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HI all, am thinking selling my OPO but have no idea what other phone to get while waiting for OnePlus Two
It has to be cheap (~100 $/€) and support custom roms, thats all i am asking! (am flashaholic, so can not live without it )
Any tips what should I go for? THX!!!
Moto G is always a good choice. Tons of support for ROMs and kernels and such. Also, the boot loader is easily unlocked. It's more than your price tag, but you'll be much happier with it's flexibility and more powerful processor.
Nexus 6
otacon239 said:
Moto G is always a good choice. Tons of support for ROMs and kernels and such. Also, the boot loader is easily unlocked. It's more than your price tag, but you'll be much happier with it's flexibility and more powerful processor.
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plus they have consistent speedy updates of new android versions, decent batterylife etc, etc.
just a small screen
Should I assume that despite your moniker that you do not currently own a Nexus 5? If that's the case, get your hands on a used Nexus 4. Tons of ROMs, kernels, mods, etc. A Galaxy S3 (with Snapdragon and 2gb RAM, not the Exynos one) wouldn't be a bad option either.
Go for Motorola and Nexus devices. They have plenty of custom rom support.
and fast when it comes to OS updates too.
this seems nice, dunno about updates though http://www.phonearena.com/news/Affo...edge-specs-and-fingerprint-ID-for-200_id68130
bachera said:
this seems nice, dunno about updates though http://www.phonearena.com/news/Affo...edge-specs-and-fingerprint-ID-for-200_id68130
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Very cheap, been checking these out too. Would love to try one out, some nice features.
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Elep...GHz-Smartphone-13-0MP-Dual-Camera-344057.html
gsmyth said:
Very cheap, been checking these out too. Would love to try one out, some nice features.
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Elep...GHz-Smartphone-13-0MP-Dual-Camera-344057.html
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take a note of their presale, they had another one on 11th of May
http://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/24/...tedposts_origin=84489&relatedposts_position=0
not sure of they will ever have dev support though, due to the mediatek stuff. That kinda is a dealbreaker for me.
their upcoming models next month are also interesting, more expensive though.
browse the gizchina site, they got tons of info on Chinese phones
bachera said:
take a note of their presale
http://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/24/...tedposts_origin=84489&relatedposts_position=0
not sure of they will have dev support though
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Click to collapse
Yea its never going to be anywhere near the OPO. I did see a video of it running CM12 though, again though who knows if you'll be able to get hold of it.
Thank you all guys, am wondering getting some "china" phone, but seems like there is a problem with MediaTek CPU/chipset - the support of custom roms is quite small if none for some CPU/chipset/phones.
Can anyone explain me to this. If to get a phone with Mediatek chip, which one to get for widest custom rom support? Or is it like that the only thing matter is the model of CPU and custom rom working on specific CPU will work fine on other phone with same CPU?
Try the Oppo Find 7A or 7. Same device in a sense, only it has native Color OS (and no touchscreen issues). Sadly, NO LTE on some carriers. I think the Find 7 is $500 while the 7A is $400. In the US, hard to get, but not impossible, trust me. The 7 is QHD (2K resolution) while the 7A is 1080p. For that case, I went with the 7A as it packs more of a punch.
Or the Xiaomi Mi3W or Mi4, the native MIUI phones. Again, lack of LTE on US carriers but trust me, they are very fast, unique and a breath of fresh air since stock ("vanilla" android) TouchWiz, Optimus UI and Sense have gotten boring. Pricing varies, but average from $300 to $400, just watch out where you order it from.
Lastly, the Moto X 2014 packs quite a punch and a beautiful display, and you have a good warranty back up. Be sure to skip the Verizon model (XT1096) as it cannot have its bootloader unlocked and root is VERY limited. They can now be ordered for as little as $400 for the 16GB or $450 for the 32GB, and customized options do not affect pricing unless you opt in for accessories.
I cannot recommend the Nexus 5 as it had very aggressive thermal throttling, so you never experience the 2.3GHz at its fullest, it has also been pulled out of Google's lineup. The HTC One M8 is a MARVELOUS device, and very lag free, however, it has heat issues, sometimes they begin over a short amount of time and that heat will QUICKLY deteriorate the battery. The LG G3 has a nice display, however, it is a lag machine. You really can not use it for 3D games. The G2 is also old and problematic. The G Flex 1 is still worth considering, but it is HUGE, the POLED display is very prone to burned in imaged if not properly taken care of, the curved display is weird to some and it has a 720p resolution. It is however pretty darn great. The G Flex 2 sports a Snapdragon 810, but that is not a good thing. It has been noted that the 810 heats up ALOT, which is why the Xiaomi Mi5 might use the 808 and the G4 is confirmed to have gone with the 808. The Galaxy S5 and Note 3 have very slow UI animations and overall do not have great performance. The bloatware on them is also through the roof. The newer Note 4, Note Edge, S6 and S6 Edge are just too pricey. The Nexus 6 is a HUGE Moto X 2014, but it has a bit of a price tag, and if your hands are not as big as mine, you can forget it. It has superb performance. The Droid Turbo is beginning to meet its end at high prices when it comes to used ones, but again, no bootloader unlock and root is limited.
I would REALLY recommend sticking to it for a while longer as the OnePlus Two is around the corner, the Moto X 2015 is already being rumored, the Xiaomi Mi5 MIGHT enter the US market (if your in the USA) and so on. It might also be a bad idea to hold on to it as the release of the OnePlus Two will mean fans of the OnePlus One will want to sell theirs to get the newer one, and the used value of it will drop significantly or become a challenge to get rid of.
I'm currently using a Nexus 5, on stock android 5.1. I'm starting to have a few problems with it, the GPS is slow at best, battery life just gets me through the day, and i'm running low on space at 16Gb.
In my job I have been given a Windows phone for work, What i'd like to do is buy a Dual-Sim device so I can go back to carrying 1 device. I've been looking around and been quite impressed with the chinese offerings. The top phone on my list are the -
Ulefone Touch Be 2
Elephone P8000 (unable to post links)
So far, The features i'm looking for are dual sim (obviously) good camera, expandable storage & good GPS.
There are so many phones to choose from these days im just not sure what to choose.
Thanks In advance.
What model Huawei?
You can try one plus two 64gb.
Its the best. 25,000 rs. Better than nexus
Sent from my WT19i using XDA Free mobile app
I would really like that but its out of my budget.
Try one plus one. Nw u can buy for 15000-18000 rs range.
Sent from my WT19i using XDA Free mobile app
it has to be optimized!
Spardha said:
I'm currently using a Nexus 5, on stock android 5.1. I'm starting to have a few problems with it, the GPS is slow at best, battery life just gets me through the day, and i'm running low on space at 16Gb.
