UMI eMax with Custom MANOWARACERO Rom - Android General

This is my "quick and dirty" unedited video review of my UMI eMax with a custom MANOWARACERA rom from Spain. It has Installer Xposed and Gravity Box, many small but good improvements like battery life and speed, and it's very clean, not much if any bloat, nice. This also touches on how well UMI works with us modders with their excellent RootJoy flashing/backing up software. Nice to see the better China phones getting this level of attention.
For reference, here are the specs on the eMax:
5.5 inch IPS OGS capacitive screen, FHD 1920x1080 pixels, bright and high quality.
MTK6752 Octa Core Processor, 1.7GHz GPU:Mali-T760 MP4.
Android 4.4 OS (possible Lollipop 5.0 Update at the end of July 2015 according to UMI).
2GB RAM + 16GB ROM(one partition, not split up like many China phones, yay UMI!).
3500 mah Battery(real rating, UMI states 3750 mah).
Dual SIM card dual standby plus separate micro sim slot.
5mp front camera plus a 13mp (interpolated, it's really 8mp) back camera.
Support FDD LTE,4G,3G,GPS,wifi,bluetooth,Miracast included.
Networking: 2G(Note: the 1900MHz band works on T-Mobile as HSPA+ in most areas in the US) GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz, 3G WCDMA 900/1900/2100MHz, 4G: FDD LTE:1800/2600MHz(overseas only, not for US).
This is a very nice phone with great battery life even for a power user, a top notch FHD screen(blows the crappy, dim screen on my Zenfone 2 away easily..), stable software(4.4.4 KitKat for now), and a solid unibody build. The only real flaw with it is a not so great rear camera, but it's at least being steadily improved with software updates. There are also some nice accessories available for it for a very little cash, like a good quality gummy case, two different colored hard stick on case/stands, and tempered glass screen protectors. This is getting more common on the better selling China phones and it's a welcome addition for sure. This phone can be bought on many, many China dealer sites like Gearbest, ibaby888(DHGate), Pandawill, efox and more for around $150-160.00 US, a steal IMHO
Here's the link to the custom rom, first reported on here by @Tautologica on another thread(thanks again!). It works great!
http://www.movilesdualsim.com/tema/rom-mod-umi-emax-basada-kitkat-4-4-4-v04-19-6-15-por-manowaracero.106572/
And here is the link to my video review, hope you like it
https://youtu.be/XeDHIAPJXVk
P.S. If anyone can explain how to embed the video here, I'm all ears, thanks!

Nice review mate.
The screen brightness could be better. I am not saying it is bad but now that is summer and all, I would like to add a notch more brightness when using the phone outdoors.
And the camera is kinda bad if you try to take landscape pics. Closeups and videos are fine imo. And I use quite a lot the 120FPS video recording. Nice feature imo.
I am really happy with the phone. It is the cheapest MTK 6752 phone out there afaik and definitely worth the price.
Cos it is the cheapest there are downsides ofc. Umi had to save in something to bring the price down.
And props to manowarcero for the excellent custom rom. I am really happy with and i've xposed the hell out of emax now and it works great!

Tautologica said:
Nice review mate.
The screen brightness could be better. I am not saying it is bad but now that is summer and all, I would like to add a notch more brightness when using the phone outdoors.
And the camera is kinda bad if you try to take landscape pics. Closeups and videos are fine imo. And I use quite a lot the 120FPS video recording. Nice feature imo.
I am really happy with the phone. It is the cheapest MTK 6752 phone out there afaik and definitely worth the price.
Cos it is the cheapest there are downsides ofc. Umi had to save in something to bring the price down.
And props to manowarcero for the excellent custom rom. I am really happy with and i've xposed the hell out of emax now and it works great!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I couldn't agree more, for the price this is a steal, near flagship power for us budget minded folks
As for the brightness, I compared it to my Zenfone 2, which has a pretty dim screen even after I bumped it from it's preset 80% max default, so the eMax looks to me to have plenty of brightness compared to it. No problems outdoors for me at all. And I also love Xposed, makes this rom so much fun to play with for sure As for the camera....well I think some folks got a better lens than others, as it's simply not very consistent between reviewers I've noticed. Mine is definitely not good, even the slightest zoom in causes tons of noise, and all the different camera apps I've tried so far don't seem to be helping. But I have noticed a bit of an improvement with this rom, so not all hope is lost here. Here's hoping Lollipop can help even more. Been in contact with MANOWAR over on the DualSim forums and it looks like he may continue support for the next rom from UMI, we are all pushing for him to do so, and that can only be a good thing

dragon2knight said:
I couldn't agree more, for the price this is a steal, near flagship power for us budget minded folks
As for the brightness, I compared it to my Zenfone 2, which has a pretty dim screen even after I bumped it from it's preset 80% max default, so the eMax looks to me to have plenty of brightness compared to it. No problems outdoors for me at all. And I also love Xposed, makes this rom so much fun to play with for sure As for the camera....well I think some folks got a better lens than others, as it's simply not very consistent between reviewers I've noticed. Mine is definitely not good, even the slightest zoom in causes tons of noise, and all the different camera apps I've tried so far don't seem to be helping. But I have noticed a bit of an improvement with this rom, so not all hope is lost here. Here's hoping Lollipop can help even more. Been in contact with MANOWAR over on the DualSim forums and it looks like he may continue support for the next rom from UMI, we are all pushing for him to do so, and that can only be a good thing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just received my eMax today (1 month in transit, bought during flash sale, not yet opened lol), I pray to the gods of RNG that I get good lens. Also the reviewer at htcmania opened his eMax and found a 3500mAh TCL branded battery while a reviewer at gizchina.de opened his and found a 3500mAh unbranded battery from Shenzen. I dunno if there is a difference between the two but I expect the TCL one to have better quality control.

Chickens83 said:
Just received my eMax today (1 month in transit, bought during flash sale, not yet opened lol), I pray to the gods of RNG that I get good lens. Also the reviewer at htcmania opened his eMax and found a 3500mAh TCL branded battery while a reviewer at gizchina.de opened his and found a 3500mAh unbranded battery from Shenzen. I dunno if there is a difference between the two but I expect the TCL one to have better quality control.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the end, 3500mah is 3500mah...doesn't matter who it comes from, lol. But seriously, it's a very long lasting battery either way, and that's all that matters
Have fun with your new toy My fingers are crossed you got an acceptable camera, no joke.

dragon2knight said:
In the end, 3500mah is 3500mah...doesn't matter who it comes from, lol. But seriously, it's a very long lasting battery either way, and that's all that matters
Have fun with your new toy My fingers are crossed you got an acceptable camera, no joke.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Comparing mine to itxtutor's eMax samples, I'd have to say I got the bad one. But I guess I have to learn to live with it. Although the first impression with the battery is kind of not good. Also any one knows how to change the default settings on the camera so you don't need to tinker with the settings everytime you open the camera?

Chickens83 said:
Comparing mine to itxtutor's eMax samples, I'd have to say I got the bad one. But I guess I have to learn to live with it. Although the first impression with the battery is kind of not good. Also any one knows how to change the default settings on the camera so you don't need to tinker with the settings everytime you open the camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you charge the battery to full? It does take awhile with the stock charger. I don't use said charger because of the many issues I've heard about it, though(like buzzing and getting really hot). Try a different charger and you will probably get better results. As for the camera, use a different app like Google Camera, it remembers the settings you put in, at least it does for me. And the end results are the same either way, unfortunately...sorry you didn't get a good one

dragon2knight said:
Did you charge the battery to full? It does take awhile with the stock charger. I don't use said charger because of the many issues I've heard about it, though(like buzzing and getting really hot). Try a different charger and you will probably get better results. As for the camera, use a different app like Google Camera, it remembers the settings you put in, at least it does for me. And the end results are the same either way, unfortunately...sorry you didn't get a good one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't charged the battery yet, except when connecting it to the PC, I've just only used up the battery, my nephew used it to watch 2 videos from youtube while using WiFi, it used up around 20% in 30-35 minutes.

