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Prior to getting the 6S, I was a pretty diehard Android/Nexus user. I got the 6S because I wanted to change things up a bit and really liked the build quality of the new iPhones. However, of all the phones I went through, the Nexus 5 was my absolute favorite. It was a simple, solid, reliable phone. It just had a few draw backs. The camera was pretty terrible, the battery life was sub-par and the screen size was just a bit too small.
Luckily, Google solved all these problems with the release of the 5X. So I placed my order last week and the phone arrived on Tuesday. I've had a few days to compare it directly with my iPhone 6S, so I figured I'd provide some thoughts.
Size
I've read reviews that say the 5X is a weird size that doesn't feel right in the hand. I have to disagree with that. The size is rather perfect, if you ask me. The iPhone 6S is just a tad small and almost feels "too small" in the hand. Meanwhile, the 6S+ is way too big, like the Nexus 6 was. With all that in mind, I find the 5X to be the sweet spot in size.
Build Quality
Anyone who has a recent Macbook Pro or Macbook knows how well Apple builds their products. The 6S falls right in line with that expectation. The build quality is exceptional and tough to beat. Compared to that, you'd think the 5X's plastic build would feel cheap. However, like the Nexus 5, Google found a way to make their plastic phone feel like a very solid higher-tier phone. I like the 6S and 5X builds equally, in different ways. Some people mentioned that the 5X felt "light". However, when I hold them each in different hands, the weight difference between the 6S and the 5X is negligible at best.
Screen
The iPhone 6S screen is the clear winner, stock for stock. Out of the box, the 5X screen looks like s*** in comparison, there is just no denying that. The color temperature and color depth is terrible on the 5X. Side by side the Nexus 5X screen is just too warm and washed out. However, as Nexus owners should know, some simple RGB color tweaks with a custom kernel is all that is necessary to remedy that. So the fix for this will be available in short time.
EDIT
The more I use the 5X, the more I'm starting to agree with other commenters that the screen color is actually quite good. I previously preferred screen color temperatures closer to 7000 (like the iPhone). But after using the 5X for about a week, I've gotten used to the much more natural color tones on the screen. So much so that I actually just recalibrated my Macbook Pro's screen temperature to be closer to 6500, which better matches the 5X screen.
I'm finding that the lower, softer, color temperature is much easier on the eyes., especially in low light.
Finger Print Reader
The finger print reader on the 6S is very good. I find it to be accurate and fast. With that in mind, I had relatively low hopes for the one on the 5X. However, I am happy to say that I am VERY pleasantly surprised by how accurate/fast the 5X finger print reader is. It's as fast/accurate/consistent as the one on the 6S is and I'd actually argue that the finger print reader on the 5X is a tad bit snappier.
Camera
Anyone who follows camera comparison reviews knows that the camera on the 6S gets great results when compared to all the top dogs in camera performance. And most know that Nexus phones have never been known for having a quality camera. However, things have finally changed with the 5X. When I take sample pictures with both phones, for comparison sake, the 6S and 5X tend to produce the same high quality photos. However, in low light, the 5X still falls short to the 6S. But even the low light pictures from the 6S are nothing to write home about.
Phone Speaker
I work from home and have conference calls just about every day. So I utilize the the phone's speaker a lot. And I'll say that the voices through the speaker definitely sound more clear on the 5X than they do on the 6S. With the 6S I have to turn the volume to the max to hear people and even then, it's sometimes hard to hear them. With the 5X I keep it at about 50% volume and everyone sounds crisp and clear.
Overall, I am very happy with the 5X and, aside from the bad screen coloring on the 5X, I can't think of anything that I miss about the 6S. Google did a great job with this phone and I anticipate that I have finally found the phone that I will keep for at least the next 12 months, rather than changing it up seemingly every 3-4 months.
Thread cleaned.
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Great review. Thanks for your effort.
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---------- Post added at 11:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:53 AM ----------
What about sound with headphones? I imagine I'll use V4A but the low volume I read about is a bit of a bugger. Battery and lag I think either custom or stock updates will take care of.
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dondavis007 said:
Great review. Thanks for your effort.
What about sound with headphones? I imagine I'll use V4A but the low volume I read about is a bit of a bugger. Battery and lag I think either custom or stock updates will take care of.
