Heat - Samsung Galaxy Note 9 Real Life Review

Some phones are great to take camping because if you play Asphalt 8 long enough, the back warms up to the ideal temperature that can bake bread. Rate this thread to express the extent to which the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 stays cool under extended heavy use. A higher rating indicates that even when playing strenuous games for long periods of time, the phone doesn't get uncomfortably warm.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

Galaxy Note 9 water cooling tested: Does it really work? tom's guide test:
https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/21/galaxy-note-9-water-cooling-tested-does-it-really-work/

This test is flawed. His thoughts on heat and his reasoning is proof that he doesn't know anything about processor heat.
The device still gets hot... sure it does. Samsung never said the processor doesn't generate heat. The heat pipe is designed to move the heat away from the processor... but it has to go somewhere. The case still gets as hot as the Note 8, because the processor is still generating heat. It just moves that heat away more efficiently from the processor. That simple fact discredits the entire video. The case is the device's radiator, and the new water carbon thing simply moves the heat to the case more efficiently.
Despite his expert results that the water cooling isnt' making a differnece, the fat that the case is hotter IS PROOF that it IS WORKING.
To properly test the device, stress the device, get it hot, then see what the benchmark numbers are compared to a similarly hot Note 8. You will see, that the processor runs faster when the case is hot than the Note 8 did. (taking account the fact that they are different generation processors) Or more properly, test the fall off between a cold device and a hot one.

boufa said:
This test is flawed. His thoughts on heat and his reasoning is proof that he doesn't know anything about processor heat.
The device still gets hot... sure it does. Samsung never said the processor doesn't generate heat. The heat pipe is designed to move the heat away from the processor... but it has to go somewhere. The case still gets as hot as the Note 8, because the processor is still generating heat. It just moves that heat away more efficiently from the processor. That simple fact discredits the entire video. The case is the device's radiator, and the new water carbon thing simply moves the heat to the case more efficiently.
Despite his expert results that the water cooling isnt' making a differnece, the fat that the case is hotter IS PROOF that it IS WORKING.
To properly test the device, stress the device, get it hot, then see what the benchmark numbers are compared to a similarly hot Note 8. You will see, that the processor runs faster when the case is hot than the Note 8 did. (taking account the fact that they are different generation processors) Or more properly, test the fall off between a cold device and a hot one.
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Click to collapse
Exactly this! I am baffled how many comments from the media are there about how the cooling doesn't work, because the phone body gets hot. Roflmao... this is a closed environment, where the heat will go? I would argue that the phone body should be even hotter with better cooling on the SOC. That cooling is there to prevent performance degradation/throttling and let the cpu/gpu/whole SOC perform better, NOT to lower the body temperature.
https://hothardware.com/news/galaxy-note-9-vs-oneplus-6-benchmark-bake-off
Here you got the right comparison and it's clear - note 9 sustain performance is better than oneplus 6 that is one of the top in that regards.

This isn't scientific, but while setting the phone up and having the screen on for 2 hours straight, restoring backups and downloading apps, the phone didn't get very hot. I haven't tested gaming yet, but so far heat doesn't seem to be an issue.

It would be great if people post CPU and batteru temp, version (exynos or snapdragon) and how the phone is being used when it gets hot.
If you don't have systems check app, here is one
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=flar2.devcheck
Thanks

high_voltage said:
Exactly this! I am baffled how many comments from the media are there about how the cooling doesn't work, because the phone body gets hot. Roflmao... this is a closed environment, where the heat will go? I would argue that the phone body should be even hotter with better cooling on the SOC. That cooling is there to prevent performance degradation/throttling and let the cpu/gpu/whole SOC perform better, NOT to lower the body temperature.
https://hothardware.com/news/galaxy-note-9-vs-oneplus-6-benchmark-bake-off
Here you got the right comparison and it's clear - note 9 sustain performance is better than oneplus 6 that is one of the top in that regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is great. It shows that they actually know what they're talking about, haha.

This phone sure generates some heat. But for me, coming from note 4, the heat is significantly lesser without compromising performance.
Agree on poster above on the phone casing acts as a radiator. As the copper pipe size has increased, I'm not surprised about the heat. Its still manageable.

Buy something like spigen tough armor and you won't feel the heat at all. If it works without problems, don't kill brain with unimportant things....otherwise you have warranty
Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Thanks @boufa I was about to complain about the phone getting hot while running multiple applications but I read your comment and come to think about it,it didn't bog down. You must be an engineer or something?

gCloud said:
It would be great if people post CPU and batteru temp, version (exynos or snapdragon) and how the phone is being used when it gets hot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried an app called "Synchronize Ultimate", which made my Note 9 hot as hell. I've uninstalled, because its tasks aren't (shouldn't be) this CPU intensive at all. Looks like bad code.
Other than that, the only times it feels a little hot is after having been recharged on Wireless charger. All the rest seems like a walk in the park for this Exynos board.

I think this Qualcomm Snapdragon variants suffer from this issue the most as the adreno GPU has a tendency to produce allot of heat. The Samsung Exynos variants do not suffer from this issue and tend to run allot cooler. I have noticed this with both my Note 4 N910C and my Note 8 N950N.

iceepyon said:
I think this Qualcomm Snapdragon variants suffer from this issue the most as the adreno GPU has a tendency to produce allot of heat. The Samsung Exynos variants do not suffer from this issue and tend to run allot cooler. I have noticed this with both my Note 4 N910C and my Note 8 N950N.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't compare different SOCs like that. 9810 is quite a hot chip actually. If you will compare, compare the exact SOC generation and in this case - sd845 vs exynos 9810. For example my s7e exynos has a lot better battery life/CPU performance/smoothness vs sd820 variant that is only slightly faster in GPU. This year (search the forums) sd845 got better battery life, faster real world CPU performance, is smoother and has 25-35% faster GPU depending on the load. If I go by you, I will write all day long how great the exynos is based on 2y ago chip where this was true compared to that time qualcomm variant... and this is wrong for this year.
Generalising like that in fast moving forward industry is not a good thing. Never state something about a SOC because of previous ones.

