iPhone X pre-order day and the October mailbag! | #PNWeekly 276
iPhone X pre-order day and the October mailbag! | #PNWeekly 276
2017-10-27
now did you get your iPhone 10 pre-order
in were you one of the few lucky chosen
producer Jules is gonna ser some
thoughts share some thoughts on this
topic especially after a fun Twitter
conversation and also is Microsoft
working on yet another folding tablet
design a Verizon is gonna be taking the
cap off a 4k streaming video and we have
a special guest this week shaman das
from joyed now will join us as we open
the pocket net weekly mailbag to tackle
your top questions we've got a lot to
talk about so make sure you're charged
and ready for episode 276 of the pocket
now weekly recorded october 27th at noon
pacific time this is the weekly podcast
where we discussed de-sect and discussed
those gadgets that make our lives mobile
I said where we discussed I combined two
the two words and that's an actual word
that doesn't mean what I need it to mean
smartphones tablets and wearables it's
all the stuff you wish to when you were
a kid and Andromeda was just a Star Trek
knockoff starring Kevin Sorbo I'm Juan
Carlos back now senior editor at
pocketnow.com joined as always by plucky
podcast producer mr. Jules Wong on the
East Coast how's it going buddy boy I
mean it's also the nearest galaxy to us
and they look away like don't it's true
disrespect that don't I know that Star
Trek is all up and not about this in
it's all about my love of Kevin Sorbo I
don't believe I've shared that enough on
this podcast just how dreamy I think
that dude is and I also reason Kevin
supporters alright I really really enjoy
his work I really wish he were in other
projects but that's neither here nor
there because we also have a guest this
week
mr. Shimon das thank you so much for
joining the pocket net weekly thank you
so much for having me it's great feels
nice I would hate for you to be like I'm
here under protest man yeah or well I
mean he's also doing the best he can
under like it's 12:30 on a Saturday he
could be sleeping that's true you living
in our future I I when we're offline I
hope that you'll share what happened
with the stock market so that I can take
advantage of some insider trades of
course only during the pot for you all
postulates
they're copies cut real quick before we
jump into some of the top headlines come
on can you tell us a little bit about
what you do over on dried now and I know
you've been particularly active in
various htc communities yes so a little
bit of myself I am sh'mon if that's kind
of a tough name to pronounce it's easy
you can incorporate it with Pokemon if
that makes any sense at all
so I consider myself as a content
creator specifically towards tech
because I love technology and so
basically I take over content writing
creating some videos fun videos some
really ridiculous ones which I find
funny so there's that and then about the
agency thing you've said yes I do
contribute towards their communities
it's fun excellent and I did catch your
your Oreo video recently so I very
helpful tutorial on how to get Oreo on
any Android device I would highly
recommend looking forward to the butter
chicken flavor of Oreos coming out in
this limited edition yeah I'm some
butter chicken last night there like I I
love this dish and I think it needs to
be in all things but between me and mom
so oh and I just walked right into your
inside joke in his joke to everyone
basically - okay well I apologize for
ruining your joke and I will endeavor
not to do so again I'm completely
clueless as to what's happening in this
exact moment but before we well just so
that we don't turn this into an inside
joke food podcast again
hey the joke's on you and it should be
on you that's we should get the
questions from today this podcast this
hour right now you can contact us
through Twitter with that PN weekly hash
I know we were trying to get to that and
I made it very painfully slow in the
transition going onto that hashtag P and
weekly on Twitter your questions in well
we have Shimon on the air and also
talked about emails and sweep and piling
up the mailbag a little bit we're
starting to do this thing where we just
pile it on for the end of the month the
last week of the month if we can I'm
Jess or whatever and the address to do
that is podcast at pocketnow.com so
podcast at pocketnow.com or hashtag p
and weekly while we're live here at 3
p.m. Eastern it's all wonderful it's all
we want to hear from you
gorgeous and we've got a news block run
down Jules do we want to just blitz this
or do you want to go story by story
what's this through and I want to get to
rants I have for you don't I mean I woke
up to Twitter this morning and it was
just so for the week of October 24 I
believe this is all the news that the
podcast and we did get to see a little
preview of sorts for the 1 plus 5t that
we're expecting out soon obviously we
have an event queued up at least in
India for sometime in November but the
Oppo our 11s was pre announced in China
today with 4 gigabytes of RAM Snapdragon
835 I believe is the question here and
it also 660 thank you and 6d for you
even the storage also with that 2x1
display that everyone's been talking
about sprinting over and said Oppo and
into perhaps one plus dual cameras at
the back and more well expect to hear
more from opera soon enough and meantime
still waiting on that one plus Andromeda
do you remember the Marcus the Microsoft
courier from be sure to years ago
folding notebook displayed two screens
and it's totally not like the Keith
Perrett
no because that's a bigger thing and
it's it's it's huge and okay so
basically there's this device very vague
details just it's the same form factor
we would hope that as opposed to 2009 we
would get like yes lesser bezels
microsoft inc working with that surface
there hopefully it's a surface note or
surface journal or something like that
and it's targeted towards 2018 you know
and we might be talking about a
snapdragon ish deal here because Windows
10 on arm has been a big development in
the past year or so Plus let's talk
about LG getting a smattering of phones
on to Amazon circuit it's a prime
exclusive program where you have ads on
the lockscreen and suggestions
throughout the whole interface of
Android and if you want to get save 50
72 bucks son those phones you can
partake in the prime exclusive phones
they'll be on the new just added to the
program g6 g6 plucks the q6 and the ex
charge haven't that we have some fish to
talk about one fish two fish albacore
blue line and getting the cross hatch is
that it we're talking about here pixel
through the article is you've got a lot
of questions sounding here well I was
trying I was trying to give them like a
dr. Seuss thing good wonderment in
excitement all that well I'll save it
I'll save it we've got it we will talk
about the stories sorry I'm gonna shut
up ahoo to you that
so those three devices are what we're
talking about for potential pixel three
phones there's also something that was
referencing to a last year phone and
that would be the codename wahoo
although we don't know if that will end
up coming up in 2018 so we'll talk about
that once we get to it for
Aizen is asking its customers that if it
they want 4k video they're gonna have to
pay $10 more per month and that is the
very complicated Verizon unlimited plan
situation going on because when they'd
launched Verizon an illuminating it was
just one plan with the full unlimited
streaming initially before they started
capping it often and then they split it
up into two plans go unlimited which is
480p and then beyond unlimited which is
720p which is even worse so there's a
whole bunch of this convocation and then
better yet you can pay more you can line
Bryson's pockets and get 4k streaming
and Verizon has made the case that it's
basically doesn't really benefit those
customers who have phones quality and
there are only so few of them out there
but it's still worth something to some
people that they get at least 1080p quad
HD perhaps mobile streaming who knows
let's talk about Steven Rose niak he was
the former eyes was wise was pounding
Apple and also D founding the whole
iPhone X thing because he's typically a
pretty pretty close
first a day actor of new iPhones and he
said to CNBC that he was just gonna keep
his iPhone 8 for the time being of the
iPhone X he knew 10 he told them I'm
just worried about what it provides me
I'd rather that one and I'm happy with
my iPhone which is the same as the
iPhone 7 which is the same as the iPhone
6 to me so I'm doing pretty well those
are his words
um and apparently if he's gonna stick to
them at least through the opening period
of iPhone X iPhone 10 pre-orders so look
to see what happens with that and then
there is the big Bloomberg story this
week that the face ID component
manufacturers have low apples lowered
the
accuracy specification for than that so
that manufacturers can send more them
over to get to finished iPhone units
that accuracy SPECT by the way they
mentioned it it was a million-to-one as
opposed to today's fifty thousand to one
I believe that the speculative number or
the like the ballpark number that people
have been tossing around would be in the
hundred thousands area to one still
pretty good but it's a compromise
nonetheless and Apple responded to that
reported rumored compromise by saying
that Bloomberg's claim that Apple has
reduced the accuracy expect forests face
ID is completely false and we expect
face ID to be the new gold standard for
facial authentication so definitely when
we're talking about supply this has been
the component that has been causing a
most trouble for Apple and it's part of
why we're seeing backups even twelve
hours from the start of pre-orders at 3
a.m. Eastern twelve Pacific and it says
six weeks of shipping now that with the
iPhone 7 the jet black finish that was a
pretty hot item in the 128 and 256
gigabyte storage models those who are
waning that the prompt at least eight
