[Q] Smartwatch in $60 range? - Other SmartWatches

With so many options of clones what's a good solid one in the $60 range?
I was thinking about trying the Soyan M9?

Ok I was wondering since I was reading some other threads do any of these watches able to do Google now?

the ranking of this watch in Amazon is passable
but few customers bought it and few customers reviews
i don't recommend it

I know I'm late to the party, but anyone else thinking about getting this watch - it's pretty alright. It's definitely better than the U8, and definitely not able to do anything fancy though. It definitely is midrange, and it looks nice to boot. I want to flash it, but I haven't even looked into firmware flashing before I got this. So if anyone knows what I can do, let me know.

Please don't call them clones! These watches have been around for years before Gear, Pebble, etc. Soapbox away, I just got my GV08. A few flaws, sure, but for $60 I wasn't expecting miracles. This all comes down to the features. I've not seen voice commands on the lower price points yet. Waterproofing seems to be another issue. And most of these manufacturers are in China, so good luck with support. Beyond that I can say the construction seems sturdy. The touch screen is remarkably accurate. Any camera without a flash does poorly unless in full sun. I was glad to see my device accept an H2o SIM card with no issues. It now identifies its network as AT&T and allows me to make calls. And with bluetooth pairing to my Galaxy S4, I can avoid running up those minutes as well. I'm digging for firmware upgrades and driver support at the moment. One missing feature that I would like is a CALENDAR sync. And bluetooth filesharing is possible but terribly slow. It's going to see some stress in the next few weeks and if it self-destructs I'll let you in. Otherwise for the price I believe this was a good purchase.

GV08s Comment
LukosTheWolf said:
Please don't call them clones! These watches have been around for years before Gear, Pebble, etc. Soapbox away, I just got my GV08. A few flaws, sure, but for $60 I wasn't expecting miracles. This all comes down to the features. I've not seen voice commands on the lower price points yet. Waterproofing seems to be another issue. And most of these manufacturers are in China, so good luck with support. Beyond that I can say the construction seems sturdy. The touch screen is remarkably accurate. Any camera without a flash does poorly unless in full sun. I was glad to see my device accept an H2o SIM card with no issues. It now identifies its network as AT&T and allows me to make calls. And with bluetooth pairing to my Galaxy S4, I can avoid running up those minutes as well. I'm digging for firmware upgrades and driver support at the moment. One missing feature that I would like is a CALENDAR sync. And bluetooth filesharing is possible but terribly slow. It's going to see some stress in the next few weeks and if it self-destructs I'll let you in. Otherwise for the price I believe this was a good purchase.
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Click to collapse
I have a GV08s which is a nice smartwatch but it keeps disconnecting from my Galaxy Note 2 and will not keep a BT connecting. I also have a U8 which is not as nice, but connects without a problem. The problem appears to be with the GV08s...just not sure if it is this particular watch or if the GV08s has a problem...also I cannot change the weather to our local weather...nice screen, can see it in the sun and also the menus are great, just wish it would hold a BT connection.

