What phone now?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stfu&gbtw

Currently trying the moto x pure. Only annoyance so far is that all my exchange email and calendar appointments are delivered in the gmail app, and there's some permissions issue preventing me from editing existing appointments. Battery life seems okay, but not great. I was spoiled by the Z3, which I could use all day and never go below 60%. But they nailed a couple of basics... Screen dimming is super dark, and the led flashlight is extremely bright. Just saw a nice feature where the phone realized I was still awake and offered to turn off my 6:15 alarm. Nice..

Phone doesn't seem as large as I expected, and I'm using smart keyboard pro, which is the best soft keyboard I've found and fits well on this device. Hardware wise, this is a very nice phone. Screen is super slick, resolution is quite good, the phone is confidence inspiringly heavy without being too much so, and response is super snappy.

So far so good.

---

My first gen moto X "breathes" at regulary intervals to alert you to new notification without you having to turn the phone on. Did they retain that? Love that feature.

Also - been reading more and more reviews of Project Fi and things are looking really good if you're a fan of the Nexus handsets and have good Sprint and T-mobile coverage near you. Guys who were heavy cell data users reporting 75% reducing in cellular data use via Fi jumping on wifi points. Every month feels like a digital rectal exam with Verizon. I'm ready.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by huckbucket

My first gen moto X "breathes" at regulary intervals to alert you to new notification without you having to turn the phone on. Did they retain that? Love that feature.

Also - been reading more and more reviews of Project Fi and things are looking really good if you're a fan of the Nexus handsets and have good Sprint and T-mobile coverage near you. Guys who were heavy cell data users reporting 75% reducing in cellular data use via Fi jumping on wifi points. Every month feels like a digital rectal exam with Verizon. I'm ready.

---

I kicked Verizon to the curb about 3 weeks ago. Very happy with my 6 p so far, and with android 6.0.. good coverage and good call audio quality...no problems with bending or glass cracking, but I do think the videos I have seen of that problem are legit. I bought a SUP case from amazon for protection and I don't carry phone in pants pocket to avoid torquing it when sitting.. I will be using it in London, Paris, and Copenhagen during the next two weeks, supposed to be no problems using it in western Europe., and many other countries.
almost forgot to mention the USB-C charging.. extremely fast! after reading a lot of info on the android forums and other sites, I held off on buying a crappy car charger, but did buy a RAV Power Turbo Series model RP-PB043 portable charger.. I will probably never buy a car charger as long as I don't lose it... most, if not all new devices will be USB-C standard.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by up an down

I kicked Verizon to the curb about 3 weeks ago. Very happy with my 6 p so far, and with android 6.0.. good coverage and good call audio quality...no problems with bending or glass cracking, but I do think the videos I have seen of that problem are legit. I bought a SUP case from amazon for protection and I don't carry phone in pants pocket to avoid torquing it when sitting.. I will be using it in London, Paris, and Copenhagen during the next two weeks, supposed to be no problems using it in western Europe., and many other countries.
almost forgot to mention the USB-C charging.. extremely fast! after reading a lot of info on the android forums and other sites, I held off on buying a crappy car charger, but did buy a RAV Power Turbo Series model RP-PB043 portable charger.. I will probably never buy a car charger as long as I don't lose it... most, if not all new devices will be USB-C standard.

---

Sweet. That's with Fi? International is supposed to be seamless although long distance calling rates apply unless you use hangouts via data.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by huckbucket

Sweet. That's with Fi? International is supposed to be seamless although long distance calling rates apply unless you use hangouts via data.

---

Yes, Project Fi is my carrier now. wonderful support online and on phone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stfu&gbtw

Anyone tried the blackberry priv? I hate touchscreen keyboards, but had basically resigned myself to never seeing another good device with a physical keyboard. All the review sites seem quite impressed with it.

---

Actually using a BB Passport for work and it's my favorite phone ever from an emailing/phone/web browsing perspective. Not full android but capable of running a bunch of android apps and the OS just plain works, all of the time. No bloat, no crash, no background shit draining your battery. I get at least two days off a single charge, and that's normal use/wifi/Bluetooth on.
Downsides, which might be better with the Priv:
-Camera not great
-Android OS might be great? Never had one that wasn't running the terrible Samsung interface over it

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by huckbucket

My first gen moto X "breathes" at regulary intervals to alert you to new notification without you having to turn the phone on. Did they retain that? Love that feature.
.

