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My first thoughts after having V10 for couple of hours (most in comparison to Nexus 6, but not all). I didn't need a new phone, but just get bored after a while and upgrade fairly often:
- I like the feel, width is nice and feels noticeably smaller in hand. Don't notice the extra few grams weight and feels balanced in my hand. Like the grippy feel and will probably go without case a while because of "durability". That in itself will make all the difference in size anyway as I used an Incipio case on N6. Not as much to protect it, but I like to set my phone on center console of F150 as I drive, and need a grippy back to keep it from sliding off when stopping/accelerating quickly...V10 fits that need without case and N6 had too slick of a back. The above size comparison is done without case on N6 though.
- Screen not as bright as N6 at comparable settings (40%) sitting in my office. Gonna have to see about that one as I don't want to sacrifice battery too much to get brightness level I like. I really like how the screen looks though. I get around the big icon thing by using Apex so no that's not even an issue.
- Phone is every bit as much, if not more snappy than N6, which is rooted on Marshmallow using beans Pure nexus rom. That gave me great battery life, soo I will update my battery life after a couple of days with this phone.
- Call quality is amazing compared to N6. Not sure if HD/call over VoLTE is reason why or not...I had it disabled on N6 because I couldn't get good call quality in my office due to tower location. Which leads me to this, V10 has much better 4G/LTE signal on VZW than my N6, at least sitting in my office where I was on fringe before, with data and calls hit or miss. Sucky thing about N6 was it would get just enough signal to not switch to 3G, will be interesting to see how that works on V10.
- Plugging in the phone gives me a "fast-charging" notification but doesn't seem to charge as fast as N6, by a decent margin...will have to do a real time comparison to be sure.
- Double tap to wake is faster on V10.
- 2nd screen seems useful to me, either for contacts or favorite apps, as I like to keep my home screen clutter at a minimum. Will see which one makes the grade permanently, hopefully no butt-dialing.
- Camera is pretty nice but I'm not much of a photo buff, but few I have taken around office and outside this afternoon look pretty darn nice.
- Speaker is louder than my N6 for incoming ring tones but kind of tinny. Haven't played music or used speaker phone yet.
- Overall, I like the phone a lot after playing around for a couple of hours, but will be doing a lot more fiddling over the next few days and hope to update this post accordingly.
hovercraftdriver said:
- Plugging in the phone gives me a "fast-charging" notification but doesn't seem to charge as fast as N6, by a decent margin...will have to do a real time comparison to be sure.
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The LG v10 like the LG G4, disables quick charge when you have the main screen on. Speculation is to save the battery from the added heat lowering it's life expectancy.
The v10 charges slightly faster (2800mA) than the G4 (2200mA) in quick charge mode, and slightly slower than the Moto Nexus 6 (3200mA) in my experiences.
EDIT: Below I included screenshots today while charging using a Tronsmart car charger. 2840mA screen off, 980mA and dropping while screen on.
I use my Samsung adaptive quick charger because it charges noticeably faster than the provided LG quick charger.
I have a tmo nexus 6. I am considering switching. Is it worth it?
Ceasare said:
I have a tmo nexus 6. I am considering switching. Is it worth it?
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I came from the N6. That being said, I have come from a long line of Nexus phones, since the N4, actually. But since this isn't offered through the carriers, I figured I'd try something new. Loving it. Google is offering many way to give a stock experience these days. The launcher and most apps through the play store I mean.
Thanks, does the screen have to be turned to full brightness to compare and operate outside? That's my only fear
Ceasare said:
Thanks, does the screen have to be turned to full brightness to compare and operate outside? That's my only fear
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I too came from the n6 to the v10 and I have say that v10 is easier to see in the sun without having to turn brightness all the way up.:good:
I guess many of us were getting bored off our Nexus 6's bc I too am a convert to the V10. Most of the pros of the LG V10 were cons of the Nexus 6 and the only thing I miss so far was the dual front facing speakers.
I had an HTC One M7 before the Nexus 6 and I loved that phone. The V10 is winning me over similarly as well. Stock Android is overrated if the manufacturer gets it mostly right and packs in this many features.
DM725 said:
I guess many of us were getting bored off our Nexus 6's bc I too am a convert to the V10. Most of the pros of the LG V10 were cons of the Nexus 6 and the only thing I miss so far was the dual front facing speakers.
I had an HTC One M7 before the Nexus 6 and I loved that phone. The V10 is winning me over similarly as well. Stock Android is overrated if the manufacturer gets it mostly right and packs in this many features.
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i wished i could find a dialer like i had on my htc m8 sense
This phone is so damn good that I thought it deserved a thread for some love. The usual threads are popping up with all the complaints and things, but I am just... enamored with this phone so far. I love it WAY more than my Note 7 (and I was a huge Note 5 fan). My favorites things so far:
-Removable battery is so slick with that button to pop off the back cover!
-Software is really, really nice. Android 7 is amazing and the LG skin doesn't do much of anything to ruin it.
-Fingerprint scanner is blazing fast and accurate and the knock code to wake is great when device is on a flat surface.
-Screen is awesome. I don't care about what the numbers say about color accuracy - it looks phenomenal to my eyes.
-The second screen is something I use so much now that I'd have trouble leaving it. Handy, eye-catching, etc.
-The phone is stunning. I've had many people asking me what it is and commenting on how nice it looks. I'm running it with no case so far because I just can't bring myself to hide this thing.
