Well, for those of you with the brand new Samsung S7 ;-) I hope that you will soon get Android N, from this article , it seams to have some pretty nifty stuff coming with it, albeit still evolutionary rather then revolutionary.
Dusting this one a bit for the week ahead... My lemon Xperia Z3 is back for repairs for the 4th time. Sony support is a waste of space, engaged me in email exchange and after four weeks of back and forth "send us this, tell us this, we're checking" sent me a note to "send the device in". Facepalm doesn't begin to cover it but shame on me for waiting this long before I go to the MediaMarkt aftersales... Hopefully in a week or 10 days I'll have their answer.
Anywho, MediaMarkt implied that this time will replace the device with brand new one. I am contemplating if I should just exchange the new unit (and pay the difference) for a newer device, like the Z5 or perhaps venture into TouchJizz territory with a S7.
Key criteria for me are:
- battery + camera + SD card
- light overlay (main point against Samsung)
- HD screen is enough
- 5 inch or thereabouts
What would you chose? Z5 (cleaner ROM, top camera and battery but shit service/aftersales and older) or S7 (latest and greatest but bloatware galore)?
LG G5 doesn't shine in any particular department, Mi5 has no SD card... anything you would recommend?
Not to be completely off-topic: the Huawei P9 is heavy on marketing buzz , in a couple of months we'll see if Leica has anything to brag with in this one...
Why on earth would you go with another Sony? They are dire, bog standard Load screen and resolution, have no wireless charging, and the camera isn't that great. The S7 is a far superior device, buy one and be happy.
I can somehow survive the absence of a dedicated camera button but that bloatware... Back in the S3 days, there was a guy releasing WANAMLITE ROMs which were de-TouchWizz-ified as much as the system permits, sadly cannot see him in the XDA S7 forums anymore
He moved on to develop Wanam kit which can be accessed through Xposed framework. Lots of Touchwiz improvements available through Xposed as well.
It seems that the people at HTC had you in mind when they designed their new flagship. It ticks all the checks on your criteria list and if you want a dedicated camera button, you could buy their "Ice View" case.
Details in many reviews on the internet, specifically here .
The S7 is not too full of bloatware vs previous Touchwiz versions, and most of what is there can be disabled or removed without rooting using an app in the Play Store. It's pretty much a non-issue.
No reviews, only basic previews. However there looks to be nothing amazing about this device, it's simply trying to compete with the S7, with a screen nowhere near as good.
HTC 10 is yet to prove chops, despite shameless plugs like topping the DXO mobile ranking the same day it way announced ... I wonder if the price was right to flush the DXO track record to date down the drain?
Anywho, question for @Richdog - does the non-root app allow to swap (or should I say *fix*) the buttons of the S7? Seven generations in, Samsung still do not get it, back goes to the left, app switcher to the right, damnit .
Nitpicking to the side, I walked into a store and played with the S7 today - truly impressive hardware kit; TouchJizz has gone a bit too far for my taste, everything is rearranged... If only they had a Google Edition #firstworldproblems
As much as I bitch and moan against S7, there just isn't much that is on par or better around; Lumias are pathetic on the apps side, LG just doesn't feel as solid in the hand, Sony is dated (and has dick for customers in after-sales)... HTC are betting the house and trying to pull a Hail Mary after years of near hit-and-misses. The market is ripe for a vengeance-infused Nokia to return and deliver the smart reincarnation of a 6310i but pigs will fly before these wet dreams come to life.
Hi folks,
I have a slightly different question - my phone got stolen/lost over the weekend, and having oneplus one with cyanogenmod, I would be looking for similar replacement with +- 5.5" screen, ideally with some improvements (fast charging, better camera, waterproof, long battery life, anything). But I don't want to overpay current flagships, so either 1 generation before (even slightly used from mobile repair shops), or something from chinese premium market.
Can anybody recommend such a phone?
Thank you
People's mileage with LG varies, but the G4 is 296 chuffs refurbished at digitec, or 349 new. Its bigger cousin, the V10, with some more features (bigger screen, second screen, high-def audio, more memory with 64GB, more RAM with 4 GB, oh and a fingerprint sensor, which the G4 does not have) is 399 refurbished or 444 new. They're not waterproof, but they still have one of the best cameras on the market. I'm still rocking a G3 and love it. If I have to replace it in the next six months I'll definitely go with the V10 (not really happy with the direction they went with the G5). Otherwise, if you want waterproof you've got the Sony Z5, but then you're up to 495 chuffs refurbished.
