What 2016 phones are you looking forward too ?

To use the S7 Edge, you pretty much have to stick to TouchWiz (launcher and all) to not render the already gimmicky edges not completely useless.

So I'm at the position of anything is better than TouchWiz.
 
The G5 is DOA. Small battery. Small screen. Very thick phone for all of that.

And that modular stuff will cost $$, who's truly willing to spend that much extra money on these kits ? And then these extra kits don't work on any other smartphones, only the G5, and will they even work on the G6 next year ? I wouldn't want to invest that money in these modular parts, and then next year they no good on newer phones.
 
The G5 is DOA. Small battery. Small screen. Very thick phone for all of that.

And that modular stuff will cost $$, who's truly willing to spend that much extra money on these kits ? And then these extra kits don't work on any other smartphones, only the G5, and will they even work on the G6 next year ? I wouldn't want to invest that money in these modular parts, and then next year they no good on newer phones.
Man you seriously have a hard on foot trashing the G5 don't ya?
 
Man you seriously have a hard on foot trashing the G5 don't ya?

Not really, just telling it like it is. It could've been a great phone, but will go down in 2016 as not meeting sales expectations, and will be a flop. When if designed better, it could have been a great selling phone, but somewhere along the line LG fucked it up bad. The original rumors of a 5.6" screen, 3,400mAh battery, and all new redesigned UI, would have been great. Oh well
 
I hope it doesn't flop. What LG did here is truly innovative in an all metal construction. This is also the "first gen" design of the sort. So next year's could be even better.

But I'm not buying it though... I just don't see any reason to leave my iPhone for now. One thing I had expected to see more of is other OEMs making shatter-proof designs like Motorola did in the Droid Turbo 2. But that didn't happen. DT2 being a carrier exclusive sucks.

Here's to the hope that the HTC M10 or the HTC Nexuses would be.
 
I hope it doesn't flop. What LG did here is truly innovative in an all metal construction. This is also the "first gen" design of the sort. So next year's could be even better.

But I'm not buying it though... I just don't see any reason to leave my iPhone for now. One thing I had expected to see more of is other OEMs making shatter-proof designs like Motorola did in the Droid Turbo 2. But that didn't happen. DT2 being a carrier exclusive sucks.

Here's to the hope that the HTC M10 or the HTC Nexuses would be.

I agree, the only phone from Android I'm interested in right now is the G5 and most are slamming it before its even released/reviewed!

This thing could walk on water but its being written off before it gets a chance.
 
I agree, the only phone from Android I'm interested in right now is the G5 and most are slamming it before its even released/reviewed!

This thing could walk on water but its being written off before it gets a chance.

I am no Samsung fan whatsoever, I HATE Touchwiz

I can already tell you how the G5 reviews will go;

- Battery life = Small 2,800mAh battery gives the G5 pretty good battery life, not bad, but certainly not great
- Display = Will be reviewed as good, but not #1 best rated screen
- Overall size = For a 5.3" phone, it's nearly the same size as the G4 with a 5.5" screen and S7 Edge's 5.5", plus the G5 is rather thick

I think the G5 will be seen as a pretty good smartphone, but realistically the S7 Edge will destroy it with much better battery life, top rated display, great camera, waterproof, very compact size, etc...
 
I am no Samsung fan whatsoever, I HATE Touchwiz

I can already tell you how the G5 reviews will go;

- Battery life = Small 2,800mAh battery gives the G5 pretty good battery life, not bad, but certainly not great
- Display = Will be reviewed as good, but not #1 best rated screen
- Overall size = For a 5.3" phone, it's nearly the same size as the G4 with a 5.5" screen and S7 Edge's 5.5", plus the G5 is rather thick

I think the G5 will be seen as a pretty good smartphone, but realistically the S7 Edge will destroy it with much better battery life, top rated display, great camera, waterproof, very compact size, etc...

This is what hurts phones the most, making claims before they came out. The S6 was announced with a smaller battery than the S5 and a higher rez screen but everyone claimed the battery life would be atrocious and ended up being completely false.
 
