Database Info

Worth switching from Samsung Galaxy S7 (Exynos Version) to Blu Vivo X?

I currently have a Samsung Galaxy S7 (Exynos Version) and been thinking of switching to the Blu Vivo X for the 4010+ mah battery, 64gb internal storage, and 4 cameras. Both phone has 4 GB and rams and an Octacore CPU. The Blu Vivo X is currently more than a $100 less than the Samsung Galaxy S7 (Exynos Version).
What's your thought on the Blu Vivo X and would it be worth switching to it from a Samsung Galaxy S7 (Exynos Version), even though the Blu Vivo X uses a 720p screen, and Blu has been known for having adwares in their phones in the past?
specs info:
- Samsung Galaxy S7 (Exynos Version) gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s7-7821.php
- Blu Vivo X gsmarena.com/blu_vivo_x-9072.php

My thoughts (which are only MY thoughts, I'm not pretending to have the absolute truth):
- Blu Vivo X has a mediatek CPU which isn't at the same level as Exynos or Snapdragon CPU, still it will do the job.
- Blu is know for adware but is also known for having malwares installed
- 4010mAh battery, I would be very careful with that number. A high quality manufacturer will announce the capacity of their battery and you can almost be sure that it is true. Now, when you go to less known, less top quality manufacturers, when they say 3000mAh, you test the battery and it's in fact like a 2000mAh. So before making a choice, find concrete tests which tells you how much time you have with a full charge. Don't listen to people on Youtube with no test protocol who say "Yeah, I can last 2 days with it" because you can't know their perception of things, you can't know if they have been paid, you can't know what they do with their phone. If I turn off Wifi, LTE, and keep the screen of on my OnePlus One, I can last 1 week! Now if I use it normally, I last 1 day, 2 days at the most, but real screen on time is like 6 hours. So be careful and don't trust fanboys or people who just throw numbers like this.
About battery capacity, I give you an example I have read some years ago when Xioami released their external battery pack (10.000mAh). When tested, it was almost good but more around 9000mAh. They had compared to unknown brands found on Amazon, and some batteries announced like 10.000mAh, had in fact less than 5000mAh in capacity. So be careful, Blu isn't such a great highly recommended trusty manufacturer, so I would tend to think their numbers are enhanced for the commercial speech, but in real like, will a 4000mAh battery last a lot longer than a 3000mAh from Samsung, I doubt it.
So in the end, what do you think you will do with the Vivo X than you can't do with the Galaxy S7? That's the real question. You want more storage space? The Exynos version of the S7 has a SD card slot. More battery, better buy an external battery pack, it will cost you less.
That's my point of view, I would never trade a flagship from a very well known brand some model from a brand known for cheap phones and who put Mediatek processors in their phones. I highly doubt that the Blu Vivo X will have internal memory that has the same speed as a Galaxy S7, I highly doubt the pictures from the Vivo X would beat the S7, I also highly doubt you will have more "Screen on time" with a Vivo X as Samsung has spent time to optimize their system (you can also debloat it to gain battery life by removing all Samsung crapware). That's only my point of view, but I don't think it's a good idea. You should make your own idea by reading LOT (not just 1 or 2) reviews on the Blu Vivo X, watching videos on Youtube and read between lines, don't trust people that aren't even tech journalists ; )
EDIT: Here are some interesting reviews I've found on Amazon of people not only putting 5 stars and saying "great phone!":
Review 1: "This phone does exactly what the description says. It takes Ok pictures, is thin and comfortable in the hand, and is relatively easy to use. However, the processor speed and user interface, are not up to par with a Snapdragon or Galaxy S. I thought it would be a good idea to upgrade my Galaxy S7 to the VIVO X. I was not impressed. The system response was slower than what I'm used to and the UI just feels "cheap" to me. On a brighter note, the front camera was awesome for using Google Duo to talk to my son while I'm on the road. Its not a bad phone, I just feel like my S7 is a better phone."
Review 2: "I'm pretty conflicted with this phone. I want to adore it, however there are some pretty major setbacks that I'm not sure if I can look past. With that being said, I'd still recommend this for the price.
----------
Pros:
- The screen is big but you don't get a big phone. I've strayed away from 6" because I'm a little person, but I quite like holding this because it's skinny enough that small hands can hold it and also enjoy a "big boy" screen.
