Database Users

Owners' Impression

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.

Nexus 6 after a day - compared to N5 and note 4

I've only had my n6 for a day, but thought my initial impressions might help somebody who's up in the air about buying it. I had the N5 for a year, and only had the note 4 for a day so take my impressions of it with a grain of salt.
Great things so far about the n6: speakers, smoothness, screen, feel in hand, did I mention speakers?, and the GPS signal is better than both the n5 and note
Not great: the size is taking some getting used to, but that wasn't a surprise. Like every review says, it's not really a 1 handed phone like the N5 is.
Compared with the n5, its basically the same except bigger and faster. If you like the n5 I really think you'll like this even more. Like I said, it is getting better gps signal side by side than the n5 and looks just as good, just bigger.
Compared with the note 4: I know the reviews and tests all say the display is much better on the note and I'm sure that's true, but in real life use I don't see a difference. Maybe if you're in direct sunlight a lot during the day the note will be better, but I really don't see any real difference between them in the store, and using it now it just looks great.
I also really think the note has lag issues, whether people want to admit it or not. I put Nova launcher on it and was using "faster than light" settings and it would still hesitate every now and then, for no apparent reason.
I hate TW settings, if you haven't looked at them yet, that should be the first thing you check out. I thought I could get used to it but it just irritated me every single time I opened them. Just way too unwieldy and long.
I also thought I could get used to the physical home button, but the more I used it the more annoying it got. There's a long lag whenever you press it to go back to the home screen which is also annoying.
The GPS also wasn't very good, definitely not better than the n5 which was known for not-too-great signal. Side by side with the n5 the note would pick up 1 less satellite anywhere I was, with the best lock around 40 feet. The n6 is getting 2 or 3 more sat's with a lock around 10 to 13 feet, also a quicker lock.
I use my phone for watching youtube, netflix, hulu, and listening to google music or siriusXM. I only have 4 songs actually downloaded (ringtones) and only keep a single backup at a time on the phone itself. My other backups and movies I keep on a meenova mini-usb, bright orange so it doesn't get lost and on a lanyard. The 32 gb nexus 5 worked fine for me, I never even came close to filling it, so I bought the 32 gb n6 instead of waiting weeks to get the 64 gb. If storage is important to you, get the note.
Finding the n6 was difficult, I called the 5 Tmobile stores nearest me and none had it, expanded my search and found a store 40 mins from me that had 3 in stock. By the time I got there they only had 2 so if you don't want to wait for the backordered ones try calling around. None of the stores and 2 CS reps on the phone could tell me anything about when more would be received, 1 rep actually said it would probably be a few weeks before I'd get the 64gb. Who knows if they knew what they were talking about.
Anyhow, I hope this is at least somewhat useful for people still on the fence. I still have my n5 so if anybody wants any comparisons I can do that. I had to pay a $50 restocking fee for the note but it really did annoy me that much, I am just not a samsung person I guess.
EDIT: I almost forgot, the ambient display works pretty well. When my phone is just sitting and I pick it up it activates the screen, but I'm just now noticing when it's playing music and I pick it up it doesn't always register.
Also, I haven't used it enough to give any report about the battery life, but so far it seems much better than the n5. I'll write more after a few days of use. I did root it and have greenify installed.

Awesome, thanks. Still using the n5 and loving it. I'm kind concerned about not having led notifications or a good moto active display type notifications. I hear the ambient notifications is not functional every time. I'm receiving mine next week.

The sad part about the "long lag" when pressing the home button is because of a feature that Samsung has; S-Voice.
When you press it, it waits a certain amount of ms to see if you press the button again, in which you activate S-Voice.
Really, really dumb. Disabling the feature altogether fixes that problem, but you disabled something that is unique to the Samsung devices, which is kind of a reason why you bought it I would assume.

Thanks for the review. I have a OPO and will be waiting for the 64G Nexus. This will be my first Moto phone since the X2. Phone calls and GPS are so much better on Moto phones. Again, thanks.
Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

androidballer said:
Awesome, thanks. Still using the n5 and loving it. I'm kind concerned about not having led notifications or a good moto active display type notifications. I hear the ambient notifications is not functional every time. I'm receiving mine next week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you see this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-6/general/led-speaker-confirmed-t2947625
Ambient display, while not as robust as motos active display, has worked pretty well for me so far. If you end up not liking it or don't want to root to enable LEDs, you could try a play store app that does almost as well as motos active display. I forget the name, but shouldn't be hard to find.

