Motorola

skull

Platinum Member
Jun 5, 2000
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Motorola has been my go to since smart phones came out, I had a samsung s3 I didn't like for awhile and went back to motorola. I got an x4 almost 2 years ago. Haven't cared for it since the beginning, didn't know motorola had got bought out and the quality went down when I got it. Needing to get a new phone and thinking I should switch brands. I guess everyones still on samsungs so don't know if I should try that again or go with something like a pixel 3. Usually only spend $100 on a phone but thinking about spending a couple hundred and getting something decent.
 

podspi

Golden Member
Jan 11, 2011
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What's your price range? You might want to look at some used phones on Swappa if your price range is a few hundred dollars. You can pick up a used Samsung Galaxy S9 or LG G8 ThinQ for around that. My S9 was probably my favorite smartphone so far. The S20 FE is faster for sure, but you can tell it is a "cheaper" ($700!!) phone... Phone prices these days are out of control, especially now that batteries are non-replaceable...
 

skull

Platinum Member
Jun 5, 2000
2,209
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Looks like I can get an unlocked renewed s9 on amazon for $230 or a renewed g8 for $270 Id be alight with that but probably won't go used. Plan on keeping it awhile the phone I had before the x4 I had for 3 years. I'd spend around 300 if that gets me any better options.
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
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136
LG just announced they are totally dropping out of the cell phone business today (mobile division will close its doors on 07/31/21). As a result, you might want to look for another brand as I doubt you'll be seeing many (if any) security updates from them after that date.
 
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manly

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
10,907
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The problem with getting something old like a Galaxy S9 is that you have limited software support remaining. It's a 3 year old device, so you will get one year of quarterly updates (still better than any other Android OEM). Some people are comfortable using smartphones after support ends, but if you do any financial stuff on your phone, it's not a great idea. Unlike some other models, you can't unlock the bootloader to install a third party ROM on Samsung phones with Snapdragon SoCs.

Bang for the buck, you have a couple mainstream choices. Go with a Pixel 4a, preferably early in the product cycle when you have 3 years of great support. Or stretch your budget to one of the frequent deals that Samsung has on a mid-range or better phone.

If you're trying to stick to a limited budget, I guess Nokia or Motorola are still reasonable options.

Some would argue the best mid-range value is an iPhone SE with possibly over 5 years of support, if you're willing to compromise on screen size (and switch ecosystems).
 
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BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
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Damn...is Motorola still in the cell phone biz? I haven't owned one since the pre-smart phone days of flip-phones...
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
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Damn...is Motorola still in the cell phone biz? I haven't owned one since the pre-smart phone days of flip-phones...

Google sold Motorola Mobility to Lenovo about 6 or 7 years ago.

Based upon the Moto G7 my mother has, they are selling typical cheap Chinese trash. The thing was replaced twice (at less than 3 months, then again 7 days before the 12 month warranty expired), and that 3rd replacement is now in the process of failing. What makes it worse is that she takes good care of her phone. My sister-in-law also had a Moto phone in 2019 where the USB-C port quit working after two whole months of use (it wasn't dropped or abused -- simply just stopped charging) and Motorola refused to repair it under their so called warranty.
 
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esquared

Forum Director & Omnipotent Overlord
Forum Director
Oct 8, 2000
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I bought a Moto Power around Christmas. Nice big screen. Big battery (5000 mAh).
I've been very happy with it but my requirements are a lower price and not having to charge it everyday. A price of 800-1000 for a phone isn't happening.
Paid 170 back in December.
I think it's a little more now.
 
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DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
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Motorola has been my go to since smart phones came out, I had a samsung s3 I didn't like for awhile and went back to motorola. I got an x4 almost 2 years ago. Haven't cared for it since the beginning, didn't know motorola had got bought out and the quality went down when I got it. Needing to get a new phone and thinking I should switch brands. I guess everyones still on samsungs so don't know if I should try that again or go with something like a pixel 3. Usually only spend $100 on a phone but thinking about spending a couple hundred and getting something decent.

I have exclusively bought Motorola since the OG Droid. Wife tried samsung s4, Anecdotal evidence x3.
Talked her into getting a Turbo back then , battery life is important for her. She has had several since,
I am on a Zforce2 for over two years, don't really need to replace. Her charge port is jacked though. She doesn't get the plugging in into charger and falling asleep with it, or letting it run all the way down hurts the battery.

