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Phablet Wars! Which phone do you like better? Galaxy Note 3 vs The rest. Check it out

First I will explain my story: I went from owning the SGS 1, then SGS 2 and then I bought a Droid DNA for something different, but someone stole it. Luckily a friend sold me an SGS 3 for very cheap. By the time I played around with the SGS 3, I realised why I was getting bored of Samsung to begin with. It's because of the screen. Yes it looks sharp and clear but the amoled screen was so fake and forced with saturation which my Droid DNA wasn't suffering from. Not to mention the SGS 3 seemed exactly the same as my SGS 2 only a different shape and size. It was quite frankly boring!
After my insurance company replaced my Droid DNA I could no longer use the SGS 3 because of these facts. I continued to use the Droid DNA for the following months and I can not fault it besides the screen being too small for me now, I have simply outgrown it. I have since sold all of my phones including the DNA to purchase a new phone. I automatically wanted the Note 3 because of the size and hardware and well known projected development but my main questions are:
Is the screen on the Galaxy Note 3 improved with life like colours in comparison to the SGS 3?
Is the camera going to be good enough without OIS?
If you want to know my other choices and reasons why I am considering them please look below. (Was going to include Sony Xperia Z Ultra but the camera has no flash and is only 8mp and the size form factor is too much for me)
My first choice (hoping the screen doesn't put me off)
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Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Pros:
Biggest screen in a small chassis in comparison to any other phablet
Stylus might come in handy but I have never used one before
Has the best internals out of the competition Snapdragon 800/Adreno 330
Development support is massive for Samsung!
Massive battery
4K recording on specific model I am interested in
More RAM
Cons:
Amoled screens have always seemed boring to look at to me and everything seems fake, almost like a cartoon. I need to use the GN3 in person before I can be sure. They might have made it better than the SGS 3? - This is the main reason I am concerned about - My Droid DNA felt so lifelike and easy to look at)
Camera has no OIS (and apparently the auto focus is slow according to some reviews)
My second choice
Acer Liquid S2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
6" display
Same internals as Note 3
Same battery capacity as Note 3
Highest contrast amongst my choices?
Better Front Camera than the other choices
LED Ring Flash (4 leds)
Cons:
Bigger than Note 3 and not sure if it is worth it for the size increase of the screen (TOUGH DECISION)
Has a slower clock speed at 2.2 instead of 2.3 in other Snapdragon 800 phones
If it is not a lot cheaper than it will make me lean towards the Note 3
Reflective screen might cancel out contrast levels outdoors
Not sure what development will be like?
My third choice (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
Oppo N1
Pros:
Rotating 6 lens camera with F/2.0 Aperture
First Cyanogen Mod Integrated Phone
Duel LED Flash
Biggest battery of all of my choices
Back of the phone has a touch panel which I bet will become very customisable
Aluminium
Some images make it look like the phone is waterproof?
Cons:
Phone might be tooooo big
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My third choice tied (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
HTC One Max ( Some specs might still be unconfirmed)
Pros:
Screen might appeal to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Larger screen
Camera has OIS and might be great. (The HTC One camera didn't impress me too much however)
External surround speakers
Development has really started picking back up with HTC
Cons:
Physical size must be big considering the speaker layout and camera
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
Another tied third choice (Price is so cheap it might make do)
LG Optimus G Pro (Was also looking at Note 2 but this trumps it in every way besides stylus/software which I am still unsure if I will use often enough and of course I prefer a non amoled screen)
Pros:
This phone is literally half the price as the note 3 costing me $450 vs $850 for the Note 3 (This phone might keep me going until a newer phone entices me and for half the price it is tempting)
Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Great sized screen
Big battery
Camera is better than average
The development is not tooooo bad
Cons:
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My fourth choice (most disappointing because screen is probably not going to be big enough!! but I love all of the other features. If this phone was 5.5" I would be getting it over anything else! I am so annoyed it has on screen keys and a smaller screen! - It's why I sold my Nexus 4 so quickly)
LG G2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Large battery for a small phone (not as good as the note 3 but the life should be close to the same as it has a smaller screen to power)
The phone is cheaper to buy outright by $200 dollars in my country in comparison to the note 3
Camera is outstanding - 4K record might be possible with firmware update - f/2.4 aperture and OIS has proven to take better images and video with the right settings in comparison to my other phone choices
Internals are the same as Note 3
Cons:
Screen is only a little step up in quality and size from my Droid DNA (especially if I choose to keep on screen keys active)
LG usually have little development support compared to Samsung
The button placement at the back makes the phone look weird and maybe awkward. I thought it was a camera lens cover when I first saw it
At the end of the day if the Note 3 didn't have an amoled screen and did have OIS I wouldn't be looking at other phones at all. Even if it just had a different screen it would probably lock me in to buying it. That goes the same for the LG G2 if it had a larger screen! To make a definitive decision, I need to use all of these phones in person but because I live in Australia, most of these phones aren't available to me. Makes it very hard to make a decision! I need to look at the Galaxy Note 3 screen and see if I can deal with the amoled, if I can I will buy it. It is released in Australia in 3 days for me to check out.
If I don't like the Note 3 screen, I will need to handle the Oppo, Acer and HTC One Max to see if I am comfortable with the size of them. If I am then I will buy whichever one I like better, the problem is these phone will probably not come to Australia anytime soon, if at all for me to test them so I can only go by user opinion!
If I am not completely happy with the Acer/HTC/Oppo size I will end up buying the LG Optimus G Pro for so much cheaper than the others and I will then look to replace it when I am happy with another phone even if the phone is lower spec, it has decent development and an upgraded screen size and quality over my DNA.
I also need to see the LG G2 in person to judge the screen size for myself, again the phone is not available in my country until November! and I will want to make a decision by then

Note 3 Ftw!
Sent from my SM-N900K using Tapatalk 2

Come on brotha, your posting in a Note 3 thread. That'd be like me going to a Republican rally and asking which is better: Republicans, Democrats, or the Green Party? lol

