Hi, everyone.
Saw the bullet wireless 2 and it sounds impressive on paper but recently I saw a true wireless earbuds Blaupunkt BTW01
I want you guys opinion about these two earbuds, by reviews on Amazon or some other sites, Btw01 take around 2 hrs to full charge and last for 6 hrs which is kind of disappointing compared to one plus, but it has better balance in high and low with punchier lows compared to OnePlus.
So, above are on papers and reviews. What do you guys think, which one should I go for.
bullooka said:
Hi, everyone.
Saw the bullet wireless 2 and it sounds impressive on paper but recently I saw a true wireless earbuds Blaupunkt BTW01
I want you guys opinion about these two earbuds, by reviews on Amazon or some other sites, Btw01 take around 2 hrs to full charge and last for 6 hrs which is kind of disappointing compared to one plus, but it has better balance in high and low with punchier lows compared to OnePlus.
So, above are on papers and reviews. What do you guys think, which one should I go for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking about the OnePlus bullets but I found something else that is completely awesome. Anker Zolo Liberty true wireless earbuds. 8 hours, and with the charging case 100 hours. They sound amazing. Might consider them also. True-Wireless Headphones, ZOLO Liberty [Upgraded] 8-Hour Playtime (100 Hours with Charging Case), Bluetooth 5 Bluetooth Earbuds with Graphene Driver Technology, IPX5 Sweatproof, Handsfree Stereo Calls https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GKHYVM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LgT5CbH2RDHRA
justibasa said:
I was thinking about the OnePlus bullets but I found something else that is completely awesome. Anker Zolo Liberty true wireless earbuds. 8 hours, and with the charging case 100 hours. They sound amazing. Might consider them also. True-Wireless Headphones, ZOLO Liberty [Upgraded] 8-Hour Playtime (100 Hours with Charging Case), Bluetooth 5 Bluetooth Earbuds with Graphene Driver Technology, IPX5 Sweatproof, Handsfree Stereo Calls https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GKHYVM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LgT5CbH2RDHRA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol that costs 258.35 USD in my country.
justibasa said:
I was thinking about the OnePlus bullets but I found something else that is completely awesome. Anker Zolo Liberty true wireless earbuds. 8 hours, and with the charging case 100 hours. They sound amazing. Might consider them also. True-Wireless Headphones, ZOLO Liberty [Upgraded] 8-Hour Playtime (100 Hours with Charging Case), Bluetooth 5 Bluetooth Earbuds with Graphene Driver Technology, IPX5 Sweatproof, Handsfree Stereo Calls https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GKHYVM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LgT5CbH2RDHRA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol that costs 258.35 USD in my country
If you're looking for a truly great sounding completely wireless earbud, check out the NuForce Move. They are up for preorder on Massdrop.
https://drop.com/buy/drop-nuforce-move-wireless-in-ear-monitors
They aren't the typical "OMG Moar BASS" sound that has sucked out middle frequency response and uneven and elevated treble. They do have plenty of bass, but don't sacrifice vocal or instrument clarity to get there, as they have a more neutral sound response.
I listen to blues, rock, metal, and electronic music, and I'd recommend these.
Otherwise, you have the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless and RHA TrueConnect which are also well reviewed. I haven't heard the RHA, but the Senns are pretty nice.
if the nuforce are preorders have you heard them before?
jacobk said:
if the nuforce are preorders have you heard them before?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't heard them, but ears I trust have done comparisons to IEMs I have heard or owned, so I do have a very good frame of reference. Specifically, the Massdrop Plus earphones and CA Andromeda. I owned the Plus which were very good (and which I lost/had stolen at the San Diego airport) and I can confirm were smooth operators. In this post he compared the Move to the Plus IEMs:
https://superbestaudiofriends.org/i...ce-move-wireless-iem-review.7867/#post-258593
I've preordered mine based on those recommendations because I've been a member at SBAF for a long time, am friends with quite a few of the senior members, and I trust their ears enough to make blind purchases like this.
Elnrik said:
If you're looking for a truly great sounding completely wireless earbud, check out the NuForce Move. They are up for preorder on Massdrop.
https://drop.com/buy/drop-nuforce-move-wireless-in-ear-monitors
They aren't the typical "OMG Moar BASS" sound that has sucked out middle frequency response and uneven and elevated treble. They do have plenty of bass, but don't sacrifice vocal or instrument clarity to get there, as they have a more neutral sound response.
I listen to blues, rock, metal, and electronic music, and I'd recommend these.
Otherwise, you have the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless and RHA TrueConnect which are also well reviewed. I haven't heard the RHA, but the Senns are pretty nice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would these comes with warranty of any kind? couldn't find anything that states it does
RabbleCake said:
Would these comes with warranty of any kind? couldn't find anything that states it does
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure. I'll ask.
"At least one year" on the warranty.
Elnrik said:
"At least one year" on the warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that written anywhere or just what they're planning on doing?
RabbleCake said:
Is that written anywhere or just what they're planning on doing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://drop.com/buy/drop-nuforce-move-wireless-in-ear-monitors/talk/2435912
Hope that helps. I don't have specifics, unfortunately.
justibasa said:
I was thinking about the OnePlus bullets but I found something else that is completely awesome. Anker Zolo Liberty true wireless earbuds. 8 hours, and with the charging case 100 hours. They sound amazing. Might consider them also. True-Wireless Headphones, ZOLO Liberty [Upgraded] 8-Hour Playtime (100 Hours with Charging Case), Bluetooth 5 Bluetooth Earbuds with Graphene Driver Technology, IPX5 Sweatproof, Handsfree Stereo Calls https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07GKHYVM8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_LgT5CbH2RDHRA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Anker Zolo Liberty sound good, charge fast, case is easy to carry. I love them. I got them on an Anker promo for $50, but I think they're easily worth more than that.
dchurch85 said:
The Anker Zolo Liberty sound good, charge fast, case is easy to carry. I love them. I got them on an Anker promo for $50, but I think they're easily worth more than that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah. I've loved them so far. Picked them up for 100 bucks. More than worth it.
Right now one of the best TWS earphones you can get are these pairs:
https://us.creative.com/p/headphones-headsets/creative-outlier-air
They specifically go well with Qualcomm SD845 & SD855 devices because they
are made with Qualcomm's QCC302x series chips which utilize Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus technology, Qualcomm® Broadcast Audio technology, Qualcomm TrueWireless™ Stereo technology, Qualcomm® aptX™ audio technology, Qualcomm® cVc™ audio technology and Low Latency technology.
