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Huawei Mate 20 Pro - The most beautiful, disappointing phone I have ever owned

Hello all.

Some context: I recently purchased the Huawei Mate 20 Pro because I had that ‘itch’ for a new gadget/phone that I’m sure many of you are familiar with. That, coupled with its beautiful design, its amazing camera setup and the positive reviews made me go out and buy it without hesitation.

That was 4 days ago. I have now decided to return it tomorrow.

It has simply been the most frustrating experience I’ve ever had, with any phone.

I decided to post this here for three reasons:
1. To inform others of my experience with this phone before they go out and buy it themselves
2. To inspire Huawei to do better
3. To simply just vent

So, why am I returning this phone and what has been so frustrating about it?

Here are the bullet points:
• Huawei’s modifications to Android are terrible. Probably the worst OEM ‘skin’ out there.*
• EMUI is a buggy mess with extremely poor memory management. Especially when using a homescreen replacement app like Nova Launcher.
• The cameras produce great results. Sometimes. But it often struggles with getting the exposure right, the video output is choppy with disappointing stabilisation (which can’t be turned off!) and crashes all the time.
• NFC just doesn’t want to play nice with my Banking app making it so that I’ve been unable to perform contactless payments like I’ve been doing effortlessly with my previous two phones.
• Huawei’s implementation of notifications and the status bar icons introduce a ton of usability issues to the point where the phone simply fails to effectively inform the user about incoming alerts and messages.

If you’ve made it this far, I’m sure that by now you either recognise some (or all) of the things I’ve described or have simply become curious about what I mean by this.

Let’s go through them one by one.

Huawei’s version of Android
As I’ve said above, EMUI is probably the worst OEM ‘skin’ out there. It looks ‘fine’, I guess. But if you’ve used pretty much any other recent version of Android before (either stock or modified) then you’ll feel ‘handicapped’ using the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
No access to notifications or quick toggles from the lock screen. No way to set a live wallpaper as the lock screen background. The default ‘Home screen’ is 'ok'. Just ok, but not great. I get that Huawei aims to simplify things for its less tech-savvy customers… but when you have the option to either have the ‘iOS’ solution of having all apps on the home screen or use the traditional Android solution of having an app drawer, then don’t use an old fashioned, outdated ‘drawer’ button to bring up all the apps. Just take Google’s lead here. Makes you wonder what Huawei’s UX / research team has been up to these last 2 years.

Plus, why on earth is there no option to open the notifications panel using a ‘slide down’ gesture from the Home Screen?*

Instead, you have the option to add a ‘button’ to the navigation menu across the bottom which allows you to quickly open the notifications panel. But then they decide to re-arrange ALL the other icons (Recent Apps, Home, Back) so that they are aligned in the center of the screen and I keep pressing the wrong button when I rely on muscle memory when trying to hit the Home button. Incredibly frustrating and just very, very poor UX design.

EMUI: A buggy mess that doesn’t play nice with homescreen replacement apps like Nova Launcher
So what? Most of the above can be fixed by installing Nova Launcher, right? Like on any other Android phone. Well, guess what? Nope.
Because on the Mate 20 Pro, things just break all over the place when using alternative home screen (Launcher) apps.*
• The memory management is so poor that it effectively becomes impossible to be productive. Apps refresh to their original state when switching between them to simply copy and paste some text over from one to the other. Spotify is killed in the background while using Chrome with as many as 3 tabs open.
• Navigation Gestures stop working properly, causing the ‘swipe up to go Home’ gesture to briefly bring up the ‘Recent Apps’ switcher first
• The ‘Recent Apps’ switcher can only be navigated by pressing on an app preview that is perfectly centred. Tapping any of the apps on the sides simply just closes the Recent Apps switcher, taking you back to the Home screen and ignoring your input. It’s infuriating, since it works perfectly fine when using Huawei’s own Home Screen.
• Huawei’s ’Themes’ app (and probably other apps) doesn’t respect Android’s native Back button behaviour, resulting in weird, inconsistent and frustrating navigating behaviour.

The Cameras: Sometimes great for photography, terrible for video
I’ve already said pretty much everything I wanted to say about the cameras. The cameras produce great results. Sometimes. And I love the wide angle lens. Unfortunately, the camera/software often struggle with getting the exposure right and the video output is choppy with disappointing stabilisation. This can’t be turned off, by the way… so if I wanted to mount my phone to a gimbal, there’s really no point since the actual image is already cropped.
Also… no 4K 60fps is a big disappointment, but I should have read up about this before buying the phone I guess. Still, is it odd that I assume a late 2018 ‘flagship’ phone would have it by now? I don’t think so.
Furthermore, the camera app crashes all the time, or gets ‘stuck’ rendering the final image (the Gallery would display this image slightly darkened with a white ‘Loading…’ text on top of the photo). How can this be a thing, Huawei? This is not Beta software… but it certainly feels like it!

NFC doesn’t work properly
From the 4 days that I have had this phone, I must have spent at least 2 trying to get it set up with my Banking app (ING). An app that I have used with my last 2 smartphones to pay contactless without any issues. I have reinstalled the app, reset the phone, called my bank, called Huawei customer service to see if it was perhaps a known issue with this phone model… all to no avail. Unacceptable to me.

