I am thinking of buying the Moto Maxx solely for its huge battery, to use exclusively as a hiking GPS. Plan is to unlock it, install an energy efficient ROM and custom kernel, strip everything possible from the ROM, under-clock and under-volt to the most aggressive extent that does not cause instability, install BackCountry Navigator and a few other related apps, buy a heavy duty protection case, put it permanently in airplane mode (I am on AT&T so no SIM card) and bingo - I have a high end GPS for under $150. I have been reading around here but there are not too many threads dealing with these issues so I thought I would ask. Please direct me to relevant threads if these have been discussed before, or just point me in the right direction so I can do my own legwork without spending days reading threads
a) No frills ROM that is energy efficient. Will be perfectly happy with LP if that is what it takes. I am assuming that the answer is CM, but which one if my sole concern is battery life? Otyterbox Defender or something else? I am amenable to cases that provide a certain degree of "water proofiness" even if they block some of the ports and proximity sensors.
b) Kernel that can be undervolted and underclocked - is this my best shot?
c) Bomb-proof case
d) Ultra-brightness mode hack if one is available - I frequently hike in the desert and the screen is not exactly easy to see mid-day
Last but not least, is it safe to assume that the battery life is a long as the ginormous battery and relatively modest screen specs suggest?
Thanks
Hey @GroovyGeek!
That's true, the battery is a monster 3900mAh. I managed to get 9h SoT with a custom ROM + custom Kernel + custom kernel settings.
There's some good ROMs out there. Personally, I'm using Resurrection Remix for a long time.
But for your purpose, I believe CM or Mokee is a good choice for you. It's cleaner and little bit lighter...
I would recommend you Mokee or CM + BHB27's Kernel + Debuffer's IntelliProfiles & GovTuner mod on battery profile.
GovTuner tweaks your CPU governor with different profiles according to your demand.
BHB27 Kernel supports undervolting, underclocking and the high-brightness mode.
And I believe Otterbox Defender is a good choice. Or even a more cheaper case + waterproof pouch cases.
You, also, can take stunning 21mp of your hiking trips
This device's camera is awesome.
I'm very happy with this device, I own it for a year.
And the only flaw we complain about, is the lack of updates from Motorola/Lenovo.
If wasn't some good developers working to keep it upgraded, we would be forgotten...
Hope I could help.
Good luck!
pedrohxn said:
Hey @GroovyGeek!
You, also, can take stunning 21mp of your hiking trips
This device's camera is awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah, I lug around 30 lbs of camera equipment on my hiking trips, the phone is strictly there for GPS purposes as well as to help me figure out precise bearing of sunset and sunrise and wake me up at ungodly hours in the morning.
Thank you so much for the detailed answer. I found a local seller who was willing to let go of a Turbo 2 in mint condition for only $150 so I went that way. Shatter proof screen, add an Otterbox Defender or Lifeproof case to make it bomb proof. Bummer that no root yet, but I am hoping that someone figures it out. In the mean time I have frozen everything but a few apps.
I'm playing the monster reborn card on this thread because I don't wanna duplicate the subject.
I've tried some 7.1 ROMs and they all had the same results: bad battery life. I mean this is an almost 4kmah and I barely get 24h of charge is this right? I've tried bhb kernel and adiutor with no success all I got was a laggie phone with zzmove. Govtuner seems like a placebo too, I tried to look for some info in the subject but bhb thread is already big and mostly focused on troubleshooting and the govtuner project seems to have died too. The only time it seems that I can get decent battery life is on the stock 6.0.1 ROM. I tend to debloat+Magisk+Apex because I need to either hide or remove apps that I don't usually use. I mostly use the phone to message, webbrouse or sync YouTube with the TV, no intense things like games or videos. Would someone be able to shed me some light?
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I am creating this thread to enable people to post ideas about how current phones can be improved. Given enough time with ideas from many people, we could inevitably get ideas into names and specs for future phones!
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I have posted this thread in the ( I think) most appropriate place sorry if it isn't.
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1) Great batter Life: at least 35 hours with heavy use.
