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TheManOfWisdom

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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

I'm finally getting moved back to the states and its time to get a new phone. I guess the Samsung Galaxy S5 is being voted the number one smartphone right now. Oh, btw I'm only going to get something Android because I have all my apps from their store.

The new iPhone looks pretty cool, but I'm just not going to consider it because I don't want to start from scratch.

 

So, what is the new must have phone and why?

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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

S5 seems pretty awesome!



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

iPhone+explosives= fun


 


The Nexus 5 is pretty good. And cheaper, especially if you get it directly from Google (but you must have Google Wallet). Any other place is ~$10 extra. And you'll stand a chance of getting it the next day like I did. You can get it either with a plan, or just unlocked and add it to whatever you want.


 


A lot of places say that it isn't dust proof/water resistant. It is. It's not water PROOF, but it is water resistant (yes there is a difference). Water proof means it can be submerged and used for any length of time and it will be fine. Water resistant means it can go underwater for a short period of time and be fine.


As a user of the Nexus 5, I can say that it is very close to being the same as the S5.


 


Only cons are that it doesn't have a slot for an SD card, you can't remove the battery, and it doesn't always charge up fast unless it's off (has to do with the battery management and charging via USB) when charging via USB (like when hooked up to a computer). AC charging does fine. Occasionally YouTube will crash and when the phone can't resolve it, you have to pry the back off (which isn't too difficult) and pull out a tiny watch battery to reset it. Odd right?


The SD card thing isn't that bad since all you have to do is hook it up to the computer and move your music/video/picture files to the right folders. But you have to reboot your phone for them to show up. Even a program like TeamViewer9 is very useful for that, because then you can be anywhere, take control of your computer, and transfer anything remotely (can't do anything in TOR with TV9 but craft. I know, I tried).


The Nexus5 does have a high grade Gorilla Glass.


It's also a very new phone that works really really well for an awesome price. 16GB is $349 and the 32GB is $399.


And you can get it in three colors. Red, White, and Black.


 


The S5 might have a bunch of extra features that make it very high end, but most of that is extra stuff and slows it down some.


 


Basically it comes down to this: Does it fit your needs? Is the extra stuff really worth the extra $200?



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Wylan
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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

Personally, though I am a galaxy phone fan... I think I am gonna jump ship to the LG G3. My reasons is this: Samsung and AT&T (my provider) put a LOT of bloatware on their phones. It is to the extent that on my GS3, of the 2 GB of memory, almost 1 GB is permanently taken up by these programs.  LG does put preinstalled software on their phone, but it can be removed, as opposed to the Galaxy line which prevents uninstalling it.  I could root it, but I am already up for an upgrade, so no need for it. I would say either the GS5, the LG G3, or wait a couple months for the galaxy note 4.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

I was going to type exactly what Wylan did.  LG G3 or Galaxy Note 4.  I am a Moto X fan, but while they did a nice jub with their new Moto X, Motorola really needs to work on battery life.  Efficiency is great, but so is a nice big battery.  LG G3 I held the other day and it's screen is insane, it's very snappy, and feels  great in the hand.

 

Here is the one thing I did NOT like about the LG G3: The buttons for volume and power are on the BACK of the phone under the camera.  So bad.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

I've had my Moto X since January and I love it.  I've never had a bad motorola phone.  It may not be 1080p but on that small a screen you can't really tell.  I can use remote desktop on my Moto X to craft on SWTOR at work, what else could I ask for?



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

The New Moto X now as a 1080p screen, snapdragon 805 processor (quad core), so it's snappy, fast and a better screen.


still the really bad camera though.  taking photos on my Moto X is embarassing next to my fiance's iPhone.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

Soul, the power and volume under the camera is the one thing thing I am kind of meh about on the G3 as well.  However I have read many reviews and it seems that it is something that you get used to fairly easily.  If a reviewer can do it... so can I.

I would also like to add that it warms my heart to see the guild seems to lean towards android phones.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

I was a long time android user and I switched to Apple. Much happier with it. No extra crap on the phone and it receives the new updates as soon as they are available. I have no regrets with switching over at this point, even with my previous investment in android. Plus all the apps I had on android seemed to have better implementations on the iphone. Not very helpful to the questions at hand but I would vote switch to an iphone!

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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

Much to Wylans chagrin, I plan on switching to iPhone 6 Plus asap, all the fanboys bought up the first phones so I have to wait longer to become a fanboy.  I'm a sad sheep.

 

I have gravitated towards less fixation on actual specs with more fixation on what is being done with the specs and what is the actual usability and ability of a phone versus what it's spec sheet says.  

 

Example is battery size and screen.  Samsung battery size and screen say "WOW AMAZING" and make Apple look bad.  Hold the screens up and the new Retina HD looks just as amazing despite it being 1080p versus 1440p of Samsunge Note 4 and LG3.

