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3 Wishes - What would you change?

I love my Nexus One, but like everything, as time goes by and new things come along, there are things I wish were different.
If you had 'three wishes' and could change only three things about the N1, what would it be?
Here's my list
1. By far my first wish would be for more application flash memory. Even with App2SD, there is just not enough space for all the apps I want to install. I'd love to see a minimum of 4GB of app memory.
2. Front Camera. Now that real video conferencing apps and reasonably fast 3G is available, this is a big deal.
3. Screen. We all know how terrible the touch screen is. I get real tired of locking and unlocking to 'reset' the digitizer once it's lost it's mind. While we're replacing the screen, going up to a 4" SuperAMOLED at a little higher res wouldn't hurt. Maybe 960x512 ?
Things I wouldn't change
- The dual, noise canceling mics. This works great.
- The titanium alloy case. Light, sturdy, cool.
- AMOLED. I'll never go back to LCD.
- multiple radio bands. Take it anywhere.
- Bare Android. Keep your UI's and overlays.
***Update***
Now that I've been playing with Darktremor's a2sd script on CM6.1.1, I have to revise my list. Google should really release a code update that allows users to (optionally) do just what DarkTremor's a2sd app does. Truly move the apps and Dalvik cache to the SD card. This really does remove the app memory limitation on the Nexus One. In fact I now have 145 apps installed totaling 256MB !
Note that this does require partitioning your SD card and creating an ext(2/3/4) partition and the whole process is not noob friendly, but if you take your time and do a little research first it's WELL WORTH IT!!
This will make you love your Nexus One again.
Now, about my list.
My new wish to replace the app memory item is:
- USB host mode and additional microUSB host port.
How cool would it be to be able to hook up keyboards, mice, external HD's, even monitors? We already know it can be done, but it would have been nice from the factory.

Actually, I wouldn't care about app space too much, since proper old-fashioned Apps2EXT allows installing as much as I can possibly imagine.
I also wouldn't change the screen size. Absolutely no need to go any larger. And that includes resolution - the only visible resolution artifacts are the result of PenTile AMOLED, and not lack of resolution. No need to make the GPU work much harder.
Things I would change:
1) Digitizer (touchscreen), for obvious reasons.
2) CPU - rebase on 7x30, to get the same CPU with twice faster GPU.
3) Better photo camera.

1. More geebees! Seriously, 4-8GB internal memory should be sufficient until Unreal Engine and id games get ported.
2. Dual-core NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor. Need I say more?
3. Hardware keyboard! I've had my N1 for over 6 months now and still can't get used to virtual keyboards. Swype is nice, but it's not multi-lingual.
Bonus round: Screen size bump to 4 inches would be nice. I find that the optimal size. At the very least an upgrade to a Super AMOLED.

In no particular order:
Better digitizer
More memory
Better speakerphone

Better screen - a cross between the retina display and a super amoled would do me, and with much improved touch screen performance.
Better gpu, coming from a galaxy s that is one thing I miss.
Better camera.
Alreet headphone socket which is actually flush. I really don't want to be buying headphones again to find the phone goes mental when I plug them in (apparently some headphones don't fit in the none flush jack and so the phone gets confused as to whether it's headphones or a headset). Found this out the hard way recently.
More internal app memory, though this isn't such a big deal any more.

3 wishes? i would pay for this...
1. new and BIGGER SCREEN. my eyes are hurting after using a hd2 (thats why im still on the hd2..) atleast 4" would be nice.. but i dont want to leave the 4.3"
2. QSD8x72.
3. erm.. hard to say, the two wishes there are everything i really want.. but probably we need a bit a better battery when if we had QSD8x72
best things on this device are obvious:
- like OP said, the second mic for noise canceling is awsome
- AMOLED is cool, even if the screen is too small
- THE ****IN TRACKBALL, GODDAMN I LOVE IT
- the whole design of the device is awsome
EDIT: oooh i forgot.. 3.5 audio jack on the bottom plz.. at the top just sucks. and get the power key to the other side where the jack now is...

I still have trouble with my wifi connection temporarily dropping after I wake the phone, but I am not sure if that is a hardware or software issue.
I wouldn't mind a line-out jack for audio. Even better would be an HDMI out jack for video capability.
The antenna could be redesigned so the signal wouldn't be affected by hand placement. It's not as bad as some but it could be better.
Overall, though, in terms of design and performance the N1 still rocks for being 11 months old. That is normally eons in terms of the product cycle in this market. I'm so glad I bought two for my wife and I.

-More memory
-Better speakers
-Best digitizer
-SD card slot on outside

My list...
4.3" SAMOLED2 display
Tegra 2 Dual-Core CPU/GPU
Front facing camera

HDMI Out
Printing support (wifi/network)
Desktop Chrome browser....will also need a faster CPU.

1. better speaker
2. Better battery life without changing the size
3. Maybe better camera. Like 12Mp so it can record 1080p.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

x986123 said:
My list...
4.3" SAMOLED2 display
Tegra 2 Dual-Core CPU/GPU
Front facing camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Niceee
10chars

Battery life
Better power button. I'm on my second and it too is buggy.
Better external speaker.
Better digitizer is a. Close 4th.

Digitizer. It felt really disappointing to learn that the sensor could only handle two inputs, and crappily at that. I wish it had shipped with one that didn't spaz out whenever the battery was charging.
Camera Button. I'm not a huge photogeek but this would have been a slick feature. Tapping the screen always shakes the camera noticably, and my photos come out blurred. I think a camera button could have limited that.
Front Facing Camera. I think this really would have helped to future-proof the N1; now, if (hopefully when) a video chat protocol is standardized for the Android platform, I'll have to upgrade if I want to be able to utilize it.
I also still have conflict with the capacitive buttons. I like them because they're sleek and sit flush with the screen. However, I dislike them because they don't work when the phone is locked (in case I want to remap the buttons to, say, skip songs).

1. better digitizer (touchscreen)
2. hdmi out
i think the intention of this post was more towards what you would change and not what phone would you rather buy today.. super amoled and tegra are new technologies and weren't available when the nexus was created
what others have been saying:
ffc: i can live without a front facing cam because i can still video call people, the only reason i would ever use video is to show someone something not just so that i can talk face to face
gpu: it's not that bad, it's not the best but it is almost a year old now
camera: decent enough, do you really need 1080p?
battery: that's not really much to do with the phone, all batteries suck

This is tough, I had to cross a few things out:
1) 4" screen without all the current problems
(love the size and weight, but a tiny bit more screen would be nice. and we all know the other problems)
2) Better battery life
(currently have to charge it 2-3 times a day)
3) Better voice recognition
(I'm from Texas but VR hardly understands me. And the more I repeat a phrase, the more it misunderstands the words.)

Cool
I'm impressed, There are actually a lot of good ideas here.
I'm already cobbling them together into my "perfect phone" list.
So far it looks like:
- Vanilla Android 2.2.1+
- Unlocked
- Multiple Radio bands (like the N1)
- Minimum of HSDPA support, HSDPA+ or LTE pref.
- Minimum of 4GB app storage
- MicroSD slot that's accessible without removing battery.
- Front camera
- 5 MP rear camera (I don't care what anyone says, any more than 5MP in a camera with an aperture that small is a bad idea and only done for marketing reasons. It's all about light gathering, not resolution. Think the opposite of DPI as it's used in screens and printers. The lower the camera pixels per inch, the better)
- 720p video at 30fps
- SuperAMOLED screen. LCD is the past, forget it.
- dual core CPU with GFX acceleration
- HDMI output
- FM radio
- Micro USB with host mode option.
Note that these are in addition to all the standard Nexus One features like a titanium allow case, dual microphones, etc.

Megapixel Myth
william tanaya said:
1. better speaker
2. Better battery life without changing the size
3. Maybe better camera. Like 12Mp so it can record 1080p.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding #3, you've fallen into the megapixel myth. Megapixels don't mean much of anything for most consumer devices. Sure, if you are a pro photographer taking pictures for magazines or billboards, then yes. maybe you need a high MP camera. For everyone else, it's nonsense.
For example, you wished for 12MP to handle 1080p video. but the fact is that full HD, 1920x1080 is only 2MP!
On a cell phone with a tiny camera chip, the less MP, the better. Why? Because this means that each pixel element is larger and therefore can capture more light. This results in better saturation, faster ISO ratings, and better low light capability.
Anything over 5MP in a cell phone is a waste and counter-productive.
Personally I also think 8MP is the limit of diminishing returns on consumer digital cameras, and 12MP for DSLRs.
If you follow digital camera news, you'll find that the biggest push is to put larger image sensors in cameras.

unibody titanium case
unbreakable screen
waterproof to 100m
fold out knife and bottle opener

Tachyon_1 said:
Regarding #3, you've fallen into the megapixel myth. Megapixels don't mean much of anything for most consumer devices. Sure, if you are a pro photographer taking pictures for magazines or billboards, then yes. maybe you need a high MP camera. For everyone else, it's nonsense.
For example, you wished for 12MP to handle 1080p video. but the fact is that full HD, 1920x1080 is only 2MP!
On a cell phone with a tiny camera chip, the less MP, the better. Why? Because this means that each pixel element is larger and therefore can capture more light. This results in better saturation, faster ISO ratings, and better low light capability.
Anything over 5MP in a cell phone is a waste and counter-productive.
Personally I also think 8MP is the limit of diminishing returns on consumer digital cameras, and 12MP for DSLRs.
If you follow digital camera news, you'll find that the biggest push is to put larger image sensors in cameras.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice to know that, sounds logic..
ty..^^

