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I just picked one of these up yesterday, the LG Tribute, the Sprint version which is model LS660P (same hardware with the Virgin Mobile version). It's a Snapdragon 400 SoC quad core powered smartphone - it's basically a mix of features between a 1st gen Moto G LTE (the SoC) and the Moto E (removable battery and microSD slot) - it's a CDMA/LTE device only so it's more akin to the Sprint/Boost/Cricket versions of the Moto G I suppose - it does have a SIM card slot but since there's no GSM radio I suppose that's a dead end. It has Sprint LTE support for LTE bands 25, 26, and 41 - it's Spark-enabled as well.
So far in using it I've been extremely pleased with the performance overall considering it's $39.99 right now at many retailers like Fry's and Best Buy (retail is $79.99).
The biggest downside is the 800x480 display resolution but honestly I could care less these days. I just owned an LG G2 and loved it but I had to sell it to cover some bills, and when I saw the Tribute specs and that low price I figured it couldn't hurt to mess around with it a bit.
But in terms of getting it up and running, the first time I powered it up I was pleasantly surprised when I saw this on the Apps screen:
Just that, and nothing else - this thing has zero Sprint bloatware on it, absolutely nothing, and nothing from LG either. Yes it just has 4GB of internal storage leaving about 1.45GB for the user but it's got the microSD slot for storage. I've done all the requisite Google stock apps updates and installed all the apps I've purchased and the free ones I regularly use and I still have 435MB left so I'm good to go. Put my 32GB microSD card in it with 6GB of Opus-encoded audio files, a couple of movies and TV shows, and so far it's been fantastic.
Current battery is showing 37% left from a 100% charge, 12 hours and 3 minutes on, 5 hours and 14 minutes of screen on time so far (and still going because I'm watching Captain America: The Winter Soldier on it and there's 1 hour and 45 mins left in the movie), Wi-Fi has been on the entire time (it's in Airplane mode, however), screen brightness using MX Player is set at 12 (of 15), volume at 15. I use Google Hangouts with Google Voice to make "phone calls" using Wi-Fi so it's in Airplane mode most of the time when I'm at home.
I expect to hit the 7 hours of SOT and this is the first full charge on the device so, consider me a very happy camper.
I know requests have been put into place for Stumproot support so a root could be possible on this device, and I know that LG has posted the 4.4.2 ROM and kernel source code (I grabbed that last night). So here's my question:
Is there anyone out there that might be interested in attempting to develop any recovery for this (assuming we get root at some point), and then perhaps developing some custom ROM for it - seems like it should be a relatively easy thing considering a) we have the full ROM and kernel source even though it's just 4.4.2 at the moment (I would guess LG has no intentions of boosting this to 5.0 so that'll most likely never happen) and b) it's so close to the architecture of the CMDA/LTE version of the Moto G LTE that some kind of port might be possible towards Lollipop if and when that happens...?
Long sentence, sorry about that, I get wordy at times.
But I just figured I'd ask if there's any interest at all. Yes, it's weak on the resolution, yes, it's not a powerhouse device, yes, it's fairly cheap but it's functional and could be an awesome little smartphone with a little "help" thrown its way like a potential for a custom kernel as well to get the quad core and the governor a bit more under control.
I fully suspect this device is easily capable of 7 hours of SOT with such "upgrades" if anyone is interested. I lack the technical know-how and skills to get buried in ROM development much less kernels, so I figured I would toss the question out considering it shares so much common with the Moto G LTE variant + the Moto E's microSD slot potential.
Just curious... any responses are welcome and appreciated, thanks.
Update:
It's even better than I'd hoped...
Almost 8 hours of screen on time - that was a full movie (2 hours 15 minutes long and I let it play the entire thing, first frame to final), 4 TV shows (about 42-45 minutes long each), music playback for almost 1 hour, a few Wi-Fi phone calls using Google Hangouts/Voice, and some web surfing using the stock browser.
$40... absolutely amazing.
I'm just concerned about the amount of CPU time the Android OS shows there - it apparently used as much battery as the screen being on for 7 hours and 38 minutes did so there's something amiss hiding inside. Will be using Wakelock Detector to see if I can detect anything I can disable on the next go considering this was the first full 100% charge and battery test. Just for the record, the Keep Awake time listed on the Android OS battery usage page is 11 hours so it's not idle, there's something going on in there that's using the battery, now I just have to find out what it is. The CPU total time was 4 hours 17 minutes for Android OS.
I'm pretty satisfied, now I wonder what this thing could really be capable of in terms of battery life with a proper custom kernel and ROM. I wonder...
I've been waiting for something to pop up for this phone. I've had it for 2 weeks now. Its great. I agree the battery life is awesome on this thing.
