Database Info

A bit underwhelmed

I'm not sure I understand the initial media plaudits from yesterday's unveiling.
With the latest flagship phones so far released or announced, I feel this is very much a step backwards from the competition (though, rather a smaller step forward than everyone else)
Realistically, this is a most minor iteration. We have the obligatory upgrade to the latest Qualcomm flagship SoC, then..?
We have more screen real estate, though at the expense of the notch and what, initially, appears to be a relatively minor upgrade to the camera, when compared to everyone else.
Aesthetically, I personally think, this is by far the best looking OnePlus device and it's really on a par with the competition here. I don't have an issue with the look of the notch, though having never used a phone with a notch, I may well hate it in use.
Elsewhere, it seems to lag behind. Of all the competition, i.e. those with the Snapdragon 845, OnePlus seems to be the least innovative in its use. Nowhere do they advertise use of its AI / ML capabilities. I'm not suggesting they go down the Asus route and call everything AI, but at least show your making use of it.
I appreciate that most 'AI' features are mostly marketing nonsense, but some of it appears very useful. We are seeing phones with translation apps using AI, rather than connecting to the web. We're seeing phones use AI to learn how people use the phone, and continually change how they manage apps memory and power usage to improve both performance and battery life.
OnePlus have not made any claims towards anything like this, so if they are doing these types of things, why keep quiet.
This 'season' most of the innovation has been centred on the use of AI with the camera and so far we've seen some very amazing results from that. The big hitter being the Huawei P20 pro, though an honorable mention goes to the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S also, especially considering it's budget flagship price (very much in the OnePlus 6 range).
OnePlus have always lagged behind in the camera department. It seems one of its big sacrifices in order to keep the prices so low. Last year's 5T, the first OnePlus with a dual lens arrangement, was routinely savaged by critics and considered on par with the average mid range phones. So here is where many considered it needed to vastly improve.
Initial impressions do seem to suggest that great improvements have been made. However, it seems like they've really only arrived at the point other flagships were at last year. Considering the huge leap forward AI has taken in-phone photography this year, it seems that OnePlus still have a lot of work to do in order to catch up with the rest and, this year, still seem just as far behind.
Hardware wise, mobile technology is now very mature, so we're only ever, mostly, seeing small iterative improvements, so phone manufacturers can only offer iterative updates, from a hardware perspective. And this is what we've come to see over the last few years.
This year the majority of mobile innovation, on flagship models more so, has come through the use of AI, something OnePlus seems to have strangely overlooked with this latest release.
This year, this iteration feels like something I'd expect from a top end, mid range phone, not from something that used to sell itself as a flagship killer.
With some serious hard work from the OnePlus software team, much AI innovation seen elsewhere could be rolled out to the OnePlus 6 in the future, which would see it much more competitive in the flagship phone sector. Though, I imagine they'll wait until the 6T to implement such changes, which may give the competition too much of a head start.
I'm currently on my third OnePlus device but if I do decide to upgrade this year, I doubt I'll be spending my money on the OnePlus 6. I feel it's time for a change, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S anyone?
Though if by some miracle I actually win the xda competition, I'll be happy to keep the phone for the foreseeable future

I think I'll wait to see what the Xiaomi Mi7/8 will bring

That's one way of looking at it.
I think it's a fine phone compared to the Galaxy S9+ which costs approx. €250,- more.
Yes, the Samsung has a higher screenresolution, probably a better camera and a slightly higher capacity battery, but I don't want to spend that extra money on that and get a lot of bloatware in the process.
Since I'm currently still using a Oneplus One, the 6 is awesome compared to that...

Was looking forward to the oneplus 6.
I was thinking to upgrade to either a Mi Mix 2s or OP6. But I don't see what the OP6 offers, besides non-IP rated waterproofing over the Mi Mix 2s.
Same innards.
Same price
Ugly notch
Better blacks?
Arguably worse camera on paper
No wireless charging.
I don't see why you would pick an OP6 over Mix 2s. Miui sucks (got a lot better though lately), but is very easy to replace with a custom ROM.
Disappointed

Compared to the S9 and £9+, yes it is a very fine phone and probably runs it very close.
Samsung was also seen this 'season' to only come to the table with an uninspired iterative update. I think that they've suffered in being one of the first this year to roll out the release and have been caught lagging by some of the other manufacturers that came later.
Last year the S8+ was considered to have one of the best cameras in a smart phone. This year, although the S9+ camera has improved, it is only a minor improvement. Huawei and Xiaomi through heavy use of AI, have made huge leaps forward compared to last year, probably equivalent to 5 years worth of normal iterative upgrades. They have also both brought some other, worthwhile, uses of AI with their latest phones to further push themselves ahead of the competition.
OnePlus originally made 2 big sacrifices in order to keep costs low. These were LCD screens and cameras that would be typically found on mid range phones. However they were pretty much alone in the budget flagship market back then and so this wasn't seen as a big issue. With the arrival of some competition they've had to adjust accordingly.
Last year OnePlus came with a fairly large price increase, which allowed them to switch to AMOLED screens, this year another price increase sees them moving to premium camera modules expected on flagship phones.
In terms of where OnePlus was with the One and even where they were last year, yes this is a great phone and a good improvement. But considering some of the innovations some of the competition has brought this year, they have lagged behind. I no longer believe they are the first choice for those looking at the budget flagship market. Xiaomi would appear to have taken on that title.
If Xiaomi would embrace the custom ROM community the same way OnePlus have, OnePlus could find themselves losing some loyal customers.

Firipu said:
I don't see why you would pick an OP6 over Mix 2s. Miui sucks (got a lot better though lately), but is very easy to replace with a custom ROM.
Disappointed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only once you've got passed Xiaomi's ridiculous 360 hour bootloader unlock shenanigans.

The OP6 is a compelling candidate because of good mfg support for bootloader unlock without voiding warranty, lots of dev support for root etc., 3.5mm audio jack, now packaged with water resistance, at a lower price given the top processor/RAM specs.
Camera and display of OP6 are apparently not the tip-top of the field, but in the thin upper range where discerning the minor differences between competitors is splitting hairs IMO.
AI is a flaky gimmick that causes more problems than it solves in all phones in 2018, IMO. Same goes for voice assistants and most of the other bells and whistles. I'm going to shut off all that on any phone I get. K.I.S.S.
Watching now for more to come on OP6... extensive reviews, puddle-dunking, bootloader unlock, TWRP, root, clip cases, audio quality impressions (3.5mm output), initial OS "bug" fixes...

