Question First Thoughts - Share Yours - Google Pixel 7

So after spending the afternoon looking over my pixel 7 and setting it up I thought I would share a few thoughts.
I have had a number of larger phones over the years so the pixel 7 is smaller than what I am used to, I wanted a smaller size though as I had had enough of my "larger" phone.
I bought the Obsidian black version and all I will say is it is a massive fingerprint magnet, also it is one slippery bugger! More so than any other phone I have had, so a case for it is a priority.
There are a few of what I would call glitches, when turning the phone on from sleep the bottom third of the screen seems very faded before normalising, is that by design? I don't know.
Also talking of the screen it seems very dull, even at full brightness.
When putting the phone to sleep and then placing it on my wireless Google charger it wakes the phone back up the show the charging details and also the time date - The time date though are not how I had it set up, they are miss aligned - is there a setting to turn this off that I have missed somewhere? (I'm not talking about the always on display - I have that turned off)
Also the charging animations... wtf! Horrible! is there a way to turn that mess off?
So what are your first thoughts/initial impressions of your Pixel 7?
Anything little bugs/glitches that annoy you?
Anything you wish you could change?
Please share your thoughts below.

Good review! Kudos
I'm in wait and watch mode on the 7, since I had early issues with the 6 Pro...
Cheers

Unpacked, switched phone on, entered wifi data, wifi connects, wifi disconnects ...
Asked for a rma
Good start for me so far

galaxys said:
Good review! Kudos
I'm in wait and watch mode on the 7, since I had early issues with the 6 Pro...
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had issues with the 6pro as well, bought it direct from Google the day after release.
Had multiple issues with it and Google said they thought I had a defective unit and to send it back to them and they would replace it.
However no replacement showed up and they then just refunded me.
After that little fiasco I went and bought a S21+ which is the phone I was using until today.

Maddinx said:
Unpacked, switched phone on, entered wifi data, wifi connects, wifi disconnects ...
Asked for a rma
Good start for me so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not so good

Overall I am happy with it, no major issues.
1. Face unlock seems slightly worse than the Oneplus 7T from 2019. Maybe I am mistaken as it has been a while since I used the Oneplus.
2. My screen protector doesn't make contact on the left top edge, I tried applying two. Not sure if it's the protector or phone screen. It is perfectly centered.
3. For some reason it can take a second or two to load after clicking the settings app shortcut in the quick settings menu.
4. Have had some reproducible touch sensitivity issues. Again, not sure if protector or phone but I did enable screen protector mode. Didn't have this issue with the P6.
5. Once again I have to manually force high refresh rate for Snapchat and some other apps.
6. Not sure if this is the case with the Pixel 6, but Snapchat is taking a picture of the viewfinder. Looks absolutely horrible in low light without the Gcam processing.
7. The unlock animation does not look high refresh rate.
It almost feels like I am dropping more frames navigating the UI than my Pixel 6. Although I did follow the optimization guide for the Pixel 6, so I have to do the same on the 7 and see if there is a change. This is something I feel like will probably be improved via updates, it is release day after all.
Also what do you mean by charging animations?
This phone genuinely feels like a Pixel 6 with face unlock (which should have been added to P6 via software update).
Also please share Geekbench 5 scores, I got 1010 Single-core, 2771 Multi-core. Was kinda hoping it would be higher considering the "leaked" multi-core was 4000.
Got a 75mb update and Geekbench is now 1048/3237 which is more in line with what I expected.

Jonnyswboy said:
Also what do you mean by charging animations?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If my phone screen is turned off and I then place it on the google pixel charge stand the screen wakes and does some kind of animation, then shows the clock and charge status for a few seconds before turning off again.
I would love to be able to turn all of those animations off, they are horrible.

Mine is perfect. No issues whatsoever.
I came from a Pixel 3. The Pixel 7 is definitely heavier!

marinierb said:
Mine is perfect. No issues whatsoever.
I came from a Pixel 3. The Pixel 7 is definitely heavier!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try turning it on

I'm coming from a Pixel 3 XL, and I was expecting a nice upgrade, but wow, I feel like I went from a 1992 Ford pickup to a 2023 Honda Civic Type R. What a difference. From the build quality to the overall feel. It is just such a premium experience. I set it up about three hours ago, and have been playing with it for about the last two hours. This thing is perfect. And for about 1/2 the cost of my Pixel 3 XL at launch. I can see myself keeping this for the five years of security updates easy. Even if the battery starts losing charge I know I can get it replaced like I did my 3 XL, so no worries for the next five years. At least five years. Maybe more.

Maddinx said:
Unpacked, switched phone on, entered wifi data, wifi connects, wifi disconnects ...
Asked for a rma
Good start for me so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine did the same thing for the first 15 minutes or so. Rebooting helped, but it still disconnected twice. After it download all my apps (in between disconnects, so it took a long time), and I finished setting it up, the Wi-Fi has been steady strong. I guess it was new growin pains. it's been running flawlessly the past three hours.

Maddinx said:
Unpacked, switched phone on, entered wifi data, wifi connects, wifi disconnects ...
Asked for a rma
Good start for me so far
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same issue. It wouldn't reconnect after either. Forgetting the wifi network and adding it back fixed the issue.

I bought it yesterday. I hooked up to my LG V60 and synced up everything. Really painless setup. Been steady using it. I love all the photo feature Google packs in the Pixel 7. I have had no disconnections of wifi or anything like that. Calls are clear. Really love the phone. I hate using it without a case and screen protector. But have that coming after the weekend. Got the Spigen rugged case from Amazon. My only gripe so far is the face unlock. It's a bit wonky. But the finger sensor works great.

ern88 said:
I bought it yesterday. I hooked up to my LG V60 and synced up everything. Really painless setup. Been steady using it. I love all the photo feature Google packs in the Pixel 7. I have had no disconnections of wifi or anything like that. Calls are clear. Really love the phone. I hate using it without a case and screen protector. But have that coming after the weekend. Got the Spigen rugged case from Amazon. My only gripe so far is the face unlock. It's a bit wonky. But the finger sensor works great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try to redo the Face Unlock. Hold it arms length, and in a bright light area. I did that the second time, and now even when I'm sitting at a desk, and the phone is laying on top, if I double tap the screen, the Face Unlock can see me, and it unlocks instantly.
EDIT - Oh, and the calls are excellent. My first three were crystal clear. Way better than my 3 XL. I'd say better than landlines.

Phone is very fast coming from a Pixel 3. I do have to say this thing is **** huge and brick heavy. The fingerprint reader is horrible compared to a dedicated rear reader. Camera seems pretty nice, that unblur gimmick isn't production ready.

I absolutely love the screen. Feels heavy, but I don't mind it as it feels solid and I think is built well. I miss the back/feel of the pixel 2, which I don't know if people even liked that lol. My fingerprint basically never works though haha maybe I'm just registering it poorly. Came from OnePlus 8T, really missed the AOSP feel.

.

I came from oneplus 8t and im in love with this pixel 7, android stock its really more beautiful than these chineses software(s) like oos12.
Face unlock is working as expected, working good except when im in a dark room with low light
My only issue for now is fingerprint scanner, it's working about 1 time on 10 i don't understand why but there's an high chance that's screen protector fault, since i did not even try without it. After the unboxing of the phone, the first thing i did was put screen protector on it then unlocked bootloader and rooted.
Except for FP Scanner, this device is amazing IMO, super fluid animation and transitions from activities. I bought it because i was tired of big screen device and for my needs the dimenions of the display are perfect.
Of course, compared to the oneplus 8t that have an amoled display, colors are better and more brilliant (on op8t) but i don't dislike OLED of the P7, maybe more safier for my eye rests
And i won't speak about comparisons of the FP scanner of these device since the one of op8t is working ALWAYS, never miss a try
My next thing to do is to try FP without any screen protector and if it's working well, to buy a new screen protector maybe better than the one i have installed
EDIT: another important thing: since is my first time with non-snapdragon device, i've noticed that this tensor G2 is working really good, always cool even with wifi-data-gps-bluetooth are on in a connected session with android auto on my car. Oneplus 8t heats up during same sessions but not the pixel 7

azoller1 said:
I absolutely love the screen. Feels heavy, but I don't mind it as it feels solid and I think is built well. I miss the back/feel of the pixel 2, which I don't know if people even liked that lol. My fingerprint basically never works though haha maybe I'm just registering it poorly. Came from OnePlus 8T, really missed the AOSP feel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen is so good. When I first started using it I though it was a good upgrade from my 3 XL, but now after a couple days of using it, I played with the 3 XL, and wow, what a difference. If feels so light and flimsy, and the screen is so dull compared to the 7. And yes the 7 is very heavy compared to the 3 series, but it add that premium feel because of it (IMO). The entire 7's build is quality. I look at my 3 now, and it seems like a Fisher Price toy.
EDIT - Redo your fingerprints. Take your time and read what it asks. I see a lot of setups on YouTube, and they complain about the fingerprint reader, and when I watch them set it up they just spam their finger each time. It asks for a certain angle on some. Like first press normal, then the tip, then the left side, then the right side. I think a lot of people don't read what's asked each press, and then it doesn't work well for them.

