Is there an Android safe bet?

E

Eradan

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 7, 2006
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My employer provides my phone and service (Verizon unlimited data) for $6 a week. I currently have an iPhone 6 Plus and am considering rejoining team Android. My first smartphone was a Motorola Droid and I also carried an iPhone 5 (personal) and a Galaxy S4 for almost three years. I did have an LG G4 for about 3 weeks before getting my current iPhone. That was 2 years ago.

I'm bored with iOS. I haven't spent any money in the Apple ecosystem for a long time and have removed Apple Music from my phone after years with Spotify. I use a lot of Google apps (Gmail, Maps, Keep, Chrome, Calendar, Drive, YouTube) and prefer Google Assistant to Siri. Some of these are compromised on iOS.

From a hardware perspective my iPhone 6 feels sluggish. I've turned off a number of background services and scaled back animations in an effort to give it some snap. I had lunch recently with a friend and opened some apps on his iPhone 7 Plus simultaneously with my 6 and the 7 is considerably faster.

Camera and Bluetooth performance are important features. I already have issues with my 6 connecting to my 2013 Kia Optima via Bluetooth. Sometimes when I start the car it just will not connect. I also like the fingerprint scanner on my 6. Super useful when logging into banking apps and unlocking the device.

My employer will purchase any phone I want but I'm going to be stuck with it for at least 2 years. That's why I'm posting here...to get some feedback on choices. Whatever I end up with, that's it until 2019 unless I want to pay for something out of pocket.

I'm looking at the LG G6, the Pixel XL, and the Galaxy S8+. I've have some hands-on time with all three.

The LG stuff has always felt vaguely janky to me. As I said above, I kept my G4 about three weeks. Maybe I dodged a bullet with the often reported boot loop issue. I want to like it...just feels underwhelming.

The Pixel phones are highly regarded but are also not without issues...Bluetooth, halos on photos, failing microphones. They're also hard to come by but I don't mind waiting. Boring design but stock Android seems very responsive and clean.

And the S8+. Stunning display, loaded with features, but hampered by Samsung's redundant and often lesser versions of Google apps. Bixby is a major turnoff for me. Can I work around that?

Maybe staying with iPhone is my best bet.

I know there are some more affordable, well-reviewed phones on the market but I'm limited to Verizon's offerings. Anyone have any experience or wisdom to share? Thanks for reading.
 
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For enterprise security's sake, you only have 2 choices: an iPhone or a phone straight from Google (maybe it is Pixel now, but it was Nexus in the past). No other phones get timely security updates. I would stick with an iPhone until the second generation of Pixels come out.
 
S8+, no question. Best display, best build quality, pretty solid battery life. Easy enough to replace or disable most of the Samsung specific apps these days and almost all the stock stuff is available through the Play store, no messing around with ADB/sideloading any more.
 
CHANG3D said:
For enterprise security's sake, you only have 2 choices: an iPhone or a phone straight from Google (maybe it is Pixel now, but it was Nexus in the past). No other phones get timely security updates. I would stick with an iPhone until the second generation of Pixels come out.
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If I were the IT/Security director for a company, then I would agree with you. But this guy is just a user and if his company will support any phone that supports their exchange/MDM platform, then I wouldn't restrict myself to just the "most secure" phones.

Samsung has been pretty decent actually for security updates too, at least on the carrier variants. I think they've only been lagging behind the Pixel by a month or so, but have been getting them monthly. I was just looking at my coworkers (Verizon) S6 Edge+ earlier and it was on the April security patch.

I would consider the Moto Z phones too, OP. They're pretty underrated, IMO. My wife has the Z Play and it runs as fast/smooth as any flagship phone with top end specs while getting literally twice the battery life; 10+ hours SoT or 2 full days of moderate to heavy usage. Plus I kind of like the mod concept, they should be bringing a lot more out this year for them. The only thing is that they're going to be launching the new Moto Zs here shortly with updated specs, so it's kinda hard to justify one right now.