Notifications / Status bar icons usability issues
Repeating what I wrote above; Huawei’s implementation of notifications and the status bar icons introduce a ton of usability issues to the point where the phone simply fails to effectively inform the user about incoming alerts and messages.
• Since there is limited space due to the notch, you would have thought that Huawei allows people to hide any icon they don’t need (NFC, Bluetooth, etc) so that the more important icons can be seen.
• The lock screen allows up to 3 notifications to be seen concurrently. It’s impossible to interact with any notification that lives in the ‘more (+)’ group. You have to unlock the phone, reach out all the way to the top (since you can’t assign a ‘swipe down to show notifications gesture) and then drag down the notifications panel.*
I constantly felt uninformed and kind of nervous about missing out on important notifications using this phone. And this is on Android, the OS that does notifications RIGHT… usually. Not when it’s a Huawei phone, apparently.

In conclusion, I really wanted to like this phone… but I simply can’t justify keeping it. In the past I would have looked for other ways to 'fix' these issues, look into custom ROMs or check the headlines for info on future updates... but I simply don't have the time and patience for that anymore. When I spend this kind of money on a premium phone this day and age, I expect it to work. And to work well.

This phone simply doesn't.

Reading through this forum and catching up on Huawei’s track record where it concerns updates and bug fixes didn’t inspire much confidence either.

I sincerely hope for those of you that decide to stick with the phone that Huawei get their act together in the near future. In fact, I hope to one day buy another Huawei phone and find myself pleasantly surprised… but right now, I would not recommend this phone to anyone.

Caemgen said:
Hello all.
Blah
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be honest, I felt your pain with most of these issues, except NFC.
I use Action launcher instead of the standard Huawei one. It wasn't until yesterday, when I deleted the stock launcher that ALL of my issues disappeared. It seems the stock launcher is also responsible for some of the recent apps issues too.
That would be my suggestion. Whatever launcher you use, set it as default and delete the stock one via ADB.

miffymiffy said:
To be honest, I felt your pain with most of these issues, except NFC.
I use Action launcher instead of the standard Huawei one. It wasn't until yesterday, when I deleted the stock launcher that ALL of my issues disappeared. It seems the stock launcher is also responsible for some of the recent apps issues too.
That would be my suggestion. Whatever launcher you use, set it as default and delete the stock one via ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is very interesting... and I would have tried it if I still had the phone.
But I suppose it still wouldn't have solved the issues with the poor lock screen and notifications implementation.

miffymiffy said:
To be honest, I felt your pain with most of these issues, except NFC.
I use Action launcher instead of the standard Huawei one. It wasn't until yesterday, when I deleted the stock launcher that ALL of my issues disappeared. It seems the stock launcher is also responsible for some of the recent apps issues too.
That would be my suggestion. Whatever launcher you use, set it as default and delete the stock one via ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have just tried that. The phone feels snappier now. RAM management more stable. Thanks.

miffymiffy said:
To be honest, I felt your pain with most of these issues, except NFC.
I use Action launcher instead of the standard Huawei one. It wasn't until yesterday, when I deleted the stock launcher that ALL of my issues disappeared. It seems the stock launcher is also responsible for some of the recent apps issues too.
That would be my suggestion. Whatever launcher you use, set it as default and delete the stock one via ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when you do this, you only have vertical task manager, right?

Wow, you've described my relationship with this phone perfectly (except NFC, I've not yet set up Google pay). Very interested in what's been said about deleting the stock launcher, I'll be trying that tonight

i'm just not convinced with the camera.. as you say sometimes its good. But not good enough to be a reliable camera. Video is disappointing. I fear buyers remorse will soon set in and i'll be stuck with it for two years. Also hesitant on the amount of updates we'll get for this... Shame. Back to the pixel 2xl it is.. trusty old workhorse!

sousa_2005 said:
when you do this, you only have vertical task manager, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes

Could you describe process of deleting srock launcher with ADB?
Wysłane z mojego LYA-L29 przy użyciu Tapatalka

miffymiffy said:
To be honest, I felt your pain with most of these issues, except NFC.
I use Action launcher instead of the standard Huawei one. It wasn't until yesterday, when I deleted the stock launcher that ALL of my issues disappeared. It seems the stock launcher is also responsible for some of the recent apps issues too.
That would be my suggestion. Whatever launcher you use, set it as default and delete the stock one via ADB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you uninstall stock launcher, do you still hace access to gestures, like swipe up for home etc?
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Vigolec said:
Could you describe process of deleting srock launcher with ADB?
Wysłane z mojego LYA-L29 przy użyciu Tapatalka
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adb shell
pm list packages - find your home app name
pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei."whatever stock launcher was called"
---------- Post added at 08:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:00 AM ----------
jadaress1 said:
If you uninstall stock launcher, do you still hace access to gestures, like swipe up for home etc?
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure, I've never used gestures

jadaress1 said:
If you uninstall stock launcher, do you still hace access to gestures, like swipe up for home etc?
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once stock launcher is removed, only the left/right back gestures work. You need to install another app (like Fluid) to enable full gestures.
Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

geovass said:
Once stock launcher is removed, only the left/right back gestures work. You need to install another app (like Fluid) to enable full gestures.
Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for confirming that for me.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

I agree and have been experiencing most of you issues mentioned. Nova launcher apparently is a mess to use and camera performance even at 60fps was choppy. I've been trying to talk to guys at huawei about the camera performance since P20 pro and all I kept getting as a response was it's fixed in the upcoming update.
I don't know how or why most of the youtbers or people who own the phone never mention choppy frame rates....almost to a point where `I thought it must be something I did wrong!

nfc works flawlessly here. please check default apps for payments. mine was defaulted to sim card then i switched to pay and it worked amazing
minor os issues, this phone is still a beast.

To uninstall the default huawei launcher run
Code:
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.android.launcher

I totally agree with most of what's said - "the most beautiful, disappointing phone" sums it up perfectly.
I really, really want to like this phone and I do about 99% of the time but then there are these constant, daily reminders of suckiness (notfications, nfc, bluetooth, video, etc) that totally ruin the experience. I will return mine and wait for the P30 or the S10 (probably S10 for the headphone jack).

