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I need a new phone. I've been on a Note 4 for a while now, and it has reached its end-of-life. Done tons of research, and even when compared against the latest-and-greatest, the Pixel 2 still reviews well. It seems to be exactly what I am looking for. Even though the announcement of the Pixel 3 is right around the corner, it will mostly likely be late Oct / early Nov before consumers can get them in hand anyway. Five months is a long time, and I'm kind of ready to make a move now.
Is the Pixel 2 still the way to go? Do I have to bite the bullet and get another Samsung and get an s9? (I'm on AT&T btw, and I'm really really sick of having a carrier locked phone and waiting on AT&T to add bloatware to all the updates).
Would I be stupid to get the Pixel 2 today? Talk me into it / talk me out of it.
You'd be stupid to go Samsung again, that's for sure.
The Note 4 was arguably Samsung's peak for the Note line, and the S7 Edge the peak for their S line. Sure the new designs are fancy, but are fragile, and Samsung are horrendous when it comes to updates.
I'd suggest looking into a OnePlus 6 especially if you're sick of being carrier locked. Cheaper and more powerful than the Pixel 2, better in every way aside from speakers and camera if they are important to you.
That being said, I miss my Pixel 2 XL for the software as it's so damn smooth, but I do not miss the abysmal screen (Note 4 screen is better). So if you go Pixel 2, definitely get the smaller one with the nicer Samsung screen.
As opposed to what ? Samsung ? Pixel 2 still had several years of guaranteed updates and a smoother software interface with less bloat. I could understand MAYBE if you said an iPhone as most businesses are starting to use iOS and Apple supports their software for several years but against a Samsung that's just a joke.
My $0.02., develop your own pros/cons list as no one knows what's more important to you, than you. Example, I absolutely hate lag in software, probably an unhealthy amount... I also enjoy a headphone jack, but that's less important than software to _me_. At the end of the day, no phone is better at software and camera than the Pixel 2 (I have non-XL, coming from a Samsung Galaxy S3) and that's what I think ultimately creates the Pixel appeal because literally every time you use your phone, in an app, to take a pic, etc, you get that top-of-the-line software experience. How much does Samsung's superior hardware matter when apps lag or freeze and frustrate the user or they're running a 6-month old security patch level?
Also got mine 50% off during Verizon's Black Friday deal last year, figured the savings was worth the locked bootloader. Then we got an unlock method anyways in December so win-win, half price + unlocked BL now. Is the P2 worth full price to you? Who knows. But good luck whatever path you choose!
istrikerx said:
You'd be stupid to go Samsung again, that's for sure.
The Note 4 was arguably Samsung's peak for the Note line, and the S7 Edge the peak for their S line. Sure the new designs are fancy, but are fragile, and Samsung are horrendous when it comes to updates.
I'd suggest looking into a OnePlus 6 especially if you're sick of being carrier locked. Cheaper and more powerful than the Pixel 2, better in every way aside from speakers and camera if they are important to you.
That being said, I miss my Pixel 2 XL for the software as it's so damn smooth, but I do not miss the abysmal screen (Note 4 screen is better). So if you go Pixel 2, definitely get the smaller one with the nicer Samsung screen.
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I love my Pixel 2, but honestly the reason I bought it was because of the camera and because I thought there would be more rom development by this point, but mostly for the camera. I came from a oneplus 3t and I loved that phone so much. The development community was large and very active, and the phone's hardware was awesome.
If it wasn't for the Pixel 2's camera, I would've much rather upgraded to a newer oneplus device or even stuck with my 3t. But seriously, imo forget samsung and there locked ass bootloaders and stupidly overpriced phones.
I ditched Samsung (S6) finally last month and got the Pixel2. I am not much of a ROM flasher but root is very important to me. I was dreading going down in resolution but haven't regretted it once.
Is there any reason NOT to get the Pixel 2? What other phone is popular enough to receive continual updates, and easy to find accessories? Gives fast performance without lag-inducing bloat-ware?
I have an AT&T brand Note 8 and i really like the phone (wish i would have bought the unlocked version). But i like to root and flash roms occasionally and I'm pretty limited on the Note 8. Lucky me my work takes me all across Texas and i just happen to be where AT&T don't have service so i bought the Pixel 2 direct from Google and I'm loving it. I'm running it on Verizon. Super easy to unlock bootloader and root. I've only had it for about a month now and have only did one update (the June update) that got a little confusing but i figured it out (i downloaded it myself from Google instead of doing the ota). Personally, i think the camera on the Note 8 is better than the Pixel 2 camera, but i have both phones so i can always take pictures with the Note and it syncs to my Google photos and i have the pic on both phones. I do feel like the Pixel runs a lot smoother than the Note though. If you buy a Pixel, I'd suggest buying straight from Google so you don't have to worry about the bootloader, although i know carriers bundling things in makes it hard to pass up.
I believe it is still going strong and worth a buy.
Personally I don't the notch design which everyone is copying from Apple now.
In fact I bought one three weeks ago and I'm very happy with it. It's already running Android P DP3. I have considered a Huawei P20, but in the end went with the Pixel 2, mainly because of the fast updates and stock Android (I came from a Nexus 5X)
No regrets!