Robbo.5000 said:
I'm not sure I understand the initial media plaudits from yesterday's unveiling.
With the latest flagship phones so far released or announced, I feel this is very much a step backwards from the competition (though, rather a smaller step forward than everyone else)
Realistically, this is a most minor iteration. We have the obligatory upgrade to the latest Qualcomm flagship SoC, then..?
We have more screen real estate, though at the expense of the notch and what, initially, appears to be a relatively minor upgrade to the camera, when compared to everyone else.
Aesthetically, I personally think, this is by far the best looking OnePlus device and it's really on a par with the competition here. I don't have an issue with the look of the notch, though having never used a phone with a notch, I may well hate it in use.
Elsewhere, it seems to lag behind. Of all the competition, i.e. those with the Snapdragon 845, OnePlus seems to be the least innovative in its use. Nowhere do they advertise use of its AI / ML capabilities. I'm not suggesting they go down the Asus route and call everything AI, but at least show your making use of it.
I appreciate that most 'AI' features are mostly marketing nonsense, but some of it appears very useful. We are seeing phones with translation apps using AI, rather than connecting to the web. We're seeing phones use AI to learn how people use the phone, and continually change how they manage apps memory and power usage to improve both performance and battery life.
OnePlus have not made any claims towards anything like this, so if they are doing these types of things, why keep quiet.
This 'season' most of the innovation has been centred on the use of AI with the camera and so far we've seen some very amazing results from that. The big hitter being the Huawei P20 pro, though an honorable mention goes to the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S also, especially considering it's budget flagship price (very much in the OnePlus 6 range).
OnePlus have always lagged behind in the camera department. It seems one of its big sacrifices in order to keep the prices so low. Last year's 5T, the first OnePlus with a dual lens arrangement, was routinely savaged by critics and considered on par with the average mid range phones. So here is where many considered it needed to vastly improve.
Initial impressions do seem to suggest that great improvements have been made. However, it seems like they've really only arrived at the point other flagships were at last year. Considering the huge leap forward AI has taken in-phone photography this year, it seems that OnePlus still have a lot of work to do in order to catch up with the rest and, this year, still seem just as far behind.
Hardware wise, mobile technology is now very mature, so we're only ever, mostly, seeing small iterative improvements, so phone manufacturers can only offer iterative updates, from a hardware perspective. And this is what we've come to see over the last few years.
This year the majority of mobile innovation, on flagship models more so, has come through the use of AI, something OnePlus seems to have strangely overlooked with this latest release.
This year, this iteration feels like something I'd expect from a top end, mid range phone, not from something that used to sell itself as a flagship killer.
With some serious hard work from the OnePlus software team, much AI innovation seen elsewhere could be rolled out to the OnePlus 6 in the future, which would see it much more competitive in the flagship phone sector. Though, I imagine they'll wait until the 6T to implement such changes, which may give the competition too much of a head start.
I'm currently on my third OnePlus device but if I do decide to upgrade this year, I doubt I'll be spending my money on the OnePlus 6. I feel it's time for a change, Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S anyone?
Though if by some miracle I actually win the xda competition, I'll be happy to keep the phone for the foreseeable future
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had similar feelings/experience. Ended up my story with oneplus by selling my op5t and bought a p20 pro. I won't buy the 6 and waiting for the 6t... Who knows. Also interested by the Mi Mix 2s.

hunhool said:
I had similar feelings/experience. Ended up my story with oneplus by selling my op5t and bought a p20 pro. I won't buy the 6 and waiting for the 6t... Who knows. Also interested by the Mi Mix 2s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What improvements hardware/software wise will the 6T bring do you think ?

SlyUK said:
What improvements hardware/software wise will the 6T bring do you think ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe wireless charging..but I don't really know.

SlyUK said:
What improvements hardware/software wise will the 6T bring do you think ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe better battery, 3D Face unlock, fingerprint sensor under display

refedit said:
Maybe better battery, 3D Face unlock, fingerprint sensor under display
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only realistic item you listed is the battery which I 100% agree at least by a few hundred Mah.
The fingerprint sensor under the display isn't ready yet. Samsung has been trying to get this tech for their galaxy phones buts its just not there.
Huawei has a 2k device that has it and all the reviews states its not good.

They definitely could have done something special to make more of a splash but i think this rounds they did it with design.
where they fall short for me is :
1) Camera
2) Display
3) USB standard.
4) Battery
1) i think they should have done a bit more with the cameras on paper like larger pixels maybe dualpixel AF i think the 16 MP should have matched last years pixel 2 specs but with 16 MP then for the 20MP fo a wider angle monocrom so a max of LG / huawei. But i wait on official review to see if the current setup works well
2) Display i think OP should go to QHD its about time but leave the resolution at 1080p via software like what sony does but nit picking again as one plus screens are not bad its a Samsung panel so. Just they could add a AOD option via software.
3)The main let down for me why is the USB C port still usb 2.0 standard every one else uses usb 3.0 or 3.1 to allow for faster file transfers. For a lunch focused on speed this is the major let down smh the rest i was being nit picky but the usb really.
4) one plus should really try to get in the 4000 mah and 3600 mah battery capacity ranges especially since they have dash charge and goodish battery life

hunhool said:
I had similar feelings/experience. Ended up my story with oneplus by selling my op5t and bought a p20 pro. I won't buy the 6 and waiting for the 6t... Who knows. Also interested by the Mi Mix 2s.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought and returned a View 10 and P20 (non-pro) and neither would play my favorite game Hill Climb Racing 2. Major stutters so bad I couldn't even play. The P20 purchase was 9 weeks after the View. I was hoping it was a fluke deal. I did try a few other games that played well but I've also seen it mentioned that the 970 has GPU issues. I held off on the Mix 2s until the curtain was pulled back for the OP6 but I'm also on the fence. Think I'll order the 6 and if not wowed just return it and get the 2s.

Glass back on the 6
hunhool said:
Maybe wireless charging..but I don't really know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now that theyve swapped from metal to glass backing, i think you are correct.
I find it weird that it wasnt included in the 6 though.

Robbo.5000 said:
Compared to the S9 and £9+, yes it is a very fine phone and probably runs it very close.
Samsung was also seen this 'season' to only come to the table with an uninspired iterative update. I think that they've suffered in being one of the first this year to roll out the release and have been caught lagging by some of the other manufacturers that came later.
Last year the S8+ was considered to have one of the best cameras in a smart phone. This year, although the S9+ camera has improved, it is only a minor improvement. Huawei and Xiaomi through heavy use of AI, have made huge leaps forward compared to last year, probably equivalent to 5 years worth of normal iterative upgrades. They have also both brought some other, worthwhile, uses of AI with their latest phones to further push themselves ahead of the competition.
OnePlus originally made 2 big sacrifices in order to keep costs low. These were LCD screens and cameras that would be typically found on mid range phones. However they were pretty much alone in the budget flagship market back then and so this wasn't seen as a big issue. With the arrival of some competition they've had to adjust accordingly.
Last year OnePlus came with a fairly large price increase, which allowed them to switch to AMOLED screens, this year another price increase sees them moving to premium camera modules expected on flagship phones.
In terms of where OnePlus was with the One and even where they were last year, yes this is a great phone and a good improvement. But considering some of the innovations some of the competition has brought this year, they have lagged behind. I no longer believe they are the first choice for those looking at the budget flagship market. Xiaomi would appear to have taken on that title.
If Xiaomi would embrace the custom ROM community the same way OnePlus have, OnePlus could find themselves losing some loyal customers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well no offence, but the AI in mobiles at this point of time is a bit overrated... We have been seeing phones detect scenes and boost colors based on the scene long before companies started marketing it as AI (Coming from Honor View 10 User) , predictive app mamagement has also been a thing for a long time now.... Sure AI helps do it better... But does it really have to be marketed so much.. In reality my phone with AI doesnt feel as smooth as my friends Oneplus 5t, so im willing to bet oneplus 6 will be even smoother...
Since no one has posted any real camera samples and reviews as of now... I cant say much about it...
Onething that i did notice using the View 10 is the battery life. Its great.. Maybe thanks to the NPU, lets see if oneplus is doing something similar without making a fuss about it...
Overall it looks to be a very 2018 phone with all features te current flagships have - the AI advertising

Firipu said:
Was looking forward to the oneplus 6.
I was thinking to upgrade to either a Mi Mix 2s or OP6. But I don't see what the OP6 offers, besides non-IP rated waterproofing over the Mi Mix 2s.
Same innards.
Same price
Ugly notch
Better blacks?
Arguably worse camera on paper
No wireless charging.
I don't see why you would pick an OP6 over Mix 2s. Miui sucks (got a lot better though lately), but is very easy to replace with a custom ROM.
Disappointed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mi mix 2s disadvantages are ,very poor development & community...
If you like to modify your phone ..rooting , trying custom kernels , custom ROMs...etc.. then definitely OP6...
Otherwise Mix2s ..

