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Hi there quick questionif anyone can help I'd be so so grateful.
1:So I know a lot of this is subjective, but I'm in the very fortunate position of having an HTC One M8 and the Mate 7. I like them probably equally in terms of all of the things I have access to now, but I'm someone who is on Android for control and support (from XDA!)
I've noticed there's very very little about the Mat e7 on XDA, and Huawei in general to be honest. is this because they're still relatively new? Would it be fair to expect new roms/kernels lollipop etc to eventually come to this device? Or is the mate 7 a far more niche and limited device, and I'd be better off with my HTC in that respect? (For example, it feels like developers rush to make things work for popular devices, eg when the HTC M9 comes out Cyanogenmod, Carbon Rom etc will all be working on a veri=sion for that straight away, but the Mate 7 might not get that kind of attention?)
I'm very happy with the M8, it's just the fingerprint scanner and mega battery life are lovely on the Mate 7. I suppose basically the question is, is this a phone I can put my faith in enough to sell my HTC? I've barely even heard of Huawei :s If someone is either able to reassure me OR tell me I've got plenty to be worried about, either would be fantastic!
And maybe if anyone is able to comment on which phone they would choose, that might help me even more!
Cheers
For dev support, you can always rely on big names as samsung, lg, sony, motorola and htc. What you said is true -- there is little to no dev attention to the likes of huawei, lenovo, etc.
That said, I came from samsung tab and samsung note 2. The dev support was overwhelming. I flashed differnt custom rom every week just for the fun and thrill of using something new. But I got tired too.
Then I got the lenovo vibe z2 pro-- a relatively new monster of a phone too! But it does not even have a separate thread here in xda, and I could not even get a phone case locally! Lucke enough, my brother got my vibe z2 pro coz he loves the aluminum build so much and he will just continue to pay for it.
I have been eyeing the mate 7 since it was announced. Loved the unibody design, the humongous battery and the fastest fingerscanner in android! So when it was launched in the philippines about 2 weeks ago, I preordered and was the first owner officilaly in thr philippines! Thats how excited I am!
I was looking to have the silver color though, but only the gold one was released locally. Also the silver one is the 16gb/2gb combo. So for the future, its nice to get the 32gb/3gb combo.
I think it is somewhat guaranteed that the mate 7 would receive the loliipop update considering its the new flagship of huawei. I just dont know when.
Do I miss my old note? You bet I am! Inspite of touchwiz being bloated, there is so much you can do with it! Plus the spen has a while wide use and functionality I have never found in any phone!
For now, I am contented with my mate 7, unlocked and unrooted. I guess its the thrill of using something new. And for its many features, its definitely value for you rmoney.
My beloved N5 has been acting wonky the last couple weeks and I need to consider a replacement, as my new job doesn't leave much time for troubleshooting. Could I get some informed opinions on the best Android phone currently on the market to replace my N5?
My two must-haves are:
1) Must be able to root at least as easily as N5. Again, I'm time-pressed and can't spend hours fussing over it.
2) Must have a removable/user-replaceable battery -- the REGULAR kind, where you don't have to disassemble the phone to replace it. That's my biggest gripe about the Nexus.
Otherwise, N5-level specs or better are fine.
Thanks in advance!
Really depends on how much you want to spend but the LG G3/G4 or Samsung S5 may be a good choice.
audit13 said:
Really depends on how much you want to spend but the LG G3/G4 or Samsung S5 may be a good choice.
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Thanks. I was thinking about the G4, but with the G5 supposedly out in 45 days, I wonder if I can milk my N5 that long? Wonder how long it will take people to develop a rooting mechanism? Seems like a quarter of my apps need root access.
IMO, this phone ran A LOT better on Lolipop than it does on M. Maybe that's my problem...
I like mm better than LP on the n5. I am currently using a stock s4 at the moment. I got it really cheap and want to make sure it functions properly before passing it on to a family member.