2) smooth graphical Interface and a good quick Processor
3) Great Device device support with very timely non delayed OTAs
4) fully working AOSP or whatever is currently available at the time.
Sent from my Incredible, very Vivid, One X'strordinary S-off HTC Rezound
http://www.speedtest.net/android/216418366.png
There was a concept phone a while back called the Mozilla Seabird I think. It had some awesome features like dual pico projectors that could be for the screen or a virtual keyboard, and a built in removable bluetooth that could be used as a pointer. The demonstration video is neat, definitely worth checking out.
Sent from my Jellied Hox
Agreed on the battery life. It seems that while everything else gets improved battery life gets worse and worse. I say it should be 50 hrs with heavy use. Everything else is actually pretty good so far, the only thing I can think of is having a better GPU so we can play PS2 games xD.
It is usually the battery that consumes most of the cost of the devices being pushed out. Ibelieve it was 70% of the cost.
Hi everyone,
It looks like after 3.5 years of service my S3 I9300 is about to kick the bucket. Seeing as this year's smarphones are a failure and last year (2014's) top dogs are still over 500usd I figured it would be a waste of money to buy either of them. After some googling I found the moto g 2015 to be a good option.
It meets the requirements I wanted: FM radio, good xda support, removable sd card, ??doable?? battery replacement. It's just too bad there's no blackberry style led notification like the s3. From the antutu benchmarks it looks like it has ~80% the power of my S3?
My question is, how good is the new moto g? Any nasty surprises, gotchas or buyer's remorse. I plan to put CM12.1 first day out of the box. Is the performance decent? I'd mostly use it for web browsing, youtube, google maps, and reading pdf comics. No intense 3D games as it looks like all mobile games are going towards the "pay to play 2mins" model or the "ads galore for 2 mins" model.
Is the new moto g a good choice? Of course I'd get the 2gb ram version.
Hello,
I really have no regrets with mine. I was pretty much looking for the same requirements that you mention. I find that it performs quite well, I actually do use mine for gaming. It handles some of the more graphically demanding games without issue (Dead Trigger 2, Modern Combat 5, etc). I know this is not what you plan to use it for, but just throwing it out there.
What did your i9300 score in the current version of Antutu? The MotoG3 scores around 24550 for me. I can provide screenshots of the score breakdown if it would be helpful for you to see how the different tests scored.
The only thing Motorola left out is a gyroscope and NFC support.
Is quite nice actually, however here in mexico motorola released a turbo version that is even nicer.
I must confess that i regret buying this after the one plus x announcement, but that's just my personal preference and i've yet to see reviews of how does it perform
The phone is really good for it's price, and finding decent phones under 5 inches these days is just a nightmare.
If you don't mind spending some extra money, i'll recomend you a z3 compact.
But it all comes down to personal needs and preferences. Moto gestures in this phone are something really awesome that i can't live without, some things that i find missing are the stereo speakers, the notificacion led and an amoled screen for better battery management.
Oh and battery life is actually really good.
Thank you for your suggestions.
I've never used the nfc once so I'm not going to miss it. I've uploaded my s3 antutu score just for curiosity. I'm overclocking it to 1.7GHz with a small undervolt. I know benchmark scores are only a rough guide for real world expectations and should be taken with a grain of salt.
The turbo edition looks great but Mexico is way too far for me to go and with it being a region special device, will it really have much xda support? I'll definetely miss the amoled display but at least it's ips lcd. Isn't that the best kind of lcd? I love the S3's vibrant colors. The z3 compact is 400usd which is almost double the 220usd. Considering I'm paying in cad that's gonna hurt.
Just not sure how good the z3 compact xda support is. It's not like I'm looking for a small phone. Actually I would prefer a big phone for reading comics on the go but I don't want to unload a lot of money for a phone right now for reasons in the first post.
AAccount said:
Hi everyone,
It looks like after 3.5 years of service my S3 I9300 is about to kick the bucket. Seeing as this year's smarphones are a failure and last year (2014's) top dogs are still over 500usd I figured it would be a waste of money to buy either of them. After some googling I found the moto g 2015 to be a good option.
