Thinking about a non-Samsung Android Phone

ChronoReverse said:
Well, the polarization orientation issue is if you're wearing polarized sunglasses, portrait (or was it landscape?) would be dark. After I put on the tempered glass protection, it's visible in either orientation (and has been for so long that I've forgotten which way was the problem).
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It's not the sunglass issue for me, it's the polarization effects even without the sunglasses caused a weird green wave of distortion, especially on a scroll view.

The Tianma panel from HTC 10 is a complete junk. Sharp panel doesnt have that issue for me, but too hard to find one these days.
 
Hmm, never noticed that myself (I'm fairly certain I have the Tianma panel) and I'm pretty sensitive to scrolling effects (AMOLED screens all the way up to the Note 5 bug me because I can detect the smearing that occurs). Was this something that occurred with all the Tianma panels?
 
ChronoReverse said:
Hmm, never noticed that myself (I'm fairly certain I have the Tianma panel) and I'm pretty sensitive to scrolling effects (AMOLED screens all the way up to the Note 5 bug me because I can detect the smearing that occurs). Was this something that occurred with all the Tianma panels?
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Almost all the Tianma panel I have tested have the same problem. Thats why I end up with refund...
Some people can see it, some people can't for some reason.
 
Might be something that needs to be seen side by side or specifically looked for then. I better not figure it out or I might not be able to unsee it lol
 
Yea probably not Chrono. I don't know that would bother me all that much, but I'd bet I could pick it out. It's like going to someone's house and they have on that crappy motion enhancement setting. I can pick that out 100% of the time from across the room. I can point it out and some people simply can't see it, but it drives me up the wall.
 
Got the Pixel XL in. Guy was not bulshitting when he said it was "mint." You would be hard pressed to tell that it was ever used. Even had the original screen wrap on it and that was the only thing that looked touched.
 
Only issue I've had as of late, which isn't uncommon from all the research I've done, is it seemingly randomly decides to start synching who knows what kind of data, and the upload saturates my internet connection causing all devices to essentially lose internet access.
I thought maybe due to pictures, but the issue would occur even when I had not taken any new photos.
Though I don't believe I had ever experienced the issue until the 7.1.2 update released earlier this month. But at the same time, I only received the phone the last week of March.
I know it's the fault of the phone, as the issue disappears shortly after turning off the phone's wireless or rebooting it.

Pixel user group forums have other reports of the same issue; the Pixel synching data and saturating upstream bandwidth.
 
Eradan said:
Be interested to hear your thoughts on the Pixel once you get settled in.
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Well, after getting a bit familiar with it, I am freaking loving it.

Just a few notes that I can comment on.

Fingerprint sensor on back I though I would not like. Love it, works perfect, easy, and extremely quick. I am actually pretty much amazed as I guess the last one I dealt with was S3....

Screen is beautiful. UI is lightning quick. Camera is tits.

Apps are blazing fast. Google assistant does not seem to be tremendously better than what I had on the S5. We will see.

I was expecting terrible sound giving how all the review bagged on the speakers, but these are loud and sound as good as any I have heard.

The Spigen tempered glass cover feels and works as well as the OE screen. Cleans up quickly with a sleeve rub. The Spigen case I got with the phone as well is very nice.

Anyway, that is what I got for now.
 
You can get any in this list
Low price - Honor 6x
Mid price - OP3T
High price - Pixel
But personally, for hardcore go with the OnePlus 3T
 
Charged to 95% on the evening of the 25th and have not plugged it in since. Used the Pixel XL a fair amount yesterday, although I would not call it a heavy usage day.

Screenshot_20170427-113505.png

Screenshot_20170427-113515.png
 
Tiberian said:
Just to ask: are you a full brightness kinda person (like the majority is) or do you manually adjust it to whatever you need (or maybe something automatic, I don't know the inner workings of the Pixel devices and if they offer an automatic adjustment feature)? I see people using full brightness so much these days and then they wonder why they're getting bad battery life - that's not saying you're not with that Pixel XL, just saying that if people would actually lower their brightness to like 40-60% most of the time they're using their devices they'd get much longer battery life per charge.

I rarely ever use more than 40-50% on my devices unless I am outside in direct sunlight then I'll push it to about 90% but no more than that, I get much better battery life per charge than other people using the same devices per their reports (currently using an LG V20 with the factory 3200 mAh battery). The displays are still the biggest overall drains on smartphones, even if they have OLED-based technology (in which case you want things darker for power savings as often as possible, on LCD panels using brighter colors aka a lot of white actually uses less power because more of the backlight is allowed through).

