Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S6 w/ 128GB @ $599

Better off with an S5. S6 lacks IP67 waterproofing, removable battery, sd card slot, and has a smaller battery. S6 supports more LTE bands and has wireless charging but you can buy a Samsung gasketed wireless charging back for the S5. Not sure if the S6 bootloader is locked. It was unlocked for S5 on T-Mobile. Overall the the S6 is big step backwards. :mad: Makes me wonder if the government data mongers are quietly forcing or encouraging phones with permanent batteries.
 
WetMacula said:
Better off with an S5. S6 lacks IP67 waterproofing, removable battery, sd card slot, and has a smaller battery. S6 supports more LTE bands and has wireless charging but you can buy a Samsung gasketed wireless charging back for the S5. Not sure if the S6 bootloader is locked. It was unlocked for S5 on T-Mobile. Overall the the S6 is big step backwards. :mad: Makes me wonder if the government data mongers are quietly forcing or encouraging phones with permanent batteries.
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The S5 looks and feels like a toy compared to the S6. That cheap band of ruffled chrome around the outer edge of the 5 is so janky...
 
I don't much care how the phone feels or what it looks like so long as it's not too heavy or too large. I usually add a Diztronic rubber sleeve around all my phones anyways. It offers a better grip and protects the cheap plastic trim (if you choose to resell it). In my opinion, a top shelf phone should have a removable battery that lasts at least one day of heavy use, have wireless charging, have an sd card slot, be waterproof against a downpour, have front facing speakers, and have an unlocked boot loader.
 
WetMacula said:
I don't much care how the phone feels or what it looks like so long as it's not too heavy or too large. I usually add a Diztronic rubber sleeve around all my phones anyways. It offers a better grip and protects the cheap plastic trim (if you choose to resell it). In my opinion, a top shelf phone should have a removable battery that lasts at least one day of heavy use, have wireless charging, have an sd card slot, be waterproof against a downpour, have front facing speakers, and have an unlocked boot loader.
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Well there you go, buy a S5 and never upgrade.

Though I am not sure about the front facing speakers in a S5...
 
I own an S5. Has one speaker on the back. What I'm trying to say is the S6 isn't much of an upgrade. It removes more features than it adds. A non-removable battery and no SD card slot for $500+ is a deal breaker, on any phone. Samsung and Apple know they can release any piece of shit each year and people will buy it.
 
ocellaris said:
The S5 looks and feels like a toy compared to the S6. That cheap band of ruffled chrome around the outer edge of the 5 is so janky...
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And that matters for all of 5 minutes until a case is put on.
 
I'm thinking about upgrading to an S6 because I use my phone a lot for bluetooth audio out, and headphone jack audio out (connected to a stereo in my garage). The S4 and S5 both have an underpowered bluetooth and headphone amplifier, which results in really low volume. I'm hoping the S6 is better, or maybe I'll move away from Samsung.
 
Just paid $500 for new Nexus 6 64gb which is the most I've ever spent on a phone but then again I did it for the Project Fi invite I got along with the $25 - $30 max all fees included cell phone bill.

Damn, 128gb? I can't even seem to use 64gb
 
WetMacula said:
Better off with an S5. S6 lacks IP67 waterproofing, removable battery, sd card slot, and has a smaller battery. S6 supports more LTE bands and has wireless charging but you can buy a Samsung gasketed wireless charging back for the S5. Not sure if the S6 bootloader is locked. It was unlocked for S5 on T-Mobile. Overall the the S6 is big step backwards. :mad: Makes me wonder if the government data mongers are quietly forcing or encouraging phones with permanent batteries.
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I agree with you. I'd rather have the features you mentioned rather than the metallic look and feel of an iPhone. S5 > S6, no doubt. And no wonder S6 sales are disappointing. Samsung screwed it up.

