Zenfone 2 to LG G5 - ZenFone 2 General

So yesterday i got my new Zenfone 2 replacement, The G5. Here's what i already miss about the Zenfone 2.
1. Splendid.
I love overly saturated screens. I had a very aggressive saturation level on my Zenfone and even though the G5's screen is way better, it looks dull in comparison now. The G5 does have some kind of Color adjustment setting but it sucks.
2. Status bar.
The status bar quick toggles are nicer than the G5. while the Zenfone shows you rows and multiple columns, the G5 shows a single row and you have to swipe to the right to get to the others.
3. Settings Layout
While the Zenfone had the traditional 1 tier settings menu, the G5 has 3-4 Tiers where you swipe left/right to access the difference sub categories. However since installing Nova launcher and using the settings app from the app drawer, it takes me to the standard Zenfone type settings menu.
4. Capacitive Buttons
When i open a game, like Boom beach on the G5, i have to swipe to get the buttons. I would have preferred separate capacitve buttons.
5. Dual SIm
At the moment i am using 2 providers because i am porting my old number to my new plan on T-Mobile. Due to this, i currently have my current number on my old sim (still activated atm) and my new number on the new sim. The number will port over to my new sim at any given time so i need to have both sim cards on me at all time so i don't have a lapse in coverage. The G5 just can't compete with my being able to have both sims in the zenfone 2 without worrying about anything. Because of this, i will be using the Zenfone until this is all sorted out.
Why i love the G5
1. Camera
Hangs down better than the Zenfone. Also faster to capture/access pictures. Stabilization when recording is also available. I take lots of pics/short videos since i use messenger a lot and i hated recording videos while walking.
2. Screen Resolution
You don't notice the difference until you use a Quad HD screen then try going back to 1080p. The Zenfone now looks super zoomed in to me, and it has only been about a day.
3. Screen brightness.
Being a college student and constantly using my phone outside, the Zenfone just couldn't keep up. The G5 isn't the best but i can already see its much easier in direct sunlight. (Today has been really cloudy so i will report back)
4. Overall Size
The Zenfone never did fit in my car's cupholders. The G5 does. I did prefer the brushed aluminum feel on the Zenfone though. :fingers-crossed:
5. Boot Time
I know this might sound like a strange thing to consider worth mentioning, but i use Messenger a lot (for calls). Sometimes messenger being messenger, it will randomly act up and the only way to tame the beast is to restart my phones. If i ever need to do this on the G5, the faster boot time is nice.
6. Finger Print Scanner
How i lived without one of these for so long is remarkable. Being on the back of the device (where my index finger naturally goes), its a breeze to unlock. I set up both left and right hand fingers. Gone are the days where spying eyes learn your pattern/pin codes after seeing you unlock your phones a few times.
7. Wifi Calling
I don't see myself using this feature a lot but being a T-Mobile user and finally now having a T-Mobile branded device, I can make/receive calls or text when i am at my university. The reception is pretty bad there and is practically non existent indoors the library where i go between classes. I rarely text make voice calls over service anyways so its more of a perk than anything.
As far as "speed" goes, the G5 does feel a tad bit faster as far as everyday usage goes. It has only been 1 day so i will have to get back on this but it genuinely isn't "OMG so much faster" than the Zenfone. Especially considering the price difference.
If you guys are considering the G5 and have any questions, let me know and i can help you out.
Edit: You can tap to sleep on the G5. Simply tap the status bar.

Related

findings and impressions after 24 hours of the mytouch 3g

-the android keyboard works best with all the features enabled
-the android keyboard does not "learn" your new words unless you enter them manually (why? please fix this, this is such a necessary feature)
-3g reception is a crapshoot at my house
-the phone has no proximity sensor and no light sensor.
-the gel case from the t-mobile store is the best fitting case ive found.
-the black 3g has a soft touch cover, whereas the white does not.
-push gmail is insanely instant
-the transflective screen is really useful in sunlight.
-many different apps in the market do the same thing.
-bettercut is worth the 1.99
-pixelpipe is worth the 1.99
-opera mini is equally fast on edge and 3g.
-after freaking out for a few hours about trying to have the most available free ram, i realized that the phone does a decent job at managing the ram, and i gave up.
-meebo is faster than palringo, although meebo does not show mobile contacts.
-the camera is insanely nice.
-the voice dialing doesnt work when im trying to show someone.
-the battery is actually decent if im not goofing around on the phone for 4 hours constantly.
-i cant install apps to the sd card
-i didnt need to buy an 8 gig sd card.
-t-mobile store employees are dumb for telling me that the 2 year warranty plan covers the battery, which caused me to drive back to return it after getting home to read the terms and conditions.
-skype does not call over the internet, instead it calls this random number.
-sherpa doesnt have a default for hospitals
-more cowbell is amazingly addictive, but it cannot play an mp3 in the background like the iphone version.
-with full reception, my 3g download speed was 818KB/s
-i cant set a signature in the imap/pop3 email client.
-compare everywhere is so far the best barcode application that i have tried.
-theres no facebook application
-with x.facebook.com you cant comment on people's statuses.
-when typing fast, iphone keyboard is superior
-when typing moderately, android keyboard suffices, and is comparable to iphone's keyboard
-when typing fast, android keyboard lags a little bit.
-htc keyboard lags, period.
-folders are really useful.
-the phone doesnt display a date anywhere when on the home screen.
-the phone is a bit laggy from time to time, not as seamless as i would like. by doing so, it shows its weakness.
-on the sms screen, when rotating with keyboard down, it is faster than the iphone, with keyboard up, it is slower.
I agree with most of the above, 3g is not so fast in my area, about half that speed.
Just thought I would point out that you can get the date on the home screen by pressing at the top to engage the notification pulldown, the date pops up on the left as soon as you do this.

My experience with the HD2

I have the device for 5 days and i went through every little corner of it so i would like to share this with you and maybe help others make a decision to buy it or not.
Hardware:
1. Very good build quality. The rubber coding and the metal plate feels good.
2. Its incredibly thin!
3. The camera has sharp edges which scratches my desk. I always put the phone on top of the leather pouch that came with it so i don't scratch my desk.
