[Q] Think I want a Z3V, you guys diggin yours? - Xperia Z3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Been waiting for the S6 to come out and now that it's been released not happy about several things and think I'm going to pass. The Z3V seems to have everything I'm looking for, waterproof and good reception being high on the list.
My needs:
Good call quality and reception
Water proof
Good battery
Good camera
SD card slot
Durable
From everything I've been reading it looks like the Z3V has got this covered. Not sure I like the glass back but it'll live in a case anyways, which I'm finding out there is not much choice there. Btw I'm coming off a Razr Maxx HD, I ruled out the Turbo fairly quick lol. Thanks!

My Z3v has blown away every expectation I've had on any phone I have owned. Battery life, radio reception, OS stability, no lag, seriously the smoothest running device I've ever used, camera, SD Storage, 3gb RAM, waterproofing and Wireless Qi charging, stereo front facing speakers, and LED notification. Everything works as intended and expected. I've had mine since launch and 4-5 months later I'm actually more enthused about it than I was the first day. Without question if my phone met its demise today, I'd turn around and get it again without hesitation. It's hard to think about switching to another device when the one you have has performed flawlessly with no hiccups.
The only thing it doesn't have currently but supposedly is planned to is simultaneous data and voice. It is a slight disappointment, but not critical for me.

Yup I agree with PChain

Everything needed to be said, pchain has said it. I won't likely ever get another branded phone since there's nothing too new or attention worthy about them. I'm very disappointed how the S6 turned out to be as the Z3v is already everything as it is but incredibly better.
The glass back isn't too much of a concern since it is Sony's tempered glass. Look up any youtube video of Sony's Drop test, they're nearly indestructible. It's worth it man, get this phone and you won't have to wait as long for the update for simultaneous voice and data.

Well I'm sold, thanks for the replies! Should've just got it in January when my contract was up but I was hoping for great things from the S6 and thought I'd wait it out, but like many I'm disappointed in the direction they went.

Awsome, but none of these phones are particularly "durable"...
The hardware guts, performance and elegant form of this phone blow me away. No question, hands down, this is more pocket computer than I ever imagined. In the Verizon store it's absolutely the best bang for the buck.
I'm a bit OCD, so if it gets dropped and marred, or scratched, or dented, or cracked I'll completely freak out and cry like a baby! It's not a particularly durable design, but it's really well put together. No weird seems, misalignments, etc. Because I work in landscaping and construction, I've swapped my unused Xoom tablet line with an old handset that I'll bring to work instead of the Xperia so I won't have to feel like I'm performing an act of surgery every time I take a call (cleaning hands off, etc).
I think this phone in a top notch case is super hard to beat for most applications.

IMO - the Z3v is the best bang for your buck. I was first intrigued by Sony Xperia when the Z2 was @ Verizon a few years ago. I'm glad that the Z3v was available when my Razr Maxx bit the dust last Fall, though not initially.
I first went "Cheap" with a LG G Vista, but it shutdown a few times. I swapped it for the Moto X 2014. While the Moto X is a fine phone, it got hot to the touch and the battery isn't the greatest. Luckily - the Z3v came out during my 2 week trial and the third time was the charm!
It has never shutdown, the battery life is pretty good, and the MHL and mirror link functions work via my Smart TV! The same cannot be said on the former phones mentioned.

Go for it!
Based on your post, stan smith, i think this is the ideal phone for you. Thats awesome to hear youre making the move. Just picked the Z3v up a few days ago and I'm blown away. I like to believe im an educated consumer and did a lot of digging on all the latest VZ offerings. My expectations for this phone were sky high and they are being surpassed! i'm running nova launcher and the phone is by far the snappiest device ive ever had. Tap to wake is phenomenal. Having moved here from an HTC ONE M7, my primary concerns were pixel density (M7: 468ppi - Z3v: 424ppi) and screen brightness (M7: 460nits - Z3v: 407nits) but these are no longer a concern. Expectations exceeded.

Really excited about this phone! I will admit I'm concerned about the size, haven't even seen one in person yet. I did some comparisons at phonearena and it looks really tall, like .66" taller than my current razr maxx hd. Going to hit Verizon maybe tonight if not tomorrow and check it out, probably bring it home if I think I can manage the size of it. :good:

I love my phone. I came from a Galaxy S5 and I think this phone is so much better in many ways. I particularly like the solid feel and build of this over the S5. Don't know how it would compare to the S6.
Like someone posted, the only bummer about this phone is the lack of simultaneous voice and data. That is very disappointing in this day and age on a high end phone. But I can live with it and perhaps they will fix that with an update in the future.

vplaza96 said:
I love my phone. I came from a Galaxy S5 and I think this phone is so much better in many ways. I particularly like the solid feel and build of this over the S5. Don't know how it would compare to the S6.
Like someone posted, the only bummer about this phone is the lack of simultaneous voice and data. That is very disappointing in this day and age on a high end phone. But I can live with it and perhaps they will fix that with an update in the future.
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Idk how solid the S6 would be, but compared to this, it definitely can't withstand water anymore. lol
The lollipop update that will include everything is reaching upon us soon. Sony confirms they're in final phases of testing to work out the bugs. We will all soon get simultaneous voice and data (again, depending from whatever phone we came from before).

Got it tonight!! Solid phone, love the look and feel. A little big but I can get used to it. Lol the guy at Verizon didn't know anything about it, said he never sold one and tried to talk me out of it. Once I schooled him on the features he was pretty impressed. Glad to join this very limited club and thanks for all the advice!

americandad said:
Got it tonight!! Solid phone, love the look and feel. A little big but I can get used to it. Lol the guy at Verizon didn't know anything about it, said he never sold one and tried to talk me out of it. Once I schooled him on the features he was pretty impressed. Glad to join this very limited club and thanks for all the advice!
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Yay, welcome aboard. I should school the employees more often too because I talk to the reps about account assessment and stuff, and they just have not much of a clue about my phone being there. This is what Apple and Samsung (as well as Motorola Droid) brainwashing does to corporate employees..

GigaSPX said:
Yay, welcome aboard. I should school the employees more often too because I talk to the reps about account assessment and stuff, and they just have not much of a clue about my phone being there. This is what Apple and Samsung (as well as Motorola Droid) brainwashing does to corporate employees..
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Yup-Yup! Pretty sad when the consumer has to do the job of the salesman. but more sad that this illustrates just how easily the masses are brainwashed.
Good for you, AmericanDad. hope you enjoy it!

Coming from a rooted Droid DNA w/ a custom ROM, I'm not seeing any improvements, says the camera. If it wasn't for the ailing battery in my DNA, I would have kept it. Form factor is a bit of a downgrade and visually, it looks very reminiscent of the Droid Razr HD. Camera is definitely better, but the autofocus time takes away from it. A good phone, but nothing here to make me forget my DNA entirely.

sabinblitz said:
Coming from a rooted Droid DNA w/ a custom ROM, I'm not seeing any improvements, says the camera. If it wasn't for the ailing battery in my DNA, I would have kept it. Form factor is a bit of a downgrade and visually, it looks very reminiscent of the Droid Razr HD. Camera is definitely better, but the autofocus time takes away from it. A good phone, but nothing here to make me forget my DNA entirely.
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I'm not sure what exactly you're asking or what your point is but I assure you the Z3v has surpassed every expectation I've had in any device I've ever owned. Battery life will absolutely crush the DNA, radio reception is better than today's Moto offerings, there is zero lag, the camera is really good, it is water proof, has front facing stereo speakers, multicolor LED notification, Qi wireless charging etc. I've had the Z3v since launch and if my device met its fate today I'd immediately get another. Once you have a completely fast stable OS that performs flawlessly you don't want a different device. The Z3v is without a doubt is the most underrated unknown non-marketed devices on Verizon. Unless rooting is a necessity for you there is no reason to question if the z3v is worthy of being your next device. While the DNA is a good device in many ways, the Z3v is good in just about every way. The new Samsung S6,, S6 Edge, and HTC M9 aren't even close in tempting me away from this bulletproof device. I've never had a Sony device before and took a chance and it has been the best technology decision I've made in years. Just my two cents....

pchain said:
I'm not sure what exactly you're asking or what your point is but I assure you the Z3v has surpassed every expectation I've had in any device I've ever owned. Battery life will absolutely crush the DNA, radio reception is better than today's Moto offerings, there is zero lag, the camera is really good, it is water proof, has front facing stereo speakers, multicolor LED notification, Qi wireless charging etc. I've had the Z3v since launch and if my device met its fate today I'd immediately get another. Once you have a completely fast stable OS that performs flawlessly you don't want a different device. The Z3v is without a doubt is the most underrated unknown non-marketed devices on Verizon. Unless rooting is a necessity for you there is no reason to question if the z3v is worthy of being your next device. While the DNA is a good device in many ways, the Z3v is good in just about every way. The new Samsung S6,, S6 Edge, and HTC M9 aren't even close in tempting me away from this bulletproof device. I've never had a Sony device before and took a chance and it has been the best technology decision I've made in years. Just my two cents....
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I couldn't say this any better. I really liked the underrated phone part of the post. That is so true. I came from a Nexus 5 on ATT. I am so impressed. My only gripe is I like stock Android. But the phone build quality and the countless other features make it awesome.