It meets the requirements I wanted: FM radio, good xda support, removable sd card, ??doable?? battery replacement. It's just too bad there's no blackberry style led notification like the s3. From the antutu benchmarks it looks like it has ~80% the power of my S3?
My question is, how good is the new moto g? Any nasty surprises, gotchas or buyer's remorse. I plan to put CM12.1 first day out of the box. Is the performance decent? I'd mostly use it for web browsing, youtube, google maps, and reading pdf comics. No intense 3D games as it looks like all mobile games are going towards the "pay to play 2mins" model or the "ads galore for 2 mins" model.
Is the new moto g a good choice? Of course I'd get the 2gb ram version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All in all I like mine, I have no regrets for the investment... I have had several higher end smart phones like the LG G2 and Nexus 5, and really don't see any real-world difference in use even when gaming so I don't know how much I trust the Antutu scores, and the battery life is very good. The notification LED missing is annoying, at first, but like everything else you get used to it and the Moto Display is an acceptable replacement for it.
As far as a doable battery replacement, you might to watch a tear down video before you say that, replacing the battery in this years Moto G is a bit tougher than the older models. "doable" would vary on your technical expertise.
I was a flash-a-holic with my Nexus devices and my LG G2, but to be honest the G3 us the first phone I haven't even really had the urge to flash a custom ROM on, or even root, the stock ROM is very good... Pure Android with (literally) a few Moto apps that are actually usable and functional without getting in the way, and the stock ROM is very optimized to the hardware, CM and other ROM devs haven't been able to get near the same battery life as stock. If you are set on CM, I would suggest waiting a minimum of a week before even unlocking it, there are a handful of rare issues which could potentially pop up (yellow screen, low volume, ghost touches, etc) and sometimes don't show up for a few days. No point in ruining your warranty day one, especially when the stock ROM is so well done.
The screen on the G3 is better than most people give it credit for, it isn't as good as the LG G2, but it is easily better than the Nexus 5, which is weird, sort of.... I am actually quite impressed with the screen and how vibrant and bright it is with minimal battery draw.
My 2 cents are go for it, you won't be disappointed.
I did lookup a teardown. Didn't the battery replacement involve
hair dryer to the screen
unscrew the motherboard
hair dryer to the battery
While I've never attempted doing the hair dryer treatment it doesn't look that bad. Compared to some of the other teardowns I've seen on ifixit, this one didn't involve: gotcha placed cables that are guaranteed to break without the magic touch, insane amounts of glue, or a screen that's so delicate that getting it out is near impossible. Overly optimistic??
Honestly, I figured that when that time comes, after the old battery is removed, I can cut a hole where the battery fits in and just hold it in place with duct tape. That way next time I can just remove the duct tape and disconnect. That's assuming the phone lives that long. My 2011 tablet and my 2012 era phones are both dieing in the span of a few months. :crying: The tablet is retired because of that. I'd rather my devices not actually die so when I want to use them again for whatever reason they'll still turn on and work ok.
Thanks for the tip of waiting a week for issues to pop up. I guess I'll carry 2 phones for that week. The moto g will get its initiation as a comic book reader and fm radio. I like the little features of CM like circle battery, network speed indicator, quick settings rearranging. Root is also a must for me for adblocking, xposed xprivacy, xposed youtube adblock. Can't live without either of those 3.
Stock 1.4 GHz (1363 MHz)
It's been a while since the XZ was released, I've been wanting to get a decent second phone, and as tempting as the Moto Z Play looks, I can't seem to find one in my country, there is however a guy selling an unlocked UK import Xperia XZ for about 300 USD. Seems like a decent enough deal to me, but my question here is, I've been going through the XZ forums for a while now, reading mixed reviews, and quite a few negative ones.
For those of you who have it, and are running the latest build of 7.1.1 available for the XZ, how are you guys liking it?
My main usage will be YouTube and phone calls, the rest is done on my main phone.
Still worth buying an XZ now, or should I look elsewhere?
