Google Android

[Jimmy]

Unlocking by picking and by nor picking, its all a matter of preference I guess. Some phones like Moto have Moto Display which show notifications and messages just with a simple nudge, thus removing the need to pick up the device. As for Xperia X, the scanner on the lock screen isn't bad. Its not even an uncommon place to tap on. Talking of scanners at the back, the circular chamfered version on Redmi devices are the best and responsive compared to anything else I've seen.

[Crokey]

Anyone got any thoughts and opinions on phone by Cubot, specifically the Cubot P12 (Link to a review here). I've not really heard of them, and I don't know it anyone else has.

 

I'm just looking for a cheap phone that p*ss easy to use, for someone who is a total n00b (not me, I'm alright with my S7) when it comes to phones, but is relatively up to date so it lasts for some time.

[DEALUX]

It's crazy the kind of stuff you can get nowadays for under $100. It looks like an OK phone but don't expect the build quality to be that good (for one thing, it doesn't have Gorilla Glass so it might shatter if you drop it).

[Jimmy]

It's crazy the kind of stuff you can get nowadays for under $100. It looks like an OK phone but don't expect the build quality to be that good (for one thing, it doesn't have Gorilla Glass so it might shatter if you drop it).

You could always opt for a decent Motorola device under $100 and still get a Gorilla Glass. They come with stock android and are relatively good option compared to Samsung or any other devices in the segment.

[DEALUX]

Or get the G4 which is about $150 or less but the build quality is much better. Still, even if you go for a no name Chinese brand, if you're spending that kind of money it's not a huge loss if the phone breaks and you can't get another one.

[Jimmy]

Or get the G4 which is about $150 or less but the build quality is much better. Still, even if you go for a no name Chinese brand, if you're spending that kind of money it's not a huge loss if the phone breaks and you can't get another one.

The Moto G4 Play? Well, that's the one I've for my primary phone right now. I'd prefer it over the likes of Redmi, Huawei Honor or Coolpad any day. I've been using it for 4 months and still no issues. Don't think it'll break anytime soon. I kept my previous Moto Phone (Moto E) for 2 years before getting rid of it.

[ｘ]

Got a new phone to dick around with

 

[DEALUX]

Looks cool but that launcher looks like crap I think. How big is the screen? It seems kinda large and I like that.

[Shaytan]

It the Xiaomi Mi Mix, the "borderless" smartphone that is also made of ceramic. I don't think that's the home menu though, rather the camera.

 

It's pretty cool, a shame it's from a Chinese company.

[DEALUX]

6.4"? Damn. I kinda want one. The resolution/aspect ratio is weird though.

 

Price is kinda meh.

[Shaytan]

The resolution/aspect ratio is weird though.

Due to that, when playing videos from YouTube and such, it'll always have those back borders on sides and so not really offer that cool almost borderless view. Quite a shame though.

 

Exqlusive, it's worth to keep in mind you should keep it well protected to avoid any drops, as the results can be rather... disastrous.

[turbocharger]

I've recently upgraded from HTC M7 to HTC 10, and I love it. Brutally quick and responsive. The audio is great although I miss the front facing speakers. Came with fantastic headphones, the best ones I've ever had (M7 came with Beats headphones and they were awesome too, but died pretty quickly). The front looks beautiful tho I don't fancy the back so much.

While choosing, I was thinking about S7, S7 Edge, iPhone 7 or 10. I avoided Samsung phones thanks to their idiotic all-around-glass design, as it cracks so easily. They're too expensive to risk it, so I avoided them, although the camera is great and switching from HTC wouldn't have been bad, as I had been using the M7 for three years. I also wanted to see what's all the fuss about Gear VR too, but eh, better luck next time, Samsung. iPhone got eliminated because it doesn't have 3.5mm jack, so when you're charging it you can't use the headphones at the same time. And the wireless ones are way too expensive. Also dislike the iOS and the troubles transferring media to and from Windows PC via the sh*tty iTunes. So HTC 10 was my way to go. The only thing that could be better about it is the camera, as it's still two steps behind the competition to be honest (why don't they dump the stupid UltraPixel already? It's complete garbage), but still beats the sh*tty pink-purple tinted camera on M7. That frustrated me so much and I was forced to use my front camera as primary almost all the time. The quick charging on 10 also astounded me, the battery drains slow and charges rapidly, 50% in 30 minutes or so, that's a huge step forward. It is robust overall with its metal body, so you don't have to die a little every time you drop your phone (not that I've ever dropped it, yet at least), so it's a mighty device perfect for everyday use. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a new Android phone. I may be an HTC fan, but it really is a seriously underrated flagship.

