Database Users

In-Depth OnePlus One Review: Compared to Perfect

I received my International OnePlus One in the mail yesterday, and after setting it up I've spent a lot of time with it over the past day (including putting my main SIM in the phone).
I'll go through my experience in chronological order from unboxing to fully set up. For each section, I'll point out positives, negatives, and other notables, along with giving an overall rating for each section.
Be aware that in this review I will not excuse things because of the wonderfully low price. I am very picky when it comes to mobiles, and I*will*nit-pick. This is a review that will pit it against $700 flagships,*because*this phone is so good it doesn't need excuses.
Here we go!
Unboxing & Accessories: 95%
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Unboxing the OnePlus was, in all honesty,*the*best unboxing experience I've*ever*had.
This is not an easy feat, considering I've owned, unboxed, and later sold every iPhone and Android flagship from the past couple years.
From the red pull tab on the protective brown cardboard, to sliding out the bright red inner package out of its white sleeve.
Each layer brought even more sense of surprise as I came closer and closer to the phone itself!
The individual package for the charger was an excellent idea, and the included accessories just screamed luxury.
Although some have questioned the inclusion of a key ring attachment for the SIM remover, I found this to be perfect. Being one who switches phones often, having that sleeve on my keys makes it that much easier to find a remover when I need it.
The one issue I had with the accessories was with the charging cable. While the USB end is sleek, and the cable is a nice bright red, it just isn't practical.
The cable is so thick and bulky that it just looks out of place next to the thin black and white cables on my nightstand.
And even worse, is how short the darn thing is. iPhone chargers*were*the shortest cables I'd ever seen included with phones. And now, they're tied for worst. At three feet, the included cable with the OnePlus just isn't anywhere near long enough. I can barely plug it in at night, and good luck trying to use the phone while it’s charging.
I thought the six foot black Monoprice cable I'd been using with my M8 would make it an easy fix. It wasn't. For some reason, the stock OnePlus USB cable charges noticeably faster than any others I tried.
I give this section a 95% because the experience was truly something else, and if the USB cable was a useable length, it would have been 100% (or more). The lack of a proper-length cable was a disappointment, but the battery life is so good I'll never have to use it on the charger.
Build Quality+Quality Control: 85%
This is an insanely well-built piece of hardware. If someone told me this handset cost $700, I would believe them. It’s one of the sturdiest phones I’ve felt, and manufacturing defects were nonexistent (except for one thing).
And that one thing (the subtracted 15%) comes from the screen. First, the oleophobic coating on the screen is very poor, so the screen is a*fingerprint and dust magnet.*This probably doesn’t matter to most, but as someone who carries around a microfiber cloth in his wallet to keep his screens smudge-free, this is a pretty sizeable downside.
Second, I got a model with a slight yellow tint on the bottom. After seeing some others' screens, mine is extremely mild, and unless I look at a white screen I can't notice the shift. It's almost like the bottom half of the screen very gradually gets warmer (from the middle to the bottom).*I was going to include a picture of it, but it was so insignificant the camera couldn't see it.
Although I can barely see it, it's there. And the fact that these defects weren't one-off makes me have to deduct a few points.
OnePlus did a commendable job on QC for this device. Even the biggest manufacturers have launch glitches sometimes. Thing is, I take display issues more seriously than all others, so I had to give it an 85%.
Hardware: 90%
Wow. I said that out loud when I took this phone out of the box. The One is lightweight, stylish, sturdy, distinctive, unique, and a blast to use. It feels so good in the hand that I want to hold it just to hold it.
The first thing that stood out to me was the sandstone material on the back of the phone. It provides grip,*and*an astounding matte finish, all while being immune to fingerprints.
The front is equally as striking. With the screen raised from the bezel, there’s a handsome frame around the screen that makes it stand out from the crowd. There's even a tiny raised portion of black plastic surrounding the screen itself that will keep it from getting scratched if face down on a table, but is almost invisible to the eye (many reviewers have missed this thoughtful detail).
Speaking of the screen, while off, it blends in perfectly with the rest of the bezel. Although said bezel is a bit large to some, my long fingers have no problems navigating it all.
Speaking of “navigating”, that brings me to the hardware buttons. Coming from my M8 GPE, I thought such a different button arrangement would confuse me (Stock is Back-Home-App Switcher, and these are Menu-Home-Back), however I think owning a Galaxy S4 for eight months kept the muscle memory for this setup in my head. They’re very responsive, well-lit when on, and invisible when off. Not much more you can ask for.
As for MicroSD, I am ecstatic that OnePlus left it out on this phone. They made room for more battery, more onboard storage, more RAM, a better camera, better construction, etc.
As one who relies mostly on the cloud and never has much media, I’d much rather have a phone with no MicroSD slot and more onboard storage than a slot.
Plus, MicroSD is slow. And I’m fine paying a premium to get faster storage.
This is just my opinion, though, (as is the whole review), and If you carry around 5 MicroSD cards in your wallet that’s totally fine by me.
