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Hello chaps,
Liking the site redesign - clearly been a while since I was last here!
I recently purchased a lovely, shiny new HTC Inspire off a friend. Beautiful bit of kit and the first time I've ever owned a "state of the art" device, so I was clearly pretty excited. I knew that I wouldn't be able to use it with T-Mob, even if I rooted it, due to the UTMS (3+G) frequency bands being incompatible. No problem, I thought, I'm not contracted to T-Mob, I'll just go get a rolling contract from AT&T. Easy right?
Well no. Because I'm a dirty foreigner, they won't give me a rolling contract without a $500 fee, which basically rules them out. Which means I have a lovely piece of kit I will never be able to use in the US
I was about to sell the device, painful as the prospect is, on eBay. But I thought I might try one last thing - living on T-Mob with just EDGE. Of course, it's not going to give me the full experience but might be good enough for my purposes (email, widget sync, light browsing). I don't stream Pandora or watch Youtube on my phone. Will EDGE be enough for me? Is it a pervasive ("always-on") connection or will I be looking at long delays between pull events?
Thanks!
Alexandicity said:
Hello chaps,
Liking the site redesign - clearly been a while since I was last here!
I recently purchased a lovely, shiny new HTC Inspire off a friend. Beautiful bit of kit and the first time I've ever owned a "state of the art" device, so I was clearly pretty excited. I knew that I wouldn't be able to use it with T-Mob, even if I rooted it, due to the UTMS (3+G) frequency bands being incompatible. No problem, I thought, I'm not contracted to T-Mob, I'll just go get a rolling contract from AT&T. Easy right?
Well no. Because I'm a dirty foreigner, they won't give me a rolling contract without a $500 fee, which basically rules them out. Which means I have a lovely piece of kit I will never be able to use in the US
I was about to sell the device, painful as the prospect is, on eBay. But I thought I might try one last thing - living on T-Mob with just EDGE. Of course, it's not going to give me the full experience but might be good enough for my purposes (email, widget sync, light browsing). I don't stream Pandora or watch Youtube on my phone. Will EDGE be enough for me? Is it a pervasive ("always-on") connection or will I be looking at long delays between pull events?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For what you want edge is fine. You really only need 3g when watching videos or streaming music. The internet will be a bit slower.
Thanks klquicksall, good to hear. It occurs to me there's one more data use I have and that's maps. These will clearly go a little slower but any idea if the experience will be unusably awful or just a little laggy?
Alexandicity said:
Thanks klquicksall, good to hear. It occurs to me there's one more data use I have and that's maps. These will clearly go a little slower but any idea if the experience will be unusably awful or just a little laggy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you should download the 2g/3g control from the market and test it on your current or a friends phone that has 3g and see how slow it is.
I have read where some have had success using at&t phones with the prepaid voice/data/messaging plans from Walmart-straight talk. Don't know if it really works or just bs but worth looking into.
Newter - that could be a very good option if it works. Seems they recently switched from CDMA to GSM, which would be nice; the unlimited plan would be dirt cheap if they'll let me hit up GBs of data (I think they're not expecting smartphones on that plan!). One thing I expect will be that I won't be able to port my number, which is a bummer but I might use this opportunity to move to Google Voice..
I'll go talk to them about it tomorrow afternoon and see what they can do.
Alexandicity said:
Hello chaps,
Liking the site redesign - clearly been a while since I was last here!
I recently purchased a lovely, shiny new HTC Inspire off a friend. Beautiful bit of kit and the first time I've ever owned a "state of the art" device, so I was clearly pretty excited. I knew that I wouldn't be able to use it with T-Mob, even if I rooted it, due to the UTMS (3+G) frequency bands being incompatible. No problem, I thought, I'm not contracted to T-Mob, I'll just go get a rolling contract from AT&T. Easy right?
Well no. Because I'm a dirty foreigner, they won't give me a rolling contract without a $500 fee, which basically rules them out. Which means I have a lovely piece of kit I will never be able to use in the US
I was about to sell the device, painful as the prospect is, on eBay. But I thought I might try one last thing - living on T-Mob with just EDGE. Of course, it's not going to give me the full experience but might be good enough for my purposes (email, widget sync, light browsing). I don't stream Pandora or watch Youtube on my phone. Will EDGE be enough for me? Is it a pervasive ("always-on") connection or will I be looking at long delays between pull events?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just be warned that when android on EDGE, you may often miss phone calls because the EDGE data connection, during a data trasnfer, kicks phone calls directly to voicemail. so there may be many times when gmail or something else is doing something in the background, and someone tried to call you but you never got the call. just watch out for this. sometimes calls will sneak thru, but lots of times they dont.
you could always manually turn off data though to avoid this.
if there's wifi wherever you are, you may not even notice a difference...just keep it on and use that when you're not out and about. maps will suck, i used to use maps on an intl phone with only edge frequencies with att but it worked decently well if you turn off satellite. worth a shot at least!
Thanks for the advice guys. I unlocked it and am running under t-mob. As expected, only EDGE, but the connection seems robust enough. I set up Wifi which will get me all my heavy stuff and the EDGE does seem sufficient for email, sunc and map-based browsing (takes perhaps 5 seconds to fill a map screen?). On the plus the battery seems to be pretty good!
Roger - are you saying that EDGE usage will block calls? Will that happen all the time EDGE is connected or just when it is active? Or is it an "interference" thing that reduces GSM reception when EDGE is transmitting?
Alexandicity said:
Thanks for the advice guys. I unlocked it and am running under t-mob. As expected, only EDGE, but the connection seems robust enough. I set up Wifi which will get me all my heavy stuff and the EDGE does seem sufficient for email, sunc and map-based browsing (takes perhaps 5 seconds to fill a map screen?). On the plus the battery seems to be pretty good!
