[mukul32]

Originally Posted by lurker

do not underestimate huawei honor 6 & 7. If you do so, then do so at your own risk. The best quality of android phones this year goes to huawei. Of which honor is a brand.

Never. Can you tell me what made Huawei 'the best quality'? In reality, they are just a typical Chinese phonemaker. Big on paper, cheap in reality, and desperately try to copy Apple in some or another way. The Honor series can never match the design balance or feel in the hand of the likes of HTC or Sony. They may have glass and metal finishes, but mere gloss is different, class is different.
They also use their own Kirin chipsets in their higher end devices, which may have performance, but are not as good as, say Qualcomm in terms of efficiency or stability. There is absolutely no AOSP source support either. So perhaps no custom ROM's. Also, the Nexus 6 uses a Snapdragon 810. And there must be a reason Google chose to run it on a Qualcomm processor (despite the talks about heating issues) instead of Huawei. Clearly, that one should be better.
Moreover, their OEM software, EMUI is utterly hopeless. The core of the user experience in a smartphone, above raw specs and everything else, is the UI, and the EMUI skin is totally rubbish. Ruins all the beauty of the core Android interface, and again, desperately, tries to ape Apple iOS (and fail).
Take the OG Moto X. It was anything but a spec sheet warrior unlike these Chinese phones, but the user experience was so good it became extremely popular among people and critics too, above the likes of the S4 and G2, etc. The user experience is what matters the most.
I have a friend who swapped a T2 ultra for a Honor 4x (Snapdragon version), and regretted the decision every single moment. Not even a month into the purchase, he was really desperate to anyhow get rid of the EMUI from his phone, and was even ready to let go of the warranty for it. When I unlocked the bootloader and installed CyanogenMod 12.1 in his phone, it actually became a lot more usable.
In fact, I'd go as far as saying that the rubbish software is enough reason for anyone not to consider Huawei at all.

Google selects the best android manufacturer to represent it's Nexus line. It started with Samsung, then went to LG, and now with Nexus 6P, it is manufacture by Huawei.

Who said that? Google do not 'select the best manufacturer' as such. It is a bilateral deal. In fact, major OEM's are reluctant to make the Nexus, because it means spending resources for a limited volumes, low margins product that takes away the limelight from their own flagships. The only advantage with Nexus is that it is somewhat a halo product that may boost the brand value of the company which makes it.
The Nexus line actually started with HTC (Nexus One), because then HTC were adventurous enough to try a hand at making such a phone. Later, they switched to Samsung because Samsung were getting massively popupar and were perhaps the only one who had the money for the project. So the Nexus stayed with them for two years. LG stepped in later because they wanted the brand value of the Nexus to gain popularity and promote their own G series. Motorola was owned by Google for a while, and perhaps that's when the Nexus 6 development must have been planned.
As for Huawei, fact is that they were themselves really keen to make a Nexus, because they were worried with very poor presence in the USA, which is a massive market. The Nexus gives them a far better chance of expanding their customer base there. Their boss has admitted the same openly too. Similarly, because they wanted to become popular in the USA, they also hurriedly released a force touch phone just before the iPhone, to stake the claim for becoming the pioneer. And the Nexus 6P is also only MANUFACTURED by Huawei. It is designed and engineered by Google themselves. And the development of the Nexus 6P started much before the latest Huawei flagships were released. So it is not as if Google 'chose' Huawei because they were impressed by their latest phones.

Moreover, the premium huawei's all carry dual antenna and thus have the best network reception of all phones. Period. And that includes moto and nokia/microsoft and nexus.
For instance the Huawei Ascend P-8 hands down beat the Samsung S6 and G4, iphone 6 and Note5 in network reception, call quality, speed of file transfer on wifi etc.
huawei is the only manufacturer of telecom switching equipment left in the field after motorola exited mobile phones and sold it to lenovo .. this gives them an insight into mobile radio like none other. Thus the qualities are reflected in their network reception and signal capture qualities.

Now I'm not exactly an expert in this department, but I know that in very high end phones, the calling and connectivity department is usually very well sorted. They all tend to use top notch hardware for the same, and hence today almost all flagships support a very wide range of Wi-Fi and network bands. So any difference, if at all between devices should be wafer thin. Gone are the days of patchy flagships. Still, low end devices may suffer from network issues even today. But surely not the premium ones.
And I do know that Huawei commercially manufacture modems, network equipment etc. but then they must be supplying the same hardware to other companies too? How then will their own phones have an advantage? I don't think a large manufacturer like Huawei would indulge in step-motherly treatment.
That said, I've not heard any tier I smartphone OEM using Huawei's network equipment. Many use screens from Samsung, cameras from Sony, etc but not heard about Huawei yet.

