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So I am getting sick of the battery life of this device and charging twice a day just to get by... the QC helps but it isn't always a viable option for someone who is on the road/travels a lot. I am probably going to go back to my Moto G 2015 for the time being as I could get a full days use most of the time on a single charge and just selling my MXPE.
But now the question comes up as what to replace it with... Moto G 5th gen, Blu Pure XR, ZTE Axon 7 Mini, or ???
My requirements are simple, or so I think...
1) 4+ hours SOT, preferably 5+, in mixed signal environment of WiFi/LTE/3G and sometimes without the best signal strength (for reference, I currently get about 2.5 hours on MXPE)
2) 5.2"-5.7" screen with 1080p minimum resolution
3) Stock Android, "near" stock, or simple UI (no TouchWiz, EMUI, ZenUI, or other bloated UI) that allows easy use of replacement launcher
4) 64GB internal storage or 32GB internal+microSD
5) 3GB or more of RAM
6) Full AT&T network compatibility (GSM 850/1900 and LTE Band 2/4/5/12/17 and optionally 29/30)
7) Nougat or Marshmallow with a Nougat upgrade "guaranteed"
8) 3.5mm headphone jack
9) Dual band WiFi - 2.4 & 5Ghz
10) $300USD or less
Would be nice, but not essential...
1) Unlockable bootloader (implies root/custom recovery/ROM development community)
2) Front facing speakers
3) NFC
4) USB 3.0
Absolute no no's are Samsung, Asus, or Huawei/Honor devices.
What else fits these requirements that I am not considering?
I believe the one phone that comes to mind that would fit most of your requirements is the Axon. I took a break from the MXPE (when it flew off my roof and died a horrible death in a rain storm) and had the Axon 7 (normal size) for about a month. You will get NEAR 4 hours of SoT, a qhd screen, 5.5 inches, relatively light for metal body. Unlockable bootloader and decent dev for it, last I checked. Things that bothered me/ pissed me off were that DTTW was laggy and slow, the actual cell service seemed to be really bad, possibly because of the full metal body phone, and the biggest annoyance - no backlit capacitive buttons, so you were left sort of blind in the dark trying to hit buttons. There is also no way through the build.prop to enable the on-screen buttons to bypass the issue at night, last I checked.
LG V20 could be an option too since it has a bootloader unlock now, 3.5-4.5 hours of SoT. I think it has a bottom bezel speaker though, which is a little weird, and as always the LG software has complaints. The dev is good enough to get around that though.
I'm in the same boat as you though. I've been looking pretty hard to find a new phone and the V20 is the only one I am really considering right now.
Get the OnePlus 3T it meets all your needs I get easily 6 to 7 HR sot
datchico305 said:
Get the OnePlus 3T it meets all your needs I get easily 6 to 7 HR sot
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Would love to... tell me where I can get a new OP3T for under $300... That one is a hard stop requirement.
@xgerryx Same for LG V20 and Axon 7 (which never goes on sale, although the Mini does often), the $300 price point is a big deal
This phone has been a little disappointing. It's good, but definitely not great. It's a night and day difference from the Galaxy S3 I was using, but I wish I had held out a little longer for the SD 820 phones instead of buying in 2015.
It sounds like you've already got a pretty inclusive list for phones that are sold in the US and meet your requirements.
I just checked swappa, and if you're willing to go used, the OnePlus 3 is starting to get down towards the price point you're looking for. It has the same size battery as the MXP, and between the more efficient SoC than this godawful 808/810 generation and an FHD AMOLED I'd think you should get better screen on time out of it. It's a OnePlus so it has loads of good development, so you'll have all kinds of kernel/rom/tweaking available to really squeeze every erg out of it.
jason2678 said:
This phone has been a little disappointing. It's good, but definitely not great. It's a night and day difference from the Galaxy S3 I was using, but I wish I had held out a little longer for the SD 820 phones instead of buying in 2015.
It sounds like you've already got a pretty inclusive list for phones that are sold in the US and meet your requirements.
I just checked swappa, and if you're willing to go used, the OnePlus 3 is starting to get down towards the price point you're looking for. It has the same size battery as the MXP, and between the more efficient SoC than this godawful 808/810 generation and an FHD AMOLED I'd think you should get better screen on time out of it. It's a OnePlus so it has loads of good development, so you'll have all kinds of kernel/rom/tweaking available to really squeeze every erg out of it.
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That actually could be an option... I will investigate further.
acejavelin said:
Would love to... tell me where I can get a new OP3T for under $300... That one is a hard stop requirement.
@xgerryx Same for LG V20 and Axon 7 (which never goes on sale, although the Mini does often), the $300 price point is a big deal
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If you happen to be SUPER interested in the V20, I have seen some go for like 310-320 on Swappa in good to mint condition. You gotta hound the seller though and keep track of it all damn day for when the price drops. Not an awesome experience but I'm waiting for the same thing myself.
xgerryx said:
If you happen to be SUPER interested in the V20, I have seen some go for like 310-320 on Swappa in good to mint condition. You gotta hound the seller though and keep track of it all damn day for when the price drops. Not an awesome experience but I'm waiting for the same thing myself.
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I'm not really interested... TBH, my experience with non-Nexus LG Android devices has been... well... lets just say less then wonderful.
Although I would have to say that the LG enV from years ago probably ranks up there as my favorite phone of all time, back when you could actually get DAYS of usage out of a cell phone on a single charge. I remember I would charge it twice a week. lol
acejavelin said:
I'm not really interested... TBH, my experience with non-Nexus LG Android devices has been... well... lets just say less then wonderful.
Although I would have to say that the LG enV from years ago probably ranks up there as my favorite phone of all time, back when you could actually get DAYS of usage out of a cell phone on a single charge. I remember I would charge it twice a week. lol
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Yea I agree. After my terrible experience with the buggy LG G4, I'm very skeptical about going back again. At the same time I am running out of companies to try out! Haha. Gotta circle back eventually, especially on Verizon.
xgerryx said:
Yea I agree. After my terrible experience with the buggy LG G4, I'm very skeptical about going back again. At the same time I am running out of companies to try out! Haha. Gotta circle back eventually, especially on Verizon.
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NEVER AGAIN!!! I refuse to drop $140 plus taxes and fees (realistically $160) for the service level I get now for $72 per month. Plus the limitations on devices, I would have to buy at least one new phone and/or go under contract. Nope, not happening. (Can you tell I have a grudge against Verizon, lol)
I would look around swappa for a OnePlus 3 or 3t it's worth it no bugs lag free and monthly updates it's already on nougat 7.1.1 and the beta builds they offer are great as well and development is great lots of greats ROMs and kernels and unlocking bootloader will not void warranty
TBH...I think you will have a hard time meeting all of your requirements right now. The market looks pretty dismal which is very unfortunate. I personally will hold out a little longer. I'm really looking hard at what Nokia/HMD are coming up with and hoping their roadmap for US devices includes a mid range device soon. So far their line up seems decent and if they are true to their word about expedient updates for Android, and they will sell devices with unlockable bootloaders at decent prices, I'll be sold.
moving to a galaxy s8 plus, comes tomorrow
unitz0mbie said:
moving to a galaxy s8 plus, comes tomorrow
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Like @acejavelin stated, Samsung is not an option, and I agree with him. Yes they have great hardware for the most part, but a less powerful processor running vanilla, our near vanilla Android will run just as well considering the lack of heavy handed UX. I will admit the phone looks great hardware and looks wise, but I personally don't like the look and feel of Samsung TW.
unitz0mbie said:
moving to a galaxy s8 plus, comes tomorrow
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Sammie's are to bloated... Every Samsung devices we have ever had has been problematic... Hope you enjoy yours though but I would never spend that kind of money on a phone.
I have a moto g5 plus as well, its pretty good. It's fast and smooth. Screen and camera are good too, but obviously not as good as the X style.
