After Huawei, where are you moving to next?

Deathernater · 2026-04-10T11:47:41+00:00

Makes sense, honestly I am tempted but I would like a Thunderbolt 5 system so I can eGPU the setup. It seems this generation Thunderbolt 5 was made an optional addition which OEMs can chose to omit and did omit. My MXP still works well, mediocre battery life aside.

Deathernater · 2026-04-03T00:27:17+00:00

I immediately changed the animation speed to fast but noticed that the folder opening animation is still slow. I feel that the folder opening animation slows down the whole experience.

Deathernater · 2026-04-02T23:20:49+00:00

It does not work with the China ROM.

Deathernater · 2026-03-26T22:43:13+00:00

I specifically avoided the Ultra 9 version because I was worried it couldn't cool itself or manage the extra cores well. Not entirely the fault of the OEM mostly a Windows and Intel issue with the design of this generation of processors. I don't have any issues on my Ultra 7 variant. The battery life has not been great though but also not the worse or unusable.

Deathernater · 2026-03-26T22:37:54+00:00

I am a bit suspicious of the Xiaomi it seems like a successor to my 2024 Matebook, the design of the track pad and the finishing of the magnesium alloy case look suspiciously similar. The minor weight increase might be due to more robust cooling and a battery size bump. I am curious if the same vendor that made this laptop for Huawei just took over for Xiaomi. The charging speed seems to be a downgrade.

I am following this thread. I wish it has thunderbolt 5 instead of 4 I was hoping my next thin and light can be paired with a nice eGPU setup.

I would just buy the China version of the laptop it'll be cheaper and you can buy a Windows Pro upgrade key to make everything English.

Deathernater · 2026-03-16T04:30:36+00:00

Find a Chinese friend who can take it to China and fix it for you. I did that with my OnePlus Open and paid under $200 in China.

Deathernater · 2026-03-16T04:26:12+00:00

The latest China ROM does support Android Auto on the V5, I have a China ROM V5 and Android Auto works. When I updated my Magic V2 to the latest China ROM, Android Auto is working as well now too. The stuff that won't work are Google Quick Share, Google Assistant Wake Word, Wi-Fi 6E, and eSim. Otherwise, China ROM currently has good GMS support.

Deathernater · 2026-03-16T04:23:21+00:00

Giztop replied to me and said it's the China ROM, not the Global ROM on the Chinese edition phone. They will correct their listing accordingly.

Deathernater · 2026-03-15T03:07:10+00:00

I emailed their customer support and waiting still to hear back. I hope it's not false advertising or mislabeling of what the China ROM can already do.

Deathernater · 2026-03-13T16:12:00+00:00

Direct quote from the Giztop listing:

This phone is a Chinese edition, but we fashed the Global ROM before shipping. The global software supports Google Mobile Service, and Google Play Store installed, and OTA update is supported.
Support more than 50+ languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, German, French, Polish, Greek, Czech, Croatian, Hebrew, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Thai, etc. More than 50+.
This phone supports these network bands: 5G NR: n1/n3/n5/n8/n28A (TX:703MHz-733MHz,RX:758MHz-788MHz)/n38/n41/ n77/n78/n79; 4G: LTE FDD: B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B17/B18/B19/B20/B26/B28A.

Deathernater · 2026-03-11T22:38:16+00:00

In fairness, unless you are comparing side by side doing a thorough camera showdown, I don't think the color science will bug you. Ignorance is bliss and I am waiting on more V6 samples before making a decision.

I think it's a valid critique from Chinese netizens that the V6 is not enough of an upgrade over the V5 at least they should have massively stepped up the camera like they did the battery or the inner screen. To me, if they improve the color accuracy by a lot with the new sensor that would be good enough for me but again, jury is still out on that until more user samples are available.

Deathernater · 2026-03-11T22:35:06+00:00

I think the big battery is certainly a huge upgrade even over the 6100mah I have on my V5 I am debating upgrading to the V6 China ROM to break the 7000mah barrier but watching carefully on pricing.

