SecurePhone 2021 - General Questions and Answers

Hi All,
2021 is here and I'm concerned about my privacy (finally).
I'm looking for a phone with good specs, capable of being run on Verizon in the US, and won't break the bank. ($500 is my ceiling)
I've looked into this year's budget offerings but been slightly disappointed with them enough to avoid them. What seems to be the best bet is a 1 or 2 year old flagship device.
I used to root and rom until vzw started locking the bootloaders on their Samsung lineup. I unfortunately went to iPhone a few years later, but now that I'm turning out to be more privacy minded over convenience, I've returned to the idea of purchasing an android to flash a custom privacy minded rom.
As I've been out of the game for so long and my preliminary research has been unfruitful, I waned to ask if you could point me in the direction of a few phones and roms that would run on verizon.
Thanks in advance!
jonnyboiii

You could get a used Note 10+ but it probably be around $650 from a reliable source like B&H Photo. Note 9's are less.
I go for something running on Pie as Q and up are screwed to hell in my opinion. With Pie you can use the freeware app Karma Firewall to lock it down as all it's features like logging are fully functional.
Between Samsung and Android the last year has not had many good offerings.
If I had to replace my 10+ now I be very tempted to go with another 10+... that's how bad the newer models/OS's are. I don't recommend any of the new Samsung phones as my overall impression of them is they're unacceptable.

blackhawk said:
You could get a used Note 10+ but it probably be around $650 from a reliable source like B&H Photo. Note 9's are less.
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Been looking into that phone in particular; perhaps I should go into the subforum Q&A, but...
It looks like there are no ROMs really available for the Note10. I could only find one ROM and some recoveries in the subforum. Didn't there used to be subforums for carrier specific models?
Apart from the Pinephone, is there a privacy-minded ROM that you know of? Just needs to be able to run on some decent phones.

jonnyboiii said:
Been looking into that phone in particular; perhaps I should go into the subforum Q&A, but...
It looks like there are no ROMs really available for the Note10. I could only find one ROM and some recoveries in the subforum. Didn't there used to be subforums for carrier specific models?
Apart from the Pinephone, is there a privacy-minded ROM that you know of? Just needs to be able to run on some decent phones.
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Click to collapse
It can be a little hard to find:
Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ is a 6.8" phone with a 1440x3040p resolution display. The Exynos 9825/Snapdragon 855 chipset is paired with 12GB of RAM and 256/512GB of storage. The main camera is 12+12+16MP and the selfie camera is 10MP. The battery has a 4300mAh capacity.
forum.xda-developers.com
I'm on a AT&T stock 10+ 512 gb/Pie. Don't get the 5G variant but the 512 gb variant running on Pie is sweet. I recommend you stay on Pie.
Q and 11* are fqcked up and you will take a performance/functionality hit.
A very fast/stable, rock solid phone. 6o hz screen refresh rate but a drop dead gorgeous display.
No 3.5 mm jack so you'll want a pair of Buds+ or Buds Pro for it.
I simple use Package Disabler Pro, Karma Firewall and settings to lock it down. No force reloads due to malware yet.
I don't root and with this phone running on Pie it's not needed. Be nice but most likely be a time gravity well for me.
* the newest phones have faster ram and cpu but Android 10 and 11 handicap the faster hardware by using more cpu cycles. If you're tired of the Apple trip I'd stick with Pie

Related

[Q] will there be a 2015 edition?

