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Hey, I have been looking to buy a new phone recently and I've been looking at choices. I've narrowed it down to Galaxy S3, Galaxy Nexus, or One X. After comparing the specs on paper, I was just wondering what other people would suggest. Each phone has things I like about it.
Galaxy S3:
-Smart Notify
-S Voice
-Pop up display
-ICS
-Removable Battery
-MicroSD
Galaxy Nexus:
-Pure Android
-ICS
-Removable Battery
One X:
-ICS
-Sense 4
-Camera
Could you all give me some input or opinions on these devices? I know the S3 hasn't launched yet, I'm looking more for a Nexus and One X user's opinion on the device.
Okay here we go:
HTC One X: Probably the fastest phone currently available in the market. Great speed (Quad core phone) and has a fantastic large screen that may put off some people with small hands. In terms of design, it is made mostly of plastic (poly carbon whatever) but IT STILL HAS a premium feel, its structure has nothing for me to complain about. Unfortunately the deal breaker for most consumers is the unremovable battery and no SD card storage. But all in all, its a great phone and I wouldn't mind purchasing it if you had the cash to spare.
Samsung SGS 3: Okay, first of all its not on the market, so even if you decide on this phone, it's not available for purchase yet (until a few months, depending where you live). I've seen many reviews for it but one factor seems to be emphasized from nearly all of them; "Great specs, disappointing design". But don't get me wrong, the design isn't crap or anything, it's just disappointing because fans expected something more different but the SGS3 looks very similar to the phones Samsung made in the past. But to be honest many of them where led astray from the breath taking designs people posted as a teaser for the new phone (tbh even I was ). But all in all, its a powerful phone and it will cost quite a bit if your planning on purchasing straight of its release date. But it has pretty much everything the latest phone has (samsung's own siri (S voice), removable battery and SD card etc) and more so a pat on the back for Samsung's great update.
Galaxy Nexus: Well after talking about the two phones above, there really isn't anything fascinating about this phone. Highly recommended if your stuck on a budget though, my friend had it for half a year and it seems to be a great phone (great screen, overall smooth). But if its in comparison to the other two phones the only major stand point in my opinion is the lower price .
Well I hope you decide on a great phone for yourself!
Hi Guys,
After owning several iPhones back in the day (up to the 3GS) and then Nexus One, Nexus S and Nexus 4 (skipped the Galaxy Nexus) and a Nexus 7 tablet, always on (unrooted) stock Android, I couldn't resist the temptation and got myself a 32GB LG G2 (European version).
Why not wait a few weeks for the Nexus 5 ?
The main reason is that the LG G2 has just the perfect hardware specs for me, there is nothing I would realistically want more. The Nexus 5 will have smaller screen and smaller battery. Also, the last 3 versions of Android did not bring any significant useable stuff to the table in order to make me really want to update, so the newest Android update is not so important to have.
The other reason is that I am really bored of stock Android. There are some things that Google will stubbornly never add or change, and I'm not one to install custom ROMs all day. For example, I can't set different sound volumes for the call ringtones and notification ringtones. And the notification LED is so neglected by the stock Android (on phones that have it). I gave my "old" Nexus 4 to my girlfriend, and although she loves to speed over her old Galaxy S Advance, she immediately begun asking where are the "gimmicks" that Samsung included into its software and that she used all the time. This is saying something.
One minor reason is that I have had hardware problems ALL of my Nexus devices, despite the fact that I take great care of them: the Nexus One's power button became loose and broke over time (HTC support really sucks !), the Nexus S capacitive sensor burned in a corner (display assembly replacement), the Nexus 7 speakers broke and now sound is very distorted. The Nexus 4 screen was a bit yellowish when I received it, I read that it's from the glue bonding the glass layers, it improved over time but never had the correct colors, it always had a subtle yellow tint to it.
Why LG G2 ?
Just a quick glance at the competition and my previous experience with various brands made me choose the G2. The iPhone is really out of question due to the microscopic screen and lack of notification LED (it's incredible how a business user can live without a notification LED), the Galaxy S4 and HTC One have outdated hardware (I mean, if I pay the same price, why not get the latest hardware), the HTC One has a microscopic, unusable notification LED (and I don't wish you to need something from the HTC technical support !), the Galaxy Note 3 is really too big. I have never used a spare battery with any of my phones, and never used a microSD card, so these missing features are just not minuses for me. The lack of removable battery (and thus the inclusion of a bigger battery) is in fact a huge plus.
The Motorola MotoX has a very nice notification feature, but it pulsates too slow (indicating battery concerns) and the rest of the hardware is too average and I can't see it as an upgrade over the Nexus 4 (plus it's not available in Europe although I could get it if I really wanted to).
The LG G2 hardware
I will say that the excellent, biggest-in-class display, the impressive battery life and the very small bezels (phone fits in my front jeans pocket !), combined with the killer 'Knock On' feature make this phone an easy choice over any other phone right now, hardware-wise. Not to mention the newest Snapdragon 800 processor. I am even pleased by its camera capability, pictures always look very sharp because of the optical stabilization, although there is too much noise reduction and loss of detail (however resized for web/facebook, pictures look great). The fact that it has an FM radio is a huge plus for me, because I needed a radio to listen to my favorite talk show between the parking lot and my home, and it's proven to do its job great so far
The LG G2 software
Believe me when I say this, the stock Android is extremely boring compared to LGs software. It's so refreshing to see many user-needed features included in their software. I don't care for most of them, but they don't get in the way either. However, some of them are really useful and I never see Google implementing them in their stock Android. For example, I can now set different ringtone volumes for notifications and calls, I can access the phone files from my computer over my home network, I have a very customizable battery saver that kicks in when needed, etc.
