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I have a SonyEricsson Xperia X1 which is starting to break down and I'm thinking of getting a new phone. The Desire Z is the only non-Xperia phone I found that has everything I need. How is it? Pros? Cons? Battery life? GPS?
Also, I'm new to Android because the Xperia X1 has WinMo. What are the drawbacks of Android? The pros I already know of. How's the freeware app availability and development? (I will never pay for an application.) How about the advanced user customization? (I liked that about WinMo. Registry editing and changing files.)
Thanks for any answers!
Here's my review of the Desire Z based on my review (note: this is my first mobile device with something better than WinMo 5.
It has a nice performance (unless you're running something like HTC Sense 3.0+ HTC Sense). The keyboard (if you use it) is very comfortable and it features a "search" and a "menu" key, plus 2 shortcuts, the only thing I would like is an extra row for numbers (but I'm already used to the soft keyboard so I rarely use it). I wish I could review the stock rom, but I removed it after 2 days (and this is my first android phone). Battery life is OK, I get 1 day of battery life with medium use (screen on for like 4 hours, nothing heavy running), however, I bought my phone used, so I think the battery should have been better if it was new. The camera is OK for taking casual photos, the flash does a very good job for taking in dark places, just don't expect "ultra sharp" quality. The speaker is very loud, however, I find myself most of the time putting my hands on the back of the phone to "bounce" back the sound to myself, as the speaker is on the back side.
As for android, there are a lot of free applications, however, the market sometimes has apps that are useless or malicious (although you'll usually only notice them after scrolling a lot down). There's also something called GetJar, where you can get apps for free every week legally (they call them "gold apps"). Most of the apps you'll need will be free (soft keyboards, launchers, email apps) and most of them will be free but will have a "pro" or "donate" version (usually the free ones will have ads, which I can easily ignore, as they're usually small.
Sorry for any typo, English isn't my main language.
Time has long since passed to ditch Winmo. The drawbacks to Android? There aren't any. Winmo is a joke for lag, memory leakage, instability, and crashing. Android is stable and fast; and enjoys huge support from manufacturers, developers, and the user community. There is no "registry" since that is a Windows invention. But there are hacks and mods for anything you would ever want to do, and much more. Trust me, make the move to Android, and you will never look back on Winmo (except to shake your head and laugh).
There are plenty of free or ad-supported apps on the Market, as far as most any utility you would need. And also good quality free games. But really, why such an adamant stance on paying for apps? What would be the big deal in PAYING for software, if its something well made, that you use frequently, and say costs $1 (less than a Euro). That amount of money is completely insignificant for me when spend on something useful like a good app. God forbid the people that develop software should be compensated for it, and motivated to create other quality software, and to continue supporting their apps with updates and bug fixes? User made freeware is fine an all, and there is certainly good stuff out there. But its not going to fill every hole or need.
The con with the DZ is that its over a year old. This is really old in smartphone terms. Good phones with hardware keyboards are indeed rare. But aside from the keyboard, the Z has really fallen far behind in terms of CPU, memory, and other specs. If you are really hung up on a hardware keyboard, and can get a good deal on a Z, then go for it. Otherwise, I'd use my money on a more current device.
Thanks for the replies, guys!
Yes, the physical keyboard is a must. It's so much easier and faster than virtual keyboards. If I have to write more than three consecutive letters, I'll flip the keyboard open instead of trying to write with the virtual one. I do a lot of writing with my phones. My work phone is a Galaxy S and I have tried pretty much every keyboard it has, but they're all equally horrible. The same with my Xperia. I blame my first ever smartphone, the Nokia Communicator 9500. It was huge and awkward, but it had the comfiest keyboard ever.
The Xperia X1 has otherwise 95% of what I need, but it's starting to physically break and it has become abominably slow and unstable. And it wasn't that great to begin with. In hindsight, I really should have bought a HTC phone (assuming there existed one with a physical keyboard at the time).
The reason I won't pay for apps is because what has happened to me quite a many times with both my phone and my computer. I buy a program or app I need, happily use it and after a month, discover that there has existed a free alternative the whole time that is actually better. Cue me being pissed off. I have learned my lesson and right now, there is no software on my phone that I paid for and the only software on my computer that actually costed money are the operating system and games. That doesn't mean I won't donate to the authors of the software afterwards.
The only experience I have with Android is via my work phone, but I don't know about how customizable it is, because the work phone has been heavily restricted.
Tych0n said:
The Xperia X1 has otherwise 95% of what I need, but it's starting to physically break and it has become abominably slow and unstable. And it wasn't that great to begin with. In hindsight, I really should have bought a HTC phone (assuming there existed one with a physical keyboard at the time).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Xperia X1 was made by HTC.
Oh, well, something other than the X1, then, preferably something that used HTC's UI.
Tych0n said:
Oh, well, something other than the X1, then, preferably something that used HTC's UI.
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Click to collapse
i thought buying an HTC cellphone is reather better than other android cellphones for 2 things:
1- its tough... it doesn't break easily, even with tiny hinges holding the screen...
2- it has Sense UI...
but turns out, Sense UI really affects performance, even on stock unrooted, the phone was really slow... although HTC Sense offers great look... but no performance comparing to other UIs
—————
|RIROZIZO|
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May be, but it's been my favorite since I first saw it.
