Choosing a Smartphone - Help!

[Freezanator]

I've created a topic yesterday regarding the OnePlus 3T vs the LG G6 which you can view below and I've still haven't come to a conclusion yet. This time around however, (I'm really hating myself now) I found a few more devices to compare them with (all of which are around the same price point). 

Here they are, with some basic specifications, sorted according to ascending price (You can click on their links to view them in greater detail):

Please view the specifications which I have stated as some specifications of these devices vary according to region.

 

1. OnePlus 3T [1569 MYR/ 365 USD]

SIM: Dual Nano-SIM support

Display: 1080p, 5.5", Optic AMOLED touchscreen (Corning Gorilla Glass 4)
SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
GPU: Adreno 530
MicroSD: No
Memory: 6 GB
Storage: 64 GB

Rear camera(s): 16 MP, f/2.0 with OIS + EIS

Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.0

USB: USB Type-C

Fingerprint sensor: Front mounted (on home button)

Battery: 3400 mAh Li-ion battery

Nice-to-haves: Near stock Android experience, Dash Charging

 

2. Xiaomi Mi 5s [1599 MYR/ 373 USD]

SIM: Dual Nano-SIM support

Display: 1080p, 5.15", IPS LCD touchscreen (Corning Gorilla Glass 4)

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821
GPU: Adreno 530

MicroSD: No
Memory: 4 GB
Storage: 128 GB

Rear camera(s): 12 MP, f/2.0 with no stabilization

Front camera: 4 MP, f/2.0 

USB: USB Type-C

Fingerprint sensor: Front mounted (on home button)

Battery: 3200 mAh Li-ion battery

Nice-to-haves: 3D Force Touch

 

3. Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge [1679 MYR/ 391 USD]

SIM: Dual Nano-SIM support

Display: 1440p, 5.5", Super AMOLED touchscreen (Corning Gorilla Glass 4)

SoC: Exynos 8890 Octa

GPU: Mali-T880 MP12

MicroSD: Yes, up to 256 GB (uses SIM 2 slot)
Memory: 4 GB

Storage: 32 GB

Rear camera(s): 12 MP, f/1.7 with OIS + EIS

Front camera: 5 MP, f/1.7 

USB: MicroUSB
Fingerprint sensor: Front mounted (on home button)

Battery: 3600 mAh Li-ion battery

Nice-to-haves: IP68 ingress protection, Curved edge screen, Samsung Pay

 

4. LG V20 [1679 MYR/ 391 USD]

SIM: Dual Nano-SIM support

Display: 1440p, 5.7", IPS LCD touchscreen (Corning Gorilla Glass 4)

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820

GPU: Adreno 530

MicroSD: Yes, up to 256 GB (dedicated slot)

Memory: 4 GB 

Storage: 64 GB

Rear camera(s): 16 MP, f/1.8 + 8 MP, f/2.4 with OIS + EIS

Front camera: 5 MP, f/1.9 

USB: USB Type-C

Fingerprint sensor: Rear mounted

Battery: 3200 mAh Li-ion battery

Nice-to-haves: Included B&O H3 headphones, 32-bit audio support, Secondary display, Color spectrum sensor

 

5. Xiaomi Mi Note 2 [1679 MYR/ 391 USD]

SIM: Dual Nano-SIM support

Display: 1080p, 5.7", AMOLED touchscreen (No protection)

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

GPU: Adreno 530

MicroSD: No

Memory: 6 GB

Storage: 128 GB

Rear camera(s): 22.5 MP, f/2.0 with EIS

Front camera: 8 MP, f/2.0

USB: USB Type-C

Fingerprint sensor: Front mounted (on home button)

Battery: 4070 mAh Li-ion battery

Nice-to-haves: Large battery capacity, Slightly curved screen

 

6. LG G6 [1839 MYR/ 429 USD]

SIM: Dual Nano-SIM support

Display: 1440p, 5.7", IPS LCD touchscreen (Corning Gorilla Glass 3)

SoC: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821

GPU: Adreno 530

MicroSD: Yes, up to 2 TB (uses SIM 2 slot)

