Official 2016 "Which Smartphone Should I Get?"
Aug 24, 2016, 9:24 am
#106
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: NY
Posts: 233
I recently snagged a Oneplus X. Loving it so far. "Outdated" SD801 but otherwise it's nice. Rooted it, put an ad blocker on there, and done.
Aug 24, 2016, 10:51 am
#107
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: TPA
Programs: Hilton Gold, DL DIrt Medallion
Posts: 38,267
LOL, this phone seems to have that effect on people. I ordered and canceled twice before actually going through with it. It arrives on the 25th.
During the order waffling, I reviewed my data usage over the last 6 months and switched to a capped, shared plan (rather than my previous unlimited plan that was specific to my phone). Even with the 24 month payoff of the new phone included, my phone bill is dropping by $70/mo.
During the order waffling, I reviewed my data usage over the last 6 months and switched to a capped, shared plan (rather than my previous unlimited plan that was specific to my phone). Even with the 24 month payoff of the new phone included, my phone bill is dropping by $70/mo.
I had two reasons to waffle. First, I'm coming from a Nexus 6, and I love having the latest version of Android delivered quickly. I finally decided I can live without that, especially given the Note's far superior display and camera to anything likely to show up on the new Nexus devices.
Second, the raw performance of the Snapdragon version leaves a bit to be desired, but the unlocked international Exynos version will not allow me to use AT&T's wifi calling, VoLTE, and HD Voice features. I chose the AT&T version despite it's limitations. The first time I spoke to my wife on this device I was amazed at the call quality vs my Nexus 6 which just goes over the typical cell network. The cell signal in my house is awful, so it's nice to be able to use wifi calling with my native number (without Google Voice).
Now we'll see if I get the insatiable urge to root and flash ROMs (which will likely be impossible on this device), but I haven't had a custom ROM on my Nexus 6 in a year or so. IMHO Android has, for me at least, moved beyond the need to be rooted and hacked.
I did put Nova Prime launcher on the Note 7 and it is a great improvement over the stock Touchwiz launcher, and I was happy to find that I retained full S-Pen functionality and Edge functionality. On my old Note 2 you would lose a lot of the S-Pen functionality with a custom launcher.
Aug 26, 2016, 6:46 am
#108
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,607
Phone for traveling -- anyone use a Moto X Force ?
I was playing around with gsmarena which lets you search for phones with specific bands. It looks like the Moto X Force has a better than average set of LTE bands. I was searching for 3 and 20 for europe, 4AWS, 17, and 7 for Canada, and 2 and 12 for the US. Also it's available as a dual-sim model though I'm having trouble finding it for sale.
Sometimes these online source seem to not match up with customer reviews though making me think that sometimes multiple SKUs are actually combined into one entry online.
Anyone have experience using LTE on a Moto X Force when traveling?
Anyone have another phone they find works well for data both in the US and Europe (and preferably in Canada too)?
Sometimes these online source seem to not match up with customer reviews though making me think that sometimes multiple SKUs are actually combined into one entry online.
Anyone have experience using LTE on a Moto X Force when traveling?
Anyone have another phone they find works well for data both in the US and Europe (and preferably in Canada too)?
Aug 26, 2016, 11:47 am
#109
Suspended
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Bay Area
Programs: DL SM, UA MP.
Posts: 12,729
Review of the Note 7. While the reviewer likes the phone, he suggests getting a One Plus 3 for less than half the price:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/...r-your-buck/3/
However, the Note 7 seems to have a lot of LTE bands, like iPhones:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/...for-your-buck/
I don't know if that is for the US version which was reviewed in this article or for the Europe-Asia version.
The One Plus 3 model that the reviewer suggested as a better value seems to have far fewer number of bands, especially the US version.
The Note 7 really does nothing to justify its $850 price tag. Compare it to a device like the OnePlus 3, which has the same SoC, the same amount of storage, more RAM (6GB versus Samsung's 4GB), much better software, and a more durable metal body. Have we mentioned you can buy two OnePlus 3s for the price of a Galaxy Note 7? The device only costs $400, with none of OnePlus' past invite system shenanigans. Apparently in China, Samsung is releasing a better version of the Note 7 than what the rest of the world will get. This one has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which would have done a little more to justify the huge price tag.
The Note 7 feels like a phone with few reasons to exist. So little has changed over the Galaxy S7 that Samsung should just simplify the lineup and have a Galaxy S7 and a Galaxy S7+, both released at the same time. In fact, Samsung kind of did this with the Galaxy S7 Edge, which already has a 5.5-inch screen.
We seem to be undergoing a shift in the market, where price drops driven by Chinese OEMs mean $400 is now good enough to buy flagship or near flagship specs. Any time a shift in a market happens, the market leader is usually the slowest to adapt, and it feels like that's what is happening with Samsung. The Note 7 is a device priced for 2013—back when you had to pay a ton of money for high-end specs. I currently have the Note 7 and the Huawei Honor 8 in for review, and while both are high-end, all-glass devices with heavy software skins, the Honor 8 is $400. No one I hand them to can sense a significant difference between them, and everyone is shocked when I say that one handset costs twice the price of the other.
