Apple or Android

[RaZeXzZz]

Now now lets keep this civil. I have been looking at smartwatches more closely ever since my mother got one for christmas this year, apple watch 2. I played with it for a bit and quite like the feel of the device. What I do not like is the UI. So I went to the store to mess with some android wear and I really prefer their wear OS and the UI. I am also suck with the not sure which phone device to use. I currently have an LG G4 but it is no longer getting the new google updates. I love how I am able to switch my batteries and have amazing camera quality for a phone with manual mode. The SD card slot is a saint as well. Then with iPhone my whole family and friends use them and it would be nice to use imessage since I also have friends around the globe. So my question for all of you dedicated to your overlord, what are the pros and cons of the device and the smartwatch if you happen to use one. I am not asking for 1 week review type stuff, rather the daily complaints and user friendly of your device. The true everyday user experience, of battery life, productivity, school/work, and everything in between. What makes you love your device so that you can try to convince your dearest friend, the no BS stuff of the phone or smartwatch. The "Dude! I love how I can wake up the screen from double tapping on the screen" or "Everything from my phone is synced between my laptop and phone without me having to do anything" or even "The UI is so great that I could not imagine having anything else, being able to move this here, have it this size, change the size of the apps, hide apps that I dont use." or "If it wasn't for this smartwatch I probably would not be alive today." 

 

I hope I was able to get out what kind of things I am hoping to see from all of you passionate phone and smartwatch users. I can wait to see what you all have to say and to see which will convince me!

 

Remember be civil!!

[thorsong]

If you are mostly happy with your device currently, I would install LineageOS on it. That way you'll get the security updates. Currently LineageOS (Cyanogen) for the G4 is on Nougat.

 

https://download.lineageos.org/h815 -this is the link to the current download for the G4 international version. There is a different ROM for the T-mobile version if that is what you have.

[MrDrWho13]

If you're looking for a new phone, I'd suggest the LG V30 since it has the SD slot and the manual camera mode. (The camera will be better than your G4, and obviously the other hardware will also be improved). Removable batteries are a thing of the past, but you will likely get more battery life on the sealed battery than your current removable one.

 

As for smartwatches, I can't really comment on those two options since I own a Pebble 2.

However, here are my favourite things about owning a smartwatch:

• Quick easy hands free notifications (better in summer when you're not in long sleeves aha)
• Basic functions like stopwatch and timer
• It's a bit of fun to track your step count
• It's great to be able to hit a couple of buttons and see what events you have planned in the day. (Useful as a student for checking your timetable)

Unfortunately, Pebble got bought by Fitbit so you can't buy this model anymore.

 

Hope this helps. As my little subheading says, I'm a phone nerd so ask any questions if you have some.  

[Nena Trinity]

Huawei, Nokia or Sony gets my vote, pick the one you like best.

[Egg-Roll]

Lets see... These are my Smartphones (my flips "still" work if I knew where I put them )

1. LG P505 (still works)
2. Huawei Ascend I think (broken screen, called 911 on its own due to a "safety feature", replaced it the next week.) - Maybe waterlogged
3. Sony Ion, At first it was nice fast and the UI was awesome, 2 months pass and it slows down to the point where it would be faster to run XP on a 3.1 machine... Plus the battery drain because of the UI...
4. Samsung S4, It got toasted, self toasted that is. Half of the advertised features never worked, figures...
5. A cheap Alcatel from the states. Nice phone, fragile screen... Waterlogged and about 50 glass shards in my fingers later.
6. Moto G 2nd gen, still works technically, had to go threw repairs with local repair shop due to Google/Lenovo getting cheap on the charging port. (needs it again)
7. Stylo 2 Plus, First phone with a built in stylus, the stylus broke with in 4 months of mild use.
8. Stylo 3 Plus, Better than the the year before, had everything i needed.

 

My current phone (#8) for me anyways is a great phone you could technically buy 2-3 of them compared to the top tier phones. It lags on some things, for example POGO, or if you have 150+ tabs open, occasionally the finger sensor or screen will lag as well, knock on doesn't always like to work if you're not consistent to its standards.

A few more things it lags on: Camera, Quick Switch, Going to the main menu (I run a custom UI to be fair), keyboard, This site, It really hates this sites forum, Youtube (rare only if you have tons of background apps), gmail..., amazon and ebay.

 

It's a great phone for me, lots of the lag/issues can be solved threw a factory reset or removing the UI I installed. Compare the OLED A5 someone else got I feel like I got a higher Tier phone, mostly due to features vs name and a fancy burnin screen. I plan on keeping it for at least 2 years.

