Develop Bugs

[GUIDE] Headphone/Earphone Buying

I put time and thought into this, as a place to intelligently discuss head gear. Please don't just post "I like Sennheiser" or "Beats are awesome/crap". Which Sennheiser model? For what genre? Yes, Beats suck. Why do they suck, though?
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Quickest way to increased audio bliss:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=48946734&postcount=678
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Why a TL: DR?
I didn't want to do this part originally, but I know there many who won't read this entire post, and will only be concerned with a small segment.
TL: DR
Read sections 2, 3 & 6. No headphone is suited for everyone. Take how YOU listen into account, then come back when you can and read this in full.
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See bottom of this post for recommendation/comparison request form. Use that so it answers everything we'll need to know.
I see so many people ask the wrong questions or not ask the right questions when looking to buy headphones/earphones, and thought perhaps I could finally be of some use to XDA by writing up a guide to help those in their search for the "best" purchase FOR THEM.
First of all, audio is largely subjective. What a person is suited for is dependent upon many factors that vary from person to person. I'll list those out here before going into detail.
1: Budget
2: Genres/Musical preference
3: Type of headphone
4: Functionality
5: The audio rig as whole
6: Source material
7: Build Quality
Fellow Audiophiles- Please add your wisdom where I've missed things so it can be added here.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be any expert, so please correct any misinformation. Also, I'm American and refer to pricing in USD.
1: Budget
Obviously, everyone has their spending limits. Don't be too quick to just throw a number out there. What you're really asking is: How much is my listening pleasure worth to me right now?
If you sell yourself short and buy $15 headphones, you may be quickly unsatisfied, they may break, or you may be losing out on quality you don't yet know exists. If it's merely a tool to you and you don't often listen to music for pleasure, or that's all you can dedicate to the purchase right now, no worries. There are many great offerings on any budget. I've read rave reviews of $5 earphones.
Likewise, if you set a $1000 budget, you may find that you're spending beyond what you would benefit from, due to frequency of use, passion for quality, or if you've suffered hearing loss. Also, you may spend $1k on headphones only to find your audio system as a whole cannot do the headphones justice. I'll touch more on that later.
2: Genre/Musical Preference
No headphone/earphone will suit all needs. If you listen to classical music, you are likely listening for clear, bright, detailed highs, and for the texture in the bass more than the booming volume. If you relish more in beautiful vocals, the midrange will matter more. EDM, rap, hip-hop enthusiasts: you know you're not really living in your music if you don't feel the bass thump in your skull. That $500 headphone your classical loving friend swears by may not do drum n' bass any justice, and vice versa.
Many popular headphones (ahem Beats, Bose, Skull Candy) are more appearance than quality, and may offer booming bass that overshadows the rest of the music. THERE ARE BETTER OPTIONS AT THE SAME OR LOWER PRICES. Don't settle for a nice label. Get quality you can hear.
3: Type of Headphone
There are 2 basic categories, and a handful of sub-categories.
In-Ear or Traditional Headphones
In-Ear
Earbuds: sit in your ear without entering the ear canal, these are like stock iPod earbuds. Usually cheaper, lower quality, offer minimal noise isolation.
IEMs, aka In-Ear Monitors: Enter the ear canal itself. IEMs offer excellent noise isolation to keep you more "in your music" and can range from a few dollars to a couple thousand, from barely passable as music to a symphony in your ears.
Traditional Headphones can be:
portable (fold up for easier travel h or full sized
On-Ear (the cup sits on your ear) or Over-Ear
Open-back (just like it sounds) or Closed
*I'll add more here later, I'm more of an IEM guy and cannot speak from personal experience on On/Over Ear and Open/Closed in terms of Sound Quality. I'll add more when someone with expertise fills me in or I've done enough research myself.
4: Functionality
Things to consider here are comfort, noise isolation, accessories, removable/replaceable cables, and whether or not you need a mic/remote.
*I'll be adding much information on mic/remote compatibility later
5: Your audio rig
Headphones are worthless without a source to play it. They are the END of the system (other than your ears), you should look at your particular system and what your needs are from beginning to end.
It starts with source material, from vinyl to MP3, but I'll get into digital audio formats in the next section.
It goes:
Source Material-Player-Amp/DAC-Headphones
I'm going to rule out, at least temporarily, turntables, tape players, 8 tracks (lol), CD players, etc. and focus on digital formats for now.
Players:
Phone or DAP? Or computer?
Using your smartphone is convenient, but usually won't offer the same quality as a dedicated Digital Audio Player. Personally, I use my phone as I'm on it so much that I'd rather have the convenience over the increased SQ. I'm sure that will change, but I just can't do without pause/play/skip/volume control from my IEMs directly.
You may opt for a higher quality DAC or amp to hook up to your rig. You may buy a better sound card for your pc.
You need to consider that all of this affects what you hear, and sometimes it's not your earphones holding you back, it's your phone's crappy Yamaha DAC that the bastards put in instead of that beautiful Wolfson that they used to use (yes, Samsung, that's directed at you).
6: None if the above matters of you've got 96 kbps mp3 files, scratched CDs or vinyl, or a tape player (how are reading this from your Commodore 64 anyway?)
MP3 is the most popular digital format, though certainly not the best. If you're not happy with the audio detail in your music, consider either replacing those 128kbps mp3's with 320kbps mp3 or FLAC files. FLAC is "lossless", offers amazing detail, and 30mb+ per song. If you've got the storage space, flac is the way to go.
7: Build Quality
Are you brutal on your gear? Some options can take more of a beating than others, and those less careful (or buried with children) should consider this carefully.
Buy from a place with a warranty and use your warranty when it breaks. The $50 you may save from a random eBay seller won't mean anything when you have no warranty for your $300 headphones.
Also, stop yanking on the damn cords. You'll ruin the jack/connections and left or right channel may drop out. Pull by the plug, keep them in a storage case not crumpled in your pocket and they'll last much longer.
That's about it, except...
DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
www.head-fi.org is your friend. Excellent site for reviews, deal alerts, opinions, and learning all things audio.
Reviews are critical. I may say the best IEM under $150 is my trusted Shure SE215, because of the bass, mids, non-sibilant highs and the fact that I've added the optional mic/remote cable, but if your taste is instrumental, vocals, etc. and you don't want the mic/remote, there are better options FOR YOU. They're your ears and nobody else's, so don't take anybody's opinion that one is categorically better than any other, unless they're telling you WHY it's better.
HEADPHONE/EARPHONE RECOMMENDATION FORM
Use/copy this when asking for advice
1: Budget:
2: Genres/Musical preference:
3: Type of headphone:
4: Functionality: (Mic needed? cable over ear vs. Straight down? Open/Closed back if v full size headphones, etc)
5: Your player/setup:
6: Source material (mp3, flac, stream, etc.):
7: Area of highest importance:
On an unrelated note...
Quasimodem said:
Massive amounts of high school pootietang is a requirement for a proper upbringing...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy

Reserved for updates/notes
Things to come:
Get rid of all typos.
Proper formatting once I get on my laptop, I post everything from Tapatalk.
Additional information on portables/full-size cans.
2/3/2013
Added: TL: DR at the top for those just not willing to study the full course on this.
Also added a recommendation form for those seeking advice.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy

Good guide.
XDA is awesome for phones, but doesn't offer much for audiothings.
This will help audionewbs buying the right thing :thumbup:
Sent from my Nexus7.

Thank you. I added a couple of changes, noted in 2nd post.
If this helped anyone in any way, please share it. My goal is only to help others enjoy audio as much as or more than I go and save them money spent on ill-suited equipment.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

Very well thought out guide! Thoroughly enjoyed the read and I learned a few things along the way, thanks for this, will have to refer to this next time I buy a set of headphones!

You know where to find me, brother. Pick my mind whenever. I try to keep a good list of IEMs to recommend for most preferences from $15 to $500.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

I ordered my son Brainwavz R1's to replace the Klipsch S4's he broke (cable death).
When they come in, perhaps I can give some brief review on all headgear I've used to help with choices of others.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

jRi0T68 said:
I ordered my son Brainwavz R1's to replace the Klipsch S4's he broke (cable death).
When they come in, perhaps I can give some brief review on all headgear I've used to help with choices of others.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And I'm thinking about ordering some UE6000.
Reviews are pretty good, and I'll most probably send my 8.As in for a refit (I got the feeling that it's just a bit too loose..).
So I need a proper replacement^.^
I'll probably make short review of my headgear, too.
That's a nice idea. We could then link our posts to the first post..

