Hello all,
I am looking for an Android smartphone whose battery controller has a current sensor (as opposed to just voltage and battery capacity). I know that the Google Nexus One has one, and I *think* the Galaxy S3 has one (although I'm not sure), but I'm looking for other options. If possible, I'm looking for a fairly new, easily rootable model with a good GPU, but the current sensor's the most important thing. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks!
Related
Hi, I am planning to buy the Galaxy Note and came across an article on Galaxy Note 2. (I can't post the link as a new user. It is on Android.gs Geeks under the title "Samsung Galaxy Note 2 release date to be mid December, 2012"
I can wait until December if the Galaxy Note 2 will be much faster than the current one. From the rumored specifications, the Exynos 1.4 dual-core chip will be upgraded to 1.4 quad-core. In the computer world, although more software (especially games) are starting to take advantage of multi-cores, the number is still small. Most applications can take advantage of at most dual cores. How is the situation in the Android world? Besides games, how many Android's Apps can benefit from the two extra cores? Can you name a few useful Apps that would benefit from a quad-core processor?
The 5.3-inch is already a bit large. I probably may not be able to handle a 5.65-inch unless Samsung takes a longer Note while keeping the width the same. What is the chance of having the Note 2's width the same as the current Note? Also, what are the advantages of having to move the HD display from 720p to 1080p on such small device (when compared with a laptop)? The non-removable battery is a bit of a turn off.
So, the only reason for me to wait for the Galaxy Note 2 is the possibility that the overall performance will be, say over 15%, better than the current one. How likely will that be?
Any opinion appreciated. Thanks.
I've been searching for a new phone and I'm considering possibly buying a Chinese phone. I know there are certain brands which can be trusted (Huawei, ZTE, Coolpad, Lenovo and a few others). The thing is that I want to know more about the chipsets that these phones use. So here's a few questions.
First, the two chipsets that I'm interested in are the MT6577 and the MSM8225 (S4 Play). How is the everyday user experience with both of these chipsets? I know that in general the MT6577 seems to be the better performer in terms of benchmarks being a Cortex A9 v. the Cotex A5 of the MSM8225. While I would like to do some gaming, I'm not really a hardcore gamer. But what's most important to me is the smoothness of everyday use. I'd like UI performance to be as fluid as possible and for apps to work well (again, not looking for anything out of this world, but steady). Also if anyone has had experience with more widely available chipsets from OMAP, Nvidia, or Snapdragon (especially the MSM8255, which I've had experience with) where would you place the performance of these two chipsets compared to those chipsets?
Second, is battery life performance. I know that the chipsets themselves aren't the only factor in battery life performance, but I'd like to know which one of the two is most efficient in general.
Also a couple of general questions.
I'm considering possibly getting a dual sim phone (well most of these phones seem to be dual sim). I was wondering if these phones have different [manufacturer specific] methods of managing the sims or if they are managed Android itself. I'm considering using the phone I get on a US pre-paid carrier (At&t/At&t MNVO) and what I'm thinking of doing is using the GSM slot for pay-as-you go minutes and text and the WCDMA slot for a daily use plan.
Also how's the call quality of these phones? The reviews on some of these phones that I've found seem to omit this. While I don't talk a ton, I would like to have a phone that sounds good and is easy to understand. I've taken calls at the place I work from cell phones that sound absolutely terrible lol. I don't want a phone that sounds bad.
There are a few other specs that I'm looking for in a phone (if you guys have any recommendations):
3.5 to 4.3 inch screen (maybe 4.5)
4GB ROM (I've heard that these phones also come with some manufacturer software that takes up a lot of storage in addition to Android itself)
5-8MP camera (not incredibly important. I know that MP aren't the only spec that makes for a good camera)
Price range is anywhere between $100-250. I might be interested in getting a Xiaomi phone as well, although I know that they are very hard to find and can be significantly out of my price range.
So, it's soon going to be time for my annual upgrade. I've gone from a Galaxy S2, to a Moto G, and I'm now thinking about getting an Elephone P7000 (when it's released around April). But, I've been researching and I'm now unsure.
I've found a couple of performance graphs online, and they show that the CPU (an Arm A9) in a Galaxy S2 actually performs better per clock than the A7 in the Moto G. And even more, the A53 (in the P7000) performs around the same as the A9, in fact slightly less in some situations.