uppon2 said:
First I will explain my story: I went from owning the SGS 1, then SGS 2 and then I bought a Droid DNA for something different, but someone stole it. Luckily a friend sold me an SGS 3 for very cheap. By the time I played around with the SGS 3, I realised why I was getting bored of Samsung to begin with. It's because of the screen. Yes it looks sharp and clear but the amoled screen was so fake and forced with saturation which my Droid DNA wasn't suffering from. Not to mention the SGS 3 seemed exactly the same as my SGS 2 only a different shape and size. It was quite frankly boring!
After my insurance company replaced my Droid DNA I could no longer use the SGS 3 because of these facts. I continued to use the Droid DNA for the following months and I can not fault it besides the screen being too small for me now, I have simply outgrown it. I have since sold all of my phones including the DNA to purchase a new phone. I automatically wanted the Note 3 because of the size and hardware and well known projected development but my main questions are:
Is the screen on the Galaxy Note 3 improved with life like colours in comparison to the SGS 3?
Is the camera going to be good enough without OIS?
If you want to know my other choices and reasons why I am considering them please look below. (Was going to include Sony Xperia Z Ultra but the camera has no flash and is only 8mp and the size form factor is too much for me)
My first choice (hoping the screen doesn't put me off)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Pros:
Biggest screen in a small chassis in comparison to any other phablet
Stylus might come in handy but I have never used one before
Has the best internals out of the competition Snapdragon 800/Adreno 330
Development support is massive for Samsung!
Massive battery
4K recording on specific model I am interested in
More RAM
Cons:
Amoled screens have always seemed boring to look at to me and everything seems fake, almost like a cartoon. I need to use the GN3 in person before I can be sure. They might have made it better than the SGS 3? - This is the main reason I am concerned about - My Droid DNA felt so lifelike and easy to look at)
Camera has no OIS (and apparently the auto focus is slow according to some reviews)
My second choice
Acer Liquid S2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
6" display
Same internals as Note 3
Same battery capacity as Note 3
Highest contrast amongst my choices?
Better Front Camera than the other choices
LED Ring Flash (4 leds)
Cons:
Bigger than Note 3 and not sure if it is worth it for the size increase of the screen (TOUGH DECISION)
Has a slower clock speed at 2.2 instead of 2.3 in other Snapdragon 800 phones
If it is not a lot cheaper than it will make me lean towards the Note 3
Reflective screen might cancel out contrast levels outdoors
Not sure what development will be like?
My third choice (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
Oppo N1
Pros:
Rotating 6 lens camera with F/2.0 Aperture
First Cyanogen Mod Integrated Phone
Duel LED Flash
Biggest battery of all of my choices
Back of the phone has a touch panel which I bet will become very customisable
Aluminium
Some images make it look like the phone is waterproof?
Cons:
Phone might be tooooo big
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My third choice tied (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
HTC One Max ( Some specs might still be unconfirmed)
Pros:
Screen might appeal to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Larger screen
Camera has OIS and might be great. (The HTC One camera didn't impress me too much however)
External surround speakers
Development has really started picking back up with HTC
Cons:
Physical size must be big considering the speaker layout and camera
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
Another tied third choice (Price is so cheap it might make do)
LG Optimus G Pro (Was also looking at Note 2 but this trumps it in every way besides stylus/software which I am still unsure if I will use often enough and of course I prefer a non amoled screen)
Pros:
This phone is literally half the price as the note 3 costing me $450 vs $850 for the Note 3 (This phone might keep me going until a newer phone entices me and for half the price it is tempting)
Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Great sized screen
Big battery
Camera is better than average
The development is not tooooo bad
Cons:
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My fourth choice (most disappointing because screen is probably not going to be big enough!! but I love all of the other features. If this phone was 5.5" I would be getting it over anything else! I am so annoyed it has on screen keys and a smaller screen! - It's why I sold my Nexus 4 so quickly)
LG G2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Large battery for a small phone (not as good as the note 3 but the life should be close to the same as it has a smaller screen to power)
The phone is cheaper to buy outright by $200 dollars in my country in comparison to the note 3
Camera is outstanding - 4K record might be possible with firmware update - f/2.4 aperture and OIS has proven to take better images and video with the right settings in comparison to my other phone choices
Internals are the same as Note 3
Cons:
Screen is only a little step up in quality and size from my Droid DNA (especially if I choose to keep on screen keys active)
LG usually have little development support compared to Samsung
The button placement at the back makes the phone look weird and maybe awkward. I thought it was a camera lens cover when I first saw it
At the end of the day if the Note 3 didn't have an amoled screen and did have OIS I wouldn't be looking at other phones at all. Even if it just had a different screen it would probably lock me in to buying it. That goes the same for the LG G2 if it had a larger screen! To make a definitive decision, I need to use all of these phones in person but because I live in Australia, most of these phones aren't available to me. Makes it very hard to make a decision! I need to look at the Galaxy Note 3 screen and see if I can deal with the amoled, if I can I will buy it. It is released in Australia in 3 days for me to check out.
If I don't like the Note 3 screen, I will need to handle the Oppo, Acer and HTC One Max to see if I am comfortable with the size of them. If I am then I will buy whichever one I like better, the problem is these phone will probably not come to Australia anytime soon, if at all for me to test them so I can only go by user opinion!
If I am not completely happy with the Acer/HTC/Oppo size I will end up buying the LG Optimus G Pro for so much cheaper than the others and I will then look to replace it when I am happy with another phone even if the phone is lower spec, it has decent development and an upgraded screen size and quality over my DNA.
I also need to see the LG G2 in person to judge the screen size for myself, again the phone is not available in my country until November! and I will want to make a decision by then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, well at least you did your research I am a former amoled hater, I returned my galaxy nexus because of the crappy colors and green tint, so I understand your concerns. In seeing friends gs3 vs gs4 the screen is much improved and I find the colors more realistic, the colors on LCD being super saturated, and the blacks are miles better. I then played with a gnote2 for a few days before deciding if I wanted the 3 and the answer was a resounding yes, the screen was fantastic

Best way is like you said, to just wait until it reaches your country and you can see it in person. Amoled displays have vibrant over saturated colors, better viewing angles, better battery efficiency than LCDs, and better blacks. LCDs have better whites, better brightness and viewing eligibility under the sun, more realistic colors. See which benefits you like the most and get the phone with the corresponding screen.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I bought the Note 3 for its unparalleled stylus integration. (and screen size/beast-mode specs) It has no competition at this point in time (Although a few competitors are in the works).
FWIW, I think the Note 3's screen is gorgeous.

When you posted it here, you should have known the answer is skewed.
If Note 3 did not have so much restriction, it should have been my choice.

mingkee said:
When you posted it here, you should have known the answer is skewed.
If Note 3 did not have so much restriction, it should have been my choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not arguing, but what restriction?

Change the screen mode in settings to Natural and if it's still not to your liking try Movie. By default it's on Standard and can even be increased with Dynamic. Changing the saturation has been present in settings since the GS2, idk how people miss that one option that could end their complains. If that doesn't do it for you then the Galaxy line might not be for you.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

MohJee said:
Best way is like you said, to just wait until it reaches your country and you can see it in person. Amoled displays have vibrant over saturated colors, better viewing angles, better battery efficiency than LCDs, and better blacks. LCDs have better whites, better brightness and viewing eligibility under the sun, more realistic colors. See which benefits you like the most and get the phone with the corresponding screen.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't anybody use the movie mode or adobe rgb mode? Looks great in either mode. The galaxy series are on dynamic mode out of the box. Similar to how TV manufacturers and resellers put display TV's in this mode to stand out.

MohJee said:
Best way is like you said, to just wait until it reaches your country and you can see it in person. Amoled displays have vibrant over saturated colors, better viewing angles, better battery efficiency than LCDs, and better blacks. LCDs have better whites, better brightness and viewing eligibility under the sun, more realistic colors. See which benefits you like the most and get the phone with the corresponding screen.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is all personal taste, of course, but I find LCD screens more over saturated, and the sun viewing thing is overstated, while technically true, the reflections off the glass of all these screens makes it mostly mute. I've used my iPhone, iPad, friends galaxy devices, they all ultimately stink in direct sun

Thanks for the replies guys. I posted this here because amongst bias choices, people will still give me answers I want to hear. A lot of people buy the Note series for the stylus and software features alone, where these features are simply bonuses that I might use and not even close to the reason I want a large screen device!

If it wasn't for my need of the digitizer pen for documents there are a lot of strong contenders like LG G2 (especially the price <$200), Sony Z1, etc.

mi7chy said:
If it wasn't for my need of the stylus for documents there are a lot of strong contenders like LG G2 (especially the price <$200), Sony Z1, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my point exactly. People can usually see the benefit of a stylus and that might play a huge roll in choosing the device! As this is not my primary concern I would choose the Z1 if it had a larger screen or The LG G2 if it had solid AOSP support; I guess I could make do with hiding the soft keys

I think this thread is a bit premature at the moment as there's too many unknowns about some of the other devices, the Acer looks potentially interesting but whether it's going to be worth considering will depend a lot on the price and how well it works in practice.
John

I have yet to see a note 3 in the flesh but colour rendition in the s4 is better than in the s3 so it may be an indicator of what to expect.
Sent from my GT-N7100

vtjay said:
Not arguing, but what restriction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Knox (prevent rooting)
Regional SIM locking (this is a major issue for travelers)

Regional sim locking won't effect anyone. It's only meant to prevent people from purchasing phones out of their region.
sgh-TWEAKED-889©

It won't affect people who travel to other countries?