- It's smooth. It's definitely faster and more smooth than my last phone (HTC Desire Eye). Installing apps is lightning fast, scrolling through google is a breeze, and having multiple apps in the background doesn't slow it down.
- Sound quality is quite good. It's bass-y, which I like. It picks up the slightest noise though, which could be great or bad depending on the situation I guess. It goes quite loud as well.
- Plenty of storage. You'll be able to fit thousands of photos, songs, and quite a lot of apps onto this phone.
- Fingerprint scanner is awesome. I've never had a phone that did this, so it's kind of fun.
- Messaging notification drop-down is AMAZING. I LOVE this feature. I was pleasantly surprised when someone texted me and I was able to read/reply from the drop-down, all while staying on whatever page.
- You can do split-screen. I think it depends on the app though. In theory, it's great that you can have two pages up at a time.
- Android nougat is so nice. I had Android 5.0 with my last phone. Upgrading to 7 is definitely what I needed, and hoping for an update to Android 8 in the next year, maybe?
- The actual feel of the phone is high-end. It feels like a top-rated phone, but without the pricetag.
- All of Google's apps come already installed. I personally don't use many of Google's features, so luckily it's easy to remove them and add some extra storage to the phone.
- It came with a screen protector already on, an extra screen protector in the box, and a case as well! It also came with the standard charging accessories and some earbuds.
- Fast startup/reboot. The initial startup is a bit slow and worrisome, but it's just the one time as it gets itself ready for you! After that, turning it on is quick.
Cons:
- The camera. So many problems with it. I'll go into detail at the end of this post. This is the biggest obstacle holding me back from possibly sticking with this. My last phone had a superb camera that was clear, could focus on micro surroundings, adjusted perfectly to light... And this camera fails in all those areas.
- The resolution IS as advertised. No you won't be getting the clearest of words on your screen, but it's passable. It's noticeable if you switch from a better resolution phone like I did though.
- The lack of cases is strange, I must admit. Hopefully some more come out soon.
- No theme, at least not that I could tell. I think all of my past Androids of recent years have had an option for different interface themes. This doesn't seem to have this feature.
- I couldn't access ANY ringtones/notification alerts. I had to download a ringtone app.
- 14GB of my 64GB was already taken up. I can't figure out what's taking up so much space. I've gotten rid of any bloatware (luckily wasn't a lot, so great job, BLU), but 14 is still a lot.
----------
I'd love to give it 5 stars, but there's just one thing that's so jarring to me, and I don't understand it at all... When you use your camera (back and front), the window on your screen is crisp and beautiful (back is, front is lackluster). But when you go to look at the image, it's blurry. It's like it goes from the supposed 13MP+, down to maybe an 8MP (at best) once the picture is actually taken. I'm pretty miffed at this. I mean, really, the camera specs are a lie.
To go along with the camera, it also has a hard time focusing on things close to it. For example, selfies are a joke. You get that perma-airbrushed look even without the beauty filter on. I have freckles, but you can't see them in the photos. Some different camera apps make the clarity and focusing a bit better, but you'd more than likely have to deal with obnoxious ads unless you want to pay for a different camera app.
----------
Overall, I'm not exactly happy with it, but I'm not mad either. I really wish the camera was better. I switched from a 2014 phone which excelled in that area, so it's sort of hard to downgrade after spending a couple hundred bucks. I did upgrade in many areas which is nice though. I sort of want to return the item, but I might keep it. Luckily I'm not a huge selfie taker, so I may not care too much about the problem a week from now."
So all in all, I've also read some reviews from tech websites, the Vivo X seems to be a good phone FOR THE PRICE. So if I were you, I wouldn't expect a 250$ phone to have the same quality of components of a 700$ phone. Mediatek processor, Only Gorilla glass 3, LCD screen not Amoled, Camera with only "ok quality". If you extrapolate, that can give you an hint of the quality of the internal memory, of the quality of the RAM used, the quality of the GPS chip (will it fix your position as fast as a S7? Don't know, but I doubt it).
To me, your question is similar as saying "I have a Ford Mustang, is it worth switching to a "add name of any common cheap car" ?" You see what I mean?

