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Google Nexus 5x and 6P

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Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#241
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because most people don't need that much, especially with the new auto-delete of photos that have been copied to the cloud in Google Photo, love this feature.

I listen to music on my (underground, subway) commute to work, so I really need that storage.

Half the memory of the basic model is enough to hold about 100 albums. Is that not enough? Maybe you could listen to some of them twice.

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DXOMark is the gold standard of photo-quality evaluations. Their evaluations for mobile phones show the Nexus 6 to have been very good for when it was released (it's #12 now, but most of the phones above it are newer); the Nexus 6P is ranked #2 right now: http://www.dxomark.com/Mobiles

I can't believe they don't show you any picture results at least.

DXOMark is all about shooting specific test targets under controlled lighting conditions and automated algorithmic analysis of the results. Basically they're trying to scientifically measuring the maximum potential of a given sensor under ideal conditions. They don't produce any interesting images to look at.

Sites like connect.dpreview.com on the other hand are all about the actual photography and cover things like handling, UI and real life performance and results

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#243
post #21

I really need to see a comparison between 6P, Moto X Pure, and current 6. Those are the phones I need to decide between. Current 6 only b/c it should get cheap and the Snapdragon 820 comes out next year, but I'm not sure I can wait a year with my aging Moto X 2013.

I would not recommend the Moto X Pure. I have last year's Moto X Pure, here's my short summary (my personal opinion, so feel free to reply and explain why you disagree):

pros:

  - good feel in the hand; not easy to drop
  - like the choices for back, etc.
  - decent camera for an Android device
  - reasonable price
  - superfast charging with Quick Charger
  - mostly-stock android UI (read on though)
  - Motorola UI customisations can usually be disabled
    in favour of Android stock version (e.g. Lock screen)
cons:

  - Motorola software updates significantly lag behind nexus
    devices; took a long time to get stagefright security
    fix
  - over a dozen spontaneous phone reboots for no apparent 
    reason during last year (i have very few apps
    installed, so it seems unlikely to be due to that, and
    apps should never be able to cause that anyway)
  - catastrophic and mysterious phone shutdown which lead to
    rebooting to a black screen, which the only option for
    recovering from was a factory reset (which meant I lost
    all of the data I hadn't backed up yet, which for me,
    was some pictures I had taken but hadn't backed up)
  - poor battery life
  - signal strength / reliability not as good as my spouse's
    iPhone 6 plus; they often have data when I don't, even
    though we have same carrier (AT&T)
  - Some Motorola add-on software not removable
  - Some Motorola customisations conflict with Android 
   standard customisations which leads to weird UI
   interactions problems sometimes (mostly the lock screen)
My previous phone was a Nexus 5, which the software experience was generally better on since I got updates on a timely basis. However, the hardware experience was pretty poor (made by LG) and I went through two replacements due to GPS issues.

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#244
post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is probably right. They mention: "15W of power so you can charge your USB Type-C enabled phones and tablets quickly. Also works with large USB Type-C devices, like laptops .¹". And the footnote: "¹Wattage is optimized for smaller devices, like phones and tablets. Larger devices, like laptops, will take longer to charge. Delivers maximum charge speed to Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P. Charge time depends on USB Type-C dev…

So does that mean that normal USB A connector for some reason can't handle the current? That seems odd.

Not sure about the connector, but I have heard reports that some cheaper USB cables with thinner-gauge wires already cannot handle the current from some chargers that are on the market.

I can imagine USB-C only makes this more of a concern, since the USB Power Delivery spec allows up to 5 A @ 20 V.

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#245
post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HDR is a gimmick in the sense that it just takes information from the sensor to bring out highlights. This is the sort of thing that can be done in post-processing on any RAW image. Its not a feature of the camera itself.

Android and iOS HDR systems take multiple pictures very rapidly at different exposures and knit them together. You can't manually take the same “input” pictures as rapidly as an HDR system.

Do you have a source for that? I've also been under the impression that HDR in most phones is just a gimmick that operates on a single exposure.

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#246
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ugh. First off they need to only store hashes of fingerprints, not the fingerprint images themselves. But I hope they are smart enough to do that by now. Second, it's not supposed to be "on the OS". It's supposed to be in TrustZone, the "secure world" separated from the OS. I hope that's what they did, but I worry they may have adopted a more "universal" solution that's a little higher level and less secure (even tho…

> First off they need to only store hashes of fingerprints, not the fingerprint images themselves. But I hope they are smart enough to do that by now. That sounds pretty impressive. How would this be done? You're not going to get the same file by scanning the same physical finger twice. Fingerprints are recognized by comparing an image to a stored record of salient features, not to another image. But as far as I can…

There are lots of algorithms that take an image and produce a so called perceptual hash that matches all images that 'look' the same. phash.org is a popular open source implementation of one such algorithm

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#247
post #232
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The useful life is limited by duration of security updates, if you care about such things. Google are strictly following their recently announced 18 month/3 year rule. Eg no Stagefright update to 5.1.1 for the Nexus 7 v1 even though it was just a few months previously updated to 5.1.1 This means you probably should only buy Nexus devices when they're new to market, unless you're happy with a 18 month lifespan for you…

I haven't seen any official statement about nexus device update policy. Do you have any official reference ? p.s. People please stop claiming what you a fact. p.s. Being right about not getting update (n7 v1) dos not make your argument true.

> Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9, and Nexus 10 devices get the latest version of Android directly from Google. These devices will receive Android version updates for at least two years from when the device first became available on the Google Store.

> Nexus devices will also receive updates for security issues considered Critical for at least the following periods:

> * Three years from when the device first became available on the Google Store

> * Or, 18 months after the device stopped being sold on the Google Store

https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#248
post #145
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then amend the parent and instead say "I feel ripped off paying $150 premium for a 128GB model when I could buy a desktop 512GB 850 Evo for that much". And I guarantee you Samsungs SSD options are faster than their phone flash, because they go for performance way more on desktop parts.

Aren't you paying for the size the storage has been compressed down to at these prices? Itty bitty little tiny chips? Your desktop 512GB 850 EVO isn't going to fit into the space a smartphone has for storage.

The SD cards are a better price comparison because they will use a similar stacking technology to get the small form factor. The main difference is SD cards need a controller which adds cost.

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's cool until you go to a place that doesn't have cell phone coverage or wifi. Then you are completely screwed.

That's pretty niche though. Even in that scenario, you could always offload to external storage. It seems reasonable that their phones are expected to mostly behave as phones, and not as a large photo/video repository.

> That's pretty niche though.

Not really. Do you ever travel? Have you ever been on a road trip? Have you ever been on a plane? Have you ever gone camping?

Re: Google Nexus 5x and 6P

#250

As an owner of Nexus 5 I must say I'm a bit disappointed with this announcement. I was looking forwards to upgrading my almost two year old phone to Nexus 5x, but there doesn't seem to be a good reason unless Nexus 5 stops getting new Android updates. They have the same resolution, same amount of memory, same amount of storage. I don't shoot video, and I probably won't use fingerprint reader - but I do use wireless c…

Why are you disappointed? It sounds like a device you bought a few years ago has a longer useful lifespan than you thought. You get to have a state of the art phone for less money when you own it longer. I wonder if devices will start to be built better, with more replaceable components as the rate of spec improvements in mobile devices slows down.

I'm a little disappointed too. Don't get me wrong, my N5 is great and it doesn't have many disadvantages... but the stuff people really want should be more doable now. For example, a replaceable battery? Maybe an included thumblonger so you can reach the top-left corner :P
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