Database Users

Xiaomi Mi-2 Review

Hello All -
I recently needed to find a new android phone for use on at&t network in the US - I was looking only at unlocked phones, focusing on quad core phones, preferably 2gb of Ram, and 32gb+ of onboard memory (or at least SD card expansion).
I mostly recently was on the HTC One X and briefly used the Nexus 4 - After some research I decided to give the Xiaomi Mi-2 a shot given its specs:
- 2GB of RAM
- a quad core CPU at 1.5Ghz
- a 2000mAh removable battery
- a 4.3” display
- 32GB Internal Memory (no SD)
- MIUI Jellybean based ROM
Hardware wise the phone hit all my needs - Software wise it is primarily tied into the MIUI Rom. While the bootloader is not unlocked, Xiaomi also offers stock Jellybean android for the phone as well.
The Mi-2 is mostly sold in China, but recent expansion into Australia and the UK has been announced as well. Given I am in the US, my best option was to order from China - As there are fake Mi-2's being produced, it was essential I find a reputable dealer.
After reading great reviews from both XDA and miuiandroid.com, I decided to make the purchase from ibuygou.com
There customer service and communication was great from before buying through delivery - Their customer service rep Anna was in constant communication and updated me on my phone's progress via DHL. In all, from order to delivery took approximately one week from China to Los Angeles.
Additionally, and very important to me, they accepted payment via PayPal so I had some buyer protection in case of issues. Some places in China want money orders/Western Union and I do not trust this at all.
What arrived was a great surprise:
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Anna and the team at ibuygou.com went out of their way to deliver a great package!
Once the package was opened I found the phone, a USB cable, and a charger. They do not include headphones with the phone, but I've got a few pairs around so it was no issue at all.
The phone is available in a wide array of colors, but since I knew I would get a case to protect the outside I went with a white backing (to give some contrast against my case) ibuygou.com was great at fulfilling my color request.
The phone's screen is amazingly sharp - While a little smaller than the HTC One X and the Nexus 4, the picture is stunning and has held up relatively well in sunlight.
Additionally, the front glass is dragontrail glass - an Asian competitor to Gorilla glass. There's a great video of its strength shown on the Mi-2 that was created by ibuygou.com: http://youtu.be/84z_BIrLlp4
While staying on the lockscreen, the MIUI ROM has some great features built in:
1. Access to phone, messaging, and camera directly from the lockscreen
2. Music control via the lockscreen (if music is playing)
3. Holding down the home key turns on the torch light - no need to pass the lockscreen to have a handy flashlight
Inside the phone, MIUI uses a look similar to iPhone w/ no launcher. Being a big android fan, I'm not too big of the ios look, so I added Apex launcher to bring back the app drawer.
While some would question why I am using MIUI and then adding a launcher to change the look of MIUI, I have found that MIUI is very stable, offers many great features, has strong development (new ROMs rolled out weekly), as well as being incredibly stable. One of the features I really enjoy is the toggle screen from the menu bar.
While I never would buy a phone for a music player, I've found MIUI's music player to be a really great. Additionally, the phone has Dolby audio built into which, so far, I have found to be somewhat similar to the beats audio on my HTC One X.
The battery life has been pretty solid (especially coming from the One X) and feel its a bit better than what I was able to achieve on the Nexus 4. Additionally, there is an extended 3100mAh battery available from ibuyghou as well, though it does make the phone a big thicker and adds some weight.
Without the extended battery, I feel the phone is a good weight and, while thicker then my most recent devices, it wasn't too thick. In all, the size and feel of the phone is great. The quality is pretty amazing.
The camera has been pretty solid, though I would probably give the edge to my HTC One X.
All-in-all, the Mi-2 has been a great phone so far that has performed amazing well and definitely recommend it as an option for those looking for a new, top of the line android device at a great price.
Let me know if you have any further questions I can answer - hope this helps!

Hi! Congrats for your new phone. I wish I could have it too and I want to buy it , but I am afraid of fake ones.
-But I want to ask you what is the stock version of MIUI when you received it?
-Also is it stable? I mean is it crashing and giving FC so much and frequently?
-Do you void your warranty if you put unofficial MIUI ROM, which is not made and tested from experts from MIUI China?
Thanks in advance!
Sent from my GT-I8150 using Tapatalk 2

agree to you.im a Chinese Xiaomi2 user,i like the phone very much.

s1xkill3r said:
Hi! Congrats for your new phone. I wish I could have it too and I want to buy it , but I am afraid of fake ones.
-But I want to ask you what is the stock version of MIUI when you received it?
-Also is it stable? I mean is it crashing and giving FC so much and frequently?
-Do you void your warranty if you put unofficial MIUI ROM, which is not made and tested from experts from MIUI China?
Thanks in advance!
Sent from my GT-I8150 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It ships with MIUI running off of 4.1.1 and there is supposed to be an update coming through in the next month or so.
My original plans were to run stock android once I received the phone, but given the weekly updates and stability I've had with MIUI, I have not tried out stock as I felt it would be a step back.
As for the stability, I havent had any issues on the current version from miuiandroid.com (MIUI 3.1.25) - This version isnt the official Chinese version, but is a build from a group that supports MIUI outside of China - they turn around the China updates very quickly, address issues, as well as add additional language support. Mi-2 ships w/ Chinese and English only (and the English isn't perfect on the Chinese ROM)
That being said, I havent had any FCs myself.
As for warranty void, I don't believe there is an issue, but you're ROM choices are very limited - It is either a variation on the MIUI ROM or it is the stock JB ROM. Bootloader isn't unlocked so there aren't a ton of choices, but so far I have been enjoying MIUI much more than I had anticipated (with the addition of Apex Launcher).

I never tried APEX laucher as i am quite satisfied with buitin ui, maybe I need to have it a try
Sent from my MI 2 using Tapatalk 2

cjim said:
I never tried APEX laucher as i am quite satisfied with buitin ui, maybe I need to have it a try
Sent from my MI 2 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It definitely gives it more of an android feel (over iOS) while still getting the great features of MIUI.

Thanks for the review....
I own a Mi One myself and have enjoyed using it a great deal, MIUI has some really nice features, the only really let down on the M1 is the camera and the lack of jelly bean so far is a bit annoying.
I had thought about getting a nexus 4 for my next phone just for a change and the fact it has a larger display, but from what I have read the M2 camera seems to actually be superior to the Neuxs 4 so am starting to think that despite the smaller display the M2 might actually be the way to go again.
How would you say the camera compares to the Nexus 4? And how would you say performance compares to the nexus 4 in general ? I have read it has the same sensor as the GS3.

sere83 said:
Thanks for the review....
I own a Mi One myself and have enjoyed using it a great deal, MIUI has some really nice features, the only really let down on the M1 is the camera and the lack of jelly bean so far is a bit annoying.
I had thought about getting a nexus 4 for my next phone just for a change and the fact it has a larger display, but from what I have read the M2 camera seems to actually be superior to the Neuxs 4 so am starting to think that despite the smaller display the M2 might actually be the way to go again.
How would you say the camera compares to the Nexus 4? And how would you say performance compares to the nexus 4 in general ? I have read it has the same sensor as the GS3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say the camera is definitely better than the nexus 4 - overall I prefer the mi-2 over the nexus 4. more memory, bigger battery, resolution is great. the only thing i miss is getting fast updates of stock :/, but I've really come to like miui and is strong development.