Edited February 21, 2017 by turbocharger

[DEALUX]

 

Full LTE signal all the time. I wish I had this kind of reception at home. 16 GB of traffic for 10 euros isn't bad either. At least we have cheap internet here.

[Jimmy]

 

 

 

Full LTE signal all the time. I wish I had this kind of reception at home. 16 GB of traffic for 10 euros isn't bad either. At least we have cheap internet here.

That's really nice. Do you get HD Calling for any cheap packages or VOLTE (Voice Over LTE) features as well?

 

Also, I'm fairly certain that we can expect a few manufacturers to launch a few products (below) at the MWC this year.

• LG G6
• LG X power2 Smartwatch
• Nokia 6 Global Availability
• Nokia 5
• A new Nokia 3310
• Galaxy S8 & S8+
• Galaxy Tab S3
• Galaxy Xcover4
• Huawei P10
• Blackberry DTEK70
• Xperia's New Flagship
• Moto G5 & G5+

[Not A Nice Person]

Got a new phone to dick around with

 

What launcher do you use?

[Nick1020]

Not really android related but I finally switched to Apple after 2 years with my Note 4. I would of kept it if the battery life didn't suck. It had pretty good battery life when I first got it but every update it got worse. Factory reset seems to resolve it but it shouldn't be to that point. Maybe when I get a proper job I'll pay my iPhone off and get the next note. But for now I'm loving this new iPhone.

[DEALUX]

 

 

 

 

Full LTE signal all the time. I wish I had this kind of reception at home. 16 GB of traffic for 10 euros isn't bad either. At least we have cheap internet here.

That's really nice. Do you get HD Calling for any cheap packages or VOLTE (Voice Over LTE) features as well?

 

Well, for starters it's not a subscription. You just buy a SIM card and put as much credit on it as you want. This method is much cheaper for some reason as opposed to a subscription from the same carrier (for a 16 GB subscription and all the other unlimited stuff I would likely have to pay at least three or four times more). There is a cheaper alternative, a subscription from another carrier that costs about 5 euros (actually slightly less) and you get unlimited everything, including Internet, but it is 10 GB of bandwidth for 3G speeds and 50 GB for 4G and if you go past these limits the speeds go really really low. The problem is that I don't actually know where they have 4G coverage but none of the carriers seem to have it in my area either way.

 

I don't think we have any of those feature here yet. I noticed that the phone switches to EDGE or HSPA+ when I make a call.

[Not A Nice Person]

Not really android related but I finally switched to Apple after 2 years with my Note 4. I would of kept it if the battery life didn't suck. It had pretty good battery life when I first got it but every update it got worse. Factory reset seems to resolve it but it shouldn't be to that point. Maybe when I get a proper job I'll pay my iPhone off and get the next note. But for now I'm loving this new iPhone.

Enjoy the new phone, iOS has its pros (airdrop for example yum) but Samsung won't be making new Notes most likely.

[Flachbau]

Nick, you do know the Note 4 has a removable battery, right? I'm sure you could have tried out a newer battery from maybe Anker, ZeroLemon, PowerBear, etc. I'll most likely try buying one soon since my own battery is kinda on the verge of it's last breath. Hope you're enjoying the new iPhone, though.

[Shaytan]

@Mion: dunno if it's just me that's not understanding the question since you're the second person asking for his Xiaomi's launcher, but I'm pretty sure that's just the camera app.

 

Nick, you do know the Note 4 has a removable battery, right? I'm sure you could have tried out a newer battery from maybe Anker, ZeroLemon, PowerBear, etc. I'll most likely try buying one soon since my own battery is kinda on the verge of it's last breath. Hope you're enjoying the new iPhone, though.

If he considered switching to an iPhone, I'd say he's not that much into tech to consider that...

[Not A Nice Person]

@Mion: dunno if it's just me that's not understanding the question since you're the second person asking for his Xiaomi's launcher, but I'm pretty sure that's just the camera app.

The first image isn't the camera app.

[Nick1020]

If he considered switching to an iPhone, I'd say he's not that much into tech to consider that...

Just because I switched to iOS doesn't mean I'm not into tech. I'm just not feeling it with android phones. Didn't want the s6 or s7 simply because it didn't have a removable battery and felt they were no different than my Note. And I couldn't get into LG or HTC either, which are pretty good phones too.

[Shaytan]

 

If he considered switching to an iPhone, I'd say he's not that much into tech to consider that...

Just because I switched to iOS doesn't mean I'm not into tech. I'm just not feeling it with android phones. Didn't want the s6 or s7 simply because it didn't have a removable battery and felt they were no different than my Note. And I couldn't get into LG or HTC either, which are pretty good phones too.

