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Galaxy or Pixel?

I am currently running a Pixel 3 XL. So far, I have been very underwhelmed by this phone. Even with the most recent updates, I still get the occasional lag. Several times, I would restart my phone only to have it get stuck on a black screen. Most importantly, my data connection is really bad. My 4g would occasionally turn off and on. Today, all of my data failed to work. I had to call ATT to see if there was anything wrong with their towers.
So are these software issues or hardware issues? Is Samsung Galaxy known to have better radios and internal hardware? I don't want to switch over to a different brand only to find out it was a problem with PIE, which Galaxy will soon have.

Honestly, that sounds like you have a bad phone and need a replacement.
I have a Pixel 3 XL, and although I am not as in love with it as I want to be, I do not have those problems.
To wrap my feelings up about the phone in general... if you want the best phone RIGHT NOW, then I would return and get a Galaxy Note 9 (or figure out a way to get Huawai's latest).
I came from the Note 9, and mostly regret that decision; Except for the camera - if camera is important to you then stay pixel. Unless you are a big camera nut then I am sure you can get just as good with a note 9 or Huawai - but if you want just to pull out the phone and take a nice shot without having to worry about anything, pixel is the way to go.
But I'm sure my excitement will return when android Q is coming around, and pixel is first to get. ..

garyHal said:
I am currently running a Pixel 3 XL. So far, I have been very underwhelmed by this phone. Even with the most recent updates, I still get the occasional lag. Several times, I would restart my phone only to have it get stuck on a black screen. Most importantly, my data connection is really bad. My 4g would occasionally turn off and on. Today, all of my data failed to work. I had to call ATT to see if there was anything wrong with their towers.
So are these software issues or hardware issues? Is Samsung Galaxy known to have better radios and internal hardware? I don't want to switch over to a different brand only to find out it was a problem with PIE, which Galaxy will soon have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been a samsung user forever - in fact I have the Galaxy note 9 which is an awesome phone. I also bought the pixle and I have to be honest, since getting the pixel xl 3, it has been my daily drive and i hardly even miss my Samsung Note 9. (hardly - sometimes I use it for the camera - and a few other things but overall - the Pixel has been a better, more reliable phone
I am using the BOOTLEGGER ROM which is awesome by the way - and the Proton Kernel - (V10 - waiting for V11 to be released) FOr what it's worth, Benchmark Scores are very strong - almost 299,000 on my last test (that was using Perfance settings in the Kernel Manager) but when I use the Proton Kernel normal settings - my scores run around 292,000 - very respectable.
No Lag at all - lightning fast - the Pixel 3 XL is in my opinion, amazing. Simply amazing.

Well, let's see. Android Pie was released back in August 6 of 2018. Almost 1/2 a year later, almost all Galaxy 9/9+ and Note 9 owners are still waiting to received it. They have only received Beta versions good for testing it out as part of Beta program. I think I read Germany started receiving a few days ago the actual update. If your don't care about receiving timely new features and updates and new yearly OS updates (which sometimes come a year plus later for older Samsung models), then go with the Samsung. They have great hardware but horrible record of updates. They also have a closed and locked bootloader (unless you get the international version which won't be 100% compatible with all features in your carrier). Don't expect root ever on a carrier version. It's very unlikely to happen. On the other hand, you could go for a Pixel 3XL phone. The amazing software will more than make up for the hardware shortcomings. You'll get monthly security updates directly from Google and be among the first to ever get the new OS upgrades. I had always been a Samsung Note and Galaxy user until last year's locked down of the Note 8 bootloader completely turned meet off. At over $1000 per phone, I expect to be updated quickly not a year later. I tried the Pixel 3Xl and will NEVER consider another Samsung phones regardless of hardware. I have come to learn that software can more than make up for it. I can freely unlock my bootloader as I see fit, root my phone at will and get customs ROMs from the XDA community. Rooting an international Samsung phone will void warrantee and also forever void Samsung pay. No need to worry about this on the Pixel 3Xl. I guess my point is, it all depends on your priorities XYZ wants and needs. The Pixel 3Xl in my experience is far superior to every other Samsung phone I have owned by farrrrrrrr.
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---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------
BTW in my opinion, Pixel phones also hold their value much better than Samsung phones. So, if resale value is important to you, go with the Pixel 3Xl. Just look at last year's models in Craigslist or any other page. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

garyHal said:
I am currently running a Pixel 3 XL. So far, I have been very underwhelmed by this phone. Even with the most recent updates, I still get the occasional lag. Several times, I would restart my phone only to have it get stuck on a black screen. Most importantly, my data connection is really bad. My 4g would occasionally turn off and on. Today, all of my data failed to work. I had to call ATT to see if there was anything wrong with their towers.
So are these software issues or hardware issues? Is Samsung Galaxy known to have better radios and internal hardware? I don't want to switch over to a different brand only to find out it was a problem with PIE, which Galaxy will soon have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Call and get a replacement. You clearly have a bad phone. I haven't heard of anyone else having these issues, and mine works perfectly. Never any lag at all. Also, the camera is amazing. Three tech sites I believe (think Gizmodo and such) plus dxomark rated it the best of 2018. Plus all of the new or pixel only features plus day one updates all make this phone even more awesome.
I had a Samsung S7 Edge, and, I loved it at first, but, never again will I own a Samsung phone. Right around the time the S8 was being release, I got an update and the phone was waaay slower. A couple more updates and the phone was nearly useless. Got a new replacement, same thing. They've been reported to do that. Soooo, unless you don't care about anything I mentioned above, and plan on getting a new Samsung every year, then get one. Otherwise, stick with a pixel.

I probably do have a bad phone since everyone else has a better experience.
I have been using Nexus / Pixel for the last 4 years and enjoyed it. This year's model was an exception.

Eudeferrer said:
Well, let's see. Android Pie was released back in August 6 of 2018. Almost 1/2 a year later, almost all Galaxy 9/9+ and Note 9 owners are still waiting to received it. They have only received Beta versions good for testing it out as part of Beta program. I think I read Germany started receiving a few days ago the actual update. If your don't care about receiving timely new features and updates and new yearly OS updates (which sometimes come a year plus later for older Samsung models), then go with the Samsung. They have great hardware but horrible record of updates. They also have a closed and locked bootloader (unless you get the international version which won't be 100% compatible with all features in your carrier). Don't expect root ever on a carrier version. It's very unlikely to happen. On the other hand, you could go for a Pixel 3XL phone. The amazing software will more than make up for the hardware shortcomings. You'll get monthly security updates directly from Google and be among the first to ever get the new OS upgrades. I had always been a Samsung Note and Galaxy user until last year's locked down of the Note 8 bootloader completely turned meet off. At over $1000 per phone, I expect to be updated quickly not a year later. I tried the Pixel 3Xl and will NEVER consider another Samsung phones regardless of hardware. I have come to learn that software can more than make up for it. I can freely unlock my bootloader as I see fit, root my phone at will and get customs ROMs from the XDA community. Rooting an international Samsung phone will void warrantee and also forever void Samsung pay. No need to worry about this on the Pixel 3Xl. I guess my point is, it all depends on your priorities XYZ wants and needs. The Pixel 3Xl in my experience is far superior to every other Samsung phone I have owned by farrrrrrrr.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app
---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:25 PM ----------
BTW in my opinion, Pixel phones also hold their value much better than Samsung phones. So, if resale value is important to you, go with the Pixel 3Xl. Just look at last year's models in Craigslist or any other page. You'll see what I'm talking about.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know it's all about preference and what you like but you're wrong on so many points and are trying really hard to justify your $900 purchase.
I'll start with the easiest one and that's resale value. No Google does not hold their value better nor will you find a buyer faster. Google phones are only popular on YouTube and xda. In the real world no one wants to buy a pixel and def not a used one anywhere near regular price. Even new on Verizon the pixels are constantly $200-$400 off.
As for the locked bootloader that's invalid again cause the same thing goes with the pixel. You have to buy the unlocked variant to do that otherwise their carries version can't be unlocked.
Also newest Android version doesn't always mean new features. Stock Android is just starting to implement features that Samsung has had for awhile. Unless seeing a 9.0 instead of a 8.1 on your "about phone" is that important there is nothing the pixel really offers you that Samsung a don't.
The monthly security patches are again useless considering Samsung's Knox system is arguably the most secure thing on Android regardless of your Android version.
Lastly the software on the pixel 3 is anything but amazing. Apps refreshing Everytime you have 4+ open. Constant hiccup here and there. The restrictions that Google have put on the phone in terms of only fast charging on their wireless charger and etc is against what Android is.
The pixel is a great camera and ok smartphone.
The note is an amazing phone in every other category.
I own both phones and Samsung being on a later software makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. I feel like I'm not missing out on anything .
On the pixel I'm missing out on my SD card. My headphones jack. My ability to wirelessly fast charge everywhere and the confidence that my battery will last the whole day.
I know this is a pixel forum but let's be real and take off our Google glasses. The note 9 is the best phone out right now period. The 3 xl is a great phone with many disapointments

