Are you among the many people to buy a fancy new Nexus 7, only to realize that the wifi reception on the tablet is comparable to a potato's? Or maybe you tablet took a tumble and now your bars have left you for dead? Well if either of these are are your case look no further.
This is a guide on how to fix the crappy wifi reception and transmission on your nexus 7.
What you'll need:
-Electronics opening tool (The kind meant for disengaging clips)
-Some small wire (I used 30 awg single-strand)
-Solder (And also preferably flux)
-Intermediate soldering skills
This guide will show you what I did to fix my Nexus 7's terrible wifi reception. One the tabs on my nexus was broken, causing a bad but still present wifi connection. Doing this will help you go from 1-2 bars to 3 or 4. For those more technically informed around 30-40db to 60-70db. When I look at my connection in dd-wrt the connection has gone from peaking at 20% to stable at 45% (the same as my laptop's connection mind you)
The magic thing to this fix? Soldering the points on the motherboard to the points on the case where the antenna is located. Normally this connection is with 2 gold tabs the touch the points on the back.
Start with the guide on ifixit.com. I tried to add a link but was not allowed too because I am a new member.
This is extremely easy to open and you would almost have to try to mess it up.
Once you have the tablet open you will see a few spots where there are the golden tabs that stick up. Also on the back there are contact points where these tabs meet. You will be joining the tabs to the pads with wire instead of just surface contact. Here you can see the side of the tablet where the wifi transmitter is. It is right of the battery and below the sticker with some barcodes. All you need to do is cut a couple wires an inch to two inches or so, and solder them to the tabs and then their corresponding pads on the backing.
I broke off my second tab as my first tab was already broken and no where to be found. I also added a little bit of hot glue to secure the wires and also to stop them from bridging the points.
This took me about 15 to open, do, and close up. When you are closing up the case just gently push the wires indside the case so they are not in the way of the clips.
I am not responsible if you mess up your device doing this. If you have any doubts please just send your tablet in for repair. That being said this is very easy and was of great benefit to me.
I tried to add pictures in the guide but since this is my first post I am not able too. I have them attached
Very helpful! Thanks a bunch for this!
No problem. I was so frustrated with my tablets WiFi before I looked inside, and wanted to help others avoid the same difficulties. I think the tab was actually just wedged in place between the contacts,but still was broken. PS if you WiFi already works well this isn't going to help a ton. My friends nexus 7 has always had 4 bars in my house and mine use to only get 4 within a foot of the router. But if your tablet has bad WiFi this will most likely help.
Will keep that in mind. This should be stickied.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
No, please do not stickie this. What the cats meow has done is to de-tune the output of the wifi amplifier.
To put it simply, he should have just bent out the clips slightly to make better contact with the wifi antenna on the inside of the back cover.
By adding this wire, not only has the wifi RF amplifier been de-tuned due to some randome wavelength of wire added, but the reception will also suffer. It's also no longer FCC type approved and could be radiating spurious RFI around not to mention picking up RFI generated from the CPU and power supply circuits (around the area to the left in the image).
In layman's terms, the wifi radio is designed to transmit maximum power and receive maximum signal using the antenna connected via those two clips. It's a very specific match for this to happen. Modifying the connection by adding a length of unshielded wire screws up this match and can cause the output stage of the wifi transmitter to actually cut back its power due to this mis-match.
Any device that transmits radio energy in the US has to be FCC type approved and the testing is quite strict to ensure equipment doesn't radiate signals in a way that will affect other radio systems.
Owners of Nexus 7 devices should NOT make this mod. Just bend out the clips slightly and clean the contact on the antenna strip to ensure good contact. The contacts are made of phosphor-bronze and they can break easily if bent too much.
I almost agree with that de-tuned FCC mumbo jumbo
But I kinda did the same thing... But added an SMA connector and have hooked it up to huge 19dBi panel antennas and pulled WiFi signals from over a mile away....even posted a thread about it here.... And it works beautiful... With all sorts of antennas...
I agree that his method of adding unshielded lengths of wire isn't the "best" way to go about your business but with the broken pin he had in there he did the best he new how and made it work
Yes, you used shielded coax and assumed the impedance of the external antenna is matched. Big difference with what thecatsmeow did.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
I understand the reasoning with the unshielded wire picking up interference and also the timing being off. Your are right, one should just bend the pins to get better contact with the pads on the back of the casing. That's actually what I set out to do. Even though technically my WiFi is now miscalibrated, the fact is that it is a drastic improvement over what it was. I am just trying to show people what I did to fix my problem. I will edit your information into my post and recommend that people try to bend the tabs if at all possible. However, being that my nexus 7 is 1 week old and I haven't even dropped it I am probably not alone with a having a broken tab.
See for me I stopped reading the op when he stated the signal went from -30-40 to -60-70. That statement shows a loss in rf signal.
If you had -30-40 to begin with you wouldn't have any WiFi problems.
Not a good idea to do this mod. Just the soldering and dissimilar metals alone make for impedance mismatches.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
I have that listed the wrong way. I had -60-70 but now I have -30-40. No one said you had to do this mod. But for some like me who have a broken connector this could be helpful. The impedance of air is a lot more than the impedance of lead and copper.
An antenna is a closed loop. Impedance matters !
You would be better off finding the exact part needed for repair.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
And where you can find these parts?Mr smart pant!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Seeing as its so new, what stopped you returning it for a repair under warranty
I has broke 1 of 2 golden tabs, but i still keep it. How can i reconnect this tab to the Nexus 7? Using glue? Is it a good idea? My wifi is very bad now...
I wonder if the people having issues with wifi, might be due to having to many neighbors broadcasting on the same frequency and many on the same channel.
I recently bought a new wifi router just for this reason (shame the n7 doesn't have duel band, but my n4 does)
This has solved my issue completely, except for YouTube but I am suspecting g that might be out of my hands.