My comparison between OnePlus One and Honor 6 Plus

Hi All
This supposed to be subjective comparison between OnePlus One and Honor 6 Plus. I will not get into too much of technical details as internet is full or such reviews already. It is written based on my usage style and you will clearly see what is important for me. I am open for debate but just in case of any fanboys from either camp would like to argue with me – let me stress it out – this MY and SUBJECTIVE opinion and you can have yours as well
It will concentrate on main aspects as:
1. Overall build quality;
2. Screen quality;
3. Speaker quality;
4. Overall subjective speed;
5. OS;
6. Battery life;
7. Camera quality;
There will be no summary saying that OPO or H6+ is better as there are different aspects each of us takes into account and I would prefer each of you get its own conclusion.
1. Overall build quality.
Honor 6 Plus
H6+ feels solid, it reminds me very much small brick my iPhone 4 was. In various reviews I read that silver band around edges was metal but I dare to doubt. In my opinion it is plastic imitating metal. But it does a good job. You don’t fear that H6+ will fall apart in your hand. Some of my previous Samsung devices had this fragile feeling (especially this flimsy battery cover bending under fingers). Here we have very solid build mobile.
Still quality is not ideal – in my case the black plastic lip between screen and silver band is not even. Not something you will notice but as I am freaking perfectionist I do (believe me) check construction quality with my nose almost touching the mobile under each angle. Some reviewers complained about large gap on the back of the phone between back glass and black plastic. On my phone this is not an issue and glass seems to be glued perfectly. As you see these are not major drawbacks and I believe that they are totally acceptable on the sub £300 mobile.
OnePlus One
Oh boy I love the feeling of this mobile – this may be a bit of fetishism but I love the black back feel it’s “like sand paper meets velvet” feeling. It has great grip and its silver frame around display adds this elegant look. I have been using OPO for around 8 months and it still looks as new. Really I can’t say a bad word about its construction quality.
Both phones are quite different in terms of design and really which one you prefer it’s down to your preferences.
2. Screen quality;
Both mobiles have the same screen resolution and as far as I understand both are IPS displays with Gorilla Glass on top. Having them side by side I noticed that my OPO has much colder colours (I know that different batches of OPO had different colour temperatures on their screens). Even setting coldest colours on H6+ they were still bit warmer than OPO screen. Personally I don’t mind either as if you don’t have reference next to screen you really will not mind this.
Viewing angles horizontally are very good and almost equal on both mobiles. Horizontal viewing angles seems to vary and on my units - H6+ had better viewing angle from top and OPO from bottom but this has been only visible at angles above around 150 degrees.
3. Speaker quality;
If you use mobile phones speakers for what they have been meant for (ring tonnes and loudspeaker) then both phones are suit for this purpose.
If you are a young sadist who loves to torture passengers on public transport with “bumbumbum” music from tiny mobile phone speakers – then both phones will also suit this purpose – I mean torture.
Let’s be honest these tiny speakers will not play quality music. They can make quite a noise but if you have any respect to your (and other passengers) ears you will use quality headphones.
Still I did check both of the speakers and I must say that in terms of volume H6+ seems to have linear scale and OPO logarithmic. This mean that both phones create similar noise at max volume but at 50% H6+ is much louder.
It terms of sound quality at 50% I much rather prefer H6+ which sound was cleared and less tin like but it ended up with larger distortion at the top of the range which sounds just like tones on both end of the scale have been cut. OPO still had this tin like sound but at the top volume it was reproducing larger spectrum than H6+.
Again personally there are no forces on Earth which can make me to listen music on mobile speaker and call this pleasure. Therefore as long as mobile phone has loud ring tonne which I can hear and I can understand the other side during conversation over the loudspeaker I say it’s OK and suits its purpose and from this perspective both phones pass.
In terms of front speaker I didn’t noticed any significant differences between them as I could hear the other person loud and clear even in noisy environment.
OPO has 3 microphones while H6+ has 2 - still people claimed that they could hear me slightly louder on H6+ than on OPO – this could be due to different noise cancellation algorithm or just due to their subjective judgment.
4. Overall subjective speed (no benchmarks here);
Both phones are working great and I didn’t suffer any shutters of freezes during normal use. Still some games i.e. GTA III plays better on OPO, Riptide GP2 crashes on H6+ when I try to turn shadows on, but other demanding games like Reckless Racing 3, Modern Combat 5 or Deus Ex are working like a charm on max settings therefore it is hard to judge if H6+ really lacks a bit of steam under the hood or it’s just an issue with games optimisation for Kirin processor.
I know that most of you will refer me back to benchmarks and charts stating that this is obvious as SD 801 is better (just a bit but still) than Kirin 925 but honestly how many apps in the play store uses your processors, graphics and memory in 100%? C’mon let’s stop this MPix, MB, MHz race and let’s check real life performance.
I have been using Tegra 4 and Tegra K1 devices and beside these few great exclusive titles like Half-life 2, Portal or recently released Doom 3 (which probable would work on other SoC’s as well) for the most of the time it was a steam in the whistle – there are no apps able to use this power.
5. OS;
Both mobiles runs custom ROMs – Cyanogen in case of OPO and EMUI in case of H6+ I will not concentrate on general descriptions on both of these releases as there are plenty discussion and debates about both of them. I would rather say a few words how they feel in day to day usage.
OnePlus One
As you would expect it is highly customisable and I did enjoy this. It is full of small add-ons and features that you find handy. Still it manages to keep this vanilla feeling of Android OS.
For me it was like using a Linux distro on PC you can do everything you want but you have to know what you want and where to look for the feature in the menu.
It provides best vanilla experience of Android I experienced and all its add-ons we actually useful – for me most frequently used options was equalizer which managed to convince me that I actually hear bass on my in-ear headphones
Honor 6 Plus
This is as much iOS on android as you can get. In a good way. I love power management, memory management system management it’s almost like heaven if you like me like to keep your system as clean as possible – this is first time I didn’t have to install my standard set of third party management apps as all of the settings are built in the ROM.
Lack of app drawer wasn’t any issue for me as I usually ended up with all the shortcuts in the folders on desktops either way. Possibly if you have just few icons on the desktop you may find this change annoying but its 100% subjective.
In terms of user friendliness I must say I do enjoy all those little tips the system is giving you like – “oy! this app is working in the background and is eating battery are you ok with this or you want to close it”? This is very useful if you experienced before “google services” battery issue before. Personally I found myself spending less time looking for functions and access to them seems to be quicker.
H6+ has micro SD slot (up to 128GB) and despite KK limitations it somehow manages to squeeze apps onto micro SD card. Currently my system shows more than 20GB free space (out of 25GB total available for the user out of the box) in the main memory having 14GB apps installed!
I was using 64GB version of OPO so I didn’t experience memory problem there either 
Micro SD also doubles as second sim slot (nano SIM) and from what I understand from menu description is 2G only. You can fully control default actions like from which card phone calls or messages will be initiated by default as well as set independent ringtones for calls and messages – useful feature for some but I didn’t have the need to use it nor spare nano SIM with credit on it to test – therefore I will not be able to comment on this feature.
OPO comes as vanilla as it can really be without any rubbish on it. H6+ has some fermium apps on it BUT most of them are shortcuts not really installed on brand new phone (0B size) and the rest is not embedded into ROM and can be fully uninstalled not hidden!! I would love this solution on my Samsung tablet which not only has mere 16GB of storage but is packed with tonnes of crapware.
6. Battery life;
I am a heavy user – my typical scenario: wake up, unplug mobile, check weather forecast, browse news over my morning coffee while streaming music over LTE, commuting =more web browsing and music streaming over LTE to my BT headset, a lot more of this during work and commuting back, evening more browsing over WiFi. I would estimate that I browse internet 2h – 3h a day over LTE + 2h music streaming over LTE with BT on and another 3h-4h with BT off;
Monthly mobile data usage is between 10GB-16GB.
Using OPO I had to limit myself as battery was around 15% at 5-6PM with H6+ I still have around 40% at the same time. Recent H6+ record 8.00am to 1.00pm next day. Normal users will get more than one day from both phones.
7. Camera quality;
I will not get into technicalities here – as far as I know both OPO and H6+ uses Sony sensors – OPO 13Mpix and H6+ 2x8Mpix.
First if you are looking for high quality camcorder OPO is the phone you should look at. It doesn’t mean that video from H6+ is bad but OPO not only has Full HD video recording but it goes further up to 4k. Still since I have no device to play back 4k videos or memory to store them (and they are huge) it is not a very appealing feature. OPO also can record slow motion video at 120fps on 720p! This is the features I miss mostly on H6+.
Again I am really crappy cameraman and my videos looks like first person view from drunken fly flight so I don’t bother that much about those H6+ limitations (ok I will miss slow motion video a lot ).
Now, the feature most important to me – camera photo quality.
Comparing both cameras on auto mode I have noticed that H6+ has wider tonal range, photos are not overexposed. Shooting photo of the bright sky and the ground contrast differences are much more settle between them on H6+. OPO usually (like most cameras) chooses one or another (sky or ground) to set exposure on. End result is nice sky and black ground or nice grass and white sky.
Now looking at the photos with correct exposure and comparing them site by site 1:1 it seems that grain and noise is visible at similar levels – colours on the other hand are better handled by H6+ as they look more natural and bit more saturated. Photos from OPO are bit colder and have tiny blue hue. Nothing major and most photos look very good on OPO - unless you are shooting landscapes in full Sun. Of course this can be mitigated by using HDR on OPO but still H6+ does the job without using such improvements.
Now where H6+ shines is low light performance – as both OPO and H6+ lacks OIS it may be tricky to get perfectly steady shoot. Using auto mode I took photos with both cameras in the dark room without flash with only bit of light seeping through partially open doors. On photo from OPO you are able to recognise shapes but that’s it – colours are lost and noise level is extremely high. H6+ photo is much better shapes are much sharper, noise is definitely lower and there are even some colours on the photo.
OK this was quite an extreme shot and probably compact camera wouldn’t produce much better (if at all) results.
Therefore I moved to something more subtle – lets simulate “party shoot” – rather dim light indoor in the evening – photos taken free hand without flash – oh boy this where you can see true benefit of dual camera setup – let’s be honest there still is bit of noise on H6+ photos and this is not an DSLR quality but for sure this is the best quality I saw on mobiles I owned (and it was quite a number). Comparing quality between OPO and H6+ you can see much more details on the latter, photo has significant less noise and photos are much sharper.
There is super-night setup on H6+ but really you will need tripod to use it as it set’s lower ISO and increase exposure time.
Good news is that on both mobiles you can gain full access to manual settings via my favourite app Camera FV-5. On H6+ you can change ISO setting and WB within standard camera app but since these functions are hidden on the bottom of settings menu I prefer to use Camera FV-5 as it not only brings these functions on the main screen but additionally allows to manually control exposure time and EV compensation.
It’s worth noted that OPO has ability to save files in RAW format which is missing in H6+
Wide aperture mode – it’s nice function/gadget, something you saw on HTC M8 and also mimiced by few apps on app store (i.e. google camera) – my advice – don’t buy H6+ solely for this feature.
It does work but it has serious limitations and end result is not always perfect. I haven’t tested M8 to confirm but from what I heard this function is working much better on H6+ than on M8 (M8 had to be disaster then ). To get decent results on H6+ make sure that your object is at least 2m from camera and background is fair distance away from main subject of the photo – this way you have the best chances that algorithm will “understand” photo depth correctly. Otherwise you may end up with some errors on the blur edges. Also don’t take photos of the objects with holes in them as blur will be applied outside the objects but not on “see through” parts.
As you see there are some serious limitations and don’t let anybody to tell you that you can leave your DSLR at home – still saying this I have quite a fun with this function. As long as you are aware of these limitations and have in mind “do’s” and “Do not’s” you will have as much fun as I do.
8. Summary
I hope you found this useful and if you considering any of these mobiles hopefully this will help.
Both have its strengths and weaknesses and as always there are no perfect devices the key is to find one perfect for you
Personally I like both mobiles very much – I chose to use H6+ as a main phone because of camera quality, speed and low light performance. From this perspective it serves me very well in deed.
Of course if you have different priorities you may chose differently.
I have planned to do some further comparison between OPO and H6+ cameras in full manual mode but as it will take quite a bit of my time I will do it only if there will be such interest.
Mean time if you have any specific questions please ask I will do my best to answer them.

What are the main cons of this Axon 7 ???

Hey Everyone,
So Guys , I'm about to buy the Axon 7 A2017 the Chinese variant (Since I'm outside the US) with 4gb RAM and 128gb of storage as an upgrade of my old LG G4, that's why I'm asking you guys to answer me honestly what was your personal experience with this device ? what are the bad sides that have made you frustrated or made you regretting making this purchase ??
I've heard many downsides but I cannot really believe them since many reputable reviewers on Youtube have said the opposite ??
Some Cons I heard :
1-The sound output from Headphones are not really great same for the dual front facing speakers.(Which is a bit shocking as the main promoted feature of this smartphone was the audio capabilities ).
2-The Screen is not clearly visible at direct sunlight
3-The Camera is awful , in other words a piece of crap (I dont really care about Photography or low light stills , but I also hate a smartphone that cannot take some sharp stills at daylight ,such as portait of myself for social media)
4-The capacitive buttons are not back lit , but I think I could get used to them.
5-The UI is buggy and bloated , the phone doesn't have any support from devs and the Company didn't fix many issues and bugs.
6-The fingerprint is not that fast or accurate (I've heard from a review that it works 60-70% of time)
7-Multi tasking and app launching is not good either comparing to smartphones that have the same cpu/gpu like Oneplus 3 , LG G5 ,..
8-Gaming experience is worse , as the 1440p leads to fps drops.
9-Notification are not received , bad sync
10-bad signal reception , bad GPS reception , Wi-fi range ??
Yes I know this is so long because after reading many opinions and seeing many reviews that's what came out !!
I still hear that all this can be fixed by an update but till now (after 6 months of releasing) nothing to be confirmed.
I'm a casual user , I don't root my phones , or install custom roms I can bear the Stock Rom if it's doing well , no bugs or lags.
Guys Please be honest , I know that almost every opinion will be biased , I don't want to buy a whortless smartphone because I also consider buying Oneplus 3 since my brother got it and it's an amazing smartphone blazing fast , takes some good images at good light , charging really so quick , everything is good with it except the battery drain when playing heavy games , the standby drain , and some heat issues.
The reasons that pushes me to consider buying Axon 7 over OP3 is it's great 1440p screen VR ready and the front facing speakers even if the Oneplus 3 have a good display despite it's FHD only and also a decent loudspeakers .
Yeahhh this thing is damnn long, but You know I don't wanna spend 400$ for useless features !!
Best Regards , Youssef