Why only a 90%, you might ask? The lack of a removable battery and water resistance. The lack of a removable battery isn’t too bad due to the great battery life (which, again, I’ll get into later), but it prevents it from being perfect so I needed to mention it.
Every night, when I get in the shower, I so much wish for the ability to just set my phone down and listen to a podcast. Or watch a YouTube video. I understand waterproofing would be pretty unfeasible for a phone this size (as it would most likely become quite unwieldy), but this is actually a pretty big downside for me. If I’m going to give something 100%, it really can’t have big issues.*I’d give any other phone without water resistance much less score, but everything else is so good it gets less of a penalty.
Software+Performance (Cyanogen 11S): 95%
Rarely do I find software perfect, but this is one place where it is. I’m using the Google Now launcher (pretty much the same as the default “Trebuchet”, but there’s a Google Now homepage to the left and “OK Google” everywhere), the*L-Ready Dark*theme by Koulis, and the*Stark*Icon Theme by Kovdev. It looks like this:
Well, I’m a sucker for stock Android. I just prefer it to pretty much all the skins out there. My only gripes with it though are that there just isn’t enough without going through Play Store apps (which I generally stay away from doing, because the interface can get inconsistent). With C11S, just about every setting and customization you can want is available stock. Without root, even (I still rooted it for AdAway and /system access, though)!
This phone has the best specifications of any phone available in the US, and it performs like it. The HTC M8 is usually considered the fastest Android phone out there right now, and this matches (and in RAM, exceeds) it.*There are no hiccups, and after opening 10 or 15 apps and watching a YouTube video my Chrome pages didn’t even have to reload (and I opened those first).
There*is*one complaint of mine, but is pulled just enough weight to reduce my score. And it’s the slow update process (compared to stock). This deducted the 5%. Now I know you can’t expect any skin maker to have something ready faster than stock Android, but when my M8 GPE gets Android L right off the bat, I’ll be sad that the OnePlus One will still be a ways out.
The reason I’m not bringing it down any more is because of the theme engine. I bet I’ll have a damn near Android L experience quite shortly after launch due to all the customization options!
Screen: 90%
In this section, I’ll refrain from criticizing the yellow hue at the bottom as that is an unintended manufacturer’s defect, and it isn’t representative of the way the screen is supposed to perform.
This screen is just gorgeous. It’s huge, has outstanding viewing angles, superb black levels, and a great brightness range. It’s comfortable to use in pitch black as well as in direct sunlight.
At first, the overall warmth of the factory calibration was a bit weird. I much preferred the cooler tones of the M8. I’ve quickly adjusted to it, and skin tones do look good (as OnePlus claimed). There’s also a built-in manual color adjustment tool in settings to make it just the way you like it.
Touch latency is also incredible. Compared to the M8 (with 46ms), this feels about the same. That’s fast.
All in all, the display is impressive. However, it’s not quite at the same level as the Galaxy S5 (the best as of this review) or HTC M8, so I have to bump it down.
Camera: 90%
I’m not a huge mobile photographer, so really all I need is something to look nice on Facebook and Twitter. The HTC M8’s camera works fine for me. Oh, and I know OnePlus had to use a worse camera to keep the price down.
But this camera is much more than something for Instagram.*A "compromised" part of this phone is still great.
The app is great, the settings are simple but highly customizable, and the pictures are consistently sharp, in focus, and properly exposed.
Thing is, cameras like those found the Lumia 1020, and Galaxy S5 are still better.
However, in my usage, it’s been very comparable to the iPhone 5s camera. That isn’t an easy task.
Combine a relative inferiority with the lack of OIS, and I just can’t give it a better score.
I guarantee you won’t be disappointed with the camera, but everything here is being compared to the best of the best.
Sound and Call Quality: 85%
Now, every phone in existence pales in comparison to the HTC One M8 in terms of sound. I was somewhat excited to hear that there were stereo speakers on the OnePlus One, but after using them they really are nowhere near the class of those on HTC’s offering.*Pretty much, media playback is poor compared to the M8 (and M7/E8), but way better than every other phone.
Call quality, on the other hand, is quite good. Callers were clear, and I was clear to them.*The earpiece is a little quiet, and the microphone won’t pick you up unless you talk right into it,*but these are easy software fixes and I’m not concerned.
Battery Life: 100%
Battery life is up there with the best. 3100mAh for a 1080p screen is the best out there, and the ability to manually reduce CPU speed in the settings can stretch this out for even longer.
When the phone arrived, it had about 40% battery. After I set the phone up, downloaded all my apps, switched to ART, and signed into all my accounts, it had 15%. Also, the screen took up an astronomical 55% of the toal battery used. Enough said.
Overall Thoughts and Conclusion: 95%
All things considered, I give this phone a 95%.
Waterproofing, a removable battery, and better speakers would have made it 100%, but I think that*for many users, this is*the*best phone you can buy.
*
You have the performance and build quality of an HTC M8, the camera of an iPhone 5s, the screen size of a G3, the customizability of TouchWiz, the simplicity of stock Android, and the price of the Nexus 5.
But perhaps most importantly of all, it has the friendly support of a small business, with a community of an established one.
If that’s not a flagship killer, I don’t know what is.
If anyone has any questions/comments/criticism, feel free to contact @SolarTrans on Twitter!
Sent from my OnePlus One using Tapatalk