XDA_RealLifeReview said:
Some phones are great to take camping because if you play Asphalt 8 long enough, the back warms up to the ideal temperature that can bake bread. Rate this thread to express the extent to which the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 stays cool under extended heavy use. A higher rating indicates that even when playing strenuous games for long periods of time, the phone doesn't get uncomfortably warm.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but my experience has been very different and a bit disappointing.
I was testing 4k 60fps recording on a "sunny day" Note 9 vs iPhone X vs OnePlus 6.
The iPhone went on for 10 min no problem with 4k at 60fps. OnePlus 6 also didn't heat up as much.
note 9 on the other hand can only do 4k 60 fps for 5 min and got very hot and video recording shut off after 3 min. I got an onscreen msg saying phone is too hot won't be able to continue untill it cools down etc.
In 2018 I would expect Snapdragon would be able to record in 4k 60fps for at least 10 min. [emoji35]
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

geronemo said:
Sorry but my experience has been very different and a bit disappointing.
I was testing 4k 60fps recording on a "sunny day" Note 9 vs iPhone X vs OnePlus 6.
The iPhone went on for 10 min no problem with 4k at 60fps. OnePlus 6 also didn't heat up as much.
note 9 on the other hand can only do 4k 60 fps for 5 min and got very hot and video recording shut off after 3 min. I got an onscreen msg saying phone is too hot won't be able to continue untill it cools down etc.
In 2018 I would expect Snapdragon would be able to record in 4k 60fps for at least 10 min. [emoji35]
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In this case be sure that your Note 9 phone needs to be replaced or returned
I was a Note 4 & S7 user and I would never thought Samsung or any OEM will solve this heat problems on the future but... here comes Samsung Note 9 to prove me wrong about it... It would NEVER heat ... and when I say heat.. is when it comes uncomfortable to hold it on my hand.. when I was having Note 4 or S7.. it would heat alot specially on the upper center of the screen whenever I put heavy load into it. Putting the same heavy load that I would put it on Note 4 or S7 on a Note 9 Exynos... it was huge difference like day & night Note 9 Exynos version will always stay cooler compared to Snapdragon. I tried both and I buyed the Exynos variant with a peace of mind :angel:
Snapdragon have a history of heat problems when using Octa cores on there SOC and I wouldn't be surprised if it is still suffering from this problem in 2018 or even 2019 also Exynos have a history too but to a lesser extent than Snapdragon
I all what I said above is through experience that I went through.... YMMV Peace out! :fingers-crossed:

Da-BOSS said:
In this case be sure that your Note 9 phone needs to be replaced or returned
I was a Note 4 & S7 user and I would never thought Samsung or any OEM will solve this heat problems on the future but... here comes Samsung Note 9 to prove me wrong about it... It would NEVER heat ... and when I say heat.. is when it comes uncomfortable to hold it on my hand.. when I was having Note 4 or S7.. it would heat alot specially on the upper center of the screen whenever I put heavy load into it. Putting the same heavy load that I would put it on Note 4 or S7 on a Note 9 Exynos... it was huge difference like day & night Note 9 Exynos version will always stay cooler compared to Snapdragon. I tried both and I buyed the Exynos variant with a peace of mind :angel:
Snapdragon have a history of heat problems when using Octa cores on there SOC and I wouldn't be surprised if it is still suffering from this problem in 2018 or even 2019 also Exynos have a history too but to a lesser extent than Snapdragon
I all what I said above is through experience that I went through.... YMMV Peace out! :fingers-crossed:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. Unfortunately I didn't have my IR temp reader and it's now it's impossible to replicate the issue coz it's colder. Apart from that I haven't had any other issue.
I might make YT video about it in near future. Unfortunately have never used Exonys here in US and have heard great things about it.
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

geronemo said:
Sorry but my experience has been very different and a bit disappointing.
I was testing 4k 60fps recording on a "sunny day" Note 9 vs iPhone X vs OnePlus 6.
The iPhone went on for 10 min no problem with 4k at 60fps. OnePlus 6 also didn't heat up as much.
note 9 on the other hand can only do 4k 60 fps for 5 min and got very hot and video recording shut off after 3 min. I got an onscreen msg saying phone is too hot won't be able to continue untill it cools down etc.
In 2018 I would expect Snapdragon would be able to record in 4k 60fps for at least 10 min. [emoji35]
Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's known that every year the exynos is vastly superior in encoding/decoding capabilities. The exynos 9810 most likely won't suffer from that problem at all (actually I found comments about your statement and all were about sd845). Really poor indeed that samsung didn't optimise the sd845 the same way as oneplus did... :/ Maybe there is something to do also with bitrate (this one is not tied only to the reslolution/FPS of the video), maybe the note 9 records a lot more info = higher load on the SOC = more heat vs the oneplus.

i'm comparing my note 9 with my poco F1, my N9 is way higher than poco F1.