Regards,
murtaza02
the short point is they've boosted performance at the expense of running temperature - it's very quick and the camera's decent enough save for low light shots or stills which have been zoomed/magnified - battery life is about one day or six hours SOT depending on usage, and you may need to consider unlocking the bootloader/rooting the phone to get full control of the handset - I'd say 8/10 generally, and whilst not perfect it's worth a look if a deal's on the table - the vulnerabilities to be aware of are the limited ram given the amount required to run nougat properly, and the temperature restriction on certain apps, such as the camera........ but it's still stunning to look at, it will run youtube fine, and whilst I don't have any voicecall issues, some have reported low speaker volume or poor reception, but they'll need to weigh in.......
deepershades said:
the short point is they've boosted performance at the expense of running temperature - it's very quick and the camera's decent enough save for low light shots or stills which have been zoomed/magnified - battery life is about one day or six hours SOT depending on usage, and you may need to consider unlocking the bootloader/rooting the phone to get full control of the handset - I'd say 8/10 generally, and whilst not perfect it's worth a look if a deal's on the table - the vulnerabilities to be aware of are the limited ram given the amount required to run nougat properly, and the temperature restriction on certain apps, such as the camera........ but it's still stunning to look at, it will run youtube fine, and whilst I don't have any voicecall issues, some have reported low speaker volume or poor reception, but they'll need to weigh in.......
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm still considering the XZ regardless of what bad things people say about it. I missed the deal I mentioned in the first post, the phone was sold literally 2 hours before I messaged the seller. But I'll still be on the lookout for one and hopefully grab it.
Thanks for the reply.
Sent from my SM-G955F
it still works very nicely. I've it for about one n half month so far and it never lagged for a moment. it's buttery smooth. Battery Life is awesome. I daily get 7 hours of screen time in 24 hours. Sometimes 8. Camera is decent too and front camera is too good better than s7 edge. so to conclude, it's still worth buying has a SD 820 n runs very well no laga awesome battery decent camera.
i have the dual sim version... it doesnt worth.... maybe the single sim version has better performance... but if it is the dual... i do not recommend
Have it since early February, performs just as well as on day 1. Performance is top-notch. Battery life has been absolutely awesome for me, usually lasts for 2 days but can reach 3 if usage is light. I feel like nothing short of watching movies non-stop could deplete it in 1 day. Another awesome point is headphone audio quality. Sony has some "clear audio+" enhancer thing which does wonders, it's almost like buying new headphones. Camera is good but not the best, depends how much you care for it really. Totally would recommend buying this phone.
I've either cognitively dissonated myself into loving this phone, or it is really quite good. The official camera fix did some good and leaves open the good possibility that further refining will yield a great result, or I'll stick with the progress being made on the GCam port and use the native app for great monochrome shots (I love the B&W sensor and it is EXCELLENT). That said, no cases... I guess no problem - I ordered some SquareTrade insurance coverage today - if it drops or dies, they'll replace it for a hundred beans - I can handle that kind of coverage...
I'm not seeing the same quality defects others are reporting with their handsets (light bleed, TMOB signal issues, etc.) so either I got a keeper or others are being overly sensitive (nothing personal guys).
I asked for and will likely receive a return package, but I think I'll be sending it back empty. Sorry for the trouble Essential, but you are in my daily carry category now - my S8+ will stay ready for outdoor action as needed (water resistance, etc).
The aesthetics are what has done it for me... Maybe you feel the same? The feeling I get holding and using the Essential do indeed remind me of the first day with the OG iPhone - only ten years better. Hell - I still have some great pics I took with that lousy 2MP, fixed focus, no flash shooter from 2007 on my drive.
Anyway, just one man's changed opinion. If it grew on you too, please post your thoughts. I'm interested to know how many others have now caved.
rootdude said:
I've either cognitively dissonated myself into loving this phone, or it is really quite good. The official camera fix did some good and leaves open the good possibility that further refining will yield a great result, or I'll stick with the progress being made on the GCam port and use the native app for great monochrome shots (I love the B&W sensor and it is EXCELLENT). That said, no cases... I guess no problem - I ordered some SquareTrade insurance coverage today - if it drops or dies, they'll replace it for a hundred beans - I can handle that kind of coverage...
I'm not seeing the same quality defects others are reporting with their handsets (light bleed, TMOB signal issues, etc.) so either I got a keeper or others are being overly sensitive (nothing personal guys).