Reserved
Sent from my OnePlus One using Tapatalk

Good spot on the raised edge around the screen!
Sent from my One using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

thanks, lets please take further discussion here ...http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2685348

Note 4 at Best Buy today to check out!

You can play with the new Note 4 at Best Buy starting today. Hopefully some of you will get us some good videos to check out.

Galaxy Note
Is the Galaxy note has the best camera ever?

Lanoon said:
Is the Galaxy note has the best camera ever?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sure, why not

LMAO ^^^^

nice

I played with it last night... damn that phone is awesome! love it. can't wait to get one. just dumb that the display models are ready to go yet the damn phone won't be out for a month. wtf is that crap?
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

goood :good:

I played with both the Note 4 and Edge today.
The screens on both are stunning. Everything looks a step sharper than the Note 3. The colors still pop, but everything looks more natural. Whites are noticeably whiter. Both screens are brighter too.
The metal rim is a nice touch and from a quality standpoint both devices were nicer than the Note 3. Still, they're not on the level of the iPhone/HTC devices and are probably closer in quality to the G3/Moto X (2014).
I was super excited for the Edge, but after using one I'm not sure what I think. The bent edge is really small and kind of awkward to use on its own. For most applications that section doesn't do anything. When I was using Chrome for instance it just goes black and says My Note Edge. I installed Nova to see what it did with a launcher and the result was the same. You can swipe the strip and something will come up, but there didn't seem to be a full-screen mode where normal content was stretched to that area automatically. Also when using some apps the content from the strip area seemed to overlap slightly over the main screen area.
I couldn't get any great pics (and some are blurry) but here they are:
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I played with the Note at Best Buy as well. They had 3 on display, all were white.
There are very few differences from the Note 3 and S5, but that screen is just perfect. The settings menu is like the s5 except it has some quick settings up top and the background is white. The calendar and clock widgets have transparent options (the s5 has the ability to make the widget transparent). The folder icons look like the s5, but you can no longer change the color. Blue is the only option, which is pretty lame.
The phone software felt smooth as anything I've used, kills the G3. The wide selfie cam is pretty cool. Taking pictures side by side my girlfriends S5 showed only minor differences, obviously testing was limited.
The speaker was loud, no bass but definitely loud. The metal trim that's painted partially white is really sexy. The inside of the calculator app is reworked, functions the same but its a welcome visual change.
All in all, it's a damn good phone, makes me miss my Note 3, but if you use a Note 3 and aren't interested in this new display, there's really no reason to upgrade.

Rippley05 said:
I played with the Note at Best Buy as well. They had 3 on display, all were white.
There are very few differences from the Note 3 and S5, but that screen is just perfect. The settings menu is like the s5 except it has some quick settings up top and the background is white. The calendar and clock widgets have transparent options (the s5 has the ability to make the widget transparent). The folder icons look like the s5, but you can no longer change the color. Blue is the only option, which is pretty lame.
The phone software felt smooth as anything I've used, kills the G3. The wide selfie cam is pretty cool. Taking pictures side by side my girlfriends S5 showed only minor differences, obviously testing was limited.
The speaker was loud, no bass but definitely loud. The metal trim that's painted partially white is really sexy. The inside of the calculator app is reworked, functions the same but its a welcome visual change.
All in all, it's a damn good phone, makes me miss my Note 3, but if you use a Note 3 and aren't interested in this new display, there's really no reason to upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get an opportunity to use the S - Pen, if so is the functionality better than the N3? I have the S5 and N3?

alhadee12 said:
Did you get an opportunity to use the S - Pen, if so is the functionality better than the N3? I have the S5 and N3?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very little because of the cord. I couldn't get the air command window to pop up. I did use it on the (notepad app?) a little. It does feel better than the Note 3, not a HUGE difference, but it just feels like it glides and it's more accurate. Again, I barely used it, but I do think people will be happy with it over the Note 3.
If you guys go check it out, you must watch the pre-loaded video of the people in the city. It's obviously shot with the proper equipment and does not reflect what our own videos will look like, but it just looks awesome.

I am not seeing the difference compared to the Note 3 that some are implying. Both displays look great and I have to get overly close to notice the difference from typical usage distance. Then I notice tiny fonts are more legible.
I also do not see the N4 any faster than the Note 3. Both are great fast devices IMO.
What I do notice is there is about 3GB less storage than the Note 3. That is accounting for the 4GB of demo bloat too on the N4. I sure hope that is a demo allocation issue, or the N4 would have at least 3gb less storage out of box. I think it is closer to 4gb MIA.

Note 4
Was shocked to see the Samsung people settled in BB and with everything layed out. I didn't even know any of this and was only browsing at BB and then the Note 4 popped up and that was all I was staring at for a good minute which seemed very long and then I dashed to it to pick it up onto my hand. Low and behold, the Note 4, Note Edge, at last, in person, in real life! Oh man oh man the security cord could do with a bit of extension at the least! Whatever... the Note 4 was nice in my hand, it felt so right. It looked so nice. I used to use a Note 2, until it got soaked while kayaking with only 1 layer of ziplock around it.... Forgot to do the second layer. So I'm back to my S3, phone was dead right when I saw the Note 4, so no pictures, sorry. But the Note 4 sounds amazing! The speakers are LOUD! Mind you, BB was packed on a Sunday evening and pretty loud with the noise environment. The person above said it had no bass, now that I think back, I don't believe I heard bass.... But who cares!?!? The speakers will for SURE make you hear that notification or phone call that you get from a few rooms away in your house! The Note 4 was a blast to play with! The camera selfie made me look so handsome!!! Right when I was about to snap a photo with my S3, the S3 camera looked so dark compared to the N4 camera. My phone wouldn't do the N4 any justice if I was to snap a few shots anyways! But man oh man oh man oh man! The N4 is awesome! If you don't the Note 3, check the N4 out because it might not be a huge upgrade to the N3 users. This baby is going out in the market for $825.99 w/o contract, 299.99 with 2 years contract for most carriers and damn... Do I want one for my Verizon account! For the folks out there with second thoughts on which phone to get that's over $500, this is the bad boy to go for. This is the one. Don't even think about waiting for the N5, it'll be approx 365 days before that happens. I'm still stoked! I had to leave BB to go to Costco before it closed.... BUMMED me out..... I'm still thinking about yesterday though.... Dying to go there again to play with it.

