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finding a phone that is not huge and decently spec'd

This is another one of those which phone questions.
Situation is I need to buy a new phone in the next few weeks for my Europe trip. I want good battery life, a decent gps and it should be comfortable to hold in my hand. Other than those criteria I just want decent responsiveness and good ROM support. I've seen the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S3, HTC One X in the shop, they are horribly big. The GPS is important because I want to do sports tracking, it needs to be accurate even when there are few cell towers around. My galaxy S certainly had a few problems and I'm not really a Samsung fan after owning it.
So far this is what I see. I may be wrong on some of these points, but none of these phones really suit me.
HTC One S
Has GLONASS and GPS, Snapdragon S4 (28nm) if I can find the right model
4.3", good enough I guess
Pretty good battery life
Camera seems good (f-stop 2.0)
but..
Jelly Bean support months away?
No hardware home button
No SD card slot
Have to waste time hunting down the S4 model, as I don't want an old S3 chipped phone.
HTC One V
Cheap!
Good Camera
but...
No dual core
No GLONASS
only 512MB ram
It's hardly an upgrade from the galaxy S besides the better GPS
Galaxy Nexus
Good ROM support
Cheap
but....
Camera is not great
No hardware home button or SD card slot
It's big(ish)
Galaxy S3
Has SD card slot
GLONASS + GPS
Quad Core
Jelly Bean confirmed
but...
It's samsung so the GPS antenna is probably ****
It's HUGE
battery life probably not great?
iPhone4s
Apparently android manufacturers are incapable of making phones that are not huge. Put up with iTunes and but have a phone with a decent GPS, cemera and physical size. I think this is actually a better option than the Galaxy S3 to be honest.

keyo said:
This is another one of those which phone questions.
Situation is I need to buy a new phone in the next few weeks for my Europe trip. I want good battery life, a decent gps and it should be comfortable to hold in my hand. Other than those criteria I just want decent responsiveness and good ROM support. I've seen the Galaxy Nexus and Galaxy S3, HTC One X in the shop, they are horribly big. The GPS is important because I want to do sports tracking, it needs to be accurate even when there are few cell towers around. My galaxy S certainly had a few problems and I'm not really a Samsung fan after owning it.
So far this is what I see. I may be wrong on some of these points, but none of these phones really suit me.
HTC One S
Has GLONASS and GPS, Snapdragon S4 (28nm) if I can find the right model
4.3", good enough I guess
Pretty good battery life
Camera seems good (f-stop 2.0)
but..
Jelly Bean support months away?
No hardware home button
No SD card slot
Have to waste time hunting down the S4 model, as I don't want an old S3 chipped phone.
HTC One V
Cheap!
Good Camera
but...
No dual core
No GLONASS
only 512MB ram
It's hardly an upgrade from the galaxy S besides the better GPS
Galaxy Nexus
Good ROM support
Cheap
but....
Camera is not great
No hardware home button or SD card slot
It's big(ish)
Galaxy S3
Has SD card slot
GLONASS + GPS
Quad Core
Jelly Bean confirmed
but...
It's samsung so the GPS antenna is probably ****
It's HUGE
battery life probably not great?
iPhone4s
Apparently android manufacturers are incapable of making phones that are not huge. Put up with iTunes and but have a phone with a decent GPS, cemera and physical size. I think this is actually a better option than the Galaxy S3 to be honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I myself own a Galaxy Note, which is the biggest on the market, and LOVE the huge screen, infact my only problem with the phone is now every other phone feels like some tiny kids toy.
Really you will not get any better than the S3 and you will get used to the biggest screen (my phone before the note was a desire s which was only 3.7") I would really recommend the S3 you will not be disappointed!
I never had problems with GPS on my note, and the battery life is great as the yes much bigger screen but also much more space for a larger batter so it balances out

keyo said:
Apparently android manufacturers are incapable of making phones that are not huge. Put up with iTunes and but have a phone with a decent GPS, cemera and physical size. I think this is actually a better option than the Galaxy S3 to be honest.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is driving me crazy as well. The point of a phone is to be portable, something small I can put in my pocket and hold comfortably in one hand. 4-4.3" is the sweet spot, anything larger is just to darn big. On Verizon the only phone I've seen recently that looks decent with a normal sized screen is the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE with a 4" qHD screen and an S4. Of course you probably want something thats GSM for Europe.
Everybody seems to be giving it bad reviews for its screen size, but I think its a selling point. I'm holding out to see if a normal sized Nexus device comes out, or at least something from Samsung.
The Droid Incredible 4G LTE is in the middle next to the iPhone left and Galaxy Nexus right.
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GNexus has the best support on xda.

The photo above shows it pretty clearly, the nexus is unfortunately oversized. I'm quite keen on the htc one S, despite it's few flaws it seems to be the most well-rounded. I just don't know if I can rely on it getting updates? I'm not so sure on the motorola, I'm buying from either New Zealand or Europe so these american models are not familiar to me.
Google will no doubt come out with another huge phone this year to rival the nexus. This is quite frustrating, remember the big brick phones from the 90's, I don't want that. Apple, while being a assholes, seem to be making pocket friendly hardware at least.

Maybe the atrix? Great specs but the rom support is slow, down to the fact we still haven't got ics from motorola, but we have a stable ics rom which lacks video capture and a few minor things
And its perfectly sized in my opinion
Sent from my MB860 using xda app-developers app

The gnex's 4.65 inch measurement is a little misleading. That's including the on screen buttons so in reality it is more like 4.3 inches. I came from a Droid incredible which was 3.7 and I would never go back to that size. The nexus size is perfect. No problems fitting in pockets.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

keyo said:
..I'm quite keen on the htc one S..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I LOVE my One S. The only thing that bugged me was no hardware menu button. Fixed that with a mod (remap recent apps to menu, and long press home to access it), and all is well.
I have the Gradient Blue model, so I can't give any feedback on the black model's micro arc oxidation issue.
Sent from my HTC VLE_U using Tapatalk 2

The iPhone's screen is perfect in size... if you want to strain your eyes. My D2 has just a slightly larger screen and it is in no way sufficient. To each his own though. I'd think being able to view websites without having to pinch to zoom all the time would be nice.
If you want something smaller but that's good all-around I'd look at the Xperia U. If you can deal with something a little larger I'd look at the HTC Rezound, the Xperia P or Ion, or the Nexus.

