Android purchasing help!

@Zangmaster so apparently I can get a 5x for $199 if I sign up for Project fi... then I can cancel if I chose after one month... and use tmobile sim in it... Interesting... What am I getting by using a 5x vs another one? I'm coming from an Apple ecosystem where I had the iPhone 6 Plus, so there isn't much to choose from... Also I had a Microsft windows phone which had all the features I needed... none of the apps and the card payments went by the wayside when Google pulled support for softcard on the phone.

@sohmageek i almost jumped on the nexus 5x. the lack of expandable memory was a deal breaker for me. i'd like to get the samsung s7, but the cost is way too high at the moment.

@carl669 I got a Moto G. I break things. I am tired of breaking $600 things. $200 things are better to break. Expandable memory, but it doesn't meet your requirements. In particular, it doesn't have NFC, 5GHz wifi, nor is it Cardboard compatible. If I wanted those things, I'd consider the Moto X, Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.

@sohmageek err... last post was for you

@JerseyFrank yeah. I don't need a flagship device. But I am now on my temporary iPhone. It's an iPhone SE. I already can't stand the small screen again. I think I was spoiled with my large screen. But it was a bit too large.

@JerseyFrank @sohmageek I have heard good things about the Moto X

@Al_Coholic I would've bought that if I hadn't waited so long that the Nexus 5X was available. The no-carrier part is really what attracted me to it.

@sohmageekThe benefits of the 5x is stock Android and that it's a Nexus. You will get the updates as soon as they are available straight from Google with bug fixes and new features. It will be supported and get updates for a much longer time than other devices that are not a Nexus with stock android. As other phones stop getting updates after a year or so this will at least be supported for 3years. It will run very smooth because stock Android is very light because of no modifications from third parties and the constant bug fixes from Google. I think it's your best bet

@Zangmaster @sohmageek

Don't forget about the chance to have support to try new features first.

According to leaks, N will have a feature similar to 3D Touch. While it reportedly won't be available until 7.1, if it's true, then this year's Nexus lineup will have screens which will support it.

@Zangmaster Careful with the 5x. I considered getting a pair so I could switch to fi, but the common bootloop issue turned me off.

@Zangmaster I Was reading the Oneplus 2 doesn't have NFC so it doesn't support Android pay...

@sohmageek @Zangmaster

When the OnePlus 2 was unveiled, and the lack of NFC was noticed, bloggers and reviewers were dismayed. Especially considering that it was supposed to be superior to all 2016 flagship phones.

@noparallel Not that meh doesn't sell a plethora of mobile batteries... USB C to USB A cable?

@noparallel
Get a tronsmart fast car charger. Amz has them. I stpped having probs. Note 4 and Nexus 6.

Rapid Car Charger, Tronsmart Quick Charge 2.0 48W 3 Ports USB Car Charger for Galaxy S6 Edge+, S6, Note 5, LG G4, Nexus 6 (2 x QC2.0 Port + 1 Volt IQ

http://www.amazon.com/Tronsmart-Charge-3-Port-Charger-Galaxy/dp/B017K9L75K

@noparallel I got one of these cables for my 5x

http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Resistor-Mackbook-Supported-Devices/dp/B018Q6AAIQ

and I use my old chargers/car adapters etc... not sure why they didn't include a USB C to USB A cable... guess they wanted you to keep using the amped up walwart to get the fastest charge.

@thismyusername

Was that one reviewed by Benson Leung? (Just curious I guess.)

@FroodyFrog not sure who that is? The cable I am referring to is linked above, it works pretty well... pretty fast on my IQ anker chargers, but not as fast as the included usb C wallwart.

@thismyusername

He's a Google Engineer who reviews Type C cables.

He's actually pointed out horrible cables, and it has gotten to the point where Amazon got stricter with which Type C cables could be sold.

One cable he tried [even fried his Chromebook Pixel][2]

@thismyusername

Ugh, forgot to fix 2

@ACraigL I love my S7 edge. I bought the international version on Ebay in order to eliminate carrier bloat and get faster updates. Downside is Samsung Pay doesn't currently work (although it should be activation shortly), but Android pay does.

Also, Pleson makes an awesome wireless fast-charger ($20), Spigen has a great case (Neo-Hybrid), and stay away from tempered glass screen protectors if you're using a case (none of them fit properly yet). I have a nice TPU screen protector that works great.

