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Received my RN4 last week, and after spending a week with it I am definitely impressed.
Observations
1. Battery life is the phone's strongest suit. Can definitely get even better SOT if I was more careful using this thing, but fact is this is the first phone I've owned that I only need to charge once a day. (See attachment for SOT)
2. Build quality is solid as well, but definitely not top notch. Seams can still felt, and SIM tray is a bit hard to push in.
3. Display is great. Nothing out of the ordinary.
4. Helio X20 is a solid chip, but Javascript performance is underwhelming. Does not appear to have many benefits over the SD650.
5. Camera is underwhelming, quality is around the level of the Moto X 2014, but PD focus is quick and accurate, unlike the CDAF on the X14.
6. MIUI is not as intrusive as most Western media will have you believe, but I do not like the aggressiveness with which it kills background processes. GSam Battery monitor doesnt work reliably as it always gets kicked.
7. One handed usage is poor. The next model could definitely use smaller bezels on the X axis.
8. I got an update last week for "bug fixes", but was strangely 1.3GB big and took over an hour to download and install.
Overall, for $200, I'm definitely impressed. Can't say I feel a noticeable performance difference with my last phone, the Galaxy S7. Only place I can feel I got what I paired for is the camera.
AB__CD said:
Received my RN4 last week, and after spending a week with it I am definitely impressed.
Observations
1. Battery life is the phone's strongest suit. Can definitely get even better SOT if I was more careful using this thing, but fact is this is the first phone I've owned that I only need to charge once a day. (See attachment for SOT)
2. Build quality is solid as well, but definitely not top notch. Seams can still felt, and SIM tray is a bit hard to push in.
3. Display is great. Nothing out of the ordinary.
4. Helio X20 is a solid chip, but Javascript performance is underwhelming. Does not appear to have many benefits over the SD650.
5. Camera is underwhelming, quality is around the level of the Moto X 2014, but PD focus is quick and accurate, unlike the CDAF on the X14.
6. MIUI is not as intrusive as most Western media will have you believe, but I do not like the aggressiveness with which it kills background processes. GSam Battery monitor doesnt work reliably as it always gets kicked.
7. One handed usage is poor. The next model could definitely use smaller bezels on the X axis.
8. I got an update last week for "bug fixes", but was strangely 1.3GB big and took over an hour to download and install.
Overall, for $200, I'm definitely impressed. Can't say I feel a noticeable performance difference with my last phone, the Galaxy S7. Only place I can feel I got what I paired for is the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback, I also have an S7 and on the verge of selling to buy either the note 4 or the redmi pro. I know it will generally be a downgrade especially in terms of camera as nothing can touch the S7. But it seems a great device and would let me free up some cash. The redmi pro seems to have a better camera than the RN4 although a bit gimmicky with its dual cams, but both pack nice builds and big batteries. Although I think the RN4's finger print scanner looks better and is in a better location, I'm not really that impressed with the S7's as it still needs to be pushed and isn't that accurate. How do you find audio quality over say a pair of headphones compared to the S7?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
Thanks for the feedback, I also have an S7 and on the verge of selling to buy either the note 4 or the redmi pro. I know it will generally be a downgrade especially in terms of camera as nothing can touch the S7. But it seems a great device and would let me free up some cash. The redmi pro seems to have a better camera than the RN4 although a bit gimmicky with its dual cams, but both pack nice builds and big batteries. Although I think the RN4's finger print scanner looks better and is in a better location, I'm not really that impressed with the S7's as it still needs to be pushed and isn't that accurate. How do you find audio quality over say a pair of headphones compared to the S7?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very loud, and decently clean and crisp too. There seems to be some decent audio equipment on this thing, both speakers and headphone, and I suspect there may be a discrete DAC on this, impressive for a $200 device. I went for the RN4 over the Pro for one reason and one reason only: there is an official global ROM out for this phone, while the Pro would require me to install GP package through a third-party solution.
I can definitely say that the FPS is way better on the back. Very accurate, and as long as I don't give it some super-weird angle it authenticates me without fail, quicker and more accurately than the S7.
AB__CD said:
Very loud, and decently clean and crisp too. There seems to be some decent audio equipment on this thing, both speakers and headphone, and I suspect there may be a discrete DAC on this, impressive for a $200 device. I went for the RN4 over the Pro for one reason and one reason only: there is an official global ROM out for this phone, while the Pro would require me to install GP package through a third-party solution.
I can definitely say that the FPS is way better on the back. Very accurate, and as long as I don't give it some super-weird angle it authenticates me without fail, quicker and more accurately than the S7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great that's good to hear, I assumed there was a global rom for the pro but must have been something else I seen. I had a feeling the finger print scanner was better, I do find the S7's quite fussy and a lot of times I exceed the try limit and have to wait 30 secs[emoji34].
I really do appreciate the camera on the S7, although from the reviews I've watched the RN4 seems to have very quick auto focus and capture speeds. It obviously seems to suffer in low light but no phone is immune from this really only to lesser extents. I generally take most photos outside in good conditions anyway and usually of the kids where a quick shutter is needed. The camera app also seems fast to launch as well which again is an important to be able to snap photos quickly.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Wich rom are you using? Do you root it?
gsmyth said:
Great that's good to hear, I assumed there was a global rom for the pro but must have been something else I seen. I had a feeling the finger print scanner was better, I do find the S7's quite fussy and a lot of times I exceed the try limit and have to wait 30 secs[emoji34].