So the HTC One S seems good, as long as it will be getting jelly bean, at least a community one?
Xperia phones are nice too, a little cheaper and perhaps let down by the camera a little. But well worth considering, thanks for the suggestion.
Something interesting I discovered here is the motion blur. GSMArena has a video comparison page. The HTC phone is quite bad, compared with The galaxy S models. Anyone know why this is? More quality means more blur? I recorded a game of table tennis with my galaxy S and it was very good quality in terms of seeing the ball. I have my doubts that the HTC One S would be able to do the same.
Could I expect less motion blur if I switched to 720p?
http://www.gsmarena.com/vidcmp.php3?idType=2&idPhone1=4574&idPhone3=3621&idCamera2=30001

Phablet Wars! Which phone do you like better? Galaxy Note 3 vs The rest. Check it out

First I will explain my story: I went from owning the SGS 1, then SGS 2 and then I bought a Droid DNA for something different, but someone stole it. Luckily a friend sold me an SGS 3 for very cheap. By the time I played around with the SGS 3, I realised why I was getting bored of Samsung to begin with. It's because of the screen. Yes it looks sharp and clear but the amoled screen was so fake and forced with saturation which my Droid DNA wasn't suffering from. Not to mention the SGS 3 seemed exactly the same as my SGS 2 only a different shape and size. It was quite frankly boring!
After my insurance company replaced my Droid DNA I could no longer use the SGS 3 because of these facts. I continued to use the Droid DNA for the following months and I can not fault it besides the screen being too small for me now, I have simply outgrown it. I have since sold all of my phones including the DNA to purchase a new phone. I automatically wanted the Note 3 because of the size and hardware and well known projected development but my main questions are:
Is the screen on the Galaxy Note 3 improved with life like colours in comparison to the SGS 3?
Is the camera going to be good enough without OIS?
If you want to know my other choices and reasons why I am considering them please look below. (Was going to include Sony Xperia Z Ultra but the camera has no flash and is only 8mp and the size form factor is too much for me)
My first choice (hoping the screen doesn't put me off)
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Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Pros:
Biggest screen in a small chassis in comparison to any other phablet
Stylus might come in handy but I have never used one before
Has the best internals out of the competition Snapdragon 800/Adreno 330
Development support is massive for Samsung!
Massive battery
4K recording on specific model I am interested in
More RAM
Cons:
Amoled screens have always seemed boring to look at to me and everything seems fake, almost like a cartoon. I need to use the GN3 in person before I can be sure. They might have made it better than the SGS 3? - This is the main reason I am concerned about - My Droid DNA felt so lifelike and easy to look at)
Camera has no OIS (and apparently the auto focus is slow according to some reviews)
My second choice
Acer Liquid S2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
6" display
Same internals as Note 3
Same battery capacity as Note 3
Highest contrast amongst my choices?
Better Front Camera than the other choices
LED Ring Flash (4 leds)
Cons:
Bigger than Note 3 and not sure if it is worth it for the size increase of the screen (TOUGH DECISION)
Has a slower clock speed at 2.2 instead of 2.3 in other Snapdragon 800 phones
If it is not a lot cheaper than it will make me lean towards the Note 3
Reflective screen might cancel out contrast levels outdoors
Not sure what development will be like?
My third choice (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
Oppo N1
Pros:
Rotating 6 lens camera with F/2.0 Aperture
First Cyanogen Mod Integrated Phone
Duel LED Flash
Biggest battery of all of my choices
Back of the phone has a touch panel which I bet will become very customisable
Aluminium
Some images make it look like the phone is waterproof?
Cons:
Phone might be tooooo big
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My third choice tied (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
HTC One Max ( Some specs might still be unconfirmed)
Pros:
Screen might appeal to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Larger screen
Camera has OIS and might be great. (The HTC One camera didn't impress me too much however)
External surround speakers
Development has really started picking back up with HTC
Cons:
Physical size must be big considering the speaker layout and camera
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
Another tied third choice (Price is so cheap it might make do)
LG Optimus G Pro (Was also looking at Note 2 but this trumps it in every way besides stylus/software which I am still unsure if I will use often enough and of course I prefer a non amoled screen)
Pros:
This phone is literally half the price as the note 3 costing me $450 vs $850 for the Note 3 (This phone might keep me going until a newer phone entices me and for half the price it is tempting)
Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Great sized screen
Big battery
Camera is better than average
The development is not tooooo bad
Cons:
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My fourth choice (most disappointing because screen is probably not going to be big enough!! but I love all of the other features. If this phone was 5.5" I would be getting it over anything else! I am so annoyed it has on screen keys and a smaller screen! - It's why I sold my Nexus 4 so quickly)
LG G2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Large battery for a small phone (not as good as the note 3 but the life should be close to the same as it has a smaller screen to power)
The phone is cheaper to buy outright by $200 dollars in my country in comparison to the note 3
Camera is outstanding - 4K record might be possible with firmware update - f/2.4 aperture and OIS has proven to take better images and video with the right settings in comparison to my other phone choices
Internals are the same as Note 3
Cons:
Screen is only a little step up in quality and size from my Droid DNA (especially if I choose to keep on screen keys active)
LG usually have little development support compared to Samsung
The button placement at the back makes the phone look weird and maybe awkward. I thought it was a camera lens cover when I first saw it
At the end of the day if the Note 3 didn't have an amoled screen and did have OIS I wouldn't be looking at other phones at all. Even if it just had a different screen it would probably lock me in to buying it. That goes the same for the LG G2 if it had a larger screen! To make a definitive decision, I need to use all of these phones in person but because I live in Australia, most of these phones aren't available to me. Makes it very hard to make a decision! I need to look at the Galaxy Note 3 screen and see if I can deal with the amoled, if I can I will buy it. It is released in Australia in 3 days for me to check out.
If I don't like the Note 3 screen, I will need to handle the Oppo, Acer and HTC One Max to see if I am comfortable with the size of them. If I am then I will buy whichever one I like better, the problem is these phone will probably not come to Australia anytime soon, if at all for me to test them so I can only go by user opinion!
If I am not completely happy with the Acer/HTC/Oppo size I will end up buying the LG Optimus G Pro for so much cheaper than the others and I will then look to replace it when I am happy with another phone even if the phone is lower spec, it has decent development and an upgraded screen size and quality over my DNA.
I also need to see the LG G2 in person to judge the screen size for myself, again the phone is not available in my country until November! and I will want to make a decision by then