They are power efficient and carry 7 to 9 hours of listening with a single charge and these pairs also
support ACC natively which is nice if you ever own an apple product down the road and above all, they
only cost $79 Bucks right now for a limited time, I think.
I'll get mine in a week, I'll let you know. I like the 10 min charge time
Bump: For users looking at buying the OnePlus Bullet 2
The OnePlus Wireless are a pair I own and they may not sound the best but they were really convenient to use. Just remove the magnetic housings from one another and boom you were immediately connected to your previous device. The series 2 are a triple driver situation which should make things sound better and more than likely only improving on the aesthetics/design.
True Wireless Headphones(TWS) have gotten really far and the convenience alone helps break the bridge between wireless and wired usage. The sound of nearly all true wireless headphones in the $99 range are not going to compete well with the bullet 2s but from my own personal use. The first time I heard music through a decent pair of TWS, I just had the largest smile come across my face. It is incredible listening to music with nearly nothing in or around your head/neck area. Even now with over a 100 pair of headphones I find myself looking for my Airpods or Liberty Airs. Just my 2cents
samteeee said:
Right now one of the best TWS earphones you can get are these pairs:
https://us.creative.com/p/headphones-headsets/creative-outlier-air
They specifically go well with Qualcomm SD845 & SD855 devices because they
are made with Qualcomm's QCC302x series chips which utilize Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus technology, Qualcomm® Broadcast Audio technology, Qualcomm TrueWireless™ Stereo technology, Qualcomm® aptX™ audio technology, Qualcomm® cVc™ audio technology and Low Latency technology.
They are power efficient and carry 7 to 9 hours of listening with a single charge and these pairs also
support ACC natively which is nice if you ever own an apple product down the road and above all, they
only cost $79 Bucks right now for a limited time, I think.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really liked the reviews on these and was just about to buy them and it said backordered until June 24th. Still thinking about it but really want something now before I go back to work offshore.
Jeffro64 said:
I really liked the reviews on these and was just about to buy them and it said backordered until June 24th. Still thinking about it but really want something now before I go back to work offshore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know, but if you don't mind spending more, go for Mavin Air-X, it's as good as Creative and you get better color choices:
https://www.mavinlife.com/product_d.php?lang=en&tb=1&id=145
samteeee said:
I know, but if you don't mind spending more, go for Mavin Air-X, it's as good as Creative and you get better color choices:
https://www.mavinlife.com/product_d.php?lang=en&tb=1&id=145
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those look pretty good too...Thanks I'll look into them and go from there. The Creative ones may still win because of the USB C port being everything seems to be moving that direction and it's nice to not have to deal with multiple connectors and cords.
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The good:
1. Nice build quality.
2. Vibrant, clear and sharp display.
3. Decent performance.
4. MicroSD card support.
5. 4G and Phone functions.
The bad:
1. Old processor.
2. Big bezels.
3. No fingerprint reader or face unlock.
4. Sub-par battery life.
The Alldocube X released last year enjoyed enormous success on Indiegogo. With its dazzling 10.5-inch 2K Super Amoled display, stereo speakers, and AKM AK4376A powered 3.5mm headphone jack, the X was considered by many to be a perfect choice for media consumption. Unfortunately, it was hold back by a relatively weak processor (Mediatek MT8176 SoC) and poor battery life.
By the end of 2019, Alldocube announced its partnership with Qualcomm, the world’s leading mobile chip maker. Many were hoping that the Chinese brand could release an upgraded version of the X with a Snapdragon processor in it. And here comes the X Neo: An Android tablet with identical design and 10.5-inch Amoled display, but a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE processor, and some other minor changes.
Main Specs
Operating system: Android 9.0 Pie
Screen: 10.5-inch Super Amoled display @2560*1600px
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE
CPU: Octa-Core (4*Cortex [email protected] + 4*Cortex [email protected])
GPU: Adreno 512
RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
ROM: 64GB eMMc 5.1 (supports expansion up to 512GB)
Battery: 3.8V/7700mAh Li-Po battery
Cameras: 5MP front / 8MP main
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n, 5GHz/2.4GHz dual-band
Mobile networks: 4G (FDD-LTE/TD-LTE), 3G (CDMA/TD-SCDMA/WCDMA), 2G (GSM)
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0
Ports: USB-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroSD card slot, pogo pin keyboard port.
Buttons: Power/standby key, volume rocker
Size: 245.9*175.4*7.2mm Weight: 491g
Nice, but unimpressive design
Just like last year’s X, the Alldocube X Neo looks neat and elegant. The metallic rear and curved sides give the slate an air of luxury. But for a 2020 tablet, the bezels around the screen are just a little too big. Alldocube made an argument that big bezels give users enough to grip and hold the tablet to avoid accidental touches, which makes sense, but I still think people would prefer modern designs of the Apple iPad Pro and the Huawei MatePad Pro. A front-facing camera and a light sensor can be found above the display, the rest of the front looks clean, and you won’t even find any branding.
The tablet has a frosted aluminum back, which makes it feel much more premium than the price tag would suggest. Apart from Alldocube’s logo, the camera lens is the only distraction. It’s incredibly clean, simple, and stylish.
When holding horizontally, the left and right edge are each home to dual speakers, and there're also a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Type-C charging port on the left.
On the bottom side of the slate you can also find a pogo pin port, which can be connected to the official keyboard case.
The tablet supports 4G, as well as storage expansion. The SIM card tray is able to carry 2 nano SIM cards or the combination of 1 nano SIM card and a MicroSD card.
There are two physical buttons on the right edge of the slate: a power/standby key and a volume rocker.
The X Neo measures 245.9mm * 175.4mm * 7.2mm, and weighs 489g. It does not fit in our hands as well as those 8-inchers do, and you can basically forget about one-handed use, but the device didn’t burden our hands too much, either, thanks to the slim and lightweight build. As thin as it is, the X Neo still feels quite robust, even physically twisting the tablet doesn’t reveal excess movement. The overall build quality of this slate is as good as many high-end products in the market.