I'd say her USBc port is just jacked.

What the quote below is true, Google bought Moto, then sold to Lenovo.
Last I heard Pixels were made by Huwaei.

Reason I like Motorola phones is the antenna reception. Battery life secondary. Mine will have service where my work Galaxy 8 won't, both Verizon carrier.

Google sold Motorola Mobility to Lenovo about 6 or 7 years ago.

Based upon the Moto G7 my mother has, they are selling typical cheap Chinese trash. The thing was replaced twice (at less than 3 months, then again 7 days before the 12 month warranty expired), and that 3rd replacement is now in the process of failing. What makes it worse is that she takes good care of her phone. My sister-in-law also had a Moto phone in 2019 where the USB-C port quit working after two whole months of use (it wasn't dropped or abused -- simply just stopped charging) and Motorola refused to repair it under their so called warranty.

Anecdotal evidence.

They sell trash to flagship. I will agree there. most do.

How sure are you of she takes good care of her phone? I described my wife's situation above, she would claim she takes good care of it. (She don't)

If one lets the phone run down to power off, it is bad for the battery. It takes some finesse to get it back but still. LiPo batteries will not last if left on charger for long periods, or is let run down to point of unable to power device and it shuts down.
USBc port is pretty robust, but they can only take so many insertions, not to mention force exertion on the port itself. ( my wife's and her sister's problem) they think they can plug it in and just keep on going pulling, twisting, using cheap cables to begin with.
Not saying that is your sister in laws issue.

But usually if they die from dead battery you have to plug it in give it awhile then force it on, IE hold down power and or volume down for x amount of time.

I had also noticed a bug where mine says its charging but % will not increase. Usually a reboot resolves.

Now with all that pout of the way, when is the usual flagship refreshes generally hit? late summer?
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
748
136
I have exclusively bought Motorola since the OG Droid. Wife tried samsung s4, Anecdotal evidence x3.
Talked her into getting a Turbo back then , battery life is important for her. She has had several since,
I am on a Zforce2 for over two years, don't really need to replace. Her charge port is jacked though. She doesn't get the plugging in into charger and falling asleep with it, or letting it run all the way down hurts the battery.

I'd say her USBc port is just jacked.

What the quote below is true, Google bought Moto, then sold to Lenovo.
Last I heard Pixels were made by Huwaei.

Reason I like Motorola phones is the antenna reception. Battery life secondary. Mine will have service where my work Galaxy 8 won't, both Verizon carrier.



Anecdotal evidence.

They sell trash to flagship. I will agree there. most do.

How sure are you of she takes good care of her phone? I described my wife's situation above, she would claim she takes good care of it. (She don't)

If one lets the phone run down to power off, it is bad for the battery. It takes some finesse to get it back but still. LiPo batteries will not last if left on charger for long periods, or is let run down to point of unable to power device and it shuts down.
USBc port is pretty robust, but they can only take so many insertions, not to mention force exertion on the port itself. ( my wife's and her sister's problem) they think they can plug it in and just keep on going pulling, twisting, using cheap cables to begin with.
Not saying that is your sister in laws issue.

But usually if they die from dead battery you have to plug it in give it awhile then force it on, IE hold down power and or volume down for x amount of time.

I had also noticed a bug where mine says its charging but % will not increase. Usually a reboot resolves.

Now with all that pout of the way, when is the usual flagship refreshes generally hit? late summer?

Mom is 74 and seems to think her phone will break if she even squeezes it too hard, so she is ultra-careful with it. The mistake I made was buying her one without the option of wireless charging -- reliance on standard unreinforced USB-C ports for charging is just stupid in general (probably good for padding sales numbers, though).

FWIW, Samsung is about to release their midrange "A" series phones with 5G (think it was actually supposed to be today if I remember right). The 5G version of the A32 is supposed to be like $280, which will probably be a very decent deal for people that live in areas that have 5G service.

Of course, where I live we barely even get 4G service on a good day, so 5G is a pipe dream for us.
 
