Database Users

LeEco Le Max 2 6GB/64GB vs. Recent Flagship Phones - Some Guy's Review

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:
Click to expand...
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?

Overall love

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 Huawei P20, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Huawei P20 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

I like so many things about P20 and few don't, P20 pro is not worth the money even if it 3 cam or highest rated on DxO , I got Sony A7 full frame mirrorless which no future phone can match at least for next five years
Good: Dual SIM as standard with most UK retailer
Design, front fingerprint reader
8.1 out of box
Huawei's customer service
Dolby Atmos
Reasonable price and even better with £320 Bose headphones
4 GB ram is not flagship class but acceptable
Bad: poor IP rating
No autofocus front cam with wasted megapixel (24 MP) what's the point ?
No FM radio
No infrared
Screen resolution is ok but screen quality is not on par with Sony, Samsung, LG or HTC
main snapper is too good on paper but in actual test I found not much visible improvement compared with last year's model
Given the size of battery , the battery life will dafinatly not better than P20 pro, Mate 10 pro, OnePlus 5, or Galaxy S9
Given the scenario I will go with Huawei mate 10 pro

onlinejobwork said:
I like so many things about P20 and few don't, P20 pro is not worth the money even if it 3 cam or highest rated on DxO , I got Sony A7 full frame mirrorless which no future phone can match at least for next five years
Good: Dual SIM as standard with most UK retailer
Design, front fingerprint reader
8.1 out of box
Huawei's customer service
Dolby Atmos
Reasonable price and even better with £320 Bose headphones
4 GB ram is not flagship class but acceptable
Bad: poor IP rating
No autofocus front cam with wasted megapixel (24 MP) what's the point ?
No FM radio
No infrared
Screen resolution is ok but screen quality is not on par with Sony, Samsung, LG or HTC
main snapper is too good on paper but in actual test I found not much visible improvement compared with last year's model
Given the size of battery , the battery life will dafinatly not better than P20 pro, Mate 10 pro, OnePlus 5, or Galaxy S9
Given the scenario I will go with Huawei mate 10 pro
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Full Huawei range

Know everything about HiSilicon Kirin 970 and it's full characteristic, be sure & proud on your chosen device
https://www.anandtech.com/show/12195/hisilicon-kirin-970-power-performance-overview

onlinejobwork said:
Full Huawei range
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just found out that device sold by retailer like Voda, EE, cpw does have micro SD slot and NOT have dual SIM

onlinejobwork said:
Just found out that device sold by retailer like Voda, EE, cpw does have micro SD slot and NOT have dual SIM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is this confirmed somewhere? Does anybody sell it dualsim in the UK?
I preordered mine from cpw and will surely return it if it's not dualsim as it's a dealbreaker for me.

varignet said:
is this confirmed somewhere? Does anybody sell it dualsim in the UK?
I preordered mine from cpw and will surely return it if it's not dualsim as it's a dealbreaker for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, Carphonewarehouse one is NOT dual SIM , big disappointment
---------- Post added at 04:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:45 AM ----------
varignet said:
is this confirmed somewhere? Does anybody sell it dualsim in the UK?
I preordered mine from cpw and will surely return it if it's not dualsim as it's a dealbreaker for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can confined , I got mine yesterday and it's not dual SIM

Anyone else having serious lag in Google maps?
Previously: Huawei messed something up in the past on P10 and map on satellite mode worked like s**t but they fixed on Emui 8.
However now on my P20 everything is slow and freezes in Google Maps, will check logcat for anything strange.

paul678 said:
Anyone else having serious lag in Google maps?
Previously: Huawei messed something up in the past on P10 and map on satellite mode worked like s**t but they fixed on Emui 8.
However now on my P20 everything is slow and freezes in Google Maps, will check logcat for anything strange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't have any issues with Maps on my P20 paul678, Satellite view does however take 2-3 seconds to load but is fine after that.

paulrod said:
I don't have any issues with Maps on my P20 paul678, Satellite view does however take 2-3 seconds to load but is fine after that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me the map itself is ok, scroll/pan/zoom works pretty well.
The problems appear when pressing the top search..that takes some time to react and a similar problem when doing a long press to drop a pin and then try to open the bottom sheet that contains details.
Can you check to see if you have problems with the above mentioned scenarios?