[UPDATE] HTC M8 to LG G4: My Honest Experience In-depth

PREFACE: I don't know when was the last time I used a non-rooted phone and a completely stock ROM. My last android devices were HTC Desire S > HTC One M7 > HTC One M8. So you can guess I am a big fan of HTC's build quality, sound quality, lately user interface etc. The only sector HTC couldn't shine for me, ever, was camera quality. It's not that their cameras are horrible, it's just that always there is something missing. M7 had pink tint issue & M8 camera used to take good pictures but Megapixel becomes an issue when u use a camera in day to day life. Well decision of joining LG league was a big leap for me. I am quite sure you all know all the little details & specs of G4, so I will not go for specs. Neither I am going to read the same script saying all the goods about G4 like many youtubers. I will share what experience I have gathered during my short time playing (almost 3 days) with LG G4. I will try to divide my each category into Pros & Cons. So let's begin.
1. BUILD:
Pros:
- Leather back has a good grip and attractive design.
- Feels slim in hand and maintains the curve of the face while talking.
- Big but not uncomfortable. In fact all those saying, this device is big but doesn't feel so, are 100% true. I have used HTC Desire 816 for a short time & I can ensure you G4 doesn't feel as big as 816.
Cons:
- As I am used to having cases on my previous devices, using without one makes me insecure sometimes dropping the phone, not due to slipperiness, but due to thin profile (which is not actually a bad thing).
- Doesn't feel as expansive as S6 Edge or M8, but doesn't feel cheap at all.
2. DISPLAY:
Pros:
- Very good quality - sharp & crisp.
- Good backlight in outdoors.
- Colour reproduction very accurate.
Cons:
- 720p videos looks dull. 1080p and above are ok.
3. CAMERA & GALLERY:
Pros:
- Everything you already know.
Cons:
- No Resolution choosing option.
- No 360 panaroma option.
- You have to touch right above the dialer for changing the manual control options, anywhere else will switch between front & back camera, which takes time to get used to as the dialer is not that wide.
- OIS very aggressive in video mode. Videos seem to be stretch at corners which is not very pleasant. Audio quality is not good enough too. Voice seems to have no depth.
- No option for choosing which albums you want to show in "Albums" section in gallery, so some random folders containing random images i.e. music folder, app folder show in the "Albums" and you cannot hide them which is possible in Sense gallery. One other tiny pick - when u open an image, all the options are on the upper part of the screen which is not accessible with one hand. It was located below the photo is Sense gallery. Otherwise gallery is a nice one.
4. AUDIO:
Pros:
- Loud & clear. I think louder than M8. One of the loudest and good quality speaker I have ever used in a smartphone.
- No problem enjoying youtube and music videos.
Cons:
- Not as clear as M8 in a very few occasions. (Not due to blocking by palm)
- Bass almost absent.
- Facing to the wrong direction.
- Not much appealing while listening to music on speaker.
5. CHARGING & BATTERY LIFE:
Pros:
- Only phone I have ever used which if I leave idly at 100%, after 2-3 hours I will get is back at 99-100%. (wifi & mobile data off, 1-2 calls maybe) Very much impressed with the stand by time of the G4.
Cons:
- Poor charging speed, even with the provided LG charger & cable. Fastest I have found when I switch off the phone. Couldn't try with any quick charger yet.
- Battery drains drastically even with only wifi (2mbps connection, don't lough, i know) as if it is connected to 3g mobile data connection. It's like 1% drain in 1-3 minutes. M8 was much better in such scenario. Some people, of course, saying that this condition improves over time. Can't verify though as never before used a LG phone.
[UPDATE: Switch off auto-brightness. You will see much improvement of the battery. Although I have changed my first device and brought another one & I actually found this device to be better in battery management than previous one. Sorry, not speaking scientifically though.]
[UPDATE 2: Charging problem seems to have solved in the newer device.]
6. HEATING ISSUE:
- Charge your phone first to 100% (switching off) right after you buy the phone.
- I have had serious heating issue for the first 2 days. It's not that it used to become untouchable, in fact you will feel no heat on the back, rather I lifted the phone to my cheek to talk, it almost made red flush on my cheek.
- Things seem to have improved now. I think heating issue will resolve automatically in time.
[UPDATE: As I exchanged my previous G4, new one seems not to have such heating issue from the get-go. Although I need to use it for a few more days to confirm.]
7. PERFORMANCE & UI:
a) Call quality & Phone app:
- Must tick the "noise suppression" & "voice clarity" option in "settings > call". Person hearing you will find significant improvement bcoz of this.
- Phone app doesn't seem quite bad. I was actually bragging on the fact that HTC Sense has the best intelligence in merging and organizing phone contacts. No AOSP or even Google's built-in phone app has the same level of intelligence. But LG seems to have done better with this (although not as good as HTC, but better than others).
- But no "Remove Duplicates" option is a bummer for me.
- Also no "Default Tab" option (i.e. whenever you open the app, a selected tab e.g. recent / dialer will open first) is a disadvantage for me.
- Rather than making a seperate dialer tab, if LG would make a dialer floating button like lollipop's stock dialer, IMO it would be better.
b) Messaging:
- Here's a quick tip. If you coming from a old phone & trying to recover all the messages by some app, at first merge your contacts in the people app. Otherwise your messaging app will freeze quite often.
- Messaging app seems quite nice.
- Customization options are very limited. Provided background wallpapers and bubbles are very childish. And you cannot apply new theme which is weird in 2015 where HTC & Samsung have gone far ahead in this segment.
c) RAM management:
- You will not be happy. I am not saying the phone will freeze now and then, but LG G4 is not doing well in this segment. Don't know it's Lg's or Lolllipop's fault.
[UPDATE: With my newer G4, didn't actually feel any lagging or difficulty yet. Although I didn't restore all my apps yet. I will update if anything changes.]
d) Performance issues: (updated)
- Sometimes misses a few taps. But I don't think it's any LCD issue. It seems to me that deafult ROM isn't as fluid as HTC's or Samsung's or Apple's. Maybe Lollipop has also something to do with it. But I definitey think this will improve in custom ROMs (if & when they will be available )
e) Other things:
- Missing Sense 7 very much. Nothing can beat the integrate themes in Sense 7. No idea why LG almost completely opted it. Yah theme is there, but very limited like IOS.
- And also missing "swipe to lock" feature. Many-a-times swiping the nav bar subconsciously.
- No root or unlock bootloader yet for my H815T. It's causing hell on me. I am not at all used to live with a unrooted locked phone. Evenn Helium doesn't quite work for LG G4.
Well I tried to cover as much and as precise as possible about my experience with G4. I think an update from LG can solve many of the issues and later stage custom ROMs can eliminate all the issues I have mentioned here as hardware-wise it is really a nice device. And LASTLY guys, if you think your device isn't performing well, go and change it, don't wait coz yah all devices may not same built. I have found significant improvement changing my older G4. Yah there may or may not be any scientific explanation, but it helps actually. Go & change yours if it seems lagging, charging slowly or overheating....
Thanks for reading. And share your thoughts.
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You must have a good one m8 and a bad G4. And i must have a bad one m8 gpe and a great G4. My stock rooted 5.1.1 m8 is a battery sucking stuttering pos. My G4 silky smooth battery sipping joy. My G4 is by far the smoothest phone I have ran to date.

I agree with some of what you've said. I used to be an HTC fanboi. I have used HTC flagships for the last 6 or 7 years. I only switched from the M8 to the G4 because the M9 wasn't worth the upgrade.
Personally I love the G4. Its a nice step up from the M8. Remember it's only been out a short time, and is still on it's initial release. When it's been tested in the public for a little time, LG will no doubt patch it to improve on things. Just give it some time.
I don't see any performance issues though. I have no delay when opening apps.

the_scotsman said:
I agree with some of what you've said. I used to be an HTC fanboi. I have used HTC flagships for the last 6 or 7 years. I only switched from the M8 to the G4 because the M9 wasn't worth the upgrade.
Personally I love the G4. Its a nice step up from the M8. Remember it's only been out a short time, and is still on it's initial release. When it's been tested in the public for a little time, LG will no doubt patch it to improve on things. Just give it some time.
I don't see any performance issues though. I have no delay when opening apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok tell me one thing. How much RAM is used most of the time on yr device? I can find it from the floating bubble of "clean master" & it normally never comes down to 85%. And one other thing, in battery usage what takes up the most of it? Mine is screen. Secondly System. Screen almost takes double battery than System all the time. Is it normal? I mean I wanna be sure that I don't have a defective device coz exchange will be easy here in my country.

nipun1110 said:
Ok tell me one thing. How much RAM is used most of the time on yr device? I can find it from the floating bubble of "clean master" & it normally never comes down to 85%. And one other thing, in battery usage what takes up the most of it? Mine is screen. Secondly System. Screen almost takes double battery than System all the time. Is it normal? I mean I wanna be sure that I don't have a defective device coz exchange will be easy here in my country.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Screen taking up the most battery is completely normal. The display uses more battery than anything else by a LONG way.
And by design Android will use most of the RAM available. It will leave apps sitting in memory, so they can be switched between quickly. It's not supposed to have a lot of spare free RAM. Free RAM is a waste in simple Android terms.

the_scotsman said:
Screen taking up the most battery is completely normal. The display uses more battery than anything else by a LONG way.
And by design Android will use most of the RAM available. It will leave apps sitting in memory, so they can be switched between quickly. It's not supposed to have a lot of spare free RAM. Free RAM is a waste in simple Android terms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks a lot. But it seems to me whenever RAM crossing 87-88%, it starts stuttering.

the_scotsman said:
Screen taking up the most battery is completely normal. The display uses more battery than anything else by a LONG way.
And by design Android will use most of the RAM available. It will leave apps sitting in memory, so they can be switched between quickly. It's not supposed to have a lot of spare free RAM. Free RAM is a waste in simple Android terms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One other thing, can u say one thing that, I am using a Singapore/Australia model, ok?? Does it have anything to do with my battery drain?

