u/Aquahiker

This is for the Vivo X300 Ultra with CN ROM, compared to the Samsung S25 Ultra with Nova Launcher.

Photography is the most important aspect of a phone for me and I'm still testing this. I think I'll have to stick with the Vivo since it was a sizable investing with the 1TB version and the photography kit and I don't know how well it will sell on eBay or Swappa (in the USA) anyway but I'll see how I feel after testing it some more over the next month.

What Doesn't Work on X300U

• Office Kit - their version of DEX. Only available in Chinese on the CN ROM. (remedied by using Syncback Pro since I only use it for file transfer via WiFi). Still no DEX-like experience in English.
• Digital Key (Hyundai) - not important for me
• Samsung Watch Ultra - somewhat annoying
• Satellite SOS, specifically T-Mobile satellite service - somewhat important since I do a lot of remote hiking
• Launcher - will switch to default whenever Origin Private System is activated. To make it stick again, need to go to Security->More Security->Replace System Home Screen and need to turn off, turn back on and log-back in again and change the default App for launcher for it to stick again. So the choice is to use their launcher or not use the Origin Private System.
• Origin launcher doesn't allow folders / groups to be shown as a single custom icon
• QuickShare - might be updated to work in the next OS Update according to the new Google presentation
• I miss the S-Pen
• NOT as good as the Trump T1 Phone

What Works Better on X300U

• Battery - mine's lasting more than a day or two. S25U limps by the end of the day.
• Photography? (Still testing)
  • Camera seems to overexpose bright portions of the photo. I had to set the EV to -0.7 in the Pro Photo setting
• WIFI reception
• The screen looks better (to me)

Basic Apps Replacements

I'm trying to get away from device / manufacturer - dependent apps so I'm not tied to them in the future when / if I decide to switch phones from different manufacturers. If you have a better suggestion, please feel free to suggest.

• Authenticator - Google
• Calculator - Google
• Calendar - Google
• Clock - Google
• Contacts - Google
• File Manager - Google
• Email - Google
• Notes - Google Keep & Obsidian
• Messages - Google
• Keyboard - SwitftKey
• Phone - Google
• Launcher - Nova Launcher (v8.015 beta APK before tracking)
• Music - Symfonium
• Gallery - still testing

I'm still waiting for a half decent spec'ed small Android tablet that's 10" or less with at least GPS (LTE would be a plus) but they seem to be lacking in the Android world. I have a feeling that major manufacturers are avoiding that form factor because it would cut into their foldable sales.

I've had an AllDoCube iPlay Mini 50 Pro NFE - the tablet started rebooting itself 4 months into using it - I contacted their support a few times but ZERO reply. The tablet started to lose the touch screen functionality randomly during normal use and I had to press the power button twice (sleep/wake) to have that come back. It finally died a few weeks ago completely - piece of trash. The iPlay 80 Mini Ultra looks good but I'm pretty leery of AllDoCube now. Never had a phone or tablet die like that on me before.

Anybody know any tablet they can recommend out there? I guess an alternative is to buy something like a Pixel Fold for $450. It seems like all the 8.8 tablets out there don't have any GPS/LTE functions and there seems to be a new 12"+ tablet released by some manufacturer every month :S

Thanks

Hi – I have a few questions and was wondering if people have answers 😊

Background – we will be arriving at IST airport at around 5:40 PM on Aug 26th and leaving on Aug 30th.  We're using the free stop-over program with Turkish Airlines.  The first 3 nights are paid for at the JW Marriott Hotel Istanbul Marmara Sea (I know it's away from all the tourist sites – I didn't do my research when I booked it and it can NOT be changed).  We will probably have at least 2 carry-on luggage and at least 1 checked luggage.

Question 1 – Best way to get from Ist to the hotel?  I did some search on Reddit and it looks like any of the private shuttle would be good like Transfeero, WelcomePickups and SafeAirprotTransfer.  I see the Havaist bus will go to Atakoy and then maybe a short Uber to the hotel but I'm not sure if it's worth it at this time of the evening.

Question 2 - Anybody have any information on how to contact the Marriott Hotel Istanbul Marmara Sea via chat / whatsapp / email? It looks like they only have a Turkish number.

Question 3- Will it be easy to get to the tourist sites using public transportation or should we look into booking tours?

Question 4 – We head back to the airport area on the 29th as our flight isn't until the 30th so we'll probably look for a hotel near the airport.  Any recommendations on how to utilize this day and hotel to stay?  Shuttle again or try public transportation?

Thanks!

 

This is for the OriginOS on CN rom on the X300 Ultra.

Launcher

• Default Launcher can be changed by first setting it in the default app screen, then in the "Replace System Home Screen" section which requires a Vivo account (done). Everything seems to be working great until I tested the "Origin Privacy System" - Vivo's version of Private Space.
• Issue: The Default Launcher resets to the Vivo System Launcher when exiting "Origin Privacy System". Has anyone found a solution to this?

Launcher

• Issue: Default Launcher does not allow icons to be assigned to a folder group like Nova Launcher. I guess I have to live with a messy home screen with messy folder icons.

Origin OS

• Is there an English manual for this so I can RTFM? :D
• Issues: I'm not sure what some of the stuff are - App/Kit, Mood Cube, and there seems to be tons of hidden features in the Origin OS

Thanks!