it..Oneplus really lost its glory now a days . Also 'm looking for compact phones..ZF8 seems to be perfect..would like to hear from real users..

I'm on the same boat except I'm using Xiaomi Mi 9T. Zenfone 8 looks like a perfect phone but I heard the thermals are bad and it gets hot af, like really hot.

I have it and the only down side is standby drain. Even after a few system updates my drain is about 50-100% higher than my op6. It's gotten better since the first version, but still not great.
I love it's form factor, GUI fluidity, Asus apps are great.
I haven't played any games so I can't really say anything about thermals.. never felt any temperature build-up.

andelf_x said:
I have it and the only down side is standby drain. Even after a few system updates my drain is about 50-100% higher than my op6. It's gotten better since the first version, but still not great.
I love it's form factor, GUI fluidity, Asus apps are great.
I haven't played any games so I can't really say anything about thermals.. never felt any temperature build-up.
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Does it last at least around 6-8 hours?

The screen isn't the best and the battery drains a bit too quick, but I'd say it's worth it. I like the stock ROM. The power button can be customised to perform two different actions, Game Genie shows CPU, GPU, battery, temperature and FPS, Optiflex speeds up apps and reduces battery usage. Also, didn't expect to find system performance modes, dt2w, dt2s or gestures, which, if drawn while the screen is off, launch apps.

Undead_Son said:
The screen isn't the best and the battery drains a bit too quick, but I'd say it's worth it. I like the stock ROM. The power button can be customised to perform two different actions, Game Genie shows CPU, GPU, battery, temperature and FPS, Optiflex speeds up apps and reduces battery usage. Also, didn't expect to find system performance modes, dt2w, dt2s or gestures, which, if drawn while the screen is off, launch apps.
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Click to collapse
How long does the battery last for you?

Undead_Son said:
The screen isn't the best and the battery drains a bit too quick, but I'd say it's worth it. I like the stock ROM. The power button can be customised to perform two different actions, Game Genie shows CPU, GPU, battery, temperature and FPS, Optiflex speeds up apps and reduces battery usage. Also, didn't expect to find system performance modes, dt2w, dt2s or gestures, which, if drawn while the screen is off, launch apps.
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Click to collapse
This opinion is very subjective and quite off.
The screen isn't the best? Maybe there are literally few phones with better screens but it's definitely among the very top. No idea what is wrong with it.
Battery drain? I get easily 6h SOT and whole day use. No issues at all. 8h during night eats me like 5-8 percent. The good is that all my smartwatches and earbuds are very stable and I get no disconnections like on Huawei flagship phones.
I can confirm that coming video in bright sun in 30 Celsius gets the phone hot, very hot. I think that's normal. And it's waterproof so I've just taken it underwater for 5s and it was back to normal.
If you can live with the cut out camera - this phone is brilliant.
I was using LG V30 and Huawei Mate 20 before this and I see no downsides. Everything is better than on those two. I like them all.

Kemez said:
This opinion is very subjective and quite off.
The screen isn't the best? Maybe there are literally few phones with better screens but it's definitely among the very top. No idea what is wrong with it.
Battery drain? I get easily 6h SOT and whole day use. No issues at all. 8h during night eats me like 5-8 percent. The good is that all my smartwatches and earbuds are very stable and I get no disconnections like on Huawei flagship phones.
I can confirm that coming video in bright sun in 30 Celsius gets the phone hot, very hot. I think that's normal. And it's waterproof so I've just taken it underwater for 5s and it was back to normal.
If you can live with the cut out camera - this phone is brilliant.
I was using LG V30 and Huawei Mate 20 before this and I see no downsides. Everything is better than on those two. I like them all.
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Click to collapse
Awesome reply! I believe I will be purchasing it to replace my OP9.

Kemez said:
This opinion is very subjective and quite off.
The screen isn't the best? Maybe there are literally few phones with better screens but it's definitely among the very top. No idea what is wrong with it.
Battery drain? I get easily 6h SOT and whole day use. No issues at all. 8h during night eats me like 5-8 percent. The good is that all my smartwatches and earbuds are very stable and I get no disconnections like on Huawei flagship phones.
I can confirm that coming video in bright sun in 30 Celsius gets the phone hot, very hot. I think that's normal. And it's waterproof so I've just taken it underwater for 5s and it was back to normal.
If you can live with the cut out camera - this phone is brilliant.
I was using LG V30 and Huawei Mate 20 before this and I see no downsides. Everything is better than on those two. I like them all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I said "not the best" I had two things in mind. First the backlight issue at 60 and 120 Hz. As for the second one, few days ago my Zf8 was on a desk together with my previous phone (Xperia 5 II). I think I had some web pages open on both at the time because the screens were mostly white. When I looked at them while standing and almost at a flat angle, I immediately noticed that the Xperia's screen was white as a sheet of paper, Zenfone's wasn't. I assumed the Xperia's screen can be viewed without distortion at wider angles.
I played one game which is locked at 30 FPS, CPU and GPU usage was 10-30%, temp stayed at 36-37C. Will try something more demanding and see if it can go over 40C during the weekend.
Edit: idle drain 0.5%/h, but Franco Kernel Manager shows 0.28% for some reason

Good topic to keep track of.
Right now i have a OnePlus 9 Pro and as i really like it I'm kind of done with big smartphones.
As i had the Pixel 5 before i was thinking about going back and then the ZenFone 8 came to my attention.
It's damn ugly but that's something that can be changed with a case or skin.
I'm in doubt about the camera's compared to the Pixel 5 but the reviews I've seen so far seems quite good, not the best but good and comparable to the OnePlus 9.
I also read that Asus's update policy is not very reliable.
Anyone can give their opinion about this parts?
Everything else about this phone seems really good!