Riro Zizo said:
but turns out, Sense UI really affects performance, even on stock unrooted, the phone was really slow... although HTC Sense offers great look... but no performance comparing to other UIs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've only found the launcher (home screen and app tray, for the OP) itself to really be any effect on performance, and its easy enough to use an alternate launcher. And the lag on the Sense launcher is really not as bad as some make it out to be.
Its purely a matter of personal taste, of course. But my personal opinion is that Sense is a much more aesthetic, refined, and unified Android experience than AOSP, or other manufacturer skins.
Of course, the beauty of Android is that if you don't like Sense, you can always flash a more vanilla ROM, or something else like MIUI.
---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------
Tych0n said:
The reason I won't pay for apps is because what has happened to me quite a many times with both my phone and my computer. I buy a program or app I need, happily use it and after a month, discover that there has existed a free alternative the whole time that is actually better. Cue me being pissed off. I have learned my lesson and right now, there is no software on my phone that I paid for and the only software on my computer that actually costed money are the operating system and games. That doesn't mean I won't donate to the authors of the software afterwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are just talking utilities and useful apps, I think you will be right at home on Android. I honestly can't think of any utilities that you HAVE to pay for. Many are either free, or have a paid premium version with extra features (or remove ads), if you like the free version and decide to pay.
Desire Z it is, then!
I can get one from two different places without a nordic keyboard for ~300€ or one with nordic keyboard for ~500€. Guess which one I'll buy...
I came to Android on the DZ from a WinMo phone. Best move I ever made, Android made my old WinMo (which I was happy with at the time) look like a laggy, clunky joke.
Welcome to Android !
Sent from my Desire Z running CM7.
If you want a qwerty-slider android phone I don't think you can do better than the DZ. My preferred rom is virtuous affinity - this give a smooth and very usable sense 3.5 experience. However, I would do think this phone is at the end of its lifespan. The built in ram and the single core cpu are going to limit how much further it can be pushed and I don't think we are ever going to see usable/smooth ics or sense 4 on this handset.
If you want a qwerty-slider android phone I don't think you can do better than the DZ - but I wish there was!! Come on HTC where's the quad core 4.7in HD qwerty-slider I want so badly
MaxWiz said:
If you want a qwerty-slider android phone I don't think you can do better than the DZ - but I wish there was!! Come on HTC where's the quad core 4.7in HD qwerty-slider I want so badly
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Click to collapse
This a million times! I'm astonished that there's so few sliders with full keyboards out there. The market is dominated by those goddamn slates. I've watched my friends write with the virtual keyboards of iPhones, Galaxies and whatever, and it always looks slow, clumsy and awkward. They even have to use predictive text input to compensate for the slowness. In contrast, writing with a QWERTY thumb keyboard is a breeze. The Desire Z is apparently pretty much the newest and best Android slider there is on the market, but it still has a WVGA screen, while pretty much every new slate has some HD-super-gizmo screen. What the hell? My Xperia has a WVGA...
But anyway, seeing as I can get a DZ for LESS (~300€) than I paid for my X1 (~450€), I'm happy even though it might not be the fastest and newest there is.
I'm a big fan of hardware keyboards too. I switched from the Motorola Droid to the HTC G2. I found the keyboard on the G2 to be not so good. Not sure if it's just because I got mine used on ebay and it was worn, but it doesn't look like it's worn out. I've noticed the keyboard tends to miss/duplicate keystrokes often. So I've been tending to use the on screen keyboard, which is really good. I think the on screen keys are bigger than on the droid so it's pretty easy to type on. But I found the hardware keyboard to be much slower to type on than the Droid.
jgummeson said:
I've noticed the keyboard tends to miss/duplicate keystrokes often.
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Click to collapse
That could be from wear. The keyboard of my X1 worked flawlessly in the beginning, now it duplicates and misses keystrokes all the time. It's still better than the virtual keyboards, though...
Sorry - I ran a couple of searches and skimmed a half dozen pages in each of the sub-sections - so apologies if I didn't find something obvious...
I like the Glide, have rooted it successfully and am more or less happy with it but for a couple of things. First, the camera doesn't seem as sharp as my Sony Xperia Ray, which is also an 8 mp and not even as good as the 5 mp on the Behold II. I have several camera apps, so I'll try out some of them - could be operator error, I guess. I do use auto settings most of the time - is there something I could set manually to see if that helps?
Also, the audio volume on calls seems fine but not so great on audio books or video files. Even with headphones. Are there any options - media players that can take it to 11 or maybe custom roms that might help?
Finally, it's been forever since I've had an AT&T phone - is there a list of safe to freeze/uninstall programs? I'd rather not flash a custom rom right unless I have to, since this is my main phone but I'd like to get the AT&T specific stuff out, since I'm using Straight Talk.
Thanks!
terryowen said:
Sorry - I ran a couple of searches and skimmed a half dozen pages in each of the sub-sections - so apologies if I didn't find something obvious...
I like the Glide, have rooted it successfully and am more or less happy with it but for a couple of things. First, the camera doesn't seem as sharp as my Sony Xperia Ray, which is also an 8 mp and not even as good as the 5 mp on the Behold II. I have several camera apps, so I'll try out some of them - could be operator error, I guess. I do use auto settings most of the time - is there something I could set manually to see if that helps?