Anyone looking around for a new router I got this one from newwegg
Never heard of the brand but it's been great
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315100
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
BrianDigital said:
I wonder if the people having issues with wifi, might be due to having to many neighbors broadcasting on the same frequency and many on the same channel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Possibly - but it's way off-topic for this thread. The OP (and others) did repairs of broken devices where the external antenna was effectively disconnected. Nobody should regard the methods of this thread to be a way of *improving* their signal strength unless they are sure they have a broken device (or are planning on modding their device to add an external directional antenna)
For reference purposes, my (correctly functioning) N7 WiFi + WiFi router exhibit the following line-of-sight signal strength (observed using farproc's "WiFi Analyzer" app on the N7) :
-22 dBm @ 10ft
-33 dBm @ 20ft
The above values are the best-case that I observed; at the same locations I can observe up to 10 dBm attenuation simply due to orientation changes of the tablet. (That is expected as neither the router nor the tablet have isotropic antenna gain patterns - both amplitude and polarization)
The point of this is that even if interference is present, it won't effect the observed signal strength - and nobody should be using the hardware mods in this thread unless their signal strength is terrible - even when very close to the router.
The points made by bigbop earlier in the thread are well worth reading. The mod proposed by the OP should only be used in dire circumstances.
nhutquang972012 said:
I has broke 1 of 2 golden tabs, but i still keep it. How can i reconnect this tab to the Nexus 7? Using glue? Is it a good idea? My wifi is very bad now...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes... "glue" which is made from 100% solder.
What you should try to do is to create a fix that re-creates the missing "golden tab". It needs to be very conductive (that's why most glues are completely out of the question), and it should be ideally no bigger than the original. A very short piece of small wire could be used - emphasis on "short", as in mm, not cm. The further you depart from the original geometry, the worse your fix will be. (But even a bad fix will be better than what you have now - which is no antenna at all).
good luck
[Edit]
Here's an idea that might work - using a Fuzz Button. They have built-in compliancy and are manufactured in a variety of lengths and diameters. I suppose you could even solder the periphery of one to the remaining pad. No clue where to go to buy two or three or a dozen, though. Mouser Electronics maybe?
bftb0 said:
Yes... "glue" which is made from 100% solder.
What you should try to do is to create a fix that re-creates the missing "golden tab". It needs to be very conductive (that's why most glues are completely out of the question), and it should be ideally no bigger than the original. A very short piece of small wire could be used - emphasis on "short", as in mm, not cm. The further you depart from the original geometry, the worse your fix will be. (But even a bad fix will be better than what you have now - which is no antenna at all).
good luck
[Edit]
Here's an idea that might work - using a Fuzz Button. They have built-in compliancy and are manufactured in a variety of lengths and diameters. I suppose you could even solder the periphery of one to the remaining pad. No clue where to go to buy two or three or a dozen, though. Mouser Electronics maybe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to welding shop and everything was solved, even wifi is better than before. Thanks for your help.
Sent from my Nexus 7 running Cyanogenmod 10.1 - Android 4.2.2 - Franco kernel r47 using Tapatalk HD
bftb0 said:
Possibly - but it's way off-topic for this thread. The OP (and others) did repairs of broken devices where the external antenna was effectively disconnected. Nobody should regard the methods of this thread to be a way of *improving* their signal strength unless they are sure they have a broken device (or are planning on modding their device to add an external directional antenna)
For reference purposes, my (correctly functioning) N7 WiFi + WiFi router exhibit the following line-of-sight signal strength (observed using farproc's "WiFi Analyzer" app on the N7) :
-22 dBm @ 10ft
-33 dBm @ 20ft
The above values are the best-case that I observed; at the same locations I can observe up to 10 dBm attenuation simply due to orientation changes of the tablet. (That is expected as neither the router nor the tablet have isotropic antenna gain patterns - both amplitude and polarization)
The point of this is that even if interference is present, it won't effect the observed signal strength - and nobody should be using the hardware mods in this thread unless their signal strength is terrible - even when very close to the router.
The points made by bigbop earlier in the thread are well worth reading. The mod proposed by the OP should only be used in dire circumstances.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
so i should read those points even though i no plans to hot glue some wires to my tablet. it might be off-topic for this thread, but since someone might read the general "fix bad wifi" topic thought id like to give me experience
can i ask you then why do routers have different frequencies they broadcast on, since everyone can be on one and not cause an issue then
i attached a screen shot, the one at the most left is my original wifi network the one at the most right is the new one, the middle one is my next door neighbor, and it will lower in DB while mine drops spuratically. now my new router is in teh exact same spot as the the old router.
Just saying sometimes some one doesn't need to reinvent the wheel when its not going to help
BrianDigital said:
so i should read those points even though i no plans to hot glue some wires to my tablet. it might be off-topic for this thread, but since someone might read the general "fix bad wifi" topic thought id like to give me experience
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you mean by the first sentence, but I will agree that the thread title is quite misleading, and possibly the reason why the thread got down voted.
@OP if you are reading, consider changing the title to "Broken WiFi Antenna Contacts Fix"
BrianDigital said:
can i ask you then why do routers have different frequencies they broadcast on, since everyone can be on one and not cause an issue then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But in fact devices talking to the same router do interfere! A single radio channel is a shared medium analogous to an old-fashioned coax Ethernet or Ethernet hub - a collision segment. There is only a total bandwidth available for sharing amongst all devices on the segment/channel. The only reason that two clients talking to two different APs on the same radio channel is worse than two clients talking to a single AP is that in the single AP case, the clients are better synchronized in time by virtue of sequential ACK packet pacing by the AP (in addition to other AP coordination mechanisms). That coordination does not exit between unrelated APs on the same radio channel. So that's why there are multiple frequencies: to get away from your neighboring APs!
The other thing which is quantitatively different about shared radio channels in comparison to old-fashioned collision segments (hubs/thin-net coax, etc) is that the signal amplitude range in WiFi is huge: -25 dBm to -85 dBm is a factor of one million in signal strength. So, where even a tiny overlap/collision on an old-fashioned Ethernet collision segment would be fatal (all devices are nearly the same amplitude), that's not quite as true with WiFi: if both ends of an AP<->client station see each other at 30dB higher than all other stations on the same channel, so long as the packet has already started, the nearby signals literally smash the far away signals.
BrianDigital said:
i attached a screen shot, the one at the most left is my original wifi network the one at the most right is the new one, the middle one is my next door neighbor, and it will lower in DB while mine drops spuratically. now my new router is in teh exact same spot as the the old router.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't doubt that some WiFi routers do a better job of their antenna design / matching than others. The thing to be aware of when making measurements is that RF propagation is a squirrelly thing - it is easy to get a 10 dB change in signal strength without even altering the distance from the AP - rotate your tablet slowly though different axes with that WiFi Analyzer app running and have a look. And of course, huge variations from place to place within your residence. ( If you were seeing BIG drops with your old router - say more than 20 dBm - then either it has hardware troubles, or possibly you are seeing a measurement artifact from non-WiFi radio interference (ISM band devices such as microwave ovens, portable phones etc) )
good luck
Related
I've tried searching, and got no results, so would appreaciate if anyone could help with advice about how to set up an external antenna for the HD2.