weeks all the way to November from
pre-order time so as bad as that but
just give it a few more hours maybe even
a day or so and we might be talking
about a different situation which leads
me into what's I've been talking about
this morning with Michael Fisher mister
mobile and Andy cannot go pretty a
Chicago Tribune I believe was he from
yes well he's not gonna as made a name
for his spots on Apple and in any case
he said in a tweet
morning that an environment where
consumer feels lucky did an iPhone 10 or
a Nintendo classic or any product is
toxic to dignity and the salt Mike
Fischer retweets that and an aunt is own
commentary where he says an environment
where people are made to feel a sheen
for being passionate about something
that excites them is worse I mean I get
it we're all victims of consumerism
we've lost sight of what's important
life the corporations have won whatever
but I spent way too many years taking
crap from people who don't understand my
love of tech and willingness to spend
money on it like what they like and I
was kind of ticked off about the whole
situation because it's not just about
one person it's not just about the
persecution of tech geeks which hello
but it's it's more about the market and
what it wants and what it needs out of
Apple Apple seated CEO Tim Cook went on
America's most popular Morning Show Good
Morning America to sell people on the
iPhone 10 you wouldn't think that this
$999 value-priced phone his words not
mine would appeal to the mass market
about being yeah it's a bargain and but
bank analysts have said that this is
gonna be the phone for Apple that this
will trigger as the so called super
cycle where people who have held onto
their iPhone 4 4 s 5 5 s all those to
this newest this most changest iPhone in
quite some time and you heard it from
was iPhone 8 iPhone 7 and 4 sister all
the same so remember contrasting that
situation here and you think about what
quarter were coming into it's the
holiday quarter and it's the busiest by
far for upgrades for exchanges and all
that and you see the supplies draining
from that iPhone from that a face ID
component
you got to be wondering does it really
suck does do people have to be lucky in
order to wake up at 3:00 a.m. or do
whatever it takes to get to 3 a.m. to
just get something that they would
consider is a mission-critical device
that runs their daily lives and you know
it's nice to have this changing thing
and you know instead of the iPhone 8
where the kind of it's it's okay it's
all right but it leads to more of a
malaise just by owning it and going
through the same ol same ol you know
maybe maybe it could be we could be
leading into that and I guess well what
do you think I mean it's well what I
would just what I would just kind of
question well you you seem to have some
really strong feelings on this exchange
between two people talking I think
talking through each other sort of
addressing different aspects of tech and
consumerism and why why did you feel
like you had such a strong reaction to
this exchange because I feel like were
ignoring the bigger questions around
what the iPhone 10 is to mmm not only
technique because tech geeks have always
been on that front edge and there has
always been that product that has
surrounded them it's always been a niche
and what everyone else had product but
this is being marketed as a main product
to people so yeah I guess I guess my
feeling would be I I don't I don't see
or I don't understand the individual
who's going to get upset with Apple for
a marketing or a strategy that they've
employed since the very inception of the
iPhone everything the the iPhone has
kind of been built up on a notion of
exclusivity and premium consumer
consumer experience so this is sort of
par for the course
I mean to Michael Fisher's comment there
I mean yeah they're gonna be people who
genuinely excited about getting this new
phone but Apple has always Apple in the
mobile strategy has always been consumer
facing not tech geek facing they don't
really care if tech geeks are on board
because that's not their bread and
butter and that's not where any company
makes makes their money it's can you
cross over into some sort of mainstream
lifestyle commentary and you know I I
don't know that I'd put it so derisive
Lee as I forget the the first guy you
you mentioned tweeting all this is such
a sad day for consumerism when this is
literally the main way to launch a
premium product is to make it feel like
it's exclusive you can't make the
regular iPhone feel exclusive because it
is very largely the same phone we've had
since the iPhone 6 so this goes
hand-in-hand with Apple probably has
bitten off more than they can chew
just for manufacturing the device and it
really just plays into the narrative
that this is gonna be an ultra luxury
premium experience that not everyone
gets to have right at the very beginning
right at lunch and it's gonna end up
making it even more desirable this is
all marketing this is all you know
peeler you see what they'll do they'll
talk it'll off yeah look we've seen them
do this so often that it's it shouldn't
be a surprise and we shouldn't take it
as a shock should we be having
conversations with consumers about like
how their dollars and entertainment
dollars and their their lifestyle
dollars can be better spent we're here
to have those conversations you folk
with your wallet
basically because if you're going for
the iPhone in any ways then it's going
to continue it's going to sustain that
kind of a just conservative a great
moment motion and it's not going to
allow we've seen all these new concepts
from moto with the modular smartphone
and when people are allowed to jump away
from it people in are not at all to jump
away from the current platform and do
all that when they're walked in
regardless you know we don't have a
contract anymore but we have these
two-year agreements none yeah right but
but a bit I think the point that I would
I would sort of wrap my my feelings on
this story up with
I feel that the thousand dollar iPhone
era is only going to accelerate general
consumers getting off of the smartphone
excitement bandwagon i I really feel
like you know and to a large degree this
also kind of goes for note eight in
every other ultra premium smartphone out
there where the phone is a commodity the
phone is a necessity but that doesn't
mean you need to buy the most expensive
one to get something that's gonna
achieve everything you need it to do and
I think it's just good perspective from
here so you will be knowing how to show
me right so they call flashes flash
sales all the time it is that's their
own business model right so they have
like less number of stocks and then they
hold flash sales where you have to be
really quick and lucky to get the phones
right so that's the same case with the
iPhone X in the u.s. like you know you
have three orders and you like get up
early and get those pre-orders in and
then uh Xiaomi also gives out F cohorts
which is like friend code which
literally just means like the invite
system from the oneplus you remember
that like what does one you need it
anyway to purchase the form so yeah
Xiaomi also gives out like F course to
buy new devices and the kind of gives
you a feeling that oh this phone is
premium in some source that there's a
shortage of those phones and you need to
buy them yeah I understand I understand
that you're very market leader but I
don't think buy much because they're I
mean they're they've been up surging
since when they debuted in the market in
2014 but they still have a lot of
competition from Samsung and Motorola
and all that so these other strategies
employed in other ways too I mean like
obviously not a market leader but look
at how much we used to trash oneplus for
their lottery system where it wasn't
even just could you get your presale and
it was you got a ticket for the you know
the raffle of being able to buy
the phone and III guess like if we're
really gonna ballon the situation I
think it's um just a little bit
disingenuous from someone in certain
traditional media to be complaining
about this kind of consumerism when
literally it's newspapers and TV that
are the main aspects of reinforcing this
kind of consumer relationship like I'll
have conversations I'm gonna be on a
good day LA it's a local Fox affiliate
for the Greater Los Angeles area in a
couple weeks to talk about unlocked
phones and the producer who's working
that segment was telling me like it's
actually really difficult to do a
segment like that because it doesn't
have an iPhone in it you know so it's
this traditional media mentality that's
reinforcing why consumers find this so
exciting you know iPhone 8 launch day
and it was kind of a shock that no one
was out lining up for these iPhones and
it caught news departments local news
agencies by surprise because that used
to be a major aspect of their coverage
for an iPhone launch but you would never
see that for an HTC launch for an LG
launch for a Samsung launch and so it's
sort of a never-ending cycle of
consumers respond to I phone stories
let's do iPhone stories oh they're not
responding to LG stories let's not do LG
stories and it's they are complicit in
this conversation as well III again I
don't know the work of this gentleman
who's complaining about the dignity of
consumers by this is this is why we have
these kinds of conversations I think we
need to move on we've got so many other
news items to talk about and I'd really
like to bring Ramon more into these
conversations so let's let's jump into
just immediately I want to talk about
well yeah well do we want to talk about
the pixel we haven't even finished our
pixel review let's talk about the future
right have you gotten the handle of
pixel - now that it's already crazy
obsolete and we're gonna talk about the
pixel three and how everyone should buy
that phone instead no one I am literally
waiting to get my hands on and the
pixels through or pixel to itself and
