Various troubles all at once - Xperia Z5 Compact Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I have been a Sony fan for many years and many phones. Sadly, after the Z1 Compact things went down hill. The build of the Z3 Compact was of poor quality and it literally fell apart on me after a year or so. So I moved onto a Z5 Compact. The Z5C has been extremely problematic, and it is what I am inquiring about....
My new Z5C is from HK, as I am an AT&T user in the US, and they don't offer Sonys. It is a E5823 specifically.
The new phone worked perfectly for about a week. Then the ear speaker for calls started getting flakey. Some research showed that it would be major surgery to fix, so I hoped perhaps a firmware upgrade would improve things. It did not, at least not the first one. But the Nougat (.376) upgrade did, to my surprise, improve the speaker situation to a small degree.
Note that the phone looks essentially brand new. It has always has a screen protector, so the screen is like new, and the case has done a fine job preventing any scratches there. And I have not yet dropped the phone (despite the fact that I dropped all my previous Sonys more times than I can count). However, there are a host of issues:
Calls randomly go from earpiece to speaker
weird freezes on the screen
blank screen
I was able to ignore all that until earlier today I turned bluetooth on after having bluetooth off for about 2 weeks (europe trip). It didn't come on. I could not find any help, so I decided to try .378. Things went from bad to worse. It came back up with no bluetooth, but also thought it was a prototype (as evidenced on the setup screens). So I tried a few other firmwares -- even going back to the factory load. Each time it thinks it is a prototype -- which I guess I could live with, but still no bluetooth.
I have done a bit of research, and found no matches on XDA, so I thought I might post here in case there are any ideas.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
Regards,
Neal

If completely clean stock firmware still displays these erratic behaviors , you probably got yourself a lemon. Get warranty service, a replacement or a refund if possible.
There was this other guy here who complained about various weird things with his phone, which was bought off ebay and also sourced from either HK or China. I'd be wary of any phones coming out of those areas.

Related

I brought a oneplus one :(

Hey guys, I love the xperia z2. Absolutely brilliant phone. But I have, unfortunately had problems ( just like I did with my z ultra )
So I decided to buy a one plus one, I'll still keep my z2 for sure and decide which is better suited for me
Has anyone else thought about getting the opo yet?
J
Sent from my Xperia Z2 using XDA Free mobile app
JackHanAnLG said:
Hey guys, I love the xperia z2. Absolutely brilliant phone. But I have, unfortunately had problems ( just like I did with my z ultra )
So I decided to buy a one plus one, I'll still keep my z2 for sure and decide which is better suited for me
Has anyone else thought about getting the opo yet?
J
Sent from my Xperia Z2 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oppo are in the middle, arent amazing, but arent terrible
dont have huge flaws nor pros
unlike xperias with their damn heating issues or manufacturing
one+one as far as ive experianced are flawless
In pretty excited to get it to be honest. The camera looks amazing and they said that when android L comes out they'll have a stable version for the opo within 90 unlike Sony who don't say anything
J
Sent from my Xperia Z2 using XDA Free mobile app
JackHanAnLG said:
In pretty excited to get it to be honest. The camera looks amazing and they said that when android L comes out they'll have a stable version for the opo within 90 unlike Sony who don't say anything
J
Sent from my Xperia Z2 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are a lot of problems with the OPO. I have already purchased 5 of them, and I don't have one left.
-All 5 had a terrible yellow band at the bottom of the screen.
-Half of them had touchscreen problems (something to do with poor grounding, so when placed on a conductive material the phones touchscreen malfunctions).
-A couple of them came with chipped and nicked bezels.
-All of them had extremely low call volume with both earpiece and speakerphone
-Back Sandstone cover inconsistent between devices, scratches and chips so easily.
Regarding the 90 update policy: Please keep in mind they are running CyanogenMod, which you can run on your Z2, and which will likely be out with Android L sooner than 90 days. You can't compare a CyanogenMod ROM release to an Xperia ROM release.
Be careful because I tried to RMA all of my devices for one or more of the problems listed above, and it took near two weeks to even get a reply. After another week of dialogue they declined all of my RMA's. I have since sold the phones at a loss and I will never deal with them again.
I can safely say that the camera on the Z2 is far superior to the OPO's from the pictures I've take with both devices.
Lastly, there are two speakers on the OPO like most modern phones, however their speakers are MONO and not STEREO.
Envious_Data said:
oppo are in the middle, arent amazing, but arent terrible
dont have huge flaws nor pros
unlike xperias with their damn heating issues or manufacturing
one+one as far as ive experianced are flawless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Before I got z2 I read all this heating issue about z2, I don't know if I got a real good z2 or what but I have no heating issues everyone is crying about sure if I do more intense things I get a little warmer but all phones do and as soon as a stop phone is normal again.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
cheapshot789 said:
Before I got z2 I read all this heating issue about z2, I don't know if I got a real good z2 or what but I have no heating issues everyone is crying about sure if I do more intense things I get a little warmer but all phones do and as soon as a stop phone is normal again.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Z2 and few months after release all manufactured Z2s had a finger burning heating issue
newwer ones have almost no such thing
blyndfyre said:
There are a lot of problems with the OPO. I have already purchased 5 of them, and I don't have one left.
-All 5 had a terrible yellow band at the bottom of the screen.
-Half of them had touchscreen problems (something to do with poor grounding, so when placed on a conductive material the phones touchscreen malfunctions).
-A couple of them came with chipped and nicked bezels.
-All of them had extremely low call volume with both earpiece and speakerphone
-Back Sandstone cover inconsistent between devices, scratches and chips so easily.
Regarding the 90 update policy: Please keep in mind they are running CyanogenMod, which you can run on your Z2, and which will likely be out with Android L sooner than 90 days. You can't compare a CyanogenMod ROM release to an Xperia ROM release.
Be careful because I tried to RMA all of my devices for one or more of the problems listed above, and it took near two weeks to even get a reply. After another week of dialogue they declined all of my RMA's. I have since sold the phones at a loss and I will never deal with them again.
I can safely say that the camera on the Z2 is far superior to the OPO's from the pictures I've take with both devices.
Lastly, there are two speakers on the OPO like most modern phones, however their speakers are MONO and not STEREO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, bro. Whomever comes to me and says One Plus One is the best smartphone so far, I'll show them this post. I was starting to think if this One Plus One is better than my beloved Sony Xperia Z2, aswell. Now after reading this post, I'm relieved.
And yeah, they're using CyanogedMod, we're using our own awesome ROM specially engineered by Sony. So this means when our Android L version comes out, it'll surely beat the hell out of their Android L version ROM.
V4LKyR said:
Wow, bro. Whomever comes to me and says One Plus One is the best smartphone so far, I'll show them this post. I was starting to think if this One Plus One is better than my beloved Sony Xperia Z2, aswell. Now after reading this post, I'm relieved.