Warrior1975 said:
Regional sim locking won't effect anyone. It's only meant to prevent people from purchasing phones out of their region.
sgh-TWEAKED-889©
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Read the main thread...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

Hardware feature wishlist for Note 4

If you could get Samsung to listen to you, what "hardware" features would you ask that they include on the Note 4 that is currently missing from the Note 3?
THIS IS NOT A SOFTWARE THREAD. Nor a specs thread.
Don't make fun of someone elses wishlist. It's theirs, not yours.
My simple three wishes.
1) IR receiver so I can learn remote codes to my phone.
2) Dual MicroSD slot or single regular SD slot.
3) Onboard speaker at top & bottom of phone if it can be done without making bezel bigger. Stereo style.

Not to do the IP67 waterproofing as it's pants on the S5 (overheating, fiddly to connect stuff with the doors etc.) If you are precious about phones it will be in a ruggedised MIL spec case anyway like mine.
Go all out on the camera and nail low light as well, let's be king of low light as well.
4gb RAM for no reason other than overkill.
Go all out on processor so if we must have touchwiz then make it completely lagless.
IR transceiver.
Big ass loud speakers.
Don't add silly gimmicks like a pulse sensor where you have to be still to use it. Add an O2 saturation sensor if you want to be real clever (which will also have a pulse rate).
Touch ECG on the back would be clever (3 contacts on the back plate touching the skin would work and the tech's been there for 10 years+ now.

1. Don't do no flexible display or curved screen like the LG gay-flex looks horrendous.
2. 64gb internal memory at least as an option but I'm content with 32gb for now.
3. 3-4gb ram just cuz touch wiz uses too much ram.
4. Have at least the SD 805 chip (tho I'd prefer 810, knowing it's not gonna be available til next year). I'll probably hold off til the note 5 is released.
5. The note can do 6" screen but dunno if I need more than that for even a phablet device, still it's possible but I expect 5.9 maybe even 6.1.
6. Keep the plastic! I love my cheap feeling phone and so do all the jealous haters talking smack about it with their broken and dented "premium" phones lol
Sent from my SM-N900T using xda premium

1- keep faux leather love it
2- 4 gb ram
3- more storage space (SD & Internal)
4- Double LED flash
5- Snapdragon 805
6- more spen functionality
7- hopefully they wont add water resistance.

4Gb ram, bigger battery, better consistency on the AMOLED screens, good thermal dissipation

All of the above plus dedicated HDMI out (most likely micro connector).
Just make it the best phone by miles. it could be done and people are more than willing to pay for it.

I would like the Note 4 to be a little thinner when front facing, because it is quite big for me, and front facing stereo speakers just like the one on the HTC one M8, also dual sim, and 50% more battery compared to the Note3's battery.

I wish KNOX and all other development-blocking features/restrictions to be gone, which void our warranty.
EDIT: If KNOX really is related to hardware, then it fits here.

I would like an end to end screen no hardware button
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

It seems everything is wishing for FANCY stuff, So lets get back to the basics.
1.Bigger battery capacity or at least new technology like the one LG has been working on.
2.Higher quality control for their screens,I had a note 2 now bought 3 note 3 one for me two for friends all has screens with flaws.
3.More ram and a faster CPU will mean nothing if Touchwiz is not optimized, Touchwiz need to be tuned down and optimized.
4.Better optics,Resolution alone mean nothing,I heard great things about S4/Note 3 camera but both turned to be crap (personal opinion).
5.Higher quality material,I like plastic for its light weight and resistance to denting,But boy does Samsung use some cheap quality ones, Have a look at nokia or Oppo Samsung, That's how you make a high quality phone.
6.Give Knox to the versions you sell to corporates only,Don't lie and make us feel its not their mainly to stop us from rooting and still claim warranty.
I dont care for gimmicks or faster specs where my experience will still be far from perfect.

Dual speakers, bigger screen and battery. Better camera.
Sent from my SM-N900P using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Even though this wishlist is just for our own wishful thinking...
1. Metal unibody or rugged body
2. No waterproofing so I don't have to pull open that charger latch.
3. Fingerprint (duh!)
4. All unlocked bootloaders (duh!)
5. Wishful thinking but less Samsung bloat dammit!
6. Make the International Note 4 support ALL bands around the world.
7. Wow us with HARDWARE............ I can give up 90% of the software for better hardware.
This is how much I care for the software...
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xdm9mm said:
I would like the Note 4 to be a little thinner when front facing, because it is quite big for me, and front facing stereo speakers just like the one on the HTC one M8, also dual sim, and 50% more battery compared to the Note3's battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In addition to those, I wish Samsung would remove the unnecessary bloat or at least make them optional during the setup. I know this is a software issue though.
Make embedded Qi charger like on other devices so we don't have to buy the receivers. I am willing to pay extra for these features.
Also a truly worldwide LTE channels like that on the Sony xperia. I don't know why samsung has to make several devices just for LTE channels when they can make one device Support true worldwide channels.

There are realistic hopes and there are just dreams
Realistic hopes/predictions:
- fingerprint scanner
- better controller for eMMC / microSD (speeds up to 8 * Note3 are now possible but it is realistic to only expect at most 2x)
- some water/dust protection
- better speaker(s)?
- possibly 4k screen?
Longer-term stuff (but I will only upgrade from my Note 3 when some of those will materialize, likely in Note 5):
- 64-bit ARM v8
- 4 GB RAM, about twice the current bandwith
- I would also want a better GPS that would not depend so much on being Assisted
Just dreams:
- dual microSD with RAID 1 option
- camera with zoom and real image stabilization.

I'm taking the perspective of things that are easily possible and would go a long way.
1. Stereo speakers.
It boggles my mind a little that this is missing from any phablet. Would make a huge difference just to play a game and not have to hear the sound always coming from the left.... which is pretty annoying.
2. Make it look cooler by designing better plastic covers.
Metal is nice but I don't care if they use plastic; it has its advantages too. But for God's sake Samsung, stop designing such crappy looking covers. Make it plastic, but make it look good like umpteen other companies do. I bought a $5 replacement cover; looks much better.
3. OIS.
This is a bit more advanced but if the Note 4 doesn't have OIS, its camera is going to take a beating in reviews.
4. Keep 1080p
Don't increase the resolution. Apps don't use it, eyes can't see it. Don't waste the money on research, don't waste our money on more expensive devices, don't waste GPU performance on filling a 4K screen for nothing. Stick with 1080p and put the time and money saved into something else that's much cooler. Admittedly I'm sure they're well past that point in its development.
5. Keep the replaceable everything.
Battery, SD card, entire cover. These are all huge advantages to the Galaxy range, becoming harder to find elsewhere.
6. FM tuner and transmitter
I would like to have the real radio back, but I know they won't do it. But more importantly, I'd love to have a transmitter in my phone. My very first smart(super, super, superdumb) phone had this. It is cooler than having an IR blaster (which is pretty cool too) imo.
That's about it really. Not a lot sorely missing from the Note 3 except stereo speakers and OIS. Anything else I'd add is either boosted specs, or expensive new tech that has yet to find a footing in the market.
Like others, I'm not too fussed either way about waterproofing. Fingerprint scanning also has just as many cons as it does pros, so meh to that also.
If they're gonna add something fancy, add glasses-free 3D. It will have the power and the resolution for it.

4 GB RAM, we already have 3.
64 GB internal memory and the ability to move apps to SD
I don't understand the desire for dual Micro SD. We can already use the 128 GB.
Now dual SIM would be great for traveling.
Screen that I can use in bright sunlight.
Faster is always better in electronics, isn't it?
Less Touchwiz or the ability to delete stuff without root.
Doesn't need to be any bigger.
When I need bigger I use my Note 8 - where is the new one????
Dual speakers.
I think that's it.

