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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.
Hi everyone, an year ago I bought my Xperia z3 on Amazon on a sale for 200€.
Now the screen is staring to have some problems (dead pixels, warmer spots ecc), so Amazon told me I could either send it back to them and have my 200€ fully recharged OR send it to a Sony repair center.
Now my question is: is it worth repairing it under Sony's warranty? Or can I buy a better phone than Xperia Z3 for 200-250€?
Thanks in advance!
Have a look at the Honor 6x or the Nubia Z11 Mini S. Not really high-end compared to Sony Z3 though, but you can't get really high-end at a price of 250 € by focusing on the "standard" manufacturers (Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.).
You get quite good HW for little money when you decide to get phones from chinese manufacturers, yet the SW updates aren't always delivered and you may get bloatware and perhaps even spyware.
Tischbein said:
Have a look at the Honor 6x or the Nubia Z11 Mini S. Not really high-end compared to Sony Z3 though, but you can't get really high-end at a price of 250 € by focusing on the "standard" manufacturers (Samsung, Sony, LG, etc.).
You get quite good HW for little money when you decide to get phones from chinese manufacturers, yet the SW updates aren't always delivered and you may get bloatware and perhaps even spyware.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for replying. That's what I'm worried about, that z3 is still better than those phones. I mean, I could buy a Huawei p9 lite but meh, maybe Honor 8? That's a nice upgrade. Or I'll keep my money and buy some random xiaomi note, then put lineage asap
Well, the Honor 8 is about 100 € above your range.
The P9 is an alternative, the wife of a co-worker has it and is satisfied with it.
The Xiaomi Note is a phone from 2015, so the same as the Z3. And it doesn't have LTE 800, in certain countries it could be a problem.
Hiya, I just came across this story on GizChina
It purports to be a report of GeekBench data from a Pocophone F2, but with the specs being identical to those of the F1 (same SoC, same storage) isn't it more likely that this is an F1 where someone has modified the Build.prop?
Not even 1 year rip
Might be the armoured edition of 6/64 gb ....!
I will be very pissed if Xiaomi makes my F1 obsolete in just a few months. ?
Langpang said:
Might be the armoured edition of 6/64 gb ....!
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I wondered that too, but among the specs the phone reports is the model name "Poco F2" - presumably the Armoured edition wouldn't carry a different name?
I reckon it's a hoax, though time will tell
I've read a couple of reports claiming that the F2 will indeed have the same SoC and memory options but will have improvements in screen and camera. Might be a tough sell, given that it would be up against the upcoming Lenovo budget flagship, with an SD 855, oled screen and in-display fingerprint sensor.
Further, the Lenovo won't be shackled with Miui
Shinichi Kudo said:
I will be very pissed if Xiaomi makes my F1 obsolete in just a few months. ?
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Click to collapse
One plus does it every 6 months
The screen is fine, camera good and does a decent job. It's the SoC and RAM that sold me this phone.
Just giving a better screen and camera will drop this phones worth to less than $200US phone for me.
I want the latest, not the outdated, let's not adopt Apples model...
If I can get it for a song even better, there is no brand loyalty anymore due to the OEM's not having any loyalty either.
abhinav quietly brilliant said:
One plus does it every 6 months
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And that is why I didn't got for the OnePlus but the armored edition on Poco.
---------- Post added at 10:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:10 AM ----------
thesoupthief said:
I've read a couple of reports claiming that the F2 will indeed have the same SoC and memory options but will have improvements in screen and camera. Might be a tough sell, given that it would be up against the upcoming Lenovo budget flagship, with an SD 855, oled screen and in-display fingerprint sensor.
Further, the Lenovo won't be shackled with Miui
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But trust me, ZUI is way worse than MiUI... except for the advertisements part...MiUI is a lot feature rich than ZUI and has lesser bugs... saying on the basis of my experience with my Z2 Plus.
People on the Amazon page are literally commenting to change rom immediately upon delivery!!! Say how bad is that? At least we can bear with MiUI and there are a lot of stuff we like, e.g. the theme engine, for which I have like MiUI ever since it's onset at the time for the first budget android device, my Galaxy Apollo.
You can like MiUI, but you won't at all like ZUI.
It pissed me off why would someone talk about poco f2 when poco f1 is barely 5 months old. Just stfu and enjoy the poco f1 at the moment.
before any of you guys think of jumping ship to lenovo because waaaoooooww 12 gb of raaaaammzzzz
1. They ignore customer complaints
2. Buggy software, you thought his was bad, well oh boy its like poco x10 google play music crashes every 5 minutes, on their DOLBY ATMOS phones.