Roger - are you saying that EDGE usage will block calls? Will that happen all the time EDGE is connected or just when it is active? Or is it an "interference" thing that reduces GSM reception when EDGE is transmitting?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it will only block a call if data is actively being transmitted at that particular moment. an idle EDGE connection will let calls come thru no problem. just something to be aware of, as lots of times data is transmitting in the background, i.e. gmail is updating, or receiving an email, the market is checking for updates, etc.
I used a T Mobile exclusive phone, the HTC Dream / G1 for close to a year and never had issues with turn by turn Navigation unless I had less than stellar coverage from at&t.
Like others have mentioned, if you are like me and use mainly WiFi than you're not really missing much.
This is an incredible device, and with the ROM choices from it just being released a little more than a month ago is a great sign of amazing things to come.
On another note I myself enable GSM only to save battery life as well when I know I won't be needing it. Just an FYI.
Sent from my customized to the teeth HTC Inspire4G
So here goes, I can now get a Razr HD for free through Fido canada. Not a bad deal considering from what I can tell, this phone will be a perfect replacement for my Nexus S running 4.1.2
From the reviews I read online, people are really enjoying this phone and it seems to have a fairly pure android experience that, coming from a nexus device, I want. The main selling point for me is LTE and SDHC. These two things alone are what I am switching phones for mostly.
1. So I ask you this, would you reccomend this phone to someone else?
2. How is rom support? is it easy to unlock and load aftermarket roms on this like CM etc and does it take to it well?
3. How is the device quality physically? It looks terrific online.
4. Anything else you might add?
Thanks again for the help!
sspikey said:
1. So I ask you this, would you reccomend this phone to someone else?
2. How is rom support? is it easy to unlock and load aftermarket roms on this like CM etc and does it take to it well?
3. How is the device quality physically? It looks terrific online.
4. Anything else you might add?
Thanks again for the help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Yes. I am quite happy with my Rogers Razr HD.
2. Rom support so far is ... in progress. There's not a huge user base for this device yet and it's only been available since October. Rogers/Fido won't see Jellybean stock upgrade until "1st Quarter" which might be as late as March, provided they don't change the scheduling again. Having said that, France and Australia already have JB, so maybe we'll see it sooner than that. It is easy to unlock and load aftermarket roms, BUT you have to unlock it through Motorola and you void your warranty to do so. Just so you know.
3. Physical build is really good, imo. Battery life is excellent, screen is bright, volume is loud. Only weakness is the camera, which is mediocre.
4. There's no decent desk dock available for it yet. There's a car dock, and a couple crappy options for a desk dock but we might have to wait for a third party to make one. Also, hdmi out options are lacking ... As there are no options. IMO, it should allow screen off with hdmi on, or different resolutions output, but only has overscan and hdmi enable... And once you upgrade to JB, you lose overscan.
EdwardN said:
1. Yes. I am quite happy with my Rogers Razr HD.
2. Rom support so far is ... in progress. There's not a huge user base for this device yet and it's only been available since October. Rogers/Fido won't see Jellybean stock upgrade until "1st Quarter" which might be as late as March, provided they don't change the scheduling again. Having said that, France and Australia already have JB, so maybe we'll see it sooner than that. It is easy to unlock and load aftermarket roms, BUT you have to unlock it through Motorola and you void your warranty to do so. Just so you know.
3. Physical build is really good, imo. Battery life is excellent, screen is bright, volume is loud. Only weakness is the camera, which is mediocre.
4. There's no decent desk dock available for it yet. There's a car dock, and a couple crappy options for a desk dock but we might have to wait for a third party to make one. Also, hdmi out options are lacking ... As there are no options. IMO, it should allow screen off with hdmi on, or different resolutions output, but only has overscan and hdmi enable... And once you upgrade to JB, you lose overscan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it wasnt for the damn rom options and slow updates, I would be ALL over this thing right now!
Why cant all updates be pushed from google directly and be done with it! Damnit!
sspikey said:
If it wasnt for the damn rom options and slow updates, I would be ALL over this thing right now!
Why cant all updates be pushed from google directly and be done with it! Damnit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just get it anyway, and practice patience. That's what I did.
Did you get it with 2 year contract or month to month? I got it free with 2 year.
sspikey said:
If it wasnt for the damn rom options and slow updates, I would be ALL over this thing right now!
Why cant all updates be pushed from google directly and be done with it! Damnit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the way I look at it:
If you want custom ROMs because you actually enjoy playing around with new ROMs every two weeks (and intend to do so for the life of the device), then don't buy a Droid Razr HD now. Wait for the phone to get better support, or buy a Google Nexus branded device. You are looking for a tinker-toy more than you are looking for a reliable daily-use smartphone.
If you need a reliable daily-use smartphone, then the current state of ROM support is irrelevant. Sure, you are going to play around with custom ROMs to start. But eventually, you will settle on a ROM that you like, and then stick with that ROM for several months before changing. If that describes you, then you'll be fine getting a Droid RAZR HD. Remember, it's easy to improve on software (ROMs) after you buy a device. But once you buy hardware, you're stuck with it.
May I ask, what is hdmi overscan?
Sent from my XT925
Royalfox said:
May I ask, what is hdmi overscan?
Sent from my XT925
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Basically changing the output resolution to eliminate black bars around the borders. The native resolution of the Razr HD is 1280x720, but it'll fill a webtop screen resolution of 1366x768 using hdmi overscan.
1 - I picked this up on Rogers and I'm pretty happy with it. Having a slightly less modified version of android is something I prefer since I'd rather do the tweaking instead of rely on manufacturers to decide what I need. Yeah, I'd recommend it but it depends how flashy people expect a phone to be out of the box.