The first couple of days coming from a pixel 4a ,,P7 is heavier but in a good way ,, feels premium, and so far I could not be happier ,everything is better than the 4a, sound is louder and crisper, screen more vibrant and faster scrolling, voice quality on calls are amazing, call reception has been excellent even on low bars, Have not noticed any lag with this chipset but then again Iam not a heavy user, Iam sure I will find more things better but so far 100 percent like it.

Related

[Q] Nexus 6 vs Oneplus One

Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I owned the OnePlus One. Price is awesome for the specs, but CM11S (At least 38R, the last verison I had before I sold it) is so buggy it's a deal breaker for me.
I also owned a OnePlus One. I was not impressed with the screen on it and the bugginess of CM11s. I tried swapping ROMs but overall the phone just didn't feel as solid as my Nexus 5. I ended up selling it and going back to my Nexus 5 until the Nexus 6 came out. After playing with a display Nexus 6 at T-Mobile yesterday, I think I'm going to pick one up. Keep in mind that it feels SIGNIFICANTLY bigger in hand than the OnePlus One, don't let anyone try and tell you otherwise. But if you think you can deal with the size, the Nexus 6 is a much better phone, in my opinion.
I hope to find out by 12\2 when my Cloud White 32gb is set to arrive From Motorola. I have been using a OnePlus One since July and to be honest it has been a great phone. Maybe I got lucky but I have bought and sold a Nexus 5, Note 3, Moto X 2013, Sony Z3 Compact and most recently a G3. Oneplus is just a great overall package. I have no reason to switch to the Nexus 6 but I just couldn't resist and my only hope is that battery life is better than the Nexus 5 as that really was the only downside of owning it.
radeon962 said:
I hope to find out by 12\2 when my Cloud White 32gb is set to arrive From Motorola. I have been using a OnePlus One since July and to be honest it has been a great phone. Maybe I got lucky but I have bought and sold a Nexus 5, Note 3, Moto X 2013, Sony Z3 Compact and most recently a G3. Oneplus is just a great overall package. I have no reason to switch to the Nexus 6 but I just couldn't resist and my only hope is that battery life is better than the Nexus 5 as that really was the only downside of owning it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, please let me know when you get the Nexus. Mine has not come yet, and my One plus wont be here for another four weeks, so If I like the N6 I think ill just cancel my OPO pre order.
Have both phones. 44S is solid stable. Oneplus has better battery life. The 6 is a great phone, just different. Still getting used to the size. I'm having a wifi issue with the nexus that is ticking me off. The phone shows connected, but there is major lag on the device navigating to pages. Turning it off and the pages come up as fast as you can click them on LTE. Don't have issues with any other device in the house. Toggling WiFi can help, bit the issue returns...
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
jairusz said:
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bringing lollipop and a bunch of new bugs... CM was better when it was non caf
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey guys,
So today was preorder day for the Oneplus one. I have an order in for both the Nexus 6 and a One Plus. I have not really decided which one I will keep. If I keep the Nexus, I will probably give the One plus to my little sister for her birthday (because she is still rocking an iPhone 4s).
I know all the specs of the two phones and there are certain details about the N6 I like over the OPO. For instance I like the curved screen on the N6 (like on the MotoX) and the wireless charging and the better camera. Both my brothers have OPO's and they love them.
But the price difference is HUGE! 350 vs 700. (Though to be fair I still like that I bought both of them for about the same price as a 128gig iPhone 6+.
Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyone out there that has gotten their N6 and also has a OPO that has any opinions on the matter.
Cheers!
CowboyNick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen on the N6 is NOT curved, just the back. Common misconception.
jairusz said:
I have all three(including the Note 4) and if you want the best purchase for your money then go with the OnePlus One. It has the best battery life, the best performance at the moment since it's still on KitKat, and I feel I don't get significantly better experience on the Note 4 and Nexus 6 than the One. CM11 is a little buggy every update fixes bugs and Cyanogen Mod is dedicated to bringing Lollipop to the One in three months. Personally, I think the OnePlus One is the best phone you can get in 2014 at a very affordable price.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That doesnt even apply to people on sprint or verizon.
Sold my OnePlus and note 3 for Nexus 6 and not looking back. Both were great phones with great batteries but I like having the latest greatest phone.
Ian B
OnePlus wins hands down but I have one caution, if you're on T-Mobile there is no band 2 or 12 support. If the OnePlus had that I wouldn't have even considered a new phone. Other than that the on plus is a awesome phone.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
I feel that the OPO has a better battery life as well. But Turbo Charging... can't live without that now. It just charges so fast and impressive.
Well if you like the One + camera this has the same sensor with OIS which is good. The IMX214 is a good sensor so hopefully we can get devs to have the software follow.
Source:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nexus+6+Teardown/32877
zephiK said:
I feel that the OPO has a better battery life as well. But Turbo Charging... can't live without that now. It just charges so fast and impressive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah but if you don't need to charge then the turbo charger isn't as important. Of I find myself needing a little boost for good measure on the one plus a charge while I shower before going out for the night always gets me enough juice and then some.
Man itd be nice if the one plus had those bands I need.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Nexus 6 VS One Plus One
Hey Guys,
So here goes my story...
I ordered my One Plus (during the preorder with no Invite) maybe a week after I ordered my Nexus 6 and got the OPO two days before my Nexus arrived. However, at that time I refrained from opening the OPO because I didn't want to lose the resale value of the OPO. In the end the chrome N on the back of the Nexus fell of and I decided to open the OPO to compare the two. I decided to keep the OPO and return the Nexus, below are some of the reasons I made that choice.
I opened the Nexus 6 and was stunned by the phone. Watching the videos and reading reviews you get a sense of the size of the phone, but never having held it before this I was not really sure what to expect. This phone is HUGE. I was stunned by the build quality and the size. I loved the curved edges of the screen and the resolution was amazing. I was okay with the size because it could still fit in my (skinny) jeans pockets, but I was not in love with it. I was originally gunning for the Cloud white, but couldn't get my hands on it. Got the Midnight Blue in 64 gig and ended up loving the color. I loved the color until I touched the back of the phone and realized that my fingerprints got everywhere. Seriously, this phone is a smudge magnet. However, since I am not a fan of cases, this was something I could live with.
Similarly opening the box of the One Plus One I was very impressed. The packaging was very nicely done. I know it does not have any impact on how the phone is used, but it is a very nice presentation that I appreciated none the less. The phone itself has very nice build quality. It does not have as many curves and subtleties as the Nexus, but I like the way it feels in my hand and equals the 6 in quality, even if it is a simpler design.
I used the Nexus 6 for three weeks and am on my sixth day with the One Plus. Here are my impressions of the devices after that period mainly focusing on what stands out during MY use of them.
Ergonomics:
As far as the feel of the Nexus 6 is concerned at first I was worried about how big it was. I was coming from a 4 inch screen of the iPhone 5 and was a bit scared about how it was going to work. After three weeks I was no longer worried about it. I have gotten used to it. However, I was not sold on the 6 inch screen. It was never 100 percent comfortable for me to use and I always had to use two hands. I have hands on the smaller size, but not freakishly small, however I was always scared to use it one handed, even just opening up my twitter feed and scrolling through gave pause because I was afraid to drop it and crack that beautiful screen. One thing that I found particularly difficult was texting. If I were in bed with the phone above my head, it was so hard to text because the screen was so wide. My fingers did not have enough range of motion to hold the phone in a secure way and also reach the outer edges of the screen to reach letters such as A or L, O and P. It was a weird experience that I remedied by installing the Swype keyboard app and condensed the keyboard to one side of the screen.
Using the One Plus One immediately felt more comfortable. It seems to fit my hand better and I am a huge fan of the “sandstone” texture of the back. I can use it more easily with one hand and am able to text using one hand as well.
Screen and Media Viewing Experience:
As for that Nexus 6 screen. What can I say. It is beautiful. The colors are great and its sharp as a tack. I loved watching videos on it and reading kindle books on it. It was noticeably sharper than the OPO's 1080p screen. It's not a day and night difference, and if the two weren't sitting next to each other on the table, I probably would not have noticed anything. But when the two phones are next to each other you can tell which one has a higher resolution display. I used the Nexus to watch a lot of youtube videos and loved the experience. With the front firing speakers, this was a great media consumption device. I loved being able to use this instead of my computer or tablet to watch videos and read books or news articles. Six inches was a great size to view everything on.