flavioa said:
I know it's all about preference and what you like but you're wrong on so many points and are trying really hard to justify your $900 purchase.
I'll start with the easiest one and that's resale value. No Google does not hold their value better nor will you find a buyer faster. Google phones are only popular on YouTube and xda. In the real world no one wants to buy a pixel and def not a used one anywhere near regular price. Even new on Verizon the pixels are constantly $200-$400 off.
As for the locked bootloader that's invalid again cause the same thing goes with the pixel. You have to buy the unlocked variant to do that otherwise their carries version can't be unlocked.
Also newest Android version doesn't always mean new features. Stock Android is just starting to implement features that Samsung has had for awhile. Unless seeing a 9.0 instead of a 8.1 on your "about phone" is that important there is nothing the pixel really offers you that Samsung a don't.
The monthly security patches are again useless considering Samsung's Knox system is arguably the most secure thing on Android regardless of your Android version.
Lastly the software on the pixel 3 is anything but amazing. Apps refreshing Everytime you have 4+ open. Constant hiccup here and there. The restrictions that Google have put on the phone in terms of only fast charging on their wireless charger and etc is against what Android is.
The pixel is a great camera and ok smartphone.
The note is an amazing phone in every other category.
I own both phones and Samsung being on a later software makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. I feel like I'm not missing out on anything .
On the pixel I'm missing out on my SD card. My headphones jack. My ability to wirelessly fast charge everywhere and the confidence that my battery will last the whole day.
I know this is a pixel forum but let's be real and take off our Google glasses. The note 9 is the best phone out right now period. The 3 xl is a great phone with many disapointments
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps it is you that it is trying to justify the sad $1300+ price after taxes of the Note 9. While I do not argue that Note phones are generally great phones for some people, You are wrong on many levels and clearly do not have a clue about Andorid systems. While it's true that Verizon phones go on sale all the time at a discounted price, the reason for this is because they lock you in on 2 year contracts. At the end of the day you are paying more for your phone. While Amazon shows today the price of the brand new unlocked Note 9 at $725 you would be hard pressed to find the unlocked version of the 128 GB Pixel for less than its original price anywhere. While it's true that the Pixel may be $200-$400 off, If you look at the Note 9 carrier versions, they have even had BOGO offers on multiple occasions. Last year's Note 8 is on sale on Craigslist for roughly $400+ in my area. Simply because nobody wants it. At the same time, the Pixel 2 XL is usually no less than $500 used (even considering the price was originally less than the Note 8).
On another note, about new OS updates not having new features, you are wrong on multiple levels. Here is a brief list of new features introduced under Android Pie which are still NOT available to 99 % of Samsung users: Adaptive settings for battery life, screen brightness, app suggestions, etc..., Cut-out support, HEIC support which has better image compression support, New gesture navigations, New Google material Theme, An official dark theme, 157 new emojis, Night site (for Pixel phones), and so many more! To suggest that there are no new features in a new OS release shows your well-rounded ignorance about the topic. You may feel like you are not missing out on anything, but I think a great majority of smart phone owners would appreciate having the latest OS and security upgrades.
As far as headphone jacks, yes, I agree they are useful, but in my case, I had already upgraded to wireless anyways and so has most of the world from I-phones, to countless other Android phone manufacturers. It's just a matter of time before Samsung jumps on the bandwagon as well. And as far as wireless charging, if it's true what you claim that you have a Pixel 3 then you would know that it DOES come with fast wireless charging as well. So, they are even on that front. As far as battery lasting all day, my Pixel 3XL still has about 20% battery at the end of the day under heavy use, so not an issue for me, either.
I don't take away from the Samsung Note 9's appeal when it comes to screen quality, battery life and overall look and design. Remember I have a Note 8 and have used Samsung for years. But to claim that the features of the Pixel 3 OS are useless or not important shows your bitterness towards not having access to Pie yet. Good luck with your non-rootable, overpriced and over 6-month-outdated OS Note 9. MY prediction is that in the next few months you will see the price tumble to half it's value as Samsung struggles to sell its backed up inventory that nobody wants. By the time Android Pie reaches most Samsung phones, we will be a couple of months away from Android Q which will be out with a new set of features and according to you, useless and unimportant upgrades.

My Galaxy S8 blows this phone away, battery life, screen size, sound. I haven't noticed anything new with Pie. I'm no camera buff my S8 took great pictures. I'm trying to like this phone but it is hard to do.

13druber said:
My Galaxy S8 blows this phone away, battery life, screen size, sound. I haven't noticed anything new with Pie. I'm no camera buff my S8 took great pictures. I'm trying to like this phone but it is hard to do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From my personal experience, my Galaxy S8 constantly freezes and has worse battery life than my Pixel 3Xl. I understand user results and experiences are different for everyone. While some people claim to have had issues with apps closing on the background on Pixel 3 Xl, I never had this issue. Read up on Android Pie features. There are plenty of new worthwhile feature upgrades. Probably the most important one is adaptive battery. I think it makes a huge difference in the battery life of any phone. My Pixel 3Xl battery lasts all day. On my Galaxy 8 phone, midday I was more than halfway through the battery, same apps, and same time used. I used to constantly have to plug in my phone for juice. I rarely have to plug it in now except at night or extreme heavy use. As far as the screen size/quality, IMO, they are very similar but the sound on my stereo front speakers on the Pixel 3Xl is far superior to my S8's.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Eudeferrer said:
From my personal experience, my Galaxy S8 constantly freezes and has worse battery life than my Pixel 3Xl. I understand user results and experiences are different for everyone. While some people claim to have had issues with apps closing on the background on Pixel 3 Xl, I never had this issue. Read up on Android Pie features. There are plenty of new worthwhile feature upgrades. Probably the most important one is adaptive battery. I think it makes a huge difference in the battery life of any phone. My Pixel 3Xl battery lasts all day. On my Galaxy 8 phone, midday I was more than halfway through the battery, same apps, and same time used. I used to constantly have to plug in my phone for juice. I rarely have to plug it in now except at night or extreme heavy use. As far as the screen size/quality, IMO, they are very similar but the sound on my stereo front speakers on the Pixel 3Xl is far superior to my S8's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm talking audio thru BT. Headphones and my BT speaker. It is all treble. My battery life is horrible on this and no expanded memory. I'm just trying to get used to this phone, I had a Nexus 5 I loved it. I just need time to adjust. I don't have any performance issues, seems pretty fast. I'll check out the Pie features, thanks.