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balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
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I have exclusively bought Motorola since the OG Droid. Wife tried samsung s4, Anecdotal evidence x3.
Talked her into getting a Turbo back then , battery life is important for her. She has had several since,
I am on a Zforce2 for over two years, don't really need to replace. Her charge port is jacked though. She doesn't get the plugging in into charger and falling asleep with it, or letting it run all the way down hurts the battery.
Hey DaaQ. What's your standby time on the z2 force? I also bought mine two years ago during the $99 fire sale. It's a backup phone that doesn't get used 99% of the time. My standby time went from 1 week to 2 days overnight. Mobile network standby is the culprit. I've seen others with this issue and curious if you saw the same behavior? Needing to charge it every other day is going to greatly decrease the battery life.
 

DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
1,278
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Hey DaaQ. What's your standby time on the z2 force? I also bought mine two years ago during the $99 fire sale. It's a backup phone that doesn't get used 99% of the time. My standby time went from 1 week to 2 days overnight. Mobile network standby is the culprit. I've seen others with this issue and curious if you saw the same behavior? Needing to charge it every other day is going to greatly decrease the battery life.
depending on usage, and screen brightness. I have never left mine go complete standby.
That being said, I could leave in the morning, and a that time i used it strictly to play Youtube music through a usbc to aux adapter. I could leave house at 7am, get home at 9pm and still be above 20%

What has killed my battery life though, is installing mobile games. I only play one, Last Shelter Survival, and that has casued me to have to plug in from time to time during the day.

I had bought the Motorola high output 12v plug in charger adapters awhile back and they do suplly enough for turbo charge to work. My work's Galaxy Tab3 can run screen on with gps navigation running and charge from lets say 30 percent to 100% in several hours, and then hold that at 100 all day while using navigation from place to place, sometimes as many as a dozen locations.

let me look up and see if I can find the link to the charger. Best I've ever used. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H112XRZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My routine is put it on charger at bedtime, pull it when I leave for work and that was it for 2 years.

Let ma also add, my phone, I don't feel I NEED and upgrade. It's easily 2.5 years old. But wife needed (wanted) one so I added mine in as well.

I do know the Zforce1 had a larger battery than the Force2, which irritated me but....
 
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DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
1,278
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136
Mom is 74 and seems to think her phone will break if she even squeezes it too hard, so she is ultra-careful with it. The mistake I made was buying her one without the option of wireless charging -- reliance on standard unreinforced USB-C ports for charging is just stupid in general (probably good for padding sales numbers, though).

FWIW, Samsung is about to release their midrange "A" series phones with 5G (think it was actually supposed to be today if I remember right). The 5G version of the A32 is supposed to be like $280, which will probably be a very decent deal for people that live in areas that have 5G service.

Of course, where I live we barely even get 4G service on a good day, so 5G is a pipe dream for us.
I am in similar situation, 4G coverage is good, but 5G will probably be 2 years before the make it to my neck of the woods.

And crap, my WAP is only WiFi 5 ...
 

DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
1,278
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For whatever it's worth, I have a Moto Edge+ coming next week.

I will try and remember to do some standby times on it. and impressions.

I just hate transferring phones over.

Edge+ looks good spec wise, 5000mah battery, wifi 6 , the newer snapdragon 865 I believe it was. I forget screen res. Camera specs, 5G phone but I didn't have to change my plan because I'm not in a coverage area so that was a plus.

Wife really wanted the RAZR phone back when it came out, thankfully I talked her out of that one.
Kinda sucks the Moto Mods crapped out. The speaker was good. She used that to run Spotify at her work, instead of me having to install internet or whatever to get the salon from being ass quiet.
 

DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
1,278
923
136
Hey DaaQ. What's your standby time on the z2 force? I also bought mine two years ago during the $99 fire sale. It's a backup phone that doesn't get used 99% of the time. My standby time went from 1 week to 2 days overnight. Mobile network standby is the culprit. I've seen others with this issue and curious if you saw the same behavior? Needing to charge it every other day is going to greatly decrease the battery life.
Here's review to the one in the mail, (wife's surprise + fitbit charge) IDK why she wanted that but whatever.

