Like them or not, Google's Pixel phones will be the iPhone competitor we've demanded for years

[Zorachus]

Good article;

Like them or not, Google's Pixel phones will be the iPhone competitor we've demanded for years

 

[Skripka]

Not really....still no unified messaging client in sight...AAMOF Google is intentionally going back to 6+ unique snowflake chat apps, that are all different in their platform compatibility, that still aren't as good as iMessage.

 

[Zorachus]

My comment has always been the same about the Nexus phones. Google has the cash and engineering team to put together a top of the line nerds wetdream stock Android phone.

As Jordan used to say "Just do it"

They got very close with last years 6P, as far as a well designed, higher end phone, but sold for a more budget price. Imagine if the 6P instead of being at the $499 price point, was instead at the Galaxy or iPhone pricing, meaning the phone was just as high end as those. The Pixel phone would be a no brainer to buy.

But I'm the wrong guy to discuss this, I love my Nexus 6P, and for a 2015 phone, I'd take the 6P last year over the iPhone 6S Plus or Galaxy Note 5 all day long, and twice on Sunday, and it's not because of pricing, but I just find the 6P the best phablet period of 2015. Now imagine if the 6P did cost a little more, but then also had better camera, and better screen for the increased price. Who the hell wouldn't want that phone over the competition ?


Google has the money, they just need the Pixel phones in U.S Carrier stores, which according to rumors, will indeed be in stock at all 4 Carriers this Fall. And then market the frigging crap out of these new Pixel phones, just like Samsung started doing a couple years ago, I think spending like $500 million on advertising each year, worldwide.

 

[Spidey329]

Not really....still no unified messaging client in sight...AAMOF Google is intentionally going back to 6+ unique snowflake chat apps, that are all different in their platform compatibility, that still aren't as good as iMessage.

Yeah, that surprises me. Hangouts is their closest thing. But they seem to be lacking in that sector and last I used it, it was odd/buggy. You'd think they'd want the chat data.

They should just acquire someone like Textra and roll that into a unified app. I'm sure they could create a bridge structure to link it to the iMessage system. There's no reason for SMS/MMS to be used unless the receiver is on a non-compatible device. On top of their own app, they should open an API to allow other Android messaging apps to use it. The reason hangouts sucks is that it has to be another hangouts user to get the full benefit, but there's so many text messaging app choices that everyone has a different one so it just falls back to SMS.

 

[Skripka]

My comment has always been the same about the Nexus phones. Google has the cash and engineering team to put together a top of the line nerds wetdream stock Android phone.

As Jordan used to say "Just do it"

They got very close with last years 6P, as far as a well designed, higher end phone, but sold for a more budget price. Imagine if the 6P instead of being at the $499 price point, was instead at the Galaxy or iPhone pricing, meaning the phone was just as high end as those. The Pixel phone would be a no brainer to buy.

But I'm the wrong guy to discuss this, I love my Nexus 6P, and for a 2015 phone, I'd take the 6P last year over the iPhone 6S Plus or Galaxy Note 5 all day long, and twice on Sunday, and it's not because of pricing, but I just find the 6P the best phablet period of 2015. Now imagine if the 6P did cost a little more, but then also had better camera, and better screen for the increased price. Who the hell wouldn't want that phone over the competition ?


Google has the money, they just need the Pixel phones in U.S Carrier stores, which according to rumors, will indeed be in stock at all 4 Carriers this Fall. And then market the frigging crap out of these new Pixel phones, just like Samsung started doing a couple years ago, I think spending like $500 million on advertising each year, worldwide.

Yea, our dev team was chatting about this this afternoon. Google just doesn't seem at the corporate level interested in a professional sounding/looking product. Take Google Talk or Voice or Maps. You knew what it did and you didn't laugh to yourself when you said the name, was just as much at home among teens as suits. Now you have "Allo", "Duo", "Hangouts", "Play" (the worst)--names that sound like some tween in their mom's basement came up with. Don't get me wrong I'm interested in getting a Pixel (As Google brands go-not too cringe worthy), but it by most accounts is just going to be a recycled old HTC design in hardware.

Sure Apple has the stale "i______" meme happening...but their stuff tends to work and be around for more than 18 months....and you don't feel like a 6 year old for talking about (official) apps.

