[kkkkkaran]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Probably I am the only one to be stupid about this, but the standard nomenclature confuses me every time.

The rear camera faces forwards, and the front camera faces backwards. right?



.

The rear camera is the main camera, captures what you see in front of you, while the front camera is like a mirror, shows you your own face 😁

[phamilyman]

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

Don't worry - I'm still using Android but let me explain why.

Unlike good old out of fashion windows, on android, you only get OS updates, you don't get security updates. So if you want to patch something like heartbleed on android, you often need an OS update.

But the problem is that unlike windows, OS updates on smartphones (except Apple models upto 18 months) are guaranteed to slow down the damn device.

My Redmi Note 3 is on the verge of becoming a paperweight. Apps take their own sweet time - Twitter notifications take >5 seconds, not to mention the occasional lag. Its more like an stutter esp when charging or <5 min after bootup. The battery needs charging atleast twice fully in the day. All because I mistakenly updated from 8.0.6 (Android 5.1) to 8.5.3 exactly as prompted.

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

This isn't an Android problem, its a brand problem.. its the lower quality software optimizations, combined with poor choice of processor and RAM by these affordable device makers that gives Android a bad name. I'm no fan of Android, but I love the flexibility it gives in terms of file transfer, ability to download from any site and loading music etc which are done in seconds and I can get on with my day.

There is no comparison with Apple and Redmi (I don't even know what Redmi is, but is it part of Xiaomi?). One costs about Rs.60k-70k and is a highly optimized piece of tech but at the same time they are high-handed about what can be done with their devices.. to the extent that they are dictators. The other simply gives an affordable smart-phone experience.

As a person who has experience with the top-most Android league, I take strong exception to it being called crap.. and the problem is everyone else says the same thing without spending the same amount for an Android as they would for an Apple. I own a Sony Xperia XZ Premium (Octacore Snapdragon 835, 4GB RAM, 4K screen etc).. I'm not much of a tech geek but I can confirm that in none of the Sony devices I've used, has lagging, slow performance, bad updates etc ever been a problem. I've gotten 2 updates already and the 2nd time it was a patch that immediately followed within a day of the first update and made the performance much faster and solved a couple of glitches as well.. it all depends on their ability to take feedback and error reports and solve them.

I'm sure Xiaomi and the likes are fine phones for the money but they don't figure anywhere in front of bigger brands, and I say this with good experience.

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

My Redmi Note 3 is on the verge of becoming a paperweight. Apps take their own sweet time - Twitter notifications take >5 seconds, not to mention the occasional lag. Its more like an stutter esp when charging or <5 min after bootup. The battery needs charging atleast twice fully in the day. All because I mistakenly updated from 8.0.6 (Android 5.1) to 8.5.3 exactly as prompted.

It's not a problem with Android, but the manufacturer. I got exactly the same feedback from a friend of mine using Note 3. Redmi phones have fantastic specs on paper and have good performance to start with. But I am not sure how do in the long run. Also software updates are tricky. Because Apple control their hardware they can do a lot of testing and optimization for every release which is not possible for Google. The OEMs in Android focus more on their flagships and the rest often get neglected. I had a similar experience with OnePlus one, but once rooted and on a custom ROM, it got a new life and became altogether a different beast.

[aryayush]

Here's a piece of advice: if you're in the market for a middle tier phone (i.e. not a Galaxy S8 and not a Xiaomi either), choose one from the Samsung Galaxy A series.

I've had the Samsung Galaxy A3 2017 for three months now and it has completely changed my opinion of Android. I paid a steep price (₹25,000 in all) importing this from Dubai because it isn't available in India (only the A5 and A7 are) and I don't regret it one bit. My previous phone was the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime and I've owned many phones before that (iPhones from the first one to the 4S, Nexus 4 and 5X, Sony Xperia Z1 and Z3 Compacts, and a few others).

The A3 is better than the Redmi in virtually every way, except price. For starters, it looks and feels like a top dollar premium device. It's sufficiently uncommon that people notice it as being different, and I've had several people ask me which phone it is. You can't help but appreciate how well put together it is and how good it feels in your hand.

