The ultimate budget friendly near stock android phone.

The ultimate budget friendly near stock android phone. - General Topics

Welcome to my review, well you may be asking yourselves, "Isn't there already a budget phone like the moto g?" Yes, there is. But today, I'll be talking about a small ZTE phone that would most likely suit your needs. Well to start, I'll be reviewing the ZTE Whirl 2.
Battery Life/ SoT(Screen on Time)
If I'm using it with heavy usage ,(like social media and light gaming)
I get around 3-4 Hours of SoT, yeah yeah, only 4 hours but that's good for a less than $50 phone.
Price
Usually $10 at a Dollar General.
Speed and Smoothness of UI/UX
It's pretty fast if you ask me. It's on Android 4.3 Jellybean and still performs like a mid range phone with normal/moderate usage.
Downsides
Only about 1GB of space, but still expandable through an SD Card.
It can only be temporarily rooted with a PC.
It's on 4.3 Jellybean. :/
Conclusion
If you want a phone on the cheap, but still want performance and good battery life and or SoT, you should get this phone. Even though it's on an old version of Android.
I recommend this phone for the people who want to experiment with things and to develop software as well if you find a way to permanently root it.

Related

Recommend the G pro 2? Would you buy again? What's to know?

I've kept my eye on the G pro 2 for a while (was about to get the original O G pro, but waited for this to come out). So I'm well aware of the specs, features, reviews, etc. But what I want to know is a real world user's opinion of the device.
Is the phone pretty decent? Any frustrations or quirks to know before trying to get one?
Key questions:
*How is the Mic/voice quality? (sending and receiving during a voice call)
*How is the battery life(I know it depends on usage and habits of the user, but just overall, how would you rate it personally, compared to other current/comparable Android phones)?
*Is it relatively stable and responsive?
*What bothers you about this phone?
*Would you buy it again if you were in the market for a new phone right now?(tells me that you like the phone and are overall happy with it)
I plan on getting a F350(a bit confused with the S/L/etc. acronym endings, can any one shed light?) I want to use it on at&t's network. On paper, and seeing professional reviews, the G pro 2 seems like my phone (1080p 5.9" screen, expandable memory via microsdhc, user replaceable battery, decent camera, etc.) But I want to know, if in practice, the phone is stable/frustration free(relatively speaking), decent real world battery life (if it's competent/comparable at least.. ), hoping that this is not one of those, "you have to root it and install a custom rom in order for this phone to be bearable"- type thing.
My other considerable is the Sony Xperia Z2 (prices are right, even though the screen is smaller and the battery isn't "replaceable"). I didn't want the Samsung Galaxy series due to the smaller screens and bloatware they put on there(note's a great series, but simlar.. bloatware, plus really expensive).
Thanks! I appreciate any input!

these are my questions too..

I came from a Samsung S3 (running CM).
first impressions were: Nice clean looks and lines, it's big (but it's not unwieldy). my wife has a Note 3 and it's about the same. the curve along the back sides makes it more comfortable to hold. Obviously, it's a heavier phone due to size, so your hand might get tired if you're one to use your phone lying down or something.
Screen is fantastic. I have no problems with colour issues with the screen and it's bright enough for me, even outdoors.
Battery life is good. standby can last more than a day. in usage, i was a bit busy yesterday and didn't use it too much, but from 0700 to 2300, i had 63% before i plugged it in. on a more typical day, I'd probably have around 40%. mainly a mixture of whatsapp, a few blogs, games and some TV show watching at lunch.
Camera is decent and acceptable auto focus speed. not a lot of bloatware.
I'm running 10e firmware due to bugs in 10f and waiting for lollipop. 10e is stable. not had problems with it.
problems: it's not widely available and the user base is small. so don't expect any fancy mods/firmwares or anything like that. as such, there's not a lot of accessories for it either outside of LG's own stuff.
My friend has the Z2 (not looked, but isn't the Z3 pricing nearly the same now?), and his camera is better and the battery life is longer due to Sony's Stamina software. display is about the same. If you want a big, stock phone, the LG is great. if you want to play around and like to customise your phone, then i'd go with the Sony.