Exactly. I'm comforted that the 10-posters continue to use the Best Earphones thread, but hopefully those that are more serious put their questions/contributions here.
Also, you've now made me go tag up on the UE6000's again, lol.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

jRi0T68 said:
Exactly. I'm comforted that the 10-posters continue to use the Best Earphones thread, but hopefully those that are more serious put their questions/contributions here.
Also, you've now made me go tag up on the UE6000's again, lol.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We can post an info at that thread, so that they know that we review our gear here.
^.^ I'm already used to UEs sound, and I really like it.
If the UE6000 sounds just a bit like my old TF10, I'll love it x)
Though, I'm gonna miss the 8.A for that time >.<
I'll order them tomorrow i think
Sent from my Nexus7.

I was asked in a different thread which DAC the SGSIII uses.
You might be interested in reading the response, as I think it adds some good information, especially coming from someone who gets a lot of enjoyment listening from my phone even with a lesser DAC being used.
"I believe the US S3 has the Yamaha, whereas the Int'l. has Wolfson. I also think the Galaxy Note 2 uses Wolfson.
Bear in mind, I typically remain in musical ecstasy strictly from my TMO SGSII, which is Yamaha. It's just that the Wolfson can do so much better. My Vibrant had much less audio noise through headphones than my GSII does.
If your source files aren't high quality, the difference is far less.
Edit: To expand on that, you have to take your whole system into account, from source files to player, on up to headphones. If any of them are of noticeably low quality, you'll hear it.
If you're using 128 kbps mp3 files and low quality (not necessarily cheap) headphones, the quality of the DAC in your player might not be noticeable to you.
There is also much more to a player than the DAC being used."
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

Thanks for this guide..! I'll be using it
Bose head phones crapped out on me
-TeaM VeNuM Like A Boss
-Galaxy Note II Edition

MiguelHogue said:
Thanks for this guide..! I'll be using it
Bose head phones crapped out on me
-TeaM VeNuM Like A Boss
-Galaxy Note II Edition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totaly understand that.
BOSE isn't really good, they're just like beats..
jRi0T68 said:
I was asked in a different thread which DAC the SGSIII uses.
You might be interested in reading the response, as I think it adds some good information, especially coming from someone who gets a lot of enjoyment listening from my phone even with a lesser DAC being used.
"I believe the US S3 has the Yamaha, whereas the Int'l. has Wolfson. I also think the Galaxy Note 2 uses Wolfson.
Bear in mind, I typically remain in musical ecstasy strictly from my TMO SGSII, which is Yamaha. It's just that the Wolfson can do so much better. My Vibrant had much less audio noise through headphones than my GSII does.
If your source files aren't high quality, the difference is far less.
Edit: To expand on that, you have to take your whole system into account, from source files to player, on up to headphones. If any of them are of noticeably low quality, you'll hear it.
If you're using 128 kbps mp3 files and low quality (not necessarily cheap) headphones, the quality of the DAC in your player might not be noticeable to you.
There is also much more to a player than the DAC being used."
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sure that the international SGSIII has a wolfson?
I'm thinking about buying an old S1, just to have a wolfson androidplayer.
But my cowon j3 is doing it's job extremely well.. x)

I've read numerous sources that indicate it does, even tonight on xda. Triple check it, though, just to be sure. I believe I read supercurio did some of his magic with it, too.
I think it's an exynos vs. Qualcomm thing. Good news for those of us in the US is that the US Note 2 reportedly has Wolfson, as it uses an exynos SoC, so perhaps SGSIV will as well. By year's end, I'll be upgrading my phone and return of voodoo sound to my ears would be awesome.
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

Yeah I agree.. Well I knew that before hand . They were just a gift.. Only lasted 5 months
-TeaM VeNuM Like A Boss
-Galaxy Note II Edition

How did they break?
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

I'm not really sure.. They just went out on me out of nowhere.. . They where the ear bud type.. They started off great and then got low.. No bass.. One side was louder.. Kept them neatly in the leather carrying case it came with .. Never yanked the cord or abused them.. Bad build quality I assume
Luckily I found my Samsung ear buds that came with my n2..They sound really good.. Holding me over until me new purchase
-TeaM VeNuM Like A Boss
-Galaxy Note II Edition