I totally disagree with all of this. I'm a power user who gets a new flagship twice a year! I've had everything from the s6, s7, note4, note 5, note 8, and currently own a note 9. I thought the note 9 was the best phone I've ever used till I got the mate pro. I'm selling the note 9 ASAP, enough said!!! This things a beast and a beauty to use and hold. Can't say enough about the fluidity and battery life of this phone. I'm in love with it, I might actually keep it for at least a year till the mate 30 pro comes out.

randomf said:
To uninstall the default huawei launcher run
Code:
adb shell pm uninstall -k --user 0 com.huawei.android.launcher
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those who prefer disabling instead of uninstalling (meaning they can just enable again if they have second thought):
Code:
pm disable-user --user 0 com.huawei.android.launcher
To enable again:
Code:
pm enable --user 0 com.huawei.android.launcher

Ppl still use lockscreen? Last time I saw lockscreen was right before fpr sensors were introduced, half a decade ago.

First time Huawei, first time P20 Pro - few questions

Hello people,
I'm a long time Xiaomi-User.
I saw this phone for 300€ (used, but perfect condition) and decided to buy it and give it a chance.
If it would be not that great (for me, ofcourse), I'd sell it and buy the Mi 9, since I love MIUI.
But yeah, since I already ordered it, here are my questions:
1. Am I going to hate EMUI? (maybe someone has experience with both MIUI and EMUI)
2. How's the camera after all the updates? I watched YouTube videos but since most of the good videos are old, I thought I should ask here.
- low light?
- OIS working as it should?
- video stabilisation? are videos really that bad?
- selfie?
- other?
3. Battery should be good? Over 6 hours SoT possible?
4. Any other useful tips for me, as a newcommer to Huawei/P20 Pro? Some must have know-hows?
Thanks!

ermm.. bump?

chorba69 said:
ermm.. bump?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello. I will answer,of course with my personal opinions.
I work in IT,so I talk a lot on the phone,and I receive plenty of emails,I even browse 9gag a lot,Facebook,and still I get 1 day and a half of battery...so don't worry(but I also stopped from startup most of the apps,except the ones I want notifications from,usually messaging apps),and I manually Debloated it(you can uninstall system apps using ADB,without root and without unlocking the bootloader,so no problems with warranty - I just removed apps like Chrome,Google AI,google photos,google music,google Duo,google Drive).
I never used a Xiaomi,so I don't know how much you will like the interface,but it's easy to use once you get used to it.
You can even activate a drawer for apps if you don't like apps directly on home screen,notifications can be changed to "unread" instead of the default one with a dot on the app(I use unread,I like it better,so I know how many notifications I have per app).
Cameras are great(I hope your device is alright,since it's not new).
I have the european version with update 9.0.0.195
Cameras are really good with AI,and you have a Master AI slider,so you can disable it. An advice: after updating to latest version,wipe cache partition from Recovery(turn off the phone,then hold the volume + while turning it on,and do not release volume + button until it enters the recovery,then wipe cache partition).
After booting,just go to settings - apps - Camera - storage and wipe data for this app,so it will not use the old files from old version.
And an advice for photos with multiple people(doesn't matter if you use the selfie camera or back cameras).
When you're making group photos,with multiple persons,disable the portrait mode either by touching the little X besides the "Portrait mode",or by sliding to "Photo" mode. Because if portrait is enabled,it will focus on one person and blur the others...it seems it's not for multiple persons. Someone told me it's the same on Mate 20 Pro.
Video stabilization is not enabled when filming in 4K,but it works well with 1080p 60 fps(it's better on emui 9 than on emui 8).
Hope I helped. Cheers!

chorba69 said:
1. Am I going to hate EMUI? (maybe someone has experience with both MIUI and EMUI)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recently moved from Mi 6 to P20 Pro. I actually like EMUI more than MIUI.
First of all I'm a big fan of app drawer which is missing from MIUI and can be enabled in EMUI.
To my taste EMUI 9 looks (icons, settings order etc.) and works (animation smoothness, power management) better than MIUI 10.
Although both those things are only personal preference.
2. How's the camera after all the updates? I watched YouTube videos but since most of the good videos are old, I thought I should ask here.
- low light?
- OIS working as it should?
- video stabilisation? are videos really that bad?
- selfie?
- other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm a bad photographer, but even I manage to do some good pictures on P20 Pro. Night mode is great, and overall the camera software is way more polished than what I had on Mi 6. I can't compare difference in camera between EMUI 8 and EMUI 9 because I upgraded pretty much straight ahead.
3. Battery should be good? Over 6 hours SoT possible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't usually check SoT, but overall battery life is great. On average I charge the phone every 36 hours (usually when ~20% left). With Mi 6 is was a bit less.
4. Any other useful tips for me, as a newcommer to Huawei/P20 Pro? Some must have know-hows?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. As already mentioned - Use debloat to uninstall apps that you don't need (use with caution).
2. Disable automatic power management for apps you want to run constantly (Settings -> Battery -> App launch).
3. Learn how to use the Camera app.
4. Don't expect for very fast Android updates (as MIUI user you should be familiar with that).