There is some reason they send items disguised as gifts, I've heard of places doing it before. I think it may have to do with customs or shipping price.
What I want to know is how is the build quality on this thing? I've been in the market for a high end phone without a gigantic screen and this phone has both of those qualities.

spunker88 said:
There is some reason they send items disguised as gifts, I've heard of places doing it before. I think it may have to do with customs or shipping price.
What I want to know is how is the build quality on this thing? I've been in the market for a high end phone without a gigantic screen and this phone has both of those qualities.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Build quality is great - feels very solid and had a little weight to it. I like the size and feel a lot.

hi, did you prefer the mi2 over the nexus 4? can i ask you why? thanks!!

ava1191 said:
hi, did you prefer the mi2 over the nexus 4? can i ask you why? thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I imagine size is a big factor as the Mi2 has a 4.3" screen and is more compact than the 4.7" Nexus 4.

mymellowman said:
It ships with MIUI running off of 4.1.1 and there is supposed to be an update coming through in the next month or so.
My original plans were to run stock android once I received the phone, but given the weekly updates and stability I've had with MIUI, I have not tried out stock as I felt it would be a step back.
As for the stability, I havent had any issues on the current version from miuiandroid.com (MIUI 3.1.25) - This version isnt the official Chinese version, but is a build from a group that supports MIUI outside of China - they turn around the China updates very quickly, address issues, as well as add additional language support. Mi-2 ships w/ Chinese and English only (and the English isn't perfect on the Chinese ROM)
That being said, I havent had any FCs myself.
As for warranty void, I don't believe there is an issue, but you're ROM choices are very limited - It is either a variation on the MIUI ROM or it is the stock JB ROM. Bootloader isn't unlocked so there aren't a ton of choices, but so far I have been enjoying MIUI much more than I had anticipated (with the addition of Apex Launcher).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, You say the bootloader is locked, is there any chance of it being unlocked in near future???
Cause I am using an Atrix 2 now which has a locked bootloader and my sister has Galaxy s Advance, and I am writhing now seeing all the cool custom roms and kernels with unlocked bootloaders!!
Also. How are the VIEWING ANGLES??? It really matters to me. I dont like devices which mess up colours when looked at from angles
(like when put on table top) Which is why I am more inching towards Galaxy S3 or hTC One x...
Thanks!!

NHS2008 said:
Hi, You say the bootloader is locked, is there any chance of it being unlocked in near future???
Cause I am using an Atrix 2 now which has a locked bootloader and my sister has Galaxy s Advance, and I am writhing now seeing all the cool custom roms and kernels with unlocked bootloaders!!
Also. How are the VIEWING ANGLES??? It really matters to me. I dont like devices which mess up colours when looked at from angles
(like when put on table top) Which is why I am more inching towards Galaxy S3 or hTC One x...
Thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just replied to your post on the Xiaomi MI-2 thread - check for my response there.

ava1191 said:
hi, did you prefer the mi2 over the nexus 4? can i ask you why? thanks!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In all, I do prefer the Mi-2 over the Nexus. More memory (32gb vs 16gb on the Nexus 4,) better battery life, replaceable battery with extended battery option (3100 mAh,) great screen, better camera, and I've come to like MIUI (w/ the addition of Apex launcher)
The miss about the Nexus: slightly bigger screen, stock android updates directly from Google.
We have stock android available from Xiaomi, but it is still 4.1.1 - We'll probably see 4.1.2 sometime after the Chinese New Year.....

The Xiaomi Mi2 is an awesome bang for the buck, but Ibuygou.com is charging a $105 premium to get the phone. If you want a 100% genuine Mi2 and can have it delivered in China for pickup later, then you can go to http://www.xiaomi.com/mi2 and reserve one for 1999 CNY (available after Chinese New Year). My colleague's friend works at Xiaomi and they said Xiaomi is ramping up production for worldwide expansion, so supply shortages should be a thing of the past soon.

benn using xiaomi MI2 for almost a week.
I'm using development rom 3.2.1.
I'm very satisfied with this phone right now

10basetom said:
The Xiaomi Mi2 is an awesome bang for the buck, but Ibuygou.com is charging a $105 premium to get the phone. If you want a 100% genuine Mi2 and can have it delivered in China for pickup later, then you can go to http://www.xiaomi.com/mi2 and reserve one for 1999 CNY (available after Chinese New Year). My colleague's friend works at Xiaomi and they said Xiaomi is ramping up production for worldwide expansion, so supply shortages should be a thing of the past soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The issue is that most people do not have a place in China to have the phone shipped to and then picked-up - While ibuygou charged a premium (as most retailers/resellers do) they were able to ship it to me within the US and shipped the 100% genuine phone.

I am gonna make some Chinese friends on FB...:victory:

Hey, mymellowman,
Can you test Mi2 with Androbench and post results here?
Thanks in advance

Why should I purchase Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 ?

The new device we already know - Redmi Note 3 - has just been released in new product launch event.
Why should I purchase redmi note 3 ?
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Now, let's check out some hands-on pictures of this beautiful phone.

nice comparison, it seems it will be killer of RAM 3GB Octa core smartphone in view of specs and appearance.

Nice phone. I like it
Inviato dal mio SM-N9005 utilizzando Tapatalk

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Unboxing & Hands-on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tN8WWa2V5Q

Send a mail to Hugo and Xiaomi officials ask them about kernel sources,
If they refuse to release it don't buy it.
Without sources mediatek devices are pathetic, Xiaomi Redmi Note is still stuck with buggy KitKat, and will stuck forever, same will happen with you.
So ensure sources, without sources even xda will not help.
Best of luck !!

vellamo said:
Send a mail to Hugo and Xiaomi officials ask them about kernel sources,
If they refuse to release it don't buy it.
Without sources mediatek devices are pathetic, Xiaomi Redmi Note is still stuck with buggy KitKat, and will stuck forever, same will happen with you.
So ensure sources, without sources even xda will not help.
Best of luck !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the kernel source was released
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mei...elio-x10-kernel-source-code-released-t3225886

Distell said:
Actually the kernel source was released
http://forum.xda-developers.com/mei...elio-x10-kernel-source-code-released-t3225886
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not for Redmi Note 3, every device has diff hw although CPU is same , s you need your drivers from Xiaomi.
Ask Xiaomi for source, and they will not provide.
Don't fall in Xiaomi's trap.

rockydracer said:
This is not for Redmi Note 3, every device has diff hw although CPU is same , s you need your drivers from Xiaomi.
Ask Xiaomi for source, and they will not provide.
Don't fall in Xiaomi's trap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So whats the trap.
Get a good device for 200 bugs? Okay it would be better with all thedriver sources released but it is Kind of a flGship killer.
AMD what you expect for that price. A device that beats the crap out of an IPhone 6s?
I need a new Smartphone ( my nexus 5 fell into the water, it still works but slowly dies) and you dont get a better bang for the buck right now. And I think we will get the driver source soon.

