Need new phone, suggestions?

[Vanz_007]

Need a new phone, was given a Windows phone for free and although it still works okay, would like something new, have no allegiances.

What's important to me:
1. Reliability (by far #1)
2. Decent future proof, want to postpone buying a new one for as long as possible
3. Decent battery life
4. Decent camera
5. Cost
6. Weight

Recommendations?

Don't really want the highest end but would still like something decent.

V

[switchAMG]

I have been a Google Pixel douchebag since they came out. I love them, not to mention the best cameras.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

[OverclockN']

Originally Posted by switchAMG

I have been a Google Pixel douchebag since they came out. I love them, not to mention the best cameras.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

The Google Pixel XL is the worst phone I've ever owned. If not THE worst, it's pretty darn close. Software problems, screen burn in, freezing, app crashes, etc etc.

I'd recommend a Galaxy phone. I used several models of those without the issues I had with the Pixel.

[0091/2]

1+ for galaxy phones.
The Samsung note 8 is pretty good. I owned one for a year and the software was reliable. The camera on it is more reliable than the one on my note 9.

[switchAMG]

Originally Posted by OverclockN'

The Google Pixel XL is the worst phone I've ever owned. If not THE worst, it's pretty darn close. Software problems, screen burn in, freezing, app crashes, etc etc.

I'd recommend a Galaxy phone. I used several models of those without the issues I had with the Pixel.

Weird, on my third Pixel (had the Pixel, Pixel XL and now the Pixel 2 XL) -- haven't any of the issues you listed.

Would never go back to Samsung bloatware.

[ice]

Samsung bloatware isn't a thing anymore.

That being said, their prices are insane, and despite my Note 9 being the best phone I've ever used, I'd recommend looking at maybe the upcoming OnePlus 6T or the likes. Unless you have a trade in or can sell an old phone, that is.

[OverclockN']

Originally Posted by switchAMG

Weird, on my third Pixel (had the Pixel, Pixel XL and now the Pixel 2 XL) -- haven't any of the issues you listed.

Would never go back to Samsung bloatware.

I'll grant you the software issues and other things aren't very high on the list of popular things wrong with the Pixel XL. The phone is generally very fast and snappy, especially the maps. However, Pixels are pretty well known for their terrible screen burn in. I didn't escape it.

[Mahjik]

They don't have the best cameras or any other catchy things, but if you are interested in battery life take a look at the Motorola phones (E family). Their phones have been scoring high for battery life.

[pax]

Id look at the Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi. Top end SOC at a crazy good price, basically half that of samsung or other major makes with good battery, and I feel all mainstream phones have decent cameras.

I went for the mid range Xiaomi Mi Max 3 for the 7" screen size and uber sized battery but the Poco was #2 on my list for just a little bit more money.

[A2597]

Motorola's lineup seems pretty solid these days. Couple of my friends have them and love them.

If cost isn't an object...Note 9. I splurged (with covers most of it) and absolutely love this phone. Plan to keep it for a good while.

[daPhoenix]

Huawei P20 Pro or Honor 10.

I've had P10 for a few years now, 0 issues. Only downside is updates sometimes lag by a few months compared to Google phones but on the other hand the phones themselves are much better - especially optics.

[Mahjik]

Originally Posted by A2597

Motorola's lineup seems pretty solid these days. Couple of my friends have them and love them.

I'm actually looking at one myself. I don't do much with my phone so battery life is something more important to me (and my LG G5 is about 70% after just a few hours of doing nothing).

[Elysian]

https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Pho...70_&dpSrc=srch

Wife and I have one, it's a fantastic phone IMO. Essential has already committed to bringing Android Q to it as well, and they had Android Pie on it the day it was released by Google.

edit: Wow the Halo Grey one on Amazon is only $293. That's a steal.

[t3hl33td4rg0n]

Originally Posted by ice

Samsung bloatware isn't a thing anymore.

It's not?

https://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ation-t3833217

From the lists in this thread, it looks like the usual Samsung pre-installing a bunch of garbage no one asked for.