There is only one thing that bothers my in LG G2's software: the notification drawer has some items that you can never remove from there, like the screen brightness, ringtone volume and a row with some shortcuts. It's not unbearable, but I prefer that to only be used for notifications. At least they could move their bloatware controls *after* all the notifications instead of before them.
Conclusion
I really like the LG G2. I think it trumps every other phone at this moment, but this is not the important thing. The important thing is that I don't have to charge my phone every day (it sometimes lasts 3+ days !), it has a great screen for web reading and browsing and it's just a well-designed phone.
Good review, vanilla android was a performance necessity when phones weren't power houses. I too enjoy the gadgetry of mfg skins. I still like stock android for my tablet, but for my primary device, I like the bells and whistles.
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
Thnx for this review. I love my g2 more lol!
Sent from my LG-D802 using Tapatalk 2
Well i suppose the camera is better than just for facebook and instagram. Its a 13mp for god's sake!
Fille84 said:
Well i suppose the camera is better than just for facebook and instagram. Its a 13mp for god's sake!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The megapixel count really doesn't matter, if you take a picture with an old 5 Megapixel Canon DSLR you will blow any smartphone out if the water. The pixel size / sensor size and lens quality does matter a lot.
The LG G2 camera is quite surprisingly good for a smartphone camera with a 1/3 inch sensor. The lens seems very good. But the resulting image is heavily post-processed to eliminate noise due to small pixel phtosites. Unfortunately fine detail is gone as well, but this is only visible on full-size images. Basically the camera software is optimized for instant picture sharing with little to no user post-processing, which is a correct thing to do in a smartphone.
I for one would prefer a noisier but more detailed image which I could post-process with a dedicated suite like Adobe's Lightroom. But I guess this is what big cameras are for...
Thanks for this review. I like it
Nexus 5 = Crap
This are the technical characteristics of the upcoming Nexuseless 5, I prefer LG G2 ever.
4.95″ 1080p display
32GB and 16GB internal storage
2GB RAM
MSM8974 aka Snapdragon 800 at 2.3GHz
8MP OIS rear camera
1.3MP front camera
2300mAh battery <<<<<<---- Why are they still using this crap battery!!?????
Sensors: Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Compass, Proximity/Ambient Light, Pressure
Slimport compatibility
Micro SIM slot
Notification light
Wireless charging
NFC
Bluetooth 4.0 (Bluetooth 3.0 was also listed, but this is most likely an error.)
UMTS/GSM/CDMA/LTE compatibility
More details of the Nexuseless 5 here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/173744848/LG-D821
I cant make my mind up about the LG g2 or the nexus 5 the nexus 5 looks nicer but the G2 has better specs.
G2 in my opinion looks so sexy and honestly that's one of the many reasons I bought it. Its different with the home button setup on the back and has the specs to last a long time for me. Also running stock and with 5 hour screen time I'm way over 24 hours of use
Sent from my LG-D800 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
blair287 said:
I cant make my mind up about the LG g2 or the nexus 5 the nexus 5 looks nicer but the G2 has better specs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks is Subjective, IMO Nexus 5 just has two advantages over G2, Price and Timely Updates. That is it.
My views are that personally the phone is just a little to big for me to use comfortably. I would have preferred say 5" screen with the narrow bezzels making the device slightly narrower and easier to hold - but thats just a personal preference. I would have also liked a textued back to the phone (at the moment i am using a skin to give it texture) as this phone is on the maximum edge of what is comfortable to me i dont want to add to the size with a case, i also dont want to lose the look ad feel i have from the device (the 'in the hand feel') you get.
All in all however these were not a deal breaker for me as there was nothing else out for me to consider at the time (like the moto x but not available in uk) so bought the g2 sim free.
After a couple of weeks of use i started to dislike elements of the lg software and its design and just found that adding a launcher just gave me other issues. What is great now is that the dev community is really picking up for this phone and roms are starting to appear so you now have the option to pretty much have whatever you want on your phone. You can go pretty much bare bones android without any of Lg's bloat but you an also add whatever elements of Lgs stuff you like to the vanilla rom so giving you the best of both worlds.
So to sum up.....for me the device has awesome specs, latest processor, excellent camera, amazing battery life, great development options to customize to your personal liking. Only thing for me is the size but maybe thats just because i have short stubby fingers
At the end of the day its all about choices, beauty is that now you have choices so if the hardware tickles your fancy you can customize till your hearts content and end up with your perfect device
hpsauce37 said:
My views are that personally the phone is just a little to big for me to use comfortably. I would have preferred say 5" screen with the narrow bezzels making the device slightly narrower and easier to hold - but thats just a personal preference. I would have also liked a textued back to the phone (at the moment i am using a skin to give it texture) as this phone is on the maximum edge of what is comfortable to me i dont want to add to the size with a case, i also dont want to lose the look ad feel i have from the device (the 'in the hand feel') you get.