Chickens83 said:
I haven't charged the battery yet, except when connecting it to the PC, I've just only used up the battery, my nephew used it to watch 2 videos from youtube while using WiFi, it used up around 20% in 30-35 minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, charge it up then, it takes a bit for the battery to settle in, after three or so charges, you'll see better results. Plus take the time to "listen" to the included charger, if it starts buzzing or getting really hot, discard it and use another one. Lot's of low quality chargers sent out with the eMax.

dragon2knight said:
Well, charge it up then, it takes a bit for the battery to settle in, after three or so charges, you'll see better results. Plus take the time to "listen" to the included charger, if it starts buzzing or getting really hot, discard it and use another one. Lot's of low quality chargers sent out with the eMax.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I won't even try using the charger just to be safe. I'll just use my old one.

Chickens83 said:
Yeah, I won't even try using the charger just to be safe. I'll just use my old one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good, play it safe, that's what I, and many others, did I just threw mine out,lol.

Related

Should I buy the HTC ONE S ?

Hi.
I need your help. I'm confused about that device because I read about his problems (For example: THE Sensitive button).
And about his poor battery life which can't survive for one full day..
And that I can get only 10GB of RAM, so I can't put much apps/movies/music/photos.
And I hope that it doesn't get too hot in heavy / easy use.
But I still like this model.
I'm wondering if I should buy this model or to buy Galaxy s2 / something else.
(I don't want big screen - 4.3 is enough for me P: )
- Do you recommend me to buy it or to buy something else?
- Please tell me everything you know about this model - the good and the bad
It's really important for me.
73 views but 0 replies ?
Guys please, soon I have birthday, so I don't have much time
LalyGirl said:
Hi.
I need your help. I'm confused about that device because I read about his problems (For example: THE Sensitive button).
And about his poor battery life which can't survive for one full day..
And that I can get only 10GB of RAM, so I can't put much apps/movies/music/photos.
And I hope that it doesn't get too hot in heavy / easy use.
But I still like this model.
I'm wondering if I should buy this model or to buy Galaxy s2 / something else.
(I don't want big screen - 4.3 is enough for me P: )
- Do you recommend me to buy it or to buy something else?
- Please tell me everything you know about this model - the good and the bad
It's really important for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life - User dependant. Also other factors can impact this such as signal strength, type of data used, screen brightness. Looking at the battery stats thread it seems fine, better than my HOX and that's saying something.
10GB of user space available. 4GB for system & 2GB for apps. Plenty for apps. You have 10gb available to you for music, movies, photos etc. For some this is enough for others not so much. But with the ability to sync items to cloud storage for most it shouldn't be an issue.
Heat - Can't comment, but from various reading it seems cooler than other devices.
Not got the device but comparing to let's say the SGS2 this seems to have a higher resolution screen despite having a pentile screen.
Audio - Read it has one of the cleanest outputs on a mobile device, not heard it personally but it should be fine.
CPU - The S4 is one of the best dual cores around, so much there is a shortage and pretty soon they will switch to the S3. So grab the S4 version whilst you still can. It's plenty fast and outbenches some of the quads out there.
Sense - HTC's overlay, you'll love it or hate it. I love it. Has good contact management, lovely widgets, good for social networking, and such but can be a memory hog.
Camera - HTC has done a good job on the camera front. Like my HOX I like the pictures that it takes and the burst mode is a blessing. The software is also good and easy to use.
LED - This has a notification light, albeit 2 colours only compared to some other devices but at least it has one.
To sum it up it's a good mid range device. And should serve you well. Not having the device myself I'm only giving you my thoughts from reading reviews and taking some parts of my HOX.
nikzDHD said:
Battery life - User dependant. Also other factors can impact this such as signal strength, type of data used, screen brightness. Looking at the battery stats thread it seems fine, better than my HOX and that's saying something.
10GB of user space available. 4GB for system & 2GB for apps. Plenty for apps. You have 10gb available to you for music, movies, photos etc. For some this is enough for others not so much. But with the ability to sync items to cloud storage for most it shouldn't be an issue.
Heat - Can't comment, but from various reading it seems cooler than other devices.
Not got the device but comparing to let's say the SGS2 this seems to have a higher resolution screen despite having a pentile screen.
Audio - Read it has one of the cleanest outputs on a mobile device, not heard it personally but it should be fine.
CPU - The S4 is one of the best dual cores around, so much there is a shortage and pretty soon they will switch to the S3. So grab the S4 version whilst you still can. It's plenty fast and outbenches some of the quads out there.
Sense - HTC's overlay, you'll love it or hate it. I love it. Has good contact management, lovely widgets, good for social networking, and such but can be a memory hog.
Camera - HTC has done a good job on the camera front. Like my HOX I like the pictures that it takes and the burst mode is a blessing. The software is also good and easy to use.
LED - This has a notification light, albeit 2 colours only compared to some other devices but at least it has one.
To sum it up it's a good mid range device. And should serve you well. Not having the device myself I'm only giving you my thoughts from reading reviews and taking some parts of my HOX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
LalyGirl said:
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd say think about longer term, it's an older device. The One S is the newer device and I'd be thinking about Jelly Bean the next android version. One S being newer would more likely be quicker to get it than the XE. It'll have more support from HTC.
Looking at the specs of both phones:
HOS is faster,
HOS reportedly has better battery life,
HOS has better screen in regards to viewing angles and sunlight compared to the first generation SLCD, again this could be subjective,
HOS is thinner and ligther,
HOS has the better camera,
HOS has native Sense 4 support,
HOS has 1gb of RAM compared to XEs 768MB,
You'll enjoy either but if you can I'd opt for the HOS if storage space isn't that important to you.
LalyGirl said:
I like your comment a lot! thank u!
By the way, If I will buy the HTC SENSATION XE and install on it the android 4, it could be better then the HTC ONE S ? Because it has better battery, and I can use memory card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
nikzDHD said:
I'd say think about longer term, it's an older device. The One S is the newer device and I'd be thinking about Jelly Bean the next android version. One S being newer would more likely be quicker to get it than the XE. It'll have more support from HTC.
Looking at the specs of both phones:
HOS is faster,
HOS reportedly has better battery life,
HOS has better screen in regards to viewing angles and sunlight compared to the first generation SLCD, again this could be subjective,
HOS is thinner and ligther,
HOS has the better camera,
HOS has native Sense 4 support,
HOS has 1gb of RAM compared to XEs 768MB,
You'll enjoy either but if you can I'd opt for the HOS if storage space isn't that important to you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok so I will stay with the one s.
And how is the speaker of the hos/hox ?
Nick L said:
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK U! and i don't understand you, which one is better - 1.7 GHz or 1.5GHz ?
Terminator19 said:
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
LalyGirl said:
Ok so I will stay with the one s.
And how is the speaker of the hos/hox ?
THANK U! and i don't understand you, which one is better - 1.7 GHz or 1.5GHz ?
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Speaker for the HOX is fine, not as loud as say the SGS3 but it's consistent where as the SGS3 can be distorted on higher volumes. I prefer the ringtone sounds out of the HOX than SGS3.
Nick L said:
I have both the Sensation and One S and there is really no comparison, the One S is much better. I still like my Sensation but the One S is better looking and feeling, has better battery life and a nicer screen, and is much faster.
I haven't had any of the problems that people have reported here (sensitive button, poor reception etc.). Battery life has been good for me so far, and while it does warm up when you're using it heavily it's not "hot" by any means.
The lack of SD slot is not really a problem for me, but whether you can live with it depends on your usage. I've never used more than 4GB of SD card on my Sensation, so the 10GB on board is more than enough.
The only problems I would be concerned about are:
1) Chipping on the black version. I honestly think it's overblown (like most issues with all phones, only people who have problems speak up), but if you are really worried about it get the silver one. It looks even better IMO and it won't chip as the finishing process is different.
2) Getting the 1.7GHz Snapdragon S3 version instead of the 1.5GHz S4. The S3 is the previous generation chip, used in the Sensation, and is slower (despite the higher clock speed, the architecture is different) and uses more power. I don't know if there's a way to tell what you're going to get beforehand, though. Only thing I can think of is if you see "1.7GHz" anywhere on or near it, stay away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Terminator19 said:
Read my one S review (and all the other posts by me in that thread as well, as I have updated some stuff like wifi speeds and battery life, last update was today, so the last post will be useful for you) in sig and also read my post here addressing your issues/questions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=27056580&postcount=7
As for the heat, only gets hot when you're charging it, but this is the same for every device, in use for games etc. mine is pretty cold to touch
There is also a video in my last post in the neowin review thread showing a thermal output test comparison between the GS 2, Razr and the S.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nikzDHD said:
Speaker for the HOX is fine, not as loud as say the SGS3 but it's consistent where as the SGS3 can be distorted on higher volumes. I prefer the ringtone sounds out of the HOX than SGS3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok and when you use your smartphone as a cellphone (Make a call to someone), so how does the person on the other side hear you? Clean? Horrible ? Loud?
LalyGirl said:
So you like this device as I see Good review by the way! I think that this one is good for me.
