50 shades of grey (market phones)
7i’m currently rocking a samsung galaxy s2. yep, an s2. it’s given me 4.75 years of glorious service. but, it’s time to retire it and get a new phone.
so, i started researching the $400 price point. there’s the Axon 7, Honor 8 and the Oneplus 3. unfortunately all of those phones lack one thing, an awesome camera. as much as i tell myself the camera isn’t that important to me, it is. the boy is in the prime of his picture and video taking years. so, the camera must rock.
see what i mean?
the axon 7 could be a beast, but they really screwed up the camera. even after the b27 update, the pictures are still really soft. the honor 8 and OP3 seem just like meh phones. they’re adequate, but again, the camera comes into play. and, i’m not sure about the above three’s longevity. as you can see, i keep my phones for a long time.
that brings me to my quandry. i’m looking at the samsung s7. for whatever reason, the US unlocked version is priced at least $100 higher than an international version ($650 vs $550). so, i’m considering the international version. i’ll know i’ll lose samsung pay, but no big deal since i’ve never used it and i’m thinking XDA will probably figure out a way to side load it at some point. OS updates can be done through samsung’s kies software. anything else i’d be losing?
anyone have experience with grey market phones? i figure i can get a squaretrade warranty for $70 and still come out ahead. oh, and i’m only going to buy it on amazon because i’ve got $275 worth of amazon gift cards that have been specifically built up for this purpose.
and if you tell me to get an iphone, i’ll cut you.
- 13 comments, 91 replies
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What about an unlocked Nexus 6 or 6p for far less? Esp on Swappa?
Amazon is selling some kinda Amz branded Phones way cheap. You gotta have Prime to buy them.
https://www.amazon.com/b/?ie=UTF8&node=14613304011&tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=95570931662&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=17529520485787830181&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=m&ref=pd_sl_8648sju13n_e
@f00l 6/6P are far too big. since i so rarely upgrade, i usually just buy the top of the line phone when i do upgrade. that way, i’m pretty much set for at least the next 2-3 years.
@carl669
Can you hold out 2 months? Would that be worth it to you?
Top end flagship Android phones are going to be trending hard on the various “deals” sites during BlackFriday week.
If you don’t wish to wait, well - if it were me, I’d at least search out the major Android phones at Slickdeals.
@f00l I think my camera is a bit slow on my 6p …edit I take that back I just tried burst mode and that’s quick
@carl669 Get an iPhone!
@carl669 Sorry, I couldn’t resist. In all seriousness don’t get an iPhone, there’s way more that can be done with Android as you know already.
When you say grey market what exactly do you mean? At first it seemed like you were calling the OnePlus and such grey market, now I’m not so sure. If you could clarify I would be happy to weigh in with anything I know.
@jbartus
Prob means buying a phone designed for a foreign - likely EU or SE Asian market. I see those offered sometimes.
Never done this. Those phones can come pretty much w/out warranty and can sometimes not matchup with US cellular transmission bands for various carriers.
@jbartus exactly what @f00l said. the samsung s7 grey market has all the needed US bands. it just wouldn’t have any US warranty (hence the warranty through squaretrade).
(OP3, Axon 7 and Honor 8 all have US versions at the $400 price point that i was considering).
@f00l - i’ve found black friday to suck in the last few years. all the “doorbuster” deals have been for low-mid level phones. so, i’d rather not wait. i will wait a bit to see an in depth review of the pixel phones. but, i’d like to have a new phone in the next couple weeks.
@jbartus
@carl669
Last few Black Friday, I saw flagship phones offered all that week thru deals from the various carriers. Some damned good deals, if I remember (barely remember).
Not thru Amazon or B.B.
@f00l were there deals thru the carrier to buy the phone outright? or was it those stupid installment plans? i’d much rather buy the phone outright. the installment thing forces me to change my current plan since it no longer exists. i’m on month to month and paying just $50/month. so, i’d rather not lose that.
@carl669
Saw discounts on outright purchase and so other stuff. But done remember now.
