Related
So we've all read and watched review after review of the laggy, thermal throttling, flop of a device the G Flex 2 is. Nonetheless, I'm still interested in this device, and I do not know why. Maybe because I enjoy tinkering and using tech that others don't. Maybe because reading some owners' reviews here seem to paint a different picture.
Are you happy with this device and feel a lot of the issues were addressed?
The only thing holding me back is the total lack of a dev community. This seems to be held up by a current un-unlockable bootloader, correct? I really don't like skinned Android, but have honestly never used LG's skin before. If a CM or stock port could be guaranteed I think I'd pull the trigger on this.
Thoughts?
dimex said:
So we've all read and watched review after review of the laggy, thermal throttling, flop of a device the G Flex 2 is. Nonetheless, I'm still interested in this device, and I do not know why. Maybe because I enjoy tinkering and using tech that others don't. Maybe because reading some owners' reviews here seem to paint a different picture.
Are you happy with this device and feel a lot of the issues were addressed?
The only thing holding me back is the total lack of a dev community. This seems to be held up by a current un-unlockable bootloader, correct? I really don't like skinned Android, but have honestly never used LG's skin before. If a CM or stock port could be guaranteed I think I'd pull the trigger on this.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are no guarantees but I am happy with my choice. I use the us model which has 3 GB of ram. Never even had one stutter. It also does not get very warm like my nexus 6 did. The only downfall I have is being on at&t I will likely never see an update.
Sent from my LG-H950 using XDA Premium HD app
Well, here it goes..
First of all, I have H955 version ( 16gb/2gb).
A couple of days ago , I read that a 5.1.1 update is starting to roll out, which is pretty great, taking the fact that many MANY other devices are still on 4.4 and 5.0. That said, a user that got the update , said that now we have an option for OEM unlock, which is a step closer for getting custom roms ( at least, I think ). Also, update also brings some under the hood optimizations , such is less buggy home and lower temperature while using the phone.
Now, my opinions with the current 5.0.1 - and you have to believe me on this - I have no lags. At all. Those slow downs are just not there - luncher gets reset sometimes after using chrome, and the phone gets hotter when using it for a long period of time, but other than that.. Phone works awesome, apps open instantly, launcher is not buggy etc..
Next the heating issue - it is only there when I play games, browse in chrome for some time (although, sometimes faster , after 2,3 minutes of browsing - dont know why).
The screen - this is very IMPORTANT . Some users, like me, have yellow spots on display when there is a grey background - only visible on that and maybe some greyish bcgrnds AND with brightness turned to 0%.. A say this is important because it can be annoying from time to time - IF YOU CAN SEE IT! Some users have no such issue (if it is an issue). It is a part of production process etc etc etc.
To summarize - I like my g flex 2 . You can see that from all the above. It is great looking, fast phone with great camera. What else is there not to like? It is a personal preference though. There are many great phones out there, like the upcoming LG G4, SG Note 4, HTC OneM9 and many other phones. If you ask me , I would always choose flex 2, and with the upcoming 5.1 android (I cant wait for it) it is a win. I am aware that many users are reporting lags and issues with the phone but I dont have them.
Take your time. Take in consideration , for example , new LG G4. Talk to someone else who has this phone. But in the end, dont let someone convince you in to buying any phone - you will be using it, and you will have to live with its pros and cons. Big text, I know, live long and prosper.
And I think the same way. Is it possible that the G Flex 2 so bad? I have a G3 with CM based rom and I am very pleased with it. But the design of the G Flex 2 like very much. Weak development support for it worries me and if so I'll probably have to skip it.
dimex said:
So we've all read and watched review after review of the laggy, thermal throttling, flop of a device the G Flex 2 is. Nonetheless, I'm still interested in this device, and I do not know why. Maybe because I enjoy tinkering and using tech that others don't. Maybe because reading some owners' reviews here seem to paint a different picture.
Are you happy with this device and feel a lot of the issues were addressed?
The only thing holding me back is the total lack of a dev community. This seems to be held up by a current un-unlockable bootloader, correct? I really don't like skinned Android, but have honestly never used LG's skin before. If a CM or stock port could be guaranteed I think I'd pull the trigger on this.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can, i suggest that you wait 2-3 months. Not only for price drop but to see how the other 810 phones settle down. If you read reviews of other810 phones and check their performance all seem to suffer fron the same problems. For example xiaomi mi note pro, nubia z9,htc m9, even oneplus 2. If you like big dev community oneplus 2 is your choise.
I personally bought flex2 because we had in greece a big discount for only one day 300euro unlocked. If i had missed the discount i would have waited 2-3 months
dimex said:
So we've all read and watched review after review of the laggy, thermal throttling, flop of a device the G Flex 2 is. Nonetheless, I'm still interested in this device, and I do not know why. Maybe because I enjoy tinkering and using tech that others don't. Maybe because reading some owners' reviews here seem to paint a different picture.
Are you happy with this device and feel a lot of the issues were addressed?
The only thing holding me back is the total lack of a dev community. This seems to be held up by a current un-unlockable bootloader, correct? I really don't like skinned Android, but have honestly never used LG's skin before. If a CM or stock port could be guaranteed I think I'd pull the trigger on this.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me this is my 6th phone in one year so I can compare pretty good.
I must say it is not a bad phone. Have some lag here and there but it is manageable. It is not that smooth as an oneplus one for instance.
The heating is there, don't expect to play games for long, as the heating eats the battery.
General Battery performance is ok, I have there no complaints.
I also like the camera it is one of the best I used so far.
I think this is a solid phone but the standard price is just to high. If you pay the full price I would not go for the Flex. For that money you are better of with a more standard phone like the G4. It is more reliable and will get more attention during the years.
I got my for 400USD, for that I think it is okay, but still not that good value as an oneplus one.
