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1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Please feel free to mention any other points about this phone that might help me in making my decision.
Cheers
_ray_ said:
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Please feel free to mention any other points about this phone that might help me in making my decision.
Cheers
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Click to collapse
1. i had an OPO and i guess it not supported anymore, but i installed a custom ROM the first day i got it and custom ROM support is amazing, there is still a big community. Guess there wont be many other devices being better off.
2. couldnt be easier. All u need to do is just follow the instruction given for the ROM. Support in this forum is also given.
3. For me the latency is the same as it feels with my gf's pixel phone. Camera i cant say much cuz the only fotos i do is about documents and writings. But these are super easy to read. I have no idea thogh how beautiful pictures will get.
4. what do u mean? there wont be any sales on the phone
I came from the D855 (G3) was a huge step i was going to wait for SD835 smartphone but my phone died, so i wanted something super fast, and unlocked, when i mean unlocked is a company that gives you acess to the hardware this is bootloader unlock, as many companys do NOT, the phone is tremendous fast, fingerprinting in 0.2sec it opens before you blink, the screen looks way better than my G3 which was the first 2k screen, its vivid and bright, dash charging is awesome it charge your phone way to fast xD, its the first phone that i dont need to let it in charger over night, 3.4A battery is more than enought, 8h+ of SOT? i had at must 1.5 to 2h of sot on my D855, huge huge difference, for the moment this is by a large margin the best device you can buy, as for the cameras or any other features i dont care, they do the work just fine, i have a mirrorless camera for photography so i dont care about the camera, its still packs a 16MP on front camera which get you a very sharp face if you are a selfie person, anyother i just got this phone by its hardware, super fast and cheap for a flagship? i spent 439 + karbon case this phone worth every penny, so go for it it feels very nice in the hand, and the metal its of nice quality! it even comes with a screen protector by default thats a nice touch from them! oneplus is a great company you wont Regret it!
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
OnePlus does a decent job but don't expect Nexus-grade updates. You'll mostly be relying on the XDA community.
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
Very Easy. Unlock bootloader from bootloader menu, flash twrp via fastboot, flash a custom rom and that's it.
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
Touchscreen latency was never THAT bad unless you're a pretentious user. You shouldn't worry this because most custom kernels improve it, and at some point it will be fixed completely by OnePlus. Camera is decent, the sensor is the same as the one in V20. It's the processing that sucks compared to other phones, so don't expect much.
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Not sure what you mean. But i'm certain you will be satisfied of the phone for the price paid.
xhitm3n said:
I came from the D855 (G3) was a huge step i was going to wait for SD835 smartphone but my phone died, so i wanted something super fast, and unlocked, when i mean unlocked is a company that gives you acess to the hardware this is bootloader unlock, as many companys do NOT, the phone is tremendous fast, fingerprinting in 0.2sec it opens before you blink, the screen looks way better than my G3 which was the first 2k screen, its vivid and bright, dash charging is awesome it charge your phone way to fast xD, its the first phone that i dont need to let it in charger over night, 3.4A battery is more than enought, 8h+ of SOT? i had at must 1.5 to 2h of sot on my D855, huge huge difference, for the moment this is by a large margin the best device you can buy, as for the cameras or any other features i dont care, they do the work just fine, i have a mirrorless camera for photography so i dont care about the camera, its still packs a 16MP on front camera which get you a very sharp face if you are a selfie person, anyother i just got this phone by its hardware, super fast and cheap for a flagship? i spent 439 + karbon case this phone worth every penny, so go for it it feels very nice in the hand, and the metal its of nice quality! it even comes with a screen protector by default thats a nice touch from them! oneplus is a great company you wont Regret it!
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I was on exactly same situation last week. [emoji2]
_ray_ said:
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Please feel free to mention any other points about this phone that might help me in making my decision.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI,
Note: I had the op3 and now i am using the op3t from dec.
1. Updates on the op are fairly quick, as of now we have an open beta for 7.1.1 with march security patch. We will be getting the full update sometime in this month.
2.This is where the op devices shine the most.The op community is great,you will get the community app installed on the device. you can find all required the guides for unlocking,roms and troubleshooting there.The op3t has support for all the popular custom roms so you can get the updates asap.
3.The touch latency issue is still there but it is not that bad.The camera is not bad at all.Its a great camera for the price and takes great pics in good light conditions but the low light photos are not that great.If you are a serious camera buff you might be disappointed.