So im thinking of replacing my note 4 with this or the 10 inch tab, any chance of a 2015 note tablet? Or am i safe getting a 2014 version
Also how does this compare with a note 4?
My note 4 lags alot (thinking its defective) and i only use it at home as its not my primary phone.
It hasn't been announced, but if it will happen, it'll be at the CES 2015, which starts 2 days from now, from 6-9 january.
There have been no leaks whatsoever, so I rather doubt it. They were working on a 13" device, so perhaps that's the next version. I'd wait until 10 january. If it hasn't been announced by then, it probably won't be any time soon.
Your Note 4 should not lag. Have you tried a factory reset?
ShadowLea said:
It hasn't been announced, but if it will happen, it'll be at the CES 2015, which starts 2 days from now, from 6-9 january.
There have been no leaks whatsoever, so I rather doubt it. They were working on a 13" device, so perhaps that's the next version. I'd wait until 10 january. If it hasn't been announced by then, it probably won't be any time soon.
Your Note 4 should not lag. Have you tried a factory reset?
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Yes, ive tried a reset and eveything else to fix it.
So its best to wait till after CES to buy a note tablet?
GreeleyXda said:
Yes, ive tried a reset and eveything else to fix it.
So its best to wait till after CES to buy a note tablet?
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Press releases will probably hit today, Monday and Tuesday. But they could wait until Barcelona, that's around the time when they normally announce their new phones, so they might push a tablet announcement out until then.
Id be ok waiting till march, but this is going on my verizon tablet line. And as far as im aware theres usually a gap between the tablets release and when verizon releases their LTE model.
Would be it be unwise to get the pro, and use it till the next one comes out on verizon? (Im estimating a late 2015 release date for the verizon LTE model if they do releas a new tablet)
there is a rumored 10.1 2015 edition that has been spotted in name only so far on some advertising. I had the original Note 10.1 then got the Note 10.1 2014 and was very pleased, the super slow recharge was partial reasoning for me to give it to my gf and then got the Verizon Note 12.2 Pro LTE for the Qualcomm chip that I thought had the quick charge function on the chipset. It does charge pretty fast but for how much I spoent I thought it would have had the Note 4 type Fast Charge. I was able to root the Verizon tablet but future versions after the 4.4.2 exploit will close that loophole. I personally dont understand that they make it so difficult by having a locked bootloader on Verizon. I paid $1000 for the tablet, I want to do whatever I want to it! I love the size vs the 10.1, which feels small now as I have adjust to the bigger screens.
The price point is the issue. In Future, I would just get the WiFi only model as that is usually the version for anything custom (ROMS, recovery, kernel) and are usually widely supported more in my opinion. I'd love to see a Super AMOLED, uses less power, 2k version (whatever the Note 4 specs are) for 12.2 Note Pro. I would love for them to have the fast charge feature just like the NOTE 4, the newer air command of Note 4 vs Note 3/10.1/12.2, Camera improvements passed along, 3 or 4 GB of RAM, larger batteries, thinner bezel. The updated stylus that is more responsive. this is an evolutionary tablet, which I am fine with...
aburns7487 said:
there is a rumored 10.1 2015 edition that has been spotted in name only so far on some advertising. I had the original Note 10.1 then got the Note 10.1 2014 and was very pleased, the super slow recharge was partial reasoning for me to give it to my gf and then got the Verizon Note 12.2 Pro LTE for the Qualcomm chip that I thought had the quick charge function on the chipset. It does charge pretty fast but for how much I spoent I thought it would have had the Note 4 type Fast Charge. I was able to root the Verizon tablet but future versions after the 4.4.2 exploit will close that loophole. I personally dont understand that they make it so difficult by having a locked bootloader on Verizon. I paid $1000 for the tablet, I want to do whatever I want to it! I love the size vs the 10.1, which feels small now as I have adjust to the bigger screens.
The price point is the issue. In Future, I would just get the WiFi only model as that is usually the version for anything custom (ROMS, recovery, kernel) and are usually widely supported more in my opinion. I'd love to see a Super AMOLED, uses less power, 2k version (whatever the Note 4 specs are) for 12.2 Note Pro. I would love for them to have the fast charge feature just like the NOTE 4, the newer air command of Note 4 vs Note 3/10.1/12.2, Camera improvements passed along, 3 or 4 GB of RAM, larger batteries, thinner bezel. The updated stylus that is more responsive. this is an evolutionary tablet, which I am fine with...
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A family member has the 10.5 Tab S, which is a bit newer than the notepro and it even that doesnt have QuickCharge or Usb 3.0
Note pro and Tab S are already 2k/3gb ram, and i dnt see the need for a 4k android tablet.
Im in a contact for a tablet line anyways, so might as well get the LTE model and plus im not a fan of the exynos chips.
Still not sure if if i should get the notepro or wait, i use my note 4 for drawing, multitasking browsing/media/notes/other apps.
I totally agree agree with agree with your observations as well. I was merely speculating what I personally would like to see. I prefer the Qualcomm chips as 805 has the quick charge feature built in. The WiFi Exnoys is getting all the custom support at least in US, as the p905v (has locked bootloader, stupid verizon). If the bootloader was unlocked my opinion would greatly change. I want to see a note version of the tab S, since they finally used a super ambled screen, thus uses less power on lighting up the screen as the black diodes use no power and let's do. Maybe I was meaning 4G of RAM, that is just to keep everything running smoothly. I much prefer the 12.2 screen size over the 10.1 as I have become use to the larger screen size, now the 10.1 seems too small. It all depends on how much you are using it. I suppose I just felt the need to have the next new toy. I do think the USB 3, never got utilized so them going back to USB 2.0 as long as it has the new fast charger adapter, same one as Note 4, thus making things interchangeable. If it must be LTE then so be it.
If you are just getting a hold over tablet for your drawing then I think maybe ok to buy. I was jus a little disappointed especially since I paid 1000 vs say 750 for LTE version of. Verizon.....
My personal wish list is what I was referring to. I'm sorry for hijacking the thread. If money isn't an issue then get note 12.2 pro LTE.....note 10.1 2014 p600 isn't bad either and has custom support, but again. I was on WiFi only versions previous to this p905v, so my knowledge is purely based on my on usage.
Sent from my SM-P905V using XDA Free mobile app
I bought a 12.2 lte as soon as it was released here, and I was pretty impressed with the snapdragon performance after several exynos phones and tablets - after lots of tweaking (bye bye touchwiz) extremely satisfied with the performance.
Then came the Note 4 lte. Everything I was expecting - way better than the 12.2 out of the box, and after heavy tweaking (bye bye touchwiz) I'm extremely happy with my Note 4.
So, if you're not happy with a Note 4, you'll hate a 12.2 and should wait for the next generation. When is a 13" Note coming? I want one!
andyfarmery said:
I bought a 12.2 lte as soon as it was released here, and I was pretty impressed with the snapdragon performance after several exynos phones and tablets - after lots of tweaking (bye bye touchwiz) extremely satisfied with the performance.
Then came the Note 4 lte. Everything I was expecting - way better than the 12.2 out of the box, and after heavy tweaking (bye bye touchwiz) I'm extremely happy with my Note 4.
So, if you're not happy with a Note 4, you'll hate a 12.2 and should wait for the next generation. When is a 13" Note coming? I want one!
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Its not that i dont like the device, just that it freezes and lags a lot And i rather not pay samsung to fix it. The note 4 isnt even my main line, so it doesnt leave the house, i use it as a tablet.
What makes the 12.2 bad?
