Technology Android

[THEV1LL4N]

So, I had my LG G4 as my main phone up until around July 2019 due to the battery life becoming very poor and the phone constantly rebooting whenever I took pictures. The replacement battery wasn't great either with poor lifespan all around, only lasting half a day (that's a brand new official battery replacement btw, and after wiping the phone).

So, I switched to an LG Nexus 5X in the meantime (was about 6 months newer to the market, but not as good in terms of specs, and meant that I went from a phone with 3GB RAM and expandable storage to one with 2GB RAM without expandable storage). The phone is beginning to be very slow now as it can't handle some of these newer apps. I have to charge it at least twice a day now (overnight and afternoon). The LG G4 is now being used as a wireless modem for my PC as the router is downstairs.

So, after around 5 years (5 years come May), I may get the Xiaomi Mi 10 or Mi 10 Pro. However, the one thing I'm not sure about is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor. Will it slow my internet speeds down on 4G?

I don't need 5G yet to be honest as I don't even use much data (I've had a 4GB plan for the last 3 years or so) and just trying to keep costs down.

Any more info or thoughts on the Snapdragon 865 will be appreciated. I'm with Three UK, so I think I'll automatically get 5G at no extra cost (not that I need it). Just might mean that my data starts to get consumed more quickly which isn't great.

 

[Pittsey]

I went from a G3 to a One Plus 3t. Now I'm in the pixel 3a. All that matters to me is that my phone is smooth and has a good camera. The 3a is good for both of those but I could do with a bit more storage

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I went from a G3 to a One Plus 3t. Now I'm in the pixel 3a. All that matters to me is that my phone is smooth and has a good camera. The 3a is good for both of those but I could do with a bit more storage

Get a USB-C (male) to USB-A (female) cable, and a portable hard drive - job done!

It would really be a major tick in the box for those Nexus fans, if the Pixel series could have a MicroSD card slot.

Have you thought about subscribing to a Google One plan? The 100GB and 200GB ones are really good value.

 

[dilla]

I wonder if this means the end of headphone jacks in LG phones

https://www.androidpolice.com/2020/01/13/lg-tone-plus-free/

 

[Pittsey]

Get a USB-C (male) to USB-A (female) cable, and a portable hard drive - job done!

It would really be a major tick in the box for those Nexus fans, if the Pixel series could have a MicroSD card slot.

Have you thought about subscribing to a Google One plan? The 100GB and 200GB ones are really good value.

Yeah. I have Google one. I just don't want to delete all my photos from my device

 

[dilla]

Oh, TCL, you didn't learn your lesson from other OEMs doing the same thing: https://www.gsmarena.com/tcl_plexs_...ng_out_with_surprise_bloatware-news-41221.php


Also, anyone download the Byte app? It's from the creator of Vine and is sort of a resurrection of it. I never used TikTok but only heard negative things about it on forums. People were skeptical of a Chinese-owned company and privacy concerns stemming from that. Also, censorship of anti-Chinese stuff.

I did like Vine before it was purchased and shut down but the users aren't quite there as yet for Byte. I know it takes time but you would think that big names on the internet would signing up and advertising their account.

Maybe this thing is going to be a flop.

 

[dilla]

I think MKBHD did a good video on how I feel the mobile industry has been the past 5+ years.

He brought up the point of the plateau and what still happens once we reach that point and he's right. We no longer have those "pillars" of the industry but instead get the focus shifted to refining features and some OEMs do it better than others.

Also, the foldable phone seemed silly at first but I really like the one he has in the video. I think it's Samsung's? Hopefully the perfect the reliability/durability by the time I'm looking to upgrade in several years.

Also, I've been avoiding most of the S20 leaks and news stuff because I don't like being butthurt with the "older" device but I do like Lew's videos a lot and he just released this early look at the S20.

Other places may have official images or something, but I hadn't seen them, but because he now has a case company and gets access to the devices early on, I ended up watching this.

MKBHD talked about the features a bit, too, and those specs look really nice. The 120hz screen is probably the feature I'm most envious of because I have an iPad Pro with Pro Motion and it looks great.