And yeah, they're using CyanogedMod, we're using our own awesome ROM specially engineered by Sony. So this means when our Android L version comes out, it'll surely beat the hell out of their Android L version ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah do some research before you buy it, the moderators on the OP forum are doing their best to bury the "problem" threads. It's sad, I posted multiple threads to create awareness about the problems with my phones, and I was banned from the forum for "spreading conspiracy"!
A co-worker of mine just sold off his OPO and stuck with his Samsung phone instead
The Back sandstone cover or whatever it's referred to is definitely a turn-off on that phone. It already had slight wear/chipping on the corners from being placed in the packaging- a big indication that the back will wear out over time and look awful without a case. Before even powering it on, he opted to sell it off and get his money back.
Have no issues with my Z2 here, overheating or build quality
Res215dg said:
A co-worker of mine just sold off his OPO and stuck with his Samsung phone instead
The Back sandstone cover or whatever it's referred to is definitely a turn-off on that phone. It already had slight wear/chipping on the corners from being placed in the packaging- a big indication that the back will wear out over time and look awful without a case. Before even powering it on, he opted to sell it off and get his money back.
Have no issues with my Z2 here, overheating or build quality
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My Z2 has been fantastic thus far as well. I tried five times with five brand new OPO's and was completely unsatisfied every time.
I got both and I dunno what you guys are on about?
I got a find 7a aside from my z2. The find 7a in my country comes with a carbon fiber back plate. The phone feels rock solid, there are no chips or dings and the screen is brilliant! Personally I use the OPPO more than my Z2.one awesome phone
blyndfyre said:
There are a lot of problems with the OPO. I have already purchased 5 of them, and I don't have one left.
-All 5 had a terrible yellow band at the bottom of the screen.
-Half of them had touchscreen problems (something to do with poor grounding, so when placed on a conductive material the phones touchscreen malfunctions).
-A couple of them came with chipped and nicked bezels.
-All of them had extremely low call volume with both earpiece and speakerphone
-Back Sandstone cover inconsistent between devices, scratches and chips so easily.
Regarding the 90 update policy: Please keep in mind they are running CyanogenMod, which you can run on your Z2, and which will likely be out with Android L sooner than 90 days. You can't compare a CyanogenMod ROM release to an Xperia ROM release.
Be careful because I tried to RMA all of my devices for one or more of the problems listed above, and it took near two weeks to even get a reply. After another week of dialogue they declined all of my RMA's. I have since sold the phones at a loss and I will never deal with them again.
I can safely say that the camera on the Z2 is far superior to the OPO's from the pictures I've take with both devices.
Lastly, there are two speakers on the OPO like most modern phones, however their speakers are MONO and not STEREO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had 5 Opo's to date and still have one, the rest were gifts to others. I have had no issues that required RMA. Yellowing issue at bottom of the screen: not everyone phone has and has been resolved with updates. Low call volume: until recently, has been an issue with every official CM ROM. Recent software updates have cured this. Touchscreen issues: again, not on everyone and they have been remedied as well. In all of the Opo's I have owned the back cover has been the same, I have not had a problem with that. Why would someone want an Opo over a Z2? Easy, $$$. The Opo costs $363 brand new, shipped. Considerably less than an also brand new Z2. Also, thee customization options are what make the Opo amazing. The camera is indeed better on the Z2, appreciably so. However, again, with recent software updates the Opo's camera is very good and certainly capable of meeting and exceeding most peoples needs. I own both phones and don't have a favorite necessarily because while I can say the Z2 is the better overall phone I do know it's 1. subjective and 2. comes at a substantial cost increase over the Opo. Every manufacturer ships phones worthy of RMA repairs, but Opo is the only company smart/dumb enough to create a forum before the phone was even out giving people time to fester, stew over and discuss said issues after waiting weeks for their phone.
I own a OnePlus. It's sitting beside me collecting dust. It's garbage. Cheap hardware, covered up by cm work arounds to create an Illusion of a high end device. Too many bugs, horrible customer service, and no transparency from the company. They lie, and mislead their customers. They bury any sort of negativity in their forums regardless of validity. I will never buy any OnePlus phone ever. I'm just lucky I won this piece of crap sitting beside me instead of investing any money into it. That company will most likely fail anyways.
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
I haven't had the chance to try the one plus one, but when it first came out I was really pumped! But now that I got the Z2, I haven't thought about it twice. But I am trying to figure out if I'm having a problem or not with my device... The sound in call sounds tinny and noisy... But not via loudspeaker. Only in call via the internal speaker... Hopefully I can fix it. Other than that, what a wonderful phone
I purchased a One plus one and had quality issues as well. I didn't have the yellow banding along the bottom but definitely nicks on the chrome bezel....made it look really cheap. The phone would become unresponsive all the time. The accelerometer was buggy and wouldn't switch from landscape to portrait without a little extra shaking. Just not to my liking. Customer support was ****e so I sold the phone on craigslist for a profit and purchased another one. Same niggling issues so I sold that one to another eager buyer for another tiny profit and decided that if I was getting bored of my Z2 I should just switch colors....so now I own a white one and love it all over again, lol.

Warning: OnePlus Support and RMA denial

Hello my friends!
I haven't been posting on XDA for quite a long time but I thought I had to share this with you. About a year ago, I bought a OnePlus One and I was happy with the device itself and CM 11 and 12 as well. However, this summer in July, the microphones of my OPO stopped working during calls.
I started to do some research and found a few threads on the OnePlus forum and on XDA from users complaining about the same problem. The microphone suddenly stopped to work during calls and the person on the other phone could not hear anything. The only workaround is to switch to speaker mode. Some other users also posted workarounds and potential fixes for the well-known issue. I tried all of them but none of them worked. Here are links to some of the threads I am referring to:
OnePlus Forum
XDA
reddit
So as you can see, this is quite a common problem and therefore probably known by OnePlus. Since none of the mentioned fixes helped
and flashing different ROMS did not improve anything I started to get in touch with the OnePlus customer support. Before owning the OPO I had several HTC and Nexus devices and I already had to deal with the HTC support twice because of two hardware failures. The HTC support was surprisingly friendly and simple to deal with, so I figured, contacting the OP support would not be a big deal. I would be proven wrong in the next weeks...
I first contacted the OP support on the 16th of July. I provided them with a detailed error description, a few pics of my device with a timestamp to provide proof of ownership and the request to repair or replace my phone since it was still covered under the 1 year warranty. Shortly after, I received a reply from the support staff in which they asked me to provide a few more details (OS and Android version, CM or Oxygen, etc) which I did instantly.
Then I was forwarded to a "OnePlus tech specialist" who gave me instruction to flash a version of Oxygen OS and to run a microphone test, which of course I did as well. Like I expected, the issue did not disappear magically and I got a reply that a "OnePlus level 2 tech specialist" would have to connect himself to my PC via a secure software and try to fix my phone. They called this remote session. I had to book an appointment for this remote session.
