# Phone suggestions?



## inactive (Apr 3, 2016)

My poor Moto G has to be put on speakerphone in order to reliably communicate via phone call. I've put up with it for several months now, but I probably ought to start lookin' for a replacement.

I'm really more of a software guy, so I'm pretty out of the loop when it comes to the latest and greatest device releases. Not to mention, I was rather late to jump on the smartphone train.

What are some phones y'all would recommend? Are there any in particular that should be avoided?

No price range in mind; I have no idea what I would want my new phone to be able to do for me. As of now, I pretty much just stick to texting, a flashlight app, Google Maps, and Chrome; however, if I get a fancy phone that's all powerful and junk (and if I switch to a plan where I don't have to keep such a close eye on my data usage), I'd probably look into other useful apps and whatnot.

Don't be shy! Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Blackberry (is that still a thing?), anything you like. No phone-discrimination here.


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## Gharn (Apr 3, 2016)

Are you happier having something on contract or do you prefer buying the phone outright?


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## inactive (Apr 3, 2016)

Gharn said:


> Are you happier having something on contract or do you prefer buying the phone outright?



No preference, for the sake of this thread. Probably the latter, if I had to choose, but I'd be fine with a contract as long as I don't end up paying twice as much for the same thing.


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## Gharn (Apr 3, 2016)

tranceguy said:


> No preference, for the sake of this thread. Probably the latter, if I had to choose, but I'd be fine with a contract as long as I don't end up paying twice as much for the same thing.


This might sound like a kooky phone but i have a one plus phone. (the one plus One, but the two is out now.)
OnePlus 2 - OnePlus.net
they make excellent phones, that arent bogged by company hardware. So i guess its for people who really like a bit more control over the ins and outs.
But theyre completely open and you can have them on any provider, they also have two sim slots. And for what you get the price is pretty sweet.
Thats my 2cents  a nerdy phone.


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## Electro⚡Spectrified (Apr 3, 2016)

I just recommend Samsung or iPhone, depending on weather you into open-source or user-friendly. I have both. Samsung now has a custom-built VR headset made by Oculous for the phone. (Verizon was giving away 100000 of them for the first 100000 people to upgrade to Samsung S7, which I don't understand because upgrading to a new phone is free at Verizon, and therefore so is the headset. The thing I don't understand: how did giving away headsets make them any profit?) This reply is me trying to keep it simple.


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## Endless/Nameless (Apr 3, 2016)

I've owned iPhones, Androids, and Windows Phones, and I can tell you right now I would never consider not having an iPhone. They're simple, sturdy, secure, widely supported, and will last forever if you take care of them. I'm still using a 4S model myself. 

I personally recommend the new iPhone SE; it's a powerful phone for a good price, with a more eye-catching+ergonomic design than the iPhone 6S.


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## Wolveon (Apr 3, 2016)

Do you want to overpay for a phone that under-performs? Get an iPhone.
Do you want a phone that could costs significantly less, perform much better, and will last longer than an iPhone? Go with Samsung.


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## Endless/Nameless (Apr 3, 2016)

Death be unto Samsung and their plastic plagiarist conmen.


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## Electro⚡Spectrified (Apr 3, 2016)

Endless/Nameless said:


> I've owned iPhones, Androids, and Windows Phones, and I can tell you right now I would never consider not having an iPhone. They're simple, sturdy, secure, widely supported, and will last forever if you take care of them. I'm still using a 4S model myself.
> 
> I personally recommend the new iPhone SE; it's a powerful phone for a good price, with a more eye-catching+ergonomic design than the iPhone 6S.