 

[marshac]

The lack of unified messaging is mind-blowing since not only do their competitors have it, but it's a treasure trove of data they're missing out on.

 

[CHANG3D]

Google did acquire Jibe. Just a reminder, folks.

Jibe

 

[Deleted member 245375]

If they don't have removable storage/microSD slots and removable batteries then as usual they won't be devices I give a shit about and will get better hardware from another manufacturer that does understand there are those of us that demand such aspects or they will not get our business.

 

[King of Heroes]

If they don't have removable storage/microSD slots and removable batteries then as usual they won't be devices I give a shit about and will get better hardware from another manufacturer that does understand there are those of us that demand such aspects or they will not get our business.

At this point that "another manufacturer" is LG, full stop (and you'd only be looking at their flagship devices).

 

[Deleted member 245375]

Yeah, and?

But I won't get a G5, or the V20 either at this point, I still find the G4 is the best smartphone I've ever had the pleasure to use and it still takes the best images I've ever taken with a smartphone camera but that's just my personal experience. Yes I realize the G4 has some issues for some people with the bootloop thing but I had a G4 from the day they were available for sale and used it for 15 months, never had one single problem with it, not one. I seriously regret selling it and actively remain on the lookout for one to replace it to be honest but for the moment I have a G Flex 2 that suits my needs and requirements just fine - yes, it has a Snapdragon 810 but I have no thermal issues since I keep the phone working as a quad core device, 2 Little cores and 2 Big, and that's more than enough for my purposes and saves a shitload of battery life too.

But LG stepped away from being original with the G5 and V10 and reverted to being just another ordinary smartphone like the rest with the side mounted buttons and that was pretty much where I decided the G4 would be the last LG product I'd bother with aside from the G Flex 2 I grabbed earlier this year for $25 because it had a cracked glass front to it, works just fine in spite of the damage and a $600+ near-flagship device with power to spare phone for just $25, couldn't pass that up.

 

[CHANG3D]

If there's one complaint I've never heard about the G5, it's that it is unoriginal. It's like the most different phone in the market! Just not designed well.

 

[///AMG]

Not really....still no unified messaging client in sight...AAMOF Google is intentionally going back to 6+ unique snowflake chat apps, that are all different in their platform compatibility, that still aren't as good as iMessage.

iMessage and facetime is why I use an iPhone for my personal phone. Getting rid of my Z2 once I get the iPhone 7, probably going to stop carrying around 2 phones too.

 

[Mistral]

Yeah, and?

But I won't get a G5, or the V20 either at this point, I still find the G4 is the best smartphone I've ever had the pleasure to use and it still takes the best images I've ever taken with a smartphone camera but that's just my personal experience. Yes I realize the G4 has some issues for some people with the bootloop thing but I had a G4 from the day they were available for sale and used it for 15 months, never had one single problem with it, not one. I seriously regret selling it and actively remain on the lookout for one to replace it to be honest but for the moment I have a G Flex 2 that suits my needs and requirements just fine - yes, it has a Snapdragon 810 but I have no thermal issues since I keep the phone working as a quad core device, 2 Little cores and 2 Big, and that's more than enough for my purposes and saves a shitload of battery life too.

But LG stepped away from being original with the G5 and V10 and reverted to being just another ordinary smartphone like the rest with the side mounted buttons and that was pretty much where I decided the G4 would be the last LG product I'd bother with aside from the G Flex 2 I grabbed earlier this year for $25 because it had a cracked glass front to it, works just fine in spite of the damage and a $600+ near-flagship device with power to spare phone for just $25, couldn't pass that up.

I love the G4 and all of it's aspects as well, and would agree with every sentiment here, however I honestly am constantly fearful of bootloop happening as it already did once. And there is zero warning before it happens. So I hope G6 finally adresses the issue and I can use it 100% confident.

But then again it's not like other brands could even be consired at this stage, as the microsd + removable battery are 100% necessities IMO. So I can't really go beyond LG even if I wanted

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Not really....still no unified messaging client in sight...AAMOF Google is intentionally going back to 6+ unique snowflake chat apps, that are all different in their platform compatibility, that still aren't as good as iMessage.

So, Apples limitation of choice is a GOOD thing?

