[Q] Which phone to get? - General Questions and Answers

Hi, I'm currently using the Galaxy S4 i9500 and I'm looking to change to new phone in less than a week. I'm currently deciding between the Nexus 6 and Galaxy S6 (normal, not edge) and while I like the stock build of Android, bigger screen, the promise of two years worth of consistent software updates and you know, no Samsung bloatware, the S6 offers me a much better camera and also a more pocketable size. Also, glass trumps plastic on the back and Samsung after-service can easily be found in my country, while Motorola is basically non-existent. (I'm not even sure there is one, I'm going abroad to buy it, but in my two years with the S4 I've never had to service it anyway).
You're probably saying the S6 is a clear winner, but there's one thing that makes me hesitant - my poor experience with the S4. In particular, lagginess, poor delivery of software updates and battery life. The S4 has just downright awful battery life (2:30 SOT, 8-9h overall) and lags a lot too. While I'm quite sure that lagginess has been fixed (I got to play around with a demo unit which was butter smooth), I'm still hesitant on software update speed and battery life. The fact that the battery can't be swapped out means that the battery life, if it's not good at first, will only continue to fall. GSMArena shows a higher rating on the S6, but I've heard more positive things about the N6 battery, and Pocketnow reports only 2.3h of SOT on the S6.

AB__CD said:
Hi, I'm currently using the Galaxy S4 i9500 and I'm looking to change to new phone in less than a week. I'm currently deciding between the Nexus 6 and Galaxy S6 (normal, not edge) and while I like the stock build of Android, bigger screen, the promise of two years worth of consistent software updates and you know, no Samsung bloatware, the S6 offers me a much better camera and also a more pocketable size. Also, glass trumps plastic on the back and Samsung after-service can easily be found in my country, while Motorola is basically non-existent. (I'm not even sure there is one, I'm going abroad to buy it, but in my two years with the S4 I've never had to service it anyway).
You're probably saying the S6 is a clear winner, but there's one thing that makes me hesitant - my poor experience with the S4. In particular, lagginess, poor delivery of software updates and battery life. The S4 has just downright awful battery life (2:30 SOT, 8-9h overall) and lags a lot too. While I'm quite sure that lagginess has been fixed (I got to play around with a demo unit which was butter smooth), I'm still hesitant on software update speed and battery life. The fact that the battery can't be swapped out means that the battery life, if it's not good at first, will only continue to fall. GSMArena shows a higher rating on the S6, but I've heard more positive things about the N6 battery, and Pocketnow reports only 2.3h of SOT on the S6.
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Love ? s6

I think you should buy Nexus 6. Why? Reason is simple. Why are you on XDA? Because you are interested in Android stuff, developing, etc. Nexus 6 have amazingly big support! That means, that you'll get updates first. Custom ROMs will release on your device more often. So, the final choice is on you, but if I were you, I would buy Nexus 6 (It's my dream smartphone right now).

I don't really tinker much with custom ROMs, so it's not a high priority. I'd like to ask if the S6 has multiple user accounts though

Related

Any regrets?