 

So you didn't want those Samsung devices you mentioned for the said reason of not having a detachable battery, so you get an iPhone instead that doesn't either? Well, maybe after all the reason you were tired of Android was because you've been using CrapWiz TouchWiz (this coming from a Samsung user), because I think your previous phone still had a lot to give with a nice root (I don't think the battery was even damaged, just poorly optimized Samsung OS).

 

Anyways, don't take me wrong, I'm not mocking you or anything, there's plenty of choice in the market for some reason. I just think deep down the battery issue wasn't the reason you moved in but more an "excuse" to do so because you simply wanted to - and I said that because that battery argument totally didn't went down my troat.

[Nick1020]

 

 

If he considered switching to an iPhone, I'd say he's not that much into tech to consider that...

Just because I switched to iOS doesn't mean I'm not into tech. I'm just not feeling it with android phones. Didn't want the s6 or s7 simply because it didn't have a removable battery and felt they were no different than my Note. And I couldn't get into LG or HTC either, which are pretty good phones too.

So you didn't want those Samsung devices you mentioned for the said reason of not having a detachable battery, so you get an iPhone instead that doesn't either? Well, maybe after all the reason you were tired of Android was because you've been using CrapWiz TouchWiz (this coming from a Samsung user), because I think your previous phone still had a lot to give with a nice root (I don't think the battery was even damaged, just poorly optimized Samsung OS).

 

Anyways, don't take me wrong, I'm not mocking you or anything, there's plenty of choice in the market for some reason. I just think deep down the battery issue wasn't the reason you moved in but more an "excuse" to do so because you simply wanted to - and I said that because that battery argument totally didn't went down my troat.

I've should of been more specific. You're partially right about me wanting to get one, but I really was annoyed with the short battery life or rather TouchWiz since you brought it up with all the bugs and lag. I used to be a big Samsung fanboy along with my dad. Now idk. I feel as though they're losing their touch. The same with LG, HTC and Google. But that's just me though and I don't blame ya for being skeptical. Edited February 27, 2017 by Nick1020

[DEALUX]

should of

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=should%20of

 

I've should of been more specific. You're partially right about me wanting to get one, but I really was annoyed with the short battery life or rather TouchWiz since you brought it up with all the bugs and lag. I used to be a big Samsung fanboy along with my dad. Now idk. I feel as though they're losing their touch. The same with LG, HTC and Google. But that's just me though and I don't blame ya for being skeptical.

Uh what? Google phones are as pure of an Android experience as you can get. You either like the OS or you don't. Personally I think it's great. The platform is better because you have more choices and you can actually control it (e.g. custom ROMs).

[Shaytan]

My experience with Samsung atm kinda has some good things and some awful ones. Every single smartphone I've owned to this day was a Samsung, not because I was a fanboy but because it was always the one that offered the best features for the price - and I always go for 150-200 Euro devices as I don't think it's worth for me to buy an high end one neither I want to consider Chinese devices (security reasons).

 

I can tell I'm pretty happy with my current one since hardware-wise it's great value, but in terms of sofware, the money I've spent becomes clear. I hate the fact Samsung always cheaps out in terms of OS versions and it's 5.1 was already outdated when it was brand new. About TouchWiz, I try to get rid of it as much as I can with custom launchers, but I have to say it never worked for me so well and both Samsung's Smart Manager and power saving mode are actually good features that make it bearable. Still, in the end of the day I only haven't flashed a ROM on it yet because a decent one is yet to come for it.

 

I think your only problem is exacly being a "fanboy", although I understand it was family influence in some way. You've believed Samsung was the best for so long you neglected everything else, and nw you realize all it's bad things so instead you move into it's competitor, acording to casual user's view. You would've done better searching a bit more before changing drastically your device because, as I've pointed out, it doesn't feature what you were looking for (removable battery) and you'd most likely would've been able to get a "vanilla" Android rom for your old Samsung and give it a clear boost - long story short, you've believed Samsung was great for so long when you realized it isn't really like that you've blamed Android instead, as far as I understand.

[Not A Nice Person]

It's literally preference, it's not a big enough deal you need to write an essay js.

[Shaytan]

Most things in life are a matter of preference, yet people like to expose their vision of them and exactly why they prefer one over the other.

 

Others' justified opinions already helped me decide my own, so I try to be helpful to others as well. You're not obligated to read my "essay", though.

[Jimmy]

It seems like Google Assistant is slowly being rolled to all devices now. That's a good improvement over Google Now. Can't wait for the Global Version of the update. It's being done though a Google Play Services update.

[Shaytan]

My sister's Nvidia Shield K1 already got it and yesterday she already had some fun playing arround with it. According to Google, most devices with Android 6 or 7, at least 1,5Gb of RAM and an HD screen at compatible with it, those who haven't received it yet should be just a matter of waiting.