 

Look at battery size and you wonder, wow Apples is smaller.  But then you think of the juice required for these new 1440p screens and it makes the big batteries in these newer android phones look insignificant and barely enough.  This is actually one of the big hits on the G3, it barely makes it through the day with it's big battery because of the screen. I think that is literally one of the very few negatives on that phone.  

 

Camera, megapixels are such a focus right now but any photographer would tell you it's even more about apeture and stablization than anything.  So Androids going 16MP are missing the mark, Apple improving it's 8MP a bit more can out perform the 16MP because of it's aperture and beautiful low light pictures.  One of the biggest issues with Samsung is their over saturation of photos, although this can be more opinionated because some people like the over saturation.  I personaly don't be doesn't it doesn't look real.

 

I will say it's incredibly hard to go wrong with the new "phablets", LG G3, Samsung Note 4, and iPhone 6 Plus.  For regular phones, well G3 isn't as big as it screen suggests so it can really be a regular phone category as well, with the Samsung S5, Motorola Moto X (new 2014 edition).

 

I also really like the stance of Apple on phone encryption.  They flat out have said they cannot decrypt for law enforcement any more.  Google has stated that Android L will be doing similar, but they didn't quite come out and boldly put it how Apple did.  You feel more confidence in a product when it's specifically stated what it will do.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

/soul wrote:

I have gravitated towards less fixation on actual specs with more fixation on what is being done with the specs and what is the actual usability and ability of a phone versus what it's spec sheet says.

Yup. That's exactly it. Between that, the two questions I mentioned above, and user reviews, I decided on what to get.

I had considered the MotoX too. But the OS won't be supported for much longer (if it still is) and it doesn't have the Gorilla Glass. 

 

No soul. Don't go towards the iPhone. That is the path to the dark side. iPhones, iPads, Macs, the Dark Side are they. If once you start down the Dark path, forever will it dominate your wallet consume your funds it will, as it has a lot of the populace.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

I have an S5 and love it. Best phone I have ever owned. It's currently the best Android phone out. The new iPhone looks great too and my roommate loves his Windows phone. You honestly really can't go wrong with any of the new phones. The differences are minor for the most part spec wise. It's all about the user interface you prefer. Overall though, I think the S5 is something you can't go wrong with and will like very much...especially if you already have been on Android and use things like gmail. If you are an apple person...then go with the iPhone.

As far as carriers...I am on Verizon and they have the best coverage bar none. My personal phone is on Verizon. I have an iPhone for work that has been on both At&t and currently on Sprint and my data and coverage isn't nearly as good as my personal phone. I am constantly going to my personal phone because I can do things faster and have coverage in areas my work phone doesn't. It's not an iPhone problem...it's a network problem. It might cost a little more but in the long run you will love getting cell coverage in more areas.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

I do have one advantage for me with AT&T, the company that I am a contractor for has repeaters for them, so I get reception everywhere there... even where verizon drops out.


In regards to the iPhone, I am not against apple or their products, however I like to actually own my phone. What I mean is, I prefer to be able to modify it, replace the battery if I want, Add/remove storage etc.  I also own an android MP3 player and I can swap my micro SD cards between it and my phone on a whim.  Also, USB on the go is great for my job, at times we take pictures of very tight spaces and putting them on a flash drive then to my work laptop is such a time saver.


I have tried bluetooth, but since it is a company laptop, they have the OS locked down more than I would prefer it to be.



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Blasthardcheese
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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

jpotter56 wrote:

I do have one advantage for me with AT&T, the company that I am a contractor for has repeaters for them, so I get reception everywhere there... even where verizon drops out.


In regards to the iPhone, I am not against apple or their products, however I like to actually own my phone. What I mean is, I prefer to be able to modify it, replace the battery if I want, Add/remove storage etc.  I also own an android MP3 player and I can swap my micro SD cards between it and my phone on a whim.  Also, USB on the go is great for my job, at times we take pictures of very tight spaces and putting them on a flash drive then to my work laptop is such a time saver.


I have tried bluetooth, but since it is a company laptop, they have the OS locked down more than I would prefer it to be.

Ooh. Repeaters are nice.

And yes, the lack of freedom with the iPhone (or any Apple product really) is what makes it the Dark Side. Aside from being overpriced.

But don't take my word for it, even in an advanced galaxy, Apple is disappointing.

Now if only there was a Linux phone/tablet. I know Steam is working on their OS (and a tablet for it iirc). Steam is Linux based, which is why it works so well.

Yeah I could root my phone, but I have no need to. The Nexus 5 performs adequately and does what I want it to do when I want it to do it the way I expect it to: With no problems.

 

Well there you have it. A good selection of Android phones to choose from.



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re: Going to buy new Cell phone, which is the best?

RebuiltHK47 wrote:

I had considered the MotoX too. But the OS won't be supported for much longer (if it still is) and it doesn't have the Gorilla Glass. 

It's all about Sapphire glass now!  Hope that starts coming out soon in phones.  The Android OS will be supported for awhile, why would Google drop support for Android OS?



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