The only time mine gets hot is when I fast charge, I've tried virtually every high performance game there is and the ac rarely goes past 100-105f

Mine get hot realy fast when is in car in sun with waze open. I get a messsage phone is overheat and all app are closed cant open must restart. Happend couple of times. Realy dissapointed. Note 7 was the best phone i ever had. No heat at all. Then note 8. No heat issues. Cant wait note 10. Im seek of note 9 problem with pie
Sent from my SM-N960F using Tapatalk

Related

anandtech touches on thermal throttling on N10

Anandtech talks about power efficiency of new generation chips and mentions how the nexus 10 gets throttled down in high stress graph8c situations. Heres the specific page, at the bottom. And the article really shows just how much the cortex consumes in power, much, much more than other chipsets.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6536/arm-vs-x86-the-real-showdown/13
One of the most misleading articles I've ever read on Anandtech, that. It's full of interesting info, but ultimately there are few conclusions you can really draw other than that the 5250 has a very high TDP!
A lot of graphs show total power consumption when running a given benchmark/task, and then use this data to make assumptions on architecture/chipset performance. Even ignoring the "total device power draw" graphs (the N10 screen will suck MUCH more power than the crappy 1366x768 panels in the other tablets tested) and sticking purely to the CPU/GPU power draw comparison graphs, it must be considered that these devices are running a COMPLETELY different software stack!
This is like drawing comparisons on tyre grip when tyre A has been tested on tarmac, fitted to a 2 ton Bentley, with ambient temps of 40C and tyre B on snow, fitted to a 500kg caterham and in -20C ambient: There is simply too much different to even try and perform any kind of comparison between them. All you can do is look at the test results in isolation.
Agreed total power is way affected by the N10's screen, but at least it gives people an answer as to why they are getting slow down in games like NFS:MW
stevessvt said:
Agreed total power is way affected by the N10's screen, but at least it gives people an answer as to why they are getting slow down in games like NFS:MW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Except for the people who aren't getting any slowdowns in NFS:MW on the N10, myself being one of them.
So, no, it doesn't provide a conclusive answer for that, either.
What it does is provide another data point
ZanshinG1 said:
Except for the people who aren't getting any slowdowns in NFS:MW on the N10, myself being one of them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd have to see it to believe it at this point. Can you actually distinguish when FPS changes occur (no offense or anything like that; I know someone who claims a game ran "smoothly" to them, and I can see framerate jumping all over the place, and not even being that high to start with)?
Perhaps you have a decent camera (60 FPS recording preferred) where you can show proof of such? And also are you using a custom kernel or ROM?
I've noticed that the ambient temperature in the room influences thermal throttling. If I'm sitting in a room with a jacket on and it's 65F/18C then I don't have throttling issues like when I'm sitting near the fireplace and the ambient temperature is around 80F/27C. Maybe that's obvious but just bringing it up as a possible reason why some people may not see throttling during hard gaming. I definitely see throttling playing Critical Strike Portable (Multiplayer online), and I don't remember seeing that on the N7. I still use the N10 for gaming though because the screen is so nice, I just cringe every time I see some throttling.
I changed my thermal throttle limit to 90, had no problems so far
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Pretty good write up..
One thing I find really interesting were those insanely low GPU consumption numbers by the N10 during the sun spider, kraken, etc test. The article didn't mention it (surprised), but there's two pieces of tech in the Exynos5 that are somewhat related to that:
PSR mode may be showing it's face in browser benchmarks, which cuts a lot of power when the screen is on a static image.
And OpenCL support. Which doesn't look like it's being utilized here, as GPU power consumption would probably be higher, but should bring total power consumption down by using the GPU cores to help out in task processing, similar to CUDA. I'd love to see this implemented since our SoC supports it.

Poor Game Performance on Brand New Verizon Galaxy S4

If had this phone for like 2 weeks now, it was given to me as a graduation gift. My dad picked it because on paper, its a beast of a phone. 1.9ghz quad core CPU and Adreno graphics processor. In theory, based on these stats, it should be able to run Real Racing 3, MMX Racing, and other high quality games without issue or frame drop. This, sadly, is not the case, RR3 is unplayable and MMX racing has low framerate so timing the takeoffs and landings are difficult. What can anyone tell me about this problem. I do clear up all the RAM possible, but this isnt the issue, they are frame drops not, stutters, I obviously have power saving off. What can all you fancy phone gurus tell me about why this is occurring and what can be done.
Chickenegg01 said:
If had this phone for like 2 weeks now, it was given to me as a graduation gift. My dad picked it because on paper, its a beast of a phone. 1.9ghz quad core CPU and Adreno graphics processor. In theory, based on these stats, it should be able to run Real Racing 3, MMX Racing, and other high quality games without issue or frame drop. This, sadly, is not the case, RR3 is unplayable and MMX racing has low framerate so timing the takeoffs and landings are difficult. What can anyone tell me about this problem. I do clear up all the RAM possible, but this isnt the issue, they are frame drops not, stutters, I obviously have power saving off. What can all you fancy phone gurus tell me about why this is occurring and what can be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope
never going to happen
you need to learn a bit more about hardware just because its 'quad core' and has a 'adreno' doesn't mean its not slower then a 3 Legged dog
the S4 is pretty dam slow by modern standards out of the box brand new it scores a meager 26147 in antutu benchmark for comparison something like the Galaxy S5 which is one generation newer scores about 3800
and real-racing 3 still doesn't run very well on the s5
current top-end phones will score about 50K
bottom line your dad brought you a outdated slow phone that nobody should be using in 2016
and I say that as a owner of 4 galaxy S4's
You bought the slow S4 variant, known to be choppy in games. The GPU can't run those games at an enjoyable frame rate, but can perform well on every other task, I guess.
A pretty decent S4 would be the LTE-A variant, with its hardware comparable to the S5. Basically it has a 2.3GHz processor and a way better GPU (~x2).
Even if I don't play I refused to buy it for its crappy performance and went for the snappier variant, twice.