I've had mine for about a week now. Battery is amazing, I'm on my 4th day without a charge but I'm not a heavy user and it gets turned off at night. Wifi signal is incredible! My workshop is about 150' away from my house and I never got wifi there with my razr maxx hd, but the Z3v gets a strong signal. Real pleased with the call quality also. All in all happy with my choice.

To pile on with the radios, i've been in my current house for nearly five years. Previous phones were htc one m7 and a galaxy sIII prior to that. When making calls, i was forced to stand near the front of the house. living room/foyer/bedroom didn't matter. as long as i was near the front. Most likely due to some very large trees in the backyard. Just last night, i noticed i did not have to leave my den when taking a call. for the first time in this house, i could relax on a phone call. so very pleased with this device.

I've heard things like the notification LED are amazing, someone care to elaborate? Not sure what people mean and I've watched some review videos and they don't show it off or anything so I'm confused

Related

Inspire Review

Hey guys. My name is Jordan. I have been on Android Central and XDA Develipers for a while now and have been working on starting to do my own reviews and stuff and have started a website I am looking to see what peoples opinions are. I have my first post up there and plan on doing more just want to get some opinions from the people on AC. Please let me know. Link removed by moderator
Oh where to begin. For me I have come from many Android Devices such as the Moto Droid 1, Droid 2, Droid X, HTC Aria, Samsung Captivate, and Dell Streak along with getting to play with many others such as the HTC Evo, LG Ally, LG Vortex,
all of the LG Optimus series, Nexus 1 and Nexus S. All of these phones have been fun and I have been in the constant toss up of weather to stick with my Captivate or move over to one of the new phones. I work for AT&T currently and we have 3 new phones that are coming out within the next few months. I took a look at everything and have been sitting there for about 2 weeks and finally decided it was time to switch. I loved my Captivate but it was behind the curve and got tired of waiting for the offical 2.2 update to come out.
So after I decided if I wanted to switch it was time for me to pick which one of these 3 new phones I wanted to go with. So I sat down and did my research and looked at everything I could. The first phone to get knocked off was the Samsung Infuse. The phone seems like it will be cool but it had some negatives. After having the Captivate and waiting for the update that kind of got me fed up with Samsung. I know that it is partly At&T's fault but is also part Samsung's also. The other thing about the phone is that it is a 4.5 inch screen. Witht that size it is pusing it beyone beleif. I personally feel anything larger then 4.3 is going to be to big. Yes the Super Amoled + screen will be nice and so will the 16 gig internal storage but to me the 2 main problems I had with it were way to large of negatives. So that left me in a toss up between the Atrix and the Inspire. I looked at the Inspire and figured that I really couldnt find any negatives about the phone. The Atrix
on the other hand is hard. I like the fact that it is Dual Core but it is also a negative where it will suck a lot of battery. Next I hate the price tag. $199 and $459 for the laptop dock. That is flat out rediculous. The $199 for the phone is fine but the Dock is to expensive. Next is Moto Blur. I am not a fan it seems to slow phones down and is a big pain in the butt for most users. So after all of that I decided the Inspire was the way to go.
So I picked up the Inspire with a 4G sim card and have been using it for the last few days. The phone has been running really smooth.
First off is going to be overall looks of the phone. The phone is absolutely beautiful. The size is just right it isnt to small, not to big, but right in between. I like the look. It dosent look like a cheap plastic phone either. It seems like it has a good build quality to it. I like where they have the buttons positioned and am happy that the speaker grill and buttons are all chrome finished. It gives the phone a nice look. The battery door is the one big negative. It is a pain to pull off but if you are a person that dosent see yourself doing this often then you will be perfectly okay with this. Another think that is kind of inconvinent is the position of the 3.5 MM headphone jack.
Next I want to go into the overall User Interface of the phone. The UI is awsome. I have always been a fan of HTC Sense and this definantly dose it justice with it being the newest version of Sense. The clock widget with the weaher and temprature is awsome.
It dose not slow the phone down at all. It is very snappy and I like the set up of it. Along with sense you get a lot of cool backgrounds that are cool and fun to use. With the new sense you are also able to create and account that will alow you to track your phone if it is ever lost and maybe even wipe the phone which I am not completely sure about that but I beleive you can.
Next is the screen. So the screen is something that I was really surprised about with this phone. To be quite honest it was my biggest fear in switching. Coming from the Super Amoled to the LCD wasnt bad at all. To be quite honest they look almost identical. The phone displays pictures and video quality very well. It works awsome and is clear I have no complaints. Along with that the screen is also very responsive. It dose not have any issues with not responding to my touch and it is clear and very snappy. Part of this snappiness is because of the nice 1 GHZ proccessor.
So how about that 8 megapixel camera? It is a very nice clear camera for both still and video quality. I have used it for multiple purposes so far. One of the big ones is when I have been working on my girlfriends car the last few days. I was able to take pictures of parts that were broken or things that may be causing the issue and they were clear and able to displayed perfectly. I sent the pictures to multiple people and they were all very surpirsed. Another nice feature is that you are able to zoom in very far with the camera. It was needed for a few pictures and kept it very clear along with a few dark shots that LED flash helped quite a bit. Video is perfect also. I was doing a few videos for a friend that was
doing some random BMX stuff also. Worked good and was able to send them to my friends for them to use as they want.
So what good is a phone if it has crappy call quality. I have used many different phones as previously noted and to be quite honest this is one of the most clear call qualities I have ever had. I have called friends on different carriers and different devices and all said that I sound clear and I was not muffled and using speaker phone was the same thing just fully clear. On my end calls came through clear and wasnt muffled also sounded amazing with the speaker phone. Both spearks are clear and allow you to turn the phone up quite a bit if need be. Another very good quality.
Signal Strength is awsome I have not had any dropped calls and seem to be running in Hspa+ and HSPDA. I have gotten signal in a few areas where I previously
would not have been able to.
So the last thing and one of the most important is Battery life. It is something that could be better. I have tuned setting and the phone seems to only get me through about 7 or 8 hours with minimal texting and internet browsing and a few phone calls that come up to less then 1 hour. This is alright but is not the best. I was able to get a 12 hour day out of my Captivate but this is something I can work around and that isnt a big issue for me beacuse I am normally out for that time and have a tendancy to charge my phone multiple times a day without even thinking about it. So for some people this may be a major negative but for me not so much.
So overall I have fallen in love with this phone and am happy with it. I will be posting some benchmark scores here soon. I will continue using this phone and can not see any issues with what I used to have.

Any former X2/Charge owners switch to TB?

