Related
I've been eyeing the Nexus S since it first came out, despite it's obvious shortcomings. I'm willing to deal with the lack of an SD Card, 4G connectivity, high quality build, and notification light for 100% Google support. I have some questions though.
1. How many of you have scratches on your phone? Have you dropped it? Did the plastic dent at all?
2. What's up with the screen coating? Some users are claiming that the coating is wearing off and smearing even more than usual.
3. How are your capacitive buttons? I've been hearing that some are dim/unresponsive.
4. After a few weeks, how fast is your Nexus S? How often do you experience lag in the web browser or launcher?
5. Are any of you running out of internal memory? 16GB is probably enough for me, especially since my music library is pretty small and I don't use my phone to watch movies. I do play a lot of games though. A single GameLoft game can nearly consume 1GB of memory.
6. Battery life, how is it? I'm on a MT4G and battery life is simply amazing. I never have to worry about how my battery life is. It easily lasts 20+ hours and on standby mode it doesn't use any juice. It also charges VERY quickly.
Add any more information that you think I should know.
1. How many of you have scratches on your phone? Have you dropped it? Did the plastic dent at all?
>>>>its a plastic. it will get sceatches and dents if you drop it or dont care of it.
2. What's up with the screen coating? Some users are claiming that the coating is wearing off and smearing even more than usual.
>>>>i believe that if you dont take care of the your phone perfectly , the coating will wear off. i think you better put a screen protector or so. even tho honestly this is the first time i see something like this on a phone.
3. How are your capacitive buttons? I've been hearing that some are dim/unresponsive.
>>>>the back buttons sometimes dont work very well specially if the phone is under use for while. you will have to press harder for it to work. not as bad as nexus 1 buttons but its still there " even tho i didnt have this problem with my nexus 1
4. After a few weeks, how fast is your Nexus S? How often do you experience lag in the web browser or launcher?
>>>>the lag of the web browser is due a software problem. samsung has to update the driver of the gpu. i think they did something like that on galaxy S. however, i noticed that you almost wont find lag at all if you used firefox browser. i dont know why. but that browser doesnt lag as bad as stock 2.3 software. again. this is just a software issue to be fixed by samsung not google.
5. Are any of you running out of internal memory? 16GB is probably enough for me, especially since my music library is pretty small and I don't use my phone to watch movies. I do play a lot of games though. A single GameLoft game can nearly consume 1GB of memory.
and all android fans will get slower after few days of use. restart the phone and ur good to go if your not very well into task managers stuff.
6. Battery life, how is it? I'm on a MT4G and battery life is simply amazing. I never have to worry about how my battery life is. It easily lasts 20+ hours and on standby mode it doesn't use any juice. It also charges VERY quickly.
>>>> its a 1500 mah battery, it will last 1 day on normal use.
Arcadia310 said:
I've been eyeing the Nexus S since it first came out, despite it's obvious shortcomings. I'm willing to deal with the lack of an SD Card, 4G connectivity, high quality build, and notification light for 100% Google support. I have some questions though.A
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. There is not a phone in the world with an actual 4G radio, since the technology doesn't exist yet. Rebranding 3G (WiMAX, LTE, or HSDPA+) as 4G doesn't make it 4G, and is very misleading.
2. Because a phone is comprised mostly of plastic doesn't make the quality any lower than one that incorporates metal. The Nexus S is a well built phone, it's not going to fall apart.
3. Notification Lights are useless for something that is in your pocket, the majority of the time, when not in use. There are Apps, like NoLED, which take advantage of the AMOLEDS local dimming, by using a small number of pixels to display an icon which acts as a notification.
1. How many of you have scratches on your phone? Have you dropped it? Did the plastic dent at all?
I don't have any scratches, but the back will eventually get a few light scratches just as any uncovered plastic or metallic back would. Especially if the phone is not well taken care of
2. What's up with the screen coating? Some users are claiming that the coating is wearing off and smearing even more than usual.
This problem has been recorded by a handful of users. I personally have not experienced this, just as the overwhelming majority of users have not.
3. How are your capacitive buttons? I've been hearing that some are dim/unresponsive.
This problem has been recorded by a handful of users. I personally have not experienced this, just as the overwhelming majority of users have not.
The buttons are dimmer than those of the Galaxy S line, and they are not visible when unlit. They are only unlit when the screen is off.
4. After a few weeks, how fast is your Nexus S? How often do you experience lag in the web browser or launcher?
This is the snappiest Android phone I've ever used. There is never any lag outside of the browser. I have experienced lag on websites with heavy flash content. That said the Flash can be set to "on demand", in which it will not load until clicked.
5. Are any of you running out of internal memory? 16GB is probably enough for me, especially since my music library is pretty small and I don't use my phone to watch movies. I do play a lot of games though. A single GameLoft game can nearly consume 1GB of memory.
I've got 14 games installed (4 3D games, and a few PSX roms), 40 or so apps, back ups of those apps, music, videos, and I have 10 GB left.
6. Battery life, how is it? I'm on a MT4G and battery life is simply amazing. I never have to worry about how my battery life is. It easily lasts 20+ hours and on standby mode it doesn't use any juice. It also charges VERY quickly.
The first Nexus S I owned had pretty bad battery life, I would struggle to get 10 hours out of it, with light to moderate use. I returned it because I read reports of phenominal battery life on these forums, from most users. I don't know if it was from not letting the battery die when I first got the phone or pulling the battery out a lot without properly shutting down, but the battery on my 2nd Nexus S was great in comparison. I got 14 hours of moderate use on its first full charge. I consistently get 15-17 hours of use out of it with moderate to heavy use. I bought a $7 OEM battery, and a $5 external charger just in case. The battery takes a while for it to fully charge because it is a 1500mah battery, which is large for a stock battery.'
By the way, this thread is in the wrong section, it should be in the "Nexus S Questions" section.
Arcadia310 said:
1. How many of you have scratches on your phone? Have you dropped it? Did the plastic dent at all?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No scratches or dents. I've dropped it several times on carpet, about 2-3 feet height.
2. What's up with the screen coating? Some users are claiming that the coating is wearing off and smearing even more than usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't believe them. I think they have really greasy-ass fingers. Buy a quality microfiber cleaning cloth, Very other day wipe it down, and it'll be perfect.
3. How are your capacitive buttons? I've been hearing that some are dim/unresponsive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ZERO issues. They're all the same brightness, (they don't change) and they are all responsive.
4. After a few weeks, how fast is your Nexus S? How often do you experience lag in the web browser or launcher?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's just as fast as it was. I run a lot of stuff though. I'm a bit disappointed in the browser. Some pages zooms in/out just fine, then there's some SIMPLE pages and it's turtle slow at panning and zooming.
5. Are any of you running out of internal memory? 16GB is probably enough for me, especially since my music library is pretty small and I don't use my phone to watch movies. I do play a lot of games though. A single GameLoft game can nearly consume 1GB of memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I had a Nexus One, I had an 8gig card and only used 4 gigs of it. With My Nexus S, same thing. I'm loving the 1gig for app installs, and 11 gigs as "external" "sd" card is more than enough for me. I use my ZuneHD for music.
6. Battery life, how is it? I'm on a MT4G and battery life is simply amazing. I never have to worry about how my battery life is. It easily lasts 20+ hours and on standby mode it doesn't use any juice. It also charges VERY quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life is great. Depending on my usage I can get up to 18hours.
I am planning to buy a sensation in India.. but i am worried about many problems being listed in this forum. Just wanted to know your thoughts.. Will this phone be a good buy considering the problems it has..?
A lot of the "problems" are non-existant, or won't bother 90% of the population. XDA tends to attract OCD/perfectionists who find fault in every little detail.