My brother is the only apple-lover in our family, although I would agree iPhone is more popular. 
I am just a more dev-type person. I don't like simple, as it limits my abilities.
By own both I meant I own an android tablet and an iPod touch. (Close enough to Samsung and iPhone) My parents won't let any of us have an actual phone until we're 16, which is odd because there is only me and my 2 siblings, so it it is not for cost reasons, and a tablet/iPod touch can do everything a phone can except get service and text and call. Add the TextNow app and you can text and call with wifi, so this seems strange to me.
Anyway, I have not charged my iPod for 2 weeks because it sucks, and my *$60 *tablet is *better* than my *$270* iPod touch.
Once again however, personal opinion.


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## luxdreamer (Apr 3, 2016)

I use an iPhone 5c that I bought with straight talk and it has been a very good phone to me. 
I suggest both. Buying the phone was a little pricey but I love it and the straight talk plan works good 
for my situation so if I can't afford to keep my phone on for a bit I don't have to buy a phone card and 
I don't get in any trouble for it. The only cons on straight talk is that their customer service is crap.
Pros to it is that you can do just about do anything online! 

The iPhone itself is nice. u-u Easy to use. Lot's of options for accessories/cases. My biggest dislike towards it is its lack 
of storage space and that you can't open the back of the phone at all, for any internal things you would have to get 
it sent away. Music plays well. Pictures are good. It's generally a speedy phone.


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## Endless/Nameless (Apr 3, 2016)

Electro⚡Spectrified said:


> My brother is the only apple-lover in our family, although I would agree iPhone is more popular.
> I am just a more dev-type person. I don't like simple, as it limits my abilities


Apple products are aimed at consumers, not so much "dev-types"; so in your case it would make sense to go with something else like Android. But with Android devices, you sacrifice the polish of end-to-end optimization, etc for a boring OS that can be easily tampered with and a minefield market filled with incredibly baaaad handsets.


Electro⚡Spectrified said:


> Anyway, I have not charged my iPod for 2 weeks because it sucks, and my *$60 *tablet is *better* than my *$270* iPod touch.


iPod touches are dreadfully underpowered compared to the rest of their product line... I don't know why. Try a real iPhone or iPad and you'll notice  a huge difference.


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## Electro⚡Spectrified (Apr 3, 2016)

I use android because utorrent is on the Google play store so you can download torrents on android, also you can download movies and music directly off of your browser onto your phone and listen/watch. IPhone: use the iTunes app to BUY the songs you can download for free onto android if you look in the right places online. In addition, on android you can use it in Windows explorer as if it were a USB mass storage device and drag and drop files into it. Iphone: use iTunes.


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## Electro⚡Spectrified (Apr 3, 2016)

Endless/Nameless said:


> Apple products are aimed at consumers, not so much "dev-types"; so in your case it would make sense to go with something else like Android. But with Android devices, you sacrifice the polish of end-to-end optimization, etc for a boring OS that can be easily tampered with and a minefield market filled with incredibly baaaad handsets.
> 
> iPod touches are dreadfully underpowered compared to the rest of their product line... I don't know why. Try a real iPhone or iPad and you'll notice  a huge difference.


There is the option of buying android and Apple. Not that you should carry 2 phones around all the time, but use the one away from home that you feel most comfortable with away from home, and use the one you see most fit for tasks at home, at home. So you could buy a iPhone to use away from home, and have an android/Windows tablet for home use.(if Apple-lover)
If you're an android-lover buy a Samsung for away from home and an iPad/Windows tablet for home use. I just think it's good to have a tablet lying around in addition to a phone, even if you hardly use it. They can be useful for some things.
My friend made this "buy both" option with the Xbox one vs. ps4 situation. In June last year he bought a ps4, and wasn't entirely satisfied so he bought an Xbox one in July. The same applies for computers: just have Windows 7 and Windows 10 as separate OS's to boot from if you like both. Or if you are a dev-person and Apple-liker at the same time, have Linux, Windows, and MacOS as separate boot options for OS at startup.