Thanks for your input Ray-Lee .
I'm on the fence between the two phones, I like the bigger screen on the G pro 2, I haven't held one yet in person, but I don't think I"ll be bothered by it at all. Only thing that really entices me for the Z2 are the current prices for it right now.. for relatively similar specs, smaller screen, but better camera compensates. Honestly, I want the device to work well out of the box.. this is xda and I do play with custom firmwares and roms, but that's more of a result than a mission for me these days.. as in, if the unit runs better/faster/more stable compared to stock(or.. if stock is so horrendous that it must be rooted and flashed to be "decent").

ssnova said:
Thanks for your input Ray-Lee .
I'm on the fence between the two phones, I like the bigger screen on the G pro 2, I haven't held one yet in person, but I don't think I"ll be bothered by it at all. Only thing that really entices me for the Z2 are the current prices for it right now.. for relatively similar specs, smaller screen, but better camera compensates. Honestly, I want the device to work well out of the box.. this is xda and I do play with custom firmwares and roms, but that's more of a result than a mission for me these days.. as in, if the unit runs better/faster/more stable compared to stock(or.. if stock is so horrendous that it must be rooted and flashed to be "decent").
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Ive been using this phone pretty much since it came out (D838 rooted stock) and the stock Performance is fantastic if im honest it really doesn't need a custom rom unless you want to "mod" alot of things and even then as long as your careful theres still alot you can do with just root, i love this phone so much and its modified enough for my liking without a rom, its fine right out of the box and if you can live without a custom rom (which is really doesnt need that much) i think you'll be as happy as i am with this phone on stock with or without root.
But yes if you do like to flash and mess about alot go with the z2/note3 as there is more options there but this is still a brillant phone.

bjscott55 said:
Ive been using this phone pretty much since it came out (D838 rooted stock) and the stock Performance is fantastic if im honest it really doesn't need a custom rom unless you want to "mod" alot of things and even then as long as your careful theres still alot you can do with just root, i love this phone so much and its modified enough for my liking without a rom, its fine right out of the box and if you can live without a custom rom (which is really doesnt need that much) i think you'll be as happy as i am with this phone on stock with or without root.
But yes if you do like to flash and mess about alot go with the z2/note3 as there is more options there but this is still a brillant phone.
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Thanks a lot for the assurance. I'm still bouncing around phone options, I guess it just comes down to price (best bang for buck, with expandable memory at least). I'm still considering the G pro 2, but I saw how the GS note 3 has come down a lot in price.
Thanks again!

ssnova said:
Thanks a lot for the assurance. I'm still bouncing around phone options, I guess it just comes down to price (best bang for buck, with expandable memory at least). I'm still considering the G pro 2, but I saw how the GS note 3 has come down a lot in price.
Thanks again!
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I've had both and granted you can mess around with roms and stuff but for pure joy in use i much prefer the g pro 2 its a really really good phone and for the low price you really cant beat it in my opinion unless this phone gets a good recovery and cm11 ill never bother with costom roms ect. For me its perfect on stock the peformence is amazing, to date (about 6 months of owning this phone) the battery still amazes and im yet to see any lag ever!! The ui is amazing, for a phone out of the box you cant beat it if you like music it outputs brillantly im just in love so maybe im a little one sided but i hope whatever you do you will be happy! Let me know!

bjscott55 said:
I've had both and granted you can mess around with roms and stuff but for pure joy in use i much prefer the g pro 2 its a really really good phone and for the low price you really cant beat it in my opinion unless this phone gets a good recovery and cm11 ill never bother with costom roms ect. For me its perfect on stock the peformence is amazing, to date (about 6 months of owning this phone) the battery still amazes and im yet to see any lag ever!! The ui is amazing, for a phone out of the box you cant beat it if you like music it outputs brillantly im just in love so maybe im a little one sided but i hope whatever you do you will be happy! Let me know!
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I only can agree with that!
I did get mine last week and i am very happy with it! Came from Galaxy Note 2 wich i liked very much but i dont trust Super Amoled Display technology since noone grants you that it will operate more than 3 years with heavy use. I chose this device because it has similar dimensions as the Note 2, stronger hardware, bigger 1080p reliable IPS LCD screen and fabulous 3200 mAh battery.
It's a must have for phablet lovers that want to have a good performing phone with large screen.
After just a few days of use this is my opinion. On software side is everything ok, just the usual Kit Kat problem that bugs lots of users out here, tha lack of having permissions for apps to write to sd card. That was the only thing that bothered me, but thats on Google side. This phone is truly amazing!
Hope that helps the peple to choose the best device for their specific needs. I found mine definitely.