[lurker]

I have a friend who swapped a T2 ultra for a Honor 4x (Snapdragon version), and regretted the decision every single moment. Not even a month into the purchase, he was really desperate to anyhow get rid of the EMUI from his phone, and was even ready to let go of the warranty for it. When I unlocked the bootloader and installed CyanogenMod 12.1 in his phone, it actually became a lot more usable.
In fact, I'd go as far as saying that the rubbish software is enough reason for anyone not to consider Huawei at all.

technology evolves fast. The Chinese have to play both catch up and improvise. What they have done recently (in last 2 years) is to catch up and excel samsung and apple in manufacturing dept.

Now you will say how does that impact common man.

They have done massive changes to their ***premium*** sets. Which means that it costs 20k+ and are bracketed against other premium phones in market. These phones are:
1. Ascend P7
2. Ascend P8
3. Ascend G7
4. Honor 7

etc. I am not having complete list, but these are what is available in India. These are well made and premium phones with excellent connectivity, signal reception that beats all others in the market.

Looking at all the tests and the various results, I think it’s safe to say that the Huawei P8 is the best handset for LTE, while the LG G4 comes second and the Galaxy S6 is significantly further back. Samsung’s adoption of metal and glass certainly worked for most parts of the handset but the network antenna seems to have suffered as a result of the switch, which could be expected given the problems others have had with metal builds.

LG G4 review

Huawei P8 Review!

Samsung Galaxy S6 Review!

With the G4, LG have made the antenna stronger than the G3 and the result is much better performance overall. The G4 is certainly impressive in holding onto a network connection and with Cat 6 support, the maximum download speeds have also vastly improved. The dual antenna system on the Huawei P8 clearly prevents any antenna-gate issues – where holding the handset the wrong way can affect your signal – and the handset can intelligently switch between the two antennae, depending upon which is the strongest.

http://www.androidauthority.com/best...-lg-g4-612827/

I also found it got and maintained a stronger 4G signal than any other smartphone I have tested.

http://www.theguardian.com/technolog...ts-competition

mind you this only applies to their top-of-the-line handset and these niceties are not yet percolated to middle-range and bottom-range yet.

[Behemoth]

I recently saw the Oppo R7 lite and the R7 plus and liked the construction and specs and price quite a lot. Are there any users of these phones here who can share their feedback?

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by GTO

Oh shucks! Sorry to hear that Thad. Our best wishes are with you & all other folk from Chennai. Hope things get better soon.

My suggestion? Get a good dual sim after usage in person. Even though i'm an iPhone guy otherwise.

Why? 4G = TERRIBLE call quality. I would suggest that keep one SIM for data on 4G and one SIM on 2G for call quality Given most people's objections to installing new towers in urban India, this is the most reasonable solution in today's day and age.

Lastly, try that phone out in person first. For all the OPO love - its camera is terrible and my wife's phone cannot hold 3G data reliably while on the road. The iPhone and my S3 have much better data ability in comparison. I personally have concerns over the call quality of a few handsets (ive never been satisfied with my S3 or HTC Chacha as muchas I am with iPhone or was with E63).

[tbppjpr]

Since talks are going around network reception, here is good site to check which service providers are strong in which areas: http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/India/

One can even check 2G, 3G and 4G reception separately for different service providers.

[GTO]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Originally Posted by batterylow

Hi GTO, I went from a Nexus 5 to a 6p and its been a revelation, snappy processor, the AMOLED screen is vivid and with excellent mobile and WIFI reception, battery life ( 4.5 hours screen on time).

Not keen on such a big phone .

Originally Posted by VW2010

Check the Note 4. Its a turbo charged phone and i just upgraded from S5 while my wife uses the S6 Edge. S6 Edge is definitely better phone but from a price point the note 4 is more VFM with feature set and speed.

Will do!

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Call/audio quality + network reception = Motorola Flagships.

Nice.

It also supports quick turbo charging. Downside - no external memory card supported, only available in 16 and 32 GB variants.

Won't do man. I need to carry my 50 GB music collection wherever I go.