Sent from my LG-H955 using XDA Forums
I really love mine although I had my problems with it at first. Mine had a tendency to thermal throttle fairly easily but even then it was quite fast and smooth. After adding a copper shim and modifying the thermal configuration file I like it a lot more. Although it wasn't slow before it's now even smoother and faster. I have the AT&T 3GB version which seems to not suffer from the kind of lag the 2GB version initially had. I'm also really impressed at how many apps I can open without them closing in the background. Battery life is about the same as my Galaxy S4 with a 3000mah battery. It really depends on what you do. It has great standby time but if you push it really hard like a complex 3d game it may not be so great. On normal use I get about 4 to 5 hours of on screen time. Mine also came with light yellowish tint that really wasn't very obvious unless I had a white or grey background. I still asked AT&T for a replacement and the new one came with a much even toned display and no more yellow.
dimex said:
So we've all read and watched review after review of the laggy, thermal throttling, flop of a device the G Flex 2 is. Nonetheless, I'm still interested in this device, and I do not know why. Maybe because I enjoy tinkering and using tech that others don't. Maybe because reading some owners' reviews here seem to paint a different picture.
Are you happy with this device and feel a lot of the issues were addressed?
The only thing holding me back is the total lack of a dev community. This seems to be held up by a current un-unlockable bootloader, correct? I really don't like skinned Android, but have honestly never used LG's skin before. If a CM or stock port could be guaranteed I think I'd pull the trigger on this.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best thing to do is wait a bit if you can, just to see if development picks up.
Thanks everyone for your feedback. Ya, this phone interested me for some reason.
I'll keep checking back.
My 50 cent's
G3 is a little smaller with same screen size, a lot better resolution (i can see pixels on G Flex2 from close distance) on a nearly half the price, so it is up to You
P.S.
G3 is looking better (but this is personal teist)
P.P.S.
I have G3 and from 2 days is using Flex2
I love the Flex 2. it's a great phone. i am using it since release in Germany and in the first two weeks it gets very fast very hot, but since an update everything is fine. Great battery life, a lot of Power. But if i can change it, i would pick the 3GB RAM model
I dont have the phone either so im in the same boat as you. I would wait for the g4 to come out not just because its going to be an amazing phone. But if lg is using some unlockable bootloader they will probably use it on the g4 as well and if that happens it will get unlocked much faster since its a flag ship. With any luck then that can be applied to the g flex and cm for all.
TheAxiks said:
I love the Flex 2. it's a great phone. i am using it since release in Germany and in the first two weeks it gets very fast very hot, but since an update everything is fine. Great battery life, a lot of Power. But if i can change it, i would pick the 3GB RAM model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also have the 2gb ddr4 version. The 3gb version has ddr3 or ddr4?
kutulu32 said:
I also have the 2gb ddr4 version. The 3gb version has ddr3 or ddr4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't think the Snapdragon 810 could use anything but DDR4. Honestly I don't think there's a way to tell but considering how much the 3GB version costs as well I would assume it does have DDR4.
you are probably right! I just couldn't confirm it 100% the reason that the difference doesn't show up in benchmarks maybe be fault in memory controller. lol
I got a really good price for the phone so I'm biased. That being said I did go for the phone because of the design itself and it's not a choice that I regret.
For the first couple of days having the phone I did experience the overheating issue. I tend to back up my devices and reset them often and in this case I found that a full factory restore solved the overheating issue.
As for the lag it's noticeable from time to time if you have multiple things going on at once like playing a game while downloading files while streaming music.
As stated earlier with the g4 right around the corner I was certainly wait and see how that one pans out giving its going to have that much better of a system on the inside, and possibly the ability to use custom roms, which I do miss.
Sent from my LGLS996 using XDA Free mobile app
I had the LS996 (32GB/2GB) version of G Flex 2. It is freakin terrible. If I wasn't so busy this past month, I would've traded it in. It was so bad that I spent a hundred dollars and got a GS5. Even after the ZV5 update and the thermal and hotplug mods I've made, it still over heated, froze, and lagged... I called it quits when I started having to do a force shut down (holding the power button until the phone turns off).
I have the 32GB / 2GB model. In my experience, the screen is a little grainy, but I'm fine with it. With the latest 10d update, the phone is a lot cooler, although it will still thermal throttle after some usage. Performance is a lot better as well, but it still can be improved. It continues to freeze in Chrome, so I use the stock web browser that comes with it. When the phone is hot, browsing through menus becomes sluggish and slow, something I really hope they will fix. Battery life is okay, but when you start playing games, or do any processor intensive stuff, it becomes real bad. (Probably the Snapdragon 810's fault) Camera photos are a little washed out, not as sharp as other phone cameras out there, but it produces very vibrant colours. Focusing is a little slow at times, laser focus not working too well, especially up close to an object. The self-healing back isn't doing a very good job. Just being in my pocket (with nothing else) and placing the phone on some tables, it has collected up many scratches. Screen brightness doesn't go very low, so I use an app called Lux to take care of that.
The Dual Window feature is limited to certain apps, unlike Samsung's Multi-Window, but at least it's there. QSlide is useless for me, and so is Quick Memo. Knockcode, on the other hand, is nice to have, very convenient to unlock the phone with one hand. But if you happen to use face unlock, it might interfere with knock code, and you might end up just locking the phone by using the double tap feature, since the phone unlocks when you are still knocking the code.
It's still running Android 5.0.1, so I hope all of this can change with the 5.1 update or when Android M gets released in the future.
I got this phone, because I wanted to try something new. It's a curved screen that can bend, of course it would catch my eye. Even hearing about all the overheating problems, I decided to invest in this two years journey with this phone. Overall, I regretted, an S6 is a better choice in my opinion, it runs a lot better. But if you are all-in for the curved screen, I suggest you wait a while more to see how this phone performs in future updates.