Meh not that many accessories...
mellojoe said:
Is there any reason NOT to get the Pixel 2? What other phone is popular enough to receive continual updates, and easy to find accessories? Gives fast performance without lag-inducing bloat-ware?
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Well, gotta disagree a little with you on the bolded section. The P2 just isn't sold in large enough numbers to get the choices in accessories like the mainstream iPhones, S9, etc. Otterbox Defender series only has 2 colors for crying out loud...
Edit: a word
It could be a winner for you if that's what you want...luv mine!
Personally I would wait and buy a cheaper, last year's phone in the meanwhile.
Pixel 2 series is great, but you still have to make hard compromises. If you want the 2018 screen quality, go pixel 2; if you want a 2018 battery life and screen size, go XL. But to me these 3 things are essential to a phone (ok maybe not the screen size). Considering the price being top of the lines even compared to an iPhone, and it is a 2017 phone (sort), I would wait.
Plus I got a feel that Pixel 3 may come with wireless charging and other technologies that would make using a phone more convenient. While Pixel 2 is just, with great camera. Not an important factor to me personally.
I just got it coming from a Huawei mate 10
Honestly its a great phone . I got the small version cuz I have a U11PLUS plus as my daily big screen phone. And it's awesome they have all these goodness in such a small phone can be handled one hand
At the moment u11plus plus 128gb and 6gb ram is going for 600$ ish on eBay. If u don't care about updates I would advice u to go with it. The camera with gcam performing better than the pixel believe it or not and the battery is the best in the market. Colours of amazing silver or red are phenomenal, nothing else comes close even the copycat p20 pro
Absolutely! I would recommend the Pixel 2 to anybody who asked I haven't even had any reason to want the XL - I've just got the 5" Pixel.
The software is essentially bloat-free (if you use the Google apps) and the experience is as polished as that of the iPhone.
(I'm not a fan of the iPhone but anybody who's used an Android can't deny on most phones the platform is bloated and a little half-assed in places.)
Plus, if you're big into getting the latest Android versions - we get the Android betas first (and they're supported for 2 years.)
And, once the 2 years are up, if you haven't got a new phone by then, I'd imagine there would be a ton of custom ROMs and such for the phone.
I'm planning on developing some ROMs for the Pixel 2 but I haven't for the moment because I have no reason to; the software is the best I've experienced, so I have no reason to mod the phone. (This is probably why there isn't much in the way of development going on for the phone)
In my opinion, the camera is excellent; I don't use it that much but when I do, it's fast, the quality is fantastic and I have trouble faulting it.
Finally, the battery life is great. As a student, I don't use my phone all day but relatively speaking, I'm quite a heavy user and I get about 3 hours more screen time than most others. Plus, as the phone charges to upwards of 80% in about 45 minutes, battery isn't really an issue. (5-10 minutes at an AC outlet can usually get it up to 20%.)
TL;DR: Particularly if you buy a phone for utility (rather than as a fashion statement), this phone is brilliant. It's the best Android device I've ever owned and, I think, one of the best on the market.
If you want something that looks a bit more flashy, I'd suggest the Pixel XL, though.
The give-a-friend 15% offer is making this pracitcally a no-brainer for me. That brings a brand new direct from Google Pixel2 to $550. That's basically the same price as low end or older model phones. Looks like I'll be picking one up. Thanks for the advice.
Feel free to add any more thoughts, tho, cause I'm sure as we get closer to the launch of the 3, more people are going to be asking for opnions on the 2 as a budget-friendly option.
jerryhou85 said:
I believe it is still going strong and worth a buy.
Personally I don't the notch design which everyone is copying from Apple now.
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Let me correct you sir. Copying from Essential ph-1, not apple. Apple copying that design from Essential ph-1. Get it right.
ivanov13 said:
Let me correct you sir. Copying from Essential ph-1, not apple. Apple copying that design from Essential ph-1. Get it right.
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Ahh, I see. Learned that recently, thanks.
This year Pixel 3 should be the choice if I want to change my phone again.
edwinek said:
In fact I bought one three weeks ago and I'm very happy with it. It's already running Android P DP3. I have considered a Huawei P20, but in the end went with the Pixel 2, mainly because of the fast updates and stock Android (I came from a Nexus 5X)
No regrets!
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me too, I bought my pixel 2 (128GB) using a 20% coupon, used to have a nexus 5x, huge improvement
Hello, all it is great to be back on XDA after long not being able to do anything with my phone because Samsung locks it down so you can't touch the US variants of their phones anymore! I decided to "downgrade" to a Moto G6 and save my money and free myself from Samsungs crapware etc. My thoughts from playing with it so far are that for the price it is incredible! Fast charging is faster than my S9+, battery life is better, overall system responsiveness is very consistent, and the screen is not at all bad! This barely feels like a downgrade at all. It feels like a breath of fresh air in an over saturated market of very pricey devices. I had the original Moto G and it is still to this day the most bang for my buck device ever. It still works and still runs Android 8 even! The OnePlus One is a close contender but I really need something that works on all major US networks. Only Samsung, Apple, HTC, LG, and Motorolla were really options for me. Out of those, I thought the G6 would likely be the most tinker friendly and budget friendly. So far that seems to be holding true as development looks to be on the horizon and there are open kernel sources! Who knows maybe I will take a crack at doing a simple AOSP ROM! Cheers everyone!