No way!!! Why you would do that? It`s more like a downgrade.. If you really want a change, something stock, more storage, more ram, quickly software updates and maybe a better battery backup, you can change the s7 for a OnePlus 5T, or simply you can wait for OnePlus 6 which is launching in june..

cristiandiaconu6 said:
No way!!! Why you would do that? It`s more like a downgrade.. If you really want a change, something stock, more storage, more ram, quickly software updates and maybe a better battery backup, you can change the s7 for a OnePlus 5T, or simply you can wait for OnePlus 6 which is launching in june..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it's true, these are the best alternative to my point of view too, but the only thing is that it's not on the same budget level (250$ for the Blu Vivo X and 500$ or more for the OnePlus phones). Though, you summed up all I said very well, S7 to Vivo X is a downgrade.

All the Reviews- found a good review add it here

As the title says, this thread is one place for all the reviews of the P20 Pro. So if you find a good review, or have one yourself, add it here.
This is my main review of the Huawei P20 Pro after using it for 6 weeks, now on newer firmware too. I show the differences in the newer firmware along with the photos. There are over 300 photos in my review, plus links to my over 17 articles covering the phone. https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/05/1...weeks-using-new-firmware-300-camera-showcase/
I’ll add some that I’ve found so far.
Huawei P20 Pro Camera Review - Every mode tested photo & video https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/0...eview-showcase-every-video-photo-mode-tested/
My first impressions, incl 17 min video of tips & tricks, camera & audio https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/0...ions-incl-camera-audio-my-top-10-tips-tricks/
Huawei P20 Pro night/pitch dark camera analysis of auto, night & pro modes https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/06/huawei-p20-pro-shooting-at-night-with-the-camera-its-a-beast/
Huawei P20 Pro Top cases review https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/22/huawei-p20-pro-top-cases-reviewed/
190 Photos from the P20 Pro put together as a camera showcase -
https://youtu.be/BZKvSQ9sHvs
Camera shots analysis before and after using Adobe Lightroom https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/03/3...om-the-phone-adobe-lightroom-edited-versions/
Huawei P20 Audio Review and compared against iPhone X, S9+ and Pixel 2 XL https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/1...iphone-x-samsung-galaxy-s9-google-pixel-2-xl/
Digital Trends https://www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/huawei-p20-pro-review/
The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/6/17198708/huawei-p20-pro-review
Wired http://www.wired.co.uk/article/huawei-p20-pro-review
Techradar https://www.techradar.com/reviews/huawei-p20-pro-review
Pocket lint https://www.pocket-lint.com/phones/...p20-pro-review-specs-cameras-price-best-phone
OP6 vs P20 Pro vs Honor 10 - 3 way camera comparison https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/06/0...ra-comparison-photo-video-a-winner-is-picked/

AndroidPit - P20 Pro Display Review (links in article to reviews for camera and battery life)
https://www.androidpit.com/huawei-p20-pro-display-review

Enjoyed that review. Thanks.

The Register
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/09/huawei_p20_pro_review/
The Hufferington Post
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...-huffpost-verdict_uk_5ac768cfe4b09d0a1192ba0f
These reviews are negative , but do match with my own personal experience with the device. Good to share so users have a more rounded view of the device.
Such a shame as everything else about the phone is bloody fantastic

Tiger33 said:
The Register
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/09/huawei_p20_pro_review/
The Hufferington Post
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...-huffpost-verdict_uk_5ac768cfe4b09d0a1192ba0f
These reviews are negative , but do match with my own personal experience with the device. Good to share so users have a more rounded view of the device.
Such a shame as everything else about the phone is bloody fantastic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was what I am afraid of, brilliant night shots but not so great at other sceneries. Was so disappointed in my Mate 10 Pro who filtered everything with Huaweis terrible post processing making details disappear and faces looking painted in watercolor and colors nowhere what they look in real life.
Is it possible to turn of all this terrible AI functions ?

I've used it in every way possible with great results. This is the biggest photo gallery from shots taken on the P20 Pro by many people created by Jonathan Morris.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qU1EUEeVoPd12WUj2

Tiger33 said:
The Register
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/04/09/huawei_p20_pro_review/
The Hufferington Post
https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...-huffpost-verdict_uk_5ac768cfe4b09d0a1192ba0f
These reviews are negative , but do match with my own personal experience with the device. Good to share so users have a more rounded view of the device.
Such a shame as everything else about the phone is bloody fantastic
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different opinions are welcomed if constructive. Not everyone can like every phone. It would be boring if we only liked one phone ?
However, the Register review is a poorly written , and more click bait. I didn’t realised it was the same review called out on twitter by one of the key reviewers, Alex Dobie, at Android Central, being of poor content etc.. I think the comment that it lacks micro sd card is a major flaw is daft. Does that mean every iPhone sold, Pixel Xiaomi etc that’s uses only internal storage is flawed. Internal storage is faster and more reliable. However, I do understand some people like a micro sd card and might need one too.

gavinfabl said:
Different opinions are welcomed if constructive. Not everyone can like every phone. It would be boring if we only liked one phone [emoji3]
However, the Register review is a poorly written , and more click bait. I didn’t realised it was the same review called out on twitter by one of the key reviewers, Alex Dobie, at Android Central, being of poor content etc.. I think the comment that it lacks micro sd card is a major flaw is daft. Does that mean every iPhone sold, Pixel Xiaomi etc that’s uses only internal storage is flawed. Internal storage is faster and more reliable. However, I do understand some people like a micro sd card and might need one too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But Gavin, don’t you think it is strange to have SD as option in the P20 Lite but not in the flagship P20 Pro? I think it is as very strange and bad choice from Huawei. If the P20 lite didn’t have it I would not be as silly not to have it on the Pro but for now I think it is plain stupid

No. The lite is nothing close to the Pro other than in name. It's a budget offering only and therefore cheaper pricing is needed.
When you're taking photos and having tons of computational photography internal storage is the best option by miles. Same reason other top end phones do this.

gavinfabl said:
No. The lite is nothing close to the Pro other than in name. It's a budget offering only and therefore cheaper pricing is needed.
When you're taking photos and having tons of computational photography internal storage is the best option by miles. Same reason other top end phones do this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don’t buy that thinking. People will see the P20 Lite and Pro as the same kind of phone and don’t understand why the cheaper one has SD support and not the expensive one. Already heard lots of people thinking this is stupid. And the SD card is fast enough for most of the camera options so that the internal storage is best by miles is a bad expression for most scenarios. They should have let people decide if they wanna use a SD card or not. Even Samsung is letting people use SD card in the S9 series