Note 3 Ftw!
Sent from my SM-N900K using Tapatalk 2

Come on brotha, your posting in a Note 3 thread. That'd be like me going to a Republican rally and asking which is better: Republicans, Democrats, or the Green Party? lol

uppon2 said:
First I will explain my story: I went from owning the SGS 1, then SGS 2 and then I bought a Droid DNA for something different, but someone stole it. Luckily a friend sold me an SGS 3 for very cheap. By the time I played around with the SGS 3, I realised why I was getting bored of Samsung to begin with. It's because of the screen. Yes it looks sharp and clear but the amoled screen was so fake and forced with saturation which my Droid DNA wasn't suffering from. Not to mention the SGS 3 seemed exactly the same as my SGS 2 only a different shape and size. It was quite frankly boring!
After my insurance company replaced my Droid DNA I could no longer use the SGS 3 because of these facts. I continued to use the Droid DNA for the following months and I can not fault it besides the screen being too small for me now, I have simply outgrown it. I have since sold all of my phones including the DNA to purchase a new phone. I automatically wanted the Note 3 because of the size and hardware and well known projected development but my main questions are:
Is the screen on the Galaxy Note 3 improved with life like colours in comparison to the SGS 3?
Is the camera going to be good enough without OIS?
If you want to know my other choices and reasons why I am considering them please look below. (Was going to include Sony Xperia Z Ultra but the camera has no flash and is only 8mp and the size form factor is too much for me)
My first choice (hoping the screen doesn't put me off)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Pros:
Biggest screen in a small chassis in comparison to any other phablet
Stylus might come in handy but I have never used one before
Has the best internals out of the competition Snapdragon 800/Adreno 330
Development support is massive for Samsung!
Massive battery
4K recording on specific model I am interested in
More RAM
Cons:
Amoled screens have always seemed boring to look at to me and everything seems fake, almost like a cartoon. I need to use the GN3 in person before I can be sure. They might have made it better than the SGS 3? - This is the main reason I am concerned about - My Droid DNA felt so lifelike and easy to look at)
Camera has no OIS (and apparently the auto focus is slow according to some reviews)
My second choice
Acer Liquid S2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
6" display
Same internals as Note 3
Same battery capacity as Note 3
Highest contrast amongst my choices?
Better Front Camera than the other choices
LED Ring Flash (4 leds)
Cons:
Bigger than Note 3 and not sure if it is worth it for the size increase of the screen (TOUGH DECISION)
Has a slower clock speed at 2.2 instead of 2.3 in other Snapdragon 800 phones
If it is not a lot cheaper than it will make me lean towards the Note 3
Reflective screen might cancel out contrast levels outdoors
Not sure what development will be like?
My third choice (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
Oppo N1
Pros:
Rotating 6 lens camera with F/2.0 Aperture
First Cyanogen Mod Integrated Phone
Duel LED Flash
Biggest battery of all of my choices
Back of the phone has a touch panel which I bet will become very customisable
Aluminium
Some images make it look like the phone is waterproof?
Cons:
Phone might be tooooo big
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My third choice tied (more information on release might push me to buy this phone)
HTC One Max ( Some specs might still be unconfirmed)
Pros:
Screen might appeal to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Larger screen
Camera has OIS and might be great. (The HTC One camera didn't impress me too much however)
External surround speakers
Development has really started picking back up with HTC
Cons:
Physical size must be big considering the speaker layout and camera
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
Another tied third choice (Price is so cheap it might make do)
LG Optimus G Pro (Was also looking at Note 2 but this trumps it in every way besides stylus/software which I am still unsure if I will use often enough and of course I prefer a non amoled screen)
Pros:
This phone is literally half the price as the note 3 costing me $450 vs $850 for the Note 3 (This phone might keep me going until a newer phone entices me and for half the price it is tempting)
Dolby mobile sound enhancement
Great sized screen
Big battery
Camera is better than average
The development is not tooooo bad
Cons:
last generation internals Snapdragon 600/Adreno 320
My fourth choice (most disappointing because screen is probably not going to be big enough!! but I love all of the other features. If this phone was 5.5" I would be getting it over anything else! I am so annoyed it has on screen keys and a smaller screen! - It's why I sold my Nexus 4 so quickly)
LG G2
Pros:
Screen appeals to me more as it is not amoled like the Note 3
Large battery for a small phone (not as good as the note 3 but the life should be close to the same as it has a smaller screen to power)
The phone is cheaper to buy outright by $200 dollars in my country in comparison to the note 3
Camera is outstanding - 4K record might be possible with firmware update - f/2.4 aperture and OIS has proven to take better images and video with the right settings in comparison to my other phone choices
Internals are the same as Note 3
Cons:
Screen is only a little step up in quality and size from my Droid DNA (especially if I choose to keep on screen keys active)
LG usually have little development support compared to Samsung
The button placement at the back makes the phone look weird and maybe awkward. I thought it was a camera lens cover when I first saw it
At the end of the day if the Note 3 didn't have an amoled screen and did have OIS I wouldn't be looking at other phones at all. Even if it just had a different screen it would probably lock me in to buying it. That goes the same for the LG G2 if it had a larger screen! To make a definitive decision, I need to use all of these phones in person but because I live in Australia, most of these phones aren't available to me. Makes it very hard to make a decision! I need to look at the Galaxy Note 3 screen and see if I can deal with the amoled, if I can I will buy it. It is released in Australia in 3 days for me to check out.
If I don't like the Note 3 screen, I will need to handle the Oppo, Acer and HTC One Max to see if I am comfortable with the size of them. If I am then I will buy whichever one I like better, the problem is these phone will probably not come to Australia anytime soon, if at all for me to test them so I can only go by user opinion!
If I am not completely happy with the Acer/HTC/Oppo size I will end up buying the LG Optimus G Pro for so much cheaper than the others and I will then look to replace it when I am happy with another phone even if the phone is lower spec, it has decent development and an upgraded screen size and quality over my DNA.
I also need to see the LG G2 in person to judge the screen size for myself, again the phone is not available in my country until November! and I will want to make a decision by then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol, well at least you did your research I am a former amoled hater, I returned my galaxy nexus because of the crappy colors and green tint, so I understand your concerns. In seeing friends gs3 vs gs4 the screen is much improved and I find the colors more realistic, the colors on LCD being super saturated, and the blacks are miles better. I then played with a gnote2 for a few days before deciding if I wanted the 3 and the answer was a resounding yes, the screen was fantastic

Best way is like you said, to just wait until it reaches your country and you can see it in person. Amoled displays have vibrant over saturated colors, better viewing angles, better battery efficiency than LCDs, and better blacks. LCDs have better whites, better brightness and viewing eligibility under the sun, more realistic colors. See which benefits you like the most and get the phone with the corresponding screen.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I bought the Note 3 for its unparalleled stylus integration. (and screen size/beast-mode specs) It has no competition at this point in time (Although a few competitors are in the works).
FWIW, I think the Note 3's screen is gorgeous.

When you posted it here, you should have known the answer is skewed.
If Note 3 did not have so much restriction, it should have been my choice.

mingkee said:
When you posted it here, you should have known the answer is skewed.
If Note 3 did not have so much restriction, it should have been my choice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not arguing, but what restriction?

Change the screen mode in settings to Natural and if it's still not to your liking try Movie. By default it's on Standard and can even be increased with Dynamic. Changing the saturation has been present in settings since the GS2, idk how people miss that one option that could end their complains. If that doesn't do it for you then the Galaxy line might not be for you.
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app

MohJee said:
Best way is like you said, to just wait until it reaches your country and you can see it in person. Amoled displays have vibrant over saturated colors, better viewing angles, better battery efficiency than LCDs, and better blacks. LCDs have better whites, better brightness and viewing eligibility under the sun, more realistic colors. See which benefits you like the most and get the phone with the corresponding screen.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Doesn't anybody use the movie mode or adobe rgb mode? Looks great in either mode. The galaxy series are on dynamic mode out of the box. Similar to how TV manufacturers and resellers put display TV's in this mode to stand out.