Thank you for the input bhun and derbyshire! I really like the phone and want to get it, but for me the G pro 2 shipped from Asia to the US (I need the F350 model for LTE compatibility), it's about $600, I'm going to wait out just a little longer, it's a bit out of my budget (was hoping to score a phone for less than $450.. Sony Z2 and ZU did fit that for me, but not anymore either, haha).
I'm glad to hear that it's a great phone though(G pro 2), hopefully the prices will come down a bit for the F350 model and I can obtain one soon. Thanks again to all who have contributed!
bhun said:
I only can agree with that!
I did get mine last week and i am very happy with it! Came from Galaxy Note 2 wich i liked very much but i dont trust Super Amoled Display technology since noone grants you that it will operate more than 3 years with heavy use. I chose this device because it has similar dimensions as the Note 2, stronger hardware, bigger 1080p reliable IPS LCD screen and fabulous 3200 mAh battery.
It's a must have for phablet lovers that want to have a good performing phone with large screen.
After just a few days of use this is my opinion. On software side is everything ok, just the usual Kit Kat problem that bugs lots of users out here, tha lack of having permissions for apps to write to sd card. That was the only thing that bothered me, but thats on Google side. This phone is truly amazing!
Hope that helps the peple to choose the best device for their specific needs. I found mine definitely.
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The things that bother me about this phone are the poor wifi signal, I can be within a meter of my router and it still fluctuates between 3 and 4 bars. Any less than 4 bars wifi signal seems to have a noticeable impact on browsing performance. I also find the mobile data hotspot a pain, every so often the connection would hang and you would have to turn data off and back on again to get it to work. It seemed to do that every hour or so. Also if the phone gets even minutely warm, the brightness level will restrict itself to between 80% and 90%. I have had 3 LG G Pro 2 and they have all been the same. I also notice some flickering at times, especially when there is a white background on a webpage. I am almost fed up of mine and looking at selling it soon. It does have the potential to be a good phone, and I think all the faults I mentioned could be fixed with a decent firmware update.

I agree with you on wifi reception, its been the worst amongst all the phones i have owned
Sent from my LG-D838 using Tapatalk

Good Buy
It's a good buy switching. Switched from GS5 to this

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

What have I bought?

I decided to invest in a cheap smartphone and purchased a 3GB P3000S (6752) as I wanted the 5.5" P7000 functionality but without the phablet size. It's currently on it's way from Singapore and due to be with me in the next 1-2 weeks.
Stupidly (!) I'd assumed this was a functioning smartphone that would be on a Lollipop upgrade path. I've just been over to the Elephone forum and it appears that this phone is already abandonware with a bunch of malfunctional features (compass/GPS issues, camera, battery life).
Is anyone in the UK using this phone and do you have anything good to say about it?!?

Elephone is abandon all its phones fast.
Dont expect much updates there. They push new smartphones so fast, their developers can't care about older ones. I know they announce lollipop for this phone but we shoudn't belive in such PR stuff.
Its very important to get all reviews, company release cycle, company update behavior etc before buy a phone blind.
Users also report the P3000S with 3GB Ram has only 1,3GB free on idle
1-2Weeks? Wow. Hongkong->Germany usually 3-4days non-express
I would take my money and ship the phone back. Looking for a better MTK, but don't expect much update wonders in the china phone world, at least this time.