In my job I have been given a Windows phone for work, What i'd like to do is buy a Dual-Sim device so I can go back to carrying 1 device. I've been looking around and been quite impressed with the chinese offerings. The top phone on my list are the -
Ulefone Touch Be 2
Elephone P8000 (unable to post links)
So far, The features i'm looking for are dual sim (obviously) good camera, expandable storage & good GPS.
There are so many phones to choose from these days im just not sure what to choose.
Thanks In advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before you buy a Ulefone, Elephone, Umi ... or any of these cheap Chinese brands. Please be aware that they do not optimize their Android OS!
This means, you may get worse performance as you had on your Nexus 5. I would say before you buy one of these brands, stick to your old Nexus 5.
If you want a good quality phone with optimized Android Rom on it, that offers good performance with a pretty good camera.
Get one of the following barnds only!
Oppo
Huawei
Xiaomi
Meizu
What is your budged btw? If a good camera is important to you, really stay away of not optimized Anrdoid!
All other small Chinese brands, put truly crappy not optimized Android on their devices!
TheUltrametricSpace said:
Before you buy a Ulefone, Elephone, Umi ... or any of these cheap Chinese brands. Please be aware that they do not optimize their Android OS!
This means, you may get worse performance as you had on your Nexus 5. I would say before you buy one of these brands, stick to your old Nexus 5.
If you want a good quality phone with optimized Android Rom on it, that offers good performance with a pretty good camera.
Get one of the following barnds only!
Oppo
Huawei
Xiaomi
Meizu
What is your budged btw? If a good camera is important to you, really stay away of not optimized Anrdoid!
All other small Chinese brands, put truly crappy not optimized Android on their devices!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info, I'm looking at about $200 - $250 Max.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Spardha said:
Thanks for the info, I'm looking at about $200 - $250 Max.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a good price range, to start from.
You could check out the best prices if you want to at: kimovil . com
within this price range you could get, all of the following are dual sim:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 (only oppomart has it in stock right now) ~150$
Xaomi Mi4i ~220$
Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML ~200$
Asus ZenFone 2 ZE551ML ~260$
Meizu M2 Note 16GB ~150$
Huawei P8 Lite ~250$
I didn't list the following brand, but it's still a decent device:
Jiayu S3 (3GB version) ~180$
ZTE Nubia Z9 mini ~250$
The listed phones are just examples. All of them have their own downs and ups.
Meizu and Xiaomi are heavy skinned Android phones, they might remind you to iOS. I love my Xiaomi Mi4i, but it´s not for everyone.
I do assume that after using the true stock Android of your Nexus 5, you might want to stick to a phone that gets at least to close to stock Android.
So if you want the normal Android, you would have to go for the Asus Zenfone or the Huawei P8 Lite.
The Asus is more powerful but might not get an update, because it features an Intel SoC. The Huawei on the other hand has a weak SoC compared to the ASUS Zenfone 2.
It comes down to what you prefer, what would you use the phone for?
Do you want stock Android, do you want a phone that is at least as good as your Nexus 5 is, or are you willing to compromise just to have dual sim phone?
Within the price range of 200$ to 250$ there is a lot of good stuff to choose from.
That's some great info, thanks for taking the time to help me out. I was hoping someone in the know would be able to shed some light on this for me. I've been looking for a few weeks.
The idea is to replace my current personnel Nexus 5 and works Windows Lumia 635 (Rubbish), so thats what the Dual Sim is needed for. Then I like to use it to take photos on when I'm out with family and travelling for work, Im reasonably satisfied with the Nexus's camera so I'm not looking for a DSLR replacement but something competent. Then when I travel I use it for GPS to get around in Europe and the US. Next is to play music in the car so expandable storage for music and apps. 4G connectivity. Then for work emails etc. i think thats it really.
regarding good GPS signal you would have to stay to Qualcomm or Intel SoC's, those devices paired with a good brand are a save call.
For what you do the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 16GB chinese Version with dual sim and micro SD Card should be good enough. It's a big 5.5 inch phone.
It has the MIUI7 on it, it will be a completely different Android experience. There are no reviews about the GPS quality and the phone uses a fast MTK SoC, it is hard to say how good it is, usually Xiaomi places really good antennas in their phone, but as of now there is no review of it.
The battery is average ~3000mhA thing, paired with the Octa Core it will last for a day and maybe a bit more, should be better than the Nexus 5.
Advantage: it's cheap, it's Xiaomi so great quality with great support.
Downside: it has MIUI7 on it a very heavy Android modification.
You could get it for about 150$ from many different pages or straight from oppomart a bit more expensive.
The Asus Zenfone both version the 2GB/4GB is really good specification wise. The 4GB Ram version is just overkill, in my opinion.
The build quality is good, the performance is great. The only downside would be the battery life and the camera, neither is horrible bad.
GPS should be fine.
You could get the 2GB Version from pandawill for 210$ and the 4GB is at gerabest for 240$
Worth mentioning, not all dual sim phones support the full speed on both slots, as of now only the Xiaomi Mi4i has 4G net on both sim card slots!
The Redmi Note 2 and the Asus Zenfone 2 are 5.5" devices
If you want a pretty nice powerful device without a micro SD card extension, at 5" you could consider to get the Xiaomi Mi4i, the only downside of it is that a optical camera stabilization is missing. I don't see this as a problem, as I do make loads of pictures and it rarely bothers me, but it is worth to be mentioned.
I'm pretty sure i looked at the Redmi Note 2 previously, but didn't think it support expandable storage so dismissed it.
I understand most only support 4G on 1 sim this is fine. Also the size of 5.5 although is a little bigger than the Nexus I'm fine with it but would be the limit.
I also looked at the Zenphone but the camera put me off.
Spardha said:
I'm pretty sure i looked at the Redmi Note 2 previously, but didn't think it support expandable storage so dismissed it.
I understand most only support 4G on 1 sim this is fine. Also the size of 5.5 although is a little bigger than the Nexus I'm fine with it but would be the limit.
I also looked at the Zenphone but the camera put me off.
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The Chinese 16GB Version has a microSD extension slot you just have to find one. I read on gearbest that they sell this version with 16GB and microSD slot, but it's hard to say if they provide the right information.
If you don't need the extra performance, the Zenfone might be the wrong phone.
You could also consider the Jiayu S3 3GB Version (or Jiayu S3 Advanced), some people like the phone! It is available for about 180$
It's a really good all-rounder with amazing GPS and a pretty good camera
Search on youtube for a review of the Jiayu S3 by ITXtutor, it should cover all you want to know about the phone.
If i could push the budget to $300 what could you recommend? Im from the UK too.
Meizu MX5? Just found out no SD and the 32gb is closer to $400..
Spardha said:
If i could push the budget to $300 what could you recommend? Im from the UK too.
Meizu MX5? Just found out no SD and the 32gb is closer to $400..
