INTRODUCTION
As some of you will be aware, my name is Glenn, more commonly (around here) known as LennyUK. I was chosen to be an OPPO Ambassador and have been playing around with the OPPO Find X5 Pro for a few weeks now.
Before I dive into this review I want to make clear that I have a pretty extensive history of reviewing devices and software, I have written for many Android websites over the years and have been a very long term member of XDA Developers and was once a recognised Developer. On top of all this I have owned an awful lot of devices right from the beginning of Android.
Why am I reminding you of this? Well, there appears to be an apprehension from some people to the Ambassador programme, thinking we have been told what we have to say, and will be inherently bias as a result of having use of the phone for free - all I can say is that everything I say will be my own honest, unfiltered opinion on this device and its software.
So let's get into it - The device I have been using is the OPPO Find X5 Pro. The colour I have is Ceramic White. It has 256GB of onboard storage with 12GB RAM. This is a UK build and I can tell you already (SPOILER ALERT!) some features do differ from the devices available elsewhere including mainland Europe.
https://imgur.com/OfCER3k
I also own the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, so I have a current generation, arguably the pinnacle of Android devices to compare this OPPO Find X5 Pro with.
PROS
Aesthetically this device looks stunning, I am struggling to think of a nicer looking device, comfortable to hold too.
Very smooth performance for normal use and gaming
ColorOS functions and apps are largely useful and well made
SuperVOOC charging is a game changer
The camera is very good especially in low light or night scenes with decent features for pro photographers but its telephoto options are not quite as good as some competitor devices
CONS
Beauty of the device is mostly lost when using a case, which most people will want to (and one is even provided for you)
In indoor settings/shade the display loses a lot of its magic, unless you choose to substantially increase the brightness level
Accessing the devices power menu is clunky and unintuitive
Audio Speakers are not great at louder volumes
Battery life is good but not exceptional
CONTENTS
UNBOXING - Post #2
SETUP - Post #2
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN - Post #2
DISPLAY - Post #3
SOFTWARE (ColorOS) - Post #3
CAMERA - POST #4
PERFORMANCE/GAMING - POST #4
AUDIO - POST #4
ANDROID AUTO - POST #4
BATTERY - POST #5
CONCLUSION - POST #5
UNBOXING
I won’t go into too much detail here as I have already published an unboxing video that you can find on my YouTube channel (LennyUK TV).
The key points to note is the box includes the phone, a Super VOOC 80W charger, a USB lead (USB A to USB C) and a soft touch phone case.
SETUP
Setup was a breeze. I used OPPO’s clone app to move my data from my S22 Ultra to the Find X5 Pro and whilst it took some time to do, it worked on my first attempt and without issue.
BUILD QUALITY/DESIGN
As stated above, the device I have been provided is the “Ceramic White” colour variant. It is also available in “Glaze Black” - is the rear of the device that is coloured with the front being a full edge to edge screen design that we have come to expect from any half decent or higher smartphone these days.
I have owned white devices previously, but not all too often, with the vast majority (which I am sure you can all agree) have been black, or at a push, silver. White is a nice refreshing colour to have, however, you lose most of the impact when you use a case, which many people choose to do, especially with flagship devices, as these are not cheap!
https://imgur.com/MMX2Txs
The back of the phone looks stunning, the white really pops and it is silky smooth - maybe too smooth (refer back to needing a case…) but in terms of looks this phone has something that many others do not - the Samsung S22 Ultra as a comparison is a big rectangular shape that has certainly been designed from a functional perspective rather than considering aesthetics at all. This was certainly not the case with the OPPO Find X5 Pro, it is clear a lot of thought has gone into its design (as well as its functions).
The back is made of ceramic (yes, the name of the colour gave that away), which you might find an unusual choice, but it works, really well - probably due to the very high quality polished finish and the subtle 75 degree slope, which OPPO claim is the “optimal curve for illuminating the body in sunlight or shadow” - which is great, if you are not using a case…
Aside from the colour, the device has a simple but modern OPPO and Hasselblad (the famous camera brand that has helped co-create the camera on this phone, more on that later) logo in the lower right hand edge with the camera cluster in the top left hand corner.
The camera cluster sits slightly raised from the device and contains 3 lenses and a flash/LED (I will go into more details on the camera further below) with the words “Powered by MariSillicon” sitting between two of the three lenses.
https://imgur.com/HYTMWtl
Having a raised camera cluster isn’t uncommon these days, with devices trying to be as thin as can be, but also trying to include powerful camera lenses that even pros could consider using from time to time but it does mean that the device can’t sit flat on a desk and the OPPO Find X5 Pro is no exception - without a case, if you use the device resting flat on a desk you will notice it wobble - it is at its worst if you try to use the top left hand area. However this is easily solved by the use of a case, including the case that is provided in the box with this device.
More on that case now - it is a matt black colour with a very soft touch texture on the external facing sides, the internal side is more textured, presumably to aid in gripping to the device - it fits perfectly, which I of course expected it to.
Back to the OPPO Find X5 Pro, the front is dominated by the 6.7” screen that for specs nerds, has a 92.7% ratio and a QHD+ (3216x1440) resolution. It has a hole punch selfie cam in the top left hand corner and a speaker very well hidden at the top (the earpiece speaker). Both the left and right hand edges curve slightly which is likely to cause issues for those of you who prefer tempered glass screen protectors, but there are many alternative options today that work great on curved screens - and I best not forget to mention, one does come pre-fitted on this device anyway.
The right hand edge contains the power button, which seems a bit silly to call a power button as its primary function, at least when the device is powered on is to do other actions (more on this later), but I suppose the name holds true when the device is off, that is the button that powers it on.
The left hand edge contains the volume up and down keys.
All three of these keys are well made, they are not wobbly or loose fitting like other devices can have, they click well and I cannot see them being a point of weakness even after long use.
The bottom edge of the device contains a centralised USB C port with a speaker grill to its right and a mic to its left. Further to the left is the SIM Card tray (the device also supports E-Sim).
https://imgur.com/HtDTOMc
The top edge contains the noise cancelling microphone on the right hand corner.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro is very nice in the hand, at least in mine, but I do have large hands so you may need to see for yourself - it certainly doesn’t feel too big for it’s screen size though and is comfortable to hold and use.
Its height measures in just shy of 16.5cm and is about 7.4cm wide and is less than 1cm thick (8.5mm) weighing around 218g. The weight is surprising, as it weighs a fair bit more than the S22 Plus but around 10g less than the S22 Ultra, but you really can’t tell - if I was to use just my muscle memory of the two devices I would have bet a lot of money (and lost!) that the S22 Plus was the heavier device. This is where the aesthetics of the OPPO Find X5 Pro really help to keep its size and weight both comfortable and manageable.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro also comes with IP68 water and dust resistance, which is what you really expect from a flagship device.
DISPLAY
As stated above the device has a 6.7” QHD+ display with a 3216x1440 resolution on an AMOLED panel covered in Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, currently Corning's top Gorilla Glass product. The S22 Ultra also has very similar display specs and the same Gorilla Glass.
The OPPO Find X5 Pro has a full 10bit colour depth so you can utilise HDR and has a 120hz dynamic display - keeping up with the other flagships out there at the moment (although not all of those rivals are performing as well as it should be in this department) - the “dynamic” part, should see the display going down as low as 10hz when a faster refresh rate is not required, which ultimately helps conserve some power.
In my day to day use I have not noticed any lag or issues with the dynamic functionality of the refresh rate - I cannot say the same about the S22 Ultra where on occasions, especially when the battery gets lower, you can visibly see the refresh rate slowing or speeding up, rather than it being ready on demand. The S22 Ultra also (at the time of writing this) fails to drop the refresh rate often, or very low and certainly doesn’t get close to the 1hz Samsung claimed it could - the OPPO Find X5 Pro doesn’t have the same issues.
It is worth noting however that firmware updates could likely fix the issues with the S22 Ultra over time.
But that is enough of specs, what you really want to know is how does it look? Well my honest answer is good, but not quite as good as my S22 Ultra, at least not unless I really up the brightness level on the OPPO, something you don’t need to do to get the colours to really pop on the Samsung - and upping the brightness obviously then impacts your battery life - however, in a bright environment the OPPO can hold its own the display is clear and looks great.
Colours almost look washed out (set to Vivid mode at default colour temperature) in those dimmer settings (with auto brightness set as you would expect) which is a real shame, but this is based on a direct comparison, for most users you will be using this device in isolation and it is by no means bad and should not really be something that puts you off the device.
https://imgur.com/yWRK0jJ
Some quick notes on the display software settings:
You get choice of light and dark mode (as you would expect, it is an android device)
Choice of 3 screen colour modes (Vivid, Natural, Pro) and 3 colour temperatures on a slider (Cool, default, and warm)
Eye comfort mode to remove blue light
Choice of resolution (auto, FHD+, QHD+)
Choice of max refresh rate (High 120Hz or Standard 60hz) - both work dynamically
You can choose to “hide” the holepunch camera (basically makes the notification bar solid black)
SOFTWARE (ColorOS)
At the time of writing this review the OPPO Find X5 Pro is running Android 12 with a March 2022 security update - a couple of OTA’s have already been pushed out in the few weeks the device has been released.
ColourOS (what OPPO call their “skin” of Android) is version 12.1 and the devices software version is currently CPH2305_11_A.17
It has a full Google/Android experience (GAPPS) so you have full use of Google Apps including the Play Store.
The device does come with some bloatware pre-installed, but almost all do these days - but you can easily remove what you don’t want.
The device has various apps and other features as part of the ColourOS experience including an OPPO Store, an E-SIM app designed for roaming called ORoaming and a meditation/mindfulness app called O Relax.
I have a very stressful life - I am a lawyer by day with a very very high case load, managing a department and also one of the directors of my firm - when I get home, I have a 4 and a 1 year old and 2 cats (and a wife) - all this leaves me with very little time to truly chill out and as a result I am constantly on that threshold of bubbling over into chaos from all the stress - but that is where I tend to thrive and is certainly my choice, so this is not a complaint merely just a long winded way of saying a mindfulness app is something that is very useful to someone like me.
https://imgur.com/a/5BA9o5s
O Relax on first glance has a selection of Ambient Sounds, Music and “coloured noises” (aka white noise etc) as well as some other sounds created in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen and Jo Malone London - you can set a timer and just chill out.
If you swipe to the left you get three options: “Listen”, which is the default tab, “Unwind” and “Explore”. Unwind hosts a selection of stress-relief games like bubble popping, deep breathing, colour manipulation or picture rubbing all with their own soothing sounds and colours. Explore lets you pick an environment such as various cities around the world and here sounds from ears of those cities, that background noise that helps you zone out. You can adjust how “active” those noises are. If real cities are not for you then you can also explore sounds of an alien world (yes really!) - which is a full Dolby Atmos audio production.
https://imgur.com/HbhP2zU
The device also features a privacy dashboard, accessible through the settings menu that enables you to control things like access to microphone or camera (globally, as it stops all apps from using them) as well as control permissions and other things like locking or hiding applications. You can also choose to have a toast popup that tells you when apps read your clipboard. The dashboard itself notifies you on how often location, camera and microphone have been accused in the past 24 hours, giving you details of when they were accessed and by what applications - you can also access the same data for other permissions if you wish.