I really do appreciate the camera on the S7, although from the reviews I've watched the RN4 seems to have very quick auto focus and capture speeds. It obviously seems to suffer in low light but no phone is immune from this really only to lesser extents. I generally take most photos outside in good conditions anyway and usually of the kids where a quick shutter is needed. The camera app also seems fast to launch as well which again is an important to be able to snap photos quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fingerprint scanner really is great. Worlds better than the S7. Location isn't always ideal for when the phone is on a table top, but it is great when pulling the phone out of the pocket. I suspect that the only way to solve this is give people two Fingerprint scanners
Camera launches quickly and focus is reliable. Better than my 2014 Moto X ever was. Shutter is not as fast as the reviews make it out to be, but that may be because I have HDR on Auto, and HDR photos do take a while to process. Outside photos are reasonably crisp, inside the noise starts to become uncontrollable. Remember to go to Settings and select image quality "High" and enable "Enhance lowlight pictures automatically" when you get this phone. Hugely important, as the default Medium setting is too aggressive in compressing.
AB__CD said:
Received my RN4 last week, and after spending a week with it I am definitely impressed.
Observations
1. Battery life is the phone's strongest suit. Can definitely get even better SOT if I was more careful using this thing, but fact is this is the first phone I've owned that I only need to charge once a day. (See attachment for SOT)
2. Build quality is solid as well, but definitely not top notch. Seams can still felt, and SIM tray is a bit hard to push in.
3. Display is great. Nothing out of the ordinary.
4. Helio X20 is a solid chip, but Javascript performance is underwhelming. Does not appear to have many benefits over the SD650.
5. Camera is underwhelming, quality is around the level of the Moto X 2014, but PD focus is quick and accurate, unlike the CDAF on the X14.
6. MIUI is not as intrusive as most Western media will have you believe, but I do not like the aggressiveness with which it kills background processes. GSam Battery monitor doesnt work reliably as it always gets kicked.
7. One handed usage is poor. The next model could definitely use smaller bezels on the X axis.
8. I got an update last week for "bug fixes", but was strangely 1.3GB big and took over an hour to download and install.
Overall, for $200, I'm definitely impressed. Can't say I feel a noticeable performance difference with my last phone, the Galaxy S7. Only place I can feel I got what I paired for is the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using RN4 for 2 weeks. And I do agree most of the views.
1. Battery: it seems not that good if you care about the numbers. But the overall performance is pretty good. Playing some 3d games with performance for an hour costs less than 10%.
2. CPU: I don't think this is a big leap as I can't from Nexus 5. The performance is not overkill. And I don't feel anything is super smooth. I guess the reason is that 10 cores are still to much for an Android system to operate with. I doubt the kernel fully utilizes the CPU.
3. Camera: don't expect much on it even though they claimed it's 16MP. The quality is quite glitchy in my opinion. If you really care about the quality of the camera on your phone, consider carefully. Despite the quality, the speed is fine as the focus, HDR and burst mode work perfectly fine.
4. MIUI: I just want a CM. That's it.
5. Price: this is the most pulling reason for me to buy this. You can just switch to a new one if this breaks somehow. :laugh:
Hello.
My name is Gabriel, from Romania.
I have a redminote 4 since 25 october 2016.
Since yesterday it doesn't display, in the upper right corner, the icon for mobile data - you know, the H, or H+, or 4G or 3G, next to mobile network signal icon.
The mobile data connection is working good, but the fact that the phone is connected to mobile data is not displayed any more.
Is there any setting for this?
Thanks.
Gabriel Sbircea said:
Hello.
My name is Gabriel, from Romania.
I have a redminote 4 since 25 october 2016.
Since yesterday it doesn't display, in the upper right corner, the icon for mobile data - you know, the H, or H+, or 4G or 3G, next to mobile network signal icon.
The mobile data connection is working good, but the fact that the phone is connected to mobile data is not displayed any more.
Is there any setting for this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve this? Are you on the global rom?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
No.
I had the intention to perform a factory reset during this weekend, but I didn't, I was too busy with other things.
And yes, is the Global ROM - I have Romanian language (not only...)
Thanks.
Gabriel Sbircea said:
No.
I had the intention to perform a factory reset during this weekend, but I didn't, I was too busy with other things.
And yes, is the Global ROM - I have Romanian language (not only...)
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A factory reset is probably the best option take first although it is a pain having to backup/ set everything up again.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 video review
Originalas said:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 video review
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks will watch this later.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
Did you solve this? Are you on the global rom?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello
I have black screen with my Redmi Note 4 but led of charge work have you some ideas how can i solve this issue?
Thanks
2 weeks here...
I bought the Redmi Note 4 - S625 32 GB version as a replacement for another phone from another vendor, my old phone had the same hardware configuration, but was greatly lagging on performance, battery life and customization.
I have long decided on the Redmi, and have gone through several resources and reviews online, and was so far satisfied with what I read.
I was able to buy it at a discounted price in Egypt (USD 160), this is of course not a bargain for the global price, yet locally it was good compared to other similar devices.
I'll go through every aspect of my experience with the phone and provide you with my conclusion in the end.
The phone comes in a small box compared to other phones of the same size, the phone fits in exactly, with the charger and the charging cable, the extra space could've been better used to add earphones to the bundle, something Xiaomi should consider in the future, is to throw in one of their premium earphones.
The phone size is slim and nice to hold, something that counts for it, considering the huge 4100mA battery, I was unfortunate to buy the black edition, which is very prone to fingerprints and you can never keep it clean, let alone it also seemed scratch prone, I didn't want to risk it therefore the first thing I had to do was to go for a silicon cover.
Also the screen glass is clear with smooth edges, and gives the phone a very elegant look, yet I read it's not gorilla glass, so I had to go for a glass screen protector.
The screen is large enough with some bevel edges that could be improved in the future.
