RMA received today, But probsbly sell it - Razer Phone Guides, News, & Discussion

Initial experience with the phone was/still is outstanding.
The user experience surpasses any other droid I've used to date (other then the camera quality.)
Screen became unresponsive, new phone will arrive today.
But there's no joy here without a bubbling development community on this beast of a phone.
For that reason the fun factor has dissipated for me & I might have to consider going back to Sony or the likes.

dillalade said:
Initial experience with the phone was/still is outstanding.
The user experience surpasses any other droid I've used to date (other then the camera quality.)
Screen became unresponsive, new phone will arrive today.
But there's no joy here without a bubbling development community on this beast of a phone.
For that reason the fun factor has dissipated for me & I might have to consider going back to Sony or the likes.
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I see where you're coming from.
However we have TWRP, Magisk root and a fairly stock-stock rom. Maybe in a year or so when Razer stop development for the Razer phone and we get stuck on Android P I'll regret it a little more

Looks like razer has stopped already they are silent wouldn't respond to anything on the insider forums, case of cheers for your cash and buying a howler of an abandoned ****

You guys can simply use project treble images, i am running aosp rom and its pretty flawless so far. And i am dead sure that treble images will carry on much further than Android p.

Haithamraid said:
You guys can simply use project treble images, i am running aosp rom and its pretty flawless so far. And i am dead sure that treble images will carry on much further than Android p.
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To be honest, I see where he is coming from. Not only is development support seem low, but I kind of expected that with trebel being a thing. However when trying to run a trebel ROM (I've tried AOSP and LineageOS), I run into stability problems and it causes the phone to constantly freeze, crash then randomly reboot. With that plus Razer not offering timely updates since the phone is now 2 months behind on security updates, I feel like it's time to move on also and sell it.

Related

Moto X Style Official Nougat Update delayed till May.

