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New Phone Suggestions!

Phones, computers, tablets, and all other forms of electronic wizardry
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seth543
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New Phone Suggestions!

Post by seth543 »

Hello friends! My phone plan is up soon, therefor I am due for a new phone. Any suggestions? I'm on Verizon, and would prefer a phone no bigger than 5-5.2". Also, justification for your choice would be helpful as well.

Thanks!
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Epowerj
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Post by Epowerj »

Samsung s3 mini is supposed to be pretty good..
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bionicnacho
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Post by bionicnacho »

I guess the first thing to ask is what kind of OS you prefer. iOS, Android, Windows Phone?

On the Android side of things, I can say that the Samsung Galaxy S4's mini variant is a REALLY good phone. Two of my friends have it and I've gotten to use it a few times. They only speak wonders about their phone. They both love it. Runs smoothly, takes good pictures and it just works.

I have a Motorola Atrix 2, so I'm due for an upgrade as well so I've been looking for phones recently (specifically running Android) and the one that has really caught my eye is the Moto X. It looks like one heck of a phone and even though the specs aren't up to par with other flagships like the Galaxy S4, HTC One X or the Nexus 5 (all great phones that I've heard good things of), the main purpose of the phone is not to have the top of the line specs, it is rather to have the accessibility and practicality of what a phone should be. Call it Android+, if you may. It's all stock android with a couple of features that really make it stand out. Little things like always-on voice commands and "active notifications" packed in with other tweaks make this new Moto version of android a really nice experience. I told myself after getting my current phone and seeing all the problems I've had with not having an unlocked bootloader (for changing the ROMs and all that) that I would not buy another Moto phone, but this has really changed my perspective, locked bootloater or not. The phone also has a lot of customization options that you really can't see on other phones. Instead of the customary choices from a few selected colors, you can change the colors of a lot of things on the phone, and even opt in for a wooden back. (With the MotoMaker).

I can't really help you out if you prefer something like iOS or Windows Phone since I just absolutely hate WP and iOS is just too limited and locked down for my taste.
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seth543
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Post by seth543 »

bionicnacho wrote:I guess the first thing to ask is what kind of OS you prefer. iOS, Android, Windows Phone?

On the Android side of things, I can say that the Samsung Galaxy S4's mini variant is a REALLY good phone. Two of my friends have it and I've gotten to use it a few times. They only speak wonders about their phone. They both love it. Runs smoothly, takes good pictures and it just works.

I have a Motorola Atrix 2, so I'm due for an upgrade as well so I've been looking for phones recently (specifically running Android) and the one that has really caught my eye is the Moto X. It looks like one heck of a phone and even though the specs aren't up to par with other flagships like the Galaxy S4, HTC One X or the Nexus 5 (all great phones that I've heard good things of), the main purpose of the phone is not to have the top of the line specs, it is rather to have the accessibility and practicality of what a phone should be. Call it Android+, if you may. It's all stock android with a couple of features that really make it stand out. Little things like always-on voice commands and "active notifications" packed in with other tweaks make this new Moto version of android a really nice experience. I told myself after getting my current phone and seeing all the problems I've had with not having an unlocked bootloader (for changing the ROMs and all that) that I would not buy another Moto phone, but this has really changed my perspective, locked bootloater or not. The phone also has a lot of customization options that you really can't see on other phones. Instead of the customary choices from a few selected colors, you can change the colors of a lot of things on the phone, and even opt in for a wooden back. (With the MotoMaker).

I can't really help you out if you prefer something like iOS or Windows Phone since I just absolutely hate WP and iOS is just too limited and locked down for my taste.
I agree that Android is the way to go. I also was looking into the Moto x. The only issue with that is the battery size (2300 mAh). But I do enjoy near/stock Android so that plus a good battery life would be awesome. Enter the Droid Maxx. 35oo mAh, near stock android, and possibly the most up to date version of software. The only issue I see with that is , like the Moto X, the specs aren't that great, though we do live in a post-spec world. Also with the fear from the lack of updates coming straight from Google ( since they sold Motorola to Lenovo). Those are the only reasons why I wouldn't go with any of those choices.
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Entity
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Post by Entity »

Androids used to be slow, but these days (at least the big name models) are really good. And Verizon is basically the undisputed fastest service provider haha
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seth543
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Post by seth543 »

Entity wrote:Androids used to be slow, but these days (at least the big name models) are really good. And Verizon is basically the undisputed fastest service provider haha
Yeah, ever since project butter and now with the addition of ART instead of delvik, things are finally starting to look up for the little operation system that could.
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bionicnacho
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Post by bionicnacho »

seth543 wrote:( since they sold Motorola to Lenovo)
What?!? I hadn't heard about this. This fact alone may just make me go back on my decision to for the Moto X. I was really looking forward to maybe getting updates as quickly as possible. I always like to have the latest and greatest as soon as possible (who doesn't?).
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seth543
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Post by seth543 »

bionicnacho wrote:What?!? I hadn't heard about this. This fact alone may just make me go back on my decision to for the Moto X. I was really looking forward to maybe getting updates as quickly as possible. I always like to have the latest and greatest as soon as possible (who doesn't?).

Yeah, that's what's really keeping me back from going Moto all the way. Here's a link:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/29/lenovo ... om-google/
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Sebastian Lawe
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Post by Sebastian Lawe »

With android devices, you can also get an OTG cable (cost me 5 dollars with shipping to get one from amazon.ca).

An OTG cable allows you to plug just about any USB device into your android phone.
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Entity
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Post by Entity »

Sebastian Lawe wrote:With android devices, you can also get an OTG cable (cost me 5 dollars with shipping to get one from amazon.ca).

An OTG cable allows you to plug just about any USB device into your android phone.
Yus, I have one of these, it's amazing. I can plug my USB gamepad into my android and play Nintendo64 games on it :)
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seth543
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Post by seth543 »

Yeah, those are great! For the record, I have an HTC Rezound currently, so I'm very familiar with the whole Android Experience. I'm also familiar with iOS (not my preferred OS, but still :P )
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Post by kroltan »

LG G2, striking at the topmost mark 5.2". I'm not a fan of big screens (I prefer something around 4~4.5", but any decent phone is much bigger), but this one really rocks. Quad 2.3GHz packed with 2GB RAM, full HD, 16GB internal storage, 12MP with FHD@60 recording.

Also, the design is pretty badass, there is no room for borders! The phone itself would be like 5.3" total size, sounds pretty neat. And from my experience with LG phones, it may be very resistant.

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Also, LG's system mods is the closest you can get to a pure Android, if you don't feel like reinstalling the OS.
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seth543
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Post by seth543 »

kroltan wrote:LG G2, striking at the topmost mark 5.2". I'm not a fan of big screens (I prefer something around 4~4.5", but any decent phone is much bigger), but this one really rocks. Quad 2.3GHz packed with 2GB RAM, full HD, 16GB internal storage, 12MP with FHD@60 recording.

Also, the design is pretty badass, there is no room for borders! The phone itself would be like 5.3" total size, sounds pretty neat. And from my experience with LG phones, it may be very resistant.

I really like a lot about the G2 (battery size, specs, etc..) , the only issues with it is a) footprint (5.2 seems a little too big) b) Software (LG's take on Android seems really bloated much like Touchwiz and Sense) and c) button placement might take some time to get use too.
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