I have an S4 and am eligible to upgrade, but while I'm staying with Android (no way will I ever go to iPhone), I'll probably jump ship to LG and try out the G4. At least it still has a removable battery and expandable memory, although it's not waterproof (but I have an Otterbox waterproof case, so not the end of the world).
 
I bought a G3 for 400 when the G4 was about to come out. I'm pretty sure that this thing's all the phone I would ever really need, and it is easily rooted and has removable storage and all that fancy stuff. It can also stream video easily over whatever connection speeds it does get. I just don't see the point in upgrading to any of these newest phones. Now on the other hand if you're planning to put an entire music library on your phone, 128GB would be really cool... if there was also an option for a MicroSD card. Because 128GB alone is pretty much one large MicroSD card. Now 256GB? That'd be awesome for music... too bad they took out the MicroSD slot... I can kind of understand removable battery, but MicroSD? That's obviously a ploy to get more money out of increasing internal storage capacities, because they know third party MicroSD cards are much cheaper by comparison.

My next phone upgrade will hopefully be something that really shakes things up. Not just all of these useless resolution upgrades and processor upgrades. Why I need a quad core or 4k in my phone, I have no fricken clue.

Yippee38 said:
I'm thinking about upgrading to an S6 because I use my phone a lot for bluetooth audio out, and headphone jack audio out (connected to a stereo in my garage). The S4 and S5 both have an underpowered bluetooth and headphone amplifier, which results in really low volume. I'm hoping the S6 is better, or maybe I'll move away from Samsung.
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... Umm... They may have an underpowered analog headphone amplifier.... that's possible. But bluetooth amplifier? IIRC bluetooth is fully digital data exchange. The amplification level of bluetooth is entirely dependent on the receiving device, because it simply receives the data and then does the amplification (and DAC) on its end.

I think one of the new things for Android 5+ is the ability to support USB DAC/AMP combos, so you could probably go buy something like the Audioengine D3 and then connect it to your phone's USB port via a conversion cable and then run your headphones from that.
 
yeah -- I have to say My S5 is pretty awesome, bought the IP67 rated Qi charger back off amazon for like 15 dollars, works like a charm. Love knowing I never have to worry about getting it wet. It's been dropped a few times, and the screen still looks like the day i bought it.

Now if verizon would stop trying to push their shit ass 5.0 android upgrade on me every 24 hours I'd be happy.
 
I picked up my S5 for the fact that I work in a high humidity environment. Until it is no longer able to be replaced, I will keep it.
 
Project Fi looks pretty badass -- I pay 70/month with Verizon and it's too much for what i do with it. Basic calls, almost no data use.

I have another year on Verizon before I can get out of my contract with no cost. Bleh.
 
collegeboy69us said:
yeah -- I have to say My S5 is pretty awesome, bought the IP67 rated Qi charger back off amazon for like 15 dollars, works like a charm. Love knowing I never have to worry about getting it wet. It's been dropped a few times, and the screen still looks like the day i bought it.

Now if verizon would stop trying to push their shit ass 5.0 android upgrade on me every 24 hours I'd be happy.
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If you rooted your S5, you can block the Verizon upgrade attempts. That's what I did with my S4.
 
Who still cares about removable batteries? I've never seen anyone change their phone's battery in real life.
 
ocellaris said:
Go to an airport or a bus station.
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I think USB battery packs have pretty much replaced replacing batteries for travel. Easier to charge the backup battery (just treat it like another phone) and a single backup battery can charge multiple devices. I just bring a charging hub with 5 USB ports on it when I travel now; make sure everyones cell phone and backup batteries/flashlights/cameras are charged each night. I don't even know how I would charge an actual replacement battery overnight..

Only real use case left is if you plan on keeping your phone for a long* time; as battery life does degrade. 3 years later; replace battery; double life. There are aftermarket iPhone/etc batteries you can get; so again; not as big a deal, which leads iFixit score to a bit more relevant.
 