And it's not as if users can't (and don't) install third party chatting apps on iPhones. I know lots of people who exclusively use WhatsApp for their texting needs, and most of them are on iPhones.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

If they don't have removable storage/microSD slots and removable batteries then as usual they won't be devices I give a shit about and will get better hardware from another manufacturer that does understand there are those of us that demand such aspects or they will not get our business.

It's only a matter of time before these disappear all together.

Companies aren't stupid.

They can charge hundreds of dollars more for larger internal storage, but almost nothing more for adding a microSD slot. Market forces are driving them to offer what they can earn the most money on.

Replaceable batteries also add bulk, add cost, complicate the design by making you need a door, that reduces water resistance, and are something that most users will never use. It's surprising any of them are offering this feature anymore as well.

Don't get me wrong, I like these features as well, but offering them is against the best interest of the handset makers, so it is surprising anyone offers them at all anymore.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

My comment has always been the same about the Nexus phones. Google has the cash and engineering team to put together a top of the line nerds wetdream stock Android phone.

As Jordan used to say "Just do it"

They got very close with last years 6P, as far as a well designed, higher end phone, but sold for a more budget price. Imagine if the 6P instead of being at the $499 price point, was instead at the Galaxy or iPhone pricing, meaning the phone was just as high end as those. The Pixel phone would be a no brainer to buy.

But I'm the wrong guy to discuss this, I love my Nexus 6P, and for a 2015 phone, I'd take the 6P last year over the iPhone 6S Plus or Galaxy Note 5 all day long, and twice on Sunday, and it's not because of pricing, but I just find the 6P the best phablet period of 2015. Now imagine if the 6P did cost a little more, but then also had better camera, and better screen for the increased price. Who the hell wouldn't want that phone over the competition ?


Google has the money, they just need the Pixel phones in U.S Carrier stores, which according to rumors, will indeed be in stock at all 4 Carriers this Fall. And then market the frigging crap out of these new Pixel phones, just like Samsung started doing a couple years ago, I think spending like $500 million on advertising each year, worldwide.

I don't understand why everyone heaps praise on the 6p. it's way too large of a monstrosity to be usable as a phone, and it is made by a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese government, who you bet your ass are looking for ways to use their international models to their advantage.

I wouldn't touch anything Huaiwei with a 26.5ft pole, and I have no interest in any phone significantly larger than 5".

On the flip side, Nexus (and I guess Pixel in the future?) phones are the only devices I will consider. I don't want the bloat and distracting extra features and slow/no updates the likes of Samsung/LG/HTC and to a lesser extent Motorola have on their devices. If its not a Nexus (Pixel?) device, I'm simply not buying it, regardless of what features the other makers come out with. Nothing could sway me at this point, which is why I'm glad early rumors of Huaiwei making both the next gen Nexus phones were wrong, because I would have just had to sit out this generation if that were the case.

I'm eagerly watching the rumors about the 5x replacement (HTC Sailfish/Pixel/whatever it will be called) at this point. I'm very interested, but honestly right now, my 5x is fine. I don't know if it's worth the ~$400 to upgrade.

 

[Skripka]

So, Apples limitation of choice is a GOOD thing?

And it's not as if users can't (and don't) install third party chatting apps on iPhones. I know lots of people who exclusively use WhatsApp for their texting needs, and most of them are on iPhones.

But then you run into exactly the problem. Talking all of your friends and contacts to migrate messaging services AGAIN. Choice is a nice thing, except when it requires EVERYONE you know to have to choose the same thing....which is what IM services do.

Whatsapp penetration is very region specific, EU it is a huge hit.....USA not so much.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

But then you run into exactly the problem. Talking all of your friends and contacts to migrate messaging services AGAIN. Choice is a nice thing, except when it requires EVERYONE you know to have to choose the same thing....which is what IM services do.

Whatsapp penetration is very region specific, EU it is a huge hit.....USA not so much.

I don't see what the problem is with communicating with some friends using one service and others using another.

I primarily use whatsapp to communicate with my Brazilian fiance and her family, I use Facebook Messenger to chat with old friends who I've only kept up with on facebook, many local people I communicate with via SMS, with my geekier friends (which is odd coming from me) who refuse to embrace chat/social media I communicate using email...

and that's perfectly fine, as far as I'm concerned. I don't understand why everyone has to be on the same service.

 

[Vermillion]

I don't see what the problem is with communicating with some friends using one service and others using another.

