4G Android phone megathread
- Thread starter Foulkey Reese
- Start date
If you're worried about buggy updates I'd probably lean towards the pixel.
At least based on experiences at my work where iPhone update issues are not uncommon. That's for about 20 users.
I had to sideload the update on my Nexus 6p on Verizon. Can be done without a wipe, kept all my data and apps in place. Since the update, I've gotten the rest OTA.
All of the sudden my phone keeps showing the time as if I'm in the central time zone. I reboot and it goes back to eastern, and then later it changes to central. It's an S7 if that matters but this sounds more like a network issue. Anyone else have this problem or know of a solution?
Anyone having problems with Nougat on a Galaxy S7? Verizon just pushed the update to my phone but I'm a little scared. I'm not tech-savvy enough to troubleshoot much after the fact if there are problems, but I'm not sure I have a choice. Can I refuse the update somehow, or do anything else to protect data/operations before I download it?
Thanks, Caspir. My phone directed me to a page with more information (link below). It says it offers "fixes to WiFi connectivity issues," which may be what Catcher Block was experiencing earlier. Maybe it's not as bad as I thought, or they've made more fixes since then. Still wish I was a Pixel/Fi guy...
https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/samsung-galaxy-s7-update/
https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/samsung-galaxy-s7-update/
I also got Nougat from Verizon on Thursday. My contacts list will no longer show groups, this seems to be a known issue so hopefully they'll fix it.
Galaxy S7, just got Nougat. Battery life improved, snappy interface.
But just got in my car and Message+ driving mode alert/notification going in and off non-stop. Had to disable Bluetooth. Annoying.
But just got in my car and Message+ driving mode alert/notification going in and off non-stop. Had to disable Bluetooth. Annoying.
Anyone with the Pixel XL noticing battery issues lately?
I'll go to sleep at 100%, have no background apps running, and wake up to 83% battery. That's....not good.
I'll go to sleep at 100%, have no background apps running, and wake up to 83% battery. That's....not good.
My Pixel XL is not my primary phone, so I usually put it in airplane mode when I'm not using it, including overnight, and I have noticed recently that it loses a couple of percentages of battery overnight. That never happened until a couple of weeks ago.
I haven't downloaded the latest update, now I might wait. The battery on this thing is really good.
I had, one night, a month ago, but I rebooted the phone, and I haven't had any issues ever since.
Yea I've rebooted a couple of times and it's no better.
I don't know if this is related, but also - is anyone else getting the note that the Google App has stopped responding, and it needs to re-open? I'm a little concerned with some of these minor issues popping in a phone that is relatively new.
Allow me to mention how deceptive Verizon is. I have three devices, my main phone,(Pixel) a backup iPhone, and a LTE Mifi I use in my office. I had a 20GB plan, it was fine, I was usually around 15-23 GB's a month, if I went over I just paid the vig. The three devices were bundled, it didn't matter which device I used. Call it $210-215 a month.
Verizon trumpets the UNLIMITED plan. It's all over the place. I think, "Hey, why not, I've gone over 20GBs a few times." So I switch to the unlimited plan, my monthly price stays the same. Everyone wins, right?
Cut to April and my mifi one day goes from blazing fast to absolutely not working. It could barely load Google. Average speed of .15Mbps, versus the usual of 25-30Mbps. I bring it into the store and they say, "Oh, you went over 10GB's on the mifi, if that happens you get the worst possible connection wherever you are."
Wait, what? I'm like, "I'm at 14gb's for the month on all my devices, lower than my normal range, and I'm getting throttled, I don't understand. My plan is unlimited, right?"
She responds, "Well, you're not technically being throttled, you're just getting a worse connection because you went over your data cap of 10GB. It's still unlimited."
My brain almost broke. That was the line of the year. No no no sir, you're not being throttled, it's just that your connection is useless and you can't use it. So it's actually worse than being throttled.
But my brain didn't break, thankfully, I took a breath and just changed my plan to the 24GB max now and it's the same price as the "unlimited plan, that is unlimited in a way that is very limited, so it's unlimited in name and theoretically, but is actually extremely limited in reality."
So when my new 24GB plan cycles into existence in a week, my mifi will be back in action. For now, I've been using my Pixel as a hotspot and it's blazing fast again. So I'm still using data, literally the same data I would be using on my mifi, but that is fine. Because it's not the "over the limit mifi", it's the under the limit Pixel. On the unlimited plan, where they don't throttle, it's just that certain devices don't work when you go over your data cap on the unlimited plan.
The whole thing was like an Escher painting. Stairs everywhere, going nowhere. So fair warning, if you move to an unlimited plan, be prepared for some tremendous limitations.
Verizon trumpets the UNLIMITED plan. It's all over the place. I think, "Hey, why not, I've gone over 20GBs a few times." So I switch to the unlimited plan, my monthly price stays the same. Everyone wins, right?
Cut to April and my mifi one day goes from blazing fast to absolutely not working. It could barely load Google. Average speed of .15Mbps, versus the usual of 25-30Mbps. I bring it into the store and they say, "Oh, you went over 10GB's on the mifi, if that happens you get the worst possible connection wherever you are."