2 - I bought it without expecting to root and fiddle with it for a year or two. That's because I don't think development for it will catch up until then since it's not nearly as popular as something like the S3, but also because it simply works right now. I have one phone and I need it to work every day so flashing roms frequently isn't something I have time for.
3 - It's just as nice as it looks online. It reminds me of an iPhone 4 / 4s with a more durable feel to it. I dropped my last phone onto steel from 20ft and it cracked the screen under the gorilla glass. This gives me a lot more confidence that the thicker first gen glass (as opposed to the thinner gorilla glass 2) will hold up to the occasional beating it takes at work.
4 - Motorola remembered to make this phone a phone. It seems a lot of companies forget that with smartphones. It's really nice to have a phone with a loud speaker, earpiece and fantastic reception. The whole time I had a Samsung Galaxy S I was battling with the quiet earpiece and yet with this I've answered calls at work with 32dB ear plugs in without issues.
I live in a city with some major dead spots and quite often my friends will realize they haven't had reception for hours and have missed calls while I maintain a couple bars. After making a switch to the Razr HD I'm always the last to lose reception :good:
hi
can someone let me know how the camera quality is? how does it do in low light settings and is the flash bright enough?
thx
I got this phone a few days ago from future shop on the 56$ promo plan. I've never had an android phone before, but so far i like the phone a lot. The kevlar on the back in the chevron pattern looks really nice and makes it stand out. It has a little lip that goes around the edge of the screen which i personally think is greatest idea ever. I dropped the phone from about 3 feet onto the sidewalk and it landed on the front facing corner of the phone. When i flipped it over the phone was undamaged. The camera isn't bad but isn't anything special either. If you decide to get the phone, get it from future shop. They offer a protection plan for 12$ a month, but you can convince them to throw some goodies in. I got a $150 in gift card and a 32gb micro sd card. The plan covers a replacement battery, but since the phone's battery can't be replaced, they will replace the phone with another phone for an equivalent value ($680 including tax).
I just picked this phone from Fido.
1: Physically speaking, this phone really looks nice ,but not ergonomic, maybe suitable for those guys with big hands.
2:Android experience is not so good, when my phone is on, there is always 1**M available RAM, not very smooth. I'am tired of rooting cell phones.I think if RAZR HD got updated to 4.2 would be very smooth.
sspikey said:
1. So I ask you this, would you reccomend this phone to someone else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I absolutely would, I have had many androids over the years and am loving this one so far.
sspikey said:
2. How is rom support? is it easy to unlock and load aftermarket roms on this like CM etc and does it take to it well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I noticed epinter is working on this phone, he was awesome for the Atrix 4G and still is....which means great roms support for us here.
I've already got Jellybean running even though Fido/Rogers won't be releasing the update until late January. There is a couple CM10 betas out but the best working one does not have bluetooth music working yet....so I'm holding off until then.
sspikey said:
3. How is the device quality physically? It looks terrific online.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has a wonderful build quality to it, mush superior to the Droid Razr that my room-mate has. I like that they did away with the stupid camera hump.
sspikey said:
4. Anything else you might add?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was a no-brainer to me, even if I cancelled my contract with Fido in a few months I would have paid less for the phone through them than on ebay or elsewhere.
Curiosity killed the cat I guess and I'm finally looking to get a smartwatch ASAP. I'm a female with a decent sized wrist, so I think I can get away with the bigger watches if needed. Let me know if I posted this in the wrong forum. Its been a while since I've logged on. I went to the dark side for a bit and went to an iphone with Verizon (Samsung went stupid getting rid of sd card support on their s6 and my hubs s5 was too glitchy for me to go to, thus the dark side and leaving my old note4 ) before finally switching to ATT and getting a V10 and back on android.
I'm torn on if I should try out the LG Watch Urbane 2 or if I should try a Samsung Gear S2 Classic or if I should look at something like the 2nd gen Moto 360.
I tend to not do great with silicone-like products (yay allergies) so the band on the LG Urbane 2 has me concerned but everything else about it seems to be ok.
On the Samsung side, I worry about compatibility and being able to use its features well. However, I love the bezel on it and the ability to change out watch bands.
What about the moto 360 second gen?
I want to be able to track my distance pretty easily, (even with the phone) when I go running, and I want to have notifications as I need them. I want the dang thing to work with the v10, I'm hearing mixed reviews about this phone playing nice with others. I also want a pretty decent battery life to go 12-16 hours when needed.
Help, ideas recommendations before I drop a pretty penny on this device? Also, would you go for the ones that connect to a carrier or just through the phone and no carrier involvement?
Thanks folks!
CMMELTON2
bump please?
I can't offer any input at all on the smartwatch area, don't have one, and actually don't know anyone with one (although, I'm starting to get an interest). I do have a BT headset and I've also paired it to 3-4 different car BT connections without issue either. So I haven't experienced any connectivity issues, if that helps at all
As far as the V10? I think it's a great device. I've been very happy with mine(AT&T). The development end has been very very slow going, due to lock down so if you are really interested in custom ROMS, there might be something available for T-Mo, but with the locked bootloaders on AT&T/Verizon custom ROMS are going to be really hard if not impossible to get.
That aside, I can typically get 4 maybe 5 hours screen on time. Admittedly, the battery on my Note 3 was much better, but I actually like the V10 better than the Note 3. (I'd also had Sam devices since the Captivate/2010'ish) so the change was very welcome
I have been looking at Smartwatches for quite some time. I wanted to get the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition when it first came out, but it got pulled before I could buy one. So I started to look into others. The Gear S2 was the only other one that grabbed my interest. Having the ability to make and take calls and to text and basically be untethered to my phone is what I want. If you have an LG phone and go with the Gear S2, you lose a lot of that. Now that the LG Watch is back on the market, I have preordered it and will be getting it in the mail tomorrow. I can't wait to try it out. I will let you know how it is, but I can tell you this, since you are in the LG ecosystem, I would heavily consider the LG Watch as you will have better results. Also, this watch was first designed to work with the V10 so that is a major plus for me.