@exodus394 , @arty_a ,
first of all, thanks for your answers!
My P20 Pro arrived today and I'm still testing everything.
I'm pretty happy with everything except maybe the camera. I couldnt test it 100% but the photos I took with the phone, arent that great.
Especially the night mode. I could almost say, it's maybe 20% better than with normal mode.. I dont know, maybe I'm doing something wrong.
I used gcam (google camera) on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and the Night mode on gcam was like 50 times better than on P20 Pro, although Xiaomi doesnt have that good camera as P20 Pro has.
I already wiped cache via recovery and deleted cache+data from the camera app, but it's still not good.
Anything I could do wrong here?
I was thinking about debloating and will do it now.
@arty_a ,
what are the benefits of disabling the automatic power managment for apps?
If it's enabled, do I stop getting notifications for some apps? (like MIUI had a problem with)
And, what do you mena with "Learn how to use the Camera app"? Manual mode or something else?
Thanks again guys!

chorba69 said:
@exodus394 , @arty_a ,
first of all, thanks for your answers!
My P20 Pro arrived today and I'm still testing everything.
I'm pretty happy with everything except maybe the camera. I couldnt test it 100% but the photos I took with the phone, arent that great.
Especially the night mode. I could almost say, it's maybe 20% better than with normal mode.. I dont know, maybe I'm doing something wrong.
I used gcam (google camera) on my Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and the Night mode on gcam was like 50 times better than on P20 Pro, although Xiaomi doesnt have that good camera as P20 Pro has.
I already wiped cache via recovery and deleted cache+data from the camera app, but it's still not good.
Anything I could do wrong here?
I was thinking about debloating and will do it now.
@arty_a ,
what are the benefits of disabling the automatic power managment for apps?
If it's enabled, do I stop getting notifications for some apps? (like MIUI had a problem with)
And, what do you mena with "Learn how to use the Camera app"? Manual mode or something else?
Thanks again guys!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think there is something wrong with your unit. P20 Pro is the best at night and low light photos. I even took photos in environments where I barely could see something with naked eye,but the phone took a lot of details,more than I could see...no phone can do that better at the moment.

exodus394 said:
I think there is something wrong with your unit. P20 Pro is the best at night and low light photos. I even took photos in environments where I barely could see something with naked eye,but the phone took a lot of details,more than I could see...no phone can do that better at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Erm.. Can you upload maybe two photos? Normal and night mode?
Thanks!

chorba69 said:
Erm.. Can you upload maybe two photos? Normal and night mode?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok,I will do that in a few hours,the sun is still up right now.

chorba69 said:
what are the benefits of disabling the automatic power managment for apps?
If it's enabled, do I stop getting notifications for some apps? (like MIUI had a problem with)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly that.
In addition some apps can fail to autostart when triggered by other app (Waze + Spotify, AndroidAuto + pretty much everything). It's very annoying and frustrating when you run into it for the first time.
And, what do you mena with "Learn how to use the Camera app"? Manual mode or something else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just check all the settings and modes you have, like "Beauty" and "Light" in Portrait mode, Pro mode where you can control pretty much everything, "More" where you have the slow-mo and a lot of other stuff.
Regarding "Night mode" try using it when it's really dark, not just low lite situation, that is where it shows its full power.

Very interesting thread. My question has to do with security. Since we all know about the allegations that have been thrown at Huawei about not being a secure phone since it is manufactured in China, what steps can the average Joe take to make this phone more safe without installing a custom ROM. I've already done the de-bloating steps listed here. Thanks in advance

manfly9884 said:
Very interesting thread. My question has to do with security. Since we all know about the allegations that have been thrown at Huawei about not being a secure phone since it is manufactured in China, what steps can the average Joe take to make this phone more safe without installing a custom ROM. I've already done the de-bloating steps listed here. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I apologize in advance for being harsh.
First of all - if you want to learn about this stuff go do some research, I mean, at least 5 first pages of google, don't ask anonymous people on a forum.
One of the things you will learn is that main concern about Huawei are not phones but other, enterprise, products - cellular network controllers, servers etc. Spying on people over phones is cool but not efficient, spying over governments and enterprises over their backbone and communication infrastructure is very efficient and scary.
Now, let me split my answer into 2 parts:
1) If you are concerned over hardware, don't use a smartphone at all. All manufacturers either produce their phones in China or at least use some hardware produced in China. If the Chinese want to physically bug your phone they will, even if it's an iPhone.
2) If you are concerned over software, then again, it's not only Huawei, pretty much any non-American manufacturer (Hauwei, Xiaomi, LG, even Samsung) can overnight push an OTA that will add "spying" software and I bet it will not be found immediately.
Now, if you are concerned about privacy and not security then:
1) If you use Apple or Google account you are already willingly give away a lot of your information to be processed by them.
2) If you have any social media account you do the same in addition to making parts of that information publicly accessible.
3) Regarding phone specific vendor (Huawei in this case) - don't use any vendor specific services (Huawei ID, built in Email app, AppGallery, etc.)
P.S. Custom ROMs can contain some "bad things" too.

Oppo Reno notifications issue

Hi Guys.
I bought the standard edition Oppo Reno model (PCAT00) in China. Which already have Chinese rom installed in it. The new cokoros 6 is also there. But its half baked like a rushed product.
So the main problem here is that when I closes my whatsapp or wechat or snap chat.... I won't receive notifications. When I open the app, then again I receive. I have tried all the help but didn't find any solution. So if there is anybody who can help? And another question. Can I move from Chinese global version to the international version.
P. S. I HAVE ALSO INSTALLED GOOGLE SERVICES.

Go into whats app and remove this from battery saver, I have not used color OS but I know mostly chinese OS do this.
You basically have to allow this app to not go into battery saver mode. Find something in settings.apps...whatsapp settings.

Open App Management, find your application, inside open Energy saver, and choose plan - Allow Background (first option)
By default system sets 3rd one - Intellectual. You should change to first.
Secondly: open running applications (square left to Home button), choose your messenger and choose Lock in the right corner.