That's nothing to do with it.
Howe low long have you had it? You'd have to post a screenshot of your power usage for us to comment on it further.

Same boat here. M8 to red leather G4. For now Im really liking the G4 in all but in two major aspects; one is the bad battery life compared to M8 (no more over 7hour screen on times ) and the other is bad audio quality. In audio it just cant match M8 neither on speaker (obviosly), headphones or bluetooth audio. I could live with the ok audio and loud but tinny speaker but the bt-audio streaming is something horrible :/. Cant listen to music from the phone in my car anymore . I dont have heat or bad lag issues but then again it might be the launcher and/or the other apps that I use dont cause that much lag. But I really really like the camera and the screen. Oh man if M9 had screen (not the resolution but the colors and outside readability) and camera like this I would have ordered it straight away.

Pyrres said:
Same boat here. M8 to red leather G4. For now Im really liking the G4 in all but in two major aspects; one is the bad battery life compared to M8 (no more over 7hour screen on times ) and the other is bad audio quality. In audio it just cant match M8 neither on speaker (obviosly), headphones or bluetooth audio. I could live with the ok audio and loud but tinny speaker but the bt-audio streaming is something horrible :/. Cant listen to music from the phone in my car anymore . I dont have heat or bad lag issues but then again it might be the launcher and/or the other apps that I use dont cause that much lag. But I really really like the camera and the screen. Oh man if M9 had screen (not the resolution but the colors and outside readability) and camera like this I would have ordered it straight away.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are having 7 hours screen on time??? OMG I am hardly getting 3.5 hours!!!!

the_scotsman said:
I agree with some of what you've said. I used to be an HTC fanboi. I have used HTC flagships for the last 6 or 7 years. I only switched from the M8 to the G4 because the M9 wasn't worth the upgrade.
Personally I love the G4. Its a nice step up from the M8. Remember it's only been out a short time, and is still on it's initial release. When it's been tested in the public for a little time, LG will no doubt patch it to improve on things. Just give it some time.
I don't see any performance issues though. I have no delay when opening apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you handle the transition from a more mature user interface ?
---------- Post added at 09:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 AM ----------
nipun1110 said:
OMG I am hardly getting 3.5 hours!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is your screen brightness set to indoors ? or is it on auto brightness.
liked the comparison with desire 816 for size, that one is so much bigger for the same screen.

People still use those memory cleaners?
That is what's causing your lag and battery drain.
Android is DESIGNED to keeps apps in memory to reduce cpu time to open it again. By cleaning the memory you are forcing the phone to do extra work that it normally wouldn't have to do when opening an app. Android will automatically clear memory that it needs to do something else.
Your phone will feel fastest and perform the best when your ram usage is between 50 and 80 percent.

nipun1110 said:
You are having 7 hours screen on time??? OMG I am hardly getting 3.5 hours!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With m8 the longest screen on time was over 14hours when reading a book inside with everything on and no battery savers on. Average was something like 5 hours. With G4 i get maybe 4-5hours SOT if Im careful. Oh and screen brightness is set to 65-70 with auto in both phones.
Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

I already exchanged the phone from the retailer with another one. Will check this one carefully. Right now doing the first charge switching off the phone. I will report later on. BTW I found avoiding autobrightness is a good option. Adjust the brightness whenever necessary.

And what is your usual setting indoors ? mention the number..
auto is the most efficient but its dimmer.

One Twelve said:
And what is your usual setting indoors ? mention the number..
auto is the most efficient but its dimmer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this link & u will find auto brightness is not that helpful, rather killing battery & I personally saw an improvement killing it.
http://www.androidpit.com/how-to-save-battery-life

Check this link for my at present battery update of New G4:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=61214824

nipun1110 said:
Check this link for my at present battery update of New G4:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=61214824
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so you use your phone with a screen brightness of 50% indoors.
Some use more others use less. this plays a factor.
Good to see that you have noticed an improvement with the replacement but its annoying to have to exchange devices like this. You're not the only one, i've heard similar stories from a couple of others as well.

One Twelve said:
Ok, so you use your phone with a screen brightness of 50% indoors.
Some use more others use less. this plays a factor.
Good to see that you have noticed an improvement with the replacement but its annoying to have to exchange devices like this. You're not the only one, i've heard similar stories from a couple of others as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yah I have seen many posts of such. But I am really enjoying my new device. Even charging problem also solved. But man, u gotta switch off the auto brightness - take my opinion.

Good read. Glad some issues are fixed with the newer unit.
It is odd there is a fixed resolution with each ratio. But whatever, I leave it on 16x9 lol
Sent from my LG-H815

Z3+ vs. G4 - My comparison and opinions

Recently received the Sony Xperia Z3+ and I must say – I quite enjoy it. Dare I say it’s even better than the LG G4 (for me). I’ll break down the pros and cons of the Z3+, then compare it to the G4 in whole.
A few pics of the Z3+ and its contents here!
Pros:
Astonishing build quality
Expandable storage
Near stock Android UI (personal preference)
Dust/water resistant
Side buttons have great tactile feel
Dedicated camera button
Battery life and settings for extended use
Very fast and responsive
Cons:
Screen real estate could be better (bezel to screen ratio)
Camera is very, very outdated. Lots of noise from the front facing camera
Speakers do not get loud at all
Overheating issues (on newest firmware, still gets hot)
The phone was ordered off eBay from never-msrp without a hiccup. They shipped it on Monday and I received it Wednesday afternoon. This is the E6553 version, I decided to get this specific one since it has the bands that T-Mobile’s LTE runs on. As you can see from the pictures, the phone came with an added car charger, European power brick, and a converter for use in the U.S.A. It also came with headphones (something my Z1 C6906 didn’t come with) and your standard black micro USB cable. Nothing really special.
Overall, the Z3+ is great. It may not be a direct upgrade for those that have the Z3, but I still have my old Z1 and it’s a definite upgrade from that. I’ve used a Z2 before and it’s an upgrade from that as well. The phone feels great and I have been enjoying it for the past couple of days. It has definitely not hiccupped at all, save for some Bluetooth issues with my car (my Tesla can be cumbersome connecting at times, had issues with my G4 too). The phone is fast as hell, and I LOVE the near stock Android UI. After running CM11 on my Huawei Ascend Mate 7, CM12 on my G3, CM12.1 on my Nexus 6 – I really cannot stand bloated UI’s. Nova Launcher helps a bit with bloaty UI’s but it doesn’t mask it completely. The pull down quick settings, and full settings interface on the Z3+ (and on Sony’s version of Lollipop in general) is great and deeply desirable. As mentioned above, the cons of the phone are apparent – the overheating issues have not dissipated as of the latest firmware update (I’m currently on 28.0.A.7.24), and the camera is really showing its age now, especially in comparison to its rivals. The speakers do not get loud, but at least emit clear sound. And while the phone is 5.2” in screen size, it is overall the same size as the G4, which has the added benefit of .3” in screen size. It may seem miniscule, but after using the two phones back and forth, I definitely notice the difference.
On to the comparison – the G4 vs. Z3+. I used the G4 for a little bit, and while I enjoyed it, I was growing tiresome of the issues it faced. The unresponsive screen (double tap to wake was a travesty), the bloated UI, and the lag I sometimes experienced ruined it a bit for me. The G4 is still an amazing phone, but until LG can work out some software issues, it isn’t so fun to use every day. Where the G4 shines is its camera. I’m sure many of you have heard of its magnificence and I’m here to further perpetuate it – it’s a brilliant camera. The shots you see of the Z3+ were taken with the G4. In comparison, the Z3+ takes good shots, but just overall clarity and low light performance – the G4 wins out easily. I can honestly say that if Sony were to just insert the cameras from the G4 into the Z3+, they’d easily have one of the best phones of 2015.
Ergonomics wise, the Z3+ is just as comfortable as the G4, don’t let the “curved” aspect of the G4 fool you, it doesn’t make much of a difference at all. The Z3+ is better to use while it lays on a flat surface too, as the G4 is curved and does shakes about when tapped on either side. The G4 wins out in terms of screen real estate though. The two phones are nearly identical in terms of height and width, but the G4 has more screen. I also feel as if QHD is worthless on these smaller screens, and you cannot tell the different in terms of sheer pixels between QHD and FHD with your naked eye. I’d much rather have better battery life and performance with an FHD screen.
The Z3+ also obviously wins out in terms of battery life due to the aforementioned FHD, and the stamina modes that Sony provides. The inability to take out and replace the battery means the G4 wins in that aspect, but the build quality and feel of the Z3+ more than makes up for it IMO. At 40% brightness, and texting with Google’s Messenger, WhatsApp, some music from Poweramp, and with some light Chrome browsing, the absolute best I could get was a little over 4 hours of SoT on the G4; this was done with WiFi off, no GPS, no Bluetooth. The Z3+ however, has given me a 4 and a half hours of SoT at higher brightness (well above 60%), location set to battery saving, music being played via Bluetooth, and a Moto 360 connected with the same use – texting, WhatsApp, and some internet browsing using Chrome while on WiFi.
Overall, I’d say the victor is the Z3+ for me. I have a penchant for stock Android, and the G4 is just far too bloated for my taste. Both phones are fast, but the Z3+ is just a bit snappier thanks to the 810 SoC. The Z3+ has its ups, but if you’re the type that enjoys a bigger screen and likes taking photos, the G4 is definitely for you. But being the type of guy that values battery life, stock UI look, and what not – the Z3+ is definitely the phone for me. If Sony’s next phone could include a camera on par with the G4 and perhaps slim down the bezels, they’d have a genuine winner. Apparently Sony is investing a tonne of money into cameras for their mobile phones, so we can expect the successor of the Z3+/Z4 to have a top of the line camera. I greatly look forward to that!