Love this handset overall. Battery life is great, camera is great, screen is great, sound is great (which was a big bone of contention with me coming from LG V20!).
Please add section on real-life review for Audio Quality! Both speaker and headphones (wired and wireless!).

P20 Lcd Problem(yellow screen where the navigation buttons are)
Hi Xda
First of all i want to say that the lcd screen looks great BUT i replaced my device for a third time but still no luck... The screen on the virtualbuttons is yellowish then the rest of the screen... Its the screen just above the touchbutton or on the virtual navigation buttons... Does someone has this also please comment, thank you!

Ieozt38 said:
Hi Xda
First of all i want to say that the lcd screen looks great BUT i replaced my device for a third time but still no luck... The screen on the virtualbuttons is yellowish then the rest of the screen... Its the screen just above the touchbutton or on the virtual navigation buttons... Does someone has this also please comment, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I deactivated the on screen buttons a while ago, find more convenient using the multifunctional home button. I had the impression of yellow on the buttons bar also before, more a software issue to me.

2
bolof2 said:
Hi, I deactivated the on screen buttons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its still yellow without the screenbuttons i just wanted to explain where the yellowish area is located. Received 3rd device still problem occurs, im switching to iphone x

I replaced my Zuk Z2 Pro with the P20. French n°1 telecom company made a price mistake and sold it for 249€ for about 15 minutes. It was the perfect occasion to change my phone.
Pros :
- Screen. Quality is just under the Z2 Pro AMOLED, but it's nice, big, reactive.
- Battery. It lasts way longer than what became the Z2 Pro battery
- Power. Obviously, nowadays, every phone allows you to do everything quickly when you're not into gaming
- Quality. The phone looks like it's perfectly build.
- Huawei offers, in France, the Freebuds with the phone (12 weeks to receive them, so I don't know if they are good)
- Bundle is nice : silicon case and noise reduction earphones (I don't like them, but
Cons :
- EMUI. I've been on custom ROMs over the last 5 years, and, OMG, it's very hard to be on a OEM ROM with so many limitation. Simply expand notification on the lockscreen or skipping a track with Vol+ or - is impossible. It induces erratic behaviour in some apps (no notifications from Telegram, even if all parameters are the same than Whatsapp), etc...
- Locked bootloader. I missed the news of Huawei preventing unlocking after the 25th of July. I hope there will be a solution soon for that.
- The charger. Every other charger than a SuperCharge one will charge the phone veeeeeeeeery slowly. My car charger, 2,1A, can't even charge the phone when Waze is on... My QC3 power bank becomes almost useless. As soon as the battery of the P20 will last less than a day, I will be annoyed. I hope it will never happen.
- Size : it's 4mm higher than the Zuk Z2 Pro, and it's 4mm too much. To fit in my pocket, the perfect size is 145mm.
- Phone Clone did not work with my Zuk Z2 Pro, it was a pain to import all the datas
- No SD card : risk of losing everything if the telephone is lost or whatever. To retrieve datas from one phone to another, SD Card is the most practicle
I'm waiting for the Mi 8 SE to be released in France with the right LTE frequencies, or an equivalent phone. I'll then sell my P20.

Excelente!

paul678 said:
For me the map itself is ok, scroll/pan/zoom works pretty well.
The problems appear when pressing the top search..that takes some time to react and a similar problem when doing a long press to drop a pin and then try to open the bottom sheet that contains details.
Can you check to see if you have problems with the above mentioned scenarios?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have exactly same problems as you describe, but to be noted: I did not update the phone since I first started it so... that might be the problem because it is urging me to update like every day (and the fix might be in some later build)....