That sucks. Fill in my little recommendation form as best as you can when you're ready to start looking for recommendations.
I ****ing LOVE audio, so I'll be glad to read dozens of reviews in my spare time, link you to them, and give hopefully good options. Besides... Skinny vouched for you in the frat thread, so you're good in my book.
My son's Brainwavz R1's just arrived. Not enough listening time or burn-in (the act of playing music through the headphones so that the drivers loosen up, like breaking in a new pair of sneakers) to give a proper review but initial impressions:
That's a LOT of value for $35.
Huge selection of tips.
Build Quality seems quite good.
Bass quality is better than Klipsch S4's.
Mids are clear, fairly warm.
Highs are distant. That will likely change with burn-in.
Once I can give an honest review, I'm going to use the form below to post reviews on Shure SE215, Klipsch Image S4i, Brainwavz R1, and possibly Bowers& Wilkins P5 on-ear headphones.
The difficult part about ranking these areas, for me, is that I've never heard $1k+ earphones, so assigning what equates to a 10 is difficult. I figure it's best if I rank my Shures a base value of 8 and deduct where they fall short, leaving room for improvement by top tier products. Honestly, once you get beyond $300 well-reviewed headphones, this thread/site won't be where to go. Go to www.head-fi.org, with your wallet empty or you'll be sorry.
"Ranked from 1-10 in thy following categories:
Accessories:
Build Quality:
Fit/comfort:
Isolation: (How well is the outside world blocked out?)
Microphonics: (Does the cable make noise when you bump it or rub it in your fingers that carries through the headphones into your ears?)
Soundstage: (How big do they sound? Can you tell where different instruments are coming from?)
Instrument separation: (Can you clearly and easily pick apart not just where the instruments are, but that each instrument sounds like it's coming from a different speaker?)
Bass:
Mids:
Highs:
Value:
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

Thanks man.. I really appreciate it.. I never been THAT Knowledgeable about headphones.. So some guidance will help
Well here we go!
-
1: Budget: no more than $100
2: Genres/Musical preference: Hip-Hop/Rap
3: Type of headphone: Ear bud
4: Functionality: nope nothing special.. Just regular ol ear buds
5: Your player/setup: Note 2 (Sprint) Noozoxide eq settings.. I bounce around with music players.. But been using Sony walkman Alot lately
6: Source material: MP3
7: Area of highest importance: Quality! (in sound and build) I don't care if they aren't the "flashiest" pair of headphones.. As long as they get the job done well
-TeaM VeNuM Like A Boss
-Galaxy Note II Edition

Do you need/want a mic/button to work with them?
Would you rather the bass drown out the vocals some, but make your head shake, or have bass that slams, just not quite as hard, but still lets every detail in the music shine?
In budget, with good bass to consider. Google search the product and "head-fi" you'll get great reviews and opinions from crazy bastards that own all these plus 50 other earphones.
Shure SE215 <---- What I currently use and turn to for rap/hip-hop, EDM, alternative and classic rock. They serve all very well.
JVC FXD80
Sony XB90EX
Audio Technica CKS77
-Accidental Asshole aka Jeremy
[Guide] Headphone/Earphone Buying

Audio Quality (Headphones) Z5 Premium

Hi guys,
I am thinking about purchasing this phone but am worried about the audio quality through the headphones. I know that it has 24 bit Hi-Fi Dac inside but as per the reviews , it is not loud enough through the headphones.
Does using viper4android and editing mixer.xml (after root) improve the audio quality and loudness without distortion ?
How does the audio quality compare to HTC 10 in general ?
Thanks

