Develop Bugs

Is it really worth the price

Hi,
My friend is planning to get a 5t along with his note 8. Few questions-
1. How is this phones screen as compared to note 8's screen, comparing them at max settings?
2. How smooth is the OS? He is skeptical about it since he is switching from stock android and touchwiz.
Any other down sides of this phone? I hope the screen is really an infinity display like the s8.

I really like the curved edges of the S8. I prefer the S8 in terms of the display it is curve display which makes the screen to body ratio very low.
In terms of OS. I would prefer the OP5T.

billubakra said:
Hi,
My friend is planning to get a 5t along with his note 8. Few questions-
1. How is this phones screen as compared to note 8's screen, comparing them at max settings?
2. How smooth is the OS? He is skeptical about it since he is switching from stock android and touchwiz.
Any other down sides of this phone? I hope the screen is really an infinity display like the s8.
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Click to collapse
I've had and regularly use a lot of phones due to my work. One of them being the Note 8.
The Note 8 comes out of the box set at 1080p, but does have the edge in the display department (no pun intended) if you set it to QHD. However unless I'm purposefully staring at it looking for pixels I can't really tell a difference in practical day to day use. The 5T has a gorgeous display and on mine at least, the colors are more accurate. The display is made by Samsung for OnePlus so it's honestly top notch in terms of quality and the "jelly scrolling" issue that was present on the OnePlus 5 for some is gone now with the 5T. So, is the Note 8 better in terms of display? Yes. As it should be, the starting price is about twice that of the 5T. Is it worth twice the asking price? Absolutely not.
The OS kills Samsung's flavor. Touchwiz is a hot mess, and it's even worse when you've had it for a few weeks and Touchwiz starts to really lag. It's much better on the Note 8 than the S8+ due to the RAM upgrade, but it's still there and really irritating. It's been an issue with Samsung phones for years. Oxygen OS is smoother than Touchwiz and frankly, smoother than stock Android on a Pixel in my experience. But that's likely due to the specs of the 5T (I have the 8GB RAM/128GB model). OnePlus changes very little about stock android, they only add a few things that make it a little more convenient and slightly more customizable. It's not a skin as you'd find on a Samsung, LG or Huawei among others. The OnePlus destroys Samsung in terms of smoothness of the OS and multitasking/general use.
One downside people talk about is the camera. Camera is a mixed bag. Honestly that side of marketing with smartphones is ridiculous. The Samsung has the edge, but that's all it is. There's not a smartphone out that can replace a DSLR and there's not a single one out that doesn't have noise or other issues in low light or when pixel peeping. Auto mode for auto mode in the same circumstances there's not enough of a difference to warrant the price hike either. Is it better on the Samsung devices? Yep. But only marginally in the real world. I can't count how many times I've shown people shots taken in identical conditions of identical subjects on all the phones I have and no one can get it right as to which took what shot. There's no clear winner and there's very little difference between them. People tend to just pick a bandwagon and hop on it. The differences come when you really play with pro mode and work to shoot with each phone's strength, but that's not real world use and that's entirely invalid for comparisons or determining which phone to buy. In real life people don't schedule shoots or wait for ideal lighting and conditions for their phone to pull it out and take a photo. That's what professionals do, and professionals don't use smartphones which are the equivalent of drug store disposable point and shoots. People in real life buy a phone they like and they pull it out in a split second on auto mode and snap a shot of the kids, the dogs or what have you.
Down sides depend what you are interested in though. For example yes, the 5T doesn't have an edge display. It also doesn't have the nasty glare or slippery feel that comes with the newer Samsungs. Also if a person relies heavily on the Samsung gimmicks incorporated into Touchwiz, you'll find the 5T very bland and lacking. Personally I never use the "advanced features" on Samsung phones and the only thing I use on my Note 8 is the S pen. And I do love that thing. If you don't like those things and want a more stock experience or a faster phone with at least twice the battery life (my 5T gets 9-10 hours SOT every time I test it, the Note 8 does great to get 3, sometimes almost 4 if I really gimp it for battery life) then the Samsung is the one with the downsides.
Different phones designed for different folks. With the OnePlus 5T you get what you pay for. However they absolutely cannot raise the price again without adding certain things such as a higher resolution display, an IP rating and what have you. With the current $1,000 flagships, you don't get anywhere near what you pay for. They're priced way too god damned high and don't offer enough over phones like the 5T to warrant twice the price. But if you can get them for $600 or less, they're the better buy unless you really care about battery life and specs.

Symphony0fLife said:
I've had and regularly use a lot of phones due to my work. One of them being the Note 8.
The Note 8 comes out of the box set at 1080p, but does have the edge in the display department (no pun intended) if you set it to QHD. However unless I'm purposefully staring at it looking for pixels I can't really tell a difference in practical day to day use. The 5T has a gorgeous display and on mine at least, the colors are more accurate. The display is made by Samsung for OnePlus so it's honestly top notch in terms of quality and the "jelly scrolling" issue that was present on the OnePlus 5 for some is gone now with the 5T. So, is the Note 8 better in terms of display? Yes. As it should be, the starting price is about twice that of the 5T. Is it worth twice the asking price? Absolutely not.
The OS kills Samsung's flavor. Touchwiz is a hot mess, and it's even worse when you've had it for a few weeks and Touchwiz starts to really lag. It's much better on the Note 8 than the S8+ due to the RAM upgrade, but it's still there and really irritating. It's been an issue with Samsung phones for years. Oxygen OS is smoother than Touchwiz and frankly, smoother than stock Android on a Pixel in my experience. But that's likely due to the specs of the 5T (I have the 8GB RAM/128GB model). OnePlus changes very little about stock android, they only add a few things that make it a little more convenient and slightly more customizable. It's not a skin as you'd find on a Samsung, LG or Huawei among others. The OnePlus destroys Samsung in terms of smoothness of the OS and multitasking/general use.
One downside people talk about is the camera. Camera is a mixed bag. Honestly that side of marketing with smartphones is ridiculous. The Samsung has the edge, but that's all it is. There's not a smartphone out that can replace a DSLR and there's not a single one out that doesn't have noise or other issues in low light or when pixel peeping. Auto mode for auto mode in the same circumstances there's not enough of a difference to warrant the price hike either. Is it better on the Samsung devices? Yep. But only marginally in the real world. I can't count how many times I've shown people shots taken in identical conditions of identical subjects on all the phones I have and no one can get it right as to which took what shot. There's no clear winner and there's very little difference between them. People tend to just pick a bandwagon and hop on it. The differences come when you really play with pro mode and work to shoot with each phone's strength, but that's not real world use and that's entirely invalid for comparisons or determining which phone to buy. In real life people don't schedule shoots or wait for ideal lighting and conditions for their phone to pull it out and take a photo. That's what professionals do, and professionals don't use smartphones which are the equivalent of drug store disposable point and shoots. People in real life buy a phone they like and they pull it out in a split second on auto mode and snap a shot of the kids, the dogs or what have you.
Down sides depend what you are interested in though. For example yes, the 5T doesn't have an edge display. It also doesn't have the nasty glare or slippery feel that comes with the newer Samsungs. Also if a person relies heavily on the Samsung gimmicks incorporated into Touchwiz, you'll find the 5T very bland and lacking. Personally I never use the "advanced features" on Samsung phones and the only thing I use on my Note 8 is the S pen. And I do love that thing. If you don't like those things and want a more stock experience or a faster phone with at least twice the battery life (my 5T gets 9-10 hours SOT every time I test it, the Note 8 does great to get 3, sometimes almost 4 if I really gimp it for battery life) then the Samsung is the one with the downsides.
Different phones designed for different folks. With the OnePlus 5T you get what you pay for. However they absolutely cannot raise the price again without adding certain things such as a higher resolution display, an IP rating and what have you. With the current $1,000 flagships, you don't get anywhere near what you pay for. They're priced way too god damned high and don't offer enough over phones like the 5T to warrant twice the price. But if you can get them for $600 or less, they're the better buy unless you really care about battery life and specs.
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Thank you so much for such a detailed review. Is the infinity display on 5T really worth it without the edge display or the side edges/curves? We don't have a opo showroom in our state so can't really check the phone physically. 5T is not water proof, flash is also not good, no vr compatibility, audio speaker is just fine. Any other points that we need to keep in mind? Are they still cheating with benchmark tests?