And how is the speaker?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, I love it!
Thanks
Speaker is great, better than the GS 2 all round.
Here is what GSMarena had to say about the audio:
The cleanest audio output we have seen
The HTC One S performance in our audio quality test came as a really pleasant surprise to us. It appears that the Beats influence hasn't been limited to a single equalizer preset this time as the smartphone delivers the cleanest output we have seen from any device so far.
When connected to an active external amplifier, the HTC One S audio is simply flawless - volume levels are a little above average and it got excellent scores on every part of our test.
What's most impressive though is the One S retains virtually the same performance when you plug in a pair of headphones. The stereo crosstalk takes the tiniest dip of any smartphone we've seen so far, while the rest of the readings are either totally unaffected or worsen by an undetectable amount. Volume levels remain the same too, so it's arguably the most impressive overall performance to date.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LalyGirl said:
Ok and when you use your smartphone as a cellphone (Make a call to someone), so how does the person on the other side hear you? Clean? Horrible ? Loud?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very good! Call quality is great for me.
Loud (can adjust the volume) and clean.
You have dual mics, so any background noise is blocked out Obviously extreme noise like cars racing right beside you and loud music might not be completely blocked out and besides you won't be able to make the other person out anyway
Terminator19 said:
Yup, I love it!
Thanks
Speaker is great, better than the GS 2 all round.
Here is what GSMarena had to say about the audio:
Very good! Call quality is great for me.
Loud (can adjust the volume) and clean.
You have dual mics, so any background noise is blocked out Obviously extreme noise like cars racing right beside you and loud music might not be completely blocked out and besides you won't be able to make the other person out anyway
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So far, I see that people prefer HTS ONE S
That's nice, and now I really want it XDDDDD
I've just upgraded to this phone from the Desire S. I was thinking about getting the One X or the S3 too but I want a high end mobile phone not a mini tablet. This phone is amazing coming from a rooted desire S, its so fast and smooth I don't plan on rooting it.
My advise is to simply get this phone.
pumpernickel77 said:
I've just upgraded to this phone from the Desire S. I was thinking about getting the One X or the S3 too but I want a high end mobile phone not a mini tablet. This phone is amazing coming from a rooted desire S, its so fast and smooth I don't plan on rooting it.
My advise is to simply get this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I think I'll buy it
Jesus christ, how old are you?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA
iArtisan said:
Jesus christ, how old are you?
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you asking me or someone else?
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
wilcoholic said:
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, So do you recommend me to buy it ??
Or should I buy the sony xperia s ??
wilcoholic said:
1) The battery life on this phone sucks. Expect to be getting no more than 4 hours of usage on average. The iphone 4/4s gets a solid 6 hours of usage. Thats 150% more battery life and I don't need to fiddle with the settings at all to achieve this.
2) The hardware has major design flaws. First of all the black one has that chipping problem with the paint. Well I have used my phone for less than 2 months and it looks butchered as hell. People complain about the iphone 4/4s, well I dropped a gazillion times and it still looked almost brand new when I sold it. I dropped the 1S one time! and the paint already came off. The front camera is recessed and gathers dust like crazy. It's impossible to clean it because its recessed and the dust has no where to go. Crap and dust also builds up near the top plastic cap. The speakers are also located exactly on the back of the phone. So if you put your phone on your table, you can't hear it ringing. Not only that the volume is so low. I missed tons of calls.
3) The community for this phone sucks. There is barely any activity on the fora and development for custom roms is stagnating. I mean sense is crap and there is only like 1 guy working on cm9? And correct me if I am wrong but the last version of AOKP is like from 3 weeks ago with tons of bugs. Now look at the Galaxy Nexus or the 1X fora. Or look at the SGS3 fora and that phone has not even been completely released yet. Its crazy. And this is worrying cause even sense has tons of bugs. There is for example this 3g/H switching that still hasn't been fixed as far as I know.
4) Then there is this low resolution pentile screen. Well its definitely ok and you shouldn't worry about it. But you WILL notice a huge difference if you put it next to the nexus, 1X or the iphone 4/4s and you will run in to all kinds of trouble with apps. For example while my own 720p videos looks good on this phone, youtube videos will look crap no matter how high you put the settings. There are tons of these annoying things. The screen is the reason why its not quite yet a flagship device while it could have been.
That being said I think its the best android phone on the market. Its the fastest android phone on the market. It doesn't have a cheap flimsy plastic body and it has a thin and light design. Aluminum feels really good on the hand especially when its cold. Its like 100 dollars/euro cheaper than the 1X and SGS3. I'd wait for the iphone 5 though. And if that turns out to be nothing or if the wait is too long then go ahead and purchase the 1S cause thats what I recommend out of the top3 android phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once again, all of that is in YOUR opinion and from your usage only as well, plenty of people including me have had the exact opposite to you. Just because you experience problems doesn't mean that every one else will....
1. Is that on screen time your talking about? If so that is very good! (depending on usage and screen brightness) No other android phone gets anywhere near that unless the screens are set to like 0% and airplane mode enabled for a bit. Just look at my review and you will see the usage that I am getting from a single charge, now go and find me an android phone on stock ROM with a stock battery that can beat that (apart from the motorola razzr for obvious reasons). The iphone 4/4s also seem to have a problem with battery life for quite a few people, heck apple have even released a number of updates iirc to try and fix the battery drain
Plus don't forget that the iphone 4/4s doesn't have the same amount to do as an android phone.
2. The MAO issue is not a "hardware" problem, but a design fault.... Also I have had my phone since release day and still have no signs of chipping anywhere apart from inside the USB port plus HTC have addressed this now as they have got a design, which has a bevelled USB and less sharper edges. Well you were extremely lucky with your 4s then as due to the build of it and being mostly glass, the screen is almost always guaranteed to shatter when dropped......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elKxgsrJFhw
It all depends on where abouts the ground impacts the mobile, you could be lucky or not so lucky with any device. If you want to be safe than sorry then a case is a necessary item for all mobiles, even the GS 2. Some devices are just more durable than others.
I have had no problems with dust getting under my screen, had my mobile since April, yes dust does gather in the front camera part, however, a quick blow and wipe with a pencil in a cloth sorts that problem out.
Emmmm what? The volume is amplified a wee bit when it is placed on the desk due to that reason, you can raise the volume as well you know or use a louder ring tone, you must be pretty deaf if you can't hear your mobile ringing......
3. The community isn't great, but it is starting to pick up now especially since the kernel source was posted, there are a few good ROMs from what I have read such as trickdroid and leedroid. Sense is crap in your opinion, many people including me love it and I for one won't be changing to a stock ICS ROM as I don't want to loose the features of sense, which IMO are better than the alternatives. The gallery, dialer, calendar, clock app are superb and not to mention the sense camera along with all the features, which you won't find on any other mobile or stock ICS ROM. Of course the galaxy nexus is going to have a damn good developing community, it's only the official/stock android phone that all the developers use to develop apps for and was the first phone to have a 720P display. The developing community here will never be as good as the the 1X or GS 3 community as they are the "flagship" devices and the phones that everyone will go for just for because of that "term"
Also the tegra chipset is apparently proving to be hard to work with for the developers with the 1X due to nvidia lack of support.
What are these bugs you speak off? I haven't had any problems with mine, super stable, super quick and smooth, multi-tasking is fine as I have disabled a lot of sense stuff and apps that I don't need and am using apex etc. instead.
If you look at my other post addressing issues you will see that I don't have the 3G/H bug, along with many other people.
The iphone is well known to have signal issues as well, not remember the 4 or 4s release where people were complaining about terrible signal, and apple said essentially "you're holding the phone the wrong way" and had to give out free bumper cases to solve the issue as it was a problem with the new antenna that they were using......
4. There is no problem with the screen, sure it ain't 720P and doesn't use RGB matrix, but it is perfectly good and better than most other mobiles screens apart from the ones you mentioned along with a couple of SE mobiles. The screen is nice and sharp still, the only areas I notice the pentile matrix is with white text on black backgrounds and some icons and even still I have to put my eyes right up to the screen. Plus the reason HTC went with with the pentile version is because the battery life is better with it than the RGB version (same reason Samsung went with pentile on the GS 3 instead of RGB). What kind of trouble have you run into with all these apps that you speak of because of the screen? What on earth are you talking about again??? Youtube videos will look crap no matter what settings you put them on??? The youtube videos look great.
Seriously, it sounds to me like you have a faulty one s if that is truly what you are experiencing.......
And after all that you still think the 1S is the best android device there is
LalyGirl said:
OK, So do you recommend me to buy it ??
Or should I buy the sony xperia s ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just buy it. It's a fine phone. These have been snapped up by many in the UK past few days due to a cheap contract deal so many more HOS users in the pipeline.
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