Any one coming from an S4 regrets getting the nexus 5?
None! It was my biggest worry but I defnintely don't regret it. I love not having all the bloat that the S4 had. Even with a smaller battery, I'm getting better battery results than I ever did on the S4 as well. I honestly don't see a difference in the camera either.
My absolute biggest worry was losing all the space. Coming from a phone with a 64gb external sd card worried me a lot, but I finally gave in and subscribed the the Google Music service and I couldn't be happier.
Once all the ROM's fix the Sprint data issue, this phone will be even better, but I have no regrets.
Coming from an S4 too, gods I hated that phone, the bloatware, the knox (introduced after I bought it).
The battery life i find is better on my Nexus 5, seem strange but it's true, it waste very little battery power when on stand by.
The only thing I miss of the S4 is the camera. the Nexus' one is a clear step back, but I don't mind really I don't take many photos.
now i currently have an htc one with a cracked screen and i want to replace it.. Im an att user and well can get the s4 for like $150 but can always sell it buy the nexus and still have money left.. But one of the main issues i had with the HTC one is that no one! made accessories for it... like i was never able to find a waterproof cover, etc etc.. Im a bit worry that it will be the same with the nexus 5, that because it is not as popular it wont have many accessories
The only thing I miss is the AMOLED screen from my S3. It's a far better quality of colour reproduction. The N5 is a bit washed out.... but it is far sharper. Oh... and the camera SUCKS on the N5 in anything but perfect lighting conditions. I miss the shutter speed on the Samsungs. But this should be fixed in the next update.
Battery life isn't nearly as bad as I was lead to believe.
I like my S4 better. My S4 has better reception, I stripped off the extras I did not like. I currently have a 4.4 rom on my S4 so spare me the updates line, I unlocked it and added the TMobile band. What I hate about N5 is the body. Its a nightmare. Sharp edges where the glass meets plastic, the lens mount, power button is too high, feels cheap and feels horrible in my hand. As for price, with etf+tax+1st month, my S4 was only $30 more. Not much in savings
It's not a bad device once you get past the body, seems plenty fast, takes ok pics, battery life is ok. So it's not horrible and is starting it's life with top end hardware specs unlike the N4. It's just not for me. If it came in a similar body to the N4 or would have shaped the glass like the S3, it would have been a home run.
trendiggity said:
The only thing I miss is the AMOLED screen from my S3. It's a far better quality of colour reproduction. The N5 is a bit washed out.... but it is far sharper. Oh... and the camera SUCKS on the N5 in anything but perfect lighting conditions. I miss the shutter speed on the Samsungs. But this should be fixed in the next update.
Battery life isn't nearly as bad as I was lead to believe.
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From the S3? I had 2 of those and came to this. Not even comparable. The N5 destroys the S3 in EVERY way. Low light pictures, sunny day pictures, the camera is better on the N5. The S3 is supersaturated and does not reproduce color accurately at all.
I've had a n4, s4 and now have n5. Think they are all brilliant phones. I think I can certainly feel the performance on the n5 though and I really like the screen. It has such an understated no frills look about it and that really appeals to me. I loved the s4 but it was a bit blingy for my liking and I didn't feel like it was so much as a blank canvas as what the nexus 5 is if that makes sense.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Alo also trying to get into custom room and apps development... Is there any advantages on using the nexus instead of the samsung? I
SuperMiguel said:
Any one coming from an S4 regrets getting the nexus 5?
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I'm on my 2nd day with the 5 coming from an S4 running and early CM build of Kit Kat. So far, the only thing I really miss about the S4 is the screen. I guess I'm used to that super saturated AMOLED display. The Nexus display is sharper but like some others have said, a little washed out looking by comparison. The Nexus is noticeably faster and the battery life is about the same which is impressive considering I had a 3000mah battery in the S4. I think I'll be sticking with the 5 mostly for the dev community. I've always been a fan of straight AOSP and can't stand the OEM skins. The Nexus will be much more future proof than the S4. Getting new versions of Android on the Samsung will always be a bit hacky.
fallingd0wn said:
I'm on my 2nd day with the 5 coming from an S4 running and early CM build of Kit Kat. So far, the only thing I really miss about the S4 is the screen. I guess I'm used to that super saturated AMOLED display. The Nexus display is sharper but like some others have said, a little washed out looking by comparison. The Nexus is noticeably faster and the battery life is about the same which is impressive considering I had a 3000mah battery in the S4. I think I'll be sticking with the 5 mostly for the dev community. I've always been a fan of straight AOSP and can't stand the OEM skins. The Nexus will be much more future proof than the S4. Getting new versions of Android on the Samsung will always be a bit hacky.
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any issues running this phone on att? and how come only tmobile and sprint got it?