Sometimes the manufacturers (Samsung, LG, HTC, the other ones) also knock them off then.
If you can deal with the confusion that is Slickdeals, you might be able to find smartphone deal threads from BF week prev years to give you some idea.
You are right that all these installment and lease offers are really changing up the “sucker” map for cell purchases.
Even if you want the newest, if it’s been out a few months, Swappa might have something. Dunno re SquareTrade tho.
@f00l cool. main reason for using amazon would be the gift card balance i have sitting there. i’ll check swappa. if i find a good enough deal there, i can use the amazon for something else i suppose.
@carl669
Just research what warranties you can or can’t get before purchase. Never bought from Swappa, don’t know.
I like to get a great deal here, another one there, and have a backup phone ready to go. No biggie if it’s not this year’s.
@carl669 I used a Nokia E90 Communicator for a couple of years on T-Mobile, never had an issue. You’ve already got the bands sorted out so I’m not really sure what your concerns are on this. SquareTrade is SquareTrade, bands are bands.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@jbartus ever had any experience with squaretrade?
@carl669 I bought a warranty once (or twice?), never ended up needing it (them?). Story of my life with extended warranties of all kinds (I’ve had SquareTrade, Best Buy, MicroCenter). I generally don’t have trouble with my stuff to be honest, in the interest of not offending anyone I’ll keep my thoughts on the whys of this to myself.
With that said, they are usually pretty good from what I understand, though there have been some distressing reports of late that they attempt to use equivalently featured items instead of cash to fulfil the warranties of late. A discussion came up recently: https://meh.com/forum/topics/lets-talk-about-squaretrade-extended-warranties
Given that you’re talking about a cell phone and most models have at least one distinguishing feature which differentiates them from the pack you can probably rest easy on the feature equivalent replacement as you could just take a hard line about one of the aforementioned distinguishing features if they give you trouble. (In the case of an S7 you might pick water resistance for example, or SD card slot, dual SIM support, etc.)
@carl669 Why not buy Nexus 5X? Still extremely current, gets updates directly from Google, and 5.2’’ screen. Also, $329 on BH Photo for it, and about $350 on Amazon for it.
@dashcloud thought about it. but, expandable storage is a huge thing for me. mainly because i download videos for the boy off youtube and they use up a metric shit ton of space. and, since they’re stored on a card, i can just pop it out and he can watch on other devices.
@dashcloud @carl669 @f00l
I thought the 5X has gotten Meh reviews?
(Now that I saw the pricing for the Pixel and Pixel XL, I’m looking at the 5X a bit more seriously…)
@dashcloud If the promo is still going, the 5X should still be $199 if you sign up for Google Fi ($20/mo) and then cancel it. (A bunch of people have done this without any problems).
@PlacidPenguin actually, i thought a lot of people liked the 5X. the main reason i ruled it out was because it only had 32gb of memory and no expansion slot.
@carl669
I guess I should look into it again then.
@dashcloud
My 5X is coming today. Or at least it better. I need something that’s a guaranteed good thing to happen today.
32Gb, Carbon colored.
That’s sort of an upgrade from my N5 which is 16Gb and Panda colored.
$138.95 with shipping (And yes, it’s model H790).
Now there’s no real reason not to get Fi…
Something to consider is the battery. Phone batteries used to be easy to swap. Newer phones have integrated batteries – most of the time that just means you need to pop the phone open and replace it entirely – not really ideal for swapping it out on a daily or even a weekly basis.
I miss my S5, but the camera sucked. The S7’s camera is miles better, but I can’t get over the battery being integrated… At least they let us keep the SD card slot (suck it, Apple – have fun paying and extra $100 for 16gb more space – or whatever they’re charging now).
@capguncowboy the lack of swappable battery bugs me as well. i know having that reduces any kind of water resistance. but, i’ve had my current phone for 4.75 years and it’s been completely fine. i’m wondering it i’ll actually even been able to get that long a life out of current phones. i had to buy a new battery for my existing phone after about 2.5 years, so i guess any new phone, i can expect around that much time out of it. sucks.