Kidsnd274 said:
I have the 32GB / 2GB model. In my experience, the screen is a little grainy, but I'm fine with it. With the latest 10d update, the phone is a lot cooler, although it will still thermal throttle after some usage. Performance is a lot better as well, but it still can be improved. It continues to freeze in Chrome, so I use the stock web browser that comes with it. When the phone is hot, browsing through menus becomes sluggish and slow, something I really hope they will fix. Battery life is okay, but when you start playing games, or do any processor intensive stuff, it becomes real bad. (Probably the Snapdragon 810's fault) Camera photos are a little washed out, not as sharp as other phone cameras out there, but it produces very vibrant colours. Focusing is a little slow at times, laser focus not working too well, especially up close to an object. The self-healing back isn't doing a very good job. Just being in my pocket (with nothing else) and placing the phone on some tables, it has collected up many scratches. Screen brightness doesn't go very low, so I use an app called Lux to take care of that.
The Dual Window feature is limited to certain apps, unlike Samsung's Multi-Window, but at least it's there. QSlide is useless for me, and so is Quick Memo. Knockcode, on the other hand, is nice to have, very convenient to unlock the phone with one hand. But if you happen to use face unlock, it might interfere with knock code, and you might end up just locking the phone by using the double tap feature, since the phone unlocks when you are still knocking the code.
It's still running Android 5.0.1, so I hope all of this can change with the 5.1 update or when Android M gets released in the future.
I got this phone, because I wanted to try something new. It's a curved screen that can bend, of course it would catch my eye. Even hearing about all the overheating problems, I decided to invest in this two years journey with this phone. Overall, I regretted, an S6 is a better choice in my opinion, it runs a lot better. But if you are all-in for the curved screen, I suggest you wait a while more to see how this phone performs in future updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the dual window there is a mod if you check the android developement thread. It needs editing build. prop. It works ok as far as i experienced.
kutulu32 said:
For the dual window there is a mod if you check the android developement thread. It needs editing build. prop. It works ok as far as i experienced.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, was using it until the 10d update. There seems to be a problem during the rooting process after the update, so I can't use the mod now.
Anyone have any experience coming from an HTC 10 to a Pixel? I've got both on order and am looking for opinion.
My htc will never run sense and I'll always run whatever stable AOSP ROMs that are available out there.
I feel that I will miss external sd on the pixel and I have a hard time justifying the extra $400 that the pixel will end up costing me.
Not trying to start a flame war here, I'm a lover. Just looking for opinions....
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA-Developers mobile app
bacon612 said:
Anyone have any experience coming from an HTC 10 to a Pixel? I've got both on order and am looking for opinion.
My htc will never run sense and I'll always run whatever stable AOSP ROMs that are available out there.
I feel that I will miss external sd on the pixel and I have a hard time justifying the extra $400 that the pixel will end up costing me.
Not trying to start a flame war here, I'm a lover. Just looking for opinions....
Sent from my HTC One M9 using XDA-Developers mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Did you get both phones yet to compare?
bsbuggs said:
Hi
Did you get both phones yet to compare?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what it's worth, I have both phones.
TL;DR:
I bought my wife and I the unlocked HTC 10 at the $500 price to use on Verizon. The next day I became aware of Best Buy's Pixel 32 GB deal for straight $9.99 a month (or $240 buyout like I and others did), and I ordered two. My main reason was because I was coming from a VS985 LG G3 with a Micro SIM and I didn't want to step into a Verizon store to talk them into giving me Nano SIMs to use with my unofficial configuration of using an unlocked HTC 10 on Verizon's network, plus to have to have said Nano SIMs activated via phone since in that case I wouldn't have had an actual Verizon device that was capable of activating the SIMs.
I activated the SIMs in the Pixels and then put them in the HTC 10 and purchased the SunShine license for both phones and jumped through the firmware/ROM hoops I need to in order to have it work right.
First, I'm not on an unlimited data account so to me, using the Pixel with only 32 GB is relatively unrealistic to me. In it's favor, Google Photos only on the Pixel provides free unlimited full resolution not-further-compressed picture and video backups, and also has the feature to automatically clear space on the storage when it's needed by removing backed up photos. This is an amazing feature and would use it even if I had a 128 GB Pixel.
Second, my wife just went without a working smartphone for more than a month, so I sold one of the Pixels and kept the other to play with and to keep as a backup in case one of our HTCs has an unexpected problem anytime over the next couple of years. So far I have only a) unlocked the bootloader with Depixel8 (which might not work now if a Pixel has received the December update before using it) and b) I put the complete 7.1.1 stock ROM image on there.
I likely will not root the phone so that I can take OTAs painlessly. If I were using the Pixel as my daily phone I wouldn't be able to stand it without root and modifications. I'm assuming that most modifications I would want don't even exist yet, and I know that others I currently use don't exist for Nougat yet, like Xposed.
Although I prefer not to have to jump through ANY hoops to use the 10 on Verizon, the fact that there are still little nit-picky preference things that cause me to want to use a stock-based custom ROM over completely stock makes the point moot since I still won't receive OTAs except as provided by the particular ROM(s) I use.
The phone is still a lot easier to deal with than the LG G3 regarding hoops needing to jump through when new OTAs come out, and mix/match firmware caveats/bricks/etc. I could handle the Pixel's 5" screen if I was using it daily but I prefer larger. I really wouldn't want to go smaller than the 10's 5.2" screen.
Both phones feel very well built, the 10 even more so than the Pixel. The Pixel is very...compact. I mean, it's heavy for it's size, but not overly so, and it is solid.
