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#1 |
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Kasper's Automated Slave
Join Date: Nov 1997
Posts: 6,159
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Apple's iPhone 3G battery good for about 3.5 hours of browsing
Existing iPhone owners moving to Apple's new iPhone 3G should expect an approximate 50 percent reduction in battery life when using the new handset in 3G mode to browse the web and perform other Internet-related functions, a series of tests show.
Over the past five days, several publications have weighed in with early reviews of the new phone that include battery benchmarks covering 3G talk time and 3G Internet use. For the most part, talk time results have met or exceeded Apple's promise of "up to 5 hours on 3G." An average of five 3G talk time tests (PC World, WSJ, PC Mag, CNet, and WirelessInfo) have the new iPhone's battery lasting just shy of 5 hours and 20 minutes when used solely to perform voice calls -- 20 minutes more Apple's own tests, and good enough to place the handset among the best in its class. On the other hand, iPhone 3G suffers the same battery limitations as other smartphones when acting as an Internet device on 3G networks, and has routinely fallen short of Apple's claim of "up to 5 hours" of Internet use on 3G. With the exception of the Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg, who somehow managed to keep his battery juiced for nearly 6 hours while browsing and performing other Internet functions, other reviewers saw their iPhone 3G's battery fall anywhere between one and two hours short of Apple's optimal 5-hour claim. An average of four 3G Internet tests taken from the chart compiled by Gizmodo (below), which includes Mossberg's stellar results and the mid-point of Ars's mixed-use test, suggests the battery in the new iPhone will conk out after 3 hours and 55 minutes of continuous use. However, individual tests performed by DVICE and Anandtech have the battery fizzling out at 2 hours and 54 minutes, and 3 hours and 17 minutes, respectively. While Anandtech's chart shows the Apple handset to last about 30 minutes more than Samsung's 3G Blackjack, the unsettling comparison exists between the iPhone 3G running on AT&T's 3G network and the original iPhone running on AT&T's EDGE network. In the site's tests, the original iPhone lasted 2 hours and 26 minutes longer while browsing over EDGE than the new iPhone did browsing over 3G. In its analysis of the matter, Anandtech noted that Apple has been unable to achieve a substantial edge over other smartphones for 3G Internet use because it "doesn't design any of the chips or battery technology that goes into the iPhone, [and therefore] doesn't really have much control over things like 3G battery life." That observation, however, lends hidden promise for future generations of the touch-screen handset. Apple recently purchased boutique microprocessor design firm PA Semi for $278 million and plans to use the assets acquired in that deal to help it design a new generation of proprietary chips to power future iPhones and iPods. |
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#2 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 585
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Why do people even bother with battery tests dependent on cell radios? There's no way you can control the power of signal to and from the base station(s), making any measurement pretty much useless.
The way to do it is either (a) setup your own cell in a Faraday cage (see below) and measure accordingly or (b) install software on many, many phones that measures battery performance with normal use. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_Cage |
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#3 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 5,257
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Being in NYC. I'm around abundant WiFi hotspots and have mostly had 3G turned off. I have noticed that the WiFi signal is stronger and faster than it was on the original iPhone.
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#4 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 56
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So my question is, should I wait for the 3rd generation of Iphone or splurge now? Will the battery issues, cut, copy and paste, and video recording be in the 3rd generation or will we again get bits and pieces?
Your opinions please!!! |
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#5 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Jamaica
Posts: 65
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#6 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 198
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Quote:
The unsettling fact is apple has yet to deliver on its promises of 5 hours browsing time. btw, why are they comparing 3g and edge on battery life??? Last edited by ros3ntan; 07-16-2008 at 10:55 AM.. |
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#7 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 198
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faster browsing, i choose 3g any day. Cause you can always charge your battery in your car. or at a wall plug. besides, you can always turn the 3g off if you want to save battery. So to be honest, nothing to lose. If you turn it off, you will get edge, which is the same thing as before.
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#8 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,233
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That is disappointing.