@carl669
People have already mentioned the Nexus 5X, and you should also consider the Moto X (2015) or HTC One M9, which are both great flagships.
@trisk thanks. i did consider the moto x, but the 5.7" screen is far too big of a jump (my current phone is 4.3"). I’ll check out the HTC M9 though. my first smartphone was an HTC Tytn and i loved it.
@carl669 totally understand, I’m still using a 2013 Moto X (4.7") because the new stuff is just so inconveniently huge. Been thinking about the Nexus 5X and OnePlus X. Xiaomi’s Redmi 3 would be perfect if it had US LTE bands.
(My first smartphone was the lovely HTC Desire, the original Moto X is still my favourite design of all time).
@trisk, @carl669, this past april i went from the gen 1 MotoX, to the MotoX Pure Edition(got both through Moto Maker). it is rather large. just fits into the “phone pocket” on my carpenter pants.
Front stereo speakers, can shoot 4K video,has an SD slot, and is compatible with ALL carriers. in fact, not sold through any carrier, strictly through Motorola. Right now pricing starts @$289.99
http://www.motorola.com/us/products/moto-x-pure-edition
the US version only has a single SIM slot, while the overseas model (MotoX Style) has Dual SIM Slots.
@earlyre I wear skinny jeans and it’s just too big for my pockets.
Trying my luck with the Nextbit Robin.
@trisk @earlyre i don’t wear skinny jeans, but i think it’d still be too big for my pocket.
@carl669 - If you’d get a smaller flask, you might have room for a phone in those pockets.
@KDemo
But what if that’s the only way that @carl669 has tolerance for a lot of people?
@KDemo @PlacidPenguin speaks the truth. besides, you’re just jealous of the flask.
/giphy flask envy
@trisk That’s the phone I still have. I’ve been researching whether I want to switch carriers. I’ve been with Republic for quite a while now, but it seems like there are several carriers with similar plans. I need a wifi capable phone as I’m in the shadow of the cell towers and have very poor reception at home. I just hate having to try to figure out which carrier will work for me. But my Moto X is aging out, so this is the right time for me to switch if I am going to.
@carl669 - So you’re keeping the flask, then? Damn.
What if we could find you a flask phone?
@moondrake Depending on your usage, Google’s Project Fi might be worth considering (unlimited talk/text with pay-as-you-go data). Aside from the official Nexus phones, the recent Moto X Pure works on it unofficially, including WiFi calling.
Alternatively, you can get a similar setup on any carrier with Google Voice, which can make and receive calls on Hangouts.
@trisk Thanks. I need to see if it’s comparable to what I’m paying with Republic, $25 a month ($30 after taxes) for what was once all you can eat 3g, but now there are some limitations on it. Now that you mention it I think Google Fi is what my friend uses, and he had reception in the Caribbean recently when I did not. I will have a look. Is this the sort of thing I might want to wait till Black Friday/Cyber Monday for? There’s no huge hurry.
@carl669
/giphy flask
@carl669 slickdeals just informed me tonight that the Nextbit Robin is on sale for $175. I had forgotten about this phone for a while.
Its looks are rather stunning, and the performance is respectable too. It eschews a MicroSD slot for their proprietary cloud storage sync, but the company behind it seems to know what they’re doing and fixed the battery life issue that bothered early reviewers.
I’d jump at this, but at 5.2" I still have some reservations.
@trisk i saw that as well. i’m just not a fan of cloud storage. being month to month, i’m on a 1gb data plan and the kid’s videos take up a LOT of room on my SD card. i can’t imagine the kind of bill i’d rack up.
@carl669 Hm, I’d probably use an OTG flash drive to store things, accepting the inconvenience of having to copy files if you can’t leave it plugged in.
How about one of those inexpensive “wireless media drives”, that can take an SD card and stream videos over wifi? That would totally free you from the storage issue if you can take it along, I think.