1- Not true, the sound is great with both speakers and headphones, although you may have problems with some apps and compatibility.
2- I use the phone a lot outside and never had any problems reading the screen
3- the camera is awful in low light, but its a really good camera in good light. REALLY good.
4- Yes, this is a con, but you get use to it.
5- False and true. The ui is not bloated and it works really good. I actually like it more than pure stock. But regarding bugs and dev support, its really, really bad.
6- It could be faster.... and yes, you get a couple of misreads, but its not as bad as you make it sound.
7- Really don't know what are you referring to. Apps launch fast and multitasking work great (when the phone doesn't kill you app, though)
8- I don't do gaming on my phone, can't comment.
9- This is a mayor problem that should have been fix a long time ago. This is pretty much a killer point.
10- Except for some minor GPS issue indoors, my WIFI and phone receptions have been really great.
As I said in other threads, get the OnePlus 3T. Save yourself some headaches.
This phone is great in paper, and the hardware is excellent, but its pretty much dead. You are going to be really disappointed if you want to change ROMs or get community support.

yamils said:
1- Not true, the sound is great with both speakers and headphones, although you may have problems with some apps and compatibility.
2- I use the phone a lot outside and never had any problems reading the screen
3- the camera is awful in low light, but its a really good camera in good light. REALLY good.
4- Yes, this is a con, but you get use to it.
5- False and true. The ui is not bloated and it works really good. I actually like it more than pure stock. But regarding bugs and dev support, its really, really bad.
6- It could be faster.... and yes, you get a couple of misreads, but its not as bad as you make it sound.
7- Really don't know what are you referring to. Apps launch fast and multitasking work great (when the phone doesn't kill you app, though)
8- I don't do gaming on my phone, can't comment.
9- This is a mayor problem that should have been fix a long time ago. This is pretty much a killer point.
10- Except for some minor GPS issue indoors, my WIFI and phone receptions have been really great.
As I said in other threads, get the OnePlus 3T. Save yourself some headaches.
This phone is great in paper, and the hardware is excellent, but its pretty much dead. You are going to be really disappointed if you want to change ROMs or get community support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really appreciate your answer it's really helping , as I don't really care about updates or custom roms I think it's bearable since you said it's not bloated . I mean overall this smartphone is great !! But I'm afraid that what you said is only applicable for A2017U (US variant) and not the chinese variant A2017 becuz as I stated before I'm not from The US , so I need to import the device from China.

The only one I agree with is the unlit capacitive buttons. This phone is pretty solid otherwise.
Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk

I have EU variant A2017G
1- Havent heard anything better yet on mobile phones (havent tried LG V10 or V20, which I believe should have better headphone output)
2- No problems
3- Photos depend on situations actually, daylight are quite good. Software needs to be fixed, manual mode is not that much manual
4- Got used.
5- I use Nova on top of MiFavor and it's almost like anything else.
6- It's fast, reads fingerprint in any direction also, sure sometimes it doesnt get it, but works fine.
7- Dont have OP3 or G5 to compare to.
8- Tried some games, and except for heating and huge battery drain I didnt notice anything. Heats up to 40C, when usually it sits at ~30C.
9- This. Waiting for fix.
10- GPS seems to work good, WiFi good. Signal - not really. on 2G it's great, on 4G - it's there, but drains battery as it's always very low, and it seems that is a problem with A2017G's only, not all, but there is a problem for some people who reported it.

Why *****ing about the capacitive buttons not lit? I mean, it's not like you didn't know before you bought the Axon, right? It would be like complaining about the size of the display...

Youssefmans said:
Hey Everyone,
So Guys , I'm about to buy the Axon 7 A2017 the Chinese variant (Since I'm outside the US) with 4gb RAM and 128gb of storage as an upgrade of my old LG G4, that's why I'm asking you guys to answer me honestly what was your personal experience with this device ? what are the bad sides that have made you frustrated or made you regretting making this purchase ??
I've heard many downsides but I cannot really believe them since many reputable reviewers on Youtube have said the opposite ??
Some Cons I heard :
1-The sound output from Headphones are not really great same for the dual front facing speakers.(Which is a bit shocking as the main promoted feature of this smartphone was the audio capabilities ).
2-The Screen is not clearly visible at direct sunlight
3-The Camera is awful , in other words a piece of crap (I dont really care about Photography or low light stills , but I also hate a smartphone that cannot take some sharp stills at daylight ,such as portait of myself for social media)
4-The capacitive buttons are not back lit , but I think I could get used to them.
5-The UI is buggy and bloated , the phone doesn't have any support from devs and the Company didn't fix many issues and bugs.
6-The fingerprint is not that fast or accurate (I've heard from a review that it works 60-70% of time)
7-Multi tasking and app launching is not good either comparing to smartphones that have the same cpu/gpu like Oneplus 3 , LG G5 ,..
8-Gaming experience is worse , as the 1440p leads to fps drops.
9-Notification are not received , bad sync
10-bad signal reception , bad GPS reception , Wi-fi range ??
Yes I know this is so long because after reading many opinions and seeing many reviews that's what came out !!
I still hear that all this can be fixed by an update but till now (after 6 months of releasing) nothing to be confirmed.
I'm a casual user , I don't root my phones , or install custom roms I can bear the Stock Rom if it's doing well , no bugs or lags.
Guys Please be honest , I know that almost every opinion will be biased , I don't want to buy a whortless smartphone because I also consider buying Oneplus 3 since my brother got it and it's an amazing smartphone blazing fast , takes some good images at good light , charging really so quick , everything is good with it except the battery drain when playing heavy games , the standby drain , and some heat issues.
The reasons that pushes me to consider buying Axon 7 over OP3 is it's great 1440p screen VR ready and the front facing speakers even if the Oneplus 3 have a good display despite it's FHD only and also a decent loudspeakers .
Yeahhh this thing is damnn long, but You know I don't wanna spend 400$ for useless features !!
Best Regards , Youssef
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't had any issues whatsoever with this phone. I'm coming from A LG-G4 as well.
1) Sound is phenomenal! You'll have nothing to worry about.
2) It's not as bright as some other phones like the gs7 or IPhone 7, but it's better visibility than the G4 which is every you're coming from.
3) Camera is mediocre compared to today's phones, but it's similar to G4 performance. So it's slightly behind, but I don't take issue with it for such a good price. Daytime shots are really good, night time are meh, hdr makes them look pretty good but you have to stay really still. Manual mode is great if you know what you're doing.
4) Chinese variant uses on screen keys from my understanding. So the issue of non-backlit isn't relevant in your case.
5) UI is not stock Android, but waaaay closer & smoother than LG's UI. You'll have no issues with bloat coming from a G4 imo. Company has taken care of the major concerns like the notification bell on the lock screen and other things of the like. They was my biggest one, do I'm good now.
6) Fingerprint doesn't always get it perfect, but it's good like 85% of the time for me.
7) I haven't done any speed tests against any other phones, but from what I've seen on YouTube, it is slightly slower than competitors. For me, this isn't an issue cuz we're talking an incomprehensible real world difference. That's my opinion however. Its still faster than the G4.
8) No lag issues with gaming here. It on lagged on me once while I had Need for speed open in the background, a photo backup uploading my 32gb worth of photos going, while playing NBA live. It was only a slight stutter though. Other than that one incident, it's really smooth.
9) No issues with notifications or sync here. Could have been an early problem. I got the phone after they released the latest marshmallow build.
10) I get slightly worse reception than my G4. To me it was expected due to it being a metal phone vs a plastic one. I compared it to the G5 at a Tmo store and it wasn't to far off. Like 3dbm lower signal (higher number). Wifi is great though! Faster speeds, more stable signal, & prefers the 5ghz band when available. I always felt like the G4 sucked with wifi.
Overall, you cant go wrong with this purchase. One plus 3 is also a great option. I picked this phone over the OP3 because I'm a sucker for its design. I think it's sexier. I have been thrilled with my purchase so far and have no regrets. It's got all some quirks, but nothing that is a deal breaker for me. I also have the US variant so obviously this is my experience with that model and your mileage my vary if you are shooting for a Chinese unit. But there is my 2¢, hope it helps with your decision! Best of luck.

Thanks Guys I really appreciate your answers , I was about to switch to the OP3 , but I guess I may get The Axon 7 , cuz I'm a regular user and I'm not seeking for a fast responsive smartphone if this is doing the job well , I was also considering the Xiaomi Mi5s Plus 6gb ram version due to the better camera onfiguration and the latest snapdragon but Yeah , a 2k and Front facing speakers worth it !!

I've read cell reception is really bad and therefore I won't buy it.
Enviado desde mi SM-G920F mediante Tapatalk

Cell reception and how it does hotspot compared to my previous phones are pretty bad. But everything else is spot on.. Love the phone. My wife has the oneplus 3 and keeps it stock.. Both phones are awfully similar. I would get the axon if you keep it stock and the oneplus if you plan on installing custom stuff.

From my limited experience with the device (about 1 week, coming from a Galaxy S7 edge).
1) Sounds has been great for me. Both the speakers and headphone sound are louder and clearer that the S7 edge.
2) Screen is really, really good. Sunlight visibility may be a smidge less than the S7 edge, but I like the way the colours pop a lot more on the A7.
3) Not a big photog to be honest. S7 edge had the better camera, for sure. The A7 camera seems pretty good in good lightning, and pretty bad in low lighting.
4) Definitely not backlit, but I honestly have no issue with them. Your muscle memory kicks in pretty much straight away.
5) Definitely not bloated (especially if you come from Touchwiz). Haven't noticed any large scale bugs yet, but need more time.
6) It could be better. I'd say it's accurate about 80% of the time. It seems to work best with a double tap for me.
7) Can't really compare to those devices, but it's about on par with the S7 edge.
8) Gaming has been as good or better than the S7 edge for me (mine is the Exynos variant though).
9) Hard to say since I turn off most notifications. SMS and Slack are my primaries, and they seem to work fine.
10) WiFi has been fine. Haven't tested GPS much. LTE is definitely weak though. I seem to hover around 2-3 bars most of the time. My house, which for whatever reason is a weak spot for my carrier, poses a particular problem.

Youssefmans said:
1-The sound output from Headphones are not really great same for the dual front facing speakers.(Which is a bit shocking as the main promoted feature of this smartphone was the audio capabilities ).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No worries here. Best speakers hands down. Only phones that come close are HTC M8 and Alcatel One Touch. Headphone output has been great for me, but I think it works best with high end headphones.
Youssefmans said:
2-The Screen is not clearly visible at direct sunlight
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
More visible than most thanks to color saturation and low reflectance. Maximum brightness of 360cd/m² is not the highest but thanks to low reflectance and high color saturation sunlight contrast ratio is amongst the best, just below OP3T and S7 but better than iPhone 7.
Youssefmans said:
3-The Camera is awful , in other words a piece of crap (I dont really care about Photography or low light stills , but I also hate a smartphone that cannot take some sharp stills at daylight ,such as portait of myself for social media)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The camera has very good color accuracy and low light is actually pretty decent considering the small pixels size, you just need to be steady or it can become blurry. In bright daylight pictures are good but less sharp than on other 20MP devices (e.g. X play). Noise reduction is a bit too aggressive. I find the camera adequate but it is clearly the main weaker point of the Axon 7 (but I come from the x play which is exceptionally sharp and a very pleasing camera, so I may be a bit biased).
Youssefmans said:
4-The capacitive buttons are not back lit , but I think I could get used to them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got used to them very quickly but in the dark I occasionally miss them.
Youssefmans said:
5-The UI is buggy and bloated , the phone doesn't have any support from devs and the Company didn't fix many issues and bugs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
UI is great, only the launcher is not that good, but I replaced it with HTC blinkfeed launcher from xda, as I love their blinkfeed + theming and other aspects.
Youssefmans said:
6-The fingerprint is not that fast or accurate (I've heard from a review that it works 60-70% of time)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People who have this issue did not map their finger correctly, that is not from all possible angles. If you make sure you map your finger from every possible angle and position it works perfectly. It took me a couple of tries to get it right but after that no issues. If you activate ZTE Locker daily wallpaper feature it may reduce recognition times, so may prevent successful recognition if the finger is removed too fast. For me it's no big deal but I know some people prefer to deactivate daily wallpapers to speed up recognition.
Youssefmans said:
7-Multi tasking and app launching is not good either comparing to smartphones that have the same cpu/gpu like Oneplus 3 , LG G5 ,..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that may be true because of the use of a different file mapping system (I read something about this) however this may become default in Android nougat so may not be an issue going forward. I personally don't find app launching slow but other phones are slightly better.
I know that OP recently implemented this file system on their phone:
https://www.google.fr/amp/s/www.xda...fferences-and-f2fs/amp/?client=ms-android-zte
I think this can be replicated on any phone where the ROM build support this. It was replicated on the OP3, it should be positive to get it to work on custom ROMs for the Axon 7 if not done already.
Youssefmans said:
8-Gaming experience is worse , as the 1440p leads to fps drops.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since the Axon 7's display has a pentile arrangement, it is not a true 1440p, this means the display actually has fewer pixels so the difference in performance is not that dramatic. That also explains why the Axon 7 can maintain good battery performance despite 1440p display.
Youssefmans said:
9-Notification are not received , bad sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never had this issue. However you need to know that as a default the phone kills apps that are in the background and does not let apps interrupt deep sleep, so you need to set up exceptions for each app to allow them to share notifications.
Youssefmans said:
10-bad signal reception , bad GPS reception , Wi-fi range ??
Youssef
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't confirm this, I actually found this phone to have better reception than OP1, OP1 and Moto X play. My house has thick walls and in spots where I usually had poor reception I now have good reception, access to 4G, etc. I compared db values and they were better than on my other phones.