One thing that does bother me is the absence of a fingerprint reader, which I loved on last year’s X. I even called Alldocube for their reason regarding the removal of this feature. Their marketing person claimed that the majority of users don’t use their tablets for online payments, so a tablet doesn’t need the same level of security as a smartphone or a laptop. I do understand their point: the absence of a fingerprint reader is not a deal breaker for most tablet users, and the brand can save the cost for more essential features such as 4G connectivity, yet I would have preferred a more convenient way to unlock the screen, instead of having to put in some PIN code or draw a certain pattern.
Stunning Screen, average sound
The Alldocube X Neo sports a gorgeous 10.5-inch Super Amoled display made by Samsung. Resolution clocks in at 2,560 by 1,600, for 287 pixels per inch. With deep, inky blacks and rich colors, the display is really a joy to look at. Color accuracy is also excellent, and the screen is bright enough to use in any scenario.
Although the X Neo’s display uses the standard PenTile RGBW matrix, instead of the more celebrated 'PenTile Diamond Pixel' array, sharpness is still good and, while I don’t think color calibration or the screen architecture match Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones, this is still one of the best screens you’ll find in a tablet, and is definitely superior to the LCD panels used on the Huawei MatePad Pro and the Apple iPad Pro.
Not just videos and photos look great. The lightweight nature means it’s also an excellent ebook reader alternative, and great for gaming. I read for many hours using the Amazon Kindle app, and provided I changed the background color from white to a paper-like tone, it didn’t tire my eyes. The light, easy-to-hold body allows for extended play sessions when gaming, too. Asphalt 9 is fun, and it’s visually enhanced thanks to the stunning colors and screen.
The Alldocube X Neo offers side-firing stereo speakers, which can go very loud. Unfortunately, these built-in speakers can sound a little harsh at the highest volume, and lacks the bass and soundstage produced by the Quad AKG tuned speakers found on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e. Still, they are much better than similarly priced Android slates and are definitely good enough for YouTube and Tik Tok. For audiophiles, headphones or external speakers are still very much needed for music and action films.
Although the X Neo has a 3.5mm headphone jack, it is not powered by the AKM 4376A DAC like last year’s Alldocube X was. The tablet works well with average headphones, only when you plug in a power-hungry professional headset with higher impedance will you start to notice some differences. If you don’t even own headphones above $200, this shouldn’t even be anything to think about.
System & UI
The X Neo ships with stock Android 9 Pie, not the latest Android 10, and there’s customization on top. As much as we love the clean feel of stock Android, it is not optimized for a tablet screen, especially a big, 10.5-inch one.
You won’t find anything similar to Samsung tablets’ DeX mode. The stock screen-split function works fine with most applications, but it doesn’t really give you that kind of computing experience the DeX mode offers when there are serious productivity tasks at hand.
Unfortunately, the Android ecosystem is going towards a direction which is less and less tablet-friendly. Many of the customized tablet applications in Play Store were released years ago and haven’t been updated for a long time. As a result, most of the apps we tried on the X Neo were just phone apps blown up to fill the 10.5-inch screen, with the majority of them only supporting vertical mode. The ideal solution would be something like the Phoenix OS, which turns Android OS into a multi-window desktop style user interface, but Alldocube doesn’t seem too keen on shipping their tablets with that operating system.
Decent performance
The Alldocube X Neo is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE processor, which has an octa-core CPU (4 Cores of Cortex-A72 clocked at 2.2GHz and 4 cores of Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.8GHz) and an Adreno 512 GPU. This chipset was actually released way back in 2017 and built on 14nm process, so it is relatively old, and doesn’t match the performance of the Snapdragon 675 or Kirin 810 found in many entry-level Android smartphones. But compared to the 28nm MediaTek 8176 processor in last year’s Alldocube X, it is still a solid upgrade.
The X Neo notched typical “Snapdragon 660” scores in many benchmark tests I threw at it, but it even bettered the Snapdragon 670 powered Samsung Galaxy S5e in some of those tests, which came as a pleasant surprise.
The built-in storage is eMMc 5.1, which is not comparable to UFS storages in top smartphones, but the X did manage to get a result similar to the readings of more expensive midrange tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e in terms of Sequential Read and Write speeds in the Androbench test.
In the real-world use, the Snapdragon 660 processor and 4GB RAM are actually enough to drive the tablet for the tasks it is intended for. The X Neo is smooth and responsive most of the time, I had no issues watching 4K YouTube videos in Chrome, and scrolling through my best friends’ Instagram posts at the same time. With that said, there will be some noticeable hiccups when you open too many image-heavy webpages, or have several big applications running in the background.
Gaming should not be your main reason to buy a Snapdragon 660 powered tablet. With that said, the tablet can run most games installed from Play Store without issues, but in order to have a smooth visual experience, you need to use moderate settings in big titles such as Asphalt 9 and PUBG. If you insist on going for the highest level of animation and 3D effects, you should expect frameskip and serious delays.
Superb connectivity
The X Neo supports dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and 4G, you can even use it to make phone calls, but you need to hear voices either through headphones or the built-in speakers, since the tablet doesn’t have an earpiece.
With such an amazing display, more users will be tempted to store a lot of media files in their X Neo, thus the 64GB built-in storage might not suffice. Fortunately, this tablet supports storage expansion, you can insert a MicroSD card up to 512GB. Even better, the type-C port can also mount most mobile SSD drives.
Basic cameras
There are two cameras on the X Neo, a front-facing 5MP camera and an 8MP main camera. Those cameras can be useful for video-chatting, and scanning QR code, but you won’t want to “archive your life” with them. Even in perfectly-lit conditions, most photos I took with the main camera were either over-exposed or under-exposed, and there wasn’t much life to them. In low light, the photos were simply horrible. In an era when most entry-level smartphones come with triple or quad camera setups, there is really no place for tablet photography.
Selfie camera shot
Main camera shot
Subpar battery life, decent charging speed
The Alldocube X Neo houses a 7700mAh Li-Po battery, smaller than the X’s 8000mAh. But with a much more efficient processor, the X Neo can give me around 7-8 hours’ screen time on a full charge, while the X could only last around 6 hours.
With display brightness and speaker volume both set at 50%, the X Neo scored 7 hours and 25 minutes in the PCMark 8 Work 2.0 Battery test, which was really not impressive compared to other midrange tablets.