@trisk @carl669
They also have wifi flash drives, though the reviews don’t look promising.
As for OTGs, based on the need for large storage due to YouTube, not sure how useful they would be.
I got you, buddy. I have the S7 Edge and LOVE the camera. It’s incredible in all lighting situations and takes incredible video as well (slo-mo!). The zoom is also fantastic.
I bought the international version off ebay and got the squaretrade warranty. Just make sure it will work with your carrier.
IMPORTANT: The international phones are all the same, but they’re tied to different regions. The region won’t impact the hardware, but it DOES impact the software! You probably want one from the UK, maybe Australia, or a few other places. Do a little research. Some regions already have Samsung Pay unlocked, and if they do, it will work for you as well. Some regions get updates faster than others as well. Mine is Egypt (EGY) and they’re slower on updates (although still faster than US versions).
Android Central is a great resource for this, but there are plenty of other sites as well.
Enjoy!
@DaveInSoCal thanks! i wasn’t aware that any region outside the US had samsung pay unlocked.
@DaveInSoCal do you remember where you saw something on android central about this? i’ve poked around, but haven’t found a specific thread or article.
@carl669 Here’s one: http://forums.androidcentral.com/samsung-galaxy-s7/729948-samsung-g930f-international-variant-samsung-pay.html
I’ll check for more.
@carl669 Here’s a list of all the regions, if that’s helpful at all: http://www.sammobile.com/2016/08/25/8-25-2016-firmware-updates-galaxy-s6-edge-galaxy-s7-edge-galaxy-note-edge-and-more/
@DaveInSoCal so mainly it looks like buy an international version from Spain. or, from somewhere else and then flash the Spain version onto it.
@carl669 UAE might be better. Someone mentioned that Spain only had the Spain offers.
@DaveInSoCal so, how do you actually tell the region it’s coming from? on amazon, it’ll say Asia, EU/LATAM or US, but not the specific region.
@carl669 hmmm. You might be able to email the seller and ask. Worst case scenario: you buy the phone and download “phone info” from the play store. It will tell you the region. If it’s the wrong one you can use Odin to change it. This will factory reset your phone, so best to do right away.
@DaveInSoCal can you flash an international model to the US region? i know the processor is different (snapdragon vs exynos)
@carl669 i don’t think so, but not sure. Like you said, different processor so i think not. Besides, U.S. phones get updates via carrier, whereas the international are direct from Samsung.
if size is a concern the xperia z5 compact looks good
https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Xperia-Z5-Compact-Unlocked/dp/B01AUAOI7A/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1476172802&sr=1-1&keywords=xperia+compact
4.6in screen. micro sd card support
price of around $400 usd new on amazon
@communist i’ve never actually considered a sony phone. i’ll have to look into this. thanks!
Hey @Carl669 I love my iPhones, I’ve even made some money off them over the years… But I can understand some people are worried that there is something in the koolaid there… Just I worry about Samsung… Their Note 7 (or is it Note S7?)is finally dead… Recalled, and discontinued… so the rest of their phones seem to not go up in smoke… Also watch out for their washers
@sohmageek
Just “Note 7”
There are great devices made by companies other than Samsung.
@PlacidPenguin The only reason I would get a Samsung phone is for better integration with my Samsung tv, home entertainment system, and tablet. And that’s why all those are Samsungs. The company has a clever gimick with the way their devices talk to one another via the Smarthub programming. Perhaps for more sophisticated users any device can be made to interact with another, but Samsung makes it easy for those of us who just want these damned things to work right out of the box with minimal learning curve.
@sohmageek I drank the Apple Kool-Aid with a used iPad 2 last April. Within weeks I sold the iPad 2 and moved on to an iPad Air. In August I broke up with my nearly new LG Stylus phone and started dating an iPhone 6 Plus. Finally, last week I sold my months old iPad Air and took a big ol’ tug of the Apple Kool-Aid with a 12.9 iPad Pro.
Now I’m eyeballing a MacBook Air to replace my <1 year old Toshiba.
