New phone suggestions?



  • I want to get a new phone, but i have some very specific requirements that is likely to limit the field substantially. I'm looking for alternatives i haven't seen / flying under the radar.

    1. Must be android
    2. I would prefer around 140.1mm long, 71.8mm wide, and just 7.7mm thick (the size of my current Samsung s4, i will go up to a nexus 6 if i have to, but i want something that comfortably fits in my pocket, or palm of my hand.) this is mainly why I'm posting here, i really like the nexus 6 stats but it's so fucking big
    3. Must work without a carrier (i use wifi exclusively using Google hangouts and Skype)
    4. Must be on android 5 and slated for 6
    5. (Ideally) able to remove vendor shitware, and not just Uninstall updates. Not a deal breaker, but would be a substantial boon.
    6. Camera, finger scanners, special snowflake security is a non factor, i won't be using it (period)
    7. Battery that can last a full day is ideal. (Charging nightly is my current routine)

    Price isn't a big deal because i get several years out of my phones, but I'll budget around 6..800 for this unless something spectacular comes along.



  • Moto G 3rd gen seems to match all of them, aside from being 3.9mm thicker than the S4.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    I just got an Oppo Find7a. It works well (once you get rid of the OS), and for me lasts anywhere from 5-7 hours near-constant usage.



  • Thicker isn't the worst thing in most cases, the width, height are my primary concern (though too deep could be awkward i suppose?)


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @Matches said:

    i want something that comfortably fits in my pocket,

    Do you have tiny pockets, or just not want a phablet?



  • I have regular pants pockets, i just use my phone every day and don't want a phablet. My hands aren't huge (though not super tiny either) but i like being able to have my thumb cross the entire screen (at least easily positioned to where many websites have nav links)

    If i have to use both hands, i probably wouldn't use the phone as much due to inconvenience, and that would just be a waste of my money.



  • The Sony Xperia Z{number} Compact phones are pretty good if you don't want huge. They feel nice and sturdy, just don't rely on their waterproof claim... Plus you are able to install cyanogen/rom of your choice if you unlock the bootloader using their free tool.



  • I'm very happy with my OnePlus (One) and from what I read the second one (coming 2016) will be even better.

    It has a modified version of Cyanogen with no vendor apps and crap pre-installed. Even the Google Services are an extra that you need to opt in (presented at first boot, also available later).

    Hardware-wise it's nice, battery life also quite acceptable (4-7 days for me, depending on use).

    And the 1920x1080 screen is lovely.

    My only complaint would be that it's big (5.5") - approx the size you specified.
    On the other hand, the big screen comes in handy when I have to use SSH on it (works in emergencies and for small stuff, so I don't have to lug laptops around).

    EDIT: Oh, and the price is $300, which I found quite amazing. (It is, in no way, cheaply made.)



  • We have a lot in common apparently: I've also been considering switching my smartphone, and I have about the same requirements as you, except that I also like having 2 cameras and really want a decent screen resolution. And the amount I'm willing to spend is probably less than half of yours.

    My current phone is an iPhone 4 and my main complaints are:

    • it's slow (in hindsight I probably should've spent the extra for the 4S)
    • the pictures it takes are noticeably blurry/smudged*
    • ever since reinstalling iOS, it doesn't connect to the network anymore
    • due to ^ the location service takes forever to get a decent GPS fix
    • one speaker doesn't work*

    *since I bought it used, I'm blaming these on the person who sold it to me

    Both the Moto G 3rd gen and Sony Xperia sound pretty good. I'll keep looking around, but I might end up going with one of those. I'm curious how long it takes to launch Hangouts (refer to my tooltip for "it's slow").


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    S5 Active is nice.

    (I will just get my strong text joke****strong text out of the way now)
    @Matches said:

    1. Must be android: Yes
    2. I would prefer around 140.1mm long, 71.8mm wide, and just 7.7mm thick: ~140 x 70 x 80)
    3. Must work without a carrier (i use wifi exclusively using Google hangouts and Skype) I can confirm it works like that. Even works without a SIM card period
    4. Must be on android 5 and slated for 6: don't know 100%. I think it comes with 5
    5. (Ideally) able to remove vendor shitware, and not just Uninstall updates. Not a deal breaker, but would be a substantial boon. Yes. Root it, get rid of anything you don't want. Confirmed.
    6. Camera, finger scanners, special snowflake security is a non factor, i won't be using it (period) Camera is good on this one. I don't use the fingerprint scanner or exercise stuff, but it's there
    7. Battery that can last a full day is ideal. (Charging nightly is my current routine) I can get a few days out of minimal use