All in all however these were not a deal breaker for me as there was nothing else out for me to consider at the time (like the moto x but not available in uk) so bought the g2 sim free.
After a couple of weeks of use i started to dislike elements of the lg software and its design and just found that adding a launcher just gave me other issues. What is great now is that the dev community is really picking up for this phone and roms are starting to appear so you now have the option to pretty much have whatever you want on your phone. You can go pretty much bare bones android without any of Lg's bloat but you an also add whatever elements of Lgs stuff you like to the vanilla rom so giving you the best of both worlds.
So to sum up.....for me the device has awesome specs, latest processor, excellent camera, amazing battery life, great development options to customize to your personal liking. Only thing for me is the size but maybe thats just because i have short stubby fingers
At the end of the day its all about choices, beauty is that now you have choices so if the hardware tickles your fancy you can customize till your hearts content and end up with your perfect device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what kind of issues did you encounter when adding a launcher? and what launcher?
I appreciate everyone's reviews here!
sdsubball23 said:
what kind of issues did you encounter when adding a launcher? and what launcher?
I appreciate everyone's reviews here!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You name it i tried it!
Nova, smart launcher, Aviate, Adw.....
To be fair to these launchers though they probably were not really issue's. Just little things that frustrated me about them, could have been the inability to do something or set something up with them, notifications, different custom options etc.
Most people would probably not even have experienced it or have issue with it.
The thing i was leading to really was the fact that now with a good dev community coming on board with this device (been quite overlooked generally in my opinion until now - availabilty in some countries may have been the reason for this though) that there are many choices for people now.
If the hardware of the device fits the bill then you are no longer tied with elements of the stock build you dont like and pretty much change every bit about it one way or another - just means taking that step of rooting and flashing. Dont get me wrong im no developer or expert in this field but as someone who is particularly fussy and difficult to please with phones and software etc (must be my ocd) everyone has options and its really not that difficult once you have done it a few times.
Bottom line is if someone dosent like the stock ui/experience you can change and have whatever you want
I know my comments above may seem obvious to many especially as we are on a developer site however a lot of people come to the site for opinions and information and who may have thought about making changes but never actually taking the final steps. I did and now i have changed the things that frustrated me without the need to just change the device again! Like i said i am major ocd and fussy about phones but it does at least give a little more longevity to the device if these options are here.
Hope this makes sense lol
ps - sorry didnt mean to hijack or step on the thread.
Thanks :good:
hpsauce37 said:
My views are that personally the phone is just a little to big for me to use comfortably. I would have preferred say 5" screen with the narrow bezzels making the device slightly narrower and easier to hold - but thats just a personal preference. I would have also liked a textued back to the phone (at the moment i am using a skin to give it texture) as this phone is on the maximum edge of what is comfortable to me i dont want to add to the size with a case, i also dont want to lose the look ad feel i have from the device (the 'in the hand feel') you get.
All in all however these were not a deal breaker for me as there was nothing else out for me to consider at the time (like the moto x but not available in uk) so bought the g2 sim free.
After a couple of weeks of use i started to dislike elements of the lg software and its design and just found that adding a launcher just gave me other issues. What is great now is that the dev community is really picking up for this phone and roms are starting to appear so you now have the option to pretty much have whatever you want on your phone. You can go pretty much bare bones android without any of Lg's bloat but you an also add whatever elements of Lgs stuff you like to the vanilla rom so giving you the best of both worlds.
So to sum up.....for me the device has awesome specs, latest processor, excellent camera, amazing battery life, great development options to customize to your personal liking. Only thing for me is the size but maybe thats just because i have short stubby fingers
At the end of the day its all about choices, beauty is that now you have choices so if the hardware tickles your fancy you can customize till your hearts content and end up with your perfect device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The 5.2" G2 isn't that much bigger then the Galaxy Nexus 4.65". It is thinner but taller/wider by a few millimeters. Not much difference.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
[/COLOR]Awesome to see a "stock android fan" praise LG's UI..Great review from someone who obviously knows what the android experience should be....i have a vid on my channel on how you can keep the notifications down a few lines and stays were you leave it, all as long as you have a few notifications, you never need look at the top part.....some ppl do not realize this : )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaMdxvvZYFE
Ms D.
Cst79 said:
Hi Guys,
Why LG G2 ?
Just a quick glance at the competition and my previous experience with various brands made me choose the G2. The iPhone is really out of question due to the microscopic screen and lack of notification LED (it's incredible how a business user can live without a notification LED), the Galaxy S4 and HTC One have outdated hardware (I mean, if I pay the same price, why not get the latest hardware), the HTC One has a microscopic, unusable notification LED (and I don't wish you to need something from the HTC technical support !), the Galaxy Note 3 is really too big. I have never used a spare battery with any of my phones, and never used a microSD card, so these missing features are just not minuses for me. The lack of removable battery (and thus the inclusion of a bigger battery) is in fact a huge plus.
The Motorola MotoX has a very nice notification feature, but it pulsates too slow (indicating battery concerns) and the rest of the hardware is too average and I can't see it as an upgrade over the Nexus 4 (plus it's not available in Europe although I could get it if I really wanted to).
