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HI
I would like to know your opinion. I really want to upgrade my phone. As most of you know Nexus 5 battery and camera are not great and after 2 years I own it battery is getting bad. We have 2 new Nexuses out but for some reason I`m not a big fan of them. I already studied threads on XDA and it seems N5X isn`t a big upgrade for N5. Ofc camera is better but the rest is a bit disappoiting. N6p is too expensive for me as I live in Europe. Paying 649 euro for 32 GB is too much for me. Also there is a lot of concerns about the build quality.
So I came up with idea to give a chance to OPT. I already got an invitiation but still can`t make the decision wheater to buy it or not. Specs looks amazing so the build quality. Camera is fine and battery seems to be a lot better than my N5. The only concerns are the finger print sensor that is not as accurate and fails sometimes to read the print and software that comes with it. I read that a lot of apps crashes, some of them like Google Maps only works in horizontal mode etc. Is it really that bad ? Should I avoid coming from Nexus device to chinese brand ? I also heard that Oneplus support is really poor. Waiting for weeks to get the answer through the ticket system.
I would like you to share your opinion about that matter please. Still have 24h before invitation expires. Thank you !!
Hey,
I had a similar problem. I changed the N5 on the OPT and my impressions are these:
+ Battery is much better.
+ Fingerprint reader works well.
+/- Dual sim is an advantage, but to automatically identify, with the sim card I want to call and write text messages are annoying and every 1-2 days I have to re-adjust to manual selection (I use a personal phone number and buisness phone number).
+/- Camera takes good photos, but there are problems with slow autofocus.
+/- In everyday use I do not see much difference in performance between the OPT and N5 (everything running smoothly).
- Lack of NFC and QI charge (although I admit that in N5 did not use these features).
- I suggest you immediately buy a case or backcover, because the back of the phone has an unpleasant structure of sandpaper.
I'll hope I helped you. I apologize in advance for grammar
Coming from a nexus 5 myself. I love the OPT. I have no complaints about the phone itself.
My only concern is development, hopefully that will change once the phone is released to the masses, dropping the invite system.
With the OPX now released I wonder will many people who were going to buy the OPT now purchase the X instead... Will have to wait and see.
For me everything except the heating of device because of SD 810 and bugs in OxygenOs here and there works nice. If you don't care about heating issue this will be a good buy.
ralph78 said:
HI
I would like to know your opinion. I really want to upgrade my phone. As most of you know Nexus 5 battery and camera are not great and after 2 years I own it battery is getting bad. We have 2 new Nexuses out but for some reason I`m not a big fan of them. I already studied threads on XDA and it seems N5X isn`t a big upgrade for N5. Ofc camera is better but the rest is a bit disappoiting. N6p is too expensive for me as I live in Europe. Paying 649 euro for 32 GB is too much for me. Also there is a lot of concerns about the build quality.
So I came up with idea to give a chance to OPT. I already got an invitiation but still can`t make the decision wheater to buy it or not. Specs looks amazing so the build quality. Camera is fine and battery seems to be a lot better than my N5. The only concerns are the finger print sensor that is not as accurate and fails sometimes to read the print and software that comes with it. I read that a lot of apps crashes, some of them like Google Maps only works in horizontal mode etc. Is it really that bad ? Should I avoid coming from Nexus device to chinese brand ? I also heard that Oneplus support is really poor. Waiting for weeks to get the answer through the ticket system.
I would like you to share your opinion about that matter please. Still have 24h before invitation expires. Thank you !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from a nexus 4 then had a oneplus one and now a OPT. The phone is great. Oxygen OS sucks but I'm running hydrogen OS with trebuchet launcher. Fastest phone I've ever used and the camera is great. I never have issues with the fingerprint reader. The only issue is there is no quick charge so it takes 2+hours to fully charge but the battery lasts me all day so that's not an issue.
I did the same cange and the OPT with oxygen OS is way slower than N5 with marshmallow, and it is sometimes buggy, sometimes the camera is super slow... The battery is waaay better and the camera takes much better pictures on the OPT. The screen and the audio is also much better on the OPT. The speed problem is a software problem, with cyanogenmod it is super fast. I am happy, but for not flashers you need to trust oneplus and Oxygen updates if you want this phone.
I also came from the Nexus 5. The N5 was my all-time favorite device. I did my research, gave it some thought, weighed my options and decided to take a chance with the OPT.
I have no regrets, at all now.
Reading of other OPT owner experiences, I was reluctant and at first regretted my decision, but that passed once I got my hands on it.
I have rooted my OPT and have tried all the available roms and kernels for it. While the OPT doesn't yet have as many roms available, it has enough to satisfy my mod addiction for now. I'm confident that developers will put out more and more over the next while.
Currently I'm back to using OxygenOS (2.1.1) and the Beoffla kernel. I also use coolify and disable the "keep awake" permission on pretty much everything. In the kernel settings I use the Impulse governor and the row scheduler.
I don't have a screenshot available, but I generally get around 4.5 hours SOT, unless I was playing games or something intensive. Sure charging takes a couple of hours, but I stay on top of it and it never becomes a problem for me.
Is OxygenOS perfect? Nah, but no rom is "perfect". It is stable enough to use as a daily driver and has enough options to tweak things a bit. People often complain that OxygenOS isn't stable or doesn't offer enough built in mods. I think that's horse****. It's a matter of knowing what you're doing. I use Tasker for nearly anything that isn't built in to the OS. No worries.
The camera on the OPT is pretty decent. Again, you will read complaints about speed and whatnot, but I really don't think it's that slow. I mean, I'm rarely shooting something that requires super high speed reaction. Know what I mean? See the attached picture of my cat. That's not bad in my opinion.
That was just a quick shot, no set up, just point and shoot.
Besides, a good photographer can take a good picture with a crappy camera. There's far more to taking a picture than resolution and speed of software.
The only time my OPT feels hot is when I'm flashing roms. Even then its not abnormally hot or anything. During normal useage even while playing games the temp never gets unusually hot. Of course it's going to feel hot if you plug it in and play Need for Speed for an hour. Any phone would get hot.
The only roms currently which allow you to use the fingerprint sensor are OxygenOS and HydrogenOS. I think it works very well. The only time it doesn't respond is when I don't put my finger on the sensor properly. It works every time i do it right.
I love the notification slider. It's convenient.
I bought an official OPT flip cover. I think it looks and feels great.
The speaker works sufficiently well for a small speaker. Again, I don't have much need for using the external speaker. I prefer headphones, however, on the occasions I've used the speaker, it was loud and clear. That's all I need.
Dual sim... I only need/use one sim. Using one works properly as expected. The sim I used in my N5 was of course a micro sim, but the OPT uses nano sims, so I just trimmed my micro sim to fit the nano slot. Never had any problems.
So, overall, I'm very happy with the OPT.
My single real complaint is that I like to use an OTG cable and flash drive. The generic USB c OTG does not work on the OPT. You have to use the USB c to microsd adapter. I mean it's not the end of the world, its just an inconvenience.
Get the OPT. You won't regret it.
PURPOSE
So 1st and foremost, the plan here is to give you my experience with the LeEco Le Max 2 6GB version compared to some other recent flagship phones I have tried. Granted, I have only used the Max 2 for about 1/2 a week now and can say I have yet to fully break it in to find everything that may or may not be right / wrong with it. However, this will be a unbiased look and comparison. I'm neither a fanboy or sheep. No brand affiliation. Not a programmer either, just a pro-sumer Senior Member of XDA willing to get trolled, flamed, etc. for sharing a look at these 3 phones. Hopefully, I can give "the everyday guy / gal look" without getting bogged down in stats, variables or benchmarks. Here goes...
MY BACKGROUND
No one special. Just a guy that likes the latest tech... phones being at the top of the list. I am a nerd. No doubt about that. I think anyone that knows about XDA probably is to some extent. No brand loyalty. Recently, I have had the privilege to try out the following phones:
1. LeEco Le Max 2 6GB
2. HTC 10
3. Huawei P9 4GB
4. LG G5
5. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
6. Huawei Mate 8
7. Huawei Nexus 6P
8. LG Nexus 5X
9. Samsung Note 5
10. Apple iPhone 6s+
And probably some more, but these are the most recent. Does that make me qualified to make a review... Maybe. It does make me an idiot that likes new phones, though. I am always looking for something that meets my needs but also is a good phone. Currently with TMobile but have been with ATT, Verizon & Sprint at some point 20 years of using cell phones.
MY NEEDS
I drive about 40 miles everyday to work (yes, my work week is currently 7 days a week with a few occasional days off). So, with this in mind and where I drive. I need the minimum requirements:
1. Can Stream Music
2. Bluetooth is fully compatible with my 2016 vehicle
3. An equalizer of some sort since I have only switch out my new cars speakers for better ones and don't plan on changing or adding a better sound system.