The One Plus One also has a great screen. The colors are accurate and it is very pleasing to look at. I can watch youtube videos here also, however the overall experience is not as nice because the speakers are not forward firing. Though they have great volume, the speakers are not as good to use as the Nexus simply because of their orientation. With this phone I am more predisposed to watch videos on my tablet or TV. Reading is a very similar experience and I have no problem reading for more than an hour on either device.
Usability:
This section is where the One Plus really starts to pull away. For those who don’t remember the specs (lets be real though, I’m just putting them here so we can all revel at the fact that both of these phones have more power than my current work computer) the Nexus 6 sports the new quad-core Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3 gigs of ram while the One Plus One has the one generation older quad-core 801 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with the same amount of ram. For reference my “vintage” 2012 Macbook Air has a 2GHz i5 intel chip with 4 gigs of ram.
I don’t know if I had a bad Nexus (or a spectacularly good One Plus), but it always felt like the Nexus was taking a tenth of a second more to think about the things it wanted to do. The One Plus, on the other hand feels zippier in everything I do. I don’t do crazy things on the phones. I twitter and Facebook and tinder a lot, but just opening these apps seemed to take a fraction of a second longer on the Nexus 6. If that were the only issue, then it would be less of a deal breaker than an annoyance, but I felt (at least on my particular phone) that the Nexus – and maybe Lollipop - had stability issues. Every now and then – maybe three times a week – the phone would do something weird which would require a restart to remedy. For instance on the last day I had the phone I was trying to open the phone app which is in my Dock on the very bottom of the screen. However, every time I pressed the app it would open something else that was in my dock instead. So instead of opening the phone, it would open up the messaging app or the email app. It happened like ten times in a row after I would get into the wrong app and press the home button. It required a complete reboot, then it would function normally. It was a weird thing that happened intermittently. However, It required a reboot a few times a week (this is what leads me to believe that maybe I had a defective unit?)
The One Plus, so far, has not had any stability issues (maybe because Kit Kat is much more mature than Lollipop). It is great and feels significantly faster than the Nexus. Everything I want it to do it does on command without hesitation. I think this more than anything else is the reason I decided to keep the One Plus instead of the Nexus, it just feels better to use.
One thing that I did like better about the Nexus (and even my old iphone) was the scrolling ability. The One Plus one just does not have as good scrolling in apps such as facebook or twitter. The Nexus has great sensitivity and response. The One Plus feels like it’s a generation behind with its scrolling capabilities.
I also liked Lollipop over Cyanogen Mod Kit Kat because 5.0 has beautiful themes. Material Design is something that I already miss going to the One Plus and I cant wait for the 5.0 Cyanogen Mod update. The one feature I really miss is lock screen notifications. I had that on my iPhone and on the Nexus, but will have to wait for 5.0 on the One Plus.
Camera:
Another area that was very important to me was the Camera. I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking nice pictures. I am a DSLR guy and used to try to tote mine around whenever I could. However, now that camera phones have gotten so good I have been doing so less and less, just using my phone camera for the majority of my day to day shooting. The iPhone 5 camera was great for me. I used it all the time (for snapchat and Instagram) and loved the low light shooting characteristics.
The Nexus 6 camera was great. It was sharp and I loved that it shot video in 4k, making for great impromptu jam session with my brother. When the light was good the camera produced sharp and vibrant images. It was great for anything I wanted to snapchat or Instagram. and even candid’s that I wanted for later, which I what I usually use my phone camera for. However, lowlight shooting was awful. I couldn’t get lowlight images at all. Living in NYC there are streetlights everywhere, but even in that environment I was not able to get any good nighttime shots that are even useable for snapchat (for which I have very low critera). Even compared to my two year old iPhone, it was awful. The front facing camera was doubly bad. Everything that I took with the front facing 2mp camera was poorly exposed and very soft. There was no definition to the shots and it was very splotchy.
Having the same sensor (but without optical image stabilization) I was not holding out much hope for the One Plus One. However I was pleasantly surprised with its low light shooting capabilities. In places where the Nexus was just unable to get any kind of image (often producing just a black shot with different intensities of light) I was able to get useable shots with the One Plus. The front facing camera is ten times better than the Nexus 6 camera.
Battery Life:
Here is another place that the One Plus pulls away from the Nexus. The battery life on the One Plus is phenomenal. One reason I got rid of my old iphone was that the battery life was down to four hours. I was literally carrying around a charger with me wherever I went because it wouldn’t last half a day. Now the OPO will last me 1.5 days of regular use. For me regular use is about 3.5 hours of screen on time. I will last from 7 am until about noon the next day. This is amazing battery life. I never have to worry about it. With the Nexus I would get about 2.75 hours of screen on time. This translated to a day of use. If I unplugged my phone at 7 am, I would be at 5 percent battery around 10:30 pm. Normally this would be okay, unless I was going out with my friends at night and had to stay out past midnight (which I normally do on weekends). With turbo-charging this was largely a non-issue. However, psychologically I don’t really like plugging in my phone for fifteen minutes and then unplugging when the batter is not full. I hate the feeling that I am ruining the battery (even if that’s not how batteries work anymore…). Personally having a great battery like the One Plus One is a huge win and is one thing I don’t have to worry about. It makes my life less stressful (I understand that this is a side affect of being too dependent on technology and am working to fix this in myself, haha).
Conclusion:
All in all I liked the Nexus 6. It was a good “pocket internet device” however as something that I want to use every day, I was not in love with it. And thus, comes the OPO trump card. Its price. If I was in love with the Nexus I would have had no problem spending $771 on the phone. However, I was not in love with it, so paying that much for a phone I didn’t love was out of the question. Futhremore, the thought of paying more than double the price of the One Plus One ($361) which I liked better was Ludacris. So in the end it was an easy choice.
I tried to like the Nexus 6. I did love the screen and the experience I had while I was watching youtube. I love material design and lock screen notifications. I loved being able to talk to the phone (“OK Google”) when the screen was off. In the end, however, it fell short. The One Plus One is a great phone and I am smitten with it. It offers everything I want for a very low price and that is why I am keeping it.
Sorry for that long rant, and hope some of you stick around to read the whole thing.
Cheers,
CBN
CowboyNick13 said:
Hey Guys,
So here goes my story...
I ordered my One Plus (during the preorder with no Invite) maybe a week after I ordered my Nexus 6 and got the OPO two days before my Nexus arrived. However, at that time I refrained from opening the OPO because I didn't want to lose the resale value of the OPO. In the end the chrome N on the back of the Nexus fell of and I decided to open the OPO to compare the two. I decided to keep the OPO and return the Nexus, below are some of the reasons I made that choice.
I opened the Nexus 6 and was stunned by the phone. Watching the videos and reading reviews you get a sense of the size of the phone, but never having held it before this I was not really sure what to expect. This phone is HUGE. I was stunned by the build quality and the size. I loved the curved edges of the screen and the resolution was amazing. I was okay with the size because it could still fit in my (skinny) jeans pockets, but I was not in love with it. I was originally gunning for the Cloud white, but couldn't get my hands on it. Got the Midnight Blue in 64 gig and ended up loving the color. I loved the color until I touched the back of the phone and realized that my fingerprints got everywhere. Seriously, this phone is a smudge magnet. However, since I am not a fan of cases, this was something I could live with.
Similarly opening the box of the One Plus One I was very impressed. The packaging was very nicely done. I know it does not have any impact on how the phone is used, but it is a very nice presentation that I appreciated none the less. The phone itself has very nice build quality. It does not have as many curves and subtleties as the Nexus, but I like the way it feels in my hand and equals the 6 in quality, even if it is a simpler design.
I used the Nexus 6 for three weeks and am on my sixth day with the One Plus. Here are my impressions of the devices after that period mainly focusing on what stands out during MY use of them.