I have the VM version and would be willing to test if someone came up with something.
sigh
Coming from an iPhone so I'm totally new to the android platform but the storage in this thing is severely lacking. I got a micro sd for it, but barely can even get any apps to download due to lack of space. I'm assuming something like this would be helped by a root. It's driving me bananas and making me yearn for my Apple days
Tribute
I also just switched to a Tribute, with KitKat. Was incredibly pissed off to find that Android had crippled the external SD's role. I mean, WTF guys? So now I am on a mission. Every day I scour the interwebs looking for hope that someone has figured out a root exploit for this. I would even settle for being able to flash a custom ROM like Cyanogen. Just so long as I can get PodKicker to save 'casts to the friggin SD card. Is that too much to ask? Anyway, nothing i have attempted so far has worked at all.
Oh, and you got lucky with the no bloatware thing. I got mine through Boost Mobile, and they clotted this damned thing chock full of B.S. To the point that OUT OF THE BOX I couldn't install apps from Playstore without uninstalling previous updates to all the big Google apps. And without Root, I can't get rid of this BoostZone ****e.
I have my doubts as to whether or not this device will get any support here at all at this point (yes I know it's just been a day or so since I made this thread). I didn't even know about the LG L90 till earlier today and when I checked out the specs I realized that it's a better device overall than the Tribute, of course the price reflects the differences as well (larger higher resolution screen, just qHD 960x540 but still it's larger at 4.7" also), with NFC support (I actually make use of that myself), the removable battery/microSD slot, and it's got support here with its own subforum now with a lot of activity (well, a lot for it I suppose) and it even has an IR port for QuickRemote too which is pretty awesome: my Wife is deaf so anytime we go someplace like a Doctor's office or hospital with TVs on, if the captions aren't enabled I turn 'em on with the smartphone. Used to do that with my Galaxy S4 Active in the past, nice to see LG and some other companies are hopping on the "remote control" bandwagon now too.
There's root available and also a bootloader unlock apparently, source code is out and there's work being done so... I wish I had known that before yesterday basically. Fry's, where I got this Tribute, won't do a return on it because I opened the box (and obviously I've done more since I got it too) so that's a wash I suppose. It's still a damned fine little device for $40.
The L90 is "on sale" through T-Mobile's website for $100 with a coupon code right now, I would have grabbed that if I had known about it and the development in progress. Guess I'll have to keep my eyes out next time, might find one used on craigslist soon so we'll see what happens.
I'll keep the Tribute, of course, and keep hoping for a root at some point. I did ask in the Stumproot thread for someone to take a look at it and see what might be possible so, let's keep our fingers crossed.
As for the bloat, I had someone at HowardForums tell me if I activate the phone with Sprint (which I haven't done) that'll install all the Sprint bloatware so, fat chance of that happening I guess. I'll keep it as is and hope for the best.
Anyone working on this? I tried stump, and there are a ton of requests, but no one has said a word about it.
Thanks!
Still hoping but no progress has been reported. It's common knowledge these days that root on newer devices is going to continue to get more and more difficult with the potential that someday we're just not going to be able to do it on most anything. The low price of this one and lack of the high end specs makes most devs (at least in my opinion) not even give a crap about it so, if someone does and we benefit from it, that's awesome.
If nothing happens, it wasn't a complete waste, it's a fine little device with decent processing power and damned great battery life as noted so, $40 was nothing I guess.
Still looking
Still looking for root to the LG Tribute and nothing works. Has anyone heard anything new about it???
Just bumping this to revive interest.
sweetbsting said:
Coming from an iPhone so I'm totally new to the android platform but the storage in this thing is severely lacking. I got a micro sd for it, but barely can even get any apps to download due to lack of space. I'm assuming something like this would be helped by a root. It's driving me bananas and making me yearn for my Apple days
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You so realize you bought a low to mid range prepaid phone right?
I realize that but there has been quite a bit of interest in the model on the internets so unless you have something helpful to add, kindly ignore my post. Thanks.
aburn95 said:
You so realize you bought a low to mid range prepaid phone right?
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You do understand that your comment takes away from the actual thread content, right?
Here is more information about the phone for anyone interested in development:
LG LS660 (LG Tribute) Virgin Mobile.
http://www.lg.com/us/cell-phones/lg-LS660-Virgin-Mobile-tribute
Should I buy this phone and wait for a root?
Or are there other similar price and spec phones that are easier to root?
Do some phones never get rooted?
-snip-
br0adband said:
There's root available and also a bootloader unlock apparently, source code is out and there's work being done so... I wish I had known that before yesterday basically. Fry's, where I got this Tribute, won't do a return on it because I opened the box (and obviously I've done more since I got it too) so that's a wash I suppose. It's still a damned fine little device for $40.
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Can you inform us where you found root & bootloader unlock? I've been on Android for years, but am relatively new to the root/mod side of things.
LiquidRabbit said:
Where did you download this? I am pretty curious.
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I don't own the LG Tribute any longer but the source code was at LG's open source repository for the LS660P (the Sprint variant, but it should be identical to the others I would guess):
https://www.lg.com/global/support/opensource/opensourceList?types=NAME&search=ls660p
emarkp said:
Can you inform us where you found root & bootloader unlock? I've been on Android for years, but am relatively new to the root/mod side of things.
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Honestly I can't even remember now, I saw some post at one of the other forums (AndroidPolice maybe) that said someone had discovered a working bootloader unlock, I could be wrong in that but honestly I can't recall the specifics at the momemt. As stated, I no longer own a Tribute (nothing at the moment, my sig always reflects what I own at any given time, for the record).
