So hello there everyone, as the title says i'm looking to get a Galaxy S7, i looked up for similar threads to get quick answers but i still have lots of questions before i buy.
So basically i need a phone with a good rear camera that has manual mode, water resistance, snappy performance, good battery if possible, OLED display and a headphone jack! Anything else is not that important for me, But what i need most! is a developer friendly phone! not sure if its the correct description but what i want is a phone that has plenty of ROMs and mods, cause i love to try new things even if i break the phone (usually able to fix it after) and i thought the S7 is a good choice (if there is better tell me).
Now i got few questions and i'll appreciate all opinions:
1. Does the camera have manual mode for video recording or just picture ?
2. How solid is the phone and is it mandatory to have a case on it ?
3. Does it have any of the random issues similar to the G4 or V10 from LG ? I don't want a phone that would break itself out of nothing.
4. If i'm into installing and testing ROMs too often, should i go for the Snapdragon or the Exynos variant ? (I'm into the Exynos one but please tell me what do you think).
5. Is there any common problems with the phone ? and what should i be checking for if i'm getting a used one!
6. There is a particular issue i wanna avoid if anyone can tell me how! I dealt with some Samsung devices before, and i had this S6 that had an international 920F firmware but its actually a Sprint variant, accidentally upgraded to Nougat with the 920P firmware and ended locking the network, fixed it using a box and flashed the 920F nougat again but i'd like to prevent this from happening again if possible!
Again, if there is a better choice than the S7 i'm all ears, if i should know anything i'm listening. Would appreciate all help and informations possible!
Also just to mention, i have around 350$ can put more if needed! Thanks again.
Edit: I've asked around, and someone said that the S7 edge sometimes have this issue where you'll have a straight line of bad or dead pixels right where the edge bend starts, he showed me examples also so i was thinking if many people have or had that issue before ?
1. There is a pro mode where you can adjust iso manual focus shutter speed contrast can also shoot in raw.
2. Build quality on the phone is good, they always advertise that the phone is easy to hold. But it isn't, the sides are bezelled and smooth making slippery but people get used to it. I bought a case the first time but it just makes it bulky.
3. Right now our oreo upgrade has battery drain that's not completely fixed, like drains 20 to 30 percent battery overnight. Compared to 5 to 10 percent in nougat. No other bugs except that. (edit) I think its fixed only losing 1 - 2% in 4 hours screen off.
4. Exynos processors are the only s7 phones that can use custom roms.
5. Battery drain in oreo (supposedly fixed now in ERG2) I think its fixed only losing 1 - 2% in 4 hours screen off.
6. Pink lines happen on some phones not all of them ask before you buy. Dead pixels are a result of burn in on amoled displays if the colors never move, the screen in those squares will start to burn and cause a black or brown dot. The aluminum edges on the phone get hot when you play games or watch YouTube like holding coffee.
Amoled have better blacks and contrast if you go the custom route we also have a flicker free mod so the screen doesnt flash 3 times per second like when your recording a lcd monitor better battery life due to shutting down black pixels. High vibrance and saturation.
LCDs offer better whites lower battery life. Accurate color reproduction. Kind of regarded as dull color.
Other phones comparable to the s7 are lg g6 ip68 records in 4k 18:9:5 lcd 2880 1440p display 340 dollars it has a better camera than the s7 is also dual pixel and has laser auto focus and dual rear camera.
We have s8 and s9 ports with Bixby vision and Bixby voice.
But since both phones are old we will be stuck on oreo.
I only bought S7 on Amazon.de Prime day - less than 300EUR. For the price (a brand new phone, official distribution) it's a whopper. Carefully thought this through. Only mid-rangers can be obtained a this price level, out of the new releases, which is not an option for me. One of last usable compact phones (as Pixel, Huawei P10 and Sony Compact aren't much my liking, at all). Below 145mm in lenght, mini audio-jack, waterproof, still quite strong SoC.
You've got all questions answered above already, but I only want to come back to:
Ad.6 - As far as I remember, on the US market Samsung uses Snapdragon 820(821?) SoC only, due to different modem needed for your radio frequencies there. All custom ROMs available here (XDA) are for Exynos, so you would need to stay away.
#4 you need Exynos for ROMs
Unlike LG's, there are no common issues with the S7 or any S series. I bought mine used ten months ago, and it has been fantastic. You will not be disappointed at all.