-IR blaster: as much as I didn't care when I didn't have one, I really love having it now!
-Manual mode on camera: the adjustments you can make to shutter speed and things are awesome, especially since you can see the affect it has live on your screen. I'm learning more about manual photography this way!
-Battery life is incredible. It helps that I was on the V10 for a couple week and that was abysmal, but I think it's been about on par with the Note 7 for me so far.
-Memory card slot with the 256GB card (Thanks, Samsung!).
-Stock launcher is actually usable... I've been a Nova Prime user for years and now I don't think I need it.
-Audio: WOW! My Westone 3's are getting used to their full potential finally. The Note 7 just didn't cut it. Volume is high and powerful, and the audio quality is amazing.
What are you guys' favorite features? Use this thread to generally just bask in the awesomeness of this phone. For me, it's easily the best of 2016 (ESPECIALLY for $672 through Verizon!).
My only complaint is this:
WTH is the stylus?
They see fit to put one on a low-mid range phone, but, omit it from their flagship device?
Seriously, WTH makes these decisions, SMH........
This phone is awesome, but, moves like this just proves once again that the corporate think tanks are tone deaf/have their heads firmly positioned in their backside........
They've kept the removable battery, expandable storage, I-R Blaster, why stop there?
They should up the ante & include a stylus, the timing couldn't be better, perhaps next year.......
Sent from my elsa using XDA Labs
My music player in the second screen isn't working. Is there anyway around this issue?
Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk
mrcarterac said:
My music player in the second screen isn't working. Is there anyway around this issue?
Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
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do the buttons show?
Yes the buttons do show.
Sent from my LG-H918 using Tapatalk
I thought this was an appreciation thread...that lasted long.lol
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
pencil316 said:
I thought this was an appreciation thread...that lasted long.lol
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I was thinking the same thing. This is supposed to be an appreciation thread!
pencil316 said:
I thought this was an appreciation thread...that lasted long.lol
Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Valid point :good: So,I'll try to steer the thread back,since I was the 1st one going the opposite direction:
I'm in agreement w/the OP,this is an all-around great phone.
I actually like LG's U/I,it has a lot of features anyone would like,this is the high points for me,just off the top of my head:
1) Double-Tap to Wake/Sleep
2) Customizable Navigation bar (How cool is that?)
3) Hide the Navigation Bar on a per-app basis
4) Removable Battery/I-R Blaster (Samsung,you're damn fools for leaving these behind)
5) 2nd Display,'nuff said..............
6) Display/Build Quality/Overall Performance are tops,equal or better than anything on the market today.
7) Camera is fast to focus & shoot,pix look great to me,others I've shared with say the same.
I like the second screen better than I did the Edge function on the Note 7. My battery life has been nothing short of phenomenal. I just spent over twenty minutes on the phone... wifi calling... and the battery dropped 1%. I like the bottom firing speaker over the back firing one on the Note, and for my ringing, worn out ears, the bluetooth audio is great. One day I'll have to plug in to check out the DAC.
KOLIOSIS said:
My only complaint is this:
WTH is the stylus?
They see fit to put one on a low-mid range phone, but, omit it from their flagship device?
Seriously, WTH makes these decisions, SMH........
This phone is awesome, but, moves like this just proves once again that the corporate think tanks are tone deaf/have their heads firmly positioned in their backside........
They've kept the removable battery, expandable storage, I-R Blaster, why stop there?
They should up the ante & include a stylus, the timing couldn't be better, perhaps next year.......
Sent from my elsa using XDA Labs
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Click to collapse
You can supply your own stylus easy and cheaply. If you want note quality stylus, this phone probably would've been $50 more expensive to get a wacom digitizer. Or maybe more. I'm quite sure LG wouldn't get the economy of scale price on a wacom digitizer or similar to get a similar feature set and experience on this phone. Just get a good high quality capacitive stylus. But I kind of agree. For how big this phone is, I wouldnt have minded a mm thicker at ALL! make room for a stylus similar to note, get rid of the camera hump and some of the paranoia about breaking camera protective lens, and probably a couple hundred extra milliamps on the battery. That easily would've justified the phone's asking price minus the $200 promotion and free bang and Olufsen earphones. With the promotions I bought this going in thinking it would make and excellent portable camera, audio recorder for special events and the DAC is much much better than I thought. So would've been a nice mini tablet with top of the line features to keep in backpack or car. And the features I just mentioned are extra special because of the swappable battery. Adds longevity for the auxiliary uses besides a phone. I'm still up in the air about who wins as the daily driver because the screen is awful at ~9000k. I figured out a way to help is to leave comfort view on low or medium. Quite sure the Kelvin is closer to 6500k. This phone is friggin' awesome though. It's going to be a tough decision. I just took my note4 apart and fixed the GPS issues that plagues so many users. Was actually easy. Plus the note4 has the much preferred AMOLED display not to mention it looks accurate and the camera is still hella good. And can't forget the s-pen. But the V20 blows it out of the water with the loudspeaker, ESS Sabre 9218 DAC coupled with headphones. Kind of glad I'm ha I g this problem. I love the note4 but LG unexpectedly blew me away with the sum of the parts, and some of the parts are top of the line which can't be ignored. Note4 has custom recovery and root also. That's a plus for the note4 also. But if and when the V20 gets root, I have a feeling the V20 will tip the scales with root privileges. Touchwiz has to be xposed to death to get it the way I like it, a couple of other custom touches I added on my own, fingerprint unusable on note4 with case and LG UI isn't all that bad. Much better than all previous phones I've played with. But yeah. Thanks LG. THE V30 needs top tier binned AMOLEDS, wacom digitizer with stylus, keep the same DAC, no camera hump and don't mind an extra mm or two for that, bigger battery. I mean c'mon. This has to be the biggest 5.7" phone out there. What's a couple mm extra thickness to make Samsung and the note series have BETTER competition? And think about it guys. How much extra SOT we would've got with the theming, of which we can pick black themes and this monster probably could've pulled close to 10h SOT on the best of days and probably 6h minimum on the worst. Keep it up and keep adding features. And a damn led. Or make the second screen amoled with option to make a digital notification light.
