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Author Topic: How do you like your phone?  (Read 208 times)

JoFrance

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How do you like your phone?
« on: December 18, 2018, 02:25:28 pm »
I'm in the market for a new phone.  My phone is dying.  Don't laugh, but I still have an iPhone 4S.  I saw a deal Verizon is advertising for an iPhone 6S for $5 a month for 24 months and I'm thinking of going with that, but I haven't looked at other brands that might be a better deal.

I no longer need my phone for work, so I just do basic things with it, like text, phone calls, internet radio and an occasional picture.  I know iPhone 6S is an older phone, but do you think its worth buying at this point or bad deal?  Are other phones a better value?
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G0ddard B0lt

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Re: How do you like your phone?
« Reply #1 on: December 18, 2018, 03:53:30 pm »
Are you just restricting your choices to iPhones?

I love my Moto G5 Plus. It was purchased last year's Black Friday from Costco for $169 - unlocked. Moto (Motorola aka Lenovo) has an updated version with a better camera now for about the same price. Android. This model was 2 GB RAM and 32 GB "rom" or program/app/user memory. Comfortable and holds a signal well, excellent battery life, and plenty fast enough for everything I want to do. The Moto version of Android isn't polluted with corporate sh*tware badly and is pretty much stock. They recently upgraded Android on the handset to 8.1 Oreo, so they appear to be committed to keeping the phone as current as possible, which I respect.

I'm a big believer in unlocked phones and in buying what you need outright. The glorified leases that cellphone plans have (which make you responsible for the device operation anyway) are a way to drain the wallet.

Most phones are either LTE (Verizon, Sprint) or GSM (ATT, T-Mobile) I _think_ the G5 can actually use a SIM from either type of service, LTE or GSM.

Before the Moto I used a Blu brand HD6. I loved it when I got it. But it has never gotten an update of Android, it has gotten pathetically slow, the GPS sensor actually stopped working (I played with the recommended Google Maps settings and that is really not the problem), and the battery life has tanked over time and  is miniscule, only allowing perhaps 4-6 hours of untethered use. Pxsant is a fan of Blu phones, but I think their quality is poor and they suffer from defects.
« Last Edit: December 18, 2018, 04:05:36 pm by The Gorn »
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JoFrance

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Re: How do you like your phone?
« Reply #2 on: December 18, 2018, 04:58:11 pm »
I never heard of the Moto G5.  I've been in the iPhone world for a long time.  They want $350 for the iPhone 6 which is a lot of money for outdated technology, IMO, and thats why I'm open to other options.   I just need a basic phone.  I'm going to look at that.  Thanks.
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unix

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Re: How do you like your phone?
« Reply #3 on: December 18, 2018, 06:03:15 pm »
I really like older phones with removable batteries. None are currently made, so if you don't mind a 2016 model, you can get a LG V20, still a powerful device for about $200, NIB. Or less.

My son has an older Samsung Note 4 that has been great. Installed a 10,000 mAh cell and it runs for 2 days.

I really hate new phones with weird 19:9 ratio, curved edges and glass. Expensive and easy to break.

I think iphone 6s plus is a great choice.. 16:9 ratio, no curved edge and I don't think it's glass.
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ilconsiglliere

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Re: How do you like your phone?
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2018, 06:09:30 am »
An iPhone 6S is a nice phone. I think $5/months is awesome. I had an iPhone till last year which is when I switched to Android for a period of time. I picked up a Samsung S7 Edge. Had it for a while and than sold it. I went back to the iPhone, now I have a 7.

Frankly the primary reason was Android itself. Samsung heavily modifies it but on top of this it was a Verizon locked phone. It has their apps which cant be removed and lots of stuff you cant change without rooting it. Samsung's hardware is nice but their software and Verizon's software blows. The phone was constantly running out of power and I had to spend lots of time turning things off and tweaking it. My brother in law is a Motorola fan. They seem to last and nowhere near as modified as some others.

The one thing I have observed with a lot of the Android phones is that if you have a carrier locked/branded phone you are very dependent on the telco for the updates. For me thats a no go. If you go on to any of the Android forums there is tons of complaints about the updates from Verizon and AT&T. They push updates and than all kinds of stuff is broken on the phone. Who has time for that?

Basically Android is the smart phone equivalent of Windows. Bottom line.

An iPhone is an Apple product. End of story. Apple controls everything on it unless you jail break it. Some people hate that, others dont care. I am of the dont care variety. I like the fact it runs like an appliance. I dont want to modify it or mess with it. I want it to work.

Also how entrenched are you in the Apple world. I have a Mac at home and integrates beautifully with it. I get texts for my phone on my Mac and can reply to them + all the stuff is synced - bookmarks, contacts, calendar, etc...
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WildRiver

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Re: How do you like your phone?
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2018, 03:34:06 pm »
You can get unlocked Moto g6 at Best Buy.
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G0ddard B0lt

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Re: How do you like your phone?
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2018, 05:07:54 pm »
Quote from: ilconsiglliere on December 19, 2018, 06:09:30 am
Frankly the primary reason was Android itself. Samsung heavily modifies it but on top of this it was a Verizon locked phone. It has their apps which cant be removed and lots of stuff you cant change without rooting it. Samsung's hardware is nice but their software and Verizon's software blows. The phone was constantly running out of power and I had to spend lots of time turning things off and tweaking it. My brother in law is a Motorola fan. They seem to last and nowhere near as modified as some others.

The one thing I have observed with a lot of the Android phones is that if you have a carrier locked/branded phone you are very dependent on the telco for the updates.

So, my Moto G5 was purchased unlocked, and I use it on a Straight Talk (Wal-Mart's MVNO) on the AT&T network. With an MVNO the carrier itself is in the background and I never interact with AT&T. My updates were pushed directly by Motorola. I'm sure had I chosen the LTE/Verizon option it would be the same deal.

Motorola has a scant 3 or 4 branded apps preinstalled on the phone that are non-intrusive, such as an update manager, and a "Motorola message center" that pushes ads and notifications of features, unless you turn off its notifications.

My non carrier specific Moto appears to be as white-label as they come and I am quite happy with all aspects of it, battery life and stability included.

Camera buff note: many of the Moto phones are compatible with a line of snap-on accessories.  One really interesting one is a Hasselblad-branded "camera back" that contains an enhanced zoom lens. It's only $250.
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