I've been on the ROM scene for years (5k+ posts on XDA) and have compiled some myself, but it's a very small number who will do it.

With that said though, making a stable ROM is hard, certainly on newer phones. Almost every thread on XDA for a custom ROM will have a list of known issues at the top. Very few will have 'none' unless it's a ROM derived from the manufacturers image, or of the same Android level.

The idea of having a device get updated to a newer, stable, version of Android soon after its release by the ROM community is very rare. You get months of bugs, builds and community reports...and reflashes of ROMs when things go wrong. Looking at the ROMs for even the one plus one, which is considered developer friendly, almost all are flagged as 'Alpha/Beta' or 'Experimental' for 6.0.1.

And we're not even getting into the issue of warranty, unlocking bootloaders and the risks root can bring to people who don't know how to use it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the ROM community and have been part of it since I had a O2 XDA Trion, but 99% of phones do not get a stable ROM released for a new version of Android by the community in a reasonable timeframe, if at all. The Nexus range simply has none of those issues, which is why I like them.

You do know it comes with a volume button?.....

​can't see why.
your original contract is with O2 and if they give you the means to unlock it you haven't tampered with the phone so there shouldn't be a problem.

If I was to buy this phone and have it unlocked by 02, would that void my warranty?

I want to use ID network because they have brilliant sim only deals

Yeah. That deal is not there. The 20gb deal shows £48 a month for me, not £13.

​o2 deal is approx £50 cheaper than CPW & Amazon.
where can you get it for £400?

I've got one and I'm used to having big phones, whilst it is fast, lean etc. I think other phones are better at being a bigger phone if that make senses.. Would of been nice to have split screen or one hand use on the box instead if having to load custom roms to add features.

​The deal has not expired. Just checked o2 website.
Price is as follows :
up front cost = £79.99
contact to purchase phone (excl airtime!) = 24 months at £13 = £312.
total = £391.99
you cancel the contract on day 1 so you don't pay any airtime charges.
once you have paid up for the cost of the phone you can get the phone unlocked but then need to get an airtime plan eg giffgaff etc
hope that helps.

No

Is this not the phone that is made by huawei? Surley this is better and cheaper and comes sim free
http://m.carphonewarehouse.com/mt/www.carphonewarehouse.com/buy/huawei-mate-s-32gb/19984514

Android Authority named it editors choice and gave it a fantastic review. It also has an sd card slot

*checks receipt* You're right, I got the 32GB.

Manual Camera on app store fixes this :smiley:

I have had one of these since December, but I'm getting rid of it. It's too big and heavy, it never feels comfortable to hold and is awful in my pocket.
There is no way you can use it one handed, and even with 2 its too heavy.

I've found the battery life to be poor too, it only lasts about 12 hours with moderate use. Which is the main reason I've given up on it.

Positives though, the cameras are excellent, and I don't agree that the stock app isn't good, I like it and I'm coming from an iPhone.
The finger print scan is perfect, so quick and accurate.

I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding something here, but I can't see how to get it to this price. Could someone elaborate or has it expired?

you can tell o2 to unlock it online as soon as you want. I've done it when going abroad.

Best phone I've ever had. May switch to the htc 10 when it's out. It looks like the complete phone.

​i would agreed with you with regard to the perceived expertise require to root however it is dead simple. and I do appreciate why most people aren't prepare to do it. also I understand the issue of unstable ROM. but in my experience KitKat was the holly grail for android. I had serious problems on s3 and s4 running custom gingerbread. had to switch over to several times depend on the luck of the draw. eventually settled on stock based rom as it was stable all the time. so that was basically a version of samsung rom but stripped off all the bloat.

but I think since KitKat almost 95% of the roms I used were perfectly fine. the only real issues I had with custom KitKat were battery drains. and I have to say lollipop has been extremely stable. my s5 and 1+1 were both on lollipop and ran absolutely flawlessly with nightly updates from the dev. later 1+1 got marshmallow. I am not sure the success of that is due to the dev being far more experienced or androids AOSP coding tool became better. the point is I don't consider any of the main stream roms will have any particular stability issues. I am on pure Nexus ROM ATM. it is flawless. and it gets updated a couple of days after the updates from Google as well. so all good.

​nope, 439 is the 32gb version. the 64gb is 489. unless u have some kind of code that brings it down?

not worth it, this phones 6 months old, could be had for around £400 on release yet this is a deal at £390?

64GB version is £439 sim-free at CPW

EDIT: I got the 32 for that much, NOT the 64.

Voted cold. Easier to buy one outright at around £400

I've been on the ROM scene for years (5k+ posts on XDA) and have compiled some myself, but it's a very small number who will do it.