Galaxy A3 2017 experience after 2 days

Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd share some thoughts on this device after having purchased it yesterday afternoon.
I bought this phone because I felt it was the first device that gave me what I had been craving for a long time - an Android version of the iPhone 6s. I like the size, build and feel of the iPhone 6s/7, but not the software or the price.
I think I am in the minority of people who prefer a smaller handset, and even though Android devices tend to fit a lot more screen real estate into smaller bodies, I still feel that the 4.7in screen size is ideal for me.
The only phones that run Android of that size have been the Xperia compact line, and the Galaxy Alpha/A3 2016 models. There have been others, but only these have come close. Unfortunately, they have suffered compromised designs and specs that have left me wanting (I have owned them all, and this is my opinion which others are free to disagree with).
This new handset, however, has me ticking a lot of boxes.
- Size is fantastic. Just a little smaller than the iPhone 6s, and feels great in the hand. Premium materials, solid build quality, great ergonomics, clicky buttons, no camera hump.
- The display is good, not awesome, but vibrant and colourful without being too over the top. Can be tweaked to each user's preference, and gets both very bright and very dim.
- fingerprint scanner is fast and accurate.
- Camera is good, not amazing. An iPhone definitely trounces this setup, but I paid £280 sim free and my usage is not too demanding so it's absolutely fine for me. Daytime shots are actually very pleasant and I think here it punches above its weight; low light is where it struggles, but I feel that most shots at night are not too important for me so it's a compromise I'll happily make.
- Call quality is very good and it holds onto signal well in my area.
- Sound quality out of the side mounted speaker is actually surprisingly good, at least as good as an iPhone 6s. Headphone performance is also excellent .
- Performance has been nothing short of excellent. I feel we have reached a point where there are not that many tasks that we do that actually need a Snapdragon 821 to run smoothly - granted, some 3d games need serious power on tap to run at their highest settings on a quad HD screen, but with a 720p screen, the A3 2017 runs pretty much anything at best quality without delay or hiccup. And everyday operation is smooth as butter without any lag or slowdowns. Granted, this is very early days, but I am hopeful this will continue.
- Battery life is astounding. I charged it on Saturday night and hit 100% at 10.20pm. I took it off charger and only put it back on at 2% while writing this review and I had nearly 9 hrs and 30mins of screen on time over 1 day and 3 hours. That includes 64 mins of voice calls. Please note that I was home all day on Wifi, but still, I have never seen times like that, not least from a 2300 odd mah battery. Awesome. It also charges pretty fast.
- Other stuff - water proofing is great, finally have USB-C, charges really quickly with the included adaptive charging brick, finally has a blue light filter.
And now for the balance of the review:
- Slippery despite its size, so a case or a skin is advisable.
- 16gb of internal memory nearly broke the deal for me, but a 64gb card and some transferring of apps has left me with 3.8gb left to play with internally. Definitely not ideal and a very cheap move from Samsung, but I'm also hoping Nougat brings adoptable storage soon which will eliminate this as an issue (here's hoping!).
- No notification light is something I have to adjust to, but the always on display does help *somewhat* ( I prefer the light as it's something that alerts me from afar, whereas the display is on regardless of whether you have a notification or not).
- Camera as described above has some shortcomings.
- Usual Samsung software compromised with bloatware - lots of useless stuff on here that eats into that 16gb that I cannot delete (Microsoft suite, Samsung junk, usual duplicate apps that we all use the Google version of). I'll keep trying the usual routes to rid the phone of this but I may have to wait a while.
Other than these points, I am really pleased. It feels nice to have paid relatively little for a device that feels so premium. I know there are other phones at relatively low prices that kill this on specs (OP3, Axon 7, Honor 8, etc) but they are generally much bigger handsets, so for anyone looking at something smaller, this is a great buy.
TL;DR, it's great, buy one if you like small phones ?
I always wanted a phone with an small amoled screen and water proofing so i jumped ship from the huge mate 8 to witch i am comparing. I agree with your pros but i found: 1-the camera is average and lacking OIS (need very stable hands), 2- cannot use sd card as default storage (very handy on mate 8), 3- phone very slippery, 4- Design and Screen of a3 2016 seemed better (personal opinion), 5- no stutter but little slow (comparing to mate 8). Only lacks IR blaster to check all boxes but we can't have everything.
Great feedback, thanks guys.
You mentioned not display is good but not awesome, could you elaborate? Is issue clarity or something else? Thanks.
Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk
mario24601 said:
Great feedback, thanks guys.
You mentioned not display is good but not awesome, could you elaborate? Is issue clarity or something else? Thanks.
Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coming from a larger phone with a quad HD screen, it's never going to look as dazzlingly sharp, but on a 4.7 inch screen 720p still looks great and it is perfectly sharp and clear - if you've ever seen an iPhone screen, this feels much the same. Colours can be adjusted to your preference - I prefer accurate rather than punchy, but you can set it to either or somewhere in between.
I've had everything from a galaxy s6 which has crazy high pixel density to a Moto x, and personally I prefer the 720p smaller screen because it's far more efficient and I don't notice the pixel density difference after an hour or two.
Hope this helps.
Sunil_Kaura said:
Coming from a larger phone with a quad HD screen, it's never going to look as dazzlingly sharp, but on a 4.7 inch screen 720p still looks great and it is perfectly sharp and clear - if you've ever seen an iPhone screen, this feels much the same. Colours can be adjusted to your preference - I prefer accurate rather than punchy, but you can set it to either or somewhere in between.
I've had everything from a galaxy s6 which has crazy high pixel density to a Moto x, and personally I prefer the 720p smaller screen because it's far more efficient and I don't notice the pixel density difference after an hour or two.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
Sent from my Moto X using Tapatalk
Thanks for sharing this. I am also very happy with this phone so far. It's my second day with it, the battery is at 39% with 4h45 sot and 1d3h total since unplugged. In a night of 9 hours, the phone just lost 3%.