This is what hurts phones the most, making claims before they came out. The S6 was announced with a smaller battery than the S5 and a higher rez screen but everyone claimed the battery life would be atrocious and ended up being completely false.

The S6 is universally known to have shit battery life, most complaints were the battery life being pretty poor on the S6, thus the huge upgrade in battery on the S7.

I am not saying the G5 will be a crap phone, no, it is actually a nice phone indeed, but it won't be winning any awards I bet you that.
 
Yea all Samsung phones since the 5.0 update has shit battery life. Still surprises me that people are willing to give them a chance because their phone looks so good out the gate.

But the S6 didn't have shit battery life, it matched the S5 for duration when it was released.

I think the G5 should win an award, one for actually trying to make a different phone from the rest. Although I'm not sure how the modular component is needed. I know people want a certain feature but some don't, this could be a way for people to get a nice phone plus get their dual speakers, or get their upgraded camera, or get their bigger battery. Its all hypothetical with how it will work or how well it will work, but right now I'd rather support that then a run-of-the-mil spec bump.

Edit: I want to make it clear that I love Samsung phones and have since the S3. For Android they have been my go-to hardware. Their undoing is the software and sometimes you can get around this with a ROM and sometimes not, but Samsung needs to really change things up here soon, hopefully that's with the S7 because I too think it is going to be the best built phone for the spring releases.
 
Last edited:
Just curious. Whatever happened to you people who absolutely NEEDED removable batteries?

On a serious note, the xiaomi mi5 is honestly the phone to beat. For that price, Samsung, LG, and HTC etc have to do much better. So just how much better is the S7 or the G5 compared to the mi5. Unfortunately, not very much.

With China being the #1 market, i don't think Samsung will reverse their fortunes even with adding back waterproof, SD card, or bigger battery.
 
Mi5 looks awesome. The problem will be availability in the US or Europe. Import fees and/or costs from 3rd party resellers will erode the low price benefit.

It appears to be built (LTE Bands) for use in other markets but it may not be the easiest phone to acquire.
 
HTC One M10, reading some Korean websites on the M10, they all seem to be saying the same thing regarding spec's;

- 5.2" QHD display
- SD820
- 4GB RAM
- 3,000mAh battery
- USB-c
- Entire new design, still metal build like previous One's, but not a M8/M9 clone, and Not an iPhone clone, but something new
- Fingerprint scanner
- 32GB base option
- Sense 8 based off Marshmallow
- Similar camera as to the Nexus 6P, but a newer version

Supposed to be announced at an event sometime in March, and on sale in April / May.
 
HTC One M10, reading some Korean websites on the M10, they all seem to be saying the same thing regarding spec's;

- 5.2" QHD display
- SD820
- 4GB RAM
- 3,000mAh battery
- USB-c
- Entire new design, still metal build like previous One's, but not a M8/M9 clone, and Not an iPhone clone, but something new
- Fingerprint scanner
- 32GB base option
- Sense 8 based off Marshmallow
- Similar camera as to the Nexus 6P, but a newer version

Supposed to be announced at an event sometime in March, and on sale in April / May.

Hope that's how it shakes out. I suspect everyone is just nervous that HTC will find a way to sour the whole thing with a spec or software feature we haven't seen. If the M10 does work well, though, I'd be happy to check it out. Android needs high-end devices from more than just a handful of vendors.
 
The One M10 supposedly has a 12MP "UltraPixel" camera. So I'm guessing the same exact sensor as in the GS7. It might be a battle between camera software. I also wonder what kind of AMOLED display is Samsung supplying HTC.

I'm also going to take a wild guess that the USB Type-C on it will do hdmi out with a USB to HDMI cable to plug into the HTC Vive (just preordered mine). Or maybe some kind of hidden wireless video connectivity on the Vive that we aren't told of yet (probably not).
 
Last edited:
This is what hurts phones the most, making claims before they came out. The S6 was announced with a smaller battery than the S5 and a higher rez screen but everyone claimed the battery life would be atrocious and ended up being completely false.

The S6 has shit battery life. I've never had to worry so much about my phones battery than with the S6. I don't think I've ever managed to get through a day of normal usage without having to charge it at one point or another. God forbid you don't have the fast charger with you, it will drain faster than it is charging.