The dual SIM slot is an amazing idea, yet with a bit of better design I guess we can squeeze in a place for a memory card.
The camera and fingerprint sensor are very well placed and nice to use, having the camera non-protruding is a good design point, protecting the camera cover from scratches.
I don't mind the camera being 13MP, it has a clear quality, works well with the camera app, and is quiet responsive, I've seen cameras with higher resolution, but were a pain to operate, so good job Xiaomi.
The screen is clear and pleasant to use, I have even use it to watch movies using a VR box with no problems, it is also quiet visible in the sun with bright colors.
One thing I really liked about this phone, is its battery life, I guess Xiaomi went to great effort to squeeze much power into the battery space, and to optimize the power use by applications, clearly there is a power optimization software layer added to the OS to perform this well, I am a heavy user, having the phone in hand all day with the screen on, reading, watching videos, and streaming internet videos and music in the car all day, using maps and GPS applications, and acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Still at night, before sleeping, I plug the charger while the phone is at 40%, keeping me assured that even if I forget to charge the phone, it will remain there for another day of moderate use. BATTERY LIFE ON THIS PHONE IS AMAZING.
I have seen people complain that it doesn’t have a fast charging capability, yet it's no problem with a phone that can withhold its charge for two days.
The good thing about this phone is that it has all connectivity features of other similar phones, except for the NFC, which is becoming a defacto nowadays, though the FM radio is good and launches without any headphone connected, however the lack of RDS is a bit annoying, in addition to the fact that the radio interface is boring and non-themeable, I have posted this suggestion in the MIUI forum.
Software performance on this phone is amazing, and the dual app capability is extra nice, it is better than having the second space activated, specially with the availability of individual app locking capability, I can have my work and personal applications in the same space, while giving my work applications the necessary security level required. This beats all other phones offering second space while hogging the memory and system resources, and affecting the performance.
Also Xiaomi's keeping to its promise of a very responsive MIUI, even with an alternative launcher (I'll come to that later), I'm getting a very good performance, no launch delays, no botchy performance, etc... Which shows that enough effort has been put into OS optimization.
I haven't tried installing a custom OS yet, and this is mainly due to the fact that the factory OS is very well performing and doesn't need further optimization, till now!!
I had to resort to installing a third party launcher (Nova Launcher), since I didn't really like the way MIUI launcher treats the applications, without an application drawer, desktops can become really cluttered, specially that I always test new apps and remove them regularly. This may be convenient for iPhone users, but a no no in our Android world, Xiaomi should reconsider.
A nice addition to the UI is the floating ball, it comes with useful shortcuts, but to change them you have to dig deep into the settings, certainly there should be a better way to do this, still it is a good addition.
The screenshot shortcut saves a shot of the current screen and can later send you to the editing part if you need to crop and edit your shot, it would be better if a crop control can appear when a screenshot is requested, so that we can directly choose which part of the screen we want to capture and share directly.
The phone came with android marshmallow, but as soon as I started using it, a new update with nougat was pushed, I also guess and Oreo version in in the pipeline, still you can have the Oreo taste from any custom rom available for this phone, which are really numerous in comparison to phones from other vendors, I guess Xiaomi should capitalize on this as being one of the most custom ROM friendly phones.
The phone, contacts, and messaging native aps are quiet usable, and so far I haven't faced any problem with them, in comparison to other phones that sometimes struggled with my 1500 entry contact list, the Xiaomi is fully capable of handling such a contact list dispersed among two contact providers (google contact and exchange server), and fully capable of flawlessly handling them.
One small glitch with the messaging app is the inability to delete the newly received SMS from the notification area, something that is usually needed nowadays.
Coming to the notification area, I've seen it better implemented in other phones or ROM versions, where you can get full access to the complete message, and be able control it (delete or reply) from the notification area, I know that in MIUI there is the capability to expand the notification for more details by a two finger swipe, but this is impossible with one handed operation.
The phone also comes with nice extra applications, the security app is quiet useful, and hopefully it does what it promises in the background.
The remote app is also a great addition, making you able to control a vast list of IR enabled devices; yet it should be a good addition to be able to add and customize new non-listed devices, such as for example non-standard android tv boxes.
In conclusion:
I really love this phone and don't regret the investment I put in it, Xiaomi is on a very good track, it should soon reach and surpass market leaders if it keeps building such impressive devices with affordable prices, also having that MIUI forum and its community is a good addition of keeping the users close to the vendor.
My recommendation is to work on the software enhancements requested by the users.
My recommendations to the new buyers, is to install good screen and body protection, stay away from the black version, and invest in a good quality headphones to enjoy your Xiaomi.
Hey guys currently im using a LG G4. I'm tired of not having a stable root, and bad battery.
Now i have a chance to buy this phone and sell my old lg g4 my question is, does it worth? How good the phone is compared to lg g4 and can you root/unlock, find a stable rom, use it as daily device? Thank you in advance.
I think it is a good device but the bootloader unlocking may not go as smooth as you would like. Lots of people have trouble unlocking.
Mine came already unlocked from aliexpress so...
But when unlocked i find root to be very stable.
Nice phone for 170 bucks or so.
its a good phone .....root is stable....performance is good....battery is good but need to fix a deep sleep problem by flashing two little things......
Everything is better on the Remi Pro except the screen resolution and camera quality. Camera on the G4 is much better, specialy in video recordin department. If the camera is not your main priority than buy this phone.
Sent from my Redmi Pro using Tapatalk
I bought it yesterday night. Now I need to figure out how to get Eu stable rom. So far so good. Camera is not that bad compared to lg g4 and from half day usage I can say battery is much better. No regrets.