I have noticed though that wifi is constantly detected as running by betterbatterysats, even if it's turned off. Any idea how to fix this?
patci32 said:
I have noticed though that wifi is constantly detected as running by betterbatterysats, even if it's turned off. Any idea how to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you checked in Settings -> Connections -> Location?
There are some wifi settings behind it (in location method and improve accuracy) you can deactivate.
F157 said:
Have you checked in Settings -> Connections -> Location?
There are some wifi settings behind it (in location method and improve accuracy) you can deactivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Indeed, I didn't know. Thanks, I hope this works.
---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------
F157 said:
Have you checked in Settings -> Connections -> Location?
There are some wifi settings behind it (in location method and improve accuracy) you can deactivate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also, could you please tell me if you use other settings to improve your battery life?
patci32 said:
Indeed, I didn't know. Thanks, I hope this works.
---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------
Also, could you please tell me if you use other settings to improve your battery life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mm, nothing special yet, as I'm really happy with battery life so far.
What I did in the past with other devices is for example use the app greenify (needs root) to hibernate apps you don't want to run in the background.
Also, something that really helped me with my old s4 mini was to set mobile network to 2g, and only switch to lte once required.
And as always, use wifi instead of mobile network as often as possible, disable Bluetooth if not needed, etc.
£280?!?! That's highway robbery for a device with 720p, small battery and everything in budget-range. You get this, all the bells and whistles for £150 with a well known Chinese brand. Now I know why I'd never ever get a Slamsug.
iMaterial said:
£280?!?! That's highway robbery for a device with 720p, small battery and everything in budget-range. You get this, all the bells and whistles for £150 with a well known Chinese brand. Now I know why I'd never ever get a Slamsug.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please could you elaborate on one of these phones that you can get for £150? I'm pretty clued up but if I've missed something I'd be keen for you to share what you've found for myself and the community - my mother needs a new phone so if you've seen something better than the A3 for less I'd love to buy it
Sunil_Kaura said:
Please could you elaborate on one of these phones that you can get for £150? I'm pretty clued up but if I've missed something I'd be keen for you to share what you've found for myself and the community - my mother needs a new phone so if you've seen something better than the A3 for less I'd love to buy it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which stats are you looking for? Battery? Screen res? SoC power?
Compare, with €150 phones, battery, res, SoC, well anything really part from 10 mm in size.
iMaterial said:
Which stats are you looking for? Battery? Screen res? SoC power?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I'm referring to your comment that you could get a better phone for £150, so I guess I'm wondering what phone you are saying is better for that price...
The battery life of the A3 is epic, the PPI is still perfectly decent (720p on 4.7 inches is still perfectly usable and arguably 1080p is unnecessary) and the SoC is both fat and frugal.
So really I'm wondering whether you can get something the same or better for less money
I'd be happy with an alternative with same form factor. Any recommendations? The A3 still not available in US.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
mario24601 said:
I'd be happy with an alternative with same form factor. Any recommendations? The A3 still not available in US.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
4.5 to 4.7" screen, 720p res. 2015 - today, only 4-5 options comes up.
http://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2015&nHeightMax=135&nDisplayResMin=921600&fDisplayInchesMin=4.5&fDisplayInchesMax=4.7
Only A3, Sony X and Z5 compact, Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro has enough RAM, battery and goodies. LG Spirit and Alcatel Idol 3 only has 1 GB and 1.5 GB RAM, not really a viable option.
Sunil_Kaura said:
Well I'm referring to your comment that you could get a better phone for £150, so I guess I'm wondering what phone you are saying is better for that price...
The battery life of the A3 is epic, the PPI is still perfectly decent (720p on 4.7 inches is still perfectly usable and arguably 1080p is unnecessary) and the SoC is both fat and frugal.
So really I'm wondering whether you can get something the same or better for less money
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Redmi 4 Pro can be had for €150 and its battery life is Epic also, the Redmi 3 Pro is way better than A3 and Redmi 4 Pro, with 720p but alas 5". Redmi note 3 is also really good, for even less than €150. Samsung is priced at least £100 than it should, but the same can be said about Sony and Apple also.
iMaterial said:
4.5 to 4.7" screen, 720p res. 2015 - today, only 4-5 options comes up.
http://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2015&nHeightMax=135&nDisplayResMin=921600&fDisplayInchesMin=4.5&fDisplayInchesMax=4.7
Only A3, Sony X and Z5 compact, Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro has enough RAM, battery and goodies. LG Spirit and Alcatel Idol 3 only has 1 GB and 1.5 GB RAM, not really a viable option.
The Redmi 4 Pro can be had for €150 and its battery life is Epic also, the Redmi 3 Pro is way better than A3 and Redmi 4 Pro, with 720p but alas 5". Redmi note 3 is also really good, for even less than €150. Samsung is priced at least £100 than it should, but the same can be said about Sony and Apple also.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree the Xiaomi phones are compelling - my main issue is the fact that they are all grey imports - many purchasers have reported that they do not get any warranty support whatsoever, they generally require a more experienced android user to side load the Google play store, and they have sketchy android skins which have also been reported to spy on their users.
Don't get me wrong, Touchwiz (or Grace UI as it's now known) is not exactly great, but I'd rather know I can walk into a Samsung store and get a problem fixed than rely on a Hong Kong based website for support.
I think it's only fair to compare this phone to what can be had in Europe, and in that regard, it blows the Sony X Compact, Alcatel and others out of the water.
And given its build quality and design, it's good value compared to phones that retail for double this cost.
Also, most Xiaomi phones don't come with NFC (no android pay), some don't have scratch resistant glass, no quick charging, etc