Here's my five cents:
1. A brighter screen like in S5, but full hd resolution is enough I think, no need to race with LG in this.
2. Front stereo speakers like in HTC One and better sound quality with decent headset like in IPhone.
3. I hate curved phones or water resistance etc. since it means we have to sacrifice some good features like front speakers.
4. 4 GB ram with a stronger cpu & gpu and true support to developers for a quality AOSP or CM experience in our phones.
5. A more powerfull battery, I think companies should spend more money in this instead of fancy but useless stuff like heart sensor etc.
6. They should keep replaceable battery and removable sd storage and fight against Google in this; not everyone has to use cloud services for Google to earn money. We use sd cards and need to have the ability to access and use it as we want.
7. OIS and dual flash for camera.
8. I don't know how it's possible with stereo front speakers but hard buttons is a must. I hate losing some part of the screen when using the phone.
This is all for me
SM-N900 cihazımdan Tapatalk kullanılarak gönderildi

1. Replacable back cover and battery is more than perfect.
2. 1080p display is good for battery life. Bigger battery.
3. Same size as Note 3, but 5.9"- 6" display.
4. Selfhealing material (look at the LG G Flex).
5. I don't need Samsung's crap bloatware.
6. Back cover integrated wireless charging and wireless charger out of the box. If the Note 4 will cost 700 or more euro without contract, i need some accsesories for this price.
7. Latest CPU- GPU at the moment of release with 4Gb of RAM.
8. Minimum 32 storage memory with more than 26Gb available.
9. I don't need KNOX, curved display or water resistant.
Sent from my SM- N9005

1) Slim bezels on the sides and the top and bottom
2) Stereo-Loudspeakers like HTC Arrive and later copied by the HTC One (but much thinner)
3) A metal kickstand that acts as an antenna (stronger signal) and protects the camera lens from scratching like HTC HD7
4) No physical front buttons
5) A symmetrical phone (top and bottom) design

1. Slimmer bezels
2. Less weight
3. Touch home button, not a hard one
4. A cheaper version with exact same specs and looks but without the pen and digitizer

[Solved] Please help me choose between: G3/Z2/S5/M8 to replace S4.

I've had my SGS4 for over a year now.. and lets just say.. I'm not satisfied with it. I never really have been. I've supported Samsung from having the Galaxy S+ right now up to the S4. Samsung almost lost my support after the design and performance of the terrible S3, however after seeing and hearing of the improvements of the S4 I decided to give them one last chance. Lets just say that they blew that chance and now I want another phone.
In my country of Finland only these top phones are currently available (listed in absolutely no order of preference):
Sony Xperia Z2
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Pros:
Large Battery
3GB RAM
MicroSD
20.7MP Camera
Cons:
Non-removable battery
Slightly slower clocked Krait 400 CPU (2.3Ghz)
Camera quality lacks definitive sharpening (everything looks like paper)
GUI looks terrible
No MicroUSB 3.0
No Infra-red port
Samsung Galaxy S5
Pros:
Best quality camera and video by far, best sharpness and detail but is there an issue with some colours? (shown here)
MicroUSB 3.0
Dust & Water Resistant
2.5 GHz Krait 400
Undoubtedly the best contrast/quality screen in a smartphone
Large removable battery and supposedly good battery life
Infra-red port
Cons:
It's a Samsung phone... and I'm not keen on supporting them again after all the issues I've had with the S3 and S4
Plastic design again, and even uglier backplate this time
2GB RAM vs. 3GB RAM on the Sony Z2 and LG G3
Galaxy S5 Prime / Galaxy F around the corner?
TouchWiz sucks elephant pole
LG G3
Pros:
QHD 1440 x 2560 Display
Good visual look
3GB RAM with the 32GB version
GUI Looks pretty nice
2.5 GHz Krait 400
Large removable battery
Infra-red port
Cons:
Overkill with the Display size? Heat / Lag issues? / Battery life? / Not 'that' stunning?
It's still plastic even if it doesn't look like it
Camera and video quality isn't that amazing and tends to sport a lot of those typical 'squarey' textures in photos
It's reportedly bigger, borderline 'phablet' (tbh I think my Galaxy S4 is large enough)
LG's first attempt at trying to compete with the big boys... ergo. lack of experience in the field?
No MicroUSB 3.0
HTC One M8
Pros:
That awesome design look, by far the most appealing/premium feel
Stereo Speakers that are apparently good
Front facing 5MP camera over all the other's 2/2.1MP
Infra-red port
Cons:
Abysmal camera that is overexposed and etc in regular light, depth stuff doesn't make up for the lack of Megapixels even if low light shots are good. Also the video isn't remotely as good as the other phones
Slightly slower clocked Krait 400 CPU (2.3Ghz)
Smaller non-removable battery
No MicroUSB 3.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of them in Finland are priced around the same amount. €640 - €660. I have to get the phone on a plan and these are the only 4 that I am really considering. I am not interested in Apple phones at all. Terrible iOS, 8MP cameras and smaller non-full HD screens do not remotely interest me. Especially for the premium price tag and ease of smashing them if they drop. But lets not get started on that. In addition I am not interested with Lumia phones at all.
What I use my phone for mostly (in this oder):
Taking many pictures and videos and using the front camera for video & skype
Whatsapp and Viber
Music music and more music
Some small gaming
Maps and GPS use
Email and Web browsing
Youtube and other video stuff
Modding, and stuff I am not supposed to do. dSploit and etc.
My most important things (all of these are top-priority):
I have no interest on getting a proper DSLR/Point-and-shoot camera so I want my phone to have a good camera.
It needs to be lag free, I am paying a premium price
I want the colours and pictures to just jump out at me like WOW
I don't want the company/brand I buy it from trying to make things like modding/xposed/rooting etc. progressively harder for me
Connectivity. Good signal strength, no lags on 3G or 4G
That if it falls, it will not just smash/screen crack on the first mistake
What is not so important:
Battery life, unless it's got a non-removable battery (which I usually auto-hate) because I will just buy another spare battery (if I can)
Warranty options and Customer support (only in the sense of warranty and troubleshooting)
Stuff like fingerprint scanners and heartrate monitors, barometers etc. I don't really care about
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So guys any suggestions? It would help if you do own/have owned the phones I am talking about. I can only get these phones that I have listed so I am not interested in any others. Do you think there is a phone there that would fit the things that I am looking for? Or do you think that I should seriously wait for the Galaxy S 5 Prime / Galaxy F (or whatever it will be called) and then see what differences to the build design/material and hardware there are and make my decision then? Do you think the release will be close by, or are we looking at something like late September (maybe too far away for me).
Sorry for a long thread and hopefully this can help more than one person !
P.S. I've read many reviews and watched many videos on all of the phones listed but they do not constitute really in my opinion 'real world use' that is what I seem to get from XDA forum members. In that we all share the same experiences and problems which is why I am asking here.
Thanks again!
P.S. If a mod thinks that this is in the wrong section or that it should be merged with a larger thread then feel free to do so. I couldn't find really anything using the search option

For me, the short answer is that Sony Z2 is the overall best device (feature wise) of 4 of them.
Based on the facts and your needs:
- You should not choose G3 because it has a QHD display that you will not need. And believe it the screen brightness and quality doesnt look as good as S5 from user reviews.
- You should not choose S5 because its not that pretty and overrated
- You should not choose M8 because simply the only thing is better from other 3 is the astonish aluminium design
On the other hand i will agree on the cons of Sony Z2 you mention but i believe there are minor based on the other 3 devices and your needs. I also dont like the huge bezels in Z2 but this is something i can leave with it. Note that you will hold on your hand a device that is as huge as Lg G3 but is 5.2 inches instead of 5.5
Final words, there is no such a thing as best device. But based on what you wrote Z2 is the overall best for you since it has the greatest camera, very good design, performance and of course dont forget that is waterproof and dustproof device.