I own both, honestly find the note to be the better all round phone and always feel limited by the max128gb storage, yes it is enough but does not leave much wiggle room. Older OS or not the Note feels more polished.
The software experience is better on the 3xl but there are bugs still (gboard 1 handed mode [emoji2357]) and some missing features (ability to schedule AOD) The camera though is just better especially in low light.
If the pixel had a 256gb option I'd probably not have the note though. Having said that if the OP6t or mate 20 had a (proper) always on display I'd likely have one of them instead!
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

13druber said:
I'm talking audio thru BT. Headphones and my BT speaker. It is all treble. My battery life is horrible on this and no expanded memory. I'm just trying to get used to this phone, I had a Nexus 5 I loved it. I just need time to adjust. I don't have any performance issues, seems pretty fast. I'll check out the Pie features, thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps you should install Viper if you are rooted in your Pixel. It's very easy to use and easily corrects any issues with sounds quality you may have. You can truly customize the sound to your personal preference. You could also have a defective phone because my $25 Bluetooth wireless headphones from Amazon sound amazing on my Pixel. As far as expanded memory, I bought a 256 gb USB-c type drive from Amazon for $52 that I connect directly to my Pixel and I save all my backups and important files there. It's as easy as connecting it to your phone on the USB port and it will show up internally as a drive. I save Twrp backups, Titanium backups, pics, downloaded files and a ton of things. No need to miss your expanded memory card slot.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Not sure how your getting bad battery life. I'm getting over 8 hours of screen on time with about 2 days worth of life. As far as being bogged down, again, no issues here. Pixel doesn't need 8gb of ram because it doesn't have 2 app stores, 2 text apps, 2 note apps, 2 browsers, 2 file manegers......see where I'm going?
Samsung has MASSIVE amounts of bloat. Root? Maybe, but with knox, Samsung's are for people who don't know how to take advantage of the unlocked bootloader. The UI is atrocious as well. I kind of like how you can download mods and filters for the camera, but The pixel is still better.
As great as expandable memory is, the read write speed are dirt slow compared to writing to the system. The Pixel having super speed USB type c, makes otg a great option for extra storage.
Me personally, being a Verizon chump, the Nexus 6p was my first Google phone. Which made my S4 the VERY LAST non Google phone with the exception of maybe a One+ device.
Fire Hound 8.1

Eudeferrer said:
Perhaps you should install Viper if you are rooted in your Pixel. It's very easy to use and easily corrects any issues with sounds quality you may have. You can truly customize the sound to your personal preference. You could also have a defective phone because my $25 Bluetooth wireless headphones from Amazon sound amazing on my Pixel. As far as expanded memory, I bought a 256 gb USB-c type drive from Amazon for $52 that I connect directly to my Pixel and I save all my backups and important files there. It's as easy as connecting it to your phone on the USB port and it will show up internally as a drive. I save Twrp backups, Titanium backups, pics, downloaded files and a ton of things. No need to miss your expanded memory card slot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bootloader is locked. I have always used viper, too bad it doesn't come on this phone

13druber said:
My bootloader is locked. I have always used viper, too bad it doesn't come on this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm assuming then, you are on the Verizon version because that's the only one you can't unlock bootloader. If you are not on Verizon version, it's easy to unlock. There are many tutorials on how to do it and It takes only a few minutes. I was tempted to get the Verizon version because they had great deals on it but I moved away from Samsung because of that same reason. I wanted to root my phone . A locked bootloader on this phone means I might ss well have bought a Samsung phone again. I did not want to be in the same boat with this phone. Hey, at least you can still get timely updates and support for 3 years, something Samsung will never do.
Sent from my [device_name] using XDA-Developers Legacy app

Shaftamle said:
Not sure how your getting bad battery life. I'm getting over 8 hours of screen on time with about 2 days worth of life. As far as being bogged down, again, no issues here. Pixel doesn't need 8gb of ram because it doesn't have 2 app stores, 2 text apps, 2 note apps, 2 browsers, 2 file manegers......see where I'm going?
Samsung has MASSIVE amounts of bloat. Root? Maybe, but with knox, Samsung's are for people who don't know how to take advantage of the unlocked bootloader. The UI is atrocious as well. I kind of like how you can download mods and filters for the camera, but The pixel is still better.
As great as expandable memory is, the read write speed are dirt slow compared to writing to the system. The Pixel having super speed USB type c, makes otg a great option for extra storage.
Me personally, being a Verizon chump, the Nexus 6p was my first Google phone. Which made my S4 the VERY LAST non Google phone with the exception of maybe a One+ device.
Fire Hound 8.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a big thread in the s9 forum about "debloating" the phone. It requires you to manually disable the unwanted apps though.

Eudeferrer said:
I'm assuming then, you are on the Verizon version because that's the only one you can't unlock bootloader. If you are not on Verizon version, it's easy to unlock. There are many tutorials on how to do it and It takes only a few minutes. I was tempted to get the Verizon version because they had great deals on it but I moved away from Samsung because of that same reason. I wanted to root my phone . A locked bootloader on this phone means I might ss well have bought a Samsung phone again. I did not want to be in the same boat with this phone. Hey, at least you can still get timely updates and support for 3 years, something Samsung will never do.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, Verizon ?

Shaftamle said:
Not sure how your getting bad battery life. I'm getting over 8 hours of screen on time with about 2 days worth of life. As far as being bogged down, again, no issues here. Pixel doesn't need 8gb of ram because it doesn't have 2 app stores, 2 text apps, 2 note apps, 2 browsers, 2 file manegers......see where I'm going?
Samsung has MASSIVE amounts of bloat. Root? Maybe, but with knox, Samsung's are for people who don't know how to take advantage of the unlocked bootloader. The UI is atrocious as well. I kind of like how you can download mods and filters for the camera, but The pixel is still better.
As great as expandable memory is, the read write speed are dirt slow compared to writing to the system. The Pixel having super speed USB type c, makes otg a great option for extra storage.
Me personally, being a Verizon chump, the Nexus 6p was my first Google phone. Which made my S4 the VERY LAST non Google phone with the exception of maybe a One+ device.
Fire Hound 8.1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When u said the s4 was your last Samsung phone I knew why everything you were saying about Samsung is so outdated. They are not what they used to be. Since the s8 their ui and bloat has been a lot better and they let you disable almost everything now.
Like mentioned in my previous post it's all about preference and what's more important to you when it comes to which phone the individual prefers but looking at it spec for spec, performance for performance, value for money and etc the note is the best phone on the market.
To people like me and you who love stock Android most other things dont matter and we would still buy a pixel 10 out of 10 times . I'm just talking about overall
Also IDK how you're getting sot of 8 hours. I get 5 at best and there are numerous amounts of battery drain threads on this forum so it's not just me dealing with bad battery life. And almost every YouTube battery test have the pixels near the bottom

flavioa said:
When u said the s4 was your last Samsung phone I knew why everything you were saying about Samsung is so outdated. They are not what they used to be. Since the s8 their ui and bloat has been a lot better and they let you disable almost everything now.
Like mentioned in my previous post it's all about preference and what's more important to you when it comes to which phone the individual prefers but looking at it spec for spec, performance for performance, value for money and etc the note is the best phone on the market.
To people like me and you who love stock Android most other things dont matter and we would still buy a pixel 10 out of 10 times . I'm just talking about overall
Also IDK how you're getting sot of 8 hours. I get 5 at best and there are numerous amounts of battery drain threads on this forum so it's not just me dealing with bad battery life. And almost every YouTube battery test have the pixels near the bottom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely know things have been cleaned up a little I have an s8 for work. Like you said it's definitely personal preference. But the reason my last Samsung was the S4 is because that was the last one without Knox. I'm not a fan of locked bootloaders. Hardware and performance the note may have a slight edge.the dollar for dollar I'd still go with the pixel. It's a $200 price difference if you bought the pixel at release. If you waited a month it was 600. In my opinion there's no way the note is $400 better. But that's my opinion.
I guess I'm just stuck back in the day when Android was actually a phone that you could make your own. I just don't like how Samsung tries to push their garbage on you with every handset that you buy. But hey to each is own.
As far as battery goes, 8 hours with my tops but I'm definitely getting 7 plus since I got the phone.
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Fire Hound 8.1

Vivo NexS most underrated phone of 2018

Some renders of the Oneplus 7 are floating around the internet and OnePlus fans are having orgasms over the possible design having a pop-up camera and full-screen. However, the Oneplus won't have a headphone jack like ours. I'm laughing to myself since we already own one.
I have a simple theory as to why this awesome phone flew under the radar last year but is being copied more and more. When it came out people rushed to buy immediately and reviewers rushed to review it too. But it was the Chinese version and 95% of reviews online are for the Chinese version only. The early buyers (including here) and reviewers had all sorts of complaints because they didn't wait for the Global version to be released. The early reviewers also didn't go back and review the Global version either, therefore it was stuck with inaccurate reviews for potential buyers to see.
I've been following the announcement and release of various phones over the last few months and I honestly don't see anything that surpasses my NexS overall. In other words, I don't see any compelling reason to replace my NexS in the near future. It still easily holds it's own hardware and design wise so far in 2019.