4.After sales is bad here in India. Its handled by a company called servify. Had the op3 and i broke it in 3 weeks of purchase. I had got their one year "accidental damage protection" thingy so i went to the service center fairly optimistic . After looking at the phone they said "the back of your is damaged and we do not cover cosmetic parts under our insurance, we will fix the screen for free". I was angry but agreed to get it fixed any way. After that they say if you want to go through our insurance you have to open a claim via the op app,we cannot do it here. I returned home did what they said and after two days i got a call from some shady insurance company refusing my claim saying there is something wrong with my paperwork.Even after doing all the things they said they still refused it. But I loved my phone so tried to get it repaired any way. Here op3 costs 28k. After making a claim they told me i have to pay 12k for the screen,10k for the back and 1k for repair . Thats 23k,roughly 83% of what i paid for the phone in the first place.
Alek123 said:
1. How often do OP update their phones, do the older model get ignored compared to the new ones ?
OnePlus does a decent job but don't expect Nexus-grade updates. You'll mostly be relying on the XDA community.
2. How easy is it to unlock/flash new roms on this phone, since this will be my primary focus ?
Very Easy. Unlock bootloader from bootloader menu, flash twrp via fastboot, flash a custom rom and that's it.
3. How bad is touchscreen latency and camera performance with latest update ?
Touchscreen latency was never THAT bad unless you're a pretentious user. You shouldn't worry this because most custom kernels improve it, and at some point it will be fixed completely by OnePlus. Camera is decent, the sensor is the same as the one in V20. It's the processing that sucks compared to other phones, so don't expect much.
4. Should I be worried about bad after-sales here in UK ?
Not sure what you mean. But i'm certain you will be satisfied of the phone for the price paid.
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I was having same issue last week but now OK.
Thanks for the replies everyone.
One thing i am quite worried about is that like most companies the older models of OP have been not getting any updates from OP at all, e.g Android 7.0. Also custom ROM development on older models seems to be very slow and most major Dev have moved on to newer models unlike older Nexus which is still supported after all those years. I know I can get Nougat support via custom ROMs but support for old devices is one of the main things I am looking for, since I am planning to keep my phone for at least 2 years.
I think i am going to hold on to my G3 for a bit longer and see what other options are available later on during this year.
_ray_ said:
Thanks for the replies everyone.
One thing i am quite worried about is that like most companies the older models of OP have been not getting any updates from OP at all, e.g Android 7.0. Also custom ROM development on older models seems to be very slow and most major Dev have moved on to newer models unlike older Nexus which is still supported after all those years. I know I can get Nougat support via custom ROMs but support for old devices is one of the main things I am looking for, since I am planning to keep my phone for at least 2 years.
I think i am going to hold on to my G3 for a bit longer and see what other options are available later on during this year.
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Edit: just look at the first OnePlus model and the 7.1.1 roms and kernels that are available and beeing actively supported, this is a 3 year old phone.
If you`re always looking for the next big thing or latest technology you can never ever buy a phone again. There will always be new devices that will be released throughout the year I ordered mine (coming from a iPhone 7 Plus) because i think and according to the reviews its a solid phone for a descent price.
I've had this Nexus 6 since it first came out and now it's giving me signs of stutter (especially with the camera app or snapchat), the battery also seems to be wearing out, barely lasts me half a day and I constantly have to charge it. I want to upgrade this device to something much better, but I would like to point out that I am on Verizon so CDMA devices only, (I wanted to get the OnePlus 3T).
So instead I started contemplating on upgrading to the S8+ especially with that $100 off deal at best buy, not really interested in the Pixel XL though or iphone lineup (had an iphone for 4 years, its boring). I had a Galaxy S5 before for about a month or so and it had a defect in the camera so I got a refund on that and got a Nexus 6 instead and now here I am 2 years later. Would definitely love to give Samsung devices another try. Anyways, what do you guys think? Which device should I upgrade to or any suggestions?
Change your carrier. If you have Verizon, your options are pretty much what is available from Verizon, and all of them are going to have a locked bootloader, even the Pixel/Pixel XL. Switching to a GSM carrier like T-Mobile will allow you to get the device you truly want.
And, before you say "but I like Verizon", Verizon uses CDMA, and CDMA is a living fossil that doesn't know that it's supposed to be extinct.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Change your carrier. If you have Verizon, your options are pretty much what is available from Verizon, and all of them are going to have a locked bootloader, even the Pixel/Pixel XL. Switching to a GSM carrier like T-Mobile will allow you to get the device you truly want.
And, before you say "but I like Verizon", Verizon uses CDMA, and CDMA is a living fossil that doesn't know that it's supposed to be extinct.
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I see where you're coming from but switching to T-MOBILE is not an option, where I work and live I used to get little to no reception with them, from there I switched to At&t and the service was even worse, they're also very bad in customer support whenever I had problems.