4. The screen is impressive. Having a capacitive 4.3'' screen on a WM device is like being in haven.
5. The earpiece does a good job. Its better than my (sold) TP2, but not too loud (as some have reported).
6. The speaker is decent. Not too loud and not to quiet. Having a device so small i guess its impossible to put a better speaker.
7. The 3.5 mm jack entry is so enjoyable. I always struggled with charging and listening to the headphones at the same time. It was impossible on my previous phones without some big, ugly adapter.
8. Finally we have a standardized port for sync/charge. Unfortunately i can't find a microUSB cable anywhere. The only way to get them is to order them online.
Software:
1. HTC Sense is very well done. Having a 1GHz processor it moves along panels and menus very fast. When i took my TP2 in hand after playing with the HD2 i felt like trowing it away. Once you played with the HD2 you never go back.
2. HTC skinned most of the settings of WM which is a good thing and a bad thing. In some cases the skinned settings don't show every little option in that category so its annoying, but i managed to get a shortcut for the windows mobile settings in my start menu.
3. The facebook integration doesn't let me choose what i want to update for my contacts. On my TP2 i would get asked if i want to get the contact's photo and his birthday. Now it doesn't ask anything and if the contact doesn't have a facebook photo but it has an outlook photo (set by me) it deletes the photo. After getting back my contacts i stopped using the facebook integration. SOLVED
4. The twitter client is OK, but i expect an update from HTC in a future rom where lists are implemented. Otherwise its useless.
5. Doing pinch to zoom in Opera is a joy. Having a large screen, web browsing becomes a pleasure. Now i can say that i can always rely on my phone to do web browsing.
6. Google Maps and iGO 8 work fast and the GPS signal comes in about 10 seconds with the proper tweaks.
7. The FM Radio just doesn't work. I only get static and its not like i'm in the middle of a field. I'm in a 4 million people city.
8. The Audio Manager does a good job but there's a problem with the Audio Booster which doesn't stay on after the first song you play. There's a solution for that but its ugly. Once you start the audio booster don't press done, just leave it running by pressing the home button for example.
9. The camera takes very good pictures. I applied the super fine tweaks. I own a semi professional camera and i have some experience in that area and the pictures taken by the HD2 are pretty OK for a phone camera.
10. In regards to the SMS issue: i don't have it. The device already came with the GSM only selected as a band for sending text messages. The only downside is that i tried once to send an sms to 16 persons and i got around 5-6 undelivered messages. I know it has a limit but i applied the tweak to make the limit go to 50 but no result.
11. My Location works and doesn't work. It gets my location but when its time to get the weather it fails. It shows and error message that it cannot retrieve the weather. So i disabled it completely.
12. The unlock screen is useless. I always set my phone to turn off the display after 1 minute. Watching a movie resulted in a lock. I removed it and installed S2U2 which accepts exceptions and it works great on the HD2. It's like it was meant for this device.
13. HTC Album creates a rather large cache on the main storage resulting in a decrease in available MBs. That is not acceptable for me so someone from xda modified the exe file (changed the path of where the cache is stored) and i installed it and it works great so far. The cache is now in My Documents folder on the storage card.
14. I changed the icons in the start menu using the reSTART application and the iReflect icons found on xda. Now my start menu looks very clean and beautiful.
15. I can type really well on it. I just have to trust the keyboard. I'm not using XT9 cuz i don't have my language there but with the ABC mode i'm quite fast. Its not always perfect but that's to be expected anyhow. I make a lot more mistakes on my brother's iPhone than on the HD2 (and the iPhone keyboard is famous for its accuracy).
There is a downside to all of this: the battery life. It's a little disappointing. I feel like i use an iPhone now. I usually get a full day out of it with moderate use. I plan on buying a desktop cradle and a spare battery just in case.
I'm running the 1.48 version and judging by my experience so far i'm almost certain that there was a batch of phones that was bad, that's why some owners state problems with hardware or software.
If i missed something let me know, or if you have any questions fire away.
Very well written. There's one point I'd like to correct, though. You can set the contacts tab to show Outlook pics even with Facebook integration. Here's how:
1. Start editing the contact.
2. Tap on the contact picture icon on top right.
3. A list of available pics for the contact should come up. The second of which is your Outlook contact pic, if you have one saved. Tap it.
4. Voila
Now, can you please link the reSTART and ireflect icons? I'm curious and want to check them our. I did some searching, but the results returned are staggering.
iReflect icons: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=533993
reSTART: http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=186033&d=1242539721
PS: Thanks for the tip on the facebook integration. I'm now going through all my contacts and changing the photos.
Nice review, lorin.bute.
I have switched back to this device after 4 months iphone 3Gs usage. This device is the best I have ever used in the past 7 years. The screen reacts and the softwares run just as fast as iphone 3Gs but with rooms for my customization. Just looks forward to the upcoming WM6.5.3 to enhance this device, and most likely WM7 in 2010.
The battery life is indeed disappointing. Well HTC wanted it to be slimmer than the iphone.
A desktop cradle and a spare battery is a must i feel. We are all using a relatively new battery. Just imagine 6-12 months down, it may not even last a day. A cradle apart from showing off the phone also prevent from tripping the cable while charging.
Well, if a spare battery is a must for the HD2, then what do all the iPhone users do?
The iPhone has even worse battery life and you can't swap out the battery...
freyberry said:
Well, if a spare battery is a must for the HD2, then what do all the iPhone users do?
The iPhone has even worse battery life and you can't swap out the battery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i use mobile chargers.
click it in the iphone and it starts charging. works perfectly.
Yes, I had one of those, too, for my iPhone 3G
That was more of a rhetorical question, but I can add that those chargers are less convenient to carry around than a second battery.
Just looks forward to the upcoming WM6.5.3 to enhance this device, and most likely WM7 in 2010.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=606932
freyberry said:
Well, if a spare battery is a must for the HD2, then what do all the iPhone users do?
The iPhone has even worse battery life and you can't swap out the battery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like what my friends do. They charge whenever possible, i see their phones wired most of the time in office.