I primarily use whatsapp to communicate with my Brazilian fiance and her family, I use Facebook Messenger to chat with old friends who I've only kept up with on facebook, many local people I communicate with via SMS, with my geekier friends (which is odd coming from me) who refuse to embrace chat/social media I communicate using email...

and that's perfectly fine, as far as I'm concerned. I don't understand why everyone has to be on the same service.

I'm with you. I don't get the need for one all powerful chat app. I could give a shit. I don't care if I get an e-mail, an SMS, an MMS, or a Hangouts message. I won't care once Allo hits and I start using that too. With today's phones and quick replies right from the notification shade why does it matter at all? Half the time I never even actually open the app completely lol.

 

[Skripka]

I don't see what the problem is with communicating with some friends using one service and others using another.

I primarily use whatsapp to communicate with my Brazilian fiance and her family, I use Facebook Messenger to chat with old friends who I've only kept up with on facebook, many local people I communicate with via SMS, with my geekier friends (which is odd coming from me) who refuse to embrace chat/social media I communicate using email...

and that's perfectly fine, as far as I'm concerned. I don't understand why everyone has to be on the same service.

The problem is that, especially for Google....all its chat platforms are VERY platform specific.

-Hangouts chat works on everything (desktop, cellular mobile, tablet) for now...until they're done breaking it into being what they are dubbing a "business" chat client.
-Allo is mobile-to-mobile only
-Duo is mobile-to-mobile only
-Messenger is cellular-enabled-mobile to cellular-enabled-mobile only. Your wifi tablet cannot use it....Unless you have Google Voice...
-Google Voice for now is omni-platform, basically, although it sucks at fragmenting SMS conversations rather than keeping them consolidated by contact....hopefully Google doesn't break it any time soon....Knowing Google they will.


So in order to chat with someone you need to guess what platform they are on, correctly.... AND they need to have that client installed. AND did I mention they have to actually be using/nearby the chat client that is platform specific that you guessed initially? Does this sound moronic yet? THAT is why One-Chat-Client-To-Rule_Them_All is a better strategy.

I'm with you. I don't get the need for one all powerful chat app. I could give a shit. I don't care if I get an e-mail, an SMS, an MMS, or a Hangouts message. I won't care once Allo hits and I start using that too. With today's phones and quick replies right from the notification shade why does it matter at all? Half the time I never even actually open the app completely lol.

You haven't thought this through either.

 

[Deleted member 245375]

Companies aren't stupid.

Yes they are.

Moto Z? Failure out of the gate because of no headphone jack and the modular idea with modules that are crazy expensive.

LG G5? Pretty much a failure out of the gate for similar reasons - LG built up a loyal community of users because of the removable battery and the microSD slot for three generations (G2, G3, G4) and then decided to just be another plain old smartphone and it backfired, and on top of that their modular concept is basically just like the Moto Z, too expensive and not useful enough in any respects to justify the costs of the modules.

Apple? Taking forever to give consumers what they want because most other manufacturers provide(d) the technology years before. As stated, Apple just refines things and I'm not against refinement - I'm against them refining and then acting like they created said technology and they're the only people that can do it at all. The elitism that company spews really rubs me (and many many other people) the wrong way and always has. Their stuff just ain't that damned good, nobody's products are. Yes, I consider this to be stupid but in some respects I suppose it's a smart move on their part because it just keeps the Cult members always waiting for what's next.

Anyway, the bootloop issue is a concern with the G4 and the V10 as well apparently (some reports of it on the V10 that I've heard about) but I'd still rather have a G4 right now over any smartphone on the market today even considering that it could just up and die on me at any random moment. But from the moment they introduced the G5 (was watching the release event) I was like "WTF did you idiots just do..." and I still feel that way. Yes the G5 has a removable/replaceable battery, yes it has a microSD card slot, but they altered so many other aspects of the device (side mounted buttons, a step backwards for them in my opinion, is one major aspect) that I just can't consider it anything I personally would buy. The V20 is about to be released and it's not something I'd consider either.

Dammit LG, you had the right idea and now you're just shooting yourself in the foot.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

The problem is that, especially for Google....all its chat platforms are VERY platform specific.