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Haha yeah I would have recommended the MX5, I had the MX4 Pro for a bit and that was an awesome phone! But yeah the 32GB Version retails for about 390$
The Lenovo Vibe Shot Z90, has only a SD 615, an awesome camera dual Sim and a SD Card Slot. the 32GB is around 300$.
At leats in my Xiaomi Mi4i I have no trouble with this SoC, in daily use it doesn't get hot or anything, I am not a gamer so it's a great SoC for my needs.
The Huawei P8 Lite ships with the same SoC for 240$, it's worth a thought too. I would probably go for this one. The only downside I know about is the screen brightness, it could be better and I am not sure if it has Android 5 by now.
TheUltrametricSpace said:
Haha yeah I would have recommended the MX5, I had the MX4 Pro for a bit and that was an awesome phone! But yeah the 32GB Version retails for about 390$
The Lenovo Vibe Shot Z90, has only a SD 615, an awesome camera dual Sim and a SD Card Slot. the 32GB is around 300$.
At leats in my Xiaomi Mi4i I have no trouble with this SoC, in daily use it doesn't get hot or anything, I am not a gamer so it's a great SoC for my needs.
The Huawei P8 Lite ships with the same SoC for 240$, it's worth a thought too. I would probably go for this one. The only downside I know about is the screen brightness, it could be better and I am not sure if it has Android 5 by now.
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Could you recommend where to purchase the Lenovo Vibe from? its not on oppomart.
Ive been looking at the one+two and i think that is the phone i really want.. the OS is more what I'm used to the hardware is up there, the only downside i can see would be the price for the 64gb model. Im going to see if I can purchase via my work and if need be pay some towards it.
Spardha said:
Ive been looking at the one+two and i think that is the phone i really want.. the OS is more what I'm used to the hardware is up there, the only downside i can see would be the price for the 64gb model. Im going to see if I can purchase via my work and if need be pay some towards it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes that is the best thing to do!
There are two version of the Vibe Shot the Z90-3 and Z90-7, the -7 is more expensive, but supports the right bands to be used outside of japan/china!
aliexpress would have the Z90-7 for 330$, but it's always a bit risky to buy from aliexpress
TheUltrametricSpace said:
regarding good GPS signal you would have to stay to Qualcomm or Intel SoC's, those devices paired with a good brand are a save call.
For what you do the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 16GB chinese Version with dual sim and micro SD Card should be good enough. It's a big 5.5 inch phone.
It has the MIUI7 on it, it will be a completely different Android experience. There are no reviews about the GPS quality and the phone uses a fast MTK SoC, it is hard to say how good it is, usually Xiaomi places really good antennas in their phone, but as of now there is no review of it.
The battery is average ~3000mhA thing, paired with the Octa Core it will last for a day and maybe a bit more, should be better than the Nexus 5.
Advantage: it's cheap, it's Xiaomi so great quality with great support.
Downside: it has MIUI7 on it a very heavy Android modification.
You could get it for about 150$ from many different pages or straight from oppomart a bit more expensive.
The Asus Zenfone both version the 2GB/4GB is really good specification wise. The 4GB Ram version is just overkill, in my opinion.
The build quality is good, the performance is great. The only downside would be the battery life and the camera, neither is horrible bad.
GPS should be fine.
You could get the 2GB Version from pandawill for 210$ and the 4GB is at gerabest for 240$
Worth mentioning, not all dual sim phones support the full speed on both slots, as of now only the Xiaomi Mi4i has 4G net on both sim card slots!
The Redmi Note 2 and the Asus Zenfone 2 are 5.5" devices
If you want a pretty nice powerful device without a micro SD card extension, at 5" you could consider to get the Xiaomi Mi4i, the only downside of it is that a optical camera stabilization is missing. I don't see this as a problem, as I do make loads of pictures and it rarely bothers me, but it is worth to be mentioned.
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Can I access google play/google services on this phone if I purchase and use it in China?
I know my GF's phone cannot install google play store app (Huawei Ascend Y511).
NapoleonWilson said:
Can I access google play/google services on this phone if I purchase and use it in China?
I know my GF's phone cannot install google play store app (Huawei Ascend Y511).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes there are a lot of threads about this topic in the official Xiaomi MIUI Forum. Link: en.miui.com
Have a look there and you will find all you need to know
If they release the device globally or in India, it will get a ROM with google installed per default. Xiaomi makes no difference between their devices.
Rom download page: http://en.miui.com/download
Like I have the Indian/global version of the Xiaomi Mi4i and can install the official Chinese ROM or the global ROM, as I like.
Would you recommend any 5inch phones in the $150 dollar region?
5.5 is just a little too big for me.
Hi all.
I am a developer (mostly web, just occasional mobile) with poor vision since birth and I'm looking for a smartphone which should meet the following criteria:
- budget under 350 EUR
- has no problems installing custom launchers; I'd like to install Launcher WP8 style . I have used Xperia Neo V and Lumia 920, and my eyes really enjoy minimalistic WP tile interface. I seriously consider to develop my own launcher some day for special needs of my eyes (and other people like me). I know that there is a magnifier built-in but I'd like to avoid using it, if possible - it's just simpler, if I can get text sizes, colors and usability without using those somewhat inconvenient triple tapping gestures
- has an upgrade to Android 6.0 Marshmallow available or planned for sure (rumored does not count)
- at least 16GB RAM (have heard complaints that 8GB is too little space for Android today)
- screen size - 5" seems to be the sweat spot
- other features - like any midrange phone - 13MPx camera, microSD is mandatory
- solid build quality. I don't change phones more than once in three years, so I'd like the phone to last and survive normal everyday use.
- no glass back (I've heard bad reports of Sony Z being too fragile). Strong plastic or aluminium is good
- has repair services in Europe (and also in my country, Latvia). I'll be using the phone as my main "work horse", so I want to get repaired it fast and hassle-free, in case if...
- has not locked out normal development support (with "normal" I mean remote debugging and installing self-compiled apks )
- can be rooted and flashed with custom ROM and has reliable and stable ROMs available (most probably, I won't need this in next 2 years, anyway, but who knows... I just want to be sure)
So, I looked through the options available, and now I have three candidates:
HTC One M8s
Asus Zenfone 2 Laser ZE500KL Dual 16GB
Huawei P8 Lite ALE-L21
I intend to buy the phone from a reliable local shop, which means that I might receive a model which is definitely not locked to any carrier, but it might be not meant for my country (Latvia) Most probably, it will be some European model. However, my current Lumia model was targeted at Saudi Arabia, but it had no problems with installing European updates on it. I hope that Android won't disappoint me and I won't be stuck with something totally Arabic or Chinese, but from the other hand I've heard that sometimes those regions get updates even faster that Europe
So, the main question for the time being is:
Is it worth paying for HTC One M8S instead of buying Asus Zenfone 2 or Huawei P8 Lite?
