planning on getting a 2nd v20 as a spare - LG V20 Questions & Answers

I like the phone but 2 issues I HATE
I kept having firmware issues
https://forum.xda-developers.com/v20/help/swapping-batteries-boots-to-firmware-t3783724
my screen is bleeding and has burnt images on it at certain times.
my screen broke on the rear cameras and after time has made the main camera not focus and the IQ has degraded, even after using alcohol to clean the glass.
im curious if they had a recall on that
im going to get a 2nd v20 to use a main phone and keep my current as a backup. reason? battery swapping!!
it saved my ass soo much and has made my life so convenient. I keep the extra battery in my wallet, swap while im walking and go back to 100%.
my usb c charging socket doesnt work well anymore. after about a month, the cable wouldnt stay inside connected. I have to use a rubber band and stretch it to the top of the screen to keep it in. and QC 3 is not working anymore
why arent there more phones with battery swapping? the least they could do is make the new v30/40 with BIG batteries. I dont want to have a cable connected to my phone like iv drip at a hospital

Actually I was also thinking about getting a second V20 as a spare one bc this phone is absolutely the best I've had so far. But I'm pretty sure my phone won't be broken so soon. Dropped about thousand times with only few damages at the corner. Nothing special. It's so f...ing physically reliable! All new flagships wouldn't had resist these drops bc of their Glas building. Always had a Glas to protect the display though. The Phone is still working perfect so I decided not to get a second one. But in your case that sounds like a good choice. In Germany you can import a new V20 from the US for about 200 dollars. Imo you can't get a better phone for that price! Im using a 75 Euro LeEco Le 2 running Miui as my spare phone. The value for that amount of money is so incredibly awesome! Maybe this one.. But if my V20 will be broken some day I'll definitely going to get another one! Remember all the good reasons to buy this, for example DAC, wide angle camera back and front, military reloablitoly, SECOND screen which I like the most, swappable battery, knock on, price under 200 dollar. Yes this phone this is absolutely the best. (at least for my usage)

Jogg3r said:
Actually I was also thinking about getting a second V20 as a spare one bc this phone is absolutely the best I've had so far. But I'm pretty sure my phone won't be broken so soon. Dropped about thousand times with only few damages at the corner. Nothing special. It's so f...ing physically reliable! All new flagships wouldn't had resist these drops bc of their Glas building. Always had a Glas to protect the display though. The Phone is still working perfect so I decided not to get a second one. But in your case that sounds like a good choice. In Germany you can import a new V20 from the US for about 200 dollars. Imo you can't get a better phone for that price! Im using a 75 Euro LeEco Le 2 running Miui as my spare phone. The value for that amount of money is so incredibly awesome! Maybe this one.. But if my V20 will be broken some day I'll definitely going to get another one! Remember all the good reasons to buy this, for example DAC, wide angle camera back and front, military reloablitoly, SECOND screen which I like the most, swappable battery, knock on, price under 200 dollar. Yes this phone this is absolutely the best. (at least for my usage)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed!

I have 2 v20 a us996 and f800k love both of them no issues with any of them.......

OMG, I also did it! An hour ago I bought a spare one. But this time with dual sim. The H990N. For just 180 Euro new & sealed! But why?? This phone is almost unbreakable. Never mind..

Related

So G5 owners with a handset older than 4 weeks.