Just picked up at my local T-Mobile, they only got one and the girl who worked there was pissed that I called to reserve it lol. Quick history on my phones: LG G3, G4, V10, Nexus 6p when my V10 got the boot loop of death.
This V20 is crazy fast and buttery smooth! I'm stunned at the difference to the V10 and it's on par with a new (not loaded up) 6p. Screen is great, 2nd screen is so much better this time around! I'm actually using the stock launcher! I've never used one (Nova) but it's really good!
Overall, it's really a major improvement!
Does this phone work well with US carriers? Mainly ATT? And how does everyone like the device? I'm coming from the essential phone ph-1 and would love to hear input on the 7 pro.
Thanks!
Been using this phone on AT&T (Boston area) since last June and it works flawlessly. Just put my SIM in, and it worked without a hitch. Pretty much the same experience with my last phone, which was the OnePlus 3T, which I had for 2 years.
7 Pro is a great phone. Really fast and smooth with the (at the time it was released) top of the line Snapdragon processor and 90 Hz screen. You get flagship performance for a much lower price than a Samsung or iPhone (okay, XDA users aren't really the type to buy iPhones - but you see where I'm coming from). The camera on those other phones might be a bit better. But really, you're getting 95% of the phone quality for a much lower price.
Just as important, the OS is really clean. Close to a stock Android feel, with a few (mostly useful and inobtrusive) added features. OP devices tend to be root friendly, and enjoy great developer and community support here on XDA.
One quibble is the curved screen edges. More flash than function. I feel like OnePlus was trying to make it look like the Samsung screens. But it occasionally makes it difficult and awkward to tap on things near the screen edge. It's a pretty minor thing. But enough to make me wish the phone had a flat screen, instead of curved edges.
Another minor comment (can't even call it a quibble really) is the pop-up selfie camera. It does allow the screen to be completely without any camera notch or cut-out. But some folks have been concerned about long term durability. Unless you are taking tons of selfies, I don't see it as much of any issue. Although if you use face unlock (which I do), you do have to wait for it to pop up and down. It happens pretty fast. But face unlock takes maybe a second (perhaps less) longer than my old 3T due to this (since that phone didn't have to pop a camera up). If you use the fingerprint unlock, this isn't a thing at all, of course. And the pop-up camera does make for a good party gimmick! :laugh:
jrodbrown58 said:
Does this phone work well with US carriers? Mainly ATT? And how does everyone like the device? I'm coming from the essential phone ph-1 and would love to hear input on the 7 pro.
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
This phone works fine
I'm using a OnePlus 7 pro Tmobile brand
I used a international rom which allows 2 Sim cards and I believe unlocks it to be used with other carriers
The device is very snappy, before the international rom flash it would boot in like 2 seconds
After I unlocked it the stupid integrity warning slows down the boot by like 10-30 seconds
The phone has one of the best benchmarks for any phone if not the best still.
Camera pop up is pretty fast and snappy
Updates were frequent until all the fuss about cornavirus started.
Issues - currently blackscreen when opening several game applications including
Clash of clans
Old school runescape
Cod mobile
And others.
But on earlier versions it was fine.
Other complaints that shouldn't effect much on the use of the phone.
System is locked making debloat ING harder then needs to be (Google apps are trash 99% of the time)
Custom Rom updates seem to be slow
Magisk roms seem to not always work
Wiping system makes the entire phone useless until you use the msm tool to re-upload your phones software
Could have Alot more tweaks and functionality if OnePlus added them (navigation bar specifically is limited, I don't use recent button I use it as a menu button)
Bloatware by Google. (I'd prefer to install what I want not be forced to use what they implement)
Overall I give this phone a 8/10 rating.
Would be 10/10 if they actually lived by their motto.
Its Alot to read but worth the time. (unless I don't make any sense then sorry)
I'm using my US unlocked model with Visible and Google fi. I was using VZW until I changed to Visible. No problems.
Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk
I have the 7 Pro 5G, running on Sprint, bootloader unlocked and sim unlocked, definitely the best phone I've ever owned, I came from the LG V40 immediately prior, and the Pixel XL series before that, I also did breifly own the Essential phone,
-the 90Hz display is downright the absolute best screen I've ever had on any phone ever.
-256 gigabytes of storage is more than enough for me
-I have yet to encounter any tasks that caused any small amount of lag even.
-the cameras arent amazing, but they're decent, better than the essential.
-the pop up camera feature definitely is better than a notch and it's also just fun to watch it go up and down.
Overall this phone is 10/10, Just wish they cared more about the 5G variants and updated them faster...
redpoint73 said:
Been using this phone on AT&T (Boston area) since last June and it works flawlessly. Just put my SIM in, and it worked without a hitch. Pretty much the same experience with my last phone, which was the OnePlus 3T, which I had for 2 years.