Hence me having to stick with Verizon.
Then your only real option is to head to Lenovorola's website and purchase an unlocked CDMA device from them. It's the only way to preserve your ability to modify the device, since it should not have a locked bootloader. Samsung isn't an option as they lock bootloaders on all US devices now, plus there's Touchwiz to consider. Most of the other manufacturers focus on GSM because of its worldwide reach.
Have you done a factory reset recently? That may improve both lag and battery. Also, someone mentioned that the April update improves lag.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Then your only real option is to head to Lenovorola's website and purchase an unlocked CDMA device from them. It's the only way to preserve your ability to modify the device, since it should not have a locked bootloader. Samsung isn't an option as they lock bootloaders on all US devices now, plus there's Touchwiz to consider. Most of the other manufacturers focus on GSM because of its worldwide reach.
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To be honest, I don't care much for modifying my device anymore, I use it as is for calls, texts, web browsing etc. Maybe the occasional file transfer between my PC and that might be all. And regarding TouchWiz, that is true, but I'm hoping there will be some sort of pixel launcher available to flash for S8+ in the near future or can get something off of the play store.
runekock said:
Have you done a factory reset recently? That may improve both lag and battery. Also, someone mentioned that the April update improves lag.
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Right now I'm on Pure Nexus ROM and the functionality is great, the stutter is only evident when I multitask heavily which leads to fast battery drain as well as taking pictures. Can't tell you the number of times I missed those one in a million moments because the camera app took too long to load or take the picture.
Also I've done many clean installs, these sort of problems seem to stick.
Changing the launcher only hides Touchwiz. It doesn't stop the resource drain that has plagued Touchwiz since its inception. Hell, I could drop a copy of Nova Launcher on my roommate's unmodified SIII and hide most of the ugliness of Touchwiz, but I still would have to face the issue that Touchwiz is a resource hog.
If you're not here to mod your device then why are you here? After all, it's called XDA Developers for a reason.
Okay, that sure sounds like you need more ram. And considering that 64-bit is less ram-efficient, 4 GB may not be a noticeable improvement. If you can't get 6 GB, then (oh how I hate saying this) you may want to turn to Apple - they are rumoured to have better memory management.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
If you're not here to mod your device then why are you here? After all, it's called XDA Developers for a reason.
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haha you got me there, i myself am a programmer in C++ and C#, but aside that maybe I made an overstatement in not caring about modding. I'm still going to get root and have certain mods and tweaks like YouTube Ad Blockers and LSpeed for init.d changes, but I won't be as avid on it as I used to be.
I decided I'm going to get the S8+ and await root for it.
Since my phone has a corporate partition on it root is not an option for me... so I am waiting for Pixel 2. If I had to have a phone now it would be a Pixel. Touchwiz was so janky (and barely updated) on the last Samsung that I had I will not be going that route again.
aroy97 said:
To be honest, I don't care much for modifying my device anymore, I use it as is for calls, texts, web browsing etc. Maybe the occasional file transfer between my PC and that might be all. And regarding TouchWiz, that is true, but I'm hoping there will be some sort of pixel launcher available to flash for S8+ in the near future or can get something off of the play store.
Right now I'm on Pure Nexus ROM and the functionality is great, the stutter is only evident when I multitask heavily which leads to fast battery drain as well as taking pictures. Can't tell you the number of times I missed those one in a million moments because the camera app took too long to load or take the picture.
Also I've done many clean installs, these sort of problems seem to stick.
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If you're OK with not modifying and/or not rooting the best phone VZW has, and I'm in the same spot you are - except I need to root and modify, is the Droid Z Force. It's an awesome phone - or hold out and pray the Asus Zenfone AR comes to VZW and is affordable
I know it only works on tmo or ATT, but I sold my Pixel, and got this phone, and no doubt, its the best android device I have ever seen or tried..
no real dev for it, but I couldnt care less, since its incredible just stock; plus I still have my shamu if I want to play around, but frankly havent flashed anything in weeks, I like this phone so much..
http://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobile-phones/mate9pro/index.htm
Hi all, ready to move on from my Nexus 6. Would love some pro's/con's from this community on how happy I'd be to make this switch. I've ready G5S plus give great bang for buck and has a good modding community which is a must have for me.
Any thoughts on making the G5S + my primary phone??
All I can say is I love mine and I came from a Nexus 4.