What is your opinion now? Still think its a good choice?
Personally i think its a great phone sold short, looking at the hardware and potential i think the handset would easy have a 2 year life span.
But i would like to see bigger modular support, things like physical keyboard, physical zoom lenses etc. And i would like to see some of the software updated a bit closer to the V20.
My biggest concern? Physically will it last 2 years? The build quality aint bad but it aint great.
jamiee6610 said:
What is your opinion now? Still think its a good choice?
Personally i think its a great phone sold short, looking at the hardware and potential i think the handset would easy have a 2 year life span.
But i would like to see bigger modular support, things like physical keyboard, physical zoom lenses etc. And i would like to see some of the software updated a bit closer to the V20.
My biggest concern? Physically will it last 2 years? The build quality aint bad but it aint great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Had it for 4 months, never Had a problem, just a bit of light bleeding, but it's visible only in Dark area with full brightness.
Best smartphone I ever had.
Last three were before it were Moto X Pure, Droid Turbo, and HTC M8.
I have since May, great phone. It has some issues but which phone doesn't. Ghosting happens on thia screen sometimes but nothing permanent, it goes away. I got scratches on the camera glass which is annoying (although easily replacable if you don't care about the warranty). Battery lasts around 4 hours SOT with around 30 hours of usage. I got the battery + external charger kit from Amazon for 30$ which is just great to have. Screen could be brighter. Super bright mode isn't stable enough. The camera is amazing! I love it (and I have a group of already 350 G5 photographers on Facebook). The speaker is one of the best in the market. It's fast, fingerprint sensor works great, colors are good.. I'm very happy with the phone! Oh.. important! The screen is curved on top which can be super annoying if you like to apply a tempered glass acreen protector. I don't have any issues with the build quality. I would prefer the V20 just because I like the big screen..other than that they are pretty similar. I think the G5 is the most underrated phone in the last in the last few years.
I got two of them - one for me and one for a friend. I am not really concerned about the quality, why shouldn't it last more than two years? It gives a great bang for the buck. If money isn't a concern, I would aim for the V20 (bought the G5 before it was announced and it may not be released where I live). I was with Samsung phones and Tablet for several years now but I think LG also does a good job here.
Love it. Great phone but I wouldn't have it for two years. I have Jump by T-Mobile for a reason. The only thing I hate is no matter how much they say the phone screen is scratch resistant, if I have my keys and phone in the same pocket it gets scratched. Planning on getting the V20 when it comes out. LG is taking forever to release it.
Sent from my LG-H830 using Tapatalk
XAlexander_AlexanderX said:
Love it. Great phone but I wouldn't have it for two years. I have Jump by T-Mobile for a reason. The only thing I hate is no matter how much they say the phone screen is scratch resistant, if I have my keys and phone in the same pocket it gets scratched. Planning on getting the V20 when it comes out. LG is taking forever to release it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, i can confirm this, and not only on my G5 but also on a S7 Edge of a friend, it seems that corning Got worse in these years on the scratch part...
I love the phone but I'm extremely disappointed in the GPS issue as I use my phone for navigation quite a lot. And my battery has never been to great. But that's probably because I'm used to the battery life I was getting on my iPhone 6 plus and Nexus 6P (wish I never sold my 6P). The camera is fantastic and as I have 2 little ones it's great for taking pictures of them.
Love my phone G5 coming from my G2 which I gave to my mother and she loves it. Camera, performance and the like are all great on my G5
GPS is fast and no issue.
bluerain28 said:
Love my phone G5 coming from my G2 which I gave to my mother and she loves it. Camera, performance and the like are all great on my G5
GPS is fast and no issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your lucky then. I try to use mine to navigate and it's hit and miss, most of the times miss and just says searching
Have had it since it rolled out. Not a single problem or issue. So impressed with it, in fact, that I recommended it to the wife and my parents when it was time for them to renew/upgrade. So now we all have g5's. Didn't recommend it to my in laws because..... They are my in laws. And because they are under the impression that "Apple is the only quality phone manufacturer". Their loss hahahaha.
I am honestly ready to throw mine through a wall. Gps is always searching and i use it alot for work. Wifi will just stop working for no reason. I am currently trying to get out of this phone. Worst phone ever.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
Had mine for a month now only problem i've found is the GPS i'm gonna try some calibration software to see if there is a difference. This phone should be good for two years i think.
I like it a lot, especially camera and loudspeaker. Even better with Poetic Rugged case.
I got mine like 2 month ago and is pretty nice fast and non rooted yet just waiting how will move
I'm using it for a month now and I still can't find a flow. I like the design, love the camera, the software and hardware are doing well. Overall it's a great device. Oh, and I don't care about the moduls, don't plan to use them anyway.
Look at my warranty thread. It's been a nightmare. LG refused to switch out the housing when I sent it in, and they scratched it. Had to change the housing myself, luckily it wasn't that expensive. So far, most of the issues I had are gone. GPS is fine now, and the LCD isn't yellowing anymore.

Why does the V20 suck so badly?