If you don't mind me asking... OT,
Does
1. SD 710 and
2. inferior cameras make a difference?
3. How are the dual speakers?
Thanks

Xebeck said:
If you don't mind me asking... OT,
Does
1. SD 710 and
2. inferior cameras make a difference?
3. How are the dual speakers?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SD710 is enough for IMX586 IMO. Shoots fast enough.
Difference is about software, cause GCam (for example) makes better photos than Oppo's own software.
There's no dual speaker, only one speaker at bottom. It is good and loud enough.

I have tried everything. Sometime it works. But sometimes it won't. The only way it works smooth when it's in background

Whatsapp business notifications are delayed

Hello I'm having issues with Snapchat notification on CPH1989 and I have tired everything to fix it but still no success please help me

Mi9T Pro face Unlock and usage

Hello,
I am planning to move from mi9SE to mi9T pro due to speed, battery life and options of better custom roms availability. Before I buy the phone, I have a few questions which I think people who have been using this phone already can answer and help me decide. All the questions below assume using miui.eu rom.
1. How fast is the Face Unlock once setup ?
2. Do we actually have to swipe up the screen to face unlock ? In mi9SE, i have enabled 'raise to wake' feature which means when i pick up the phone it turns on and unlocks automatically when valid face is detected. Is this working the same way in mi9T pro also ? If yes, can it be used even for app lock or does it damage the camera if done very often for the apps also ?
3. How is the battery life when using always on VPN ? mi9SE can hardly last about 3/4 day before needing a charge.. it has improved with Android 10 but still not very good.
4. How is the GCAM compatibility ? does it take better pictures than stock and also is there ability to switch between 3 cameras while using gcam ?

Really ? No one interested in answering my questions ?

I can answer number 4 . I can swap between Wide Angle and Standard in the GCAM that I'm using. Photos look great, better than stock in low light as expected. No wide angle correction in GCAM. Can be a bit buggy, but YMMV based on what GCAM mod you're using. Typically stick to stock during the day, and GCAM for night.
Can't answer the other ones.

1) Probably not as fast as your MI9SE since it's a pop up camera. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of videos on YouTube to get an idea.
2) I set up face unlock and enabled raised to wake feature but I still had to swipe up so the camera would pop up.
On the other hand, I also have fingerprint scanner enabled and haven't found a way to disable it for testing purpose (apart from erasing all my saved fingerprints which I didn’t bother to do) so maybe it would behave differently with only face unlock enabled.

blackalice said:
I can answer number 4 . I can swap between Wide Angle and Standard in the GCAM that I'm using. Photos look great, better than stock in low light as expected. No wide angle correction in GCAM. Can be a bit buggy, but YMMV based on what GCAM mod you're using. Typically stick to stock during the day, and GCAM for night.
Can't answer the other ones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks ! that was helpful.
Thordelan said:
1) Probably not as fast as your MI9SE since it's a pop up camera. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you can find a lot of videos on YouTube to get an idea.
2) I set up face unlock and enabled raised to wake feature but I still had to swipe up so the camera would pop up.
On the other hand, I also have fingerprint scanner enabled and haven't found a way to disable it for testing purpose (apart from erasing all my saved fingerprints which I didn’t bother to do) so maybe it would behave differently with only face unlock enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking the same about point 2. This is a deal breaker for me though. I really like the handsoff approach with raise2wake and face unlock enabled.. quick and easy to use though not very secure.

krispuniq said:
Thanks ! that was helpful.
I was thinking the same about point 2. This is a deal breaker for me though. I really like the handsoff approach with raise2wake and face unlock enabled.. quick and easy to use though not very secure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey Krispuniq,
The problem your saying is about to be solved in upcoming software update! It will allow you to select to directly open the camera or swipe for opening...
The real problem I am scared (but still didn't face) is that if someone video calls you(including third party ones like WhatsApp), your pop-up camera automatically raises creating a problem if it's in your pocket!
BTW, what's your reason shifting from Mi 9SE to K20 Pro?

krispuniq said:
I was thinking the same about point 2. This is a deal breaker for me though. I really like the handsoff approach with raise2wake and face unlock enabled.. quick and easy to use though not very secure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was intrigued to know whether it was possible to do or not so I erased all my fingerprints and try to reproduce what you want to do but I finally found out that it's impossible de disable swipe off to unlock on MIUI 10...Maybe it will be back with upcoming MIUI 11 ?
So my question is : you don't use MUI 10 on your MI9SE ?
Anyway, grabbing the phone and putting your thumb on the front fingerprint scanner is also very handy/fast/ and probably bit more secure.

Thordelan said:
I was intrigued to know whether it was possible to do or not so I erased all my fingerprints and try to reproduce what you want to do but I finally found out that it's impossible de disable swipe off to unlock on MIUI 10...Maybe it will be back with upcoming MIUI 11 ?
So my question is : you don't use MUI 10 on your MI9SE ?
Anyway, grabbing the phone and putting your thumb on the front fingerprint scanner is also very handy/fast/ and probably bit more secure.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using MIUI 10 and now MIUI 11(Q). The feature is the same and it got much faster on MIUI 11. I just like the convenience of face unlock.

Question questions about customization

I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your better get a Oneplus Phones for modding / rooting purpose.
For samsung phones, somebody have to find a solution for knox trip.