You will also see notification icons for when the camera and microphone are in use, so applications shouldn’t be able to sneakily record you without at least giving you the chance to see that it is.
https://imgur.com/a/z05lh90
One feature the device has in the UK that it doesn’t appear to have (based on my discussions with those who have the devices elsewhere) in mainland Europe (or further afield) is Omoji - this is OPPOs version of animated emoji - here you can design a face and then manipulate it in real time via the selfie camera and your own face and take pictures in various poses which can then be used as your own emojis (via insert picture or video into your various apps).
There are of course many other features of ColorOS 12, more than I can talk about in this one review, but to name a few others you have Air Gestures (a way of controlling the device without touching it, imagine if you are baking and your hands are covered in flour), always on display etc
One final feature I will mention is the flexible windows - accessed via a hidden sidebar, not uncommon to find on many devices at the moment - is a quick way to access those important apps you use often, 2-factor authentication, or password manages are two good examples - they open as a floating window you can move around, or maximise, or close - this is much more useful than multitasking where it splits your screen, its quicker and far less disruptive enabling you to quickly do what you need to do then close out back to where you were - this is definitely a function I will miss when going back to other devices as whilst they may have similar functionality it just doesn’t work the same.
As an extra, I know some of you wanted to know - yes the phone does have a native call recording function.
It’s at this stage I get to talk about one annoying factor - and I know OPPO are not alone in trying to “mix up” the norm when it comes to this, what is it? Powering off the device… As I alluded to earlier, the phone has a power button, the button functions to turn the phone on when it’s off, or to turn the screen on and off when powered up, but it does not (in itself) control the switching off or rebooting of the device. Long pressing it does not bring up a power menu (it can be programmed to do other things) - instead, and no where in the documentation that came with the phone or on the device itself (at least obviously) does it tell you this - you have to hold both power and volume up to get access to this menu. You also have to hold it for a length of time that is longer than you would expect, just as you reach the point of thinking it's not going to work, then it does.
Yes, I can see the advantages of gaining a programmable hard key for other uses…but not at the loss of making switching off or rebooting the device ridiculously difficult to understand - your average user will simply not know how to do this.
CAMERA
I enjoy photography. I am not a pro by any means and have never had any formal training, but I do spend a lot of time taking photos with my DSLR, or mobile devices, and editing them - I am not amazing, but I am more than capable of getting some magic shots if everything falls together for me (one of the other Ambassadors is an actual photographer and his work is brilliant).
I know my way around a camera and had some things planned for this review, but unfortunately due to brexit delivery of my phone was delayed and the opportunity for some great night and low light photos was missed (I had a trip to the O2 Arena, London, to see Hanz Zimmer live, would have been great shots of the gig itself but also London at night) - since then I have been very busy with my day job and battling illness so opportunities to get great shots have been extremely limited, but I have still had a play with the camera, enough to give you some thoughts and a rundown.
Anyway, the juicy bits - the OPPO Find X5 Pro boasts three lenses and has been co-developed with leading manufacturer of middle format cameras, Hasseblad, if you have never heard of them before, shame on you! It has a 50MP Wide Angle Camera, a 50MP Ultra Wide Angle Camera and 13MP Telephoto Lens capable of 5x hybrid optical zoom (2x proper optical zoom) and 20x digital zoom.
The Wide Angle camera has a 5 Axis mechanical stabilisation system that really helps with mobile photography and can get you an aperture of f/1.7 which for a mobile device is extremely low - for those of you not camera nerds, the lower this number the blurrier the background of an image becomes, what is known as “bokeh” - perfect for portrait photos.
The Ultra Wide has a 110.3 degree field of view and an aperture of f/2.2 which gives you great options when shooting landscapes, or city scenes.
Both of those lenses use sensors from Sony - my preferred camera sensor manufacturer.
Then what really makes this camera stand out from the crowd is the MariSillicon X NPU (Neural Processing Unit) think of it as a form of hardware acceleration enabling the camera’s software to work brilliantly and do things it couldn’t otherwise do and all without impacting the on the devices CPU or GPU functionality.
https://imgur.com/0XbxqAr
Specifically this NPU enables the device to offer something truly unique when it comes to low light or night photography. You will notice that you can still truly see the colours and other details which most mobile cameras will lose without the images looking faked or over processed or without it looking like a daytime shot - because that isn’t the point - you want a night shot to be a night shot - you want the viewer to know it was taken at night, but without losing any of those important details and that is what the cameras on the Find X5 Pro and the MariSillicon X NPU allow for.
When you open the camera you are greeted with the standard “photo” mode, the click and shoot mode, moving that bar left or right lets you pick other modes including “Night”, “Video”, “Portrait” or “More” - in More you will find access to the Hasselblad Pro mode, a Hi-Res mode, Panorama, Film, Slow-Mo, Time-Lapse, Long Exposure, Dual Video, Sticker, Text Scanner and “X-Pan”, another Hasselblad feature.
Pro mode offers features such as a histogram and focus peaking and the ability to shoot in RAW.
If you are after a device that can take very nice photos in almost all conditions then you can’t go far wrong with the Find X5 Pro. The S22 Ultra also has very good camera options and the Find X5 Pro matches or beats it at almost every step, except one, which is the telephoto option - the S22 Ultra is very very good at 30x zoom and is somewhat good beyond that too, this device can’t go that far, but honestly, how often on a day-to-day basis do you need to zoom in that far?
Using the camera is a very enjoyable experience and it’s pro mode is one of the nicest on a mobile device I have used (Sony offers a very nice Pro mode on their devices, but it is still missing some key features that it’s own cameras or the Find X5 Pro have, such as focus peaking). It’s certainly a solid offering and highly competitive.
https://imgur.com/a/LtsgZSJ
PERFORAMNCE/GAMING
One thing that really impressed me, especially after coming from the Samsung S22 Ultra which you would expect to be the best you can get at the moment, is how smooth this device is to use - there is no UI lag, no missed frames, freezes or delay - it simply reacts to your input how you would expect it to do - you might think this should be standard especially in such a top spec device, but anyone who has used a S22 Ultra should know performance isn’t guaranteed…
The Find X5 Pro has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 CPU with 8 cores and the Adreno 730 GPU clocked to 818MHz - both pretty much as good as you can get at the moment and it shows in the devices performance levels.
I won’t be benchmarking or discussing those in this review, they are largely meaningless and often manipulated (yes I am looking at you Samsung!), so I am focusing on real world usage experience, my usage experience.
Anyone who knows me (or looked me up) will know that one thing I do like to do in my spare time, when I have any, is game, be that on a Console, PC or a mobile device - my current mobile vices include games by Supercell (Clash of Clans and Clash Royale), detective/escape room type games (e.g. Tiny Room) and mobile versions of battle royales (like Bullet Echo).
All the games I play have been smooth and responsive much like the rest of the performance of this device, however, no game, even those that say they can, goes beyond 60fps - however, the same can be said about the S22 Ultra, so it might be a game development issue - but that the end of the world when you know the games are not lagging otherwise - it is certainly far less frustrating gaming on the OPPO Find X5 Pro than the Samsung S2 Ultra.
AUDIO
I spend an awful lot of time listening to YouTube Music or Audible on my devices, including via headphones (Samsung Galaxy Buds 2, which work perfectly on this device with the Samsung Wearable App installed, I have not used the OPPO Headphones to compare) and on the device's speaker.
Whilst certainly not terrible, the speaker performance certainly isn’t as good as other devices out there - the louder the volume gets the more tinny it sounds, regardless of your EQ settings.
Audio performance (like displays) is something Samsung have got near perfect so I know I am judging the Find X5 Pro on a very high standard, but all I can say is, if using the speaker is your main device use, then perhaps this isn’t the device for you (but certainly weigh your decision with the Find X5 Pros other features).
ANDROID AUTO
This might not be your use case, but is it mine - I rely on Android Auto a lot when driving, for Google Maps, YouTube Music, Audible and various EV (Electric Vehicle) apps for route planning with charging locations etc.
I had some issues using android auto on this device, although I have since found a reliable workaround - when the device is plugged in to the car, it sees the car like a PC and gives you the choice to select if you want to “charge only” or “transfer data” - selecting the latter then ensures a reliable connection to the car - selecting the former might work, but could then drop out at random times.
BATTERY
The Find X5 Pro comes with a 5000mAh battery - this is achieved through 2 cells of around 2500mAh each. This is the same size battery that is in the Samsung S22 Ultra so I am able to offer a direct comparison given I have the same apps and same use case on each device.
Before I talk about its performance level, I want to talk about charging. OPPO have developed their own fast charging system known as SuperVOOC - for this you can forget about what you think about fast charging as you are about to experience something truly special. The SuperVOOC charger supplied with the device delivers 80w of electrical energy capable of charging from 0-50% in 12 minutes.
I was able to test this, as when I received my device it was completely flat - so I had no choice - and it really was amazing watching it charge up - the numbers just climb really fast whilst watching - it’s no longer like watching paint dry - and what's more, it’s real power - the device didn’t discharge any faster than it would had it been (super slowly) charged via a USB port on a PC. This is a game changer truly enabling you to have that rapid charge to top up a bit before heading out meaning you should never be without power (if you have your SuperVOOC charger nearby).
If you like to wirelessly charge, then you can purchase the AIRVOOC Charger (or if you pre-ordered the device you may have received one free) - this delivers 50W of charging power giving you a full charge in just 47 minutes which is very good for wirelessly charging.
OPPO Claim that the Find X5 Pro battery will remain at peak levels for up to 1,600 charging cycles, which is around double what you would normally expect to see - a very good claim, but obviously not something I have been able to test out, so I will have to take their word for it.
Now, personally I have always found battery reviews a bit useless - not because what is written is untrue, but because it is so hard to compare that with your own use case, because we all use devices very differently and in the end the only real test is comparing it from one device you own to another.
But we all expect to read about battery life, so here are some ground rules to help you out a bit. I am a fairly heavy user, I have a bit of a problem and use my phone little and very often throughout the day, constantly checking for new messages or the millions of emails I receive (both work and personal), it is my contact list, my calendar, my contact with my friends and wife and kids when at work (and not in meetings). I game on my breaks, I listen to a lot of audio, I have a smart controlled house and the phone acts as the UI hub. Basically it controls me… but that is a story for a therapy session.
What I am getting at is I have never been someone who can boast that I can get 8 hours screen on time from any device, it doesn’t matter what I am using how big its battery is or how new the phone is - I always struggle to get more than say 2 hours of screen on time and the Find X5 Pro is no exception, but I didn’t expect it to be - so don’t base your decision to buy this device on what I am about to say entirely - on paper this is a top spec battery and as I said above, the SuperVOOC charging really is something else and largely negates the negatives I am about to say.
I can make it through a full day of my use on this device, but only just - I am down to the last few percentages before bed, when I charge up overnight - sometimes even with a small USB (car or PC) top up throughout the day.
The battery is by no means a struggle and I am yet to find myself needing to utilise the battery saving software - so I could easily stretch it much further if I needed.
But does it perform as well as my S22 Ultra, the short answer is no - I am not sure what software wizardry Samsung have put into the device, despite its major performance flaws, draining its battery takes is a real effort.
I would say that the Find X5 Pro is probably up there in terms of Android battery performance at the moment, I have not tried enough of the latest devices to be able to say that it sits in second place, but it might well do, behind the S22 Ultra - but… we have to remember that no Android currently gives better battery life than the flagship Apple devices - we will have to wait and see if Android 13 can help that at all.
CONCLUSION
This is a very solid, usable device which is lovely to look at (if you don’t use a case) and hold. It performs very well but battery life is perhaps a little shorter than I would have liked.