Just to add- battery drain is not necessary on Oreo. I'm actually getting even better bl on Oreo than on Nougat (first with a stock rom and now a custom). On an absolute basis too, the bl is fabulous, both in screen-off and screen-on mode (i use fhd mode).
And from all I've read, the Exynos variant is much better.
this is my real experience with buying used samsung phone from another country/region, basically you can not repairing it on the official samsung service center. i don't know if this is only on my country or perhaps another country/region too, so if you want to hold the device for long run (2 or 3 year) please buy it from official local samsung experience store and don't import it. btw, i don't have any issue with camera, software, or real life experience with the device.
I didn't get neither notification nor email i thought nobody replied at all. Anyways, thank you all for the info i so appreciate it, especially @pingufanpoy, like a lot.
The feedback seems so positive and i'm even more positive about the phone, i found an S7 G930FD the international dual sim one (Exynos), with 64GB internal storage, 2 cases and a charging dock for 305$ (weird number i know), and as far as i tested all working fine, i wanna have it for few more days like that before starting to mod or whatever just to confirm all is clean.
At first i thought about LG V20 actually but when i done some research some users reported couple of the same issues i had with the V10 which i guarantee nobody will like, and i didn't find much ROMs for it so i didn't really find it a good option. I believe the S7 is also IP68 rated even though i haven't tested it out myself yet but it feels solid in general.
Now pingufanpoy mentioned how screen burn in happens when you have a static display for too long on OLED or when it gets hot, i think i can report the same case or something similar with the LG V10 which actually use an LCD IPS panel, i don't think its called burn in for this case but when the phone gets hot and it does a lot, the screen holds the colors of the image even if you change the screen or turn of the display for quite a bit, till i actually turn of the phone completely and let it sit down for some time. the V10 was the worst LG experience for me after the L7-ii. From my own experience, LG with its modular phone parts make its hardware kinda easy to repair and replace, but its software is the complete opposite in my opinion.
For the S7 i guess the IP68 rating will fail if the phone gets opened or something similar so i'm avoiding that.
Before buying i found a mod that uses the speaker and the ear peace together to produce better sound so i'll be trying that soon. Resurrection remix is my favorite ROM so far so i'll be using that as well just hope the camera still retain its full functionality.
So far so good with the phone actually, despite its 2 years old its keeping up really really good, the battery isn't bad but isn't too great too, i guess its cause the phone is used and the battery already gave up some of its power, might end up with an extended battery case. Removing system apps with adb is possible so didn't to root yet, and having the bloat-wares off the phone makes it even better.
Yea if i can help with anything i'll try my best too, thanks again everyone the phone is great and i'm not regretting it.
Related
Hey,
i am currently galaxy S4 owner. I am interested in buying nexus 5 black 32GB model. If i order now, has the manufacturing improved with regards to microphone issue, speaker issue, and some buttons rattling? I am more concerned about microphone and speaker though. My friend has N5 and there is a microphone issue - no one can really understand him .
Also, any improvements over galaxy S4? I am using cutomized TW 4.3 UEML6 (got updated from samsung two days ago), so its pretty good so far. I just have storage issue with S4 and having snapdragon 600. battery life is medicore, i mean everything is debloated - no samsun crap, not much google crap except gmail and youtube and google settings. GPS + Location is always off. i pull 23 Hours on avg with 2 hrs 58 minutes on screen time. This is when almost everything is off, and usage is few youtube videos (10 minutes) HD, web surfing, texting, and 20-40 min HSPA+ calls.
Is it really worth switching?
I am not having loss going to N5, i mean i dont have to input extra money.
Note: I am a university student that commutes a lot : trains and buses. Also, my carrier uses HSPA+ AWS band (1700/2100) so i am not sure if that has any influence over the battery performance..
Thanks!
LimitsX said:
Hey,
i am currently galaxy S4 owner. I am interested in buying nexus 5 black 32GB model. If i order now, has the manufacturing improved with regards to microphone issue, speaker issue, and some buttons rattling? I am more concerned about microphone and speaker though. My friend has N5 and there is a microphone issue - no one can really understand him .
Also, any improvements over galaxy S4? I am using cutomized TW 4.3 UEML6 (got updated from samsung two days ago), so its pretty good so far. I just have storage issue with S4 and having snapdragon 600. battery life is medicore, i mean everything is debloated - no samsun crap, not much google crap except gmail and youtube and google settings. GPS + Location is always off. i pull 23 Hours on avg with 2 hrs 58 minutes on screen time. This is when almost everything is off, and usage is few youtube videos (10 minutes) HD, web surfing, texting, and 20-40 min HSPA+ calls.