P.S. Enjoy the extra money in your pockets from not buying something overpriced like the iPhone X.
And you needed to post this... Why?
Dadud said:
And you needed to post this... Why?
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Why not? I do not think that this goes against the purpose of the News & Discussion section. I figure something like this would be welcome. :silly:
Yeah, try to do some custom ROMs please. Or fix bugs on treble ROMs, if you're able to do it ?
Hey there!
I just bought a G6 today and i'm coming from S6 Edge Plus.
Of course, this is not like a S9, but I was using the "port" version of S9 rom and i don't think Samsung's changed that much. After buying this phone I agree and understand what you are talking. I feel like I'm upgrading to a more expensive phone. Everything has this stock animations, smoothness and the battery... Omg... The baterry is fantastic!
I stopped to think about why spend so much i Samsung's phone if you can get even better experience with another phones on the market? Just because of a design that certainly will be covered by a case and a good screen.
Of course I miss the camera, but I can get over it
Loved reading the post. Don't mind the guy up above and his poor attitude.
Just like the OP i have 3 of these moto G6 play's and 1 iPhone X. The G6 is by far the bang for the buck in everyway. These phones even have facial recognition !
BTW, i picked up these phones for less than $100 each.................................
chokers said:
Just like the OP i have 3 of these moto G6 play's and 1 iPhone X. The G6 is by far the bang for the buck in everyway. These phones even have facial recognition !
BTW, i picked up these phones for less than $100 each.................................
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Wow how did you manage that deal? Used!? That is a great deal even from the play!
calage1234 said:
Hey there!
I just bought a G6 today and i'm coming from S6 Edge Plus.
Of course, this is not like a S9, but I was using the "port" version of S9 rom and i don't think Samsung's changed that much. After buying this phone I agree and understand what you are talking. I feel like I'm upgrading to a more expensive phone. Everything has this stock animations, smoothness and the battery... Omg... The baterry is fantastic!
I stopped to think about why spend so much i Samsung's phone if you can get even better experience with another phones on the market? Just because of a design that certainly will be covered by a case and a good screen.
Of course I miss the camera, but I can get over it
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Click to collapse
Yeah I am going to miss the camera a lot but for the price it is making me like it a lot more. Also Samsung needs to up their quick charge game. Thinking about the camera again though... For the difference in price you can get a killer used DSLR or maybe even a new one not including lenses.
This is evidence that price does not equal quality. I'm glad you like your phone as much as I like mine.
Markon101 said:
Hello, all it is great to be back on XDA after long not being able to do anything with my phone because Samsung locks it down so you can't touch the US variants of their phones anymore! I decided to "downgrade" to a Moto G6 and save my money and free myself from Samsungs crapware etc. My thoughts from playing with it so far are that for the price it is incredible! Fast charging is faster than my S9+, battery life is better, overall system responsiveness is very consistent, and the screen is not at all bad! This barely feels like a downgrade at all. It feels like a breath of fresh air in an over saturated market of very pricey devices. I had the original Moto G and it is still to this day the most bang for my buck device ever. It still works and still runs Android 8 even! The OnePlus One is a close contender but I really need something that works on all major US networks. Only Samsung, Apple, HTC, LG, and Motorolla were really options for me. Out of those, I thought the G6 would likely be the most tinker friendly and budget friendly. So far that seems to be holding true as development looks to be on the horizon and there are open kernel sources! Who knows maybe I will take a crack at doing a simple AOSP ROM! Cheers everyone!
P.S. Enjoy the extra money in your pockets from not buying something overpriced like the iPhone X.
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"...and the screen is not at all bad!"
Actually, I think the screen is gorgeous and looks amazing, bright and colorful without being oversaturated.
Hi, Markon101...
Wow, what a great post, and I agree with much of what you say, although I live in the UK and carrier networks are somewhat different here. Things aren't quite so locked down.
So, anyway, like yourself, I've also been away from XDA for quite a while, primarily because I'm not rich enough to afford the latest Premium Flagship devices. And over the past few years, I've been running fairly old devices, namely the (HTC built) Nexus 9 tablet and the HTC One M8 phone, both of which hail from 2014.
This hasn't been much of a problem in terms of regular day-to-day use, but to be a contributing member of XDA, it helps if you have more up to date hardware.
I remember buying my HTC One M8 phone way back in September 2014, which cost me over £500 - a fair chunk of cash for me even back then.
Today's Flagship phones are even more expensive (unless you go the contract route, but I prefer to actually own my phone outright), so when my HTC One M8's battery began to fail earlier this year (which is pretty respectable after three and a bit years of use!) ~ at the beginning of July, the phone would shut down when the battery dipped below 70% ~ well, I knew then that I needed a new phone, it couldn't be delayed any longer!
But you develop certain expectations, largely fed by what you read online and by the focus placed on them, that the only phones worth bothering with are Premium Flagship devices, such as the Samsung Galaxy S9, Google's Pixel phones, the iPhone X, etc...
...and that any phone not costing an arm and a leg (ie., anything less than around £800) is basically not worth bothering with.
And it's so easy to fall into the trap of believing that. I certainly did, which is why I delayed replacing my M8 for as long as I did, not wanting (and not really able to afford it anyway) to spend upwards of £800 to £900 on a new phone. I guess I could have found the money, but the sacrifices elsewhere in my life, as a result, would have just have been unacceptable to me.