I don't think you'll go wrong overall with either, depending on what your usage will be, what your Verizon plan is like and what your expectations are. I have pretty high requirements as far as convenience so that puts the Pixel out in several ways, but it'll make a great backup phone for my wife and I.
thanks for the insight.. helps alot
I had the HTC 10 briefly before trading for a note 7 which I sent back to Samsung and now I own the pixel.
I really enjoyed my time with the HTC 10 especially the extra screen real estate and the capacitive buttons. The development is pretty solid if your into custom roms, kernels, etc. The max screen brightness is something lacking but the LCD is not a bad looking panel and it's QHD. I'm a huge fan of the capacitive buttons and dedicated home button on front. I use a car mount every day and if I want to wake up my phone without having to remove it to access the fingerprint scanner or reach for power button and put in a pin. Same applies to when phone is on my nightstand and I just want to open a notification/ check time it's convenient on the front plus you get to use all of your screen with capacitive buttons vs on screen. I'm don't take a lot of pictures but the camera seemed sufficient. Also the speakers sounded pretty good for YouTube and the little bit of music I listened to on it. Only con I really had with the 10 was the screen brightness.
I've only owed the pixel for about 5 days so I'll just say what I like and don't like as of now. The stock Android and frequent updates already make me wonder how I ever survived using AT&T Samsung phones for so long. I've got 2 updates since I've purchased the phone and the development is sure to be good into the future. The fingerprint scanner is the fastest I've ever used as well as all the software. I'm still struggling getting used to the 5in display coming from a long line of Samsung products. I still wish I would've held out for the Xl but the small display doesn't disappoint. The AMOLED is still my favorite type of panel and even at 1080p lookes better than the HTC imo.
Overall I'm happy and excited about owning the pixel and would pick it over the HTC again of money wasn't an object. I was lucky enough that Samsung paid me full retail for my Note 7 that I traded an HTC 10 for during the 2nd recall scare, so I had a little to burn. My 128gb quite black came in at $856 at Verizon with tax. You can pick up the 10 with 32gb and grab an SD card for around $550 or less I'm sure. I wouldn't mind going back to my 10 at all.
Things to consider is how long to you plan on owning, if your going to keep the phone for 2+ yrs I would lean twords the Pixel. That's why I went with it at least, I've been getting a new phone annually or sooner for past 3-4yrs and it needs to stop lol. I plan on keeping the pixel at least 18-24 months and I'm garenteed software updates for that long plus some.
Any questions about either ask and I'll try to answer.
AndroiderM said:
I had the HTC 10 briefly before trading for a note 7 which I sent back to Samsung and now I own the pixel.
I really enjoyed my time with the HTC 10 especially the extra screen real estate and the capacitive buttons. The development is pretty solid if your into custom roms, kernels, etc. The max screen brightness is something lacking but the LCD is not a bad looking panel and it's QHD. I'm a huge fan of the capacitive buttons and dedicated home button on front. I use a car mount every day and if I want to wake up my phone without having to remove it to access the fingerprint scanner or reach for power button and put in a pin. Same applies to when phone is on my nightstand and I just want to open a notification/ check time it's convenient on the front plus you get to use all of your screen with capacitive buttons vs on screen. I'm don't take a lot of pictures but the camera seemed sufficient. Also the speakers sounded pretty good for YouTube and the little bit of music I listened to on it. Only con I really had with the 10 was the screen brightness.
I've only owed the pixel for about 5 days so I'll just say what I like and don't like as of now. The stock Android and frequent updates already make me wonder how I ever survived using AT&T Samsung phones for so long. I've got 2 updates since I've purchased the phone and the development is sure to be good into the future. The fingerprint scanner is the fastest I've ever used as well as all the software. I'm still struggling getting used to the 5in display coming from a long line of Samsung products. I still wish I would've held out for the Xl but the small display doesn't disappoint. The AMOLED is still my favorite type of panel and even at 1080p lookes better than the HTC imo.
Overall I'm happy and excited about owning the pixel and would pick it over the HTC again of money wasn't an object. I was lucky enough that Samsung paid me full retail for my Note 7 that I traded an HTC 10 for during the 2nd recall scare, so I had a little to burn. My 128gb quite black came in at $856 at Verizon with tax. You can pick up the 10 with 32gb and grab an SD card for around $550 or less I'm sure. I wouldn't mind going back to my 10 at all.
Things to consider is how long to plan on owning if your going to keep the phone for 2+ yrs I would lean twords the Pixel. That's why I went with it at least, I've been getting a new phone annually or sooner for past 3-4yrs and it needs to stop lol. I plan on keeping the pixel at least 18-24 months and I'm garenteed software updates for that long plus some.
Any questions about either ask and I'll try to answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Appreciate the comparison.. that really my dilemma.. I can GET a good deal on swappa for an HTC 10 for like 350...OR i see a guy locally selling his verizon Pixel for 450... so there is my struggle...
bsbuggs said:
Appreciate the comparison.. that really my dilemma.. I can GET a good deal on swappa for an HTC 10 for like 350...OR i see a guy locally selling his verizon Pixel for 450... so there is my struggle...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For a $100 difference I'd take the Pixel only of 128gb if not I'd go with HTC. That's just me, even though I do stream alot of media I also have around 30gb of music I have collected over the years. I also use my phone for torrents and then otg to an external drive that plugs Into tv. The extra storage is more important to me than a SD821 and amoled.
bsbuggs said:
Hi
Did you get both phones yet to compare?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey there. I agree with pretty much what everyone else that has had both phones says. I'm sending my Pixel back tomorrow. Here are my personal pros and cons on the pixel. I got my HTC 10 from HTC direct for $550 tax and 2 day shipping included. Pixel was about $950 for the 128 model plus Pixel care or whatever its called.
Pros
I think the screen is marginally nicer even though its only 1080p
Using the same spigen cases, it felt better in my hands.
