phone 21 – lg g4

being unimpressed by the local phone brands, i widened my horizon and hoping that i can finally buy a phone that is worth keeping. two of my considerations are usability and uniqueness. lg mobile is one of the makers of uniquely designed phones. the camera and user experience they provide also impressed me, when i came across people using lg phones. their simple and squarish L series were good. their G series is great. their “rear button” design and curved displays got my attention. their version of curved display is like the curved TVs and monitors, concave (bowl) not convex (rounded). they first made that on lg g flex, as what i can remember. but since the first generation seemed to be quite overemphasized, i choose the one that has subtle curve. i chose a powerful one. i chose lg g4, released in 2015, which i bought as a second hand unit in 2016.

bootloop? ye. after more than a year, the phone gets bootlooped. i was aware about the problem so it was easy for me to accept it. however, when i tried plugging it to the outlet, the phone boots. it took long hours before it can be charged up to 100%. when i unplugged it, the phone got bootlooped again. still thankful that the bootloop was not due to damaged circuit board and might be the battery based on what happened. so i keep it in a box along with my phones that are not working anymore, until 2020. i bought a fake, but known to work brand of battery for my lg g4. luckily, it worked! the good thing is, the battery is user replaceable!

the newly bought fake 3000mah battery was charged for almost 3 hours in 2020. i calibrated the battery for 5 cycles, then maintained a charge between 20% to 90%. i occasionally used it. most of the time it is on my working gadgets box.

now the 2021 battery test! the phone was charged significantly faster at a little over 2 hours. it also managed to last for some minutes over a day. more than 5 hours of active usage, and 19 hours idle.

music play is one of the forte of lg g4 despite of not having the quad dac on it. as we know, lg is known to put quad dac on their phones and had the reputation to have the best audio experience on a smartphone, at least using the 3.5mm audio port which is becoming nonexistent on most flagships, by the way. the audio setting lets you change the pitch and speed. there are some preset sound modes too. but one of their sound modes produces static noise when the volume is set to zero and using through the loudspeaker, but again, no such noise on 3.5mm audio port. speaking of the speaker, nothing outstanding about it. the quality is good. but it is not immersive, being not that loud and placed on the rear side. the curve back somehow helps when placed on table as it is not covered. but when i do play music through the loudspeaker, i usually place it on table, faced down. wireless audio is also good. but again, the best music on lg g4 can be experienced through 3.5mm audio port.

web browsing is good. images are crisp. setting it to desktop mode is also good for its 2k ips display. it is also easy on the eyes even on dark environment since it is capable of lower nits. its processor and my data connection helped each other for fast loading of pages. it can easily do such stuff in 2021, which is impressive for a phone that is now considered inefficient, as it is 4 times the size of the newest soc. but, being that large, it really gets warm faster than my other phones, to the point that i am quite anxious it might actually be bootlooped if used heavier than what is on my testing. such heating issue, if you consider that as such, is also present when playing games. as casual as subway surfer gets the phone really warm.

for the camera, both photo shoots and video recording were worthy, even in 2021. manual camera settings is present. so it can also do lowlight photography. it only needs to have a tripod for good quality, as the iso level and noise-cleaning is not as good as the night mode on 2021 phones. it can also freeze some moments, but not for flash photography since it uses led flash which cannot be as good as xenon flash. the image stabilization also works good, as the not-so long exposure can be done handheld. stabilization on videos is also amazing. the phone can also shoot at 4k resolution. on the downside, image processing is not as good as the 2021 phones as there are some artifacts when zoomed in even for lower iso.

another forte of this phone is playing videos, whether those of what you shoot or movies you copied from anywhere. it has good contrast despite being an ips display. and their algorithms for auto brightness is ideal. it does not quickly go from bright to dim. it seems to be in synch with how my eyes adapt to ambient light. with that, i prefer such over other phones that are too quick in changing the brightness. another worth mentioning about the touchscreen display is its responsiveness and some peculiar ways of doing stuff. for instance, the double tap to wake and sleep are handy features. i can also tap to sleep even on lock screen which is not the case on some other phones, where you still need to unlock the phone before you can tap the home screen to put it to sleep. i also like the time peeping gesture when the phone is asleep since i usually check the time on my phones. you just need to drag your finger down and the time will show as long as you hold on to the touchscreen display.

overall, this is still a great phone in 2021, unless you game a lot on phones. from taking photos, recording videos and enjoying those and more on its crisp display and great 3.5mm audio. just be mindful of the temperature, because you really do not want it to heat up and eventually bootloop.

sadly we cannot see more of what the potential phones that lg can make since they already quit the smartphone industry. people who claimed that it does not matter, does not really have an idea what lg have contributed to the industry. their aggressive take on designs are unique and surprisingly useful. i wonder why some people does not give credit on those, especially most tech youtubers, ehem, i mean paid tech youtubers. those people should be the ones celebrating the new technology brought about by many brands. look how more potentially useful the concave curve. it is more pleasing to the eye and it does not distort the viewing experience knowing that smartphones are usually used nearer to our eyes compared to large curve monitors and TVs. also, it is not prone to accidental touches, it is even good on hand. quad dacs. i never saw any other brand which is fully invested on great audio dac, most brands even killed the 3.5mm audio port. their take on knock code, tap to wake and sleep. their take on video production is totally impressive. unique form factors that is surprisingly helpful on productivity and yet you can use the phone as regular as other phones. first, they did that on dual screen from v50, v50s, v60, and even velvet. second, the swiveling design on lg wing. some people who thought that lg made it just because they can did not watched the announcement of such masterpiece. they covered almost all possible use cases on the phone. and the gimbal mode is also impressive. the hyped has not die down on me yet, apparently.

