Choose My New Phone
7On a rainy camping trip this past weekend, I drowned my iPhone. It’s the 3rd or 4th iPhone I’ve had. I’ve never owned any other type of smartphone. I’m wondering if now’s a good time to try something else.
I’ve been curmudgeonly about some of Apple’s recent “advances” — optimizing for cloud-based music management, for example. (I never want my music to be in the cloud. I’m fussy about my playlists, I like to manage them myself, and I often travel to places where there’s no signal, but where I still want to hear songs. By Grabthar’s hammer, just let me intentionally put certain songs on my phone, and intentionally remove certain others, come on.)
Then there’s the headphone thing. I mean, honestly.
I am a basic bitch when it comes to smartphone use: Besides listening to music and podcasts (in and outside my home, in my vehicle, on walks), I use it for phone stuff (texting and calling), taking/sharing photos, email, and occasionally for the GPS. I care about cost, decent pictures, and would like some privacy management tools so I can trick myself into falsely believing my every move isn’t being tracked at all times. If there’s a good phone that won’t die if it gets wet, I guess that’d be cool too. I’ve killed two that way.
The path of least resistance is probably just to get another one of what I had, for all the continuity reasons people generally do. Maybe what I need is a new iPhone and a separate dedicated music-listening device to accompany it? That seems like a step backward.
I bet you guys know which phone I should get. Which phone should I get?
- 27 comments, 81 replies
- Comment
(I hope nobody suggests the Blackphone 2)
@matthew not sure how you can’t accomplish all of that with the iPhone 7? You can tell iTunes which songs to put on your phone and which to leave on your computer. You don’t have to use the cloud for music (I don’t). And, I’m pretty sure you’ll never run out of space if you get the 128 or 256 GB models. They come with lightning ear buds, and an adapter if you need to use 3.5mm ones. Plus, like you said, you won’t have to relearn and repurchase all of your apps by switching from iOS to Android.
And, it’s waterproof up to like 30 mins in a meter of water now (as I’m sure you know).
@jsh139 I had the 6. You can tell it how you want your music managed, but it has a known issue of keeping phantom tracks in the library, which show up as “not on this phone”, but play in random shuffle as if they are. I fought with that bug for SOOOO long, reading the pointless user help forums, repeatedly deleting and restoring all my songs at once, but I could never fix it.
The most promising results were reported by users who individually downloaded, then deleted, each affected song file. But I had hundreds of them; I wasn’t going to do that.
@matthew Weird. I have a 6 and I’ve never experienced that. I just tell iTunes which playlists to sync and it does the rest. I rarely listen to my music on full shuffle, though (I have about 6,500 songs in my library). I usually just use a playlist shuffle, so maybe that’s why I haven’t experienced it.
@matthew have you tried a different music app? Both Google Play Music and Amazon Music allow you to keep your stuff in the cloud but also download whatever to your phone.
@matthew Have you seen the new revamp? One week ago, the ios/itunes music app was completely redesigned. And sectionally points out specifically what is on your device, and lets you play in just that camp.
Saying that… I run spotify. And It’s download/cache feature has never been anything but reliable for me.
I love my Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. My only iphone envy was for facetime, and google just released “Duo” which is a stupid name but does the same thing. It also works on the iphone, so I can now easily video chat with my parents.
Regardless, it will probably be easier for you to just buy another iphone rather than learn a new ecosystem. You don’t have to get the 7, and can save money by buying a used 6.
@DaveInSoCal @matthew Ditto to all of this. I know many iPhone users that tried “the other side” and came away frustrated. It’s just different enough to make you want to smash it. I’ve always been an android guy, so the SG7E is fantastic for me, but the same phone was condemned by my iPhone-yielding boss as having “the worst POS OS I have ever had the displeasure of using”.
At the end of the day, a phone should provide productivity or pleasure. Ideally both. You’ll have neither making this switch, at lease not right away. Stay put.
While I can appreciate the viewpoint expressed by @DaveInSoCal and @ACraigL, I don’t see the learning curve of adjusting to a new OS as a deal killer. Things that are worth doing take time and effort, life isn’t all about instant gratification and it’s silly to expect everything to work identically when the entire point of making a product is to differentiate yourself from the competition. Android is a lot different from iOS, there’s no getting away from that, the same is true of Windows Phone as well as it was of Symbian or Blackberry OS.
