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daocat555

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Posts posted by daocat555

  1. I so do not care for the spec's on the Redmi K30 Pro. 
     
    1) size of the phone and weight:  
     
    At 218 grams with dimensions of 163.3 x 75.4 x 8.9 mm this model is a handful, that is, if you have large hands. The screen gets to be advertised as 6,67 in diagonal but a lot of the screen is in the screen's large height. The side bezels are not all that thin, and the width of the screen is in line with phones with a smaller height and diagonal size.
     
    2) no stereo speakers
     
    Xiaomi has lost credibility with me for their phones with a single, down firing speaker. For example the Xiaomi Mi Note 10 which was released in November, 2019, and currently sells for anywhere between 8,000 - 16,990 baht on Lazada was tested by GSMARENA to have a maximum in call voice volume of 69 dB and a ringing phone volume of 66.6 dB . I find these values un-acceptable. And the entire single down-firing speaker even when well executed (Poco) is, to me, no longer acceptable in anything but an entry level phone. I would not expect the Redmi K30 Pro to be inexpensive; the list price per GSMARENA is 13,890 baht. My guess is that if you don't mind the sound coming out by your chin and not your ear that the K30 Pro will have decent sound.  The website kimovil list the following with the spec's of the K30 Pro:
     
    Others
    Audio
    Hi-Res Audio certification 
    1216 Super Linear Speaker 
    Smart PA loud speaker 
    Linear motor
    To me the best case scenario is that GSMARENA reviews the phone and gives hard, objective data on it's sound output.
    3) no wireless charging
     
    OK, this is a frill and not necessary but it's a nice frill.
     
    With the size and weight of the phone you do get a massive battery with rapid charging; Xiaomi claims from 0-100% in 63 minutes. And it has quite a few cameras with quite a few pixels.   
     
    So to try to make this post constructive I searched Lazada for phones that might sell at about the expected price of the K30 Pro. Um; I did not find one model which I consider to be a clear favorite. In that price range you really have a lot of contender's with different strengths and weaknesses.
     
    Oddly the phone I found to be most interesting is 7,999 baht or 7,? 99 baht starting tomorrow with the Birthday Sale, the OPPO A91. This seems like a good entry level phone with reasonable choices regarding size and weight. It appears to have a single down firing speaker (entry level) and en entry level CPU with an antutu score of 135,000 (the K30 Pro has an antutu of 589,910).  If you can live with that antutu score, the rest of the phone seems nice.
     
    Here are the K30 Pro and A91 Compared with the OnePlus 7H as a reference.
     
    Compare Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro vs. Oppo A91 vs. OnePlus 7T - GSMArena.com
     
     
    I will say that kimovil rates the K30 Pro best in terms of cost effectiveness.  But kimovil is very much driven by pure spec's not the balance of the phones features.  OnePlus tends to hit the sweet spots.  OPPO not so often.  And it seems that lately Xiaomi is all over the map..
     
     
  2. There are many stores on Lazada which sell the Samsung S20 and S10.  Here are the stores which I found which are least expensive.
     
    Samsung S20; 24,690 baht.
     
     
    Samsung S10: 16,290; or 1?.100 on Birthday sale.
     
     
    The store selling the S10 has a high Lazada rating while the store selling the S20 is a new store which is more worrisome.  So here is LazMall selling the S20 for 28,900 or 2?,000 on Birthday sale.  LazMall I consider to be the best store on Lazada in terms of fast shipping and reliability.
     
     
    Neither phone has very good battery for power users who want a strong battery.  Both phones are very portable, easy to hold in one hand during calls, have good audio output, and a nice camera.
     
    I went ahead and bought the S20 when it was first offered from LazMall and now have some buyer's regret.  The free air purifier is nice but it is recommended that you change the filter every 3-4 months and I have searched for a place to buy the replacement filter with no luck.. GSMARENA rates the audio output as better on the S10 than the S20 and rates the battery endurance as slightly better on the S10 than the S20.  So the S10 may be the better value buy for people looking for a small Samsung phone.
     
    Supposedly the S20 has a LiPo battery while the S10 has the more standard Li Ion battery.  I don't know if this is true but I have read that Li Po batteries do not degrade over time nearly as fast as Li Ion batteries.  So it is possible that a year from now the S20 battery will outperform the S10.  The S20 clearly has the better camera as well; it is just more expensive.
     