Related

Cellphone Evolution

Caveats. I love my nexus one, and have never owned any form of Apple product.
I am more or less trying to see what other people's opinions are regarding the evolution of cellphones.
In my opinion these are more or less the large evolutions.
Skipping the Bag phone, and Night at the roxx bury model
1) Nokia - Who didn't have that wonderful brick!
2) Razr - Never had one, but certainly made size crucial -
3) Blackberry - They discovered there was money in smart phones.
4) Iphone - Will stay unbiased, they certainly moved the smartphone concept.
Where would I put the nexus one? I would say it's the pinnacle of #4. Personally, i think we are stuck in #4 for awhile, and much like computer's dont need to be upgraded as say 5 years ago, phones may be there as well(for now).
I highly doubt the next Iphone makes any huge leaps. The front camera may evolutionize phone sex, but that's about it.
How do we get to #5? In my opinion, this will be stuck on the borrrrrring battery technology. What does everyone else see?
Nexus One is 4.5. It shares many features of the iPhone and adds on top iof it with the concept of developer freedom, which I beleive is crucial for moving smartphone software forward.
Just to clarify. I definitely think the Nexus one is a massive improvement, and 4.5 is certainly accurate. You could be right in that we may never see a 5 by my metrics. Or not a clean jump at least. Continual small improvement could be the ongoing future.
Eitherway, I feel good that I wont be itching to "upgrade" this time next year(which says alot for the Nexus One)
Much as the MP3 player is being obsolesced by cell phones, I think "phones" in the traditional sense will eventually be obsolesced by the all-around computer that smartphones are becoming.
but its still called a smartphone lol
I don't think the Nexus One itself is that great of an evolution, it's just another Android phone.
I'd say the platform itself is much more important.
I love my Nexus One, it's far and away the most advanced phone I've ever owned, however it's not without faults, and ultimately it's just a high end Android handset, just like the Motorola Droid/Milestone.
As for the next "big" step/evolution, I don't know if there will be anything "big" per say. As has been touched on in this thread, smartphones as we know them are metamorphosing into mobile computers, so I don't really see the scope for anything more than incremental increases in processing power and operating systems.
video calls will be a big step... however the networks will have to mature before something as data intenisve as that steps up to the plate
another thing i think would be interesting as far as the future goes is developing a phone that truely functions as a portable computer where i can ditch my desktop (granted not my gaming pc) but hook the phone up to a dock of some sort which will give me access to a monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, ect... the phone sort of goes into "pc mode" and functions as a regular computer
Video calls will be a big step?
Video calling was big advertised years ago.
And now, almost nobody really uses it.
K69 said:
Video calls will be a big step?
Video calling was big advertised years ago.
And now, almost nobody really uses it.
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Click to collapse
when? i dont remember anything...
my thing is phones dont have a camera on the side that the screen is on... therefore its really not possible... not to mention its incredibly data intensive side so i really doubt what you are talking about is true... I would love to be able to video chat on my phone in a quality manner
sadly though, batteries are going to hinder mobile progress, li-ion batteries are nice but lets face it, its not very hard to run your nexus dry in about 5 hours if you wanted to... battery technology itself is getting old and some other source of power really needs to emerge to really stir the mobile market up
JHaste said:
when? i dont remember anything...
my thing is phones dont have a camera on the side that the screen is on... therefore its really not possible... not to mention its incredibly data intensive side so i really doubt what you are talking about is true... I would love to be able to video chat on my phone in a quality manner
sadly though, batteries are going to hinder mobile progress, li-ion batteries are nice but lets face it, its not very hard to run your nexus dry in about 5 hours if you wanted to... battery technology itself is getting old and some other source of power really needs to emerge to really stir the mobile market up
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Click to collapse
Look at many phones in Asia, they've had video calling for years now. The US is just far behind when it comes to certain technologies. Japan has had international 3G video calling since August 2005 (3G was invented in Japan). And has been running a 3G network since late 2001.
Video calling is way old.
As for the battery issue, nuclear batteries are the answer: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/10/07/tiny-nuclear-battery.html
Video calls are not going to b next. We had those since 2004 in europe and nobody really uses them. They are expensive and a good old phone call gets the job done anyway. I concur with batteries and increemental steps in OSs and computing power, allghough nuclear batteries are still far to come. (Too bad, i had my proton pack almost ready...). This said the N1 is probably the best phone i had ever. Nothing it cannot do. Nothing I have to think"it's just a phone" for. I just love it
SPAS79 said:
Video calls are not going to b next. We had those since 2004 in europe and nobody really uses them. They are expensive and a good old phone call gets the job done anyway. I concur with batteries and increemental steps in OSs and computing power, allghough nuclear batteries are still far to come. (Too bad, i had my proton pack almost ready...). This said the N1 is probably the best phone i had ever. Nothing it cannot do. Nothing I have to think"it's just a phone" for. I just love it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't see video calls on mobile phones becoming practical. The whole point of making phones calls on a mobile phone is because its MOBILE! For a video call, you have to be looking at the screen. This presents a few issues: First off, walking down the street while talking and looking at the screen is not a good idea for obvious reasons. Second, both the earpiece and microphone will be far away from you, forcing you to use either the speaker and yell into the phone, destroying any concept of privacy, or wearing a headset every time you want to talk on the phone. Having a wired headset will be a bit uncomfortable becasue the phone will be in your hand at a good length from your face, leaving the most ideal option to be a bluetooth headset.
There is also the problem of battery life. Talking on the phone AND streaming a video feed will no doubt put a lot of strain on the battery, especially if the video stream must be high quality and play back smoothly. In addition, bluetooth may be used for your wireless headset. Current batteries in smartphones will be able to pull this off for ~3 hours MAX, not including battery drain while on standby, and not taking into account how good your signal is (the lower the signal the more drain on the battery).
Austria was one of the first countries where video calling was available (may 2003).
Many phones with front cams where sold and in the first months you even could video call for free.
Now almost seven years later nobody talks about it.