Thanks for the replies. Let me know how you like that LG watch 2 for sure. My biggest worry is that I will wind up allergic to the band. That and I'm not thrilled with them only getting black this round and no option to change the bands out.
I did not know that the watch was designed to work with the v10. That's a huge plus.
I hope the battery and fitness options on it works.
Anyone with opinion on moto 360 2nd gen or if I should try one without a carrier involved.
cmmelton2 said:
Thanks for the replies. Let me know how you like that LG watch 2 for sure. My biggest worry is that I will wind up allergic to the band. That and I'm not thrilled with them only getting black this round and no option to change the bands out.
I did not know that the watch was designed to work with the v10. That's a huge plus.
I hope the battery and fitness options on it works.
Anyone with opinion on moto 360 2nd gen or if I should try one without a carrier involved.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Check this out, looks good to me. I might even look into one myself
http://www.wareable.com/lg/lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition-price-specs-release-date-1761
Yea, that's the one I am looking at. The only thing is ATT only offers it in black with no plans for others anytime soon and I'm worried if the band is something I'm allergic to then I'm SOL when trying to switch out bands because its not allowed.
kangi26 said:
Check this out, looks good to me. I might even look into one myself
http://www.wareable.com/lg/lg-watch-urbane-2nd-edition-price-specs-release-date-1761
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By the way, in response to your other post, I love the LG V10. I'm a little peeved that there isn't as many products that are compatible with the phone compared to iphone or samsung, but the ability to not be as afraid of dropping my phone and only keeping a clear case and glass screen protector on it is great.
As for the custom roms, when I had the early droid motorolas and all of the samsungs, I felt the absolute need to customize and throw on roms. Plus, VZ and ATT are horrible about bloat. On the v10, I feel like I can actually use my phone regardless of bloat and there is no horrible touchwiz hell. The need to root and customize the rom is low in this device which is a first for me with android.
Sorry if any error with spelling or grammatical issues, my 1 year old thought it would be fun to bash my eye with her head this am and I can't see out of it now, and my face is too swollen to have my bifocals on lol.
cmmelton2 said:
Yea, that's the one I am looking at. The only thing is ATT only offers it in black with no plans for others anytime soon and I'm worried if the band is something I'm allergic to then I'm SOL when trying to switch out bands because its not allowed.
By the way, in response to your other post, I love the LG V10. I'm a little peeved that there isn't as many products that are compatible with the phone compared to iphone or samsung, but the ability to not be as afraid of dropping my phone and only keeping a clear case and glass screen protector on it is great.
As for the custom roms, when I had the early droid motorolas and all of the samsungs, I felt the absolute need to customize and throw on roms. Plus, VZ and ATT are horrible about bloat. On the v10, I feel like I can actually use my phone regardless of bloat and there is no horrible touchwiz hell. The need to root and customize the rom is low in this device which is a first for me with android.
Sorry if any error with spelling or grammatical issues, my 1 year old thought it would be fun to bash my eye with her head this am and I can't see out of it now, and my face is too swollen to have my bifocals on lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Good morning!" HA
kangi26 said:
"Good morning!" HA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea no kidding. My plans to go out an about today went to hell after that hit. I really don't want to explain why i have a swollen eye and eyelid with bruising all around it today to every one I see. Make up isn't covering it and as a female I really don't need a bunch of people thinking the worst.
Go figure my girl doesn't hurt or have any pain from it, she's got a hard head like her daddy.
Does anyone else have an opinion on a watch before I spend awful amounts of money on a smartwatch in the AM?
Has anyone here buyed a nexus 5 from ebay ?since they are quite cheap right now at 100-120$
Im interested in buying one and would like to ask is the battery life that badly if you use a custom rom and kernel , i will use it mostly for reading ebooks at school at 5-10% britghness without internet connection , can i get like 5h of SOT?
Thanks
If its just reading books and on low brightness, yes. Definetly. You can set the kernel frequencies down too to save even more battery. So yeah.
EvilMegaDroid said:
Has anyone here buyed a nexus 5 from ebay ?since they are quite cheap right now at 100-120$
Im interested in buying one and would like to ask is the battery life that badly if you use a custom rom and kernel , i will use it mostly for reading ebooks at school at 5-10% britghness without internet connection , can i get like 5h of SOT?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First, try Swappa before ebay. You're more likely to know exactly what you're getting. Secondly, make sure you know which network(s) your Nexus 5 will be capable of before you purchase. The hardware is the same on all of them, but the way they are registered varies. Some can use any network, others CDMA only, others GSM only...
ocarinaz64 said:
First, try Swappa before ebay. You're more likely to know exactly what you're getting. Secondly, make sure you know which network(s) your Nexus 5 will be capable of before you purchase. The hardware is the same on all of them, but the way they are registered varies. Some can use any network, others CDMA only, others GSM only...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 for Swappa.
On Swappa, the N5 comes in 3 variants; GSM Unlocked, International Unlocked, and Sprint. I'm not really sure what the difference would be for the first two at quick-glance, but it might be more of a concern if you plan to use the N5 outside of the US.
As for the battery life, it depends on the manufacturing date of the phone you get. The phone I got recently off Swappa seems to have a battery from 2015, which is pretty nice. So unless the seller tells you, you could either get lucky and get a N5 from around the time they stopped being sold, a launch model, or anything in-between (not excluding the possibility the phone's owner at some point replacing the battery).