    Not that I follow advice that I offer, but for many people with 5G possible coming soon, it might be the most prudent thing to do to wait on buying a new phone right now, and see what happens with 5G.
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  3. Below find the OnePlus 7T the OnePlus 7T Pro and the Meizu 16S as compared on GMSArena (my gold standard for reviews), devicespecifications and Kimovil.
     
    Compare OnePlus 7T vs. OnePlus 7T Pro vs. Meizu 16s - GSMArena.com
     
     
    Meizu 16S VS. OnePlus 7T VS. OnePlus 7T Pro: Comparison
     
    First concerning the camera set-ups the camera on the OnePlus 7T Pro is by far the best and the Kimovil numbers on that are flat out bogus.  Next I prefer a notch to a pop up selfie (personal taste) and last check out the body size and screen size as reported on the devicespecification's comparison.  The OnePlus 7T Pro is a big, long screen and not the lightest or smallest body around, but yeah, the screen and rear cameras totally rock.
     
    It is also interesting how much more expensive the list price of the 7T Pro was over the 7T but in the actual real world price at Lazada the 7T Pro may be the best in terms of cost effectiveness.      
     
    And I did read one review a few days ago which touted the Realme X2 Pro as an outstanding value in a flagship killing phone so prolly I will be posting more about that phone.
  4. As they say in Thailand I know you for a long time Henryford.  I am delighted you have your OnePlus flagship but have some questions.  What are you doing with your used OnePluses'?  Why did you choose the OnePlus 7 Pro over the OnePlus 7 T?  And lastly if a wealthy benefactor offered to buy you any phone with the stipulation that you would use it not sell it what would you choose?   I can't answer for myself (maybe Samsung Galaxy S10?); but the Meizu 16S is less than half the price of the other guy's flagships. And that's my cup of tea.

  5. My top 4 value high end recommendations are:

    1) OnePlus 7T

    2) OnePlus 7T

    3) OnePlus 7T

    4) Meizu 16S

    I think for most people who don't want to pay the money for an Apple, Google, or Samsung that the OnePlus 7T really hits the sweet spot for high end price/performance.  Google reviews and read rave review after rave review and "phone of the year" awards aplenty.  Lazada has it at no discount and HongKongVT at Aliexpress has it at a nice discount.  For me, who likes thin, light, and powerful phones stamped Meizu I am most likely going to buy the Meizu 16S when it hits Lazada or HongKongVT at Aliexpress in the global version in blue.

     

    Both phones offer very high end stereo sound, nice camera set ups and a svelte form with the Oneplus 7T having a flat screen, slightly wider side bezels and a very tall screen, and the Meizu having a semi-curved display and a more squarish screen.

  6. I ordered my Meizu 16th from AliExpress on November 5'th and it arrived on November 22'nd.  I bought it from the Hongkong VT Store for 14,103 baht.
     
    It does not have NFC or wireless charging.  The battery is 3010 mAh.  My memory is 6/64 and the ROM is not expandable.  For me, and I suggest that for many people it is the best phone that money can buy right now (ok, for those money is no object folks go for the 8/128 memory.)
     
    It is thin and light with a Super AMOLED screen.  The audio is great.  And I got mine in the white color which I think looks really nice.  The build quality appears to be top notch. 
     
    I would prefer it to have wireless charging for convenience and NFC for snob appeal, but phones which have those (Mate 20 Pro) do not have, in my opinion, the other desirable features of the Meizu 16th.  Phone features require a trade off.
     
    In May the next  Meizu Flagship might be announced and it is expected to be the same basic phone with internal upgrades such a Snapdragon 8150.  For me staying with the same 6 inch screen makes sense.  It is big enough to show taxi drivers where you want to go on Google Maps, but not so large that the phone is bulky to carry around.
     
    It has my highest recommendation. 
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  7. The 6/128 Emerald green Mate 20 Pro is the one I had my eyes on at Lazada until gsmarena panned the audio output, which for hard of hearing me is a deal breaker; but the sound should be okay for normal people; just not up to the level of the other features of the phone.
     