[POLL: Vote 4 Yours] Summary of issues people having with g4

Let's be clear. G4 is an awesome device. But it's still kindof in the pre-production phage, don't you think? It's not even available 10 countries in the world. Anyway many of who have already bought LG G4, are actually migrated from another smartphone branding either HTC, Samsung, Nexus, Apple etc. And the youtubers contributed a lot in this publicity for LG. I hardly found anyone said any bad thing about G4, neither about it's battery life nor performance in those videos or reviews. But these two have become the most concerning area as well as disappointment for many of the users right now. I, myself also have been suffering with a few issues. I have already changed one device. Coming from XDA forum, here I will try my best to summarize all the problems people are facing with their G4 & also my observation on that matter from my personal experience as well as gathered knowledge from almost all the forums in XDA:
1. MISSED TAP:
Almost all users reporting that G4 missing many taps to recognize.
My observation:
Well, I have also experienced a few missed taps. But what I think it's not a LCD issue, rather less optimization/smoothness issue of the G4 ROM. How do I know? Well I switched on the touch sound. And every tap I did, including the missed ones, there was tapping sound. Even I tested in the manual testing, nothing reported like that. And even after formatting, symptoms reduced for some. But surely it's very annoying.
Oh one thing about knock codes, I found LG LCD doesn't response to gentlest touches sometimes. You need to press slightly a bit more. Fact to be considered : I am still using the provided plastic protector.
2. LAGGING ISSUE:
There is stuttering here and there in G4, not only in the stock launcher but also in the whole system.
My observations:
No doubt G4 lags. You will notice less smoothness / sluggishness while sliding any page up & down in chrome, youtube, Google plus or anything. It is not "butter smooth" like some other OEMs for most of the users. But switching to Nova, turning off smart bulletin & dual window helped to some extent, but not completely.
3. BATTERY LIFE:
Many of the moderate to heavy users complaining about quick battery drainage with low to medium brightness.
My observations:
LG said many things about their battery life of G4 in their announcement party and many well-known youtubers also said very much positive things about G4's battery life i.e. it can easily last a day which raised up the expectation bar of many users. But the real scenario is quite not like that. Most of the medium to heavy users are getting average 3 - 4.5 hours SOT with keeping screen brightness low to medium which is not at all the way LG mentioned. It seems like LG is providing that extra battery knowing the fact that you will need to put on that extra one at the middle of the day for sure. Anyway, what I found is: G4's stand-by time is OUTSTANDING. Don't turn on that screen much, only receive a few calls, you can pass a decade (not literally) with a single charge. But turn on that screen, do browse, chat, Facebooking or Youtubing or anything keeping that overkill screen on, you will hardly pass 5 hours maximum. Raise the brightness a bit more, like 75-100%, brother, you are doomed. Your G4 will die within hours. For some, turning off auto brightness & keeping the brightness below 50% all the time, turning off fast-dormency, turning off GPS, using Greenify helped a bit. Anyway, my point is that awesome-bright-vivid-overkill screen is actually the curse for the G4 at present if LG doesn't bring up some solutions for it. What's the point if you can not enjoy the juice of a fruit which is known to be the tastiest of them all???
4. HEATING & SLOW CHARGING ISSUE:
Very limited people including mine are complaining of frequent, not consistent, heating up issue of the phone as well as slow charging.
My observations:
Many factors can be responsible for this. Some people find this scenario happening once a day, for some once in two days and these two issues are interconnected in my opinion. What can heat up the phone? May be some hidden apps, maybe weather, maybe some other things, but surely it does for some. Yah we have seen in all the reviews that G4 warms up a bit, but not very much. But the people who are complaining about it, found it uncomfortable to speak touching the phone to the face. I will attach a screenshot here, in which my phone was completely idle, was on charge, no phone call came & my phone got heat up to 42 degrees & it took almost 5 hours to charge from 20 - 100%. Again I am saying this is not a consistent scenario, but it's frustrating for some including mine.
5. OTHER ISSUES:
These are some random issues found by some people:
a) White sparking light in the screen.
b) Yellow tint on screen.
c) Bad bluetooth audio.
d) Wifi speed problem.
e) Helium app doesn't work properly.
f) Nova launcher cannot install properly.
g) Vibration too soft.
h) Auto brightness inconsistancy.
So guys, if you have read it and if you are one of those renowned youtubers or columnists or bloggers whom LG guys follow on regular basis, please make an article or video about it, spread these information and let the LG guys know about these so that they can do something about it. I personally believe, software update can solve 95% of the issues. So be it.
Thanks for your patience to read my post.
I guess I've been pretty lucky thusfar.
Only missed taps I've had is on the double-tap to wake, but I think it might be due to my hardly tapping it (was used to HTC's touch profile last time I had this feature).
No lags here. I did notice that once, when I hit Home button, I returned to a blank home screen and it took about 5 seconds for the icons/widgets to show up...hasn't happened since the one time, though.
Charging, I use the stock charger from my old Note 4, so I get decent times with that (generally 10%-100% in about 50 mins...I'll take that).
As far as battery, I get about 3 hours screen on and 16-18 hours total per charge. Not bad considering I'm a heavy user when the screen is on and stream Spotify via BT speaker 12 hours/day while at work. I've only been through 3 charge cycles so far. It's still not what I was used to with the M8 or Note 4, so I will admit I'd like it to be better.
I think I would go just about nuts if I had any of 5a, b, c, or d. LOL
5d is a huge concern for me. My WiFi speed is complete bollocks. I'm getting a reading of 60mb down from my 5gh router when running speedtest on the phone. But when I actually load a website it's like I'm using dial up again. The load times are atrocious! I'm going to look into changing chanels on my router as someone has mentioned as a fix. Fingers crossed
I haven't had any of those issues. Honestly been flawless so far. Surprised by how smooth it is. I do only get 3 hours sot if I run power intensive apps. But I think that's normal.
The only real issue I've had is **** slowness on Wi-Fi but blazing speed on data
Sent from my G4 using your mom
Wifi speeds are complete crap for me i swear it's like im on dial up waiting for a page to load and forget about getting youtube to load
Th3Bill said:
I guess I've been pretty lucky thusfar.
