Huawei P10+ or OnePlus 5T/5

[pixl]

"new phone *for* my Mavic", no mention of general use. Can be interpreted as "dedicated".

Regardless of the OP's intention, a little nudge in the right direction can go long way. Many people don't realize they don't need a top-spec'ed "flagship" to fly Mavic.

You're right on

"new phone *for* my Mavic", no mention of general use. Can be interpreted as "dedicated".

Regardless of the OP's intention, a little nudge in the right direction can go long way. Many people don't realize they don't need a top-spec'ed "flagship" to fly Mavic.

All true -- regardless of his intention. I suspected it was not dedicated due to him getting/wanting very feature-laden phones, none of which matter with the Mavic.

The apple of my eye for my next phone is the Huawei P10+ -- great camera and expandable memory. But hopefully my "Wunderphone" will be the dedicated device for the Mavic long term. Separating church and state in this way makes me less fearful of Android updates on my phone....and no need to do such silly things as update anything on the Mavic. Being able to step away from the constant Android updates/DJI updates headache is a very attractive thing. I don't/won't be using most of those features they keep rolling out anyways -- my area of concentration is still photography.

 

[Scobo]

.and no need to do such silly things as update anything on the Mavic. Being able to step away from the constant Android updates/DJI updates headache is a very attractive thing. I don't/won't be using most of those features they keep rolling out anyways -- my area of concentration is still photography.

I agree.
That's why I'm sticking with 4.1.9 on my Huawei T3.
It just works and does everything I need it to.
At least with Android, you have the option to rollback if you do try an update and it all goes south.

 

[joshmentele]

If I were you I would get the OnePlus 5T. It is the fastest android phone out there and has a AMOLED display, dual cameras, even a headphone jack that Apple holds unnecessary.

 

[pixl]

If I were you I would get the OnePlus 5T. It is the fastest android phone out there and has a AMOLED display, dual cameras, even a headphone jack that Apple holds unnecessary.

Apple was never under consideration by the OP.

Here's a comparison of the two phones he posted about: OnePlus 5T vs Huawei P10 Plus - Phone specs comparison

I lean towards the Huawei, but horses for courses.

 

[Flawless]

If the choice is between the P10 Plus and the 5T - go for the P10 Plus.

AMOLED screens burn in faster than LCD, even moreso at peak brightness (which the P10 wins at over 500 nits vs. the 5T's meager ~400). The P10 Plus also has a higher resolution screen, although it's a little smaller.

Focus on the features/functions you can't change - if one person gives anecdotal evidence of connection issues, assume it's not a hardware fault (many Android phones work better with the Mavic when you alter their USB behaviour anyway).

Also: 5T has no memory card slot. So, that's a nice feature on a flagship phone.

 

[56_kruiser]

JFYI...I am using a Huawei Mate 9, and working good. No lag or anything like that. Also, I have lots of apps installed. Haven't had it crash with the latest GO4.

That being said, I did have a very anomolous thing happen: in Spotlight Mode, lost subject (tree came between) and it fast forwarded into the tree.

I've seen now quite a lot of references that folks should downgrade to 4.1.15 (I think that's right)...maybe I should do that.

 

[pixl]

If the choice is between the P10 Plus and the 5T - go for the P10 Plus.

AMOLED screens burn in faster than LCD, even moreso at peak brightness (which the P10 wins at over 500 nits vs. the 5T's meager ~400). The P10 Plus also has a higher resolution screen, although it's a little smaller.

Focus on the features/functions you can't change - if one person gives anecdotal evidence of connection issues, assume it's not a hardware fault (many Android phones work better with the Mavic when you alter their USB behaviour anyway).

Also: 5T has no memory card slot. So, that's a nice feature on a flagship phone.

My choice too, for similar reasons. Interestingly, the P10 has become a real darling among professional photographers. The bokeh simulation is really quite good and the Leica engineered optics appear to be more than just a paid endorsement.

 

[Patricie]

Woa! $600 for a dedicated Mavic phone? It's good to be rich!

Wunderphone (Huawei Ascend XT2) for $89 (was $49) or Elate for $65 are totally sufficient for flying Mavic, lots of happy registered WP users here, and unknown number of happy unregistered lurkers. HIGHLY recommended!

I just wrote it like that, because I´ll be using the phone especially for the drone. And I dont want to buy any phone (old types) to find out that it doesn´t work with the Mavic, or it will be working for few months only. I´ve had my old phone for 3 years now (my friend before another year maybe?) So yes, I´ll be using the phone as normal for everything else. And I´d rather pay more money hoping it will be working for another few years, than to pay less for worse phone that I´ll have just for a while.
That´s why I was asking if anyone has personal experience with these phones.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

I just wrote it like that, because I´ll be using the phone especially for the drone. And I dont want to buy any phone (old types) to find out that it doesn´t work with the Mavic, or it will be working for few months only. I´ve had my old phone for 3 years now (my friend before another year maybe?) So yes, I´ll be using the phone as normal for everything else. And I´d rather pay more money hoping it will be working for another few years, than to pay less for worse phone that I´ll have just for a while.
That´s why I was asking if anyone has personal experience with these phones.

The idea of having a dedicated device for Mavic, the one you never have to take out of RC arms unless traveling, is gaining popularity. This what my suggestion was about - spend a mere 50-60 bucks on a dedicated screen, spend 10x or whatever more on your daily driver which no longer needs to fit Mavic screen role.

Your choice:

A. Spend $600, then constantly take the phone out of its case, put in the arms, connect usb, stressing the connector, do it all again in reverse when done...

or

B. Spend $649, get the same phone AND a dedicated screen, never do all the moves from A, keep it in your pocket, put dedicated on RC and forget it.

