Potentially the longest thread in history...

[Trotter]

We had a total solar eclipse here ages ago, I was about 7 at the time. It's one of the only things in my childhood I remember. Stood on my driveway with some blackout glasses, it was super weird how dark it got. So cool though. According to wikipedia I will never see another full solar eclipse, it goes up to 2095 and the best I get to see again is about 60%.

There is another total eclipse coming through the middle of the US in 2024, up through Texas and the central states. Go ahead and start planning now.

As an aside, three old hands from here met up for the eclipse. Mikesgroovin, Havoc, and molsen all got together in Charlotte, South Carolina. Mike drove cross-country and picked up Havoc, and then they drove down to meet molsen in SC. I hope to see some pics and video from at least one of them on FB soon.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

In all seriousness I might just aim to see that one be a good excuse to get down to Texas and try some of this famed bbq

To be honest i'm a heavy phone user so I would never buy a cheap phone. We give mid range phones out at work like Samsung A5's around the £300 mark and honestly they piss me off I am trying to save money at the moment so it's ****ing annoying, but I will never be happy with a cheap phone

I'm a heavy phone user too, definitely more on my phone than any other device I own atm. Check the specs of the phone I'm getting vs the A5, same price for both:
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?&idPhone2=7260&idPhone1=6761

uber late edit: did I mention the sensor they use is the Sony IMX378? Same as the Pixel

 

[kmanmx]

In all seriousness I might just aim to see that one be a good excuse to get down to Texas and try some of this famed bbq



I'm a heavy phone user too, definitely more on my phone than any other device I own atm. Check the specs of the phone I'm getting vs the A5, same price for both:
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?&idPhone2=7260&idPhone1=6761

uber late edit: did I mention the sensor they use is the Sony IMX378? Same as the Pixel

Yeah looks pretty good to be fair.

But fyi, the Pixel is so good because of it's ISPs and the algorithms Google developed for the image processing, the sensor is pretty standard

Too late though I bought the HTC U11. I got it for £579, which isn't too bad, they're usually £649. I realized if I didn't buy a new phone before the iPhone 8 came out then i'd end up buying one, and it's going to be like £850. So in some kind of weird way, I spent money to save money!

U11 is super nice though. This 3D glass is smooth af. Stupid name "3D", but I like it nevertheless. It kind of melts over the side. The dual color silver/blue finish is beautiful too, though an incredible fingerprint magnet. It has the highest rated camera on DXOMark, and I can confirm, it's very nice. Love the fact it's waterproof (never had a waterproof phone before), and USB-C. It's also super super fast and snappy, the first phone i've tried which is close or on-par with iPhone in that respect. I wish the screen were OLED, but I don't miss that nearly as much as I thought I would. As far as IPS screens go, it is excellent. Even the blacks are pretty darn good. I love the non-clicky home button too, just place my thumb on it and the phone wakes up and unlocks in a fraction of a second. Smoooooooooth.

Nice HTC, nice.

edit:

Though I have one fault. This phone seems to just attract **** loads of dust. I've never had a phone attract anywhere near as much dust as this, it's like it's permanently staticly charged. You can wipe the screen down clean with a microfiber, and after 30 minutes it literally looks like it's been left on a dusty shelf in an old house for a few days. It's ****ing weird, and annoying. Not a deal breaker, I just have to wipe it down a lot.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

**** me there really is no hope for you I just full on give up at this point
Does look like a nice phone though, if I had a gripe it'd be the battery. Wimpy 3000mAh for a 5.5" 1440x2560 screen? Why?!?!! That will certainly not last a day without needing a recharge.
Even my old redmi 3 pro has a 4100mAh battery, and that's with a 720p 5" screen.

 

[kmanmx]

**** me there really is no hope for you I just full on give up at this point
Does look like a nice phone though, if I had a gripe it'd be the battery. Wimpy 3000mAh for a 5.5" 1440x2560 screen? Why?!?!! That will certainly not last a day without needing a recharge.
Even my old redmi 3 pro has a 4100mAh battery, and that's with a 720p 5" screen.

It's pretty good actually. Snapdragon 835 is way more power efficienct compared to 820 and 810

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Yeah looks like a good 10-20% more efficient, which is good, but still no reason to only stick a 3ah battery in there IMO. Dunno whether they ran out of room or thought weight was more important? :S

For those battery tests I dunno, the testing notes nearly always something about "checking messages throughout the day, some social media posting, mb watched a single vid at the end of the day". Pssshhhhh. That ain't how I'm gonna use it. I'll be curious what your real world usage goes after a few weeks

 

[kmanmx]

Yeah looks like a good 10-20% more efficient, which is good, but still no reason to only stick a 3ah battery in there IMO. Dunno whether they ran out of room or thought weight was more important? :S

For those battery tests I dunno, the testing notes nearly always something about "checking messages throughout the day, some social media posting, mb watched a single vid at the end of the day". Pssshhhhh. That ain't how I'm gonna use it. I'll be curious what your real world usage goes after a few weeks

Maybe. There is precedent though, Apple put significantly smaller batteries in their phones and achieve similar or better battery life. They just gain on efficiency.

As for reasons why, maybe a space or cost thing, or they were spooked after the Note 7 thing. Or it was deliberate. They made it "good enough" for people to buy, and then when they update it next year they can include a big battery and tout an impressive battery life improvement spec.

So far the battery life seems better than my Note 5, but then my Note 5 was getting on towards two years old. It's not a huge deal for me either way, as 99% of the time I just sit at my home or office desk with my phone plugged in anyway. It's quite rare for me to do physical activity where I am away from a plug socket even when I rode by mbike, I could still charge it.

Btw have you seen the new thing Apple and Samsung are pushing hard to achieve for their next phones ? stacked flexible logic boards, so they can cram ~2x as many chips in the same space, and then introduce far bigger, L shaped batteries. Rumors have said that both Sammy and Apple have been successful with it so far, so they expect them both to feature it soon.

 

[S0ULphIRE]

Probably matters more to me because I don't drive a car/motorbike around, so it's essential to have a working phone I can rely on to find a train/bus/uber/maps/etc. I've definitely been spoiled with my redmi on that front could forget to charge it for 2 days and it wouldn't matter.

In other news, received notification from the bank today that they've unconditionally approved my loan no backing out now, final settlement date should be the 12th Sep if everything goes smoothly from here.

 

[Trotter]

**** me there really is no hope for you I just full on give up at this point
Does look like a nice phone though, if I had a gripe it'd be the battery. Wimpy 3000mAh for a 5.5" 1440x2560 screen? Why?!?!! That will certainly not last a day without needing a recharge.
Even my old redmi 3 pro has a 4100mAh battery, and that's with a 720p 5" screen.

My Axon 7 has a 3150mAh with a 5.5" 1440 screen and it can go well over a day on a charge, almost two. That's with wifi and bluetooth both running.

 

[PP Mguire]

I'm on my iPhone constantly while I'm at work, still lasts a whole day with plenty of charge