[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by binand

It has been their policy for 5 years and they still continue to be a top handset maker. I'm sure they know things that we don't. :-)

Think about it this way. For the grey marketer to unlock it they have to open the box and packaging, take the phone out, open the sim tray, go through the entire Android setup loop and make 5 minutes worth of calls. Would anyone buy a phone that has gone through all of that, even in the grey market?

I think we are going OT here.

I did exactly the same though. Opened the package, carefully opened the seal (can be easily done with a paper knife, thanks to polished paper on original packaging), put my sim card and made some calls and data usages. The entire Android setup loop would take less than a minute if all steps are skipped including google account creation. Then I did a factory reset and put back the phone in the pack and put the seal back in its place. Only thing I missed is the cellophane wrap over the package as I didn't have that .
Going back to brick and mortar store era, most of the shopkeepers used to do the same while giving demo of various phones if I remember correctly.

[mindhunter]

Can anyone please suggest a good screen guard for Samsung Galaxy Note 8. I'm using Spigen Liquid Air Case which is very good.I would recommend it to everybody who is using Samsung Galaxy Note 8. But not being able to decide on the screen guard.

[shashank.nk]

Originally Posted by mindhunter

Can anyone please suggest a good screen guard for Samsung Galaxy Note 8. I'm using Spigen Liquid Air Case which is very good.I would recommend it to everybody who is using Samsung Galaxy Note 8. But not being able to decide on the screen guard.

After some research and using the gadgetshieldz skin, I opted for this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2pcs...4c1a4c4d4dwueB

Its similar to the whitestonedome glass and installation is easy provided you've had some experience applying screen protectors before.

Calrity is excellent and has none of the 'orange peel effect' of my previous gadgetshieldz skin also does't smudge as easily. It does leave a few mm gap on the sides but not an issue if you're using phone with a case.

[y448]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

I can comment on the battery since I use the Mi A1. Battery performance is its weak strong point. A full charge will just about take you through the day with moderate usage. And once you have loads of apps installed and it gets a few months old, the battery performance declines a little more.

Thanks vinit.merchant, I decided to skip buying A2. Poor battery backup and then remembered it does not have a headphone jack either.

[adimicra]

Planning to buy a new phone as my original pixel's battery is gone. Need one with regular security updates, good camera and battery life. Prefer small form factor which is one hand friendly. Dont have budget for #Pixel3. Also, I am very skeptical to buy another Google phone given that my Pixel didn't even last for 1.5 years. Please provide your suggestions, need to buy pretty soon.

[sgiitk]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Need one with regular security updates, good camera and battery life. Prefer small form factor which is one hand friendly.

Any phone you buy will not be getting vendor updates beyond a couple of years. Then you are down to places like xda-developers.com for updates. So do not look for over two years from the vendor. As for your battery you may have been unlucky.

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by adimicra

Planning to buy a new phone as my original pixel's battery is gone. Need one with regular security updates, good camera and battery life. Prefer small form factor which is one hand friendly. Dont have budget for #Pixel3. Also, I am very skeptical to buy another Google phone given that my Pixel didn't even last for 1.5 years. Please provide your suggestions, need to buy pretty soon.

1.5 years is too soon for any mobile battery to give up. I would suggest, not to let your battery charge go down or remain below 30% too often.


There are some good discounts going on iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 currently. You will get small form factor and regular updates. Otherwise, if you prefer to be in Android eco-system, you can check the Samsung S8/S9. The 5.8" screen is actually a 5.5" display considering the curve screen dimension. Also, Samsung guarantees at-least 3 version updates on S series phones.

[saadat1992]

Is anyone else facing severe battery drains on the Snapdragon version of the S8 after the Oreo update? I got mine with the Nougat out of the box, nougat was good, the battery was mind blowing in it. Once the Oreo update came, the phone became almost twice as fast, but at the cost of the battery. I used to have 30-35 hours of battery time till it hit 10%. Right now it drains down to 5% with an average of 10-12 hours. The maximum I could achieve was 19 hours.

Has anyone else faced this and found a fix? Not just the Snapdragon versions but also a few of my friends with Exynos versions have been complaining about the poor battery post Oreo update.

[HappyWheels]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

...
While the process seems innocent, why any sane minded company would region lock a phone which is brought SIM free? I would understand where an operator normally locks a phone for obvious contract reason, but why any manufacturer would do that for an open market purchase?

Samsung's way of fighting the black market and also keeping a track of which retailer sold how many pieces between their independent retailers and organized retailers.

You need to activate it in the country of purchase. Once activated you are good to know. Not sure what the deal with having IR and needing to make a call again and all, since an activated phone is an activate phone.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by HappyWheels

You need to activate it in the country of purchase. Once activated you are good to know. Not sure what the deal with having IR and needing to make a call again and all, since an activated phone is an activate phone.

Quite true. That "India SIM" sticker is actually a tiny booklet that explains the activation process, and it doesn't mention anything about international roaming, etc. Just the need to use it with a country-specific SIM for ~5 minutes, and then it can be used worldwide.

[BoneCollector]

I've got a strange issue. Since morning, I'm unable to switch on WiFi on my One Plus 3T. The tile in notification panel doesn't budge inspite of proper touch and if I go into settings, the WiFi tab doesn't switch on! Anyone who has faced this issue?

[pathik]

Originally Posted by BoneCollector

I've got a strange issue. Since morning, I'm unable to switch on WiFi on my One Plus 3T. The tile in notification panel doesn't budge inspite of proper touch and if I go into settings, the WiFi tab doesn't switch on! Anyone who has faced this issue?

Seems obvious but have you tried restarting the phone? If yes and it still doesn't work, you might take backup and factory reset the phone.

[sairamboko]

Originally Posted by Car Architect

Mine is holding about the same as Oreo! Can you PM me the screen on time and battery usage chart, so that I can look it into it.

I figured out the battery drain culprit. It's WhatsApp!! Using more battery in the background. Any solutions to fix it? Reinstall WhatsApp?

[binand]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

I figured out the battery drain culprit. It's WhatsApp!! Using more battery in the background. Any solutions to fix it? Reinstall WhatsApp?

If you get way too many forwards then you should consider going to your WhatsApp settings > Data and storage usage > Media auto-download and disabling all sorts of auto-downloading.

[sairamboko]

Originally Posted by binand

If you get way too many forwards then you should consider going to your WhatsApp settings > Data and storage usage > Media auto-download and disabling all sorts of auto-downloading.

This is disabled already by me. I am not sure why its using battery in background a lot. Reinstalled it again. Will check and see.