EDGE,
Samsung always want to have an EDGE over others.
the s pen capabilities turn the rest phones to FOLLOWERS.

I Samsung Note Good or do you guys suggest any other phones?

abcodi said:
I Samsung Note Good or do you guys suggest any other phones?
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Click to collapse
note all the way. i live for the note lol

Hi
What a pretty phone.

Posting some Note 4 photos I took at BB
Hey, everybody. I'm going to all the Note 4 general forums to post a few pics I took of the Note 4, just in case there's a person or two who hasn't been able to see them in the flesh at Best Buy, or they want to see real life photos.

Honestly I was not that impressed at Best Buy today. The overall design is beautiful. And the 2d screen thing was noticable to me. Also whites looked brighter and whiter and less washed out when compared to my Note 3. Other than that same ol Note and definitely not a significant upgrade over the 3. That being said I cannot resist the $200 trade in offer and I will be upgrading. Lol

cubarican84 said:
Honestly I was not that impressed at Best Buy today. The overall design is beautiful. And the 2d screen thing was noticable to me. Also whites looked brighter and whiter and less washed out when compared to my Note 3. Other than that same ol Note and definitely not a significant upgrade over the 3. That being said I cannot resist the $200 trade in offer and I will be upgrading. Lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought the same until paying close attention to the display with web and image content. The N3 has a grest display, but the N4 has a STUNNING display.
Still, I agree the Note 4 is not a giant leap from the N3.

Official Nexus 6 User Impressions Thread

Ok, so I am in the camp of those waiting to see the magical unicorn. However, I am growing tired of following the evergrowing "where is my shipment" thread.... There have to be some of you out there with the phone, and searching for each individual thread seems strange. Can we start a full on user impressions thread so that we can get an idea of what to expect on the incredible day that we actually receive our units?

I really like mine, I picked it up today at T-Mobile to use on Verizon. Now, I still may end up going back to T-Mobile because I like the fact that I can have Voice + Data on it and higher voice quality... However, about the device...
Coming from iPhone 6 and then iPhone 6 Plus I was impressed by 5.0. Android finally feels very polished and better designed than iOS8. I actually now see iOS8 as being pretty basic when few months ago it was like a breath of fresh air. The device itself feels great, build quality is good and is more so on a lighter side.
Display is much nicer than what I expected after reading reviews. I actually prefer it to iPhone 6 display as colors pop out a bit more and higher resolution and bigger display really stands out while watching videos. Adaptive brightness is great, I finally do not feel as if my android is too dim on auto brightness. Ambient display is awesome, I like seeing notifications as they come without the need to really waste battery the way it was on iPhone.
Speakers are loud enough, much better than most other phones. I would still give an edge to iPhone 6 for its base, but overall, I love the dual stereo on it. Also, placement is nice, I do not constantly feel as if I am covering the speaker while playing games or holding my phone in landscape.
Camera seems much better than N5 and N4 were... those weren't too good. It took good pics so far, I haven't tested enough to tell you if it is amazing though.

Somewhat disappointed by the back material. Feels cheap compared to the nexus 5 black soft touch. Other than that the screen is great and so is the camera . low light shots are excellent.
Call quality is excellent... Used a hangouts call and it was awesome as well. Latency is lower than with the n5.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I just picked mine up today. 32GB midnight blue from Sprint. I ordered it Saturday and they said it was on back order and would take 1 to 3 weeks. I went in there today just to see if it had shipped yet and as soon as I walked in the Sprint gal went to the back and brought it out. I wasn't expecting that!
The back of the phone really is a fingerprint magnet! Haha
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Camera samples below.
Nexus 5 with the slim armor spigen. That case has been through it, but is still standing strong. Has protected my N5 extremely well. 
I've only had this device in hand for about 4 hours but overall I am loving it. The way it feels in the hand is comfortable, the over structure feels durable. Overall it runs smooth and fast. Haven't had it long so I can't really give my overall opinion on it. I'm not disappointed at all. Loving this device so far. No complaints my way!

First battery stats from today.

obsanity said:
First battery stats from today.
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Click to collapse
Nice! Look forward to it getting better over time

There are things I like and dislike about this phone. Yes, it's big, but the sheer width of the phone is what makes it cumbersome and slippery at times. The camera is solid which is something I can't say about any other Nexus phone.
Things I like:
Build quality is solid. Feels dense in the way HTC phones feel.
Speakers are wonderful.
That eggshell white color is downright sexy.
Minor nitpicks:
Lollipop isn't as fast as it was on my OnePlus (development build). Not sure if this has something to do with encryption overhead or the fact it's pushing a lot more pixels. The 2 plastic speakers are huge dust magnets.