7 Pro is a great phone. Really fast and smooth with the (at the time it was released) top of the line Snapdragon processor and 90 Hz screen. You get flagship performance for a much lower price than a Samsung or iPhone (okay, XDA users aren't really the type to buy iPhones - but you see where I'm coming from). The camera on those other phones might be a bit better. But really, you're getting 95% of the phone quality for a much lower price.
Just as important, the OS is really clean. Close to a stock Android feel, with a few (mostly useful and inobtrusive) added features. OP devices tend to be root friendly, and enjoy great developer and community support here on XDA.
One quibble is the curved screen edges. More flash than function. I feel like OnePlus was trying to make it look like the Samsung screens. But it occasionally makes it difficult and awkward to tap on things near the screen edge. It's a pretty minor thing. But enough to make me wish the phone had a flat screen, instead of curved edges.
Another minor comment (can't even call it a quibble really) is the pop-up selfie camera. It does allow the screen to be completely without any camera notch or cut-out. But some folks have been concerned about long term durability. Unless you are taking tons of selfies, I don't see it as much of any issue. Although if you use face unlock (which I do), you do have to wait for it to pop up and down. It happens pretty fast. But face unlock takes maybe a second (perhaps less) longer than my old 3T due to this (since that phone didn't have to pop a camera up). If you use the fingerprint unlock, this isn't a thing at all, of course. And the pop-up camera does make for a good party gimmick! :laugh:
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I'm definitely gonna buy this phone when I get the cash, but noticed there's a few variants. Chinese, international unlocked and US. The US one is the one i know will work in the US but what about the international unlocked? I just don't want to have to spend the extra money if I don't have to
jrodbrown58 said:
I'm definitely gonna buy this phone when I get the cash, but noticed there's a few variants. Chinese, international unlocked and US. The US one is the one i know will work in the US but what about the international unlocked? I just don't want to have to spend the extra money if I don't have to
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can only speak for the version I bought, which is the US unlocked version.
Thought I'd share my initial impressions on the Oppo Ace2 since it has not gotten much coverage. I also owned the Red Magic 5G for a week before selling it.
I'm coming from a Oneplus 6 and have owned a lot of other Android devices, off the top of my head these include the Nexus 4, OnePlus One, Asus Nexus 7, Samsung Tab Pro 8.4, Galaxy S7 Edge, Huawei Nexus 6P, LG v20, Lenovo ZUK Z2, Mediapad T5, Red Magic 5g etc.
Let's start with the Red Magic 5G. I ordered this a few months ago off tradingshenzhen, it got to me fast enough and the price was fair, but their customer support was not very good (I will not be ordering from them again cause of this https://i.imgur.com/2qd4zPM.jpg). They'll get your phone to you and offer one year warranty but don't expect them to be nice or helpful in the event you dont like your phone or have any issues.
Either way, here my notes on the phone:
Software
I got the Chinese version of the phone. I found the software experience to actually be very good despite this, ignoring the fact that there were some chinese apps that I didnt understand. I'm sure if I removed these few apps I would have had a very good software experience. The software felt very smooth and stable. There were some pretty cool features, but not a ton. Experience felt close to stock android, but lightly skinned with the right theme after some setting up. It didnt come with play store, I just had to install the playstore from apk, chrome and google keyboard then I had an experience not all that different from my OnePlus 6. My red magic 5g got a lot of updates in the time I had it, with big change logs, I'm not sure if global rom users will get that same experience since these types of phones seem to get better support in China.
Display and Body
This is where my mind was blown. That 144hz screen is beautiful and smooth. This was definitely what I loved about the phone most. However, I had my gripes with this screen. For one the, bezels were huge, and the corners were too rounded (meaning less screen). They were so rounded that it was distracting to me, almost as much as having a notch.. This might be a gross exaggeration but I hope it gets my point across. As for the large bezels, it feels like they used the "gaming phone" identity as an excuse to cut corners here with bezel size. It bothered me that there's so much potential screen space being wasted with those large unused bezels. Now the body has very nice comfortable shape, so I don't have anything against that, but it is kind of big, and it is pretty heavy. It felt very premium and nice in hand, but at the same time, it was not comfortable to one hand for long periods of time, it's size and heft also made it a little unwieldy for one handing. This is the main reason I ended up selling this phone. I would often find myself going back to my oneplus 6 instead of using my new phone cause it was just way more comfortable to use with one hand.
Battery and Misc
Microphone was good according to those that I called, speakers sounded fine to me, werent bad at all. They were stereo speakers, one bottom firing and one in the ear piece, which was nice. Battery was meh. For a 4500mah battery phone, it died very fast. Battery felt about the same as my much older oneplus 6 in it's current state.. Around 6-7 hours of screen on time with regular use (not gaming). With gaming I got around a little more than half that. It charged at a decent speed, not slow but not astonishingly fast. My Red magic 5g benchmarked around 595k on Antutu, so it was very fast. The fan was barely audible in it's intelligent mode or whatever it's called. Personally I think the fan is pointless, and that good thermal design makes a much bigger difference. I loved having the shoulder triggers for gaming. playing games like codm, pubg, etc were great experiences. I sunk hours into these games even though I dont tend to really do any smartphone gaming. I don't really like that manufacturers are trying so hard to make phones into "gaming phones" cause they are still just phones at the end of the day. If anything I would like to have a good value flagship (or flagship killer) with shoulder triggers, it doesn't need to be a "gaming phone". For instance, I think the oneplus 8 (or pro) but with a flat screen + shoulder triggers would be the perfect and ideal phone for me.