Only 8% difference, but... what a difference!

 

[Scobo]

The idea of having a dedicated device for Mavic, the one you never have to take out of RC arms unless traveling, is gaining popularity. This what my suggestion was about - spend a mere 50-60 bucks on a dedicated screen, spend 10x or whatever more on your daily driver which no longer needs to fit Mavic screen role.

Your choice:

A. Spend $600, then constantly take the phone out of its case, put in the arms, connect usb, stressing the connector, do it all again in reverse when done...

or

B. Spend $649, get the same phone AND a dedicated screen, never do all the moves from A, keep it in your pocket, put dedicated on RC and forget it.

Only 8% difference, but... what a difference!

Or if you're a tight git like me, just get 2 wunderphones.

 

[Scobo]

In all seriousness, after using a Huawei phone for the past couple of months, I'll never pay Samsung or Apple prices for a phone or tablet again !

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

Or if you're a tight git like me, just get 2 wunderphones.

Or, if an YADA patient like me, get 3 Wunderphones and one $40 beat-me-up Moto E4.

1st WP = Mavic screen only
2nd WP = Spark screen only
3rd WP = daily driver
E4 = gym/hiking/skydiving

Total: $187, or a small fraction of a single flagship, and full coverage of all of my needs.

 

[Xtreme Drone Pilot]

In all seriousness, after using a Huawei phone for the past couple of months, I'll never pay Samsung or Apple prices for a phone or tablet again !

BOOM!

 

[pixl]

The idea of having a dedicated device for Mavic, the one you never have to take out of RC arms unless traveling, is gaining popularity. This what my suggestion was about - spend a mere 50-60 bucks on a dedicated screen, spend 10x or whatever more on your daily driver which no longer needs to fit Mavic screen role.

Your choice:

A. Spend $600, then constantly take the phone out of its case, put in the arms, connect usb, stressing the connector, do it all again in reverse when done...

or

B. Spend $649, get the same phone AND a dedicated screen, never do all the moves from A, keep it in your pocket, put dedicated on RC and forget it.

Only 8% difference, but... what a difference!

now someone needs to make a standalone case that holds (only) the RC with the wunderphone attached. I'm still taking them apart for transport, which is fine with me....the main reason for a dedicated phone is that I have no need to update Android, and therefore no need to do constant DJI firmware and Go upgrades...I can stick with the last stable version. Also, I can answer text messages and talk on the phone while flying and not interrupt the app.

 

[pixl]

now someone needs to make a standalone case that holds (only) the RC with the wunderphone attached. I'm still taking them apart for transport, which is fine with me....the main reason for a dedicated phone is that I have no need to update Android, and therefore no need to do constant DJI firmware and Go upgrades...I can stick with the last stable version. Also, I can answer text messages and talk on the phone while flying and not interrupt the app.

All this said, I'm heading out shopping for a new main phone My OnePlus 3 has generally been a very good phone, but they have rolled out 3 system updates that have in effect f**cked the GPS. Turn by turn directions don't function anymore; the gps is slow to update and I find myself frequently in awkward places (ie the middle of an intersection) waiting for the GPS to update Google Maps. This is a vital function of my work, so I can't afford to wait around and hope that OnePlus fixes this.

Huawei are making such impressive hardware these days -- and the two biggest things for me -- screen brightness and expandable memory are both apparent. In a phone that is $400 cheaper than Flagships from Samsung, Google and Apple. I guess this will make me an all Huawei guy: P10plus, Wunderphone, MediaPad T3. I guess @Xtreme Drone Pilot has had a lot of effect on me .Hopefully he has no interest in Florida Swampland

 

[Flawless]

I use a Huawei P9 as my primary, and for the most part used it for my Mavic.

I recently picked up a chinese variant (N9108V) Samsung Galaxy Note 4 - mostly because it was stupidly cheap, but it's one of the few phones with an Infrared transmitter and with the AnyMote app I can program any conceivable remote into it.

It also doubles as my "larger" screen for my Mavic - it's only about 10% larger, but it makes a difference.

Only downside, since it was chinese, is that it didn't ship with Google Play. I found a stock android rom and added the Google apps, and it's been perfect (GPS and mobile work fine). It also only has 16GB internal storage, but a 128GB microSD solved that for the foreseeable future.

I plan to get the P11 Plus next year, provided it's not AMOLED (which I don't believe they plan to do) and provided it still has a memory card slot (which I'm confident it will).

 

[LivinLarge]

All this said, I'm heading out shopping for a new main phone My OnePlus 3 has generally been a very good phone, but they have rolled out 3 system updates that have in effect f**cked the GPS. Turn by turn directions don't function anymore; the gps is slow to update and I find myself frequently in awkward places (ie the middle of an intersection) waiting for the GPS to update Google Maps. This is a vital function of my work, so I can't afford to wait around and hope that OnePlus fixes this.

Huawei are making such impressive hardware these days -- and the two biggest things for me -- screen brightness and expandable memory are both apparent. In a phone that is $400 cheaper than Flagships from Samsung, Google and Apple. I guess this will make me an all Huawei guy: P10plus, Wunderphone, MediaPad T3. I guess @Xtreme Drone Pilot has had a lot of effect on me .Hopefully he has no interest in Florida Swampland

I am using the Huawei Honor 6X as a dedicated device for the Mavic. For $149, it is more expensive than the Wunderphone (Huawei XT2, at $89) but in my opinion, well worth it. It has full 1080 p screen and is very bright. It has a faster processor and more memory.