M8S seems really attractive, but I'm not sure if it won't turn out to be PITA to install and develop custom launchers, considering deep SenseUI integration into the core Android. And there might be other factors, unknown to me which might make Asus Zenphone or Huawei P8 Lite a better choice for my requirements.
I'd really appreciate your feedback, especially from owners of the mentioned devices and developers who know HTC, Asus and Huawei ecosystem and their attitude to developers (support, ignore or fight against unauthorized software).
There where some attractive models which matched specs-wise and price-wise but unfortunately I had to neglect them because of unknown Marshmallow upgrade or because of glass back:
SAMSUNG G903F GALAXY S5 NEO 16GB
Samsung A500FU Galaxy A5 16GB
Huawei Ascend P7 Black
Sony E5603 Xperia M5
Sony Z2
Sony C6603 Xperia Z Black
Sony D6603 Xperia Z3
So, as nobody tried to convince me otherwise, I'm going to order HTC One M8s. I just hope that it won't turn out to be less development friendly than ZenPhone 2.
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got mine on a black friday sale and I'm happy with it. but at full price I would consider something else.
This phone has the Kirin processor and you can root it but the custom rom's will be few because of the processor
The Galaxy S6 is a nice phone but the bootloaders are locked.
I don't know anything about the Sony.
If you have $400 for the full priced H8 I would recommend a used Nexus 6p or a One plus 3 for flashing customs roms and developer support.
If those phones are too big for your taste theirs also the HTC 9 and 10 to consider... they have a great developer community
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
clsA said:
I got mine on a black friday sale and I'm happy with it. but at full price I would consider something else.
This phone has the Kirin processor and you can root it but the custom rom's will be few because of the processor
The Galaxy S6 is a nice phone but the bootloaders are locked.
I don't know anything about the Sony.
If you have $400 for the full priced H8 I would recommend a used Nexus 6p or a One plus 3 for flashing customs roms and developer support.
If those phones are too big for your taste theirs also the HTC 9 and 10 to consider... they have a great developer community
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have around 450 max for a phone and the Oneplus 3 would have been great because it was 430 dollars but now they only sell the 3T for about 500 and its an import so i think it will have taxes . I looked at the One M9 and the one thing i didn't like is that it is missing a fingerprint scanner and from reviews they say if your chosing between the M9 and S6 go for the S6 so idk . The HTC 10 is good but if i had the money for it (650$) i would have bought the S7 Edge .
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia X has the edge in performance over the H8 but it overheats when using the camera idk if sony fixed it or not.Axon 7 is pricey for me 600 dollars but its a great phone.The Xiaomi MI 5S is cheap and packs perfromance with the SD 821 but being a Xiaomi doesn't it have poor software ?
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought the Honor 8 after a long evaluation and endless comparisons (price for me was 320 EUR discounted, so really mid-range price territory).
The hardware is great and having such a fast fingerprint sensor is really awesome. Biggest two drawbacks for me are:
- the user interface: I don't like EMUI at all and it's pretty far from the Android standard, but you can use a custom launcher and hopefully an unofficial near-stock theme will be available soon;
- the screen: has a quite poor calibration and looks like a significant step back from my previous Sony Z1 Compact.
Sony devices are nice but heavily bloated. Also I was quite disappointed with my Z1 Compact camera: it looks like they didn't provide adequate support in the transition from KitKat to Lollipop and there was a performance degradation killing an otherwise interesting sensor. I haven't tried a Samsung since the death of my S3 due to eMMC failure and my experience with that device had not been stellar (given I did paid full price for it), but I have read that the UI has improved in the latest interations.
As for root and custom ROMs the thing is: while every device can be rooted one way or another, for a good custom ROM support you should consider only Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (the Honor has a HiSilicon Kirin) and even in that case the proper support for camera and other advanced hardware features could be not easy. So you may root the Honor but don't expect an AOSP / LineageOS ROM to work properly (there is some work underway but if Huawei doesn't change its politics I wouldn't expect acceptable results).
As for me the only device I could have bought instead of the Honor was the HTC 10, but at a cost significantly higher.
P.S.: Xiaomi devices are interesting but most of them have limited LTE band support, so you may want to check against the bands used in your country (the GSMArena website has a great search tool you could take advantage of).
maxlnc said:
I just bought the Honor 8 after a long evaluation and endless comparisons (price for me was 320 EUR discounted, so really mid-range price territory).
The hardware is great and having such a fast fingerprint sensor is really awesome. Biggest two drawbacks for me are:
- the user interface: I don't like EMUI at all and it's pretty far from the Android standard, but you can use a custom launcher and hopefully an unofficial near-stock theme will be available soon;
- the screen: has a quite poor calibration and looks like a significant step back from my previous Sony Z1 Compact.
Sony devices are nice but heavily bloated. Also I was quite disappointed with my Z1 Compact camera: it looks like they didn't provide adequate support in the transition from KitKat to Lollipop and there was a performance degradation killing an otherwise interesting sensor. I haven't tried a Samsung since the death of my S3 due to eMMC failure and my experience with that device had not been stellar (given I did paid full price for it), but I have read that the UI has improved in the latest interations.
As for root and custom ROMs the thing is: while every device can be rooted one way or another, for a good custom ROM support you should consider only Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (the Honor has a HiSilicon Kirin) and even in that case the proper support for camera and other advanced hardware features could be not easy. So you may root the Honor but don't expect an AOSP / LineageOS ROM to work properly (there is some work underway but if Huawei doesn't change its politics I wouldn't expect acceptable results).
As for me the only device I could have bought instead of the Honor was the HTC 10, but at a cost significantly higher.
P.S.: Xiaomi devices are interesting but most of them have limited LTE band support, so you may want to check against the bands used in your country (the GSMArena website has a great search tool you could take advantage of).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im in the same state of endless comparisons and watching reviews for phones . From reviews and speed tests the Honor 8 seems like a great deal , in app opening comparsion it was leading 15 to 5 againts the Iphone 7 Plus if 100% true in normal use its a pretty fast phone and is concidered as one of the best 400 dollar phones . My concern is the UI and support i will slap google now launcher but for support updates and so on its a Huawei after all and i don't have experience with them . Most of my root and rom adventures were made with my Galaxy S3 Neo because it came with Android 4.4.2 and never got an update and with the help of roms it had 6.0.1 from the S6 with an overclocked Kernel and slow motion camera mod. All of the reviews for the X performance say that Sony are asking too much (700$) for the flaws it has . I put a thread on the Sony forum but no response yet . For me the price is lower 430$ for the Xperia but if the bugs are not fixed by Sony its dissapointing . I really like the Galaxy S6 but after all its a 2015 model . Xiaomi MI 5s supports my 4G network but being a Xiaomi software wise i think its badly optimized.