Moto germany , confirmed the delay in update scheme due to some last minute issues.
http://m.gsmarena.com/motorola_delays_nougat_update_in_germany-news-23150.php
Very disappointed as the phone is almost two years old but no major update was done. Google may release Android 8.0 by May.
ntkhoa said:
Very disappointed as the phone is almost two years old but no major update was done. Google may release Android 8.0 by May.
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5.1.1 to 6.0 wasn't a major update? I am not thrilled with the delay, but let's not forget how quickly the MXPE received Marshmallow. The Z line is their primary focus now, that's how it goes!
cool, only 3 months more to get already outdated 7.0 thanks lenovo
iks8 said:
cool, only 3 months more to get already outdated 7.0 thanks lenovo
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Yeah I know I love this phone but moving on to the OPO 3T because of this reason
zapty said:
due to some last minute issues. marketing.
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Fixed that for you.
So typical for moto. They're going to wait for us to do all the hardwork for them, and then roll out an update right around the time that its no longer needed by us.
As long as lineage keeps updating the phone I will use it until the phone dies but this will definitely be my last Moto phone.
Everyone is all pissed but Google just ended support at 2 years sharp on the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9. The manufacturers are still in a 2 year support paradigm related to contracts.
This is largely why I went to AICP with 7.1.1 and on-time monthly Android security updates. Plus, a lot more functionality and customization. The same was true with LiquidSmooth when Samsung stopped supporting the Galaxy S3 before. Every device ceases to be supported at some point. That's why we hang out here and work together to extend the life of our favorite hardware. I, too, and disappointed that Lenovo dropped meaningful support for the Pure 2015 last year, but AICP has gotten me over the sting.
I am betting Google's announcement about killing the Google now launcher factors into this. OEMs now have to build their own launcher
We could get 7.1.2 directly also... We never know what's gonna happen anyways but now I'm pissed off by this and I'm surely going to buy nokia phone next time... This is such a disgrace...
I would like to use linageos but rom without fully working moto display is not for me, I bought this phone for this function and stereo speakers. Im ok with android 6, I dont feel loosing some functionality.
Tapatapatap Moto X Style
gemtin92 said:
I would like to use linageos but rom without fully working moto display is not for me, I bought this phone for this function and stereo speakers. Im ok with android 6, I dont feel loosing some functionality.
Tapatapatap Moto X Style
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what is not working in lineage? what do you mean "not fully working moto display"?
I am at same situation, would like to use Lineage instead of orig. rom. thx
IMO the guy who has regularly said he doesn't think we'll ever get Nougat will be vindicated. The MXPE has been a commercial failure and retailers regularly have it on fire sale for $250 or less - they can't get rid of them. There's almost no chance Lenovo will go out of their way to continue spending man hours on the update this spring if they're "having problems" (more likely, they never started working on an update to begin with).
Purchasing this phone is certainly one of my bigger electronics regrets. If I could go back in time, I'd pony up the extra $100 for a 6P, no question. Now the price differential between a used MXPE and 6P is even bigger than that, which says a lot.
Commercial failure perhaps but that is Lenovo's fault. They incorrectly thought that the Moto name meant they had no need to advertise.
Won't wait. Will buy Mate 9
ominousnimbus said:
IMO the guy who has regularly said he doesn't think we'll ever get Nougat will be vindicated. The MXPE has been a commercial failure and retailers regularly have it on fire sale for $250 or less - they can't get rid of them. There's almost no chance Lenovo will go out of their way to continue spending man hours on the update this spring if they're "having problems" (more likely, they never started working on an update to begin with).
Purchasing this phone is certainly one of my bigger electronics regrets. If I could go back in time, I'd pony up the extra $100 for a 6P, no question. Now the price differential between a used MXPE and 6P is even bigger than that, which says a lot.
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It's always so interesting to see different peoples opinions.
I'm bought the 6P when it came out. It was a great phone, notice I said was. If you hit the XDA forums you will see loads of; bootloop of death, battery issues. It seems the battery is wearing prematurely and causing non repairable failures. This is the majority opinion of the reason for the failure, but again is only opinion. I kept my phone pristine and a few weeks ago got the dreaded BLOD. Huawei did send me a refurbished phone back; it was slightly dinged, but I sent them a 32gb and they sent me a 128gb back. They didn't offer a loaner, so I picked up a MXPE and have to say I like it so much when I got my 6P back and I've not bothered to do much with it.
jackpollard said:
It's always so interesting to see different peoples opinions.
I'm bought the 6P when it came out. It was a great phone, notice I said was. If you hit the XDA forums you will see loads of; bootloop of death, battery issues. It seems the battery is wearing prematurely and causing non repairable failures. This is the majority opinion of the reason for the failure, but again is only opinion. I kept my phone pristine and a few weeks ago got the dreaded BLOD. Huawei did send me a refurbished phone back; it was slightly dinged, but I sent them a 32gb and they sent me a 128gb back. They didn't offer a loaner, so I picked up a MXPE and have to say I like it so much when I got my 6P back and I've not bothered to do much with it.
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Well, this may be a case of "the grass is always greener" for me. I wasn't aware of widespread 6P issues, but a bit of research indicates they've sprung up over the past few months.
On paper, the 6P is a slightly faster version of the MXPE (plus fingerprint sensor) that still gets regular updates, whereas the MXPE was more or less abandoned in the software department within 6 months of release. The microSD slot was a big factor that swayed me at the time of purchase, but if I'd known how quickly support would be abandoned vs. 2+ years of continuous updates (even monthly security patches) on the 6P, it wouldn't have been enough.
Of course, if you end up with a bricked paperweight 6P, superior software support isn't going to do you much good. Sorry to hear about your experience.
I will add this: the icing on the cake with Lenovo's non-support is that they void your warranty for unlocking the bootloader and trying to stay up-to-date using custom ROMs. Given that I'm already on my second (RMA) MXPE, I don't trust the hardware enough to lose the warranty, so I'm stuck on Marshmallow forever most likely.
ominousnimbus said:
Well, this may be a case of "the grass is always greener" for me. I wasn't aware of widespread 6P issues, but a bit of research indicates they've sprung up over the past few months.
On paper, the 6P is a slightly faster version of the MXPE (plus fingerprint sensor) that still gets regular updates, whereas the MXPE was more or less abandoned in the software department within 6 months of release. The microSD slot was a big factor that swayed me at the time of purchase, but if I'd known how quickly support would be abandoned vs. 2+ years of continuous updates (even monthly security patches) on the 6P, it wouldn't have been enough.
Of course, if you end up with a bricked paperweight 6P, superior software support isn't going to do you much good. Sorry to hear about your experience.
I will add this: the icing on the cake with Lenovo's non-support is that they void your warranty for unlocking the bootloader and trying to stay up-to-date using custom ROMs. Given that I'm already on my second (RMA) MXPE, I don't trust the hardware enough to lose the warranty, so I'm stuck on Marshmallow forever most likely.
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Thanks for the well stated response.
I've not been a fan of Lenovo since the Superfish malware and the rest of the crap they install became public knowledge. But I kind of hoped they would of left Motorola somewhat autonomous but I see they did not. The lack of promised updates is inexcusable, it's a lie plain and simple. The whole bootloader thing, while I personally think is wrong, its my damn phone let me do what I want, at least they tell you up front and don't make you guess.
While not nearly as egregious the fact Google discontinued the whole Nexus line and has Pixel exclusive is somewhat annoying. I can almost understand it from a business standpoint, but you could of at least threw the Nexus crowd a crumb and kept say the unlimited photo thing as a Pixel exclusive and give us the Pixel experience. Honestly, the last rom I was running was 100% N and Pixel modded and I'm OK with MM and the Moto voice is pretty good. I did read rumor of N in May for the MXPE, so I hope thats true.
Some guy is on his 5th rma for his 6P! I'm not sure if he is throwing them out the window, but that's pretty sad.
I suppose bottom line is you can't go wrong with either, they both have pros and cons.
I bought this phone 15 months ago for 4 main reasons :
Larger secreen than my previous phone
stereo front-facing speakers
design
low price
During that time it hasn't given me any problems and has done everything I wanted from it.
So, OK, it hasn't got the very latest Android "upgrade", but if I was really that bothered I'd unlock the bootloader and install a custom ROM. (I'm out of warranty anyway). But why? The phone works perfectly fine.
To put this into context, I bought a £35,000 car last September. The 2017 models will now get Apple Carplay & Android Auto - but this will not be retro rolled out to my car.
And you guys are pissed off at no updates for a $300 smartphone?