Also, the audio volume on calls seems fine but not so great on audio books or video files. Even with headphones. Are there any options - media players that can take it to 11 or maybe custom roms that might help?
Finally, it's been forever since I've had an AT&T phone - is there a list of safe to freeze/uninstall programs? I'd rather not flash a custom rom right unless I have to, since this is my main phone but I'd like to get the AT&T specific stuff out, since I'm using Straight Talk.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Numbered for ease of reading
1. Megapixels do not indicate image quality. It simply means how big you can blow up an image without sacrificing clarity. There's a lot of factors that play into image quality, such as the sensor, f stop, aperture, lighting, etc. And yes, I've seen lower MP cameras produce better pictures than higher MP cameras. I suggest you research more on what makes a camera tick if you still have questions, or feel free to post here. Try messing around with the settings, if that helps... But don't expect crap pictures to look amazing with the flick of a setting.
2. Try any of the equalizers you can find online. Most people seem to like Beats, Volume+. There are many to choose from, including the ones already built into some players, such as the stock player. I personally like the DSP manager included with CM roms. It has a good amount of options, and can make even the worst headphones sound halfway decent.
3. Consult this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22110205&postcount=131
found from the bottom of this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621350
Read through that thread, as it's a great place to start if you're new to this device.
4. Welcome to the Glide
gtmaster303 said:
Numbered for ease of reading
1. Megapixels do not indicate image quality. It simply means how big you can blow up an image without sacrificing clarity. There's a lot of factors that play into image quality, such as the sensor, f stop, aperture, lighting, etc. And yes, I've seen lower MP cameras produce better pictures than higher MP cameras. I suggest you research more on what makes a camera tick if you still have questions, or feel free to post here. Try messing around with the settings, if that helps... But don't expect crap pictures to look amazing with the flick of a setting.
2. Try any of the equalizers you can find online. Most people seem to like Beats, Volume+. There are many to choose from, including the ones already built into some players, such as the stock player. I personally like the DSP manager included with CM roms. It has a good amount of options, and can make even the worst headphones sound halfway decent.
3. Consult this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=22110205&postcount=131
found from the bottom of this post: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1621350
Read through that thread, as it's a great place to start if you're new to this device.
4. Welcome to the Glide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also numbering - for consistency...
1. Are you saying the Glide has a crap camera? I thought it was the same as the S2 and on gsmarena, the samples look better than the Ray. I guess I assumed that Samsung would have improved the camera between the 5 and 8 mp - but the Glide output seems very noisy when I look at the pictures on my PC. I care quite a lot about the camera quality and I know from past phones that software updates can often make a huge difference.
2. Thanks for the tips. Hopefully that will help the audio but you seem to infer that system wide (like for video) I need an updated rom?
3. Saw that post (searched for bloatware but only read the posts that seemed specific) and it links to a post about a deodexed rom zip file.
4. Thanks!
I hope I didn't sound too negative - I do like the Usb OTG and having a keyboard again. And I think the Glide meets the Mobile Ubuntu basic specs, so that might be interesting, too. I can even deal with the sound quality but the camera... well, we'll see, I guess.
I did buy Volume+ and it made a huge difference. Not with every video player but enough to make it worthwhile.
terryowen said:
Also numbering - for consistency...
1. Are you saying the Glide has a crap camera? I thought it was the same as the S2 and on gsmarena, the samples look better than the Ray. I guess I assumed that Samsung would have improved the camera between the 5 and 8 mp - but the Glide output seems very noisy when I look at the pictures on my PC. I care quite a lot about the camera quality and I know from past phones that software updates can often make a huge difference.
2. Thanks for the tips. Hopefully that will help the audio but you seem to infer that system wide (like for video) I need an updated rom?
3. Saw that post (searched for bloatware but only read the posts that seemed specific) and it links to a post about a deodexed rom zip file.
4. Thanks!
I hope I didn't sound too negative - I do like the Usb OTG and having a keyboard again. And I think the Glide meets the Mobile Ubuntu basic specs, so that might be interesting, too. I can even deal with the sound quality but the camera... well, we'll see, I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The captivate glide has a solid camera. Not the best, but also not the worst. Best camera phone I've had was my old MyTouch 4G Slide. It took better pictures than a GS3, and just about any other phone out there (on par with an iPhone 5). If you're rooted, just back up your phone and start deleting stuff. If it affects your daily routine, or you need something back, you can always restore. Either that or try a custom rom. But you can safely remove all the ATT branded apps, in addition to some other apps preinstalled. If you see what comes on an AOSP rom, you will get a better idea of what's necessary and what isn't.
terryowen said:
I did buy Volume+ and it made a huge difference. Not with every video player but enough to make it worthwhile.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're welcome :good:
I'm glad that worked out for you
Captivate Glide was built for businessmen, so you can't ask for a good camera or voice quality as the physical keyboard takes alot of spaces, but they are not crap, you can tweak the images with pixlr or line camera, worth a try
tienlp said:
Captivate Glide was built for businessmen, so you can't ask for a good camera or voice quality as the physical keyboard takes alot of spaces, but they are not crap, you can tweak the images with pixlr or line camera, worth a try
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Click to collapse
I concur, the call quality is surprisingly bad. Voices sound muffled overall
I used to think that glide has a crap camera and i tried various camera apps to have an improvement. Some xda users just let me focus on how to use it correctly and they suggested me to simply use the stock camera app being careful and focusing on staying stable and use the focus function (it is to say, tapping on the screen to make the frame get green).