My toughts exactly....

Twotems said:
Some renders of the Oneplus 7 are floating around the internet and OnePlus fans are having orgasms over the possible design having a pop-up camera and full-screen. However, the Oneplus won't have a headphone jack like ours. I'm laughing to myself since we already own one.
I have a simple theory as to why this awesome phone flew under the radar last year but is being copied more and more. When it came out people rushed to buy immediately and reviewers rushed to review it too. But it was the Chinese version and 95% of reviews online are for the Chinese version only. The early buyers (including here) and reviewers had all sorts of complaints because they didn't wait for the Global version to be released. The early reviewers also didn't go back and review the Global version either, therefore it was stuck with inaccurate reviews for potential buyers to see.
I've been following the announcement and release of various phones over the last few months and I honestly don't see anything that surpasses my NexS overall. In other words, I don't see any compelling reason to replace my NexS in the near future. It still easily holds it's own hardware and design wise so far in 2019.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly this! That was the problem and almost all of the complains in the chinese version that people had in the reviews are non-existent in the global version...but vivo could have pushed to send them the global version to re-review...

Aggre most of the parts with observation above but the main issue with Vivo smartphone is that.
1.Lacking landing to western markets.
2.Lacking or not good enough marketing strategy.
3.No developers friendly(if not win the hard-core user base how will you win the majority of users who don't know even the existing of Vivo as OEM smartphone maker)
4.People in western world don't like that IOS hevelly inspired Fantouch OS skin just like any kind ios skin by others OEM even being under global rom umbrella.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Yep, without a doubt one of the phones of the year. I really love my Nex S.

paatha13 said:
Aggre most of the parts with observation above but the main issue with Vivo smartphone is that.
1.Lacking landing to western markets.
2.Lacking or not good enough marketing strategy.
3.No developers friendly(if not win the hard-core user base how will you win the majority of users who don't know even the existing of Vivo as OEM smartphone maker)
4.People in western world don't like that IOS hevelly inspired Fantouch OS skin just like any kind ios skin by others OEM even being under global rom umbrella.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with 1 & 2 but not 3 & 4.
The modding community is less than one-tenth of one percent in the mobile phone world.
I would say that if the phone is outstanding enough then the skin doesn't matter. The iPhone is a good example. It sells well despite mediocre software features and a locked down OS. Personally I changed my launcher immediately.

Twotems said:
I agree with 1 & 2 but not 3 & 4.
The modding community is less than one-tenth of one percent in the mobile phone world.
I would say that if the phone is outstanding enough then the skin doesn't matter. The iPhone is a good example. It sells well despite mediocre software features and a locked down OS. Personally I changed my launcher immediately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personal talking don't have any issue with Fantouch skin as UI aspects.
Just 2-3 missing software features that's all who are indipended from Fantouch but has to do with stupid decision made by them.
But most of people in western countries does not like at all hevelly ios inspired android skin.
Even global rom is not enough they must adopt more stock android UI elements.
Look for example Oneplus within 5 years manage to gain respect and hugely adoption from western hemisphere by just following near stock Android UI.
They're fifth place among OEM for selling device within 5-6 biggest European countries.
In India they're third place.
Without any kind marketing strategy without any retailers partnership,without any advertising with exception last 1.5 year that corporate with Amazon for selling their device and most of all with the hugely support by hard core user base even being vastly minority BUT their contributions for oneplus rapidly growing is huge without any doubt.
Vivo has no luck at all in western hemisphere if they don't adopt near stock android UI despite you and me and others few that don't have issues with Fantouch.
We are minority.
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Fed up Samsung fanboi looking for new phone / Half rant

Hi All,
I'm coming at you with a different type of post, one where I'm looking for everyone's expertise in choosing a new phone to replace my S21+ Exynos 256gb.
I've had the phone since launch, and I was forced to get the Exynos version as it's the only one available in my market (no SD).
I've had a myriad of problems and frustrations with this particular phone, and a few to mention are the fact that Fast charge and Super Fast charge no longer work. The phone refuses to charge in these modes even though I haven't changed my charger setup (genuine super fast charger and cable). Moreover, when the phone reaches a certain low battery level you cannot charge it because there's a "moisture detected in your port" error. It happens very randomly and yes, I've checked for moisture and pocket lint/dust each time, the phone and charging port are in pristine condition (air relative humidity in my home is ~40-50%). This even happens if I turn off the phone and try to charge it.
One thing that allows me to charge it in this condition is either - Wireless charging, which makes the phone scalding hot in a few minutes and the charging of course stops, or using a very old external battery (low amps maybe?) with it's built-in type-c cable.
My second gripe is camera UI performance. From the moment you start the camera and the moment you can take pictures there's a window of time where it acts very choppy and unresponsive (the whole phone does), and the interface takes time to draw to the whole screen. Sometimes when you change modes or exit the app and open it again, the same happens. Still on the topic of the camera, when I start the "Pro mode" and start working on a shot, including focusing, setting isso/exposure, zooming in/out and just general work to frame the best shot, the phone gets so hot in the upper right corner that you're given the impression it's gonna burn soon . I think the camera setup uses way more processing power than the phone is able to deliver for extended periods of time. (keep in mind we're talking about 3-5 minutes, not hours).
Third and final gripe is software+hardware performance. I've switched to this phone from an S10+ and I wholeheartedly say that the S10+ combination of hardware and software delivered more day-to-day usage performance than the S21+. The interface was snappy, there was no lag and no applications were "hanging" or taking too much time to process changes or screen refreshes. My overall experience with the S21+ has been horrible in terms of usability, it somehow gives the impresion of an underpowered computer trying to run the most advanced software. I won't go into details on specific apps and scenarios, but I have been extensively multitasking on my old s10+ with both work and personal apps at the same time and I have not had this level of dissatisfaction with the phone's performance like with the S21+. It feels like I'm using a phone 2-3 generations older.
I know, I know, I'm whining, but I was very enthusiastic about getting a newer phone, after having a stellar experience with my old S10+, and this s21+ has delivered only problems and disappointments.
I'm a long time Samsung fan (may flagship phones over the years, Samsung TVs and appliances, you name it).
But I think time has come to say goodbye to the smartphone division of Samsung. Continuing to use Samsung phones would be at a detriment to me and I am trying to avoid that.
That being said - I am looking for an alternative, maybe it's time to try Snapdragon at this point in my life since Samsung only sold Exynos phones on my market and that's what I've been using along these years.
I've been looking at the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro recently. Are there any other alternatives? I've been so far up with Samsung products that I don't even know who's their competition these days!
Thank you very much for reading my rant!

adrscu said:
I've been looking at the Xiaomi Mi 11 Pro recently. Are there any other alternatives? I've been so far up with Samsung products that I don't even know who's their competition these days!
Thank you very much for reading my rant!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, your post is too long that I believe not everyone will bother to read your personal story telling, including my self.
Secondly, you need to be more specific when calling a phone model because one letter or number means a totally different phone AND specifications.
I also was a fan of Samsung up to the Galaxy S2 which I believe was the best phone they ever made, everything after that is pure overpriced marketing garbage.
I also owned other Samsung phones too and I am not impressed by their price compared to what they offer.
Another reason why I dislike (and won't buy anymore) Samsung products is because their CEO poked and derided Huawei when America (and its slave allies) banned Huawei out of the country citing security reasons.
Obviously Samsung is worried about sales in the US and it is ready to say anything its master orders to.
Regarding Xiaomi, this year it has became the world's second manufacturer for sales and that tells which phone manufacturer company is leading in the world.
I'm sorry that you wasted a lot of money on a Samsung crap (like I did), I advise you look into Xiaomi or Poco (same as Xiaomi) because they offer the best available technology at the best price compared to other manufacturers.
And when asking for suggestions you need to (very very briefly) tell what you're looking for in a phone.
By the way, I also have a Samsung washing machine, it works but it's pure garbage because when is spins fast it makes too much noise compared to my much older washing machine.