It outperforms the Samsung S22 Ultra in day to day use in terms of performance and is a much nicer device to use generally as a result. The Samsung does have a few better areas however, but that doesn’t make the Find X5 Pro a bad choice, it just means it doesn’t quite match up to the top level of Samsung doing what it is literally the best in the world at - making displays and producing good audio.
Would I recommend purchasing this device? Certainly, if you are after something that looks great, is comfortable to use and just works well and its within your budget options then go for it, there is unlikely to be anything better at the moment.
Some of its other features are nice and useful but maybe not game changers but a few areas are:
The SuperVOOC Charger really is impressive, you have to see it to believe it (and I am very very tempted to put up a boring YouTube video of the device charging from 0-50%!)
Also if you are a night time/low light photographer, or a fan of Hasselblad cameras then this is certainly the device for you - whilst other devices have all improved recently on night photography and videography the MariSillicon X NPU that OPPO have developed really gives this device a proper USP.
Nice review. I'm presuming you are in UK by your nom de plume? Not sure where your unit is from, but certainly the one I received from EE UK doesn't have native call recording. Also, can't find Oppostore or ORoaming apps.
BlueMeany68 said:
Nice review. I'm presuming you are in UK by your nom de plume? Not sure where your unit is from, but certainly the one I received from EE UK doesn't have native call recording. Also, can't find Oppostore or ORoaming apps.
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Interesting, it's a UK unlocked device - I can only presume EE had those other bits removed?
Lennyuk said:
Interesting, it's a UK unlocked device - I can only presume EE had those other bits removed?
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Does yours have the regulatory stamps etched I to the back too? I'm on EE and that's what I got.
Luckily I have the white version which has the labels etched which is only visible in some light.
My wife has the black one and it looks awful with all the regulatory labels printed in white underneath the lacquer, the same colour as the oppo and hasselblad logos. She does use a case though but it totally spoils the aesthetic if not using a case.
mcall_r said:
Does yours have the regulatory stamps etched I to the back too? I'm on EE and that's what I got.
Luckily I have the white version which has the labels etched which is only visible in some light.
My wife has the black one and it looks awful with all the regulatory labels printed in white underneath the lacquer, the same colour as the oppo and hasselblad logos. She does use a case though but it totally spoils the aesthetic if not using a case.
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The CE, Recycling and UKCA symbols? Yeah, unfortunately it does.
Related
Hi All
This supposed to be subjective comparison between OnePlus One and Honor 6 Plus. I will not get into too much of technical details as internet is full or such reviews already. It is written based on my usage style and you will clearly see what is important for me. I am open for debate but just in case of any fanboys from either camp would like to argue with me – let me stress it out – this MY and SUBJECTIVE opinion and you can have yours as well
It will concentrate on main aspects as:
1. Overall build quality;
2. Screen quality;
3. Speaker quality;
4. Overall subjective speed;
5. OS;
6. Battery life;
7. Camera quality;
There will be no summary saying that OPO or H6+ is better as there are different aspects each of us takes into account and I would prefer each of you get its own conclusion.
1. Overall build quality.
Honor 6 Plus
H6+ feels solid, it reminds me very much small brick my iPhone 4 was. In various reviews I read that silver band around edges was metal but I dare to doubt. In my opinion it is plastic imitating metal. But it does a good job. You don’t fear that H6+ will fall apart in your hand. Some of my previous Samsung devices had this fragile feeling (especially this flimsy battery cover bending under fingers). Here we have very solid build mobile.
Still quality is not ideal – in my case the black plastic lip between screen and silver band is not even. Not something you will notice but as I am freaking perfectionist I do (believe me) check construction quality with my nose almost touching the mobile under each angle. Some reviewers complained about large gap on the back of the phone between back glass and black plastic. On my phone this is not an issue and glass seems to be glued perfectly. As you see these are not major drawbacks and I believe that they are totally acceptable on the sub £300 mobile.
OnePlus One
Oh boy I love the feeling of this mobile – this may be a bit of fetishism but I love the black back feel it’s “like sand paper meets velvet” feeling. It has great grip and its silver frame around display adds this elegant look. I have been using OPO for around 8 months and it still looks as new. Really I can’t say a bad word about its construction quality.
Both phones are quite different in terms of design and really which one you prefer it’s down to your preferences.
2. Screen quality;
Both mobiles have the same screen resolution and as far as I understand both are IPS displays with Gorilla Glass on top. Having them side by side I noticed that my OPO has much colder colours (I know that different batches of OPO had different colour temperatures on their screens). Even setting coldest colours on H6+ they were still bit warmer than OPO screen. Personally I don’t mind either as if you don’t have reference next to screen you really will not mind this.
Viewing angles horizontally are very good and almost equal on both mobiles. Horizontal viewing angles seems to vary and on my units - H6+ had better viewing angle from top and OPO from bottom but this has been only visible at angles above around 150 degrees.
3. Speaker quality;
If you use mobile phones speakers for what they have been meant for (ring tonnes and loudspeaker) then both phones are suit for this purpose.
If you are a young sadist who loves to torture passengers on public transport with “bumbumbum” music from tiny mobile phone speakers – then both phones will also suit this purpose – I mean torture.
Let’s be honest these tiny speakers will not play quality music. They can make quite a noise but if you have any respect to your (and other passengers) ears you will use quality headphones.
Still I did check both of the speakers and I must say that in terms of volume H6+ seems to have linear scale and OPO logarithmic. This mean that both phones create similar noise at max volume but at 50% H6+ is much louder.
It terms of sound quality at 50% I much rather prefer H6+ which sound was cleared and less tin like but it ended up with larger distortion at the top of the range which sounds just like tones on both end of the scale have been cut. OPO still had this tin like sound but at the top volume it was reproducing larger spectrum than H6+.
Again personally there are no forces on Earth which can make me to listen music on mobile speaker and call this pleasure. Therefore as long as mobile phone has loud ring tonne which I can hear and I can understand the other side during conversation over the loudspeaker I say it’s OK and suits its purpose and from this perspective both phones pass.
In terms of front speaker I didn’t noticed any significant differences between them as I could hear the other person loud and clear even in noisy environment.
OPO has 3 microphones while H6+ has 2 - still people claimed that they could hear me slightly louder on H6+ than on OPO – this could be due to different noise cancellation algorithm or just due to their subjective judgment.
4. Overall subjective speed (no benchmarks here);
Both phones are working great and I didn’t suffer any shutters of freezes during normal use. Still some games i.e. GTA III plays better on OPO, Riptide GP2 crashes on H6+ when I try to turn shadows on, but other demanding games like Reckless Racing 3, Modern Combat 5 or Deus Ex are working like a charm on max settings therefore it is hard to judge if H6+ really lacks a bit of steam under the hood or it’s just an issue with games optimisation for Kirin processor.
I know that most of you will refer me back to benchmarks and charts stating that this is obvious as SD 801 is better (just a bit but still) than Kirin 925 but honestly how many apps in the play store uses your processors, graphics and memory in 100%? C’mon let’s stop this MPix, MB, MHz race and let’s check real life performance.
I have been using Tegra 4 and Tegra K1 devices and beside these few great exclusive titles like Half-life 2, Portal or recently released Doom 3 (which probable would work on other SoC’s as well) for the most of the time it was a steam in the whistle – there are no apps able to use this power.
5. OS;
Both mobiles runs custom ROMs – Cyanogen in case of OPO and EMUI in case of H6+ I will not concentrate on general descriptions on both of these releases as there are plenty discussion and debates about both of them. I would rather say a few words how they feel in day to day usage.
OnePlus One
As you would expect it is highly customisable and I did enjoy this. It is full of small add-ons and features that you find handy. Still it manages to keep this vanilla feeling of Android OS.
For me it was like using a Linux distro on PC you can do everything you want but you have to know what you want and where to look for the feature in the menu.
It provides best vanilla experience of Android I experienced and all its add-ons we actually useful – for me most frequently used options was equalizer which managed to convince me that I actually hear bass on my in-ear headphones
Honor 6 Plus
This is as much iOS on android as you can get. In a good way. I love power management, memory management system management it’s almost like heaven if you like me like to keep your system as clean as possible – this is first time I didn’t have to install my standard set of third party management apps as all of the settings are built in the ROM.
Lack of app drawer wasn’t any issue for me as I usually ended up with all the shortcuts in the folders on desktops either way. Possibly if you have just few icons on the desktop you may find this change annoying but its 100% subjective.
In terms of user friendliness I must say I do enjoy all those little tips the system is giving you like – “oy! this app is working in the background and is eating battery are you ok with this or you want to close it”? This is very useful if you experienced before “google services” battery issue before. Personally I found myself spending less time looking for functions and access to them seems to be quicker.
H6+ has micro SD slot (up to 128GB) and despite KK limitations it somehow manages to squeeze apps onto micro SD card. Currently my system shows more than 20GB free space (out of 25GB total available for the user out of the box) in the main memory having 14GB apps installed!
I was using 64GB version of OPO so I didn’t experience memory problem there either
Micro SD also doubles as second sim slot (nano SIM) and from what I understand from menu description is 2G only. You can fully control default actions like from which card phone calls or messages will be initiated by default as well as set independent ringtones for calls and messages – useful feature for some but I didn’t have the need to use it nor spare nano SIM with credit on it to test – therefore I will not be able to comment on this feature.
OPO comes as vanilla as it can really be without any rubbish on it. H6+ has some fermium apps on it BUT most of them are shortcuts not really installed on brand new phone (0B size) and the rest is not embedded into ROM and can be fully uninstalled not hidden!! I would love this solution on my Samsung tablet which not only has mere 16GB of storage but is packed with tonnes of crapware.
6. Battery life;
I am a heavy user – my typical scenario: wake up, unplug mobile, check weather forecast, browse news over my morning coffee while streaming music over LTE, commuting =more web browsing and music streaming over LTE to my BT headset, a lot more of this during work and commuting back, evening more browsing over WiFi. I would estimate that I browse internet 2h – 3h a day over LTE + 2h music streaming over LTE with BT on and another 3h-4h with BT off;
Monthly mobile data usage is between 10GB-16GB.
Using OPO I had to limit myself as battery was around 15% at 5-6PM with H6+ I still have around 40% at the same time. Recent H6+ record 8.00am to 1.00pm next day. Normal users will get more than one day from both phones.
7. Camera quality;
I will not get into technicalities here – as far as I know both OPO and H6+ uses Sony sensors – OPO 13Mpix and H6+ 2x8Mpix.
First if you are looking for high quality camcorder OPO is the phone you should look at. It doesn’t mean that video from H6+ is bad but OPO not only has Full HD video recording but it goes further up to 4k. Still since I have no device to play back 4k videos or memory to store them (and they are huge) it is not a very appealing feature. OPO also can record slow motion video at 120fps on 720p! This is the features I miss mostly on H6+.
Again I am really crappy cameraman and my videos looks like first person view from drunken fly flight so I don’t bother that much about those H6+ limitations (ok I will miss slow motion video a lot ).
Now, the feature most important to me – camera photo quality.
Comparing both cameras on auto mode I have noticed that H6+ has wider tonal range, photos are not overexposed. Shooting photo of the bright sky and the ground contrast differences are much more settle between them on H6+. OPO usually (like most cameras) chooses one or another (sky or ground) to set exposure on. End result is nice sky and black ground or nice grass and white sky.
Now looking at the photos with correct exposure and comparing them site by site 1:1 it seems that grain and noise is visible at similar levels – colours on the other hand are better handled by H6+ as they look more natural and bit more saturated. Photos from OPO are bit colder and have tiny blue hue. Nothing major and most photos look very good on OPO - unless you are shooting landscapes in full Sun. Of course this can be mitigated by using HDR on OPO but still H6+ does the job without using such improvements.