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
...
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, as you already noticed the modding/rooting community for the S21 series is not that active (yet?), maybe indeed different to phones like the Oneplus 8 Pro etc...
But still there is a reliably working method for rooting the device, although depending from your location warranty may be void afterwards. And then there is Knox, so rooting will definitely disable some specific Samsung functions (Samsung pay & Safe Folder among them).
If you are interested, there are threads on rooting and TWRP - the forum is presently only one for all S21U topics so things move down the line pretty quickly :
I for myself as a long-time "rooter" decided to go with locked stock ROM and while missing some detailed tweakings things are running pretty nicely so far. One of the things I noticed is that 90% of the things you do with rooting are workarounds to cover the negative effects of rooting - like making Gpay work etc.

Yes, unless there's a solution for the Samsung Knox issues, rooting will void your warranty. FWIW, the stock software has so much customization options that even after 2 months of using it I still haven't got hold of all the customizations. Yes, you might do in OnePlus where the software is quite bland/ featureless but that's not the case with One UI

fairyshacker said:
Your better get a Oneplus Phones for modding / rooting purpose.
For samsung phones, somebody have to find a solution for knox trip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want anything from a Chinese company.
s3axel said:
Well, as you already noticed the modding/rooting community for the S21 series is not that active (yet?), maybe indeed different to phones like the Oneplus 8 Pro etc...
But still there is a reliably working method for rooting the device, although depending from your location warranty may be void afterwards. And then there is Knox, so rooting will definitely disable some specific Samsung functions (Samsung pay & Safe Folder among them).
If you are interested, there are threads on rooting and TWRP - the forum is presently only one for all S21U topics so things move down the line pretty quickly :
I for myself as a long-time "rooter" decided to go with locked stock ROM and while missing some detailed tweakings things are running pretty nicely so far. One of the things I noticed is that 90% of the things you do with rooting are workarounds to cover the negative effects of rooting - like making Gpay work etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not worried about warranties. I don't know if I'd ever need the samsung specific things like Samsung Pay. Not sure what Safe Folder is but I guess it's some kind of encryption based file storing? I generally don't use all these mainstream things people like.
I don't really spend time making Google Pay work because I have no use for it. I'll have an occasional issue with an app refusing to operate because of rooting and Magisk Hide doesn't work, but it isn't a big deal.
I like tweaking things like the battery logo (I like having a circle with percentage number inside and not having the extra/stock battery logo up there at the same time). I like to disable certain system icons from the top bar that aren't necessary to be there and just clog it up. I like adding the "clear all" type buttons in the running apps page. I like customizing the behavior of holding the power button so I can reboot, reboot to recovery, or shut the phone off easily.
For example, on my LG V30+ right now I am running the stock rom but rooted it and did things like I described above. Nothing major and don't need Google Pay. The LG app for air conditioners won't run because of my root. My bank app notifies me of root very occasionally but isn't a big deal. Yeah, I don't think my SafetyNet passes, but I don't care.
I am using Xposed, hostless AdAway, No Shutter Sound, Highway Radar and YouTube Vanced as well.
amirage said:
Yes, unless there's a solution for the Samsung Knox issues, rooting will void your warranty. FWIW, the stock software has so much customization options that even after 2 months of using it I still haven't got hold of all the customizations. Yes, you might do in OnePlus where the software is quite bland/ featureless but that's not the case with One UI
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tend to go through every single setting in a phone before I even start really dailying it . I don't mind it. I like customization. That's great to hear. I do like unrestricted or not very restricted phones as opposed to iPhone style lockdown stuff, though.
I used to consider the OnePlus phones but lately I have been more insistent on not buying things made in China or from Chinese companies as much as possible... for various reasons.
---
So assuming I don't care about things like warranty and Samsung Pay.. what other drawbacks are there? What would stop me from going this route? I intend on picking it up from Google because they have really good deals and I can even make 0% interest payments. I just have to stick with Fi for 3 months, then I can go back to ATT.
Another concern I have is the size of the phone. It makes me lean towards the S21 5G. I just like the Ultra for the other enhancements.
Thanks to all of you as well for the replies.

I wouldn't get that phone if my intent was to root it. One of the more easily rootable Samsung models probably be a better choice*. If you want a blackhole gravity well to get frozen in time with while you're troubleshooting the root then this is a good choice.
That said stock Samsung's are the most customizable phones there are. Hundreds of free icon packs/themes, the Good Lock family of apps and more. The SSC codec for the Buds+ that seamlessly connect to this model with the propiatory Samsung new 360° audio support.
You can lock it down with PD MDM package disabler and Karma Firewall.
*Also no SD card slot so no dual drive ie data drive; you lose a valuble key feature.
Personally I loathe it's rounded corners/display and it's larger frame to display ratio. It's ugly compared to the Note 10+ or N 20 U; I take either of these over the 21 series any day.
Yeah, I really don't like the 21 series... even at half price I would spurn them.

