4G Android phone megathread
- Thread starter Foulkey Reese
- Start date
I take it that's a retired plan? I have no need for unlimited minutes, so a plan like that would be great for me.
So I get the Htc one looks great and everything but it's an Htc.
I have an Htc thunderbolt (when I moved to the us I needed a phone ASAP and the iPhone 4s wasn't launched yet nor the razor).
This is the worst phone I ever used, I fucking hate it. It's been replaced 3 times and the battery another time over that.
It shits the bed if you touch it when sweaty or washed your hands with the last day. It's just fucking shit. I cannot ever bring myself to buy another phone made by this manufacturer and I try to warn everyone of my horrendous experience.
I'm also due an upgrade by Verizon and I can finally treat this phone like the fax machine in office space.
I was asking why they aren't offering the one and the guy said they had soooooo many issues, complaints and returns of the recent Htc phones he thought they wanted to wait to see if it held up before offering it. Sure fits my Htc experience.
I preordered the s4 and it's due on the 23rd delivered to my house. Given I would have to wait months for the next iPhone it seemed a no brainer. I already have a 32 gig card for my Htc which will work on the s4 so the 16 gig and large space used by all the os stuff.
Edit: I wanted to check before I said this but the Htc one battery cannot be removed you have to replace the phone or send it in. To me having gone through 4 batteries in 19 months that would be a big concern for me. As would not being able to get your data off the phone via memory card. I would bet a lot the phone outlasts the battery.
Yes I wish the s4 wasn't plastic and didn't have quite so many useless gadgets (from what I read)
I have an Htc thunderbolt (when I moved to the us I needed a phone ASAP and the iPhone 4s wasn't launched yet nor the razor).
This is the worst phone I ever used, I fucking hate it. It's been replaced 3 times and the battery another time over that.
It shits the bed if you touch it when sweaty or washed your hands with the last day. It's just fucking shit. I cannot ever bring myself to buy another phone made by this manufacturer and I try to warn everyone of my horrendous experience.
I'm also due an upgrade by Verizon and I can finally treat this phone like the fax machine in office space.
I was asking why they aren't offering the one and the guy said they had soooooo many issues, complaints and returns of the recent Htc phones he thought they wanted to wait to see if it held up before offering it. Sure fits my Htc experience.
I preordered the s4 and it's due on the 23rd delivered to my house. Given I would have to wait months for the next iPhone it seemed a no brainer. I already have a 32 gig card for my Htc which will work on the s4 so the 16 gig and large space used by all the os stuff.
Edit: I wanted to check before I said this but the Htc one battery cannot be removed you have to replace the phone or send it in. To me having gone through 4 batteries in 19 months that would be a big concern for me. As would not being able to get your data off the phone via memory card. I would bet a lot the phone outlasts the battery.
Yes I wish the s4 wasn't plastic and didn't have quite so many useless gadgets (from what I read)
My mother uses her phone about 15 minute a year. With prepaid plans, can you just set it to auto-renew with prepaid info every 90 days if they haven't used them?
The Thunderbolt is a terrible phone but don't hold that against HTC. They also made the NexusOne, Incredible series, and the Rezound for Android before the One series. They also make the flagship Windows phone right now.
I am an HTC fanboy however.
I am an HTC fanboy however.
Reading through this thread has steered me toward the Nexus series and T-Mobile. The Nexus 4 is out now, but is a 2012 phone. The Nexus S4 is slated for late June. There's a couple hundred dollars difference.
I am not a robust user, just general web and application use. I rarely use it for games. I like to hold onto my phone for a couple years.
Would buying the Nexus now have much impact on me vs waiting and paying a bit more? I am stuck on a Droid 2 in the meantime due to my Incredible's screen breaking. I was fine with the Incredible despite it slowing down, but the Droid 2 is fairly awful.
Edit -- I might wind up renewing with Verizon for convenience and immediacy. The cost difference is fairly marginal and as a non-power user I am not heavily impacted by the limitations of a carrier (bloat, etc). Still, unchained is always preferred
I am not a robust user, just general web and application use. I rarely use it for games. I like to hold onto my phone for a couple years.
Would buying the Nexus now have much impact on me vs waiting and paying a bit more? I am stuck on a Droid 2 in the meantime due to my Incredible's screen breaking. I was fine with the Incredible despite it slowing down, but the Droid 2 is fairly awful.
Edit -- I might wind up renewing with Verizon for convenience and immediacy. The cost difference is fairly marginal and as a non-power user I am not heavily impacted by the limitations of a carrier (bloat, etc). Still, unchained is always preferred
yecul said:
Unless you value LTE speeds, no, not really. Google has been good about making sure older Nexus-line phones get the most up-to-date OS.