You calling it "moving on" rather than an upgrade is pretty accurate. It's an upgrade overall, but not as much as you might think for a 3-year newer model. You need to realize that the Nexus 6 was a $700 phone (when first released) and the G5S Plus is a $300 phone. The improvements with the G5S Plus is that it's 64-bit hardware, even though the stock ROM is 32-bit and most people highly suspect the Oreo update (if it ever comes) will also be 32-bit. Because it's not a Nexus, the G5S Plus has a microSD slot so you have the potential to have a lot more storage, but the camera hardware is not great (despite the fancy dual lens). The camera works out if flash a 3rd-party 64-bit ROM and use the Google Camera, but I can't do that (see below). On the US model there is no NFC, so no AndroidPay (I didn't care, but some might).
My personal experience with unlocking/rooting/ROMing the two phones has been very different when I thought it would be far more similar (since they're both Motorola). The best way to describe the process with the G5S Plus is kludgy, and it's not all that easy to go back to stock since there are no official, signed stock images for the G5S Plus. Stock updates (even security updates) are few and far between. This just isn't a Nexus. The Nexus 6 had a lot more 3rd-party development options and support, and the G5S Plus has now been out long enough that what you see here now is probably all we're going to get. I haven't had much luck with the existing 3rd-party ROMs working well with my carrier (Sprint). The ROM features seem to mostly work fine, but the carrier settings don't work at all on Sprint, and when I try to change them I completely lose my mobile signal and don't get it back until I reset network settings. This makes it highly questionable how successful I'll be with these 3rd-party ROMs when roaming, even just locally in the USA. I have no faith in these ROMs working when roaming internationally. The reason why I'm encountering the same problem with all of these 3rd-party ROMs is I'm pretty sure all of them are using the same base from the same developer. So if you're like me and have a problem with any of these ROMs, you'll likely have the same problem with all of them.
Overall? I wish I'd gotten the Pixel 2 XL. But although I can afford to pay $1000 for a phone, I'm not going to because that's just ridiculous. I've looked around...thoroughly. There just isn't really anything out there any better featured that doesn't at least cost $700, so I'm still using the G5S Plus. I may be a little more limited than you because I'm Sprint (CDMA) whereas people on GSM networks might have more options. I've had to go back to stock rooted 7.1.1, which isn't horrible but not really ideal (and not what I'm used to with the Nexus 6). But I can't successfully get the G5S Plus back to stock unrooted to even take security updates, so I'm on the October security patch. When the stock Oreo update is released, I don't see me being able to take that either. I'm hoping that development community here will put out a flashable stock Oreo ROM then, but then I'll still be in the same boat with OTA Oreo security patches. This is a very capable phone with some nice features, but if you liked being a flashaholic on the Nexus 6, I wouldn't necessarily expect the same experience on the G5S Plus.
FYI, I'm not a developer, but far from being a noob. I've been rooting/ROMing/modifying Android devices (HTC, Samsung, Motorola) since the Froyo days. I would have to rank this phone as the most difficult Android device I've owned to do all that.
I can tell a slightly more upbeat story.
Migrated from a Nexus 6P which I loved dearly, but after spending a small fortune on battery replacements realised it was time to call it a day.
I am very pleased with the Moto. Honestly? I see very little functional difference between this and the 6P in my use case. The screen is slightly smaller. From a Nexus 6 it would be more noticeable I suspect. I recovered the real estate by turning off the nav bar and using fingerprint swipe gestures (which are nice once you get used to them). It is fast and fluid in use and I genuinely don't see anything different in use from the 6P from the end user's perspective. I use my phone mainly for work and the intertubes so not fussed about the camera. When I point it at things what ends up on the phone looks vaguely like what I pointed the phone at. That fulfils my criteria although I have recently started tinkering with some of the hacked GCam apps from the Pixel just for the "because I can" factor.
Internetpilot is right, the development scene is a fraction of what you'd see on a Nexus or Pixel. However, as a long standing flashaholic from the very early days of Android (HTC Magic anyone?) I found myself more than happy with rooted stock for a long time. Moto's stock rom is bloat free and works extremely well. I did try a couple of custom roms early on and found them not as smooth or stable as the stock one, so reverted and ran stock for about six months until very recently.
Internetpilot is right in that it is very difficult to get the thing back to a stock state once you start tinkering. I was in a similar boat whidh meant I couldn't accept OTAs. This was what finally prompted me to try the custom ROM scene again. It has improved in leaps and bounds since last year. Currently running Pixel Experience Oreo and it is rock solid. It's been a keeper for me. But it is worth bearing in mind that if you root then you will be on your own and probably end up forced down the custom ROM boat as I have. It would be a lot easier if Moto had flashable stock images, but it's not a show stopper if your plan was basically to go custom from the get go.