The camera is much faster and takes better pictures with no fuss
It felt faster but i think much of it has to do with Nougat and not 820 vs. 821 (My HTC 10 runs cm13 now. Looking like we are really close to cm14.1 now though)
Cons
No external SD. This crushes me. My biggest fear is that if your phone gets damaged, you loose everything thats not backed up rather than just removing the microsd card and moving on. (Nandroids, Pictures etc...)
Its too early for development to be great. There's only one rom so far. I feel that the price of the pixel is keeping developers away too. I couldn't get the pixel to do what I wanted it to in a few ways due to lack of roms + xposed etc... The thing is, this phone will likely have excellent rom support in the future, it will just take time. Might as well wait until it gets cheaper and supports the customization you want.
While my Pros outweigh my cons, there is no way I can justify spending another $400 for any two missing pros. This is how I arrived at my decision to return the Pixel. I might mention that I wouldn't keep either phone more than a year or so as I like to try and upgrade annually. Ordering from HTC direct gets you one year of replacement protection free stateside. Google charges $100 for two years. There was also value in the HTC over the Pixel for this reason. Something to consider as well.
Hope this helps. Having to decide between the two over the last few weeks offset a fair amount of anxiety. (First world problems, i know). I feel pretty good about my decision and am looking past the pixel to see what Snapdragon 835 devices have to offer. Its right around the corner.
I have both the HTC 10 and the Pixel.
Aesthetically, I prefer the HTC 10. I've had more people ask me about what phone I was using when I was using the 10 as my daily driver than any other phone I've ever owned. The chamfered edges have a way of catching light that just draws people's eyes to it. That's not to say that I don't like the Pixel, but the HTC 10 just seems like it's in a world of its own in terms of build design. The only person who commented on my Pixel said to me, "That's the weirdest looking phone I've ever seen. It looks like a weird iPhone."
I also preferred the sound coming out of the headphone jack and dual (top and bottom) firing speakers on the HTC 10 over the Pixel's setup. Blocking the sound coming out of the Pixel's single bottom firing speaker is just insanely easy, and I find myself contorting my hands awkwardly in order not to block it when I'm watching media or playing games.
I also liked the HTC 10's fingerprint scanner location and the off screen buttons better than the Pixel's setup. That's just a personal preference though.
If you're worried about receiving timely updates on either phone, it's a non-issue. The amount of OTA updates on the HTC 10 has also been seriously fantastic. I've never had any phone that has consistently gotten as many updates as the HTC 10. It honestly makes most brands look like a joke, and I'm still waiting for my first update for my 10 while my HTC 10 just received Nougat.
With that said, there are a few things that are far superior on the Pixel.
I prefer the AMOLED screen on the Pixel for outdoor viewing. The higher contrast ratio seems to make viewing and reading a lot easier, and it also feels a bit brighter than HTC's LCD screen, which could be extremely difficult to read in direct bright California sunlight. The Pixel is not the brightest screen I've ever used, but it's certainly a lot brighter than the HTC 10. This always bothered me about the HTC 10 since I spend a few hours a day walking to work or in direct sunlight.
The camera on the Pixel is just amazingly consistent for the most part. The HTC 10 has this weird lense flare issue where if the camera lens is even slightly smudged, it creates the most insane lens flares I've seen, and whatever material is used on lens of the HTC 10 is just absurdly prone to fingerprint smudges. It's also really difficult to wipe it off entirely. I'm not sure if this issue has been remedied with the Nougat update, but there are some posts floating around on the HTC 10 forum indicating that the lens flare has been significantly improved. The Pixel, even without taking into consideration of the HTC 10's lens flare issue, just seems to be an overall better camera.
It's also significantly faster at snapping shots than the HTC 10.
I also generally find my wireless connection better on the Pixel. Battery life on the Pixel also seems slightly better to me.
I bought the 128GB Pixel so storage has been a non issue with me, but thinking back at it, the only time storage might've become an issue on my 32GB HTC 10 would've been when I went to Europe and loaded my phone with media for that 11 hour flight. Otherwise, 32GB with non-expandable storage would still probably be fine for me. I only bought the 128GB since 64GB wasn't available for the Pixel.
I had HTC 10 and actually 2 of them (Unlocked and T-Mobile variant). HTC 10 is a pretty good phone especially at the lower price. My unlocked unit received Android 7 on Nov 25th , so there were no complaints and software was faster than any Samsung phone I had. The build quality was also good, as was the audio experience. Unfortunately I had to return the devices because this phone had/has an issue with mic not working in some situations during normal phone calls. I did many test and found out something interesting. The transition from Band 4 to Band 12 where the signal of Band 12 drops to -101 dBm or more, then people on the other side couldn't hear me. I would be completely satisfied with HTC 10 and wouldn't buy a Pixel(didn't receive it yet, but should get it next week). I am personally kind of concerned about the issue I have described here because Pixel was made by HTC. Does anyone know if there are mic issues(or experienced this) that I have outlined here?
I sold my HTC 10 after using the 5" Pixel for two - weeks hands down smoother and better device. Camera rocks and the wight is hands down a seller. I actually bought a back up Pixel as well.
thanks for the thought.. im still deciding, and swappa has lime 55 of them fopr sale.. just trying to get someone to drop a little more.
I like the screen on the pixel better, and it seems faster (more responsive ui). However the 10's speaker was way better.
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
ewingr said:
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just so you know att only has a 14 day return policy
jerrycoffman45 said:
just so you know att only has a 14 day return policy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I purchased from B&H Photo. Besides. AT&T doesn't sell the 996, I don't think.
But thanks for the warning. Had I purchase it from them, and expected 30 days, it would have been a pain to learn the hard way that I can't return it if I decide to.