I also lost my Oneplus one this weekend... something in the air? I plumped for the Huawei P8 (last year's flagship) for CHF300 from Fust on the basis of reviews and price and whilst I've not had long to play around, am impressed so far. It feels premium, screen is beautiful and bright (though a tad smaller than OPO at 5"2) and the camera is really rather good. Worth a look if you're not wed to stock Android, as there is a proprietary UI overlay.
Another Oneplus One here (just checked)
The Lenovo Moto G4 is going to be presented May 17. The Oneplus 3 in May-June. Both look very interesting.
Which one did you end up going with, saiya-jin?
By the way, the LG V10 is down to 399 at digitec, 359 used: https://www.digitec.ch/de/s1/product...2825?pcscpId=1
Samsung Galaxy S7 32GB gold for 619.- at Microspot .
Hi Guys
Could you lend me your great knowledge in the my search for a new phone. Looking to replace my Sony Xperia Z. Criteria are dual sim, expandable memory and waterproof. I am looking to buy outright with no contract and don't really want to spend more than a couple of hundred CHF. Only one I have so far found that fits the bill is Sony Xperia M4. Any other suggestions out there?
TIA
Well I've gone outside the usual and ordered a waterproof, shockproof, android 6 lump from China, a Blackview BV6000 . Eu 167 plus, probably, duty to be paid shipping to France.
Should be here any day now...
Cheers Ace, problem is I am not a fan of the form factor of those types, I wold prefer something a little more sleek. (yes I know, I am not asking for a lot really )
I was almost tempted by the new, as in not shipping yet, Cat S60,and yes, I do like both the rugged look and feel and the slightly smaller width and height. My wife's got an S5 and I do think the screen is really too big - we both have tablets too, so the 'phablet' idea isn't for us.
Posted this last month, never got a reaction. As this is an android thread, someone might have an answer for me:
Got an android tab (Lenovo), android version 5.0.1. Got firefox 46.0.1 for android. Installed "Simple YouTube to MP3/MP4 Converter and Downloader" 3.7.0 for android, it's listed under "your add ons", it is supposed to work in firefox for android 38.0a1-49.0 which means it should work in my firefox 46.0.1.
But it is not! I don't get the download button underneath the video in youtube. I've searched for answers everywhere, no success. I use this add-on since like forever on pc but this android version doesn't work.
What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?
Dunno if this makes it to the beast category, but for those who lost their beasts and hesitant to shell out a fortune again for a replacement, I just wanna share my joy with my new Redmi 3 Pro 3GBram/32Gb rom, snapdragon octacore, dual sim, Micro SD, 5in display, 13MP/5MP cam, 4100mAh batt, fingerprint unlock.
Main features I was after was the 3GB ram, long battery life and the Gyro.. yes the Gyro sensor, so I can watch 360 and 3d Movies on my el cheapo 360VR 3D viewer (so immersive, amazing responsiveness to head movements), cockpit view of Planes in flight on Radar 24...
Its one of only few 5in models in the Chinese market, everything else is 5.5 or larger. Main con for me is that it comes in English/Chinese version which meant default programs, search engine is the Chinese Baidu and not google although language in English, took me 3 days to wrestle out the chinese apps and components, and install the standard google apps that I need, calendar, google play store etc and setup defaults. The downloadable PC suite helped a lot to do this. On the other hand, this allowed me to opt out of google bloatware that are system installed on usual Android phones.. like google music, play books and google movies that are always running in the background even if not used.
ROM is not locked but I avoided rooting and installing one of those replacement ROMs as this would bar me from connecting to my work network as BYOD device. More cons: I have to give up the 2nd sim if I need to plug in a micro SD but so far the 32GB internal is still sufficient.
This is all for CHF165 from my friend Ali, delivered from HK took 2 weeks which is amazingly fast for a Free delivery. Shhh pls dont spill this out to the online shopping tax thread :-)