These brands also skimp on fewer hardware components like noise cancellation setup, speakers, camera etc.

Yeah, that's why I'm not keen on One Plus, Honor etc.

Originally Posted by lurker

do not underestimate huawei honor 6 & 7. If you do so, then do so at your own risk. The best quality of android phones this year goes to huawei. Of which honor is a brand.

Thanks. But still not inclined. Don't like its styling either.

Moreover, the premium huawei's all carry dual antenna and thus have the best network reception of all phones. Period. And that includes moto and nokia/microsoft and nexus.

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Why? 4G = TERRIBLE call quality.

That's a great tip, thanks! If 4G is bad, can we switch from the phone to 3G? Can you switch between the two on the same phone & SIM?

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Since talks are going around network reception, here is good site to check which service providers are strong in which areas: http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/India/

Superb man! Reconfirms my informal research that Airtel & Reliance have the strongest network in my area.

[landcruiser123]

Try the Oneplus X/Mi4 if you have a limited budget. I had put up a invite for the oneplus X on the invite sharing thread, try your luck hoping nobody wanted it.

I've heard goo reviews about both.

Samsung makes good phones, the only problem being SW updates. If it doesn't bother you. Samsung S6 is good.
Wouldn't suggest any other brands of you want to play it safe.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by GTO

Won't do man. I need to carry my 50 GB music collection wherever I go.

There is another brother of the 'X' from 2014 generation having same size and has got 64 GB internal memory, 3GB RAM, bigger 3900mah battery: Moto Turbo

But you will have to check if it supports 4G band of your service provider.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by GTO

Smartphone gurus, please recommend a model. Currently using an HTC One. 4.7" screen. Don't want a bigger phone (max 5", but prefer 4.7"). I think this is the ideal size.

Requirements are simple:

- 4G
- Fast
- Top notch quality
- 64 GB (SD card slot or internal). My music collection is ~50 GB
- Should have a good antenna. Network is patchy where I live

No budget as such, but no iPhone. Android only.

Thanks!

Unfortunately your choices are limited since you want a smaller sized phone. The features are only good if you are ok with the larger size. These are my picks with their pros and cons.

1. LG G4 - it's on the bigger side but still not a real phablet like some others. Manageable. HW is excellent in terms of chipset, display, camera, 3GB RAM. Battery life is average but this is the only one with replaceable battery so you can carry a spare as emergency.

2. LG Nexus 5X 32GB - very good VFM package at 29.5K now. Issues are plastic body, no SD card slot, average battery and 2GB RAM is lesser than competition. Huge advantage is guaranteed updates form Google immediately as they are announced. So you are always running the latest software.

3. Samsung Galaxy S6 - Top of the class in hardware. Battery life is is the best in category. Major disadvantage is the OS with the samsung bloatware and the price which is very close to iPhone.

4. HTC One A9 - Expected soon in India. Very good hardware. Has a new Snapdragon processor which nobody has got yet. Looks are like an iPhone infact even better. Battery life is poor with the smallest 2150mAh battery.

5. Moto X Style and Play - Very close to Phablet size. Moto X style is even bigger. The Play has great battery life but plastic body and loses a lot of sensors. The Style is massive in size and frankly speaking uncomfortable to use with one hand. Other than that the Moto X style has no major negative HW or SW.

6. Sony - The Sony's are the most compact in dimension. Design and style is very good. What I have been seeing is that their hardware is not the most reliable. The amount of complaints with people I recommended a Sony phone is going up. From Mic to speakerphone issues to motherboard dying.

So you see it's very confusing.

I need to change my Moto X due to poor battery life and lack of 4G soon and I'm leaning towards the Nexus 5X only cause of dimensions, else my pick would be the Moto X style.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I need to change my Moto X due to poor battery life and lack of 4G soon and I'm leaning towards the Nexus 5X only cause of dimensions, else my pick would be the Moto X style.

Viddy, how does Nexus 6P fit in the scheme of things here ?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Viddy, how does Nexus 6P fit in the scheme of things here ?

For 40K it's the best flagship android phone currently. A very nice metal body, AMOLED display and the top of the line Octa core Snapdragon 810 processor. The best part is the Nexus brand which means latest OS always. The camera is a surprise and is the latest Sony sensor which is very close to the Samsung and LG units now. Usually Nexus phones compromise on camera.

The 810 processor has been infamous for it's heating issues but Oneplus and now Nexus get the latest one which fixes this to a great extent. Only during high CPU or gaming you face some heating issues.