Also, are we using case on our phones or going naked? I don't think it was ever asked, at least not recently. I use a Spigen Tough Armor with a kickstand since I stream video a lot. No complaints with the look and quality and finish on the case but I've seen these aramid fiber case from both Pitaka and Latercase and I got curious.

 

[THEV1LL4N]

Has anyone seen the rumoured specs for the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro? Up to 16GB RAM!! Thats 4x more than I have on this PC.

 

[Pittsey]

Has anyone seen the rumoured specs for the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro? Up to 16GB RAM!! Thats 4x more than I have on this PC.

I'm happy with my 3a until Google stop supporting software updates

 

[dilla]

I think I prefer this single-dot notch more than the one on my S10+. The more media I watch on apps that don't consider the S10+'s notch design, the more I'm getting slapped with the cutout cutting off certain parts of the video until I tell the media player to shrink its size

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/4/21122982/samsung-galaxy-s20-leaked-images-led-case-winfuture

 

[dilla]

Someone went digging through the latest macOS beta and found that there were references to AMD processors in the code.

That will be interesting to see.

 

[masta247]

Someone went digging through the latest macOS beta and found that there were references to AMD processors in the code.

That will be interesting to see.

I can't imagine Apple wanting to miss out on the best mainstream processors for more than a few generations.
Intel's CPUs are still competitive on mobile and in simple office tasks, but in desktop and for high performance, with Ryzen 3000 series (and 4000 series coming later this year) AMD is faster than Intel and miles ahead in terms of efficiency. They are also cheaper, and on the 7nm process, while Intel is stuck with a 2015 architecture at 14nm as the best they can do.

Moreover, Intel will be stuck on 14nm in anything but mobile for at least another year or two, as they are unable to manufacture large chips on their broken 10nm node, and they are only starting work on their 7nm manufacturing (as in construction for physical fabs has only started, meaning years until they are able to make actual products). That's unprecedented stagnation. By the time Intel gets on their 7nm node, AMD's roadmaps point to them already being on TSMC's 3nm node at that time.

As a side note, I wish I invested more into AMD stock. $1000 invested in 2016 would get you over $40000 today. A huge missed opportunity that looked so obvious back then when AMD announced their Zen core, their roadmap, and next-gen console deals. At this point they are *probably* overvalued already, although who knows.

 

[dilla]

I can't imagine Apple wanting to miss out on the best mainstream processors for more than a few generations.
Intel's CPUs are still competitive on mobile and in simple office tasks, but in desktop and for high performance, with Ryzen 3000 series (and 4000 series coming later this year) AMD is faster than Intel and miles ahead in terms of efficiency. They are also cheaper, and on the 7nm process, while Intel is stuck with a 2015 architecture at 14nm as the best they can do.

Moreover, Intel will be stuck on 14nm in anything but mobile for at least another year or two, as they are unable to manufacture large chips on their broken 10nm node, and they are only starting work on their 7nm manufacturing (as in construction for physical fabs has only started, meaning years until they are able to make actual products). That's unprecedented stagnation. By the time Intel gets on their 7nm node, AMD's roadmaps point to them already being on TSMC's 3nm node at that time.

As a side note, I wish I invested more into AMD stock. $1000 invested in 2016 would get you over $40000 today. A huge missed opportunity that looked so obvious back then when AMD announced their Zen core, their roadmap, and next-gen console deals. At this point they are *probably* overvalued already, although who knows.

I get that their CPUs in desktops now offer more performance than Intel models in the same class, but how do you sell this to people that use their desktops for simple, monotonous tasks that aren't as CPU-heavy, such as web browsing or just basic office work? I suppose the cost of a machine with a Ryzen CPU would be lower than an Intel, but do these also consume less power? And I'm sure an i3 equipped CPU might still be cheaper than the Ryzen series you mentioned, so what would you do to still convince them to pay more for a Ryzen over the dinky i3 but still have the benefits of better performance than an equal Intel?

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I can't imagine Apple wanting to miss out on the best mainstream processors for more than a few generations.
Intel's CPUs are still competitive on mobile and in simple office tasks, but in desktop and for high performance, with Ryzen 3000 series (and 4000 series coming later this year) AMD is faster than Intel and miles ahead in terms of efficiency. They are also cheaper, and on the 7nm process, while Intel is stuck with a 2015 architecture at 14nm as the best they can do.