Confused with so many watches. Help me pick a smart watch

I understand its pretty much what you pay is what you get but I do not wish to buy an expensive Gear or Apple iWatch right now. Please recommend me a good chinese smart watch? I have gone through Amazon and Gearbest however its my first time into this and I rather buy something with recommendations from you guys.
Basically Im looking for something which is less than $40. I dont care about all the bells or whistles as long as it shows me time, shoes me text messages, has as good battery life and hopefully have face plate changes. Really dont care about making calls, or other sensors, or video or photo recording etc.
I'm in the same boat but looking to spend up to $80
I feel the same freaking way. There's so freaking many of them. I just want one that at least has a wifi chip and is water resistant but I can't find any that has both and under $100
Bump. Appreciate your help guys,
If you're willing to live a little dangerously ... the Weloop Tommy might be up your alley. It functions as it is with an older apk than the one on the play store and the firmware 3.18 seems to be stable. There is also an open source project that seems is pretty close to fruition.
relevant links -
http://forum.xda-developers.com/sma...s/weloop-tommy-smartwatch-looks-best-t2864444
http://forum.xda-developers.com/sma.../weloop-tommy-smartwatch-faq-updates-t2995858
https://hackaday.io/project/4510-open-source-sportsmart-watch
I'll be reviewing some new budget watches (around $50). stay tuned to the forums :good::good::good::good:
I have been looking and looking through the fabulous forums about reviews and features. I, too, am looking for a new "toy". I don't wear a watch typically so I it would probably not last, hence why I don't want to spend a lot of money. However I do really have a need to easily dismiss a ton of notifications remotely. I am hoping that I can pick up a cheap one to get my feet wet, get a little experience with what I want and need.
I REALLY like the Galaxy Gear S, with the curved display... but I do not have a Samsung phone/tablet to pair it with. I have been looking for knock off, but have not found one yet. I think something similar to the Gear S is what I am looking for. Something that has a browser, wifi, GPS for maps (I travel a lot), and of course the ability to answer/speakerphone calls and view/dismiss notifications (exchange, gmail, FB Messanger, snapchat, etc.).
I am not looking for a sport watch, but maybe something with a metal band that looks classy. I really liked the Round watches... but I think a lot of screen space is wasted. With the chinese versions, it seems the UI is built around a square display and looks goofy. The Android Wear looks great but I am not sure the capacity of its ability.
I think I would prefer a android device with a good interface. And a decent charger (magnetic/wireless)
Same here, if any has a complete mind in this can you share with us.
Like $50-80, which is the best to get?
Go for gear s I have one I M satisfied it can be used as stand alone device and u can have extra no.
far56 said:
Go for gear s I have one I M satisfied it can be used as stand alone device and u can have extra no.
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Click to collapse
I would love the Gear S but I do not have a Samsung phone thus makes it almost completely worthless. If the Gear S had a Android Wear rom, that would be an instant buy.
player911 said:
I would love the Gear S but I do not have a Samsung phone thus makes it almost completely worthless. If the Gear S had a Android Wear rom, that would be an instant buy.
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Click to collapse
Yes exactly then go for LG g watch r or moto 360 or any android wear watch.
I actually just picked up the LG G Watch for $50 (refurbished) from CowBoom shipped.
http://www.cowboom.com/product/1553348/
$5 off $50
"CowBoom5"
It is an Android Wear device, waterproof, and a SD 400 which is snappy. I really liked the magnetic charger but I wish I had an AMOLED display like the Samsung Gear Live for its battery sipping and deep blacks. The LG also lacks WiFi but... I think it is a good start watch for the price. It will let me play with the notifications and see if a watch is something worth investing more money into.
I paid through Amazon which apparently has a 30-day return policy. This will at least give me time to trial it. I figured the waterproof display will at least allow me to control my phone from the pool, if nothing else. So even if I do not wear this every day, it will still have some use around the house.
This seems to be the best buy for the money compared to the other Chinese watches. There seems to be a few roms and hacks for the LG G Watch and fairly good support.
WARNING:
If you buy from CowBoom, make sure you look at what is included. Mine included the charging dock but others just include the watch and band. The G Watch has a priorietary magnetic charging dock required to charge... without it you will not be able to charge. I thought it was weird they would sell the watch without the required charging dock but make sure you pick one that includes one.
They also have other watches on there. The Samsung Gear Live (AMOLED + WiFi) was $129. You can take $10 off $100 using CowBoom10 making it $119. But that that price range, I would almost OPT for the Motorola 360 ($150 new at NewEgg) or LG G Watch R ($179 used at Cowboom = $169 with discount).
This is why the $50 LG made sense. They all run Android Wear so will function the same. I always carry a phone and this is meant to compliment it for notifications.
player911 said:
I would love the Gear S but I do not have a Samsung phone thus makes it almost completely worthless. If the Gear S had a Android Wear rom, that would be an instant buy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does look pretty nice. Don't have a Samsung phone and the price is too much for me tho.
