Real Life Review Roundup - Honor 8 Guides, News, & Discussion

Real Life Review Roundup​Here is a round up of some of the reviews of everyday users of the Honor 8.
PERFORMANCE
Overall speed
I have been using Honor 8 for more than a month. Everything is fast and smooth, which can handle almost any apps easily. However, the phone can be very hot when running demanding game like GTA:SA.
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-seanchong
App launch speed
Honor 8 can launch apps really fast. Apps that I use daily are WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube. It is a real enjoyment to see app loads that fast compare to my older phone.
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-seanchong
Multitasking/RAM
With 4GB, you cannot ask for more. Muktitasking, gaming, you name it. Honor 8 can handle them all. Simultaneously.
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-gopinaidu77
Scrolling smoothness
I have always turned off animation ( just seems useless IMHO). When i bought phone i put on glass screen protector and touch did seem a bit slow in response, so i turned on gloves mode option in settings and now touch response is great, no lags, no having to press just a little harder.
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-popeye331
Heat
My phone does not heat up at all with normal usage. I do not think that I have ever owned or used any phone that stays this cool (including LG v20 that I used for about 2 weeks). This is absolutely terrific.
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-ceroglu
CAMERA
Low light
I love the low light capabilities of this phone!! I've been a big HTC fan for the past six years and loved their cams but this really blows me away considering the price. I really like the Pro mode cause that's where i'm able to take advantage of what this lil thing can do. Here's some shots I took while camping and used the Pro mode for all of it. Long exposure, high ISO...
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-beachparty2k
Photo quality
I just got the phone this Friday. Wife was curious and tested it. She said at worst it was as good as the Samsung S6. That is a good comparison imo.
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-MC FLMJ1G
Video quality
Wish it had OIS. Video is a little shaky, esp at 60FPS.
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-svetius
Selfie quality
I am very impress by the selfie quality...it comes with some nice little neat features that I have come to enjoy....if you use snapchat camera, you will feel right at home. Honor is aiming to attract the "younger" generations and the selfie camera does JUST that. But hey, if you are not into smoothing out those wrinkles, shrinking your cheeks, making your eyes "pop" and detect your "good" side, a simple snap will be just fine.
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-mgbotoe
Time to take picture (camera launch speed)
" I saw a flying horse today!"
No one will disbelieve your observation because you quickly pulled out your Honor 8 and double pressed the volume down button and snapped a picture in 0.9-1.2 seconds.
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-Ihaveatattoo
Software (ease of use, features, etc)
I was a bit surprised by the options the default camera app has, just about everything you could ask for and really easy to use. If you just want to take snapshots you really don't need to bother going through the options but when you do it is very straight forward and easy to understand. Even the pro mode is easy to use and understand, much easier and faster than my compact camera. I might just not bring my compact camera along anymore....
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-Erik1974
BATTERY
Charging speed
Charge is enought fast , from 7 % to 100 % , about 1h30min .
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-Nas42O
Screen on time
Really impressed.
WiFi and LTE all the time on, WhatsApp and Skype protected, web surfing and other normal uses. Better than my old Honor7.
Of course never charged. It took me over 7 hours before I had to put it to charge.
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-ouardo
Standby drain
During the night it drained around 2 % in about 12 -14 hours when I was not using it.
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-Droiderr
Heavy use endurance
Battery life is very very good, unplugging at 07:00 mobile connection until 08:00 then WIFI until 17:00 and then mobile connection until 21:00 i usually get 5-6 hours screen on time 5% remaining.... with my normal usage ( Whastapp, Twitter, Spotify, Reddit, Tinder , Browsing).
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-howdid
Light use endurance
On my fourth charge cycle since getting it last Thursday, each being charged up from about 20%. Going nearly two days on one charge and am very happy with the H8 so far.
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-Luweewu
DISPLAY
Outdoor visibility (max brightness)
Screen brightness is great even in Auto mode, visibility is great
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-alaa.85
Contrast (true blacks)
good black colours nd very vibrant spectrum
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-jkccl9
Color saturation & accuracy
Accurate? Nop. The display is way to cold by default. Even on the warm mode I can see a bit bluish. The display need some tweaking. Get it right honor!asap!
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-XenithV
Clarity/resolution
1080p really is more than enough for a 5.2 inch phone, higher resolution drains the battery faster too anyway. Only if you are into VR you can do with a higher res screen, all other applications i really don't see the benefit.
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-Erik1974
Minimum brightness
Update B130 fixed the minimum brightness when set to auto brightness. In a dark environment my phone no longer sets the brightness to an absolute minimum.
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-rik1974

After the B161 OTA, the speaker performs better

Related

Z5 impressions so far

Some of my impressions after a few days of usage
- Very snappy and fast
- Screen is brilliant enough
- Design is beautiful, the graphite colour looks great
- The Camera is great just when you know it
- 23mpx should be improved a bit with manual ISO and better detail
- 8mpx is great
- They added colours to the contacts which makes scrolling through sms threads a bit
- There is more space available on the homescreen, one extra line compared to the Z2
- Buttons are great
- I just love the sound when talking - it's the best sounding Xperia in calls to date
- Stereo speakers are quite good too
- I don't like to have SIM and SD on the same tray, I can't put in/take out SD card without a reboot
- I still use it more than usual so I cannot fully comment on batt life
- I love the much faster charging now!
- As I mentioned earlier, I was disapponted with NFC/PCCompanion performance of Xperia Transfer, Cloud option did the trick
- Calendar sync (on a fresh deice) didn't work with all the cathegories
- Deleting sms theads is very fast now
- No problems with overheating
- So far it's a very very good phone, very sleek epxerience
It's good to hear that someone has something positive to say about the Z5. I agree with most of what you have to say too, but it seems like we're in a minority.