    Price isn't a big deal because i get several years out of my phones, but I'll budget around 6..800 for this unless something spectacular comes along. I paid ~$300-$400 for an unlocked from ebay. I know that unlock codes from AT&T will run about $30 from an unlocker store

    Also of note:

    • It has physical buttons for menu, home and back, plus an extra physical button on the side that can launch two apps (press and long press). I fucking love this, because otherwise I'm constantly hitting the touch buttons for menu and back by mistake.
    • It is water proof (I think 3 metres for 30 minutes), and dust proof.
    • Battery is user-replacable
    • Unfortunately, a bitch to repair since to get at the motherboard, you have to use a heatgun to remove the glue holding the screen on. I'm to understand this is "standard practice" for phones these days. :wtf:
    • Rootable, but I haven't found a cyanogen install for it yet.


  • It's generally pretty fast (2-3 seconds to fully launch an app), but on rare occasions it decides to be slow and take closer to 6-8 seconds.

    Like right now. Probably had the memory full of Discourse.



  • Yeah, I was eyeing it too. I am holding off on buying anything until after the 29th, apparently google is going to be doing a reveal of two new phone models that will be sporting android 6 for the new release.



  • LG G4 is pretty nice - it's around those dimensions, and has a decent battery. Also you should be able to root it and put on a clean android install, but LG's UI isn't really that bad from what I hear.



  • @rc4 said:

    LG G4 is pretty nice - it's around those dimensions, and has a decent battery. Also you should be able to root it and put on a clean android install, but LG's UI isn't really that bad from what I hear.

    • Dims: 148.9×76.1×6.3-9.8 (thinnest point to thickest point)
    • Battery lasts for a full day. Unless you decide to use Discourse, then all bets are off.
    • Rooting is doable, as with any Android, but LG makes it very easy to just disable any pre-installed software you don't want. LG doesn't really include much pre-installed software anyway, and since the G4 comes with 32GB of onboard storage and can accept microSD up to 2TB in size, space shouldn't be an issue.
    • As for the UI, it is very nice. If you aren't into rooting just for the sake of rooting, give the UI a shot. You'll probably enjoy it.
    • OS: Currently on Lollipop 5.1. No official announcement regarding Android M yet, but the G3 got Lollipop even after the G4 had been announced. No reason to expect that the G4 won't get Android M.


  • Coincidentally, it's the phone I'm next considering purchasing to upgrade from my Nexus 5. Glad to hear it's pretty decent all-around.



  • @Matches said:

    i really like the nexus 6 stats but it's so fucking big

    It took a week or two for my fiance and I to get used to our Nexus 6es. Now that I'm used to it though (it's been about a month), I wouldn't go back. My old phone was a nexus 4; I picked it up the other day and it's tiny.


  • :belt_onion:

    @reverendryan said:

    it's tiny.

    +1

    Not sure if I'm comfortable with that tbh, but that's the way it is. I've been super-impressed with the Nexus 6 though, so the inconvenient size is worth it IMO


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    I see my dad plodging around on an iPhone 3GS and wonder how he can get anything done at all. Half his thumb takes up a quarter of the screen!


  • Banned

    I've bought Moto E (2 Gen) recently. A low-to-mid phone, but has Android 5, the battery lasts several days on average use (WiFi always on, one or two hours of web surfing a day, few phone calls, few text messages), vendor crap is non-intrusive, and I haven't noticed any performance problems yet. And it shows clock without pushing the unlock button! I guess Moto G is the same except for more horsepower, so I'd say go for it.



  • @ashkante said:

    Hardware-wise it's nice, battery life also quite acceptable (4-7 days for me, depending on use).

    How do you manage that?
    My OnePlus One lasts for about a day and a half on a full charge, with bluetooth off (wifi and gps are always on).
    Still a big step up from my old S3, which lasted (when it was new) about 18 hours with the original battery.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    Since some is asking I may as well ask too. Can anyone recommend a phone with a good vibrate function. i.e. rattle the next desk over strong. Doesn't have to be a smart phone just a phone would do.



  • I think they sell dedicated devices for that.


  • BINNED

    @anonymous234 said:

    I think they sell dedicated devices for that.

    Are we talking about Teledildonics again?