Memory: 4 GB

Storage: 64 GB

Rear camera(s): 13 MP, f/1.8 + 13 MP, f/2.4 with OIS

Front camera: 5 MP, f/2.2

USB: USB Type-C

Fingerprint sensor: Rear mounted

Battery: 3300 mAh Li-ion battery

Nice-to-haves: IP68 ingress protection, 32-bit audio support, Wide angle capability, Dolby Vision/ HDR 10 compliant

 

 

So, which of these 6 devices should I pick? Please state reasons to support your choice. Any suggestions are highly appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

[Jurrunio]

I myself use the LG V20. I only used it for 8 months.

 

Pros:

Secondary monitor. You can have the clock showing while using fullscreen apps, such as video players and games

Wide-angle front camera

Dedicated SD slot. I myself use 2 SIM cards because I often travel between two countries. This phone allows me to use 2 SIM and and 1 micro SD at the same time.

Replaceable battery. Despite its lower battery life compared to other phones when constantly in use, not much phones can get back to full power after a battery replacement these days.

Quad DAC chip on the headphone jack. Enthusiasts will find it useful.

 

Cons:

Front mounted camera is somewhat bad.

LG mounted a few bloats on it. Though not as bad as Samsung's.

 

Overall a nice phone.

[Freezanator]

2 minutes ago, Jurrunio said:

I myself use the LG V20. I only used it for 8 months.

 

Pros:

Secondary monitor. You can have the clock showing while using fullscreen apps, such as video players and games

Wide-angle front camera

Dedicated SD slot. I myself use 2 SIM cards because I often travel between two countries. This phone allows me to use 2 SIM and and 1 micro SD at the same time.

Replaceable battery. Despite its lower battery life compared to other phones when constantly in use, not much phones can get back to full power after a battery replacement these days.

Quad DAC chip on the headphone jack. Enthusiasts will find it useful.

 

Cons:

Front mounted camera is somewhat bad.

LG mounted a few bloats on it. Though not as bad as Samsung's.

So, which of the 6 do you vote for? I assume the LG V20, as it is the only smartphone of the 6 which you have used. 

 

@MrUnknownEMC and @Limecat86, both of you chose the OnePlus 3T and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge respectively. Could you share your opinions and state why? Thanks!  

[Trustadz]

It might seem that you have a lot of choice, but you don't really. When you look at the real selling points you'll realize there isn't as much to differentiate them all against. Sure one might have a better camera, but I don't use the camera that often so it's not a priority to me, might be for you though.

 

Personally I'm waiting for the iPhone 8 if it's as slick as the rumors suggest. Otherwise I think i'm going for the "Essential Phone" which look awesome af and is one of the sturdiest phones around, if their claims are true. Need to see droptests from independent reviewers though.

[GER_T4IGA]

I don't see why you should buy a 3T over an S7E other than bad local pricing. If those are within reasonable distances the S7E is superior.
The 6GB Ram is not really a selling point, of you have an SD card slot the internal storage probably isn't either. Both have good/great cameras. Apart from the fact that benchmarks have become less and less important the 821 is within throwing distance of the Exynos 8890. S7E has a better screen and a little larger battery. The only advantage to the 3T I can see is the front mounted faster fingerprint reader

EDIT: i am basing this heavily on loca prices. Some numbers of your area might be interesting or a 'idc about money' statement.

[Freezanator]

1 minute ago, Trustadz said:

It might seem that you have a lot of choice, but you don't really. When you look at the real selling points you'll realize there isn't as much to differentiate them all against. Sure one might have a better camera, but I don't use the camera that often so it's not a priority to me, might be for you though.

 

Personally I'm waiting for the iPhone 8 if it's as slick as the rumors suggest. Otherwise I think i'm going for the "Essential Phone" which look awesome af and is one of the sturdiest phones around, if their claims are true. Need to see droptests from independent reviewers though.

