Buying a $150 Smartphone in 2018

[nicklmg]

Buy Alcatel 3V on Amazon: http://geni.us/wc17X4

 

Are budget phones actually usable? We checked out the $150 Alcatel 3V to find out...

 

 

[babadoctor]

nice

[ShortyfromLV]

I see that Linuses (Linus's ? Linuss ? ) manadrin game is on point.

[GoldenLag]

So no Nokia 2/3?

[dizmo]

I consider it bloat if I can't remove it. Samsung, I'm looking at you.

I don't use Facebook, and the fact I can't delete it annoys me to no end.

[Egg-Roll]

Can we also stop comparing OLED with LCD? Esp top tier phones...

 

3 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I don't use Facebook, and the fact I can't delete it annoys me to no end.

Same, I use the messenger but I don't use facebook itself... I find it very irritating I can't uninstall it, but I find it even more irritating when I get friend suggestions of random users on my phone which I should have to disable because I shouldn't have the app...

[MaxRink]

The Netflix issues come from the lack of widevine l1 certification which leads to netflix maxing out at 480p served resolution.

[poochyena]

Budget phones are where it is at. I just need a phone that can text, check emails, and play pokemon go. The only thing I really care about spec wise is USB type C. That is a huge must for me.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

At 4:42... why are you browsing the Transit thread? When was the last time that was even active? Hey look it's @LienusLateTips.

[Polraudio]

My smart phone is like $30 and way way worse than this lol. This makes me feel like my phone is a complete POS... oh wait is it xd.

[kirashi]

Any applications that cannot be uninstalled by the user are considered bloatware to me, so it pains me to see manufacturers still including unnecessary non-removable apps of any kind on a device that I'm supposedly the owner of. It'd be like PC manufacturer's preventing users from formatting their computer to install Linux, for example. But I digress; I'm actually here to comment about the poor Netflix quality.

 

I'm willing to bet the reason some of these devices won't play Netflix above SD quality is because they lack Widevine L1 certification required for HD playback on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Widevine L1 is a certification of trust that manufacturers can only have Google provide certificate signing keys for during the initial flashing or the phone's hardware ROM chips at the factory. Most phones have this certification, but a lot of off brand or lesser model phones don't for whatever reason.

 

@LinusTech @nicklmg this might be a really good thing to do a video on at a later date, although it's a bit more of a technical topic, so maybe it could be worked into a larger video covering DRM in the future. I know you guys already did a DRM video on Tech Quickie back in 2015, but since tech is always changing it could be a good topic to cover again, especially with the most recent phone models you've been reviewing. You can check Widevine certification using the following app from the Play Store, and read more about this at the links below.

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.androidfung.drminfo

https://www.xda-developers.com/android-netflix-hd-amazon-prime-video-hd-drm/

https://www.androidauthority.com/widevine-explained-821935/

[JASH_DOADELESS_]

I think the Netflix HD thing might be the same reason as OnePlus had. I presume the phone doesn't have the correct DRM protection, so Netflix loads a lower quality stream. https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/02/24/oneplus-fixing-5-5t-play-netflix-hd-physically-send-phone-get/

[LienusLateTips]

1 hour ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

At 4:42... why are you browsing the Transit thread? When was the last time that was even active? Hey look it's @LienusLateTips.

The LMG Dennis bonus that keeps on giving 

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

1 : Didn't even go to Walmart, sad.

2 : Facebook is bloat

 

[Willowwizard]

I currently have an Alcatel Idol 3 5.5", and while I enjoyed the first few months with it; I was forced to switch to a custom ROM as Alcatel decided to push "security updates" with malware that cannot be uninstalled or disabled.

 

While the hardware may be impressive for the price, I can't recommend anyone to buy an alcatel phone anymore because eventually they'll stop pushing actual updates and start pushing malware to the device instead.

[Sfekke]

I made the same stupid joke on Twitter, shame on me I know I know

 

Jake Paul : WAAALMAAAART!!

 

[staffy]

You can run this title (or search for Test Pattern) on Netflix and it will tell you quality of your stream.

 

I am so pissed at this DRM bullshit. I have Honor 9, It was last year top model from Honor, but I can't watch Netflix in HD (only in 540p). Unfortunatelly, it is only Widevine L3, so there is no workaround.

 

Otherwise I'm quite happy with this phone, but this is just another nail in the coffin for Android for me. Next phone will probably be iPhone again (if they come with dual sim, then it's no-brainer for me).

[Nena Trinity]

Nokia, Sony & Wiko next please! :3