With that said though, making a stable ROM is hard, certainly on newer phones. Almost every thread on XDA for a custom ROM will have a list of known issues at the top. Very few will have 'none' unless it's a ROM derived from the manufacturers image, or of the same Android level.

The idea of having a device get updated to a newer, stable, version of Android soon after its release by the ROM community is very rare. You get months of bugs, builds and community reports...and reflashes of ROMs when things go wrong. Looking at the ROMs for even the one plus one, which is considered developer friendly, almost all are flagged as 'Alpha/Beta' or 'Experimental' for 6.0.1.

And we're not even getting into the issue of warranty, unlocking bootloaders and the risks root can bring to people who don't know how to use it.

Don't get me wrong, I love the ROM community and have been part of it since I had a O2 XDA Trion, but 99% of phones do not get a stable ROM released for a new version of Android by the community in a reasonable timeframe, if at all. The Nexus range simply has none of those issues, which is why I like them.

​I bought this phone but changed it for a galaxy s7 edge. The Nexus felt great too hold. fingerprint unlock super quick. amazing sharp screen and slick software with no bloatware. Camera is really good too only reason I swapped was because it just felt a bit too big in my pocket. But apart from that I highly recommend.

​your argument is valid if people stick with stock ROM. which I guess is likely to be majority. however it isn't so true if you install custom ROM and root your phone. my 1+1 has android 6 as the ROM dev were able to apply AOSP to the phone. I always end up rooting android phones cos it give so much for configurable options and adds additional functionalities to the stock. I had been on android since galaxy s3 and always been on rooted androids.

​its in reference to a post earlier regarding front facing speakers. the speakers on 6P is loud which I had experienced. it was quite a surprise!

Not everything is about hardware though. You're paying more for having world class Google engineers make the OS directly for this phone, along with frequent security updates and a longer life cycle.

The Nexus 5 (not x), has gone from Android 4.4 all the way to 6.0.1 (Feb this year). Given the phone was released in 2013, that's pretty good going. Nexus phones have great support.

The hardware isn't close to being slow, so many people, myself included, will take the 'hit' on it being the latest and greatest to have a better software experience. The Nexus range is what made me move from iOS.

Even with paying the £391.99 for the phone, there is still a £35 per month airtime tariff to pay which is an additional £840 unless you get another phone and contract.

Only 32gb....

Needs 64gb min as its missing a sd card slot. It should be much cheaper than this as it only has a snapdragon 810 (and has been around for a while) which compared to 820 is not that great.

You do know it comes with a volume button?.....

Moved from a Nexus 5 to a 6P.

Screen/battery/speakers/performance are great.

Camera can take good photos but the software is slow (selfie cam is top class though).

I had this phone since December last year and very happy with it. Battery life is excellent compared to my previous phone which was Note 3.

ive just ordered an o2 refresh order and plan to keep the handset and airtime contracts running, my only question is I also plan to use my EE sim with the phone, is it as simple as just requesting o2 to unlock straight away or do I have to wait a period of time?

Does this have the static noise issue like nexus 6? Could not get rid of the issue as it seems to be a software bug only happening during calls and google never bothered to fix.

also I think most stores have 6p and lg g5 now so you can make comparison. I am not entirely sure how effective the OIS is. in the world of professional photography the best IS/OS/VC/VR are at best 2 stop. on such tiny lens with minimal mechanical possibility, I would imagine it is probably not noticeable. I did try out a G4 a while back, whilst I concerned that it took far superior pictures than my old 1+1 but it's OIS wasn't something I would say noticeable.

the camera on this phone is very good. takes very good pictures in terms sharpness and colour reproduction. it also has a very good low light performance. there is a bit of noise in the image. the only I would say will make it perfect (on all camera phones) is to allow for manual control of exposure and f-stop.

the speakers are too loud on this phone. when I have it as my satnav, it literally drowns out all conversations in the car.

one thing that stops me with this phone is the camera. No OIS is a deal breaker unfortunately :disappointed:

iPhone 6s so it's quite a jump...

Hot deal, but it would've been even better if it was the 64GB storage handset

Great spec and device, but a bit puzzled as to how this is still commanding £400+ after 8 months?

Played with one, with Android N (Nougat) preview on in the week and is blisteringly fast as a pure google
device :wink:

What phone did you guys come from? I tried it in the shop and it felt a bit too big

EE has this on PAYG @ £410 Inc topup. and unlocking available too. I am on sim-only so they were able to unlock for £8. I think if you are on contract then they won't do it. but the Bay can help u.

I've got this phone too and would highly recommend, for same reasons as above plus software is great

had this phone since November and really like it, good battery life and super fast USB C charging. wish my contract was as good as that one though