 

I cant suggest anything that has broken within a year so... No Sony, Samsung, Alcatel, or Huawei. I also wouldn't suggest Moto due to Lenovo, and I cant see them around for another 3 years or so...

 

Quote

"Dude! I love how I can wake up the screen from double tapping on the screen"

 I actually had that disabled on my Stylo 2 Plus because it was annoying(activated in my pocket), My 3 Plus on the other hand I like it.

 

11 hours ago, MrDrWho13 said:

If you're looking for a new phone, I'd suggest the LG V30 since it has the SD slot and the manual camera mode. (The camera will be better than your G4, and obviously the other hardware will also be improved). Removable batteries are a thing of the past, but you will likely get more battery life on the sealed battery than your current removable one.

 

...

 

Hope this helps. As my little subheading says, I'm a phone nerd so ask any questions if you have some.  

V30 sucks(I looked at it before getting my Stylo 3), nice phone better than the 20 but it still sucks, better off getting one of the big 2 (A or S) for the price range... The V30 is only mildly better camera wise than the G4 sensor wise...

 

I don't think removable batteries are the past, they still have meaning until you can quick charge your phone w/o putting it somewhere to charge (true wireless charging). Plus the Note 7 actually gave us all a very good reason why we shouldn't trust built in batteries, every single one is literally a potential bomb, maybe the next one you buy will be just that. Also saying a sealed battery has better battery life is a false statement. Both battery types can have the same life, being removable or not is nothing more than a longevity question. By supporting internal batteries you're supporting a throwaway society.

 

Top tier phones have non-removable batteries for one reason, to force you to upgrade via nomophobia... Maybe not after the first year, but likely the second.

[MrDrWho13]

4 hours ago, Egg-Roll said:

I cant suggest anything that has broken within a year so... No Sony, Samsung, Alcatel, or Huawei. I also wouldn't suggest Moto due to Lenovo, and I cant see them around for another 3 years or so...

+1 to this (I had a Moto G 1 and 3 but Lenovo aren't doing great things for Moto), although I would still recommend the Samsung S and Note series phones. (I can see why you wouldn't after using the S4 though, they only seemed to start making pretty good phones when the S6 came out)

 

If we're talking about recommended companies I'd say:

• Samsung (on high tier phones, avoid their lower tier ones)
• Oneplus for a budget but high end options (but be warned that they have been known to send your data back to China and their customer service isn't great apparently)
• Nokia for the budget phones (Taking Moto's place from the last couple of years)
• Apple (You're paying extra for the software support and customer service)

I feel like I've missed a couple but not sure which ones. I would personally avoid all the Chinese companies except Oneplus since they tend to cram loads of crap software on their phones.

4 hours ago, Egg-Roll said:

My current phone (#8) for me anyways is a great phone you could technically buy 2-3 of them compared to the top tier phones. It lags on some things, for example POGO, or if you have 150+ tabs open, occasionally the finger sensor or screen will lag as well, knock on doesn't always like to work if you're not consistent to its standards.

A few more things it lags on: Camera, Quick Switch, Going to the main menu (I run a custom UI to be fair), keyboard, This site, It really hates this sites forum, Youtube (rare only if you have tons of background apps), gmail..., amazon and ebay.

 

It's a great phone for me, lots of the lag/issues can be solved threw a factory reset or removing the UI I installed. Compare the OLED A5 someone else got I feel like I got a higher Tier phone, mostly due to features vs name and a fancy burnin screen. I plan on keeping it for at least 2 years.

I'm currently using the Nokia 6 (2017) which is pretty good but I'd wait for this year's model to be released if you're looking at this price range since mine is a bit laggy - similarly to what @Egg-Roll has explained here. (They've put a better CPU in this year's model)

4 hours ago, Egg-Roll said:

V30 sucks(I looked at it before getting my Stylo 3), nice phone better than the 20 but it still sucks, better off getting one of the big 2 (A or S) for the price range... The V30 is only mildly better camera wise than the G4 sensor wise...

Interesting that you say that, I can only go on what I've seen of the V10 and V20. In this case, perhaps you'd prefer the Galaxy Note 8?

4 hours ago, Egg-Roll said:

I don't think removable batteries are the past, they still have meaning until you can quick charge your phone w/o putting it somewhere to charge (true wireless charging). Plus the Note 7 actually gave us all a very good reason why we shouldn't trust built in batteries, every single one is literally a potential bomb, maybe the next one you buy will be just that. Also saying a sealed battery has better battery life is a false statement. Both battery types can have the same life, being removable or not is nothing more than a longevity question. By supporting internal batteries you're supporting a throwaway society.