Is the White version also a fingerprint magnet?

pedxing said:
Somewhat disappointed by the back material. Feels cheap compared to the nexus 5 black soft touch. Other than that the screen is great and so is the camera . low light shots are excellent.
Call quality is excellent... Used a hangouts call and it was awesome as well. Latency is lower than with the n5.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how does it feel "cheap" compared to the nexus 5's? The only difference i can tell is that the Nexus 5's is more of a rubberized soft-touch feeling, whereas the Nexus 6 is more like a soft-touch/matte plastic. Yes, the rubberized back FEELS better.... but one doesn't really feel any cheaper than the other to me. Besides.... with how much of a fingerprint magnet the back of this phone is, i can't imagine me using this for long without a case. Just have to wait for my Cruzerlite case to come on Saturday (or sooner).

elementaldragon said:
how does it feel "cheap" compared to the nexus 5's? The only difference i can tell is that the Nexus 5's is more of a rubberized soft-touch feeling, whereas the Nexus 6 is more like a soft-touch/matte plastic. Yes, the rubberized back FEELS better.... but one doesn't really feel any cheaper than the other to me. Besides.... with how much of a fingerprint magnet the back of this phone is, i can't imagine me using this for long without a case. Just have to wait for my Cruzerlite case to come on Saturday (or sooner).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me the soft touch feels well engineered...they put thought into it. The regular plastic back feels like no thought went into it at all. It feels the same as a plastic soda bottle. Thus cheap because thoughts are expensive.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

air2k57 said:
I really like mine, I picked it up today at T-Mobile to use on Verizon. Now, I still may end up going back to T-Mobile because I like the fact that I can have Voice + Data on it and higher voice quality... However, about the device...
Coming from iPhone 6 and then iPhone 6 Plus I was impressed by 5.0. Android finally feels very polished and better designed than iOS8. I actually now see iOS8 as being pretty basic when few months ago it was like a breath of fresh air. The device itself feels great, build quality is good and is more so on a lighter side.
Display is much nicer than what I expected after reading reviews. I actually prefer it to iPhone 6 display as colors pop out a bit more and higher resolution and bigger display really stands out while watching videos. Adaptive brightness is great, I finally do not feel as if my android is too dim on auto brightness. Ambient display is awesome, I like seeing notifications as they come without the need to really waste battery the way it was on iPhone.
Speakers are loud enough, much better than most other phones. I would still give an edge to iPhone 6 for its base, but overall, I love the dual stereo on it. Also, placement is nice, I do not constantly feel as if I am covering the speaker while playing games or holding my phone in landscape.
Camera seems much better than N5 and N4 were... those weren't too good. It took good pics so far, I haven't tested enough to tell you if it is amazing though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, could you please share the framework files from your N6 system with me? Thx

Got mine a couple of days ago. It is the most premium feeling nexus yet. I love the mixture of metal and plastic. However it is a little slippery. I normally put a case on my phones but I'm going to be really picky about what I get for this one considering the extra size. After de encrypting the phone it's finally just as fast/ faster than my nexus 5. Still testing battery but so far seems better since it's bigger.

Been using mine for two days now, coming from my Oneplus One.
This phone feels faster in some ways, slower in others. I'm guessing software and apps need better calibration.
Ugh, the screen color seems yellow, but slightly tilted to the side seems much better. OPO had better whites.
Battery in the 6 is horrible compared to OPO, yes I know the dpi...
Camera is awesome
Design is much better than OPO (subjective)
Sound is majestic omg
I couldn't get the hidden led notification to work
Fyi, im rooted and unencrypted
Edit: on the issue of it being slippery I find the opposite to be true. With moist hands after workouts or sweaty hands, the phone sticks to your hand. Maybe with dry hands its slipperier(sp)

got my nexus 6 a few days ago. really enjoying it. it is quite literally the device i've been waiting for, in every way.
what i like:
- the display is bar none. the g3 also has a 2k display but it's not as beautiful, imo (and yes, i owned one). this screen quality/clarity is a jaw-dropper
- battery life is good. for 3220mah its not stellar (5-6 hours SOT) but for the amount of pixels its pushing, its just fine. having had nexus 5 and it's sorry battery life, its nice to have this 6 and know that you'll have enough juice for the day.
- of course lollipop is great. to me, it includes so much more thought and features than kitkat did. when i received my nexus 5 last year, i was immediately rooting and looking for custom roms. KK was so bare bones. beautiful and fluid, but without almost any features it seemed. with lollipop, i dont feel the same. i will of course eventually root and begin trying out custom roms, looking at their optimizations and offerings but in the meantime, stock L is just fine.
- multimedia playback is excellent on this 6" 2k display with dual front facing speakers. seriously.
- i cant hate 6 months of free google play music all access.
- this phone is absolutely everything i want in a device. couldn't be happier.
what i dont like:
- although the phone is absolutely beautiful, it is entirely too slippery, imo. with its size and weight, you WILL drop this phone at some point. i highly recommend a case. as a matter of fact i have mine in one now. i'm using a matte black tpu from Diztronic. once Clay ( @OneStepAhead ) has them back in stock on the website, i highly recommend getting one. i cannot say any more how awesome this phone and case combo is. http://www.tpu-cases.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=44_109&products_id=421
- it would be nice if there was a better notification system in place so that i wouldnt have to pick my phone up to see if i've missed anything. google HAS to know that we live in a connected world now. there were probably 50 ways to approach providing notifications to the user. i dont know why they opted to go the route of initial notification screen wake and then nothing else. i will say this, as much as this would bother me on other phones, this nexus is so great in every other way that i easily look past this annoyance.