Pixel in 2018 (coming over from Samsung)

Hi guys,
As you could tell from the title; I have an opportunity to buy a nearly-mint condition smaller Pixel, white color, for a pretty good price.
Currently I'm rocking a Galaxy S7 and have been satisfied with it; the only thing I'd change is the software. Being a fan of pure Android, I'd love myself a Pixel; hence the question: would you recommend it as a phone to use for the next year/year and a half?
Also, and maybe more importantly, I'd like to ask you to tell me some of your annoyances with the Pixel - both hardware and maybe software.
Not to take any more of your time; stay well and happy flashing!
harisyks said:
Hi guys,
As you could tell from the title; I have an opportunity to buy a nearly-mint condition smaller Pixel, white color, for a pretty good price.
Currently I'm rocking a Galaxy S7 and have been satisfied with it; the only thing I'd change is the software. Being a fan of pure Android, I'd love myself a Pixel; hence the question: would you recommend it as a phone to use for the next year/year and a half?
Also, and maybe more importantly, I'd like to ask you to tell me some of your annoyances with the Pixel - both hardware and maybe software.
Not to take any more of your time; stay well and happy flashing!
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Click to collapse
I would go for it. Its pretty easy to develop for and I plan on releasing a couple roms hopefully within a few weeks. It has pretty average battery life I would say. If I'm somewhere with horrible signal and I just play games I fan get 3 hours, which is pretty good. If you have decent signal and don't play a ton of games you will probably get 6hours sot. Also if there is any software issues you can just flash a factory image from google that will return your phone to stock. Camera is obviously great. One annoyance is I would say speakers aren't amazing. They aren't terrible but definitely could be improved. It doesn't get very hot either. The display is great for 1080p. I would say this phone will hold up for a while, its a pretty good phone.
shagbag913 said:
I would go for it. Its pretty easy to develop for and I plan on releasing a couple roms hopefully within a few weeks. It has pretty average battery life I would say. If I'm somewhere with horrible signal and I just play games I fan get 3 hours, which is pretty good. If you have decent signal and don't play a ton of games you will probably get 6hours sot. Also if there is any software issues you can just flash a factory image from google that will return your phone to stock. Camera is obviously great. One annoyance is I would say speakers aren't amazing. They aren't terrible but definitely could be improved. It doesn't get very hot either. The display is great for 1080p. I would say this phone will hold up for a while, its a pretty good phone.
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I got it but I have an amazing issue. Everything was working but then I updated to 8.1.0 March security patch and my microphone and speakers don't work. Calls connect sometimes but the phone often hangs. I've Googled the **** out of everything and no solution. Are you familiar with this?
harisyks said:
I got it but I have an amazing issue. Everything was working but then I updated to 8.1.0 March security patch and my microphone and speakers don't work. Calls connect sometimes but the phone often hangs. I've Googled the **** out of everything and no solution. Are you familiar with this?
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That doesn't sound too good. Is there any way you could get logs? Or flash a factory image? Because there was a manufacturing defect in the pixels that caused a crack in the solder joint of the audio codec. Does a reboot fix the issue?
I got a Pixel 6 months ago after years of sony phones. I don't regret it. Like you Im very happy with stock android and I am always on the very latest version. At the moment I'm on 8.1 stock, rooted with twrp, xposed and custom kernel. There are custom roms available on these forums if that's your thing. Unlocking bl is easy, so root is easy. So long as you don't get a verizon in the US or EE in the UK. Unlocking your bl is a problem on pixels on these networks.
The phone itself, whilst not spectacular is very good. After my Sony phones constantly having problems with the screen coming loose Im looking for this pixel to be robust and reliable. So far so good. I've got the 128 gb but do miss an sd card. Makes wiping data so much easier but it's not a big problem.
There are monthly updates from Google and my understanding is the pixel will be supported until October 2019. I'm waiting for android p, the developer version is already available, so should get this in the next couple of months.
Oh and the camera is very very good
Overall would highly recommend. Always being on the latest android is the big plus for me.

Razer Phone Community?