My S4 had better/stronger signal and a more HD intensive screen. I don't know how to explain it.
My N5 is faster definitely, but camera is kind of laggy though. The vibration motor is weaker, but still good.
Depends on budget, I'd go for a Note 3 over S4 for the price range.
But for $350, there is nothing better than the Nexus 5.
fallingd0wn said:
I think I'll be sticking with the 5 mostly for the dev community. I've always been a fan of straight AOSP and can't stand the OEM skins.
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I think this is a great comment. Coming from the Sprint S4, for some reason, the dev community never really sped up like I thought it would. Sure, there were some great ROM's, but it was pretty much between a couple Touchwiz ROM's and hoping that 3minit would work, or you had AOSP based ROM's where you were happy to have working data.
While working data on Sprint with some ROM's is an early challenge, it doesn't look like it will be an issue long term (there's already a flashable fix) and we already have a wide variety of ROM's available.
I definitely don't miss Touchwiz whatsoever.
dicecuber said:
My S4 had better/stronger signal and a more HD intensive screen. I don't know how to explain it.
My N5 is faster definitely, but camera is kind of laggy though. The vibration motor is weaker, but still good.
Depends on budget, I'd go for a Note 3 over S4 for the price range.
But for $350, there is nothing better than the Nexus 5.
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Im eligible with att for upgrade, so i can get the S4 for like $150, either way ill get it... Then sell it and back the rest, while i care about dev, im more worried about accessories availability, like for example a waterproof cover, i take my phone alot in my boat, and its wet alot..
I am starting to have regrets as I'm having issues with push notifications that I can't resolve. I might end up having to return the phone for a refund. If that issue can be fixed though, then I would have no regrets at all. I think the Nexus 5 is an otherwise great phone.
SuperMiguel said:
Im eligible with att for upgrade, so i can get the S4 for like $150, either way ill get it... Then sell it and back the rest, while i care about dev, im more worried about accessories availability, like for example a waterproof cover, i take my phone alot in my boat, and its wet alot..
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Funny you say that, because my first S4 was water damaged in a boating incident lol. it was deemed unrepairable by 5+ cell phone repair shops. So I purchased a Note 2 afterwards. Sold that and bought another S4. I loved that device too much. My device was then stolen so I had to use a old POS non-smartphone for 2 months. I couldn't see myself spending another $600+ to buy another S4. So I jumped on buying a nexus 5. I love the Nexus 5 now. 1080p 5inch screen quad core processor 2gb ram to name a few.
I have the n4 and s4 sitting next to me currently my s4 is on sprint while my n5 is on straight talk att. And I can tell you IMO that my n5 in ALL areas is better than both devices. One area that is extremely noticeable is the all around speed and smoothness of the n5 when compared to the other phones. Also typing and touch seems a lot more responsive on this device as well. Often times I would find typing on the s4 to be choppy and laggy and often couldn't keep up. And I am running the latest official 4.3 release from sprint all stock. Tried swapping keyboards too on it and its just not the same as the n5. I do a ton of multi tasking on my phone. And this is where the n5 really shines. I can jump between texting and surfing the web and checking emails without a single hitch. And I really love that. I have owned all the major Samsung phones and after the n4 I have been pretty much hooked on nexus devices. As for the camera I actually find it on par with my s4 a lot of people talk about shutter lag but I find the shutter speed to be about the same as it is on the s4. So not much of a difference there. And in a lot of my low light shots my n5 out performed my s4. So all around I am a pretty happy camper. Oh and service on at straight talk is so much better than sprint for me. I get consistent LTE everywhere.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app
From reading the more in-depth reviews the Nexus 5 screen has some of the most accurate colours on an LCD beating out iPhone models even which are known for their calibration. It however does not have as high of a contrast ratio as even the LG G2 or the saturated colours AMOLED screens are known for. That mixed with the slightly smaller usable screen space when including the Home bar on the N5 would give the S4 the brighter and more stand out screen at first glance and on store shelves.
Myself I prefer accurate colours versus over saturated ones and only use high brightness settings when being used in direct sunlight. That being said after seeing AMOLED's "completely off" black levels (and the features it can bring such as Glance support and 24/7 Daydream) no black screen on IPS can ever look as dark.
I hated how weak the s4 would feel. I was afraid to put it in my pocket becausw it would break. And i hated the screen. You could see there were 2 0arts of the screen and the digitixer was glued under a piece of plastic. While with the nexus everything is so nice. I know in 4 months I will get bored of aosp roms and miss some tw features but whatever there is time till then.
i just found out that the S4 is at a very bad spot at the moment, if you have their latest baseband you cant use custom kernels, etc.. So that may lean me more towards the s5