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
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Click to collapse
I have the Honor 8 and have been using it for the last 3 months or so.
I'm not into all these tests but I know that the phone has stood up to everything that I have thrown at it and I use my phone allot.
If you want a good, solid phone that looks good and will be kept upto date for the next couple of years then get the Honor 8
My flat mate has got the pixel and after using it I really can't see how it's worth the extra couple of £100
John
In my mind, the only phones that are worth getting if you want to flash roms are OnePlus and Google, the rest are not worthwhile. These two phones are the only ones that will get great support on XDA. If this is your purpose then don't even bother considering any other brand, it's just a waste of your time. Even if it is available for other phones you run into hassle with losing warranty by unlocking bootloader and doing more steps than needed. It's better just to get a OnePlus where all the custom rom features are already built in.
If you can get the Honor 8 for $300 new or less and wants a good camera it's worth it. I'm very happy with the camera for still shots which is what I mainly bought the phone for. It's the best camera I've used outside of Samsung so far, I think the Huawei and Samsung are the tops right now for camera. It's better than the Nexus 6P in term of dynamic and colors. Also Huawei currently make the best fingerprint scanner, albeit on the back. The hardware is fast, but expect lots of thermal throttling while gaming.
You will have to deal with some goofy battery management which turns off notification and background running apps, although there is a way to fix this but you have to whitelist the apps in two different nearly hidden places in the settings, although the new Nougat updates is supposed to improve this.
In term of updates support, I think it's pretty poor, at least in term of speed. Many phones are already on Nougat before this one. I do like the fact they made the stock firmware publicly available. The main thing that hampers this phone is the software.
Hey there. I was in the dilemma you are right now two months ago when I bought the Honor 8. I'm not disappointed at all, in the past few years I've used almost every brand there is, HTC, Samsung s3, Lg G2, Sony z3 Compact, Moto G 1 and 2, Sony z3, z3+ and m5, and my last phone was the Huawei p9 lite, I was astonished as to how that "cheap phone" camera could beat my Sony z3+ that I loved so much. That's when I paid attention To Huawei, and man they're doing a great job. Yes maybe in development you won't be able to do much, if that's what you're looking for, maybe it's better to look elsewhere, but in terms of battery, daily use performance and heavy usage, camera, good looking phone, this is a great deal. I bought for 400 when it was released. A few weeks ago my brother got it at 330, which was like stealing haha. And I know this month it will get Nougat. Emui software will be better with the update, not saying it was bad but many disliked it, I'm fine with it to be honest. And Honor offers 2 years of support after the date of release. So you'll get Android updates until mid-2018.
Hope this helps.
I really don't recommend buying a phone at the moment, as u know it's a new year
New phones and chipsets are released and prices eventually will drop. I recommend waiting for couple of months if you can.
Regarding the Honor 8 itself, I know there's something about this phone makes you want it although u can just save a little and get axon 7 or 1+3 and it's not a perfect phone either it lacks some things like OIS for videos and 4K for video.
Other than that it offers a great camera you should check threads here for camera samples, it does take very great still images!
I saw lots of comparisons too between that phone and others. Well in everyday usage there's no difference between it and a snapdragon 820 powered phone regarding opening apps and so .. The kirin 950 is pretty strong scoring 90K+ in antutu benchmark which is okay.. You shouldn't be worried about a game that won't run smoothly on it at the moment! But it's not the best developer friendly unlike snapdragon chipsets!
Beside all that it's a pretty phone ( sexy design, great camera, decent battery & good performance ) it has USB C and fast charging and the chipset supports Vulkan API which makes somewhat it future proof. Also about the EMUI, it can grow on you over time it has neat features not laggy as people might suggest it has theme engine too plenty of customizability and gestures, I don't see it lacking other than the looks of the pure android but that can be fixed by using nova launcher.
Bottom line, if u don't mind the UI and the development area ( it exists but it may take a while ) definitely go for it .. Otherwise u may consider saving or buying One Plus 3 if you're a flashaholic there are plenty of ROMs for the one plus, And a strong development community!
I have the FRD-L14 (64 GB USA version) for $340 total from Amazon. It has replaced my Sony Z3 Compact that I had for two years bought for $500. Tell you what the Honor 8 is worth the money. Fast and responsive. The 4 GB of memory is awesome since apps stay in memory so multitasking is mostly instant. 64 GB memory + 64 GB microSD = awesome. Camera is fast enough with good quality. The screen is the only downside compared to flagship phones costing $600+ but I came from the Sony Z3 Compact display so it's not a problem for me. Maybe I am also lucky but I don't have a blue-ish tint on certain reviews.
The best thing about this is it has Band 12 LTE for TMOBILE. I now have 3 bars of signal sitting in my office instead of 1 or zero or searching all the time. The HD Voice call is also super clear. The speaker phone, though, could be better. The fingerprint scanner is just as good as the Samsung or Apple. Two THUMBS UP. I would upgrade to the Honor 9-10 down the road assuming they keep the price competitive.
Price of Honor 8
Tarbruh said:
I have around 450 max for a phone and the Oneplus 3 would have been great because it was 430 dollars but now they only sell the 3T for about 500 and its an import so i think it will have taxes . I looked at the One M9 and the one thing i didn't like is that it is missing a fingerprint scanner and from reviews they say if your chosing between the M9 and S6 go for the S6 so idk . The HTC 10 is good but if i had the money for it (650$) i would have bought the S7 Edge .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just bought a Honor 8 from a dealer on ebay..paid $250....New but no box..
Exactly as the others say the Honor 8 is a great phone! It is fast, good looking and has a great camera! So in 2015 I was looking for a new phone to replace my old Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and this seller showed me the Honor 7 but it didn't really appeal to me that much (Mostly because of EMUI) and I decided to keep on using my S4 Mini.
But a few weeks ago I got the Honor 8 for 325€ (Discounted) even if I didn't really like EMUI that much I must say, it is better than I expected! Now there is a few things I still don't like in EMUI (Like the split Notifications and Shortcuts) but in the new EMUI 5 update that is currently being rolled out, it will just get a whole lot better and many of the things I find annoying is fixed
So would I recommend this phone? Yes I would definitivtly recommend this phone for someone who is looking for a great phone but still not to expensive, even though it doesn't have that many custom ROMS yet (Coming from someone who used Custom ROMS a lot previously) I think we will get more custom ROMS within a few months
Tarbruh said:
Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been using it since 1st December 2016 and I wouldn't recommend it, 'cause:
1. It has no system-level equalizer;
2. It has no system-level audio balance tweaker(?);
3. When using the app com.rubycell.pianisthd, the audio output is full of "clicks"; no longer with android 7
4. It's kirin-based, therefore "good luck" with custom roms.
edit:
I'm not gonna sell it any soon 'cause I can kinda live with it thanks to Poweramp, but come on, the audio subsystem of this phone is sh*t. You should only get it if you're deaf or for some reason you don't enjoy listening to music.