billubakra said:
Thank you so much for such a detailed review. Is the infinity display on 5T really worth it without the edge display or the side edges/curves? We don't have a opo showroom in our state so can't really check the phone physically. 5T is not water proof, flash is also not good, no vr compatibility, audio speaker is just fine. Any other points that we need to keep in mind? Are they still cheating with benchmark tests?
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Click to collapse
Glad to help!
I've never heard OnePlus call it an infinity display. And it's just a term Samsung uses. Yes, on Samsungs you have the display spilling over the edges. Some people like it, others don't. I don't. It has a horrible glare and it alters the picture on screen for the worse, not better. The edge display makes things look really weird on the Samsung phones. So I prefer the flat edges like the 5T has and that Samsung had on the S7 and below, with the Edge display being optional. The bezels on the OnePlus are slightly larger than on the Note 8 and the S8 but not by much and not enough to hinder the experience. It's still a 2:1 ration (or 18:9, however you like to say it). It's not quad HD, so right, no VR, but is the same ratio and looks gorgeous. It's hard to explain. Yes the resolution is lower, but it's not noticeable unless you really pixel peep. Quad HD isn't enabled by default on the S8, S8+ or Note 8 and you don't notice much difference when you enable it to be honest. Most people use their Samsungs on 1080p and don't even realize it. Most aren't tech freaks like us and don't even know you can turn it on.
Flash, I'm not sure what you mean about it not being as good? I already addressed photos above, the flash is fine and not noticeably different in every day use. 5T is not water resistant (even the Samsungs are not water PROOF) but OnePlus has stated it will stand up to splashes just fine. Unless you need to swim or shower with your phone, the 5T should be ok. Audio speaker is mono like the Samsung, but is louder than Samsung and sounds slightly better, though the Samsung has the edge if you use headphones. Headphone sound quality is slightly better with the Samsung. Speaker is better on the 5T.
Benchmarks, I don't know. But they don't mean anything real world either. Like the cameras, it's largely a marketing gimmick. Whatever single or multi core score it gets doesn't mean a thing when translated to actual use. But yeah, it kicks everything else's ass. But it should, being that it has the best specs in the industry for this year. So I don't know if they still fluff numbers, but whether they do or not they still win in the spec pissing contest.
Edit: Simplified, if you can get a 2017 flagship for less money than a 5T costs, or within $100 of the 5T for the Note, the S8+, the V30 or the Pixel 2/2XL, it's worth it to get the flagships. If it costs any more than that, they're not better "enough" to warrant spending the money and I'd go with the 5T. Because the only areas they're better are either gimmicks or they are only marginally better, not several hundred dollars better.

Symphony0fLife said:
Glad to help!
I've never heard OnePlus call it an infinity display. And it's just a term Samsung uses. Yes, on Samsungs you have the display spilling over the edges. Some people like it, others don't. I don't. It has a horrible glare and it alters the picture on screen for the worse, not better. The edge display makes things look really weird on the Samsung phones. So I prefer the flat edges like the 5T has and that Samsung had on the S7 and below, with the Edge display being optional. The bezels on the OnePlus are slightly larger than on the Note 8 and the S8 but not by much and not enough to hinder the experience. It's still a 2:1 ration (or 18:9, however you like to say it). It's not quad HD, so right, no VR, but is the same ratio and looks gorgeous. It's hard to explain. Yes the resolution is lower, but it's not noticeable unless you really pixel peep. Quad HD isn't enabled by default on the S8, S8+ or Note 8 and you don't notice much difference when you enable it to be honest. Most people use their Samsungs on 1080p and don't even realize it. Most aren't tech freaks like us and don't even know you can turn it on.
Flash, I'm not sure what you mean about it not being as good? I already addressed photos above, the flash is fine and not noticeably different in every day use. 5T is not water resistant (even the Samsungs are not water PROOF) but OnePlus has stated it will stand up to splashes just fine. Unless you need to swim or shower with your phone, the 5T should be ok. Audio speaker is mono like the Samsung, but is louder than Samsung and sounds slightly better, though the Samsung has the edge if you use headphones. Headphone sound quality is slightly better with the Samsung. Speaker is better on the 5T.
Benchmarks, I don't know. But they don't mean anything real world either. Like the cameras, it's largely a marketing gimmick. Whatever single or multi core score it gets doesn't mean a thing when translated to actual use. But yeah, it kicks everything else's ass. But it should, being that it has the best specs in the industry for this year. So I don't know if they still fluff numbers, but whether they do or not they still win in the spec pissing contest.
Edit: Simplified, if you can get a 2017 flagship for less money than a 5T costs, or within $100 of the 5T for the Note, the S8+, the V30 or the Pixel 2/2XL, it's worth it to get the flagships. If it costs any more than that, they're not better "enough" to warrant spending the money and I'd go with the 5T. Because the only areas they're better are either gimmicks or they are only marginally better, not several hundred dollars better.
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Once again thank you so much. Last 2 queries can you please post a photo of the edges and a pic which shows all the bezels? I have a S7 and I get your point but it will be hard to explain to him. Second I was talking about the benchmark cheat in which opo was involved in, some senior members made a detailed thread about it, Google one plus one benchmark cheat XDA. Has anyone tested the 5t to find out the real benchmarks?

He just messaged me to ask you this, he will be getting a Gadgetshieldz protector for his 5t which is installed by soaking the protector in water mixed with detergent or some other chemical, since the phone is water resistant will there be any issues with the screen or any other component if the liquid goes inside the phone? Lastly is oneplus one guaranteeing software updates till 2 years?

Hey dude, let me give my 2 cents since I owned the note 8 and the 5T.
1. The 5T display is REALLY good. I'm the type of person that barely notice a difference between QHD and Full HD. As a matter of fact I'm using my note 8 on 1080 p cause I cannot tell the difference. Of course there is one but i barely see it. The point is the 5T display is excellent.
2. The 5T is insanely fast. OnePlus is known to have zippy software and it's very consistent throughout the UI. That is the last thing to worry about on the 5T, performance. It's absolutely stellar and it is amongst the fastest phone out there period. Whether it's an iPhone or pixel or whatever else, the 5T is top 3 hands down.
Now your friend has a note AND is getting a 5T as well? That is the absolute best combo to have besides having the note and an iPhone X. He is gonna love it and will be able to switch back and forth. Tell him to pull the trigger, the 5T is totally worth it.
I forgot to answer your questions about downsides of the phone. Well it doesn't have any IP ratings, it doesn't have wireless charging and the camera isn't the best. It's ok/good but definitely not great. The hardware is there but the software still needs some work (camera).
Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
billubakra said:
He just messaged me to ask you this, he will be getting a Gadgetshieldz protector for his 5t which is installed by soaking the protector in water mixed with detergent or some other chemical, since the phone is water resistant will there be any issues with the screen or any other component if the liquid goes inside the phone? Lastly is oneplus one guaranteeing software updates till 2 years?
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Click to collapse
I wouldn't worry about those screen protectors that you soak in water and apply on phones, it's made to be that way. Of course if you go crazy and purposely pour water in the headphone jack or USB x port then you'll have issues. But splashes here and there will be no issues. As far as updates, who knows. We know for sure Oreo is coming and most likely Android P but beyond that I haven't heard anything personally.
Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

billubakra said:
Once again thank you so much. Last 2 queries can you please post a photo of the edges and a pic which shows all the bezels? I have a S7 and I get your point but it will be hard to explain to him. Second I was talking about the benchmark cheat in which opo was involved in, some senior members made a detailed thread about it, Google one plus one benchmark cheat XDA. Has anyone tested the 5t to find out the real benchmarks?
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Click to collapse
The moment I get home and have both phones handy I will post some photos, sure. And again, the benchmark thing doesn't mean anything. It doesn't matter if it scores 15,000 in Geekbench or whatever. What counts is real world use. For example, the iPhone scores spectacularly well in benchmarks and is a train wreck in day to day use. I sold my iPhone X already, but it was a jittery mess. Scores are high, but real world doesn't reflect that. Samsung scores pretty well too but again, real world it's a mess. Stutters and lags abound in Touchwiz. My Sony scored lower than my others and it is the smoothest performance hands down next to the 5T. If you're into benchmarks I'm sure you can find answers on here but I'm telling you, they're just for folks to "nerd out" on. They don't mean anything in the real world. But yes, OnePlus was caught fudging the numbers (why, I don't know since they are the king of specs anyway) but I am not sure if they still do.
As to the screen protector, as long as he doesn't submerge the phone he should be fine. But keep in mind - the Samsung is not water proof. It's water resistant. So water CAN damage it. The OnePlus is not rated as water resistant, but OnePlus says it's fine with things like splashes or rain drops. He's not going to hurt it using a wet application screen protector.
Updates - Who knows. Manufacturers always over promise on updates these days. They claim it'll be updated for a long time and they'll roll them out fast. OnePlus and Essential so far are hands down the best in terms of fast besides Google themselves, but OnePlus has dropped the ball on long term before. The 3 and 3T are getting Oreo, I'd imagine the 5 and 5T will get Oreo and the next major update at a minimum. Beyond that you'd have to ask them. I imagine many don't bother since people tend to upgrade every year or two but if you plan to use it for 2+ years you'd be best served to ask them. Though Samsung definitely won't be updating theirs fast and I doubt they'll get anything beyond what the 5T does either. Manufacturers want to sell phones. Not keep old phones running for years and years. 2 years is the outside for most manufacturers. Where you have a win on the OnePlus is the developer community. The bootloader is unlockable and you can install any ROM you want. With the specs it has the phone will be supported in some way for years and years, just potentially not by OnePlus themselves.