Yes, there is most definitely something in the Kool-Aid. Though I will most definitely draw the line at an Apple Watch. It’s just so unappealing to me from a design perspective.
TL;DR? The camera on my new (purchased used in excellent condition) iPhone 6 Plus is far and away the best of any phone camera I’ve owned, but it’s no substitute for a real camera.
@ruouttaurmind Haven’t followed the MacBook Air much but I believe with todays announcement Apple is doing away with the 11" version! There are plenty of refurbs at the AppleStore - official refurbs are the way to go, of course! Not sure if they have updated the 13" today.
@fjp999 Excellent tip! Thanks for the heads up.
FYI… found the unlocked S7 (US variant with US warranty - SM-G930U) at best buy online for $599. best price i’ve seen so far for this particular model. (not counting used/refurbs)
edit: shit. apparently sale ended last night.
@carl669 Does you want new or would consider refurbs?
http://electronics.woot.com/offers/samsung-s7-unlocked-sprint-gsm?ref=el_cnt_wp_0_2
@zachdecker thanks. i checked, but apparently the sprint variant is only mostly compatible with at&t. it’s missing a couple bands. not sure if this could be remedied by flashing it with the 930U. maybe, maybe not. sadly, i just don’t have the time to figure it out.
@carl669 Did you find a phone yet? If not, was this the S7 version you wanted? As I write, it is priced at $599 prime, but the prices can fluctuate pretty quickly.
@gio He got the Note 7. RIP @carl669 you will be missed.
/giphy Joking I hope.
@gio yep. i think i might have been responsible for that price. last night, i was searching around for deals on the s7 (i already had the amazon S7 in my cart at of price of $646). best buy had it again for $599, but like i said above, i have $250 worth of amazon gift cards. while on amazon’s page, there was a little “found a better price? let us know.” link. i hit it, filled in the info, submitted it and went on my merry way. about half an hour later, i go back to amazon to buy something else, forgetting the S7 was in my cart. when i went to my cart, i saw the S7’s price was now $599. so, to anyone that buys an S7 from amazon for $599, you’re welcome.
@caffeine_dude oddly, i considered buying a used one for a couple hundred bucks. there’s rumors that samsung will be letting people trade them in for an S8 next year. even if it’s not an even exchange, they may be giving one hell of a discount to note 7 users.
@caffeine_dude
/giphy "watermark of the beast"
@f00l
I can watch that gif all day (and find it just as funny as I do now).
@carl669 Good job! I didn’t realize I was seeing your handiwork when I found that price, but it sounds like you got quite the deal by being patient. I’m watching sales for someone else and the price was still too high for their budget, but I’m glad to know it worked for you. I’ll be watching for “test photos” of your charming son.
@gio well… i’m not sure if i can take complete credit, but the timing of the price drop was pretty coincidental. is your friend set on the S7? because, if i hadn’t had those amazon gift cards to burn, i was seriously considering the hauwei honor 8.
@carl669 They are still in the preliminary search stage, and we’re trying to narrow down which of the parameters can be compromised. Hopefully the Christmas sales will bring a solution (or gift cards to help pay for something pricier like your S7).
TL;DR didn’t read all the above
have you checked out groupon goods? i bought the spouse a cupla phones there as they tend to get ‘stolen’, a.k.a. lost/dropped/mistreated
careful on the squaretrade if you want coverage for lost/stolen/damamged - some are covered, some are not
AT&T has refurbed fones at decent prices, but not sure wat kinda plan you’re on/into
as far as capturing the kid, i had hundreds of hours of VCR/8mm/etc. video of my kids.
in today’s world, how do you back that stuff up, and then edit out the bad stuff when the yungin’ is ready to move out?
i did that for all 3 kids. transfer, edit, improve, etc. and it’s hundreds of hours of work.
plan ahead and perhaps you can diminish that timeline.
oh yea, i have a galaxy s6, camera is pretty cool.