    Calling it a "very nice upgrade" from a Zenfone 3 is kind of like saying a Ferrari is a "very nice upgrade" from a Fiat.
  8. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is my pick for a phone with a stylus.  It's 29,200 baht at Lazada and I think it touches most of the bases you are looking for.  I'm not so keen on the Galaxy Note 8 so for a less expensive stylus phone I like the Fan Edition which appears to be sold out at Lazada right now.

  9. The day after the big 11/11 Lazada sale let's see what the prices of relevant phones are.
     
    Firstly, the Meizu 16th has increased in price from 11,000 baht to 17,900 baht. The LazMall 6/64 Poco has increased from 9,490 to 10,490  baht.  The Lasaer at Lazada Poco 6/128 is unchanged at 10,200 baht.  And the Poco Armoured Limited Edition has increased from 11,990 baht to 12,990 baht.
     
    The Realme 2 Pro has increased from 5,990 baht to 6,590 baht and is in stock in black or blue.  The Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro is 6,790 baht in black or 6,990 baht in blue or rose gold.  The Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite went up a bit in price, and with the superior, to me, Realme 2 Pro in a similar mid priced range the A2 Lite is no longer a recommended buy by me.
     
    The Samsung Galaxy J6 is about the same price and may be of interest to people wanting a mid-range phone with a Super AMOLED screen.  The Galaxy A8 is a bit more expensive than it was yesterday.
     
    I remain very keen about the Meizu 16th, and several stores at AliExpress are offering it at a good price of about 13,000 baht, and one seller may be offer a $100 discount user coupon if you are a new user buying that model.
    • Like 1
  10. It was just posted in the Pocophone Topic that the Meizu 16th is on a 11/11 sale at LazMall.  Here was my response to that bit of news.
     
    rwilem, thank you very much and wow,wow,wow.  I didn't think Lazada would ever list the Meizu 16th, and if I had known that it would be 11,990 baht at LazMall that is how I would have bought it.
     
    Searching priceza for the Meizu 16th I get.
     
     
    And searching Priceprice I get it for 15,426.70 baht at Banggood listed as not in stock but "coming soon".
     
     
    I never thought to directly search Lazada for the phone as it seems that no new Meizu model has been for sale at Lazada since the Meizu Pro 7 was released in August, 2017.  Darn, I sure wish I had done a search on Lazada before I ordered it from AliExpress.
     
    I ordered it from AliExpress on November 5'th and my total price was 14,103.26 baht.  It has already been shipped so I can not cancel my AliExpress order while it is in transit..  So I paid 2,113.26 baht more than the phone sells for today at LazMall.  And if you order it today you will have it in your hands weeks before I will have mine (I had it sent via AliExpress standard shipping not DHL)..  Please post your thoughts on the phone if you decide to buy it.
     
    My thoughts on the phone before testing it and with no full gsmarena review for it is that it's the best phone for me.  I bought the Meizu 15 from AliExpress and recieved it on May 18'th.  I paid 14,874.64 baht for that phone and I like it a lot.  It is compact and lightweight with excellent audio output and a very decent camera.
     
    The Meizu 16th similarly is compact and lightweight with a 6 inch screen.  It has a slightly larger battery with Android Oreo (with the Flyme skin) instead of Android Nougat (with the Flyme skin) for the Meizu 15, so even with the Snapdragon 845 I would expect battery rundown time to be as good as the Meizu 15 which gsmarena measured at 77 hours endurance rating.  In my use of the Meizu 15 I easily get 3-4 days of battery life on a full charge and the phone charges extremely rapidly at 12 V/2 A, 15 W.  I plug it in for about 30 minutes every 2-3 days to top it up to 100%.
     
    The maximum in call voice volume was measured at 77 dB by gsmarena and the sound is very clear on the Meizu 15.  The Meizu 16th advertisements report that the audio has been improved and it was excellent already.
     
    I considered the Google Pixel 3 as I like light, compact phones but I joined a user group for it on Facebook and quite a few people complained that the speaker output was poor, with hissing and buzzing sounds at times, and the earpiece speaker is tinny sounding with the bass and most of the volume coming from the lower speaker.  So that eliminated that.
     
    I was keen on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro until gsmarena really panned the audio output, and subsequently reported some end users complaining of strong screen bleeding issues.  So that eliminated that.
     