Ergonomics:
As far as the feel of the Nexus 6 is concerned at first I was worried about how big it was. I was coming from a 4 inch screen of the iPhone 5 and was a bit scared about how it was going to work. After three weeks I was no longer worried about it. I have gotten used to it. However, I was not sold on the 6 inch screen. It was never 100 percent comfortable for me to use and I always had to use two hands. I have hands on the smaller size, but not freakishly small, however I was always scared to use it one handed, even just opening up my twitter feed and scrolling through gave pause because I was afraid to drop it and crack that beautiful screen. One thing that I found particularly difficult was texting. If I were in bed with the phone above my head, it was so hard to text because the screen was so wide. My fingers did not have enough range of motion to hold the phone in a secure way and also reach the outer edges of the screen to reach letters such as A or L, O and P. It was a weird experience that I remedied by installing the Swype keyboard app and condensed the keyboard to one side of the screen.
Using the One Plus One immediately felt more comfortable. It seems to fit my hand better and I am a huge fan of the “sandstone” texture of the back. I can use it more easily with one hand and am able to text using one hand as well.
Screen and Media Viewing Experience:
As for that Nexus 6 screen. What can I say. It is beautiful. The colors are great and its sharp as a tack. I loved watching videos on it and reading kindle books on it. It was noticeably sharper than the OPO's 1080p screen. It's not a day and night difference, and if the two weren't sitting next to each other on the table, I probably would not have noticed anything. But when the two phones are next to each other you can tell which one has a higher resolution display. I used the Nexus to watch a lot of youtube videos and loved the experience. With the front firing speakers, this was a great media consumption device. I loved being able to use this instead of my computer or tablet to watch videos and read books or news articles. Six inches was a great size to view everything on.
The One Plus One also has a great screen. The colors are accurate and it is very pleasing to look at. I can watch youtube videos here also, however the overall experience is not as nice because the speakers are not forward firing. Though they have great volume, the speakers are not as good to use as the Nexus simply because of their orientation. With this phone I am more predisposed to watch videos on my tablet or TV. Reading is a very similar experience and I have no problem reading for more than an hour on either device.
Usability:
This section is where the One Plus really starts to pull away. For those who don’t remember the specs (lets be real though, I’m just putting them here so we can all revel at the fact that both of these phones have more power than my current work computer) the Nexus 6 sports the new quad-core Snapdragon 805 clocked at 2.7 GHz with 3 gigs of ram while the One Plus One has the one generation older quad-core 801 chip clocked at 2.5 GHz with the same amount of ram. For reference my “vintage” 2012 Macbook Air has a 2GHz i5 intel chip with 4 gigs of ram.
I don’t know if I had a bad Nexus (or a spectacularly good One Plus), but it always felt like the Nexus was taking a tenth of a second more to think about the things it wanted to do. The One Plus, on the other hand feels zippier in everything I do. I don’t do crazy things on the phones. I twitter and Facebook and tinder a lot, but just opening these apps seemed to take a fraction of a second longer on the Nexus 6. If that were the only issue, then it would be less of a deal breaker than an annoyance, but I felt (at least on my particular phone) that the Nexus – and maybe Lollipop - had stability issues. Every now and then – maybe three times a week – the phone would do something weird which would require a restart to remedy. For instance on the last day I had the phone I was trying to open the phone app which is in my Dock on the very bottom of the screen. However, every time I pressed the app it would open something else that was in my dock instead. So instead of opening the phone, it would open up the messaging app or the email app. It happened like ten times in a row after I would get into the wrong app and press the home button. It required a complete reboot, then it would function normally. It was a weird thing that happened intermittently. However, It required a reboot a few times a week (this is what leads me to believe that maybe I had a defective unit?)
The One Plus, so far, has not had any stability issues (maybe because Kit Kat is much more mature than Lollipop). It is great and feels significantly faster than the Nexus. Everything I want it to do it does on command without hesitation. I think this more than anything else is the reason I decided to keep the One Plus instead of the Nexus, it just feels better to use.
One thing that I did like better about the Nexus (and even my old iphone) was the scrolling ability. The One Plus one just does not have as good scrolling in apps such as facebook or twitter. The Nexus has great sensitivity and response. The One Plus feels like it’s a generation behind with its scrolling capabilities.
I also liked Lollipop over Cyanogen Mod Kit Kat because 5.0 has beautiful themes. Material Design is something that I already miss going to the One Plus and I cant wait for the 5.0 Cyanogen Mod update. The one feature I really miss is lock screen notifications. I had that on my iPhone and on the Nexus, but will have to wait for 5.0 on the One Plus.
Camera:
Another area that was very important to me was the Camera. I am not a professional photographer, but I love taking nice pictures. I am a DSLR guy and used to try to tote mine around whenever I could. However, now that camera phones have gotten so good I have been doing so less and less, just using my phone camera for the majority of my day to day shooting. The iPhone 5 camera was great for me. I used it all the time (for snapchat and Instagram) and loved the low light shooting characteristics.
The Nexus 6 camera was great. It was sharp and I loved that it shot video in 4k, making for great impromptu jam session with my brother. When the light was good the camera produced sharp and vibrant images. It was great for anything I wanted to snapchat or Instagram. and even candid’s that I wanted for later, which I what I usually use my phone camera for. However, lowlight shooting was awful. I couldn’t get lowlight images at all. Living in NYC there are streetlights everywhere, but even in that environment I was not able to get any good nighttime shots that are even useable for snapchat (for which I have very low critera). Even compared to my two year old iPhone, it was awful. The front facing camera was doubly bad. Everything that I took with the front facing 2mp camera was poorly exposed and very soft. There was no definition to the shots and it was very splotchy.
Having the same sensor (but without optical image stabilization) I was not holding out much hope for the One Plus One. However I was pleasantly surprised with its low light shooting capabilities. In places where the Nexus was just unable to get any kind of image (often producing just a black shot with different intensities of light) I was able to get useable shots with the One Plus. The front facing camera is ten times better than the Nexus 6 camera.
Battery Life:
Here is another place that the One Plus pulls away from the Nexus. The battery life on the One Plus is phenomenal. One reason I got rid of my old iphone was that the battery life was down to four hours. I was literally carrying around a charger with me wherever I went because it wouldn’t last half a day. Now the OPO will last me 1.5 days of regular use. For me regular use is about 3.5 hours of screen on time. I will last from 7 am until about noon the next day. This is amazing battery life. I never have to worry about it. With the Nexus I would get about 2.75 hours of screen on time. This translated to a day of use. If I unplugged my phone at 7 am, I would be at 5 percent battery around 10:30 pm. Normally this would be okay, unless I was going out with my friends at night and had to stay out past midnight (which I normally do on weekends). With turbo-charging this was largely a non-issue. However, psychologically I don’t really like plugging in my phone for fifteen minutes and then unplugging when the batter is not full. I hate the feeling that I am ruining the battery (even if that’s not how batteries work anymore…). Personally having a great battery like the One Plus One is a huge win and is one thing I don’t have to worry about. It makes my life less stressful (I understand that this is a side affect of being too dependent on technology and am working to fix this in myself, haha).
Conclusion:
All in all I liked the Nexus 6. It was a good “pocket internet device” however as something that I want to use every day, I was not in love with it. And thus, comes the OPO trump card. Its price. If I was in love with the Nexus I would have had no problem spending $771 on the phone. However, I was not in love with it, so paying that much for a phone I didn’t love was out of the question. Futhremore, the thought of paying more than double the price of the One Plus One ($361) which I liked better was Ludacris. So in the end it was an easy choice.
I tried to like the Nexus 6. I did love the screen and the experience I had while I was watching youtube. I love material design and lock screen notifications. I loved being able to talk to the phone (“OK Google”) when the screen was off. In the end, however, it fell short. The One Plus One is a great phone and I am smitten with it. It offers everything I want for a very low price and that is why I am keeping it.
Sorry for that long rant, and hope some of you stick around to read the whole thing.
Cheers,
CBN
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Very informative, thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Just got Urbane, initial impressions