what a quality phone this is, I was pleasantly surprised.

Ordered this for my partner and have had it a few days now. Just wanted to say how pleased I am with the purchase, considering the price (£260 with 2 years warranty).
I was half expecting it to be kinda slow and clunky, but after installing all our apps, I am happy to say it is more than nippy for its price bracket. The camera is also better than expected, but I had low expectation. the screen is decent, nice and clear with nothing obviously low budget about it.
its not silky smooth, but I would imagine this would be the step up phone for folk coming from the moto G or moto E and compared to early gen versions of those, this is a real bump up.
am on about 2h20m screen on with 60% left, thats with some gps, 40 mins of phone calls and installing and checking more apps.
also, was worried about having no LED notification, but the move to display works well, in fact my partner prefers it as shes not someone who uses her phone constantly.
quick charging is very handy, NFC is a nice touch as I have shown her the uses. gets in the car, touches the tag, it turns on "speak out text messages" from the sony conect app (which works on non sony phones, just format the NFC to xperia tags in the many free apps), turns on bluetooth to connect to the BT car phone and turns up all the volumes to max. taps when home, turns off BT, turns off text read out and sets volumes back down a tad.
so, considering the price, this is a solid 9/10 phone.
good screen, good battery, acceptable speed, nice SD card, NFC, not back photo and video and all for a pretty decent price unlocked!
DrEzkimo said:
Ordered this for my partner and have had it a few days now. Just wanted to say how pleased I am with the purchase, considering the price (£260 with 2 years warranty).
I was half expecting it to be kinda slow and clunky, but after installing all our apps, I am happy to say it is more than nippy for its price bracket. The camera is also better than expected, but I had low expectation. the screen is decent, nice and clear with nothing obviously low budget about it.
its not silky smooth, but I would imagine this would be the step up phone for folk coming from the moto G or moto E and compared to early gen versions of those, this is a real bump up.
am on about 2h20m screen on with 60% left, thats with some gps, 40 mins of phone calls and installing and checking more apps.
also, was worried about having no LED notification, but the move to display works well, in fact my partner prefers it as shes not someone who uses her phone constantly.
quick charging is very handy, NFC is a nice touch as I have shown her the uses. gets in the car, touches the tag, it turns on "speak out text messages" from the sony conect app (which works on non sony phones, just format the NFC to xperia tags in the many free apps), turns on bluetooth to connect to the BT car phone and turns up all the volumes to max. taps when home, turns off BT, turns off text read out and sets volumes back down a tad.
so, considering the price, this is a solid 9/10 phone.
good screen, good battery, acceptable speed, nice SD card, NFC, not back photo and video and all for a pretty decent price unlocked!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:good: same feeling as you. The price of the phone makes it unbeatable
First off let me start by saying i have a MXP and i love it so i'm not dissing it.
However The Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3 has a better looking screen, much better audio and it has the same performance and they £80 cheaper making it an absolute bargain.
I bought the MXP because of the bigger battery and in the vein hope of better support but i do often wonder if an extra hour of SOT a day was worth the extra £80.
Much prefer both phones over my original Nexus 5.
MrBelter said:
First off let me start by saying i have a MXP and i love it so i'm not dissing it.
However The Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3 has a better looking screen, much better audio and it has the same performance and they £80 cheaper making it an absolute bargain.
I bought the MXP because of the bigger battery and in the vein hope of better support but i do often wonder if an extra hour of SOT a day was worth the extra £80.
Much prefer both phones over my original Nexus 5.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that phone went completely under my radar! does seem very good for the price.
It's the exact same spec as far as i can gather.
The screen has shattered (18 inch to 2 foot fall in the house off a chair arm) on the wife's idol 3 though and it was only 6 weeks old but i am seeing people on here saying there screens have gone on easily on the MXP as well
Once MM is on both phones i would struggle to pick between them ill be honest
Well, mine's already shipped, so it's comforting to see some positive feedback for it.
The Alcatel seems reasonably comparable though it has a far less powerful main camera. Makes up for it in secondary camera though I guess and has a couple of bells and whistles that the play doesn't like Bluetooth 4.1, but no quick charging facility.
Still comfortable with my purchase thankfully.
Chaotic-Entropy said:
Well, mine's already shipped, so it's comforting to see some positive feedback for it.
The Alcatel seems reasonably comparable though it has a far less powerful main camera. Makes up for it in secondary camera though I guess and has a couple of bells and whistles that the play doesn't like Bluetooth 4.1, but no quick charging facility.
Still comfortable with my purchase thankfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just refuse the package they will refund you
Chaotic-Entropy said:
Well, mine's already shipped, so it's comforting to see some positive feedback for it.
The Alcatel seems reasonably comparable though it has a far less powerful main camera. Makes up for it in secondary camera though I guess and has a couple of bells and whistles that the play doesn't like Bluetooth 4.1, but no quick charging facility.
Still comfortable with my purchase thankfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont be fooled by the pixel count, the camera on the Idol 3 is very capable.
fingerprinted said:
Just refuse the package they will refund you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MrBelter said:
Dont be fooled by the pixel count, the camera on the Idol 3 is very capable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Errr... that's okay, I'm happy with my purchase. It's all good.
I must add that the Moto X Play has a superb build quality. I was hoping it would have a good one because my Moto X 2013 was great, too. My LG G3's build quality was a joke compared to this.
I got mine for £100 second hand and really like it, no major weakness in any department
masm64 said:
I must add that the Moto X Play has a superb build quality. I was hoping it would have a good one because my Moto X 2013 was great, too. My LG G3's build quality was a joke compared to this.
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Click to collapse
I was about to post the very same, decided to read the previous posts and see this.
But somehow the Camera on my old LG G3 was brilliant, especially when it came to Macro Shots and moving objects in the background.
yekollu said:
I was about to post the very same, decided to read the previous posts and see this.
But somehow the Camera on my old LG G3 was brilliant, especially when it came to Macro Shots and moving objects in the background.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I must agree, the G3's camera was superior compared to the Play's.
I was expecting a lot worse of an experience.. I was really hesitant to buy the phone but now that I have it I like it a lotttt. Still going to get my Nexus 6P though