Basically went through the same decision. Was using G4 dual sim, really needed fingerprint reader for Exchange mailbox. Got redmi pro - amoled screen is much better for all around usage (IPS QHD on g4 is whiter and little bit more detailed, also has gorilla 3, but Redmi Pros screen is more pleasant to look at and you really cant tell the difference of the DPI on normal day to day usage), battery life is considerably better on redmi PRO (around 1000 more mAH, lower resolution screen + possibly weaker processor gives more battery life), build quality is quite good ( i could nitpick here and there, like the fingerprint button dipping a little bit too deep on the left side, for two weeks has not become a problem yet though. metal unibody feels good, although more slippery than leather G4). The camera is my only grudge - although I did not take that much pictures on my G4, I loved the possibility of deep manual control over the camera. With Redmis camera, pictures in the dark are quite bad - but then again the time to focus and actually take a picture are noticeably faster on Redmi, so everyday snaps (for work, facebook chat and so on) are less of a hassle.
One of the true negative sides, is the lack of LTE 800 mhz(band 20 ) on the REDMI, as that is used here by all of the carriers. On G4 I had great 4g coverage indoors and on the road (countrysides, highways), Redmi falls short here, and lives mostly on 3g/3g+, rarely dropping to Edge - although I do get my 10ish mb download speed on the 3g, the networks used to be overburdened a year ago (especially 3g bands, now it is a bit better), so 4g was a saviour. Also the lack of a dedicated SD-card slot is a negative side, although not really a problem. I am yet to decide, if I'm keeping redmi pro as my main device - lack of 800mhz 4g being the only real decisive factor.
On the software side, I flashed Xiaomi EU rom - Sim toolkit started working (did not work on chinese version). Coming from LG factory roms, also having used CM and AOSP mods earlier, miui is a really well made "skin" for android. It is so well made actually, I wouldnt even call it a skin - the design and the configuration possibilites are very good. Besides only few small things, I would place miui over LG, Samsung and AOSP/CM in that regard. Few small gripes I have, is that I cannot seem to assign contacts to a specific sim (for calling purpouses - for example, i want work numbers to always call on sim 2, private numbers on sim1. right now I have to click and hold on the contact/number, and on the menu select Dial with sim X, where x is 1 or 2). In the dialer there are 2 call buttons for each sim, but that works only if you input the number manually. On LG G4, you could easily swap between two sims (selecting the main sim), or assign a sim for a contact.
Another problem, what is starting to get me a little bit, is the dropping of the 3g network - or rather the downstream part. On random times, all downloading ceases yet the phone shows upstream is still active. Sometimes this corrects itself in a minute or two, but when you need the connection now, you have to toggle mobile data off and on. This does not happen with Wifi. It might be the problem with the xiaomi.eu rom, as during the few days I used the factory Chinese rom, I did not notice this.
So basically for me, it comes down to the 4g 800mhz support, which for whatever reason, a lot of chinese phones lack (something to do with India laws?). Otherwise, for 180€ ish euros, this is a great buy ( if it does not degrade over time too quickly, especially the software part).
That's a very good post and very informative. Thank you for time. I hope people can benefit from it.
I have no regret so far. Great battery compared to lg 4. Submitted for the unlocking procedure. I want to have eu rom too. Hope it won't take long.
i think about seling it, miui is day by day more worst. phone is good, amoled is not real amoled, if you put black image and go in a dark room you will se pixel is not closed, not pure dark, only brownish.
Hey friends in the sub $300 range!
I'm shopping around for a new device. Currently I'm using an Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3 5.5" -- it has served me well (very well) since November 2015. Unfortunately the battery seems to be failing, so it seems the time has come for me to replace my precious. I'm actually in the sub $250 range, trying VERY HARD to not go over (which is why I'm considering the Axon 7 Mini and not the full-featured Axon 7).
I've been looking at all different phones for a couple days now and I'm stuck. I'm really drawn toward the Axon 7 Mini but from the reviews I've been reading the word is that it's just not that great for a $299 phone. Is it great for a $199 phone? Should I pay the extra $50 and get the Honor 6X (which I'm shying away from because of its overall durability -- yes, yes, I know to put a screen protector and case on it but it's the what ifs that get me), or do you think I'll be satisfied with the Axon 7 Mini? Normally I wouldn't hesitate to get a phone like this because I'm no stranger to the world of root and custom ROMs, and I know the dev community is stellar in making a stuttery device smooth like butter, but I see there hasn't been much luck with this one. I feel like my Idol (and Galaxy SIII before it) have spoiled me. Both devices just WORKED. They do and did what I needed them to do with minimal fuss and absolutely no worry about installing a custom ROM. Is the 7 Mini one of those phones that you just keep saying to yourself "I know CM would vastly improve my experience with this phone"?
Or should I give up on both phones and hope my Idol lasts a bit longer to see if I can get a really fantastic deal on the full featured Axon 7?
Probably should clarify: I am not by any means a heavy user. I may have a couple apps open at the same time, but I'm not running demanding games or social media apps (unless you count Snapchat as demanding; the Idol cannot handle Snapchat for some reason and it drives me nuts).
the word is that it's just not that great for a $299 phone. Is it great for a $199 phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It depends on what you are looking for. The main reason why the reviews have been complaining is the somewhat weak CPU.
As someone who does not play 3D games on a phone, the performance has been absolutely fine for me.
Just going by the rest of the specs, it is hard to find anything that compares (without heavy compromises) at a $199 price point.
Should I pay the extra $50 and get the Honor 6X
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hard to tell for me honestly. Just comparing the specs, the Axon has an AMOLED screen and better sound, while the Honor should have better battery life.