Good luck... it's really a fantastic smartphone for the $40 I paid for it (and Fry's still sells it for that price). I wish there was a GSM model 'cause I'd be all over it in a second flat; can't do much of anything with the CDMA model in terms of getting service here in my area. I won't deal with Sprint for service, and Boost/Virgin Mobile/etc don't have plans that come anywhere near what the $30/month T-Mobile plan does so...
For $35 a month, you get unlimited everything on Virgin Mobile...
For $20, you get 300 minutes and unlimited everything. I stuck with the $20 plan at unlimited everything as I was grandfathered in many, many years ago.
Possible root method?
Hello! I have been using android for a while and just got this phone (LG Tribute, Virgin Mobile). I was researching rooting this, and I found this: youtube.com/watch?v=ZBdrVa_bo5o
It seems to be advertising legit software, etc, but I wonder if this successfully roots the Tribute. On their website (androidphonetransfer_DOTCOM) ,they have a free trial for the software.
I'd like to try it, but I'm not sure if it would mess up my device or not (I'm new to rooting). anyone want to give this a try?
It does not work.
I am also interested. I was looking for a android phone with at least 4.5 inch screen to act as a dedicated gps navigator. LG Tribute fit the bill perfectly. Quad core processor is fast, would be nice to get rid of Sprint activation and clean the device up with a root.
I'm surprised there is not more interest in this phone. The sale price of $40 happens pretty regularly, which IMO is a great deal for this phone.
It has so far been a nightmare, I'm sick, tired and I pray and hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else so I thought to let you guys know. This has nothing to do with the wonderful device nor Samsung, The entire fault is on me. Just me.
Do not attempt the Dual Sim + SD mod on the Note 7. I had it up and running perfectly on my Galaxy S7 Edge and I sold it to move on to the Note 7. Pre-ordered it in Dubai and purchased it right on the launch day August 3rd at 12.01 AM, most likely this is the first ever unit sold to an end User across the whole world. The device was fantastic, the leaks didn't do any justice, the real thing was way more awesome. Drew a lot of attention from strangers, especially when unlocking through the IRIS scanner. It was a whole new experience.
Didn't set it up, kept it on its special place at home waiting for the spigen I ordered to come as I didn't wanna risk scratches on the shiny unit.
Yesterday morning...., I swear if I had a time machine I'd go back...
I tried to put the Hybrid Sim + MicroSD card which I was using on the S7 Edge to the Note 7. I wish I had a save point to go back and revert this. The sim fit on the tray perfectly and slipped right in with much ease than it was on the S7 Edge. Worked like a charm, both stable, images in showed up, signals showed up. Done. My mod still works. Yeay.
Not so much.
Then I decided to remove it, as the phone is still not being used, let’s leave it aside for the spigen to come.
Tried to remove the tray again from the phone, so that I can defrag the microSD before putting it again. Makes the damned gallery load fast. Took the sim pin in the box, inserted through the hole in tray.. Not going in. Tight. Crap. It's a bit tighter than S7 Edge. Pushed it a little bit more inside, uh-huh, not going in. Applied a bit of force and damn it!!!!! The pin went right through like lightning, pushing whatever in ahead of its way. The sim ejection mechanism, the rubber thing you see under the hole of the sim tray was gone. Probably fell in to the inside of the phone. Sim tray didn't move a bit, still in its place. My hands trembled, heart stopped and I just sat there looking at it for a mere decade. I just couldn't believe what just happened, the shiny brand new phone.. Already broken beyond use, my own damned fault. Tried the sim pin again, doesn't even shake the tray. It's just jammed stuck in there. with the Hybrid SIM
Walked right into the Samsung store in the Mall,and the technician's held on to the phone for a few seconds looking at it having a hard time to believe what has happened. Must've thought what a clumsy ass I am, shiny brand new Note 7, not even available for regular customers who didn’t pre-order and he's already receiving one for repair. Might've been the world's first. I used all the Note devices down the line, you will find my posts in all the Note forums in XDA, and in my life this is the first time ever I walked into a Samsung Service Centre. The guy couldn't repair it, and told me in a disappointing tone that he doesn't even know how to open it up and even the tools are not available for it. Darn it. Wish I could slap myself across the face so that I’d wake up from this nightmare. Nope it's real. He’s reasoning was legit, even he was depressed and motionless. It’s too early for even a technician to know how to open this up. He didn’t give up, gave me an address to a main service center of Samsung.
Told me to take it to the main service Centre, and walked out with utter disappointment, my heart already sunken in, legs and hands still trembling. Main Centre was closed at that time, had to stay another day to know the fate and consequences of my mistake. After a long sleepless night, Got to the Service center, was there as soon as it opened. Gave the phone in, even the coordinator lady was surprised, such a new phone, and what have you done?
I know.
Got a rap sheet for the new phone, accepting for repair. Deep mistakes highlighted... Misuse, Warranty Void... Good Gosh. This is a nightmare. It will take 3 days Sir, We will call you when it’s done. It will be repaired, not replaced.