Just done my audio review covering the speakers, Bluetooth, and dongle and then compared it against the iPhone X, S9+ and Pixel 2 XL and also tried using some external headphone amp/DACs with the P20 Pro https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/1...iphone-x-samsung-galaxy-s9-google-pixel-2-xl/

gavinfabl said:
I've used it in every way possible with great results. This is the biggest photo gallery from shots taken on the P20 Pro by many people created by Jonathan Morris.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qU1EUEeVoPd12WUj2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The gallery is absolutely impressive.
However what is of interest if these shots were taken as a "point and shoot" or if the pro mode was used. For me, I hardly have time to fiddle around with settings and would prefer to get a good shot with automatic controls ( most of the time )

nickfury said:
The gallery is absolutely impressive.
However what is of interest if these shots were taken as a "point and shoot" or if the pro mode was used. For me, I hardly have time to fiddle around with settings and would prefer to get a good shot with automatic controls ( most of the time )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most are point and shoot and by several people as well.

gavinfabl said:
Most are point and shoot and by several people as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that is truly awesome then.
The only thing stopping me with getting this phone is EMUI. There are so many quirks in terms of notification issues, widget issues etc that is just a pain to deal with on a daily basis.

nickfury said:
Well that is truly awesome then.
The only thing stopping me with getting this phone is EMUI. There are so many quirks in terms of notification issues, widget issues etc that is just a pain to deal with on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not seeing any quirks with this newest version of EMUI. It's a joy to have TBH

gavinfabl said:
I'm not seeing any quirks with this newest version of EMUI. It's a joy to have TBH
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I might be wrong, but in the p20 pro, mate 10, mate 9 and p10 forums, a lot of people have issues with widgets and notifications not appearing etc.
I have personally had the same experience when I had the mate 9 and so I was particularly looking to see if they were resolved. Reading through this forum it didn't seem the case. However you mention otherwise, so I am a bit confused

I have had the Mate 9 and Mate 10 Pro and there were issues.
This is the first version of EMUI that I am happy with. Phone is my main phone and works brilliant.

And I have over 130 apps installed.

gavinfabl said:
I have had the Mate 9 and Mate 10 Pro and there were issues.
This is the first version of EMUI that I am happy with. Phone is my main phone and works brilliant.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clarifying that. This certainly is piquing my interest now.
Just in terms of your setup, do you have a custom launcher on it? Also did you have to exclude apps from battery optimization to get notifications consistently ( especially even when the phone is in deep sleep) ?
Thanks again for your help and input

nickfury said:
Thanks for clarifying that. This certainly is piquing my interest now.
Just in terms of your setup, do you have a custom launcher on it? Also did you have to exclude apps from battery optimization to get notifications consistently ( especially even when the phone is in deep sleep) ?
Thanks again for your help and input
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using default launcher, and not had to exclude any apps. See this post of mine, video shows every app installed https://gavinsgadgets.com/2018/04/0...ions-incl-camera-audio-my-top-10-tips-tricks/

Finally got the LM-G710ULM (USA Unlocked) Loving it so far!