@DaveInSoCal @ACraigL

Shame GPE was killed off then.

That may have been the only way I'd have recommended the S7 to certain people.
While I like build quality of the S7, the OS is bogged down by bloatware and Touchwiz (although it is much better than how it used to be).
And apparently some people don't want to root since they expect they'll need to use their warranty.

@FroodyFrog I don't find my S7 to be slow at all. :X

@jbartus

Based on what I've seen, the S7 family runs nicely. However, you still have the bloatware and Touchwiz (though like I said, it's significantly better than what it used to be like.)

@DaveInSoCal ever seen a wireless fast charger that is Otterbox Defender friendly?

Got the S7 Edge last week, and loving it. It's a significant improvement over my HTC One M8. The last Galaxy I had was an S III and touchwiz has gotten much better since then. I themed it with a stock(ish) Android theme and it's looking pretty streamlined now.

In fact, the only gripe I have at the moment is that the dialer will not respect landscape mode, which sucks because I use it mounted in the car. Everything else works, and works fast.

I accessorized it with a pleson wireless charger, Supcase case and a pretty innovative wireless charger/car mount. I like the mount a lot save for the lack of quick charge. If just playing music the device will charge up, but add GPS into the mix, it still burns battery, albeit at a slower rate. Not a huge deal because I can direct connect it for longer trips. Worth it for the form-factor and convenience of the thing.

@ACraigL

So just rotate your mount? ;)

Seriously though, out of curiosity, does the S7 Edge play nicely with Doze, or have you either not noticed a difference or had it long enough?

@FroodyFrog Ha, I've actually always used my phone in the car in portrait mode, but tried in landscape for once (since this dock allowed it easily) and found that oddness. But yeah, no big deal.

No real opinion on Doze as of now. Since it's a background thing it's hard to tell. The Edge has a pretty big battery and with wireless charging just as easy to plop it on a charging pad. I did leave it overnight one night uncharged and it only dropped about 6%.

@medz

What about this though?

@medz We don't get good T-Mobile reception in a lot of Vermont... OK, acceptable, but not good.

@FroodyFrog I have the original Nexus 5. Not the 5x. I want one, but can't justify it.

@medz

I thought something seemed off.

The only justification I would have to move to the 5X is if I would get Fi.

Of course I would want Fi since it's cheap and I only really need a max of 2Gb of data (since I'm usually around WiFi), but meh. I like having unlimited data through an expired contract (and I'm not paying it anyways)

(Looking at old data usage through my phone, most of what I have used is from Chrome, because I'm either downloading apks from APK Mirror, or uploading to there.)

@medz I'm sure you already saw this but just to re-iterate ... you can dial out to standard phones using hangouts on android if you have a number assigned (free) to your google account in google voice and you install the hangouts dialer. This goes out via the data channel not the voice service. This seems to be built into the hangouts client on iOS things.

If you already knew this I blame you, if you didn't I blame you.

@thismyusername i have tested this and it works. It does show up as calling from my Google voice number instead of my cell number, though.
Can i answer regular calls with the google hangout phone?

@medz you can answer calls to the google voice number associated with the google account it is logged into yes!

@thismyusername So if they dial my normal cell #, I can answer through hangouts and use voip to talk to them? Maybe I just haven't gotten a call since installing the dialer app... Thanks, btw. This could come in handy someday.

@medz not unless your normal cell number is your google voice number... but if they call the google voice number the hangouts will ring...

https://support.google.com/hangouts/answer/6079064?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Google doesn't control the number assigned by your cell carrier, only the number they assigned to your google voice.

@thismyusername When I got a call on the normal number today, it asked what app to use to answer it. I was too scared to not use the normal phone app.

@thismyusername I'm already using Google Voice for my on-call stuff... The only Issue I have with it is I can't get Email to text from it for pages.

@sohmageek email to text would be on the side of the sender... since they would be interfacing to the sms system... I have seen some services that don't recognize google voice numbers as mobile but that was some time ago... never found a resolution back then just over time more started to see the google voice number as a mobile number.

@zahita459 That looks awesome, Now if I could find one... :) I'm going to hunt for one... Not sure if I'll find it... It's no longer on T-Mobile's website, not even used ones... but the g4 is (Actually BOGO and get a free tablet when you get one... seems awesome, if I was going to stick with android.)