Like I said, until I got my Note 4 I was really pleased with it. Now I want a 13" with the performance of a Note 4. I was making a subjective comparison that the Note 4 snapdragon performs way better than the older gen Note 12.2 snapdragon, so anyone considering investing so much money may decide to wait and see if there's an announcement next month. ..
andyfarmery said:
Like I said, until I got my Note 4 I was really pleased with it. Now I want a 13" with the performance of a Note 4. I was making a subjective comparison that the Note 4 snapdragon performs way better than the older gen Note 12.2 snapdragon, so anyone considering investing so much money may decide to wait and see if there's an announcement next month. ..
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i have nothing to lose waiting i guess.
But id want the verizon LTE version of any anounced Note Tablet, i got rid of my LTE ipad mini so now i have an empty tablet line that i have to pay for till 2016.
andyfarmery said:
Like I said, until I got my Note 4 I was really pleased with it. Now I want a 13" with the performance of a Note 4. I was making a subjective comparison that the Note 4 snapdragon performs way better than the older gen Note 12.2 snapdragon, so anyone considering investing so much money may decide to wait and see if there's an announcement next month. ..
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I posted in the note 4 xda section, and theyre pretty much telling me my note 4 is defective.
I have 4 options
1) get the note pro
2) buy the tab S of a family member (mostly for the samoled screen)
3) try to get a Certfied Note 4 off verizon
4) buy another note 4
The note 4 was on my line, but i replaced it with an iphone 6+. Right now its just a tablet (it doesnt even have a sim in it.) Let say i get a working a note 4, im still only going to use it at home as a tablet, which is why im thinking of a note tablet.
So my questions to u are
1) Would u say the LCD screen was a disapoiment? Compare to a samoled (is having a samoled screen Tab S really worth giving up the note features)
2) in what way does ur note pro prefor inferior to your note 4?
For example I dont play any games on my note 4
On my note 4 i use it to draw [sketchbookx + spen], youtube 1080p +, videos of my memory card [720p or less Quality], play about 48gbs of music, and a lot of internet browsing. (I actually do all my browsing on it since i hate my iphones browsers/1gb of ram)
i use the multi window feature alot, running several things at once. I also like how they minimize to a bubble if u need to get it out of ur way but dont want to closw it.
ShadowLea said:
It hasn't been announced, but if it will happen, it'll be at the CES 2015, which starts 2 days from now, from 6-9 january.
There have been no leaks whatsoever, so I rather doubt it. They were working on a 13" device, so perhaps that's the next version. I'd wait until 10 january. If it hasn't been announced by then, it probably won't be any time soon.
Your Note 4 should not lag. Have you tried a factory reset?
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It will probably be announced at ifa
gingi999 said:
It will probably be announced at ifa
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Well, the current one was announced in January, released in march. They normally don't deviate from such dates in a lineup.
I suspect a new version simply isn't viable yet.
IFA remains a possibility, but I doubt it.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
ShadowLea said:
Well, the current one was announced in January, released in march. They normally don't deviate from such dates in a lineup.
I suspect a new version simply isn't viable yet.
IFA remains a possibility, but I doubt it.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk 2
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I think so too, im going to just go for it then (can always return it/get the 2015 devicd)
Thing is people have been telling me the tab s is the better tablet now. Why i do like samoled screen for videos, i cant think of any other reason the Tab S would be better. Especially since the spen gets so much use from me (drawing)
GreeleyXda said:
I think so too, im going to just go for it then (can always return it/get the 2015 devicd)
Thing is people have been telling me the tab s is the better tablet now. Why i do like samoled screen for videos, i cant think of any other reason the Tab S would be better. Especially since the spen gets so much use from me (drawing)
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An AMOLED screen has infinite contrast, since black is generated by turning the LEDs off. It also has a higher colour saturation (so more vibrant). For films that's a little prettier. Due to the black=LED Off system, black systems are more power efficient. However, Samsung lost all IQ and decided to implement White menu's on everything, and combined with Google's white Material design in every app it barely makes a difference anymore. Films, even thrillers, are never true black, so in that respect it also makes no difference in battery life.
Sadly, the Tab S doesn't come in 12.2" nor with an Spen.
In terms of internal hardware the Tab S is identical to the Tab Pro and Note Pro.
If there was a Note Pro 2015 and it came with an AMOLED screen, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. But Samsung has already stated that 12.2" AMOLED is far too expensive to produce, and would result in an additional 250 quid ontop of the already hefty pricetag.
ShadowLea said:
An AMOLED screen has infinite contrast, since black is generated by turning the LEDs off. It also has a higher colour saturation (so more vibrant). For films that's a little prettier. Due to the black=LED Off system, black systems are more power efficient. However, Samsung lost all IQ and decided to implement White menu's on everything, and combined with Google's white Material design in every app it barely makes a difference anymore. Films, even thrillers, are never true black, so in that respect it also makes no difference in battery life.
Sadly, the Tab S doesn't come in 12.2" nor with an Spen.
In terms of internal hardware the Tab S is identical to the Tab Pro and Note Pro.
If there was a Note Pro 2015 and it came with an AMOLED screen, I'd buy that in a heartbeat. But Samsung has already stated that 12.2" AMOLED is far too expensive to produce, and would result in an additional 250 quid ontop of the already hefty pricetag.
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Sounds like theyre just being bias then if the internals are identical, and i imagine the note lcd screen isnt too shabby for videos anyways. They were saying you can use a stylus pen on the tab S but its just not the same. Think ill go for the Note Tablet.
Its more likely the next 10.1 note would carry the AMOLED than the Pro or maybe even a new AMOLED Note 8.0.
GreeleyXda said:
Sounds like theyre just being bias then if the internals are identical, and i imagine the note lcd screen isnt too shabby for videos anyways. They were saying you can use a stylus pen on the tab S but its just not the same. Think ill go for the Note Tablet.
Its more likely the next 10.1 note would carry the AMOLED than the Pro or maybe even a new AMOLED Note 8.0.
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You can use a regular stylus with a rubber tip on a Tab S, yes. But an Spen isn't a regular stylus, so it isn't pressure sensitive, has no button, no action menu and no interactions.
If you draw a lot on it, nothing beats an Spen. I tried drawing with a regular stylus but it's just not the same. No pressure sensitivity whatsoever.
I quite enjoy watching films on this thing. On the main homescreen it looks like you can see the screen pattern, but in films, games, etc the thing is perfectly crisp. Very enjoyable
Yes Indeed. I do suspect the Note 10.1 2015 may come with an AMOLED screen. But not anything over 10.5".
ShadowLea said:
You can use a regular stylus with a rubber tip on a Tab S, yes. But an Spen isn't a regular stylus, so it isn't pressure sensitive, has no button, no action menu and no interactions.
If you draw a lot on it, nothing beats an Spen. I tried drawing with a regular stylus but it's just not the same. No pressure sensitivity whatsoever.
I quite enjoy watching films on this thing. On the main homescreen it looks like you can see the screen pattern, but in films, games, etc the thing is perfectly crisp. Very enjoyable
Yes Indeed. I do suspect the Note 10.1 2015 may come with an AMOLED screen. But not anything over 10.5".
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I can't live without the S pen either. I use the note 4 as my main phone. The problem is mine is LTE and AT&T is going to make me wait 60 days till they give me the unlock code for a new device. Since I travel a lot I don't know if I could deal with that again