Mine is a Platinum Grey, Got it from B&H for 650$, with freebies like AVODA screen protector & AVODA semi transparent Case. I also got the headphones which came in the box, where I thought non carrier G7s wouldn't have the headphones included. Awesome pricing by LG for a 2018 flagship, because, the upcoming LG V40 wouldn't be affordable for more than 6 months due to it's launch. Been a fan of LG for a few years such that other brands aren't exciting as LG and I will always stick to LG forever due to it's innovation (not copying others) & I hope future LG flagships wouldn't be underrated as the current. Was coming from an LG G4. Sadly LG doesn't unlock bootloader except on US & EU single SIM variants, so I might be one of the few Indian customers to own US Unlocked variant, (Very impatient that EU has root as well as bootloader unlock and it's been 2-3 months, the G710ULM hasn't got bootloader unlock!). Aware of the launch date of the G710ULM was on 11th July, I was expecting official bootloader from LG in 1 month's time i.e mid August 2018!. Did LG stop supporting US unlocked since the LG V30?? Because before the V30, the previous US models got official unlock!. I was on V10B on unboxing the hyped beast, now currently on V10F (Android Security Patch is JULY 2018).
THE FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE AMAZING. ALSO MIND BLOWING.
The DISPLAY is super crisp, incredibly bright under bright conditions. Superior viewing angles with ZERO color distortion and screen bleed. Wow, kudos to LG for such a display. MLCD I prefer over to AMOLED.
The SOUND from the BOOMBOX speakers is stunning clear and loud, hardly some distortion at max. I also tested the DTS X 3D Surround when connecting to the wireless Bluetooth headphones. Wow it offers an audio experience that had stunned my friends who were foolish Samsung fanboys.
PERFORMANCE, One of the fastest in 2018, is the Speed You Need. not the overrated One Plus 6, I prefer the LG UX over Stock Android, it's close to Stock Android but with more features, the Samsung Experience or TouchWiz is ugly, laggy, cartoonish UI. LG UX for the win. The beast is smooth and snappy and will improve better with software updates. If the damned LG had unlocked the bootloader, the devs would give us custom kernels, play with the CPU Governors, imagine getting even better smooth performance from a rooted device. Also full control of it. Devs please allow us to utilise the beast with more freedom since we paid full price for it. I personally don't like custom ROMS like Lineage , a stock custom ROM with custom kernel together would be incredible. I'm waiting for root for G710ULM, waiting, waiting, waiting! (Settings/Developer Options/ tick on "Force GPU Rendering" & "Disable HW Overlays" makes the beast smoother, snappier.
BATTERY LIFE is incredible, yes I vary between 5-6 hours of SOT (also AccuBattery app states between 5.30-6 hours, so it's almost accurate), better than expected, a big 6.1 MLCD with WRGB display is supposed to be battery greedy, we all know LG optimises battery life, software performance, camera, everything better than it's competitors. It's no LED display, but LG did it's wonders. The charge speeds is just rapid, but it's no DASH CHARGE. A heavy user here, I have not noticed lesser battery life with Facebook installed, no complaints from a 3000 mAh but if I owned Galaxy S9, it's little worse than 2018's best. Wonder what will LG V40 gives?
CAMERA is smart and addictive to use, the stock AI cam understands your needs before shooting a picture, Low light shots? The Super Bright Camera at very dark conditions blew me, I have no problem with the principle the 4 pixels combining to UltraPixel resulting to lesser detail, but compensates to epic low light shots. Then I downloaded GCam from cstark27 at XDA, the details are even equal or better than the King Google Pixel 2 XL, I feel it can compete with the upcoming Pixel 3, who knows. The wide angle of the GCam (Google Camera) makes me go crazy, just love the LG G7 even more! On both modes, there's no loss in detail at picture zoom. Easily mind blowing.
The biometrics such as Face Unlock or Finger Print scan. They are super fast, not any millescond of delay. To my joy, I watched some of the downloaded videos from YouTube at 4K60 FPS, the viewing is insane! The Snapdragon 845 is a monster. Some of you complaint of LG's slow updates such no 4K60 FPS recording, I found it at video's manual mode, I hope for timely updates from LG, like smoother software, 4K60 at auto mode etc. I love the AOD, wished it was a little brighter, the quick controls of the AOD like torch is convenient. For a faster LED notification blink, app called "Light Flow" works well. If there was root, BBS app can help us find out the wakelocks, on what's draining the battery. So, people, stop complaining that your model didn't get root etc. Do some research and get either USA or EU single SIM from LG. Make the full use of it. Helps us understand our devices even better.
So this is the perfect smartphone before the launch of the LG V40. Period! :highfive:

Ha ha, you're such a buttlicker.

how is battery life now after a few months?
Screen bleed?
signal strength?
Picture quality ?

Brighter85 said:
how is battery life now after a few months?
Screen bleed?
signal strength?
Picture quality ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have had my ULM for 5 months, which is me leaving the Pixel 2(not XL).
Battery life is/was almost double that of my P2.
Mine did not have the screen bleed issue i read about AFTER ordering lol
Screen quality is nice, camera quality sucks compared to the P2, along with if you are trying to grab a fast pic of something before you miss it, there is a huuge delay from the button to saving the pic. I have missed a lot of shots due to that.
Not happy that the ULM is STILL 8.0 and no root...Would love a root with a clean non LG rom
Aside from that, i still love my g7 more than the P2 (though the p2 Ui was more responsive and scrolling was smoother)
(although i have a P3 XL coming monday to replace the g7 lol)

LG G7 Thin Q features - how to?
1. Pls advise what texting app to use that has a "undo send" feature?
2. To sync the phone with laptop computer, must both devices be LG products?
3. Any suggestion for "calendar" that is NOT Google controlled and NOT on the Cloud?
New to LG, thanks for any help

Can G7 US version bootloader be unlocked?

skullzaflare said:
I have had my ULM for 5 months, which is me leaving the Pixel 2(not XL).
Battery life is/was almost double that of my P2.
Mine did not have the screen bleed issue i read about AFTER ordering lol
Screen quality is nice, camera quality sucks compared to the P2, along with if you are trying to grab a fast pic of something before you miss it, there is a huuge delay from the button to saving the pic. I have missed a lot of shots due to that.
Not happy that the ULM is STILL 8.0 and no root...Would love a root with a clean non LG rom
Aside from that, i still love my g7 more than the P2 (though the p2 Ui was more responsive and scrolling was smoother)
(although i have a P3 XL coming monday to replace the g7 lol)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should definitely help us crack this bad boy then! Ppl are crossflashing with octopus box and I think we almost have the correct dll files for other methods,
We should be able to generate a false key after we crossflash then, flash our carriers modems through twrp. The tmobile thread is leading the way.