I've been a Samsung Note fan since forever. Started with the Note 2 which still works running Bean Stalk ROM. Note 4 running Bean Stalk still going strong. My current phone is the Note 5 which I recently dropped and cracked the rear glass. Since then its been somewhat unstable. Press messages or phone and it takes around 10-15 seconds before the app opens. Little things like that. Did some searching and sure the Note 8 looks the business but I'm kind of thinking maybe the Note isn't for me anymore and came across the Razer Phone. At the moment there are some good prices for the Razer Phone and I was certain to get one. Checked it out and seen all the issues people are having with it, the camera, which is no deal breaker for me. Screen brightness isn't a problem I'd worry about. Updates are slow, but again, not a deal breaker for me. It looks the business, I really love the design. The speakers look the business too and I love love love a loud phone.
But before I commit to purchase I knew I'd have to see what's happening on XDA, what ROMs are available for it, mods, and just the general communities developments on what I would consider a pretty awesome device. I am shocked! this place is almost dead?
I understand its Razer's first phone and it isn't perfect. What is? And I understand the current issues it has and the price point combined with the issues might put some off getting one. But I didn't expect such little interest and little development here on XDA? If there was any place that would be alive and kicking the Razer it would be here. Now I'm not too sure about getting one. And that sucks because I really like it. Bookmarked some sites for screen protector and found a couple of really nice cases for it. But half the fun of owning a device is the development put into it by the community. The ROMs to try, the mods, the enhancements to features and functions. Its all part of the experience that makes owning an android phone unique and fun.
What happened with the Razer Phone? Really disappointed. So, talk me into it, or talk me out of it. Should I get one? If so why? If not, why? You guys own one, best to talk to people who own one I guess. Will it improve? Is this a dying community? Does Razer have a future on XDA?
In my opinion, it's a pretty good phone. It performs very fast, and the 120hz screen really makes a difference for me, mostly when I'm scrolling. The display was brigther than I expected, and I don't think the camera is bad, I can take decent pictures with it, but not better than the ones I could take with my Note 5. The sound is really amazing and loud.
The problem is that it doesn't feel premium to me, for example, the crappy vibration motor that makes a weird rattling sound when I receive a notification. There are some apps that don't open (like Netflix for me). My keyboard sometimes gets super slow, or the figerprint not being able to detect my finger until I turn the screen off and on again.
I can deal with all that though. What does not make me feel 100% happy with this phone is the same reason you're mentioning, the lack of development. I bought this phone before checking xda, but I was hoping to see different choices of custom ROMs and apps to take more advantages of the amazing features of this phone. Until now, the closest thing I've seen has been the GSI (which I've tried, and come back to stock because couldnt deal with the bugs). Another thing that bothers me is that I haven't found how to install custom themes on my phone. The only way I know to install themes is Razer Theme store, but it doesn't have one that I like.
Overall, I think is a very good phone, loud, fast and sleek, but it doesn't like a Note 5 in terms of quality and developer community.
What happened to the Razer community? The Razer phone happened. I had one for a while, but the HORRIBLE stock software and HORRIBLE implementation of Project Treble support, to go along with the fact that I had to modify the stock fastboot flash files given to us from Razer just to make them flash on my Razer phone made me realize how good a company OnePlus really is. I got rid of the Razer phone as fast as I could and bought a OnePlus 6. It is kinda sad actually though. The hardware is great and I loved the look of the phone and the fact that it is metal instead of a glass sandwich. But nothing can make up for horrible software and even worse customer support.
The only advantage of the lack of development and community support is the fact that it's really pushed prices down as most peeps who buy these beasts anticipate activity on xda. However with dev support being dead the phone, s prices are tumbling and when you really look at it, it's a great phone after all.
Overall, I am happy with my Razer, and dont have anything major to complain about. Yes, its not perfect, but I am hoping LINDA comes along soon, and I am sure additional development will come as well. Screen is great, Audio is great.

Looking to buy and mod Zenfone 6, need advice!

Hey all, I am looking at buying a Zenfone 6 and rooting it and then running a custom rom. Is this relatively easy to do or is it more like Huawei which locks the boot loader causing you to have to contact them to unlock it? Are there any major issues or problems to be on the lookout for when buying a used Zenfone 6 now, will this phone be good as a keeper for another say 3/4 years? How is the modding scene for the Zenfone 6, will I potentially struggle with getting new software in the near future in your opinion? Thank you for all the replies!
Have a look at my thread. It was my first time doing it and I had no problems at all with installation.
Not sure which rom you're considering but in terms of LOS (LineageOS) it feels a bit risky using this phone as a daily driver due to reliability. I still haven't tested this phone to its full extent (haven't even made a call on it yet) but it's on the edge for me so far as to whether LOS is reliable enough on it.
Also if you want to utilize the front (flipped) cam's 60fps, any slow motion etc. WHILE on a custom rom; don't. There isn't a single custom cam for this phone that can do it which was one of the main selling points for me.
The phone still gets LOS nightly (weekly) updates (all LineageOS 17.1 supported phones receive it) to which I haven't been keeping updated with. Possibly the crashes I'm experiencing are fixed but I doubt it. Highly unlikely the phone will see any future main (17.1>18.1) LOS updates also.
Everything else on the custom side is pretty much dead for this phone as it was discontinued very quickly; it's rare and barely known about. No community either so don't rely on getting any help with anything. That said you do still have pretty much everything you need if all goes well and it fits your needs - just a shame about the bugs.