It is smaller and thinner than the Redmi, and the glass back and perfectly curved sides make it very easy to maintain a good grip on. On the other hand, the Redmi 3S is extremely slippery and is never confidence inspiring to hold. I have the A3 in the black colour and there's a bit of a pattern on the body, beneath the glass surface, that you only notice in well lit conditions, and it looks great.

Thanks to the same resolution on a smaller screen and the AMOLED tech, the display is noticeably sharper. You forgot it after using it for half a day (if you weren't too finicky about it) but you could easily see individual pixels on the Redmi 3S if you inspected it closely, which is not possible on this phone. Put the two side by side though, and it's clear as day which is the superior display. Besides the sharpness, you get all the other advantages of AMOLED displays, including the Always On Display feature, which is excellent. I'm never buying a phone without it now.

I have 104 apps in addition to the system apps on my phone and a lot of them run in the background, adding capabilities and features I depend on. I always have Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi enabled, with a Bluetooth headset and smartwatch connected throughout the day. I have Google Assistant enabled and use it frequently, including the location reminders.

When the phone wasn't rooted, it would sometimes slow down for a few seconds while I was trying to do something. It happened about once a day. The battery life was decent; it would get me through most 16-hour days. Since rooting it and freezing a bunch of useless system apps using Titanium Backup and Greenifying the ones that I need but don't want destroying my battery life, the battery life has gone up substantially, as has the performance. The phone is now butter smooth all the time. I see mild lag in some apps maybe once in ten days now, and it's simply impossible to kill the battery within 24 hours, no matter what you do with it. I usually have about 3-4 hours of screen on time and 1.5&ndash;2 hours of calling in one day. If I had calling time upwards of four hours, it might not last the day, but you can easily get screen on time of ten hours if you do it at a stretch, with no calling. The battery's longevity is spectacular now!

The Redmi 3S offered better battery life than the A3 in the unrooted state, with the same number of apps, but the A3 is actually ahead now that it's rooted. And I've not had to lose an iota of functionality, mind you. Everything that needs to run in the background still does. It's amazing how much better the phone becomes to use after removing Samsung's system apps and putting a leash on the remaining ones.

The user interface is absolutely great and I've experienced none of the lag that I've been told was symptomatic of TouchWiz. Grace UI is way superior to MIUI&mdash;which is trying to be an iOS clone, as if that's a good thing! Notifications are neutered on MIUI and, though there are some neat touches (like the functionality of the messaging app), it feels much less polished and powerful than the former. MIUI has major issues with memory and permissions management and it'll drive any power user insane. I was tired of apps that I expected to function in the background not being able to do so because the OS either killed them or denied them permissions that I had specifically granted.

Xiaomi has a ham-fisted and inefficient approach to both hardware and software design. It cannot optimise its software to consume less battery and run without lag, so it plops in a massive battery into the phone and tries to restrict apps from functioning in innumerable ways to try to mask those deficits. And it makes rooting the phone such a painful and undignifying experience (involving asking for permission from the company via an email) that it's enough to turn you off from the brand.

This Samsung phone, OTOH, was a breeze to root, and the OS is so good that I have not felt tempted to change it even after rooting it. The small battery and presence of Quick Charge support allows the phone to juice up quickly, unlike the Redmi, and it gives you the feeling that you're using a well designed product with optimised hardware and software.

The camera on this phone is head and shoulders above the Redmi's and takes pretty good shots in good light. It falters in poor lighting, and is just as useless as the Redmi's. The front camera is better too, though only serviceable.

What's the fly in the ointment? The default automatic brightness, though useful and smooth (unlike the Xiaomi, where I turned it off and kept the phone on maximum brightness all the time), tends to keep the brightness low, which means I often have to bump it up manually. Xiaomi has an excellent feature that prevents the phone from turning on while in your pocket, which does not work at all on this phone. It keeps turning on and wreaking havoc with the calls I take over Bluetooth. This is a major issue for me that I have yet to find a solution for.

The fingerprint sensor placement on this phone is excellent and I prefer it to Xiaomi's rear mounted one, but it only allows three fingerprints and can be quite inaccurate and slow. It won't unlock at all 10% of the time and will do so quite slowly another 20%. I would have loved to add both my index fingers and thumbs of both hands, in addition to at least one of my wife's, but can't. Xiaomi nailed the accuracy and speed, and allows five prints.