Okay so i dont know if this should be posted here, so if it belongs elsewhere please feel free to move it mods. I tried to post in the "real life reviews" but couldnt find a spot to submit a new thread there.
I hate the v20. I've had it since October when i was forced to give up my Note. I wanted to trade it in for the S7 edge but that wasn't available, and i liked what i'd heard about the v20 so i went ahead and went for it. Me and my wife both upgrade at the same time so we both got the v20, after trading in the Notes.
At first it was fine enough. I did enjoy the cameras on the phone quite a bit. Amazing cameras. but then the glass shattered over the two lenses (without so much as a drop) and the exposures became terrible. So the camera was ruined for me. I could have mailed it away to LG but i dont have a second phone and i can't be without mine for 2 weeks while they do repairs so i just have to deal with it. The screen got small scratches on it over time, which really surprised me. I have never had a single device going all the way back to the G1 that has gotten scratched. I dont know if this phone uses gorilla glass or not, but thats another issue.
The battery life sucks. Most days by lunch time my phone is under 15 percent. I've done everything you can think of to solve the problem, but nothing works. New roms, battery savers, efficiency stuff..i've tried it all. It just sucks.
The phone has a million other issues but i won't get in to those now. Long story short, i'm EXTREMELY tempted to get the new S8 plus but i'm gonna wait on the note because i really love that stylus...
Am i alone? does anyone else feel this way? I really hate it because i've never had an android phone i disliked. But i must regretfully admit, that this one sucks.
How do you feel?
First of all, you broke your phone and didn't fix it. Not wise. Second, use the phone for what it is designed around; swappable batteries. They last all day. You are apparently using apps that drain your battery. When that happens, you just pull off the back and swap with a fresh one. That alone sets this phone apart from the rest. Third, you should protect your screen with a tempered glass protector. 10 bucks can change your world. All of your problems are self inflicted it seems...that's what really sucks!
Yea, I'm gonna echo FreakyFrank.
It's not a huge battery given the size of the screen, so get a swapper. Especially given your load it's a wise idea.
Second, check the battery section under Settings and see where your battery is going to. Perhaps you need to remove an app or to that are abusing the juice.
Next, even if you rock case-free, you should still get a tempered glass screen protectors. There are good ones out there for well less than $10 (I got the Spigen and love it).
In short, the V20 sucks for you. Perhaps you've already optimized your phone and it's still not a good fit. That happens. Each phone is a set of trade-offs based on the purpose of that phone as determined by the manufacturer. Some of these make some phones not as optimal for a given person as it would be for others.
@thatisandwas
You couldn't find a temporary replacement phone to use if you'd sent your V20 away for repair? That strikes me as a poor excuse.
And a LG V20 Battery Charging KIT BCK-5200 doesn't cost a lot so thats your second gripe shot down. I bet if it was a non-removable battery you'd be wishing for the old days of removable batteries.
Over 6 months ownership of such a shi**y phone that has a "million other issues" and the only thing you've done is log in here to whinge about it.
Sell your V20, get another phone, and start formulating a rant about its faults 6 months down the line.... Happy days
Edit: you should change "the" to "my" in the thread title...
I'm really (not really) sorry to hear that V20 didn't work out for you quite well. So the morale of the story is
1. Fix your phone once it's broken.
2. always carry a spare phone just in case (at least, $100 cheap android phone)
3. never ever used a phone naked even if the phone is tough or rugged. put on a case and a tempered glass screen protector.
4. take advantage of the phone's main feature (in this case, removable battery).
LOL i +1 all of these posts.
In addition to the following:
-The camera lens replacement is already out there for sell . Ebay, amazon, you name it. And it doesnt cost practically a thing.
-How many user apps do you have? how many of them are constantly synchronizing? How long do you use your phone with heavy battery consuming apps such as ... Well. Facebook alone is a big consumer (it synchronizes a lot). I currently have 93 user apps. from which 28 of them are constantly synchronizing. Not to mention that i play fun run arena for an hour or 2 a day. and my battery last about 4 - 5 hours with screen on. or even up to almost 3 days with screen off and some of the app synchronizing.
But still, i think 6 month is really too late to be writing a thread like this lol!
