4G Android phone megathread

Spelunker

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Jul 17, 2005
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Yeah, that's sort of the issue: I pass by a couple of coffee shops in my commute that I generally connect to on the weekends, so those are places that I do want to autoconnect.

That said, I haven't been as good about remembering to turn wifi back on as I had hoped, so I'll likely revisit this.
 

Marceline

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There are a bunch of apps that will automatically toggle wifi on and off based on your location. So you could set it to automatically turn wifi on whenever you arrive at home or work.

Check out either Llama or Tasker for this.
 

Monbo Jumbo

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The point of Fi is to let them connect you. They've already determined the good hot spots. Just turn it on and leave it alone. The point of the service is to let them figure it out, and they do a good job, IMO.
 

SumnerH

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The point of Fi is to let them connect you. They've already determined the good hot spots. Just turn it on and leave it alone. The point of the service is to let them figure it out, and they do a good job, IMO.
He's having a problem because he drives past the hotspots on the way to work, and the constant brief connection and disconnection messes things up. There's definitely a brief time when I disconnect from a hotspot that networking goes wonky (with every phone I've had, on AT&T and on Fi), so I'd want to avoid that too.
 

Spelunker

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Exactly, although this is generally on foot. Or Uber.

In general, I entirely agree though. Even with wifi off, though, at least I'm getting Sprint in addition to the T-Mobile I was previously on.

And being able to answer texts from my laptop means that I don't really carry my phone around at work nearly as often.
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
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So simply asked - if I am on Verizon right now, living in the general Boston area, am I likely to experience any significant performance differences with Fi? Most of my calling is done in the car driving in major areas.
 

rembrat

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May 26, 2006
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Silly question but do I have to buy a sim card for the 5X? It just arrived. I have a Nexus 5 with a sim card from Tmobile... do I use that one?

EDIT: Nevermind. Looks I like you get a sim card from project fi if you buy from them... I purchased it from the google store so I don't think I have one... Damn.

EDIT2: Just ordered one from Fi.
 
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rembrat

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May 26, 2006
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Nexus 5X on Fi is up and running with just one small complaint. I'm using Hangouts as my messenger and SMS messages are now appearing in my gmail's chat and I can't figure out how to stop this. Ideas?
 

finnVT

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Jul 12, 2002
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I just switched to Fi, and am figuring it (and android) out for the first time. Messenger seems nice, but is there no way to access it from a computer? If not, is there any downside to just using hangouts for everything? Is there a way to tell it that new incoming messages should go to hangouts instead of messenger (they don't seem to be synced)? Thanks!
 

jercra

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Jul 31, 2006
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I just switched to Fi, and am figuring it (and android) out for the first time. Messenger seems nice, but is there no way to access it from a computer? If not, is there any downside to just using hangouts for everything? Is there a way to tell it that new incoming messages should go to hangouts instead of messenger (they don't seem to be synced)? Thanks!
I only use Hangouts and haven't had any issues. The only downside to using hangouts is the same as it's always been and that's the brilliant decision by Google to search the entire world for a contact rather than your contacts and only differentiate them by the little round icon next to their name. I have a friend with the last name Smith. Finding him is impossible in hangouts.

And yes, inside Hangouts you can say to use it SMS in the first page inside the Hangouts settings.
 

bradcote

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Jul 27, 2005
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Keepin' it real in Maine
My wife and I currently have Samsung Galaxy Note 3's, and I was thinking of upgrading now that our 2 year contract with Verizon is over. Does anyone have a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge? Do you like it? It is a step up in performance from the Note 3? If there isn't a noticeable difference, I may just hang onto my Note 3. Any advice would be a HUGE help.
 

Bunt4aTriple

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Jul 15, 2005
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My S6 Active has kicked ass for nearly a year, but recently there has been some abnormal battery drain. I noticed that Google Play Store is the culprit. Today, it's at 34% battery usage, while everything else (including screen, OS, etc.) is 4% or less.

There's a lot of search results where Play Services is a drain, but I can't find anything specific to Store. Has anyone else run into this? If the only answer is to turn off location services, I'd rather just deal with the charger.
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
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So my Note 3 is finally up - I've read a lot of this thread but is there an Android phone worth waiting for? Mine is pretty shot. I am afraid to move away from Verizon's reception but hate that Verizon won't allow calling over wifi....
 

InsideTheParker

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Jul 15, 2005
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Pioneer Valley
After I saw the above about $199 for the phone if I signed up on Fi, I was ready to do it, but a search of Western MA shows tons of areas with no coverage (i.e., all white). Does anyone have any experience with this network on Rte 2 W of Greenfield? Because it looks like a car breakdown at midnight on the way back from Williamstown Theater Festival could be a most unpleasant experience with this phone. Damn.
If anybody knows that I am misreading the map, please let me know.
 

crystalline

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Have a Nexus 5 on T-Mobile whose battery is going kaput.