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

Is it still worth buying a S6 in 2017 ?

So I want to get a new phone, and I was thinking of getting the S6 by the way my budget looks like at the moment since I am thinking a new phone in the price range I have in mine won't offer anything up to that. I want to mention that I am not a heavy user, but I do want a phone with a good camera, audio and display quality.
Also I won't look at buying a new one, but a second hand one.
Hi !
What's your price range ?
The S6 is really a good device and have indeed a good camera, audio and display quality but the bad point is battery life.
With 2550mah I can get only 1 full day with 3hours of screen on. I have changed my battery since a few month now.
Getting a second hand S6 will expose you to the risk of getting even worst battery life.
Only problem is battery...
Imho phone without 3k+ mah battery isnt enough no matter heavy user or not...
All the rest s6 is more the enough
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
Now that's some good advice above!
Like mentioned above, you'll probably have to replace the battery if it's a second hand though
It is still a very, very good phone but you may have to invest in a external battery if you are away from a mains power source for quite a while
Sent from my SM-G920F using XDA-Developers mobile app
Darktitor said:
Hi !
What's your price range ?
The S6 is really a good device and have indeed a good camera, audio and display quality but the bad point is battery life.
With 2550mah I can get only 1 full day with 3hours of screen on. I have changed my battery since a few month now.
Getting a second hand S6 will expose you to the risk of getting even worst battery life.
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My price range is up to 300 euros/dollars.
If you like to put AOSP custom roms on your phone, stay away from the S6. It is on it's way, but from from being completely stable.
XxNicxX11 said:
If you like to put AOSP custom roms on your phone, stay away from the S6. It is on it's way, but from from being completely stable.
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I am not really into meddling with my phone with different ROMs, usually I am comfortable with the phones I buy and their ROMs
Raulz0r said:
I am not really into meddling with my phone with different ROMs, usually I am comfortable with the phones I buy and their ROMs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the case, it's a great phone! The Exynos 7420 is plenty fast, as it was truly ahead of its time. Battery life is decent. Screen is great.
for the given price and the amount of roms available not at all(and battery is like ****)... i made a foolish decision by buying this phone in 2016 when one plus 3 was available at a cheaper price... don't but this phone now.
I think if you can pick up an s6 for between 200-250 pounds, that's a good deal. It has a decent soc, screen and camera, yes battery could be better but that comes down to your usage and at some point depending on how old the handset is you might want to have the battery replaced. If you really value battery life then there are probably better devices but you will give up screen/cpu/ camera quality.
this year a lot middle range phones comes wit sd625 chip, which has +- performance like s6 Exynos. new sd 625 brand phones (if not Chinese brands) are expensive or same price like s6, but without super camera or screen like s6, wireless charger and etc. One bad thing with s6 - battery. I better buy 2 year old new s6 than mid class than mid class this year phone.
Raulz0r said:
I am not really into meddling with my phone with different ROMs, usually I am comfortable with the phones I buy and their ROMs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can go for the S6 then !
