4G Android phone megathread

kelpapa

Costanza's Hero
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Feb 15, 2010
4,636
I got the boot loop issue for my G4 last week. It's just outside of warranty, but they said they would cover it. Has anyone else had this issue? I'm not sure what to expect for a refurb from LG, and it looks like there is no fix.
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Jul 12, 2008
4,231
New England
The 'ette had a Moto X and loved it. Her favorite feature was the voice command, "OK Google, find my phone." It would play an alarm. She has a Droid Z Force and misses it. Any tips on how to recreate the functionality? Neither the phone's default Launcher3 or the Google Now Launcher in the Play Store respond as expected.
 

SumnerH

Malt Liquor Picker
Dope
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Jul 18, 2005
31,842
Alexandria, VA
The 'ette had a Moto X and loved it. Her favorite feature was the voice command, "OK Google, find my phone." It would play an alarm. She has a Droid Z Force and misses it. Any tips on how to recreate the functionality? Neither the phone's default Launcher3 or the Google Now Launcher in the Play Store respond as expected.
If you google "find my phone" from your desktop/tablet/whatever, it'll show you where it is and you can make it ring at full volume.

You can also lock it remotely, put a message on the lock screen ("Help! My Phone's lost"), and allow it to call a number you specify (e.g. home/work phone) from the lock screen to make it easy for people to return to you. And you can wipe it if you need to.
 

Scott Cooper's Grand Slam

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Jul 12, 2008
4,231
New England
Thanks Sumner, but that doesn't help. That's useful (more useful than what the 'ette is after), but she wants to be able to trigger an alert with a voice command like in the Moto X. It looks like both the phone's launcher and the Google Now launcher can listen for commands from the sleep state, but neither of them can recognize this command.
 

glennhoffmania

meat puppet
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Jul 25, 2005
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I'm looking to upgrade my HTC M8 and I'm thinking about the LG G5. What are people's thoughts on it? I've used HTCs for a while now and want to try something new. My biggest issue with my phone is the camera so I want to make sure my next phone has a better one. Any feedback would be appreciated.
 

jayhoz

Ronald Bartel
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Jul 19, 2005
17,329
I'm currently in wait and see mode until Sept. I want to see what the new Nexus from HTC has to offer.
 

glennhoffmania

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Jul 25, 2005
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I was a big HTC fan when the Evo first came out. But they lag on updates and the cameras have been pretty bad. The only reason I'm in kind of a rush is because my M8's earphone jack has been messed up for months. The earphones pop out of the jack anytime I move. It's infuriating.
 

kelpapa

Costanza's Hero
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Feb 15, 2010
4,636
FWIW, the AT&T rep that I spoke to yesterday said that the G5 boot loop issue was fixed, and it was just the first few G5s that had been manufactured that had this issue. I have no idea if that's true or not.

I got my G4 back yesterday, and it seems to be operating pretty well. Hopefully, it's fixed for good.
 

kelpapa

Costanza's Hero
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Feb 15, 2010
4,636
Aside from that it's a good phone. I have no issues with picture/video quality or anything else. The battery life had gone to shit, but it seems like that was a side-effect of the boot loop issue. It's back to lasting a full day.
 

EddieYost

is not associated in any way with GHoff
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Jul 15, 2005
10,696
NH
Ghoff, coming from HTC I don't think you will like LG phones. The button on the back takes a lot of getting used to. Go Samsung.
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
2,367
Is the thought that the Nexus 7 is worth waiting for over getting the Note 7?

Still deciding on Fi vs keeping Verizon.
 

Doc Zero

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Dec 6, 2007
12,435
I wouldn't hold out for the Nexus, but that's just a matter of preference; I don't so much care for HTC's approach to smartphones (though Sense UI is pretty barebones and easy to use).

Then again, the Nexus 7 probably isn't going to be $900.
 

crystalline

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Oct 12, 2009
5,771
JP
That camera on the Note 7 is making me jealous. I had resolved to wait for the Nexus 7. I really like a good camera on my phone, though.
 

Monbo Jumbo

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Dec 5, 2003
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the other Athens
fyi, the Nexus 7 is a tablet that's been out for three or four years.
I'm posting from one right now.

Nexus numbers have been screen sizes, not generations.

carry on.
 

jercra

No longer respects DeChambeau
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Jul 31, 2006
3,145
Arvada, Co
I wouldn't hold out for the Nexus, but that's just a matter of preference; I don't so much care for HTC's approach to smartphones (though Sense UI is pretty barebones and easy to use).

Then again, the Nexus 7 probably isn't going to be $900.
The Nexus 7 is not the successor to the Nexus 6. I don't think Google has released official names yet, just the code names. Also, the Nexus will be stock Android, not Sense UI. Google has a pretty heavy hand in the design of the Nexus phones so I wouldn't be very concerned with HTC's past offerings. I have the Huawei 6P and it's been a really fantastic phone. I'm excited to see what the built with HTC.
 

Doc Zero

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Dec 6, 2007
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Oh, my bad—I wasn't clear. My thoughts on Sense were kind of a separate thought altogether. It's a Nexus after all. I'm just not crazy about how HTC designs its phones but didn't want to dismiss its whole lineup altogether.

I wasn't crazy about the 6P and I actually preferred both the Huawei P9 and the Nexus 5X over it. I dunno. I'm weird.
 

glennhoffmania

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Jul 25, 2005
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What does it do? I read a couple of reviews and they didn't even mention it.

I'm not crazy about any of these options- the G5, HTC 10 and Samsung all seem to have issues.
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
2,367
I have a Note 3. I have found that service quality (the actual 3G/4G antenna) has sucked for a long time. I read online that Motorola and LG have better internal antennae than Samsung.

