4G Android phone megathread
- Thread starter Foulkey Reese
- Start date
It is a great phone. I'm hoping the devs can get AOKP ported over relatively soonish, as android as an operating system still lacks a lot of the polish that iphone users who are considering this phone will be accustomed to. Android isn't quite as flexible as it gets credit for, although it's a fucking gymnast compared to iOS. The stock google experience is definitely much better in terms of polish, but Sense isn't really an improvement.
I am a year into my SG3 and I am still loving it.
Same here. I like the new stuff but may wait till the fall/winter for the new breeds.
Verizon question from a smartphone luddite: if I have cracks on my phone in the screen glass, does Verizon's phone insurance cover replacing that? And is that a replaceable part of the phone in general?
Asurion will replace your phone for $100. You have to make a claim, and mail in your old phone to receive a refurb. This happened to me about a month ago. What a deal... it is the number one reason I'm going to with an unlocked phone (Nexus 4, or the 5 if its out) once my contract is up. $200 + ($7.99/month × 14 months) + $100 deposit = more than $299 unlocked phone.
Plus the savings of going away from Verizon. I think its time.
Same here. I like the new stuff but may wait till the fall/winter for the new breeds.
Verizon question from a smartphone luddite: if I have cracks on my phone in the screen glass, does Verizon's phone insurance cover replacing that? And is that a replaceable part of the phone in general?
Asurion will replace your phone for $100. You have to make a claim, and mail in your old phone to receive a refurb. This happened to me about a month ago. What a deal... it is the number one reason I'm going to with an unlocked phone (Nexus 4, or the 5 if its out) once my contract is up. $200 + ($7.99/month × 14 months) + $100 deposit = more than $299 unlocked phone.
Plus the savings of going away from Verizon. I think its time.
I don't know about anyone else... I really want to love the HTC One, but there are four reasons why I'm unable to pull the trigger:
- microSD - I depend on expandable storage to house my podcasts, music, and TiBu backups. I love the portability of it when I switch devices.
- Camera - I do zoom and crops in post, and 4 MP is barely serviceable for that. With the lack of optical zoom (for obvious reasons), I lean on extra pixels to make up for it.
- BlinkFeed - It can't be disabled (without root) and my limited experience with it is that it would annoy more than I'd like. Were it not for the above two concerns, I'd learn to live with it.
Lack of AMOLED - All things being equal, I'm an AMOLED partisan. The AT&T store had the two phones next to each other and the S4 (especially viewing angles) looked crisper (to me) with better contrast. Were it not for the above three concerns, I'd be willing to deal with LCD.
This is a really stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyway, given my admittedly neophyte nature: What 2-4 (5-10?) apps would your recommend to a brand new android phone user who has just migrated from a blackberry dinosaurphone? Really basic apps that you think are great for everyone, regardless of technical ability (of which I have little)?
zenter said:
I am up for a new phone in about a month and have been debating making the switch from iPhone to Android so this is helpful. Both the HTC One and S4 look great but I can't decide on which one I like best. Does anyone know of any other Android phones coming out in the next few months which may rival these two that are worth waiting for?
That's hard to answer since it's so vague, but some basics that are popular would be:Bleedred said:
Angry Birds Star Wars
Google Keep (note taking)
Google+
Flipboard (blog reader)
Netflix
Google Music
Pocket Casts (podcasts)
Tapatalk and or the SoSH forum app
Reddit News
Reddit in Pictures
Words with Friends
Drop Box
Google+
Is there any guess as to how long it generally takes for AOKP support? My girlfriend needs a new phone badly, and while this one looks awesome I'm not exactly going to let her take on any Android phone that I can't give a stock(ish) experience.
SuperManny said:
There's always something better on the horizon? (That is to say, I wouldn't wait for the next thing.) If nothing gets announced at Google I/O this week, I'd say pick between the two. I'm already bought into microSD and AMOLED, but you're not (yet). Unless one or both of these are critical to you, I would not discount the HTC One easily. Sorry for making this harder.
The transition from iPhone to Android makes the HTC One very viable. It has comparable screen technology and you're used to not having removable memory. The camera thing is basically dependent on your preferences, same for BlinkFeed. HTC One has general device polish that the S4 doesn't. And it's getting cheaper faster.
If it's a tossup, go for hand and pocket-feel. This will be your companion/concierge for at least 18 months - might as well enjoy it.
Bleedred said:
Reddit decided to have a thread about this exact topic ... Started about the time you made this post
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1ebm76/if_you_could_put_together_a_reddit_lifehacker/
How often are you switching devices?
