Any prospects for mid range, sub 5" Android phones?

Blorgon

Blorgon

Limp Gawd
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Jun 29, 2014
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Desperately clinging to my Moto X 2013, but increasingly annoyed by the lack of expandable storage, and the fact that I'm having a hard time finding a reasonably priced replacement X since I just cracked my screen.

Are there any prospects for us normal people that want a phone that'll fit in one hand perfectly, but also has decent specs, and isn't unbearably ugly? I don't care about top of the line stuff—totally uncomfortable with having anything worth more than $150 in my pocket—I just want something akin to my X.

EDIT: I really love the Moto line, but the only one with both ideal form factor and good specs is the 2013 X; I've tried all the other iterations and generations and haven't been satisfied.
 
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Moto E is pretty much your only option in that price range. Hope you're not on Verizon too, or you have no other option.

Here's a similar thread someone made recently too.
 
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T4rd said:
Moto E is pretty much your only option in that price range. Hope you're not on Verizon too, or you have no other option.

Here's a similar thread someone made recently too.
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Are there options outside that price range?

I'm on Ting GSM.

Saw that thread earlier. Wasn't inspired. Thanks for the reply though!
 
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this is the 3rd thread for a compact phone in like 2 weeks.

There isnt a whole lot of inspiring phones that are less then 5.5" right now.
 
Yup the new Z5 compact is what you want. Its the only modern phone under 5 inch. Anything else really will be low budget. Any reason you want to stay below 5inch? The new 5x seems right up your alley.
 
Vengance_01 said:
Yup the new Z5 compact is what you want. Its the only modern phone under 5 inch. Anything else really will be low budget. Any reason you want to stay below 5inch? The new 5x seems right up your alley.
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Well, yeah, the 5X is pretty hot, but it's still too big.

I have big hands, so 5-5.5" phones are not physically uncomfortable, but I really don't need the screen real estate. I don't game, or watch videos. I text, email, call, listen to music, and occasionally browse or use maps. Bigger screens just mean that my thumb is stretching further across the screen to reach things, and that loosens my grip on the phone. I'm not at all interested in committing two hands to my cell phone experience :D

I was also really put off by how light the Moto G 2015 was. The X has this density to it that I don't get with bigger phones. There's also that soft touch plastic that I really love about the X. It feels better, and feels more secure in my hand. And I don't like carrying around a piece of hardware more valuable than $150.

I get it. I'm nit-picky. Mine is a niche market. Guess I'm gonna stick with the X for a while.
 
Blorgon said:
I text, email, call, listen to music, and occasionally browse or use maps
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If that's really all you do, then just get an iPhone. Even if you're tied to Google services, they're all available on iOS and work just as well (some apps even better).
 
I used an LG Volt for a while on Ting. I found it to be a great mid-range Android device. In terms of price, it was actually cheap, like $70. Incredible battery life, plus replaceable battery, and micro SD slot. 4.7" screen. I know there is an LG Volt 2 now. 5" screen (like you, I prefer the 4.7" range.) But not sure you could get one that activates on Ting. And if so, it would be the Sprint network, rather than T-Mobile. BTW, I'm now using a Lumia 640 with Ting (GSM). Another great phone for the money ($80 to $100, depending), and another phone I'd recommend.
 
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The bloody 5x is not compact... Physically is a hair smaller then the g4 which has superior hardware. I cancelled my pre-order for the 5x when I realized how close it was.
 
The A9 looks to be a killer in early reviews/previews. HTC is promising updates within 15 days of the Nexus of you buy the unlocked version.

I would certainly like to see the camera reviews first before deciding on this or Nexus.

But I hope that Microsoft could work something out with Microsoft so I could get a lumia on demand.
 
A9 is a very nice device for the price. Underpowered and too small for my tastes but it's a very nice device nevertheless.

I think a lot of people will be watching the 15 day update policy very closely. If HTC can pull that off and it's relatively painless it'll force other OEMs to do the same. It'll also show that the crappy turnaround we see now is completely unwarranted. If HTC can pull off 15 days there no reason why updates have to come 90+ days later even with carrier testing.
 
Vermillion said:
A9 is a very nice device for the price. Underpowered and too small for my tastes but it's a very nice device nevertheless.

I think a lot of people will be watching the 15 day update policy very closely. If HTC can pull that off and it's relatively painless it'll force other OEMs to do the same. It'll also show that the crappy turnaround we see now is completely unwarranted. If HTC can pull off 15 days there no reason why updates have to come 90+ days later even with carrier testing.
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Notice HTC said "unlocked A9" on that claim. Carrier phones will still take 90+ days, lol. :rolleyes:
 
T4rd said:
Notice HTC said "unlocked A9" on that claim. Carrier phones will still take 90+ days, lol. :rolleyes:
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I know what they said.

The thing is thanks to Stagefright we know OEM's and carriers can push updates faster then they currently do. Now if HTC can actually keep their 15 day promise that shows that updates can be on a far more regular basis. It will force the other OEMs to do the same.

I can see update in 15 days. Give carriers 3 weeks to test (even though that is far more then necessary). So you're talking 6 week turnaround. Far better then the 90+ day bullshit we put up with now.

That said this only causes change if HTC can actually meet the 15 day update policy which I honestly don't see them doing.
 
singe_101 said:
Alcatel Idol 3 4.7"
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That looks pretty sweet. Do you have one?