so, i am genuinely saddened about their exit on the smartphone industry. their exit might slow down the development of smartphones in the near future if no other brands take the lead. most people are now satisfied on what smartphones can do, perhaps. some are just looking at how phones look - visual appeal. they are tickled by different camera humps. some are chasing numbers. but real innovation on those is really stagnant. but what can people, like me, do about it, when we are outnumbered by such people? remember, that no matter what science is showing to be of great advantage, and no matter how technology is potentially advancing, when the society supports mediocrity, science and technology will just comply with mediocrity.

phone 20 – firefly mobile aurii secret 4g

image - noypigeeks

another local brand got my attention. initially, firefly mobile aurii envy got my attention. it looks like the sony xperia z5 premium released in 2015. but seeing the aurii envy in person changes my decision, and i settled with this phone that is released in 2016 – the firefly mobile aurii secret 4g, and yes bought on the same year.

sadly, it is another phone that i do not consider worth-keeping. so, it was passed on to different people again, until it was gone.

but having it as an extra phone was good. i liked the build of the phone. it is quite heavy and despite it being not-so-precision-made, it is still a joy to hold. the frames are metal that made the device heavy, the back is a flimsy plastic but looks like metal. it is almost premium. i also like the sturdy case and tempered glass that came with it. true enough, it is sturdy. i had the courage to drop it from waist to the ground, and it was not damaged at all. no crack and it still works fine.

i usually use it for mobile internet – i browse the web through it or use it as a portable wifi hotspot instead of my sony xperia z3 dual. this 4g phone performs like my other 4g phones, my xperias.

i also used it for other purposes, sometimes. music, photo shoot, and video recording. a decent performer – powering a game, decent display, decent sound. but that is about it. not impressed, not disappointed as well. the retail package was also marketed by firefly mobile as a premium one, with black box – inside the complete accessories and a thick warranty card. but i cannot say that the smell is premium. ha!

the only downside that i experienced with the phone is the unbearable heat it disperses even with the case on. without the case, the metal frame can almost scald my hand. perhaps it will if i force myself to hold it a little longer.

overall, it was decent. but it is not worth-keeping like the cloudfone thrill plus, nokia x2 dual sim, and asus zenfone 5 (after the update). i guess, these are the phones that are mostly a “touch and go”. nice to have, but not that great to keep.

phone 19 – cloudfone thrill plus

image - left, gsmarena; right, gizguide

wiko robby on the left is the model unit of cloudfone thrill plus on the right.

 

before anything else, here is the unboxing of gizguide - https://www.gizguide.com/2016/07/cloudfone-thrill-plus-impressions.html

released and bought in 2016, this was my first phone that is locally rebranded. as i was browsing before buying this phone, i came across a wiko phone that looks like it.

sadly, just like asus zenfone 5 and nokia x2 dual sim, i do not think that it is worth keeping. nevertheless, there were some noteworthy about this phone. i will try my best to recall those.

one is the music experience. the quality is not as good as the xperia phones i have, but there is a certain tuning that was made on it. the front dual speakers are louder than the xperias but not as on asusfonepad note fhd6. there is also a surround sound option. and since we are on speakers, during calls, the dual speakers swap roles. both top and bottom part of the phone has mic hidden on speaker grills, so when you answer a call with the phone upside down, the speaker that is place over the ear will work as the earpiece. neat.

web browsing is quite good too. as i remember, it only covers up to 3g network. the speed, including the loading of pages is decent. pages look decent, but images are not that sharp, it has low resolution display.

gaming is good, but not as good as my other android phones. include the camera results and performance on the decent level as well. i was never impressed by those, but not disappointed as well. i guess, it meets my expectations for a locally rebranded phones back then. it was not a waste of money.

being a phone that i consider not worth-keeping, it also became a family phone – whoever wants it pick it up and use as they like. until it was gone, too.

phone 18 – sony xperia z1 compact (b)

just like phone 17 – sony xperia z1 compact (a), i also bought this phone in 2016. this phone is completely the same as that. i am reluctant to tell the purpose of buying this phone though. wehe.

surprisingly, i also got similar results on battery test. so, it might be as abused as the first one. in 2020, it was charged for only 15 minutes, this 2021, it went up to 30 minutes. again, this is not the fast charging of 2021, it is just a faulty battery. and as you can see, it does not manage to last even just for an hour.

based my testing on music play, web browsing, playing casual games, taking pictures, recording videos and watching videos, it was similar to z1 compact (a) – of course they are of the same model.

after this phone, i tried some locally rebranded phones.

phone 17 – sony xperia z1 compact (a)

first photo below shows the face unlock feature (on kitkat, btw) which is also present on my sony xperia miro. this time, they included the blink feature, just to make sure that the face is not a picture of the owner.

just few months within 2016, i bought another phone. another xperia. another phone released on 2014. and since i need a compact phone, i settled for sony xperia z1 compact. z3 compact and z5 compact were already around when i bought this phone – i just preferred the metal frame, and of course the price. it is better than miro in a lot of ways. but there are some adjustments i made moving from the reliable, sony xperia miro.

but before we go into the memory lane, i am going to begin on the battery test, which is the ultimate reason for doing this series of blog.

the 2300mah battery was charged for an hour and 8 minutes last year. on my test this year, it managed to finish charging for almost 40 minutes only, not because of fast charging. the battery is completely off. it is quite bulging. perhaps, it is because of the age. it might also be because of extreme usage. sony xperia miro is still better in battery life, but z1 compact is a flagship of yesteryears, which means it produces more heat when used extensively. i also used it often as portable wifi hotspot before. and since it has more to offer, i used it more – photo shoots, video recording, watching videos, video chat, on data connection almost all the time. it may also be, because of unusual charging – proprietary magnetic charging of sony, but really similar to pogo pins. perhaps the suspected culprit – using while charging. on usage, shown below, it somehow manages to lasts for more than an hour. but there were cases when it shuts down earlier than that. certainly, bad battery.