1- The sound output from headphones is perfectly fine, as good as you can expect from a phone really. The speakers didn't come close to living up to the hype and reviews if you ask me. The only problem with sound is that you'd have to use their stock music app for the Hi-Fi DAC to work, and that app is beyond trash. Super laggy, super buggy, with less than bare-bones functionality. That and the phone apparently only outputs 16 bit sound despite having a 32 bit DAC.
2- Almost no phone is visible in direct sunlight, this phone's brightness is absolutely fine and very bright. Only phones like the Galaxy S7 with super contrast modes can be more visible.
3- The Camera is indeed utterly useless in low light, but in good lighting conditions is okay-ish. It's not in the same league as expensive flagship phone cameras, this is where they really cut costs (aside from the software).
4- Yes, they are not back lit, and yes it's easy to get used to, but super annoying in the dark.
5- The software is abysmal, by far the worst I've ever used. The empty promises and months of not delivering make me completely regret my purchase. If I was within the return period I'd refund the phone and get a OP3T.
6- The fingerprint sensor is very fast and works 95%+ of the time for me. Anyone who's having issues likely didn't register their finger prints from all angles as the phone explicitly tells you to do in its instructions.
7- There's nothing about multi-tasking that has annoyed me yet aside from the occasional bug where a program just closes, but I don't do side by side comparisons so I don't know if it's outperformed by other SD820 phones.
8- I haven't gamed all that much on it, but its gaming performance should be pretty much the same as any other SD820/1440p phone, or slightly better than some of the earlier SD820 phones. I've ran emulated PSP games at 1440p with all settings maxed out without frame drops. If you want a 1080p phone for better performance buy a OP3T.
9- I've had no issues with notifications aside from the lock screen being garbage (even if you disable the stupid bell, which took them forever to update to allow).
10- It's an aluminium unibody phone, of course it's not going to have the same reception as a glass or plastic phone. In my experience it's only slightly worse and hasn't affected me much.
Most your concerns are nothing to worry about, it's the software/non-existent support that would make me turn around, run away, and never look back.
puremind said:
Since the Axon 7's display has a pentile arrangement, it is not a true 1440p, this means the display actually has fewer pixels so the difference in performance is not that dramatic. That also explains why the Axon 7 can maintain good battery performance despite 1440p display. .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, this is actually a major problem with pentile. The resolution has to be rendered as normal, they have no magical trick that renders based on subpixels, it's per "pixel", so all these pseudo-1440p phones actually are rendering the software at 1440p if set to full resolution.

1) it's pretty clear, better than any other phone that I have used. Might need an extra amp if you plan to use 70ohm+ cans. Anything else is driven really well if you use DVC within poweramp.
2)no problems for me, but reports have said it is only around 320~ nits which is just not true as I compared it to a Nexus 5 and 5X, and it was brighter than both of them. Even if it was dimmer it should be just fine anyway. I'd compare the level to be a iPhone on 90%.
3)pretty good camera front and back, I don't take selfies as I hate myself amongst other things. Good in normal sunlight and medium to low light (bedroom). I have no idea what the standard is these day and I frankly don't care as I don't use it that much. Good enough to not have your friends laugh at you.
4)I don't like back lit anyway since I normally turn them off and if you can't turn them off they stand out too much at night since the screen is AMOLED.
5) No bugs, just different, I'd say it's the best custom UI that I've used. Close to stock with more compact icons etc. Like a half arsed attempt at making android 7 UI on 6 which is actually pretty good if you look at other manufacturers like Samsung.
6)If you wet your fingers and touch it, lightning fast. I find that if I have really dry hands (half an hour bike ride) I might have to slide it around a bit more but it works. Just do what the setup tells you and keep moving your finger around that scanner. More you cover the better. If you unlock while taking out your pocket you have at least 3 attempts at the scanner at least unless your are Sherrif QuickDraw. If you are using the Chinese version you can even set certain fingers to use certain apps such as camera, very useful as you can add up to 5 fingers.
7)True, but it's marginal. You probably have seen those benchmark videos where they open up 20 apps all in one row and time it. Not a big deal if you consider that the time for each app is like half a second longer each. Doesn't bother me. Been using android since gingerbread, I've experienced full minute waits before.
8)It's 1440p like you said, if you root it you can do some xposed hacks and run it at 1080p shouldn't be that big of a deal anyway. Most games run just fine. I play asphalt 8 (yeah bit old but oh well) just fine.
9)Some ****ty power settings that are enabled by default, just look around in the settings for a bit and you should be fine.
10)It's on par or better than my S3. No dropped calls or missed texts but then again not a lot of people contact me:crying:.
Like you said, if you are a casual user, it shouldn't bother you. 70% of the phones on the market will be just fine. Phone have reached a level where if you don't go for the big names or just buy smart you can use them for 2+ years easy. Sister still rocking Nexus 5 just fine. Battery is crapping out but it was never that good to start with.
If you like games and media, get the Axon. Best portable device I have brought for years. Provides solid audio when paired with good IEMs. Games like Asphalt come to life with the front speakers. Also for a phone this size, it's very easy to hold. If you look at the phone next to a 5" one it's wider by not even 1cm.
If your bro has a OP3 I personally won't get one as well just to be different, also might get confusing. BUT it has:
-better software support (you said you were a normal user so doesn't matter really)
-tad faster with better general battery life due to smaller screen, less GPU load etc.
-more accessories, it's a more popular phone.
-get the 3T instead if you plan on getting this.
-notification slider thing, if you go to college this will be handy as you don't have to pull your phone out.
The Axon also has a few nit picks that I like to pick:
-the notification light is RG not RGB, Not that anyone actually uses that light, I just use it to see if my battery is full lol.
-didn't notice this but some guy on reddit also said that because the headphone jack and the charger is on different sides it lead to some weird holding positions which is true.
-the right speaker (button side) is not in the middle but at the bottom right of the phone due to the charging port. Didn't notice this until I saw a tear down video now when I watch youtube I try to listen out for it. Most of the time I can't but it's there.
Google VR Is also SOON^TM, some guy also said it didn't fit due to the bands touching the hardware buttons. But the ZTE headset is pretty cheap $50~ I think but it's china only.

[/COLOR]
Cyrus D. said:
No, this is actually a major problem with pentile. The resolution has to be rendered as normal, they have no magical trick that renders based on subpixels, it's per "pixel", so all these pseudo-1440p phones actually are rendering the software at 1440p if set to full resolution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it is accurate.
IPS 1440P screen has 11M lighting elements whereas
Pentile 1440p oled only has 7.3M lighting elements - only marginally more than the 6,220,800 Lighting Elements of 1080p IPS LCD display
I bought the phone just before B08 came out so I really wasn't troubled by the software at all, especially since I always install HTC Blinkfeed launcher from HTC, which replaces clock, weather and gallery.
I had no trouble using the HiFi DAC on other apps so far, which app didn't work for you?

puremind said:
I don't think it is accurate.
IPS 1440P screen has 11M lighting elements whereas
Pentile 1440p oled only has 7.3M lighting elements - only marginally more than the 6,220,800 Lighting Elements of 1080p IPS LCD display
I bought the phone just before B08 came out so I really wasn't troubled by the software at all, especially since I always install HTC Blinkfeed launcher from HTC, which replaces clock, weather and gallery.
I had no trouble using the HiFi DAC on other apps so far, which app didn't work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's correct that pentile has 1/3rd less subpixels than a standard RGB array. "1080p" on an AMOLED would have the same number of subpixels as a real 720p panel. But that wouldn't matter for software, it's still coded per pseudo-pixel as far as I know. Resolution output isn't coded by subpixels.
As for the DAC, every program I've tried sounds different than the stock music player. That includes PowerAmp's latest alpha (called a beta in the app store). The difference is most apparent in instruments, they sound noticeably sharper on the stock music player. I don't know for sure if this is some sort of equalizer or software tricks in the stock player that can't be disabled (the stock player has squat for options) or if it's indeed due to the DAC.
As for the the claims it outputs only 16 bit sound, I haven't ever found out exactly what that means. Whether it's just the stock music app that is limiting it, or if it's coded in the ROM to work like that.

Cyrus D. said:
It's correct that pentile has 1/3rd less subpixels than a standard RGB array. "1080p" on an AMOLED would have the same number of subpixels as a real 720p panel. But that wouldn't matter for software, it's still coded per pseudo-pixel as far as I know. Resolution output isn't coded by subpixels.
As for the DAC, every program I've tried sounds different than the stock music player. That includes PowerAmp's latest alpha (called a beta in the app store). The difference is most apparent in instruments, they sound noticeably sharper on the stock music player. I don't know for sure if this is some sort of equalizer or software tricks in the stock player that can't be disabled (the stock player has squat for options) or if it's indeed due to the DAC.
As for the the claims it outputs only 16 bit sound, I haven't ever found out exactly what that means. Whether it's just the stock music app that is limiting it, or if it's coded in the ROM to work like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could you try MX Player?
For pentile displays there is a formula that calculates the subpixel intensities for each subpixel based on the desired "theoretical" pixels, so there are fewer operations being computed. Those operations are only marginally more complex than on an RGB display so the added complexity is offset by the much lower number of operations being conducted. From experience with calculation engines, it is usually more efficient to reduce the number of operations than to reduce the complexity of computations in terms of processing time.

Camera is the only major con for me.
The buttons on the bottom of the screen are ****ty too. Cant see them at night but i can deal with that.

puremind said:
Could you try MX Player?
For pentile displays there is a formula that calculates the subpixel intensities for each subpixel based on the desired "theoretical" pixels, so there are fewer operations being computed. Those operations are only marginally more complex than on an RGB display so the added complexity is offset by the much lower number of operations being conducted. From experience with calculation engines, it is usually more efficient to reduce the number of operations than to reduce the complexity of computations in terms of processing time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I tried to use it and compare the same song side by side to PowerAmp and the stock music player and I couldn't do it because that software is rage inducing. It's not designed at all to be a music player, so even if it could use the Hi-Fi DAC I wouldn't use it.
And that's interesting, I've looked into it and never found any info or article about the resolution output being optimized for pentile displays. Would you happen to have a link so I can read more about it?

