V20 owners, would you upgrade to Xiaomi?

[flyingkytez]

https://youtu.be/ssw9H08ddlw

The new Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi is $300. It has Snapdragon 845, 6-8GB RAM, 128-256GB storage, 4000mAh battery, 6.18' IPS LCD screen, headphone jack, dual cameras, 20 MP front camera, Android 8.1 Oreo, Quick Charge 3.0. Very attractive price and definitely considering switching to if the price is that insanely aggressive! The cost is equivalent to buying 2-3 flagships.. Xiaomi has gotten better and improved a lot, unfortunately the US is scared of Chinese spyware. I have a Chinese branded ZTE phone and it's been pretty solid especially with the Snapdragon chip... Of course the software isn't the best but it works. Considering how often people get rid of their phones, a price like this will give people a break on their wallets. Not sure how Xiaomi can afford this price point, especially with a Snapdragon chip.

 

[LuvMusic]

Not sure how Xiaomi can afford this price point, especially with a Snapdragon chip.

Government subsidies and unfair labor practices. If Trump continues with his tariff war against China, you could see this device become much more expensive.

 

[MDMcAtee]

https://youtu.be/ssw9H08ddlw

The new Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi is $300. It has Snapdragon 845, 6-8GB RAM, 128-256GB storage, 4000mAh battery, 6.18' IPS LCD screen, headphone jack, dual cameras, 20 MP front camera, Android 8.1 Oreo, Quick Charge 3.0. Very attractive price and definitely considering switching to if the price is that insanely aggressive! The cost is equivalent to buying 2-3 flagships.. Xiaomi has gotten better and improved a lot, unfortunately the US is scared of Chinese spyware. I have a Chinese branded ZTE phone and it's been pretty solid especially with the Snapdragon chip... Of course the software isn't the best but it works. Considering how often people get rid of their phones, a price like this will give people a break on their wallets. Not sure how Xiaomi can afford this price point, especially with a Snapdragon chip.

Simple answer for me is no.

I don't trust them. Heck I don't trust most companies, but I certainly don't want to chance it with them.

Mac

 

[Mike Dee]

https://youtu.be/ssw9H08ddlw
The cost is equivalent to buying 2-3 flagships.

No...you can buy 2-3 of those instead
of one flagship

 

[flyingkytez]

Government subsidies and unfair labor practices. If Trump continues with his tariff war against China, you could see this device become much more expensive.

Dang, you're right. I totally forgot about the "trade war". I think we take for granted the prices we get on phones, other countries pay a higher price. I have no idea why China is being targeted.. we might never see this phone reach the USA if negotiations don't happen.

 

[flyingkytez]

Simple answer for me is no.

I don't trust them. Heck I don't trust most companies, but I certainly don't want to chance it with them.

Mac

Are you concerned with Chinese spyware? I don't blame you. OnePlus had spyware and was not transparent with it. Lenovo had Chinese spyware. Not confirmed but Huawei and ZTE too (BOTH Huawei and ZTE's founder were ex-Chinese military officers).

However, even some variants of the V20 had spyware.. it was the Mobile Services Manager... and also Snowden revealed that Verizon gave the government access to everyone's phones. The carriers have their own spyware with their bloatware apps... Man, even Google spys on you... just go to Google.com/history

 

[MDMcAtee]

Oh I know they all do to some extent, but I just don't trust this company

 

[kbagrows]

Well, you and I were independently thinking the same thing. My V20 has been dogging it a bit lately, and the camera app has been a real pain in the a$$ and slow to start up. And, despite positive reviews, I've never been to happy with auto mode of the camera.

Anyway, it probably jut needs a factory resent, but I keep waiting for Oreo to drop on the US996 model..... I've been eyeing the new phones out (like the S9, etc) but I sure don't want to pay those prices.

The Poco phone sure looks intriguing. Great reviews so far, and I can't help but love the idea of a 4,000 m amp battery on Oreo, and then Pie. But what really did it for me.... the screws on the bottom. Xiaomi recently dropped a Youtube video showing disassembly of the phone. I used to replace batteries all the time in phones that weren't considered "user-replaceable", but were pretty darn easy to replace if you have some basic skills (i.e., Lumia 920 and others). The video really did it for me. I love the idea of replacing that 4000 battery in a year. And, a replacement digitizer has already popped up on Amazon. In short, this looks to me like an enthusiast's phone.

Couldn't help myself. I ordered one off eBay a couple of days ago. Should get it late next week (assuming the sale goes through). Let me know if you're interested - I'll be happy to follow-up with my thoughts/comments re a comparison with the V20.