OlaffLudwig said:
I have exactly same problems as you describe, but to be noted: I did not update the phone since I first started it so... that might be the problem because it is urging me to update like every day (and the fix might be in some later build)....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol should probably update

I never thought of this as a "flagship" phone and honestly it isn't. It's an expensive mid-range device.
As far as rating from 1 (worst) to 5 (best)
1. Screen - 5 Sharp and colorful. I like this display, I think Huawei phones with LCDs are top notch screens, their Amoled screens they use are not so much.
2. form/size/ - 4 Perfect size for those who aren't looking for a large device- People coming from Samsung Note, and Pluses, iPhone pluses- look elswhere, this phone will feel significantly smaller. Still not 5 though. The aspect ratio is just kinda weird. I actually wish if was wider a bit, because using it landscape mode in navigation, half the screen is gone with the GPS GUI with the map is only 1/3, same issue with lots of other apps. This problem isn't only this phone specific, many other phones narrowing down their display size, like its some sort of a trend now, I'm not very happy about it.
3. Operating system - 2 While it has improved over the last couple of years, EMUI is still laggy. I can't pinpoint the real issue, since I'm not a developer but it seems like touch /sensitivy issues. I saw some complains regarding dead areas/less sensitive spots on some Huawei devices, and it seems like a recurring problem on more than just one model. There is also that sense of lacking fluidity. Anyone who used pure Google Android or near stock, or iOS or even Touchwiz will notice a sense of disconnect between touch input and reaction time in EMUI, and sometimes hang ups and delays, other times it's reacting too fast . It's hard to demonstrate, because even if someone would make a video, it's more of a feeling kinda thing, while using the device, a video wouldn't really show the issue.
There is also a sense of incompatibility while using even popular apps, whether they lag at some point or the app has to be restarted or even crash. Or have the app work as intended and then suspended in memory, return and the app would lag or just hang up, forcing me to quit and restart.
This happened to me more than once, and not only on the P20, but on an older Honor device. I have to blame EMUI because Chinese phones running near stock Android but similar hardware (or even weaker chipset) does not exhibit the same behavior.
4. Camera (rear) - 4.5 Can't give 5, because after a month of using this phone, there are time when the camera also lags, gets frozen or behaves erratically. To be on the positive note, this happens rarely, but it happens I'd say 1 out of 30 times the camera is launched. This might be a combination of apps loaded in the background while the camera is launched /re-launched or the phone is putting apps to sleep and just can't react quickly to user input, I don't know. Otherwise when it works, it makes remarkable shots, very "Instagram worthy" ones, although some people will probably turn off the AI to produce more realistic shots instead of Lord of the Rings style fantasy scenery. Jokes aside, the camera on this can be easily match the top flagships of 2018 phones, although personally I still prefer Samsung phone cameras work . And just for reference, I don't like iPhone _____cameras either (insert any iPhone since 2010), with their yellow/brownish tint applied on everything and under or over exposed shots and no control over anything user unfriendliness.
5. Camera (front)- 3. I don't really use it much, but the few times I tried it, it's made for selfie maniacs with all beauty modes, even with the beauty mode off, it still looks like it applies something. Blonde hair can show up as reddish for some reason, other times people I took selfies with noticed, that their eyebrows were missing. Funny as it sounds, the phone tries to Photoshop you aggressively without your consent, depending on the lighting conditions, but otherwise the selfie camera I'd rate it average, because it's more of a trend, even the newest iphones produce selifes, that are love it or hate it, depending on what the user is looking for.
6. Battery: - 4. By 2018 standards, it's average to very good. I see some people complain about 4-5 hours of screen on time, others report up to 8. I personally got about 5-6hrs and standby time is amazing. I'm sure EMUI has an aggressive power management, which may save plenty of battery life, but I suspect it may be also the culprit some of the issues regarding system performance and app management.
6. Overall : - 3.75 out of 5. After using several phones in 2018, including cheap budget phones to the iPhone X and back to mid range, this phone is no way and no how a flagship phone. It's a an expensive top-mid-range device. It's neither anything special, nor mediocre. Recommended for people coming from Apple and have absolutely zero skill using an Android. I also think, it's overpriced, especially right now (2019 January).
* Extra note: The vibrator. Very 2013-ish. Huawei needs to learn to implement a better taptic engine. iPhones are unbeatable in it, probably their best feature. The buzzing feel just don't cut it anymore. As I heard Pixels have them well, and some of the newer Motorola phones have it well done and they are cheaper. It gives a whole new dimension to the device to have a good haptic feedback. This phone buzzer/vibrator just feels kinda cheap and obsolete.