Thinking about getting a 5X and going with Google Fi. I think I'll be ok with coverage. I currently have a Google voice number that forwards to my cell number and I use the GV number for work. I am planning to create a new Google account for Fi so I can keep both numbers.

For those of you that have done this (at least @rembrat and @SumnerH -- how do you like the 5X? Anything else I might be missing?
 

SumnerH

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I enjoy the 5X, but I'm not particularly hard on my phone.

The fingerprint reader is great and well-positioned for easy use, the reversible USB-C port is so awesome that it convinced me to shell out for reversible mini-USB cables for my other gear, and being on Nexus and hence getting immediate updates to the OS is fantastic. Battery life is pretty meh, though that seems true of this entire generation of phones.
 

JakeRae

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Jul 21, 2005
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I find my 5X annoyingly laggy, although only intermittently so. Also, the camera is pretty bad.

The longer version is that I'm probably somewhere around a 6 on a scale of 1-10 about the phone. It's a great value, but it's nowhere near the value my Nexus 5 was when I got it. That phone performed wonderfully with the only flaws being a somewhat weak battery and a terrible camera. The new phone retains those issues, but doesn't achieve the same level of performance (the already mentioned lag issues). The fingerprint sensor is nice and well-placed. The size is good, I'd hate to go any bigger and think I would prefer ever so slightly smaller. The screen is great. Voice quality is good. Basically, it does everything a phone should, but sometimes randomly decides to do it all really slowly for no apparent reason. It's a good deal because it's cheap, but unlike the Nexus 5, which performed as well as much more expensive phones in everything except photography when it was released, the 5X is noticeably inferior to the premium phones on the market.
 

SumnerH

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I'll definitely say that I'm very easy on my phone and have never noticed any phone being laggy, so if that's a concern you should listen to other folk. I basically use it for calls, texts, Skype, and tons of music/video/podcast listening and viewing , but I don't run games or many other apps.
 

jimv

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Feb 5, 2011
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Adding my data point to the thread -

For ~2 months I've been rocking a Nexus 6p on the Fi network. Previously had been on Sprint. The phone itself has been great for me, large, sharp screen, zippy performance, decent keyboard, nice camera. I don't make many demands of the phone - emailing, texting, surfing, occasional photos and a few apps.

My Fi experience has been similarly positive. I haven't noticed any difference since the change other than the reduction in cost.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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Mar 24, 2008
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Is there a way to go month to month with Fi? Work covers my cell on Verizon, but I'd love to have a Fi SIM card to use when traveling abroad.
 

EddieYost

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Jul 15, 2005
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Just picked up a Note 5 yesterday. Any suggestions on a case? I am looking for thin. The phone is already big enough. I has a ZAGG screen protector on it, so I am just concerned with the back and sides.
 

saintnick912

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Fi is adding a third network, US Cellular. I had forgotten which one that was, and when I looked it was "that one you need if you want service up at the ski resorts in NH and VT". So for a small network it will have a decent impact, given that Sprint and T-Mobile can be total black holes up north.
 

Boggs26

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Jul 12, 2005
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Just picked up a Note 5 yesterday. Any suggestions on a case? I am looking for thin. The phone is already big enough. I has a ZAGG screen protector on it, so I am just concerned with the back and sides.
I got a Verus two piece case off Amazon - silver plastic edging over a clear rubbery (PLU? Edit: TPU) case. It's pretty thin and had done a good job of protection the handful of times I've dropped the phone.
 

InsideTheParker

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Jul 15, 2005
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Fi is adding a third network, US Cellular. I had forgotten which one that was, and when I looked it was "that one you need if you want service up at the ski resorts in NH and VT". So for a small network it will have a decent impact, given that Sprint and T-Mobile can be total black holes up north.
Thanks. This was very helpful info, so I have been thinking of getting it (my current cellphone minutes need to be replenished in a little over a month), the new maps seem to reflect better rural coverage, and I have been reading reviews of the Nexus 5X. Re: the fingerprint scanner: I don't quite know what "unlocking" means here. I thought that term referred to linkage to a particular carrier. Here, does it mean only you can use the phone or use credit cards and other personal info on the phone? (By the way, several reviews hate the audio, which is a shame.)
 

saintnick912

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There are two aspects of unlocking, which have nothing really to do with each other:

Unlocking a device lets you use any carrier's SIM card with it, subject to technical compatibility. That way you could bring a 5x to Fi, AT&T, T-Mobile, and I think Sprint-based services.

Unlocking with a fingerprint is just another way of clearing your screen-lock. Some people have a numeric passcode, or a screen pattern, or an (insecure, don't do this!) simple swipe-to-unlock. You register one or more of your fingerprints and then it will screen unlock just by putting that finger on the sensor.
 

