Related
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?
Would you say that the Nokia 6 (2018) is "fast" in day-to-day use? A higher rating indicates that you think the Nokia 6 (2018) exhibits fantastic performance. Like, is it as fast as your tears when you watch The Titanic?
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
This phone is bad to the bone. Now, with this momentum built up around the "who will make the better cheapster, since google killed the nexus" it fails to deliver. I had all the nexus phones and even another one from the android one project. This is not good and nokia should acknowledge it. They are not able to make the only proprietary app (yes the camera) which is different on each android one phone since google doesn't provide api for the cheap hardware, the phone even crashes sometimes, the app is so bad.
Phone is laggy on a constant snappy animations level. Gboard lags 90% of the time. Battery drains superfast, and heats up like an oven (warning appears) while listening to gpm and using waze.
And no, no "rogue" or battery hog apps installed or whatnot. Touch is unresponsive. The phone is like two weeks old and I'm thinking of returning it. This is sad, I bought it to support an old company from my childhood ...
I understand that snapdragon scaled down a processor to fool the cheap and google didn't scaled down android for some reason, but there is a difference between a slow phone and a laggy snappy annoying someting.
My two cents for people who are trying to find a "new nexus" is to avoid it at all costs. This phone might work for an older family member who just got familiar with android. But as I told, if you're looking for a new nexus, forget it.
I have the exact opposite experience than strapabiro. My Nokia 6.1 hasn't shown me any lag at all. In two months I had to reboot one time. The unresponsive touch may be caused by a screen protector. I saw this on another phone (non-Nokia). As for battery drain, I did experience this issue but the fix was easy. I turned off the tap to wake and whatever they call it when it wakes up when you pick it up. I found the phone was waking up all the time when it was in my pocket. Since turning that off I can run two days easy before having to charge it. The SD630 processor is plenty fast when you are not running a skin over Android like Samsung, LG, etc. The weakest thing about the phone is the camera. If you use your phone's camera all the time this may not be the phone for you.
Indeed I have a screen protector, but I had one on every other phone. This lift to wake up thingy is disabled for me also since I observed the false wakeups on day 0. I will try with the tap to wake up too. Btw the custom launcher isn't eating more battery than the stock since they disabled the stock when they installed the bloat one and even some oem have better launcher since lately google hires anyone who can turn on a pc, but that's not our case. Yes the camera thing is very sad and bad advertising for Zeiss. I'm not here for trashtalk. Anyways based on the fact that the phone is out since February and it's popularity is really low here, I'm not anticipating a bright future for nokia's second coming. I'd really like this phone to work honestly, design is awesome, they should do something under the hood ...
I'm another unsatisfied customer coming from a Nexus background. Stuttering audio on bluetooth and then this update fiasco. Always the provider, country or google's fault and nothing Nokia can do. Cheap phone cheaper customer service.
Not fast at all. Its a laggy device. Inspite of having sd 630, it works like sd 212. I feel software is the main reason for such a laggy performance
for the specs its got a lot of lag. doesnt feel like the rom is optimized.
Wow. I am surprised about all the negative comments. Which versions are having lag? I have a TA-1068 (for 2 months so far) and have yet to experience any lag.
Maybe because this is the 4/64 variant?
Mine 6.1 32/3 GB model runs smooth. After all updates up to july security patch.
The only thing i hate about the phone is the worthless camera app. It is slow and laggie. On the TA-1043..
Especially when you user the camera sometimes i n Whatsapp
64/4 version and it's very responsive. Best phone I've had for years. Had it for 3 weeks now, haven't had a single hang, or crashed app, I think I've only rebooted once. Battery life is great too.
no complaint about speed..all is butter smooth
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
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the , all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
My short review of redmi K20 Pro / Mi 9T Pro in croatian language (there are video and photo samples): https://android.bswireless.hr/2019/09/xiaomi-mi-9t-pro-odnosno-redmi-k20-pro-najpovoljniji-mobitel-s-najbrzim-snapdragon-procesorom/
I've had and used this device (9T Pro 6/128 Black, M1903F11G) for a bit over a week now. My previous phone was almost 5 years old (HTC M8), so for me this is a huge upgrade in every way. It is fast and beautiful and takes great pictures even in difficult conditions. Finally I have an AMOLED screen again and it is gorgeous.