Only missed taps I've had is on the double-tap to wake, but I think it might be due to my hardly tapping it (was used to HTC's touch profile last time I had this feature).
No lags here. I did notice that once, when I hit Home button, I returned to a blank home screen and it took about 5 seconds for the icons/widgets to show up...hasn't happened since the one time, though.
Charging, I use the stock charger from my old Note 4, so I get decent times with that (generally 10%-100% in about 50 mins...I'll take that).
As far as battery, I get about 3 hours screen on and 16-18 hours total per charge. Not bad considering I'm a heavy user when the screen is on and stream Spotify via BT speaker 12 hours/day while at work. I've only been through 3 charge cycles so far. It's still not what I was used to with the M8 or Note 4, so I will admit I'd like it to be better.
I think I would go just about nuts if I had any of 5a, b, c, or d. LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. Not sure why there is so much inconsistency between devices. I bought the US trial version, and mine has been relatively good. If I had half of the problems reported I would have sold this thing ASAP and waited for a better crop of devices to come out this fall. I'm one of the few people who really like a stripped down TouchWiz, but with Knox/sealed but not waterproof body/no SD/weak battery the S6 wasn't cutting it. If only Samsung sold the Exynos to these other vendors... For now, I'm fine with the G4, but really hope we get root and unlocked BL so development explodes and the kernel can get tweaked.
Only problem I've had is holding back my enthusiasm about how flawless this phone is ( my wife would try to hijack it if she knew how impressed I am). I do miss 4 buttons on the bottom though
knoshann said:
Only problem I've had is holding back my enthusiasm about how flawless this phone is ( my wife would try to hijack it if she knew how impressed I am). I do miss 4 buttons on the bottom though
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can add the 4th button. You can add up to 5. Settings - Display - Home touch buttons - Button combination
Perfect summary.
I've also seen a lot of people saying that they aren't having these problems which can lead to people thinking the phone is perfect, which it's not. I love the screen size and the display but the software is really letting this phone down.
I've experienced many problems too, such as: stuttering, poor battery life at high brightness, brightness dimming down by itself, slow charging, lag and stutter in games, e.g. dead trigger 2 and subway surfers (yes I've turned off game optimiser) and the notification pull down freezing frequently when I get a notification. However, as I saw a lot of people saying that their phones were perfect I chose to exchange my phone instead of return it. My new phone has the exact same problems (uk device on v10a).
Maybe these problems can be fixed with a software update but the question is will it? My G3 lagged and stuttered from the beginning and no software update changed that. The only fix was to switch to a cm12 rom which made the phone finally perform smoothly, at the cost of battery life and camera quality.
It's been at least 3 phones in a row now that have had poor software (g3, g flex 2 and now g4). They're supposed to test their phones before putting them out to consumers but it doesn't seem like they really care so I don't have much hope.
Worst thing is I really want to love this phone and think LG's hardware design is perfect but the software is most likely going to make me sell it.
It might be worth mentioning which version you're on, especially if it's one where the provider (such as VZW) has bogged it down with bloatware. That could conceivably be a contributing factor to battery life issues, if nothing else.
Just a suggestion. Might be a good idea for people to put which model they're on and which Software version they're running.
Like I'm on the H811 running version 81110D. That way, we can see if any issues might be carrier type or software version based...
Just a thought.
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but on the Sprint model the WiFi randomly turns itself on. I rarely use WiFi, so it's definitely not me turning it on and forgetting that i did or anything.
I was having a issue where my screen Brightness would change on it's own. Tmobile H811 running version 81110D ? I believe that was the version before the update I got and installed on its own last night of H. When I mean change on it's own I had the Screen Brightness on 100% like every other phone and after the few secs when the screen dims and you touch it again the screen brightness would now be set to 70% now 100%. AUTO is off I don't use that.
I will see if this happens on the H update or not.
Ogre6473 said:
Not sure if anyone has mentioned it yet, but on the Sprint model the WiFi randomly turns itself on. I rarely use WiFi, so it's definitely not me turning it on and forgetting that i did or anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've actually seen this on the TMO version (8110d). Very sporadic (or it happens more than I realize but I don't spend enough time looking at the phone to notice, not sure which).
I've also seen it randomly turn OFF wifi (just happened 30 seconds ago) for no reason. Interestingly enough THAT one might be oddly due to some weird power saving feature or something as I was just able to reproduce it 3 times in a row turning the screen off and on.
Screen on=wifi on
Screen off=wifi off
Weird stuff.
smw6180 said:
I've actually seen this on the TMO version (8110d). Very sporadic (or it happens more than I realize but I don't spend enough time looking at the phone to notice, not sure which).
I've also seen it randomly turn OFF wifi (just happened 30 seconds ago) for no reason. Interestingly enough THAT one might be oddly due to some weird power saving feature or something as I was just able to reproduce it 3 times in a row turning the screen off and on.
Screen on=wifi on
Screen off=wifi off
Weird stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go into Wi-Fi Settings.
Under Advanced Wifi Settings
In Useful Settings, there is a setting for "Keep Wi-Fi on when screen is off".
It's set to NO by default.
I would imagine it's some sort of power saving feature.
smw6180 said:
I've also seen it randomly turn OFF wifi (just happened 30 seconds ago) for no reason. Interestingly enough THAT one might be oddly due to some weird power saving feature or something as I was just able to reproduce it 3 times in a row turning the screen off and on.
Screen on=wifi on
Screen off=wifi off
Weird stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In setting, wifi, advanced there is an option for turning off wifi when the screen is off. Check that and wifi will stay on. Still haven't digured out why it's turning itself on though.
Ogre6473 said:
In setting, wifi, advanced there is an option for turning off wifi when the screen is off. Check that and wifi will stay on. Still haven't digured out why it's turning itself on though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't touched anything in Wi-Fi settings other than setting my passkey and turning "Always allow scanning" off. That setting for Wi-Fi off when screen is off was on when I got the phone. Looks like default position.
It probably doesn't help that they keep losing software engineers at their California office (i work at LG). Senior engineers to make things worse.