The reason for asking is I'm off on a yacht race around GB & Ireland in June, in the absence of a budget that runs to Iridium sat phone connection, we are considering using the HD2 for downloading weather info onto the PC navigation software through the USB/modem feature. An external antenna, mounted on the mast (ie 16 metres higher) would increase the range dramatically. (Other option is we put the HD2 in a plastic bag on top of the mast and run a LONG USB cable up it )
6times7 said:
I've tried searching, and got no results, so would appreaciate if anyone could help with advice about how to set up an external antenna for the HD2.
The reason for asking is I'm off on a yacht race around GB & Ireland in June, in the absence of a budget that runs to Iridium sat phone connection, we are considering using the HD2 for downloading weather info onto the PC navigation software through the USB/modem feature. An external antenna, mounted on the mast (ie 16 metres higher) would increase the range dramatically. (Other option is we put the HD2 in a plastic bag on top of the mast and run a LONG USB cable up it )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being a radioamateur myself, I can assure you that the GSM and UMTS frequencies the HD2 uses are 'line-of-sight' frequencies. It really does not matter much to put it on a pole 16 meters high, sorry... Maybe you will receive the mast's signal better, but the mast will not recieve your HD2's signal that much better...
Rene
Hear what you're saying pa2ra, but line of sight is d=sqrt(13h), where d = distance and h = height above sea level. So at a height of 1.7m I'll get a range of 4.7 km, at 18m (ie 16m mast +2m boat) I'll get 15.3km - enough of a difference to consider an external antenna
have you thought about signal booster? you can get them from 50$ to 2000+$ depending how strong signal boost you need. those are meant for situations like yours.
those got good antenna, and repeat it to close range.
http://www.mobilesignalbooster.co.uk/
there are tons more, google is friend with "mobile signal booster"
And to answer the original question, the HD2 doesn't have an external antenna connection.
Hear what you're saying pa2ra, but line of sight is d=sqrt(13h), where d = distance and h = height above sea level. So at a height of 1.7m I'll get a range of 4.7 km, at 18m (ie 16m mast +2m boat) I'll get 15.3km - enough of a difference to consider an external antenna
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Could be a good start to tell us how much range you actually need... as it sounds it could be 1km as well as 200, and we're not necessarily enough into boating to know where a race takes place, hence the answer about line of sight
How about these:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/b32e/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/9823/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/b8a0/
Thanks all, seems like the signal booster would be the way to go - however at those prices we could afford a sat phone connection - guess I was hoping to be able to plug an existing co-ax in somehow, and achieve the desired result on the cheap!
FWIW - race starts and finishes in Plymouth, so we race around the coast of GB & Ireland - shouldn't be more than 50 miles off land at any point, which would be well out of range at deck level, but might pick up a signal at the top of the mast.
chvvkumar said:
How about these:
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/b32e/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/9823/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/b8a0/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not suited for GSM / UMTS phones. I think these are only to be used in USA/Canada
6times7 said:
shouldn't be more than 50 miles off land at any point, which would be well out of range at deck level, but might pick up a signal at the top of the mast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. Then I'd rather take some cheap phone that does data connection instead of the HD2. Firstly cause it would suck to have such an expensive device up there IMO, and secondly cause the HD2 isn't renowned to have the best signal reception out there.
kilrah said:
Okay. Then I'd rather take some cheap phone that does data connection instead of the HD2. Firstly cause it would suck to have such an expensive device up there IMO, and secondly cause the HD2 isn't renowned to have the best signal reception out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I was thinking of sacrificing the iPhone I upgraded from, but the tethering charges are horrendous
Any ideas on the cheap phone with data connection, that has an external antennae, preferably on a co-ax connection, would now be appreciated.
You could put a MiFi device at the top of the mast?
The old school T-mobile dash actually has an external antenna connector on it hidden under a plug...and it's pretty old, uses T-mobile frequencies, and is relatively cheap to buy outright now. Plus it's Winmo, and has built-in tether/usb capabilities.
~Jasecloud4
I have done some research to get a decent signal for 3g to my HTC HD2 at my caravan. I found that you can get aerials with a cable terminating in a Modem Mate coupler which can be attached to your phone close to its internal aerial (bottom LHS on back of HD2) or to a usb modem. Only snag is the loss along the cable - normally supplied with 5m. I guess you could get an extension cable if you can tolerate the loss. Supplied by connextech.co.uk search for 3g external in their search box. ( URL not allowed in my post)
So last week, I ordered a bluetooth OBDII scanner off of ebay for $35 in the states, or you can get it for $25 from Hong Kong and wait 3 weeks for shipping. Anywho, I installed all the CWM GPS fixes that Da_G has posted and they greatly improved my already decent GPS, took a 45 minute drive and only lost track 4 times.
I just received my bluetooth OBDII scanner and synced it up with my car and played with it with the Torque app and tinkered with the settings. While it was syncing, I noticed the satellite icon on the status bar had a lock, so I decided to take that same 45 minute drive, with navigation on, and it led me here turn by turn without dropping lock and with the accuracy within feet.
I'm still out driving around, but I will update this post more and take screenshots and post them when I get home later.
Screenshots. When I go back out tomorrow, I'll see if I can record a screencast as well.
Can I get a link for the scanner you bought please?
nevermind, i found them.....
Looks like an awesome tool..... I might just order this!
Please post a link...I need to get this
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=ob...scanner&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
Any one of these will work, you just decide how much you want to pay
And just download Torque from the market. I recommend the full version, it is worth it.
hate to say it but I moved on to the streak and I get a lock instantly and it is spot on to 1 meter and works perfectly in any doors.
I am convinced the built in GPS is far superior to the Samsung engineering.
When I had my captivate I thought my GPS was great. Wow was I wrong.
Still running stock 2.2 on my streak with zero mods and it is easily twice as fast speed wise then my craptivate with phoenix/firefly
I wish there was a class action lawsuit against Samsung. They lost me totally from buying any of here products ever again.