barondebxl said:
Hey dude, let me give my 2 cents since I owned the note 8 and the 5T.
1. The 5T display is REALLY good. I'm the type of person that barely notice a difference between QHD and Full HD. As a matter of fact I'm using my note 8 on 1080 p cause I cannot tell the difference. Of course there is one but i barely see it. The point is the 5T display is excellent.
2. The 5T is insanely fast. OnePlus is known to have zippy software and it's very consistent throughout the UI. That is the last thing to worry about on the 5T, performance. It's absolutely stellar and it is amongst the fastest phone out there period. Whether it's an iPhone or pixel or whatever else, the 5T is top 3 hands down.
Now your friend has a note AND is getting a 5T as well? That is the absolute best combo to have besides having the note and an iPhone X. He is gonna love it and will be able to switch back and forth. Tell him to pull the trigger, the 5T is totally worth it.
I forgot to answer your questions about downsides of the phone. Well it doesn't have any IP ratings, it doesn't have wireless charging and the camera isn't the best. It's ok/good but definitely not great. The hardware is there but the software still needs some work (camera).
Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk
---------- Post added at 02:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
I wouldn't worry about those screen protectors that you soak in water and apply on phones, it's made to be that way. Of course if you go crazy and purposely pour water in the headphone jack or USB x port then you'll have issues. But splashes here and there will be no issues. As far as updates, who knows. We know for sure Oreo is coming and most likely Android P but beyond that I haven't heard anything personally.
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Click to collapse
Thank you to you too. Can you please post a photo is the screen sleeting the bezels? Are you using the 8gb variant?

Symphony0fLife said:
The moment I get home and have both phones handy I will post some photos, sure. And again, the benchmark thing doesn't mean anything. It doesn't matter if it scores 15,000 in Geekbench or whatever. What counts is real world use. For example, the iPhone scores spectacularly well in benchmarks and is a train wreck in day to day use. I sold my iPhone X already, but it was a jittery mess. Scores are high, but real world doesn't reflect that. Samsung scores pretty well too but again, real world it's a mess. Stutters and lags abound in Touchwiz. My Sony scored lower than my others and it is the smoothest performance hands down next to the 5T. If you're into benchmarks I'm sure you can find answers on here but I'm telling you, they're just for folks to "nerd out" on. They don't mean anything in the real world. But yes, OnePlus was caught fudging the numbers (why, I don't know since they are the king of specs anyway) but I am not sure if they still do.
As to the screen protector, as long as he doesn't submerge the phone he should be fine. But keep in mind - the Samsung is not water proof. It's water resistant. So water CAN damage it. The OnePlus is not rated as water resistant, but OnePlus says it's fine with things like splashes or rain drops. He's not going to hurt it using a wet application screen protector.
Updates - Who knows. Manufacturers always over promise on updates. The 3 and 3T are getting Oreo, I'd imagine the 5 and 5T will get Oreo and the next major update at a minimum. Beyond that you'd have to ask them.
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Thanks a lot. Will wait for the photos.

billubakra said:
Thank you to you too. Can you please post a photo is the screen sleeting the bezels? Are you using the 8gb variant?
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Click to collapse
I no longer have the 5T. Someone offered to trade me a note 8 factory unlocked brand new and I had to do it lol. The resale value is why and ultimately the note is the superior phone.
Sent from my SM-N950U1 using Tapatalk

barondebxl said:
I no longer have the 5T. Someone offered to trade me a note 8 factory unlocked brand new and I had to do it lol. The resale value is why and ultimately the note is the superior phone.
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Lol I would have done the same ...probably sell the note and get another one plus 5t or a a pixel....profit

Any good?
I have heard the One plus is the best phone, is it true? What about a comparison to the Iphone X?

Symphony0fLife said:
The moment I get home and have both phones handy I will post some photos, sure. And again, the benchmark thing doesn't mean anything. It doesn't matter if it scores 15,000 in Geekbench or whatever. What counts is real world use. For example, the iPhone scores spectacularly well in benchmarks and is a train wreck in day to day use. I sold my iPhone X already, but it was a jittery mess. Scores are high, but real world doesn't reflect that. Samsung scores pretty well too but again, real world it's a mess. Stutters and lags abound in Touchwiz. My Sony scored lower than my others and it is the smoothest performance hands down next to the 5T. If you're into benchmarks I'm sure you can find answers on here but I'm telling you, they're just for folks to "nerd out" on. They don't mean anything in the real world. But yes, OnePlus was caught fudging the numbers (why, I don't know since they are the king of specs anyway) but I am not sure if they still do.
As to the screen protector, as long as he doesn't submerge the phone he should be fine. But keep in mind - the Samsung is not water proof. It's water resistant. So water CAN damage it. The OnePlus is not rated as water resistant, but OnePlus says it's fine with things like splashes or rain drops. He's not going to hurt it using a wet application screen protector.
Updates - Who knows. Manufacturers always over promise on updates these days. They claim it'll be updated for a long time and they'll roll them out fast. OnePlus and Essential so far are hands down the best in terms of fast besides Google themselves, but OnePlus has dropped the ball on long term before. The 3 and 3T are getting Oreo, I'd imagine the 5 and 5T will get Oreo and the next major update at a minimum. Beyond that you'd have to ask them. I imagine many don't bother since people tend to upgrade every year or two but if you plan to use it for 2+ years you'd be best served to ask them. Though Samsung definitely won't be updating theirs fast and I doubt they'll get anything beyond what the 5T does either. Manufacturers want to sell phones. Not keep old phones running for years and years. 2 years is the outside for most manufacturers. Where you have a win on the OnePlus is the developer community. The bootloader is unlockable and you can install any ROM you want. With the specs it has the phone will be supported in some way for years and years, just potentially not by OnePlus themselves.
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Waiting for the photos my dear. Is the warranty of opo taken care by oppo's service centers?

Just for a giggle, my last THREE phones cost less than my 5t. I bought all of them direct from China and they all exceeded my expectations. I kept the last one - a Xiaomi Redmi Note 2- for two years (unheard of for me!) and the only reason I've given up on it is because the power button is failing. To my amazement, in a side by side comparison, it holds up to the 5t pretty well, in particular having a screen with much more accurate colour saturation. Compared to that, is a 5t worth £499 Vs the £117 the Redmi Note 2 cost? Heck no! Do I like the 5t? Yep! Would I buy another if I dropped it tomorrow? Nope, I'd buy another cheap phone from China because they offer fantastic value for money

I talked my wife into buying the OnePlus 5T after months of listening to her complain about her Moto X Pure Edition and me having to constantly factory reset it (probably at least once a month to keep her happy). No idea what she was doing to the thing as i didn't have nearly as many problems with my MXPE, but regardless i finally talked her into buying a new phone. I hoped at the very least to alleviate myself from having to constantly listen to complaining about how slow it was, how it couldn't take a good picture to save its life (the pictures i can agree with, they were pretty horrible), and having to spend a couple hours backing up data, factory resetting, and restoring her photos and whatnot every month. She's really picky with phones and had her heart set on a Note 8 (especially after i picked up the GS8+ about a month or so ago for myself) but she was really turned off by the $900 price tag of the Note 8. She thinks that it's completely ridiculous to spend that much on a phone, which i agree with fully.
Thankfully she ended up listening to me and ordering the OP 5T. After she received her OP 5T and got it all set up, she fell in love with it. I i have messed with the phone quite a bit and first thing that hit me was that I immediately enjoyed the user experience. I had previously run custom ROMs on my MXPE and this phone is truly in a whole other league. The speed of it is incredible. It even makes my GS8+ seem like a slug at times. The software experience is really refreshing. Minimal changes to stock Android with the tweaks that are implemented done very seamlessly and with a purpose in mind. The screen, although it's "only" 1080p and not 1440p, is incredibly crisp in my opinion. I had it side by side with my GS8+ and honestly preferred the OP 5T's screen over my S8+'s. I'll also admit i do not like the curved screen on the S8+ at all so that may have something to do with my opinion on the OP 5T's screen quality. The cameras aren't quite on the same level as Samsung phones, or the pixel line for that matter, but they're by no means bad cameras. I've seen numerous reports that the cameras are terrible or that they simply don't take good pictures. I had my wife take a pretty good amount of photos over the last few days so that i could see the quality for myself and they honestly aren't anywhere close to being bad. They blow her previous phone out of the water (not that it's really difficult to do). All in all this phone IMO truly is a flagship caliber phone without the flagship price attached to it.
The only downsides that i have found so far -
1- It doesn't properly/fully support Verizon (i'm on StraightTalk but i use the Verizon towers/4G SIM) which means that i won't be switching to it
2- This is probably more of an Android problem honestly, but SmartLock doesn't work well/consistently on the OP 5T. There's a workaround floating around the internet to disable trusted agents in the fingerprint/security settings and that does work, but only temporarily. After a reboot it just stops working and sometimes even after using the workaround it stops working for seemingly no reason. Pretty frustrating for my wife when my GS8+ utilizes SmartLock perfectly. We're both hoping that this is addressed in a future software update
All in all though, this phone is a no brainer for $500. If you're on a service provider that utilizes GSM you just cant beat the price to performance ratio that this thing has. And that software experience, lawd have mercy is it good.