I'm surprised by some of these comments. You're all asking for features that would clearly bump the price way up? I think you have unrealistic expectations - if you want it to be a s9, buy an s9 lol!
4k panel? Why? Your eyes can't see it, worse battery and more expensive.
The wireless charging, yes it's interesting, but doesn't matter at all to me. It's slower than with wires and I can't play on my phone whilst charging.
The camera is probably the only Biggie for me. I really hope it's low light shots are at least usable. I'm coming from my nexus 6P and this camera has served me very well - I hope the OnePlus 6 is better.
As for other things like the notch - I mean come on guys, if you disable it you can't even see it. With it there you get more screen size.
I think for the price it's a fantastic phone, and the software is a great experience compared to many other cheap alternatives!

cultofluna said:
Mi mix 2s disadvantages are ,very poor development & community...
If you like to modify your phone ..rooting , trying custom kernels , custom ROMs...etc.. then definitely OP6...
Otherwise Mix2s ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not disagreeing, but I have a Mix 2 and redmi note 4. They both have a very active dev community. Really can't complain. Not as amazing as e.g. Nexus devices, but still very good imo. Can't comment on Oneplus dev community though.
And the 2s is a treble device.

wireless charging will always be asked for but hardly be undestood by me.
It's utterly slow compared to any charging solution on market.
Then you go on the charge for a day... it's somewhat convenient, but takes some more room in the phone internals, and on your desk with the charger.
The glass back is more for the awesome mobile network speeds and wifi reception.
As much as I hate glass for shattering, my experience always shown that metal chassis results in poor reception.
Well that's about it. I'm curiously waiting for the oneplus6 to arrive. It was a long time ago with the OnePlus One when I last saw how OnePlus fares...
I'm sure I'm gonna have the U12+ too as well this year, but I needed to check another qualcom rocketed device this year (no kirin or exynos for dev purposes on my end)

Xiaomi Mi problems or just rumors?

Hi XDA guys!
Everybody knows that Mi series goal is to be better than Redmi at least in specs and performance.
But how about performance to price ratio, how about all other things that You dont worry and dont expect in REDMI casue it's cheap but You do expect it in the MI series?
What are the problems/things that You don't like in MI series?
What are the problems/things that You don't like in REDMI series if there is any? WHY? Cause we all know not to expect wonders for a low budget priced phones.
I've talked to many people who had/have REDMI and MI series Xiaomi phones (clients, selllers, internet folks, friends) and they only agree on ONE thing -the price is great wheter it is REMI or MI phone.
A strange thing happens.... REDMI owners are always satisfied. The only thing that bothers not all of them is the camera quality.
But in low and middle price segment REDMI beats EVERY other BRAND.
Xiaomi has also great prices in the high end flagship models but here MANY PEOPLE are dissapointed.
For example camera quality, screen quiality, body, bezel, bugs, no NFC, no european B20 LTE band.
The MI users also tell me that non of the above bothers them but something totaly different. EACH person = an original problem with MI device.
Can You please tell me what are Your problems/dislikes with MI and REDMI devices cause I'm about to buy one from each segment?
What should I worry about (Android updates maybe?) buying a REDMI and a MI phone IN YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIANCE?
Don't get me wrong. I never had a MI phone but in shops they perform GREAT so I wonder what's the fuss is about?

You Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is running good, Internal version with all bands, I bought it in Xiaomi shop in France so it's normal to get everything good.
The problems that I noticed are a performances issues on benchmarks and the back glass is very fragile, I have scratches even with the case.
I have big hopes with Android P.

Bryandu13 said:
You Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is running good, Internal version with all bands, I bought it in Xiaomi shop in France so it's normal to get everything good.
The problems that I noticed are a performances issues on benchmarks and the back glass is very fragile, I have scratches even with the case.
I have big hopes with Android P.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for reply dude, I have some questions though:
1. What exactly did You notice on benchmarks? Performance issues shouldn't exist. It's the fastest CPU (SD 845).
2.Why do You have big hopes with Android P. Is Oreo making problems and what kind?
3. It would seem like in flagship models the manufactuers put very delicate screens probably to earn more cash on repair. I have the same problem on Samsung Galaxy S8. A slightly nail can scratch the surface and still they say it's gorilla glass. That unacceptable.
On Redmi Note 4 (cheap Xiaomi phone) I have such a hard screen that I don't need any kind of protection....

My mi mix 2s issue is just about ghosting screen and laggy video recording, other than that is perfect.

So many issues. Mostly software which has too many bugs to list. Text selection is buggy. Text input is laggy because of full screen gestures. Often no way to switch apps during calls. MIUI is a disaster. Our Mi A2 running Android One is a significant step up.
In terms of hardware, the Mix 2s is ok. The screen is the main problem. It is not very bright outside compared to my old pixel. Also it scratches very easily. I've never had a scratch on a phone screen in over 10 years, but I already have 2 on this handset after a few weeks and I don't have a clue how as I don't keep anything else in the same pocket. It says it is gorilla glass but I don't believe it - I think it is made out of cheese

I've noticed performance drops on benchmarks too. First Antutu score was 270k, the last one i did after factory was 209k....
Phone gets hot real quick, idle cpu temperature is around 39C.
My camera lens started to peel... after a week

androidbadboy said:
Thanks for reply dude, I have some questions though:
1. What exactly did You notice on benchmarks? Performance issues shouldn't exist. It's the fastest CPU (SD 845).
2.Why do You have big hopes with Android P. Is Oreo making problems and what kind?
3. It would seem like in flagship models the manufactuers put very delicate screens probably to earn more cash on repair. I have the same problem on Samsung Galaxy S8. A slightly nail can scratch the surface and still they say it's gorilla glass. That unacceptable.
On Redmi Note 4 (cheap Xiaomi phone) I have such a hard screen that I don't need any kind of protection....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1 - Low scores for a S845 (less than 200k on AnTuTu, 3400 on 3dmark slingshot extreme, 1900-7000 on Geekbench)
2 - Xiaomi announced big buffs for camera and performances with their Android P builds.
3 - I'm just talking about scratches, because the back is ceramic and shouldn't be scrashed so easily under a case (the provided one).