I don't think we're minority
I agree with above too.
Love the screen. Even coming from LG G3, the Sony screen smokes it in terms of colours and quality.
I think most the negatives are around when a phone launches. Problems occur during the build process. Even mine has a slight lighter part in the center of the screen on the back light. But it's not bad enough for me to care and take it back.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Well need to say it - Z5 bring some problems with it BUT they dont make this model bad and sum of all cons and pros still made me choose it vs s6.
Phone is fast and feels "clean" compared to samsung devices.
The design is dmn nice and buttons position + screen position vs case size is a big + when u realise it was made this way intentionaly.
Lots of ppl say - waste of space ( space between phone edge and screen edge and buttons on screen not under ) when i play on it or type on it - its dmn easier to hold it.
I rly like the phone - even if expectations were a little bit higher.
I was thinking about s6 / edge, note 4, g4 and some others. If change i would probably try htc or huawei.
The only thing i would like to know is what is the real % of unhappy ppl cos of bad working / damaged z5 compared to s6 and others.
Thanks for the review kindly update us about battery life since i can relate (z2 user also) if im gonna go with z5 or stick to z2 and go z6. Since im now in a tight budget my first baby is about to come.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
styxter said:
Thanks for the review kindly update us about battery life since i can relate (z2 user also) if im gonna go with z5 or stick to z2 and go z6. Since im now in a tight budget my first baby is about to come.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
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I'd wait for Marshmallow before you take initial reactions on battery which means by then you may be better with Z6 [emoji1]
At moment I'm averaging about 3.5 hours SOT but lasting 24+ hours easy
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
bryjenko said:
I'd wait for Marshmallow before you take initial reactions on battery which means by then you may be better with Z6 [emoji1]
At moment I'm averaging about 3.5 hours SOT but lasting 24+ hours easy
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
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I agree with all those points above, it's a good phone. But the battery life is pretty bad compared to other Xperias. I would wait and see if marshmallow fixes it but I have doubts. The phone uses WAY too much power when it's in use - when it's in sleep mode it's fine, the same as my Z3. But in use it's about half the battery life I got on my Z3.
I've just downloaded qualcomm batteryguru don't know if it's any good or not it's still in learning mode, i'm really happy with my z5 but battery could be a bit better...
Sent from my Sony Z5 ooossshhhh
jeremy_inc said:
I agree with all those points above, it's a good phone. But the battery life is pretty bad compared to other Xperias. I would wait and see if marshmallow fixes it but I have doubts. The phone uses WAY too much power when it's in use - when it's in sleep mode it's fine, the same as my Z3. But in use it's about half the battery life I got on my Z3.
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coming from galaxy s4 and used to just make it through the day with normal use and got around 3.5 hrs sot max. with the z5 and the same use i end up with at least 50% left at the end of the day. 5.0 hrs sot is no problem.
i'm happy!
Yeah I think the battery at the moment is software related. I have no doubt we will see some improvements.
Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
Almost fine but they should fix the occassional stuttering of the UI and camera performance in low light / indoor + give the iso mode and others to each megapixel...
How are some people getting 5hr screen on time mine won't do much more than 3hrs?
Sent from my Sony Z5 ooossshhhh
I got 4:30 SOT.
What's your setup you using stamina mode? Screen brightness? Just trying to figure out if I've got a rogue app munching power thanks
Sent from my Sony Z5 ooossshhhh
wakers said:
What's your setup you using stamina mode? Screen brightness? Just trying to figure out if I've got a rogue app munching power thanks
Sent from my Sony Z5 ooossshhhh
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Yeah I'm maxing sort of 3.5 to 4 with no battery saving efforts. Be keen to know what people are doing to get 5 hours too
Sent from my Xperia Z5
wakers said:
What's your setup you using stamina mode? Screen brightness? Just trying to figure out if I've got a rogue app munching power thanks
Sent from my Sony Z5 ooossshhhh
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I never use any Stamina. Brightness around 50%.
I always turn off internet adn wifi and bluetooth off when I don't use it.
I don't use neither push emails nor automatic notifications.
And some apps turned off...
I believe Snapchat or Instagram in the background also sucks juice,
so I force close these when the phone is just on standby.
doministry said:
I never use any Stamina. Brightness around 50%.
I always turn off internet adn wifi and bluetooth off when I don't use it.
I don't use neither push emails nor automatic notifications.
And some apps turned off...
I believe Snapchat or Instagram in the background also sucks juice,
so I force close these when the phone is just on standby.
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Click to collapse
Snapchat & Facebook are two worst apps for battery
Mano1982 said:
Snapchat & Facebook are two worst apps for battery
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Mm, Facebook in my case was never ever a problem.
i have adaptive brightness on, with the slider in the default spot (half way). no stamina / savibg modes on. gps, wifi and bt always on and have 2 e-mail accounts pushing in the background.
i have deleted / turned off most sony crap, because i use google alternatives.
(still) manage to get 5 hrs.
info: black rev 4, still on 32.0.a.4.11

My Personal Opinion About Sony X Performance.

Ok, let's start from phone feeling slugish.
I bought this phone second hand for 150€
The phone feels slow. Smooth is not a word for this phone. In simple tasks like browsing through UI (settings, xperia home etc.) Phone feels very slow and thats not what you would expect from SnapDragon 820.
In terms of Gaming its not bad runs pretty much anything you throw at it at Medium to high settings, but after playing for like 10 minutes it heats up really bad. (i'm gonna talk about it in just a sec)
Design.
Boy oh boy what do we have here.