Who SHOULD I hold it against? They made it released it and frankly did a horrendous job with it.
It's not like judging a Ford GT via Fiesta because the Thunderbolt was meant to be a Ford GT and they fucked it. If you bought a Ford GT and it was a total piece of shit, would you buy the new and improved Ford GT? Maybe you would, but I sure wouldn't.
I bought HTC's one time latest and greatest phone and it was a total piece of garbage, it makes very little difference to me they know it was garbage and are sorry. If they were actually sorry they would do something like offer a discount on their new phone to attract those they alienated. Trade in your Thunderbolt and get a coupon for the HTC one. THIS would be an apology, talk is cheap.
I'm not changing my mind on buying a new HTC, they have destroyed their brand to me, I don't give an oops you screwed up but let me try your latest 700 USD creation just in case you got your shit together. Especially when there are numerous other similar quality options where everyone I know is broadly happy. Why would I take a chance after 18 months of complete and utter dis satisfaction.
It's not like judging a Ford GT via Fiesta because the Thunderbolt was meant to be a Ford GT and they fucked it. If you bought a Ford GT and it was a total piece of shit, would you buy the new and improved Ford GT? Maybe you would, but I sure wouldn't.
I bought HTC's one time latest and greatest phone and it was a total piece of garbage, it makes very little difference to me they know it was garbage and are sorry. If they were actually sorry they would do something like offer a discount on their new phone to attract those they alienated. Trade in your Thunderbolt and get a coupon for the HTC one. THIS would be an apology, talk is cheap.
I'm not changing my mind on buying a new HTC, they have destroyed their brand to me, I don't give an oops you screwed up but let me try your latest 700 USD creation just in case you got your shit together. Especially when there are numerous other similar quality options where everyone I know is broadly happy. Why would I take a chance after 18 months of complete and utter dis satisfaction.
FWIW, London, I'm with you.
Got a Thunderbolt the week it launched. I don't care how good they say the One is. Never again.
Got a Thunderbolt the week it launched. I don't care how good they say the One is. Never again.
Nevermind. T-Mobile's network is a little spottier than I'd like in my area. That probably kills it for me. I value reliability.
Edit -- I was just on the help chat with Verizon (the box popped up and I figured I'd ask some questions). The guy said that the HTC One is coming to Verizon, but no date has been set. I've seen no official announcements, so grain of salt and all that.
Edit -- I was just on the help chat with Verizon (the box popped up and I figured I'd ask some questions). The guy said that the HTC One is coming to Verizon, but no date has been set. I've seen no official announcements, so grain of salt and all that.
I'm still using the original HTC Incredible for my personal phone. It's done well for me over the years, although it's gotten pretty slow the last few months.
We're supposed to be getting new work phones soon. Probably will go for an S4, port my personal number to Google Voice, and use a single phone.
We're supposed to be getting new work phones soon. Probably will go for an S4, port my personal number to Google Voice, and use a single phone.
On the flip side of Seven Costanza and London Sox's experiences, I've had two Samsung devices: The Omnia and the Galaxy Nexus. I loathed, LOATHED, the Samsung Omnia. It got great reviews, but it was my first smartphone and just a terrible device in every possible way. So terrible, in fact, that I stayed with an LG Chocolate 2 to tie me over until I found a phone I loved (Motorola Droid X)
When I was upgrade eligible after the Droid X, I gave Samsung another chance with the Galaxy Nexus. Loved the screen, but hated everything else about it (user experience, low volume on phone, no SD card, low volume on the phone, terrible radio, shitty battery life, etc.), and went back to my old trusty Droid X before getting a RAZR MAXX a month later.
I'm eligible again in September or January depending on how much Verizon wants to monkey with my upgrade period, and I'm really, really skeptical of giving Samsung another shot with the S4. Fool me one, shame on me, fool me twice... you know the drill.
Love Samsung TVs. I like the GN as a test device for work. But a personal phone? Only if there's no other alternative.
As a postscript, yesterday, I was at a party talking to a dude trying to download a video on his Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on Verizon, and he couldn't catch an LTE signal for the life of him. I see the radios still suck.
When I was upgrade eligible after the Droid X, I gave Samsung another chance with the Galaxy Nexus. Loved the screen, but hated everything else about it (user experience, low volume on phone, no SD card, low volume on the phone, terrible radio, shitty battery life, etc.), and went back to my old trusty Droid X before getting a RAZR MAXX a month later.
I'm eligible again in September or January depending on how much Verizon wants to monkey with my upgrade period, and I'm really, really skeptical of giving Samsung another shot with the S4. Fool me one, shame on me, fool me twice... you know the drill.