As far as TiBu backups, you can just sync them with Google Drive and store them in the cloud.
Foulkey Reese said:
Heh. Every 12-24 months. And I throw TiBu backups into Dropbox, but six of one...
But when trying to move ~25-30 GB of stuff, sneakernet is still WAY WAY faster than re-downloading. Especially useful because I still have photos/recordings from 2006 on my current device from my old Nokia E61. Periodically I up the storage, but that's an easy "dump from one card to the other" operation. It's a nice continuity that I facilitate via microSD, and it's more mindless than annually curating/re-downloading everything.
EDIT: I get it's not the only way, but it's the way I like to do things, and I like the flexibility of spending $20 to dramatically increase storage (and thus usefulness) on my phone.
Yea it's the removable battery that is giving me the most pause when it comes to the S4 v HTC1.
It's so freaking close that I really think I'm just going to get whichever Verizon lets me pre-order first. I've probably watched 10 hours of Youtube comparison videos. It's sick.
It's so freaking close that I really think I'm just going to get whichever Verizon lets me pre-order first. I've probably watched 10 hours of Youtube comparison videos. It's sick.
as far as apps, Falcon Pro was a real godsend. Most of the twitter apps on android are godawful. Falcon Pro isn't.
Foulkey Reese said:
Things have just been really mum on the Verizon HTC1 front. I think by your criteria you'll end up with S4. I think HTC1 is a better phone, but it doesn't seem VZW imminent. In terms of non removable battery, the battery life is good enough that just having a car charger or one at your desk should be plenty. I carry an external for emergencies, but haven't found myself using it. Only time I've run seriously low has been when using Runkeeper after work or if an app ran away and I didn't notice it in time to kill it
Anyone heard anything about T-Mobile getting the S4 32gb model? I'm about ready to pull the trigger and their plan seems far and away the most cost-effective to me, but I'm nervous about the internal storage being down around 9GB on the 16GB model.
Having an older android phone, I just discovered that you can no longer move apps to your SD card, which was very disappointing to find out and has me pausing on pulling the trigger on the 16GB model.
Having an older android phone, I just discovered that you can no longer move apps to your SD card, which was very disappointing to find out and has me pausing on pulling the trigger on the 16GB model.
I am a big fan of Keyring, which keeps all my stupid loyalty grocery store and CVS cards online instead of on a gigantic keyring.
I like the weather channel app and i use hootsuite as my twitter app. I also like RetroCamera+ for fun pictures, but the regular camera on my SG3 is pretty good so I mostly use that. I get my news from teh Washington Post app, and the BBC World News app. Other than that, i have all the apps other folks have suggested.
I like the weather channel app and i use hootsuite as my twitter app. I also like RetroCamera+ for fun pictures, but the regular camera on my SG3 is pretty good so I mostly use that. I get my news from teh Washington Post app, and the BBC World News app. Other than that, i have all the apps other folks have suggested.
Falcon Pro is by far the best Twitter app. I love it.
And yea, pretty sure I'm going to preorder the S4 soon.
And yea, pretty sure I'm going to preorder the S4 soon.
My preference is for the HTC1, but even if Verizon does announce on 5/22 as some speculate the actual release would certainly be a month or three later if not further out. The marginal difference between the 1 and S4 doesn't merit waiting, IMO. At the end of the day they are both powerful devices that will serve just about anyone equally well.
The screen on my old phone cracked and the replacement I am using blows, so waiting probably won't fly.
The screen on my old phone cracked and the replacement I am using blows, so waiting probably won't fly.
Google's events are always full of so many cringe worthy moments and awful jokes that nobody gets. Now you throw in crowd shots of creepy looking likely serial killers wearing glass and it's taken to another level.
And the stock SGS4 probably just murdered the HTC One unless they're going to do the same thing
edit: at that price, maybe not
edit: at that price, maybe not
Ah fuck it then.
Ill just root a Verizon one for the same effect.
Are you looking to buy off contract? Wasn't sure if you still had unlimited data with them.
Well, you likely do if you're upgrading from a GN. So the more effective question is if you want to retain unlimited.
Ill just root a Verizon one for the same effect.
Are you looking to buy off contract? Wasn't sure if you still had unlimited data with them.
Well, you likely do if you're upgrading from a GN. So the more effective question is if you want to retain unlimited.
Words cannot express how much I want this phone.
Anyone want to give me $650 for a Verizon Note 2?
Anyone want to give me $650 for a Verizon Note 2?