Repairs doesn’t do good to the water resistance of the device. Cannot drop it in water again. Never had a repaired phone in my life, but by experience I've seen a lot, they squeak and creek after being assembled again. It’s a goner. Just like that. One foolish attempt, and drained 3k just in a matter of minutes. Probably the world's first epic fail on Note 7. Can't imagine how the faces of the Samsung Service team would look, when they see what's stuck inside the phone. A MicroSD, uh.... no Wait, There's a sim on the back of it.... What! the heck is this ?
TL;DR - Word of Advice, Don’t jump into risky mods. Don’t ever attempt the SD Card + SIM mod on the Note 7. I've already risked my device, don't risk another device. It's a fabulous device out of the box, use it as it is.
Cheers Guys!
Damn man, I can't imagine how crappy you must feel right now about this. Hopefully your phone comes back in a good condition and you can possibly sell it and buy a new model.
another word of advice: if you're thinking about trying to defrag your SD card, don't. it doesn't improve storage speed and will shorten your SD's life.
HesThatGuy said:
Damn man, I can't imagine how crappy you must feel right now about this. Hopefully your phone comes back in a good condition and you can possibly sell it and buy a new model.
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Thanks a ton for the kind thoughts Mate.
Fingers crossed over here. !
najodleglejszy said:
another word of advice: if you're thinking about trying to defrag your SD card, don't. it doesn't improve storage speed and will shorten your SD's life.
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Yeah, Just learned over at Reddit. Not gonna do it again.
Mod edit: Do not quote large posts, it clutters the forums.
You must be rich if you already had an S7 Edge and then you got a note 7... i can't even buy a meizu m2 note
eloy777 said:
You must be rich if you already had an S7 Edge and then you got a note 7... i can't even buy a meizu m2 note
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"Had"
Sold it and bought the Note 7.
eloy777 said:
You must be rich if you already had an S7 Edge and then you got a note 7... i can't even buy a meizu m2 note
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He said he sold the S7 Edge to buy the Note 7.
If you used a credit card to purchase your phone, it should be covered against accidental damage for 90-120 days.
LOL! Defrag SD card! Facepalm!
Ugh, defragging an SD card...? Really?
How did you get yours shipped to USA? I want to buy one. Also how much was it total?
It's stated in the post he spent 3k! ?
Sent from my SM-N920T using Tapatalk
Hope they replace and give you a fresh piece. And thanks for the post, else I would have been the one trying that out.
Hi bro, can you post pictures of the LTE bands mentioned on the box... Looking for it to buy..
willstay said:
Hope they replace and give you a fresh piece. And thanks for the post, else I would have been the one trying that out.
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This post was made for those who are courageous like you! Glad that my Post at Least saved yours!
Cheers!
3k means 3000 Emirati Drhams, converted to 800$
I feel for you...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using XDA-Developers mobile app
Wow... Did you actually tell them what you did? Why wouldn't you just take it in and say "it's broke" ??
Sounds like those guys that start talking to the police after they commit a crime... Haha
Bummer! Hope it works out....
Sad, sad, story... But I love your writing style! Such emotion.
So far I love it. One of the first things I did was download Google Now launcher, as I was coming from a Nexus 6 and had the Nexus 5 before that, and the Nexus 4 before that. So yeah, I was really used to stock(ish) Android. I can deal with most of the software changes I'm dealt with, it's no big deal to change the way I used to do things. Sometimes I think purist Android users can be over the top, but that's like anything else in life.
It's fast as hell once I turned off animations like I always do. WIFI reception seems average, and so does the network. I love the thinness of it. (remember I came from a Nexus 6 which is wide as %$#@) It feels like it was made for my hand.
I'm obviously not going in order here, but even the unboxing experience was very nice. Very neatly packaged in a slick white box that screamed quality. And they included all of the necessary accessories to have a nice first impression. They included a USB-C to Micro USB converter for those that need it, a plastic screen protector, a clear case, a quick charge wall unit, and an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain. Nice. Sometimes it's the little things that really matter, and you can tell a company actually cares about its customers. Anker is one of the best when it comes to customer relations. Keep that in mind when buying cables or chargers.
After watching some of the Youtube reviews of this phone, (after I bought it) I was a little worried if I had made a mistake. After getting it and using it for a while, all of those concerns are negated. It's just fine, and a hell of a deal (I got it for $329 from Newegg). Even me being a long time Rommer and rooter, I don't feel the need to Rom. (that may change) Google Launcher works great, so I'm happy.
There's a bunch of tweaks I have to do yet, but so far it's been nice. I have no issues whatsoever. It's just a good solid phone for what you pay. $329 is actually a good price at this point. And even cheaper if you don't mind gently used. Thumbs up on this phone.
Thank you for your review. In particular I did not realize that in the box there is "an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain" until reading your review! . I would miss this practical tool, thinking that it was an useless piece of rubber.
dnlilas said:
Thank you for your review. In particular I did not realize that in the box there is "an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain" until reading your review! . I would miss this practical tool, thinking that it was an useless piece of rubber.