Anyway, just curious about the brightness aspect if you can comment on your particular pattern of usage.
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I have left the screen set at auto adjustment and it has been great for viewing, inside, outside, sunlight, dark.

The setting is referred to as "adaptive brightness" in the menu.
 
NoOther said:
The one annoying thing I find is anytime I seem to pick up the phone or move it, the time display comes up.
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Yep, there is a setting for that. Search "Moves" in the settings menu, the bottom toggle is "Lift to Check Phone." That will turn it off.
 
So what do you think, Kyle? Ready to trade that Pixel for something else yet? I've had my XL since Friday and love it. Astonished how much faster it is than my iPhone 6. It ain't perfect...i've had to reboot a few times for various issues but really digging it.
 
Im late to the party.. but I would have said the g6 since T-Mobile already dropped it to 500 & you still get the google home.

I bought the g6 at 650 on pre-order & dont feel bad about it at all. I havent used the Pixel phones other then a few minutes, but of everything else out the g6 was my first choice by far (including the s8 since I got hands on with it a couple months before release & did not like the curved display at all, same with the previous curved display samsung's).
 
bastage said:
Im late to the party.. but I would have said the g6 since T-Mobile already dropped it to 500 & you still get the google home.

I bought the g6 at 650 on pre-order & dont feel bad about it at all. I havent used the Pixel phones other then a few minutes, but of everything else out the g6 was my first choice by far (including the s8 since I got hands on with it a couple months before release & did not like the curved display at all, same with the previous curved display samsung's).
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I wanted to love the Galaxy phones. Design-wise they're shit hot. Software? Not so much. Who knows...maybe I'd be happy happy to day-to-day with Touchwiz.
 
Eradan said:
So what do you think, Kyle? Ready to trade that Pixel for something else yet? I've had my XL since Friday and love it. Astonished how much faster it is than my iPhone 6. It ain't perfect...i've had to reboot a few times for various issues but really digging it.
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I usually do not get excited about phones, but I friggin love this thing. I am still getting used to the way I need to unlock with my finger, but the fingerprint sensor is buttery smooth and quick as lighting. It is just a muscle memory thing. Battery life is stellar. Screen is stellar.

Have not gotten to take any real good pictures yet. Bunnies in the yard with cloudy skies, and turtle in the yard in the sun. And pictures of Xrays on a screen....

bunnies.jpg turtle.jpg finger.jpg
 
Chinese companies are slowly catching up and pulling ahead of the competition (Samsung/Apple). Xiaomi and Huawei are quite inventive. Also, I like some of ZTE Phones (For example Nubia Z11). Now Chinese phones need a bit of tinkering (unless you buy one of those that are made for the western market) but they are usually giving you tutorials on how to install Google apps, etc. Also some phones might not work at all depending on your carrier/region.
Honestly, just look at Xiaomi Mi Mix. There should be Mi Mix 2 coming out at the end of the year. There is nothing like it on the market. Just prototypes, but this is a full functioning phone.
I feel like the only thing Samsung has going for their phones is AMOLED screen and Apple their software support. There's nothing that makes me go "Wow!" with their phones.
 

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Nebell said:
Chinese companies are slowly catching up and pulling ahead of the competition (Samsung/Apple). Xiaomi and Huawei are quite inventive. Also, I like some of ZTE Phones (For example Nubia Z11). Now Chinese phones need a bit of tinkering (unless you buy one of those that are made for the western market) but they are usually giving you tutorials on how to install Google apps, etc.
Honestly, just look at Xiaomi Mi Mix. There should be Mi Mix 2 coming out at the end of the year. There is nothing like it on the market. Just prototypes, but this is a full functioning phone.
I feel like the only thing Samsung has going for their phones is AMOLED screen and Apple their software support. There's nothing that makes me go "Wow!" with their phones.
Click to expand...


Wake me up when they will work on Verizon without jumping through massive hooks, usually to still not be able to voice call.
 
Nebell said:
Chinese companies are slowly catching up and pulling ahead of the competition (Samsung/Apple). Xiaomi and Huawei are quite inventive. Also, I like some of ZTE Phones (For example Nubia Z11). Now Chinese phones need a bit of tinkering (unless you buy one of those that are made for the western market) but they are usually giving you tutorials on how to install Google apps, etc. Also some phones might not work at all depending on your carrier/region.
Honestly, just look at Xiaomi Mi Mix. There should be Mi Mix 2 coming out at the end of the year. There is nothing like it on the market. Just prototypes, but this is a full functioning phone.
I feel like the only thing Samsung has going for their phones is AMOLED screen and Apple their software support. There's nothing that makes me go "Wow!" with their phones.
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OMG that Mi MIX is sexy AF :eek:
 
Johnny78 said:
So fast, buttery smooth, amazing camera, and just all around awesome phone.
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And the battery life is AMAZING. I have already gotten in the habit of not having to make it a habit to charge my phone. Opps, did not charge it last night....no biggy...will have plenty of time today.