As for the price, I seen a few decent-quality N5's (including the one I bought recently) for less than $100.
espionage724 said:
+1 for Swappa.
On Swappa, the N5 comes in 3 variants; GSM Unlocked, International Unlocked, and Sprint. I'm not really sure what the difference would be for the first two at quick-glance, but it might be more of a concern if you plan to use the N5 outside of the US.
As for the battery life, it depends on the manufacturing date of the phone you get. The phone I got recently off Swappa seems to have a battery from 2015, which is pretty nice. So unless the seller tells you, you could either get lucky and get a N5 from around the time they stopped being sold, a launch model, or anything in-between (not excluding the possibility the phone's owner at some point replacing the battery).
As for the price, I seen a few decent-quality N5's (including the one I bought recently) for less than $100.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i can't go with that i think since i need to get it internationally and free shipping , since if i ship from USA to my country its like 50$ extra , also the ones i saw in ebay are factory unlocked , and yeah for sure i will use a custom kernel on it to make the cores go off when read btw if i use the phone normaly on wifi with 30-40% light web browsing will i get 3-4h of SOT?
If you can reccomand anyother site that ships internationally free i can use that too i don't mind
EvilMegaDroid said:
i can't go with that i think since i need to get it internationally and free shipping , since if i ship from USA to my country its like 50$ extra , also the ones i saw in ebay are factory unlocked , and yeah for sure i will use a custom kernel on it to make the cores go off when read btw if i use the phone normaly on wifi with 30-40% light web browsing will i get 3-4h of SOT?
If you can reccomand anyother site that ships internationally free i can use that too i don't mind
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you wont use the Performance governor, yes.
Rezei said:
If you wont use the Performance governor, yes.
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Click to collapse
Do you know any issues that nexus 5 has with hardware that alot of people like ive heard about the power button failing and wifi , im between choosing a LG G2-3 or nexus 5 but about the LG ive been hearing alot of bad things about its hardware so now ive been thinking about getting the N5 more but that power button failing its scaring me off
EvilMegaDroid said:
Do you know any issues that nexus 5 has with hardware that alot of people like ive heard about the power button failing and wifi , im between choosing a LG G2-3 or nexus 5 but about the LG ive been hearing alot of bad things about its hardware so now ive been thinking about getting the N5 more but that power button failing its scaring me off
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I bought my Nexus 5 second hand and the button has been replaced before. I know. Its scary. And i dont know how people managed to break it. Since its made out of ceramic material. But as long as you use some protection, a case for example, you should be fine. Just dont press to hard or hit the buttons against something.
But other hardware issues... Well. Battery. WiFi happens. Sometimes Bluetooth gives up. Atleast on my side. But otherwise its the money worth it at the moment if youre not a person that wants the most powerful device at the market for simple tasks.
Rezei said:
I bought my Nexus 5 second hand and the button has been replaced before. I know. Its scary. And i dont know how people managed to break it. Since its made out of ceramic material. But as long as you use some protection, a case for example, you should be fine. Just dont press to hard or hit the buttons against something.
But other hardware issues... Well. Battery. WiFi happens. Sometimes Bluetooth gives up. Atleast on my side. But otherwise its the money worth it at the moment if youre not a person that wants the most powerful device at the market for simple tasks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i just can't understand how the power button can be breaked so easly , a friend of mine buyed a nexus 5 and break it under 2 weeks , right now i have a hd2 that is 7 years close to 8 and it still works like its new (i mean if you don't think about perfomance since its way to old) but the hardware its perfect and its 7 years old insteed newer devices are easier to break xD
And yeah as you said it i will probably tune it with underclocking since im not a power user , even the S3 neo my friend has seems like super fast to me so a nexus 5 should be a few times more powerful
il probably pick between G3 of nexus 5 since they are the same price right now althrough i think the G3 battery should be the same as N5 since it has a higher screen res
btw : do you have any idea how much it would cost to get the button fixed if i somehow get the nexus 5 and unlucky break it xD
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
ewingr said:
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just so you know att only has a 14 day return policy
jerrycoffman45 said:
just so you know att only has a 14 day return policy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know. I purchased from B&H Photo. Besides. AT&T doesn't sell the 996, I don't think.
But thanks for the warning. Had I purchase it from them, and expected 30 days, it would have been a pain to learn the hard way that I can't return it if I decide to.
I had the Note 3, 4 then 7 and this phone is larger than all 3. I just recently switched from Sprint and traded in my s7 edge for the V20 and I am happy so far. I purchased a OtterBox Defender case for the phone and with it installed I no longer have any worries of the camera glass, the case is very solid. Plus I left the factory plastic on the camera which people say will help if the phone was to be dropped.
Good luck!
I had been anxiously awaiting the Note 7. At the time 6GB memory was the top of my 'must have' list. So, when it came with 4GB, I was disappointed and decided to watch for a while. Then we know what happened.
I've actually been very interested in chasing some of the better priced competitors, such as Axon 7 or OnePlus 3t. But both the cameras were rated poorly, and then are GSM only.
But, I'm getting tired of these $800 prices. Rumor now is 1K for the Samsung 8.
I ended up purchasing an open box V20 from B&H, has full factory warranty. Got it for 675, no tax, no shipping.
ON the case, I have been using a Bestbuy PLatinum case, which comes with a belt clipped holster, and a kickstand in the case itself. Been great for me. Coming from IT and needing the phone on my at all times, and not wanting to fight the pocket, I used that.
Turns out it is made by Seido, and they have the same for the V20. It arrived from Amazon today. I'll add some pics when I get the phone and get it set up.