[Help] considering buying this phone please share your experience

hi my note 5's screen got broke so I need a new smartphone
with my price tag the only solid options are the hTC 10 and the Huawei Mate 9
I found some reviews bashing the headphone jack performance of the mate 9 so for comparison with the galaxy s7 for example or the note 5 for those who owned both of the devices how is it.
also the gaming performance how is it ?for example how much fps you get with Riptide Renegade on high settings
and also I would like to know if there is a flaw or a problem you encountered with this phone.
sorry for being long and I would really appreciate your help.
thanks in advance
AlMaghraby said:
hi my note 5's screen got broke so I need a new smartphone
with my price tag the only solid options are the hTC 10 and the Huawei Mate 9
I found some reviews bashing the headphone jack performance of the mate 9 so for comparison with the galaxy s7 for example or the note 5 for those who owned both of the devices how is it.
also the gaming performance how is it ?for example how much fps you get with Riptide Renegade on high settings
and also I would like to know if there is a flaw or a problem you encountered with this phone.
sorry for being long and I would really appreciate your help.
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally i have no complaints. There are minor ticks here and there but thats as expected. HEadphone jack is fine on my unit. BT is really nice. Battery is great. i avg 9-10 hours SOT per charge and thats over 2 days for me. ( 1d 18hr )
Ive tweaked a few things. i do not get push notifications unless it is from a text.
I also do not use FB apps. Instagram or SC. ( use Metal for FB and website for instagram )
ONLY use the chaarger included with it. or the one huawei makes for car charging.
Reception is great. Small things here n there on Tmo but it works well.
Camera is Excellent. i was 15ft away from a car at a show and in the photo you can read the tire sidewall!
CONS:
Limited cases and Glass coveres
Limited charger options
Trickle charge issue. ( old HTC things. unplug for a few minutes then plug back in for about 5-10 more. gives a true full charge )
I have a 128gb SD in and i love having 183gb to store anything on.
DO NOT use the internal batteyr estimator. Not accurate ( USE GSAM )
Compared to my Note 5 this is THE BEST phone i have ever used. Im going to sell my Note 5, eave sprint and stick just to Tmobile. or ATT idk yet.
Can't argue with this.
On Amazon (in Germany) you can find now plenty of cases for Mate 9. I can recommend the Spigen rugged case that I purchased lately and it is really good. Glass protection is indeed a big problem: most of the items that claim they are for the Mate 9 are to narrow and the few ones that are having the right size are of a very bad quality.
The phone itself is great, better than everything I had so far (my last phone was an LG G4). The screen is "only" full HD, but to be frank, I do not see the need to have a higher resolution on a phone (it still can make 4K videos if this is what you need). Video recording quality is really great: the most beautiful colors I have seen on a phone video recording so far. Wide aperture photos are a hit among my family and friends (I am the only one now in charge to take photos in my family when we go out ). ANTUTU benchmark almost 120k - faster than my colleague's Galaxy S7 - so, whatever you want to do with it, it will do it great.
The only thing that I miss sometimes is the support for MHL (but it has other mirroring options). And I would have liked to have the option to hide the Android navigation keys in all applications but the screen is anyhow huge so, this is not a big issue either since the keys are anyhow hidden when you play videos or I read a book.
so what about notifications problems that is all over internet? is that solved already?
at least europe versions.. I want all my notification instantly like on other phones, no matter is that whatsapp or something else..
And is it true that notification are gone from lockscreen after unlocking phone or just putting screen on to see what is it?
i'm also considering to get this model
digitall1982 said:
so what about notifications problems that is all over internet? is that solved already?
at least europe versions.. I want all my notification instantly like on other phones, no matter is that whatsapp or something else..
And is it true that notification are gone from lockscreen after unlocking phone or just putting screen on to see what is it?
i'm also considering to get this model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notification problem happens with the Chinese version, as far as I know, i have the EU version and i get all the notifications.
Honestly, even now, this is the BEST phone there is, the first phone i don't need root as there are workaround for everything, performance, and battery and top notch, camera is great but slightly disappointing in low light, screen is big apparently now "old school" and very sharp and bright, stereo speakers are great, the DAC is average at best but still decent.
Fantastic phone, camera, battery life, screen, sound of speakers, build! Not so awesome is the update history of Huawei. Updates come late and limited.
The only real drawback is the lack of developers. I had hoped for LineageOS, but I think that boat is torpedoed and sunk.
Still GREAT value!
Battery is stellar. I've been in bed all day sick, with my phone by my side. Almost at 10 hours screen on time at 13% battery left. Bluetooth has been used, connected on WiFi.
It's the best phone I've EVER had. Well, S3 note 4 and G2 are up there.
The HD screen is fine. I had the G4 S7 previously. Don't miss the screens.
The video recording format is irritating in that 2k won't upload to YouTube. It's too modern.
Definitely give the phone a go. I bought the Chinese 6gig 128gig version converted to international ROM. Have contemplated selling but just can't let it go! Even my mate with his S8 loves it. Oh, and it's not got a curved screen, another plus for me!
Didn't want to buy a phone with non removable battery.
Pretty much a non issue with this phone as it's hot such a great battery and a sensible screen resolution so doesn't drain fast.
The camera bokeh effect is simply the best on the market by a mile. Low light is mediocre though.
Massive screen. Great speed. Phenomenal finger print sensor.
I hated the soft keys but you learn to hate them less.
Overall delighted with this thing.
Doesn't slow down. If anything it goes faster with time which is odd but just what they seek to claim!
what about 4k video and auto upload to google photos? is that solved or it must be converted into h264?
This is the best phone I've ever had. Coming from an s7 and wife has s8 plus and still use a note 5 for our home phone. It's without question my favorite! Screen still looks fantastic for 1080. The battery is off the chain. I could easily go 2 days and have, just generally charge it before I go to bed and is always above 50%. Fast!!!! Smooth!!! I don't know how they do it, but next to Apple this is the must fluid phone out there. Heck, I'd say it's smoother than my friends 7S. Only paid 400 for it and it's dual sim to boot.
Honestly can't say enough about it. Only get rid of it if mate 10 is better somehow. I am intrigued by less bezels.
Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk
It's the best phone AFTER the B186 and up update, before that battery life was ****. I am on the 190 now with the phone updating to 193. It is the best phone in terms of battery life, performance and hardware/software. Too bad the update method is ****... like a HUGE TURD that third parties have to fill the gaps on this. Oh it's also **** that some of the huawei apps are in chinese (like the store) or whatever... It sucks BIG TIME.
I'm not a fan myself.
The Huawei android skin is yet another confusing and pointless skin that just causes issues and degrades Android. Go for a Google phone and have Android in it's true glory rather than in a compromised and inferior veneer.
Oh yes and it looks like I can 'kiss goodbye" to any updates from Huawei, with the Mate 10 phone now round the corner.
My last Android security patch was for April.

