Smartphone money spent?

kstruckcountry · June 18, 2015

Thanks for the tip. It has been a while since I've done that.

I have a Lifeproof for this 4s but the case is worn out and no longer "proof" so I'm thinking about a new phone. The main issue with this one is the storage.

Chris · June 18, 2015

Thanks for the tip. It has been a while since I've done that.

I have a Lifeproof for this 4s but the case is worn out and no longer "proof" so I'm thinking about a new phone. The main issue with this one is the storage.

Nexus 6 just got even cheaper

'01LS1 · June 18, 2015

Thanks for the tip. It has been a while since I've done that.

I have a Lifeproof for this 4s but the case is worn out and no longer "proof" so I'm thinking about a new phone. The main issue with this one is the storage.

Not exactly cheap, but an option. http://www.leefco.com/ibridge

ember1205 · June 19, 2015

Not exactly cheap, but an option. http://www.leefco.com/ibridge

Not applicable. iPhone 4S uses the 30-pin connector and that only works with the Lightning connector.

'01LS1 · June 20, 2015

I'd rather have a thicker phone with more battery than a thin phone with less. Ooo another 1-3 mills...yeah I'll deal with it for the extra space for a battery. Maybe some passing cooling too.

Quoting your comment for the 2nd time now to somewhat contrast what I said earlier.

Have had the S6A for a day now. It is blue just like my old S3. It is thicker, heavier, longer.

The screen/display are great. But if ANY mfg had brought this thing out as their flagship device,

it would be a sales disaster. While this device excels in the function dept. The aesthetics to how

it feels while talking on it seem like a step backwards(due to the size). Which is OK for me & a very

small part of the buying public opting for the function factor. But it would be a mass exodus of a brand

had it been the only offering.

That said, a couple of calls on it, a few texts & have not messed with it much today. But the battery was

at 100% this morning at 7 a.m. & now at 8:30 pm it is at 96%. Granted, have not used it much today, but

that is amazing in terms of how long this battery may last.

StinkyCheese · June 21, 2015

Samsung phones are a disaster for me regardless. I view them as the Apple of the Android world and will refuse to own their phones. My battery lasts just fine on my phone. I did about 4 hours of SOT today with almost all of it using navigation while I was out delivering. Battery packs are a burden in this instance for me as it's much quicker to grab my phone, diad, and package. If I have to figure out how to fit a battery pack with the chord as well as the phone then that just becomes a pain. Only takes a minute and a half to swap out the batteries as long as I get my phone case off quickly enough. I am waiting for Sammy's tab S models to drop down to a price that I feel like paying. At this point pretty much everything is going to be faster than my HP Touchpad, plus the S model has a respectable amount of roms so I can get rid of that touchwiz garbage.

ember1205 · June 21, 2015

So, you hate Samsung phones but want a Samsung tablet. And, the reason you like the Samsung devices is because of being able to remove their customized Android interface (which is available more for the phones than the tablets)?

What is "SOT"? What's a diad?

There's really no such concept as being "the Apple of the Android world". Apple is all by itself. There is NO competition in the iOS space. The only competition to Apple is Android, of which Samsung is one player.

Really not following your post.

'01LS1 · June 22, 2015

What is "SOT"? What's a diad?

SOT = Screen On Time. Not sure what the diad comment referenced nor the battery packs. Unless he meant needing external battery packs for sealed devices?

DareDog · June 22, 2015

LG smart phone. Then went to iPhone 4 and then 5. Now i have 6 plus. This over 6 year span. 4 and 5 were both $200. The 6 verizon is ripping me off on and I could have paid $399 for phone and they told me to go with edge plan. So I'm going to be paying $900.

StinkyCheese · June 23, 2015

So, you hate Samsung phones but want a Samsung tablet. And, the reason you like the Samsung devices is because of being able to remove their customized Android interface (which is available more for the phones than the tablets)?

What is "SOT"? What's a diad?

There's really no such concept as being "the Apple of the Android world". Apple is all by itself. There is NO competition in the iOS space. The only competition to Apple is Android, of which Samsung is one player.

Really not following your post.

They are striving to be like Apple in that their latest phones did away with removable battery and micro SD card capability. Every generation they increase their lock down attempts, not saying it's successful but why have to jump through extra hurdles. Tablets are different as I don't have to worry about breaking my primary device, or worry about mobile reception or other relates things. I dislike Samsung's android skin, the devices are decent.

My current phone the company openly said root the phone we won't void your warranty, here use this to root it. They sent out devices to developers (granted Samsung does this, or at least they used to), gave them help and access to most of what they needed to make roms work. Actually, and a little sadly, the 3rd party roms run better than the OS that came on my phone.

SOT = Screen On Time. Not sure what the diad comment referenced nor the battery packs. Unless he meant needing external battery packs for sealed devices?