Distell said:
So whats the trap.
Get a good device for 200 bugs? Okay it would be better with all thedriver sources released but it is Kind of a flGship killer.
AMD what you expect for that price. A device that beats the crap out of an IPhone 6s?
I need a new Smartphone ( my nexus 5 fell into the water, it still works but slowly dies) and you dont get a better bang for the buck right now. And I think we will get the driver source soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is mediatek buddy,..
Xiaomi is known for excellent hw with poor sw , check Mi pad 1, an awesome hw with very very poor sw without kernel sources, gives very poor performance and Xiaomi do not care.
Same will happen with you too.
Sent from my HM NOTE 1W

Here is mine first hands on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-ByyXnUoE4
In next week i will post a full review

rockydracer said:
This is not for Redmi Note 3, every device has diff hw although CPU is same , s you need your drivers from Xiaomi.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, but the release from MTK makes it possible for Xiaomi to update the OS to Marshmallow and that is very good news.
Kind regards

My full in depth review of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 i hope you enjoy it ...

donmarkon said:
My full in depth review of Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 i hope you enjoy it ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for a nice review! Have you tested the wifi and gps? Also interested on your opinion regarding the built in microphone and speaker.
Kind regards

Ormbett said:
Thanks for a nice review! Have you tested the wifi and gps? Also interested on your opinion regarding the built in microphone and speaker.
Kind regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep! I exluded it from review because i considered that there is nothing to say because everything was working as it should, it supports standard gps and glonass so it lock on fast ... About in call sound everybody could hear me good enough so there where no problems at all ...Speaker is fine nothing special ... I did answer on i guess your post on youtube but i will also add it here for others

donmarkon said:
Yep! I exluded it from review because i considered that there is nothing to say because everything was working as it should, it supports standard gps and glonass so it lock on fast ... About in call sound everybody could hear me good enough so there where no problems at all ...Speaker is fine nothing special ... I did answer on i guess your post on youtube but i will also add it here for others
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for quick answer! I have ordered the golden 32GB version and looking forward to get my hands on it.
Kind regards

Ormbett said:
Thanks for quick answer! I have ordered the golden 32GB version and looking forward to get my hands on it.
Kind regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't be disappointed

Hi, (gold, 32gb, redmi note3 5.0.2,MIUI7
MUI 77.0.11.0 215 EURO with shiping)
I will try to give you my feedback, it's my own personal view of the redmi note 3, first some background:
I'm a tech guy, i started using android with one of the first HTC Desire Bravo, i used to root my phones, flash roms, try, optimise as much as possible.
I have brought this phone for my wife, who had previously two Samsung S4, since redmi note3 is dual SIM, it work out quite nice.
I own a Samsung Note 4 , and i will compare the redmi note3 32gb fairly.
the phone costed me 215EUR, it's a flagship, and for that price it's very cheap!
the phone look beautiful, it has an aluminium body, the finition is perfect, the gold (champagne) color is very nice. the aluminium body is very sleepery.
it lack a SD card, which will force you to take the 32gb model (hello 2016)
battery is non removable, but it's more than 4000mAH, it hold with 2 sim cards and full backlight a full day
LCD would be rated 4.5/5 , not the best quality, but almost.
NO Screen protection, honestly if your phone is falling from time to time, do not buy this phone, the LCD will die, buy a housing to get some grip.
the phone is fast for normal apps, messengers, Instagram, phone apps (dialler, phone-book, calendar)
The camera is 13MB pixel in 4/3 format, it's a 10MB pixel in 16/9 format, the camera is not really good, btw i don't understand why xiaomi doesn't set the camera immediately for best quality, you had to go and set both camera by yourself.
same for front camera, not really good, it's a 5MB at 4/3 format, and 3MB on 16/9.
MUI work good, it's fast, some notifications from time to time never appear, i didn't figure out why yet.
Honestly for me that a great phone, because i don't care about the camera and i use my phone for work, but since it's for my wife, she like to do pictures, selfies, and that phone is no good at that point, her old Samsung S4 is doing much better pictures, and that is kinda the deal breaker.
I would recommend this phone to people who don't care about the cameras, it's cheap, look crazy nice, DUAL SIMS.
IF you like to take pictures of any kind, don't waste your time, it is no good.
IF your phone is likely to fall, avoid it, no screen protection, or at least buy some housing.
I like MUI btw, my gf doesn't like it to much, but she doing better every day.
The charger is trash, it's a 0.35mAH, it charge 5% per hour LOL, never seen worse, get your old charger back, or buy a new one immediately.
I forgot to say in my review that the phone is not rooted, but there is a app .apk that root the device in 2min easy and friendly(it''s in chiness, but keep hitting the green button),
Best regards guys!
(hit the thanks button if you like it)

Lisendra said:
IF you like to take pictures of any kind, don't waste your time, it is no good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for sharing your first impressions! I dont know which rom you are using but I know that other people reporting camera improvements with the latest rom.
Kind regards

Miui7
mui 77.0.11.0

Hi,
i have got my note 3 before christmass. With the same ROM 77.0.11.0 as Lisendra. Got it in a GDA for 199€ with DHL shipping, cover and tempered glass screen protection.
The "original" rom had some bugs, I was unable to sincronize the contacts from gmail etc.
A guy on italian forum helped me with a hint about a custom ROM, the first one was a developer, the second one latest stable 7.0.22.0
It doesnt support OTA, so you have to use flashtool, but the flashing is pretty easy, it comes with ROOT and it is cleaned from the scrap chinese apps.
[ROM] [Stable] SphinX V1d - MIUI7 V7.0.22.0 Global, Multi Language, SuperSU
Since I installed that one, the phone does greatly. There are already guides to unlock bootloader, but to instal this ROM you dont need to do so.
For that money it is really a great phone. My old Galaxy S3 seems to be a toy, compared to this. Signal reception is very good (althought LTE band 20 is missing, so i dont have LTE where I live, but in the towns downhill it works pretty good in LTE). GPS (gps, glonass and the chinese satelites) locks really fast.
With 1 SIM the phone is able to work for 2 full days (until the evening of the second day - with the screen ON for about 5 hours).
After 2 weeks of experience, I would buy it again.

Got my G5 Yesterday

The production is flawless. I really like it. Here were my concerns before it arrived:
1) It would be defective (antenna showing, dust under the camera lens, etc.: *It was perfect, no blemishes.
2) WiFi calling wouldn't work (I don't use it but others said it wasn't working at all on their Sprint phones). *I had to go thru the setup twice and the second time it worked fine.
3) The screen would look washed out. *It's bright and vibrant. I wonder if the store model wasn't a production model.
4) The fingerprint scanner would be too annoying to reach. *This complaint is valid. It sort of defeats the purpose having it on the back when it's on my desk all day.
5) Battery life. *Haven't had it long enough to verify how good it is.
6) Laggy. *Nope, it's blazing fast.
7) Regretting not getting the S7 or S7 Edge. *No regrets yet, I love the price point on the G5.
Hope this is helpful, feel free to ask more questions.