4. Decent pictures when needed
5. Works with my Huawei Watch
6. Relatively not laggy - will sometimes do some ROM-ing or some customization but since I tend to get rid of the phones quickly I try not to void warranties or make it too non-stock
THE COMPARISON
I am looking at my experience with the Max 2 and the other flagships under/around these requirements and some normal stuff like battery, screen, snappiness, heat, speakers, etc. Here goes:
SOUND OVERALL
Lets start out by saying that I'm not a person that needs a phone that has good external speakers... I really have no use for them and as long as they are loud enough for notifications then I'm cool. Also, I am not a cross-training adventure workout junkie that requires 3.5mm in order to do everything with my phone... I state this now so that I clear the air with the Max 2 being one of the first phones not to have a 3.5mm jack and require a CDLA to 3.5mm adapter or CDLA USB Type C Headphones... I think the Max 2 may even come with the adapter and since I so don't give a brown matter from my butt about it, I haven't even taken it out of its packaging. Personally, the only time I use headphones is skiing and I have bluetooth wireless headphones built into my helmet... and like someone in the 21st century I realize I can have wireless headphones. :good: Now, my main sound experience with the Max 2 is bluetooth to my 2016 HR-V. It connects with zero issues, phone and bluetooth audio both work great. As a bonus, the built-in Dolby ATMOS makes my otherwise tinny speakers without equalization sound great. It also doesn't detract from the volume output like other similar apps... It allows me to blast bassy metal to offend anyone I want, which is a great double bonus situation for me. Nothing like driving by a church blasting GHOST and having the lyrics Hail Satan play loud, clear and rockin' hahaha. Seriously though, in recent memory, this is the only phone from 2016 flagships I haven't had to use a workaround app that drastically decreases the volume. Now I will say that the Dolby ATMOS setting works a little wonky and easily resets itself if you enter into the sound settings or back out of sound setting after enabling... once you know about this though, it is easy to workaround just by hitting home button instead. For the external speaker people, the Max 2 is super loud and the speakers do sound crisp... I think it is stereo speakers as well, if you care about those things... bass-wise, the speakers are not the best but not bad also... definitely as good as of not better than the HTC 10 or LG G5.
WINNER: NO DOUBT SO FAR IN 2016 - LeEco Max 2
BATTERY
From my experience so far, I have had decent battery life out of the Max 2. 3100 mAh does seem a tad small for this larger phalet... but I'm yet to say that its a problem for me. Of recent phones, LG G5 has the worse battery life with the HTC 10 being next in line, then S7 rounded out at the top with the P9... The P9 has a Kirin processor so lets toss it out. Out of the Snapdragons I will say that with my usage so far the Max 2 matches the S7 with battery life from my usage. Max 2 has fast charge as well which helps keep it on par with the other 820's. Just yesterday, I used the Max 2 all-day no recharging with 2 heavy usage periods for a total of 3 hours plus of screen on time playing Clash Royale. The rest of the day was standard usage of checking emails, looking at some news items, etc. It lasted the whole day from 8:30am until 1am in the morning with 15% left. This was on wifi the whole time as well. I feel this adequately meets my needs to last a whole day without recharge (which rarely happens since I always recharge when in my car) with moderate usage all day long.
WINNER: It's close to call but since its the larger phone and still performs well even though no wireless charging - LeEco Max 2
HEAT
I have yet to see a real heat spike with the Max 2. I have heard reports of heat but maybe this is with the 4GB version. Since the lack of need to flush RAM or actively manage memory more critically with the greater space, this may play a factor. Not a super nerdy tech guru on this so someone that understands this more may have to chime in. I have also yet to place it in a what I like to call, a pocket burning situation like at a concert were I'm using the camera a lot, there's high tower saturation causing the radio to work more, etc. I can say the phone barely heated up trying to download a 1.5GB update on LTE... so I guess that says something right? The only other phone that runs this cool is the P9 with it Kirin processor... all the 820's run a little hot when taxed so I would not be surprised if the Max 2 was the same if push to limits. I can say that I have gotten overheat warnings on the S7 when setting up the phone and downloading copious amounts of data.... and my first G5 overheated that it caused an internal malfunction causing me to have to replace the phone under warranty. The HTC 10 seemed to be the coolest out of the other 820's I have tried.
WINNER: Still is the P9 however out of the 820's - LeEco Max 2
SNAPPINESS
I have explained in some of my other reviews, I like to talk about performance in terms of snappiness with normal day to day usage with the phone rather than throw up meaningless to most people AnTuTu stats or whatever. I am going on out on a limp here and saying that the Max 2 dominates of course due to 6GB of RAM... it's like pitting a turbocharged version of a car vs. its not turbocharge version... more under the hood most of the time leads to better performance. No loading issues, no lag from app to app. What I can say is that EUI is a fairly nice GUI take on Android, better than EMUI, but not as nice as the new HTC 10 Sense / Stock like interface. I however did my standard change of porting over the sense launcher to the Max 2 which I just love... as far as getting use to how things work, there is a lot of configuration that can be done with notifications, much like Huawei's EMUI interface that might make it off putting to some... I lucked out and the aliexpress merchant I bought the Max 2 from pre-loaded the Google App Store when I got the phone. I since did 2 updates (one I downloaded and force flashed myself, the other was through LeEco's update system directly) and the app store continues to work fine.... There are redundant apps for email, calendar, message, etc. to google versions... however most of these are built well enough that you might not want or need the google versions. Notifications seem to work OK although some do not like that it does not litter the top of your screen with icons for every single notification.... rather it just typically puts an icon with "..." and a circle at the top... takes a little to get use to, but with a notification LED as well, I think this bypasses this small issue for some. :laugh: Also, people are starting to create ROMs for it and it is easily rootable albeit in Chinese at first, so you can definitely get more out of it with some tweaking.... haven't heard if they released Kernels yet. But it is only a matter of time given it popularity in China.
WINNER: Maybe just because of the 6GB but still... LeEco Le Max 2
DISPLAY
This to me is one of the areas much like sound where if it is not screwing up the way I use the phone then I care less about stuff like resolution. If someone can truly tell a load of difference between QHD, SuperHD, 1080p, etc. etc. good for you. Here what I can say. The Max 2 screen is great! Plus, its the largest compared to the other Flagships I have tried... forgot how nice it is to use a larger phone... It does not suffer from which ultimately made me get rid of the HTC 10 from the screen polarization being applied wrong causing you not to be able to use it outdoors with sunglasses on.... I know right... major f-up IMO that HTC 10 did... I couldn't see it in my car with sunglasses on, too annoying for me. Thankfully, don't have to worry about this with the Max 2 even with a tempered glass screen protector. Since it is somewhat screen related, I can say that the fingerprint sensor is something to be desired. Its slow, sometimes taking 3 tries for it to read properly... I have tried multiple times to reprogram and it does not help. Definitely the G5 and P9 beat it hands down when talking about rear facing fingerprint sensors... Even touchwiz laggy S7 sensor beats it. Hopefully, updates help with this. Like capacitive buttons it has, in the configuration I like with back button on left... apps button also reveals the control center feature on the Max 2... similar to Apples swipe up control center... not placing these toggles in the notification panel is a fresh take on using these toggles and I like it... Color balance seems good on the phone as well if you care about those things... No Always-On feature for the Max 2 either but not a huge deal with a configurable notification LED.
WINNER: The S7 still has the best "looking screen"; G5 has the best always-on screen - Max 2 is ok but not the best in this class of phones.... Does get bonus points for the control center feature and correctly orientated IMO capacitive buttons
PHONE DESIGN
The Max 2 is a good looking phone especially with a premium metal chassis... I do have to say that I had to get the "Gold" version of the phone since it was the only one available at this point in the 6GB Version... I use "gold" here loosely as like other can report... gold is actually rose gold... not that rose gold is bad, but a pinkish phone for a guy is not cool... No matter, I got a Matte black hard case today the covers the back and pretty much takes care of the covering most of the pinkish gold exterior.... I believe there will be other colors out there soon but I could not wait any longer... Camera and button placement is nice. Phone feels great in hand. Although bigger than the other 2016 Flagships, its not gargantuan either... doesn't feel like putting a tablet up to your ear like other phalets can feel like. Pretty thin too and not overly heavy. The biggest design issue is of course no SD Card add-on memory since the SIM tray only accommodates dual SIMs. At 64GB, this isn't an issue for me as I don't save a lot to my phone and jam pack it with needless stuff. The fingerprint sensor is in a good natural position albeit if it only worked on the first try... Its not like Megan Fox / Candice Swanepoel good looking phone rather more like Melissa Benoist / Kate Upton good looking. You ain't going to wake up after a long night of drinking and go "my god... what did I do..." but you are also not getting the top of the heap in design characteristics either. It's nice looking but not someone you'd use your "hall pass" on over your wife, if you get my point..." Notification LED work great and should be noted as not being blinding at night like others can be.... looking at you HTC 10... I like no 3.5mm jack since I don't use it anyway... less holes to get dirt into... in this case, having less holes to stick stuff into wins out!!! :silly:
WINNER: Still S7 for overall design, wireless charging, etc. - Your not bad Max 2, but pinkish gold is makes my balls instantly shrink!!!
