Smartphones

The Ancient_sl

shitlord
7,386
16
Is that the big one? Or is that the phablet Note? I'm coming from a Samsung (GNexus) and I'd prefer not to go to ANOTHER Samsung. I was really hoping HTC Butterfly S would come to the US, but, it will not.
Nah, the big one is the Note. The S4 is Samsung's current flagship. If you don't like Samsung then I guess that answers the question.
 

Neki

Molten Core Raider
2,726
397
Order a Nexus 5 from Google Play? You will have to wait for it to come through the post but it really is a nice phone

After having it for close to two weeks, my opinions on it are:

Very slim and light. Feels very good in the hand.
Screen is very sharp and responsive and the phone is extremely quick
Call quality is crystal clear
Battery life is decent but nothing to shout about. Easily lasts you though out a day with moderate usage.
Camera is decent too. Doesn't seem to be up there with Apple but HDR+ is more than good enough for me to use but people who are more particular with their photography might want something better.
Wifi reception seems average. This however might have something to do with my case *shrugs*

At the price point it is selling at, I will highly recommend anyone who is on the market for a new phone to at least check it out.
 

Kuriin

Just a Nurse
4,046
1,020
The thing is, my phone shattered and I am REQUIRED to have it because I do my clinical in a hospital. Instructors, nurses, and classmates have to get a hold of me via text or calling. So, I needed something ASAP. Sprint had a Nexus 5 but I heard their service was crap in the Bay area. TMobile is not coming out with theirs until the 28th.

For now, I am happy with the iPhone. However, I will go back to an Android when my contract is up.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,430
7,440
I played around with it and didn't like it, sadly.
frown.png
It's a machined aluminum unibody! That they managed that without fucking up the antennae gives me an engineering boner. If they were selling the HTC One unlocked at the same price(or nearly) as the Nexus 5, I'd buy the One instead.
 

LiquidDeath

Magnus Deadlift the Fucktiger
4,931
11,431
After a week with my N5, it is the best phone I've ever used (in order: iPhone, iPhone 3g, Captivate, Inspire 4g, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 5). I'm actually surprised at how much better I like it than the N4. SMS integrated into Hangouts is awesome and they fucking finally change MMS to show up in the same message box instead of a slideshow. The MMS thing was my biggest pet peeve about Android in general after coming from the very well integrated MMS in iOS.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,430
7,440
If Google can integrate gvoice in a smart fashion with Hangouts, that will be pretty cool. I'm worried about a couple things:

-Hangouts only seems to let you (video)call people on your G+ contact list. One would assume that integrating gvoice with Hangouts would mean opening up the contact list, but the recent Youtube faggotry seems to suggest otherwise.

-A good, low bandwidth VOIP codec. This might be because I was using grooveip, which I think interfaces with gtalk through xmpp. But it was using the g729 codec, which is high bandwidth. With a good wifi connection, I would still get lots of lag, dropped calls, and audio pops/interrupts. Anyone do a lot of calling directly through gtalk? Or I guess video calls through Hangouts now?

-An easy way to switch gvoice forwarding whether you're connected to wifi or not. Or, change Hangouts to be the dialer too so that it will answer your cell number and you gvoice number and just have gvoice forward to both all the time.
 

Soriak_sl

shitlord
783
0
KitKat really needs a way to make Google Voice the default number for hangout's texting. I haven't found a way to make GVoice the default messaging app either.
frown.png
 

opiate82

Bronze Squire
3,078
5
I'm guessing you'll see a lot of changes to GVoice when Google announces their plans for becoming a cell phone service provider. They have stated they want it to be a 100% data connection which means everything will probably go through GV.
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,430
7,440
Links to those statements? I thought that was all just internet speculation at this point.

I'd be very surprised if they can do VOIP over 3G. I've attempted that using a special codec(iLBC) and the quality was choppy at best.
 

Eomer

Trakanon Raider
5,472
272
I've never had to worry about scratches, especially with the higher end portable devices. iPhones just don't seem to scratch, ever. My tablet and the friends I've had with galaxies and nexuses (nexii?) have never had a scratch on them...cracks from dropping is a different story. I just kind of figured for higher end devices, screen protectors are kind of a useless plat sink.
Meh, it can happen. My Nexus 4 is coming up on a year old, and while at first I used a screen protector for the past 6 months I haven't. I just noticed the other day that there is a scratch on it, about a quarter inch long, vertical, centered horizontally in the top third of the phone vertically. No idea how it got there, I hadn't dropped my phone recently, and it's only ever in my pocket that has nothing else in it. It's not super noticeable, but it's there. That said, I'm impressed with the screen's durability, as the Torch I had before it was covered with dozens of small nicks and scratches.
 

Intrinsic

Person of Whiteness
<Gold Donor>
14,350
11,901
I'm guessing you'll see a lot of changes to GVoice when Google announces their plans for becoming a cell phone service provider. They have stated they want it to be a 100% data connection which means everything will probably go through GV.
Is there any chance of them not making Google Voice a completely shit program for actual voice mails? Sometimes I don't get the message for hours after the call (usually have to just go to voice.google.com and listen/read) and it takes at least three attempts to play the message. Once for it to start and do nothing, one more for it to play about half a second, and a third try to hope it plays all the way through. And it is or miss as to whether it even tries to transcribe. Really want to use it full time but it is almost a hindrance and detriment to doing my job.
 

jeydax

Death and Taxes
1,391
857
Is there any chance of them not making Google Voice a completely shit program for actual voice mails? Sometimes I don't get the message for hours after the call (usually have to just go to voice.google.com and listen/read) and it takes at least three attempts to play the message. Once for it to start and do nothing, one more for it to play about half a second, and a third try to hope it plays all the way through. And it is or miss as to whether it even tries to transcribe. Really want to use it full time but it is almost a hindrance and detriment to doing my job.
I have the same issue on my phone. I'll hit play on a voice mail, it'll play for a second then stop. Play, stop. Play, stop. Rustles my jimlets to no end. I thought my phone was just screwy and haven't bothered to look it up - glad I'm not the only one. If it would work as intended the program/service would be A+.
 

Crone

Bronze Baronet of the Realm
9,709
3,211
Anyone care to give a brief description of google voice and it's uses? What's wrong with using your own phone number? Don't trust no one to have the real thing? I don't get it. Thanks!
 

Deathwing

<Bronze Donator>
16,430
7,440
Anyone care to give a brief description of google voice and it's uses? What's wrong with using your own phone number? Don't trust no one to have the real thing? I don't get it. Thanks!
Mainly it's a decent FREE wifi calling service when paired with another, also free service(s). The important part is that it provides a DID(phone number). Most free services don't provide that or if they do, they'll likely charge for outbound.