    For me the Apple XS is the only phone that stands up somewhat well to the Meizu 16th.  But the maximum in call voice volume is 71 dB and I am an Android kind of guy, not to mention it's almost three times more expensive,  So that ones out.
     
    Here are the Meizu 16th, the Poco, and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro as compared.  The Meizu 16th is the clear winner, for me.  I included the Poco as a well know mid-high end value buy, and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro as a "latest and greatest" contender (pretender?).
     
     
     
     
    The Meizu and the Poco both have vapor cooling, and maybe Meizu implemented this better as Kimovil reports a higher Antutu score for the Meizu.  I forget if the Mate 20 Pro has vapor cooling but its CPU is the fastest and is reportedly very efficient (which reduces heat) and it has the highest Antutu score.  All three are blazing fast.
     
    I got mine in the white color and the Global version. I did not see "Global version" on the Lazada listing but it almost certainly is the Global version.  The Chinese version has only the Chinese and English language, no Thai language, so it is all but inconceivable that Lazada would be selling the Chines version or the rooted Chinese version.   LazMall is an easy return for cash back if by some weird circumstance you get sent the Chinese version.
     
    I could go on and on about why I like the Meizu 16th the best, but that would be for me.  I'll conclude by saying no massive notch!
     
    SooKee; I don't know what SIM lock is.  I certainly have never used it.  I use an AIS Net Marathon prepaid SIM.  Since you were polite in your posting, SooKee, I will respond in kind by saying that for me I feel it is best to leave my phone unlocked using neither face nor fingerprint lock.  That works well for me and on that issue I don't see myself as changing my mind.  Hey, I'm an old guy, they can be intractable.  Other people may feel free to secure their phones as they wish.
    • Like 1
  11. While we are quoting and miss-quoting people my favorite recent phrase is,
     
    "There literally is no more difference between computers and phones ".
     
    I didn't know that there is literally no more difference between computers and phones; I am happy to learn something new every day.  I wouldn't deign to use sarcasm on TVF, I actually used to think that there were differences between computers and phones.
     
    While on the topic of security for computers and phones I recently set up fingerprint ID on my computer in case somebody steals my phone which has no security lock on it to this day.  That way hopefully I won't really be hurt by somebody else using up my AIS minutes talking on my stolen phone.  Oh wait, I will still have the serious damage of somebody using up my AIS minutes.
     
    I'll have to rethink the entire matter.  In the meantime Lazada has a big sale on 11/11 so I'm looking forward to that.
  12. You guys and your tank phones.  I think lanng khao, at least, didn't mortgage the house to buy his tank as the Honor 8X max is $226.11 at AliExpress while the Mate 20 X is $836 and that's a big difference in price for somewhat similar specs.
     
     
     
    The Mate 20 X has a 7.2 inch screen vs 7.12 inch for the Honor 8X Max and the Honor 8X Max has a body width of 86.3mm vs 85.4mm for the Mate 20 X, so the Mate 20 X is marginally more compact with a better screen-to-body ratio but not by a real lot.  The Honor 8X Max is 210 grams vs 232 grams for the Mate 20 X with the same 5000 mAh battery.  
     
    To me the big difference is price.  Of course CPU performance and camera performance wise the Mate 20 X wins big over the Honor 8X Max.
     
    I'll try not to go on and on about this but gsmarena did not care for the audio quality of the Mate 20 Pro which has a similar speaker set up as Mate 10 Pro and the Mate 20 and the P 20 Pro.  If I remember correctly, ks45672, you own a Mate 10 Pro, so you have a good notion of the audio output you will likely get from the Mate 20 X.
     
    The maximum in call voice volume was measured at 70.1 dB for the Mate 10 Pro and 71.8 dB for the Mate 20 Pro and gsmarena has not reviewed the Mate 20 X or Honor 8X Max.  Me as broken record here but my very non-tank Meizu 15 has a maximum in call voice volume of 77 dB and the ear speaker is very clear.
     
    Different strokes for different folks.
    • Like 1
  13. Especially when using mobile banking that's very handy.

     

    Sarcasm?  I don't use mobile banking.  I keep my computer secure for banking, etc, and I use a mobile to make phone calls.