Volume buttons are below power button and thats a such a bad decision! I freaking hate that! I have to tilt the phone to reach the volume buttons with my thumb. Thats soo dumb!
But it feels nice in the hand. I'm really big fan of the back of this phone, front looks a bit weird becauce of screen to body ratio.
Screen is decent nothing big or deal breaking in here.
Heating!
What the actual living f...
It heats up like hell. Its like your personal heat warmer.
Just by using the phone normally phone reaches 40-50c
(Facebook, twitter etc...)
Even when you scroll through ui you can feel some heat. While i am typing this kind of review phone is warm.
But there is one thing that i really love about this phone. Its speakers. Oh mah god man i love 'em. Maybe thats because its my first stereo phone, but they are really good. Could be louder tho.
Camera could be better but its not bad. Will clip few photos that are made with xperia x performance. (If i have any lol)
Conclusion: don't buy it unless you are desperate for a phone like me or you just use it casually. (Calling and texting)
Buy something like xiaomi mi 5s a much better phone. Smoother and better in every way. (Not a fan boy)
In general i somehow still like this phone but i hate it when it heats up and feels slow, but if i would be buying a new phone i would consider buying xiaomi mi 5s or xiaomi mi 5.
Again, i am not a xiaomi fan.
Peace ?
i prefer xperia z5.....
Alexander Luna said:
i prefer xperia z5.....
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i wish i could say the same, but i picked this phone up because of SD820. One of the worst decisions in my life. Period.
NotCat_ said:
i wish i could say the same, but i picked this phone up because of SD820. One of the worst decisions in my life. Period.
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Don't lose your faith in your X Performance, yet.
I just got my hands on a second hand unit and I am going to spend some precious time trying with tuning my X Performance for increasing/achieving more performance out of it without sacrificing the battery life (rather making it last long er per charge) even though the custom kernel choices are pretty limited AFAIK.I will give stock kernel a run, basically.
Stay tuned and keep an eye out on this part of the forum here on XDA!
xFirefly93 said:
Don't lose your faith in your X Performance, yet.
I just got my hands on a second hand unit and I am going to spend some precious time trying with tuning my X Performance for increasing/achieving more performance out of it without sacrificing the battery life (rather making it last long er per charge) even though the custom kernel choices are pretty limited AFAIK.I will give stock kernel a run, basically.
Stay tuned and keep an eye out on this part of the forum here on XDA!
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Thanks for spending time on this phone, will do.
NotCat_ said:
Thanks for spending time on this phone, will do.
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Are you still up for some performance and battery life boosting voodoo magic on your Sony Xperia X Performance?
xFirefly93 said:
Are you still up for some performance and battery life boosting voodoo magic on your Sony Xperia X Performance?
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I don't have the phone anymore, but i would really love to see some progress towards making this phone better
NotCat_ said:
I don't have the phone anymore, but i would really love to see some progress towards making this phone better
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Sure thing! I am on it
xFirefly93 said:
Sure thing! I am on it
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What are you trying to do? Kernel, some zip file, rom?
NotCat_ said:
What are you trying to do? Kernel, some zip file, rom?
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Click to collapse
A deeper than deepest kernel enhancing mod that is boosting both performance and battery life for daily usage at the same time with less possible amount of tradeoffs and sacrifices in any way and / or direction.
I've already made it for the two released generations of Google Pixel line-ups (Pixel / Pixel XL and Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL) with incredible results and great success so far. Check it at the BlackenedMod related links here below for more "basic" information, if you of course want to;
BlackenedMod P2(XL)
BlackenedMod P1(XL)
One last, important thing.. Enjoy!
xFirefly93 said:
A deeper than deepest kernel enhancing mod that is boosting both performance and battery life for daily usage at the same time with less possible amount of tradeoffs and sacrifices in any way and / or direction.
I've already made it for the two released generations of Google Pixel line-ups (Pixel / Pixel XL and Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL) with incredible results and great success so far. Check it at the BlackenedMod related links here below for more "basic" information, if you of course want to;
BlackenedMod P2(XL)
BlackenedMod P1(XL)
One last, important thing.. Enjoy!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm afraid this is not anywhere close to pixel thus making it much much harder for development to be possible. At least that's what I think
NotCat_ said:
I'm afraid this is not anywhere close to pixel thus making it much much harder for development to be possible. At least that's what I think
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I am up for the challenge.
xFirefly93 said:
I am up for the challenge.
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Click to collapse
Its awesome to hear that, keep us updated!
i also have sony xperformance, can you give me some tips on how to improve battery life and performance?
notsuad said:
i also have sony xperformance, can you give me some tips on how to improve battery life and performance?
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Hold on a little and it will come
xFirefly93 said:
Hold on a little and it will come
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Whats the progress?
NotCat_ said:
Whats the progress?
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I'm still working on it
xFirefly93 said:
I'm still working on it
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Have you made any improvements?
NotCat_ said:
Have you made any improvements?
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Partially
xFirefly93 said:
Partially
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U still working on it?

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 , all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
I just got mine and all I can say is I love it more than every other phone I got. The camera is what sold me
bigogofthewest said:
I just got mine and all I can say is I love it more than every other phone I got. The camera is what sold me
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Are you talking about the Pixel 4 XL here???
bigogofthewest said:
I just got mine and all I can say is I love it more than every other phone I got. The camera is what sold me
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How can you have bought a phone that has not even been announced yet? It's not even schedule to come out until mid to late October. I think you might be confused.
bigogofthewest said:
I just got mine and all I can say is I love it more than every other phone I got. The camera is what sold me
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I liked the 3rd part more
Im really looking forward for this phone!
bigogofthewest said:
I just got mine and all I can say is I love it more than every other phone I got. The camera is what sold me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you mean the Pixel 4 XL? But it's said that Google will launch its Pixel 4 series in October later this year.
here are my impressions of the phone - i only have it two days so opinion might change.