LOL I Should have expected these responses. The thing is, i shouldn't have to pay money to fix camera glass. I've never had a camera glass break on me, ever. I'm very careful with my devices. I've had dozens of android phones. Never had any of these issues with any of them. Its clearly a design flaw that the glass shatters and you guys are just like "but a new one" as if thats a perfectly acceptable solution. It shouldn't break in the first place. The battery management could be any number of things. I've tried nothing but stock apps. I've had android OS in battery usage exceed 100%. I've now installed a new rom and am getting better battery life, but it still isn't great. I don't want to carry spare batteries. I want my battery to last from 8-5 then i can charge it on the drive home enough to last until it gets to my bedside charger. I don't think thats a very huge ask. But it dies before lunch time most days.
You guys all make good points, and yes i could remedy some of these problems with the suggestions. But you have to admit the camera glass is piss poor design on LGs part. I mean come on? It just shatters with regular usage?
thatisandwas said:
LOL I Should have expected these responses. The thing is, i shouldn't have to pay money to fix camera glass. I've never had a camera glass break on me, ever. I'm very careful with my devices. I've had dozens of android phones. Never had any of these issues with any of them. Its clearly a design flaw that the glass shatters and you guys are just like "but a new one" as if thats a perfectly acceptable solution. It shouldn't break in the first place. The battery management could be any number of things. I've tried nothing but stock apps. I've had android OS in battery usage exceed 100%. I've now installed a new rom and am getting better battery life, but it still isn't great. I don't want to carry spare batteries. I want my battery to last from 8-5 then i can charge it on the drive home enough to last until it gets to my bedside charger. I don't think thats a very huge ask. But it dies before lunch time most days.
You guys all make good points, and yes i could remedy some of these problems with the suggestions. But you have to admit the camera glass is piss poor design on LGs part. I mean come on? It just shatters with regular usage?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think i stated on another thread that i was starting to think that it is just a percentage of v20 that has that defect. You know how many times i have dropped my phone or even threw it to the wall by accidrnt (sure it did have a poetic revolution cover) but still, the pressure should have broken the camera glass by now. Nevertheless, mine still intact. And i have 6 month already with the phone. Another thing i have done that i believe it may causes the glass to break out of nothing, is to be on really cold and hot weather. Yet... Thr glass still not broken. (between 24 F and 106 F temprtstures >> oklahoma lol)
"The phone has a million other issues but i won't get in to those now...." < world of difference > "But you have to admit the camera glass is piss poor design on LGs part. I mean come on? It just shatters with regular usage?"
You could be right about the lens debacle but your OP was a tad OTT don't ya think...?
rubiicon59 said:
"The phone has a million other issues but i won't get in to those now...." < world of difference > "But you have to admit the camera glass is piss poor design on LGs part. I mean come on? It just shatters with regular usage?"
You could be right about the lens debacle but your OP was a tad OTT don't ya think...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes it is over the top. I mean the thing is i have loved ALL my android phones. They all have a "soul" to them tha makes me like them for their own reasons. I can't put my finger on it exactly but it just feels like something is majorly lacking with the v20 compared to my others. I mean does no one agree with me at all on any of the points i made?
Well I inferred understanding what you mean regarding the lens, lots of others have complained about if too.
But I stand by what I said in post #4.
So now I'm interested what you're going to do with your V20.... keep or ditch?
rubiicon59 said:
Well I inferred understanding what you mean regarding the lens, lots of others have complained about if too.
But I stand by what I said in post #4.
So now I'm interested what you're going to do with your V20.... keep or ditch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm gonna keep it for the time being. I don't hate it so much that i'm willing to spend more to get the s8 plus. But i will more than likely replace it when the note 8 rolls around....after waiting for 30 days after launch, for obvious reasons I can only imagine a large number of people came to v20 after giving up their note 7. I wonder how many of us will end up going to the note 8???
Yep I get your reasons... I think now we're on a similar page.
I've only had my V20 two days so I'm still exploring but so far I'm really pleased with it. Every phone manufactured has good and bad points so I try to take each one on its own merits and flaws rather than making comparisons. More so this time with switching manufacturers.