By this time I was already getting quite angry at Oneplus, since it seemed like they were ignoring my actual issue and my request for a warranty covered replacement or repair. I told them that I did not expect that this remote session would help, since I was quite sure that it was a hardware fault. However, they insisted that I had to book this remote session, which turned out to be quite difficult. There were no free slots for the next two weeks. Luckily a slot was suddenly available in the next week when I checked the booking reservations for the tenth time and I managed to book it. Since the time slot was 11AM I had to take half a day off my work to make it to the appointment. A few minutes before the session should have started; I got an email from support to download the necessary software for the session, which turned out to be Teamviewer! I thought this was a bad joke. Teamviewer was their idea of a secure remote session software. I downloaded it anyways (what other choice did I have?) and waited for the level 2 tech. And I waited. After half an hour I wrote to the support that no one showed up yet although my time slot was already almost over. After almost 30 more minutes the tech finally connected herself to my PC. I told her, that she was not allowed to do anything on my PC without my permission since there was confidential data of my clients stored on the PC, to which she agreed to. The session however was a pure joke. After installing some Qualcomm drivers and rebooting my PC and plugging in and out my device about 100 times, she said that my device was indeed broken and that I would now be forwarded to the RMA department.
Almost three weeks, many pointless arguments with the support and this joke of a remote session, after I started contacting the support, I was finally granted an RMA repair/replacement. I thought that it would now finally be over and I would get back a new or repaired device. WRONG. But more to that later.
I got instructions to prepare the package to ship it to the 1+ repair center in the UK. I was told I would have to fill out an online form for DHL since they would come to my house and pick up my device. I filled out the form and was expecting a phone call to fix a time where they would come by as promised by 1+ and DHL. Well, I was at work on a Monday morning and suddenly without a phone call or any notification, a DHL delivery guy showed up at my house. Luckily someone was at home who gave him the package. However, the DHL guy asked for an address, which the person at home did not know, so they called me. Now I had to explain to the guy that I had no idea what the address was because I never got one from 1+. They said that DHL would have the address. So after around half an hour, I was notified that the DHL guy took the parcel with him after with him after he got a call from DHL who said that they knew the address.
The next day, the same DHL guy showed up at my house again (again w/o calling) because he got another order to pick up my phone which he did already yesterday...
After around a week of silence, I was notified from support that they received my package and ran it through a first stage inspection where they detected a water damage. They told me, they would send it to a secondary inspection to verify if it is really a water damage. I could not believe that my phone really had a water damage because I am very careful with my devices and I knew that I never exposed my 1+1 to water or some sort of steam or extreme moisture in general. A few days later they sent me the second inspection report which of course confirmed the water damage and thus my warranty covered RMA was denied. I told them that this could not be possible because I couldn't imagine how my device would have gotten anywhere near water. The next weeks I was arguing with several support members (they changed their names randomly and I had no idea who would reply anymore). I was basically given 2 options: pay 213€ for a repair or pay 45€ of shipping costs to get back the defect device.
After around 3 weeks (they often ignored me for days) I was so frustrated with the company and the way they treated me that I just wanted to get back my device and hence I paid the horrifying 45€ shipping costs (UK-Austria normally costs 12-20€ for a package of this size).
During those three weeks I was doing some research about 1+ RMA denials and look what I have found:
here: reddit
and here: reddit #2
and here: reddit #3
and here(!): reddit#4
So apparently, many users got their RMA denied because of water damage although they never exposed their device to water. There seem to be two water damage indicators (little white stickers that turn red when they are in contact with water) inside the 1+1, one in the headphone jack and one at the bottom of the phone underneath the buttons. Some people were smart enough to take photos of their white indicators before shipping the device off to RMA repair and received an inspection report with a photo showing red indicators, when they got their RMA denied. So these indicators *somehow* seem to have turned red.
After finding this, I was relatively shocked. I mean, I was mad at 1+ for their incompetent customer service but I couldn't believe that so many people had the same struggle and some even have proof that they were falsely accused of being responsible for the water damage. Unfortunately, I was not clever enough to take my phone apart and take pictures of the water indicators but I cannot imagine that they were red when I shipped the device off. Unfortunately I cannot proof anything.
After talking with two lawyers, we came to the conclusion that pursuing further legal options would be very difficult, considering that the law in Hong Kong where 1+ is located is probably completely different. Furthermore it would cost too much and my chances of winning wouldn't be high since I did not have any evidence except many reports of other people with the same problems from the internet.
Now after more than 2 months of arguing with the support I decided to pay the 45€ shipping costs and I'm probably going to sell the defect device but you can be sure, that I'll never buy anything from this company again. I can't proof anything but their warranty denials seem.... shady.
Now, I really hope that you never have to deal with the 1+ customer support because it is simply horribly. They have no idea what they are talking about, they just send copy and pasted replies and often they don't read your replies at all, they ignore you for days, their procedures are extremely complicated and they deny warranties in many(!) cases without a proper reason. Sometimes even, although there is proof that says otherwise.
If you consider buying a 1+1 or 1+2, be warned because the same thing can happen to you. It happened to many people and it will probably happen again.
If you are going to ship off your device to RMA, be sure to take as many detailed, high-res photos as possible of the outside AND of the inside of the device. Be sure to check the water damage indicators and take a good picture of them. Also write today’s date and your name on a piece of paper and photograph it with your phone so that you can proof that the pictures are yours.
TL;DR
Microphone doesn’t work during calls; contacted 1+ customer support; complicated and pointless tries by 1+ to fix phone w/o RMA; after weeks: RMA granted; shipping difficulties; RMA denied because of water damage; many other users also got RMA denied because of water damage despite of proof that there was no water damage; 1+ RMA denials seem shady (see links);
Would have been better you just buying the microphone part online and replacing yourself. But sorry for your trouble and oneplus cs is trash! We all know this.
anyone have pictures with the exact locations of the op2 water damage indicators?
Weird0ne said:
anyone have pictures with the exact locations of the op2 water damage indicators?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be important to know........we all can possibly use it one time..
Stefan McSleaze said:
That would be important to know........we all can possibly use it one time..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i mean like, i just wanted to use them as reference and see them on mine myself
Yup I agree with you. OnePlus customer service is the worst and I would never buy a phone from their company in the future. 1+2 will be my last phone from them.
OnePlus isn't the only manufacturer that does this sort of thing.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/note5/general/note5-handle-water-t3211495
Can't be a faulty microphone if it works ok in speaker mode, there isn't a separate different mic for use in different modes (I would have thought).
Weird0ne said:
anyone have pictures with the exact locations of the op2 water damage indicators?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't post pictures at the moment since my 1+1 is still being shipped back to me but iFixit describe the location of the one indicator at the bottom of the phone in step 15 of their teardown. The other one can be spotted with a bright light when you take a close look into the headphone jack. It rests just a few milimeters inside of the jack. I might post some images when I receive my device.
I don't know how many indicators can be found inside the 1+2 or where they are located.