Is the buzz over Google's version of the S4 that will be untethered and receive all future updates? Did I get that about right?
Why is that desireable? By the time your OS is outdated enough for not receiving updates to be an issue your phone is a dinosaur anyway. Is this more about optimizing that 12-18 month window?
I have had 1 Android and no other smart devices. My phone is a couple/few years old. Just to give my query some context...
Why is that desireable? By the time your OS is outdated enough for not receiving updates to be an issue your phone is a dinosaur anyway. Is this more about optimizing that 12-18 month window?
I have had 1 Android and no other smart devices. My phone is a couple/few years old. Just to give my query some context...
Samsung, like most other phone makers, seems afflicted by the notion that people want them to shit up their devices with ugly UI, custom skins, and ridiuclously unnecessary applications and features. Nobody can figure out why, but it seems to center on some concept of "differentiation". Sort of how I can "differentiate" myself by farting on an elevator. As a result, people end up wanting/needing to root and flash their phones with a bunch of user driven ROMs in order to get closer or match the intended google experience. This is generally ok, but the people who work on the ROMs end up needing a fair amount of support from the device maker to make kernel source available so that they can actually create these roms, and the companies haven't been great about releasing source in anything like a timely manner, and this all gets even more complicated when you consider that the carriers also feel a need to "differentiate" and add on more crapware which only further complicates the kernel source situation further.
Therefore, the buzz and promise of getting a pure google S4 would be the idea that you get out of this shit cycle and just get a great phone with the latest version of the software. With timely updates. You're absolutely correct that if google is doing yearly updates, then you don't end up outdated all that long, but you're probably looking at it wrong.
Take the phone I just picked up, the HTC One. HTC released it on android version 4.1.2, which is already not the latest version, because HTC insists on making their skin (Sense, which happens to be much better that Touchwiz, but I digress) and their own software customizations, which were probably built against android 4.1.2 when they started, but 4.2 was released in the interim. Now today, google seems to be getting ready to release 4.3, and it's pretty likely that HTC will probably be already in process of getting some 4.2 version of the update ready, which they'll release sometime between now and mid summer. Then they'll be started on 4.3, but you'll likely not see that until winter at the earliest, just due to all the testing cycles. And this is on a major, flagship device, if you own something a bit less sophisticated you'll be lucky to ever get some of these things.
Which only becomes a problem when google innovates. Android 4.2 (finally) introduced bluetooth low power spec, but phones on 4.1 (like the brand new HTC One) can't leverage it, making a bunch of potential accessories not work, car stereo integrations worse, etc etc. There's a host of new features being announced by google today that won't be on major android devices until next year, when they're already preparing a bunch of new innovations. For most people, this doesn't matter, but for people who give a shit this is of course very frustrating.
Therefore, this long winded response is a great way of saying, yes, you're right, this isn't a monumental deal for most people who aren't going to want to use the latest and greatest, but since the SGS4 and HTC One and these flagship devices are trying to cater to the mass public AND the enthusiast, the enthusiast types who want the latest and greatest are going to go nuts because they can get the SGS4 without all the ROM/root/slow updates headaches. In essence, they can get a "Nexus" S4. Finally, this is a bigger issue because the actual existing Nexus, while an awesome device, isn't LTE enabled and ahs some of the other limitations that people who love android consider non starters, so this essentially makes a new nexus device without a big change to the nexus program.
I don't know why this required an essay and you're one of the smarter people here so you already know 90% of what I typed, but I guess I figured I'd lay it all out there.
Therefore, the buzz and promise of getting a pure google S4 would be the idea that you get out of this shit cycle and just get a great phone with the latest version of the software. With timely updates. You're absolutely correct that if google is doing yearly updates, then you don't end up outdated all that long, but you're probably looking at it wrong.
Take the phone I just picked up, the HTC One. HTC released it on android version 4.1.2, which is already not the latest version, because HTC insists on making their skin (Sense, which happens to be much better that Touchwiz, but I digress) and their own software customizations, which were probably built against android 4.1.2 when they started, but 4.2 was released in the interim. Now today, google seems to be getting ready to release 4.3, and it's pretty likely that HTC will probably be already in process of getting some 4.2 version of the update ready, which they'll release sometime between now and mid summer. Then they'll be started on 4.3, but you'll likely not see that until winter at the earliest, just due to all the testing cycles. And this is on a major, flagship device, if you own something a bit less sophisticated you'll be lucky to ever get some of these things.