Honestly it feels like Samsung hasn't done shit in the past 3 years for it's usability. This S6 feels exactly the same as the S3 when I got it 3 years ago. Great internals, nice design, but lags and has mediocre to bad battery life. I would be insane to give the S7 a try.
 
I just want a good replacement for my M8; a phone that has front facing speakers and an IR blaster. My M8 is still plenty fast on marshmallow and I have a new battery in it, so it should last me a while still. But I'm gonna have to replace it at some point this year, I'm sure and I haven't seen anything yet that has these two things still. I wish HTC would just pull an M9 again and make the same phone with newer internals, but it seems they're dropping the front facing speakers from the leaks I've seen now. I'm so annoyed and disappointed. I don't want to get an M9 either because I'm on Verizon and there's no bootloader unlock exploit for it like there is the M8, plus there's really no noticeable performance difference between the M8 and M9 in usable speed and battery life and I think the display actually got worse on the M9 somehow.
 
The S6 has shit battery life. I've never had to worry so much about my phones battery than with the S6. I don't think I've ever managed to get through a day of normal usage without having to charge it at one point or another. God forbid you don't have the fast charger with you, it will drain faster than it is charging.

Honestly it feels like Samsung hasn't done shit in the past 3 years for it's usability. This S6 feels exactly the same as the S3 when I got it 3 years ago. Great internals, nice design, but lags and has mediocre to bad battery life. I would be insane to give the S7 a try.

Funny, I had the exact opposite experience with the Note 3, best in class for everything! Screen, battery life, performance, storage (not sound).

Then an OTA hit it that I didn't accept to and ruined everything. Samsung has yet to fix the battery life issue on the Note 3/S6 and the 5.0 update.
 
Funny, I had the exact opposite experience with the Note 3, best in class for everything! Screen, battery life, performance, storage (not sound).

Then an OTA hit it that I didn't accept to and ruined everything. Samsung has yet to fix the battery life issue on the Note 3/S6 and the 5.0 update.
He said S3, not Note 3... 2x completely different beast's.. S3 was May of 2012 & the note 3 was September of 2013.. So in the terms of Samsung that was 2 major product releases between them (note 2 & then galaxy s4). The note 3 is still quite usable today. It was a flat out beast when it was new. The s3 to me is not something I would even make my kid use.
 
TMo just dropped the full price of the G4 to $350, making it a pretty viable alternative to other SD810 phones of last year.

Compared to the similarly priced OnePlus 2, G4 all the way.

HTC One M9 is currently $300 from a trusted seller on eBay, but no...

The Nexus 5X vs G4 debate is now that much harder... The Nexus 6P vs G4, I'm still leaning towards Nexus 6P.
 
Looks like HTC is fully embracing adoptable storage from Android M, unlike LG and Samsung.
 
GSM Arena did a quick comparison of the cameras in the LG G5 and the S7e

LG G5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge: Flagship slugfest

I'm going to stick to what I said before. I take most of my pictures in low light environments cause I don't go out during the day. So GS7/Edge would probably be the phone I'd choice between the two, but I'm still waiting on HTC and Nexus (if the rumors are to be believed that the Nexus is coming in April/May instead).

It seems that HTC "10" will not have boomsound where as the Nexus 7 (2016) would. I wouldn't be surprised if the Nexus will be called the Nexus One M10 instead. With Google purchasing HTC for the VR...
 
Last edited:
GSM Arena did a quick comparison of the cameras in the LG G5 and the S7e

LG G5 vs. Samsung Galaxy S7 edge: Flagship slugfest

I'm going to stick to what I said before. I take most of my pictures in low light environments cause I don't go out during the day. So GS7/Edge would probably be the phone I'd choice between the two, but I'm still waiting on HTC and Nexus (if the rumors are to be believed that the Nexus is coming in April/May instead).

It seems that HTC "10" will not have boomsound where as the Nexus 7 (2016) would. I wouldn't be surprised if the Nexus will be called the Nexus One M10 instead. With Google purchasing HTC for the VR...

