Smartphones

BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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My Mom and brother are using the Moto G5 plus. You can get them unlocked for under $200 and they work and do all the phone things. Good battery life, not the highest res screen or the best camera, but both are passable unless you're a real snob. When I compare my Samsung S8 to them I have a hard time saying why I paid twice as much for it.

Moto G5 Plus review: a new value champion
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Deathwing said:
For the higher screen res and better camera! Camera does actually matter very much to the missus.
Click to expand...

Theoretically yeah, but I really question whether I would actually notice a difference using it day to day. I suspect that I wouldn't.
 
Pemulis

Pemulis

Not Woke
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Been an iphone user since the 3GS, but the last iOS update shit so badly on my 6 Plus that I'm going to give android a go. I just ordered a note 8 that I can pick up tomorrow. I thought long and hard about going for the lg v30, but I'm not a vlog guy, and I'm happy enough to have a headphone jack without it being above standard.
 
fred sanford

fred sanford

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I'm in the opposite boat actually. I've been an Android user forever. My last iPhone was a 4. I decided to port my personal number over to my work phone and get a free phone. The problem is, all they offer is iPhones. So, I got an 8 and found that I absolutely hate iOS, ugh.
 
Pemulis

Pemulis

Not Woke
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Ok, so any ex-ios users want to help educate an android noob? I used a few online lists of bloatware to figure out what to disable or uninstall, and the only stock app I really replaced so far is the samsung messaging with textra. Is there anything else glaringly obvious that I'm missing out on? I'm, sure part of it is just getting a current generation phone, but so far it's been a pretty awesome upgrade.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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I prefer the google keyboard to the Samsung one.

Does anyone know a good voicemail app for android? I have been using YouMail but it sucks. Besides the ads it doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail and then I decide to check it and I have 14 voice mails that I never listened to. Thinking about going back to the verizon one.
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

New title pending...
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BrutulTM said:
I prefer the google keyboard to the Samsung one.

Does anyone know a good voicemail app for android? I have been using YouMail but it sucks. Besides the ads it doesn't notify me when I have a voicemail and then I decide to check it and I have 14 voice mails that I never listened to. Thinking about going back to the verizon one.
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This is probably a stupid question, but what do you need a voicemail app for? I mean, rarely do people leave me a voicemail anymore anyway, but when they do I get a notification that I have a new voicemail, and I go click on the little button to listen to it.
 
fred sanford

fred sanford

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So in an interesting turn of events, the mobile company that handles my work phone contacted me today. They told me in order to port my number over, I have to do it on a new phone and not over the existing number. Basically they want me to send the phone I just got on Friday back and order another. Aside from the iPhone they do offer the Galaxy S8. I'll take the Android but how bad is the bloatware these days? I'm coming from a Project Fi phone which is bare bones Android. Thankfully I do own Package Disabler Pro :)
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

Life's a Dream
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The bloat on a Samsung phone isn't really "too" bad. They have their own android world and the apps all work very well. Some might be meaningless, but they don't hog up any resources. If you get a carrier unlocked model (as opposed to a Verizon locked version), then the carrier doesn't throw on any of their own bloat, so that's a plus.
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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Ameraves said:
This is probably a stupid question, but what do you need a voicemail app for? I mean, rarely do people leave me a voicemail anymore anyway, but when they do I get a notification that I have a new voicemail, and I go click on the little button to listen to it.
Click to expand...

Your voicemail app is what is giving you the notification and the button to listen to it. If you buy your phone from a carrier then it comes pre-installed. If you buy it unlocked, you have to install one. I forgot to do that when I got my new phone and thus I just got all of my voicemails since the first of December this morning.

fred sanford said:
So in an interesting turn of events, the mobile company that handles my work phone contacted me today. They told me in order to port my number over, I have to do it on a new phone and not over the existing number. Basically they want me to send the phone I just got on Friday back and order another. Aside from the iPhone they do offer the Galaxy S8. I'll take the Android but how bad is the bloatware these days? I'm coming from a Project Fi phone which is bare bones Android. Thankfully I do own Package Disabler Pro :)
Click to expand...

Samsung puts quite a lot of shit on there but it's not that hard to get rid of, mostly just by disabling Bixby and making the right choices when it asks you about default apps for various things.
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

New title pending...
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BrutulTM said:
Your voicemail app is what is giving you the notification and the button to listen to it. If you buy your phone from a carrier then it comes pre-installed. If you buy it unlocked, you have to install one. I forgot to do that when I got my new phone and thus I just got all of my voicemails since the first of December this morning.