Pros
Camera fantastic as always - posted some samples in the other thread
Build quality feels like a premium device. love the way it feels - i still use the fabric case though
Display is amazing, smooth, colors vibrant, had no issues in the direct sunlight.
Very fast, it's the first phone where i didn't change animations to .5 - i kept it in default
its charging pretty fast
Speakers are definitely loud but the device doesn't vibrate like P3 used to
Assistant is for sure smarter and faster
Cons
its heavy and hard to handle at times - please note i use the fabric case so it added some weight to it
Motion sense to me is more of a gimmick and so far i found a bug, for example i am at the gym and i want to skip the song, it actually just replays the current song, hopefully this is an isolated issue
Battery life not so great i get around 6-7 hours of SOT but fb and instagram were draining my battery - i restricted them now
Notifications preview. So they are not present at least with the face unlock on. what i mean by it is this - the phone is next to me and i receive an email or a message. which means i can't double tap in order to see it, i have to pick up the device, unlock it then decide to act on it. I would prefer a double tap and being able to see a message, but that's just me.
catchawabbit said:
Notifications preview. So they are not present at least with the face unlock on. what i mean by it is this - the phone is next to me and i receive an email or a message. which means i can't double tap in order to see it, i have to pick up the device, unlock it then decide to act on it. I would prefer a double tap and being able to see a message, but that's just me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't there an option to still see and interact with the lockscreen with face unlock on?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
catchawabbit said:
here are my impressions of the phone - i only have it two days so opinion might change.
Pros
Camera fantastic as always - posted some samples in the other thread
Build quality feels like a premium device. love the way it feels - i still use the fabric case though
Display is amazing, smooth, colors vibrant, had no issues in the direct sunlight.
Very fast, it's the first phone where i didn't change animations to .5 - i kept it in default
its charging pretty fast
Speakers are definitely loud but the device doesn't vibrate like P3 used to
Assistant is for sure smarter and faster
Cons
its heavy and hard to handle at times - please note i use the fabric case so it added some weight to it
Motion sense to me is more of a gimmick and so far i found a bug, for example i am at the gym and i want to skip the song, it actually just replays the current song, hopefully this is an isolated issue
Battery life not so great i get around 6-7 hours of SOT but fb and instagram were draining my battery - i restricted them now
Notifications preview. So they are not present at least with the face unlock on. what i mean by it is this - the phone is next to me and i receive an email or a message. which means i can't double tap in order to see it, i have to pick up the device, unlock it then decide to act on it. I would prefer a double tap and being able to see a message, but that's just me.
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6-7hrs SOT, over the span of a day, is quite acceptable to me. Thank you for this summary. ??
---------- Post added at 02:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:53 PM ----------
EeZeEpEe said:
Isn't there an option to still see and interact with the lockscreen with face unlock on?
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Click to collapse
I thought there was an option, using soli. If you brought your hand over the device, it would light the screen up and then when you took your hand away it would turn back off. Kind of like Ambient on demand
catchawabbit said:
here are my impressions of the phone - i only have it two days so opinion might change.
Pros
Camera fantastic as always - posted some samples in the other thread
Build quality feels like a premium device. love the way it feels - i still use the fabric case though
Display is amazing, smooth, colors vibrant, had no issues in the direct sunlight.
Very fast, it's the first phone where i didn't change animations to .5 - i kept it in default
its charging pretty fast
Speakers are definitely loud but the device doesn't vibrate like P3 used to
Assistant is for sure smarter and faster
Cons
its heavy and hard to handle at times - please note i use the fabric case so it added some weight to it
Motion sense to me is more of a gimmick and so far i found a bug, for example i am at the gym and i want to skip the song, it actually just replays the current song, hopefully this is an isolated issue
Battery life not so great i get around 6-7 hours of SOT but fb and instagram were draining my battery - i restricted them now
Notifications preview. So they are not present at least with the face unlock on. what i mean by it is this - the phone is next to me and i receive an email or a message. which means i can't double tap in order to see it, i have to pick up the device, unlock it then decide to act on it. I would prefer a double tap and being able to see a message, but that's just me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great review. Mine just showed up today but I refuse to use it until the case gets here tomorrow. I actually love the weight. It feels like a quality piece of equipment. So far the only thing I've done with it is dropped it on my wireless charger to top off the battery. I haven't even turned it on yet, but I'm a bit concerned. It's been on my dock for about 5 hours and has only gone from 64% to 94%. I know they don't fast charge unless its a Pixel stand, but holy crap.
bricekin said:
Great review. Mine just showed up today but I refuse to use it until the case gets here tomorrow. I actually love the weight. It feels like a quality piece of equipment. So far the only thing I've done with it is dropped it on my wireless charger to top off the battery. I haven't even turned it on yet, but I'm a bit concerned. It's been on my dock for about 5 hours and has only gone from 64% to 94%. I know they don't fast charge unless its a Pixel stand, but holy crap.
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Click to collapse
Thanks! I didn't use a wireless charger but it tops of pretty fast on a regular pixel charger..
When it comes to the weight. I do have a fabric case though this might be the problem. I refuse to use it without the case
catchawabbit said:
Thanks! I didn't use a wireless charger but it tops of pretty fast on a regular pixel charger..
When it comes to the weight. I do have a fabric case though this might be the problem. I refuse to use it without the case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After finally getting it set up and a couple hours a play on it. I tossed it back on my cheap wireless charger and it said 45 minutes from 82% to full. I guess it charges faster when it's on than it does when it's off.
