Those who already have the device, post your impression / comments.
I own the TL10 version. It's been a few days in my hands. I can confirm that LTE works in Singapore, Malaysia (just came back from there) and Japan (I remember reading somewhere that it's compatible with most European and Asian networks).
I decided to get the phone because I'm too worried about Note 4 battery life, Xperia Z3 being too small, unable to get the latest Pantech phones (A910 & A920) due to their recent bankruptcy which scared off my usual supplier and also the unavailability of Vibe Z2 Pro at the time. Those were the other phones I had considered before settling with Mate 7.
I'm pleased by its slim bezels and thinness. Impressed by its battery life, currently low battery after I pulled off the charger almost 48 hours ago, used it to call and text people, find my way to the airport using Google navigation, listened to music in flight, layover in Hong Kong, another flight to Tokyo, 2 hours transiting in Tokyo subways, then used it for browsing while I rested this whole day. Simply superb.
Issues I've noticed so far:
Unable to change launcher (can't remove Huawei launcher from default)
Navigation bar sometimes freezes, doesn't response, had to hide it and showed it again to make it work (hopefully just firmware issue).
Haven't found easy way to root it.
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-TL10 using XDA Free mobile app
We can remotely root the device for you.
GetMobilePhone
Fulvian said:
Those who already have the device, post your impression / comments.
I own the TL10 version. It's been a few days in my hands. I can confirm that LTE works in Singapore, Malaysia (just came back from there) and Japan (I remember reading somewhere that it's compatible with most European and Asian networks).
I decided to get the phone because I'm too worried about Note 4 battery life, Xperia Z3 being too small, unable to get the latest Pantech phones (A910 & A920) due to their recent bankruptcy which scared off my usual supplier and also the unavailability of Vibe Z2 Pro at the time. Those were the other phones I had considered before settling with Mate 7.
I'm pleased by its slim bezels and thinness. Impressed by its battery life, currently low battery after I pulled off the charger almost 48 hours ago, used it to call and text people, find my way to the airport using Google navigation, listened to music in flight, layover in Hong Kong, another flight to Tokyo, 2 hours transiting in Tokyo subways, then used it for browsing while I rested this whole day. Simply superb.
Issues I've noticed so far:
Unable to change launcher (can't remove Huawei launcher from default)
Navigation bar sometimes freezes, doesn't response, had to hide it and showed it again to make it work (hopefully just firmware issue).
Haven't found easy way to root it.
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-TL10 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would you mind flying over to the US and testing it on T-Mobile?
LOL/jk
Thanks for giving your impressions of the device. Have you found it to be any more laggy/buggy than other Android devices that you've owned? Also, does your device say TD-LTE on the box or FDD-LTE?
On the box it only says "TD-LTE". Mine is the vmall.com 32GB gold version. Everything has been snappy. Only lag I notice is when pressing multi-task button, there's noticeable delay until the list of recent apps show up. Also, I notice navigation bar, toggles, settings, icons, pretty much all the UI aspects look like Android L, perhaps Huawei is already working on L and basing the Emotion 3.0 from L?
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-TL10 using XDA Free mobile app
I own the TL10 version too for 3 weeks now. I'm living in Switzerland and can confirm LTE works here.
Fulvian said:
I decided to get the phone because I'm too worried about Note 4 battery life, Xperia Z3 being too small, unable to get the latest Pantech phones (A910 & A920) due to their recent bankruptcy which scared off my usual supplier and also the unavailability of Vibe Z2 Pro at the time. Those were the other phones I had considered before settling with Mate 7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly the same for me except I didn't know that Pantech brand.
Battery life is impressive. It's due to a good battery management. For example, Mate 7 notices you when Google Play services are running in background so you can stop the processes. There's also a "stamina" mode wich only enables phone calls and SMS. I got 2% drain in one whole day!
Yesterday my mate 7 became hot, I had to restart it because it was not responding anymore. It's my first problem with mate 7 since I have it. Anyway, I think that kind of problems are normal in every Android device. I'm also looking forward a root solution. Before, all my contacts were synchronized with Google but sadly it's not possible to keep it that way with EMUI. I had to import it (wich was very easy) to EMUI contacts manager.
I have some problems with special characters in french (like é, à, etc..) They are replaced with a chinese character.
getmobilephone said:
We can remotely root the device for you.
GetMobilePhone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to know how?
Inspecteur_Gadget said:
I own the TL10 version too for 3 weeks now. I'm living in Switzerland and can confirm LTE works here.
Is it possible to know how?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are not hiding anything from the xda community though.
We can offer you the code to root, however, during the last step and the most important step of recovery, it requires a Chinese software to proceed, of which it will be difficult for one to perform who cannot read Chinese.
If it is necessary, we can remotely root this device for you, and for our customers of course.
getmobilephone said:
We are not hiding anything from the xda community though.
We can offer you the code to root, however, during the last step and the most important step of recovery, it requires a Chinese software to proceed, of which it will be difficult for one to perform who cannot read Chinese.
If it is necessary, we can remotely root this device for you, and for our customers of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm currently learning chinese but I admit I can't understand by myself a root process. Anyway, I can follow a step by step guide. I found two differents ways to root on Baidu but in both, the comments suggest that it doesn't work, so I haven't tried
I unlocked successfully the bootloader. If you can share any link that can help me to root it, I'll be eternally grateful to you
Inspecteur_Gadget said:
I'm currently learning chinese but I admit I can't understand by myself a root process. Anyway, I can follow a step by step guide. I found two differents ways to root on Baidu but in both, the comments suggest that it doesn't work, so I haven't tried
I unlocked successfully the bootloader. If you can share any link that can help me to root it, I'll be eternally grateful to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are glad to do this for you.
In two days, we will post a detailed instruction for rooting the AM7, for xda community members.
Pulled the trigger.
So I bought this phone, about a week ago, unicom compatible version mt7-tl10. I had actually gone with the mx4 because i wanted a better camera while in china, was currently using my note 3. I returned the mx4 after a day..... it was more buggy than 1.5 used to be haha. Random gcm pushes not happening, app crashing etc, freezes, and battery drains. They will probably sort it out, but I wasn't willing to wait weeks as i needed a functional daily driver so I picked it up at beijing local department store, for 3650rmb, not a bad price compared to what amazon etc are charging.
So my first impressions of the phone, which came with the flip leather case, is that like the cliche marketing pics of the guy in the sand, it is a classy looking phone. The thin bezels are amazing, and it just feels a lot nicer in the hand than my note 3. Now On my note 3 I have a spigen case, so the flip is definitely a thinner device. Caseless it fits in my hands very well, I have large hands but by no means ogre fists and everything is very reachable. I have been partial to large devices, owning every iteration of the note, as well as the ridiculous asus fonepad lol.
Watching reviews i was worried about the Nit* level in screen brightness, but the screen is very clear and crisp, pretty good colour reproduction, definitely not the saturated intensity of a samsung amoled screen, but very nice to watch netflix etc on. It is very responsive and has glove mode in the options so when the temperature drops a bit more I will give that feature a try.
Battery life is insane. Note 3 is no slouch, but this has had days of 7 to 8 hours of screen on time for me, with csip calls, 8 email accounts, 3 on push, wechat, whatsapp, telegram, instagram and a bunch of other daily apps i use... was at 20% in the evening.
Call quality has been decent although i have only used voip programs to make calls, over vpn. I will note that the wifi connectivity is much more stable than my note 3. I get better signal consistently on wifi, which is nice, as I am dependant on it for the most part for internet connectivity, data rates on a pay as go plan in beijing are murder. That said, 3g, 4g, lte all work great and i get very good signal and asu rates on this phone. I know the radio's are optimized vs my NA note 3 but its nice to have consistent signal all over the city with such spotty coverage.
So from a hardware standpoint, this phone feels and works like a quality product, which is what I Think huawei was aiming for..