I agree with dollarpapa, P20 is a decent phone but nothing remarkable really. I bought it 6 months ago for a beefy price tag of 545 euros, it costs around 450 euros now. The main reason I picked p20 at that time was the camera, it was the 2nd best rated camera according to dxomark and bunch of youtubers.
My thoughts in brief:
1. Camera: Really good at night. Not great during the day.
2. Screen: pretty bright and crisp, however Amoleds are always more appealing.
3. Battery: very good.
4. UI: garbage. Like others have mentioned, there is a minor touch lag that kills the smoothness compared to say og Pixel.
5. Speed: the storage is really fast, that means apps open up really quick. Memory management is horrible, worse than og Pixel.
Overall I'd say don't buy this phone in 2019 unless you want it only for night time pictures. A decent alternative is Galaxy S9 without sacrificing much in terms of camera quality. For performance, I'd go with Pocophone f1,but the camera will be much worse.

Overall love

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 Huawei P30, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Huawei P30 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

The 'If Only' phone of the year.
The things that Huawei have removed in comparison to the pro ruin what could have been one of the phones of the year especially at the price.
I love the reduced size and flat screen but I always get a sense I am using a compromised device when I pick it up. The model that Samsung adopted with the S10 IMO makes more sense.
Shame.

....humm, do you need 10x zoom? in real life No. Time-of-Flight(TOF) for Ultra Boken effect, No. Wireless Charge.... Cool, but No. And IP68: I never broke a smartphone in my life because of water, but broke too much on the ground!!
Saving 200$ USD and I have better battery life, all the main spec of the Pro and I can Hook and use it in ONE hand!!
I compare with Samsung S10 and try it. But, cost me 300$ USD more than the P30 and battery life pain to last one day... No. Hole in the screen not compatible to many app... and Bixby!!!
If someone speak french, there's a link here: youtu.be/5yCJ8o85fXI

I've been using the P30 for a month now.
I need the headphone jack more than wireless charging or 10x zoom. I also prefer the smaler form factor and I drop my phone every now and then and I don't think curved displays like this a lot.
I am coming from a Galaxy S7 so it was a bigger jump and I am completly happy with this phone. Great performance, great screen - but the two most important things are for me - impressive camera and impressive battery life. The Galaxy S10e was an option but then I read about its mediocre battery life, and to my expierience Samsung always looses in this department.
No faults or bugs so far. I've been using Nova Launcher for years so I am not bothered with EMUI. I like the dark mode and the gestures, though. The Huawei software seems a bit too nosie for my taste so I deactivated most of it and I did not activate the Huawei-cloud. But in general I consider this phone the best deal for me at the moment.

tricki said:
I've been using the P30 for a month now.
I need the headphone jack more than wireless charging or 10x zoom. I also prefer the smaler form factor and I drop my phone every now and then and I don't think curved displays like this a lot.
I am coming from a Galaxy S7 so it was a bigger jump and I am completly happy with this phone. Great performance, great screen - but the two most important things are for me - impressive camera and impressive battery life. The Galaxy S10e was an option but then I read about its mediocre battery life, and to my expierience Samsung always looses in this department.
No faults or bugs so far. I've been using Nova Launcher for years so I am not bothered with EMUI. I like the dark mode and the gestures, though. The Huawei software seems a bit too nosie for my taste so I deactivated most of it and I did not activate the Huawei-cloud. But in general I consider this phone the best deal for me at the moment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi!
same situation , s10e was an option, but battery in samsung is something annoying, same with not symmetrical front camera...
p30 is great choice for me!