I asked for and will likely receive a return package, but I think I'll be sending it back empty. Sorry for the trouble Essential, but you are in my daily carry category now - my S8+ will stay ready for outdoor action as needed (water resistance, etc).
The aesthetics are what has done it for me... Maybe you feel the same? The feeling I get holding and using the Essential do indeed remind me of the first day with the OG iPhone - only ten years better. Hell - I still have some great pics I took with that lousy 2MP, fixed focus, no flash shooter from 2007 on my drive.
Anyway, just one man's changed opinion. If it grew on you too, please post your thoughts. I'm interested to know how many others have now caved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really want to like it, I'm trying real hard.
The performance sucks and is not faster than a Moto Z with a Snapdragon 821.
This phone does some really aggressive thermal throttling.
This bothers me.
I really want to like it.
I kind of came to the same conclusion the other day. Software can always be improved with updates, and there's not another phone out there built with better materials. It looks, feels, and is, an upscale phone.
tech_head said:
I really want to like it, I'm trying real hard.
The performance sucks and is not faster than a Moto Z with a Snapdragon 821.
This phone does some really aggressive thermal throttling.
This bothers me.
I really want to like it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm interested to hear what you know about thermal throttling. I'm a power user and I play Royale like an idiot and I haven't even felt it get warm, nor do I see the incredible battery drain I see with other devices I've played on in the past (the Pixel XL was the worst for that power drain). Do you have CPUZ installed on it and can get some screenies of the throttling b/c of overheat conditions?
rootdude said:
I'm interested to hear what you know about thermal throttling. I'm a power user and I play Royale like an idiot and I haven't even felt it get warm, nor do I see the incredible battery drain I see with other devices I've played on in the past (the Pixel XL was the worst for that power drain). Do you have CPUZ installed on it and can get some screenies of the throttling b/c of overheat conditions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see/feel the phone get hot. That's the point, before it even gets hot the CPU gets throttled.
If I artificially cool the device or I'm in a cold environment; I can run Antutu and get close to the Qualcomm numbers for their reference platform in the 178k range. I can do that only in a cold environment. If the device is in a warm room the performance drops to 160k or so. If the room is hot or if I try to run again the performance can drop to 150k. I have seen the results drop to below 120k.
Geek bench scores are somewhat better but not great.
1900 single core and 6000 multicore.
The renderscript score is about 8000. Which puts in 33% behind an iPhone 7.
The software grew on me as more mods and ADB tweaks come out...but every time I decide to keep it and slap a skin of the back I find new scratches. Now I even have a scratch on the finish on the titanium. No clue where any of these came from. I haven't had a scratch on a phone in years... I upgrade every few months and always sell my phones mint on Swappa. I've had this a week and it's already scratched to ****. I love the look and feel and I'm happy with the software now but man..it's getting destroyed.
NeutronBomb said:
The software grew on me as more mods and ADB tweaks come out...but every time I decide to keep it and slap a skin of the back I find new scratches. Now I even have a scratch on the finish on the titanium. No clue where any of these came from. I haven't had a scratch on a phone in years... I upgrade every few months and always sell my phones mint on Swappa. I've had this a week and it's already scratched to ****. I love the look and feel and I'm happy with the software now but man..it's getting destroyed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. Mine still looks like it just came out of the box, and it even took a 4 foot tumble to my bathroom floor the other day.
So I hope the new update improves performance.
Right now if the phone gets to an internal temp of 44C it will throttle to less than half the maximum frequency.
This puts the performance, when warm, behind and LG G4, Samsung Galaxy S6 and my old Nexus 6P.
Not happy.
I'm battling the decision now. I'm still in that 15 day return window, and like others am trying really hard to want to like this device.
Love the display. Don't mind that it's not AMOLED - I still get 5-6 hours SoT with moderate-heavy internet/call/text on wifi w/bt connected. No light bleed issues or lifting of panels for me, everything seems in order there.