This story will continue. Hopefully it will be a pleasant one.
ewingr said:
Note 4 Story
Why this thread? Short background - I am building a '61 Chevy Bubbletop, and have a thread in a Chevy fourm that I have been posting pics, etc. Have had a lot of interest and helpful feedback. I thought it would be fun, and maybe helpful to some (maybe even me), so here goes.
I will have the phone in hand Monday. So first, background on my Note 4, and what I'm hoping to experience with the V20.
I have come to the point that I prefer to not install ROMs. I find that typically, no matter how great and stable everyone says a ROM is, it always has some issue of some kind. (Of course even stock ones do to).
So I went a long time w/o rooting or applying a ROM. I finally just had to have root. So I sold my AT&T Note 4 (couldn't root it), and purchased a T-Mobile Note 4 which could be rooted. I rooted it and used like that for quite a while.
I am one that uses a LOT of apps. (The phone is to use, no?) And with that comes more memory use, and lag. The phone got so laggy I just had to try a ROM. I tried 2-3 with varying success. I finally tried Maximum Overdrive's ROM for the Note 4 (he is now working on a ROM for the V20).
It was like a different phone. Fairly fast, not near as much lag. It has allowed me to extend the life of the phone over the past year. In fact, it works well enough that I wonder how smart I am spending several hundred dollars for a new phone.
So why the new phone? I moved to Florida a year and half ago, and AT&T's data here sucks ripe lemons. I'm going to move to Verizon. (My daughter has them, and we have compared speeds etc., and Verizon is much better here).
Choosing the V20
It has been a few months that I have been on the watch for my next phone. I won't bore you with the long story of that...just a few details.
One of my 'must haves' for the next phone was to have 6GB of memory...due to my high application load. Over time my highest priority switch from 6GB of memory to capability to use a phone on both GSM and CDMA (read that AT&T/Verizon) networks. That way I can tergiversate regarding carriers.
So, some of my top phone choices dropped off the list. In fact, pretty much all of them except for the US996.
Concerns
I do have a few concerns about the V20 that I hope will be alleviated quickly:
Battery - I've been reading posts regarding battery and it does not sound good. Since moving to the Max Overdrive ROM on the Note 4, my battery is unbelievable. I'd hate to go downhill with this phone. This may be something that necessiates rooting.
Camera Lens - I'm sure everyone knows why this is a concern
Performance - I read, for the most part, that this phone performs well. But I also read a lot of complaints about LAG. Ugh...my high app use may make this a likely scenario for me
Camera - I see some complaints about low light pics. But I've seen a lot of praise for the camera as well
Initial Plans
Once I get all apps installed, and data imported/restored for those that need it, I plan to use it stock for at least 30 days and see how it goes. Depending on how it goes, especially related to the concerns above, I'll either keep it and move forward, or return it.
I'll start out with it on AT&T. May hold off moving to Verizon until I pass the 30 day return availablility.
Rooting
I would really like to root the phone. But, as that the only way to unlock the bootloader is via the LG site for this phone, I don't know if I will or not...at least this early with the phone. Why does that make a difference? Will lose warranty, as they indicate that on the LG site where you go to get it unlocked.
Apply Rom?
Given that there is a Maximum Overdrive rom for the V20, you'd think I would want to put that on. Actually, this is true...but he is only making one for the 918, as that is the phone he has. So, I will miss out on that honey.
I have read some positive info on a couple others out there, but do see constant issues, even with just rooting. It's not near as smooth as a Samsung (I base that opinion on the issues I see here vs. have experienced with the Samsung). So, I'm skittish about doing anything to it. Given the 996 unlocking flags the phone as out of warranty, I fear that a bricked phone will be a several hundred dollar loss.
Summary
So, looking forward to getting the phone and seeing how it goes, and having fun communicating here about the journey.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About Battery>> Remember that a) you will be dealing with a phone with IPS screen instead of AMOLED (this has a huge impact on the battery). b)the amount of apps that you have (specially those that requires to sync in the background are often part of the issue of battery drainage (my v20 used to last up to 7+ or 8+ with screen on with just about 7 user apps and the rest system apps, now i have 85 user apps + the system apps which make my phone last about 5+ hours screen on). On the other hand, The Doze mode of this phone is INSANE!!!! OUTSTANDING! With screen off your phone can easily last a day or even two (if you like to listen to music with pandora or Spotify >>> it will still last a lot with screen off).
About Camera Lens>> This is just an opinion but im starting to believe that the camera lens sensitivity is just to a small percent of the stock. Believe me when i tell you that i have throw my phone so hard to the wall (by accident) and with that kind of pressure (even with the poetic revolution cover) it should have made the glass of the camera crack (not to mention my phone has fell a lot). On the other hand, do not remove the plastic it comes with , just to be safe.
About Performance>> The phone is fast but just like any other phone, regardless of the processor, or the amount of ram, it has its limits. Thus, at the beginning i had a blazing fast LG V20. But put 85 user apps inside any phone and see how this will change lol. IT still fast. But every once in a while i experience a little lag. But that is just when i have only 500+mb left of ram. ( how can i know my ram quickly? OvrDrive Rom has the ram bar)
About Camera>> The camera does become slower when you are at very dark environments. But many report, including me, that using manual mode and adjusting it to your liking will make it very fast. I believe the issue is the automatic mode. Although sometimes for me the automatic mode in the dark works great. Also, some people report their photos looking like water paint (it does happen to me only with the wide angle camera. Not very often, but it does)
Now, if you are looking for developments and all that, this phone seems to be going in the right direction. We pretty much have root for every variant, we have some custom stock roms, and also we have LineageOS, Resurrection Remix, and AOKP among others so far for almost every variants.
Appreciate the input. We'll see how my experience goes.