AhsanU said:
Recently received the Sony Xperia Z3+ and I must say – I quite enjoy it. Dare I say it’s even better than the LG G4 (for me). I’ll break down the pros and cons of the Z3+, then compare it to the G4 in whole.
A few pics of the Z3+ and its contents here!
Pros:
Astonishing build quality
Expandable storage
Near stock Android UI (personal preference)
Dust/water resistant
Side buttons have great tactile feel
Dedicated camera button
Battery life and settings for extended use
Very fast and responsive
Cons:
Screen real estate could be better (bezel to screen ratio)
Camera is very, very outdated. Lots of noise from the front facing camera
Speakers do not get loud at all
Overheating issues (on newest firmware, still gets hot)
The phone was ordered off eBay from never-msrp without a hiccup. They shipped it on Monday and I received it Wednesday afternoon. This is the E6553 version, I decided to get this specific one since it has the bands that T-Mobile’s LTE runs on. As you can see from the pictures, the phone came with an added car charger, European power brick, and a converter for use in the U.S.A. It also came with headphones (something my Z1 C6906 didn’t come with) and your standard black micro USB cable. Nothing really special.
Overall, the Z3+ is great. It may not be a direct upgrade for those that have the Z3, but I still have my old Z1 and it’s a definite upgrade from that. I’ve used a Z2 before and it’s an upgrade from that as well. The phone feels great and I have been enjoying it for the past couple of days. It has definitely not hiccupped at all, save for some Bluetooth issues with my car (my Tesla can be cumbersome connecting at times, had issues with my G4 too). The phone is fast as hell, and I LOVE the near stock Android UI. After running CM11 on my Huawei Ascend Mate 7, CM12 on my G3, CM12.1 on my Nexus 6 – I really cannot stand bloated UI’s. Nova Launcher helps a bit with bloaty UI’s but it doesn’t mask it completely. The pull down quick settings, and full settings interface on the Z3+ (and on Sony’s version of Lollipop in general) is great and deeply desirable. As mentioned above, the cons of the phone are apparent – the overheating issues have not dissipated as of the latest firmware update (I’m currently on 28.0.A.7.24), and the camera is really showing its age now, especially in comparison to its rivals. The speakers do not get loud, but at least emit clear sound. And while the phone is 5.2” in screen size, it is overall the same size as the G4, which has the added benefit of .3” in screen size. It may seem miniscule, but after using the two phones back and forth, I definitely notice the difference.
On to the comparison – the G4 vs. Z3+. I used the G4 for a little bit, and while I enjoyed it, I was growing tiresome of the issues it faced. The unresponsive screen (double tap to wake was a travesty), the bloated UI, and the lag I sometimes experienced ruined it a bit for me. The G4 is still an amazing phone, but until LG can work out some software issues, it isn’t so fun to use every day. Where the G4 shines is its camera. I’m sure many of you have heard of its magnificence and I’m here to further perpetuate it – it’s a brilliant camera. The shots you see of the Z3+ were taken with the G4. In comparison, the Z3+ takes good shots, but just overall clarity and low light performance – the G4 wins out easily. I can honestly say that if Sony were to just insert the cameras from the G4 into the Z3+, they’d easily have one of the best phones of 2015.
Ergonomics wise, the Z3+ is just as comfortable as the G4, don’t let the “curved” aspect of the G4 fool you, it doesn’t make much of a difference at all. The Z3+ is better to use while it lays on a flat surface too, as the G4 is curved and does shakes about when tapped on either side. The G4 wins out in terms of screen real estate though. The two phones are nearly identical in terms of height and width, but the G4 has more screen. I also feel as if QHD is worthless on these smaller screens, and you cannot tell the different in terms of sheer pixels between QHD and FHD with your naked eye. I’d much rather have better battery life and performance with an FHD screen.
The Z3+ also obviously wins out in terms of battery life due to the aforementioned FHD, and the stamina modes that Sony provides. The inability to take out and replace the battery means the G4 wins in that aspect, but the build quality and feel of the Z3+ more than makes up for it IMO. At 40% brightness, and texting with Google’s Messenger, WhatsApp, some music from Poweramp, and with some light Chrome browsing, the absolute best I could get was a little over 4 hours of SoT on the G4; this was done with WiFi off, no GPS, no Bluetooth. The Z3+ however, has given me a 4 and a half hours of SoT at higher brightness (well above 60%), location set to battery saving, music being played via Bluetooth, and a Moto 360 connected with the same use – texting, WhatsApp, and some internet browsing using Chrome while on WiFi.
Overall, I’d say the victor is the Z3+ for me. I have a penchant for stock Android, and the G4 is just far too bloated for my taste. Both phones are fast, but the Z3+ is just a bit snappier thanks to the 810 SoC. The Z3+ has its ups, but if you’re the type that enjoys a bigger screen and likes taking photos, the G4 is definitely for you. But being the type of guy that values battery life, stock UI look, and what not – the Z3+ is definitely the phone for me. If Sony’s next phone could include a camera on par with the G4 and perhaps slim down the bezels, they’d have a genuine winner. Apparently Sony is investing a tonne of money into cameras for their mobile phones, so we can expect the successor of the Z3+/Z4 to have a top of the line camera. I greatly look forward to that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem but I did a repair on PC after the OTA update and the "overheating" is completely gone now (even when I record in 4k). It might fix your problem, just saying.

