Two Years, 8+ Phones Later, I'm Going Back to Apple.

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
07/12/2017 at 11:46 • Filed to: Phone

One of the most interesting things about my relationship with Miss Tesla was her pushing me deeper into the world of Google. I was already a fan of Android, but I had really only used Androids for modding purposes. I had no intention on going Android as a daily phone, but as time wore on I wanted to give it a go. Two years after making that dive, I want to go back to Apple for daily driving.

First, what phones did I have through this time? Here are those phones, in order, their software, and their current status:

Samsung Galaxy S III Mini - Heavily modded stock rom - In my purse as a MP3 player.

LG Nexus 5X - Cyanogenmod 13 when I was using it, it now has stock Nougat - Given to Miss Tesla.

Samsung Galaxy S7 (the first Android I regret selling) - Stock rom - Sold on eBay. I sold two more S7s some months later on eBay.

Huawei Nexus 6P (the worst phone I’ve ever owned) - Cyanogenmod 13 - Sold on eBay with stock Nougat.

Droid Mini (Possibly the most impressive of the bunch) - Heavily modded stock rom - Retired to my smartphone repository.

Honor 8 (In blue it’s my favourite phone design of all time) - Stock rom - Never used, was on display with the next phone before I moved.

Nextbit Robin (Nexus 5X in a cute dress) - Lightly modded stock rom - Used for a couple months before I put it on display with the Honor 8.

Honor 5X (One of the best phones under $200) - Resurrection Remix rom - Current daily phone, may have sustained significant water damage this morning, perhaps requiring its future retirement.

So, why am I going back to Apple? Clearly I love Android!

A few things. I’ve yet to actually find a rom that offers the stability I enjoyed with iOS. Stock Android is great, but even it has issues. I’m talking stupid bugs like not being able to turn off my flashlight without turning off the phone, apps that won’t open from the lockscreen, warped wallpapers, infuriating bluetooth, excessive battery drain, and so on. For example, at least half of my Androids often (including one of the S7s) refused to connect to any PC lest I get this error:

But that’s no big deal. I’m talented in fixing these phones. I can bring almost any phone back from the dead and squash bugs. Though, sometimes I just want a phone that works. That was my iPhone.
Unfortunately it looks like the Honor 5X is suffering from a hardware fault, so I’m stuck.

Custom roms and manufacturer skins do fix a lot of this. The Galaxy S7 was the most stable and enjoyable Android I’ve ever owned. For TouchWiz’s faults, it actually fixed quite a few of the bugs stock Android has and doesn’t use an interface that to me looks dated for 2017.

That said, I’ve used dozens of custom roms, and they have a rather silly problem. Once you’ve used Cyanogenmod/LineageOS, CosmicOS, or Resurrection Remix, you’ve basically used every other rom. Almost all other roms by smaller devs have the same groundwork and similar features as the big popular roms. As such, I haven’t been wowed by a rom in a long time, and I’ve been installing roms left and right looking for one that’ll blow me away.

My favourite rom for Android is actually EMUI that you’ll find in Honor and Huawei phones. With a few minor tweaks (Nova Launcher, mainly) you get a skinning of Android that feels fresh and new... Believe it or not but EMUI was the first rom in a long time to actually blow me away. If only it weren’t more buggy and battery consuming than standard Android.

But in the end though, the problem I have most is that I really really miss my old iPhone 6. Of all the phones I’ve owned, not even the Galaxy S7's raw power, jaw dropping screen, and stability or the Honor 8's stunning looks make me miss a phone as much as I miss my iPhone 6. And it sucks, because if I were to get another 6, I’d want my old 6 back or a new 6, not someone else’s.

Doing some tests on my Honor 5X, it looks like the USB port is biting the dust due to running in the rain with the phone in my hand this morning. It can still charge, just not transfer data. Thankfully all the truly important stuff was taken off the phone before the move. I’ll retire the Honor, then use one of the other phones for now.

But, I think the next phone I’ll buy will for certain be an iPhone. It would have a companion Android with all my hacked apps on it, just like things used to be.

ETA: Not sure why when I hit Publish Kinja decides to add extra letters to words or combines words. Fixed!

DISCUSSION (63)

Nibby > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 11:53

ok fine enjoy your dongles

Tripper > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 11:55

“I’ve yet to actually find a rom that offers the stability I enjoyed with iOS. Stock Android is great, but even it has issues. I’m talking stupid bugs like not being able to turn off my flashlight without turning off the phone, apps that won’t open from the lockscreen, warped wallpapers, infuriating bluetooth, excessive battery drain, and so on. For example, at least half of my Androids often (including one of the S7s) refused to connect to any PC lest I get this error:

All of this. I get Android, I like Android, I like all of the amazing things it can do for the same reasons that I like most Linux based systems. I don’t want any of that noise on my phone though. I want my phone to work and hold a charge.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 11:55

I’ll be switching back to iPhone this September as well. I love android, but I cant deal with the catastrophic failures of my Samsung devices, and stock android leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion, and I just don’t have the time any more to spend hours getting everything to look right and work together nice.