Hello @mobnoob and thanks for your extensive reply.
I've since gone with the Oneplus 9 pro and I feel it fills my needs fine until now.
As to appliances, I've started exploring other manufacturers and it seems there are some good options out there. It feels weirdly good to be free

adrscu said:
Hello @mobnoob and thanks for your extensive reply.
I've since gone with the Oneplus 9 pro and I feel it fills my needs fine until now.
As to appliances, I've started exploring other manufacturers and it seems there are some good options out there. It feels weirdly good to be free
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The One Plus 9 Pro looks a nice phone and it offers a great value for what it costs but for my needs a phone must have at least a 5000mAh battery because I use Google Maps and GPS a lot.
I didn't update my previous preference, I got a Poco M3 global (EU) which is trash.
It's made in China by Xiaomi, notifications on a locked screen have a lot of problems so I need always to unlock the screen and check IF I got a message.
MIUI developed a always on screen APP which maybe fixes the problem, I updated the phone to the latest MIUI 12, I see people on Youtube showing the APP in the settings BUT I don't have it!
I found out that Xiaomi only offer this APP to the Chinese market, how stupid is that???
Also I'm not able to receive MMS messages anymore, weak wi-fi, overheating when charging etc. etc..
I tried to contact both Xiaomi and Poco in many ways, they never replayed!!!

Is it worth buying a 3a these days?

I'm looking at getting a "new" phone to replace my Moto G5. I absolutely don't use the phone enough to justify paying big $$ for any totl model and I personally can't stand that every new phone is the size of a license plate (TBH, I hate using smart phones period, but they have just enough usefulness to make it worth having one)
The G5 biggest drawbacks are it's slow and laggy with most modern software (I'm running LOS 14.1 just to keep things as light as possible) and it doesn't have a compass either (I completely overlooked this when I purchased in the first place)
So, a refurb 3a is looking to be the best option so far - I would consider a 4a except the prices on those are ridiculous, even for a refurb. It all depends on whether the hardware can still cut it (btw the first thing I'll do is flash another rom, so the fact Google is dropping update support doesn't matter much)
Thoughts? (I also wouldn't mind alternative choices either)

If you're going to root and load a custom rom I go for the phones with the best hardware for the price. Older highly rated flagships be ideal. A SD card slot be useful.
Keep it simple: A 60hz refresh rate Amoled display with a high color rendering index.
That support 4G VoLTE.
Who's bootloaders compatible with firmware you want to load.
You have a lot of options, take your time and buy from a reliable vendor, whatever you chose.

Why do you want to change anyway? The Moto G5 still has official Lineage support. And technically it offers everything you need with a perfect small size. If you want a new one, you can't go wrong with a Pixel. I currently have a Pixel 1 and am very satisfied. Great quality and perfect custom rom support.

trisolaris said:
Why do you want to change anyway? The Moto G5 still has official Lineage support. And technically it offers everything you need with a perfect small size. If you want a new one, you can't go wrong with a Pixel. I currently have a Pixel 1 and am very satisfied. Great quality and perfect custom rom support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried out Lineage18, the g5 was an absolute slug. Probably because it only has 2gb of RAM. Way better sticking with Nougat/Oreo vintage roms. Even on LOS14 I find the odd time I do use it for typical smartphone crap (web browsing, etc) it still is pretty ponderous. I also keep kicking myself in the ass for not noticing there was no compass either. Based on that alone I would've bought something else.
The Pixels do seem to check all of the boxes, feature wise, and I keep reading recommendations about buying older flagship models. I just haven't done much digging into the Pixel lineup until now and have no idea how much older is a safe bet.
I also have looked at some of the older Oneplus models, but it seems like they're prone to screen issues - most of the ones I've seen for sale mention screen burn

Horrible Username said:
I tried out Lineage18, the g5 was an absolute slug. Probably because it only has 2gb of RAM. Way better sticking with Nougat/Oreo vintage roms. Even on LOS14 I find the odd time I do use it for typical smartphone crap (web browsing, etc) it still is pretty ponderous. I also keep kicking myself in the ass for not noticing there was no compass either. Based on that alone I would've bought something else.
The Pixels do seem to check all of the boxes, feature wise, and I keep reading recommendations about buying older flagship models. I just haven't done much digging into the Pixel lineup until now and have no idea how much older is a safe bet.
I also have looked at some of the older Oneplus models, but it seems like they're prone to screen issues - most of the ones I've seen for sale mention screen burn
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All AMOLED displays have a finite lifespan. The higher energy blue pixels tend to go first, reds last. How high the brightness and for how long has a direct bearing on lifespan.
This N10+ has been heavily used for 2.5 years and has gone through one battery, soon the second one as well. Yet the display is still perfect.
I almost never use in direct sunlight and rarely go above 50% brightness, I manual brightness only except very rarely. I also use dark mode and wallpapers. Minimized red icon pack.
Problem is with used devices all you can do is use ScreenTest to look for damage or age related wear. This should be done even with new displays. One of the first things I test. For a higher price unsold older factory sealed new phones from 2020 can be had. My second N10+ was one of these. The benefits are obvious but they are almost double the price of a used one.
Regardless always buy from a trusted vendor, best to talk with them first. There's a lot of scamming going on... always use a Visa or MC to buy it with so you can do a charge back if needed.

blackhawk said:
All AMOLED displays have a finite lifespan. The higher energy blue pixels tend to go first, reds last. How high the brightness and for how long has a direct bearing on lifespan.
This N10+ has been heavily used for 2.5 years and has gone through one battery, soon the second one as well. Yet the display is still perfect.
I almost never use in direct sunlight and rarely go above 50% brightness, I manual brightness only except very rarely. I also use dark mode and wallpapers. Minimized red icon pack.
Problem is with used devices all you can do is use ScreenTest to look for damage or age related wear. This should be done even with new displays. One of the first things I test. For a higher price unsold older factory sealed new phones from 2020 can be had. My second N10+ was one of these. The benefits are obvious but they are almost double the price of a used one.
Regardless always buy from a trusted vendor, best to talk with them first. There's a lot of scamming going on... always use a Visa or MC to buy it with so you can do a charge back if needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good advice. Most likely I'd end up buying through Amazon.ca. They seem to have a decent refurb. policy, and of course are great for returns.
I'd totally buy a NiB or open box except the prices for those units are absurd here in Canada - basically original MSRP for a 3yr. old phone when it comes to the Pixel models

Horrible Username said:
Good advice. Most likely I'd end up buying through Amazon.ca. They seem to have a decent refurb. policy, and of course are great for returns.
I'd totally buy a NiB or open box except the prices for those units are absurd here in Canada - basically original MSRP for a 3yr. old phone when it comes to the Pixel models
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not pleased with what Samsung or Google Android have released since the Note 10+ and Android 9 respectively. So I run my N10+'s and just don't care... or update.
Probably be 2-4 years until I buy another phone.

Maybe a Sony device could be a solution. Sony have a very good developer support. You can find very good refurb devices at a good price.

Horrible Username said:
I'm looking at getting a "new" phone to replace my Moto G5. I absolutely don't use the phone enough to justify paying big $$ for any totl model and I personally can't stand that every new phone is the size of a license plate (TBH, I hate using smart phones period, but they have just enough usefulness to make it worth having one)
The G5 biggest drawbacks are it's slow and laggy with most modern software (I'm running LOS 14.1 just to keep things as light as possible) and it doesn't have a compass either (I completely overlooked this when I purchased in the first place)
So, a refurb 3a is looking to be the best option so far - I would consider a 4a except the prices on those are ridiculous, even for a refurb. It all depends on whether the hardware can still cut it (btw the first thing I'll do is flash another rom, so the fact Google is dropping update support doesn't matter much)
Thoughts? (I also wouldn't mind alternative choices either)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my pixel 3A a couple months ago, it's japan version. and i think this device still can be use as my primary device till a year ahead, i have nothing to complaint about this phone.