---

Haven't seen it do that. Possibly something I could turn on. But, for better or worse, I check my phone every 20-30 minutes anyway.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimmyCarter

Actually using a BB Passport for work and it's my favorite phone ever from an emailing/phone/web browsing perspective. Not full android but capable of running a bunch of android apps and the OS just plain works, all of the time. No bloat, no crash, no background shit draining your battery. I get at least two days off a single charge, and that's normal use/wifi/Bluetooth on.
Downsides, which might be better with the Priv:
-Camera not great
-Android OS might be great? Never had one that wasn't running the terrible Samsung interface over it

---

Interesting... I'd looked at that - I like the layout. I've been using Android, and vastly prefer it to iOS - which was Cisco's OS first btw. Apple should have spelled it out - IdiotOS. But I'm not an Android fan, per se. I will go look at that one again. Thanks!

Ran into a problem with the Moto G3 over last weekend but not sure it's really a problem with the phone or with the carrier. I guess, technically, it's both.

With the cheap phone I bought from the MetroPCS store when I first signed up for their service I could make calls and send texts over wifi. As long as I could get onto a wifi network I didn't need a cell signal. Can't do that with the new phone which is seriously aggravating in certain circumstances - like last weekend I was at a friend's where there was no cell signal but I could get on their wifi and browse the web, just couldn't text or make calls. Same deal up at the mountain too - very poor cell service but the lodge had free wifi. This is disappointing.

A little googling about this didn't shed a whole lot of light on the situation. From what I read it sounds like Metro/Tmo made a deal with the manufacturers to disable that functionality on phones not sold directly through them. Not sure how accurate that is, the threads I found about it drifted off topic and devolved into a bunch of geek-speak that I didn't understand.

If the only way to get that functionality is to buy a phone directly from Metro that sucks 'cause the only phones available at the MetroPCS store are either cheap and crappy or premium phones like the S6 for $500.

Couldn't you just skype?

Wouldn't that require the other person to have the skype app? Everyone has a texting app, not everyone has skype.

I've never used skype so not sure how well it works for texts or quick chats.

Not being able to text is the most aggravating part of this. A simple "hey, where are you guys at?" when I arrived at their house and they weren't home would've been helpful.

You could have e-mailed them a text if you knew their provider.

Still not the same. email is web based so you have to actively be checking your emails to know that you got one. Incoming texts prompt an immediate notification.

Or am I not understanding what you mean by "email a text?"

http://20somethingfinance.com/how-to...mail-for-free/

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Plainview

Wouldn't that require the other person to have the skype app? Everyone has a texting app, not everyone has skype.

I've never used skype so not sure how well it works for texts or quick chats.

Not being able to text is the most aggravating part of this. A simple "hey, where are you guys at?" when I arrived at their house and they weren't home would've been helpful.

---

Did you change carrier with this new phone? I know that wife's AT&T phone can't use wifi to text but my otherwise identical Verizon one can.

If you previously could do this without change of provider there must be a setting you're missing. Try a different texting app?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MakersTeleMark

http://20somethingfinance.com/how-to...mail-for-free/

---

Okay, that's a very kluge-y workaround that would require me to keep up on all my contacts' service providers. Still not as convenient as just being able to send a damned text, which I used to be able to do on a $40 phone but now can't on this new and much nicer in other respects $180 phone.

I also wonder what happens when they reply - if it comes in on their phone as a text then when they reply if it goes out like a normal text I wouldn't get their reply, which makes the whole exercise of asking where they are pointless. If the text somehow gets converted to e-mail back to me then I guess that would work.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PNWbrit

Did you change carrier with this new phone? I know that wife's AT&T phone can't use wifi to text but my otherwise identical Verizon one can.

If you previously could do this without change of provider there must be a setting you're missing. Try a different texting app?

---

Did not change providers, still Metro PCS (T-Mobile) and believe me, like you I was sure it was a setting and spent a lot of time looking for it. Then I googled the issue and sure enough, this phone has that feature disabled, apparently at the request of Metro/TMo. They'll let you bring phones in that you didn't buy from them but they'll stick it to you in ways like this. It's not an app issue, it's something in the phone's core programming. That's about all I can understand from the threads I found discussing this.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Plainview

Okay, that's a very kluge-y workaround that would require me to keep up on all my contacts' service providers. Still not as convenient as just being able to send a damned text, which I used to be able to do on a $40 phone but now can't on this new and much nicer in other respects $180 phone.

---

Try Google Voice.

https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115116?hl=en

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Plainview

Okay, that's a very kluge-y workaround that would require me to keep up on all my contacts' service providers. Still not as convenient as just being able to send a damned text, which I used to be able to do on a $40 phone but now can't on this new and much nicer in other respects $180 phone.