Hello,
Which Chinese smartwatches offer full voice call? Not only dial, but whole conversation via mic and speaker of smartwatch.
I see Zeaplus Watch dm360 offer this function. But what about U Watch UO, S360, Zeaplus S2 or ZenGear/Zeaplus G3 or others new?
My personal experiences with smartwatches:
Bluetooth phone companion: Moto 360, my cost $150
Looks nice. Runs android wear, works with any andriod phone (I think 4.4 and higher). With 5.1.1 update can tether to phone via wifi. Receive notifications, answer calls, but lacks speaker, so need to continue conversation on the phone. Remotely control music play on phone. Remote control of phone camera. Voice control (OK Google) to send text hands-free, or start call and search web hands-free. Available apps growing. Battery life 1 day. Can change watch face easily, lots of choices in playstore. Cannot be used independent of phone.
I returned this. Too limited for my needs.
Hybrid bluetooth companion/standalone phone: Aplus GV18, my cost $25
large, square-ish face. light-weight silicon strap. proprietary software. Can pair with phone via bluetooth to receive push notifications. Connection has been stable for me up to 10m without obstruction (android, not iOS, phone). Has speaker and mic, so can answer and carry on full conversation on watch (sound quality on both ends is good). remotely control phone music (but plays from watch speaker) or load music onto SD card (user provided, format FAT32, upto 32GB) to play music independently. remote control phone camera or use built-in 2Mp camera for photo and video (low quality). Can also play loaded videos (AVI VXR MP3 format). Also accepts SIM card for voice calls and texts, to use as standalone phone. When used as standalone, can pair with bluetooth headset. Water resistant. No wifi, no GPS. Pedometer not that accurate. has calendar and alarm but OS is proprietary, so will not sync with Google. Will not sync contacts. Battaery easily lasts 2 days with light to moderate use. Limited watch face - choice of 3. I love it!. I have a pay-as-you-go SIM card in it. When I go for a jog, I leave my phone at home and forward calls and texts to the watch. (too much hassle to transfer the SIM card from phone to watch). I pair with bluetooth headset and listen to my downloaded songs. It is my go-to smartwatch.
Stand alone watch phone: ZGPAX S82, my cost $125
large, square-ish face, rubber strap. 2G/3G calls and data, wifi, bluetooth, GPS (worked intially, now doesn't work on mine anymore). Full android 4.4. Basically, a full android smartphone in a watch size. Small size can limit apps, as apps not created for screen this small, cannot see everything on the screen. Limited watch faces. Full android OS uses alot of power. if you tightly regulate antenna use (i.e. turn off wifi, data and bluetooth when not in use) and reduce screen brightness, battery can last 1 day (i.e. 8-10 hours). Has Google Playstore. Sign into your account, and download you apps and receive your notifications that way. Or can use SWapp Link app if want bluetooth pairing with your phone, but will use lots of battery. Good visibilty in sunlight. keyboard is tiny. can use OK Google for voice control. low res camera. Can expand memory with TF card to 32 GB for music,videos. pairs easily with bluetooth headset. I have watched YouTube on it. Some people have used this as their main phone. Since I have my cell phone with me most of the time, I primarily use my GV18. This device is a fun gadget for me that will be my back-up phone.
The right smartwatch for you is the one that best suits your needs. I would love the functionality and style of the moto 360, but with the ability to also function as a standalone phone. I think the Gear S has that ability, but too big and too expensive for me. New models coming out soon. If you need a smartwatch now, try out with cheap one and decide which functions you need, then invest in the right higher-quality model.
I started a small webshop selling smartwatches about a year ago, so I buy different design smartwatches from different manufacturers, pick the best, buy those in a small bulk (sometimes fixing software issues and sometimes add proper quality straps) and resell them on the European market with proper warranty.
My point:
Even I don't know which one (of the proper ones) to choose
I'm wearing the Omate TrueSmart for over a year now because it's the best stand-alone Android smartwatch with proper robust casing and sapphire glass, but I don't like the design when I compare it to my latest lines of companion smartwatches...
I'm in the same boat. I am stuck between the ZGPAX S8 and iMacwear M7. The S8 is more popular by far, but the M7 seems to be fairly equal, but more water resistant and really doesn't seem to have anyone complaining from what I've seen so far. I'd really like to have a daily smart phone watch.
So did anyone come up with a conclusion? i gave it a good read. Even i am planning to buy one too. not looking to spend much. $70-$80 is fine by me. Can anyone give me the best options to help me chose. please.
I like my LG G Watch. For $45 it is probably the best the money can buy. The chinese ones are ok but they just look and feel cheap. I have 1 and I cant even get it to fully pair with 2 phones I have. Speakerphone is nice but not at the cost of not being waterproof
player911 said:
I like my LG G Watch. For $45 it is probably the best the money can buy. The chinese ones are ok but they just look and feel cheap. I have 1 and I cant even get it to fully pair with 2 phones I have. Speakerphone is nice but not at the cost of not being waterproof
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Click to collapse
LG G Watch for $45. How come? i will buy from Amazon and its $96 there. :/.
And about the chinese smart watches not being water proof. yeah that sucks. Although they do advertise it as being waterproof. so isnt there any smart watch around my budget of a bit more good quality and water proof?