literally waiting like hey come on it's
time oh yeah well if I do I'm shoving
this in this face right now
wow that's that's dirty apologies Oh God
only because I had to pay for it myself
in its project 5 so we're talking I mean
this is nice to actually have your
perspective on the podcast though sh'mon
in that there are certain phones like
for example I feel this kind of ennui
when Huawei launches a phone and it
takes it a lot longer to make it to the
United States then it's an initial
launch partners here we're showing off
the Google phone you know the company
that makes Android this is the hardware
that they want to display their forward
facing software technologies on and do
you have an idea of when the phone's
going to be available in your area yet
vixen yeah on the pixel in the pixel XL
yes I do have a specific date if I'll go
correctly the pixel 2 is coming on 5th
of November and then pixel to XL is
coming on 15th of November
thanks if I recall correctly yeah so
that's the timeline when you're looking
when you're looking at that kind of
timeline and obviously from there all of
the early reviews are gonna be out in in
more western markets what does that do
for the coverage locally or for the fan
base that you're writing for does that
does that seem to help build
anticipation for the phone launch or
does it does it kind of halt you know
like we're not getting a perspective so
it's less exciting by the time you guys
finally get it yeah so it's kind of a
double-edged sword
on the one hand as some people are like
okay come on if you're part of not just
outside of India so it has to be on the
same page like companies should see
those devices to Indian you know to
viewers also but then it's kind of a
phase view like some people in India one
watching condemned from people outside
India so once the content starts rolling
in India then they start watching it so
it's kind of a double-edged sword
so one comparison and well and
specifically for the pixel do you think
that this is emboldened like Google
strategy here or do you think that this
is some somewhere where they're
vulnerable against more local
competition yeah like this similar it
may be launched kind of early like last
year it took them like about a month or
so to bring it over here in India but
this time like pixel to launch party was
literally held today like if the party
is still going on it's somewhere until
going on oh yeah they launched it
officially today yeah it will be
available from November the
aforementioned dates do you think that
local plants will be making pixel to
units because we did see them making
them for the original pixel I'm not too
sure I'll have to check with my friends
who have an Indian legit Indian retail
unit I love to check it's because we
like to see these dates moved up just a
little bit so that I mean even with
localization it'd still be nice to have
somewhere closer to a simultaneous
launch going on around the world mostly
you know there has been make some
discrepancies some differences in the
package contents if you remember the
u.s. pixel doesn't have earphones the
Indian one does but I'm not too sure if
that's if that's the same case with the
pixel - I'm not too sure about that I'll
be really curious to see if that plays
out because I don't know that Google has
any strategy for a data port set of
earbuds unless they're gonna include 3.5
millimeter
headphones with your adapter so that
would be really just slightly bigger box
that's all come on no I think it would
be hilarious like again the headphone
jack is obsolete but you still need one
it's such a mixed message right now I
want to shift gears over into Microsoft
and dromeda dual screen tablets I feel
we're back on another trend where we're
trying to get consumers excited about
mobile computing and there's the
science-fiction
idea of the device that I hold up and
then stretch and now I have a super big
display you know ZTE put out there their
axon and my Kyocera echo on the table so
that you know I can talk about dual
screen wasn't this movie songs well you
know I got this really over engineered
hinge system I'm sure I'm sure would
have lasted for the life of the phone a
some Armenians have just gone crazy okay
so I'm sorry I know this this came in a
box from Michael Fisher when I joined
the PocketNow team and I basically got
like a ton of his hand-me-downs and this
phone was pristine like it had not been
touched or used at all just to show you
how much how much confidence in how much
faith we had in Keo Sarat experiment
there but I digress so again I'm we're
talking about these companies that are
gonna be coming out we're pretty
confident Samsung will probably launch
some kind of folding screen device we
saw an amazing concept piece by Lenovo a
foldable phone that did the same thing
sort of thing yeah exactly yeah in that
the screen actually kind of folded
around so that you it wasn't just two
screens sort of stuck together i but
also in like the intermediate level the
yoga book which that kind of semi screen
which I've been using a lot in fact on
episode 2 of the new egg now live
broadcasts that's actually the the
system that I'm using for all my show
notes is my is my Lenovo yoga book
because I really like that thing I don't
love the keyboard but um so we got we've
got all of these sort of various
experiments coming out which which look
and and feel exciting but do they really
address what I what I think consumers
are needing in a daily mobility device
is this really gonna be the next phase
of mobile hardware or is this gonna be
just like another one of those fads that
we kind of walk through before we settle
down and say like you know people didn't
really need this stuff and now we're all
gonna go into neural link interfaces
anyway so the phone
I don't know I mean we're still few
years from neuro-link into four phases
and we sir need at least two at least
two years away from especially of
butterfly switches as opposed to the
standard switches on the netbooks where
you're not getting as much travel you're
not even getting the sensation that you
would like to get anyways from just
typing so why not just go all the way
and try your best at haptics next time
so with that you can be apples started
with the touch bar - using a little
secondary tasks on that bar
it's just trying to see how much stuff
and into one screen and how much display
it's a control like your or your display
content whatever in another screen just
like the Nintendo 3ds that was a well
but but sh'mon I mean are your readers
or your viewers like looking at their
phones and going all but oh if only I
could double my screen size for a couple
times throughout my day when I need a
mini tablet is that something that you
think you know I don't know it's like
people are already moving towards
tablets
like five point five inches is like the
hottest screen size right now so
everybody's like okay I'm fine with the
phablet but I didn't think that people
are really you know looking into
something like a bigger display like
even more bigger display or even folding
this place for that matter I don't think
there's a market for it right now
until unless someone else they literally
bar just threw in a slew of products and
saying like hey look our products you
can fold them and everyone's gonna want
it and then so or someone just goes in
and says it slices it dices and it also
my phone makes me julienne fries I'm not
gonna be happy but but come on I was
curious like what is the tablet market
looking like in India right now is is
this a computing solution that that took
off or is it still more the
phone and traditional computer solution
for a lot of consumers there it's
totally binary right now I do get an
iPad or you don't or you just get a
phablet instead type of my girls like
totally dead now so this is almost any
opportunity for like like a Chromebook
or something in that space Chromebook
are almost like negligible oh I don't
know I mean when we're talking about
education sector because that's the
biggest thing for tablet likes and cheap
laptops it was it's between the
Chromebook which is actually gaining in
popularity despite hearing on glass yeah
here in the u.s. at least and you know
and as opposed to iPads but worldwide I
would assume that people are more
accustomed to aya pads for educational
purposes anyways more more than that you
know the main factor for people over
here is like for Chromebooks if you
don't have access to the engine and you
can't do much on Chromebooks so you're
gonna give it options so so in I guess
like you'd like just to kind of wrap up
and this this notion that we're gonna
get like a courier tablet or something
like this do you think that there would
be Sherman do you think that there would
be an opportunity in India for Microsoft
to make more headway showcasing a more
fluid or more modular version of Windows
you know the ability to pare it down
into a simpler more streamlined workflow
the ability to have like a full desktop
OS for the products that that needs to
work on or do you think that the
mobility market has kind of taken over
for most people's computing needs that's
very interesting because Microsoft is
really lacking in the department that
they're really slow in launching
products over here so even the surface
is like a generation behind in India
yeah and on surface even the Xbox 1s was
launched a week ago oh yeah okay imagine
that like wow
if there's anything that can kind of
cross all regions and all cultures it's
like I won't play games yeah coming back
to the topic I don't think they would be
able to you know diversify into India
with all those mobility things because
smartphones have really taken over here
and I don't see people you know what you
think I mean they're going to carry
another device just for the mobility
purposes if they want they can carry a
MacBook or they laptop I don't see them
getting it up at any time soon
catch him yes I was just gonna say sad
trombone um I wanna I wanna loosely
before we get we do need to hit our