And then I read this article...
The Moto G6 exposes the identity crisis plaguing Android's top-end...
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/moto-g6-release-date-uk-price-specs
This article 'recalibrated' my expectations and changed my perspective about a phone costing only a quarter of the price of a Flagship device ~ just £220, network unlocked.
So, I bought one. Just over a week ago now.
I transferred the SIM card from my antiquated HTC One M8 and I haven't regretted my purchase for a single minute!
The Moto G6 is a singular delight to look at, to hold and most importantly of all... to use. Smooth and responsive, great screen, fast charging, looks good - what's not to like.
You could buy nearly five of 'em for the price of an iPhone X - all I can say is that the iPhone X must be an extraordinarily and an astonishingly amazing piece of technology, but is it worth £1000? A slightly rhetorical question I know, because value, when it comes to such things, is highly subjective.
Clearly, it's worth it to some people, otherwise Apple wouldn't have sold any of 'em ~ I just couldn't personally justify such an extravagant purchase, even if I did have a spare Grand lying around somewhere!
But going back to the Moto G6 ~ it's a great phone, at a great price, and I doubt I'll ever pay much more than a couple of a hundred pounds for a smartphone ever again, which also means I won't leave it so long until I upgrade again - I mean, £220 (or thereabouts) every couple of years is something I can easily scrape together. Thick end of a £1000... well, not really.
It seems to me that something has recently changed in the smartphone world, and that good quality phones no longer require remortgaging the house! The Moto G6 is evidence of that.
---------------------------------
As far as custom mods for the Moto G6 are concerned (ie., root via Magisk, TWRP, Custom Kernels, Custom ROMs, etc.) and all that kind of stuff... well, I guess it will all happen at some point. It's still early days yet, the Moto G6 has only been on the market for around three months, and the dev guys who understand the intricacies of Android required for building the tools needed for these things need time to work on them.
And in any case, I generally wouldn't even bother thinking about unlocking the bootloader until I've had a device for at least six months, primarily for warranty reasons. What's the rush?
And ideally of course, you'd need some means of restoring/re-flashing the Moto G6 back to its factory state before messing around with all of that - and which I don't think there is currently.
Root is certainly nice to have, for things like AdaWay, Greenify and Titanium, but it brings problems of its own, for example when an OTA is imminent ~ it won't install over anything other than unmodified stock. Maybe Magisk has changed that ~ I haven't used Magisk myself, and I'm only familiar with Chainfires SuperSU, which I do know had to 'patch' the boot image/partition for root to work. I had to use Chainfires FlashFire to run an OTA on my rooted Nexus 9, but with Chainfire retiring from the field, I suspect that FlashFire no longer works, and probably wouldn't be supported on the G6 anyway.
Anyhow, whatever the complexities, root doesn't seem to me to be that much of a deal breaker these days. Or maybe I'm just getting old, and I can no longer be bothered with the hassle of it all anymore. I remember (cue: pipe, slippers, cardigan, grumpy old man routine)... I remember back in ICS, Jellybean and KitKat days when root was just so easy to acquire, and you could even flash an official OTA via ClockWorkMod recovery...
...well, those days are long gone, probably for the better actually, because it means Android is now considerably more secure with things like Secure Boot, DM-Verity, Selinix Enforced/Permissive and a whole load of other things I don't really fully understand (but sort of pretend to).
Android is certainly much more slicker and polished these days (anybody here remember Éclair, Froyo and Gingerbread!), with Nougat and Oreo and whatever P will eventually be called, but it doesn't seem to be quite as much fun as it used be back circa 2011-2014 or thereabouts.
---------------------------------
Well, having ruminated on all manner of diverse topics here, I'll conclude this ever-so-slightly rambling post by reiterating my opinion on the Moto G6, and totally agreeing with Markon101 and his post above.
It is unquestionably a delightful phone, at an equally delightful price. I'm still amazed that it only cost me a little over £200. I doubt you could even buy a half-decent TV for that kind of money.
Hope everybody else here is equally happy with their Moto G6... I know I certainly am.
Cheers everybody.
Ged.
I like the Moto G6 but S9+ is by far a better phone. Better cpu,gpu,camera,screen. S9+ feels more premium than the G6 as well. Just my opinion tho. I would never trade an S9+ for a moto G6 tho i do have the G6 as a back up phone
no kidding dude
supergear said:
I like the Moto G6 but S9+ is by far a better phone. Better cpu,gpu,camera,screen. S9+ feels more premium than the G6 as well. Just my opinion tho. I would never trade an S9+ for a moto G6 tho i do have the G6 as a back up phone
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obviously the s9+ is better but is costs over 4 times more than a g6... and you can do a bit more with the motorola. im glad to see some developers have noticed it recently. **** ive had pie since july and ive been able to get like 5 different oreo gsi and three different pie gsi (descendent has a few flaws) to boot and run successfully. the best bang for the buck is the g6. honestly you sound like a fool if you have a g6 as a backup lol. you need a backup phone for a 1000 dollar s9+ ? good thing samsung is letting you get that ota for their best phone this fast because your locked bootloader and ridiculous knox security wont let you even try without cancelling your warranty and after it says void odin tells you that it has failed to flash right as the phone shorts out and tells you that it cant turn on because of moisture in the charge port(my buddy had this issue)and youre like damn, now i gotta use the G6. sorry to be so hard on ya bro but reality is harsh and you sound like a guy that needed a check.