I went from the Charge to the X2, and now I'm starting to dislike the lack of development for the phone and I miss 4G.
Anyone here previously own a Charge and/or X2? Thoughts? I would have gotten the TB instead but the comments I've seen about the poor voice quality and some bad screens had turned me away.
triton302 said:
I went from the Charge to the X2, and now I'm starting to dislike the lack of development for the phone and I miss 4G.
Anyone here previously own a Charge and/or X2? Thoughts? I would have gotten the TB instead but the comments I've seen about the poor voice quality and some bad screens had turned me away.
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I think there's 2 kinds of people out there.... There's the guys that think everything kicks ass, and there's the guys that think everything sucks ass. I really think people should investigate more for themselves and rely less on here-say to form an opinion about something. There's still people that think the Tbolt has problems rebooting all the time.
I haven't had one problem with my Tbolt. Can't say the same about anything from Motorola. A friend has an X2 and is feeling some real regret on account of speed, lack of 4G, and... It's a motorola. I think that pretty much says it all.
The Charge isn't bad, but it's not as technically capable as the Tbolt; a fact that carries weight with me. To me, the Tbolt is still the only option for me.
I came from the Droid X and I was disappointed in the t bolt. I'm on my 4th now, all of them rebooted constantly while on the old radio, but this is the only one that still reboots even after the new radio was flashed. the build quality is very poor on the t bolt compared to the X, horrible sound quality, call quality (on both ends) cheap feeling, poor finish. The only things I like on the t bolt over the X is the captive buttons, 4g and the RAM. Motorola has the best build quality, best reception, best call quality. As long as the bionic is rootable that's what I'll be getting next (verizon will replace it with a different phone next time)
eraursls1984 said:
I came from the Droid X and I was disappointed in the t bolt. I'm on my 4th now, all of them rebooted constantly while on the old radio, but this is the only one that still reboots even after the new radio was flashed. the build quality is very poor on the t bolt compared to the X, horrible sound quality, call quality (on both ends) cheap feeling, poor finish. The only things I like on the t bolt over the X is the captive buttons, 4g and the RAM. Motorola has the best build quality, best reception, best call quality. As long as the bionic is rootable that's what I'll be getting next (verizon will replace it with a different phone next time)
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Motorola cellular radios have always sucked ass. I stopped using them because it didn't seem to matter what model it was, NONE of them could keep a signal on the coast or the island I lived at. One had a buzz so loud you couldn't hear anyone talking over it. One wouldn't let you use switchboards. They ALL restarted all the time. Before I went smart phone, all I used was Samsung and Kyocera. For smart phones all I'd use are HTC, Samsung, and MAYBE BlackBerry. Every review I read of a Motorola notes it's cheap, flimsy feeling and build quality. If the Bionic ends up like that Moto Sprint is selling, I wouldn't be impressed by it.
loonatik78 said:
Motorola cellular radios have always sucked ass. I stopped using them because it didn't seem to matter what model it was, NONE of them could keep a signal on the coast or the island I lived at. One had a buzz so loud you couldn't hear anyone talking over it. One wouldn't let you use switchboards. They ALL restarted all the time. Before I went smart phone, all I used was Samsung and Kyocera. For smart phones all I'd use are HTC, Samsung, and MAYBE BlackBerry. Every review I read of a Motorola notes it's cheap, flimsy feeling and build quality. If the Bionic ends up like that Moto Sprint is selling, I wouldn't be impressed by it.
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Well I had a 2 Razr's and a Droid X and no Samsung, LG or HTC can match the reception of any of those, and they all had great build quality (personal experience, not reviews) I also had a blackberry storm which was a joke, but it did have great reception and call quality when it wasn't frozen. I have also had a few Samsung and LG phones (as well as my wife) and all of them had poor reception and call quality, and the trend continues from what I've seen with the galaxy phones. I've only had one HTC phone and it hasn't impressed me but from what I've seen in the inc, and what many others have told me about HTC Windows phones they seem to be good phones, that's why I think the t bolt was rushed because it isn't a very good phone.
I agree with both of you on certain points.
I have owned a few Motorola devices and my DX was by far the best when it came to call quality, I could be in my basement with -99 dbm signal strength on a call and it just wouldn't drop. Only a few times in the year I had that phone did I ever just randomly drop out of 3G in an area where Verizon had excellent coverage. Probably the most dependable phone I ever had. My old v325 held signal very well too, never had a dropped call with it.
However... the lack of updates and the outdated hardware makes it difficult for Motorola to keep up with the competition, that's why Samsung and HTC are ahead in the Android game. Those two companies are always coming out with something better in one way or another... but what has Motorola release lately that is a knockout? Nothing, and pretty soon the Bionic will be in the same boat. Motorola is too late in the game with the Bionic and it'll probably have the same crappy Pentile qHD display. I'd almost rather have a standard LCD screen.
I owned the Incredible when it first came out, but I sold it for the DX because I wanted a bigger screen and I wasn't a fan of that generation of AMOLED screens, looked just like the Pentile on the X2 except with more vivid colors. Otherwise it was a speedy phone, just didn't have the call quality the DX did.
triton302 said:
I agree with both of you on certain points.
I have owned a few Motorola devices and my DX was by far the best when it came to call quality, I could be in my basement with -99 dbm signal strength on a call and it just wouldn't drop. Only a few times in the year I had that phone did I ever just randomly drop out of 3G in an area where Verizon had excellent coverage. Probably the most dependable phone I ever had. My old v325 held signal very well too, never had a dropped call with it.
However... the lack of updates and the outdated hardware makes it difficult for Motorola to keep up with the competition, that's why Samsung and HTC are ahead in the Android game. Those two companies are always coming out with something better in one way or another... but what has Motorola release lately that is a knockout? Nothing, and pretty soon the Bionic will be in the same boat. Motorola is too late in the game with the Bionic and it'll probably have the same crappy Pentile qHD display. I'd almost rather have a standard LCD screen.
I owned the Incredible when it first came out, but I sold it for the DX because I wanted a bigger screen and I wasn't a fan of that generation of AMOLED screens, looked just like the Pentile on the X2 except with more vivid colors. Otherwise it was a speedy phone, just didn't have the call quality the DX did.
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My devices usually see a minimum of 30 or so states, if not all 48, so I definitely get to try out devices under just about every condition and terrain there is. Motorola's devices have consistently sucked ass. I was forced to stop using them all together when my wife and I lived on an island in FL. Forget making a phone call... you couldn't even text with them. I'm not too concerned about call quality if I can't make the call. The only company to make radios that are as bad is LG.
loonatik78 said:
The only company to make radios that are as bad is LG.
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I will agree with that.
Are you on your original TB? What do you think of the screen and the call quality? Those are the two biggest factors in my decision on getting this phone. I read that the TB gets much better 4G reception than the Charge does.
Screen and call quality have been great with mine. But like loonatik, I've never had reboot problems either. That said until I bought the extended battery I was ready to give up on it.
courtesy of my bolt and tapatalk
I have had problems with both the Droid X and the HTC Thunderbolt. I also travel all across the country and seen how each each work in those areas. I don't know why but one of the many Thunderbolts I had would have terrible static at times. I could hear the person but all they heard was a bunch of static. I heard static on my end a couple times. That device was replaced and I never had that issue again. Out of the LTE devices available NOW, I would still pick the Thunderbolt out of any of the others. I would actually pick it over any of Verizon's smartphones as of NOW. The Thunderbolts pros outweigh the cons for me. I love the 35+Mbps download speeds at times.
Sent from my ADR6400L using xda premium
I have been lucky and have not had any reboot issues or any of the other ones some have mentioned. I get great reception unless I'm buried in the basment of the building I work in. I also think the screen is damn good. It's bright, great color reproduction, deep blacks, and very crisp. It doesn't do good in direct sunlight but thats pretty much the case with most any phone screen. Overall it has been a great phone for me but I would recommend rooting and a custom ROM for the best experience.
Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt
The TBolt is a cool phone. I had a really tough time deciding whether to get it or the Charge. At the end of the day, the Charge was cheaper at Costco and I liked the screen more. Development definitely seems better on the TBolt, though I don't really mind as much since I don't use 3rd party ROMs. I'm a huge fan of the SAMOLED+, the proper subpixel pattern makes all the difference. I hate the pentile format that older AMOLEDs used, as well as what Moto is using on all of their new phones...
Regardless, I'd honestly say wait a few more days and see what the Bionic does.

which phone offers the most similar experiecne?