CAMERA
Another big deal for some but not really a huge concern for me is the camera on smartphones... Personally and I have gone over the reasons time and time again, I went to school for photography and have used some really great cameras, film and digital. So when you start looking at smartphone cameras, even in 2016, it is still hard to compare to the output of an actual camera. With that said, there is no real gimmick with the Max 2... looks to be an alright camera that I will post examples later of. Doesn't have "superpixels", low light lens, dual lens, etc, etc. etc. It will take pictures decently and in most cases that's all you need it to do. I can say that it does have one of my major pet peeves when it comes to the camera app in video mode... no focus lock.... honestly who uses always on auto focus in video mode.... looks like a bad wedding video... when you are recording something that you are a fixed distance away, like a concert lets say, you don't need for it to re-focus... it annoying. So, I am going to cut this section short and just say, the Max 2 has a camera, its nothing special and if you are ok with a no gimmick no frills nexus like camera than its absolutely fine for what its supposed to do.... :highfive:
WINNER: S7 for low-light, G5 for wide angled, P9 for dynamic range; HTC 10 for camera app & Max 2 for no frills OK no gimmicks camera
CONCLUSION
For my daily usage case, the Max 2 is great! When you consider that it outperforms in most cases phones that are $200 - $400 more than what it costs... It tends to soften the negatives. I think for me the greatest of which is the current functionality of the fingerprint sensor... I hate struggling to get it to read than having to still punch in a pin when it fails. Besides this, all the othe negatives are minor. Camera - its really ok just nothing special. Color - if you can wait, you can get a more manly color unless you want to go with the 4GB version (you can get different colors now). EUI - definitely not as big of a learning curve as EMUI but it does take a little bit of commitment to get use to all the customization you can do. Looks like LeEco plans to release updates frequently since there has been at least one since it released in May... Yeah, it doesn't have a headphone jack... grow up and get with the 21st century... hahaha. To get a 6GB phone, under $500, 64GB internal is not too shabby. Would it be stellar with a SD Card add-on, yep it sure would but I can make do without having the SD Card in most cases unless I really started ROM-ing and backing up TWRPs with it.... I think if you are looking for a good, well performing phone at a good price with some decent specs and killer sound, this does the trick, most definitely. Could it be better, you betcha... but I can say that for any of the 2016 Flagship phones. Lastly and as always, this is just Some Guy's Opinion... :good:
Good review, makes it sound really awesome. My experience is very different.
I have the 6GB version and its regularly becoming warm.
Sound is ok, but Huawei Mate 8 is a different class altogether (better).
As a mid level budget phone the Eco Max 2 is very clearly on the cost performance side.
But I think the battery softens its advantage.
The hardware specs on the Max 2 are all top class, but there is definitely muuuch room for improvement. On the paper the network is Cat 12, but tell you the truth in daily usage it doesnt differ speed to Huawei Mate 8. Same for the user experience speed.
Also its not funny if the phone reboots occasionally
LeTV has fixed some of the issues with the upcoming EUI 5.8 release, but they need to do more !!
If you are thinking about getting it and tweaking it for your local marcet you have to do little homework with Google playstore etc. Its a gadget for geeky power users, but not mainstream user, to many changes required.
EverPing said:
Good review, makes it sound really awesome. My experience is very different.
I have the 6GB version and its regularly becoming warm.
Sound is ok, but Huawei Mate 8 is a different class altogether (better).
As a mid level budget phone the Eco Max 2 is very clearly on the cost performance side.
But I think the battery softens its advantage.
The hardware specs on the Max 2 are all top class, but there is definitely muuuch room for improvement. On the paper the network is Cat 12, but tell you the truth in daily usage it doesnt differ speed to Huawei Mate 8. Same for the user experience speed.
Also its not funny if the phone reboots occasionally
LeTV has fixed some of the issues with the upcoming EUI 5.8 release, but they need to do more !!
If you are thinking about getting it and tweaking it for your local marcet you have to do little homework with Google playstore etc. Its a gadget for geeky power users, but not mainstream user, to many changes required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Funny mine never rebooted once. No heat even under load. No big modifications to get google play. Mine was stock and able to OTA... Google Play just took a simple APK download and agreeing to "unknown sources." Yes, its not a consumer mainstream phone outside of China... however doing a review on XDA, pretty much means its a review for a more "geeky" crowd easily capable of simple APK downloads from shared sources mentioned at least 10 different times in 10 different posts in this forum. The Huawei Mate 8 succeeds because of Kirin... however of 820's and at this price point, its hard to beat... maybe only by OP3 once they figure out the RAM Management. The camera is better on the Mate 8 but it's not as good as the P9... Plus all in all, its just as difficult to install the Play Store on the Mate8 & P9... both phones I owned and sold, as I was able to get just as good as and somewhat better phone for $200 to $300 cheaper. In the states, all these phones max out our 4G LTE networks so seeing any major difference between the P9, Mate8 and the Max 2 in modem performance is minor. Once again, OGO
Thanks for the feedback, maybe I am just unlucky this time. The apk's I downloaded from apkmirror etc don't seem to work on my Chinese version max 2. I also tried Xiaomi installer version 2, Opengapps, LeTV Playstore zips for same.
I think in terms of price LeTV has found a sweet spot in the marcet, but overall the software quality is just not there yet. However the upcoming update will fix some of it.
Hi,
Thanks for the review. Could you tell me if it has MHL ?
Regards
I tried with my MHL-Adapter, which is working fine with LETV LE 1 (X600). Didn´t work ...
Ok, thanks for the info. MHL is so usefull when you want to see a film at the hotel...
I think it should have MHL (I might have found this hint in some descriptions) but actually it is not working (for me?)...
Having been in IT, the first thing you learn is most problems are usually user problems. Most of the issues that I have come up against are problems of my own doing. For example, some thing may not work because I deleted a necessary file in my quest to remove Chinese Le-bloat. So it has been trial and error. I installed the CM 13 yesterday, but didn't like the tinny sound the speakers were making. Went back to the dev 5.8 stock, installed Google play and a few apps and it's running like a charm. I have not experienced any overheating issues. This phone does everything that one does with a phone very well. I sure you can find an individual that does intense things on their device, but for the average user that surfs the web, watches you tube, plays a few games, sends/reads email and IM's others, this phone is hard to beat. This morning I had an antutu of 140491, which is pretty good considering I only have the 4/32 GB version. Can you say fast phone?!
Hi,
I may add a comparison to a phone that can be considered as the direct competitor to the Le 2 Max : the One+ 3.
There is one area where the Le 2 Max clearly wins : it's the display. I don't care about 2k or FHD. It's hard to tell the difference in real life anyways. But I'm talking about brightness and legibility in sunny daylight conditions. And there, there is no question : the Le 2 Max is superior to the OP3, even after OP3 released the new display drivers that improves things on the brightness side...
And the 0.2" more is a nice addition too... Really noticeable when you used the LeEco for several days and you then go back to OP3
But apart from that (which is really important I admit it), the Le 2 Max is lagging behind in almost every other aspect...
BATTERY LIFE : OP3 wins without a question...In really heavy usage (GPS + BT active +display on all the time) I get about 3h45minutes of battery life with the LeEco... and about 5h30 in the same conditions with the OP3. That's almost 50% better battery. Think the 2K display has a cost unfortunately
SNAPPINESS : the LeEco is OK. But once you compare it to the OP3, the overall feeling is clearly pointing into the OP3 direction !!! And just install a custom ROM like Tipsy, and your device seems to fly, when the Le Eco seems to walk
HEAT : under the heavy usage conditions I described before, the LeEco gets mildly hot. It's much cooler than the Nexus 5 used to be in the same conditions( where it lasted about 1h40 on battery !). But the OP3 is simply almost cool. On that side, OP3 wins...
SOUND : I admit that I don't give a **** about sound coming from the speakers. But on phone calls OP3 clearly wins. On Le 2 Max I have a "ghost sound". I seem to hear everything I am saying to the other person like he has a loudspeaker on. Doesn't happen on OP3.
CAMERA : I am not a great camera user. But both deliver pictures that are good enough for me. But I must say it's difficult to tear them apart
FINGERPRINT SCANNER : it's adictive to use on OP3 because fingerprint is recognized in a fraction of a second and is ALWAYS recognized. I cannot count the times I left my finger on the finger print scanner for seconds before it decided to consider it has to recognize a finger... and then I would say about 30% of the time it doesn't recognize my finger print on first attempt, and about 15% of the time it doesn't recognize it at all so I have to fire it up with the power key and pattern.