I just read up on Samsung Pay and it's actually pretty interesting. I may actually try and use that. I would love to not have to pull out my wallet all the time and swipe/insert my bank card. That alone is very enticing.
I don't watch TV and haven't had TV service in ages, but I found out with this phone I'll have access to TV stations without a subscription or any kind of fee. That's pretty cool as an added bonus and I may find some shows I like.
blackhawk said:
I wouldn't get that phone if my intent was to root it. One of the more easily rootable Samsung models probably be a better choice*. If you want a blackhole gravity well to get frozen in time with while you're troubleshooting the root then this is a good choice.
That said stock Samsung's are the most customizable phones there are. Hundreds of free icon packs/themes, the Good Lock family of apps and more. The SSC codec for the Buds+ that seamlessly connect to this model with the propiatory Samsung new 360° audio support.
You can lock it down with PD MDM package disabler and Karma Firewall.
*Also no SD card slot so no dual drive ie data drive; you lose a valuble key feature.
Personally I loathe it's rounded corners/display and it's larger frame to display ratio. It's ugly compared to the Note 10+ or N 20 U; I take either of these over the 21 series any day.
Yeah, I really don't like the 21 series... even at half price I would spurn them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That package disabled is really nice to know about, thanks. That is also something I did on my current phone but I did it through ADB (well, I uninstalled things I didn't want and saved the APK of the app).
I'm pretty sure I can use AdAway and YouTube Vanced without root. I'm currently using an older version of Vanced because newer ones do not work. Mine is from Magisk. I figure it has to do with Vanced on this specific phone and I can probably use some other version on the S21/Ultra.
Not sure what you meant about gravity and about a "valuble key feature". I am aware it has no sd card support, but I've found that I have never had the need for this on my current phone which supports up to 2 TB sd cards.
There is one thing that I doubt I'll be able to do which I've done on my V30+... I have the stock phone app modified to have a built-in recording feature. One press and I record calls with no notification beeps or anything stupid like that. After the call ends it prompts me to listen now or later. It saves the recording automatically as a file, based on the settings I've already configured. I can turn this on and off whenever I want during the call and if I turn it on before the call is answered, the app automatically waits until the call is connected to enable call recording. It records both sides in clear quality whether or not it's using the speaker or regular mode.
Is there a shutter sound on the S21? If so, is there a way to disable it without root?

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just come over to the S21 Ultra from Xiaomi. I loved how you could theme the Xiaomi. I tried a few themes from the Samsung store but nothing would change all the icons. A real miss match and it looked terrible. Maybe I never searched hard enough well anyway I downloaded Good Lock and some modules from the Samsung store. It has some good customisations and it changes all icons to the same style and hides icons from status bar. Not sure if this is what your after but I knew when I got this phone there would not be much development on it at the start. Actually not to fussed about rooting at the moment. Also aodNotify as I missed the notification light. Moved away from Chinese phones myself. Here's a couple of pics if this is the sort of thing that your after.
Hope this helps

Clarkie_955i said:
I just come over to the S21 Ultra from Xiaomi. I loved how you could theme the Xiaomi. I tried a few themes from the Samsung store but nothing would change all the icons. A real miss match and it looked terrible. Maybe I never searched hard enough well anyway I downloaded Good Lock and some modules from the Samsung store. It has some good customisations and it changes all icons to the same style and hides icons from status bar. Not sure if this is what your after but I knew when I got this phone there would not be much development on it at the start. Actually not to fussed about rooting at the moment. Also aodNotify as I missed the notification light. Moved away from Chinese phones myself. Here's a couple of pics if this is the sort of thing that your after.
Hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats on leaving Chinese brands. I'm also making effort to buy things not made in China as much as possible as well. So Taiwan, Japan, USA, etc...
I don't usually do the whole custom icon set thing on phones, but I am aware that's a big thing so I understand why that would be frustrating when you can't find one you like. The most theming I've done is choose one I like (color wise) from some LG app I had on the phone which worked well.
Other small changes may count as theme changes in some ways, but it wasn't the intention.. it was mostly for functionality.
Thanks for the info.
Also I have researched a few things...
1. AdAway. It can now be used without root, which I didn't know. It can be run on S21 variants. BUT, you have to run an AdAway VPN to do it.. so might as well find another method for ad blocking. My friend showed me a screen on the S20 where there is a "private DNS" option. I could block ads that way.
2. Vanced doesn't need root. It actually is arguably better without root because you only have to set the app to open YT links and it doesn't replace the YT app. Right now I can't use auto app updates because it won't let me pick and choose which to not auto-update and one of the ones I would need to stop from auto updating is the stock YT app.
3. From research online and after asking Google about the variant they sell, you can disable shutter sound in the settings (which is actually better than what the LG V30+ supports.. a huge surprise).
4. Don't think I can use Xposed. There MAY be some bootleg way with partial functionality or something but I don't know for sure.
Can I (without root) remove the stock battery icon and replace it with a circle and percentage? Like this:
I also want to enable the seconds counter and add the date.. I want to do all that stuff, if possible.. that I did there.. including hcanging the size of fonts and capitalization of fonts in the top middle area.
Main thing I want is the seconds counter.
A friend showed me this from his s20:
So that's cool that he can change the icons displayed. I used Gravity Box or Xposed.

Not so much I cant find what I like it's just they don't change system wide like Xiaomi did. So I end up having half custom and half stock and looks crap with all the different colors in the folders. At least Good Lock manages to change them system wide which I don't quite understand why Samsung theme store will change maybe fifty percent. Anyway got it to how I like it.
With Good Lock you can remove status bar icons but no customisation with battery indicators. That pic is a pic of Good Lock the one you posted. I went with the Hong Kong version with Snapdragon which you can unlock bootloader in development options. Don't think you can on US Snapdragon versions. Here in OZ we only had the Exynos. Got the 16/512 Snapdragon for $1550 AUD. Same phone with Exynos just over $2200 here.
AdAway have not really missed it. Had it on my previous phone and maybe I'm not taking any notice of adds and just enjoying the phone. Never use Vanced. Cant see any setting in camera to turn off shutter sound but you can silence it in volume controls. Haven't looked into Xposed yet.
Don't know what model your going to get but there is root and TWRP available for ultra models. But soon as you flash a boot image you will trip Knox and lose some features of Samsung apps. Mainly Samsung pay I believe and warranty if you buy local. Still sussing this out myself. Have a old Tab S that I rooted and my first Android was a Samsung Galaxy Gio (GT-S5660)
Overall extremely happy with this phone.
Hoe this helps Sneak

A stock Note 10+, heavily customized.
Running fast and stable on Pie/OneUI.