Is it really worth switching?
I am not having loss going to N5, i mean i dont have to input extra money.
Note: I am a university student that commutes a lot : trains and buses. Also, my carrier uses HSPA+ AWS band (1700/2100) so i am not sure if that has any influence over the battery performance..
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
id say if you really want it go for it, the nexus 5 is great and i have a nexus 5 i think its the 11k build the newest one is 12k and i have no issues so far my mic sounds fantastic and when i call my other friends on T-Mobile HD voice kicks in and boy does it really sound great
the battery life is not bad about the same as your s4 perhaps better with the location power savings android 4.4 brought. so if you got the money for it might aswell get the latest and greatest from google
LimitsX said:
Hey,
i am currently galaxy S4 owner. I am interested in buying nexus 5 black 32GB model. If i order now, has the manufacturing improved with regards to microphone issue, speaker issue, and some buttons rattling? I am more concerned about microphone and speaker though. My friend has N5 and there is a microphone issue - no one can really understand him .
Also, any improvements over galaxy S4? I am using cutomized TW 4.3 UEML6 (got updated from samsung two days ago), so its pretty good so far. I just have storage issue with S4 and having snapdragon 600. battery life is medicore, i mean everything is debloated - no samsun crap, not much google crap except gmail and youtube and google settings. GPS + Location is always off. i pull 23 Hours on avg with 2 hrs 58 minutes on screen time. This is when almost everything is off, and usage is few youtube videos (10 minutes) HD, web surfing, texting, and 20-40 min HSPA+ calls.
Is it really worth switching?
I am not having loss going to N5, i mean i dont have to input extra money.
Note: I am a university student that commutes a lot : trains and buses. Also, my carrier uses HSPA+ AWS band (1700/2100) so i am not sure if that has any influence over the battery performance..
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the GS4, the Nexus 5 is a vastly superior device. As far as the defects are concerned, they aren't as widespread as people make them out to be. Keep in mind that nobody rushes to post "My N5 has no defects!" threads. Mine was a launch day model and it is absolutely flawless. No mic issues (people often think I'm on a landline), no power button rattling, and the speaker volume was fixed with one of the OTA updates. It's MUCH louder now. Battery life is also pretty good, I average between 4-5 hours of screen time. I was 16 hours off charger today with over 2 hrs screen time and about 45 min of calls and I was only down to 55% before I tossed it on the charger. Not quite as good as my Moto X, but still better than pretty much every other android phone I've owned. If it's within your means, I'd say go for it. Nothing beats the stock android experience.
I wanted to buy the S4 but by the time I could save up enoughf money. The nexus 5 came out.
So I purchased it.
The latest and greatest form Google.
Nexus 5.
All I can say is that it been a royal disappointment. Heck Id swap you my N5 for your S4. If I could.
I will not get into the details. Cause I find that the few who have spoken out about the N5 short comings. Have been baned or kicked off XDA.
If a senior member is willing to let me talk. Im willing to have a detailed Technical Debate on why its the worst phone ever made.
RonChinoy said:
I wanted to buy the S4 but by the time I could save up enoughf money. The nexus 5 came out.
So I purchased it.
The latest and greatest form Google.
Nexus 5.
All I can say is that it been a royal disappointment. Heck Id swap you my N5 for your S4. If I could.
I will not get into the details. Cause I find that the few who have spoken out about the N5 short comings. Have been baned or kicked off XDA.
If a senior member is willing to let me talk. Im willing to have a detailed Technical Debate on why its the worst phone ever made.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need a senior member's permission to speak your mind. Just be respectful and be prepared for some backlash from some of the less mature posters here. I for one would love to hear your opinions. I think it's a great phone, though it certainly isn't the magical unicorn phone that some people make it out to be. I do like it a lot more than I did my S4, though I prefer my Moto X.
I came from the s4 prior to my n5 and haven't regretted the UPGRADE for a second. Battery life is the same for me. No Samsung Knox crap to worry about, unlocked from the get go, early aosp roms run great compared to early aosp based roms for Samsung... and you are always running the latest version of android vs what Samsung is on and my favorite n5 feature... no waiting for carrier branded updates.