Cyrus D. said:
Well I tried to use it and compare the same song side by side to PowerAmp and the stock music player and I couldn't do it because that software is rage inducing. It's not designed at all to be a music player, so even if it could use the Hi-Fi DAC I wouldn't use it.
And that's interesting, I've looked into it and never found any info or article about the resolution output being optimized for pentile displays. Would you happen to have a link so I can read more about it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried MX player? Did you find a difference? What is your go-to app? Which software version do you use? Have you made sure the dolby module was activated when comparing? It could be some apps somehow switch it off and you have to manually switch it on again.
If you don't compute values for each subpixel you have no means of producing the right colors on each theoretical pixel, this is true for both RGB and Pentile OLED. From a colorimetry standpoint there is no other way to control intensity and saturations, you have to drive each subpixel individuallly.

[Editorial] One Week with the Nexus 6

Perhaps it was just interesting timing that my previous secondary phone (the HTC One) died when it did, but whatever the reason was, I ended up picking up a used Nexus 6 a few weeks ago to serve as a combination backup and secondary phone. When the battery in my daily driver, the Moto X Pure Edition, took a crap last week, the "backup" side of that purpose was put to the test. Here's how it went:
XDA Stuff: Unlocking the bootloader, obtaining root, and installing the Xposed Framework (along with MinMinGuad and GravityBox) & A.R.I.S.E. audio was extremely painless. You'd be hard pressed to find too many other newer Verizon-compatible devices that are this easy to get started with that stuff on.
Device's casing: For having a screen that is only .26" larger, this phone sure is a lot wider than the Moto X Pure Edition. It's also extremely slippery. I'm surprised these things last as long as they do among folks with "normal-sized" hands. Anything much wider than 3" is a recipe for droppage. Thankfully, I got it with one of those giant super-grip kickstand casings. While this improves the grip dramatically, it makes the device extremely cumbersome to pocket. The kickstand comes in handy all the time though. It's sad that this monstrosity covers up the loud-and-proud NEXUS badge on the back though. It's kind of like hiding the Verizon logo; you just don't do it.
Screen: Easily the Nexus 6's biggest weakness. Aside from Samsung, Motorola seemed to be one of the biggest proponents of Oled panels during the days of the Nexus 6 (and even before). I'm probably in the minority with this opinion, but the Pure Edition's LCD really spoiled me, so the Nexus 6's panel was a letdown. Not only is there no option to switch to a more natural color profile under the stock rom/kernel, but the panel also isn't the brightest and burn-in is a noticeable problem, especially thanks to Motorola's insistence on using software keys instead of hardware navigation buttons. Despite these flaws, it is functional and usable, but the cartoony/awful color calibration just looks goofy. Turning the brightness down low takes it from "kind-of silly" to laughably bad. As a short-term backup/tester, it is acceptable, but I wouldn't daily this thing long-term without installing a customer kernel and applying some corrections.
Quirks: Like the Moto X Pure Edition, the Nexus 6's screen is set very low on the face of the device (although it is less noticeable on the former). I'd imagine that this serves to make the machine slightly more manageable duing single-handed operation (like a hardware implementation of Apple's "reachability" ) and also to improve visual symmetry with those software navigation keys (while the screen is on).
Also, the MicroUSB port is strangely upside-down on this phone.
Camera, Speakers: Seems comparable to the Pure Edition. Optical stabilization makes getting a steady shot in low light (or any lighting, for that matter) much easier and negates the need for digital stabilization in video recording mode, which improves field-of-view. Speakers sound about the same, although the hardware/software that drive them is noticeably "crustier" sounding. Still, it's very much usable.
Wireless Radio performance and compatibility: Didn't test side-by-side, but anecdotally seems identical to the Pure Edition. The massive number of GSM, CDMA, and LTE bands supported by this device is highly impressive, just like the Pure.
Vibration motor: Still noisier than it should be, but not quite as terrible as the Pure Edition. Also feels a bit stronger.
Software: Bland and boring, but gets the job done. I miss the Motorola camera and flashlight gestures (although the power key double-tap eliminates the need for the former) as well as the IR-assisted active display feature. Also, the "attentive display" (which keeps the screen awake as long as the camera can see the user) was very much missed. Also also, I was disappointed to see that there is no way to enable any kind of "night mode," even on the latest-and-greatest Android 7.1.
Conclusion: Nexus 6 is a good phone for the price these days. The camera is better than I originally gave it credit for, but don't buy this phone for its screen. If you want a cheap (but modern) Android phone that works on Verizon Wireless and can have its bootloader unlocked easily, (but don't want to pony up the additional $35-60 that the Moto X Pure Edition sells for) it's hard to go wrong with the 6. The battery is not user-replaceable, but holds up well. And, unlike the Nexus 6p, it won't fold in half!
Bottom line: Budget-minded Verizon customers might be better off with the Pure Edition, but if even that phone costs too much, the Nexus 6 is not a bad consolation prize. I couldn't ask for a better secondary/tester device.

Bill720 said:
.
Software: Bland and boring, but gets the job done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dude this is vanilla android. Here we dont want crappy oems bloats and features. We want pure android. This is a Nexus not crapsung

Realistically, I have no idea what the OP is talking about when refers to the software being bland and boring. Motorola's implementation of Android was equally bland and boring. The few things Motorola added to Android didn't change matters.
That said, I'm guessing he's comparing the N6 to the Moto X Pure from 2014. The Moto X Pure/Style from 2015 my roommate uses has a camera with more megapixels but lacks OIS. I would argue the N6 camera is better despite having fewer pixels than the Moto X Pure (2015) 21MP shooter, simply because the N6 camera actually lets more light in. Then there is HDR+. People don't like it because it's slower than HDR from other manufacturers. HDR is faster because it's a software overlay on the image, rather than hardware compositing of images like HDR+.
Based on my experience with both the Moto X Pure (2015) and the Nexus 6, the Nexus 6 is the easier device to customize. Not only do you not have to beg Motorola for an bootloader unlock code with the N6, you also have more extensive custom ROM support. My roommate's Moto X is running Lineage OS because there's virtually no ROM support for the device.
The "Quirk" of having the screen set low on the body is because Motorola designed the display for both devices to always have the soft keys always up. With them up the usable display area is actually centered. Between the two, the N6's AMOLED screen, despite its issues in sunlight, is still the better screen. It's hard to beat a screen that actually displays the color black as black and not gray as it does on an IPS LCD.

thoughts on responses
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
That said, I'm guessing he's comparing the N6 to the Moto X Pure from 2014. The Moto X Pure/Style from 2015 my roommate uses has a camera with more megapixels but lacks OIS. I would argue the N6 camera is better despite having fewer pixels than the Moto X Pure (2015) 21MP shooter, simply because the N6 camera actually lets more light in. Then there is HDR+. People don't like it because it's slower than HDR from other manufacturers. HDR is faster because it's a software overlay on the image, rather than hardware compositing of images like HDR+.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I too am thinking of the 2015-release Pure Edition, which does indeed lack optical stabilization. Despite this, the seemingly-ludicrous resolution actually lends itself to capturing a lot of interesting detail that I've come to enjoy. Given that, I'd have to say that image quality is probably a draw, depending on conditions.
As for HDR+, I don't know if it's hardware-exclusive, but it does do some pretty amazing things, even in subpar conditions.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Based on my experience with both the Moto X Pure (2015) and the Nexus 6, the Nexus 6 is the easier device to customize. Not only do you not have to beg Motorola for an bootloader unlock code with the N6, you also have more extensive custom ROM support. My roommate's Moto X is running Lineage OS because there's virtually no ROM support for the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak to the quality of the custom roms on the Pure Edition, but the stock Rom is pretty darn good, so it's not as big of a loss. The stock kernel is pretty decent too. All I needed to install with that unlocked bootloader was Root, the Xposed Framework, and A.R.I.S.E. audio. While getting to that state of unlocked bootloader was a bit more fiddly than on the Nexus 6, it's better than most Verizon-certified devices.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Between the two, the N6's AMOLED screen, despite its issues in sunlight, is still the better screen. It's hard to beat a screen that actually displays the color black as black and not gray as it does on an IPS LCD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While the contrast is better, I don't consider the burn-in, green tint, (pink tint when the brightness is set low) and horrible default calibration to be worthy sacrifices to make for it. And this is coming from almost five years of Samsung Oled use. Compared to a low-grade LCD, the 6's screen might be arguably superior, but the Pure Edition has one of the best screens in the business, so the Nexus 6 is no match for it, both objectively and subjectively. Make no mistake - it's a decent and very much usable panel by itself, but definitely not the best.

Two years ago when I was in the market for a new device my final two choices were between the N6 and the Moto X Style. The Moto X Style lost. Not because it isn't a good device - my roommate has one - but because of two things. The screen, and the camera.
No matter how you slice it, LCDs are older technology, and not as battery efficient as AMOLED. As a more mature technology they are more trouble free than AMOLED however. But for media consumption, having your blacks actually be black more than compensates for burn in. Burn in which, I might add, I don't see on my device to any noticeable degree. Oh, and size did matter here.
As for the camera, ignoring the obvious, the lack of OIS, more pixels does not equal better pictures. Wonder why so few flagship devices go above 13 megapixels in 2017? It's because of the law of diminishing returns. A simple truth about a digital camera is that the more pixels a camera has the less light each pixel can take in due to decreased surface area of the individual CCDs making up the sensor. The solution OEMs came up with? Decrease the pixels and increase the aperture. For me, the decrease in pixels was more than offset by improved light gathering capability and the presence of OIS. HDR+ is a bonus but didn't figure in my decision.
Heading into 2018, I still would take the N6 over the Moto X Style. But about this time next year I anticipate having a Pixel 2XL, so there you go.

Two things I don't like about displays today:
1) Unnecessarily high resolution, which makes the SoC work harder, leading to less performance and worse battery life. There is no point in having more details than the eye can see (around 300 dpi).
2) Pentile on almost all amoled displays. It looks fuzzy, unless of course the resolution is unnecessarily high. It was noticeable on the Galaxy Nexus with its lower resolution, and it makes me think twice about the OnePlus 5.
Google should have given the N6 a 1920x1080 display without pentile.

screen technology and camera performance
runekock said:
Two things I don't like about displays today:
1) Unnecessarily high resolution, which makes the SoC work harder, leading to less performance and worse battery life. There is no point in having more details than the eye can see (around 300 dpi).
2) Pentile on almost all amoled displays. It looks fuzzy, unless of course the resolution is unnecessarily high. It was noticeable on the Galaxy Nexus with its lower resolution, and it makes me think twice about the OnePlus 5.
Google should have given the N6 a 1920x1080 display without pentile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo. The reason why the Galaxy Note 2 (that I used before) was able to get away with just 720x1280 on a 5.5" Oled panel was because it used a proper subpixel layout that did not share pixels. These days, 1080x1920 is probably a more appropriate choice for this size class, but if the panel uses the dreaded "pentile" layout, then it automatically decreases the perceived/effective resolution.
Thanks to its proper RGB subpixel layout, the Pure Edition could've gotten away with a 1080x1920 panel and had resolution to spare, but the Nexus 6 needs its 2K display in order to compensate for the loss in sharpness that is caused by use of pentile.
No matter the reason, as you mentioned, forcing the chipset to render exponentially-higher resolution graphics strains it more than would've been necessary.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Two years ago when I was in the market for a new device my final two choices were between the N6 and the Moto X Style. The Moto X Style lost. Not because it isn't a good device - my roommate has one - but because of two things. The screen, and the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's interesting that you mention this because, one year ago, I was in the market for a new device and the Pure Edition won on the basis of its unlockable bootloader, Verizon compatibility, and having one of the best screens in the industry. I'd been burned by Samsung and their "super" amoled nonsense twice in a row by that point and decided to get away from it altogether for future daily-driver smartphones (at least until the technology matured).
While I too was originally concerned by the high camera resolution, figuring that the mainstream reviewers' opinions were probably right, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it actually does a really good job. You are correct to say that resolution isn't everything, but I was pleasantly surprised. Lack of optical stabilization was a slight letdown, but I've been nothing short of blown away by the quality of the photos, especially when one considers how low the bar was set by the mainstream reviews.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
No matter how you slice it, LCDs are older technology, and not as battery efficient as AMOLED. As a more mature technology they are more trouble free than AMOLED however. But for media consumption, having your blacks actually be black more than compensates for burn in. Burn in which, I might add, I don't see on my device to any noticeable degree. Oh, and size did matter here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The "battery efficiency" thing is debatable, but the contrast ratio of the Pure Edition is very good as it stands, especially considering its nearly-triple maximum brightness output when compared to the 6. The lack of "perfect black" is hardly even noticeable unless you're using the device in a particularly dark environment or are really looking for it.
I could give the 6 a pass here if the software complemented the hardware, but as it is, the default calibration is nothing short of horrendous (and it gets worse as you turn the brightness down). Having to install a custom kernel and fiddle around to get something that almost matches what the other phone can do out-of-the-box with the stock kernel is a noteworthy letdown for me.