 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
6,286
2,682
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depending on usage, and screen brightness. I have never left mine go complete standby.
That being said, I could leave in the morning, and a that time i used it strictly to play Youtube music through a usbc to aux adapter. I could leave house at 7am, get home at 9pm and still be above 20%

What has killed my battery life though, is installing mobile games. I only play one, Last Shelter Survival, and that has casued me to have to plug in from time to time during the day.

I had bought the Motorola high output 12v plug in charger adapters awhile back and they do suplly enough for turbo charge to work. My work's Galaxy Tab3 can run screen on with gps navigation running and charge from lets say 30 percent to 100% in several hours, and then hold that at 100 all day while using navigation from place to place, sometimes as many as a dozen locations.

let me look up and see if I can find the link to the charger. Best I've ever used. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H112XRZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My routine is put it on charger at bedtime, pull it when I leave for work and that was it for 2 years.

Let ma also add, my phone, I don't feel I NEED and upgrade. It's easily 2.5 years old. But wife needed (wanted) one so I added mine in as well.

I do know the Zforce1 had a larger battery than the Force2, which irritated me but....
Thanks for your reply. I have a voip phone and only use my cell as a backup phone with a tracfone 1 year plan. Not a fan of mobile devices (the horror) so it's sitting there for emergency and for when I go out.

It's not a bad phone and it's certainly good enough for my usage but the battery life thing bummed me out. When I check for updates it says security patch level July 1 2019 so that's not good. I also wish it had a better rear camera.
 

DaaQ

Golden Member
Dec 8, 2018
1,278
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Thanks for your reply. I have a voip phone and only use my cell as a backup phone with a tracfone 1 year plan. Not a fan of mobile devices (the horror) so it's sitting there for emergency and for when I go out.

It's not a bad phone and it's certainly good enough for my usage but the battery life thing bummed me out. When I check for updates it says security patch level July 1 2019 so that's not good. I also wish it had a better rear camera.
Something ain't right there, I have had security patches since then, let me check
What carrier are you on?

I'm on Verizon, last configuration update was april 9 2021. last software update was August 16th 2019. PCX29.159-21

Update history is configuration update April 9th 2021, and April 30th 2020

EDIT Looks like I'm stuck on Android 9
 

balloonshark

Diamond Member
Jun 5, 2008
6,286
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Something ain't right there, I have had security patches since then, let me check
What carrier are you on?

I'm on Verizon, last configuration update was april 9 2021. last software update was August 16th 2019. PCX29.159-21

Update history is configuration update April 9th 2021, and April 30th 2020

EDIT Looks like I'm stuck on Android 9
I got the phone from motorola's ebay store. It was locked to AT&T and I got it unlocked. It works with other carriers except for one if I remember correctly. I'm using a tracfone GSM sim. We don't have verizon where I live.

It says my device is up to date.
Android version: 8.0.0
Current version: OCXS27.109-47-29
Security patch level: July 1, 2019
 

Steltek

Diamond Member
Mar 29, 2001
3,034
748
136
Something ain't right there, I have had security patches since then, let me check
What carrier are you on?

I'm on Verizon, last configuration update was april 9 2021. last software update was August 16th 2019. PCX29.159-21

Update history is configuration update April 9th 2021, and April 30th 2020

EDIT Looks like I'm stuck on Android 9

That sounds right, as the Zforce2 isn't on the list of phones Moto was providing an Android 10 upgrade for.
 

pete6032

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2010
7,443
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Motorola has been my go to since smart phones came out, I had a samsung s3 I didn't like for awhile and went back to motorola. I got an x4 almost 2 years ago. Haven't cared for it since the beginning, didn't know motorola had got bought out and the quality went down when I got it. Needing to get a new phone and thinking I should switch brands. I guess everyones still on samsungs so don't know if I should try that again or go with something like a pixel 3. Usually only spend $100 on a phone but thinking about spending a couple hundred and getting something decent.
Pixel 3 $170. https://slickdeals.net/f/14951366-6...nk-169-15-free-shipping?src=SiteSearchV2Algo1
 

Tusharma

Junior Member
Apr 14, 2021
4
0
6
Motorola smartphone have been good but not in the camera section. I am using Oppo F19 Pro+ with Dimensity 800U currently and it is doing well in the camera section as well.