The problem with Xiaomi is that you don’t get OS updates and there is a lack of accessories and service/support locally.
To be fair that is the case with most phones that are not Samsung or Apple.
Nothing does have mail-in service at least, which is better than no service, but also a pain.
In the last 4 years I’ve had the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, the Lg V30 and the Sony Xperia 10iii. I basically got them cheap because I couldn’t afford anything about €350.
And while they were good devices, like the X6 Pro will be, I’m always frustrated at being stuck on an older android version, not being able to find phone cases (except on AliExpress but there are junk and you wait months to get it) and no repair services at all. No battery replacements, no screen or back cover replacements, etc. Even the 3rd party repair shops often don’t carry parts for these makes.
They’ll happily give you a 3rd party generic part which looks way worse than the original, but who wants that?
Hence I’ve made a decision that from now on I’m only buying Samsung because they have a 1 hour walk in service centre with genuine parts and the waterproofing is still there afterwards. Plus you get 4 years OS updates and 5 years security updates. And there are TONS of Samsung accessories wherever you go locally as well as online.
With such service I could have the battery replaced once a year, meaning top battery endurance and full waterproofing. Plus the latest OS update and cool accessories like magsafe cases for use in the car with a magnetic holder, diff colour cases for a different look on different days, large availability of chargers, cables etc. Plus if I eventually buy their BT buds then work seamlessly with them.
And they make great tablets, which will do the whole sync thing if you want.
I’d really encourage anyone to think about doing the same and not wasting time and money on these brands with no support.
You just end up buying a new phone every 2 years which is more expensive in the long run.
It’s a great phone to be honest. Firstly it’s a beautiful design and the materials are high quality. The narrowness of it is great because it slips easily into a pocket and it’s very light. The tall display means you scroll less but it’s narrow enough to make typing easier.
Haptics are very good. The screen quality is very good and the cameras I’d say are equal to most €$ 500 phones. They do a little post processing but in good light the main camera gives excellent results. The wide angle camera is decent in good light but has slightly less detail than the main camera, but it’s good for landscapes.
The zoom lense is 2x and the quality is ok. Only use it in good light.
Night photography or shooting with the sun at you, eg sunset, is a disaster. Crap low light photos with lots of noise.
The software is actually good. It’s very fast and slick. I run Nova Launcher 8 beta and the animations are lovely and fluid, apps open fast and scrolling is very fast and smooth. I never get lag or anything like that.
Video on 1080p is very nice. I’m pleased with the quality, steadiness and sound capture. In general the cameras are great in good lighting. Easily as good as, if not better than the Nothing 2a for example, which has 50mp cameras.
I also like the placement of the buttons on the right. I can unlock the phone while drawing it from my pocket and I use the Assistant button quite a bit for timers and reminders. I find the button very, very convenient.
Battery life has been great. For the first year I would only recharge every 2nd night with quite a bit of usage. Now after 1 year I do need to charge it once a day, by 11pm I have about 20-30% left. If I barely use the phone, then it will still last 2 days.
I paid €350 and for that price I’d say it’s very good. Would I want to pay €500? Not really.
To me €500 is what the S24, OnePlus 12, Asus ZenFone, iPhone etc should cost and the Ultra’s/pro’s should be €750.
If you can get it for €350 or less I’d say it’s good deal. It’s also IP68 which is rare at this price and I use the headphone jack alot.
The only downside is service/repairs, OS updates and accessories. In the UK this might not be a problem but here in Cyprus there are no repairs that I know of and definitely no accessories. I had to buy my cases off AliExpress and wait weeks for them to come. And after about 2 months they started yellowing because they are transparent.
Sony phones have absolutely dreadful software support for their price. Even the flagships only get security updates for 3 years and they are among the most expensive phones you can buy.
The problem with Xiaomi is that you don’t get OS updates
This is not true. You do get updates unless you buy a cheap device. The poco X6 pro promises 3-4 years of updates.
there is a lack of accessories and service/support locally.
Can’t talk about accessories but support depends on the region. They provide a service center offline in my region.
Hence I’ve made a decision that from now on I’m only buying Samsung because they have a 1 hour walk in service centre with genuine parts and the waterproofing is still there afterwards.
Support is an important aspect. Your phone is as good as it works.
Plus you get 4 years OS updates and 5 years security updates.
Samsung Software support is 1st rate(even on budget phones).
And there are TONS of Samsung accessories wherever you go locally as well as online.
Accessories like phone cases of different types, features and colours, as well as prices. You even get cases with magsafe magnets to use with wireless chargers and phone holders. Also chargers, cables etc
And most tech shops will stock these type of accessories in bulk. But they won’t have Realme cases, or Xiaomi cases, or OnePlus cases, or Vivo cases, or Oppo cases etc. You need to import those from AliExpress…
Your phone is still powerful compared to most smartphones. If you upgrade you get slightly better performance and improved efficiency, better display and other stuff in general. More importantly updates.
That model is infamous for dying very quickly. Usually it’s a slow decline where your hardware slowly doesn’t work anymore but sometimes it just works perfectly until out of nowhere it just dies.
I just upgraded from X3 Pro to X6 (non-pro). The amoled itself is a warrant for the upgrade along with the software updates. This phone has headphone jack so you might be more interested in the non-pro version
No memory card slot though. I currently have 128GB + 256GB and I am already running out of storage. There is a 512GB option, but that’s not future-proof. Anyway, as I’ll soon need 128GB + 512GB it wouldn’t be viable anyway. Sadly 1TB cards are too expensive for me.
The screen I don’t care about. Actually I’d be worried about burn-ins. I know the technology has improved, but burn-ins on *LED will happen over time, and permanently. Which is also why I picked up a phone with IPS LCD.
Lastly, Qualcomm SoC. I want to get a phone with MediaTek SoC due to no-root band selection in engineer mode (at least I hope that still exists).
What remains is about as good as what I have now.
Software, maybe. I am still on MIUI 12.5 with Android 11. I am always scared of software updates, whether it is my laptop, phone, phone apps, router firmware, etc… I’ve heard bad stuff about MIUI 13.
Since Android 8, things are getting only more restrictive which breaks stuff.
And you can’t charge/use OTG at once. Also if you plug in earphones 4 times a day and OTG/Charging cable or whatever say 5 times a day, splitting the wear between 2 connectors, you’d now be plugging and unplugging the USB port 9 times a day instead. So it also reduces lifespan of USB port.
Also, I don’t need to carry a stupid dongle with me. And also, those phones don’t have FM radio.
Lastly, it’s generally used as a push towards more expensive Bluetooth earphones, so that you’re likely to shell out even more money, and I hate that. Same with removable batteries, but I don’t get choice now.
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