I have to say that after a few tries it actually worked. I used to think that camera was poor but i can get very good pics now, and they're good when i download them on pc as well. It's all up to you and your stillness in taking the photo.
Hope it helps.
gtmaster303 said:
I concur, the call quality is surprisingly bad. Voices sound muffled overall
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange, my calling sound is normal, maybe this is because of the firmware or the network
After a month or so with the Glide, I've compensated for some of the problems with the Volume+ and Wake Lock, which keeps it from dying at times, especially overnight and draining the battery. I still have issues with staying connected to wifi, which the various keep-alive programs I've downloaded so far haven't helped much (miss having a radio, internet radio with wifi issues isn't fun).
The camera seems to be helped a lot when I use the various scene modes, which I rarely used on other phones (other than macro). Not sure why the automatic is so awful but if I pick the right scene, things turn out much better. I already owned Pro HDR Camera, so when it took better pictures than the automatic I knew it was possible, at least.
The Glide was always going to be an interim phone, unless the Ubuntu thing works out, so I'm okay with it now that things are stabilized. It doesn't say much for Samsung's quality that there are so many issues, but with the keyboard being practically extinct, they have a built-in market.
Disclaimer: This is rant, a civilized one, if you disagree with me, you are welcome to illustrate me but offenses are not appreciated.
This phone is great, but it refuses to be acceptable as a daily driver.
Developers are the best people in the world, they do what they do with no return at all sometimes, but the software (the lack of a good kernel base) makes it really hard to enjoy. I could never get more than 4.5 hours of SOT on any ROM, whereas stock would give me at least 5.5; however stock software is a bad joke for the Android base and the camera output is nerve wracking...
The CDLA headphones are a must, no one likes the dongle and it seems that (due to broken kernel) no dev was able to figure out this one (clarifying again that I don't blame them). So my options are to get used to carry the dongle or to the crack and pop from the CDLA ones... hmmmmmm......
I see the exact same story as with the Amazon phone, on its time, the Amazon phone had a really good thing going here in XDA, but the bootloader was never unlocked and the momentum was lost. I had to let go on my Fire phone....
For the LePro3, many great options are at hand at the same price, I'm looking heavily right now at the LG G5 from the $200 custom rom on eBay, WAY BETTER camera (like 10X times better), about the same battery life if you compare custom ROM of LePro3 vs stock of LG G5, and I have to admit that although I dislike LG's interface, it is tolerable.
Also, the LeEco servers (including the one that supports OTAs) has been down for at least 3 days (that I have tried myself), like seriously, we know the company is nearly in bankruptcy although still having customer support working, but the fact that security updates have halted and servers are down, tells me that there is something wrong going on.
At $200 dlls that I got the phone for, it is still not worth it for *me*.
My Moto Z play was $450 with a hasselblad camera mod that I was able to sell to get $100 in return, so for $350, I would still take yet another Moto Z Play at the current price, with way lower specifications, than taking a LePro3 for $200.
Help yourself and download these apps
Power Toggles
ACDisplay
Simple Control
Fingerprint Quick Action
Pixel Launcher
Modify the DPI to 300 via ADB
Download Google Camera (2.7) , Phone, Contacts etc from APKMirror
I am enjoying all the benefits from stock ROM plus emulated stock Android experience. =D
I bought this phone at what I thought was a steal for the hardware I was getting. I knew the company was unknown in the US and would likely not support the phone for long (if at all). I've flashed many Roms and played with this phone more than any other than perhaps my Nexus 6. Its a great phone overall with pretty decent developer support. I regret nothing.
Jose-MXL said:
Disclaimer: This is rant, a civilized one, if you disagree with me, you are welcome to illustrate me but offenses are not appreciated.
This phone is great, but it refuses to be acceptable as a daily driver.
Developers are the best people in the world, they do what they do with no return at all sometimes, but the software (the lack of a good kernel base) makes it really hard to enjoy. I could never get more than 4.5 hours of SOT on any ROM, whereas stock would give me at least 5.5; however stock software is a bad joke for the Android base and the camera output is nerve wracking...
The CDLA headphones are a must, no one likes the dongle and it seems that (due to broken kernel) no dev was able to figure out this one (clarifying again that I don't blame them). So my options are to get used to carry the dongle or to the crack and pop from the CDLA ones... hmmmmmm......
I see the exact same story as with the Amazon phone, on its time, the Amazon phone had a really good thing going here in XDA, but the bootloader was never unlocked and the momentum was lost. I had to let go on my Fire phone....
For the LePro3, many great options are at hand at the same price, I'm looking heavily right now at the LG G5 from the $200 custom rom on eBay, WAY BETTER camera (like 10X times better), about the same battery life if you compare custom ROM of LePro3 vs stock of LG G5, and I have to admit that although I dislike LG's interface, it is tolerable.
Also, the LeEco servers (including the one that supports OTAs) has been down for at least 3 days (that I have tried myself), like seriously, we know the company is nearly in bankruptcy although still having customer support working, but the fact that security updates have halted and servers are down, tells me that there is something wrong going on.