The yellow tint on the screen is the part that upsets me the most. The lead-up to the G4's release was all about how superior the screen is to the G3's. Yet the G4's I've received have had yellow tint issue (two of them so far). The screen also appears dimmer than my old G3 at max brightness as well (this is before auto dimming kicks in too.)
There seems to be a rather big shipment of G4's with yellow screens in my area. I've been to 4 different AT&T stores in the past 4 days and have seen at least 5 brand new phones with the yellow tint. It seems to be restricted to the grey metallic retail ones as well. None of the display models or the leather backed ones I've seen thus far as the yellow tint issue. This is in Houston, TX btw. I'm heading to a 5th after work in the hopes of finding a G4 with a non-defective screen.

My Journey from Note 4 to Mate 9 Thread

As you will notice from my signature, I had tried a move to a LG V20, but I came back to the Note 4. So, I'm tracking my attempt to have a happiness with the Mate 9. Putting my notes and info here.
I'm in U.S., and so have North America version. Received it this afternoon, and have had a SIM card set up in it.
I'll document as I go for my results on setup. Not starting off great:
Restoring Data
Phone Clone
Tried this first. On the Mate 9, all I could get was the spinning hour glass (or whatever it's called). Would never come up with the QR code that is needed to mate to the old phone.
So I moved to...
Hisuite
So, I installed Hisuite on my laptop. Below are instructions followed with results:
Instlal Hisuite on Laptop - Success
Plug Huawei device to the computer, and touch restore data in Hisuite. ... Well, first thing I was wondering was how was the laptop to be able to ge the data from teh old phone? So, I proceeded
So my device is found, as the PC came up with a box to select how to use the device. But I see no option to restore data. I noticed a note at the bottom that it will not connect if charging only for usb is selected. So the instructions say...
Touch Settings - success
Then touch Security and Privacy ... There is no Security and Privacy specifically to touch, but there is a category called Security and Privacy, and a Security option to touch. But, I did find the Security option, and clicked it and found the option to allow Hisuite.
So, now, having done all that, I see the phone connected. But I see absolutely no way to get my data: messages, phone log, etc from my oldphone to the new one.
Pretty unimpressed at this point.
Tried Phone Clone again. Nothing.
If anyone has any suggestions...it's appreciated.
I managed to get my SMS and call logs by using SMS Backup and Restore. Had to move files around via dropbox.
Observations
I'm finding that as I run apps, the common pop-up about needing rights often freezes and I need to go into Settings/Apps and assign priviledges. Not sure if this is a common issue for others or not.
Phone, of course, is performing well.
Screen resolution is fine for me
Fingerprint reader is very fast. I had come to really like the finger print reader on the back while using the V20. I'm having to get used to it not also being the power button.
I am finding that various things that fill the page and are white hides the on-screen buttons. I don't recall that as an issue when I was trying out the V20.
The email app is going to take some getting used to. I am very used to the Samsung email app, which I liked better than Gmail.
Stick with it. This phones menus and ways of doing certain actions is different than Sammy or LG. But I really like that. Once u use it for a bit. You'll love it!!!
G
Sent from my MHA-L29 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
def-g said:
Stick with it. This phones menus and ways of doing certain actions is different than Sammy or LG. But I really like that. Once u use it for a bit. You'll love it!!!
G
Sent from my MHA-L29 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I plan to. Liking it so far...but...
The GPS is getting zero satellites. Not working. I do have high accuracy turned on (Use GPS and Wifi). Loaded GPS Test, and no sats visible.
Another issue with first drive...when the screen goes off, intermittently it shuts down Pandora. I checked the Battery Optimizations to make sure Pandora is NOT set to close when screen is off, and it is not.
I'm on hold now with B&H Photo. I'm guessing I'll be exchanging it. PITA...but I'll l give one more a try.
Obesrvations (other than above issues)
Battery is looking like it will be great
I like that the icon in the noti bar shows what AP I'm hooked to
Volume is very good. Sound is OK (better for sure than Note 4)
I'd like to have dark notifications. Haven't checked to see if ther is a way to do that yet.
[EDIT]
I just checked. I was on FW 138. There is an update to 183. I'm downloading it now. If GPS still doesn't work, my next task is to call Huawei support...then if no good, exchange.
ewingr said:
I plan to. Liking it so far...but...
The GPS is getting zero satellites. Not working. I do have high accuracy turned on (Use GPS and Wifi). Loaded GPS Test, and no sats visible.
Download GPS Status from play store, set it up, reboot, and see if that helps
Another issue with first drive...when the screen goes off, intermittently it shuts down Pandora. I checked the Battery Optimizations to make sure Pandora is NOT set to close when screen is off, and it is not.
I'd uninstall, and re install Pandora; doesnt happen for me
I'm on hold now with B&H Photo. I'm guessing I'll be exchanging it. PITA...but I'll l give one more a try.
Obesrvations (other than above issues)
Battery is looking like it will be great
I like that the icon in the noti bar shows what AP I'm hooked to
Volume is very good. Sound is OK (better for sure than Note 4)
I'd like to have dark notifications. Haven't checked to see if ther is a way to do that yet.
[EDIT]
I just checked. I was on FW 138. There is an update to 183. I'm downloading it now. If GPS still doesn't work, my next task is to call Huawei support...then if no good, exchange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery is awesome on my mate 9 pro; your should be too
There are lots of themes you can install to get your notifications dark; check the apps/themes thread
wase4711 said:
Battery is awesome on my mate 9 pro; your should be too
There are lots of themes you can install to get your notifications dark; check the apps/themes thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery right now:
30%
9 hr 33 min
4 hr 22 min​
Definitely better than my Note 4. Not sure it's up to what some claim. But I think I'm going to be happy with it.
Good news on GPS: the 183 update got the GPS to functioning. Haven't done much other than be sure it is working. Out of interest, soon I plan to do a walk and see how it goes. That type of GPS tracking is what most folks complain about re: the GPS.
Observations
Lightflow does not work with the LEDs on Huawai phones
I installed Light Manager, which works when I test LEDs from teh app,.I had quite a bit of trouble getting it to work, but it appears that just now I did. NOTE: it appears that if you do NOT have PULSE LED on, that the LED does not work at all.