I've only had one LG in the past, the KF750 Secret, and I really liked that. But there will be no Note for me.
Anyway good luck with your V20, and your next phone too.
And get that lens fixed man
I love my v20. Last phone made with sensibility in mind. Removable battery, IR blaster, and SD slot. Only thing lacking is water resistance, but there are solutions for that. Plus I have 100+ apps installed and mine still lasts all day and then some.
Sent from my LG-V521 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
Not exactly on topic (I guess) but as someone who is fully committed and stoked about the V20, I stopped and checked out the S8 the other day. I will say it looks really awesome. Samsung did a fantastic​job with the display.
But it still stands, like others say. The V20 is probably the last phone you can get with such a great feature set. I don't want to buy a new phone every year, other year, week, whatever. I want a phone that will last. Removable battery plus an LCD (not AMOLED) will truly last.
As a iphone user with the 7 Plus being my last and trying out the V20 it does kinda suck. battery life is pretty terrible for a newer model phone, I wanted to give android another shot but it still is not as polished as IOS is.
Sounds to me like you didn't do your research before buying the V20.
LG's V series of phones are meant to be the last of the "oldschool" style cellphones with expandable storage AND a removable battery with Phillips head screw construction. The idea is that when your battery dies, as others have stated, you pop off the back cover and pop a new battery in. Speaking of which, the other users are definitely right about having too many apps running. I have unlocked my bootloader and installed LineageOS (stock android), which could be a factor in my better battery life, and usually get close to 48 hours of moderate to heavy usage per charge. Battery aside, if something breaks, you simply buy the spare part online and replace it yourself. The replacement camera glass is only around $25 and takes about 10 minutes to swap.
I definitely do agree with you that the camera glass is a bit fragile, however, I doubt it broke from just the softness of your touch. If you dropped your phone even just once, it may have broken then, which is a bit ridiculous being that it's the camera glass...But if you had gotten the S7 Edge and dropped it once, there's a very, very good chance the the entirety of your front or back glass would have shattered (or both - the whole phone is glass) so you really should not be complaining about this.
But all comments aside, definitely go with the upcoming Note if you have the dough and are unsatisfied with the V20. I'd love to grab the new Note but I'm just a broke college student (hence why I got the V20. Cheap repairs =P ).
Anyway, best of luck phone hunting in the future!
I appreciate all the responses. I did definitely do a lot of research before buying the v20. Getting the sweet ear buds for free that i'm using as i type this was a big reason why i got it. I agree that it is good in its own merits, such as expandable storage/removable battery. I won't settle on the camera glass though, that's BS on LG's part and the fact that they still haven't acknowledged in publicly as a defect is disappointing to me. I've used LineageOS for a few weeks, and frankly i'm AMAZED if you're actually getting upwards of 48 hours use. Thats insane. I'm super lucky if i get til 5 with any juice left.
thatisandwas said:
I'm gonna keep it for the time being. I don't hate it so much that i'm willing to spend more to get the s8 plus. But i will more than likely replace it when the note 8 rolls around....after waiting for 30 days after launch, for obvious reasons I can only imagine a large number of people came to v20 after giving up their note 7. I wonder how many of us will end up going to the note 8???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The V20 is a powerhouse and can hold its own against the rest. No phone will be perfect and its all about preference. However, I too gave up my Note 7 for the V20. I will be definitely going back to the Note series.
thatisandwas said:
I appreciate all the responses. I did definitely do a lot of research before buying the v20. Getting the sweet ear buds for free that i'm using as i type this was a big reason why i got it. I agree that it is good in its own merits, such as expandable storage/removable battery. I won't settle on the camera glass though, that's BS on LG's part and the fact that they still haven't acknowledged in publicly as a defect is disappointing to me. I've used LineageOS for a few weeks, and frankly i'm AMAZED if you're actually getting upwards of 48 hours use. Thats insane. I'm super lucky if i get til 5 with any juice left.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You must have the screen on and be using the phone most if not the whole 5 hours.
Plug it in. If you don't have ac\dc available - get a nice power bank.
The camera glass is only $6.69 on eBay with the adhesive part and the glass.
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/282431684616