pedxing said:
To me the soft touch feels well engineered...they put thought into it. The regular plastic back feels like no thought went into it at all. It feels the same as a plastic soda bottle. Thus cheap because thoughts are expensive.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree 100%. After reading all of the reviews about how premium it felt, I was ready to pull the trigger this Christmas. But I just got hands on with it in the T-Mobile store and I was pretty unpleasantly surprised.
"THAT'S IT? THIS IS IT?"
I turned it over for about twenty seconds before putting it down and not picking it up again. Yes, it may be a minor thing to some, but feel-in-the-hand is one of my top priorities. My N5 feels much better to me, even the weight of it, somehow. By comparison, even the Moto X I held yesterday (the black with the soft touch back) was much more satisfying. The N6 felt like a dummy model. Based on this new info, plus the fact that I was already lamenting the absence of Moto software, I'll be going with the Moto X.

Subjective, I guess. My Nexus 5 looks and feels a lot less premium than my 6.

I've had mine for almost a week while it didn't take long to get used to the size I can actually work it pretty well with one hand. I just don't know if I like having a phone this big

Love this device, was disappointed in battery life...its good and about even to the m8 but I was hoping for more.
I love that it charges really quick, even using another non turbo charger. I find this phone easy to use one handed with the exception of hitting the back button with my right, or the multitask button on the right.
Build quality is superb IMO, speaker is great. Almost as good as m8. Louder than m8 but m8 is slightly more rich. In a lot of ways this reminds me of the m8 just bigger

Finest phone I've ever owned. Trounces the Nexus 5 (which IMO is one of the most comfortable and well-rounded phones ever made) and OPO in build quality and overall performance on every level, although the 7-9+ SOTs on the OPO were pretty nice too. Still happy with my purchase.

I got mine the other day through att and I'm impressed. I came from the Note 3 and was pretty much over the touchwiz stuff. I love the lollipop look. The phone feels great to hold and the screen looks great. I LOVE the turbo charger...went from 14% to 78% in 30mins! Awesome sauce!!!!

Ugly and boring

I love the look of my G4 with the leather. It stands out among all the Galaxy and iPhones.
Now the G5 looks too much like those phones... and the non black chin on the front is ugly af.
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Also, I hate that they took the volume keys off the back. They worked great there in my opinion and made things like taking a screenshot one handed super easy.
Oh well, hopefully they either make the battery non-removable and/or not include an sd card option. That would effectively kill this phone as a choice for me.

I've had the g2, g3, and currently using the g4. If the g5 looks like the leaked photos above, I'll pass by it. No way would I be interested in that ugly mofo.

Currently, my dream phone would be:
- LG G3 size (G4 got just too big enough to require my hand to do a shuffle to reach the top opposite corner)
- LG G4 leather backplate options (with the NFC/Qi wireless sticker that's like $10 on ebay)
- LG G3 bezels (G4 got bigger bezels, WTF?)
- Stainless steel instead of plastic chrome on the edges
- LG V10 fingerprint scanner and volume rockers all on the back
- LG G4 camera quality
- USB-C for the rare occasion you want to transfer large files fast or charge it faster than Qi.
- Much more powerful IR blaster
- Swappable battery and microSD card, of course (like all previous LG G's)
- Stock Android (not likely, but hey dreamphone)

Only LG could make a superior metal phone look more like plastic than anyone else. The G3 looks more metallic than this thing.

Very sad design.

Really the back side doesn't bother me much since I will have a case. The only part that I don't like about the front is that big chin on the bottom (although the black version looks way better than this silver version.) I am curious though since that piece is removable if LG or a third party could make a replacement for it that would be more sleek and not so big. I think that would improve its look a lot.

Looks like a Nexus 6p,iPhone 6 plus design languange.
I cant believe how many OEMs are copying the boring design of the iphone.
HTC, Sony, LG , Huawei and even samsung.
Seriously, it isnt that good.Its bland and has nothing going for it
For proof, check the "latest" flagships of these OEMs And let me not even start with planned obsolecence of the removable battery...

shadowcore said:
Looks like a Nexus 6p,iPhone 6 plus design languange.
I cant believe how many OEMs are copying the boring design of the iphone.
HTC, Sony, LG , Huawei and even samsung.
Seriously, it isnt that good.Its bland and has nothing going for it
For proof, check the "latest" flagships of these OEMs And let me not even start with planned obsolecence of the removable battery...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't see anything common in design with the iphone 6plus or nexus 6p
LG took the design from the nexus 5x

numpea said:
i don't see anything common in design with the iphone 6plus or nexus 6p
LG took the design from the nexus 5x
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Visor", rounded shape similar to iphone 6 and jumpin g to the inferior material of aluminium, etc.

shadowcore said:
"Visor", rounded shape similar to iphone 6 and jumpin g to the inferior material of aluminium, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, why didn't you say iphone copied everything you just listed from HTC?

The camera bump thing reminds me of the Xiaomi Mi2S with a custom back cover that I have seen for it...

I really hope this is a prototype cause that is fugly as hell.