Now where H6+ shines is low light performance – as both OPO and H6+ lacks OIS it may be tricky to get perfectly steady shoot. Using auto mode I took photos with both cameras in the dark room without flash with only bit of light seeping through partially open doors. On photo from OPO you are able to recognise shapes but that’s it – colours are lost and noise level is extremely high. H6+ photo is much better shapes are much sharper, noise is definitely lower and there are even some colours on the photo.
OK this was quite an extreme shot and probably compact camera wouldn’t produce much better (if at all) results.
Therefore I moved to something more subtle – lets simulate “party shoot” – rather dim light indoor in the evening – photos taken free hand without flash – oh boy this where you can see true benefit of dual camera setup – let’s be honest there still is bit of noise on H6+ photos and this is not an DSLR quality but for sure this is the best quality I saw on mobiles I owned (and it was quite a number). Comparing quality between OPO and H6+ you can see much more details on the latter, photo has significant less noise and photos are much sharper.
There is super-night setup on H6+ but really you will need tripod to use it as it set’s lower ISO and increase exposure time.
Good news is that on both mobiles you can gain full access to manual settings via my favourite app Camera FV-5. On H6+ you can change ISO setting and WB within standard camera app but since these functions are hidden on the bottom of settings menu I prefer to use Camera FV-5 as it not only brings these functions on the main screen but additionally allows to manually control exposure time and EV compensation.
It’s worth noted that OPO has ability to save files in RAW format which is missing in H6+
Wide aperture mode – it’s nice function/gadget, something you saw on HTC M8 and also mimiced by few apps on app store (i.e. google camera) – my advice – don’t buy H6+ solely for this feature.
It does work but it has serious limitations and end result is not always perfect. I haven’t tested M8 to confirm but from what I heard this function is working much better on H6+ than on M8 (M8 had to be disaster then ). To get decent results on H6+ make sure that your object is at least 2m from camera and background is fair distance away from main subject of the photo – this way you have the best chances that algorithm will “understand” photo depth correctly. Otherwise you may end up with some errors on the blur edges. Also don’t take photos of the objects with holes in them as blur will be applied outside the objects but not on “see through” parts.
As you see there are some serious limitations and don’t let anybody to tell you that you can leave your DSLR at home – still saying this I have quite a fun with this function. As long as you are aware of these limitations and have in mind “do’s” and “Do not’s” you will have as much fun as I do.
8. Summary
I hope you found this useful and if you considering any of these mobiles hopefully this will help.
Both have its strengths and weaknesses and as always there are no perfect devices the key is to find one perfect for you
Personally I like both mobiles very much – I chose to use H6+ as a main phone because of camera quality, speed and low light performance. From this perspective it serves me very well in deed.
Of course if you have different priorities you may chose differently.
I have planned to do some further comparison between OPO and H6+ cameras in full manual mode but as it will take quite a bit of my time I will do it only if there will be such interest.
Mean time if you have any specific questions please ask I will do my best to answer them.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Huawei P20 Pro, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Huawei P20 Pro is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Just got the phone today, overall it's ok, coming from mate 9 I would say the camera is impressive but I need more time to test it out.
P20 Pro First Impressions
Got the phone this afternoon and have had an initial play.
I came from the Mate 10 Pro so know the EMUI system fairly well and many of the P20 Pro features are similar.
Saw a tip from a reviewer to use night mode for all shots and gave that a go with some amazing results, really sharp with good colours in poor light indoors.
I have listened to audio on the speakers and in landscape when it changes to stereo the sound is good, nothing like a Razer Phone but good. Sound in portrait mode through the one speaker is only average.
The Bluetooth audio seems so far to be an improvement over the Mate 10 Pro which had a horrible compressed almost 128k sound even playing 320k files through Deezer. The P20 Pro seems much closer to the quality on the iPhone 7 which is great news so far but I will report back once I have tried some FLAC files on the internal audio app.
Other than that the phone seems slightly quicker than the Mate 10 Pro, possibly due to the newer EMUI version.
Updates to follow after more time with it :good:
Love this handset overall. Battery life is great, camera is great, screen is great, sound is great (which was a big bone of contention with me coming from LG V20!).
Please add section on real-life review for Audio Quality! Both speaker and headphones (wired and wireless!).
Just received my P20 pro yesterday and must say I'm quite impressed. The design & build are fantastic, I would prefer the fingerprint on the rear like the Porsche design (but not a huge issue).
Emui is a decent skin as far as skins go, it's easy to get used to and has a few nice features baked in without being to intrusive.
Camera looks very impressive but need a bit more time with it, but I'm happy so far with the results.
Performance is on point and everything runs smoothly.
So far so good and my first ever Huawei device and I'm overall very content with my purchase.
Duncan1982 said:
Just received my P20 pro yesterday and must say I'm quite impressed. The design & build are fantastic, I would prefer the fingerprint on the rear like the Porsche design (but not a huge issue).
Emui is a decent skin as far as skins go, it's easy to get used to and has a few nice features baked in without being to intrusive.
Camera looks very impressive but need a bit more time with it, but I'm happy so far with the results.
Performance is on point and everything runs smoothly.
So far so good and my first ever Huawei device and I'm overall very content with my purchase.
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Same here.
Hopefully we can get some 1080p 60fps EIS and 4K EIS in the future
So far so good, a few strange things like changing lock screen wallpaper and also updating widgets which I hope are simply bugs that will get fixed.
What with the leather texture design of the camera ui....I hate it.
Jamestdd said:
What with the leather texture design of the camera ui....I hate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It remembers the leica legacy
mcall_r said:
Love this handset overall. Battery life is great, camera is great, screen is great, sound is great (which was a big bone of contention with me coming from LG V20!).
Please add section on real-life review for Audio Quality! Both speaker and headphones (wired and wireless!).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed sound in headphones was a big concern for me before buying the phone as my previous Huawei's have not performed well in that regard and I have a V10 that I use when listening a lot to music. Though the P20 Pro surprised me it has good dynamic range and spacious sound. Not quite up to par with my V10 but good enough that it will not bother me at all really.
I love this phone. I love the camera. I can see the display out in the sunny day unlike the other phones I have which are hard to see outside on a sunny day. Phone feels good in the hand. I have dark mode on and it looks great. It is also really fast, no lags so far.
This is my first Huawei or China made phones. I have to say I am impressed. EMUI is not bad really, still missing some features but overall it's a solid contender. The night mode is insane...never seen a camera phone that can do this! Overall I have no regrets buying this. :good:
Definately satisfied, especially since fw 120. Best buy for me!
Let me first set the context. I am currently using an iPhoneX and Galaxy S9+ (Both 256gb model). Therefore, whatever I write here about P20 pro is against the experience of the existing phones (Both are top notch). Now Here we go about P20 Pro...
Camera: I was blown away by some photographs I casually took today both night and day (Auto mode). There are plenty of of options and currently the best camera (phone) in the market that money can buy.
IR Remote : None of the flagship has it. This was another reason to choose P20 pro after lot of dilemma. It's amazing. You can control almost any devices like TV, A/C, Music System etc including your home, office and public places!!!
Screen : Nothing less than iPhone X in terms of viewing experiences. HDR10 fully supported and its awesome.
Android Auto: Perfectly working (Flawless) with my Skoda.
Battery : 4000mah capacity, yet to be tested
Software: Plenty of good and garbage. You can remove garbages what you don't want. I use Nova prime. Supe fluid.
Kirin 970 + 6GB RAM: Flagship experiences but iPhoneX and S9+ does little better here.
Music: Excellent Bluetooth audio. With an active external amplifier the Huawei P20 Pro had the perfectly clear output that befits its flagship standing. Stereo speakers with dolby digital.
Fingerprint & Face Unlock : Fastest (Fast like hell!!)
I know resell value will be hopeless for this brand but I am fully satisfied with my purchase of P20 pro.
What else you want to know... ask
Overall reasonably impressed
I changed from a much loved S5 to the P20 Pro and so far I find it an upgrade in terms of speed and responsiveness (obviously!) but a downgrade in terms of a few other things.
Here are the things that are bothering me about it. If anyone knows how to help with any of them that would be great. Otherwise I'm likely going to return it.
I know some of the items are me being fussy but really I "upgraded" from a 4 yr old phone that has none of these issues.
Issue with screen dimming in some apps (IE: open WhatsApp, screen brightness drops, exit WhatsApp, screen brightness goes back up in seconds)
Edit 1: I have used a rubbish workaround of enabling auto brightness to stop this. However Huawei have confirmed this will be fixed in a future release.
Email notification icons don't show (and also, if you have 2 email accounts you only know if you have emails in the other if you access it separately)
Edit 1: I think I have resolved this by going to Notifications Management >> Batch Management >> Toggling All off and on >> 3 dots >> Badges >>Badge display mode to something other than current and then set to "Unread Messages" >> Toggle all off and on
Google find my device doesn't work on it (works via the app on the phone itself - not very useful as you wouldn't have it with you if you were trying to find it!)
Edit 1: Search for "App launch" in settings >> access app launch >> set google play services, maps, find my device to manual and enable all 3 items within the sub menu (you may need to download find my device - not sure if required)
Camera 16:9 is low resolution (7MP resolution from a 40MP sensor is very poor)
Camera 16:9 photos do not appear to be true 16:9 aspect ratio (it produces black lines at the top and the bottom)
Notification light tiny (ridiculously small, can't be rectified now obviously)
Notification light blinks soooo slowly (I feel like I need to look at the phone for a few seconds to decide if it has a notifcation)
Always on display doesn't show third party notifications like WhatsApp (can't understand why this would be the case)
Infrared only works with some apps (IE: doesn't work with AnyMote)
Edit 1: In AnyMote enable "User Alternate IR Commands"; this fixed it for me!
Infrared requires nearly direct line of sight (older phones I have used work when pointing upwards or downwards slightly, P20 Pro needs almost direct straight line)
Limited on-screen zoom in to gallery photos taken
If screen-on notification are on the notification light won't stay lit to notify (having issues identifying when this happens as it isn't all the time)
EDITS: I'm going to try and edit these as I find a fix for them.
So far I love it! The camera has been amazing, to the point where I'm not feeling anxious if I see something cool and don't have my DSLR with me. The battery life feels liberating.
WhiteSquirrel said:
I changed from a much loved S5 to the P20 Pro and so far I find it an upgrade in terms of speed and responsiveness (obviously!) but a downgrade in terms of a few other things.
...
Camera 16:9 is low resolution (7MP resolution from a 40MP sensor is very poor)
...
Limited on-screen zoom in to gallery photos taken
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Just a quick headsup, you can change it to shoot 40mp, it just defaults to outputting 10mp (not sure how you got on 7mp?) just like other high megapixel phones never really shoot full size 'out of the box', this is to both make it feel more speedy/snappy, aswell as to simplify the task for the phone (usually things like tweaking light after taking the photo, but in this device some 'ai' is apparently also altering filters shutter-speed etc on the fly based on what you try to take pics from, so im sure that benefits from lower res<->speed tradeoff too)
(edit: #1 wow my signature still works #2 its outdated )
suicidal.banana said:
Just a quick headsup, you can change it to shoot 40mp, it just defaults to outputting 10mp (not sure how you got on 7mp?) just like other high megapixel phones never really shoot full size 'out of the box', this is to both make it feel more speedy/snappy, aswell as to simplify the task for the phone (usually things like tweaking light after taking the photo, but in this device some 'ai' is apparently also altering filters shutter-speed etc on the fly based on what you try to take pics from, so im sure that benefits from lower res<->speed tradeoff too)
(edit: #1 wow my signature still works #2 its outdated )
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Hello there, the 7mp refers to my comment about the max P20 Pro resolution for 16:9 aspect ratio.