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I hadn't tested that yet. However, I just used the in ear headphones that came with the iPhone and tested them with the same song on both the 5X and 6S back to back. I'm not sure how people are claiming it has low volume. With both phones set at 50% volume, the 5X is louder than the 6S. And at 80% volume the music is way to loud on the 5X.
I know there was a thread discussing the low audio volume and people were mentioning they were also having trouble getting the headphones all the way into the phone. I imagine many of those complaining about the audio volume simply hadn't pushed the headphones in all the way. The first time you push them in you really have to give them some effort until they "pop" fully into place. I had to do this with my 6S as well. Once you push it in all the way the first time, it's much easier after that.
In your last paragraph, by phone speaker you mean the speaker at the bottom? or the earpiece that you call with
This is a great thread, it shows you just how much $379 will get you compared to the $650 for the iPhone
It is almost the same device in an android atmosphere.
XPERIA Z5 GREEN
P.Fan said:
In your last paragraph, by phone speaker you mean the speaker at the bottom? or the earpiece that you call with
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I apologize for the confusion. I was referring to the phone speaker at the bottom, used to play music externally, or in my case, project voices during a conference call.
Jooosty said:
This is a great thread, it shows you just how much $379 will get you compared to the $650 for the iPhone
It is almost the same device in an android atmosphere.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, the 6S may cost more but as far as daily use, I can't think of any big areas that the 5X is lacking. The one thing the 6S has that I wish the 5X had, is force touch capabilities. Force touching apps to get to their quick shortcuts is actually extremely intuitive and made for a great user experience. I do miss that. However, double tapping the power button on the 5X to instantly open the camera is an excellent feature that may just trump that force touch feature.
Android has force touch capability and it works on my Nexus 5 and my Nexus 5x - there's a demo app called Force Touch which shows the pressure being exerted on the screen when you touch it. It's just not got any practical uses yet. IMO opinion Apple needed it because the long touch on the iOS home screen just makes the icons wobble and allows them to be moved around. It's marketing gumph that Apple does so well - creating the illusion that its products are somehow better than the competition even though the facts suggest otherwise.
My wife has an iphone 6 and yesterday when we played the same song from the same source, at highest volume in the car via aux cable, Her phone sounded much louder than my 5x. I just hope it is something that will "open" or it was just something that happened the first time. But the sound was noticeably lower as well as call speaker volume.
Unfortunately that's the verdict coming from most reviewers. The audio from the head phone jack isn't that great. IPhone had always had great sound quality though.
XPERIA Z5 GREEN
Yeah, I don't really understand most of the criticism the nexus 5X is receiving. Most seem really nitpicky. Almost like the larger bezels and 2gb of RAM has colored many people's impressions of the rest of the phone. So much was expected of this phone that it kind of broke some hearts and stung em up, so now trash talking. It doesn't help that there is a 6P, that allows you to still get a nexus and trash talk a nexus.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA Free mobile app
As far as the screen is concerned, this blows the 6S out of the water from where I stand. My 5X has great color reproduction and the MUCH better pixel density make it a clear winner.
You know, the more I use the 5X, the more I'm starting to agree that the screen color is actually quite good. I previously preferred screen color temperatures closer to 7000 (like the iPhone). But after using the 5X for about a week, I've gotten used to the much more natural color tones on the screen. So much so that I actually just recalibrated my Macbook Pro's screen temperature to be closer to 6500, which better matches the 5X screen.
I'm finding that the lower, softer, color temperature is much easier on the eyes., especially in low light.
I also think that the screen on the 5X is pretty good. Sure, it a'int the best screen I've ever seen but it a'int the worst either.
There have been quite a few people who got defective "yellow tint" screens and google has been replacing those units. I wonder if the OP's device might be an affected unit?
myphone12345 said:
I also think that the screen on the 5X is pretty good. Sure, it a'int the best screen I've ever seen but it a'int the worst either.
There have been quite a few people who got defective "yellow tint" screens and google has been replacing those units. I wonder if the OP's device might be an affected unit?
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I don't think it is. After looking at pictures of the affected units, mine is nowhere near as yellow. It's just a tad warmer than I'm used to but I've actually gotten used to it and when I change my laptop's screen settings down to a temperature of 6500 it matches the 5X screen almost perfectly. If my screen was abnormally yellow, I'd see it when comparing it to my laptop. I think my screen is fine.