Symphony0fLife said:
One downside people talk about is the camera. Camera is a mixed bag. Honestly that side of marketing with smartphones is ridiculous. The Samsung has the edge, but that's all it is. There's not a smartphone out that can replace a DSLR and there's not a single one out that doesn't have noise or other issues in low light or when pixel peeping. Auto mode for auto mode in the same circumstances there's not enough of a difference to warrant the price hike either. Is it better on the Samsung devices? Yep. But only marginally in the real world. I can't count how many times I've shown people shots taken in identical conditions of identical subjects on all the phones I have and no one can get it right as to which took what shot. There's no clear winner and there's very little difference between them. People tend to just pick a bandwagon and hop on it. The differences come when you really play with pro mode and work to shoot with each phone's strength, but that's not real world use and that's entirely invalid for comparisons or determining which phone to buy. In real life people don't schedule shoots or wait for ideal lighting and conditions for their phone to pull it out and take a photo. That's what professionals do, and professionals don't use smartphones which are the equivalent of drug store disposable point and shoots. People in real life buy a phone they like and they pull it out in a split second on auto mode and snap a shot of the kids, the dogs or what have you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I don't think any phone on the market claims to have a camera comparable to a DSLR, there is something to be said for having a capable camera and there are pretty significant differences in photo quality between a 5t and phones like the Note 8/Pixel 2/iPhone X when attempting to capture difficult shots, e.g. low-light, moving objects, etc. I was considering a 5t in addition to my Pixel 2 XL to fill my interest in modding, tweaking, flashing, etc since my Pixel 2 XL is locked. I played with my friend's 5t for a bit to specifically test out the camera and found it just can't keep up for my needs, and didn't leave me with a lot of confidence. When a camera performs poorly in specific situations, I'm less likely to use it. If most of my shots were of non-moving objects in broad daylight, the 5t would suffice. However, most of my shots are of my kids, who are very active and often in low light and indoor situations in addition to being outdoors in broad daylight. The best camera is the one you have on you and for capturing moments in my family's life, I wouldn't want that camera to be the one on the 5t.

billubakra said:
Hi,
My friend is planning to get a 5t along with his note 8. Few questions-
1. How is this phones screen as compared to note 8's screen, comparing them at max settings?
2. How smooth is the OS? He is skeptical about it since he is switching from stock android and touchwiz.
Any other down sides of this phone? I hope the screen is really an infinity display like the s8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its worth the price. You can see comparisons on youtube... Its the best phone since they released op 3 period

sh4ne said:
The only downsides that i have found so far -
1- It doesn't properly/fully support Verizon (i'm on StraightTalk but i use the Verizon towers/4G SIM) which means that i won't be switching to it
2- This is probably more of an Android problem honestly, but SmartLock doesn't work well/consistently on the OP 5T. There's a workaround floating around the internet to disable trusted agents in the fingerprint/security settings and that does work, but only temporarily. After a reboot it just stops working and sometimes even after using the workaround it stops working for seemingly no reason. Pretty frustrating for my wife when my GS8+ utilizes SmartLock perfectly. We're both hoping that this is addressed in a future software update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I was so glad to switch off Verizon earlier last year when I got my Pixel XL, to goto T-Mobile. I'm saving money, am on a network with the same speeds, and have the luxury of buying non-carrier phones.
2. I had this issue with SmartLock on OxygenOS as well. it was annoying, and they need to fix it. I switched to 8.1 AOSP firmware and all my problems went away. Oxygen was okay, but AOSP custome firmware always manages to be superior to stock firmwares.
---------- Post added at 09:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:02 PM ----------
mlin said:
While I don't think any phone on the market claims to have a camera comparable to a DSLR, there is something to be said for having a capable camera and there are pretty significant differences in photo quality between a 5t and phones like the Note 8/Pixel 2/iPhone X when attempting to capture difficult shots, e.g. low-light, moving objects, etc. I was considering a 5t in addition to my Pixel 2 XL to fill my interest in modding, tweaking, flashing, etc since my Pixel 2 XL is locked. I played with my friend's 5t for a bit to specifically test out the camera and found it just can't keep up for my needs, and didn't leave me with a lot of confidence. When a camera performs poorly in specific situations, I'm less likely to use it. If most of my shots were of non-moving objects in broad daylight, the 5t would suffice. However, most of my shots are of my kids, who are very active and often in low light and indoor situations in addition to being outdoors in broad daylight. The best camera is the one you have on you and for capturing moments in my family's life, I wouldn't want that camera to be the one on the 5t.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm the same as you, but with the screen and not the camera. I went to a Pixel 2 XL from a Pixel XL and found that I just couldn't use a phone with a poor screen. I had to dump it in favor of a good screen that wasn't curved and had an unlockable bootloader. The 5T fit the bill nicely and the camera is average, but then again I don't have kids.

A70 vs Oneplus 6T

I have already been ridiculed for trying to compare the 6T to the a50,but the a70 looks to be a better match up
Thinking of changing my 6T this summer
Perhaps for a OnePlus 7,
Any thoughts on the a70
It will be cheaper but is it too big ?

manus31 said:
I have already been ridiculed for trying to compare the 6T to the a50,but the a70 looks to be a better match up
Thinking of changing my 6T this summer
Perhaps for a OnePlus 7,
Any thoughts on the a70
It will be cheaper but is it too big ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why exactly are you getting rid of your 6T? It's overall a great device and can easily last you for another year or even more?

CyberOvca said:
Why exactly are you getting rid of your 6T? It's overall a great device and can easily last you for another year or even more?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Absolutely,you are right,but I like the newest tech
But will likely keep my 6T till next year and straight up buy a OnePlus 8

manus31 said:
Absolutely,you are right,but I like the newest tech
But will likely keep my 6T till next year and straight up buy a OnePlus 8
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still One plus 6T is best than A70. if u r planning to go with A70 then its not advisable when compared to 6T.

vistaabalaji said:
Still One plus 6T is best than A70. if u r planning to go with A70 then its not advisable when compared to 6T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reasons to go a70
Better display
6.7 inch screen
Bigger Battery,4500mah with 25 watt quick charge
SD card Support
Always On Display
Triple Camera
Better Cameras 32+8+5
32 mp front camera
Not confirmed but probably newer in screen fingerprint tech
Headphone jack
Improved brightness
Fm radio
Lower SAR values(if it bothers u)
One UI has more features but still close to stock
Against A70
Snapdragon 675
No oxygen OS nearly stock
Frequency of updates
OnePlus community
To sum up,thre are definitely reasons to go with the A70 and I'm seriously considering swapping my 6T for one when it comes out here next week. Im not a gamer at all on Android so do I need the Snapdragon 845,not at all.I could use all the features on the a70 though but may well stay with my 6T regardless.

manus31 said:
Reasons to go a70
Better display
6.7 inch screen
Bigger Battery,4500mah with 25 watt quick charge
SD card Support
Always On Display
Triple Camera
Better Cameras 32+8+5
32 mp front camera
Not confirmed but probably newer in screen fingerprint tech
Headphone jack
Improved brightness
Fm radio
Lower SAR values(if it bothers u)
One UI has more features but still close to stock
Against A70
Snapdragon 675
No oxygen OS nearly stock
Frequency of updates
OnePlus community
To sum up,thre are definitely reasons to go with the A70 and I'm seriously considering swapping my 6T for one when it comes out here next week. Im not a gamer at all on Android so do I need the Snapdragon 845,not at all.I could use all the features on the a70 though but may well stay with my 6T regardless.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You make some good points and I agree with you. Regarding gaming I know you said you don't play them on the phone, but you shouldn't worry at all, A70 will play all the latest games no problem if you decide to play something. I tried some games on A50 and it had no problems running any, and A70 has even better specs!