music play on this phone is similar to sony xperia z3 dual. except that this phone has single bottom-firing loudspeaker, not as immersive as the z3 dual. but they are on par on 3.5mm wired audio and wireless audio.

web browsing on the phone is good, but the experience is better on phones with bigger display. it can still load up pages fast, the way it loads up before. no unnecessary page refresh for 2-3 pages as the 2gb of ram can handle it. as said before, i usually use it as a portable wifi hotspot. the internet connection is better than almost all of my older phones.

gaming is good as well, during its time. i also managed to play some newer games on it – and my favorite subway surfer, ha, can be run without stutters. it does not get noticeably warmer on offline games, unlike the heat it produces whenever the data connection is on.

the cameras were great too – both rear and front camera. the things i enjoy on sony xperia z3 dual are present on this phone. the rear cameras are identical, while the front camera are similar. as a personal phone, i enjoy using it to family gatherings, and both timeshift bursts and timeshift video are the most commonly used especially when younger people are around. i was 23 when i started enjoying those stuff and having the phone as well. the lowlight photos are also decent. both photos and videos are good – i even prefer it than those camera phones with oversharpened and oversaturated results.

watching movies and video clips are not ideal on this phone, though, despite of good color reproduction and good viewing angles (unlike the xperia z, which was a usual complaints back then). the 4.3 inches ips display is quite small to enjoy doing this stuff.

as of 2021, the only issue i am experiencing is the deteriorated battery. for what it offers for the size is what made it one of the best phones i have. i only upgraded this personal phone in 2020 – and that is 4 years of serving me well. to compare it to miro, which was my main phone before it (both a personal phone and a work phone), that one served me for 3 years.

this phone experienced some abuses from me. i was not scared to use it while it is raining, or never worried about it getting wet on my pocket during rainy days (there were times i came home soaking wet). on outdoor family affairs, where hands are dirty, i am free to use it and rinse it afterwards. but, not anymore, as the battery is already bulging and some seals are already off. but, again, despite of that, this is still a good phone in 2021... if only the battery is good.

phone 16 – sony xperia z3 dual

no phone has replaced my sony xperia miro since 2013, despite trying different brands, including nokia, which is my first favorite brand. some other phones have more capabilities, like the nokia lumia 1020 than miro. nokia x2 dual sim supposed to replaced the miro. however, miro proved to be irreplaceable that time for simple and intuitive interface; the social media integration also held me from migrating from miro. so, with such experience on a non-flagship xperia, i bought the sony xperia z3 dual in 2016. the same was released in 2014.

despite almost, 2 years of age when i bought it. my expectations were met, and beyond. no, it was not supposed to replace miro as the main phone. but, it is intended to be my work phone – the first one, despite being slaved, i mean, employed for almost 3 years.

is it still working in 2021? the answer is the battery testing result for 2021 below. last 2020, the 3100mah battery was charged for 3 hours and a little less than 30 minutes. this 2021, it was charged a little bit longer, almost the same, for 3 hours and a little more than 30 minutes. too little, right? this can be charged via usb or by using the magnetic charging i usually use on this. but for such test, i use the usb charging. as for the usage, it managed to last for almost a day, just 2 hours and less than 30 minutes, this phone will cover the entire day, 24 hours. if you remember, nokia lumia 1020 also has similar battery life. close enough.

music play is great, the loudspeaker is not as loud as asus fonepad note fhd6. but the quality is better. clear. i can hear some parts of the song i listened to, clearly. like some musical instruments and even back-up singers. aside from the loudspeaker, there is wireless audio and 3.5mm audio. the latter is the best. it is beyond my expectations coming from miro. the sound is also clear – include the calls, from my boss, since this is a work phone.

for web browsing, there is really nothing i complain about, the 5.2 inches fhd ips lcd display is satisfying. lay flat on the table, and from whatever angle i look at the display, i can easily read the contents. images are crisp. when i am on the road but needs to view some work-related images, i got to see what i needed to see – pixel peeping or whatever, it is okay without my laptop around. sadly there was this news about web browsers not supporting older android devices (in 2021), which standards will be followed by web developers. so this might affect the usability of this phone. but, being bought in 2016, it is still good that i can still browse the web, this 2021 with it.

gaming? just casual gaming. card games. puzzles. jewels or bubbles. you get the idea? these are the games i am sure this phone can run lag-free. but for 3gb/16gb memory configuration (the other variant has 32gb of storage memory), it might run popular games even in 2021. but the snapdragon 801 might struggle and absolutely produces heat faster than the processors in 2021.

for photo shoots. i was able to get some decent shots on good daylight and good details, courtesy of the 20.7mp f2.0 sensor. lowlight shots are decent even on 2016. compare this to nightmode of 2021, the results on this phone can be described as smudgy, blurry and has unresolved details. there are just some niceties the camera modes have. there is “face in picture” which is similar to nokia’s take on bothie. there is an “ar effect”, which becomes popular to phones even after 2016. familiar with camera apps that can make your face like a cat? or that app that can overlay some objects into the view? that is the xperia “ar effect”. there is also the “timeshift video” which lets you shoot at a high frame rate and save it as a slow motion video. that is 120fps, which is nothing compared to 960fps of organic shots, first time on xperia xzs and xz premium. xperia flagships have it up to the xperia 1 i (mark 1). there is also “4k video” capture, but phones were still weak that time, as it gets warmer than usual, using this mode. “timeshift burst” is another mode that is worth mentioning. it takes burst shots, including the shots before you press the shutter button. so, if you press the shutter button quickly after a lightning strikes, chances are, you get one if not more shots of the lightning. nice! i got some lightning shots, but some of them has this rolling shutter effect. it also has “live on youtube” which was not possible on most phones, then. “info eye” mode is like the google lens now. “sound photo” lets you save the ambient sound when you shoot. there is also a “background defocus” for a fake bokeh. “sweep panorama” and “creative effect” too are there. the modes are almost endless as some modes are downloadable. those mentioned were there out of the box.