MohJee said:
Best way is like you said, to just wait until it reaches your country and you can see it in person. Amoled displays have vibrant over saturated colors, better viewing angles, better battery efficiency than LCDs, and better blacks. LCDs have better whites, better brightness and viewing eligibility under the sun, more realistic colors. See which benefits you like the most and get the phone with the corresponding screen.
Sent from my SM-N9005 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is all personal taste, of course, but I find LCD screens more over saturated, and the sun viewing thing is overstated, while technically true, the reflections off the glass of all these screens makes it mostly mute. I've used my iPhone, iPad, friends galaxy devices, they all ultimately stink in direct sun

Thanks for the replies guys. I posted this here because amongst bias choices, people will still give me answers I want to hear. A lot of people buy the Note series for the stylus and software features alone, where these features are simply bonuses that I might use and not even close to the reason I want a large screen device!

If it wasn't for my need of the digitizer pen for documents there are a lot of strong contenders like LG G2 (especially the price <$200), Sony Z1, etc.

mi7chy said:
If it wasn't for my need of the stylus for documents there are a lot of strong contenders like LG G2 (especially the price <$200), Sony Z1, etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is my point exactly. People can usually see the benefit of a stylus and that might play a huge roll in choosing the device! As this is not my primary concern I would choose the Z1 if it had a larger screen or The LG G2 if it had solid AOSP support; I guess I could make do with hiding the soft keys

I think this thread is a bit premature at the moment as there's too many unknowns about some of the other devices, the Acer looks potentially interesting but whether it's going to be worth considering will depend a lot on the price and how well it works in practice.
John

I have yet to see a note 3 in the flesh but colour rendition in the s4 is better than in the s3 so it may be an indicator of what to expect.
Sent from my GT-N7100

vtjay said:
Not arguing, but what restriction?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Knox (prevent rooting)
Regional SIM locking (this is a major issue for travelers)

Regional sim locking won't effect anyone. It's only meant to prevent people from purchasing phones out of their region.
sgh-TWEAKED-889©

It won't affect people who travel to other countries?

Warrior1975 said:
Regional sim locking won't effect anyone. It's only meant to prevent people from purchasing phones out of their region.
sgh-TWEAKED-889©
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Read the main thread...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317

[Solved] Please help me choose between: G3/Z2/S5/M8 to replace S4.

I've had my SGS4 for over a year now.. and lets just say.. I'm not satisfied with it. I never really have been. I've supported Samsung from having the Galaxy S+ right now up to the S4. Samsung almost lost my support after the design and performance of the terrible S3, however after seeing and hearing of the improvements of the S4 I decided to give them one last chance. Lets just say that they blew that chance and now I want another phone.
In my country of Finland only these top phones are currently available (listed in absolutely no order of preference):
Sony Xperia Z2
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Pros:
Large Battery
3GB RAM
MicroSD
20.7MP Camera
Cons:
Non-removable battery
Slightly slower clocked Krait 400 CPU (2.3Ghz)
Camera quality lacks definitive sharpening (everything looks like paper)
GUI looks terrible
No MicroUSB 3.0
No Infra-red port
Samsung Galaxy S5
Pros:
Best quality camera and video by far, best sharpness and detail but is there an issue with some colours? (shown here)
MicroUSB 3.0
Dust & Water Resistant
2.5 GHz Krait 400
Undoubtedly the best contrast/quality screen in a smartphone
Large removable battery and supposedly good battery life
Infra-red port
Cons:
It's a Samsung phone... and I'm not keen on supporting them again after all the issues I've had with the S3 and S4
Plastic design again, and even uglier backplate this time
2GB RAM vs. 3GB RAM on the Sony Z2 and LG G3
Galaxy S5 Prime / Galaxy F around the corner?
TouchWiz sucks elephant pole
LG G3
Pros:
QHD 1440 x 2560 Display
Good visual look
3GB RAM with the 32GB version
GUI Looks pretty nice
2.5 GHz Krait 400
Large removable battery
Infra-red port
Cons:
Overkill with the Display size? Heat / Lag issues? / Battery life? / Not 'that' stunning?
It's still plastic even if it doesn't look like it
Camera and video quality isn't that amazing and tends to sport a lot of those typical 'squarey' textures in photos
It's reportedly bigger, borderline 'phablet' (tbh I think my Galaxy S4 is large enough)
LG's first attempt at trying to compete with the big boys... ergo. lack of experience in the field?
No MicroUSB 3.0
HTC One M8
Pros:
That awesome design look, by far the most appealing/premium feel
Stereo Speakers that are apparently good
Front facing 5MP camera over all the other's 2/2.1MP
Infra-red port
Cons:
Abysmal camera that is overexposed and etc in regular light, depth stuff doesn't make up for the lack of Megapixels even if low light shots are good. Also the video isn't remotely as good as the other phones
Slightly slower clocked Krait 400 CPU (2.3Ghz)
Smaller non-removable battery
No MicroUSB 3.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All of them in Finland are priced around the same amount. €640 - €660. I have to get the phone on a plan and these are the only 4 that I am really considering. I am not interested in Apple phones at all. Terrible iOS, 8MP cameras and smaller non-full HD screens do not remotely interest me. Especially for the premium price tag and ease of smashing them if they drop. But lets not get started on that. In addition I am not interested with Lumia phones at all.
What I use my phone for mostly (in this oder):
Taking many pictures and videos and using the front camera for video & skype
Whatsapp and Viber
Music music and more music
Some small gaming
Maps and GPS use
Email and Web browsing
Youtube and other video stuff
Modding, and stuff I am not supposed to do. dSploit and etc.
My most important things (all of these are top-priority):
I have no interest on getting a proper DSLR/Point-and-shoot camera so I want my phone to have a good camera.
It needs to be lag free, I am paying a premium price
I want the colours and pictures to just jump out at me like WOW
I don't want the company/brand I buy it from trying to make things like modding/xposed/rooting etc. progressively harder for me
Connectivity. Good signal strength, no lags on 3G or 4G
That if it falls, it will not just smash/screen crack on the first mistake
What is not so important:
Battery life, unless it's got a non-removable battery (which I usually auto-hate) because I will just buy another spare battery (if I can)
Warranty options and Customer support (only in the sense of warranty and troubleshooting)
Stuff like fingerprint scanners and heartrate monitors, barometers etc. I don't really care about
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So guys any suggestions? It would help if you do own/have owned the phones I am talking about. I can only get these phones that I have listed so I am not interested in any others. Do you think there is a phone there that would fit the things that I am looking for? Or do you think that I should seriously wait for the Galaxy S 5 Prime / Galaxy F (or whatever it will be called) and then see what differences to the build design/material and hardware there are and make my decision then? Do you think the release will be close by, or are we looking at something like late September (maybe too far away for me).
Sorry for a long thread and hopefully this can help more than one person !
P.S. I've read many reviews and watched many videos on all of the phones listed but they do not constitute really in my opinion 'real world use' that is what I seem to get from XDA forum members. In that we all share the same experiences and problems which is why I am asking here.
Thanks again!
P.S. If a mod thinks that this is in the wrong section or that it should be merged with a larger thread then feel free to do so. I couldn't find really anything using the search option

