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Hi friends,
I want to gift a smartphone to my dad. My dad is already using an android smartphone.
Requirements:
1.Phone's touch should be responsive with above average camera.
2.Phone should have a secondary camera (for skyping).
3.My dad is not a software addict, he just use a few essential ones (whatsapp, skype, gmail and may be one or two more)
4.Phone's speakers should be loud.
5.Phone should be durable and he should be able to use it at least for 2 years.
Phones I looked so far:
Google Nexus 4: This is my first choice for him but, This don't have a removable battery so I don't know for how long its battery will be in good condition (he don't like to carry charger or cable with him) This phone will always get first and the latest android update, something that worries me. This might be great for us but for a 50 yr old person learning curve with every update will leave him frustrated. Speakers of this phone is little muted and tiny.
Samsung Galaxy S3 Though I personally don't like the build quality of Samsung, this phone is great in every respect. It is in my budget, it has a good camera. But its slightly bigger and bulky than what I want for him.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini By far this phone come closest to what I want. Only thing troubling me is its durability, I don't know much about the durability of Samsung's smartphones. Battery not performing good for years is OK as it is replaceable
HTC One Mini This is THE BEST Phone in my budget range. Great hardware, HUGE speakers on front. I watched reviews on youtube for touch and responsiveness, its great, and camera also seems to be decent. The only thing bugging me is non-removable batteries. I don't know how durable are HTC batteries will they last for two years on moderate use or will die in one year?
Guys some of you might think that I am overthinking this, but this is my first gift to my dad and don't want him to compromise on anything in that phone. I have a budget constraint and I don't want to compromise on any functionality which he wants in cellphone (considering that he uses very few functionalities). Please help me out in deciding which one is best for me. In worst cases I can wait till October month this year.
I suggest:
HTC Rezound
regards
Have you looked at the new Nokia Lumias? They apparently have amazing cameras that "leave the One and iPhone struggling for 2nd".
You say you don't need many apps... Windows phone is very responsive.
Good camera.
Pretty durable, hopefully, considering the fact that it's a Nokia.
Never mind, those are out of your budget.
Don't get the one. Since he's getting up there in numbers, he's gonna want to zoom in on the photos. He'll be disappointed when the formerly crystal clear photo becomes an array of pixels.
I have a one (big one) and I am therefore qualified to say so.
The S4 DOES have durability issues. The bezel is so thin that it allows the whole phone to flex, which breaks the LCD from the inside. Not sure about the mini.
I would consider either a lower end Nokia or Sony (latest gen).
Look into it.
check out the galaxy s4 activ on youtube, it seems quite durable
You could check around here:
[Discussion] Compare Any and All Devices Here!!
[Discussion] What's your next smartphone / What should I buy
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Honor 7X, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Honor 7X is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Honor made a phone with impressive phone with great build quality at such price range without any doubt.
Hands on to Honor
Coming from Samsung galaxy S7 Edge and LG v20 ( sold all flagship phones because of family issues ) i can say i am in love with this phone. Really nice display. Crisp and sharp. Good battery life with normal usage. Overall very happy with Honor 7X
I got this mobile recently. I am in love with this mobile. Camera is great and overall smooth performance. Battery has power saving mode for running more than 30 hours, with full charge
fast and reliable for daily use
Came from a Nexus 6P of two years and I love this phone!!
Love how easy EMUI theming is and I can make it look like stock android if I want to all without rooting and without the slowness that I found substratum can cause.
Easily getting 5+ hours of SOT on a daily basis; and only time I've noticed any sort of lag is when I haven't used the phone while sleeping; it unlocks quickly via fingerprint but the first app i open takes a second longer to open then its back to it's snappy self.
Love it! Thing is a beast!
Joined the crowd today with the Mate SE, WOW! What a Great Phone!
Sure, it's not a flagship, but it feels like one! and if it does most of what you *really* need, with such a great price, It's astounding really. I've spent some time Mate SE vs MI A1. It's subjective of course, but the SE has all the US bands, bottom line, if I'm out in the boonies, I want the best odds of being able to make that call.
Have been using it for an hour and did app updates, map downloads, etc. Hasn't heated up at all, cool as could be. Very Happy with this choice!
Just got this phone cuz my Galaxy Note broke, and i needed something ASAP. Although i didn´t expect too much from a phone in this price range, I´m still bothered by the mediocre camera, and a poor display with horrible view angles. I´ll keep it for a bit, the build quality seems decent, but that´s all.
Just got it 2 weeks ago. Good bye all other budget phones. It rocks
My Galaxy S7 committed suicide about three weeks ago and still having payments on it and trying to get out of AT&T without having to get into more payments this was an AMAZING choice. does everything i need it too and some. works way better than my S7 IMO, One week of use and i love it!