Same here mate. Had the same concerns but mine its immense and blemish free. Funnily enough I had an s7 before this, and it doesn't even come close

That let me sleep so much better! My Pre-Ordered G5 is coming between the 15th and 18th April. I get a Silver One with free Cam Plus Module... Hope there are no building issues, I'm one of the First in Germany who gets one... :fingers-crossed:

Nice man. I wouldnt pay for cam plus i think but would have loved a free one. Hope its fun.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

Just got my G5 yesterday in UK and I have few issues The gap between the battery and device is un even on the right side and have some backlight bleed on top and bottom of the screen :crying:

panamaniac said:
Nice man. I wouldnt pay for cam plus i think but would have loved a free one. Hope its fun.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gives at all 4000mah of Battery Size. That's really nice for free, and I love to take Photos with a Hardware Key like on the Xperias from Sony I'm really happy about my Pre-Order. But...
liam_davenport said:
Just got my G5 yesterday in UK and I have few issues The gap between the battery and device is un even on the right side and have some backlight bleed on top and bottom of the screen :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I read this I could cry... UK is close to Germany... Can you give it back to get a new One? :fingers-crossed:

Miustone said:
Gives at all 4000mah of Battery Size. That's really nice for free, and I love to take Photos with a Hardware Key like on the Xperias from Sony I'm really happy about my Pre-Order. But...
When I read this I could cry... UK is close to Germany... Can you give it back to get a new One? :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes but gonna trade for a different device don't want another G5 don't get me wrong it's a great phone but nothing special too many build issues for me and I believe there is no unlocked bootloader so this phone not for me will trade it for a S7 Edge performance wise exynos is way better and has a bigger batter

Miustone said:
Gives at all 4000mah of Battery Size. That's really nice for free, and I love to take Photos with a Hardware Key like on the Xperias from Sony I'm really happy about my Pre-Order. But...
When I read this I could cry... UK is close to Germany... Can you give it back to get a new One? :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont worry about the gap. You have to look for it to care. And tru that about the greater battery and hardware button. Again, id be psyched if they'd thrown one in for me.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

panamaniac said:
Dont worry about the gap. You have to look for it to care. And tru that about the greater battery and hardware button. Again, id be psyched if they'd thrown one in for me.
Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The gap isn't an issue but when you pay lots of money for something you'd expect better quality.. Anyways like I say it's a great phone can't knock the hardware just needs some small improvements/refinements and it'll be perfect :good:

liam_davenport said:
The gap isn't an issue but when you pay lots of money for something you'd expect better quality.. Anyways like I say it's a great phone can't knock the hardware just needs some small improvements/refinements and it'll be perfect :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I picked up the Galaxy S7 Edge and I've been playing with it and comparing it to the G4. Camera photography is hit or miss. Obviously the G4 and G5 (since they have the same sensor specs) will capture more detail (16mpx vs 12mpx) but G5 will have better front facing camera, awesomely neat wide angel.
S7E has VERY good low light... I mean VERY good low light! Huge differences when I take night time shots!
But ... Samsung has its flaws as well. I'm not going to cancel my G5 pre-order, I want to get my hands on it. But Samsung S7E is def. a very good, long lasting device in terms of battery life - let's see how the G5 is in the end! If I get a flawed G5 I'll be disappointed, but I'll ask for another and if that one comes back flawed, I'll keep the S7E as my own personal device.
But I really hope it isn't as bad as some people say here.

zkyevolved said:
I picked up the Galaxy S7 Edge and I've been playing with it and comparing it to the G4. Camera photography is hit or miss. Obviously the G4 and G5 (since they have the same sensor specs) will capture more detail (16mpx vs 12mpx) but G5 will have better front facing camera, awesomely neat wide angel.
S7E has VERY good low light... I mean VERY good low light! Huge differences when I take night time shots!
But ... Samsung has its flaws as well. I'm not going to cancel my G5 pre-order, I want to get my hands on it. But Samsung S7E is def. a very good, long lasting device in terms of battery life - let's see how the G5 is in the end! If I get a flawed G5 I'll be disappointed, but I'll ask for another and if that one comes back flawed, I'll keep the S7E as my own personal device.
But I really hope it isn't as bad as some people say here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but the processing on g5 is hit and miss too so would be good to see some proper comparisons against S7E, As for battery on G5 I got 3-4 sot in less then 24hrs guess will improve over time but as of now not very impressed 2014 flagships can beat this lol, Just watch for Led backlight bleed if you have it you'll see on first boot or put a black image on screen and go in a dark room and check the corners and side lots of units got this fault, It's not a bad device I think with the right modules and some development i.e kernels etc should be a great phone but i'm digging the S7 way more feels amazing in the hand very premium <3 Plus the exynos chip is very optimised if you watch against the SD820 variant destroys it apart from gaming adreno gpu is boss Just the price of the S7E kills me lol
Not trying to push anyone away from the phone just my experience with it

liam_davenport said:
Yeah but the processing on g5 is hit and miss too so would be good to see some proper comparisons against S7E, As for battery on G5 I got 3-4 sot in less then 24hrs guess will improve over time but as of now not very impressed 2014 flagships can beat this lol, Just watch for Led backlight bleed if you have it you'll see on first boot or put a black image on screen and go in a dark room and check the corners and side lots of units got this fault, It's not a bad device I think with the right modules and some development i.e kernels etc should be a great phone but i'm digging the S7 way more feels amazing in the hand very premium <3 Plus the exynos chip is very optimised if you watch against the SD820 variant destroys it apart from gaming adreno gpu is boss Just the price of the S7E kills me lol
Not trying to push anyone away from the phone just my experience with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Price is only 45 euros more for the S7E here in Spain.
Camera is much worse than my G4 ...
Check these out:
Picture of my shoe, same distance. Color on the G4 is far more accurate. Detail is much higher (look at the button next to the shoe lace). I zoomed out of the G4 image to be able to be almost identical to the S7E picture.
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In the next picture, color on the S7E is SO washed out, it really changed what the wall looks like. Color is also VERY washed out. That is not a "blue sky"...
I'm very unimpressed with what Samsung offered in terms of well lit pictures.
On the other hand, here is a night shot. Samsung DESTROYED the G4, but then again, G4 is older... And S7E has better low light camera. Either way... Both were taken max aperture (10 sec for Samsung, 30 for LG), 50 ISO, both mounted on tripods. Also these are the best of maybe 4 or 5 images.
I hope this has helped anyone who is very happy with good shooters. I just think that Samsung doing a good job, but not compared to LG in most regular shots. Colors are washed out, details are missing, over sharpened.... Meh... Not impressed, honestly ... On the other hand, night shots are SUPERB on the Samsung, but this is only my 3rd time shooting at night - 99.999% of my shots are daytime or indoor. If the S7E had a better or same camera as the G5, I might have just kept it, but I know I'm going to return it after I test the G5 and S7E side by side (like this images). Best shooter (quality, speed, battery life) will be my next device
Oh, if people are interested, I can test out G4, G5 and S7E images. I have a bunch of G4 and S7E side by sides already, so if anyone wants them let me know and I can publish some information and details about them.