That scratching is simply a way to tell Your subconcius to buy another flagship from Xiaomi cause the current one will be too scrached.
Are You sure that the long awaited Mi Mix 2s has a long list of bugs?
Xiaomi did overtime to put this phone on the market with flawless opinion.
What else I can expect from Mi Mix 2s and do You think that these bugs won't exist in the newly lanuched Mi8?
BTW It's a shame, Xiaomi was well on their way to beat even Samsung with performance to price ratio but they suddenly asked too much cash for their top phones.
If they would keep up what has been done in the low budget phones we could have a worldwide revolution resouting in ALL brands lowering their price for even flagship phones.
It was so close... We all would benefit from it. For example a Samsung S9+ instead of 1000 $ would cost 600 USD.
Xiaomi did us no favor and got all of a sudden a big time player alhought their flagships are yet far from being great.

Who cares?I am using this phone, not someone else.I like it, this is the most important thing.

1 - My Mix 2S never freezes. Never.
2 - I'm not facing any issue with video recording (4k).
3 - I don't give a **** for performing Antutu tests. I just look at its scores before buying.
4 - I'm with Mix 2S about 20 days and there's no lens peeling or scratches. I am careful with it. I can sell it right now as a new.

Adriano-A3 said:
1 - My Mix 2S never freezes. Never.
2 - I'm not facing any issue with video recording (4k).
3 - I don't give a **** for performing Antutu tests. I just look at its scores before buying.
4 - I'm with Mix 2S about 20 days and there's no lens peeling or scratches. I am careful with it. I can sell it right now as a new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 - Just check in camera settings 60 fps isn't available.
3 - ok, but the Snapdragon 845 was a major spec for this device and the phone perform like a S835 one.
4 - You're lucky for the scraches, I don't know how the mine have been scrached under a case, but I have no lens peeling neither.

I've had mine for 3 months now, and it's perfect for me, especially for the price.
No scratches, no peel lenses, and I don't notice any ghosting. In fact, my only gripe is that the MIUI notification pull down with the brightness slider needs you to touch where the slider is before you can move it. My previous phone (ZUK Z2 Pro) let you tap anywhere on the slider bar and it would move to where your finger is. So quickly upping to full brightness in sunlight on my Mix 2S is trickier as I need to see where the slider is.

Bryandu13 said:
2 - Just check in camera settings 60 fps isn't available.
3 - ok, but the Snapdragon 845 was a major spec for this device and the phone perform like a S835 one.
4 - You're lucky for the scraches, I don't know how the mine have been scrached under a case, but I have no lens peeling neither.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 - You are right. Is Xiaomi crazy?
3 - As I told for a friend early: I didn't notice any difference while using Mix 2 and Mix 2S. I'm not on gaming. I just want a never-lag device, iykwim.
4 - I'm with my device 24 hours per day. I know where it is everytime.

I have the global model 128gb version and as soon as it was set up I was disappointed with MIUI.
Never had a Xiaomi device before but the rom sucks and has so many bugs in it it's really annoying.
Fortunately some people here are developing custom ROMs and I'm on pixel experience gsi right now which works flawlessly. It's like having a Pixel for half the price. Of course there is some work left for the Devs regarding some little features like auto brightness and camera apps but I'm use a Gcam port and it's fine for me.
It's not the device IMO its the software that kills it. They have good prices but the bootloader unlocking process is really annoying and their software suite like the MiFlash tool is really crappy.
I tried flashing the Android P Beta from Xiaomi and almost bricked my phone because they just forgot to include some batch files in the original download. I was lucky because some guy here provided all the needed files and I got the device running but this must not happen to a company that wants to be a global player.
Just my 2 cents...
I use the provided case and have no scratches, lens peels whatsoever but the case start to break on the lower right corner after just 2 months and taking it off only 3 times. But it was free so I'm okay with that.

kleinholzinferno said:
I have the global model 128gb version and as soon as it was set up I was disappointed with MIUI.
Never had a Xiaomi device before but the rom sucks and has so many bugs in it it's really annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, this is your respectable opinion but I really don't understand why people spend 500 USD/EUR being totally unconscious of the products they are buying.
MIUI OS has been developed for many years and it always had the same peculiarities: extremely visually accurate, feature-rich, buggy, childish.
MIUI is something you just love or hate. But it has been so for years: people should know in advance when they buy normal Xiaomi devices (I mean, other than A1 or A2).
It is very surprising that buyers complain of something everibody knows.
I also own a Samsung S7 Edge, which is "boring": never had a single issue in two years.
When I bought the Mi Mix 2S I was perfectly aware that I was buying a totally different phone, with an OS which apparently is always in beta stage.
But, you know, my Xiaomi is just fun!

guildamx said:
Well, this is your respectable opinion but I really don't understand why people spend 500 USD/EUR being totally unconscious of the products they are buying.
MIUI OS has been developed for many years and it always had the same peculiarities: extremely visually accurate, feature-rich, buggy, childish.
MIUI is something you just love or hate. But it has been so for years: people should know in advance when they buy normal Xiaomi devices (I mean, other than A1 or A2).
It is very surprising that buyers complain of something everibody knows.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that reviews never talk about the bugs or missing features. And the ROM flashing community makes it sound easy to just swap to an AOSP ROM, without mentioning that AOSP ROMs take a very long time to develop and lose features like camera quality etc.
Personally I expected MIUI to be a bit annoying. I used it 6 years ago and it was not great but I had expected it to have improved. I was wrong. It is the worst experience I've had on a phone out of the box. I can't believe companies manage to sell consumer devices this bad. Xiaomi puts a tonne of effort into a ROM that has fewer features and worse usability than stock Android. Why invest so much energy into making something worse?

mike freegan said:
The problem is that reviews never talk about the bugs or missing features. And the ROM flashing community makes it sound easy to just swap to an AOSP ROM, without mentioning that AOSP ROMs take a very long time to develop and lose features like camera quality etc.
Personally I expected MIUI to be a bit annoying. I used it 6 years ago and it was not great but I had expected it to have improved. I was wrong. It is the worst experience I've had on a phone out of the box. I can't believe companies manage to sell consumer devices this bad. Xiaomi puts a tonne of effort into a ROM that has fewer features and worse usability than stock Android. Why invest so much energy into making something worse?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had both stock and miui , emui , etc...
I had Nokia 8 , Lg G6 , Honor 8 huawei p9 , p10 plus, xiaomi mi mix 2s , samsung s5
And i dont understand why do you say that miui has less features ... It has theme engine (no root) ,gestures, optimized battery saving , screen temprature
It seems you dont know what you are talking about , i found that the phone with less features was nokia 8 (stock) . The only thing good was the fastest updates but i had no control about nothing