I also just bought an iPad to replace my deceased Note 8.0, and holy crap I’m enjoying it a whole lot more than I anticipated.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 11:56

Yes, yes come back to the dark side we have cookies.

404 - User No Longer Available > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 11:59

I’m never going Apple. I need my keyboard.

Sadly that also means I’m stuck with BlackBerry right now, and they friggin suck.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 11:59

Read this on an iPhone 7. I love this phone, it is perfect for my needs.

awmaster10 > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:00

I was always the guy with the random android phone, and always scolded my friends for buying $2400 macbooks that my lenovo can outperform, but I am going back to Apple for my next phone.

My phone history is like 12 android phones and one iphone (a 5s). Man...I really love the customization of android and Apple is the greediest most piece of shit marketing genius company ever, but android phones are just plain bad. There. I said it. I am INFURIATED at my android phones probably half the time.

It isn’t their fault though. If there were only ONE device that ran android, and the software could be perfectly optimized for that hardware, maybe they could get it to run consistently worth a damn. Apple has that as a HUGE advantage, and I actually think it shows. My 5S performs everyday tasks faster than my newer android phones despite way less processing power.

I just dont get it. How is it that every android phone I use is delivered snappy as hell and 6 months later it takes 10 seconds to open spotify or load a texting app. I am convinced a gaming desktop computer would struggle to run android after a few months of use.

Apple computers are trash, but their phones really are quite good.

Picking up a 6s soon because fuck not having a headphone jack.

Edit: Its not just that my android phone dont perform well (That could be due to them not being $800 phones like the iphones are) they also just straight up break a lot. Ive had batteries expand and bust open the case, screens stop functioning, digitizers stop functioning, micro usb port failure (charges but no data transfer...this happened to like 4 phones), etc.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:01

I have an S7 and have never modded a phone before, aside from installing Nova Launcher and changing and changing my icons. I’ve had the phone for a year and am kind bored with it. Any suggestions for upgrading it to make it seem “new” again? Or just to perform better?

Rico > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:06

iPhone to me is Mercedes/BMW/Audi - Attention to detail, making sure there is synergy with the software and hardware, everything tailored to fit a certain way that works perfectly each time.

Android to me is Kia - Does all the same things as any car including Mercedes, BMW, Audi but not nearly as well - lacks finesse. Tacks on a bunch of under supported features that have little to no attention to detail and are often forgotten about by the manufacturer after release.

Party-vi > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:08

8 phones in two years? I must be slow. I’ve had an iphone5 for years, and my most recent phone is a 5S as of a few months ago.

Mercedes Streeter > Nibby
07/12/2017 at 12:09

Bluetooth bro. :P

PS9 > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:11

I had an apple iPod touch once upon a time. I was happy with my touch. It did everything I wanted, including let me sit down and write. Until iOS Update 4 came out.

It broke the keyboard.

Not enough to render the device unusable, of course. Juuuuust enough to make doing things like writing 10k word papers with it 100% impossible. Now, why would they break critical functionality on every device in the ecosystem like that? Because a new iPod Touch was announced along side the new iPhone months later. I’m sure the iOS 4 keyboard worked just fine on the newer and slightly more expensive model, but I didn’t stick around to find out because fuck all that. Apple lost me as a customer permanently for that nonsense.

Rico > awmaster10
07/12/2017 at 12:11

I have a friend that still uses a Macbook (black Macbook) from 2008. Yeah it’s not as fast and the battery has been replaced twice but it still works decently that he hasn’t gotten rid of it yet. I can’t even imagine what a Windows laptop from 2008 would be like to use today if it even survived.

Arrivederci > Tripper
07/12/2017 at 12:12

Samesies - I used to be an Android fan, but the quirks, bugs and battery drain did them all in. My last two have been iPhones and I have no desire to switch back. They simply work, and work well.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:12

iOS works, iPhones work, they’re the Porsche of phones IMO. Android phones are like project cars, they’re great when they work but they break often and catastrophically.

Rico > DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back
07/12/2017 at 12:16

Wait until iOS 11 drops. It will literally be the biggest software upgrade for the iPad in years.

https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/26/ios-11-preview/

awmaster10 > Rico
07/12/2017 at 12:16

I actually have used a couple ridiculously old macs that do work fine. And yes windows laptops that old would be pretty terrible, 2008 was before windows computers got good. I consider windows laptops i5 and above from 2013 or later are all very very capable, and can be had for what used to be “terrible laptop money”.