I wish I had heard of this company before buying all these second hand Samung/Motorola phones through craigslist just to save money, when I can buy a comparable phone brand new for a price that is cheaper. This phone is just an improved version of the Honor 7X.
My review is based off replacing a Samsung Note 4 and my work phone is a Galaxy S7.
Battery:
The battery life is superb on this. Seeing how my Note 4 had all this bloatware and these Samsung extras out of the box. The Note 4 couldn't even last through out the day with constant usage. This phone lasts through out the day, set it down without charging it for the night and it still has power.
Battery life is about the same as the S7, though.
Design:
Doesn't feel like a cheap, cricket phone. Feels like it has some weight, some heft to it. I am also impressed by the fingerprint technology on the back of the handset. It is much better and responsive then what the Galaxy S7 has. I never had to 'retry' my fingerprint as if it didn't register it.
Communications:
Haven't noticed any difference in terms of call quality or signal. Yet, my carrier is AT&T. The only concern is that the phone doesn't support 5G Wi-Fi.
Camera.
Unless something was wrong with my Samsung Note 4, this camera is much better than the Note, but similar to what the S7 has, or maybe even less.
Display:
I can't tell if this is part of the android or part of Huawei, but there are animations in the display which are interesting. From where you can see the display brightness slider move automatically to where texts seem to 'bounce' when you scroll through them. There is little bloatware and I like the drawer design of the apps. Screen is also bigger than my Note 4.
Also some people state the charging cable is different, yet my cord that charges my samsung phones can charge this phone.
At the end of the day, this phone can do everything a $1,200 phone can do.
Just bought new one from amazon, I will give my review very soon.
I've had it since the day after Prime Day. Love it. My only complaint is some of the bloatware. I also find the organizations of Settings in EMUI somewhat annoying. (It's like 4 clicks to get to the screen where you can choose a new wifi network.) Overall, this is a great phone and an incredible value.
Phone still going strong. My only major issue is that GPS is horrible with this phone. From Waze to Google Maps, the signal isn't consistent and drops when it comes to GPS. Never experienced anything like this, and it's been like this day one.
Great cpu performance. great battery life.
Poor audio output. Volume boosting apps don't work.
Rooting was easy, reverting... still need to wade through that.
Screen replacement wasn't too difficult, cheap (and cheap quality) parts on ebay. BEWARE! The battery pack is a gel pack that's glued on to the chassis. I ripped the battery open trying to remove it and had to order a new one.
The chassis is FLIMSY. After disassembling the phone to replace the screen, I saw that 1. the back cover is a flimsy bit of plastin (plastic or tin) and 2. the main chassis itself is a weak and flimsy bit of cast pot metal. This phone will bend and break very easily, which is what I suspect caused the screen to break so easily.
Overall, great performer, the sound issue may be addressed with newer Android, the chassis is in need of serious reinforcement.
The Honor 7X was one of the best budget phones of it's time. For under $200, this phone is a really great deal.
So as the title suggests, let's hear about your current daily driver, how do you like it so far? What kinds of features do you appreciate most? What do you think is missing?
Also, let's talk about your least favorite devices as an added hono bonus.
Might as well get it started, my current daily driver is an LG V30, H933 to be exact. It's a very well rounded phone, and for up to 90% of the tasks, it's managed to replace my laptop. Battery life is more than enough for me, even with brightness set on auto and screen resolution on 2880 x 1440, the cameras are real nice, and the wide angle shooter is just addictive to mess with, great stock camera app too. Audio quality is superb, I just love the HiFi quad DAC and even the speaker is well above average imho. Finally as expected from any flagship, performance is great, and while activating battery saver mode does introduce a difference, for most tasks you still don't notice much lag.
I'm gonna say I appreciate the ip68 rating and the ruggedness of the phone, it's already taken a small drop and survived no problem, but that was enough motivation for me to get a UAG plasma case. I also put a screen protector on it initially, but dust kept accumulating around the edges and eventually making its way under the protector I got fed up and removed it. As long as you have a decent case that has raised lips both the front and rear glass should be fine, but now I never keep the phone in the same pocket as coin or keys.
Also it turns out that in case you damage the glass, it's quite cheap to replace (15 dollars from what I've heard).
As for phones I never see myself using as daily drivers, the latest iPhones certainly make the list. On top of almost complete lack of customizability and control over the phone, lackluster stock camera apps for (a photographer like me at least), and ridiculous pricing, Apple's desperation to sell their phones (or rather force them down your throat) is becoming pathetic. The 8 and 8 plus are rather fragile, and the iPhone X, while admittedly better, isn't better by much, and the worst part is that if you crack the glass on any of these phones, it'll cost so much to replace if you don't have apple care, you might as well just get a new device, which, in all likelihood, is exactly what Apple wants you to do. Between that, and introducing OS updates that intentionally throttle the performance of their older phones, whatever little appeal Apple's devices had, is now imho gone.