Moreover, Intel will be stuck on 14nm in anything but mobile for at least another year or two, as they are unable to manufacture large chips on their broken 10nm node, and they are only starting work on their 7nm manufacturing (as in construction for physical fabs has only started, meaning years until they are able to make actual products). That's unprecedented stagnation. By the time Intel gets on their 7nm node, AMD's roadmaps point to them already being on TSMC's 3nm node at that time.

As a side note, I wish I invested more into AMD stock. $1000 invested in 2016 would get you over $40000 today. A huge missed opportunity that looked so obvious back then when AMD announced their Zen core, their roadmap, and next-gen console deals. At this point they are *probably* overvalued already, although who knows.

What platform do you use to trade? PM me.

Also, why do some articles claim that AMD lost to Intel?

What are your expectations for AMD Ryzen 4000 series laptops going to be like. Price, power, form-factor? I'm still looking for a new computer and may ditch the idea of getting a desktop altogether and go for a laptop. I will have to hook this up to a monitor with a cable or dock though, keyboard and mouse. My main concern with laptops are their battery life-span and I am much more productive using a desktop setup (but using a dock or video replicator should solve this).

 

[dilla]

I can't imagine Apple wanting to miss out on the best mainstream processors for more than a few generations.
Intel's CPUs are still competitive on mobile and in simple office tasks, but in desktop and for high performance, with Ryzen 3000 series (and 4000 series coming later this year) AMD is faster than Intel and miles ahead in terms of efficiency. They are also cheaper, and on the 7nm process, while Intel is stuck with a 2015 architecture at 14nm as the best they can do.

Moreover, Intel will be stuck on 14nm in anything but mobile for at least another year or two, as they are unable to manufacture large chips on their broken 10nm node, and they are only starting work on their 7nm manufacturing (as in construction for physical fabs has only started, meaning years until they are able to make actual products). That's unprecedented stagnation. By the time Intel gets on their 7nm node, AMD's roadmaps point to them already being on TSMC's 3nm node at that time.

As a side note, I wish I invested more into AMD stock. $1000 invested in 2016 would get you over $40000 today. A huge missed opportunity that looked so obvious back then when AMD announced their Zen core, their roadmap, and next-gen console deals. At this point they are *probably* overvalued already, although who knows.

Also, there's a deal on this that makes it $500. https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty...acd=12309198375458460&VEN3=811005271793044205

We needed cheap/mid-range notebooks to use in a presentation room. I'm sure there's cheaper but that's probably Dell's bargain bin lineup and I was just looking for something with a touchscreen/2-in-1 and an SSD since it could be used while walking around and giving a presentation, so those HDD would be a liability. I wasn't looking just for Ryzen but this was what popped up when I sorted by 2-in-1 and and lowest price lol.

It's not some shitter model line from Dell, is it?

 

[dilla]

How about that $1400 S20 Ultra? lol

I'll watch some impression videos later tonight but from what I've read, this is a solid upgrade from the S10, if you have 5G in your area.

I was surprised that the 120hz display was only in full HD and not QHD. I bet it's gonna suck to be on 1080p on the Ultra model because of how large the screen is. But if you want 120hz...I guess you have to downsize the resolution.

6.9"? How big was the Nexus 7's screen? This feels really absurd, now

 

[masta247]

I was never as disappointed with a Galaxy Flagship launch. Despite the hardware improvements, I am absolutely not interested in paying mandatory stupid tax for a separate 5G modem the size of the chipset that does no good other than drain my battery, and I'm not interested in 120hz screens in a phone. They also ditched the headphone jack and SD slot. The only thing I'm sad about missing out on are the larger camera sensors. Most of all, I refuse to pay $1000 for a phone.

The differences between flagship gens are smaller than ever, yet price increases are larger than ever. Take me back to just 7 years ago when $399 got you flagship Androids. I mean, Apple got shit when their premium-est flagship reached $999 last year. That's what the base S20 now costs. It's as much as the fucking iPhone 11 Pro, and over 40% more than the (still faster) base iPhone 11, lmao. WTF!? Fuck off, Samsung.