The A3 also uses a processor built on the 14nm process which is up to date technology, whereas the Xiaomi phones at that price point use outdated processors like the 650 and 616.
The 14nm process is what gives the A3 it's great battery life without needing a 4000mAh battery and heavier construction.
A final point - check out the videos of the Redmi note 3 bend test - not encouraging! (I will add the Redmi 3 pro did significantly better though which is good progress).
Sunil_Kaura said:
I agree the Xiaomi phones are compelling - my main issue is the fact that they are all grey imports - many purchasers have reported that they do not get any warranty support whatsoever, they generally require a more experienced android user to side load the Google play store, and they have sketchy android skins which have also been reported to spy on their users.
Don't get me wrong, Touchwiz (or Grace UI as it's now known) is not exactly great, but I'd rather know I can walk into a Samsung store and get a problem fixed than rely on a Hong Kong based website for support.
I think it's only fair to compare this phone to what can be had in Europe, and in that regard, it blows the Sony X Compact, Alcatel and others out of the water.
And given its build quality and design, it's good value compared to phones that retail for double this cost.
Also, most Xiaomi phones don't come with NFC (no android pay), some don't have scratch resistant glass, no quick charging, etc
The A3 also uses a processor built on the 14nm process which is up to date technology, whereas the Xiaomi phones at that price point use outdated processors like the 650 and 616.
The 14nm process is what gives the A3 it's great battery life without needing a 4000mAh battery and heavier construction.
A final point - check out the videos of the Redmi note 3 bend test - not encouraging! (I will add the Redmi 3 pro did significantly better though which is good progress).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Redmi 4 Pro that I bought for a friend in Jan has the 14 nm Snapdragon 625. I can agree that it might lack a few finishing touches, but I could buy it for €150 inc shipping from aliexpress and get it in 7-9 days. But it's half the price, and I know the Adreno is a better GPU than the Mali.
Both on the Xiaomi and the Slamsug, first thing I would do it TWRP and LAOS ROM, they can keep their crap TW and MIUI, can't stand it.
Never the less, it shouldn't be 2x the price for something that is almost inferior in some points and better on others. Esp not in 2017, maybe some years ago, but every day there are better and better phones for under €200, like the Moto G5 and such, only problem is they are so damn big, and big phones are 99/100 new that are coming out, these days, sadly.
iMaterial said:
The Redmi 4 Pro that I bought for a friend in Jan has the 14 nm Snapdragon 625. I can agree that it might lack a few finishing touches, but I could buy it for €150 inc shipping from aliexpress and get it in 7-9 days. But it's half the price, and I know the Adreno is a better GPU than the Mali.
Both on the Xiaomi and the Slamsug, first thing I would do it TWRP and LAOS ROM, they can keep their crap TW and MIUI, can't stand it.
Never the less, it shouldn't be 2x the price for something that is almost inferior in some points and better on others. Esp not in 2017, maybe some years ago, but every day there are better and better phones for under €200, like the Moto G5 and such, only problem is they are so damn big, and big phones are 99/100 new that are coming out, these days, sadly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't disagree there - it's frustrating how few phones there are under 5 inches available.
I will say though that besides the Xiaomi phones which look to have a nice build, the Moto G4 is very cheap feeling, as are most of the other phones available here in that price bracket, so I would happily pay a little more for a nice looking and premium feeling device.
If the Samsung we're £220 I think it'd sell by the bucket load as £20-40 above phones like the G4 would likely tempt many up, but at £280 I agree that it's a harder sell for the lay person.
I'm looking at from the other side - it's a mild compromise from an S7 or a iPhone 6s/7 , but it's half the price, rather than double that of a cheaper device.
And it absolutely looks and feels as good as a £5-600 phone.
Sunil_Kaura said:
Can't disagree there - it's frustrating how few phones there are under 5 inches available.
I will say though that besides the Xiaomi phones which look to have a nice build, the Moto G4 is very cheap feeling, as are most of the other phones available here in that price bracket, so I would happily pay a little more for a nice looking and premium feeling device.
If the Samsung we're £220 I think it'd sell by the bucket load as £20-40 above phones like the G4 would likely tempt many up, but at £280 I agree that it's a harder sell for the lay person.
I'm looking at from the other side - it's a mild compromise from an S7 or a iPhone 6s/7 , but it's half the price, rather than double that of a cheaper device.
And it absolutely looks and feels as good as a £5-600 phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are so many on this forum and in other places that airs the same frustration, so few options for a mobile ca 130mm lenght and 4.5 - 4.7" screen (720p at least), that I'm starting to wonder if we should do something about it, maybe talk to so manufacturer to make at least 1-2 phones under 5"
The Redmi 4 Pro I used for a few weeks felt no worse in build than the Iphone 6 or 6S I have tried a few times, both in metal around 140 - 145mm size. But for €310 I can get a Xiaomi Mi 5 with 820 and have €100 in change over. I have never held a Moto G, last Motorola I have tried was the 4.3" Razr Maxx and it felt solid as a rock.
The J5 goes for around €180-190 here and I see no reason why this smaller, entry level A3 shouldn't be priced in a similar fashion. These days due to deaths in the family and such I'm so poor that €100 is more than I can spare and my Android mobile that I have now is from 2012 or so, single core with 512 MB RAM and I hate every minute when I'm using it. I'm lucky to have been given a 2009 Sony Ericsson C901 as my main caller.
Just my 1¢ (It used to be 2¢, but due to the recession I've had to make cutbacks)
---------- Post added at 07:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:16 PM ----------
What annoys me a lot is also that this A3 is bigger than the A3 (2016) and the battery is only 50 mAh bigger. They could easily have put a 2500 - 2800 mAh battery in this one, just like the Sony Z3, Z5 or X compact, which is 5 mm smaller.
My last perfect phone was the original moto x. I still use it. I am not a power user but the X just needs lil more power but on cm13 it's not bad.
I don't even mind going with old phone as long as has some custom roms to improve performance.
Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Currently own Note 10+ should I buy Note 20?

