Mate 9 or V20?

[Himay333]

Looking to get something more powerful than my Moto G4. Thinking about the V20, but not sure about bootloops. Also looking at the Mate 9, but unsure about the user interface. Which way would you go?

 

[Diehlirious]

Mate 10

 

[Diehlirious]

Looking to get something more powerful than my Moto G4. Thinking about the V20, but not sure about bootloops. Also looking at the Mate 9, but unsure about the user interface. Which way would you go?

From a camera standpoint, I think the V20 has superior video but Mate 9 takes better pictures

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

Unlike the V10 and G4, the LG V20 does not have a widespread bootloop issue.

 

[Morty2264]

Have you made a decision as of yet, OP? I wouldn't worry too much about the bootloop issue with the newer V-series phones - there's been very little reports here about that. I feel like I read somewhere that LG has reportedly fixed that issue.

 

[worldspy99]

Get the Mate 9 and slap Nova Launcher or Amir's Pixel launcher and you should be set. I am using the Pixel launcher on my MediaPad M3 (which has identical hardware to the Mate 9) and it runs exactly like my Google Pixel.

You can get the launcher here
https://github.com/amirzaidi/Launcher3


Good luck.

 

[Mooncatt]

Without a doubt I'd take the V20 over anything today. The only potential issues are screen image retention (temporary, and just a minor annoyance that doesn't permanently affect the performance) and the camera on auto mode doesn't have the best picture quality.

The OEM camera app in manual mode, though, blows pretty much anything away. It also still allows for automatic shooting in manual mode while not using the auto mode's aggressive noise reduction that causes the image quality loss. It's all around the best best package out there.

 

[torbach1]

I've had both. As some folks have highlighted, they have very different strengths and it depends on what's more important to you. In my experience, the Mate's UI is not all that different from the LGs. Both need Nova Launcher to make them easy to use, and once you have that installed, there's very little difference.

The Mate is significantly quicker. It's still one of the fastest phones on the market. It also has an insane battery life, while the V20's battery life for me was very bad. It was good to have the removeable battery, but I had to change batteries on most days, whereas with the Mate, the phone could easily last 1.5 days without a charge, and charged more quickly. Not once did I run out of juice or even get close with the Mate 9.

The LGs manual camera is insanely good, and it's sound quality is unbeatable. It's manual video mode is also fantastic. But in auto mode, the Mate is better in both. I couldn't stay focused on my daughter figure skating using the V20, while with the Mate, I had no problems.

Hope that helps.

 

[anon(9691750)]

I've had both. As some folks have highlighted, they have very different strengths and it depends on what's more important to you. In my experience, the Mate's UI is not all that different from the LGs. Both need Nova Launcher to make them easy to use, and once you have that installed, there's very little difference.

The Mate is significantly quicker. It's still one of the fastest phones on the market. It also has an insane battery life, while the V20's battery life for me was very bad. It was good to have the removeable battery, but I had to change batteries on most days, whereas with the Mate, the phone could easily last 1.5 days without a charge, and charged more quickly. Not once did I run out of juice or even get close with the Mate 9.

The LGs manual camera is insanely good, and it's sound quality is unbeatable. It's manual video mode is also fantastic. But in auto mode, the Mate is better in both. I couldn't stay focused on my daughter figure skating using the V20, while with the Mate, I had no problems.

Hope that helps.

I've never been a fan of MIUI. That one is just a no for me. I would wait on the v30 until that actually comes out. It's a lot more closer to stock. To me, MIUI is just too much like ios.

 

[torbach1]

I've never been a fan of MIUI. That one is just a no for me. I would wait on the v30 until that actually comes out. It's a lot more closer to stock. To me, MIUI is just too much like ios.

It used to be. But they do allow an app drawer now and if you use Nova Launcher it doesn't feel that different anymore.

 

[anon(9691750)]

It used to be. But they do allow an app drawer now and if you use Nova Launcher it doesn't feel that different anymore.

Yeah but for me it's more about the rest of the phone, such as the settings menu and notification drop down shade. Also LG phones I do believe have their own theme store.

 

[Mooncatt]

Also LG phones I do believe have their own theme store.

They have Smart World with themes, but you have to side load it on some carrier versions. I tried it and it's nothing special in my opinion. I still ended up buying my LG V20 themes from the Play store.

 

[worldspy99]

Yeah but for me it's more about the rest of the phone, such as the settings menu and notification drop down shade. Also LG phones I do believe have their own theme store.

EMUI 5.0 with a Pixel launcher works well for me.
I used the MediaPad M3 with my Pixel and usually can't tell too much of a difference.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the convergence in Android these days specifically with a good launcher.