Yes mxpe battery sucks. I have to charge 2-3 times a day and am not even a heavy user. I know its more than your actual budget but better wait, save a bit more and probably the price will drop also and go for a OP 3T.
i know your problem man.. but why don't you wait for a nougat update?? why not? maybe they might fix up the battery drain issue!
there are barely very less phones which have dual front facing speakers.. market has got very saturated.. all look for flagship but they just don't think that having a good speakers is also a part of flagship project!
as per my personal opinion... this phone is just the best phone ive ever used (till 2015) but in upcoming era you will see more and more features
i will recommend you to wait and not hurry up to get a phone...
if you need a pure stock surely get nexus but just wait for new nexus phone.. maybe they might consider it as a flagship and the value might be cheap??
anyways if you're just asking for all the requirements my opinion (AXON 7) not just only for dual front facing speakers but also for the processor(sd 820),storage(64gb,6gb ram) expandable ovbio (256gb)
plot twist: has hybrid sim XD
but im legit that it'll be upgraded to android 'O'
but it cost around $350
think man.. public reviews are also good
it meets all the requirements but is as costly as mxpe
Sagar_1401 said:
i know your problem man.. but why don't you wait for a nougat update?? why not? maybe they might fix up the battery drain issue!
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Nougat can't "fix" our battery issue... Radio and display panel are hardware issues and that's where 75% of all battery drain is. It isn't even issues, it's just how much power they use normally. The SD808's radios are terribly inefficient, and the display panel uses more power than some small towns. If you think Nougat is going to noticably improve active use time, your kidding yourself.
To be honest, I might just pull my old Nexus 5 out if the drawer and switch to it... The battery life can't be much worse.
The sound aspect is less important. FF speakers are nice, but as long as I can hear a YouTube video in an average room and turn the ringer up enough u don't care.
I bought the MXPE as an upgrade to my G 2015 and it was on sale for under $250, and for the most part it is, I just didn't realize how bad the battery was, it is easily half of my G.
I got Axon 7 after X and can't be happier. I've had the A7 since August. Has the front speakers i wanted, nice beautiful Samsung screen. Battery is definitely better then X. Software was buggy at the beginning but they have improved it a lot. Axon 7 has been getting a lot of updates, doesn't mean it'll continue, we were the 1st ones to receive 7.0 with the exception of Google devices, and we are the only ones so far (afaik) to receive 7.1.1 with also the exception of Google devices.
It has its flaws but i love the phone. For the money you can't beat it. It's on sale now on newegg for $330.
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
Wow the Pixel 3 XL is getting bagged and dogged on left and right as if it's the worst smartphone ever made. Yes it could have been designed better for sure. Try to go the more minimal notch like Essential or something, and no bottom chin, do the stereo speakers like the HTC 10, or and the iPhone XS, and Note 9's, do, etc... to allow a more full screen design. Yes give us 6GB RAM.
Mainly in tech forums I keep reading so much hate for the Pixel 3 XL;
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/pixel-3-pixel-3-xl.2106788/page-68#post-26666374
And YouTube channels dogging on the phone big time
But I still wouldn't go iPhone, just not an iOS fan whatsoever. And Samsung Touchwiz not my thing either. So if I hate the iPhone, don't like Galaxy phones and the Pixel 3 is sub par, what's the other options? I wish we had a third option, a Windows Surface phone or something.
Oh well, I still have my White Pixel 3 XL on order, and not changing. Yes the notch is ugly, and more RAM would have been nice, but I still value stock Android, updated directly and quickly from Google, and the smooth fluid vanilla UI, and the amazing camera, and A+ rated display, and IP68 rating, and wireless charging. Maybe I'm a sucker, but that's my choice.
Honestly, I didn't even notice the notch when I was checking out the display phone at Verizon. I love the feel of the phone, very well balanced and light compared to my old Nexus 6. Can't wait to get my phone call on Thursday (I hope) to come and pick up my phone.
I think manly they are charging Flagship prices but not delivering on flagship hardware /specs compared to whats already on the market and instead are betting on software to carry them. Now i love pure android how its meant to be not a fan of all tweaks each manufacture adds to the phone, If Samsung offered a note 9 /S9 pure (ie stock android no mods) i think the pixel would be left in its dust. The Pixel's have always seemed to be a generation behind. I love my pixel 2 xl i know i just wanted something more to go with the great feel of stock android and what not. maybe next year, i have my 3 XL ordered and will use it for a week or two to see if its worth the upgrade over my 2 XL
How would I have like to see Google design the Pixel 3 XL? Well on a realistic manner not some unrealistic futuristic design but a realistic version could have been a cross between like the LG V30 shape and size with the minimal bezels but give it the Essential notch and stretch the screen out on the top and bottom. And then do the stereo speakers like on the Note 9 or iPhone so they don't have to be front-facing, and allow for full display with almost no bezels at like 6.2" or so. And give it 6GB RAM. And a bigger 4,000MaH battery.
At the end of the day, for October 2018, I still think FOR ME, the Pixel 3 XL is the best phone out.
- Stock vanilla Android is my bread and butter OS. I go back to owning the Nexus-One when it was new, then waiting in line for the Nexus-S at launch. I just have a thing for stock Android, all other versions of Android just irritate me, or frustrate me.
- Updates first and quickly
- A+ rated display
- Best camera
- Wireless charging now
- IP68 rating is nice
- Phone can easily be rooted, mainly for the best ad blocking and Substratum themes
No other phone right now interests me. The Note 9 or S9+ ? Not at all, no way, Lagwiz still exists no matter what people say. The LG V40, yeah that's cool, but not a fan of the LG skin, and they suck at updates. iPhone XS Max looks super cool, a very beautifully built device, really liked it a lot, but man I hate iOS, and on the XS Max the OS looks out of place, dated like something from a decade ago. OnePlus 6T, yeah will be a great phone, but they always skimp somehow.
Is the Pixel 3 XL the best phone of 2018 ? NO, not at all. But for me a stock Android nerd, it's really the only option.
Yeah if the Iphone XS Max ran android it would be a dream phone lol IMO ... That said i do think the Note 9 Running stock android with all the software options of the pixel 3 would be a great option as well .
PSA:
Don't read Mac/Apple websites for reviews on Android devices. They are quite happy being locked into their apple ecosystem and will never appreciate the open source model of a pixel device.
No hate here, just wish the display was LARGER......Note9/V40 temp me with their larger displays......but I can't get away from pure google... C'mon google, 6.5 next year!!!
Why the hate? Did you notice that big black malignancy at the top of the screen? What about specs that are less than impressive? My guess is the answer is right there between those two things. Flagship means flagship, you want to charge this kinda money you need some wow factor and the ability to say you're second to none and have that hold water.
These devices don't give me that vibe. Too me they're like the second toughest guy on the block saying "Look, I can juggle!" As to the former enough has been said about it. I personally found my Best Buy experience to fall between what some said. At points when I was busy manipulating the GUI I forgot about it completely. Any time I stepped back from specific tasks the thing jumped out at me, it was like getting mugged with an ugly stick every timei looked at the phone as an object.
Yeah, I'm stupid so I'm still thinking about buying even though I'm not convinced I won't be sorry.
razor237 said:
I think manly they are charging Flagship prices but not delivering on flagship hardware /specs compared to whats already on the market and instead are betting on software to carry them. Now i love pure android how its meant to be not a fan of all tweaks each manufacture adds to the phone, If Samsung offered a note 9 /S9 pure (ie stock android no mods) i think the pixel would be left in its dust. The Pixel's have always seemed to be a generation behind. I love my pixel 2 xl i know i just wanted something more to go with the great feel of stock android and what not. maybe next year, i have my 3 XL ordered and will use it for a week or two to see if its worth the upgrade over my 2 XL
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I don't agree with this at all. The pixel 3 xl has a Samsung screen which looks amazing (and I bet is par or at least close to what you see on a Samsung phone), it has the latest Quallcom processor, the best cameras and software, same day updates, wireless charging, front facing speakers, I mean, what else does it need to be 'flagship specs' to you? What, because it only has 4 GB of RAM? That's literally the ONLY thing I can come up with, and that's only because many OEM's have stuffed more RAM in their phones this year. And honestly, it's not really necessary, at least not for 90% of people who use smartphones. Sheet, iPhones only have 4 GB or RAM. They only had ONE GB or RAM for a looonnnggg time. No one complained about that.