Audio quality is noticeably low but clear. I have never tried increasing the volume with a module or playing with the mixer xml. But I know at this time, almost every phone is better at sound than this one. You can check out new LG's especially, you may find the sound quality tests at gsmarena.
BTW, I will paste what I have written in Z5 forums:
"As a previous Z2, currently Z5 Premium and also many Sony accessories owner, my humble advise is: don't buy Sony.
Not that they are bad phones in any way, however as a company, Sony can not catch up with the competition and doesn't listen to the customers.
A couple of examples:
1) DRM thing. If you happen to root your phone they say it is out of warranty and some "special" code which improves camera, screen and sound quality is lost, forever! Sure there are workarounds for these DRM keys but this doesn't chance the fact that Sony is not being developer friendly here. Also, remember the guy who sued Apple and won? The court has decided that "the software which was bought with the hardware, is fully belonged to the customer and the customer is free to customize it". So, Sony dictating us NOT to root or live without an important-ish code, which I pay for when buying the phone, is nothing but only being disrespectful to the customer.
2) camera problem. As you probably noticed, Sony phones have the highest Megapixel cameras out there. We'll, that's just a gimmick. Every Sony phone's superior auto mode shoots at 8mp. Sony also suggests that we should use 8mp whether it's superior auto or - so called- manual shooting. As a camera manufacturer, Sony sells cameras to other companies and most of them flat out come with 16mp, without any advise for a lower resolution shooting. The reason to that is, if you compare a 23mp manual shot with an 8mp manual shot at mid or low light conditions, you'll notice that there is almost no difference. Only that, the 23mp shot is bigger in size and can be zoomed more, which gives you noting but a pastel noise. In addition to that, Sony never shares its true driver for camera, rendering 3rd party camera apps almost useless as they can only register 8mp wide screen and 3.15mp 4:3 shooting mode.
Sony will never admit the truth, but my educated guess is, the sensor has to share some resources while recording the light and colors, thus making it technically save it in 23mp but physically capable of intaking enough light and real life data only for a highest quality 8mp shot. This is why 23mp clear sky shot in the morning will be good quality but a low light shot will suffer and be even lower quality than 16mp cameras. At 8mp level, it is unrivaled though.
Again, that leaves us, customers in a fooled point. Technically Sony is not lying, but also not delivering what is expected. Nowadays, Sony's only advantage to a 12-13mp Pixel or iPhone 7+ is a wide angle FOV. nothing else.
3) screen thing. We, Z5 Premium owners have an 4K screen who runs at 1080p due to the heating and battery concerns. It only converts to true 4K with supported Sony apps. Rivals switched to the 1440p already. Full time 1440p. Japanese people try to understand market's demands so rookiely here, they simply think offering a potentially higher resolution screen will attract the customers. But again, this puts them into a lower moral position than even Apple's. Look at Oneplus, they do their best for a budget screen and make it 1080p, the premium rivals like Google and LG make theirs' 1440p and Android fully supports it. Sony is already a great screen manufacturer, why try gimmicks like that? I mean with their already present screen quality they could easily produce the best 1080p screen out there and market it "being the best of everything: screen quality, battery preserving, heat reducing, and with the clearest whites". Instead they make a 4K screen which only runs at 4K when selected few apps are used. The rest of the time it is 1080p.
Sony don't have a leading behavior in the market either. So it can not make it's rivals jealous and switch to 4K, in order to adapt Android world into 4K rapidly. They simply don't have that influence, actually I believe next Sony phone will be 4K+ resolution with 2:1 ratio..
4) development support problem. Developers actually love companies who are developer friendly. Sony is the only company who release an AOSP code for almost every phone they release, also all of their phones come with lockable bootloader. Yet, they lag when it comes to kernel, Rom, mod etc. support. Somehow developers won't prefer Sony phones. Hell, they even fight with unlockable and frustrating Samsungs and don't show love for Sony for some reason.
Well, I trust these guys. They are giving people, who use their free time to make things better and share it with us for freely, and also sit here and respond to our never ending problems. If they don't prefer Sony most if the time I say they know something.
So, long story short; I am holding a phone in my hands right now. It has a super screen, nice build quality and good sound for music. Also comes with good battery life, dual speakers etc. But I can't trust the company behind it for the future. I can't use 3rd party camera apps, I can't use the full quality of the screen, camera and sound with my desired ROM, I can't use it to its full performance without it slowing down due to heating easily... Also, there are totally visible touch modules in the best screen of the world!
I will enjoy this phone till it's old enough, but then I'll never buy a Sony product again, as Sony is the only Japanese in the world who lost my respect. It'll go right next to Samsung in my blacklist.."

adriansiv said:
Hi guys,
I am thinking about purchasing this phone but am worried about the audio quality through the headphones. I know that it has 24 bit Hi-Fi Dac inside but as per the reviews , it is not loud enough through the headphones.
Does using viper4android and editing mixer.xml (after root) improve the audio quality and loudness without distortion ?
How does the audio quality compare to HTC 10 in general ?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
There's been an ongoing issue with the failure of the headphone jack of the Z5 Premium. It's been a nightmare for many owners as there's no fix apart from the total replacement of the actual headphone socket. I would strongly discourage you from buying this phone, more so if you're thinking of buying it especially to listen to music.
There's a thread on the official Sony support site called 'Headphone jack not working', it's 32 pages and there is no solution despite marked as having been resolved.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Red Hydrogen One?