I have the one with 2gb of RAM and I'm very happy with it. I can use it 2 full days not need to carry charger or spare battery. It works fast and stable , screen is good enough, camera is very good /although both are not top of the tops/. GPS is very good, and the wi-fi too. The phone does not overheat at heavy load. My compass is working. I can live without Lolipop for this price and functionality.

i have the 3gb version.
very happy with itself. especially for price.
get couple days battery using greenify and ds battery saver. no issues with gps/wifi/4g

[Help] Looking to switch phones

So, i'm actually using an ancient Galaxy SII and i'm looking to switch to the Moto G 3rd generation. I want to know honest opinions of Moto G owners to check if it fulfils my needs or if I need to keep saving money to buy another phone..
1) How is the performance? Are there much hiccups/lags/slow downs? How the SD410 + Adreno 306 do for gaming (Clash of Clans, Candy Crush..)? Does it heat up much? My SGS2 gets insanely hot when playing Clash of Clans, doing long time web browsing or long time phone calls... :crying:
2) For those who own the 2GB version, how is the multitasking? Is it worth the extra money?
3) How is the battery on both 4G and WiFi? I tried looking on the battery thread but got some discrepancy on the screenshots. I actually get 1h SOT on this 5 yo phone, have to charge it about 3 times a day, so anything above 3h is fine!
4) Are there any major bugs on the software? I found some threads but these bugs seems to be particular to the thread owners, I haven't found (yet) any wide spread bug.
5)I'm a bit worried about the new LCD panel since it's TFT. What do you guys think about it?
6) Would you recommend the phone? In a scale of 1 to 10 (considering the price, obviously), how much would you rate it?
I appreciate a LOT any feedback.. I want to retire this SGS2 as fast as possiblie. Thanks!!

Lunatiic said:
So, i'm actually using an ancient Galaxy SII and i'm looking to switch to the Moto G 3rd generation. I want to know honest opinions of Moto G owners to check if it fulfils my needs or if I need to keep saving money to buy another phone..
1) How is the performance? Are there much hiccups/lags/slow downs? How the SD410 + Adreno 306 do for gaming (Clash of Clans, Candy Crush..)? Does it heat up much? My SGS2 gets insanely hot when playing Clash of Clans, doing long time web browsing or long time phone calls... :crying:
2) For those who own the 2GB version, how is the multitasking? Is it worth the extra money?
3) How is the battery on both 4G and WiFi? I tried looking on the battery thread but got some discrepancy on the screenshots. I actually get 1h SOT on this 5 yo phone, have to charge it about 3 times a day, so anything above 3h is fine!
4) Are there any major bugs on the software? I found some threads but these bugs seems to be particular to the thread owners, I haven't found (yet) any wide spread bug.
5)I'm a bit worried about the new LCD panel since it's TFT. What do you guys think about it?
6) Would you recommend the phone? In a scale of 1 to 10 (considering the price, obviously), how much would you rate it?
I appreciate a LOT any feedback.. I want to retire this SGS2 as fast as possiblie. Thanks!!
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1) I play Candy Crush, Riptide, Pokemon Shuffle, and other games all the time, the Moto G gets a little warm, but nothing like my Nexus 4 or previous phones... the performance is acceptable to good, but not excellent. Kind of like having a middle of the road graphics card in your PC, it does the job but won't impress anyone.
2) This is a personal preference thing, but I purchased and got the 2GB version, I switch apps around all the time and have zero issues with apps closing... Aside from the 2GB you also get 16GB of storage, which is almost essential especially if you are going to be installing some games. 1GB/8GB just won't cut it for more than average phone use, gaming would not be impossible but could be difficult.
3) I get good to great battery life... I average 4 hours of SOT on LTE in outdoor usage playing Ingress so the GPS is going all the time, screen near full brightness, graphics engine working hard, and 6 hours of SOT with average usage on WiFi. I average 4.5-5.0 hours of SOT per charge when needed, but at the end of an average day I still have 30% battery remaining.
4) If there are any major bugs, or even annoying minor ones, I have yet to see them. I am still stock/unrooted but using Nova Launcher Prime. This is one of the few phones I have had in a very long time where I do not have the urge to unlock, root, and ROM it... yet.
4a) Not really a bug(s), but two caveats on this one, the phone does not have a gyroscope... but uses 2 accelerometers instead, this can cause some directional issues in apps like Ingress or Waze (not Maps or Scout), the app thinks you are always pointing north. Once you realize it you just deal with it or switch to other apps. The other is that it does not have NFC, which is probably not a big deal unless you plan on using Android Pay or hacking amiibo.
5) The display is very nice, crisp and easily viewable from a wide angle... I have zero complaints on the display, it is 10x better than the display on old Nexus 4.
6) I would give it an 8.5, and recommend this phone for the average to mild Android enthusiast... It is basically stock Android with a couple add ins, and is about as close to a Nexus device as you get at half the price. If you are a hard core ROM flasher, enthusiast, or developer, prefer a larger/higher resolution screen, need NFC or a Gyroscope, this may not be the phone for you.
I had an SGS2 Skyrocket for a while, it was a decent phone but the battery life was horrid, since then I have moved onto several phones... step into 2015, you will be so glad you did, not having to look for a charger every place you go is liberating!
Not trying to sway you as I love my Moto G and would not give it up, but some alternatives to consider: Asus Zenfone 2, Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, and Huawei Ascend Mate 2. My son got the Ascend Mate 2, the battery life is amazing... we talk about 4-6 hours SOT, he gets more like 12-15 hours of SOT, or not charging for several days, I have actually seen him go from Monday morning until Friday without charging. The Zenphone and Idol a little more feature rich and larger, they have gyroscope/NFC and some of the more premium features the Moto G is missing, at a price, my friend got two Zenphone 2 2GB/16GB models and it works well although he is hardly a hardcore user. Just some stuff to consider... Good luck.