Since upper-mid-rangers like the A50 now officially cost 30% of these flagships while offering 80% of the features, I am genuinely hoping that the price has finally reached the boiling point at which people stop buying their S series. I was never as close to getting an iPhone as I am now as well. Hoping Apple fucks Samsung by undercutting them this September and releasing 4G models globally.

I get that their CPUs in desktops now offer more performance than Intel models in the same class, but how do you sell this to people that use their desktops for simple, monotonous tasks that aren't as CPU-heavy, such as web browsing or just basic office work? I suppose the cost of a machine with a Ryzen CPU would be lower than an Intel, but do these also consume less power? And I'm sure an i3 equipped CPU might still be cheaper than the Ryzen series you mentioned, so what would you do to still convince them to pay more for a Ryzen over the dinky i3 but still have the benefits of better performance than an equal Intel?

Ryzen really specializes in high performance. They do use significantly less power at this point, and offer more performance per $. The thing about office use is that it doesn't really matter much - all modern CPUs will be good enough, and Intel is the known evil for most OEMs and businesses to order from.

What platform do you use to trade? PM me.

Also, why do some articles claim that AMD lost to Intel?

What are your expectations for AMD Ryzen 4000 series laptops going to be like. Price, power, form-factor? I'm still looking for a new computer and may ditch the idea of getting a desktop altogether and go for a laptop. I will have to hook this up to a monitor with a cable or dock though, keyboard and mouse. My main concern with laptops are their battery life-span and I am much more productive using a desktop setup (but using a dock or video replicator should solve this).

I actually don't trade now, and I kind of regret. I made a few trades through my bank's platform and that's pretty much it.

Ryzen 4000 laptops are going to be great because they use 7nm Zen 2 processors. 8 cores, 16 threads in mainstream laptops is bonkers too. The powerful laptops do run through batteries super fast.

The headlines about "AMD lost" is a joke based on some analyst who said that AMD's best days are behind it.. this year. I believe GamersNexus picked it up and made it a meme.
To be fair their market share in CPUs is just ~18% despite having CPUs that are better in all metrics at this point, and cheaper at that, yet their market share growth is relatively slow, while Intel are struggling to meet demand despite currently offering potatoes.

 

[dilla]

I was never as disappointed with a Galaxy Flagship launch. Despite the hardware improvements, I am absolutely not interested in paying mandatory stupid tax for a separate 5G modem the size of the chipset that does no good other than drain my battery, and I'm not interested in 120hz screens in a phone. They also ditched the headphone jack and SD slot. The only thing I'm sad about missing out on are the larger camera sensors. Most of all, I refuse to pay $1000 for a phone.

The differences between flagship gens are smaller than ever, yet price increases are larger than ever. Take me back to just 7 years ago when $399 got you flagship Androids. I mean, Apple got shit when their premium-est flagship reached $999 last year. That's what the base S20 now costs. It's as much as the fucking iPhone 11 Pro, and over 40% more than the (still faster) base iPhone 11, lmao. WTF!? Fuck off, Samsung.

Since upper-mid-rangers like the A50 now officially cost 30% of these flagships while offering 80% of the features, I am genuinely hoping that the price has finally reached the boiling point at which people stop buying their S series. I was never as close to getting an iPhone as I am now as well. Hoping Apple fucks Samsung by undercutting them this September and releasing 4G models globally.



Ryzen really specializes in high performance. They do use significantly less power at this point, and offer more performance per $. The thing about office use is that it doesn't really matter much - all modern CPUs will be good enough, and Intel is the known evil for most OEMs and businesses to order from.



I actually don't trade now, and I kind of regret. I made a few trades through my bank's platform and that's pretty much it.

Ryzen 4000 laptops are going to be great because they use 7nm Zen 2 processors. 8 cores, 16 threads in mainstream laptops is bonkers too. The powerful laptops do run through batteries super fast.

The headlines about "AMD lost" is a joke based on some analyst who said that AMD's best days are behind it.. this year. I believe GamersNexus picked it up and made it a meme.
To be fair their market share in CPUs is just ~18% despite having CPUs that are better in all metrics at this point, and cheaper at that, yet their market share growth is relatively slow, while Intel are struggling to meet demand despite currently offering potatoes.