This X Neo supports Qualcomm’s 18W QC3.0 quick charge. With the stock wall charger, you can fully charge the tablet’s 7700mAh battery in around 3 hours, not bad considering how big the battery is. In comparison, the 2020 Apple iPad Pro also supports 18W charging, but Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 and S5e only support 15W charging. The MatePad Pro is the reigning king in terms of charging speed, as it supports Huawei’s very own 40W SuperCharge, but the cheaper MatePad 10.4 doesn’t have that feature, as it also ships with an 18W charger.
Verdict: great for media consumption
The Alldocube X Neo isn’t designed to break any new grounds, but it is an Android tablet which gets a lot of essential things right. It has a sharp and colorful display, which makes it perfect for video streaming, web-browsing and even light gaming. The Snapdragon 660 AIE processor is old, but still offers decent performance for basic everyday tasks. 4G connectivity means the tablet won’t be limited to places with connectable Wi-Fi hotspot.
However, the removal of the fingerprint reader is not really a smart move. Also, the Chinese brand doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to after-sale support, most of their tablets stop receiving firmware upgrades a few months after the release. The X Neo will probably never be upgraded to Android 10, let alone Android R, something you need to bear in mind before making a purchase.
To sum it up, if media playback is your main focus, the X Neo is really an easy recommendation, in fact you won’t find anything that’s visually on par with this slate in the same price range. But if you use your tablet for more mixed purposes, there are a few other offerings you should look at before reaching into your pocket to get the X Neo.
Can it install google play or service?
I buy this tablet, try to install google service,but it's error.
Did someone install it successfully?
Hope twrp can support, and there is a new rom
domon1116 said:
I buy this tablet, try to install google service,but it's error.
Did someone install it successfully?
Hope twrp can support, and there is a new rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I ran into the same problems, seems the current ROM isn't compatible with GMS. Alldocube is working on it.
Jupit3r said:
I ran into the same problems, seems the current ROM isn't compatible with GMS. Alldocube is working on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can download the gms rom with google service in this link:https://www.alldocube.com/en/firmware/alldocube-xneot1009-firmware-download/
wangyiling said:
you can download the gms rom with google service in this link:https://www.alldocube.com/en/firmware/alldocube-xneot1009-firmware-download/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, many thanks!
Hi. Any full tutorial to flash?
I just received today. But the rom no google play.
As i see in tutorial. To connect to Qfill in tutorial. The tablet must boot to 9008 mode (press volume up and down button and power) after i press the tablet goes death black screen. I try to power up no response. Any tips?
Jubet said:
Hi. Any full tutorial to flash?
I just received today. But the rom no google play.
As i see in tutorial. To connect to Qfill in tutorial. The tablet must boot to 9008 mode (press volume up and down button and power) after i press the tablet goes death black screen. I try to power up no response. Any tips?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the CPU of this tablet is Qualcomm Snapdragon 660. The operation of firmware flashing in the 9008 mode is exactly the same as the other Snapdragon 660 mobile phones. The operation of QFIL tool is universally, and the problems encountered are the same. You can find many references on the xda forum or youtube
If the tablet just enters 9008 mode, the flashing does not started, long press the power button should be able to reset the machine, and boot.
If the flashing has already started, and it was interrupted, as long as the tablet can enter 9008 mode, continue to use QFIL tool to re-flash the firmware
hi to all,
i would use this nice tablet about smart working.
The needed is exporting, via usb-c to hdmi cable, the display on LG 32UL950-W monitor.
But without luck, until now.
Black screen. Any suggests ?
It seems, reading specs on official site at url , that is supported HDMI output.
I've tried with a usb-c HUB and no luck.
Any tips to follow ? Thanks everyone for your patience.
Nicola.
How to unlock bootloader & root device？
sis3002001 said:
How to unlock？
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
password
sis3002001 said:
How to unlock bootloader & root device？
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. go into the Settings > System > Developer options menu and enable the OEM unlocking
2.use adb command let tablet go into fastbootmode:adb reboot bootloader
3.use fastboot command to unlock:fastboot flashing unlock
4.about root,use magsik app to patch the origin boot.img ,and use fastboot command flash the modified boot.img:fastboot flash boot xxx.img,and at last install magisk app.
wangyiling said:
1. go into the Settings > System > Developer options menu and enable the OEM unlocking
2.use adb command let tablet go into fastbootmode:adb reboot bootloader
3.use fastboot command to unlock:fastboot flashing unlock
4.about root,use magsik app to patch the origin boot.img ,and use fastboot command flash the modified boot.img:fastboot flash boot xxx.img,and at last install magisk app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can we update after unlocking and rooting ?
And someone here tryed to get GCAM working ? Perhaps we can get better pictures.
Perhaps an old Stable Gcam can work ? (Camera2api enabled in Hardware).
I just waiting for shipment of this Device.
greatz....
majo3000 said:
Can we update after unlocking and rooting ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As is the case with most Android devices that can be unlocked, the unlock persists across updates. The unlocking is of the Bootloader, which is a separate partition from System, Data, etc. When you update the System (OS), the bootloader will remain unlocked. The only exception to this would be perhaps if the OS maintainer wanted to ensure the device was always locked, they may update the bootloader with a re-lock mechanism. But this is rare, and certainly not the case with the Alldocube.
Jupit3r said:
The good:
1. Nice build quality.
2. Vibrant, clear and sharp display.
3. Decent performance.
4. MicroSD card support.
5. 4G and Phone functions.
The bad:
1. Old processor.
2. Big bezels.
3. No fingerprint reader or face unlock.
4. Sub-par battery life.
The Alldocube X released last year enjoyed enormous success on Indiegogo. With its dazzling 10.5-inch 2K Super Amoled display, stereo speakers, and AKM AK4376A powered 3.5mm headphone jack, the X was considered by many to be a perfect choice for media consumption. Unfortunately, it was hold back by a relatively weak processor (Mediatek MT8176 SoC) and poor battery life.
By the end of 2019, Alldocube announced its partnership with Qualcomm, the world’s leading mobile chip maker. Many were hoping that the Chinese brand could release an upgraded version of the X with a Snapdragon processor in it. And here comes the X Neo: An Android tablet with identical design and 10.5-inch Amoled display, but a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE processor, and some other minor changes.