InsideTheParker

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Sorry to be so primitive, but we have always merely swiped to unlock. We don't use our phones to pay bills or carry any info more sensitive than some emails. Is the lack of security concerned with people using your phone and accumulating charges which you will have to pay? So far we have used AT&T's pre-paid cards and never come close to using up the minutes. I guess if you have another kind of service, such as Google Fi, and someone steals and uses your phone, you are responsible for their minutes? That would seem to make some sort of secure locking system mandatory.
 

SumnerH

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Sorry to be so primitive, but we have always merely swiped to unlock. We don't use our phones to pay bills or carry any info more sensitive than some emails. Is the lack of security concerned with people using your phone and accumulating charges which you will have to pay? So far we have used AT&T's pre-paid cards and never come close to using up the minutes. I guess if you have another kind of service, such as Google Fi, and someone steals and uses your phone, you are responsible for their minutes? That would seem to make some sort of secure locking system mandatory.
If someone steals your phone, they can send/receive email as you if you have email setup--that's often enough to reset your password on websites and then get access to your Amazon account or whatever. Or if you save web passwords on your phone, they can go to your Amazon or ebay or whatever account directly. Or they can post on SOSH and make you look like a jerk. Or download a bunch of music from iTunes/Google Play that's billed to your account, and copy it to their phone or whatever. And, yeah, they could run up a bunch of minutes or similar. Or you might just have some text messages with private info in them that you don't want the world reading (be it work-related or just personal privacy stuff).

Many people either put in a PIN or have a swipe pattern or something like that as protection against the phone being stolen.

The fingerprint scanner replaces those. It's also slightly faster/easier than (completely insecure) swiping anyway, IMO. I loved it on my old Motorola Atrix 5-6 years ago and am glad that it's finally becoming standard on newer phones.
 

EddieYost

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I got a Verus two piece case off Amazon - silver plastic edging over a clear rubbery (PLU? Edit: TPU) case. It's pretty thin and had done a good job of protection the handful of times I've dropped the phone.
I ended up going with this:

Spigen lightweight case

I already have a glass zagg screen protector on it, so I decided to go as light as possible, so that it doesn't get beat up in my pocket. Will report back.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

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If someone steals your phone, they can send/receive email as you if you have email setup--that's often enough to reset your password on websites and then get access to your Amazon account or whatever. Or if you save web passwords on your phone, they can go to your Amazon or ebay or whatever account directly. Or they can post on SOSH and make you look like a jerk. Or download a bunch of music from iTunes/Google Play that's billed to your account, and copy it to their phone or whatever. And, yeah, they could run up a bunch of minutes or similar. Or you might just have some text messages with private info in them that you don't want the world reading (be it work-related or just personal privacy stuff).
They could just listen on the wire and do this anyway.
 

crystalline

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I'm about to pick up a new phone. I've narrowed down to the Moto G4 Plus ($240 from Amazon, add a micro SD card) on TMobile ($75/mo, international calls and data, hotspot), vs. the Nexus 6P ($450 on sale now from Google, no SD card slot so the 64MB version) on Fi (I estimate $30-40 / mo, international calls and data, hotspot included too).

After all that, I'm leaning towards waiting till Sept and buying the new Nexus phones rumored to be released. I'm expecting to spend about $550 but will make up for it with the Fi savings. I'm on TMobile now.

Any comments or opinions? Am I missing anything?
 

Red Sox Physicist

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I'm about to pick up a new phone. I've narrowed down to the Moto G4 Plus ($240 from Amazon, add a micro SD card) on TMobile ($75/mo, international calls and data, hotspot), vs. the Nexus 6P ($450 on sale now from Google, no SD card slot so the 64MB version) on Fi (I estimate $30-40 / mo, international calls and data, hotspot included too).

After all that, I'm leaning towards waiting till Sept and buying the new Nexus phones rumored to be released. I'm expecting to spend about $550 but will make up for it with the Fi savings. I'm on TMobile now.

Any comments or opinions? Am I missing anything?
I wouldn't buy a Motorola phone now that Lenovo owns them. They just came out and said they won't commit to monthly Android security updates: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/07/motorola-confirms-that-it-will-not-commit-to-monthly-security-patches/

They're also having trouble honoring warranties: http://www.droid-life.com/2016/04/15/motorola-warranty-customer-service-disaster/

They totally screwed over owners of the Moto X 2014. It was advertised to receive VoLTE support within months of release. It still doesn't have it. They also stopped issuing updates for the US versions less than 1 year after release.
 
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crystalline

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wouldn't buy a Motorola phone now that Lenovo owns them.
Thanks for the info esp on warranty. The SD card slot and better battery are draws compared to what the Nexus offers. But at this point I am committed to the new fall Nexus phones.

I'd like to get an iPhone for Facetime, for better security/ encryption, and for its really amazing camera. But at this point I have a workflow on Android and don't want to spend the time an effort getting set up on an iPhone.