[ice]

Originally Posted by t3hl33td4rg0n

It's not?

https://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ation-t3833217

From the lists in this thread, it looks like the usual Samsung pre-installing a bunch of garbage no one asked for.

Have you seen the lists from older Samsung phones? I have an Unlocked Note 9 and 80% of that stuff wasn't even on my phone, that tells me it's not always Samsung. The rest, the majority I wouldn't even call bloat as a lot of people use them. Those lists are more "purists" who want every single thing they don't use off their phone. Carriers are more to blame for bloat that anything and I disabled a fair share of **** Google tried shoving down my throat as well.

Also, I like how the Note 9 thread takes you to a list for the S8. No wonder I couldn't find half the stuff.

[0091/2]

Originally Posted by t3hl33td4rg0n

It's not?

https://forum.xda-developers.com/gal...ation-t3833217

From the lists in this thread, it looks like the usual Samsung pre-installing a bunch of garbage no one asked for.

It's a list of all Samsung pre-load app. There's a lot of useful ones. Samsung pay; Translator, memo etc...
Only a ****ing idiot would gimp their phone like that. The phone isn't designed in the stone ages. The phone has 128GB +6GB it's more enough one can use.

[aRandomRobot]

In April I switched over to an iPhone 8 for similar reasons as you listed. It is true that Apple’s software features lag a bit behind Google but they have been pretty good about supporting old iPhones models. I think the only Android equivalent for that kind of support and longevity would be Pixel and Nexues. I’ve exclusively used Android smartphones up until this year and they always seem to turn into slow, overheating, dumpster fires after you install the one major OS version update that you can expect to get for the life of the phone.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by aRandomRobot

In April I switched over to an iPhone 8 for similar reasons as you listed. It is true that Apple’s software features lag a bit behind Google but they have been pretty good about supporting old iPhones models. I think the only Android equivalent for that kind of support and longevity would be Pixel and Nexues. I’ve exclusively used Android smartphones up until this year and they always seem to turn into slow, overheating, dumpster fires after you install the one major OS version update that you can expect to get for the life of the phone.

Thankfully not the case on my Essential, and it's gone from Nougat to Oreo to Pie, with Q promised as well. My iPhone 6s+ on the other hand, was exactly that.

[aRandomRobot]

Originally Posted by Elysian

Thankfully not the case on my Essential, and it's gone from Nougat to Oreo to Pie, with Q promised as well. My iPhone 6s+ on the other hand, was exactly that.

I’m glad to hear that there are some companies out there doing better now. I had an LG G3 and G4 and the software support was absolutely abysmal, especially for flagship phones. I’ve heard there were a lot of problems with the 6 and 6s on older versions of iOS but iOS 12 seems to be a lot better so far for performance. My sisters-in-law has an iPhone SE and it’s smooth as butter on 12. Whether that kind of support continues is another question but that’s true for Android phone manufacturers also.

[Athena]

Love my Essential, was reading the news post on Yahoo news about Android Pie being released that day and my phone beeped and asked if I wanted to install the Pie update. I was amazed it was that fast and stable. Camera is not the best but not bad, but I only take a hand full of photos a year. I am a gamer, and for that it is a beast, and for the price, I picked it up on Prime day, it was a steal.

[t3hl33td4rg0n]

Originally Posted by 0091/2

It's a list of all Samsung pre-load app. There's a lot of useful ones. Samsung pay; Translator, memo etc...
Only a ****ing idiot would gimp their phone like that. The phone isn't designed in the stone ages. The phone has 128GB +6GB it's more enough one can use.

1. What's useful for one person may not be useful for another. I use OneNote, not memo. I don't find NFC payments worthwhile, so I still use my cards... etc etc
2. If I want an app with a specific function, I'll get it in the Play Store.
3. It's one thing to pre-install apps, which is perfectly fine... Unless you don't want them and can't remove them. I believe that's called Shovelware.
4. Uninstalling things you don't want/need is not gimping your phone, it's removing things you don't want/need.

It's no different than when companies pre-install crap like McAfee, one-stop-shop-photo-print-shop, and other garbage on pre-built desktops and laptops. At least those can be removed. Imagine if Dell or Lenovo prevented you from uninstalling their bundled software.