 

Top tier phones have non-removable batteries for one reason, to force you to upgrade via nomophobia... Maybe not after the first year, but likely the second.

Absolutely true. I can't argue with any of this. Sealed batteries could be bigger in theory but in practise the manufacturers don't implement that.

The reason I say that they're a thing of the past is mainly from what manufacturers are doing rather than the technical possibilities. I haven't seen a flagship phone with a removable battery since the LG G5, and we all know how bad that was. I think one of the issues is that the phones are made from aluminium and glass which makes it harder to remove the back panel than the plastic from the past.

[RaZeXzZz]

On 1/13/2018 at 1:04 AM, huilun02 said:

You tell us what you want in your phone.

Else people are just gonna tell you what they like (and not necessarily have, let alone an explanation for their suggestion)

What is it about your G4 that you wish was better, changed, or removed?

What about your G4 that you don't want to lose?

What do you do with your phone? Essential apps or functionality?

What is your budget and how long do you want it to last you?

Well in an ideal world I would want an android with iMessage and facetime. I prefer the OS on android with its customizability but I also want a nice clean look like iOS. What I wish was better on my phone is a longer update cycle like with iPhone and a better battery life. I do not really want to lose the knock to wake up since I use that feature like crazy, but I want a fingerprint scanner. Well my current phone has last me 3 years so far and is still going strong, no cracks or anything. I do not want to spend $1k on a phone, prefer one more in the $500 range. 

[RaZeXzZz]

On 1/13/2018 at 5:16 AM, MrDrWho13 said:

+1 to this (I had a Moto G 1 and 3 but Lenovo aren't doing great things for Moto), although I would still recommend the Samsung S and Note series phones. (I can see why you wouldn't after using the S4 though, they only seemed to start making pretty good phones when the S6 came out)

 

If we're talking about recommended companies I'd say:

• Samsung (on high tier phones, avoid their lower tier ones)
• Oneplus for a budget but high end options (but be warned that they have been known to send your data back to China and their customer service isn't great apparently)
• Nokia for the budget phones (Taking Moto's place from the last couple of years)
• Apple (You're paying extra for the software support and customer service)

I feel like I've missed a couple but not sure which ones. I would personally avoid all the Chinese companies except Oneplus since they tend to cram loads of crap software on their phones.

I'm currently using the Nokia 6 (2017) which is pretty good but I'd wait for this year's model to be released if you're looking at this price range since mine is a bit laggy - similarly to what @Egg-Roll has explained here. (They've put a better CPU in this year's model)

Interesting that you say that, I can only go on what I've seen of the V10 and V20. In this case, perhaps you'd prefer the Galaxy Note 8?

Absolutely true. I can't argue with any of this. Sealed batteries could be bigger in theory but in practise the manufacturers don't implement that.

The reason I say that they're a thing of the past is mainly from what manufacturers are doing rather than the technical possibilities. I haven't seen a flagship phone with a removable battery since the LG G5, and we all know how bad that was. I think one of the issues is that the phones are made from aluminium and glass which makes it harder to remove the back panel than the plastic from the past.

I really love the feature of removable batteries. I got an extra because I was with tmobile, which also came with a charging cradle for it and I use it constantly. Always knowing I have a fully charged battery is such a nice feeling and especially nice when you travel a lot and need to quickly change your battery. 

 

I was thinking of oneplus 5t since I like the size of the display and the finger print scanner on it. I will definitely be waiting till the next upgrade of phones to see what has been improved and go from there. For the price and what you get, I have to say that oneplus is looking quite appealing. 

[RaZeXzZz]

On 1/13/2018 at 12:27 AM, Egg-Roll said:

Lets see... These are my Smartphones (my flips "still" work if I knew where I put them )

1. LG P505 (still works)
2. Huawei Ascend I think (broken screen, called 911 on its own due to a "safety feature", replaced it the next week.) - Maybe waterlogged
3. Sony Ion, At first it was nice fast and the UI was awesome, 2 months pass and it slows down to the point where it would be faster to run XP on a 3.1 machine... Plus the battery drain because of the UI...
4. Samsung S4, It got toasted, self toasted that is. Half of the advertised features never worked, figures...
5. A cheap Alcatel from the states. Nice phone, fragile screen... Waterlogged and about 50 glass shards in my fingers later.
6. Moto G 2nd gen, still works technically, had to go threw repairs with local repair shop due to Google/Lenovo getting cheap on the charging port. (needs it again)
7. Stylo 2 Plus, First phone with a built in stylus, the stylus broke with in 4 months of mild use.
8. Stylo 3 Plus, Better than the the year before, had everything i needed.