guildamx said:
Well, this is your respectable opinion but I really don't understand why people spend 500 USD/EUR being totally unconscious of the products they are buying.
MIUI OS has been developed for many years and it always had the same peculiarities: extremely visually accurate, feature-rich, buggy, childish.
MIUI is something you just love or hate. But it has been so for years: people should know in advance when they buy normal Xiaomi devices (I mean, other than A1 or A2).
It is very surprising that buyers complain of something everibody knows.
I also own a Samsung S7 Edge, which is "boring": never had a single issue in two years.
When I bought the Mi Mix 2S I was perfectly aware that I was buying a totally different phone, with an OS which apparently is always in beta stage.
But, you know, my Xiaomi is just fun!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to clarify some things:
Before buying a product at that price range I'm thoroughly investigating the product. So I was not "totally unconscious" as you call it.
I was aware of the OS and the differences from stock android. But if you can't get your hands on a device before buying it you have to trust reviews and hands on videos. And almost all of them didn't mention the problems I encountered.
As posted before you're getting lied to or bugs and errors are just sugarcoated and no one tells the truth.
I have no problem flashing phones and always did and I'm glad there are alternatives for this piece of crap MIUI. You say it's developed for years? Maybe, but for this amount of time invested into an OS we could expect a better performance and stable ROMs without all the bugs.
Have you ever read the official MIUI forum? Besides the point whor**g there it's full of bugs and problems and none of the Xiaomi devs gives a flying f*ck about the people reporting them.
I'm happy with the pixel experience rom by now. Never going back again.
End of rant.
---------- Post added at 11:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 PM ----------
DMart9406 said:
It has theme engine (no root) ,gestures, optimized battery saving , screen temprature
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah themes are the most important feature... especially when you have to set your location to India to get it to work.
You know, that's one of the things that makes me mad. It's not only about pushing as many features into a rom as possible. They should work properly to be a benefit. Not working features are a no-go.
And all of the things you mention are not MIUI specific. They try to copy all the good stuff from other manufacturers, but fail permanently.
Battery life was catastrophic with MIUI. With the Pixel Experience rom I get twice the SOT. And that's with a not device customized GSI...let that sink in.

kleinholzinferno said:
Just to clarify some things (...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, that is your point of view. I am not saying you are lying, just that your opinion is highly subjective.
1) MIUI forum is full of children writing "cool" and "great". Nothing comparable with XDA. But is has been so since the beginning. Every experienced android user knows (and keeps far away). Why complain now?
2) As I wrote above, I also own a Samsung S7 Edge, whose OS is rock-solid. Still I cannot complain about the lack of feature in MIUI. For example I have many routines in my ordinary day; with the S7 I used Tasker for scheduling vibration mode, wifi on/off, connection and so on; MIUI has this feature and works great, without additional apps (and root!). Same for taking screen captures: no need to edit build.prob, as MIUI has a simple gesture for that. I agree that MIUI may have some bugs, but definitely the issue is not the lack of features.
3) Battery life was "catastrophic" just in your configuration. In my configuration battery drain is comparable with S7, i.e. very good.

guildamx said:
Again, that is your point of view. I am not saying you are lying, just that your opinion is highly subjective.
1) MIUI forum is full of children writing "cool" and "great". Nothing comparable with XDA. But is has been so since the beginning. Every experienced android user knows (and keeps far away). Why complain now?
2) As I wrote above, I also own a Samsung S7 Edge, whose OS is rock-solid. Still I cannot complain about the lack of feature in MIUI. For example I have many routines in my ordinary day; with the S7 I used Tasker for scheduling vibration mode, wifi on/off, connection and so on; MIUI has this feature and works great, without additional apps (and root!). Same for taking screen captures: no need to edit build.prob, as MIUI has a simple gesture for that. I agree that MIUI may have some bugs, but definitely the issue is not the lack of features.
3) Battery life was "catastrophic" just in your configuration. In my configuration battery drain is comparable with S7, i.e. very good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course my opinion is subjective...as all opinions are. I just pointed out what bothers me about the forum, the device and the software.
I've seen and used much better android ROMs and MIUI is just not for me. So I switched the rom asap.
I also used Samsung's UI on my brand new tablet with at the time some of the best hardware you could get. And guess what it lagged awfully. So I dumped the Samsung firmware, installed lineage and it's snappy and responsive. No comparison.
But everybody likes and uses or needs other features, as you mentioned and that's perfectly fine. That's the great advantage of a free system like android.
I just don't need the "features" of MIUI to me it's overloaded.
Regarding the forum you're right. It's like playing COD with a bunch of 14 year olds on steroids.

Share your experience after using Xiaomi Poco F1

Hey guys, I just want to know your experience after using Xiaomi Poco f1 for months.... Are you guys satisfied with your phone or do you guys regret buying it?
And please rate the phone.

Yes, I'm very satisfied with the device, it surely is an upgrade from my Lenovo P2. The device is very responsive. It was the transition to Miui that kept me deciding wether I wanted it. After using Miui for 2 months now.. I definitely recommend a Xiaomi device to all my friends.

Upgraded from Galaxy S5 two months ago. Thought that the screen downgrade would bother me but it really doesn't - it's a decent screen for an LCD (and I love a very low minimal backlight level for night reading, usually for me a most useful feature of an amoled screen). Of course, it's extremely snappy and I find even the camera excellent (gcam is a big help here but even a built in app is decent). While I really like the photos, I don't care much for the video. It's detailed enough, with a good dynamic range and the EIS on 1080p is excellent but it's aggressive 'local' HDR is very apparent. It really looks bad when only a certain part of the image keeps changing in brightness while panning. The video is much better if you don't pan around. I rarely take videos so it's not much of a downside for me and maybe a gcam video has a different HDR algorithm (forgot to try it). I am not a gamer (bought a high-performance phone mostly for future-proofing and to run a Linux desktop on) so haven't really been hit that hard with a often mentioned touch responsiveness (seems perfectly OK to me). I have a custom built widget for always on homescreen notifications that I vastly prefer to tiny notification icons so the lack of the latter doesn't bother me. I actually hate notification icons as I am usually running 4-5 background services with permanent active notifications that eat up all the available space. This way I only get dismissable notifications that are actually notifications.
I can't comment on the cell signal quality as I haven't got out of a city lately and here the signal is decent everywhere. Band coverage shouldn't be a problem in Europe, I think. All in all, I haven't regretted the purchase and don't underestimate the 'smug factor' of owning a phone that's a much smarter purchase than all the fancy branded ones.

My dream came true with this legendary phone.... I used to think that when I will use flagship processor.... But my budget not that much high to purchase flagship mobiles ... But after seeing this mobile with high end processor .. I felt that I too have a legendary mobile in my hands... I don't see any brand before purchase ... Just I saw the snapdragon 845 processor and I bought this phone and I felt happy ... This phone is awesome and Google camera is working like a charm ... And I am using pixel experience ROM ... I love that ROM ....
POCO (LOVE )

srabon debnath said:
Hey guys, I just want to know your experience after using Xiaomi Poco f1 for months.... Are you guys satisfied with your phone or do you guys regret buying it?
And please rate the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the camera warps when you try to stabilize a video because no ois, further note all phone cameras suck at low light video. Google camera by far enhances this phones zoom and low light capabilities greatly.
Remember guys this phone is full of compromises
Of course there are better phones with better screens if your expecting a phone with an amazing Samsung display or flashy looks then best to buy a samsung phone. The only positive side the phone is the copper heatsink and 845 processor. The screens display is praised as not complete garbage.
If your a casual phone user it's better to go with a used s8 because this phone is only for pubg
Pros
Xiaomis support of modding is insane even providing warranty when rooting.
Lenovo and Huawei are terrible in comparison you would be lucky to even have 1 custom kernel or rom on those phones.