Thank you for the pictures, I would like to see more side by side comparisons if you please.

Have the g5 build quality is good but i do have backlight bleed
Sent from my LGLS992 using XDA-Developers mobile app

LG G5 vs Xiaomi MI5

I have been using the new Xiaomi mi5 since 1 Month now, and the LG G5 since 5 days. I can notice big difference for the favor of the Xiaomi. Its faster, smoother, no overheating, battery life extremely better. And even the 3GB version of the Xiaomi i have scored a higer score on the antutu benchmark
I wanted to share my experience with you guys, and we could discuss pros and cons of each device and maybe your votes to keep the Xiaomi or the LG
Thanks

i have both too and would say the LG G5 is a tad more fluid and software much more optimised.

mikey_sk said:
i have both too and would say the LG G5 is a tad more fluid and software much more optimised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Didn't you notice the battery life difference between both for the exact same way of use? I found MIUI a totally different experience of android, not ideal, but different. The screen resolution under the sun light as well is favored by Xiaomi more than the LG. I am having this overheated LG which is not to be noticed on Xiaomi ( except when charging). Don't forget the price difference as well

Zaynoun said:
Didn't you notice the battery life difference between both for the exact same way of use? I found MIUI a totally different experience of android, not ideal, but different. The screen resolution under the sun light as well is favored by Xiaomi more than the LG. I am having this overheated LG which is not to be noticed on Xiaomi ( except when charging). Don't forget the price difference as well
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe the UK LG G5's are from a good batch beause i noticed none of the moulding or heating issues... also EE in the UK are selling the LG G5 for £399 which makes it as cheap as the Mi5 and at that price I'd go with the LG as it supports all European LTE bands.

Zaynoun said:
I have been using the new Xiaomi mi5 since 1 Month now, and the LG G5 since 5 days. I can notice big difference for the favor of the Xiaomi. Its faster, smoother, no overheating, battery life extremely better. And even the 3GB version of the Xiaomi i have scored a higer score on the antutu benchmark
I wanted to share my experience with you guys, and we could discuss pros and cons of each device and maybe your votes to keep the Xiaomi or the LG
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Camera ? That alone rules the mi out if it matters to you.
The only chinese company that has a chance here is huawei. Not xiaomi or opo.
if you're into performance and roming then stick to those two. They are great for the price.
Battery has been improving on the xiaomi's. The redmi note 3 is excellent for battery.
But sealed battery and no expandable storage are deal breakers for me.

One Twelve said:
Camera ? That alone rules the mi out if it matters to you.
The only chinese company that has a chance here is huawei. Not xiaomi or opo.
if you're into performance and roming then stick to those two. They are great for the price.
Battery has been improving on the xiaomi's. The redmi note 3 is excellent for battery.
But sealed battery and no expandable storage are deal breakers for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Huawei? i won't be that sure dude. After my experience with Mate 8 i won't repeat this experience again with Huawei. I am not that into chinese handsets, but the Xiaomi mi5 changed my mind somehow. They did great in this device. I am not a camera guy, so i didn't even take it into consideration. Performance and personalized UI is what counts for me. Running both devices on antutu benchmark, the mi5 (32GB, 3GB RAM) scored 108K and fractions, and the G5 (32GB, 4GB RAM) scored 103K and fractions.
My personal opinion is that after the MI5, Xiaomi will overtake Huawei in selling numbers coming after Samsung and Apple. First sale wave 4 Mil. sold devices whereas G5 launching day in S. Korea 150K sold.
Last but not least, this opens the market more for competition among manufacturers which results in something good for us users.

Zaynoun said:
Huawei? i won't be that sure dude. After my experience with Mate 8 i won't repeat this experience again with Huawei. I am not that into chinese handsets, but the Xiaomi mi5 changed my mind somehow. They did great in this device. I am not a camera guy, so i didn't even take it into consideration. Performance and personalized UI is what counts for me. Running both devices on antutu benchmark, the mi5 (32GB, 3GB RAM) scored 108K and fractions, and the G5 (32GB, 4GB RAM) scored 103K and fractions.
My personal opinion is that after the MI5, Xiaomi will overtake Huawei in selling numbers coming after Samsung and Apple. First sale wave 4 Mil. sold devices whereas G5 launching day in S. Korea 150K sold.
Last but not least, this opens the market more for competition among manufacturers which results in something good for us users.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly, if you don't appreciate camera, don't care for expandable storage or replacable battery, then G5 isn't going to impress you.
Each device has its own forte. otherwise its like comparing a cow & a horse and saying the horse is better because it runs faster
xiaomi's & opo's forte is price. For the price you get x,y,z. Always this qualifier 'for the price' is used to describe these phones. This is why people run after them. Huawei isn't in the same price range so not much interest but this is a demographic that isn't going to look at flagships in the first place. Huawei has been creating waves of late and has the resources to pull it off. To sell in the west they are best placed. So they are also looking dangerous to the big 3. Your bad experience with the mate 8 is an anecdote. i can find any number of people in these forums that does not like a paritcular device for some reason or other. Does not make the device nor the company that made that device bad.
You go on about performance but anything with an SD800 and above has enough performance in 2016. People are not going to replace their phones because of low antutu score. They will do it if it lags and if the firmware becomes incapable for whatever reason of delivering what they want.
The competition is good but i would have preferred they not make sealed batteries and no expandable storage. Which flagship in 2016 will not have expandable storage. Only the nexus. Am surprised you did not even mention this. From what i can see all the big 4 have it. Cheaper phones have always included them and to not find them on flagships is odd. here its a reverse situation. When the flagships have it this so called affordable flagship refuses to have it. Why. because it looks pretty ?
As it is we are held back by OS upgrades .Anything less than a flagship means the device you buy dies with whatever OS it came with. To then add extra hardware limitations so as to force you to upgrade every couple of years isn't encouraging.
Oh i know that mi & opo are good with updates.Just have to be patient. When i hang out in those forums sometimes important bugs can take months to fix if at all. You don't get this with the bigger names. We will pretend the S6 memory fiasco did not happen. You have an idea what it is at the outset not several months later. You pay more because you are not a paying beta tester.
There is one thing i will grant these chinese phones and that is root is not a big deal. Click here to root. Amazing.The weird thing about phones compared to computers is you are not allowed to become admin for some reason. You are the owner of the device but you cannot really own it. No problems with locked bootloaders etc.
Whereas if you don't have a euro G5 there is no chance to root because all other bootloaders are locked by LG. Major deal breaker for some people. We're not even talking about roms here. Just root.

xiaomi is still slower than iphone 6 plus

mze1 said:
xiaomi is still slower than iphone 6 plus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again the theory or comparing horse and cow Who runs faster