Another phone I would avoid is the Motorola moto z2 force/play, the plastic screen not only feels cheap, but is also very prone to scratches. The moto G5s plus is a better budget device than the play of you ask me.
Viper4Android speaker enhancements makes nice difference but still compared to my other half's Mate 10 Pro, the Sony is like a little kid screaming in a room full of deep chested adults.
Plus the OLED screen of the Mate 10 is awesome! and the camera is sooo much better too.
So anyway, my question, is Sony not bothered with speakers and all about the headphones because I don't think I've ever heard of a single Sony smartphone having a half-decent bassy speaker!
Your XZPremium has an 807 PPI 4K HDR Triluminous LCD screen, wayyyy better than any *****y Samsung or LG..
You do know that in settings > Sound.. theres an EQ under "Audio Settings".... IMO, I think the Speakers sound ok on our XZP...
They sound better on the newer XZ2 and better again on the XZ2 Prem.... and probably improve on the new XZ3...
Camera wise... Meh, SONY have never followed the trend, theyve always stuck with their own "quirky" f2.0 / 5-way EIS cameras.. which suffer badly in low light, but are actually pretty good in daylight, which, incidentally hasnt been upgraded since the original XZ... still using the IMX400, even on the newer XZ2 and XZ2 Prem.
The secret to an Xperia camera is... keep it in Manual Mode, Metering set to "SPOT" or "Centre weighted" and the ISO at 50 - 200. You should be fine. Although I must admit, Superior Auto isnt bad these days, and when your taking a shot.. frame your shot first, then focus and shoot quickly... dont keep focussing all the time before you shoot.. as you get camera shake... obviously,
OIS is not the god send of photography you know... you can get some stunning shots taken with EIS stablisation, Pixel XL for example.. Oh and BTW, if you want to take low light photographs, buy a compact camera, dont rely on your phone.
Yes, aware of EQ settings, but no amount of software wizardry will upgrade the physical design of the speaker and associated chambers.
The thing that gets me is that Sony has been around for donkeys years, yet they keep flaffing around with fancy looking outer shells and bezels and stereo speakers etc... yet the most basic of things such as a bassy sounding speaker are simply lacking. I have heard the XZ2, and the speaker sound is not that much better than the XZ.
Yes the screen is nice, but hold an XZ outside in daylight next to a Mate 10, and suddenly you then see which screen is the more functional. Same goes for when relying on Google Maps driving in the car during daylight.
The iPhone X sounds amazing on speaker too, as well as having a camera that just works perfectly, snap snap, great pictures, no messing around in settings trying to figure out a manual override for every scene just to get a good picture out of it.
Just don't get why Sony has a problem, with their SLR camera division, their decades of sound-systems experience, yet companies like Apple and Huawei get the most functional things perfect.
I'm an Android fan, love to be in control of my own devices, I guess I'm just not grasping why Sony is flooding the market with new models continuously with newer snapdragons and whatnot yet they still lag in something as basic as the camera and the speaker.
If we don't voice our concerns, they're probably keep wondering why people who actually hang in a shop to buy a phone, actually buy an iPhone or Huawei in the end, well, take a quick picture inside a shop, zoom in, and you'll hand the Sony back to the assistant... or likewise play some music, and the Sony get's blown away by the bass of the other high end phones. The triluminous screen might win some brownie points in the shade of a shop, but stand under a bright light and the Sony goes back to the assistant very quick.
(PS... own personal experience with the other half. I simply believed the reviews raving about the Sony... now I realise what reviews actually rave about and what you actually experience in the real world with real function are two very different things)....
not here to start a war, simply points of concern for I actually am a fan of Sony products in general, but I'm losing faith in their phones very quickly, especially compared to the competition when it comes to the very basics.
Water resistant Speakers will never blow You away. I compared the Galaxy S6 with the S5 and S7 and guess which One was the loudest. I also owned the Axon 7 before the XZP. There are worlds between them but compared to other Water Resistant Devices is the XZP actually pretty loud and well saturated. At least with the latest Firmwares and i i think i optimized out even more out of the Software. Speaker Protection as example is enabled by default to save the speakers while beeing wet from Water. Disabling it allows more output Power but could damage the Speaker if You don't pay attention of the Volume after letting it dive... There are clearly limitations to this Speakers but SONY made a great Job on this Part. Also on the Real Stereo Setup on the Front which has no other OEM besides them...
I only ever dropped a phone into the loo once and that was over 25 years ago, a Nortel. Not really bothered about extreme waterproofing etc, marketing sure, but in real world not everyone hangs out in a monsoon or surfing the waves with their smartphones or drops them into glass full of water.
Function before form before gimmicks with solid marketing.