I'd go by what features you prefer. (more on that further down)
Is the 7 Mini one of those phones that you just keep saying to yourself "I know CM would vastly improve my experience with this phone"?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Vastly improved? Not really. Somewhat improved? Definitely yes.
The stock system is not bad, but it has some quirks going against it. (somewhat questionable power management, bad stock UI)
If the Android N update goes well, I don't see that much need for a custom rom. It would of course be great to have, but it's not a deal breaker for me.
Overall pros/cons:
pro:
- beautiful display
- outstanding sound (both speakers and headphones)
- quick charge works very well
subjective pros:
- metal case
- usb type c
- overall great hardware design
meh:
- mediocre battery life (will get you through the day just fine, don't expect anything beyond)
- mediocre performance (will perform everyday tasks just fine, you won't be happy if you want to play demanding games though)
- mediocre camera (I don't really use it, but the pictures are unimpressive)
- updates happen every once in a blue moon, but they do happen
cons:
- no root
- no custom roms
- battery can't be swapped
- bad default UI (just using a different launcher will vastly improve your experience with the phone)
d3cay said:
Aight! Summed up nicely, the screen is actually very qualitative although the UI is a bit messy.. Right, nova or evie launcher change this to the good, honestly this is the phone I'm the most satisfacted with, didn't expect a timeless piece like this, woah! The Nubia Z17 Mini is also very nice!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=is.shortcut
http://www.nubia.com/en/presscenter.php?a=showArticleDetail&id=14
http://m.gsmarena.com/zte_nubia_z17_mini-8615.php
Check these links, nubia 17, better photography (although dslr is the queen) idk yet about the audio chip, will share it if you like. Although on 28nm, 652/653 is a nice improvement!
Screen looks great quality too!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came to the mini 7 from a broken Galaxy S6 ($300 to repair it so I figured I'd look at a newer phone). Now that I've got the performance improved (via a soft reset), I'm generally happy with the phone. Admittedly, my S6 was starting to get slow too, it probably also need a reset or cache cleared.
I bought the mini for $199. I think for that price it's a pretty decent phone.
Robnw
The Mini is easy to get for $199, most Best Buy stores stock both colors for that price (they are quite plentiful in the Minneapolis area at least)... For $199 if you don't need Verizon or other CDMA support, it's a pretty solid device.
- The display is beautiful and the sound is something you don't expect for a phone under $500.
- Performance is good for everything but heavy gaming.
- Battery is decent, pretty easy to get a full day with 4.5-5 hours SOT average in mixed LTE/WiFi
- Camera is pretty good and quick, I'll take it over my Moto X Pure edition's 21MP camera any day
- It is a very "premium" feeling phone
- The fingerprint reader is sometimes questionable (my son quite using it because it was so inconsistent, but last few updates it's better)
- MiFavor, the UI, is really disappointing and tries to be too Applish with no app drawer. And there is no usable battery stats in settings?!?!
The custom ROM and root thing is less and less important all the time, personally I don't think it will effect my next decision to get a phone at all. I'm with the previous poster CM might make it a little better, but the stock ROM isn't bad all and it wouldn't make it "amazing" or anything like that.
Add Nova Launcher and GSAM as your first installed apps and it's a good buy at $199, but if it's at $250-$300 I would skip it and get a Moto G5 Plus.
As far as the Honor phones go, I can't stand EMUI... the software ruins what would be an otherwise decent phone. Honor devices are solid hardware, but the software ruins it especially it actively prevents you replacing the launcher or using some other customizations, it's unfortunate they didn't stay with a more simple UI or even stockish Android, they would be a real consideration then.
d3cay said:
meh:
- mediocre camera (I don't really use it, but the pictures are unimpressive)
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Actually the camera is very good! Check my instagram @zteaxon7mini and get impressed by its results
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
acejavelin said:
As far as the Honor phones go, I can't stand EMUI... the software ruins what would be an otherwise decent phone. Honor devices are solid hardware, but the software ruins it especially it actively prevents you replacing the launcher or using some other customizations, it's unfortunate they didn't stay with a more simple UI or even stockish Android, they would be a real consideration then.
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Just wanted to say that with EMUi 5.0, their skin has gotten a lot better. And the Honor 6X is getting it in Q2 this year. Also they don't make it difficult to replace the launcher or anything like that. Got an Honor phone for my Mom and girlfriend and I easily got them on Nova Launcher, Android Messages, Gmail, and even the Google phone app (an older version).
In regards to OP, the Honor 6X does seem like an all around better phone, if you can stand their skin. The performance seems to be better (going by reviews), battery life seems to be better, screen quality seems to be similar. I know the Axon is AMOLED and the Honor is IPS LCD, but all of the reviews (and my in person opinion) state that it is a very capable screen, especially for the price. The Axon does have great audio quality, but the Honor seems to have better performance and battery life. The design of the two is quite similar in that it's mostly aluminum with some glass. Also the Honor is currently on a flash sale for the next few days at $220 on Honor's website. So I definitely think it's up to you, but there's another opinion for ya!
Hi guys.
One year later the prices are way down. Now LG G6 is 360 euro in my country.
Is about same price as Samsung A8, Nokia 7 Plus or Huawei P20 Lite.
I'd say one year old flagship should be an obvious choice over today's midrangers. Better camera, better cpu. However, one concern looking over this forum is with battery life (low sot, drains).
Seeing how phones have become consumables, no removable batteries, defects occurring after the 2 year obligatory warrant (at least in EU), oled screens loosing a lot of brightness in time ... I'm not willing to pay 800euro for the latest and greatest.