lakiscy said:
For me, the short answer is that Sony Z2 is the overall best device (feature wise) of 4 of them.
Based on the facts and your needs:
- You should not choose G3 because it has a QHD display that you will not need. And believe it the screen brightness and quality doesnt look as good as S5 from user reviews.
- You should not choose S5 because its not that pretty and overrated
- You should not choose M8 because simply the only thing is better from other 3 is the astonish aluminium design
On the other hand i will agree on the cons of Sony Z2 you mention but i believe there are minor based on the other 3 devices and your needs. I also dont like the huge bezels in Z2 but this is something i can leave with it. Note that you will hold on your hand a device that is as huge as Lg G3 but is 5.2 inches instead of 5.5
Final words, there is no such a thing as best device. But based on what you wrote Z2 is the overall best for you since it has the greatest camera, very good design, performance and of course dont forget that is waterproof and dustproof device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for such a detailed reply. The Z2 camera doesn't look as good as the S5, and I think that Sony has definitely just tried to push the Megapixel limits without really giving much thought to anything else. The ISO seems to be so much lower in all of the pictures, and all of the colours are very washed out. I could use software on the computer to add more colour to the pictures, but that's kind of time consuming and annoying. In addition to this a lot of people have said that the triluminous display is very flawed in that it glares so heavily in the light and that the screen is riddled with dead pixels and has inherent flaws that cause the screen to deteriorate after even a short time. The lack of removable battery is a let down too and the GUI is terrible and it definitely doesn't feel very comfortable in my hand, though it doesn't feel big either. These are the main reasons why I wasn't really considering it at all. And also why I think I have narrowed it down to just the S5 or the M8.
S5 for the best possible camera for pictures and videos.
I can still get a metal case to hide its ugliness.
Good battery life and power saving modes.
It does the best for what it is, camera is very refined, shooting modes are great and it's blisteringly fast if you get rid of TouchWiz.
It has by far the best screen of any smartphone.
MicroUSB 3.0
Removable battery
M8 for the fact that it looks and feels like a million dollars
It's not a Samdung phone
The Ultrapixel camera would come in handy for certain types of shots and indoor/low light pictures
Lack of removable battery means less messing around with external batteries (still I would prefer removable)
It's lightning fast, charges quickly and the UI looks amazing (but I'd probably still use Themer)
Could be nice to just finally change brands after the long haul of Samsung phones
This is why I lean more to the S5 even though I am really, really put off by Samsung these days.
Otherwise I really, seriously appreciate you taking the time to suggest the Z2. Especially as your first post on the forums.
Thanks so much

leijonasisu said:
Thanks for such a detailed reply. The Z2 camera doesn't look as good as the S5, and I think that Sony has definitely just tried to push the Megapixel limits without really giving much thought to anything else. The ISO seems to be so much lower in all of the pictures, and all of the colours are very washed out. I could use software on the computer to add more colour to the pictures, but that's kind of time consuming and annoying. In addition to this a lot of people have said that the triluminous display is very flawed in that it glares so heavily in the light and that the screen is riddled with dead pixels and has inherent flaws that cause the screen to deteriorate after even a short time. The lack of removable battery is a let down too and the GUI is terrible and it definitely doesn't feel very comfortable in my hand, though it doesn't feel big either. These are the main reasons why I wasn't really considering it at all. And also why I think I have narrowed it down to just the S5 or the M8.
S5 for the best possible camera for pictures and videos.
I can still get a metal case to hide its ugliness.
Good battery life and power saving modes.
It does the best for what it is, camera is very refined, shooting modes are great and it's blisteringly fast if you get rid of TouchWiz.
It has by far the best screen of any smartphone.
MicroUSB 3.0
Removable battery
M8 for the fact that it looks and feels like a million dollars
It's not a Samdung phone
The Ultrapixel camera would come in handy for certain types of shots and indoor/low light pictures
Lack of removable battery means less messing around with external batteries (still I would prefer removable)
It's lightning fast, charges quickly and the UI looks amazing (but I'd probably still use Themer)
Could be nice to just finally change brands after the long haul of Samsung phones
This is why I lean more to the S5 even though I am really, really put off by Samsung these days.
Otherwise I really, seriously appreciate you taking the time to suggest the Z2. Especially as your first post on the forums.
Thanks so much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, It is my first post because i was searching the same thing on the web and came to your post lol.
It seems that you have already make up your decision and you just need confirmation for it
I dont want to debate on Z2 but most of your points might be special cases but mainly they are all wrong.
While you have narrow your results to S5 and M8 i would just say if you are going to use a case on your phone then just get the S5

[Solved]
I don't think the issues with the Z2 are special cases. Yeah it might have 3GB of RAM. But it also has no Infra-red device. Read the XDA forums, a lot of people have returned 3 devices in a row for dead pixels and other screen issues. Triluminos doesn't hold a candle to AMOLED anyway. The camera really isn't all that special at all. It might take the biggest pictures, that look really nice zoomed out but the colours are so, so so washed out compared to other phones. It's a fact. Also it feels uncomfortable in my hands, I can't remove the battery. The GUI really actually IS BAD.
In terms of the camera quality. Check this page:
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6144&idPhone2=6033&idPhone3=6294
Then move to the 'colour poster' and look at the difference. The camera has such a low level of sharpness and finite detail to things like hairs and leaves. Namely edges really don't show up at all, it makes the whole picture look like there's absolutely 0 depth what so ever. It looks like a paper print out. That isn't to say that it is a bad camera. It's just not as good as the S5. Images on the Z2 might look a lot more smooth but they are also a lot more washed out in terms of colour.
I really don't like the idea of the S5 at all and I don't want to really support Samsung but I am not paying a premium for a phone that I feel doesn't match the money that I am spending on it, just because I have personal issues with the brand, I'm just speaking on facts in this case. :/
Thanks though, I really appreciate it and I am happy that you seem to have found what phone you want.
EDIT: I got the S5 and I have never been happier, it's improved on every aspect of the S4 that I hated. Just wish it had more RAM.

Dude hi im really happy for you getting the S5. I also decided not to buy Z2 and got G2 because i couldnt resist on the low price of it (270 EUR).
Wish you the best

leijonasisu said:
I don't think the issues with the Z2 are special cases. Yeah it might have 3GB of RAM. But it also has no Infra-red device. Read the XDA forums, a lot of people have returned 3 devices in a row for dead pixels and other screen issues. Triluminos doesn't hold a candle to AMOLED anyway. The camera really isn't all that special at all. It might take the biggest pictures, that look really nice zoomed out but the colours are so, so so washed out compared to other phones. It's a fact. Also it feels uncomfortable in my hands, I can't remove the battery. The GUI really actually IS BAD.
In terms of the camera quality. Check this page:
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6144&idPhone2=6033&idPhone3=6294
Then move to the 'colour poster' and look at the difference. The camera has such a low level of sharpness and finite detail to things like hairs and leaves. Namely edges really don't show up at all, it makes the whole picture look like there's absolutely 0 depth what so ever. It looks like a paper print out. That isn't to say that it is a bad camera. It's just not as good as the S5. Images on the Z2 might look a lot more smooth but they are also a lot more washed out in terms of colour.
I really don't like the idea of the S5 at all and I don't want to really support Samsung but I am not paying a premium for a phone that I feel doesn't match the money that I am spending on it, just because I have personal issues with the brand, I'm just speaking on facts in this case. :/
Thanks though, I really appreciate it and I am happy that you seem to have found what phone you want.
EDIT: I got the S5 and I have never been happier, it's improved on every aspect of the S4 that I hated. Just wish it had more RAM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know every time I see someone bashing the z2's camera it always turns out that they get their info from gsmarena. No wonder you've always gone with Samsung. They're notorious Sammy promoters. There are a lot of other techblogs, pocketnow, CNET, android authority, the verge, etc that all preferred the z2's camera.
For as long as you keep relying on gsmarena, you'll always stick to Samsung
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

Hehehe you're hacker
You should go for HTC M8 !
2,3 Ghz is enough for a CPU
Sent from my beastly SM-T320