on videos, aside from those modes, mentioned above, it can record hdr videos. 720p for as fast as 120fps. 1080p for the usual 60fps. 2160p (4k) only records at 30fps. the 2.2mp front camera handles video call and selfies, too. i guess, selfies were not yet popular those days, or at least on xperia devices.

i also enjoyed watching movies, especially when “image enhancement” is turned on. for my own video clips, i turn it off, though. the advantage of clear front facing loudspeaker is also evident when watching movies, especially alone since it is not that loud. for movie sessions with friends and workmates, the asus fonepad note fhd6 is the way to go – it is not meant for solo pleasure (cannot think of other term), but for sharing, so i am not concerned with “quality” on those sessions.

overall, the phone is still usable. it is enjoyable, only when you do not play with demanding games, as the soc and memory configuration, will struggle, if it can still play those. the body is still in pristine condition as i used a case before. now, mostly on my gadgets box, i remove all coverings – from case to screen protector. minimal hairline scratches can be seen but does not affect the experience when watching on the display. there are some cases, when the touchscreen is unresponsive. i guess, this is due to the bulging battery which just started recently. i am not sure, whether to have it repaired or just to remove the battery and lock it until i come up with things to do on it.

reviewing this phone made me remember that xperia was ahead of its time, especially in the camera department. the different modes were brilliant. the default mode even has a “scene recognition” algorithm which is now referred to as “ai camera” by most manufacturers. that 4k video. the youtube live video broadcasts. all these, on a phone released on 2014, experienced on 2016 is just amazing. it comes with a disadvantage though – the technology, hardware and software (by some partners) is not that ready yet to handle the features completely.

since this phone, the brand became my most favorite – ahead nokia. as for nokia, the nokia lumia 1020 might be the last one i would get.

phone 15 – nokia lumia 1020

being unsatisfied with nokia x2 dual sim, quite expected since it is a low-tier phone, i gave nokia one last chance. one thing i considered is where nokia, i mean microsoft is good at that time – providing a straightforward interface which i loved on my htc windows phone 8x. i considered some nokia windows phone. there are a lot of choices. to give nokia the advantage of this chance, i chose a phone with most positive reviews from ordinary users and technology enthusiasts. finally, i bought nokia lumia 1020 in 2015, released on 2013.

up to this day, it is still working and i was able to have a battery test. from 2 hours and a little more than 30 minutes of charging last year, this 2021, another 30 minutes is needed to fill up the 2000mah battery – a total of more than 3 hours of charging. it lasts for almost a day. still good for casual use in 2021. and if you go a little bit more of active use, the battery grip can help extending the battery life aside from activating battery saver.

music play is one of the things i enjoy on this phone. whether it is through loudspeaker or wireless audio, the sound is good. better sound comes out on 3.5mm audio, as it is tuned to dolby standards.

web browsing is just alright, i have the stock browser on windows phone 8, so there is really nothing to amazed about. what is important is, this phone is still capable of handling daily world wide web needs – social media, researches, online shops.

as for gaming, i only have the solitaire collections. this is not one of the strengths of nokia 909 (another name for nokia lumia 1020) as there are noticeable delays and stutters while playing the game. it also seems to be the worst battery-drainer and heat-generator (though i did not take notes on the battery used on each app).

if gaming is its weakest link, nokia lumia 1020 is known to have great camera system. the hardware stirs the interests of technology enthusiasts and the software part were praised by users for being easy to use. this is one of the reasons i want to keep this phone longer, use it longer. camera outputs are great even in 2021. whether i only use the fully automatic settings or manual settings, the results were great – not really on the latter since i have not mastered proper adjustments on the shots i wanted to take. most of the time, the results are still better on nokia lumia 1020 than on most phones i acquired after it. and it is also essential to mention that the video output is equally good. the optical image stabilization on this one is seamless, it is able to resolve some shakiness of my hands. adding to these, both led flash for videos and xenon flash for photos were great when ambient light is too low.

the last battery test i did, is to watch videos on its 4.5 inches amoled display, having more than 300 pixels per inch. it is not that sharp because of different pixel arrangement, making it look like an ips with sub-300ppi. nevertheless, i was still able to enjoy some movies and clips. the saturation might be good on those, but when i watch the videos taken with the phone’s camera, i had too select a subdued setting on the display. i actually put it as a default setting, since i also prefer a subdued color on the user interface. the puremotion hd+, clearblack display were also good. i appreciate it more now, since i tried some newer phones with amoled display, and some tend to have ghosting.

as for the handling, it is important to note that the upper part is heavier than the lower part because of the large camera module. after you are aware of that, there will be less chance of dropping it. i never did, thanks to those reviewer who pointed it out, and some exaggerated it. it is also pocket friendly, that is without the battery grip.

apart from those, you also get an fm tuner, numerous usual sensors, but not the expandable storage option.

overall, this phone is a beast. i cannot help myself but to adore this phone and glad that i still found it, 2 years after it was released. and, ye, it was already hard to find that time. i need to do some mall-hopping to find it. it did not replace my main phone, sony xperia miro, with this. but i always tag it along when i go somewhere for leisure. it is hard to let go of most of my phones, that is why i keep them, collect them. but, i guess, if i need to let go of any of my collections, nokia lumia 1020 will be one of the last phones i am willing to let go. see my ranking preference here: phone reviews - introduction and benchmark plans.

phone 14 – nokia x2 dual sim

image - gsmarena

trying to see how a low-tiered forked android works, i bout the nokia x2 dual sim in 2015, that was released in 2014. this was the first attempt of nokia under microsoft, back then, to use android system on their phones. it was also my attempt to use another nokia as my main phone. sony xperia miro was my main phone since i bought it in 2013, so i thought of replacing it with my first favorite brand. will it replace my phone of two years?