Main Specs
Operating system: Android 9.0 Pie
Screen: 10.5-inch Super Amoled display @2560*1600px
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE
CPU: Octa-Core (4*Cortex [email protected] + 4*Cortex [email protected])
GPU: Adreno 512
RAM: 4GB LPDDR4
ROM: 64GB eMMc 5.1 (supports expansion up to 512GB)
Battery: 3.8V/7700mAh Li-Po battery
Cameras: 5MP front / 8MP main
Wi-Fi: 802.11a/b/g/n, 5GHz/2.4GHz dual-band
Mobile networks: 4G (FDD-LTE/TD-LTE), 3G (CDMA/TD-SCDMA/WCDMA), 2G (GSM)
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.0
Ports: USB-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, MicroSD card slot, pogo pin keyboard port.
Buttons: Power/standby key, volume rocker
Size: 245.9*175.4*7.2mm Weight: 491g
Nice, but unimpressive design
Just like last year’s X, the Alldocube X Neo looks neat and elegant. The metallic rear and curved sides give the slate an air of luxury. But for a 2020 tablet, the bezels around the screen are just a little too big. Alldocube made an argument that big bezels give users enough to grip and hold the tablet to avoid accidental touches, which makes sense, but I still think people would prefer modern designs of the Apple iPad Pro and the Huawei MatePad Pro. A front-facing camera and a light sensor can be found above the display, the rest of the front looks clean, and you won’t even find any branding.
The tablet has a frosted aluminum back, which makes it feel much more premium than the price tag would suggest. Apart from Alldocube’s logo, the camera lens is the only distraction. It’s incredibly clean, simple, and stylish.
When holding horizontally, the left and right edge are each home to dual speakers, and there're also a 3.5mm headphone jack, a Type-C charging port on the left.
On the bottom side of the slate you can also find a pogo pin port, which can be connected to the official keyboard case.
The tablet supports 4G, as well as storage expansion. The SIM card tray is able to carry 2 nano SIM cards or the combination of 1 nano SIM card and a MicroSD card.
There are two physical buttons on the right edge of the slate: a power/standby key and a volume rocker.
The X Neo measures 245.9mm * 175.4mm * 7.2mm, and weighs 489g. It does not fit in our hands as well as those 8-inchers do, and you can basically forget about one-handed use, but the device didn’t burden our hands too much, either, thanks to the slim and lightweight build. As thin as it is, the X Neo still feels quite robust, even physically twisting the tablet doesn’t reveal excess movement. The overall build quality of this slate is as good as many high-end products in the market.
One thing that does bother me is the absence of a fingerprint reader, which I loved on last year’s X. I even called Alldocube for their reason regarding the removal of this feature. Their marketing person claimed that the majority of users don’t use their tablets for online payments, so a tablet doesn’t need the same level of security as a smartphone or a laptop. I do understand their point: the absence of a fingerprint reader is not a deal breaker for most tablet users, and the brand can save the cost for more essential features such as 4G connectivity, yet I would have preferred a more convenient way to unlock the screen, instead of having to put in some PIN code or draw a certain pattern.
Stunning Screen, average sound
The Alldocube X Neo sports a gorgeous 10.5-inch Super Amoled display made by Samsung. Resolution clocks in at 2,560 by 1,600, for 287 pixels per inch. With deep, inky blacks and rich colors, the display is really a joy to look at. Color accuracy is also excellent, and the screen is bright enough to use in any scenario.
Although the X Neo’s display uses the standard PenTile RGBW matrix, instead of the more celebrated 'PenTile Diamond Pixel' array, sharpness is still good and, while I don’t think color calibration or the screen architecture match Samsung’s latest flagship smartphones, this is still one of the best screens you’ll find in a tablet, and is definitely superior to the LCD panels used on the Huawei MatePad Pro and the Apple iPad Pro.
Not just videos and photos look great. The lightweight nature means it’s also an excellent ebook reader alternative, and great for gaming. I read for many hours using the Amazon Kindle app, and provided I changed the background color from white to a paper-like tone, it didn’t tire my eyes. The light, easy-to-hold body allows for extended play sessions when gaming, too. Asphalt 9 is fun, and it’s visually enhanced thanks to the stunning colors and screen.
The Alldocube X Neo offers side-firing stereo speakers, which can go very loud. Unfortunately, these built-in speakers can sound a little harsh at the highest volume, and lacks the bass and soundstage produced by the Quad AKG tuned speakers found on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e. Still, they are much better than similarly priced Android slates and are definitely good enough for YouTube and Tik Tok. For audiophiles, headphones or external speakers are still very much needed for music and action films.
Although the X Neo has a 3.5mm headphone jack, it is not powered by the AKM 4376A DAC like last year’s Alldocube X was. The tablet works well with average headphones, only when you plug in a power-hungry professional headset with higher impedance will you start to notice some differences. If you don’t even own headphones above $200, this shouldn’t even be anything to think about.
System & UI
The X Neo ships with stock Android 9 Pie, not the latest Android 10, and there’s customization on top. As much as we love the clean feel of stock Android, it is not optimized for a tablet screen, especially a big, 10.5-inch one.
You won’t find anything similar to Samsung tablets’ DeX mode. The stock screen-split function works fine with most applications, but it doesn’t really give you that kind of computing experience the DeX mode offers when there are serious productivity tasks at hand.
Unfortunately, the Android ecosystem is going towards a direction which is less and less tablet-friendly. Many of the customized tablet applications in Play Store were released years ago and haven’t been updated for a long time. As a result, most of the apps we tried on the X Neo were just phone apps blown up to fill the 10.5-inch screen, with the majority of them only supporting vertical mode. The ideal solution would be something like the Phoenix OS, which turns Android OS into a multi-window desktop style user interface, but Alldocube doesn’t seem too keen on shipping their tablets with that operating system.
Decent performance
The Alldocube X Neo is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 AIE processor, which has an octa-core CPU (4 Cores of Cortex-A72 clocked at 2.2GHz and 4 cores of Cortex-A53 clocked at 1.8GHz) and an Adreno 512 GPU. This chipset was actually released way back in 2017 and built on 14nm process, so it is relatively old, and doesn’t match the performance of the Snapdragon 675 or Kirin 810 found in many entry-level Android smartphones. But compared to the 28nm MediaTek 8176 processor in last year’s Alldocube X, it is still a solid upgrade.