I must say.... This phone looks much better in person & the back feel is awesome. My very 1st thought was how the camera module looks smaller then anticipated in regards to the phone size and it's way nicer in person... time to set this thing up!!!
catchawabbit said:
here are my impressions of the phone - i only have it two days so opinion might change.
Motion sense to me is more of a gimmick and so far i found a bug, for example i am at the gym and i want to skip the song, it actually just replays the current song, hopefully this is an isolated issue
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought something was wrong with it too. It looks like they did it backwards... Swiping my hand to the right skips back to the beginning, twice to a prior song. Swipe to the left skips to the next song. No idea why they would have done that. We should definitely send feedback on it.
Also, I do agree it's pretty gimmicky, however, I still think it's kind of cool. I haven't figured out the notifications piece, but if it works like they say, it will be great considering the face unlock thing you mentioned. That annoys me too.
I wonder what all applications for this Google had in mind when they made this? It'd be cool to know what they have in store for it. Putting all that stuff in the forehead just for swiping songs and whatever seems pretty lame to me.
gettinwicked said:
I thought something was wrong with it too. It looks like they did it backwards... Swiping my hand to the right skips back to the beginning, twice to a prior song. Swipe to the left skips to the next song. No idea why they would have done that. We should definitely send feedback on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's because it mimicks swiping on the phone. It's as if you're swiping an album cover on the right (next track) over to the screen to play. That's how I see it at least. No different than how you scroll down by swiping up. Isn't there a setting to flip the gestures though?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
EeZeEpEe said:
It's because it mimicks swiping on the phone. It's as if you're swiping an album cover on the right (next track) over to the screen to play. That's how I see it at least. No different than how you scroll down by swiping up. Isn't there a setting to flip the gestures though?
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked and there is! I definitely missed that in settings. Thanks!
One thing is for sure. This phone is getting a lot of hate from the reviews.. I really don't understand why.
Yes it doesn't have a wide angle camera (I'll post a pic bellow). For me it's wide enough.
Battery life is not stellar but it's manageable. I just top it off in a middle of the day and it's good to go
catchawabbit said:
One thing is for sure. This phone is getting a lot of hate from the reviews.. I really don't understand why.
Yes it doesn't have a wide angle camera (I'll post a pic bellow). For me it's wide enough.
Battery life is not stellar but it's manageable. I just top it off in a middle of the day and it's good to go
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah those reviews are dumb. But they get paid to be critical. Every phone has it's flaw. I could care less for a wide angle lens. That's the only thing someone can complain about because aside from that this is top notch.
Love mine. This charger works pretty fast and it's cheap. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RRV24J7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Got a question about the Google Pixel 4? Ask Me Anything!

Hey XDA,
I've had the smaller Pixel 4 since Google handed out review units at the Made by Google 2019 launch event in New York last week. I plan on spending a few more days with it before writing up a full review, but if you have any questions about the device feel free to ask and I'll try to answer to the best of my ability.
I have the 64GB white Pixel 4. I'm using it on T-Mobile in the U.S.
Does TWRP for the pixel 3 work on it?
But really, is battery life atrocious? I use my phone for work and i'm consistantly on it. Currently on pixel 2 regular with stripped out OS and I still have to charge it about halfway through the day
Thanks for taking some of your free time to do this, Mishaal.
I've ordered the same exact phone you've been using for a week or so now. I'm very excited to own another Pixel device again. I have just a few quick questions about the phone:
In your experience, how long does the battery last after a typical weekday/workday?
Can you comment on screen legibility outside during a sunny day? Will I yearning for a High Brightness Mode enabled kernel in the future?
Any other quirky behaviors with network or bluetooth connectivity? I've found that my LG G7 very much dislikes certain bands of the 5 GHz spectrum. Additionally, it seems to get less cell signal strength when compared to other devices in the same location.
How is the speaker quality? If you have any experience with the Nexus 6, how does the speaker quality of the Pixel 4 compare to the Nexus 6? If you have any experience with the Pixel 3, how does it compare with the Pixel 3?
Do you have a photometer? If so, can you measure the brightness of the infrared light that is frontward facing and tell us whether it's on 24/7? I'm guessing it is for the face unlock and also the hand waiving movements. It'd be interesting to know how powerful that is since our eyes can't see it, but could still be harmed by it (if powerful enough)... which I doubt Google would do, but you never know.
If you have a photometer, could you tell us the intensity of the LED light on the back for flashlight mode?
Thank you.
Alcolawl said:
Thanks for taking some of your free time to do this, Mishaal.
I've ordered the same exact phone you've been using for a week or so now. I'm very excited to own another Pixel device again. I have just a few quick questions about the phone:
In your experience, how long does the battery last after a typical weekday/workday?
Can you comment on screen legibility outside during a sunny day? Will I yearning for a High Brightness Mode enabled kernel in the future?
Any other quirky behaviors with network or bluetooth connectivity? I've found that my LG G7 very much dislikes certain bands of the 5 GHz spectrum. Additionally, it seems to get less cell signal strength when compared to other devices in the same location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Battery life is as bad as we all expected =\
3 hours SoT for heavy usage (Google Maps navigation + music streaming + Google Camera + light gaming in COD Mobile)...
to up to 5 hours SoT for light usage (social media like Reddit, web browsing in Chrome, local music playback in Google Play Music, etc.)
This is NOT a phone you can take on vacation and expect to last you a full day. You will definitely need a charger or power bank handy.
(Note: I tested with all the standard/advertised features enabled, including AOD, Now Playing, Motion Sense, 90Hz, Adaptive Brightness etc. I also have really good signal in my area so that's not a problem)
---
Brightness is too damn low outside! I live in sunny Texas and struggle to see the screen outside. Not sure if HBM exists on this phone since it uses an LG panel.
