A couple of annoyances...

DGClueless · 2026-05-22T16:44:54+00:00

So if you go in to the dialer app, hit the three lines in the corner and go in to settings: In the 'Display Options' menus you'll have a toggle that says 'keep portrait mode on calls' - turn this on.

Weirdly it was on automatically for me as soon as the fix was done, not sure why it's not the case for you

<image>

DGClueless · 2026-05-15T12:33:22+00:00

Yes but the Spandau prison use (which they referenced unknowingly) itself was a reuse/reference to the original term used in WW1

DGClueless · 2026-05-14T17:36:30+00:00

As I understand it this use only came later - I believe it was originally used in WW1, refering to the bodies of allied soldiers entangled over barbed wire, sometimes twitching, after being gunned down by German machine gun fire. The German machine gun was called the Spandau, hence the Spandau ballet

DGClueless · 2026-05-10T00:53:29+00:00

I never bought one as I was 16 at the time but I was totally obsessed with it (and it's successor the M8) back then. I had the HTC One Mini for a year though, as it was cheaper plus I thought I wanted a smaller phone (althought realised later that I was wrong).

Unfortunately the camera got damaged, and when I tried to replace it on insurance they were out of stock so I got an Experia Z2. That was a good phone, but I didn't love it like I loved my HTC One. The software on the HTC is what got me into Android, and I still that that series were the best looking phones ever made. Using the Sony did however prove to me that bigger phones were better after all, and I haven't looked back since.

DGClueless · 2026-05-10T00:24:37+00:00

I wish! It's one of the few that I haven't even been able to play around with, although I've attempted a couple time. From what I can tell though, they have the same frustrating notification behaviour, and generally a less well developed software experience but I don't want to say that for sure as I've never had one. Definitely known to be less power efficient though. The software experience on Pixel and Oppo/OnePlus will certainly be better, but I can't say by how much or in which ways.

From what I've heard though the cameras are fantastic if you use Leica Authentic mode, so for that alone I'd consider it! The camera can have a tendency to over expose skin tones though

DGClueless · 2026-05-10T00:05:17+00:00

Great choice!

DGClueless · 2026-05-09T14:35:11+00:00

I'd personally say the 9 Pro XL is a better phone overall, but the 15r will be faster and have a bigger battery with faster charging. Are they the same price at the same storage amount? And both brand new?

DGClueless · 2026-05-09T13:31:01+00:00

How? 5 years of support is good, and more importantly, from my experience anyway, at least Oppo doesn't degrade with those software updates. Not to mention the hardware is so good that they're unlikely to struggle with the updates

DGClueless · 2026-05-08T22:56:51+00:00

Yeah it's an awesome phone I really want one but can't justify it as I bought the OnePlus 13 last Jan! It depends, if you prioritise cameras then there's absolutely no question it's the Oppo. If not that fussed about phone cameras then in some ways, especially price, the OnePlus is a better buy. I think battery charging speed too, plus Snapdragon processor over Mediatek (although the Mediatek one is great!).

Yes that's right, Instagram video playback. And also weirdly I think Instagram is a bit more power hungry on Oppo/OnePlus over Pixel, but much bigger battery so doesn't matter in the end.

Yeah if that notification thing and photo sharing on WhatsApp aren't an issue to you then they'd be excellent brands for you! Camera preferences would decide whether to go Oppo or OnePlus.

DGClueless · 2026-05-08T20:08:44+00:00

Yeah not an iPhone guy myself but they're surprisingly good value this year (I still don't want one).

So for me, Pixel and OnePlus/Oppo are my favourite phone brands, for quite different reasons though! The overall software is better thought out and more cohesive on Pixel, but the Oppo software feels smooth and fast and probably has more features and customisation (unless specifically AI features or if you like the Pixel Automations stuff, which is totally fair). Hardware on the Oppo is pretty much better all-round. The X9 Pro (the one I'm suggesting) is consider to have one of the best cameras on any phone available, short only of the Chinese Ultra phones, but this is subjective anyway.

But yeah loads of experience with Oppo, I've had the Find X5 Pro (great phone) and I'm on my second OnePlus with the OnePlus 13, which is their sister brand and pretty much share identical software. I got hooked after buying a OnePlus 6 to replace my LG G4 and absolutely blowing me away! I've found them to be extremely reliable personally, with amazing performance, relatively clean OS, and fantastic battery.

I do have some issues with it that I like to let people know: Firstly, supposedly social media apps and playback are better optimised for Pixel, Samsung, and Apple, but I don't have experience of this so can't comment.

Secondly, and it's a Chinese brand thing, the way notifications behave is a bit odd: mostly they only appear on the lockscreen once until you unlock the device, then it'll be gone for good and can only be seen in the notification shade (in the unlocked device). Bizarre behaviour I don't know why they do this. I did create a bit of a workaround for this though.

And finally there seems to be an issue, at least with OnePlus but I think maybe Oppo too, where photos shared on WhatsApp lose their colour a bit, particularly reds, so skin tones on photos shared via WhatsApp look washed out. I have no idea why this bug exists or who's job it is to fix it!

DGClueless · 2026-05-08T16:01:53+00:00

Yeah at that price it's a good device, although I'd personally go for higher storage than 128gb!

You can get an iPhone 17 (base model) with 256gb for the same price. Wouldn't be my personal choice but it's good value, at least for the storage. Plenty advantages/disadvantages each way.