I by far prefer the warmer yellows to the otherwise sickly greens.
warmer screens (redish) should help those that find phone screens keep them awake at night.. The theory beeing the White/Cold light from the screen activate a Wake hormone.
sn0warmy said:
I hadn't tested that yet. However, I just used the in ear headphones that came with the iPhone and tested them with the same song on both the 5X and 6S back to back. I'm not sure how people are claiming it has low volume. With both phones set at 50% volume, the 5X is louder than the 6S. And at 80% volume the music is way to loud on the 5X.
I know there was a thread discussing the low audio volume and people were mentioning they were also having trouble getting the headphones all the way into the phone. I imagine many of those complaining about the audio volume simply hadn't pushed the headphones in all the way. The first time you push them in you really have to give them some effort until they "pop" fully into place. I had to do this with my 6S as well. Once you push it in all the way the first time, it's much easier after that.
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I don't have the iPhone 6S to compare with but in my experience with the Nexus 5X the audio level using headphones seems to be somewhere in the middle of what you are getting(too loud at 80%) and what others seem to be getting(not loud enough even at 100%). For me even 100% isn't TOO loud but more than loud enough for most situations. If I was on a loud subway train or something then 100% might not be loud enough but it would have to be pretty loud around me.
Have you compared battery life between the iPhone 6S and Nexus 5X? I've always heard that iPhones had decent battery life so I can't imagine the iPhone 6S having worse battery life than the disappointing(but usually acceptable) battery life of the Nexus 5X.
Also, if the screen on the Nexus 5X was really that "warm" looking you might have gotten a bad one. I've heard that some people are getting with with a yellowish tint. Mine is fine.
Battery life on the iPhone was actually not that great. However, I was also using it right when the Facebook app was experiencing a battery drain bug that was affecting IOS devices.
I'm also a light user in general so my phones tend to last me about 2 days.
Endoran said:
Yeah, I don't really understand most of the criticism the nexus 5X is receiving. Most seem really nitpicky. Almost like the larger bezels and 2gb of RAM has colored many people's impressions of the rest of the phone. So much was expected of this phone that it kind of broke some hearts and stung em up, so now trash talking. It doesn't help that there is a 6P, that allows you to still get a nexus and trash talk a nexus.
Sent from my Nexus 5X using XDA Free mobile app
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Only thing making me hold off on the 5x and lean towards the 6p are the 128gb storage, 3gb RAM and the bigger battery. The metal build would be nicer, but the 5x is a better size imo. The stereo speakers would be nice, but I almost always use headphones or Bluetooth. Everything else looks great with the 5x. I just don't know if it would feel like an upgrade from my n5. I even prefer the color "wash out"
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Curious what people favor if they had the choice:
5X = convenient size with mid-range specs, plastic build, against a competitive price
6X = phablet with mid-range specs, plastic build, against a competitive price
5P = convenient size with premium specs and build, against a slightly higher price point
6P = phablet with premium specs and build, against a slightly higher price point
6p....
I really don't know since I haven't tried a "phablet" yet. But I buy nothing but Nexus. After just crying about an N5 refresh for a year, the 6p/5x launch made it difficult to not try a phablet. I probably can't answer this question until I try the 6p for a month or two. I completely skipped the 6 due to starting price and ridiculous size.
If they would have just launched your proposed array of devices instead of what they did, I probably would have went with the 5p as my knee jerk reaction.
Sent from a phone that is not a 128GB Frost Nexus 6P
Right now I would say 6p, but I voted for 5p because I know I would have wanted the slightly smaller size. But I think once you use the phablet size, it's hard to go back to smaller screen. It just feels inadequate.
To me, with the much slimmer profile (width), the 6P doesn't come across as a "phablet". My wife has a Lumia 1320 and I liked everything about it except it's width (and the extreme lack of apps, of course). I've had to make little adjustment from my trusty N5 that I had for nearly 2 years. My only complaint about the phone is how incredibly slippery it is (I have the aluminum model). I bought it because of it's looks, but it's nearly unusable without a case, IMHO. If I hold on to it tightly to "feel" like I'm not going to let it slip out of my hands, I keep hitting a button that wakes it up or shuts it off (btw, I have normal sized hands for a 6'1" tall person so it isn't a small hands thing). I have a case on order so that issue will hopefully be resolved soon. Very pleased over all so far.