Do you have any links regarding the Nexus? I'm up for renewal in 10 days on Verizon and was going to get an S7 Edge, but if the nexus is that close and coming out for verizon i might just wait.
 
There were some links earlier in this thread suggesting that rumor.

The assumption is that the SD810 is so bad that they wanted to quickly move to SD820 and that HTC had something ready to be rebranded.

I suppose we'll know by Google IO (May) if not next few weeks after HTC's announcement.
 
The Nexus 5X is now just $249 for the 32GB when activated through Project Fi within the first 30 days. This make my upgrade from the old Nexus 5 even harder.
 
Haven't used the S7/Edge stuff yet, but I'm excited for more VR headsets. Loving the Gear for the Note5, so can't wait for more stuff to come along.
 
275 million Android phones imperiled by new code-execution exploit

This just make me stop considering any phone without an update guarantee. I hope HTC will guarantee the One 10 like they did the One A9, but that was an unlocked phone... Oh, well, there's always the Nexus.

I'm so over this stuff. It's not as easy to exploit as they make it sound. That's why there still has been ZERO attacks using Stagefright. Hell my V10 is still vulnerable to some of the original Stagefright vulnerabilities.

I'm not saying this isn't bad but it just doesn't raise my defcon level anymore. Nowadays it's just posturing and bragging about who found the biggest vulnerability.

Every day there's an exploit for this or an exploit for that. An exploit for iOS and Android and Windows and Linux. It's the world we live in. Do OEMs need to update on a more regular basis? Yes, but just because a device is EOL on 4.x or 5.0.x doesn't mean doom and gloom like so many people claim. And Google appears to be doing some neat stuff with Android N that may just help with faster updates.

A very small part of me does wish something like this would get exploited though. Get a lawsuit against carriers and OEMs for not patching properly. That would force the issue and force faster updates across the board.
 
  • Like
Reactions: T4rd
like this
First of all, it's actually kind of sad that because of how often android get these super exploitation, you don't care much anymore.

When the first stagefright exploit was just published by a much more responsible company, they release a proof of concept that came in the form of MMS that people trolled each other with. Lots of phones were crashed through that one MMS. Good thing that proof of concept didn't do anything other than crash the phones, and you can turn mms auto-retrieve off (Reason why they did the proof of concept that way.) But to say that it's hard? How hard was it to send an MMS?

Currently, we have an asshole company that published everything hackers needed to build their own exploits. It isn't pretty this time.
 
Loving my decision to get the Nexus 6P. It does not have the latestest and greatest on paper specs, but the whole experience has been flawless so far. Oh how do I enable that pesky mobile hotspot when you have an unlimited plan on verizon? Oh wait I don't have to, it's built in! etc etc. Unlocking the bootloader is a toggle in the system menu etc. Trying to talk my Dad into picking up the M10 so I can still play with it, and try to get him to move away from his Samsung he is always frustrated with. I think the M10 will be a great phone, and hope I didn't compromise too much on battery life getting the nexus (in comparison to what the M10 will be). It's crazy to me how the nexus 6P can have such a large screen and older 8 core 20nm processor instead of 4 core 14nm CPU and still get better battery life than some more recent phones...
 
I'm so over this stuff. It's not as easy to exploit as they make it sound. That's why there still has been ZERO attacks using Stagefright. Hell my V10 is still vulnerable to some of the original Stagefright vulnerabilities.

I'm not saying this isn't bad but it just doesn't raise my defcon level anymore. Nowadays it's just posturing and bragging about who found the biggest vulnerability.

Every day there's an exploit for this or an exploit for that. An exploit for iOS and Android and Windows and Linux. It's the world we live in. Do OEMs need to update on a more regular basis? Yes, but just because a device is EOL on 4.x or 5.0.x doesn't mean doom and gloom like so many people claim. And Google appears to be doing some neat stuff with Android N that may just help with faster updates.

A very small part of me does wish something like this would get exploited though. Get a lawsuit against carriers and OEMs for not patching properly. That would force the issue and force faster updates across the board.

The issue in this case is that NorthBit has discovered a way to make Stagefright practical -- it's no longer a theoretical exercise.