Interesting: If Hold to Ear to Answer is on, and phone is face down on a table, and a call comes in...it does not ring. It answers. Not exactly what should be expected.
I tried Lightflow again, and it IS working now. I uninstalled and reinstalled.
Observation
I wish I had purchased a dark phone which would come with a dark bezel. The LED is very small and not very bright. Makes it almost impossible to see if anywhere near sunlight.
The Note 4 definitely outshines the Mate 9 with regard to three LED.
Well, my Lightflow is giving me problems. It's intermittent. I think the problem may be related to my having restored the configuration from my install on the Samsung. Intent was to get all the LED settings for the various apps. But I think some specific Samsung related settings came in.
The interesting thing is that I can uninstall, and delete anything in the SD card that has Lightflow in the name, but then the next install, the previously restored settings are there. So I need to find out how to get that out.
All that being said, the Light Manager app is working pretty good. Just not as many options.
Today's Observations
GPS is working well for driving. Still need to test it for a walk
For anyone on a Note 4: be aware that the Mate 9 has proprietary charging. That was something that contributed to keeping me away from the Oneplus 3t. But I overlooked it for the other pluses of this phone. I have read that Power Delivery chargers work better than QC, but not as good as the stock Huawei one. I have a PD on order for my car. We'll see
The issue where a pop up comes up for rights needed is a PITA. It often locks up the app, and I have to go into Apps/Permissions and grant them there.
So far each BT device I have added is working well. (Problems with BT was the straw that made me pull the plug on the V20)
Had screen on for quite a while with GPS app. Phone did run just a bit warm. In fact, it seemed to be warm for quite a while after turning off the GPS software and browsing through a store
Current feeling about the move to the Mate 9 from the Note 4
I'm feeling very positive. I think the 4K battery will be a real plus. If I can just get a full day out of it I'll be happy. I think it is hopeful for that.
Performance is very good.
Size is perfect. Almost identical to my Note 4, 1/4" taller. I am able to use the Spigen holster from the Note 4. However I need to get a case that has at least hard edges so it will slide through the clip w/o pushing the case back.
Loving the fingerprint scanner on the back.
I hope this thread is helpful for someone.
ewingr said:
Well, my Lightflow is giving me problems. It's intermittent. I think the problem may be related to my having restored the configuration from my install on the Samsung. Intent was to get all the LED settings for the various apps. But I think some specific Samsung related settings came in.
The interesting thing is that I can uninstall, and delete anything in the SD card that has Lightflow in the name, but then the next install, the previously restored settings are there. So I need to find out how to get that out.
All that being said, the Light Manager app is working pretty good. Just not as many options.
Today's Observations
GPS is working well for driving. Still need to test it for a walk
For anyone on a Note 4: be aware that the Mate 9 has proprietary charging. That was something that contributed to keeping me away from the Oneplus 3t. But I overlooked it for the other pluses of this phone. I have read that Power Delivery chargers work better than QC, but not as good as the stock Huawei one. I have a PD on order for my car. We'll see
The issue where a pop up comes up for rights needed is a PITA. It often locks up the app, and I have to go into Apps/Permissions and grant them there.
So far each BT device I have added is working well. (Problems with BT was the straw that made me pull the plug on the V20)
Had screen on for quite a while with GPS app. Phone did run just a bit warm. In fact, it seemed to be warm for quite a while after turning off the GPS software and browsing through a store
Current feeling about the move to the Mate 9 from the Note 4
I'm feeling very positive. I think the 4K battery will be a real plus. If I can just get a full day out of it I'll be happy. I think it is hopeful for that.
Performance is very good.
Size is perfect. Almost identical to my Note 4, 1/4" taller. I am able to use the Spigen holster from the Note 4. However I need to get a case that has at least hard edges so it will slide through the clip w/o pushing the case back.
Loving the fingerprint scanner on the back.
I hope this thread is helpful for someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I'm taking the trip from Note 4 myself. I would love to see how quickly the Power Delivery charges your phone vs QC 3, seems like an interesting new charging technology.
Swan Princess said:
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I'm taking the trip from Note 4 myself. I would love to see how quickly the Power Delivery charges your phone vs QC 3, seems like an interesting new charging technology.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be sure to post results.
I did the same change, Note4 > Mate 9.
I did however managed to get my phone cloned via the tap & send thing, I got it all on my new phone.
It's been a couple interesting days.
I got the 2 Led apps working: Lightflow, and Light Manager. A fresh install of Lightflow, with NOT restoring my previous configuration worked for it, so I stayed with it.
But the next day neither would work. WTF! I messed with it for a while, and could not get it working. I found another app, LED Pro, and it is on it's second day of working.
Then this morning my daughter called my wife and told her she had called me twice, and the phone answered but I wasn'on theh line...she could here the TV. Here's my thread about figuring out that problem.
Ready to declare success...keeping the phone
I am really enjoying the phone. albeit with expected new phone type learning curve to go through.
PROS
Very fast
Screen size very close to same as Note 4...1/4" taller
While I would liked to have 6GB of memory, the 4GB seems to be fine. Every time I've checked, I've had over 1GB free. Right now, I have 1.86GB free.
Some really nice features: Loving the instantlly responsive finger print reader on the back...fits just. right for my hand
Slide finger down the FP reader to bring down the notifications. Slide up on it to close.
Camera features are nice
Sound with stereo speakers better (but of course not like using headphones)
Charging is fast, but so is Note 4
Larger battery, at 4000, is lasting me well
Con
Proprietary charger
Small Led. I would recommend getting a phone that has a black bezel rather than white so that there will be more contrast between the light and bezel. I have a white bezel, and it makes that small, dim, LED hard to see
Some apps may not be compatible. Specifically LED related apps
There may be more pros and cons, but that's the list i can think of now. Others may chime in if they think of more.
So, maybe some day I will root, and I will add to this post of how rooting goes compared to Samsung. For now, I'm holding of of rooting.
Yep !!
ewingr said:
I hope this thread is helpful for someone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I'm just here in the reading of your journey.