Troute said:
Can't be a faulty microphone if it works ok in speaker mode, there isn't a separate different mic for use in different modes (I would have thought).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know the 1+1 has three mics. During a call (without speaker mode) the main mic is used to capture the voice while the two other mics are used to cancel out noise. When speaker mode is turned on the noise cancelling is turned off and hence only the main mic is used. At least that is how I have read it somewhere. So my guess is that one or two of the secondary mics are somehow damaged and therefore the noise cancelling cancels out too much/everything instead of just the background noise. This would explain why speaker mode works and why voice recording apps work properly as well.
I wanna bring as much attention as possible to this bad joke of a customer support , so if anyone is interested in spreading the word please do so! I already contacted serveral tech sites, let's see if they'll write something about it.
lms24 said:
I can't post pictures at the moment since my 1+1 is still being shipped back to me but iFixit describe the location of the one indicator at the bottom of the phone in step 15 of their teardown. The other one can be spotted with a bright light when you take a close look into the headphone jack. It rests just a few milimeters inside of the jack. I might post some images when I receive my device.
I don't know how many indicators can be found inside the 1+2 or where they are located.
As far as I know the 1+1 has three mics. During a call (without speaker mode) the main mic is used to capture the voice while the two other mics are used to cancel out noise. When speaker mode is turned on the noise cancelling is turned off and hence only the main mic is used. At least that is how I have read it somewhere. So my guess is that one or two of the secondary mics are somehow damaged and therefore the noise cancelling cancels out too much/everything instead of just the background noise. This would explain why speaker mode works and why voice recording apps work properly as well.
I wanna bring as much attention as possible to this bad joke of a customer support , so if anyone is interested in spreading the word please do so! I already contacted serveral tech sites, let's see if they'll write something about it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying trying to find the one in the headphone jack but it's really hard to see even with a flash light. Not sure what I'm even looking for the.
Weird0ne said:
I was trying trying to find the one in the headphone jack but it's really hard to see even with a flash light. Not sure what I'm even looking for the.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, you are looking for a white small sticker (or red in case it got in contact with water). If you're using a 1+2 I can't tell you for sure if it is even there.
I was also denied a legitimate rma request. A lot of friends and family members bought oneplus ones on my recommendation, so I'm pretty salty over this.
lms24 said:
Well, you are looking for a white small sticker (or red in case it got in contact with water). If you're using a 1+2 I can't tell you for sure if it is even there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only one I found was under the back cover on bottom left screw. Not sure if there is another after disassembly.
I had the exact same issue, but i never bothered to contact oneplus about it. I just bought the board required and replaced it myself. I haven't had a warranty repair in close to 8 years.
I wonder if OnePlus customer service is reading this thread and rethinking their policies and practices? When my screen broke on my 1+1, i just sold it knowing how bad service was and went back to my Nexus5
This thread caused me to NOT buy a 1+2 when my invite finally showed up.....
I still really want one, but considering 2nd hand now knowing that we basically are on our own.
Hg
Sold my 1+1 to buy a 1+2.
Decided to purchase the Z3 Compact to hold between them (delivery takes ages to Brazil) but now I'll probably keep the Z3.
I like the 1+1 a lot but if the brand doesn't support their customers I won't support the brand too.
Where did you purchased the board?
Zero problems with 1+1 and 1+2! Awesome phones.. (and no, not a fanboy)..
I too had the microphone problem and I also had to endure a ton of mails to support and the remote session... In the end nothing they suggested fixed it (shocker!) and I could send it in for RMA. Fortunately they sent me a new phone which I promptly sold. The whole thing took months.
REPTORO said:
Zero problems with 1+1 and 1+2! Awesome phones.. (and no, not a fanboy)..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What does this comment have to do with anything in this thread?? OP is saying that if you ever have a problem, this company won't give a crap. Hope your phone has a problem soon so that you know what you are dealing with.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A

LG G5 Reliability (Should i Buy One if it's Cheap?)

Hey all,
I'm considering getting a G5 because they are pretty cheap on Amazon right now - $249 for a new unlocked RS988 with a US warranty. When searching the web for information on it there are a LOT of complaints about build quality and reliability issues, but only a few posts here and there that people's G5s are working properly. Now usually people will go online and post issues they are having to get help; nobody goes online to post, "I just wanted to say my phone is working great today!"
That said, it's tough to determine if this model is a complete lemon or if there are just a lot of complaints about a few issues.
How has your LG G5 experience been? Would you recommend getting one or steering clear and looking elsewhere?
Thanks for your input!!
... so a little back story on this. I have two phones I use regularly. By night my daily driver is a Samsung GS7 Edge, but I can't have a camera(phone) at work, so during the day I use an LG G3 which I've disassembled and removed the cameras from. I move my SIM card from device to device every time I switch to the other one. I've had my G3 for about 3 years now (got it new from Verizon) and the processor abruptly failed preventing the phone from powering up at all (I've tried all the tricks in the book including jumpering the main board, heat-gunning the processor, and baking the main board in the oven -- which temporarily worked). I wound up buying a "dead" G3 on ebay, wiping and reflashing it but it's having the same dreaded processor failure -- which is apparently a common defect in the G3s (also apparently an LG signature).
In the mean time I'm relying on my even older Samsung GS3 but it too is beginning to have hardware failures so I'm looking to get something new.
That said it's not vital for me to have a perfectly working phone 100% of the time, I don't need it to be working all the time. What is important to me is having a device I can safely disassemble to remove the cameras without destroying it. However, I don't want to spend the money on a device which will be a lemon and have unnecessary headaches when I could buy something less flashy but more reliable. What I really want to know is: is the LG G5 reliable ~80% of the time? ~50% of the time? ~10% of the time? I think you get the picture.
I'm sure this is probably more information than necessary, but thank you all for your time and input!
An objective list of issues you're likely to experience:
The G5 is notorious for having GPS issues, GPS performance may degrade or just not work reliably from the beginning. There is a hardware hack/workaround which can ameliorate the situation but YMMV if GPS is is something you need.
Your screen will progressively develop (temporary) image retention through exposure to heat/heavy usage. On default settings, ghosting will occur within seconds of white elements being displayed, starting from the corners of the display. If you tame the screen calibration somewhat (either via a custom kernel or filter app) the issue is reduced to the point of being practically unnoticeable.
Most G5 screens have some light bleed, nothing excessive, but noticeable on black screens with full brightness.
AOSP and other ROM support for the G5 is not fantastic; LG's quirks mean there are a lot of issues compared to other devices, and the G5 being a pretty overlooked/unpopular device the dev community is small.
The surface finish of the phone is fragile, especially at the module connection. It will hold up well if you're careful, but don't expect a pristine device if you use it naked.
The positives, as far as your situation goes:
Incredibly easy to open up and modular compared to other modern phones - you shouldn't have an issue modifying it and putting it back together as needed. Also easy to repair if anything goes wrong.