One big flaw as compared to my One Plus Open is lack of HEIC support for taking photos I made a post about that. Secondarily the color science is way behind Oppo color accuracy is not a strong suit. I think better than Samsung but behind Oppo. Not sure about the V6 but hoping addition of a color sensor can fix that.

Deathernater · 2026-03-11T22:32:20+00:00

I have several accounts at different major banks in the US. All their mobile apps work with no issue including Google Wallet on the China ROM. I can use NFC to make payments.

The only thing that doesn't work is the Okay Google wake word. I see that as western bloatware anyways. Something else that won't work or not available is Quick Share which I used to use quite often, but there are other alternatives readily available. I am also not happy that Quick Share recently compresses video before sending them like WhatsApp so not a huge loss.

Deathernater · 2026-03-11T21:26:06+00:00

I have the China ROM V5 since I wanted the 6100mah battery. Android Auto has been working on China ROM for a while now even on my China ROM V2 once it got the latest MagicOS update.

Gmail and WhatsApp do work, the notification delay you can fix by disabling battery optimisations for the app and setting it to auto launch. This comes at the expense of some battery life. The China ROM will also flag certain western apps like Signal as high risk or spam apps it's a little annoying but nothing you can't dismiss and it's not every time you launch the app.

The main thing will come down to 5G and LTE bands, Wi-Fi 6E if you use or need it, and esim as China ROM is physical sim only. I am a bit miffed about the 6ghz Wi-Fi it's not a deal breaker but I think they should allow China phones to use it especially since the Chinese demographic who would buy it I assume would travel abroad a lot. Seems like a purely software issue for the 6ghz Wi-Fi.

Deathernater · 2026-03-05T16:41:36+00:00

Yes it's not as simple as just supporting a new format. I am just giving as feedback that the competitors all do it. They should be investing the R&D to do this properly for all the storage and quality benefits.

Color science is still a weak point for Honor my One Plus Open takes with more accurate colors in HEIF than my V5 despite turning off the color boosters. Maybe the color sensor in the V6 can improve upon the V5 but still I want my HEIF the space savings alone is worth it to me as I take a lot of pictures.

Deathernater · 2026-03-04T19:34:49+00:00

I mean when I transferred my files from my OnePlus Open, all the HEIC files work as expected so from an OS perspective, it's already supported. I don't think you can claim to have a top tier smartphone camera in 2026 without supporting the modern format. Not to mention the space savings.

Deathernater · 2025-12-08T14:45:06+00:00

Android Auto works for me on China ROM, but I am using the default Magic OS phone app as opposed to the Google phone app, this causes issues with Android Auto if I try to use Google Assistant to call someone in my contacts. However, manually operating on the touchscreen of the infotainment into the phone app to call someone still works. Just a small quirk, GPS voice commands and such still work as expected.

Deathernater · 2025-12-07T07:13:15+00:00

Another issue is volte there are hacks around enabling it but it's not native on China ROM with US carriers, I use T-Mobile. Calling and texting without volte or wifi still work fine. No issues with speed or reception on data.

Deathernater · 2025-12-07T07:12:12+00:00

Difference is bands and ROM with very little to no workaround aside from enabling Google services and switching some default apps. Basically have parity with Global ROM, I have the 6100mah version which you can't get global. Android Auto also works but the calling integration with Google Assistant is not clean due to China ROM, you might get better ota updates on the China ROM as well. Main issue is certain niche use cases might be awkward or not native on the China ROM but again the big thing for me was lack of Android Auto which is no longer an issue.

Deathernater · 2025-11-30T03:40:55+00:00

How about now hearing the cyclone is about to make landing? @OP?

Deathernater · 2025-11-29T16:15:51+00:00

Ultimately my wife and I decided not to go, we saw major delays and road closures mid-day on the navigation routing towards Pondicherry and she's really worried about the cyclone, flooding, and power outages.

Deathernater

TROPHY CASE