Made the same choice, I was waiting for Note 7 ...
No problem for me for backing up my old files, I made the back up on my PC.
I wanted to discover, and still discovering EMUI 5 et Nougat.
Having my Mate for 3 days !
I will tell you my journey too, pros and cons ...
kctus777 said:
Hi,
I'm just here in the reading of your journey.
Made the same choice, I was waiting for Note 7 ...
No problem for me for backing up my old files, I made the back up on my PC.
I wanted to discover, and still discovering EMUI 5 et Nougat.
Having my Mate for 3 days !
I will tell you my journey too, pros and cons ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds good. I have found more interesting things, likely can'at think of them all.
But one neat feature is this: When phone screen is off. there is a setting in the camera where you can double click the down volume and it will open and take a picture. Pretty cool.
Battery is lasting all day with no need to top off, and providing 5 hours SOT.
BT has been working good on everything I hook it to.
GPS is working good for driving and walking tracking.
check for firmware updat b190.... ( usa )
i also came from the note 4. leds drove me nuts. i now use an app called led blinker pro which puts a led(dot) right on the screen. it works great and is set in different colors for different apps.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ledblinker.pro
Thanks for pointing out the update.
I am using LEDBlinker Pro. Only led so I could get to work consistently on this phone.
So far I haven't the screen fur the notification yet.
Anther great feature...
This past week I found something happening in this phone that I had wished would happen on my Note 4: the WiFi will connect automatically to the stronger point. For example, when in the rear area of my house it will hook to the access point in my wife's scrapbooking room. If I get up and go to the office in the front of the house, it will disconnect from the one in the back and connect to the one in the office. Really nice. This is known in the settings as WiFi+.
Another Note 4 devotee who's moved to the Mate 9 - I'm in Australia and I've had the phone for 3 days.
Keep us posted on how it goes. Particularly the things that stand out.
I'm on the mate 9, had it four months, Chinese version, 6gb, 128gb, ufs 2.1 (fast ram, not the slower stuff that some have) running international ROM C636. Battery life is absolutely stellar however the camera IS a let down. Low light mode is better than the note 4 hands down but the Note does hold its own for video and day mode shots (superior fur video no question, especially 4K). Panoramic mode is mediocre. The camera for me is hit and miss, the one thing I dislike about the phone and the poor video stability.
I've been back to my note 4 a few times and will likely get the 7 when it's re-released next month but know the battery life will be an issue.
Mate 9 is a great phone that's let down by a camera that promises so much but fails to match the likes of the S7. If that's not important to you then you will love the mate.

Kospet Hope Smartwatch - Got Good Specs, What is your Verdict?

Anyone with the Kospet Hope smartwatch? Seems like it has good specs and features, higher than Zeblaze, what is your verdict? But I think I will go with the Kospet Hope Lite, https://www.smartwatchspecifications.com/Device/kospet-hope-lite-4g-smartwatch-phone/
The Kospet Hope 4G has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage space
senseijuan said:
Anyone with the Kospet Hope smartwatch? Seems like it has good specs and features, higher than Zeblaze, what is your verdict? But I think I will go with the Kospet Hope Lite, https://www.smartwatchspecifications.com/Device/kospet-hope-lite-4g-smartwatch-phone/
The Kospet Hope 4G has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like it a lot, but the problem with it is the same as with other smaller Chinese brands: they don't provide any source code to the public, so everything has to be reverse engineered - the Kospet Hope already has TWRP and root, but a custom FW with all the goodies without the useless "Fitness" app (it would be nice, but the one on the watch is pure crap) and other bloatware would be AMAZING!
My advice is: the Kospet Hope 4G 3/32 is a great watch, but don't buy the Lite version if you haven't already ordered it. If you have, then you will enjoy that too! )
senseijuan said:
Anyone with the Kospet Hope smartwatch? Seems like it has good specs and features, higher than Zeblaze, what is your verdict? But I think I will go with the Kospet Hope Lite,
The Kospet Hope 4G has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have had the Lite for 3 days and am quite disappointed. Great hardware, but useless firmware/OS, and there is no getting around it, that I have found...
The GPS is not working with the fitness app, so forget about tracing a map or route or whatever. Google Maps is useless, under this resolution.
You can check your pulse with the built in app, which is useless, no history or syncing to the phone. Even if it did, the accuracy is terrible. I had HIGHER pulse sitting in my car than during running.
Yes, you can download any app from the store, but remember the screen is 320x320... Do you have any idea how Facebook looks on 320x320?? It's half VGA!! Imagine that your phone screen is a quarter the size of you KEYBOARD. Now try to run the phone on that small size, that how an Android phone works and looks like...
Even the watch faces are terrible, and I still haven't found a way to add any.
It is a beautiful watch, quite bulky (too much), but it is mostly useless. If someone does a Wear Os ROM for it, it might be a killer watch, but definitely not with this firmware/OS.
Thinking of selling it and getting an Amazfit.
This seems like the same story for all these Chinese no brand watches: good hardware, garbage software !
Why don't they just open the whole thing up as open source and within a year you'd probably have a better platform than Android Wear. I guess they don't do this because then they wouldn't be able to hide all of the government mandated spyware to pillage your personal info.
Hope is the real deal.. Just wish the software was more customizable.
senseijuan said:
Anyone with the Kospet Hope smartwatch? Seems like it has good specs and features, higher than Zeblaze, what is your verdict? But I think I will go with the Kospet Hope Lite,
The Kospet Hope 4G has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi all,
I just got mine last week.
The good:
Great battery life
Full android means u can install anything .. if you choose to add anything.
Great specs and everything works like advertised.
All features work with no issues whatsoever.
Can put a sim card in it and make it work like a full phone.
Can import contacts from google and whatapp and so on.
Camera is great in lighted areas .. better than I expected but it is limited by watch size.
Screen is gorgeous and you get access to unlimited watch faces from google.
Bluetooth integration with phone and wireless and 4G work perfectly.
Waking screen on hand raise works great.
Ambient watch is perfect.
Screen and quality of the watch is top notch.
Charges back to full in an hour.