16:9 could easily utilise a 40mp photo with the top and bottom removed to make it widescreen-viewing suitable. Obviously I can edit this myself but that will be tedious when you've taken 100's of photos and want to view them nicely on every modern TV and laptop without big black bars at the sides due to 4:3 aspect ratio. The S5 allowed 16mp photos at true 16:9 which were absolutely fantastic and perfect for viewing on the phone's full screen, the full TV screen and full laptop screen with no large black bars at the sides.
nice phone, but won't be buying another Huawei device - software compatibility is appalling, they can't even get their own widgets working on 3rd party launchers, we are nearly 4 months behind with security updates, there's been no update on the mate 10 pro since march, so doubt if will see this phone get any regular updates - overall 5 for hardware, -5 for software and updates
Oh? I have just received the .131 version with June 18 security patch, the camera has been improved, as well as the smoothness, and the stand by battery stats. Hope you get this update on your unit soon, it's a good product.
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Sony Xperia 1, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Sony Xperia 1 is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
I received it today and after 2 hours I've sent it back. Horrible photos compared with my s10+, shaky videos,bad stabilisation, no volte calling possibility or Wifi call,terrible side sensor.
I've tried again with Sony because I like the design but again it's only smoke. Anyway great display
Sure?
https://youtu.be/2GepE25czo4
Enviado desde mi G8141 mediante Tapatalk
marko68 said:
I received it today and after 2 hours I've sent it back. Horrible photos compared with my s10+, shaky videos,bad stabilisation, no volte calling possibility or Wifi call,terrible side sensor.
I've tried again with Sony because I like the design but again it's only smoke. Anyway great display
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mmm i see later posts of you in what you supposedly "still" has the phone. And i see you posted the same about p20 pro and s10+... That take away all of you credibility
Ergonomic and productivity champion, full stop.
I seriously cannot go back to 18:9 anymore. Never used something quite like the Xperia 1. Video on top email at bottom with keyboard up, still plenty to read and write. Single hand grip is way better than XZ3, even with this tall screen, reaching the top for notification is no acrobatics at all.
Anyway, absolutely enjoying the 1, I'm evening considering to get the Xperia 10 Plus for my family now.
Sony always has a way of making desirable devices (Xperia S), but with crazy marketing decision. So after using my OnePlus5 for almost 2yrs I decided to buy into Sony's gimmick of 21:9 screen. Never held one in my hand before, but once I did, I really fall for it. The device feel so nice in your hand. The long narrow shape feel so good and secure! Haven't held a phone so secure for a while... and the screen! The screen is a beast! The screen is unbeatable watching 21:9 in Netflix, totally awesome experience. But, when you watch the normal 16:9 you will feel a little underwhelmed. The camera is also very nice. But for me personally, the size and shape and the screen is the best features of this phone. And actually I'm glad that when I pre-order the grey color went out, and I ended up getting the beautiful Sony Purple.
I bought it in black, it's really a jewel, ergonomic and light, very balance design but it looks very delicate and glides on smooth surfaces.
This phone really stands out for beauty and elegance. I really appreciate the bezel-less Chinese top look, but Sony is a step ahead. The bezels are shiny, it takes up the style of the old Z3 plus, this color ''reduces'' its thickness and adds an elegant mono-block look
A really nice comeback in Sony for me, I had been missing since XZPremium, beautiful one but did not last because frames were too square and big
Got the purple one since 19th june, so far the phone beyond my expectation and it's really good in my hand, i thought the size of phone makes it uncomfortable to hold but surprisingly very gewd.
marko68 said:
I received it today and after 2 hours I've sent it back. Horrible photos compared with my s10+, shaky videos,bad stabilisation, no volte calling possibility or Wifi call,terrible side sensor.
I've tried again with Sony because I like the design but again it's only smoke. Anyway great display
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you'd have surely known there was no volte calling/wifi calling before purchasing? Video capabilities are excellent and have been lauded in many reviews. As for your "it's only smoke" judgement, a tad harsh given that you only used it for 2 hours....still, what do you expect from a Samsung user?
I've had one for nearly 4 weeks now, it's the best Android phone I've used to date. Admittedly, I am a bit of a Sony fanboy but that is down to personal preference having used countless other phones from HTC, Motorola, Nokia, LG, even the awful Samsung down the years...I've been through them all. I've come to realise I like the Sony approach the best.
Great screen, very good photos if you know what you're doing, excellent video, I love the form factor which is almost the spiritual successor to my beloved XZ1. Nice weight and balance in the hand, the usual excellent audio capabilities as well. And none of that stupid curved screen sides, an utterly pointless feature/design aspect that will go down in history as being purely faddish.
Gotta say, loving this Xperia 1 as it is a great all rounder.
quick info - i have owned and daily used s7, s8, s9 (1+ years) mi note2, redmi note 7, mi 5 and 10 other mid-range ones (2-3 months) in the past 7 or so years. i do not like the way samsung processes the images on their phones and the way their phone behaves as they always seem to lag. apart from this i consider all of the previous mentioned samsung's great phones and the rest good phones. btw has anyone noticed how fast even the low spec xiaomi's are ?
MAIN SUBJECT - XPERIA 1
For whoever is concerned:
I bought the phone NEW and the network and wi-fi were always disconnecting in no more than 2 minutes from the moment they were up and running. Sent it to repair and it came back with some SW update.
After 1 week of using it, only the test call dropped and the network got disconnected. It works and the signal is semi-stable with occasional drops in power but never did I see it disconnect, apart from the test call of course.
It is a nice phone and does not really feel outdated (if someone was thinking that NOT having the whole front side as a display might make it look outdated) it is well balanced in the hand and the width helps in having a VERY COMFORTABLE grip BUT the GLASS is more slippery than any phone I have touched. Probably 80% of these phones (with no case or decal) will probably get damaged because of it. (someone should start a thread with pics of broken Xperia 1 glass front or back). It is fast, very fast... faster than all the last Galaxy S10 to S7 (owned for at least 1 year 7-9 and i have access to the s10 daily. Also not "+" versions so please don't start) but I still have to see how it will fare in the long run. Battery is also good, I would get the same from my S9, but the S7... ow how I miss 3 days of running time....
Other things worth noting: Cameras, Notification LED, Camera button with 2step press, weird colors on front camera and bad quality, no-pin SIM tray.
Last thing, the FINGER PRINT sensor. Take note of this - "Couldn't process your fingerprint. Please try again." Is anyone else having issues with this ? I have my finger enrolled 5 times and i still cannot unlock it with the fingerprint in 7 out of 10 tries.
Best of luck to all who want to buy one and/or have bought one. I am not sure now, after 1 week if I want to change it.
I've been using this phone for over 2 months now and I feel I'm ready to share my opinion over this device.
After 9 years of using android phones, mostly Samsung, after considering my options I took the decision to buy this phone. The main decisional factor was that is has no notch, punch holes or any other thing in the display. Other reasons were the display both the aspect ratio and the technology used, and the last but not the least was the camera.
I'm going to share my experience over the main 3 points of my decision, was I expected, what I actually encountered.
Form Factor
I remember the day when Samsung came with the 18.5 displays and everyone were like the doom day is on and what not... The first day I had my note 8 I was stunned to see how much of a difference is there is content when reading and article or a book. When I got the Xperia 1 and boot it up, took the first look of the screen felt exactly the same. It's ideal for content.
The phone sits very well in the hand it has an ergonomic feeling, materials are premium. I had no issues with the grip of the phone and I have big hands... I could hold the note in hand but it's not the same, 1 hand operation on the xperia is more easier than on the note.
Another thing over the Samsung phones I would give a plus for not having curved displays. They look good but the first time I dropped the note on the ground it broke in the corners, the second time the same.... I dropped the Xperia 1 over 5 times on the ground and I could see the dent on the frame, but the display has no issue.... Kudos for this
For the form factor I would give 5 stars with no second look over it
Display
It's an immerse viewing experience.
Some say that the 4K over 2K resolution displays the human eye cannot see the difference. From my point of view this is not the truth, I moved my sd card from the note8 into the Xperia, I looked at the same photos on the note and on the Xperia, the look minimum twice as sharp, and this looking over the photos taken with the note8.
Colour reproduction is good, I took the white balance settings found on the anandtech review and went along with it.
Brightness is also ok, I didn't had a situation when I found myself unable to look at the phone in direct sunlight.
For the display I would give 5 stars also
Camera
Here is where I mostly disappointed with this device... It has a ton of features and everything, it has engines worked with professional teams, eye focus, burst shots, super slowmo, what ever else... Sony sensor’s are found in half of the phones around the world... You would say that the camera should be the strongest point of this phone... Also their marketing campaign is based on the cinematic capabilities of this phone..
I take around 1000 pictures with the phone in a month, I like taking pictures, I like playing with the camera of the most as much as I can. For me the camera is main feature of any mobile phone.
With the Xperia 1, the most annoying thing is the touch focus... I like playing with the focus, focusing on objects that are not in centre of the sensor, with the Xperia 1 this is almost impossible. I touch the screen on the object, the focus circle turns green the image is still in a blur... Try this 10 times, maybe one works.
Another issue with the camera is the burning of highlights due to the HDR failure... In sunny conditions I have to take 2-3 photos for maybe one to be good and not burned, or to go to manual mode...
The telephoto camera is some of a joke... The images look better on a regular phone with 2x digital zoom.
Now these are all mainly software issues but they are a part of the whole phone experience and sadly it makes this a very bad one... I know that if you study a scene and find the best spot and the best settings you can take very nice pictures but this should not be the case.. it's not a professional camera for the experienced ones only to use... The auto mode should do the job for a regular user but it doesn't
For the video camera I cannot give many thoughts because I do not use it, occasionally I record something but not that much
Overall I would give 2 stars for this, maybe with luck over the future someone will fix these in a future software update
Others
Battery life is another thing that could have been done better... It takes me from day to day but that's not something that's meant to be praised. I have the same battery life as my 2 year old Note8
Speakers sound really good in my opinion.
Software updates / Community of developers, sadly I have to say that the updates are just security updates, the first update had some fixes but the rest were mainly security updates... This not something ok from my point of view. As for the community of developers, sincerely I hadn't seen one, there is a lack of people who would actually develop something for this phone.
Fingerprint sensor is working 30% of the time
Final thoughts
Overall I like this phone, I will continue to use it, I like the display and the form factor more than I hate the camera.
I just hope that someone from Sony will give me something for the 900e that I payed for this phone and fix the issues with the camera
here are my thoughts:
Display: I am wowed! it could be problematic viewing 16:9 videos but still, when I see that [email protected] HDR video on youtube or whatever this is soo stunning I have not seen any device perform better than this.
Battery: I see a lot of people argue about this, on 50-70% brightness by manual all the time, (usually I used to keep it 40% on previous devices this lacks a bit in manual-ill get to why in a second) got 24 hours of usage, 7 of them SOT, that and where I work I have trash signal so it takes out more juice, but even then Im still left out with 27% (including a bit of call of duty gaming, clash of clans here and there, lots of social media and some camera usage).