At the end of the day if you’re fed up with issues with how Apple is prioritizing their ecosystem then making a change and trying an alternative makes sense. Staying put because ‘it’s easier’ than trying to change is self-defeating. Where would we be if we always opted for the easy route? We’d still be riding horses because it was easier to keep riding horses than learn to drive a car. We’d still be writing everything out by hand because it was easier than learning to type.
It also bears noting that if you like being on the cutting edge that Android is a great space for that, having to compete amongst themselves for market share drives Android phone developers to constantly strive to outdo each other and with a multitude of phones released every year it’s not uncommon for features to hit Android years before they hit iOS. For example, water resistance is a big deal for Apple this year but it’s been around in the Android space for several years.
As far as devices go, I agree with @DaveInSoCal’s sentiments on the S7 line, though I find the edge to be more of a gimmick than anything so I’ve got the regular one. Either phone is a serious player and for the most part anything you can do on iOS can be done on Android save Apple’s self-serving internal creations like Apple Pay, but there are equivalents to most things (case in point Samsung Pay, Google Wallet, etc.).
Oh and just to clarify that I’m no fanboy, I had an iPhone 4 from June 2010 through August 2012. It was nice, I do miss this one vehicle tracking app I had on it (Gas Cubby I think it was) but I’ve never felt compelled to get another iPhone, the relative freedom of the Android platform won me over and Apple hasn’t pushed any innovations that inspired a change.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@jbartus Wow. I LOVE my edge features, and use them all the time! I keep the little side-clock on at night. I have three “edge windows” that I use: Apps, yahoo finance, and bookmarks.
@DaveInSoCal me too!
@DaveInSoCal most people I know who have the Edge had S6 Edges before it and feel that the S7 Edge was a step backwards. YMMV.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@jbartus
/giphy crazy talk
Get you a google nexus 5x with project fi.
Be aware that google will be releasing a couple new models soon if not already…
Although I’m assuming the whole point about privacy options means you don’t trust google.
/giphy foil hat time!
@medz
The latest rumor says that the Pixel and Pixel XL phones will be announced October 4th.
Pics have been leaked with what they look like:
(YAY Android Police)
@medz - I recently signed up for Project Fi, bought their discounted Nexus 5X, and I’m loving it! My bill last month was $28. The base charge is $20, then you only pay for the data you use. If you can arrange to be mostly near wifi, your costs will be minimal.
@KDemo @medz
I especially like their whole thing about crediting back for any unused data.
@TickledLizard Sooo… they look pretty much just like iPhones?!
@cinoclav
So I’ve been reading.
Although honestly, a lot of phones have similarities.
(Except for @narfcake and his Lumia 640. Then again, I see hints at other phones while looking at it.)
@medz after the meh Samsung mess, I got 2 Nexus 5x 32gb from eBay “new open box” for about 275 each. If you use Verizon radios you need the h790. Shop in the morning. Else you can get the phone from Google Fi, activate it for 1 day, get rebates. (Fi not available in my area).
@caffeine_dude @KDemo
I really want to get the 5" Pixel phone. However, even though the reports of it being $649 are uncorroborated, if it’s more than $500, I wouldn’t even think about getting it (at least not until it would have a nice price drop, or I find a great deal).
I’ve been eying the 5X for a while (since last year), but even though it has nice reviews, I’ve also been hearing that the speaker isn’t great, and the camera isn’t fast.
I’m not bothered by either one of those really, but I can’t remember the other issues I’ve been hearing about.
What are your thoughts about it? The irony is, I’ve recommended it to people, although that was because it was the best option for them. However, when it comes to myself…
@caffeine_dude yeah. Nice thing is no contact, so you can quit any time
@TickledLizard I had to guess the pixels initial price will have a huge discount. Also when it’s released expect 5x discounts. I had to pull the trigger meh’s Samsung put blood in the water in my house. The phones are needed and I need it now.
@medz I have a Nexus 5x and would say, um, don’t get it. Dealing with the lag is almost as bad as plucking noise hairs one by one.
@timvb I actually enjoy plucking nose hairs…
Maybe you got too much crap on it.
@medz @timvb
I’ve been working on getting apps which take the place of several apps.
For instance: I use Solid Explorer due the face that it can connect to any cloud account (although I got rid of Dropbox a while ago), as well as my Pi (local network only).
I’ve also been trying to decide if I should get rid of MX Player, and use Kodi instead, although then I’d have 2 music apps (since Play Music syncs to my watch I can’t get rid of it).