I was iphone user ever since 3gs, switched from iphone 7 to pocof1 last year and fell in love immediately. First vacation with my wife took maaaany pics, incomparable to her s7 edge or my iphone 7, so much better. Paid 300€ for 128gb version, unbeatable. Countless custom roms, updates coming fast, of course there r better phones, but they cost 700€ or more, so no, thank you, no more "flagships" for me. Been using poco for 4 months now, no regrets not for a second. AND...i dont need a f..... screenprotector or cover or any other protecting sht like before, not scared of getting scratches, and i dont have any yet, still as new. By far the best phone i ever had

Thanks for the replies guys.

Is 240hz touch of Poco X3 worth it vs 120hz touch offer by others?

I'm going for an upgrade.
Need help here guys. I am one of those who's suffering on their previous Poco F1 issues, ghost touch and hang just a couple of times this past years.
My main issue is the "touch reponse" always has the "DELAY" mix with screen freeze mostly triggered while gaming.
To those who already own it there:
• I'm just asking if their 240hz touch is TRUE and PRECISE, or too good to be true?
• Does it beats the other brands offering 90hz ref. rate / 120hz touch, 60hz ref. rate / 120hz touch in terms of gaming or not?
'Coz the phone price for the specs like the Poco F1 offers more bang in the buck rather than it's competitors, again I'm worried if the CUTS is on it's "touch reponse and screen issues again." Just don't want to lose money again on something not.
If not I'll just try other brand out there.

To answer both if your questions, it's yes to both.
I came from a Samsung Galaxy A71 which I paid WAY more for what it was worth and you get everything it says on the box.
120Hz is fluid and buttery smooth and touch response is lightning fast and precise, yes even in games.
Just be sure to download Arrow OS and use that because MIUI is filled to the brim with crap that will make your device very slightly sluggish.

I'd say each to their own. Go to a shop (if their open where you are) and try for yourself. If not then find one online with a good returns policy. Just as a side note my GF has an A71 and it is a way better phone overall. IMHO 60Hz Amoled beats this cheap 120Hz LCD (grey is my new black now lol). It's painful to look at, especially in low light environment. 240Hz touch responsiveness is just a number to me. Can't tell the difference. Then again it's a personal preference and I admit that I got this phone thanks to high numbers on the spec sheet for a low price.

Fellow Poco F1 user here.
Although the entire internet was plagued with problems with the F1, I however faced none of those. It does not mean your issues are invalid, but I'm just saying the group mentality made people believe their phone had issues that it never had. Things like Light Bleed and stuff were blown so much out of proportion that people actually recreated scenarios that they would never face normally just to make them feel bad about themselves. My Poco F1 is still an amazing phone and it also takes some of the best pictures with the right mods.
Back to the point, I see way too many AMOLED fan boys always claiming AMOLED is better even though they don't want to accept the draw backs or technical limitations. They see a phone selling AMOLED and immediately think it's better.
And back to the main main point...
240hz is hardly differential from nearer touch response rates and not even the most stock, unless the stock is absolutely garbage. On a phone, touch response hardly matters because there isn't enough IPC to make that response any worth it.
Summary :
Is Poco X3 truly responding to touch at 240HZ?
YES.
Will you notice the difference from a decent refresh rate from a modern phone and this phone which is so proud of its 240hz
NO
Enjoy your phone and don't fall into these technicalities. You're only putting your mind into this anxiety mode whether the purchase you made was worth it or not. This is a great phone and I love it and I've come from 1+, Samsung, Moto (Google owned Moto), Nexus and even Pixels.

Even when using an iOS device side by side, I can definitely feel there's a difference, it is certainly better.
But I'll talk about 2 issues first.
1. But sometimes, the touch doesn't work (like it needs grounding), like when my phone is lying flat on a certain bedsheet, I can't casually swipe, I need to hold it in my hand.
2. And long swipes need some polishing (software side) to be more natural, e.g. when u swipe up from launcher to open app drawer, u need to move ur thumb straight up, instead of slight natural diagonal movement else it may just swipe to next home screen or vice versa: opening app drawer instead of swiping to next screen. I come from color os, and it is certainly tuned to be more natural. (less feature rich than MIUI but better polished than other iOS inspired OEM skins)
Now pros:.
Touch responsiveness is way better than most android phones (I have used upto Samsung S10+ ceramic edition, oppo reno 3 pro) and iphone 8, X, XS series (before Apple fans flame, I'm talking just about responsiveness and accuracy).
You definitely feel it with gaming, no sensitivity settings is wrong (no aiming stutter or slip) infact it'll register the slightest movement and adjust your aim accordingly. Sometimes when my hands get sweaty I turn down the touch sensitivity in game space to 70 percent.

Yepi69 said:
To answer both if your questions, it's yes to both.
I came from a Samsung Galaxy A71 which I paid WAY more for what it was worth and you get everything it says on the box.
120Hz is fluid and buttery smooth and touch response is lightning fast and precise, yes even in games.
Just be sure to download Arrow OS and use that because MIUI is filled to the brim with crap that will make your device very slightly sluggish.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, just wanted to know a few things, animations and transitions are jittery for some apps in MIUI, since you suggested arrow OS, does that get rid of these jitter and animation lags? Or is it a bad chip (which i doubt)
Moreover, does Arrow OS use MI Camera? Since it has option to use all sensors, do we get that in arrow? How is overall smoothness and camera quality?

ramnoob said:
Hey, just wanted to know a few things, animations and transitions are jittery for some apps in MIUI, since you suggested arrow OS, does that get rid of these jitter and animation lags? Or is it a bad chip (which i doubt)
Moreover, does Arrow OS use MI Camera? Since it has option to use all sensors, do we get that in arrow? How is overall smoothness and camera quality?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want jitter free experience, use ArrowOS + F1xy kernel.
F1xy custom kernel is focused to bring lower latency and reduce jitter as much as possible.
And no, ArrowOS doesn't use ANX Camera (Miui Camera). You need to flash it yourself.
crDroid comes with it if you want it.

I guess if you're here and changing from China spying crap rom and unlocking bl and bypassing ARP, no..
You will probably not find a better working drvier/setup for that if you install unofficial roms. Meaning you can expect lower performance on these pieces of hw. For the cpu, some unofficial roms can have better performance (not sure about camera and screen drivers, dependents if manufacturer releases src code).

SkaboXD said:
If you want jitter free experience, use ArrowOS + F1xy kernel.
F1xy custom kernel is focused to bring lower latency and reduce jitter as much as possible.
And no, ArrowOS doesn't use ANX Camera (Miui Camera). You need to flash it yourself.
crDroid comes with it if you want it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll try it asap.

NiTrOwow said:
I guess if you're here and changing from China spying crap rom and unlocking bl and bypassing ARP, no..
You will probably not find a better working drvier/setup for that if you install unofficial roms. Meaning you can expect lower performance on these pieces of hw. For the cpu, some unofficial roms can have better performance (not sure about camera and screen drivers, dependents if manufacturer releases src code).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a lie if I ever saw one, I have ArrowOS with it's stock kernel (using MIUI's kernel sources) and everything works better than stock rom. Not to mention devs can implement driver updates for Qualcomm/Adreno chipset (AKA CAF versions) which improve performance much better than Stock ROM (manufactures usually take months to implement new drivers, if they ever do).