since i have phones bigger than nokia x2 dual sim, in terms of footprint and display, i was able to handle it seamlessly. it may be larger than my main phone that time, but not that much to be of concern. the body is plastic, quite fingerprint magnet, but it was nicely built. the 4.3 inches ips display has a decent resolution of 480p. i like how nokia placed the clearblack display into the phone, along with the glance screen. it was not as black as the oleds nor other ips displays. but at that time, it was decent.

like i said, nokia x2 dual sim is the first attempt of microsoft to make an android phone. this is not to be confused with the nokia x series feature phones. the forked android system is based on jelly bean, being run by a low-tier snapdragon 200, coupled with 1gb/4gb of memory configuration. that is how basic it goes, apart from the fact that it has few apps installable due to some apps needing google services.

5mp/vga rear/front camera configuration is also basic. decent; has some camera modes. but no interesting stuff about it, really.

enjoy music via fm radio or through your music library. loudspeaker is good. 3.5mm audio and wireless audio are good.

sadly, it failed to replaced my main phone that time, sony xperia miro. yes, it has larger display and better blacks. the interface is straightforward which is ideal if i want to access my apps as quickly as possible. but it is quite limited. it is nowhere near my main phone that consolidates my social media accounts and local data in a natural manner. i also prefer the sound quality of my main phone. despite the nokia x2 dual sim having better soc, there are more noticeable lags on it than on sony xperia miro.

so, like the previous phones that i lose interest of keeping, it became a household phone until i can no longer trace where it was. as i really do not have the willingness to trace it.

since i remember how difficult this phone was as a phone without google services, i eventually linked it to what has happened to huawei, and still happening. i cannot blame those people avoiding huawei phones for the lack of google services, which means some apps will not work or will have limited use. it is true that there are some workarounds, like sideloading the google services, not just the apps. however, when it has to be updated, you have to do the same thing over again. huawei is also doing its part by enticing app developers. it is also interesting how the harmony os will be used on more huawei devices and provide their own mobile services. but such interest, lead me to think if android open source project be brought back at its prime again. it would be nice if it will be back on its root – ideally secure and each app are only working on their own sandbox, no peeking of other apps’ data. but that means, less revenue for app developers. and as you know it, most people will go where the money is.

phone 13 – nokia n9

bought on 2015, released on 2011, i bought this phone merely for collection. there are unique characteristics of this phone up to this day. sadly, i can no longer boot. so, no battery testing on this one, just remembering the experience when it was working.

the design on nokia n9 is one of the best until now, in my opinion. the curve of the glass protecting the, actually, flat display is complementing the curves of the plastic body. such curve does not distort the images on the display because of enough bezels, which is not the case on newer phones. it feels compact and sturdy, no flimsy part of the phone. good on hand, on pocket or on the table.

the 3.9 inches amoled display is not that sharp, but images look great on the device. there is an option to toned down the saturation and i like it better than the default setting. i am not sure how bright it is under the sun, but i never had any problem using it outdoors. i think that is the purpose of the anti-glare polarizer. i do not know if any other phone has that. i think, outdoor use does not only need brighter display, but also anti-reflective filter.

meego os makes nokia n9 a unique smartphone, too, since no other smartphone has it. i heard, meego can be installed on personal computers. but, that version is still different to this phone. what is impressive, is the snappy and seemingly lag-free experience i had with the phone despite the chipset being weak on paper. and indeed, meego os is the one responsible for the snappy experience. i watched some videos, where an android version was installed into the device and it was laggy. perhaps, if nokia continued this project, we will be able to experience lag-free experience early on. user interface is so simple. it only has 3 panes – notification, all apps, opened apps. likewise, gestures were impressive on this phone. on the lock screen, you can easily show essential apps just by swiping up, from the bottom to the halfway of the display. closing an app and switching can also be triggered by swipe. even volume adjustment, a swipe on the upper part of the display triggers it.

there are some downside on spec sheets, though. the 16gb may be good back then, but the lack of micro sd card slot forces users to transfer photos and videos from time to time.

back to good stuff, nokia n9 has excellent camera system. the 8mp rear camera may be inadequate, but the quality is excellent due to carl zeiss optics and image processing. it also has front facing camera which is below the display, but can only be used for video calling as the camera interface does not show the option to use the front camera for selfie.

music? dolby takes care of that on this phone. i enjoy music session with its own bottom-firing loudspeaker, 3.5mm audio and even wireless audio. it also has fm tuner.

the 1450mah battery needs about 3 hours to charge back then. it will last for almost a week since i only used it for some music and some photo shoots back then. my main phone was still sony xperia miro since it is heavily integrated with my social media accounts.

i just wished this phone still works as it is a joy to use. sometimes, i am considering buying again – even the refurbished ones. but i think, i should move forward and look for other collectibles. besides, the refurbished ones and the original one are not equally made. i do not want to ruin my experience with this excellent yet compact phone. and android is slowly incorporating some swipe gestures anyway. it may not be as good as the gestures on nokia n9, but it is a matter of time we can see more ways of operating our smartphones as easy and enjoyable as the nokia n9.

phone 12 – asus fonepad note fhd6

due to the initial impression on asus zenfone 5, i traced back what asus has to offer and found this asus fonepad note fhd6 worthy to be part of my collection. bought it almost a year after i bought asus zenfone 5, that is 2015. but this phone was released on 2013.

the footprint is too large to be a phone with 6 inches display, 16:9 aspect ratio, and sharp enough at full hd. display is excellent, images look like they are printed on the surface of the glass. bezels were huge, but it does not bother me much, even on 2021. the stylus is also a good addition. hover operation is quite neat, but not how samsung galaxy note phones have. it is good enough for taking notes, scribbling, drafting ideas. it is also capable of having variable pressures – meaning, slightly pressing it on the screen leaves thinner lines, and pushing it a bit harder gives thicker lines, depending on the pen tool used.