I sort of understand what you mean like when It comes to being a developer It's simple to unlock a Moto bootloader and simple to flash stuff to em and build custom stuff for em. Compared to Samsung you need to use Odin for everything and it might not work right still. along with Samsung knox and there bootloader's being pains to unlock sometimes through unofficial means. You gotta worry about it being a exynos variant or not and there verison of android is not as much of a stock Android experience compared to moto. There's a bunch of stuff I'm sure I'm missing on why you think Moto is better lol. But I mean i have the g4 play, g6 play, and the z2 force and I bought the z2 force just so I can play games on it lol if I was you I would have just kept the s9+ and used it for the things I couldn't use my other phones for lol
I think G6 is decent for the price.
Frankly, I'd prefer IPS over AMOLED all the time.
Now Samsung is way too locked down so I quit. LG isn't that bad on open market model.
I just hope G6 has more development, and G6 plus will come to America because I prefer bigger screen.
The way to wake the phone requires some learning curve but it's not bad.
The only thing I don't like is Google Play Music. I have to close all other apps or local playback stutters.
NFC doesn't matter because I barely use it.
It works well with PD charging
USB-C digital headphones works too
Markon101 said:
Hello, all it is great to be back on XDA after long not being able to do anything with my phone because Samsung locks it down so you can't touch the US variants of their phones anymore! I decided to "downgrade" to a Moto G6 and save my money and free myself from Samsungs crapware etc. My thoughts from playing with it so far are that for the price it is incredible! Fast charging is faster than my S9+, battery life is better, overall system responsiveness is very consistent, and the screen is not at all bad! This barely feels like a downgrade at all. It feels like a breath of fresh air in an over saturated market of very pricey devices. I had the original Moto G and it is still to this day the most bang for my buck device ever. It still works and still runs Android 8 even! The OnePlus One is a close contender but I really need something that works on all major US networks. Only Samsung, Apple, HTC, LG, and Motorolla were really options for me. Out of those, I thought the G6 would likely be the most tinker friendly and budget friendly. So far that seems to be holding true as development looks to be on the horizon and there are open kernel sources! Who knows maybe I will take a crack at doing a simple AOSP ROM! Cheers everyone!
P.S. Enjoy the extra money in your pockets from not buying something overpriced like the iPhone X.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I downgraded too from Galaxy S9 to Moto G6 Play and Moto G6 and I've never been happier. I love to tinker with my phones and was sick of Samsung locking everything up. So I'm happy now with some extra money on pocket.
Markon101 said:
Wow how did you manage that deal? Used!? That is a great deal even from the play!
Yeah I am going to miss the camera a lot but for the price it is making me like it a lot more. Also Samsung needs to up their quick charge game. Thinking about the camera again though... For the difference in price you can get a killer used DSLR or maybe even a new one not including lenses.
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Just to let y'all know magisk has a camera port from a rog phone. Imo it's a significant upgrade. Not as good as the S9 camera of course but still.?
luvcustom said:
Just to let y'all know magisk has a camera port from a rog phone. Imo it's a significant upgrade. Not as good as the S9 camera of course but still.?
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Where?
madbat99 said:
Where?
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Install magisk then search downloads for AZUS Style Suite. Install, reboot, try it out.
luvcustom said:
Install magisk then search downloads for AZUS Style Suite. Install, reboot, try it out.
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Click to collapse
I found it. Not worth another magisk module messing with my stuff. Everyone should keep them to a minimum, only what's needed to keep stability and needed features. Thanks though.
i have moto g6 .. You can't compare G6 phone with S9. SAMSUNG S9 is a 2018 most selling flagship device and have a good value in market.
So, my beloved Galaxy S7 is dying a slow battery death, barely making it through the day now. I used CVert's modified stock rom and enjoyed the S7 more than any phone I've ever had. That method allowed S7 users to have most of the benefits of rooting, including tethering, while also keeping stock benefits like Samsung and Google pay, etc.
Anyway, I'm going to need a new phone very soon and don't know what to do. I do not like to buy the latest/greatest phones since I tend to buy from Swappa or eBay, and I don't like to spend $800 on a phone.
From what I can see on this forum, the Snapdragon S8 and S8-plus are not rootable (at least with normal battery, etc.), nor is the S9. I considered a Google Pixel, but it drives me insane that they don't have an SD card slot.
I do quite a bit of tethering since I live in the country and don't have decent internet, so root has been pretty much a requirement to this point.
I have considered biting the bullet and getting a newer-model like the Pixel 2 XL since you can get them with lots of RAM, but I have enjoyed the Samsung experience so much I'm loth to make the switch. I'm also not crazy about investing close to $1k when (hopefully) the G5 phones will be coming out in 2019 (or is that not going to happen).
Anyway, I was hoping some of you super-knowledgeable folks might chime in with some thoughts. I'm even considering just getting another cheap S7 to get me through to G5. I don't know...
Anyone?
Sorry this doesn't answer your question but did you root your s7?
Isn't it strange?