You may have to replace the battery or buy a powerbank which is QC 2.0 compatible for best charging speed.
Like it has been said above, mid range phones will fail in the camera part and in the material used to build the device.
The only good point would be that mid range 2017 will get longer support than the S6 which is almost 2 years old now.
Anyway, Samsung updated the S6 to Nougat which is a really good news and the experience is even better than it was before.
You can also enjoy pretty neat features that you won't find on other mid range phones like the wireless charging, the led notification (not present in mid range samsung) or again the amazing camera
S6 is still a very good device. The camera is still one of the bests, the processor is fast enough, the display is magnificent. The battery is the only big disadvantage.
my s6 is 2years old and im still using it now,very good camera,very good display,still fast and smooth only downsidr is battery so i have a powerkbank when im outside
in my opinion it is worth to buy s6 until now
Just make sure the device has had the battery replaced as the original one will have degraded quite a bit in the last two years.
you better buy oneplus because even if you buy s8 its not worht it because you dont get support so wait for the one plus 5 with 8 gb ram, dual camera, fingerprint on the back, 5.5 inch amoled qhd display, oneplus logo with backlight you can use it as home button, and snapdragon 835 clocked at 2.45.
and its gonna kick the s8 of its thrones
Hey Raulz0r!
I own a Galaxy S6, and I have to say, it's an amazing phone camera/performance/display wise. The downside is the battery, but in my daily use, that only happens when I'm on 3G/4G data as it really drains the battery out so that's why I bought a 10000mah portable charger/power bank and now my phone's battery life doesn't bother me that much anymore. But if you're not into the habit of carrying a portable charger around, well, that will be a problem.
Cheers
If I had the opportunity I would definitely buy S8 or S8+. It is great if you are coming from old model phone also.
I bought S6 in january 2017 and I will pay for it around 240eur in total. Its on contract for 2years and costs Me 9,94eur a month. This purchase was spontan as My old phone (LG G3) contract was almost over and I kinda wanted a new phone. LG G3 still works ok and I willing to sell it. My toughts about tgis phone right now - somewhere in middle. Biggest issue I have is whit touchscreen. I don't know it is Me or what but response can be sometimes too sensitive and not responding compleately outside in winter. This is a major issue for Me as G3 was working as expected. I must use correction on S6 all the time. Screen - I haven't bin a fan of super amoleds and I'm still not. Colors are too saturated and from some angles it looks ****ty and cheep. On highest brigtness it looks also bad. Vibration - on hard surface it makes a lit of sound, and again - it makes phone look like entry-level. Battery - small, but I use phone onky up to 3h sot and I charge evety night. It isn't an issue for Me. Phone look and feel in hands - it is slippery, but I like alunium bezzels and thickness. Sound is good on speaker and headphones. Processing power is ok for Me. I'm not a heavy user as I mentioned. FB usage only in web broweser, so is Instagram. Camera is ok for phone, but don't expect dsrl quality for now on any phone. Heartrate sensor is a toy to play whit, but can be quite inaccurate, but I like Samsung Health app and GPS performance. GPS was a very noticable improvements over G3.
Overall for 240eur I'm not complaining, but if I would pay 300, 400 eur I would take it back. Biggest complain would be about touchscreen performance. If You spotted typo mistakes it because of that.