Now from a software standpoint.. emui is nice, but it's not quite there yet. Without root and xposed modules it's even more of an issue, as there are root fixes for lots of the problems I have experienced.
Starting with the positives, the overall experience has been fluid and smooth, I have not experienced any of the slowdowns mentioned, video playback is stutter free, memory speed seems up to par with decent load times . I do really like the huawei multi tasking implementation on this rom, as I tend to cut and paste and switch between browser and apps quite frequently. Some of the pro reviews complained about the battery consumption monitor... but I find it to be quite useful, allowing me to micro manage apps if I choose, you can always set it to ignore the app after the first warning. Now that said, you may run into issues with non default apps for things like email (i m currently trying out the boxer client). I was doing push tests as i had my note 3 to compare, on same wifi etc... and emails were not coming through... so what i found is, you have to go in and give third party apps from the google play store certain permissions, the ability to run after the screen is off, to startup when device starts up etc... its actually quite useful to have such easy controls for these things, but if you don't know about them... it created a giant headache for me trying to figure out why push wasn't coming through. I thought it was my install of google play services etc... not allowing GCM push's to arrive. nope, just battery and permission settings, once go through for one app, you can easily do it for all the apps you want. Battery life is amazing as a result, as things like yahoo weather and other apps i used to use, were just killing my battery... now on my note i have better battery stats, gsam, wakelock detector.. the whole enchilada in terms of utils for optimizing battery life because i have had problems, even resorted to watch dog combined with greenify, because the wakes that were hidden from all my utils. On my huawei, i dont have any of the tools, the permissions, battery drain detection seem to keep things in check, and google services etc isn;t draining either. I used to find on other non google play native roms, that play services would run amok with battery. So far so good.
The most annoying issue presently is the default app selection. On some apps it works bringing up selected apps that make sense, click a picture selection in whatsapp , brings up gallery as an option. Trying to set my profile pic in another app i use, brings up an array of random useless apps that do not really have anything to do with a picture selection. Now without root or Xposed you cannot change the default apps that come up.. so i m stuck with this bug. I tried a workaround by installing a bunch of file managers to see if they could randomly pop up in the list...only es fileexplorer did and not the right option for it of a standard file browse.
The other major thing i have experienced , and i think it just be me, or my device specifically is finger print accuracy.. now watching all the reviews it looked phenomenal... now maybe its because i have a case on, big fingers or something, but i can only get about 50% accuracy in unlocking my phone with it.. It might be a technique thing too, so I m putting the caveat there.
The other issue, which is one of the reasons I like android over IOS, is the app drawer. Again without root, i dont think I it comes up. Reading above someone has said that they could not get an app drawer to work..I have not tried to install nova as I want to wait until rooted to use it. I find it is easy to lose track of the apps you have with a whole mess of folders stashed away... I like very open pages, with a few widgets but it is hard to have that experience if you have a lot of apps. Now you can just shove all of them into a single folder but it takes 4 to 5 actions to get to the app you want, that is too much for me. I like 3 actions at most, with nova it was app drawer, scroll, click in, worst case. Now its swipe, search for folder, click folder, swipe, to correct folder page, if you have more than 6 apps in folder. Its not the end of the world, but being used to nova style, it shouldn't have to be this way either.
One thing about the notification bar that at first was annoying, until i had a aha moment where i realized it was much more clever than i thought. The notification pull down is actually subdivided into two hotzones. On the left is notifications when you pull down, and on the right is shortcuts to system things, like screen brightness, screenshot, data toggle etc. Now at first i thought i was just getting random selections, until i realized there are hotzones at the top for this.. Another aspect i like is the timeline esque notifications, that give you timestamps and a lot of access to actions like deleting emails, replying etc right from the notification bar as an option... saves a couple clicks so it s a nice touch.
Now another issue I have had is widget display... certain apps do not like to play nice with the grid and end up taking way to much room, and do not adjust properly. One app in particular is network signal info pro the 1x1 widgets take up double the space, and the larger ones block off the screen. On touchwiz i have no issues lining corner to corner with these widgets, so i know its emui in this case.
Overall I find this phone to be a good experience, as I mainly use email and webbrowsing for work, the mega screen on time, and large viewing space make this a pleasant experience. Everyone uses their device differently so I can't say if its a good fit for me... but vs my note three, one the few niggles get ironed out with updates It will remain my daily device for the forseeable future... and for the price vs the note4 or edge...(although the cool factor of the edge is hard to resist) the battery life and screen size are hard to pass up... granted note 4 has higher res..but that just kills battery life, and the ppi is good enough for my purposes, i dont really notice the difference unless i look really closely..but if you have a six inch phone, that is the beauty, you dont have to face hug it to see things.
As for other comparitives, i played around with all the other devices listed... the lenovo Z2 pro.. while having an amazing screen and battery as well, and a ridiculously good camera comparitively, the software experience just wasnt there yet, and having used a k900 before, i wasn't optimistic that lenovo's software team is there yet... by next year they will be a major player i m sure, but it will take 6 to 8 months before that new resource and developer allocation makes a dent in user experience. As i said the mx4 was one of the worst software experiences i have had, now, to be fair it was not and international version, so maybe that one plays nice with google services...but mine certainly didnt. Looked at xiaomi... the mi4 is just too small for me, and battery life is a bit suspect, although miui is polished and updated frequently, it feels like all my data is being downloaded to the central servers.. haha, huawei may not be much better, but from my network tests watching wifi traffic, there isn't to many suspicious calls home. ZTE again, software was a bit laggy, same with their luxury brand, nubia... the oneplus and find7 were here, but oppo s marketing strategy lost me.. and comparitively they just dont look as nice as the huawei does... Now its funny because in china huawei has a bad rep as a cheapo garbage phone, with iphone, samsung, sony and xiaomi taking the prestige roles.. but this device has got some looks and questions as to what it is.. and wow really, a huawei lol.
Hope this is useful in decision making..
cheers.
^ didn't wanted to quote the whole post so .. I think this is the first comment review or whatever u may call it, that I read completely and thoroughly . thanks for your thoughts sir. I can't wait for mine to be delivered.
pantmunu said:
^ didn't wanted to quote the whole post so .. I think this is the first comment review or whatever u may call it, that I read completely and thoroughly . thanks for your thoughts sir. I can't wait for mine to be delivered.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem, just wanted to get it all down so people know what they re in for. I am fortunate in that i have a pretty lax expenditure account in terms of tech upgrades, so if I make a bad choice on a phone, i only have a to put up with it for a few months. But most have to survive at least a year with their device, and I find on a stressful day its the little things, like an email app crashing, or keyboard not responding lol that make the difference between a good and bad day.
I will add that if you don't read pinyin (i dont) you may have to do some guess and test exploration with the themes etc.. the keyboard is their own version or licensed not sure which, of swype that comes with some very asian themes to choose from the store. The theme store is in pinyin for phone themes but its pretty straight forward to figure out, by seeing the pictures and applying them.
I cant stress how much i love the battery life, it might be an ocd issue for me haha, but i always worry about phone dying. I have the Xiaomi 10000mah battery and the anker 12000 mah battery, but i dont need to pocket them anymore... so far today 96% battery with 45 mins of screen time (all my morning emails) and an ZRTP voip call (encryption usually works battery harder) for 30mins... pretty happy about that.
gn0s1s said:
No problem, just wanted to get it all down so people know what they re in for. I am fortunate in that i have a pretty lax expenditure account in terms of tech upgrades, so if I make a bad choice on a phone, i only have a to put up with it for a few months. But most have to survive at least a year with their device, and I find on a stressful day its the little things, like an email app crashing, or keyboard not responding lol that make the difference between a good and bad day.
I will add that if you don't read pinyin (i dont) you may have to do some guess and test exploration with the themes etc.. the keyboard is their own version or licensed not sure which, of swype that comes with some very asian themes to choose from the store. The theme store is in pinyin for phone themes but its pretty straight forward to figure out, by seeing the pictures and applying them.