I had the Note 3, 4 then 7 and this phone is larger than all 3. I just recently switched from Sprint and traded in my s7 edge for the V20 and I am happy so far. I purchased a OtterBox Defender case for the phone and with it installed I no longer have any worries of the camera glass, the case is very solid. Plus I left the factory plastic on the camera which people say will help if the phone was to be dropped.
Good luck!
I had been anxiously awaiting the Note 7. At the time 6GB memory was the top of my 'must have' list. So, when it came with 4GB, I was disappointed and decided to watch for a while. Then we know what happened.
I've actually been very interested in chasing some of the better priced competitors, such as Axon 7 or OnePlus 3t. But both the cameras were rated poorly, and then are GSM only.
But, I'm getting tired of these $800 prices. Rumor now is 1K for the Samsung 8.
I ended up purchasing an open box V20 from B&H, has full factory warranty. Got it for 675, no tax, no shipping.
ON the case, I have been using a Bestbuy PLatinum case, which comes with a belt clipped holster, and a kickstand in the case itself. Been great for me. Coming from IT and needing the phone on my at all times, and not wanting to fight the pocket, I used that.
Turns out it is made by Seido, and they have the same for the V20. It arrived from Amazon today. I'll add some pics when I get the phone and get it set up.
This story will continue. Hopefully it will be a pleasant one.
ewingr said:
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About Battery>> Remember that a) you will be dealing with a phone with IPS screen instead of AMOLED (this has a huge impact on the battery). b)the amount of apps that you have (specially those that requires to sync in the background are often part of the issue of battery drainage (my v20 used to last up to 7+ or 8+ with screen on with just about 7 user apps and the rest system apps, now i have 85 user apps + the system apps which make my phone last about 5+ hours screen on). On the other hand, The Doze mode of this phone is INSANE!!!! OUTSTANDING! With screen off your phone can easily last a day or even two (if you like to listen to music with pandora or Spotify >>> it will still last a lot with screen off).
About Camera Lens>> This is just an opinion but im starting to believe that the camera lens sensitivity is just to a small percent of the stock. Believe me when i tell you that i have throw my phone so hard to the wall (by accident) and with that kind of pressure (even with the poetic revolution cover) it should have made the glass of the camera crack (not to mention my phone has fell a lot). On the other hand, do not remove the plastic it comes with , just to be safe.
About Performance>> The phone is fast but just like any other phone, regardless of the processor, or the amount of ram, it has its limits. Thus, at the beginning i had a blazing fast LG V20. But put 85 user apps inside any phone and see how this will change lol. IT still fast. But every once in a while i experience a little lag. But that is just when i have only 500+mb left of ram. ( how can i know my ram quickly? OvrDrive Rom has the ram bar)
About Camera>> The camera does become slower when you are at very dark environments. But many report, including me, that using manual mode and adjusting it to your liking will make it very fast. I believe the issue is the automatic mode. Although sometimes for me the automatic mode in the dark works great. Also, some people report their photos looking like water paint (it does happen to me only with the wide angle camera. Not very often, but it does)
Now, if you are looking for developments and all that, this phone seems to be going in the right direction. We pretty much have root for every variant, we have some custom stock roms, and also we have LineageOS, Resurrection Remix, and AOKP among others so far for almost every variants.
Appreciate the input. We'll see how my experience goes.
I have a comment/reply or two in blue down in the quote of your response.
jinkerz9430 said:
About Battery>> Remember that a) you will be dealing with a phone with IPS screen instead of AMOLED (this has a huge impact on the battery). b)the amount of apps that you have (specially those that requires to sync in the background are often part of the issue of battery drainage (my v20 used to last up to 7+ or 8+ with screen on with just about 7 user apps and the rest system apps, now i have 85 user apps + the system apps which make my phone last about 5+ hours screen on). On the other hand, The Doze mode of this phone is INSANE!!!! OUTSTANDING! With screen off your phone can easily last a day or even two (if you like to listen to music with pandora or Spotify >>> it will still last a lot with screen off).
Yup. All understood. My comparison will be to my almost 3 year old Note 4. It has all the apps I will have on the V20, Doze mode (Max Overdrive ROM), etc. This has a just barely smaller battery than the Note 4 (which is disappointing...would prefer a fatter phone with fatter battery). So, I would hope the processer is more efficient, and in the end, at least as good on battery as my Note 4.
About Camera Lens>> This is just an opinion but im starting to believe that the camera lens sensitivity is just to a small percent of the stock. Believe me when i tell you that i have throw my phone so hard to the wall (by accident) and with that kind of pressure (even with the poetic revolution cover) it should have made the glass of the camera crack (not to mention my phone has fell a lot). On the other hand, do not remove the plastic it comes with , just to be safe.
I will definitely have the phone in cases. Hopefully I'll have same experience as you.
About Performance>> The phone is fast but just like any other phone, regardless of the processor, or the amount of ram, it has its limits. Thus, at the beginning i had a blazing fast LG V20. But put 85 user apps inside any phone and see how this will change lol. IT still fast. But every once in a while i experience a little lag. But that is just when i have only 500+mb left of ram. ( how can i know my ram quickly? OvrDrive Rom has the ram bar)
I'm sure it has it's limits. I do abuse them, with lots of apps. MOre than 85, I'm sure. I do have a tendency to freeze apps I don't use often. But of course that requires root. With the Maximum Overdrive ROM on my Note 4, the lags aren't too bad. I'm thinking (hoping) that this phone will shine in comparison to my Note 4 with the better specs.
About Camera>> The camera does become slower when you are at very dark environments. But many report, including me, that using manual mode and adjusting it to your liking will make it very fast. I believe the issue is the automatic mode. Although sometimes for me the automatic mode in the dark works great. Also, some people report their photos looking like water paint (it does happen to me only with the wide angle camera. Not very often, but it does)
I use some modes other than automatic on my Canon. I'm excited to see the capabilities of the camera on this phone. With an understanding of shutter and aperture as an advantage, maybe I'll be very happy with it.