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Honor 7X, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Honor 7X is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
Honor made a phone with impressive phone with great build quality at such price range without any doubt.
Hands on to Honor
Coming from Samsung galaxy S7 Edge and LG v20 ( sold all flagship phones because of family issues ) i can say i am in love with this phone. Really nice display. Crisp and sharp. Good battery life with normal usage. Overall very happy with Honor 7X
I got this mobile recently. I am in love with this mobile. Camera is great and overall smooth performance. Battery has power saving mode for running more than 30 hours, with full charge
fast and reliable for daily use
Came from a Nexus 6P of two years and I love this phone!!
Love how easy EMUI theming is and I can make it look like stock android if I want to all without rooting and without the slowness that I found substratum can cause.
Easily getting 5+ hours of SOT on a daily basis; and only time I've noticed any sort of lag is when I haven't used the phone while sleeping; it unlocks quickly via fingerprint but the first app i open takes a second longer to open then its back to it's snappy self.
Love it! Thing is a beast!
Joined the crowd today with the Mate SE, WOW! What a Great Phone!
Sure, it's not a flagship, but it feels like one! and if it does most of what you *really* need, with such a great price, It's astounding really. I've spent some time Mate SE vs MI A1. It's subjective of course, but the SE has all the US bands, bottom line, if I'm out in the boonies, I want the best odds of being able to make that call.
Have been using it for an hour and did app updates, map downloads, etc. Hasn't heated up at all, cool as could be. Very Happy with this choice!
Just got this phone cuz my Galaxy Note broke, and i needed something ASAP. Although i didn´t expect too much from a phone in this price range, I´m still bothered by the mediocre camera, and a poor display with horrible view angles. I´ll keep it for a bit, the build quality seems decent, but that´s all.
Just got it 2 weeks ago. Good bye all other budget phones. It rocks
My Galaxy S7 committed suicide about three weeks ago and still having payments on it and trying to get out of AT&T without having to get into more payments this was an AMAZING choice. does everything i need it too and some. works way better than my S7 IMO, One week of use and i love it!
I wish I had heard of this company before buying all these second hand Samung/Motorola phones through craigslist just to save money, when I can buy a comparable phone brand new for a price that is cheaper. This phone is just an improved version of the Honor 7X.
My review is based off replacing a Samsung Note 4 and my work phone is a Galaxy S7.
Battery:
The battery life is superb on this. Seeing how my Note 4 had all this bloatware and these Samsung extras out of the box. The Note 4 couldn't even last through out the day with constant usage. This phone lasts through out the day, set it down without charging it for the night and it still has power.
Battery life is about the same as the S7, though.
Design:
Doesn't feel like a cheap, cricket phone. Feels like it has some weight, some heft to it. I am also impressed by the fingerprint technology on the back of the handset. It is much better and responsive then what the Galaxy S7 has. I never had to 'retry' my fingerprint as if it didn't register it.
Communications:
Haven't noticed any difference in terms of call quality or signal. Yet, my carrier is AT&T. The only concern is that the phone doesn't support 5G Wi-Fi.
Camera.
Unless something was wrong with my Samsung Note 4, this camera is much better than the Note, but similar to what the S7 has, or maybe even less.
Display:
I can't tell if this is part of the android or part of Huawei, but there are animations in the display which are interesting. From where you can see the display brightness slider move automatically to where texts seem to 'bounce' when you scroll through them. There is little bloatware and I like the drawer design of the apps. Screen is also bigger than my Note 4.
Also some people state the charging cable is different, yet my cord that charges my samsung phones can charge this phone.
At the end of the day, this phone can do everything a $1,200 phone can do.
Just bought new one from amazon, I will give my review very soon.
I've had it since the day after Prime Day. Love it. My only complaint is some of the bloatware. I also find the organizations of Settings in EMUI somewhat annoying. (It's like 4 clicks to get to the screen where you can choose a new wifi network.) Overall, this is a great phone and an incredible value.
Phone still going strong. My only major issue is that GPS is horrible with this phone. From Waze to Google Maps, the signal isn't consistent and drops when it comes to GPS. Never experienced anything like this, and it's been like this day one.
Great cpu performance. great battery life.
Poor audio output. Volume boosting apps don't work.
Rooting was easy, reverting... still need to wade through that.
Screen replacement wasn't too difficult, cheap (and cheap quality) parts on ebay. BEWARE! The battery pack is a gel pack that's glued on to the chassis. I ripped the battery open trying to remove it and had to order a new one.
The chassis is FLIMSY. After disassembling the phone to replace the screen, I saw that 1. the back cover is a flimsy bit of plastin (plastic or tin) and 2. the main chassis itself is a weak and flimsy bit of cast pot metal. This phone will bend and break very easily, which is what I suspect caused the screen to break so easily.
Overall, great performer, the sound issue may be addressed with newer Android, the chassis is in need of serious reinforcement.
The Honor 7X was one of the best budget phones of it's time. For under $200, this phone is a really great deal.