alecthenice said:
you should definitely help us crack this bad boy then! Ppl are crossflashing with octopus box and I think we almost have the correct dll files for other methods,
We should be able to generate a false key after we crossflash then, flash our carriers modems through twrp. The tmobile thread is leading the way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I remember assisting with the LG optimus G. Talk about a trip, i helped figure out where the imei was stored
(was a lot of blanked out imei phones in the process lol)
I honestly don't remember anything more than that though, so i wouldnt really be any help

skullzaflare said:
I remember assisting with the LG optimus G. Talk about a trip, i helped figure out where the imei was stored
(was a lot of blanked out imei phones in the process lol)
I honestly don't remember anything more than that though, so i wouldnt really be any help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I feel it hahaha well we have a telegram group at https://t.me/joinchat/ElHlskvRECrWCHVKYC1jGQ if you would like to represent for your version to be rooted!

Does google pay works for you on ULM device ?

I've had my G7 for a couple of weeks taking advantage of the Google Fi Black Friday price (350) and upgraded from a Pixel 1. Form factor and screen is great however I still much prefer AMOLED. Its running 8.0 which does feel like a step backwards and security patch level is September 2018. The UI isn't overly burdensome although I much prefer stock Android. I also think the extra LG stuff slows down the phone as subjectively its just not as fluid. I've installed Pixel Dark theme and Rootless launcher which I prefer. I'm not thrilled with the sound quality of the earpiece on phone calls, probably because the speaker is quite small. I'd love to see this phone with an Android One ROM and maybe if LG ever releases a bootloader unlock it will happen. In many ways it reminds my of my old Nexus 5x with a longer screen. Perhaps I'll think better of it when/if LG ever updates the phone to 9.0 although at this point I view it as just a holding pattern until 2019 devices are released.

Dis00rder said:
Does google pay works for you on ULM device ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same issue. Safety net test says CST profile match - false

Pixel 5 - Pros, Cons, what's left in between

So, according to the new store page, in comparison to the pixel 4/xl they cut
- Soli
- Faceunlock
- Pixel Neural Core (WHAT?! Why?!)
- Tele-Lens
- Highend Chipset
- Active Edge
- QHD+ Display (from 537 ppi down to 432 ppi )
- ip68 rating (ty u/kelderic, reddit)
And they 'gave' us
+ bigger battery
+ fingerprint (why not both?!)
+ 5G
+ wide (remember Google from last year? "We don't need wide, tele is good")
- Measly +2 GB Ram, still no storage available beyond 128 GB
What do you guys think 'bout that?
Compared to the Pixel 4/xl this just feels like a downgrade, even to the Pixel 3xl it's no real upgrade. Most people who think budget will not turn to this phone and the highend-spenders will not be pleased by this. I don't see googles angle hear, however they haven't shown any good angle recently anyway. And the heck did they remove the neural core? Plus getting a weaker soc.. just madnes.

Apparently neural core made face unlock work quicker so no loss there.
About the only thing I would prefer is higher ppi but I sure don't want to spend $1000 to get it.
My next phone will be 5G so pixel 4/xl aren't an option.
If it's not enough bang for the buck then just wait for black Friday and/or opt for the 4a 5G.
Google phones have never been the best phone for everyone.

Most likely the machine learning Ai stuff is included in the snapdragon 765 so no more dedicated chip is necessary. I would not worry too much

Benjamin_L said:
Most likely the machine learning Ai stuff is included in the snapdragon 765 so no more dedicated chip is necessary. I would not worry too much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it is not included. Where did you get that idea?

darkoroje said:
No it is not included. Where did you get that idea?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://www.androidauthority.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-765-specs-1059745/
"Finally, Qualcomm’s fifth-gen AI engine is ported over partially intact, with a Hexagon 696 DSP with a dedicated Tensor Accelerator. The setup sports 5.5TOPS of AI compute."
So still I don't know what Google are using but they wouldn't get rid of it if it impacts performance much. So I don't worry

The Samsung S20FE will be competition at the same MSRP, includes Snapdragon 865, 120hz display, 4500mah battery. Appears to be on sale for $599. Of course it isn't a clean google phone.