Worminater said:
I think USB battery packs have pretty much replaced replacing batteries for travel. Easier to charge the backup battery (just treat it like another phone) and a single backup battery can charge multiple devices. I just bring a charging hub with 5 USB ports on it when I travel now; make sure everyones cell phone and backup batteries/flashlights/cameras are charged each night. I don't even know how I would charge an actual replacement battery overnight..

Only real use case left is if you plan on keeping your phone for a long* time; as battery life does degrade. 3 years later; replace battery; double life. There are aftermarket iPhone/etc batteries you can get; so again; not as big a deal, which leads iFixit score to a bit more relevant.
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Not for me. Battery packs can be a pain in the arse in a lot of situations. I do have a battery pack, and it works if you're stationary while traveling. For those constantly on the phone, or using their phone while on the go, having a wire hanging to a battery pack is just a no-go.

I have an extra battery in my pocket for my S5 all the time. Around 5pm my battery is almost dead, and I'll need my phone the rest of the night. Swap the battery for 100% takes about 15 seconds. Easy peasy.

Unless phones have a 5-day charge, I'll always want a replaceable battery.
 
DogChainX said:
Not for me. Battery packs can be a pain in the arse in a lot of situations. I do have a battery pack, and it works if you're stationary while traveling. For those constantly on the phone, or using their phone while on the go, having a wire hanging to a battery pack is just a no-go.

I have an extra battery in my pocket for my S5 all the time. Around 5pm my battery is almost dead, and I'll need my phone the rest of the night. Swap the battery for 100% takes about 15 seconds. Easy peasy.

Unless phones have a 5-day charge, I'll always want a replaceable battery.
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On a day-to-day basis; how do you keep the backup battery charged? That was the killer for me when I tried to do that back in the era of the blackberries (eventually I found a dock that charged my backup overnight, but it was happily retired when USB batteries became cheap)
 
Worminater said:
On a day-to-day basis; how do you keep the backup battery charged? That was the killer for me when I tried to do that back in the era of the blackberries (eventually I found a dock that charged my backup overnight, but it was happily retired when USB batteries became cheap)
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Most backup batteries I buy come with a little wall charger, along with a USB port on it to charge your phone via cable. That way you can charge your phone AND your extra battery.

Battery packs, in my situation, are best left to charging more stationary devices, like a tablet on long hauls. Not saying I never used my battery pack to charge my phone, I just love the ability not to have it sitting there charging via cable for 2-3 hours. Just pop in the extra battery and go.
 
DogChainX said:
Most backup batteries I buy come with a little wall charger, along with a USB port on it to charge your phone via cable. That way you can charge your phone AND your extra battery.

Battery packs, in my situation, are best left to charging more stationary devices, like a tablet on long hauls. Not saying I never used my battery pack to charge my phone, I just love the ability not to have it sitting there charging via cable for 2-3 hours. Just pop in the extra battery and go.
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Much better than it used to be; was a PITA of swapping batteries in phone to charge them throughout the day. I pretty much only use the usb battery packs when traveling, and being tethered to a small brick doesn't matter. (both fit in pocket or backpack while out-and-about).
 
soupcxan said:
Who still cares about removable batteries? I've never seen anyone change their phone's battery in real life.
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I've had to do it on both of my Android phones b/c the phone froze and I couldn't reboot it using the power button, so the only way I could do so was to remove the battery then reinsert it. Without a removable battery, if such a bug strikes the phone again, the only choice would be to let the phone fully drain out, recharge, then turn it on. That's unacceptable to most, even if that scenario occurs very infrequently.
 
beowulf7 said:
I've had to do it on both of my Android phones b/c the phone froze and I couldn't reboot it using the power button, so the only way I could do so was to remove the battery then reinsert it. Without a removable battery, if such a bug strikes the phone again, the only choice would be to let the phone fully drain out, recharge, then turn it on. That's unacceptable to most, even if that scenario occurs very infrequently.
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I think that's solved on modern phones by just long-pressing the power button. 5-10s and it's a hard power.
 