Given that EGDE is **not bad at all** for most uses when there are four or more bars, V1 is beginning to look better and better. Perhaps I will hold off for a bit before buying V2. |
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#9 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 198
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yeah, its the plastic instead of aluminum. Although i still prefer the aluminum over the plastic in so many ways.
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#10 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 198
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You can always turn off the 3g network and get the same battery life. Nothing to lose really if you really want to get the new one. the 3g signal is not as good. but if you turn off the 3g, it will revert back to edge and edge signal strength.
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#11 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Quote:
Also, in the case of the other uses -- weather, stocks, email -- the question is whether EDGE significantly outperforms 3G. |
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#12 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Good point. Any tests on length of battery life solely on EDGE with iPhone V2 -- i.e., do we know if it is, indeed, the same.
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#13 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 198
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Right. for small data download such as email, i don't even think that 3g is needed. EDGE works just fine and its fast enough. I think the application loading time takes longer than the download time..
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#14 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 585
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You should wait until the 6th generation model, it will be much better.
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#15 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 1,010
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no, it will be clearly proven that the 5th generation model far outperformed the 6th generation model which also caused infertility in rats after extended TZ usage. Get the 5th gen, your future children will thank you.
:-D * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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#16 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 562
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"Browsing" is mostly the user reading web pages, during which I assume the radio could be off or in a low power mode. I guess I find it odd that browsing would result in shorter battery life than requiring a constant signal to maintain a phone call.
That said, I'm vastly oversimplifying the issues involved. Maybe the difference is in Apple turning the screen off when the phone is by your ear (you can't turn the screen off and read a web page), and the power requirements for 3G have little to do with the posted comparison results. |
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#17 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: .US
Posts: 9,127
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#18 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,395
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I don't get the "unsettling" thing either. 3G simply uses more power than EDGE. Jobs said that when they shipped the first phone without 3G and people complained about the lack of it, and now that 3G is shipping, the battery result is exactly what he said.
All phones need more power for 3G, that's not going to change until there's a breakthrough in 3G technology or in battery technology. I wonder if it would be possible to create technology that switched the phone between the two (or three, including wifi) on the fly depending on use? Like only switch to 3G when the user is browsing pages of a certain size? |
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#19 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Generica
Posts: 63
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it's where as well as how long
The tests talk about browsing; what is "browsing"? Streaming videos from you-tube for 5 hours is way different than reading slashdot for 5 hours. When reading a slashdot type of site, it loads in a couple seconds, and you may read for 10 minutes. So an hour on slashdot (assuming good commentary and articles) is really only say six page loads. an hour on youtube is a lot of bandwidth.
Sheldon |
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#20 | ||
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: The Ansible
Posts: 11,863
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Quote:
2) C&V can come with a software update. 3) Video recording can come via a software update or a 3rd-party app. Quote:
edit: Pipped by Anantksundaram. If you aren't using WiFi you should also turn that off, too. While it's the radio that uses the least amount of power if you are only using EDGE then you don't need it on. Every little bit helps. |
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#21 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 115
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Quote:
If your close to the cell tower your phone will reduce it's transmit power and the further you are from the cell tower the phone will increase it's transmit power. This is all under the control of the cell tower. You never see this, other than your phone getting warmer the further you are from the tower, but if you had a field strength meter you would see your phones signal increasing as you move away from the tower. So if you were sitting under the tower you might get well over 5 hours maybe even 6 or 7. If you were near the fringe of the cell tower coverage area you might only get 3 hours or less. Europe has a much higher density of cell towers than the US so they might see longer battery life on average that the US. |
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#22 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,612
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Quote:
Seriously, what do you expect in something like this? Does it do what you want? If so, buy it. If not, don't. You are the only one here who can answer that. It will never be perfect. |
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#23 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2001
Posts: 151
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EDGE might last 2x as long as 3G - BUT everything takes 3x longer to download ! so surely, overall, the better experience is to be had on the iPhone 3G ?