     

    killerbeez; you might want to go to gsmarena and read their review of the Mate 20 Pro and also read about the screen bleed issue.  I was extremely keen about the Mate 20 Pro until I read those things on gsmarena.  As far as specs go, I consider the Mate 20 Pro the king of phones.  But it seems that some of the implementation of the Mate 20 Pro specs are problematic.  It's a nice phone still, just saying, if you pre-ordered from Lazada it's an easy return for money back.

  14. I just ordered a Meizu 16th, white, 6/64 Global version from Hongkong VT at AliExpress.  It was $416.99 (14,103.26 baht), which I paid for with my K Bank account.
     
    This is actually the second time that I have ordered a Meizu 16th from AliExpress.  The first time the seller was slow in getting it shipped and I thought maybe the upcoming Meizu 16X would offer better value with less memory, a Snapdragon 710 CPU, and a less expensive price, so I cancelled the order. I decided against the Meizu 16X when a review on Youtube said that the earpiece speaker was not as loud as the bottom speaker.  The Meizu 16X, I think, is a nice value phone, but I am looking for (hopefully) pristine audio output.
     
    Then I tried to buy the Google Pixel 3 online from the Google Store who rejected my purchase.  Then I was interested in the Huawei Mate 20 Pro until gsmarena really panned its audio output (and subsequently has reported many users unhappy with the screen bleeding problems).
     
    I think (I hope), that this time I have got it right.  And the price is lower now than when I first ordered it.  Hongkong VT states that they have it in stock with fast shipping and I am having it sent via free AliExpress standard shipping.
     
    So hopefully before Thanksgiving I will have a review up on it and be listing my Meizu 15 for sale.
  15. The gsmarena review is up for the Google Pixel 3 and it is favorable.  I was turned off of the Pixel 3 by users who complained of poor quality audio output, but gsmarena reports that the quality is good, although they would expect better from a flagship phone, and measured the maximum in call voice volume at 77.5 dB which is an excellent score.  They did report that the bottom speaker is louder than the earpiece speaker and that the earpiece speaker is more treble in nature with the bottom speaker being more bass.  But voice conversation, I think, uses the treble range so that shouldn't be a problem in a voice call.
     
    All in all I would say a favorable review.  The Pixel 3 is not yet for sale on USA Amazon.  It is for sale at the Google Store who rejected my order some weeks ago because I was physically in Thailand.  It is for sale at Best Buy USA yoked to Verizon so that doesn't help those of us in Thailand.  I would expect Amazon to stock it but I have no idea when that will happen.
  16. The third slider phone has been announced, the Lenovo Z5 Pro.  With a list price of $287.89 (9,487 baht) it is about half as expensive as the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 and about three times less expensive than the Oppo Find X.  So it is clearly the most affordable slider for people who like the slider model.
     
    Here it is compared with the other two slider phones.
     
     
    The Z5 Pro has the best screen-to-body ratio of the three and at 73mm wide it has thin side, top and bottom bezels, so it is fairly compact for its 6.39 inch Super AMOLED screen.  It's not light at 210 grams with only a 3350 mAh battery, but it isn't ridiculous like the Mix 3 which is 218 grams with a 3200 mAh battery.  And it uses the energy efficient Snapdragon 710 instead of the higher performing but more battery hungry 845 like the other two phones.
     
    It doesn't offer wireless charging like the Mix 3, but for half the price I think you would be getting a much better phone; thinner, lighter, with a bigger battery and similar camera set up.
  17. I actually think the OnePlus 6T is a nice upgrade over the OnePlus 6.  They have upped the battery from 3300 mAh to 3700 mAh, and reduced the body width from 75.4mm to 74.8mm while increasing the screen size from 6.28 inch to 6.41 inch and with all that only adding 8 grams to the body weight.

     

    Myself I don't use face unlock or fingerprint unlock.  I just leave my phone always unlocked which makes things simple and easy

  18. The gsmarena review is up on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.  It is out of my mind forever as a phone I might want to use, and I'll probable only refer to it in the future to pan it.  The maximum in call voice volume is 70.3 dB but not clear and not balanced.  To quote gsmarena:
     
    Huawei hasn't upped its game when it comes to the speakers - it still uses the tiny and squeaky earpiece for a second speaker, and it still sounds rather cheap. Yes, it does the stereo effect, but the loudness of the speakers is mostly uneven, and you can tell. At some point, it might even become annoying.
     