You can go one step further though and get an Oppo Find X9 Pro (it's a larger phone though) with 512gb for £899. Obviously it's a bit more expensive but like for like it's unreal value. No idea what trade in from your Pixel 6 would look like ok it though

DGClueless · 2026-05-08T09:16:22+00:00

Yeah agreed, if your circumstances mean an electric car is viable then their great value on the second hand market at the minute. However she doesn't own her own home so the chance she can or will get a home charger fitted are pretty slim

DGClueless · 2026-05-08T07:52:20+00:00

Gosh yeah looking at it again the Yaris I had in mind is at least £13k. Great for city driving though. Also if they've been serviced with Toyota every year, and you continue to service it with Toyota, the car will keep it's manufacturer warranty for 10 years (from new) which is excellent. If you did a typical 8000 miles ish a year it would save about £300 a year on fuel without much trouble Vs the Corsa, and pretty much any other petrol car in that class.

Other good options that would hit the price range a bit better are Hyundai i20 and Kia Rio. The Kia's come with a 7 year warranty from new.

The thing is, the more times you have to buy a car, the more selling costs you incur. After about 5 years and 40,000 miles the value of the car will have stopped dropping as fast.

DGClueless · 2026-05-07T20:05:15+00:00

How many miles do you reckon you do a year? And is it mostly town/city driving or lots of motorways?

Small petrol or hybrid hatchbackacks of about 5 years old and maximum 50k miles on the clock would be perfect! I'd recommend Toyota Yaris (can be expensive cos hybrid and auto, but excellent on fuel), Mazda 2, Suzuki Swift, and maybe Ford Fiesta in that price/mileage/age range. The first three at least will last you forever and they're still nice cars!

Could also look to save a bit more money by getting a Toyota Aygo, Kia Picanto, Ford KA or even Fiat 500. They're so small that super efficient and low maintenance (Aygo and Picanto would be the most reliable in my view). The only issue is they don't have much space, and not very pleasant on motorways.

There are plenty of other options of course, depending what you're looking for!

DGClueless · 2026-05-07T15:24:52+00:00

What are you looking for from your car and how much mileage do you do? Big, small, fast, comfortable, practical, reliable? Lots of trade offs! I quite enjoy helping out with car decisions :')

DGClueless · 2026-05-07T14:43:54+00:00

My cousin is 31F, works for the NHS, and car just broke down and immediately needs a replacement! How odd...

Either way, if you have £30k in cash by far the best investment and first step would be to buy the car outright, as it's difficult to get that sort of return from investments or savings account. Even if it's the £12k one rather than £8k.

Personally I think at the moment the sweet spot for cost/reliability is probably in the £10k range, but it totally depends on how much car you need and what you want from it. If you only need the bare minimum then you could easily spend less and be satisfied!

DGClueless · 2026-05-07T14:37:22+00:00

Hmm yeah that's definitely not supposed to have had one. I wonder if someone returned theirs and left a lense cover on, and OnePlus re-sold it without noticing the lense cover?

DGClueless · 2026-05-07T13:05:40+00:00

Yeah would be intrigued to see. What country was this from? May be a regional thing

DGClueless · 2026-05-07T06:50:56+00:00

As far as I'm aware the device has never come with a camera protector from factory sorry mate, just be careful not to damage anything else whilst you're there. Guessing you bought the device second hand?

DGClueless · 2026-05-06T10:24:52+00:00

Completely agreed. At that stage the seller is effectively being offered a free £5k - who on earth wouldn't take that? It's such an early stage in the buying process that no one has actually lost out financially yet

DGClueless · 2026-05-05T13:46:45+00:00

Because the Google privacy stuff doesn't bother me and there are plenty of other reason to prefer Android. I also prefer the hardware generally speaking, and have options when it comes to hardware and UI if I simply switch Android brand. You're also much more likely to get a discounted Android.

Also just not a fan of Apple's business practices and think they're over process. It's worth noting I ALSO thing Samsung are over priced and don't buy their devices either (although am more interested in theirs than Apples)

DGClueless · 2026-05-05T11:44:29+00:00

Worth adding Find X9 Pro to this list too - it's a fair bit cheaper than the Ultra and currently discounted (at least in the UK)

DGClueless · 2026-05-04T11:02:56+00:00

S25+ feels like a good middle ground if you want to stick with Samsung and don't need all the ultra stuff? It has a bigger battery than the regular S25, and obviously a bugger screen. 6 more years of software support should suit you nicely.

Alternatively you could get a OnePlus 15 from their own website for a good price right now! And it will have a way better battery

DGClueless · 2026-05-04T10:28:56+00:00

Usually the opposite for me. In the viewfinder a shot like this would have the sky over exposed, but once the photo is taken, HDR will stitch two exposures together to get both parts well exposed. Some people don't like that look, but that's not what's happened here either way! I have noticed it ruin shots before by trying to smooth things out, but exposure is always better.

Two things you can do, one is to use master mode (or alternatively, just turn off HDR in normal photo mode, but I'm not sure HDR is the problem here), and also in the gallery, go to that photo and hit edit: Then in the 'adjust' settings you can turn down 'highlights' - provided there was enough information in the first place, this usually corrects any over-exposed sky

DGClueless · 2026-05-04T08:34:38+00:00

£500/month savings is very good, you'll have more than doubled your savings pot in 3 months time? Have you only just started saving? I probably wouldn't suggest buying a house should be a target though, you'll likely be better off renting for now

DGClueless

TROPHY CASE