Is that nonsense at this point? I know on Route 95 and 93, where I should be 4G pretty much everywhere...I am at 3G and 1-2 bars routinely. I may have a dog phone but I was pretty convinced I wouldn't go Samsung again after that experience.
 

Doc Zero

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Dec 6, 2007
12,435
Your phone might just be showin' it's age, to be honest. Kudos for keeping it kicking this long, though.
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
2,367
The phone has been like that for 2 years.

That said, is Samsung considered to have as good an antenna as the others now?
 

Marceline

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Sep 9, 2002
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Canton, MA
I've never had any issues with Samsung antennas, and my wife and I have both had various models of Samsung phones for about 4-5 years now.
 

Caspir

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Jul 16, 2005
6,881
I have an Edge so there's some differences, but overall the phone is freaking amazing. I still get a kick out of using Samsung Pay and having cashiers tell me they don't have tap to pay and then, bing, it goes through. Battery life has been spectacular (but I believe the S7 has a slightly smaller battery than the Edge so it may vary a bit). I can't find any major issues that I've run into, but I definitely recommend a case. I haven't used one in years, but something about all the glass on this thing makes me feel like it's necessary.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Dec 30, 2003
61,978
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I have an Edge so there's some differences, but overall the phone is freaking amazing. I still get a kick out of using Samsung Pay and having cashiers tell me they don't have tap to pay and then, bing, it goes through. Battery life has been spectacular (but I believe the S7 has a slightly smaller battery than the Edge so it may vary a bit). I can't find any major issues that I've run into, but I definitely recommend a case. I haven't used one in years, but something about all the glass on this thing makes me feel like it's necessary.
I have an S7 edge and it's great. It is blazing fast, reliable, and the camera is ridiculous. But the edge aspect drives me nuts because the pad of my palm always hits the side of the phone when I'm texting. If I could do it over, I would just get the S7, no edge. There is no edge to getting the edge, only losses.
 

Caspir

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Jul 16, 2005
6,881
I have an S7 edge and it's great. It is blazing fast, reliable, and the camera is ridiculous. But the edge aspect drives me nuts because the pad of my palm always hits the side of the phone when I'm texting. If I could do it over, I would just get the S7, no edge. There is no edge to getting the edge, only losses.
Come to think of it, if I have to come up with a complaint, it's that sometimes when I tap the number 1, the number 2 is what registers. I don't go far enough to the side. I think I've adjusted my grip to avoid touching the edge screen while holding it, but I feel similar. I'll go with a non-Edge version next time for sure.
 

johnmd20

mad dog
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Dec 30, 2003
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Come to think of it, if I have to come up with a complaint, it's that sometimes when I tap the number 1, the number 2 is what registers. I don't go far enough to the side. I think I've adjusted my grip to avoid touching the edge screen while holding it, but I feel similar. I'll go with a non-Edge version next time for sure.
Yes, I have also adjusted my grip, so it happens way less frequently. It's a drag but it's not Defcon 1. And, also yes, sometimes you try to hit a letter or number on the side and it registers the button next to the edge. Both of these are problems with the edge. Meanwhile, I have turned off every single edge function because they are completely useless. So I see no upside with the edge.

I am willing to be schooled on the advantages of the edge but I haven't seen them yet.
 

Bigpupp

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Jun 8, 2008
2,381
New Mexico
My wife and I both upgraded this weekend. She got the S7E and I got the Note 7. We absolutely love them and haven't had a single problem with the edge screens and our palms. Coming from the Note 4, it's incredible how much thinner and easier to navigate with one hand the thing is.
 

Time to Mo Vaughn

RIP Dernell
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Mar 24, 2008
7,180
I got Nougat on my 5X last night.

Initial impression over the first 3-4 hours are that it feels slightly snappier (is likely either fully a placebo or a result of all background content cache/RAM being empty). I like the double tap for switching back and forth between two apps as well. I've had previous Galaxy phones that had the split screen for App multitasking, but this is the first implementation that's simple enough that I may actually use it (though the jury is still out on that).

I'll probably get the Nexus Sailfish phone whenever it is released, which sounds like it could be as early as the next two weeks or as late as October.
 

jayhoz

Ronald Bartel
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Jul 19, 2005
17,329
Apparently Google is dropping the Nexus moniker on the upcoming phones.
 

ElUno20

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Jul 19, 2005
6,024
Does anyone have experience with the cheap & budget friendly Blu R1 unlocked phones?
 

4 6 3 DP

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Oct 24, 2001
2,367
I need a new phone but between the Note news and the Edge 7 now being 6 months old, I feel almost paralyzed to make a decision...
 

Rancho Relaxo

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Jul 18, 2005
345
Liberty, Mo.
I'd love a little advice from the SoSH collective. I have (and loved) my Note 4. Since the Marshmallow upgrade, however, performance has slowly suffered -- going to the occasional random reboot and app restarts to freezing, rebooting and running hot as of the last week or so. I had it flashed at the Samsung booth at Best Buy, and performance has improved slightly, but some of the issues remain (and I'm worried will worsen again). I don't want to go through customizing this phone only to have to do it all over again shortly with a new one. My options, as I see them, are:
  • Live with my current phone and/or get it repaired, if possible.
  • Pay $100 for a refurb through Verizon (I have the replacement plan)
  • Pay $62.50 (because my contract isn't done until May 31) and get a new phone
I'd love the Note 7 (minus the explosions), but a new phone may strain the budget a bit. Besides, I may have to wait for that model anyway. I'd consider a different phone, but I really love memory expandability and a nice, big screen. I thought about going the Apple route, but switching ecosystems, losing my preferred audio output and paying a premium for memory are turnoffs...