Snagged one online through Verizon and did overnight delivery. So I'm going to give 2 impressions here
1) Appearance
2) Usabality
For for the 1st impression on appearance the watch is exactly what I wanted, I love the silver, I love the roundness, I LOVE LOVE LOVE a true "always on" screen mode, and I like the leather band. I may actually keep the band for awhile before swapping it out with a silver one somewhere. The watch faces are pretty, the resolution is nice, and the overall appearance of elements is colorful and nice.
EDIT: Ok apparently there was even MORE updates after the initial update payload. I did check that I was running 5.1.1 but after about an hour another "system update swipe left to install" appeared. After that update completed I noticed what appeared to be a bunch more apps sync'ing, such as Maps, Keep, notification toggle, etc. FINALLY once all of these completed the watch appears to have returned to normal and is currently running GREAT. Smooth high fps screen transitions, responsive touch control, responsive voice recognition, etc. Make sure you let this watch sit for a good few hours before attempting to do much with it. Google does A LOT to it in the background at first boot.
For the 1st impression of usability the watch is complete garbage. Lots of "android wear stopped responding", lots of "little cloud indicator showing you have disconnected", and LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of LAAAAGGG!! Omg this watch feels borderline beta, completely unstable. Maybe it's because it has only been running for 15 minutes, and maybe it's because it took half an hour to update (I'm guessing Verizon did not ship it with 5.1.1). The thing took forever on first boot, but now that it's running it's just out of control. Totally unresponsive. You'd seriously think something is wrong with it. You tap the screen nothing happens, you tap it again you feel it buzz but nothing happens, you stop tapping and stare at it for 10 seconds and then suddenly 10 things happen. It's as if the watch is just completely clogged up with background CPU tasks that it's playing catchup. Pretty lousy. I'm hoping this will pass after a day of usage or so.
My only gripe right now is that this is really poor form and only furthers the bragging rights Apple users get. My buddy got an Apple Watch and that thing worked beautiful out of the box. Apple knows customers dont want a ****ty first impression and made sure their devices perform amiably the moment it is powered on. Google apparently doesnt give a **** and anyone is allowed to do whatever they want with their brand, such as crippling Android Wear with a clearly untested product launch.
Oh well, only time will tell.
RunNgun42 said:
Snagged one online through Verizon and did overnight delivery. So I'm going to give 2 impressions here
1) Appearance
2) Usabality
For for the 1st impression on appearance the watch is exactly what I wanted, I love the silver, I love the roundness, I LOVE LOVE LOVE a true "always on" screen mode, and I like the leather band. I may actually keep the band for awhile before swapping it out with a silver one somewhere. The watch faces are pretty, the resolution is nice, and the overall appearance of elements is colorful and nice.
For the 1st impression of usability the watch is complete garbage. Lots of "android wear stopped responding", lots of "little cloud indicator showing you have disconnected", and LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of LAAAAGGG!! Omg this watch feels borderline beta, completely unstable. Maybe it's because it has only been running for 15 minutes, and maybe it's because it took half an hour to update (I'm guessing Verizon did not ship it with 5.1.1). The thing took forever on first boot, but now that it's running it's just out of control. Totally unresponsive. You'd seriously think something is wrong with it. You tap the screen nothing happens, you tap it again you feel it buzz but nothing happens, you stop tapping and stare at it for 10 seconds and then suddenly 10 things happen. It's as if the watch is just completely clogged up with background CPU tasks that it's playing catchup. Pretty lousy. I'm hoping this will pass after a day of usage or so.
My only gripe right now is that this is really poor form and only furthers the bragging rights Apple users get. My buddy got an Apple Watch and that thing worked beautiful out of the box. Apple knows customers dont want a ****ty first impression and made sure their devices perform amiably the moment it is powered on. Google apparently doesnt give a **** and anyone is allowed to do whatever they want with their brand, such as crippling Android Wear with a clearly untested product launch.
Oh well, only time will tell.
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I have been using mine for about an hour and have not seen ANY lag. I have also not disconnected from the phone once. my R did it a few times a day. The first boot and connection did take forever, but mine has been working lag free and perfectly the whole time. I know it is early, but maybe you just got a lemon
Pretty much the same experience here. The initial boot and sync process (then subsequent update) take forever, but after that, this thing is butter.
So far, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the leather strap. Maybe it just needs time to be broken in, but I'm already eyeing replacements.
Did I mention this thing is GORGEOUS??
L_E_O said:
Pretty much the same experience here. The initial boot and sync process (then subsequent update) take forever, but after that, this thing is butter.
So far, I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the leather strap. Maybe it just needs time to be broken in, but I'm already eyeing replacements.
Did I mention this thing is GORGEOUS??
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Yes I am the same as you on the strap..... Maybe because it is just so new, it seem to make the watch hover above my wrist
Hello guys, may I ask you how does the watch work when is connected over WiFi? For example are you able to access to your play music library? Or in general are there some unknown tricks? Thanks and good buy
Korean version Vs US version?
Does anyone know if there is a difference between the Korean version that everyone is getting off ebay Vs. The US version say from Google, Verizon, att&t?
AnthonyTex said:
Hello guys, may I ask you how does the watch work when is connected over WiFi? For example are you able to access to your play music library? Or in general are there some unknown tricks? Thanks and good buy
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As far as I can tell, the best way to think of the WiFi functionality is "extended bluetooth". It doesn't seem to have any independent WiFI or network functionality. It still has to be talking to the phone, which does have to have some type of connectivity, but the phone doesn't have to be on the same network or on WiFI at all. I turned off both WiFi and BT on the phone, and it could still talk to the watch (through the cell data connection). That added flexibility probably only has a few practical uses, but I absolutely love being able to have the watch and walk more than 20 ft. away while still being connected.
L_E_O said:
As far as I can tell, the best way to think of the WiFi functionality is "extended bluetooth". It doesn't seem to have any independent WiFI or network functionality. It still has to be talking to the phone, which does have to have some type of connectivity, but the phone doesn't have to be on the same network or on WiFI at all. I turned off both WiFi and BT on the phone, and it could still talk to the watch (through the cell data connection). That added flexibility probably only has a few practical uses, but I absolutely love being able to have the watch and walk more than 20 ft. away while still being connected.
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Thank you very much
Ok I have had it for day and my initial impression of the Urbane is positive completely opposite of the OP, granted the initial set-up can take up-to 20-30 minute, I've also had the system updated to 5.1.1 .
It is fairly responsive far better than moto 360, not much lags and also the battery life is much better you could easily go through 12 hours of heavy usage or 15 hours for moderate usage. It may have the same innards as the G Watch R but I think LG have done a good job making it look more watch like and something that at first glance looks like a normal watch.
My negatives would be that as I have small wrist it is slightly too big and the strap could have been of better quality. I will go far as to say this is currently the best android smartwatch until moto 360 mk II, Huawei watch etc....
Bottom for line for the money I think it is worth it, cant complain.
How is the vibration on the notifications?
I tried a Moto 360 and I could barely tell when it vibrated.
Any chance of a system and boot dump guys?
pbelcomp said:
How is the vibration on the notifications?
I tried a Moto 360 and I could barely tell when it vibrated.
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Vibrations good. I will side with Apple as far as being able to customize vibration intensity.
After mine was completely done with its startup I rebooted it and performance has been fine.
Hated the stock strap but I knew I would going in as I greatly dislike cheap leather straps and I had a nice SS bracelet here ready to be installed when the watch arrived. Tested the stock strap for about 15 seconds and went to the jeweler and had them put on the bracelet instead, better in every way. Honestly 22mm is a very common size and there are straps for every owner of all kinds, don't stick with the stock strap for one minute if you don't like it. You can do much better.
Someone paying attention will realize this is not a normal watch but for the most part I think you will have few people notice the watch, it manages to blend pretty well.
If you don't notice the vibration on this one then it isn't a problem, your corpse will not respond to the notification anyways.
tolust said:
Does anyone know if there is a difference between the Korean version that everyone is getting off ebay Vs. The US version say from Google, Verizon, att&t?
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I wonder that either...? If they are all the same I can consider buying from a South Korean seller in Ebay.
were can i purchase it what is this watch is it phone or bluetooth or what it is LG brand.
AnnaCook310 said:
were can i purchase it what is this watch is it phone or bluetooth or what it is LG brand.
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Couldn't understand clearly what you are asking but;
This is a smartwatch for phones running android platform.
It is not a phone. It connects to your phone through bluetooth.
This smartwatch's brand is LG.
You can purchase it from South Korea, USA, UK and some other places as well as from internet, for example from Ebay.
krabman said:
After mine was completely done with its startup I rebooted it and performance has been fine.
Hated the stock strap but I knew I would going in as I greatly dislike cheap leather straps and I had a nice SS bracelet here ready to be installed when the watch arrived. Tested the stock strap for about 15 seconds and went to the jeweler and had them put on the bracelet instead, better in every way. Honestly 22mm is a very common size and there are straps for every owner of all kinds, don't stick with the stock strap for one minute if you don't like it. You can do much better.
Someone paying attention will realize this is not a normal watch but for the most part I think you will have few people notice the watch, it manages to blend pretty well.
If you don't notice the vibration on this one then it isn't a problem, your corpse will not respond to the notification anyways.
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I don't have my watch yet, but are you saying the vibration is much stronger than the Moto 360? If so, just that is enough to convince me to buy it! P.S. I have always preferred metal bands too.
I have not tried the 360 so I cant comment on its comparative vibration strength. I can say the vibrate on this one is more than strong enough to get my attention when I'm busy. Alarm vibes will continue until you cancel them at least in the near term, I haven't tried leaving it go and seeing if it stops vibrating after so many minutes. The only time I can see myself actually missing an alarm is if I was quite active but theimplication there is I would probably prefer to attend to the activity I was involved in rather than a notification on my watch.
I'm sorry I cant help more, if this is a very strong point you might consider waiting for the phone to be available for fondling in a retail outlet before purchasing.
I'm coming from a Galaxy Gear S and I have 2 small issues. 1st battery life I'm already down to 27% after 7 hrs of use (gear s after 14hr day would still have 70% left) hopefully this will improve after a few days of use. 2nd I wish the display was larger like the 360. Everything looks a little squished to me.
millerd79 said:
I'm coming from a Galaxy Gear S and I have 2 small issues. 1st battery life I'm already down to 27% after 7 hrs of use (gear s after 14hr day would still have 70% left) hopefully this will improve after a few days of use. 2nd I wish the display was larger like the 360. Everything looks a little squished to me.
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Yep... I'm on day 3 or 4 after a full reset post-update, and I'm only getting about 8-10 hours myself. That's with brightness set at 2 and "Always On" screen turned off. Not sure what the culprit is, but I'm going to try one more full reset and resync.