Which only becomes a problem when google innovates. Android 4.2 (finally) introduced bluetooth low power spec, but phones on 4.1 (like the brand new HTC One) can't leverage it, making a bunch of potential accessories not work, car stereo integrations worse, etc etc. There's a host of new features being announced by google today that won't be on major android devices until next year, when they're already preparing a bunch of new innovations. For most people, this doesn't matter, but for people who give a shit this is of course very frustrating.
Therefore, this long winded response is a great way of saying, yes, you're right, this isn't a monumental deal for most people who aren't going to want to use the latest and greatest, but since the SGS4 and HTC One and these flagship devices are trying to cater to the mass public AND the enthusiast, the enthusiast types who want the latest and greatest are going to go nuts because they can get the SGS4 without all the ROM/root/slow updates headaches. In essence, they can get a "Nexus" S4. Finally, this is a bigger issue because the actual existing Nexus, while an awesome device, isn't LTE enabled and ahs some of the other limitations that people who love android consider non starters, so this essentially makes a new nexus device without a big change to the nexus program.
I don't know why this required an essay and you're one of the smarter people here so you already know 90% of what I typed, but I guess I figured I'd lay it all out there.
No, thank you, I appreciate it. I just don't live on the tech edge like that -- clearly. The tough thing for me to balance is the phone's life cycle vs the OS. You get this $650 phone that allows for more timely updates and... then you want the next new phone a year later. Is this finally a sign that the innovation curve is flattening a bit and these devices might just have longer shelf lifes?
Maybe I'm just not interested in spending such an amount on a phone.
I totally get what you say about all the bloat. I hate it. I want total control over what is and is not on my device, but I generally do not root anything.
Maybe I'm just not interested in spending such an amount on a phone.
I totally get what you say about all the bloat. I hate it. I want total control over what is and is not on my device, but I generally do not root anything.
Well, whatever phone is in your pocket is also a $650 phone. They just sold it to you for $199 today and 24 monthly payments of $20. Of course, if you use it for 26 or 34 months, they still charge you the extra $20 a month. This is why T-mobile has generated some momentum with their pricing strucutre, which is really just charging you the way I described above, rather than a "contract" that obfuscates the actual price of the phone.
But I think where you're headed is that it would be insane to pay $650 for a SGS4 and then pay the same rates that you would pay on ATT or Verizon as if you were subsidizing the phone. I think, on that point, you're more or less right. You'll end up paying a lot more for the SGS4 "Nexus" if you're not on T-mobile, where the phone will actually be a pretty decent deal. If ATT and Verizon start to offer similar "no contract" pricing, then the $650 price point becomes a good deal with them, as well. One point in favor of paying the extra money would be that a phone on the latest version of Anrdoid tends to be worth more in resale, which the people who are doing yearly updates are typically leveraging.
But I think where you're headed is that it would be insane to pay $650 for a SGS4 and then pay the same rates that you would pay on ATT or Verizon as if you were subsidizing the phone. I think, on that point, you're more or less right. You'll end up paying a lot more for the SGS4 "Nexus" if you're not on T-mobile, where the phone will actually be a pretty decent deal. If ATT and Verizon start to offer similar "no contract" pricing, then the $650 price point becomes a good deal with them, as well. One point in favor of paying the extra money would be that a phone on the latest version of Anrdoid tends to be worth more in resale, which the people who are doing yearly updates are typically leveraging.
Foulkey, I fucking love my Nexus 4. And where you live/work, T-Mobile will be fine. It sucks for me at home, and there are definitely more dead spots...but it is so worth it for the cost savings, the speed when I AM on high speed, and the fact that this phone is mine for $350.
Oh, and I already cancelled Spotify. I've been waiting for Play to do something like this for a while, all my music has been there for a while now. Eagerly anticipating the new Hangouts, to see if it consolidates as much as they say it was going to...
Oh, and I already cancelled Spotify. I've been waiting for Play to do something like this for a while, all my music has been there for a while now. Eagerly anticipating the new Hangouts, to see if it consolidates as much as they say it was going to...
Couple clarifications on kgb's novella: Sense versus TouchWiz is a matter of taste; I prefer TouchWiz to Sense, but more vanilla Android to both.
Samsung thinks it's adding value with the features. I tend to agree in some cases, disagree in others. For example, I like their contacts/messaging/dialer approach to swiping - left for SMS/MMS, right for phone call. I haven't played with SmartStay or other new SGimmicks, so I can't be sure how much I'd like them.