Yes, I recommend this phone. Despite the very poor software support it's good phone for its price. They - LG - are trying to fix their slow (almost nonexistent) update policy - Korea and Canada is already affected (Oreo update). It's fast smartphone with very stable android 7.0 by default with very good battery life.
Even without Oreo or wireless charging I'd recommend this phone but.... it is a bit laggy for the money to recommend.
I'd recommend it only for the camera and the display, because it can be easily bought for 350 euros or less, anything else is just "avarage" imho.
Depends what you want in a phone. If I didn't care for an SD Card, I'd probably get a Pixel 2 (not verizon) for the updates and Dev Support alone. If you don't care about root, then obviously your choices expand a lot more.
This phone will never see android P. If it does, it will be a custom ROM, meaning you'll lose the stock camera quality.
I paid $295 for mine and have no regrets though, so yes, depending on what you're looking for, I would recommend.
Things important for me in a phone:
1. Battery life. Or better said, real life battery life. I would like to have a few hours of SOT on 4G.
2. Also, I'd like the device to operate cool when outside is hot or when the signal is poor . No one is mentioning this in reviews but in my experience is quite a factor.
3. Camera, obviously. Most of my photos/films are taken with my phone for convenience reasons.
Not so important:
1. Display.
2. Performance. Opening/operating chrome without lag should do it.
Certainly I won't play PUBG on my phone. I do play PUBG on occasion on my PC.
3. Storage capacity. I keep mostly books (read them with tts - IVONA) but those don't take a lot of space. For music I have deezer, for movies Netflix. Nothing local. Photos I unload on my PC.
No , it's a Good phone but the lack of security patch is a really bad point. it's a shame because this phone is really nice ! january security update 5 month later still no update...
I am on the April security patch via T-Mobile.
Hardware is OK, but software ...
Overall the phone is incredible. Especially now, when its price is really decent, getting new one is really good idea. Build quality is very high, this phone is clearly built to last and its design is great. The camera is very good, especially with ported GCam apps which boost image quality even more. The display's colors and saturation is great, the display itself is AWESOME (18:9 rocks!)... it's not very bright in direct sun, my Xperia Z3 Compact was much much better, but it's good. UI responsiveness is very good, Snapdraon 821 still kicks a$$ and it's enough for this phone to run nice and smooth
However the phone is not perfect. I've been using it since July and right now I feel that LG should try a little bit to revive it. Oreo is on the way, yes, but it should've happened much earlier. I'm not complaining but this phone was LG's flagship device after all. Also battery life is not very good (battery-hungry display, buggy Android 7.0), my daily SoT is around 3-3,5hrs, I expected a little more from 3300mAh. The display starts to have image retention issues just after one year of using the phone and after short amounts of using the phone overall (none of my previous phones which I've been using for more than two years had this issue). But if these disadvantages are not deal-breakers, buy it! You won't regret it!
EDIT: I forgot about crappy front facing camera! 5MP is waaaay too bad and I highly recommend using GCam for selfies, it boosts image quality DRASTICALLY!
Let me preface this by saying I am picky about my phones and this is one of the worst I have seen in years! If you have an old phone I can understand some of the upgrade but here are my thoughts coming well staying with a Note 10+. Never bought and returned a phone this quick. Returning before it is even released on Friday!!
Let's start with the good, well somewhat......
Screen: Once again Samsung delivers a world class screen. Best in brightness, color accuracy, etc etc everything like normal that they always produce in their flagships. Now for the downsize, the infamous 120hz screen refresh rate. Not worth it here. Smoother scrolling, sure but barely. I honestly don't even mind the 1080p and 120 hz just the need for the 120hz on a phone is overkill. Was gaming smoother sure, do I game much on my phone, no not really. The 240 touch response I can tell more of a difference and a worthy difference then the 120 hz refresh
Processing power: Phone is fast, minus animations. Photo processing, night mode shots are a big difference. Much faster in that aspect. Wish we saw little more ram and more storage though at this price
Battery: 5000 mah in this device makes it a little thicker but in my short one day of use it stood up pretty well to transferring apps and everything over and hard use for a few hours last night. Couldn't kill it
and now the bad
Camera: throw all the numbers at it and it will be great.... well not so fast. Main shooter in 12 or 108 mp mode cannot focus on anything. Piece of paper on desk in front of you, good luck. Zoom a few feet away from you, also good luck. 5x/10x/30x zoom is better then Note 10+ of course but how often are you going to use this? Everyday? Once a week? Once a month? Still not great quality (usable) at 10x or 30x really so no point in my book. 5x is crisp but falls off too much after that for me to use. Wide angle is same as note so no real improvement here. Camera also seems to make everything more saturated then I like as well almost to the point of unrealistic. The one and only thing the iPhone can do well and the note seems to be closer to that realistic representation then the Ultra.
Design: not that the design is bad but feels a tad on the chunkier side. Rounder edges do help but does not feel as sleek as nice to hold as note or even s10. Thicker as well to house that battery and camera module. Also worried about how scratched the module bump will become after months of abuse.
UI: Let me first say I hate Android 10/Samsung UI 2.0, I am still using 9 and the Ultra reminded me why. App animations are slow (yes can fix in dev options but still), quick replying to text or message in status bar is not instant like prior android generations. Don't know if this is an android 10 or Samsung UI 2.0 problem but seems like it should be an upgrade not a downgrade
Price: $1400 is a lot even for 2020. That is also only for 128 gb and 12 gb ram model. So no upgrade to ram compared to Note and a loss of half the storage compared to entry level note. Plan was to trade in note 10+ and pay $800 and it isn't worth that tp be honest. Not even close. Only foreseeable upgrades are little brighter screen and zoom lens. The rest is a downgrade to me or the same.