Awesome review man. Super detailed and informative. Couldn't agree more. Extremely happy with my Z3+ coming from the Sammy S6.
xDope said:
I had the same problem but I did a repair on PC after the OTA update and the "overheating" is completely gone now (even when I record in 4k). It might fix your problem, just saying.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mind explaining in a little more detail. I'm curious as to what the process involves. May try it out.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

Pure+ said:
Awesome review man. Super detailed and informative. Couldn't agree more. Extremely happy with my Z3+ coming from the Sammy S6.
Mind explaining in a little more detail. I'm curious as to what the process involves. May try it out.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What he meant is
1. Get the latest fw (.24 version) if you haven't already
2. 'Repair' through PC companion even if it says 'phone is up to date'
Btw, I also have an S6. I was interested in G4 too as I need to carry two phones. Just like OP's case, the bloated UI killed it for me. SD808 coupled with LPDDR3 didn't help either. It's a great phone nonetheless.
Great Review, OP!

Pure+ said:
Awesome review man. Super detailed and informative. Couldn't agree more. Extremely happy with my Z3+ coming from the Sammy S6.
Mind explaining in a little more detail. I'm curious as to what the process involves. May try it out.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Visit this link:
http://www.sonymobile.com/us/tools/pc-companion/
Click on Download PC companion
2.Run the software
After the installation the first screen will show you the PC Companion Startup Guide which gives you a brief explanation on the main modules of PC companion (Support Zone, Xperia Transfer, Contact setup and Media Go) Keep clicking next.
3.Now you will see the screen with the different modules.
Select Support Zone> Click Start. *The program will download the module.
Then click on start on Phone/Tablet Software update. (Here you can choose to update an accessory, go to step 14 for instructions)
*
Note:*At this point*if*you get an error stating that "unable to install update components" or "server is busy" Please proceed to step 13 . If you not see that error then continue with step 4.
4. The program will show a window saying "could not find phone/Tablet”*Do not Connect*phone*instead select*Repair my phone/tablet.*This will bring you to a window with a warning that says "data will be lost" (do you want to continue) Select to continue (Data in the phone will be deleted, only data in the SD card will remain. Make sure you have done all proper backups if possible)
6. The program will issue a second warning stating that “data saved in the phone /tablet will be overwritten during the update of your phone”. Click on the checkmark box next to the acceptance text and select Next to continue.
7. Next the computer will download the necessary files (Prepare stage, this can take several minutes depending on the speed of your connection) and then its done it will show you a list of recommendations for a successful update operation. When you are done reading this section click on the checkmark box and press Continue
8. Next you will get a Battery level warning that states that your phone should have at least 80% battery. (If the issue in the phone does not permit the unit from turning on, then charge it connected to the wall charger for at least 2 hours and then comeback to this step) Then click on the checkmark and select Next
9. Choose the Phone from the list then click on "next" then you will see a new section telling you how to connect the phone.*(don't connect it yet)*Again, at this point the phone must be*off and disconnected*from the PC.
*
10.. Connect the cable to the PC not to the phone, then while*pressing and*holding*the indicated button*(in the steps on screen an specific button will be shown for you to press on the phone) connect the cable to the phone and keep holding the indicated button until the program says "the update of your phone has started..." (in some cases a message of *"Installing drivers" will appear before the message of "the update of your phone has started..." *is shown.)
11. If you failed to follow the steps correctly the phone will turn on. If this happens disconnect the phone from the cable, turn it off and repeat from step 10).
12. If the phone is connected properly, PC Companion will proceed with the update ( It will tell you to let go of the key) then wait for the update to finish and follow instructions on screen to disconnect the unit.

Screenshot of my battery life for today.
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WiFi on 90% of the time since my home is a T-Mobile dead spot. Brightness at 55% or so. Day consisted of heavy texting via Google Messenger and WhatsApp. Decent amount of Google chrome use, light camera use (myfitnesspal, Snapchat), light music via Bluetooth, light Facebook and Instagram use as well. 5+ hours of SoT, I could've easily squeezed out more if I didn't have background services like MightyText running. With root, and Xposed - we'll get amazing battery life.
Sent from my Xperia Z3+ E6553

AhsanU said:
Screenshot of my battery life for today.
View attachment 3397037
View attachment 3397038
WiFi on 90% of the time since my home is a T-Mobile dead spot. Brightness at 55% or so. Day consisted of heavy texting via Google Messenger and WhatsApp. Decent amount of Google chrome use, light camera use (myfitnesspal, Snapchat), light music via Bluetooth, light Facebook and Instagram use as well. 5+ hours of SoT, I could've easily squeezed out more if I didn't have background services like MightyText running. With root, and Xposed - we'll get amazing battery life.
Sent from my Xperia Z3+ E6553
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not getting this or even close. My battery life, much as it pains me to say, is quite possibly worse than my Galaxy S6.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

AhsanU said:
If Sony’s next phone could include a camera on par with the G4 and perhaps slim down the bezels, they’d have a genuine winner. Apparently Sony is investing a tonne of money into cameras for their mobile phones, so we can expect the successor of the Z3+/Z4 to have a top of the line camera. I greatly look forward to that!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you really think Sony would include a camera to compete with G4? I don't think so bro.
I mean I have Z2 and Superior Auto mode they need to really fix and give more manual settings. I mean we have the same exact Camera app on KK and LP for Z2 users. Then there comes the Z3+ but it has the same Camera app and UI.
I meant they could just give user to give more controls to play with and get rid of the Bluish Tint effect on Superior Auto mode so the photos won't be crappy or blown or you know etc...
I hope you could shoot up some pics and share with us. G4 and Z3+ and see if the Red is really Red when you shoot photos in SA cause Z2 it's all pink

Pure+ said:
I'm not getting this or even close. My battery life, much as it pains me to say, is quite possibly worse than my Galaxy S6.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try a 'repair' through PC companion. Actually it's always a good idea to do a 'repair' after OTA updates. My available RAM is now 1.9GB compared to 1.6GB I used to get on the same fw build with the exact same apps running. I can't get more than 1.2GB on my S6 without any app running.
My S6's battery life is also quite worse than my Z3+'s. What's your SoT & display brightness setting?

schecter7 said:
Try a 'repair' through PC companion. Actually it's always a good idea to do a 'repair' after OTA updates. My available RAM is now 1.9GB compared to 1.6GB I used to get on the same fw build with the exact same apps running. I can't get more than 1.2GB on my S6 without any app running.
My S6's battery life is also quite worse than my Z3+'s. What's your SoT & display brightness setting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use auto brightness. Sot was 2.2 hours at 30% charge left.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

Pure+ said:
I use auto brightness. Sot was 2.2 hours at 30% charge left.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 'auto' brightness doesn't exist anymore. It's semi-auto now on newer android versions. So what's the 'brightness level' even though the 'adaptive brightness' is on?
Could you also post the screenshot of battery usage like OP did?