sponsor block before we do that though I
want to wrap up with the the up Oh
I actually got to go and visit up was
manufacturing for the r11 and was right
before the 1+5 had been released so I'm
feeling pretty confident we're gonna see
that same divided on the r11 s versus
the five T or whatever one plus is gonna
call their next all screen phone and
even down to the little particulars like
the Qualcomm 660 in the r11 you know
moving over to the Qualcomm 835 for the
the oneplus variant what what is what is
a pose a pose position in India I have
to believe that they're a much higher
profile brand than their in the United
States yeah they have like deep pockets
so they're like everywhere marketing
over here there they even likes one
ticket teams and you know shows like
that Wow so yeah the presence is strong
over here yeah the ring is just all over
the place yeah totally this is this a
product because you know here in the
United States we get into these visceral
debates as to like what's a flagship
phone what's a mid Ranger I usually rely
on price you know if something is a
thousand dollars well that's the top of
the market if something's 500 that's
literally half so that's in the
mid-range so with something like the r11
you know opposed building it as one of
their sort of selfie expert phones
it brings um it brings I think a nice
build quality if maybe a little too I
phony in some respects but yeah we look
at things like the chipset in the RAM
and the storage are those conversations
that factor into what consumers spend
over in your market or does I mean would
they look at the r11 inside well that's
a flagship phone from elbow or do they
have the same kinds of conversations
where it's sort of mid pack but we don't
get the CPU or we don't get this this
storage okay so here's where things get
very very interesting so and the whole
smartphone market is divided into three
sections one is like ultra low budget
phones it is captured by Xiaomi which
would be like about 10,000 rupees okay
okay and then then comes the mid-range
where again Xiaomi and Motorola they're
with about 15 to 20,000 rupees and then
straight in the high-end market oneplus
is there with their one plus five at
thirty three thousand rupees 33 to 37
thousand rupees right so whichever
flagship phone crosses the price of one
plus five is deemed as overpriced like
even Nokia 808 was launched at 36 triple
nine so literally 37 thousand rupees
almost matching the price of one plus
five so okay so note if I okay eight
then get scrutinized for the price but
let it be like some other phone Galaxy
Note 8 or the HTC u 11 and LG G six they
will they're deemed expensive over price
because they were like 67 thousand
rupees 78 thousand rupees suspensful
right and pixel to even that is pretty
expensive I don't recall the correct
price but it's a force of 25,000 rupees
or something like that so those imports
get hit really hard so the premium
market I mean I'm sorry and I'm trying
to do these conversions in real time for
our audience to just because I I can't
convert rupees dollars in but so you're
saying like the premium market over
there around 30 to 35,000 rupees is that
that's kind of considered the high-end
of where
people know that the the thing is that
um since 1 plus 5 has like literally the
high-end specs and they price it so
closely like close to 30 to 40,000
rupees bracket so whichever phone
crosses that price mark everybody deems
it as overpriced gotcha okay I
understand
so there's a mental cause well it's five
has been that standard-bearer because I
knew I know there was they had a big ad
during the cricket bash and it was they
tend to cause a little controversy
whatever they do but it's seen like how
you put it it seems like this is the
standard now yeah it's a very price
sensitive market so people literally
they have like two options specs and
price and they have to find a middle
ground between those two so show me only
the same nobody can beat show me in
offering the specs for their price I
mean I still don't know how to make
money it's very surprising how they make
money
but yeah they offer really good specs
for the price so just for our audience
somewhere around 35,000 rupees is is
about 540 American dollars which I mean
that's that sort of feels like it's in
keeping with one plus a strategy here
maybe a little on the high end but what
were you saying that the pixel was
probably gonna go for uh yeah I'm just
taking out the press release as we talk
let me search for the exact place yeah
so pixel to 64gb version is priced at
sixty one thousand rupees
Oh 150 yes and the 128gb version is
priced at 70 thousand rupees yeah so
you're not joking I mean you're saying
it's literally twice the price of one
yes so people are like why not just buy
one plus five if it breaks I can buy
another one for the same time
or you really just right atop I'm just
gonna buy two and I'll have a backup
like this all this discussion is for
Android phones but if you go for the
iPhone market people will buy crazy like
they don't see any price value or
anything they will just buy it yeah well
I mean obviously that kind of works for
us here in the United States too I just
pulled up I just pulled up the press
release the the pixel to XL 128 gigabyte
variant in India is the equivalent of a
one thousand two hundred and seventy
dollar excel 128gb version cost eighty
two thousand rupees yeah so why there's
a lot trying to I'm trying to see like
I'm looking at the iPhone 10 for the
Indian market and it's not showing me
anything for the iPhone 10 yeah I put
then 1500 bucks
much of a premium but it's still a 50%
premium it's not much of a premium it's
just a 50% premium I need you to
understand what just there giuls
and on that note we gotta pay some bills
ourselves we should probably jump in to
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every so often sending us mail hello get
some good ones yeah let's uh you want to
just dive right in and just go through
this yeah I'm sorry like I was expecting
the the the audio cube the chime mic we
don't do that anymore so let's go let's
jump in that's not a good email
transition let's not do that
come on I apologize for Jules so start
right at the top of our list this is
from Jessie Trujillo and Jessie's asking
about sort of the state of reviews and
reviewers what do you guys think about
reviewers and the media somewhat
focusing more on what companies don't do
versus what they choose to do when it
comes to the features and design choices
that are made in any given device an
example would be choosing to give a
phone a better camera but the trade-off
that it means there also be a small bump
on the back whereas that bump could be
avoided altogether but it would mean a
lesser camera would have to be decided
upon and almost feel
like these companies can't win because
no matter what they do no one is ever
really happy and the same might be
argued about a phones thickness its
battery size just things in general like
that
we'd love to hear your thoughts and
opinions thanks guys love the podcast
thanks Jesse and actually come on let me
let me jump in right there cuz you know
we see some sort of you know like we're
talking about Oppo and oneplus and that
was something we criticized camera bulge
on the back of the 1+5 what do you what
do you think about the commentary that
surrounds things like those kinds of
design choices so you know there is a
sudden influx of smartphone camera bumps
recently so now like people have gotten
used to it like okay you have to accept
that a phone in 2017 will have a camera
bump and it was kind of surprising like
how pixel one didn't have a camera bomb
because it had a veg kind of design
because it was thick at the top and top
ten at the bottom so - I'm like what
what happened but I think there's a
logical reason for that because in the
pixel 1 if you drop your phone the whole
visor on the back would crack and that
costs about 12 thousand rupees to repair
it and it's pretty costly so if you
dropped your pixel - only the camera
lens would crack and not devisor that's
my project but I mean so outside of just
like you know specifically on the pixel
- I think that there's this general eye
there's this general feeling that you go
to a certain reviewer and you have an
expectation that they're they're
personally going to prefer something is
their favorite daily driver and that all
other devices seem to be judged against
that phone like you're not really
reviewing the sony xperia x z1 see
you're telling people why the sony
xperia x c1c isn't like your favorite
phone the LG g six you know what I mean
and so how do you think that commentary
sort of influences consumers or do you
think it's just a byproduct of consumers
looking for validation on what they
already like yeah that's the thing I
would go with the latter because each
and every consumer has his own thought
process and his own opinions
devices so he kind of coordinates with
each and every content creator like how
the content is provided to him so
heinous correlates in the content well
Jules I mean like you can jump into
because you're totally a pixel fanboy
now like everything else that's crap now
that you have your pixels yeah well yeah
I thought Jules commentary is gonna get
super pixel super fast here okay well in
that case I love the speed and that's
pretty much good so back to just in
regards to Jesse's question here I mean
the the battery question has always been
the biggest one everyone has been time
oh it should be just we can take an 8
millimeter thick kind of thing
and that's after we've been using even
like five millimeter devices six
millimeter devices for a longest time
even seven millimeters like just that
extra bit I feel like it's gotten like
hard to just to but people will like if
there's no good reason for it people
will kind of just eat at it and not
really want to take the dive initially I
think that's that's how I feel in terms
of that to me in terms of other omission