DEVELOPMENT : It seems LeEco has no intention at all to consider those phones as an important part of their business. Look at their website : they're ahrdly advertised. Go to their forums : there no activity. An official from LeEco shows up about once every 3 weeks. All in all, discussion and support are simply dead. All tehy keep saying is "Stay tuned, we have a lot to unveil"... but no date nor nothing ! And after 4 months of phone existence what do we have : a tweaked Stock ROM and a CM13 build that is obviously not really actively developped. After 3 weeks of existence, OP3 has tweaked stock ROM, CM13 and 3 derivatives, 3 or 4 AOSP derivatives and just recevied multi ROM... So all problems may have a fix some day... There's really little hope to have that with LeEco
Even CM13 builders doesn't publish their github source which would allow to work on other ROM's...
PERFORMANCE : not that I really care about benchmarks... as I am convinced that 3k or 4k points in Antutu will go unnoticed in real life. But on the OP3 if I run several Antutu tests in a row, I have only a really slight variation in results It goes from 142k to 136-138k on 3rd/4th pass. On x820 results vary from 140k (generally on first pass) and then sink to 110k (sometimes even less) on third/fourth pass... And that sounds really weird to me : maybe there's a throttle on the phone ?
ALL IN ALL : I'd love to keep the LeEco because of it's display. But considering all the "cons" it has, I am afraid it will soon join an ad site for used devices And that's a shame because with a little support from it's manufacturer, it would be THE device to keep
So LeEco : if you hang around here sometime, show us some love and release official device trees.
Well said and your comments are spot on @NexusPenguin
Le needs to release kernel sources to their phones to survive in this industry. They absolutely do not want to go down Xiaomi's footsteps.
If they don't release device trees, most people will simply not buy their Le Max 3 or whatever they release next. Simple to earn bad-will and buey themselves to ground.
it is definitively fast but....
Dear jim262,
it is really fast. With Google Keyboard app, not debloated and after autoupdate to EUI 5.8.016S mine had a Antutu v6.2.1 of 139.159
But:
- I Need a international ROM
- why can´t the user decide wether he want´s the LeTV Software on it or not? So debloate that phone. I don´t want a fixed button on the Screen wich leeds to Chinese Websites. Unfortunately I can´t speak/read Chinese.
- The cam should have more Software ability to take pics with lower size. Actual it doesn´t allow less than 8 MP`s
jim262 said:
Having been in IT, the first thing you learn is most problems are usually user problems. Most of the issues that I have come up against are problems of my own doing. For example, some thing may not work because I deleted a necessary file in my quest to remove Chinese Le-bloat. So it has been trial and error. I installed the CM 13 yesterday, but didn't like the tinny sound the speakers were making. Went back to the dev 5.8 stock, installed Google play and a few apps and it's running like a charm. I have not experienced any overheating issues. This phone does everything that one does with a phone very well. I sure you can find an individual that does intense things on their device, but for the average user that surfs the web, watches you tube, plays a few games, sends/reads email and IM's others, this phone is hard to beat. This morning I had an antutu of 140491, which is pretty good considering I only have the 4/32 GB version. Can you say fast phone?!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LeTvNewby said:
Dear jim262,
it is really fast. With Google Keyboard app, not debloated and after autoupdate to EUI 5.8.016S mine had a Antutu v6.2.1 of 139.159
But:
- I Need a international ROM
- why can´t the user decide wether he want´s the LeTV Software on it or not? So debloate that phone. I don´t want a fixed button on the Screen wich leeds to Chinese Websites. Unfortunately I can´t speak/read Chinese.
- The cam should have more Software ability to take pics with lower size. Actual it doesn´t allow less than 8 MP`s
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most of the roms are international roms with the ability to select language when you start.
Yeah, the phone is not a Galaxy S7 killer but I don't think we ever had such a device ~$250 on the market. Oneplus One might have been the only thing that came close but now their devices cost ~400€.
It doesn't have any real weaknesses, only a few things like the camera and software are mid-to-high end.
Clearly we'll see a drop in smartphone prices in the coming years, users won't pay 700€ anymore if you can get the latest for less. And these cheap manufacturers will catch up to Samsung and co. eventually.
mahst68 said:
PURPOSE
So 1st and foremost, the plan here is to give you my experience with the LeEco Le Max 2 6GB version compared to some other recent flagship phones I have tried. Granted, I have only used the Max 2 for about 1/2 a week now and can say I have yet to fully break it in to find everything that may or may not be right / wrong with it. However, this will be a unbiased look and comparison. I'm neither a fanboy or sheep. No brand affiliation. Not a programmer either, just a pro-sumer Senior Member of XDA willing to get trolled, flamed, etc. for sharing a look at these 3 phones. Hopefully, I can give "the everyday guy / gal look" without getting bogged down in stats, variables or benchmarks. Here goes...
MY BACKGROUND
No one special. Just a guy that likes the latest tech... phones being at the top of the list. I am a nerd. No doubt about that. I think anyone that knows about XDA probably is to some extent. No brand loyalty. Recently, I have had the privilege to try out the following phones:
1. LeEco Le Max 2 6GB
2. HTC 10
3. Huawei P9 4GB
4. LG G5
5. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
6. Huawei Mate 8
7. Huawei Nexus 6P
8. LG Nexus 5X
9. Samsung Note 5
10. Apple iPhone 6s+
And probably some more, but these are the most recent. Does that make me qualified to make a review... Maybe. It does make me an idiot that likes new phones, though. I am always looking for something that meets my needs but also is a good phone. Currently with TMobile but have been with ATT, Verizon & Sprint at some point 20 years of using cell phones.
MY NEEDS
I drive about 40 miles everyday to work (yes, my work week is currently 7 days a week with a few occasional days off). So, with this in mind and where I drive. I need the minimum requirements:
1. Can Stream Music
2. Bluetooth is fully compatible with my 2016 vehicle
3. An equalizer of some sort since I have only switch out my new cars speakers for better ones and don't plan on changing or adding a better sound system.
4. Decent pictures when needed
5. Works with my Huawei Watch
6. Relatively not laggy - will sometimes do some ROM-ing or some customization but since I tend to get rid of the phones quickly I try not to void warranties or make it too non-stock
THE COMPARISON
I am looking at my experience with the Max 2 and the other flagships under/around these requirements and some normal stuff like battery, screen, snappiness, heat, speakers, etc. Here goes:
SOUND OVERALL
Lets start out by saying that I'm not a person that needs a phone that has good external speakers... I really have no use for them and as long as they are loud enough for notifications then I'm cool. Also, I am not a cross-training adventure workout junkie that requires 3.5mm in order to do everything with my phone... I state this now so that I clear the air with the Max 2 being one of the first phones not to have a 3.5mm jack and require a CDLA to 3.5mm adapter or CDLA USB Type C Headphones... I think the Max 2 may even come with the adapter and since I so don't give a brown matter from my butt about it, I haven't even taken it out of its packaging. Personally, the only time I use headphones is skiing and I have bluetooth wireless headphones built into my helmet... and like someone in the 21st century I realize I can have wireless headphones. :good: Now, my main sound experience with the Max 2 is bluetooth to my 2016 HR-V. It connects with zero issues, phone and bluetooth audio both work great. As a bonus, the built-in Dolby ATMOS makes my otherwise tinny speakers without equalization sound great. It also doesn't detract from the volume output like other similar apps... It allows me to blast bassy metal to offend anyone I want, which is a great double bonus situation for me. Nothing like driving by a church blasting GHOST and having the lyrics Hail Satan play loud, clear and rockin' hahaha. Seriously though, in recent memory, this is the only phone from 2016 flagships I haven't had to use a workaround app that drastically decreases the volume. Now I will say that the Dolby ATMOS setting works a little wonky and easily resets itself if you enter into the sound settings or back out of sound setting after enabling... once you know about this though, it is easy to workaround just by hitting home button instead. For the external speaker people, the Max 2 is super loud and the speakers do sound crisp... I think it is stereo speakers as well, if you care about those things... bass-wise, the speakers are not the best but not bad also... definitely as good as of not better than the HTC 10 or LG G5.
WINNER: NO DOUBT SO FAR IN 2016 - LeEco Max 2
BATTERY
From my experience so far, I have had decent battery life out of the Max 2. 3100 mAh does seem a tad small for this larger phalet... but I'm yet to say that its a problem for me. Of recent phones, LG G5 has the worse battery life with the HTC 10 being next in line, then S7 rounded out at the top with the P9... The P9 has a Kirin processor so lets toss it out. Out of the Snapdragons I will say that with my usage so far the Max 2 matches the S7 with battery life from my usage. Max 2 has fast charge as well which helps keep it on par with the other 820's. Just yesterday, I used the Max 2 all-day no recharging with 2 heavy usage periods for a total of 3 hours plus of screen on time playing Clash Royale. The rest of the day was standard usage of checking emails, looking at some news items, etc. It lasted the whole day from 8:30am until 1am in the morning with 15% left. This was on wifi the whole time as well. I feel this adequately meets my needs to last a whole day without recharge (which rarely happens since I always recharge when in my car) with moderate usage all day long.