Glotttis said:
You make some good points and I agree with you. Regarding gaming I know you said you don't play them on the phone, but you shouldn't worry at all, A70 will play all the latest games no problem if you decide to play something. I tried some games on A50 and it had no problems running any, and A70 has even better specs!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I believe this is true,the 675 is a great chip.I used a device with 660 and there was no problems whatsoever, Processors these days are typically great above the 660,
Still on the fence about the a70 though,have been looking at the reviews,many point out issues with the cameras,front and back
Would need these to be great if I'm gonna swap my 6T which has been performing a lot better with Gcam

After much research and scouring the internet for reviews and insight,
I have decided not to go with the a70,although it is a capable and attractive device with many features,there are some downsides that would be too annoying to live with,
Most notably the in display fingerprint sensor which looks like it's first generation tech
And the camera not quite fullfilling it's potential in terms of megapixel stated and lack of stabilisation,
It would not be worth me giving up my 6T for this device,
I will continue to try and find a decent mid range device with good if not excellent camera and features the a70 have,
It may take another year actually but certainly the mid range section is getting better all the time

manus31 said:
After much research and scouring the internet for reviews and insight,
I have decided not to go with the a70,although it is a capable and attractive device with many features,there are some downsides that would be too annoying to live with,
Most notably the in display fingerprint sensor which looks like it's first generation tech
And the camera not quite fullfilling it's potential in terms of megapixel stated and lack of stabilisation,
It would not be worth me giving up my 6T for this device,
I will continue to try and find a decent mid range device with good if not excellent camera and features the a70 have,
It may take another year actually but certainly the mid range section is getting better all the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're making the right decision I've had a 6T and A70 and the 6T has a much better camera specially in low light which is the real weak point of the A70. Megapixels are just numbers and doesn't say anything about camera quality. The camera and fingerprint sensor are the two weakest points of this phone. I didn't like the fingerprint reader even in the 6T as I found it annoying but this one is even worse and I rely on face unlock and only use fingerprints for authorization in banking apps etc. However screen is better and battery life is much better.

manus31 said:
After much research and scouring the internet for reviews and insight,
I have decided not to go with the a70,although it is a capable and attractive device with many features,there are some downsides that would be too annoying to live with,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
So far, I'd call that a really wise decision.
First, display is of course 6.7 inch... But with a 20:9 ratio, it looks tiny compared to the 6.9" of the mi Mix 3 I had before the A70.
Second, I seem to be allergic to AMOLED/SuperAMOLED technology. Display gets a really blue tint when tilted.
Third : battery life is real not on par with what I would expect from a 4500mAh battery.
Fourth : I am unable to use Super Fast Charging and I never had a device charging that slowly in the past 4 or 5 years...
Good I bought this device from Amazon and so can give it back within 30 days...
It is a disappointment, bercause on paper it had everything I am looking for.
Real life sometimes hits pretty hard
Regards.

NexusPenguin said:
Hi,
So far, I'd call that a really wise decision.
First, display is of course 6.7 inch... But with a 20:9 ratio, it looks tiny compared to the 6.9" of the mi Mix 3 I had before the A70.
Second, I seem to be allergic to AMOLED/SuperAMOLED technology. Display gets a really blue tint when tilted.
Third : battery life is real not on par with what I would expect from a 4500mAh battery.
Fourth : I am unable to use Super Fast Charging and I never had a device charging that slowly in the past 4 or 5 years...
Good I bought this device from Amazon and so can give it back within 30 days...
It is a disappointment, bercause on paper it had everything I am looking for.
Real life sometimes hits pretty hard
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea,seems to be a bit of a disappointment overall for this phone,glad I didn't go for it,shame because on paper it seems ideal

I'm getting great batterytime on mine.
But camera and fingerprint reader is not where it should be for the pricerange.
For example my Xiaomi MI 9 SE is cheaper and camera is way better, and fingerprint reader is also better, but like most in-screen readers it is still slow. But sure it lacks headphone jack and has shorter runtimes with its 3000mAh battery.
Overall the Mi 9 SE is a better phone for less money.

OC-Freak said:
I'm getting great batterytime on mine.
But camera and fingerprint reader is not where it should be for the pricerange.
For example my Xiaomi MI 9 SE is cheaper and camera is way better, and fingerprint reader is also better, but like most in-screen readers it is still slow. But sure it lacks headphone jack and has shorter runtimes with its 3000mAh battery.
Overall the Mi 9 SE is a better phone for less money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Nice statement, but comparing a A70 and a mi9 SE is kind of pointless.
I don't think you can compare a 5.9" display phone with a 6.7" display phone.
Even if the rest is nearly identical.
Don't get me wrong.
I am a great Xiaomi fan.
If Xiaomi would have released a smartphone ABOVE 6.5" AND with a decent SoC, I would have gone for that immediatly.
But the only "phablet" in the Xiaomi range of products is the mi Max 3 (that I currently have) and that one does have a SD 636 and it has really horrible latency when you touch the display.
Regards.

NexusPenguin said:
Hi,
So far, I'd call that a really wise decision.
First, display is of course 6.7 inch... But with a 20:9 ratio, it looks tiny compared to the 6.9" of the mi Mix 3 I had before the A70.
Second, I seem to be allergic to AMOLED/SuperAMOLED technology. Display gets a really blue tint when tilted.
Third : battery life is real not on par with what I would expect from a 4500mAh battery.
Fourth : I am unable to use Super Fast Charging and I never had a device charging that slowly in the past 4 or 5 years...
Good I bought this device from Amazon and so can give it back within 30 days...
It is a disappointment, bercause on paper it had everything I am looking for.
Real life sometimes hits pretty hard
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you sure you have enabled fast charging in settings? Battery / Settings / Fast Charging With Cable.
Just a thought, mine charges from 10% to 100 % in about an hour and a half.

Do remember that 25w charging is only enabled when the screen is off or the AOD is activated. Whenever the screen is on, even on the lockscreen, it'll be limited to 6w.

Is the A70 worth it?

It seems that this phone has a lot of issues and problems that are constantly being ignored or not cared about by Samsung.
Is this phone worth it, or am I better off selling it and buying an A50 which seems to have the attention of Samsung? Because The A50 has gotten so many updates compared to the A70 that is still on Security patch level: May.

I've had an A70 for about a month now and it's one of the best phones I've ever had. Battery averages at two days, screen is bright and always legible in bright sunlight, phone is fast and smooth. Fingerprint unlock used to be crap but updates have made it work ok. Face recognition is good. Camera is pretty good - again it's improving with updates.
I think it's the best phone for the price.

I'm really happy with mine but yeah the fingerprint reader isn't the best but it's still a great phone

Have not had any problem with this phone. To be honest, worth every Penny I paid for it.

At the moment I don't have one as my contract is due for an upgrade in October. But I as usual I have been doing research about this device and I must say the pro out weighs the cons by a mile. All the you tube reviews from unboxing to month on reviews are all positive. I am even overlooking the A80 as the A70 offers so much more for my money. Stick to your phone bud. You are in the teething phase now

I have been using a V30 and S8+ for the last year (1 was a personal device and the other as work phone). Performance on both phones was identical, with the key differences being the camera (better on the v30) and the ergonomics (v30 won this as well). Most recently I purchased the A70 and have been using it as my daily driver for the last 2 weeks or so. I have the A70 setup exactly the same way as both the V30/S8+. Same apps, settings, etc. I can say from a performance point of view, I have not missed the V30/S8+ at all. The A70 runs the same apps without any noticeable performance difference. I am not a huge gamer but there are a few that are always installed on my phones.. and they run the exact same on the A70, as they did on the S8+/V30. I haven't seen a difference in load times, or graphics and performance has been the same. Camera quality is pretty good. I thought Id miss the wide angle from the V30 but the A70 has it as well. Front camera on the A70 is much better than both the S8 and the nearly useless front cam on the v30. Battery life is fantastic. I get 2 days usage from the A70, whereas the S8+ gave me 1 day. Audio quality to my ears is the same. That is a lot considering the A70 runs on the SD675 and the V30/S8+ on the SD 835. The display is crisp and what you expect from a samoled. I would say yes, the phone is def worth it. Removable storage, huge battery, fantastic 1080p display, BT 5.0. and great performance. This phone has met all my expectations.. and I am glad I bought this rather than an s10+ which is more than double the cost of this phone.

Hello,
As Stillriza I used a S8+ (for 2 years). I now have the A70 since 1.5 months. The fingerprint unlock is good since last software update (when it is difficult I honestly have an explication such as finger is just coming out of water, long pressure on the finger...).
The 32Mp camera is good outside by day but the quality decreases when the light is decreasing (much worse than the camera of the S8+).
I haven't notice any slowdons on apps compared to S8+.
The screen has a lower resolution than the S8+ one but bigger. It is really not visible and it is very good and effective in the sun.
I will keep this "pocket computer" for a long time. I think it really worth its price.
For that price

i owned the phone before, if you want my advice: forget samsung and go for xiaomi mi 9t (redmi k20) as i did, you will not regret it.

Yes i'm totally happy with my a70, not a perfect device but exceeded my expectations by miles
I will list cons only here:
1-white colour has a tint to it, but no problem may be the amoled nature or my calibration
2-prefer stock android, but one ui is so good
3-no twrp or easy root and custom roms yet, but i will wait
4-no stereo speakers, but the included speaker is loud enough
other than than all are pros not cons

I like it. it's not perfect but it has better native apps than most phones I've owned.
fingerprint sensor is nearly impossible to get to work
but the phone has a night mode for its settings. has a great onboard keyboard. it has its own app store, theme store.
File explorer is very usable. I'm off 3rd party apps for the most part.
The music app is super fast to load the artworks. Sees most artworks. takes 48 hours but indexed my 300GB music and loads entire list (all have artworks) in real time. Really imperfect but very fast, great music app by Samsung.
Then there is the RAM Memory optimizer under settings; device care; then memory button. On other phones I have had lately, this can take a long time. Have to go in apps in settings and do each one individually.