@Yoda_Daenerys he bought an S7
@Yoda_Daenerys the main reason i was looking to buy from amazon is because i had $250+ worth of gift card balance accrued over the last year specifically for this purpose.
i’ve got everything backed up to a couple separate thumb drives and also uploaded. as far as editing out the bad stuff, why would i want to? i’ll just leave it in there to torment him for the rest of his life.
@Yoda_Daenerys
Re kid videos. It’s good to keep even the blooper reels around, I am told.
Someday that kid may get engaged to someone. Or have children of their own. Now, you wouldn’t want to inflict your child onto someone else for life, without a little full disclosure, would you?
Those vids allow you to act as “state’s evidence”. All for the good of society.
The years where you get to avenge yourself for having gone thru parenthood can be - ah - entertaining.
(Assuming “all in good fun”. Not for “fraught relationships.”)
@Yoda_Daenerys How you back up all of that is you pay Backblaze $5 a month to store all of your data for you: https://www.backblaze.com/
Plenty of other places to shove your data into online- Google may have something free you can use.
@carl669 FYI flash drives are not a good archive medium, you’re far better off getting a traditional hard drive and storing it on a shelf. If you only use it occasionally it should last decades before parts wear out. Just be sure to use something like DiskFresh to re-save the contents every couple of years to prevent degradation. If you’re not opposed to optical disks as a solution BD-R HTL disks should last ~100 years, just store them somewhere safe and cool. I would suggest a nice disk wallet inside of a 50 cal. ammo can stored in your basement.
@jbartus What is this thing you call basement?
/giphy basement
@compunaut a place of relative stability in terms of temperature and humidity?
@jbartus i do have a 500gb hard drive i also back up to. i back up to the flash drive as well just because those are portable.
@jbartus @f00l A place like that is non-existent in TX
@carl669 cool, just wanted to make sure you knew flash drives were not reliable for long term archiving. Definitely recommend you refresh the writes on the drive periodically as the magnetic records will degrade and potentially damage the files.
@carl669
when you have 200 people over that marginally know your graduating senior, the ‘junk’ needs to go.
don’t get rid of it, i agree, but trimming all of those hundreds of hours down to something a ‘stranger’ might sit and watch for more than 5 minutes - it’s gotta be the good stuff.
my parents may have been the only ones that watched the whole 1 hour video all the way through, except of course for my kids, spouse, BF, GF, cat, dog…
@f00l see above post
to elaborate, i have hours of my kids playing soccer from ages 4-16, most of that shit is just wasted space on my hard drive, but the time when my kid was playing hockey and took out his teammates legs from under him -
@jbartus the exploding version?
@carl669 start looking for multiple TB drives on the cheap. video over 18 years is LARGE
@compunaut
Have seen home basements in Texas. In rich people’s houses from the 1930’s and before. And in a few rich people’s houses of more recent construction, usually built specifically for a hobby or for the kids.
You are around FW? I promise all those lovely expensive old houses south of the hospital district (around Elizabeth Blvd) have them. The less expensive house built in the same era prob don’t.
@f00l Originally from Chicago area, but have lived here since '92.
I’m an architect’s kid, so really picky when house-shopping. Love the charm of older houses and rehabbed one when I lived in St. Louis. Saw many, many Foursquare, Craftsman, ‘painted lady’ & other vintage homes when I began searching in Ft. Worth: Mistletoe, Ryan Place, Fairmount/TCU, Arlington Hts/Camp Bowie, etc. Almost all of them were pier-and-beam construction. Never saw a single place w/ a Midwest-style basement (I remember one had a root cellar that had been enlarged to install a furnace & central air - it was only accessible from outside). Basement walls would need to be extra-thick & heavily reinforced to resist the forces of the local expansive clay soil - VERY expensive.