General I hope it doesn't have a curved screen

I really want to go back to a Pixel but I can't do the curved screens. I'm one of those people who actually puts his phones in a case and they don't work well with curved screens.
EDIT 10/6: Pre-ordered 7 Pro. The trade in for my 12 Pro Max with Best Buy was just too good to pass up, essentially makes the phone free once I find something to use the gift card for.
EtherealRemnant said:
I really want to go back to a Pixel but I can't do the curved screens. I'm one of those people who actually puts his phones in a case and they don't work well with curved screens.
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I use the Zizo Bolt with my Samsung N10+'s and it works very well. Occasionally causes cut/paste problems but going to landscape fixes that. Prevents accidental touches and keeps the phone undamaged. The curved screens absolutely need cases with -slightly- higher than display right/left edge guards or they will likely get destroyed.
Do Pixel's have any curve nested apps like Samsung ie One Handed Operation plus? Otherwise empty curves are sort of wasted space. I use both sides as app launchers and to control various switches.
At first I wasn't sure about the curve display but after a couple months I started to prefer curved over flat. Much easier to keep clean and great for vids. I don't even think about them now after over 2 years. Visually it took some adjustment for me... the visual cortex adapts and integrates.
It has a curved screen. The sneak peak during I/O made that clear.
I'd go back to a Pixel if it didn't suck. P6 was a f&[email protected]( disaster, and still is.
If you don't want a curved screen you can go for Pixel 7 instead of Pro. It has a flat screen!
hemstheworthy said:
If you don't want a curved screen you can go for Pixel 7 instead of Pro. It has a flat screen!
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It's rumored to have a 6.2" screen which is too small.
I guess Google doesn't want my business so I'll stick with OnePlus.
EtherealRemnant said:
It's rumored to have a 6.2" screen which is too small.
I guess Google doesn't want my business so I'll stick with OnePlus.
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One Plus seems to be putting out some good models. Google is more screwed up than Samsung and Sammy's pretty screwed up nowadays.
blackhawk said:
One Plus seems to be putting out some good models. Google is more screwed up than Samsung and Sammy's pretty screwed up nowadays.
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Yeah but OnePlus keeps screwing up the software and there isn't even an MSM Tool for the 10 Pro so if you brick it, which seems to be way too easy to do on OnePlus devices (I have done it multiple times on my 9 despite doing everything right when trying to flash a custom ROM and would have been in a situation if the MSM Tool wasn't available), you are screwed.
Additionally, they have been throttling CPU performance. My Geekbench single core score on the latest OOS 12 is around 800 which makes my 888 slower than the 865. They changed the way they do the throttle as well, it can no longer be disabled with a Magisk tweak. OnePlus' answer to all of us who are complaining about how unresponsive the browser and other operations can be? Toggle high performance mode to force the phone to use high clocks all the time, even when idle, at the cost of much higher power consumption and heat than if they just left the processor alone to begin with. They haven't released OOS12 kernel source that's usable either so no custom kernel around to fix it unless you flash to a custom ROM.
So yeah, I feel like I'm being forced to go back to iOS. At least Apple listens to feedback and fixes bugs, OnePlus doesn't even seem to care about that anymore, and Apple doesn't throttle their SoCs, has prompt updates (OnePlus has been giving India updates first and has been leaving EU and global a month behind and we were already multiple months behind China), and has incredible battery life without having to disable basically every premium feature in the phone.
And yeah, Samsung is a no go for me since the Note 5. Swore that would be my last Samsung and as long as they encrypt the bootloader on Snapdragon variants, I will stick to that.
I guess I better start saving for that 14 Pro Max......
EtherealRemnant said:
Yeah but OnePlus keeps screwing up the software and there isn't even an MSM Tool for the 10 Pro so if you brick it, which seems to be way too easy to do on OnePlus devices (I have done it multiple times on my 9 despite doing everything right when trying to flash a custom ROM and would have been in a situation if the MSM Tool wasn't available), you are screwed.
Additionally, they have been throttling CPU performance. My Geekbench single core score on the latest OOS 12 is around 800 which makes my 888 slower than the 865. They changed the way they do the throttle as well, it can no longer be disabled with a Magisk tweak. OnePlus' answer to all of us who are complaining about how unresponsive the browser and other operations can be? Toggle high performance mode to force the phone to use high clocks all the time, even when idle, at the cost of much higher power consumption and heat than if they just left the processor alone to begin with. They haven't released OOS12 kernel source that's usable either so no custom kernel around to fix it unless you flash to a custom ROM.
So yeah, I feel like I'm being forced to go back to iOS. At least Apple listens to feedback and fixes bugs, OnePlus doesn't even seem to care about that anymore, and Apple doesn't throttle their SoCs, has prompt updates (OnePlus has been giving India updates first and has been leaving EU and global a month behind and we were already multiple months behind China), and has incredible battery life without having to disable basically every premium feature in the phone.
And yeah, Samsung is a no go for me since the Note 5. Swore that would be my last Samsung and as long as they encrypt the bootloader on Snapdragon variants, I will stick to that.
I guess I better start saving for that 14 Pro Max......
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A sad state of ball dropping screwups when an Apple starts looking like a viable alternative.