To me, this is a premium flagship, no question. The hate is mostly the RAM and notch. It's superficial. Last year it was the blue shift. Which, I think that plus the terrible quality control was actually warranted. This year, it's not much to hate on. Either you like it, or don't get it. And you can hide the notch. Either way, I'm excited about it coming today. I LOVE 2 xl, but I'm definitely ready for this upgrade, even though I was very on the fence before I checked one out in the store. My point here is, people are going to hate on something every time. Every time. If you don't like something, don't get it. It's really that simple.
My $0.02
gettinwicked said:
I don't agree with this at all. The pixel 3 xl has a Samsung screen which looks amazing (and I bet is par or at least close to what you see on a Samsung phone), it has the latest Quallcom processor, the best cameras and software, same day updates, wireless charging, front facing speakers, I mean, what else does it need to be 'flagship specs' to you? What, because it only has 4 GB of RAM? That's literally the ONLY thing I can come up with, and that's only because many OEM's have stuffed more RAM in their phones this year. And honestly, it's not really necessary, at least not for 90% of people who use smartphones. Sheet, iPhones only have 4 GB or RAM. They only had ONE GB or RAM for a looonnnggg time. No one complained about that.
To me, this is a premium flagship, no question. The hate is mostly the RAM and notch. It's superficial. Last year it was the blue shift. Which, I think that plus the terrible quality control was actually warranted. This year, it's not much to hate on. Either you like it, or don't get it. And you can hide the notch. Either way, I'm excited about it coming today. I LOVE 2 xl, but I'm definitely ready for this upgrade, even though I was very on the fence before I checked one out in the store. My point here is, people are going to hate on something every time. Every time. If you don't like something, don't get it. It's really that simple.
My $0.02
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I was simply stating why i think so many people hate the new pixel 3 xl from reading it sure does seem like a lot don't like it.
I agree the screen looks great but it should since they woke up and used a Samsung panel this time yay , my issue with it is its basically the same size as the 2 xl when you look at the usable part of the display and that is kinda disappointing to me i wanted a screen the size of the note 9 / XS max on the pixel 3 xl instead they went with a huge notch that takes away from the phone in stead of adding to it i honestly think they would have been better with out it at all, in person the notch isn't bad at all its big but once you play with it for a bit i didn't notice it as much and i don't mind the bottom chin as people call it since i love front firing speakers always hated cupping the end of the phone to direct the sound lol . They added an extra front camera and notch but no type of face id another missing feature that would have been a great addition to the pixel but we got wireless charging back so i guess its a trade off.
I said nothing about the ram because i think that's a mute point for most for the exact reason you said, apple has had little ram for a long time there is a difference between the two since apple designs the cpu they can help optimize it for the amount of ram they are using but mostly they iOS optimized for how it can handle the ram. google does the same with the pixel, most of the other phones need the extra ram because all the bs they add uses so much of it. for me as of now my daily usage on my 2 XL is 2.4-3.2 or so, 4gb is enough for me in 6 months that may not be the case but i doubt it
everyone has different ideas of what makes a phone flag ship quality or not, so this is just my opinion and you can agree or not for me i feel they could have done better and they came up a bit short compared to other phones only time will tell though and i still cant wait to get mine and use it to see if its worth the upgrade from the 2xl or not for me.
Nah, I don't buy it. Flagship is flagship. Almost flagship if it weren't for one big weakness is not flagship, it's second rate. I'm one of those people that can take advantage of more than 4 gigs of ram, I'm currently using 3.2 at home which is about average for me but usually hit in the upper 4s, lower 5s at work. Go ahead and name the one phone which is claiming flagship status and charging flagship prices but does not have me covered? See where I'm going?
Flagships is flagship, not second best with software optimization that every rooted oneplus will have installed not too far down the road on a phone that costs little more than half the price. Yeah, I'm talking about the camera. Still perhaps best in class overall but more than one reviewer has noted that telephoto shots lag behind other flagships including the fruit devices. They need to up their game here, flagships don't polish turds, they deliver the best hardware and polish that.
One that doesn't bother me in the slightest that I noted is the phones perceived build quality is a step behind Samsung and Apple. I cant point to one particular thing, either of those two just felt a little more expensive. As I said, I don't care because the phone will go into a case and I wont see it again until I give it to one of my kids or grand-kids in the spring.
So yeah, to me it feels like it's not quite up to flagship par except in price. It's all those things combined that give me that impression. And yeah, I'm still thinking about buying it, last night I got as far as putting it in my cart. Pixel has always been more the whole than the sum of its part, they are satisfying to own even if some things about them are underwhelming. The doubletake on the notch has me spooked though, when I was moving around the GUI it faded out of existence but when I just looked at the phone I kept doing this "whoa, what the hell were they thinking" thing. Cant figure out if that's ever going to go away or if it's going to be like a sore tooth. Still, buy in or not I'll never really consider it flagship hardware and every redraw I get will remind me of it should I start to forget.
The flagship price, the poor software utilization of the notch, the smaller battery and 4 GB RAM were the deal breakers.
The Note 9 is every bit as fast as the Pixel 3 XL, has a much better screen, better battery and SPen for the same price. The Pixel 3 XL may very well be a great phone but when priced with the Note 9, it needed SOMETHING to justify the price. Also, one can easily get a great condition LG V35 ThinQ or S9+ with better specs for hundreds less. Once the price drops, then it might be a better competitor.
For me a premium device needs to last me 2 years and be a useful companion for the duration.
The phone needs to be well built to last, have a good screen and the hardware features need to be ergonomic.
In addition to this the phone must have quick, well thought out software that ties in nicely to my favourite services.
For me, my best option is the Pixel 3 XL. I was considering the new Mate 20 pro as it is very similar in price here in the UK but there is now way I'll be putting up with their software and clutterware for two years. I'm also put off by their storage media and awful to uae, curved screen.
The pixel is getting stick for having underwhelming specs but this is a very short-sighted view unless your sole purpose for the device is to run benchmarks. People needs to evaluate what they use their phones for and what they need to achieve that.
I'm running the original Pixel XL 32Gb and it is still fantastic for all of my everyday uses. My wife is in fact selling her Samsung s9 and will be having my Pixel now that I've upgraded to the 3 XL.
Just as a side note, iPhones are brilliant for many as they offer a great experience across their devices and therefore are useful for their duration. This is more important than having a 40MP camera and 8Gb of RAM for the vast majority.
A lot of that was subjective: I find the Apple experience awful, spread it out across more devices and I call that cancer. I have to say however that your concept in general is on the mark in that the experience is what matters rather than the numbers. It's a fair summation.
for the peeps that hate on the notch and the ram .. just go buy the OnePlus 6T and be done with it
It's all just opinion as we have stayed here. The easy to pick on parts of any product is the visual appearance and listed specs. The new pixel XL appears to be poor in this area for a lot of people. Usabilit of the entire package is impossible to judge from online reviews.
If it is anything like the original Pixel, the phone will be great. If it's like my old Samsung phones or my iPhone 7, no thank you.
The phone is what it is. If you don't like it for the way it looks or a feature that it has or doesn't have, don't buy it. If all you have to say is you hate the notch, spare us. There are a lot of phones I don't like. I don't buy them and I don't seek out their communities and complain about them. This forum is here for the people that have the phone, not for those that hate it.
dmb219 said:
The phone is what it is. If you don't like it for the way it looks or a feature that it has or doesn't have, don't buy it. If all you have to say is you hate the notch, spare us. There are a lot of phones I don't like. I don't buy them and I don't seek out their communities and complain about them. This forum is here for the people that have the phone, not for those that hate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This! Sooo much this! Last year with the pixel 2 xl, there were so many trolls who had zero intention of ever buying the phone who came onto the forum just to talk sheet. One thread went hundreds of pages. It was ridiculous and stupid. If people like that really have that much time on their hands that they have to go troll things that have nothing to do with them, get a hobby or a life. Seriously. I'm surprised there isn't more yet on here. But, people have only begun to start getting their phones, so, I'm not holding my breath that it won't start.
It still looks like a toy next to any Samsung phones.
My note 9 looks like a monster next to my xl3.