I cant stress how much i love the battery life, it might be an ocd issue for me haha, but i always worry about phone dying. I have the Xiaomi 10000mah battery and the anker 12000 mah battery, but i dont need to pocket them anymore... so far today 96% battery with 45 mins of screen time (all my morning emails) and an ZRTP voip call (encryption usually works battery harder) for 30mins... pretty happy about that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just hope we get good amount of development here. And yeah. Glad about the battery life.
Thanks gn0s1s for that exhaustive review!
As i myself cant still decide whether to get the am7 or lenovo vibe z2 pro, and since you mentioned lenovo vibe z2 pro as one you compared the am7 against, may i ask a question. Have you had an ample time to play with the z2 pro to say that the sw experience is lacking?
Thanks for the answer sir!
Bevor I got me a Ascend Mate 7 I had a LG G3. On my trip to China I wanted to buy my a new phone.
I watched for many different phones (Meizu mx4, Xiaomi Mi4, Oppo Find 7, Lenovo vibe z2 pro and the Mate 7).
Many of them I did not buy because they have no LTE working outside of Europe.... or the lack of quality (Meizu was baaaad).
At the end there was only the z2 pro and the Mate 7 in the ring.
I decided against the z2 pro because I would have not a bigger screen then in the LG G3.... and the Mate 7 look&feel was much better.
Hope that helped.
Very positive experience
Hi,
I am a very new owner of Mate 7 Gold MT7-TL10. Have received my device this morning from getmobilephone (xda forum member). Experience with getmobilephone was simply the best experience i have ever had when getting something online. Really recommended!
First impressions are very positive. Build quality is extraordinary. Screen is better than expected. Phone already has factory installed screen protection on it + nice protective case for the phone.
Before purchasing, was hesitating between Note4, lenovo z2 pro and mate7. I believe that Huawei build quality really beats samsung devices. Mate 7 looks and feels like a high quality product.
No problems with 3G or 4G connections in Belgium (and probably in the most rest of Europe).
Phone is fast and responsive. At the moment feels faster than Note3 or Samsung S5.
So far I cannot comment a lot more about other features, as i would need to use this phone for few days first.
Thanks again for getmobilephone and XDA community for this opportunity.
Hello zilviukas,
I'm also from Belgium and i wish to buy the Mate 7. I prefer the Black One with 3 Go of Ram but no info about this configuration !
The Gold is too much 'bling bling' for me Do you know if the Black with 3 Go of ram come one day ?
Have you photos of your phone and the case inside ? How many time for full charge when the battery is low like 10% ? How many time for receipt your phone in Belgium ?
Have fun with your wonderfull phone !!!
P.S. : Now i use the Note 3 with 3 Go of ram but i'm afraid that mate 7 have not the same power than the Note 3 ( sorry for my english). And how is the lisibility outside and under the sun because the Super Amoled from Samsung is wonderfull !
Hi [email protected],
Regarding the battery it charges fast. I have tried to charge from 10% today to full. It took 2.5 hours (approx 150 minutes). But keep in mind that it has this large battery. And at least up to 60% was charging 1% every minute! Maybe other users can be more precise here, as i didn't check when charging slows down.
Regarding Gold version. As far i as know, only gold has 3GB RAM and 32GB internal. Black an silver have lower specs 2GB/16GB.
Reception of the signal is better than my other devices, Note 2 or Note 3.
I have attached some low res images. Let me know if you need higher quality.
Thank you very much for your reply and the photos. Very beautiful phone and case, the window seem to be very big .. more than my smartcover on my Note 3.
What's the functions with the cover (sleep wake-up, photo, music ... ?).
What's the prize with shipping and how many times for receipt tu Belgium ?
If you sold your phone, Call me for an other belgium user
For photos, if you have other pictures with good Light ... think to me
Edit : very good news for the speed of charging because not usb 3.0 on Mate 7.
The position of the speaker give good sound or not when the phone is on the desk ?
Take the phone in the hand for unlock the phone is not very good because with my Note 3, i push the home button and wake up the phone without to take the phone in hand.
With the cover from Huawei, what's happening with the fingerscan and function wake up when you open the cover ? The cover has a magnet for to keep close or not ?
[email protected] said:
Thank you very much for your reply and the photos. Very beautiful phone and case, the window seem to be very big .. more than my smartcover on my Note 3.
What's the functions with the cover (sleep wake-up, photo, music ... ?).
What's the prize with shipping and how many times for receipt tu Belgium ?
If you sold your phone, Call me for an other belgium user
For photos, if you have other pictures with good Light ... think to me
Edit : very good news for the speed of charging because not usb 3.0 on Mate 7.
The position of the speaker give good sound or not when the phone is on the desk ?
Take the phone in the hand for unlock the phone is not very good because with my Note 3, i push the home button and wake up the phone without to take the phone in hand.
With the cover from Huawei, what's happening with the fingerscan and function wake up when you open the cover ? The cover has a magnet for to keep close or not ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am also in Belgium and i am using the mate 7 32gb 3gb for 1 week now. Excellent phone, very fast, really nothing to say except that as it is a chinese version, i am having chinese writings depsite putting it in english. I am awaiting promptly for a custom rom
4g is working properly here, screen quality is amazing, battery is great, sound quality is excellent ... The only bad idea was from huawei to have put 2 sim cards in 2 different formats. One in Micro sim and one nano Very annoying but honestly, this phone is almost "perfect".
Huawei just tweeted that they have sold 1 million mate 7 in only 1 month. That is only accounting most sales from china (coz the device is not yet available in many markets).
I am hoping that with many people buying mate 7, it will spur development of custom rom for this device.
Related
Starting to look less Sony Z'ish (version1), and more Sammy/Nexus'ish:
http://www.trustedreviews.com/yotaphone-2-review
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ewanspence/2014/12/03/yotaphone-2-dual-screen-eink-android-smartphone/
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/1...date-december-for-europe-worldwide-next-year/
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2855112/seven-things-to-know-about-the-dualscreen-yotaphone-2.html
http://www.androidauthority.com/yotaphone-2-announced-571851/
http://www.engadget.com/2014/12/03/yotaphone-2-review/?ncid=rss_truncated
Its out and its beautiful. What are people's general thoughts on the yotaphone 2? I really really really want one but prefereably not until its less than £500
I have the phone, and i like it, here are some photos, sry for the quality, photos are taken with HTC Desire 816.
Antutu 37451 points
Quadrant 20879
3D Mark Ice Storm Unlimited 15086
PCMark 3753
my quick review
i have one,
ink display can be a little sluggish, and takes a little but to set up - can only use prefixed screens which can be slightly customized ... not like traditional hone screen where you can add a lot of widgets and apps!!!
case is slippy like most phones but overall pleased.
.but think price is a bit ott
not too much clutter ie inbuilt apps but no memory card slot
battery not lasting much longer at moment but playing a lot with it so hoping for better when novelty has worn off
customer care appears ok.... had to chase up delivery but it was carrier problem
I have also one. It is fast and slim. It feels realy nice and the ink display is working fine.
Missing all the options I have on S4 with custom roms xD
However, I'm trying to get root on the phone and so far I only found a way via Kingo Root. My problem is however that there is no driver for win7. If I enable USB-debug Kingo root can not find the device....
Nice thing is that you can charge it via EasyCHEE® T900: Qi for example.
I hope that I will find a way in the future to root the device p,p
It could do with a memory card slot and waterproofing. Hopefully in the next version
I actually preferred the Xperia Z'ish look but it might be just me.