I have not unlocked, rooted, modded the device yet. Running MiUI 10.3.3.0 PFKEUXM. I plan to keep it stock for a month or so just to make sure that any gripes I might have with MiUI are not just a matter of getting used to. I will probably put Lineage OS on it.
All in all I love the device a lot. It looks good and feels good in the hand. I have not used other modern devices, so I can't really compare. Instead I will list nags / negative things, then you can decide whether these are things you care about.
- Pop-up camera.
This feels like it would be a weak point, as it is the only moving part. It probably also makes it less dust and water proof.
I don't use face unlock and I don't take selfies, so I don't care too much about this. I like that the screen has no notch in it.
- It does not have stereo speakers.
Dual front facing speakers on the M8 were much better, but came at a cost of screen real estate.
I care about this a little bit, but for media I mostly use headphones anyway and for alarms, notifications, etc.. this does not matter.
- Finger print scanner response is inconsistent.
Most of the time it works very quickly (less than half a second) but sometimes it takes longer or I have to lift my finger and try again.
This is my first device with FPS so maybe this is normal. I like the idea of FPS on the back (Motorola, LG, ...) but I can't tell from experience whether this is actually better.
- The FM radio has no RDS and the reception is not very good.
I am probably one of the few people that care about FM radio.
- Lack of SD card slot
...but with 128GB internal storage that should not be a problem. On other devices that did have SD card slots I have always used them to expand internal storage, never as removable storage.
love it!
touch of jobo said:
This is my first device with FPS so maybe this is normal. I like the idea of FPS on the back (Motorola, LG, ...) but I can't tell from experience whether this is actually better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a fingerprint scanner on the back on my previous phone and this is one of the main reason I wanted to switch to a phone with a fingerprint scanner under the screen.
I use my phone a lot at work and most of time it’s lying on the desk, so each time I wanted to either use my phone, check message/mails or anything else, I had to grab the phone and put my finger on the back in order to unlock it and that was very inconvenient, especially when you do this 50/100 times a day.
Now I only have to put my finger on the screen and that’s it, don’t even have to move the phone, I like it much better, even though fingerprint scanner under the screen is not as quick as the one on the back.
Love it. I handed some devices with notch and I couldn't stand it. It may look strange but even the asymmetric bezels in mi 9t pro hurts my brain. Lol.
Switched from a Huawei P20 Lite to European MI 9T PRO and it's a huge improvement.
PRO's
- no notch
- better display
- updated hardware (resolves tasks much faster)
- better camera
- larger battery
CON's
- no expandable memory
- MIUI still strange to me (would've loved stock like OnePlus)
Overall I love it
Sent from my Mi 9T Pro using Tapatalk
In the middle of switching from a Mi Max 3. Not fully switching until I can unlock and root it.
Pluses -
LIttle bit faster than the Max but not enough that I'd not go back.
Better camera.
Cons -
No sd slot. First phone I've had without and not sure I like it.
Tiny screen. The Max series has been perfect for me and this is a major decider as to whether I keep it as I read a lot of pdfs and movie watching.
Unknown - battery life. Tiny battery in comparison and I'm used to 13+ hrs SOT so this could be another decider.
Meh - amoled isn't as much of an improvement as I'd been expecting after 2 years with lcd.
Had a zte zmax pro for years... talk about an upgrade! i did days of research, and continuously went up and up the chain of cost until I felt like I landed at the sweet spot for price and modern performance with the Mi 9T Pro. Just before ordering I realized AMOLED has "OLED" in it :highfive:. I live in the US so after showing coworkers they were shocked. One even commented how they basically paid 3 times as much for a phone that is similar (at best) than mine. Yup :victory:
Overall am amazed by the quality and performance as you can imagine. Now just looking for a daily driver to stick with. So far MIUI isn't bad, but I'd like to see whats out there. Thanks to the devs who continue to work on what they love, and allow us to use our devices to their fullest potential.