I also ordered the Realme X2 Pro but the seller (realme's aliexpress store) cancelled this order due to shipping issues. Then I ordered the Poco F2 Pro but GearBest hadn't shipped it out even after 3 weeks so I cancelled the order. Finally I ordered the Ace2 off Giztop and this was a much better experience. Order placed Friday, shipped out Monday, then received next week Monday (today). The Ace2 was discounted to $589.99 and I got a further 4% discount with the GTRE4 code. Shipping was $30 (DHL) and duties/brokerage was $37, so I paid a grand total of around (roughly) $632. Not bad. The shipping, handling, duties and fees all together were still less than Canadian tax (13%). Canadian retailers sell phones like the Poco F2 pro for around $580 (USD), after taxes that's $655, not even including shipping costs. Much better to wait a little for longer shipping and buy from outside of Canada it seems. So let's talk about this phone.
First and foremost, I'd like to note I do get buyer's remorse (like I did with my red magic 5g), but I've never had any issues post-purchase rationalization. If I don't like something, I don't try to justify it, especially where phones are concerned and having owned so many different devices, both good and bad. For example, the LG V20 was my most expensive purchase and easily the phone I hated most out of all the devices I've owned. I had already paid for it, so I stuck with it even though I hated it for at least a year, before finally getting my current oneplus 6. The LG V20 was so bad that I thought my much older nexus 6p was wayyy better, I wanted to go back to it so bad but I had already handed it down to my mom. While I liked the red magic 5g, I didn't like it enough to keep it and ended up selling it at a loss. My point here is, that these are just my opinions, but I do try to be as unbiased as I can be. I bought the Ace2 knowing that I would sell or return it if I didnt like it, like I did with my Red Magic 5g, so I didnt have my hopes high or any plans to keep it if I wasnt happy with it.
Setup
The unboxing experience was very basic, like any other Chinese smartphone so I will skip this part, but it does come with a pre-applied screen protector and a surprisingly nice clear case. I thought it would be a cheap clear case that looked nasty on the phone.
First thing I did was update the phone's firmware, then do a full factory reset. I set it up fresh, uninstalled what chinese bloat I could (there was a lot), installed playstore with the first apk I found, then using that I installed chrome + google keyboard. After turning on the app drawer, and dark mode I felt I had a very usable experience similar to what I had on my oneplus 6. I hate migrating phones, but the experience here wasnt too bad, I downloaded and used oppo's phone clone app from my oneplus 6, it connected the two phones with direct wifi and copied 30 gigs of data over in around 15min. I did not get much control in what gets copied over but it was still a very simple and hassle free process that I could appreciate.
Software
I'm going to start with this phone's biggest weakness. So the software is.. a mixed bag. Say what you will about the design, but ColorOS and oppo launcher are really well optimized. ColorOS has really come a long way from what it used to be. I tested a bunch of different launchers on this phone but I ended up going back to the oppo launcher cause it was just wayyy smoother and responsive. I wish that's all I had to say about the software but there's a lot more to say.. like how bloated this phone comes. Just random chinese apps everywhere. Most of them can be uninstalled off the bat, but the rest need a little more work to get rid of, including ADB and a little research. I actually think I would have liked coloros a bit more than oxygenos had this been a global version and came with less bloat. It's just a big hassle that I'm sure nobody wants to deal with after getting a new phone. The software experience here is great- if you're chinese. If you're not, you have a whole lot of work to do to get it somewhere good. On the other hand, I thought coming from oxygenos I thought this would be a complete downgrade, but much to my surprise there are a lot of things it actually does better. There are way more features, yes I mean useful ones, it feels smoother and more responsive for some reason (the animations are way quicker and smoother). I think ColorOS isn't actually that bloated once you get rid of the apps you don't need (using ADB where you need to). OxygenOS is great and used to be way ahead of it's time, but I feel the other choices available have caught up while OxygenOS hasn't really gone anywhere. My OnePlus 6 barely gets updates and is slow to get them when it ever even gets any. I've noticed that's a common occurrence with OnePlus devices, you get a lot of quick updates when your device is still a new release, but then it gets put on the backburner as new devices come out.
Display
This display is amazing, it's breathtaking. Side by side with my oneplus 6 it looks and feels like an upgrade in every way. The colors are better, and the smoothness is so satisfying, every bit as much as the 144hz display I had on my red magic 5g, which further leads me to believe anything above 90hz isn't really worth the price premium and battery cost. The punch hole was a little distracting at first since I wasnt used to it, but I quickly got used to it and dont even notice anymore. It's a very small punchole and is a nice upgrade from the big notch my oneplus 6 had. I would rather have this punch hole then the huge top bezel (and lost screen space) the red magic 5g had any day. I didn't realize this until I had the red magic 5g in my hand and wish I realized this sooner. The whole point of notches and punch hole I think is to give us more screen where we used to have bezel, and this is something I appreciate a lot more now. One of the biggest things for me here is that the screen is flat. I'm soo glad that I didn't have to compromise with curved edges. After owned an s7 edge, I never want to deal with that again. I know they aren't as bad as they used to be, but I still think it's silly to have to compromise with how the light reflects off of curved edges, the accidental touches or touch rejection, finding screen protectors that work, etc. If flat screens are cheaper I dont see why more manufacturers dont choose to go this route on their budget flagships at least (looking at you mi 10 non pro and oneplus 8 non pro).