Screen calibration? You've been watching too many of Erica Griffin's review videos on YouTube. She is the only device reviewer I'm aware of who goes so insanely into depth regarding the screen. And I get why she does it, since without a screen a smartphone is but a chunk of plastic, metal, and silicon. But there are more people like me than there are you: people who don't actively look for issues like that. That said, I have to wonder if my device, being a late vintage, used an updated panel. The colors are about as accurate as on my laptop.
I say that because I've never had to install a custom kernel to fix something that to me isn't broken.

some idiot comes into a nexus forum filled with a million ways to change anything you want and cries about not being able to change things... what?

@def1003: And who exactly is the idiot? Up until your post the discussion has been civil between @Bill720 and myself. We may not agree with each other, but he has put forth solid reasoning behind the assessment he made. He's earned respect for that, as the two devices are indeed very similar in specifications, and choosing between one and the other is difficult.

on Oled screens...
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Screen calibration? You've been watching too many of Erica Griffin's review videos on YouTube. She is the only device reviewer I'm aware of who goes so insanely into depth regarding the screen. And I get why she does it, since without a screen a smartphone is but a chunk of plastic, metal, and silicon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say that I watch too many of her videos, (the last one I actually remember was the Galaxy Note 2 dummy phone drop test series) but I'll study up take a look at some of her thoughts on the Nexus 6.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
But there are more people like me than there are you: people who don't actively look for issues like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My opinion is based on more than benchmarks (which objectively demonstrate poor quality) however. I'm not "that guy" who has a calibration gadget and calibrates all his monitors, but I can tell the difference between "good enough" and when everything looks like a cartoon. It's not just that I'm accustomed to the Pure Edition and all of the other monitors and screens that I use on a regular basis; it's also the fact that, after looking at the real world and then the Nexus 6's portrayal of the world, the mind knows that something isn't right.
That's not to say that it isn't fun to look at sometimes, but the mediocre default calibration crushes the natural vibrance of the displayed image, both objectively and subjectively. And that's at normal brightness. Turn the dial down, and things go from disappointing to downright silly.
I realize that OEMs are bound by some unseen force to perpetuate the myth of Oled's "vibrance" by applying these hyped-up calibrations from the factory, but all I'm asking for is the option. In the Moto X Pure Edition's stock rom/kernel, the user is given a choice between a "natural" and "vibrant" profile. If they'd provided something like that on the Nexus 6's stock software, I'd be accepting of their willingness to make an effort. From what I've heard, Samsung and OnePlus now give at least 2 choices on their Oled-equipped phones. I understand that even the "natural" option isn't anywhere close to perfectly calibrated, (regardless of display technology) but it at least lands the ball in the park, which is all I want.

Ironically, that is what Google is doing for the Pixel 2/2XL. But only after people complained about the natural color palette Google used. If blame were to be applied for the punchy and vibrant colors of AMOLED, look no further than Samsung. And since they are the biggest Android OEM, more people see their screens and expect all other screens to look like that.
I think I'm one of them. My last device was a Galaxy S4.

thoughts on Oled calibration
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
Ironically, that is what Google is doing for the Pixel 2/2XL. But only after people complained about the natural color palette Google used. If blame were to be applied for the punchy and vibrant colors of AMOLED, look no further than Samsung. And since they are the biggest Android OEM, more people see their screens and expect all other screens to look like that.
I think I'm one of them. My last device was a Galaxy S4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Perhaps Samsung has trained its customers to expect cartoony results on Oled screens by using their marketing muscle to perpetuate the myth of Oled's "vibrance." This doesn't mean that it's a mainstream opinion though, as Apple has historically managed to get their iPhones in the ballpark as well. We'll have to see what they do with the new Oled-based iPhone X.

I don't know if it will do anything, but I just installed an Android 8.1 ROM and toggled the SRGB colorspace option in Developer Options.

Bill720 said:
Perhaps it was just interesting timing that my previous secondary phone (the HTC One) died when it did, but whatever the reason was, I ended up picking up a used Nexus 6 a few weeks ago to serve as a combination backup and secondary phone. When the battery in my daily driver, the Moto X Pure Edition, took a crap last week, the "backup" side of that purpose was put to the test. Here's how it went:
XDA Stuff: Unlocking the bootloader, obtaining root, and installing the Xposed Framework (along with MinMinGuad and GravityBox) & A.R.I.S.E. audio was extremely painless. You'd be hard pressed to find too many other newer Verizon-compatible devices that are this easy to get started with that stuff on.
Device's casing: For having a screen that is only .26" larger, this phone sure is a lot wider than the Moto X Pure Edition. It's also extremely slippery. I'm surprised these things last as long as they do among folks with "normal-sized" hands. Anything much wider than 3" is a recipe for droppage. Thankfully, I got it with one of those giant super-grip kickstand casings. While this improves the grip dramatically, it makes the device extremely cumbersome to pocket. The kickstand comes in handy all the time though. It's sad that this monstrosity covers up the loud-and-proud NEXUS badge on the back though. It's kind of like hiding the Verizon logo; you just don't do it.
Screen: Easily the Nexus 6's biggest weakness. Aside from Samsung, Motorola seemed to be one of the biggest proponents of Oled panels during the days of the Nexus 6 (and even before). I'm probably in the minority with this opinion, but the Pure Edition's LCD really spoiled me, so the Nexus 6's panel was a letdown. Not only is there no option to switch to a more natural color profile under the stock rom/kernel, but the panel also isn't the brightest and burn-in is a noticeable problem, especially thanks to Motorola's insistence on using software keys instead of hardware navigation buttons. Despite these flaws, it is functional and usable, but the cartoony/awful color calibration just looks goofy. Turning the brightness down low takes it from "kind-of silly" to laughably bad. As a short-term backup/tester, it is acceptable, but I wouldn't daily this thing long-term without installing a customer kernel and applying some corrections.
Quirks: Like the Moto X Pure Edition, the Nexus 6's screen is set very low on the face of the device (although it is less noticeable on the former). I'd imagine that this serves to make the machine slightly more manageable duing single-handed operation (like a hardware implementation of Apple's "reachability" ) and also to improve visual symmetry with those software navigation keys (while the screen is on).
Also, the MicroUSB port is strangely upside-down on this phone.
Camera, Speakers: Seems comparable to the Pure Edition. Optical stabilization makes getting a steady shot in low light (or any lighting, for that matter) much easier and negates the need for digital stabilization in video recording mode, which improves field-of-view. Speakers sound about the same, although the hardware/software that drive them is noticeably "crustier" sounding. Still, it's very much usable.
Wireless Radio performance and compatibility: Didn't test side-by-side, but anecdotally seems identical to the Pure Edition. The massive number of GSM, CDMA, and LTE bands supported by this device is highly impressive, just like the Pure.
Vibration motor: Still noisier than it should be, but not quite as terrible as the Pure Edition. Also feels a bit stronger.
Software: Bland and boring, but gets the job done. I miss the Motorola camera and flashlight gestures (although the power key double-tap eliminates the need for the former) as well as the IR-assisted active display feature. Also, the "attentive display" (which keeps the screen awake as long as the camera can see the user) was very much missed. Also also, I was disappointed to see that there is no way to enable any kind of "night mode," even on the latest-and-greatest Android 7.1.
Conclusion: Nexus 6 is a good phone for the price these days. The camera is better than I originally gave it credit for, but don't buy this phone for its screen. If you want a cheap (but modern) Android phone that works on Verizon Wireless and can have its bootloader unlocked easily, (but don't want to pony up the additional $35-60 that the Moto X Pure Edition sells for) it's hard to go wrong with the 6. The battery is not user-replaceable, but holds up well. And, unlike the Nexus 6p, it won't fold in half!
Bottom line: Budget-minded Verizon customers might be better off with the Pure Edition, but if even that phone costs too much, the Nexus 6 is not a bad consolation prize. I couldn't ask for a better secondary/tester device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the same money, about $100, the Kodak Ektra has much faster overall performance and brighter screen.

RGB and Kodak
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I don't know if it will do anything, but I just installed an Android 8.1 ROM and toggled the SRGB colorspace option in Developer Options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That option is there in the stock rom too, but it doesn't do anything. In fact, if you back out of the developer options and go back in, you'll find that it is turned back off.
damiloveu said:
For the same money, about $100, the Kodak Ektra has much faster overall performance and brighter screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's an interesting-looking product for sure, and while I would have to assume that they put a decent camera in the thing, there's very little support or discussion on it anywhere. It doesn't even have a forum on XDA DEVELOPERS. The biggest non-starter for me, however, is lack of band 13 LTE and CDMA support/certification for Verizon. This could possibly be an attractive buy for AT&T or Tmobile customers, however, depending on how the rest of the experience holds up.

@Bill720: If I recall correctly it's nothing special, with its only claim to fame being the camera.
And I did notice that the SRGB toggle shut itself off.

Kodak fails to replace Motorola...
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
@Bill720: If I recall correctly it's nothing special, with its only claim to fame being the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably true. After reading/watching some of the few mainstream reviews that do exist for it, the conclusion reached is that the camera is acceptable, but nothing better than the high-end phones of 2016. The rest of the experience was average (at best) and the device does not appear to have gained enough mainstream traction for "XDA stuff" (root, Xposed, custom roms/kernels, etc.).
While we're on the topic of alternative phones however, for folks who can tolerate Oled, the OG Droid Turbo combines the camera, features/software, and elegance of the Moto X Pure Edition with the screen technology and chipset of the Nexus 6, while adding in a positively massive battery pack. The prices on that phone have now dipped down below $100, (with some being sold for as little as 75-85) but a $25 ransom must be paid to be able to unlock the bootloader. If it weren't for the Oled screen, that thing would come dangerously close to "daily driver material" for me personally, and the fact that the navigation keys are hardware instead of drawn on-screen does eliminate the prime cause of uneven Oled panel wear.

with the nexus rooted and using the paid app colour changer pro i have tweaked my nexus 6 to a really good screen with all the colours and tones looking perfect , without that app the screen was not the best , now i think it is , but using the same app on my samsung s8+ has boosted the look and feel perfectly , if your not happy with your screens look then try that app as it will make you enjoy your old nexus 6 or any oled or lcd phone.

@peekie: I'm sure he has already done that. As much as we may like the device, we have to keep in mind this device is not perfect. As someone new to the N6 he found the experience disappointing, mainly because of the screen. I can understand where he is coming from, even though I've not had any issues with the screen. What I did find laughable was the poster who thought a budget Kodak phone could in any way compete with two flagship-level devices.