Worth going to S8 from S7 Edge?

I hate the s7. Slow and laggy. Not to mention locked boorloadet. S8 any better?
I made the jump and this device is unbelievably better. Smoothest sndroid phone I've owned since the HTC One X, which was my favorite android phone of all time. After one week of pretty heavy use, no lag. Hate to say it like this but the UI is as smooth as iPhone, minimal if ever stutters. I recommend making the jump. Also the display is as incredible as all the reviews say
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
F9zSlavik said:
I hate the s7. Slow and laggy. Not to mention locked boorloadet. S8 any better?
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I've had S7, S7e, HTC 10, and iPhone 7Plus in last year. Jumped to the S8 (standard, not plus). Absolutely happy with my decision. Easily the best phone I've had. UI smooth as butter with no lags, Camera is fast enough that I sometimes take 2-3 pictures before I actually realize the first press of shutter actually took one (quality top notch as well), Screen is gorgeous, storage is abundant, battery life is good (avg 4hr screen time and 28hr per charge for me), iris scanner works through sunglasses and is great extra security.
Only weird thing is fingerprint location...works best of you're holding phone left handed. I just use the iris scanner anyway. My only concern is protecting the beautiful screen...nearly no truly protective or fully effective tempered glass protectors, but I'll take my chances.
I don't think you'll regret it one bit if you go with it.
If you have the money to blow sure, performance wise you are not going to notice anything. The camera is basically the same, front I believe is 8 instead of 5 mp. It is a larger screen, but the aspect ratio is a little weird. But with larger screen at Max resolution your battery is going to die a lot faster. I think you would be better off waiting till the note 8. If I could go back I would have stuck with my S7 edge and waited for the note 8. Still a great phone, but nothing ground breaking.
F9zSlavik said:
I hate the s7. Slow and laggy. Not to mention locked boorloader. S8 any better?
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I had the note 3 then note 5 and now the S8. I can say the only reason that i would have stayed on my prior phone is because root. There is no root method on here yet and you should stay with S7 until we have root and ROMs to choose from. Here's something that may make your phone snappier:
1. Go to settings
2. Click on Developer tab
3. Scroll to Windows animation scale change it to 0.5
4. Go to transition animation scale change it to 0.5
5. Go to Animator duration scale change it to 0.5
Good luck!
F9zSlavik said:
I hate the s7. Slow and laggy. Not to mention locked boorloadet. S8 any better?
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Click to collapse
I do not own an S7, however I will say the S8 is an amazing device. It's fast as can be, and very smooth. No lag. I put a black Spigen thin fit case on it.
It's everything it's cracked up to be. I'm delighted about how great this device is. The only issue I had was deciding to get the S8 or plus, and I'm very happy I got the regular SO because I didn't realize how much bigger the screen actually is on the regular one. It takes a little while to get used to but the screen is really big.
The S8 is a monster jump, not an incremental one. Every device, except possibly the S7 edge (due to the screen shape) was an incremental change. Small improvements that were debateable in terms of being worth spending your hard earned money. This device is absolutely worth the jump, and I'm totally satisfied spending my money on this. Honestly I have no idea what they can improve, and what could make me buy another phone. This device has it all. Even the battery life is great.
The only "complaints" people have are annoyances. Yeah, the fingerprint scanner is annoying but you get used to it. Yeah the clock on the always on display is weird and annoying. Bixby is kind of useless. But those are, at best, annoyances. The phone itself is just incredible. For 800 dollars, it better be. It truly is worth the money and it puts a smile on my face every time i pick it up.
Buy one.
wil318466 said:
The only "complaints" people have are annoyances. Yeah, the fingerprint scanner is annoying but you get used to it. Yeah the clock on the always on display is weird and annoying. Bixby is kind of useless. But those are, at best, annoyances. The phone itself is just incredible. For 800 dollars, it better be. It truly is worth the money and it puts a smile on my face every time i pick it up.
Buy one.
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You have to find something to complain about with a phone of this magnitude, and of course people will always latch onto them. I have no doubt that within a few months these will fade away in light of the greater changes on the phone. I'm upgrading from an S4, so it's a monumental change for me... and even with Bixby, there is no way I'm not going to be shell-shocked and impressed.
If you're switching from an S4 the change would be jaw dropping.
This phone (S8) is the best upgrade I've ever had in any single electronics device that wasnt revolutionary, like the PC or first iPhone.
Everything is better, and I'm not just saying that. Opening web pages is faster, switching apps is instant, opening navigation is instant, watching a YouTube video, switching to mail, reading that email, switching back to YouTube is just astonishing how quickly it all happens. Just opening this website and typing on the keyboard is flawless and enjoyable, my old phone was laggy and a pain to do a long response on a message board. Not anymore.
It really is amazing how awesome this phone is. Every single experience when it comes to the phone itself is improved. Again, i don't see how they can make this device better unless new technology is needed (such as Bluetooth 15.0). Could it possibly have better speakers? Of course. But I'm worried about things like speed, response, performance and the screen. I just can't see how they can make a phone faster, or the screen bigger. It's almost edge to edge top to bottom and the only way to get a bigger screen is to get a bigger phone, and I don't want that. It fits perfectly in my hand and I have the font tiny and I can read everything clearly. This phone delivers on everything and I just couldn't be happier (the screen is really something to behold, you'll see). It even looks good in the sunlight and it's pretty much water proof! (I wouldn't swim with it but I wouldn't be worried at all to take a picture while it's raining).
They'd have to invent a phone that does my dishes for me to want to upgrade again, that's how good this thing is. It does everything and it does everything​ well. I give it a 10/10 because I won't hold something like the fingerprint scanner against them, i consider that personal preference.
Don't believe anyone who says this thing isn't incredible. Walk into a store and check out the display model for yourself. It's well worth the money.
I think the question from the OP is *IF* the jump to the S8 from the S7/S7E is worth it. No one is debating if the S8/S8+ is a terrific device, I think we can all agree that it is. (even though I personally do not own one). I have used the S8+ at length, and yes I think its amazing... however, that being said - I choose NOT to upgrade from my S7E at this time. I think I will hold off until the Note 8 and decide then. I think that might help answer the original posters question without offending anyone who does have the S8/S8+
Since owning the s4 i jumped ship to nexus phones. Because touchwiz lag as hell. I sold the nexus 6p and tried s7 edge. And touchwiz lag still there on the s7 edge. Sold the s7 edge and got the regular s8 and i can tell s8 is smooth like nexus phones. And im glad i tried the s8 again. Hhappy camper here
Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
wil318466 said:
If you're switching from an S4 the change would be jaw dropping.
This phone (S8) is the best upgrade I've ever had in any single electronics device that wasnt revolutionary, like the PC or first iPhone.
Everything is better, and I'm not just saying that. Opening web pages is faster, switching apps is instant, opening navigation is instant, watching a YouTube video, switching to mail, reading that email, switching back to YouTube is just astonishing how quickly it all happens. Just opening this website and typing on the keyboard is flawless and enjoyable, my old phone was laggy and a pain to do a long response on a message board. Not anymore.
It really is amazing how awesome this phone is. Every single experience when it comes to the phone itself is improved. Again, i don't see how they can make this device better unless new technology is needed (such as Bluetooth 15.0). Could it possibly have better speakers? Of course. But I'm worried about things like speed, response, performance and the screen. I just can't see how they can make a phone faster, or the screen bigger. It's almost edge to edge top to bottom and the only way to get a bigger screen is to get a bigger phone, and I don't want that. It fits perfectly in my hand and I have the font tiny and I can read everything clearly. This phone delivers on everything and I just couldn't be happier (the screen is really something to behold, you'll see). It even looks good in the sunlight and it's pretty much water proof! (I wouldn't swim with it but I wouldn't be worried at all to take a picture while it's raining).
They'd have to invent a phone that does my dishes for me to want to upgrade again, that's how good this thing is. It does everything and it does everything​ well. I give it a 10/10 because I won't hold something like the fingerprint scanner against them, i consider that personal preference.
Don't believe anyone who says this thing isn't incredible. Walk into a store and check out the display model for yourself. It's well worth the money.
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Click to collapse
Oh hell yes, I've already jumped ship with the S8. Unfortunately I am studying abroad and won't be able to get back home for a few more weeks -- then I can finally meet my new S8. And yes, coming from an S4 (which poorly survived an ocean drop), I'm practically salivating at the prospect. The camera could have better, sure. They didn't need to include the atrocious Bixby, definitely. But it's such a great prospect upgrading after 4 years... and I'm hoping that it will be good for me for another 4 years at least, if not more. Meanwhile, my friend with a Nexus 6P is already itching to upgrade to a OP5 when it comes out... heh.
Short answer - Yes
Long answer - Jumped from S7 Edge to S8. Have to say this is the best phone I have ever had. I was a huge fan of the physical home button but I rarely miss it at all. The only problem is me hitting the snooze in the morning on my alarm not as easily as with a button. Fingerprint scanner in the back is super quick and not bad at all. That's how I naturally hold my phone for the most part anyways and I have big hands so there is no real struggle. I've always been wanting to play emulated games on my phone and this thing can handle Gamecube games for Dog's sake! I have a Madcatz controller that is great for gaming with phones and makes the torture that is the MBTA go by like nothing. My brother got one shortly after I got mine and he also says it's the best phone he's ever had. He came from a dying S5 Edge I think. We also got both our phones for $0 down and just restarted payments on a new device. Battery life is way better than S7 at this point and I'm about 40% when I leave work usually. As opposed to S7 where I would have to re-charge at about 3pm if I didn't want it to die on the way home. But as with all Androids the early battery life is way better in the beginning as opposed to 6 months to a year later. Time will tell though.
Edit - Forgot to mention the display. I wasn't a display snob by any means but this phone has now made me one. Incredible, especially when gaming. Completely immersive with the minimal bezels and edge to edge display. It's like a floating screen that encompasses your entire field of vision. Twilight Princess, Smash Bros, and FF7 never looked so good.
Yes, noticeable improvement in performance. That weird S7E lag thing is gone and battery is noticeably better. I think back to the first few months with my S7E, it might have been closer but after a year, the degregation in battery life makes the new s8 seem significantly better. That alone is worth it to me.