3. Their flagships only get 1 bug filled major update
4. Be prepared for a nonexistant volte update and nerfed/disabled quickcharging.
5. crashes and be prepared for 0 support / 0 fixes / all troubleshooting by customers
they cut alot of their r/d department and software department, because of their phone sales took a 70% dive last year
just advice STAY THE F AWAY from LENOVO fellow indian readers and others alike.
at least xiaomi responds to customers, you would be lucky to have even 1 partially working custom rom because they close source everything, never use dual pixel cameras, have no ois.
w1040 said:
It pissed me off why would someone talk about poco f2 when poco f1 is barely 5 months old. Just stfu and enjoy the poco f1 at the moment.
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That's a slightly odd response to a sketchy sounding news report, but, hey-ho. Remember that the likes of OnePlus release two flagships each year.
@pingufanpoy - yeah, Lenovo are pretty terrible wrt updates. I had a Moto g5, from Lenovo; fairly nice hardware but rotten update schedule. The Lenovo P2 was very well received - great hardware at a good price point - though again poor aftersales support.
Having said all that, the reported new Lenovo hardware sounds very attractive; notably its sd855 will be 5G capable, if that's of interest. Sounds like competition is heating up in this segment which can only be good news
I used to have a ZUK phone and the updates were non existent. I woldn't buy a Lenovo again.
About to buy the Xiaomi Pocophone F1, but I've got wind that there might be the Pocophone F2 that's not very far down the line now. So does it have any real grounds or should I just forget it and go for the Pocophone or is there any better alternative?!
SpawnX1200 said:
About to buy the Xiaomi Pocophone F1, but I've got wind that there might be the Pocophone F2 that's not very far down the line now. So does it have any real grounds or should I just forget it and go for the Pocophone or is there any better alternative?!
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At the moment, for this price range I can guarantee that you won't find any good alternatives. Honestly it's the best value for money phone. If you're in a hurry for a new device then sure you can purchase it, but if you can wait for a couple of months I'm pretty sure they will announce the next version with a snapdragon 855 most likely.
SpawnX1200 said:
About to buy the Xiaomi Pocophone F1, but I've got wind that there might be the Pocophone F2 that's not very far down the line now. So does it have any real grounds or should I just forget it and go for the Pocophone or is there any better alternative?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I doubt that Poco F2 would come any time soon. Head of POCOPHONEGLOBAL Alvin Ts is pretty active on twitter, and he convinced me not to wait any longer for the F2.
https://twitter.com/pranavirat18/status/1115888157109698563
https://twitter.com/SonamKu97124992/status/1114409152573366278
https://twitter.com/atytse/status/1111525905535516673
https://twitter.com/atytse/status/1110848389363744768
https://twitter.com/atytse/status/1110634279388827648
n3w0rk said:
I doubt that Poco F2 would come any time soon. Head of POCOPHONEGLOBAL Alvin Ts is pretty active on twitter, and he convinced me not to wait any longer for the F2.
https://twitter.com/pranavirat18/status/1115888157109698563
https://twitter.com/SonamKu97124992/status/1114409152573366278
https://twitter.com/atytse/status/1111525905535516673
https://twitter.com/atytse/status/1110848389363744768
https://twitter.com/atytse/status/1110634279388827648
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Click to collapse
Thanks bruh I guess I'm ordering mine on amazon tonight
n3w0rk said:
I doubt that Poco F2 would come any time soon. Head of POCOPHONEGLOBAL Alvin Ts is pretty active on twitter, and he convinced me not to wait any longer for the F2.
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Click to collapse
Well of course they want you to buy the current phone, they always will. That's smart business. No smart company will ever recommend you to wait for the next model [emoji6]
I'm guessing, but most likely they want to work everything out before shipping out the Poco F2. Remember that despite the great idea behind the phone, initially there were issues, like the LCD bleeding issues, and some people having ghost touch issues.
I've never had those issues, but I'm sure that some people are hesitant to get the Poco F2. So I'm pretty sure they want to work out all the kinks and make sure it's priced nearly the same as the F1.
Also they most likely are waiting for the SD855 to be cheaper (I guess) so that they can keep the costs down. Im guessing the F2 will be released before the end of the year.
Reading this after a year of F1 and be like
BRUH <meme>
hello I have a question.
Where did you order your phones from?
I have never bought a phone from outside the EU and I am wondering what the buying process looks like and whether it is safe.
I saw that the phone is available on several sites.
Official site.