The only flagship Samsung I would recommend is the Note 10+ N975U1. The Beast is a sublime work horse that just keeps running. New can be had loaded with Android 10, but forget trying to root this variant. It runs well stock though.
After that Samsung started going downhill, more hype than meat. If Samsung had a good new flagship it be in my hand.
Between Google Android 11/12, Samsung's no SD card and other insanities, I went with my second new N10+; twins. The one in my hand will be 3 yo this September, current load is 2 yo.
No detectable display degradation of any kind in spite of thousands of hours of use. It looks and runs like new. The only repair has been a replacement battery, due for another soon as it's heavily used. It's a dual drive 1.5tb machine that doesn't run out of ram.
It's a snappy fast phone that's still fun and fulfills its mission. I'm good for another 2-3+ years. Whatever... I'm not buying the hype or the junk.
blackhawk said:
A sad state of ball dropping screwups when an Apple starts looking like a viable alternative.
The only flagship Samsung I would recommend is the Note 10+ N975U1. The Beast is a sublime work horse that just keeps running. New can be had loaded with Android 10, but forget trying to root this variant. It runs well stock though.
After that Samsung started going downhill, more hype than meat. If Samsung had a good new flagship it be in my hand.
Between Google Android 11/12, Samsung's no SD card and other insanities, I went with my second new N10+; twins. The one in my hand will be 3 yo this September, current load is 2 yo.
No detectable display degradation of any kind in spite of thousands of hours of use. It looks and runs like new. The only repair has been a replacement battery, due for another soon as it's heavily used. It's a dual drive 1.5tb machine that doesn't run out of ram.
It's a snappy fast phone that's still fun and fulfills its mission. I'm good for another 2-3+ years. Whatever... I'm not buying the hype or the junk.
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I was on iOS from 2017 until 2021. Had the 8 Plus, XS Max, and still have my 12 Pro Max lying here. The lack of customization for notifications bugs me and the annoyance of having to manually sign apps to sideload them was obnoxious but I can live without customization and sideloading if I have a device that just performs well. Apple's hardware is solid too, I didn't have a single hardware issue with any of them.
I can't bring myself to buy anything but new flagships. I would just feel like I threw money away if I went to an older device, even if it's stable. This is obviously a psychological issue, I have many of those lol, but it is what it is. The OnePlus works fine on OOS11 for the most part but again, I can't bring myself to be okay with not running Android 12. I am actually pretty annoyed with some issues with the Indian ROM I flashed on here though so I may just decide to stick with OOS11, root it, and disable the performance throttling either with a custom kernel or by the Magisk module I mentioned because I would probably be able to accept that tradeoff but I always get FOMO whenever a new update comes out.
It's good that you found something you are happy with though. I haven't been totally happy with a phone since the HTC U11 although I will say the 12 Pro Max was close and if it wasn't for the fact that my cheap MVNO doesn't have a carrier bundle on iOS which cost me 5G access, I probably would have just stuck with it. Since I held onto it though and paid in full for my 9, I have a $650 trade in value which will probably drop to $450-$500 when the 14 models drop in the fall which makes the price tag much easier to swallow.
I have some hope OnePlus may get it right with Android 13 so I'm going to see how that goes but if not, and no other viable options (has to have compatibility with all US carriers, has to have an unlockable bootloader, has to have at least a 6.4" screen that's not curved, and has to have at least 8GB of RAM), it's back to Apple.
EtherealRemnant said:
I was on iOS from 2017 until 2021. Had the 8 Plus, XS Max, and still have my 12 Pro Max lying here. The lack of customization for notifications bugs me and the annoyance of having to manually sign apps to sideload them was obnoxious but I can live without customization and sideloading if I have a device that just performs well. Apple's hardware is solid too, I didn't have a single hardware issue with any of them.
I can't bring myself to buy anything but new flagships. I would just feel like I threw money away if I went to an older device, even if it's stable. This is obviously a psychological issue, I have many of those lol, but it is what it is. The OnePlus works fine on OOS11 for the most part but again, I can't bring myself to be okay with not running Android 12. I am actually pretty annoyed with some issues with the Indian ROM I flashed on here though so I may just decide to stick with OOS11, root it, and disable the performance throttling either with a custom kernel or by the Magisk module I mentioned because I would probably be able to accept that tradeoff but I always get FOMO whenever a new update comes out.
It's good that you found something you are happy with though. I haven't been totally happy with a phone since the HTC U11 although I will say the 12 Pro Max was close and if it wasn't for the fact that my cheap MVNO doesn't have a carrier bundle on iOS which cost me 5G access, I probably would have just stuck with it. Since I held onto it though and paid in full for my 9, I have a $650 trade in value which will probably drop to $450-$500 when the 14 models drop in the fall which makes the price tag much easier to swallow.
I have some hope OnePlus may get it right with Android 13 so I'm going to see how that goes but if not, and no other viable options (has to have compatibility with all US carriers, has to have an unlockable bootloader, has to have at least a 6.4" screen that's not curved, and has to have at least 8GB of RAM), it's back to Apple.
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Click to collapse