I apologize for being this rude.
The aesthetics are amazing and the performance is really decent. The software is mediocre, though it might be better with the Android & UI update--but that's been a slow process and I've yet to see the update myself.
The hardware is impressive and in many ways exceeded my expectations. The Kirin 950 opens apps quickly and the 4gb of what I believe to be DDR3 memory allows for multiple app usage without any trouble. DDR4 would be amazing, but it holds its own with what it has.
The GPU is only OK. It runs a bit hot when in 1080 mode, playing games like War Robots. 720 seems to cool it down a bit. No problems with older games like the GTA series, no problems with Real Racing 3 or the Riptide series.
Still, the 3d AnTuTu benchmarks combine for a score of about 20k, where as the OP3T is over 40k combined. Overall, my phone grabbed a 94,000. The overall for the OP3T is over 135,000. The difference in the score is due to the GPU and memory being slower than the OP3T's Adreno 530 and 6gb of DDR4. The Kirin 950 itself, holds its own against the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
The price point is all over the place in the US market. I picked mine up for $319.00, but I've seen them on shelves for $400.00 USD. At 300, it's not bad, but if you are going to hit the 400 mark, might as well go with the OP3T.
I have 2 weeks left to return mine, if I don't see the update by then, it will go back and I'll drop few extra for the OP3T. If I get the update and it feels smooth, I'll probably stick with it.
Would I recommend it? If you can get it for 300 USD or close to it, yes, it's a good phone for that price point. If you see it in your market and it is closer to 400, go for the OP3T. If you LOVE mods, regardless of price, go for the OP3T.
Note: The ZUK Z2 Pro is in the same price range, but I hear the software is awful and build quality questionable, that's why I didn't bring it up in comparison.
Note II: I've updated to B360 via Firmware Finder. So far the phone doesn't feel too much different, but there are changes. The UI is a bit cleaner, my benchmark went up by 6000 overall, but no change in GPU scores. The app drawer is laid out nicely, the notification bar looks better, the native sms message system is upgraded and more functional.
I have to stick with my original opinion. If you can get the phone for 300-ish USD, if you are OK with WYSIWYG, it's a solid, aesthetically beautiful device. If you are creeping into the 400.00 range, take a very serious look at the OP3T. Again, if you are a modder or love the bleeding edge, OP3T is your device.
PErsonally, I like it over the S7 Edge. Faster and smoother.
Handful of reasons the S7 Edge is the daily driver:
Larger screen
Better video and slightly better camera shots
Audio can be tweaked
Only major con is the ugly IOS skin on the Honor 8. Personally i like it a ton.
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately the OP3 and OP3T have no microSD-cardslot.
You have to consider this.
the Honor 8 has the following advantages.
- fairly fast (Arm Cortex A72 CPU's) and due to a FHD-screen the gfx-perfomance is even slightly faster than e.g. the galaxy S5.
--> so many (older) high-end games run quite good.
- great screen (wide gamut LCD screen)
- IR-blaster
--> and reviewers don't mention this but the Honor's IR-blaster is both output AND input, which means it can "learn" codes from other remotes while the e.g. Samsung's can't.
--> works also good with other IR-blaster apps too.
- microSD-slot
- price compared to known-brand flagships and mid-range devices (bar the oneplus models)
--> the standard Honor 8 (32GB) has a great price/performance-ratio IMHO and there's usually some sale somewhere
--> got mine with a free 64GB card so it was even greater value for money
- camera is good for the price
--> great quick shortcut (with volume-keys or fingerscanner-button)
- EMUI has some nice tricks with the fingerprint-scanner
--> e.g. there's a "safe" to store private files which can be locked/unlocked with fingerprint
- bootloader CAN be unlocked and is fairly easy to root.
--> Huawei themselves supply the unlock codes which is great, isn't it?
- beautifull design. It looks great and the camera is completely flush
- mirrorcast (to non-Samsung TV's) works fine without rooting and tampering with the build.prop
disadvantages.
- it is VERY slippery
- not as fast as particularly Oneplus 3 (and 3T) which cost the same
--> Honor 8 premium cost the same as OnePlus 3/T and has the same internal storage capacity
- some people prefer QHD
--> this doesn't bother me personally but it might be a dealbreaker for some
- no EQ on the standard music app or anywhere else on the device
--> so you need another music-player if you really want this or other audio-enhancements.
- Samsung's still have better camera's for low-light photography especially the S6 (IMHO the S6 is even better than the S7 in this respect)
- no DLNA so you'll need an optional app for this. Though screencast works fine.
--> I tried the old Skifta-app myself from qualcomm and it works great. Unfortunately you have to look hard to find this though asit isn't on Play anymore.
IMHO the Honor 8 is a great little device. Sufficiently powerful and it has most of important points covered.
As for me, the SD-card slot, IR-blaster and the better deal (with a free 64GB card) were the main reasons to go for the Honor8 instead for the OP3T
There's probably a lot more that I haven't covered but I have my device just 4 days so I'm not a "pro" just yet
So I hope this is helpful.
LaserChicken said:
The aesthetics are amazing and the performance is really decent. The software is mediocre, though it might be better with the Android & UI update--but that's been a slow process and I've yet to see the update myself.
The hardware is impressive and in many ways exceeded my expectations. The Kirin 950 opens apps quickly and the 4gb of what I believe to be DDR3 memory allows for multiple app usage without any trouble. DDR4 would be amazing, but it holds its own with what it has.
The GPU is only OK. It runs a bit hot when in 1080 mode, playing games like War Robots. 720 seems to cool it down a bit. No problems with older games like the GTA series, no problems with Real Racing 3 or the Riptide series.
Still, the 3d AnTuTu benchmarks combine for a score of about 20k, where as the OP3T is over 40k combined. Overall, my phone grabbed a 94,000. The overall for the OP3T is over 135,000. The difference in the score is due to the GPU and memory being slower than the OP3T's Adreno 530 and 6gb of DDR4. The Kirin 950 itself, holds its own against the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
The price point is all over the place in the US market. I picked mine up for $319.00, but I've seen them on shelves for $400.00 USD. At 300, it's not bad, but if you are going to hit the 400 mark, might as well go with the OP3T.
I have 2 weeks left to return mine, if I don't see the update by then, it will go back and I'll drop few extra for the OP3T. If I get the update and it feels smooth, I'll probably stick with it.
Would I recommend it? If you can get it for 300 USD or close to it, yes, it's a good phone for that price point. If you see it in your market and it is closer to 400, go for the OP3T. If you LOVE mods, regardless of price, go for the OP3T.