My phone gets 1 bar of signal strength less than my other phones but despite that I love this phone.
Fingerprint reader performance is livable. (A sweaty thumb on glossy glass is prone to cause difficulties with finger print reading, even on Iphones. So I can deal with it. - Try storing fingerprint data with a wet finger? Seems to have helped.)
The camera with the G-cam app is very good, and even so I still find myself using the Samsung camera app more often for its features and the polish of the app. - The panoramic shot is a full 360 degrees and better than my Iphone7. I like the hyperlapse and slowmotion. HOwever, this phone is definitely not a camera phone and won't take steady videos.
The native file explorer app and video player app are great.
The 20:9 aspect ratio is perfect for phones. You get so much usable real estate and yet a slimmer form factor that is much more practical for one handed use and for keeping in your pockets.
I love the ONE UI interface. I have it navigation bar set to invisble and I'm using gestures.
Compared to my previous phone it's thinner as well and feels great. It does not feel like a cheap phone at all. It feels solid and well produced.
I have the one in white. Paid $370 for it.

I got the samsung a70. I like the phone's 6.7 inch display. But the aspect ratio makes it a bit narrow. That's why I'm thinking about getting the huawei mate 20x which has a 7.2 inch screen. Do you think I should stay with this phone or buy the mate 20x?

kruc Ire said:
fingerprint sensor is nearly impossible to get to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Register 3 fingerprints of the same finger and it'll work seamlessly.

ok. I may try that. I have already but for some reason I deleted the first two or three, hoping one clear one.
Hey look at this RAM management screenshot. Whisked away Youtube's 150MB mess and a bunch of others.

Which one shuld i buy?
alsartawi said:
i owned the phone before, if you want my advice: forget samsung and go for xiaomi mi 9t (redmi k20) as i did, you will not regret it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am dueling between the A70 and the Mi9T, what made you change and how has been your experience with Mi 9T compared to the A70?

dieqohc said:
I am dueling between the A70 and the Mi9T, what made you change and how has been your experience with Mi 9T compared to the A70?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the only thing better in a70 is the battery and a little bit the screen colors "but with ugly notch"... as for performance, camera..etc the mi9t is a superb phone.

alsartawi said:
the only thing better in a70 is the battery and a little bit the screen colors "but with ugly notch"... as for performance, camera..etc the mi9t is a superb phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems like the Mi9T doesn't have an SD slot?

I have my A70 for a good amount of time to speak about it.
I really like the device. It's fast, reliable and it was a surprise to me that it can hold two sim cards and a microSD card at first. I remember that I was astornished by it's beautiful, shiny back, but that's a personal prefference. I only found 3 problems with this phone that gladly doesn't bother me that much.
Starting with the back, it's really, REALLY easy to scratch it. Mine, even if it was in the case, have some scuffs on the back. It's plastic, not as much resistable as the glass is, but I was aware of that when I was buying it. Kinda shame.
Secondly, the bezels are very small and I have big hands so sometinmes I touch the screen when I don't want to or being aware of. A bigger case like one of those armor cases should fix my issue, but that adds to the size of the phone which, I am not sure if I want right now.
Lastly, the cursed fingerprint scanner. It doesn't work all the times, but the updates seems to give it a bit of speed and accuracy, failed attempts to read out the fingerprint significantly decreases.
Overall. I think the phone is worth the money but again, that's my perspective.

Awangarde said:
I
Overall. I think the phone is worth the money but again, that's my perspective.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I own the a70. But I'm thinking of switching to the huawei mate 20x which has a 7.2 inch screen. Do you think its worth buying the mate 20x and selling the a70 for half an inch inch difference in screen size?
.

3 months since I bought this awesome phone. I have no regrets. Biggest pros are 2 sim + sd card simultaneously and the huge 4500 mah battery

From one reluctant Note fan to more confident ones

I'm sitting on a fence I've been scooting on for the past 2 phone upgrades. I currently have a Note 9 and in my head, the natural choice would be a Note 10+. That had been my thinking until Sprint released the OP7 Pro 5G. I know all the specs and all the differences between both on paper. I guess maybe I'm trying to get someone to convince me one way or another. I don't think I've seen a screen better than the ones on Samsung flagships and I'm afraid I'd be trading down if I went OP7. I know about the 90hz screen but since I've never seen it on a phone, I could live without it since I wouldn't know what I'm missing out on. At the same time, my s-pen use has dropped dramatically since I first used on on the Note 4 and honestly, I never use it unless I'm cropping a screenshot, which is rare. Someone just slap the ish out of me and tell me what to choose -_-
Edit: Forgot to mention, I live in Dallas. So I'd have access to Sprints 5G, as rudimentary as it is now. Hence the fence sitting

marky310 said:
I'm sitting on a fence I've been scooting on for the past 2 phone upgrades. I currently have a Note 9 and in my head, the natural choice would be a Note 10+. That had been my thinking until Sprint released the OP7 Pro 5G. I know all the specs and all the differences between both on paper. I guess maybe I'm trying to get someone to convince me one way or another. I don't think I've seen a screen better than the ones on Samsung flagships and I'm afraid I'd be trading down if I went OP7. I know about the 90hz screen but since I've never seen it on a phone, I could live without it since I wouldn't know what I'm missing out on. At the same time, my s-pen use has dropped dramatically since I first used on on the Note 4 and honestly, I never use it unless I'm cropping a screenshot, which is rare. Someone just slap the ish out of me and tell me what to choose -_-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Depends on how much you take selfies as well. The S-pen is good for snapping pictures like a remote that I enjoy. Also Dex to put the phone folders on the desktop is something that's cool. You're right though. Nothing beats the Samsung AMOLED screen. The screen is a little larger it looks like with the 6.8" than the One Plus at 6.67". Looks like the One Plus doesn't have wireless charging if you used that. Only other main differences is the battery on the Note 10+ is larger at 4300mAh vs the One Plus at 4000mAh. 91% screen to body ratio on the Note 10+ vs the 88.5% on the One Plus. I wouldn't worry too much regardless on which phone you get with 5G since 5G is very limited and very finicky right now. Sure, it might be better next year but they said it's a lot harder to maintain a 5G signal since it uses millimeter waves and much harder to penetrate through walls. I don't see 5G really getting steam until probably the end of next year going into 2021.

Water resistance. I own a pool that I use all the time and snap pictures of the family. The One+ it is t an option. Is this a few $100 to me... Yes.

marky310 said:
I'm sitting on a fence I've been scooting on for the past 2 phone upgrades. I currently have a Note 9 and in my head, the natural choice would be a Note 10+. That had been my thinking until Sprint released the OP7 Pro 5G. I know all the specs and all the differences between both on paper. I guess maybe I'm trying to get someone to convince me one way or another. I don't think I've seen a screen better than the ones on Samsung flagships and I'm afraid I'd be trading down if I went OP7. I know about the 90hz screen but since I've never seen it on a phone, I could live without it since I wouldn't know what I'm missing out on. At the same time, my s-pen use has dropped dramatically since I first used on on the Note 4 and honestly, I never use it unless I'm cropping a screenshot, which is rare. Someone just slap the ish out of me and tell me what to choose -_-
Edit: Forgot to mention, I live in Dallas. So I'd have access to Sprints 5G, as rudimentary as it is now. Hence the fence sitting
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
10+ 512GB 5G. When using 5G, it's like you are in a different planet. Truest me. And, as everyone else dumps their cell phone because it doesn't support 5G, you'll already be where you want to be.
Sent from my SM-N976V using Tapatalk

Note10+. I had the same battle basically, in my mind. Screen, DeX, s-pen, IP68, wireless charging, WAY better camera (that's what made up my mind), most premium feeling and looking phone around... Samsung just has an amazing thing going right now. This phone is the most incredible piece of technology I've ever owned. I'm coming from a Note9, which I previously thought was basically unbeatable (only upgraded due to the amazing deals). SO glad I chose this phone.