Xiaomi MI5
Posté depuis Nexus 5 / Miui7 by Miui-France
I'm in the same boat. My N5 is about done. Already replaced the charging port thingy but now the mic is going out and it needs a new battery badly.
I was hoping I'd be able to limp along till the new Nexus with an 820 but it doesn't look like I can last another 6 months. The LG G5 looks promising and I'm gonna try to wait till it comes out.
You can really get some good deals on the LG G4 if you shop around right now. Sure it's coming up to a year old, but it's still a fantastic phone with a removable battery. It doesn't feel too sluggish and you can probably find a nice ROM to put on there. The LG G5 is dope. It's much easier to replace the battery on this model and would be nice to have. It's also apparently slightly smaller so I'd enjoy that more. I expect it to be quite expensive though as it launches later this year.
Personally for me, I'm falling in love with the Galaxy S7. I know it doesn't have a removable battery, but it has a Micro SD card slot, sensible size and features Samsung Pay arriving in the UK this year. Ultimately though, there's still nothing wrong with my Nexus 5, so I've no sensible reason as of right now to upgrade.
Choose wisely!
OnePlus X if ASOP is your style.. LG G5 if your wallet permits..
im planning also to replace my nexus 5.
my 1st choice is the Lenovo ZUK Z1 (cyanogen OS) and the other would be 1+2 or LG G4.
I have replaced my nexus 5 with a LG G4 two months ago and I absolutely love it. Awesome camera, great battery life and a really nice screen. Rooting my G4 was simple to, but keep in mind that the non European versions don't have an official bootloader unlock and an unofficial unlock may never come. But if you have the European version like me than you won't have problems with rooting and flashing custom roms. If you like really active development than maybe the G4 won't be the best choice for you due all other versions of the G4 can't be unlocked...
Lim Wee Huat said:
OnePlus X if ASOP is your style.. LG G5 if your wallet permits..
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Are the One Plus phones easily rooted and bootloader unlocked?
I thought the G4 was locked down tight if you wanted one with a US warranty?
Not really looking at these devices from tweakers' point of view.. Actually ever since after KK, there ain't much more to do with LP or the current MM. Its BETTER NOT to tweak/root them. If you're into Android dev, stay in KK.. I am..???? If you have noticed, much of the popular devs have already long left the Android development scene..
Lim Wee Huat said:
Not really looking at these devices from tweakers' point of view.. Actually ever since after KK, there ain't much more to do with LP or the current MM. Its BETTER NOT to tweak/root them. If you're into Android dev, stay in KK.. I am..???? If you have noticed, much of the popular devs have already long left the Android development scene..
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I root and unlock the bootloader mostly to use utils like Titanium Backup and TWRP.
Maybe I should just buy a 6P and a spare battery while the latter are still available? Is the 6P easily rooted and bootloader unlocked, or is that screwed down tight?
Not really sure about the 6P.. I'm still using my Nexus 5, 7 (2012) and 10.. Multirom with several 4.4.4s.. With and without GApps. Dalvik is still the best.
My faithful nexus have served me well but it needs to be replaced soon
What phone is the spiritual successor of the nexus line with the following characteristics:
Many developers for the phone. (AOSP port within weeks without official support)
5-6 inch
<500$
Is it correct that most devs wants snapdragon?
I see OnePlus as a candidate, is there more not counting Pixel.
Nothing stands out to me as outstanding this year. I am considering a LG G5
Sent from my LGLS991 using Tapatalk
OnePlus 3 would be your best bet for sure.
I think the Xiaomi 5s is the best option.
I know you're probably dismissing the Pixel because of the price, but it really is a great phone. My sister just got one on Sunday since her S3 died a horrible death (eMMC card gave in for some unknown reason). The ad really wasn't lying with regard to having a great camera and charging extremely quickly (she got it at around 85% battery mid-Sunday and didn't have to charge it until 6 PM on Monday).