negative space kind of stuff going on it
was a trend way back in like 2014-15
where like every om was going towards
thinner and thinner phones even gionee
launched a phone it just like 5.1 mm
thick or you know like when one of them
thin nonstick that was the ark was at
the Apple or three or five or something
like that with smart phones at once
multiple oh Jesus yeah moto Z that was a
another like ridiculously thin
well that was also a five I think Rosie
let's give Ricky viewed as a plug five
point eight point two millimeter
yeah but it's just I mean in terms of
other features that might or might not
go sometimes we talk about the like the
fingerprint sensor it's it should be it
should be in the background front or
should it exist at all in terms of you
know getting a facial recognition there
are all these other device yeah but this
is all like kind of wrapped up in a
commentary though and I think what jesse
is trying to get at is I mean think
about how many times each of us have
written an article or produced a video
where someone leaves this comment which
i think is genuinely well-intentioned
like oh you're talking about this phone
I would totally buy this phone if it had
a different screen and the headphone
jack was better and it had the camera
from the Lumia 1020
it was super thin and it had three day
battery life and I only had to spend $50
and a half a ham sandwich to buy it you
know then I would totally buy this phone
and you're like you've just described
something which is exactly not this
phone exists it really was like people
people have an idea of their winning
team in mind and then they'll go back
you know so that's an emotional thing
that's an emotional attachment to a
brand or product and then what they
really need to join the conversation
they'll sort of rationalize after the
fact and they'll say oh you know take
the El Samsung you needed to do this
this and this and this to get my money
but had Samsung done that that net you
still would have found some reason to
buy your preferred brand over the
Samsung at the end of the day you have a
purchase decision to make and they're
not in the business of making just you
happy they're making it's like a whole
bunch of people happy talk about
millions of people at least fairly happy
for the next couple of years right
that's that's also why I think we see a
certain flavor of conversation when
we're talking about the review space as
well like I I I'm I've been guilty of
this on some of my reviews to where if
you call something a review and more
than like five percent of that piece of
media is comparing that device against
another device you really haven't shot a
review you've you've produced the
comparison and you're telling someone
why another product is better as opposed
to judging the reviewed product on its
own merits that's a really difficult
line to walk but I think it gets
reinforced when then the audience
responds and you know you can look at
some of these some tech blogs where you
could build the channel that's literally
just iPhone right you can't build a
channel that's literally just LG yeah
and survive on that and so that sort of
reinforces it's kind of like I was
saying with local news here it kind of
reinforces because I need the clicks I
need the eyeballs I need the comments I
need the shares and I will get them with
LG and I will get them significantly
more if I just cover Samsung mm that
could be also but Apple also makes and
knows how to make something work out
because they have the events they have
the shows and LG knowing its place
doesn't so part of the problem is like I
think any company can play the media
game it's really only Apple and Samsung
and now Google I would say Google is
actually joining the conversation with
some some savvy I mean like again you've
got to go to where the people are and if
you don't have boots on the ground and
signs and TV ads and radio ads then you
don't exist but let's move on to the
next email here and thank you Jesse for
sending that in this is from Timothy
Timothy Bayer and this is a little bit
longer I'm gonna try and blitz do this I
might cut part of this email I'm doing
this in real time it's live aha thank
you for what you do I find the
information very informative like most
of us I depend heavily on a smartphone I
am physically disabled
I'm a physically disabled consumer who
was not interested as much in cutting
edge features and specifications as I am
in ruggedness and durability as a result
I am considering buying the Kyocera dura
force pro on Verizon it came out near
the end of last year I wanted to get the
opinion of the team in regards to this
device he goes on to say he's looked at
YouTube reviews a lot of people have
seemed fairly positive on this
phone we did not unfortunately get to
cover it on Pocket now but uh-oh
finally a very oh and he's talking about
some of our Aoife coverage t we don't
need to get into that but um so the
Kyocera der force Pro not a high-end or
high spec phone and not a high-end or
high spec phone for its initial release
last year what do you think Jules is
this something that might make for a
good fit for someone at the end of 2017
moving into 2018 yeah in terms of being
able to survive an hour a year just if
you're you depend on it but for like
text you use it rights and you're able
to treat the processor right so that
doesn't slow down bog down on you then I
guess yeah control with this Kyocera you
gotta treat that baby right you got a
treatment I'm trying to see if this will
register but any probably try to rub
that you're sort of struggling back I
usually go to the I'm gonna rub it
against my beard because you have to
treat because if you have to treat one
part of it with care at least if you're
not gonna treat the other part care so
so not specifically the the queue of the
the dura force probe Verizon variant but
is is there a big market for rugged
phones in India right now no okay so I'm
glad that you had just a simple one-word
answer for this um I am a huge fan of
Kyocera is like armored build quality
I loved the Brigadier that phone was
such a badass rugged and the cool thing
about the dura force pro is that it also
has the sapphire shield screen so it's a
synthetic sapphire that is very scratch
resistant you do have to be careful it's
a little bit more brittle I have a huge
caveat for recommending someone pick up
a dura force Pro today and it has
nothing to do with Kyocera it's really
the chipset in the dura first pro is the
Qualcomm 6:17 I want to say 615 or 617 I
can't
I remember at the end of 2017 and
looking at where we're gonna go for 2018
that is not a chipset I have a ton of
confidence in if the majority of your
use is very simple getting to done
checking your email and pulling up you
know a couple social media type apps or
you know simple simple interactions with
a phone that you need to protect your
data on that could be a good fit for you
I would not expect a lot of software
support I would not expect a ton of
updates in fact I don't know that I
would want an Oreo update on a 6-1 6-1 X
variant chipset this year Qualcomm
Snapdragon 615 or 617 I so then that's
where I have some concerns if in any way
you can find another less expensive
phone that takes you up into I don't
know at least Qualcomm 625 territory you
get 625 is way better 5 is so much
better performance is so much better so
much better and and if you can find a
device and see that's what's tricky is
I'm actually not as well familiar with
Verizon's lineup right now but it even
if we're just cresting into that tier of
performance and you can find a good
rugged case and you can get yourself a
screen protector I think the overall
enjoyment moving into 2018 will be
higher than the actual smartphone use on
something like the juror force Pro I
don't want to talk to you out of the
dura force Pro because that Sapphire
screen is baller but what you actually
do on your phone is really gonna decide
how much of a compromise you're willing
to take on that on that processor and to
shame that Kyocera doesn't really make
more phones or keep them up to date
because no I'm like make these little
step ups they had him it was during the
Brigadier and the original dura force on
AT&T we had this great like Kyocera was
getting on top of it great mid-range
solutions and some cool tech like I
loved their tissue conductive screens
so you didn't have an earpiece speaker
it was just a vibrate the entire screen
the entire display was a vibrating
membrane that would be your speaker so
when you held it up to your face
you could hear so well in loud
environments and then you know so they
do they a little bit of progress and
then I think it just took them a little
too long to iterate for their next their
follow-up phones and then they sort of
back slid in the market and it's just
the pacing they need to find some way of
kind of keeping keeping their presence
known in the consumer space for those
kinds of niche solutions because they
could definitely be the kings of those
of that in each you know they should be
synonymous with durable phones with
rugged lifestyle or rugged work
requirements Kyocera Stephanie of
Samsung Galaxy s8 active right what I
like - ain't active but there's
something so awesome about the the
Brigadier I freaking loved that phone
Jules why don't you take the next email
indeed all right let's talk about Co job
on it is email a high PocketNow team I'm
gutted I no longer get to listen live
like I used to in the past I always
catch it on stitcher hey I have been
eight pebble steel owner for two and a
half years and I need to replace it soon
that's the question here I would budget
between 230 and 270 pounds and I don't
need features like GPS a heart rate
monitor or NFC I'm interested in the new
fossil Q Explorer stand was wondering if
there was a review and this are the
excuse me there was a review for this in
the pipeline or what watches you would
suggest he's an HTC 10 owner I look
forward to your suggestions let me think
so keep up the great work