Conclusion
I really like the LG G2. I think it trumps every other phone at this moment, but this is not the important thing. The important thing is that I don't have to charge my phone every day (it sometimes lasts 3+ days !), it has a great screen for web reading and browsing and it's just a well-designed phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well said...
welcome to the club! (happy owners of G2)
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
aldridgec said:
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alpha is best compact phone ,
Exynos 5430 is very fast and never lagged .
Phone is very fluid with Stock rom , and overall Best phone .
Camera is very superb overall , but average on low light . Video recording quality is mind blowing and Beyond imagination .
i was confused between Alpha and ip5s , but i choose Alpha ,
Main reason was Alpha has 32 gb . While 5s priced nearly same but only 16 gb .
and 32 gb was out of my budget .
if u have unlimited budget than u can go for iphone 6 64 gb too.
If not than go for Alpha
aldridgec said:
I've read and read, and looking for feedback from users who may be familiar with both platforms-the Samsung Alpha and the IPhone (5s or 6), hopefully that's not too taboo around here. I've always found XDA to be very helpful and objective, more so than random blog type reporting sites.
A little backstory: I've had a couple of bad phone purchases. Most of the problems are with the HTC models. I had a One X+, and that model wasn't supported for long due to it's mid-model upgrade chipset. it was powerful, but was often very very hot, so much so that plugged in and using navigator it would shut down. Not plugged in it would kill battery very quickly. The One came out short time later and HTC announced One X+ would not longer be updated. I hate the trend for bigger and bigger phones, I really like to use with one hand. I invested in HTC One Mini, thinking it was very similar to full size (M7) model, especially from initial (seemingly biased) reviews now. Initially it seemed fine, but after installing a few apps it's very slow and jerky most of the time. Especially long lag between apps, attributed mostly to it's small RAM size of 1gig. It's a nicely made phone for the most part tho. It took weeks to realize this, and after a factory reset it improved but shortly got worse again.
Most of my friends have either the SGS5, or the majority use Iphones (5s or 6). These have become my options as well, except that SGS5 and iP6 are larger than I'd like.
Enter the SG Alpha. My concern is long term support for this phone, and smooth operation without killing the battery or jerky throttled down operation. Would you say this phone works smoothly, and if you can compare to IOS phones? I really don't want to buy a Iphone, but most everyone tells me they just work and I'm tired of fighting, hacking and modifying Android (which hopefully doesn't sit too poorly in this forum ) I also like Widgets, and IOS does not have those.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With this phone you cant go wrong on performance, i have it for a month now and i am amased how smooth and fast it works. Tried most of the functions that it offers and they work pretty fine, also like you, for me this size is the last acceptable one and it lays comfortably on the hand. Now i havent used an iphone, neither i will, but i can say for sure that it feels better than any apple products around i have had in my hands to test. Battery is good even for the 1860 maph that it has i can take out a day and a half or maybe two with 4 hours SOT, plus it is removable and its expected a new more powerfull one from Samsung. As for the android since you already have used a phone with it i really wouldnt go much deeper into it. So finally my opinion is that you should defenetly choose the alpha.
Sent from my SM-G850F using xda app-developers app
tileeq said:
With this phone you cant go wrong on performance, i have it for a month now and i am amased how smooth and fast it works. Tried most of the functions that it offers and they work pretty fine, also like you, for me this size is the last acceptable one and it lays comfortably on the hand. Now i havent used an iphone, neither i will, but i can say for sure that it feels better than any apple products around i have had in my hands to test. Battery is good even for the 1860 maph that it has i can take out a day and a half or maybe two with 4 hours SOT, plus it is removable and its expected a new more powerfull one from Samsung. As for the android since you already have used a phone with it i really wouldnt go much deeper into it. So finally my opinion is that you should defenetly choose the alpha.
Sent from my SM-G850F using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
So, I've owned only Android devices since I began buying smartphones and tablets, but I really feel like very little has changed with regards to Android's performance ever since the Snapdragon 800 in 2013. Even the addition of more RAM and higher-spec processors hasn't really changed much about the AOSP experience, and my old (GPE-converted) Galaxy S4 still feels like I could throw most anything at it.
With the Nexus 6P finally bringing the last few things I really wanted in a mobile phone (the fingerprint sensor, metal, 1440p AMOLED, pure Android without compromising the camera, USB-C), I'm really thinking that this may be my last Android phone for a long while. I feel like, while equally unnecessary, the N6P will offer the pinnacle of stock Android, while rounding out the feature set of all I look for. I was debating whether to cheap out and buy a N5X for dev and general mucking about, but I think I will instead commit to getting the 6P for the above reasons.
My last upgrade to the G3 was almost unnecessary, even though I love the phone. I only upgraded, since my S4's power button broke and headphone jack got a bit wonky. Had that not happened, I think I'd be still using it today as my DD. I didn't even feel the itch to upgrade to any of this year's devices (except the Nexus phones and the buzz around the fp sensor and camera), and I've already had the device for more than a year.