The S10e has highly favourable reviews and is supposed to become one of the best selling phones, maybe it could sell even better than the S10.
But it's very quiet around here with not much discussion compared to other phones.
And personally I've never seen an S10e in person even though I've seen plenty of S10 & S10+.
The S10+ Q&A forum has thousands of posts already, and there's 341 here.
So what's happening?
I would say s10e people go see s10 or s10+ forums as there is not much difference.
The S10e is ultimately the third tier device in the S10 line. Enthusiasts are more likely to be the ones to develop for devices in general, and enthusiasts are more likely to go for the first or second tier options.
We may get a small amount of development ported over from the other devices, but odds are this is about the amount of participation we're going to see here.
Maybe because people are satisfied with it. I honestly have no complaint about this device
Because it's locked down... Not much we can do really.
I'm very happy with this phone tho. Don't even need root anymore really....custom kernel would be nice but not likely to see that for long time if ever.
Good old locked af Sammy phones.
wywywywy said:
Isn't it strange?
The S10e has highly favourable reviews and is supposed to become one of the best selling phones, maybe it could sell even better than the S10.
But it's very quiet around here with not much discussion compared to other phones.
And personally I've never seen an S10e in person even though I've seen plenty of S10 & S10+.
The S10+ Q&A forum has thousands of posts already, and there's 341 here.
So what's happening?
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Click to collapse
You're right, brother.
I've been a oneplus user for the past three devices, and this s10E really got my attention.
I ordered a G9700 version from ebay, should come next week
Surprised though there's little talk about it here.
What about TWRP? hmm
Could even survive without magisk nowadays as long as I use themes such as swift installer or even substratum ones.
This device seems unique for what it can offer, almost the same as their big brothers. With such a compact design,
Let's rock it!
jasons1004 said:
Because it's locked down... Not much we can do really.
I'm very happy with this phone tho. Don't even need root anymore really....custom kernel would be nice but not likely to see that for long time if ever.
Good old locked af Sammy phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not if you have the Exynos version ...
You guys have got valid points, however, even the Accessories section (which has nothing to do with being locked down) is super quiet.
The S10 and S10+ are locked down too, yet they still have big communities.
My worry is that the S10e is selling maybe nowhere near as well as people were expecting, possibly even a flop. This will be a problem for future official or non-official support.
No idea.
Major weirdness.
wywywywy said:
You guys have got valid points, however, even the Accessories section (which has nothing to do with being locked down) is super quiet.
The S10 and S10+ are locked down too, yet they still have big communities.
My worry is that the S10e is selling maybe nowhere near as well as people were expecting, possibly even a flop. This will be a problem for future official or non-official support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember where I read the news but I saw that S10+ and S10e both are outsellIing S10. I think this forum just needs more time
I typically get the highest model available when I purchase phones but there was a few things that made me get my s10e. The main thing is that I despised curved screen phones. That's why I've been away from Samsung for years now. Finally is that I do not want to deal with the experimental in screen finger print sensor.
After getting the s10e, The only downside is the absurdly narrow screen. While the screen size is actually larger than my older LG V20 actual usable screen space is less and I feel it when playing puzzle games. Other than that I never thought that I'd be so happy on a non rooted phone. I pretty much destroyed my LG V20 on sprint by installing the best rom that was available and which got rid of lots of things like visual voicemail and many other features.
esqueue said:
I typically get the highest model available when I purchase phones but there was a few things that made me get my s10e. The main thing is that I despised curved screen phones. That's why I've been away from Samsung for years now. Finally is that I do not want to deal with the experimental in screen finger print sensor.
After getting the s10e, The only downside is the absurdly narrow screen. While the screen size is actually larger than my older LG V20 actual usable screen space is less and I feel it when playing puzzle games. Other than that I never thought that I'd be so happy on a non rooted phone. I pretty much destroyed my LG V20 on sprint by installing the best rom that was available and which got rid of lots of things like visual voicemail and many other features. I mainly root to have access to free wifi hotspot and to my surprise, my s10e has no problems getting. There is absolutely no reason to root this device anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One word: ads. After being pushed onto an S8 when my OP6 broke, I couldn't believe how many ads there are spamming all over the place. It felt unusable. Adaway really spoiled me. At that point I rooted my S8 with Nougat.
There are still some drawbacks to rooting an SD S8 (random crashes and 80 percent battery), but it's still worth it IMO. Enough so that I didn't upgrade to the 10e, even though I like my wife's overall.
Oh, and Titanium Backup too.
I agree root was not necessarily so far. I am using Adguard VPN ad blocking, used ADB to remove bloatware and add some 3rd apps for gestures and other improvements. All ok for now.
root is no longer needed for blocking advertisements. you can use, Blokada, adhell3, Disconnect Pro and private Dns. I use Disconnect Pro in combination with Adguard dns. Dns over tls. perfect combination for adblocking with 0% battery drain
Xda isnt Poppin like it used to and the phone is so good, there's really nothing to complain about or anything. Ppl are just enjoying their phone
Sent from my SM-G970U1 using Tapatalk
I really wish I could use a custom ROM on this. I don't like using stock ROMs and haven't on a single smartphone I've owned... including my first, the Samsung Captivate. I'm currently in love with Resurrection Remix.