Anyone using this device as a phone?

I want a big screen phone.
I've been looking into various 7+" phablet options from overseas and haven't found the one, yet. Then I started thinking about a tablet, made for use in the US, with 4g service... Why not just use that as a phone? Software options like GrooveIP make it pretty easy... I was just wondering if anyone else was doing this (this this device or others), and what your experience has been.
Thank you.
i used it a few time with a voip app and results were alright considering that i had to use the speakerphone the whole time. bluetooth/wired headset would have been alright as there wouldnt be a difference between this and a phone. there is no ear speaker so those are the only options. if youre going to get a tablet for voip only i think a tab e 8" would be cheaper.
42o247 said:
If you're going to get a tablet for voip only i think a tab e 8" would be cheaper.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the thing. I'd like to make this my one device, so I'm looking for unlimited LTE (which is more a carrier/plan issue than device, decent speed, and a good screen. Pocketability doesn't matter that much to me, but I'm looking for 7"-8". If I didn't have to order it from China, that'd be a bonus.
nathanotis said:
That's the thing. I'd like to make this my one device, so I'm looking for unlimited LTE (which is more a carrier/plan issue than device, decent speed, and a good screen. Pocketability doesn't matter that much to me, but I'm looking for 7"-8". If I didn't have to order it from China, that'd be a bonus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
youll have to check to see if it will work with your carrier i guess.
717 people can't be wrong... As of this writing, that's how many times this thread has been viewed.
For anyone who is curious, I pulled the trigger on the Tab E 2 weeks ago and have been using it as my sole device, phone calls included, for that time. It's everything I'd hoped it would be... but there are some short comings, too. In truth, 8" is probably a touch too large for my application, but I've been enjoying all the screen real estate. Sadly, the resolution is poor compared to recent-gen phones. It's also quite thick and heavy for it's size. Strange things to complain about given my desire for a huge device, but I'm scanning the "release horizon" for a more current, thin and lightweight powerhouse to replace this one, (hopefully soon). I wish I didn't dislike iPads, cause a Mini would foot the bill...
I'm using Hangouts for calls and that's working ok. There are no front facing speakers so "phone" functions utilize the speaker on the back of the device, making things awkward if I don't have some kind of headset, headphones or bluetooth device handy... Honestly, I use the "phone" so little, it doesn't matter to me.
Google Voice integrates seamlessly with Sprint service and I've been using that to send SMS from computers for a long time, so that's my go to for SMS. G.V. doesn't handle MMS or group messaging though, so I'm looking for options there.
The camera stinks. I take quick photos a lot more than I realized, so this is a feature I'm sorely missing. Well, not "missing" because it HAS a camera... The images are pretty bad, though.
So, screen resolution/clarity, a decent camera, and the performance of a good, powerful processor are the only things I'm missing with this device. It's a good experiment so far and I got a good deal on it from Sprint (free is good, right?).
I also wish there were more dev support cause a good, clean aosp rom would really help out performance, I'd guess.
My final issue so far is that many applications STILL don't scale well to tablet size. Some operations are cumbersome and there are awkward feeling layouts that throw me off till I get oriented.
This is a bunch of complaints, but I'm still calling this experiment a success. I'm going to keep using the Tab E as my only daily device til such time as the Imaginary Svelte Unicorn 7" Retina device is released. (I'd cross my fingers, but that makes it tough to type.)

MIX as primary device since November. Thoughts.

