Mate 20X EVR-L29 in USA

[raibeart]

I was told that the 20x no longer works with any cellphone carriers in the US but I purchased a EVR-L29 model anyways and having them shipped over here in the states because I really like the phone for media consumption. I am just wondering if there is any current owners here in the US that can confirm or deny this fact.

 

[garyhigh]

I'm still using mine here in South Carolina with AT&T. No problems at all.

 

[Steamer2499]

Still using mine with T-mobile

 

[frcraig]

As long as your local carrier supports the LTE frequencies the EVR-L29 transmits and receives on then you are fine. The ban on Google and Android software on new Huawei hardware doesn't effect the functionality of phones manufactured before the ban. We have still have an EVR-L29 in our household in Canada and it still gets regular OTA updates and connected fine to local US carriers while we were in Boston and New York last week. I sold our my own EVR-L29 last year and have been using a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra to get the faster 5g speeds, but the Mate 20 x is still my favorite phone and when ever I get a chance to take my wife's on the road with me.

 

[Deanro]

I sold our my own EVR-L29 last year and have been using a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra to get the faster 5g speeds, but the Mate 20 x is still my favorite phone and when ever I get a chance to take my wife's on the road with me.

I was strongly thinking about buying the note 20 ultra. Its better than the 20x except for screen size and aspect ratio, of course. But the note 20 ultra is an amazing phone with the best display on the planet. Still thinking about buying one and selling my mate 20x.

 

[frcraig]

I was strongly thinking about buying the note 20 ultra. Its better than the 20x except for screen size and aspect ratio, of course. But the note 20 ultra is an amazing phone with the best display on the planet. Still thinking about buying one and selling my mate 20x.

The screen size and aspect ratio of the Mate 20 x have the Note Ultra 20 beat hands down. Whether it is reading a Kindle novel to pass time on a flight or reading articles on the internet, the Mate 20 x is just the right size for the job. Although on paper the dimensions of the Note 20 Ultra are not that much smaller, I find myself squinting a bit at the screen and often have to pinch to zoom. One advantage the Note 20 Ultra has that you wouldn't notice if you didn't switch back and forth between the models is the refresh rate. The adaptive 60 / 90 / 120 refresh rate on the Samsung product makes touch gestures buttery smooth - but I still prefer the increased screen real estate of the Huawei.

 

[Deanro]

The screen size and aspect ratio of the Mate 20 x have the Note Ultra 20 beat hands down. Whether it is reading a Kindle novel to pass time on a flight or reading articles on the internet, the Mate 20 x is just the right size for the job. Although on paper the dimensions of the Note 20 Ultra are not that much smaller, I find myself squinting a bit at the screen and often have to pinch to zoom. One advantage the Note 20 Ultra has that you wouldn't notice if you didn't switch back and forth between the models is the refresh rate. The adaptive 60 / 90 / 120 refresh rate on the Samsung product makes touch gestures buttery smooth - but I still prefer the increased screen real estate of the Huawei.

What do you think about the Honor x30 max since its the same size and aspect ratio as the 20x?

 

[frcraig]

What do you think about the Honor x30 max since its the same size and aspect ratio as the 20x?

The Honor has larger bezels and a taller aspect ratio resulting in less screen than the Huawei. I haven't seen a review of its camera set up, but the Huawei is still brilliant and for sound also has aptX HD. Huawei has been good about OTA updates for the Mate 20 x, continuing to treat it as a flagship phone. Makes life easier than side-loading Google apps on the Honor.

 

[Dvalin21]

Still using mine with T-mobile

This is not the 5G version correct? Also, what kinda of download and upload speeds do you get with Tmobile?

 

[Deanro]

The Honor has larger bezels and a taller aspect ratio resulting in less screen than the Huawei.

Btw how's the battery on your note 20 ultra compared to the 20x?

 

[frcraig]

My Mate 20 x gives me about six hour more use on a charge than the Note 20 Ultra, but I can fully charge the Note 20 Ultra in about forty minutes.

 

[Deanro]

My Mate 20 x gives me about six hour more use on a charge than the Note 20 Ultra, but I can fully charge the Note 20 Ultra in about forty minutes.

That's strange. Most users report that the n20u gives more battery usage than the 20x. And 6 hours more with only 500 mah difference? That doesnt sound right.

 

[Steamer2499]

This is not the 5G version correct? Also, what kinda of download and upload speeds do you get with Tmobile?

Correct, no 5g. My up and down speeds r fine. T-mobile service here in SW Virginia has improved a lot over the last year including rural areas.

 

[xbt-]

I was strongly thinking about buying the note 20 ultra. Its better than the 20x except for screen size and aspect ratio, of course. But the note 20 ultra is an amazing phone with the best display on the planet. Still thinking about buying one and selling my mate 20x.