There are some problems with the software that make me wonder if the problems I have are hardware or software. The micro-stuttering during scrolling (only while touching the screen during scrolling) could be a hardware problem, could be throttling, or could be OS optimization for this device in general. It's smooth as butter as long as I flick-scroll. Even if I slow finger-scroll vs slow flick-scroll the difference is noticeable, goes from stutter to butter. Finger-on-screen lag is like that of a bloated EVO3D trying to flip homescreens.
Then there are the definite software glitches that are present even after a full wipe of the phone (I really wish you could wipe the cache partition on this thing). This includes the occasional 10 second freeze while scrolling, the microstutters mentioned above, having to press back twice when in a conversation in the default messaging app, random screen presses when not touching the screen, regularly having to tap the screen repeatedly to get response from buttons.
And then there's the support - it takes a very long time to get response. I realize they are busy and trying to be responsive, and I am really trying to support this new company... One of the biggest problems I have is for solely existing as a consumer communications device manufacturer, they have some terrible consumer communication processes happening (or complete lack thereof). All I really want to know is that they are aware of and are working on the specific issues. Maybe I have control issues, but the dark is not a friendly place to be with 700 bucks on the line!!
I'm going to leave myself undecided for a few days and see where things go. If I don't see some kind of a software update addressing many of the issues some of us are experiencing I may have to reconsider... Despite all of the short-comings the new company has had as a baby, it's a beautiful baby. Let's just hope it learns fast I'm really hoping the screen issues I'm having are software related, but without confirmation from the company I can't say that I have high confidence right now. I love the feel and design of the device itself, though! *torn*
I am really trying hard to like this device. In terms of overall feel it's immaculate. They did very well on the design of the the phone. My issues come with software and future development. Right now there's clear software bugs and other optimization that needs to be done. If they can work on some of those things the experience on this phone would improve tenfold. Also once they get the source code and kernel out then we can start seeing more Community Development. We could also get things such as custom recovery and root. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks this phone and the community support will improve. I think I'll keep my device for while to see if that happens if not I may be lookin at a Pixel 2.
theandroidbot said:
I am really trying hard to like this device. In terms of overall feel it's immaculate. They did very well on the design of the the phone. My issues come with software and future development. Right now there's clear software bugs and other optimization that needs to be done. If they can work on some of those things the experience on this phone would improve tenfold. Also once they get the source code and kernel out then we can start seeing more Community Development. We could also get things such as custom recovery and root. I'm hoping that in the coming weeks this phone and the community support will improve. I think I'll keep my device for while to see if that happens if not I may be lookin at a Pixel 2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There isn't a massive amount of development on the pixel in relation to other Nexus devices likely due to the A/B partitions so I'm dubious on the pixel 2 at the moment
spotmark said:
Interesting. Mine still looks like it just came out of the box, and it even took a 4 foot tumble to my bathroom floor the other day.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can the QC really be that hit and miss? I have zero scratches as well on front or back.
rootdude said:
Can the QC really be that hit and miss? I have zero scratches as well on front or back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. The one thing I absolutely love is the build quality. It looks exactly as the day it arrived.
Mine looks like the first day. I'm very impressed with the build quality.
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
No issues with mine fr a build standpoint. Fell a few times and no scratches. I'm using a glass screen protector even though there is a halo. Rather that scratches than the screen. The update that came out today is probably the software the phone should have shipped with initially... but we were all in a rush to get it. I'm keeping this device for sure! I also like confusing the heck out of ppl... I'm running the Arrow Launcher, blackberry keyboard and I use the iPhone sms sound for text notifications..
Sent from my PH-1 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
hoopsdavis said:
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think it's refreshing. I mean I love big phones, haven't used a small sized phone in years, but after using this phone for several days, I love how reasonably compact it is with this screen size. I should rephrase, I love big screen size, not necessarily big form factor. So to have this screen size packed in a smaller form, I think it's awesome.
hoopsdavis said:
My only complaint really is I think they went too small. Most smarts phones are a little larger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "small" form factor with big screen is the the biggest reason this phone came into my radar
flakko86 said:
The "small" form factor with big screen is the the biggest reason this phone came into my radar
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same with me and many others. The big screen in compact size is among the major pros for buying this mobile. Besides that, I was also attracted to the clean design/material used and the pin port for 360 camera and other gadgets.