Yeah, I think it was a huge mistake not to simply make two premium phones, with different screen sizes. A 5P I think would easily outsell the 6P, just as most iPhone users prefer the iPhone 6 over the 6+. Even many reviews of the 5X say the price difference for the base 6P makes it hardly worth getting the 5X, unless you just can't swing it (and when you think about the thousands people spend on phone plans, it makes the price difference even more minimal). I really wish there were a 5P, with the Huawei design, but a 5.2" screen.
Perhaps, in part, Google didn't want to completely put themselves in the hands of Huawei.
cb474 said:
Yeah, I think it was a huge mistake not to simply make two premium phones, with different screen sizes. A 5P I think would easily outsell the 6P, just as most iPhone users prefer the iPhone 6 over the 6+. Even many reviews of the 5X say the price difference for the base 6P makes it hardly worth getting the 5X, unless you just can't swing it (and when you think about the thousands people spend on phone plans, it makes the price difference even more minimal). I really wish there were a 5P, with the Huawei design, but a 5.2" screen.
Perhaps, in part, Google didn't want to completely put themselves in the hands of Huawei.
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Yep, lots of people want a top of the line phone that aint phablet sized. Personally I've tried a number of phablets and never warmed up to them and I don't honestly expect to be happy with this phones size either. It is however a Nexus device and I've owned all but one of them. If there had been a 5P I order it and never look back. As it is I'm sure I'll move on as soon as an 820 5ish inch flagship device hits. No insult intended to the gents that love their phablets, you're welcome to em, just let me have a flagship in a smaller form factor and we're all good.
krabman said:
Yep, lots of people want a top of the line phone that aint phablet sized. Personally I've tried a number of phablets and never warmed up to them and I don't honestly expect to be happy with this phones size either. It is however a Nexus device and I've owned all but one of them. If there had been a 5P I order it and never look back. As it is I'm sure I'll move on as soon as an 820 5ish inch flagship device hits. No insult intended to the gents that love their phablets, you're welcome to em, just let me have a flagship in a smaller form factor and we're all good.
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Yeah, I've always had Nexus phones, so I guess I'll try the 6P as my first venture into the phablet world. But I'm not that excited about it.
What's really perplexing is why they didn't stick with Motorola. I thought the Moto X/Nexus 6 design was a great design, except for the size. And of course the Moto X 2014 was a 5" phone. It was totally disappointing when the Nexus 6 came out and it was a supersized version of an otherwise great design. Why not just have Motorola do a 5.2 in version of the current Moto X design. That would be great (and it would even have the four microphone noise cancellation, that has been the best in a Nexus phone since the Nexus One with the Audience chip--I'm already hearing suspect things about the 6P which presumable using Qualcomm's medicore Fluence noise cancellation). Anyway, I think Motorola has a good design. They're also good at nice lower cost phones (which I wouldn't say about LG). A 5.2" Nexus X from Motorola would be nice than the 5X, I think. And it's weird that Motorola is the only Nexus manufacturer that didn't get to do two devices. LG does not seem so great to me that they needed to get a third shot. (Well, I guess HTC also never got another shot after the Nexus One, even though the One for it's day arguably had the most premium design until the 6P--and lest people forget that was the first unibody aluminum Nexus phone, perhaps even the first unibody aluminum phone period.)
Oh well, maybe next time. Who knows. Google is so changeable and inconsistent with what they do with the Nexus line.
I remember when I would pull out my N1 and people would comment on how huge it was. lol I suppose it doesn't matter in the context of this conversation but I just have to say it... I loved the trackball. I liked pulling the notifications out into 3D space and I liked being able to select tiny links on a web page without having to zoom.
6P
5P would be sweet
OP...you already have the same thread here. Why make another one?
I will have to close this. Please don't repeat threads in multiple sections.
Regards
I am thinking about switching to the 6p. 808 has been a letdown for me and I am worried about future updates because of lenovo.
osiris970 said:
I am thinking about switching to the 6p. 808 has been a letdown for me and I am worried about future updates because of lenovo.