Lets talk about the brightness, if you all do the research of oled screens you will see a lot of information about pixel burn, which leaves the screen with a little ghosting effect, now that happens potentially on high brightness levels and if you know Sony, you know they care about their longevity of their devices (remember the fast charge that takes the same time? XD) thats why their max brightness cant be reached in manual settings, now compare that to samsung's s10 or s10+ their brightness go crazy high on manual (not their highest potential on manual but still very high) and people reported screen burn-ins just weeks after, battery on samsung goes trash after a little while too, phone becomes laggy, thats why the cute little things people care about in a phone like brightness and SOT is something pretty irrelevant because this brightness on the Xperia 1 is enough for you to view things even outside (with auto brightness tho) and the battery is more than enough to keep you charged for more than a day and even if other phones can last longer, lets be real, when you come home from school work etc... the first thing you do is charge your phone! doesnt matter what % youre left with, everyone charges their phone whenever they get the chance so they make sure they are not stuck at some point so thats very irrelevant to me...
Camera: A subject of debate here, since some people report disappointing opinions but here is mine, IT IS CRAZY GOOD! yes maybe in auto mode other phones can be more pleasing due to their HDR being enabled in auto mode unlike Sony, but using the manual is a huge step up for the sony and I havent seen any phone out perform it, you also have to know, Sony is great with cameras, but not even DSLR cameras have good stabilization without a tripod... yes samsung and iphone have better stabilization but that results in trash quality especially at night! I am no joking! photos and videos on Sony takes out samsung and iphone at night! and their Wide angel is trash compared to the xperia 1.
Overall if you want to buy a phone so you can have the best camera, there is no clear winner in flagships there will always be phones better than others in some cases or worse in other cases, so just buy a camera.
for social media its amazing especially with that 21:9 its simply so smooth and fills a lot of content and again WOW those colors ARE ACCURATE!! not over-saturated or artificially pleasing like other devices but STILL VERY SHARP AND COLORFUL! Its CRAZY!
all in all if youre looking for a great device that will still perform the same after a year or two, no battery issues or performance, or screen ghosting, a camera that on manual could look like a DSRL!! then yah go for the sony!
if you want a more pleasing devices for a couple of months in terms of unrealistic but more pleasing colors in both camera and display, with a battery thats only better for a couple of months, there are better phones out there. Unless its an iphone 11 pro since it has very natural display and camera overall go ahead pay that amount and enjoy their very closed minded software (but people say its smooth LMAO yah have you even seen a none smooth phone in 2019? XDDD)
I hope you enjoyed
You should shoot 5000 more photos to learn how to use it
Enviado desde mi J9110 mediante Tapatalk
madshark2009 said:
Lets talk about the brightness, if you all do the research of oled screens you will see a lot of information about pixel burn, which leaves the screen with a little ghosting effect, now that happens potentially on high brightness levels and if you know Sony, you know they care about their longevity of their devices (remember the fast charge that takes the same time? XD) thats why their max brightness cant be reached in manual settings, now compare that to samsung's s10 or s10+ their brightness go crazy high on manual (not their highest potential on manual but still very high) and people reported screen burn-ins just weeks after, battery on samsung goes trash after a little while too, phone becomes laggy, thats why the cute little things people care about in a phone like brightness and SOT is something pretty irrelevant because this brightness on the Xperia 1 is enough for you to view things even outside (with auto brightness tho) and the battery is more than enough to keep you charged for more than a day and even if other phones can last longer, lets be real, when you come home from school work etc... the first thing you do is charge your phone! doesnt matter what % youre left with, everyone charges their phone whenever they get the chance so they make sure they are not stuck at some point so thats very irrelevant to me...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How is auto brightness on the Xperia 1 in regards to screen longevity / pixel burns? Is it safe to always use auto brightness? I really like the auto brightness on the Xperia 1, first Xperia I actually use auto brightness on (previous LCD Xperias were like, far too bright in auto brightness mode).
EliasAlucard said:
How is auto brightness on the Xperia 1 in regards to screen longevity / pixel burns? Is it safe to always use auto brightness? I really like the auto brightness on the Xperia 1, first Xperia I actually use auto brightness on (previous LCD Xperias were like, far too bright in auto brightness mode).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it is related because some people like to use max brightness even in lowlight which will hurt the screen because its oled, if you want you can check out the reports on youtube using oled screens.
if you also search you will find that apple has made it very hard to find the switch to turn off auto brightness on their latest devices that use oled, its not as easy as it was finding that option because they want to prevent users from using bright settings in lowlight conditions because that will help prevent pixel burns. and sony's approach is to simpley minimize the max brightness on manual so users dont over-use brightness in which case this will also help prevent pixel burn which leaves the device more pleasing in terms of screen in the long run.
now if you are using auto brightness this will not hurt your screen because the device will lower itself when you are in lowligh/in doors and will only go high when youre outside.
Although if you can notice also, the brightness on auto will be like manual on max even outside, but will only go brighter when youre using camera or watching media, but using normally like instagram or chrome or whatever it will only be as bright as manual on max when youre outside, which is an even more inelegant approach to help prevent pixel burn.
Bottom line is, Oled screens WILL have pixel burns, but in terms of how soon? or how bad the effect? that depends on the usage of brightness, thats why Sony's oled screens will last longer because of their approach.
Pros:
Screen
Speed
Design
System
Camera
Memory
Cons:
Average Battery life
A bit bigger
No Edge screen as XZ3
No 90-120Hz touch
Price and market availability
Fingerprint sometimes mess
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Sony Xperia 1 II, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Sony Xperia 1 II is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
One of my all time favorite phones / camera's
So I have been able to play with and use the xperia 1 ii for over 4 days.
this will be a short review and perhaps I will add to it at a later moment.
Main Things I Didn't Test
* Gaming
* Video
Look and Feel
I personally really like the look and feel of this phone. It has some iPhone 4 qualities to it. By which I mean it feels like a device/tool with nice buttons, very high quality materials. It feels like a tool, like a device that is build for usability rather than build for the wow factor (if that makes sense).
It doesn't have a crazy high screen to body ratio. So something like S20 (or the S10 i used previously) is a bit more awe inspiring. But as soon as you slap a case on a S10 this will disappear any way. But what it has is a uninterrupted screen with no notches or punch hols, it has two front facing high quality speakers. It is function over form rather than form over function. That is not to say that it is not a good looking device it is very nice build it look really great. Although I'm not a fan of mirror polishing but you will not notice that as soon as you slap a cover on it (and it looks way better than the ugly blue s10). I have the official Sony case with stand which will still allow you to see the very nice sides of the phone; they are beautifully machined and have a nice color (especially with the purple one).
The buttons of the volume and the power feel really nice, they have a reassuring click to them. The only thing I'm missing is a click for the shutter button. Perhaps it is not implemented to make sure you don't move the phone while clicking. This has a bit of a downside when you don't have a shutter sound enabled. As the camera is crazy fast and it is therefor hard to see / notice if you took the photo or not. A click would have been nice. But when using the phone more often I got used to it.
Screen
The screen is absolutely amazing especially in creator mode. Colors are very accurate and it is a real joy to watch media on this phone be it movies, clips or photos. Because of the very high PPI reading news or books is possible with small letters it basically looks like it is printed. Compared to my old s10 which has a amazing screen as well I prefer the Sony as it has such natural colors and this printed feel to it. Also the colors are good with low luminescence something the s10 could not manage. That being said the max brightness is a bit less than the s10 and I feel that the display is a bit more reflective. But this could be caused by the fact I keep the brightness down with the Sony as thing look really good with low brightness. That being said I did not encounter any problems reading the screen outside on a bright day.
The screen ratio is really handy. I never used split screen a lot on previous devices. But since it is slightly taller than a s10 (while having the same width) it makes more sense to use it and I use it for more often now (watching YouTube while messaging). I don't feel it is a big phone. It is a bit heavier than the s10 but also it feels better build than the s10. Compared to a Note 10+ the height is similar but the width is significantly less.
Sound
Front facing speaker are great far better than the S10 or any other phone I used. Switching on Dolby Atmos is mandatory as without it is not that good. You really have stereo sound and both speakers are equal in terms of loudness positioning and quality.
The sound quality from the audio jack is good and you have quite a lot of options to set the sound to your tasted. As I mostly use wireless atm I have not tested this comprehensively.
Speed
It is fast, sometimes notably faster than the s10. I think is mostly because of faster memory as I don't to that much cpu intensive stuff. That being said I think the most phones for the last couple of years are fast enough for most of the tasks any way.
5G / reception
5G works no idea if it is faster than 4g. didn't run any test as 4g didn't give me any problems. Reception seems to be very good at least better than the S10. Some places where I did not have a great reception or didn't have any reception with the s10 I do have with the 1ii. Maybe this could be because of 5G (as it uses multiple connections), or maybe not, I have no Idea . WiFi is stable and fast. Bluetooth as well.
Call quality.
It is great, voice is really good, again better than the s10
Battery
it is good, I'm a heavy phone user as I use it for lot's of reading, emailing, work stuff, music and YouTube. No complains and even slightly amazed considering is has "only" a 4000Mha battery
Camera (and a little bit about pricing)
Properly the most important part of this phone it the camera. As Sony did not release a "cheaper" version of the phone with 64GB like the iPhone 11 pro it is a very expensive device and the camera is it's main selling point. Although you could argue it should be compared with a 11 pro max which makes the Sony cheaper than a iPhone 11 pro max (256GB) or similar priced to the 64GB version. I don't understand reviewers that give a lower rating because of the price. It should be compared to an 11 pro (max) or S20+ / Ultra. Personally I think it comes out ahead in many comparisons to these phones. The 1ii is a "pro" phone with a pro price. But than again a "pro" phone is a silly concept to begin with (the only pro phone I ever used was the blackberry passport, best professional / work phone ever, but bad at anything else).
First a small disclaimer. I didn't use the android camera at all (only for scanning a QR code) as you get a photo pro app which should be used if you buy this phone. Secondly I like photography I have used many camera's over the years and also may phones. Up till now my two favorite camera phones where the Lumia 950XL for color and the Mate 9 for b&w photography. The Lumia still amazes me to this day and Nokia/Microsoft did not get enough credit for there work. It was the only phone I knew that could really capture light. Also I don't care for AI powered camera apps. I understand that this is really handy if you just make snapshot and don't care about doing photography your self. I don't care for "HDR" images as all it accomplish is that it removes shadows and makes for a equal brightened image regardless of how the scene looks. If you like these things I'm not sure that this is the phone for you as Google, Samsung and Apple are better at these things
The camera app phone combination is amazing. It really gives you the feel that you are using a camera and more importantly that you are in control. It is a unbelievably fast combinations. For instance; I tried to take a photo of a dog and I was sure I mist it. As he started moving as soon as I pressed the shutter button but to my amazement the camera took the picture, it must have been less than a second between me clicking and the dog moving. I think it might be faster than my RX100m6. If you like to tinker and you know what shot you want and how you want it to look there is not better phone atm. (the Samsung pro camera is highly unusable and Huawei sadly doesn't have Google apps).
The 20fps works really good as well, it is amazing to use on a phone and to be so sure of the results (yes I know I'm using the word amazing a lot). Another surprise is the performance of the digital zoom it is far better than expected is highly usable. Also it is quit nice to have a 70mm option, although I feel that it doesn't perform on the same level as the other two sensor / lens combinations it seems a bit softer and not as sharply focused. The hero of this phone is the main 24mm sensor / lens combo it performs the best and has all the possible options. For the xperia 1iii I would like to see a 50mm included as well. The colors are natural and this gives you the opportunity to post processes the picture your self more easily than say a iPhone or Samsung.