VIVO PD1305 - News & Updates

I think I might be in love: http://www.phonearena.com/news/VIVO...ay-3500-mAh-battery-and-an-OIS-camera_id62550
If you are looking for cutting edge specifications, look no further than Chinese hardware manufacturers. They pump out premium devices better than any other region. Most recently leaked PD1305 from VIVO is lining up to be an absolute beast. Here is a rundown of the leaked specs sheet I gathered from different sources:
6-inch IPS display with 2560×1440 resolution and 490ppi
5.68mm (0.22") thin
162g (5.71 ounces) weight
Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot that goes up to 128GB
13MP rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and dual-LED flash, 8MP front camera with 88-degree wide view lens
Dedicated ES9018 and OPA2604 audio chips
Heart rate monitor and a fingerprint trace the source function
3500mAh battery
Android 4.4.4 KitKat covered by Vivo’s Funtouch 2.0 software
Lets use this thread for posting any new info you may find about this device.
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What are the chances it gets an AOSP rom?

bengadget said:
What are the chances it gets an AOSP rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's not put the carriage before the horse, lol. It's not even released yet - this is just a leaked specs sheet. Final device might be different and we don't even know what markets VIVO will release it to, and you're talking about specific firmware

I've just been reading up on this device too.
What I can't understand is why Google (or any other manufacturer for that matter) DON'T release a phone with the same (or higher) specs. Google is a giant, so is Samsung. They sell more phones and have more reach than Vivo, so why can't there latest devices match Vivo?
In my opinion this new phone should have been the Nexus 6 - well, the Nexus 6 should have had those specs. Super thin. Bigger battery. Much bigger front camera with flash and much wider rear camera (with higher MP). FP scanner. Dedicated audio chipsets. This should've been the Nexus 6, so why wasn't it? Google could have kept the exact same price but actually given us premium specs, not the sub-par specs on the Nexus 6 (yes I said it, the N6 specs are not premium if phones like this Vivo exist/are about to enter the market).
I would buy this Vivo in a heartbeat if I can confirm these things:
- Does it have buttons on the screen? I hate that - I love how Nexus phones have zero buttons on the face of the device.
- Can I install Vanilla android and make this phone function as a vanilla phone - aka Nexus?
- Is the screen used on this phone actually any good. Sure, QHD sounds great but the quality of the screen needs to be comparable to the Note 4/iPhone 6+ to make me consider it.
- Are the cameras of top quality? On paper they READ fantastic, but how do they really perform?
If these four questions get solid answers then this phone would be perfect for me and I'm sure that if this phone was released with vanilla android running, it would knock the Nexus and Galaxy phones out of the park. Not to mention that it is about $300 AUD cheaper than the Nexus 6. A no brainer. Great specs and value.

Specs are great the only thing the article doesnt mention is LTE support in north America?
Without that its a paper weight despite the fact that everything else is amazing.
This is the big issue with alot of chinese phones...lack of LTE support although that does appear to be changing.
sent from Canada my Note 4, 3, 2 or One X+

force70 said:
Specs are great the only thing the article doesnt mention is LTE support in north America?
Without that its a paper weight despite the fact that everything else is amazing.
This is the big issue with alot of chinese phones...lack of LTE support although that does appear to be changing.
sent from Canada my Note 4, 3, 2 or One X+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should have LTE support as I've read a few things which claim that it will. As long as it supports 700MHZ '4GX' (Telstra) then that would be fantastic.
Also hope the device doesnt look like the picture in the first post.

force70 said:
Specs are great the only thing the article doesnt mention is LTE support in north America?
Without that its a paper weight despite the fact that everything else is amazing.
This is the big issue with alot of chinese phones...lack of LTE support although that does appear to be changing.
sent from Canada my Note 4, 3, 2 or One X+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your question is purely a software issue. This device has Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 in it and Qualcomm's chips started supporting worldwide LTE since Snapdragon 801 - all 41 LTE bands. What bands are enabled in the firmware to use is purely a software question, and there is plenty of devs and dev teams like Cyanogen, who can enable additional LTE bands and write their own drivers, since KitKat sources are available.

spartanm99 said:
IWhat I can't understand is why Google (or any other manufacturer for that matter) DON'T release a phone with the same (or higher) specs. Google is a giant, so is Samsung. They sell more phones and have more reach than Vivo, so why can't there latest devices match Vivo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all part of the plan. Giants like Samsung already have the technology for stuff like the GS6, Note 5, etc. They're not "working on it", it's all ready to go. Component manufacturers like Qualcomm have their next (and next) gen stuff ready too. They're just sitting on it. Apple is the worst with this. I'm not saying this to start a flame war, I'm just talking facts.
Why just sit on it?
To leave you hungry for the next thing. Take Apple for example. When the iPhone 4S came out, Verizon and AT&T were rolling out LTE. What did the iPhone 4S have? HSPA 14.4Mb/s. Faster than the 7.2Mb/s that the iPhone 4 had, sure, but it wasn't LTE. It wasn't until the iPhone 5 came out that they had LTE. Why? So they can say that the iPhone 5 is faster than the 4 and 4S. Why did they sit on LTE? To sell more iPhones. Another example is the iPad Mini. The first Mini had a low res screen with a pitiful 162ppi. Half a year after the iPad 3 came out with a "retina" display. It wasn't until a year later the Mini 2 had a display that was decent. Why sit on the tech? To make people who like their iPad Mini to want to buy an iPad Mini 2.
Giants like Samsung and Apple can continue this strategy because it works for them, and it works for them because they have an established customer base, and an established potential customer base. Often I've heard people say that they're sick of their current phone, and they want to get the new Galaxy S whatever, or that they never switched from Samsung. And Apple fans are pretty dang loyal. Other companies have to pull out all the stops in order to compete. Samsung and Apple don't have to, because people are going to buy their phones anyway.

Planterz said:
It's all part of the plan. Giants like Samsung already have the technology for stuff like the GS6, Note 5, etc. They're not "working on it", it's all ready to go. Component manufacturers like Qualcomm have their next (and next) gen stuff ready too. They're just sitting on it. Apple is the worst with this. I'm not saying this to start a flame war, I'm just talking facts.
Why just sit on it?
To leave you hungry for the next thing. Take Apple for example. When the iPhone 4S came out, Verizon and AT&T were rolling out LTE. What did the iPhone 4S have? HSPA 14.4Mb/s. Faster than the 7.2Mb/s that the iPhone 4 had, sure, but it wasn't LTE. It wasn't until the iPhone 5 came out that they had LTE. Why? So they can say that the iPhone 5 is faster than the 4 and 4S. Why did they sit on LTE? To sell more iPhones. Another example is the iPad Mini. The first Mini had a low res screen with a pitiful 162ppi. Half a year after the iPad 3 came out with a "retina" display. It wasn't until a year later the Mini 2 had a display that was decent. Why sit on the tech? To make people who like their iPad Mini to want to buy an iPad Mini 2.
Giants like Samsung and Apple can continue this strategy because it works for them, and it works for them because they have an established customer base, and an established potential customer base. Often I've heard people say that they're sick of their current phone, and they want to get the new Galaxy S whatever, or that they never switched from Samsung. And Apple fans are pretty dang loyal. Other companies have to pull out all the stops in order to compete. Samsung and Apple don't have to, because people are going to buy their phones anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this answer; I feel like I already knew it but was in a bit of denial about it. These Chinese phones have amazing specs. If they release it as I said above without capacitive buttons on the front of the device, I will buy it and do everything I can to install vanilla Android to turn it into a 'nexus' phone.
I guess my little voice wont change much in the grand scheme of things but it is terrible that we have to pay (in my case) $960+ for a Nexus 6 with worse specifications than this Chinese phone which will cost me (delivered) about $450 to $510. Anyone that calls Apple/Samsung/Nexus etc phones 'top-of-the-line' must be kidding themselves; anyone that says they are good value is joking in my opinion.
For the record the Galaxy S6 will probably still have a worse front facing camera, speakers and be thicker than this upcoming Vivo smartphone. Sad, but probably true. Such is the Western world in which we live.