I also wonder what happens when they reply - if it comes in on their phone as a text then when they reply if it goes out like a normal text I wouldn't get their reply, which makes the whole exercise of asking where they are pointless. If the text somehow gets converted to e-mail back to me then I guess that would work.



Did not change providers, still Metro PCS (T-Mobile) and believe me, like you I was sure it was a setting and spent a lot of time looking for it. Then I googled the issue and sure enough, this phone has that feature disabled, apparently at the request of Metro/TMo. They'll let you bring phones in that you didn't buy from them but they'll stick it to you in ways like this. It's not an app issue, it's something in the phone's core programming. That's about all I can understand from the threads I found discussing this.

---

Fascists. Stop being a bootlicker.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 365wp

Try Google Voice.

https://support.google.com/voice/answer/115116?hl=en

---

Hmmm... I'll have to read up on how that works but looks promising. Thanks!

I read in one of the threads discussing the issue that Google Voice might be a workaround for wifi calling also but didn't really understand how it would work. Guess I should do some reading about Google Voice and figure out how it works.

Guys, Sprint has a special now where they are 50% cheaper than my T Mobile plan. Also, I can lease a new Samsung S6 for $9 a month. Wife has an old S4, so lease her one also, get 6GB a month to split and the bill is $68 + taxes. Seems like a good deal to me, as I pay $80 a month now with 1 GB split and we have old shitty phones. Any better deals out there? Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by liv2ski

Guys, Sprint has a special now where they are 50% cheaper than my T Mobile plan. Also, I can lease a new Samsung S6 for $9 a month. Wife has an old S4, so lease her one also, get 6GB a month to split and the bill is $68 + taxes. Seems like a good deal to me, as I pay $80 a month now with 1 GB split and we have old shitty phones. Any better deals out there? Thanks

---

Boost = $35/mo for 2g data + unlim call / text. $45 for 5g, $55 for 10g. No contracts. The $68 deal sounds good just mind the expiry as it'll likely bump you out of the value winnars circle.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bromontana

Boost = $35/mo for 2g data + unlim call / text. $45 for 5g, $55 for 10g. No contracts. The $68 deal sounds good just mind the expiry as it'll likely bump you out of the value winnars circle.

---

There are a number of prepaid deals similar that do not have to be using the Sprint network- which is what Boost is running on (one of the lowest ratings for coverage of the 4 major carriers). One example is Page Plus (uses Verizon's prepaid coverage map) has an unlimited talk and text and 1.5gb of 4G data (then drops to 2G data for any additional use after) for $39.95.

There are other companies that have similar prepaid plans on AT&T network also. So do not just look at the monthly plan costs alone, consider the coverage for areas you need to use the phone as well as their talk/text and data offered.

Thanks for those ideas. Verizon and AT&T have much better coverage between San Diego and Lake Tahoe for my once a season pilgrimage to our time share. Other than that, coverage is never an issue and I actually like the T Mobile wifi calling for when I am out of the country (usually a few weeks each summer).
That Sprint deal is nice, as the $65 includes leasing 2 new S6's phones over the next 2 years and there is no contract, so if something better comes along, we switch again. I have a few weeks to think about it, so I will look into some of those prepaid plans too.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by liv2ski

Thanks for those ideas. Verizon and AT&T have much better coverage between San Diego and Lake Tahoe for my once a season pilgrimage to our time share. Other than that, coverage is never an issue and I actually like the T Mobile wifi calling for when I am out of the country (usually a few weeks each summer).
That Sprint deal is nice, as the $65 includes leasing 2 new S6's phones over the next 2 years and there is no contract, so if something better comes along, we switch again. I have a few weeks to think about it, so I will look into some of those prepaid plans too.

---

Cricket and Ting have some cheap plans. Pretty sure Cricket uses AT&T towers. I think TING uses AT&T towers if you have a GSM phone and sprint if you have a CDMA phone.

Still on a 5S/Sprint. Coverage seems to decent where I live (my house) vs AT&T or Verizon. Sucks in UT or WY though. Currently no contract and looking around. I heard a rumor the next gen iPhones will also do a new version of the 5, ie smaller. Not sure if this is true or not. I didn't get the new 6 or 6+ because they are just way to fucking big. I already utilize my iPad mini for surfing and such. So to me the smaller size may just be the ticket.

I was Android for a few years, couldn't wait to get back to iOS. Whatevs.

Note 5 hands down if you use your phone for more than looking cool