On the hardware front, as beautiful as the phone is, it is a fingerprint and scratch magnet, and the curved glass on both sides makes it impossible to put a screen protector on. You can do it but it would look ugly. My phone started accumulating visible scratches on day two, and I've made my peace with that. So it will look like a well used phone in six months' time&mdash;so what? I saw a scary video on YouTube where it broke after being dropped once from a three-foot height but I've dropped it 3-4 times from higher heights and it's still intact. I'm not putting it in a case and ruining everything good about the hardware that made me buy it at all.

Finally, the price, of course, is higher than the Redmi's, which I'm glad it is. In fact, because it's not available in India, I had to pay 1.8 times the actual price to import it, and have to make do without a warranty, but I still think it's justified. Why wouldn't you? It's got it all. Heck, it's actually a way better phone than the Galaxy S8, because it's easier to hold, harder to break, looks almost as good and costs a fraction of it.

TL;DR: A comparative review of the Samsung Galaxy A series and the Xiaomi Redmi series demonstrating how the Samsung phones are justified in commanding the premium they do. If you buy the most budget Android devices from Chinese brands (as I made the mistake of doing), don't blame Android for your woes.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

Unlike good old out of fashion windows, on android, you only get OS updates, you don't get security updates. So if you want to patch something like heartbleed on android, you often need an OS update.

Well, that may be true for Samsung, LG and other manufacturers that customise Android to the Nth degree.

But if you buy a Pixel what you get a true security updates generally between 25-60 MB in size in the 1st week of every month. If you like stock Android and appreciate timely updates and upgrades as I do the Pixel range is your answer.

Other phones loaded with OSes closest to stock Android i.e. with minimal customisations are Motorola/Moto handsets followed by the newer OnePlus handsets for e.g. the OP3/OP3T & OP5.

And yes, last but not the least, handset models that sit lower on the totem pole are the last to get updates/upgrades.

PS - And for owners who want the best possible stability and security there is always the iPhone. You simply cannot beat Apple.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

Don't worry - I'm still using Android but let me explain why.

Unlike good old out of fashion windows, on android, you only get OS updates, you don't get security updates. So if you want to patch something like heartbleed on android, you often need an OS update.

...

Originally Posted by R2D2

Well, that may be true for Samsung, LG and other manufacturers that customise Android to the Nth degree.

But if you buy a Pixel what you get a true security updates generally between 25-60 MB in size in the 1st week of every month. If you like stock Android and appreciate timely updates and upgrades as I do the Pixel range is your answer.

....

Exactly. This is an OEM problem. My 1.5 year old Nexus 6p gets a 'security update' every month. It is today running a security patch of 5th July '17.

Moto is also pretty good with security updates, although not as frequent as the Google phones.

[SPARKled]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

Don't worry - I'm still using Android but let me explain why.

Unlike good old out of fashion windows, on android, you only get OS updates, you don't get security updates. So if you want to patch something like heartbleed on android, you often need an OS update.

But the problem is that unlike windows, OS updates on smartphones (except Apple models upto 18 months) are guaranteed to slow down the damn device.

Not true, my Nexus 5x used to get monthly security updates. I believe all the latest Nexus and pixel devices get these monthly security updates.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

.....

OS updates on smartphones (except Apple models upto 18 months) are guaranteed to slow down the damn device.....

My Redmi Note 3 is on the verge of becoming a paperweight.....

Certain brands do that, some brands are nicer with updates. Surprisingly, I have not had a major problem with my Mi4i (16GB/2GB, No SD), though I don't think I'm running 8.5.x. It is slower than what it was out of the box, but more than 'just livable.'

If you have the time, try rolling back SW. If you're the adventurous type, go the Custom ROM way.

Else, try using Avast Cleaup to delete some memory. I like that app a lot. Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....cleaner&hl=en

Originally Posted by dark.knight

This isn't an Android problem, its a brand problem..