If you can live with
- LCD screen (kinda sucks outdoors until you turn brightness all the way up, and the fact that they are supplied by 2 manufacturers)
- Okay battery life (8-24 hrs, depending on usage, LCD screen eats batteries, screen resolution higher than SGII)
- Slightly slower benchmarks (~90% of the best phones out right now, due to processor having to process for larger screen)
Then the Sensation would be a great phone, considering that you can find it for cheaper since people are dumping it for the SGSII and to preorder the Nexus Prime.
That being said, you should go to a phone shop and play around with their display devices to see whether you really like the phone or not. It really just depends on what you like more in the end.
nrvnqsrxk said:
A lot of the "problems" are non-existant, or won't bother 90% of the population. XDA tends to attract OCD/perfectionists who find fault in every little detail.
If you can live with
- LCD screen (kinda sucks outdoors until you turn brightness all the way up, and the fact that they are supplied by 2 manufacturers)
- Okay battery life (8-24 hrs, depending on usage, LCD screen eats batteries, screen resolution higher than SGII)
- Slightly slower benchmarks (~90% of the best phones out right now, due to processor having to process for larger screen)
Then the Sensation would be a great phone, considering that you can find it for cheaper since people are dumping it for the SGSII and to preorder the Nexus Prime.
That being said, you should go to a phone shop and play around with their display devices to see whether you really like the phone or not. It really just depends on what you like more in the end.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply.. this helps me a lot...
i can live with the limitations u have pointed out.. i did use both the phones and i like sensation a lot... SGS2 feels very light and i want some weight to my phone.. and i love sense.. so i made my decision to go for sensation..
problems like touchscreen issues, volume rocker coming apart, camera issues... were bugging me... touchscreen issues got solved (i think) ... but random restarts wat ppl mention after using the camera is a prime concern... is this a major concern? and will it be fixed by a software update??
Been lurking on these forums for a long time, finally decided to register to share my thoughts on the One X..
I've predominantly been an iPhone user since the launch of the 3g here in Canada. With a jailbreak and length of usage, I have my iPhone set up to do everything I need it to do almost perfectly. In the last half a year or so, however, I've become tired of looking at iOS. Every time I'd look at android devices with their big screens and useful widgets I'd feel a little pang of jealousy. Thus, I started purchasing Android devices non stop and within the last year, I tried the:
Nexus S
Galaxy Nexus
Galaxy S2
HTC Sensation
and
Galaxy Nexus again
I ended up returning / selling each of these phones for a variety of reasons, the two biggest factors were the lack of comparable pixel density and battery life. After getting rid of the Sensation I bought an iPhone 4S and was disturbed by how much worse the battery life was vs the iPhone 4. My 4 would never come close to dying and the 4S was struggling to make it through a day.
The second galaxy nexus with 4.0.4 was almost perfect BUT the samsung build quality bothered me as it just didn't "feel" like a premium device should in the hand..
I knew as soon as I saw the One X I'd have to give it a try. HTC is known for putting together phones that feel great in the hand and this is a factor for me. So far, this phone has been outstanding! I find myself unlocking it regularly just to look at the display. The battery life has been incredible, I have not come close to having the battery die on me on any given day. Granted, I do more texting, twitter, facebook, browsing and text based things vs playing games. The longest day I've had on it so far is 19h 51m with 4h 18m of screen time and I still had 11% of battery left.
Not being a hardcore android enthusiast as of yet, I don't have too much of an issue with sense 4.0. It's pretty to look at and adds some decent functionality. The downside is the minor lag when flicking between homescreens. I would hope that on a flagship, powerful device they'd be able to have virtually no noticeable lag whilst performing such tasks.
This phone does most things flawlessly, I have zero complaints regarding phone performance, call quality, text msging etc. As a phone, it seems to be working extremely well thus far. It also feels great in the hands, the polycarbonate shell almost has a ceramic feel to it. The size is a bit shocking coming from an iPhone but is easy to adapt to.
However, the device isn't without it's bugs, these are the ones I've noticed so far:
-Display: I know HTC is using two different LCD panels, mine is definitely the warmer of the two being used and the whites have a bit more of a yellowy than a blueish tinge to them. I'm not sure how much this bothers me as of yet as in every way the display seems great to look at, I run auto brightness and don't expect it to be extremely bright. I'd be interested in knowing whether anyone with a Rogers unit has a whiter or yellower display?
-Wifi seems to be an ongoing issue. At first it seemed like it would barely hold onto a solid wifi connection at home. I googled like mad and saw a suggestion regarding hard coding the IP vs using DHCP to solve the issue. I didn't think that would be the solution and found another person saying the phone seemed to work better with a wireless network mode of b/g vs b/g/n so I disabled N on my router and the wifi seems to be much more consistent now but not perfect. At times the wifi bars will just disappear for no apparent reason. I've never had an issue like this with any other wifi device at home. Also attempted a channel change. Hoping it's a software issue that gets sorted with an update
-Camera seems pretty average to me.. This is one area where I think the iPhone still excels beyond any other phone I've ever tried. Its simple camera tends to take pretty good 95% of the time. With the One X so far I had a buddy attempt to snap a quick picture of me and it wasn't great. Have tried a few test pictures around the house and the quality seems okay but not great. Keep in mind, I haven't messed with settings, just literally point and shoot. I don't feel as if though you should have to adjust settings to produce a good quality image with a camera phone, I'm not a photographer and have no real interest in learning about photography. I just want to capture a moment on demand and have it captured fairly well without much effort
-Status bar icons: Last night was the first time I've set an alarm on the phone. The icons in the status bar seemed to be going a bit nuts, the alarm icon would disappear and reappear for no apparent reason. Not sure if I just need a reboot because I haven't heard anything about this anywhere
-Call volume display: When I adjust the volume during a call, the volume display is still on the screen when I'm ending the call, which could be minutes later. For some reason it doesn't seem like it's automatically closing off the screen
Anyway, sorry for the long winded intro and thoughts. Would love to hear feedback regarding the issues I've experienced and would be glad to answer questions regarding the device for those of you still waiting to pick yours up.
Cheers!
Thanks for taking the time to give us info. Good to know.
Minor723 said:
Thanks for taking the time to give us info. Good to know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Can't wait until Friday!
Hey there tawheed12! Picked up a One XL from Rogers friday last week as well, I'll share my experience with the issues you mentioned and maybe we can get a better picture of what's wrong. (no pun intended)
I too have noticed a yellowish tinge. However, I've been reading a lot on Google Books (reading a book on a screen this size is a real treat) and I've noticed that the more I use the phone with a solid, or near solid white screen, the less the yellowish tinge. It could be my imagination, but it could also be the screen needs to be "broken in". I don't know anything about the manufacturing process for this new generation of SLCDs so it might be possible it just takes time.
I tested the alarm and the call volume display issues, they don't seem to exist on mine for some reason. Alarms stick and the volume bar fades away after a few seconds. I tested normally and in speakerphone mode. I wonder if it's a third party app you're using?
As for the camera, I've fiddled around with most of the settings, and it seems to take more focused/better shots if you turn off the continuous shooting mode and frame your pictures normally. I know the high shutter speed is supposed to be a huge selling point but the bursting just seems useless to me. Still, even with it off, photos aren't brilliant or anything. HDR and Low Light modes can be useful sometimes, everything else just seems gimmicky or redundant to me. I have taken a few good shots though, if you want to compare let me know and I'll upload some.
My router is and has always been less reliable than my phone so I can't test that one out for ya
One thing I've noticed, the stock music app seems a little nonintuitive in some areas. Google Voice Actions' "listen to" command won't actually play anything, it just does a search in the app, and it will only do it ONCE. Further tries just bring you to the original search and ignore what you said. Hardly hands free. It also has random issues mixing up album arts with different albums in the queue. I've switched to Winamp in the meantime, but it's a shame because the stock app works very well otherwise.
One thing really bothering me, my camera clicks when changing focus. It was quiet at first, but it's getting louder fast. I hope there isnt an issue with our batch of phones! I'd appreciate knowing if anyone else is having this issue.
Anyways, hope I helped!