One Twelve said:
Exactly, if you don't appreciate camera, don't care for expandable storage or replacable battery, then G5 isn't going to impress you.
Each device has its own forte. otherwise its like comparing a cow & a horse and saying the horse is better because it runs faster
xiaomi's & opo's forte is price. For the price you get x,y,z. Always this qualifier 'for the price' is used to describe these phones. This is why people run after them. Huawei isn't in the same price range so not much interest but this is a demographic that isn't going to look at flagships in the first place. Huawei has been creating waves of late and has the resources to pull it off. To sell in the west they are best placed. So they are also looking dangerous to the big 3. Your bad experience with the mate 8 is an anecdote. i can find any number of people in these forums that does not like a paritcular device for some reason or other. Does not make the device nor the company that made that device bad.
You go on about performance but anything with an SD800 and above has enough performance in 2016. People are not going to replace their phones because of low antutu score. They will do it if it lags and if the firmware becomes incapable for whatever reason of delivering what they want.
The competition is good but i would have preferred they not make sealed batteries and no expandable storage. Which flagship in 2016 will not have expandable storage. Only the nexus. Am surprised you did not even mention this. From what i can see all the big 4 have it. Cheaper phones have always included them and to not find them on flagships is odd. here its a reverse situation. When the flagships have it this so called affordable flagship refuses to have it. Why. because it looks pretty ?
As it is we are held back by OS upgrades .Anything less than a flagship means the device you buy dies with whatever OS it came with. To then add extra hardware limitations so as to force you to upgrade every couple of years isn't encouraging.
Oh i know that mi & opo are good with updates.Just have to be patient. When i hang out in those forums sometimes important bugs can take months to fix if at all. You don't get this with the bigger names. We will pretend the S6 memory fiasco did not happen. You have an idea what it is at the outset not several months later. You pay more because you are not a paying beta tester.
There is one thing i will grant these chinese phones and that is root is not a big deal. Click here to root. Amazing.The weird thing about phones compared to computers is you are not allowed to become admin for some reason. You are the owner of the device but you cannot really own it. No problems with locked bootloaders etc.
Whereas if you don't have a euro G5 there is no chance to root because all other bootloaders are locked by LG. Major deal breaker for some people. We're not even talking about roms here. Just root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All your points you discussed are logical, but POVs' are relative. Otherwise if we all have same opinion or POV then all will buy same device, but each individual looks at things from different perspective.
I am not against any device or manufacturer, i am just reflecting my experience with the devices. I am not comparing paper values, rather personal usage and experience. This only reflects mu POV according to how i use and what i like to use in a phone.
Expandable memory? Mmmmm, Apple doesn't have, Nexus, Xiaomi as well. Maybe they have a marketing strategy behind it,thats why they are making devices with 128GB Internal memory. ( except Nesus).
I have the T-Mobile LG G5 and it will take quite looong time before any development will be out there. Unlocking bootloader, rooting, and ROM's.
Because i liked both devices, i am keeping both as well the G5 and Mi5 It's just the experience i have with MI5, it gave a new and different experience which i liked and respect from a company 6 years old, and i have been using android phones for the past 10 years.

mikey_sk said:
i have both too and would say the LG G5 is a tad more fluid and software much more optimised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get your mi5 from?
Also android police was very negative about the G5

mi5 scored higher due to fullHD display.... captain obvious here.

mze1 said:
xiaomi is still slower than iphone 6 plus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IT's actually faster, it does more things at once. Comparing the foreground app as an indication of a machine's "speed" is false on so many levels. It's very much possible on (any) android machine to do many things at once, something that iOS expressively disallows, apart from very few "approved" services (like music playing).
So yeah, things happen faster to an Android machine, even if it is 2 years old, it *feels* less fast though...

Market share as it stands right now. Xiaomi is going to have to vault past two other Chinese vendors that have more resources to get to 3rd place. Those two aren't standing still.
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Tough choice.
The Mi 5 is physically smaller than the G5. +1 for the Mi 5
The Mi 5 has a 1080p screen with a 3,000mAh battery vs the G5's QHD screen with a tiny 2,800mAh battery. +1 for the Mi 5
LG's custom Android ROM isn't as bad as the one from Xiaomi. +1 for the G5
The Mi 5 has a physical home button vs the on screen buttons of the G5. +1 for the G5
The G5 is made by LG while the Mi 5 is made by Xiaomi. +1 for the G5.
Mi 5: 2
G5: 3
But the combination of bigger battery and lower resolution of the Mi 5 is a BIG plus.
---------- Post added at 03:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:58 AM ----------
One Twelve said:
Market share as it stands right now. Xiaomi is going to have to vault past two other Chinese vendors that have more resources to get to 3rd place. Those two aren't standing still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, I'm really surprised how low LG is. I realize LG is smaller than Samsung and Apple but with Apple at ~18% and Samsung at ~24% I would have guessed like 10-12% for LG.

Just a 2800 mAh battery for a 5.3 QHD display phone ? Seriously LG ? Replacable battery is a plus but how often would you replace it ?

One Twelve said:
Market share as it stands right now. Xiaomi is going to have to vault past two other Chinese vendors that have more resources to get to 3rd place. Those two aren't standing still.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, in Q1 the Mi5 had only the first selling wave which was i think somewhere between 9 -12 March. So we have to wait until Q2 to see how they do especially after they release all other colors and the 128 GB version as well.

Why would anyone want the Mi5 after seeing this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2jav7UdQtE
It breaks like a toothpick.

3000 mAh is ok, but a 2800 compared to it is "tiny", LOL.

jimv1983 said:
Tough choice.
The Mi 5 is physically smaller than the G5. +1 for the Mi 5
The Mi 5 has a 1080p screen with a 3,000mAh battery vs the G5's QHD screen with a tiny 2,800mAh battery. +1 for the Mi 5
LG's custom Android ROM isn't as bad as the one from Xiaomi. +1 for the G5
The Mi 5 has a physical home button vs the on screen buttons of the G5. +1 for the G5
The G5 is made by LG while the Mi 5 is made by Xiaomi. +1 for the G5.
Mi 5: 2
G5: 3
But the combination of bigger battery and lower resolution of the Mi 5 is a BIG plus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a tough choice, rather easy in fact.
Camera is why you will choose the G5.
Budget is why people run after the Chinese. They can't spend more than $350. Some arbitrary number. They will compromise any requirement to fit into that budget. And the design is pretty good, they say why pay $200-300 more for a phone that 'looks' and 'feels' similar. Then they will quote you some specs and say see i got same cpu for so little. lol.
You can get up to 5h SOT on the G5 with always on off. If you need more get a spare battery. Now you can get 10h if necessary. Takes one minute to replace the battery. You will need to do this if you use the camera a lot any way.
Wow, I'm really surprised how low LG is. I realize LG is smaller than Samsung and Apple but with Apple at ~18% and Samsung at ~24% I would have guessed like 10-12% for LG.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LG is a conglomerate that sells lots of other things. That they could even get that much share is good. Not being in that list does not affect companies that make phones or even new ones from joining.In the sense the top players make the most profit. But if you're a smaller player and still making a profit there is no problem.
---------- Post added at 04:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:41 PM ----------
davebugyi said:
3000 mAh is ok, but a 2800 compared to it is "tiny", LOL.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep, 6% and its the end of the world
6.0.1 has been good for battery life. Even the S6 with its ZOMG 2600 non-replacable battery has benefited.