Will it be a upgrade or downgrade?
The adaptive refresh rate is nice and the s pen reacts better and the fps is much better.
The form factor i.e aesthetics is pretty much the same. OK the N20 Ultra is a little bit taller.
The display for some does seem to be a little more washed out.
The Exynos version does seem to have warming up issues and some say the screen on time isn't good on the Exynos or Snapdragon varients.
I'd say it's an incremental upgrade for the Ultra.
I wouldn't opt for the Note 20 due to it's cost.
BandOfBrothers1 said:
The adaptive refresh rate is nice and the s pen reacts better and the fps is much better.
The form factor i.e aesthetics is pretty much the same. OK the N20 Ultra is a little bit taller.
The display for some does seem to be a little more washed out.
The Exynos version does seem to have warming up issues and some say the screen on time isn't good on the Exynos or Snapdragon varients.
I'd say it's an incremental upgrade for the Ultra.
I wouldn't opt for the Note 20 due to it's cost.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the explanation, i was considering Note 20, not the ultra.
10+ to 20 is a downgrade.
It is not a downgrade. I had 10 and 10+. Now have a 20. For me flat screen is better. Also better camera and so important for me better zoom. Battery life is not so so but is better. In 3D games Note 10+ was totally disappointing. Overheating and Lagging. Now 20 is really more stable. I talk about Exynos models.
qzan7 said:
10+ to 20 is a downgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is quite true, only camera is improved but all the rest is kinda worse.
propov said:
It is not a downgrade. I had 10 and 10+. Now have a 20. For me flat screen is better. Also better camera and so important for me better zoom. Battery life is not so so but is better. In 3D games Note 10+ was totally disappointing. Overheating and Lagging. Now 20 is really more stable. I talk about Exynos models.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The better battery and gameplay is because the screen had been downgrade to work with the poor processor. You could've easily turned the 10+ to a lower resolution to get better battery and gameplay. Only real update is the cameras.
I moved from note 10+ because of the new processor, camera, flat screen, and 5G. I take a lot of notes and flat screen vs curved is just better in my opinion.