I hate the notch. I'm not those people that will get over it.
I never will.
Anyway, display on xl3 looks great to me.
Camera is amazing.
Anything else
MY PERSONAL COMPLAINTS & REVIEW OF THE HUAWEI MATE 20 X
This is my personal take of the huawei mate 20X which I provide as a cautionary note to potential buyers. This is an honest critique of a phone I owned for little over a month. For comparison sake I own the samsung a70 and used that to gauge the phone's overall value. Last month I bought it going in with the mindset that the big screen and its features would be cool as hell. I was wrong.
Online I purchased it for $590. My first impression when I unboxed it was I felt horrified. The phone is monster big. It made me a bit uneasy to think that the heavy weight coupled with its sheer size would make for a perfect shattered screen in time. As I handled it I was on edge that it would fall which made me feel somewhat insecure. But after a while I got used to the size and it fit my pockets although the top protrudes out a bit. After toying with it I felt I had to always be aware that it might fall so I used extra precaution while it was on my person, but it was no biggie.
BATTERY
The first thing that constantly bothered me about the phone was the battery which is 5000 mah. The first thing I made sure to do was to put this baby into airplane mode, turn off bt and location and just keep wifi on. Also, I made sure of turning off background activity in the settings on the grand majority of apps not to mention uninstalling unwanted apps.
You might at first glance think, "wow 5000 mah, amazing I'll buy it right away!" Hold your horses buddy. Just because a phone has a big battery doesnt necessarily mean it will perform like a big battery champ. An example of this is when I charged the phone to 100% one morning. I read email, went on youtube for 10 minutes, surfed the net and made one call that lasted 2 minutes. This whole session lasted 20 minutes. The battery drained to 87%, I kid you not! Another example is when I charged it to 100% one night. After 3 hours of idleness, not picking it up or doing anything to it, the battery read a disconcerting 96%. How in god's name is that possible on 5000 mah after I disabled many apps and killed many more running in the background?? By comparison my samsung a70 which has a 4500 mah battery beats the mate 20X big time in battery. After I put the a70 through the ringer with the above same session in the same amount of time the battery showed a pleasing 97%. A user on xda commented that his mate 20x's battery is slightly (keyword, slightly) better than his samsung s9 which has a 4100 mah battery. Now youre seeing the bigger picture.
UI
The UI is the 2nd worst thing about this phone. It looks like Ice Cream - heavily outdated and disappointing. Though it navigates fast through menus, the app drawer cant be accessed by swiping from the bottom as in most phones today with Pie which is installed on this phone out the box. Even though you have an option for that feature its clumsy and not pretty.
SCREEN RESOLUTION & COLOR
Another bone of contention is the screen resolution. It looks good. But when compared to modern phones like my a70 which is very sharp it falls short. Of course the screen is large which "thins out" pixel density making it less crisp. Thats understandable. But it disappoints when juxtaposing it with sharper phones.
Color is not well calibrated even though it's set to vivid by default. Red apparently dominates the other colors which makes the reds stand out too much. Perhaps a tweak in the settings would do the trick? But with a phone debuted at $1000 you would think huawei would have the experience by now to fix that. Completely inexcusable. The samsung a70's vivid color depth blows the mate 20x out of the water.
SOUND
The sound volume and quality are quite loud and amazing respectively. The best I've ever heard in any smartphone. Huawei did a good job in this dept. But there's no way to toggle dolby atmos off unfortunately. Battery charging is fast, no complaints. Stereo is a huge plus!
GAMES AND VIDEO
For some unknown twisted reason, given the above complaints, playing games on this phone lasted a long time in battery. Playing asphalt 9 for 15 minutes drained only 4 - 5%. Same thing with playing videos. An hour of youtube drained only 6%. Very good but strange given its battery drains in other areas.
OVERALL & MY ADVICE
My great question in all this is, why the hell arent people complaining about these issues?? Battery is not efficient, the UI looks ugly and feels way outdated, the colors are off, resolution isnt as sharp as on other phones and its a bit heavy. To be perfectly honest, with all these faults the phone is worth $460, not $650 which is the lowest price as a new item selling on amazon at the time of this writing. Without any of these issues the phone would be perfect.
For those considering buying this phone take great heed of the aforementioned before you fork over 7 tall bills for it that later on you might regret. Dont be easily fooled by rave reviews of owners of the phone on xda either. Many will exaggerate it because theyre blinded by its large size. Likewise, dont be easily fooled by tech reviews elsewhere like those found on zdnet. Some of them are actually written by paid reviewers who will intentionally gloss over a product, ignoring its faults to satisfy ad revenue.
Yo - I'll bite.
I like your post. Although I am only a senior member too. I don't think that means I am anywhere near qualified to do anything more than pontificate and slander. Basically, all that means is that I have been lucky enough to experience help from other waaaay more knowledgeable people than myself.
It amazes me that none of us have anywhere near the same experience as each other. ok - i have had a wine or two and the last ime that happened I started the worst rated thread in the house. https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-20-x/how-to/goodbye-huawei-phone-t3965177/page3#post80500435
COMPLAINTS & REVIEW OF THE HUAWEI MATE 20 X
This is my personal take of the huawei mate 20X which I provide as a cautionary note to potential buyers. This is an honest critique of a phone I owned for little over a month. For comparison sake I own the samsung a70 and used that to gauge the phone's overall value. Last month I bought it going in with the mindset that the big screen and its features would be cool as hell. I was wrong.
>
I haven't owned a Samsung since the S8+ - I loved it, but the battery was nowhere near what they said it was for me. I wonder if it was because I have to use a VPN 80% of the time to access Google services. (in China - Lucky/unlucky me). How do I know that you are not some sort of Samsung plant? A70 can't be as awesome as this phone, can it?
Online I purchased it for $590. My first impression when I unboxed it was I felt horrified. The phone is monster big. It made me a bit uneasy to think that the heavy weight coupled with its sheer size would make for a perfect shattered screen in time. As I handled it I was on edge that it would fall which made me feel somewhat insecure. But after a while I got used to the size and it fit my pockets although the top protrudes out a bit. After toying with it I felt I had to always be aware that it might fall so I used extra precaution while it was on my person, but it was no biggie.
>
I'm a big guy. I like the size. I like everything about the size. Yes, if you don't want a big phone - go to something else.
BATTERY
The first thing that constantly bothered me about the phone was the battery which is 5000 mah. The first thing I made sure to do was to put this baby into airplane mode, turn off bt and location and just keep wifi on. Also, I made sure of turning off background activity in the settings on the grand majority of apps not to mention uninstalling unwanted apps.
ok - I have no idea why this is the way it is for you. I have NEVER experienced a battery experience like this in sooooo ****ing many phones. So many times that famous African American on youtube - you know who - would tell me that 'this' phone's battery life was the best. And so many times I'd get let down (never more so than the Huawei Nexus 6P. Damn I loved that phone, but damn that battery sucked). Anyway, Now-a-days I can accidentally leave my camera or torch on and it DOES NOT MATTER. This thing is a battery wizard ... for me. THe AL00 in china with Veeeeepeeeee-ENNNN
You might at first glance think, "wow 5000 mah, amazing I'll buy it right away!" Hold your horses buddy. Just because a phone has a big battery doesnt necessarily mean it will perform like a big battery. An example of this is when I charged the phone to 100% one morning. I read email, went on youtube for 10 minutes, surfed the net and made one call that lasted 2 minutes. This whole session lasted 20 minutes. The battery drained to 87%, I kid you not! Another example is when I charged it to 100% one night. After 3 hours of idleness, not picking it up or doing anything to it, the battery read a disconcerting 96%. How in god's name is that possible on 5000 mah after I disabled many apps and killed many more running in the background?? My samsung a70 which has a 4500 mah battery beats the mate 20X big time in battery. After I put the a70 through the ringer with the above same session in the same amount of time the battery showed 97%. A user on xda commented that his mate 20x's battery is slightly (keyword, slightly) better than his samsung s9 which has a 4100 mah battery. Now youre seeing the bigger picture.
I have NEVER been more impressed by a smart phone. I get a day and a bit an dI am a HEAVY user. Not sure why your phone life is ****, but I wish I knew why.