Pure+ said:
I'm not getting this or even close. My battery life, much as it pains me to say, is quite possibly worse than my Galaxy S6.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What apps are draining your battery? Do you have location turned on with WiFi being on when the phone is turned off? Since day 1 of owning this phone, I've had pretty great battery life.
Greenify helps loads too. Even though it isn't too effective without root/xposed, I just swipe up from a homescreen app on the dock (using nova launcher) and it hibernates and locks the screen, as opposed to just using the power button.
I've also disabled a few of the Google apps like Newstand, Movies & TV, etc. Those apps are constantly woken up for no reason, so disabling them helps a bit. Also, forcing your phone not to sync with all of Google's services helps a bit too. I use 3 different Gmail accounts, none of them are synced with the services I don't use. Tiny things like that add up eventually, and will give you better battery life.

schecter7 said:
The 'auto' brightness doesn't exist anymore. It's semi-auto now on newer android versions. So what's the 'brightness level' even though the 'adaptive brightness' is on?
Could you also post the screenshot of battery usage like OP did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Brightness is 50. Cant do a screeny. Apps crashes every time i try.
AhsanU said:
What apps are draining your battery? Do you have location turned on with WiFi being on when the phone is turned off? Since day 1 of owning this phone, I've had pretty great battery life.
Greenify helps loads too. Even though it isn't too effective without root/xposed, I just swipe up from a homescreen app on the dock (using nova launcher) and it hibernates and locks the screen, as opposed to just using the power button.
I've also disabled a few of the Google apps like Newstand, Movies & TV, etc. Those apps are constantly woken up for no reason, so disabling them helps a bit. Also, forcing your phone not to sync with all of Google's services helps a bit too. I use 3 different Gmail accounts, none of them are synced with the services I don't use. Tiny things like that add up eventually, and will give you better battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Instagram and screen are the only 2 culprits.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 02:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 PM ----------
AhsanU said:
What apps are draining your battery? Do you have location turned on with WiFi being on when the phone is turned off? Since day 1 of owning this phone, I've had pretty great battery life.
Greenify helps loads too. Even though it isn't too effective without root/xposed, I just swipe up from a homescreen app on the dock (using nova launcher) and it hibernates and locks the screen, as opposed to just using the power button.
I've also disabled a few of the Google apps like Newstand, Movies & TV, etc. Those apps are constantly woken up for no reason, so disabling them helps a bit. Also, forcing your phone not to sync with all of Google's services helps a bit too. I use 3 different Gmail accounts, none of them are synced with the services I don't use. Tiny things like that add up eventually, and will give you better battery life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have every Google apps aside from chrome and Google voice disabled.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

Pure+ said:
I have every Google apps aside from chrome and Google voice disabled.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean just the apps right? Not things like Google Service Frameowrk, Google Play Services, Google Partner Set Up, etc.
I also have Stamina mode constantly running with my main apps on the list of apps that are exempted (WhatsApp, Greenify, Google Messenger, etc.)

AhsanU said:
You mean just the apps right? Not things like Google Service Frameowrk, Google Play Services, Google Partner Set Up, etc.
I also have Stamina mode constantly running with my main apps on the list of apps that are exempted (WhatsApp, Greenify, Google Messenger, etc.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha yes. The apps only. And yeah I have the same setup.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

Pure+ said:
Haha yes. The apps only. And yeah I have the same setup.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn! I have no idea what's going on then. If I were you, I'd just run a repair through Sony's PC Companion software (backing up is painless, might as well do that too) and try running the phone again afterwards. If that fails and you're still getting really bad SoT, it might be worth contacting Sony and telling them you've got a faulty product. There's no excuse for the type of SoT you're getting honestly.

Yeah that's the plan. Goota wait til home though. WiFi is so awful at my job.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

Pure+ said:
Brightness is 50. Cant do a screeny. Apps crashes every time i try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Set brightness level to 0 with adaptive brightness on. It'll still adapt even under direct sunlight as long as your light sensor is not dead or blocked. You can trust me on that.
How come things crash when you try to do a screenshot? Doesn't make any sense. You just need to go the battery usage under setting and long press the power button!!

schecter7 said:
Set brightness level to 0 with adaptive brightness on. It'll still adapt even under direct sunlight as long as your light sensor is not dead or blocked. You can trust me on that.
How come things crash when you try to do a screenshot? Doesn't make any sense. You just need to go the battery usage under setting and long press the power button!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry no. I meant Tapatalk crashes.
Sent from my E6553 using Tapatalk

We're not the same page. Whatever.... good luck anyway.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Moto Z2 Force, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Moto Z2 Force is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

The best Android phone I've owned to date.

I love the phone enough to buy it multiple times, searching for the combination of carrier compatibility, unlockable bootloader and color.
I also love the phone enough to overlook its main shortcomings (no headphone jack, not truly waterproof, small battery) I love the hardware enough to use an unrooted phone. *gasp* literally every Android device I've ever owned has been rooted within a week, my first was a Nexus one.
This is a bit of a monumental device for me. It's my first ”phablet." My last daily driver was a Sony Z3 compact and a Z1 compact before that. I dropped my Sony trying to put it in my pocket while juggling keys, a backpack and my water bottle. The back glass shattered and the front has a hairline fracture.
Initially I was going to get the Z5 compact but I decided maybe I'd try something a little bigger, so I ordered an Xperia XZ from Amazon. It was a nice phone, but I hated the purplish color of the "black" model and I found myself constantly worrying about it after my last drop, so back it went in about a week.
The thing is, I hate using cases. What's the point in buying a phone you like the look and feel of just to cover it up? Enter the Z2 force. When I first saw promos talking about the shatter proof screen I was intrigued. I was never miffed by the easily scratched screen because an $8 screen protector is all you need to solve that problem.
Between the piece of mind of an unbreakable screen, stupid fast experience, solid aluminum body and gorgeous OLED display this phone is a keeper.