Note: The ZUK Z2 Pro is in the same price range, but I hear the software is awful and build quality questionable, that's why I didn't bring it up in comparison.
Note II: I've updated to B360 via Firmware Finder. So far the phone doesn't feel too much different, but there are changes. The UI is a bit cleaner, my benchmark went up by 6000 overall, but no change in GPU scores. The app drawer is laid out nicely, the notification bar looks better, the native sms message system is upgraded and more functional.
I have to stick with my original opinion. If you can get the phone for 300-ish USD, if you are OK with WYSIWYG, it's a solid, aesthetically beautiful device. If you are creeping into the 400.00 range, take a very serious look at the OP3T. Again, if you are a modder or love the bleeding edge, OP3T is your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the long and explained point of view it seems that only on the honor 8 forum people comment on stuff like this because it made a thread on the x perfromance forum still 0 comments . The OP3T is a great phone and comes for about 470 dollars . Over the past few days i've got the conclusion that im not getting the honor 8 because its priced at 420 ish dollars and for and for the same price i can get the xperia which has the SD820 with a 1080p screen so it will perform 23 MP camera will fine compared to my current 12 or i can get for 460 the Zte Axon 7 also with SD820 2k display and amazing audio and if i go even higher i can get the S7 for 490 . But im thinking on not going too far for the S7 because the Xperia and Axon offer the same performance just losing on camera and ips sertification if i got with the axon but it has one of the best if not the best speakers and headphone output.
I just got a used one off of Amazon for $235. Honestly, I think it's worth that price, but I would recommend waiting for MWC at the very least. I only pulled the trigger on it right now because the only other phones in the price range I had (about $200 - $300), were the upcoming MOTO G5 series. I have been using a Moto E 2015, but I felt that since the Honor 8 had higher specs, a better design, a better camera, etc. that it was worth it.
Additionally, I think Huawei promised 2 years of support and the phone just came out, so we will definitely see Android O at the very least (which is pretty great).
Hello folks,
time for phone upgrade for me. Trying to decide Mi A2 and Redmi Note 6 Pro that came out recently. I am leaning towards Mi A2 primarily due to Android One.
Many don't like MIUI interface. I have personally never used Xiaomi phones so far so have no idea if its good or bad. Android one because other than google's bloatware there should not be anything else. Plus, regular updates and hopefully no anti-rollback lock so the phone won't brick. (I am not too sure if this anti-rollback is by google or Xiaomi, haven't searched yet)
What is recommendation? Mi A2 or Redmi Note 6 Pro?
Thanks in advance.
be very very careful with the redmi note 6 pro. pick the global (official) version unless you want to be stuck on the china miui:
http://en.miui.com/thread-3831680-1-1.html
redmi note 6 pro
pros:
-bigger battery
-it will probably have better custom rom support (eventually - check the redmi note 5 pro info)
-should be cheaper compared to the a2 (if it costs you as much as the mi a2 you're being ripped off)
-dual selfie cameras if you're into that
cons:
-micro usb - we're in 2018 xiaomi... seriously?
-sightly lower clock on the cpu
-miui (you should be able to get a custom rom eventually)
-currently sells at the highest price you will find it (it will get cheaper)
-notch
-competition:
*redmi note 5 pro has almost the same hardware, already has good custom roms and sells for less.
*poco f1 is selling for a bit more but you do get better hardware. and custom roms ramping up already.
mi a2:
pros:
-better stock rom.
-better back camera
-slimer and lighter
-usb c
-sturdier build (case uses actual screws)
cons:
-if you intend to custom rom it, don't bother with android one. miui gets you better hardware for the money and in some cases custom roms (see lineage) can be a better choice. see appendix.
-price
-no headphone jack
-smaller battery
-competition:
*miui phones which cost less to get you the same/similar specs (and are the same xiaomi build quality)
*nokias with android one cost a bit more to get the same specs but nokia has even better build quality (sorry xiaomi but you dont build bricks like they do) and they're already updating to pie for their android ones. so maybe better support in the future too? who knows.
miui versus android one versus custom roms:
miui:
-has 2 versions: china (without google play because reasons) and just china + en languages, plenty of china targeted apps, even their own app store. and global (china miui - some bloatware + google play)
-ONLY these 2 miui versions will ever be OTA compatible.
-never ever get a phone with china miui (unless you're actually in china) - sometimes vendors will "customize" the china rom, add google play and a "bunch of other" stuff and sell that to you as official. DO NOT BUY THAT! (unless you intend to completely remove miui anyway)
-an official global miui is a must for daily use outside china... (do not consider a china only phone, you will regret it)
-there are semi-custom miui releases like xiaomi.eu and miuipro.com (in case your phone happens to not have an official miui global not all do - only the ones released outside china officially get a global rom!). they are not that bad, some say even better compared to miui global official - but you do need to unlock your bootloader (and some willingness to tinker with your phone os). and you lose things like: OTA and official support (as bad as it may be)
problems with miui are:
-miui support and updates are kinda slow.
-security patches are released but not very fast.
-it's based on personal preference, some like it compared to android standard, some find it snappier, some find it's slower.
-for the redmi series you get at most ONE official android update. (i.e. from nougat to oreo or oreo to pie). you get miui updates (and security patches), but never more then 1 android.
-bugs and serious problems sometime go unanswered while they add more and more features. (not always, not all bugs, but sometimes... en.miui.com for examples - read the forums on some of the phones released for a while)
if you're willing to learn and to have an unlocked bootloader phone (some people do not), miui can be completely wiped and you can get an proper custom rom (hell you can even build one yourself). these will be based on the aosp or caf source code, will look like android standard (sometime even better if you don't really want all the google apps - or google apps at all). if you want a rooted phone this is your best bet. most have even ota updates (on their own custom channels).
problem is .... as much as i like custom roms, they are built and maintained by volunteer devs working on their own free time. so it's always unknown and you have 0 guarantees that a phone that's supported now will continue to be supported next year. there's also no guarantee that any phone will be supported. (they're not looking to add to their workload)
and so in comes android one... it's got the stock android experience without requiring you to unlock, root, custom rom etc. it does mean google adds all their gapps but the stock experience is much better compared to stock miui. you get updates in time, you get a clean nice stock android. good luck, i hope this helps you make your decision.
laviniu_c said:
be very very careful with the redmi note 6 pro. pick the global (official) version unless you want to be stuck on the china miui:
http://en.miui.com/thread-3831680-1-1.html
redmi note 6 pro
pros:
-bigger battery
-it will probably have better custom rom support (eventually - check the redmi note 5 pro info)
-should be cheaper compared to the a2 (if it costs you as much as the mi a2 you're being ripped off)
-dual selfie cameras if you're into that
cons:
-micro usb - we're in 2018 xiaomi... seriously?