I will continue to use note 10+ until Note 20 maybe? Needs to have something better for the money it is going to cost though
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That's a fair assessment. From testing out an S20 Ultra, I wasn't impressed enough to upgrade from the Note 10+. While many of the upgrades are nice to have, there are no earth shattering changes. To be fair, phone technology has plateaued and it's going to take more than camera, screen and battery upgrades to get people spending $1000+, let alone $1400-1500. The Note 20 is going to need an under display front camera, an even bigger battery, more futuristic design or something to get people to upgrade.
Now I have friends who upgraded from S8/ Note 8 models and they're blown away by the improvement. It's become more practical to upgrade every 2+ years versus luxury upgrades every cycle.
I am returning mine because mainly because I cannot justify the difference between the 128 GB of the Ultra vs the S20+. The main difference between the two are the battery and camera. For me, the Ultra is simply TOO BIG, it's taller, wider and substantially heavier than what I am used to - coming from the S10+. S20+ is the ideal fit, especially since I really do not care for the camera specs honestly.
I got mine yesterday and have been testing the camera against my Pixel 3XL. I was hoping for a similar experience as the Pixel, but so far the results have been wildly inconsistent. Some of the photos are marginally better than the Pixel, but many are much worse, especially when it comes to white balance in low light and extremely over done color saturation in others.
Similar to OP, I love the screen, processor and battery. It's a shame the camera is dragging it down for me. I'll probably take a look at it again in a few months and see if any updates have made significant improvements to the camera.
Oh, I also tried out one of the GCam ports and saw little to no improvement over the stock camera.
My only gripe which I can agree with you on is the camera's autofocus. There is a firmware update inbound which is supposed to fix this. This should not be a launch issue.
As for the UI, I disagree. I think it's perfectly responsive. It may be the update to 2.1 for you. I've only ever had 2.x on my Samsung devices so I can't comment from that respect.
Those are of course your impressions and opinion and as such I'm not saying your wrong just that it's not that way in my point of view.
In the past I've returned things less than a day of ownership because of burning issues. I've learned, however, to use the 15 days they provide. It's not like a pro rated fee or rental where there's a fiscal benefit to a quick return. Slow down, use it for those two weeks.
Guyinlaca said:
That's a fair assessment. From testing out an S20 Ultra, I wasn't impressed enough to upgrade from the Note 10+. While many of the upgrades are nice to have, there are no earth shattering changes. To be fair, phone technology has plateaued and it's going to take more than camera, screen and battery upgrades to get people spending $1000+, let alone $1400-1500. The Note 20 is going to need an under display front camera, an even bigger battery, more futuristic design or something to get people to upgrade.
Now I have friends who upgraded from S8/ Note 8 models and they're blown away by the improvement. It's become more practical to upgrade every 2+ years versus luxury upgrades every cycle.
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Exactly, I buy/try every one when it is brand new and this one just disappointed me overall. Note 20 better have under display camera and a better fingerprint sensor in display. Or just go back to old style
BETA. said:
I am returning mine because mainly because I cannot justify the difference between the 128 GB of the Ultra vs the S20+. The main difference between the two are the battery and camera. For me, the Ultra is simply TOO BIG, it's taller, wider and substantially heavier than what I am used to - coming from the S10+. S20+ is the ideal fit, especially since I really do not care for the camera specs honestly.
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Yup not worth it! Ultra is actually narrower then note 10 plus believe it or not. I don't mind the bulk just nothing to gain from it
Zargon335 said:
I got mine yesterday and have been testing the camera against my Pixel 3XL. I was hoping for a similar experience as the Pixel, but so far the results have been wildly inconsistent. Some of the photos are marginally better than the Pixel, but many are much worse, especially when it comes to white balance in low light and extremely over done color saturation in others.
Similar to OP, I love the screen, processor and battery. It's a shame the camera is dragging it down for me. I'll probably take a look at it again in a few months and see if any updates have made significant improvements to the camera.
Oh, I also tried out one of the GCam ports and saw little to no improvement over the stock camera.
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Yeah the pixel is always a beast in the camera dept. The night mode on the ultra seemed too bright like I still want my night shots to look dark just with detail if that makes sense
SyCoREAPER said:
My only gripe which I can agree with you on is the camera's autofocus. There is a firmware update inbound which is supposed to fix this. This should not be a launch issue.
As for the UI, I disagree. I think it's perfectly responsive. It may be the update to 2.1 for you. I've only ever had 2.x on my Samsung devices so I can't comment from that respect.
Those are of course your impressions and opinion and as such I'm not saying your wrong just that it's not that way in my point of view.
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So the UI like messages and you hit reply and then send and it kinda sticks there. On old one ui it was instant. You would have to have both side by side honestly to be able to tell like I did. I replied to a few facebook messages on ultra and was like that felt odd. Then did on note and was like wow it is faster
cpufrost said:
In the past I've returned things less than a day of ownership because of burning issues. I've learned, however, to use the 15 days they provide. It's not like a pro rated fee or rental where there's a fiscal benefit to a quick return. Slow down, use it for those two weeks.
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Nope already gone. Boxed up by 8 am and ready to roll. I will spend my money elsewhere
I upgraded from the S9+ and the camera from the S10+ blew me away, hence why I got the S20 Ultra, also 2 year cycle
Jomari29 said:
I upgraded from the S9+ and the camera from the S10+ blew me away, hence why I got the S20 Ultra, also 2 year cycle
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But did the ultra camera blow you away like going from S9 to S10?
oneandroidnut said:
But did the ultra camera blow you away like going from S9 to S10?