But it's not without it's issues. Currently 2 issues are floating around in the net. One issue is with the mic which sometimes result in poor voice quality for the person at the other end and other is random cracking of the back glass strip which houses the camera and flash.

In the end for 40K there's no better phone. You need to go upto 50+ for the Galaxy or Sony phones in hardware but even then you don't get the latest OS from Google.

The closest to the 6P is the Moto X style. Difference being LCD display in the Moto which is not as good as the AMOLED, 6 core processor which has lesser heating issues vs the 8 core but is also lower on gaming performance. And the Os updates which will not be as fast as Nexus. Now that Motorola is separated the OS updates are also getting slower.

The Moto X style at 32K is very good VFM.

[phamilyman]

Originally Posted by GTO

That's a great tip, thanks! If 4G is bad, can we switch from the phone to 3G? Can you switch between the two on the same phone & SIM?

a. Yes - most phones have modes like "LTE preferred" / "3G preferred" / "2G Only". What that means is that if the highest speed signal is above a certain threshold, it will stick there. (think 3/5 bars as an analogy - it is great for watching video, but you get call drops as a result).
b. On MOST unrooted phones (not sure of Moto) it is a pain. Or maybe I'm lazy. Because each switch = 3 menus and 4/5 clicks. Doing it everytime you get a call = murder. I go half mad on my iphone on the days that I'm on the road and yet am expected to take conference calls. I end up connecting my WiFi PhotonMax dongle to the battery pack, and putting the phone into 2G and using WiFi instead. I would be so much happier keeping a data SIM on 3G and using my office number for 2G calls all day.

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Since talks are going around network reception, here is good site to check which service providers are strong in which areas: http://opensignal.com/coverage-maps/India/

One can even check 2G, 3G and 4G reception separately for different service providers.

Its a nice sounding website which is downright useless in practice because of lack of detail. They even have apps but in the end what matters for you is coverage in YOUR house. I can see that airtel has as intense ("red") coverage as vodafone in my office area, but the map is so high level that in the end at my working desk, vodafone signal is 16-20 dBm better than Airtel. Exact reverse at my house.


Best way is to borrow the phone from a friend on another provider and read signal status!

Originally Posted by Vid6639

I need to change my Moto X due to poor battery life and lack of 4G soon and I'm leaning towards the Nexus 5X only cause of dimensions, else my pick would be the Moto X style.

That is the single reason I push all my friends to the iPhone. Even the ginormous Nexus 6 has terrible battery life in comparison to the i6 which has a puny 1800 mah battery! (30 hours is common for me with 6-7+ hours of screen on time and lots of calls)

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by GTO

- 4G
- Fast
- Top notch quality
- 64 GB (SD card slot or internal). My music collection is ~50 GB
- Should have a good antenna. Network is patchy where I live

Originally Posted by Vid6639

So you see it's very confusing.

I need to change my Moto X due to poor battery life and lack of 4G soon and I'm leaning towards the Nexus 5X only cause of dimensions, else my pick would be the Moto X style.

Another phone that I feel can meet your needs and not mentioned here is the Moto Turbo. 5.2 inch screen, 64gb memory, 3900mah battery and in my opinion looks better than the newer moto style. It loses on some of the specs to the moto style, but still seems a compelling package.

It was 40k+ until very recently but now has dropped to 32k on flipkart. There is also an exchange offer which can give 5000-10000 on the old phone.

Worth looking at IMO.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Another phone that I feel can meet your needs and not mentioned here is the Moto Turbo. 5.2 inch screen, 64gb memory, 3900mah battery and in my opinion looks better than the newer moto style. It loses on some of the specs to the moto style, but still seems a compelling package.

Moto Turbo is fantastic hardware but has one major omission. It doesn't support 4G in India. It's a 3G phone just like my Moto X 2nd Gen.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Moto Turbo is fantastic hardware but has one major omission. It doesn't support 4G in India. It's a 3G phone just like my Moto X 2nd Gen.

Both of them support 4G, its just that they support only 1800 mhz band whereas service providers like Airtel are using 2300 mhz band in some cities like Bangalore which are not supported by these models. If there is any service provider providing 4G services based on 1800mhz band then that will work. FOr example Airtel itself is using 1800 mhz in cities like Hyderabad where 4G works on these models.

Read on from here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/moto...2870911/page76