Would you say that this phone was worth using as a dev unit or is it just a good phone to have in general?
just took the plunge and spent hundreds upon hundreds of pounds on a YotaPhone 2 (used YOLO as an excuse )
It will arrive next week so will be able to give some feedback if anyone will be interested
waiting for mine as well, hoping for it to come next week. will get back with first impressions sooooon
Would be really interested to hear how the battery life is if only the e-ink display is used. I only ever use my phone for reading webpages, text and phoning so if there was a big enough increase in life I'd switch.
G0dly said:
Would be really interested to hear how the battery life is if only the e-ink display is used. I only ever use my phone for reading webpages, text and phoning so if there was a big enough increase in life I'd switch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using the yotaenergy mode but still allowing full data and background account sync I have managed to run 24hours with only 15% battery used, so I could push if to go for a whole week without charging.
In reality I make a bit more use of the phone and am typically getting 2-3 days use out of it between charges with about 30% battery left.
First report - it is utterly beautiful and the bumper adds to the aesthetic imo. E ink screen is great, feels lovely, panels are pretty configurable. All the yota apps are working pretty well for me and being able to switch over is a great feeling. Still slightly disconcerting when putting hand in pocket and feeling screen on either side but its class being able to just take out phone and look at clock, notifications and whatever else without unlocking and using negligible battery. It hasn't had a full charge yet, it had a small one and then had a heavy night of downloading and updating apps and playing with. At work now, will give it a full charge when I get back and then can do a proper battery test (don't have gsam on him yet either). I'm impressed so far though, seems to be holding out well considering there were a fair few solid hours of heavy usage.
Full report to follow soon.
It's name is Yakov - after one of my favourite crazy Russians; Yakov Pavlov. (for those interested in a good story or two - http://listverse.com/2012/09/17/top-10-facts-about-the-battle-of-stalingrad/ has good summaries)
anyone tried rooting yet?
Framaroot not working, will try Kingo next
Kingo worked on the first yotaphone, fingers crossed.
Just stumbled across the fact that there is a YotaPhone 2. I had waited for the first one for quite some months before going for a Nexus 5 (well, it was over half a year after YotaPhone was announced and before Nexus 5 came out, you do the math)
Now, even after it was finally released, it was certainly not set up for success. But they seem to have done everything right with the secnd incarnation (almost, that is. Bit weak on the processor and battery, and what's this Qi-charging which cannot be done with E-Ink facing up?)
The phone is about 520 Euros in Russia and I'm getting really tempted, especially reading initial reactions on here. But at this point I'm not sure I could live without my custom Android tweaks. Do you guys think there will be any development on this device? Maybe Yota would be smart to actually release their code...
Cheers,
rien
TLDR version of my review that I stuck on a yota 2 review thread - Very pretty phone, great front screen, back screen surprisingly useful and nice to look at and touch. Software well implemented. Hopeful for long term development improvements. Very good performance, great battery. Occasional glitch but nothing that detracts from and limits experience.
Overall, loving it. Expensive but very different and a joy to use.
I admit I'm very tempted, but yes, will there be any development? The novelty of the double screen will wear off and then I will certainly miss the tweakability of a rooted phone.
YotaPhone 2 successfully rooted
Achieved root on YotaPhone 2 on 4.4.3, build KTU84L.4.4.3-S01-003-EU1.0.3.56a using Kingo Root on a Windows 8 device.
Used the original YotaPhone ADB drivers downloaded from yotaphone.com
Hope that helps
Nice one dude, thanks very much for the info. Happy tinkering / modding.
Wow, using it over a week now and loving this phone even more....
Long stretch from my Galaxy S5, why didn't this phone come before I bought my S5 LOL
No battery issues here, getting more out of this phone then my S5 and better after the last OTA update. For anyone who's having battery issues, there are several features to disable to get the most out of your battery, do a search on google, there's a ton of people who's increased battery life by taking these steps.
As for the bloatware, I usually root my phone but I don't see the reason too with this one even with all the bloatware, most you can disable. The PC Link is a godsend, wow, every phone should have this feature. Speed wise, I've got mine on Balance mode and it's lightning speed, you can go all out and draw a bit more speed by using the Performance mode but you'll sacrifice some battery life, I didn't notice a whole lot of battery drain in that mode, may go back just to get that extra speed.
The only real gripe I have with this phone is the ability to sync effectively with Outlook, I keep my contacts and schedule on Outlook and with the S5 Samsung Kies was a nice free option to do so. Wish ASUS had a similar app to sync Outlook. The best way I found so far to do this is SyncDroid, worth the $4 to get my contacts synced alone. Calendar I just use Google Calendar Sync seems to do the job. But still prefer to stick with one PC app that does it altogether. If anyone out there found a better (Free) option then SyncDroid, please let me know. I won't use Outlook.com, I find it a pain and somewhat glitchy. Outlook is a pretty widely used app and I think this should be mandatory for all Android phones, this to me would make Android the ultimate mobile device. I paranoid about syncing my entire contact list and calendar via online/cloud etc. I prefer to do it locally with my pc.
This truly is an amazing product for the price, screen is not as bright as my S5 SuperAmoled but I'll take the performance, size, memory over screen hands down, big deal, it's a bit hard to see under sunlight but honestly, I don't use it under direct sunlight that much to ditch the phone. Asus has made excellent effort to keep OTA's coming, which is more then what I can say for Samsung phones. I don't think this phone is going away anytime soon, the only store that sells this phone in our city can't keep this thing in stock, they are constantly sold out, that's a good thing, if it sells that well, Asus will continue to support this phone. The hardware in the phone has great potential for future improvements, Android OS updates will just keep making it better.
Let's just hope the built in battery (which is my other gripe) will last. I hate built in batteries, gives me Iphone jitters I hope the battery is easily replaceable. But Samsung's new flagship has also gone this route. I saw the Zenfone 2 takedown and it seems relative straight forward so battery replacement is doable, would be nice to see companies start making 4000mAh or 5000mAh batteries for this phone
For all who are having intermittent issues and giving up, just be a little patient, this is a brand new phone, there will always be issues, happens to flagship phones, Asus is doing very well getting OTA's to us to fix these problems and I'm confident there will be more to come, growing pains. And please, don't knock this phone because it's not up to par with your Iphone 6 or S6 or phones that are twice/three times the price, it's like giving a Honda Civic a bad review because it doesn't compare to your Audi or Mercedes, how much did your Mercedes cost compared to your Civic, come on, let's be realistic.
Good luck with your new ZF2!
The problem is large amount of zen2 having defective battery. It causes high battery drain or randomly shutdown issue. I also have my battery replaced from service center. Otherwise, this fone perform very well with its price
Sorry I didn't read whole post...I just want to know how much SOT are you getting?
tuilalnvinh said:
The problem is large amount of zen2 having defective battery. It causes high battery drain or randomly shutdown issue. I also have my battery replaced from service center. Otherwise, this fone perform very well with its price
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to hear you're having that luck, with any phone there are defective units, I've only read a handful who's had battery issues, which version do you have? ie. North America, China etc.
SRV Rockable said:
Sorry I didn't read whole post...I just want to know how much SOT are you getting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't really measured using the battery usage. I go by normal use through out the day comparing it with my S5, I'll go through a day running my typical apps, texting, surfing and emailing and the odd calls. I'll end up with about 60-70% battery life by about 9 pm from about 8 am, that's when I sit down and plug it in to charge, I consider pretty good considering I was getting about 30-40% with my Galaxy S5 using it the same way. Not sure if that helps.
Minim3 said:
Sorry to hear you're having that luck, with any phone there are defective units, I've only read a handful who's had battery issues, which version do you have? ie. North America, China etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a taiwan version, i had issue with it after 2 weeks of using. I also see people report error from other versions too in zentalk
I've used mine for a bit over a day and I'm impressed. Performance is great, build quality seems great too. I've read some reviews that state the phone feels cheap, but to me it feels and looks better than Samsung S4 or S5.