The wish list:
Better software that would allow you to customize your menus and move things around.
Ability to map the button presses so I can add google assistant to a button
Not so good:
Very hard to read the tiny letters of any messages you get in the menus
In bright sunlight it is hard to see the screen and the ambient clock
The charging cable connection can be weak and disconnect if in a shaking backpack.
Honestly, for the low price you pay and the battery life and quality you get, it is great and as it gets with smart watches.
Cheers.
Tony
"OK Google"
marley666 said:
Hi all,
I just got mine last week.
The good:
Great battery life
Full android means u can install anything .. if you choose to add anything.
Great specs and everything works like advertised.
All features work with no issues whatsoever.
Can put a sim card in it and make it work like a full phone.
Can import contacts from google and whatapp and so on.
Camera is great in lighted areas .. better than I expected but it is limited by watch size.
Screen is gorgeous and you get access to unlimited watch faces from google.
Bluetooth integration with phone and wireless and 4G work perfectly.
Waking screen on hand raise works great.
Ambient watch is perfect.
Screen and quality of the watch is top notch.
Charges back to full in an hour.
The wish list:
Better software that would allow you to customize your menus and move things around.
Ability to map the button presses so I can add google assistant to a button
Not so good:
Very hard to read the tiny letters of any messages you get in the menus
In bright sunlight it is hard to see the screen and the ambient clock
The charging cable connection can be weak and disconnect if in a shaking backpack.
Honestly, for the low price you pay and the battery life and quality you get, it is great and as it gets with smart watches.
Cheers.
Tony
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is no need to map a button to get google assistant, you just go to settings, languages & input, virtual keyboard, select google voice typing, and then voice match, enable "ok google" any time and unlock with voice match and you'll be able to activate google assistant on any screen, that do not awake the watch unless you hit one button, but once you do just say "ok/hey google" working on my kopet Optimus pro
Firmware updates: http://bbs.kospet.com/forum.php?gid=44
For those who are interested: I got one
All firmware, hacking, tweaking and changing here on my page: https://sites.google.com/site/tweakradje/android/kospet-hope-lite
I bought the Kospet Optimus Pro and had problems with it after a day of use. The touch screen would go crazy sometime. Couldn't do anything with it. Did a few full reset, but eventually the problem came back. Think it was my last time buying a Chinese watch. In principle, the hardware specs is good. But, the software is garbage. And with me, the touch screen too. Upon searching in YouTube, I saw a person with the same problem. So, I would stay away from it. But of course, my was probably defective. Even so, I'll stick with a name brand that provide warranty within my country.
My findings after a month. No big issues.
firmware 03052019
Problems:
- wrist raise gesture doesn't always work
- some notifications disappear (like with OsmAnd/maps/vending and existing route)
- sort apps (by name) in launcher
- google voice search long press back-button?
- more accurate heart rate monitor
- glass in not gorilla glass, scratches
- screen consumes too much power
Whish:
- tap watch face actions like weather (on weather area on watchface) etc...
- round to square user zoom factor
- screen refresh rate to 30 Hz or less?
- set screen color intensity
- long press app in launcher > properties and uninstall
- extra launcher app overview like 3x3
- always on time digital/analog user selectable
Cheers
Issues on Kospet Hope
Hello
Cons:
1. the 400x400 resolution of display give us an impredictable screen which is hard to tap at the corner (the third-party applications like any browser give a very little interface who it is inoperable without apk who could changing the resolution of the screen).
2. the autonomy of battery is a big fault : with 2 hour of browsing in 4G connection, 7 hours of bluetooth connection with my Note 4 without screen on, half of the intensity of the screen all the time and 2 hours of working in settings tab,without 4G connection of mobile data it means 11 hours of a real life of battery! A big caca!
3. the keyboard is have many problems to tap at the edge so it very hard to write something in this tiny layout so facebook and Messenger are not suitable for these reasons;
4.Sometime the gesture"raise hand to turn on the screen" not works!
5. the wiiwatch2 it is big caca!
6. the Wach Droid Phone and assistant lose, ramdomly, the link with smartwatch (bluetooth connection)
7.My old smartwatch ZGPax S8 could make a decent browsing at only 240x240 pixels resolution, with translucent keyboard apllication "Flit Keyboard". The Kospet Hope it is in backyard, 10 years ago!
8. In charging mode with bluetooth on or wi-fi turning on, it is very hot
9. very thick! not for women!
10. a very unusefull interface of android 7.1.1
11. Iwill not buy another one !
Pro:
1.Speed.
2. Display Amoled
3. Sound
4.Good construction
5.Faces of watch
6.good camera pictures (5 MPx real, not interpolatwd by software) but worst video recording
senseijuan said:
Anyone with the Kospet Hope smartwatch? Seems like it has good specs and features, higher than Zeblaze, what is your verdict? But I think I will go with the Kospet Hope Lite, https://www.smartwatchspecifications.com/Device/kospet-hope-lite-4g-smartwatch-phone/
The Kospet Hope 4G has 3 GB RAM and 32 GB storage space
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there! Ive got the update but cant really instal ... the screen doesnt show the OK button , .... i switch on rectangularish mode but no luck eaven wost
tweakradje said:
My findings after a month. No big issues.
firmware 03052019
Problems:
- wrist raise gesture doesn't always work
- some notifications disappear (like with OsmAnd/maps/vending and existing route)
- sort apps (by name) in launcher
- google voice search long press back-button?
- more accurate heart rate monitor
- glass in not gorilla glass, scratches
- screen consumes too much power
Whish:
- tap watch face actions like weather (on weather area on watchface) etc...
- round to square user zoom factor
- screen refresh rate to 30 Hz or less?
- set screen color intensity
- long press app in launcher > properties and uninstall
- extra launcher app overview like 3x3
- always on time digital/analog user selectable
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hello do you now how to unlock bootloader thnx?
@terminator152 ??? Never heard of bootlock on Koset Hope.
tweakradje said:
@terminator152 ??? Never heard of bootlock on Koset Hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry im using BRAVE not Hope 6.0 android and bootloader is locked uff i cant find anywhere how to unlock it!!!!

Categories

Resources