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I was trying to be semi-sarcastic.
I had much the same experience with mine, loving it at first, and also coming from a Nexus 6. I'm planning on selling mine now though as I've been unable to unlock the bootloader to get root and custom recovery. The stock software isn't bad compared to some, but compared to the freedom you have with the Nexus 6, being stuck on stock unrooted kinda sucks.
It's been kind of a pain trying to sell it again not at a significant loss though, so I'm thinking about trying to give it another go and unlock the bootloader. I was running into the problem of not being able to mount the SD Card in recovery to flash the B20 firmare.
It really is a great phone hardware wise. I absolutely love the bright, vibrant screen and the speakers are great. Plus I like the look of the phone overall. If I could just get the software I wanted on it I could live happily ever after, lol.
wolfen69 said:
So far I love it. One of the first things I did was download Google Now launcher, as I was coming from a Nexus 6 and had the Nexus 5 before that, and the Nexus 4 before that. So yeah, I was really used to stock(ish) Android. I can deal with most of the software changes I'm dealt with, it's no big deal to change the way I used to do things. Sometimes I think purist Android users can be over the top, but that's like anything else in life.
It's fast as hell once I turned off animations like I always do. WIFI reception seems average, and so does the network. I love the thinness of it. (remember I came from a Nexus 6 which is wide as %$#@) It feels like it was made for my hand.
I'm obviously not going in order here, but even the unboxing experience was very nice. Very neatly packaged in a slick white box that screamed quality. And they included all of the necessary accessories to have a nice first impression. They included a USB-C to Micro USB converter for those that need it, a plastic screen protector, a clear case, a quick charge wall unit, and an over-the-top sim ejection tool that can be attached to your keychain. Nice. Sometimes it's the little things that really matter, and you can tell a company actually cares about its customers. Anker is one of the best when it comes to customer relations. Keep that in mind when buying cables or chargers.
After watching some of the Youtube reviews of this phone, (after I bought it) I was a little worried if I had made a mistake. After getting it and using it for a while, all of those concerns are negated. It's just fine, and a hell of a deal (I got it for $329 from Newegg). Even me being a long time Rommer and rooter, I don't feel the need to Rom. (that may change) Google Launcher works great, so I'm happy.
There's a bunch of tweaks I have to do yet, but so far it's been nice. I have no issues whatsoever. It's just a good solid phone for what you pay. $329 is actually a good price at this point. And even cheaper if you don't mind gently used. Thumbs up on this phone.
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Good to go on the write up here. I went with a used one via Swappa, waiting for it to come in and I checked around with some XDA knowledge before hand. And they said it was a good device. I look forward to getting, although these days I dont have much time in "mod'ing / flashing" but I also had a N6P, which sold that via Swappa.
Thanks again for your thoughts here. :good:
Prozart said:
I was running into the problem of not being able to mount the SD Card in recovery to flash the B20 firmare.
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Sorry for totally off-topic, but I have no idea what you mean with flashing the B20 firmware. If it's the same process as the A2017G just using axon7tool (axon7toolkit might do it too, and probably easier) works. After you have TWRP you can spam the SD card option under Mount and it'll mount itself eventually. Or use the USB cable via MTP on TWRP. but again, what B20 firmware?
I don't know if I'll be able to help you, I just read most guides for the A2017G. Try axon7toolkit since it supposedly works for all 3 versions and can unlock your BL.
And the review, I honestly don't know what kind of mind control ZTE uses on the stock ROM, but I'm constantly going back to it after trying other ROMs. It works nicely if you don't count the things they break on every update, but hey, it gives a little of thrill to the whole situation (Will they fix Google Play? Will they even bother to fix exFAT? What about mobile data?)
What about the SIM tool? It is pretty awesome xd
Exfat is fixed in the new update b04 now u can use SD card upto 256gb.
I get it; time moves forward and people adopt new devices. But some of us hang on as long as we can, or "inherit" old great devices for a variety of reasons.
Is there nobody left here to help z3V owners? Just say as much if that's the case. Hell, even be humane about it and shut down the section. Zero hope is a reality that forces people to move on, while wondering just plagues them with indecision that becomes a frustrating waste of time.
The reality of this forum and what it offers me as a consumer is that I simply don't purchase a phone if there's no support here. That's how grand and extensive the XDA community is.
If there's simply no more support for the z3V on XDA, then future problems with them render them obsolete. There's simply nowhere else on Earth to go for such information.
"Knowledge is power."
"With great power comes great responsibility."
AddictedToGlass said:
I get it; time moves forward and people adopt new devices. But some of us hang on as long as we can, or "inherit" old great devices for a variety of reasons.
Is there nobody left here to help z3V owners? Just say as much if that's the case. Hell, even be humane about it and shut down the section. Zero hope is a reality that forces people to move on, while wondering just plagues them with indecision that becomes a frustrating waste of time.
The reality of this forum and what it offers me as a consumer is that I simply don't purchase a phone if there's no support here. That's how grand and extensive the XDA community is.
If there's simply no more support for the z3V on XDA, then future problems with them render them obsolete. There's simply nowhere else on Earth to go for such information.