There is no comparison with Apple

Apple is way superior, but it does come at a price.
But I've seen people with old Moto Gs and old Sony phones more than just 'managing.'

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

Don't worry - I'm still using Android but let me explain why.

Unlike good old out of fashion windows, on android, you only get OS updates, you don't get security updates. So if you want to patch something like heartbleed on android, you often need an OS update.

But the problem is that unlike windows, OS updates on smartphones (except Apple models upto 18 months) are guaranteed to slow down the damn device.

My Redmi Note 3 is on the verge of becoming a paperweight. Apps take their own sweet time - Twitter notifications take >5 seconds, not to mention the occasional lag. Its more like an stutter esp when charging or <5 min after bootup. The battery needs charging atleast twice fully in the day. All because I mistakenly updated from 8.0.6 (Android 5.1) to 8.5.3 exactly as prompted.

My 8 months old OnePlus3 still works the same as it used to do when it was new. After several updates.

There is no lag on opening apps, playing games. Never was, never will be (hopefully )

[harry10]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

on a side note, I now think Android is a truly horribly insecure piece of crap.

Don't worry - I'm still using Android but let me explain why.

My Redmi Note 3 is on the verge of becoming a paperweight. Apps take their own sweet time - Twitter notifications take >5 seconds, not to mention the occasional lag. Its more like an stutter esp when charging or <5 min after bootup. The battery needs charging atleast twice fully in the day. All because I mistakenly updated from 8.0.6 (Android 5.1) to 8.5.3 exactly as prompted.

I am using the same phone with the latest update and have no such issues. Maybe, try a factory reset?

[R2D2]

Incidentally, an hour after I typed my 'security update' post, my 19 month old OnePlus 2 got a security update of only 22 MB with fixes dated 1st Jun 2017. It also includes a few bug fixes related to VoLTE and network performance.

So, as I said earlier, OP seems to take their updates seriously. It's not just the OP5 but the 2 generation older OP2 that receive regular updates. They even enabled VoLTE on this handset in Dec 16.

Compare that to Huawei/Google who dryly stated the Nexus 6P wouldn't receive an update enabling that feature. It was so disappointing. Yeah, the Pixel XL got a VoLTE update..but that was only expected as Google would always ensure their current top spec phone would have the latest feature updates too.

For the price/performance there simply isn't any handset better than the OnePlus range.

[CliffHanger]

Guys, I'm in the market for a new phone.

Waited for the OP 5 launch. Now, gave it some thought and decided against it.

Prime contenders -
1. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
2. LG G6

Have decided to purchase S7 Edge.

I see some attractive prices in DX.com. The S7 Edge retails around 50k in Amazon/Flipkart but around 34k in DX.com. Too good to be true.

Am I missing something?

Also let me know in case you have reasons to choose G6 over S7 Edge.

[rambo1o1]

Originally Posted by Jebs

Yes, it's nowhere mentioned in any of the release notes. However, as soon as you inserted the JIO SIM you can see that LTE option and the calls getting connected without Jioapps. You can enable/disable the VOLTE option in the phone settings option now *#*#4636#*#* (double check the code over the net).

I don't see any change in Call Quality through Jio. No specific bugs found so far and no changes in Camera settings also.

You need to enable the data for JIO SIM (I put that in secondary slot though) to see the LTE option. Without data it's emergency calls only.

I just updated to Android 7.0 and sadly I am unable to make calls not send SMS via Jio sim. The VoLTE symbol isn't present and I read a couple of user reviews that said that VoLTE isn't enabled yet.
How were u able to make calls without the Jio app?
I used the system settings and tried enabling VoLTE but it would revert back to disabled.
I do get the LTE symbol but on my dad's Moto G5 plus and mom's g3 ,they both get the VoLTE symbol in addition and they can make calls. I tried their sims but to no effect.

Have very dim hopes that Lenovo will send another update to enable VoLTE when they could have done it now.
But I still love this phone and Jio calling isn't a priority.

[djpeesh]

Originally Posted by SPARKled

Not true, my Nexus 5x used to get monthly security updates. I believe all the latest Nexus and pixel devices get these monthly security updates.

My Samsung S7 edge still gets monthly updates. I expected them to stop but they keep coming.