Just got my P30 2 days ago. It's also my first Huawei phone. No regrets. I absolutely love this. I'm coming from a Pixel 2, and although I prefer stock Android any day, I found it so hard to ignore the hardware innovation from other manufacturers. I didn't want to wait for a miracle and hope Google would design their next Pixel up to modern standards and have more than 4GB of RAM.
EMUI isn't perfect, but it's honestly not as bad as YouTube and tech reviewers say it is. To me, slapping on Hyperion Launcher made it so much better.
Don't even get me started with the battery life of this thing.

theeagleeye said:
Just got my P30 2 days ago. It's also my first Huawei phone. No regrets. I absolutely love this. I'm coming from a Pixel 2, and although I prefer stock Android any day, I found it so hard to ignore the hardware innovation from other manufacturers. I didn't want to wait for a miracle and hope Google would design their next Pixel up to modern standards and have more than 4GB of RAM.
EMUI isn't perfect, but it's honestly not as bad as YouTube and tech reviewers say it is. To me, slapping on Hyperion Launcher made it so much better.
Don't even get me started with the battery life of this thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you notice a blue tint when going into the recents screen? Happens to me when using ANY third party launcher, right now i'm using Smart Launcher. Had to remove Huaweis Launcher to get an older, unaffected recents screen back. Quite annoying.

xPandamon said:
Did you notice a blue tint when going into the recents screen? Happens to me when using ANY third party launcher, right now i'm using Smart Launcher. Had to remove Huaweis Launcher to get an older, unaffected recents screen back. Quite annoying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I did notice that. It's likely how EMUI handles app switching, so any third-party launcher we use will always have that effect.
Though I wish it didn't have to happen, it doesn't bother me very much.

Hello,
I got this device for free. I had a Oneplus 6t , and a Mate 10 Pro before.
I can tell, scrolling on this phone is smooth as hell. Compared to the Mate 10 Pro, this is really a complete different level. Oneplus is known as one of the fastest and smoothest phone out.. But really, this phone beats Onplus 6t in scrolling smoothness... Really amazed and surprised after having Mate 10 Pro... Huawei has done its job well! This phone is really fast
The camara is nice and is probably good enough for most of the people out there... but the camara of the Pro model is the way to go if you want to have the best.
I thought battery would be to small for me after having Mate 10 Pro with 4000 mha and Oneplus 6t with 3700. But i m really pleased by the battery life of this phone.. its comparable to the other devices! Nice!!!
Emui isnt that bad as everyone says... And it has improved a lot compared to my Mate 10 Pro. I m sure you wont regret it if you buy this phone, i prefer it over my Oneplus 6t.
Good job!!

XDA_RealLifeReview said:
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 Huawei P30, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Huawei P30 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats gonna happen to the P30 now with Google pulled out.....Just happened, like today! Google is done with Huawei.....It says the only way to get google on it now is through open source (AOSP) but do this mean we will still be able to sign into our goolge accounts and get play store updates???
https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/19/18631558/google-huawei-android-suspension

theeagleeye said:
Yes, I did notice that. It's likely how EMUI handles app switching, so any third-party launcher we use will always have that effect.
Though I wish it didn't have to happen, it doesn't bother me very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. It really boggles me how they implemented it in their launcher. I guess it gets closed by their aggressive RAM management and that causes this issue. Pretty dumb and a problem for atleast a year now. I did contact them though so they know about this issue and explained it as thoroughly as possible. They told me that they don't need any further information for now, maybe they'll have a fix ready for the next update. That's the only downside to Huawei phones for me: Their UI and software changes aren't really done well, causing issues that shouldn't exist.

Between P30 and P30 pro, for me, my biggest concern is losing is OIS which is helpful in night mode. Having 5X optical would be nice, but not at the expense of suffering with digital between. The 3X optical is probably more useful. Gaining the headphone jack is great and I prefer not having a curved screen. And I prefer a smaller phone. Though at that point, I start to wonder if I should get a S10.

I owned P20-pro and P30.
Except for battery life and camera, everything else is better with S10.
Camera quality is good enough, but battery life is not good.
Sent from my Galaxy S10 using XDA Labs

Well, they are both OLED's and I think the resolution is "good enough". Both are better than my current phone so I guess I wont know what I'm missing. As for one UI vs EMUI, I'm not certain how much it matters. I use nova launcher + lineage right now. I'm unsure how much I'd be affected by the mfr skin. One HUGE thing is that the S10 series can be rooted, the P series can't even be unlocked let alone rooted. So If I don't like EMUI, I can't just install lineage. More importantly, after 2yrs, if it hasnt been unlocked, I won't be able to prolong the life of the phone by installing a newer UPDATED rom. That is probably the big thing that is making me lean towards the S10 series. The other things all seem minor.
But P30 vs P30 pro, its mainly the camera. In reality, I'm not sure how important all the night shooting is to me. I just know that the most frustrating thing about every past phone camera has been its inability to take a phone when lighting is poor so I'm tempoted to go towards the P30.