With 4G a SD card slot be useful.
12gb of ram be very useful.
The N10+* is a big (but thin) phone so you're probably hating that
However the Beast is just a joy to use. The spen is irreplaceable when needed for Smart Capture or as a bt remote camera shutter release. Build Q is impeccable as is its reliability... but it's huge... great for vids
The earlier S models from 2019 are smaller but lack the spen and the almost nonexistent bezel of the N10+, the N10 is smaller but so is the battery/SOT. The S series can be had with everything else though including a great AMOLED display. Stay away from all of the Folds.
I would make sure whatever you get has no higher than Android 10 on it. Because of the age of the phones you're targeting use the experiences of users as far as how they hold up and known faults for that model.
Samsung's especially the flagships are very customizable stock. The Galaxy store has hundreds of free icon packs, themes, plus the Good Lock family of customization apps.This is the Beast dark moded out, all stock running on Pie.
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
*Note, most of the Samsung Snapdragon variants are notoriously hard to root including the N10+.
Unfortunately that generation of Samsung's is where you see a big leap in performance especially in ones with 12gb of ram. The Exynos variants are easily rooted but depending on the model may have poorer performance than the Snapdragon's. Read newer user reviews to see if this is an issue.

Horrible Username said:
I'm looking at getting a "new" phone to replace my Moto G5. I absolutely don't use the phone enough to justify paying big $$ for any totl model and I personally can't stand that every new phone is the size of a license plate (TBH, I hate using smart phones period, but they have just enough usefulness to make it worth having one)
The G5 biggest drawbacks are it's slow and laggy with most modern software (I'm running LOS 14.1 just to keep things as light as possible) and it doesn't have a compass either (I completely overlooked this when I purchased in the first place)
So, a refurb 3a is looking to be the best option so far - I would consider a 4a except the prices on those are ridiculous, even for a refurb. It all depends on whether the hardware can still cut it (btw the first thing I'll do is flash another rom, so the fact Google is dropping update support doesn't matter much)
Thoughts? (I also wouldn't mind alternative choices either)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am in the same boat. Looking for Pixel 3a as they suppose to have a good camera and a smaller size. It's going to replace Oneplus X which still works fine but there is no Lineage support anymore and /e/OS has some software issues and no updates.
Did you get it or choose something else in the end? How much did you pay?
Thanks.

Fostel said:
I am in the same boat. Looking for Pixel 3a as they suppose to have a good camera and a smaller size. It's going to replace Oneplus X which still works fine but there is no Lineage support anymore and /e/OS has some software issues and no updates.
Did you get it or choose something else in the end? How much did you pay?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still haven't made up my mind yet, but It's looking more likely that I'll get either a 3 or a 4a. The price diff. between refurbed 3 and 3a on Amazon isn't enough to not get the better specced phone. The 4a are quite a bit more $$ here in Canada, but probably are more "future proof" with the 6gb of RAM. I doubt I'd bother with the 5G 4a however

Personally, I'd stay away from the Pixel 3 due to disappointing battery life and overheating issues. The 4a is a bit better. The best value IMO is the 5a. Same SoC as the 4a5g and 5, with a larger screen and battery.
Unless your credit is terrible, you'll likely qualify for the interest free financing. Look for a sale on the 5a when the 6a launches. I picked the 5a up for my wife for $349 when the 6/6Pro launched.

V0latyle said:
Personally, I'd stay away from the Pixel 3 due to disappointing battery life and overheating issues. The 4a is a bit better. The best value IMO is the 5a. Same SoC as the 4a5g and 5, with a larger screen and battery.
Unless your credit is terrible, you'll likely qualify for the interest free financing. Look for a sale on the 5a when the 6a launches. I picked the 5a up for my wife for $349 when the 6/6Pro launched.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably good advice, but I hate smartphones enough that there's no way I'd pay +$500 CAD just to get a refurb (TBH, for what and how much I use my phone, ~$200/250 is plenty). Plus, I would prefer to keep my screen size under 6"

I ordered Pixel 3A yesterday, based on the hype of the great camera and a good screen. Then I found that SO MANY users broke the screens just by a small 1 feet drop.
And yes, they had expensive screen protectors, cases and still, the screen shattered. As could be expected, Google is making the phone purposely weak as screen damage voids their warranty and cost a lot to replace.
Tons of Reddit and Google support posts evidencing this.
Why so many companies are advertising Pixel 3A screen replacement?
It's really simple - supply and demand!
Google is no different from Apple and other brands. They make those phones in China for a few bucks and sell them to you for a few hundred.
I will be returning this one and will look for a proper phone. I have Oneplus One (2014 model), Oneplus X (2015), and Oneplus 5T (2017). All of them were dropped multiple times, from more than one foot, sometimes on concrete.
They are still fully working. OP1 and OP5T just received the Android 12 update. Even the original batteries are still going strong. The Gorilla glass seems to be way better than the one they used on those 3A's.
The 3A is prone to screen crack. It's a weak phone with an inferior glass.
Hard to deny that after spending some time on research.

Fostel said:
I ordered Pixel 3A yesterday, based on the hype of the great camera and a good screen. Then I found that SO MANY users broke the screens just by a small 1 feet drop.
And yes, they had expensive screen protectors, cases and still, the screen shattered. As could be expected, Google is making the phone purposely weak as screen damage voids their warranty and cost a lot to replace.
Tons of Reddit and Google support posts evidencing this.
Why so many companies are advertising Pixel 3A screen replacement?
It's really simple - supply and demand!
Google is no different from Apple and other brands. They make those phones in China for a few bucks and sell them to you for a few hundred.
I will be returning this one and will look for a proper phone. I have Oneplus One (2014 model), Oneplus X (2015), and Oneplus 5T (2017). All of them were dropped multiple times, from more than one foot, sometimes on concrete.
They are still fully working. OP1 and OP5T just received the Android 12 update. Even the original batteries are still going strong. The Gorilla glass seems to be way better than the one they used on those 3A's.
The 3A is prone to screen crack. It's a weak phone with an inferior glass.
Hard to deny that after spending some time on research.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More good info. Considering I have a longstanding feud with gravity, maybe a 3a isn't a good choice for me.
Maybe I'll just say screw it and keep my Moto Potato until it complete packs it in

I can't vouch for the 3a, but the Pixel 2 is a similar form factor and power. I loved it, though it had overheating issues and some apparent software flaws with LineageOS. I'm here now because after cracking it, I dropped it again and the screen is finally dead. No case.
A year ago when I bought the Pixel 2, it was neck and neck with the 3a. I happened to get a deal on the 2 so that's what I went with. If you want a cheap Android phone it makes sense to get a popular old phone like a Pixel series. The good camera requires Google apps, and on the Pixel 2 it didn't always work. But that was a hacked APK to get night sight.

My Pixel 2 was very expensive (new from Google), and both of them developed bulged batteries, both the original and its warranty replacement. In contrast, my Pixel 3a started out cheaper, and has been trouble free ever since.
About a month ago, I noticed that there was a wide selection of used Pixel 3a's on Ebay for around $55 - $70! I bought several (all from vendor "wise-deals"; no affiliation) for my kids to use as Minecraft tablets, for which they're excellent. No complaints; battery life seems ok, and even the "fair" graded phone looks great. I like the simple clear Spigen Liquid Crystal case, $9 or $10 from Amazon. Currently it looks like the selection of used Pixels is down, but you can still get an unlocked 3a XL for $75 or so. A used Pixel 4a 5G also seems like a good deal at around $175, but of course that's more than twice the price.
The only downside I see to these used 3a's (or the 3a XL) is that Google is stopping all further software updates. They just pushed a June security update to my 3a, and there might be one more coming, but that's it. Definitely nothing past their current Android 12 for these released-in-2019 phones. If you ever want to install non-stock software, be sure to get the "unlocked" 3a 2020G model. It works on any (American) cellular network, and it's easy to unlock its bootloader and install a different Android ROM, just follow the instructions. The Verizon-only G020E model is usually slightly cheaper, but regardless of whether it is SIM locked or unlocked, it has a PERMANENTLY locked bootloader; you can NEVER install your own version of Android on it.