Want to sell OPO, what to get instead?

HI all, am thinking selling my OPO but have no idea what other phone to get while waiting for OnePlus Two
It has to be cheap (~100 $/€) and support custom roms, thats all i am asking! (am flashaholic, so can not live without it )
Any tips what should I go for? THX!!!
Moto G is always a good choice. Tons of support for ROMs and kernels and such. Also, the boot loader is easily unlocked. It's more than your price tag, but you'll be much happier with it's flexibility and more powerful processor.
Nexus 6
otacon239 said:
Moto G is always a good choice. Tons of support for ROMs and kernels and such. Also, the boot loader is easily unlocked. It's more than your price tag, but you'll be much happier with it's flexibility and more powerful processor.
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plus they have consistent speedy updates of new android versions, decent batterylife etc, etc.
just a small screen
Should I assume that despite your moniker that you do not currently own a Nexus 5? If that's the case, get your hands on a used Nexus 4. Tons of ROMs, kernels, mods, etc. A Galaxy S3 (with Snapdragon and 2gb RAM, not the Exynos one) wouldn't be a bad option either.
Go for Motorola and Nexus devices. They have plenty of custom rom support.
and fast when it comes to OS updates too.
this seems nice, dunno about updates though http://www.phonearena.com/news/Affo...edge-specs-and-fingerprint-ID-for-200_id68130
bachera said:
this seems nice, dunno about updates though http://www.phonearena.com/news/Affo...edge-specs-and-fingerprint-ID-for-200_id68130
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Very cheap, been checking these out too. Would love to try one out, some nice features.
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Elep...GHz-Smartphone-13-0MP-Dual-Camera-344057.html
gsmyth said:
Very cheap, been checking these out too. Would love to try one out, some nice features.
http://www.geekbuying.com/item/Elep...GHz-Smartphone-13-0MP-Dual-Camera-344057.html
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take a note of their presale, they had another one on 11th of May
http://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/24/...tedposts_origin=84489&relatedposts_position=0
not sure of they will ever have dev support though, due to the mediatek stuff. That kinda is a dealbreaker for me.
their upcoming models next month are also interesting, more expensive though.
browse the gizchina site, they got tons of info on Chinese phones
bachera said:
take a note of their presale
http://www.gizchina.com/2015/04/24/...tedposts_origin=84489&relatedposts_position=0
not sure of they will have dev support though
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Yea its never going to be anywhere near the OPO. I did see a video of it running CM12 though, again though who knows if you'll be able to get hold of it.
Thank you all guys, am wondering getting some "china" phone, but seems like there is a problem with MediaTek CPU/chipset - the support of custom roms is quite small if none for some CPU/chipset/phones.
Can anyone explain me to this. If to get a phone with Mediatek chip, which one to get for widest custom rom support? Or is it like that the only thing matter is the model of CPU and custom rom working on specific CPU will work fine on other phone with same CPU?
Try the Oppo Find 7A or 7. Same device in a sense, only it has native Color OS (and no touchscreen issues). Sadly, NO LTE on some carriers. I think the Find 7 is $500 while the 7A is $400. In the US, hard to get, but not impossible, trust me. The 7 is QHD (2K resolution) while the 7A is 1080p. For that case, I went with the 7A as it packs more of a punch.
Or the Xiaomi Mi3W or Mi4, the native MIUI phones. Again, lack of LTE on US carriers but trust me, they are very fast, unique and a breath of fresh air since stock ("vanilla" android) TouchWiz, Optimus UI and Sense have gotten boring. Pricing varies, but average from $300 to $400, just watch out where you order it from.
Lastly, the Moto X 2014 packs quite a punch and a beautiful display, and you have a good warranty back up. Be sure to skip the Verizon model (XT1096) as it cannot have its bootloader unlocked and root is VERY limited. They can now be ordered for as little as $400 for the 16GB or $450 for the 32GB, and customized options do not affect pricing unless you opt in for accessories.
I cannot recommend the Nexus 5 as it had very aggressive thermal throttling, so you never experience the 2.3GHz at its fullest, it has also been pulled out of Google's lineup. The HTC One M8 is a MARVELOUS device, and very lag free, however, it has heat issues, sometimes they begin over a short amount of time and that heat will QUICKLY deteriorate the battery. The LG G3 has a nice display, however, it is a lag machine. You really can not use it for 3D games. The G2 is also old and problematic. The G Flex 1 is still worth considering, but it is HUGE, the POLED display is very prone to burned in imaged if not properly taken care of, the curved display is weird to some and it has a 720p resolution. It is however pretty darn great. The G Flex 2 sports a Snapdragon 810, but that is not a good thing. It has been noted that the 810 heats up ALOT, which is why the Xiaomi Mi5 might use the 808 and the G4 is confirmed to have gone with the 808. The Galaxy S5 and Note 3 have very slow UI animations and overall do not have great performance. The bloatware on them is also through the roof. The newer Note 4, Note Edge, S6 and S6 Edge are just too pricey. The Nexus 6 is a HUGE Moto X 2014, but it has a bit of a price tag, and if your hands are not as big as mine, you can forget it. It has superb performance. The Droid Turbo is beginning to meet its end at high prices when it comes to used ones, but again, no bootloader unlock and root is limited.
I would REALLY recommend sticking to it for a while longer as the OnePlus Two is around the corner, the Moto X 2015 is already being rumored, the Xiaomi Mi5 MIGHT enter the US market (if your in the USA) and so on. It might also be a bad idea to hold on to it as the release of the OnePlus Two will mean fans of the OnePlus One will want to sell theirs to get the newer one, and the used value of it will drop significantly or become a challenge to get rid of.

Would you recommend the Honor 8 ?

Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
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I got mine on a black friday sale and I'm happy with it. but at full price I would consider something else.
This phone has the Kirin processor and you can root it but the custom rom's will be few because of the processor
The Galaxy S6 is a nice phone but the bootloaders are locked.
I don't know anything about the Sony.
If you have $400 for the full priced H8 I would recommend a used Nexus 6p or a One plus 3 for flashing customs roms and developer support.
If those phones are too big for your taste theirs also the HTC 9 and 10 to consider... they have a great developer community
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
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Click to collapse
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
clsA said:
I got mine on a black friday sale and I'm happy with it. but at full price I would consider something else.
This phone has the Kirin processor and you can root it but the custom rom's will be few because of the processor
The Galaxy S6 is a nice phone but the bootloaders are locked.
I don't know anything about the Sony.
If you have $400 for the full priced H8 I would recommend a used Nexus 6p or a One plus 3 for flashing customs roms and developer support.
If those phones are too big for your taste theirs also the HTC 9 and 10 to consider... they have a great developer community
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I have around 450 max for a phone and the Oneplus 3 would have been great because it was 430 dollars but now they only sell the 3T for about 500 and its an import so i think it will have taxes . I looked at the One M9 and the one thing i didn't like is that it is missing a fingerprint scanner and from reviews they say if your chosing between the M9 and S6 go for the S6 so idk . The HTC 10 is good but if i had the money for it (650$) i would have bought the S7 Edge .
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia X has the edge in performance over the H8 but it overheats when using the camera idk if sony fixed it or not.Axon 7 is pricey for me 600 dollars but its a great phone.The Xiaomi MI 5S is cheap and packs perfromance with the SD 821 but being a Xiaomi doesn't it have poor software ?
Tarbruh said:
Hey guys im looking to buy a new phone and for my budget i can get the Honor 8 , Sony X performance or the Galaxy S6 . Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it over the other phones i listed ? Also how is the root ,rom , kernel support and is it easy to flash because i saw a guide for rooting with 12-13 steps including typing imei in huawei's site to get a code and so on .
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Click to collapse
I just bought the Honor 8 after a long evaluation and endless comparisons (price for me was 320 EUR discounted, so really mid-range price territory).
The hardware is great and having such a fast fingerprint sensor is really awesome. Biggest two drawbacks for me are:
- the user interface: I don't like EMUI at all and it's pretty far from the Android standard, but you can use a custom launcher and hopefully an unofficial near-stock theme will be available soon;
- the screen: has a quite poor calibration and looks like a significant step back from my previous Sony Z1 Compact.
Sony devices are nice but heavily bloated. Also I was quite disappointed with my Z1 Compact camera: it looks like they didn't provide adequate support in the transition from KitKat to Lollipop and there was a performance degradation killing an otherwise interesting sensor. I haven't tried a Samsung since the death of my S3 due to eMMC failure and my experience with that device had not been stellar (given I did paid full price for it), but I have read that the UI has improved in the latest interations.
As for root and custom ROMs the thing is: while every device can be rooted one way or another, for a good custom ROM support you should consider only Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (the Honor has a HiSilicon Kirin) and even in that case the proper support for camera and other advanced hardware features could be not easy. So you may root the Honor but don't expect an AOSP / LineageOS ROM to work properly (there is some work underway but if Huawei doesn't change its politics I wouldn't expect acceptable results).
As for me the only device I could have bought instead of the Honor was the HTC 10, but at a cost significantly higher.
P.S.: Xiaomi devices are interesting but most of them have limited LTE band support, so you may want to check against the bands used in your country (the GSMArena website has a great search tool you could take advantage of).
maxlnc said:
I just bought the Honor 8 after a long evaluation and endless comparisons (price for me was 320 EUR discounted, so really mid-range price territory).
The hardware is great and having such a fast fingerprint sensor is really awesome. Biggest two drawbacks for me are:
- the user interface: I don't like EMUI at all and it's pretty far from the Android standard, but you can use a custom launcher and hopefully an unofficial near-stock theme will be available soon;
- the screen: has a quite poor calibration and looks like a significant step back from my previous Sony Z1 Compact.
Sony devices are nice but heavily bloated. Also I was quite disappointed with my Z1 Compact camera: it looks like they didn't provide adequate support in the transition from KitKat to Lollipop and there was a performance degradation killing an otherwise interesting sensor. I haven't tried a Samsung since the death of my S3 due to eMMC failure and my experience with that device had not been stellar (given I did paid full price for it), but I have read that the UI has improved in the latest interations.
As for root and custom ROMs the thing is: while every device can be rooted one way or another, for a good custom ROM support you should consider only Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (the Honor has a HiSilicon Kirin) and even in that case the proper support for camera and other advanced hardware features could be not easy. So you may root the Honor but don't expect an AOSP / LineageOS ROM to work properly (there is some work underway but if Huawei doesn't change its politics I wouldn't expect acceptable results).
As for me the only device I could have bought instead of the Honor was the HTC 10, but at a cost significantly higher.
P.S.: Xiaomi devices are interesting but most of them have limited LTE band support, so you may want to check against the bands used in your country (the GSMArena website has a great search tool you could take advantage of).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im in the same state of endless comparisons and watching reviews for phones . From reviews and speed tests the Honor 8 seems like a great deal , in app opening comparsion it was leading 15 to 5 againts the Iphone 7 Plus if 100% true in normal use its a pretty fast phone and is concidered as one of the best 400 dollar phones . My concern is the UI and support i will slap google now launcher but for support updates and so on its a Huawei after all and i don't have experience with them . Most of my root and rom adventures were made with my Galaxy S3 Neo because it came with Android 4.4.2 and never got an update and with the help of roms it had 6.0.1 from the S6 with an overclocked Kernel and slow motion camera mod. All of the reviews for the X performance say that Sony are asking too much (700$) for the flaws it has . I put a thread on the Sony forum but no response yet . For me the price is lower 430$ for the Xperia but if the bugs are not fixed by Sony its dissapointing . I really like the Galaxy S6 but after all its a 2015 model . Xiaomi MI 5s supports my 4G network but being a Xiaomi software wise i think its badly optimized.
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
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Click to collapse
I have the Honor 8 and have been using it for the last 3 months or so.
I'm not into all these tests but I know that the phone has stood up to everything that I have thrown at it and I use my phone allot.
If you want a good, solid phone that looks good and will be kept upto date for the next couple of years then get the Honor 8
My flat mate has got the pixel and after using it I really can't see how it's worth the extra couple of £100
John
In my mind, the only phones that are worth getting if you want to flash roms are OnePlus and Google, the rest are not worthwhile. These two phones are the only ones that will get great support on XDA. If this is your purpose then don't even bother considering any other brand, it's just a waste of your time. Even if it is available for other phones you run into hassle with losing warranty by unlocking bootloader and doing more steps than needed. It's better just to get a OnePlus where all the custom rom features are already built in.