Benjamin_L said:
https://www.androidauthority.com/qualcomm-snapdragon-765-specs-1059745/
"Finally, Qualcomm’s fifth-gen AI engine is ported over partially intact, with a Hexagon 696 DSP with a dedicated Tensor Accelerator. The setup sports 5.5TOPS of AI compute."
So still I don't know what Google are using but they wouldn't get rid of it if it impacts performance much. So I don't worry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems to be the case https://m.gsmarena.com/the_new_pixe...nt_mean_they_lack_the_features-news-45589.php

The pro is the camera will be brilliant and it's running stock android.
Pretty much everything else about the pixel 5 sucks

force70 said:
The pro is the camera will be brilliant and it's running stock android.
Pretty much everything else about the pixel 5 sucks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, good battery life, more than enough processing power for non gamers really sucks

Benjamin_L said:
Yeah, good battery life, more than enough processing power for non gamers really sucks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good battery life remains to be seen.
I stand by my original statement, however I suppose I could have made it more clear...for a mid ranger it's fine.
For a flagship (which it isnt). It sucks.
Better?

Pros:
A pure Google software experience
Fingerprint sensor is back( no more awful face unlock)
1080p screen
4080mAh battery
Aluminum back (well, mostly)
Cons:
That awful hole punch (that has me considering canceling my order)
Ultra wide camera replacing the telephoto
Too big
Slow processor
Active edge is gone
---------- Post added at 09:16 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 AM ----------
force70 said:
Good battery life remains to be seen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, we technically don't know what the battery life will be but just knowing a little bit about phone hardware and some common sense indicates that the battery life should be pretty good.
The biggest battery drain on any phone is the screen mainly due to the screen resolution. So take the Pixel 4 XL for example. The battery life wasn't too bad but not great either. Now increase the size of the battery 10%, decrease the number of pixels by 42%(that alone is huge), decrease the overall screen area by 11%, add in a slightly more power efficient processor, remove Soli and remove face unlock and you basically have the Pixel 5. The only thing really working against the Pixel 5 in terms of battery life is the 5G which I'm going to turn off anyways. I have no concerns about the battery life of the Pixel 5.

The more interesting comparison is to the 4a. A significant price difference but both are a similar size and real world performance would be similar too.
This just leaves wireless charging, IP and maybe 90hz as the tangible differences you would notice day to day. Maybe it will feel more premium in hand too but that is hard to know right now.
I got the 4a with the intention of giving it to one of my parents with the 5 landed, I am now hesitating though as the 4a is terrific and I am not sure the 5 is £250 better.

great battery life great phone.
I have only had my pixel 5 for a week and i am super impressed with the battery life. I have been getting 3 days out of it . At the moment it has 25 % left and it's used 8 hours and 26 minutes of screen use , that's using google to simply surf the net and as I am a distribution driver i use Google Maps daily, I also make multiple calls daily and use Bluetooth all day for my vans multi media unit and my zenwatch 3 all day I am 61 years old so I have had tons of phones and I have to say i think this phone stacks up with the best including the Asus rog 3

Pros: Battery, form factor/weight, software.
Con: Price for what is being offered. The speakers are just OK. The gap issue from production quality. Luckily I was able to get my P5 for net cost of about 461 including tax after stacking a bunch of promos, etc. Also no gap issue on mine.
I'm not an iPhone fanatic so I have nothing to say about the iPhone 12. The only phone that I currently have and would recommend is the S20FE, but not at MSRP AND if it doesn't have these touch screen issues that people are talking about. Only thing with Samsung phones is that you have to spend additional time to customize to your liking and reducing bloat. I was also pleasantly surprised with the camera qualify after making settings adjustments to reduce saturation and softening in photos.

After using mine for about a week, I am kind of regretting trading in my 4XL for one reason....the ear speaker quality. It is literally the worst sounding earpiece and is extremely quiet relative to my 4XL. I was driving on the highway yesterday and could barely hear my client on the other end. Had to plug in my wired headset. Unacceptable. I will probably send in for a new unit to see if its any better, but everyone seems to have the same comment as I.
I can settle with almost every concession Google took, and I do think the fingerprint is a big welcome back feature. I hate face unlock especially with having to wear masks. Never made sense to me. The hole punch doesnt both me.

As far as Active edge is concerned. I guess, apparently the feature isn't 'official' on the Pixel 5.
Check the apps,mods section here on xda.
Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/to...7&share_fid=3793&share_type=t&link_source=app

toneneuewin said:
Pros: Battery, form factor/weight, software.
Con: Price for what is being offered. The speakers are just OK. The gap issue from production quality. Luckily I was able to get my P5 for net cost of about 461 including tax after stacking a bunch of promos, etc. Also no gap issue on mine.
I'm not an iPhone fanatic so I have nothing to say about the iPhone 12. The only phone that I currently have and would recommend is the S20FE, but not at MSRP AND if it doesn't have these touch screen issues that people are talking about. Only thing with Samsung phones is that you have to spend additional time to customize to your liking and reducing bloat. I was also pleasantly surprised with the camera qualify after making settings adjustments to reduce saturation and softening in photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've sold my FE for the Pixel. The screen issues are annoying albeit the last update seems to have sorted it, but I just cannot live with the Samsung nonsense like cannot delete Samsung photos app and playing a dance to get to Google Photos
It's a great phone the FE but not when you are Googled up for home and work and can't be bothered working around 2 of everything
Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk

Davey Dual Sim said:
I've sold my FE for the Pixel. The screen issues are annoying albeit the last update seems to have sorted it, but I just cannot live with the Samsung nonsense like cannot delete Samsung photos app and playing a dance to get to Google Photos
It's a great phone the FE but not when you are Googled up for home and work and can't be bothered working around 2 of everything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Pixel 5 is great. It just works out of the box. I'm enjoying mine and it has been a couple of weeks. You can debloat Samsung, but obviously that's additional steps. It's not hard, but quite frankly I just don't want to invest time with custom ROMs, adb commands, etc. Those days are long gone lol.

