High End Mobile Recomendations

[paddypower]

Xiaomi Mi 9T

On 6/14/2018 at 1:24 PM, brommers said:

Huawei battery life is outstanding, and their fast charging means very little time required to return to 100%. My current P10 Plus will certainly be my preferred phone for a couple of years until there are major new features.

if you're online, how has your P10 Plus for telephoto shooting? that model is not available, so I'm looking at P20 Pro and P30 Pro. or a Xiaomi Mi 9T

 

[SooKee]

Looking to change from my Galaxy S7 Edge this year, micro managing the 32GB storage is becoming a real pain (can't use an SD since I need 2 SIMS).  Phone is OK though and if the storage wasn't such an issue I'd just change the battery.  Currently waiting on local availability / release of:

Xiaomi Mi 10

 

One Plus 8T (really like the 7T but can't stand the camera lump at the back - just hope the 8T isn't the same)

 

Xiaomi have now included wireless charging which while it's not essential it's certainly handy to be able to drop the phone on a cradle rather than plugging it in.  I'm not sure it helps the battery much though as I find I'm topping it off to 100% far too often.  A lot of these articles say charge to just 80% and don't wait until it's empty.  Sadly I hardly ever find that practical as when I go out it's generally for protracted periods and I need to the phone at 100% to be confident I don't also need to carry a power bank.  Helped even less as the phone gets older and the battery degrades.  

 

Buddy of mine has the iPhone 11 which seems better value (if there is such a thing) than most Apple phones.  Was somewhat tempted but I really do find the Google Translate 'Tap to translate' feature (so you can auto translate from within other apps simply by selecting the text and hitting 'copy') extremely useful so I'm not prepared to go back to Apple where AOT doesn't work and have to open app, read, copy, open other app, paste and go back to first app etc.  

 

Edited March 16, 2020 by SooKee

[paddypower]

On 3/16/2020 at 12:32 PM, SooKee said:

Looking to change from my Galaxy S7 Edge this year, micro managing the 32GB storage is becoming a real pain (can't use an SD since I need 2 SIMS).  Phone is OK though and if the storage wasn't such an issue I'd just change the battery.  Currently waiting on local availability / release of:

Xiaomi Mi 10

 

One Plus 8T (really like the 7T but can't stand the camera lump at the back - just hope the 8T isn't the same)

 

Xiaomi have now included wireless charging which while it's not essential it's certainly handy to be able to drop the phone on a cradle rather than plugging it in.  I'm not sure it helps the battery much though as I find I'm topping it off to 100% far too often.  A lot of these articles say charge to just 80% and don't wait until it's empty.  Sadly I hardly ever find that practical as when I go out it's generally for protracted periods and I need to the phone at 100% to be confident I don't also need to carry a power bank.  Helped even less as the phone gets older and the battery degrades.  

 

Buddy of mine has the iPhone 11 which seems better value (if there is such a thing) than most Apple phones.  Was somewhat tempted but I really do find the Google Translate 'Tap to translate' feature (so you can auto translate from within other apps simply by selecting the text and hitting 'copy') extremely useful so I'm not prepared to go back to Apple where AOT doesn't work and have to open app, read, copy, open other app, paste and go back to first app etc.  

 

I am searching for the Note 10 also. I see there is some confusion, as to why 2 model names.? I dont understand what the explanations say:

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Pro - is  global rom
Xiaomi Mi CC9 Pro - is China rom

I mean - should I care, so long as it is in Eng. language and I can access my service provider (AIS)?

somewhere I read that the CC9 does not have some Nework bands such as LTE.

By the way, news out of China is that retail and factory output is down 20% for Feb. 2020 (which is what partially spooked the DOW into a 3000 point drop) . Perhaps I should wait for some price wars, between China-made flagship models?

 

 

Edited March 17, 2020 by paddypower
spelling

[Chazar]

On 6/13/2018 at 3:33 PM, daocat555 said:

The Samsung Galaxy S 9 announced in February

stupid  curved  edge  screen is  difficult  to  get a  screen  protector put  on  and  slips out  yer  hands  easily.............says  the  wife

[Henryford]

Another Lazada sale on the 27th so it must be time for another phone, crazy i know.