Coming from an LG G Flex 2 (hailed a failure amongst devs for the device, but mine ran stable and smoothly all the time just by following the stickies here; IMO original G Flex showed so much potential ). Running global 6.12.8, with some xposed tweaks. I haven't touched a thing since I got that setup. I run the device continuously, with no reboots, and its respectably stable at any given moment. Let me know I'm missing out on anything huge by letting the weeklies go by.
The screen size upgrade was much appreciated - I have big hands, I can Swype reasonably fast using the thumb of the hand I'm holding the phone with. Heft and size plus added reach make two hand usage more comfortable, nonetheless.
Screen itself is absolutely stunning (and tbh, I've never really qualitatively observed any quality problems with 1080p on mobile devices); colors are brilliant.
TLDR: The display is enjoyable to look at
No need for a stylus here. I once rocked an iPad mini as a full fledged phone using GV voice (when it was so simple), and had a stylus for that. Carried that for a while during undergrad. Never cared for styluses since.
Phone camera does what phone cameras do. I'm no expert in cameras (well kinda - Optics PhD student), so I choose not to count too much on the numbers/specs provided. I get good shots that contain all of the information necessary in a phone camera image.
I cheated a bit. I use Nova Launcher. Have settings locked down to a science since LG launcher fail in the original Flex.
No complaints. Everything is quick and fluid. I also have a neat trick that enables knock ON/OFF, so the phone behaves itself and gets locked (one way or another).
The softkeys and accessibility button provide more than enough shortcuts to do whatever you need to do is. Fingerprint sensor is right where it should be, and recognizes my fingers at any given time.
I have a Google voice number, so I switched my default dialer and incoming call receiver to Hangouts dialer. NO COMPLAINTS. I used the regular phone app to make calls plenty before I realized I wasn't actually dialing out through GV (MIUI issue, afaik). VOIP sounds better through the phone's screenspeaker than does a traditional voice call. My carrier tallies my data usage to a ridiculously low number every month, so I don't think VOIP phone causes trouble.
Battery life is a must for me. I'm OCD perfect with battery management of my devices, but I need to know I can take my phone to work every day a and use it for lots of real stuff and/or leisure. 8-9 hours of work a day sets me back to the realm of ~65% battery life. I could come home and play nintendo DS on 400% speed for hours on that kind of juice. 4400 mAh was a major selling point for me, and that's paid off.
Speaker quality is surprisingly good for what the speakers look like sitting there at the bottom.
Once you've rooted and used Lucky Patcher to block ads, you've got one smooth, slick, stone to carry around that will not fail you; cavemen would be very jealous.
Concerns:
Dropping. The case provided makes for a really nice grip. I have never once almost dropped the phone. It's slid out of my pocket once, but short fall = no damage.
Features I miss:
IR blaster. I love them. They make owning entertainment centers even lazier.
Not much else.
Thanks for your impressions. I ordered mine from Light in the Box two weeks ago, and am (im)patiently awaiting.
Quick question on MIUI; I started with Samsung phones, then had a Nexus 6, so full Android all the way. Do you feel like there's a learning curve, getting around MIUI? I love tech, but don't like change too much; I'd love to get this phone working as close to AOSP as possible.
jeromekobriger said:
Thanks for your impressions. I ordered mine from Light in the Box two weeks ago, and am (im)patiently awaiting.
Quick question on MIUI; I started with Samsung phones, then had a Nexus 6, so full Android all the way. Do you feel like there's a learning curve, getting around MIUI? I love tech, but don't like change too much; I'd love to get this phone working as close to AOSP as possible.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kinda why I opted for a Launcher I was familiar with (it's MIUI themed though, so I get points for trying). I've never found there to be more of a different learning curve from one Android device to another. You figure out what your device can and can't do, you set up your shortcuts, gestures, other personal accessibility options, and then you use it. When you find something about it you don't like, you fix it.
I could give you an enormous list of XPosed tweaks and small things here and there that I've changed, but that might not do you any good because it's personalized to me.
Good to know, thanks. I haven't played around with MIUI yet, so wasn't sure just how different it might be. Xposed on the other hand; that was my bread and butter on my Note 3 and Nexus. That'll go a long ways.
Thanks!
No calls on Verizon.
I have date and text working, no voice calls going thru. Have updated the apn as per the site here. What am I missing. Would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
bigcc32 said:
Coming from an LG G Flex 2 (hailed a failure amongst devs for the device, but mine ran stable and smoothly all the time just by following the stickies here; IMO original G Flex showed so much potential ). Running global 6.12.8, with some xposed tweaks. I haven't touched a thing since I got that setup. I run the device continuously, with no reboots, and its respectably stable at any given moment. Let me know I'm missing out on anything huge by letting the weeklies go by.
The screen size upgrade was much appreciated - I have big hands, I can Swype reasonably fast using the thumb of the hand I'm holding the phone with. Heft and size plus added reach make two hand usage more comfortable, nonetheless.
Screen itself is absolutely stunning (and tbh, I've never really qualitatively observed any quality problems with 1080p on mobile devices); colors are brilliant.
TLDR: The display is enjoyable to look at
No need for a stylus here. I once rocked an iPad mini as a full fledged phone using GV voice (when it was so simple), and had a stylus for that. Carried that for a while during undergrad. Never cared for styluses since.
Phone camera does what phone cameras do. I'm no expert in cameras (well kinda - Optics PhD student), so I choose not to count too much on the numbers/specs provided. I get good shots that contain all of the information necessary in a phone camera image.
I cheated a bit. I use Nova Launcher. Have settings locked down to a science since LG launcher fail in the original Flex.
No complaints. Everything is quick and fluid. I also have a neat trick that enables knock ON/OFF, so the phone behaves itself and gets locked (one way or another).
The softkeys and accessibility button provide more than enough shortcuts to do whatever you need to do is. Fingerprint sensor is right where it should be, and recognizes my fingers at any given time.