---
No issues yet with connectivity. Haven't used it long enough to come across said issues, though.
thex2 said:
How is the speaker quality? If you have any experience with the Nexus 6, how does the speaker quality of the Pixel 4 compare to the Nexus 6? If you have any experience with the Pixel 3, how does it compare with the Pixel 3?
Do you have a photometer? If so, can you measure the brightness of the infrared light that is frontward facing and tell us whether it's on 24/7? I'm guessing it is for the face unlock and also the hand waiving movements. It'd be interesting to know how powerful that is since our eyes can't see it, but could still be harmed by it (if powerful enough)... which I doubt Google would do, but you never know.
If you have a photometer, could you tell us the intensity of the LED light on the back for flashlight mode?
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) Speaker quality. I have the Pixel 3 XL I can compare it to, so I'll have to get back on that.
2&3) I don't have a photometer, sorry. Dylan Raga should be able to check that for us, though
@MishaalRahman You mention SOT heavy use and light use. How about just walking around browsing now and again, pictures when the mood strikes, and a phone call and text now and again? Not that concerned about SOT more like daily use. Will it last a full day?
Also there has been some question about the biometric regarding bank and app authorizations from fingerprint to face unlock. Does face unlock work for banking?
TIA
bobby janow said:
@MishaalRahman You mention SOT heavy use and light use. How about just walking around browsing now and again, pictures when the mood strikes, and a phone call and text now and again? Not that concerned about SOT more like daily use. Will it last a full day?
Also there has been some question about the biometric regarding bank and app authorizations from fingerprint to face unlock. Does face unlock work for banking?
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you describe yourself as a light user, then it should last you a full day. However, poor signal and high brightness for extended periods could easily cause you to run for the charger. It can last a full day, but I wouldn't plan on it reliably lasting a full day unless you really know your routine.
About face unlock app support: Support is very, very limited right now. Only a few password manager apps and Tasker support it. I don't believe any banking apps do. It will take some time for apps to get on board. Not that it's difficult for them to do so.
Battery life vs the Pixel 2:
Do you know if it's same, worse or better by any chance?
thesebastian said:
Battery life vs the Pixel 2:
Do you know if it's same, worse or better by any chance?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only used the larger Pixel 2 XL that generation so I can't say for sure, sorry.
Hello,
Can we expect to see any support for facial mocap applications on the Pixel 4?
Battery life at 60hz vs 90hz?
The youtube reviews state the outdoor brightness is insufficient due to the 90hz display. if you switch it to 60hz, do you get more brightness out of the display to make it sufficient for outdoor use?
thex2 said:
Battery life at 60hz vs 90hz?
The youtube reviews state the outdoor brightness is insufficient due to the 90hz display. if you switch it to 60hz, do you get more brightness out of the display to make it sufficient for outdoor use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The refresh rate of the panel shouldn't effect the brightness at all. I asked about screen brightness on the previous page, but apparently the brightness in the sun is disappointing. Additionally, because it's an LG panel, there may be no way to boost the brightness in the sun with a custom kernel like you could in the past with HBM on Samsung OLED panels.
Storage question
Hey there, thanks for answering our questions. Do you have the 64GB or 128GB version? How much of that storage is user accessible?
_Yacub_ said:
Hello,
Can we expect to see any support for facial mocap applications on the Pixel 4?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but you'll have to wait a few weeks for developers to update their apps to a) target API level 28 or higher and b) switch to using the BiometricPrompt API.
thex2 said:
Battery life at 60hz vs 90hz?
The youtube reviews state the outdoor brightness is insufficient due to the 90hz display. if you switch it to 60hz, do you get more brightness out of the display to make it sufficient for outdoor use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the maximum brightness won't change.
Alcolawl said:
The refresh rate of the panel shouldn't effect the brightness at all. I asked about screen brightness on the previous page, but apparently the brightness in the sun is disappointing. Additionally, because it's an LG panel, there may be no way to boost the brightness in the sun with a custom kernel like you could in the past with HBM on Samsung OLED panels.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interestingly, the brightness level of the display seems to affect what refresh rate the phone runs at, lol: https://www.xda-developers.com/google-pixel-4-90hz-display-only-works-at-high-brightnesses/
Dylan Raga believes there may still be a HBM toggle since he found one on the Pixel 3 (and that had an LG panel).
HotDogWithMustard said:
Hey there, thanks for answering our questions. Do you have the 64GB or 128GB version? How much of that storage is user accessible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
64GB model. "System" files take up 14GB of storage.
3D photos on facebook
Have you been able to post a 3D Photo on facebook yet? I know firsthand that it works on Pixel 3.
MishaalRahman said:
I only used the larger Pixel 2 XL that generation so I can't say for sure, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's still too early to say...but forcing 90Hz all the time I'm getting I think...20% more battery life than my 24 months old Pixel 2.
My pixel 2 was factory reset a month ago.
And this is vs my Pixel 4 on the first evening , night (sleeping) and morning+afternoon
I still got 10-11% drain overnight. So I haven't started to check what's draining...if Motion Sense, some system service etc.
Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk
How would you compare the smaller Pixel 4's battery life against Pixel 3XL ? (I would compare to the 3XL because it's the one with worse battery life for last year's models, I own both 3 and 3XL)
Maybe both the SOT and typical Standby Time + your regular bahaviors on smartphone.
Thanks in advance man, I am really considering the smaller one this year.