I have no problem reaching the power button on top, it feels easier than pressing the power button on the side of my old 4.7" Blu Life Play phone, as I don't have to change the grip to reach the power button.
Battery life is a concern though. Yesterday I spent the day applying updates, rooting, instalar all my apps and tweaking all config options. The charge did not last me the day. Hopefully today it'll fare better today after all customization and setup is done.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
Minim3 said:
I haven't really measured using the battery usage. I go by normal use through out the day comparing it with my S5, I'll go through a day running my typical apps, texting, surfing and emailing and the odd calls. I'll end up with about 60-70% battery life by about 9 pm from about 8 am, that's when I sit down and plug it in to charge, I consider pretty good considering I was getting about 30-40% with my Galaxy S5 using it the same way. Not sure if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i have no problem with battery too, with a normal use, some calls, web browsing, whatsapp and facebook i still have more than 50% at home at night, a great improvement since my samsung s3
i also tested the display on some hours, and it should last 5/6 hours of continuos web browsing
onesky said:
i have no problem with battery too, with a normal use, some calls, web browsing, whatsapp and facebook i still have more than 50% at home at night, a great improvement since my samsung s3
i also tested the display on some hours, and it should last 5/6 hours of continuos web browsing
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been reading a lot of reviews for the ZF2 seems like the CN versions have more problems, I wonder if they got some duds. And also, I've noticed that the ZE551 CN versions have different configurations, maybe that's the problem.
Sorry to bring up an older post, but I see a lot of people loving this phone, and some haters (There's always haters)....I have an iphone 6 now after being on Android for a long time, and I'm about fed up with iOS...All of the things people say about iOS are true...locked down...Boring...Ect... That's a different topic for a different day..
My question is, how is the screen? Lots of people have complained about brightness, or lack there of. Also, camera, is it at least average? I'm looking to go about 300 on a phone and there's a few choices out there, but none seem as powerful as the Zenfone 2 with 4gb of ram, 64gb storage. It seems a little more future proof than the OPO, so I'm thinking of getting it....
Will I be disappointed coming from the Nexus line, then iPhone 6?
smokinjoe2122 said:
Sorry to bring up an older post, but I see a lot of people loving this phone, and some haters (There's always haters)....I have an iphone 6 now after being on Android for a long time, and I'm about fed up with iOS...All of the things people say about iOS are true...locked down...Boring...Ect... That's a different topic for a different day..
My question is, how is the screen? Lots of people have complained about brightness, or lack there of. Also, camera, is it at least average? I'm looking to go about 300 on a phone and there's a few choices out there, but none seem as powerful as the Zenfone 2 with 4gb of ram, 64gb storage. It seems a little more future proof than the OPO, so I'm thinking of getting it....
Will I be disappointed coming from the Nexus line, then iPhone 6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have little patience to wait little more for 5.1 to come up (which most people dont have and hence judging things wrongly) then its worth having for sure..
I came from a G2 and iphone 6. I still have an iPad. I couldn't be happier to be honest
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
I came from an HTC m7 and I love my new ZenFone 2. I have the 4gb/64gb model and it is superb. I also was worried about screen brightness, but I haven't found it bad at all.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
smokinjoe2122 said:
Sorry to bring up an older post, but I see a lot of people loving this phone, and some haters (There's always haters)....I have an iphone 6 now after being on Android for a long time, and I'm about fed up with iOS...All of the things people say about iOS are true...locked down...Boring...Ect... That's a different topic for a different day..
My question is, how is the screen? Lots of people have complained about brightness, or lack there of. Also, camera, is it at least average? I'm looking to go about 300 on a phone and there's a few choices out there, but none seem as powerful as the Zenfone 2 with 4gb of ram, 64gb storage. It seems a little more future proof than the OPO, so I'm thinking of getting it....
Will I be disappointed coming from the Nexus line, then iPhone 6?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had mine now about 3 weeks and I think that the phone is great for the price. The camera is OK, certainly not iPhone 6 good, but reasonable, especially when you use alternate camera apps. The screen is fine, but once again, I'm indoors most of the day, so no issue. Max brightness outside is not so great the one or two times I've used it.
I think that the phone is a work in progress and that a lot of the deficiencies that you see people griping about will be addressed with future Android updates. On the plus side, Asus had been sending out updates frequently so they seem committed to making this phone better.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
Thanks for the input guys...Really having a hard time between this and the OPO....I still have until the end of the month to make my choice, but I'm leaning towards this phone...Really can't go wrong for $300 per the specs, and I like that Asus is continually updating this phone....
I had the same choice to .and and went for the ZenFone 2. I have had it for 4 weeks now and have had no regrets. This phone performs flawlessly in my opinion.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app
Had mine for 4weeks now....am so LOVING it...
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
i have no problem with battery, It's a taiwan version.
over 2 months and still in love.
smokinjoe2122 said:
Thanks for the input guys...Really having a hard time between this and the OPO....I still have until the end of the month to make my choice, but I'm leaning towards this phone...Really can't go wrong for $300 per the specs, and I like that Asus is continually updating this phone....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I came from a Nexus 5 and was considering the same two phones as you. Decided to go with the zenfone 2 based on Asus being more reputable and customer friendly from what i read. So far its been great. I did root (which is super easy via one click) and used titanium to freeze all the unwanted apps. Haven't experienced any lag. Camera wont be as good as the Iphone, but definitely better than my nexus 5. I dont game on it because I dont see the point of gaming on a phone, but i did run hearthstone flawlessly. To me, the build quality is nice. comparable to Galaxy s4/5, so im not sure why so many reviews bring it up as a major con. at $300 this phone is awesome. And once Asus pushed out 5.1 it should shine even more, as 5.1 bumps android up to 64bit, and this has a 64bit chipset.
This phone is way better than I expected for $299. I'm coming from an LG G2, and I'm not missing anything. You can spend 3x this much on a phone and you won't end up with much more.
Honestly my biggest nit-pick is the power button placement, but double-tap-to-wake/sleep is far more convenient than any possible hardware switch. Battery life is a touch lower than I'm used to, but QC 2 is really great.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk
Received my RN4 last week, and after spending a week with it I am definitely impressed.
Observations
1. Battery life is the phone's strongest suit. Can definitely get even better SOT if I was more careful using this thing, but fact is this is the first phone I've owned that I only need to charge once a day. (See attachment for SOT)
2. Build quality is solid as well, but definitely not top notch. Seams can still felt, and SIM tray is a bit hard to push in.
3. Display is great. Nothing out of the ordinary.
4. Helio X20 is a solid chip, but Javascript performance is underwhelming. Does not appear to have many benefits over the SD650.
5. Camera is underwhelming, quality is around the level of the Moto X 2014, but PD focus is quick and accurate, unlike the CDAF on the X14.
6. MIUI is not as intrusive as most Western media will have you believe, but I do not like the aggressiveness with which it kills background processes. GSam Battery monitor doesnt work reliably as it always gets kicked.
7. One handed usage is poor. The next model could definitely use smaller bezels on the X axis.
8. I got an update last week for "bug fixes", but was strangely 1.3GB big and took over an hour to download and install.
Overall, for $200, I'm definitely impressed. Can't say I feel a noticeable performance difference with my last phone, the Galaxy S7. Only place I can feel I got what I paired for is the camera.
AB__CD said:
Received my RN4 last week, and after spending a week with it I am definitely impressed.
Observations
1. Battery life is the phone's strongest suit. Can definitely get even better SOT if I was more careful using this thing, but fact is this is the first phone I've owned that I only need to charge once a day. (See attachment for SOT)
2. Build quality is solid as well, but definitely not top notch. Seams can still felt, and SIM tray is a bit hard to push in.
3. Display is great. Nothing out of the ordinary.
4. Helio X20 is a solid chip, but Javascript performance is underwhelming. Does not appear to have many benefits over the SD650.