Yeah you're stuck in a sort of dead period between now and Mobile World Congress in Feb when the next wave of phone announcements come. As ppl have said, OnePlus3 (or rumoured OnePplus3T is your best bet in the flagship-specs-for-cheap segment. Mi5 or Mi5S would be the other option - maybe slightly prettier but bit more of a hassle to unlock and likely to have less good custom ROM support than the OnePlus.
Other than that wait til Feb/Mar for the next wave. In the meantime you could pick up a low end $150 device (take your pick of the Chinese vendors - I use a RedMi3) to tide you over and then use it as a backup phone?
Thanks for the replies.
I am not in a hurry as my old nexus is working fine
I had a look at mi5 page here at xda and saw that it hasen't got nougat yet so that's disqualifying.
Maybe I should formulate the question as: What brand do you think that CM,AOKP etc. will develop mainly on?
Even i have the same thoughts as yours and this is what I planned to do when im switching my Nexus 5.
- Look for a spiritual replacement: Right now I can only see One plus 3, which gives good hardware and dev support for under $500. Other phones are Axon 7 and Zen Phone Deluxe. They have good hardware but you need to research on the development part. Pixel is a good phone but not worth the price and im against such products.
- Look for a cheaper phone till I find a spiritual replacement: Xiaomi products are really good for $200. If you get bored in a year or so, can replace it with another cheaper phone till you find the replacement. Few Xiaomi phones have AOSP rom's which can be installed. I have not come across any other $200 phone with good hardware and little bit of dev support. One of the phones around $200 is Redmi Note 3. It has a Nougat AOSP ROM - http://forum.xda-developers.com/red...cyanogenmod-14-0-xiaomi-redmi-note-3-t3459382
johnnydue said:
Thanks for the replies.
I am not in a hurry as my old nexus is working fine
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Oh. If you're not rushing wait til OnePlus4 (or whatever the successor is) launches in spring.
johnnydue said:
Thanks for the replies.
Maybe I should formulate the question as: What brand do you think that CM,AOKP etc. will develop mainly on?
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Pixel will be the leading brand open platforms develop on!
Otherwise OnePlus is probably a good bet. I heard from someone that many googlers use them now for all the reasons discussed above.
Otherwise your best bet for support is the device which has the largest installed base in the non-Chinese speaking world. Largest installed base = more users = (all things equal) more devs. Maybe you can get a Samsung device for cheap!!
I currently have a Google/Motorola Nexus 6, running 7.1.1... But the very difficult to find and replace battery is finally on its way out... I tend to look into rooting and running custom firmwares, and am interested in what would be my first Huawei device because of this...
Just wondering what people's experience has been with the Mate 9 Pro (not interested much in the Mate 9) when compared to Nexus devices?
How hard is it to flash back to factory stock? My old LG phone had KDZ files for it to go back to fully stock without too much difficulty... What issues are cropping up for people who root beyond the normal things like Android Pay and such? The other phone that has the hardware I am interested in is the AT&T version of the LG V20, but it appears AT&T won't let them put out the KDZ files for it to go back to stock... And that is a deal breaker for me...
What is your open software experience with the Huawei Mate 9 Pro?
Or should I just wait till we know more about the OnePlus 5?
Warrentheo said:
I currently have a Google/Motorola Nexus 6, running 7.1.1... But the very difficult to find and replace battery is finally on its way out... I tend to look into rooting and running custom firmwares, and am interested in what would be my first Huawei device because of this...
Just wondering what people's experience has been with the Mate 9 Pro (not interested much in the Mate 9) when compared to Nexus devices?
How hard is it to flash back to factory stock? My old LG phone had KDZ files for it to go back to fully stock without too much difficulty... What issues are cropping up for people who root beyond the normal things like Android Pay and such? The other phone that has the hardware I am interested in is the AT&T version of the LG V20, but it appears AT&T won't let them put out the KDZ files for it to go back to stock... And that is a deal breaker for me...