LG seems to have fixed the hardware bootloop death that plagued earlier phones up to the V10
Speaker quality is surprisingly good with the default charging chin
No major problems with heat in normal usage, battery life isn't bad
Current stock based ROMs (e.g. Fulmics, or just rooted vanilla) are perfectly stable and perform very well, especially with a third party kernel to stop the image retention from being an issue
Always on display on these ROMs has an impressively small impact on battery, contrast and black levels are good enough that you won't be able to tell it is backlit unless you move the phone from a very bright environment to pitch black (the always on display takes a second to adjust the contrast)
All said, it's a fantastic performer for a great price (worth much more than they're going for, honestly) and with some features that can be hard to find in today's flagships. It's reliable in the sense that it will work well, and predictably, but it's far from without issues. If you can live with/work around the issues you shouldn't have any unpleasant surprises.
Thanks @epithetic for a very detailed pros/cons! I truly appreciate it.
GPS may be an issue, I use a Map My Run to track daily running workouts during lunch at work. I've seen the workarounds and figure I can implement that when I have it open to remove the cameras. I have seen many posts that most fixes are temporary and GPS will degrade again.
I find it amazing that there is any screen burn-in on a modern phone! But there it is, if there's a fix/solution I'm OK with that.
I NEVER use a phone naked ... I'm too clumsy and will break it!
Also I'm perfectly fine with tweaked stock ROMs. Having a GS7 Edge there's not too much development because of how locked down the phone is. I'm fine with even root and can debloat/tweak/adblock to my hearts content.
Thanks again!
I got a T-Mobile branded G5 a few months back. Absolutely none of the problems and build quality issues I was warned about. My phone has a February 2017 build date, which is 10 months after release. I suspect LG fixed the issues between that time.
The battery not satisfied.
HKSpeed said:
I got a T-Mobile branded G5 a few months back. Absolutely none of the problems and build quality issues I was warned about. My phone has a February 2017 build date, which is 10 months after release. I suspect LG fixed the issues between that time.
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I have experienced zero issues with my RS988 G5 , but mine has a February 2017 build date as well. It's also only about a month old.
I also rarely use GPS so I can't really comment on that.
I've had my H850 since May 2016 and had absolutely 0 issues with it
Sprint LG G5 LS992 here with a build date of January 2017. Got the entire list of hardware issues epithetic listed. However I got this phone from LG customer service directly, so my unit may be an example of "new motherboard, old hardware" refurbishing that they shoved on me.
As such I'd also warn to check for dead and/or stuck pixels. Can't see any with my naked eye under normal usage at a distance. But when I eventually got a Cardboard VR headset to put the phone inside of, I found about two dozen problematic pixels scattered around in my view, more than the warranty tolerance amount for the display.
That said I do agree it is very easy to service parts on this phone. With a tinkering and scavenging attitude it is definitely a good value for the CPU, GPU and camera performance.

I still love my Z3TC but...

I feel my Z3TC is coming to the end of it's useful life, the battery isn't what it was and it looks like development has stopped / slowed on the ROMs (I am rocking the AICP ROM) which is amazing and has easily given me another 2 years with it. I would say there is no chance of Pie, which while on it's own isn't enough to get rid of it but with the battery...
I am looking to replace it, I would like something with an active ROM community and just wondered what people had switched too? My current choice is the Mi Pad 4 which looks like it would be a really good fit and the community looks like it will be active.
Thoughts please people!
If you don't mind not having waterproof and NFC, I would say that's the sweet spot. SD660 is a top mid range performer although I would prefer a SD710.
Also screen quality and sound might be a step back (I'm just guessing Sony is better).
I hope Sony will develop a new version of the Z3 Tablet Compact, XZ2-3 Tablet Compact maybe? But it seems that Sony don't develop any tablet anymore? In not into the TV-sized tablets, 7-8" is good enough for me, but most tabs seems to be pretty huge IMO.
I moved on to the Huawei Mediapad M5 (in part because it's a phone and has the LTE bands I need). It is not as compact but is otherwise a suitable replacement and improvement. The dev community is larger than it might seem, as all Huawei devices share core things in common.
Lenovo's 8" tab is another option
As for the Z3TC - I recently ordered this battery. I haven't received it yet, and I think it is off-brand. I'll update once it is installed.
Hi, I've only just joined this forum as I saw this thread on Google. I have two Z3's, an SGP621 bought roughly five years ago, and an SGP611, bought just over a week ago as a refurb on eBay. Both are running Android 6.0.1. The battery on the older SGP621 is driving me nuts, as the charge gets down to between 50-60% and a minute later the tablet turns itself off, stating that the battery is flat. It's put on charge and literally minutes later, the charge is showing 70-80%.
Looking on YouTube, there are videos of people putting a new battery into an Xperia phone, but the only videos that I have seen on there for a Z3 tablet are of people literally dismantling one and putting it back together. I don't feel confident enough to start melting the glue around the front of my tablet to change the battery (i'll probably end up ruining it anyway), but not certain whether the problem IS the battery, or whether the tablet is just telling porkies and there isn't anything wrong with the battery, more the system? The rumour mill is stating that Z3's are no longer for sale new in the UK, which makes sense as I had to buy a replacement USB dust cover (a tiny piece of plastic, as you all probably know) from Germany recently and it cost including postage, nearly £20. Sony's UK website states that Z3's are no longer supported in the UK, which is as much use as toothache.
As this thread says, I still love my Z3TC but.......which is exactly how I feel at the moment. Literally, any advice that you guys could give me would be much appreciated. I have asked a local mobile/computer repair company (which is closed at the moment, due to lockdown) whether they would a) be able to fit a new battery in the tablet and b) how much it would cost, so I'm not committed to anything, just waiting for them to reply.
Thank you so much for even reading this rant,
Linda

The LG g8x meh meh meeeeh

I'll start with my final thoughts, the LG G8X is a mid tier phone with a flagship design, spec wise its on the lower end of the "flagship" phones. Without the second screen the G8X would be a easy pass.
I've had the phone for about a month now, design wise its not premium, its not smooth or fluid around the edges front to back, the buttons sticks out a bit too much IMO, compare to my S9 plus its about the same thickness maybe a 2mm thicker front to back. it feels ok in the hand, I would never want to drop it, unlike all the other major brands I could not find a case or screen protector from Amazon Canada that was not shipping from China. I end up going to ebay to find a case, even the retailer could not find a case, this is how far LG have fallen.
Costco no longer carry LG phones nor does Rogers and best buy since the G7. Back to cases, it seems in other regions LG gave a case and headphones with the phone, for that frak you LG that was a shyty thing to do, for now I have to keep the phone in the dual screen case to protect it. Not including a case to all market is a disappointing move on LG part. (update) I just sold my S9 plus, the buyer was surprised the phone was used because of the condition the phone was in, zero scratches anywhere on the phone because I had a screen protector and various cases on the phone since day one ( Our secret don't tell the buyer I dropped that phone at least 5 times ). I finally received 2 case I bought from ebay as I could not find any local retailer with any LG G8X accessories.
Before I forget, the charging cable needs to be longer its too short to use with the magnetic adapter, it looks really cool on youtube, that's because its super light weight but once you plug the cable in depending on where or how far your plug is it will not work, the weight of the cable going down my side table have caused the phone to not charge because the magnet came loose which led me to buying a new wireless charger because the G8X did not work with my was current wireless charger.