5. Camera is underwhelming, quality is around the level of the Moto X 2014, but PD focus is quick and accurate, unlike the CDAF on the X14.
6. MIUI is not as intrusive as most Western media will have you believe, but I do not like the aggressiveness with which it kills background processes. GSam Battery monitor doesnt work reliably as it always gets kicked.
7. One handed usage is poor. The next model could definitely use smaller bezels on the X axis.
8. I got an update last week for "bug fixes", but was strangely 1.3GB big and took over an hour to download and install.
Overall, for $200, I'm definitely impressed. Can't say I feel a noticeable performance difference with my last phone, the Galaxy S7. Only place I can feel I got what I paired for is the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback, I also have an S7 and on the verge of selling to buy either the note 4 or the redmi pro. I know it will generally be a downgrade especially in terms of camera as nothing can touch the S7. But it seems a great device and would let me free up some cash. The redmi pro seems to have a better camera than the RN4 although a bit gimmicky with its dual cams, but both pack nice builds and big batteries. Although I think the RN4's finger print scanner looks better and is in a better location, I'm not really that impressed with the S7's as it still needs to be pushed and isn't that accurate. How do you find audio quality over say a pair of headphones compared to the S7?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
Thanks for the feedback, I also have an S7 and on the verge of selling to buy either the note 4 or the redmi pro. I know it will generally be a downgrade especially in terms of camera as nothing can touch the S7. But it seems a great device and would let me free up some cash. The redmi pro seems to have a better camera than the RN4 although a bit gimmicky with its dual cams, but both pack nice builds and big batteries. Although I think the RN4's finger print scanner looks better and is in a better location, I'm not really that impressed with the S7's as it still needs to be pushed and isn't that accurate. How do you find audio quality over say a pair of headphones compared to the S7?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very loud, and decently clean and crisp too. There seems to be some decent audio equipment on this thing, both speakers and headphone, and I suspect there may be a discrete DAC on this, impressive for a $200 device. I went for the RN4 over the Pro for one reason and one reason only: there is an official global ROM out for this phone, while the Pro would require me to install GP package through a third-party solution.
I can definitely say that the FPS is way better on the back. Very accurate, and as long as I don't give it some super-weird angle it authenticates me without fail, quicker and more accurately than the S7.
AB__CD said:
Very loud, and decently clean and crisp too. There seems to be some decent audio equipment on this thing, both speakers and headphone, and I suspect there may be a discrete DAC on this, impressive for a $200 device. I went for the RN4 over the Pro for one reason and one reason only: there is an official global ROM out for this phone, while the Pro would require me to install GP package through a third-party solution.
I can definitely say that the FPS is way better on the back. Very accurate, and as long as I don't give it some super-weird angle it authenticates me without fail, quicker and more accurately than the S7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great that's good to hear, I assumed there was a global rom for the pro but must have been something else I seen. I had a feeling the finger print scanner was better, I do find the S7's quite fussy and a lot of times I exceed the try limit and have to wait 30 secs[emoji34].
I really do appreciate the camera on the S7, although from the reviews I've watched the RN4 seems to have very quick auto focus and capture speeds. It obviously seems to suffer in low light but no phone is immune from this really only to lesser extents. I generally take most photos outside in good conditions anyway and usually of the kids where a quick shutter is needed. The camera app also seems fast to launch as well which again is an important to be able to snap photos quickly.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Wich rom are you using? Do you root it?
gsmyth said:
Great that's good to hear, I assumed there was a global rom for the pro but must have been something else I seen. I had a feeling the finger print scanner was better, I do find the S7's quite fussy and a lot of times I exceed the try limit and have to wait 30 secs[emoji34].
I really do appreciate the camera on the S7, although from the reviews I've watched the RN4 seems to have very quick auto focus and capture speeds. It obviously seems to suffer in low light but no phone is immune from this really only to lesser extents. I generally take most photos outside in good conditions anyway and usually of the kids where a quick shutter is needed. The camera app also seems fast to launch as well which again is an important to be able to snap photos quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fingerprint scanner really is great. Worlds better than the S7. Location isn't always ideal for when the phone is on a table top, but it is great when pulling the phone out of the pocket. I suspect that the only way to solve this is give people two Fingerprint scanners
Camera launches quickly and focus is reliable. Better than my 2014 Moto X ever was. Shutter is not as fast as the reviews make it out to be, but that may be because I have HDR on Auto, and HDR photos do take a while to process. Outside photos are reasonably crisp, inside the noise starts to become uncontrollable. Remember to go to Settings and select image quality "High" and enable "Enhance lowlight pictures automatically" when you get this phone. Hugely important, as the default Medium setting is too aggressive in compressing.
AB__CD said:
Received my RN4 last week, and after spending a week with it I am definitely impressed.
Observations
1. Battery life is the phone's strongest suit. Can definitely get even better SOT if I was more careful using this thing, but fact is this is the first phone I've owned that I only need to charge once a day. (See attachment for SOT)
2. Build quality is solid as well, but definitely not top notch. Seams can still felt, and SIM tray is a bit hard to push in.
3. Display is great. Nothing out of the ordinary.
4. Helio X20 is a solid chip, but Javascript performance is underwhelming. Does not appear to have many benefits over the SD650.
5. Camera is underwhelming, quality is around the level of the Moto X 2014, but PD focus is quick and accurate, unlike the CDAF on the X14.
6. MIUI is not as intrusive as most Western media will have you believe, but I do not like the aggressiveness with which it kills background processes. GSam Battery monitor doesnt work reliably as it always gets kicked.
7. One handed usage is poor. The next model could definitely use smaller bezels on the X axis.
8. I got an update last week for "bug fixes", but was strangely 1.3GB big and took over an hour to download and install.
Overall, for $200, I'm definitely impressed. Can't say I feel a noticeable performance difference with my last phone, the Galaxy S7. Only place I can feel I got what I paired for is the camera.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been using RN4 for 2 weeks. And I do agree most of the views.
1. Battery: it seems not that good if you care about the numbers. But the overall performance is pretty good. Playing some 3d games with performance for an hour costs less than 10%.
2. CPU: I don't think this is a big leap as I can't from Nexus 5. The performance is not overkill. And I don't feel anything is super smooth. I guess the reason is that 10 cores are still to much for an Android system to operate with. I doubt the kernel fully utilizes the CPU.
3. Camera: don't expect much on it even though they claimed it's 16MP. The quality is quite glitchy in my opinion. If you really care about the quality of the camera on your phone, consider carefully. Despite the quality, the speed is fine as the focus, HDR and burst mode work perfectly fine.
4. MIUI: I just want a CM. That's it.
5. Price: this is the most pulling reason for me to buy this. You can just switch to a new one if this breaks somehow. :laugh:
Hello.
My name is Gabriel, from Romania.
I have a redminote 4 since 25 october 2016.
Since yesterday it doesn't display, in the upper right corner, the icon for mobile data - you know, the H, or H+, or 4G or 3G, next to mobile network signal icon.
The mobile data connection is working good, but the fact that the phone is connected to mobile data is not displayed any more.
Is there any setting for this?
Thanks.
Gabriel Sbircea said:
Hello.
My name is Gabriel, from Romania.
I have a redminote 4 since 25 october 2016.
Since yesterday it doesn't display, in the upper right corner, the icon for mobile data - you know, the H, or H+, or 4G or 3G, next to mobile network signal icon.
The mobile data connection is working good, but the fact that the phone is connected to mobile data is not displayed any more.
Is there any setting for this?
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve this? Are you on the global rom?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
No.
I had the intention to perform a factory reset during this weekend, but I didn't, I was too busy with other things.
And yes, is the Global ROM - I have Romanian language (not only...)
Thanks.
Gabriel Sbircea said:
No.
I had the intention to perform a factory reset during this weekend, but I didn't, I was too busy with other things.
And yes, is the Global ROM - I have Romanian language (not only...)