Not much to complain about so far. I was getting a bit fed up with the increasingly large screens and weight, so I decided to go for the 10e and so far it is a great phone.
Phh just ordered an s10e, that's great news for any aosp lovers.
There's not much to do having the Snap SoC(ks)
Still waiting for the promised supper-dupper night mode update, 4 months since purchasing my unlocked S10e and that's too long. Samsung is bombarding the market with so many cheap "A" models now, that they're forgetting their obligations to the owners of top priced galaxy 'battleships' or 'flagships',... whatever.
I like the S10e, but I'm beginning to regret not waiting for the OP7 Pro, they seem to be on top of updates/upgrades. I think I'll give OP7T Pro a try when it gets released in the fall.
mzsquared said:
There's not much to do having the Snap SoC(ks)
Still waiting for the promised supper-dupper night mode update, 4 months since purchasing my unlocked S10e and that's too long. Samsung is bombarding the market with so many cheap "A" models now, that they're forgetting their obligations to the owners of top priced galaxy 'battleships' or 'flagships',... whatever.
I like the S10e, but I'm beginning to regret not waiting for the OP7 Pro, they seem to be on top of updates/upgrades. I think I'll give OP7T Pro a try when it gets released in the fall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got around the night mode thing by installing a dark theme and using night mode for all my Google apps. Gives me about 85% night mode for everything.
Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk
Hi Everyone
I'm looking to upgrade from a Oneplus 3. Previously it was a great price for good specs.
I noticed the magic 3 whilst looking at YouTube and the specs look amazing.
1 - Interested to know of those who have had it for a while would you recommend getting it?
2 - what are the main annoying factors about the phone?
3 - Are there any others in the price range I should consider? I mostly play pubg, do retoo gaming and watch films with my existing phone
Many thanks in advance
Jamie
1 - Difficult to answer....if you're not into rooting and customizing,but happy with a basic Android experience and raw power,you should buy it......otherwise,if you want 100% flagship bells and whistless for half the price,you'll have to search futher,as this phone does not 'has it all' for just €479.
2 - For me,the most annoying thing is that there's much more to squeeze out of the camera,if Nubia's app would match the capabilities......but hopefully, there will be a working Gcam release in the near future.
3 - Xiaomi Mi 9....but I fell for the RM3.....
Many thanks for the reply, I don't mind rooting if necessary.
Also happy with a basic android experience as my oneplus was pretty much that when it first came out.
Thanks for the suggestion I will look into that also ??
Jamie.bshop.1982 said:
Hi Everyone
I'm looking to upgrade from a Oneplus 3. Previously it was a great price for good specs.
I noticed the magic 3 whilst looking at YouTube and the specs look amazing.
1 - Interested to know of those who have had it for a while would you recommend getting it?
2 - what are the main annoying factors about the phone?
3 - Are there any others in the price range I should consider? I mostly play pubg, do retoo gaming and watch films with my existing phone
Many thanks in advance
Jamie
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell the battery backup is awesome. Only problem I have is the gaming buttons are too annoying when playing a video.
I have it unrooted without gapps and IMO its better then some flagships. Reason is the big screen and the big battery and the stereo sound.
Also I prefer metal over Glas backside. And NO Notch.
The camera is better than that on my Xiaomi mi mix 3.
this phone is amazing, the only bad thing i see it had is not hdmi usb-c to support
I would wait for two main reasons:
1) Asus is going to announce their new ROG phone at the end of this month. While it will probably be a good deal more expensive, It might have some cool features
2) Nubia just announced they are going to release an 855 Plus version of this phone.
Sent from my Note 9 using XDA Labs
Thing is,no matter how long you wait ,there will always be something better on the horizon after your purchase.......no matter which device you've bought...
Hi,
Considering the price and the specs, I think the Red Magic 3 is about the best phone you can have nowadays.
If you buy it, you should consider two things :
- Chinese UI has a lot of features but is ugly and themes are mostly paid ones ;
- Europe/US/Asia ROM has ZERO features.
Once I recovered from the disappointment, the second solution was clearly what I was looking for.
So here is my advice :
- take the Europe/US/Asia version and flash it to your device (if it doesn't ship with that as stock)
- unlock the bootloader
-root your phone.
All this is done in like 4/5 minutes...
Once done, install all apps to add the required features.
You will have a phone that has ONLY THE FEATURES YOU WANT.
No bloat, no unnecessary stuff...
A dream come true
Of course, it comes with a price : once rooted, you will get OTA notifications but won't be able to install them...
Regards.
roadworker said:
Thing is,no matter how long you wait ,there will always be something better on the horizon after your purchase.......no matter which device you've bought...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True
If you live in North America, I'd steer clear of this company.
I ordered one of their phones last week. I still have yet to receive my shipping notice. I ordered it with priority shipping, and according to their website, it should have shipped within 24 hours of payment.
4 days after it failed to ship, I contacted support, and was told "Be patient". Ever since then, they've stopped responding to emails. They won't give me any sort of clue as to when my order will ship. Apparently this is a frequent occurrence with Red Magic.
They're one of those companies that are only interested in getting devices out to reviewers, everyone else is to fend for themselves.
The support page on their website doesn't work. Apparently they didn't pay for it. Nubia cannot give any answers either, they just argue back in forth in the support email with several of the employees arguing about who's job it is to deal with.