Body
This phone is very solid and quality feeling. It doesn't have any super outstanding premium feeling that a higher end flagship might give you, but it does not feel cheap at all. The body is your typical metal frame, gorilla glass 5 sandwhich build. I have to say though, I love this two tone color on the back. It's like a black/navy type color that looks really elegant and sexy in my opinion. I hate oreo shaped camera modules but this is the one phone that I think it actually looks good on because of it's simple minimalist design. My favorite part of this phone is the weight and size. It's almost the same as my oneplus 6, in both weight and size, but has a larger screen. To me, that's amazing, because looking at all the new SD865 phones released this year it felt like I was going to have to give up the light weight and compact size of the oneplus 6 to upgrade to a "better" phone. It's one of the smallest and lightest Snapdragon 865 phones available and it IS the smallest and lightest one available with a flat screen, which exactly what I wanted. It just feels soooo comfortable in hand compared to anything else I've recently used. They really nailed the comfort aspect with this phone. I had no idea this was going to matter so much to me until I used the red magic 5g for a week (which isnt even that big or heavy for a gaming phone, there are worse offenders out there like the black shark 3). I can see why some people really want smaller phones now. For me, I like having a big screen, so it's not smaller phones that I want, but phones that have better screen to body and weight ratios.
Sound
Now here's where I found a nice surprise. Good stereo speakers. Never thought I would ever care about having this. I'm a headphone guy, and phone speakers always suck anyways so why would I care (so I thought). These are by far the best phone speakers I've ever heard, and they somehow blew me away even though I've never cared about how good the speakers on a phone were. They get very loud, and they sound very full. Even at the loudest volume setting where I expected the fidelity to deteriorate, it still had nice clear, smooth, full sounding stereo audio. I saw someone on reddit asking for a phone recommendation with good stereo speakers, apparently it was a must for him, and I didn't get why until now. I no longer feel the need to grab my headphones when I want to watch a youtube video, the stereo experience on this is just much better. There is still a con to be talked about however, no headphone jack. Having a headphone jack would have been nice, and even cooler if the phone came with a nice DAC (pretty much the only thing LG does right in their phones). Not a huge deal for me, I would be using bluetooth or a USB DAC anyways if it didnt come with a good internal DAC but it does make things less convenient in a pinch.
Battery and Performance
Well, it has a snapdragon 865, haven't had a single hiccup yet. Phone is blazing fast as expected. Coloros is well optimized too. Battery is good too, I will report screen on times soon. Much better than my red magic 5g so far from what I can tell. The main star of this show though is that 40w wireless charging and 65w wired charging. Charging cable that it came with is kind of short but the phone charges so fast I don't think it matters. 4000mah might seem small compared to alternatives, but coloros is surprisingly very efficient with it, even with 90hz on and all the chinese bloat it came with. Im surprised they managed to fit a battery this size and a 40w wireless charging coil in such a compact and light phone (relative to similar spec phones).
Closing thoughts
I think this is what the OnePlus 8 should have been, and I hope for others that this is what the Realme X3 pro is going to be if not better. There are a lot of things more expensive oneplus 8 is missing out on here, like the 65w charging, wireless charging, flat screen, etc. The only thing I think it has going for it is that it seems like a nicer build/quality phone with better software. I think the Poco F2 pro on the other hand is a solid contender because it actually comes with global software, has a huge battery + great screen on time, has a decent camera and will have a big developer community. I ultimately ended up passing up on this phone because it doesnt have 90hz, wireless charging, 65w charging, doesnt support very many frequencies, has a slower face unlock and cause its a pretty heavy phone (so not as comfortable), but this phone will make sense as a better choice for many others that have different priorities. Pick what suits you and your needs best. All in all, this is a very underrated phone that doesn't get talked enough about outside of Asia. I think if you're interested in the Ace2, feel it fits what you want well at a price that you think is good that you shouldn't be afraid to buy it. It's a great phone and it's worth it. Just note that you may need to do some extra work to make the software experience good for you because of the chinese bloat (as you would need to with any chinese rom phone anyways). Not to say that the software is bad, it's very good software that's just marred by all the extra chinese stuff it comes with that most of us probably dont want or need.
If there's anything more you guys would like to know about any of the phones that I own or have owned please let me know. I'll try to answer them the best I can. Would love to see some form of an Ace2 community grow but I won't be surprised if it's just me even months later.
Inspiring
I think that based on your detailed review (That I read before on reddit) I’m convinced to purchase this phone, the only android experience I’ve had was an old samsung s7 edge so I’m convinced that the ace 2 will be smooth, so one question: can you guide me on how to debloat the phone once I get it?
Has anyone come from the OnePlus 8 Pro? Or any larger sized devices (in terms of display size)?
I'm thinking of getting the Pixel because I miss stock Android, plus OP has moved from their "lightweight" version to a more heavy skinned OS with A11.
The biggest thing holding me back is the smaller display. I'm so used to big screens and I do a lot of typing on my phone, which leaves me curious about the typing experience on a smaller screen as well.
The only other concern is the top speaker as many YouTube reviews mention it's horrible, even for call quality. Call quality is another reason I want to come back to Pixel. My carrier doesn't support OnePlus devices, so VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling don't work properly. There are ways to try to get this to work but I'm not bothered and would rather just have a device that has those things working out of the box.
