Need a "small" Android - Pixel, Moto G5 Plus, or Samsung S7?

T

tantalus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 25, 2006
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My Moto X is no longer very functional given it's ancient processor. I need a new phone that works on Verizon. I mostly check email, use navigation, and lightly browse the web.

I *hate* large phones, but it's difficult to find a competent "small" phone. Ideally I'd like something the size of my Moto X, but the only phones that small are Iphones and the Sony Xperia Compact, which doesn't work on Verizon.

I've narrowed my search down to the three phones in the title. The Moto G5 Plus is actually a bit too big. The advantage is that it's $200 new (even slightly cheaper on Jet.com with their new order discount) while I'm looking at around $350 for a used Pixel and $300 for a used Samsung. So I'd pay more for a phone with no warranty. All are upgradeable to Android 8.

Performance seems relatively even among the three, though I like the fact that I have unlimited photo storage with the Pixel. I have a one-year old daughter, and I take a lot of pictures!!!

Am I missing anything? Any recommendations from among the three? I definitely don't want to pay more than $350.
 
I would wait a few weeks until the Pixel 2 is announced. The only phone I would recommend on that list is the Pixel, and prices should drop after.
 
Thanks. Can you quickly tell me what you think are the downsides of the Moto and the Samsung? My needs are not that demanding...
 
Moto G5 is a cheap budget device with lesser hardware. So it'll lag. Camera sucks too.

Samsung GS7 is slow and laggy. TouchWiz is essentially designed for "planned obsolescence." After a month or two, it'll be choking even more.

For the Pixel, it's good to go. No need to root for an excellent experience or having to reset the device every month. And it's got fantastic camera second to only the also-HTC-built U11. Not to mention that this device is more future proof as it'll actually get updates in a very timely fashion too.
 
The Essential is pure Android, but a little higher than your $350 budget (it is $700).
 
My personal phone is a S7 on Verizon and it works fine. Like you, I don't play games or really do anything hard core on it. Just email / text / run some chat apps, read PDF / office files and maybe nav now and then. The camera on the S7 is probably the first Samsung S series phone I've used that has been decent (compared to S1-S3, Note 2, S5). It's not comparable to the newest / latest phones on the market of course, but if the lighting isn't dark, it works great. I use it all the time. Samsung bloat is a thing but nothing a reboot now and then doesn't fix.

My work phone is a Note 8 and the thing is an incredible piece of tech. Camera is great, speed, expandable storage and even water proof (the S7 is water proof too) but it is huge / hella unwieldy and as a photography enthusiast, the best camera is the one you have with you.
 
BTW: My personal phone before the S7 was the S5 and before that a Moto X (first gen) and the thing was a tank. It was probably one of the few phones I actually got my money's worth out of, as I rode it into the ground before finally changing phones. If it didn't break / get all scratched up from use, I'd likely still be on it.
 
My G5 Plus does not lag.
Very smooth.
Love it.
Almost stock Android and the stuff Moto added actually makes the phone better.
My only gripe is the weak speaker for like when I am doing voice navigation, it could be louder, but it is adequate.

With what you say you do, I wouldn't spend any more.
The 4/64 sometimes is seen for as low as $249 but even at $299, imho, it's what your looking for.
 
I should say that the G5 will be slow running heavy apps and thus will lag. Honestly anyone who thinks TouchWiz is okay just never used any good phones like Nexus, Pixel, or iPhone before. Wish there was a Google Play Edition Samsung Galaxy S's again.
 
My wife's Z Play (which has the same CPU/GPU as the G5) doesn't lag doing anything. It actually lags quite a bit less than my 6P with a considerably faster SoC (at least it benches much faster even while throttling excessively) and a thermal mod installed to raise the throttling thresholds so my games don't slow down. That isn't an issue on her phone on the same games/apps. So the mid range hardware really makes no perceivable real-world performance impact over flagship hardware. It even seems to run faster than my mom's GS7 with a significantly faster SoC. I'm curious to do some performance comparisons between it and the Note 8 (getting it for free, otherwise I wouldn't consider owning one) I'll have shortly.