With most of the basics covered (and sometimes bested) by $400 phones, choosing to buy the Note 7 means you're in it for the extras. Are a slightly higher resolution curved screen, a redundant biometric system, waterproofing, and an S-Pen worth an extra $400?
The Note 7 feels like a phone with few reasons to exist. So little has changed over the Galaxy S7 that Samsung should just simplify the lineup and have a Galaxy S7 and a Galaxy S7+, both released at the same time. In fact, Samsung kind of did this with the Galaxy S7 Edge, which already has a 5.5-inch screen.
We seem to be undergoing a shift in the market, where price drops driven by Chinese OEMs mean $400 is now good enough to buy flagship or near flagship specs. Any time a shift in a market happens, the market leader is usually the slowest to adapt, and it feels like that's what is happening with Samsung. The Note 7 is a device priced for 2013—back when you had to pay a ton of money for high-end specs. I currently have the Note 7 and the Huawei Honor 8 in for review, and while both are high-end, all-glass devices with heavy software skins, the Honor 8 is $400. No one I hand them to can sense a significant difference between them, and everyone is shocked when I say that one handset costs twice the price of the other.
With most of the basics covered (and sometimes bested) by $400 phones, choosing to buy the Note 7 means you're in it for the extras. Are a slightly higher resolution curved screen, a redundant biometric system, waterproofing, and an S-Pen worth an extra $400?
However, the Note 7 seems to have a lot of LTE bands, like iPhones:
Code:
CELLULAR BANDS GSM: 800, 1900 CDMA: 800, 1900 UMTS: 850, 900, 1700, 1900, 2100 TD-SCDMA: 1880, 2010 LTE Bands: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 29, 30, 38, 39, 40, 41
I don't know if that is for the US version which was reviewed in this article or for the Europe-Asia version.
The One Plus 3 model that the reviewer suggested as a better value seems to have far fewer number of bands, especially the US version.
Aug 26, 2016, 11:59 am
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: TPA
Programs: Hilton Gold, DL DIrt Medallion
Posts: 38,267
OnePlus camera does not hold a candle to Samsung's cameras. Also there is no support for wifi calling, VoLTE, or HD Voice on AT&T. Believe it or not, those were significant factors for me in buying the Note instead of the 1+3 or more likely, the Nexus devices.
Aug 26, 2016, 12:07 pm
#111
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,607
What ad blocker do you install btw? My old phone stopped getting official updates so I'm planning to root it anyways for security's sake.
Aug 26, 2016, 1:13 pm
#112
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: ISB
Posts: 747
GSMArena is a great website no doubt, but it has been known for errors when it comes to mentioning the correct LTE bands on a website for phones.
The Moto X Force has two SKUs, the XT1580 and the XT1581.
XT1580 is the Single SIM variant, these are the supported bands:
Band 1 (2100), Band 2 (1900), Band 3 (1800), Band 4 (AWS), Band 5 (CLR 850), Band 7 (2600), Band 8 (900), Band 12 (700), Band 17 (700), Band 20 (800) and Band 28 (700).
XT1581 is the Dual SIM variant, and these are the supported LTE bands on that:
Band 1 (2100), Band 3 (1800), Band 7 (2600), Band 17 (700), Band 20 (800).
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So it seems the Dual SIM one is missing some essential bands to use LTE in the US and Canada. Though will work fine in Europe. It looks as though it's been designed for use in Asia and China since it also supports a ton of TD-LTE/TD-SCDMA bands which are only used by Sprint in the US and no other major network.
However, as a worldwide phone, the obvious choice would be the single SIM XT1580.
-------
Also, the Dual SIM Galaxy S7 (SKU: SM-G930FD) and Galaxy S7 edge (SM-G935FD) are suitable for use as worldwide phones since they support European bands (3, 7 and 20) and they also have US bands 4, 12 and 17 enabled.
The Moto X Force has two SKUs, the XT1580 and the XT1581.
XT1580 is the Single SIM variant, these are the supported bands:
Band 1 (2100), Band 2 (1900), Band 3 (1800), Band 4 (AWS), Band 5 (CLR 850), Band 7 (2600), Band 8 (900), Band 12 (700), Band 17 (700), Band 20 (800) and Band 28 (700).
XT1581 is the Dual SIM variant, and these are the supported LTE bands on that:
Band 1 (2100), Band 3 (1800), Band 7 (2600), Band 17 (700), Band 20 (800).
-------
So it seems the Dual SIM one is missing some essential bands to use LTE in the US and Canada. Though will work fine in Europe. It looks as though it's been designed for use in Asia and China since it also supports a ton of TD-LTE/TD-SCDMA bands which are only used by Sprint in the US and no other major network.