it is powered by an intel atom, better than asus zenfone 5 despite of being released first. though it has the same gpu. i was okay with its 2gb/16gb memory configuration. it also supports up to 64gb microsd card. that is more than enough to save photos and videos taken with 8mp rear camera and about 1mp of front camera. the photos and videos are decent enough, though unusable on lowlight, since it does not have a flash and the camera software cannot adjust it enough, unlike the lowlight photography on asus zenfone 5.

on the audio side, the 3.5mm audio and wireless audio are good. but, one of the best things that this phone offers, is the front stereo loudspeaker. it was really intended to blast loud sounds. when set on its lowest level, it is still obviously louder than my previous phones. i do not need an external speaker to enjoy and share music. however, on the same level, there are some audible noises on both channels. the quality is just decent. loudness is great, quality is not that much.

with such display and speaker, it shines as a multimedia phone. great for some movie sessions with at most 4 people, in my experience. also as a tool for video chat. it is normal, then, to expect a higher battery capacity.

the 3200 mah battery was charged for more than 7 hours and a half. which is too slow even on 2015. regular top up and overnight charging is my solution for such long hours of charging. battery usage is impressive, though, even on 2021 as it managed to last for almost 2 days. more than 8 hours of active use is impressive. but what is more impressive is the battery management when it is inactive, -2% is the maximum consumption, even for 16 hours of inactive use. if only asus improved on this, then they might also get the reputation of having good battery life. and battery longevity, too. i guess it was not an issue when phones charged slower since it generates less heat. i wonder if most phones in 2021 will last like this phone does. as a recall, my 1 hour usage involves 20 minutes of music play, 10 minutes of web browsing, 10 minutes of playing games (like the subway surf), 5 minutes of taking photos, 5 minutes of recording videos, and the last 10 minutes, for watching videos.

it is still a good phone even on 2021, as i can still use it as it is, except that some apps are not compatible to it – since i let it stay on jellybean and intel atom also has compatibility issues on some apps. it can be updated to kitkat, but i did not. i was disappointed with the updates on my asus zenfone 5, so i would not dare to update this fonepad. still snappy, though the touch response is not as good as asus zenfone 5. i still watch movies on it, though there are signs of aging on the display – there are some sort of liquid marks on the sides. but still looks good, overall. good viewing angles, colors, enough contrast and brightness are still appreciated.

it is worthy as a collection.

phone 11 – asus zenfone 5

image - gsmarena

as if buying 5 phones in 2013 is not enough, i bought one of the best, bang for the buck phones on 2014, released on the same year. asus zenfone 5 belongs to the 1st generation of the zenfone series, not to be confused to the zenfone 5 of the 5th generation. this was released along with zenfone 6 and zenfone 4, again, not to be confused to the 6th generation and the 4th generation, respectively. asus has been making android smartphones before the zenfones. but this one, especially the first generation, was marketed as “bang for the buck” and “for the masses” type of phone. there were so many good things about this phone (when the os was not updated yet, more on this later).

asus zenfone 5 has the biggest foot print and display than all my previous phones. it is more immersive at 5 inches but not as sharp as my htc windows phone 8x. an intel atom powers up the phone and i cannot see the difference with other phones equipped with snapdragon in 2014. and coupled with relatively clean version of android jellybean (on its release). speaking of snappy, this is also the first phone where i heard about fast touch response (in 2020, many phones boast about faster touch sampling which is synonymous to this one). really fluid. but i can put it to the test playing subway surfer.

however, i started to unlike the user experience when it was updated. there were a lot of bloatwares and worse, it cannot be uninstalled. it lags. it is incomparable to the snappy experience i had out of the box.

the phone has a dedicated microsd slot to handle up to 64gb of storage. save music files, documents, photos and videos there. and cram your apps on 8gb internal storage which is already decent in 2014. 8mp rear camera and 2mp front camera cannot fill that up so easily for ordinary users, anyway.

as for the quality and capability. the idea is actually ahead of its time, making the result half-baked. i am talking about the lowlight photography of the phone. it was marketed to “see what you cannot see” by overexposing the lowlight shots. the quality is acceptable back then. you just get a noisy photo and the software cannot just resolve some details. but, i never knew any other phone that can do that in 2014. if only asus improved their camera software from there, they might have the attention the pixel phones got.

music play is also decent, like most phones, prior to its release, the loudspeaker is on the back. no problem when placed on flat surface since it is quite curved on its back. play through speaker, through 3.5mm audio, or wireless audio. you also have fm tuner, which is already absent on most phones in 2021.

as for the battery, i was not able to test it since the device is not on my hands anymore. because of my disappointments on the updated software, it became an extra phone for the family. anyone can use it. until it was gone. untraceable.

phone 10 – htc windows phone 8x

last phone i bought on 2013, but was released on 2012. this is my first windows phone ever. among those windows phone 8 released on or before 2013, this phone had my attention on looks. the floating design looks good and i assumed that it feels good on hand.

fairly enough, the curved back feels good on hand. the plastic matte finish even made it feel better. the curved back does not get all the way to the back center, so it lays still on the table. no camera bump. so operation on hand or on table never gave an issue.

the display looks good. excellent. images are sharp and colors look good. it is an lcd display, so it has low contrast. but there is an option to make the interface have a bit contrast. the glass is also curved a bit on the sides where the bezel is, so it does not distort the display even when viewed at an angle.

htc windows phone 8x does not have sdcard slot. you have to fit all your music files, photos and videos on the, now small, 16gb storage. speaking of photos and videos, the phone has 8mp rear and 2mp front to capture those. the front camera was made for the purpose of group shots or having a selfie with a large background since it is a wide angle camera.