UI
The UI is the 2nd worst thing about this phone. It looks heavily outdated like Ice Cream or Kit Kat. Very disappointing. Though it navigates fast through menus, the app drawer cant be accessed by swiping from the bottom. Even though you have an option for that feature its
I actually really like EMUI despite my bashing in numerous threads. I especially like the gestures. I am even unsure if I could go back to Nova ... but the fact I can't, ****s me off more than anything. The worst and second-worst and third-worst thing about this phone is the lack of accessibility to a launcher. Damn -that is frustrating and I want to elbow all the EVR dudes right in the GD nose for their insistence that the phone is awesome!
SCREEN RESOLUTION
Another bone of contention is the screen resolution. It looks good. But when compared to modern phones like my a70 which is very sharp it falls short. Of course the screen is large which "thins out" pixel density making it less crisp. Thats understandable. But it disappoints when juxtaposing it to sharper phones.
Nah man - in my opinion, the phone's resolution is pretty good. You sure you don't work for Samsung?
SOUND & BATTERY
The sound volume and quality are quite loud and amazing respectively. The best I've ever come across in any smartphone. Huawei did a good job in this dept. But there's no way to toggle dolby atmos off unfortunately. Battery charging is fast, no complaints. Stereo is a huge plus!
You're probably right, but I couldn't give a toss about this as I mostly use Bluetooth ear. Speakers have been handy once ort twice, but essentially, I have never used the jack. Also I have no clue what the **** is Atmos - I am a philistine when it comes to musique.
GAMES AND VIDEO
For some unknown twisted reason, given the above complaints, playing games on this phone lasted a long time. Playing asphalt 9 for 15 minutes drained only 4 - 5%. Same thing with playing videos. An hour of youtube drained only 6%. Very good but strange given its battery drains in other areas.
Think you are right with this. I seem to be able to set my son up on math prodigy and t4each your monster how to read and it lasts a zillion times longer than when I use the old huawei 6P.
OVERALL & MY ADVICE clumsy and not pretty.
My great question in all this is, why the hell arent people complaining about these issues?? Battery is not efficient, the UI looks ugly and feels way outdated, resolution isnt as sharp as on other phones and its a bit heavy. To be perfectly honest, with all these faults the phone is worth $460, not $650 which is the lowest price as a new item on amazon at the time of this writing. Without any of these issues the phone would be perfect.
It is worth it, in my opinion if you live outside of China and can get the EVA version and you don't need heaps of mem or a dual sim. I need a dual sim, heaps of mem, and I live in China. Therefore it has completely sucked owning the most amazing phone EVER.
For those considering buying this phone take great heed of the aforementioned before you fork over 7 tall bills for it that later on you might regret. Dont be easily fooled by rave reviews of owners of the phone on xda. Many will exaggerate it because theyre blinded by its large size. Likewise, dont be easily fooled by tech reviews elsewhere like those found on zdnet. Some of them are actually written by paid reviewers who will intentionally gloss over a product, ignoring its faults to satisfy ad revenue.
Nah dude ... It is a solid phone. I also got my wife off Apple with the mate 20 pro. These are the best phones - period. Sady though, big business and government dictate otherwise.
HUAWEI... CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME UNLOCK MY BOOTLOADER FFS
That was me who mentioned about the battery drain being slightly better on the mate 20X , it was in relation to my s10+.
The S10+ screen is smaller at 6.4", screen on time battery drain would be greater with a larger panel regardless of battery capacity as we all know. It's all relative.
My ideal goal is 0.9 - 0.4% per hour idle drain or less. Which I get on the Mate 20X , similar to my s10+. The mate 20X larger battery provides greater in between charges when device is in idle and screen off and a slightly better SOT time with screen on than my S10+.
As we all know battery drain % has nothing to do with battery capacity. Drain is drain, regardless. I use GSAM and Accubattery Pro on all my devices to measure SOT and idle drain amongst other things. One other important point is that battery drain on same given device can be completely different to someone elses same device. There are many variables that come into play in regards to battery drain. Hence why there are users of s10+ devices that complain their battery drains faster whereby others post 10 hours plus screen on time. The S10 plus is a mere example, change the device name and it's the same scenario on other device forums on XDA.
As for YouTube reviews for phones in general, I've came to find out a while ago that most are fake. YouTube influencers are given the device for free for favourable reviews.
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
s327374 said:
I like your post. Although I am only a senior member too. I don't think that means I am anywhere near qualified to do anything more than pontificate and slander. Basically, all that means is that I have been lucky enough to experience help from other waaaay more knowledgeable people than myself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats fine I dont expect anyone to know more than anyone else. There are no absolutes here just relative critiques.
How do I know that you are not some sort of Samsung plant? A70 can't be as awesome as this phone, can it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What would I or samsung gain from a phone made for the asian market if I were a secret samsung agent based in USA on an english-based website? The samsung a70 is the only phone at my disposal with which to compare the mate 20x.
ok - I have no idea why this is the way it is for you. I have NEVER experienced a battery experience like this in sooooo ****ing many phones. So many times that famous African American on youtube - you know who - would tell me that 'this' phone's battery life was the best. And so many times I'd get let down (never more so than the Huawei Nexus 6P. Damn I loved that phone, but damn that battery sucked). Anyway, Now-a-days I can accidentally leave my camera or torch on and it DOES NOT MATTER.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you actually read or just scan through the battery paragraph? I specifically explained how I set up my phone. Battery life again compared to the a70 leaves much to be desired. Why it went from 100% to 96% in 3 hours with everything turned off is completely inexcusable. As for the black guy in youtube, we dont know how HE set up his phone. Keep in mind that the mate 20x mustve been his 1st 5000 mah battery phone which came out last year at the time of his review when very few phones within that same period had the same mah capacity. This is why you cant judge a phone without comparing it to other phones. I actually tested the phone with the a70 on several occasions, being careful to take notes of observed changes in battery. Just to let you know, two phones from different companies with the same battery capacity will ALWAYS perform differently in terms of battery. This is irrefutable fact.
I actually really like EMUI despite my bashing in numerous threads. I especially like the gestures. I am even unsure if I could go back to Nova ... but the fact I can't, ****s me off more than anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I cant qualify your response as to the UI since you prefer a 1971 chevy when we're driving 2018 ferraris. What I can comment on is that I think the L29 version can install launchers. But I'm not 100% sure on that so dont quote me for assurance.
Nah man - in my opinion, the phone's resolution is pretty good. You sure you don't work for Samsung?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it looks like this is the only phone you may have owned. Not sure but thats what it sounds like to me. Reviewers have also entered the same judgement as to its resolution.
Nah dude ... It is a solid phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never said it wasnt a solid phone. Its just not a perfectly solid 10 out of 10. Its plagued with issues serious companies arent foolish enough to make which should have been ironed out before huawei released it. Premium should be premium especially at premium price, no excuses.
Chinese phone makers are not in the habit of being keen on quality control and are slow to correct mistakes. They think they can just slap together a phone with high end specs through cheap labor as their corp revenue goal, throw it in the consumer's face like a doggy treat and expect them to bite. Thats not how you make customers happy. You keep them satisfied through constant and consistent quality control which the chinese have historically lacked for a long time in their product cycles. But admittingly they are getting better at it; in that sense I give them credit where credit is due. But china is still no korea at least not yet. The mate 20x issues are to the mate 20x what chinese companies are to customers. If china would have made a strong effort to make phones amazing in all respects they could have single-handedly put a major dent in apple, lg and samsung by now.
Limeybastard said:
That was me who mentioned about the battery drain being slightly better on the mate 20X , it was in relation to my s10+.
The S10+ screen is smaller at 6.4", screen on time battery drain would be greater with a larger panel regardless of battery capacity as we all know. It's all relative.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yes I remember now, it was you. Appreciate that info you confirmed. However I mistakenly said it was your s9 when it was actually your s10+. I stand corrected.