Some actual pictures of the phone leaked today

That looks awesome, if it's real and I can get one in the UK somehow, I will deffinitely get one over the Note 4!
The rendered one looks impossible to make a phone that slim (and is different to the one in the other photo). Found some more actual pictures of what may or may not be the Xplay 5S on GSMArena but can't post because I am a new user.

Your pictures dont show front facing buttons and look super thin.
The real world leaked pictures look much thicker (still thin, though) with front facing buttons.
I will get this if it doesn't have front facing buttons and all the specs line up.
You can see the pictures I'm talking about here: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Vivos-future-powerhouse--the-Xplay-5S--poses-for-the-camera_id62679
According to this site and some others, the phone will use the Snapdragon 810 processor.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/vivo-xplay-5-could-be-first-snapdragon-810-powered-device
I need to see this phone before I believe it but as I said above - no front facing buttons & all the specs line up, I will get it and find a way for someone to install stock android on it.

Read on another blog the phone will have sapphire screen and will have better build quality than Oppo phones
http://chinandroidphone.com/vivo-xplay-next-premiere-fuite/

[REVIEW] uleFone Be Touch: 5,5" IPS, 4G, 64bits octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM, fingerprint

[REVIEW] uleFone Be Touch: 5,5" IPS, 4G, 64bits octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM, fingerprint
uleFone is one of new Chinese brands making good things lately. And in the same way some players are doing, they also wanted to present something interesting before the summer period.
But they want to be like "the others", so they have come with an amazing smartphone which they have presented as their flagship device for the season: the uleFone Be Touch
Something very interesting, since this brand is very young. They’ve worked designing and making parts for other brands during years, but it wasn’t until 2014 they moved to manufacture their own smartphones.
When I opened the box my first though was about that size "It's huge!". But then, I started it and as Megan Trainor sings... "It's all about that bass"
Only that smartphone is not fat at all, it's very thin and light. It's even thinner than other thin devices like the Siswoo Cooper i7 I reviewed some weeks ago.
But let's go step by step.
Design and package
The box is quite standard, white, same shape that we can typically find for the iPhones or Samsung devices, for example. With a sticker showing some info and then most of the specifications on the bottom part.
Once opened, we can see the amazing Be Touch with its huge screen inside a soft bag and on the lower level, we have all the rest which is USB cable, charger (attention 1.5A! more than common units), headphones and quick start guide in English and other European languages... it's not something very necessary (we all know how to start the phone and take a picture) but it's really the first time I see it. And not one single item in Chinese. Sincerely that feels like more quality.
I live you that video with those impressions and something more:
Summarizing, on the front we have the 5,5" screen. On the top, frontal camera for selfies...with flash!!, light and proximity sensor. And on the bottom we have the navigation buttons: menu, back and home... which integrates a great surprise in form of fingerprint reader. Of all that I will talk more in detail.
On the left side we will find the lock/power and the volume buttons.
Going to the bottom side, just the micro and speaker (very iPhone-like). We have the holes for micro USB and jack exit on the top side, and nothing at all on the right side.
If we flip the phone, on the rear part we will see the main camera (using the Sony IMX214 4th gen sensor) with dual led flash and on the middle the uleFone logo.
All that within very tight dimensions of 158.1x77.4x8.6mm and another advantage is that it fits very well on the hand. It’s true that it’s big, but it doesn’t slip.
Hardware specifications
When you put the mark "flagship" over a product, you really want to mean that device is your top-range. Especially when you are a new player on the field and you want to set up what is your quality level and left aside your “Chinese stamp mark”. The Be Touch is much more than 64 bit octa-core processor and 3GB of RAM…So here it is what hides inside this thin beast.
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Model uleFone Be Touch
Color Metal Grey / Silk White
Dimensions 158.1 x 77.4 x 8.60
Weight 160g
Operating system Pre-install Android 5.0 Lollipop
Touch ID Front Fingerprint Scanner, Unlock in 0.1-0.5s
CPU 64Bit MTK MT6752 processor Octa core 1.7GHz CPU
GPU Mali T760 MP2/7000MHz GPU
RAM 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
ROM 16G
Battery 2550mAH
Charger Quick charger 1.5A ooutput
Display 5.5 inches, HD 1280*720pixels, IPS OGS (NEW 2.5D Arc screen) with Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3
Cameras 13MP 4th generation camera Sony IMX214 (main) and 5.0MP (OV5648) for the Front camera
Video 1080P, 2K, 4K
Network GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 (band5,band8,band3,band2) ; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100 (band5,band8,band2,band1) ; FDD-LTE: 800/1800/2100/2600(band20,band3,band1,band7)
SIM Dual sim dual standby, Micro SIM and Standard SIM
WiFi WiFi802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Support dual-band Wi-Fi(2.4GHz/5GHz)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0
Positioning GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Digital Compass
Hall Effect Sensor, Gravity Sensor,
Ambient Light Sensor,
Touch Sensor, Digital Compass
Regarding the connectivity, needless to say it fully covers all our needs. The WiFi connects and transfers very fast, probably the improvements from Lollipop help, because I haven’t had any troubles of losing signal (as it happened with other devices). I have tried the BT with headphones (Digicare DO) and also with a BT keyboard, working both very well, quick pairing.
The SIM (standard and micro sizes) are located just next to the microSD slot, so sincerely a little bit hard to introduce the card, but once done, the networks are fast detected and connected, so I could use 3G/4G and also make calls very successfully. The voice is very clear and with enough volume.
Display
This is one of the most attracting points of this device. Its 5,5” IPS OGS screen with Corning Gorilla Glass of 3rd generation offers a resolution of 1280x720ppp. I can say that up to the date it’s the best display I’ve seen on a not first brand phone. The quality of the colors and the bright is amazing.
It comes with the dynamic control (adaptive brightness), so it automatically adapts to the lighting conditions to increase or reduce the bright level, making perfectly viewable even under sunshine.
Following the last trends, it also have the “Off-Screen Gesture” function, each time more common and sincerely very useful, since we can program several applications or functions to start without having to unlock the phone: camera, radio, calendar,.. any of the installed apps can be started by drawing a pattern on the locked screen.
Camera
We arrive to one of the most critical points of each review, since normally the manufacturers include camera sensors with a high number of megapixels but not offering the expected quality. uleFone advised they wanted to make the difference and present a great device, so they equipped the Be Touch with a main camera of 13Mpx with a Sony IMX214 4th generation sensor. Apparently this should be a warranty, but we’ve seen many other phones with good lenses giving poor results.
Fortunately this is not (so much) the case with the Be Touch. Until now this is the best (Chinese) one on the quality of pictures and videos. There is still the point to improve when there are poor light conditions. But I repeat the quality even though is much better than with other smartphones.
Here below some examples:
Another surprise comes with the front camera, the chosen sensor is OV5648 from Omni Vision, a high-performance, low-cost 5-megapixel CameraChip sensor for smartphones and tablets, which uses the latest 1.4-µm OmniBSI+ pixel architecture. But what surprised me was to find a led flash next to this camera. No questions about the selfies fever we’re immersed on, so the flash is doubtless a way to increase the quality of our portraits.
Regarding the videos, you can see this FullHD sample recorded outdoors, and even using zoom the quality is really good.
Software
This model comes directly with Android 5.0 Lollipop, so very good news since we have the almost last version of Android since the beginning, with all the improvements already mentioned on different articles like the better battery consumption, more secure environment since first boot, RAM management, WiFi connectivity issues solved, OK Google,…
By the other hand, need to say, that no Chinese stuff (apps) were installed on the phone, very clear Android [Símbolo] Only an icon called “ulefone” which brings us to the manufacturer website.
Another of the key points on the Be Touch is the fingerprint scanner, integrated on the “Home” button. It works really fast (some people say it’s even faster than the TouchID on the iPhone 6), and the way it register new fingers is different from other sensors where we had to slide our fingers. On this case we just have to put the desired finger repeatedly on the sensor until we have the full print marked on red on the screen. Meaning it has been fully recorded.
My suggestion is to place the finger on different positions, so it catches it from different angles and completes the task faster. We can register up to 5 fingers, which is a significant improvement against other devices allowing only 3 prints.
Due to the size of its screen and its powerful hardware, the Be Touch is perfect for entertainment. I installed Kodi (formerly known as XBMC), so I can play FullHD movies and TV shows directly from my NAS over the LAN, without any lags, smoothly and with very high quality of image and sound.
Normally I just try some games like Asphalt or Fifa (no need to say they go like lightning), however, bearing in mind the fingerprint sensor I decided to install my company’s software and use it as mobile office.
Yes, the BYOD is a real trend all around us I installed MaaS360, and configured mail, agenda and other tools. Once again it’s not only the speed of everything I try, jumping quickly from one task to another, but also the size of the screen makes this device very comfortable to read emails, see (and edit) Office documents, use CRM tools… really comfortable, especially when I compared to y iPhone 5’s tiny screen.
Autonomy
As stated above on the specifications table, the Be Touch is equipped with a removable battery of 2.550mAh, more than enough for a full day with average use: calls, wifi browsing, emails, whatsapp, pictures, social networking, Office documents editing… and all that thinking that the use of corporate tools and apps consume more battery.
Conclusions
A couple of months ago I saw the announcement of the Xiaomi MiNote and I really liked it. I though it was a real alternative to first brands smartphones with quality enough and a restrained price. I sincerely didn’t know so much about uleFone yet, and others brand had showed important improvements but still not at a comparable level to first brands.
I’m not meaning that the Be Touch has the same quality of the last Samsung Galaxy S6, but honestly it’s getting close. uleFone should still improve the management of taking pictures with dark conditions and polish some other minor details.
When I opened the box, I presumed that phone was very powerful but maybe too big for a daily use and still had to test the camera results, I take pictures every day. After using it, I can say that it’s a very comfortable device, not heavy at all (just 160gr) and since it’s very thin, it fits very well on the pocket.
I completely recommend it if you are looking for a new smartphone with a lot of possibilities and for a moderated price, around 205€ with Etotalk.com
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button