I have a Google voice number, so I switched my default dialer and incoming call receiver to Hangouts dialer. NO COMPLAINTS. I used the regular phone app to make calls plenty before I realized I wasn't actually dialing out through GV (MIUI issue, afaik). VOIP sounds better through the phone's screenspeaker than does a traditional voice call. My carrier tallies my data usage to a ridiculously low number every month, so I don't think VOIP phone causes trouble.
Battery life is a must for me. I'm OCD perfect with battery management of my devices, but I need to know I can take my phone to work every day a and use it for lots of real stuff and/or leisure. 8-9 hours of work a day sets me back to the realm of ~65% battery life. I could come home and play nintendo DS on 400% speed for hours on that kind of juice. 4400 mAh was a major selling point for me, and that's paid off.
Speaker quality is surprisingly good for what the speakers look like sitting there at the bottom.
Once you've rooted and used Lucky Patcher to block ads, you've got one smooth, slick, stone to carry around that will not fail you; cavemen would be very jealous.
Concerns:
Dropping. The case provided makes for a really nice grip. I have never once almost dropped the phone. It's slid out of my pocket once, but short fall = no damage.
Features I miss:
IR blaster. I love them. They make owning entertainment centers even lazier.
Not much else.
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Pointmanipo said:
I have date and text working, no voice calls going thru. Have updated the apn as per the site here. What am I missing. Would appreciate any help.
Thank you.
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately I've never messed with CDMA networks (Verizon is still considered CDMA, right?); my cell service has always been GSM based.
I use Hangouts to handle all of my phone calls now, mainly because I did have a few issues getting Google Voice to play nice with MIUI, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I'd suggest making a new thread - increasing your chances of getting the answer you're looking for (it is a legitimate issue, so it's worthy of a new thread).
bigcc32 said:
Unfortunately I've never messed with CDMA networks (Verizon is still considered CDMA, right?); my cell service has always been GSM based.
I use Hangouts to handle all of my phone calls now, mainly because I did have a few issues getting Google Voice to play nice with MIUI, so I'm probably not the right person to ask. I'd suggest making a new thread - increasing your chances of getting the answer you're looking for (it is a legitimate issue, so it's worthy of a new thread).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes thank you for your reply.
Love mine as a daily driver too, have had it since January or so. Got a transparent tpu case for grip and off i went. I have everything working data wise and software wise, even got my Samsung gear s2 to sync up and run well.
Nicolfa said:
Love mine as a daily driver too, have had it since January or so. Got a transparent tpu case for grip and off i went. I have everything working data wise and software wise, even got my Samsung gear s2 to sync up and run well.
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Click to collapse
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
Calls and volume have been fine as long as your holding the headset like a phone and not at odd angles or other methods I've seen people do when talking on the a cell phone.
mp3elv said:
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
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Click to collapse
Again, I use hangouts for all my voice calls, and it seems as though Hangouts has a significant volume boost over the standard phone app.
bigcc32 said:
Again, I use hangouts for all my voice calls, and it seems as though Hangouts has a significant volume boost over the standard phone app.
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Click to collapse
do u use a case on your phone? a tempered glass? or just naked, it seems these addons affect the sound from the piezoelectric device
mp3elv said:
Many have reported that due to the case, the piezoelectric speaker doesnt work as intended giving a very low volume during calls, could you comment on your experience while making or receiving calls with ur tpu case on? is it that low? or perhaps you dont notice cos use earphones or bluetooth earphones??
Please if you could be detailed it would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mp3elv said:
do u use a case on your phone? a tempered glass? or just naked, it seems these addons affect the sound from the piezoelectric device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got a tempered glass screen protector on right now. I haven't noticed any degradation of call quality.
Had mine since november and absolutely LOVE it. I have treated it so carefully, and yet I managed to bring it out with me while partying saturday. Got drunk which I rarely do these days and smashed it in the pavement. I immediately ordered another one. It simply cannot get here soon enough.
I have been using my Mix as a daily driver for a month now running Epic ROM. Glass screen protector and case and no problem with quality of sound. Probably the best phone I have ever used(been using Nexus 6, OPO and OP2 before). When I will miss stock Android I will flash RR or Lineage OS. But for the time I like something different and EPIC Rom (MIUI ) is good for a change.
benziii said:
Had mine since november and absolutely LOVE it. I have treated it so carefully, and yet I managed to bring it out with me while partying saturday. Got drunk which I rarely do these days and smashed it in the pavement. I immediately ordered another one. It simply cannot get here soon enough.
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Click to collapse
Sorry to hear about that.
Are you getting a better price this time?
IDK what you paid previously,but, I'd imagine pricing is a little bit better than when it first became available.....
Sent from my Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 using XDA Labs
KOLIOSIS said:
Sorry to hear about that.
Are you getting a better price this time?
IDK what you paid previously,but, I'd imagine pricing is a little bit better than when it first became available.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Paid 780$ last time (4/128). This time around 620$ (6/256). Could probably look around for an even better offer, but I was still buzzed and freakin out hehe.
Got mine today (6/256);
I need to agree with 1 simple fact; pictures & videos are not able to do this device justice. I can safely say that this is THE most premium (excluding the likes of Vertu) device I held.
Amazing. (but slippery AF).
I just finished setting it up with my apps & will report usage after a while.
All in all, apps run super smooth.
The only issue I encountered till now, is the slow transfer speed via USB. I get 2x-3x higher speeds on the same PC with my other devices.
I need to isolate the issue - whether it's the cable, or the handset itself.
#EDIT 2017-05-05
- Still need to underline how slippery it is ;]
- call volume is quite low, even on the highest settings
- the USB cable is thin, so I am expecting needing to buy a replacement after a short time
It has rendered my laptop as useless, haven't turned it on since owning the mix just don't need it with this screen size.