As we all know battery drain % has nothing to do with battery capacity. Drain is drain, regardless. I use GSAM and Accubattery Pro on all my devices to measure SOT and idle drain amongst other things. One other important point is that battery drain on same given device can be completely different to someone elses same device. There are many variables that come into play in regards to battery drain. Hence why there are users of s10+ devices that complain their battery drains faster whereby others post 10 hours plus screen on time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats exactly what I surmised in my review. Battery capacity means nothing. It doesnt matter how big a battery is; its how efficiently the phone utilizes the voltage and how the software is able to tie in everything together, hardware and software wise.
As for YouTube reviews for phones in general, I've came to find out a while ago that most are fake. YouTube influencers are given the device for free for favourable reviews.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes you are correct. It is very unfortunate that we still cant get unfiltered honest reviews despite the "free" internet environment.
Isn't it strange that we have experiences with the phone, and yet we are both ultimately unhappy with the outcome. I am frustrated, you are disappointed.
We are like the odd couple of Huawei owners.
Except, you know, we aren't really a couple...
s327374 said:
Yo - I'll bite.
I like your post. Although I am only a senior member too. I don't think that means I am anywhere near qualified to do anything more than pontificate and slander. Basically, all that means is that I have been lucky enough to experience help from other waaaay more knowledgeable people than myself.
It amazes me that none of us have anywhere near the same experience as each other. ok - i have had a wine or two and the last ime that happened I started the worst rated thread in the house. https://forum.xda-developers.com/mate-20-x/how-to/goodbye-huawei-phone-t3965177/page3#post80500435
COMPLAINTS & REVIEW OF THE HUAWEI MATE 20 X
This is my personal take of the huawei mate 20X which I provide as a cautionary note to potential buyers. This is an honest critique of a phone I owned for little over a month. For comparison sake I own the samsung a70 and used that to gauge the phone's overall value. Last month I bought it going in with the mindset that the big screen and its features would be cool as hell. I was wrong.
>
I haven't owned a Samsung since the S8+ - I loved it, but the battery was nowhere near what they said it was for me. I wonder if it was because I have to use a VPN 80% of the time to access Google services. (in China - Lucky/unlucky me). How do I know that you are not some sort of Samsung plant? A70 can't be as awesome as this phone, can it?
Online I purchased it for $590. My first impression when I unboxed it was I felt horrified. The phone is monster big. It made me a bit uneasy to think that the heavy weight coupled with its sheer size would make for a perfect shattered screen in time. As I handled it I was on edge that it would fall which made me feel somewhat insecure. But after a while I got used to the size and it fit my pockets although the top protrudes out a bit. After toying with it I felt I had to always be aware that it might fall so I used extra precaution while it was on my person, but it was no biggie.
>
I'm a big guy. I like the size. I like everything about the size. Yes, if you don't want a big phone - go to something else.
BATTERY
The first thing that constantly bothered me about the phone was the battery which is 5000 mah. The first thing I made sure to do was to put this baby into airplane mode, turn off bt and location and just keep wifi on. Also, I made sure of turning off background activity in the settings on the grand majority of apps not to mention uninstalling unwanted apps.
ok - I have no idea why this is the way it is for you. I have NEVER experienced a battery experience like this in sooooo ****ing many phones. So many times that famous African American on youtube - you know who - would tell me that 'this' phone's battery life was the best. And so many times I'd get let down (never more so than the Huawei Nexus 6P. Damn I loved that phone, but damn that battery sucked). Anyway, Now-a-days I can accidentally leave my camera or torch on and it DOES NOT MATTER. This thing is a battery wizard ... for me. THe AL00 in china with Veeeeepeeeee-ENNNN
You might at first glance think, "wow 5000 mah, amazing I'll buy it right away!" Hold your horses buddy. Just because a phone has a big battery doesnt necessarily mean it will perform like a big battery. An example of this is when I charged the phone to 100% one morning. I read email, went on youtube for 10 minutes, surfed the net and made one call that lasted 2 minutes. This whole session lasted 20 minutes. The battery drained to 87%, I kid you not! Another example is when I charged it to 100% one night. After 3 hours of idleness, not picking it up or doing anything to it, the battery read a disconcerting 96%. How in god's name is that possible on 5000 mah after I disabled many apps and killed many more running in the background?? My samsung a70 which has a 4500 mah battery beats the mate 20X big time in battery. After I put the a70 through the ringer with the above same session in the same amount of time the battery showed 97%. A user on xda commented that his mate 20x's battery is slightly (keyword, slightly) better than his samsung s9 which has a 4100 mah battery. Now youre seeing the bigger picture.
I have NEVER been more impressed by a smart phone. I get a day and a bit an dI am a HEAVY user. Not sure why your phone life is ****, but I wish I knew why.
UI
The UI is the 2nd worst thing about this phone. It looks heavily outdated like Ice Cream or Kit Kat. Very disappointing. Though it navigates fast through menus, the app drawer cant be accessed by swiping from the bottom. Even though you have an option for that feature its
I actually really like EMUI despite my bashing in numerous threads. I especially like the gestures. I am even unsure if I could go back to Nova ... but the fact I can't, ****s me off more than anything. The worst and second-worst and third-worst thing about this phone is the lack of accessibility to a launcher. Damn -that is frustrating and I want to elbow all the EVR dudes right in the GD nose for their insistence that the phone is awesome!
SCREEN RESOLUTION
Another bone of contention is the screen resolution. It looks good. But when compared to modern phones like my a70 which is very sharp it falls short. Of course the screen is large which "thins out" pixel density making it less crisp. Thats understandable. But it disappoints when juxtaposing it to sharper phones.
Nah man - in my opinion, the phone's resolution is pretty good. You sure you don't work for Samsung?
SOUND & BATTERY
The sound volume and quality are quite loud and amazing respectively. The best I've ever come across in any smartphone. Huawei did a good job in this dept. But there's no way to toggle dolby atmos off unfortunately. Battery charging is fast, no complaints. Stereo is a huge plus!
You're probably right, but I couldn't give a toss about this as I mostly use Bluetooth ear. Speakers have been handy once ort twice, but essentially, I have never used the jack. Also I have no clue what the **** is Atmos - I am a philistine when it comes to musique.
GAMES AND VIDEO
For some unknown twisted reason, given the above complaints, playing games on this phone lasted a long time. Playing asphalt 9 for 15 minutes drained only 4 - 5%. Same thing with playing videos. An hour of youtube drained only 6%. Very good but strange given its battery drains in other areas.
Think you are right with this. I seem to be able to set my son up on math prodigy and t4each your monster how to read and it lasts a zillion times longer than when I use the old huawei 6P.
OVERALL & MY ADVICE clumsy and not pretty.
My great question in all this is, why the hell arent people complaining about these issues?? Battery is not efficient, the UI looks ugly and feels way outdated, resolution isnt as sharp as on other phones and its a bit heavy. To be perfectly honest, with all these faults the phone is worth $460, not $650 which is the lowest price as a new item on amazon at the time of this writing. Without any of these issues the phone would be perfect.
It is worth it, in my opinion if you live outside of China and can get the EVA version and you don't need heaps of mem or a dual sim. I need a dual sim, heaps of mem, and I live in China. Therefore it has completely sucked owning the most amazing phone EVER.
For those considering buying this phone take great heed of the aforementioned before you fork over 7 tall bills for it that later on you might regret. Dont be easily fooled by rave reviews of owners of the phone on xda. Many will exaggerate it because theyre blinded by its large size. Likewise, dont be easily fooled by tech reviews elsewhere like those found on zdnet. Some of them are actually written by paid reviewers who will intentionally gloss over a product, ignoring its faults to satisfy ad revenue.
Nah dude ... It is a solid phone. I also got my wife off Apple with the mate 20 pro. These are the best phones - period. Sady though, big business and government dictate otherwise.
HUAWEI... CAN YOU PLEASE LET ME UNLOCK MY BOOTLOADER FFS
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deloj said:
Oh yes I remember now, it was you. Appreciate that info you confirmed. However I mistakenly said it was your s9 when it was actually your s10+. I stand corrected.
Thats exactly what I surmised in my review. Battery capacity means nothing. Its how you use it that determines its longevity and drain rate. It doesnt matter how big a battery is; its how efficiently the phone utilizes the voltage and how the software is able to tie in everything together, hardware and software wise.