Just to complete the info from the review above, here some pictures putting the Be Touch (in black) together with an iPhone 6 (white)

Couple of questions.
1. How about the audio quality, through speaker, through headphone?
2. How much heat is generated by the phone when watching youtube or when playing games?
And Lastly, Can you upload some full size images? Thanks for a great review.:good:

Hi, answering your questions:
The sound is very good in both cases. For example, with the Elephone P3000S I clearly notice a lack of volume that I don't appreciate here, I mean watching movies, listening music,... more than enough. In addition the speaker is on the side, not in the bottom, so it always deliver at maximum
Regarding the temperature. After a couple of hours watching Gotham (I finished the 1st season recently hehe) chapters on the Be Touch, it was just a little hot, but for example the iPhone5 gets much much hotter when using 3G for long.
About the pictures... I have published the same review in here -> http://dabarsocialmarketing.blogspot.ie/2015/05/ulefone-be-touch-simply-amazing-with-64.html
I hope the pictures are bigger in size at least if you download them. I can tell you the quality is really good. Some friends viewed those pictures and asked me if they were the samples included on the phone or real pictures taken by me... that's why I take one of my dog (the same that appears on the video sample).
Until now it's from far, the best chinese phone I've used.
Cheers
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button

mdabar said:
Hi, answering your questions:
The sound is very good in both cases. For example, with the Elephone P3000S I clearly notice a lack of volume that I don't appreciate here, I mean watching movies, listening music,... more than enough. In addition the speaker is on the side, not in the bottom, so it always deliver at maximum
Regarding the temperature. After a couple of hours watching Gotham (I finished the 1st season recently hehe) chapters on the Be Touch, it was just a little hot, but for example the iPhone5 gets much much hotter when using 3G for long.
About the pictures... I have published the same review in here -> http://dabarsocialmarketing.blogspot.ie/2015/05/ulefone-be-touch-simply-amazing-with-64.html
I hope the pictures are bigger in size at least if you download them. I can tell you the quality is really good. Some friends viewed those pictures and asked me if they were the samples included on the phone or real pictures taken by me... that's why I take one of my dog (the same that appears on the video sample).
Until now it's from far, the best chinese phone I've used.
Cheers
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again. But I think those captured pictures are softer in the edges, sharper in the center. May be a software prob.

What is the data rate of video files? (In different resolutions)
My question is actually what kind of sd card to buy for that phone?
Doesn't it make sense to go for the expensive ones with higher speeds or 10mb/s is enough?

drkbg said:
What is the data rate of video files? (In different resolutions)
My question is actually what kind of sd card to buy for that phone?
Doesn't it make sense to go for the expensive ones with higher speeds or 10mb/s is enough?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, bearing in mind that it records video on FullHD, I wouldn't take a slow card. Personally I always take class 10 at least. If you can take a UHS class it will be better. Think that it's not only the video recording, at least I use to put a lot of stuff on the SD, so accessing apps, taking pictures, games, videos,... everything falls on the SD card, so the fastest the better.
For me, the class 10 is working well.
PS: If you like this post, I'll appreciate if you click on the "Thanks!" button

Has anyone tried 128GB sdcard?

drkbg said:
Has anyone tried 128GB sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahaha I'd really like, but they are soooo expensive
Tell us if you have the chance!
cheers

67EUR is not that much... ok compared to 23EUR for 64GB is a little bit more per GB but still this phone did cost me 180...

Hey dude. thanks for sharing that.

r_kalar_2 said:
Thanks again. But I think those captured pictures are softer in the edges, sharper in the center. May be a software prob.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've checked but don't have the impresion about soft edges... I have published on my spanish blog -> http://t.co/w9CK2Y2w6H
and there you can view full size
Think also that for example the flower picture was very focused very close, I wanted the rest appear unfocused (I don't know the correct term in english). Anyway I hope these full size pictures help I'll try to post some ones else
Cheers!

Will this phone work with USA 4G/LTE? Specifically AT&T? I've heard the wifi range on it is pretty poor, can you confirm that?

Does anyone knows how to root this device? I tried with iRoot but didn't work.

alresave said:
Does anyone knows how to root this device? I tried with iRoot but didn't work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
kingroot?
let us know, which rooting method worked

Maor545 said:
kingroot?
let us know, which rooting method worked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah please, I was also thinking, although I have not yet investigated. :good:

hello I bought the phone and I'm very happy, but I read in the specifications that the phone can 'do video in 2K or 4K, you did it ???
Sorry for may bad english

gagias said:
hello I bought the phone and I'm very happy, but I read in the specifications that the phone can 'do video in 2K or 4K, you did it ???
Sorry for may bad english
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4k will be supported after an ota update as far as I know

scottharris4 said:
Will this phone work with USA 4G/LTE? Specifically AT&T? I've heard the wifi range on it is pretty poor, can you confirm that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes this phone works with AT&T but no LTE does not work. as far as the wireless connection, this is true, it's not as strong as a g3 or an S five or an iPhone 6 but it isn't horrible. the build quality is very nice. it's worth what they're asking for it.
---------- Post added at 04:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:09 PM ----------
mdabar said:
Yeah please, I was also thinking, although I have not yet investigated. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried Kingroot , I root, and framaroot.
All were unsuccessful.

Also just read this phone will get 5.1 within the next 30 days.