I can't agree with Internetpilot hat it's any major difficulty to unlock, root and flash. You go to Moto's website, you get an unlock code, you unlock your bootloader, you flash TWRP and away you go. Not significantly different from the process I've done on most phones I've had since the HTC Magic days. I've had Sonys that were more grief than this.
I can't speak for any of this CDMA stuff as I am not transatlantically challenged . I've had no problems with my own network provider (Vodafone UK) or roaming on any rom. But if you're stateside clearly that's something you'd need to consider. It's worth also noting that most of the community are in developing countries eg India where this phone has quite a bit of a foothold.
But generally this is a lot of phone for the money. It's a good time for the low-mid range Android phone market. I chose this phone because I didn't want to pay stupid money for a top end device and I really didn't like the 18:9 form factor. The Moto is generally the same form factor as my beloved 6P and the price is right. Now if you have a bit more to spend, the Oneplus 5T looks interesting and perhaps might have a more Nexus-like community. Other options in the Moto's price range include the Honor 7X which I might well have bought instead if it'd been available when I bought the Moto. I am also intrigued by some of the Xiaomi devices. But the tl;dr version? The Moto is highly commended. Would buy again.
Wow, thank you both for your elaborate remarks, really helpful and exactly what I was looking for. So yes I've been rotting for awhile as well (since HTC Eris) and have had some pleasant and less than pleasant experiences. Some earlier Moto droids were obv torture to get unlocked, while the Nexus 6 was certainly quite the opposite.
I'm disappointed to hear dev is so sparse, as the usual spots (Android Police, Auth, 9to5Google, etc) all said this was the best phone to look at for modding after Pixel 2 & OnePlus given it's ease of unlock and robust community. Honestly I find such great value in the ability to unlock, root etc that I do plan on doing so right away and it heavily influences my purchase decision. I suppose if I wanted just one locked in phone experience I would just go to an IPhone, but I want to be able to customize.
From a hardware perspective, I appreciate both viewpoints. Yes don't like the thought of losing screen real estate but not sure what the alternative is as other options I've looked at are 18:9. Played with the 2 XL today and was shocked at the lack of screen space in landscape. Web browsing already is limited given ads in landscape and it seems even worse in the 18:9 ratio. As to software, Internetpilot certainly makes me wary as I'm on VZW, another CDMA. Personally I've generally had a good experience with my network relative to friends of mine on Sprint, but persisting network issues concern me as I also want a smooth experience when on a different rom.
As to the financial point, agreed on both sides. Certainly bang for the buck kind of phone. There are better out there but I too can't stomach the thought of dropping a grand on these, just seems a bridge too far given where the prices were just a few years ago. But at the same time I really don't want to have a phone that is nothing but hassle and constant re-flashes. I'd like to find a rom that is stable, supported and simply support it and continue on.
Well, I thank you both for the time and opinions, really helpful to be sure. Internetpilot I'll certainly dig for other posts with similar concerns but if you care to share some you've come across I'll def have a look.
Thanks again to the both of you.
To clarify a bit -- the phone is no more difficult to unlock, root, and ROM than the Nexus 6. However, the reason I gave it my "most difficult" award (haha) out of all the phones I've owned, is that gaining root on a device that isn't very well supported in the 3rd-party development arena doesn't really do you much good if you can't unroot just as easily. I can't get SuperSU working on this device, so I had to resort to Magisk (which is new to me -- I've always used SuperSU) and when I perform the unroot option via the Magisk Manager app, I end up with a "bad key" error on the bootloader screen and the ROM won't boot. The same thing happens if you try to restore all the original stock partitions via TWRP. Restoring any one of the boot, recovery, and one other partition that I can't remember results in the same "bad key" error. It's gotten to the point that even though I want to get it back to stock unrooted so I can grab the latest OTA security update (and eventually get the stock Oreo update when it's released), I really hate to mess with it. It's not because I think I'm going to brick it -- it's just I know I'll end up spending hours without a phone while trying to get passed that stupid "bad key" error, and then when I finally do that, my data partition will re-encrypt so I'll lose everything and have to set the phone up all over again. Since I'm trying to get it back to stock unrooted, I can't just easily restore my apps/data with Titanium Backup (because I don't have root), so everything is either gone or all messed up, so it's a huge pain in the posterior. Both versions of TWRP we have available for this phone don't reliably backup/restore the data partition either, so you can't rely on TWRP to backup everything if you want to mess around with flashing other ROMs, etc. That's what I mean by most difficult out of all the devices I've owned. When a new ROM is released, you really have to think twice before just backing everything up and flashing it to try it. You just might end up without a working phone for 3 or 4 hours before you get everything restored back to a working state.