Why am I here? lurking for cool bits and pieces for my streak. Latest gem was Armani font.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
I already get ok gps from samsung. Not as well as my previous htc but for the price I will be giving this tool a try
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Regardless of fixing the GPS, the actual tool is still pretty useful for people that like to know what's going on with their car. All the features in the app are spot on - RPM, MPH, voltage, vacuum, MPG's, horsepower, torque - All the readings for me are dead accurate.
So for me, this app + the bluetooth scan tool were a great buy. The improved GPS was just a perk
vunuts said:
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=ob...scanner&_osacat=0&_trksid=p3286.c0.m270.l1313
Any one of these will work, you just decide how much you want to pay
And just download Torque from the market. I recommend the full version, it is worth it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks mate , I will check that out!
Krad said:
hate to say it but I moved on to the streak and I get a lock instantly and it is spot on to 1 meter and works perfectly in any doors.
I am convinced the built in GPS is far superior to the Samsung engineering.
When I had my captivate I thought my GPS was great. Wow was I wrong.
Still running stock 2.2 on my streak with zero mods and it is easily twice as fast speed wise then my craptivate with phoenix/firefly
I wish there was a class action lawsuit against Samsung. They lost me totally from buying any of here products ever again.
Why am I here? lurking for cool bits and pieces for my streak. Latest gem was Armani font.
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good for you....see ya!
So how would this improve the GPS?
Magic.
I would assume the same way a bluetooth gps dongle would work.
I understand how a bluetooth dongle would work but not how this would. Looking forward to seeing more results. Might be one anyways.
The bluetooth dongle is built strictly to be a booster to pick up gps signal, so when you pair with that, gps locks from the dongle, not the phone. The phone is not built strictly for gps, so it's got a ton of components interfering with the signal.
When the obd 2 scanner is plugged in, it is connected to every electrical component in the car, powers/grounds/signal wires, thus turning the car into a 2,000 pound gps receiver. So when you pair it through bluetooth, satellites aren't tracking a 5 inch phone, they're tracking the car instead.
Have some running around to do today. Will try to post more results later.
vunuts said:
The bluetooth dongle is built strictly to be a booster to pick up gps signal, so when you pair with that, gps locks from the dongle, not the phone. The phone is not built strictly for gps, so it's got a ton of components interfering with the signal.
When the obd 2 scanner is plugged in, it is connected to every electrical component in the car, powers/grounds/signal wires, thus turning the car into a 2,000 pound gps receiver. So when you pair it through bluetooth, satellites aren't tracking a 5 inch phone, they're tracking the car instead.
Have some running around to do today. Will try to post more results later.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fail to see the technical side of that, the antenna off the gps chip will not get rewired via bluetooth through the ODB sensor and into the cars internal wiring.
Its possible that while paried using the gps is slightly better due to the fact that they are on the same chip, one would actually think it would get slightly worse though.
more likely its just chance that made it better that one time,
imo
mckooter said:
I fail to see the technical side of that, the antenna off the gps chip will not get rewired via bluetooth through the ODB sensor and into the cars internal wiring.
Its possible that while paried using the gps is slightly better due to the fact that they are on the same chip, one would actually think it would get slightly worse though.
more likely its just chance that made it better that one time,
imo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just taking a stab in the dark in my last response, I really have no clue.
The point of this thread was just to state that when I paired my obd scanner with my phone, in 3 different vehicles, driven to 3 different locations, I noticed a significant improvement as far as tracking was concerned.
Hello XDA community, I've been feeling very frustrated because of the GPS performance, well so I decided to make my own hack... if you can call it like that it is not perfect but I can tell you guys it works!!!!!! I'm going to show you with proof of my screenshots and pictures, I just follow the instruction of the first hardware fix that appears before the last year, and it doesn't works for me so I decided to add a couple of cooper strings into the soldering and make my own antennae, and now I'm very happy now even indoors I can get signal from the GPS sensor and locks at least 7 birds if you are insane enough to try this here are some pictures of my work.
Press in the Screenshot to go and see more pictures on my album.
There is a little problem since i did this, people that calls me says that i sound like Darth Vader so do it at your Own Risk.
afxiso said:
Hello XDA community, I've been feeling very frustrated because of the GPS performance, well so I decided to make my own hack... if you can call it like that it is not perfect but I can tell you guys it works!!!!!! I'm going to show you with proof of my screenshots and pictures, I just follow the instruction of the first hardware fix that appears before the last year, and it doesn't works for me so I decided to add a couple of cooper strings into the soldering and make my own antennae, and now I'm very happy now even indoors I can get signal from the GPS sensor and locks at least 7 birds if you are insane enough to try this here are some pictures of my work.
Press in the Screenshot to go and see more pictures on my album.
There is a little problem since i did this, people that calls me says that i sound like Darth Vader so do it at your Own Risk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, nice input. I'll have to experiment. You basically just used an old copper wires from an old charger (looks like an old samsung charger) and just soldered it in? Hmm, interesting....
I'll have to try.
If you're that desperate for a strong GPS signal why not just buy a $30-40 Bluetooth GPS receiver?
Don't have to mangle your phone, you get accuracy to 1 foot, and it only takes three seconds to lock. Not to mention you save power on your phone by using a separate device.
I'm happy with mine and would never use an integrated receiver again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
cwoodworth said:
If you're that desperate for a strong GPS signal why not just buy a $30-40 Bluetooth GPS receiver?
Don't have to mangle your phone, you get accuracy to 1 foot, and it only takes three seconds to lock. Not to mention you save power on your phone by using a separate device.
I'm happy with mine and would never use an integrated receiver again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well doesn't Bluetooth takes power? Please appreciate someone's finding.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
cwoodworth said:
If you're that desperate for a strong GPS signal why not just buy a $30-40 Bluetooth GPS receiver?
Don't have to mangle your phone, you get accuracy to 1 foot, and it only takes three seconds to lock. Not to mention you save power on your phone by using a separate device.
I'm happy with mine and would never use an integrated receiver again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which bluetooth gps device are you using? Can you give me a link to purchase?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
wavestar92 said:
Which bluetooth gps device are you using? Can you give me a link to purchase?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for "MKII Bluetooth" on eBay. $12-16 or more (depending on accessories that it comes with).
