Team-BHP - Android Thread: Phones / Apps / Mods

Quote:

Originally Posted by kavensri (Post 4621130)

No activity in this thread on 'Amazon Prime Day' and 'FK Big Shopping Days' sale?
I was desperately waiting for this sale, as I had to replace my father's ageing Moto E2. After exchange price and instant discount, final price was 7522. I know MIA2 has it's disadvantages like lack of 3.5mm jack and average battery performance, but still i wanted pure Android phone and this was lowest available phone for the specs that I wanted.

I lost a bit of respect for the MI A2, after recommending it to my friend, my sister and then buying one for my wife. A couple of weeks ago when I accidentally damaged the screen of my Nokia 7 plus, I took refuge in the Mi A2, which my wife was using as her secondary phone.

Now, the specs of the A2 is exactly same as the Nokia 7 plus - SD 660 + 4GB, similar LCD, metal build, comparable camera etc.

But real life experience between the two has a day-night difference. Where the NOkia was fast and fluid, the A2 stutters, is slow to switch between apps, screen swipes get ignored etc. To nitpick, security updates are a month late and Pie took a long time.

Wait, it is not to the point where it becomes unusable. It does perform well, just that the Nokia does not let you feel like you have a budget device.

It is another matter that I paid twice for the Nokia. For the price they asking price - 10K - the A2 is still tremendous value for money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by civic-sense (Post 4621220)

It is another matter that I paid twice for the Nokia. For the price they asking price - 10K - the A2 is still tremendous value for money.

Thanks for your feedback. In fact, I read your earlier comments about Mi A2 in this thread before taking the plunge. I did look into Nokia mobiles, but only 5.1 was available within my budget. I am a huge fan of Nokia and I am sure that my next mobile will be from Nokia only :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by bblost (Post 4621167)

The best part about the phone is its charging.
For example, my phone might be at about 20% charge. My kids want me to take them for a walk in the park. Plug in the phone. My son goes to collect his stuff and my daughter puts on her skates. In that 15 minutes, the phone is already at 60% charge and I am good to go.

Welcome to the world of Dash Charging (which is named something else currently, I think). This is one of the main reasons (apart from the blazing performance and smooth OS of the OP phones) that I got my second OP handset last month, after having ben a user for the previous three years. Its very difficult to opt for other brands, and the ones that have the same level of performance are priced way higher (Apple, Google, Samsung etc). Inspite of their price increases in recent times, I still find OP to be one of the best in the value for money upper mid- range department.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kavensri (Post 4621231)

I don't think there is any phone out there - sub 10K - that is better than the A2. My only beef with Xiaomi is that they did not put enough work into the software - which isn't asking a lot since it is Android One.

Quote:

Originally Posted by civic-sense (Post 4621288)

I agree with you. I explored lot of options and finally zeroed in on MI A2.

Three weeks have passed since I made the switch from iPhone 6 to OP7 and am absolutely loving the experience. The snappy UI, battery backup, dash charging and the extent to which the phone is customisable never ceases to amaze me. The major letdown is the absence of 3.5mm jack and the fact that there is no converter coming with the box. Apart from that, PURE BLISS!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiGOD (Post 4621397)

How is the camera in terms of image quality and speed? iPhone never gives you a bad shot. How does this one fare?

Quote:

Originally Posted by civic-sense (Post 4621514)

How is the camera in terms of image quality and speed? iPhone never gives you a bad shot. How does this one fare?

The speed of image processing is great and there's no lag experienced between consecutive shots. Regarding the focusing, I did have some issues initially, especially while taking close up shots and portraits. But after the first update it was fixed and everything works fine.

I would never dare say that the camera quality surpasses that of an iPhone. But combined with a proper GCam port, the OP7 fares really well. I got a feeling that the camera hardware is pretty decent in the OP7, only the post processing is not up to the mark. That's why it gives way better images with GCam. Here's a link to my earlier post with some samples (stock camera app).

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiGOD (Post 4621525)

Thanks. The photos look great.

One Q: Was there a considerable difference in picture quality before and after the update?

Quote:

Originally Posted by civic-sense (Post 4621675)

One Q: Was there a considerable difference in picture quality before and after the update?

Nothing to write home about. But the focusing after the update was spot on and the portraits came out really good after the update.

I'd recommend not to write off the OP7 just because of the camera, because it ain't that bad as the reviews say:)

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgiitk (Post 4621703)

@civic_sense; remember a system also slows time with age with a lot of garbage it collects, files, disused apps etc.Also, whatever you do the OS has a lot of garbage it it.

I had setup the A2 from scratch after doing a wipe, and I hardly used it for a month before my wife threw it in a bucket of water along with a bedsheet.

And the Nokia, I used (still using) for over a year without requiring a reset.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiGOD (Post 4621720)

I looked at some reviews and sample images, and I think am fine with the quality. The only thing that is preventing me from taking the plunge is the 3.5mm jack. My few weeks with the MI A2 was a suffering because of the lack of the headphone port. Am a headphone junkie and only two in my collection are wireless. I fear that once I get used to wireless, I'd stop taking out my AT MSR7.

Quote:

Originally Posted by civic-sense (Post 4621739)

.I looked at some reviews and sample images, and I think am fine with the quality. The only thing that is preventing me from taking the plunge is the 3.5mm jack. My few weeks with the MI A2 was a suffering because of the lack of the headphone port. Am a headphone junkie and only two in my collection are wireless. I fear that once I get used to wireless, I'd stop taking out my AT MSR7.

That there, is the major letdown for me too. The lack of provision of 3.5mm jack, along with the 'no converter in the box' scenario, combined with the 'coverter out of stock since months' condition, makes it such a pain in the...I don't know where.

A converter from AliExpress is on it's way but I can already say that it won't ever make it up to the jack that comes with the phone. Myself not being a fan of BT headphones, just escalated the disater to another level :Frustrati

I picked up the Redmi Note 7 pro ( 4+64 ) version yesterday as my Samsung Galaxy S8 was on the verge of conking off. I had the battery replaced a couple of months back.

Since the last one month, the phone was acting weird and the moment the battery used to reach 50%, the phone used to freeze up completely. Last week, there were multiple app crashes, earpiece volume suddenly went low and there were multiple other issues. I think the motherboard is on the way out.

Wanted to pick up the 6+128 version for the Redmi but could not find it anywhere. I am glad I got this one. Very good phone for the price( although the screen quality is nothing in front of the S8 ). Overall I am happy about spending 14.5k.

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by civic-sense (Post 4621220)

But real life experience between the two has a day-night difference. Where the NOkia was fast and fluid, the A2 stutters, is slow to switch between apps, screen swipes get ignored etc. To nitpick, security updates are a month late and Pie took a long time.

The slow performance you're experiencing with the Mi A2 despite having good on paper specs and a clean version of Android, is because of the internal storage. For whatever reason, Xiaomi has some driver issue with the eMMC storage in the A2 which makes it run slower than expected.

The same phone is called the Mi 6X in China, but it runs MIUI. And that version of the phone seems to deliver better performance compared to the A2.

Just Google 'slow eMMC Mi A2' and you'll see Mi forums awash with similar complaints. Hopefully the upcoming Mi A3 won't have such issues.