I got rid of an S20+ because I didn't like the form factor. It's just taller than much lighter phones that have the same width. Pointless to get a tiny width phone like Note 20/21/22 Ultra phone - they are all the some width just some are taller and heavier. There is no use of the extra vertical space. Only reason for S22 ultra is for 1TB, but it's sold out anyway, and you can't root it for US version, and it's $1400 which is ridiculous, and you can't get the international yet, and still it's just a massive phone but not any wider than much lighter phones, defeating the purpose of making it heavier, they just make it taller and taller, soon we will have one that looks like a yard stick, thin and way too tall. They won't learn.

 

[xbt-]

That's strange. Most users report that the n20u gives more battery usage than the 20x. And 6 hours more with only 500 mah difference? That doesnt sound right.

It's not strange. The resolution is much lower and so is the refresh rate. half the refresh and half the resolution makes it a 4x smaller screen to power, despite being a larger screen, so this gives the screen up to 4x battery life in that general example.

 

[steveyal]

Hey, so I don't mean to hijack the thread, but ATT turned off their 3G network earlier this week and I can no longer make or receive calls on my EVR-L29. Just wondering if anyone had found a workaround to this issue. Are there any other Huawei phones of a similar size that will work with VoLTE? I also thought of another possible workaround by porting my ATT number to a Google voice account thereby forcing my phone to operate as a VoLTE device. I looked into it and it will cost a one time fee of twenty dollars a month to port over the number. I'm just not sure if it's going to work the way I want it to. Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks in once again, sorry to hijack the thread but I really don't know where else I can go to try and get some input regarding this issue.... And I really don't want to part with my beloved Mate 20X.

 

[xbt-]

I have Verizon on my V30S, and I've tried a few different devices since then but stuck going back to V30S. It's still a great phone, I was just wanting a larger OLED display for reading. The Mate 20 X has it. It's the widest phone on the market.

I tried the S20+ (last Galaxy phone that has expandable storage), but I did not like it and returned it. Actually they sent me the 5G US model when I ordered the 4G international model on purpose, but since I had to return it anyway, I do not want another S20+, it's the same width as my V30, just taller and heavier, defeating the purpose.

I want text bigger on the screen which is why I want a wider phone, and there is no modern tablet that exists in that form factor with OLED, and the A7 Lite doesn't have OLED but the form factor is ok. I wish it were smaller. Debating keeping it.

But to keep this Mate 20 X I need to root it. A device that is not rootable has no use to me. There are too many essential things that I need root for.

As for using it on a US network, I got this phone mainly as a tablet, and I have an MVNO GSM sim that I haven't tried in this phone yet. I usually use wifi anyway, but I would need to have data to be practical to have this as a daily driver.

However, if 5G becomes a permanent thing, then because 5G gives me severe headaches, I will simply never be able to use data again, I will only use WIFI at home, and the only other essential thing I use data for is Google Maps, but I can get an offline maps app that will just just fine and when I'm in a store I can connect to their WIFI if I want to google something. And if that becomes a problem, I will change my way of life and not contact anyone when away from home, I'll keep a burner phone in my car if I have to for emergency use. That said, soon I will have to move out into the country in the middle of nowhere because all the cities have already rolled out 5G anyway.

For me, the purpose of a phone is as a media device, reading, and wifi use. I don't need cellular 99% of the time. Guess what, people used to use landlines and didn't have cell phones, and the world survived. I don't mind going back to a landline if I need that as a phone service. Smartphones I will use as computers, not cellular. My laptop does not have a cellular connection and doesn't need one. My smartphone doesn't either. It's a very minor convenience.

 

[Deanro]

It's not strange. The resolution is much lower and so is the refresh rate. half the refresh and half the resolution makes it a 4x smaller screen to power, despite being a larger screen, so this gives the screen up to 4x battery life in that general example.

It is strange. The n20u has far better batt efficiency that the 20x since the n20u's software is specificaly tuned for best batt performance unlike the 20x whose software isnt geared towards such a standard. The n20u outshines the 20x in battery life. Your assessment of deriving 4x more batt life by a mere 500mah difference is very poor.

 

[Deanro]

But to keep this Mate 20 X I need to root it. A device that is not rootable has no use to me. There are too many essential things that I need root for.

The problem with rooting it is you have to downgrade which is a pain in the ass in and of itself to say the least. Then the issue in going back to 9 is lack of universal dark mode for some apps - although most apps have that anyway. Plus, the o/s looks like outdated kit kat from ages ago and is much slower than 11.

What benefits were you expecting to derive from rooting it?

 

[xbt-]

The problem with rooting it is you have to downgrade which is a pain in the ass in and of itself to say the least. Then the issue in going back to 9 is lack of universal dark mode for some apps - although most apps have that anyway. Plus, the o/s looks like outdated kit kat from ages ago and is much slower than 11.

What benefits were you expecting to derive from rooting it?

Ok, awesome. How do I downgrade? I've been trying to figure it out. My other phone is on 8.0, Android 9 is still an upgrade from that. This phone is 1,000,000 times more useful on an older OS than on a new OS I can't root.

I've written the benefits before, they are too numerous to list in a quick post, I could write for an hour about all the reasons. Almost all of them are essential to my use.

Can you help me get this downgraded?