-Hangouts chat works on everything (desktop, cellular mobile, tablet) for now...until they're done breaking it into being what they are dubbing a "business" chat client.
-Allo is mobile-to-mobile only
-Duo is mobile-to-mobile only
-Messenger is cellular-enabled-mobile to cellular-enabled-mobile only. Your wifi tablet cannot use it....Unless you have Google Voice...
-Google Voice for now is omni-platform, basically, although it sucks at fragmenting SMS conversations rather than keeping them consolidated by contact....hopefully Google doesn't break it any time soon....Knowing Google they will.


So in order to chat with someone you need to guess what platform they are on, correctly.... AND they need to have that client installed. AND did I mention they have to actually be using/nearby the chat client that is platform specific that you guessed initially? Does this sound moronic yet? THAT is why One-Chat-Client-To-Rule_Them_All is a better strategy..

I've never had this problem. This description really seems like the "before" segment of an "As Seen on TV" ad. "You slip and then you slide", "you drop and then you stomp" where the actors are contorting themselves to make every day simple tasks seem more difficult than they are just to sell a product.

When I send a text message, I know it will arrive on the recipients phone, and they almost always have their phone with them. I don't care if it arrives on their other devices.

Whatsapp, again is going to the person I am trying to reach on their phone, which 99% of the time is within grabbable distance of them.

When I send an email, I'm primarily targeting them when they have time, on their computer, but they might also get it on their phone when they are out and about no big deal.

Facebook messenger? I only use it for non critical communication, wasting time catching up with old friends I a haven;t seen in a decade.

I recently helped my Fiance DISABLE this on her devices as it was annoying the hell out of everyone in the house. Why on earth would you want your desktop (well, her 27" iMac) to display your text messages when your phone is right there with you anyway? And your tablet? Maybe someone else is using it and watching Netflix or something. Totally annoying as hell when messages go through to that as well.

It's so much better to have everything isolated from everything else, and use specific software/hardware/tools for the specific tasks they were intended.

 

[Vermillion]

The problem is that, especially for Google....all its chat platforms are VERY platform specific.

-Hangouts chat works on everything (desktop, cellular mobile, tablet) for now...until they're done breaking it into being what they are dubbing a "business" chat client.
-Allo is mobile-to-mobile only
-Duo is mobile-to-mobile only
-Messenger is cellular-enabled-mobile to cellular-enabled-mobile only. Your wifi tablet cannot use it....Unless you have Google Voice...
-Google Voice for now is omni-platform, basically, although it sucks at fragmenting SMS conversations rather than keeping them consolidated by contact....hopefully Google doesn't break it any time soon....Knowing Google they will.


So in order to chat with someone you need to guess what platform they are on, correctly.... AND they need to have that client installed. AND did I mention they have to actually be using/nearby the chat client that is platform specific that you guessed initially? Does this sound moronic yet? THAT is why One-Chat-Client-To-Rule_Them_All is a better strategy.



You haven't thought this through either.

I have thought this through and I honestly don't give a shit and like Zarathustra[H] I've never had a problem. I understand the appeal of a single all powerful chat program but I also see the issues. I remember the days of AOL, ICQ, Yahoo Messenger, and mIRC. I remember having friends who each had different things. So I used a program called Digsby to try to consolidate it all into a single program. Digsby was then sold and they went down the shitter. They suddenly infected the installer with crapware and added ads to the app and everything was downhill from there. I went to Trillian. Same thing happened. After that I said fuck it. I don't care anymore. Thankfully by attrition some died like AOL, ICQ and Yahoo so I was able to consolidate and just use IRC and GTalk. Nowadays all my friends today have cell phones and SMS. They all use Google's ecosystem no matter what OS they use. They all have Hangouts and will all have Allo in the future. Quite a few are already using Duo as well. We all have cellular connections. We all have WiFi. Most are on Facebook which means their shitty Messenger is an option too. One way or another the message gets through. Plus if it's really that damn important we'll just make a phone call.

Bottom line is a single all powerful chat program can never happen except for short periods of time because eventually they all sell out. WhatsApp is a perfect example. Oh no we'll never share our data with our parent company Facebook! Oh by the way, yes we are now sharing your data with Facebook. Money talks and bullshit walks and we all know it. So I'll just happily keep right on using whatever flavor of the day messaging app is floating around and I simply won't give a shit. It's just an app that will eventually get replaced by something else.