It's one of those phones that got shoved under the rug the second everyone saw the battery specs on paper, myself included. My previous long term daily driver was a Nexus 6 for the most part and that was the last high end, highly customizable Android phone I've used before briefly dailying a Nextbit Robin and then switching to Essential PH-1 for a few months. Both of those have great custom ROM support, but the battery life on both and signal strength on the PH-1 with T-Mobile were barely tolerable, so the only other sub $500 flagship/high end device with an up to date hardware feel was the Z2F from T-Mobile ($375 new), and glad I took the plunge despite the smallish battery capacity. From my experience, Motorola (at least as of their 2013 and newer models) have had a great track record for keeping close to stock Android experience, superb cellular signal, and great battery life and efficiency (despite often using smaller batteries, ie Moto X2, Moto G2, Moto E2). Somehow their devices always had awesome standby to screen on time efficiency. Essential didn't do this for me as much as I wanted to like it (although those on Verizon had a completely different perspective of that device).
This device gets some seriously great battery life (I've managed 8+ hrs sot with 20+ hrs total discharge from 100% charge capacity), excellent signal strength (probably why the battery doesn't suffer too much), solid screen (for those that do lots of accidental drops), front facing flash (with forward facing torch option in Moto camera flash settings), useful Moto gestures to enable main torch and camera with simple chop and twist gestures even when screen is off, solid and super thin build (Jerryrigeverything on YouTube approved it in his infamous bend test, it passed!), and because it's so thin, a simple tpu case gives this phone a perfect grip and thickness. There's a lot to like about this phone, it certainly checks all the right boxes. Most of all, it's the Android device with a Nexus/pixel-like experience; unlockable bootloader, easy to root, custom ROM availability (although from what I gather it currently works best in it's Motorola stock factory firmware form, custom ROMs are currently suffering from weaker cellular signal, failing safetynet due to the current state of selinux being set to permissive, and no sound in default video recording, also on some ROMs WiFi calling and Moto mods have issues), and to be quite frank, this device is very livable with stock firmware, just add root via Magisk and customize from there. Nexus 6 was by far my favorite device, but it is starting to feel a bit dated at this point, it had (and continues to have) some of the best third party dev support, and everything almost always works as good or better than what Google offered in it's stock Android form, that device was truly ahead of it's time and just like this device, was criticized and thrown under the bus numerous times, but low and behold a year or so after it's release, it was one of the best, if not the best device to mod. Of course with this device it's a bit finicky to mod or convert to another carrier firmware (if at all possible), but when it comes to working in it's native firmware for the carrier they were configured to run on, it truly doesn't miss a beat. You get a lot for the asking price, and until another developer device like Nexus 6 comes along, this will serve as a perfect successor for the time being. Yeah I'd love to have the dual front facing stereo speakers, and I'd love to have tons of custom features found in Resurrection Remix ROMs, but not at the cost of battery, cell signal, and failing safetynet check. Many of the custom ROM features can be manually added on stock firmware with root access enabled. Custom firmware just makes it easier to do so and also implements its own features, but often takes away features that are only available on stock firmware, for this reason, Nexus 6 was superior on every front in its time, everything was open source and easy to carry over to a custom firmware. Essential phone is like that, but unfortunately it doesn't play well with all carriers, despite being compatible with every carrier like the Nexus 6.
Some other cool and useful features include:
-Ability to remove navigation bar and allow fingerprint sensor gestures to navigate in the essence of Android P (swipe left for back, right for recents, short tap for home)
-fingerprint scanner also doubles up as a power button (normal tap for turning on to bypass screen lock, and normal press for screen off)
-voice assistant via long press on fingerprint scanner
-Moto voice for useful info on the fly, even with screen off
-Moto display, which unlike ambient display, doesn't waste much battery and is very precise when hovering your hand over and lifting vs keeping face down or in pocket (to keep screen from accidentally lighting up))
-dual rear facing camera with a dedicated rear facing black and white (monochrome) camera as one of the lenses
-twist gestures can double up as front/rear camera swapping
-lift to silence ringtone
-flip device onto screen to mute calls
-built in phone video calling
-power button to end call
-double chop for flashlight
-double twist for camera
-front facing torch through stock selfie camera
-night display (adjusts screen tint based on time if day)
-announce calls while driving
-and last but not least, water repellant nano coating, which is something I can't thank Motorola enough, my Nexus 6, Moto G2, Moto X2, Moto E2 all have this coating and I can confirm it works because the G2 owned by my grandma and my friend's Nexus 6 both fell into a tub and sink full of water, both devices worked without issue after removing them from water. Sure they're not water proof per say, but water proofing requires seals/gaskets and adhesives, both of which are compromised over time due to excessive heat from the internal hardware components and when screens or back glass (where applicable) break. So in essence a repellant nano coating may not be as water resistant as gaskets and adhesives, it does it's job most of the time when accidents happen and can surely withstand rain and shower splashes (just don't go plugging headphones or power cables before drying the ports and device as that may cause a short) and best of all, it doesn't get compromised because your screen broke or because of excessive heat and wear and tear.
The only cons I see are the few carrier and Motorola bloat apps most of which can be disabled (or frozen if rooted).
I enjoyed this device so much that I got one for a friend who had issues with her Nexus 6 charging port. Truly an underrated device that will hopefully get more attention from third party devs sooner than later. Personally, I will go as far as to say that this device should be looked at as a benchmark to beat. I've yet to see a device as well optimized, efficient, and as easy to manage right out of the box for such an awesome price.

Syndrome666 said:
snip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All the developers for the Nash have been working on getting things fixed. You know good things are coming when LOS might be official soon™

Uzephi said:
All the developers for the Nash have been working on getting things fixed. You know good things are coming when LOS might be official soon™
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I definitely do, this phone's technically a successor to what used to be the Moto X series before the Z line took its place, and those had awesome third party dev support. I'm sure I'll get flashing on the Z2F once I get some free time to mod this thing. Any clue if RR is in the works for this phone?

Syndrome666 said:
I definitely do, this phone's technically a successor to what used to be the Moto X series before the Z line took its place, and those had awesome third party dev support. I'm sure I'll get flashing on the Z2F once I get some free time to mod this thing. Any clue if RR is in the works for this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No clue about RR but @npjohnson pretty much stated how everything is for LOS, unless something "goes sideways" Lineage will be official VERY shortly. @erfanoabdi also stated fingerprint nav now works with selinux enforcing so very few bugs left now. Pretty sure just a few gerrit reviews and everything before LOS ships official. (Red tape and all)

Uzephi said:
No clue about RR but @npjohnson pretty much stated how everything is for LOS, unless something "goes sideways" Lineage will be official VERY shortly. @erfanoabdi also stated fingerprint nav now works with selinux enforcing so very few bugs left now. Pretty sure just a few gerrit reviews and everything before LOS ships official. (Red tape and all)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice, sounds tempting. I'll have to give it a shot

I like my Z2F a lot! So much I bought a second one, a Sprint version. I enjoyed flashing ROM’s and stuff since the Motorola Droid days before 4G. I’ve had Safe strapped RAZR’s and then the RAZR M with the bootloader unlocked, that was fun till I bought a Moto Z Droid. Fast phone but being on Verizon, no root and no playing with ROMs.
I think the Z2F is a great phone, lots of ram so the bloat apps don’t matter much but I miss flashing ROMs. So I purchased a Sprint Z2F and as soon as the UPS guys delvers it, I’m going to activate it on Sprint, Unlock the boot loader, root it and tryout some ROM’s. And after a month or so I want to unlock it and add it to my Verizon account. Should be fun.

Still Loving the performance of this device 5 months later. I think my next device will be the z3 force.