    They go on further to say:
     
    The sound quality is about average though, far from the best in the industry. While playing some music, the audio was loud enough, but it's rather shallow and often squeaky.
     
    For me, who is hard of hearing, I wouldn't use this phone over my current Meizu 15 if I received the Mate 20 Pro as a gift (like that's likely to happen).  My current Meizu 15 has a maximum in call voice volume of 77 dB and is very clear with a fair amount of the sound coming out the earpiece speaker which I am holding up to my ear.
     
    Please refer to the gsmarena review for more information, but briefly, I was unimpressed with the measured performance on a number of tests, and there are a number of weaknesses of the phone.  As an example no autofocus on the selfie camera.  The camera results were far from impressive to me.
     
    It seems that Huawei talked a good line about performance, audio, and camera, but the implementation of these things turned out to have some problems.  And the audio output is just disgraceful in such an expensive phone!
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  19. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro has been listed on Amazon, USA, in 6/128, black color only, for $1,705.99 (52,227 baht).
     
    Good old Lazada, who now has the model back in stock for pre-order in Emerald green for 31,990 baht. 
     
    A TVF News Team writer has also just started a Post saying that DTAC is offering the Mate 20 Pro on special for DTAC users.  Hey, I want to be a News Team writer for the mobile Topic; wonder how I apply?
  20. Eight hours ago when I last posted here the Huawei Mate 20 Pro was in stock for pre-order in Emerald green.  That is now out of stock with only the black color available.  I went and got a massage and pondered the matter, pretty much deciding that the Mate 20 Pro was too expensive for me to buy right now.  I can dream about it, or more apropo dream about the P 30 Pro in the spring as to me it seems the P series tends to top the Mate series; but that's a long way away.

     

    Lazada will most likely get the Mate 20 Pro in all available colors fairly promptly, since it's LazMall selling it that's a good thing as LazMall frequently maintains stock once they decide to stock an item.

  21. Thank you Henryford; all I can say about the Lazada price pre-order on the Huawei Mate 20 Pro is "wow, fantastic price".  Yeah none of the throw ins are useful to me.  I want the wireless charger for Pete's sake, not a power bank in a phone with a 4200 mAh battery.  And for me about the only color I like maybe better in any phone than the Meizu white is the Huawei Mate 20 Emerald green.  And Lazada is listing it in either black or green.  And in keeping with my general rule the 6/128 is just right for me.  No need to spend extra for more memory than that.
     
    Here is the Huawei Mate 20, the Mate 20 Pro, and the Meizu 16th as compared.
     
     
    I have zero interest in the Mate 20 with its 77.2 mm body width.  I don't care if a phone has a notch or not but I like a narrow phone.  I am putting on hold my plan to buy a Meizu 16th in light of this great price for the Mate 20 Pro at Lazada.  No AliExpress anxiety and Lazada will take my USA credit card so I can go into credit card debt and get it.  I hope gsmarena gets its review up on the model soon.  It's pretty much a sure thing they they will give it a full review.  But they haven't done so yet.  And using the Poco as an example of how Lazada prices sometimes the very lowest price is available early, and then it drifts slightly higher.
     
    So on the one hand I want to be prudent and wait for the gsmarena review, and on the other hand I want to scoop one up. Yikes. Thanks for the input.  The gf probable wouldn't mind a OP6, but to be frank, if I had to use either the OP6 or the Mate 20 I would surely opt for the OP6.
     
     
    The OP6 has a smaller, lighter body and for me plenty of screen, battery power, and CPU power.
  22. Well I've come to a decision, probably, about my next phone (Who cares. Well, just sayin).
     
    I considered the Pixel 3 and wasn't put off by the lack of local support, or even too much by the price.  What eliminates that phone for me (and I suggest for all Thai Visa phone savvy people) is the poor audio output.  I watched the Pixel 3 announcement live, and they sure talked a good line about the audio of the two front facing speakers.  But I joined several Pixel 3 user groups on Facebook, and person after person complained that the speakers distort, crackle for no reason, emit a hum for no reason, and just plain sound bad.  Too many people with no obvious axe to grind again Google report this flaw.
     