For me, the short answer is that Sony Z2 is the overall best device (feature wise) of 4 of them.
Based on the facts and your needs:
- You should not choose G3 because it has a QHD display that you will not need. And believe it the screen brightness and quality doesnt look as good as S5 from user reviews.
- You should not choose S5 because its not that pretty and overrated
- You should not choose M8 because simply the only thing is better from other 3 is the astonish aluminium design
On the other hand i will agree on the cons of Sony Z2 you mention but i believe there are minor based on the other 3 devices and your needs. I also dont like the huge bezels in Z2 but this is something i can leave with it. Note that you will hold on your hand a device that is as huge as Lg G3 but is 5.2 inches instead of 5.5
Final words, there is no such a thing as best device. But based on what you wrote Z2 is the overall best for you since it has the greatest camera, very good design, performance and of course dont forget that is waterproof and dustproof device.

lakiscy said:
For me, the short answer is that Sony Z2 is the overall best device (feature wise) of 4 of them.
Based on the facts and your needs:
- You should not choose G3 because it has a QHD display that you will not need. And believe it the screen brightness and quality doesnt look as good as S5 from user reviews.
- You should not choose S5 because its not that pretty and overrated
- You should not choose M8 because simply the only thing is better from other 3 is the astonish aluminium design
On the other hand i will agree on the cons of Sony Z2 you mention but i believe there are minor based on the other 3 devices and your needs. I also dont like the huge bezels in Z2 but this is something i can leave with it. Note that you will hold on your hand a device that is as huge as Lg G3 but is 5.2 inches instead of 5.5
Final words, there is no such a thing as best device. But based on what you wrote Z2 is the overall best for you since it has the greatest camera, very good design, performance and of course dont forget that is waterproof and dustproof device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for such a detailed reply. The Z2 camera doesn't look as good as the S5, and I think that Sony has definitely just tried to push the Megapixel limits without really giving much thought to anything else. The ISO seems to be so much lower in all of the pictures, and all of the colours are very washed out. I could use software on the computer to add more colour to the pictures, but that's kind of time consuming and annoying. In addition to this a lot of people have said that the triluminous display is very flawed in that it glares so heavily in the light and that the screen is riddled with dead pixels and has inherent flaws that cause the screen to deteriorate after even a short time. The lack of removable battery is a let down too and the GUI is terrible and it definitely doesn't feel very comfortable in my hand, though it doesn't feel big either. These are the main reasons why I wasn't really considering it at all. And also why I think I have narrowed it down to just the S5 or the M8.
S5 for the best possible camera for pictures and videos.
I can still get a metal case to hide its ugliness.
Good battery life and power saving modes.
It does the best for what it is, camera is very refined, shooting modes are great and it's blisteringly fast if you get rid of TouchWiz.
It has by far the best screen of any smartphone.
MicroUSB 3.0
Removable battery
M8 for the fact that it looks and feels like a million dollars
It's not a Samdung phone
The Ultrapixel camera would come in handy for certain types of shots and indoor/low light pictures
Lack of removable battery means less messing around with external batteries (still I would prefer removable)
It's lightning fast, charges quickly and the UI looks amazing (but I'd probably still use Themer)
Could be nice to just finally change brands after the long haul of Samsung phones
This is why I lean more to the S5 even though I am really, really put off by Samsung these days.
Otherwise I really, seriously appreciate you taking the time to suggest the Z2. Especially as your first post on the forums.
Thanks so much

leijonasisu said:
Thanks for such a detailed reply. The Z2 camera doesn't look as good as the S5, and I think that Sony has definitely just tried to push the Megapixel limits without really giving much thought to anything else. The ISO seems to be so much lower in all of the pictures, and all of the colours are very washed out. I could use software on the computer to add more colour to the pictures, but that's kind of time consuming and annoying. In addition to this a lot of people have said that the triluminous display is very flawed in that it glares so heavily in the light and that the screen is riddled with dead pixels and has inherent flaws that cause the screen to deteriorate after even a short time. The lack of removable battery is a let down too and the GUI is terrible and it definitely doesn't feel very comfortable in my hand, though it doesn't feel big either. These are the main reasons why I wasn't really considering it at all. And also why I think I have narrowed it down to just the S5 or the M8.
S5 for the best possible camera for pictures and videos.
I can still get a metal case to hide its ugliness.
Good battery life and power saving modes.
It does the best for what it is, camera is very refined, shooting modes are great and it's blisteringly fast if you get rid of TouchWiz.
It has by far the best screen of any smartphone.
MicroUSB 3.0
Removable battery
M8 for the fact that it looks and feels like a million dollars
It's not a Samdung phone
The Ultrapixel camera would come in handy for certain types of shots and indoor/low light pictures
Lack of removable battery means less messing around with external batteries (still I would prefer removable)
It's lightning fast, charges quickly and the UI looks amazing (but I'd probably still use Themer)
Could be nice to just finally change brands after the long haul of Samsung phones
This is why I lean more to the S5 even though I am really, really put off by Samsung these days.
Otherwise I really, seriously appreciate you taking the time to suggest the Z2. Especially as your first post on the forums.
Thanks so much
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, It is my first post because i was searching the same thing on the web and came to your post lol.
It seems that you have already make up your decision and you just need confirmation for it
I dont want to debate on Z2 but most of your points might be special cases but mainly they are all wrong.
While you have narrow your results to S5 and M8 i would just say if you are going to use a case on your phone then just get the S5

[Solved]
I don't think the issues with the Z2 are special cases. Yeah it might have 3GB of RAM. But it also has no Infra-red device. Read the XDA forums, a lot of people have returned 3 devices in a row for dead pixels and other screen issues. Triluminos doesn't hold a candle to AMOLED anyway. The camera really isn't all that special at all. It might take the biggest pictures, that look really nice zoomed out but the colours are so, so so washed out compared to other phones. It's a fact. Also it feels uncomfortable in my hands, I can't remove the battery. The GUI really actually IS BAD.
In terms of the camera quality. Check this page:
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6144&idPhone2=6033&idPhone3=6294
Then move to the 'colour poster' and look at the difference. The camera has such a low level of sharpness and finite detail to things like hairs and leaves. Namely edges really don't show up at all, it makes the whole picture look like there's absolutely 0 depth what so ever. It looks like a paper print out. That isn't to say that it is a bad camera. It's just not as good as the S5. Images on the Z2 might look a lot more smooth but they are also a lot more washed out in terms of colour.
I really don't like the idea of the S5 at all and I don't want to really support Samsung but I am not paying a premium for a phone that I feel doesn't match the money that I am spending on it, just because I have personal issues with the brand, I'm just speaking on facts in this case. :/
Thanks though, I really appreciate it and I am happy that you seem to have found what phone you want.
EDIT: I got the S5 and I have never been happier, it's improved on every aspect of the S4 that I hated. Just wish it had more RAM.