I have one that works great. It can take a minute to lock and can get to within 10 feet, but one it locks, it does not drift.
cwoodworth said:
If you're that desperate for a strong GPS signal why not just buy a $30-40 Bluetooth GPS receiver?
Don't have to mangle your phone, you get accuracy to 1 foot, and it only takes three seconds to lock. Not to mention you save power on your phone by using a separate device.
I'm happy with mine and would never use an integrated receiver again.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I dont like to carry stuff on my pocket, anyways sooner or later I will change my phone, buy an extra GPS receiver that later will be unusable that means another gadget in the desk cabinet.
afxiso said:
Hello XDA community, I've been feeling very frustrated because of the GPS performance, well so I decided to make my own hack... if you can call it like that it is not perfect but I can tell you guys it works!!!!!! I'm going to show you with proof of my screenshots and pictures, I just follow the instruction of the first hardware fix that appears before the last year, and it doesn't works for me so I decided to add a couple of cooper strings into the soldering and make my own antennae, and now I'm very happy now even indoors I can get signal from the GPS sensor and locks at least 7 birds if you are insane enough to try this here are some pictures of my work.
Press in the Screenshot to go and see more pictures on my album.
There is a little problem since i did this, people that calls me says that i sound like Darth Vader so do it at your Own Risk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx for your work!! I'll try is as well!
Sent from my Vibrantmtd using xda premium
A few things...
Since you mentioned it in one of your pictures, if you were to accidentally connect the antenna to the ground contacts around the screw holes, it will kill the signal because the GPS radio references the antenna level to the ground. It wouldn't blow up your phone or anything.
You're making a monopole antenna, and the simplest and most effective way to do that is with a quarter wave "whip" style antenna. This is what is built in to the back casing of the Vibrant, where the GPS antenna contact pushes in to. GPS L1 signal is 1575MHz, so its wavelength is 19cm, which would make a quarter wave antenna 4.75cm long. All you need is a single, straight run of 4.75cm of wire (even insulated in PVC is OK) connected to the GPS contact. No need for this bunny-ear stuff - GPS signal is circularly polarized.
Also... goddamn, that is a huge glob of solder. Pick up some solder flux next time and thank me later. LOL
Nice work .. creates curiosity to try it out.. when we have stepped out why not use a proper gps antenna..
so are there any gps sticker antenna of other phones that can be connected. I tried searching and found out apple iphone 3g/3gs gps antenna stickers are widely available. can it be used here. because I am worried about contacts link
And also how about using enameled copper wire to reduce shorts and make it a dipole.
crush said:
Well doesn't Bluetooth takes power? Please appreciate someone's finding.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually the bluetooth radio on the Vibrant is very power efficient. With bluetooth enabled I see no difference than airplane mode. Bluetooth only eats battery when it's used with a wireless headset and actively being used for communication or listening to music. My GPS receiver gives me all day long battery and under 5 feet accuracy and I only paid $11 for mine at ebay. I'd rather pay a small $ and get better GPS accuracy, better battery and not sound like Darth Vader. Although sounding like Darth Vader would be cool lol...
P.S. I'm an Electronics tech so I like your findings and bravery with modifying your device, but the truth is buying a cheap GPS receiver is a much better alternative unless of course your supper poor. In which case you shouldn't have an expensive cell phone in the first place.
But awesome work none the less.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
According to androidtablets.net not only does the the nook color have a bluetooth chip but also a fm radio chip but with stock os you cant use it of course. Does this mean that with cm7 you can also access the fm radio ability like it allows you with bluetooth? If anyone knows please post below.
No, the FM chipset is not connected to any sort of antenna therefore it does not work, regardless of if your running stock or CM.
Midnitte said:
No, the FM chipset is not connected to any sort of antenna therefore it does not work, regardless of if your running stock or CM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok but could it be possible to add an wire antenna? Or could you add one like that of an android phone as someone did with an htcs speaker and added it to the nook or is it impossible?
Some phones use headphones as the antenna. I wondered this about the nook, but never cared to find out.
Good Question
colorfulnookie said:
Ok but could it be possible to add an wire antenna? Or could you add one like that of an android phone as someone did with an htcs speaker and added it to the nook or is it impossible?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have wondered about this myself. I bought and learned how to root my Droid 4 for the sole purpose of having the FM radio. I am working on getting my Nook Color to run CM7, and found your post when I searched. I know on my D4 I needed to have it rooted and installed Spirit FM, it works well with the headphones attached. I also found a way to make an antenna using a Radio Shack plug and the antenna off an old cordless phone handset, It works surprisingly well! I don't see why it wouldn't work for the NC, IF it has the fm chip, and IF we can access it. I don't know if Spirit FM has been tested with it or not, but it's worth looking into.
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I have wondered about this myself. I bought and learned how to root my Droid 4 for the sole purpose of having the FM radio. I am working on getting my Nook Color to run CM7, and found your post when I searched. I know on my D4 I needed to have it rooted and installed Spirit FM, it works well with the headphones attached. I also found a way to make an antenna using a Radio Shack plug and the antenna off an old cordless phone handset, It works surprisingly well! I don't see why it wouldn't work for the NC, IF it has the fm chip, and IF we can access it. I don't know if Spirit FM has been tested with it or not, but it's worth looking into.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has been addressed many times, in this forum and others. To my knowledge no one has gotten anything other than static from any app (Spirit included) with any headphones at any time. I'd guess that there is no connection between the radio chip and the headphone socket, for antenna functionality.
I haven't pursued this in a while though, so there could be newer info out there.
Hmmm
tonestertm said:
This has been addressed many times, in this forum and others. To my knowledge no one has gotten anything other than static from any app (Spirit included) with any headphones at any time. I'd guess that there is no connection between the radio chip and the headphone socket, for antenna functionality.
I haven't pursued this in a while though, so there could be newer info out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to know. I will do a little searching in the morning and post any info I may find. Do you know if any guts tinkering has occured to make that connection? I am hoping for a simple, easy solution, like modifying an atrix lapdock to work for a Droid phone
KrellaKrentoshi said:
Good to know. I will do a little searching in the morning and post any info I may find. Do you know if any guts tinkering has occured to make that connection? I am hoping for a simple, easy solution, like modifying an atrix lapdock to work for a Droid phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been doing some digging since I last posted, and the news, I'm afraid, is not promising.