Any insights would be appreciated! Hoping there is a Boxing Day sale for the device here in Canada as the current price of $800 is quite heavy. Thanks in advance!
I came from a OnePlus 6T, the smaller screen hasn't bothered me one bit. I'm 6 foot with bigger than average hands and I'm more than happy typing on the screen.
I came from the OP7Pro so pretty similar to what you were working with.
I didn't notice it was a little smaller when I first got the P5 but not felt it's too small and very quickly got used to it. I find it to be a much more comfortable phone to hold compared to my OP7Pro and have no regrets moving in this direction!
I came from the OnePlus 6t, much the same as stringy, I'm 6'4 with larger hands and turn 50 this year yet I have no problem with the smaller phone, can see everything just fine and I'll say I actually prefer it. Typing is a little smaller all around but manageable and after a few days I've adjusted well. I can reach top to bottom on the screen with my thumb where my 6t it was a stretch. I actually ordered this and an s20 fe at the same time, the s20 was for my wife and I had to use it to set it all up for her and can say comparing the two, the pixel gets my vote. The s20, even with the 'better specs' was sluggish and after using the pixel for a day before hers arrived I had already adjusted to the pixel and an happy with my choice.
Thanks for the replies!
Seems like the majority of users actually enjoy the smaller form factor even coming from larger devices. It's really the biggest thing stopping me but it seems I should keep an open mind and give it a try.
How about call quality? Is that under-screen earpiece satisfactory?
Came from and went back to oneplus 6t. But mostly for the dual (physical) SIM that I really need and also because after 2 weeks on the pixel I couldn't notice a huge reason to stay with it. It's a great phone with a much better battery than the 6t but after the novelty wore off I could have gone both ways. Photos were important but MJL gcam is a beast so that was another factor. Pixel camera is still better though.
I also missed some of the oneplus software details like brightness slider coming down to thumbs reach as opposed to staying at the way top in the pixel and long pressing an app to uninstall. This was minimal though.
The screen and sound on the pixel I think we're great. Pixel is also noticeably lighter.
While I could still sell the pixel for a reasonable price I thought I would stay with the oneplus for another year.
rickysidhu_ said:
How about call quality? Is that under-screen earpiece satisfactory?
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Hmm, I thought I referenced call quality in my initial response, but indeed I did not. I can't say it's good, or bad really but rather just different. I have not had an issue with not being able to hear anyone, nor them me. Speaker phone, playing games, videos etc do not sound bad but at full volume I do not care for the sound. It's like I said, just different. Would I prefer a traditional speaker at the top? Yes. But I also appreciate the full display and no cutout for the speaker or a forehead so...ehhh..I guess sound to a degree is a bit of personal preference and with that said, it's not a deal breaker for me.
I came from the OP7 Pro and it was the best move compared to others in the past for me.
I like the weight, the size, the OS and most important: you'll get OS-updates on time every singe month.
So, do it! ✌
ulxerker said:
I came from the OP7 Pro and it was the best move compared to others in the past for me.
I like the weight, the size, the OS and most important: you'll get OS-updates on time every singe month.
So, do it! ✌
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Yup. That's one of the things that bothered me with OnePlus. I had the OnePlus 1, 3t, 6 and 6t. The more phones they come out with, the less the older phones get updated. The 6t I came from was great for 6 months in regards to updates then it started to fall down the list with the 7, 7 pro, 7t, 7t pro, 8, 8 pro, nord and the 8t all piled on in less than 2 years, the 6t has all but been forgotten. Sure, a security patch here and there but really, that's it. I was running lineage when I finally said I'm done. No fault of lineage tho, ran great but the phone started to have gps issues and call drops. I had the original Nexus, Nexus 6P and decided on the pixel 5. At least I know what to expect going forward with updates.
I'm going to head into a Best Buy today to check the device out in person, will give me a better idea of the screen size.
Really appreciate everyone's input!
rickysidhu_ said:
I'm going to head into a Best Buy today to check the device out in person, will give me a better idea of the screen size.
Really appreciate everyone's input!
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That's really the best thing you could do. I did not check it out in person because I don't often do things like that, you know... logical lol. I'm more spur of the moment but I feel I got it right this time, thankfully. I will say hardware wise the phone should have cost $599. Not saying it's not worth $699 but there's several phones at this price that on paper out spec the pixel. The OnePlus 8t, galaxy s20 fe are two examples where you get more hardware for the cost but the pixel offers a great experience to the end user with less hardware. Would you rather pay for the hardware or the software? I guess it just shows how much better Google's stock version of Android actually is when you have software that's been designed for the hardware vs muscling the software by the hardware. Your call. Be interested in hearing what you decide.
rickysidhu_ said:
Has anyone come from the OnePlus 8 Pro? Or any larger sized devices (in terms of display size)?
I'm thinking of getting the Pixel because I miss stock Android, plus OP has moved from their "lightweight" version to a more heavy skinned OS with A11.
The biggest thing holding me back is the smaller display. I'm so used to big screens and I do a lot of typing on my phone, which leaves me curious about the typing experience on a smaller screen as well.
The only other concern is the top speaker as many YouTube reviews mention it's horrible, even for call quality. Call quality is another reason I want to come back to Pixel. My carrier doesn't support OnePlus devices, so VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling don't work properly. There are ways to try to get this to work but I'm not bothered and would rather just have a device that has those things working out of the box.