Dude hi im really happy for you getting the S5. I also decided not to buy Z2 and got G2 because i couldnt resist on the low price of it (270 EUR).
Wish you the best

leijonasisu said:
I don't think the issues with the Z2 are special cases. Yeah it might have 3GB of RAM. But it also has no Infra-red device. Read the XDA forums, a lot of people have returned 3 devices in a row for dead pixels and other screen issues. Triluminos doesn't hold a candle to AMOLED anyway. The camera really isn't all that special at all. It might take the biggest pictures, that look really nice zoomed out but the colours are so, so so washed out compared to other phones. It's a fact. Also it feels uncomfortable in my hands, I can't remove the battery. The GUI really actually IS BAD.
In terms of the camera quality. Check this page:
http://www.gsmarena.com/piccmp.php3?idType=1&idPhone1=6144&idPhone2=6033&idPhone3=6294
Then move to the 'colour poster' and look at the difference. The camera has such a low level of sharpness and finite detail to things like hairs and leaves. Namely edges really don't show up at all, it makes the whole picture look like there's absolutely 0 depth what so ever. It looks like a paper print out. That isn't to say that it is a bad camera. It's just not as good as the S5. Images on the Z2 might look a lot more smooth but they are also a lot more washed out in terms of colour.
I really don't like the idea of the S5 at all and I don't want to really support Samsung but I am not paying a premium for a phone that I feel doesn't match the money that I am spending on it, just because I have personal issues with the brand, I'm just speaking on facts in this case. :/
Thanks though, I really appreciate it and I am happy that you seem to have found what phone you want.
EDIT: I got the S5 and I have never been happier, it's improved on every aspect of the S4 that I hated. Just wish it had more RAM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You know every time I see someone bashing the z2's camera it always turns out that they get their info from gsmarena. No wonder you've always gone with Samsung. They're notorious Sammy promoters. There are a lot of other techblogs, pocketnow, CNET, android authority, the verge, etc that all preferred the z2's camera.
For as long as you keep relying on gsmarena, you'll always stick to Samsung
Sent from my D6503 using XDA Free mobile app

Hehehe you're hacker
You should go for HTC M8 !
2,3 Ghz is enough for a CPU
Sent from my beastly SM-T320

VIVO PD1305 - News & Updates

I think I might be in love: http://www.phonearena.com/news/VIVO...ay-3500-mAh-battery-and-an-OIS-camera_id62550
If you are looking for cutting edge specifications, look no further than Chinese hardware manufacturers. They pump out premium devices better than any other region. Most recently leaked PD1305 from VIVO is lining up to be an absolute beast. Here is a rundown of the leaked specs sheet I gathered from different sources:
6-inch IPS display with 2560×1440 resolution and 490ppi
5.68mm (0.22") thin
162g (5.71 ounces) weight
Snapdragon 805 processor with 3GB of RAM
32GB of internal storage with a microSD card slot that goes up to 128GB
13MP rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and dual-LED flash, 8MP front camera with 88-degree wide view lens
Dedicated ES9018 and OPA2604 audio chips
Heart rate monitor and a fingerprint trace the source function
3500mAh battery
Android 4.4.4 KitKat covered by Vivo’s Funtouch 2.0 software
Lets use this thread for posting any new info you may find about this device.
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What are the chances it gets an AOSP rom?

bengadget said:
What are the chances it gets an AOSP rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let's not put the carriage before the horse, lol. It's not even released yet - this is just a leaked specs sheet. Final device might be different and we don't even know what markets VIVO will release it to, and you're talking about specific firmware

I've just been reading up on this device too.
What I can't understand is why Google (or any other manufacturer for that matter) DON'T release a phone with the same (or higher) specs. Google is a giant, so is Samsung. They sell more phones and have more reach than Vivo, so why can't there latest devices match Vivo?
In my opinion this new phone should have been the Nexus 6 - well, the Nexus 6 should have had those specs. Super thin. Bigger battery. Much bigger front camera with flash and much wider rear camera (with higher MP). FP scanner. Dedicated audio chipsets. This should've been the Nexus 6, so why wasn't it? Google could have kept the exact same price but actually given us premium specs, not the sub-par specs on the Nexus 6 (yes I said it, the N6 specs are not premium if phones like this Vivo exist/are about to enter the market).
I would buy this Vivo in a heartbeat if I can confirm these things:
- Does it have buttons on the screen? I hate that - I love how Nexus phones have zero buttons on the face of the device.
- Can I install Vanilla android and make this phone function as a vanilla phone - aka Nexus?
- Is the screen used on this phone actually any good. Sure, QHD sounds great but the quality of the screen needs to be comparable to the Note 4/iPhone 6+ to make me consider it.
- Are the cameras of top quality? On paper they READ fantastic, but how do they really perform?
If these four questions get solid answers then this phone would be perfect for me and I'm sure that if this phone was released with vanilla android running, it would knock the Nexus and Galaxy phones out of the park. Not to mention that it is about $300 AUD cheaper than the Nexus 6. A no brainer. Great specs and value.

Specs are great the only thing the article doesnt mention is LTE support in north America?
Without that its a paper weight despite the fact that everything else is amazing.
This is the big issue with alot of chinese phones...lack of LTE support although that does appear to be changing.
sent from Canada my Note 4, 3, 2 or One X+

force70 said:
Specs are great the only thing the article doesnt mention is LTE support in north America?
Without that its a paper weight despite the fact that everything else is amazing.
This is the big issue with alot of chinese phones...lack of LTE support although that does appear to be changing.
sent from Canada my Note 4, 3, 2 or One X+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should have LTE support as I've read a few things which claim that it will. As long as it supports 700MHZ '4GX' (Telstra) then that would be fantastic.
Also hope the device doesnt look like the picture in the first post.

force70 said:
Specs are great the only thing the article doesnt mention is LTE support in north America?
Without that its a paper weight despite the fact that everything else is amazing.
This is the big issue with alot of chinese phones...lack of LTE support although that does appear to be changing.
sent from Canada my Note 4, 3, 2 or One X+
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your question is purely a software issue. This device has Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 in it and Qualcomm's chips started supporting worldwide LTE since Snapdragon 801 - all 41 LTE bands. What bands are enabled in the firmware to use is purely a software question, and there is plenty of devs and dev teams like Cyanogen, who can enable additional LTE bands and write their own drivers, since KitKat sources are available.