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A factory reset is probably the best option take first although it is a pain having to backup/ set everything up again.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 video review
Originalas said:
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 video review
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks will watch this later.
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
gsmyth said:
Did you solve this? Are you on the global rom?
Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello
I have black screen with my Redmi Note 4 but led of charge work have you some ideas how can i solve this issue?
Thanks
2 weeks here...
I bought the Redmi Note 4 - S625 32 GB version as a replacement for another phone from another vendor, my old phone had the same hardware configuration, but was greatly lagging on performance, battery life and customization.
I have long decided on the Redmi, and have gone through several resources and reviews online, and was so far satisfied with what I read.
I was able to buy it at a discounted price in Egypt (USD 160), this is of course not a bargain for the global price, yet locally it was good compared to other similar devices.
I'll go through every aspect of my experience with the phone and provide you with my conclusion in the end.
The phone comes in a small box compared to other phones of the same size, the phone fits in exactly, with the charger and the charging cable, the extra space could've been better used to add earphones to the bundle, something Xiaomi should consider in the future, is to throw in one of their premium earphones.
The phone size is slim and nice to hold, something that counts for it, considering the huge 4100mA battery, I was unfortunate to buy the black edition, which is very prone to fingerprints and you can never keep it clean, let alone it also seemed scratch prone, I didn't want to risk it therefore the first thing I had to do was to go for a silicon cover.
Also the screen glass is clear with smooth edges, and gives the phone a very elegant look, yet I read it's not gorilla glass, so I had to go for a glass screen protector.
The screen is large enough with some bevel edges that could be improved in the future.
The dual SIM slot is an amazing idea, yet with a bit of better design I guess we can squeeze in a place for a memory card.
The camera and fingerprint sensor are very well placed and nice to use, having the camera non-protruding is a good design point, protecting the camera cover from scratches.
I don't mind the camera being 13MP, it has a clear quality, works well with the camera app, and is quiet responsive, I've seen cameras with higher resolution, but were a pain to operate, so good job Xiaomi.
The screen is clear and pleasant to use, I have even use it to watch movies using a VR box with no problems, it is also quiet visible in the sun with bright colors.
One thing I really liked about this phone, is its battery life, I guess Xiaomi went to great effort to squeeze much power into the battery space, and to optimize the power use by applications, clearly there is a power optimization software layer added to the OS to perform this well, I am a heavy user, having the phone in hand all day with the screen on, reading, watching videos, and streaming internet videos and music in the car all day, using maps and GPS applications, and acting as a Wi-Fi hotspot. Still at night, before sleeping, I plug the charger while the phone is at 40%, keeping me assured that even if I forget to charge the phone, it will remain there for another day of moderate use. BATTERY LIFE ON THIS PHONE IS AMAZING.
I have seen people complain that it doesn’t have a fast charging capability, yet it's no problem with a phone that can withhold its charge for two days.
The good thing about this phone is that it has all connectivity features of other similar phones, except for the NFC, which is becoming a defacto nowadays, though the FM radio is good and launches without any headphone connected, however the lack of RDS is a bit annoying, in addition to the fact that the radio interface is boring and non-themeable, I have posted this suggestion in the MIUI forum.
Software performance on this phone is amazing, and the dual app capability is extra nice, it is better than having the second space activated, specially with the availability of individual app locking capability, I can have my work and personal applications in the same space, while giving my work applications the necessary security level required. This beats all other phones offering second space while hogging the memory and system resources, and affecting the performance.
Also Xiaomi's keeping to its promise of a very responsive MIUI, even with an alternative launcher (I'll come to that later), I'm getting a very good performance, no launch delays, no botchy performance, etc... Which shows that enough effort has been put into OS optimization.
I haven't tried installing a custom OS yet, and this is mainly due to the fact that the factory OS is very well performing and doesn't need further optimization, till now!!
I had to resort to installing a third party launcher (Nova Launcher), since I didn't really like the way MIUI launcher treats the applications, without an application drawer, desktops can become really cluttered, specially that I always test new apps and remove them regularly. This may be convenient for iPhone users, but a no no in our Android world, Xiaomi should reconsider.
A nice addition to the UI is the floating ball, it comes with useful shortcuts, but to change them you have to dig deep into the settings, certainly there should be a better way to do this, still it is a good addition.
The screenshot shortcut saves a shot of the current screen and can later send you to the editing part if you need to crop and edit your shot, it would be better if a crop control can appear when a screenshot is requested, so that we can directly choose which part of the screen we want to capture and share directly.
The phone came with android marshmallow, but as soon as I started using it, a new update with nougat was pushed, I also guess and Oreo version in in the pipeline, still you can have the Oreo taste from any custom rom available for this phone, which are really numerous in comparison to phones from other vendors, I guess Xiaomi should capitalize on this as being one of the most custom ROM friendly phones.
The phone, contacts, and messaging native aps are quiet usable, and so far I haven't faced any problem with them, in comparison to other phones that sometimes struggled with my 1500 entry contact list, the Xiaomi is fully capable of handling such a contact list dispersed among two contact providers (google contact and exchange server), and fully capable of flawlessly handling them.
One small glitch with the messaging app is the inability to delete the newly received SMS from the notification area, something that is usually needed nowadays.
Coming to the notification area, I've seen it better implemented in other phones or ROM versions, where you can get full access to the complete message, and be able control it (delete or reply) from the notification area, I know that in MIUI there is the capability to expand the notification for more details by a two finger swipe, but this is impossible with one handed operation.
The phone also comes with nice extra applications, the security app is quiet useful, and hopefully it does what it promises in the background.
The remote app is also a great addition, making you able to control a vast list of IR enabled devices; yet it should be a good addition to be able to add and customize new non-listed devices, such as for example non-standard android tv boxes.
In conclusion:
I really love this phone and don't regret the investment I put in it, Xiaomi is on a very good track, it should soon reach and surpass market leaders if it keeps building such impressive devices with affordable prices, also having that MIUI forum and its community is a good addition of keeping the users close to the vendor.
My recommendation is to work on the software enhancements requested by the users.
My recommendations to the new buyers, is to install good screen and body protection, stay away from the black version, and invest in a good quality headphones to enjoy your Xiaomi.
Hi all,
I am in a market for a new phone and my best bet so far is the Mate 8. I love its screen size, body-to-screen ratio, battery life and smooth performance.
However, reading numerous reviews raised some concerns for me that I was hoping you guys could help me with:
- The dreaded software. Is it so horrible in its latest official version (I would like to mention that I would use only official stuff so I am safe not to void warranty)?
- Can I make the phone look and feel as a "normal" Android phone?
- What is going on with the camera? Some reviews stated it's horribly unstable, slow and the photo quality is subpar. How is the current situation?
- How about the notification issue? Has it been resolved?
- How is the screen looking for you? Any tints and other distracting stuff?
Thanks for your replies!
Can't say about other variants, but I have an L29 and on official B581
- software is fine and stable (as stable as any other major brand)
- I'm running Nova launcher which works perfectly. The Huawei own launcher is ok as well. Runs like any other Android.
- Camera is ok. Not the best in class but good enough.
- Notifications issues were resolved a while back.
- The screen is absolutely fine, no specific issues.
Do note that there hasn't been any major original android development on this (some attempts at Lineage, but didn't get too far).
Hope this helps.
-I'm on official L29---b582 , EMUI 5.0.1
No problem with software and got huge battery optimisation on latest update
- it's Android you can do anything, there's pixel2 moded launcher in XDA, and free themes like this[emoji116]
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=emui.en.com.gpix2
- i dont know about notification issue cus i never had it ( the problem was on some Emui4s i think)
-camera is not good as 2017's phones obviously, but its good enough (there no 4K video recording thought)
-about the screen, you'll love the screen )
Sent from my HUAWEI NXT-L29 using Tapatalk
pike888 said:
Hi all,
I am in a market for a new phone and my best bet so far is the Mate 8. I love its screen size, body-to-screen ratio, battery life and smooth performance.