Mate 9 vs Axon 7? (Updated, I bought the M9)

Update
I write this with the sole purpose of informing (as objectively as possible) possible buyers of the advantages and disadvantages of this terminal, since there is always a lot of talk about the good things of the phone, but seldom is spoken of the bad; given that these 2 terminals are in my opinion the best and most complete in the market today, I will write what I think and feel after having the Mate 9 for 3 days and comparing it with Axon 7.
Size
I loved it, and I think it's exquisite. I really thought that the phone would be bigger, but it is almost the same measures of the Axon 7, being that one has a screen of 5.5 "and the other one of 5.9".
Screen
I honestly thought the screen would be worse because of the change in resolution, but it's pretty decent, and I can say that unless you're not playing, you're not going to notice the difference between the QHD screen and the FHD of Mate 9. The resolution difference will be noticed immediately in games, I already installed 2 and I can say that it is quite annoying to see the graphics a little pixelated and with that lack of sharpness and definition that I had in Axon 7. Still not sure if the lack of quality is because most of the applications are not optimized for Kirin yet or is because of the limitation of the screen,
Performance
I can say that I had never had such a fast and responsive terminal, even with Android stock. Comparing the 820 and 4GB RAM from the Axon 7, I have to give this one to the Mate 9 because the stupid speed it has, there is nothing more to say.
Software
Both UI pleased me, although I must say that EMUI 5 is a breakthrough. MiFavor of the Axon 7 still feels like past versions of EMUI, while EMUI feels a little to iOS, which is nice for me, even when I hate Apple and its products, I must accept that they have good taste for designs. Both ZTE and Huawei have already launched some updates and both have been polishing things, so this should not be a worry. I didn't take in consideration the version of Android, because in the UI i always more important the version of this than the version of Android.
Sound
The Axon 7 is better, both in speakers and in audio output. I didn't like the speakers of Mate 9, especially for the positioning. Although the headset works as a speaker, the reality is that the volume is far below the other speaker, and this panning at the end does not feel like stereo and just confuses. The concept is good, but the implementation was not the best, they would have put up speakers of similar power to achieve this correctly.
Camera
I am one of the few (starting to be many) who are disappointed by this camera. It is not a wonder or magic, it takes good pictures, but nothing more. I sincerely bought the equipment with the promise that it would be an incredible experience in photography, but the only thing I got are decent photos and several times I had to use the manual mode, when I expected that the Auto mode was already quite good, and only use the manual mode in very complicated conditions. There is much to improve here, and I can say that I do not notice any difference between the photos made with Mate 9 and Axon 7, and even, I like more the colors that the Axon 7 has. On the other hand, the videos on the Mate 9 are way better that the mediocre quality on the axon 7.
Battery
There is nothing to say, the battery on the Mate 9 is impressive; at the end of the day I come around 60% with about 3-4 hours of screen. The Axon 7 was giving me at most 4-5 hours of screen.
Price
The Axon 7 can be bought for about € 400, while the Mate 9 can be get for around € 650. Does the difference is justified ?, no in my opinion, and I think that if you are not looking for a big phone or a giant battery, the Axon 7 is the device to buy. Having a "just decent" screen, a poorly achieved sound and a camera that does not behave much higher than the Axon 7, made it a big disappointment for me to have buyed this equipment.
I waited the Axon 7 for many months but I gave up on it because I never could get one, is really hard to get where I live.
I was going with the Mate 9 because Huawei has big presence in Europe and is easier to get, but just last week I saw an Axon 7(A2017G) at good price and I pulled the trigger. The initial plan was to play some days with the Axon 7 and then sell it, because I already had the plan for the Mate 9, but with each day that passes, I'm thinking in keep it.
I was planning to get the Mate 9 because I'm really interested in camera quality, and I have seen Mate 9 is slightly better in this, but not for much in my opinion and it comes with the cons of losing the nice audio and the screen resolution, but with the pros of a better camera and battery.
I'm not interested anymore in development(root, ROM's, kernels, mods, etc), usually all the things I need now come with the stock ROM. I'm more interested in the camera, screen, battery and overall performance and experience.
Both cost the same where I live, so I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the Mate 9 or had the opportunity to play with it, I would be interested in your opinions and comments so I can take a decisions about these 2 devices.
Thanks
:highfive:

One plus 3T, hands down. If they'd had that around when I purchased the Axon, I would've went with that.
If not, but the mate 9.

actually all phone had the same spec but only the firmware, kernel and Os and great dev to make the whole experience user friendly, unfortunately what i can tell from Axon 7 G version the software experience is totally different with other variant which i think will leads to the main downfall of this great hardware device..... ZTE will not focus on this device after nougat updates and basically this is the main problem and strategy for all mid range phones except for couple of brands in the market like Xiaomi/redmi. Xiaomi or redmi most likely will not upgrade their mid range phone OS but they still give consumer their latest MIUI look and feel which makes their customer happy... so far i just did not see ZTE what they are trying to do... same goes to Asus... about are my 2 cents of thought

icenight89 said:
One plus 3T, hands down. If they'd had that around when I purchased the Axon, I would've went with that.
If not, but the mate 9.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually I was considering the OP3T some weeks ago, but the problems with the screen, bluetooth, notifications, etc., make me discard it. I think is a great device, but I'm more a multimedia consumer and a good screen, stereo speakers and decent camera are more valuable to me than being able to have development on it, and the OP3T fails on 2 of those.
Besides that, I really hate capacitive buttons and front facing fingerprint reader, they just take unnecessary space and make the device more bulky, and even when the Axon 7 has capacitive buttons, the form factor and tiny bezels make it be smaller than many phones of the same screen size with on-display buttons.
Anyway, I really value your comment and I will have it present for my next buy, because it seems that OP4 could come sooner with some nice surprises.

The Mate 9 is probalby better in almost every way. I see only three things better on the Axon 7 : the amoled 2560*1440 screen, the audio and the development (i don't know if things have changed with Huawei or not).
But the price point isn't the same at all !
Personally, i own the Axon 7 and i don't regret buying one second. It's a great device !

ramnkc said:
actually all phone had the same spec but only the firmware, kernel and Os and great dev to make the whole experience user friendly, unfortunately what i can tell from Axon 7 G version the software experience is totally different with other variant which i think will leads to the main downfall of this great hardware device..... ZTE will not focus on this device after nougat updates and basically this is the main problem and strategy for all mid range phones except for couple of brands in the market like Xiaomi/redmi. Xiaomi or redmi most likely will not upgrade their mid range phone OS but they still give consumer their latest MIUI look and feel which makes their customer happy... so far i just did not see ZTE what they are trying to do... same goes to Asus... about are my 2 cents of thought
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I'm pretty impressed by ZTE respond with the Axon 7, most of the complaints and things users asked, are put on the phone continuously., and the fact they allowed to unlock the bootloader gives the impressions that they actually want to care about the phone. I think that the Axon would receive another update at least after Nougat, because when they were advertising selling it, ZTE advertised as first Daydream ready device, which also implies Nougat device.
Besides, I don't consider the Axon 7 as mid range device, and ZTE hasn't anything else to be fully working on.