MatinatorX said:
Hey there tawheed12! Picked up a One XL from Rogers friday last week as well, I'll share my experience with the issues you mentioned and maybe we can get a better picture of what's wrong. (no pun intended)
I too have noticed a yellowish tinge. However, I've been reading a lot on Google Books (reading a book on a screen this size is a real treat) and I've noticed that the more I use the phone with a solid, or near solid white screen, the less the yellowish tinge. It could be my imagination, but it could also be the screen needs to be "broken in". I don't know anything about the manufacturing process for this new generation of SLCDs so it might be possible it just takes time.
I tested the alarm and the call volume display issues, they don't seem to exist on mine for some reason. Alarms stick and the volume bar fades away after a few seconds. I tested normally and in speakerphone mode. I wonder if it's a third party app you're using?
As for the camera, I've fiddled around with most of the settings, and it seems to take more focused/better shots if you turn off the continuous shooting mode and frame your pictures normally. I know the high shutter speed is supposed to be a huge selling point but the bursting just seems useless to me. Still, even with it off, photos aren't brilliant or anything. HDR and Low Light modes can be useful sometimes, everything else just seems gimmicky or redundant to me. I have taken a few good shots though, if you want to compare let me know and I'll upload some.
My router is and has always been less reliable than my phone so I can't test that one out for ya
One thing I've noticed, the stock music app seems a little nonintuitive in some areas. Google Voice Actions' "listen to" command won't actually play anything, it just does a search in the app, and it will only do it ONCE. Further tries just bring you to the original search and ignore what you said. Hardly hands free. It also has random issues mixing up album arts with different albums in the queue. I've switched to Winamp in the meantime, but it's a shame because the stock app works very well otherwise.
One thing really bothering me, my camera clicks when changing focus. It was quiet at first, but it's getting louder fast. I hope there isnt an issue with our batch of phones! I'd appreciate knowing if anyone else is having this issue.
Anyways, hope I helped!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know about the screen. It doesn't really bother me too much until I hold it next to a device with more of a blueish tinge.
I noticed the camera focusing sound too, very odd. Never had a phone that makes any type of audible noise when focusing.
I haven't used the music app so can't really help you on that one.
I'll try and take some good pics and upload them and we can compare!
My only real complaint so far is the wifi. It seems VERY shaky at much smaller distances than other phones I've had, to the point that putting my body between the phone and the router at about 20 feet makes the signal disappear. This is the only phone I've ever owned that had this much trouble with the wifi in my house. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed in software.
I still haven't experienced any issues with WiFi on mine. It's rock solid.
The only thing I can think of, is that I've disabled Packet Aggregation on my router (Asus RT-N56U) due to some incompatibilities with my D-Link AP (constant disconnections). Perhaps it's the same issue.
Don't own one yet, but I've played with the demo unit at AT&T numerous times. About half the time I've had the wifi drop out on me. This is concerning and hope it can be fixed with an update. Regardless, I will be preording my unit tomorrow.
DannySmurf said:
My only real complaint so far is the wifi. It seems VERY shaky at much smaller distances than other phones I've had, to the point that putting my body between the phone and the router at about 20 feet makes the signal disappear. This is the only phone I've ever owned that had this much trouble with the wifi in my house. Hopefully this is something that can be fixed in software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I *HAVE* to assume this is a software issue. It's ridiculous how bad it is. Changing my router to just b/g did make it much more consistent but still not even close to 100%. It's constantly slower than my iPhone testing from the same spots of the house. Could always try to enable the "Best wifi performance" option or whatever but it apparently sucks down quite a bit more battery.
I can also say i have the same issues regarding the wifi! Seems to be a widespread issue.
Great news about the battery because I just mostly text and i talk about a good hour on the phone daily, not really a phone gamer, so my battery should be great fingers crossed.
UMGixxer said:
Great news about the battery because I just mostly text and i talk about a good hour on the phone daily, not really a phone gamer, so my battery should be great fingers crossed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering your usage, I think the battery will be more than adequate!
I do keep my brightness on auto, limit some push notifications and keep my GPS off though I doubt the latter two make much of a difference.
tawheed12 said:
Considering your usage, I think the battery will be more than adequate!
I do keep my brightness on auto, limit some push notifications and keep my GPS off though I doubt the latter two make much of a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never have gps on since it sucks so bad on my captivate I have just given up on it for now lol
I got mine about 3 days ago - yesterday and today I have noticed the battery life improving greatly - the first few charge cycles it was a hog, but it seems to be evening out.
I've had many flagship android phones and had an iphone at 6 different times (from 3G to 4S) so I would say I've had my fair share.
This HTC One X is the first android phone I've had that truely feels high end - I LOVE the screen and its all around a great looking device. No complaints from me actually - its also the first android phone I've had I didn't immediately want to flash a new rom on. I will likely flash AOSP on it though at some point, whenever that is possible.
in short - it's a FANTASTIC phone! battery life blows the 4S out of the water.
aussois said:
I got mine about 3 days ago - yesterday and today I have noticed the battery life improving greatly - the first few charge cycles it was a hog, but it seems to be evening out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are an avid ROM flasher, you know that on new phones, and after ROM flashes, the battery meter is not calibrated. The actual battery consumption is not changing. Just the % battery that is being displayed is changing (getting more accurate).
kinda lame the "Camera seems pretty average". this is supposedly one of the strong selling points of the device. i'll have my GNex laying around for a bit after i get mine so i'll be doing all kinds of comparisons between the two. i have no doubt, though, that it's going to trump my GNex in spades.
mrvirginia said:
kinda lame the "Camera seems pretty average". this is supposedly one of the strong selling points of the device. i'll have my GNex laying around for a bit after i get mine so i'll be doing all kinds of comparisons between the two. i have no doubt, though, that it's going to trump my GNex in spades.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the at&t model the camera is clean. Compared to my iPhone 4s and vivid cameras
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
rambo8987 said:
On the at&t model the camera is clean. Compared to my iPhone 4s and vivid cameras
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's good to know. yeah i've been lurking on the engadget review for the international one and they had this to say:
"Now let's talk about image quality. We pitted the One X against the current cream of the crop -- the N8, Amaze 4G, iPhone 4S and Galaxy Note (which uses the same module as the Galaxy S II) plus Canon's S95 compact point-and-shoot. The camera landed somewhere in the middle of this star-studded pack, marginally beating the Galaxy Note and iPhone 4S while almost matching the Amaze 4G. Sure, it's not in the same league as the N8 (which rivals the S95 in some cases), but this is one stellar camera, especially when you consider that HTC is not positioning this phone as an imaging-centric device like the Amaze 4G."
mrvirginia said:
that's good to know. yeah i've been lurking on the engadget review for the international one and they had this to say:
"Now let's talk about image quality. We pitted the One X against the current cream of the crop -- the N8, Amaze 4G, iPhone 4S and Galaxy Note (which uses the same module as the Galaxy S II) plus Canon's S95 compact point-and-shoot. The camera landed somewhere in the middle of this star-studded pack, marginally beating the Galaxy Note and iPhone 4S while almost matching the Amaze 4G. Sure, it's not in the same league as the N8 (which rivals the S95 in some cases), but this is one stellar camera, especially when you consider that HTC is not positioning this phone as an imaging-centric device like the Amaze 4G."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Trust me. When you get this phone. You won't be dissappointed. Esp in camera area. But again, its a phone, not a dedicated camera, so its kind of silly seeing people dis phone makers because areas like cameras, gaming, screen reso is not stelllar. Want a great camera? Lol buy a camera, want a great gaming console? Buy a game console. Want great display? Go get a 55 LCD screen tv. Maybe I'm just excited about this phone.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using xda premium
I have to agree the only two complaints I have with mine. The first is the Wi-Fi it seems spotty unless I am less than ten feet from my router. The only other complaint I have is with the sense keyboard. I am testing a few alternatives so its more a preference than anything. Bottom line though the One X is probably the best device I have used in a long time.
