WC 1M Post Challenge - You Ready?!

[MSFTisMIA]

The Mate 20 Pro does a good job for what I wanted - a really nice stills camera I can take on vacation/going out or just use as a camera only with a big battery. The S3 classic pairs nicely enough with the Mate 20 Pro for a more dressed up look. The LGs offered nice versatility (video and audio) and the enabled encryption upon start up makes me feel OK in the event that I lose the phone or something happens based on where I have to go in the community at times for work. The Galaxy watch matches nicely as a daily driver and I'm not in it much to attract a lot of attention. The Mi Pad 4 has done its job as a multimedia device. The replacement Alta HR works as intended.

Targets include: Razer 2, Mi Mix 3, 9 Pureview (like I done have enough SD845 chips). I would have added the XZ3 to it, but I like the X 5 a bit more for some reason. I can throw the Pixel 4 in place as well, but if I were using a Pixel I'd pick the 4XL. I think the next moves might be...who knows. May want to do those repairs first. If I was a betting man, it'll be the Razer, Mi Mix and 9 Pureview.

 

[N_LaRUE]

So update on the wife's phone...

Nokia 9 is being returned as it's still within the return period.

Sony Xperia 5 in white silver has been ordered as a replacement. She thought about blue and red but decided they weren't for her.

She's also decided as much as she likes purple the X1 is simply too big and heavy for her.

Nokia 9 was too much of a compromise for her. Lack of camera button drove her crazy. The fingerprint scanner was pretty useless (hope the Xperia 5 is better...) The phone was too slippery. Overall she just didn't like the phone.

The camera and app is a slow clunky mess. This is not a phone for quick snaps.

She's not a fan of the new Xperia look but she said she'll probably be 95% happy with it over the dislike she feels for the Nokia 9.

So the Xperia 5 is a compromise yet again but closer to what she likes.

So we'll see how this goes. I think she'll be 95% happy. Possibly only 90%.

 

[raycpl]

Thought the Nokia9 had some updates including rectifying the problematic onscreen finger scanner. Guess it's unresolved.
What a bummer..!

 

[raycpl]

Had a nice Diwali holiday weekend, basically doing nothing but relax and did some trekking in the hills. Blazing hot weather, and long heavy tropical storms. Fortunately we were not caught in the rain.

Work resumed on the house. Final bit of wall hacking in the bathroom for plumbing & rewiring works. Hope the tiles look nice.

The contractor told us we ran out of paint, so it was back to the paint shop to get a couple to 5-litre tins of "Apple White!!"
Hopefully it's done before in a few days time. I envision a busy weekend ahead of cleaning. The house is in a dusty mess now.

 

[raycpl]

"Apple White".. I am not fond of apple products, but the missus picked the colour so I hold my lips shut. it seems I'll be having apple all over the walls...

 

[N_LaRUE]

Thought the Nokia9 had some updates including rectifying the problematic onscreen finger scanner. Guess it's unresolved.
What a bummer..!

It works 'better' but still works only 3/4 of the time.

As for the camera, no idea if they did anything with that but currently it's still a laggy mess.

 

[N_LaRUE]

"Apple White".. I am not fond of apple products, but the missus picked the colour so I hold my lips shut. it seems I'll be having apple all over the walls...

We're not fond of white ourselves. We did our best to avoid following 'trends' in the UK with their favourite, magnolia. I hate magnolia and thankfully so does my wife.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Had a nice Diwali holiday weekend, basically doing nothing but relax and did some trekking in the hills. Blazing hot weather, and long heavy tropical storms. Fortunately we were not caught in the rain.

Work resumed on the house. Final bit of wall hacking in the bathroom for plumbing & rewiring works. Hope the tiles look nice.

The contractor told us we ran out of paint, so it was back to the paint shop to get a couple to 5-litre tins of "Apple White!!"
Hopefully it's done before in a few days time. I envision a busy weekend ahead of cleaning. The house is in a dusty mess now.

Sounds like you're almost done and we're still in the early stages with our renovation.

 

[N_LaRUE]

Doing a 'just because', I'll give a reasons for the Nokia 9 return.

First and foremost, the fingerprint scanner. It simply doesn't work that well. I am a bit worried about the Sony situation here though.

Second the camera. It's very slow. Slow to start up. Slow to switch between formats. Slow in general. This camera is for people who have time and lots of it.

Picture quality is OK. She didn't have the depth turned on but it shouldn't need that for every picture.