Buying an S7 2017

Is it worth buying an S7 now in mid 2017? What do you guys think? I really have to upgrade to a new device. I passed on OnePlus5 because of the jelly effect, and all sorts of problems. The S7 is not flawless I know that, but I'm curious what recent users, or previous users think about it. Would you recommend buying it? I hope you guys can help me with this. Thanks in advance
ofcourse it is still worth it if you can get it for a decent price. Ill take a s7 over a Oneplus 5 any day due to the fact that you can add a sd card and of its water resistance and i really like the option to go with a non curved screen because they break to easy when dropped and the curved phones have terrible cases.
RiTCHiE007 said:
ofcourse it is still worth it if you can get it for a decent price. Ill take a s7 over a Oneplus 5 any day due to the fact that you can add a sd card and of its water resistance and i really like the option to go with a non curved screen because they break to easy when dropped and the curved phones have terrible cases.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I found some decent prices, and they are still offering it in a lot of colours too, so no problem with the availablity. I haven't thought about the curved edges at all, but good point, thank you. I absolutely agree with you there, even though the S7 is slippery because of all that glass finishing. In my opinion the S7 is a great looking phone.
The sd card was another big reason for me, so I hope thats alright, thanks for mentioning it.
Do you have any tips on cases for this phone? Or dbrand skin?
Thanks for your answer tho Sir
I'd say it depends on the variant - if you can grab an exynos model, go for it, but avoid snapdragon variants because of the inferior performance and locked bootloaders. I was torn between the OP5 and an S7 (exynos) and decided to buy another samsung because I could get it for >200€ cheaper.
The performance, display and the camera still perform really well and I like some of the unique touchwiz features, such as always on display etc. Battery life is quite good too-I can get 4h of sot without even trying. Touchwiz is still there but is better than ever with nougat. The good news is that there is plenty of AOSP development going on, so if you don't like touchwiz or tw-based-roms, you have other options to choose from.
So, in my opinion, the exynos variants of s7 are well worth it, even in the mid-2017. Just don't overpay this phone-I got a barely used one for 300€, which I think is a good deal.
What's your budget btw? If money isn't a problem you could wait for a few months and get yourself a pixel 2...
And for the skin question: I can recomend slickwraps because they are cheaper than dbrand and cover the sides of the phone as well. I am using one right now and am in love with it. If you want more customisation options, you might want to go with dbrand though.
Tados99 said:
Yeah I found some decent prices, and they are still offering it in a lot of colours too, so no problem with the availablity. I haven't thought about the curved edges at all, but good point, thank you. I absolutely agree with you there, even though the S7 is slippery because of all that glass finishing. In my opinion the S7 is a great looking phone.
The sd card was another big reason for me, so I hope thats alright, thanks for mentioning it.
Do you have any tips on cases for this phone? Or dbrand skin?
Thanks for your answer tho Sir
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this Spigen Rugged Armor case, highly recommended
https://www.spigen.com/collections/galaxy-s7/products/galaxy-s7-case-rugged-armor-black
Takes 2 seconds to put on and take off
The S7 is a fine phone, but not exceptional. I had a Xiaomi Mi5 before it and I replaced it because of the rubbish software releases when it moved to Nougat. The Mi5 was lighter and sexier. the S7 is heavy and reliable like a family car but nothing really leaps out. Video is good, Stills camera is remarkably not sharp. S7 comes with the usual lorry load of bloatware. I use one of the battery saving modes.. its no where near as good as the Mi5 was on battery. so there you go, Strong and Stable
the\downslash\ said:
I'd say it depends on the variant - if you can grab an exynos model, go for it, but avoid snapdragon variants because of the inferior performance and locked bootloaders. I was torn between the OP5 and an S7 (exynos) and decided to buy another samsung because I could get it for >200€ cheaper.
The performance, display and the camera still perform really well and I like some of the unique touchwiz features, such as always on display etc. Battery life is quite good too-I can get 4h of sot without even trying. Touchwiz is still there but is better than ever with nougat. The good news is that there is plenty of AOSP development going on, so if you don't like touchwiz or tw-based-roms, you have other options to choose from.
So, in my opinion, the exynos variants of s7 are well worth it, even in the mid-2017. Just don't overpay this phone-I got a barely used one for 300€, which I think is a good deal.
What's your budget btw? If money isn't a problem you could wait for a few months and get yourself a pixel 2...
And for the skin question: I can recomend slickwraps because they are cheaper than dbrand and cover the sides of the phone as well. I am using one right now and am in love with it. If you want more customisation options, you might want to go with dbrand though.
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Click to collapse
I can't afford the Pixel right now, so budget is a deal here. It's hard to tell you how much my budget actually is, because in my country prices could be a bit strange. But about 400 € - 450 €. If you have any other suggestions I welcome it, but I want a somewhat elegentish kind of phone, closer to high end, with great camera and battery life. I also like if a phone is durable, but thats not the most important thing at all. More like to be close to stock android. (I know TouchWiz is there, but it's still more stock then a Huawei for example)
Thanks for the tip on the chipset, I checked it, and it is Exynos Octa core. But I did not know thats a deal breaker so thanks for mentioning it really.
Tados99 said:
I can't afford the Pixel right now, so budget is a deal here. It's hard to tell you how much my budget actually is, because in my country prices could be a bit strange. But about 400 € - 450 €. If you have any other suggestions I welcome it, but I want a somewhat elegentish kind of phone, closer to high end, with great camera and battery life. I also like if a phone is durable, but thats not the most important thing at all. More like to be close to stock android. (I know TouchWiz is there, but it's still more stock then a Huawei for example)
Thanks for the tip on the chipset, I checked it, and it is Exynos Octa core. But I did not know thats a deal breaker so thanks for mentioning it really.
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Click to collapse
Well, another option in that price range would be an Oneplus 3/3T. Oneplus doesn't sell them anymore, but you can get used ones for cheap. They are far more durable than the s7, battery life is superior and the performance is still top-notch, thanks to close-to-stock os. The only things that you are really missing out on compared to the s7 are camera and wireless charging.
LG G6 has dropped in price significantly as well so that might be another option to consider. I am not a big fan of their UI, but that's just me.
Regards.
the\downslash\ said:
Well, another option in that price range would be an Oneplus 3/3T. Oneplus doesn't sell them anymore, but you can get used ones for cheap. They are far more durable than the s7, battery life is superior and the performance is still top-notch, thanks to close-to-stock os. The only things that you are really missing out on compared to the s7 are camera and wireless charging.
LG G6 has dropped in price significantly as well so that might be another option to consider. I am not a big fan of their UI, but that's just me.
Regards.
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Click to collapse
Problem is that I don't want to buy an used phone. And the camera is very important for me. But if One Plus would still sell them, I would have selected the 3T, because I am an OP fan really. But like this, that's not an option. I check if I can fimd any new ones, not from the original site. Thats on option.
Thanks tho!
Tados99 said:
Problem is that I don't want to buy an used phone. And the camera is very important for me. But if One Plus would still sell them, I would have selected the 3T, because I am an OP fan really. But like this, that's not an option. I check if I can fimd any new ones, not from the original site. Thats on option.