Worminater said:
I think that's solved on modern phones by just long-pressing the power button. 5-10s and it's a hard power.
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I did that on a 2nd gen iPod Touch, ~7 years ago, so it's not even a new addition. We've had that for a long time for phones with sealed batteries, even ones with removable ones have it AFAIK.
 
lol at suggesting buying an S5 over an S6. I wouldn't touch anything Samsung pre Note 4. S6 is a great phone. It has some hangups, mainly Touchwiz still not being smooth all the time, but other than that... Camera is truly amazing, a lot of my shots look like they were taken by an amateur photography hobbyist. The screen is gorgeous and often makes me smile when I load up a video. I never have to worry bout needing more power for my apps. Touchwiz may lag a bit, but all my apps run perfect 100% of the time with little delay. Couldn't pay me to carry an S5 around.
 
ocellaris said:
Go to an airport or a bus station.
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When I had spare batteries, those were pretty much the only situations where I'd use them. Most of the time it was just too much of a hassle to close what I'm doing, power off, take off the case, swap, power up and then get back to what I was doing.

I use my 6000mAh Anker USB pack (same size/thickness as phone, built in cable) a heck of a lot more than I ever swapped batteries with my first two smartphones. It fits fine in my pocket alongside the phone tho I swap it to the other pocket when not actively charging, also easy to hold both in one hand.

This is a pretty subjective thing tho, you can argue a removable battery is better in the long run as it decays and can be easily replaced... Tho even that's subjective depending on how long you keep phones and how handy you are (many sealed ones can easily be opened for a replacement down the line).
 
DogChainX said:
Most backup batteries I buy come with a little wall charger, along with a USB port on it to charge your phone via cable. That way you can charge your phone AND your extra battery.

Battery packs, in my situation, are best left to charging more stationary devices, like a tablet on long hauls. Not saying I never used my battery pack to charge my phone, I just love the ability not to have it sitting there charging via cable for 2-3 hours. Just pop in the extra battery and go.
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I'm quite the opposite, when I'm on the go I don't wanna bother removing the case and stopping what I'm doing or waiting for the phone to power up...

I don't have a wire hanging down with my pack either because it has a short built in flat wire that basically disappears as I hold both the phone and battery pack in my hand (the latter is the same exact shape/size as my phone).

Again, it's a pretty subjective thing, tho I'll say this... Using things like battery packs and wireless charging pads effectively requires a slight retraining of your habits.

If instead of waiting until you're under 15% to charge you recharge more aggressively whenever you're at 50% or whatever things like USB packs or having wireless pads everywhere become much more effective IMO.

At least Samsung is still behind wireless charging.
 
beowulf7 said:
I've had to do it on both of my Android phones b/c the phone froze and I couldn't reboot it using the power button, so the only way I could do so was to remove the battery then reinsert it. Without a removable battery, if such a bug strikes the phone again, the only choice would be to let the phone fully drain out, recharge, then turn it on. That's unacceptable to most, even if that scenario occurs very infrequently.
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AFAIK that was never a real issue, even as far back as three years ago with my EVO LTE most phones already had a power volume/key combo that will reboot it regardless how hard it's locked up.
 
Why try to justify a non-swappable battery in a $500 phone? Same with the sd card slot. Whether you use it or not, it's still better to have these options available. Why wouldn't you want the potential to carry spare batteries or multiple sd cards?

I believe Google made a decision to push people to store data on their servers by removing the sdcard slot and charging $100 to double the fixed capacity. Well I don't trust my data on a stranger's drive. With a few sd cards, the phone serves as a large flash drive, movie library, etc... First thing I do is flash a carrier iq free rom, install adaway, xprivacy, and freeze anything related to cloud services.