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Of course it is the worth, 6p is a much better phone than mxp but it costs more (obviously) and the thing that i dont like about it is the glass camera frame (so ugly)
Personally, I wouldn't switch to a nexus. Its a great phone, sure, but I like having an SD card slot. That and the price of the 6p.
If that doesn't sway your decision, I'd say go for it otherwise.
This video is pretty interesting... Especially around 6:30 when both phones are nice and hot and he runs Antutu benchmark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvCM1McR42Q
I just made the switch about 3 weeks ago. For me it was especially worth it since I could sell my X for the same purchase price of a refurb 6p. But Even if there were a price difference, it's a worthwhile upgrade for me. The only thing to keep in mind is Google is probably going to pump out a new nexus phone or two this fall hopefully with Snapdragon 820's onboard. THe 820 is leaps and bounds above the 810 in the 6p and the 808 in the X and I'm looking forward to my next phone having one. It really comes down to your willingness to wait with an admittedly great Moto X for the new Nexus or jump up to a fantastic experience from the current offering.
Pure nexus on 6p vs MotoX is a much smoother experience in my opinion having run them side by side for a few days.
I've ditched 6p for MXPE for a couple of reasons.
The main reason for this was this awful AMOLED screen. It has a lot of issues and even if you are lucky enough and won't get any pink spots or greenish tones to your screen, you'll still get awful ghosting of dark objects with black backgrounds and small letters will fall apart while scrolling. This was driving me nuts and just after a week of using this crappy screen I've sold 6p and bought MXPE. Oh, and also, just in a week, there was a lot of noticeable burn-ins around navbar and status bar. I just don't want to know, what will happen to this screen in a year.
So, here are my personal reasons to choose 6p over MXPE:
1) Amazing camera. MXPE has awful camera, it is usable only in perfect conditions and despite having 21 mpx it just doesn't deliver such great pictures, as 6p does.
2) Performance. Even though I've thought 6p was a little slower then Nexus 5, MXPE is really disappointing. Snapdragon 808 can't cope with QHD screen. Stutters all over the place, scroll is nowhere as smooth as it was back in 2014 with Nexus 5 and Oneplus One.
3) Community. After a couple of years with Nexuses, I can't understand, why there are so few people trying to develop something for this phone. With open-sourced kernel, opened bootloader, such low price and near-stock official firmware I thought MXPE would gather a lot of developers. But still, after more than half a year after release, there is still no fully-functional Cyanogenmod ROM, for instance.
4) Technologies. Type C interface and Nexus Imprint are nice, but they are not necessary.
But, as well, I can mention, why MXPE is better, than 6p:
1) Design. This is not a huge deal, for me both of these phones look and feel great. I just preferred a little more roundness in Motorola, as well as textured back cover. It's nicer and a lot more grippier, than aluminum in 6p.
2) Screen. As mentioned above, this was a deal-breaker for me. IPS is a lot better technology, than AMOLED. IMHO, of course. But never again, AMOLED just won't work for me unless engineers figure out, how to make every single pixel (LED) operate at 60+ Hz frequency for smooth transitions.
3) Speakers. Even though 6p also has front-facing speakers, Motorola's speakers are way nicer. They sound amazing.
4) Build quality. 6p feels a bit tender and weak. It feels like it can be broken in half easily. Motorola is built to last, it feels sturdy. I am pretty sure it will survive a couple of drops. Even in water, according to IP52 resistance. Of course this certificate means that it'll survive a rain, but I am pretty sure it can survive a couple of seconds in water in case of accident.
Good grief. It's got Pixel sized bezels!
The good old Galaxy Note 3 was so far ahead of its time when it came to minimal bezels.
Galaxy finally has small bezels again but no root for US phones. Or LOS/AOSP ROM's.
OnePlus 5 had a chance to swoop in but dammit if the bezels and phone with its 5.5" screen are still bigger than the old Note 3 with it's 5.7" screen.
I really don't like this bezelless trend. I've played with the G6, S8 and owned the note 2-5.
Screens are delicate enough, and good tempered glass has only become harder to find since this curved screen craze has shown up. We don't need any help with making our phones any more delicate, thanks.
Not trying to flame you in anyway, I just honestly think we do not need bezelless displays.