"Knowledge is power."
"With great power comes great responsibility."
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Click to collapse
When my Z3v screen went shot... I tried an LG G6? Whatever the current one is. Took it back a week later and bought an unopened Z3v off of Ebay. Nothing has what this phone has from Verizon. Stereo front facing sound. Camera button. IP68 water resistance. Expansion memory slot. If another phone ever had all that... I'd upgrade. Until then I will happily keep my Z3v.
kentompkins said:
When my Z3v screen went shot... I tried an LG G6? Whatever the current one is. Took it back a week later and bought an unopened Z3v off of Ebay. Nothing has what this phone has from Verizon. Stereo front facing sound. Camera button. IP68 water resistance. Expansion memory slot. If another phone ever had all that... I'd upgrade. Until then I will happily keep my Z3v.
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I think the Moto X Pure checks most of those boxes. I still like the Z3V, but since the usb charge port "flap" is failing again, I'm thinking of switching back to my old Moto X 2014. There are not a lot of compelling upgrades out there, I tend to agree. Front facing stereo is a big plus for me, and most of the nice new phones have speakers near the usb charge port...not great.
Still using this and my pixel as o e of my daily devices
I use the z3v exclusively since i got it in 2014. It has enough features for me. Camera is good, the music player is great , i have 128gig card with 32gig internal , So enough storage for anything i ever do. I have rooted it, modified system to dark instead of white, so it doesnt hurt my eyes. Added viper ,dolby, and a few other mods and its been a great phone for me . If it breaks , i will replace it with another z3v off the net .
I still have the Z3v and occasionally use it for light duty work, but a couple months ago I moved on finally to the Note 8. It was literally falling apart with the battery expanding...I had to constantly Force the back glass panel back inside the frame. But I had the phone for 3 full years and never once had to do a factory reset... it never once even lagged.
The Z3v was the best phone that nobody knew about. If i could get another Sony on Verizon I would. But that's just not the case.
Sony z3v Haven
First of all, this phone is stable. The only problems I've ever had with this phone is when I was attempting to Root or upgrade to 5.1.1. I've used this phone rooted & exclusively since 2015 and have yet to find a replacement phone. I am on my 3rd z3v. I have a tendency to drop my phones and I don't like to use cases.
Most the time I have run this phone on T-Mobile from California to Florida & International networks in Mexico, Turkey, & Eastern Europe --it works perfect and once I activated it on the Verizon network and I fell in love :victory: with it all over again; it's like the phone became AliVE again! It's blazing fast on Verizon however Verizon is too expensive and their lack of affordable international options pushed me back to T-Mobile.
REASONS I LOVE THIS PHONE
High Quality Craftsmanship(aluminum&glass)
Dedicated Camera Button
IPX8 Water Resistant
Front Facing Stereo Speakers
QI Wireless Charging (which I almost always use as to avoid opening the flap & for convenience)
SD memory card slot
Beautiful full HD screen (which I never appreciated until forced to use an Apple 6s for my work)
Quality HD Music Player
Superior Auto 20+ MP Camera pictures & 4K Video (the Timeshift Video-High Frame Rate-is stunning!)
ONLY REASONS I AM LOOKING FOR A REPLACEMENT
VoLTE (I want access to T-Mobile's voice over LTE because it only works with Verizon)
Access to more of T-Mobile's 4G network. (Newer faster radios bands for T-Mobile and other companies)
Dual SIM phone.
If I cannot find another phone with these options I will be buying my 4th z3v. The Verizon representative tried to push their latest Motorola on me but I hated the feel. It felt cheap.
AddictedToGlass said:
I get it; time moves forward and people adopt new devices. But some of us hang on as long as we can, or "inherit" old great devices for a variety of reasons.
Is there nobody left here to help z3V owners? Just say as much if that's the case. Hell, even be humane about it and shut down the section. Zero hope is a reality that forces people to move on, while wondering just plagues them with indecision that becomes a frustrating waste of time.
The reality of this forum and what it offers me as a consumer is that I simply don't purchase a phone if there's no support here. That's how grand and extensive the XDA community is.
If there's simply no more support for the z3V on XDA, then future problems with them render them obsolete. There's simply nowhere else on Earth to go for such information.
"Knowledge is power."
"With great power comes great responsibility."
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I've seen support on other sites. It caused me to hard brick my phone. haha
The real issue is that there are posts for the Z3 as well as Custom Roms for it. Sometimes they apply to the Z3V, but nobody comes flat out and says it. I for one am not willing to brick another phone just to perform a test. Of course, I don't think that is possible because the replacement phone I received has a locked bootloader... my old one definitely unlocked. I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to though.
I kept getting a message that there's no SIM card connected; I have to pull out the battery to get the phone working properly again.
Has anyone,experienced this being fixed it. Wasnt happending to me everyday besides, just one a,week. But its,happened everyday. Just,waiting,trm
adam79 said:
I kept getting a message that there's no SIM card connected; I have to pull out the battery to get the phone working properly again.