But I'm still waiting (impatiently) for how the Huawei Mate 10 pro turns out to be before I buy the essential phone. Hoping the Mate 10 pro is as compact and well built as well, combined with supposedly beast new Kirin 970 and improved dual camera, and maybe some new features like AI, Graphene battery, 3D Face recognition (all already introduced on Huawei's Honor magic). It would be the only contender to essential phone on my list. If Mate 10 pro disappoints then by that time Essential phone would be ready to ship out with 360 camera and charging dock in one go.
I have really grown to like this device. I have been using as my DD since the update, no significant issues and certainly no scratches or signs of wear. The size of the device is a key factor for me, I love the form factor.
Hi everyone,
I've just bought "by error " this phone ( don't tell my gf I wanted it badly ) and, since I didn't watch any review I have few questions ( I think it will surprise me )
1. Battery: I'm on a Pixel 4 XL now and I had battery drain issues only after updating it to Android 12. The rooted out LOS inside and fixed the problem. It doesn't have 5g and a bigger battery than the flip. Will this phone arrive at the end of the day? Disabling 5G will save me some power? I don't really use the phone more than a normal person but I need it to get me to the end of the day without problems.
2. Screen: looks a bit fragile to me yet saw few cracked screens because of the cold weather. I live in Italy and we don't go under 0 degrees usually ( probably I will sell it first of the next winter ) did anyone had this problem or ar just isolated casualties.
Still on the screen, how many times would it open and close without breaking?
3. Day by day: how do you feel it in a day by day use? Did you get used to the folding system or not? How much ergonomic is it? Is 1 hand usage possible?
I like how it looks but I've never managed to have one in my hand I hope it will surprise me.
Physically play with one before you purchase, this goes for any phone.
What seems insignificant in pictures can be a lot different in real life. When I was considering the S10+ vs the N10+. I was undecided until I had both in front of me. I took a grand total of 5 seconds to go with the N10+. In spite of the similarities the subtle differences of the form factor were striking. After which the differences in the images were crystal clear to me.
Usually I do but not this time. I felt so confident that I've bought it and I don't even need a new phone. Pixel 4xl is in great condition and still does the job pretty well.
Good times when I've used to play games on the phones or rooting those just because are gone. Now I just use the phone as a phone, texting, browsing, socials 1 minutes every 2 days, Google calendar and excel
MySelf_v1 said:
Usually I do but not this time. I felt so confident that I've bought it and I don't even need a new phone. Pixel 4xl is in great condition and still does the job pretty well.
Good times when I've used to play games on the phones or rooting those just because are gone. Now I just use the phone as a phone, texting, browsing, socials 1 minutes every 2 days, Google calendar and excel
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That might work out fine for you then. It doesn't meet my needs criteria. I'll likely be running my two N10+'s for years.
Enjoy
blackhawk said:
That might work out fine for you then. It doesn't meet my needs criteria. I'll likely be running my two N10+'s for years.
Enjoy
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I will for sure, wanted a phone that fits in my pocket for years. Hopefully this will. Thought to sell my pixel but I think I'll keep it, just in case as I kept my Blackberry KeyOne just in case and all the others just in case ( I'm the proud owner of an HTC Desire and a ChaCha, do you remember those? )
As someone who actually owns the phone, I can tell you the battery life is not great left unchecked. If you don't use 5G, it will save a bit. Disabling any features you don't use will save more. Stock comes with virtually everything enabled. Always on display, edge panels, and 100 different gestures are all running and don't need to be if you don't use them.
The crease is an eye sore that first day. People will tell you that you stop noticing it and I honestly didn't believe it. It is true. You eventually stop noticing it unless you are at just the right angle (almost eye level with it folded open).
It's not as fragile as it seems. If you don't stab it, you should be fine. The protector is decent quality, but most issues you'll see are with rough environments or a peel that started and couldn't be left alone. As for folding and unfolding, it is meant to withstand more than most will do in a week per day.
One thing to keep in mind is that the hinge gets dirty easily and that can be a problem. Wipe it off before you open it. Make sure not to get junk in the screen before you close it.