Yes you are correct. It is very unfortunate that we still cant get unfiltered honest reviews despite the "free" internet environment.
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deloj said:
Thats fine I dont expect anyone to know more than anyone else. There are no absolutes here just relative critiques.
What would I or samsung gain from a phone made for the asian market if I were a secret samsung agent based in USA on an english-based website? The samsung a70 is the only phone at my disposal with which to compare the mate 20x.
Did you actually read or just scan through the battery paragraph? I specifically explained how I set up my phone. Battery life again compared to the a70 leaves much to be desired. Why it went from 100% to 96% in 3 hours with everything turned off is completely inexcusable. As for the black guy in youtube, we dont know how HE set up his phone. Keep in mind that the mate 20x mustve been his 1st 5000 mah battery phone which came out last year at the time of his review when very few phones within that same period had the same mah capacity. This is why you cant judge a phone without comparing it to other phones. I actually tested the phone with the a70 on several occasions, being careful to take notes of observed changes in battery. Just to let you know, two phones from different companies with the same battery capacity will ALWAYS perform differently in terms of battery. This is irrefutable fact.
I cant qualify your response as to the UI since you prefer a 1971 chevy when we're driving 2018 ferraris. What I can comment on is that I think the L29 version can install launchers. But I'm not 100% sure on that so dont quote me for assurance.
Yeah it looks like this is the only phone you may have owned. Not sure but thats what it sounds like to me. Reviewers have also entered the same judgement as to its resolution.
Never said it wasnt a solid phone. Its just not a perfectly solid 10 out of 10. Its plagued with issues serious companies arent foolish enough to make which should have been ironed out before huawei released it. Premium should be premium especially at premium price, no excuses.
Chinese phone makers are not in the habit of being keen on quality control and are slow to correct mistakes. They think they can just slap together a phone with high end specs through cheap labor as their corp revenue goal, throw it in the consumer's face like a doggy treat and expect them to bite. Thats not how you make customers happy. You keep them satisfied through constant and consistent quality control which the chinese have historically lacked for a long time in their product cycles. But admittingly they are getting better at it; in that sense I give them credit where credit is due. But china is still no korea at least not yet. The mate 20x issues are to the mate 20x what chinese companies are to customers. If china had made a strong effort to make phones amazing in all respects they could have single-handedly demolished apple, lg and samsung by now.
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s327374 said:
Isn't it strange that we have experiences with the phone, and yet we are both ultimately unhappy with the outcome. I am frustrated, you are disappointed.
We are like the odd couple of Huawei owners.
Except, you know, we aren't really a couple...
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I'm both frustrated and disappointed. Honestly I wanted to make the mate 20x my main driver that I planned to replace my a70. But huawei decided for me to keep my a70.
The honor 8x max is a good big screened phone. But problems with installed google services like the playstore keep me from considering buying it.
Looks like I'll stick to my a70 until I see a better contender with a bigger screen, hopefully one with no issues that would otherwise prompt me to open a thread to complain about.
Wouldnt say we're the 'odd couple' since we're both not as frustrated with each other as with that one thing bothering us, the mate 20x. We're more like Frasier and Niles.
deloj said:
I'm both frustrated and disappointed. Honestly I wanted to make the mate 20x my main driver that I planned to replace my a70. But huawei decided for me to keep my a70.
The honor 8x max is a good big screened phone. But problems with installed google services like the playstore keep me from considering buying it.
Looks like I'll stick to my a70 until I see a better contender with a bigger screen, hopefully one with no issues that would otherwise prompt me to open a thread to complain about.
Wouldnt say we're the 'odd couple' since we're both not as frustrated with each other as with that one thing bothering us, the mate 20x. We're more like Frasier and Niles.
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Honor 8X Max doesn't appear to support any TMobile USA LTE bands.
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
Limeybastard said:
Honor 8X Max doesn't appear to support any TMobile USA LTE bands.
Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
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I actually saw on amazon the 8x max for gsm carriers like tmobile.
deloj said:
I actually saw on amazon the 8x max for gsm carriers like tmobile.
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Max version hasn't got any USA T-Mobile LTE bands.
The none Max version has some T-Mobile LTE bands though.
View attachment 4844367
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
For me, the terrible bluetooth quality is killing me. The signal breaks up a LOT!
Limeybastard said:
Max version hasn't got any USA T-Mobile LTE bands.
The none Max version has some T-Mobile LTE bands though.
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Very sad to hear that. Another example of huawei disappointing potential consumers. The fact that this will hurt them in revenue makes me happy. If they dont take this as a lesson I dont know what will.
.
bigfire said:
For me, the terrible bluetooth quality is killing me. The signal breaks up a LOT!
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You mustve picked up a defective phone. I didnt have any issues with bt. Hate saying this but try a factory reset.
My bluetooth works brilliantly. Did the factory reset work?
Well guys I'm thinking of buying back this phone. Before I do I need to see how it looks with Emui 10. If anyone has the BETA emui 10 installed I'd appreciate a few pics. Thanks guys.
Has anyone come from the OnePlus 8 Pro? Or any larger sized devices (in terms of display size)?
I'm thinking of getting the Pixel because I miss stock Android, plus OP has moved from their "lightweight" version to a more heavy skinned OS with A11.
The biggest thing holding me back is the smaller display. I'm so used to big screens and I do a lot of typing on my phone, which leaves me curious about the typing experience on a smaller screen as well.
The only other concern is the top speaker as many YouTube reviews mention it's horrible, even for call quality. Call quality is another reason I want to come back to Pixel. My carrier doesn't support OnePlus devices, so VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling don't work properly. There are ways to try to get this to work but I'm not bothered and would rather just have a device that has those things working out of the box.
Any insights would be appreciated! Hoping there is a Boxing Day sale for the device here in Canada as the current price of $800 is quite heavy. Thanks in advance!
I came from a OnePlus 6T, the smaller screen hasn't bothered me one bit. I'm 6 foot with bigger than average hands and I'm more than happy typing on the screen.
I came from the OP7Pro so pretty similar to what you were working with.
I didn't notice it was a little smaller when I first got the P5 but not felt it's too small and very quickly got used to it. I find it to be a much more comfortable phone to hold compared to my OP7Pro and have no regrets moving in this direction!
I came from the OnePlus 6t, much the same as stringy, I'm 6'4 with larger hands and turn 50 this year yet I have no problem with the smaller phone, can see everything just fine and I'll say I actually prefer it. Typing is a little smaller all around but manageable and after a few days I've adjusted well. I can reach top to bottom on the screen with my thumb where my 6t it was a stretch. I actually ordered this and an s20 fe at the same time, the s20 was for my wife and I had to use it to set it all up for her and can say comparing the two, the pixel gets my vote. The s20, even with the 'better specs' was sluggish and after using the pixel for a day before hers arrived I had already adjusted to the pixel and an happy with my choice.
Thanks for the replies!
Seems like the majority of users actually enjoy the smaller form factor even coming from larger devices. It's really the biggest thing stopping me but it seems I should keep an open mind and give it a try.
How about call quality? Is that under-screen earpiece satisfactory?
Came from and went back to oneplus 6t. But mostly for the dual (physical) SIM that I really need and also because after 2 weeks on the pixel I couldn't notice a huge reason to stay with it. It's a great phone with a much better battery than the 6t but after the novelty wore off I could have gone both ways. Photos were important but MJL gcam is a beast so that was another factor. Pixel camera is still better though.
I also missed some of the oneplus software details like brightness slider coming down to thumbs reach as opposed to staying at the way top in the pixel and long pressing an app to uninstall. This was minimal though.
The screen and sound on the pixel I think we're great. Pixel is also noticeably lighter.
While I could still sell the pixel for a reasonable price I thought I would stay with the oneplus for another year.
rickysidhu_ said:
How about call quality? Is that under-screen earpiece satisfactory?
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Hmm, I thought I referenced call quality in my initial response, but indeed I did not. I can't say it's good, or bad really but rather just different. I have not had an issue with not being able to hear anyone, nor them me. Speaker phone, playing games, videos etc do not sound bad but at full volume I do not care for the sound. It's like I said, just different. Would I prefer a traditional speaker at the top? Yes. But I also appreciate the full display and no cutout for the speaker or a forehead so...ehhh..I guess sound to a degree is a bit of personal preference and with that said, it's not a deal breaker for me.