PsiPhiDan said:
Note10+. I had the same battle basically, in my mind. Screen, DeX, s-pen, IP68, wireless charging, WAY better camera (that's what made up my mind), most premium feeling and looking phone around... Samsung just has an amazing thing going right now. This phone is the most incredible piece of technology I've ever owned. I'm coming from a Note9, which I previously thought was basically unbeatable (only upgraded due to the amazing deals). SO glad I chose this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate all these answers. Its definitely reinforcing a lot of the feelings I have for the Note series. I really do feel like if I choose the 10+, I'd be just as happy as this. But I've always had an itch to try something new once the shine of a new note wears off. Part of me feels that may be due to the almost insignificant jump from the note 8 to 9 and I have a feeling going from 9 to 10+ would be a lot more impressive. I still have time to decide, but I really wanted to put feelers out whole I could. Thanks so much, dudes :laugh:

marky310 said:
I appreciate all these answers. Its definitely reinforcing a lot of the feelings I have for the Note series. I really do feel like if I choose the 10+, I'd be just as happy as this. But I've always had an itch to try something new once the shine of a new note wears off. Part of me feels that may be due to the almost insignificant jump from the note 8 to 9 and I have a feeling going from 9 to 10+ would be a lot more impressive. I still have time to decide, but I really wanted to put feelers out whole I could. Thanks so much, dudes :laugh:
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Thing is, you'll get the opposite answer from OnePlus 7 forums. They'll tell you to get the OP7 Pro because of the 90Hz screen, no hole punch camera, faster updates, faster overall UI (I sincerely doubt that any UI could be faster than this Note10+ on performance mode, Nova launcher, and 0.5 scale animations though... This is INSANE), and Oxygen OS instead of Samsung's bloated UI. That's what they'll say, whether true or not. So I hope you put out feelers on both sides or the battle wasn't fair! Either way, this phone is better for ME. Not sure what's better for you.

PsiPhiDan said:
Thing is, you'll get the opposite answer from OnePlus 7 forums. They'll tell you to get the OP7 Pro because of the 90Hz screen, no hole punch camera, faster updates, faster overall UI (I sincerely doubt that any UI could be faster than this Note10+ on performance mode, Nova launcher, and 0.5 scale animations though... This is INSANE), and Oxygen OS instead of Samsung's bloated UI. That's what they'll say, whether true or not. So I hope you put out feelers on both sides or the battle wasn't fair! Either way, this phone is better for ME. Not sure what's better for you.
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That's exactly what I did, lol. Made basically the same thread on the OP7 forum to gauge both sides. I think I'll come down to me trying both out in store and getting a feel for both.

I might be able to offer another opinion for you, but with the same results.
I was a pretty loyal iPhone fan for the longest time since the 3GS. I had a couple of forays into the Android world, with the OnePlus One and LG V20, because like you, I wondered what it was like on the other side. I really liked the OnePlus One, but a bad customer service experience turned me off to them until the 6T came out and I decided to try them again. I had the phone for less than 48 hrs before I brought the phone back for another iPhone.
Fast forward to August 2019 and I fell in love with the Note 10+ instantly. I had always wanted one but the Note 7(?) fiasco turned me away. I went in to Best Buy one day and got some hands on time with it, and I was hooked. It's the first time I've ever pre-ordered a phone, it was very exciting. Now that I've been using the phone for awhile, I can honestly say it's been a great experience. Camera, screen and the Samsung ecosystem are all top notch. And, no buyers' regret!

Anything but the Note 10 or 10+ It's not all rosy as it seems, the camera quality is sub par and you'll be constantly disappointed when you open the camera to take a pic. Call quality is not great because of the weird placement of the speakers. 60Hz display seems retarded compared to 90Hz, huge difference. Now I don't know One plus 7 camera quality but Pixel 4XL will definitely have much better camera. So coming from another Note 10+ owner don't buy this iteration, it's basically crap. I owned a note 8 and 5 prior to this. My next phone will definitely be a Pixel or One Plus.

cyanotrix said:
Anything but the Note 10 or 10+ It's not all rosy as it seems, the camera quality is sub par and you'll be constantly disappointed when you open the camera to take a pic. Call quality is not great because of the weird placement of the speakers. 60Hz display seems retarded compared to 90Hz, huge difference. Now I don't know One plus 7 camera quality but Pixel 4XL will definitely have much better camera. So coming from another Note 10+ owner don't buy this iteration, it's basically crap. I owned a note 8 and 5 prior to this. My next phone will definitely be a Pixel or One Plus.
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The camera is not sub par. It may not be the best, but it is definitely in the top 3 or 4. Also I have never, ever had a problem with call quality although I think that front facing speakers do sound better, but call quality and sound as it pertains to music or video are two different things. Fact is, it is only loudmess is only slightly less strong compared to the S10 (+), which has front facing speakers. This iteration isn't crap, but is different. If you are yearning for the productivity of yesteryear, wait for next years Note (or maybe the year after that). The S line and the Note line will probably be merged and the Fold will more than likely inherit the S-pen and become the new productivity device. Remember, even though the Pixel and OnePlus are great phones, the screens and the technology everyone is raving about, comes from Samsung. They also made the screens for the 3 and 3a. As for the 60Hz v. 90Hz debate, yes it is a noticable difference, but does that mean the Note experience sucks. No it doesn't suck and the fast charging is comparable to the OP7 Pro and it also offers fast wireless charging, as well as reverse wireles charging. While not necessary, wireless charging is extremely convenient. You can find wireless chargers in coffee shops resteraunts, airports and even in a lot of newer cars. Its great to be able to just throw your phone on the dash while driving across town and still have all of its fuctionality while its charging. In my opinion the Note 10+ is a great phone; overpriced, but a great phone none the less. BTW, I do own both Pixel and One Plus devices, as well as Xiaomi, Vivo and Huawei. So I do have several phones that I can compare against.

Question Switching from s21 ultra

Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks

brockyneo said:
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
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hi, i have switched from s21u(exy) and battery on p6 pro is amazing comparing to samsung(9h+ p6 pro / 6h s21u - same usage)(p6pro 42h/one charge / s21u/28h) . not only battery, i like the mini rounded corners of p6 pro, software is good enough(its new), will be better after fex fixes.

Thanks so would you say it's a good choice over the s21 ultra

brockyneo said:
Thanks so would you say it's a good choice over the s21 ultra
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yeah, right now best choice, i am selling my s21u

Thanks might get it ordered today and pass down the s21 ultra to the lad

After the Pixel 1 stopped getting updates two years ago, my wife and I finally upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ 512 GB model, because for the first couple of years after the Pixel 1, I was waiting to buy another Pixel until they came out with a 256 GB model, and then by the time they did, I needed a 512 GB model so I still waited.
The Note 10+ hardware is great. I hate the software. I use my personal phone for my work too, my work uses Google for everything, and apparently, it's common with Samsung devices that they have sporadic syncing of GMail and Chat/Hangouts. When I told my brother about the problem I was having (and I did try deep-diving settings about not optimizing for battery usage, and not killing in the background, and even factory reset), my brother, who had only just bought his family their first smartphones maybe 4 years ago and go the Galaxy S9+, said that he assumed that's just the way Android is. It's not. I never encountered such bad GMail and chat syncing and notification behavior on any other phone.
For chat-type notifications, it was hit and miss whether I would receive timely ones. I could never narrow down what made the difference. For GMail, sometimes I wouldn't get a notification of an email until 45 minutes to even 2 hours later. Multi-tasking on the work computer, sometimes I wouldn't look at my GMail browser tab for long periods of time, and my boss likes to use chat quite often too. Half the time, I did happen to see the email in the browser tab, read it, and even deleted it (for non-critical things), and then later on my Samsung would let me know I have that "new" email. I already saw it and deleted it! Crazy.
There were other things Samsung gimped compared to other phones (Do Not Disturb...), and it also managed to duplicate all my contacts in a way that they're not recognized as duplicates so they can't be automatically de-duped.
Thankfully, back on the P6P 512 GB bandwagon, I no longer have those issues, and we quickly sold our Note 10+'s. So my answer is I'd trade any Samsung for a Pixel. Loved the Samsung hardware, but the software just doesn't cut it for me. The only thing I miss from the Note is the stylus from time to time, which would be handy for Pixel's magic eraser when you have to really fine-tune some erasing.
Oh yeah - I haven't had any issues with my battery life in the month I've had the phone. For the last five years, I never quick charge any phone, I only charge once the phone gets down to 25%, and I take the phone off the charger at 75%. I never charge overnight. The Pixel 6/Pro have Adaptive Charge to help battery life, but my 25-75% battery range lasts me 24 hours normally anyway. I don't own any quick chargers except my original Pixel 1 charger, and I don't use it.

brockyneo said:
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
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If multiple days of battery life is a bad thing, or the camera is too good for you.... you might want to stick with the samdung.

brockyneo said:
Hi all I'm thinking of switching from my s21 ultra (exynos variant) but been hearing some bad reviews etc of bad battery life and not so good cameras etc on the pixel does any one who ownes a pixel 6 pro know if most of these have been fixed? And would people consider the pixel 6 pro over the s21 ultra or am I best waiting till the s22 thanks
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I did the same thing, and battery is good after about a week or two. You have to give the adaptive battery time to learn your habits. Not sure where you heard the camera is bad. That's the best part of the phone.

roirraW edor ehT said:
The only thing I miss from the Note is the stylus from time to time, which would be handy for Pixel's magic eraser when you have to really fine-tune some erasing.
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There are 10 billion options for capacitive screen pokey things on Amazon. I can't tell you which ones I have, because I can't read the font they used to identify themselves, but works pretty good.