While it may be an unpopular opinion around these parts, I think I may switch to an iPhone (probably the 7+) when my contract is up just to see how that platform improves over the next couple of years. A second GB of RAM totally changed that phone, which shows just how behind they are in some aspects, and where potential lies. I just don't see Android making any earth-shattering changes, mostly because it doesn't need to anymore. OEMs drive their own crap update cycle by bogging down their updates and the like, a problem which never existed on my GPE-converted S4, and won't exist on the Nexus.
Don't really know why I felt like making this post, but I did. :silly:
I agree with you on certain points.
But remember,
my old (GPE-converted) Galaxy S4 still feels like I could throw most anything at it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did something to your phone in order to be fast / smooth / etc. While we as a community continue to do this and find ways to improve everything.. Android (stock) has come a long way.
I'm really thinking that this may be my last Android phone for a long while.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You reasoning for this is there is nothing really new on Android and Android phones haven't really evolved much but the same goes for iOS. This coming from someone who keeps going back and forth from Android to iOS. iOS is much more polished and needs less specs to run smooth, but you also have to remember they only have to worry about support their own hardware. And while yes, there has been phone upgrades from Apple (bigger screen, etc.), this is stuff Android has been doing for a long time.
It's kind of hard honestly.. after a certain point.. development / upgrades happen slower.. when jumping from phone to phone now, things don't seem like much of an upgrade. I think that's because we upgrade phones so often now, we don't notice the differences as much. But say you had to keep your S4 for another year without the ability to root / install a custom ROM, I'm sure you'd be all over the N6P.
While XDA has made Android development much bigger and contributed in a positive way, it has also kind of spoiled us and made us think the way you are.
For me the big things that keep me on android are customization and the ability to do what I want with the phone (not what Apple or anyone else wants me to do). I would love to say this would be my last phone for a while but 2 things will prevent that....
1. I'm a tech junkie
2. Android support is 2 years
Well, the LG G3 isnt the best phone... you'll probably like the Nexus 6P a LOT!
I said that with the Nexus 6. I might still keep the Nexus 6 but I'm at least going to give the 6P a shot.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using XDA Free mobile app
I'm not far behind but not because Android vs Apple but because my life centers around MS products. I work in IT, exclusively with MS products. Why is my mobile device on a different ecosystem?
I'm excited for what MS has in store for their APIs that allow ios and Android apps to behave as if they're in their natural environment. I think this approach is going to flatten the playing field and OS will no longer matter.
Now if they could just make tech without built in obsolescion the market will start filling with devices that have purpose instead of purely consumerism. There WILL be a threshold of device waste that will force our hand.
Excel made some good points. And I too felt the same about not seeing much improvement from my phone but the continuous development thru ROMs makes it seems like the progress is small but it not....if you tally up the progress over the 1 year iPhone life cycle it is a lot of progress.
Google has too many things going on and unfortunately doesn't take the time to perfect their products except their search engine. They rather create a new product versus refining an existing one.
Imagine if google only had drive, no gmail, no G+, a tablet, one PC, and Android that ran on a single phone from one manufacturer....say LG. And Kept that same phone and just improved the hardware each year and the software as well....and diverted all other efforts towards perfecting that single device. That phone would be light years ahead of apple. Instead google has close to 200 products and services they wear themselves thin with. And tackling the immense task of attempting to make android run seemless and smooth on
Almost 19,000 devices instead of on just a handful of devices plus one phone is the difference between google and apple.
With that said and even with google continuing to expand like they do....I still think Google's android os running on top tier android devices will surpass IPhones in all aspects in couple years.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
Exel said:
You did something to your phone in order to be fast / smooth / etc. While we as a community continue to do this and find ways to improve everything.. Android (stock) has come a long way.
You reasoning for this is there is nothing really new on Android and Android phones haven't really evolved much but the same goes for iOS. This coming from someone who keeps going back and forth from Android to iOS. iOS is much more polished and needs less specs to run smooth, but you also have to remember they only have to worry about support their own hardware. And while yes, there has been phone upgrades from Apple (bigger screen, etc.), this is stuff Android has been doing for a long time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Partially correct on the first point. It is fundamentally still "stock" (no kernel mods/custom features) on GPE firmware, but yes, I haven't tried stock since the original shipping firmware. I haven't rooted my phones since putting GPE on the S4. My Nexus 9, the G3, and the S4 all run unrooted, the former two of which are on stock firmware. The biggest pain about Android is debloating carrier crapware, a problem nonexistent on Nexus devices.
I feel like Android has matured to the point that there is little left to give. As far as supporting their own stuff, that's why I feel like the N6P would be the ultimate.
WoodroweBones said:
For me the big things that keep me on android are customization and the ability to do what I want with the phone (not what Apple or anyone else wants me to do). I would love to say this would be my last phone for a while but 2 things will prevent that....
1. I'm a tech junkie
2. Android support is 2 years
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, but customisation is so easy to do on Android without mods or root. The only other phone I was considering was the S6 edge +, which is also comparably restrictive. I just haven't felt the need to root since the S4.
An iPhone, on the other hand, I would be keen to jailbreak instantly. Quite a lot of interesting tweaks come out of Apple's "crack R&D team" (like swipeselection....), and jailbreaking is the only way to stay on that edge and get appropriate customisation.