 

[CHANG3D]

RCS will solve some of these problems. The question is whether Apple's iMessage will adhere to that standard. Cause the true problem here is that Apple people generally aren't willing to try something out like WhatsApp or Line when they can just use iMessage and get advanced texting and media messaging abilities. If everyone just use WhatsApp, we wouldn't have this problem.

Until Google push for RCS or Jibe with carriers around the world, we're still stuck at step 1.

 

[Zorachus]

I guess why even try to be something like the iPhone ? IMO the iPhone blows, and I loathe and hate iOS with a passion. I don't understand the iPhone love fest, to me it's just a generic looking phone, with the same lame design year after year, and is outrageously overpriced and way overhyped, and runs a simple near Dumbphone not smartphone OS. I honestly don't get it.

To me stock vanilla Android is where it's at. "It just works"

And Touchwiz, LOL I despise that more than iOS, because I don't see the need for a different UI over stock Android, and all the stupid duplicate apps Samsung makes, when Google already has them.

 

[singe_101]

Yes they are.

Yes the G5 has a removable/replaceable battery, yes it has a microSD card slot, but they altered so many other aspects of the device (side mounted buttons, a step backwards for them in my opinion, is one major aspect) that I just can't consider it anything I personally would buy.

All the phones with volume on the back are plastic.

I think the 820 is much more important than volume button placement.

 

[Mad Maxx]

I guess why even try to be something like the iPhone ? IMO the iPhone blows, and I loathe and hate iOS with a passion. I don't understand the iPhone love fest, to me it's just a generic looking phone, with the same lame design year after year, and is outrageously overpriced and way overhyped, and runs a simple near Dumbphone not smartphone OS. I honestly don't get it.

To me stock vanilla Android is where it's at. "It just works"

And Touchwiz, LOL I despise that more than iOS, because I don't see the need for a different UI over stock Android, and all the stupid duplicate apps Samsung makes, when Google already has them.

I'll never understand the iPhone/iOS hate. Seems like a foolish waste of time, energy, etc. I spent years with iPhones (3GS to 6 Plus) and have no complaints. Switched to Android for a new experience and am very pleased. Looking forward to the Pixel/Google phone, but love my HTC 10. I plan to stick with Android at least until we see what's what with the iPhone 8.

Bottom line, Android and iOS are outstanding platforms. Each has unique advantages and you can't go wrong with either choice.

I most certainly agree about Samsung and Touchwiz. Just wretched.

 

[brettjrob]

It's perfectly reasonable to hate the experience of using iOS - not really foolish. Not having any option to interact with the filesystem, for example, is such a dealbreaker for some of us that no list of optimizations or app quality advantages can offset it.

And as someone who also hates the way Apple affects the market around them, I completely understand where he's coming from. I played with the Honor 8 in Best Buy a few days ago. I was actually shocked at how snappy it was for a $399 unlocked device. And yet, they chose to corrupt Android with their blatant iOS imitation skin, which virtually guarantees buggy, delayed, or nonexistent updates to future Android versions. In so many cases, the iPhone's incredible commercial success tempts Android OEMs to imitate its design in ways that don't even make sense. That leads to worse options for everyone. Absent raging iPhone worship in the tech media, would OEMs like Samsung have abandoned the practical, functional designs with removable batteries they produced up until 2013-2014 in their quest for PREMIUM!!!!11 $750 unibody phones whose usefulness dies with their original battery? We'll never know.

Anyway, as relates to TouchJizz: I also checked out the S7/Edge in store recently. Same shit, different year. The most capable hardware on the market, and yet I pick up the phone, swipe through homescreens, and it lags as badly as anything from the GNex/Evo era. No joke. If I were actually interested in buying one in the first place, I would've begun to wonder if all the units on the BB floor were defective.

 

[Mad Maxx]

Point being, you can hate Apple all you want. Ain't gonna change a damn thing.

 

[Zorachus]

Gotta give Apple credit on releasing major updates. Apple does is the best bar none, no question. Yeah iOS 10 had the launch bug, but other than that, it gets released, and it's not just for one line of iPhone, it's like 4 years worth of iPhone models all get the same update at the exact same time. And no carrier delays or bloat added either. I hate the iPhone, but man it has killer support and accessories, and in stores everywhere.

Totally unlike the Nexus phone I like so much, it's updates are a disaster, and big delays, not all recent models get it etc...