blackhawk said:
If you're going to root and load a custom rom I go for the phones with the best hardware for the price. Older highly rated flagships be ideal. A SD card slot be useful.
Keep it simple: A 60hz refresh rate Amoled display with a high color rendering index.
That support 4G VoLTE.
Who's bootloaders compatible with firmware you want to load.
You have a lot of options, take your time and buy from a reliable vendor, whatever you chose.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you recommend me a replacement for my P3A? the headphone jack is dead and I tried to open it thinking it was like the Nexus5/X but apparently it is glued on.. basically I ruined the entire edge of the phone trying to just replace the jack port. So I think I'll just get a new phone.
I use LineageOS, I'd like to keep using that, pref 64gb minimum 32gb, must have a headphone jack on the top of the phone, and able to load custom roms(lineage etc), kernels, root it, install something like TWRP backup permanently because it's so awkward on this phone I never once made a nandroid backup and I'd like to be able to do that again.
I'll be getting something used on ebay, it doesn't have to be powerful just at least a bit better than the P3a.
Could you ping me with a couple suggestions I can check out please?
Thanks in advance.

paradoxiumwind said:
Can you recommend me a replacement for my P3A? the headphone jack is dead and I tried to open it thinking it was like the Nexus5/X but apparently it is glued on.. basically I ruined the entire edge of the phone trying to just replace the jack port. So I think I'll just get a new phone.
I use LineageOS, I'd like to keep using that, pref 64gb minimum 32gb, must have a headphone jack on the top of the phone, and able to load custom roms(lineage etc), kernels, root it, install something like TWRP backup permanently because it's so awkward on this phone I never once made a nandroid backup and I'd like to be able to do that again.
I'll be getting something used on ebay, it doesn't have to be powerful just at least a bit better than the P3a.
Could you ping me with a couple suggestions I can check out please?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I run stock Samsung N10+'s. They are Snapdragon's that are notoriously hard to root with no 3.5mm jack. Not a good rooting candidate... but a superb workhorse.
You want expandable storage if possible. The upper midrange Samsung's have both. Like the S10. I'm not well enough versed to give you a good opinion on this.
For your purposes there may be better choices from other manufacturers like LG, HTC, etc.
This is a known good vendor that sells new, factory sealed Google and Samsung's, many were bought up as overstock. A good choice if you want a new unit. WYSIWYG...

Question Considering switching

Currently have an S21 ultra and am considering trading it in for a Pixel 7 pro. Would this be considered an upgrade?

That depends entirely on your usecase. Samsung offers a multitude of software gimmicks (we Pixel people call it bloatware) and a stellar display plus a relatively good battery life (by shutting down everything in the background*).
*https://dontkillmyapp.com/
Pixels on the other hand offer an extraordinary camera, a smooth software experience, quick updates and new features every couple of months.
Purely in terms of hardware and competition, the P7 Pro is designed to beat the S22 Ultra and will compete with the upcoming S23 Ultra, as such, yes - the P7 Pro can be considered an upgrade to your 1 3/4 year old S21 Ultra. But it's a bit like comparing a Porsche to a BMW - both are good, but both are also vitally different. Both offer a different set of features and are designed for a certain level of expectation. It's a question of taste, at the end of the day.

Agreed with @Morgrain. I went back to Samsung (Note 10+ 512 GB) after my Pixel 1 stopped receiving updates because I needed a phone with 512 GB of storage minimum, so it wasn't until the Pixel 6 Pro was offered with 512 GB that I could come back. Personally, I couldn't stand Samsung for a variety of reasons I detailed many times in several Pixel 6 Pro threads
roirraW edor ehT said:
My wife and I had the Note 10+, not the S21 Ultra, so I can't speak to that.
For the Note 10+, complaints were:
Slow ultrasonic in-screen fingerprint reader. Some folks have the same complaint about the P6P's optical in-screen, but it's worked very, very well for me.
Samsung's duplication of multiple services that Google supplies. You have to know what you're looking for and jump through all the proper hoops/settings to set defaults back to Google's solutions since that's what I prefer.
Related to Samsung's duplication of services/apps, their phone app duplicated a bunch of my contacts (and even tripled some) in a way that Google doesn't recognize them as duplicates, so I'd have to go through manually, compare, and delete or consolidate contacts.
How customization of the active Quick Setting tiles was set was really frustrating, up through and including Android 11 on the Note 10+. When it gave a list of the QS Tiles I had to choose from (to add to those that normally show), it presented them in a single horizontal scrolling row across the top of the screen only and in no order that made sense to this human, instead of Google's method of displaying all the tiles available in all of the screen real estate that's available, so even if the order the "inactive" ones doesn't make sense, at least I can see 14 of them all at once and only have a little over two pages of them instead of 8 pages of single-row QS tiles to choose what to activate. This is particularly frustrating when using third-party apps to enable better performing QS tiles for WiFi or Mobile Data toggling or other purposes, so I would have more than one nearly identical-looking toggle that would get confusing to choose from, and from what I remember, the custom third-party app-created QS tiles weren't necessarily together or at the very end of the scrolling list.
Despite disabling all background snoozing for particular apps like GMail, Hangouts/Chat, etc, I couldn't get timely notifications of emails and chat. This was particularly troublesome for work, which also uses Google for everything. I opt not to have a work-supplied phone as it would be iOS. As an aside, my coworkers who do have iPhones from work also have trouble with some chat notifications not being obvious or immediate or some such, so that wouldn't necessarily be a solution anyway.
Before the Note 10+ (on the Pixel 1 I used before it), my emails and chat notifications came through immediately. I sometimes got email notifications for work several hours after. I do enough multi-tasking and when I'm very busy I just don't get a chance to flip back to my Chrome GMail window on the computer so I rely on the phone notifications.
Sometimes I would get a phone notification of an email (both personal and work) in the GMail app hours after I had already seen the email in Chrome on the PC and had deleted it or in some cases at least definitely had read it and didn't do anything further with it.
My brother has a Galaxy S9+. This has been his and his big extended family's first smartphones of any kind. When I complained to him about the late or useless Note 10+ GMail and chat notifications, he told me he experiences the exact same thing and he assumed that was just the way Android is.
Factory resets and all disabling of background snoozing of affected apps didn't help at all.
Samsung gimped Do Not Disturb. When DnD came out with (I think it was 5.0 Lollipop), I hated it and gave up on it quickly. I don't remember at what point I started actually using it on the Pixel 1, but they definitely improved it tons. I don't recall exactly what Samsung's implementation was missing but it was very noticeable having come from the Pixel 1 and no longer being able to do some things. I think what Samsung was missing was the ultra-fine granularity of configuration I could do for each and every scheduled and common/unscheduled DnD profile as to what exceptions were allowed to get past DnD. They had some of it implemented but missing enough that it stuck out at the time.
Now that I have the P6P, I can say that the Note 10+'s night mode camera shots were really bad. I think they were worse than even the Pixel 1s'. The P6P does wonders with what little light is available, by comparison.
There may have been more but I can't recall at this time.
I did like the built-in stylus. My wife used hers tons more than I did, but it would be handy for Google Photos' magic eraser and for other things. Samsung owns patents that would keep anyone else's stylus from being quite as useful or convenient, however. If I remember correctly, between Apple and Samsung's stylus patents, everyone else's stylus just can't compare.
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The only thing I miss on my 21 Ultra is the 100x zoom, it took some great shots of the moon. I have a 6 Pro but ordered the 7 Pro so I'm excited to see the improvements.

I guess the biggest question I have is what features (besides the 100x zoom) would I lose from the S21 ultra and what from the P7P would I be missing out sticking with the S21U?