At $200 dlls that I got the phone for, it is still not worth it for *me*.
My Moto Z play was $450 with a hasselblad camera mod that I was able to sell to get $100 in return, so for $350, I would still take yet another Moto Z Play at the current price, with way lower specifications, than taking a LePro3 for $200.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rivethead23 said:
I bought this phone at what I thought was a steal for the hardware I was getting. I knew the company was unknown in the US and would likely not support the phone for long (if at all). I've flashed many Roms and played with this phone more than any other than perhaps my Nexus 6. Its a great phone overall with pretty decent developer support. I regret nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have to agree with rivethead23 I got the Pro 3 and immediately flashed the Turbo Destroyer rom on it and have never had any regrets
I also bought an LG G6 and I found it was no upgrade to the Pro 3 and ended up returning it.
My advice is to Flash the Turbo EUI 21S v20 rom and Nova launcher with Nova Google companion and you get the best experience from this device
rivethead23 said:
I bought this phone at what I thought was a steal for the hardware I was getting. I knew the company was unknown in the US and would likely not support the phone for long (if at all). I've flashed many Roms and played with this phone more than any other than perhaps my Nexus 6. Its a great phone overall with pretty decent developer support. I regret nothing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pretty much this.
I'm using the phone on stock 26s, pretty heavily customized though: Magisk, Xposed, Viper, GravityBox, Tasker, stock android/Google apps like Dialer Contact Messages Calendar Keep Hangout Gmail etc., Nova Launcher with companion, PlayerPro and VLC, Brave browser... I removed all Chinese bloatware, and stock apps I don't need anymore like Contact, Message, Music, Video, Browser, Launcher, LIVE, lots of LeEco apps, etc. Disabled all stock extra memory optimizations to let Android deal with memory. Splash and bootanim without Chinese. Etc.
It works really great, battery is still really good (I often have 5 or 5.5 hours SoT at the end of the day), I customized a lot of things to make it exactly how I wanted it. So far, the best device I owned, and one of the cheapest...
ZeblodS said:
Pretty much this.
I'm using the phone on stock 26s, pretty heavily customized though: Magisk, Xposed, Viper, GravityBox, Tasker, stock android/Google apps like Dialer Contact Messages Calendar Keep Hangout Gmail etc., Nova Launcher with companion, PlayerPro and VLC, Brave browser... I removed all Chinese bloatware, and stock apps I don't need anymore like Contact, Message, Music, Video, Browser, Launcher, LIVE, lots of LeEco apps, etc. Disabled all stock extra memory optimizations to let Android deal with memory. Splash and bootanim without Chinese. Etc.
It works really great, battery is still really good (I often have 5 or 5.5 hours SoT at the end of the day), I customized a lot of things to make it exactly how I wanted it. So far, the best device I owned, and one of the cheapest...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is 26s an official update? I've only received 21s ota on my x727
darkmuck said:
Is 26s an official update? I've only received 21s ota on my x727
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's the latest Chinese stock ROM for x720.
ALSO RANT:
Well the issue is with android itself, there is no real AOSP phone, i don't get why manufaturers just don't put AOSP on phone and be done with it, i guess target for android phones are geeks, at least this kind of android phones. I wanted dual sim phone, but now i think i will manage some woraround and go ios, as bad as it is, OS is much more polished and unified.
Even Moto with almost stock android still does not get direct google updates, it is just bad design.
BTW i use pro3 as daily, i get 8 + hours SOT with stock firmare, i managed to get ACR to work quite good, DND to work quite good, but still, default apps, like browser does not work, google integration is crap, even with launcher 3, missing pulldown is a joke and google services crash quite often so ... meh, but still better then my gs4 with new battery and lineage
Oh and also the ambient light sensors sets screen too dim for me at night, until now I had opposite problem with all the other phones i had.
I also have galaxy s7 at hand to use and in my opinion samsung android is even worse.
The main issue is there is really no Android OS, no phone with AOSP, which is only real Android OS, only ****ton of phones with more or less molested OS.
BTW my budget was 1100usd for a phone, i still chose pro3 and I still think, despite it's flaws, for me, it is best choice, which is sad, but it is reality, we can't change it, reality is reality. I will try z2 force with battery pack if they sell it officially in Czech, but I don't expect much.
Oh my I thought I was the only one with the headphone issue
Hmm my Le Pro 3 is coming soon... But I'm more likely to just sell It while it's new and make some $$$ of it. Seeing this rants and all... AOSP/lineage is a must for me, same as Oreo.
Just gonna buy OP5 to replace my Bacon. Maybe that jelly pentile so not exactly FHD, POS display won't be so bad...
FunkyRasta said:
Hmm my Le Pro 3 is coming soon... But I'm more likely to just sell It while it's new and make some $$$ of it. Seeing this rants and all... AOSP/lineage is a must for me, same as Oreo.
Just gonna buy OP5 to replace my Bacon. Maybe that jelly pentile so not exactly FHD, POS display won't be so bad...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
These rants are about things that we would like to have on the device and are inevitable, like the fact that we knew that there was no headphone jack and that the CDLA headphones are not perfect on custom software, we knew it and still took the chance, not the phone or dev's fault.