And dont forget the average 2008 windows laptop was probably some $800 dell that somebody bought and used hard and neglected. The average 2008 macbook is just like any other macbook...$2000 and probably used for web browsing and itunes.

gmctavish needs more space > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:21

I replaced my iPhone 6 with a 6S, an while the battery life isn’t quite as good, everything else is better. It’s a bit heavier, the screen is nicer, it’s faster, and the camera is noticeably better. I’d definitely recommend it.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:22

I don’t get how people go through so many phones! I’ve had five in the last 10 years, and only that many because they were replaced under company contract. My wife had four, three replaced by her work and her newest one we bought after she quit her job.

Rico > awmaster10
07/12/2017 at 12:22

I mean he took this Macbook through college and grad school and it made it and he did a fair amount of actual work on it.

Also I know you are exaggerating but for the sake of other people here who don’t know shit about Apple not every Macbook is $2000+ I mean hell my 2014 MBP Retina 13" only cost me $1400 with Applecare. My coworker bought a Macbook Air from Bestbuy in March for $799 with 8GB of Ram and 256GB SSD.

Textured Soy Protein > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:24

My totally stock unmodified Moto X Pure has been entirely fine for almost 2 years now. The only issues I’ve ever had are:

When it updated from Lollipop to Marshmallow and Google changed the way apps move to SD cards, because I have the 16 GB version, I had to do some storage juggling.

Bluetooth audio streaming is glitchy when pairing it to a GM rental car.

Speaking of factory skins, my wife ended up loving her Asus Zenpad 3S 10. It’s really very nice. ZenUI is mostly inoffensive once you get Nova and Gboard on there. TouchWiz was mostly fine on the Galaxy Tab A 10.1 we briefly had but the more I played with it the more I found that Samsung buries some of the stock Android settings behind Samsung’s supposedly-more-useful (but not) setting screens with the same names as the stock screens. So it’s like, you go to backup and reset, and it shows you the Samsung backup service, and you have to jump through another hoop to get the stock Android factory reset screen. Oh, and the damn stock Samsung calendar app can’t be disabled. Stupid Samsung with your unnecessary changes, and put the damn back and multitasking buttons where they’re supposed to be!

The thing that bugs me the most about Android lately is how they changed expiring do-not-disturbs.

In Marshmallow, when you set a do-not-disturb to time out for say, 8 hours, the next time you go to set do-not-disturb it remembers the 8 hours. So when I go to bed, it’s basically ready to go as soon as I hit do-not-disturb.

But in Nougat, they switched it to where it always defaults to expire in 1 hour so every night it’s tap tap tap tap tap tap tap to get it in the time range.

This is only really an annoyance because I’m too lazy to program in a do-not-disturb schedule which I totally have the option to do.

awmaster10 > Rico
07/12/2017 at 12:27

Wow that Air is actually a great deal. And as windows laptops are getting better the price gap is also shrinking, so I guess we are just blessed to have two good options now.

I guess another case of apple having the advantage of making the software and the hardware.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:34

Noooooo

I’m rocking an LG V20 since Black Friday sales. It’s awesome. I thought the second screen thing would be gimmicky but it’s not. It’s wildly useful and I don’t know what I’d do with out it (which makes me screwed I hear it’s not coming on the next LG Flagship).

I also just got my first Android Wear watch which I’ve been mildly obsessed with for almost a week now.

I get that Apple is easy, but this stuff isn’t hard for you. I don’t even mod my android phones, I don’t feel the need. I control my TV, Soundbar, all my Amazon Fire TV/sticks with my V20. I don’t know what else I’d want it to even do. I’m running stock Nougat btw and my watch is running Android Wear 2.0.

In comparison, my wife’s Samsung S7 is basically a piece of garbage after about a year. Just doesn’t run well at all.

And the LG G3 I had before the V20 was epic as well.

Mercedes Streeter > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/12/2017 at 12:36

It’s my hobby. :) I flip and collect smartphones. I’ll buy an iPhone on eBay that’s been clearly run over by a car, fix it, fix some issues or modify it, then sell it for way more than I paid for it. Lately I’ve been doing the same with Android, specifically with Samsungs since they have the biggest jump between broken price and repaired price.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Rico
07/12/2017 at 12:36

I’ve got a Windows laptop from 2008 I used yesterday at home. It was designed to be a “Desktop replacement” laptop back then, 17 inch screen with full key board (including number pad). It cost 700 bucks from best buy. It’s a gateway with an Intel dual core in it. Last summer I was even still using it for Adobe Creative Suite. Sure it’s slower than a brand new computer, but I can’t replace the damn thing because it still works. Just last summer I bumped it to Windows 10.