spartanm99 said:
IWhat I can't understand is why Google (or any other manufacturer for that matter) DON'T release a phone with the same (or higher) specs. Google is a giant, so is Samsung. They sell more phones and have more reach than Vivo, so why can't there latest devices match Vivo?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's all part of the plan. Giants like Samsung already have the technology for stuff like the GS6, Note 5, etc. They're not "working on it", it's all ready to go. Component manufacturers like Qualcomm have their next (and next) gen stuff ready too. They're just sitting on it. Apple is the worst with this. I'm not saying this to start a flame war, I'm just talking facts.
Why just sit on it?
To leave you hungry for the next thing. Take Apple for example. When the iPhone 4S came out, Verizon and AT&T were rolling out LTE. What did the iPhone 4S have? HSPA 14.4Mb/s. Faster than the 7.2Mb/s that the iPhone 4 had, sure, but it wasn't LTE. It wasn't until the iPhone 5 came out that they had LTE. Why? So they can say that the iPhone 5 is faster than the 4 and 4S. Why did they sit on LTE? To sell more iPhones. Another example is the iPad Mini. The first Mini had a low res screen with a pitiful 162ppi. Half a year after the iPad 3 came out with a "retina" display. It wasn't until a year later the Mini 2 had a display that was decent. Why sit on the tech? To make people who like their iPad Mini to want to buy an iPad Mini 2.
Giants like Samsung and Apple can continue this strategy because it works for them, and it works for them because they have an established customer base, and an established potential customer base. Often I've heard people say that they're sick of their current phone, and they want to get the new Galaxy S whatever, or that they never switched from Samsung. And Apple fans are pretty dang loyal. Other companies have to pull out all the stops in order to compete. Samsung and Apple don't have to, because people are going to buy their phones anyway.

Planterz said:
It's all part of the plan. Giants like Samsung already have the technology for stuff like the GS6, Note 5, etc. They're not "working on it", it's all ready to go. Component manufacturers like Qualcomm have their next (and next) gen stuff ready too. They're just sitting on it. Apple is the worst with this. I'm not saying this to start a flame war, I'm just talking facts.
Why just sit on it?
To leave you hungry for the next thing. Take Apple for example. When the iPhone 4S came out, Verizon and AT&T were rolling out LTE. What did the iPhone 4S have? HSPA 14.4Mb/s. Faster than the 7.2Mb/s that the iPhone 4 had, sure, but it wasn't LTE. It wasn't until the iPhone 5 came out that they had LTE. Why? So they can say that the iPhone 5 is faster than the 4 and 4S. Why did they sit on LTE? To sell more iPhones. Another example is the iPad Mini. The first Mini had a low res screen with a pitiful 162ppi. Half a year after the iPad 3 came out with a "retina" display. It wasn't until a year later the Mini 2 had a display that was decent. Why sit on the tech? To make people who like their iPad Mini to want to buy an iPad Mini 2.
Giants like Samsung and Apple can continue this strategy because it works for them, and it works for them because they have an established customer base, and an established potential customer base. Often I've heard people say that they're sick of their current phone, and they want to get the new Galaxy S whatever, or that they never switched from Samsung. And Apple fans are pretty dang loyal. Other companies have to pull out all the stops in order to compete. Samsung and Apple don't have to, because people are going to buy their phones anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for this answer; I feel like I already knew it but was in a bit of denial about it. These Chinese phones have amazing specs. If they release it as I said above without capacitive buttons on the front of the device, I will buy it and do everything I can to install vanilla Android to turn it into a 'nexus' phone.
I guess my little voice wont change much in the grand scheme of things but it is terrible that we have to pay (in my case) $960+ for a Nexus 6 with worse specifications than this Chinese phone which will cost me (delivered) about $450 to $510. Anyone that calls Apple/Samsung/Nexus etc phones 'top-of-the-line' must be kidding themselves; anyone that says they are good value is joking in my opinion.
For the record the Galaxy S6 will probably still have a worse front facing camera, speakers and be thicker than this upcoming Vivo smartphone. Sad, but probably true. Such is the Western world in which we live.

Some actual pictures of the phone leaked today

That looks awesome, if it's real and I can get one in the UK somehow, I will deffinitely get one over the Note 4!
The rendered one looks impossible to make a phone that slim (and is different to the one in the other photo). Found some more actual pictures of what may or may not be the Xplay 5S on GSMArena but can't post because I am a new user.

Your pictures dont show front facing buttons and look super thin.
The real world leaked pictures look much thicker (still thin, though) with front facing buttons.
I will get this if it doesn't have front facing buttons and all the specs line up.
You can see the pictures I'm talking about here: http://www.phonearena.com/news/Vivos-future-powerhouse--the-Xplay-5S--poses-for-the-camera_id62679
According to this site and some others, the phone will use the Snapdragon 810 processor.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/vivo-xplay-5-could-be-first-snapdragon-810-powered-device
I need to see this phone before I believe it but as I said above - no front facing buttons & all the specs line up, I will get it and find a way for someone to install stock android on it.

Read on another blog the phone will have sapphire screen and will have better build quality than Oppo phones
http://chinandroidphone.com/vivo-xplay-next-premiere-fuite/

Best Gaming Phone?