as for the sounds, the phone is equipped with beats audio which is aggressive compared to moderate adjustments on htc desire 200. the music with fade in and fade out effect does not sound so good on this phone. rhythm and blues sounds better though. so i do not set the beats audio on all the time. headphone jack is still a common feature at those times. but wireless audio is also good on this phone. beats audio just would not work on wireless audio.

the phone has 1800mah battery and is charged for more than 11 hours! this is, for sure, not normal. i used to charge this phone for only 2 to 3 hours. this might be a part of battery deterioration or on the charging brick’s. it looks like the latter is true since the phone managed to lasts for a little more than a day of usage. more than 5 hours of active use is not bad even on 2021. for continuous use, a top up around 50% is good. or i just drained it before going to sleep and charge it overnight (only to find out that it is not fully charged).

and since this is my first windows phone, which is already unsupported on 2021, there are few apps i can actually use. my bad, i reset it after the app store is down. making its use comparable to feature phones. but i still like the simple user interface. at times, tiles look better than widgets. it made me consider buying another windows phone to include on my collection.

phone 9 – htc desire 200

i bought most of my phones almost a year after it was released on the market. but i bought this phone on the year when it was released, 2013. and if you have been reading this series of phone reviews, then you know that this is the 4th phone i bought within the year. i described 2013 as “trying times”. ha ha. not because life is hard to deal with, but i was trying things and phone is one of them. that is aside from, i want to diversify my phone collection.

what made me consider htc desire 200 is the hearsay that beats audio is good, and that entry level phones of htc are snappy. sadly, i was not able to check the battery life this year, 2021. no battery score card for this phone.

the connection is good. size of the body and display are comparable to sony xperia miro. but the build quality is not that good. cheap plastic is obviously seen and felt. the patterned back case did not change such perception. likewise, the display is worse than the sony xperia miro in my opinion. images just look better on the miro.

one thing i liked though, is the snappy experience. it is expected since the user interface is a bare minimum. lags only happen when opening some game apps. browsing through the interface, phonebook, messaging apps are snappy.

the 5mp camera is worse than that of sony xperia miro, despite of having the same resolution.

music play is good. beats audio on the phone is not as aggressive as the pricier htc phones. bass is emphasized a bit, the parts of some songs where the volume is quite low is also better, in my opinion. aggressive beats audio, sometimes turn off the sound of those parts completely which feels like unnatural. the loudspeaker is just right. it has a small speaker on the rear. bluetooth speaker can also be used aside from wired 3.5mm audio port.

overall, the phone is good as a music player and a backup phone. but i prefer the sony xperia miro for such purpose.

phone 8 – nokia n8 (a)

bought on 2013, released on 2010, this phone qualifies as a collector’s item – or at least i bought it for such reason. but, i can say that it has more capability than some of my previous phones.

however, i was not able to test the battery since the display is unusable.

the design is unique and the build quality is obviously sturdy. good on hand, for most of its use cases.

the amoled display is quite sharp on paper, but the perceived sharpness is on par with my sony xperia miro. but being an amoled display of yesteryears, the display deteriorates faster than lcd displays. the problem will start as a blackhole until the entire panel will be covered in pitch black. this was one of the problems of amoled displays aside from the slight burns and pink lines. and that, exactly, is what happened to this phone. but the quality of the display when it was still usable is good. good contrasts and good readability outdoors.

the processor and software are nice pair since the user experience is snappy. looking for an app, starting them up and actually using them is not disappointing.

one of the reasons of buying this, is the camera experience. 12mp carl zeiss optics produces good quality photos and looks better when transferred on pc. xenon flash also made good shots on dim situations or when the backlight is quite strong. it gives proper illumination on the subject that i never saw on any smartphones up to this day (modern smartphones settle with hdr), even the pulse led cannot produced images on par with a photo shot with nokia n8 with its xenon flash. the dedicated shutter button is also helpful. some smartphones allow you to use volume rocker as a shutter button. but since the shutter button is two-staged (half-press to focus and do necessary exposure adjustments, then press all the way down to take the shot), it provides better experience and output, generally. the camera ui is also good as it allows you to adjust some settings based on what you wanted to shoot or how you want to shoot the subject – macro, portrait, landscape, etc.

music play is also good, though it only has a tiny grill embedded on the camera bump. insert an earphone or speaker, then you can appreciate the music more. bluetooth connectivity is also present.

you also get fm radio – tuner and transmitter. the first one is common those days, but the latter is only on few phones. and i did some countless pranks with this fm transmitter. i practice at home, playing my own tracks and some funny voice overs. then tried it on my friend’s car. funniest one, was when i used it on a public transit, skipping every song on my playlist. if only you were there when i skipped a tract, the moment some random people are already “into” that song. apart from that “childish” use, i also used such feature during family gatherings. speaking of that, since the phone has built-in hdmi port, i can immediately show everyone during those gatherings, the pictures i took with the phone.

phone 7 – nokia asha 202

another phone i bought on 2013, but was released on 2012. i really had no reason to buy it, but just to try it.

there is nothing special about this phone. call and sms are good. the size is just good on hand and the display is enough for what you can use it for. the resistive display is quite difficult to use as you really need to press it not just tap it. advertised as a “touch and type” phone, it still has t9 keypad and menu keys. everything else is on the resistive display – selecting icons, tracks, sms, some swipe gestures on home screen, too.

the phone accepts up to 32gb sdcard. it can be used to store music files as the phone has music player. it can also be used to save photos and videos taken with the 2mp camera of the phone.

a web browser is also present aside from music player and a radio tuner. it has its own app store, but i think it was already close, few years after i bought the phone.

it took more than 2 hours to charge the phone and lasted for almost 4 days, making this phone more ideal than my previous phones as backup. it might last more days if it will only be used for calls and sms. about 12 hours active use is already good.