I’ve been slowly trying to make sure my apps come from the Play Store (or APK Mirror) so that more things apps would be backed up to Drive (assuming that more devs finally support app backup introduced in Marshmallow), so that I have less reason to root, which would be good since then I’d be able to get rid of other apps.
I THINK what I’m trying to say is, that I wouldn’t be too bothered with 2 GB of RAM (after all, I’m managing fine with my Nexus 5).
The only thing I’m waiting to find out about is how Nougat is treating the 5X. Sure, results may vary, but still…
I also have VLC which can also connect to my Pi, and also can play music, so I guess I have 3 video players (excluding Google Photos), as well as 3 music players…
Hmmm… Gotta figure this out.
Get another iPhone. It’s too hard for old men to learn new things – and get some of these
@Barney it was actually in one of these, for all the good it did: http://www.lifeproof.com/
@Barney if only meh would sell them again.
@Ignorant You just made me giggle.
@Barney @matthew 's not that old.
Is he? If so, what does that make me?
@compunaut He’s a very good makeup artist.
@Barney Really? I guess that’s why Irk & Glen look so good
@Barney This works I put a 7" tablet in a zip lock bag. They function as normal in the bath. We take zip lock bags to amusement parks for phones. The screens are readable and touchable.
@caffeine_dude @matthew See? Problem solved.
China has been making interesting phones lately. Would you consider going that way?
http://qz.com/784762/a-huawei-smartphone-saved-a-south-african-mans-life-proof-that-not-all-made-in-china-goods-are-flimsy/
@ELUNO Are there any phones NOT made in China these days?
@narfcake Well, made as in more than just manufacturing. Huawei and Xiaomi (and others) have been making some cool looking phones and tables. I really love my “iPad looking” dual boot Windows 10/Android tablet.
@narfcake HTC is still making their phones in Taiwan.
@ELUNO I would say if you want to go that route check out “Blu”
This is my favorite phones of theirs:
https://www.amazon.com/BLU-Vivo-XL-Smartphone-Unlocked/dp/B01AHZUSZO/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1474341982&sr=1-1&keywords=Blu+Vivo+XL
https://www.amazon.com/BLU-ENERGY-XL-Battery-Smartphone/dp/B01GWUXNBE/ref=sr_1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1474342005&sr=1-1&keywords=Blu+Energy
What about a Microsoft Kin or Amazon Fire phone
@stryper2000 I mean, what about them?
@matthew hahahaha
sent from my amazon fire phone
@communist
Amz fire phones do a nice job of reading Kindle books aloud, decent quality robotic-speech, variable speed settings.
My fav feature. Have 2 just for that.
I’ve had two HTC phones and I’m looking at my third. The HTC 10. They only advantage I see in the Galaxy S7 is that it’s waterproof. In 16+ years, I’ve never ruined a phone due to water damage though, so it’s not that important to me.
Androids are much nicer. Galaxy s7 is waterproof to 10 feet
Regarding privacy: is there some “more private” phone based on android?
I am not any kind of knowledgeable in this area, but my impression is that Apple collects data off an iPhone about as aggressively as Google does on an android phone.
For non-rooted or non-jail broken phones, Ios seems to offer somewhat better privacy controls regarding third party data collection than android does. (Esp call and text logs, contacts, and gps data).
Am I completely wrong here?
@f00l Nope, you’re right. The major three are about on par with each other when it comes to data collection and privacy.
@f00l
The Blackphone 2 is supposedly great when it comes to privacy.
@f00l I think there’s a bit of false equivalence between Apple’s and Google’s collection and use of data. I haven’t used Android lately, so I can’t really speak to what that’s like.
As far as I can tell, Apple’s trying to put its money where its mouth is, regarding privacy.
See stuff like this: https://backchannel.com/an-exclusive-look-at-how-ai-and-machine-learning-work-at-apple-8dbfb131932b#.clpdlhpz5, which seems to describe a real difference in data collection and use.
See also Apple’s app sandboxing, that has long allowed you to manage app-by-app access to specific information (location, contacts, etc.) after installing them, which I don’t think Android does, unless maybe you jailbreak and install some custom ROM (I assume).
Apple also proactively implemented end-to-end encryption on their Messages app. I’m not sure how robust that is versus law enforcement demands, since Apple’s still controlling all the software, but it does seem to demonstrate a basic respect for user’s privacy, including a recognition that I, as a user, want Apple themselves to stay out of my data (to the extent that it’s reasonable… or a ways past that point, would be my preference). When Google talks about “privacy”, my interpretation is that they usually mean their sharing of data with third parties, not their collection of data from me in the first place.