Also, there's a concern that Android may be due for a truly big malware attack, a watershed moment where lots of devices are compromised in short order. Remember the Blaster worm on Windows, which was so widespread that it forced Microsoft to make a fundamental change in how it handles security? I don't think we're in for a repeat on that scale (security has changed a lot in 13 years), but there is the worry that there will be a truly vicious attack that both exploits a serious flaw and is meant to spread quickly without depending on app downloads. I'm glad that Google is trying to further improve updates with Android N -- I just hope that the OS hits the mainstream quickly enough to prevent a crisis.
 
Loving my decision to get the Nexus 6P. It does not have the latestest and greatest on paper specs, but the whole experience has been flawless so far. Oh how do I enable that pesky mobile hotspot when you have an unlimited plan on verizon? Oh wait I don't have to, it's built in! etc etc. Unlocking the bootloader is a toggle in the system menu etc. Trying to talk my Dad into picking up the M10 so I can still play with it, and try to get him to move away from his Samsung he is always frustrated with. I think the M10 will be a great phone, and hope I didn't compromise too much on battery life getting the nexus (in comparison to what the M10 will be). It's crazy to me how the nexus 6P can have such a large screen and older 8 core 20nm processor instead of 4 core 14nm CPU and still get better battery life than some more recent phones...

I'm seriously interested in the in 6P, however......
1) From everything I've read, the headphone/bluetooth volume sucks. That's the 1 thing I hate about my Galaxy S4. I use it to listen to music when I'm in the garage, by plugging it into my stereo in the garage. It's too damn quiet.
2) I can't go physically look at one and hold it, put it in my pocket anywhere. I'm kinda freaked out that if I put a phone that big in my pocket and sit down that it will cut off the circulation to my leg. ;) I went to Best Buy as their website showed that they had the 32Gb Gold 6P, but they didn't. The guy there said, "You have 15 days to return it." I don't want to buy a phone and return it if I don't like it. I want to find out if I'll like it before I buy it.
 
I don't get how Samsung continues to ruin excellent hardware (or in this case, just "good" hardware) with terrible software. I got a Verizon branded S7 Edge a few days ago, and over all...

TouchWiz is far less objectionable now, with the option of native themes, turning off lots of offending UI elements, and so forth. It's really not bad. I'd prefer CM 12 / 13 or AOSP any day of the week but once you pare it back as much as possible, it's livable. Certainly not as "in the way" as it once was -- I had a Galaxy S2, S3, and S4. I remember.

That said, even with a new launcher (Nova Prime) and everything possible turned off, plus using Package Disabler to make 90% of the bloat disappear and not run constantly in the background, I'm seeing "Android System", the catch-all process behind which all the Samsung crap I still can't turn off hides, using 25%+ of my battery, all the time. I'm getting descent battery life, yes, but with a 3600 mAh battery and the aggressive battery saving policies brought in with Marshmallow, I should be seeing far better. I certainly shouldn't be seeing almost an hour of keep-awake from idiotic background processes in a 12 hour day. They need to reign this shit in, because it's making what should be an amazing phone just mediocre.

Also, I hate the curved edges. They're impractical and purely for show -- if the standard S7 had a 5.5" screen I never would've even looked at the S7 Edge. I regularly find myself touching things on screen I don't intend to while holding the phone normally, but the touch screen response is much poorer in those areas, making it difficult to hit the right thing when you are intentionally tapping there. The Q/1 and P/0 keys on the Google Keyboard are especially bad in this respect. I miss the form-factor of my LG G3 already. Basically, a G3 with a SD820, more RAM and smaller (or really, even the same, I don't care) bezels and a 3000+ mAh battery would be my dream phone. Sadly, LG went backwards in terms of screen size and battery capacity with the G5, so it was off the table from the start.

Also, Samsung. Quit with the stupid hardware / capacitive buttons -- one of the primary means of interation on a $800 device shouldn't feel like a cheap toy. And put the keys in the right order. This is insane.
 