A nicely packed set of features, still a mixed bag
Just got this device couple weeks ago, because: seemed a nicely packed set of features, I needed a new one after 3 years, and it was on sale locally for ~240€, about a third of the 2017 MSRP of 799€. So am happy with seeing and getting that bargain!
However, with the previous device being a Moto X Pure, which had just gotten tediously slower and slower over the last year or so, I find the differences in specs add to it not feeling like the real thing. Like that nightly purchase impulse this posting is severly subjective. I'll mark the so-sos with o and plusses and minusses (where it compares favourably or less than to my previous Moto experiences) in the list below.
o Moto X Pure has stereo speakers, the Z2 Force has 1 mono speaker. Watching the occasional video it certainly feels ok, but definitely "lopsided", thinner, inferior to front-facing stereo speakers. Yes, why, Captain Obvious told me, how did you know?
+ For telephone calls both call quality and, in quiet environments, the speakerphone functionality is just about right. People understand me well and I can hear everyone clearly.
+ Bluetooth connections work well and are quicker to establish. It seems as if the bluetooth range has also increased slightly.
o As of yet, the lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack hasn't actually bothered me. Since I'm on the traditionalist side I would have liked one, and sorta expect a hi-def moto mod for this some day.
- The main camera is meh when used with the vanilla Moto app. Really sorry to say that, but I am disappointed. 12MP does not mean much on paper, but the artificial sharpening puts me off. Probably I compare too much with the X Pure's 21MP and subjectively much better image quality, but in low light and less-than-ideal light conditions and when seeing strong contrasts I am unhappy with the Moto camera app. Maybe I have just gotten used to the X's quirks, but still. Disclaimer: need to take more pictures; I might set up a public album for this.
+ Using OpenCamera though I am getting different and better results. So overally I tend to use this now. Suggestions? Should I try FV-5 or Ektacam?
+ Using the Vignette camera app (as I did on all previously used devices) I can get proper results, even though I suspect it does not use the 2nd camera.
+ The snapdragon 835 is superfast, and the Z2 force with these recent price drops in Europe possibly one of the cheapest devices having it
+ the 6GB memory means I can multitask as hell and there indeed is very little reloading an app
+ I got used to having a fingerprint sensor quickly, position on front is fine
+ GPS works much better than on the old Moto, even indoors I typically get a fix both a) faster and b) at all
+ Display, having that crisp 2560x1440p resolution. Colours in saturated mode are strong, bright and I'm impressed.
+ Display colour settings can be set to "standard", which means colours come across as subdued, thinner, and erm less artificial. I use this mode.
+ Touch interactions have that very immediate feel to it, like zero lag and precise positioning. Like!
o the plastic shatterproof feature, well, it comes with a plastic layer on the screen that seems to have a blueish, almost milky tint to it, and that makes it look like plastic very much. Visually speaking it looks plastic when viewed from the side.
+ Connectivity in 4G was good.
o Using two LTE sim cards at the same time though it seems as if only the first one inserted makes use of 4G, the second one can't. Disclaimer: did only test this first evening and unsystematically.
+ Wifi is fast, holds both connections properly on 2.4 and 5 even when in offices or places with more than 40 available networks.
o Using it on commute though it seems as if, even when arrived on destination, it takes those very long extra seconds to connect to a known network. Need to fiddle with a scan interval setting I guess.
+ Built-in battery capacity is smaller, but as of now it lasts me almost two full days, and won't ever go below 20% really. The X Pure's battery is far from dead, but using it heavily means recharging it three times a day.
Overall love after these couple of weeks: an "acceptable meh" Yes, everything works, but I really needed something new and had hoped for something to give me that sensational thrill, but now feel unsatisfied. Had I bought it last year that would have been a serious disappointment.
With all this I think I am in sort of in line with many reviewers who see the oh so revolutionary mods concept as meaning well and ending up mediocre. While I intend to get that Incipio battery mod some day, that might well be the only mod I'll be getting.

mookiexl said:
Still Loving the performance of this device 5 months later. I think my next device will be the z3 force.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the z2 is the last force edition they will make.

jasperbastianrain said:
the z2 is the last force edition they will make.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw that and it made me cringe. I guess moto figured they couldn't put the price in the range of the Samsung and other more popular manufactures and compete. I still hope they release a device with the SD845 or one with OIS.

Love this phone at all. Just the backside has scratches from the first day on. Never complained, but was there out of the box. More important for me is that the screen has no scratches, even after months. No monday device, absolutly perfect, love this plastic screen. Very sad to know that we don't get any newer model of this force stuff. Battery is very good, too. That's very good at all. But additional screen protector isn't needed, at least at my model the screen isn't scratching. Maybe I have to do it with harder stuff? Don't know how the people get scratches in the screen

I'm absolutely in love with this phone. Obviously everything comes down to value, and for the original $700 or whatever asking price, there were better options. For $260 though (with the projector mod included), it's a downright steal. The phone is blazing fast and the only complaints are no headphone jack and a relatively weak camera. The very un-2017 screen ratio is also a negative, but considering the price you can find the phone for these days it's nothing to me.
ROM support is straight up bad unfortunately (huge thanks to the devs that do support it), but the phone works very well stock. I've always ran my phones with ROMs, but I don't really feel like I even need one.

Yeah I have this phone as well. I don't have any real issues beside poor signal but that's from where I live. Even with the booster T-Mobile sent me from Cel-Fi it can pickup 3 bars and 6 on the booster box I get 4G LTE and 5 bars. I can hear all my friends now. GF she has the same cell as well her's has issues like with most women when it come to cells. Data Mode drops can't do anything except remove the sim but not only that the screen is peeling off. So T-mobile is doing a warranty exchange with a brand new one. Not factory nonsense excuse for a cell. Brand new. Mine is like new!

01/2019 Real user review Great phone, super fast, great size, look outdated due to its form factor (big chin, no notch) Great battery life, super fast charging. Overall great phone, a little slow on updates

Update 01/17/2020. I've had my black, unlocked Sprint version since my last post in 2017. I've been using it flawlessly on Mint mobile for a couple years. It is positively Boba Fetted out with scratches all over the aluminum body. I am on my 3rd IQ shield screen protector. My wife has the white Verizon z2 force and we have almost all the mods.
A few months ago I noticed my battery life take a nose dive. Even after a complete wipe and clean install I struggle to make it through a day with moderate use. I've never had a phone long enough to experience battery degradation.
I went to Best Buy to check out the current crop of new phones. I handled the z3 and z4 and while nice they just seemed kinda..."meh" I didn't notice any speed difference or screen clarity between either of those phones and my 3 year old z2 and I'd be giving up shattershield. I thought about trying something new and was seriously tempted by the S10+ but a case would be a must. It is crazy
My daughter has a pixel 3 so I checked out the 4 and was a little underwhelmed. I ended up leaving with the phone I came with. I got home and started shopping online. I stumbled upon a nib unlocked gray T-Mobile Z2 for $150. Considering the Samsung cost almost 5x as much and would need to be babied I pulled the trigger on the Motorola.
So in summary I love this phone enough to buy it again despite it being old as dirt in the tech world. I plan on riding the gray one until the wheels fall off or until some new hotness comes out that I see and just have to have.
Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

Owner of one of the first Z2 Force XT1789-06 dual sim with Nougat, since of reduced battery life and screen a bit "impressed" I decided to buy a new phone.
I decided for a "brand new" Xt1789-06 dual sim that I set up with Pie. Need I to add something?

enetec said:
Owner of one of the first Z2 Force XT1789-06 dual sim with Nougat, since of reduced battery life and screen a bit "impressed" I decided to buy a new phone.
I decided for a "brand new" Xt1789-06 dual sim that I set up with Pie. Need I to add something?
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Yeah, there is no better phone on the market with unbreakable screen. I would buy it again, too. Costs 399€ (very much, but high end for many years) at the moment. More than 2018 here in europe.
Set Up should be Lineage OS 16 and then it's perfect.