ZTE Axon M in the house

I have received the ZTE Axon M and currently using it. Fire away any questions. Still trying to figure out how to post pics
When you’ve used it for a few days maybe you can give an indication of what the battery life is like.
automatisms said:
When you’ve used it for a few days maybe you can give an indication of what the battery life is like.
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Click to collapse
I also have the Axon M, and I can say that it at least has better battery life than the Note 8. I took both phones off the chargers at 9pm (Nov. 8th) when I woke up to get ready for work. By the time I got home from work at 7am (Nov. 9th), my Note 8 was at about 77%, and my Axon M was at 82%. While at work, I streamed music to my bluetooth headphones on the Note 8, and used my Axon M to read a Kindle book and surf Facebook during my two 15 minute breaks, and my hour lunch. I still haven't put either phone on the charger yet, and it is midnight (Nov. 10th). Note 8 is at 52%, Axon M is at 76%
I've had mine for a week now and can give some impressions. Have used it exclusively and set aside my S8. Battery life is very good as long as you don't use the dual screens all day long which is what I end up doing. It's very hard to go back to a single screen as the extra real estate is very nice. While battery life isn't stellar, if I see it drop under 40% I keep it on one screen only. Good news is it recharges very fast! At least as fast if not faster than the S8.
Using the dual screens: I almost always use it in one large screen format. The middle gap can be. Little annoying but it's so much easier to type (doing that now) and navigate web pages. For emulators it's pretty rad as I dedicate the entire bottom screen to act as a touchscreen pad.
The dedicated media button or TV now button can be changed but I use it for DirecTV now. I tried using TiVo with two screens but sadly the media always pauses when touching the other screen so it's frustrating.
Two big problems with this phone are the camera, which is just not great compared to the S8. The other big problem is scratching. I know this is gorilla glass 5 and I have babied this thing, but got a minor stuff on the back bezel (not on screen). I had to cut out some cheapo screen protectors while waiting for skinomi skins and next month! For glass protectors. If I keep the phone I will be swapping it out wit attached for a new one.
I ordered the axon m case from ZTE as well. Last issue and my fellow M owners can help in this, when accepting a phone call the audio on the headset doesn't work until I switch to speaker, then I can toggle back to earpiece. Think it's a little bug they need to patch.
All in all a great phone. Makes me want a truly folding oled screen but I am likely to keep this.
johnnobts said:
For emulators it's pretty rad as I dedicate the entire bottom screen to act as a touchscreen pad.
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Click to collapse
How did you get emulators to work with using the two screens as one big screen? I tried two different ds emulators, and both said that the app wasn't optimized and disabled the second screen.
Under settings you can force all apps to run extended mode (a). Then run emmulators in portrait mode and adjust screen size to half and half. Easy
johnnobts said:
Under settings you can force all apps to run extended mode (a). Then run emmulators in portrait mode and adjust screen size to half and half. Easy
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Click to collapse
somehow I swear that option wasn't there before. I only saw the option to force support for dual mode. Now the option to force support for extended mode randomly decided to show up.
How easy or difficult would it be to unlock this phone for use outside the USA?
Flavio said:
How easy or difficult would it be to unlock this phone for use outside the USA?
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Extremely easy. If you're not an AT&T customer, you can unlock the phone for free on their website. They email you a code within 2 days.
johnnobts said:
I ordered the axon m case from ZTE as well. Last issue and my fellow M owners can help in this, when accepting a phone call the audio on the headset doesn't work until I switch to speaker, then I can toggle back to earpiece. Think it's a little bug they need to patch.
All in all a great phone. Makes me want a truly folding oled screen but I am likely to keep this.
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Click to collapse
The case doesn't work very well for me and I hate the glass screen protectors. I think I'm going to try and have it wrapped in that plastic at the mall. ? As far as the issue with the speaker, I have that happen too but my brother does not on his axon m. I think it only happens when I have the Bluetooth on. When I turn off the Bluetooth I don't have a pro lemme with the speaker.
Is your phone running Oreo? I have mine coming in the mail hopefully it'll run the update. People claim to have Oreo on this site but I don't see any videos/images of one running Oreo and working