Otherwise I would probably just go with the relatively safe S8+. Pixels are nice, but there's really nothing special about them in terms of hardware. I would only consider the G6 if you're a big camera user (because of its wide angle camera), esp. after they crapped all over their G4/V10 users after their phones died right outside of warranty for a known hardware defect and wouldn't support most of them.
 
Even if he's not IT/Security director, why risk being the leak or the victim of hackers with a phone that should have been patched months if not years ago? Better safe than sorry.

I also don't know what kind of industry he works in or if he is moving to another job; but in healthcare and finances, there are a lot of regulations that forces companies to only support certain phones; and one of those phones that pretty much every company supports is the iPhone. (Heck, didn't Securian recently dropped Android support for their employees? I think they only support iPhones now.) Better to futureproof job mobility.
 
I'm a network engineer/admin for about 20 SMBs. I hook into the Exchange server at the office, receive calls and texts from clients and other folks on the team. No real restrictions as far as security goes.

I stopped at Best Buy today and looked at all three again. I'm probably making way too big a deal out of this. It seems to me if you could get the Pixel software on the Samsung hardware, you'd have the best selling smartphone of all time. I think Samsung desperately wants to be a player in the software world but they can't compete with Google or Apple. If I do stick with iPhone I'm going to suck it up and ride this 6 Plus out until the fall when the new Apple stuff is released.

Thanks for the replies.
 
The S8/S8+ have great hardware and mediocre software but are probably the best Android has to offer. Very fragile as well, suggest a case if going that route. The other Androids I recommend are G6, Pixel, and OnePlus 3T. OnePlus 3T (my personal favorite) is a great across the board device but requires a GSM carrier.
 
I'd stick with the iPhone until the OnePlus 5 is out in June or July. I have a 7 Plus and a 3T. Really like both, but the 3T is noticeably faster. I'm pretty psyched about the OP 5.
 
Droid Turbo 2 is a rock solid (literally) device with no issues, works great, it's fast and reliable, microSD expansion if you need more storage, just an all around fantastic piece of hardware and I'd absolutely call it about as safe a bet as you're going to find from Verizon. And since it's factory unlocked you're free to use it with any other GSM provider in the world just by swapping out the nanoSIM card (just in case you would need such a capability).
 
The Moto Zs just popped up on my radar yesterday. Looking closely at them. Camera is reportedly underwhelming.
 
The issue is that the Turbo 2 is already an outdated device, and he has to stick with it for 2 years.

I'd go with the S8 or Pixel, or wait till the Note 8/Pixel 2 comes out in October. You have a 6 Plus, so there's no immediate need to upgrade, and a Pixel 2 will give you 2 years of updates with no problem.
 
Commander Shepard said:
I'd stick with the iPhone until the OnePlus 5 is out in June or July. I have a 7 Plus and a 3T. Really like both, but the 3T is noticeably faster. I'm pretty psyched about the OP 5.
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Might as well wait for the phones with the new Nickel 3D sponge Zinc (Ni-3D Zn) batteries.

https://www.engadget.com/2017/04/27/the-navy-built-rechargeable-batteries-that-wont-explode-on-you/

(Kidding... just thought this would be a fun way to share this news. This battery will probably come to the market way sooner than say those carbon nanotube batteries we kept reading about due to the fact that it's coming from the US Navy. Or perhaps the Goodenough battery.)
 
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I have a Pixel XL, switched over from the Note series. I think the Pixel XL is the best of the ones you listed. I have heard about the microphone issues, but luckily I haven't had any of those issues with mine. Nor have I noticed the halo on photos or bluetooth issues. For me it is the snappiest of all the devices I have used and the battery life has been heads and shoulders better than any other device I have used.
 
Is the Pixel XL available to buy? Its almost never in stock @ Google.
 
I don't have the patience to wait until fall. Will likely request a Pixel XL from my Verizon rep and hope it doesn't take months to arrive.
 