I've seen the post in the questions and answers section on root. But it is far from clear. Is there going to be a step by step guide on rooting? Not everyone that uses xda is a tech expert.
mikey.wetzel said:
Have you been able to post a 3D Photo on facebook yet? I know firsthand that it works on Pixel 3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry..I'm not a Facebook guy. According to cstark27, HDR+ works in the front camera in Snapdragon. The telephoto lens also works.
pbigband said:
How would you compare the smaller Pixel 4's battery life against Pixel 3XL ? (I would compare to the 3XL because it's the one with worse battery life for last year's models, I own both 3 and 3XL)
Maybe both the SOT and typical Standby Time + your regular bahaviors on smartphone.
Thanks in advance man, I am really considering the smaller one this year.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say an average SoT of 4 hours with Motion Sense + AOD + Now Playing + Ambient Brightness is possible, with enough standby time to get you through a full day. But that 4 hours of SoT is NOT heavy usage - I would say a few pics + music + social media. It gets harder to last the full day if you add GPS navigation and gaming into the mix.
Spookymyo said:
I've seen the post in the questions and answers section on root. But it is far from clear. Is there going to be a step by step guide on rooting? Not everyone that uses xda is a tech expert.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, it will take some time for TWRP to support the Pixel 4 due to the partition changes in Android 10. That means rooting will require patching the boot image of each release manually and fastboot flashing it. We can do a tutorial, though I'm kind of short on time personally. I'm sure plenty of forum users will have such threads up.

Why I already sent my Note 20 Ultra back!

Well I am honestly shocked by this. I sort of expected the S20 Ultra not to meet my standards but not the Note 20 Ultra! Decided to stick with my Note 10+ for a bit until maybe Z Fold 2 or Note 20 Ultra drops in price or for another who knows how long.
Anyways thought I would share with you guys why I decided to stick with Note 10+ over the Note 20 Ultra.
First off the Note 20 Ultra is nowhere near a bad phone, much of an improvement over the S20 Ultra which I thought was junk. The main highlights of the device just didn't seem worth $1300+ to me.
Screen overall is literally just a hair bigger and actually a hair less vibrant and saturated then the Note 10.
Screen refresh rate still not sure why this is such a huge deal. Can you tell a difference? Yes slightly depending on what you are doing. Sort of like 4k on a tablet or small laptop really just not worth it imo
Cameras, oh yes the cameras. Glad to see the autofocus issue was fixed from the S20 Ultra and photos are great no matter what camera but the main sensor unless you are using the 108 mp for extreme detail and then you lose HDR look very similar to the Note 10. Only huge difference is the zoom lens on the Ultra and it is a big one. 5x zoom looks great and even 10x in most cases looks very good and usable. This is the only thing that made me actually want to keep the 20
Everything else is pretty much the same again as Note 10+ nothing else worth mentioning really
Few photos of the differences in whites and camera bumps and the pretty much same screens
shagy38 said:
I M also thinking Bout returning the note 20 ultra Nd sticking with my note 10 plus. The battery life isn't the great on the note 20
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still love my note 10 even after sending the ultra back. No regrets besides Samsung still hasn't issued me credit! Says they didn't receive phone smh
ok boomer
If i had the 512gb note 10 plus instead of 256 I may not have got the note 20 ultra either (did get 512gb on it) since i just basically needed the extra storage.
Note 10 plus is such a great device honestly and the 20 may have some advantages but its by no means a huge upgrade. More like a baby step upgrade lol.
You're also forgetting the 80% less latency time with the pen. So for me, that with huge camera improvements and 120hz refresh was a no brainer for me trading in my S10+. I notice the 120hz. It's a pretty big difference compared to 60hz Samsung panels.
Its not just the refresh rate increased but the touch response rate was increased a lot too. Samsung's touch response in on their 60hz displays just always seemed laggy to me.
On a side note the haptics are the best I have ever felt in a Samsung phone. On par with some of the best. I also love matte/frosted back phones too. Feels so good in the hand.
You are right about the vivid color saturation. I noticed that being a less too. I actually wrote an entire thread about it here. Now that I have the phone manually adjusting it 1 notch cooler in display settings and keeping manual brightness around 85-90% has resolved that for me.
So do you plan to wait for the Note 30? Or likely to get something else before that?
I understand why he's returning it. So far, I'm underwhelmed this year. And I've had a note every single year they made one.
oneandroidnut said:
Screen overall is literally just a hair bigger and actually a hair less vibrant and saturated then the Note 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agree with your overall assessment, Samsung should have offered more colors in 512GB as that would have encouraged some Aura Glow users to bite for the upgrade. Can't believe no eSIM support(yet) either on the US model
AndroidPurity said:
You're also forgetting the 80% less latency time with the pen. So for me, that with huge camera improvements and 120hz refresh was a no brainer for me trading in my S10+. I notice the 120hz. It's a pretty big difference compared to 60hz Samsung panels.
Its not just the refresh rate increased but the touch response rate was increased a lot too. Samsung's touch response in on their 60hz displays just always seemed laggy to me.
On a side note the haptics are the best I have ever felt in a Samsung phone. On par with some of the best. I also love matte/frosted back phones too. Feels so good in the hand.
You are right about the vivid color saturation. I noticed that being a less too. I actually wrote an entire thread about it here. Now that I have the phone manually adjusting it 1 notch cooler in display settings and keeping manual brightness around 85-90% has resolved that for me.
So do you plan to wait for the Note 30? Or likely to get something else before that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Touch response should be the same as last year right? It was an improvement over s10 but note 10 I think.