Android 9 may be the best. Haven't played much with the Android 10 N10+ but noticed Karma Firewall lost it's valuable logging feature due to it.
My old free copy of WPS Office works in both version as do most of my trusted overlay apps.
Android 9 and above are all reasonably secure unless you do something stupid. No malware on this 2 yo Pie load yet.
I use Poweramp as my player, just my music files alone are over 225gb.
An SD card is mandatory. I can do a full reload with no internet connection; the SD card is the data drive which is backed up redundantly. Even has all my apps as installable copies, no Playstore needed. So a factory reset isn't that big of a deal if I have to... anytime, anywhere.
Only the DCIM folder (backed up regularly to the data drive), the download folder and the installed apps go on the internal memory. No cloud anything needed or wanted other than Gmail.
So the hardware and firmware aren't my prime consideration, why should they be? It was a step learning curve to optimize these devices. Them fulfilling their mission is my primary consideration. I'm an Android pragmatist, I got out of the Samsung/ Android hype loop over 6 years ago. If not proven good, I'm not using it.
Got lucky with the N10+... always wanted a Note.
Firmware upgrades and updates (apps as well) can and do break things. No need to constantly be chasing the loose ends they create, so I don't.
Pretty much solid play time... that's the plan
Pro version will have a curve screen ... that is a problem with most manufacturer now
i am not a fan of curve screen too.. i went to get p6 and it is ok at first then it has bugs soon after .. another pain is for countries which is not officially sold, it wont be able to use VoLTE and VoWiFi. Need to root and modify the xml ... ah well cant say much about that since it is not official sold.
Seems like OP also is not so great now since they are under OPPO now and Sammy is just too expensive now with more or less not so exiting tech.
Other china phones? that is another story
blackhawk said:
Android 9 may be the best. Haven't played much with the Android 10 N10+ but noticed Karma Firewall lost it's valuable logging feature due to it.
My old free copy of WPS Office works in both version as do most of my trusted overlay apps.
Android 9 and above are all reasonably secure unless you do something stupid. No malware on this 2 yo Pie load yet.
I use Poweramp as my player, just my music files alone are over 225gb.
An SD card is mandatory. I can do a full reload with no internet connection; the SD card is the data drive which is backed up redundantly. Even has all my apps as installable copies, no Playstore needed. So a factory reset isn't that big of a deal if I have to... anytime, anywhere.
Only the DCIM folder (backed up regularly to the data drive), the download folder and the installed apps go on the internal memory. No cloud anything needed or wanted other than Gmail.
So the hardware and firmware aren't my prime consideration, why should they be? It was a step learning curve to optimize these devices. Them fulfilling their mission is my primary consideration. I'm an Android pragmatist, I got out of the Samsung/ Android hype loop over 6 years ago. If not proven good, I'm not using it.
Got lucky with the N10+... always wanted a Note.
Firmware upgrades and updates (apps as well) can and do break things. No need to constantly be chasing the loose ends they create, so I don't.
Pretty much solid play time... that's the plan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I went back to OOS11 last night and I'm going to stick with it for a bit. It seems to work pretty well although I'm annoyed at the discovery that the module that was posted to alter the CPU throttling doesn't actually seem to work fully even on OOS 11.2.10.10. I don't want to go any older than that though so I guess it is what it is at this point. Games definitely are smoother at least. Still not as smooth a iOS though...
I wouldn't mind having an SD card again. I have gotten used to not having one but it does get annoying having to back up my OnePlus backups to the PC when I have to factory reset and then move them back. In the time it took to copy from the PC back to the phone last night, I was able to floss and brush my teeth. When I got back to the computer, the bar was at the very end.
This phone will work for now on OOS11. I really hope that OnePlus listens with OOS13 because I really don't want to buy another phone but being stuck on Android 11 isn't going to be enough for me.
cruzzmz said:
Pro version will have a curve screen ... that is a problem with most manufacturer now
i am not a fan of curve screen too.. i went to get p6 and it is ok at first then it has bugs soon after .. another pain is for countries which is not officially sold, it wont be able to use VoLTE and VoWiFi. Need to root and modify the xml ... ah well cant say much about that since it is not official sold.
Seems like OP also is not so great now since they are under OPPO now and Sammy is just too expensive now with more or less not so exiting tech.
Other china phones? that is another story
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Click to collapse
Yeah it's not a great situation for the Android ecosystem as a whole right now really. I may just suck it up and get a 7 Pro. I really don't want to go back to iOS. I have an iPad, that's enough iOS for me.
EtherealRemnant said:
Yeah I went back to OOS11 last night and I'm going to stick with it for a bit. It seems to work pretty well although I'm annoyed at the discovery that the module that was posted to alter the CPU throttling doesn't actually seem to work fully even on OOS 11.2.10.10. I don't want to go any older than that though so I guess it is what it is at this point. Games definitely are smoother at least. Still not as smooth a iOS though...
I wouldn't mind having an SD card again. I have gotten used to not having one but it does get annoying having to back up my OnePlus backups to the PC when I have to factory reset and then move them back. In the time it took to copy from the PC back to the phone last night, I was able to floss and brush my teeth. When I got back to the computer, the bar was at the very end.