What is your open software experience with the Huawei Mate 9 Pro?
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Well for both the mate 9 and 9 pro there isn't any development happening outside of a few stock roms now for the regular mate 9 and I believe nothing at all for the pro. Coming a nexus we are barely getting magisk going and I'm not sure if it 100% yet. Rooting is a different ballgame as well, I came from a nexus 6p and it is night and day. It is a nice phone and I am rooted stock with only viper installed. There are rumors for development of lineage for the mate 9 that I do ha e now but that is to be seen. If you're looking for a phone that is easily rootable and lots of development you may want to wait for the new OP5. You should look through the threads so you can get an ideal of what you'd be getting into with the phone.
answered with mental telepathy
Ive been using Huawei phones since mate 7.
Do not buy Huawei products for modding/custom roms. If you are a flashaholic, stick with nexus, pixel, oneplus etc.
Since moving to huawei, I havent had the itch to flash custom roms either though. Every phone has its issues, but in my opinion, mate series does everything above average if not great.
Warrentheo said:
I currently have a Google/Motorola Nexus 6, running 7.1.1... But the very difficult to find and replace battery is finally on its way out... I tend to look into rooting and running custom firmwares, and am interested in what would be my first Huawei device because of this...
Just wondering what people's experience has been with the Mate 9 Pro (not interested much in the Mate 9) when compared to Nexus devices?
How hard is it to flash back to factory stock? My old LG phone had KDZ files for it to go back to fully stock without too much difficulty... What issues are cropping up for people who root beyond the normal things like Android Pay and such? The other phone that has the hardware I am interested in is the AT&T version of the LG V20, but it appears AT&T won't let them put out the KDZ files for it to go back to stock... And that is a deal breaker for me...
What is your open software experience with the Huawei Mate 9 Pro?
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I made the move from Nexus 6 to Mate 9. My nexus 6 screen had broken, so seemed best to just upgrade.
I'm generally happy with my move. The phone is physically more manageable than the Nexus 6 and feels sturdier on the whole.
I'm not getting security updates very often though and I expect Huawei aren't going to give me the next version of Android either.
The settings and general Huawei skin does get a bit annoying at times when you're used to pure Android, as on the whole, it's inevitably inferior to stock Android.
My main reason for going to the Mate 9 was for the six inch screen and strong hardware.
Hope this helps.
Sent from my MHA-L09 using XDA Free mobile app
Thanks for the feedback, and I appreciate the responses :good:
It's looking like I should wait for the One+ 5 and see what they offer...
I wish that the Nexus device hardware wasn't all so locked up, because I loved the software... So now I have to choose between hardware that can do what I want with locked down bloatware... Or software I can streamline, but is on hardware where when the battery dies I have to throw my phone away :silly:
And now with Fuchsia it looks like Google is trying to kill off what made the Nexus software so great also
With the number of phones out there, there should be at least one that has decent features AND is consumer oriented.
But thanks again for the responses :good:
I have been using a FRD-L14 running EMUI 4.1 (B150) for a few months and while I love having such a long battery life, I am starting to get frustrated with how much of my apps the system automatically kills in the background (alarm apps, text delay send, etc). I am considering trying out a custom ROM but have a few questions before proceeding.
1. If I make a TWRP nandroid backup, can I just reflash that at any time and revert back to my current rom without any hiccups if I have regrets?
2. I remember reading somewhere that I have to first upgrade to EMUI 5.0 before using a custom rom, this will not cause any issue with potential rollback?
3. What is the best currently available custom rom to try if I am looking for longest battery life and fewest bugs? Will the battery life come anywhere close to EMUI 4.1?
Thank you in advance!
Aren't there any official updates for the premium H8s?
Also that's quite the lengthy question and I know it's been asked before somewhere, please use the search function.
(Plus i can't remember the exact details as well)
Also battery life is **** with custom,(won't last me a day so i went back to stock) especially compared to MM (Even stock nougat is a worse) and all of them are somewhat buggy, but it depends on what you use.