P30 is probably the best phone I've ever had but it has few downsides. For example scrolling lag in youtube while watching video, while searching for bluetooth devices(probably software bug that will be fixed in near future). That doesn't bother but autofocus is pretty bad compared to my old s8+. I often get blurry images when taking shot on the go sometimes even on steady shots. It's strange that 2yr old samsung phone can do better autofocus. Phone is super fast with amazing battery life(I don't remember ever getting 7hours SOT on 48hours usage with 10% left), the photos that are not blurry are super gorgeous. Call quality, wifi connection.... are excellent. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase.

Klaudas said:
P30 is probably the best phone I've ever had but it has few downsides. For example scrolling lag in youtube while watching video, while searching for bluetooth devices(probably software bug that will be fixed in near future). That doesn't bother but autofocus is pretty bad compared to my old s8+. I often get blurry images when taking shot on the go sometimes even on steady shots. It's strange that 2yr old samsung phone can do better autofocus. Phone is super fast with amazing battery life(I don't remember ever getting 7hours SOT on 48hours usage with 10% left), the photos that are not blurry are super gorgeous. Call quality, wifi connection.... are excellent. Overall I'm pretty satisfied with my purchase.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can u share what is yr phone's setup?

mab71 said:
Can u share what is yr phone's setup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
128gb, 6gb ram, resolution auto, brightness auto, location on and disabled almost every gestures except do a screenshot with knuckle. System firmware: 9.1.0.178. Mostly using instagram, facebook(and messenger), snapchat, spotify and some not heavy games.

Ok

Do I love this phone? Yes!! It has the performance of a flagship without having an out of this world price. Unfortunately, Huawei support is a cluster****, you need to register your phone with Huawei ID for warranty purpose but there's no link on their Canadian webpage. Also, they advertise support for Huawei Cloud backup but it's unavailable in Canada.

Worst Android device I have owned since 2011, possibly ever

Overall love

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 Sony Xperia 10 II, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Sony Xperia 10 II is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

I was in love before this bad news! "First the speaker sounds awful. Second just one speaker under. The upper part just for phone call. Nothing will happen while watching videos. At least the bottom one is front firing speaker." https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KvhdxaS84tg&feature=youtu.be

Have been using it for 1 week. My first impression
Speaker volume very soft.
the torchlight is VERY dimmed. you can't use it to walk through a dark room
the padding on widgets too much. its takes about 1/2 of space on each end (top / bottom) or (left / right).

First weeks impression as well: Can confirm about the torchlight, it's dimmer than the light from the nokia 7 plus or xiaomi mi 9t f.e., but you can use it to find your way through a dark room, just tested it out.
Nova launcher doesn't really work without loosing the Android 10 navigational gestures, on the Xiaomi Mi 9t it did work, but the gestures were in eachothers way. Because the xperia 10 II has near vanilla Android it doesn't really bother me, just miss the abillity to change the amount of dock-items and the abillity to change the icon themes. I don't miss it that much to give up on the android 10 gesture-navigation.
The sliding bookmarks in the Lightning-browser also don't work on the 10 II with the gesture-navigation, it does with the 3 buttons.
Rooting seems do-able since you can unlock it at the Sony-site; I guess you could create a boot image with magisk manager-canary and then flash it with fastboot. I don't see the need for it to try it myself, since I use a vpn with adblocker, so no need for adaway. (There are other alternatives anyway nowadays if you don't use a vpn, apps like Blokada, Adguard or Block This.)
The LTE-indicators seem low a lot of the time but it works. Speakerphone is ok, nothing special. Sound through the headphone jack sounds good and clear.
You can do at least 2 days with the battery with normal use. If you let your kids watch netflix the whole afternoon you probably have to recharge to get through the evening.
You want a screenprotector and a cover for this phone, it feels pretty fragile at least. But in the days I had to wait for my cover and protector It didn't get damaged though.
The thing I like the most about this phone is that my NFC pay-app from my bank finally works again, it didn't on my xiaomi mi9t. The location of the Fingerprintscanner is very nice, it works good enough. It's also nice to know the phone can stand some rain or a glass of beer in the pub. Overall I recommend this phone, it's a good phone for a good price.