Why do you care so much what it looks like? So long as it does the job I would be happy. My main beef is no upgrade in internal storage from 32G. Yes i have a 128GB microSD card, but many apps dont let you transfer all to the card. needs 128GB internal to future proof it ( but that would mean no need to upgrade for a long time! not good marketing!) Dont like metal, too heavy and shocks the phone if dropped, more likely to crack the screen. If it keeps the FM radio, microSD expansion slot and removeable battery, which the others dont have all of, it will still be the stand out phone.

All will be revealed tomorrow I guess. Can't wait for the G6 though

Im using the G4, I love the curved display and the leather backcover, thats what i miss.

I got nothing but disappointment for this 5th iteration of the G series. Like several before said this phone is God awful ugly. There should at least be a black option. The colors are all too pastel. Perfect for some women...but nothing about the curves or design speaks to me. Not pleased about moving the volume rockers to the side. Lord only knows how much extra all those extra attachments will cost. I don't keep phones long enough to invest in cases and accessories anyway. I like my phones naked better. I love my V 10 maybe they won't muck that up too much! The next V just need the internals updated and that's all!!!

I think the design looks great. But end of the day, do we really care what a phone looks like? Id rather we went back to soft touch plastic than metal or glass. Most of us just put a plastic case over our phones anyways.
I left Android for 6 Plus after using it exclusively since 2010 or so. The G5 is the first Android phone that is compelling enough for me to consider switching back. The modular design to me is groundbreaking. I'm a big audio guy, so I'd definitely buy the DAC. Who knows what other cool accessories they'll make for it. LG deserves major praise for being the first brand to figure out how to design a metal unibody phone with a removable battery.

I felt this way. Then I kept watching hands on videos. Your mind will change. This phone looks very nice IN HAND

Jooosty said:
I felt this way. Then I kept watching hands on videos. Your mind will change. This phone looks very nice IN HAND
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly what I thought but a nice dbrand skin on the back with a red circle around the fingerprint scanner and a red trim around the cams and it looks nice I will be going for the dark gray version(or whatever they call it) with a black carbon skin and red carbon trim so that it matches my audiotechnica m50x mkbhd skin and the interior of my car and even my desk that has red lights on the back the front looks almost exactly as my lg g3 only bigger forehead

Huge bezels, no app drawer, smaller battery, smaller screen but bigger phone, ugly mofo and again HUGE bezels!!!! Such a disappointment. Absolutely love my G3, it looks better than G5 and has bigger battery and bigger screen with tiny bezels and the phone is still smaller. After Samsung dropped SD card and removable battery I said id never go back to Samsung. But they have bought back SD card support and to be honest I've never once needed to replace the battery on any of my phones so I don't mind the non removable battery especially since s7 edge has a HUGE 3600 mAH. The S7 edge has a bigger screen but phone is smaller and this time it is properly waterproof ip68 with no flaps! and from early camera tests, it has the best camera. Really disappointed with LG so going back to Samsung this time round.

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 Google Pixel 4a, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Google Pixel 4a is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Not a bad little phone for the price. Too small for me though. I have a 3XL. I bought this for my girlfriend. It's faster than I thought it would be. Should be incredible on Android 11.
She's very apprehensive with the small size. She also has a 3XL with a very cracked screen. Not quite as fast as my 3XL but extremely smooth. I'm very impressed.
I'm on Android 11 Beta 3

Love the Punch hole. Very nice
---------- Post added at 12:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 AM ----------
I'm trying not to play with it. Lol
---------- Post added at 12:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:33 AM ----------
Excellent for one handed use . I want one. Yummy

Had anyone else found their actual reported battery capacity is not what Google claimed?
This is my only device not meeting claimed mAh (my system is reporting 3080)

matthewkuhl said:
Had anyone else found their actual reported battery capacity is not what Google claimed?
This is my only device not meeting claimed mAh (my system is reporting 3080)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mine also says 3080

gmanhatesu said:
mine also says 3080
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you
i emailed Google support about it and they just recited the spec capacity and spewed some advertising nonsense about that being a "big deal" number and to reach out again if i had any other questions. i reiterated that i wasn't getting that number from my system reporting and they have not replied.
Please, bring it up to Google support because this might be a widespread problem.

Mine says 3080 as well.... I don't think it is a big deal.

What Accubattery Pro actually shows...
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Kwanger said:
Mine says 3080 as well.... I don't think it is a big deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a big deal...even if accurate. 2-3% difference. M'eh.

Yeah, the standing 3080 reported by accu battery seems to be inaccurate anyway. Now I've got a few charges on it the estimated battery capacity is higher 3300 or so........which in itself will be inaccurate as I believe the actual battery is probably as advertised. It's all semantics anyway..... What I do know is that battery life is way better than my outgoing 18 month old essential phone.
Now having used the 4a for a few days, it is solidifying my initial impressions of what a great phone for the money it is. Upgrade from my essential in every way, feels smoother, signal strength is better, it connects to my inbuilt android auto without a hitch. For me the size and weight of it is perfect..... going to be a keeper for sure.

This reminds me a lot of the Nexus 5 but without the flaws.
I really love this phone. The screen feels a lot larger than it is. Oled at this price is very nice. Decent stereo speakers. The snapdragon 730 is decent paired with 6 GB ram. Battery life is excellent considering the battery capacity.
The polycarbonate plastic body feels super solid and is light. The fingerprint scanner on the back is refreshing to use solving a problem that never needed to be solved with terrible in display fingerprint readers.
The camera is great.
3.5mm headphone jack.
This is the best Pixel I have used. My only complaint is I can't watch Netflix in fullscreen.