On to the important stuff, the second screen works (yeah), it turns on sometimes by itself when I don't want it on or it turns off and will not turn on until you disconnect the phone and reconnect it, I've had to power down the phone a couple times to get the second screen or the outside info screen working again. As for software, many of you already know its sucks, first off out of the box the unit was not working properly I had to a factory reset twice not a big deal but I never had to do this with any other brand new phone in the last 10 years. I tried using the the LG keyboard but had to change it to the GB.
I've notice I have to hit the back button 2, 3 times for anything to happen, same with the home button, I know I pressed it from the taptic feedback, sometimes there's just a delay either way we should not have these kind of issues on 2019 major brand phone "flagship" at that.
To conclude again the LG G8X is not a flagship phone design and software wise, the idea is great and somewhat refreshing but it is not a game changer in its current form. Software aside if this phone with dual screen cost $10 to $100 more it would be a major pass for me, without the dual screen it would be a major major major major pass at its current price, it would have priced lower than the one plus phones. New G8 can be had for $400 Cad so there you go.
I just got mine and i only got it as a second phone. This phone is a novelty to me. I think that any tech enthusiast buying this phone will buy it with extremely low expectations. This is an LG after all. The same company that hasn't turned a profit since Q3 2014
It's regrettable if you thought you would get flagship performance from this phone. I got it for the party tricks.
Other than that everything you said was spot on and i agree wholeheartedly.
Yeah, I had to disable things like Mini-View and Floating Bar, just because they don't work reliably enough. There are just lots of little things like that. The Samsung equivalents on my Note 8 works much more reliably and has better UI/UX.
It has much promise and potential, but they gotta work on the software and make the UI/UX more cohesive. Now, it's just too rough around the edges.
I think you have buggy phones. I have not had any issues with the duel screen turning on or off. For gaming (Call of Duty) the dual screen is amazing! Wide View is rubbish though as the case is too thick, but works ok for Facebook, seems to add to the experience not detract. Even if you end up reading from only one screen, knowing from peripheral vision what is coming next actually enhances the viewing experience.
I will admit the phone is a bit laggy at times but fingers crossed LG will release Android 10 and we'll get some improvements.
inzimam said:
I think you have buggy phones. I have not had any issues with the duel screen turning on or off. For gaming (Call of Duty) the dual screen is amazing! Wide View is rubbish though as the case is too thick, but works ok for Facebook, seems to add to the experience not detract. Even if you end up reading from only one screen, knowing from peripheral vision what is coming next actually enhances the viewing experience.
I will admit the phone is a bit laggy at times but fingers crossed LG will release Android 10 and we'll get some improvements.
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I'll have to agree with inzimam here. I haven't had any issues with this phone as of yet. It hasn't exhibited any of the characteristics that have been complained about thus far. No lag (at least, no more lag than what is to be expected from a phone), no stuttering, no screen randomly turning off and if it is off I can always get it to turn back on.
As far as the OP is concerned, yeah, if you wanted a phone that was easy to find cases for, you should have gone with an iPhone. Or at the very least, a Samsung. Cases have been and will always be cheap and plentiful for those phones. Everything else, good luck. You are gonna need it.
atirox said:
I'll have to agree with inzimam here. I haven't had any issues with this phone as of yet. It hasn't exhibited any of the characteristics that have been complained about thus far. No lag (at least, no more lag than what is to be expected from a phone), no stuttering, no screen randomly turning off and if it is off I can always get it to turn back on.
As far as the OP is concerned, yeah, if you wanted a phone that was easy to find cases for, you should have gone with an iPhone. Or at the very least, a Samsung. Cases have been and will always be cheap and plentiful for those phones. Everything else, good luck. You are gonna need it.
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I respectfully disagree with both of you, I forgot to mention when in "dark" mode the notification is still white, how ridiculous is that, the software needs cleaning up, at least 3 times this week the second screen turned on when I unlocked the phone, I know for sure I did not have it on before. Today I got another vague update, no info other than it will make the phone work better, really LG.
You're I could've bought pretty much any other phone and found a case at locally not just an Iphone or Samsung, you bringing up 2 other popular brand is a moot point because you can find cases for Moto, Nokia, Sony, HTC, Honor, Huawei easily. Consumers voicing their opinion is the least we can do, we deserve better not just mediocre like what we got from LG.
I'm using the G8X without the dual screen case right now, I have to be honest its not a upgrade over my S9 plus, this have nothing to do with branding, I still have my G6, I'm no fanboy, I have a Android tablet and a Ipad mini, I see things for what they are..
I haven't reached yet, can anyone tell me if we can remap the google assist button, I hated it on my S9 plus I hate it the same on the G8X.
Thinking on your comment regarding the cases, only a id$#t would suggest to buy another phone if I wanted a case to protect my hard earn money that spent on this phone, finding a case was one issue but it shouldn't be one seeing that LG gave a case to other regions. The product should entice others instead companies after companies are dropping LG phones or their accessories, please leave this fanboyism out of this. LG as company could very well be in trouble, their phones are not selling as well as they should be, more and more companies are coming out with Oled panels so Lg and Sony are no longer the only game in town, in a few years LG oled TV will be meh in the marketplace.
LG needs to clean up the software on their phones, better build, stick to the innovation for at least 3 years, oh, the V50 got Android 10 why not the LGX the last phone you released?
sonspot said:
I respectfully disagree with both of you, I forgot to mention when in "dark" mode the notification is still white, how ridiculous is that, the software needs cleaning up, at least 3 times this week the second screen turned on when I unlocked the phone, I know for sure I did not have it on before. Today I got another vague update, no info other than it will make the phone work better, really LG.
You're I could've bought pretty much any other phone and found a case at locally not just an Iphone or Samsung, you bringing up 2 other popular brand is a moot point because you can find cases for Moto, Nokia, Sony, HTC, Honor, Huawei easily. Consumers voicing their opinion is the least we can do, we deserve better not just mediocre like what we got from LG.
I'm using the G8X without the dual screen case right now, I have to be honest its not a upgrade over my S9 plus, this have nothing to do with branding, I still have my G6, I'm no fanboy, I have a Android tablet and a Ipad mini, I see things for what they are..
I haven't reached yet, can anyone tell me if we can remap the google assist button, I hated it on my S9 plus I hate it the same on the G8X.
Thinking on your comment regarding the cases, only a id$#t would suggest to buy another phone if I wanted a case to protect my hard earn money that spent on this phone, finding a case was one issue but it shouldn't be one seeing that LG gave a case to other regions. The product should entice others instead companies after companies are dropping LG phones or their accessories, please leave this fanboyism out of this. LG as company could very well be in trouble, their phones are not selling as well as they should be, more and more companies are coming out with Oled panels so Lg and Sony are no longer the only game in town, in a few years LG oled TV will be meh in the marketplace.
LG needs to clean up the software on their phones, better build, stick to the innovation for at least 3 years, oh, the V50 got Android 10 why not the LGX the last phone you released?