It seems there's still hope for the HTC 10. Not quite as good as both speakers facing you, but still much better than the Samsung and LG phones. If they have hidden an IR blaster at the top somehow, then this is a definite buy for me, but I'll prolly still end up getting it anyways. I'm sitting on two upgrades on Verizon that I have to use before they jack up my UDP by another $20/month. I'll probably end up getting one regardless though because despite the rave reviews of the GS7/Edge, I'm pretty turned off by their root/bootloader stance and poor software support.

If HTC can commit to updating the 10 as fast as they have the A9 (within 15 days of the Nexus phones), then they would have a serious contender here. But I doubt they would be able to do it nearly as fast as the A9 since they're going to be restricted by the carriers, whereas the A9 is a universal/unlocked variant like the Moto X Pure and Nexus phones are.
 
Quite frankly I don't trust Evleak on their HTC 10 leaks since the One M9 fiasco of last year. What a disappointment that was! Although the HTC One X9 winded up being almost just like it, that was still off by half an year!
 
I don't get how Samsung continues to ruin excellent hardware (or in this case, just "good" hardware) with terrible software. I got a Verizon branded S7 Edge a few days ago, and over all...

TouchWiz is far less objectionable now, with the option of native themes, turning off lots of offending UI elements, and so forth. It's really not bad. I'd prefer CM 12 / 13 or AOSP any day of the week but once you pare it back as much as possible, it's livable. Certainly not as "in the way" as it once was -- I had a Galaxy S2, S3, and S4. I remember.

That said, even with a new launcher (Nova Prime) and everything possible turned off, plus using Package Disabler to make 90% of the bloat disappear and not run constantly in the background, I'm seeing "Android System", the catch-all process behind which all the Samsung crap I still can't turn off hides, using 25%+ of my battery, all the time. I'm getting descent battery life, yes, but with a 3600 mAh battery and the aggressive battery saving policies brought in with Marshmallow, I should be seeing far better. I certainly shouldn't be seeing almost an hour of keep-awake from idiotic background processes in a 12 hour day. They need to reign this shit in, because it's making what should be an amazing phone just mediocre.

Also, I hate the curved edges. They're impractical and purely for show -- if the standard S7 had a 5.5" screen I never would've even looked at the S7 Edge. I regularly find myself touching things on screen I don't intend to while holding the phone normally, but the touch screen response is much poorer in those areas, making it difficult to hit the right thing when you are intentionally tapping there. The Q/1 and P/0 keys on the Google Keyboard are especially bad in this respect. I miss the form-factor of my LG G3 already. Basically, a G3 with a SD820, more RAM and smaller (or really, even the same, I don't care) bezels and a 3000+ mAh battery would be my dream phone. Sadly, LG went backwards in terms of screen size and battery capacity with the G5, so it was off the table from the start.

Also, Samsung. Quit with the stupid hardware / capacitive buttons -- one of the primary means of interation on a $800 device shouldn't feel like a cheap toy. And put the keys in the right order. This is insane.

What exactly kind of battery life are you seeing?

I got my VZW S7E last weekend and out of the box loaded Nova, Package Disabler Pro, and turned off Smart Alert, and have been getting 1.5 days with 7 hours SOT. Is Android System near the top of my battery list every time I check after a day of use? Yes. But at this point, i'm getting the best battery life of any smartphone I've ever had, so what exactly do I have to bitch about.

Also, as someone who came from a G3, I hated how wide it was (I loved that phone though overall). The thinner width has been welcomed. Just my opinion though obviously.
 
To use the S7 Edge, you pretty much have to stick to TouchWiz (launcher and all) to not render the already gimmicky edges not completely useless.

So I'm at the position of anything is better than TouchWiz.

Not sure what you mean by this. I have Nova Prime running on my GF's S7 edge and the all the edge functions work just fine. You don't have to keep the TW launcher.
 
That Huawei P9 looks amazing. With that Leica certified dual-lens camera, depth sensing, it actually looks pretty revolutionary on a smartphone.

But, to top that off, it has stereo speakers?!? This actually gotten me excited to see what HTC is coming up with in their announcement in 6 days.

Totally separate note, the LG iFixit result is out. It's REALLY EASY to repair. As if you needed more reasons to pick this up over the GS7.
LG G5 Teardown
 
Back
Top