Owning currently both devices here I can maybe share a few thoughts, subjective of course as many of those base on what I like/dislike:
Pro S21 Ultra:
+ build quality
+ display quality
+ overall maturity of the software
+ better standby drain
Pro Pixel 6 Pro:
+ genuine, clean Android with less bloat
+ snappier UI
+ active battery life
+ Camera: much lower noise and much better dynamic range in low light
+ Camera: less heavy-handed noise-reduction/resharpening
+ (slightly) less weight
+ much more development friendly (no hassle bootloader unlock without lost warranty, no Knox.....)
All in all I like both phones, what makes me moving back to the S21 Ultra (or maybe again Mi 11U) is memory - sadly Google only sells the P6P with max 256GB in Germany which I find a bit too small for my purpose.....
And a few more words on the camera: Samsung has its own way in image processing and in many cases this leads to loss of details in grass/leaves/.... which I dislike. The Pixel 6 Pro gives much better results here, as with many indoor shots specifically of pets/kids.... So overall I much prefer the Pixel camera, this doesn't mean the Samsung camera is bad, though - it isn't !

The only thing I like about my s21 ultra is the display screen. Other than that, 6 pro tops it off. (The 6 pro is on par with the iPhone 13 max's camera btw) With the exception of the video quality of course. The iPhone is still the king for shooting high quality videos.

I have both. These are the most notable differences that I have noticed in using both extensively over a few weeks.
Everything else not-mentioned seems the same/equivalent between the two devices.
Battery; The Samsung has better battery life out of the box, hands down. I regularly saw 7hour screen time and easily made it 24 hours or more on a single charge. The P6P gets about 4-5hours screen time and only about 20-22hours on a charge.
Can only hope the P6P gets better with updates. I returned my first P6P because I thought something was wrong with it. Unfortunately, the second one is the same. It's bad (for some people, but apparently not everyone).
Temperature; You have to try really hard to make the Samsung work up a sweat. The P6P seems to get warm at random times without much going on (browsing forums, for example). Then other times when you would expect it to get warm (watching videos), it runs perfectly cool. Very strange.
Camera; There's nothing better or easier than the P6P when trying to produce consistent great quality pictures. Despite superior hardware in the Samsung S21 Ultra, overall picture results are handicapped due to inferior software/processing, especially in portrait mode. It has gotten better with updates, but still gets beat handily by P6P.
Size and Weight; The P6P is more hand/pocket friendly. It is noticeably thinner and lighter than the S21 Ultra, making it more comfortable in the pockets that I carry it in (back pocket or front shirt pocket). The S21 Ultra feels like a small cinder block in the pocket compare to the P6P.
Charging; Despite better technical sheet specs for the P6P, it charges inconsistently and slower than the S21 Ultra. It's not by a small margin either, P6P takes about 2x longer.
It also tends to get warm to the point of thorttling during charging. The S21 Ultra is consistent, and charges very fast and doesnt get very warm (certainly never throttles).
Software; I suppose this could be preference. If you like the Samsung software look and feel, then it's perfectly fine. It really runs almost flawlessly compared to older TouchWiz crap from Samsung. I prefer the look and feel of pure android from Google.

Napa7m said:
I have both. These are the most notable differences that I have noticed in using both extensively over a few weeks.
Everything else not-mentioned seems the same/equivalent between the two devices.
Battery; The Samsung has better battery life out of the box, hands down. I regularly saw 7hour screen time and easily made it 24 hours or more on a single charge. The P6P gets about 4-5hours screen time and only about 20-22hours on a charge.
Can only hope the P6P gets better with updates. I returned my first P6P because I thought something was wrong with it. Unfortunately, the second one is the same. It's bad (for some people, but apparently not everyone).
Temperature; You have to try really hard to make the Samsung work up a sweat. The P6P seems to get warm at random times without much going on (browsing forums, for example). Then other times when you would expect it to get warm (watching videos), it runs perfectly cool. Very strange.
Camera; There's nothing better or easier than the P6P when trying to produce consistent great quality pictures. Despite superior hardware in the Samsung S21 Ultra, overall picture results are handicapped due to inferior software/processing, especially in portrait mode. It has gotten better with updates, but still gets beat handily by P6P.
Size and Weight; The P6P is more hand/pocket friendly. It is noticeably thinner and lighter than the S21 Ultra, making it more comfortable in the pockets that I carry it in (back pocket or front shirt pocket). The S21 Ultra feels like a small cinder block in the pocket compare to the P6P.
Charging; Despite better technical sheet specs for the P6P, it charges inconsistently and slower than the S21 Ultra. It's not by a small margin either, P6P takes about 2x longer.
It also tends to get warm to the point of thorttling during charging. The S21 Ultra is consistent, and charges very fast and doesnt get very warm (certainly never throttles).
Software; I suppose this could be preference. If you like the Samsung software look and feel, then it's perfectly fine. It really runs almost flawlessly compared to older TouchWiz crap from Samsung. I prefer the look and feel of pure android from Google.
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I think a lot of what you're putting down as negatives against P6P comes down to gservices and broken "pixel features". I'm running pure (google free) AOSP on mine. I pulled it off the charger this morning at 5:30 (7.5 hours ago). Currently have 1.5 hr screen on time and the battery is at 92%, and so far the battery gauge appears to be pretty linear. I've also NOT noticed ANY substantial heating up. It runs pretty cool consistently -- note that heat comes from the battery, so it makes sense.
Also, there is no magic battery BS in AOSP.

I upgraded from a Note 20 Ultra 512Gb and the battery on my P6P is phenomenal compared to the Note 20. There have been issues for some on the P6P but I've been using my 512Gb unlocked variant with no issue at all. Just make sure you set your P6P from scratch and don't transfer data from your S21 Ultra. Also the standby drain is the best I've ever had, took it off the charger at 9PM at 100% and at 8:30 the next morning was at 99%. Not everyone is having the same results that I have.

I had both for a while. S21 ultra for the last 9 months. Tested them side by side . I don't think the pixel is better than the s21 in any single way, they are actually so similar. I prefer the maturer Samsung email and calendar software but that's subjective. The biggest difference, which matters for me was that the pixel has more global 5g and LTE bands than the s21. I used Nova and mimicked the s21 completely. Really couldn't tell the difference except screen better on s21 IMHO.
if I didn't already own the s21 I would have bought the pixel but because they are so similar and it isn't an upgrade but more a move to the side, the change didn't make sense.

Display, build quality, signal quality and probably smoothness are all better on the s21U. However I prefer the camera on the P6P and also Pixel Android to OneUI. The S21U is a solid, well built device and I don't think the P6P is an upgrade, if anything it's a slight downgrade.

Thanks for all the replys I'm still on the fence at the minute lol,can I root the pixel 6 pro and have no problems like knox,drm keys etc like other devices have? And if ibdecude to want to unroot can it be returned back to totally factory as if it was never rooted? I haven't rooted for years and miss been able to uninstall apps etc and is viper4android still going strong or is there another app in its place thanks

Stick with the S21 Ultra. I went from a Note 20 Ultra to the Pixel 6 Pro. I love the camera, the better speakers, cleaner software experience, but overall it doesn't feel like an upgrade. The 5G reception is slightly worse, Android 12 has lots of quirks, charging speeds are much slower, and customization is currently very limited. It's possible that it will improve with updates and custom ROMs but its current state is underwhelming. To be honest, I'm already looking forward to the S22 Ultra.

brockyneo said:
Thanks for all the replys I'm still on the fence at the minute lol,can I root the pixel 6 pro and have no problems like knox,drm keys etc like other devices have? And if ibdecude to want to unroot can it be returned back to totally factory as if it was never rooted? I haven't rooted for years and miss been able to uninstall apps etc and is viper4android still going strong or is there another app in its place thanks
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Yep, no bad sides to rooting or later unrooting at all, just jump through some well established hoops as far as banking apps are concerned. It didn't bother me and it was the first time I ever did what I needed for safety net and banking apps to not know I'm rooted. No one can tell you ever had it rooted if you re-lock the bootloader after restoring to 100% stock and then factory reset, which will re-disable the OEM unlock option on Developer Options.
You just never can automatically update to each months OTA, have to follow the proper manual procedure to update and stay rooted. I did it every month for over three years that I had the Pixel 1.

If you value the camera, root and stock Android then get the Pixel. If you don't value those then stick with the S21U. I came from the S21U so I can honestly tell you that the S21U is definitely a better all around device but the fact that I can root really made my decision easier to go with the Pixel. No, the Pixel isn't any smoother than the S21U as I've had both; they are pretty much the same in the smoothness department. Anyone who disagrees is lying to themselves.