Bezel-less is a gimmick. Looks good from a design aspect but the functionality isn't 100% there since black bars when watching Videos/VR Apps/OS have to be made to work
Also 1+ tries to keep the cost of their devices to a minimum and in a video they did mention they'd use a bezelless display but currently wasn't in a position to do it
In future we will all have them folding phones, but till then phones should retain a minimum amount of bezel, because its more functional that way, phones like S8 are a disaster. Those who actually use it know it. At the same time the size of bezel on the Pixel is an abomination.
I don't know why OP created the OnePlus topic though, liked their first attempt, second one was cooler, third one was the best from them and now this one is simply pathetic. Not that I buy these sort of phones (brand I mean here) but still, not everyone is gonna, or should land a U11 or a Pixel anyway.
ithehappy said:
In future we will all have them folding phones, but till then phones should retain a minimum amount of bezel, because its more functional that way, phones like S8 are a disaster. Those who actually use it know it. At the same time the size of bezel on the Pixel is an abomination.
I don't know why OP created the OnePlus topic though, liked their first attempt, second one was cooler, third one was the best from them and now this one is simply pathetic. Not that I buy these sort of phones (brand I mean here) but still, not everyone is gonna, or should land a U11 or a Pixel anyway.
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I use the S8+ and it is far from a disaster for my usage. That's just my opinion though.
MrWilsonxD said:
I really don't like this bezelless trend. I've played with the G6, S8 and owned the note 2-5.
Screens are delicate enough, and good tempered glass has only become harder to find since this curved screen craze has shown up. We don't need any help with making our phones any more delicate, thanks.
Not trying to flame you in anyway, I just honestly think we do not need bezelless displays.
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I completely agree.
I have larger hands than most and need some surface area other than the screen to hold on to.
parakleet said:
I completely agree.
I have larger hands than most and need some surface area other than the screen to hold on to.
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Click to collapse
Same, I'm 2 meters tall with hands just as freakishly large, while I am no advocate for Xperia size bezels *Twitches* or pixel xl sized bezels *Shudders* I would much rather see some front firing speakers than this bezeless craze continue.
I just generally upset with where phones are going right now... I felt like last year we got so many awesome upgrades,
The Moto Z play keeping it conssitent with amazing battery life and a success at modularity.
The Honor 8 bringing dual cams in. (Even though this was not the first android phone to do this, I think the honr 8 was the first one that picked up a lot of steam.)
The S7 (I can't believe I said this, I dislike samsung, but I have to get them their credit) but water resistance, wireless charging, good camera, micro sd all in one package!
The Axon 7 filling in the gap for htc with their identity crisis, bringing the best front firing speakers with the same processor and screen resolution as flagships of that year..
The Pixel (Price way too high, I know..) but it's Google's Foray to inject their product to more people.
LG, with... Hah, wait, no they still ate it in 2016.
Then processors for 2016, I felt there was such a huge jump from the 810 to the 820. With performance and heat.. To me it seemed like manufacturers were trying to improve the usability of their phones, with this year, we are killing headphone jacks and trying to get bezelless phones that are wafer thin. I would much rather have a phone with a larger battery or more room for heat dispersion than a phone that would break if I accidentally sat on it wrong.
I'm not trying to discredit anyone's desires here, I just feel like focusing on bezels is so... Secondary.. It's aesthetics, I thought we should just leave that for Samsung and Apple to chase, (And LG to pretend they can catch up)
Smaller bezels = smaller phone. I want the smallest phone possible with a LARGE screen.
That Note 3 was just damned perfect.
CZ Eddie said:
Smaller bezels = smaller phone. I want the smallest phone possible with a LARGE screen.
That Note 3 was just damned perfect.
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I agree. Not sure Samsung's goal was specifically for a bezeless phone, but more likely to put the biggest screen possible on the smallest chassis they could build. In that respect, I love the trend. I'm not fond of cutting the screen a la the essential phone to decrease phone size
I'd be happy with a phone the same size as the Pixel with the same bezels. Better battery, SD card slot, waterproof, good camera, and unlockable bootloader.
aholeinthewor1d said:
I'd be happy with a phone the same size as the Pixel with the same bezels. Better battery, SD card slot, waterproof, good camera, and unlockable bootloader.
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I know it's probably a lost cause but i am hoping they keep the AUX jack as well.