Planning to buy 6P from Craigslist, How to make sure I'm not getting a faulty one?

I've read about the faulty battery issue, and sudden reboots/bootloop issue.
Is there a way to minimize the risk, if I can check the device physically?
Checking the manufacturing date? Checking how many hours are left under "battery" in settings?
Any advice would be appreciated, Thanks!
Don't buy this phone. There are so many issues with this thing. My network signals all of a sign went kaput (the network chip got fried go figure!). No I'm stuck with a giant iPod. Save your money and buy something else (serious advice).
I agree, don't buy this phone used. You have no way to test the battery and other issues might appear.
My phone is a year old and I have already gotten a couple of sudden shutdowns. In addition people often complain that they can't hear me and my voice is intermittently muffled.
i wouldn't recommend getting this phone used, especially this late in the game... you can't just ignore all the issues being posted
I stumbled across this because I am buying a used 64gb 6p on eBay right now (7- 22- 2018). My research shows that if one comes across a survivor of the bootloop death (which can be overcome by disabling the 4 large cores, why bother) AND one is willing to eventually buy a $15 battery kit and can use a heat gun effectively, the Nexus 6p is THE best phone right now for no more than $150. The 128gb can be had for $180. If one buys one manufactured later than 2/2016, the battery lasts longer and supposedly some other minor bugs were fixed.
For $150 even if you only get one year from it I believe it's worth it. Phones now are so expensive unless your signing your life away on a plan.
Battery problems, heat and lag issues. Can't wait to upgrade to Pixel 3 or anything else. I wouldn't recommend spending money on this peace of ... I loved the phone when it worked as supposed to, but now it just don't. Oh, and microphone problems when using speakerphone are also common.
I bought mine on ebay 64 gb for 150, it had a bad battery so i got them to refund $50. i paid like $15 to fix it been working absaloutey fine for 5 months so far. No lag at all for me or random reboots, all my cores work,signal works fine, and so do calls . I dont really know how it is on stock i have been on abc rom and franco kernel the whole time and loving the phone
This might be irrelevant to OP but here's my 2 cents
I bought one (exterior is almost mint) a few weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. I got it for $100 (from a guy that badly needed some money to go on holiday ) and honestly, I would say it's comparable to new mid range $300+ phones, even surpassing them in some regards - camera, software support, build quality, design, "feel". I'm not even sure why I bought it, since my trusty Z2 is still holding on, I guess I couldn't resist that price.
I knew what I was getting into, I read about all the problems beforehand, but I figured if it didn't get the bootloop till now, it probably won't. Also, I ordered a new battery off Aliexpress the day I got the phone. Screen On time used to be 2-3 hrs with random shutdown at 15-5%, now after replacement I'm getting ~5 hrs. Great success.
So for the 3 people out there looking to buy this phone, you can expect:
-bad battery life and random shutdown (just get a new one, they're dirt cheap)
-minor burn-in of the navbar (I notice it on white backgrounds only)
-getting warm after using it a while BUT it's a lot better after replacing the battery
-yellowish tint of the screen (I notice it since I'm coming from a cold LCD)
+camera performance comparable to flagships, especially with the Pixel camera app
+sexy design
+great build quality
+smooth overall
+very potent double speakers
+VERY fast charging with the original charger
I bought a used 128gb from a "refurbish" mill for $150 on eBay. It went dead after 2 days. Total battery/system failure and no joy with the charger. I got a free return shipping label and a full refund.
The same day I resolved to buy from an individual who can answer questions. If the seller couldn't tell me the manufacture date they were dropped from the watchlist. My research seemed to indicate that units made after 2/2016 were the ones to get.
I bought a 64gb made in 10/2016 from a guy on eBay for $100. It's in better than near mint condition. Google announced the end of the Nexus brand the same month so this has to be one of the last made. Everything is perfect (including Oreo 8.1) except that AccuBattery reports 60% battery health. I concur with all that skullzhunter said.
I already planned to change the battery, but 60% health will buy me some time before I have to track down a heatgun. The battery kits are cheap and contain all the special tools for the job.
I'd like to hear from skullzhunter what the date of manufacture is on his phone (for others, boot into recovery and select "barcodes"). Also, were you able to remove the top and bottom covers intact? I imagine the trick is to apply enough heat. The question is, how much heat is TOO much? Any tips on re-installing those little covers with future access in mind?
Lawrencetate1 said:
I bought a used 128gb from a "refurbish" mill for $150 on eBay. It went dead after 2 days. Total battery/system failure and no joy with the charger. I got a free return shipping label and a full refund.
The same day I resolved to buy from an individual who can answer questions. If the seller couldn't tell me the manufacture date they were dropped from the watchlist. My research seemed to indicate that units made after 2/2016 were the ones to get.
I bought a 64gb made in 10/2016 from a guy on eBay for $100. It's in better than near mint condition. Google announced the end of the Nexus brand the same month so this has to be one of the last made. Everything is perfect (including Oreo 8.1) except that AccuBattery reports 60% battery health. I concur with all that skullzhunter said.
I already planned to change the battery, but 60% health will buy me some time before I have to track down a heatgun. The battery kits are cheap and contain all the special tools for the job.
I'd like to hear from skullzhunter what the date of manufacture is on his phone (for others, boot into recovery and select "barcodes"). Also, were you able to remove the top and bottom covers intact? I imagine the trick is to apply enough heat. The question is, how much heat is TOO much? Any tips on re-installing those little covers with future access in mind?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting trick with the Barcodes, seems my phone was manufactured in November 2015.
The operation was more difficult than I expected, but I managed to remove the covers with minor marks. You have to be VERY patient and careful, and you don't necessarily need a heat gun, a hair dryer will do. I don't think you can apply too much heat really, the frame will quickly get much hotter than the glass/plastic pieces but it cools down just as quick. Just heat it up until you can't touch the aluminium, there's nothing you can damage.
A trick that I unfortunately discovered after putting everything back together would be to use a sticker/vinyl skin to lift the covers from the corners (after heating), instead of digging in the gaps - as there are no gaps really.
So other than a hair dryer, you will need a 1.5 philips screwdriver, some thin plastic pieces to keep the screen assembly from snapping back into the case when you pry it open, and most importantly the thinnest strongest piece of metal you can find.
I used some tiny 3M double sided sticky strips to stick the pieces back and kept some of the old glue as well, I removed the gunky parts only. I think there are different glues used for top and bottom, the one on top being easier to reuse, but the bottom piece kinda sinks in the hole, so you need to leave just a little bit and press really hard so it snaps into place. I think it will be 10x easier to remove them now if I ever need to.