Thanks tho!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, it cold be find to find a brand new one right now... In that case, the S7 is probably your best option. You might consider some of the other last-year-flagships as well, such as the HTC 10. Anyway, good luck with your purchace.
It's a pretty nice phone, I just got mine a few months ago.
Keep in mind, my previous phone was a Moto X Pure, also this is the Exynos variant of the S7.
Battery life is about twice as long as what that phone was, I get an average of about 4-6 hours of SOT and with Nougat it should last fine on standby.
Display looks amazing, an AMOLED panel at a 2K resolution in a 5.1 inch phone looks super sharp and nice, gets bright outside.
Speaker pretty much sucks... It gets decently loud, but it's so easily to cover it by accident even with a case on.
The design of the phone is pretty and nice, it holds up very well in 2017. Sure it has big bezels and no curved screen (I have a flat S7), but it's still a solidly built phone that looks beautiful. But I have to say DO NOT USE THIS PHONE WITHOUT A CASE!!! The back is VERY slippery, one drop and that beautiful glass back will get shattered...
Fingerprint scanner is decently fast and accurate, only complaint is that the scanner is in the middle of the home button, I wish it was a concaved home button like on the iPhone.
The camera is very nice, can record 60 FPS at 1080P with video stabilization making your videos look good. Pretty decent in low light, The auto focus is SUPER fast, focuses instantly and the camera snaps pictures in an instant, double pressing for camera is quick and convenient. Front camera pretty much sucks tbh, not really possible to turn off all the dumb beauty features. Tons of camera modes to play around with, not much different in terms of the camera from my Moto X Pure.
Water/dust resistance, I haven't tested this and I don't plan to, basically all I can say is people please only consider this as a failsafe as in don't rely on it, like if your phone falls in water then you should go after it right away and the phone should be fine.... But if it's not, the warranty WILL NOT COVER IT!!! So go swimming at your own risk. Also, you can use the volume buttons to take pictures for underwater photography.
And lastly..... THE SOFTWARE.
Now.... What do I have to say about the infamous Touchwiz coming from stock android? Well, my first phone was an S3 (I had it before the MXP) so I kind of knew what to expect from Touchwiz in terms of features. And I can say this phone is just PACKED with lots of neat software features! I disabled the bloat, decided not to use a theme, used the default launcher, and the phone runs fine and works fine for me. Do I miss stock android? Not really, Touchwiz has a lot of added features that I wish Stock had, and small tweaks/changes that make the experience better in my opinion. Also, there are definitely small hiccups here and there with stutters, but it's nothing too bad tbh, apps open up nice and fast and the phone is always responsive, only thing that really sucks is the usage... RAM usage is kind of high even when your recents are cleared, and the storage available out of the box is kind of low so I would recommend a Micro SD Card if you take lots of pictures (though, those can slow your phone down keep in mind). I got about three software updates (all security) since May of when I got this phone, so updates don't seem to be too bad. But keep in mind it'll be ages until we see Android O on this phone, just a heads up. All in all, Touchwiz has grown up and refined its features instead of including a million features and being laggy (S5 and below), it's now simpler and more streamlined since the S6.
And that's all I have to say about the phone! I hope my review has helped someone out there looking to see if they want to buy a Galaxy S7.
I would say try to get the Exynos variant though if you can, I heard the Snapdragon one is horrible.
Depending on how much you find this phone for, I would definitely recommend it! It has a great display (one of the best), great camera (really can't go wrong with the camera), a beautiful design (no ugly ports for water resistance), good battery life (for the average user), and the software, is not all that bad IMO, though some people do swear against it lol.
Androidlover99 said:
It's a pretty nice phone, I just got mine a few months ago.
Keep in mind, my previous phone was a Moto X Pure, also this is the Exynos variant of the S7.
Battery life is about twice as long as what that phone was, I get an average of about 4-6 hours of SOT and with Nougat it should last fine on standby.
Display looks amazing, an AMOLED panel at a 2K resolution in a 5.1 inch phone looks super sharp and nice, gets bright outside.
Speaker pretty much sucks... It gets decently loud, but it's so easily to cover it by accident even with a case on.
The design of the phone is pretty and nice, it holds up very well in 2017. Sure it has big bezels and no curved screen (I have a flat S7), but it's still a solidly built phone that looks beautiful. But I have to say DO NOT USE THIS PHONE WITHOUT A CASE!!! The back is VERY slippery, one drop and that beautiful glass back will get shattered...
Fingerprint scanner is decently fast and accurate, only complaint is that the scanner is in the middle of the home button, I wish it was a concaved home button like on the iPhone.
The camera is very nice, can record 60 FPS at 1080P with video stabilization making your videos look good. Pretty decent in low light, The auto focus is SUPER fast, focuses instantly and the camera snaps pictures in an instant, double pressing for camera is quick and convenient. Front camera pretty much sucks tbh, not really possible to turn off all the dumb beauty features. Tons of camera modes to play around with, not much different in terms of the camera from my Moto X Pure.
Water/dust resistance, I haven't tested this and I don't plan to, basically all I can say is people please only consider this as a failsafe as in don't rely on it, like if your phone falls in water then you should go after it right away and the phone should be fine.... But if it's not, the warranty WILL NOT COVER IT!!! So go swimming at your own risk. Also, you can use the volume buttons to take pictures for underwater photography.
And lastly..... THE SOFTWARE.
Now.... What do I have to say about the infamous Touchwiz coming from stock android? Well, my first phone was an S3 (I had it before the MXP) so I kind of knew what to expect from Touchwiz in terms of features. And I can say this phone is just PACKED with lots of neat software features! I disabled the bloat, decided not to use a theme, used the default launcher, and the phone runs fine and works fine for me. Do I miss stock android? Not really, Touchwiz has a lot of added features that I wish Stock had, and small tweaks/changes that make the experience better in my opinion. Also, there are definitely small hiccups here and there with stutters, but it's nothing too bad tbh, apps open up nice and fast and the phone is always responsive, only thing that really sucks is the usage... RAM usage is kind of high even when your recents are cleared, and the storage available out of the box is kind of low so I would recommend a Micro SD Card if you take lots of pictures (though, those can slow your phone down keep in mind). I got about three software updates (all security) since May of when I got this phone, so updates don't seem to be too bad. But keep in mind it'll be ages until we see Android O on this phone, just a heads up. All in all, Touchwiz has grown up and refined its features instead of including a million features and being laggy (S5 and below), it's now simpler and more streamlined since the S6.
And that's all I have to say about the phone! I hope my review has helped someone out there looking to see if they want to buy a Galaxy S7.
I would say try to get the Exynos variant though if you can, I heard the Snapdragon one is horrible.
Depending on how much you find this phone for, I would definitely recommend it! It has a great display (one of the best), great camera (really can't go wrong with the camera), a beautiful design (no ugly ports for water resistance), good battery life (for the average user), and the software, is not all that bad IMO, though some people do swear against it lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WELL! Thanks man for the long breakdown. In the end I bought the s7. Right now I'm using it. It is amazing, I really liking it so far. There are a bunch of stuff what I haven't tried yet, but we shall see! Thanks again for your breakdown!
Tados99 said:
WELL! Thanks man for the long breakdown. In the end I bought the s7. Right now I'm using it. It is amazing, I really liking it so far. There are a bunch of stuff what I haven't tried yet, but we shall see! Thanks again for your breakdown!
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Click to collapse
No problem! Just saying my honest opinion on the phone, if you need anything just ask!