WINNER: It's close to call but since its the larger phone and still performs well even though no wireless charging - LeEco Max 2
HEAT
I have yet to see a real heat spike with the Max 2. I have heard reports of heat but maybe this is with the 4GB version. Since the lack of need to flush RAM or actively manage memory more critically with the greater space, this may play a factor. Not a super nerdy tech guru on this so someone that understands this more may have to chime in. I have also yet to place it in a what I like to call, a pocket burning situation like at a concert were I'm using the camera a lot, there's high tower saturation causing the radio to work more, etc. I can say the phone barely heated up trying to download a 1.5GB update on LTE... so I guess that says something right? The only other phone that runs this cool is the P9 with it Kirin processor... all the 820's run a little hot when taxed so I would not be surprised if the Max 2 was the same if push to limits. I can say that I have gotten overheat warnings on the S7 when setting up the phone and downloading copious amounts of data.... and my first G5 overheated that it caused an internal malfunction causing me to have to replace the phone under warranty. The HTC 10 seemed to be the coolest out of the other 820's I have tried.
WINNER: Still is the P9 however out of the 820's - LeEco Max 2
SNAPPINESS
I have explained in some of my other reviews, I like to talk about performance in terms of snappiness with normal day to day usage with the phone rather than throw up meaningless to most people AnTuTu stats or whatever. I am going on out on a limp here and saying that the Max 2 dominates of course due to 6GB of RAM... it's like pitting a turbocharged version of a car vs. its not turbocharge version... more under the hood most of the time leads to better performance. No loading issues, no lag from app to app. What I can say is that EUI is a fairly nice GUI take on Android, better than EMUI, but not as nice as the new HTC 10 Sense / Stock like interface. I however did my standard change of porting over the sense launcher to the Max 2 which I just love... as far as getting use to how things work, there is a lot of configuration that can be done with notifications, much like Huawei's EMUI interface that might make it off putting to some... I lucked out and the aliexpress merchant I bought the Max 2 from pre-loaded the Google App Store when I got the phone. I since did 2 updates (one I downloaded and force flashed myself, the other was through LeEco's update system directly) and the app store continues to work fine.... There are redundant apps for email, calendar, message, etc. to google versions... however most of these are built well enough that you might not want or need the google versions. Notifications seem to work OK although some do not like that it does not litter the top of your screen with icons for every single notification.... rather it just typically puts an icon with "..." and a circle at the top... takes a little to get use to, but with a notification LED as well, I think this bypasses this small issue for some. :laugh: Also, people are starting to create ROMs for it and it is easily rootable albeit in Chinese at first, so you can definitely get more out of it with some tweaking.... haven't heard if they released Kernels yet. But it is only a matter of time given it popularity in China.
WINNER: Maybe just because of the 6GB but still... LeEco Le Max 2
DISPLAY
This to me is one of the areas much like sound where if it is not screwing up the way I use the phone then I care less about stuff like resolution. If someone can truly tell a load of difference between QHD, SuperHD, 1080p, etc. etc. good for you. Here what I can say. The Max 2 screen is great! Plus, its the largest compared to the other Flagships I have tried... forgot how nice it is to use a larger phone... It does not suffer from which ultimately made me get rid of the HTC 10 from the screen polarization being applied wrong causing you not to be able to use it outdoors with sunglasses on.... I know right... major f-up IMO that HTC 10 did... I couldn't see it in my car with sunglasses on, too annoying for me. Thankfully, don't have to worry about this with the Max 2 even with a tempered glass screen protector. Since it is somewhat screen related, I can say that the fingerprint sensor is something to be desired. Its slow, sometimes taking 3 tries for it to read properly... I have tried multiple times to reprogram and it does not help. Definitely the G5 and P9 beat it hands down when talking about rear facing fingerprint sensors... Even touchwiz laggy S7 sensor beats it. Hopefully, updates help with this. Like capacitive buttons it has, in the configuration I like with back button on left... apps button also reveals the control center feature on the Max 2... similar to Apples swipe up control center... not placing these toggles in the notification panel is a fresh take on using these toggles and I like it... Color balance seems good on the phone as well if you care about those things... No Always-On feature for the Max 2 either but not a huge deal with a configurable notification LED.
WINNER: The S7 still has the best "looking screen"; G5 has the best always-on screen - Max 2 is ok but not the best in this class of phones.... Does get bonus points for the control center feature and correctly orientated IMO capacitive buttons
PHONE DESIGN
The Max 2 is a good looking phone especially with a premium metal chassis... I do have to say that I had to get the "Gold" version of the phone since it was the only one available at this point in the 6GB Version... I use "gold" here loosely as like other can report... gold is actually rose gold... not that rose gold is bad, but a pinkish phone for a guy is not cool... No matter, I got a Matte black hard case today the covers the back and pretty much takes care of the covering most of the pinkish gold exterior.... I believe there will be other colors out there soon but I could not wait any longer... Camera and button placement is nice. Phone feels great in hand. Although bigger than the other 2016 Flagships, its not gargantuan either... doesn't feel like putting a tablet up to your ear like other phalets can feel like. Pretty thin too and not overly heavy. The biggest design issue is of course no SD Card add-on memory since the SIM tray only accommodates dual SIMs. At 64GB, this isn't an issue for me as I don't save a lot to my phone and jam pack it with needless stuff. The fingerprint sensor is in a good natural position albeit if it only worked on the first try... Its not like Megan Fox / Candice Swanepoel good looking phone rather more like Melissa Benoist / Kate Upton good looking. You ain't going to wake up after a long night of drinking and go "my god... what did I do..." but you are also not getting the top of the heap in design characteristics either. It's nice looking but not someone you'd use your "hall pass" on over your wife, if you get my point..." Notification LED work great and should be noted as not being blinding at night like others can be.... looking at you HTC 10... I like no 3.5mm jack since I don't use it anyway... less holes to get dirt into... in this case, having less holes to stick stuff into wins out!!! :silly:
WINNER: Still S7 for overall design, wireless charging, etc. - Your not bad Max 2, but pinkish gold is makes my balls instantly shrink!!!
CAMERA
Another big deal for some but not really a huge concern for me is the camera on smartphones... Personally and I have gone over the reasons time and time again, I went to school for photography and have used some really great cameras, film and digital. So when you start looking at smartphone cameras, even in 2016, it is still hard to compare to the output of an actual camera. With that said, there is no real gimmick with the Max 2... looks to be an alright camera that I will post examples later of. Doesn't have "superpixels", low light lens, dual lens, etc, etc. etc. It will take pictures decently and in most cases that's all you need it to do. I can say that it does have one of my major pet peeves when it comes to the camera app in video mode... no focus lock.... honestly who uses always on auto focus in video mode.... looks like a bad wedding video... when you are recording something that you are a fixed distance away, like a concert lets say, you don't need for it to re-focus... it annoying. So, I am going to cut this section short and just say, the Max 2 has a camera, its nothing special and if you are ok with a no gimmick no frills nexus like camera than its absolutely fine for what its supposed to do.... :highfive:
WINNER: S7 for low-light, G5 for wide angled, P9 for dynamic range; HTC 10 for camera app & Max 2 for no frills OK no gimmicks camera
CONCLUSION
For my daily usage case, the Max 2 is great! When you consider that it outperforms in most cases phones that are $200 - $400 more than what it costs... It tends to soften the negatives. I think for me the greatest of which is the current functionality of the fingerprint sensor... I hate struggling to get it to read than having to still punch in a pin when it fails. Besides this, all the othe negatives are minor. Camera - its really ok just nothing special. Color - if you can wait, you can get a more manly color unless you want to go with the 4GB version (you can get different colors now). EUI - definitely not as big of a learning curve as EMUI but it does take a little bit of commitment to get use to all the customization you can do. Looks like LeEco plans to release updates frequently since there has been at least one since it released in May... Yeah, it doesn't have a headphone jack... grow up and get with the 21st century... hahaha. To get a 6GB phone, under $500, 64GB internal is not too shabby. Would it be stellar with a SD Card add-on, yep it sure would but I can make do without having the SD Card in most cases unless I really started ROM-ing and backing up TWRPs with it.... I think if you are looking for a good, well performing phone at a good price with some decent specs and killer sound, this does the trick, most definitely. Could it be better, you betcha... but I can say that for any of the 2016 Flagship phones. Lastly and as always, this is just Some Guy's Opinion... :good:
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Click to collapse
Thanks a lot this is thorough.. Impressive stuff
I really like my Le Max2. It's not perfect, but no phone is. It is certainly a fast and powerful phone. No lag and handles everything I throw at it with ease. Antutu scores of over 140K are crazy in a $230 device!! I am enjoying its audio output and have been mostly very impressed with the photos I have taken so far. The fingerprint scanner is very fast and reliable for me. I quite like eui as it is fairly light and has some very useful features, especially for power management (I have generally been getting 5 to 7 hours SOT). This is my first 2K display phone, and the clarity is fantastic. The black levels are good, and the colours are vibrant. Probably my main criticism of the phone is the viewing angles and max brightness level of the display. Colour shifting is pronounced when viewing at any angle much off straight, and the max brightness is just OK - I would like to be able to crank it up a fair bit more at times.
kanagawaben said:
I really like my Le Max2. It's not perfect, but no phone is. It is certainly a fast and powerful phone. No lag and handles everything I throw at it with ease. Antutu scores of over 140K are crazy in a $230 device!! I am enjoying its audio output and have been mostly very impressed with the photos I have taken so far. The fingerprint scanner is very fast and reliable for me. I quite like eui as it is fairly light and has some very useful features, especially for power management (I have generally been getting 5 to 7 hours SOT). This is my first 2K display phone, and the clarity is fantastic. The black levels are good, and the colours are vibrant. Probably my main criticism of the phone is the viewing angles and max brightness level of the display. Colour shifting is pronounced when viewing at any angle much off straight, and the max brightness is just OK - I would like to be able to crank it up a fair bit more at times.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anything special you did to improve fingerprint response
Mine does work but it becomes unresponsive if not used for a while but after first unlock the consecutive ones are fast
Which rom are you on?