 

[Deleted member 245375]

All the phones with volume on the back are plastic.

You say that like it's a problem or some kind of a defect or something. Case in point: my LG G Flex 2 has what's referred to as a "self-healing back cover" because the material it's made of literally can repair itself from light scratches. For all those people that just picked up or had their iPhone 7 Jet Black smartphones delivered today, I absolutely fucking guarantee you that already - just in the past 12 hours from the time I'm making this post at 11:27PM Pacific time - there are at least a million owners of those phones that already have noticeable scratches on that pretty glossy finish of that phone and it won't go away.

I can lightly scratch my Flex 2 with a razor blade and then watch it actually repair that scratch in about 2 minutes, it's somewhat freaky when it happens but it does actually work. Here's a video that goes a bit farther than most people would encounter in terms of abuse but it makes the point:



So, I got no issues with plastic at all - and if it does encounter some serious abuse, I can replace the back cover for a few bucks - ain't gonna replace the back of an iPhone on the cheap, that's for damned sure.

I think the 820 is much more important than volume button placement.

As for the 820 I'm sure it's a better processor, but I don't play games on my smartphone and nothing I do actually do requires that kind of power. I keep my Flex 2 "capped" with 2 cores from the little side and 2 cores from the big side (since it's an octa core device it has the big.LITTLE architecture) and I get roughly 80% more battery life with 8-10 hours of screen on time and I charge it once every 2+ days with the Snapdragon 810 it has. Never had overheating issues, never noticed any throttling, etc.

Works for me, and since I paid $25 for it I'm pretty sure I'm doing well in my situation.

 

[singe_101]

It's not my criteria, but people want Premium Feel, and I guess cases are heresy. While lack of expandable storage is forgiven. Or I would not get hung up by IR blaster missing but I do use it on my TV switching to Roku, etc.

And I saw the "Good" condition phones so quickly on Swappa as they damaged them, pretty new releases like their T-Mo HTC 10 that took a while to come out.

Not everyone knows what an HTC 10 is.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

You say that like it's a problem or some kind of a defect or something. Case in point: my LG G Flex 2 has what's referred to as a "self-healing back cover" because the material it's made of literally can repair itself from light scratches. For all those people that just picked up or had their iPhone 7 Jet Black smartphones delivered today, I absolutely fucking guarantee you that already - just in the past 12 hours from the time I'm making this post at 11:27PM Pacific time - there are at least a million owners of those phones that already have noticeable scratches on that pretty glossy finish of that phone and it won't go away.

I can lightly scratch my Flex 2 with a razor blade and then watch it actually repair that scratch in about 2 minutes, it's somewhat freaky when it happens but it does actually work. Here's a video that goes a bit farther than most people would encounter in terms of abuse but it makes the point:



So, I got no issues with plastic at all - and if it does encounter some serious abuse, I can replace the back cover for a few bucks - ain't gonna replace the back of an iPhone on the cheap, that's for damned sure.



As for the 820 I'm sure it's a better processor, but I don't play games on my smartphone and nothing I do actually do requires that kind of power. I keep my Flex 2 "capped" with 2 cores from the little side and 2 cores from the big side (since it's an octa core device it has the big.LITTLE architecture) and I get roughly 80% more battery life with 8-10 hours of screen on time and I charge it once every 2+ days with the Snapdragon 810 it has. Never had overheating issues, never noticed any throttling, etc.

Works for me, and since I paid $25 for it I'm pretty sure I'm doing well in my situation.

To me the material doesn't matter in the slightest.

No matter what, I'm sticking it in a case the first thing I do when I get it. It would almost be better if the materials are more basic and cheaper, and I can instead spend the money on a nice case.

My Nexus 5x has very basic materials, but I really like the premium feel of my Versus High Pro Shield case, and you'd be never really know what the phone looks like underneath it.

Only downside eith this Versus case is that it hasn't worn the best. Some of the dark areas are wearing to reveal light colors ubderneath.

 

[CHANG3D]

It's not my criteria, but people want Premium Feel, and I guess cases are heresy. While lack of expandable storage is forgiven. Or I would not get hung up by IR blaster missing but I do use it on my TV switching to Roku, etc.