My contract is coming up for renewal in late February and I'm thinking of replacing my phone with a new Android device. I realize this might be the wrong forum section to post in, but who better to ask than my fellow Shield lovers.
I had a Galaxy Note (original) and a Galaxy S2 prior, and they weren't bad. For the time Touchwiz, and a poor email client really put me off of Android as a phone primarily for me is a communication device, but I still like to have fun with it.
I ended up going back to Blackberry and have been rocking a Z10 for a long time. But won an iphone 5s through work and have been using that for about the past year. I bought a Z30 recently as it was being sold at a stupidly low price new in box from factory and I am sick and tired of the small screens and piss poor battery life of the iphone.
I also have a first gen Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and I've been complaining about it for the past 6-10 months because of it's size and weight and now that apps are being optimized for newer OS versions it's getting really slow. So my wife bought me a Shield for Christmas and I absoltuley love it!
I love how the UI is on this tablet and now know what all the fuss is about for Andorid. Touchwiz ruins the experience in my opinion. So I'm thinking for my new phone I'm going to get a Lollipop device for sure...the question is which one?
I don't want a Nexus as I don't like the idea of non-expandable memory and my 64gb card in my Sheild is getting pretty full, no way I could survive with a device that isn't at least 64gb (my iphone is 64gb and is usually between 50-60gb loaded up with music and media.)
So which device has a UI that is as close to the Shield as possible with expandable memory and isn't the size of a house. 5" is about my max screen size. There is no need to go larger as I already have the Sheild, and I want it to be pocketable. I got rid of my Note because I just kept leaving it on my desk. I would also love to get a 16-20 hour day with heavy use. FWIW my iphone 5s is completley dead by the time 2:00pm rolls around when it comes off the charger at 5:30am. I'm usually not near a charger again until 6:30-7:00pm on average. It's going to be a lot to ask but a 5:30am to 10:00pm battery life would be fantastic...
If you want a stock OS look and MicroSD, get the HTC M8 Google Play Edition. Stock Android, front speakers, and MicroSD support just like the ST.
Not going to be a popular opinion around here but the iPhone 6 gets much much better battery life than the older ones, if you are already invested into iTunes that may be a valid option for you. For me I have the 6 plus and it is cool because I get awesome battery life and then I get completely different games then the ones that are available on my shield tab so I have pretty much the best of both worlds.
Also my reason for going to the iPhone is because I have ATT and needed a carrier subsidized phone, tried the Nexus 6 it is utter crap build quality and the Note 4 is not even rootable, there is not much else that is really modern on ATT.
As far as gaming ready devices, all Qualcomm Snapdragon devices fall into a mediocre range. None of them are really "smooth" at gaming and all of them work hard to provide perpetual fluidity. Bad video drivers and non-existent high clock efficiency mean those devices scale vey poorly, and gaming takes a monstrous drain on the battery for even simple 2D games. If you are looking for a device which can handle gaming in a manner similar to the shield (and aren't too concerned with what you might lose) then tegra phones and iPhones are your best option objectively. It's impossible to recommend a Qualcomm device as better for gaming. If you are just looking for a simple phone with light gaming, then something like the upcoming HTC M9 or a likewise lollipop based device would be fine. But if gaming is your concern (which you don't seem to mention) then my above statements hold very true.
All "stock" suggestions should definitely fly with "but shall include excessive Google bloatware that wouldn't be accepted from Samsung or any other OEM." That much said, crap like Drive Earth Docs Sheets Slides Newsstand Books Music Movies Plus Fit Now Wallet Keyboard Chrome and the ever constant location stalker CAN be disabled quite easily.
Preliminary reports say the S5 is shaping up to perform amazingly on Lollipop. A simple comparison of this tablet and the Nexus 7 and the iPad-Mini-esque Nexus 9, has shown me that it's all about the implementation of lollipop, not comparing who has the biggest version number, that is essential in determining which device is best.
Google Play Edition phones like HTC One M8 or Galaxy S4.
The Moto G and X phones also offer nearly stock OS.
Gaming is not a concern for me with a phone, thats what the Tablet is for. a Pretty stock non-bloated with manufacture crud OS is whats most important I think. Touchwiz was just annoying when I was test driving a Note 3 and on my S2 when I had it. Just didn't enjoy it. I also don't like how big the S5 and such has gotten.
I'll take a closer look at the Google Play edition phones. I wanted to get something direct from carrier to get the subsidy and save some cash... I'm on Rogers in Canada... No Moto X is avaialble, and it doesn't appear to have a micro SD. However the Sony Z3 seems to have a pretty stock version of Android... what are peoples opinions on that device?
Well I wouldn't say it's stock by any means. It's actually fairly heavy on skinning, but it does look nice. Updates will be very slow for Sony phones. But the battery life is fantastic, and the overall hardware is nice. Sony phones can be problematic, but since it's a carrier device you can always yell at Rogers.
Nintonito said:
Well I wouldn't say it's stock by any means. It's actually fairly heavy on skinning, but it does look nice. Updates will be very slow for Sony phones. But the battery life is fantastic, and the overall hardware is nice. Sony phones can be problematic, but since it's a carrier device you can always yell at Rogers.
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Yea, I'm reading more on the Z3 forums and seeing stuff I'm not overly happy with.
One thing that is ever important to me is the speed and quality of the camera, something I'm addicted to on my iphone. I'm a part-time professional photographer along with my day job. So I got a camera for manual control and taking beautiful shot. I love my iphone for the quick burst that I can do within a couple of seconds on the fly (and thats about it that I've found as a pro over Android). I don't know if there is an Android phone out there that can compete, which is very unfortunate. When I was test driving the Note 3, one of the few major reasons I returned it was due to the crappy camera speed/AF. (The others were size and touchwiz)
Moto X, Moto G, Nexus 5, Nexus 6 or the Google Play Edition phones from the play store. Thats about it. I guess the OnePlus One fits the bill also.
I can't recommend the Moto X enough. Mine is absolutely amazing and I've owned QUITE a few different phones over the past few years including Samsung, HTC, Sony, Nexus, ZTE. The Motorola lineup of the past year or so has been nothing short of phenomenal.
I disagree on the basis that the battery life is pretty bad. Like iPhone levels of battery life frankly. I'm surprised people just glaze over that. 2300mah battery with lollipop+amoled is battery hell.
Nintonito said:
I disagree on the basis that the battery life is pretty bad. Like iPhone levels of battery life frankly. I'm surprised people just glaze over that. 2300mah battery with lollipop+amoled is battery hell.
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Do you own one? Because I do. And I routinely hit 18-19 hours with 2.5-3 hours of screen time. Everyone I see complaining about battery life doesn't own one, and are just parroting FUD.