Samsung puts quite a lot of shit on there but it's not that hard to get rid of, mostly just by disabling Bixby and making the right choices when it asks you about default apps for various things.
Click to expand...
Huh, I have the Pixel on Project Fi. So whatever it comes with, is what I use! Unless I have some sort of app installed that I don't recall installing...
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

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So mine is literally just called "Phone". I click on the phone icon and it brings me to this screen with 4 options. Favorites, History, Contacts, and Voicemail. I just assumed that is standard Google app.

Screenshot_20180116-071617.jpg
 
BrutulTM

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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It looks like it is but it's not included on my Samsung device and says that it's not compatible for some reason.
 
Crone

Crone

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I just use the standard Voicemail app that came with my Verizon S7 Edge. Gives notifcations and works out pretty well.
 
Crone

Crone

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Xarpolis said:
I'm not a phone case type of person. I have an older Note 4 that I purchased brand new, and the ONLY time it was ever in a case was when I was on vacation and I wanted a water proof case to use it in the ocean. That said, the glass back of the Note 8 is VERY slippery. I've dropped it twice onto my carpeted floor, thankfully, because of how slippery it is. So I picked up a minimalist case from Spigen that's the same gray color as my phone, so I don't really feel like I'm using a case at all. It doesn't really protect the phone at all except gives it a slight texture non slippery back for me to hold on to. Aside from that, there is a tiny bezel across the top and the bottom. If the phone falls screen down, this should assist in the screen not hitting the floor and breaking.

What's also nice about the case is it has a space to stick an adhesive metal plate in there. Now it easily holds onto my magnetic car phone holder that sticks into the AC vent. Also Spigen.

Here's the case - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073R7588V/

Here's the magnetic holder - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AMGFY5M/
I like how small this holder is. It doesn't look horrible when not being used the way other holders do. And it comes with a bunch of metal plates.


EDIT: The ONLY down side at all to having a case/metal plate is it makes the charging pad unusable. I have the pad at home, so when I get home, I pop the case off and use the pad. No problem there. It's just an extra step.
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Do you have issues with your magnetic holder coming off your air vent? I go to grab my phone and it just slips straight off my air vent. Magnet is strong AF, but since I can't seem to get the "dock" to stick to the air vent, I'll probably be returning it. :(
 
Xarpolis

Xarpolis

Life's a Dream
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If I pull it straight off, the magnet is strong. I usually just slide it to the side. Never an issue doing that.
 
Ameraves

Ameraves

New title pending...
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Update from Project Fi. I rarely go over 3GB, so this won't affect me, but for heavy users this is pretty cool

Here's how it works:

Never pay more than $60 for data. Now when you use more than 6 GB of data, your data is free for the rest of the cycle.

Use less than 6 GB of data? Like before, you'll only pay $10/GB for data.

Bill Protection will be automatically built into your plan by your next billing cycle. Get the peace of mind of unlimited data when you need it without having to pay for it when you don't.

Once you've used 6 GB, data is free for the rest of the cycle. Up until 6 GB, you'll pay the same $10/GB of data that you've paid in the past.

You'll no longer pay upfront for data. Instead, you'll pay for the data you've used at the end of your billing cycle.

If you use more than 15 GB of data in a month (under 1% of current Project Fi users), you'll experience slower data speeds with Bill Protection. Once you reach 15 GB, you can opt out of slower data speeds by choosing to pay $10/GB for data above 15 GB and getting in touch with our support team.
Click to expand...
 
Vepil

Vepil

Gamja
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My wife and I have been on xfinity mobile for a couple months now without any issues. Coming in at $17.52 a month for both us is very nice.
 
Oblio

Oblio

Utah
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I am in the market for a new phone because I dropped my ASUS Zenphone 2 and well it is just beyond fucked. I can pick up a new Zenphone 2 for around $150 but there are some things i ended up not liking about that phone and would like to explore other options. Anyway, for the short term I am using my old Galaxy S4 and I notice a huge drop in signal reception. Older phone older technology maybe? I do live in a rather Suburban Area so it's not like there are towers everywhere, but again there is a noticeable difference between the two phones. So can any of you guys recommend an Unlocked Phone with above average signal reception strength? I would prefer 64 Gigs or more of storage but I am willing to go as low as 32 Gigs. Lastly, if I have to I will be getting one of those We Boost set ups, my buddy has one at his lake place and he swears by it. Thanks in advance.
 
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