So, Samsung adds stuff, but they're also stress-testing and customizing the OS's changes to the device's unique hardware. Vanilla Android can't simply be ported to most devices - it needs to hook properly into device capabilities. Anyone familiar with mic-switch problems knows what I'm talking about. In addition to that, the carriers add additional bloatware and need to approve the bloatware added by the manufacturer. These result in a process where it takes 6-12 months after Google releases updates for it to be delivered to end-users. In the past, the changes were significant enough that the delay meant you had old devices that didn't need to be old.
Regarding the price, kgb hits the nail on the head. I'm planning to jump to T-Mo in June anyway, so I could either spend $650 on a GS4 with bloat, or a vanilla GS4. In a way, it might be better to do the former since I get more "stuff" for the price, but the downside of bloat might not be worth it. Especially since I like rooting and messing with the device anyway.
Samsung thinks it's adding value with the features. I tend to agree in some cases, disagree in others. For example, I like their contacts/messaging/dialer approach to swiping - left for SMS/MMS, right for phone call. I haven't played with SmartStay or other new SGimmicks, so I can't be sure how much I'd like them.
So, Samsung adds stuff, but they're also stress-testing and customizing the OS's changes to the device's unique hardware. Vanilla Android can't simply be ported to most devices - it needs to hook properly into device capabilities. Anyone familiar with mic-switch problems knows what I'm talking about. In addition to that, the carriers add additional bloatware and need to approve the bloatware added by the manufacturer. These result in a process where it takes 6-12 months after Google releases updates for it to be delivered to end-users. In the past, the changes were significant enough that the delay meant you had old devices that didn't need to be old.
Regarding the price, kgb hits the nail on the head. I'm planning to jump to T-Mo in June anyway, so I could either spend $650 on a GS4 with bloat, or a vanilla GS4. In a way, it might be better to do the former since I get more "stuff" for the price, but the downside of bloat might not be worth it. Especially since I like rooting and messing with the device anyway.
T-Mobile's spotty signal around where I live was a bit of a pain in the ass until I ported my number to Google Voice. I have it ring my land line and mobile phone simultaneously now, though.PortlandSoxFan said:
Only downside is three times as many autodialed calls...
Blacken, I take it WiFi calling isn't an option for you on the prepaid 4?
I wonder if the just announced S4 will have that feature.
I wonder if the just announced S4 will have that feature.
I've been using GV since my first Android phone; the original Droid. Unfortunately, I don't have a home phone...but phone calls aren't the issue in my town (except some spots), its that there is zero high speed data.Blacken said:
SwiftKey Phone and Tablet keyboards on sale today for 50% off ($1.99).
http://slickdeals.net/f/6029632-SwiftKey-Keyboard-app-for-1-99-50-off-on-Google-Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey.tablet.full&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLnRvdWNodHlwZS5zd2lmdGtleS50YWJsZXQuZnVsbCJd
http://slickdeals.net/f/6029632-SwiftKey-Keyboard-app-for-1-99-50-off-on-Google-Play
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.touchtype.swiftkey.tablet.full&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLnRvdWNodHlwZS5zd2lmdGtleS50YWJsZXQuZnVsbCJd
Foulkey Reese said:
MLB At Bat - Seriously people? Are we not a baseball message board?jayhoz said:
The NY Times app is great too.
If you download and install the Amazon app store via online apk (you cannot get this from the Play store as it is a competing product), you can acquire the free app of the day. This is occasionally a really great app and generally a pretty crappy game. It's still worth doing.
Generally speaking, download apps for any website or media source you visit/use regularly, as in my NY Times example. I like having mobile banking and stock market apps too via my account providers, but YMMV.
Alarm Clock Plus is a fantastic upgrade over the stock alarm.
Amazon Marketplace is a useful app if you shop on Amazon a lot.
Never tried. I don't make calls very often. My phone is mostly an email machine, but I live in an old brick building with no signal whatsoever when not standing at a window so I figured I should actually hook up the phone line that I'm paying for.Seven Costanza said:
FYI, hope they improved the recommendations on Google Play Music, consider this if you are thinking of using the radio features.
http://musicmachinery.com/2011/05/14/how-good-is-googles-instant-mix/
disclaimer, I'm friendly with the Echo Nest folks (behind Spotify and Rdio)
http://musicmachinery.com/2011/05/14/how-good-is-googles-instant-mix/
disclaimer, I'm friendly with the Echo Nest folks (behind Spotify and Rdio)
When I first switched to T-Mobile, it was fine over wifi, and spotty over mobile data. I don't use it anymore as I bumped to unlimited minutes (was on the $30 100 minute/5 gb data plan)