@sohmageek Seems to be several decent-looking G3 refurbs on eBay for ~$150. There might be new ones too, but a lot more money

@sohmageek Check Ebay, and also see if TMobile has one used or refurbished they would sell. Some other phone stores may also.

@FroodyFrog It's for a temporary phone/dedicated music player... so Actually I left Bluetooth off the list but it needs that. Size as in GB... The more I'm thinking of it, having a 16 GB phone may be enough... I'm not going to be junking it up.. How much of the 16 GB phones is available to users? I know on iPhones not a lot. Mostly a dedicated podcast player that I can leave in the car... and backup phone for when the iPhone dies... I really doubt I'll switch from apple just want to get some experience under my belt on it.

@sohmageek
If you get a phone w expandable mem slot, the 16 gig is fine.

@sohmageek

I currently have a 16 GB Nexus 5.

12.55 GB are usable.

Storage isn't really a problem for me, especially if I decide to just move my music to the cloud and just stream it. (It's all synced with my watch anyways, so if I didn't wanna stream, I could just either play it from my watch, or connect it to a speaker).

Obviously though, usable space depends on the phone, since a lot of S3 and S4 users had complaints over the usable storage situation.

@DaveInSoCal

Got 2 V1 headsets from some company, and a V2 version from the New York Times.
Ended up throwing one of the V1s away, and giving the other one to someone. (It was the only way i could keep the V2)

@f00l i bought a blu phone from woot, i think. Gave it to my bro. He says phone is fine, but not great cell reception. Also has trouble with MMS messages, but i think that's an issue with SIM card and configuration.

@JerseyFrank also does wifi calling

Oops I left out the Moto X Pure, which is an amazing device with an SD card slot; I actually recommend that as the first choice if you're not jumping to Fi. There's probably still a steep discount for them from Motorola.

@trisk
Thx for mention of the Public Radio Podcast app. Been looking for something like that.

@thismyusername I saw this. Would you or someone else be willing to give advice on this? Is it worth it?

@justan79
Nexus phones tend to be lean, mean, pretty good. No sd slot, no removeable battery, ever.
Dunno if that's a good price compared to amz/ebay/swappa.

@justan79

I'm currently rocking it right now as my daily driver. Any particular questions you have, or just a general opinion?

@f00l technically, the Nexus One, Nexus S, and Galaxy Nexus all had a removable battery.

@FroodyFrog
Did not know, thx. My first Nexus, a 6, is in my hand. Like a lot, but not better than Note 4, charge port getting fixed as i type.

(Fucking Samsung and their Touchwiz tho.)

@f00l

I'm done with Samsung.
Even though from all Android OEMs, they have the nicest quality builds, their software ruins it for me. Though as I said, they did improve Touchwiz.

Now for story time.

I used to have the Nexus S (well, the Nexus S 4G because "Sprint"). It was a nice phone, with decent specs (for 2010). However, it got to the point where 512 MB of RAM wasn't good, even with Project Butter in Jellybean (the 4.1 version).

I had my eye on the Nexus 5, but I couldn't wait, so I ended up getting the S3. Incidentally, for the following 4 months, Amazon kept on having sales for the N5 to taunt me.

While I was OK with the S3, I only really enjoyed it once it was rooted, and with CM on it.
For some reason, even though I know how to root, install ROMs etc, something went terribly wrong, though thankfully, the phone was fried so badly, that Samsung couldn't tell that it was rooted, and they replaced it through my warranty.

As soon as I was able to though, I bought a N5 (sometime between Q3 and Q4 of 2015. I'll look on PayPal later for the date. Remind me.).

As long as I stick with Nexus though, I'm done with ROMs for the most part. I just need Root + FlashFire +Titanium Backup, and I'm good.

The only disadvantage this has, is that even though there's now a way to root without affecting the /system partition, Android Pay finally blocked it.

@justan79 for the price most likely... it's near end of life as far as google is concerned, but being a nexus you will be able to toss cyanogenmod on there with no issues if you wan't to keep it updated after google sets it free... it is pretty snappy with marshmallow but you see it bog down a bit in intensive apps... no real issues that Ive ever seen in music or video applications... deals with them like a champ... browsing seemed fine until I got a 5x, you can notice how the cpu bump speeds up javascript rendering on the newer one.

