Deiciding between phones, stuck between three.

Amol S.

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Mar 14, 2015
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My 2-year contract with Verizon Wireless is ending in June, and I not certain if I will go back or not, high chance I will go to another network.

However the fact comes if I should keep my phone or buy a new one.:\ Did little looking around, however only two phones came up with my specification of the phone options I would like. On ATT or T-Mobile.

Currently, have a Nokia Lumia Icon. It only supports one band of LTE on ATT after doing research on the Microsoft website, however, on the phone menu itself, when search for networks selected, when switched to (GSM & LTE) mode, it shows T-Mobile(Forbidden) :confused: , instead of showing normally what supported GSM signals are available in the area where the phone is in, Verizon wireless(LTE) and ATT a (2G,3G or 3G [I do not think that LTE band 4 is available in NYC, as it never showed LTE :\]), however when placed back to normal mode (CDMA & LTE) it showed Verizon Wireless as it should.

I looked for the phones, 5" or bigger, with front and back camera, and with back camera has 20MP or greater. Also, I do not like Samsung or LG phones.

ATT showed HTC M9 One and the Microsoft Lumia 950( if I had to get the Lumia I would rather get the (950 XL dual-sim).

T-Mobile showed the HTC M9 One however after a little research I discovered that the 950 XL dual-sim also works on T-Mobile.

If I stayed with Verizon I would rather keep my phone, instead of spending money on a new phone above $600.

I do not want to get the phone under a contract id rather just buy the phone at full and just only pay for the service.

I do not know, should I use the phone I currently have when the contract ends, or which phone should I choose? Also another question, should I stay with Verizon, or should I switch? :hmm:
 
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shabby

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Because more mpixels = better photos...
Just get the s7 edge if you want the best phone right now, it has the best camera, its water resistant, fastest cpu, water resistant, best camera, sd card, water resistant, sd card, best camera and so forth.
I would avoid any phone with the sd808/810 cpu.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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Because more mpixels = better photos...
Just get the s7 edge if you want the best phone right now, it has the best camera, its water resistant, fastest cpu, water resistant, best camera, sd card, water resistant, sd card, best camera and so forth.
I would avoid any phone with the sd808/810 cpu.
I did say on the starting post on this thread that I do not like SAMSUNG or lg. I think I should capitalist.
 

paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
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go pull up photos for the nexus 6p, and compare them to the phones you listed

as shabby mentioned, megapixels does not equal quality

(nexus 6p is a good phone if you can live with the flaws.... and you can switch to any provider you want in the future - sprint, att, tmobile, verizon)

a lot of users have complained about camera purple tint for the htc one m7/m8, somewhat for the m9. avoid if you want a good camera
 
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nerp

Diamond Member
Dec 31, 2005
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I've been through this. I just ended up getting an iPhone. Sigh.
 

Amol S.

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Mar 14, 2015
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go pull up photos for the nexus 6p, and compare them to the phones you listed

as shabby mentioned, megapixels does not equal quality

(nexus 6p is a good phone if you can live with the flaws.... and you can switch to any provider you want in the future - sprint, att, tmobile, verizon)

a lot of users have complained about camera purple tint for the htc one m7/m8, somewhat for the m9. avoid if you want a good camera

I hate static spots of light that comes up on lower res cameras. Also, I heard people say not get Nexus on some places on this forum now and even in the past.

Lastly, I do use my phone as a USB flash drive sometimes, for things other than multimedia, so iPhone is not an option.:thumbsdown:

I forgot to mention these things.
 

sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
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If you don't know why they're saying to not get a Nexus, that advice can safely be ignored.

And the thing about the past in mobile tech, is it doesn't really matter as much. You only need to consider the last two or three years of a phone line. Samsung and LG have made great strides, as has the the Nexus line.
 

paperwastage

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May 25, 2010
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I hate static spots of light that comes up on lower res cameras. Also, I heard people say not get Nexus on some places on this forum now and even in the past.

Lastly, I do use my phone as a USB flash drive sometimes, for things other than multimedia, so iPhone is not an option.:thumbsdown:

I forgot to mention these things.

tell me if you can see noise in these photos for the nexus 6p

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/11/shootout-nexus-6p-vs-lg-v10-low-light.html
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...he-true-flagships-of-the-android-ecosystem/3/

I heard apple-fanboys say not to get nexus.

I heard nexus-fanboys say not to get iPhone

So I ended up with a windows phone :eek:
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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If you don't know why they're saying to not get a Nexus, that advice can safely be ignored.

And the thing about the past in mobile tech, is it doesn't really matter as much. You only need to consider the last two or three years of a phone line. Samsung and LG have made great strides, as has the the Nexus line.

I go home from college at 11 at night, and use my cell on the subway and I can only lift 35lb's (35% couch potato that never goes to the gym[actually is bsy with school]) with both hands, not good for Samsung at night. On top of that there is seldom a electronics robber going about in our college building, that no one knows about.