JamesR913 said:
I guess the biggest question I have is what features (besides the 100x zoom) would I lose from the S21 ultra and what from the P7P would I be missing out sticking with the S21U?
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The most obvious thing in the direction of what you would be missing from the P7P is Pixel-exclusive features (which normally trickle down to Samsung and others within a few years, but not always).
I love the Google Phone app's native customizable call screening feature for different types of incoming calls (likely spam, not in contacts, first time caller...). Also it's Hold For Me feature is great to avoid dumb, loud, annoying, repetitive hold "muzak". As far as I know, those features haven't made their way to non-Pixels yet, although they wouldn't be specific to the Pixel 7/Pro either.
I also love @siavash79's [MOD][Xposed+Magisk][Pre-Release] AOSP Mods - System modifications for AOSP-based Android 12+ on my rooted Pixel 6 Pro and look forward to finding out if it will need any adjustments to work on the P7P.

roirraW edor ehT said:
The most obvious thing in the direction of what you would be missing from the P7P is Pixel-exclusive features (which normally trickle down to Samsung and others within a few years, but not always).
I love the Google Phone app's native customizable call screening feature for different types of incoming calls (likely spam, not in contacts, first time caller...). Also it's Hold For Me feature is great to avoid dumb, loud, annoying, repetitive hold "muzak". As far as I know, those features haven't made their way to non-Pixels yet, although they wouldn't be specific to the Pixel 7/Pro either.
I also love @siavash79's [MOD][Xposed+Magisk][Pre-Release] AOSP Mods - System modifications for AOSP-based Android 12+ on my rooted Pixel 6 Pro and look forward to finding out if it will need any adjustments to work on the P7P.
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Regarding conversation of switching from Samsung to Google:
I personally think although good hardware is very important, we have to note that nowadays most of the phones have good quality hardware on them. (I do agree that Samsung offers the highest quality hardware).
Now, to me (and might be only me), the most important thing to choose a phone is not hardware, but is the "Software" it offers. The ROM should be safe, secure, rich in features, AND supported constantly be OEM.
When it comes to software, I think Samsung is one of the worst with regards to support: It's not open source, updates are very (very) much delayed, and it's too much far away from "original" android experience.
On the contrary (and even though I've personally suffered a lot from Google hardware in the past), Google phones offer everything Samsung doesn't: It's open source, "original" android experience, first to get updates (every single month on 5th), and first to get new Android (at least 6 months before others due to developer and beta releases)
So It's up to you to choose based on your priorities: Best hardware is offered by Samsung, best software is in Pixel
With regards to AOSPMods operating on P7: Since the source code of the ROM is the same as the released A13 source, I don't see why it shouldn't work well from day one: Unless proven otherwise

siavash79 said:
Regarding conversation of switching from Samsung to Google:
I personally think although good hardware is very important, we have to note that nowadays most of the phones have good quality hardware on them. (I do agree that Samsung offers the highest quality hardware).
Now, to me (and might be only me), the most important thing to choose a phone is not hardware, but is the "Software" it offers. The ROM should be safe, secure, rich in features, AND supported constantly be OEM.
When it comes to software, I think Samsung is one of the worst with regards to support: It's not open source, updates are very (very) much delayed, and it's too much far away from "original" android experience.
On the contrary (and even though I've personally suffered a lot from Google hardware in the past), Google phones offer everything Samsung doesn't: It's open source, "original" android experience, first to get updates (every single month on 5th), and first to get new Android (at least 6 months before others due to developer and beta releases)
So It's up to you to choose based on your priorities: Best hardware is offered by Samsung, best software is in Pixel
With regards to AOSPMods operating on P7: Since the source code of the ROM is the same as the released A13 source, I don't see why it shouldn't work well from day one: Unless proven otherwise
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With regards to both sides, they have their own issues. It's been proven that Samsung phones have a battery bloating issue after a few years of use, and this could be seen as a huge risk considering the batteries in question are lithium-ion, but as long as you don't plan to use it for more than 1-2 years, there should be no issue. The issue with the Pixel series of phones could be considered just as serious depending on your circumstances. I'm not sure if this issue carries onto the Pixel 7, but the Pixel 6a has appauling battery life because of Google's chip, which drains the battery even when on standby, and there's been reports of it dying in your pocket as well.

Just pulled the trigger. I figured worst case scenario I have 14 days to return the P7P if I don't like it.

JamesR913 said:
Just pulled the trigger. I figured worst case scenario I have 14 days to return the P7P if I don't like it.
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good luck to you. feel free to report back after the 14 days. I'm curious how the new pixel works day to day

Morgrain said:
That depends entirely on your usecase. Samsung offers a multitude of software gimmicks (we Pixel people call it bloatware) and a stellar display plus a relatively good battery life (by shutting down everything in the background*).
*https://dontkillmyapp.com/
Pixels on the other hand offer an extraordinary camera, a smooth software experience, quick updates and new features every couple of months.
Purely in terms of hardware and competition, the P7 Pro is designed to beat the S22 Ultra and will compete with the upcoming S23 Ultra, as such, yes - the P7 Pro can be considered an upgrade to your 1 3/4 year old S21 Ultra. But it's a bit like comparing a Porsche to a BMW - both are good, but both are also vitally different. Both offer a different set of features and are designed for a certain level of expectation. It's a question of taste, at the end of the day.
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Truth is the P7 Pro is still lags behind the S22U as far as hardware and performance is concerned.
S22 Ultra vs Pixel 7 Pro
Pros and cons to both. Hopefully the P7's don't come with the software baggage that plagued the P6 release.

hand-filer said:
Truth is the P7 Pro is still lags behind the S22U as far as hardware and performance is concerned.
S22 Ultra vs Pixel 7 Pro
Pros and cons to both. Hopefully the P7's don't come with the software baggage that plagued the P6 release.
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given the price, that doesn't surprise me at all.

Is there any solid backup system for Google Pixel phones (as Apple) ?
I am thinking to move for Pixel because in Samsung there is no reliable method to backup your data !!

A0_o said:
Is there any solid backup system for Google Pixel phones (as Apple) ?
I am thinking to move for Pixel because in Samsung there is no reliable method to backup your data !!
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Well, all Android phones have a backup system built in that runs automatically in the background. Is there a 3rd party option that might be better? You will have to do a little research and see what's available. But for the average person what comes with Android is adequate. YMMV

jaseman said:
Well, all Android phones have a backup system built in that runs automatically in the background. Is there a 3rd party option that might be better? You will have to do a little research and see what's available. But for the average person what comes with Android is adequate. YMMV
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Excuse me to disagree with you, There no YMMV in this kind of matter, When you bought a new phone they have to provide a way to transfer all your data as it is for the new one and forcing manufactures to be integrated. For me as natural user have to be feeling safe about my data and not lose it anytime or if the manufacture decide to blackmail user by storage spaces for Example (S22,S22+)
Me as photographer i have a lot of pictures captured by camera with copies after editing and +70GB Whatsapp conversations and there is no way to backup this photos and conversation by authentic way ( tell me about Whatsapp local backup and restore or 99% stuck of cloud).

A0_o said:
Is there any solid backup system for Google Pixel phones (as Apple) ?
I am thinking to move for Pixel because in Samsung there is no reliable method to backup your data !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Pixel phones used to have free unlimited storage for photos, but it seems to have been ditched with the release of the Pixel 6 series. You're better off buying a usb stick and putting all the data you can on it, or connecting your phone to your computer and backing up your data that way.

Misterxtc said:
The only thing I miss on my 21 Ultra is the 100x zoom, it took some great shots of the moon. I have a 6 Pro but ordered the 7 Pro so I'm excited to see the improvements.
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Yeah, I have the s22 Ultra and also like taking the moon shots. What's interesting is that, in anticipation of the 7 pro, I tried dialing back the s22 ultra zoom to 30x. I think the pix at 30x were better than those at higher zoom, so I'm hopeful the 7 pro zoom will still be pretty good.

Akira_Kitsune said:
The Pixel phones used to have free unlimited storage for photos, but it seems to have been ditched with the release of the Pixel 6 series. You're better off buying a usb stick and putting all the data you can on it, or connecting your phone to your computer and backing up your data that way.
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Defect point here is you have to do this manually if you have multiple paths or files.

A0_o said:
Defect point here is you have to do this manually if you have multiple paths or files.
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I do have multiple paths.
And I have a short makefile that synchronizes my Android(s) with the desktop using my AdbSync.exe (in the sig).
Of course you coud use batch (or shell) files and plain old ADB.

I currently have Samsung S22 Ultra. I was a devoted Note fan until the Note 7 and fire-starting issue. I have owned every pixel model since the beginning. Got rid of the 6 because of the bugs. My initial units of the 5 and 6 pro had hardware issues and needed to be exchanged, so I did not take Google's trade in offer on my ultra.
I love the ultra because of the spen (I have big fat fingers), but prefer the pixel os and it's exclusive features over One UI. Not a fan of the Sammy's photo processing either. My 7 Pro comes today and I will use it for a while to decide which one to keep.
Thank God for Swappa or I would be broke from buying the latest greatest smart phones!