Sent from my manta
I came from a S4. I had a AT&T S4. I was lucky enough to have received mine with AMDL firmware so I could still use Loki to flash firmware. However it was always a big pain when I had to odin/flash back to stock, I had to remove SIM card and not connect to wifi to make sure it didn't even attempt to download the OTA Update that broke loki and made custom firmwares a thing of the past with its locked bootloader.
Also the S4 had so many bugs with any custom firmware. It was normal to get reboot hands where it got stuck on the S4 logo on boot and you would have to turn the phone on and off sometimes 5 times for it to boot. So annoying.
On top of that, the Camera sucked. Not sure if it was just the firmware ,or the camera itself. My S4's Camera (13MP) took worse photos than my iPhone 4S (8MP). In turn, my Nexus 5 now takes WAY BETTER photos than both phones even though it's only 8MP. The focusing, contrast and brightness and shutter speed adaptation is perfect (after 4.4.1 update which included a camera firmware update). HDR function actually works as well. The S4, in both Samsung based ROMS and AOSP roms would always take blurry junky HDR photos and I could never leave it on. Nexus 5 i have no problem taken HDR shots even from a moving car.
Overall I find the Nexus 5 to be a MUCH MUCH better phone than the Galaxy S4. For AOSP / Custom Rom support its hands down better, and camera. It's also slightly faster. (Talking 300mhz..not much). The only downfalls are:
1. Non removable Battery. I loved this on the S4. I had 3 batteries, one would be on a charger, and i'd carry a spare with me and just swap it out when needed so I never had to charge the phone. I could start out each morning with a fresh 100% charge without worrying about plugging in my phone at night.Battery life is the same as the S4. Just I liked that feature.
2. No SD card. Not a huge problem. I had a 32gb S4 and a 64gb microSD card. I thought I couldnt live without it but its fine. I just backup my phone to my PC once every few days just in case something happens. (I liked microSD so if the phone died, I still could get my photos). I got this, the Meenova USB OTG card reader. http://www.meenova.com/st/p/m3r.html Works great! I use it for TWRP backups / nanoids. I also use it to store seasons of TV shows, then copy them over to my phone half a season or so at a time as needed so I dont have to fill up my phone. Very handy.
3. Hardware buttons. I liked the S4's hardware buttons. I've gotten used to not having them, just a preference thing really.
4. Screen. The screen is the same resolution. You will get the same detail on it. However, you're comparing AMOLED to a regular LCD. The AMOLED on the S4 has more "vibrant" colors. It also had a slightly better viewing angle, and higher brightness and contrast in comparison to the S4 screen. Nothing major, however you will notice it if you're a detail freak.
That about sums it up.
All in all, I'm very happy with my switch from my Galaxy S4 to the Nexus 5 and I would do it again given the choice. Never buying another Samsung phone ever. Sticking with Nexus phones from now on.
WoodburyMan said:
I came from a S4. I had a AT&T S4. I was lucky enough to have received mine with AMDL firmware so I could still use Loki to flash firmware. However it was always a big pain when I had to odin/flash back to stock, I had to remove SIM card and not connect to wifi to make sure it didn't even attempt to download the OTA Update that broke loki and made custom firmwares a thing of the past with its locked bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds awful, my buddy has the s4 and he said that he had to be careful flashing stuff because theres so many variants as well
Hi guys,
I'm thinking of getting a S6 instead of my Sony Z2 and therefore I've got some questions:
-How durable are the both front and back glasses?
-By previously owning a few Sammys I've learned, that they get easily clogged with trash and start lagging. Have any of you experienced this?
-Is battery life really that bad? I've heard rumours, that sometimes even a day is too much for it.
-Overall, how happy are you with your device? Would you buy it again, or choose, for example, G4, M9 or whatever?
1. Durable? If you have a good case for the bottom and a good screen protector for the front. My S6 has survived a 10ft drop onto marble floor.
2. Yes, it does start to lag a bit, if you have to many apps and all.
3. Battery life can vary for some people. For me, it can last around a day and a half with occasional mobile data use, but for my friends S6, his cannot last a full day even on ultra power saving mode.
4. I am happy with the phone But I would rather have the Z5 Premium, its just better in every aspect for me. The S6s software ruins it, but hopefully CM/AOSP will come for the phone.
Koostis said:
Hi guys,
I'm thinking of getting a S6 instead of my Sony Z2 and therefore I've got some questions:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-How durable are the both front and back glasses?