Has anyone,experienced this being fixed it. Wasnt happending to me everyday besides, just one a,week. But its,happened everyday. Just,waiting,trm
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mine has the same issue. I have already created a thread in here about that, and I received as a suggestion to reflash the kdz, but I'm still waiting for the oreo kdz to be released to try this out. you can give a shot doing that
leonardovallem said:
mine has the same issue. I have already created a thread in here about that, and I received as a suggestion to reflash the kdz, but I'm still waiting for the oreo kdz to be released to try this out. you can give a shot doing that
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What's the kdz? Also, I'm only at 7.0; I think Oreo is 8.0.
I wqs reading a thread with a similar issue and it was suggested to wipe the active cache partition. I haven't tried this yet, have you? Do you know if that'll wipe out all my storage? It's a whole process...shutdown, reboot holding Power + Volume Up and then following screen instructions.
adam79 said:
What's the kdz? Also, I'm only at 7.0; I think Oreo is 8.0.
I wqs reading a thread with a similar issue and it was suggested to wipe the active cache partition. I haven't tried this yet, have you? Do you know if that'll wipe out all my storage? It's a whole process...shutdown, reboot holding Power + Volume Up and then following screen instructions.
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I've already tried lots of things, and unfortunately none of them worked for be. Basically I tried wiping the internal storage, wiping the system and then reflashing the rom I was using, and I also tried reflashing the stock android. Nothing changed.
btw, kdz is basically the file that carries the system that is going to be installed in your phone. some versions of g5 already got the 8.0 oreo kdz, and some still on 7.0 nougat, reflashing the same 7.0 kdz could be a relevant try, but I'm not sure.
and also, wiping the cache won't change anything for you. wiping it will basically erase all temporary data created by the apps and system im your phone.
leonardovallem said:
I've already tried lots of things, and unfortunately none of them worked for be. Basically I tried wiping the internal storage, wiping the system and then reflashing the rom I was using, and I also tried reflashing the stock android. Nothing changed.
btw, kdz is basically the file that carries the system that is going to be installed in your phone. some versions of g5 already got the 8.0 oreo kdz, and some still on 7.0 nougat, reflashing the same 7.0 kdz could be a relevant try, but I'm not sure.
and also, wiping the cache won't change anything for you. wiping it will basically erase all temporary data created by the apps and system im your phone.
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What has your experience been like with this SIM issue? Did it start off like I described mine? At first just once in a while, then once a day, then twice a day, but fixable by just releasing the battery and snapping it right back in. That's where I'm at now; twice a day. Although it didn't happen today...ever since I opened the tray, readjusted the card and blew into it.
I'm just curious if it always starts slow and progressively gets worse. Did u already mention how bad u have it? Like the frequency of the "SIM Card Removed" error and what u need to do for a temp fix? And if it snuck up on ya or has been the same since it began.
It sounds like reinstalling the kdz will wipe out my storage, ya? Just the internal or SD card as well? I haven't tried the LG Backup App that came with the phone. Is there a particular backup App that I should check out, or is the LG on good enough? I have a ton of voice recorder mp3's and Quick Memo+ files that I manually backup regularly...just by connecting the phone to my laptop and dragging files onto it.
I've been thinking about buying a compact phone for a while; maybe now is the right time. The only decent one I've found besides the iPhone, which I'm not a fan, is the Sony Xperia XZ1. The screen is 4.6" and the phone itself is 5". They're way expensive tho, close to $400, which is practically double my budget. I may be mistaken, but I recall the XZ2 being cheaper than the XZ1. I haven't look into a planned release date for the XZ3, which one might assume would make the XZ1 cheaper.
I want something that is atleast on par w/ the G5's specs, as well as audio quality. Besides some light internet use (I don't use social media), I mainly use the phone for music, both headphones and speaker, and calls/texts. I don't care about the camera specs, fingerprint and facial scanners (I don't even lock my phone with the keypad lock). I just want a phone that doesn't lag, sounds good (quality, as well as, dB of loudspeaker; I think the XZ1 might have stereo speakers), enough internal storage for Apps and a SD slot.
adam79 said:
What has your experience been like with this SIM issue? Did it start off like I described mine? At first just once in a while, then once a day, then twice a day, but fixable by just releasing the battery and snapping it right back in. That's where I'm at now; twice a day. Although it didn't happen today...ever since I opened the tray, readjusted the card and blew into it.
I'm just curious if it always starts slow and progressively gets worse. Did u already mention how bad u have it? Like the frequency of the "SIM Card Removed" error and what u need to do for a temp fix? And if it snuck up on ya or has been the same since it began.
It sounds like reinstalling the kdz will wipe out my storage, ya? Just the internal or SD card as well? I haven't tried the LG Backup App that came with the phone. Is there a particular backup App that I should check out, or is the LG on good enough? I have a ton of voice recorder mp3's and Quick Memo+ files that I manually backup regularly...just by connecting the phone to my laptop and dragging files onto it.