PSA:Battery replacement

Well, i tried to replace the battery of this device because i was getting around 3 hours of SOT. Got a battery.
All fine, opened up the backcover, removed some scrws. Some of they were very tight and then got to the last one. Bottom right, near the battery connector.
Not sure if it was on purpose or not, but my T3 torx screwdriver couldnt budge it. The screw is destroyed now and i have no way to remove the backcover to replace the battery.
For a flagship, they used screws that can be deformed by a nailcutter. This is absolutely disgusting.
There is no way to remove the backcover without destroying it in the process.
Now i only wonder why they made the cover with 20+ screws. Was this on purpose to over any would be fixer?
Another laptop i owned from lenovo had a stuck screw for the cpu. So there was no way to put thermal cooling paste for it.
The screw in the lenovo laptop was also destroyed in the process.
On the otherhand, my samsung laptop is still going and its from 2011.
Let this be a warning. If they had used plastic for the screws, it would have been better because at least i wouldnt need mote expensive machinery to drill them.
Unfortunately, Motorola decided to use t4 (even t2) screws in some models, which might have been your case. I used a magnifying glass to make sure the screw driver fit perfectly before turning so it didn't strip them. Took about 2 hours with heavy patience and rewatching multiple YouTube how-to's from different view points. I actually broke the black plastic that covers the Qi charging coil but thankfully that isn't a crucial part.
I bend the frame and just the replaced the battery. Luckily nothing got damaged.
Gotta test now the new battery. If it works out, at least it will spare me 400+ euros for a new phone.
But seriously, the screws are ****. I removed some of them.
I am exceptinally lucky only one got stuck in the roght place so that i could bend the frame and replace it.
Advice foreveryone, becareful for the ribbon cables. Yhey are flimsy and can be damaged extremely easily.
This phone is worth the repair and time because there isnt much out there that really competes with its screensize and performance, and hope the battery repair can help this thing last a while longer. Maybe 1-2 years
Except for flagships, every midranger i have seen is inferior and you wont get a decent 6 inch phone for under $500.-
that's why I took it to the local shop to have a pro do the job, plenty of people have reported breaking things then putting it back together and the phone wont boot or stuff doesn't work
it looks easy on the video tutorials until you **** up [emoji4]
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
@shadowcore; you are getting 3 hours of SOT and you decided to change the battery????. Your battery was still in decent condition, you should have waited until the battery would die randomly.
Guapo613 said:
@shadowcore; you are getting 3 hours of SOT and you decided to change the battery????. Your battery was still in decent condition, you should have waited until the battery would die randomly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, i bought the battery off of amazon and its not available to buy anymore.
And the phone was dying at 15%>
Now with the replaced battery, i am getting 5-6 hours of SOT.
Its basically a new phone.
Does anyone know the dimensions thread of the screw? I'd buy some with a different head. My chinese screwdriver is very bad and unusable and screw too.
Maybe M1.4 x 3mm?
Thanks.
I am sure 99% that the screws are M1.4 x 2mm.
I ordered this, hope it will be OK.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/180...015.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.25724c4diD05nE
Just my opinion but I felt it was worthwhile to pay $75 for a "professional" to swap mine out. They did not make the battery easy to replace, used crap screws, etc. The vast majority of folks would be better off going this route if its avail.
briandanforth1 said:
Just my opinion but I felt it was worthwhile to pay $75 for a "professional" to swap mine out. They did not make the battery easy to replace, used crap screws, etc. The vast majority of folks would be better off going this route if its avail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
m8 the battery is like 13-18 bucks with tools, you just need to follow typical precautions. If I had 75 bucks I would've sold it long ago and bought a used first gen pixel or essential phone
Ta3miyyasandwich said:
m8 the battery is like 13-18 bucks with tools, you just need to follow typical precautions. If I had 75 bucks I would've sold it long ago and bought a used first gen pixel or essential phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know that I could have replaced the battery for a $20 bill. Could have. Could have also screwed it up. Very easily screwed it up. I'm not sure where you could buy a first gen pixel for $75 or less. If you can do that, I'd say you ought to do whatever you can to scrape up the money. As far as the Essential, that's for the birds ain't it?
EDIT: Yeah, the Essential was definitely for the birds. It's sales have been so slow and sluggish that the next model has been cancelled. Whether at the $699 original price or even with the 200 or so discount that eventually came about, I get the impression it was overpriced. In my case, a Nexus 6 with fresh battery for $75 >>>>> New Essential at $500+. I still don't believe in $75 Pixels either and would love to be proven wrong. I am right or someone is withholding a massive bargain from XDA folks.

Essential Phone in 2019?