Yepi69 said:
That's a lie if I ever saw one, I have ArrowOS with it's stock kernel (using MIUI's kernel sources) and everything works better than stock rom. Not to mention devs can implement driver updates for Qualcomm/Adreno chipset (AKA CAF versions) which improve performance much better than Stock ROM (manufactures usually take months to implement new drivers, if they ever do).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to add that it's also dependable to skill of developers. We are covered here since we have so many talented developers, so you can except great ROM performance + battery life. Custom ROM experience is also dependable on quality of sources and Xiaomi is not the best in this regard compared to Google, but it gets the job done. Also good developers modify sources in a good way, which leds to improvement in source code.
All in all, good developer for the device can make custom ROM which performs much better than stock ROM. Especially MIUI.

What are 5 specific things you look for when buying a smartphone?

I think we have come to a point where smartphones have reached a mature phase in product design where there can only be marginal improvements in terms of performance and overall experience.
Year on year, there are marginal improvements in hardware and a lot of money is spent in marketing how the current version is an improvement over previous version. Tests are 'designed' to show the current version being 'x%' better than previous iteration, although there is hardly any noticeable difference in real life use.
Today, fortunately, the premium flagships are hardly any better than phones selling at half the price in terms of performance and overall experience. The primary or only differentiating factor is the Camera. So if you buy a $1,000 phone, it is just as good as a $500 phone in terms of performance and overall experience in day-to-day use. The other $500 is primarily for the camera! Ofcourse, there are some other benefits too that come for this premium, such as IP certification, 1 or 2 years of additional software support, etc.
With that background, what are specific things you look for when buying a smartphone today?
Here are some unique features offered by brands:
SAMSUNG​
1. Best cameras on an Android phone. If you have the budget, go for a Samsung flagship because the camera experience is best. Other brands are offering very good cameras too, but then overall Samsung leads here (Pixel is close).
2. Silent Call Recording (as of OneUI 5.0): Fortunately, this feature is still present in Samsung phones when other brands (including OnePlus, Xiaomi, etc.) have unfortunately moved on to replacing their dialers with Google Dialer.
OnePlus/ Xiaomi/ Oppo/ Vivo/ Realme/ Redmi/ iQOO​
1. Superfast charging: This is one area where Chinese brands have nailed it. The dual battery system, and charging technology that limits heating to the charger instead of the phone make this aspect an enviable feature for owners of other brands. Not sure why Samsung and other brands are not adopting similar technology.
2. Specialized cooling hardware: Specialized cooling technologies like vapour chamber, use of graphene, etc. to reduce thermal throttling is another area where they are doing exceedingly well.
3. Built-in firewall: This is one outstanding OS feature that only some brands like OnePlus, Oppo and Xiaomi (including Redmi) provide. It is not available on Vivo. Not sure about other brands.
4. Silent call recording (available as an option):
For OnePlus/ Oppo/ Realme: Install ODialer.
For iQOO/ Vivo: Enable Alternate Dialer and Contacts under Settings/ Apps
Pixel/ Nothing/ Motorola​
Stock Android experience which leaves a lot to desire.
Check out (and contribute to) the comparison of Android 13 features by brand here:
Comparing Android 13 features of different OEMs
In this post, I'm comparing the features available on Android 13 from different OEMs as of the end of 2022. Since some OEMs offer a different set of features for their budget devices, not all features available on one device will be available on...
forum.xda-developers.com

For premium smartphone
1. Stock Android
2. Decent cameras
3. Snapdragon processor
4. "Big battery" at least 5000 mAh or near
5. Build quality (metal frame)
6. Price under $1000 / 1000€ not over
For budjet smartphone
1. Stock Android
2. Decent cameras
3. Snapdragon processor
4. "Big battery" at least 5000 mAh or near
5. Price under $500 / 500€
I did not mentioned screens because i prefer LCD screen but most premium smartphones these days comes with oled screen. It's really hard to find premium high performance phone with LCD screen.

Dayuser said:
For premium smartphone
1. Stock Android
2. Decent cameras
3. Snapdragon processor
4. "Big battery" at least 5000 mAh or near
5. Build quality (metal frame)
6. Price under $1000 / 1000€ not over
For budjet smartphone
1. Stock Android
2. Decent cameras
3. Snapdragon processor
4. "Big battery" at least 5000 mAh or near
5. Price under $500 / 500€
I did not mentioned screens because i prefer LCD screen but most premium smartphones these days comes with oled screen. It's really hard to find premium high performance phone with LCD screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Android is quite basic and leaves a lot to desire for. I'm talking of features, and not UI. Examples would be scrolling screenshots, screen recording, gestures for activating features (e.g. 3 finger screenshot), etc.
Snapdragon processor: why is that a must? The Mediatek Dimensity series of processors are quite capable, and so is Exynos. I don't go by standard tests and numbers shown by them. They don't reflect real-life usage, and can be manipulated.
I'm happy you didn't mention 'glass back', because without wireless charging it is a liability.
And why 'decent' cameras for a premium phone? Great camera should be the criteria since that is what you are paying a premium for.
For me, this is how they would be:
Premium Phone
1. Best cameras
2. Silent call recording
So I'll choose Samsung as this is the only brand today with the above features.
Budget Phone
1. 3.5 mm headphone jack
2. Infrared (IR) blaster
So I'll choose a Xiaomi (Redmi) phone in this category as this is the only brand offering these features.
I'm not mentioning others like display, storage, ram, etc. as pretty much all premium flagship phones offer the same hardware. Same holds true for performance and battery life.

TheMystic said:
And why 'decent' cameras for a premium phone? Great camera should be the criteria since that is what you are paying a premium for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mentioned "desent" in both categories because it's mainly up to user who knows what is great camera. All premium and flagship have good cameras, or at least main camera.
Snapdragon because GCam ports mainly works best on Snapdragon phones.

Dayuser said:
I mentioned "desent" in both categories because it's mainly up to user who knows what is great camera. All premium and flagship have good cameras, or at least main camera.
Snapdragon because GCam ports mainly works best on Snapdragon phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you really need GCam for a premium flagship phone? I think the stock cameras do a great job.
I see GCam as a nice solution for mid rangers that lack premium camera hardware and software processing required for excellent shots.

TheMystic said:
Do you really need GCam for a premium flagship phone? I think the stock cameras do a great job.
I see GCam as a nice solution for mid rangers that lack premium camera hardware and software processing required for excellent shots.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No not really needs but it's a choice. It's really what people like.
Let's say it this way and this works for many brands.
If you want over saturated colors and over sharpened pictures, then use stock camera. If you want more natural colors and decent sharp.. use gcam.
and sometimes stock cameras noise processing is too much.
But all these what i said is small things and most of people doesn't really care

Dayuser said:
No not really needs but it's a choice. It's really what people like.
Let's say it this way and this works for many brands.
If you want over saturated colors and over sharpened pictures, then use stock camera. If you want more natural colors and decent sharp.. use gcam.
and sometimes stock cameras noise processing is too much.
But all these what i said is small things and most of people doesn't really care
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is true that often the difference in quality isn't substantial among premium smartphone cameras, and also that the end result is subjective. The cameras on my S22U are very good, and I never felt a need for GCam.
GCam is often found to over sharpen things a bit though.
On a personal level, i prefer great shots over natural ones, as long as saturation and other aspects aren't overdone.