UK OPPO Find X5 Pro - An in depth review

INTRODUCTION
As some of you will be aware, my name is Glenn, more commonly (around here) known as LennyUK. I was chosen to be an OPPO Ambassador and have been playing around with the OPPO Find X5 Pro for a few weeks now.
Before I dive into this review I want to make clear that I have a pretty extensive history of reviewing devices and software, I have written for many Android websites over the years and have been a very long term member of XDA Developers and was once a recognised Developer. On top of all this I have owned an awful lot of devices right from the beginning of Android.
Why am I reminding you of this? Well, there appears to be an apprehension from some people to the Ambassador programme, thinking we have been told what we have to say, and will be inherently bias as a result of having use of the phone for free - all I can say is that everything I say will be my own honest, unfiltered opinion on this device and its software.
So let's get into it - The device I have been using is the OPPO Find X5 Pro. The colour I have is Ceramic White. It has 256GB of onboard storage with 12GB RAM. This is a UK build and I can tell you already (SPOILER ALERT!) some features do differ from the devices available elsewhere including mainland Europe.
https://imgur.com/OfCER3k
I also own the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, so I have a current generation, arguably the pinnacle of Android devices to compare this OPPO Find X5 Pro with.
PROS
Aesthetically this device looks stunning, I am struggling to think of a nicer looking device, comfortable to hold too.
Very smooth performance for normal use and gaming
ColorOS functions and apps are largely useful and well made
SuperVOOC charging is a game changer
The camera is very good especially in low light or night scenes with decent features for pro photographers but its telephoto options are not quite as good as some competitor devices
CONS
Beauty of the device is mostly lost when using a case, which most people will want to (and one is even provided for you)
In indoor settings/shade the display loses a lot of its magic, unless you choose to substantially increase the brightness level
Accessing the devices power menu is clunky and unintuitive
Audio Speakers are not great at louder volumes
Battery life is good but not exceptional
CONTENTS
UNBOXING - Post #2
SETUP - Post #2
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN - Post #2
DISPLAY - Post #3
SOFTWARE (ColorOS) - Post #3
CAMERA - POST #4
PERFORMANCE/GAMING - POST #4
AUDIO - POST #4
ANDROID AUTO - POST #4
BATTERY - POST #5
CONCLUSION - POST #5

UNBOXING
I won’t go into too much detail here as I have already published an unboxing video that you can find on my YouTube channel (LennyUK TV).
The key points to note is the box includes the phone, a Super VOOC 80W charger, a USB lead (USB A to USB C) and a soft touch phone case.
SETUP
Setup was a breeze. I used OPPO’s clone app to move my data from my S22 Ultra to the Find X5 Pro and whilst it took some time to do, it worked on my first attempt and without issue.
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN
As stated above, the device I have been provided is the “Ceramic White” colour variant. It is also available in “Glaze Black” - is the rear of the device that is coloured with the front being a full edge to edge screen design that we have come to expect from any half decent or higher smartphone these days.
I have owned white devices previously, but not all too often, with the vast majority (which I am sure you can all agree) have been black, or at a push, silver. White is a nice refreshing colour to have, however, you lose most of the impact when you use a case, which many people choose to do, especially with flagship devices, as these are not cheap!
https://imgur.com/MMX2Txs
The back of the phone looks stunning, the white really pops and it is silky smooth - maybe too smooth (refer back to needing a case…) but in terms of looks this phone has something that many others do not - the Samsung S22 Ultra as a comparison is a big rectangular shape that has certainly been designed from a functional perspective rather than considering aesthetics at all. This was certainly not the case with the OPPO Find X5 Pro, it is clear a lot of thought has gone into its design (as well as its functions).
The back is made of ceramic (yes, the name of the colour gave that away), which you might find an unusual choice, but it works, really well - probably due to the very high quality polished finish and the subtle 75 degree slope, which OPPO claim is the “optimal curve for illuminating the body in sunlight or shadow” - which is great, if you are not using a case…
Aside from the colour, the device has a simple but modern OPPO and Hasselblad (the famous camera brand that has helped co-create the camera on this phone, more on that later) logo in the lower right hand edge with the camera cluster in the top left hand corner.
The camera cluster sits slightly raised from the device and contains 3 lenses and a flash/LED (I will go into more details on the camera further below) with the words “Powered by MariSillicon” sitting between two of the three lenses.
https://imgur.com/HYTMWtl
Having a raised camera cluster isn’t uncommon these days, with devices trying to be as thin as can be, but also trying to include powerful camera lenses that even pros could consider using from time to time but it does mean that the device can’t sit flat on a desk and the OPPO Find X5 Pro is no exception - without a case, if you use the device resting flat on a desk you will notice it wobble - it is at its worst if you try to use the top left hand area. However this is easily solved by the use of a case, including the case that is provided in the box with this device.
More on that case now - it is a matt black colour with a very soft touch texture on the external facing sides, the internal side is more textured, presumably to aid in gripping to the device - it fits perfectly, which I of course expected it to.
Back to the OPPO Find X5 Pro, the front is dominated by the 6.7” screen that for specs nerds, has a 92.7% ratio and a QHD+ (3216x1440) resolution. It has a hole punch selfie cam in the top left hand corner and a speaker very well hidden at the top (the earpiece speaker). Both the left and right hand edges curve slightly which is likely to cause issues for those of you who prefer tempered glass screen protectors, but there are many alternative options today that work great on curved screens - and I best not forget to mention, one does come pre-fitted on this device anyway.
The right hand edge contains the power button, which seems a bit silly to call a power button as its primary function, at least when the device is powered on is to do other actions (more on this later), but I suppose the name holds true when the device is off, that is the button that powers it on.
The left hand edge contains the volume up and down keys.
All three of these keys are well made, they are not wobbly or loose fitting like other devices can have, they click well and I cannot see them being a point of weakness even after long use.
The bottom edge of the device contains a centralised USB C port with a speaker grill to its right and a mic to its left. Further to the left is the SIM Card tray (the device also supports E-Sim).
https://imgur.com/HtDTOMc
The top edge contains the noise cancelling microphone on the right hand corner.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro is very nice in the hand, at least in mine, but I do have large hands so you may need to see for yourself - it certainly doesn’t feel too big for it’s screen size though and is comfortable to hold and use.
Its height measures in just shy of 16.5cm and is about 7.4cm wide and is less than 1cm thick (8.5mm) weighing around 218g. The weight is surprising, as it weighs a fair bit more than the S22 Plus but around 10g less than the S22 Ultra, but you really can’t tell - if I was to use just my muscle memory of the two devices I would have bet a lot of money (and lost!) that the S22 Plus was the heavier device. This is where the aesthetics of the OPPO Find X5 Pro really help to keep its size and weight both comfortable and manageable.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro also comes with IP68 water and dust resistance, which is what you really expect from a flagship device.

DISPLAY
As stated above the device has a 6.7” QHD+ display with a 3216x1440 resolution on an AMOLED panel covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, currently Corning's top Gorilla Glass product. The S22 Ultra also has very similar display specs and the same Gorilla Glass.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro has a full 10bit colour depth so you can utilise HDR and has a 120hz dynamic display - keeping up with the other flagships out there at the moment (although not all of those rivals are performing as well as it should be in this department) - the “dynamic” part, should see the display going down as low as 10hz when a faster refresh rate is not required, which ultimately helps conserve some power.
In my day to day use I have not noticed any lag or issues with the dynamic functionality of the refresh rate - I cannot say the same about the S22 Ultra where on occasions, especially when the battery gets lower, you can visibly see the refresh rate slowing or speeding up, rather than it being ready on demand. The S22 Ultra also (at the time of writing this) fails to drop the refresh rate often, or very low and certainly doesn’t get close to the 1hz Samsung claimed it could - the OPPO Find X5 Pro doesn’t have the same issues.
It is worth noting however that firmware updates could likely fix the issues with the S22 Ultra over time.
But that is enough of specs, what you really want to know is how does it look? Well my honest answer is good, but not quite as good as my S22 Ultra, at least not unless I really up the brightness level on the OPPO, something you don’t need to do to get the colours to really pop on the Samsung - and upping the brightness obviously then impacts your battery life - however, in a bright environment the OPPO can hold its own the display is clear and looks great.
Colours almost look washed out (set to Vivid mode at default colour temperature) in those dimmer settings (with auto brightness set as you would expect) which is a real shame, but this is based on a direct comparison, for most users you will be using this device in isolation and it is by no means bad and should not really be something that puts you off the device.
https://imgur.com/yWRK0jJ
Some quick notes on the display software settings:
You get choice of light and dark mode (as you would expect, it is an android device)
Choice of 3 screen colour modes (Vivid, Natural, Pro) and 3 colour temperatures on a slider (Cool, default, and warm)
Eye comfort mode to remove blue light
Choice of resolution (auto, FHD+, QHD+)
Choice of max refresh rate (High 120Hz or Standard 60hz) - both work dynamically
You can choose to “hide” the holepunch camera (basically makes the notification bar solid black)
SOFTWARE (ColorOS)
At the time of writing this review the OPPO Find X5 Pro is running Android 12 with a March 2022 security update - a couple of OTA’s have already been pushed out in the few weeks the device has been released.
ColourOS (what OPPO call their “skin” of Android) is version 12.1 and the devices software version is currently CPH2305_11_A.17
It has a full Google/Android experience (GAPPS) so you have full use of Google Apps including the Play Store.
The device does come with some bloatware pre-installed, but almost all do these days - but you can easily remove what you don’t want.
The device has various apps and other features as part of the ColourOS experience including an OPPO Store, an E-SIM app designed for roaming called ORoaming and a meditation/mindfulness app called O Relax.
I have a very stressful life - I am a lawyer by day with a very very high case load, managing a department and also one of the directors of my firm - when I get home, I have a 4 and a 1 year old and 2 cats (and a wife) - all this leaves me with very little time to truly chill out and as a result I am constantly on that threshold of bubbling over into chaos from all the stress - but that is where I tend to thrive and is certainly my choice, so this is not a complaint merely just a long winded way of saying a mindfulness app is something that is very useful to someone like me.
https://imgur.com/a/5BA9o5s
O Relax on first glance has a selection of Ambient Sounds, Music and “coloured noises” (aka white noise etc) as well as some other sounds created in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen and Jo Malone London - you can set a timer and just chill out.
If you swipe to the left you get three options: “Listen”, which is the default tab, “Unwind” and “Explore”. Unwind hosts a selection of stress-relief games like bubble popping, deep breathing, colour manipulation or picture rubbing all with their own soothing sounds and colours. Explore lets you pick an environment such as various cities around the world and here sounds from ears of those cities, that background noise that helps you zone out. You can adjust how “active” those noises are. If real cities are not for you then you can also explore sounds of an alien world (yes really!) - which is a full Dolby Atmos audio production.
https://imgur.com/HbhP2zU
The device also features a privacy dashboard, accessible through the settings menu that enables you to control things like access to microphone or camera (globally, as it stops all apps from using them) as well as control permissions and other things like locking or hiding applications. You can also choose to have a toast popup that tells you when apps read your clipboard. The dashboard itself notifies you on how often location, camera and microphone have been accused in the past 24 hours, giving you details of when they were accessed and by what applications - you can also access the same data for other permissions if you wish.
You will also see notification icons for when the camera and microphone are in use, so applications shouldn’t be able to sneakily record you without at least giving you the chance to see that it is.
https://imgur.com/a/z05lh90
One feature the device has in the UK that it doesn’t appear to have (based on my discussions with those who have the devices elsewhere) in mainland Europe (or further afield) is Omoji - this is OPPOs version of animated emoji - here you can design a face and then manipulate it in real time via the selfie camera and your own face and take pictures in various poses which can then be used as your own emojis (via insert picture or video into your various apps).
There are of course many other features of ColorOS 12, more than I can talk about in this one review, but to name a few others you have Air Gestures (a way of controlling the device without touching it, imagine if you are baking and your hands are covered in flour), always on display etc
One final feature I will mention is the flexible windows - accessed via a hidden sidebar, not uncommon to find on many devices at the moment - is a quick way to access those important apps you use often, 2-factor authentication, or password manages are two good examples - they open as a floating window you can move around, or maximise, or close - this is much more useful than multitasking where it splits your screen, its quicker and far less disruptive enabling you to quickly do what you need to do then close out back to where you were - this is definitely a function I will miss when going back to other devices as whilst they may have similar functionality it just doesn’t work the same.
As an extra, I know some of you wanted to know - yes the phone does have a native call recording function.
It’s at this stage I get to talk about one annoying factor - and I know OPPO are not alone in trying to “mix up” the norm when it comes to this, what is it? Powering off the device… As I alluded to earlier, the phone has a power button, the button functions to turn the phone on when it’s off, or to turn the screen on and off when powered up, but it does not (in itself) control the switching off or rebooting of the device. Long pressing it does not bring up a power menu (it can be programmed to do other things) - instead, and no where in the documentation that came with the phone or on the device itself (at least obviously) does it tell you this - you have to hold both power and volume up to get access to this menu. You also have to hold it for a length of time that is longer than you would expect, just as you reach the point of thinking it's not going to work, then it does.
Yes, I can see the advantages of gaining a programmable hard key for other uses…but not at the loss of making switching off or rebooting the device ridiculously difficult to understand - your average user will simply not know how to do this.