Now, if you are looking for developments and all that, this phone seems to be going in the right direction. We pretty much have root for every variant, we have some custom stock roms, and also we have LineageOS, Resurrection Remix, and AOKP among others so far for almost every variants.
If only Overdrive developed for the 996, I would know what ROM to use. I will likely hold off on ROMS for a while. I still see lots of folks struggling with the ROMS and reporting issues or help needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tomorrow...the journey begins
SHAMELESS PLUG, to remind everyone that not everyone has 800$ to throw at a phone upfront.
I was in your boat. I had my eyes dead set on the US996.
Did my research and ended up on the H918.
Look at the ROM development, it's flooded with H918 support.
Will the US996 pick up traction and have as much support as the H918? Who knows.
I even wanted the dual sim, but that isn't even rooted if my memory serves correctly.
Regardless, this phone is stellar.
WETA rom has an US996 version, which I'd definitely recommend. I have my eyes on Max Overdrive, NATF and Resurrection remix, but after flashing WETA, i wouldn't change a thing.
Best of luck to you, m9.
Thanks for the best luck wishes.
I am seeing more dev for the 996. I am hopeful that I'll be happy with it stock. Although, I really want Root, so I may give in.
One thing for sure, it is confusing having all various models in the same forums, and most folks don't indicate which model they are on.
ewingr said:
Appreciate the input. We'll see how my experience goes.
I have a comment/reply or two in blue down in the quote of your response.
Tomorrow...the journey begins
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i would say that Max ovrdrive and Weta are the 2 most stable ones regarding stock roms. Have you tried to talk with OvrDrive ? The h918 and US996 are pretty much alike in all the aspects except some frequencies added to the us996. Maybe you can be a tester for the us996 version. But yeah, first try the phone for a while without any root until the 14 days or possibly some more days are over. If you decide to keep it, then you can jump into the v20's board lol . By the way, you said that you rather a fatter phone? I have seen some battery replacements from third party brands such as zero lemon (which is usually a great brand that produces great batteries) their batteries have way more mah than the original battery from the v20. But it comes with a cost that you might get along with them. It requires to put a very fat case to the phone. I personally dont like it but if you dont care about how fat it looks then you coupd go for it.
I didn't personally talk to Overdrive, but it was asked in his thread of his ROM would work on the 996, and his reply was he would not be supporting it as he does not have one. I too have noticed that ROMs are working on more than one model.
I'll wait and see how the stock battery works out before I go try a fatter one. I'm hoping to stay in the Seido case and belt clip I had already purchased.
Good news/Bad news
Bad news first...but not that bad
I won't have the phone in hand until late Thursday, instead of today
Now the great news
I'll have a brand new phone instead of open big phone, and will sane $175.
I went to Phandroid a bit ago and they announced a sale of the V20 at B&H for $499.99. I had paid $675 for the open box. I called B&H to see if they would refund the difference. Nope. Buy the sale phone and return the open box phone.
Fine with me ?
ewingr said:
Bad news first...but not that bad
I won't have the phone in hand until late Thursday, instead of today
Now the great news
I'll have a brand new phone instead of open big phone, and will sane $175.
I went to Phandroid a bit ago and they announced a sale of the V20 at B&H for $499.99. I had paid $675 for the open box. I called B&H to see if they would refund the difference. Nope. Buy the sale phone and return the open box phone.
Fine with me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my v20's price was practically speaking $331 dollars Brand new sealed . Because of the promotion of the $200 off and the earphone of $149 plus an extra earphone ($149) sent to me from the defective lg v20 returned. I think im going to finish of paying by the 27 of this month
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
DrPhant0m said:
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what to say. Can you link the one you are looking at? I think by only work with US Cellular, they MAY (I don't know) mean a U.S. Carrier, ie. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile, as opposed to the company US Celluar.
One thing you need to be aware of for the US996...the only way, right now, that it can be bootloader unlocked is by going to a LG site to get an unlock code from them. At that point it will lose warranty. Due to that, I'll be holding off on unlocking for a while. At least, that is my current plan.
Only thing I miss is the stylus going from the note 3 to the v10.
Though I suppose I don't miss the stylus that much since I jumped from the v10 to v20 instead of going back to the note series.
I would love to see lg put some effort into it and make a stylus based top end model instead of putting a stylus version as a middle model. I was hoping the v series would feature a stylus and the g series be a non stylus version but alas it hasn't happened.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
evo4g63t said:
Only thing I miss is the stylus going from the note 3 to the v10.
Though I suppose I don't miss the stylus that much since I jumped from the v10 to v20 instead of going back to the note series.
I would love to see lg put some effort into it and make a stylus based top end model instead of putting a stylus version as a middle model. I was hoping the v series would feature a stylus and the g series be a non stylus version but alas it hasn't happened.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But i think that LG is trying not to copy other brands such as samsung. For this reason they should limit the amount of resemblance between the features of each phone. Thus, there are just a handful of LG's with stylus in comparison to the note series . After all i doubt LG wants to experience the same thing that happened with samsung been sued by apple, and then apple been sued back by samsung (quite a hilarious story though lol) but if i had a company such as LG, i would definitely not want to even put a step in court for a battle that can easily last more than a month of constant interventions and proofs and etc... and could easily cost me 100+ or 200+ millions. In a lg v20 , i believe the stylus is not a necessity (Even for people that would love to have stylus for the v series). On the other hand, one could buy one of this or similars:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1xTouch-Scr...485550?hash=item33c8e075ee:g:0RkAAOSwIgNXmXla
and see if there is an application that resembles what one can do with the note's stylus. you will definitely wont find one that will be exactly the same. But maybe similar and who knows maybe better.