Sent from my HTC One X
I've either cognitively dissonated myself into loving this phone, or it is really quite good. The official camera fix did some good and leaves open the good possibility that further refining will yield a great result, or I'll stick with the progress being made on the GCam port and use the native app for great monochrome shots (I love the B&W sensor and it is EXCELLENT). That said, no cases... I guess no problem - I ordered some SquareTrade insurance coverage today - if it drops or dies, they'll replace it for a hundred beans - I can handle that kind of coverage...
I'm not seeing the same quality defects others are reporting with their handsets (light bleed, TMOB signal issues, etc.) so either I got a keeper or others are being overly sensitive (nothing personal guys).
I asked for and will likely receive a return package, but I think I'll be sending it back empty. Sorry for the trouble Essential, but you are in my daily carry category now - my S8+ will stay ready for outdoor action as needed (water resistance, etc).
The aesthetics are what has done it for me... Maybe you feel the same? The feeling I get holding and using the Essential do indeed remind me of the first day with the OG iPhone - only ten years better. Hell - I still have some great pics I took with that lousy 2MP, fixed focus, no flash shooter from 2007 on my drive.
Anyway, just one man's changed opinion. If it grew on you too, please post your thoughts. I'm interested to know how many others have now caved.
rootdude said:
I've either cognitively dissonated myself into loving this phone, or it is really quite good. The official camera fix did some good and leaves open the good possibility that further refining will yield a great result, or I'll stick with the progress being made on the GCam port and use the native app for great monochrome shots (I love the B&W sensor and it is EXCELLENT). That said, no cases... I guess no problem - I ordered some SquareTrade insurance coverage today - if it drops or dies, they'll replace it for a hundred beans - I can handle that kind of coverage...
I'm not seeing the same quality defects others are reporting with their handsets (light bleed, TMOB signal issues, etc.) so either I got a keeper or others are being overly sensitive (nothing personal guys).
I asked for and will likely receive a return package, but I think I'll be sending it back empty. Sorry for the trouble Essential, but you are in my daily carry category now - my S8+ will stay ready for outdoor action as needed (water resistance, etc).
The aesthetics are what has done it for me... Maybe you feel the same? The feeling I get holding and using the Essential do indeed remind me of the first day with the OG iPhone - only ten years better. Hell - I still have some great pics I took with that lousy 2MP, fixed focus, no flash shooter from 2007 on my drive.
Anyway, just one man's changed opinion. If it grew on you too, please post your thoughts. I'm interested to know how many others have now caved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really want to like it, I'm trying real hard.
The performance sucks and is not faster than a Moto Z with a Snapdragon 821.
This phone does some really aggressive thermal throttling.
This bothers me.
I really want to like it.
I kind of came to the same conclusion the other day. Software can always be improved with updates, and there's not another phone out there built with better materials. It looks, feels, and is, an upscale phone.
tech_head said:
I really want to like it, I'm trying real hard.
The performance sucks and is not faster than a Moto Z with a Snapdragon 821.
This phone does some really aggressive thermal throttling.
This bothers me.
I really want to like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested to hear what you know about thermal throttling. I'm a power user and I play Royale like an idiot and I haven't even felt it get warm, nor do I see the incredible battery drain I see with other devices I've played on in the past (the Pixel XL was the worst for that power drain). Do you have CPUZ installed on it and can get some screenies of the throttling b/c of overheat conditions?
rootdude said:
I'm interested to hear what you know about thermal throttling. I'm a power user and I play Royale like an idiot and I haven't even felt it get warm, nor do I see the incredible battery drain I see with other devices I've played on in the past (the Pixel XL was the worst for that power drain). Do you have CPUZ installed on it and can get some screenies of the throttling b/c of overheat conditions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see/feel the phone get hot. That's the point, before it even gets hot the CPU gets throttled.
If I artificially cool the device or I'm in a cold environment; I can run Antutu and get close to the Qualcomm numbers for their reference platform in the 178k range. I can do that only in a cold environment. If the device is in a warm room the performance drops to 160k or so. If the room is hot or if I try to run again the performance can drop to 150k. I have seen the results drop to below 120k.
Geek bench scores are somewhat better but not great.
1900 single core and 6000 multicore.
The renderscript score is about 8000. Which puts in 33% behind an iPhone 7.
The software grew on me as more mods and ADB tweaks come out...but every time I decide to keep it and slap a skin of the back I find new scratches. Now I even have a scratch on the finish on the titanium. No clue where any of these came from. I haven't had a scratch on a phone in years... I upgrade every few months and always sell my phones mint on Swappa. I've had this a week and it's already scratched to ****. I love the look and feel and I'm happy with the software now but man..it's getting destroyed.
NeutronBomb said:
The software grew on me as more mods and ADB tweaks come out...but every time I decide to keep it and slap a skin of the back I find new scratches. Now I even have a scratch on the finish on the titanium. No clue where any of these came from. I haven't had a scratch on a phone in years... I upgrade every few months and always sell my phones mint on Swappa. I've had this a week and it's already scratched to ****. I love the look and feel and I'm happy with the software now but man..it's getting destroyed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Mine still looks like it just came out of the box, and it even took a 4 foot tumble to my bathroom floor the other day.
So I hope the new update improves performance.
Right now if the phone gets to an internal temp of 44C it will throttle to less than half the maximum frequency.
This puts the performance, when warm, behind and LG G4, Samsung Galaxy S6 and my old Nexus 6P.
Not happy.
I'm battling the decision now. I'm still in that 15 day return window, and like others am trying really hard to want to like this device.
Love the display. Don't mind that it's not AMOLED - I still get 5-6 hours SoT with moderate-heavy internet/call/text on wifi w/bt connected. No light bleed issues or lifting of panels for me, everything seems in order there.
There are some problems with the software that make me wonder if the problems I have are hardware or software. The micro-stuttering during scrolling (only while touching the screen during scrolling) could be a hardware problem, could be throttling, or could be OS optimization for this device in general. It's smooth as butter as long as I flick-scroll. Even if I slow finger-scroll vs slow flick-scroll the difference is noticeable, goes from stutter to butter. Finger-on-screen lag is like that of a bloated EVO3D trying to flip homescreens.
Then there are the definite software glitches that are present even after a full wipe of the phone (I really wish you could wipe the cache partition on this thing). This includes the occasional 10 second freeze while scrolling, the microstutters mentioned above, having to press back twice when in a conversation in the default messaging app, random screen presses when not touching the screen, regularly having to tap the screen repeatedly to get response from buttons.
And then there's the support - it takes a very long time to get response. I realize they are busy and trying to be responsive, and I am really trying to support this new company... One of the biggest problems I have is for solely existing as a consumer communications device manufacturer, they have some terrible consumer communication processes happening (or complete lack thereof). All I really want to know is that they are aware of and are working on the specific issues. Maybe I have control issues, but the dark is not a friendly place to be with 700 bucks on the line!!
I'm going to leave myself undecided for a few days and see where things go. If I don't see some kind of a software update addressing many of the issues some of us are experiencing I may have to reconsider... Despite all of the short-comings the new company has had as a baby, it's a beautiful baby. Let's just hope it learns fast I'm really hoping the screen issues I'm having are software related, but without confirmation from the company I can't say that I have high confidence right now. I love the feel and design of the device itself, though! *torn*
I am really trying hard to like this device. In terms of overall feel it's immaculate. They did very well on the design of the the phone. My issues come with software and future development. Right now there's clear software bugs and other optimization that needs to be done. If they can work on some of those things the experience on this phone would improve tenfold. Also once they get the source code and kernel out then we can start seeing more Community Development. We could also get things such as custom recovery and root. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks this phone and the community support will improve. I think I'll keep my device for while to see if that happens if not I may be lookin at a Pixel 2.
theandroidbot said:
I am really trying hard to like this device. In terms of overall feel it's immaculate. They did very well on the design of the the phone. My issues come with software and future development. Right now there's clear software bugs and other optimization that needs to be done. If they can work on some of those things the experience on this phone would improve tenfold. Also once they get the source code and kernel out then we can start seeing more Community Development. We could also get things such as custom recovery and root. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks this phone and the community support will improve. I think I'll keep my device for while to see if that happens if not I may be lookin at a Pixel 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a massive amount of development on the pixel in relation to other Nexus devices likely due to the A/B partitions so I'm dubious on the pixel 2 at the moment
spotmark said:
Interesting. Mine still looks like it just came out of the box, and it even took a 4 foot tumble to my bathroom floor the other day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can the QC really be that hit and miss? I have zero scratches as well on front or back.
rootdude said:
Can the QC really be that hit and miss? I have zero scratches as well on front or back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. The one thing I absolutely love is the build quality. It looks exactly as the day it arrived.
