What phone you use as your daily driver? And, a discussion of them.

[sudothelinuxwizard]

Does this mean that only future TSMC N2 SoCs will work properly with Android 16 kernels?

You make zero sense at all. The process node doesn't matter, it's whether the idiots at Qualcomm/MediaTek/Samsung bothered to bless us with a up-to-date If so, I think I will sell my brick and buy a new smartphone.

I am tired of it, I bought it only because of the 68-billion-colour display, but otherwise, the phone is a shit.

Seems more like a you problem, the D8300 should be fine even with shite software.

BTW, Samsung is even worse - it still uses the Android 12 -9 - 15.10 kernel.

This is why:

 

[Lew Zealand]

Finally retired my iPhone 7+, replaced with an iPhone 16e. Here's to another 8 years!

 

[ARF]

The process node doesn't matter

I meant new SoCs which you reaffirm, but don't realise. I forgive you.

Have a nice day / evening.

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

I meant new SoCs which you reaffirm, but don't realise. I forgive you.

Have a nice day / evening.

?????

What did i do to piss you off like that?

 

[GamerGuy]

Galaxy S10+

Pic below taken with a phone from this /\ generation....my Note10+, was updating my Fold6 to Security patch for July at time of pic.

 

[ARF]

What phones make the best night | complete darkness photos? Huawei P30 and P30 Pro?

The Huawei P30 & P30 Pro Reviews: Photography Enhanced

www.anandtech.com

 

[jallenlabs]

I had to look in my settings, lol. Using an iPhone 14 Pro and an iPhone 15 Plus. Used iPhones since the 4. Although I have tried others, I always come back to iOS. Ive been testing the Dev beta of iOS26 (on the 15plus and two iPad Pros) and its more stable, more compliant and more useful than 18.5. Cant wait for it to come out. And no, I dont care about Ai or Siri.

 

[ARF]

I always come back to iOS.

It is a phone, after all, for simple phone calls and chat. The OS is irrelevant - you look at the hardware, and technologies there, in which area the Apple phones are inferior.

 

[freeagent]

for simple phone calls and chat.

Maybe that is all you use your phone for. Or maybe that is all it is good for?

The OS is irrelevant

The OS is the experience, very smooth, intuitive, and fluid. Unlike some others.

you look at the hardware, and technologies there, in which area the Apple phones are inferior.

Hardly. But you do you, as usual.

 

[jallenlabs]

It is a phone, after all, for simple phone calls and chat. The OS is irrelevant - you look at the hardware, and technologies there, in which area the Apple phones are inferior.

Inferior hardwarewise? I seriously doubt that, but will welcome bench examples. Inferior iOS, hardly. Although Android will let you basically do whatever you want, the iPhone lets me do what I want with it and the performance has been fantastic. I'm not a Mac user (at work 50% of the time), but dont tinker with my phone much.... I just use it. To each his own, right?

 

[Sithaer]

For some weird reason Xiaomi still keeps the Android 13 kernel for its POCO F6 Pro, despite that officially it claims that the device runs Android 15.
POCO F6 Pro is at Android 13 - 5.15.167.

Android 16 worldwide rollout started last month and there is no hint at all from Xiaomi that it intends to upgrade its devices accordingly.

WTH ?

View attachment 408714

Android common kernels | Android Open Source Project

source.android.com

I have a Poco X6 Pro for a year now, global version bought in my country from a legit e-tailer.
My current Android version is at 15 AP3A.240905.015.A2 and the security update is at 2025-06-01
Kernel version is 6.1.78
Operation system version is 2.0.200.0

My battery still last me around 2 days with my use case and I do play games on my Phone when I'm resting in the bed or when I'm working my part time job.
Browsing hardly even drains my battery like I could do that for many hours with no issues or charging needed.

Btw the global version of Xiaomi especially their Poco lineup is always the last to get the updates, I've also had to wait months to get the Hyper OS update when it was already out in the Asian regions. Supposedly they are the test group/region so to say and by the time we get the updates for the global version at least its more or less stable with further fixes so personally I really don't mind the extra wait and I'm yet to have any serious issues with this phone.