Question K40 Pro Heating Issue

Hello K40 Pro / Mi11X Pro Users,
I am planning to Buy K40 Pro 8GB 256 GB Variant within few days. I play PUBG regularly. Also I love photography. I have seen some people are saying that K40 Pro heats a lots, specially on PUBG HDR Gaming or Camera App.
Is that True ?
Thank You Very Much.
I would love to listen to your K40 Pro / Mi 11i / Mi 11X Pro experience.
If you play heavy graphic game like genshij impact or crank up the graphic of some game to the max then the heating issue is real. After all only the gaming phone like rog 5 or magic 6 could handle the heating issue of the 888 on heavy game.
AveyBD said:
Hello K40 Pro / Mi11X Pro Users,
I am planning to Buy K40 8GB 256 GB Variant within few days. I play PUBG regularly. Also I love photography. I have seen some people are saying that K40 Pro heats a lots, specially on PUBG HDR Gaming or Camera App.
Is that True ?
Thank You Very Much.
I would love to listen to your K40 Pro / Mi 11i / Mi 11X Pro experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use it for a full week and seem like there're no Heating issue with my device.
no heating issue with hdr pubg very smooth for longer time
makiothekid said:
Use it for a full week and seem like there're no Heating issue with my device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you play heavy games ???
Blezi said:
If you play heavy graphic game like genshij impact or crank up the graphic of some game to the max then the heating issue is real. After all only the gaming phone like rog 5 or magic 6 could handle the heating issue of the 888 on heavy game.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will not play heavy games too much. May be PUBG for one hour in Smooth Extreme . Will it make the phone heated ?
marshharsha said:
no heating issue with hdr pubg very smooth for longer time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much for clearing my confusion
AveyBD said:
Thank you very much for clearing my confusion
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah just because of bloatware and background process eating cpu constantly so disable or delete them completely with root then no heating issue at all
AveyBD said:
Do you play heavy games ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I play Arena of valor at max setting 122hz, watch youtube for hours.
Any Indian website that resells the Mi 11X Pro? I've already tried Big Brother Google, no positive results...
marshharsha said:
Yeah just because of bloatware and background process eating cpu constantly so disable or delete them completely with root then no heating issue at all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What exactly did you disable? I had the K40 Pro Plus and dumped it (was running Xiaomi.eu and planned to dev a kernel for it) but it would heat up just downloading apps, pretty much anything I did on it would make the entire top half of the device "cook." I put a temperature gun to it and it was ridiculous how high it got. The only thing that worked was putting a radiator cooler on it, and well, I really couldn't stand carrying around a radiator fan and a USB-C cable with me just so the phone wouldn't overheat. Back to my Op8T since just curious what you disabled to remove the heat.
mslezak said:
What exactly did you disable? I had the K40 Pro Plus and dumped it (was running Xiaomi.eu and planned to dev a kernel for it) but it would heat up just downloading apps, pretty much anything I did on it would make the entire top half of the device "cook." I put a temperature gun to it and it was ridiculous how high it got. The only thing that worked was putting a radiator cooler on it, and well, I really couldn't stand carrying around a radiator fan and a USB-C cable with me just so the phone wouldn't overheat. Back to my Op8T since just curious what you disabled to remove the heat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: And to answer your question, some discussed disabling NFC by removing its components in order to stop the heating while using the .EU builds.
To be fair, I have been criticizing the recent choices of smartphone makers, and I feel like the latest one (plastic frames) made the issue with the SD888 even worse.
My K20 Pro (and many other flagships before 2021) heats up while under heavy use, but it dissipates the heat thanks to its aluminum frame (and it, although not as much and jokingly, can use one's hands as "water cooling" thanks to the blood flow).
I usually don't like people who mumble about conspiracies, but this trend feels like a slippery slope (it feels like the manufacturers are slowly "testing" which BS they can shove down the customers' throats without backlash).
First the headphone jack, then the notch (while there was a pop-up mechanism as an alternative, people complain how it's a moving part but aren't aware that a replacement is up to around 20$), then the "environmentally-friendly" lack of a charger in flagships and now the use of plastic.
But the price gets higher and the value stagnates or actually gets traded off.
I considered buying the Mi 11i but then I saw all the cases of overheating. Then I thought "well, the OnePlus 9 costs at least 200$ more here, it will probably have a metal frame and better thermals if they want you to pay so much". But lo and behold, it also has a plastic frame and to "cover" that, they capped the in-game fps to 60 so people wouldn't see the mess that the SD888 is.
I am honestly appalled by the fact that there are so many phones released by Xiaomi this year but not a single one is an optimal choice.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a good screen and a 108MP camera but its CPU is mediocre and it can't record beyond [email protected]
The Poco F3 has a great CPU that doesn't overheat but has the same 48MP camera as my Redmi K20 Pro while officially only supporting [email protected] (while the K20 Pro shoots [email protected] from the get go, and I know GCam lets you enforce [email protected] on the F3 but that's just an improvisation).
The Mi11i has a 108MP camera but its CPU overheats due to the incompetence of Xiaomi and Qualcomm when it comes to thermal design.
And the Mi 11 has a curved, IMO overkill 1440p screen (I dislike curved screens as someone who owned a Galaxy S9+, and I can say the same about 1440p smartphone screens), a 108MP camera but an unattractive design and an even higher price tag.
My point:
For the same reasons you mentioned (and more), I am going to steer clear of the SD888, and am buying the Poco F3 instead of the Mi 11i since the price here is 200$ lower, there is an active development for it and because my K20 Pro is damaged and dying.
Yet it's frustrating how there are so many new phones nowadays but none can provide what I want without having to pay as much as for a goddamn gaming laptop(which I didn't have to do 2 years ago when I bought an "all-screen" phone with a headphone jack, flagship processor with decent thermals, an aluminium frame and a decent camera for 400$ - the Redmi K20 Pro).
2 years later, you pretty much trade a 60Hz screen for 120Hz and a metal frame for a plastic one (and thus potentially worse thermals) while losing the headphone jack and getting a hole blown through the screen for a selfie camera one uses maybe twice a day on average (unless their self-esteem is so low that they need their ego stroked every hour in the form of liked selfies).
To each their own, but nowadays it feels like there is less of a "choice" while buying a phone, and rather a matter of "picking the less disappointing option".
The Marionette said:
EDIT: And to answer your question, some discussed disabling NFC by removing its components in order to stop the heating while using the .EU builds.
To be fair, I have been criticizing the recent choices of smartphone makers, and I feel like the latest one (plastic frames) made the issue with the SD888 even worse.
My K20 Pro (and many other flagships before 2021) heats up while under heavy use, but it dissipates the heat thanks to its aluminum frame (and it, although not as much and jokingly, can use one's hands as "water cooling" thanks to the blood flow).
I usually don't like people who mumble about conspiracies, but this trend feels like a slippery slope (it feels like the manufacturers are slowly "testing" which BS they can shove down the customers' throats without backlash).
First the headphone jack, then the notch (while there was a pop-up mechanism as an alternative, people complain how it's a moving part but aren't aware that a replacement is up to around 20$), then the "environmentally-friendly" lack of a charger in flagships and now the use of plastic.
But the price gets higher and the value stagnates or actually gets traded off.
I considered buying the Mi 11i but then I saw all the cases of overheating. Then I thought "well, the OnePlus 9 costs at least 200$ more here, it will probably have a metal frame and better thermals if they want you to pay so much". But lo and behold, it also has a plastic frame and to "cover" that, they capped the in-game fps to 60 so people wouldn't see the mess that the SD888 is.
I am honestly appalled by the fact that there are so many phones released by Xiaomi this year but not a single one is an optimal choice.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro has a good screen and a 108MP camera but its CPU is mediocre and it can't record beyond [email protected]
The Poco F3 has a great CPU that doesn't overheat but has the same 48MP camera as my Redmi K20 Pro while officially only supporting [email protected] (while the K20 Pro shoots [email protected] from the get go, and I know GCam lets you enforce [email protected] on the F3 but that's just an improvisation).
The Mi11i has a 108MP camera but its CPU overheats due to the incompetence of Xiaomi and Qualcomm when it comes to thermal design.
And the Mi 11 has a curved, IMO overkill 1440p screen (I dislike curved screens as someone who owned a Galaxy S9+, and I can say the same about 1440p smartphone screens), a 108MP camera but an unattractive design and an even higher price tag.
My point:
For the same reasons you mentioned (and more), I am going to steer clear of the SD888, and am buying the Poco F3 instead of the Mi 11i since the price here is 200$ lower, there is an active development for it and because my K20 Pro is damaged and dying.
Yet it's frustrating how there are so many new phones nowadays but none can provide what I want without having to pay as much as for a goddamn gaming laptop(which I didn't have to do 2 years ago when I bought an "all-screen" phone with a headphone jack, flagship processor with decent thermals, an aluminium frame and a decent camera for 400$ - the Redmi K20 Pro).
2 years later, you pretty much trade a 60Hz screen for 120Hz and a metal frame for a plastic one (and thus potentially worse thermals) while losing the headphone jack and getting a hole blown through the screen for a selfie camera one uses maybe twice a day on average (unless their self-esteem is so low that they need their ego stroked every hour in the form of liked selfies).
To each their own, but nowadays it feels like there is less of a "choice" while buying a phone, and rather a matter of "picking the less disappointing option".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
spot on, don't know why xiaomi has been going in this direction but i honestly can't find an optimal choice to upgrade from my K20 pro

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