I would also be using pretty much solely Google apps there anyway, since the default apps are kinda terrible.
bsg411 said:
Google has too many things going on and unfortunately doesn't take the time to perfect their products except their search engine. They rather create a new product versus refining an existing one.
Imagine if google only had drive, no gmail, no G+, a tablet, one PC, and Android that ran on a single phone from one manufacturer....That phone would be light years ahead of apple. Instead google has close to 200 products and services they wear themselves thin with.
With that said and even with google continuing to expand like they do....I still think Google's android os running on top tier android devices will surpass IPhones in all aspects in couple years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But the diversity is the beauty of Google. The fact that they move the ecosystem forward and have a constant stream of novelty across their business is what helps them succeed. Android itself doesn't really need more improvement, is my argument. It's already there, and their job is to create new services to drive the platform.
Android as an OS already far exceeds that of iOS IMO, especially with Google Now. What I want to see is how Apple catches , since their platform seems to still be in flux (as far as performance and service delivery goes).
You'll change your mind when they release the Nexus 14z, which will project it's 16k display directly to your brain, and be able to read your thoughts instead of having to speak "OK Google".
I'm serious, because Google will have perfected mind control by then and we'll all be drones.
All hail Masters Page and Brin, our merciful overlords!
---------- Post added at 09:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 PM ----------
Seriously though, I admire your pragmatic upgrade preferences on smartphones.
TemporaryTester said:
But the diversity is the beauty of Google. The fact that they move the ecosystem forward and have a constant stream of novelty across their business is what helps them succeed. Android itself doesn't really need more improvement, is my argument. It's already there, and their job is to create new services to drive the platform.
Android as an OS already far exceeds that of iOS IMO, especially with Google Now. What I want to see is how Apple catches , since their platform seems to still be in flux (as far as performance and service delivery goes).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you the software is better but implementing all the services via the OS on a multitude of devices is a difficult task. However starting with this 6P nexus devices I think are on par with iPhone (hardware and software) and I bet will surpass the iPhone 7 next year.
I just wish they worked with one manufacturer to help perfect the hardware and built on a good hardware design instead of going back and forth with with hardware features and designs .....kinda like the 5x with 6P features.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app
If the 6P lives up to the hype, the improvements left are physics stuff: battery life, moar camera, lighter/thinner/stronger, waterproof, sapphire display.
That said, iPhones have been such a bitter disappointment since the Gingerbread days. I'm on Apple for the most part (MBr, iMac 5k) and would consider switching to iOS but the differentiators that custom Androids offer simply aren't there, or even possible. The current crop of crippled hardware is missing too much. When Apple makes a real retina display (eg AMOLED 2k) and loses the oversized HTC-ish bezels it'll be worth another look. Assuming Apple gives out widgets, call recording & MinMinGuard too.
WoodroweBones said:
2. Android support is 2 years
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For a Nexus device the support window is 3 years. N5 is 2 years old and just recieved Android 6.0. It will continue to get updates for atleast another full year. Unfortunately that is likely to end when android N comes next fall.
Interesting that this phone has everything you ever wanted. Did you know you wanted a 1440p phone with a fingerprint scanner 2 years ago? Probably not. I'm sure innovation will continue, though maybe slowly. I'd like to see better battery tech.
This is how the technology cycle is. You cant have the same level of developments every year throughout the products/os cycle.
I believe many of the features we see added are already developed. They just hold back so they can have a balance of Big n small changes each year & also market couple of features as exclusives for the latest version.
It is the same with iOs as well. You will not see a lot of big changes. Many of them will be hardware based. As os's get more refined hardware dependency will reduce. Today you can get excellent performance from a mid range android device. Tomorrow it will spread to lower end devices aswell. In principal its a good thing.
Right now the top most focus for any R&D of software or hardware company is battery life. The company that cracks it will play a major role.
CrashTestDroid said:
If the 6P lives up to the hype, the improvements left are physics stuff: battery life, moar camera, lighter/thinner/stronger, waterproof, sapphire display.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? People are still hung up on sapphire? Sapphire is brittle. I want foldable screens. I still believe Nokia's concept of a phone that trifolds and then bends to fit as a watch is the future. No more carrying a giant brick in my pocket.
Spaderess said:
For a Nexus device the support window is 3 years. N5 is 2 years old and just recieved Android 6.0. It will continue to get updates for atleast another full year. Unfortunately that is likely to end when android N comes next fall.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
True... I guess for me I mean 2 years of getting a new android version but yeah technically 3 years support I suppose.
warplane95 said:
Well, the LG G3 isnt the best phone... you'll probably like the Nexus 6P a LOT!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A G3 running BlissPop ROM is truly a thing of beauty! It's incredibly compact and lightweight for a 5.5" phone, and it flies without the LG software on it. It has a great camera (a step behind the current best, but I've had very few pictures I wasn't very happy with), and the screen as much better than it's reputation indicates it should be ... mostly, I think, because the default brightness is quite low. And the battery life is quite good ... I end most days with 50% after about 1.5 hours of SOT.
I'm mostly upgrading to the 6P because I usually buy a new phone every 6-9 months, but it's been 14 months and I need a new shiny object to fondle. I'm honestly not expecting it to be a whole lot better than the G3 for me ... better screen, better speakers (I hope) and a fingerprint reader may or may not be enough to compensate for the substantial increase in bulk. I had a Note 5 for a week, and it just didn't feel like much of an improvement so I sent it back, which I have never done before.