[ice]

Originally Posted by t3hl33td4rg0n

1. What's useful for one person may not be useful for another. I use OneNote, not memo. I don't find NFC payments worthwhile, so I still use my cards... etc etc

Exactly, but plenty of people do, so what's the issue?

It's no different than when companies pre-install crap like McAfee, one-stop-shop-photo-print-shop, and other garbage on pre-built desktops and laptops. At least those can be removed. Imagine if Dell or Lenovo prevented you from uninstalling their bundled software.

Who is saying you can't remove software? Again, what's the problem? If you don't use it, you have the option to disable or remove it. If you do, leave it on there. The point is the phone is powerful enough that it doesn't hinder it in any way to have those things installed. It's not like it was years ago where you'd freeze all sorts of bloatware and see a noticeable change in speed of the phone; it's already blazing fast out of the box. You also don't even need to root them anymore to freeze or remove software.

[MangaSpawn64]

If I had to change right now, I'd go for Oneplus 6t. Although the phone isn't yet released (in 2 weeks) so we don't know about first owner's issues. And it kinda sucks that they removed the audio jack.

[0091/2]

Originally Posted by t3hl33td4rg0n

1. What's useful for one person may not be useful for another. I use OneNote, not memo. I don't find NFC payments worthwhile, so I still use my cards... etc etc
2. If I want an app with a specific function, I'll get it in the Play Store.
3. It's one thing to pre-install apps, which is perfectly fine... Unless you don't want them and can't remove them. I believe that's called Shovelware.
4. Uninstalling things you don't want/need is not gimping your phone, it's removing things you don't want/need.

It's no different than when companies pre-install crap like McAfee, one-stop-shop-photo-print-shop, and other garbage on pre-built desktops and laptops. At least those can be removed. Imagine if Dell or Lenovo prevented you from uninstalling their bundled software.

That's true but by getting rid of memo you lose off screen memo, no? Who likes to unlock their phone every-time to write something?
Samsung pay is not only NFC you can use it with magnetic stripe readers. You lighten your wallet and add security to your purchases. I thought Samsung pay is gonna be gimmicky but I use it on all my purchase, I even use it to swipe myself in my bank ATM. The worst thing about Samsung pay is you have your wallet even if you forgot it.
Those are 2 of many distinguishing features of the note line. Another feature is translation, I rarely use it but the option is there.

Those apps aren't the same as crappy software bundle you mention. Obviously you never use it if group as such.
Anyone who use it once can see the usefulness of it. Removing major features is gimping your phone. It's a really dumb thing to do. The apps don't get in the way and the resources it uses is negligible. More useful to have the option than not. Unused RAM and storage are wasteful. Well, it's not my phone so they can do whatever they want. The reason to remove them isn't very smart but whatever.

[Mahjik]

Originally Posted by Mahjik

They don't have the best cameras or any other catchy things, but if you are interested in battery life take a look at the Motorola phones (E family). Their phones have been scoring high for battery life.

Just a note, I recently picked up a Moto E5 Plus phone. The phone itself is a little bigger than most phones. It's not Samsung Note size, but larger than my LG G5. It's also heavier. Part of that is due to the enormous batter which is about 5000 mAh. For reference, the Note 9 has a 4000 mAh battery.

Normal use of my phone all day has me between 88-92% battery life at the end of the night. I could go likely two work days between charging if I wanted. I say work days as I play with my phone more during down time on the weekends so I will use more battery then.

[huskylord]

I really like my oneplus 6.
No problems, great camera. Great battery life.
All good.

[Elysian]

Originally Posted by huskylord

I really like my oneplus 6.
No problems, great camera. Great battery life.
All good.

The OnePlus 6T that launches tomorrow looks amazing, might be my next phone (next year).

[ice]

Huawei M20 is out soon too I think.

[GTwannabe]

Pixel 2 (non-XL). Solid device with at least 3 years of guaranteed OS updates direct from Google.

[Elysian]

OP ever gonna update the thread?

For anyone else, the Essential+360 degree camera+earbuds is only $329 today...

https://twitter.com/essential/status...55622057852928