From what I've seen on the internet, many android apps only take advantage of one core, with some taking advantage of two, and very few taking advantage of more than that. When I had my Galaxy S2, I had it rooted and (insanely) overclocked to 1.8GHz, so does this mean that the (now ancient) Galaxy S2 performs better than my current Moto G (at 1.2GHz) in general and real world usage, and somehow even better than a brand new A53 at 1.7GHz?
Or does more cores somehow equate to better performance (like, can modern CPUs split up single threaded workloads to be processed by multiple cores?) If they cannot, then was the CPU in my old Galaxy S2 still better than what could be found in a completely modern phone? Each year I find a phone that I can get for about £150 at the time... surely the CPU performance must have improved in that time? And I mean in pure performance... I know the power efficiency has improved a lot, but that doesn't effect me as I always carry a mahooosive power bank with me (for my phone and my laptop).
I want to upgrade my phone (for the better screen, bigger (and removable) battery, more RAM, micro-SD expansion slot, fingerprint scanner and the camera), but all of these are just extra "brownie point" features to me, and I'm not sure if I can justify the upgrade if the CPU isn't even any faster clock for clock. I'm really hoping someone can tell me that I'm wrong about the performance-per-clock (despite the numbers being on arm's website), or someone can tell me how an octa core CPU would provide any actual benefits (when either in a heavy application or just in everyday browsing and usage).
Sorry about the long mass of text, I'm just trying to get my head around how an S2 can be as fast as a modern phone in terms of instructions per clock. Any insights on how androids actually do benefit from octa-core CPU's would be great, as I can't find anything online about it
First of all welcome everyone, glad to be a part of this forum. I've been lurking XDA developers since long, long time ago back in the PDA era (HTC SPV M5000 anyone?).
I've owned my Galaxy Note 2 for over 2.5 years now and I'm tired of constantly running out of internal storage and the now-supar camera. I'm looking to buy a new smartphone that will check off many boxes, but if I could describe what I need in 2 sentences, it would go something like: a large-screened productivity workhorse with loads of storage and battery, and a good camera. And if it's future-proof, that's even better! I want a device that will last me for at least 2+ years.
Here's what I'm looking for:
- Screen size between 5,5" and 6"
- Internal storage min. 32 GB, needs to have a microSD card slot (unless it has 128G internal storage)
- Decent camera with OIS (camera should handle low-light shooting well)
- Decent UI (unlike the majority of community here, I don't really want to be flashing my phone with new ROMs or any of that, I just want something that works well right out of the box and is user-customizeable through custom home launchers etc)
- Great battery life (this is big for me, I'm often on the road, I listen to tons of podcasts, use mobile data, bluetooth, sometimes wifi tethering etc. I need a phone that can get me through a looong day)
- Fingerprint scanner
- Won't put a huge hole in my wallet (I wouldn't mind paying more for the perfect and FUTURE-PROOF phone but seems like there isn't one that checks off all the boxes. At the same time I'm trying to keep it below $500)
- A physical home button is a plus (and capacitive buttons! Just like in Samsung Galaxy series)
- Screen res. above 1080p is a plus (better for VR and I will probably try some VR in near future)
- Replaceable battery is a plus (plus extended phone cases, yay!)
- OTG support is a plus
- USB-C is a plus
- Dual SIM is definitely a plus
- No curved screens like on the Samsung Edge series
I looked at:
- Huawei Mate 8 - checks off most boxes, nice big battery but crappy, buggy, and not very customizable UI.
- Huawei Mate P9 Plus - very interesting camera-wise, the rest just like above
- LG G5 - also very interesting camera-wise, a bit smaller screen, and a battery that's way too small. Although replacable, I cannot imagine remembering to bring a spare battery with me everywhere.
- Nexus 6P - great reviews and everything, great software BUT I'm mostly based in China where ALL Google services are blocked, so it would probably be a big pain to have to rely on VPN the whole time. Also camera has no OIS, although I did read it's great. Another con: a bit expensive and not easily available in the 128G version
- Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro - the top contender for me so far. The 5000mAh battery is nuts and just what I need. Dual SIM and dedicated microSD slot. Affordable. But the big bummer: sub-par camera. Also a bit low on the DPI if I ever want to use VR. And no notification light (how am I supposed to know if I got notifications?)
- Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - a bit slower than the A9 Pro, smaller battery, but better camera. And the stylus - I could definitely use the stylus for more productivity. Just really not sure about investing in the aging technology. I want to get at least 2 years out of the new smartphone. Also I've read there's some issues with GPS that are hard to solve. Added benefit of possibility of extended battery case.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 5 - nice and seems like a significant upgrade from Note 4 but no card slot, and expensive at 128G. Still only microUSB v2.0 even at the high price point.
- LG V10 and LG G4 - very interesting propositions, reportedly good cameras, very mediocre batteries (and not too good power management it seems) at 3000mAh but both could be extended with a bigger battery. Pretty sure I would be fine with a little bulkier phone with a case that accommodates a 4000-6000mAh battery, but I would still need to keep it as slim as possible, I don't mind if it's not the slimmest phone but I certainly don't want a thick and heavy brick in my pocket. I've also read reviews of some of the extended battery cases and it seems like the battery quality can be a real lottery. The batteries lose their capacity quickly, and I think none of them can be charged using the Quick Charge 2.0
- ZTE Avon 7 - veeery interesting proposition, not the biggest battery but almost everything else knocks me out of my socks. 6GB RAM possible, 128G storage that can be expanded by another 128G (!), capacitive buttons in the higher version, an added benefit of insane speakers. The camera is reportedly not too impressive though, although I'm pretty sure it's better than the one in Galaxy A9 Pro. The main concerns: it's a very fresh phone, the UI is reportedly not very optimized, I can imagine there will be plenty of issues that ZTE will need to fix through software before this phone runs as smoothly as the Galaxy A9 Pro or LG G4 would. And I hate waiting in hopes. Also, being in China, I think it's a bit tricky to purchase the phone in International/European version that has a broader range of bands and doesn't block Google services. I've read through the entire 35 page thread on XDA about this phone and yes, it seems like you can get the Google services to work without problems but who knows what the next ZTE updates will do to that. The way I generally see it is Chinese UI = potential problems.
For the Galaxy A9 Pro or LG G4 I would just go to Hong Kong to buy them and enjoy a phone that doesn't have the Google services blocked. I couldn't find the ZTE Avon 7 anywhere in HK on the internet.
All in all if I had to go to the store tomorrow I'd probably need to choose between a Galaxy A9 Pro, the well-proven LG G4 with a great camera (but a need to buy a good extended battery case and ultimately ending up with a rather bulky phone), the Galaxy Note 4, and the ZTE Avon 7.
Any suggestions, thoughts, recommendations?
Hi all,
Hoping for some advice here. Currently using the aforementioned HTC but have recently acquired a OnePlus One 64GB. I know very little about the OnePlus range but the basic specs make for good reading in comparison to the HTC. In addition, my HTC no longer vibrates and has regular battery burn up.
So my question, is the OnePlus a step backward given its age or is it a side step into the same performance playing field as my HTC?
Thanks in Advance
Matt
Backward, but I love my OPO, it works so well in all aspects
OPO is a flagship phone and a good one at that.
The only issue I ever had with OPO is getting a GPS lock no matter what fixes I have tried always have the problem. This problem is easily solved by just using a regular GPS instead of relying on the phone GPS
29MD said:
Hi all,
Hoping for some advice here. Currently using the aforementioned HTC but have recently acquired a OnePlus One 64GB. I know very little about the OnePlus range but the basic specs make for good reading in comparison to the HTC. In addition, my HTC no longer vibrates and has regular battery burn up.
So my question, is the OnePlus a step backward given its age or is it a side step into the same performance playing field as my HTC?
Thanks in Advance
Matt
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No doubt on the Paper the M9 has its advantages. But give the OPO a chance, the phone is simple great, it has a very good SoT, a crispy screen. It also runs fast in real use scenarios.
U can try to run Antutu Benchmark at the same time on both devices. Make sure the OPO has a proper Rom and a fluid kernel configurations.
I let a LG G4 with Snapdragon 808 run against my OPO with a proper configured 801. My 801 was about 40% faster, the GPU just about 4% slower. The opo can hold this performance over time without thermal throlling at about 69-71°c
End of the Story is, the LG G4 is getting sold now, instant after the buy
my underclocked opo performed BETTER and FASTER than the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S6. I would've recommended it if it wasnt for qualcom ditching the 801 processor for N.