Hey guys,
Just browsing this forum as I'm contemplating getting a used Essential phone after switching to Android from Apple on an LG G7 and being frustrated by its slow updates. I notice the Essential phone can easily be had for under $200 on eBay. Originally I've been trying to get a Pixel 2 or 1 but the not sure about the 1 quality and the 2 goes for too much even at auction.
Anyway, I like that this phone still gets updates quickly and in general looks very nice. But reviews for it always trash the camera. Just curious if updates improved the camera or if the GCam ports for the phone are stable and work well (the G7 ports are problematic).
Thanks for your input.
I just ordered one off ebay for $160 from yywireless (great support, 30 day warranty!) and I'm awaiting arrival. I can let you know how it performs in 2019 compared to my previous LG G6 and iPhone 6S Plus if you'd like! I have a very good feeling about this phone.
VCan25 said:
Hey guys,
Just browsing this forum as I'm contemplating getting a used Essential phone after switching to Android from Apple on an LG G7 and being frustrated by its slow updates. I notice the Essential phone can easily be had for under $200 on eBay. Originally I've been trying to get a Pixel 2 or 1 but the not sure about the 1 quality and the 2 goes for too much even at auction.
Anyway, I like that this phone still gets updates quickly and in general looks very nice. But reviews for it always trash the camera. Just curious if updates improved the camera or if the GCam ports for the phone are stable and work well (the G7 ports are problematic).
Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using Gcam can get better performance compare to stock
But my recommendation is doing some researches about signal reception before buying this phone.
chanh2018 said:
Using Gcam can get better performance compare to stock
But my recommendation is doing some researches about signal reception before buying this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that insight. I actually had a pixel 3 briefly but reception was the reason I had to change to another brand. I should have that in mind for this phone too.
VCan25 said:
Thanks for that insight. I actually had a pixel 3 briefly but reception was the reason I had to change to another brand. I should have that in mind for this phone too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't speak for the US, but I have the essential phone in austria and I have LTE with full reception (symbol) -> even in the subway. In germany there were a few spots on the countryside where I only had Edge...and currently I am on vacation in australia (sunshine coast) and with Vodafone i get LTE everywhere -> with nearly always full reception.
So if you get any issues it's because of the carrier and not because of the phone.
btw - I'm rocking AOSiP Custom Rom...maybe it has a different Baseband...
I also just got this phone in 2019. All is good.
Reception seems just fine in my neck of the woods. United States, California, Los Angeles area. T-Mobile. LTE+ in the status bar.
Phone is a refurb via Amazon. No issues so far.
Essential PH-1, /e/ 0.5-n ROM, microG (NoGapps), XDA Legacy
Got this phone together with the 360 cam off Craigslist, with a cracked screen. After a DIY screen replacement, my total cost came to a whopping US$150, which is way more than reasonable. Absolutely love the phone. I never chase the latest tech (don't see the point), and for my needs in 2019 this phone does everything and then some. I hate huge phones, and by today's standards this device is very small given the screen size, which is a big deal for me. Can't complain about anything other than the lack of the 3.5mm jack, but I can live without it. Running full stock ROM (latest update, rooted). As for the camera, Gcam ports are definitely better than stock, and in my experience they work great apart from a broken slo-mo, but even the stock cam with the latest system update is OK for me in most shooting conditions. Overall, a great phone, and highly recommended.
Best phone I ever had. Love it both aesthetically and in term of features. I bought it 6 months ago for about 220 € by Amazon USA and I'm very satisfied. I use it with stock monthly updates and Gcam.
I live in Madrid, Spain and I've 80-100% LTE reception, even in the subway.
Im east coast US on cricket. i get decent signal.
as for camera... well... stick software is good enough fir most... me... i needed a little more fine tuning, but even without the fine tuning any of the latest gcam ports wotk great
While I definately like my PH-1, something to consider coming from the iPhone 6S AND LG G7 is that the vibration motor is EXTENSIVELY different and dare-i-say "bad". The strength is not too bad, but it definately is louder and significantly worse than your previous phones. If you do not desire good haptic feedback, I would say go for it! If it were not from a drop onto a concrete edge at the worst possible place and the very lack-luster vibration motor, I would definitely plan on keeping it until the battery got too weak. (I kinda miss OLED blacks though...)
Sent from my PH-1 using Tapatalk
I'm on Sprint and get very good reception, my previous phones had lots of problems getting even voice calls in my office, whereas on this one I can actually do video calls without issue. Phone is plenty fast for 2019 and the 128GB of storage is really nice after my previous two phones (Nexus 5x and a 2013 Moto X) being pressed for space all the time. I did have to break down and get a Tulia case for it, this phone is super slippery and I've cracked the screen 2x.
I just rebought one last week... This phone is goooooood...
Yeah it’s still a very good phone bought 2 sprint recently from eBay 70$ and 90$ with small crack. Easy free unlock. Great phone.
xarekusu said:
Yeah it’s still a very good phone bought 2 sprint recently from eBay 70$ and 90$ with small crack. Easy free unlock. Great phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
IronRoo said:
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got mine for 76 with a crack on the back front had a few scratches..but still I have a sd835 beast
IronRoo said:
$70 is just crazy for this spec phone, even with a crack!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought mine off CL with a cracked screen but otherwise in mint condition for $100 Canadian (US$75), including the 360 camera. Spent about the same on the replacement screen, so US$150 in total. Super happy with the phone after a couple of months.
kt-Froggy said:
I bought mine off CL with a cracked screen but otherwise in mint condition for $100 Canadian (US$75), including the 360 camera. Spent about the same on the replacement screen, so US$150 in total. Super happy with the phone after a couple of months.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
Tech_Savvy said:
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... It depends. If you've never done a screen repair, I'd say this one may be a bit tricky - not the easiest for the first time. I replaced about a dozen screens on different phones (Sony, LG, Samsung, Apple), so it was no big deal. Took me about 30 minutes overall. For a video tutorial, I used the one from fixez.com for a reference. You need to know how to use a heat gun to remove the screen. Also, this phone has a very narrow bezel to mount the screen to the frame, so working with an adhesive may be challenging. Rounded corners don't cooperate well with an adhesive tape, but liquid glue would probably make things easier. The area under the earpiece slot is kinda difficult to work with, because it's extremely narrow, but you definitely need to put an adhesive there to seal the perimeter.
You can read my review of the replacement screen on Amazon, with some points on installing it. If you decide to do it, and have any specific questions, feel free to PM me, so as not to hijack this thread... Good luck!
Tech_Savvy said:
Is it easy to replace em? I watched a YouTube video it it scared me off even trying it...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that must have been the one they froze which shattered, use a heat gun (gradually) is the go.
I've been using mine since March of 2017 on Stock non-rooted with GCAM and performance is excellent. I'm using Straight Talk here in the US and it works phenomenal (AT&T band). Pictures with GCAM are far superior than stock camera but, I will praise the stock camera for the monochrome photos in low-light as they are amazing. If you play any games this phone handles them pretty well even games like Fortnite, PUBG, and the new Elder Scrolls Blades play excellent.

Categories

Resources