I learned that the FM receive and transmit (!) antenna functions of the WL1271 chip are on different pins than the WLAN/Bluetooth antenna pins.
In addition, there are dedicated FM Audio Out L/R pins which I would suspect are not provided for on the Nook board/module. It's not clear to me if these are the only outlet for any FM decoded by the chip, though.
These, along with the fact that TI pretty much abandoned the FM feature of this chip in the OMAP implementation, (by their own admission) make the FM radio function for us... challenging.
tonestertm said:
Been doing some digging since I last posted, and the news, I'm afraid, is not promising.
I learned that the FM receive and transmit (!) antenna functions of the WL1271 chip are on different pins than the WLAN/Bluetooth antenna pins.
In addition, there are dedicated FM Audio Out L/R pins which I would suspect are not provided for on the Nook board/module. It's not clear to me if these are the only outlet for any FM decoded by the chip, though.
These, along with the fact that TI pretty much abandoned the FM feature of this chip in the OMAP implementation, (by their own admission) make the FM radio function for us... challenging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Challenging isn't the same as impossible, and it must surely be easier than trying to get CM7 installed to SD card for my NC. I'm beyond stuck on that one, been trying off an on for a year. It seems to me that if the problem lies in the hardware, we should be able to correct that. BTW, did I see correctly, there may be FM TRANSMIT capabilities?! That would rock!! I would be blissfully happy just getting FM recieve to work. If the pins aren't provided for on the NC board, what would be a possible way to correct that?
KrellaKrentoshi said:
Challenging isn't the same as impossible,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True.
and it must surely be easier than trying to get CM7 installed to SD card for my NC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
It seems to me that if the problem lies in the hardware, we should be able to correct that. BTW, did I see correctly, there may be FM TRANSMIT capabilities?! ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Oh. Ok
tonestertm said:
True.
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I guess the best thing I can do for the moment is to get CM7 to boot and try Spirit on it. I can do that, and I have a transmitter that might work too. I will post the results.
KrellaKrentoshi said:
Challenging isn't the same as impossible, and it must surely be easier than trying to get CM7 installed to SD card for my NC. I'm beyond stuck on that one, been trying off an on for a year. It seems to me that if the problem lies in the hardware, we should be able to correct that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really?
have you tried this post?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1000957
because that's been around for quite some time...and it is rather easy...
and it's been around for well over a year....
just sayin...
yep
I have tried it, and 2 others, and im stuck.
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I have tried it, and 2 others, and im stuck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay...it's pretty simple...but i'll bite....where are you stuck? what exactly about the process is messing you up...
you get the CM7 image, burn it to your SD card using the program provided...insert it into the nook and press the power button...
plasticarmyman said:
okay...it's pretty simple...but i'll bite....where are you stuck? what exactly about the process is messing you up...
you get the CM7 image, burn it to your SD card using the program provided...insert it into the nook and press the power button...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
..........and watch the little blue android on the skateboard for the next 20 mins until i shut it off. It wont get past the blue dude's splashscreen. I'm working on it on another thread and PM. In the meantime, do ya think you could run the little experiment mentioned a few posts back please?
I made some progress today!!
tonestertm said:
True.
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got my NC running CM 7.2.0. Turns out I needed to rename the ROM and also something was bad on my SD card. I have been happily exploring CM7 and getting my google apps on my NC for 2 hours now. Among the apps I downloaded is Spirit FM, the free version for testing. It loads well, I plugged in headphones and an antenna and can't get a signal, not even static. I will look for my transmitter tonight/tomorow and see what happens then. Thanks for all the encouragement and support on the CM7 thing yall!
Yay!
KrellaKrentoshi said:
I got my NC running CM 7.2.0. Turns out I needed to rename the ROM and also something was bad on my SD card. I have been happily exploring CM7 and getting my google apps on my NC for 2 hours now. Among the apps I downloaded is Spirit FM, the free version for testing. It loads well, I plugged in headphones and an antenna and can't get a signal, not even static. I will look for my transmitter tonight/tomorow and see what happens then. Thanks for all the encouragement and support on the CM7 thing yall!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looking forward to your results. And, Enjoy!
I did the test.....
tonestertm said:
True.
I had difficulty with that the first time, too. I can probably help, but either in PM or another thread; been running SD cards for about as long as you've been trying.
Unfortunately, even though there are some great resources around (see the Novaports sticky above, for one) there's just not enough solid info yet to discover whether there's access to the necessary pin. The whole chip is about 1/4 inch square, containing about 115 contact sites in what's called a ball grid array, or BGA, all on the bottom surface of that tiny, "wahfer-thin" speck. This is married to a daughtercard which brings the necessary contacts out to the real world and has some more circuitry (most notably the chip which handles the wireless/bluetooth antenna switching). There's no way to tell from the pictures I've found whether they designed any access to the FM receive pin for the outside world. And I'd bet good solid money that there's no access to the FM transmit pins (separate Antenna and Audio L/R).
So, not impossible, but the real question is, how much would you be willing to spend to re-engineer a new daughtercard to gain access to these things (if, in fact, they're not accessible)? It would undoubtedly be more than the price of a brand new tablet which already contains all these things and more.
If they did bring the RX pin out on the daughtercard, then it should be possible to do some microsoldering and a lot of what I've just said is moot. But without disassembling one I have no way of knowing. If this were the case, then Spirit would likely be the way to go, as I ran across indications that Mike was doing some serious digging into this issue last year. There's also an infinitesimal ray of hope for drivers from a ROM that somebody put together for one of the Droids, which uses the same chip, that apparently has FM working.
I suppose one moderately simple test would be to load up Spirit, and bring a moderately powerful FM transmitter right up to the base end of the Nook, hoping for some leakage through all the shielding, and see if a signal can be picked up. Unfortunately, unless the result were positive, we'd be no further than we already are.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Houston, we have a problem. I have a stock nook running cm7 on sd card. Spirit FM Free with superuser permissions granted couldn't pick up the transmitter. :crying: I even put the transmitter right up against the nook and didn't hear anything, so it's not looking very good. I know on my droid 4 I had to have it rooted in order for the FM to work, I wonder if that is the case here? Anyone got a rooted nook to try this experiment out on? Once my warrenty is up I will try "nooting" and see if FM works then. If it is the daughter card, I am at a loss. Anyone got an idea about what we can do next? tonestertm, I can't find your Novoports sticky. Can you repost the link please?:good:
KrellaKrentoshi said:
tonestertm, I can't find your Novoports sticky. Can you repost the link please?:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need for a link, the Novaports thread is the third one down from the top of this forum.