My budget is 15,000 max so the obvious contenders are the Realme X2 Pro and the Xiaomi Note 10 Pro, both around 15,000 with the 8gb/256gb. The X2 seems on paper much better with the 855+ chip, 90hz, A640, 50 watt charging etc but i prefer the look of the Note 10 with curved sides and it's 5 camera set up.

Other options might be an older flagship like the Samsung Note 9 or S10? They are good phones but with older chips/memory/cameras now.

Any others i have missed or your preferences.

 

[daocat555]

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.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/samsung-galaxy-s20-i743868909-s1419130103.html?

 

Samsung S10: 16,290; or 1?.100 on Birthday sale.

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i308664264-s540154006.html?spm=a2o4m.my_wishlist.price_observing.42.ec286108rL4NSl

 

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.

 

.https://www.lazada.co.th/products/samsung-galaxy-s20-8128-gb-free-clear-view-cover-black-color-electrolux-fa31-202gy-20-26-4290-i756498038-s1450390129.html?spm=a2o4m.searchlist.list.150.1ff539820GT4En&search=1

 

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.

[Henryford]

Thanks daocat, the S10 is tempting at around 16,000 less the 888 birthday discount. I think the S20 (from a decent supplier) would be too much for me.

[Henryford]

K30 pro not available on Lazada yet. Do these models have Chinese ROMs?

[daocat555]

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

 

Comparison between: Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro, Oppo A91, OnePlus 7T

 

OnePlus 7T VS. Oppo A91 VS. Xiaomi Redmi K30 Pro: Comparison

 

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..

 

 

[SooKee]

The lack of wireless charging is the reason I didn't get the Mi 9.  Having used wireless for a couple of years or so now I find it a pain to have to keep getting out a cable and plug the phone in rather than just drop it on one of the cradles we have.  Could I survive without it, yes; do I want to, no.

 

Definitely don't plan on any Samsung being my next phone.  Really dislike the amount of unremovable bloatware on the phone I have now (S7 Edge), it may be better on newer devices and the massive increases in storage from 32 to 128 being pretty much the norm will help, but it's still junk that I don't want, junk that often pops up asking me to use or update it, despite being disabled.  I will also never buy another phone with curved edges to the screen.  Makes it really awkward when interacting with the edge of the screen, being near on impossible on some sites/apps.  Makes getting decent screen protectors problematic too.  Had thought about this before I bought the phone but it was an offer too good to refuse, I'm careful with devices so have done without a protector but the edge interaction problem remains.

 

It was lack of wireless and the awful (for me) camera hump on the back of the One Plus 7T that ruled the 7T out last year.  I'd probably prefer the One Plus UI over Xiaomi's but it looks like only the Pro will have wireless when the One Plus 8 range comes along so that is out too.  

 

Looks like it will be the Mi 10 for me when it eventually goes on sale here (no interest in grey imports).  The speaker issue mentioned above was a concern though albeit Xiaomi has said the Mi 10 will come with 'symmetrical 1.0cc dual side firing speakers', and the Pro version gets a very hight DXO Mark score albeit those are 1.2cc speakers.  I'd have to check out how the marketing labels actually translate into sound improvement but I suspect it will be a significant improvement.

 

I did, and still do, ponder the Pixel phones but those are grey import only and with all the problems they seem to suffer from at the moment, contrary to the Nexus line, just seem like over-priced decidedly second rate wannabe flagship devices.  At one time I really fancied the idea of stock Android but the manufacturer skins have come a long way in the last few years adding some real benefit in many case, things that would likely take you hours of tinkering with on a stock phone.  If I was going to pay Pixel prices I'd rather opt for a Samsung here at discount prices (which would still likely be cheaper than a Pixel) with a guarantee and service network.   

Edited March 26, 2020 by SooKee