Sent from my HUAWEI FRD-L09 using XDA Labs
I'm a new user of the Honor 8 with the exact same problem...
Also have the FRD-L14... wondering if any improvements/insights?
Would love to root, remove bloat, and even install a custom ROM, but all I've seen is that it can be a complete clusterf*#@ to do so. I'm just about to return this phone, its quirks are really ruining it for me.
anoukaimee said:
...... Would love to root, remove bloat, and even install a custom ROM, but all I've seen is that it can be a complete clusterf*#@ to do so. I'm just about to return this phone, its quirks are really ruining it for me.
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i recommend that you return it asap! there are other phones that are way better. the good thing is that most new phones will have oreo and treble by default which is going to be mandatory in android from now on.
at worst, users will get AOSP. at best, custom ROMs that have much better functionality. i recommend saving for either a oneplus, or maybe a nokia.
thanks, I think you're right, just such a headache shopping for a bargain again. do you have any recs for phones that are similarly fast but without the intrusive bloat and which hopefully are easily rooted/support magisk mods etc? I wish the xiomi 5 series worked in the US, they sound great for the money. maybe another Chinese brand (Oppo, Meizu) that has better specs than the going rate here but can also be modded? I don't need to get it back to Amazon until the end of February (thank you, extended holiday returns), so I can wait for shipment from China. Or else a Motorola or even Nokia? need to keep under $350; significantly less would be much better.
appreciate it if you have any ideas.
---------- Post added at 03:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:12 AM ----------
droidbot1337 said:
i recommend that you return it asap! there are other phones that are way better. the good thing is that most new phones will have oreo and treble by default which is going to be mandatory in android from now on.
at worst, users will get AOSP. at best, custom ROMs that have much better functionality. i recommend saving for either a oneplus, or maybe a nokia.
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sorry, just saw that you HAD recs. kind of intrigued by Nokia because I think they're selling at a discount to get their name out there. is there a specific model?
and is there anywhere you can still buy a OP3?
anoukaimee said:
............. do you have any recs for phones that are similarly fast but without the intrusive bloat and which hopefully are easily rooted/support magisk mods etc? I wish the xiomi 5 series worked in the US, they sound great for the money. maybe another Chinese brand (Oppo, Meizu) that has better specs than the going rate here but can also be modded?.......... and is there anywhere you can still buy a OP3?
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okay, so now that you informed me about your location (US) it seems that you and i are in the same situation. i was waiting to get a 1+5t after buying a few 1+5s for various family members. they all needed updates. after thinking about it i decided to wait because 1+ lacks the one thing i desperately rely on.... EXPANDABLE STORAGE!
sadly, this is the one area where huawei really excels at. they include expandable storage on most of their phones. after htc decided to skip a US release of the U11+ it seemed that i would be forced to settle for the 1+ but thankfully there have been leaks of many new devices.
the one im looking forward to is the new redesigned sony line. from what i have read they will keep the 16:9 which i love and adopt a rear fingerprint scanner plus small bezels. the huge bezels are the only thing keeping me from buying a sony as they keep their android ROM clean with no horrible UI.
aside from sony, xiaomi is said to be releasing a few phones in the us as well. these combined with a redesign of the LG flagships. that makes for many options but, you will need to set aside a bit of money. imho, it will be worth it because all of these phones will come with oreo and treble.
for those devices that have a horrible stock rom, you can just install AOSP or any of the treble based custom ROMs. it will be great since all the latest phones have more longevity thanks to their hardware. the only limitation is software but treble will take care of that.
as far as a 1+3/t, you can find them on swappa. if bought 2 a few weeks back for $215 shipped. both were 64GB models that only needed the screen repaired. the total ended costing me about $170 each. if you have any kind of experience with repair, i recommend taking that route. i hope this helped, if you have any questions, dont hesitate to pm me. we gotta help each other out some way or another. cheers!