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Tbh no, I get what you mean, I didn't have the same feel like how it was upgrading from s7 to s9,
cpufrost said:
In the past I've returned things less than a day of ownership because of burning issues. I've learned, however, to use the 15 days they provide. It's not like a pro rated fee or rental where there's a fiscal benefit to a quick return. Slow down, use it for those two weeks.
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But how long are you going to wait for a patch that "maybe" fixes things? 14 days = maybe if we're lucky one software update.
Jomari29 said:
Tbh no, I get what you mean, I didn't have the same feel like how it was upgrading from s7 to s9,
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Yeah exactly. Honestly I don't tell a big difference anymore when you upgrade to every flagship but from s10+ to note 10+ it felt like an improvement and gained some things. Now it feels like I am losing more things then I am gaining from note 10+ to Ultra
catnapped said:
But how long are you going to wait for a patch that "maybe" fixes things? 14 days = maybe if we're lucky one software update.
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Exactly, mine is gone already. Not playing that waiting game. My note 10+ on android pie is butter to me right now and will be sticking around for at least a few more months until Ultra is fixed or new note is out
People are whining about the price when the iphone 11 pro is $1449 and nobody bats an eye.
deathshead said:
People are whining about the price when the iphone 11 pro is $1449 and nobody bats an eye.
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11 Pro Max 512GB is $1449.
512GB Ultra is $1599.
Both are very expensive!
IMHO, for the price of $1599 there should be a slim case in the box, 45W charger, 1TB storage and ceramic back! I get it, 5G is adding to the cost and for a lot of us is like paying for tits on a bull!
Wait until the iPhone 12 with 5G comes out. Figure on adding $200-300 EXTRA.
deathshead said:
People are whining about the price when the iphone 11 pro is $1449 and nobody bats an eye.
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That is not 5G though, wait until this year. Bet it is $1400+ for the base
cpufrost said:
11 Pro Max 512GB is $1449.
512GB Ultra is $1599.
Both are very expensive!
IMHO, for the price of $1599 there should be a slim case in the box, 45W charger, 1TB storage and ceramic back! I get it, 5G is adding to the cost and for a lot of us is like paying for tits on a bull!
Wait until the iPhone 12 with 5G comes out. Figure on adding $200-300 EXTRA.
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I agree. Ceramic is needed at this price point and a 1tb option for sure!!!
I got my ultra two days ago and have to say i am very disappointed in the camera system. With how much physical size it takes up you'd think it was going to be something of quality, but largely it is not. The autofocus issues are not being overstated - sitting at my computer desk it refuses to focus on the keyboard three feet in front of me. My s10+ on the other hand has no issues getting focus rapidly.
The screen is amazing but I am underwhelmed by the 120hz. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was the best thing since sliced bread. While it is noticable during very slow scrolling, normal scrolling looks basically the same as on my s10. The one noticeable difference is with the responsiveness to touch which i gather is from the 240 sampling rate.
The fingerprint scanner is identical in performance to s10.
The increased weight and size of the phone actually helps it to feel more premium and it's not difficult to handle. The screen is considerably more narrow than note 10+ which I do like - the wide-ness of the n10+ was cumbersome.
I love how the screen edges are nearly flat, gives it more usable space.
I have already contacted samsung and made it clear that if an update isn't imminent that fixes the camera performance, I will have no choice but to return..it just doesn't make sense to trade in my still-perfect s10+ and spend nearly $900 on an unfinished product...which is how the ultra feels at this point.
Swimguy14 said:
I got my ultra two days ago and have to say i am very disappointed in the camera system. With how much physical size it takes up you'd think it was going to be something of quality, but largely it is not. The autofocus issues are not being overstated - sitting at my computer desk it refuses to focus on the keyboard three feet in front of me. My s10+ on the other hand has no issues getting focus rapidly.
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Mmmhmm, goes in and out of focus. Even if you tap to focus you have to practically do a shot right then or it's back to in and out again.
And I just did a 108MP photo of my cat in so-so light. Not really impressed. The only thing decent I'll say is the 5x & 10x zoom. Doesn't make up for the other issues though.
Swimguy14 said:
I got my ultra two days ago and have to say i am very disappointed in the camera system. With how much physical size it takes up you'd think it was going to be something of quality, but largely it is not. The autofocus issues are not being overstated - sitting at my computer desk it refuses to focus on the keyboard three feet in front of me. My s10+ on the other hand has no issues getting focus rapidly.
The screen is amazing but I am underwhelmed by the 120hz. The way people talk about it, you'd think it was the best thing since sliced bread. While it is noticable during very slow scrolling, normal scrolling looks basically the same as on my s10. The one noticeable difference is with the responsiveness to touch which i gather is from the 240 sampling rate.
The fingerprint scanner is identical in performance to s10.
The increased weight and size of the phone actually helps it to feel more premium and it's not difficult to handle. The screen is considerably more narrow than note 10+ which I do like - the wide-ness of the n10+ was cumbersome.
I love how the screen edges are nearly flat, gives it more usable space.
I have already contacted samsung and made it clear that if an update isn't imminent that fixes the camera performance, I will have no choice but to return..it just doesn't make sense to trade in my still-perfect s10+ and spend nearly $900 on an unfinished product...which is how the ultra feels at this point.
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Agreed on all points except I prefer the wider note 10+ screen but yes everything else is spot on
catnapped said:
Mmmhmm, goes in and out of focus. Even if you tap to focus you have to practically do a shot right then or it's back to in and out again.
And I just did a 108MP photo of my cat in so-so light. Not really impressed. The only thing decent I'll say is the 5x & 10x zoom. Doesn't make up for the other issues though.
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exactly is that worth $800-1400 over your current device?