Expandable storage, 1tb minimum.
I demand a dual drive device. Screw Google cattle herding the masses for their self serving ends. To hell with the idea cloud as a viable alternative. Right from the pages of MS's playbook of control.
Spen.
Square display corners, blah, blah, blah.
It's a lost cause... lol, I'll be using the N10+'s/Android 9 and 10 for another 3-5 years. Zero faith in Google or Samsung to get their sorry assets back in line ever again at this point. Junkware.

blackhawk said:
Expandable storage, 1tb minimum.
I demand a dual drive device. Screw Google cattle herding the masses for their self serving ends. To hell with the idea cloud as a viable alternative. Right from the pages of MS's playbook of control.
Spen.
Square display corners, blah, blah, blah.
It's a lost cause... lol, I'll be using the N10+'s/Android 9 and 10 for another 3-5 years. Zero faith in Google or Samsung to get their sorry assets back in line ever again at this point. Junkware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Expandable storage is something that only very few mid range devices offer. With higher internal storage and cloud services, OEMs have made it clear that it is not something they are willing to support.
A lot of investments are being made in technology and i don't want to lose out on these advancements on a personal level, as some of these features are truly incredible. But I am careful of granting permissions like camera, microphone, sms, etc. to apps and I don't use voice assistants (I'm not comfortable with the idea that something is constantly listening to me or my environment).
But it is a tradeoff, and it has to be that way. Without input, one cannot make use of technology. So everyone must part with an amount of data they are comfortable with. There should be very strong regulations where data being collected is strictly limited and some types of data must never be collected. GDPR is a welcome step in that direction, but is grossly inadequate and therefore ineffective. While it has forced companies to show a Privacy Policy message prompt, it has hardly done anything to what data is being collected, and if it is actually necessary for the product/ service being offered in return.

i always worry ONLY about 2 things when i buy a new phone :
1. can it be rooted
2. is there custom firmware (or is someone working on it)
This is about the only thing i worry about.
i will check later if i can also make a phonecall or take a picture also

contrinsan said:
i always worry ONLY about 2 things when i buy a new phone :
1. can it be rooted
2. is there custom firmware (or is someone working on it)
This is about the only thing i worry about.
i will check later if i can also make a phonecall or take a picture also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I stopped doing that a few years back. I would rather trust an OEM software than one made by an unknown developer. Besides, some of the developers are very arrogant.
And today, there isn't really anything a rooted device can do which a non-rooted device can't. The risk/ effort is not worth any potential marginal benefit.

contrinsan said:
i always worry ONLY about 2 things when i buy a new phone :
1. can it be rooted
2. is there custom firmware (or is someone working on it)
This is about the only thing i worry about.
i will check later if i can also make a phonecall or take a picture also
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same but i look for like famous phones among XDA developers

TheMystic said:
I stopped doing that a few years back. I would rather trust an OEM software than one made by an unknown developer. Besides, some of the developers are very arrogant.
And today, there isn't really anything a rooted device can do which a non-rooted device can't. The risk/ effort is not worth any potential marginal benefit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, i am running stock for 2 months now and i wish i never flashed stock android 12 because i don't find a way to go back to custom firmware but some things i really miss
- used to have phone call recording,
- adblocking without vpn or heavy battery use,
-youtube vanced working properly,
-wifi and 4g optimized
-battery use optimized and deep sleep working properly (my stock android 12 samsung s10e can run 8 up to 12 hours when i am at work, it is 12-18 hours when running CF. I can no longer survive a day at work without extra charging..
- change splashscreen, boot and shutdown logo, change whatever sound in the firmware,..
- viper sound mod for good sound experience or removing all kinds of annoying restrictions for louder music
- something i miss a lot : configuration of phone like 2 rows instead of one at the top (very uselful to have time with seconds and date on first line and all the notifications go on 2nd line)
- i also miss android auto being able to run other apps,
- i can only shutdown or restart the phone, no other options,
- i can no longer take screenshots from a payment in my banking app (and many other apps), - i can no longer decide i want 7 icons in the first line of the dropdown menu (and many, many, many, many other handy features)
these are just a couple i think about, there is also Xposed with so many handy things
Also if you want a little bit of privacy it is not possible on a phone that is stock android, it is also full with rubbish bloatware such as facebook and other spy programs that i can not remove unless when rooted.
i really see no advantage in having stock android, it makes me feel as if i don't own half of the phone

This is my list: is it bootloader unlockable?
Is it supported by lineage os and twrp?
Is it powerful enough?
If these are yes I could consider buying the device
Price under 500 €

contrinsan said:
well, i am running stock for 2 months now and i wish i never flashed stock android 12 because i don't find a way to go back to custom firmware but some things i really miss
- used to have phone call recording,
- adblocking without vpn or heavy battery use,
-youtube vanced working properly,
-wifi and 4g optimized
-battery use optimized and deep sleep working properly (my stock android 12 samsung s10e can run 8 up to 12 hours when i am at work, it is 12-18 hours when running CF. I can no longer survive a day at work without extra charging..
- change splashscreen, boot and shutdown logo, change whatever sound in the firmware,..
- viper sound mod for good sound experience or removing all kinds of annoying restrictions for louder music
- something i miss a lot : configuration of phone like 2 rows instead of one at the top (very uselful to have time with seconds and date on first line and all the notifications go on 2nd line)
- i also miss android auto being able to run other apps,
- i can only shutdown or restart the phone, no other options,
- i can no longer take screenshots from a payment in my banking app (and many other apps), - i can no longer decide i want 7 icons in the first line of the dropdown menu (and many, many, many, many other handy features)
these are just a couple i think about, there is also Xposed with so many handy things
Also if you want a little bit of privacy it is not possible on a phone that is stock android, it is also full with rubbish bloatware such as facebook and other spy programs that i can not remove unless when rooted.
i really see no advantage in having stock android, it makes me feel as if i don't own half of the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Samsung is the only (or one of very few) OEM offering silent call recording feature today. Since Samsung flagship has (one of) the best cameras on any smartphone, this is my choice of Android for now.
2. Adblocking is possible using private DNS server (dns.adguard.com) that doesn't require VPN or drain battery.
3. Vanced YouTube (non-root) works perfectly fine on Android 13 (tested on OneUI, OOS and MIUI).
4. Viper makes a marginal difference today, especially over Bluetooth. This makes it unattractive given the efforts required to make it work today.
Many of the other stuff you mentioned are available only on custom ROMs, which I am unlikely to return to. They are non-essential and mostly 'fancy' stuff one can live without.
I use Google apps and some of their services (Photos, Drive, Gmail, YouTube, etc.) are very important for me. I have never seen any significant battery life gains with any custom ROM or tweaks as i can't uninstall Google Services.
Netguard does an excellent job of blocking unwanted apps and services from connecting to the internet.
There were essentially only a handful of things (adblocking, viper, titanium backups, ad-free YouTube) why I was rooting my devices, and pretty much all of those have proper non-root replacements today.