-sightly lower clock on the cpu
-miui (you should be able to get a custom rom eventually)
-currently sells at the highest price you will find it (it will get cheaper)
-notch
-competition:
*redmi note 5 pro has almost the same hardware, already has good custom roms and sells for less.
*poco f1 is selling for a bit more but you do get better hardware. and custom roms ramping up already.
mi a2:
pros:
-better stock rom.
-better back camera
-slimer and lighter
-usb c
-sturdier build (case uses actual screws)
cons:
-if you intend to custom rom it, don't bother with android one. miui gets you better hardware for the money and in some cases custom roms (see lineage) can be a better choice. see appendix.
-price
-no headphone jack
-smaller battery
-competition:
*miui phones which cost less to get you the same/similar specs (and are the same xiaomi build quality)
*nokias with android one cost a bit more to get the same specs but nokia has even better build quality (sorry xiaomi but you dont build bricks like they do) and they're already updating to pie for their android ones. so maybe better support in the future too? who knows.
miui versus android one versus custom roms:
miui:
-has 2 versions: china (without google play because reasons) and just china + en languages, plenty of china targeted apps, even their own app store. and global (china miui - some bloatware + google play)
-ONLY these 2 miui versions will ever be OTA compatible.
-never ever get a phone with china miui (unless you're actually in china) - sometimes vendors will "customize" the china rom, add google play and a "bunch of other" stuff and sell that to you as official. DO NOT BUY THAT! (unless you intend to completely remove miui anyway)
-an official global miui is a must for daily use outside china... (do not consider a china only phone, you will regret it)
-there are semi-custom miui releases like xiaomi.eu and miuipro.com (in case your phone happens to not have an official miui global not all do - only the ones released outside china officially get a global rom!). they are not that bad, some say even better compared to miui global official - but you do need to unlock your bootloader (and some willingness to tinker with your phone os). and you lose things like: OTA and official support (as bad as it may be)
problems with miui are:
-miui support and updates are kinda slow.
-security patches are released but not very fast.
-it's based on personal preference, some like it compared to android standard, some find it snappier, some find it's slower.
-for the redmi series you get at most ONE official android update. (i.e. from nougat to oreo or oreo to pie). you get miui updates (and security patches), but never more then 1 android.
-bugs and serious problems sometime go unanswered while they add more and more features. (not always, not all bugs, but sometimes... en.miui.com for examples - read the forums on some of the phones released for a while)
if you're willing to learn and to have an unlocked bootloader phone (some people do not), miui can be completely wiped and you can get an proper custom rom (hell you can even build one yourself). these will be based on the aosp or caf source code, will look like android standard (sometime even better if you don't really want all the google apps - or google apps at all). if you want a rooted phone this is your best bet. most have even ota updates (on their own custom channels).
problem is .... as much as i like custom roms, they are built and maintained by volunteer devs working on their own free time. so it's always unknown and you have 0 guarantees that a phone that's supported now will continue to be supported next year. there's also no guarantee that any phone will be supported. (they're not looking to add to their workload)
and so in comes android one... it's got the stock android experience without requiring you to unlock, root, custom rom etc. it does mean google adds all their gapps but the stock experience is much better compared to stock miui. you get updates in time, you get a clean nice stock android. good luck, i hope this helps you make your decision.
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Thank u I am actually looking at both these phones myself thank u for the breakdown I believe the 6 pro also has the 636 snapedragon chip supposed to be alot faster
rob420p said:
Thank u I am actually looking at both these phones myself thank u for the breakdown I believe the 6 pro also has the 636 snapedragon chip supposed to be alot faster
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well the 636 is a downclocked 660. same identical cpu, lower clock speeds for it and the gpu. (it's the same comparison like 626 vs 625)
laviniu_c said:
well the 636 is a downclocked 660. same identical cpu, lower clock speeds for it and the gpu. (it's the same comparison like 626 vs 625)
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Thank you so I'll get what ever I get a better deal on
rob420p said:
Thank you so I'll get what ever I get a better deal on
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I was in your shoes. I finally got Note 6 pro for 13K INR.
I felt MI A2 lacked battery and costed 3K extra.
sureshjonna said:
I was in your shoes. I finally got Note 6 pro for 13K INR.
I felt MI A2 lacked battery and costed 3K extra.
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I'm getting the Redmi 6 it doesn't say pro idk if it's the same thing lol
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sureshjonna said:
I was in your shoes. I finally got Note 6 pro for 13K INR.
I felt MI A2 lacked battery and costed 3K extra.
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IDK that donomination found it for 155$$
rob420p said:
I'm getting the Redmi 6 it doesn't say pro idk if it's the same thing lol
---------- Post added at 07:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:47 PM ----------
IDK that donomination found it for 155$$
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redmi 6 pro = mi a2 lite
redmi note 6 pro is not the same phone
The performance is very close compared with Mi A2 if you don't play games. You also get a more beautiful display and very good battery life. According to notebookcheck.net the display is like high-end smartphones
If you are buying for your mother, wife, girl friend, sister, father or in general any non technical or non gaming folks, then go for Note 6 Pro any day.
Note 6 Pro with older SD636 is good for mainly those who prefer picture, social, entertainment over gaming or customisation. MiUi is bad in our eye who are tech savvy but main advantage is longer and really agressive update cycle.
It keeps the device relatively clean & up to date for non technical people. MiUi in general is really battery friendly too.
Having both within family so giving you feedback based on typical family feedback and first hand use.
I don't know if you still interested confused between these two phones, earlier I was also in the same situation but that time I was considering to buy note 5pro as note 6pro was not launched, but when it launched on "single's day"(celebrated in China) at 12,999 with 5% extra discount with selected banks, that offer was great, while MIA2 was around 15-16k so I bought note 6 pro, right now note 6 pro is around 13,999 and MiA2 is also price at 14-15k so why not buy better process i.e sd660 which is better clocked, better camera, vulkan supported. Only downside of MIA2 I can think about is battery capacity, no headphones jack and hybrid sim try,
Bhanu_Chauhan said:
I don't know if you still interested confused between these two phones, earlier I was also in the same situation but that time I was considering to buy note 5pro as note 6pro was not launched, but when it launched on "single's day"(celebrated in China) at 12,999 with 5% extra discount with selected banks, that offer was great, while MIA2 was around 15-16k so I bought note 6 pro, right now note 6 pro is around 13,999 and MiA2 is also price at 14-15k so why not buy better process i.e sd660 which is better clocked, better camera, vulkan supported. Only downside of MIA2 I can think about is battery capacity, no headphones jack and hybrid sim try,
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the mi a2 4/64 has also the emmc bug which makes the phone terribly slow and the pie update is unusable
all that plus a battery that will last you 4hs is a big no for me
the differences are not that big, the note 6 pro is clearly a better product in comparison, plus it's cheaper