To all the OP6 owners, need answers

I have a OnePlus 3T 6/64, using it for like 11 moths or so.
Want to upgrade to a OnesPlus 6 Lava Red 8+128 that I've seen used for like 300€.
Wanna ask, things like camera(I know it's great, not best but decent), performance(amazing), screen(compared to my 3T maybe not a lot of difference?), battery(also, I get with my 3T 50% brigthness 3.10h SOT, I've used a MI5 and 2.45h so moderate-hi usage), speaker(3t is meh, 6 maybe a lil better?)... Just wanna see what people says, or compared to a 5/5T but wanna know if I'm going to notice a difference, wanna use the 6 for at least a complete year.
Battery is a priority, I need at least 4.30h SoT with a daytime visible brightness. Can't get a 6T or 7, just have 300€ and I want AMOLED and a 835 at least, I've seen Xiaomi alternatives(Mi8) but I'd rather OP, any suggestion?I will be happy with a OP6? Thanks!
I'm a oneplus user since OP3, & i actually use OP6 (8/128) and I will definitely recommend you to get it.
Compared to the OP5T, I feel more comfortable using this larger screen, I get more SOT @50% brightness (~6,5H music, social networking, mailing & some PUBG), a little bit better camera quality (even if the OP5T is already good at video recording & image stabilisation), and the performances are just great.
If u get one at the 300€ price including the genuine dash charger, then it's a great deal
Definitely get it. You will not be disappointed. Some people get 8 hours s.o.t. but that's usually not very realistic-at least not without major kernel modifications. Most of the reason is, though the screen is excellent, it's large and that's where most of your power is lost. I don't think you'll get 10 hours. But in almost every other respect, you'll be floored with it!
NH2CH3 said:
I'm a oneplus user since OP3, & i actually use OP6 (8/128) and I will definitely recommend you to get it.
Compared to the OP5T, I feel more comfortable using this larger screen, I get more SOT @50% brightness (~6,5H music, social networking, mailing & some PUBG), a little bit better camera quality (even if the OP5T is already good at video recording & image stabilisation), and the performances are just great.
If u get one at the 300€ price including the genuine dash charger, then it's a great deal
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Click to collapse
I've used a One and my 3T, was worried about all that things, If I can get at least 4:30h sot, I'll be happy and yes, everything included, dash charger, box... Thanks!
thejase said:
Definitely get it. You will not be disappointed. Some people get 8 hours s.o.t. but that's usually not very realistic-at least not without major kernel modifications. Most of the reason is, though the screen is excellent, it's large and that's where most of your power is lost. I don't think you'll get 10 hours. But in almost every other respect, you'll be floored with it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So excited to get it, I will play PUBG, Asphalt 9 and everything I want, I will get a decent battery to get the full day, a great camera with almost(or) pixel 3 quality...I'm loving all the reviews I'm seeing
NoobOver9000 said:
So excited to get it, I will play PUBG, Asphalt 9 and everything I want, I will get a decent battery to get the full day, a great camera with almost(or) pixel 3 quality...I'm loving all the reviews I'm seeing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Remember to use a GCam port to really get good pictures !
yeah this will be my first OnePlus device.. I wanted to get one before but was on Verizon before and knew it wasn't compatible.. but now that we are with TMobile i'm gonna give it a shot! I know the camera reviews seem to show its very decent (especially at the price point) and I'm pleased with the sample pictures i've seen on youtube... I have seen some of the reviews about using GCAM instead of the stock camera.. i'm just concerned about having 2 camera apps on the phone and if apps could be confused with it..
I do know the Speaker is pretty weak.. so i'm curious to hear how "bad" it really is.. hopefully its still acceptable to use..
I can't wait to see how well it runs FORTNITE... My pixels has some good moments.. but others its a DOG... so with GAMING MODE and larger screen and 8gig ram.. i'm hoping its a beast!
Jaws4God said:
yeah this will be my first OnePlus device.. I wanted to get one before but was on Verizon before and knew it wasn't compatible.. but now that we are with TMobile i'm gonna give it a shot! I know the camera reviews seem to show its very decent (especially at the price point) and I'm pleased with the sample pictures i've seen on youtube... I have seen some of the reviews about using GCAM instead of the stock camera.. i'm just concerned about having 2 camera apps on the phone and if apps could be confused with it..
I do know the Speaker is pretty weak.. so i'm curious to hear how "bad" it really is.. hopefully its still acceptable to use..
I can't wait to see how well it runs FORTNITE... My pixels has some good moments.. but others its a DOG... so with GAMING MODE and larger screen and 8gig ram.. i'm hoping its a beast!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fortnite 30fps max stable, maybe even 60?
Spealer meh but i don't think it's worse than 3t, will test it this week (there are some oneplus 6 at fnac) and camera use gcam and you'll have almost exact pixel 3 experience. Just intall it and use it, forget the other one unless you need manual mode or better video stabilization
If youre not picky with photo, go for it. Like said already above, dont forget install Gcam...
Regarding the speaker. If you want to root anyways you can also install the dual speaker mod and viper4android for speaker optimization. Got it installed several months and it improves the sound a lot. Often only by playing sound through the earspeaker while I accidentally cover the main speaker.
For me camera quality is poor, I'm coming from a Nokia 8 which has a way better camera quality... Well it seems like you can't have it all at this price point.
NoobOver9000 said:
Fortnite 30fps max stable, maybe even 60?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I left it on the settings it did when I first installed the game on the OP6.. which was 30fps / epic graphics / 75% 3d graphics.. and it looks so amazing and runs so smoothe and fast compared to my Pixel.. (20fps / low graphics / 50% 3d graphics)
NoobOver9000 said:
Spealer meh but i don't think it's worse than 3t, will test it this week (there are some oneplus 6 at fnac)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah I listened to the speaker a few times and i'm not that displeased with it.. It is VERY easy to cover an severely mute.. but since I use a case.. I just dremel out the inside of the connector between the hole for the speaker and the hole for the USB.. so the sound can pass through there if I block the hole for the speaker.. makes it work much better.
NoobOver9000 said:
and camera use gcam and you'll have almost exact pixel 3 experience. Just intall it and use it, forget the other one unless you need manual mode or better video stabilization
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah i played around with it some last night.. trying to use portrait mode.. and it was OK but definitely didn't WOW me like some of the pictures i'd get with my OG PIXEL..
So if you install the GCAM, will it replace the stock camera or just have 2 cameras in the app list? can you set the GCAM as primary so even when using the double tap power or lockscreen swipe to camera, it would open GCAM?
Thank you!
Jaws4God said:
I left it on the settings it did when I first installed the game on the OP6.. which was 30fps / epic graphics / 75% 3d graphics.. and it looks so amazing and runs so smoothe and fast compared to my Pixel.. (20fps / low graphics / 50% 3d graphics)
yeah I listened to the speaker a few times and i'm not that displeased with it.. It is VERY easy to cover an severely mute.. but since I use a case.. I just dremel out the inside of the connector between the hole for the speaker and the hole for the USB.. so the sound can pass through there if I block the hole for the speaker.. makes it work much better.
yeah i played around with it some last night.. trying to use portrait mode.. and it was OK but definitely didn't WOW me like some of the pictures i'd get with my OG PIXEL..
So if you install the GCAM, will it replace the stock camera or just have 2 cameras in the app list? can you set the GCAM as primary so even when using the double tap power or lockscreen swipe to camera, it would open GCAM?
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 separate apps, your camera and gcam, it's better at hdr+ enhanced and night sight, you will notice a lot of difference compared to stock. Also don't forget to tweak the camera settings
NoobOver9000 said:
Also don't forget to tweak the camera settings
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what do you mean?
Dude OnePlus 7 is almost here, just go brand new. You don't know how the previous owner treated their device.
Burn-in on oled?
Needs new battery?
Possible water damage?
Non-OEM quality replacement parts or repairs?
Don't do it man, just go new
Jaws4God said:
what do you mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See configs, I recommend Aranova gcam
dgunn said:
Dude OnePlus 7 is almost here, just go brand new. You don't know how the previous owner treated their device.
Burn-in on oled?
Needs new battery?
Possible water damage?
Non-OEM quality replacement parts or repairs?
Don't do it man, just go new
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only have 300$, I'm a 16 years old kid, so I can't get more unless I find a job, going to search for a moth or so and If I don't get a job, will probably buy a used op6 meeting with the guy who sells It and test it
NoobOver9000 said:
I only have 300$, I'm a 16 years old kid, so I can't get more unless I find a job, going to search for a moth or so and If I don't get a job, will probably buy a used op6 meeting with the guy who sells It and test it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP6 is probably the last decent phone OnePlus will ever make. They have gone the direction of all big phone makers now, bloatware, removal of headphone jacks, caving into whatever the carriers want them to do. I would get one while you can. I picked mine up used from Swappa and am glad I did.
electroblood said:
The OP6 is probably the last decent phone OnePlus will ever make. They have gone the direction of all big phone makers now, bloatware, removal of headphone jacks, caving into whatever the carriers want them to do. I would get one while you can. I picked mine up used from Swappa and am glad I did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm in the same boat.. yeah the OnePlus 6T does have a little better camera and smaller notch.. but no headphone jack was an issue for me.. and now with the 7 going with a pop up camera.. i'd be nervous about motor failure...
so I grabbed a OnePlus 6 and so glad I did
One Plus 6 all the way. I got one of the last ones available online from their web site...black with 8 gigs ram and 256 gigs storage. I saw a tear down on YouTube and it appears to be one of the easiest phones to replace the battery if needed. So I plan on keeping mine for a long, long time!

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