@thismyusername @justan79

I'll be sad when it reaches EOL.

On the other hand, 2 years of major updates, and 3 years of security update is still big, especially when it comes to Android.

(And for those new to the world of Root, at least Nexus devices are the easiest devices to root and ROM.)

@FroodyFrog thanks. I was looking for general info. I have an iphone 4 with little memory. There are too many apps I want to use that require a better ios. So I'm debating about jumping off the Apple train and getting an android. Was wondering if this would be a good choice.

@thismyusername hmm. I feel my iphone 4 is at the end of its life. Not sure if I should move to this if it's also near the end. Thanks!

@justan79

While I will admit now that I am a bit more biased towards the Nexus brand, it is not without cause.

However, if you want a good look at Android, this is the rank to go:

Nexus > Pure Edition Phones > Others [not going to rank OEMs here or now]

However, if you were to get a phone which lands under the "Others" category, then once you root and either remove bloatware or install a ROM, then you can enjoy it more.

@FroodyFrog
Rooted a buncha phones when android blocked write access to the sd card. Then google sorta kinda fixed it, and at the time, i think there was no root for the Note 4, and i quit bothering.

Never did much w root except get full access to the card. Never loaded CM. My friends who did CM (this was a while back) always wound uo reinstalling stock for some reason or other. One got consistently terrible call q, and he worked in a Mennonite community, and people kept asking him why his phone (Note 3) was so bad. Most Mennonites arent techie, but some really are. In his area it was a problem.

Another friend had endless spontaneous reboots. Another friend had mike issues. My phone needs to kinda work, i cant mess with it all day (need free time to post drivel here.)

I do like my Nexus 6 a lot, but it's no better than the Note 4 for daily use. No Note 5, cause Samsung. Perhaps no Note 6. Mught just start getting last year's Nexus off Ebay or Swappa. I do like the removeable batt and sd card, but not yet enuf to go LG.

@f00l

I wasn't fully pleased with that change in KitKat. I mean, I get why they did it, but it's how they went about making the change (then their retraction, and the language of their retraction) which bugged me.

And now you know why I posted the order of devices.

Most casual users would have less reason to root if they have vanilla Android in one form or another.

@FroodyFrog I used to jailbreak my iPhone. I wanted the extra features. I was on an unlimited AT&T plan. I wanted to (and actually used it for AT&T business one time) tether. (yes I worked at AT&T we had a RV that we traveled around Vermont in... Well we got 0 reception for the Satellite internet. so... With my jailbroken iPhone, We had internet to VPN into work... I digress...)
But I wanted the Latest greatest features, quick reply (which I still feel Apple can improve) and too many other features that are now a part of the iOS were on my phone before they were built in... Now I don't jailbreak... No reason to. The few minor tweaks I can do with Jailbreak can be accomplished by waiting... plus I don't want to mess with something that stores my credit card info now. (yes it's not stored on the phone, it's more secure, but I'd rather not slap a skimmer on my credit card to make the credit card pretty.)

@sohmageek

That's pretty much the path which Android has taken.

Numerous features which were only really possible with Rooting have slowly been incorporated into the OS, such as screenshots, and better app backup (though devs need to incorporate it) to name but a couple.

@FroodyFrog I remember when I worked at AT&T we had 0 android handsets, and I wanted to get a Tmobile Phone to get android... Now I'm using T-mobile but not an andriod phone... Funny how much can change in 7 years...

@FroodyFrog so that makes them... let see $154.99 minus $75 = $80... not a great deal for a 16gb refurb nope... looks like the best bet here is to take the $30 account credit for the hassle well maybe... looks like on ebay they hover around that price so if its a really nice refurb it might be worth $80... but not nearly as great of a deal as was originally presented.

@thismyusername

I normally don't look at Woot forums, mainly since I never really settled into Woot, but some of the phones which people got were horrendous.

According to one person, LG told them that the phone they received was sent in for repairs 15 times. Even if that's a slight exaggeration, it doesn't bode well.

@sohmageek I have a used Nexus 5 I can sell you

Like $50?

@sohmageek lemme know, dog.

@medz That would be awesome, do you have my contact info?

@sohmageek Sorry. I didn’t see your reply until now… You can email me at medzjunkmail @ google’s email to make further arrangements.