What are your thoughts on the upcoming Red Hydrogen One? It's specs and software?
Also, do you think the display will be "holographic" as they claim it to be, or just another gimmick?
Drop your thought below. Try not to post links, though you are free to attach pictures.
Eclipse

The Red Hydrogen intrigues me for several reasons.
First, and foremost, Jim Jannard. Many here may not know why that name is important, but Jim founded Oakley and innovated in an industry that was lacking; completely changing the industry irrevocably. Jim redefined the science and design of eyewear forever as Oakley X Metal was the culmination of impeccable design and perfected materials. Something about my X Metal XX makes me want to see the Titanium version of the Hydrogen One. Jim is a perfectionist and devoted 1000% to what he does. I expect this to be the same.
I expect the approach I've seen in Oakley to continue with RED, and so far, based on everything I have read and seen, the science, technology, and innovation the man is known for is evident in RED devices' design language. Check out Marquee Brownlee's video of the prototype on Youtube. You can see the same principals applied
Another reason I am excited is Holographic display. This will be an industry game-changer. So far, we haven't had a look at it, but soon (i infer from the proto video) we will.
Modular accessories are another aspect that pique my interest. I can say i dislike moto mods due to the bulk it adds to a device, but the implementation on the RED device appears to be similar. (pins, magnets). Soon we will see how much better (or possibly worse) this implementation is.
In an age where the average flagship is already close to $1000, it honestly makes sense for a perfectionist like Jim to enter the scene with the drive, vision, and knowledge to innovate and improve an industry that has had shortcomings prevalent for years. (death of project ara, loss of headphone jacks, puny batteries (looking at you, Moto Z anything), and sub-par quality parts on premium flagship devices. May RED change the landscape of Android forever.
EDIT: well, nope. not happening. Hydrogen One is pointless. Would have been okay a year ago. Releasing what it is, despite whatever future plans is for modules, etc, is still an exercise in futility. What was the vision here? well, aside from riding the coat tails of the RED name while having nothing RED about it. Clearly, I am generally a JJ fan, but not in this instance. i am embarrassed for hyping this for even a millisecond. If you want to make phones, hire someone that knows something about the enthusiast market, bc we drive the whole industry. just ask One Plus. They figured that out 5 years ago. Always ask the users what they require. the 4 view feature is cool, but ultimately limited and novel at best. the modular system, done right (like Google and Motorola failed to do decently) would be amazing. i even had an ad imagined....[Kid rides his bike to the mail box. gets small box with component board (brain module) goes home and slaps it in his RED phone which reboots into a new OS, graphics, etc.]
That phone should be made of titanium bc while it may not last a lifetime, it will outlast a typical glass or aluminum body. that is the leap Jannard should have had his team taking with 2+ years of R+D and his background and knowledge of titanium. the forever phone. instead of a giant hunk of poop like the hydrogen one is.

Sorry for the DP, but i downloaded the spec sheet (for now). It doesnt say much aside from giving some pricing and materials and a screen size. Useful information to an extent, but again, it really doesn't delve into SOC, RAM, Battery.
edit: Battery: Huge.
Ram: Mediocre at best
SOC: total insult to anyone paying more than $500 for a phone.

Does this have wireless charging?

StormCell said:
Does this have wireless charging?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Although I cant say for sure, since the phone isnt out yet, it seems like it wont due to the lack of a glass or ceramic back. Also the back of the phone seems to be a terrible surface to wireless charge on from a design perspective. It could get a module addon though so fingers crossed.

LG G7 One Review by HardwareCanucks.