The X Neo notched typical “Snapdragon 660” scores in many benchmark tests I threw at it, but it even bettered the Snapdragon 670 powered Samsung Galaxy S5e in some of those tests, which came as a pleasant surprise.
The built-in storage is eMMc 5.1, which is not comparable to UFS storages in top smartphones, but the X did manage to get a result similar to the readings of more expensive midrange tablets such as the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e in terms of Sequential Read and Write speeds in the Androbench test.
In the real-world use, the Snapdragon 660 processor and 4GB RAM are actually enough to drive the tablet for the tasks it is intended for. The X Neo is smooth and responsive most of the time, I had no issues watching 4K YouTube videos in Chrome, and scrolling through my best friends’ Instagram posts at the same time. With that said, there will be some noticeable hiccups when you open too many image-heavy webpages, or have several big applications running in the background.
Gaming should not be your main reason to buy a Snapdragon 660 powered tablet. With that said, the tablet can run most games installed from Play Store without issues, but in order to have a smooth visual experience, you need to use moderate settings in big titles such as Asphalt 9 and PUBG. If you insist on going for the highest level of animation and 3D effects, you should expect frameskip and serious delays.
Superb connectivity
The X Neo supports dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and 4G, you can even use it to make phone calls, but you need to hear voices either through headphones or the built-in speakers, since the tablet doesn’t have an earpiece.
With such an amazing display, more users will be tempted to store a lot of media files in their X Neo, thus the 64GB built-in storage might not suffice. Fortunately, this tablet supports storage expansion, you can insert a MicroSD card up to 512GB. Even better, the type-C port can also mount most mobile SSD drives.
Basic cameras
There are two cameras on the X Neo, a front-facing 5MP camera and an 8MP main camera. Those cameras can be useful for video-chatting, and scanning QR code, but you won’t want to “archive your life” with them. Even in perfectly-lit conditions, most photos I took with the main camera were either over-exposed or under-exposed, and there wasn’t much life to them. In low light, the photos were simply horrible. In an era when most entry-level smartphones come with triple or quad camera setups, there is really no place for tablet photography.
Selfie camera shot
Main camera shot
Subpar battery life, decent charging speed
The Alldocube X Neo houses a 7700mAh Li-Po battery, smaller than the X’s 8000mAh. But with a much more efficient processor, the X Neo can give me around 7-8 hours’ screen time on a full charge, while the X could only last around 6 hours.
With display brightness and speaker volume both set at 50%, the X Neo scored 7 hours and 25 minutes in the PCMark 8 Work 2.0 Battery test, which was really not impressive compared to other midrange tablets.
This X Neo supports Qualcomm’s 18W QC3.0 quick charge. With the stock wall charger, you can fully charge the tablet’s 7700mAh battery in around 3 hours, not bad considering how big the battery is. In comparison, the 2020 Apple iPad Pro also supports 18W charging, but Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S6 and S5e only support 15W charging. The MatePad Pro is the reigning king in terms of charging speed, as it supports Huawei’s very own 40W SuperCharge, but the cheaper MatePad 10.4 doesn’t have that feature, as it also ships with an 18W charger.
Verdict: great for media consumption
The Alldocube X Neo isn’t designed to break any new grounds, but it is an Android tablet which gets a lot of essential things right. It has a sharp and colorful display, which makes it perfect for video streaming, web-browsing and even light gaming. The Snapdragon 660 AIE processor is old, but still offers decent performance for basic everyday tasks. 4G connectivity means the tablet won’t be limited to places with connectable Wi-Fi hotspot.
However, the removal of the fingerprint reader is not really a smart move. Also, the Chinese brand doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to after-sale support, most of their tablets stop receiving firmware upgrades a few months after the release. The X Neo will probably never be upgraded to Android 10, let alone Android R, something you need to bear in mind before making a purchase.
To sum it up, if media playback is your main focus, the X Neo is really an easy recommendation, in fact you won’t find anything that’s visually on par with this slate in the same price range. But if you use your tablet for more mixed purposes, there are a few other offerings you should look at before reaching into your pocket to get the X Neo.
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Thank you for the review
I'd be interested in knowing which version of the device you have had the opportunity to test (of particular interest is the 4G Network Support). The reason for this is that when comparing the information provided regarding 4G Network Support for the Alldocube X Neo tablet, there are significant differences between information provided on the manufacturer's Chinese website and, respectively, the Global (English) one.
Referring to the information provided on the following webpages (though the former in Chinese only, but one can still determine which the listed/enumerated frequency bands in question are)
Chinese:
https://www.51cube.com/parm/xneo-parm/
International:
https://www.alldocube.com/en/parm/xneo-parm/
It has been rather challenging trying to find out which versions there actually are available (e.g. Chinese and/or Global) from the sellers that offers the Alldocube X Neo tablet for purchase, nevertheless based on the information presented and available on the manufacturer's Chinese and Global website respectively, one should be allowed to expect there to exist (at least) two different versions with regard to the 4G Network Support.
Concerning these circumstances I'd like to ask were you able to verify which 4G network bands the shipped device actually supported?
More details on working being done to root with Magisk, install TWRP, and install LineageOS can be found at this forum:
https://hardforum.com/threads/alldocube-x-neo.1998171/
protechtedd said:
More details on working being done to root with Magisk, install TWRP, and install LineageOS can be found at this forum:
https://hardforum.com/threads/alldocube-x-neo.1998171/
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Thanks for linking to my thread
I have GCam working.We have Camera2api Level3 . Okay the Camera is not so good.But with GCam i get better details with less Noise.
Also EIS is working with GCAM.
I used Pixelcam-brazil.
I will test more and upload soon my configs for Gcam.
someone knows how to get HDMI via USB-C working ? i buyed a Adapter but it didnt run.
majo3000 said:
someone knows how to get HDMI via USB-C working ? i buyed a Adapter but it didnt run.
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i have try also but not working.
Is there already a compatible and optimized custom rom that I can install on this device?
So today is the day, after doing good bit of reading to try to study up on the the current crop of potentials for new phone.
Wife and I migrating from H918 LG V20's. Gonna miss the replaceable battery, headphone jack, and SD card slot, but had to do something. Down to about a month now, at least according to the SMS alerts from T-MO.