Did you never had any fingerprint problem?
[email protected] said:
Anything special you did to improve fingerprint response
Mine does work but it becomes unresponsive if not used for a while but after first unlock the consecutive ones are fast
Which rom are you on?
Did you never had any fingerprint problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am currently using the Parasite debloated version of S19. I have also used Cuoco92, stock Chinese 17S and 19S, and Indian 16S. Haven't had the slightest problem with fingerprint on any of them. I always register two with the same finger (my right index) and the other with my left index. I'd say it is 99% accurate - it really only misses if I put my finger in at a very weird angle or move it too much. Fast too, not instant but pretty near it - less than a count of one.
kanagawaben said:
I am currently using the Parasite debloated version of S19. I have also used Cuoco92, stock Chinese 17S and 19S, and Indian 16S. Haven't had the slightest problem with fingerprint on any of them. I always register two with the same finger (my right index) and the other with my left index.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you never have problems like the fingerprint doesn't recognize the first touch?
Or after all night standby the fingerprint takes a few seconds to unlock?
Do you think my fingerprint problem is hardware?
I bought it like 2 weeks ago I can return?
But it's a really good phone for the price
Only things that annoy me is fingerprint and lack of custom rom support both of which letv is to blame
[email protected] said:
So you never have problems like the fingerprint doesn't recognize the first touch?
Or after all night standby the fingerprint takes a few seconds to unlock?
Do you think my fingerprint problem is hardware?
I bought it like 2 weeks ago I can return?
But it's a really good phone for the price
Only things that annoy me is fingerprint and lack of custom rom support both of which letv is to blame
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly never. Scanner has been rock solid for me. What ROM are you on?
I want to get a new phone to replace my S6. The two main options I have honed in on are the Axon 7 64GB and the OnePlus 3T. Here are the strengths of each
Axon 7
Better screen (higher resolution)
Better warranty/support
Better speakers
SD card support
OnePlus 3T
Better processor
More RAM
Physical home button.
Thoughts? Those of you have one and wish you got the other?
crcostel said:
I want to get a new phone to replace my S6. The two main options I have honed in on are the Axon 7 64GB and the OnePlus 3T. Here are the strengths of each
Axon 7
Better screen (higher resolution)
Better warranty/support
Better speakers
SD card support
OnePlus 3T
Better processor
More RAM
Physical home button.
Thoughts? Those of you have one and wish you got the other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, processor and RAM doesn't make that much of a difference when they're this close.....Unless you're a gamer?
Other things to look at, that may make your decision.
Camera - OnePlus 3T wins
Audio - Axon 7 wins
How much space do you really need? My SD card died last week and I was all freaked out, but it all fit on my 64gb Axon 7 internal memory until my new card arrives.... If I had a bunch of movies to save, this would be a deal breaker. I even have 2100 songs and they only eat up about 7-8gb.
I'm an "audio" buff....So the choice was easy for me, and the camera is good enough on the Axon 7 that I can live with it and make it do what I need it to. Sometimes a little editing is needed.
Well this is my point of view, take it with a grain of salt.
ZTE:
- Better Screen (not reaaaaaally noticeable, yes it is better, but both are good enough so that you cant tell each other apart). Real difference might be appreciated with QHD wallpapers, but not much else.
- Better Speakers, and overall sound quality. This has to be the largest difference. Watching videos in the Axon vs the OP3 is like going from dial up to broadband. Plus, the Axon drives higher impedance headphones without much of a hassle.
- Better in call quality. This is a direct consequence of having better audio.
- SD Card Support. I thought I wouldn't need it too much but actually, it is a nice thing to have.
OP3:
- The fact that the screen itself is lower res, means lower battery consumption. Since I read an article from AnandTech, we might be talking maybe up to 30% less usage from the screen + cpu/gpu load.
- The camera has to be better, you don't have to work yourself out to get an awesome picture. Though, if you get it right on the ZTE you can absolutely get beautiful pictures.
- Better processor? Really? Lets suppose you actually need the difference in clocks, where the OP3 would make a difference, how long can you really keep that clock up? Maaaybe 5 minutes before hitting thermal limits where the better cpu just doesn't mean anything anymore.
- Physical button. Well this is really up to you, I prefer the fingerprint scanner on the back.
- Alert Slider. Really an advantage for the OP3, really like this feature, and if it ever becomes configurable, that would be awesome.
-6GB of RAM?? Well, I have 4GB on my Axon and never has an app crashed on me, and I was suprised to find myself having 20+ apps open without the phone even noticing and instantly switching between them with all of them loaded in RAM. So this one is up to you, but I wouldn't mind. It does make the OP3 more futureproof if anything...
- Software> the OP3s software is hands down better than the Axons and that is the best that the OP3 can pull over the Axon, by far.
About support, well I don't know how well any of them do with support so i will not comment on this.
My conclusion is then: should you care about media consumption, buy the Axon, don't even think about it. If what you want/need the best performance around and like having the best software and dev help, then get the OP3. I wouldn't look on hardware differences too much.
Not a gamer in the slightest. I will occasionally take toddler snapshots with the camera when my panny is not handy.
This is more an overall performance and form comparison.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Axon 7 has Daydream support, also.
Now that Axon 7 is getting proper sound support on LOS/LOS based roms, it is Axon 7 hands down.
A7 has better cellular connectivity support. Has more bands than the OP3/T do.
How prevalent is this Google Play bug I am seeing on the Axon 7?
I've had three OP phones and never buying them again. All above aside, they have terrible touch screen lag which makes them unusable. Axon is also cheaper.
Sent from my ZTE A2017G using Tapatalk
I have both...Also mate 9..Just bought each over this last month...I am coming from my still loved note 5..
First off...Don't think too much into 2k unless vr is your factor. I did too. But after experiencing these latest devices running 1080 with 5.5 inch to 5.9 I cannot believe I said all I did in the past...The one plus 3t is just as sharp for regular use and have not tried any VR on any device...The Axon 7 is great as well...Not as speedy as the latter but still a steal for the price...To be honest the one plus 3t and Axon 7 are both comparable however the camera is a bit better FOR ME so far on One plus but I have to say that 20mp isn't bad at all...The 1440 on the Axon isn't that noticable to me either. Really. The one plus screen looks slightly better to me I guess because of the brightness and calibration. Still miniscule ...Both perform crazy fast for their price but one plus and mate 9 are definitely smoother for me...Just flip a coin. You can't go wrong...I just could not make up my mind so I bought them all...If I have to sell one I will. But for now they are all nice and safe clean and ready for my reviews...Sort of babbling here really but if you have any specific questions I can totally help. I do not keep notifications on so I'll have to check for reply manually. I haven't been on in a year here ...But I'll be checking back for your comments. Or Inbox
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
You can supposedly get Google assistant on Axon 7 which won't happen on op3t
Sent from my ZTE A2017G using Tapatalk
crcostel said:
I want to get a new phone to replace my S6. The two main options I have honed in on are the Axon 7 64GB and the OnePlus 3T. Here are the strengths of each
Axon 7
Better screen (higher resolution)
Better warranty/support
Better speakers
SD card support
OnePlus 3T
Better processor
More RAM
Physical home button.
Thoughts? Those of you have one and wish you got the other?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
crcostel said:
Not a gamer in the slightest. I will occasionally take toddler snapshots with the camera when my panny is not handy.
This is more an overall performance and form comparison.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
crcostel said:
How prevalent is this Google Play bug I am seeing on the Axon 7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can say I was on the same boat as you in January, when I bought my first Axon 7 and I was amazed with the device. Even when I loved it, I decided to get a Mate 9 because I heard it was a great device. I used the Mate 9 for a couple of weeks and sold it and got the Axon 7 again, I couldn't stand the media consumption in the Mate 9, because of the screen and the sound. The Mate 9 has an amazing display, but I'm used to QHD since many years ago, and somehow I could notice the difference in certain situations. About the sound, Axon 7 is clearly the winner here. The reason I changed the Axon 7 was the camera, because was average and everybody claimed that Mate 9 had a super camera. Truth is, that I didn't see too much difference between the 2 in picture quality, so better go back with the Axon 7.