battery score card

it serves its purpose – a backup phone that can last for a couple of days and also can fill the air with music (or just your ears as it has a 3.5mm audio port), web browsing if you really need to (since the experience is not that good), and allows you to snap and shoot photos and videos (which is, again, not of good quality).

phone 6 – sony xperia miro

this 6th phone is my first in many ways. this is my first xperia. my first phone having a touchscreen. my first android smartphone. bought it on 2013, but was released on 2012. i bought it for having a good impression on previous sony ericsson phones. my dad even had an ericsson phone before (without the “sony”). there was a time when i frequently visited sony ericsson concept store just to appreciate designs and capabilities of those phones.

i settled buying a lower midrange as i cannot afford the flagships that time. so i did not expect this phone to properly represent the brand, sony xperia. but i am still satisfied. though the physical design represents the nxt series of the sony xperia. it has a small led strip below the display (much smaller than the led strips on xperia u, s, p, sp), which is not obvious when it is lit off. by default, the led strip lights up at the beginning of each track on the walkman app, as long as the display is also opened. it can also light up when a notification from a social media app arrives. for missed calls, sms, battery status and other common notifications, the smaller led light above the display is used. to maximize the use of the led strip, an app should be installed first.

sony xperia miro, like other xperia during that period, were marketed as a social media phone. social media app is integrated into the user experience. a widget consolidates all social media feeds. you can browse, on a single feed, updates from facebook, twitter and others. facebook is also integrated well into phonebook as you can synchronize your friends list and consolidate it with local numbers. photo of each contact can also be based from facebook display photo. in a way, i can easily recognize who sent an sms, miscalled or calling as it shows the display photo from their facebook accounts.

despite of its size (lxh), i had no problem with handling it or putting it on my pocket. it even fits better on my pocket since it is slimmer than my previous phones. the adjustment is on using the onscreen qwerty keyboard. luckily, there is an option for t9 keyboard (or "phone keypad” keyboard). this allows me to use it one handedly and efficiently. though i need a wrist strap to prevent it from falling, especially when i was still adjusting to its larger, yet slimmer design, unlike my previous small and bulky phones.

display is good enough during those days. enough colors, quite pixelated images due to low pixel density.

the 800mhz processor and ice cream sandwich are responsible for powering up the device and making it usable. since xperia ui (it still follows timescape ui design) is almost bare or stock, the experience is quite fluid. but the ui cannot hide stuttering when some background apps start to kick in. sometimes, when the walkman app shift to the next song while i do typing, it stutters. even games show stuttering, as simple as subway surfer does (which is the game i used to test the battery). these hiccups are expected even before i bought it.

the phone can handle 32gb microsd card where i can store my music files and photos taken with its 5mp rear camera and vga front camera (which is useless without a bright ambient light).

for battery testing, sony xperia miro was the first one to be tested, despite being the 6th phone in queue. (the preceding phones on this series were tested after this phone) i tested music play using walkman app, web browsing using the stock web browser (which is different from chrome browser), subway surfer for gaming, stock apps for taking photos and videos, then the movies (videos) app for playing videos taken with it. the battery was fully charged for 3 hours and almost 30 minutes, but only lasted for almost a day – more than 4 hours for active use, the rest inactive.

battery score card

using it now as a music player and a backup phone. i prefer this over lenovo e156 as a backup phone. better sound than that lenovo, too. i can also use any wired audio device, like earphones and speakers; and wireless audio too.

overall, the experience on this phone is never disappointing. it makes me consider xperia or any android as my next phone. but i was still open to try other brands that time. this phone made some of my routines easier than on my previous phones. at the same time, it, somehow, made me dependent on it. i started having more time tinkering on my phone than on other things. some things i do on my laptop or on physical notepad previously can easily be done on this little device. of course, those "not so power hungry" tasks. satisfied.

phone 5 – lenovo e156

released on 2011, i bought it on 2012. my main reason for purchasing it, is just to try out the first generation of lenovo phones. i expected lenovo e156 as a decent phone just like their laptops despite of it being the cheapest one.

i had no significant issues with connectivity. but issues are somewhere else. during calls, i cannot be heard well. on texting, specifically typing, aside from relatively hardpress keys compared to all my previous phones, the feedback is delayed. i can literally finish typing, and the phone still needs to show the last three words i already typed. that kind of lag is worse than the lag on android phones i heard during those times.

the phone is good on hand and pocketable. it may not feel as sturdy as my previous nokia phones, as the back cover easily pops out whenever i dropped it. but at least it is still working as it is up to this day. that means, it is better than my nokia 1100 and nokia 1600 in terms of longevity.

lenovo e156 has sdcard slot, able to accept up to 8gb of storage. this is good for storing audio files and some photos. viewing photos on the phone is impractical due to its 128x128 pixels, 1.5 inches display and can only show photos with small data size as the memory of the phone is not capable of handling photos with big data size.

as for playing music, the loudspeaker is… loud. but, the quality is quite low. it is flat. the phone has no 3.5mm jack, but it uses the miniUSB port for both charging and audio connection. since it is difficult (if possible) to buy such earphones having a miniUSB connector, i need to take it with extra care. it does not have bluetooth connection, too. surprisingly, even after not putting extra care, the earphones that came with it still works. the earphones are useable, but as flat as the loudspeaker.

by the way, this has no camera. so most of my battery testing has to go for music playing.

the 650mah battery was charged for 2 hours and a little more than 30 minutes. it managed to lasts for almost 2 days which is normal as a phone with few features.

battery score card

currently using as a music player aside from a backup phone – sms and calls. the latter seldom happens since i have other backup phones. those are better as it can provide web access and android apps. but then, again, this will be useful during power outages and when i need to digitally detoxify – at least, it still put me into communication line and some music.