OnePlus Watch

Hello.
So I managed to get a OnePlus Watch when pre-orders went live about a month ago. It was delivered today. After spending almost 24 hours with it, here are my thoughts (might be a little long winded).
1. It is missing ALOT of basic features, chief among which are tap-to-wake and no Google app support. The no Google support is major seeing as you cannot sync apps to the watch properly. My LG urbane does a million more things than the OP watch does.
2. Heavy focus on fitness. I like that they're trying to get people more active but come on, at this point it's basically a fitness tracker. For the price they're selling for, there are much better options out there that are dedicated to fitness. This is meant to be a proper smart watch from a company that is trying to take on the big boys like Samsung and Apple (obviously they have very little chance against Apple but, they can at least give it a go). With their recent products like the OP 8 and 9 series, they're starting to tell the world that they're no longer going to hold back and that their Nord line is for users that are on a tight budget but want something "premium feeling". To come out with a smart watch that focuses heavily on fitness and 0 Google support or features was a mistake.
3. It was clearly rushed to market. Very obviously, it was rushed to market before it was even ready. Personally, I believe that the hardcore OP fans put pressure on them to release a budget friendly smart watch. OP caved and just released what they had. Given more time for development and refinement, this could have been a solid product and I would have happily paid around the £200/€200 mark for it.
4. Notification issues. This has to be in top 3 gripes about the device. When you receive a notification on your phone, it pops up on the watch like normal but, you can't do much with it. If it's a group chat notification and you're getting quite a few messages, the notifications will not stack into one. Instead, you'll get several notifications on the watch about it. Dismissing a notification from the watch also doesn't dismiss it from the phone too and vice versa. There have been several times where I've dismissed from the watch, only to look at my phone later and it still showing up there or vice versa.
5. Poor step counter accuracy. MKBHD pointed this out in his review. I thought that maybe it could have been an issue with his review unit but no, it's an actual thing with the watch. A normal work day would get me 5000-7000 steps according to my LG urbane, the OP watch only registerd 3300. How?
That's my little rant over
Anyways, what's your experience with the watch been like so far? Overall, this watch has a lot of potential but it was let down due to OP wanting to get it to market as soon as possible. This needed a lot more development time and refinement. I'll keep a hold of it for now and see what improvements they bring in the near future.
5H1R42
thanks for your reviews.
MKBHD made me hesitating ; ''buy for what is is, not what it will become''
Cyberpunk like, rush ****, and then is a kinda waste of money.
Anyway, since I did NOT own any watch, and I was looking for a simple smart watch that looks classy (not like a gadget) , I hit on that watch. It was a good 'deal' here in canada, since 20$ off, no duty fee, no shipping and only 1 tax.
Hopefully one plus wont let this watch down. They are pretty good for old phone updates anyway, I guess they will do it on this watch.
I also wish some dev do great port on this watch, I dont know it it will be possible tho...
Any idea how to change the firmware? I got one from aliexpress, when they went out of stock in the US, and it can't be paired with the oneplus health app, only with the chinese oppo app.
I think the firmware is way behind (A38, vs B48 as of today), and I would like to have the oneplus app and updates... Half of this app is in chinese.
Thanks
RSchmauk said:
Any idea how to change the firmware? I got one from aliexpress, when they went out of stock in the US, and it can't be paired with the oneplus health app, only with the chinese oppo app.
I think the firmware is way behind (A38, vs B48 as of today), and I would like to have the oneplus app and updates... Half of this app is in chinese.
Thanks
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OnePlus Community
Introducing our new OnePlus Community experience, with a completely revamped structure, built from the ground-up.
forums.oneplus.com
Barmenchik said:
OnePlus Community
Introducing our new OnePlus Community experience, with a completely revamped structure, built from the ground-up.
forums.oneplus.com
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Thank you, I will try it.
Is there any hacky way to pair it to a iPhone for some alerts, until official iOS support arrives?
Hello guys. Help me pls
Updated to the global firmware and the exclusive watchfaces cyberpunk edition disappeared. Can you help me with the return of the cyberpunk firmware?
Contact 1+ and ask them about the watch faces, and see if you can liberate some firmware for our hopeful/eventually getting google wear on this B# either via official means or otherwise with the help of the sleepless xda unsung heros.
So I got the watch about the first wave from the store app (which I have not been able to reinstall since after the crash the 7pro had otw to 11) and I'm very impressed with the slick hardware... Shame on them not going the 'lazy' route and doing the Google wear thing, but instead doing their own thing and seemingly not even half-assing many a feature available on a cheap Chinese 30$ watch (with 3g/lte mind you) just because their æsthetic/simplicity metric. If I had nfc ability, the ability to just get coords via gps, or even midi sounds for timers then I could understand not using the hardware to full potential, but as some of the hardware isn't even being used right now, or at least the software provided doesn't allow it's use, the positive isn't much but here is what I got:
The damn thing at least lasts forever, even with 24/7 heart/0² monitoring... (I use only low light levels, no aod)
The first day I had it, I jumped in a pool and everyone was trying to tell me that maybe I should take it off, but it recorded all my strokes & movement amazingly well (if only it was exportable to kml/anything). I shower with it too, w/e.
Charge time is warped to a good ratio of charge/use, so realistically not much miss in data if monitoring is what you're after...
It's quite nice looking, responsive, and screen is anything but dainty. I don't think it's ever lagged.
The fact it does play music via BT is quite decent for a musician, as you can play someone your music on the fly considering there is a speaker with bt on in the vicinity. It's storage is huge as the space that could have gone to good use leaves gigs available...
I hope that oppo seriously gets to convince them that they must make wear a thing so we can choose to kill our batteries like we intend to, rather than have them force 2weeks battery life because it's good for them, rather than our choice to live with that allowance, or be realistic about how ridiculous we know we are being watching netflix on it...
It should be my call afterall. We'll see how it plays out, at least my sister with the iwatch was like "You don't have to charge it everyday, 2weeks!?” That made it almost acceptable...

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