TL;DW:
"It's like a dream come true": It has a great software experience, far superior compared to the one in the G7 ThinkQ. Apps open faster and it's more fluid in general.
LG still hasn't disclosed whether this phone will be released globally or not and at what price, although Canada is a confirmed market. One thing is certain: in the words of LG, this is a midrange device. Expect to be priced accordingly (400-700 USD)
Key differences between the G7 One and G7 ThinQ:
* The most important difference is that it runs stock android, since the phone is part of the Android One program. This means that it'll get 2 years of regular updates (Android 9.0 Pie update is confirmed for all Android One devices) plus 1 year extra of security updates.
* Another difference is its design and build. The G7 One features a black matte glass back that is much easier to grip as well as aluminum sides that match the rest of the body, instead of stainless steel sides like on the ThinQ.
* It only features the regular 16mpx f1.6 camera, not the wide angle one and the camera app doesen't have manual controls either. On the bright side, images have a lot less image processing in comparison.
* It has a Snapdragon 835, rather than the ThinQ's 845.
* It has 4 GB of RAM instead of 6 GB.
* It doesen't have wireless charging.
* This version is running Android 8.1, whereas the reviewer's ThinQ is still running 8.0.
Specs that stay the same way:
* 6.1 inch IPS display, 32bit HiFi Quad DAC, BoomBox speaker, fingerprint scanner, dedicated Google Assistant button, IP68 water and dust resistance, 3000 mAh battery, Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0.
What do you think about the G7 One? Would you buy it? Is it better or worse than the G7 ThinkQ?
~Aluminium X

Looks really good. A price from LG would be great!

maruchan78 said:
Looks really good. A price from LG would be great!
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i read somewhere that the phone is $799 unlocked CAD.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/10/09/lg-g7-one-fido-price/
I still feel like it's overprice.

imeem said:
i read somewhere that the phone is $799 unlocked CAD.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/10/09/lg-g7-one-fido-price/
I still feel like it's overprice.
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I was considering buying it but I also feel it is overpriced. So I won't be getting it now.

imeem said:
i read somewhere that the phone is $799 unlocked CAD.
https://mobilesyrup.com/2018/10/09/lg-g7-one-fido-price/
I still feel like it's overprice.
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Wow, that's roughly 600 USD. Let's hope not.

Aluminium X said:
Wow, that's roughly 600 USD. Let's hope not.
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it is.
https://www.rogers.com/web/totes/wireless/#/build-plan
Slide the tab to "no tab"

Well, I was interested until I saw the price.

Hi, i just got it from koodo here in Canada for 435$ total. I had a 125$ rebate cause I'm a long term customer, but that also implies that it's a 560$ phone. At that price I think we have a deal on our hands.

Mathegar said:
Hi, i just got it from koodo here in Canada for 435$ total. I had a 125$ rebate cause I'm a long term customer, but that also implies that it's a 560$ phone. At that price I think we have a deal on our hands.
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Interesting. That's less than 430 USD. It seems that currently price is flowing between 400-600 USD.
If it's not too much to ask, could you do a quick review about the phone? Namely about things that the reviewer didn't cover such as battery life, quad DAC, speaker performance, etc?

Aluminium X said:
Interesting. That's less than 430 USD. It seems that currently price is flowing between 400-600 USD.
If it's not too much to ask, could you do a quick review about the phone? Namely about things that the reviewer didn't cover such as battery life, quad DAC, speaker performance, etc?
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Hi,
I've had the phone for about 2 weeks now. As for battery life, I cant complain. But I'm a light user. I'm getting a full 2 days of use between charges. Where I can provide some useful feed back is the speaker and dac. For the speaker, i would compare it to an ipad, maybe a little louder. It does fill a small room quite well if all you want to do is have background music. I'm an enthusiast "audiophile" so i wont be using it for this much, but its good to get the kids dancing and such. Obviously there is little to no base, but it does get surprisingly loud.
Ok, for the DAC, this surprised me. Its drives my 50 ohm HD558's with ease. The soundstage is broad and clear allowing you to listen to each instrument independently. There is lots of definition in lower frequencies. A really great listening experience. Its like having one of the DragonFly, or FIO, etc. USB DAC/AMPs built right into the phone. Plus, so far im only listening to 320kbs spotify downloads. It supports flack, etc. For someone who listens to lots of music, this is a very nice surprise. I was expecting some "bass boost bull****" but no, this is a legit DAC for listening to music the way it was recorded. For fun, I plugged in my HD6xx and its clearly not powerful enough to drive 300 ohms adequately. But no phone or normally priced ubs dac/amp can. So for the 435$ CAD i paid, i feel i got some great value here given the phone's performance as a music player.
Other thoughts, screen is great. Colors are good, viewing angles are great. Nice and bright. Back is a little slippy for my tastes. Camera app right now is bare bones, reds are over saturated but it works just fine. No "portrait" mode but thats coming apparently... If you want photography, get a DSLR. But if you XDA guys can get the google camera working on it... that would be nice Its plenty fast at opening and navigating apps.
Hope this helps.
o7