Other than that, the phone is amazing, you should give it a go, I don't think you can get too much money out of it, this is the wrong phone to re-sell for higher.
Also, you have a very specific example from other people in this thread, which is, you might like stock software which gives you the best battery life for the device.
Jose-MXL said:
These rants are about things that we would like to have on the device and are inevitable, like the fact that we knew that there was no headphone jack and that the CDLA headphones are not perfect on custom software, we knew it and still took the chance, not the phone or dev's fault.
Other than that, the phone is amazing, you should give it a go, I don't think you can get too much money out of it, this is the wrong phone to re-sell for higher.
Also, you have a very specific example from other people in this thread, which is, you might like stock software which gives you the best battery life for the device.
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I pretty OK with using adapter, no problem with me. I ordered it from China so when it gets to Europe it is worth more. I certainly would not lose money on it.
The only things that worry me are uncertain future of Oreo on this device and overall stability. I currently manage over 4 hours SOT with my OnePlus One.... Why this thing with 4070 Mah (thousand f-ing more) does 4.5 H or slightly more ? With newer SoC, screen etc. Stock software is a no-go for me. Android 6.0 is a no-go for me. So I rely on custom ROMs and dev support. At least dev support here is great!
Coming from Nexus and Nexus 5x, I was used to having so many roms and kernels. Getting LP3 was a big big jump and I did not like it in early days when no roms were available.
Now with more than enough roms and solid kernels, I do not miss anything. Omni Rom gives me 9 hrs of screen on time for my usage. It does not feel/act different than roms I used before.
The only problem was the camera performance. But with Google Camera port, that is no longer a problem now.
Introductions ::
Hello there, and welcome to my review of the DOOGEE x30 (32-bit – not L) smartphone! As a casual technology enthusiast, this sort of product truly fuels my interest in the mobile device industry. Manufacturers, like DOOGEE, constantly raise the bar of expectancy-vs-price, by either introducing highly sought-after features to cheaper devices or creating entirely new features that are then introduced through the budget market first. This practice of constantly improving the developing the low-end market makes for an interesting show when one goes to observe the ripples that this creates in the mobile device market as a while. These manufacturers, when they get the formula just right, create devices that can competently perform at a low price point, while displaying very little compromise in overall design, features, and quality. As such, I find the budget market to be an important part of the general mobile device market(place).
Now, for a bit of personal background. This is my third smartphone from DOOGEE, which means that I have a slight, inherent bias. However, I will do my best to curb such, for the sake of an honest and fair assessment of the device in question. I will start with the un-boxing experience, and move forward from there in a semi-natural progression, if you will. The included clips will (unfortunately) be presented in 720p30fps - not true HD. But, it should get the un-boxing experience across in a satisfactory manner - I hope.
Specs ::
Can be found here.
Un-Boxing ::
approx. 15 minutes long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VI_cLORLc24
* Please note that the first part (the un-boxing) is still being processed, and the second part (the actual review) will be uploaded later this week (and hopefully, in a higher resolution). I hope you all are enjoying your winter holiday this year
Review ::
There is none - it's ded
Pros ::
The CPU is an MTK 6580, which is clocked at 1.3GHz - a decent CPU for this SoC, although 32-bit.*
This phone comes with 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM, which is better than what many other budget smartphones come with (less than 1GB in many cases). In fact, this SoC could be packed with up to 4GB of RAM if they wanted…
The 4-sensor Camera system truly sets this device apart from the competition in terms of photographic capabilities at this price-point (60-100 USD). They record at 5mp and 8mp respectively, meaning that the maximum resolution you can get for an image (from the rear cameras) is 3264 x 2448. Pretty nice for a sub-100 USD smartphone...
The metal frame also helps in terms of durability, and even adds to the overall visual appeal of the phone’s design.
The curved body makes it easy to hold, and ergonomically pleasing to the average user. No pain in the palms to speak of
The phone comes with Android 7, which is a great move - Android 8 is here, and DOOGEE can push an update whenever they’re ready. In addition to that (assuming that DOOGEE does update this phone), it gives users the option to decide on whether or not to move on to 8 - software options. But, while you’re waiting, you can play around with Quick Settings Customization - which is another plus.
This phone comes with 16GB of internal storage as an entry model, in opposed to 8GB (as seen in past models like the x5 and x6). This move is definitely one in the right direction…
The software that comes installed on this device initially appears quite close to stock (Google Apps and all - beyond AOSP) Android, which is great for those of you who want more control over the experience, or a simpler experience when using Android. It’s pretty difficult to spot most of the differences and deviations...
Cons ::
This model’s CPU is 32-bit, which limits the RAM and apps that can be used on this device. As such, it won’t be able to use any software that requires a 64-bit* architecture or more than 4GB of RAM. Remember the x5 Pro and x6 Pro models?
The RAM speed on this device is only 533MHz, which leaves it feeling like low-price DDR2/LPDDR2 (at around 500-600MHz), in opposed to the LPDDR3 it’s actually packing, which (in theory) can reach speeds of around 800MHz.
The Mali GPU included on this SoC is only 2 cores*, which is a bit underwhelming for obvious reasons. A higher clock speed could have helped this a bit.