Business accounts usually get first crack at device stock. I know when there was a 3 month wait on the black iphone 7 Plus, I got mine in about 3 weeks.
 
dan1 said:
Is the Pixel XL available to buy? Its almost never in stock @ Google.
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Yes, you can order them, either directly from Google, or through Verizon. If your question is whether they are in stock, not usually. They sell out pretty quickly, most people have to order them and wait. I

entropism said:
Business accounts usually get first crack at device stock. I know when there was a 3 month wait on the black iphone 7 Plus, I got mine in about 3 weeks.
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Eradan said:
I don't have the patience to wait until fall. Will likely request a Pixel XL from my Verizon rep and hope it doesn't take months to arrive.
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I had to wait roughly 2 months for my Pixel XL when I ordered it, but they did give me a date I should receive it by, and I actually received it about a week or 2 early.
 
If it's going to be more than a month I may go S8+. See what kind of mood I'm in later today. :)
 
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Have a friend that just got an S8+ a few days ago, he's happy with it so far, medium-heavy user that watches a lot of video streams (Google Play Movies and TV, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc), can't stop raving about it overall (he's got the AT&T model), very fast LTE as expected, good battery life so far in his opinion. He got it as a replacement for an iPhone 7 Plus and so far he's good to go, not that it means much. He did have difficulties with the fingerprint reader the first few times, I told him I'd read some reports from new owners of the S8/S8+ that they had to (or chose to) do a factory reset of their devices after an initial setup and then suddenly "the second time around" everything worked perfectly, as odd as that might be, and he gave it a shot the first day he got it and voila, everything did work better the second time around for him so who knows.

Got a V20 myself a few days ago for a smokin' good price, so far so good and it checks off all the boxes for requirements I have in modern smart phones including a removable battery + microSD expansion. I acquired a lot of 24 bit 96 kHz "vinyl rips" lately (LP analog transfers to the digital domain) and have been happy with the "quad Hi-Fi DAC" performance the V20 offers. Some of the material I have from the analog transfers does have content well into the 25 kHz region (as measured by spek) and although my aging ears can't hear anywhere near that high anymore it's actually nice to listen to music again that isn't candidate material for "the loudness war" nor a fucking wall of sound that really sucks to listen to. The analog transfers retain not only a wider frequency response overall but give back a little bit of the dynamic range even if it is limited to about 80 dB - I'd rather here dynamic content with an 80 dB ceiling than be slammed by a constant wall of crap at 96 dB like so much of today's "music" happens to be.

Anyway, lots of great hardware out there nowadays, I still say the Droid Turbo 2 is a solid safe bet, I know it's older and updates won't come along for it but even so if I ever find a good deal on a used one in great condition I'm getting another one. :D
 
V20 was on my list at one point. Couldn't get a definitive answer as to whether that model also suffers the LG boot loop issue.

Have a black 128GB Pixel XL on hold at the local Verizon store. I guess this is happening today.
 
The V20 has been reported as having bootloop issues (those reports being tempered by the fact that most of the people were honest enough to say they'd attempted to root their devices and unlock the bootloaders on those V20 variants that didn't have it unlocked or be unlockable natively, of course) and is a device "supported" by the class action lawsuit against LG that's been filed so, there it is. If you have the Pixel XL as the option and the employer is gonna fork over the payment for it AND you can get one today then what the hell are you waiting on, get to the damned Verizon store, STAT! :D
 
Eradan, apparently some are starting to show bootloop issues, but it's not nearly widespread like the G4 was. Great call on the XL, you're going to love it.
 
A quick suggestion - Use AdGuard for ad blocking, no root needed. There's a lifetime license on sale for 50% off right now. I've been using it for about 2 years on Android and the iPhone, love it.
 
It's been a few years since I've been on Android and for the first ten minutes or so I was like oh shit, what did I do? Got it under control now. This thing is fast.


entropism said:
A quick suggestion - Use AdGuard for ad blocking, no root needed. There's a lifetime license on sale for 50% off right now. I've been using it for about 2 years on Android and the iPhone, love it.
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Thank you!
 
OK, so a quick rundown - if you need to know good apps, let us know what you usually do on your iphone and we can suggest good apps for you.