The only thing I wish it had was wireless ac. Other than that, it fits my bill pretty much perfectly. Other than that back cover, it looks pretty nice, too.
 
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The new HTC does look nice, but 400$ is a bit much for the top tier phone. Looking forward to reviews. Also get 6.0 out of the box.
 
Vermillion said:
I know what they said.

The thing is thanks to Stagefright we know OEM's and carriers can push updates faster then they currently do. Now if HTC can actually keep their 15 day promise that shows that updates can be on a far more regular basis. It will force the other OEMs to do the same.

I can see update in 15 days. Give carriers 3 weeks to test (even though that is far more then necessary). So you're talking 6 week turnaround. Far better then the 90+ day bullshit we put up with now.

That said this only causes change if HTC can actually meet the 15 day update policy which I honestly don't see them doing.
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Yeah, hopefully it will at least cut down the carrier updates significantly as a result. I could see them sticking to their 15 day lag time on the unlocked phones, but no way on the carrier phones. And just to be clear, that :rolleyes: wasn't aimed at you, it's at the carriers and their crazy restrictive update process.
 
Blorgon said:
That looks pretty sweet. Do you have one?

The only thing I wish it had was wireless ac. Other than that, it fits my bill pretty much perfectly. Other than that back cover, it looks pretty nice, too.
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No. But I agree the 4.5" size is great. Original Moto G, yet stuck with 2013 internals that are dated
 
It's funny that the mainstream tech blog sites like Engadget, The Verge, and especially BGR are basically bitching about the HTC One A9 as an iPhone rip-off, while sites like AndroidPolice and AndroidCentral are defending the design as original, and AndroidandMe and Phandroid are completely ignoring the subject and not give credence to that idea. Honestly, it's just HTC One M9 + E9 - size = A9.

If anything, Engadget, The Verge, and BGR should write now articles about how Apple ripped off HTC One M7 to make the iPhone 6 to be fair, especially BGR. At least Engadget and the Verge were positive in the hands-on reviews.

(AnandTech brought it up but was pretty neutral.)

Let's talk about the specs. An important spec on the A9, AMOLED screen with sRGB color accurate options. It seems that Samsung is selling AMOLED displays without forcing it to have Samsung logos on the bezel again. That's a good sign. (HTC had still bought displays from Samsung anyways, SLCD, so I'm glad that Samsung is no longer being anti-competitive on this front.) On the specs, assuming that the camera is good, I like these specs over the Nexus 5X.
 
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bastage said:
The specs on the A9 do look pretty damn enticing, but honestly its still too damn big for the screen size.. The bezels on it are ridiculous. Why the fuck cant anyone make another phone that isnt any taller or wider then the N5 if the screen is still 5"

http://www.phonearena.com/phones/size#/phones/size/HTC-One-A9,Google-Nexus-5/phones/9733,8148
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I would guess that HTC probably listened and made the bottom bezel bigger for symmetry, a compliant that people had with the looks on the One Mx series. The top bezel is big because of the speakers, antennae, and camera module with OIS.
 
The A9 looks decent. I don't get the bashing. It is better than a stupid Nexus 5X for sure.
 
hmz said:
The A9 looks decent. I don't get the bashing. It is better than a stupid Nexus 5X for sure.
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I think your right about it being better then the 5x. Both are oversized phones for the display size, but at least the a9 has some power under the covers to back it up.
 
When I switched off Windows Phones a few months ago, I was looking for something similar; I had spent almost 2 years with a Note 2 and really wanted something smaller. I ended up getting a new Galaxy Alpha off of ebay for 250-ish. While it doesn't have expandable storage, the rest of the phone's specs lined up really nicely with what I wanted: A thin, light Android under 5" that didn't break the bank.
 
You could find a used Galaxy S4 for next to nothing. Has everything you need and still runs quite decently. I had the Z5 Compact for a while but felt the S4 was better to hold and ran almost the same for general stuff. The S4 is pretty much the only phone out there that has really thin bezels so despite its large 5" screen it is physically quite slim. A back cover with better grip is highly recommended though but those can be had cheaply on eBay.

I hear your pain about smaller phones though, very few worthy ones available.
 
hmz said:
The A9 looks decent. I don't get the bashing. It is better than a stupid Nexus 5X for sure.
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bastage said:
I think your right about it being better then the 5x. Both are oversized phones for the display size, but at least the a9 has some power under the covers to back it up.
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Yeah, I think the A9 looks decent as well in both looks and specs, sans the battery. the 21xx mAh battery is retarded small even for a smaller mid-range phone. I hope that 617 SoC has some crazy low power usage if that thing is supposed to last a full day with any amount of considerable usage. HTC also missed the price and availability mark I think and should have kept it $400 MSRP and made it available to Verizon as well. I would still take the Moto X hands down as it is right now unless I absolutely had to have a smaller phone.
 
At $400, getting the HTC One A9 over the Nexus 5X seems like a no-brainer. But that introductory price promotion will end next Friday, when it will be $500. At $500, that's Nexus 6P territory. That I'm not so sure about... In fact, I'm sure it's a no brainer the other way around. HTC should rethink this strategy.

I'm still waiting for the in depth reviews. Hope they release them prior to next Friday. So far previews are saying good camera. This being HTC, I need more to believe this.
 
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