Take the first 14 days seriously. It's easy to tell someone how it looked on paper or even to try it yourself in a store, but that isn't your day to day life. You can't know how folding and unfolding when a call comes in is like standing in a Best Buy. It is a lot different when you aren't consciously thinking about it. If you still feel awkward after a week, start filling out the return.
MySelf_v1 said:
I will for sure, wanted a phone that fits in my pocket for years. Hopefully this will. Thought to sell my pixel but I think I'll keep it, just in case as I kept my Blackberry KeyOne just in case and all the others just in case ( I'm the proud owner of an HTC Desire and a ChaCha, do you remember those? )
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I always wanted a HTC for it's audio.
Never saw the ChaCha, that's an interesting critter. Laid out for texting...
Definitely keep a backup as it takes the pressure off you if you need to do repairs. The main reason I have 2 N10+'s now.
twistedumbrella said:
As someone who actually owns the phone, I can tell you the battery life is not great left unchecked. If you don't use 5G, it will save a bit. Disabling any features you don't use will save more. Stock comes with virtually everything enabled. Always on display, edge panels, and 100 different gestures are all running and don't need to be if you don't use them.
The crease is an eye sore that first day. People will tell you that you stop noticing it and I honestly didn't believe it. It is true. You eventually stop noticing it unless you are at just the right angle (almost eye level with it folded open).
It's not as fragile as it seems. If you don't stab it, you should be fine. The protector is decent quality, but most issues you'll see are with rough environments or a peel that started and couldn't be left alone. As for folding and unfolding, it is meant to withstand more than most will do in a week per day.
One thing to keep in mind is that the hinge gets dirty easily and that can be a problem. Wipe it off before you open it. Make sure not to get junk in the screen before you close it.
Take the first 14 days seriously. It's easy to tell someone how it looked on paper or even to try it yourself in a store, but that isn't your day to day life. You can't know how folding and unfolding when a call comes in is like standing in a Best Buy. It is a lot different when you aren't consciously thinking about it. If you still feel awkward after a week, start filling out the return.
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Click to collapse
Do you think debloating it or flashing a custom ROM ( even I I would like to keep the samsung-ment experience on this phone ) will save a bit more battery?
Are there useless apps preinstalled ?
MySelf_v1 said:
Do you think debloating it or flashing a custom ROM ( even I I would like to keep the samsung-ment experience on this phone ) will save a bit more battery?
Are there useless apps preinstalled ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I missed if you mentioned getting the unlocked or carrier version. If it's a carrier version, there is any of the carrier stuff you don't want. If it's unlocked, it's mostly third-party apps. Honestly, most of that uninstalls now. Anything that can't be uninstalled or disabled can just as easily be removed with an adb command.
It's things, such as Netflix, that Samsung thinks you wouldn't be able to find easily if they didn't include it for you (although it isn't that ridiculous of a thought anymore). There was very little that actually required any sort of advanced removal, which is one advantage of getting a newer phone. In the last couple years, the extras that used to be system apps are now being preloaded as user apps the same as if you had installed them. You also have the option during setup to opt out of a lot. Google still forces it's garbage on you to complete setup, but that can be uninstalled as soon as that's complete (or you can leave the notice telling you to finish setup running indefinitely).
The biggest task is going through the settings and deciding what you will use and what is running sensors without any real necessity. I also recommend Galaxy Max Hz. It will yield a noticeable increase in battery life, even without much configuration at all.
[App]Galaxy Max Hz (Refresh Rate Mods, Screen-off Mods, QS Tiles, Tasker Support and More)
About this app: Refresh Rate Control: Easily control the max refresh rate (Hz) of android devices with multiple refresh rates (e.g. note20 ultra, s20/S20+/S20Ultra, z fold 2, s21/s21+/s21Ultra, tab S7/S7+, z fold 3, z flip 3). This app can limit...
forum.xda-developers.com
I've had mind since about November and I can say my battery life is decent around a day and a half with 50/50 screen on and off
Thank you for answering, I'll come back with more questions probably in few days ( says it's shipped from Netherlands ).
Btw its an unlocked version, last time I've bought a carrier version of a phone it's sucked badly.