There are some things I would like to see in a software update. Mainly the ability to zoom in normal focal lengths instead of continues (so from 24 to 28 to 35 to 50 etc). To change the shutter sound to a soft click sound. The ability to set sharpness , contrast and saturation. Last but not least RAW support. Also I had a couple of times the app freeze on me but as this is the first version I presume they will fix this.
a bunch of pictures with various focal length and lighting conditions:
https://we.tl/t-8rRytOUylm
Video
didn't really use it and on cnet there is a great review about its video capabilities including a nice short movie. It's great; one of the best reviews ever for any phone or product https://www.cnet.com/news/sony-xperia-1-ii-review-yep-thats-a-real-telephoto-lens/
If you have any questions I will try to answer them (I will not install apps to check stuff )
stefanve said:
So I have been able to play with and use the xperia 1 ii for over 4 days.
this will be a short review and perhaps I will add to it at a later moment.
)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see link in original post for full rez pictures
Really great feedback, thanks. As a prospective buyer who mainly takes photos of friends/family/selfies, how does the 'shoot and point' on the camera pro app hold up? I'm
a big fan of the portrait mode on my Mate Pro 20, does this phone have a similar mode?
Tmel14 said:
Really great feedback, thanks. As a prospective buyer who mainly takes photos of friends/family/selfies, how does the 'shoot and point' on the camera pro app hold up? I'm
a big fan of the portrait mode on my Mate Pro 20, does this phone have a similar mode?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the phone for two days. I'd say this is not a phone you'd buy to be "point and shoot" camera. The main camera app takes good photos but not the best. To get best photos, you should use the camera pro app. It is a solid app/camera and I feel like I have a close to DSLR camera in my pocket. Colors are very natural and accurate compared to manipulated photos you get from Samsung or even Pixel camera app. It does have a portrait mode that works fine however in Camera Pro if you learn to adjust focus manually can have similar effect even better.
Thanks for the heads up. Any tweaks you'd recommend to the default settings on the camera pro app?
The pro mode has a auto mode which is quit good. And I used it for a couple of shots I shared. So it can work really well. I guess it is depending on the look of the auto mode settings and if the other pros of this phone are of interest to you
stefanve said:
see link in original post for full rez pictures
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OMG! Sorry man, I'm quite shocked by the quality photos form your X1 II. Seriously horrified! There are a couple of good pics from your sample bunch. All others are out of focus, under / overexposed, low detailed etc. I clearly recognize my personal experience with my current phone - Xperia 5 - hit or miss, around 50% of good outcome. Now I'm fully convinced to not even look at possibility of getting Xperia 1 II . Thanks
Love and Hate from me. Eagerly waited for it since announcement and first adverts. High expectations, not only because of SONY´s promises but mostly because of my experience with and long - term SONY user / devices. Most of my SONY phones delivered good images: my XZ Premium, XZ2 Premium, even my last addition, the X, gives me proper images. Not counting the older device along my lifetime (SE68, W-Series, K-Series and so on). But this MK2 is more Hate than Love. Gorgeous design, screen, speakers. Fast and, finally, more storage (novum at SONY!). But the camera - system is a no-go. Mediocre image quality from all but the main camera, even with the 24 lens it delivers inconsistent material. Videos are simply said...to forget. Focus is a hit and miss game when light conditions are different from sunny - outdoor. From 10 images half is usable, depending what lens was used. Not to talk about the front camera. I just informed Sony about my complain and offered them my image and video material to check it. Dunno if they will give me reply....
WarVic said:
OMG! Sorry man, I'm quite shocked by the quality photos form your X1 II. Seriously horrified! There are a couple of good pics from your sample bunch. All others are out of focus, under / overexposed, low detailed etc. I clearly recognize my personal experience with my current phone - Xperia 5 - hit or miss, around 50% of good outcome. Now I'm fully convinced to not even look at possibility of getting Xperia 1 II . Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to say I really like most out of camera photo's, but they don't sharp the photos or use HDR ( you can switch it on) but I guess in the end is about personal taste. to my eyes they look miles better than anything samsung.
just to show what you can do with the out of camera photos (I hope raw support will be added soon) look at the different versions of two photos.
But indeed this phone is not for some one that wants a camera that " just works"
That's fine then. For me they looks like made by Galaxy S5 really. Old dinky Pixel 1 makes a way better shots straight out of the camera to my opinion. Thanks for sharing photos anyway. You've stopped me from making a very costly mistake.
WarVic said:
That's fine then. For me they looks like made by Galaxy S5 really. Old dinky Pixel 1 makes a way better shots straight out of the camera to my opinion. Thanks for sharing photos anyway. You've stopped me from making a very costly mistake.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure if you looked at the images attached to the post. but keep in mind that XDA is heavily compressing the images. so pixel peaking is not advisable and I can understand you would say it seems to be at S5 level
stefanve said:
Not sure if you looked at the images attached to the post. but keep in mind that XDA is heavily compressing the images. so pixel peaking is not advisable and I can understand you would say it seems to be at S5 level
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not an idiot or simply blind, mate . I downloaded your archive with full sized images and had a good look at them. Sorry man but it's just complete disaster, "unbelievable" photo quality. And it's not just subjective opinion or a matter of taste. If I spent $1200 on a camera-phone which makes photos like THAT.... I'd return IT without a second thought. It's hard to believe that future patches and fixes will help. Anyway, Sony has a tremendous job ahead. Otherwise I predict mass returns, very poor sales or significant price drop.
WarVic said:
I'm not an idiot or simply blind, mate . I downloaded your archive with full sized images and had a good look at them. Sorry man but it's just complete disaster, "unbelievable" photo quality. And it's not just subjective opinion or a matter of taste. If I spent $1200 on a camera-phone which makes photos like THAT.... I'd return IT without a second thought. It's hard to believe that future patches and fixes will help. Anyway, Sony has a tremendous job ahead. Otherwise I predict mass returns, very poor sales or significant price drop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not saying or thinking you are an idiot, just checking
Funny how different people see different things looking at the same image. That being said if the main reason of this phone is to have a great camera than indeed it's disappointing and it's better to get a RX100V or what ever and a mid range phone for the same money. I guess no phone is worth 1200 it is way to much for any phone and perhaps especially for a android as the long term support is non existing.
I just have fun snapping with it and i am pleased with the output (considering that it is a phone
Noticed gaming performance is dropping, guess I've installed something....
Playing COD, every 10 odd seconds it shows, then goes back to normal.
Notice this in other games to, even silly idle games that should be pulling no demand. One of them even said, drop to low performance mode, your phone is struggling. WTF!
My previous phone, one lower chip model and g card model never had any problems.
Must be done software conflicts, but dunno how to find them
Am I the only one who doesn't see what's wrong with the pictures that have been posted?
They are perfectly fine. But if you are used to processed photos from Samsung, Google or Apple you might not like the look as these are basically not altered by some algorithm.
Burst shot of me Pooch : https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=18Os3AQ2j0TuqaFjJ6c9h-TvFGr2zyIk1
WarVic said:
I'm not an idiot or simply blind, mate . I downloaded your archive with full sized images and had a good look at them. Sorry man but it's just complete disaster, "unbelievable" photo quality. And it's not just subjective opinion or a matter of taste. If I spent $1200 on a camera-phone which makes photos like THAT.... I'd return IT without a second thought. It's hard to believe that future patches and fixes will help. Anyway, Sony has a tremendous job ahead. Otherwise I predict mass returns, very poor sales or significant price drop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This guy is not an idiot either
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zevK7xMsYdA&feature=youtu.be
---------- Post added at 03:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 AM ----------
I think the standard photo App is still a work in progress - a rushed unfinished bolt on that is likely to be improved over the next few updates - they wanted to get this phone to market before they lost the window - understandable
I expect improvements and will wait a few months to see if they materialise before I make a purchase
we need to remember what they are pushing in this phone - the Pro Camera availability and I am loving the idea, a new concept in the market
Think of it this way, what if they never included the standard photo app at all and just improved the auto functions of the pro app, that may have been their intention during development but decided to throw in the standard app last minute - you can't please everyone all at once
Geoffxx said:
This guy is not an idiot either
&feature=youtu.be
---------- Post added at 03:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 AM ----------
I think the standard photo App is still a work in progress - a rushed unfinished bolt on that is likely to be improved over the next few updates - they wanted to get this phone to market before they lost the window - understandable
I expect improvements and will wait a few months to see if they materialise before I make a purchase
we need to remember what they are pushing in this phone - the Pro Camera availability and I am loving the idea, a new concept in the market
Think of it this way, what if they never included the standard photo app at all and just improved the auto functions of the pro app, that may have been their intention during development but decided to throw in the standard app last minute - you can't please everyone all at once
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't use someone on the Xperia YouTube channel to counter the comment from someone criticising the quality as it'll just be massively biased towards Sony lol
If it's like the Xperia 1 you'll be waiting forever for the improvements to come so I wouldn't hang around.
Here's my review after owning for 10 days. I am not an Oppo ambassador so therefore these thoughts are not biased in any way. I could have gotten a Samsung S22 Ultra for around the same monthly price (maybe it was £5 more) but the lack of charger in the box put me off. The Oppo gift incentive also swung me over.
I'm sure everyone knows about the features and specs of the phone so far so I won't bother with those.
What I like:
- The build quality and design are exceptional, without a case the phone feels great in the hand, although it's very slippery if you have cold hands and there is no clammyness from your fingers to provide grip. The ceramic feels better than glass and I haven't seen any scratches yet. It also feels very slim so one handed use is possible.
- The screen is very good, even in 1080p it's hard to see the pixels compared to other 1080p phones.
- Main camera and ultrawide very good, in the right lighting conditions they provide excellent shots with plenty of detail.
- Fast and very few stutters in the OS. I haven't encountered any bugs yet.
- Charging is insanely quick and phone doesn't really get hot when charging.
- XPAN is cool and interesting.
- Vibration motor is much better than previous phones I've used. On the strongest setting I won't be missing any calls.
- Battery life is reasonable in terms of SOT. I consistently get 6-7 hours under heavy use.
- Wireless Android Auto works flawlessly.
What I don't like:
Camera
- You cannot zoom or switch between cameras when shooting 4k60 video.
- Some shots on the main and ultrawide cameras can be over exposed, it sometimes takes a few shots in the same light to get a good one. Hopefully they can fix this in a future update.
- Some indoor daytime shots of moving subjects are always blurry.
- Selfies are often, in my experience, over exposed, and not on par with what I've seen from P40 Pro.
- Videos taken in 1080p do not send well over Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. It could be to do with the compression used in this format, but once uploaded to these sites, the videos are very choppy, colours are crushed, and the videos are in general pretty unusable. Only videos sent in 4K look ok. This was an issue with the Find X3 Pro, and I am not sure why Oppo have not addressed this yet.
- There's no getting around the fact that this phone lacks any reasonable camera zoom at all. 2X is not zoom in my opinion.
- Forget nighttime shots of moving subjects, night photo takes 2s to process (although quicker than other phones).
- I feel like the MarisiliconX thing is mostly a marketing gimmick.
Screen
- The AlwaysOnDisplay is very dim and there's no way to change it. Also the coloured icons are very hard to distinguish at a glance. If the display is dim, then greyscale icons would be easier to see.
- 120Hz doesn't seem to be active in a lot of apps, so I had to manually force it using an app from youtube video.
Software/OS
- Cannot increase grid size in ColorOS launcher any more than 5 x 6. Please give option for up to 9 x 6 like Nova? Otherwise launcher is perfect!