I've never had a laggy flagship but I also disable a lot of stuff and have an unlocked unbranded one so that might help as well
I will give you haptics they felt very good, not that the other devices Samsung makes are bad it felt like an upgrade for sure. $1300 one though no lol
Screen color is weird not sure what's going on there and maybe I will get a fold 2 or keep waiting who knows
dottat said:
I understand why he's returning it. So far, I'm underwhelmed this year. And I've had a note every single year they made one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup note used to have so much innovation and now it's just a bigger s phone with a pen lol
VICosPhi said:
Agree with your overall assessment, Samsung should have offered more colors in 512GB as that would have encouraged some Aura Glow users to bite for the upgrade. Can't believe no eSIM support(yet) either on the US model
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I don't understand why the regular model went down from 256gb to 128gb. That makes no sense to me either and why can't I get a red one like India or wherever. They need to have more options in storage and colors.
Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
I'm super concerned about this battery bit right off the bad. Getting worse results than my 1 year note 10+ that hadn't been factory reset in a long time. It appears the cpu never sleeps cores and 5g chews through a lot at the same time. So if I want the same battery life as my 10+ I have to shut off 5g and lock resolution to 60hz middle setting. After that, it might as well be a note 10 with a battery mod.
oneandroidnut said:
Touch response should be the same as last year right? It was an improvement over s10 but note 10 I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope its 240hz. Direct quote from GSM Arena review....
"This one comes with 240Hz touch sampling too for speedier detection of touch input."
https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note20_ultra_5g-review-2149p3.php
I believe all 60hz display Samsung phones were 120hz touch sampling before. Either way they were less than 240hz before.
But yeah the color profile is really the only issue I have with his phone. Although its not bad enough for me to return it. Especially since I love everything else so far.
If I keep it at 90% manual brightness, on vivid, with the color temp scale 1 notch cooler its improved. But its still not quite as good color profile as the One Plus 8 Pro I also have. Still good enough for now while I hope they put out a software update to tweak the color calibration of the vivid display mode.
AndroidPurity said:
Nope its 240hz. Direct quote from GSM Arena review....
"This one comes with 240Hz touch sampling too for speedier detection of touch input."
https://m.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note20_ultra_5g-review-2149p3.php
I believe all 60hz display Samsung phones were 120hz touch sampling before. Either way they were less than 240hz before.
But yeah the color profile is really the only issue I have with his phone. Although its not bad enough for me to return it. Especially since I love everything else so far.
If I keep it at 90% manual brightness, on vivid, with the color temp scale 1 notch cooler its improved. But its still not quite as good color profile as the One Plus 8 Pro I also have. Still good enough for now while I hope they put out a software update to tweak the color calibration of the vivid display mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah so it looks like s20 and note 10 are 120hz so pretty decent so incremental improvement there each year. How's your battery life been? I can't say much as the couple days I used it didn't seem great but that doesn't mean anything. My note 10 is on its 14 hour and still at 44% battery left!! Don't think the note 20 would be able to top that
Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
oneandroidnut said:
Yeah so it looks like s20 and note 10 are 120hz so pretty decent so incremental improvement there each year. How's your battery life been? I can't say much as the couple days I used it didn't seem great but that doesn't mean anything. My note 10 is on its 14 hour and still at 44% battery left!! Don't think the note 20 would be able to top that
Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say for sure yet. But it seems good. Well into the good category for me. Certainly not excellent, but good.
Keeping it 90% brightness, haptics on, FHD @ 120hz adaptive, light theme, and my first full day today I got about 6.25 hours of SOT over course of about 16 hours.
I didn't take a screen shot, but plan to do more accurate monitoring over next couple days since I been so busy setting it up and exploring settings.
I got 7 hours of screen on time. That's pretty impressive! I was upset with battery life but today was awesome.
120 Hz
Mix of wifi and mobile data
Lots of pictures
Couple hours of YouTube
Auto brightness
Always on display on always show
Light theme on system, some apps dark themed
Normal day, honestly - so 7 hours was excellent!
Ok good that seems pretty good then!!
heres mine from 95% to 1%
Yes the color profile is awful. I need to trade in my note 8 which looks much more sharp and vivid.
So after speaking to Samsung and their sub repair shop. I have heard the following.
The display may have different tint because of the new gorilla glass, also there's a built in blue light filter to protect user eyes beside the one that u can toggle and last most of these emoled displays developing ghosting effect after long period of usage at hight brightness. Something that Samsung probably considering as it will be costly to start changing them for people who complains.
I have replaced twice on edge 7 and s8 phones.
cool story bro. I'm keeping my new phone.
Got my N20U 3 days ago, coming from a Mate 10 Pro. What a disappointment the Exynos version of this phone is.
Doing basic tasks like writing this very comment while a YouTube video is playing in the background heats the device up so much that I want to put it down again. The performance is fine if you set your screen to 120Hz, but that also drains your battery faster than anything else (and heats it up even more, yay!). 3h of SOT is a ****ing joke. Sure the S-Pen is responsive, the screen is nice, the device is snappy and rarely has any problems with things you throw at it, One UI is One UI, but is it worth the money? Absolutely not. Especially not if you have a Note 10+ or similar.
Don't even get me started on the camera. Capturing something at 4x zoom looks like a Van Gogh painting.
Second and last time I'm trying Samsung. Stay away from Exynos if you can.
I am between 2 and 3 hours of screen-on time and battery is at 70%. This is getting better by the day! Snapdragon here, but it was not nearly this good initially. Got over 7 hours of screen on time yesterday and today is looking to beat that!
My battery life has been pretty solid. I had the s20 ultra and the battery life on that was a hair better I think. In between these two phones I had the OnePlus 8 pro and the battery life on that was atrocious for some reason. So it has been a breath of fresh air to get great battery life again, lol.
My only gripe is no esim/nano dual sim. That was the main reason why I switched from Note 10+ after being told those features were present in the US model.

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