REDMAGIC (Global) - REDMAGIC 7 Pro Gaming Smartphone
REDMAGIC 7 Pro - Pro Vision Gaming with a true full-screen gaming experience on mobile. The world's first gaming smartphone with an under-display camera has arrived.
global.redmagic.gg
bludiode
Gaming Phones
Gaming phones becoming more popular. As modern phones can reach performance level of previous generation of console, you can experience fairly good graphics in modern smartphones. Producers saw this and started to produce gaming phones. They have higher screen refresh rates to provide more...
bludiode.com
And alliexpress.
when ordering, there are some additional fees.
Can I have peace of mind that the phone will reach me?
Is the official website the best choice?
and from where did you order your redmagic.
many thanks for the answers.
global.redmagic.gg is the only place that offers a warranty. I have purchased many from manufacturers site.
Ok tranks, ordered.
Now waiting
Telephone sended from magazin in poland "świecko"
Ill Wait 7 working days for phone
Hi everyone,
I chose this phone because I wanted high performance and awesome features at the lowest price. It is a capable device indeed in hardware perspective, but it has no future in custom ROM development. Originally, I said It doesn't matter, who is the manufacturer, performance and features matter, because I can install a likable custom ROM. I didn't know that MediaTek SoCs are out of question if it comes to custom ROMs. So I decided to sell it. I didn't use it for anything other than trying out the camera, speakers, and updating the system.
I want to buy a phone, which has the same capabilities, but custom ROMs are available for it, so it is most likely built on a Snapdragon SoC. My current candidate is OnePlus 9 Pro 8/128 GB, which is more expensive, but I will pay the price of good features now. I have the 12/256 GB version of GT Neo 3, so it would be a few steps backwards IMHO, but I'm still searching for other alternatives.
It feels bad to sell my first phone with a USB Type-C port. I moved back to my good-old Motorola G5 Plus with HavocOS, because the factory OS of GT Neo 3 makes me mad.
What are your thoughts on it? What phone do you recommend?
Xiaomi Poco F4 gt is good option
Maybe try to look for your preferred custom rom and then pick candidates from their supported devices.
Not all snadragon soc devices have a bunch of custom roms.
All i know though is that Xiaomi has a lot of devices with custom rom support.
Maybe their older devices.
Xiaomi 12X or Xiaomi 12 or Redmi k50 gaming (aka Poco F4 GT)
tigers2 said:
Hi everyone,
I chose this phone because I wanted high performance and awesome features at the lowest price. It is a capable device indeed in hardware perspective, but it has no future in custom ROM development. Originally, I said It doesn't matter, who is the manufacturer, performance and features matter, because I can install a likable custom ROM. I didn't know that MediaTek SoCs are out of question if it comes to custom ROMs. So I decided to sell it. I didn't use it for anything other than trying out the camera, speakers, and updating the system.
I want to buy a phone, which has the same capabilities, but custom ROMs are available for it, so it is most likely built on a Snapdragon SoC. My current candidate is OnePlus 9 Pro 8/128 GB, which is more expensive, but I will pay the price of good features now. I have the 12/256 GB version of GT Neo 3, so it would be a few steps backwards IMHO, but I'm still searching for other alternatives.
It feels bad to sell my first phone with a USB Type-C port. I moved back to my good-old Motorola G5 Plus with HavocOS, because the factory OS of GT Neo 3 makes me mad.
What are your thoughts on it? What phone do you recommend?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U'r quite funny; why won't u do "research" before buying a new phone if u really need to "customize" like OS, camera, etc!
Oneplus, Xiaomi both are great because their bootloader can "unlockable" thus can customize to play with!
Im using Redmi K40 pro+ (MI11i/11X pro) which is already bootloader unlock and running "PE" OS and rooted, u can think about it becasue Redmi is even more price friendly than Oneplus wth same hardware~!
I only had phones with Snapdragon Socks before, there always were custom ROMs for them, it was natural. I didn't know that the case is different for MediaTek. I didn't think that the SoC manufacturer makes a difference in this question, so I didn't feel the need for research on modding and community support, especially when the phone wasn't even released on the global market.
I started using the phone BTW, global ROM has been installed and rooted.
The only vital deficiency of this phone is the lack of the 3.5mm jack port.
I bought 2 different adapters (USB-C to jack, and USB-C to jack + USB-C port for charging), but none of them work well. The first drops the signal every 2-40 seconds, the latter's jack port does the same + when charger is connected to it too, the phone switches back to it's speakers, and like the jack port didn't exist.
Good quality Bluetooth headsets are pricey, so I still use my Motorola for listening to music.