Wait, what? I'm like, "I'm at 14gb's for the month on all my devices, lower than my normal range, and I'm getting throttled, I don't understand. My plan is unlimited, right?"
She responds, "Well, you're not technically being throttled, you're just getting a worse connection because you went over your data cap of 10GB. It's still unlimited."
My brain almost broke. That was the line of the year. No no no sir, you're not being throttled, it's just that your connection is useless and you can't use it. So it's actually worse than being throttled.
But my brain didn't break, thankfully, I took a breath and just changed my plan to the 24GB max now and it's the same price as the "unlimited plan, that is unlimited in a way that is very limited, so it's unlimited in name and theoretically, but is actually extremely limited in reality."
So when my new 24GB plan cycles into existence in a week, my mifi will be back in action. For now, I've been using my Pixel as a hotspot and it's blazing fast again. So I'm still using data, literally the same data I would be using on my mifi, but that is fine. Because it's not the "over the limit mifi", it's the under the limit Pixel. On the unlimited plan, where they don't throttle, it's just that certain devices don't work when you go over your data cap on the unlimited plan.
The whole thing was like an Escher painting. Stairs everywhere, going nowhere. So fair warning, if you move to an unlimited plan, be prepared for some tremendous limitations.
Yeah there's no such thing as an unlimited plan anymore. There are just different levels of soft caps.
Technically, that is the actual DEFINITION of "throttled".
throt·tle
ˈTHrädl/
verb: throttle; 3rd person present: throttles; past tense: throttled; past participle: throttled; gerund or present participle: throttling
suppress, inhibit, stifle, control,restrain, check, contain, choke off,put a/the lid on
Who knew words have meanings!
That is why my brain broke. It was awesome. 3 days away from my cycle being over. Meanwhile, my Pixel's hotspot connection works great. Their policy is so weird. Throttle one device but not the others. What is the difference?
Aren't all GB's the same?
Aren't all GB's the same?
For your usecase, it seems strange. But the plans are more oriented to a family with 4 different users each with one device. A parent probably doesn't want to lose their high speed data because their 15 year old streamed too many videos. From that standpoint, throttling each device individually makes perfect sense.
It shouldn't matter if it's truly an unlimited plan. These companies are very deceptive when they advertise unlimited. It should be more clear because the throttled speeds are so terrible that it's effectively a data cap.
I am not on a family plan, but your explanation makes sense with regards to why one device would be throttled. It is still extremely deceptive. Lesson learned, I'm on the 24GB plan now.
The thing I'm most confused by in your story is them throttling at 10 gb/line. Their promotional information very clearly defines "unlimited" as subject to throttling after 22 gb/line. If they are actually doing it at 10, that's obviously something people should be aware of.
I thought the same thing.(22GB being the throttle line, no matter the device) I actually got this Email last week, after I found out at the Verizon store they were throttling the Mifi at 10GB's.
Consistent with our Terms and Conditions? Yeah, NO!
Because you know what isn't consistent, telling someone they have an unlimited plan and then throttling them and then that person asks why they are being throttled and they are told, "You're not being throttled."
I should mention that I "upgraded" my mifi when all of this happened. My older mifi, which was working fine, was not throttled. So you get throttled when you upgrade and pay for it. It's really something special.
I'm sure they put that piece in the Terms and Conditions, the problem is they buried that fairly important piece on page 45 in fontsize 2 Comic Sans, after all the legalese that most people gloss over.
Page 1 is UNLIMITED*!!!!! in giant bold faced underlined script.
Yeah, I'm certain it had to be listed in the fine print somewhere. Shady and deceptive, the Verizon way.
I'm on the Android O beta preview, and fair warning for those considering it: the battery life improvements are false advertising. Battery life is significantly worse right now, and I'm hoping they'll fix it soon.
Battery life improved with the first update to Android O, but it still lags behind what I previously had. I get a few apps that crash, and I'm opting out of the Beta and going back to Nougat 7.1.2.
This happened to mine a few weeks ago. I called Google, and they replaced it for free. I had the new one in a couple of days, and then mailed the bootlooped one back.
Oh wow. How did you start this process? I got this phone March 6, 2016 with no warranty if that matters.
I called the Google support number: 1-855-836-3987. I told them my phone went into the bootloop-of-death. They asked me if I'd ever rooted the phone (no). Then, they asked me to do some basic troubleshooting steps from a list. The answer to most of the steps were "I can't do that because the phone won't boot." Mine was purchased in Nov 2015 from the Google Play Store. The bootloop failure was beyond the 1 year warranty, but since LG has been sued for this particular failure, they've been making exceptions. I may have had an easier experience because I bought it direct from the Google Play Store. If you didn't, they may make you deal with LG directly which I've heard takes longer.
Thank you! I shot them an email through Project Fii but I'm sure I'll have to talk to someone at some point. Yea, I bought the phone through them so I should be good.
I did this recently too. Really painless process. Not having a phone for 3 days made my life miserable, but it at least was resolved quickly. After having this happen with both my 5X and my 5, I'm pretty sure I will never buy another phone manufactured by LG.