I don't think you'll have a problem with Verizon. I know several people who are running 3rd-party Oreo ROMs on this phone on Verizon and they don't have the same issues I do with the carrier settings blowing everything up. It just seems to be Sprint. And to clarify my problems on Sprint, the stock rooted (and unrooted) ROM works flawlessly on Sprint. I can change the carrier settings, update my PRL, even use the "secret" dial codes to change APN settings, etc. But I can't do any of that on any of these 3rd-party Oreo ROMs. The carrier settings default to Global (which strangely works on Sprint's CDMA network), but I can't change Preferred Network Type to "LTE", can't turn on data roaming, can't change the CDMA roaming mode, and can't update the PRL or device config. Like Loccy said, all of the development on this phone is from India where the phone is very popular, so they probably don't know anything about Sprint. But even with these ROMs working fine on Verizon, how long will they be updated/supported? The Moto G6/G6 Plus is likely going to be released during the Summer, and that will probably fizzle the minimal development that the G5S/G5S Plus currently has. I think Moto is going to likely support this phone longer than the 3rd-party development community will.
Yeah, those are all great points. I agree with the heart of your contention in that I absolutely love tinkering with my phone, trying new ROMs, seeing what sort of added and better features I can apply to my device, making it mine instead of having some company tell me what to do with my device. But conversely I absolutely dread those lost days when something doesn't go right and you spend days and weeks scouring the forums and doing research just to get your phone to what you deem to be an operable state. Certainly that can be part of the fun of owning a device like this but with multiple kids, job, and other life stuff getting in the way and not being an engineer by trade or anything technology related it does become a bit of a hindrance at times. I suppose I just want my cake and to eat it too, but that's not the landscape that Android lives in right now.
I also take your point that this is a mid range device that has Hardware limitations and a development community that will only support it for so long. I'd like to make a choice that has a little more longevity built into it like the 4+ years I got out of my Nexus 6.
I think I may actually go for a verizon pixel to xl give it all these conversations, can get one on payment for less than 500 out the door. While I absolutely recognize that I will probably greatly miss having total control over my device, I really like the Android software landscape and it still offers a much richer customization experience than does an iPhone.
Look, really appreciate all your feedback and thoughts. Will let you know some months down the road if the decision was a good one. Cheers.
It's a great phone and most impressive is SD 835 in it but today I found a deal on my local used market for 250$. He'll, I want to buy it but I don't know why it's so cheap. I am getting he'll of a deal here but is it any good?
I read comments on Amazon and many said it's having a heating problem. I want to buy a good phone for gaming as my Moto Z Play couldn't able to handle pubg very well.
One more thing is that the xda community had igoned Nokia 8, it doesn't have a single official custom ROM or recovery. Phone is good but all this things keeping me from not buying it. I want to know is it any good to buy a used one for 250$?
XDA community hasn't ignored it so much as Nokia/HMD haven't allowed the bootloader to be unlocked
The phone's principal other flaw is that the camera isn't great. Both the stock camera software (post processing, features) and the sensor aren't up to the quality you would expect of a 2017 flagship or even (for the most part) the Galaxy S6 I upgraded from. Until now running modded Google cam has allievated the software side, and there's an update rolling out from Friday that will add camera functionality and hopefully improve the processing and the use of the monochrome sensor. I wouldn't expect miracles though.
Other than those points this is a solid phone. The screen is a nice IPS that does good blacks, accurate colours and is capable of very high brightness. There is no heating problem and in fact this is the coolest phone I've ever used, it's a challenge to make this thing heat up. Software is as close to stock you'll get on a non-Google device. SnapDragon 835 blasts through anything you might want to do. Headphone jack seems to supply a lot of power and music sounds clean and clear. Nokia has been good with updates thus far, releasing OS and security updates better than any non-Google phone afaik.
I also found a great deal for a Nokia 8 6gb ram 128gb internal for 250$. Still thinking if i should give up my Moto Z Play for this Nokia
if quality(which can be improved with a new app) of photos is not your top priority, then you should definitely buy this one.
Manish355 said:
It's a great phone and most impressive is SD 835 in it but today I found a deal on my local used market for 250$. He'll, I want to buy it but I don't know why it's so cheap. I am getting he'll of a deal here but is it any good?
I read comments on Amazon and many said it's having a heating problem. I want to buy a good phone for gaming as my Moto Z Play couldn't able to handle pubg very well.
