Android

[Chris]

I havent had an issue with my s5

[Roscopcoletrain]

I'd go G3 then GS5 then M8

[cobrajet84]

I'd go G3 then GS5 then M8

And your reasoning for this logic?

[Roscopcoletrain]

Prefer the lg ui to the Samsung. Actually I'd take the Moto x over them all

 

Sent from my Nexus 5

[StinkyCheese]

I'd take a Sony vs Samsung.

[MikeNH]

I'd take a Sony vs Samsung.

 

Sony makes cell phones?

[Chris]

Yes

[MikeNH]

Anyway, I've had the M8 for a few days now. Here are some initial impressions-

 

One of the things I hadn't liked about many of the other Android phones I've toyed with over the years is the materials used/build quality. Lots of the Samsung stuff being all plastic feels cheap and flimsy when compared to the iPhone that I'm used to. The M8 is essentially all-metal and I'd say the build quality is right up there with Apple- they did a nice job with keeping gaps tight and the feel of surfaces nice. I keep my iPhone in a case to protect it from drops and such and also to keep the phone looking good so right off the bat I added a case to this phone too. Since it is my work-issued one I wanted something a bit more durable than what I use for my personal phone. I ended up with this:

 

http://amzn.com/B00IJ0R6K0

 

I'm pleased with the case as it seems right up there in terms of durability as Otterbox cases but way cheaper. However, this morning I cut out the built-in screen protector as it has bad glare issues and it does not clean up nicely. It also may have been causing some of the typos I was making but I'll need more time to see if it was that or just me getting used to the new layout.

 

But back to the phone-

Right off I'll say I like the ability to wake the phone by tapping the screen twice. This is especially handy on a large phone like this since it isn't always easy to hit the power button with a normal grip. However, I do not like having to click enter after entering my PIN/numeric password. I realize the enter key is there partially because Android doesn't limit you to a 4-digit number like iOS but it's still an annoying extra step to me. Once I got everything configured, the phone mysteriously would not make alert sounds for new texts or emails despite being set to do so. Restarting the phone cured this anomaly.

 

I am not using any social media on this phone so I can't comment on the Blinkfeed feature that integrates that, news and other features and the apps I have on here are all ones I use on my personal phone (though again here I only have maybe 4 apps downloaded beyond what is included). I will say I do like that the Weatherbug app on this seems to more reliably sent weather alerts than the iOS version. I just messed with the settings on my iPhone again so we'll see if this changes.

 

​The display (and the phone itself) seems too big to me. My iPhone can basically sit entirely inside the display. The display looks great and now that I cut out the cheesy screen protector from the case there are no glare issues and it cleans up fingerprints nicely. One thing I do wish Apple would add is a notification LED, which this and just about every other phone under the sun has. It's just an easy way to see if I missed anything if I was away from the phone.

 

The speakers are incredibly clear and loud. Other reviewers (like real reviewers and not just someone who has one phone to compare it to ) claim them to be the best ever on a phone. I have no reason to doubt that. My tests have been limited to watching music videos on youtube but they sound excellent.

 

The resolution of the camera is crappy compared to most everything else out there and this shortcoming seems especially apparent indoors or any other slightly darker area. The second lens on the phone acts as a rangefinder and this apparently lets you do crazy post-shooting editing magic like changing the focal point (as in if you took a picture of someone in front of a landscape, normally they'd be in focus and the background slightly blurred. The software and hardware on this allows you to swap this after the fact).

 

I can't much comment on battery life as I have not used it too heavily the past few days due to this particular phone's biggest limitation- the Sprint network. Their coverage is absolute crap. I had Verizon from the time I was 16 till I was 20 and then after a stint with Nextel I switched back to Verizon in 2008 and have been with them since. My work-issued phone has always been Sprint and there have been countless instances where my work phone had weak to no signal and my Verizon phone was fine. Here at home I have one of those Airaid signal boosters and of course I use wifi at home. For what it is worth, I charged the phone yesterday evening and then put it in the mild power saving mode and aside from occasional fiddling with settings and such I haven't done much with it in the past 24 hours. It's now sitting at 78%.

 

That's all I have for now.

[cobrajet84]

Great info Mike, sounds like a pretty good phone. Too bad the camera doesnt seem too good, I never thought it would be a selling feature on a phone for me, but I now look for how good the camera is, especially now that I have a kid and capture most moments on a mobile device. That may push the M8 out of the running.

[StinkyCheese]

 

Sony makes cell phones?

 

Yes and they are way more developer friendly than Samsung is, not that it's that hard to do anymore. Plus they've had the dust proof/water resistant thing for a while now.

[StinkyCheese]

I don't want to quote your whole post Mike so here's a couple things to try.

 

For the lock screen there might be an option to "quick unlock" 3rd party roms have it but no clue if stock roms do. Go to settings then lock screen then screen security then check the box next to quick unlock. If you don't have those options then you'll have to look around. Might be under display or security.

 

 

video for visual explanation.

 

 

As far as the camera there should be settings within in the app to change things around. You can change the megapixels which will change the resolution but if the quality is crap then more space for higher quality crap is a bit pointless. Also check to see if there is a beautify option, normally this would be found on the front I believe but I'm not totally sure. That option will kill the quality. Low light is a weak point for a lot of phones so don't feel left out there.

[MikeNH]

Yeah I checked, lock screen is as simplified as if can get without disabling it which is against company policy. Its just something I need to get used to I suppose.

 

As for the camera, it isn't horrible but it doesn't come close to the iPhone. It does have some pretty amazing after-shot editing though.

[StinkyCheese]

Well that sucks. I always screw myself up after new installs when I forget to turn quick unlock on because I stare at the lockscreen waiting for it to go away after typing in my password like wtf what did I do mess up the damn pin. After a couple tries I remember to push enter again and then go turn quick unlock on again lol

[Carder09]

Cool thing about the S5, it has the ultra batt life setting that grey scales the screen, limits apps, turns off data when not in use and I think one or two more things. Basically, I decided to check it out and enabled it, I had 48% batt at the time and it estimated, in ultra mode, that I could have the phone on constantly for 73 hrs! I have yet to see what a full batt could do but that is incredible in a tough bind with no charger around!