This phone will work for now on OOS11. I really hope that OnePlus listens with OOS13 because I really don't want to buy another phone but being stuck on Android 11 isn't going to be enough for me.
Yeah it's not a great situation for the Android ecosystem as a whole right now really. I may just suck it up and get a 7 Pro. I really don't want to go back to iOS. I have an iPad, that's enough iOS for me.
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Click to collapse
This is why I committed to using the N10+'s for likely another 2-3+ years by buying a second new running on Android 10. Both will likely never be upgraded beyond 10.
Not for everyone but I absolutely wuv this Note. At this point it's optimized very well and is just a gorgeous beast of a work horse. Using a SD card as the data drive adds a layer of protection and redundantly to the device. With a mobo failure or a system crash the data drive will likely be untouched.
So now the processors are too fast to be practical so they throttle them?
Even though the N10+ doesn't have the thinner cpu chipset form factor or the fastest memory it runs almost as fast as the S22U in normal usage.
With the N9 the lag vs N10+/N20U/N22U is quite noticeable. The S22U has a huge battery and less SOT than the N10+. Weights a full display cracking ounce more too.
For what?
If you listen to all the hype the latest Androids sound wonderful... until you think it through and realize what is important for your device to fulfill its mission. That's why a well designed/built 3 yo model running on 2.5 yo firmware can still effectively compete with the newest phones.
blackhawk said:
This is why I committed to using the N10+'s for likely another 2-3+ years by buying a second new running on Android 10. Both will likely never be upgraded beyond 10.
Not for everyone but I absolutely wuv this Note. At this point it's optimized very well and is just a gorgeous beast of a work horse. Using a SD card as the data drive adds a layer of protection and redundantly to the device. With a mobo failure or a system crash the data drive will likely be untouched.
So now the processors are too fast to be practical so they throttle them?
Even though the N10+ doesn't have the thinner cpu chipset form factor or the fastest memory it runs almost as fast as the S22U in normal usage.
With the N9 the lag vs N10+/N20U/N22U is quite noticeable. The S22U has a huge battery and less SOT than the N10+. Weights a full display cracking ounce more too.
For what?
If you listen to all the hype the latest Androids sound wonderful... until you think it through and realize what is important for your device to fulfill its mission. That's why a well designed/built 3 yo model running on 2.5 yo firmware can still effectively compete with the newest phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The annoying thing about the throttling is that it's not necessary. I have used a custom ROM on here and they don't have any of the throttling and it's no problem. Sure, the device gets a bit warmer under load, but it's not dangerously hot, we are talking like 42-48C, well within all normal tolerances. People ***** about their devices being warm and everyone suffers for it. Unfortunately every custom ROM I have tried has issues ranging from a stuttering UI to broken NFC and the fingerprint reader being off center so after the last attempt flashing a custom ROM resulted in a brick, I just went back to OOS and stayed there. Maybe it is time to try again though, I will run OOS11 for a few days and see if I can get used to it.
Honestly I really like my Pixel 3 XL, it's just too slow and lacking in RAM for me to make it my daily driver. The memory is more the issue than the Snapdragon 845 honestly.
P3XL was a great phone, i used it until it went dead last year. Then i went for p6 in hope for a better support and features as promised but then again ...
anyway p6 suffers from bugs since first update and i think still until now it has not been sort out yet. The thing i like about pixel is you can still flash it via fastboot and the image it officially available in the support page.
Just that if the country is not an official country that sell pixel then you will be stuck with no VoLTE and VoWiFi and that is a hassle
EtherealRemnant said:
It's rumored to have a 6.2" screen which is too small.
I guess Google doesn't want my business so I'll stick with OnePlus.
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Click to collapse
After Carl Pei left Oneplus started going down and now they are one of the worst companies under Oppo and the phone OS, design, and specs are not that good!
hemstheworthy said:
After Carl Pei left Oneplus started going down and now they are one of the worst companies under Oppo and the phone OS, design, and specs are not that good!
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Click to collapse
My OnePlus 9 has better specs across the board than the Pixel 6 besides the cameras. OOS12 is terrible but I don't mind OOS11 so if OnePlus goes back to their roots with OOS13 like they are promising, I may stick around, and besides, the custom ROMs for this device are pretty good so I can just as easily just stick to those.
Qualcomm > Samsung and I don't see that changing with the 7 series.
EtherealRemnant said:
I really want to go back to a Pixel but I can't do the curved screens. I'm one of those people who actually puts his phones in a case and they don't work well with curved screens.
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Click to collapse
I think the non-pro Pixels are a better value anyways, seeming as this launch won't be too different to the Pixel 6s apart from minor upgrades like a new SoC with moderate performance increase.
razercortex said:
I think the non-pro Pixels are a better value anyways, seeming as this launch won't be too different to the Pixel 6s apart from minor upgrades like a new SoC with moderate performance increase.
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Click to collapse
I can't go from a 6.55" screen to a 6.2" screen though. Honestly I would rather have a 6.7"-6.10" screen. I could go from 6.55 to 6.4 but with them shrinking the screen size on the 7, it's a nonstarter.

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