I read somewhere that Apple was releasing a phone at a really low price. I just saw the headline and I think it was on something like Google News, so there's a chance it was a shitty blog looking to bait someone with a clickbait headline. I just did a quick search and saw the 11 was $699? I don't know how I missed this but Apple's base model phone is cheaper, at launch, than the S10e, if I'm not mistaken? That's ridiculous.

I remember when Apple pulled that bullshit where the price slowly crept up and the threshold a few years back was the $1000 phone. I think the iPhone X crossed that threshold? and Apple got grilled for it. Now Apple is backing off....running backwards...and now an base model iPhone is $699. I don't have the MSRPs memorized, but that looks like an MSRP for an LG flagship, at launch, from the past two years or so.

You may not agree with it but Apple set the bar with the pricing a few years back, and that was a bad thing because the price was going up but the features weren't commensurate with the price increase. Now they've back off, but not after the rest of the industry thought Android users would do the same. See: the Pixel and Samsung S line. Maybe Apple's brand value and prestige only had minor bickering from Apple fans (and loud bickering from Android users who weren't getting an iPhone anyway) but this pricing for the S20 has Android fans just as pissed off, it seems. It almost feels like Apple trolled the industry in to following them down the path for the $1000+ phone and then quickly jumped back several steps to offer a phone at the price of a flagship from, like, 2013.

I haven't used a 120hz screen on a phone, or even the 90hz from the OnePlus, but I do like it on my iPad Pro. Compared to my previous Air, the difference is noticeable. But using my Mac, iPad Pro, and S10+ doesn't have me missing the 120hz in the other two devices. I bet it looks nice but it looks to be more of a spec-sheet bragging rights thing rather than something people will find useful. It'll be a standard soon enough but I can't imagine what rush someone would be in to get a 120hz screen and pay more for it. Unless they were planning to upgrade to the S20 anyway.

As for those 2-in-1s I mentioned, I went ahead and ordered them but it seems like it may have been a mistake. As often as I use Windows 10, I didn't realize there was a rather simple feature to connect to a display wirelessly. I tried it with a few computers at the clinic on a 65" Samsung TV we had mounted for presentations and it was so seamless. I was doing it with desktops not even in the same room and it worked just fine. I guess the downside to macOS is it would require AirPlay, which the TVs we have do not have. So my iPad didn't recognize it when streaming a video. I think the TV had Chromecast support, though, so maybe I'll go that route. But these laptops were ordered so that they could be moved from room to room to give presentations on TVs and we planned on doing a wired setup with HDMI but the 2-in-1 used in tablet mode to move through presentations, videos, etc. Looks like a simple desktop would have done just fine and the files just had to be moved around, maybe via USB.

Oh well, lesson learned but my dad insisted on it so I couldn't say shit. But that's a pretty cool feature that was rather simple to setup. I think it uses WiFi? Could be bluetooth.

So these S20 features look cool but I'd be upset on paying that premium for them, if I were upgrading from my S7, like I did last year. I think my S10+ was $799? $899? It was on "sale" on contract for, I think, $200 off, two months after its release. That's still a lot money for a phone and that was the overlap between how long I could wait to upgrade from an S7 and also the price point of the S10+. I don't know how much they go for now, or even this past holidays, but I can't imagine it was more than $200 off what I paid, or would be paying in installments. I wonder how long it would take the S20+ to reach the point most people who are waiting for a price drop would actually bite. Unless the S20 sales tank and we see $300+ off within two or three months, those people are going to be waiting a long time.

As for 5G, I don't know if Sprint has it in Chicago yet. Probably they do but like you said, I'm not looking to pay a premium to get it (since all S20s have a price bump) and I don't know what Sprint charges for 5G; if it's included in the normal plan or if it will be an add-on charge. LTE was a $10, or so, additional charge when their LTE network went live and even if you still had a 3G phone or didn't live in an LTE market, you were still charged for it.