US Version only

There have been 2 pretty severe problems with the early European devices. Starting tomorrow the US version should hit the shelves and homes. If you can would you please address each of the 2 issues as you can.
1. Google Pay not working at the terminal (you can register the cards but they don't work in the stores)
2. The infamous gap of the body / screen (even gap, no gap, awful uneven gap)
I don't really like polls but if someone wanted to make a poll that would be fine as well. This US device is a different build due to the high speed 5G antenna so perhaps we will avoid these problems. Furthermore, if you have any other problems such as screen flickering, fingerprint sensor not working etc. post that here as well. Thanks and good luck to us. Mine (sage) comes on Friday.
bobby janow said:
There have been 2 pretty severe problems with the early European devices. Starting tomorrow the US version should hit the shelves and homes. If you can would you please address each of the 2 issues as you can.
1. Google Pay not working at the terminal (you can register the cards but they don't work in the stores)
2. The infamous gap of the body / screen (even gap, no gap, awful uneven gap)
I don't really like polls but if someone wanted to make a poll that would be fine as well. This US device is a different build due to the high speed 5G antenna so perhaps we will avoid these problems. Furthermore, if you have any other problems such as screen flickering, fingerprint sensor not working etc. post that here as well. Thanks and good luck to us. Mine (sage) comes on Friday.
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Click to collapse
People doing US reviews seem to suggest that even when they have the gap issue, it's fairly small and uniform, but lots of people say they don't notice a gap at all in their reviews. This doesn't mean there won't be an issue though..
BryAlrighty said:
People doing US reviews seem to suggest that even when they have the gap issue, it's fairly small and uniform, but lots of people say they don't notice a gap at all in their reviews. This doesn't mean there won't be an issue though..
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Click to collapse
I know. I really want to see some demo models but none of the stores here have it yet.
Best buy had every one on display. 4a 5g, 4a, and the 5 in black. Not a hint of a gap..I tried to take a picture but I suck at it and it came out like crap. When I get home I'll see if I can fix it up a little..btw damn this is a nice phone.
Here ya go. Best I could do..
I just finished setting up the Pixel 5 (received it today; sage color). There is no gap on the phone.
Google Pay had two separate “setups”: at the beginning after transferring the information from my old Pixel. Then a later one after all my apps were downloaded and I thought it was finished with “setting up” the phone: the drop down notification said “Finish setting up your Pixel”. During this time, it wanted the Google Pay information, again, but it looked different from the first GPay screen. I have to check if it works.
I called a friend to see how it sounded and I’m not crazy about how the under glass speaker sounded. It’s hard to explain, but it is slightly less clear compared to the 3 XL. It wasn’t awful. Maybe I would not have noticed if it wasn’t mentioned in some of the reviews. On the other hand, my friend reported that I sounded crystal clear. That’s all for my initial impressions.
Fingerprint Sensor
My fingerprint sensor did not work. Went ahead and returned it. Reset it 4 times.
bobby janow said:
Here ya go. Best I could do..
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Click to collapse
You can't see the left corner haha. No worries though. My black one looks very similar. I went into a BestBuy today and looked at the 2 demos they had. I could see ever so slight differences in the space between the frame and screen. I think mine was about between these 2 units I saw. I really want to see a sage green one to compare to.
We are really talking about splitting hairs here too though
Fingers crossed the issue doesn't pop up in a few days/weeks.
Just received my Sage, pre-ordered from Fi, thus Google Store. No extras received. Charger, cord, USB C to A adaptor, SIM tool in the box. Color is cool. No gap whatsoever. Cleaned phone with microfiber and straight into a case, Spigen Ultra Hybrid clear, then onto the charger. Powered up fine and activated quickly. BUT Wi-Fi connection issue occurred. Tried two different connections, double checked passwords, and still a problem. Finally connected after about 10 min. Then, used my old Pixel 2 XL cord to copy data; cord is still useful for data - I'm impressed. Flawless Google properties setup, data copy (maybe 3.5-5GB) took about 6-8 minutes. Fingerprint setup had a couple of error messages - sensor dirty - but other than that it worked fine. I did have my case on during fingerprint setup. After that, "Getting your phone ready" took a bit: 112 apps to download and set up. Definitely need to review all those apps. Took FOREVER.
No screen gap on my sage. I'll test google pay tomorrow at the store. Loving this phone so far. Will say that photos do take an extra second to process.
dudeman1st said:
"Getting your phone ready" took a bit: 112 apps to download and set up. Definitely need to review all those apps. Took FOREVER.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It appears that Google is downloading a fresh copy of every Google/Pixel app. It's taking a looooooooong time. I'm not sure, but they don't appear to say "update" on the Play Store. Maybe it ships without the apps, or they could all need updating. It really seems like it is every Pixel/Google app. I remember reading an article saying something like this being the case for foreign phones b/c of some settlement. But on a US phone, it appears nothing Google is preinstalled. Maybe that was the same for my 2XL but I honestly don't remember. Made sure it was on 5GHz WiFi just now.
dudeman1st said:
It appears that Google is downloading a fresh copy of every Google/Pixel app. It's taking a looooooooong time. I'm not sure, but they don't appear to say "update" on the Play Store. Maybe it ships without the apps, or they could all need updating. It really seems like it is every Pixel/Google app. I remember reading an article saying something like this being the case for foreign phones b/c of some settlement. But on a US phone, it appears nothing Google is preinstalled. Maybe that was the same for my 2XL but I honestly don't remember. Made sure it was on 5GHz WiFi just now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The same thing when I went from the 3 to the 3a and then to the 4. Once that starts I walk away for a half hour and when I come back it's almost done.
Got my Sage yesterday here in the US from Verizon. Zero gap on all four sides (tried the paper suggestion). You guys had me worried as hell the last couple of weeks. :victory:
I got it in the evening, so I haven't been able to test Google Pay.
MasterBelch said:
Got my Sage yesterday here in the US from Verizon. Zero gap on all four sides (tried the paper suggestion). You guys had me worried as hell the last couple of weeks. :victory:
I got it in the evening, so I haven't been able to test Google Pay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine comes in today. What is the paper suggestion thing?
EvilRubberDuck said:
Mine comes in today. What is the paper suggestion thing?
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Click to collapse
I thought it was going a bit overboard, but there's been some folks that wanted to see if you could fit a sheet of paper in-between the aluminum and plastic border of the screen.
MasterBelch said:
I thought it was going a bit overboard, but there's been some folks that wanted to see if you could fit a sheet of paper in-between the aluminum and plastic border of the screen.
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Click to collapse
I see. Thanks for the quick response dude.
Update: No issues with google pay, no gap, no "brownish" screen. Device is awesome, exactly what I want in a phone.
No gap at all, I'll use it for GP tomorrow. Wow this thing is light.
Got my Black Pixel 5 yesterday - went thru setup flawlessly, fingerprint works fine - setup quickly. No gap. Have not tried using Google Pay but will sometime next week.
I am coming from the Samsung Note 20 Ultra (keeping that phone and will ultimately use both depending on my mood) what strikes me most is - I can't remember how long it has been since I have used a phone as small as the Pixel 5. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean it is tiny - just a whole lot smaller than my previous samsung devices (and the Samsung Note 20 Ultra) but honestly, it feels great. Much eaiser to use one handed, feels good in the hand, unlocking with the fingerprint scanner on the back is really a better experience than Samsungs Underscreen fingerprint scanner.
Pixel 5 is an awesome phone. Glad I got it! (I would not say it is better than my Samsung Note 20 Ultra - Different and good in different ways than the Samsung is - if that makes sense)
Geekser said:
Got my Black Pixel 5 yesterday - went thru setup flawlessly, fingerprint works fine - setup quickly. No gap. Have not tried using Google Pay but will sometime next week.
I am coming from the Samsung Note 20 Ultra (keeping that phone and will ultimately use both depending on my mood) what strikes me most is - I can't remember how long it has been since I have used a phone as small as the Pixel 5. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean it is tiny - just a whole lot smaller than my previous samsung devices (and the Samsung Note 20 Ultra) but honestly, it feels great. Much eaiser to use one handed, feels good in the hand, unlocking with the fingerprint scanner on the back is really a better experience than Samsungs Underscreen fingerprint scanner.
Pixel 5 is an awesome phone. Glad I got it! (I would not say it is better than my Samsung Note 20 Ultra - Different and good in different ways than the Samsung is - if that makes sense)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't agree more regarding the size. Coming from an S20 Ultra, I can't imagine going back to a bigger screened phone again. This size and weight of the P5 are perfect.

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