no Joe thank you for listening what are
you so what do you think Jules um
fossil fossil q or you're you onboard
the state of Android where 2.0 is so bad
yes shambles I had to say I don't want
to say it I mean and if it weren't for
the fact that Apple watch is it doesn't
really play friendly still
as you do to dump it to Android with 1.5
seriously I mean yeah that would be a
good idea that would be great way if
someone could make a ROM or a tool for
that that would be great
in terms of that I would just go for the
cheapest wine that you can get because I
know that there's a timepiece if you
want one for the luxury like the
statement piece I don't think I can help
you as per my taste my sense of taste is
not really here you would have to talk
to Kwan for that but in terms of the
fossil keel it looks pretty exquisite
except the explora stit looks pretty
exquisite onion or what I'm seeing like
the venture if cubics worst yeah let me
just pull up a different fossil you guys
keep talking I'm gonna I'm gonna look
this up right yeah the Marshall and
export you saw the explores right now in
our territory it's two hundred fifty
five dollars and it has all I mean it
has all the standard stuff and even
though he doesn't need a heart rate
sensor I mean it I believe it had no it
has a fitness tracker no I leave it's
just step tracking I don't believe
they've got heart rate yeah you would
you know polar is more kind of a what
you want in terms of just solid that but
in terms of just explorers you get a
metal band I think that would look nice
yeah and the state the stainless steel
one looks pretty nice even though you
pay a little bit more for it but the
three-button process of the crown and I
think is definitely a more of a UI thing
thank you people as your fall in terms
of it's like the tick watch but I mean
maybe that's not your style but the tick
watch was a pretty good the original one
yeah it was a nice-looking watch Daniel
said though man you were the the I
caught them at the India the
crowdfunding stage at like when 120 and
180 or something like that they're
probably more like 200 and 300 or
something
and i wouldst maybe the e because i if
if we're going conservative and stylish
then maybe the was i think it was the e
that was more limited it was bluetooth
filmy or you know something going on
there but to take watch s i feel okay
well come on what what what android
where are you using right now yeah so I
mean I've got my Huawei watch to I'm
actually gonna go I think I'm gonna
break out my original Huawei watch so
much better than the second generation
so that's kind of where I'm I'm a little
torn you know for a lot of the things
that you're you're saying here that
edited a from this is from cohhd cohhd
cohhd Joe Wilson Kojo SoCo Joe I have
the pronounce right there sorry but it
was I didn't realize that you had
separated first and last name and I was
like wait a minute I can't use first
name so we're looking at the the fossil
queue I really do like the look of
fossil watches although I'm a little bit
more of a fan of like it's like Skagen
design so I actually have a connected
Scoggin hog in which I use as my backup
watch or my I'm dressing up watch I want
something a little bit nicer than my
flaw way watch to the the gen3
fossils get rid of the flat tire the
screens are improved I don't know
anything about whether or not the
battery life is looking better but it is
generally improved Hardware over where
we were on the gen 2 fossil watches
which we're all again very sort of just
referenced designee Android wear fare
you were basically just paying extra for
that fossil badging I think they're a
lot more competitive now considering
what you were asking for and that you
don't care about things like like all of
the additional features I would be
inclined to see if you can maybe find a
first generation Huawei watch it's it's
a it's more of a Movado look you know in
terms of watch design it's really clean
you get it with a stainless
steel bracelet and I still think it's
probably it's me up there with the moto
it's up there is I think the cleanest
look we've seen since on Android wear
it's not the most exciting because
you're you're getting an older watch
design and I would recommend sticking
with Android 1.5 Android wear 1.5 not
doing Android wear 2.0 in fact I don't
even know if the Huawei watch ever got
its full update Android wear 2.0 or
watch you say yeah I'm gonna break my
back out I've found I finally found the
magnetic charger for it so I can charge
it back up again I lost it
but yeah I'm pretty good about a hundred
twenty hundred fifty pounds maybe yeah I
mean it shouldn't be expensive and you
could probably undercut your fossil by
half with the design that is very that
is so simple and so striking like I said
I think it looks a little like a Movado
that that would maybe be my backup
recommendation if you can shop one and
you can find one that especially we can
find one new but if you can find one
that hasn't been abused maybe you look
at that and then and then if you can't
then consider switching over into the
fossil territory for the more stylish
fare you know because obviously you're
not looking at like an LG or something
that's what I like about the while we
were watching the Moto 360 what they do
they don't look like a SmartWatch they
look like regular watches nobody even
thinks about their smartwatches and I
like about that I think that's the best
thing yeah I mean like the the Huawei
watch 2 has a little bit more of like um
well I was gonna say like an entry-level
Casio you know like you wanted something
that was a bit more rugged but I didn't
mind that it looked kind of like a big
chunky rugged cheap well I shouldn't say
cheap inexpensive watch I don't mean to
slight Casio I mean I think especially
once you get up into like g-shock
territory those watches are ass but
that's not my style
just slightly quoi way for its choice of
design but it is is I feel like moto and
Huawei on the the the circular watch
faces that they that they helped really
usher in there
an influence on other watches like I
point to Movado as being sort of a
reference point for people who are more
into watches than for tech but they
don't feel like a poor emulation of a
Movado whereas while I wear my Kwame
watch to a lot it does kind of feel like
a poor representation of what a Casio
should feel like on your arm it's just
that it's the only watch I have right
now that that can survive the day
battery life wise with constant art rate
tracking and I really like that so I
continue to wear it but it's not really
my best example of style or fashion and
the second I want to show you know like
I want to dress up a little bit more to
wear a shirt with buttons as I move over
into something like Ascot my Skagen or
if I can charge it go back to my stylish
I surround do you want to read the next
one from Paul Russell you have the
pastebin you have to make the guesswork
yeah I mean I'm trying to keep it awake
too so it's like yeah here two o'clock I
lost my snooze no you're going into the
second lap yeah exactly I don't need to
sleep anymore now beaultiful says do
pocket now since the launch of the Moto
e 4 + have been recently being
considering purchasing something like it
for a long lasting work phone for calls
and SMS as I was researching what my
options were for a low-cost smartphone
with high-capacity battery I came across
many handset from Chinese manufacturers
that I had not heard of such as do G B
and 7000 and he tells K 6000 plus that
have a larger battery better mediatek
SOC oak or mediatek and display their b4
+ then I'm using as my yardstick from
sites like le Express and Bangert in
your opinion is it worth taking a risk
with these Chinese devices that they're
interesting take on Android and possibly
poor security in OS updates
not to mention potential Chinese fiber
installed
so last year I'm a little concerned
about the thing blowing up would I be
better off sick Bordeaux or going going
for Asus zenfone max or the upcoming
Nokia 2 or something else from one of
the other major and better recognized
OMS and the name thanks you so the
advice here I think it's I think it's
kind of great he's he's putting Nokia in
is one of the major factors like they're
just recently back let's write the first
tier name still carries a freaking
exactly I want to bring back the note 7
because back when that debacle was
happening I got a pitch from elephone
which is also a thing in China and they
were pitching their own note 7 s7 kind
of design their phone and they've made
the point that they've gone through
multiple multiple stages of testing for
their batteries and basically that it
would not explode and that's what
there's always this one spec that every
manufacturer wants to focus on or like
the even have phones that focus on just
that one spec II may - all about the
selfie selfie phone selfie apps they've
been pretty progressive on that one and
even made a splash in the u.s. earlier
this year so when it comes to just this
unified aspect this unified focus
they're just throwing things against the
wall and see if it works and sometimes
it works sometimes I get picked up on a
slow day and I think well I mean but I
think I made you so come on like you
know our people do you think that this
feels like a risk though are people
risking when we're sort of an ultra-low
cost phone because these specific smart
phone Virginia has mentioned and/or very
say these OMS they're not trivalent in
India if you want to get those you will
have to order by any Express or bangle
so yes you do have a risk but I'm more
concerned about these software risk
other than the hardware risk okay
software yourself that you won't be
getting any updates or anything it's the
only software you get out of the box is
you think mostly you're going to be
stuck with that software ideation like
it's either going to be marshmallow I
don't hope nuga but oh god oh maybe Ice
Cream Sandwich why not let's just go all
the way back well and then also III