Speaking of Sprint, it looks like the merger with T-Mobile doesn't have anymore roadblocks. Some are concerned that the merger is anti-consumer and others are happy our network is now expanding to include TMo's network. I believe Sprint already had a roaming agreement with TMo but I don't think I ever noticed my phone roaming. It usually gives an alert and a letter "R" by the signal strength to denote roaming. Unless there's different types of roaming and it didn't set off a roaming alert whenever Sprint's coverage stopped bu TMo's did. Someone from Germany commented that when their #3 and #4 carriers merged, their service got much better. I imagine the same happens for us on Sprint but I'm still worried about prices. Sprint was still the cheapest for us, I believe, and TMo was only a tad bit more per month. Or the same. But if they're merging and gunning for that #1 spot of Verizon or ATT, I fear they'll bump up the prices, changes the plans a bit to throttle earlier on and throttle much harder.

But I'm excited at the prospect of our coverage getting better and hopefully faster. I hope that doesn't fade away when the other shoe drops and TMo becomes a bastard like ATT and Verizon are.

 

[dilla]

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...eper-division-lurks-beneath-the-specs-sheets/

 

[THEV1LL4N]

I was never as disappointed with a Galaxy Flagship launch. Despite the hardware improvements, I am absolutely not interested in paying mandatory stupid tax for a separate 5G modem the size of the chipset that does no good other than drain my battery, and I'm not interested in 120hz screens in a phone. They also ditched the headphone jack and SD slot. The only thing I'm sad about missing out on are the larger camera sensors. Most of all, I refuse to pay $1000 for a phone.

The differences between flagship gens are smaller than ever, yet price increases are larger than ever. Take me back to just 7 years ago when $399 got you flagship Androids. I mean, Apple got shit when their premium-est flagship reached $999 last year. That's what the base S20 now costs. It's as much as the fucking iPhone 11 Pro, and over 40% more than the (still faster) base iPhone 11, lmao. WTF!? Fuck off, Samsung.

Since upper-mid-rangers like the A50 now officially cost 30% of these flagships while offering 80% of the features, I am genuinely hoping that the price has finally reached the boiling point at which people stop buying their S series. I was never as close to getting an iPhone as I am now as well. Hoping Apple fucks Samsung by undercutting them this September and releasing 4G models globally.



Ryzen really specializes in high performance. They do use significantly less power at this point, and offer more performance per $. The thing about office use is that it doesn't really matter much - all modern CPUs will be good enough, and Intel is the known evil for most OEMs and businesses to order from.



I actually don't trade now, and I kind of regret. I made a few trades through my bank's platform and that's pretty much it.

Ryzen 4000 laptops are going to be great because they use 7nm Zen 2 processors. 8 cores, 16 threads in mainstream laptops is bonkers too. The powerful laptops do run through batteries super fast.

The headlines about "AMD lost" is a joke based on some analyst who said that AMD's best days are behind it.. this year. I believe GamersNexus picked it up and made it a meme.
To be fair their market share in CPUs is just ~18% despite having CPUs that are better in all metrics at this point, and cheaper at that, yet their market share growth is relatively slow, while Intel are struggling to meet demand despite currently offering potatoes.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about the new Samsung flagships. I am sure they will be great phones, but comparatively speaking, it's quite hard to justify spending that much on a phone when there are other phones coming out this year that will have most of those features or very good alternatives (i.e. the Mi 10 series which uses a very similar 108MP setup and will probably be £400-£500 or so cheaper - just my guess on pricing). I just feel like Samsung missed an opportunity here to offer an improved product and normalise pricing or even reduce it like Google did, though this strategy would've worked better for Samsung. Instead, they went for the ultra high end and introduced several upgrades/new features to slap a huge price tag on their 2020 lineup and an increased pricing band, the new 'premium'.

Anyone else find it odd that the Mi 10 has a larger battery than the Mi 10 Pro? The one really off-putting thing for me is that it has also ditched the headphone jack. I will be waiting for news on the Google Pixel 4a to compare my options. I hope they retain the headphone jack in this, though I think they will follow suit. I just think that manufacturers are finally going to ditch the port this year so that their phones don't look outdated.


As for computers, I think I will be getting a Ryzen 5 machine as it should be capable all-round (most likely late this year or early next year). I am looking at Lenovo to offer some great products and customisability as I get a decent corporate discount from them. If the options aren't too great, then I will look at Box.co.uk. I would love a small form factor PC or a good laptop to save on space in the home. Will have to consider getting a small desk.