I still go on my parents salary, never went for a interview yet. My parents told me if my phone ever gets stolen they are not going to pay for another one, (I actually am not that responsible sometimes) giving me a flip phone, did not want to take a chance with my first cell so got the Icon. But, still I want to stay clear of Samsung.

My mom had a bad experience with LG for the past 2 years.

If my parents were WILLING to pay $800 I would not be here and gotten the Motorola Droid Turbo 2 "designed by you " 64gb, from verizion and switched to ATT.

Also Nexus 6 does not have removable storage, which I want so no go for nexus 6. And Nexus 9 8"?????That will not even fit my pocket. 6P has non removable battery no good...

Why do they even make phones with non removable batteries. I feel bad for those people :(.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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tell me if you can see noise in these photos for the nexus 6p

http://www.androidheadlines.com/2015/11/shootout-nexus-6p-vs-lg-v10-low-light.html
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015...he-true-flagships-of-the-android-ecosystem/3/

I heard apple-fanboys say not to get nexus.

I heard nexus-fanboys say not to get iPhone

So I ended up with a windows phone :eek:

The second link shows good, but the first one shows images with a grainy texture.

I actually was thinking of the nexus 6P until I discover it had a non removable battery. :( I always go hard on the battery with anything, even on the 2013 Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet I always set display desktop site for everything. I hate mobile web.
 

LPCTech

Senior member
Dec 11, 2013
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moto x pure? 21 megapixel camera, water resistant. $499 for 32MB version

The only phone in the last 2 years to have a removable battery is the LG V10, I think
 

paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
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moto x pure? 21 megapixel camera, water resistant. $499 for 32MB version

The only phone in the last 2 years to have a removable battery is the LG V10, I think

LG G4, and the upcoming LG G5

and OP doesn't like LG just the way I don't like xyz


look at the zenfone 2 laser

The second link shows good, but the first one shows images with a grainy texture.
I can overcompensate noise with more noise-reduction.... which makes the image quality go down

what do you care about?
 
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sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
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I go home from college at 11 at night, and use my cell on the subway and I can only lift 35lb's (35% couch potato that never goes to the gym[actually is bsy with school]) with both hands, not good for Samsung at night. On top of that there is seldom a electronics robber going about in our college building, that no one knows about.

I still go on my parents salary, never went for a interview yet. My parents told me if my phone ever gets stolen they are not going to pay for another one, (I actually am not that responsible sometimes) giving me a flip phone, did not want to take a chance with my first cell so got the Icon. But, still I want to stay clear of Samsung.

My mom had a bad experience with LG for the past 2 years.

If my parents were WILLING to pay $800 I would not be here and gotten the Motorola Droid Turbo 2 "designed by you " 64gb, from verizion and switched to ATT.

Also Nexus 6 does not have removable storage, which I want so no go for nexus 6. And Nexus 9 8"?????That will not even fit my pocket. 6P has non removable battery no good...

Why do they even make phones with non removable batteries. I feel bad for those people :(.

This literally made no sense. Especially the first paragraph.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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LG G4, and the upcoming LG G5

and OP doesn't like LG just the way I don't like xyz


look at the zenfone 2 laser


I can overcompensate noise with more noise-reduction.... which makes the image quality go down

what do you care about?

The reason I hate LG is because of the G series. My mom has the LG G2 on the contract we both are on currently, which we started on June 2014. Verizon only announced that they are now selling LG G3 about a week or two after we got our phones. Unfortunately, in order to change the phone, they said we needed to break the contract (both phones are on the same contract as stated before), which was not going to ever happen, since at the time I got my phone, the full price Verizon was selling my phone (the Nokia Lumia Icon), was around the $600-$700 range.

Only a few months after getting the phone it had problems in syncing e-mails.

Within a year, my mom's phone is starting to acts restarted, constantly, after my mom turns of the phone after getting back from work and starts charging it charged it says the phone turned off due to overheating.

Then when we are 3/4ths thru the contract the phone starts to act even more restarted, it stats showing no signal. When my mom went to Verizon, the same day it happened, they said that the antenna has gone bad due to water damage. The problem started mid-day my mom told me, and guess what? The last time rained before that problem happened was, about 4 to 5 days ago, and my mom said she never dropped the phone in water.

Then about 2 to 3 weeks later, the phones display no longer rotates, this is when rotation lock is off.
_________________________________________________________

Now Samsung, you said Samsung is great for the last 3 years. I think otherwise. 3 years ago in May, my mom bought the first version, the 2013 version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet(N8013).

I liked it a lot, however I hated the fact that it took so long to start up every time. Also, you can't do much until all e-mails that are new are synced to the device since, while syncing the device is so slow. On top of that, if you ever go on a game on that tablet, that tablet get low to medium warm, however if long enough it does get high-warm.