Mine looks like the first day. I'm very impressed with the build quality.
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
No issues with mine fr a build standpoint. Fell a few times and no scratches. I'm using a glass screen protector even though there is a halo. Rather that scratches than the screen. The update that came out today is probably the software the phone should have shipped with initially... but we were all in a rush to get it. I'm keeping this device for sure! I also like confusing the heck out of ppl... I'm running the Arrow Launcher, blackberry keyboard and I use the iPhone sms sound for text notifications..
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
hoopsdavis said:
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's refreshing. I mean I love big phones, haven't used a small sized phone in years, but after using this phone for several days, I love how reasonably compact it is with this screen size. I should rephrase, I love big screen size, not necessarily big form factor. So to have this screen size packed in a smaller form, I think it's awesome.
hoopsdavis said:
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "small" form factor with big screen is the the biggest reason this phone came into my radar
flakko86 said:
The "small" form factor with big screen is the the biggest reason this phone came into my radar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with me and many others. The big screen in compact size is among the major pros for buying this mobile. Besides that, I was also attracted to the clean design/material used and the pin port for 360 camera and other gadgets.
But I'm still waiting (impatiently) for how the Huawei Mate 10 pro turns out to be before I buy the essential phone. Hoping the Mate 10 pro is as compact and well built as well, combined with supposedly beast new Kirin 970 and improved dual camera, and maybe some new features like AI, Graphene battery, 3D Face recognition (all already introduced on Huawei's Honor magic). It would be the only contender to essential phone on my list. If Mate 10 pro disappoints then by that time Essential phone would be ready to ship out with 360 camera and charging dock in one go.
I have really grown to like this device. I have been using as my DD since the update, no significant issues and certainly no scratches or signs of wear. The size of the device is a key factor for me, I love the form factor.
MY PERSONAL COMPLAINTS & REVIEW OF THE HUAWEI MATE 20 X
This is my personal take of the huawei mate 20X which I provide as a cautionary note to potential buyers. This is an honest critique of a phone I owned for little over a month. For comparison sake I own the samsung a70 and used that to gauge the phone's overall value. Last month I bought it going in with the mindset that the big screen and its features would be cool as hell. I was wrong.
Online I purchased it for $590. My first impression when I unboxed it was I felt horrified. The phone is monster big. It made me a bit uneasy to think that the heavy weight coupled with its sheer size would make for a perfect shattered screen in time. As I handled it I was on edge that it would fall which made me feel somewhat insecure. But after a while I got used to the size and it fit my pockets although the top protrudes out a bit. After toying with it I felt I had to always be aware that it might fall so I used extra precaution while it was on my person, but it was no biggie.
BATTERY
The first thing that constantly bothered me about the phone was the battery which is 5000 mah. The first thing I made sure to do was to put this baby into airplane mode, turn off bt and location and just keep wifi on. Also, I made sure of turning off background activity in the settings on the grand majority of apps not to mention uninstalling unwanted apps.
You might at first glance think, "wow 5000 mah, amazing I'll buy it right away!" Hold your horses buddy. Just because a phone has a big battery doesnt necessarily mean it will perform like a big battery champ. An example of this is when I charged the phone to 100% one morning. I read email, went on youtube for 10 minutes, surfed the net and made one call that lasted 2 minutes. This whole session lasted 20 minutes. The battery drained to 87%, I kid you not! Another example is when I charged it to 100% one night. After 3 hours of idleness, not picking it up or doing anything to it, the battery read a disconcerting 96%. How in god's name is that possible on 5000 mah after I disabled many apps and killed many more running in the background?? By comparison my samsung a70 which has a 4500 mah battery beats the mate 20X big time in battery. After I put the a70 through the ringer with the above same session in the same amount of time the battery showed a pleasing 97%. A user on xda commented that his mate 20x's battery is slightly (keyword, slightly) better than his samsung s9 which has a 4100 mah battery. Now youre seeing the bigger picture.
UI
The UI is the 2nd worst thing about this phone. It looks like Ice Cream - heavily outdated and disappointing. Though it navigates fast through menus, the app drawer cant be accessed by swiping from the bottom as in most phones today with Pie which is installed on this phone out the box. Even though you have an option for that feature its clumsy and not pretty.
SCREEN RESOLUTION & COLOR
Another bone of contention is the screen resolution. It looks good. But when compared to modern phones like my a70 which is very sharp it falls short. Of course the screen is large which "thins out" pixel density making it less crisp. Thats understandable. But it disappoints when juxtaposing it with sharper phones.
Color is not well calibrated even though it's set to vivid by default. Red apparently dominates the other colors which makes the reds stand out too much. Perhaps a tweak in the settings would do the trick? But with a phone debuted at $1000 you would think huawei would have the experience by now to fix that. Completely inexcusable. The samsung a70's vivid color depth blows the mate 20x out of the water.
SOUND
The sound volume and quality are quite loud and amazing respectively. The best I've ever heard in any smartphone. Huawei did a good job in this dept. But there's no way to toggle dolby atmos off unfortunately. Battery charging is fast, no complaints. Stereo is a huge plus!
GAMES AND VIDEO
For some unknown twisted reason, given the above complaints, playing games on this phone lasted a long time in battery. Playing asphalt 9 for 15 minutes drained only 4 - 5%. Same thing with playing videos. An hour of youtube drained only 6%. Very good but strange given its battery drains in other areas.
OVERALL & MY ADVICE
My great question in all this is, why the hell arent people complaining about these issues?? Battery is not efficient, the UI looks ugly and feels way outdated, the colors are off, resolution isnt as sharp as on other phones and its a bit heavy. To be perfectly honest, with all these faults the phone is worth $460, not $650 which is the lowest price as a new item selling on amazon at the time of this writing. Without any of these issues the phone would be perfect.
For those considering buying this phone take great heed of the aforementioned before you fork over 7 tall bills for it that later on you might regret. Dont be easily fooled by rave reviews of owners of the phone on xda either. Many will exaggerate it because theyre blinded by its large size. Likewise, dont be easily fooled by tech reviews elsewhere like those found on zdnet. Some of them are actually written by paid reviewers who will intentionally gloss over a product, ignoring its faults to satisfy ad revenue.
Yo - I'll bite.
I like your post. Although I am only a senior member too. I don't think that means I am anywhere near qualified to do anything more than pontificate and slander. Basically, all that means is that I have been lucky enough to experience help from other waaaay more knowledgeable people than myself.
It amazes me that none of us have anywhere near the same experience as each other. ok - i have had a wine or two and the last ime that happened I started the worst rated thread in the house. https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-20-x/how-to/goodbye-huawei-phone-t3965177/page3#post80500435
COMPLAINTS & REVIEW OF THE HUAWEI MATE 20 X
This is my personal take of the huawei mate 20X which I provide as a cautionary note to potential buyers. This is an honest critique of a phone I owned for little over a month. For comparison sake I own the samsung a70 and used that to gauge the phone's overall value. Last month I bought it going in with the mindset that the big screen and its features would be cool as hell. I was wrong.