If you can get the Honor 8 for $300 new or less and wants a good camera it's worth it. I'm very happy with the camera for still shots which is what I mainly bought the phone for. It's the best camera I've used outside of Samsung so far, I think the Huawei and Samsung are the tops right now for camera. It's better than the Nexus 6P in term of dynamic and colors. Also Huawei currently make the best fingerprint scanner, albeit on the back. The hardware is fast, but expect lots of thermal throttling while gaming.
You will have to deal with some goofy battery management which turns off notification and background running apps, although there is a way to fix this but you have to whitelist the apps in two different nearly hidden places in the settings, although the new Nougat updates is supposed to improve this.
In term of updates support, I think it's pretty poor, at least in term of speed. Many phones are already on Nougat before this one. I do like the fact they made the stock firmware publicly available. The main thing that hampers this phone is the software.
Hey there. I was in the dilemma you are right now two months ago when I bought the Honor 8. I'm not disappointed at all, in the past few years I've used almost every brand there is, HTC, Samsung s3, Lg G2, Sony z3 Compact, Moto G 1 and 2, Sony z3, z3+ and m5, and my last phone was the Huawei p9 lite, I was astonished as to how that "cheap phone" camera could beat my Sony z3+ that I loved so much. That's when I paid attention To Huawei, and man they're doing a great job. Yes maybe in development you won't be able to do much, if that's what you're looking for, maybe it's better to look elsewhere, but in terms of battery, daily use performance and heavy usage, camera, good looking phone, this is a great deal. I bought for 400 when it was released. A few weeks ago my brother got it at 330, which was like stealing haha. And I know this month it will get Nougat. Emui software will be better with the update, not saying it was bad but many disliked it, I'm fine with it to be honest. And Honor offers 2 years of support after the date of release. So you'll get Android updates until mid-2018.
Hope this helps.
I really don't recommend buying a phone at the moment, as u know it's a new year
New phones and chipsets are released and prices eventually will drop. I recommend waiting for couple of months if you can.
Regarding the Honor 8 itself, I know there's something about this phone makes you want it although u can just save a little and get axon 7 or 1+3 and it's not a perfect phone either it lacks some things like OIS for videos and 4K for video.
Other than that it offers a great camera you should check threads here for camera samples, it does take very great still images!
I saw lots of comparisons too between that phone and others. Well in everyday usage there's no difference between it and a snapdragon 820 powered phone regarding opening apps and so .. The kirin 950 is pretty strong scoring 90K+ in antutu benchmark which is okay.. You shouldn't be worried about a game that won't run smoothly on it at the moment! But it's not the best developer friendly unlike snapdragon chipsets!
Beside all that it's a pretty phone ( sexy design, great camera, decent battery & good performance ) it has USB C and fast charging and the chipset supports Vulkan API which makes somewhat it future proof. Also about the EMUI, it can grow on you over time it has neat features not laggy as people might suggest it has theme engine too plenty of customizability and gestures, I don't see it lacking other than the looks of the pure android but that can be fixed by using nova launcher.
Bottom line, if u don't mind the UI and the development area ( it exists but it may take a while ) definitely go for it .. Otherwise u may consider saving or buying One Plus 3 if you're a flashaholic there are plenty of ROMs for the one plus, And a strong development community!
I have the FRD-L14 (64 GB USA version) for $340 total from Amazon. It has replaced my Sony Z3 Compact that I had for two years bought for $500. Tell you what the Honor 8 is worth the money. Fast and responsive. The 4 GB of memory is awesome since apps stay in memory so multitasking is mostly instant. 64 GB memory + 64 GB microSD = awesome. Camera is fast enough with good quality. The screen is the only downside compared to flagship phones costing $600+ but I came from the Sony Z3 Compact display so it's not a problem for me. Maybe I am also lucky but I don't have a blue-ish tint on certain reviews.
The best thing about this is it has Band 12 LTE for TMOBILE. I now have 3 bars of signal sitting in my office instead of 1 or zero or searching all the time. The HD Voice call is also super clear. The speaker phone, though, could be better. The fingerprint scanner is just as good as the Samsung or Apple. Two THUMBS UP. I would upgrade to the Honor 9-10 down the road assuming they keep the price competitive.
Price of Honor 8
Tarbruh said:
I have around 450 max for a phone and the Oneplus 3 would have been great because it was 430 dollars but now they only sell the 3T for about 500 and its an import so i think it will have taxes . I looked at the One M9 and the one thing i didn't like is that it is missing a fingerprint scanner and from reviews they say if your chosing between the M9 and S6 go for the S6 so idk . The HTC 10 is good but if i had the money for it (650$) i would have bought the S7 Edge .
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Click to collapse
I just bought a Honor 8 from a dealer on ebay..paid $250....New but no box..
Exactly as the others say the Honor 8 is a great phone! It is fast, good looking and has a great camera! So in 2015 I was looking for a new phone to replace my old Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini and this seller showed me the Honor 7 but it didn't really appeal to me that much (Mostly because of EMUI) and I decided to keep on using my S4 Mini.
But a few weeks ago I got the Honor 8 for 325€ (Discounted) even if I didn't really like EMUI that much I must say, it is better than I expected! Now there is a few things I still don't like in EMUI (Like the split Notifications and Shortcuts) but in the new EMUI 5 update that is currently being rolled out, it will just get a whole lot better and many of the things I find annoying is fixed
So would I recommend this phone? Yes I would definitivtly recommend this phone for someone who is looking for a great phone but still not to expensive, even though it doesn't have that many custom ROMS yet (Coming from someone who used Custom ROMS a lot previously) I think we will get more custom ROMS within a few months
Tarbruh said:
Does the honor 8 have any bugs and would you recommend it
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Click to collapse
I've been using it since 1st December 2016 and I wouldn't recommend it, 'cause:
1. It has no system-level equalizer;
2. It has no system-level audio balance tweaker(?);
3. When using the app com.rubycell.pianisthd, the audio output is full of "clicks"; no longer with android 7
4. It's kirin-based, therefore "good luck" with custom roms.
edit:
I'm not gonna sell it any soon 'cause I can kinda live with it thanks to Poweramp, but come on, the audio subsystem of this phone is sh*t. You should only get it if you're deaf or for some reason you don't enjoy listening to music.
I apologize for being this rude.
The aesthetics are amazing and the performance is really decent. The software is mediocre, though it might be better with the Android & UI update--but that's been a slow process and I've yet to see the update myself.
The hardware is impressive and in many ways exceeded my expectations. The Kirin 950 opens apps quickly and the 4gb of what I believe to be DDR3 memory allows for multiple app usage without any trouble. DDR4 would be amazing, but it holds its own with what it has.
The GPU is only OK. It runs a bit hot when in 1080 mode, playing games like War Robots. 720 seems to cool it down a bit. No problems with older games like the GTA series, no problems with Real Racing 3 or the Riptide series.
Still, the 3d AnTuTu benchmarks combine for a score of about 20k, where as the OP3T is over 40k combined. Overall, my phone grabbed a 94,000. The overall for the OP3T is over 135,000. The difference in the score is due to the GPU and memory being slower than the OP3T's Adreno 530 and 6gb of DDR4. The Kirin 950 itself, holds its own against the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
The price point is all over the place in the US market. I picked mine up for $319.00, but I've seen them on shelves for $400.00 USD. At 300, it's not bad, but if you are going to hit the 400 mark, might as well go with the OP3T.
