No bluetooth 5.0

[shineyads]

I'd argue that Alexa is further along, at least when it comes to 3rd party integration. You're also forgetting that with BT 5 you can connect to two devices so you could also wear something with your Sp02 levels if that's really important to you. I think at this point, you're just really grasping at anything to justify BT 5 not being a true upgrade to 4.2

Where have I ever said it wasn't a true upgrade? No please, quote me where I've said that it isn't an upgrade... I've even said it would have been nice to have it, if only for future proofing!
I think you're just starting to troll because I have pointed out that assistants can't YET do as much as you want them to, so I will wish you good luck and if you're that upset about not having BT5 then why not go for the S8 or Xperia XZ Premium?
Have a nice day! ?

 

[tkoreaper]

Where have I ever said it wasn't a true upgrade? No please, quote me where I've said that it isn't an upgrade... I've even said it would have been nice to have it, if only for future proofing!
I think you're just starting to troll because I have pointed out that assistants can't YET do as much as you want them to, so I will wish you good luck and if you're that upset about not having BT5 then why not go for the S8 or Xperia XZ Premium?
Have a nice day!

It was implied in the way that, no matter what I said, you'd make up some counter argument as to how it's flawed. There was also the "it may meet your needs, but it's a long way from meeting mine" part too. I completely understand that it's new, but I'm also not ignorant to the fact that the non-existence of certain features/capabilities are not always the result of there being limitations... The platform and the demand for it just hasn't been there, but now there is. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with all the things that Amazon's Alexa is capable of. The capabilities are definitely there, but all we need is someone to make it happen.

I owned the S8 for an entire week and returned it... I was willing to give Samsung the benefit of the doubt, but it was quite possibly the most horrible experience I've had with a phone... They really ought to change their motto to "Innovation over basic functionality." As for Sony, I've never been fond of their design and a 4k screen is just beyond overkill for a phone.

 

[shineyads]

It was implied in the way that, no matter what I said, you'd make up some counter argument as to how it's flawed. There was also the "it may meet your needs, but it's a long way from meeting mine" part too. I completely understand that it's new, but I'm also not ignorant to the fact that the non-existence of certain features/capabilities are not always the result of there being limitations... The platform and the demand for it just hasn't been there, but now there is. I would recommend familiarizing yourself with all the things that Amazon's Alexa is capable of. The capabilities are definitely there, but all we need is someone to make it happen.

I owned the S8 for an entire week and returned it... I was willing to give Samsung the benefit of the doubt, but it was quite possibly the most horrible experience I've had with a phone... They really ought to change their motto to "Innovation over basic functionality." As for Sony, I've never been fond of their design and a 4k screen is just beyond overkill for a phone.

Coming up with counter-arguments is generally what happens when 2 people have differing opinions - you have your arguments and I have mine and we are freely expressing our own thoughts. Just because we have different views doesn't mean that anyone is 'grasping at anything' - the world would be very boring if we all thought the same. Regarding the 'it may meet your needs...' statement - what is wrong with that? You seem to be pretty happy with it, but it doesn't meet all of my needs, so I'm not going to just say that it does! I'm not really sure what your point is there, but you're making it sound like you don't like anyone having a view that is different to yours, however I'm sure that it isn't the case.

Anyway, back on friendly terms... Regarding Alexa, I have 2 Amazon Echos in my home and the Logi Zerotouch in my car which has Alexa enabled. I am, if anything, over-familiar with its capabilities and know that, whilst Alexa does have more hardware integration over GA, it also has very limited integration (if any) with third party apps (I'm not including 'skills' here) . This was my point regarding it giving me information from fitness apps like runkeeper, etc.

I agree with you on Samsung - I won't be getting any more of their phones until they can do the basics better (plus both phones I've had seem to suffer a mysterious drop in performance after a year... A cynical person might think it was deliberate to make you think about upgrading to the latest model..!

Again, I think your statement regarding a 4k screen is too sweeping - it may be overkill for you (and me in this case), but I can see that a 4k screen would have its advantages for someone into VR (if implemented in the correct way).

 

[tkoreaper]

...

VR would be the ONLY thing it would be good for, but on a phone and for what? I dunno, I just don't see it as a feature that would make me really want it especially after owning the original GearVR with the Note 5 (My last Samsung phone). After having the S8 and being able to instantly see the difference between 1080p and 1440p by changing it in the settings I could see no difference until I got within 3" or so from the screen. Hell, even 720p vs 1080p was pretty close. I understand that it's something more noticeable on the larger S8+ display, but the Sony phone has a 5.5" display whereas the S8 is 5.8" so it would definitely be unnoticeable for any normal usage. I personally would opt for a phone with a 120Hz QHD display over one with 4K.

Edit: Maybe in another 5 years or so when phones are capable of current PC-level graphics I could see it really start gaining some steam, but until then it's kinda just a prototype/gimmick.

 

[tkoreaper]

...

In other news, I just found out that the USB-C to 3.5mm adapter that's shipped with the phone has a 24bit/48kHz DAC built in and that one of the main reasons for removing the headphone jack was to expand the resonance chamber for the bottom-firing speaker and the tweeter at the top has a new acoustic chamber for better highs and mids. People are already saying that the phone is a real beast in terms of sound quality and how loud it is. It's much, much louder than the one on the HTC 10 and much clearer and fuller-sounding. BoomSound is back!

 

[snitem]

I asked HTC support if there might be a software update to Bluetooth 5. This is what they said:

Dear Metin,

Thank you for contacting HTC Support.