Love it too
all I need is no notch and it does , that's all
For the price, phone is really great . It's super fast, quality is good. My main complaint is lack of sd card slot, but it's not really big problem
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 8 Pro, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Redmi Note 8 Pro is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
I love my RN7,now falling in love in my RN8 pro..
It's amazing..and yes.. you can love your phone ?
Love speed, camera, battery. For me personally it's far better then my former phone (Mi Mix 2s)
Little cons:
- notification LED is far too small
- backside is too slippery (I won't use it without a case)
Display.. this is the perfect size and I love this phone..
Battery.. ?
I have ordered the phone 6/128 variant, will get tomorrow or day after. I'm excited but worrisome about the camera result at the same time. Let's see
Mine should also arrive tomorrow. I went with 6/64 variant, but that's good enough for me. Will report after a couple of days of use.
This is a really good phone at a really good price.
I just love the battery charging speed in this price segment.
I got my phone today and reading mode is turned off still at night, my display seems yellowish.
Check the screenshot.
This phone is everything I expected and more. The only few cons are overshadowed by it's price. Guess everyone was wrong about G90T. No oveeheating, smooth peeformance all the way. Also... more than decent primary shooter, great battery life,... Glad I went for this over P20 Lite. And cheaper too. Now only thing left is the wait until MIUI 11.
my good old Samsung Note 4 broke down, now I also have a Redmi Note 8 Pro, I love the phone too xD
Phone is awesome
Note 8 Pro Love
Had my phone a couple of days - upgraded from redmi note 7. So far loving it, seems really quick and glad to now have NFC. Face unlock is very quick and the main camera seems to be good - more testing needed though. Only annoying thing is lack of HD playback on Netflix.
Ian
I like this phone. Good quality, very fast, and battery life is amazing. My biggest downfall is lacking immediate bootloader unlock and lack of ROMs. I am hoping this phone will become more free and capable of customization.
The phone is really good and fast, apart from few problems, everything else is love. Camera is having some real issues and those for sure are due to software. Hardware for the main camera is the same as Realme XT then why improved video quality for XT? Xiaomi needs to improve the camera software so that you can rate this phone 10/10.
USA version that works with AT&T
Can any verify if RN8 / Pro will support AT&T LTE?
thorflea said:
Can any verify if RN8 / Pro will support AT&T LTE?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your carrier have LTE, phone support it.
I have 4G+ with my provider. Telenor
By far the best 230$ I've ever spent on a device. Just updated to miui 11 they def made some great improvements. My gf has a big gig note 9 she's like I want a RN8 pro her daughter has a S8 plus she's ordering one today. The camera and fluidness with this phone is amazing. Say what you want but this mediatek soc gets things done. There's rumors of a SD 730g series RN 8 pro but it's not going to happen it's a rumor so people are waiting for that variant to come out. Lol enjoy your wait.
Hello! Do you have information when the pixel experience firmware comes out on Redmi Note 8 Pro?
Bought it online China set China rom with installed Google 8/126, tried to find indian version due to dedicated sd card but not available. Previously owns mi max prime with global rom and it was easy to play with because google is available.
With RN8P china set/rom i had to explore deeply especially when using the browser which automatically give us several option either using baidu or sm (dun know what is this). Even cant use in app purchase at first which makes me feel little disappointed and ready to unlock and install global rom :laugh: and already download the software to start the operation
Luckily, after exploring in the phone i can change the browser in english permanently (unless i reset it) and also watched in youtube how to enable in app purchase if using china rom.
Now i feel happy because the replacement of my loyal mi max prime is up to my standard
Camera: Excellent with lot of option (i'm not expert but it looks great) dont need gcam...for now
Speed/Charging: Fast response
Network: Sometime I've got 4+ even though my line is supporting up to 4g only
Memory: Great, 126gb is my minimum standard requirement, can expand it using sd card
Keyboard: I'm using xperia
Gaming: Not a fan for heavy games for android. Got only Clash of Clans and Candy Crush...yeah just 2:laugh: but kind noticed the changing in temperature at back body.
Sound: Loud and clear, need to memorized that the ear speaker hole is just at the top edge
Processor: MTK? SD? nah....i'm not an expert
Satisfaction: Human never satisfied..just call it enough to sustain at least 2 years from now