Third is the missing camera button. As my wife isn't used to using the touch screen she kept having problems taking pictures. Sounds funny but overly frustrating when you're used to doing things a certain way.

Fourth the phone is slippery. To the point that even the slightest tilt of a surface it's going to slide. This is mainly due to the phone not being flat anywhere. So for anyone interested in getting this phone, definitely get a case.

My wife did stick to her assessment of the phone appearing 'manly' and I somewhat agree. it does have a certain masculinity to it but I don't see it as a completely 'man' phone. The colour didn't work for her and this is why she's gone the silver white for the Sony.

Other than being Android One and the screen which is lovely. This is not the best device that HMD could have made. It's rather disappointing. They would have been better off with the three camera set up and add a camera button and SD card. I think more people would have liked that. The 5 camera thing is to stick out from the crowd and yeah congrats on that but what you have here is basically a decent phone with a crap fingerprint scanner and a disappointing camera experience.

I've heard rumours that their next 'flagship' will have more cameras... this is not encouraging.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Doing a 'just because', I'll give a reasons for the Nokia 9 return.

First and foremost, the fingerprint scanner. It simply doesn't work that well. I am a bit worried about the Sony situation here though.

Second the camera. It's very slow. Slow to start up. Slow to switch between formats. Slow in general. This camera is for people who have time and lots of it.

Picture quality is OK. She didn't have the depth turned on but it shouldn't need that for every picture.

Third is the missing camera button. As my wife isn't used to using the touch screen she kept having problems taking pictures. Sounds funny but overly frustrating when you're used to doing things a certain way.

Fourth the phone is slippery. To the point that even the slightest tilt of a surface it's going to slide. This is mainly due to the phone not being flat anywhere. So for anyone interested in getting this phone, definitely get a case.

My wife did stick to her assessment of the phone appearing 'manly' and I somewhat agree. it does have a certain masculinity to it but I don't see it as a completely 'man' phone. The colour didn't work for her and this is why she's gone the silver white for the Sony.

Other than being Android One and the screen which is lovely. This is not the best device that HMD could have made. It's rather disappointing. They would have been better off with the three camera set up and add a camera button and SD card. I think more people would have liked that. The 5 camera thing is to stick out from the crowd and yeah congrats on that but what you have here is basically a decent phone with a crap fingerprint scanner and a disappointing camera experience.

I've heard rumours that their next 'flagship' will have more cameras... this is not encouraging.

In HMD's semi-defense, this was a concept phone/marketing tool. They made it more widely available to generate hype and buzz. Their last real flagship was the Nokia 8, to which they didn't do the best job in tweaking the camera.

My issue with HMD has been they haven't brought back the old school high standards for photography. I think that's partly been due to the competition being that much better than what Nokia was doing in the day. I didn't mind the 8 Sirocco or the 9 Pureview because it shows they still have the design chops. I don't even mind the idea of the camera array in the 9 Pureview.

They just had some serious missteps. Adding a physical camera button would have been great. Doubling the internal storage (and adding UFS 3 storage) without the SD card would have made it more tolerable. The UDFS was the right call, they just needed a better one. And they needed a chip that better handled the array than the 845.

HMD has basically overextended themselves in their return. Same way Nokia did.

 

[N_LaRUE]

In HMD's semi-defense, this was a concept phone/marketing tool. They made it more widely available to generate hype and buzz. Their last real flagship was the Nokia 8, to which they didn't do the best job in tweaking the camera.

My issue with HMD has been they haven't brought back the old school high standards for photography. I think that's partly been due to the competition being that much better than what Nokia was doing in the day. I didn't mind the 8 Sirocco or the 9 Pureview because it shows they still have the design chops. I don't even mind the idea of the camera array in the 9 Pureview.

They just had some serious missteps. Adding a physical camera button would have been great. Doubling the internal storage (and adding UFS 3 storage) without the SD card would have made it more tolerable. The UDFS was the right call, they just needed a better one. And they needed a chip that better handled the array than the 845.

HMD has basically overextended themselves in their return. Same way Nokia did.

HMD = Nokia mentality unfortunately and this isn't going well. I don't understand why they can't keep things simple to at least get their reputation sorted.

Nothing wrong with a concept phone but best to market it as such. As is, people liked the concept but the execution was lacking. All they did was create a buzz and then killed it. It should have been a device that should have been the WOW of the show. It was to an extent but that soon vanished with multiple reviews all saying the same thing and here we are near the end of the year and it's still a device that is meh.