On top of that they did not sell replacement S-pen nubs for the 2013 version, they only sold 2014 versions by 2014, which meant that there is no way to get a replacement nub. I it when companies do that, they should sell it for another year.

However those were not the biggest problems with the tablet, the worst was that Samsung only gave update to kitkat for devices of the 2014 version in Europe only, that had the cellular service bundled with it. So now this tablet that we have with Android 4.1.2 is stating to get old fast. Why only those in Europe, and why only 2014 version?

If I even ever had to get a Samsung I would get the S-note series, since I would only like android with a stylus.
______________________________________________________

Oh taking about zen, my mom that to be her next phone, but I do not remember which one.
 

poofyhairguy

Lifer
Nov 20, 2005
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I liked it a lot, however I hated the fact that it took so long to start up every time. Also, you can't do much until all e-mails that are new are synced to the device since, while syncing the device is so slow. On top of that, if you ever go on a game on that tablet, that tablet get low to medium warm, however if long enough it does get high-warm.

Uh...any Android device would have the same issues. Well not the update issue, but the rest.

Removable batteries are starting to become a thing of the past. LG has them, and that its among top tier OEMs (the Zenphone is not a top teir device).

At this point I think you get the drift you will have to compromise somewhere- get a brand you currently don't like, get a device we won't outright recommend because its not top tier, or give up on getting all the features you want.

Welcome to smartphones in 2016.

giphy-facebook_s.jpg
 

paperwastage

Golden Member
May 25, 2010
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At this point I think you get the drift you will have to compromise somewhere- get a brand you currently don't like, get a device we won't outright recommend because its not top tier, or give up on getting all the features you want.

perhaps a different perspective

nexus = any software-issues should be fixable (and official updates for at least 2 years, yay!), but hardware compromises. if you buy through google, very good RMA/warranty support

lg/samsung/... = pick-and-choose the hardware you want, but software compromises (dependent on carrier/manufacturer for update, bloatware/slowness etc)
 

shabby

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
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The reason I hate LG is because of the G series. My mom has the LG G2 on the contract we both are on currently, which we started on June 2014. Verizon only announced that they are now selling LG G3 about a week or two after we got our phones. Unfortunately, in order to change the phone, they said we needed to break the contract (both phones are on the same contract as stated before), which was not going to ever happen, since at the time I got my phone, the full price Verizon was selling my phone (the Nokia Lumia Icon), was around the $600-$700 range.

Only a few months after getting the phone it had problems in syncing e-mails.

Within a year, my mom's phone is starting to acts restarted, constantly, after my mom turns of the phone after getting back from work and starts charging it charged it says the phone turned off due to overheating.

Then when we are 3/4ths thru the contract the phone starts to act even more restarted, it stats showing no signal. When my mom went to Verizon, the same day it happened, they said that the antenna has gone bad due to water damage. The problem started mid-day my mom told me, and guess what? The last time rained before that problem happened was, about 4 to 5 days ago, and my mom said she never dropped the phone in water.

Then about 2 to 3 weeks later, the phones display no longer rotates, this is when rotation lock is off.
_________________________________________________________

Now Samsung, you said Samsung is great for the last 3 years. I think otherwise. 3 years ago in May, my mom bought the first version, the 2013 version of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet(N8013).

I liked it a lot, however I hated the fact that it took so long to start up every time. Also, you can't do much until all e-mails that are new are synced to the device since, while syncing the device is so slow. On top of that, if you ever go on a game on that tablet, that tablet get low to medium warm, however if long enough it does get high-warm.

On top of that they did not sell replacement S-pen nubs for the 2013 version, they only sold 2014 versions by 2014, which meant that there is no way to get a replacement nub. I it when companies do that, they should sell it for another year.

However those were not the biggest problems with the tablet, the worst was that Samsung only gave update to kitkat for devices of the 2014 version in Europe only, that had the cellular service bundled with it. So now this tablet that we have with Android 4.1.2 is stating to get old fast. Why only those in Europe, and why only 2014 version?

If I even ever had to get a Samsung I would get the S-note series, since I would only like android with a stylus.
______________________________________________________

Oh taking about zen, my mom that to be her next phone, but I do not remember which one.

Syncing emails? That's why you hate lg? And you hate samsung because your tablet gets warm? Bro, you and your mom are the problem, im outta here.
 

sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
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I concur. Got G2's super late, and then the "surprise" announce of the G3 is somehow on LG?

And I'd love to hear what the hardware compromise is on the 6P that they would actually care enough about to not purchase it. This thread is turning into a fantastic trainwreck.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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Syncing emails?
If I had Android I would have to activate it under my college e-mail address either as primary or secondary, which means if ti can't sync no good. I need to see my e-mails on my college e-mail account. Its almost like a business e-mail account, if A was sent an e-mail by boss B that a emergency business meeting popped up and has to be done at midnight. If A is not able to see the E-mail and goes home, B fires A from the job.