One more thing is that the xda community had igoned Nokia 8, it doesn't have a single official custom ROM or recovery. Phone is good but all this things keeping me from not buying it. I want to know is it any good to buy a used one for 250$?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing went wrong, it was a loss leader to get the Nokia brand up and running and noticed again.
Best phone i have owned apart from the camera in low light but the new camera app may help with that.
It's a great phone for gaming...I play pubg mobile on the maximum settings with extreme FPS settings and it's silky smooth... It does warm up a little but less then any other phone I've had while gaming, the one and only issue I have with this phone is that the power button has a little bit of rattle/play and that drives my OCD crazy.
razorsbk said:
I also found a great deal for a Nokia 8 6gb ram 128gb internal for 250$. Still thinking if i should give up my Moto Z Play for this Nokia
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't decide too, but i think i need to give up my Moto Z Play for PUBG. And SD835 is future proof too. I don't use camera that much so it's not an issue for me, i think it should be a good deal.
ngagephone said:
It's a great phone for gaming...I play pubg mobile on the maximum settings with extreme FPS settings and it's silky smooth... It does warm up a little but less then any other phone I've had while gaming, the one and only issue I have with this phone is that the power button has a little bit of rattle/play and that drives my OCD crazy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks bro, i wanted to know how PUBG runs on Nokia 8, i am gonna buy it. Only thing thats i'm scared of is Custom ROMs. I like to flash different ROMs. Man, i need to choose between Customization and Gaming.
Almajo88 said:
XDA community hasn't ignored it so much as Nokia/HMD haven't allowed the bootloader to be unlocked
The phone's principal other flaw is that the camera isn't great. Both the stock camera software (post processing, features) and the sensor aren't up to the quality you would expect of a 2017 flagship or even (for the most part) the Galaxy S6 I upgraded from. Until now running modded Google cam has allievated the software side, and there's an update rolling out from Friday that will add camera functionality and hopefully improve the processing and the use of the monochrome sensor. I wouldn't expect miracles though.
Other than those points this is a solid phone. The screen is a nice IPS that does good blacks, accurate colours and is capable of very high brightness. There is no heating problem and in fact this is the coolest phone I've ever used, it's a challenge to make this thing heat up. Software is as close to stock you'll get on a non-Google device. SnapDragon 835 blasts through anything you might want to do. Headphone jack seems to supply a lot of power and music sounds clean and clear. Nokia has been good with updates thus far, releasing OS and security updates better than any non-Google phone afaik.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, even bootloader is not possible to unlock on the phone. I am scared that I'd be bored after some time of using it. But, i think the most important thing for me would be gaming than flashing custom ROMs. I'd be buying it soon.
Guys, the Z3 Force is coming tomorrow :victory: and will be available for purchase sometime in September. It will probably feature a curved ShatterShield screen, face unlock, 3 cameras on the back like the attached render (all leaked renders were true), Snapdragon 845 processor, 6/64GB and maybe 8/128 storage, no front facing LED flash for some reason. Moto will also show a 5G Moto Mod with a built in power pack (hopefully).
Who is buying it? I'm getting one for sure.
I found a couple of hint links but none of them show any pictures:
https://www.amazon.com/OEAGO-Motorola-Protector-Anti-Scratch-Replacement/dp/B0775G18C8
https://www.amazon.com/OEAGO-Flexible-Premium-Rubber-Silicone/dp/B0773NQDQY
http://www.skinomi.com/sk33529-z3-force-phone-skin-protector.html
http://www.iqshield.com/iq33528-moto-z3-force-phone-screen-protector.html
I'm really hyped because everyone was saying no Force Edition this year.
The one they announced today doesn't seem to be the flagship. Hopefully we get the true Moto Z3 Force flagship at IFA at the end of the month. Impressive that they managed to keep all the leaks away. It caught everyone by surprise.
TigerCourage said:
The one they announced today doesn't seem to be the flagship. Hopefully we get the true Moto Z3 Force flagship at IFA at the end of the month. Impressive that they managed to keep all the leaks away. It caught everyone by surprise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. No Z3 Force, at all. (As a new user, can't post a link - here's the tweet: twitter.com/MotorolaUS/status/1025121824550662149)
Disappointing to see a company that comes up with so many cool ideas make so many bad choices.
king kashue said:
Nope. No Z3 Force, at all. (As a new user, can't post a link - here's the tweet: twitter.com/MotorolaUS/status/1025121824550662149)
Disappointing to see a company that comes up with so many cool ideas make so many bad choices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wtf. That is really stupid. We are stuck with the european Z² Force as a flagship then (it has 6GB of RAM). It runs really well but everyone was expecting more from them this year...