- VERY durable. i have had all the xpera flagships until z3+, but all had scratches , but s6 don't, and there is none on the camera. From durability s6 is well built.
-By previously owning a few Sammys I've learned, that they get easily clogged with trash and start lagging. Have any of you experienced this?
- of course. the memory management issue is still there, BUT it was there on z3+ too, and can be handled, dont't forget Android 6.0 is coming ( tons of light themes can be also applied)
-Is battery life really that bad? I've heard rumours, that sometimes even a day is too much for it.
- I'm running Simcity build it, all the day. And therefore i have to charge 2x a DAY. NEVER used this phone generally only for phone/text/browsing. Maybe those can handle bat. drain. Only my z3 was better, but that was slower in 3d apps. But bear in mind, THE FASTES charging on the market is for Exynos 7420 devies , such as s6. It can catch up 20-40% of charing within minutes !!!!
-Overall, how happy are you with your device? Would you buy it again, or choose, for example, G4, M9 or whatever?
- deffinetly yes. There is q810 devices OR slower 808 devices on the market now. THEY ARE ALL WORST than S6 or other Exynos 7420 devices. I always bought Xperias, but 810 leads me not to buy. M9, Nexus 6p also suffering becouse of the wrong q810. I have tried the G4 several times, but slower in 3d related apps, it has slower specs from everything.
hi my note 5's screen got broke so I need a new smartphone
with my price tag the only solid options are the hTC 10 and the Huawei Mate 9
I found some reviews bashing the headphone jack performance of the mate 9 so for comparison with the galaxy s7 for example or the note 5 for those who owned both of the devices how is it.
also the gaming performance how is it ?for example how much fps you get with Riptide Renegade on high settings
and also I would like to know if there is a flaw or a problem you encountered with this phone.
sorry for being long and I would really appreciate your help.
thanks in advance
AlMaghraby said:
hi my note 5's screen got broke so I need a new smartphone
with my price tag the only solid options are the hTC 10 and the Huawei Mate 9
I found some reviews bashing the headphone jack performance of the mate 9 so for comparison with the galaxy s7 for example or the note 5 for those who owned both of the devices how is it.
also the gaming performance how is it ?for example how much fps you get with Riptide Renegade on high settings
and also I would like to know if there is a flaw or a problem you encountered with this phone.
sorry for being long and I would really appreciate your help.
thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally i have no complaints. There are minor ticks here and there but thats as expected. HEadphone jack is fine on my unit. BT is really nice. Battery is great. i avg 9-10 hours SOT per charge and thats over 2 days for me. ( 1d 18hr )
Ive tweaked a few things. i do not get push notifications unless it is from a text.
I also do not use FB apps. Instagram or SC. ( use Metal for FB and website for instagram )
ONLY use the chaarger included with it. or the one huawei makes for car charging.
Reception is great. Small things here n there on Tmo but it works well.
Camera is Excellent. i was 15ft away from a car at a show and in the photo you can read the tire sidewall!
CONS:
Limited cases and Glass coveres
Limited charger options
Trickle charge issue. ( old HTC things. unplug for a few minutes then plug back in for about 5-10 more. gives a true full charge )
I have a 128gb SD in and i love having 183gb to store anything on.
DO NOT use the internal batteyr estimator. Not accurate ( USE GSAM )
Compared to my Note 5 this is THE BEST phone i have ever used. Im going to sell my Note 5, eave sprint and stick just to Tmobile. or ATT idk yet.
Can't argue with this.
On Amazon (in Germany) you can find now plenty of cases for Mate 9. I can recommend the Spigen rugged case that I purchased lately and it is really good. Glass protection is indeed a big problem: most of the items that claim they are for the Mate 9 are to narrow and the few ones that are having the right size are of a very bad quality.
The phone itself is great, better than everything I had so far (my last phone was an LG G4). The screen is "only" full HD, but to be frank, I do not see the need to have a higher resolution on a phone (it still can make 4K videos if this is what you need). Video recording quality is really great: the most beautiful colors I have seen on a phone video recording so far. Wide aperture photos are a hit among my family and friends (I am the only one now in charge to take photos in my family when we go out ). ANTUTU benchmark almost 120k - faster than my colleague's Galaxy S7 - so, whatever you want to do with it, it will do it great.