Any insights would be appreciated! Hoping there is a Boxing Day sale for the device here in Canada as the current price of $800 is quite heavy. Thanks in advance!
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Hi!
I actually moved from an OP 8T to an OP 8 Pro and now i'm owning an Pixel 5
The main reason for that is the size and weight of the phone, its very nice to have such a "small" phone in my hands...
Before switching i was thinking about a few points. 90/120 Hz Display is a musthave now - so everything is fine. Fingerprint on the back is a bit "oldschool", but works great and i cann afford with it!
The only thing i was missing first time was the customizable OS like Oxygen, but now i didnt miss any option...
So i'm happy about my change, but always rember - its not such a big flagship like OP 8 Pro. Thats fact, even if you will not recognice much difference!
Thanks for the added input. I really appreciate and value everyone's opinions, as it is helping me decide significantly!
So I went into Best Buy yesterday and got some hands on time with the Pixel 5. That screen size is definitely noticeably smaller than my 8 Pro. Had them both side by side and the difference is quite grand. However, I tested typing on the Pixel and it's not so small where my thumbs are hitting one another or something, haha, so I think the screen size is not as big of an issue as I originally thought it would be.
Also tested that earpiece speaker and although it's not very loud, it didn't seem deal-breaker level bad. And that's me saying this while testing in a very loud store.
Didn't have the chance to test call quality but just hearing the speaker by playing a YouTube video, I don't think I'll have any issue.
Performance seemed off, though. They had two Pixel 5s side by side. One took a solid few seconds to open the calculator app whereas the other took just a second or so. Maybe the Pixels being demo models had something to do with performance inconsistency, but it was something noteworthy.
On the contrary, Google Maps opened faster than my 8 Pro which was very surprising, given Maps is a much heavier application vs the calculator app. And it was surprising also because my animation speed is set to .04x on my 8 Pro whereas the Pixel in-store probably had the default 1.0x.
My cousin has the Pixel 4 and I think it also shares the same processor as the P5, and seeing his apps open looked a bit slow, but maybe the software optimization is a bit different on the 5, or maybe other factors were in play, such as number of apps installed, background apps, background services running, and so on.
All these things aside, the most significant thing is Canadian pricing. It's $799 here, a bit steep. The Best Buy rep suggested I wait until Dec 26 (Boxing Day) or simply call my carrier to see if they have any deals or promos they can give me. I think this pricing is going to end up becoming the ultimate deciding factor for me, as opposed to performance and speaker/call quality.
I will keep this thread updated with what ends up happening, and any additional input from anyone is always welcome! Thanks again everyone for taking the time out to share your experiences, it really is a big help!
I came from the Pixel 4 XL, only because I just always like the latest so the phone size/screen size definitely felt smaller especially cuz I'm tall with kinda big hands, the stereo speakers were a little low and not as good but not the worst but I actually made them better installing Viper mod lol other than that battery is great better than previous Pixels and after 2 months I'm actually use to the screen size now and punch hole so not really any complaints but I do still wish they made an XL version and I would have gotten that instead. So I'll say go for it you won't be disappointed and at least you get the latest updates from Google first.
Pulled the trigger and ordered one! Just black, should arrive 25-28. Although I doubt it will come on the 25th lol.
Pretty excited now! Will keep you guys updated on my initial thoughts once I receive it and have some time to play around.
Thank you all for helping me make a decision! It was tough figuring out how I can go from a "flagship" to a "mid-ranger". But your input helped me a lot!
The screen on the P5 is rather washed out in comparison to the 8 pro, while running both at full brightness. The processor speed is noticeably in favor of the 8 pro. Scrolling on the 8 pro is far better experience , even at 60hz, versus the P5 at 90hz, since it skips and snags with fast scrolling at 90hz. The P5 has the FAR better size, hand feel and the flatter screen is a godsend. The P5 battery life is excellent. I also find the P5 signal has better signal in my area over the 8 pro. The P5 should have been released at $500. I think it cuts too many corners for $700. Get a used OnePlus 8 (non pro) for $400 used and that may be a better option.
rickysidhu_ said:
Pulled the trigger and ordered one! Just black, should arrive 25-28. Although I doubt it will come on the 25th lol.
Pretty excited now! Will keep you guys updated on my initial thoughts once I receive it and have some time to play around.
Thank you all for helping me make a decision! It was tough figuring out how I can go from a "flagship" to a "mid-ranger". But your input helped me a lot!
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You're welcome ... you won't regret it if you give yourself some time to get used to it and give the phone some time to settle in.
I just switched from the 8T yesterday, I was on vacation last week and was thoroughly fed up with the terrible camera so I sprung for the 5. It's definitely a lot smaller, I don't think I'll be able to get used to it as others here did, but it's also a pretty great device. I also haven't noticed a difference in the 865 vs 765 in my workload, though others will vary. I'll probably be keeping the P5 until an XL version comes out.
JedixJarf said:
I just switched from the 8T yesterday, I was on vacation last week and was thoroughly fed up with the terrible camera so I sprung for the 5. It's definitely a lot smaller, I don't think I'll be able to get used to it as others here did, but it's also a pretty great device. I also haven't noticed a difference in the 865 vs 765 in my workload, though others will vary. I'll probably be keeping the P5 until an XL version comes out.
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I thought the same in regards to it's size but honestly, it grew on me
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