A few to start off with:

Outlook, Maildroid Pro, or Nine for exchange email (a LOT of other apps have massive privacy issues, such as routing your email through their servers. Some companies consider this a firable offense)
Slide or Sync for Reddit
Google Opinion Rewards for free money towards apps/music/etc
Fenix or Flamingo for twitter
Google's GBoard or Chrooma for your keyboard (I prefer Google's).
Lastpass or Enpass are the best/cheapest password managers out there. You can use it with Chrome/apps, don't have to swap keyboards to enter passswords, fingerprint security, etc.
Phonograph for music.
 
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Nova Launcher
Evernote
Dropbox
Total Commander (file manager)
Equalizer (music)
Mood (SMS/MMS)
MightyText (text from your PC or Mac)
Xodo (read/edit PDF, open other formats in PDF)
+1 to GBoard, too!
 
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Chiming in...

fx File Explorer
Flipboard (very customizable "news" app, works well enough)
GoneMAD (my fave audio player, bar none)
GPS Status (just to make sure the GPS is working properly at any given time/location)
GPS Test (same idea as GPS Status)
Moon+ Reader Pro (ePub/eBook reader extraordinaire)
Google Rewards (complete simple surveys, get Google Play Market credits, not a whole lot of "money" but it's something, mentioned above by entropism)
Tapet (Material Design wallpaper, generates a wallpaper in real-time that is totally unique, tons of styles/options/custom resolutions)
 
I'm going to disagree with Mood. Google Messenger (the default) or Yaata are fantastic though. Nice and lean, no bloat, no teenager type features.

As for news apps, I personally can't stand Flipboard. Try Quartz. Really innovative stuff.
 
LG is incompetent at this point. They've failed to fix the bootloop issues affecting all of their products since 2015. I would go with Galaxy, or wait for the next Pixel.
 
Great choice OP. I can't consider dropping that much coin on a phone. The pixle is blazing fast with great battery life and one of the best smart phone camera's period.
 
I love this thing. I've had an iPhone since September 2012 and carried an S4 with it for the first few years. It's going to take me some time to achieve the same level of familiarity and comfort with Android. Was really nice to hook my Pixel to my PC and copy/paste some notifcation and ringtone MP3s. It's the little things...

I was out looking for cases locally yesterday (didn't find anything worth a shit) and everytime I see the S8+ I still kinda want one. lol. Have Flossy Carter's Real Review of the S8 queued up on YouTube. I love that guy and his cat.

Thank you for the app suggestions.

Couple questions on some of the app recommendations...

1. What does Slide or Sync offer over the standard Reddit app (which I used on my iPhone)
2. I'm using Gmail for all three email accounts (Gmail, work Exchange, Roadrunner). There are many mail apps. Will any of the suggested apps permit all three of my accounts? I tend to like the native Google stuff and am looking at Inbox as well.
3. I used GBoard on my iPhone. Is it that much better on Android? Better than the stock keyboard?
4. Definitely getting into this Google Rewards stuff. Thank you for recommending that.
5. I use Spotify for music and podcasts. Google Keep for notes and lists. Will take a look at some of the other recommendations if they offer some killer functionality lacking in what I already use.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. Much appreciated!
 
I believe GBoard is the stock keyboard on Pixel devices, but I don't own one, so can't verify that. It's the default option on my Moto X Pure, which is also AOSP-ish.
 
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Now having an issue with Google Assistant. Doesn't respond to voice commands. Can't retrain...it's like the microphone isn't working but it works fine for voice calls. Troubleshooting now. I hope this isn't a serious issue....I've had this thing 48 hours.

Update: Restart fixed it. If this issue persists or gets worse I'm going to have to decide whether to try my luck with another Pixel or go with something else. Definitely not going back to iPhone.
 
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My S7 Edge does this occasionally when using Google Assistant. Restart always fixes it. It's rare, maybe once a week if that. Frustrating but not hardware specific -- I imagine they'll iron it out soon.
 
Never had that happen with Google Assistant. I only use GA once or twice per day, so maybe not enough to trigger this problem.
 
No issues like that with Assistant on my 6P or wife's Moto Z Play either.

If it happens again, maybe use Google's built in support to remote to the phone and check it out. There's supposed to be one of their staple features of the Pixel line.
 
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