Sorry if this is a stupid question. I know the Xperia 10 II has only one speaker. But it produces stereo sound through earphones, right?

So, impressions after two weeks of usage :
(comparing mostly to my previous Xperia XZ)
First of all, you can actually use Xperia 10 II with one hand, which is nice.
There is no feeling "OMG it can sleep out of my hand any moment" (which is usually the case with most of modern large smooth-edged phones).
It's not so good as very first Xperia Z (which had kinda-rubber edges), but still feels reliable enough.
Fingerprint sensor is better and worse. Better, because it's faster. Worse, because you almost never can unlock phone with wet finger; XZ could do it, well half of the time
This is probably because of smaller size of sensor. Anyway, with clean fingers it works nearly perfectly.
Screen is really good.
Automatic brightness is very handy in current (very sunny) weather -- no need to constantly change brightness up-and-down when going indoor/outdoor.
Camera is noticeably better, especially in low-light conditions.
---------- Post added at 04:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:38 PM ----------
deckard2 said:
Sorry if this is a stupid question. I know the Xperia 10 II has only one speaker. But it produces stereo sound through earphones, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, of course sound is stereo via wired and wireless headphones.

I switched about 4 weeks ago, coming from a Pixel 2 XL. On forehand, based on reviews, I knew some things were going to be worse. Nevertheless I decided to give this phone a chance instead of the Pixel 4a.
This is what I like so far:
Battery life
Turns out I can easily manage between 1 and 2 days with this phone (2 XL was giving me 0,5 day in the end).
Screen
Quality is pretty good for this price segment and I wanted to give the less usual form factor a try. Loved my S8 for that reason.
Build quality
It's not that bad, imho. I like the fact that it's quite light and the fact that it's still in one piece after a 1,5m drop on the streets (although that may have just been sheer dumb luck).
IP65/IP68 rating
We Dutchies tend to cycle a lot (even in the rain). I also like to give my phone a good rinse these days, once in a while. And after having an IP rated device in the past (Z2/Z2 tablet), I can't get used to a device not having an IP-rating anymore. Therefore it became a requirement when selecting a new phone.
A pretty clean Android experience
Okay, it isn't a Pixel but it sure feels pretty clean out of the box. Facebook is the only app that "bothered" me (other than that it was nice to have a choice to [not] install apps) but since I would be installing it anyway it didn't really matter.
3,5mm jack
Using it quite a lot at work, doesn't require me to charge BT earphone/pieces all the time.
Camera's (more than one)
This is my first phone with multiple camera's, and I think I like that. I like especially the wide-angle one, helps me capture shots I couldn't get before.
Things I like less or don't like so much (but knew before I was buying):
Camera's (speed + quality)
They are just slow and the photo quality is "meh", especially when you're used to Pixel 2 XL photo's. A good excuse to dust off my Canon G7 X Mark II
Pixel experience (new Android versions/quick security patches)
Got myself another phone since support for the 2 XL is ending. Giving Sony a chance here (Z2 experience was great actually). I knew (security) updates for the 10 ii would come later, not sure how much later. Not impressed so far (still waiting for October patch) but I kinda expected that too.
Performance
It's just a fact, the SoC isn't the most powerful out there. In my daily use I can't really notice it, although when multitasking or when you want to do things in a hurry you can just "feel" it's an average processor. Luckily I don't play games on my phone since I can imagine that's not going to be a smooth experience.
Overall I'm quite happy with the phone. I sincerely hope that Sony finds a way (and the will) to speed up and improve the camera usage, that would be awesome.
Would recommend when on a budget; 7,5 out of 10.