If you ever receive a phone from them, and have an issue, good luck with that. Their current company (if you can call it that) shows that can't deal with supporting their devices. They can't even deal with fulfilling orders.
Stay far far away from this company, for you own good.
Is there likely to significant difference between the 8gb and 12gb ram? I think I'm going to get it but wonder if it's worth the extra money. Also just seen they mentioned the magic 4 by the end of the year. So maybe prices will come down
Well I'm in N.A. and I bought it from the site day it released. Great phone, few bugs at the moment and its a gaming phone at heart with stock Android, easily customizable. Honestly any game task you throw at it handles like a boss. It's an emulation dream with built in buttons. My controller and case should arrive the 22nd and I'm sure it will be great. I can tell you any Bluetooth controller works well on it too. The choice to buy is up to you, basically do you want a gaming phone or something else.
I have had this for two days in the USA and I love it. Usually I have buyer's remorse and would be looking for a new phone by now so I can say it really is great. Battery life is better than my S9 with a Mophie pack so far. Even with playing with it constantly I can't kill it in one day and usually my S9 needs to be plugged in by late afternoon. I have not rooted it yet, and may not. I love a clean version of Android. Not sure why people think that is bad. All the random customization sometimes comes with a speed cost. This phone is just plain fast. Usually I root to get rid of crap so you can see where I stand. If you hate big heavy phones, don't buy it. That is the negative. I had a ZTE Axon 7 and updates were slow so that's another negative. Other than that, super fast, great screen, great battery, strong data signal...it's a buy. Reminds me of the original OnePlus, or the Axon. Phones that were surprising values, but were big and heavy.
Sent from my NX629J using Tapatalk
I'm coming from the OnePlus 3(T) as well, looking for a new device. What I didn't like at the Oneplus were the original ROM (luckily Lineage helped a lot) and the sound and position of the speaker. I loved the front facing stereo speakers of my HTC One (m7) years ago.
So I'm thinking of purchasing the RM3, but at the moment there are no alternative ROMS. Another device I'm looking at is the Black Shark 2, but situation with ROMs and support seems to be even worse.
For the RM3, I have concerns, if a fan inside a mobile will really last for some years, or break down at some time...
I also had the 3T and 1 and the 6T obviously this is just a better phone due to the increases in tech. No way to tell on the fan, I will say...and not sure how ZTE vs it's company Nubia will work, but my Axon 7 had a couple of screen issues due to my dropping it and the speaker stopped working, not sure if it was due to that and ZTE fixed it every time free of charge within the first year. I was very happy with their service on that phone. ROM support will be lacking but it's a clean version of Android so I prefer that
Sent from my NX629J using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 10:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:22 AM ----------
To me...a clean, lean ROM, which the US version is, rooted with Magisk and other mods I choose myself is always the best option. Some custom ROMs can get pretty bloated themselves
Sent from my NX629J using Tapatalk
NexusPenguin said:
Hi,
Considering the price and the specs, I think the Red Magic 3 is about the best phone you can have nowadays.
If you buy it, you should consider two things :
- Chinese UI has a lot of features but is ugly and themes are mostly paid ones ;
- Europe/US/Asia ROM has ZERO features.
Once I recovered from the disappointment, the second solution was clearly what I was looking for.
So here is my advice :
- take the Europe/US/Asia version and flash it to your device (if it doesn't ship with that as stock)
- unlock the bootloader
-root your phone.
All this is done in like 4/5 minutes...
Once done, install all apps to add the required features.
You will have a phone that has ONLY THE FEATURES YOU WANT.
No bloat, no unnecessary stuff...
A dream come true
Of course, it comes with a price : once rooted, you will get OTA notifications but won't be able to install them...
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you are looking for an what you want to do?
If you are a person who is happy with stock ROMs an just leaves cellphones in the state they are in out of the box then yes buy it.
However if you are a person who likes tinkering modifications an custom ROMs the please do not buy this cellphone.
I tried to install TWRP over 2 months ago an got stuck in a fastboot bootloop. Every xda suggestion to fix this plus paying a cellphone repair center an trying heaps of suggestions an it's still non functional.
It has horrible software an is rediculously sensitive to any and all attempts to FLASH ANYTHING.
If red magic 3s break you might never be able to fix them at a software level.
Mine lives in a bag by my bed to remind me not to bite off more than I can chew.
I have a xiaomi Mi9 now an have no real issues with it.
Good luck with your decision
So the options are to buy on Ali are with a stock Global Rom or a Chinese ROM. I see some other posts about people flashing to the Chinese one. Is that the best option to choose? I take it you can still select the language as English and support here etc? Thanks for everyone's responded it's been really helpful. I was thinking of holding out for the 855plus but not sure if I can afford which will be most likely an additional cost for it.
I also have the same question but mine is a bit different. Im convinced i am going to buy it but...
Should i buy it now or wait for the 855+ version? Idc if its gonna be a bit more expensive
xorphaz said:
I also have the same question but mine is a bit different. Im convinced i am going to buy it but...
Should i buy it now or wait for the 855+ version? Idc if its gonna be a bit more expensive
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would of thought it would be more expensive as they still have the original to sell. Probably will stick another £100 on it or so I reckon ?