A diad is what UPS calls their little hand held computer thingies. And yes battery pack meaning the external battery that Chris was referencing. Most are just multiple batteries in one package, like laptop batteries. So I just say battery pack, most likely incorrectly but yeah.

ember1205 · June 23, 2015

They are striving to be like Apple in that their latest phones did away with removable battery and micro SD card capability. Every generation they increase their lock down attempts, not saying it's successful but why have to jump through extra hurdles. Tablets are different as I don't have to worry about breaking my primary device, or worry about mobile reception or other relates things. I dislike Samsung's android skin, the devices are decent.

I'm not going to deny that you will pay more per GB for internal memory compared to MicroSD or similar. However, it's important to understand that internal memory, by today's standards, is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than add-on memory and consumes less power. Just -having- a MicroSD card slot in the phone would actually cause it to use more power by having to constantly monitor the port. If you're technically proficient, you'll almost certainly be able to properly estimate the amount of internal memory you'll need and buy the correctly sized phone. If you're not technically proficient, there's a low probability that even the lowest memory option will be insufficient for your needs.

It's also useful to keep in mind that things like photos are not restrictive on Android like they are on iOS because you get unlimited Google Plus space to store the photos if you have the device configured to automatically back up the photos to your Google Plus account. Apple needs to get their head out of their a$$ on this one - 5GB of backup storage was great when your phone had 8GB of memory. With so many phones at 32GB and higher, 5GB is useless. And, no, I will NOT pay for more space.

As far as the battery goes, there's no need to have to be concerned about not being able to change the battery. The battery life on Samsung phones was quite good with the S5 (significantly outlasted the batter on my iPhone 5/5S and iPhone 6). With the new low-power modes and such, it's that much better in terms of ensuring you have enough power to get through your day. Plus, you can quick-charge the device in 10 minutes to get about 4 hours of usage time back into it if you're running extremely low.

I believe that the biggest reason the battery is no longer replaceable is because of the intergration with the Qi wireless charging components inside the phone.

The biggest gripe I have with the S5/S6 phones is the fingerprint scanner is terrible. It's incredibly difficult to unlock the phone with just one hand (unless it's lying on a table or something). What's the point of having advanced technology to unlock the phone if it's so difficult to use?

Chris · June 24, 2015

I'm not going to deny that you will pay more per GB for internal memory compared to MicroSD or similar. However, it's important to understand that internal memory, by today's standards, is SIGNIFICANTLY faster than add-on memory and consumes less power. Just -having- a MicroSD card slot in the phone would actually cause it to use more power by having to constantly monitor the port. If you're technically proficient, you'll almost certainly be able to properly estimate the amount of internal memory you'll need and buy the correctly sized phone. If you're not technically proficient, there's a low probability that even the lowest memory option will be insufficient for your needs.

It's also useful to keep in mind that things like photos are not restrictive on Android like they are on iOS because you get unlimited Google Plus space to store the photos if you have the device configured to automatically back up the photos to your Google Plus account. Apple needs to get their head out of their a$$ on this one - 5GB of backup storage was great when your phone had 8GB of memory. With so many phones at 32GB and higher, 5GB is useless. And, no, I will NOT pay for more space.

As far as the battery goes, there's no need to have to be concerned about not being able to change the battery. The battery life on Samsung phones was quite good with the S5 (significantly outlasted the batter on my iPhone 5/5S and iPhone 6). With the new low-power modes and such, it's that much better in terms of ensuring you have enough power to get through your day. Plus, you can quick-charge the device in 10 minutes to get about 4 hours of usage time back into it if you're running extremely low.

I believe that the biggest reason the battery is no longer replaceable is because of the intergration with the Qi wireless charging components inside the phone.

The biggest gripe I have with the S5/S6 phones is the fingerprint scanner is terrible. It's incredibly difficult to unlock the phone with just one hand (unless it's lying on a table or something). What's the point of having advanced technology to unlock the phone if it's so difficult to use?

So all my Shaft Shots automatically go to Google+? Well I guess I need to do some online clean-up.

ember1205 · June 24, 2015

So all my Shaft Shots automatically go to Google+? Well I guess I need to do some online clean-up.

Yeah... And fix your privacy settings while you're at it, would ya?

If you configure automatic backup in Android, they will copy to your G+ Photos page automatically and you get as much space as you need for all the photos.

Chris · June 24, 2015

Yeah... And fix your privacy settings while you're at it, would ya?

If you configure automatic backup in Android, they will copy to your G+ Photos page automatically and you get as much space as you need for all the photos.

Part of my new phone setup is disabling all of that

ember1205 · June 24, 2015

I've always taken advantage of the auto-sync, on Wi-Fi only, because it's how I capture receipts for my work travel. Then they're all in one place, easy to download, and add to my expense reports.

With the iPhone, it's one step better because all of the photos sync directly to my Mac as well.