Samsung note 7. I hear it’s a really hot product.
HEYOOOOOO
@matthew and we’ll be right back after these word from Alpo.
@cranky1950
@cranky1950 joke bombed.
I got a cheap Galaxy Note 7 to sell ya… but… um… don’t charge it fully… ok?
I have always been an android user. I dumped apple when they made the mac and told the apple users to go to hell.
That being said, I have had several phones over the years from different manufacturers, and instructed people in the ones work issued.
I have only one thing to say - Samsung rocks. I don’t use an edge, but have an S7. everything including my wifi passwords was cable transferred from my S5 and one thing the Verizon guy said was if you really like the features you probably won’t like those on other phones.
I have two tablets, one is a generic, one a samsung, and the difference is night and day. (Both were free for different reasons.)
But go hold them in your hand. Unless you are really grandpa, you can adapt.
Lots of $30 and less smartwatches on Amazon that you can put a sim card in and make calls with it. No phone required. Just don’t dunk your arm in water.
HTC 10 or Galaxy S7 or the new Google Pixel Phone:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/09/google-confirms-october-4th-event-prepare-for-pixel-phones/
While I normally dont recommend them. If you want a phone that just works out of the box you might want to check out the Microsoft phones (If you are a GSM Carrier like AT&T or T-Mobile).
Specifically the Lumia 950.
Sooo it doesnt have that many apps… But the built in ones just work. Maps lets me offline download maps so I dont need a connection. It plays all my music fine. The camera is the best damn camera out there for cell phones. It has a user replaceable battery and takes SD cards. The software is patched and you get regular updates from microsoft.
If you get it from microsoft its unlocked and comes with a free dock that kinda lets you use it like a laptop. It also has a extra sim slot so if you travel or have a work phone you can make this phone do both…
https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Microsoft-Lumia-950---Unlocked/productID.326602600?icid=Windows_Phone_Cat_ModG_Lumia950_081816
Let me know if you want to know more.
@darkzrobe Woo hoo I’m not the only one! I was going to make a comment about liking my Lumia 950 and run away before I got heckled.
LG G3. I’m on a G4 right now…but as soon as I get back to my state I’m going back to G3. Easy to use. Teaches you what you don’t know. Even for a geek it plays well and is easy to root. For non geeks it is simple enough to grow into. Responsive.
. Just in case.
2 things: screen protector and protective case and square trade insurance…ok…3 things
Suck it up @matthew and go buy a new 7 or 7+. I’m a PC user with an Android tablet yet I swear by my iPhone. While I’m exceedingly careful I’m still looking forward to replacing my 6+ with a 7+ and not worrying about it getting wet. The headphone issue is really no big deal and it’s probably a good opportunity for you to run through iTunes and fix the music issue before reloading everything to a new phone. You know the OS and it will be simple to reload all your favorite apps. You know deep down your heart is singing for a 7(+).
@cinoclav
Yeah, @matthew, devote for eternity part of your life to dealing with ITunes. Get the 7.
Or not. Just sayin’.
Oneplus 2 looked like a good non-Verizon phone. Want to spend more.? Get Oneplus 3.
Cat S60
Normally water resistant to 2M, but with the flip of a switch it becomes waterproof up to 5M.
Shockproof
Dustproof
It also has a FLIR thermal imaging camera!
@bruceoite I almost went this route but bought a windows phone and a portable flir camera. Hoping the flir camera outlasts my phone cycle.
@darkzrobe It probably will. As a WP user, I question how much longer they’ll be around. With under 1% market share, they’re essentially irrelevant already.
@darkzrobe The S60 keeps tempting me, but I will probably go with a phone with a better screen and a little bit more horsepower
@bruceoite Just get this:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ALSO84E/ref=twister_B01INRG3Q6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
@darkzrobe That is a little harder to just whip out at the bar to have fun.
@bruceoite Naw, just put it in your pocket…
“Is that a FLIR in your pocket or you just happy to see me?”
lg g4 with a nice case
https://swappa.com/buy/lg-g4-tmobile/us
it ticks all the boxes
removable battery (double the battery life for $10)
micro sd card support(all the way up to 256 gigs)
fast processor and ram
available for all 4 major carrier and their prepaid counterparts
only $140-170 used depending on carrier…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LOVE-MEI-Gorilla-Glass-Waterproof-Shockproof-Aluminum-Metal-Case-Cover-For-LG-G4-/331786402678
i see lots of android recommendations… but what app do you use on android to manage your non-cloud music? i could never find a good one and just gave in to spotify.