I've read a few articles or discussions bringing up feature that the 7 pro lacks, often times mentioning that individual items by themselves are deal breakers or several together might lead someone not to buy it.
Here are some of the ones I've seen the most, and why they really aren't a big deal
No 5G - 5G is still in its very early days and won't see widespread adoption for several more years. If you're not in one of the top 10 cities, don't be surprised if it you don't see it before the 7 pro's hardware is obsolete anyways. With all the new 5G phones coming out soon, the number of people that upgrade to them will skyrocket and likely over-saturate the available 5G networks, bogging down the purported speed benefits. Further, 4G LTE hits more than adequate speeds anyways. 99% of what anyone does on the internet isn't going to require more than 10Mbps connections. Some video streaming might require more than that, but I've seen 4G tests hit nearly 100Mbps (consistent, not spike speeds), so it is more than capable of handling what people throw at it. Cellular providers limit video streaming in most cases to 720p resolutions anyway.
Even the advertised latency improvements aren't a big deal. The only area where super low latency makes a significant difference is online gaming, and 4G already hits sub-50ms latency. I've personally played FPS games with a latency anywhere from 100ms - 2000ms (<- not a typo) many many times before, and rarely noticed even 200ms negatively affecting my game.
No WiFi 6 - Again, a young technology which won't see widespread adoption for several more years (many public wifi spots don't even have AC yet), and promises unnecessary speed improvements. 4K content can be easily streamed through a wireless N router with no buffering.
No wireless charging - This may be more of a preference, but the way I see it, wireless charging limits you in exchange for essentially no benefits. You can't move your device around while it's on the charging mat, unless you also pick the mat up with it and hold them together; plus, it's slow. Plug in your phone and you can easily pick it up and continue to use it while it's charging. One of the big "benefits" to wireless charging that gets touted around a lot is "removing the hassle of plugging in". Well, the charging mat still needs to be plugged in, and plugging a cable into your phone takes literally one second. With the battery life phones are advertising these days you almost never have to plug in before going to bed anyways. Seriously, what is the point of wireless charging?
No IP rating - Oneplus has done a great job of waterproofing the phone already, and adding an "official IP rating" doesn't magically improve its existing water resistance. There are several water videos on youtube already, with one going as long as 30 (broken up) minutes in a water bowl. Another shows that 2 days after their test the phone is still working fine. TBF, there is one video which shows the phone gets water inside it after a period of time, but that is at a depth of 1.5m (approx 5ft), and water pressure increases with depth (ie water works harder to get in the deeper it is). Throw the most water proofed phone into the bottom of the ocean and I guarantee it will get flooded. The companies that do provide an IP rating for their phones don't cover water or dust damage anyways. Outside of walking in the rain most people will be keeping their phones dry, so this really is not a big deal in the least.
No 3.5mm jack - OK maybe I lied just a tad in my title, as this is kind of a big deal since there aren't any good alternatives yet.
No SD Card slot - The storage options available for the phone are already pretty good. With most media consumption now being streaming, high storage capacities don't seem quite as important (I don't need to tote around my 50GB+ music collection, I can stream off YT, Spotify, even set up a home streaming server), and there are several good cloud storage options available (mega for one gets you up to 50GB for free).
Well, that about sums up this post. Obviously a large part of choosing which phone to buy is preference and subjective, but I think that at least these complaints against the phone are virtually unfounded (with the exception of the headphone jack of course )
I pretty much agree, the only convenience of wireless charging is that different phone types can use the same charger for example Samsung and an iphone can wirelessly charge on the same pad with no need for specific cables.
vv211 said:
No 3.5mm jack - OK maybe I lied just a tad in my title, as this is kind of a big deal since there aren't any good alternatives yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are adapters available which will allow you to charge and use headphones at the same time. https://www.amazon.com/Charging-Ada...way&sprefix=usb-c+charge+audio,aps,137&sr=8-1
It's a great phone, the first OP phone I have ever owned. I've always used Iphone and Samsung S/Note series before. But to me the camera is very important in a phone since I take a lot of pictures and even though I tried to make the pictures better with GCam and upgraded to latest OOS, I still think the camera is weak compared to the "flagships". Maybe the camera will improve one the next device but if it doesn't I plan to switch back to Samsung.
Can we expect to see the a 7T pro model with some of these features?
Or will the "T" model be the 7 Pro 5G with no other new features except 5G technology?
I'd love to have pocket mode back. Too many times it has become unlocked in my pocket for unknown reasons.
DFranch said:
There are adapters available which will allow you to charge and use headphones at the same time. https://www.amazon.com/Charging-Adapter-Headphones-Splitter-compatible/dp/B07TC1673L/ref=sr_1_1?crid=DHI0L7SYEI3K&keywords=usb+c+charge+and+audio&qid=1562094073&s=gateway&sprefix=usb-c+charge+audio,aps,137&sr=8-1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I am in the "don't want to have to mess around with dongles" camp. One of the huge pluses to the 3.5mm Jack is it just works. I've read a few reviews of various dongles that say they don't work with certain phones. Compatibility was never a problem with the 3.5mm
jfm91 said:
Can we expect to see the a 7T pro model with some of these features?
Or will the "T" model be the 7 Pro 5G with no other new features except 5G technology?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't really followed OP in the past so I'm not sure what kind of improvements/changes they typically make for their T model, but I had been under the impression that the 5G would be a separate model from the T
No Wireless Charging: I feel like no wireless charging on a glassbacked device is a big FU, No reason to drop metal unibody for weaker glass only to cut costs and raise profit margins the same reason no wireless charging included, "The whole it's slow" is a bs excuse, Xiaomi proved that with 20w wireless charging on the Mi 9.
No 3.5mm Jack: Why remove the universal audio port??? Again no reason, No alternatives only to push there crappy accessories. Why should we be forced to re buy headphone etc when our current headphones work fine? Also to touch on the charging point now as we have no headphone jack we have 2x the wear on the Type C port so wireless charging could of helped with that to migrate the wear and improve longevity.