Nintonito said:
I disagree on the basis that the battery life is pretty bad. Like iPhone levels of battery life frankly. I'm surprised people just glaze over that. 2300mah battery with lollipop+amoled is battery hell.
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icase81 said:
Do you own one? Because I do. And I routinely hit 18-19 hours with 2.5-3 hours of screen time. Everyone I see complaining about battery life doesn't own one, and are just parroting FUD.
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I'd also have to agree. I was hesitant about the phone when it was first announced because of the battery and held off buying one until the Cyber Monday coupon deal. Since then, I've added a wireless charging module (thread in the accessories sub-forum for the phone) and I couldn't be happier. Not saying you need a wireless mod, I just missed that from the Nexus 5. But even so, the battery has been above and beyond what I expected, the phone's performance is top notch, Active Display or whatever its called has no second best and Motorola's adherence to near stock Android is the cherry on top.
Like icase said, unless you have one and have something to back up your comment, you're just blowing FUD. My go to devices today are my 2014 Moto X and my Nvidia Shield Tablet.
wired335 said:
My contract is coming up for renewal in late February and I'm thinking of replacing my phone with a new Android device. I realize this might be the wrong forum section to post in, but who better to ask than my fellow Shield lovers.
I had a Galaxy Note (original) and a Galaxy S2 prior, and they weren't bad. For the time Touchwiz, and a poor email client really put me off of Android as a phone primarily for me is a communication device, but I still like to have fun with it.
I ended up going back to Blackberry and have been rocking a Z10 for a long time. But won an iphone 5s through work and have been using that for about the past year. I bought a Z30 recently as it was being sold at a stupidly low price new in box from factory and I am sick and tired of the small screens and piss poor battery life of the iphone.
I also have a first gen Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and I've been complaining about it for the past 6-10 months because of it's size and weight and now that apps are being optimized for newer OS versions it's getting really slow. So my wife bought me a Shield for Christmas and I absoltuley love it!
I love how the UI is on this tablet and now know what all the fuss is about for Andorid. Touchwiz ruins the experience in my opinion. So I'm thinking for my new phone I'm going to get a Lollipop device for sure...the question is which one?
I don't want a Nexus as I don't like the idea of non-expandable memory and my 64gb card in my Sheild is getting pretty full, no way I could survive with a device that isn't at least 64gb (my iphone is 64gb and is usually between 50-60gb loaded up with music and media.)
So which device has a UI that is as close to the Shield as possible with expandable memory and isn't the size of a house. 5" is about my max screen size. There is no need to go larger as I already have the Sheild, and I want it to be pocketable. I got rid of my Note because I just kept leaving it on my desk. I would also love to get a 16-20 hour day with heavy use. FWIW my iphone 5s is completley dead by the time 2:00pm rolls around when it comes off the charger at 5:30am. I'm usually not near a charger again until 6:30-7:00pm on average. It's going to be a lot to ask but a 5:30am to 10:00pm battery life would be fantastic...
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Hi, just my two cents, IMHO the Nvidia Shield is a great tablet but to play PC games you have to stream to Nvidia, so if I want to recommend to you a similar device, the closest phone you can get is the Sony Experia Z3, Android 5 Lollipop, battery levels are very good, beautiful design and you can connect it to a playstation and play the games wireless on your phone with the PS controller. You even get the sound from your controller by connecting the headphones to it.
I have a couple of ideas.
If you can wait, the HTC Hima promises to be a beast. A Snapdragon 810 with a 1080p screen means that it will probably crush every other phone in terms of performace, thanks to every other phone jumping on the pointless 4K train. Look it up. It looks pretty nice. *drool*
If you need something now, then....I know you want a smaller phone, but....I can't recommend the Oneplus One enough.
-It is actually thinner than and not as wide as the Note, dispite its slightly larger screen.
-Even though it has no expandable storage, 64 gigs of internal storage has actually proven more useful to me. I never have to worry about limited storage for application data.
-The battery life on this thing is nuts. I'm a heavy user and I only need to charge it every other day.
-1080p screen. This is a plus because it it uses less resources than a 4k display. And honestly, most, if not all people, cannot tell the difference.
-Snapdragon 801 with 3 gigs of RAM. This thing flies, and multitasks like a champ. I remember a time not too long ago when more than 2gb RAM was considered excessive for most DESKTOP computers. I think its more than the specs that make this thing fly, though. Something in the hardware implementation must be special, because people have been reporting some pretty unbelievable benchmarks. Oh, and Sonic Adventure 2 runs smoothly in Reicast.
-The XDA scene is HUGE for this device. Its the most popular device on the forums. There are, like, 73 billion ROMs for it and maybe 2.5 billion kernels. I've never owned such a popular device. This is my favorite feature.
Its also the one of the only devices I have right now that isn't defective in some way. I tend to have horrible luck when purchasing electronics.
I hope I've helped you reach some sort of conclusion. Good luck. :good:
thanks guys,
I went into my Rogers store and manhandled what they had on display as well as a few open box units. I also took at look at Telus, but they can't meet me on my plan so no point in switching over. But the Moto X seemed like the best device.
I found the Z3 to be the best value for me right now. As I originally mentioned I'm not looking at the phone for gaming, but to be a workhorse and get me through a very heavy use work day. Not having Touch-Wiz was a huge plus for me, and I really enjoyed some of the things they changed in the skin. The camera performed a lot better than the other phones I tried in store. the HTC M8 was a very close contender, but the camera just sucks so horribly it got kicked out of the running faster than I could blink. I honestly think that Nokia/Windows Phone has the best camera interface after playing around with phones the past week, but the Z3 does a pretty good job.
For me it was the battery power, the UI, and the pretty impressive spec sheet that (hopefuly) will not force me to upgrade in the next 18 months that caused me to go with the Z3 overall. Rogers has a pretty limited offering right now which is annoying. I almost went with the Samsung S5, but remembered how much Touch-Wiz pozioned me the first time.
If they had a Nexus 5 32gb in stock I would have probably gone with that instead...and dealt with the size limitiation...but none left for corporate customers.
So my Black Z3 is in the mail and I'm really looking forward to it. Especially since my time frame for getting a new device really escallated with an unexpected smashy smashy of my iphone (dropped it and ran it over with a stroller by complete accident. One of the only times it wasn't cased!) now I need a case for my Z3