Love Samsung TVs. I like the GN as a test device for work. But a personal phone? Only if there's no other alternative.
As a postscript, yesterday, I was at a party talking to a dude trying to download a video on his Samsung Galaxy Note 2 on Verizon, and he couldn't catch an LTE signal for the life of him. I see the radios still suck.
I've got the original Incredible, too. I had to cash in insurance on one because it randomly overheated and restarted. This one doesn't have that problem, but it keeps giving me a low disk space error when 65% of the disk is free. And it won't update the OS. That said, I've also dropped it a lot and the screen hasn't broken or scratched. A well built phone, but not without issue.SoxFanInCali said:
My wife has a Thunderbolt and hasn't had any issues with it.
I feel like I'm missing something simple:
The Nexus 4 is $299 direct from Google, unlocked.
Yet it is selling on eBay for $350-450 for a new, unlocked version.
Is Google subsidizing sales to individuals and are there contract terms prohibiting resale?
The Nexus 4 is $299 direct from Google, unlocked.
Yet it is selling on eBay for $350-450 for a new, unlocked version.
Is Google subsidizing sales to individuals and are there contract terms prohibiting resale?
It was "sold out" on Google Play for a while, and the T-Mobile version cost more, so that premium was just like iPads selling for over retail when they were sold out.
I have a friend that couldn’t quite wait any longer and decided to pick up the Galaxy S4 (AT&T). Obviously I want to help her get all the Samsung crap off of it as soon as possible, and get back to stock (it’s a shame she couldn’t wait until the Google edition later this year). Because I have a Nexus, I haven’t gone custom/stock firmware in a long time now: which of CM or AOKP is closer these days to stock (or is there another one that is a better option). I doubt any of them have been rolled for the S4 yet, but I’d like to keep watching for it so I can update her phone soon.
Wife got the Samsung S3 and we are Android Rookies.
We think we have figured out how to have different audio notifications (and volumes) for Email (gmail) , FB posts and Texts but we still have a problem...
During certain periods of reoccurring time she wants to mute it all...say when sleeping (11-6) ....as any chirps or beeps will wake us up (and I need to be listening and have my BB on the bed stand.....problem is even a FB post by her friends at 2am makes me wake up thinking I have an emergency to tend to).
I suppose she could "mute All" somehow before bed....but then she will likely to forget come morning to unmute and potentially miss Texts, FB posts and Emails
So we are trying to find an app that will allow her to schedule muting her audio alerts for certain applications (say everything except Phone) everyday from 11-6 (for example) or weekdays from 3-4:30 for whatever reason.
I have looked in the app store and found things close (probably I am using the wrong search criteria) but nothing that does this.
Any suggestions? Anyone else use something similar for class/work or sleep?
We think we have figured out how to have different audio notifications (and volumes) for Email (gmail) , FB posts and Texts but we still have a problem...
During certain periods of reoccurring time she wants to mute it all...say when sleeping (11-6) ....as any chirps or beeps will wake us up (and I need to be listening and have my BB on the bed stand.....problem is even a FB post by her friends at 2am makes me wake up thinking I have an emergency to tend to).
I suppose she could "mute All" somehow before bed....but then she will likely to forget come morning to unmute and potentially miss Texts, FB posts and Emails
So we are trying to find an app that will allow her to schedule muting her audio alerts for certain applications (say everything except Phone) everyday from 11-6 (for example) or weekdays from 3-4:30 for whatever reason.
I have looked in the app store and found things close (probably I am using the wrong search criteria) but nothing that does this.
Any suggestions? Anyone else use something similar for class/work or sleep?
I use Llama to do what Foulkey posted plus more (ie turn off 3G coverage when I'm at work where we only have Edge cell towers)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kebab.Llama&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5rZWJhYi5MbGFtYSJd
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kebab.Llama&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS5rZWJhYi5MbGFtYSJd
I'm a Tasker user, but there's a pretty steep learning curve. It'll do what you want and way more.
This app (~$4) was recently featured in Lifehacker: Automagic Automation. Basically it's works like Tasker, but uses flowcharts to build the things you want your phone to do (the biggest complaint about Tasker is that it's kind of complicated creating profiles and tasks)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.gridvision.ppam.androidautomagic
Lifehacker article: http://lifehacker.com/automagic-is-a-powerful-easy-to-use-automation-tool-fo-483434758
This app (~$4) was recently featured in Lifehacker: Automagic Automation. Basically it's works like Tasker, but uses flowcharts to build the things you want your phone to do (the biggest complaint about Tasker is that it's kind of complicated creating profiles and tasks)
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.gridvision.ppam.androidautomagic
Lifehacker article: http://lifehacker.com/automagic-is-a-powerful-easy-to-use-automation-tool-fo-483434758
jayhoz said:
Since baka said that he's a rookie, I'm assuming it's factory settings, where there aren't profiles or quiet hours.