After using the zenfone 8 and Pixel 5 I went for the Pixel 5 because of the insanely better battery life than on the zenfone 8
Zenfone 8 had a slightly better camera with gcam but overall I was more impressed with the Pixel 5

It is true that other phones may have better battery, the Mate 20 I have is much better but at the cost of unreliable smart devices connection.
I can't get 2 days of my normal usage out of any phone. If I go hiking and just have the phone with me the Zenfone will also last 2-3 days easily. For me 1 day is the requirement and Zenfone does it easily.
The cameras are really good and with gcam and the right settings in there it gives great, real to life pictures. The super wide camera has the same sensor as Pixel 5. The main and selfie are even better and newer.
And the main thing - here in Poland the Pixel is 290USD more expensive than Asus. At the same price I'd probably buy the Pixel as it is a more established brand and has better support.
People write here that ZF8 can be bad at getting updates but the initial month had 4 updates. Can't see anything wrong here.
If the ZF9 will be the same size and gets the flip camera I will 100% buy it.

Kemez said:
It is true that other phones may have better battery, the Mate 20 I have is much better but at the cost of unreliable smart devices connection.
I can't get 2 days of my normal usage out of any phone. If I go hiking and just have the phone with me the Zenfone will also last 2-3 days easily. For me 1 day is the requirement and Zenfone does it easily.
The cameras are really good and with gcam and the right settings in there it gives great, real to life pictures. The super wide camera has the same sensor as Pixel 5. The main and selfie are even better and newer.
And the main thing - here in EU the Pixel is 290USD more expensive than Asus. At the same price I'd probably buy the Pixel as it is a more established brand and has better support.
People write here that ZF8 can be bad at getting updates but the initial month had 4 updates. Can't see anything wrong here.
If the ZF9 will be the same size and gets the flip camera I will 100% buy it.
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Click to collapse
Pixel has a different sensor for the ultra wide. For the others i can't comment on that but it seems they are at least very close to each when it comes to picture quality.
It's so strange that the price difference in the world is so big. Here in the Netherlands the zenfone 8 is more expensive compared to the Pixel 5.

I can't say much on the phone as I've not used one yet, but from my own research and a friend whose ordered one, I can give me opinion. The specs are great, I think it exceeds in every category, but the camera. I don't the camera is as good as it could be, and maybe even the screen. The 120hz is real nice though. It's all personal preference really. I'm a Samsung guy but have been trying other phones because, well, why not. I'm by far not an expert, but I most certainly will share my opinion with you. My friend did mention that his tends to get hot, really hot. Keep that in mind.

Pollie81 said:
Pixel has a different sensor for the ultra wide. For the others i can't comment on that but it seems they are at least very close to each when it comes to picture quality.
It's so strange that the price difference in the world is so big. Here in the Netherlands the zenfone 8 is more expensive compared to the Pixel 5.
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The wide camera sensor in ZF8 is the same as main in Pixel. At least I read that.

KaydenMcCurdyTech said:
I can't say much on the phone as I've not used one yet, but from my own research and a friend whose ordered one, I can give me opinion. The specs are great, I think it exceeds in every category, but the camera. I don't the camera is as good as it could be, and maybe even the screen. The 120hz is real nice though. It's all personal preference really. I'm a Samsung guy but have been trying other phones because, well, why not. I'm by far not an expert, but I most certainly will share my opinion with you. My friend did mention that his tends to get hot, really hot. Keep that in mind.
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Barely felt any heat so far. When exactly does it get hot for your friend?

We
Undead_Son said:
Barely felt any heat so far. When exactly does it get hot for your friend?
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Anything that runs the CPU/GPU high. You have to enable performance mode (or custom mode for max performance/temp limit) to let it get hot though. Case mitigates its feel to an extent.
And it can get burning hot, try it on any 3d game.

mestermagyar said:
We
Anything that runs the CPU/GPU high. You have to enable performance mode (or custom mode for max performance/temp limit) to let it get hot though. Case mitigates its feel to an extent.
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Ah that explains it, thanks

mestermagyar said:
We
Anything that runs the CPU/GPU high. You have to enable performance mode (or custom mode for max performance/temp limit) to let it get hot though. Case mitigates its feel to an extent.
And it can get burning hot, try it on any 3d game.
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That really riddles me. So there are non gaming phones that do not get hot in similar settings? Especially during summer?