  • @nerd4sale said:

    @ashkante said:
    Hardware-wise it's nice, battery life also quite acceptable (4-7 days for me, depending on use).

    How do you manage that?
    My OnePlus One lasts for about a day and a half on a full charge, with bluetooth off (wifi and gps are always on).
    Still a big step up from my old S3, which lasted (when it was new) about 18 hours with the original battery.

    Hmm, not really sure. The worst I've had was 3 days and the best was over 8 days.
    Let me try to pin it down a little:

    • Very few extra apps installed to burn the CPU
    • Long intervals between mail checks
    • Wi-fi off when not in use: approx 14 hrs/day on (home), 10 hrs off (work)
    • Bluetooth off, except ~40 min/day (commute)
    • GPS always in powersave mode
    • I do play a bit with the phone while waiting on stuff, but nothing very CPU-consuming (wordament, crosswords)
    • In general, I feel like I don't fiddle with it all that much
    • Latest android (5.x really bumped up the battery usage for me)
    • I went through most of the settings and disabled anything that seemed wasteful
    • LCD brightness set to lower than usual - easier on my eyes

    I'd guess it all adds up, little by little?
    And maybe there's a difference between the 16G and 32G version? I have the 16GB. Also, I notice there's a big difference in battery drain depending on cell network strength. In places with lower coverage, the battery use is higher.
    I happen to live in a very dense city area with good coverage and I work basically next door to a cell tower 😄

    Maybe even the network type affects the battery (I'm in the EU.)


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @anonymous234 said:

    I think they sell dedicated devices for that.

    I should of seen that coming... o_O Anyhoo, phone with strong vibrate ideally can survive music festivals and gigs. Twitter not necessary. Any help appreciated.



  • @DogsB said:

    can survive music festivals and gigs. Twitter not necessary


  • Banned

    It just occured to me that this phone lasted longer than its producer.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    Aww man I had that phone once. Lost it at a music festival. might try to find it on ebay. thank you.


  • 🚽 Regular

    @DogsB said:

    Anyhoo, phone with strong vibrate ideally can survive music festivals

    @DogsB said:

    Aww man I had that phone once. Lost it at a music festival.

    😆



  • Yeah, Nokia 3300 series can survive almost anything except the phone equivalent of PEBKAC.


  • kills Dumbledore

    A friend of mine gave his 3310 to his baby brother as a teething toy, then passed it on to my brother and it still worked fine



  • @Jaloopa said:

    A friend of mine gave his 3310 to his baby brother as a teething toy, then passed it on to my brother and it still worked fine

    ... as a teething toy.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @Mikael_Svahnberg said:

    ... as a teething toy.

    Yeah, the vibration functions and cute music jams are totally soothing!

    INB4: :giggity:


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @Nocha said:

    Yeah, that teenie thing ain't going to cut it for me.

    http://i.imgur.com/Zyo4KlK.png

    There we go.


    Filed under: Once you go black...



  • You have a tiny antenna?


  • Banned

    :giggity:


  • Trolleybus Mechanic

    @Matches said:

    You have a tiny antenna?

    I haven't extended it yet. When it's in full swing, it's big enough to summon a motherfucking Black Hawk strike.



  • Good for discouraging muggers too.



  • @Arantor said:

    Nokia 3300 series can survive almost anything except...

    This is the final nail in that coffin: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2935952/gsm-switch-off-good-news-for-phone-users-not-for-connected-devices.html

    There is some mention of a new version (with a 41MP camera!) that will work on newer networks but it just won't be the same.


  • BINNED

    A bit late to the party, but if you want a durable phone, look up Cat phones. No, not the animal, the guys that make heavy machinery. My father has the base model (B25) which is some kind of old Nokia underneath, judging by the software, but the thing is... well, look at it:

    Yup, that's one durable sucker. You need a screwdriver to get to the battery; the back cover is screwed in to keep the water seal tight. I'm not sure how good the vibrate function is, I guess I could test it.

    There are also Android models if you want a smartphone. Never held one of those in hand though so I don't know how they compare durability-wise.


  • Fake News

    @dcon said:

    Good for discouraging muggers too.

    En garde!


  • :belt_onion:

    @Onyx said:

    Android models

    Sorry, but that doesn't sound like a good idea at all.

    Every "ruggedized" smartphone I've seen has been utter shit both hardware and software wise...



  • Ironically that actually can tweet:
    https://support.twitter.com/articles/14226#


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