Now granted, I couldn’t afford the mansions near 8th & Elizabeth, but I almost had a place only 6 blocks N of there (financing got delayed & another buyer came along). House I did buy was about 10 blocks E; literally on the wrong side of the tracks, but a steal @ $60K for 3000sqft Foursquare. Loved that place
TL;DR There may be basements in TX, but (at least) in FtW & Houston they are as rare as hen’s teeth, believe me. Prior to quality poured concrete being available, I can’t imagine how you’d have built crack-free, leak-free walls.
@compunaut
I know no practicalities of basement building - just that they are incredibly rare.
Near Elizabeth I’ve been in houses with basements that were nice enough if a bit raw - fine for laundry and a workspace. Don’t know how they were constructed, but original to the houses, I was told. Same for some of the craftsman-style (did I get that right?) off Camp Bowie near Ashland. Have s relative who owns one w a basement. Never been in the basement tho.
Years back I saw some monster play-room/media-room basements (in 1940’s-60’s construction I think?) in Tanglewood. These were custom houses, and the owners had $$$$$.
But basements are rare. Now thanks to you I know why.
Honestly, I use iPhone but I cannot recommend the LG V20 and Google Pixel enough
The Pixel may have lower specs than most on the surface, but its camera abilities are absolutely beautiful, and Google made the UI so absolutely smooth that it moves faster than any other flagship out there AT the specs which its at, so if you want to mod it would probably run better than a man with no control of his digestive tract. The unlimited photo and video storage is nice too. The phone is so absolutely well made it’s ridiculously.
The LG V20 is a beautiful work of art, with an amazing camera. the hud and easy access second screen, and its optimization for the new Android 7.0 is actually a work of art. It’s camera is also amazing and honestly they work together SO FUCKING WELL
Don’t waste your time on any other phones. Honestly. Maybe Xiaomi.
Also Axon failed. It’s nice for a to go playback device with an amazing ODAC but there’s no point in buying it unless you don’t have an amp/odac
@legendornothing he has a phone, it’s an S7, and I think he’s in the group of people that knows that if you’re looking for a great camera you buy a camera but that’s just an aside, he did mention it I suppose.
I swear people don’t even read before posting anymore, what is the world coming to?
@legendornothing
You tried all these? How much better is the Pixel or v20 than some other flagship or near flagship day-to-day? Not lab specs or phone-as-fetish stuff - daily use and abuse by a hard-headed and hard-hearted user?
@jbartus
Other people may still be looking for phone info. Is there any harm?
@f00l I do think there’s plenty of harm with not reading, yes. Reading and posting info acknowledging that it’s outside the scope of the original question because it’s already been addressed but might be of use to others? No, don’t mind that one bit.
@jbartus
That seems fair.
@legendornothing i did consider the pixel, but i’m still not sold on the no SD card thing. and the lg v20. the screen’s just too big for me. my current phone (s2) has a 4.3" screen. 5.7" is way too big a leap up. the S7, at 5.1", is a good middle ground.
@carl669 stick with a phone that has a uSD slot for sure, if it will be your main capture device
next time Meh. sells a DSLR, consider that as a far superior option…
@Yoda_Daenerys
Does the canon rebel do vid?
@Yoda_Daenerys i actually have a DSLR (nikon d90) that i absolutely love and break out for the special occasions and when i’m on a trip.
i’m hoping there’s some good(ish) black friday deals on multi-TB harddrives.
@f00l Yes. I got the T5. A bit of a learning curve w/ complaint on here of no auto-focus with video.
My few small tests (bees swarming at neighbors home) have produced very nice vids.
@f00l i don’t know, i got the nikon
@f00l @Yoda_Daenerys Nikon was first to market with video on DSLRs but Canon has surpassed them on Video on basically every level that matters (and my Nikon owning friends agree, for the record). It’s kind of like Nikon put it in to be the sales gimmick we all originally thought it was and then Canon saw their bet and raised it and Nikon was so flabbergasted that their sales gimmick turned out to be a key feature that they hit the snooze button for several years. I’m told they’re waking up but Canon is running with the ball while Nikon’s still playing catch up.
In short, yes the Rebel T5 and many if not most of Canon’s DSLR line from the last five or so years support video recording.