 

[boro1]

An iPhone 16 pro max and samsung galaxy a55

 

[ARF]

Hardly. But you do you, as usual.

Inferior hardwarewise?

Less RAM, lower quality camera - not at the level of Huawei, lower quality screen - not at the level of Xiaomi, etc.

I have a Poco X6 Pro for a year now, global version bought in my country from a legit e-tailer.
My current Android version is at 15 AP3A.240905.015.A2 and the security update is at 2025-06-01
Kernel version is 6.1.78
Operation system version is 2.0.200.0

My battery still last me around 2 days with my use case and I do play games on my Phone when I'm resting in the bed or when I'm working my part time job.
Browsing hardly even drains my battery like I could do that for many hours with no issues or charging needed.

Btw the global version of Xiaomi especially their Poco lineup is always the last to get the updates, I've also had to wait months to get the Hyper OS update when it was already out in the Asian regions. Supposedly they are the test group/region so to say and by the time we get the updates for the global version at least its more or less stable with further fixes so personally I really don't mind the extra wait and I'm yet to have any serious issues with this phone.

Your kernel version is higher than mine - 5.15.167. Maybe you get it because you are located in Hungary, I am not. Mine is from AliExpress, from the official store.
Do you browse with the mobile network or with a router? And if you use a router, which WiFi version - 5, 6 or 7?


I will relegate it to second device (or sell it).

Waiting for the Huawei Pura 80 Ultra.

Huawei Pura 80 Ultra - Full phone specifications

www.gsmarena.com

 

[Sithaer]

You kernel version is higher than mine - 5.15.167. Maybe you get it because you are located in Hungary, I am not. Mine is from AliExpress, from the official store.
Do you browse with the mobile network or with a router? And if you use a router, which WiFi version - 5, 6 or 7?

When I'm at home I'm connected to our WiFi and the router is located in my room but I do use it in the whole house, we have 2 versions but most of the time I'm connected to the 4 and the other one is 6 but since I can't notice any difference for my use case I stay with 4 most of the time.
I only use mobile network when I'm not home so thats doesn't make much of a difference but even when I hang out and bring my phone with me with mobile inet and bluetooth enabled for my smart watch it doesn't drain my battery that much to be an issue.

 

[freeagent]

You cant even buy those here

 

[nguyen]

Got my Fold 7 1tb yesterday, it doesn't feel as good when holding like the Fold 5 :/, feel like I'm holding an Galaxy Ultra phone LOL


Battery life is kinda on the weak side too, let see if it improve after a few days

 

[ARF]

When I'm at home I'm connected to our WiFi and the router is located in my room but I do use it in the whole house, we have 2 versions but most of the time I'm connected to the 4 and the other one is 6 but since I can't notice any difference for my use case I stay with 4 most of the time.
I only use mobile network when I'm not home so thats doesn't make much of a difference but even when I hang out and bring my phone with me with mobile inet and bluetooth enabled for my smart watch it doesn't drain my battery that much to be an issue.

I have a Poco X6 Pro for a year now, global version bought in my country from a legit e-tailer.
My current Android version is at 15 AP3A.240905.015.A2 and the security update is at 2025-06-01
Kernel version is 6.1.78
Operation system version is 2.0.200.0

My battery still last me around 2 days with my use case and I do play games on my Phone when I'm resting in the bed or when I'm working my part time job.
Browsing hardly even drains my battery like I could do that for many hours with no issues or charging needed.

Btw the global version of Xiaomi especially their Poco lineup is always the last to get the updates, I've also had to wait months to get the Hyper OS update when it was already out in the Asian regions. Supposedly they are the test group/region so to say and by the time we get the updates for the global version at least its more or less stable with further fixes so personally I really don't mind the extra wait and I'm yet to have any serious issues with this phone.

Quite strange.
Mine is:
Kernel version: 5.15.167-android13-8-00014-gbf0a81a7f319-ab13297889
Google Play system update: April 1, 2025
OS version (for POCO): 2.0.201.0.VNKMIXM
Android security update: 2025-06-01
Android version: 15 AQ3A.240912.001

Is yours 2.0.200.0.VNKMIXM or something else?