It comes with some unnecessary apps, which can’t be completely removed without rooting. This needlessly reduces the amount of free storage space on the device. What’s up with the cat hanging from the top of the screen?! The approach used on the x5 and x6 Pro models should be used on this device instead.
It’s theme, while small in terms of performance impact, is an unnecessary and non-innovative deviation from a simpler Google/AOSP UI experience. Once again, the approach used on the x5 and x6 Pro models should be used on this device instead.
The screen, while being HD-Ready, is of the 720p/1080i variety - not the Full HD (1080p) that many have come to expect from their smartphones nowadays. But, this isn’t too much to bare.
The camera(s) only record at 5mp and 8mp respectively, meaning that the maximum resolution you can ever get for an image (from the rear cameras) is 3264 x 2448. While still images are quite nice, video recordings are locked in at 30fps, and may actually be at a lower resolution still.
This device can only receive so much expansion via the SD card slot - 32GB to be exact.
The SoC on this model doesn’t offer 4G(LTE)* capabilities, Bluetooth 5, NFC, or Wireless Charging.
It’s USB 2.0, instead of 3.0. An upgrade to 3.0 would have been nice...
Not so sure about how honest DOOGEE is about the camera.
Some apps I would remove (if I could) include:
Torch*
Themes **
System Manager**
File Manager**
DOOGEE ?
Chrome *g
* Integrate this feature into the Quick Settings - no need for another app
** Can be handled better with 3rd party apps
*g Have better counterparts that are developed by Google, and should be decided on by the user
? What does this app do?! I don’t remember it being around on the older models...
Conclusion ::
Overall, I think that this device is quite nicely-made for this price (60-70 USD), but could be improved upon a bit. While being a worthy successor to the single-digit x-models, I also think that there should be a higher-end model available, for those of us who are willing to pay to have many of these issues alleviated (around say, 100 USD - like last time). In addition to this, from having had the x5 Pro and x6 Pro models, I can’t help but feel just a bit let down this time around. Yet, there isn’t an x30 Pro. Perhaps the x30L* would answer the call? Although, I haven’t been able to find the darned thing, for sale, anywhere!
Overall Rating: 7.0/10
Bottom Line;
Good show, DOOGEE. You do have some places where you can improve. But, I can’t wait to see what you come up with next...
I actually purchased this phone for the mother-in-law. It literally just arrived today. Off the top, it's a very nice phone, especially for the sub-$70 I paid for it. I'm going to be working with this in-depth over the next few days in order to customize it (and see what tricks I can find). I'll report back when I'm done.
UPDATE: Just got this TWRP'd and rooted. Now I can see what this thing can do. :good:
Here we go!...
Bratzilla said:
I actually purchased this phone for the mother-in-law. It literally just arrived today. Off the top, it's a very nice phone, especially for the sub-$70 I paid for it. I'm going to be working with this in-depth over the next few days in order to customize it (and see what tricks I can find). I'll report back when I'm done.
UPDATE: Just got this TWRP'd and rooted. Now I can see what this thing can do. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be uploading a review of it this week!
TopHatProductions115 said:
I'll be uploading a review of it this week!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good to hear! I enjoy reviews of these smaller brands. Not everyone can afford a Note 8 cash-out.
I got a few more technical notes. Apologies if I ramble a bit, but I wanted to get this listed so that I don't forget. (Please let me know if you want me to post my root method as I don't want to hijack your thread. I didn't see any other threads pertinent to this phone posted yet.) These notes have to do with modding the phone and how it behaved for me afterwards.
As mentioned earlier, I rooted this phone after playing with the stock version a bit. A note about rooting - there are several posts online that mention rooting via SP Flash Tool. I never got this to work for me. Instead, using ADB and the TWRP version for this phone did the job (there is a trick in doing so as the install wasn't quite so straightforward). Once TWRP was installed, flashing SuperSU went as usual. Root Checker confirmed that root did take.
Custom recovery was possible because Doogee X30's flavor of Nougat 7.0 (which btw this phone has one of the few maker-created launchers that I pretty much like) contains a switch in Settings that allows you to make the bootloader unlockable. A quick run through ADB to actually do the unlocking worked perfectly. However, I now have a "Status Orange" message upon boot-up that claims the phone is now unsafe due to the bootloader unlock. But this doesn't seem to adversely impact operation (at least nothing obvious has presented itself) - very similar to the message I got when I did the same thing to the Galaxy Note 4.
I was able to use Kernel Auditor to do thinks like speed up the CPU and enable init.d (one of the requirements to get Viper4Android to work). CPU tweaks substantially enhanced this phone's performance.
Once rooted, customization became relatively easy. I targeted my usual apps to enhance the phone. SELinux Switcher, Adaway, BusyBox, Kernel Auditor (to tweak CPU performance and enable init.d), and Viper4Android (the package that includes Sony + Dolby Atmos). Rooted apps are all performing as expected.
The factory launcher is surprisingly lite and simple, and I did enjoy it. I would have kept it for the MIL, but I didn't see any obvious way to change the icon set so I went with Evie Launcher (if you see a way, though, please let me know). So far, Evie is working quite nicely.
Wifi speeds are pretty good for a phone in this class; I have no complaints. For cell data, based on the radios supported, this phone can only work at 3G/HSPA+ as there is no LTE radio. However I'll better be able to speak on that once I put in her SIM card and really give this a twirl on AT&T towers.