I have 2 weeks left to return mine, if I don't see the update by then, it will go back and I'll drop few extra for the OP3T. If I get the update and it feels smooth, I'll probably stick with it.
Would I recommend it? If you can get it for 300 USD or close to it, yes, it's a good phone for that price point. If you see it in your market and it is closer to 400, go for the OP3T. If you LOVE mods, regardless of price, go for the OP3T.
Note: The ZUK Z2 Pro is in the same price range, but I hear the software is awful and build quality questionable, that's why I didn't bring it up in comparison.
Note II: I've updated to B360 via Firmware Finder. So far the phone doesn't feel too much different, but there are changes. The UI is a bit cleaner, my benchmark went up by 6000 overall, but no change in GPU scores. The app drawer is laid out nicely, the notification bar looks better, the native sms message system is upgraded and more functional.
I have to stick with my original opinion. If you can get the phone for 300-ish USD, if you are OK with WYSIWYG, it's a solid, aesthetically beautiful device. If you are creeping into the 400.00 range, take a very serious look at the OP3T. Again, if you are a modder or love the bleeding edge, OP3T is your device.
PErsonally, I like it over the S7 Edge. Faster and smoother.
Handful of reasons the S7 Edge is the daily driver:
Larger screen
Better video and slightly better camera shots
Audio can be tweaked
Only major con is the ugly IOS skin on the Honor 8. Personally i like it a ton.
Sheldd said:
Exactly how clsA said,it's a very good phone. It's fast and have a nice design. But it's Huawei after all, so the custom roms will be a problem. I would sugest you to look for OP3 or OP3T if you want a good development comunity. If you don't care about development too much and want a fu**ing nice looking phone i would recommend it xD
IDK what to say about S6 and Xperia X, as i know the S6 is bad in battery and Xperia X doesn't seems to be as good as the Honor 8.
Other phones to look : Axon 7, Nubia Z11,Xiaomi MI 5,Asus Zenfone 3 (No custom roms).
There are more but i dont remember them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately the OP3 and OP3T have no microSD-cardslot.
You have to consider this.
the Honor 8 has the following advantages.
- fairly fast (Arm Cortex A72 CPU's) and due to a FHD-screen the gfx-perfomance is even slightly faster than e.g. the galaxy S5.
--> so many (older) high-end games run quite good.
- great screen (wide gamut LCD screen)
- IR-blaster
--> and reviewers don't mention this but the Honor's IR-blaster is both output AND input, which means it can "learn" codes from other remotes while the e.g. Samsung's can't.
--> works also good with other IR-blaster apps too.
- microSD-slot
- price compared to known-brand flagships and mid-range devices (bar the oneplus models)
--> the standard Honor 8 (32GB) has a great price/performance-ratio IMHO and there's usually some sale somewhere
--> got mine with a free 64GB card so it was even greater value for money
- camera is good for the price
--> great quick shortcut (with volume-keys or fingerscanner-button)
- EMUI has some nice tricks with the fingerprint-scanner
--> e.g. there's a "safe" to store private files which can be locked/unlocked with fingerprint
- bootloader CAN be unlocked and is fairly easy to root.
--> Huawei themselves supply the unlock codes which is great, isn't it?
- beautifull design. It looks great and the camera is completely flush
- mirrorcast (to non-Samsung TV's) works fine without rooting and tampering with the build.prop
disadvantages.
- it is VERY slippery
- not as fast as particularly Oneplus 3 (and 3T) which cost the same
--> Honor 8 premium cost the same as OnePlus 3/T and has the same internal storage capacity
- some people prefer QHD
--> this doesn't bother me personally but it might be a dealbreaker for some
- no EQ on the standard music app or anywhere else on the device
--> so you need another music-player if you really want this or other audio-enhancements.
- Samsung's still have better camera's for low-light photography especially the S6 (IMHO the S6 is even better than the S7 in this respect)
- no DLNA so you'll need an optional app for this. Though screencast works fine.
--> I tried the old Skifta-app myself from qualcomm and it works great. Unfortunately you have to look hard to find this though asit isn't on Play anymore.
IMHO the Honor 8 is a great little device. Sufficiently powerful and it has most of important points covered.
As for me, the SD-card slot, IR-blaster and the better deal (with a free 64GB card) were the main reasons to go for the Honor8 instead for the OP3T
There's probably a lot more that I haven't covered but I have my device just 4 days so I'm not a "pro" just yet
So I hope this is helpful.
LaserChicken said:
The aesthetics are amazing and the performance is really decent. The software is mediocre, though it might be better with the Android & UI update--but that's been a slow process and I've yet to see the update myself.
The hardware is impressive and in many ways exceeded my expectations. The Kirin 950 opens apps quickly and the 4gb of what I believe to be DDR3 memory allows for multiple app usage without any trouble. DDR4 would be amazing, but it holds its own with what it has.
The GPU is only OK. It runs a bit hot when in 1080 mode, playing games like War Robots. 720 seems to cool it down a bit. No problems with older games like the GTA series, no problems with Real Racing 3 or the Riptide series.
Still, the 3d AnTuTu benchmarks combine for a score of about 20k, where as the OP3T is over 40k combined. Overall, my phone grabbed a 94,000. The overall for the OP3T is over 135,000. The difference in the score is due to the GPU and memory being slower than the OP3T's Adreno 530 and 6gb of DDR4. The Kirin 950 itself, holds its own against the Snapdragon 820 and 821.
The price point is all over the place in the US market. I picked mine up for $319.00, but I've seen them on shelves for $400.00 USD. At 300, it's not bad, but if you are going to hit the 400 mark, might as well go with the OP3T.
I have 2 weeks left to return mine, if I don't see the update by then, it will go back and I'll drop few extra for the OP3T. If I get the update and it feels smooth, I'll probably stick with it.
Would I recommend it? If you can get it for 300 USD or close to it, yes, it's a good phone for that price point. If you see it in your market and it is closer to 400, go for the OP3T. If you LOVE mods, regardless of price, go for the OP3T.
Note: The ZUK Z2 Pro is in the same price range, but I hear the software is awful and build quality questionable, that's why I didn't bring it up in comparison.
Note II: I've updated to B360 via Firmware Finder. So far the phone doesn't feel too much different, but there are changes. The UI is a bit cleaner, my benchmark went up by 6000 overall, but no change in GPU scores. The app drawer is laid out nicely, the notification bar looks better, the native sms message system is upgraded and more functional.
I have to stick with my original opinion. If you can get the phone for 300-ish USD, if you are OK with WYSIWYG, it's a solid, aesthetically beautiful device. If you are creeping into the 400.00 range, take a very serious look at the OP3T. Again, if you are a modder or love the bleeding edge, OP3T is your device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the long and explained point of view it seems that only on the honor 8 forum people comment on stuff like this because it made a thread on the x perfromance forum still 0 comments . The OP3T is a great phone and comes for about 470 dollars . Over the past few days i've got the conclusion that im not getting the honor 8 because its priced at 420 ish dollars and for and for the same price i can get the xperia which has the SD820 with a 1080p screen so it will perform 23 MP camera will fine compared to my current 12 or i can get for 460 the Zte Axon 7 also with SD820 2k display and amazing audio and if i go even higher i can get the S7 for 490 . But im thinking on not going too far for the S7 because the Xperia and Axon offer the same performance just losing on camera and ips sertification if i got with the axon but it has one of the best if not the best speakers and headphone output.
I just got a used one off of Amazon for $235. Honestly, I think it's worth that price, but I would recommend waiting for MWC at the very least. I only pulled the trigger on it right now because the only other phones in the price range I had (about $200 - $300), were the upcoming MOTO G5 series. I have been using a Moto E 2015, but I felt that since the Honor 8 had higher specs, a better design, a better camera, etc. that it was worth it.
Additionally, I think Huawei promised 2 years of support and the phone just came out, so we will definitely see Android O at the very least (which is pretty great).