guess like you know it's it's one of
those situations too where I would be a
little nervous again I mean if you're
contacting our show I have an
expectation that you're probably more in
touch with what's going on in the
smartphone space so you're probably a
bit more likely to be able to handle a
certain level of your own tech support
the hardware tech support and software
tech support at least more than the
average bear but I if you're worried
about you know the the quality of
friends and you're worried about support
then I really do think you're you're
looking at needing to stick with a brand
that is is a little bit more recognized
in especially in your local area I'm
sorry I don't know exactly where you're
writing from them you know if you're
Canadian or from the United States or
something like that
and and especially when you can kind of
consider some of the deals like the new
Moto e for plus you know we're talking
about creeping up on that price point
but it's a Qualcomm 427 snapdragon 427
chipset paired with what is it's like a
five thousand milliamp hour battery is
that what they've got on it yeah close
to that yeah five thousand milliamp hour
battery on the newest generation of cual
comes ultra low power chipset I don't
know that you can find a combo like that
at that price point from a pretty decent
label it's not like Lenovo and Motorola
haven't been free of their own issues
with things like spyware and bad
software and stuff on their own products
but like that's a pretty solid combo
that I wouldn't be too afraid from in
the knowing that
especially in Western markets you
probably have a a slightly better Avenue
for support if anything goes wrong with
that phone even before you mentioned
like the Asus zenfone max I used it
personally it was good laying it you'd
use it for battery purposes and it lasts
are they easily like you can even pass
and go past like two days or something
if you use it judiciously yeah that's
like if his concern is only battery life
yeah even zenfone max is a pretty good
choice or get the BlackBerry key one and
just triple your budget I'm trying to
look up what is the chipset on the
zenfone max 40 okay this is kind of
tough but hey alright we have one more
if we're looking at just sort of you
know the covering the basics and get
calls it ok causing SMS but anything
more than that even if you're trying to
go through say like I need to be able to
play 3d games 60 frames second you know
we want to spend $50 and maybe I'll give
them a hand just just a little bit more
of that reception because once we get
into the 400 600 series you're talking
about reception issues and that's kind
ok 600 small I'll agree with you there
I'll take this last one here this is
from Zane and this is your bondage or
Shivaji it's from Zane hey Zane I
recently read the Verge's V 30 review
and they dinged the phone screen as a
low point many people on reddit were
saying either it's a rough screen or
compared to Sammy it doesn't stack up
nearly as close some comments even went
into LG's TV panels and lows if you
could can you share your experience with
the V 30s display and how it stacks up
to current flagships thank you and keep
paddling paddling along in the SS pocket
so you have the smaller pixel rachels
yeah I do okay so you've got the one
with air quotes too good screen on it
and has there been any
no I'm literally waiting for energy to
launch me 30 but there's no no signs of
it okay yeah I mean we were kind of in
the same boat for a while here too like
they announced the phone and then it was
it was almost six weeks it took six
weeks they had like the actual release
now it's six we clears the release it
was pre-orders and then another two
weeks and then also don't forget about
those prototype units that we've been
carrying around for months and months
and so so here's my experience with the
V 30 I my V 30 and I am very lucky is
pretty good um I think we showed a
screenshot I don't have it handy now
where I I did this low-light test one of
the problems that we have in this is
kind of going back to that first
question that we got from Jesse you know
we we instantly want to start comparing
as opposed to really reviewing a product
on its own merit so the first the first
things that we start seeing are I put
this screen up against a galaxy as a
screen and look you can see it's
terrible and that I wanna caution people
against jumping into that echo chamber
on just one or two samples of of a
display because I think there is a very
different conversation where most people
when they're scientifically examining an
OLED will probably be disappointed by
some aspect of that OLED as opposed to
the people that we see in some of those
screenshots on the reddit conversations
that I've been seeing who have
legitimate problems so that those are
two very different audiences I am oh
when it comes to the V 30 if you can
pick up a V 30 and and while you're
using it in an app like you've got a web
browser open and to the naked eye under
normal usage conditions you can see
variants in your backlight in the in the
brightness of the screen that is a
situation where you need to go and
replace that phone if you are putting a
static gray image on a phone screen and
dialing it back to its dimmest
conditions in a way like
would never use that phone you were you
will see variants between different Oh
leads and that's sort of within a
certain range of fault tolerance that's
within a certain margin of error it
happens on every single screen and
especially if you're looking at photos
where they're comparing the V 30 against
Samsung Samsung Samsung screens get
dimmer than LG screens do at their
lowest so if they aren't matching the
brightness of the Samsung screen and the
LG screen then you're not really getting
a fair comparison as to what those
displays look like when they're driven
at the same at the same brightness
levels so my V 30 screen is brighter at
the top and the bottom it's it's
actually it's funny it's it's it's
pretty consistent where the the forehead
and chin edges are brighter and then it
just sort of gradually meets in the
middle at something that's sort of an
average brightness I got very lucky so
what I liked about the the LG screen
though is that it's a little cooler
color temperature when you don't have
some kind of adaptive color mode on and
so I think my V 30 screen is far more
accurate than my Samsung screens are
when you turn off adaptive color on
Samsung both of mine is eight plus and
my note eight are super ruddy red and so
you can talk about this all LG screens
have this blue color shift well yeah
when you look at any screen off axis
like at an angle you're going to see
some change in the color represented on
that screen when I am looking dead on my
note 8 screen it looks like I'm on Mars
[Laughter]
so what are you more bothered by 50
dollars for it oh my god hey you you
love bad screens when you learn that
screen and obviously I'm an LG shell
fanboys paid by LG and you know all of
that
brought to you by LG because LG is the
greatest life is good with friends now
the the the the situation you know again
if I put my Note 8 screen to the same
brightness at its lowest level against
the V 30 it is less consistent but it is
it's a softer gradient so the top
right corner is dimmer than the bottom
left corner of my note eight again I'm
never gonna use it that way so I'm not
really that bothered by that kind of
performance on my note eight so
ultimately I'm sorry I know this has
been really long-winded and I I'm using
a chunk of what we've already done on
last week's podcast when we were talking
about the pixel two also this is some of
this is a little repetitive but the the
thing that I think consumers need to be
concerned of and why this is a bummer
for LG is the variance is now just high
enough that it takes some of the fun out
of your smartphone purchase I think
everyone would agree LG seems to have
yet again another issue with their QA as
to what products are actually making it
into the hands of consumers and this is
affecting not only LG phones but the
pixel to excel and so it makes it just a
little bit more of a crapshoot when you
get the phone in your hands and maybe
something's a little wonky or
something's a little off that's gonna
make you feel less good about that
purchase I've had the phone for a couple
weeks
I'm not having any burnin mice my back
lighting is pretty consistent and I like
the color hue on my PL LED better than I
have on more recent Samsung OLED x' to
the same token I think so far I don't
think any phones have bested the galaxy
s7 era of AMOLED displays I think those
are still the most consistent the most
accurate color screens I've ever seen
so even Samsung in my opinion has taken
a step backwards by moving to this new
aspect ratio um talking about displays I
mean we know that the won't post fat has
been a benchmark for Indians
shamone what did they make of the whole
issue when when the scrolling thing came
from proud or something it just I mean
you don't have to get much traction over
here people just got old with it because
price because point to it but did you
think it was kind of funny because if
you remember way back in the day
when Apple started doing like scrolling
on phones and there were lawsuits flying
about like whether or not you could have
a bounce in your screen when it scrolled
or Android would have that like color
shift so you would get to the top of a
list and the the momentum of the scroll
would result in like a blue band
scrolling up on on the edge of a menu
yes we used to make software to enable
that kind of bouncy effect right like
that used to be a thing that we wanted
and people would code into software and
like no see oneplus just made a hardware
version it's a feature it's not a bug
this shill podcast brought to you by the
fine folks at one plus and they pay for
every word that comes out of my mouth
yeah I'll give you a fun fact all those
you know the recent leak renders of 5:3
which are being circulated around right