The person got back to me with some troubleshooting that didn't work. They mentioned getting a new phone out to me but I'm going to see if I can get credit towards a Pixel XL. I doubt they'll comply but I'm taking a shot. I'd rather buy a Pixel XL then have to worry if my Nexus 5X is going to shut off again.
Google Fi seems to have upgraded its coverage for W. Massachusetts, which means I am finally ready to switch over. But apparently they aren't making the Nexus series anymore and are pushing the very pricy Pixel series. Of course, you can get the Nexus 6 on Amazon and everywhere else, but when I read about it, I get confused, as people are saying it's a downgrade from Nexus 5, which is also widely available. These phones are "unlocked," but presumably will accept the Google Fi sim card? But getting it that way makes me dependent on some Amazon seller when the thing goes bad. I am confused, b/c it never occurred to me that I would be paying $650. for a cellphone. Is there anything I can read that will help me make up my mind?
You pay more than that when you subsidize a phone through a carrier. Google offers 0% financing on the Pixel phones too.
I'd wait to see what the second gen pixel looks like in a few months.
I'd wait to see what the second gen pixel looks like in a few months.
You can make Fi work on most phones - it may have to be unlocked, I'm not sure about that part, but you lose some functionality. I think it may be that you are tethered to just T-Mobile. Also Google won't provide you any support, and it's probably against their Terms of Service.
The catch is you need to activate the sim card you receive initially you need to do so from a Fi approved device. Right now I think that is just the Nexus 6, 5x, 6p, Pixel, and Pixel XL. Then you swap out the activated Fi phone into another phone. I've done this with an iphone just because I wanted to see if it worked. Sometimes you have to do some other stuff to the phone's radio settings to get it to work, it seems. I just swapped the cards.
Anyway, you could get it to work on a Nexus 5, but it would be sort of a pain, and not being able to use US Cellular/Sprint may defeat the purpose if that's where the improvement in coverage came from..
Here's a long XDA thread about Fi work on the N5.
One thing to consider when buying an old phone is the support timeline for security updates. The Nexus 5 got its last security update in Oct 2016, and the Nexus 6 will get its last security update in Oct 2017.
Google support timeline.
Thanks, gentlemen. I don't know what I'm going to do. At this point, I have a cheap, not-very-smart phone, $100. a year, prepaid, with no data. I could never possibly use up my minutes, but they are only for texting and talking, not data. I can get data on the phone using wireless, but I want portable data.
As for Google updates, the worst mistake I ever made with my Nexus 7 was updating the operating system. It's much worse than when I bought it, and that's a pretty common problem, and not that easy to fix. Also, Google is so aggressive, it tries to make you use its email address, using the update to impose its will on you. I am only considering Google Fi b/c there's no contract involved. But the costly phone seems to counter that.
As for Google updates, the worst mistake I ever made with my Nexus 7 was updating the operating system. It's much worse than when I bought it, and that's a pretty common problem, and not that easy to fix. Also, Google is so aggressive, it tries to make you use its email address, using the update to impose its will on you. I am only considering Google Fi b/c there's no contract involved. But the costly phone seems to counter that.
Based on the usage you are describing and your budget for a new phone, you may want to look into Ting.
No contract and you just pay for what you use each month. And they have a wide range of phones available at all price points, or you can bring virtually any phone to their network if it's GSM compatible or Sprint.
https://ting.com
Thanks so much for the recommendation! I am still very much learning ting and the Moto g5plus, but so far I'm getting a real kick out of using them.
Glad it's working out for you! I don't use Ting any more since my data usage increased, but if you're not a heavy user they really are the best deal around. I always recommend them for people who aren't going to use a ton of data/minutes. Plus it's awesome that you can call and a human being answers the phone there if you ever need customer service.
While I am pleased with my MotoG5plus in general, I cannot get it to play music through my car audio, which I can do with my old Huawei Fusion 2 phone. The car is a 2010 Subaru Outback. I have no problem pairing and connecting the Moto (it shows the Bluetooth symbol on the car nav) and can make phone calls through it. But, despite spending almost an hour on the phone with the Motorola folks, I still can't connect the music player part of the phone. I was using Google's Play Music. They suggested I try downloading another music player. No difference. I have also removed both phones from the nav and put only the Moto back. No difference. I tried the Huawei again. Again, it played the music. Is it possible that the folks at Motorola are missing something? Could there be a compatibility problem? (I haven't called Subaru, since the old phone works perfectly and I assume it's not the car's problem.)Both phones can be connected, but I would have to keep both on and switch back and forth on the nav. Seems like a lot of trouble for something that should just work. TIA.
It seems like you made your decision but you're probably perfect for mintsim
Volume? First time I hooked up my cellphone via Bluetooth, I didn't hear anything until I realized I had the volume on my phone set too low. Even then, sometimes I had to turn the radio's volume way up. Some of this, I'm sure, is a result of my ripping CDs to computer files.
But the sound continues to come out of the phone. On the other phone, once it's connected to the car audio, it comes out there and not from the phone.