Suggest some best gaming phones according to you

this review will summarize it all for my recommendation:
Digital Foundry: HTC One M9 review
performance is impressive as there are no additional pixels to push.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In the face of 2.5K screens used in other flagship phones this year, the choice to avoid bumping the M9's screen resolution is a surprise. In some respects this is a plus point; we're fast approaching a point of diminishing visual turns, and a resolution bump only increases the burden on a processor. The gains would have been slight, unless you plan on pressing your nose up to the glass for a closer inspection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Refreshingly, the power doesn't come at the expense of overall clarity, either. Google and Motorola have attempted a similar trick with the Nexus 6, but at maximum volume the M9 is a clear front-runner in this area. The sound tech has a positive impact on call quality too, as the uppermost Boomsound speaker above the screen is used during calls and provides excellent results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The M9 is blessed with a fearsome arsenal of tech, but it has attracted some negative attention for generating excessive amounts of heat. It's true that when engaged in a particularly taxing activity the phone's casing becomes noticeably warm, but no more so than many of its cutting-edge rivals, and we suspect the reason it's more immediately obvious here is because the aluminium casing is channelling the heat more effectively. During our review we felt we pushed HTC's device to the limit, and it never got uncomfortably hot - something which was claimed in many early hands-on previews by other sites.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With this much power to hand, HTC has clearly had to put measures in place to shackle this beast. Running at full pelt, the M9's internals would usually drain its 2840mAh in no time at all. To combat this, the phone attempts to strike a balance by giving you just enough power when you need it, but eases off the accelerator once things become too demanding. It's a problem every mobile maker faces, as battery technology simply isn't keeping pace with CPU evolution, and all that can be done is to cram bigger power cells into phones. While the M9 certainly isn't the most ravenous handset we've encountered, its stamina is hardly awe-inspiring. You'll almost certainly have to charge it every day if you intend to make the most of the Snapdragon 810 chipset's potential.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Games run very smoothly on the HTC One M9, a consequence of improving the processor while keeping the screen resolution the same as last year. The Boomsound speakers bring audio to life too, making this feel - at times - like a genuine console experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HTC's handset has the added advantage of expandability too; you can slot in a microSD card of up to 128GB in capacity. This will come as excellent news to those who want to use their phone as a multimedia powerhouse, although it should be noted that inserting a card containing a lot of content could impact the overall performance of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you're willing to wait, I suggest waiting for the Note 5. (October/November).
If not, the M9 or the Note 4 are your best bets. The 5.0" M9 has a lower resolution and a slightly newer cpu/gpu, but the Note 4 has 5.7", 2K and an AMOLED screen. Especially the latter results in better colours and infinite contrast (black=black).
Tiny addendum to:
hamdir said:
HTC's handset has the added advantage of expandability too; you can slot in a microSD card of up to 128GB in capacity. This will come as excellent news to those who want to use their phone as a multimedia powerhouse, although it should be noted that inserting a card containing a lot of content could impact the overall performance of the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dropping a .nomedia file in every folder you don't need to see in a media player excludes that folder, and the files and folders in it, from the indexing service. (You can still launch the files from the file explorer) This prevents the performance impact. I've got about 8.000 pdf files in one folder on my MicroSD, with the .nomedia file the folder is skipped and doesn't affect the device.

hamdir said:
this review will summarize it all for my recommendation:
Digital Foundry: HTC One M9 review
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
?thanks for providing me with such deep info. I will definitely follow up with it.......

ShadowLea said:
If you're willing to wait, I suggest waiting for the Note 5. (October/November).
If not, the M9 or the Note 4 are your best bets. The 5.0" M9 has a lower resolution and a slightly newer cpu/gpu, but the Note 4 has 5.7", 2K and an AMOLED screen. Especially the latter results in better colours and infinite contrast (black=black).
Tiny addendum to:
Dropping a .nomedia file in every folder you don't need to see in a media player excludes that folder, and the files and folders in it, from the indexing service. (You can still launch the files from the file explorer) This prevents the performance impact. I've got about 8.000 pdf files in one folder on my MicroSD, with the .nomedia file the folder is skipped and doesn't affect the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/Thanks for your valuable suggestion but i dont like Note series.I hope you won't mind......

@thebestappgames
Have you gotten your pic? There are so many smartphones for gaming this quarter of 2015. some Rankings
Care to look into the latest Nexus series? Nexus 5 and up.

ShadowLea said:
If not, the M9 or the Note 4 are your best bets. The 5.0" M9 has a lower resolution and a slightly newer cpu/gpu, but the Note 4 has 5.7", 2K and an AMOLED screen. Especially the latter results in better colours and infinite contrast
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2k is not really a good thing as it wastes precious GPU power, but yea the screen overall is more gorgeous on the N4/S6
however there is one very imporant factor and that is GPU throttling, and the way HTC does it is better:
if you check the Anandtech reviews, the S6 has the exact gaming problem on every Samsung flagship, ie: jumping frame-rates, even though HTC throttles the GPU on the latest M9 base they do it with grace, it steadily slows down and eventually holds at the M8 speed (after 50 minutes), if you let it cool (for 2-5 minutes thanks to metal) it jumps back up and you start the cycle again, on the s6 the GPU throttling is constantly jumping up and down, which affects real world gaming:
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The end performance actually ends up being quite similar to the One M8, but performance during the test is much higher than what we saw on the One M8.
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The one major issue here that is visible from the FPS vs time graph is that Samsung continues to struggle with graceful throttling as the GPU attempts to always target maximum performance, which causes a strong rise and fall in frame rate as the GPU goes through periods of high and low clock speeds determined by the thermal governor.
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With that said, there are still problems with Samsung Mobile’s drivers, as we see some pretty poor user experience from thermally throttled situations due to the oscillating behavior of GPU performance.
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This is why i prefer gaming on HTC since the M8 because they figured out how to do gaming finally after years of mess on Android, they know how to do it the iPhone way, Samsung is all about brute but no care about actual real world experience, a jumpy frame rate like that will kill any gaming experience
i dont kow if that affects the Note series though, I think the Note surely has better thermal release than the SGS6 due to its size and no glass
In general the best gaming Android gamer is either the M8 or M9, especially when we take audio into account

Taching said:
@thebestappgames
Have you gotten your pic? There are so many smartphones for gaming this quarter of 2015. some Rankings
Care to look into the latest Nexus series? Nexus 5 and up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/Nexus 5 is a good deal but I was thinking of MOTO Maxx. What do you say?

hamdir said:
2k is not really a good thing as it wastes precious GPU power, but yea the screen overall is more gorgeous on the N4/S6
however there is one very imporant factor and that is GPU throttling, and the way HTC does it is better:
if you check the Anandtech reviews, the S6 has the exact gaming problem on every Samsung flagship, ie: jumping frame-rates, even though HTC throttles the GPU on the latest M9 base they do it with grace, it steadily slows down and eventually holds at the M8 speed (after 50 minutes), if you let it cool (for 2-5 minutes thanks to metal) it jumps back up and you start the cycle again, on the s6 the GPU throttling is constantly jumping up and down, which affects real world gaming:
This is why i prefer gaming on HTC since the M8 because they figured out how to do gaming finally after years of mess on Android, they know how to do it the iPhone way, Samsung is all about brute but no care about actual real world experience, a jumpy frame rate like that will kill any gaming experience
i dont kow if that affects the Note series though, I think the Note surely has better thermal release than the SGS6 due to its size and no glass
In general the best gaming Android gamer is either the M8 or M9, especially when we take audio into account
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
/You have given me so many options that its difficult for me to choose I am confused. You are having quite deap knowledge in this stuff can you tell me Is Motto Maxx a good option or not?

If the priority is gaming, I'd say go with a Nexus 6. Bigass screen, front-facing speakers. What more could you want?

Best eyecandy gaming experience -> S6 antutu 65k (but the battery is its dissea)
Best earcandy gaming experience -> m9 antutu 57k
Gaming over longer time -> note 4 antutu 41k
I dont know what to buy :/ i use s4 atm and playing heavy games like mc5 is crap compared to s6. But therefore battery is crap in s6.
Conclusion: be patient for note 5 to arrive this september. Ill probably still buy the s6 in two weeks because of its performance. And then later the note 5

Xperia Z1, Mi 4i, zenfone2,