I'm willing to bet that in 3 hours of browsing a 3G owner will have actually managed to view more web pages than an original EDGE iPhone owner does in 5 or 6 .... |
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#24 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,612
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Quote:
Hope everyone here remembers those who stated quite definitely, that there was NO difference in power usage between EDGE and 3G. That was despite overwhelming evidence that there was. Last edited by melgross; 07-16-2008 at 11:45 AM.. |
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#25 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,612
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Quote:
We're talking about RF. The amplification is the same regardless. The only difference is in the reception. With a stronger signal, you get better reception, with less noise. There is no difference in RF amplification internally. That's fixed by the RF sensitivity. |
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#26 | ||
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: The Ansible
Posts: 11,863
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Quote:
Some examples of issues would arise (which is why i think Apple may not implement it) is if you were on a 2G call and wanted to use Safari to check a movie time. You couldn't do this without first ending the call, going into Safari to establish 3G and then making the call again so you can chat over the films. Another issue is that if you did go into Safari the 2G single would drop and the 3G would start to initiate. This can take several seconds. If you are just checking a website for a couple seconds before getting back out then this would be a pain, but if you are like me and will spend 10-30 minutes in Safari it would be a nice feature. The last time of issue would be the lack of disconnect going from an app running as 3G and then taking a call. If you are in Safari and a call comes in that you take the 3G connection would have to be maintained for that call. While these issues may deter many I would like to have to the option and hope a savvy coders an make it happen. PS: I'd also like 3G on/off switch in settings above Airplane Mode. Having to go through 3 screens to keeping toggling 3G is a pain. Quote:
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#27 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,612
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Quote:
Just as with the internet on our computers, the faster we go, the more we do. Our browsing time does not go down, we do more of it, and spend the same amount of time online. The same will be true of iPhone use. |
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#28 |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 52
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Third party or Apple's heavy duty battery on the way?
According to iFixit, the battery (Apple part #616-0372) on iPhone 3G is not soldered as in the first gen iPhone. Could we expect third party or Apple's own heavy duty battery pack?
This page also listed the battery as 1150 mAh unlike the original 1440 mAh. Maybe someone more informed with battery information can help to dig up more info? |
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#29 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 3,233
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Quote:
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#30 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Southern Paradise
Posts: 4,647
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Quote:
Ten years ago, none of this was really possible, so we have come a long way, yet people still expect more.
Teacher: "What state do you live in?"
Calvin: "Denial." |
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#31 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,612
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Quote:
Of course, Apple doesn't always use the most powerful technology because of reliability (fires, remember), so third party battery suppliers have been selling batteries with higher current density for iPods for years. That's possible here as well. It's not clear in any of the takedowns I've seen so far whether those screws are the only thing to do to open the case. If so, it's fairly easy (but be careful!). If not, then it's a different story. |
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#32 | |
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Global Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: NYC
Posts: 19,612
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Quote:
But then, they will expect more, and so the cycle continues. |
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#33 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 585
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Quote:
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#34 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 585
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Quote:
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#35 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 18
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Quote:
Cut and paste and video recording should just be a matter of a software upgrade. |
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#36 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 585
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Quote:
Having two RF paths might not work either since the phone systems might have a problem the phone appearing twice on the network on two different bands. It would probably need a change in the GSM standard, which means no backward compatibility which means you're back to square one. |
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#37 | ||
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: The Ansible
Posts: 11,863
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Quote:
Quote:
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#38 |
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 24
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I find the edge network herein NYC to be almost non existent and that the ATT services are abysmal compared to Verizon.
I almost was never without coverage anywhere that I went and rarely did I run out of battery power. This phone is a HUGE disappointment after waiting all these months. |
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#39 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: The Ansible
Posts: 11,863
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Quote:
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#40 | |
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 6,172
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Quote:
1.)It will have a better camera. 2.) It should have a swappable battery. 3.)It will be half the price. ![]() |
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