Regarding the comparison, 821 is less than 10% better than 820, so it makes no difference in real world usage. RAM neither, because most of the time I have 2GB free on the Axon 7, so why should I want 2GB more?, that is only pure marketing and never an app would require so much RAM.
In my opinion, the physical home button is a waste of space, because it only makes the device bigger with no need. I always have hated capacitive buttons, but what I love about the Axon 7 is that even with capacitive buttons, the aspect ratio is great. Is smaller than some of the 5.5" devices I have used before that rely only on software buttons.
The OP3T has a worse display, both resolution and quality, and the people who say that is because of the battery, is lying or they don't know much about technology. Display technology has advanced so much in these years, and even when this statement was true in the beginning, now the QHD screens out there have similar power consumptions. Also to point that the screen on the Axon 7 is exactly the same of the Galaxy S7 Edge, so I can say is really nice to have a display like this one.
As for the OP3T, is true that is has slightly better performance, camera and battery, but is no match for the Axon 7 regarding media consumption (sound, display, storage, etc.) and the difference is huge between the 2.
As someone suggested you, if you aim to media consumption, there is no better device than this one. If you are kind of a ROM addict or you are deep into development, get the OP3T.
:good:
P.D.: All the bugs and problems the Axon 7 (including Play Store) are fixed now with the update that came a few days ago, and I can confirm it.
P.D.2: Have you consider to wait for the OnePlus 5?
crcostel said:
Not a gamer in the slightest. I will occasionally take toddler snapshots with the camera when my panny is not handy.
This is more an overall performance and form comparison.
Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
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If performance is your concern then look no further and buy the OP3, unless, since you are an XDA member, know a thing or two about tinkering with ROMs and flashing your phone. In that case then its an Audio vs Camera situation...
In had the oneplus 3 and returned it within 2days. Axon 7 has been the better phone for me.
It's really a matter of opinion. You won't find that much difference in the specs.
Battery - The charging speed is the same (see this), and this), battery is the same (slightly better on the a7). I use the phone a lot and I'm very happy with the battery capacity.
Screen is nearly the same (A7: 2K AMOLED, OP3: 1080p Super AMOLED).
Processor - You won't notice the difference. Seriously, the A7 has great speed.
Camera - The A7's camera is excellent in day light. Not in day light? Not so much. It's fine. But in day light you can take amazing pictures with it (which show great on the screen ). There are a bunch of camera samples online from each phone (and maybe even a camera comparison), so check that out.
You might also want to check some other stuff out like durability, speed, etc. In videos. But do keep in mind that in speeds as high as flagships phone you probably won't notice the difference.
RAM - The 4GB RAM on the A7 is enough for me. I don't see how anyone would need 6GM RAM on a smartphone. (I've also heard that OP3 doesn't use all it's RAM, I wonder if that's fixed already).
The fingerprint scanner on the back is surprisingly comfortable and it's really a matter of getting used to it. I got used to it very quickly and it's instinctive to me.
The stock ROM isn't that great but it could be replaced by unlocking the bootloader so I personally wouldn't take that into account here. Plus the A7 started getting a lot of attention from ROM makers and has LOS official support and other ROMs available.
Also the A7 is cheaper.
The audio is also excellent.
Design is also great, the phone is very pretty (suck it LG G6 )
I enjoy my phone greatly.
Axon 7 +'s
audio
warranty
OnePlus 3T
pretty wood cases
It looks like the stock ROM is probably better (built-in dark theme and accent color adjustment. Well executed)
Processor matters. Maybe not in speed but the additional features Qualcomm rolls up in the chipset can... as long as the manufacturer implements them.
For me, it came down to warranty and particularly the Dash charging is proprietary. I'd rather not buy up a bunch of chargers which charge fast only on their phones. Yes, Quick Charge 3.0 is proprietary to Qualcomm in the sense that USB-C PD is the real standard - but it's less proprietary.
My next phone must have the most standard charging available. I'm tired of this proprietary charging junk. Dicking with finding the right power adapter is annoying and just adds up in $30 and $40 costs if I want car adapters and additional AC adapters which support whatever standard.
Just think of the extra $60 you spent on extra Quick/Fast chargers for the office & car which will be obsolete on your next phone. Hidden costs are crap.
I have it on mine. Just pressed home button held it and there it is. 7.0 stock.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk
Thanks everyone - going to BestBuy tomorrow to get a feel for the ergonomics and then will buy from BH if it passes. Currently have VZW so I'll try to get it going and if not, off to ATT
Also worth noting that the Axon 7 can be had for almost 40% less than the equivalent 3T, which seems almost too good to pass up for an incremental upgrade.
Also, from what I understand, it only fully supports AT&T and T-Mobile in states so do beware.
With axon 7 getting proper sound on LOS and an SD card for me it's a no brainer....I like to take my movies with me when I travel so sticking everything on the 256gb SanDisk is awesome....I will never but a phone with no microSD...I don't even wanna count how many times I wiped internal storage when I was resetting for a new Roman install....Having my TWRP backups on external storage was literAlly a life saver for me personally
Title says it all. I'm looking to pick up a new phone as my current HTC M9 is finally showing its age.
This is what I'm looking for in a phone:
I am BIG on de-bloating and ad blocking so at minimum root is REQUIRED.
Not required but might as well be, 3.5mm jack
6" screen or smaller, would prefer to stay below 5.6"
must support US AT&T bands
some what new specs
would like to have a LED display
not a requirement but defiantly looked at is battery life/size
I use to be VERY big into installing custom ROMS and Kernels. I've slowly backed off a bit but still love to do it from time to time. My HTC is just running a de-bloated version of the stock developer ROM. My Shield Table on the other hand is running lineage OS as the stock ROM is garbage. Having custom ROM options for this reason makes me feel secure in my purchase which is another reason I'm looking at a OnePlus in general.
From the digging I've done there really isn't much that meets my requirements. The OnePlus 5 seems to be my best option that I can find. The one plus 6 goes outside of my size limits. From the reading I've done it seems like the spec upgrades to the 6 vs the 5 just aren't worth the size changes.
I've also looked at the Asus ZenFone 4 Pro and ZTE nubia Red Magic Mars. The Asus modding community is basically dead other wise it seems to be a great fit. As for the ZTE it just barley meets my size limitations and is a bit of a gamble being that I have no experience with this manufacture before. Other then that my only gripe with the device itself is the LCD display but I currently have a LCD on my HTC so its not to big a deal.
So would you recommend that I pickup a OnePlus 5 or should I be looking at something newer due to the 5 approaching 2 years old now?
If this changes anything I would be picking up the phone from Amazon due to OnePlus only selling their most recent device on their website. I.E. - No warranty / international version https://www.amazon.com/OnePlus-A500...0955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&s=mobile&sr=1-2
I would suggest looking for a Oneplus 6 that has proper camera implementation and other little issues resolved. Or a Google Pixel 2XL if you want something that will last you longer in terms of updates ( eBay is having many auctions lately). In general, I would not recommend buying a Oneplus 5.
BrownEye02 said:
Title says it all. I'm looking to pick up a new phone as my current HTC M9 is finally showing its age.
This is what I'm looking for in a phone:
I am BIG on de-bloating and ad blocking so at minimum root is REQUIRED.
Not required but might as well be, 3.5mm jack
6" screen or smaller, would prefer to stay below 5.6"
must support US AT&T bands
some what new specs
would like to have a LED display
not a requirement but defiantly looked at is battery life/size
I use to be VERY big into installing custom ROMS and Kernels. I've slowly backed off a bit but still love to do it from time to time. My HTC is just running a de-bloated version of the stock developer ROM. My Shield Table on the other hand is running lineage OS as the stock ROM is garbage. Having custom ROM options for this reason makes me feel secure in my purchase which is another reason I'm looking at a OnePlus in general.
From the digging I've done there really isn't much that meets my requirements. The OnePlus 5 seems to be my best option that I can find. The one plus 6 goes outside of my size limits. From the reading I've done it seems like the spec upgrades to the 6 vs the 5 just aren't worth the size changes.
I've also looked at the Asus ZenFone 4 Pro and ZTE nubia Red Magic Mars. The Asus modding community is basically dead other wise it seems to be a great fit. As for the ZTE it just barley meets my size limitations and is a bit of a gamble being that I have no experience with this manufacture before. Other then that my only gripe with the device itself is the LCD display but I currently have a LCD on my HTC so its not to big a deal.
So would you recommend that I pickup a OnePlus 5 or should I be looking at something newer due to the 5 approaching 2 years old now?
If this changes anything I would be picking up the phone from Amazon due to OnePlus only selling their most recent device on their website. I.E. - No warranty / international version https://www.amazon.com/OnePlus-A500...0955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&s=mobile&sr=1-2
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Click to collapse
Existing thread for such discussions is this https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1620179
Here is my opinion about your question.