The Leaving Party

Hey guys,
It's been a long time since I bothered to post anything here but, I just wanted to make a post to say goodbye.
It's coming up to 2 years since this device was released and now a lot of people on 2 year contract cycles will finally be able to upgrade to a new and better phone.
I was lucky enough to be offered an early upgrade months ago and have been using the s7 edge for about 4 months now.
It's a fantastic phone and it's like heaven after using the G flex 2.
Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not without its own faults, I'm still figuring out how to hold it without constantly touching the edges of the screen.
I've finally traded in my flex 2 though, so I thought I'd share my final opinion of the phone with you all;
Even as I handed the phone over in exchange for a small amount of cash, the clerk commented on how good the flex 2 looks.
That's what I believe won me over to begin with.
It's a beautiful phone, the curved design just draws you in and wraps you up in the screen. It was always so pleasing to hold in your hand and sat very comfortably in a pocket without poking you.
The buttons on the back were (in my opinion) perfectly placed and never ever pressed by accident.
Even the default wallpapers showcased the definition of the screen perfectly with powerful imagery and vibrant colours.
I really wish I could say that such a pleasurable experience as that first moment lasted longer than said first moment.
Unfortunately, the first night I had my flex 2 I bricked it!
I tried to change the lcd density and must have done something wrong because it got stuck in a bootloop.
There was literally zero information on how to recover from this back then so, I took it back to the shop and was given a new one.
If I had had any idea of the future then I would have never accepted a second flex 2...
Over the years I broke another 2 G Flex 2's due to testing everything myself and all the other devs could possibly think of to just do even the simplest modifies on this phone.
In fact, after the 2 years I've had the flex 2, I've found that I'm so far behind the modding and roms scene that I cannot honestly call myself a dev anymore until I feel I've caught up.
As I don't have the kind of money some people do, I can only justify having one phone at a time.
This particular phone (again, in my opinion) has damaged the modifying community, not just because I've fallen behind (that would be a monumental ego trip if I thought that was true) but because so many people have given up truly great work due to lg's policies.
I won't go into it any further as I'm sure you get the point already.
Is anyone else due an upgrade, or are you in the process of dumping this phone anyway?
If you are then please, join me in sharing your final thoughts on the LG G Flex 2.
I'd love to see how other people have been coping with this device for the last 2 years.
TLDR: The LG G flex 2 Is just a pretty face!
Do not get this phone if you are after anything more than an overpriced burner.
X1ras said:
Hey guys,
It's been a long time since I bothered to post anything here but, I just wanted to make a post to say goodbye.
It's coming up to 2 years since this device was released and now a lot of people on 2 year contract cycles will finally be able to upgrade to a new and better phone.
I was lucky enough to be offered an early upgrade months ago and have been using the s7 edge for about 4 months now.
It's a fantastic phone and it's like heaven after using the G flex 2.
Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not without its own faults, I'm still figuring out how to hold it without constantly touching the edges of the screen.
I've finally traded in my flex 2 though, so I thought I'd share my final opinion of the phone with you all;
Even as I handed the phone over in exchange for a small amount of cash, the clerk commented on how good the flex 2 looks.
That's what I believe won me over to begin with.
It's a beautiful phone, the curved design just draws you in and wraps you up in the screen. It was always so pleasing to hold in your hand and sat very comfortably in a pocket without poking you.
The buttons on the back were (in my opinion) perfectly placed and never ever pressed by accident.
Even the default wallpapers showcased the definition of the screen perfectly with powerful imagery and vibrant colours.
I really wish I could say that such a pleasurable experience as that first moment lasted longer than said first moment.
Unfortunately, the first night I had my flex 2 I bricked it!
I tried to change the lcd density and must have done something wrong because it got stuck in a bootloop.
There was literally zero information on how to recover from this back then so, I took it back to the shop and was given a new one.
If I had had any idea of the future then I would have never accepted a second flex 2...
Over the years I broke another 2 G Flex 2's due to testing everything myself and all the other devs could possibly think of to just do even the simplest modifies on this phone.
In fact, after the 2 years I've had the flex 2, I've found that I'm so far behind the modding and roms scene that I cannot honestly call myself a dev anymore until I feel I've caught up.
As I don't have the kind of money some people do, I can only justify having one phone at a time.
This particular phone (again, in my opinion) has damaged the modifying community, not just because I've fallen behind (that would be a monumental ego trip if I thought that was true) but because so many people have given up truly great work due to lg's policies.
I won't go into it any further as I'm sure you get the point already.
Is anyone else due an upgrade, or are you in the process of dumping this phone anyway?
If you are then please, join me in sharing your final thoughts on the LG G Flex 2.
I'd love to see how other people have been coping with this device for the last 2 years.
TLDR: The LG G flex 2 Is just a pretty face!
Do not get this phone if you are after anything more than an overpriced burner.
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Click to collapse
I know where you are coming from.
I recommended the GF2 to the Mrs due to the great specs for the money, (about $250.) The phone looks great but you either have the choice of the H955 which doesn't have enough RAM, or the H950, which is held back by AT&T's crappy software that sucks the battery dry in no time. If I could turn the clock back, I'd never have suggested this phone to the Mrs and I feel a bit guilty as she is stuck with it, (Even guiltier now that I'm one the One Plus 3 which is everything the GF2 should have been.)
Let me join the party as well. Like the OP said, my 2 yrs contract is up and make me choose a new phone to continue with the contract. Well, call me stupid, but I choose the LG V20 (yet another LG). I didn't trade-in my H959 as it will continue to serve me as a backup phone.
There're reasons I choose V20 over other phones. Main reason is the QHD display, and another big reason for it is the replaceable battery.
So far, I also enjoyed the great double barrel shooters as well. I always shoot in manual mode if it is possible (if I have enough time to switch to manual mode). The wide angle lens is superb for group photos, as well as the landscape shootings. The normal lens is also very good for night-time shooting and macro photography. The lens-blur on that camera is awesome.
I'm only disappointed that the battery didn't last much longer than expected. But since the battery is replaceable, I don't mind it at all.
spiderx_mm said:
Let me join the party as well. Like the OP said, my 2 yrs contract is up and make me choose a new phone to continue with the contract. Well, call me stupid, but I choose the LG V20 (yet another LG). I didn't trade-in my H959 as it will continue to serve me as a backup phone.
There're reasons I choose V20 over other phones. Main reason is the QHD display, and another big reason for it is the replaceable battery.
So far, I also enjoyed the great double barrel shooters as well. I always shoot in manual mode if it is possible (if I have enough time to switch to manual mode). The wide angle lens is superb for group photos, as well as the landscape shootings. The normal lens is also very good for night-time shooting and macro photography. The lens-blur on that camera is awesome.
I'm only disappointed that the battery didn't last much longer than expected. But since the battery is replaceable, I don't mind it at all.
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Interesting choice Spider,
When the Mrs's GF2 packs in, I will be advising her to go for the One Plus 3. In many ways the One Plus 3 is the opposite of the V20 as the hardware is inferior in pretty much every way. On the other hand, the software is just awesome and has given me the best Android I've ever experienced.
What I always wonder about the GF2 is how it would have performed running something like CM13. Would this have been the phone that we were always promised?
Masteryates said:
Interesting choice Spider,
When the Mrs's GF2 packs in, I will be advising her to go for the One Plus 3. In many ways the One Plus 3 is the opposite of the V20 as the hardware is inferior in pretty much every way. On the other hand, the software is just awesome and has given me the best Android I've ever experienced.
What I always wonder about the GF2 is how it would have performed running something like CM13. Would this have been the phone that we were always promised?
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I could have choose OP3T, but unfortunately it's not available with my telco, so I've got to stick to LG again. On the other hand, the metal body, the QHD display and QDAC audio is too good to deny this phone. LG's customization to Nougat is also quite decent. The only thing I don't like is the new LG Launcher 5. I've never been a fan of "throw all your icons on the home screen" type launchers. That's one of the reason I don't like XiaoMi phones as well. Luckily, LG let me download the old Launcher 4 "Home & App Drawer" through the "Update Center" and the problem is resolved.
I always would like to run a stripped down version of MM on the GF2. Something like the Slim rom will be awesome. My GF2 H959 has already been on the V20A so I know it can run MM nicely. Just hope that it could run faster.
for my Mrs, I get her a Sony Xperia XZ becoz she's been complaining me a lot how bad the photos taken by her G3 is. Japanese built quality, dedicated shutter button, ip68 certified, and the awesome iA mode on the camera, she's quite satisfied with tha t phone as well.
spiderx_mm said:
I could have choose OP3T, but unfortunately it's not available with my telco, so I've got to stick to LG again. On the other hand, the metal body, the QHD display and QDAC audio is too good to deny this phone. LG's customization to Nougat is also quite decent. The only thing I don't like is the new LG Launcher 5. I've never been a fan of "throw all your icons on the home screen" type launchers. That's one of the reason I don't like XiaoMi phones as well. Luckily, LG let me download the old Launcher 4 "Home & App Drawer" through the "Update Center" and the problem is resolved.
I always would like to run a stripped down version of MM on the GF2. Something like the Slim rom will be awesome. My GF2 H959 has already been on the V20A so I know it can run MM nicely. Just hope that it could run faster.
for my Mrs, I get her a Sony Xperia XZ becoz she's been complaining me a lot how bad the photos taken by her G3 is. Japanese built quality, dedicated shutter button, ip68 certified, and the awesome iA mode on the camera, she's quite satisfied with tha t phone as well.
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I'd always discounted One Plus from any decision due to it being a Chinese phone with Chinese support.
That changed here in the UK where they teamed up with O2 and sold it in there stores. What really sold the OP3 to me though was the 6GB RAM. Lets face it, for now and the future, you can never have enough RAM.
I agree with you regarding the Camera on the G3. Its the same camera as the GF2 and whilst good in decent lighting, in low lighting it gets its focus wrong time and time again. It's so bad on the Mrs's phone that my LG G2 used to take better shots.