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Hey, never said that I was right. Just that I haven't had those issues yet.
I agree with you about the dark mode notifications. I suspect that it has something to do with dark mode not officially being available for Android 9... Coming from the LG V30, I'll take any dark mode I can get though.
Not sure where you live, but where I've lived, unless you have an iPhone or Samsung, your options are to order a case online, or order a case online... The HTC One M8 is the last phone I had where cases were actually stocked somewhere in a decent selection... The HTC 10 had a pathetic offering of one case I found at Bell in Vancouver. The case on that phone was almost like Randy's kid brother Ralphie getting wrapped up by his mother to go to school from the movie A Christmas Story. The V30 had exactly double the number of cases as the HTC 10 did, and both were equally as pathetic. The better case was utterly useless after 3 months as it was falling apart. So while I may be an id#$t for suggesting purchasing another phone, it always seems to be that ic you want a decent case to protect your phone, the answer seems to be iPhone or Samsung cause i can never find anything but the cheap chinese garbage cases that wont protect anything let alone a glass sandwich.
As far as fanboyism goes, you should have seen me when Nokia announced they were gonna be purchased by Microsoft... Or when HTC sold its engineering division to Google... This isn't fanboyism... LG would need to make a product that I don't immediately want to re-skin with a third party launcher before I'd consider being a fanboy of LG. ... You know what? I'd even settle for an Android OS upgrade that doesn't drop almost 24 months since that version of Android launched. (Looking specifically at the Android 9 update for the V30 H933 model.) I don't even want a cleaned up OS... I just want a freaking update!
To be honest, all the good phone makers of years gone by are in financial trouble unless they are Apple or Samsung... Nokia got sold to Microsoft, HTC sold its soul to Google, Motorola sold numerous times only to be acquired by Lenovo, and just like that relationship, the big names that are left are still here because they have massive companies backing them up. They don't have to turn a profit to stay alive... Those who did are no more, or aren't what they used to be. If memory serves correctly, Sony and LG haven't turned a profit in phones in close to 5 years. HTC is all but dead, Nokia is a sliver of what it used to be, and we know what happened with Motorola.
(Edited for clarity)
I'm gonna chime in because I've had ever single G and V series device since the G3 so I'm a big fan of LG devices.
I really tried to love the G8X. I think the price point in the us at least (albeit I'm in Canada) is spot on. The concept is fun and the screen is actually pretty nice. I liked the ui although slightly disappointed with night mode not having dark notifications. That will change with Android 10.
Theme system is still great. Actually lg has the best theme system on the market. I'm not talking about variety or quality but rather ability out of box to theme virtually anything with little restrictions.
I found battery life to be exceptionally good. I am also impressed with the sound quality of the device. It is a very loud device.
The second screen is cool and works very well. It obviously adds a lot of bulk and weight to the device. I found myself not actually using it after about a month. For me at least it just isn't needed. I don't play enough games and it just was more of something to show off to people like a hey look at this. But for my use it was impractical.
Camera is a big disappointment from what I'm used to with LG. I think they could have done better. Especially the front one. Mind you I don't do many selfies at all, but when I tested it I was disappointed.
Fingerprint sensor is absolutely horrible. I tried to pretend it wasn't crap but it really is bad. Slow and doesn't consistently work as many have complained. In the end I had to admit it just sucks. The animation for it was badass though. Having no face unlock is kinda disappointing. Even just regular face unlock would have been fine as it always worked well on other non tof devices.
What really killed me was how for at least Canadian devices for almost 2 months now LG has allowed devices to have broken LTE. November security patch broke LTE and lg simply told users to just not use lte and switch to 3g. I did find a fix and made a thread for it. Mind you my fix breaks voicemail shortcut. It does restore LTE. They still have not addressed this. That is completely unacceptable.
So I made the decision last week to sell my G8X. It pains me to say it but I feel I made the right call. It just isn't good enough. My G8 is just so much better and has better features imo.
I'm still kinda bummed about it but I did what I felt I needed to do to recover my money as best I could before the device that I just couldn't love no matter how hard I tried lost too much value.
I've had my G8X for about a month now, coming from a V30. Is it a gimmick? Sure... but it's an incredibly useful gimmick. I've had none of the issues the OP refers to. Zero crashes or second screen shutdowns. I find the fingerprint sensor to be only marginally worse than the case-back sensor on the V30, so to me it's a nonissue.
Complaining that without the second screen the G8X isn't all that is IMO a head-scratcher. The only reason to buy the G8X is for the second screen. If you're not going to use that, I don't know why you would buy this phone.
The charging issues I'm not going to address, as I have Qi wireless chargers both at home and my office, so I have yet to even try wired charging.
Do I wish the case front wasn't mirrored and a fingerprint magnet? Yes. Do I wish the front screen was more than a tiny notification screen? Yes. Since the case is a USB-C accessory, my hope is that either LG or third parties develop other second-screen options that improve the functionality and usability of the second screen case. That's the interesting thing about this approach compared to the "folding phones" model: accessory case replacements and improvements can presumably be acquired without having to replace the original phone.
Negan said:
Fingerprint sensor is absolutely horrible. I tried to pretend it wasn't crap but it really is bad. Slow and doesn't consistently work as many have complained. In the end I had to admit it just sucks. The animation for it was badass though. Having no face unlock is kinda disappointing. Even just regular face unlock would have been fine as it always worked well on other non tof devices.
What really killed me was how for at least Canadian devices for almost 2 months now LG has allowed devices to have broken LTE. November security patch broke LTE and lg simply told users to just not use lte and switch to 3g. I did find a fix and made a thread for it. Mind you my fix breaks voicemail shortcut. It does restore LTE. They still have not addressed this. That is completely unacceptable.
So I made the decision last week to sell my G8X. It pains me to say it but I feel I made the right call. It just isn't good enough. My G8 is just so much better and has better features imo.
I'm still kinda bummed about it but I did what I felt I needed to do to recover my money as best I could before the device that I just couldn't love no matter how hard I tried lost too much value.
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Sad to see you go, But I totally agree with the fingerprint scanner. It's pitiful. Pathetic. Sorry excuse for a fingerprint scanner. As far as LG software goes, well, you know my opinion on that... The worst part about being stuck on the Android 8 update was Bluetooth on the V30 was so beyond buggy it was a freaking joke... I get your frustration with their pathetic software..
heavyharmonies said:
I've had my G8X for about a month now, coming from a V30. Is it a gimmick? Sure... but it's an incredibly useful gimmick. I've had none of the issues the OP refers to. Zero crashes or second screen shutdowns. I find the fingerprint sensor to be only marginally worse than the case-back sensor on the V30, so to me it's a nonissue.
Complaining that without the second screen the G8X isn't all that is IMO a head-scratcher. The only reason to buy the G8X is for the second screen. If you're not going to use that, I don't know why you would buy this phone.
The charging issues I'm not going to address, as I have Qi wireless chargers both at home and my office, so I have yet to even try wired charging.