Besides curved edges and delicate display concerns the thing that bothers me about the bezeless design trend is that the more they reduce the bottom bezel the further down on-screen keyboard becomes. This results in more stress to my hand when swipe typing which is my primary input method on my phone. On the S8 it's not too bad since the phone is narrow and I can reach the lower corners of the keyboard fine when holding one handed but on the S8+ stretch becomes more pronounced and I suspect long stints of texting will be an issue for me.
With a lot of discussion on the positives and negatives on this phone, I figured I would give my personal review after spending a day with the phone compared to my XL 1. I will first address what a lot of people are griping about. I used this phone as my personal and business line, so they both get heavy use all day. I will update this thread as I spend more time with the phone.
Screen- In a nutshell, the colors are not as vivid as the original XL because the have the SRGB turned on with no way for us to turn off. I think Google will address in a future update since enough reviews/people complain about it. Regardless, I run both phones with adaptive brightness off and set at about 25%. At that level I actually prefer the XL2 screen over my original XL. Its actually brighter despite the colors being more natural. I lay my phone lay on my work desk and viewing the XL2 and XL the XL2 does have a slight blue tint. Its honestly not a big deal to me at all. I can still read everything just fine and its nice to know i can see the screen outdoors with sunglasses easier. I can not comment on the burn in as I have only had it for 1 day, but what I can confirm is that my original XL does have burn in. I honestly never noticed it until people started complaining about the XL2 getting burn-in so quickly. Dont know if that will be a long term issue or how bad the ghosted nav bar will show in other applications.
Sound- Since I had both phone side by side I played the same song at the same time on both laying flat on my work surface. I placed both at about 75% volume. The XL2 is much louder and brighter. The mids and highs are much more pronounced on the XL2. The original XL did seem to have more bass but was really lacking in the mid and highs. Since its a phone, I prefer the XL2 for music and conference calls by far. If I want full sound I will connect to bluetooth and listen on a real speaker. The speaker phone works really well for me as I am on conference calls hours each day.
!!Cellular Signal!!- So this is a big topic for me as its my primary phone. I can say that for me on Verizon the XL2 has a much better signal strength. Sitting in the exact same location I have sometimes twice as much signal as my original XL. My original XL had to switch over to WiFi calling quite frequently and the XL2 has not switched over once. I am very happy so far with this. The real test will be later this week where I always had dead spots while driving. Will update.
Battery- I think we all agree the XL2 has an advantage over the XL. The XL2 still needs a few days to break in, but it drains a lot slower than the original XL.
Performance- The XL2 is MUCH faster in all around daily use. Scrolling on websites, loading apps, fingerprint reader, etc. Its all much faster on the XL2. I thought my original XL was fluid and snappy, but the XL2 is really nice.
Feel- Although I have seen the XL2 can scratch with sharp objects easier, I will say that it feels better in hand that the original XL. It has a textured back that is much easier to grip and hold on to.
Headphones- Have yet to test against original XL if there is even a difference.
Weird stuff-- I do not heard the clicking and high pitches sound a few people reported about.
Negative- I personally dont like how the screen curves and the metal/plastic has a lip between the screen and edge of the phone. I feel like it will collect a lot of pocket lint/junk if you dont have a case. I never use a case.
Let me know if there is anything else people care about that you want me to comment on.
@iceman4357 nice review. I am like you, this is going to be my primary phone. Would like your take on call quality from both sides. Especially if the people on the other end can hear you clearly. Thanks
Extra Virgin said:
@iceman4357 nice review. I am like you, this is going to be my primary phone. Would like your take on call quality from both sides. Especially if the people on the other end can hear you clearly. Thanks
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I can tell you with certainty the headpiece is a lot louder on the XL2. I had to turn down the volume a few times on calls. I spoke with my father for about 30 minutes and he said I sounded a little louder than my previous phone. He is on ATT and I am Verizon. HD voice was turned on.
So far I have spoke with about 5 people today that have confirmed I sound better on speaker and standard phone. Most people say that I dont even sound like I am on speaker.
Update-- Signal strength is definitely better on the XL2. Every Thursday/Friday I drive through dead zones where my original XL would drop call or cut out completely. The XL2 never dropped a call and never cut out.
Thank you for your nice review. Really looking forward to get mine on november 15th.
But still a bit afraid because of that ****ty display ..