I'm too poor for the latest offerings from Samsung or Apple or even Essential . I'm actually leaning towards the LG G6 because it has an IP68 certification and the latest SD821 but its major flaw (to me) is that there's no capacitive buttons on the chin. Although the removal of those buttons are required to achieve the stunning 18:9 aspect ratio, I just can't live with on-screen navigation ones. They require like half a second to swipe into the screen and in certain landscape games, they won't disappear causing you to touch em'. Then, there's the cheapest of them all, the OnePlus 3T which is just basic, hardcore performance, which I like and at the same time don't as features such as ingress protection and a wide-angle camera are really great features to have. I'm torn .

[Freezanator]

2 minutes ago, GER_T4IGA said:

I don't see why you should buy a 3T over an S7E other than bad local pricing. If those are within reasonable distances the S7E is superior.
The 6GB Ram is not really a selling point, of you have an SD card slot the internal storage probably isn't either. Both have good/great cameras. Apart from the fact that benchmarks have become less and less important the 821 is within throwing distance of the Exynos 8890. S7E has a better screen and a little larger battery. The only advantage to the 3T I can see is the front mounted faster fingerprint reader

Yes, I agree the S7 Edge really has the edge here in terms of price, but its 1440p screen kind of cripples its performance in graphics as well as battery life a little. Plus, the lack of USB Type-C (which I got so attached to after only 1 month of use with my OnePlus 3, later sold to my sister) really makes the S7 Edge feel less worthy, even though its cost has been driven down by a lot.

[bigneo]

3 minutes ago, Freezanator said:

I'm too poor for the latest offerings from Samsung or Apple or even Essential . 

1

What about OP 5? I upgraded to it from Asus ZenFone 2 and all I can say is wow  

[Freezanator]

Just now, bigneo said:

What about OP 5? I upgraded to it from Asus ZenFone 2 and all I can say is wow  

I forgot to mention, my budget is strictly 2000 MYR (~450 USD) and the OnePlus 5 costs quite a bit more than that. Plus, since I record quite often on 1080p60, the presence of stabilization only on 1080p30 on the OnePlus 5 really kills it for me.  

[GER_T4IGA]

2 minutes ago, Freezanator said:

Yes, I agree the S7 Edge really has the edge here in terms of price, but its 1440p screen kind of cripples its performance in graphics as well as battery life a little. Plus, the lack of USB Type-C (which I got so attached to after only 1 month of use with my OnePlus 3, later sold to my sister) really makes the S7 Edge feel less worthy, even though its cost has been driven down by a lot.

This is  more of a question than an answer from my side but some S7E users might be able to help. Wasn't there a debate about redering resolution set in options for the S8? If so you might be able to tone it donw on the S7 aswell eliminating the 3D issue.
Micros USB sucks imho and I forgot to list that but the OnePlus 3 is only usb 2.0 which can be enough for transfering small things but as soon as you transfer whole albums it takes painfully long (oneplus 3 user here, same port and connectivity i think).

[Limecat86]

My opinion might be a bit biassed since I currently own a S7 Edge. If I would have to pick one of these I would probably pick the Samsung again.

+ 1440p Super Amoled

+ 3600mAh battery

+ Octa core SoC 

+ IP68 ingress protection

- TouchWiz + Bloatware

It's a very nice phone but the TouchWiz is something you need to get used to.

 

 

But both the LG phones look nice too.

The battery could be a bit larger of both devices though. The V20 has no IP68 ingress protection in favor of the replaceable battery. 

The 32bit audio seems promising and I would like to try my headphones on them. The LG G6 would be my second choice as I find IP68 ingress protection more important than a replaceable battery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[Freezanator]

1 minute ago, GER_T4IGA said:

This is  more of a question than an answer from my side but some S7E users might be able to help. Wasn't there a debate about redering resolution set in options for the S8? If so you might be able to tone it donw on the S7 aswell eliminating the 3D issue.
Micros USB sucks imho and I forgot to list that but the OnePlus 3 is only usb 2.0 which can be enough for transfering small things but as soon as you transfer whole albums it takes painfully long (oneplus 3 user here, same port and connectivity i think).