>
I haven't owned a Samsung since the S8+ - I loved it, but the battery was nowhere near what they said it was for me. I wonder if it was because I have to use a VPN 80% of the time to access Google services. (in China - Lucky/unlucky me). How do I know that you are not some sort of Samsung plant? A70 can't be as awesome as this phone, can it?
Online I purchased it for $590. My first impression when I unboxed it was I felt horrified. The phone is monster big. It made me a bit uneasy to think that the heavy weight coupled with its sheer size would make for a perfect shattered screen in time. As I handled it I was on edge that it would fall which made me feel somewhat insecure. But after a while I got used to the size and it fit my pockets although the top protrudes out a bit. After toying with it I felt I had to always be aware that it might fall so I used extra precaution while it was on my person, but it was no biggie.
>
I'm a big guy. I like the size. I like everything about the size. Yes, if you don't want a big phone - go to something else.
BATTERY
The first thing that constantly bothered me about the phone was the battery which is 5000 mah. The first thing I made sure to do was to put this baby into airplane mode, turn off bt and location and just keep wifi on. Also, I made sure of turning off background activity in the settings on the grand majority of apps not to mention uninstalling unwanted apps.
ok - I have no idea why this is the way it is for you. I have NEVER experienced a battery experience like this in sooooo ****ing many phones. So many times that famous African American on youtube - you know who - would tell me that 'this' phone's battery life was the best. And so many times I'd get let down (never more so than the Huawei Nexus 6P. Damn I loved that phone, but damn that battery sucked). Anyway, Now-a-days I can accidentally leave my camera or torch on and it DOES NOT MATTER. This thing is a battery wizard ... for me. THe AL00 in china with Veeeeepeeeee-ENNNN
You might at first glance think, "wow 5000 mah, amazing I'll buy it right away!" Hold your horses buddy. Just because a phone has a big battery doesnt necessarily mean it will perform like a big battery. An example of this is when I charged the phone to 100% one morning. I read email, went on youtube for 10 minutes, surfed the net and made one call that lasted 2 minutes. This whole session lasted 20 minutes. The battery drained to 87%, I kid you not! Another example is when I charged it to 100% one night. After 3 hours of idleness, not picking it up or doing anything to it, the battery read a disconcerting 96%. How in god's name is that possible on 5000 mah after I disabled many apps and killed many more running in the background?? My samsung a70 which has a 4500 mah battery beats the mate 20X big time in battery. After I put the a70 through the ringer with the above same session in the same amount of time the battery showed 97%. A user on xda commented that his mate 20x's battery is slightly (keyword, slightly) better than his samsung s9 which has a 4100 mah battery. Now youre seeing the bigger picture.
I have NEVER been more impressed by a smart phone. I get a day and a bit an dI am a HEAVY user. Not sure why your phone life is ****, but I wish I knew why.
UI
The UI is the 2nd worst thing about this phone. It looks heavily outdated like Ice Cream or Kit Kat. Very disappointing. Though it navigates fast through menus, the app drawer cant be accessed by swiping from the bottom. Even though you have an option for that feature its
I actually really like EMUI despite my bashing in numerous threads. I especially like the gestures. I am even unsure if I could go back to Nova ... but the fact I can't, ****s me off more than anything. The worst and second-worst and third-worst thing about this phone is the lack of accessibility to a launcher. Damn -that is frustrating and I want to elbow all the EVR dudes right in the GD nose for their insistence that the phone is awesome!
SCREEN RESOLUTION
Another bone of contention is the screen resolution. It looks good. But when compared to modern phones like my a70 which is very sharp it falls short. Of course the screen is large which "thins out" pixel density making it less crisp. Thats understandable. But it disappoints when juxtaposing it to sharper phones.
Nah man - in my opinion, the phone's resolution is pretty good. You sure you don't work for Samsung?
SOUND & BATTERY
The sound volume and quality are quite loud and amazing respectively. The best I've ever come across in any smartphone. Huawei did a good job in this dept. But there's no way to toggle dolby atmos off unfortunately. Battery charging is fast, no complaints. Stereo is a huge plus!
You're probably right, but I couldn't give a toss about this as I mostly use Bluetooth ear. Speakers have been handy once ort twice, but essentially, I have never used the jack. Also I have no clue what the **** is Atmos - I am a philistine when it comes to musique.
GAMES AND VIDEO
For some unknown twisted reason, given the above complaints, playing games on this phone lasted a long time. Playing asphalt 9 for 15 minutes drained only 4 - 5%. Same thing with playing videos. An hour of youtube drained only 6%. Very good but strange given its battery drains in other areas.
Think you are right with this. I seem to be able to set my son up on math prodigy and t4each your monster how to read and it lasts a zillion times longer than when I use the old huawei 6P.
OVERALL & MY ADVICE clumsy and not pretty.
My great question in all this is, why the hell arent people complaining about these issues?? Battery is not efficient, the UI looks ugly and feels way outdated, resolution isnt as sharp as on other phones and its a bit heavy. To be perfectly honest, with all these faults the phone is worth $460, not $650 which is the lowest price as a new item on amazon at the time of this writing. Without any of these issues the phone would be perfect.
It is worth it, in my opinion if you live outside of China and can get the EVA version and you don't need heaps of mem or a dual sim. I need a dual sim, heaps of mem, and I live in China. Therefore it has completely sucked owning the most amazing phone EVER.
For those considering buying this phone take great heed of the aforementioned before you fork over 7 tall bills for it that later on you might regret. Dont be easily fooled by rave reviews of owners of the phone on xda. Many will exaggerate it because theyre blinded by its large size. Likewise, dont be easily fooled by tech reviews elsewhere like those found on zdnet. Some of them are actually written by paid reviewers who will intentionally gloss over a product, ignoring its faults to satisfy ad revenue.
Nah dude ... It is a solid phone. I also got my wife off Apple with the mate 20 pro. These are the best phones - period. Sady though, big business and government dictate otherwise.
HUAWEI... CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME UNLOCK MY BOOTLOADER FFS
That was me who mentioned about the battery drain being slightly better on the mate 20X , it was in relation to my s10+.
The S10+ screen is smaller at 6.4", screen on time battery drain would be greater with a larger panel regardless of battery capacity as we all know. It's all relative.
My ideal goal is 0.9 - 0.4% per hour idle drain or less. Which I get on the Mate 20X , similar to my s10+. The mate 20X larger battery provides greater in between charges when device is in idle and screen off and a slightly better SOT time with screen on than my S10+.
As we all know battery drain % has nothing to do with battery capacity. Drain is drain, regardless. I use GSAM and Accubattery Pro on all my devices to measure SOT and idle drain amongst other things. One other important point is that battery drain on same given device can be completely different to someone elses same device. There are many variables that come into play in regards to battery drain. Hence why there are users of s10+ devices that complain their battery drains faster whereby others post 10 hours plus screen on time. The S10 plus is a mere example, change the device name and it's the same scenario on other device forums on XDA.
As for YouTube reviews for phones in general, I've came to find out a while ago that most are fake. YouTube influencers are given the device for free for favourable reviews.
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
s327374 said:
I like your post. Although I am only a senior member too. I don't think that means I am anywhere near qualified to do anything more than pontificate and slander. Basically, all that means is that I have been lucky enough to experience help from other waaaay more knowledgeable people than myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats fine I dont expect anyone to know more than anyone else. There are no absolutes here just relative critiques.