Do I wish the case front wasn't mirrored and a fingerprint magnet? Yes. Do I wish the front screen was more than a tiny notification screen? Yes. Since the case is a USB-C accessory, my hope is that either LG or third parties develop other second-screen options that improve the functionality and usability of the second screen case. That's the interesting thing about this approach compared to the "folding phones" model: accessory case replacements and improvements can presumably be acquired without having to replace the original phone.
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Agreed as well. What's keeping me here is I've found the second screen to be useful more than I thought I would, it's supposed to have a Quad DAC (I suspect the ESS Sabre 9218 out of the standard G8, but no one will tell me), and finally, because my pathetic phone carrier wont stock the standard G8.
atirox said:
Sad to see you go, But I totally agree with the fingerprint scanner. It's pitiful. Pathetic. Sorry excuse for a fingerprint scanner. As far as LG software goes, well, you know my opinion on that... The worst part about being stuck on the Android 8 update was Bluetooth on the V30 was so beyond buggy it was a freaking joke... I get your frustration with their pathetic software..
Agreed as well. What's keeping me here is I've found the second screen to be useful more than I thought I would, it's supposed to have a Quad DAC (I suspect the ESS Sabre 9218 out of the standard G8, but no one will tell me), and finally, because my pathetic phone carrier wont stock the standard G8.
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Only thing I disagree with is the fingerprint scanner. It's not the best but it's definitely not horrible. Coming from the V30 which worked 10/10 times, the G8X works about 9/10 times. However, I still wish it had a face unlock. It would be nice to have it automatically unlock after opening the second screen.
I use the dual screen case about 50% of the time. Having two screens is super fun and useful but I find myself using it less and picking up my V30 more when I have it attached.
There are a few software hiccups that I do find annoying, mostly when I'm using the gestures so I just stick to the button navigation. Also pulling down the notification shade looks kind of janky so I hope they fix some of the animations.
I'm trying hard to love this phone but LG software experience is making hard. The fingerprint sensor is a 7/10 for me, battery life is a hit or miss, with the same usage, the phone in the case no dual screen sometimes I will get 6 hours screen time with 30% battery end of day but other times only 3.5 hours screen on with 34% end of day, more of the latter in my experience. As some mentioned the software is not smooth, be it flickering, delay or just not smooth, comfort view keeps turning off for not reason; lately I've been thinking about my S9+, I'm no fanboy I know Samsung had their issues but it was a better experience all around..
Anyhow hope we get android 10 soon and hopefully it fixes some of these issues, sad thing is you can pickup a G8 for around $300 Canadian, like I said if there was no second screen the G8/V50 would be a better buy if you're looking for an LG phone. I going to try a day or 2 without the dual screen case to see if I get a more consistent battery life.
I'm not hating on LG I just wish they would clean up their software before the go the way of BlackBerry. I think in the next week or so I going to post it for sale, just hope I don't lose money on it. I love the concept, idea, just from the wrong company. The LG G8X should've been released with android 10, instead LG is doing the same old thing, I would take a cleaner experience over android 10 but since I'm not getting either from LG I'll just complain and move on lol.
FYI you can turn on the second screen using the "knock on" or double tap feature.
Some of you that have issues with the screen turning on by itself could just be you accidentally double tapping that screen while handling the phone.
I was also able to find a case for it at The Source.
It's just a basic Pure Gear slim clear case, but the hard case packaging that it came in makes a great storage case for the dual screen when I'm not using it.
I personally love the feel of the phone in the hand being glass all around and not having a camera hump, but it's a slippery unit so a case is pretty necessary.
And the weight of 192 grams makes it feel like a premium device in the hand that could take some abuse (minus broken glass, but that's all phones nowadays).
I was on the fence about keeping the phone when I initially upgraded, and was contemplating returning it for an S10, but I figure the S10/S10+ are going to drop dramatically in price very shortly, whereas I think the G8X will hold it's value longer having the dual case option, and it being less expensive initially.
So far I'm having a good experience, but I may put up for sale or trade for an S10+ in the near future simply because I have zero clue if and when LG will be updating this thing to Android 10, never mind 11....
No way was I going to go for a newer Pixel with their abysmal battery life and no option for an SD card.
Also, anyone who tells me they can tell a difference between the 855/855+/865 I have a bridge to sell you...
ATRIXXIRTA said:
FYI you can turn on the second screen using the "knock on" or double tap feature.
Some of you that have issues with the screen turning on by itself could just be you accidentally double tapping that screen while handling the phone.
I was also able to find a case for it at The Source.
It's just a basic Pure Gear slim clear case, but the hard case packaging that it came in makes a great storage case for the dual screen when I'm not using it.
I personally love the feel of the phone in the hand being glass all around and not having a camera hump, but it's a slippery unit so a case is pretty necessary.
And the weight of 192 grams makes it feel like a premium device in the hand that could take some abuse (minus broken glass, but that's all phones nowadays).
I was on the fence about keeping the phone when I initially upgraded, and was contemplating returning it for an S10, but I figure the S10/S10+ are going to drop dramatically in price very shortly, whereas I think the G8X will hold it's value longer having the dual case option, and it being less expensive initially.
So far I'm having a good experience, but I may put up for sale or trade for an S10+ in the near future simply because I have zero clue if and when LG will be updating this thing to Android 10, never mind 11....
No way was I going to go for a newer Pixel with their abysmal battery life and no option for an SD card.
Also, anyone who tells me they can tell a difference between the 855/855+/865 I have a bridge to sell you...
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If you check kijiji, the G8X is selling for less than the S10 or S10+, too late to get rid of it now, you'll lose money. Even sadder is the s9 and S9+ are getting Android 10 updates while the G8x is still in wind. This is my last LG phone, I can't in good conscience support them, I don't think we the consumers are asking for much from a company that claims to produce "flagship" devices.
Like I said, the idea was a good one but everything else is sloppy not on par with a major flagship smartphone.
I wonder if LG is going to use Covid-19 as a excuse to continue delay of Android 10 update release for the G8X. I'm done with this company, they don't deserve our money.
ATRIXXIRTA said:
I was on the fence about keeping the phone when I initially upgraded, and was contemplating returning it for an S10, but I figure the S10/S10+ are going to drop dramatically in price very shortly, whereas I think the G8X will hold it's value longer having the dual case option, and it being less expensive initially.
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Click to collapse
Without the 2nd screen, these are going for 200 USD on ebay, which is crazy for a 6 month old phone. I'm thinking about picking one up.
man this guy is a harsh critic. the phone is great. it's mid-range, so expect mid-range at a nice price point. but this thing has got several flagship features that set it it above other devices in this price range, obviously the dual screen, but also headphone jack + quad dac and surround sound, snapdragon 855, SD slot + 128gb built in, excellent cameras, insane battery life, sleek and quality design. I got it so cheap with Sprint (50% off plus free dual screen) that I can't imagine complaining about it, but maybe if you paid full price unlocked it would be different. great phone imo.

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