I recently purchased a op5 about 10 days back. I could have picked up the 6T but until the onscreen fingerprint is a few generation old I dont want to go that way. 6 was out of question due to the notch. 5t has a great screen and my friend is using it but I NEED my fingerprint on the front.(It is my use case could be different for u)
+ the metal body and 3.5 mm jack.
Also, the camera is good enough for daytime shots and the 835 with 6GB is very zippy and I am sure it will remain so for a couple of years. And it does have a great dev scene so later when my device is a year or so old i can just unlock the bootloader and go custom. I love custom rom and used to do that the 1st thing once i got my phone but nowadays i just dont have the time.
Overall i love the phone and feels very premium. I cant give my feedback about the other models u have listed above but personally for me OP5 checks all the boxes.
Go for 5 since it meets almost all on your checklist and besides, there's not much difference from the OP5 to 6/6T in terms of performance. Been using my OP5(6/64(Latest Beta)) for more than a year now but I hadn't have any hiccups or slow performance issues in all the applications. Plus, up till now; The Rom / Kernel development for OP5 is still alive and kicking.
Only issue that I had with my OP5 is the "Device temperature too low" which is already a hardware issue(Motherboard) as per the local tech and honestly speaking, I believe it was my fault as well. Maximing the usage of my OP5 and kept on using it even if it's charging then while I'm sleeping, accidentally covered the phone with my pillow(while AFK on Ragnarok Mobile) thus causing the phone to heat up to the maximum temp(Too hot to even hold the phone with it's case on). As of writing, I'm still waiting for my phone to be fixed by the tech.
Thanks everyone for the input!!
With the research I did today I ended up going with the Galaxy S9 (EXYNOS). Covers all my bullets, its a newer device then the OnePlus 5 with very close to the latest specs and was able to find the 128GB for $560. With it being the EXYNOS processor I should have no issues rooting and debloating it. And if I cant stand the stock rom it looks like they have good lineage OS development for it so I can just jump to that.
I just bought me a Oneplus 5 to replace my old Nexus 6. I bought the 8/128 variant in great shape for $260. I had the seller leave the bootloader unlocked for me so that I can easily root and flash ROMs when I'm ready. I haven't read into how any of that works on the OP5 or what I would need to do. I'd presume that I'd probably just boot into TWRP and flash magisk but I haven't checked any of that out.
So far, I absolutely love the phone. I knew my Nexus 6 was getting slow and was going to literally blow up at some inopportune time but I guess that I didn't realize how awful it was til buying the OP5. I haven't tried anything too taxing on it yet but this has been so smooth that it's hard to imagine anything else.
OP5 still a beast and will run all playstore apps for years to come. (6/8gb ram is insane for 99% of users)
-Also, less pixel (16:9 1080p) makes it faster and gives better battery performance.
-I love the out-of-display buttons, imo is the android signature.
- sound chip is awesome, big sell point for me on my ath-m50s.
I choose this phone especially to reduce my overcompensation (no, money isn't the problem). micro-technology is just killing the planet, so not changing my phone every year (hello apple fan boi) was a huge sell point for me.
Actually ram killed my previous phone, even with swap partition it was too slow ( HTC Desire Z from 2010). So I decided to get the best phone ram wise, xda support wise and chipset wise.
The only issue I have, is Oneplus refuse to sell batteries, this is just stupid, I mean yeah I get they want you to change phone model, or send them back your op for repairs, but still, how many people want to change the battery??? not much! so I dont get why they are so picky on that !
wife's OP3 still a very fast phone even in 2019, snapdragon 820, 6gb ram, but battery doesnt hold the charge. ebay batteries are ****, tired once, and got 1900 mha, phone shutdown @ 20% charge.
I love the op5, and if I dont loose/break it, I should be good for an other 4 years I believe ! :good:
I came from a Pixel XL, the OP5 looked great because of 8GB of RAM (which seems impressive for a phone), a better SoC, and a slightly lower resolution (better 3D performance). Along with all those things being true in-person, the speaker is also a bit better. It also has good LineageOS support.
My main reason for switching was for ease-of changing the battery if I needed to; the Pixel XL needed some adhesive heating and careful lifting of the screen; I wanted no part of that. The OP5 just pries open on clips which I find very nice, and the battery access is from the back.
I got a slightly damaged one (minor drop damage; insides and screen looks ok) for $200; the 8GB/128GB model.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the , all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
My short review of redmi K20 Pro / Mi 9T Pro in croatian language (there are video and photo samples): https://android.bswireless.hr/2019/09/xiaomi-mi-9t-pro-odnosno-redmi-k20-pro-najpovoljniji-mobitel-s-najbrzim-snapdragon-procesorom/
I've had and used this device (9T Pro 6/128 Black, M1903F11G) for a bit over a week now. My previous phone was almost 5 years old (HTC M8), so for me this is a huge upgrade in every way. It is fast and beautiful and takes great pictures even in difficult conditions. Finally I have an AMOLED screen again and it is gorgeous.
I have not unlocked, rooted, modded the device yet. Running MiUI 10.3.3.0 PFKEUXM. I plan to keep it stock for a month or so just to make sure that any gripes I might have with MiUI are not just a matter of getting used to. I will probably put Lineage OS on it.
All in all I love the device a lot. It looks good and feels good in the hand. I have not used other modern devices, so I can't really compare. Instead I will list nags / negative things, then you can decide whether these are things you care about.
- Pop-up camera.
This feels like it would be a weak point, as it is the only moving part. It probably also makes it less dust and water proof.
I don't use face unlock and I don't take selfies, so I don't care too much about this. I like that the screen has no notch in it.
- It does not have stereo speakers.
Dual front facing speakers on the M8 were much better, but came at a cost of screen real estate.
I care about this a little bit, but for media I mostly use headphones anyway and for alarms, notifications, etc.. this does not matter.
- Finger print scanner response is inconsistent.
Most of the time it works very quickly (less than half a second) but sometimes it takes longer or I have to lift my finger and try again.
This is my first device with FPS so maybe this is normal. I like the idea of FPS on the back (Motorola, LG, ...) but I can't tell from experience whether this is actually better.
- The FM radio has no RDS and the reception is not very good.
I am probably one of the few people that care about FM radio.
- Lack of SD card slot
...but with 128GB internal storage that should not be a problem. On other devices that did have SD card slots I have always used them to expand internal storage, never as removable storage.
love it!
touch of jobo said:
This is my first device with FPS so maybe this is normal. I like the idea of FPS on the back (Motorola, LG, ...) but I can't tell from experience whether this is actually better.
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I had a fingerprint scanner on the back on my previous phone and this is one of the main reason I wanted to switch to a phone with a fingerprint scanner under the screen.
I use my phone a lot at work and most of time it’s lying on the desk, so each time I wanted to either use my phone, check message/mails or anything else, I had to grab the phone and put my finger on the back in order to unlock it and that was very inconvenient, especially when you do this 50/100 times a day.
Now I only have to put my finger on the screen and that’s it, don’t even have to move the phone, I like it much better, even though fingerprint scanner under the screen is not as quick as the one on the back.
Love it. I handed some devices with notch and I couldn't stand it. It may look strange but even the asymmetric bezels in mi 9t pro hurts my brain. Lol.
Switched from a Huawei P20 Lite to European MI 9T PRO and it's a huge improvement.
PRO's
- no notch
- better display
- updated hardware (resolves tasks much faster)
- better camera
- larger battery
CON's
- no expandable memory
- MIUI still strange to me (would've loved stock like OnePlus)
Overall I love it
Sent from my Mi 9T Pro using Tapatalk
In the middle of switching from a Mi Max 3. Not fully switching until I can unlock and root it.
Pluses -
LIttle bit faster than the Max but not enough that I'd not go back.
Better camera.
Cons -
No sd slot. First phone I've had without and not sure I like it.
Tiny screen. The Max series has been perfect for me and this is a major decider as to whether I keep it as I read a lot of pdfs and movie watching.
Unknown - battery life. Tiny battery in comparison and I'm used to 13+ hrs SOT so this could be another decider.
Meh - amoled isn't as much of an improvement as I'd been expecting after 2 years with lcd.
Had a zte zmax pro for years... talk about an upgrade! i did days of research, and continuously went up and up the chain of cost until I felt like I landed at the sweet spot for price and modern performance with the Mi 9T Pro. Just before ordering I realized AMOLED has "OLED" in it :highfive:. I live in the US so after showing coworkers they were shocked. One even commented how they basically paid 3 times as much for a phone that is similar (at best) than mine. Yup :victory:
Overall am amazed by the quality and performance as you can imagine. Now just looking for a daily driver to stick with. So far MIUI isn't bad, but I'd like to see whats out there. Thanks to the devs who continue to work on what they love, and allow us to use our devices to their fullest potential.
Love it too
all I need is no notch and it does , that's all
For the price, phone is really great . It's super fast, quality is good. My main complaint is lack of sd card slot, but it's not really big problem