I have a comment/reply or two in blue down in the quote of your response.
jinkerz9430 said:
About Battery>> Remember that a) you will be dealing with a phone with IPS screen instead of AMOLED (this has a huge impact on the battery). b)the amount of apps that you have (specially those that requires to sync in the background are often part of the issue of battery drainage (my v20 used to last up to 7+ or 8+ with screen on with just about 7 user apps and the rest system apps, now i have 85 user apps + the system apps which make my phone last about 5+ hours screen on). On the other hand, The Doze mode of this phone is INSANE!!!! OUTSTANDING! With screen off your phone can easily last a day or even two (if you like to listen to music with pandora or Spotify >>> it will still last a lot with screen off).
Yup. All understood. My comparison will be to my almost 3 year old Note 4. It has all the apps I will have on the V20, Doze mode (Max Overdrive ROM), etc. This has a just barely smaller battery than the Note 4 (which is disappointing...would prefer a fatter phone with fatter battery). So, I would hope the processer is more efficient, and in the end, at least as good on battery as my Note 4.
About Camera Lens>> This is just an opinion but im starting to believe that the camera lens sensitivity is just to a small percent of the stock. Believe me when i tell you that i have throw my phone so hard to the wall (by accident) and with that kind of pressure (even with the poetic revolution cover) it should have made the glass of the camera crack (not to mention my phone has fell a lot). On the other hand, do not remove the plastic it comes with , just to be safe.
I will definitely have the phone in cases. Hopefully I'll have same experience as you.
About Performance>> The phone is fast but just like any other phone, regardless of the processor, or the amount of ram, it has its limits. Thus, at the beginning i had a blazing fast LG V20. But put 85 user apps inside any phone and see how this will change lol. IT still fast. But every once in a while i experience a little lag. But that is just when i have only 500+mb left of ram. ( how can i know my ram quickly? OvrDrive Rom has the ram bar)
I'm sure it has it's limits. I do abuse them, with lots of apps. MOre than 85, I'm sure. I do have a tendency to freeze apps I don't use often. But of course that requires root. With the Maximum Overdrive ROM on my Note 4, the lags aren't too bad. I'm thinking (hoping) that this phone will shine in comparison to my Note 4 with the better specs.
About Camera>> The camera does become slower when you are at very dark environments. But many report, including me, that using manual mode and adjusting it to your liking will make it very fast. I believe the issue is the automatic mode. Although sometimes for me the automatic mode in the dark works great. Also, some people report their photos looking like water paint (it does happen to me only with the wide angle camera. Not very often, but it does)
I use some modes other than automatic on my Canon. I'm excited to see the capabilities of the camera on this phone. With an understanding of shutter and aperture as an advantage, maybe I'll be very happy with it.
Now, if you are looking for developments and all that, this phone seems to be going in the right direction. We pretty much have root for every variant, we have some custom stock roms, and also we have LineageOS, Resurrection Remix, and AOKP among others so far for almost every variants.
If only Overdrive developed for the 996, I would know what ROM to use. I will likely hold off on ROMS for a while. I still see lots of folks struggling with the ROMS and reporting issues or help needed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tomorrow...the journey begins
SHAMELESS PLUG, to remind everyone that not everyone has 800$ to throw at a phone upfront.
I was in your boat. I had my eyes dead set on the US996.
Did my research and ended up on the H918.
Look at the ROM development, it's flooded with H918 support.
Will the US996 pick up traction and have as much support as the H918? Who knows.
I even wanted the dual sim, but that isn't even rooted if my memory serves correctly.
Regardless, this phone is stellar.
WETA rom has an US996 version, which I'd definitely recommend. I have my eyes on Max Overdrive, NATF and Resurrection remix, but after flashing WETA, i wouldn't change a thing.
Best of luck to you, m9.
Thanks for the best luck wishes.
I am seeing more dev for the 996. I am hopeful that I'll be happy with it stock. Although, I really want Root, so I may give in.
One thing for sure, it is confusing having all various models in the same forums, and most folks don't indicate which model they are on.
ewingr said:
Appreciate the input. We'll see how my experience goes.
I have a comment/reply or two in blue down in the quote of your response.
Tomorrow...the journey begins
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah i would say that Max ovrdrive and Weta are the 2 most stable ones regarding stock roms. Have you tried to talk with OvrDrive ? The h918 and US996 are pretty much alike in all the aspects except some frequencies added to the us996. Maybe you can be a tester for the us996 version. But yeah, first try the phone for a while without any root until the 14 days or possibly some more days are over. If you decide to keep it, then you can jump into the v20's board lol . By the way, you said that you rather a fatter phone? I have seen some battery replacements from third party brands such as zero lemon (which is usually a great brand that produces great batteries) their batteries have way more mah than the original battery from the v20. But it comes with a cost that you might get along with them. It requires to put a very fat case to the phone. I personally dont like it but if you dont care about how fat it looks then you coupd go for it.
I didn't personally talk to Overdrive, but it was asked in his thread of his ROM would work on the 996, and his reply was he would not be supporting it as he does not have one. I too have noticed that ROMs are working on more than one model.
I'll wait and see how the stock battery works out before I go try a fatter one. I'm hoping to stay in the Seido case and belt clip I had already purchased.
Good news/Bad news
Bad news first...but not that bad
I won't have the phone in hand until late Thursday, instead of today
Now the great news
I'll have a brand new phone instead of open big phone, and will sane $175.
I went to Phandroid a bit ago and they announced a sale of the V20 at B&H for $499.99. I had paid $675 for the open box. I called B&H to see if they would refund the difference. Nope. Buy the sale phone and return the open box phone.
Fine with me ?
ewingr said:
Bad news first...but not that bad
I won't have the phone in hand until late Thursday, instead of today
Now the great news
I'll have a brand new phone instead of open big phone, and will sane $175.