The only thing that I miss sometimes is the support for MHL (but it has other mirroring options). And I would have liked to have the option to hide the Android navigation keys in all applications but the screen is anyhow huge so, this is not a big issue either since the keys are anyhow hidden when you play videos or I read a book.
so what about notifications problems that is all over internet? is that solved already?
at least europe versions.. I want all my notification instantly like on other phones, no matter is that whatsapp or something else..
And is it true that notification are gone from lockscreen after unlocking phone or just putting screen on to see what is it?
i'm also considering to get this model
digitall1982 said:
so what about notifications problems that is all over internet? is that solved already?
at least europe versions.. I want all my notification instantly like on other phones, no matter is that whatsapp or something else..
And is it true that notification are gone from lockscreen after unlocking phone or just putting screen on to see what is it?
i'm also considering to get this model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notification problem happens with the Chinese version, as far as I know, i have the EU version and i get all the notifications.
Honestly, even now, this is the BEST phone there is, the first phone i don't need root as there are workaround for everything, performance, and battery and top notch, camera is great but slightly disappointing in low light, screen is big apparently now "old school" and very sharp and bright, stereo speakers are great, the DAC is average at best but still decent.
Fantastic phone, camera, battery life, screen, sound of speakers, build! Not so awesome is the update history of Huawei. Updates come late and limited.
The only real drawback is the lack of developers. I had hoped for LineageOS, but I think that boat is torpedoed and sunk.
Still GREAT value!
Battery is stellar. I've been in bed all day sick, with my phone by my side. Almost at 10 hours screen on time at 13% battery left. Bluetooth has been used, connected on WiFi.
It's the best phone I've EVER had. Well, S3 note 4 and G2 are up there.
The HD screen is fine. I had the G4 S7 previously. Don't miss the screens.
The video recording format is irritating in that 2k won't upload to YouTube. It's too modern.
Definitely give the phone a go. I bought the Chinese 6gig 128gig version converted to international ROM. Have contemplated selling but just can't let it go! Even my mate with his S8 loves it. Oh, and it's not got a curved screen, another plus for me!
Didn't want to buy a phone with non removable battery.
Pretty much a non issue with this phone as it's hot such a great battery and a sensible screen resolution so doesn't drain fast.
The camera bokeh effect is simply the best on the market by a mile. Low light is mediocre though.
Massive screen. Great speed. Phenomenal finger print sensor.
I hated the soft keys but you learn to hate them less.
Overall delighted with this thing.
Doesn't slow down. If anything it goes faster with time which is odd but just what they seek to claim!
what about 4k video and auto upload to google photos? is that solved or it must be converted into h264?
This is the best phone I've ever had. Coming from an s7 and wife has s8 plus and still use a note 5 for our home phone. It's without question my favorite! Screen still looks fantastic for 1080. The battery is off the chain. I could easily go 2 days and have, just generally charge it before I go to bed and is always above 50%. Fast!!!! Smooth!!! I don't know how they do it, but next to Apple this is the must fluid phone out there. Heck, I'd say it's smoother than my friends 7S. Only paid 400 for it and it's dual sim to boot.
Honestly can't say enough about it. Only get rid of it if mate 10 is better somehow. I am intrigued by less bezels.
Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk
It's the best phone AFTER the B186 and up update, before that battery life was ****. I am on the 190 now with the phone updating to 193. It is the best phone in terms of battery life, performance and hardware/software. Too bad the update method is ****... like a HUGE TURD that third parties have to fill the gaps on this. Oh it's also **** that some of the huawei apps are in chinese (like the store) or whatever... It sucks BIG TIME.
I'm not a fan myself.
The Huawei android skin is yet another confusing and pointless skin that just causes issues and degrades Android. Go for a Google phone and have Android in it's true glory rather than in a compromised and inferior veneer.
Oh yes and it looks like I can 'kiss goodbye" to any updates from Huawei, with the Mate 10 phone now round the corner.
My last Android security patch was for April.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Honor 7X, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Honor 7X is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Honor made a phone with impressive phone with great build quality at such price range without any doubt.
Hands on to Honor
Coming from Samsung galaxy S7 Edge and LG v20 ( sold all flagship phones because of family issues ) i can say i am in love with this phone. Really nice display. Crisp and sharp. Good battery life with normal usage. Overall very happy with Honor 7X
I got this mobile recently. I am in love with this mobile. Camera is great and overall smooth performance. Battery has power saving mode for running more than 30 hours, with full charge
fast and reliable for daily use
Came from a Nexus 6P of two years and I love this phone!!