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## Endless/Nameless (Apr 3, 2016)

Electro⚡Spectrified said:


> There is the option of buying android and Apple. Not that you should carry 2 phones around all the time, but use the one away from home that you feel most comfortable with away from home, and use the one you see most fit for tasks at home, at home. So you could buy a iPhone to use away from home, and have an android/Windows tablet for home use.(if Apple-lover)
> If you're an android-lover buy a Samsung for away from home and an iPad/Windows tablet for home use. I just think it's good to have a tablet lying around in addition to a phone, even if you hardly use it. They can be useful for some things.
> My friend made this "buy both" option with the Xbox one vs. ps4 situation. In June last year he bought a ps4, and wasn't entirely satisfied so he bought an Xbox one in July. The same applies for computers: just have Windows 7 and Windows 10 as separate OS's to boot from if you like both. Or if you are a dev-person and Apple-liker at the same time, have Linux, Windows, and MacOS as separate boot options for OS at startup.


That's definitely an handy option if you can afford it. 

Personally though, that would get too complicated for me. I like a streamlined workflow. I'm easily agitated.


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## Electro⚡Spectrified (Apr 3, 2016)

Endless/Nameless said:


> That's definitely an handy option if you can afford it.
> 
> Personally though, that would get too complicated for me. I like a streamlined workflow. I'm easily agitated.


He said "No price range in mind."
As for multiple OS's, I'm pretty sure that if you hibernated Windows (saves your Windows session to hard drive and shuts down) the BIOS would automatically detect you wanted to resume your Windows session and automatically select Windows as the OS to boot into upon your next reboot. That way rebooting wouldn't be too complicated.
Anyone ever tried this?


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## Pillownose (May 7, 2016)

never get a windows phone, they are so terrible


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## Saiko (May 7, 2016)

Unless you use Linux and need to hook your phone into your computer a lot, an iPhone is usually the best balance between hardware and software. The only gripe I have with it for general use is the way settings are organized, which is very minor. Otherwise Samsung and Motorola are my preferred brands.


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## Deleted member 82554 (May 7, 2016)

Endless/Nameless said:


> Death be unto Samsung and their plastic plagiarist conmen.



















Get rekt, fanboy.


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## Endless/Nameless (May 7, 2016)

Mr. Fox said:


> Get rekt, fanboy.


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## Ahkrin Descol (May 7, 2016)

The BlackBerry Priv is quite a good phone if you like physical keyboards.  It actually runs on android (finally, BB) with a security layer thrown over the top.  Playing fancy games on it makes it a little warm, besides that I can't really fault it.

Judging by what you currently use your phone for and would use it for it seems a viable option.  The case for it also allows for notification handling/answering calls without opening the case lid itself.


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## modfox (May 7, 2016)




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## Deleted member 82554 (May 7, 2016)

Don't get the BlackBerry Priv. It's a good attempt by BlackBerry but has a high price point for a lackluster experience, and the camera isn't really that good. If money is not an issue, fork out for the Galaxy S7. For a flagship it's the best all-rounder you'll get for the price. 

Actually, just look at tech reviews. There are a lot of solid mid-range devices available at the moment, but like with any mid-range device they won't have it all (usually lack of NFC, Inductive Charging, poor camera or speaker).


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## Ahkrin Descol (May 7, 2016)

Mr. Fox said:


> Don't get the BlackBerry Priv. It's a good attempt by BlackBerry but has a high price point for a lackluster experience, and the camera isn't really that good. If money is not an issue, fork out for the Galaxy S7. For a flagship it's the best all-rounder you'll get for the price.



Definitely have to agree with it being a little pricey, hence me opening with the keyboard comment as its main distinguishable feature.  As for the camera, how come you don't think it's that good?


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## Deleted member 82554 (May 7, 2016)

Ahkrin Descol said:


> Definitely have to agree with it being a little pricey, hence me opening with the keyboard comment as its main distinguishable feature.  As for the camera, how come you don't think it's that good?



It doesn't quite stack up to the competition for its price point, even some of the mid-range phones do better.


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## snailthing (May 7, 2016)

I have a nexus 5x and they're pretty good imho.


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