- There is no desktop mode when plugged into a usb-c monitor like Samsung Dex or Huawei EMUI Desktop. You can indeed enable desktop mode in developer settings but it's not the same experience.
- When using a 3rd party launcher (I always use Nova), there are some bugs when going back to home screen, e.g. the recent apps screen flashes up for a split second when it shouldn't. Because of this I forced myself to get used to ColourOS launcher.
- There is no button to turn off/on 5G in the notifications quick settings menu.
- "Hey google" only works in Android Auto & Google Maps if you have the global "Hey Google" listening setting enabled. Not sure if this is an android 12 bug or just Oppo bug.
- Oppo PC Connect is only available on PC, not Mac or Linux.
Battery/Charging
- Standby battery life could be better. It drains about 5-7% overnight when my Huawei P40 Pro only drained 2%. If I barely use the phone during the day (only check/reply to messages etc and use around 1.5h SOT), then the battery is still below 40% when I go to bed. My P40 Pro barely drained when not used heavily. Of course Huawei do much more aggressive battery/memory management and if I enabled optimisation for all apps in the Oppo's settings then maybe I could get similar but I don't want to mess with notifications.
- Wireless charging with a non-oppo wireless charger seems very slow. I have a 5W charger in my Lexus and when charging using it, the phone still loses battery when using wireless android auto.
All in all, I actually preferred using my old Huawei P40 Pro as the camera was superior in most situations as well as better standby battery but the hacked google services installed just put me off. Android auto was very temperamental, hence I can't stick with it.
Interesting review.
I agree. The Marisilicon thing is a slight gimmick. Its not as good as Google Pixel image processors. My Pixel 3 still takes better images.
Build quality is good but heavyish for me. I had an OP8 and I'm finding the camera bump a little odd even after 2 weeks.
I hate that I'm being forced to power down using power button and volume up. Had to download a 3rd party app to make this process more convenient. Also download a lockdown app which is missing from here.
Also have a weird YouTube Bluetooth issue. When I'm listening to YouTube in the car and someone calls, the YouTube still plays in the background through the speakers as well as the conversation!?
Sometimes the apps get stuck and you need to kill the app. The comments section on the YouTube app also sticks and you need to press home and return to the YouTube app. Minor bugs which I expect and hope Oppo fix through software updates.
I too was swung by the gift pack. I was originally planning to get the OP10 Pro but EE do not offer this handset and I get 30pc friends and family so this was a no brainer.
Happy with the phone. At over a thousand quid should be perfect.
OnePlus2Oppo said:
Interesting review.
I agree. The Marisilicon thing is a slight gimmick. Its not as good as Google Pixel image processors. My Pixel 3 still takes better images.
Build quality is good but heavyish for me. I had an OP8 and I'm finding the camera bump a little odd even after 2 weeks.
I hate that I'm being forced to power down using power button and volume up. Had to download a 3rd party app to make this process more convenient. Also download a lockdown app which is missing from here.
Also have a weird YouTube Bluetooth issue. When I'm listening to YouTube in the car and someone calls, the YouTube still plays in the background through the speakers as well as the conversation!?
Sometimes the apps get stuck and you need to kill the app. The comments section on the YouTube app also sticks and you need to press home and return to the YouTube app. Minor bugs which I expect and hope Oppo fix through software updates.
I too was swung by the gift pack. I was originally planning to get the OP10 Pro but EE do not offer this handset and I get 30pc friends and family so this was a no brainer.
Happy with the phone. At over a thousand quid should be perfect.
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Click to collapse
I like your thinking, I am also on EE with the 30pc f&f discount :'D I went for the smart plan so I can hand the phone back with no upgrade charge after 12 months if something better comes along.
I used to work for them years ago and had the discount ever since. It makes the RRP of the phone over 24 months much less (if I factor-in the price i'd pay for sim only anyway).
For your youtube issue, have you tried giving the youtube app permission to Phone? I've had some other apps ask me to set Phone permissions (such as Tidal) in order to pause during a call. I guess YouTube might need that permission so that it can see that the Phone is in use?
It is a little heavy compared to other phones i've used. I have been checking Youtube nearly every day to see if anyone has done a drop test lol.
For me the power button thing isn't a big issue as I rarely power it off.
I agree though, at the price, the phone should be perfect. This is what is kind of putting me off compared to the Huawei I paid only £300 for in Grade A condition from CeX.
Thanks. I've just set the permission on YouTube as per your suggestion. I've never had to do that ever before so just another tedious quirk!
Won't say it too loudly but surprised the F&F is applied to the handset and not just the line rental but I'm not complaining.
Keep me posted to any other bugs/fixes. I'll do likewise
OnePlus2Oppo said:
Thanks. I've just set the permission on YouTube as per your suggestion. I've never had to do that ever before so just another tedious quirk!
Won't say it too loudly but surprised the F&F is applied to the handset and not just the line rental but I'm not complaining.
Keep me posted to any other bugs/fixes. I'll do likewise
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Click to collapse
It is the line rental, I mean if you add up 24 months of line rental and subtract the price of a sim only (that you'd need to pay anyway, usually around £15pm) then that's your effective handset price.
mcall_r said:
It is the line rental, I mean if you add up 24 months of line rental and subtract the price of a sim only (that you'd need to pay anyway, usually around £15pm) then that's your effective handset price.
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Click to collapse
...so the YouTube permission didn't work. I can't figure out what's going on!?!
mcall_r said:
What I like:
- The build quality and design are exceptional, without a case the phone feels great in the hand, although it's very slippery if you have cold hands and there is no clammyness from your fingers to provide grip. The ceramic feels better than glass and I haven't seen any scratches yet. It also feels very slim so one handed use is possible.
- The screen is very good, even in 1080p it's hard to see the pixels compared to other 1080p phones.
- Main camera and ultrawide very good, in the right lighting conditions they provide excellent shots with plenty of detail.
- Fast and very few stutters in the OS. I haven't encountered any bugs yet.
- Charging is insanely quick and phone doesn't really get hot when charging.
- XPAN is cool and interesting.
- Vibration motor is much better than previous phones I've used. On the strongest setting I won't be missing any calls.
- Battery life is reasonable in terms of SOT. I consistently get 6-7 hours under heavy use.
- Wireless Android Auto works flawlessly.
What I don't like:
Camera
- You cannot zoom or switch between cameras when shooting 4k60 video.
- Some shots on the main and ultrawide cameras can be over exposed, it sometimes takes a few shots in the same light to get a good one. Hopefully they can fix this in a future update.
- Some indoor daytime shots of moving subjects are always blurry.
- Selfies are often, in my experience, over exposed, and not on par with what I've seen from P40 Pro.
- Videos taken in 1080p do not send well over Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms. It could be to do with the compression used in this format, but once uploaded to these sites, the videos are very choppy, colours are crushed, and the videos are in general pretty unusable. Only videos sent in 4K look ok. This was an issue with the Find X3 Pro, and I am not sure why Oppo have not addressed this yet.
- There's no getting around the fact that this phone lacks any reasonable camera zoom at all. 2X is not zoom in my opinion.
- Forget nighttime shots of moving subjects, night photo takes 2s to process (although quicker than other phones).
- I feel like the MarisiliconX thing is mostly a marketing gimmick.
Screen
- The AlwaysOnDisplay is very dim and there's no way to change it. Also the coloured icons are very hard to distinguish at a glance. If the display is dim, then greyscale icons would be easier to see.
- 120Hz doesn't seem to be active in a lot of apps, so I had to manually force it using an app from youtube video.
Software/OS
- Cannot increase grid size in ColorOS launcher any more than 5 x 6. Please give option for up to 9 x 6 like Nova? Otherwise launcher is perfect!
- There is no desktop mode when plugged into a usb-c monitor like Samsung Dex or Huawei EMUI Desktop. You can indeed enable desktop mode in developer settings but it's not the same experience.
- When using a 3rd party launcher (I always use Nova), there are some bugs when going back to home screen, e.g. the recent apps screen flashes up for a split second when it shouldn't. Because of this I forced myself to get used to ColourOS launcher.
- There is no button to turn off/on 5G in the notifications quick settings menu.
- "Hey google" only works in Android Auto & Google Maps if you have the global "Hey Google" listening setting enabled. Not sure if this is an android 12 bug or just Oppo bug.
- Oppo PC Connect is only available on PC, not Mac or Linux.
Battery/Charging
- Standby battery life could be better. It drains about 5-7% overnight when my Huawei P40 Pro only drained 2%. If I barely use the phone during the day (only check/reply to messages etc and use around 1.5h SOT), then the battery is still below 40% when I go to bed. My P40 Pro barely drained when not used heavily. Of course Huawei do much more aggressive battery/memory management and if I enabled optimisation for all apps in the Oppo's settings then maybe I could get similar but I don't want to mess with notifications.
- Wireless charging with a non-oppo wireless charger seems very slow. I have a 5W charger in my Lexus and when charging using it, the phone still loses battery when using wireless android auto.
All in all, I actually preferred using my old Huawei P40 Pro as the camera was superior in most situations as well as better standby battery but the hacked google services installed just put me off. Android auto was very temperamental, hence I can't stick with it.
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Click to collapse
I agree re the in-hand feel, I am a fan of ceramic and yes on paper it is not much smaller than other phones but does feel more manageable.
- The AlwaysOnDisplay is very dim and there's no way to change it. Also the coloured icons are very hard to distinguish at a glance. If the display is dim, then greyscale icons would be easier to see.
I'd agree wth this, they are tiny
Re the blurry photos, I still think it is better than a Samsung, maybe only the Pixel or iPhone is better in this regard?
I think I prefer my S22U overall especially the more reliable fingerprint sensor but prefer the size and in-hand feel of the Oppo.
arsenal74 said:
I agree re the in-hand feel, I am a fan of ceramic and yes on paper it is not much smaller than other phones but does feel more manageable.
- The AlwaysOnDisplay is very dim and there's no way to change it. Also the coloured icons are very hard to distinguish at a glance. If the display is dim, then greyscale icons would be easier to see.
I'd agree wth this, they are tiny
Re the blurry photos, I still thnk it is better than a Samsung, maybe only the Pixel or iPhone is better in this regard?
I think overall I prefer my S22U overall especially the more reliable fingerprint sensor but prefer the size and in-hand feel of the Oppo.
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I don't have any issues whatsoever with the fingerprint sensor, it seems faster than on my huawei - are you using a screen protector?
I contemplated returning to get S22U but today is the last day of my return window so I think I will just keep it. Samsung is slightly more expensive and I still need to buy seperate charger.
I can trade-in in 12 months anyway and get something else on my contract so maybe Oppo will have released a Samsung beating phone by then.
There is nothing wrong with the FPS, just think the S22U is better. I have had the Pixel 6 and it is way better than that. I just think the ultrasonic sensor is more reliable, less prone to issues if your hands are wet etc
arsenal74 said:
There is nothing wrong with the FPS, just think the S22U is better. I have had the Pixel 6 and it is way better than that. I just think the ultrasonic sensor is more reliable, less prone to issues if your hands are wet etc
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Ah I see, having had both Oppo and S22U (exynos?), is samsung better in every department?
mcall_r said:
Ah I see, having had both Oppo and S22U (exynos?), is samsung better in every department?
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I think the Oppo camera is better indoors but that is anecdotal, actually other than zoom reach the Oppo camera is slightly better overall I think (for stills) I also think the Oppo battery is better at least standby wise. Other than your personal preference re size and design I think the S22U is better for most other things