Overall love

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 Redmi Note 9, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Redmi Note 9 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

I was given this RN9 yesterday as a present (replacing a Pocophone F1 which broke). Got to say, I love this phone!
It's terrific! Took a bit of meddling to set it up the way I like (switching the stock launcher for CPL and stripping out a load of miui cruft) but the hardware is really lovely. Hoping to get a decent Gcam port, but the stock camera takes really nice photos, going by the handful of snaps I've taken today
NFC reader works perfectly (I'd read somewhere that it didn't actually have one, despite the specs claiming it does - mine, an international M2003J15SG, definitely does have NFC)
If anything, I prefer it to my old F1 - I haven't noticed any performance difference, seems lighter, several features the F1 missed (incl NFC), no notch
And incredible value - just under €180 for the 4/128gb version (or free if it's a birthday present ?)
Face unlock is as quick as the F1's ir unlock
Not seen a single ad in the UI either!
It's great ?
Charging doesn't seem the quickest, but it's an enormous battery to fill I guess

Great phone! Excellent all round ?

Damn this phone has some impressive battery life!! I have a 1+7 pro and this phone gives me way more sot with even more heavy use

Chalkingwhites said:
Damn this phone has some impressive battery life!! I have a 1+7 pro and this phone gives me way more sot with even more heavy use
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Saying that, I played PUBG last evening with game turbo on and the battery really suffered. Played it just now without game turbo - still very playable but much more easy on the charge level

RN9 sure is a bang for your buck type of phone which makes you appreciate the extra features it boasts for it's price. Just don't expect flagship type of performance. It's still servicable for your daily needs.

It's good so far , I just switched from my broken Mi Mix 3 . the phone make me rock with his perfect battery and nice performance for such as under 180$ phone. yeah it's lovely

Coming from the Mi A1 so the speed upgrade is very much noticeable. Camera big big upgrade. Screen lovely. However I am disappointed that the reseller sold as Global but it's not, hardware wise. Got the -SS version without NFC running global ROM. That while NFC was one of the main reasons I opted for Note9 not Redmi 9
Also the lack of location based unlocking is annoying.
That said I use the phone mainly for browsing, messaging etc so I'll learn to live with it
Recommended with the strong advice to double check with reseller which exact version you're getting...

Edit: The following problem seems to be remedied in MIUI 12.0.7 update which is great but still, it has taken more than half a year since release that this dreadful problem finally get addressed. Still appreciated that they care about such cheap device.
(This was on a 3/64 GB model)
Overall, I think this phone has a very good value for it's price (stellar battery life, nice display, good SoC, good haptic feedback, multiple nice features), but the only gripe (a big one) I have is the performance issues. For usual tasks, it's okay for a mid-end chip, but sometimes it would just freeze up for so long (more than a minute for sure) that I would have to force restart which I find very irritating. (imagine chatting with your friend and you swap apps to take a screenshot to send to your friend, only for your phone to freeze up waiting for you to restart or wait for more than a minute while your friend is confused as to why you are away for so long) (or just during an online game session and your phone just became unusable while your opponent just wrecks you who helplessly can't do anything)
I have observed that the freezing problem usually occurs when the remaining RAM is low which is almost every time I'm running multiple apps. I would have to try to manually close any apps that I don't need anymore to avoid this problem. This would also mean that playing games will be likely to cause a freeze (which is also really happening).
This problem has been happening since I brought the phone on August with MIUI 11, but MIUI 12 also doesn't fix the issue.
While I don't know if the same thing will happen if I were to go with a higher RAM model, I think this kind of problem should not be happening in the first place (even my old phone from 6 years ago, a Galaxy Note 4 that also has 3GB of RAM, that was broken still doesn't have this issue). If they knew that there would be a freezing problem with a lower RAM model, they shouldn't just have it on sell in the first place. Although I suspect that this is a problem with the software, not hardware which can be fixed in the future (I hope).
Overall, I felt somewhat disappointed

coming from lg v20 very old phone
very smooth i love the battery life i don't care about charging speed as long as the battery lasts for a long time
i recommend getting note 9s or note 9 pro if you can! it is very noticeable for gamers snapdragon is always better and 9 pro for better camera
if you want to root you have to wait for 7 days or 3 depends (sometimes 3 months rare lol) to only unlock phone
a lot of bloatware it is xiaomi after all so i suggest debloater or just sell your data