And my G3 has a replaceable battery, and I could probably be happy with it for 5 more years, if I wasn't such a gadget whore.
Of course I certainly don't think an iPhone is the answer .... that's just ridiculous!
Whoops double post
Here's an idea...try to find a friend with an iPhone who would be willing to trade with you for a week or something. Wipe the phones, trade your SIMs and see how the other side lives.
Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk
Though it had it's issues, the Nexus 6 strong enough in all the categories that I stuck with it for a full year. The only thing strong enough to pull me away now is the 6P. I fully expect it to keep me locked in for the next year as well. However, it could be good enough that I don't feel the need to upgrade to next year's nexus. Only time will tell.
Hello,
I'm thinking of buying a small phone, since I find it uncomfortable those that exceed 5 inches.
I was watching and analyzing those who have good battery, camera and features and I think the best that there are currently on the market are these 2: the Iphone SE and the Sony X Compact.
I'm not going to use it for games of any kind. What I most look for is that it has good battery life, a good rear camera (selfies do not bag) and, if possible, you can hear well with the headphones on.
Obvious that it is 2 different operating systems and, leaving aside that, since I like to use IOS or Android, from their own experience, comments or whatever: with which would they stay?
From now, thank you for you help!!
salocin82 said:
Hello,
I'm thinking of buying a small phone, since I find it uncomfortable those that exceed 5 inches.
I was watching and analyzing those who have good battery, camera and features and I think the best that there are currently on the market are these 2: the Iphone SE and the Sony X Compact.
I'm not going to use it for games of any kind. What I most look for is that it has good battery life, a good rear camera (selfies do not bag) and, if possible, you can hear well with the headphones on.
Obvious that it is 2 different operating systems and, leaving aside that, since I like to use IOS or Android, from their own experience, comments or whatever: with which would they stay?
From now, thank you for you help!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't ever owned an SE so I can't really comment on it vs the compact. However I do know that the compact has more picture storage potential due to the SD Card slot (SE doesn't have one). The SE uses a 12 megapixel shooter vs the Compact using a 23. I am note a huge taking pictures kinda guy so no complaints from me on the camera but I guess that's not saying much. Anyway below is a link to a video comparing the two. It's a little outdated as it has the compact running marshmallow (it has Nougat now) but does a decent job of comparing the two. https://youtu.be/U5g7LTCJqaY
Sony. Water resistance, SDcard. That's about it lol.
The SE may perform smoother as it is powered by the 6S internals.
Sent from my SM-G930T using XDA-Developers Legacy app
If you're not bothered about customizing then buy an iPhone, if you want customization then buy any Android.
iphone fails
- missing notification led
- no customizing and no jailbreak in sight, closed source system
- no slight to unlock (stupid doubble press home button to unlock since apple removed slide to unlock)
- less ram, no sd card, memory not expandable
- 1600 mAh vs 2700 mAh and no quick charge
- smaller display hurts your eyes,
- ligning connector incompatible (how many cables do we need ?)
- easy scratches on alu frame,
- banana bending,
- design from 2012
- steve jobs is dead
etc
-
How is the dev community for this phone though?
There doesn't seem to be any official Lineago OS builds and only one AOSP ROM ...
I would buy this phone in a heartbeat with Lineage OS support but without it seems like one would be dependent on one single developer for ROMs on this phone.
andTab said:
How is the dev community for this phone though?
There doesn't seem to be any official Lineago OS builds and only one AOSP ROM ...
I would buy this phone in a heartbeat with Lineage OS support but without it seems like one would be dependent on one single developer for ROMs on this phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are welcome to join the dev community and help to bring LineageOS to this device. Otherwise buy yourself a Nexus...
ondrejvaroscak said:
You are welcome to join the dev community and help to bring LineageOS to this device. Otherwise buy yourself a Nexus...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nexus phones have ****ty hardware, so no thank you. Then I will get an iPhone.
Don't need a phone with a manufacturing defect that has thousands of phones failing and Google telling you that you are sadly 21 days out of warranty.
Problem solved
I have owned both of them and I found the iPhone SE to be the absolute perfect size for 1 hand use. The X Compact is good but there are still times where the opposite corner can be hard to reach. The SE also feels great in hand and is built with high quality materials. I inevitably returned mine and got a X Compact instead. They are both great phones and if OS doesn't matter to you, I would go with the SE, but I personally prefer Android and it's customization so I returned it.
switcher said:
iphone fails
- less ram, no sd card, memory not expandable-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you're comparing two different Systems, iOS doesn't require as much RAM as Android.