I don't care about transfer speeds thru cable as I do most of my file transfers through the cloud (Google Drive and Photos) so the USB 2.0 speeds on the Type-C cable of the OnePlus 3T doesn't matter much. And yes, I've heard that you could lower the resolution on the S7 Edge to help with performance (Yay!) and Googled it to make sure but again, no USB Type-C! Are there any sick features (besides wireless charging) that'll make me lean toward the S7 Edge? 

[bigneo]

6 minutes ago, Freezanator said:

I forgot to mention, my budget is strictly 2000 MYR (~450 USD) and the OnePlus 5 costs quite a bit more than that. Plus, since I record quite often on 1080p60, the presence of stabilization only on 1080p30 on the OnePlus 5 really kills it for me.  

But the 6GB version is quite cheap no? It might be more expensive in your country. 

[Freezanator]

Just now, bigneo said:

But the 6GB version is quite cheap no? It might be more expensive in your country. 

It starts at 2388 MYR (556 USD) here. No where near cheap.  

[GER_T4IGA]

21 minutes ago, Freezanator said:

I don't care about transfer speeds thru cable as I do most of my file transfers through the cloud (Google Drive and Photos) so the USB 2.0 speeds on the Type-C cable of the OnePlus 3T doesn't matter much. And yes, I've heard that you could lower the resolution on the S7 Edge to help with performance (Yay!) and Googled it to make sure but again, no USB Type-C! Are there any sick features (besides wireless charging) that'll make me lean toward the S7 Edge? 

ip 68 and and a horror story of a OnePlus 3 user(EDIT: just tell me if you want to hear it)?

[Freezanator]

15 minutes ago, GER_T4IGA said:

ip 68 and and a horror story of a OnePlus 3 user(EDIT: just tell me if you want to hear it)?

Yeah, why not? By the way, the OnePlus 3T also has double the storage. Yes, I know the S7 Edge's storage can be expanded via MicroSD but isn't MicroSD only for media and documents? Thus, in terms of app quantity, the OnePlus 3T wins here.

[Freezanator]

3 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

If you considering the S7, don't consider the Edge. Samsung's edgy phones are not as easy to hold and screen breaks very easily. Any case that stops impact on the curved edge will defeat the purpose of having a curved screen in the first place. 

 

Also the Mi 5s is simply outclassed with respect to features. Also keep in mind the phone size and what you intend to do w the phone. 

Ok, I guess I'll just roughly reveal what I will do with my phone. Below are the list of activities arranged in usage time from most to least:

1. Gaming

2. Video streaming

3. Listening to my jams

4. Scrolling through social media

5. Taking pictures of beautiful scenery

6. Chatting

7. Video recording

 

So, based on my "lifestyle", which of the 6 suits it?  

 

[Freezanator]

24 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

You use your phone quite heavily with screen on for long periods of time. You want screen power efficiency and an easy time viewing, and lots of endurance. For that the Mi Note 2 is the best fit. Large 5.7" screen offers easy viewing, but at the same time sips power because its 1080p oled. It also has the highest battery capacity for more use time between charges. But its not all good news; the screen is curved as well and body is glossy all over. A very slippery fingerprint magnet. Xiaomi's OS also leaves much to be desired. Get it a case and install clean custom rom. Else you're better off with the 3T.

The heavily skinned software of the majority of Chinese smartphone manufacturers have never really appealed to me even though some of them, like Xiaomi, offer premium specs for low prices. Well, that leaves me with only one choice: Started deciding on the 3T, and ending my decision on the 3T. Thanks.  

[Nena Trinity]

WHY IS THERE NO NOKIA ON YOUR LIST!? o3o

[Freezanator]

2 hours ago, Nena360 said:

WHY IS THERE NO NOKIA ON YOUR LIST!? o3o

I wouldn't even consider the Nokia 6 since it comes with that shitty Snapdragon 430.  

[Nena Trinity]

2 hours ago, Freezanator said:

I wouldn't even consider the Nokia 6 since it comes with that shitty Snapdragon 430.  

But I has a 400 on my Lumia and it plays Asphalt 8 perfectly! o3o