 

My current phone (#8) for me anyways is a great phone you could technically buy 2-3 of them compared to the top tier phones. It lags on some things, for example POGO, or if you have 150+ tabs open, occasionally the finger sensor or screen will lag as well, knock on doesn't always like to work if you're not consistent to its standards.

A few more things it lags on: Camera, Quick Switch, Going to the main menu (I run a custom UI to be fair), keyboard, This site, It really hates this sites forum, Youtube (rare only if you have tons of background apps), gmail..., amazon and ebay.

 

It's a great phone for me, lots of the lag/issues can be solved threw a factory reset or removing the UI I installed. Compare the OLED A5 someone else got I feel like I got a higher Tier phone, mostly due to features vs name and a fancy burnin screen. I plan on keeping it for at least 2 years.

 

I cant suggest anything that has broken within a year so... No Sony, Samsung, Alcatel, or Huawei. I also wouldn't suggest Moto due to Lenovo, and I cant see them around for another 3 years or so...

 

 I actually had that disabled on my Stylo 2 Plus because it was annoying(activated in my pocket), My 3 Plus on the other hand I like it.

 

V30 sucks(I looked at it before getting my Stylo 3), nice phone better than the 20 but it still sucks, better off getting one of the big 2 (A or S) for the price range... The V30 is only mildly better camera wise than the G4 sensor wise...

 

I don't think removable batteries are the past, they still have meaning until you can quick charge your phone w/o putting it somewhere to charge (true wireless charging). Plus the Note 7 actually gave us all a very good reason why we shouldn't trust built in batteries, every single one is literally a potential bomb, maybe the next one you buy will be just that. Also saying a sealed battery has better battery life is a false statement. Both battery types can have the same life, being removable or not is nothing more than a longevity question. By supporting internal batteries you're supporting a throwaway society.

 

Top tier phones have non-removable batteries for one reason, to force you to upgrade via nomophobia... Maybe not after the first year, but likely the second.

We should all be supporting upgradeable storage and replaceable batteries. Since I am able to do both of those with my G4 I have been able to take lots of photos and never having to worry about filling up my space on my phone. I have also been able to split the usage to my batteries equally between them since I am not just using one battery. 

[RaZeXzZz]

On 1/12/2018 at 12:52 PM, MrDrWho13 said:

If you're looking for a new phone, I'd suggest the LG V30 since it has the SD slot and the manual camera mode. (The camera will be better than your G4, and obviously the other hardware will also be improved). Removable batteries are a thing of the past, but you will likely get more battery life on the sealed battery than your current removable one.

 

As for smartwatches, I can't really comment on those two options since I own a Pebble 2.

However, here are my favourite things about owning a smartwatch:

• Quick easy hands free notifications (better in summer when you're not in long sleeves aha)
• Basic functions like stopwatch and timer
• It's a bit of fun to track your step count
• It's great to be able to hit a couple of buttons and see what events you have planned in the day. (Useful as a student for checking your timetable)

Unfortunately, Pebble got bought by Fitbit so you can't buy this model anymore.

 

Hope this helps. As my little subheading says, I'm a phone nerd so ask any questions if you have some.  

I really like the easy of life with smartwatches. step tracking and daily plans is super nice to see through the day. Being in college and trying to do everything can often lead to things being missed or forgotten about. So having something on your wrist to tell you about something that has to happen would be quite nice to have. 

[Dijutul]

I read on an article that the reason Apple products don’t have the features of expandable anything and that whatever you buy is what you get, at least without prying something open. The reason is that (Apple said this) “our goal is for people to have everything they’ll ever need in the product as soon as they open the box. We want all the memory you will ever need and all the ram you’ll need right out of the box.” Go read the article for anymore exact details. If you have to go buy a microSD card for the phone and then change the Save location of phone content accordingly, that’s not “Apple-like”. Apple wants people to have all they need as soon as they take of the product box lid. So: iPhone X 256GB. MacBook Pro Retina 15inch Max RAM max storage. 

 

As as for me, I’ll take a Galaxy S8 any day. Only thing I’ll regret in Apple products  is the select software features (and stereo speakers that are not in the S8 or S8 Plus)including iOS 11 screen recording and iMessage, Mac’s iMessage and calling when paired with iPhone, iPad picture in picture.