So picked up 2 LE2125's today. Was looking at few others with the OnePlus 10 Pro as my next choice, but since LineageOS is important in my world view, neither 9 or 10 Pro have SD card slots, and the sands of time running low for my wife's V20, I couldn't wait to see if OnePlus ever got around to releasing a *US* unlocked 12GB/256GB version of the 10 Pro, and anything Samsung is fuhgeddaboudit I don't care how nice their displays might be.
Seems like a pretty bleak time, comparatively, to be looking for a smartphone that covers all the bases. At least compared to features my V20 has. Gonna miss those but if nothing else they might make good network video cameras.
I don't have any illusions about OnePlus/Oppo caring much about what I want in a phone, but I would like OnePlus to know that lack of a 12GB/256GB storage OnePlus 10 Pro US model cost them the sale of 2 OnePlus 10 Pro's today. I was also a bit disappointed in lack of mmWave 5G radios in the 10 Pro while the 9 Pro has n258, 260, and 261 bands, but that wasn't really a dealbreaker for my wife's or my own usage pattern or interests
BTW If anybody at OnePlus/Oppo DOES want to know what people are interested in a phone and you really want to stand out from the rest of the crowd, I bet the market would respond favorably if you put a model out that has an SD Card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
These are unlocked phones, we have T Mobile service and SIM's and figure if worst comes to worst for some reason and we decide it is time to move on from TMO, the phones' specs seem to support VZW LTE and the current crop of 5G VZW towers as well. 'bout the only other cell provider we would even consider.
Anywho, the adventure begins.
VelosterM14 said:
So today is the day, after doing good bit of reading to try to study up on the the current crop of potentials for new phone.
Wife and I migrating from H918 LG V20's. Gonna miss the replaceable battery, headphone jack, and SD card slot, but had to do something. Down to about a month now, at least according to the SMS alerts from T-MO.
So picked up 2 LE2125's today. Was looking at few others with the OnePlus 10 Pro as my next choice, but since LineageOS is important in my world view, neither 9 or 10 Pro have SD card slots, and the sands of time running low for my wife's V20, I couldn't wait to see if OnePlus ever got around to releasing a 12GB/256GB version of the 10 Pro, and anything Samsung is fuhgeddaboudit I don't care how nice their displays might be.
Seems like a pretty bleak time, comparatively, to be looking for a smartphone that covers all the bases. At least compared to features my V20 has. Gonna miss those but if nothing else they might make good network video cameras.
I don't have any illusions about OnePlus/Oppo caring much about what I want in a phone, but I would like OnePlus to know that lack of a 12GB/256GB storage OnePlus 10 Pro US model cost them the sale of 2 OnePlus 10 Pro's today. I was also a bit disappointed in lack of mmWave 5G radios in the 10 Pro while the 9 Pro has n258, 260, and 261 bands, but that wasn't really a dealbreaker for my wife's or my own usage pattern or interests
BTW If anybody at OnePlus/Oppo DOES want to know what people are interested in a phone and you really want to stand out from the rest of the crowd, I bet the market would respond favorably if you put a model out that has an SD Card slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack. I could be wrong, but I don't think so.
These are unlocked phones, we have T Mobile service and SIM's and figure if worst comes to worst for some reason and we decide it is time to move on from TMO, the phones' specs seem to support VZW LTE and the current crop of 5G VZW towers as well. 'bout the only other cell provider we would even consider.
Anywho, the adventure begins.
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I have OnePlus 10 pro 12 256.
In public room, will i hear music, and i have no jack port to my headphones. .
So I bought cheap adapter on Chinese website. Now can I hear music with my adapter connected to phone.
I'm using the LE2125 on Verizon Network better Xfinity. You wont miss anythingi it s all working even 5uW. Only thing to do put your SIM-Card inside and go.
JonasHS said:
I have OnePlus 10 pro 12 256.
In public room, will i hear music, and i have no jack port to my headphones. .
So I bought cheap adapter on Chinese website. Now can I hear music with my adapter connected to phone.
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Wow, a US version or Int'l/EU/India or something?
but yea, I resigned myself to having to buy headphone adapter to solve that problem.
The general public gives no care for SD slots or 3.5mm jacks and these phone companies have made clear that they don't wish to cater to the <1% of their market share that comes from people like us who might care (while I wouldn't object to an SD card slot, I would never use a 3.5mm jack and I haven't had an SD slot in so long that I have learned to live without it) so those particular wishes fall on deaf ears unfortunately.
As for your other wishes, you can find what you want on Amazon. Since you're on the T-Mobile network, it's a great fit.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XWHY8ZX/
I get it... headphone jack may not be for everybody. Me, well let's just say that I've got my reasons. For a good long while I was chained to a desk in corporate IT cubeworld, surrounded by noisy people. I needed headphones and a good collection of music to drown out the.... lack of productivity generally going on around me. It was also hard to be very productive in my line of work with music cranked up in my ears, but at least I got to pick the noise, which was never the case there around my desk at the office.
Sadly, in my searching tonight for a USB-C headphone jack adapter, I've not seen one yet with a built-in charger input that you can do both simultaneously (charge AND listen to music at the same time -- or charge and participate in a call over the headset) on a OnePlus, although other brands seem to be able to. So if I ever do have to go back to cubeworld again (hopefully not), especially at the current peanut dispenser, this will surely bite me in hindermost parts at some point, ie, needing to charge AND keep the music going at the same time. Or face the certain peril of my phone having to recharge while the next bagel party is planned or other mindless, non-productive blibber blabber occurs around me...
So I don't see buying a USB-C to headphone adapter as a very good solution. I did find one that looks nice and doesn't cost very much (like a good shrubbery) which I ordered, but I'll have to settle for not being able to charge simultaneously. I'll admit to being a little salty about that.
Musicians are another example of a group of people who tend to prefer wired over bluetooth/wireless monitors/headphones for pretty good reason. Especially drummers. When even what you are hearing in your ears lags behind realtime...
So it has taken me a long time to settle on a phone, lack of headphone jack being among the main reasons. It's funny at least to me how they can justify the real estate for more and more camera eyes and sensors (but still fall so short of truly breathtaking camera performance) -- but on flagship models their marketing people also want you to believe are a pro audio platform, you either have to have bluetooth audio or buy an adapter, because they just don't have the room (or the market demand?) for a 3.5mm headphone jack.