Seems that the Z³ is the Z³ Play for Verizon. It's identical.
https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=9283&idPhone2=9003
there is not much change
Screen with lower resolution but more size
5G ready
https://www.cnet.com/es/analisis/motorola-moto-z3/primer-vistazo/
https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8693&sSearch1=&sSearch2=moto+z3+force&idPhone2=9283
Just checked the specs on analysis for the z3 (not force) and is it really worth getting you might as well stick with the z2 force same specks as ours bet they've just used old z2 force parts. I'm pretty sure you guys will get that 5g mod working to
omnismart said:
there is not much change
Screen with lower resolution but more size
5G ready
https://www.cnet.com/es/analisis/motorola-moto-z3/primer-vistazo/
https://m.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8693&sSearch1=&sSearch2=moto+z3+force&idPhone2=9283
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So it's just a US Z2 Force with the same processor and camera in a Z3 Play body.
That is really stupid.
Thing is, they said in a interview that the 5G moto mod is not the last one and they will continue with the mods. WTF.
Maybe the community manager from Twitter mistaken and there will be another one this year?
I mean seriously, they are making such a big thing in their presentation that 50% of the Moto Z owners have a mod too, so how can such a big company miss the opportunity to make loads of $$$$$$ because everyone using the first gen skipped the second gen to buy the third gen Moto Z (and they made it Verizon exclusive and not available outside US) + the ones using the second gen wanting the latest and greatest with better specs so they can keep using the mods they invested in for 2 more years. Z3 Force would have been a TOP seller.
Hey, since it releases with 8.1, that means it has a vendor partition. This means we can use those blobs to easily port over treble since hardware is near identical. Our treble beta builds in discord have a few quirks but those blobs would make it have near zero issues besides audio hal for motomods due to the way it routes to the ROM.
Uzephi said:
Hey, since it releases with 8.1, that means it has a vendor partition. This means we can use those blobs to easily port over treble since hardware is near identical. Our treble beta builds in discord have a few quirks but those blobs would make it have near zero issues besides audio hal for motomods due to the way it routes to the ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, maybe even port the entire Android 10 ROM when Moto stops supporting the Z2 Force and the other one recieves the update.
So no flagship this year my friends. The global Z2 Force is the more powerful device still with 6GB ram. Now we only need a fully working Google Camera and that would be awesome. Anyone willing to donate some $ to a developer so they can make a proper port? I'm willing to do so.
So I got the z3. It really makes my z2 look horrible.lol
I'm really happy with it.(sold my note 8 to get it)
Also I love were the new fingerprint sensor is for what it's worth.
noXcape said:
So I got the z3. It really makes my z2 look horrible.lol
I'm really happy with it.(sold my note 8 to get it)
Also I love were the new fingerprint sensor is for what it's worth.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it support Daydream by Google? Can you try to download it from the Play Store and tell us if it works?
noXcape said:
So I got the z3. It really makes my z2 look horrible.lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but we can't get it in europe, right? Very sad.
I have never used daydream. I dont have a vr headset to test it with
If the specs are not that much different, then why buy one.. It has 3 cameras, and 5G which is not full out yet... Seems like a waste to me..
Basically the same specs as a 1000$ device...my note 8 only had 6 gbs of ram because it wouldn't accomplish anything with the 4.
Maybe I was just unhappy with my note 8 after not being able to even put a good screen protector on it....
I just see a lot of bad hype online from people who probably don't even have/use mods or are not invested in Moto mods.
If you loved the z2 than you are definitely going to love the z3. The new exterior is awesome.
noXcape said:
I have never used daydream. I dont have a vr headset to test it with
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it let you download the app from the Play Store? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.vr.home
If it does, it supports it.
Yes it let me download it and open up the app.
noXcape said:
Yes it let me download it and open up the app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Super, that means the Z3 is compatible with Daydream even with it's lower resolution screen!
Thanks!
TigerCourage said:
Super, that means the Z3 is compatible with Daydream even with it's lower resolution screen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's crazy. Why do the Z3 have just full HD? No go today. I watch Netflix on it and by Full HD I can see all the pixels. So quad HD is needed. I watch movies im a distance of less centimeter. But quad HD is really ok, 4k, the better resolution, is not needed. Around 500-600dpi and I'm happy
Do the comprising I will stick with the Z2 for what I do.. In 6 months, people will be saying O my god, they are coming out with a z4 and it is so much better than the z3 or z2 was... If that is your thing, so be it. You will make the manufacture very happy with your wallet. LOL
https://www.phonearena.com/phones/c...Moto-Z2-Force-Edition/phones/10862,10521?ft=2