Posted 26 May 2024

Mate 20 X replacement

Hi All, not sure how many people are still rocking a Mate 20 X , but it being 2 years after the last update (including security), I'm really starting to think hard about "upgrading" to something, but honestly, nothing seems to come even close! Would be interested to know what people have moved to, or are considering moving to. S25 Ultra in half a year, is probably what I'm going to go with, or if not much of an upgrade over the S24, then that, and save some cash.

What's important to me:

1. Size: Nothing comes close. I'm not sure there are any viable options even above 7", never mind 7.2"

2. Screen aspect ratio: This is a double whammy. New phones being universally tall and thin mean that not only is the screen real estate actually less for the same diagonal, even if they did make a phone with a 7.2" screen, but you're scrolling so much more because text is divided into so many more rows. To be honest I'd even probably be happy with a slightly smaller phone if it had a sensible aspect ratio!

3. Flat screens: literally incomprehensible to have curved screens, I absolutely detest this, it doesn't actually make it that much easier to hold, despite what people say (as long as the sides of the phone are a bit curved and the metal edge is not so sharp, it's usually more than enough, Mate 20 X really is the perfect compromise). Curved screen edges reflect light from all sorts of directions and the image in those areas is often quite distorted when looking at an angle especially. Glass screen protectors are also either unavailable or a pain to fit. I can literally think of no reasons why anyone would want a curved screen over a flat one (apart from maybe those really curved ones, which no-one still makes, where you could actually see something while looking side on). The tide on this one seems to be turning at least and some companies are making flagship phones again with flat screens (thank you Samsung)!

4. Curved edges/corners. Just try using a phone with sharp corners all round, it's just so uncomfortable. The corner digging into your hand is the worst. Again Mate 20 X has nailed it. You don't really lose any info in the corners and especially with a very thin case it never feels like it's digging into your hand.

5. Expandable storage, Headphone jack, IR blaster. None of these are an absolute must for me but they're nice to have. I'd rather have them than not.

PS: I don't care what anyone says about Huawei phones, they were so well built and even now, I don't have a huge amount to complain about. It's still fast, feels great in the hand and I still get really nice comments from strangers including people asking what phone it is. They even kept giving us security updates pretty much until Google stopped them too, and even after 4 years, the battery still gets me through the day (only slow charging and capped at 80% most of the time).
PPS: For me at least a foldable phone is out of the question, it is unwieldy, massively thick, plastic screen, cases are difficult, unlikely to last etc etc. It's a pity that companies think they are catering to those that want an enormous screen with these. It's completely not the same and the prices are also ridiculous...

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  1. Helpful567's avatar
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  2. RadiantDuck's avatar
    Same, I'm using a similarly huge Xiaomi mi max 3 and would love one with a up-to-date processor
  3. Pricklerickle's avatar
    I moved over to motorola edge 40 pro, as deal popped up for less than 500,had all the high specs and gets updates still
  4. rwc17's avatar
    Changed to s23U, whilst screen is smaller it's a noticeable increase in quality and multi tasking is better.

    Biggest downside is the lack of headphone jack
  5. B_Marvel's avatar
    Moved from the mate 20x 5g to the pixel 7 pro.

    Took a while to not be saddened by the smaller screen but got there eventually.

    The increase in picture quality and phone features was worth the upgrade.

    Also managed to get £300 on eBay to help with the cost of the new phone.
  6. fatLamb's avatar
    If you don't mind the extra weight, consider having two phones as I do - 20X and Pixel 6 Pro. Use the 20X for large screen activities such as email and web surfing, and the other phone for banking etc. SIM cards are so cheap, you can easily have a main contract then a cheap Lebara for the less used phone.
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