Mathegar said:
Hi,
I've had the phone for about 2 weeks now. As for battery life, I cant complain. But I'm a light user. I'm getting a full 2 days of use between charges. Where I can provide some useful feed back is the speaker and dac. For the speaker, i would compare it to an ipad, maybe a little louder. It does fill a small room quite well if all you want to do is have background music. I'm an enthusiast "audiophile" so i wont be using it for this much, but its good to get the kids dancing and such. Obviously there is little to no base, but it does get surprisingly loud.
Ok, for the DAC, this surprised me. Its drives my 50 ohm HD558's with ease. The soundstage is broad and clear allowing you to listen to each instrument independently. There is lots of definition in lower frequencies. A really great listening experience. Its like having one of the DragonFly, or FIO, etc. USB DAC/AMPs built right into the phone. Plus, so far im only listening to 320kbs spotify downloads. It supports flack, etc. For someone who listens to lots of music, this is a very nice surprise. I was expecting some "bass boost bull****" but no, this is a legit DAC for listening to music the way it was recorded. For fun, I plugged in my HD6xx and its clearly not powerful enough to drive 300 ohms adequately. But no phone or normally priced ubs dac/amp can. So for the 435$ CAD i paid, i feel i got some great value here given the phone's performance as a music player.
Other thoughts, screen is great. Colors are good, viewing angles are great. Nice and bright. Back is a little slippy for my tastes. Camera app right now is bare bones, reds are over saturated but it works just fine. No "portrait" mode but thats coming apparently... If you want photography, get a DSLR. But if you XDA guys can get the google camera working on it... that would be nice Its plenty fast at opening and navigating apps.
Hope this helps.
o7
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Thanks for your input, really appreciated!

I'm really tempted by this phone. I can have it on a Koodo tab for 360$ which is a good deal.
I'm looking at the MIA2 as well, but this phone seams superior in almost every spec except the storage.
The only thing that makes me hesitate is that the xda forum is almost empty :/
I've had a weird experience with my LGG3 also (It was great for the 1st year and then it became really unstable, and network was always disconnecting), so i'm also a bit hesitant towards LG.
After multiple weeks how is the battery life ? and the camera ?

I get 24-hour battery life through my average use. A couple of phone calls, lots of browsing, some YouTube videos. Not sure of the SOT, but coming from my 3 year old Moto X2, which was never great at 2300 mAh, this LG 3000 is much better.

Can the bootloader be unlocked easily? LG phones typically don't make it easy for Canadians, not sure if Android One changes that for this phone.
Thanks!

goofball2k said:
Can the bootloader be unlocked easily? LG phones typically don't make it easy for Canadians, not sure if Android One changes that for this phone.
Thanks!
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I don't think it's possible

Audio

So coming from the LG V series, I noticed that I just really missed my audio quality. Whether taking the train to get to work, or just listening at home.
I also see audio being neglected on the ROG phone fourms. Maybe due to this device not selling all that well. Just look around...no real community.
For anyone interested, I pulled the trigger and got the latest flagship from FIIO. The Q5s TC. Is it worth 350? Eh, depends. The sound is definitely clean. The IFI Xdsd is discontinued. The Xdsd would be the preferred choice. That's not to say the Q5s TC is bad. Is still portable in the pocket. ( If you don't wear lame skinny jeans)
No hiss on sensitive IEM's. The base punches and slams. Good on the lows, mid and highs. The gain from low to high is very noticeable and not recommend. The base boost SUCKS! IFI seems to be the only company that know how to do it.
Fiio just makes the mids muddy.