Just my 2pence gents, its why google search engine killed the competition, its why Apple have such a big chunk in the smartphone domain.
Pixel 3 has stereo front facing stereo speakers minus the (nasty imo) notch... looks nothing fancy but could be the perfect functional next phone... but indeed I wud prefer to go with Sony, because the brand is what people respect, but only if it keeps its head on straight.
SXS-Groovemaster said:
Function before form before gimmicks with solid marketing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Think of it next time you'll get under a sudden rain. Think of it next time you'll ride your bike using the phone for the navigation. Think of it next time you'll want to take a shot at the beach and you'll be afraid to come too close because your phone ain't waterproof. Think of it next time you'll have to answer a Very Important Call when you're in the shower and you'll spoil your phone because it's not waterproof and you just couldn't dry the side of your head well enough.
Think of it next time you'll have your phone in a pocket during a hot summer day and it'll get wet from your own sweat.
And yes there's not a single phone loud enough to watch YouTube on a noisy street, so +\- 10% loudness and bass won't make a difference anyway. But there's hundreds cases when being able to not care about the phone getting wet is amazing.
Don't think everyone is having the same use case.
Hi all, just discovered the Essential Phone yesterday while getting ready to buy a Sony Xperia XZ2 compact. I like a sleek, small(er) phone and there are very few options that will work on Verizon's CDMA network.
I've been researching all I can on this phone and would likely buy one certified refurbished off Amazon. The price seems amazing!
I've been reading a bit about cellular quality (people losing signal) and other small issues. Of course you always hear about issues online but rarely do people post their pleasant experience with a product.
How popular are these phones? Did they sell well? Do you think there are many out there that have never had any issues or, are these a better 2nd phone next to a more reliable daily driver?
One thing I would like to do is use a new Samsung Galaxy Watch with my new phone. I've read Pie has had some issues playing nice with smart watches (Galaxy watches in particular?)
I also have read the Essential Phone is easily rootable which is fantastic. I've rooted phones in the past (it's been a while) and have no issue doing so again if it would help make this amazing phone more stable, reliable or work better with a smart watch.
SO - Should I (or would you) buy the Essential Phone again or should I skip to the Sony Xperia XZ2 compact? The major driver of my decision is reliability.
Thanks for any comments or recommendations. I'll keep reading up and researching.
I would most certainly buy another Essential. They are smooth, reliable, the custom rom community has grown exponentially recently, and the battery life is decent if you aren't heavy into mobile gaming. As a plus, it also gets updates as soon as (or in a couple cases, faster) than the Pixels. It's a good size and the screen quality is really great for the price. The signal reception issue can be a bit of a hassle, but I've managed to work with it. I won't be getting another phone until this one dies, or I have heaps of cash to get a Samsung Note whatever the new one is when I can buy it.
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
I'd buy again, definitely. Just not for the original price. Try ordering yours in China, you can buy one for 100-130USD, but what you get is a lottery. i bought 3 pieces and 2 were perfect, one was a bit heavily used with scratches and poor battery.
Overall, phone is still great in 2019. I use it as daily driver since 13 months. XZ2 looks medieval compared to essential.
Cons:
- probably hard to resell
- impossible to replace battery, use it till it dies 1-2 years later and rip the phone
- a bit heavy, but it's thanks to great build materials
Almost everything is good for me. The camera could be better, but gcam helps with that. The biggest issue I have is the touchscreen being janky.
The best of the PH1 support and the construction of the terminal, I never had signal or screen problems, the camera is good (although in low light the pictures have a lot of noise). I always liked it from the moment it came out but as it was not positioned to score for many, the sale price was its most negative point. It became a viable option when its low price to $ 450, in that value had no competition. If a PH2 comes out, it will be my next cell phone, in terms of support, without counting Pixel, it is far the best support and customer service. After having flagships of Samsung and Lg, in Android there are 3 options Pixel, OnePlus and Essential.
I would definitely buy it again, but only if I could find a great deal for it (I won't pay a full price for ANY phone, period). Managed to get my PH1 for under US$150 (that's including a 360 camera and a DIY replacement for a shattered screen), and couldn't be happier with it. Everyone's usage pattern is different, so the opinions may vary, but for me it's by far the best phone I ever owned. Speaking of reliability, this phone has never let me down so far, it just works. Rooting of Android Pie is indeed easy with Magisk. I don't use TWRP, and keep this phone full stock (rooted).
I don't care for smartwatches, so can't comment on using them with the Essential, sorry.
I concur with other posters, would buy again. Came from OnePlus 5, intended this to be a backup phone as the OP USB port is janky. The PH1 is now my daily driver, really like the device. Use the Gcam for a better camera, easy to root. Screen is fantastic IMO too. Battery life gets me thru a day no problem, normal usage. Price is good...snagged one with the 360 cam for 180.