However, as a worldwide phone, the obvious choice would be the single SIM XT1580.
-------
Also, the Dual SIM Galaxy S7 (SKU: SM-G930FD) and Galaxy S7 edge (SM-G935FD) are suitable for use as worldwide phones since they support European bands (3, 7 and 20) and they also have US bands 4, 12 and 17 enabled.
Aug 26, 2016, 1:20 pm
#113
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: ISB
Posts: 747
There's one called AdAway, get the apk from the actual developer, install it, give it root access and all it basically does it update the hosts file.
Aug 26, 2016, 1:27 pm
#114
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Exclusively OMNI/PR, for Reasons
Posts: 4,188
Discussing such software makes the folks at IB cranky, and I suspect gfunkdave will be along shortly to clean up this thread. So before that happens, let me just mention that Firefox is available for Android, is quite nice, and it supports add-ons ... ya get me? 
(of course that doesn't do anything for ads embedded in apps, but they haven't been a significant problem for me)
(of course that doesn't do anything for ads embedded in apps, but they haven't been a significant problem for me)
Aug 26, 2016, 2:27 pm
#115
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Denver, CO
Programs: UA Silver, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 21,544
Aug 26, 2016, 4:47 pm
#116
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: DL Silver, AS MVP, UA Silver, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Plat, SPG Plat, National Exec Elite
Posts: 3,883
I'm not trying to be a Samsung apologist and honestly hate that I've become one, but I'll honestly pay a $200-300 premium for Samsung Pay moving forward. This, along with concur (expenses & receipt photos), I carry a thin wallet with 2 cards and ID now vs the much thicker wallet I used to carry for many more cards and storing keep up with receipts. Android Pay is nice, but Samsung Pay makes it usable most everywhere and is worth the premium to me now that I've had it for awhile.
Aug 26, 2016, 7:10 pm
#117
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 154
I have an unlocked iPhone 6 Plus on T-Mobile and get decent international coverage with it. (They spoiled me with the 4G over the summer.) That said, I spend a fair amount of time in London and like having a second phone with a local number when I'm there. I would like a decent low to mid range phone with good band options for the UK and Europe. The phone would be used for local calls, local texts and internet when T-Mobile throttles me back to 2G.
I bought a Zenfone 2 last year, was very happy with it but ended up giving it to my father. He's 90. It was his first smartphone and he now has the matching watch!
I hesitate to get another Zenfone 2 as it is a year later and it is somewhat dated. I was hoping for a Zenfone 3 -- even thinking of replacing the iPhone with the Deluxe -- but they aren't available as yet.
Any phone suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thanks, as alway....
I bought a Zenfone 2 last year, was very happy with it but ended up giving it to my father. He's 90. It was his first smartphone and he now has the matching watch!
I hesitate to get another Zenfone 2 as it is a year later and it is somewhat dated. I was hoping for a Zenfone 3 -- even thinking of replacing the iPhone with the Deluxe -- but they aren't available as yet.
Any phone suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thanks, as alway....
Aug 27, 2016, 4:05 am
#118
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: ISB
Posts: 747
Only reason that's kept me away from their newer phones so far.
I've stuck with Nexus till now, a change would be nice but there's nothing nice enough.
I have an unlocked iPhone 6 Plus on T-Mobile and get decent international coverage with it. (They spoiled me with the 4G over the summer.) That said, I spend a fair amount of time in London and like having a second phone with a local number when I'm there. I would like a decent low to mid range phone with good band options for the UK and Europe. The phone would be used for local calls, local texts and internet when T-Mobile throttles me back to 2G.
I bought a Zenfone 2 last year, was very happy with it but ended up giving it to my father. He's 90. It was his first smartphone and he now has the matching watch!
I hesitate to get another Zenfone 2 as it is a year later and it is somewhat dated. I was hoping for a Zenfone 3 -- even thinking of replacing the iPhone with the Deluxe -- but they aren't available as yet.
Any phone suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thanks, as alway....
I bought a Zenfone 2 last year, was very happy with it but ended up giving it to my father. He's 90. It was his first smartphone and he now has the matching watch!
I hesitate to get another Zenfone 2 as it is a year later and it is somewhat dated. I was hoping for a Zenfone 3 -- even thinking of replacing the iPhone with the Deluxe -- but they aren't available as yet.
Any phone suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thanks, as alway....
Supports all Bands required for LTE to work properly in the UK.
Aug 27, 2016, 6:00 am
#119
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Exclusively OMNI/PR, for Reasons
Posts: 4,188
Samsung Note 7 Rooted
I did put Nova Prime launcher on the Note 7 and it is a great improvement over the stock Touchwiz launcher, and I was happy to find that I retained full S-Pen functionality and Edge functionality. On my old Note 2 you would lose a lot of the S-Pen functionality with a custom launcher.