How do I know that you are not some sort of Samsung plant? A70 can't be as awesome as this phone, can it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would I or samsung gain from a phone made for the asian market if I were a secret samsung agent based in USA on an english-based website? The samsung a70 is the only phone at my disposal with which to compare the mate 20x.
ok - I have no idea why this is the way it is for you. I have NEVER experienced a battery experience like this in sooooo ****ing many phones. So many times that famous African American on youtube - you know who - would tell me that 'this' phone's battery life was the best. And so many times I'd get let down (never more so than the Huawei Nexus 6P. Damn I loved that phone, but damn that battery sucked). Anyway, Now-a-days I can accidentally leave my camera or torch on and it DOES NOT MATTER.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you actually read or just scan through the battery paragraph? I specifically explained how I set up my phone. Battery life again compared to the a70 leaves much to be desired. Why it went from 100% to 96% in 3 hours with everything turned off is completely inexcusable. As for the black guy in youtube, we dont know how HE set up his phone. Keep in mind that the mate 20x mustve been his 1st 5000 mah battery phone which came out last year at the time of his review when very few phones within that same period had the same mah capacity. This is why you cant judge a phone without comparing it to other phones. I actually tested the phone with the a70 on several occasions, being careful to take notes of observed changes in battery. Just to let you know, two phones from different companies with the same battery capacity will ALWAYS perform differently in terms of battery. This is irrefutable fact.
I actually really like EMUI despite my bashing in numerous threads. I especially like the gestures. I am even unsure if I could go back to Nova ... but the fact I can't, ****s me off more than anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant qualify your response as to the UI since you prefer a 1971 chevy when we're driving 2018 ferraris. What I can comment on is that I think the L29 version can install launchers. But I'm not 100% sure on that so dont quote me for assurance.
Nah man - in my opinion, the phone's resolution is pretty good. You sure you don't work for Samsung?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it looks like this is the only phone you may have owned. Not sure but thats what it sounds like to me. Reviewers have also entered the same judgement as to its resolution.
Nah dude ... It is a solid phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never said it wasnt a solid phone. Its just not a perfectly solid 10 out of 10. Its plagued with issues serious companies arent foolish enough to make which should have been ironed out before huawei released it. Premium should be premium especially at premium price, no excuses.
Chinese phone makers are not in the habit of being keen on quality control and are slow to correct mistakes. They think they can just slap together a phone with high end specs through cheap labor as their corp revenue goal, throw it in the consumer's face like a doggy treat and expect them to bite. Thats not how you make customers happy. You keep them satisfied through constant and consistent quality control which the chinese have historically lacked for a long time in their product cycles. But admittingly they are getting better at it; in that sense I give them credit where credit is due. But china is still no korea at least not yet. The mate 20x issues are to the mate 20x what chinese companies are to customers. If china would have made a strong effort to make phones amazing in all respects they could have single-handedly put a major dent in apple, lg and samsung by now.
Limeybastard said:
That was me who mentioned about the battery drain being slightly better on the mate 20X , it was in relation to my s10+.
The S10+ screen is smaller at 6.4", screen on time battery drain would be greater with a larger panel regardless of battery capacity as we all know. It's all relative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yes I remember now, it was you. Appreciate that info you confirmed. However I mistakenly said it was your s9 when it was actually your s10+. I stand corrected.
As we all know battery drain % has nothing to do with battery capacity. Drain is drain, regardless. I use GSAM and Accubattery Pro on all my devices to measure SOT and idle drain amongst other things. One other important point is that battery drain on same given device can be completely different to someone elses same device. There are many variables that come into play in regards to battery drain. Hence why there are users of s10+ devices that complain their battery drains faster whereby others post 10 hours plus screen on time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly what I surmised in my review. Battery capacity means nothing. It doesnt matter how big a battery is; its how efficiently the phone utilizes the voltage and how the software is able to tie in everything together, hardware and software wise.
As for YouTube reviews for phones in general, I've came to find out a while ago that most are fake. YouTube influencers are given the device for free for favourable reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are correct. It is very unfortunate that we still cant get unfiltered honest reviews despite the "free" internet environment.
Isn't it strange that we have experiences with the phone, and yet we are both ultimately unhappy with the outcome. I am frustrated, you are disappointed.
We are like the odd couple of Huawei owners.
Except, you know, we aren't really a couple...
s327374 said:
Yo - I'll bite.
I like your post. Although I am only a senior member too. I don't think that means I am anywhere near qualified to do anything more than pontificate and slander. Basically, all that means is that I have been lucky enough to experience help from other waaaay more knowledgeable people than myself.
It amazes me that none of us have anywhere near the same experience as each other. ok - i have had a wine or two and the last ime that happened I started the worst rated thread in the house. https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-20-x/how-to/goodbye-huawei-phone-t3965177/page3#post80500435
COMPLAINTS & REVIEW OF THE HUAWEI MATE 20 X
This is my personal take of the huawei mate 20X which I provide as a cautionary note to potential buyers. This is an honest critique of a phone I owned for little over a month. For comparison sake I own the samsung a70 and used that to gauge the phone's overall value. Last month I bought it going in with the mindset that the big screen and its features would be cool as hell. I was wrong.
>
I haven't owned a Samsung since the S8+ - I loved it, but the battery was nowhere near what they said it was for me. I wonder if it was because I have to use a VPN 80% of the time to access Google services. (in China - Lucky/unlucky me). How do I know that you are not some sort of Samsung plant? A70 can't be as awesome as this phone, can it?
Online I purchased it for $590. My first impression when I unboxed it was I felt horrified. The phone is monster big. It made me a bit uneasy to think that the heavy weight coupled with its sheer size would make for a perfect shattered screen in time. As I handled it I was on edge that it would fall which made me feel somewhat insecure. But after a while I got used to the size and it fit my pockets although the top protrudes out a bit. After toying with it I felt I had to always be aware that it might fall so I used extra precaution while it was on my person, but it was no biggie.
>
I'm a big guy. I like the size. I like everything about the size. Yes, if you don't want a big phone - go to something else.
BATTERY
The first thing that constantly bothered me about the phone was the battery which is 5000 mah. The first thing I made sure to do was to put this baby into airplane mode, turn off bt and location and just keep wifi on. Also, I made sure of turning off background activity in the settings on the grand majority of apps not to mention uninstalling unwanted apps.
ok - I have no idea why this is the way it is for you. I have NEVER experienced a battery experience like this in sooooo ****ing many phones. So many times that famous African American on youtube - you know who - would tell me that 'this' phone's battery life was the best. And so many times I'd get let down (never more so than the Huawei Nexus 6P. Damn I loved that phone, but damn that battery sucked). Anyway, Now-a-days I can accidentally leave my camera or torch on and it DOES NOT MATTER. This thing is a battery wizard ... for me. THe AL00 in china with Veeeeepeeeee-ENNNN
You might at first glance think, "wow 5000 mah, amazing I'll buy it right away!" Hold your horses buddy. Just because a phone has a big battery doesnt necessarily mean it will perform like a big battery. An example of this is when I charged the phone to 100% one morning. I read email, went on youtube for 10 minutes, surfed the net and made one call that lasted 2 minutes. This whole session lasted 20 minutes. The battery drained to 87%, I kid you not! Another example is when I charged it to 100% one night. After 3 hours of idleness, not picking it up or doing anything to it, the battery read a disconcerting 96%. How in god's name is that possible on 5000 mah after I disabled many apps and killed many more running in the background?? My samsung a70 which has a 4500 mah battery beats the mate 20X big time in battery. After I put the a70 through the ringer with the above same session in the same amount of time the battery showed 97%. A user on xda commented that his mate 20x's battery is slightly (keyword, slightly) better than his samsung s9 which has a 4100 mah battery. Now youre seeing the bigger picture.
I have NEVER been more impressed by a smart phone. I get a day and a bit an dI am a HEAVY user. Not sure why your phone life is ****, but I wish I knew why.
UI
The UI is the 2nd worst thing about this phone. It looks heavily outdated like Ice Cream or Kit Kat. Very disappointing. Though it navigates fast through menus, the app drawer cant be accessed by swiping from the bottom. Even though you have an option for that feature its
I actually really like EMUI despite my bashing in numerous threads. I especially like the gestures. I am even unsure if I could go back to Nova ... but the fact I can't, ****s me off more than anything. The worst and second-worst and third-worst thing about this phone is the lack of accessibility to a launcher. Damn -that is frustrating and I want to elbow all the EVR dudes right in the GD nose for their insistence that the phone is awesome!