Love how easy EMUI theming is and I can make it look like stock android if I want to all without rooting and without the slowness that I found substratum can cause.
Easily getting 5+ hours of SOT on a daily basis; and only time I've noticed any sort of lag is when I haven't used the phone while sleeping; it unlocks quickly via fingerprint but the first app i open takes a second longer to open then its back to it's snappy self.
Love it! Thing is a beast!
Joined the crowd today with the Mate SE, WOW! What a Great Phone!
Sure, it's not a flagship, but it feels like one! and if it does most of what you *really* need, with such a great price, It's astounding really. I've spent some time Mate SE vs MI A1. It's subjective of course, but the SE has all the US bands, bottom line, if I'm out in the boonies, I want the best odds of being able to make that call.
Have been using it for an hour and did app updates, map downloads, etc. Hasn't heated up at all, cool as could be. Very Happy with this choice!
Just got this phone cuz my Galaxy Note broke, and i needed something ASAP. Although i didn´t expect too much from a phone in this price range, I´m still bothered by the mediocre camera, and a poor display with horrible view angles. I´ll keep it for a bit, the build quality seems decent, but that´s all.
Just got it 2 weeks ago. Good bye all other budget phones. It rocks
My Galaxy S7 committed suicide about three weeks ago and still having payments on it and trying to get out of AT&T without having to get into more payments this was an AMAZING choice. does everything i need it too and some. works way better than my S7 IMO, One week of use and i love it!
I wish I had heard of this company before buying all these second hand Samung/Motorola phones through craigslist just to save money, when I can buy a comparable phone brand new for a price that is cheaper. This phone is just an improved version of the Honor 7X.
My review is based off replacing a Samsung Note 4 and my work phone is a Galaxy S7.
Battery:
The battery life is superb on this. Seeing how my Note 4 had all this bloatware and these Samsung extras out of the box. The Note 4 couldn't even last through out the day with constant usage. This phone lasts through out the day, set it down without charging it for the night and it still has power.
Battery life is about the same as the S7, though.
Design:
Doesn't feel like a cheap, cricket phone. Feels like it has some weight, some heft to it. I am also impressed by the fingerprint technology on the back of the handset. It is much better and responsive then what the Galaxy S7 has. I never had to 'retry' my fingerprint as if it didn't register it.
Communications:
Haven't noticed any difference in terms of call quality or signal. Yet, my carrier is AT&T. The only concern is that the phone doesn't support 5G Wi-Fi.
Camera.
Unless something was wrong with my Samsung Note 4, this camera is much better than the Note, but similar to what the S7 has, or maybe even less.
Display:
I can't tell if this is part of the android or part of Huawei, but there are animations in the display which are interesting. From where you can see the display brightness slider move automatically to where texts seem to 'bounce' when you scroll through them. There is little bloatware and I like the drawer design of the apps. Screen is also bigger than my Note 4.
Also some people state the charging cable is different, yet my cord that charges my samsung phones can charge this phone.
At the end of the day, this phone can do everything a $1,200 phone can do.
Just bought new one from amazon, I will give my review very soon.
I've had it since the day after Prime Day. Love it. My only complaint is some of the bloatware. I also find the organizations of Settings in EMUI somewhat annoying. (It's like 4 clicks to get to the screen where you can choose a new wifi network.) Overall, this is a great phone and an incredible value.
Phone still going strong. My only major issue is that GPS is horrible with this phone. From Waze to Google Maps, the signal isn't consistent and drops when it comes to GPS. Never experienced anything like this, and it's been like this day one.
Great cpu performance. great battery life.
Poor audio output. Volume boosting apps don't work.
Rooting was easy, reverting... still need to wade through that.
Screen replacement wasn't too difficult, cheap (and cheap quality) parts on ebay. BEWARE! The battery pack is a gel pack that's glued on to the chassis. I ripped the battery open trying to remove it and had to order a new one.
The chassis is FLIMSY. After disassembling the phone to replace the screen, I saw that 1. the back cover is a flimsy bit of plastin (plastic or tin) and 2. the main chassis itself is a weak and flimsy bit of cast pot metal. This phone will bend and break very easily, which is what I suspect caused the screen to break so easily.
Overall, great performer, the sound issue may be addressed with newer Android, the chassis is in need of serious reinforcement.
The Honor 7X was one of the best budget phones of it's time. For under $200, this phone is a really great deal.
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?