I'm running whatever the most current CM is.jayhoz said:
And thanks, as I had no idea that feature was in there.
With all the input you guys have provided I am favoring moving to T Mobile and getting the Nexus. The Nexus 4 is available now. The new one will come out in about a month.
As a non-power user is it worth double the price? The S4 is a great phone, but so is the current Nexus. Guess I'm a little cheap when it comes to phones.
As a non-power user is it worth double the price? The S4 is a great phone, but so is the current Nexus. Guess I'm a little cheap when it comes to phones.
yecul said:
The main issue is whether you want LTE. The N4 does not have radios to access it when TMo lights up the LTE (which it's doing throughout the next couple years leveraging the MetroPCS acquisition). This isn't merely about high-speed data, either. LTE also has a voice component, though how it is implemented varies from carrier to carrier. In the near term, it won't be a huge deal except when it comes to data, but in a couple years it might. So this comes down to how long you expect to keep the device.
yecul said:
I shouldn't have said "couple". I should have said "In three or more years, it might." So you're probably fine.
Beyond that, though, there's not just generic service capability but precise rollout and usage.
For hyper-simplicity's sake, let's say they have bands 1 and 2 in a particular region. Let's say home is nearest a band 1 tower, and work is nearest band 2 tower, and 4G LTE is on band 1. Band 1 still does the older stuff, but it also has the newest. Meanwhile, band 2 only does the older stuff. Now let's say within a year, everyone where you live is using a lot of 4G and they re-task band 1 completely to LTE. That means you lose optimal home service, but you're still okay at work (since band 2 still does the old stuff).
Again, this is hyper-simplistic, but it reflects the constant network balancing a carrier does to optimize. I know back in 2002-3, OLD AT&T Wireless (pre-Cingular) basically did a hard push to make all customers upgrade to 2.5G (GPRS/EDGE - what we normally call 2G) because they wanted to retask all their towers away from old bandwidth-intensive 1G technology while adding data capability.It was about a 2 year process involving a lot of heavily-subsidized phones, but the end result was the ability to fully shut down 1G and add bandwidth for newer tech.
Nowadays, such a process would take no less than 5 years, and 2G is still way more power-efficient for voice than 3G, so it might even take longer. That said, all carriers are attempting this kind of thing on their networks in some way.
If this was 2016, T-Mobile's lack of an active LTE radio might matter...to power users. Conveniently, it's 2013.
The bigger knock on the N4 is the battery life, but I use my phone near-constantly and it gets me through a full day, though not with a lot to spare. (Yeah, LTE would help that, but LTE light-up won't be a huge factor on TMO for at least a couple years.)
I'm getting a S4, but only because my employer will pay for it. I can't imagine buying one myself.
The bigger knock on the N4 is the battery life, but I use my phone near-constantly and it gets me through a full day, though not with a lot to spare. (Yeah, LTE would help that, but LTE light-up won't be a huge factor on TMO for at least a couple years.)
I'm getting a S4, but only because my employer will pay for it. I can't imagine buying one myself.
So my SG4 arrived last night, I will say when I took off the back cover I did understand a bit more why people bitch about the build quality.
That said it's REALLY light for such a great screen. I beat the shit out of my phone so I bought an otterbox, which is a bit big and clunky but with my history that's better than the alternative. With the cover on the build quality issue is totally non existent.
I had a memory card in my old pos thunderbolt, so instantly have an extra 32 gig and all my photos etc moved over, which is great.
It does a horrible job walking you through what the phone can do, and a lot of the gimmicks aren't even turned on as standard.
The screen is GREAT and the camera is fantastic. It's fast as hell.
My biggest (and only) concern so far is the signal pick up is not great. I live in the country but at the top of a hill and always have a good signal on my phone and visitors too. I am getting a signal and no issues so far but I can see the signal is not as strong. Something to keep an eye on.
I'll be interested to see what the iphone does next as the size and screen are massively bigger and different from the iphone philosophy. I find it a bit big with the otterbox on it, but it's day one, it still fits in my pocket.
That said it's REALLY light for such a great screen. I beat the shit out of my phone so I bought an otterbox, which is a bit big and clunky but with my history that's better than the alternative. With the cover on the build quality issue is totally non existent.