    So I am enamoured by the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.  And I don't mind buying a $1,000 phone from AliExpress.  But I don't have $1,000.  Darn, guess that one is out for now.
     
    The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 just announced is a terrible phone for me who likes a thin and light phone with good audio, as it is thick, heavy, and without stereo speakers.  Cross that one off the list.
     
    I have been waiting for a full gsmarena review of the Meizu 16th.  But I now think that there will never be a full review of that model by gsmarena.  So most likely when I get my November check I'll go for the Meizu 16th from AliExpress.  I can't use my USA plastic power to buy from AliExpress; the cash must be in my Thai bank and it is deducted when I place the order.  
     
    It's $424.20 (13,964 baht) in the Global version, 6/64, and gloss white color.  Meizu claims the audio output has been improved over the Meizu 15 (my current phone) but even if it hasn't ala the Pixel 3, if it hasn't taken a step backward the Meizu 15 has a 77 dB maximum voice volume, and very clear.
     
    I get my thin, light phone at a price I can pay, and I think a nice upgrade over my Meizu 15 without going bonkers for a Huawei Mate 20 Pro.  I don't see anything upcoming which is going to haunt me too much with buyers remorse.  My guess is that it is just a better phone for me than the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, even though it lacks quite a few bells and whistles that the Mate 20 Pro has.
     
    The Meizu 16th is actually $388 at TMALL.  But i cannot seem to register for a TMALL account, and I am a fan of AliExpress so I am willing to pay a bit more from them.  The Meizu Official Store at Lazada, in general, is just terrible with respect to bringing Meizu phones to Thailand.  So I expect that if I want the 16th I will need to buy it from an International Seller.
     
    So guys, troll me if you want for buying from AliExpress, for wanting the newer over the older, or criticize the model (please, am I missing something?), but hey, no Mothers, leave Mothers out of this.
     
     
     
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  23. The Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 has been announced, and briefly, I don't like it at all.  To me a gimmick sliding body with fairly wide side bezels presents a screen which is 68.02 mm wide in a body 74.69 mm wide.  Compare that to the Huawei Mate 20 Pro with the same screen width but a 72.3 mm body width or even my Meizu 15 with the same screen width and a 72 mm body width.  The screen of the Mix 3 is tall at 147.34 mm but the body is tall at 157.89 mm.  So you get a 6.39 inch diagonal screen, the same as the Huawei Mate 20 Pro, in a larger body.
     
    And the sliding mechanism must weigh a lot as the weight of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 is a whopping 218 grams for which you are getting a 3200 mAH battery!  That doesn't compare well to the 189 gram weight of the Mate 20 Pro which packs a 4200 mAh battery.  Or even to the Meizu 16th which gives you the same screen width in a 73.2 mm wide body and a 3010 mAh battery with a body weight of 152 grams.
     
    To me the Mix 3 just barely beats out the Poco by a bit in a few categories, but lacks the 4000 mAh battery of the Poco, is heavier, doesn't appear to have the vapor cooling of the Poco, and is about twice as expensive as the Poco.  If I had to take one of them as a gift I would opt for the Poco.  The Poco doesn't make any claims of being "all screen" but it's body width of 75.3 mm is almost the same as the Mix 3, with the same size screen width, a bit shorter screen, and a bit shorter body.  It's the width of the screen that is most useful to me, not the height of the screen.  The Mix 3 can be charged wirelessly, which can explain a bit of the excess weight.
     
    About the only advantage I see of the Mix 3 over the Poco is USA bands covered, which is fairly good especially for a Xiaomi phone, and it seems Xiaomi has hopes getting some penetration into the USA market with this phone.
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  24. The Huawei P20 Pro is one of my favorite phone models and I didn't know it was down to 20,000 baht for which you are getting a great phone.  In my opinion it had the best camera of any phone until the Mate 20 Pro and I see no weaknesses of the P20 Pro.

     

    Having said that that the Mate 20 Pro is better.  Is it 13,899 baht better?  That depends on what the buyer wants and what the buyer can spend.

     

    There actually is a stylus for the Mate 20 Pro available as an additional purchase but gsmarena found problems with the software implementation of the stylus and there is no built in place to store the stylus on the phone.  So people wanting a high end phone with a stylus would probably opt for the Note 9.  

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