acejavelin said:
I had an SGS2 Skyrocket for a while, it was a decent phone but the battery life was horrid, since then I have moved onto several phones... step into 2015, you will be so glad you did, not having to look for a charger every place you go is liberating!
Not trying to sway you as I love my Moto G and would not give it up, but some alternatives to consider: Asus Zenfone 2, Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3, and Huawei Ascend Mate 2. My son got the Ascend Mate 2, the battery life is amazing... we talk about 4-6 hours SOT, he gets more like 12-15 hours of SOT, or not charging for several days, I have actually seen him go from Monday morning until Friday without charging. The Zenphone and Idol a little more feature rich and larger, they have gyroscope/NFC and some of the more premium features the Moto G is missing, at a price, my friend got two Zenphone 2 2GB/16GB models and it works well although he is hardly a hardcore user. Just some stuff to consider... Good luck.
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Yeah.. I wake up and unplug the phone at around 5am to go to College, and when I arrive there, i'm already at ~60%. When I play CoC, the phone get's abnormaly hot (even tho it's undervolted) and the battery drain is absurd, like 2% a minute. And to make it worse, my original charger broke and I have to charge it trough a USB Port on my notebook, so basically the phone stays charging half of the day, and the other half i'm using it..
I live in Brazil, so it's extremelly hard to find Huawei, Oppo, Alcatel, etc. around here. What happens is people import the phone for it's regular price, and sell it for twice or even more. The OnePlus Two for example, it's not selling for south america, so people travel and buy or import it (dunno how) for it's regular price, ~390USD, and sell it here for around 1000USD. Same thing goes for all brands that doesn't sell here, like HTC. When phones are sold here by their own companies, the oposite happens, people import phones to sell them at a lower price compared to the company price tag. The Apple Iphone is a great example. Everything here is way more expensive compared to almost every other country in the world, due to our heavy amount of taxes.
I researched a bit the ZenFone 2, but after seeing some reviews, I didn't like at all their user interface, it's way too modified for my taste.. remembers me the old TouchWiz (clunky with too many features I won't use). And since It uses Intel, i'm afraid of a future lack of developers for custom Roms and Kernels.
I had a Sony Xperia S and NEVER used NFC. The gyroscope isn't a deal breaker for me.
Thanks for your reply! I'm almost sold for the Moto G. :highfive:

Lunatiic said:
Yeah.. I wake up and unplug the phone at around 5am to go to College, and when I arrive there, i'm already at ~60%. When I play CoC, the phone get's abnormaly hot (even tho it's undervolted) and the battery drain is absurd, like 2% a minute. And to make it worse, my original charger broke and I have to charge it trough a USB Port on my notebook, so basically the phone stays charging half of the day, and the other half i'm using it..
I live in Brazil, so it's extremelly hard to find Huawei, Oppo, Alcatel, etc. around here. What happens is people import the phone for it's regular price, and sell it for twice or even more. The OnePlus Two for example, it's not selling for south america, so people travel and buy or import it (dunno how) for it's regular price, ~390USD, and sell it here for around 1000USD. Same thing goes for all brands that doesn't sell here, like HTC. When phones are sold here by their own companies, the oposite happens, people import phones to sell them at a lower price compared to the company price tag. The Apple Iphone is a great example. Everything here is way more expensive compared to almost every other country in the world, due to our heavy amount of taxes.
I researched a bit the ZenFone 2, but after seeing some reviews, I didn't like at all their user interface, it's way too modified for my taste.. remembers me the old TouchWiz (clunky with too many features I won't use). And since It uses Intel, i'm afraid of a future lack of developers for custom Roms and Kernels.
I had a Sony Xperia S and NEVER used NFC. The gyroscope isn't a deal breaker for me.
Thanks for your reply! I'm almost sold for the Moto G. :highfive:
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Good luck, I'm sure you will enjoy it!
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

As others have said, get a 16 GB G and forget about all of the competition. Like too many android phones, those are just hulking brutes with no brain (no optimisation/support, ugly-as-f**k skins, bloatware everywhere, unimpressive design)
You're looking for a serious upgrade, not a spec toy

How does the XZ perform now?

It's been a while since the XZ was released, I've been wanting to get a decent second phone, and as tempting as the Moto Z Play looks, I can't seem to find one in my country, there is however a guy selling an unlocked UK import Xperia XZ for about 300 USD. Seems like a decent enough deal to me, but my question here is, I've been going through the XZ forums for a while now, reading mixed reviews, and quite a few negative ones.
For those of you who have it, and are running the latest build of 7.1.1 available for the XZ, how are you guys liking it?
My main usage will be YouTube and phone calls, the rest is done on my main phone.
Still worth buying an XZ now, or should I look elsewhere?
Regards,
murtaza02

the short point is they've boosted performance at the expense of running temperature - it's very quick and the camera's decent enough save for low light shots or stills which have been zoomed/magnified - battery life is about one day or six hours SOT depending on usage, and you may need to consider unlocking the bootloader/rooting the phone to get full control of the handset - I'd say 8/10 generally, and whilst not perfect it's worth a look if a deal's on the table - the vulnerabilities to be aware of are the limited ram given the amount required to run nougat properly, and the temperature restriction on certain apps, such as the camera........ but it's still stunning to look at, it will run youtube fine, and whilst I don't have any voicecall issues, some have reported low speaker volume or poor reception, but they'll need to weigh in.......

deepershades said:
the short point is they've boosted performance at the expense of running temperature - it's very quick and the camera's decent enough save for low light shots or stills which have been zoomed/magnified - battery life is about one day or six hours SOT depending on usage, and you may need to consider unlocking the bootloader/rooting the phone to get full control of the handset - I'd say 8/10 generally, and whilst not perfect it's worth a look if a deal's on the table - the vulnerabilities to be aware of are the limited ram given the amount required to run nougat properly, and the temperature restriction on certain apps, such as the camera........ but it's still stunning to look at, it will run youtube fine, and whilst I don't have any voicecall issues, some have reported low speaker volume or poor reception, but they'll need to weigh in.......
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I'm still considering the XZ regardless of what bad things people say about it. I missed the deal I mentioned in the first post, the phone was sold literally 2 hours before I messaged the seller. But I'll still be on the lookout for one and hopefully grab it.
Thanks for the reply.
Sent from my SM-G955F

it still works very nicely. I've it for about one n half month so far and it never lagged for a moment. it's buttery smooth. Battery Life is awesome. I daily get 7 hours of screen time in 24 hours. Sometimes 8. Camera is decent too and front camera is too good better than s7 edge. so to conclude, it's still worth buying has a SD 820 n runs very well no laga awesome battery decent camera.

i have the dual sim version... it doesnt worth.... maybe the single sim version has better performance... but if it is the dual... i do not recommend

Have it since early February, performs just as well as on day 1. Performance is top-notch. Battery life has been absolutely awesome for me, usually lasts for 2 days but can reach 3 if usage is light. I feel like nothing short of watching movies non-stop could deplete it in 1 day. Another awesome point is headphone audio quality. Sony has some "clear audio+" enhancer thing which does wonders, it's almost like buying new headphones. Camera is good but not the best, depends how much you care for it really. Totally would recommend buying this phone.

Database Info

welcome