No SD Card Slot: Again no reason to not include a dual SIM + Micro SD, Another reason to get you to buy higher priced UFS storage instead just like Apple does it. Other devices had no problem including a hybrid dual SIM.
I'll add another of my own
No 3.5mm Jack adapter: How can you remove the headphone port and then make you pay $12.95 for an adapter which is only passive so they cost nothing to make you can buy them from China for like 30 cent each. So think the cost to make it it's nothing to them yet they can't give us one in the box...
All bull**** just to cut costs and make the end user pay more ez marketing. We are getting less for more money.
Sd card not needed due to fast ufs storage 3.0. headphone jack - time to move on. . 5g and wiFi 6 . It sounds nice to have now just to feel a false sense of future proofing . But by the time these speeds become useful the rest of this phone will be outdated and most people would of moved on to the OnePlus 10pro. I started a whole thread about the disadvantages of the OnePlus 7 pro and th conclusion from everybody is that this phone offers everything somebody needs now and as a bonus at a fantastic price and for a very long time.
I find two very important items missing in the One Plus 7 pro
1) Notification Light
2) Sounds -> Vibrate on Tap
insomnia77 said:
Sd card not needed due to fast ufs storage 3.0. headphone jack - time to move on. . 5g and wiFi 6 . It sounds nice to have now just to feel a false sense of future proofing . But by the time these speeds become useful the rest of this phone will be outdated and most people would of moved on to the OnePlus 10pro. I started a whole thread about the disadvantages of the OnePlus 7 pro and th conclusion from everybody is that this phone offers everything somebody needs now and as a bonus at a fantastic price and for a very long time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do you feel it's time to move on from the headphone jack? You can get incredible sounding audio from it, it's royalty free (maybe USB-c is too? idk), any connector made to fit into the jack will just work, and no need for dongles or adapters. I've seen reviews on many usb-c headphones that they don't work with or aren't fully compatible with various devices
I agree with the other points though
liam_davenport said:
No Wireless Charging: I feel like no wireless charging on a glassbacked device is a big FU, No reason to drop metal unibody for weaker glass only to cut costs and raise profit margins the same reason no wireless charging included, "The whole it's slow" is a bs excuse, Xiaomi proved that with 20w wireless charging on the Mi 9.
No 3.5mm Jack: Why remove the universal audio port??? Again no reason, No alternatives only to push there crappy accessories. Why should we be forced to re buy headphone etc when our current headphones work fine? Also to touch on the charging point now as we have no headphone jack we have 2x the wear on the Type C port so wireless charging could of helped with that to migrate the wear and improve longevity.
No SD Card Slot: Again no reason to not include a dual SIM + Micro SD, Another reason to get you to buy higher priced UFS storage instead just like Apple does it. Other devices had no problem including a hybrid dual SIM.
I'll add another of my own
No 3.5mm Jack adapter: How can you remove the headphone port and then make you pay $12.95 for an adapter which is only passive so they cost nothing to make you can buy them from China for like 30 cent each. So think the cost to make it it's nothing to them yet they can't give us one in the box...
All bull**** just to cut costs and make the end user pay more ez marketing. We are getting less for more money.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me the wireless charging falls under the "bells and whistles" category; completely unnecessary, but convenient in specific instances. Your phone is still "tethered" to a specific spot; even more so than plugging in because you can't even pick the phone up or charging stops. Maybe it is becoming faster, but what I had read online indicated it was slower than wired charging.
I agree with the audio port issues. Very upsetting they removed it, and couldn't even include an adapter!
At first I thought it was just a blind copy of what apple did (far too much of that going on I think; from the headphone jack, display notch {I personally prefer full-on bezels over any type of notch/cut out/hole punch}, overall design trends {a lot of phones might be mistaken for iPhone at a quick glance these days}), but now I think it's just a money grab
SD cards I think are far less necessary these days with the increased storage capacity of the phones
BTW I like your profile image ? lol
missing fm radio/headphone jack. yes lots of people still love radio... and it's free!
notification led. could have included it.
a macro lens instead of telephoto. besides it's not very good, nor is it 3x.
a red color. like the blue, that would have been badass!
LOVE the popup camera. no more spying!
ability to remap vibrate/silent slider. kinda redundant
buschris said:
a red color. like the blue, that would have been badass!
LOVE the popup camera. no more spying!
ability to remap vibrate/silent slider. kinda redundant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Red would be cool. I'm surprised they didn't make one!
Have there been any cases of apps using the front camera to spy on people? I hadn't heard of anything like that happening
for headphone jack, try a Bluetooth DAC such as Fiio's btr series. It is very likely better audio quality plus you dont have to tangle the wire since the dac is small and you can just clip it on your clothes somewhere.
I have btr3 and its awesome. All Bluetooth codec supported and sounds great. There are cheaoer options and they are good too.
18pcs said:
I find two very important items missing in the One Plus 7 pro
1) Notification Light
2) Sounds -> Vibrate on Tap
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this for notification light.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6t/themes/app-amoled-notification-light-t3943715/post79810512
buschris said:
missing fm radio/headphone jack. yes lots of people still love radio... and it's free!
notification led. could have included it.
a macro lens instead of telephoto. besides it's not very good, nor is it 3x.
a red color. like the blue, that would have been badass!
LOVE the popup camera. no more spying!
ability to remap vibrate/silent slider. kinda redundant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You nailed it for the pop up camera. I was looking forward to under display camera but not anymore now that you put it this way. I would be sad to see it go for this reason. I would pay extra to have it on the next gen phone.
That pop up camera is so cool
insomnia77 said:
You nailed it for the pop up camera. I was looking forward to under display camera but not anymore now that you put it this way. I would be sad to see it go for this reason. I would pay extra to have it on the next gen phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have there been any cases of ROMs or apps spying through the front camera?
buschris said:
missing fm radio/headphone jack. yes lots of people still love radio... and it's free!
notification led. could have included it.
a macro lens instead of telephoto. besides it's not very good, nor is it 3x.
a red color. like the blue, that would have been badass!
LOVE the popup camera. no more spying!
ability to remap vibrate/silent slider. kinda redundant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vv211 said:
Have there been any cases of ROMs or apps spying through the front camera?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that im aware of. But Ive always covered them on my tablets and now some devices like the echo show 5 come with a slider to cover it.