General A52 quick review

I bought one for a family member. I ha e s21 ultra. I think the a52 is a fantastic device. It hardly feels any different to my s21. A few things missing (dex, wireless charging, 100 million x useless zoom etc). For $350 it's outstanding.
To be frank, I was close to chose A52 over S20 FE but S20 FE just head the things that were more important to me and at a given price, the best choice.
However, as someone who used A50 for the last two years, I would recommend anyone to go with A52, rather than A70+ (whatever people say, A50s get much bigger improvement and power with each version than A70s which are more expensive for less gain)
Sentelin said:
To be frank, I was close to chose A52 over S20 FE but S20 FE just head the things that were more important to me and at a given price, the best choice.
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Click to collapse
I was also choosing between the A52 and the S20 FE.
Picked the A52, it came down to four things:
Price, I could comfortably afford the S20 FE 4G max.
SoC, S720G is weaker compared to the Exynos but it's not as dramatic of a difference as with the S720G vs the S855 or S865 and it's way more battery efficient.
S20 FE's digitizer issues, I'm not spending that much money to have a subpar experience with ghost touches.
Software support, the A52 just launched with Android 11, it'll get one more Android version and a year more of security updates.
I also went for the A52 LTE, I don't care about 5G and the SoC difference wasn't nearly enough to justify the extra cost of the A52 5G.
VonSparq said:
I was also choosing between the A52 and the S20 FE.
Picked the A52, it came down to four things:
Price, I could comfortably afford the S20 FE 4G max.
SoC, S720G is weaker compared to the Exynos but it's not as dramatic of a difference as with the S720G vs the S855 or S865 and it's way more battery efficient.
S20 FE's digitizer issues, I'm not spending that much money to have a subpar experience with ghost touches.
Software support, the A52 just launched with Android 11, it'll get one more Android version and a year more of security updates.
I also went for the A52 LTE, I don't care about 5G and the SoC difference wasn't nearly enough to justify the extra cost of the A52 5G.
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Click to collapse
The thing is, I don't care about SoC Exynos990 does more than a fine job for me (including gaming, some of which are demanding games, with barely any noticeable difference in performance ) , battery is holding off the entire day which is another thing that is more than enough, considering everything.
Digitizer issues never experienced, as far as I am concerned those are defects a few units had and the majority didn't.
I am not getting hung up on Android OS, since it's covered 3 versions (until android 13), which by that time I will be replacing the phone anyways, with an upgraded model. Or in case I don't for some reason, there will be polished and much better kernel optimized custom roms on XDA that will likely keep up to the latest Android version.
And I had a chance to test A52 in comparison to my choice, guess what? S20 FE 4G just fairs much better, despite so-called subpar SoC and etc in every area. (not benchmarks and etc, the actual real experience). And as for security updates, they will be roll out as part of Google play OS upgrades, pushed from Google mainstream pipeline, so you will never have to worry about security upgrades - even if we don't get major OS updates past 3 Android versions, security updates are no brainer
There is however caveat to all of this. A52 is an incredible budget phone that I would recommend to everyone who is on the verge of buying (especially for those who are upgrading from A50-51). It cuts pretty close to high end model for really affordable price

Samsung Galaxy (2012-2016) question

Which old Samsung (2012-2016) is the most popular and best in custom rom and rooting. Which has a large number of features and firmware even android 12, 13 and custom firmwares that are still coming out for this phone?
You wouldn't not want to go higher than Android 9 on these old phones even if possible. You'll be stuck with 6.0.6 officially.
The Note 4 was a beast in its day. Many phones back then were running 32 bit not 64 bit, so there's that. You probably want the Exynos 64 bit variant.
That said the difference between a 64 bit N4 and a N10+ is night and day... less the IR blaster and the 3.5mm jack. The break point in performance is the N9 vs the N10+; the N10+ is noticeably faster. Flagship models that follow the N10+ the performance increase is negligible especially in day to day usage. In some respects like SOT vs battery size it's noticeably worse.
blackhawk said:
You wouldn't not want to go higher than Android 9 on these old phones even if possible. You'll be stuck with 6.0.6 officially.
The Note 4 was a beast in its day. Many phones back then were running 32 bit not 64 bit, so there's that. You probably want the Exynos 64 bit variant.
That said the difference between a 64 bit N4 and a N10+ is night and day... less the IR blaster and the 3.5mm jack. The break point in performance is the N9 vs the N10+; the N10+ is noticeably faster. Flagship models that follow the N10+ the performance increase is negligible especially in day to day usage. In some respects like SOT vs battery size it's noticeably worse
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Click to collapse
Ok thanks. So for my understanding Note 4 is the best?
{Mod edit: Quotation fixed. Oswald Boelcke}
Depends which features you want, that's a lot of years. In some flagships Samsung lost expandable storage if I remember correctly usually alternating from year to year. Samsung played that game. It cost them sales back then as it does today.
The N4 was the Note I always wanted but that's almost a decade ago now. Those older OS's are suspectable to nasty partition worming rootkits like Xhelper. Pie and up are not. The old Touch Wiz UI sucks when compared to One UI. I went from the S4+ to the N10+, it was future shock at first. I can't see doing the reverse. Occasionally I boot up the S4+, it takes forever to do anything.
KitKat was a nice OS but again that was 8 years ago.
There was a lot of tangible hardware and firmware improvements that increased usage performance between 2015-2019 at which point they then slowed dramatically. Samsung zenithed with the N10+, Google with Android 9 after which they got lost in their own bs hype, in my opinion.
I likely will not buy another Android for 2-3+ years because of this. I now run two N10+'s. One runs on 9, the other 10, both will never be upgraded; I prefer Pie as it's a more capable OS with less clutter and no scoped storage (another lame Apple concept adapted by Google and shoved down our throats).
Hellonium said:
Which old Samsung (2012-2016) is the most popular and best in custom rom and rooting. Which has a large number of features and firmware even android 12, 13 and custom firmwares that are still coming out for this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Galaxy tab 2 was good. Just last year devs managed to get android 8 working on it but nothing after that.

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