I've been thinking about buying a compact phone for a while; maybe now is the right time. The only decent one I've found besides the iPhone, which I'm not a fan, is the Sony Xperia XZ1. The screen is 4.6" and the phone itself is 5". They're way expensive tho, close to $400, which is practically double my budget. I may be mistaken, but I recall the XZ2 being cheaper than the XZ1. I haven't look into a planned release date for the XZ3, which one might assume would make the XZ1 cheaper.
I want something that is atleast on par w/ the G5's specs, as well as audio quality. Besides some light internet use (I don't use social media), I mainly use the phone for music, both headphones and speaker, and calls/texts. I don't care about the camera specs, fingerprint and facial scanners (I don't even lock my phone with the keypad lock). I just want a phone that doesn't lag, sounds good (quality, as well as, dB of loudspeaker; I think the XZ1 might have stereo speakers), enough internal storage for Apps and a SD slot.
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yes, my issue is just like yours, but I always temp fixed it by restarting the phone, never having to take off the battery, and also yes, mine seems to get worse as time passes by, in the beginning a restart used to fix the issue for more than a day or even two. by now a restart just fix it for like minutes, no matter how many times I restart it, so this is turning into a huge thing for me.
flashing the kdz will probably wipe out your internal storage. I never used backup applications like LG Backup, I basically use Google photos for media backup and the built-in android backup that downloads all your apps with your data when I put your google account in a cleaned phone.
I totally understand your point by wanting to buy another phone, but I hugely wouldn't recommend you to buy a xperia. any fix for this phone can be very expensive, and they don't use to be easy to fix, G5 do though. by this pricing range I definitely recommend you to buy an oneplus phone or especially a xiaomi phone. with aroung $350 you can get a poco f1 from AliExpress. it's an awesome phone, and it has a huge community, you'll be able to find any kind of roms for it in xda and lots of tips by its happy users. it sports a snapdragon 845 and 6gb of ram, which is basically the hardware present on this year's flagships.
leonardovallem said:
yes, my issue is just like yours, but I always temp fixed it by restarting the phone, never having to take off the battery, and also yes, mine seems to get worse as time passes by, in the beginning a restart used to fix the issue for more than a day or even two. by now a restart just fix it for like minutes, no matter how many times I restart it, so this is turning into a huge thing for me.
flashing the kdz will probably wipe out your internal storage. I never used backup applications like LG Backup, I basically use Google photos for media backup and the built-in android backup that downloads all your apps with your data when I put your google account in a cleaned phone.
I totally understand your point by wanting to buy another phone, but I hugely wouldn't recommend you to buy a xperia. any fix for this phone can be very expensive, and they don't use to be easy to fix, G5 do though. by this pricing range I definitely recommend you to buy an oneplus phone or especially a xiaomi phone. with aroung $350 you can get a poco f1 from AliExpress. it's an awesome phone, and it has a huge community, you'll be able to find any kind of roms for it in xda and lots of tips by its happy users. it sports a snapdragon 845 and 6gb of ram, which is basically the hardware present on this year's flagships.
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Lame. So it seems like this problem will just continue to spiral out of control. What do you mean by an expensive fix for the Xperia? Is there something that commonly breaks on these, or are they known to be unreliable? Are any of the phone's u mentioned compact? I looked at One Plus phones when I was buying this G5 and remember them being gigantic. The G5 is a bit too big for my liking, but it blew away every other phone in it's price range.
Also, the $350-400 price range is the reason I don't already have the XZ1. Both me and my wallet would prefer something closer to the G5 price. 6 GB of RAM seems a bit unessacary for what I use my phones for...I forgot to mention that I don't play games either. The G5 has worked flawlessly for me, and it has 4 GB, right? I was thinking that I might be able to get away with 3 GB, tho I'm hesitant to go that route. My last couple phones before the G5 had 2 GB, and they were a bit laggy. I'm not sure how much is due to processing speed, RAM, or both.
adam79 said:
Lame. So it seems like this problem will just continue to spiral out of control. What do you mean by an expensive fix for the Xperia? Is there something that commonly breaks on these, or are they known to be unreliable? Are any of the phone's u mentioned compact? I looked at One Plus phones when I was buying this G5 and remember them being gigantic. The G5 is a bit too big for my liking, but it blew away every other phone in it's price range.
Also, the $350-400 price range is the reason I don't already have the XZ1. Both me and my wallet would prefer something closer to the G5 price. 6 GB of RAM seems a bit unessacary for what I use my phones for...I forgot to mention that I don't play games either. The G5 has worked flawlessly for me, and it has 4 GB, right? I was thinking that I might be able to get away with 3 GB, tho I'm hesitant to go that route. My last couple phones before the G5 had 2 GB, and they were a bit laggy. I'm not sure how much is due to processing speed, RAM, or both.
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yeah I know 6gb can be more than the necessary, but the extra gigabytes comes just as bonus for the phone's price. $300-$350!!! it's so cheap. and as this phone has that borderless design, it's not a big phone, probably almost the same size of G5 or something like. I think this phone is a total worth, especially when someone's just looking for a mid-range phone and gets a flagship. I would recommend you to search about it. but if you're really looking for a mid-range phone, you could take a look at Mi8 SE, which sports a snapdragon 710 and has a good pricing range.