CAMERA
I enjoy photography. I am not a pro by any means and have never had any formal training, but I do spend a lot of time taking photos with my DSLR, or mobile devices, and editing them - I am not amazing, but I am more than capable of getting some magic shots if everything falls together for me (one of the other Ambassadors is an actual photographer and his work is brilliant).
I know my way around a camera and had some things planned for this review, but unfortunately due to brexit delivery of my phone was delayed and the opportunity for some great night and low light photos was missed (I had a trip to the O2 Arena, London, to see Hanz Zimmer live, would have been great shots of the gig itself but also London at night) - since then I have been very busy with my day job and battling illness so opportunities to get great shots have been extremely limited, but I have still had a play with the camera, enough to give you some thoughts and a rundown.
Anyway, the juicy bits - the OPPO Find X5 Pro boasts three lenses and has been co-developed with leading manufacturer of middle format cameras, Hasseblad, if you have never heard of them before, shame on you! It has a 50MP Wide Angle Camera, a 50MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera and 13MP Telephoto Lens capable of 5x hybrid optical zoom (2x proper optical zoom) and 20x digital zoom.
The Wide Angle camera has a 5 Axis mechanical stabilisation system that really helps with mobile photography and can get you an aperture of f/1.7 which for a mobile device is extremely low - for those of you not camera nerds, the lower this number the blurrier the background of an image becomes, what is known as “bokeh” - perfect for portrait photos.
The Ultra Wide has a 110.3 degree field of view and an aperture of f/2.2 which gives you great options when shooting landscapes, or city scenes.
Both of those lenses use sensors from Sony - my preferred camera sensor manufacturer.
Then what really makes this camera stand out from the crowd is the MariSillicon X NPU (Neural Processing Unit) think of it as a form of hardware acceleration enabling the camera’s software to work brilliantly and do things it couldn’t otherwise do and all without impacting the on the devices CPU or GPU functionality.
https://imgur.com/0XbxqAr
Specifically this NPU enables the device to offer something truly unique when it comes to low light or night photography. You will notice that you can still truly see the colours and other details which most mobile cameras will lose without the images looking faked or over processed or without it looking like a daytime shot - because that isn’t the point - you want a night shot to be a night shot - you want the viewer to know it was taken at night, but without losing any of those important details and that is what the cameras on the Find X5 Pro and the MariSillicon X NPU allow for.
When you open the camera you are greeted with the standard “photo” mode, the click and shoot mode, moving that bar left or right lets you pick other modes including “Night”, “Video”, “Portrait” or “More” - in More you will find access to the Hasselblad Pro mode, a Hi-Res mode, Panorama, Film, Slow-Mo, Time-Lapse, Long Exposure, Dual Video, Sticker, Text Scanner and “X-Pan”, another Hasselblad feature.
Pro mode offers features such as a histogram and focus peaking and the ability to shoot in RAW.
If you are after a device that can take very nice photos in almost all conditions then you can’t go far wrong with the Find X5 Pro. The S22 Ultra also has very good camera options and the Find X5 Pro matches or beats it at almost every step, except one, which is the telephoto option - the S22 Ultra is very very good at 30x zoom and is somewhat good beyond that too, this device can’t go that far, but honestly, how often on a day-to-day basis do you need to zoom in that far?
Using the camera is a very enjoyable experience and it’s pro mode is one of the nicest on a mobile device I have used (Sony offers a very nice Pro mode on their devices, but it is still missing some key features that it’s own cameras or the Find X5 Pro have, such as focus peaking). It’s certainly a solid offering and highly competitive.
https://imgur.com/a/LtsgZSJ
PERFORAMNCE/GAMING
One thing that really impressed me, especially after coming from the Samsung S22 Ultra which you would expect to be the best you can get at the moment, is how smooth this device is to use - there is no UI lag, no missed frames, freezes or delay - it simply reacts to your input how you would expect it to do - you might think this should be standard especially in such a top spec device, but anyone who has used a S22 Ultra should know performance isn’t guaranteed…
The Find X5 Pro has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU with 8 cores and the Adreno 730 GPU clocked to 818MHz - both pretty much as good as you can get at the moment and it shows in the devices performance levels.
I won’t be benchmarking or discussing those in this review, they are largely meaningless and often manipulated (yes I am looking at you Samsung!), so I am focusing on real world usage experience, my usage experience.
Anyone who knows me (or looked me up) will know that one thing I do like to do in my spare time, when I have any, is game, be that on a Console, PC or a mobile device - my current mobile vices include games by Supercell (Clash of Clans and Clash Royale), detective/escape room type games (e.g. Tiny Room) and mobile versions of battle royales (like Bullet Echo).
All the games I play have been smooth and responsive much like the rest of the performance of this device, however, no game, even those that say they can, goes beyond 60fps - however, the same can be said about the S22 Ultra, so it might be a game development issue - but that the end of the world when you know the games are not lagging otherwise - it is certainly far less frustrating gaming on the OPPO Find X5 Pro than the Samsung S2 Ultra.
AUDIO
I spend an awful lot of time listening to YouTube Music or Audible on my devices, including via headphones (Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, which work perfectly on this device with the Samsung Wearable App installed, I have not used the OPPO Headphones to compare) and on the device's speaker.
Whilst certainly not terrible, the speaker performance certainly isn’t as good as other devices out there - the louder the volume gets the more tinny it sounds, regardless of your EQ settings.
Audio performance (like displays) is something Samsung have got near perfect so I know I am judging the Find X5 Pro on a very high standard, but all I can say is, if using the speaker is your main device use, then perhaps this isn’t the device for you (but certainly weigh your decision with the Find X5 Pros other features).
ANDROID AUTO
This might not be your use case, but is it mine - I rely on Android Auto a lot when driving, for Google Maps, YouTube Music, Audible and various EV (Electric Vehicle) apps for route planning with charging locations etc.
I had some issues using android auto on this device, although I have since found a reliable workaround - when the device is plugged in to the car, it sees the car like a PC and gives you the choice to select if you want to “charge only” or “transfer data” - selecting the latter then ensures a reliable connection to the car - selecting the former might work, but could then drop out at random times.

BATTERY
The Find X5 Pro comes with a 5000mAh battery - this is achieved through 2 cells of around 2500mAh each. This is the same size battery that is in the Samsung S22 Ultra so I am able to offer a direct comparison given I have the same apps and same use case on each device.
Before I talk about its performance level, I want to talk about charging. OPPO have developed their own fast charging system known as SuperVOOC - for this you can forget about what you think about fast charging as you are about to experience something truly special. The SuperVOOC charger supplied with the device delivers 80w of electrical energy capable of charging from 0-50% in 12 minutes.
I was able to test this, as when I received my device it was completely flat - so I had no choice - and it really was amazing watching it charge up - the numbers just climb really fast whilst watching - it’s no longer like watching paint dry - and what's more, it’s real power - the device didn’t discharge any faster than it would had it been (super slowly) charged via a USB port on a PC. This is a game changer truly enabling you to have that rapid charge to top up a bit before heading out meaning you should never be without power (if you have your SuperVOOC charger nearby).
If you like to wirelessly charge, then you can purchase the AIRVOOC Charger (or if you pre-ordered the device you may have received one free) - this delivers 50W of charging power giving you a full charge in just 47 minutes which is very good for wirelessly charging.
OPPO Claim that the Find X5 Pro battery will remain at peak levels for up to 1,600 charging cycles, which is around double what you would normally expect to see - a very good claim, but obviously not something I have been able to test out, so I will have to take their word for it.
Now, personally I have always found battery reviews a bit useless - not because what is written is untrue, but because it is so hard to compare that with your own use case, because we all use devices very differently and in the end the only real test is comparing it from one device you own to another.
But we all expect to read about battery life, so here are some ground rules to help you out a bit. I am a fairly heavy user, I have a bit of a problem and use my phone little and very often throughout the day, constantly checking for new messages or the millions of emails I receive (both work and personal), it is my contact list, my calendar, my contact with my friends and wife and kids when at work (and not in meetings). I game on my breaks, I listen to a lot of audio, I have a smart controlled house and the phone acts as the UI hub. Basically it controls me… but that is a story for a therapy session.
What I am getting at is I have never been someone who can boast that I can get 8 hours screen on time from any device, it doesn’t matter what I am using how big its battery is or how new the phone is - I always struggle to get more than say 2 hours of screen on time and the Find X5 Pro is no exception, but I didn’t expect it to be - so don’t base your decision to buy this device on what I am about to say entirely - on paper this is a top spec battery and as I said above, the SuperVOOC charging really is something else and largely negates the negatives I am about to say.
I can make it through a full day of my use on this device, but only just - I am down to the last few percentages before bed, when I charge up overnight - sometimes even with a small USB (car or PC) top up throughout the day.
The battery is by no means a struggle and I am yet to find myself needing to utilise the battery saving software - so I could easily stretch it much further if I needed.
But does it perform as well as my S22 Ultra, the short answer is no - I am not sure what software wizardry Samsung have put into the device, despite its major performance flaws, draining its battery takes is a real effort.
I would say that the Find X5 Pro is probably up there in terms of Android battery performance at the moment, I have not tried enough of the latest devices to be able to say that it sits in second place, but it might well do, behind the S22 Ultra - but… we have to remember that no Android currently gives better battery life than the flagship Apple devices - we will have to wait and see if Android 13 can help that at all.
CONCLUSION
This is a very solid, usable device which is lovely to look at (if you don’t use a case) and hold. It performs very well but battery life is perhaps a little shorter than I would have liked.
It outperforms the Samsung S22 Ultra in day to day use in terms of performance and is a much nicer device to use generally as a result. The Samsung does have a few better areas however, but that doesn’t make the Find X5 Pro a bad choice, it just means it doesn’t quite match up to the top level of Samsung doing what it is literally the best in the world at - making displays and producing good audio.
Would I recommend purchasing this device? Certainly, if you are after something that looks great, is comfortable to use and just works well and its within your budget options then go for it, there is unlikely to be anything better at the moment.
Some of its other features are nice and useful but maybe not game changers but a few areas are:
The SuperVOOC Charger really is impressive, you have to see it to believe it (and I am very very tempted to put up a boring YouTube video of the device charging from 0-50%!)
Also if you are a night time/low light photographer, or a fan of Hasselblad cameras then this is certainly the device for you - whilst other devices have all improved recently on night photography and videography the MariSillicon X NPU that OPPO have developed really gives this device a proper USP.

Nice review. I'm presuming you are in UK by your nom de plume? Not sure where your unit is from, but certainly the one I received from EE UK doesn't have native call recording. Also, can't find Oppostore or ORoaming apps.

BlueMeany68 said:
Nice review. I'm presuming you are in UK by your nom de plume? Not sure where your unit is from, but certainly the one I received from EE UK doesn't have native call recording. Also, can't find Oppostore or ORoaming apps.
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Interesting, it's a UK unlocked device - I can only presume EE had those other bits removed?

Lennyuk said:
Interesting, it's a UK unlocked device - I can only presume EE had those other bits removed?
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Does yours have the regulatory stamps etched I to the back too? I'm on EE and that's what I got.
Luckily I have the white version which has the labels etched which is only visible in some light.
My wife has the black one and it looks awful with all the regulatory labels printed in white underneath the lacquer, the same colour as the oppo and hasselblad logos. She does use a case though but it totally spoils the aesthetic if not using a case.

mcall_r said:
Does yours have the regulatory stamps etched I to the back too? I'm on EE and that's what I got.
Luckily I have the white version which has the labels etched which is only visible in some light.
My wife has the black one and it looks awful with all the regulatory labels printed in white underneath the lacquer, the same colour as the oppo and hasselblad logos. She does use a case though but it totally spoils the aesthetic if not using a case.
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The CE, Recycling and UKCA symbols? Yeah, unfortunately it does.