Galaxo60 said:
I waited the Axon 7 for many months but I gave up on it because I never could get one, is really hard to get where I live.
I was going with the Mate 9 because Huawei has big presence in Europe and is easier to get, but just last week I saw an Axon 7(A2017G) at good price and I pulled the trigger. The initial plan was to play some days with the Axon 7 and then sell it, because I already had the plan for the Mate 9, but with each day that passes, I'm thinking in keep it.
I was planning to get the Mate 9 because I'm really interested in camera quality, and I have seen Mate 9 is slightly better in this, but not for much in my opinion and it comes with the cons of losing the nice audio and the screen resolution, but with the pros of a better camera and battery.
I'm not interested anymore in development(root, ROM's, kernels, mods, etc), usually all the things I need now come with the stock ROM. I'm more interested in the camera, screen, battery and overall performance and experience.
Both cost the same where I live, so I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the Mate 9 or had the opportunity to play with it, I would be interested in your opinions and comments so I can take a decisions about these 2 devices.
Thanks
:highfive:
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The Axon 7 is perfect in all aspect except one, low light pictures. It has a very good optical and electronic stabilization for video recording. And color accuracy of pictures is remarkable. The screen is superior to any other phone in it's price range with the excellent Samsung panel. The battery lasts for almos 2 days. I got an average of 14 hours of screen on time with medium use (emails, whatsapp, texts, web browsing, phone calls, Skype, hangouts, PDF view, taking pictures, etc). I have root the device but I am using stock kernel, stock rom with a couple of tweaks, but always with nominal voltages and speeds. ZTE has a nice service for customers here in USA. It has a public beta program and I really like the way they are doing with this phone.
Nougat has been announced by ZTE to be released before the end of this month and that unlocks Daydream.

djona12 said:
The Mate 9 is probalby better in almost every way. I see only three things better on the Axon 7 : the amoled 2560*1440 screen, the audio and the development (i don't know if things have changed with Huawei or not).
But the price point isn't the same at all !
Personally, i own the Axon 7 and i don't regret buying one second. It's a great device !
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I remember you from the other european thread, back in july when there was only on thread for Axon 7 and there wasn't forum yet.
Anyway, I think that battery and camera are better on Mate 9, but I'm thinking on that FHD screen, moreover because of the size of the phone and also because is IPS, so no Daydream at all. For design, performance, usability, etc., I think both are great devices, but the Axon 7 and how ZTE has been polishing the software and the camera in this time have me impressed.

Lol you are comparing a flash ship priced mate 9 (800$) to a $400 device??
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nano303 said:
Lol you are comparing a flash ship priced mate 9 (800$) to a $400 device??
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That depends where you live, and as I said on the OP, I can get any of them around €550, so that's why price is not a factor for me, and I'm more interested in the overall experience of each one.

Mate 9 for us in the States is $600 vs the axon 7 at $380-$400,depending on where you buy from
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---------- Post added at 12:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:52 PM ----------
nano303 said:
Lol you are comparing a flash ship priced mate 9 (800$) to a $400 device??
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Mate 9 pro, maybe. Regular mate 9 is much cheaper
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Oki said:
The Axon 7 is perfect in all aspect except one, low light pictures. It has a very good optical and electronic stabilization for video recording. And color accuracy of pictures is remarkable. The screen is superior to any other phone in it's price range with the excellent Samsung panel. The battery lasts for almos 2 days. I got an average of 14 hours of screen on time with medium use (emails, whatsapp, texts, web browsing, phone calls, Skype, hangouts, PDF view, taking pictures, etc). I have root the device but I am using stock kernel, stock rom with a couple of tweaks, but always with nominal voltages and speeds. ZTE has a nice service for customers here in USA. It has a public beta program and I really like the way they are doing with this phone.
Nougat has been announced by ZTE to be released before the end of this month and that unlocks Daydream.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always see you are really active around here and is really nice to have people like you helping others.
I feel what you said, and indeed I only picked the device as an experiment, but I'm thinking if I should keep it. For me, this phone with some AOSP/CM development could be for me the Nexus that never came in 2016 because of the Pixel branding. Back in the dark times I used to root my device, install some custom stuff and undervolt/underclock in order to have a decent battery life, but with the Axon 7 even with stock I'm able to get 2 days with around 4 hrs SOT, but having +10 hrs SOT sounds epic.
As far as low light pictures, camera is an important point for me, I still know is a phone and I don't pretend to have the best phone's camera on the market, but I don't see the pictures from the Axon 7 bad at all and I think they are pretty decent (which is enough for me), and if someone needs more, we have the manual mode available as well. I attach some that I have taken over the week.
Maybe the question would be if ZTE is planning to improve the camera or if there has been any improvements since it was launched?, I would be interesting in knowing this, I have only 1 week with the device and I can't tell if ZTE is focusing and improving the camera with updates or not.
Thanks
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Galaxo60 said:
I'm able to get 2 days with around 4 hrs SOT, but having +10 hrs SOT sounds epic.
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Only 4 tweaks can provide you +14 hrs with this phone. Take a look at this.

Oki said:
Only 4 tweaks can provide you +14 hrs with this phone. Take a look at this.
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Click to collapse
Any word about the camera?, I mean, if ZTE has been improving it with updates or if is something they are trying to get better?, I would be really interested in knowing this.

I do not know. We have the initial ROM and 2 updates. So in average we have an update every 8 weeks or so. I got this phone barely one month ago. Probably people with longer experience could tell you whether the low light camera has been improved or not. There are other apps with better behavior under low light conditions there is something written in these forums you can just search for.

srimay said:
Mate 9 for us in the States is $600 vs the axon 7 at $380-$400,depending on where you buy from
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---------- Post added at 12:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:52 PM ----------
Mate 9 pro, maybe. Regular mate 9 is much cheaper
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Mate 9 Pro for me is a rip off of the S7 Edge, which I don't like at all, and I think is a steal at that price. I have always stay away from capacitive buttons and front fingerprint scanners.
Still I don't understand the decision to put a QHD screen on a 5.5" device and let the 6.0" with just FHD, regular Mate 9 with QHD and AMOLED display could be a nice improvement.

Oki said:
I do not know. We have the initial ROM and 2 updates. So in average we have an update every 8 weeks or so. I got this phone barely one month ago. Probably people with longer experience could tell you whether the low light camera has been improved or not. There are other apps with better behavior under low light conditions there is something written in these forums you can just search for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope ZTE keeps improving the software, and than more and more people keep joining the development scene.
Thanks for your answers!.

Added little comparison with the Mate 9 after spending some days with it.

Have both Axon 7 and Mate 9. I'm a slut for big screens. They both have good and bad issues. FOR the price the Zte can't be beat. Do like the M9 interface, large screen and IPS 1080 display.
After my s7 Edge I'll probably never buy Samsung again