Since the FF4 was released over 3 years ago, I thought some might be interested in a comparison to the FF6.
My FF4 has developed a ghost touch issue these past months and from what I read, this might be the known issue with the display connector, requiring sending the phone in for repair. I can’t send away my daily driver phone and when I saw the new FF6, I went for it, hoping to keep it for longer than the FF4 which I’ve had for a bit over 3 years now.
PROS:
Display: The OLED screen on the FF6 is a MAJOR upgrade. The FF4 was borderline usable in direct summer sunlight, very dim screen. The FF6 has enough brightness to work well in all conditions.
Camera: Another major upgrade. Directly looking at pictures from the old and the new phone, the new main camera is much better in detail resolution, less edge sharpening artifacts, much improved HDR. (I’m using a gcam port for now which is better than the stock camera software). Selfie cam looks better as well, macro functionality is much better due to a far closer minimum focusing distance.
call quality: Phone calls over VOWIFI are clearer and better
processing power: The FF4 was struggling with editing insta360 footage. This works better now with the new chipset
form factor: The slightly smaller FF6 is more pocketable
The new removable / swappable back enables further options down the line, maybe even in creating custom back plates with a 3D printer to directly use things like quadlock mounts
battery life: I’m using the battery saver option, charging only to 80% and even starting from that level the battery lasts longer and doesn’t drain as quickly during use due to a screen that’s less power hungry. I had changed the battery in my FF4 a few months back, so it’s a fair comparison.
CONS:
the lack of a USB3 connection is a bummer, since it won’t allow display connections or using desktop mode. While moving data, I got the data off the FF4 at over 100MB/s, copying data to the FF6 was much slower at under 30MB/s. This also affects working with card readers for editing/transferring pictures from a camera or drone.
no other drawbacks detected so far.
Everything considered, it’s a major upgrade and I’m quite happy after using it for six days.
My old FF4 will not be tossed, I will most likely send it in for repair and will use it as a secondary/backup phone for tougher environments.
You might want to share some comparative photos, or just your best shots, in this topic, so the rest of us can get an idea of how good the FP6 camera is .
Edit: how rude of me! I forgot to thank you for your impressions about the phone change!
It is really nice to read comparisons like this.
Very glad to hear the positive results about the display and battery life.
Are you using the gcam port for both phones or just the FP6?
I agree this is a little disappointing.
Just out of curiosity, if you have a fast microSD card for the external slot, I wonder if that is faster or slower than USB2? The references I see online are a little confusing, it would be good to have an answer with the actual phone.
I also considered transfering data over a local WiFi connection but I don’t know how fast that would be…
I made the same switch after four years with the FP4 two days ago and so far I can sign all points made in the first post.
What I would add to the positive list is the speaker quality. Much louder and with much less distortion at high volume.
To the negative side I would add the positioning of the volume buttons. Maybe it just needs some getting used to but if you want to press the power button it is far too easy to also hit one volume button and take a screenshot.
OT: For Linux I use FolderSync to synchronize data from and to the phone in the local Wifi network. It uses ssh/sftp or plain ftp besides other protocols…
It is also capable to use the share option for singular file transfers to configured accounts.
I use KDE Connect (F-Droid / Play Store) to send files between my devices within my home wifi network. It also allows me to control my PC mouse and enter text into it from my mobile, for example. I use it to transfer files between Android and Linux, but it’s also available on Windows, macOS, iOS and others .
I don’t need to transfer files that often, the advising part is more that using a card reader is very slow.
Most things are automatically synced using nextcloud and I can also access my network shares for quicker transfer.
Loss of desktop mode is a big thing too…
Isn’t it possible to simply connect e.g. your TV with a USB-C to HDMI cable? Simply using it to stream videos or anything else. Not talking about desktop mode, only mirroring the screen to an external display.
.
.