Uhhhh warmnes is not a major concern, it was also the no sale of pen nubs and the no update.
 

Amol S.

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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I concur. Got G2's super late, and then the "surprise" announce of the G3 is somehow on LG?

And I'd love to hear what the hardware compromise is on the 6P that they would actually care enough about to not purchase it. This thread is turning into a fantastic trainwreck.

Shabby was the one who said to avoid the 810 cpu phones, which is what the nexus 6p uses. Why do you think I was saying no to 6p, you guys were thinking that I was going around gibberish. Before one replies they should read the whole thread before posting. Oh and the 810 is a fact from the nexus website. You guys can really confuse people.

But not even that, if we were to forget about the CPU, the HTC ONE M9, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Sim, and especially the Motorola Droid turbo 2- deisgn your own have that is better than the Nexus 6P does not have! Yes all phones are at least 5".

Memory cards is one of the major things that the nexus does not have, another is the fact that the 3 phones listed above when compared to the nexus have at least 1 more hour of battery life when browsing the internet using wi-fi. All three phones have a 20MP camera while the Nexus only has a 16 MP camera.

Also the Motorola has a more powerful battery than the nexus.

Now lets build on the memory card, the Microsoft Lumia 950XL Dual Sim (internal +max external), the HTC (internal+ max external), and the Motorola (max external +max internal) have more memory than the 128GB nexus.

The Microsoft 950XL has a 32GB internal memory, and a max external microSD card of 200GB. 32GB+200GB=232GB when phone has no OS.

NOW THIS IS THE MAJOR ONE! The Motorola Droid turbo 2-"design your own", has a max internal storage of 64GB. But that's not the end of it, it can support a max expandable mem of 2TB!!!!!! If rounded up that is 2.1TB when the phone is not formatted. The same exact is the case with the HTC except it has 32GB internal than 64GB.

Both the Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Sim and the HTC have a max talk time 2 hours greater than the nexus. Nothing stated about the droid's talk time.

The Motorola and the Microsoft have both wireless charging. Which the nexus does not have wireless battery charging.

I can agree that the HTC has less ppi than the nexus, and although the Microsoft has a ppi same to the Nexus, the Motorola has a higher ppi than the nexus.

Also lastly the, Microsoft phone has a removable battery.

Those were the reasons why I do not like the Nexus 6P.

That is why I am deciding between the three phones, HTC ONE M9, Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Sim, and the Motorola Droid Turbo 2- "Design your own". Which one is good? Or should I keep the Phone I currently have, the Nokia Lumia Icon?
 

Obsy

Senior member
Apr 28, 2009
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Whatever you do, don't get another Windows phone if it's the only phone you'll have. You're a young college student. Having an Android or (especially) iPhone will create more social vectors for you. Trust me. Or you'll regret it when that cute girl in lecture asks you to Snapchat with her, and you reply with "oh sorry I have a Windows phone."

And if I remember correctly, you have an interest in computer programming? If so, more the reason to get the M9 or Turbo 2 so you have something worthwhile to develop crappy term and hackathon projects on. Been there, done that.

The HTC M9 is a flawed phone, but I'd personally enjoy using it more because of the amazing speakers, metal build, and recent clearance pricing that's easier for us broke college students stomach.

Whatever.


Sincerely,
CS student and former Windows phone believer
 

sweenish

Diamond Member
May 21, 2013
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No one was saying the 6P didn't have an 810.

Like I said, this thread is a trainwreck in progress.
 

LPCTech

Senior member
Dec 11, 2013
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Im waiting for the new Nexus phones. The 5x gets bad reviews has an 808 but I like the look of it. The 6P is rated well but has a 810 and is fugly to the max and has no sdcard slot. I wont buy a phone without that. I dont like the S7, I find it too narrow and tall and want pure android. Was looking into the G5 but seems like there will be software issues with that. So hoping my old phone can last until the newest nexus line comes out and hope its not crap.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
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DPreview had an excellent article explaining why high pixel count on a small sensor leads to poor image quality. But I cannot find it now.
 

Graze

Senior member
Nov 27, 2012
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Im waiting for the new Nexus phones. The 5x gets bad reviews has an 808 but I like the look of it. The 6P is rated well but has a 810 and is fugly to the max and has no sdcard slot. I wont buy a phone without that. I dont like the S7, I find it too narrow and tall and want pure android. Was looking into the G5 but seems like there will be software issues with that. So hoping my old phone can last until the newest nexus line comes out and hope its not crap.

No sense waiting for the "new Nexus phones". They would never have an sd card slot and you just said you would not buy a phone without one.
o_O