Aviad1928 said:
Well you're comparing two different Systems, iOS doesn't require as much RAM as Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe in the old days, but have you seen IOS 10.3 on the SE today ? Compared to the SE the XC performs much better
and the iphone 7+ is shipped with 3gb for a good reason
switcher said:
maybe in the old days, but have you seen IOS 10.3 on the SE today ? Compared to the SE the XC performs much better
and the iphone 7+ is shipped with 3gb for a good reason
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
haha honestly I haven't seen an iPhone since 2012, maybe you're right
I own both, they both have positives and negatives. I actively swap between the two because of that! The iPhone is smooth and beautiful, great quality hardware, but iOS feels much more restricted and the screen is very small (even for a small phone fan like myself). Camera is awesome; super quality and quick in all conditions, although selfie camera is only 1.2mp. Not that big a deal though since the pics still look good. X compact on the other hand has a much more vibrant screen which is bigger (but not too big!), very snappy and excellent performance compared to other androids, the system is overall much more customizable, great camera too with wider lens and better selfies. But overall the phone feels cheaper in hand (plastic body), and like all android phones it doesn't have the super polished behaviour, look and feel of apple. As I said, positives and negatives for both! For me I use Google Apps for everything, which is more restricted on iphone obviously, and I like being able to read news clearly on my commute on the larger brighter screen, so I use the x compact more. But sometimes I go back to the iPhone se just because of the smooth shiny experience
Hello, I really wanted a powerful and fast phone with clean interface, so I bought an iPhone 7 as the first non-Android phone in 7 years, so I'm very experienced with Android. I just wasn't impressed with with the Pixel for it's price. I also have a SE. I need some functionality in Android that's missing on the 7 and looking for a companion small phone that I can alternate with if needed, so I'm looking to get rid of my SE to fund for the Compact.
What I do learn from using iOS is that it's more primitive than I thought, despite the clean smooth experience. Somethings are just a joke on it I don't know how they get away with it when millions people are paying for it. But it has it's benefits as well, I do enjoy the A10 chip performance and not spending many hours to setup my phone. And some things just work better, like the Fine my iPhone. On the Honor 8, I could just bypass that lost phone screen . I see too many bugs on Android with skinned devices, and giant devices, which made me really tired of dealing with them. The Pixel just doesn't do it for me in term of pricing, all the issues I'm hearing about, the availability. I would say the Android market abandoned me, not the other way around, and this pushed me to iPhone.
My last Sony phone was the Xperia Play. I'm hoping the current Sony's OS is not too far away from stock Android.
I bought the X Compact for my wife as a Christmas gift - the other phone I was looking at was the iPhone SE.
After she tried out a loaner iPhone for about three weeks she decided she preferred Android, chiefly due to more free apps being available/costing less than the iOS version.
From everything I gathered from the numerous reviews, it essentially comes down to which platform you prefer. The iPhone SE has a slightly better camera in low light (night), but that looked like the only hardware advantage. If you go with the x-compact, try to wait until B&H photo has it on sale for $270. It's done that 3 times in the last five months.
switcher said:
iphone fails
- no customizing and no jailbreak in sight, closed source system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was also seriously considering the SE, but that is the big reason I got the X compact. The Sony open devices program is a major plus for me. I look forward to actually owning my own device and have freedom of messing around with it, maybe even trying out Jolla's SailfishOS when it's available.
The only thing that concerns me about Android is there seems to be vulnerabilities exposed on the net or viruses (adware that calls back to someone's server in the background and monitors SMS messages) through legitimate apps.. seems there's a security flaw announced once a week. How is development for security patches on it, given the frequency of malware?
Not sure about ios but I kinda like having open source android., So long as devs are on top of things and not just adding feature fluff.
volcolm said:
The only thing that concerns me about Android is there seems to be vulnerabilities exposed on the net or viruses (adware that calls back to someone's server in the background and monitors SMS messages) through legitimate apps.. seems there's a security flaw announced once a week. How is development for security patches on it, given the frequency of malware?
Not sure about ios but I kinda like having open source android., So long as devs are on top of things and not just adding feature fluff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Android now have built in permission management so you can deny that app from accessing your personal info. It would be nice to have a built in feature to block internet access outright, but generally only MIUI based roms have that. I don't see it as an issue aside from people who download dubious apps or sideloading from questionable sources.
If you are that concerned you should get a phone that is promised monthly security updates, which is a Google Pixel. https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/ I was surprised the X Compact (international version) have timely monthly security updates.
I would say the closed source nature of iOS potentially makes it more insecure, with open source at least you have much more developers looking at it and alerting the issues.
eksasol said:
Android now have built in permission management so you can deny that app from accessing your personal info. It would be nice to have a built in feature to block internet access outright, but generally only MIUI based roms have that. I don't see it as an issue aside from people who download dubious apps or sideloading from questionable sources.
If you are that concerned you should get a phone that is promised monthly security updates, which is a Google Pixel. https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/ I was surprised the X Compact (international version) have timely monthly security updates.
I would say the closed source nature of iOS potentially makes it more insecure, with open source at least you have much more developers looking at it and alerting the issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'd have been easier to state that the XC already gets monthly (security) updates as the GP, but I digress. This is good, probably better than most manufacturers in that regard. My last phone was a buy once, throwaway after a couple months because Huawei decides "Want latest Android, your phone is obsolete -- buy a new Mate instead". Before folks say "Wait, they update their Mate line now!" - watch a "beta" ROM come online from Huawei after a year of not releasing any updates for months (once new phones are around the corner), the poof, scrapped ROM/patch (and now your phone is obsolete/vulnerable) because hey go buy new shiny phone to get the latest "update". It's infuriating, a phone should be "supported" for at least 3 years. Usually the good XDA developers make a phone last much longer than that!