I went to Phandroid a bit ago and they announced a sale of the V20 at B&H for $499.99. I had paid $675 for the open box. I called B&H to see if they would refund the difference. Nope. Buy the sale phone and return the open box phone.
Fine with me
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my v20's price was practically speaking $331 dollars Brand new sealed . Because of the promotion of the $200 off and the earphone of $149 plus an extra earphone ($149) sent to me from the defective lg v20 returned. I think im going to finish of paying by the 27 of this month
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
DrPhant0m said:
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what to say. Can you link the one you are looking at? I think by only work with US Cellular, they MAY (I don't know) mean a U.S. Carrier, ie. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile, as opposed to the company US Celluar.
One thing you need to be aware of for the US996...the only way, right now, that it can be bootloader unlocked is by going to a LG site to get an unlock code from them. At that point it will lose warranty. Due to that, I'll be holding off on unlocking for a while. At least, that is my current plan.
Only thing I miss is the stylus going from the note 3 to the v10.
Though I suppose I don't miss the stylus that much since I jumped from the v10 to v20 instead of going back to the note series.
I would love to see lg put some effort into it and make a stylus based top end model instead of putting a stylus version as a middle model. I was hoping the v series would feature a stylus and the g series be a non stylus version but alas it hasn't happened.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
evo4g63t said:
Only thing I miss is the stylus going from the note 3 to the v10.
Though I suppose I don't miss the stylus that much since I jumped from the v10 to v20 instead of going back to the note series.
I would love to see lg put some effort into it and make a stylus based top end model instead of putting a stylus version as a middle model. I was hoping the v series would feature a stylus and the g series be a non stylus version but alas it hasn't happened.
Sent from my LG-H918 using XDA-Developers Legacy app
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But i think that LG is trying not to copy other brands such as samsung. For this reason they should limit the amount of resemblance between the features of each phone. Thus, there are just a handful of LG's with stylus in comparison to the note series . After all i doubt LG wants to experience the same thing that happened with samsung been sued by apple, and then apple been sued back by samsung (quite a hilarious story though lol) but if i had a company such as LG, i would definitely not want to even put a step in court for a battle that can easily last more than a month of constant interventions and proofs and etc... and could easily cost me 100+ or 200+ millions. In a lg v20 , i believe the stylus is not a necessity (Even for people that would love to have stylus for the v series). On the other hand, one could buy one of this or similars:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1xTouch-Scr...485550?hash=item33c8e075ee:g:0RkAAOSwIgNXmXla
and see if there is an application that resembles what one can do with the note's stylus. you will definitely wont find one that will be exactly the same. But maybe similar and who knows maybe better.
DrPhant0m said:
tl;dr version: If I see a US996 for sale that says it "only works with US Cellular" do I take the seller's word for it, or do I know better that the US996 is unlocked for all carriers if you have the right SIM card?
"I've got time" version:
I too am considering a journey from a Note 4 to a US996.
I'm on Verizon, and I just dropped my Note 4 Dev Edition (not that the DE means anything now that the BL unlock was released), cracking the LCD and rendering the digitizer useless. A new(ish) Note 4 is around $200... so I wouldn't bother replacing the screen on my otherwise well-used phone. PS... The phone was in a case, in a belt holster (Spigen Slim Armor / Seidio respectively) and a tempered glass screen protector. ugh.
If it wasn't obvious from my owning a Developer Edition phone... I like to have an unlocked bootloader and root. I had CM13 installed on the Note 4 because TouchWiz was so far behind in a lot of ways. So, I'm considering a V20. I'd rather spend a little more and get a phone that has a SUPPORTED BL unlock method. The Verizon V20 version can be BL unlocked via a hack with a debug bootloader, but it's irreversible and that may lead to issues with being painted into a corner. Enter the US996.
So, I started researching the V20, making sure that there was stable bootloader unlock method, the dev base for ROMs is strong, the reviews are good, etc... and I came across some sales that say that the phone is ONLY for US Cellular. Is this true? The US996 is the unlocked version, correct?
I tried to navigate LG's and USC's websites to get a model number and some info... but I'm not seeing it. Could US Cellular have somehow SIM-locked the phone so that only USC's SIMs work in it? Or... does the seller just not know any better, or wants to play it safe by saying it will only work with the carrier listed?
Thanks for the help! Also... anyone switching from the Note 4, please let me know what you miss. I use my stylus a lot for drawing or annotating on pictures and screenshots... so I think it will be the hardest thing to give up if I go to a V20 or other stylus-less phone.
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I've been thinking a bit. I know I saw in a thread somewhere about the US996 being the same model for the Unlocked and for a carrier (don't recall if it was US Cellular). I think the key is 'Unlocked'. Maybe you should put your question in it's own post. May bet more input, from someone who knows for sure.
Thanks for the replies. Take a look at this auction: http://www.ebay.com/itm/381960164377
The seller says they are an authorized US Cellular reseller… so it seems they'd know. And I doubt that they'd distort the truth about the phone being unlocked just to keep USC customers. So maybe there are US996s out there that are locked to USC. It doesn't make sense that there'd be a carrier-locked version of the US996 sold by LG… so maybe USC is locking them. Perhaps I'll ask the seller.
I ended up ordering a "like new" note 4 for $200 before I found out that B&H was selling the US996 for $300 off retail, and now I've missed that deal. So hopefully this Note4 really is in new condition and it will serve long enough for me to try out a V20 while the price drops again somewhere else.
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Update… this is the response I got from the seller:
Thank you for your question. We are not selling the phone as compatible with other carriers or carrier-unlocked. We can't guarantee that the phone will work with an another carrier. We are only saying the phone will work with the carrier US Cellular. We can only guarantee that it works with US Cellular.*
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What do you all think?
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