For any phone to have this many cameras operating at the same time it either needs it's own processor for that function or a very powerful processor to get the job done. Not to mention a lot of RAM. Preferably dedicated to the process. I don't think the phone format is the best use of this array idea. Not yet anyway.

Nobody wants a device where the camera takes about 5-10 seconds to load up and then about the same to flip between settings. That's where this is right now though.

Yes, I agree with everything else you said but at the same time DSLR cameras use SD cards so... take it from there.

 

[libra89]

So update on the wife's phone...

Nokia 9 is being returned as it's still within the return period.

Sony Xperia 5 in white silver has been ordered as a replacement. She thought about blue and red but decided they weren't for her.

She's also decided as much as she likes purple the X1 is simply too big and heavy for her.

Nokia 9 was too much of a compromise for her. Lack of camera button drove her crazy. The fingerprint scanner was pretty useless (hope the Xperia 5 is better...) The phone was too slippery. Overall she just didn't like the phone.

The camera and app is a slow clunky mess. This is not a phone for quick snaps.

She's not a fan of the new Xperia look but she said she'll probably be 95% happy with it over the dislike she feels for the Nokia 9.

So the Xperia 5 is a compromise yet again but closer to what she likes.

So we'll see how this goes. I think she'll be 95% happy. Possibly only 90%.

The whole experience sounds frustrating. I hope that the Xperia 5 will work for her, hopefully somewhat better.

 

[N_LaRUE]

The whole experience sounds frustrating. I hope that the Xperia 5 will work for her, hopefully somewhat better.

As she's used to the Sony experience it will be better overall but not sure about the fingerprint scanner. Mine is hit and miss a lot of the time.

The power button fingerprint scanner was the best thing Sony ever did and they dropped it for what is essentially crap.

Fingerprint on back would've been better.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

As she's used to the Sony experience it will be better overall but not sure about the fingerprint scanner. Mine is hit and miss a lot of the time.

The power button fingerprint scanner was the best thing Sony ever did and they dropped it for what is essentially crap.

Fingerprint on back would've been better.

If they wanted to sell it in the US, they would have needed to find a way out of that licensing deal to have it integrated...

 

[N_LaRUE]

If they wanted to sell it in the US, they would have needed to find a way out of that licensing deal to have it integrated...

We never got the full story behind what that was all about. Obviously money, and lots of it, was involved and they just didn't want to pay it. There's some rumour Apple was involved but not sure if that's true or it's a carrier contract thing. All we got was 'external' source.

So they went for this 'solution' and currently it's crap. Hopefully they can fix this issue but currently they're far off the effectiveness of the power button fingerprint scanner.

 

[fatclue_98]

We never got the full story behind what that was all about. Obviously money, and lots of it, was involved and they just didn't want to pay it. There's some rumour Apple was involved but not sure if that's true or it's a carrier contract thing. All we got was 'external' source.

So they went for this 'solution' and currently it's crap. Hopefully they can fix this issue but currently they're far off the effectiveness of the power button fingerprint scanner.

This particular time Apple had nothing to do with it. Actually the culprit is HP who patented the FPS in the power button. What I don't get is that no HP phone used this until the phablet range of the mid-2010s. Anyhoo, at least you could put a Euro-spec ROM on previous Xperias to get it working on US models. I miss my XZ, that was an awesome little beast if and when you could get a good T-Mobile signal.

 

[libra89]

As an internal processor, I just realized that I don't give myself enough time to do that in some personal situations. I do it a little bit and then I seek opinions, which can be great or not so much.

I didn't realize this on my own (thank you session) but it's good to know so I can work on this. People do help but sometimes it just helps to write it out too or talk to myself (in private settings).

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Something different needs to happen. And I need to stop talking about it.

 

[libra89]

Omg we're going to Game 7!!

A whole turnaround in 24 hours for me and my Nats! Lol

 

[N_LaRUE]

This particular time Apple had nothing to do with it. Actually the culprit is HP who patented the FPS in the power button. What I don't get is that no HP phone used this until the phablet range of the mid-2010s. Anyhoo, at least you could put a Euro-spec ROM on previous Xperias to get it working on US models. I miss my XZ, that was an awesome little beast if and when you could get a good T-Mobile signal.

What I don't understand is if it was a simple patent issue and just HP it should have been hopefully simple to solve. HP is not exactly making phones anymore. I'm sure they would have been happy to sell the patent or licence it. Unless they were asking for some ridiculous amount of money.

This is what makes me think there was more to this story than just HP. Unfortunately we'll never know.

It's sad though. That was a great set up.