Is the Note Edge still worth getting?

I am currently on an S7 Edge. I like it well enough for the most part. I miss having a phone running how I'd like it to run. And with having large hands, I have some trouble operating it sometimes. I've enjoyed edge features, and it seems like this would be wide enough. I would expect less performance and be ok with it, as long as it's not too much.
Thanks!
Battery life on the Note Edge is more or less terrible compared to todays flagships. I had trouble to make it last through the day with only a couple of hours of SOT. Even with a new genuine battery it got really hot and discharged quickly.
I don't really know which phone is better thaan this one, i tryed few on shops, but non of them sem to me more special than this one, i know the developers run away, but there is few good rooms and i em glad everyday use of it, i cleaned bloatware long a go, i don't use whatsup, twitter or facebook aps on it, instead use on web-browser to save battery for all day use on single charge.
First year it did warm up a bit in LP and did dry battery withing few hours, but with MM mickey room is fine even sumetimes i convert videos hours long with androvid, no warning up or drying battery that mach at all.
yes, the battery can be replaced, all the parts are available and replacement oled screens are made in china on demand, It's got IR, Head Phone Jack, NFC, expandable micro sd, heart rate, O2, UV meters. I've had mine since 2014, I've replaced the screen once, it's a tough phone, i can't remember how many times I've dropped it and thought f there goes the screen, and was surpised that it was perfectly fine. Ever since the Edge all phones haven't been so feature packed, Even if i was given the op to buy a new phone, I'd still buy the note edge.
buy a note edge ftw
dape16 said:
Battery life on the Note Edge is more or less terrible compared to todays flagships...
I had trouble to make it last through the day with only a couple of hours of SOT. Even with a new genuine battery it got really hot and discharged quickly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's definitely not true... Aftermarket battery stores stock the battery for the Note Edge and if the phone had issues as you say the battery shops themselves would not stock the battery due to customer complaints.
The first time i rooted my edge and changed the kernel and rom i noticed what ever i had done gave my note edge the exact battery symptoms you state. With the correct kernel and rom I've been able to get the battery to last for 36 hours.
With the Note Edges 4K OLED screen, Spen, latest roms, kernel and gapps ( from xda ) and a new aftermarket 3000mAh Li-ion battery ( go to a reputable battery store, do NOT buy genuine Samsung note edge batteries as they are new old stock), for about $200 you get a Samsung legacy phone which
stands toe to toe and surpasses todays flagships .
Also phones at that $200 price point are more than horrible, but then again with Samsungs current flagship priced at over $2000 is ridiculous, anyone paying that much for planned obselence wouldnt appreciate the Note Edge nor the docking cradle for charging both phone and spare battery. I'd rather rip the back off my note edge while people next to me at the airport look shocked and confused as I quickly swap out to a fully charged battery, while they have their flagshits hooked up to a spare battery power bank with cables connected to their wireless charging, gimmick.
MartinTanika said:
That's definitely not true... Aftermarket battery stores stock the battery for the Note Edge and if the phone had issues as you say the battery shops themselves would not stock the battery due to customer complaints.
The first time i rooted my edge and changed the kernel and rom i noticed what ever i had done gave my note edge the exact battery symptoms you state. With the correct kernel and rom I've been able to get the battery to last for 36 hours.
With the Note Edges 4K OLED screen, Spen, latest roms, kernel and gapps ( from xda ) and a new aftermarket 3000mAh Li-ion battery ( go to a reputable battery store, do NOT buy genuine Samsung note edge batteries as they are new old stock), for about $200 you get a Samsung legacy phone which
stands toe to toe and surpasses todays flagships .
Also phones at that $200 price point are more than horrible, but then again with Samsungs current flagship priced at over $2000 is ridiculous, anyone paying that much for planned obselence wouldnt appreciate the Note Edge nor the docking cradle for charging both phone and spare battery. I'd rather rip the back off my note edge while people next to me at the airport look shocked and confused as I quickly swap out to a fully charged battery, while they have their flagshits hooked up to a spare battery power bank with cables connected to their wireless charging, gimmick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course a over 5 years old phone cannot compare to todays flagships, do not fool anyone to buy this phone. Snapdragon 805 is slow compared to modern mid-range and even some low range mobile CPUs.
Last official Android version is 6. Custom ROMS does not support edge screen functions or S-pen features.
Okay, the screen is good, it is not 4K but QHD Super AMOLED.
For an example you can buy Galaxy A41, cheap but much better phone with official Android 10.
dape16 said:
Of course a over 5 years old phone cannot compare to todays flagships, do not fool anyone to buy this phone. Snapdragon 805 is slow compared to modern mid-range and even some low range mobile CPUs.
Last official Android version is 6. Custom ROMS does not support edge screen functions or S-pen features.
Okay, the screen is good, it is not 4K but QHD Super AMOLED.
For an example you can buy Galaxy A41, cheap but much better phone with official Android 10.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean this phone snapdragon 2.70.GHz x 4 is slow, well, not sure what you are talking about.
As for rooms, you have to chose the dedicated rooms for this phone one the Touchwiz, but the cyagenics are imported ones just to try and not for everyday use and sure they don't support spen, fingerprint and edge system.

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