sneak said:
I don't want anything from a Chinese company.
I'm not worried about warranties. I don't know if I'd ever need the samsung specific things like Samsung Pay. Not sure what Safe Folder is but I guess it's some kind of encryption based file storing? I generally don't use all these mainstream things people like.
I don't really spend time making Google Pay work because I have no use for it. I'll have an occasional issue with an app refusing to operate because of rooting and Magisk Hide doesn't work, but it isn't a big deal.
I like tweaking things like the battery logo (I like having a circle with percentage number inside and not having the extra/stock battery logo up there at the same time). I like to disable certain system icons from the top bar that aren't necessary to be there and just clog it up. I like adding the "clear all" type buttons in the running apps page. I like customizing the behavior of holding the power button so I can reboot, reboot to recovery, or shut the phone off easily.
For example, on my LG V30+ right now I am running the stock rom but rooted it and did things like I described above. Nothing major and don't need Google Pay. The LG app for air conditioners won't run because of my root. My bank app notifies me of root very occasionally but isn't a big deal. Yeah, I don't think my SafetyNet passes, but I don't care.
I am using Xposed, hostless AdAway, No Shutter Sound, Highway Radar and YouTube Vanced as well.
I tend to go through every single setting in a phone before I even start really dailying it . I don't mind it. I like customization. That's great to hear. I do like unrestricted or not very restricted phones as opposed to iPhone style lockdown stuff, though.
I used to consider the OnePlus phones but lately I have been more insistent on not buying things made in China or from Chinese companies as much as possible... for various reasons.
---
So assuming I don't care about things like warranty and Samsung Pay.. what other drawbacks are there? What would stop me from going this route? I intend on picking it up from Google because they have really good deals and I can even make 0% interest payments. I just have to stick with Fi for 3 months, then I can go back to ATT.
Another concern I have is the size of the phone. It makes me lean towards the S21 5G. I just like the Ultra for the other enhancements.
Thanks to all of you as well for the replies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In 100% me..
You just write that's way am here on xda,
Am a fan to customise my phone as I want,
And if I pay so much money we should have the right, and possibility to choice and use ..
Sorry for my English.

Well, I bought one from Google. If there are serious issues I don't want to put up with I will return it.
As long as I can disable the stock battery icon I would think I could get an app which has a custom battery icon.
I hope it's possible as well to do vertical listing of apps in app screen instead of having the left/right pages.

sneak said:
Well, I bought one from Google. If there are serious issues I don't want to put up with I will return it.
As long as I can disable the stock battery icon I would think I could get an app which has a custom battery icon.
I hope it's possible as well to do vertical listing of apps in app screen instead of having the left/right pages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Congrats
The scrolling from the right was a pain at first. But all good now. Hopefully Good Lock will bring something out in the future and change it.

sneak said:
I'm considering getting an S21 5G or S21 Ultra. Is it normal that there isn't much in terms of modding/rooting/etc for Samsung phones? I don't normally go for things like this.
I like the Nexus 5 and have a V30+ right now. I want to be able to control the phone and modify a few things I don't like about the stock experience.
What kind of situation am I looking at here? Is there a safe and reliable root? Or are things extremely locked down like an iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yea rooting is possible and safe if right software is used but might affect warranty i guess

If anyone remembers the whole Carrier IQ thing, do you know if there's something like this on the S21 Ultra?
System UI Tuner doesn't seem to work as far as showing seconds in the status bar clock.
I would love to be able to customize the recently used apps section in the apps drawer. Either remove it completely or set static apps or somehow customize a blacklist or whitelist or some other variables to determine what goes there.
When I use jetaudio+ it puts a notification with details in the menu from the top. I can't swipe it away and it stays there even after I close the app and remove it from app list. I found out I have to drag down on it to expand it to be slightly larger and then an "x" appears. These "x" buttons would appear by default on apps like this on my old phone and they were a little larger relative to the rest of the UI as well. Would love to be able to tweak this functionality.
I want a feature I had on my LG V30+ where based on my GPS location I can enable or disable WiFi. Meaning, the same as hitting the wifi icon in the quick toggles based on entering a certain location or leaving that location. That way when I get home my phone will automatically globally turn on wifi and when I leave it twill automatically turn it off so it isn't hunting for networks.
Another feature in the same section was something which allowed me to have the phone remain unlocked when paired with a specific device. I want the phone to stay unlocked when paired with my car instead of having to unlock it all the time with fingerprint.
I would like to be able to scroll the apps list vertically, like normal.. instead of this left and right pages stuff.
I want a battery indicator setup where there is a percentage inside of a circle and the circle is representative of the percentage. Not finding an app option that has what I want. Does anyone know of a way to do this or an app?
I also want to make pressing the home button in the bottom center of the screen do a full open of the bar from the top.
On my current phone I've also found some way to keep the alarm clock icon from Alarm Clock Xtreme without having a persistent notification of the next alarm. Not sure how on this.

MacroDroid!
the answer to toggles based on location. A lot of features there to look into. Very nice.

MacroDroid seems fine for the WiFi toggle but it doesn't keep the phone from locking. At first it was keeping the screen on but then it just did nothing. I want the screen to still shut off if necessary but not require thumbprint or code or anything to unlock, while paired with phone.

sneak said:
MacroDroid seems fine for the WiFi toggle but it doesn't keep the phone from locking. At first it was keeping the screen on but then it just did nothing. I want the screen to still shut off if necessary but not require thumbprint or code or anything to unlock, while paired with phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't advise using it but stupid Bixby probably can ie Bixby Routines.

blackhawk said:
I don't advise using it but stupid Bixby probably can ie Bixby Routines.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the first thing I checked but I couldn't figure out how to do it. It's not very intuitive....