We appreciate your interest in our newest phone model. Though the features and specifications of HTC U11 disclosed in our website are confirmed to be true, they are still subject to change as we see fit. HTC U11 is still on its early phase, and a lot of things can still happen. It is true that Snapdragon 835 is capable of supporting Bluetooth 5, which is far more superior than Bluetooth 4.2. In comparison, Bluetooth 5 is twice as fast, consumes less power, and has better security control. Wonderful though Bluetooth 5 may be, we don't have any information if this will be implemented in HTC U11 in the near future.

That being said, we cannot confirm nor deny if Bluetooth 5 will be made available soon. We're not limiting the possiblities and after all, HTC U11's specs is top of the line and there's no doubt that it is more than capable of supporting it. All we can do is to wait for the product to be shipped, and then updates can be made.

Again, we appreciate that you took the time to inquire about this certain feature, and we apologize if we can't give you a definite answer. We suggest that you keep checking our website to be updated on our latest product updates. Please feel free to reply to this email if you have other questions or concerns.

Thank you and have a great day!

Sincerely,
HTC Customer Care

 

[5m4r7ph0n36uru]

I'd say same as with QC 4.0. All know that SD835 is capable of QC 4.0, as well as BT 5.0 in theory as it is what QualComm stated. Maybe QualComm f*** something up in firmware rendering those feature useless/broken, unless they downgrade to QC 3.0 as well as BT 4.2. Just guessing as it's the absolute same on the S8 SD835 variant.

Sent from my htc_pmeuhl using XDA Labs

 

[tkoreaper]

I'd say same as with QC 4.0. All know that SD835 is capable of QC 4.0, as well as BT 5.0 in theory as it is what QualComm stated. Maybe QualComm f*** something up in firmware rendering those feature useless/broken, unless they downgrade to QC 3.0 as well as BT 4.2. Just guessing as it's the absolute same on the S8 SD835 variant.

Sent from my htc_pmeuhl using XDA Labs

I had the S8 for a week and BT5 seemed to work fine. I was able to connect to two BT speakers at once, but beyond that I can't tell you if any of the other aspects of BT5 worked because I had no way of testing it.

Anyways, are you guys suggesting that a simple firmware update could allow BT5 and QC 4.0? It wouldn't have to be a physical hardware change?

 

[tkoreaper]

...

I've never been able to get a response from HTC Support the past 3 or 4 times I've tried. I called today, but I didn't really get an answer to the question I had. How did you contact them? I preordered the Amazing Silver, but I really want the Solar Red and want to know when it's coming out cause I may cancel my order and just wait.

 

[borisb]

I had the S8 for a week and BT5 seemed to work fine. I was able to connect to two BT speakers at once, but beyond that I can't tell you if any of the other aspects of BT5 worked because I had no way of testing it.

Anyways, are you guys suggesting that a simple firmware update could allow BT5 and QC 4.0? It wouldn't have to be a physical hardware change?

Probably not. The BT is a communication chip, the processor can only support it. Not change its designation.

 

[pupochek]

It's kinda a no-brainer considering I'd get it at $300 off. They sent me an email with a code to take $50 off and with their upgrade program they'll give me $250 for my HTC 10. They will give you money for your M9 as well, but it would likely only be about $100-150. However, I 'm still contemplating on whether I should wait or not because I like the Solar Red color, but it's not currently available for purchase and chances are that in a month or two they may offer $100 off.

Where did you get the idea that you'll get 250$ for your HTC 10? Their website gives 110$ max for HTC 10...

 

[tkoreaper]

Where did you get the idea that you'll get 250$ for your HTC 10? Their website gives 110$ max for HTC 10...

 

[pupochek]

IC, it's for special people . Only thing I found was this:

 

[IvorBiggan]

Bluetooth 5 will be about 70% quicker than Bluetooth 4.2, as although each data packet can be sent twice as quickly, the time between sending each packet is remaining the same, with the new format. It should also be noted that the increased range of Bluetooth 5 will be achieved at the expense of data speed ie. the longer the distance between connected devices, the lower the speed of transfer of data.

 

[regalpimpin]

That is only if you're purchasing the U Ultra.

 

[tkoreaper]

That is only if you're purchasing the U Ultra.

I even spoke with Customer Service. You purchase the U11 using the same information as your Team HTC account and when you receive the device you begin the Trade Up process using the IMEI of both devices.

 

[jsaxon2]

I'll just leave this here...

http://www.androidauthority.com/bluetooth-5-samsung-galaxy-s8-774560/

 

[kroft67]

I'm a bit irked that there doesn't seem to be aptX support. I don't know how much difference aptX really makes, but if it makes even a little difference, it seems odd to omit it on a phone whose brand is known for audio. It's especially irritating since aptX is pretty common on high-end smartphones these days. And even more so in light of the omitted headphone jack.

 

[Cryosx]

Is it just me or is this missing feature disappointing to anyone else?

If the Bluetooth chip comes with the SoC, then it should support 5.0 since the 835 supports it. Saying it supports 4.2 might just be HTC being as safe as possible because there aren't any 5.0 audio devices out right now. It's like how sd expansion was up to 2Tb before they bumped it down to 256Gb. It's the theoretical max but no one makes that size so consumers may has been misled.

We'll have to ask HTC whether or not 5.0 can be enabled down the line

 

[Entrail]

I read a article where the two main benefits of bt5 (double speed and 4 times more range) can never be active with the same connection. And the article also said that the bt5 norm does not require to have any of these two features implemented. However the S8 supports the doubled Speed but not the extended range. And it looks like it isnt supporting the higher speed from a software point of view because android n is not officially supporting BT5 even thought the hardware from the S8 does.
So i hope that the HTC u11 also supports BT5 as the Snapdragon supports it - probably they just have to add the Support for BT5 from the software site.

link: http://www.androidauthority.com/bluetooth-5-samsung-galaxy-s8-774560/