 

[Sithaer]

Quite strange.
Mine is:
Kernel version: 5.15.167-android13-8-00014-gbf0a81a7f319-ab13297889
Google Play system update: April 1, 2025
OS version (for POCO): 2.0.201.0.VNKMIXM
Android security update: 2025-06-01
Android version: 15 AQ3A.240912.001

Is yours 2.0.200.0.VNKMIXM or something else?

My phone is set to hungarian but you should be able to see whats important I guess.
I also have Aida64 installed on my phone if you need even more specific details.

 

[ARF]

My phone is set to hungarian but you should be able to see whats important I guess.
I also have Aida64 installed on my phone if you need even more specific details.

I see now - your phone is with a different SoC - Mediatek Dimensity 8300 Ultra (4 nm) and Mali G615-MC6.
Mine is with Qualcomm SM8550-AB Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (4 nm) and Adreno 740.

I will wait a bit more and if the next update doesn't bring the Kernel version up to Android 16 6.6 or at least Android 15 6.6, I will throw the brick through the window and buy the new Huawei Pura 80 Ultra.

I didn't spend so much money on this garbage in order to run outdated software and have that terrible battery drain.

I was coming from an LG G8s ThinQ and it didn't touch the battery - one battery charge lasted at least 3 weeks.

 

[Thimblewad]

I used to have a Xiaomi 12 Pro and decided it was time to switch.
Got a really sweet deal from my phone contract, I bit the bullet and got myself a Xiaomi 15 Ultra.
I don't play games, but I do have a lot of screen time and I take a lot of pictures.
I was never yet able to heat up the phone or drain the battery more than 50% over the whole day.
Insane phone with an insane price tag, but I'm really happy.
Here's a an unedited shot with the 200MP Leica telephoto lens.

 

[ARF]

Why do you need 200 MP camera when your monitor can barely show only 5 MP?

Every camera can make good daylight photos - try that Xiaomi in a dark room to see how poor its camera in fact is.
Better buy Huawei - they excel in low-light or zero-light conditions photography.

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

Why do you need 200 MP camera when your monitor can barely show only 5 MP?

Every camera can make good daylight photos - try that Xiaomi in a dark room to see how poor its camera in fact is.
Better buy Huawei - they excel in low-light or zero-light conditions photography.

Well, the brand of phone, or hell, the brand of camera sensor doesn't matter. What does matter, is the pixel size of whatever sensor and a couple of other minor factors such as lens quality and how hot the sensor gets.

 

[wNotyarD]

Well, the brand of phone, or hell, the brand of camera sensor doesn't matter. What does matter, is the pixel size of whatever sensor and a couple of other minor factors such as lens quality and how hot the sensor gets.

Actually, software does matter and was indeed Xiaomi's achilles for a long time. But it's been at least some 3 or 4 years since they got their stuff together for their flagships, especially since their partnership with Leica started.
Long gone are the times you needed to install some version of GCam to extract the most from a Xiaomi phone camera.

 

[Thimblewad]

Why do you need 200 MP camera when your monitor can barely show only 5 MP?

Every camera can make good daylight photos - try that Xiaomi in a dark room to see how poor its camera in fact is.
Better buy Huawei - they excel in low-light or zero-light conditions photography.

It's the best camera phone currently on the market.
Here, have some low-lights.
And no, I was not using a tri-pod.

Edit: All the pictures are shot through a 67mm polarizing filter which blocks a lot of light. I'm using the Photography kit. Could probably get better results without the filter, but I'm on vacation with the wife so these are all "quick snaps"

 

[sudothelinuxwizard]

Actually, software does matter and was indeed Xiaomi's achilles for a long time. But it's been at least some 3 or 4 years since they got their stuff together for their flagships, especially since their partnership with Leica started.
Long gone are the times you needed to install some version of GCam to extract the most from a Xiaomi phone camera.

That's true, but my point still hold, and making stupid assumptions that something is better or worse solely based on brand is never a good idea - for example a 1" sensor with the AOSP camera, no optimizations at all, will still probably beat a 1/5" sensor with Apple/Samsung/Huawei level software processing.