So Moto phones seem to have pretty close to Pixel level performance in real world usage and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend one to OP. I'm not sure if there's any promotions going on, but I'd look too see if there's any promotions on the Z Play or Z2 Play (considerably better camera than the original Z Play) or I'm sure you can pick up one in good condition on Swappa or something.
 
Personally, I've hopped from Samsung G2, G4, G6 and finally a G7. Never had any real problems with any of them. I know some people don't like Touchwiz. Haven't had any real issues myself...
I've used Nexus, Pixel and iPhones as well. So CHANG3D's supposition that I've never used a "good phone" doesn't really hold water...

And since you're basically using the phone AS A PHONE, along with basic nav and light web, Touchwiz's deficiencies really don't much come into play.

I'd say go G7.
 
CHANG3D said:
Samsung GS7 is slow and laggy. TouchWiz is essentially designed for "planned obsolescence." After a month or two, it'll be choking even more.
Click to expand...

I have had my Galaxy S7 since January, and I have no lag issues whatsoever.
 
Chas said:
Personally, I've hopped from Samsung G2, G4, G6 and finally a G7. Never had any real problems with any of them. I know some people don't like Touchwiz. Haven't had any real issues myself...
I've used Nexus, Pixel and iPhones as well. So CHANG3D's supposition that I've never used a "good phone" doesn't really hold water...

And since you're basically using the phone AS A PHONE, along with basic nav and light web, Touchwiz's deficiencies really don't much come into play.

I'd say go G7.
Click to expand...
I've used an original Galaxy S, GS2, GS3, GS4, and GS5 - then I stopped being an app developer. Right now someone in my family has a GS8. My experiences holds true. Lagwiz will choke as time goes on. GS3 is probably the worst offender.
 
CHANG3D said:
I've used an original Galaxy S, GS2, GS3, GS4, and GS5 - then I stopped being an app developer. Right now someone in my family has a GS8. My experiences holds true. Lagwiz will choke as time goes on. GS3 is probably the worst offender.
Click to expand...

Well. A year and a half, and a half-dozen updates later and I am having no problems.
 
You can make TouchWiz a lot better by turning down all of the animation via Developer Options. It doesn't remove all of Samsung's awful duplicate apps/services, store, clumsy pull-down, or random bloat through.
TouchWiz is only one of many issues with Samsung devices.
 
If you can get a good price on an S7 jump on it. Solid phone. But the g5 plus would be my next choice
 
CHANG3D said:
Samsung GS7 is slow and laggy. TouchWiz is essentially designed for "planned obsolescence." After a month or two, it'll be choking even more.
Click to expand...

So, if that's the case, how is the Galaxy S6 I've had for two years now no slower than it was the day I got it? I haven't done a single reset on the phone or anything like that. The only things which have been done with it are upgrades to Android 6 and several months ago to Android 7.
 
More and more I've become interested in the Google One version of the Moto X 4. If the Pixel 2 isn't all that, I'll save some $ and go that route for a couple years.
 
I downgraded from a Note 5 to an S7 a year ago because I simply couldn't stand how large the damn thing was.

Never have any "lag" issues relating to bloatware or TouchWiz. Then again, I'm not nearly as anal as some of these guys are in this section of the forums.

However, if the Pixel drops to around $200 at some point, I'll be jumping all over that. I would still have my Nexus 5 to this day, if it hadn't been thrown across my house and shattered.
 
Having low standards help...

Or perhaps more accurately in talking about Samsung, setting low standards help...
 
I’d take a pixel in a second if I was on Android.

I don’t think it makes sense to deal with any of the problems that running a non-stock rom provide.

Pixel doesn’t boot loop. Doesn’t have slow downs. No bloatware. Gets updates. Has solid hardware. The only downsides it has is no SD card slot. No removable battery.

But in terms of compromises, those are the ones I would consider to be acceptable in comparison with others. Everyone has their priorities though. I have a friend with a V20 that loves it. Got it mostly for the SD card slot. I don’t have time to deal with a phone if it breaks down though or has boot loops. So personally I value my time over any perceived advantage that particular phone has.
 
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