DrPhant0m said:
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been thinking a bit. I know I saw in a thread somewhere about the US996 being the same model for the Unlocked and for a carrier (don't recall if it was US Cellular). I think the key is 'Unlocked'. Maybe you should put your question in it's own post. May bet more input, from someone who knows for sure.
Thanks for the replies. Take a look at this auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/381960164377
The seller says they are an authorized US Cellular reseller… so it seems they'd know. And I doubt that they'd distort the truth about the phone being unlocked just to keep USC customers. So maybe there are US996s out there that are locked to USC. It doesn't make sense that there'd be a carrier-locked version of the US996 sold by LG… so maybe USC is locking them. Perhaps I'll ask the seller.
I ended up ordering a "like new" note 4 for $200 before I found out that B&H was selling the US996 for $300 off retail, and now I've missed that deal. So hopefully this Note4 really is in new condition and it will serve long enough for me to try out a V20 while the price drops again somewhere else.
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Update… this is the response I got from the seller:
Thank you for your question. We are not selling the phone as compatible with other carriers or carrier-unlocked. We can't guarantee that the phone will work with an another carrier. We are only saying the phone will work with the carrier US Cellular. We can only guarantee that it works with US Cellular.*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What do you all think?
Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
Okay guys am a bit torn. I've an LG V30+ and am thinking of switching to the Op6. I mainly use the cell for surfing the net and an occasional casual gameplay. Listening to music is awesome in the V30 but the camera leaves something to be desired. The output is bland.
And LGs update sucks. Still stuck in 7.1.2
Should I jump the gun?
achyut said:
Okay guys am a bit torn. I've an LG V30+ and am thinking of switching to the Op6. I mainly use the cell for surfing the net and an occasional casual gameplay. Listening to music is awesome in the V30 but the camera leaves something to be desired. The output is bland.
And LGs update sucks. Still stuck in 7.1.2
Should I jump the gun?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure, sounds like you want this. I'd just sell the v30+ on Swappa and use that money to pay off most of the op6.
Done. Switched.
Lol
I want to switch to lg v30+
I had lg v30+ weeks back. Returned it and bought OnePlus 6. For the reasons like stock OS,6gig ram and mainly for the developer support op6 will have like bootloader unlocking, roms. Because the v30+ variant which i bought is officially not supporting bootloader unlocking itself.
While at the same time, i preferred few things in lg over op6.
Design, looks, weight, always on display, hdr display quality, wide angle camera, and also notch less design.
Things i didn't feel change in both are performance, multitasking, battery.
I went from V30 (no plus) to Op6. Very happy with Op6 so far. Last V30 update broke wifi for me, so I agree with poor update statements.
The only thing I miss is that the fingerprint sensor is also the power button. Unit is on and unlocked in one step.
Face unlock is working pretty good, but then again I'm one ugly s.o.b. And easy to recognize :silly:
The V30+ 2as awesome. The looks, the cameras, esp. the sound quality on my Hd600s was mind boggling.
But am a flashaholic and the V30+ didn't even allow unlocking of bootloaders. Still I did some modding like complete full screen with gesture navigation. Naptime for saving battery and got the GCam.
Was a good phone, but I need the liberty of android to truly enjoy Android. If I was to be tied so tightly, I'd rather take an iPhone 8. My whole family is tied to iPhone ecosystem. Am the odd duck who swears by Android. ?
I have a V30+ and put an order for the 6 over the weekend, pretty impulsively, still not entirely convinced it was the right move. Aside from the guilt associated with this being the 5th phone that I'm paying full price or more for (like paying premium to purchase prior to wide availability) in about 2.5 years:
- I don't take pictures often at all so I don't really care about cameras, but when I do, I found wide-angle to be super convenient, so that'll be missed.
- Yes I still have a headphone jack but definitely going to miss the quad DAC.
- Battery life and screen on time on the V30 was by far the best I've ever had. I'll have to see how OP6 holds up, but anything less would be tough to get used to.
- I would've missed wireless charging...except I never used it with the V30 (unlike my previous phones which supported it), because of the battery lasting all day.
- I've read a few complaints about the vibration motor being bad. They were very good in my last couple of phones, so I'm a bit concerned here.
- Always on display, for the time/battery/notification information being constantly available without any user input or action
- 1440P. Honestly I find the quality of the panel to be much more important than the resolution but would've preferred paying a bit more for the extra pixels.
- Waterproofing, although I recently chipped the corner so I don't know if it would still hold up. Definitely not something I'd risk anyway so not much lost there.
But still, considered the following (for all of 10 minutes before buying..):
- The near stock Android. I was pleasantly surprised at my V30's performance and lack of lag even after 6 months of use, considering the UI is on the heavier side. Buuut can't beat Nexus/pixel/op level of fluidity.
- Faster updates. Although I imported my V30 from Korea because I didn't want to wait for North American release, and updates were actually pretty damn fast as a result. I don't see this continuing now that the G7 is out and V35 due out soon.
- 8 GB RAM vs. 6 GB.
- Going from the Mi Mix (which was full of its own issues) to the V30 I really didn't like coming back to the top bezel. While a notch is hardly the ideal solution for me, maybe it could be a decent compromise (really hoping the upcoming Vivo Apex is trash...otherwise I may be in for further trouble)
- Gesture control. Opinions seem to be fairly mixed on this. But I'm already using a 3rd party gesture control app on my V30 with the navbar hidden, so looking forward to using something similar baked into the OS. I don't like Android P's implementation of it (isn't the whole purpose so you can get rid of the navbar and more of the screen can be opened up for other use?) so I'm hoping OP6 will stick to its current implementation or at least provide the choice to keep it when P is rolled out (probably not)
- No always on display, but def like how the ambient display handles incoming notifications.
And I'm pretty sure the entire point of this post was me trying to justify another impulsive purchase lol. But maybe it'll help someone.
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?