Thoughts about the Moto X Pure/Style after extended usage

The point of this post is just to share my thoughts about the direction Motorola has taken with flagships. After using this phone for more than a year I can conclude:
Besides near stock Android and Turbo charging, the phone is mediocre at best. I have never felt as good as what i felt with my previous flagships (a Oneplus One).
The Battery life is way below average. After using the phone for a year the battery has really started to show its age and its not lasting as long as it should.
Another annoying issue I noticed is the fact that Motorola implements almost the same design language for their lower end G series and X series. Apart from the size, someone who isn't a tech geek can easily mistake my Pure for a lower end Motorola phone. The new Z series has fixed this, but again it would be difficult for the uninitiated to tell the difference between a Moto Z Play and the more premium Moto Z. Samsung, LG, HTC, Xiaomi go to great lengths to ensure that their flagships stand out and look very different from the budget phones.
I dont think i need to mention the fact that ever since Lenovo has taken over, the update wait time has increased a great deal, new reports suggest that the Pure will only get Noughat in May 2017
The developers that choose to work on the Pure deserve a lot of credit, but the fact is that a lot of developers chose to develop for other devices rather than the Pure.
A lot of accessory manufacturers decided that the moto X Pure didn't deserve any attention. To find a decent case was not very easy, (I especially missed using a Spigen case) and the fact that there is not a single working tempered Screen glass protector proves this. (I know the Pleson works almost 100% but its not available freely in all countries neither is it perfect.)
In conclusion I'm pretty sure this will be my last Motorola phone simply because it would be smarter to spend a little more and get a Galaxy, and with phones like the Oneplus 3T it makes little sense to buy a phone like the Moto Z which is priced considerably higher.
Would love to hear from other people what they think and if they are going to stay loyal to Motorola.
Heavy weight
Easy to get heated
The point about sharing design with mid range Moto phones is dope. People often ask if it's a Moto X Play or a Moto G 3rd Gen and then we need to tell them it's X Style ??
Well ... I understand your point of view, but what I think is that you chose badly the device, since you found him "mediocre at best"
The points listed:
Comparing the most powerful AND STABLE 32-bit processor to the second in line of Qualcomm's 64-bit generation SOC's with new architecture and everything else, I believe to be extremely wrong, since after the SD810 fiasco the creation of the SD808 was the fix the company used (and i think it was a good one, but this is something mostly disagree with me '^^)
About the OnePlus One, it is really a beast phone with the SD801 (the 32bits GOD) and i understand that you had a remarkable experience with it, since i had (now it is with my girlfriend) an Xperia Z3 with the same SD801 as the OnePlus One i understand when you say it was a more fluid usage, since i think the same, but... I don't think you can compare something that is pretty stable with some new technology.
I never had any problems with the battery because i use as a normal phone and i play games only at home and waiting in lines (bank/medic/...), it gives me something next to 18 hours (stock ROM/kernel) of use with 3 hour SOT or 7 to 8 hours SOT when i use it to watch movies/series/animes in my bed, mostly at weekends. Through the week i unplug it from charger at 6:30, go to work, and at 18:00 i go back home (40 ~ 35% left), the weekend is always a mess for battery stats,
As for the design I don’t have much to say, because I find it very beautiful, and being same design language is a plus for me, i like to have a “invisible phone” in the croud, only people that asks me what is my phone should know the answer.
Now the two really bad points ...
As for Lenovo acquiring Motorola, I fully agree that it was dumb, at least it should keep Motorola working as it always did.
And the lack of smartphone accessories really is laughable
We can keep talking about it, but i really think is a good phone and the testing Nougat ROM's are amazing, i can't wait for the official Nougat update.
btw all samsungs look the same too, comapre new A series with S: very simmilar glass on glass design.
other than that, you're right there are some dissapoitments but it's not real flagship phone, it's more like very good mid-end device, It was never priced like a flagship so don't expect it to be real flagship - that's my opinion. OPO is a differen't story, they managed to get price down with other ways like it's distribution, services ect.
It is a flagship phone. Why would you think otherwise? SD 8xx, 5.7" 2K screen, 21 MP back camera, etc. Upon release the starting price for 16gb was $399, while most mid range phones hit at $250-$300. At this point, nearly 2 years later, it could be considered a mid range but that is because hardware moves forward.
As to my thoughts: I think this is a great phone, even now. I run unrooted stock and pretty much it is a Nexus device with a few extras for customization thrown via Moto apps. These apps are few and I appreciate that they add actual additional features and not just replicate what Android and Google actually does already. The phone runs smooth, has a good camera for good lighting, and handles everything I throw at it. I will admit that battery life could be better, but it is acceptable and at least the turbo charge makes up for this shortcoming. I don't regret this purchase, even if the update process is dismal.
Update: I have hit the end of my warranty period, so I unlocked the bootloader and rooted. I have applied my favorite rooted apps and settings (Xposed, amplify, Greenify, TiBu to disable/uninstall certain apps and services, BBS to track wakelocks, and AdAway) so hopefully I will see improved battery life.
I bought the phone 6 months ago and I love it. I always used to be a android tinkerer. But recently most of the features that I used to root for have become stock. All I really need in a phone is stock android (although I wish we would get updates sooner) and the front facing speakers (because anything else is stupid). While I will probably be buying whatever google has out when I decide that it is time to upgrade in a year or two. It isn't due to anything motorola did wrong in particular. I also tend to keep phones a long time and upgrade to a tried and tested phone (which 6 months ago was the moto x pure, getting great reviews.) I upgraded from the Galaxy Note 2, and this was a wonderful step up.
I bought mine used last summer, upgrading from a Galaxy Note II. I'm a little disappointed in the battery life, but it gets me through most days. I agree about the lack of accessories and the slowing speed of updates. I'm also amazed at how well my Note II still stands up while running a custom MM Rom. I hope the X Pure works that well when it is that old.
But there are things that I really love about this phone too. I am amazed at how good the front speakers sound. I never thought I would care this much, but they are really good. I'm happy with the camera, since most of my photography is in good lighting conditions. This is my first phone with a camera that was good enough to not bother with a point and shoot. I'll move to a custom ROM if the updates stop altogether, but they haven't stopped yet. I'm happy that it still has a headphone jack, I use it all the time. Speed is fast enough to never annoy me, where my Note 2 was fast enough to rarely annoy me.
I choose this phone as an aging flagship instead of a midrange (Honor 5X, Asus Zenfone Laser 2, Moto G 3rd Gen) and I'm glad that I did.
Note2 versus Moto X Pure Edition
Znomon said:
I bought the phone 6 months ago and I love it. I always used to be a android tinkerer. But recently most of the features that I used to root for have become stock. All I really need in a phone is stock android (although I wish we would get updates sooner) and the front facing speakers (because anything else is stupid). While I will probably be buying whatever google has out when I decide that it is time to upgrade in a year or two. It isn't due to anything motorola did wrong in particular. I also tend to keep phones a long time and upgrade to a tried and tested phone (which 6 months ago was the moto x pure, getting great reviews.) I upgraded from the Galaxy Note 2, and this was a wonderful step up.
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smallmj said:
I bought mine used last summer, upgrading from a Galaxy Note II. I'm a little disappointed in the battery life, but it gets me through most days. I agree about the lack of accessories and the slowing speed of updates. I'm also amazed at how well my Note II still stands up while running a custom MM Rom. I hope the X Pure works that well when it is that old.
But there are things that I really love about this phone too. I am amazed at how good the front speakers sound. I never thought I would care this much, but they are really good. I'm happy with the camera, since most of my photography is in good lighting conditions. This is my first phone with a camera that was good enough to not bother with a point and shoot. I'll move to a custom ROM if the updates stop altogether, but they haven't stopped yet. I'm happy that it still has a headphone jack, I use it all the time. Speed is fast enough to never annoy me, where my Note 2 was fast enough to rarely annoy me.
I choose this phone as an aging flagship instead of a midrange (Honor 5X, Asus Zenfone Laser 2, Moto G 3rd Gen) and I'm glad that I did.
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Note 2 holdout here too . I'm just finishing up my first week since the upgrade and am quite pleased so far. I have the feeling that the MXPE is going to be a good low maintenance, long haul phone that I can get a few good years of service out of without too much hand-holding, just like with the Note. And with a nice, bright LCD screen instead of Led, I won't ever have to worry about burn-in or custom kernels to help correct green tint; pretty much everything just works. In fact, there's a ton of features that used to require a special app or a custom rom on the Note 2 that are built right in to the X, so there was a lot less effort required out-of-the-box to get everything to work, and on the stock Rom, no less! Even tethering works on the stock rom, which is something that I've never seen on any smartphone in my life.
Comparing the battery life of the two devices, I have yet to conclude any formal tests, but so far, the Pure Edition looks like it's going to be delivering 3-4 hours of screen-on time at best, while the Note 2 delivered as much as 4-5 hours on a good day. That said, I used that phone much more conservatively, so that could have something to do with it, but overall, the runtime of the Pure Edition isn't looking all that great. I think it's just got too much power for its own good, and when you combine that with a ludicrously-high screen resolution, (which demands more effort to render those high-resolution fonts and animations) it strains the CPU and GPU more. Time will tell if things improve after I settle in with it.