If the phone innards gets wet, I want the battery out. If I'm flashing stuff it's easier to pull the battery than long pressing. If I want to hide my location and prevent anyone from hot mic'ing my phone...battery out. If my battery shits the bed, I don't want to break out a spudger, suction cup, micro screw drivers, anti-static tape, and a glue gun. If I'm traveling or hiking or working in the field, I don't want to mess with wired/solar/kinetic chargers or battery packs. A battery swap takes less than a minute and spares are lightweight. Not sure I would trust these cheap battery packs in my pocket. Are they using virgin Panasonic or Samsuing 18650's with good protection circuits, or are they cutting corners with laptop and power tool pulls? You'd never know. 18650 fires are violent. Unless you don't have a choice, why carry a battery to charge a battery? I've never used an S6, but the S5 is still the better phone because waterproof (IP-67), removable battery, sd card slot. It should have shipped with wireless charging stock. The micro-usb socket has a high chance of failure due to fatigue stress or tripping over the cable. It's a shitty design for charging devices.

I pledge no allegiance to a specific manufacturer or model. All I'm saying is I expect these features in a top shelf phone. The technology is here. It's been done before.
 
I'm not justifying it, just saying it makes no difference to me because of the way I use my phone... 'Course my N5 wasn't $500 either, not that I'd pass on a more expensive phone over those things.

To you they're deal breakers, to others they're as irrelevant as having 8 SATA ports instead of 6 on a mobo and something else entirely might be the deal breaker. The size of most $500 phones is the biggest deal breaker for me right now for instance.

I'd rather have weather sealing than a removable battery (tho I know they're not mutually exclusive) and I stopped flashing custom stuff a while ago... Different strokes ya know?
 
Roger that. Reminds me of Louie CK's skit where he's chastising us for bickering about different phones. They are all amazing. I'm almost 40 and still remember driving around with an atlas (still carry one) and hunting for a functioning pay phone that didn't have slime all over it.
 
I'm 33 and still have an atlas in the car, used plenty of pay phones in high school... 'Course I was Boy Scout so i might just be weird.

I think the generation immediately after mine (my sister's) was in the middle of that transition and anything after can't fathom not having a camera everywhere, not texting at school, not...

Well, let's just say they're gonna grow up very differently, and they're probably the ones that will end up determining what the masses want on a phone. :eek:

I for one can't fathom surviving high school in this era, with everything documented and disseminated overnight.
 
Worminater said:
I think that's solved on modern phones by just long-pressing the power button. 5-10s and it's a hard power.
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Impulse said:
AFAIK that was never a real issue, even as far back as three years ago with my EVO LTE most phones already had a power volume/key combo that will reboot it regardless how hard it's locked up.
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Well I can only speak about the 2 Android phone I've owned (Droid 3 and S4). Trust me, I held the power button for many seconds, probably 30, but it was hard frozen. This happened about once a month on the D3 before I finally rooted it and put another ROM (image) on. Since then, I don't recall it happening, but I only had it a short while longer before I got the S4. I can recall 2 hard lockups in the 2 years I've owned it, so it's a lot less frequent. I also rooted that and have an older Jellybean firmware on it.

Perhaps the newer Kit Kat, and Lollipop images are 99.99999999999% hard crash proof, but I know for sure that the versions of Gingerbread and Jellybean certainly were not. In any case, I had to remove the batteries to do the reboot. So part of me is forever going to be paranoid and need a hardware method to reboot if the power button becomes nonfunctional.
 
Did you actually look up the key combo for your phone? AFAIK it's usually a combination of power and one of the volume buttons (probably opposite of the combination that takes a screenshot)...

So yeah, you holding down power for however long was a waste of time. Edit: A quick Google search reveals it's actually volume up + power + home for the S4 FYI. Probably safer than a battery pull too.
 
Oh and a second quick search reveals it was X (on the hardware keyboard) plus power for the Droid. You should really know there things if you're gonna be flashing custom builds on your phone, just saying..

When I was into that scene I did as much research as possible before messing around, and this is like, basic.
 
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