No me neither, I don't even want to root phones anymore can't be bothered
The FE would be a winner of Samsung ran stock Android
Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk

Davey Dual Sim said:
No me neither, I don't even want to root phones anymore can't be bothered
The FE would be a winner of Samsung ran stock Android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A bit true..but this would never happen. Htc had 1 model with 2 versions ...one with htc software and one with google only ...

Question All bugs of 12S Ultra.

Hey, currently i'm thinking to buy 12s ultra. But i read about some bugs are there like notifications, caller id, edge detection and etc.
I'd like to know as of you guys using this phone for months, Are the problems are solved? Are there any bugs still persist?

For users that reports having bugs for notifications are really the one that doesnt really knows how to set up a Xiaomi phone. I have been using a week already and I get all my notifications right away.

mr2kqql said:
For users that reports having bugs for notifications are really the one that doesnt really knows how to set up a Xiaomi phone. I have been using a week already and I get all my notifications right away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is there any catastrophic bug you found?

crocat said:
is there any catastrophic bug you found?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With eu ROM, it's been an excellent phone. No big complaints here.

I would like to thank you all, I'm planning this phone to buy. But there was some questions and now it is almost solved. Because when I buy a new smartphone I use it about 2-3 years. So that's why I wanted to be sure.
Regards

Can't send 1080p (30p/60p) videos via whatsapp, the videos will stutter but it's smooth in the video player and gallery.
this is on latest stable EU Rom, seems to be a known issue with chinese roms / phones.

crocat said:
I would like to thank you all, I'm planning this phone to buy. But there was some questions and now it is almost solved. Because when I buy a new smartphone I use it about 2-3 years. So that's why I wanted to be sure.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was using a Vivo nex 3s for the pass 2 years, which served me very good but the camera department and the lackluster mono speaker just a nono for a flagships anymore. The 12s ultra I got from aliexpress with global rom, which i think is there inside China only hacked rom and the first thing I did was to flash EU firmware and set it up as a regular global xiaomi phone. To me the screen refresh rate, camera , sound and voice is a major step up from what I was using. For a flagship around 1k, this is a wonderful best buy that I won't probably run into someone with the same phone around my area.

phzi said:
With eu ROM, it's been an excellent phone. No big complaints here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any small complaints?

RFD_Yesstyle said:
any small complaints?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Accessibility services sometimes "stop working" and need to be restarted, that's about the only issue I've run into.

I'm just a casual photo taker, however so far I have found that the consistency in cameral quality was better with the mi ultra 11

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the correct thread for this. But I am wondering if your device's RAW file format for photos does not exceed or is normally 10Mb and below?
I normally post-process my shots and purchased this phone mainly because of its camera. However, I am blown by how low the margin I can edit the images on this device. I have an old mi10 pro, and a ROG6 device, and the RAW photos I'm getting out of those devices are above 50MB. The photos I shot out of this device are normally highly saturated even after turning of lica vivid. so my option is to post-process.
Is this something that can be resolved via software update or is this a hardware limitation? TIA!

So let me ask you one more question about camera. I have seen the dozens of video on youtube about camera. Is 12s ultra's camera really competeble with Iphone 13 or 14 series?

crocat said:
So let me ask you one more question about camera. I have seen the dozens of video on youtube about camera. Is 12s ultra's camera really competeble with Iphone 13 or 14 series?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its hard to give you a straight answer as camera quality comes to personal preference.

crocat said:
So let me ask you one more question about camera. I have seen the dozens of video on youtube about camera. Is 12s ultra's camera really competeble with Iphone 13 or 14 series?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The iPhone gives the most natural looking, clean picture in my experience. android devices tend to go more into "beautification" hence over saturation, over exposed, etc photos. to fix this, you can shoot with raw format and then post process.
but yeah, it all depends with the person looking at the picture.
going back to my question about RAW photos with this phone . this is the first time i ever encountered a device with a very low RAW image quality. the standard photos is more clear, you can basically do nothing with its raw image.
I'm using thor 13.0.1.1 rom, i just want to check with others if they are having the same issue. or will changing rom fix this?

is it just me or is there no way to turn off the alarm when the alarm clock goes off using the native miui clock app? I even set the volume buttons to dismiss the alarm but nothing. Have to reboot phone to turn off alarm
i'll just download the google clock app