I came from the OP7 Pro and it was the best move compared to others in the past for me.
I like the weight, the size, the OS and most important: you'll get OS-updates on time every singe month.
So, do it! ✌
ulxerker said:
I came from the OP7 Pro and it was the best move compared to others in the past for me.
I like the weight, the size, the OS and most important: you'll get OS-updates on time every singe month.
So, do it! ✌
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Yup. That's one of the things that bothered me with OnePlus. I had the OnePlus 1, 3t, 6 and 6t. The more phones they come out with, the less the older phones get updated. The 6t I came from was great for 6 months in regards to updates then it started to fall down the list with the 7, 7 pro, 7t, 7t pro, 8, 8 pro, nord and the 8t all piled on in less than 2 years, the 6t has all but been forgotten. Sure, a security patch here and there but really, that's it. I was running lineage when I finally said I'm done. No fault of lineage tho, ran great but the phone started to have gps issues and call drops. I had the original Nexus, Nexus 6P and decided on the pixel 5. At least I know what to expect going forward with updates.
I'm going to head into a Best Buy today to check the device out in person, will give me a better idea of the screen size.
Really appreciate everyone's input!
rickysidhu_ said:
I'm going to head into a Best Buy today to check the device out in person, will give me a better idea of the screen size.
Really appreciate everyone's input!
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That's really the best thing you could do. I did not check it out in person because I don't often do things like that, you know... logical lol. I'm more spur of the moment but I feel I got it right this time, thankfully. I will say hardware wise the phone should have cost $599. Not saying it's not worth $699 but there's several phones at this price that on paper out spec the pixel. The OnePlus 8t, galaxy s20 fe are two examples where you get more hardware for the cost but the pixel offers a great experience to the end user with less hardware. Would you rather pay for the hardware or the software? I guess it just shows how much better Google's stock version of Android actually is when you have software that's been designed for the hardware vs muscling the software by the hardware. Your call. Be interested in hearing what you decide.
rickysidhu_ said:
Has anyone come from the OnePlus 8 Pro? Or any larger sized devices (in terms of display size)?
I'm thinking of getting the Pixel because I miss stock Android, plus OP has moved from their "lightweight" version to a more heavy skinned OS with A11.
The biggest thing holding me back is the smaller display. I'm so used to big screens and I do a lot of typing on my phone, which leaves me curious about the typing experience on a smaller screen as well.
The only other concern is the top speaker as many YouTube reviews mention it's horrible, even for call quality. Call quality is another reason I want to come back to Pixel. My carrier doesn't support OnePlus devices, so VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling don't work properly. There are ways to try to get this to work but I'm not bothered and would rather just have a device that has those things working out of the box.
Any insights would be appreciated! Hoping there is a Boxing Day sale for the device here in Canada as the current price of $800 is quite heavy. Thanks in advance!
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Hi!
I actually moved from an OP 8T to an OP 8 Pro and now i'm owning an Pixel 5
The main reason for that is the size and weight of the phone, its very nice to have such a "small" phone in my hands...
Before switching i was thinking about a few points. 90/120 Hz Display is a musthave now - so everything is fine. Fingerprint on the back is a bit "oldschool", but works great and i cann afford with it!
The only thing i was missing first time was the customizable OS like Oxygen, but now i didnt miss any option...
So i'm happy about my change, but always rember - its not such a big flagship like OP 8 Pro. Thats fact, even if you will not recognice much difference!
Thanks for the added input. I really appreciate and value everyone's opinions, as it is helping me decide significantly!
So I went into Best Buy yesterday and got some hands on time with the Pixel 5. That screen size is definitely noticeably smaller than my 8 Pro. Had them both side by side and the difference is quite grand. However, I tested typing on the Pixel and it's not so small where my thumbs are hitting one another or something, haha, so I think the screen size is not as big of an issue as I originally thought it would be.
Also tested that earpiece speaker and although it's not very loud, it didn't seem deal-breaker level bad. And that's me saying this while testing in a very loud store.
Didn't have the chance to test call quality but just hearing the speaker by playing a YouTube video, I don't think I'll have any issue.
Performance seemed off, though. They had two Pixel 5s side by side. One took a solid few seconds to open the calculator app whereas the other took just a second or so. Maybe the Pixels being demo models had something to do with performance inconsistency, but it was something noteworthy.
On the contrary, Google Maps opened faster than my 8 Pro which was very surprising, given Maps is a much heavier application vs the calculator app. And it was surprising also because my animation speed is set to .04x on my 8 Pro whereas the Pixel in-store probably had the default 1.0x.
My cousin has the Pixel 4 and I think it also shares the same processor as the P5, and seeing his apps open looked a bit slow, but maybe the software optimization is a bit different on the 5, or maybe other factors were in play, such as number of apps installed, background apps, background services running, and so on.
All these things aside, the most significant thing is Canadian pricing. It's $799 here, a bit steep. The Best Buy rep suggested I wait until Dec 26 (Boxing Day) or simply call my carrier to see if they have any deals or promos they can give me. I think this pricing is going to end up becoming the ultimate deciding factor for me, as opposed to performance and speaker/call quality.
I will keep this thread updated with what ends up happening, and any additional input from anyone is always welcome! Thanks again everyone for taking the time out to share your experiences, it really is a big help!
I came from the Pixel 4 XL, only because I just always like the latest so the phone size/screen size definitely felt smaller especially cuz I'm tall with kinda big hands, the stereo speakers were a little low and not as good but not the worst but I actually made them better installing Viper mod lol other than that battery is great better than previous Pixels and after 2 months I'm actually use to the screen size now and punch hole so not really any complaints but I do still wish they made an XL version and I would have gotten that instead. So I'll say go for it you won't be disappointed and at least you get the latest updates from Google first.
Pulled the trigger and ordered one! Just black, should arrive 25-28. Although I doubt it will come on the 25th lol.
Pretty excited now! Will keep you guys updated on my initial thoughts once I receive it and have some time to play around.
Thank you all for helping me make a decision! It was tough figuring out how I can go from a "flagship" to a "mid-ranger". But your input helped me a lot!
The screen on the P5 is rather washed out in comparison to the 8 pro, while running both at full brightness. The processor speed is noticeably in favor of the 8 pro. Scrolling on the 8 pro is far better experience , even at 60hz, versus the P5 at 90hz, since it skips and snags with fast scrolling at 90hz. The P5 has the FAR better size, hand feel and the flatter screen is a godsend. The P5 battery life is excellent. I also find the P5 signal has better signal in my area over the 8 pro. The P5 should have been released at $500. I think it cuts too many corners for $700. Get a used OnePlus 8 (non pro) for $400 used and that may be a better option.
rickysidhu_ said:
Pulled the trigger and ordered one! Just black, should arrive 25-28. Although I doubt it will come on the 25th lol.
Pretty excited now! Will keep you guys updated on my initial thoughts once I receive it and have some time to play around.
Thank you all for helping me make a decision! It was tough figuring out how I can go from a "flagship" to a "mid-ranger". But your input helped me a lot!
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You're welcome ... you won't regret it if you give yourself some time to get used to it and give the phone some time to settle in.
I just switched from the 8T yesterday, I was on vacation last week and was thoroughly fed up with the terrible camera so I sprung for the 5. It's definitely a lot smaller, I don't think I'll be able to get used to it as others here did, but it's also a pretty great device. I also haven't noticed a difference in the 865 vs 765 in my workload, though others will vary. I'll probably be keeping the P5 until an XL version comes out.
JedixJarf said:
I just switched from the 8T yesterday, I was on vacation last week and was thoroughly fed up with the terrible camera so I sprung for the 5. It's definitely a lot smaller, I don't think I'll be able to get used to it as others here did, but it's also a pretty great device. I also haven't noticed a difference in the 865 vs 765 in my workload, though others will vary. I'll probably be keeping the P5 until an XL version comes out.
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I thought the same in regards to it's size but honestly, it grew on me
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