SCREEN RESOLUTION
Another bone of contention is the screen resolution. It looks good. But when compared to modern phones like my a70 which is very sharp it falls short. Of course the screen is large which "thins out" pixel density making it less crisp. Thats understandable. But it disappoints when juxtaposing it to sharper phones.
Nah man - in my opinion, the phone's resolution is pretty good. You sure you don't work for Samsung?
SOUND & BATTERY
The sound volume and quality are quite loud and amazing respectively. The best I've ever come across in any smartphone. Huawei did a good job in this dept. But there's no way to toggle dolby atmos off unfortunately. Battery charging is fast, no complaints. Stereo is a huge plus!
You're probably right, but I couldn't give a toss about this as I mostly use Bluetooth ear. Speakers have been handy once ort twice, but essentially, I have never used the jack. Also I have no clue what the **** is Atmos - I am a philistine when it comes to musique.
GAMES AND VIDEO
For some unknown twisted reason, given the above complaints, playing games on this phone lasted a long time. Playing asphalt 9 for 15 minutes drained only 4 - 5%. Same thing with playing videos. An hour of youtube drained only 6%. Very good but strange given its battery drains in other areas.
Think you are right with this. I seem to be able to set my son up on math prodigy and t4each your monster how to read and it lasts a zillion times longer than when I use the old huawei 6P.
OVERALL & MY ADVICE clumsy and not pretty.
My great question in all this is, why the hell arent people complaining about these issues?? Battery is not efficient, the UI looks ugly and feels way outdated, resolution isnt as sharp as on other phones and its a bit heavy. To be perfectly honest, with all these faults the phone is worth $460, not $650 which is the lowest price as a new item on amazon at the time of this writing. Without any of these issues the phone would be perfect.
It is worth it, in my opinion if you live outside of China and can get the EVA version and you don't need heaps of mem or a dual sim. I need a dual sim, heaps of mem, and I live in China. Therefore it has completely sucked owning the most amazing phone EVER.
For those considering buying this phone take great heed of the aforementioned before you fork over 7 tall bills for it that later on you might regret. Dont be easily fooled by rave reviews of owners of the phone on xda. Many will exaggerate it because theyre blinded by its large size. Likewise, dont be easily fooled by tech reviews elsewhere like those found on zdnet. Some of them are actually written by paid reviewers who will intentionally gloss over a product, ignoring its faults to satisfy ad revenue.
Nah dude ... It is a solid phone. I also got my wife off Apple with the mate 20 pro. These are the best phones - period. Sady though, big business and government dictate otherwise.
HUAWEI... CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME UNLOCK MY BOOTLOADER FFS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
deloj said:
Oh yes I remember now, it was you. Appreciate that info you confirmed. However I mistakenly said it was your s9 when it was actually your s10+. I stand corrected.
Thats exactly what I surmised in my review. Battery capacity means nothing. Its how you use it that determines its longevity and drain rate. It doesnt matter how big a battery is; its how efficiently the phone utilizes the voltage and how the software is able to tie in everything together, hardware and software wise.
Yes you are correct. It is very unfortunate that we still cant get unfiltered honest reviews despite the "free" internet environment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
deloj said:
Thats fine I dont expect anyone to know more than anyone else. There are no absolutes here just relative critiques.
What would I or samsung gain from a phone made for the asian market if I were a secret samsung agent based in USA on an english-based website? The samsung a70 is the only phone at my disposal with which to compare the mate 20x.
Did you actually read or just scan through the battery paragraph? I specifically explained how I set up my phone. Battery life again compared to the a70 leaves much to be desired. Why it went from 100% to 96% in 3 hours with everything turned off is completely inexcusable. As for the black guy in youtube, we dont know how HE set up his phone. Keep in mind that the mate 20x mustve been his 1st 5000 mah battery phone which came out last year at the time of his review when very few phones within that same period had the same mah capacity. This is why you cant judge a phone without comparing it to other phones. I actually tested the phone with the a70 on several occasions, being careful to take notes of observed changes in battery. Just to let you know, two phones from different companies with the same battery capacity will ALWAYS perform differently in terms of battery. This is irrefutable fact.
I cant qualify your response as to the UI since you prefer a 1971 chevy when we're driving 2018 ferraris. What I can comment on is that I think the L29 version can install launchers. But I'm not 100% sure on that so dont quote me for assurance.
Yeah it looks like this is the only phone you may have owned. Not sure but thats what it sounds like to me. Reviewers have also entered the same judgement as to its resolution.
Never said it wasnt a solid phone. Its just not a perfectly solid 10 out of 10. Its plagued with issues serious companies arent foolish enough to make which should have been ironed out before huawei released it. Premium should be premium especially at premium price, no excuses.
Chinese phone makers are not in the habit of being keen on quality control and are slow to correct mistakes. They think they can just slap together a phone with high end specs through cheap labor as their corp revenue goal, throw it in the consumer's face like a doggy treat and expect them to bite. Thats not how you make customers happy. You keep them satisfied through constant and consistent quality control which the chinese have historically lacked for a long time in their product cycles. But admittingly they are getting better at it; in that sense I give them credit where credit is due. But china is still no korea at least not yet. The mate 20x issues are to the mate 20x what chinese companies are to customers. If china had made a strong effort to make phones amazing in all respects they could have single-handedly demolished apple, lg and samsung by now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
s327374 said:
Isn't it strange that we have experiences with the phone, and yet we are both ultimately unhappy with the outcome. I am frustrated, you are disappointed.
We are like the odd couple of Huawei owners.
Except, you know, we aren't really a couple...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm both frustrated and disappointed. Honestly I wanted to make the mate 20x my main driver that I planned to replace my a70. But huawei decided for me to keep my a70.
The honor 8x max is a good big screened phone. But problems with installed google services like the playstore keep me from considering buying it.
Looks like I'll stick to my a70 until I see a better contender with a bigger screen, hopefully one with no issues that would otherwise prompt me to open a thread to complain about.
Wouldnt say we're the 'odd couple' since we're both not as frustrated with each other as with that one thing bothering us, the mate 20x. We're more like Frasier and Niles.
deloj said:
I'm both frustrated and disappointed. Honestly I wanted to make the mate 20x my main driver that I planned to replace my a70. But huawei decided for me to keep my a70.
The honor 8x max is a good big screened phone. But problems with installed google services like the playstore keep me from considering buying it.
Looks like I'll stick to my a70 until I see a better contender with a bigger screen, hopefully one with no issues that would otherwise prompt me to open a thread to complain about.
Wouldnt say we're the 'odd couple' since we're both not as frustrated with each other as with that one thing bothering us, the mate 20x. We're more like Frasier and Niles.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honor 8X Max doesn't appear to support any TMobile USA LTE bands.
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
Limeybastard said:
Honor 8X Max doesn't appear to support any TMobile USA LTE bands.
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually saw on amazon the 8x max for gsm carriers like tmobile.
deloj said:
I actually saw on amazon the 8x max for gsm carriers like tmobile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Max version hasn't got any USA T-Mobile LTE bands.
The none Max version has some T-Mobile LTE bands though.
View attachment 4844367
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
For me, the terrible bluetooth quality is killing me. The signal breaks up a LOT!
Limeybastard said:
Max version hasn't got any USA T-Mobile LTE bands.
The none Max version has some T-Mobile LTE bands though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very sad to hear that. Another example of huawei disappointing potential consumers. The fact that this will hurt them in revenue makes me happy. If they dont take this as a lesson I dont know what will.
.
bigfire said:
For me, the terrible bluetooth quality is killing me. The signal breaks up a LOT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mustve picked up a defective phone. I didnt have any issues with bt. Hate saying this but try a factory reset.
My bluetooth works brilliantly. Did the factory reset work?
Well guys I'm thinking of buying back this phone. Before I do I need to see how it looks with Emui 10. If anyone has the BETA emui 10 installed I'd appreciate a few pics. Thanks guys.