I used to care a little bit. But I gone logitech harmony. And that just works so much better. I used to have the harmony ultimate one, but the battery life on that is horrible; it lasts like a day! So I replace it with a harmony companion (hub and a regular-esque non-touch remote). It's the greatest combo, cause I can also use my phone to control the hub.

 

[Tup3x]

I'd rather buy Honor 8 than this. Google always makes some annoying compromises for their devices.

I'm still happy with my Honor 6 though so maybe when Honor 9 comes out... I might consider upgrading. EMUI 5 is supposed to have some nice improvements like option to separate app launcher from desktop.

I'm totally blown away by Huawei's software support. I didn't expect them to support this for two years and this Honor 6 is running Android 6.0 nicely and everything works better than ever. Samsung left my Galaxy S (the first one) in terrible state. It was basically unusable without custom rom.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

I'd rather buy Honor 8 than this. Google always makes some annoying compromises for their devices.

I'm still happy with my Honor 6 though so maybe when Honor 9 comes out... I might consider upgrading. EMUI 5 is supposed to have some nice improvements like option to separate app launcher from desktop.

I'm totally blown away by Huawei's software support. I didn't expect them to support this for two years and this Honor 6 is running Android 6.0 nicely and everything works better than ever. Samsung left my Galaxy S (the first one) in terrible state. It was basically unusable without custom rom.

Honor?

 

[Tup3x]

Honor?

Yeah? Huawei's sub brand.

By the way, Huawei has managed to grab pretty large market share here in Finland (when I bought the Honor 6 two years ago that wasn't the case). They are also recruiting tech people here (likely trying to grab former Nokia employees).

My Honor 6 has aged really well. That 3GB of RAM sure does help with that... It has microSD slot, 3000 mAh battery, supports 300 Mbit LTE-A networks and has IR blaster. All that for 299 € two years ago.

 

[brettjrob]

Yeah? Huawei's sub brand.

By the way, Huawei has managed to grab pretty large market share here in Finland (when I bought the Honor 6 two years ago that wasn't the case). They are also recruiting tech people here (likely trying to grab former Nokia employees).

My Honor 6 has aged really well. That 3GB of RAM sure does help with that... It has microSD slot, 3000 mAh battery, supports 300 Mbit LTE-A networks and has IR blaster. All that for 299 € two years ago.

As I said above, I was blown away by the snappiness of the Honor 8 when I played with the store demo recently. It was sitting next to a 6P, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't faster to open apps.

If the software experience was close to stock Android instead of EMUI, I might've bought one on the spot. Such a shame.

 

[Drawmonster]

I've been saying this for years. If Google would give us some amazing hardware and a pure Android install with none of the bullshit companies like Samsung put on them, they would be able to compete and steal people back from Iphone. I've been using an Iphone for 3 years now, but before that I was diehard Android. Rooting and ROMing all the time just to get a pure version of Android on their top phones. But then Samsung decides to start putting out really good hardware, and then locking down the bootloaders and making it all too much of a pain in the ass. I shouldn't have to work to get my phone to a non-bloatware usable state. Not to mention their shitty launchers are slow as fuck. Watch the videos of the S7 Edge vs the 6S+ loading apps. The Iphone smokes the S7E even thought the S7E has superior hardware. It's the shitty bloatware and launcher Samsung forces you to use. All the current high end Android phones are crippled by the software installed on them by the manufacturer.

So yeah, I hope the Google Pixel phones are awesome cutting edge hardware running pure Android. If they are, then I would totally consider going back to Android. Real competition for the iPhone would be good for everybody. But I wouldn't get your hopes up too high. Google has been good at releasing "decent" Nexus devices, but nothing that changes the playing field.

 

[Zarathustra[H]]

Yeah? Huawei's sub brand.

By the way, Huawei has managed to grab pretty large market share here in Finland (when I bought the Honor 6 two years ago that wasn't the case). They are also recruiting tech people here (likely trying to grab former Nokia employees).

My Honor 6 has aged really well. That 3GB of RAM sure does help with that... It has microSD slot, 3000 mAh battery, supports 300 Mbit LTE-A networks and has IR blaster. All that for 299 € two years ago.

Huh.. never heard of Honor before.

Either way, I will not be buying anything from a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese government.

As it stands I'm a Nexus (and I guess now Pixel) only guy, but only if that device is not made by Huawei, in which case I'll just skip the generation.