those I would be taking names but those
are created by my friend oh yeah they
still rely on their Indian counterparts
a whole lot too like this is a huge
corporations with like lots of talented
people all around the world that my
friend was Indian I didn't mention that
just to kind of wrap up thoughts on on
the v30
if everything else about the phone is
what you're looking for in a device I
would still recommend trying your luck
you know grabbing the phone and so long
as you have a clear route for returning
it or replacing it or getting support
for any kinds of problems I'm personally
not as concerned about some of these
these issues until we see and until we
see I think a more concerted
conversation from people that are having
more systemic problems this is this is
not like boot looping this is not like
exploding batteries
this isn't even like bendgate on an
iPhone I feel like this is this is
something that it's easy to blow out of
proportion when we're trying to examine
a phone used in an extreme use case
again what I would look for specifically
and in immediately you pull a pixel 2xl
out of the box you pull a v30 out of the
box you want to play with the screen
brightness under some kind of app usage
scenario to see if there's anything
distracting about that performance from
there and if there is get that phone
back asap and if that's enough to kind
of make you gun-shy like you don't even
want to have to take that kind of that
kind of task on yourself
then I think you've already answered
your question LG this year is not going
to be for you but I've been really happy
with the camera performance I'm super
excited by the headphone performance the
microphones are on point
it's nice having wireless charging in a
water-resistant build in a fairly
ruggedized you know shell that can it's
supposed to be more you know that's what
you're paying $800 for that's what and
why and it's an $800 phone I mean like
it's undercutting music so so I am
willing to put up with the compromise of
of slightly less even backlighting when
used in an extreme case for me
personally and I'll be the first one to
say I got really lucky that I do like
the screen on my V 30 I like it
I know that might not be the case for
everybody but I don't feel that this is
the big buyer beware
situation and I'm really hoping that
what this Spurs on especially from
Google's perspective is that one Google
needs to be way more act if they're
gonna say it's made by Google and not
made by LG they need to get their asses
in those factories and actually doing
their own QA first of all that's that's
mandatory
you know the buck stops with Google on
the pixel to excel but under that kind
of influence I would expect that LG's
manufacturing will improve quickly over
time I'd say that the the LG OLED is
probably two generations behind what
Samsung could do but even like I said
even Samsung took a minor step back in
my opinion this year so
their ability to catch up as a company
with some guidance from a menu from a
from an organization like Google could
could actually result in this generation
of phone improving over time yeah and
that's another thing too maybe it's not
the worst idea in the world to just sit
out a couple months and see where we end
up at the end of the year like if you
know for the g4 we're out throughout the
light LG g4 if we're still talking about
you know manufacturing defects color
shift and you know crazy inconsistent
backlighting on the V 30 by December
there's a bigger problem at play here
and again it's another thing that we'd
need to knock LG on in terms of QA but
the deals dude the deals by one okay I
mean we're talking about like credit
freeze and stuff like that never buy a
phone brand new ever don't do it I mean
even for the note 8 I was saying like I
love this phone I don't know that I
could ever recommend myself you know
anyone in my family buying it on launch
day at full price it's like carry on
have a trainer or you got to do
something you know that's that's that's
where these super premium products have
kind of again made this conversation
more difficult but we could be pretty
confident that a v30 at the end of the
year I think we'll see some pretty good
deals on them just get again 200 mega
200 gigabyte microSD card web the bad LG
oh well I you know anything I you know
you don't even have to sell me I'm like
a 360 camera or VR headset or anything
like that because you know okay D guards
are new smartphones oh yeah my credit
cards well I mean this one's adapter
trying to get it out you you you you do
your thang you spilling out transy no I
I still definitely do and especially
when I'm moving back and forth between
so many phones as aggressively as I do
I'm having a 128 that I know I can just
like oh I'm just
go straight from like Huawei camera view
right into my lg camera review or
something like that makes it all really
and also because he like I have to send
these things back I don't want to have
to worry about accidentally deleting
something that I liked on that phone and
then just lives on my memory card and
then I just you know keep tabs on that
goes on into your memories for every
exhausting I use micro SD card of a
smartphone was way back in 2014 or 2015
I guess really way back way back a whole
year and a half ago who could even think
that far back did I mean I don't even
think we had we have language or
Hyderabad fan I think we had just
defended fire come on I mean just I
think it's remarkable how we went from
the wheel in 2012 to where we are today
so well we also went through that stage
where the microSD card was getting
shunned by literally almost one so no
it's it's it still is for me and and you
know maybe I'm still old-school enough
on this but media and storage you know
like photos and videos I shoot so much
that I really want all of the built-in
storage on my phone
just dedicated for apps and services and
so even though we've gotten some some
great like I have a p10 plus with 128
gigabytes of built-in storage I kind of
still don't want that being clogged up
by the tens and tens and tens of
gigabytes of content that unlikely to
produce with that phone so I try to keep
those separate really you know totally
relying on cloud because I'm literally a
cloud computing student so ditching
physical hardware and totally moving
towards the cloud like even if I have to
transfer like a file or two from my
computer to my phone I don't use a USB
cable I just throw it in the cloud and
then download on my phone so let me ask
you because this is something that I ran
into with the pixel 2 and you know the
pixel - we've got unlimited google photo
storage when I did the camera review I
shot eleven point four gigabytes of
content and that was over a two day
period
and I needed to have access to that to
look at every single photo quickly and
you know examine the videos get them
into video editing apps what would you
have done with eleven gig of data all in
one straight shot 11 gigs ah us be given
to the rescue I guess so this is exactly
why I was I sort of have to preface a
lot of these things like I'm using when
I do a camera review I am trying to
encapsulate what someone would do with
the phone over the course of like two
months in 36 hours so I am NOT a good
test case for this kind of this kind of
behavior because personally I have very
different requirements for what it is
that I need to accomplish on a daily
basis but at the same time I still run
into issues like with family and friends
like they might have some kind of cloud
backup solution but something's going on
with their phone they've talked to the
carrier they're gonna try and wipe the
phone out first and to know that they've
got everything backed up and saved the
cloud suddenly doesn't feel like the
safest repository of all this stuff that
was on their phone and now they want to
talk about finding the cable or plugging
it into a PC or something like that I'm
still at a point where even in a first
world country with pretty good data not
not the best but pretty good the cloud
to me is still more of a redundancy not
my primary favor like I still have a
physical you know backup copy of all of
my data on my laptop or some hardest
space where it's something like that
yeah and especially for me because I
convinced the wife to upgrade are nice
so like you know nice I've got I've got
like four massive hard drives under
under my feet right now
well we both still use Google photos and
Microsoft onedrive I think for both of
us we have all of our all of our photos
and videos backed up in triplicate wow
that's impressive yeah we don't want any
any photo of the daughter
like ever game these are precious
memories we're gonna fight to protect
them have like tried to exploit the
unlimited storage of pixel the first
generation I know
you mean like trying to spoof a phone ID
on another device yeah but like spoofing
the phone ID with a loading pictures
into the original pixel and then back
you got it like external photos like you
you cuz I was I have a camera I could
just upload to the phone just by having
a shoot a lot on my g85 and I could just
be using the app to shift that stuff
over I need to play with full retinas 24
big all right you know III have
something that I need to go play with
immediately so I think we should wrap
this podcast up break Google at 11
minutes past thank you thank you for
joining us your mana and I know we kind
of ran this podcast a little bit longer
but I really appreciated you jumping in
thanks for having me guys it was really
amazing and I'm donating I'm going to
sleep now we're Jules and I complain
about doing the show on an empty stomach
and there you have it folks another
episode of the pocket net weekly has
come and gone the show is over but the
conversation continues on Twitter where
sh'mon is at chemin IPS is that is that
that's a long story but ok shamanic
Jules is at point Jules and I'm humbly
at some gadget guy pocket now is around
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