Question on that case. I have the habit of resting the phone on my pinkie finger as I hold it, and it is usually blocking the charging port. On the Spigen cases the edges around it are sort of sharp and get uncomfortable after a while. What about the one you have linked. It looks beveled.... Also, the hole in the case around the camera on the Spigen is a bit small which makes it a bit hard to clean while on the run.
 
The outer shell is a polycarbonate material. I sometimes do the pinkie hold as well and I haven't noticed an uncomfortable feel. The camera opening is larger than others which makes it easier to clean the lens. My last caseology had a much smaller opening for the lens which made it harder to clean.

Its a really nice case IMO because it has actual drop grade protection (some cases look nice but won't do squat if you actually drop the phone) but its not over bulky like an otterbox. It actually looks very sleek and stylish and its also got a built in kickstand which is very handy for setting the phone down and watching something while multi tasking.

Heres some pics of the things you mentioned.



 
Johnny78 said:
The outer shell is a polycarbonate material. I sometimes do the pinkie hold as well and I haven't noticed an uncomfortable feel. The camera opening is larger than others which makes it easier to clean the lens. My last caseology had a much smaller opening for the lens which made it harder to clean.

Its a really nice case IMO because it has actual drop grade protection (some cases look nice but won't do squat if you actually drop the phone) but its not over bulky like an otterbox. It actually looks very sleek and stylish and its also got a built in kickstand which is very handy for setting the phone down and watching something while multi tasking.

Heres some pics of the things you mentioned.



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Going to grab one and give it a try. Fingerprint hole is a bit bigger too. Thanks a mil for the heads up. And yes, the Spigen Glass cover is friggin awesome.
 
ScottHerman said:
I'd check out the new Moto G5 Plus.. Got mine last week and I absolutely love it
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Just to anyone reading this thread.
If you can't afford the big ride and especially if you are coming from Windows Phone and want to get on Android and try it out without dropping a gold brick, I bought a Moto G5 Plus as well and am absolutely loving it.
Fucking awesome.
 
I got several cases for my XL when it arrived, the Caseology Parallax is by far my favorite. Slim, strong, grippy enough, and the fingerprint hole is plenty large enough.
 
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HeavensCloud said:
I got several cases for my XL when it arrived, the Caseology Parallax is by far my favorite. Slim, strong, grippy enough, and the fingerprint hole is plenty large enough.
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I have the parallax case as well. It's my second favorite case. It's a great looking case. I rate the Verus slightly above it because the cuts are slightly bigger and also it has the kickstand.
 
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Hitti2 said:
Waze! lol
I'll put together a list of non rooted apps that are great. I wonder if there is an app to pull list of apps installed. I'll have to investigate.
Click to expand...


Hey Kyle. I noticed from your screen shot that your battery percentage is not on. You have to enable system UI tuner and its under status bar. It's turned off by default for some reason. Also if you haven't already and if you want to, under notifications click on the tool widget and turn on pulse notification light. That enables the tiny colored notifications on the front of the phone when texts and other things come in. Again another thing that's off by default out of the box.
 
Johnny78 said:
Hey Kyle. I noticed from your screen shot that your battery percentage is not on. You have to enable system UI tuner and its under status bar. It's turned off by default for some reason. Also if you haven't already and if you want to, under notifications click on the tool widget and turn on pulse notification light. That enables the tiny colored notifications on the front of the phone when texts and other things come in. Again another thing that's off by default out of the box.
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Very cool, thanks, will do that. However, it seems to be something that I have not really found that I have needed considering how long the damn battery lasts. I charged it before I went to bed and woke up this morning and looked at battery usage.....said it would last another 11 days. I wish I could have slept that long.... :)
 
And yeah, been using the pulse notifications light. Hard to see unless you are looking for it, which is kind of nice at night.
 
Also to enable developer options click build number under the about phone section 7 times to get some more options enabled.
 
I LOVE this phone. I wish I was smart enough to take screen shots on it. :)
 
Surprised no one has mentioned Sony.

Their new line up should be great comparatively to Samsung. I guess most people don't want to pay the price though. I'm still using Z5 ultra which works really well. Water proof and can support 256gig cards like the newer phones. Also has a 4k screen(overrated hooplah) but works great and looks crisp.
 
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