I had a memory card in my old pos thunderbolt, so instantly have an extra 32 gig and all my photos etc moved over, which is great.
It does a horrible job walking you through what the phone can do, and a lot of the gimmicks aren't even turned on as standard.
The screen is GREAT and the camera is fantastic. It's fast as hell.
My biggest (and only) concern so far is the signal pick up is not great. I live in the country but at the top of a hill and always have a good signal on my phone and visitors too. I am getting a signal and no issues so far but I can see the signal is not as strong. Something to keep an eye on.
I'll be interested to see what the iphone does next as the size and screen are massively bigger and different from the iphone philosophy. I find it a bit big with the otterbox on it, but it's day one, it still fits in my pocket.
Got my S4 delivered this morning. There's a dead/yellow spot in the corner of the screen that wasn't there immediately. Verizon wanted me to pay for a second one, then get credited when I gave the first one back. FUCK that. Fortunately, there's a retail store nearby that will do a swap. Pretty jazzed to get a second, new phone as soon as I got the first one working to my liking.
yecul; DON'T buy it from T-Mobile; buy it from Google directly. You'll save some coin that way. I have a Nexus on TMobile and love it except for the signal sometimes. My mother has a Nexus on AT&T, which gets a much better signal where I have a weak one...but I'm paying $100 for 2 phones with unlimited talk/text and 2 GB data on each line. Similar plan on AT&T would be $150. I'll save the $600 a year for a weaker data signal in some places.
I work out in the country and just dropped my old 3S into a pond this week, so I went in and got the S4. I love the phone, and upgrading from the slow 3S to this has been amazing. The only problem is the phone does not work as well as the 3S did. I have a 30 minute drive to the job site, and the 3S would drop calls in one spot. The S4 drops calls in anywhere from 3-5 spots. I went into the store today and told them. They swapped out sim cards, and they told me if this continued to bring back the phone and they'll swap it out. I really hope it was just the sim card.LondonSox said:
It's kind of amusing to me in hindsight that almost no reviews covered reception, so busy breaking down the plastic outside and the software that they forget it's a phone at all!
One review talked about call/ sound quality none even mentioned connection. Journalism fail
One review talked about call/ sound quality none even mentioned connection. Journalism fail
Nexus experience HTC One coming "soon" - http://www.androidcentral.com/google-edition-htc-one-coming-soon-vanilla-android
Article raises interesting points about the various HTC incorporated stuff (Beats, IR Blaster, etc).
Article raises interesting points about the various HTC incorporated stuff (Beats, IR Blaster, etc).
It's fine, just not AS good. I haven't had an real issues, just noting the signal strength is lower in the same location, not zero.
It just made me laugh that all these reviews of phones most don't even discuss the phone part, and the only one I read which did only mentioned call quality etc not reception.
It was a huge issue with my first iPhone (3) it was just a bad phone and dropped calls when travelling (which I did a lot). There's hundreds of pages on the plastic back but like 2 on the phone component.
It just made me laugh that all these reviews of phones most don't even discuss the phone part, and the only one I read which did only mentioned call quality etc not reception.
It was a huge issue with my first iPhone (3) it was just a bad phone and dropped calls when travelling (which I did a lot). There's hundreds of pages on the plastic back but like 2 on the phone component.
Got my S4 on Saturday. A fantastic screen, super-fast, and it feels terrific in-hand. Great battery life, to boot.
Not a fan of the Samsung UI. And I haven't used it for phone calls much. The included headphones are great.
It does feel fragile because it is so thin and light, and the smoothness of it leads to fall-out-of-pocket syndrome. Haven't looked at covers.
Not a fan of the Samsung UI. And I haven't used it for phone calls much. The included headphones are great.
It does feel fragile because it is so thin and light, and the smoothness of it leads to fall-out-of-pocket syndrome. Haven't looked at covers.
Hard to say, I am not a power user. But, a full day of Pandora and higher-than-normal web browsing/gaming/etc left me with a half-battery after ~8 hours. And I left it uncharged last night.Caspir said:
Reviews I read also praised the battery; it is amazing compared to my previous phones - but, I am not a crazy user. Carrying an extra battery around wouldn't be that burdensome if you think you're going to run into issues and be in a place without a socket/usb port (I plug into the flat screens with USB ports, for instance).
After getting my replacement, I'm in love with this phone. I was coming from a POS Droid3, so the bar was pretty low, but this thing is great. As for covers I went with http://www.spigen.com/Curll said:
Slim Armor. Almost picked the Neo Hybrid instead, but the complaints were that non-OEM headsets and usb cables wouldn't fit. It's a nice case - adds minimal thickness and I've already bounced it off the ground once.