I'm perfectly OK with people not seeing things my way, but in my book, bluetooth cans/IEM's/earbuds are also just something else that have to be recharged when the battery is drained. The marketing people may tell you cords are tangly and a hassle for joggers and other people with active lifestyles -- my take on that is a little diferent. At least when the wired earbuds fall out of your ears, they are still attached to something you can probably grab before they get away from you.
The SD card slot, well it's another thing related to having a decent music collection on my phone and room for backups and various root/mod/etc things handy without using up the device's storage. But with 256GB I will survive. I would not have been able to suffer 128GB though.
These little obsoletions are the sorts of things they call "progress" these days. I tend to have pretty good reasons for knowing what I want. It's just getting harder and harder to find anymore. I'm pretty used to the world going the other way though. It's just really been picking up the pace lately.
But at least I was able to find something well supported by LineageOS and by what I've been reading around, has decent moddability and tools etc.
Hopefully these will last a good long time.
EDIT/PS: I sat down and compared the radio band support of the 9 Pro and 10 Pro, along with coverage bands my current carrier TMO and the only other one we would ever consider switching to supports (if TMO really goes bad somehow, VZW would be most likely escape route but we are not really big VZW fans after many years of customer abuse, why we switched to TMO) . There's not much of difference between 9/10 for bands support really but for those times we do go out and about, those mmWave bands the 9 Pro supports would be useful, and are used/supported by both carriers we care about in our area.
Something like this Y cable is what you would need.
USB c to 3.5mm Headphone and Charger Adapter,2-in-1 USB C PD 3.0 Charging Port to Aux Audio Jack and Fast Charging Dongle Cable Cord Compatible with Samsung S21 S20 S20+ Ultra, Google Pixel 4 3 XL… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09GYRH6YM/
I see your argument for 3.5mm, I'm just saying most consumers have moved on to Bluetooth. My Sony WH-1000XM3s have a 30 hour battery life so it would be near impossible to kill them without an opportunity to charge them and I'm plenty happy with the sound quality.
mmWave is largely useless on T-Mobile. I wouldn't make a decision based on that since the coverage is insanely limited. T-Mobile's n41 midband is what you really want.
EDIT: Actually, looks like OnePlus killed the ability to charge and play at the same time in software. It died in 2020 and was still dead in this thread so you may be SOL.
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Yep, bluetooth may be more practical or convenient for others.
It's a shame about the inability to charge and use the headset at same time. But I see this as another example of... well, it could be a lot things. But it wasn't that long ago at all that a simple thing like that would have been a given. Something you could take for granted within a phone's specs or capabilities because, the people defining criteria or design for a phone were not developing in a vacuum. It was just common sense.
Over the many years I have been paying attention and participating in technology at work and at play, there seem to be less of those "no brainer" type of givens. As if the people designing things don't ever use them, and aren't listening to people who do use them.
Great example, totally unrelated but it really reinforces the point, at least to me. Our car is a Hyundai SUV with an "ultimate" package of features, trim, etc. One of the most insane, ridiculously stupid things I have ever seen in the interior passenger compartment of a car is the simulated wood trim the dashboard of this SUV is festooned with, from left to right.
Some genius at Hyundai, or a whole team full of them, probably all with college degrees in marketing, sociology, or business decided that the top of line model of this SUV needed to have a super high-gloss finish on all of the interior imitation wood veneer trim. In their minds, this is probably the pinnacle of bling - I can almost hear them saying "ooooh, shiney!" This was their idea of luxury.
The reality of the matter is quite different, however. As the owner and driver of this vehicle, I dread driving on sunny days when the sun will reflect off the dashboard AND BLINDS ME WHILE I AM DRIVING. Right through my sunglasses sometimes.
Of course I am aware of this and it seldom catches me off guard. But it is inevitable that circumstances will (mis)align from time to time.
Anybody who had any sense would have never put high gloss finish on anything around the dashboard on the interior of a motor vehicle. Nobody in the 60's did. (I used to work on old classics)
But if you asked them why they thought high-gloss imitation wood veneer on the dashboard was a good idea, they would probably have several reasons that would make sense to a lot of people. People who don't have to drive one of them every day....
By the time we realized this was a problem it was too late, the car was ours and the paperwork was signed.
There used to be a lot more things you didn't have to research or think about so hard when you were shopping.
Sure do miss the good old days.
PS: The mmWave support of the 9 Pro wasn't really a make or break feature for us, we aren't out and about all that much anyway even if they do have a bunch of those towers in the (2nd largest in the US and fastest growing) metro area we are kind of stuck living in right now. Just that we might actually get some use out of it from time to time. I *KNOW* I'll definitely make use of the extra storage on the 9 Pro than can be had in a US market 10 Pro model.
I came close to choosing one of a few Motorola unlocked models that were semi-interesting but none of the ones with some attractive specs really quite did it for me. There was always something that killed it for me, like the problems so many reported with green screen tinting on many of the edge models. Or the models that might have had other desirable features and compatibilities, but only supported one carriers tower coverage very well instead of 2 strong players around here.
I know a lot of people aren't really interested in many of the same things I am -- but the case can be made that what a lot of people don't know or realize is how much of what they think THEY want is actually due to marketing and media influence and manipulation -- people TELLING you what you want and how to think -- and how afraid so many -- manufacturers and consumers alike -- are afraid to take even the tiniest of risks and being the nail that sticks out -- everybody is afraid they'll get hammered.
In the end, originality and thinking for one's self become bywords and, oh my goodness, nobody wants to be accused of being "UNSCANNABLE!!!!" (Idiocracy, 2006) or going against the grain. And so it's a lot easier for a lot of the lemmings to end up in a pile somewhere down there below, just outside of public awareness and the news cycle/drumbeat.
i won't apologize for thinking that (proverbially, continuing along the Idiocracy story line) using Brawndo for everything but flushing the toilet with is just stupid. If that's how everybody else wants to go, OK fine, but I really shouldn't have to go to the toilet to get plain old water for the things people used to use water for when more things in life "just worked".
I just wish I had better choices. I don't see that many of the choices being offered these days are coming from people who think about things very much, or know how to plan and execute well.
Anyway, enough of the blabber, I am actually looking forward to getting started with our Oneplus 9 Pro's. I haven't even broken the seal on either box yet - but trying to line up all the info I can to get a quick early backup of the devices before I do much.
Appreciate the conversation!