However, reading numerous reviews raised some concerns for me that I was hoping you guys could help me with:
- The dreaded software. Is it so horrible in its latest official version (I would like to mention that I would use only official stuff so I am safe not to void warranty)?
- Can I make the phone look and feel as a "normal" Android phone?
- What is going on with the camera? Some reviews stated it's horribly unstable, slow and the photo quality is subpar. How is the current situation?
- How about the notification issue? Has it been resolved?
- How is the screen looking for you? Any tints and other distracting stuff?
Thanks for your replies!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Mate8, L29C185B series. I've "retired" it about a month ago, and got the 9.
Have I had any problems in the just over a year? Nope. I run 100% stock, don't root, unlock bootloader or anything.
Other than using Nova Launcher Prime, instead of EMUI, what she came with, is how I run it.
Onto the software. It came with android 6, which I was perfectly fine with. It was updated to 7 in April of 2017.
Had 7 not been released, in my usage, it wouldn't have made a difference. 6 for me was rock solid.
My phone stays on 24/7. My usage is around 1500-2000 minutes per month on the phone, 300-400 text messages
per month, tons of web browsing (work), mp3's, streaming and LOTS of photographs.
On the subject of photos, I use Camera FV5 for that device, and it works fantastic. The key to getting a good
photo with a smartphone, is still to make sure you HOLD it still. The camera on the 9 is faster at capturing, but
for what I use the camera on the 8 for, it does the job. I do field electronics work, and use the phone camera
to snap photos of failures and parts on the equipment. The photos were always pretty clear, and in focus.
(I'm a weekend photographer for over 30 years, so I'm pretty good at holding it still).
The battery life for me, was typically 1 to 1.5 days. On weekends, I typically don't even use my phone, so charging
it Friday evening, would usually give me 60% left over by Sunday evening.
The 8 is a fantastic phone, in my opinion, unless you just "gotta have" the latest and greatest firmware installed.
Huawei isn't known for being spot on, to releasing software, but for my last 3 Huawei phones (Mate 2,8,9) they
have been very stable without any problems, that I didn't concern myself if it didn't have the latest firmware.
"It just works".
Thanks a lot for your input guys.
Even though three users might be considered as a rather smallish sample, your detailed answers are very reassuring and I have pretty much made a decision.
Thanks again!
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 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Rated this 5. Coming from a S9 this is certainly iterative , but I'm really enjoying the larger screen, the flat screen, the improved speed/smoothness, the front fingerprint sensor, and the new factory alert tones.
I also came from an S9, this just seems at least 2 levels up from that phone (and I really liked that phone). I am getting great (2 days plus!) battery life with not much use, also found a 5G cell and got 538mbits down!. Apart from being a little bigger in the hand this phone pretty much nails it from a performance perspective.
mstockham said:
I also came from an S9, this just seems at least 2 levels up from that phone (and I really liked that phone). I am getting great (2 days plus!) battery life with not much use, also found a 5G cell and got 538mbits down!. Apart from being a little bigger in the hand this phone pretty much nails it from a performance perspective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The phone is excellent, as far as Samsung support that's a different story. Earlier in October Samsung lunched the October security patch for all s20 series, but it excluded the S20 FE 5g edition. Same goes for the One UI 3 beta, it launched for all S20 series except S20 FE. This doesn't look as appealing if is going to be left out of security updates.
I love more my new S20 FE 5G than I hate my previous S20 Plus Exynos which was heating and eating battery very fast
I would say 4 of 5 stars as fingerprint scanner started to give me some fails but let's see
Jose Reyes said:
The phone is excellent, as far as Samsung support that's a different story. Earlier in October Samsung lunched the October security patch for all s20 series, but it excluded the S20 FE 5g edition. Same goes for the One UI 3 beta, it launched for all S20 series except S20 FE. This doesn't look as appealing if is going to be left out of security updates.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the October security update with OTA.
katanel said:
I got the October security update with OTA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great. I returned the phone and got an S20+ 5g instead from T mobile.
Average camera and missing features and headset!
Hi XDA's
Just want to give my 2 cents.
I'm coming from a Huawei Mate 20 Pro, as I want to try something new...and 5G. There were a great offer on it and took it.
First time I open the box I realized there were no headset
I have now used the phone for 2 weeks and been taking a lot photos. It is brilliant to take macro pictures, but does a bad job (compared to Mate 20 Pro, 2 year old phone) at capturing good pictures at dawn. Faces are also smoothen and it just looks wrong.
With the feature enabled to lit up the screen when it is lifted, doesn't always work. When it doesn't you have to either push the power button or lift the phone quicker...its just ignoring.
Searching for an app is cumbersome; you swipe up and then you have to move your thumb all the way up to touch the search field for start a search. I'm used to having the keyboard shown when entering the search app. When you then find the app. You cannot long press to move it to the home screen. You have to push Find app to find it in the drawer and then you can move it.
There are no Infrared sensor. Yes I actually use it especially if you rent a summerhouse, visit the hospital or at a meeting room to remote control their tv's. It is not something I use every day, but it's a nice feature.
Then there are Bixby. Something that only works in a foreign language and with no feature to substitute it with Google Assistant. That is just bad
Phone app needs too many clicks to get a call working...and there are no recording feature (not even under the tre dot menu).
Keyboard has half baked smiley feature, not with stickers in the Message app that only works with the keyboard from Samsung, although it also comes with Microsoft's Swift keyboard, which have better smiley feature too. Why come with two keyboards and none of them can be uninstalled?
Why even have it own Phone and Message app, when Google provides it...is it then to have been surveillance over its customers?
There are no leather cover for the phone
Last time I had a Samsung was an S2. It was rooted with Android Vanilla and some great battery life and cpu tunes. Took great pictures at that time, had infrared, came with headset...
This phone... I'm highly considering selling it again...I feels half baked, with a lot of twerks and bloatware. Like they couldn't decide or have learned us customers want to tweak it and want bare minimum of apps. Yes they have learned it a bit with the browser app...do that with every app. Make a real FE phone...or make it possible to be rooted and let the real fans tweak it and built a community...make XDA (you know what I mean) great again like the old days.
My Mate 20 Pro had better integration with Google and Android than this phone...I'm pretty disappointed.
Even Apple are doing a better job
For the price this phone cannot be beat. Looks and works great. I don't care about plastic. I like it better than glass because it is more resilient. It doesn't have all of the "best" but I can't tell much of a difference in performance from my S20 Ultra.
have had the phone for 4 days now and its very good. The cameras are as awesome as they say they are and the battery life is well beyond acceptable. Its been 30+ hours since i charged it and its still at 36%. Several lengthy phone calls and tons of facebooking, youtubing etc etc. Great phone so far!
I did notice the double tap feature is back and for me that is important. I tried multiple launchers but with a samsung theme installed and original launcher seems to respond the best for me. All other features of the phone seem to work well. So i guess i love the phone now that I made some changes that suit me.
My only crit of this device is complete lack of custom roms.
any developers developing it?
b1k3rdude said:
My only crit of this device is complete lack of custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
any developers developing it?
zetsui said:
any developers developing it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Afaik there arent any ROM devs for this device on the XDA forum, but there might be somewhere else on the net. But I tend to only trust mod's, roms, kernals, recoveries etc that are released on this forum.
i would put $25 to any dev who could dev it, you guys should put u a price here too so they see it
im a software engineer, wonder if i could do it as a weekend project
Its a nice gesture, but maybe check with the forum devs of the right way to go about this.
WORST PURCHASE I EVER MADE..
Phone is great but after 3 days (and right after a software update) it's giving me a moisture warning.. and I never put it in water.. It doesn't let me charge and I won't buy a wireless charger. I will ditch it ASAP.