@katylava I love MediaMonkey. I use it for music management as well as Video content (video podcasts, local tv shows, etc)
@katylava Google Music. You can add all of your local music to it, so it acts as a de-facto backup. You can also choose what music you want to store on your device.
All of that is free. You can play for All Access which gives you access to Google’s entire library.
@katylava DoubleTwist is supposed to be pretty good and supports syncing with iTunes.
In this day and age, I feel like asking “Which phone should I buy” is starting to become akin to “Who should I vote for for President” or “Which religion is the best”.
You just trying to stir the pot, @matthew?
/giphy stir the pot
@jsh139 Yep. I quickly scrolled to the bottom of this thread to post basically that. I avoid flame wars any more. I gave up my asbestos suit long ago and life is all the more pleasant for it.
@SSteve No flame war here. There’s lots of good info, plus some very sage advice from moi.
@jsh139 In your analogies, the options are very clearly distinct, and there’s a totally obvious correct choice for me based on a couple super-basic questions about myself. I wish picking a phone was like that!
@matthew Unfortunately, saying that those options have a “totally obvious correct choice” is what incites riots and starts wars!
you truncated it: “for me”
@Barney
/image purple phone
@f00l Today’s kids do not know how to work a rotary dial phone. I am not a kid. Hmm, I think I still have my princess phone stashed away somewhere. It’s not purple.
@Barney
Am old enuf to have memories of princess phones and push buttons being a rather big deal. You had to pay extra monthly to your local Bell.
Everyone who didn’t have one or the other was likely jealous of those who did.
/image princess phone
@f00l Mom worked for the phone company and I got to try out a lot of different phones. I even had a line into my room. Did I lord this over all of my friends? Of course I did! (My princess phone was blue.)
@Barney
My parents got a kids’ line so that they could ignore the ringing. Took us a while to realize they sometimes silently listened in on an extension.
Ha ha they never caught us at the stuff they wanted to catch us at.
@f00l My parents didn’t have to worry about that. I was a perfect angel.
@Barney
/giphy innocent little devil
@f00l You are too quick for me; I don’t have enough time to edit my posts.
@matthew The same result seems to happen anyway. There are too many “your views don’t matter, only mine do” people in this world
@Barney Did you know that on a rotary phone (and actually even an analog push-button phone) you could click the switchhook really fast and it would register as a dialed number? For instance, to dial a ‘four’, you would click the switchhook four times. I used to demonstrate this to my friends. I felt cool.
@jsh139 Now you tell me! I coulda had so much fun.
@jsh139 the upside of that is that our two-party system does have enough clear points of differentiation that you can easily enough find yourself trapped…
err…
at home… in one or the other.
@jsh139 Used to do that when the phone had a lock on the rotary dial… (e.g. in school)
@sligett Crafty!
@jsh139
Stealing access to institutional telephones in order to call random people and tell them jokes fit for 3 year olds was the best.
@f00l Now yer talkin! Crank phone calls are the best. Too bad *69 and caller id basically ruined it.
@jsh139
Didn’t ruin a thing.
Not if you snuck into the vice-principle’s office, made the calls, got out fast, and ran like a cheetah.
Giggling could cause issues with this escape plan tho.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is the bomb. Seriously. It’s one hot item!
Ordered my Note7 from Samsung.
First they told me early September, now they tell me I’ll get it later next month. Since the battery on my Note4 is getting flakey, that’s disappointing, but I’m happy to wait.
I take notes on pictures often enough. They already sent me the free 250 gig memory card. I love the screen & camera. They’ve done so much right for so long, I’m hard pressed to get upset over a subsidiary making batteries with a failure rate of something near a hundred(?) out of millions(?) and the company making a recall.
C’mon late October !
@4mehem
Every thing about my Note 4 has been flaky. Two motherboard replacements under warranty. Still shuts itself off for no reason.
In contrast, the Note 3 is rock solid
@4mehem why not get a replacement battery for your note 4 even an extended battery?
https://www.amazon.com/Zerolemon-10000mah-Extended-ZeroShock-Versions/dp/B00Q7C6FTA
/giphy exploding Note 7
“a separate dedicated music-listening device”
/giphy walkman