Overall I am happy with my X pure, though I share some of the others gripes.
Pros
-Screen
-Above average camera
-Good front camera with flash
-Good CPU, 3GB RAM
-front speakers
-no complaint on call quality
-Sd card slot - I have a 64GB card split as 20GB adopted and 40GB external
-moto ROM is near stock
-Moto features are well done (lock screen notifications)
-Simple unlock/root process
-GSM & CDMA = yes on VZ
-Quich charge 2
-understated design (I like it, others not as much)
- PRICE for these features unmatched
Cons
-Gets hot under load
-Battery life could be better - depends on how much I use it. GPS OFF helps. QC is a necessity with this phone
- lack of choice for accessories
- curved back - one handed is a chore and can't use on the table face up. It does feel nice to hold for a call though.
Other
- upgrade cycle has been slower than some would like. However it still exists at least. Other phones would be dead by now, this one is still alive.
Overall, Pros outweigh the cons and there is a lot for me to love about this phone.
I think I have been spoiled, because I'm finding it hard to find a device to upgrade to without sacrifices. The only phones I would consider are the Pixel and Moto G4 and one is expensive and the other underpowered.
well, i did the poll but i did it as a yes i would buy another, with condition of course.
i came from the original disappointed motorola fans, the Photon 4G fan. back then... it was the photon of the era. It had the ability to work as a PC, GSM capabilities, 4G wimax and at the time was the best performance with dual core 1 gigahertz and qHD. really a prime of a phone at that time compared to the S2 and the evo. cyanogenmod came out and did wonders on that phone because moto blur was so trashy. Then... the worst happened. Sprint ordered motorola to lock down the bootloader to 2.3.6 which is severely locked and no modifications were allowed to be done anymore. those who were lucky to not have 2.3.6 were able to mod to ICS but those who had 2.3.6 had to bootstrap the phone to work with cyanogenmod and that even was a piss poor attempt at making it work.
now i buy the moto x pure with alot of resentment from the photon but after hearing the reviews is when i bought it. after plagues of hardware problems with hte nexus 5 i simply needed a way to go back and the best device was the moto x. i was so sure i wanted this phone i custom ordered it (after reading rave reviews), i ordered the black leather with red accent 64 gig with 2 years protection. with over a year on this phone... i will admit i still love it.
there were a few hardware problems but i do have the 2 year protection and they did repair it for me... replaced the screen and the battery and wireless modules. i since then have not had problems with it (and believe they remedied the issues that i had with the older devices). i own an HTC M9, and my sister has the s7 edge. the only thing i like about the m9 is the dolby atmos and the carrier aggregation (hoping for a wireless update for the X). other than that... my phone is still superior despite older technology.
why?
i love my moto x because of the moto display. my absolute favorite! i also love the flash light and camera gestures.
the camera works great, signal is still better than most other phones, it barely crashes, the speakers still work very well, still speedy, turbo charge is still an amazing product and i bought the car charger for it. battery had 90 mins on screen time and still has 41% battery and i like the fact its unlocked gsm. i tried freedom pop a few weeks ago and i put that sim in. switched over quickly and it worked great then when i was done... i put my sprint sim back in and it worked just as great too.
the reason i dont see much to switch to however is because samsung, LG, and HTC hasnt really enticed me yet as to why their phone is better. samsung i have to see what will make them different... but LG really hasnt enticed me and im curious on what HTC does, though im not a metal phone fan (feel the feraday cage idea disintegrates the signal, IMO). Pixel is nice... but i simply dont have the money.
what would make me switch to another phone...
1) 4 gig of ram (preferably 6 gigs)
2) HPUE has to be baked in for Sprint LTE at a minimum but 5 channel aggregation would be amazing, AND GSM UNLOCKED
3) best camera software
4) minimum 5.5 inch screen
5) battery that will last for full 24 hours without need of charge or quick charge 4.0 with dual pol
6) shatter resistance and waterproof
for now... the moto x meets my demands without incremental improvements until i see whats next. hopefully a moto z successor that actually works on sprint
In the 2 years it has been out the update cycle has been slower than Samsung's Motorola did not deliver on the support side the main selling point they had with this device was it was going to be similar to the Nexus upgrade cycle well my warranty was up before the first update came out... In addition to the fiasco that is accessories for this phone I am really regretting not going with the LG v10
I don't know why everyone still complains about the accessories. This was never a mainstream device since it was completely carrier independent and sold unlocked. The previous Moto X (and Moto G) line was sold as both branded and unlocked so they were actually seen at pretty much any company that sold cellular service. For those looking for contract or payment plan pricing, they could get it from the carrier. With limited visibility, and the lack of payment plans through carriers the Pure was just not that popular. Companies that make accessories are going to focus on popular selling phones first as that is where they will make the most money... At least we have some options.
I sold my Moto X Pure to buy a Google Pixel XL.
If I were to sell the Pixel XL, then the Moto X Pure is the only phone I'd consider buying.
It was the best all-around phone I've ever had.
I'd even go with it over the new OnePlus 3 second edition or Galaxy S7 variants.
Regardless of price.
Moto Z. lmao what a stinker that phone is compared to Moto X Pure.
Unless you want pretty. Then you shouldn't even be on XDA if that's all you care about.
Interesting comments. I've been a Nexus owner for years, with the 6P being my prior phone. It became my prior phone due to the all too common Boot Loop of Death (BLOD) that seems to be impacting more and more owners. While Huawei did replace it with a refurb'ed model, not in mint shape like the one I sent, but it did come back with 128g instead of the 32g I sent. The battery is terrible as compared with the MXPE, I've been through most of the custom roms/kernels and nothing has really helped and I don't do social media nor play games on it. The built in features of the Moto really impressed me, they are actually functional and add value. The Moto Display is excellent as is the voice recognition of the Moto voice. The bluetooth stack seems to have issues (with me at least), my cell signal is a bit worse and the lack of updates is sad.
I've considered the Pixel, but the price is insane and after having the Pixel features on the 6P I'm happy with the Moto.
When I got my 6P back, it took about a week to change my sim back to it from the Moto, I put it back in the Moto the next day and don't plan on taking it out.
I've had several issues with my Moto X Pure:
1. Frequent static emanating from the headphone jack, which puts a real damper on quiet classical music. I've read on discussion boards that this is a known problem with jacks on the Moto X.
2. Failure to recognize SD cards. I'm now on my third card, and the phone is less than a year old.
3. The camera now fails to operate because of a "lack of disk space" -- although I have more than 24GB available.
Like you, I will never buy another Motorola phone.
Gourdman said:
I've had several issues with my Moto X Pure:
1. Frequent static emanating from the headphone jack, which puts a real damper on quiet classical music. I've read on discussion boards that this is a known problem with jacks on the Moto X.
2. Failure to recognize SD cards. I'm now on my third card, and the phone is less than a year old.
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1. This is interesting and must be sample-specific. I'm a pretty avid music listener and haven't had any problems with the headphone output on either of my MXPEs (had to RMA my first toward the end of the warranty period). I'd definitely notice and complain if there were any perceptible noise.
2. This one I do have experience with. I bought a brand new Samsung EVO 64 GB mSD card at the same time as the phone, and it gave me fits, but seems to work in other devices. Tried an older SanDisk I had laying around and it's worked fine.
ominousnimbus said:
1. This is interesting and must be sample-specific. I'm a pretty avid music listener and haven't had any problems with the headphone output on either of my MXPEs (had to RMA my first toward the end of the warranty period). I'd definitely notice and complain if there were any perceptible noise.
2. This one I do have experience with. I bought a brand new Samsung EVO 64 GB mSD card at the same time as the phone, and it gave me fits, but seems to work in other devices. Tried an older SanDisk I had laying around and it's worked fine.
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I've had issues with static, but only on some select 3.5mm plugs. I just figure it was that specific plug itself.
Have had no issues with my SanDisk plus. I use it as removable storage and not as adopted storage. But going back to your statement, I have owned a multiple phones and have noticed some don't play well with certain brands of cards but do well with others. I'm not sure why this is but it does happen.
I really hope I don't get SD slot troubles. My Note 2 did that and it drove me crazy. Maybe next time I should just shell out for a 64+ GB phone.
Times have changed
smallmj said:
I really hope I don't get SD slot troubles. My Note 2 did that and it drove me crazy. Maybe next time I should just shell out for a 64+ GB phone.
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Newer versions of Android (and their apps, along with the stock Rom apparently) are not nearly as frugal with the 16GB of storage as the Note2 was. I'm already at 7.8/9.6GB used with just a basic load of apps and data (music is on the card and camera photos are also directed to be stored there) on the MXPE.
For comparison, my Note2 has a massive load of software & data, plus a ton of camera photos, all on the main storage volume, and only 6.26GB out of the total 10.95GB available are used.
All that to say that 16GB used to be plenty, but "modern" software is just too bloated for that. If I do upgrade phones anytime in the next ~2 years, it'll probably be to a larger Moto X Pure Edition, but for now, that 64GB MicroSD card should be plenty adequate.

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