 

[Mooncatt]

However, even some variants of the V20 had spyware.. it was the Mobile Services Manager...

Wrong. Mobile Services Manager is just DT Ignite renamed. Spammy bloatware, yes. Spyware, no. Plus, spyware wouldn't be so easily found and disabled.

 

[wordsm1th]

I bought the poco f1 with an eye on this being a replacement for my V20,
Here are my observations
1. the camera on poco is quicker, it loads faster, snaps really fast but the picture quality may not be essentially better, have only tried a couple of clicks, I may try a few shots more before a verdict can be passed.
2. Poco is certainly snappier by a mile due to the new OS, and better hardware, my V20 was slowing down and the battery life wasn't so good either even with a replacement pack
3. The screen quality is at par or perhaps slightly better for contrast and brightness on poco
4.fm radio is present which is a big deal considering v20 was one of the few phones with this feature.
5. Quick charge works well
6. There is support for AptxHD(yet to try) but no audio dac, and this will make it tough to part ways with v20, I really used the audio capabilities more than anything else.

Happy to answer anymore questions

 

[Mooncatt]

6. There is support for AptxHD(yet to try) but no audio dac, and this will make it tough to part ways with v20, I really used the audio capabilities more than anything else.

From what I was just seeing. It has a headphone jack. If that's the case, it has a DAC. It may not be as good as the V20, but it will have one by necessity. Remember, DAC = Digital to Analog Converter and is used in any digital media device when connecting to an analog output like a headphone jack.

 

[watsinaname]

I stand corrected, meant to highlight the quad dac for the V20, thank you for correcting me

 

[kbagrows]

Is there a way to tweak audio settings? In one of the online reviews I saw, it talked about a setting menu that allowed you to tweak volume, etc.

Also, how is LTE in your area?

And, did you keep the standard MIUI launcher? Do you like it? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks.

 

[wordsm1th]

Is there a way to tweak audio settings? In one of the online reviews I saw, it talked about a setting menu that allowed you to tweak volume, etc.

Also, how is LTE in your area?

And, did you keep the standard MIUI launcher? Do you like it? Sorry for all the questions. Thanks.

Attached the audio settings screenshot, its the usual Xiaomi /mi audio effects screen.

The LTE/phone network is quite bad at both my workplace and my home, it affects the battery life a lot.

The launcher is poco launcher, similar to miui but with an app drawer, icon pack support and some other features.

Do not worry about questions, happy to be of help.

 

[kbagrows]

Thanks! Yeah, I'm in the US, and know that it likely won't work on any LTE bands, was hoping 3G or so, but I'm losing faith that it will actually work....

 

[christianttt]

How is build quality? Does it feel cheap?

I bought the poco f1 with an eye on this being a replacement for my V20,
Here are my observations
1. the camera on poco is quicker, it loads faster, snaps really fast but the picture quality may not be essentially better, have only tried a couple of clicks, I may try a few shots more before a verdict can be passed.
2. Poco is certainly snappier by a mile due to the new OS, and better hardware, my V20 was slowing down and the battery life wasn't so good either even with a replacement pack
3. The screen quality is at par or perhaps slightly better for contrast and brightness on poco
4.fm radio is present which is a big deal considering v20 was one of the few phones with this feature.
5. Quick charge works well
6. There is support for AptxHD(yet to try) but no audio dac, and this will make it tough to part ways with v20, I really used the audio capabilities more than anything else.

Happy to answer anymore questions

 

[wordsm1th]

Not quite, depends on one's definition of cheap too, my context will be cheap is filmsy, loose parts, gaps etc, just by the virtue of polycarbonate back this doesn't feel cheap. The buttons have hood tactile feel, screen looks good. I use phones with covers so not too worried about the back anyway.

How is build quality? Does it feel cheap?

 

[christianttt]

How is battery life so far?

Not quite, depends on one's definition of cheap too, my context will be cheap is filmsy, loose parts, gaps etc, just by the virtue of polycarbonate back this doesn't feel cheap. The buttons have hood tactile feel, screen looks good. I use phones with covers so not too worried about the back anyway.

 

[wordsm1th]

How is battery life so far?

I have seen about 6 hours avg SoTin overall 28-30 hours standby. I mostly have bad network reception and that consumes a lot of it.

Have seen some users report upto 10 hours

 

[christianttt]

I have seen about 6 hours avg SoTin overall 28-30 hours standby. I mostly have bad network reception and that consumes a lot of it.

Have seen some users report upto 10 hours

6 hours of SOT is great. I guess it last all day.