With the right modifications, I'd say this phone performs similar to those with a much higher pay point. Of course it's nothing near flagship level. However, for the amount of RAM and on-board storage, SD card support, headphone jack and REMOVABLE battery - I'd say this phone is a pretty sweet deal especially for people who just cannot or do not want to spend $$$ for a bunch of features they don't need. Plus if you break this sucker, you're not gonna cry over it. Just save up a few In-and-Out combos in a piggy bank and you can buy another one.
Oh yeah - one final note. Regarding cases, unless you want to pay Amazon's ridiculously jacked-up prices, it's best to order one through eBay from overseas. I got the pleather wallet model and it looks pretty decent. Just saw there is now a genuine full-leather one also on eBay.
---------- Post added at 05:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:19 PM ----------
Oh darn it! I just saw that you wanted to remove some system apps. Once rooted, there are apps in Playstore that should let you do just that.
In fact, thanks for that list. I'll check these out and see which ones I can dump. Is Themes tied to the launcher? If so, I may not touch it to avoid problems later. Speaking of Theme - that effing hanging cat can be turned off in the stock launcher settings. There is actually a switch for it. Sooooo annoying!
And your rating is very close to what others are giving (low to mid 7s), so it looks like your instincts are quite on the money.
Just added the first video. Once again, I'm kinda wishing that my dedicated camera was still operational (Nikon COOLPIX), but it stopped working a few months back. I had no option but the Nexus 7 camera (again). I've been using it as my camera for most of my videos where it isn't screen cap.
care to expand on TWRP rooting?!
(there is a trick in doing so as the install wasn't quite so straightforward)
For those wondering how to root this phone, its actually pretty simple. THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING.
Assuming you know some basic adb commands..
You wanna start off with making sure your bootloader is unlocked, which can be done fairly easily with ADB tools.
Don't be alarmed when your phone resets a couple times, its erasing data and reformating.
Once your bootloader is unlocked and your phone restarts, remember to reenable USB debugging. and then go to fastboot mode again to flash our recovery.
(I used the recovery link listed in the SUflash method that comes up when googling 'x30 doogee root')
Once our recovery is installed, we'll wanna put the latest version of SuperSU (Make sure its the zip, not the apk) onto your phone/SD card. Boot into recovery, and install SuperSU through TWRP.
Congratz, you've succesfully rooted your X30
Tested and verified on mine. Sorry I could not include links, do not have enough posts. Just wanted to be of assistance!
This device (unfortunately) actually sort needs root to even feel at-home with. Which is sad, because the x5 Pro and x6 Pro weren't like that. I rooted them advanced purposes - not to get them to a decent state...
Help me please!
I stuck my phone in TWRP can you send me a copy of your recovery?
VeteranoX said:
I stuck my phone in TWRP can you send me a copy of your recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I unfortunately don't have the device anymore
(This is not a reddit thread )
At the time of writing, Samsung Galaxy S9 is by far the best smartphone one can obtain simply because of its current price point.
It packs a:
? snapdragon 845 (latest so far)
? good camera
? good position for the fingerprint scanner
? good aesthetics
?? best display
???? IP68 rating + headphone jack + stereo speakers + fast wireless + .........
This smartphone is truly remarkable and yet so underrated bc of the rapidly growing market we are in right now. Any android phone I eye on, I always compare it with the samsung products. Is the screen better? Speakers? This phone is like the basis of every android phones out there.
The downside of all the Galaxy Flagship Series is the software. It alway has and will always be (hopefully not). Samsung takes too long to upgrade the their firmwares and the ever so undependable touchwiz (note: there would be a one ui soon tho)
Now I trully believe that this phone can be further improved and it's we can make it happen. Right here in xda.
What we can do to make it perfect:
Face Unlock System.
It sucks. Irish scanner plus the facial detection is unreliable. Although the s9 has a good fingerprint scanner, having a dead feature is really bothersome. It uses an infrared camera paired with an IR sensor.... which reminds of me something... ?? Oh right!! Pocophone has this great IR Face unlock feature which works great and is really reliable. It flashes an IR signal to the users face and creates a 3D map of the bounced signal. Works even in pitch black environment. Now if only Samsung adapts this instead hmmm ?
The overall ui experience.
The dropdown quick settings. Look how iphone did it. Simple swipe from the bottom and there goes everything that a user usually needs. There's so many unnecessary things on the quick settings (which is by the way editable) and a less user friendly orientation. I just dont like the ui.
Android one os? Ported gcam. Good ui experience. Even the unlock pin feels better on the ios. How come it's not on our custom roms.
What I'm trying to say here is that why don't we create a custom rom that packs everything that a user would ever want. ?
The reality is there is no perfect Rom. Because every user has his own preferences. What you want in a Rom might not be wanted by another user, and vice versa.
Another factor is the presence of bugs in a custom Rom.
Another one is the necessity of rooting the phone to install a custom Rom which will break some system and user applications due to security issues. There's a root module to hide the root status, but is not 100% working on all applications, at least based on my experience.
But with all these factors, some users still prefer rooting the phone and installing a custom Rom mostly due to customisable features, lean build, and faster overall performance of the phone.