Here's my thoughts coming from Pixel 3a:
Screen is noticeably brighter outdoors.
Edge to edge is really nice, but the chins on the 3a give you somewhere to hold, whereas the 4a it's all screen and left holding it by edges a lot.
Fingerprint sensor got a huge upgrade, now works with completely wet finger, where the 3a had issues with slightly sweaty or wet finger, far less failed login attempts.
The edge to edge screen doesn't always fill the screen, like XFINITY Stream TV. Some apps will fill the right side of the screen, but the left side of the screen will be a square edge instead of filling to edge. This is probably my biggest gripe. Some apps do edge to edge fill properly, like YouTube, just wish all apps did this.
The screen is slightly warm in color, it has a tiny yellow tint to it, where the 3a is more neutral
The camera is very similar in color profile, has a slight warm tone, where the 3a feels more neutral
Great phone ruined by yellow glow over everything:
https://imgur.com/a/DWN527j
https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/ienzi6/yellow_tint_on_pixel_4a_screen/
Not sure if because of cheap OLED, or bad calibration.

For the money it is the best phone out there and I do like it. Here are my complaints coming from an Xperia XZ1.
-My Xperia phones were always bulletproof. I only used glass protectors and never had a case. The Pixel 4a is not as strong. Already took a chunk out of the plastic but it's a budget phone. Still with no wireless charging give us an aluminum back.
-Screen is great for the money. The colors aren't perfect but it looks good and the refresh rate seems nice.
-I am a fan of a side sensor but the rear one is pretty responsive so I don't complain too much.
-I HATE THE BOTTOM SPEAKER HOLES! I hold my phone with my pinky under the bottom and it digs into my skin. I will get used to it but it's annoying. Make the holes not so sharp or do something else. I have never been a fan of bottom mounted speakers.
-The camera is amazing for the money. Exceptional value.
-The software has been great and the new android update has made it even smoother.
Overall it is the phone that the Exceptional phone should have been. I had one of those and wanted to love it but the display was garbage. I can get over the stuff I hate on this phone because of the price.

mrsatan said:
Still with no wireless charging give us an aluminum back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My preference leans toward textured plastic. Arguably lighter, less likely to dent, not a finger print magnet, potentially easier to hold with finger tips. So done with fragile glass and metal sandwiches. It's a phone not a fashion statement .
I suppose this (if true) would be the counter argument: https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-4a/help/cover-4a-discoloration-problems-t4163637/post83511081

DB126 said:
My preference leans toward textured plastic. Arguably lighter, less likely to dent, not a finger print magnet, potentially easier to hold with finger tips. So done with fragile glass and metal sandwiches. It's a phone not a fashion statement .
I suppose this (if true) would be the counter argument: https://forum.xda-developers.com/pixel-4a/help/cover-4a-discoloration-problems-t4163637/post83511081
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am so over glass backs too but my XZ1 has the best metal back. Its textured so easy to hold and has never dented. Sure it is scratched as hell but I never babied it. Plastic would never hold up to that amount of damage. That is my only concern but I also paid a lot more for the XZ1 as well.

i received my Pixel 4a yesterday. Android 11 was waiting for me in KSA. Overall best device in back camera, display, touch response and off course software. Front camera is normal. Not good in games but can be bearable. Battery SOT is 8 to 9 hours. Upgraded from P40 pro. Wishes it should have better chipset atleast.

Pretty happy with the phone overall. Size is perfect and battery life is still good enough for me. I had a OnePlus 6t before this so most say it's a downgrade and in some ways it is but for the camera improvement and still having all day battery life and to actually get updates is a big plus over a big screen and battery and I don't we even more the difference in chipsets . It's a solid A to me hopefully they make more like this.

I owned flagship devices, top of the line processor, etc....
I was an idiot.
The Pixel 4a does everything I need to do and I save maybe $800 dollars.
Sure run a bench mark and the device will be very far behind the latest Samsung device but in real life the games I played and apps I ran all run fine.
The camera is the best !!! One thing Pixel does well is camera software processing.
I take photos with various devices and the colour of the Google shots is more natural, most camera add a cooling effect which you do not see in real life. Astro photography love putting my camera on a tripod and seeing what I get.
What do I lose wireless charging ? Not a big deal if it means I save $800
Water resistance, never been an issue
Miss a wide screen camera but for what I save just the normal camera is fine.
5G battery hog, not available everywhere "will want it next time"
Found out the phone's software automatically blocks Robo calls !!!! Wow I love you goggle.
Getting fast updates, and no bloat rounds of the reasons this device is for me.

AstroDigital said:
I owned flagship devices, top of the line processor, etc....
I was an idiot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not necessarily. Until recently (let's call it the last 2 years) mid-range phones were a distinct step down from flagships. I had a hunch the curve would flip when the iPhone X and similar Samsungs came out which attempted to push the acceptable price point into the 4-digit range (USD). Ridiculous for a hand held gizmo that gets replaced every 2-3 years. Not to mention the giant form factor which didn't work for everyone. Be interesting to see where we are two years from now. Flagships will still exist but may not be the must-haves they once were.

quangtran1 said:
What Accubattery Pro actually shows... View attachment 5088261
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what shows in my device