It’s 9 years old in September.

DAWRX - The Herb Strikes Back > Rico
07/12/2017 at 12:37

That’s a big part of why I got it. iPad is already the most capable device of its kind on the market. Now it will be in a league of its own.

Chariotoflove > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 12:38

Starting with the iPhone 6, Apple’s phones are now water proof or water resistant as well. That’s pretty huge for a daily phone, and helps give piece of mind for things like running in the rain.

Rico > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
07/12/2017 at 12:41

Amazing! Yeah desktop replacement laptops back then tend to be built to better standards then the run of the mill laptops. Still most windows laptops from 2008 I’ve seen either have to be plugged in 24/7 or they simply will die instantly or within a couple of minutes, have broken or loose screen hinges that don’t allow you to tilt the screen properly or have just take forever and a day to do anything on.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Rico
07/12/2017 at 12:51

Oh mine is plugged in 24/7, but it’s giant and I never had any interest in traveling around with it. For 700 bucks at the time it was a drastically cheaper way to get that level of performance and screen (it’s a 1600x900 resolution which was epic on a laptop under a grand back then) than it was to just buy a desktop/monitor setup. And in fairness I could fix that by just buying a new battery but I have no interest in investing in it.

I’ve used the hell out of that computer and at one point (I work in automotive advertising) I brought home a flash video that was crashing my macbook pro at work and processed it out on the old Gateway. The Macbook was about 4 years newer at that point. I’ve always preferred the Creative Suite on Windows.

I’ve actually been looking at All in One set ups for a replacement but the ones that don’t suck cost a fortune and if you couldn’t tell - the windows fan using a laptop that’s about to turn 9 - is a cheap bastard lol.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 404 - User No Longer Available
07/12/2017 at 12:55

My Classic is finally packing it in... I WANT a KeyOne but there’s already reports of the screens having issues. Went through that with the Leap (was that ever a mistake). Not going through that. If the phone died further down the road I might get one... as it happens I need one now.

So goodbye BlackBerry, nice knowing you. May we meet again someday.

I found this so I pulled the trigger on an S7

http://www.samsung.com/ca/mobile-accessories/bluetooth-keyboard-cover-cg930-galaxy-s7/EJ-CG930UBEGCA/

404 - User No Longer Available > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
07/12/2017 at 13:11

Well they did say it’s now available with a screen fix.

...problem is you can’t tell which one is fixed or not. And seems practically impossible to buy one in Canada right now, it’s only at the carriers and stores are reporting OOS.

http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_keyone_units_with_display_pop_out_fix_now_available-news-26093.php

My friend has one bought from Telus to use on Public Mobile, he seems to like it.

And when I mean suck, is literally screwing up the only thing they say they are responsible for, the software. Sure they are delivering monthly updates as promised, but no sight of software upgrade path to Nougat in sight for a EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLAR FLAGSHIP. Not to mention the software they are releasing is far from polished.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > 404 - User No Longer Available
07/12/2017 at 13:14

Too late for me, unfortunately. Hopefully it (or a newer version of it) is still around when the S7 dies.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 13:24

Makes sense. My kids now have android phones. After my daughter broke her galaxy we discovered how expensive it is to repair. I’ve repaired several iPhones (easy), but even the parts that I could source for that Galaxy were ridiculously expensive. Something about the screen being bonded to the digitizer requiring a hair dryer or an oven and baking the screen to get the adhesive off... whew! I banned samsung phones from the list of options when it came time to buy phones for my wife and son.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 13:36

I felt this way when using budget sub $100 phones designed for Android 2.3 with custom roms to get 4.0 on there. But ever since getting a real phone and having 5.0 and up, vanilla android (NO TOUCHWIZ, I WILL NOT TOUCH THAT GARBAGE) has been super stable and reliable. My Nexus 7 (2013) has also been 100% since day one.

I wouldn’t be able to live without the every day customization of Android. I think the BIGGEST factor though is default apps. Want to use a different Email app on Android? No problem, just do it. Want to do that on Apple? HAHAHAHAHAHA, better jailbreak it! Sure you can use other apps in Apple but its practically useless if you cant make it default for basic functions you use every day.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 13:37

IMO, the glory days of android ROMs and whatnot was when the original droid came out, followed up by the Nexus One. This was a time of wild experiments and crazy ideas. I ran a heavily custom rom that made my Droid look a million times cooler while running at nearly double the stock clock speed. THe physical keyboard let me use it to edit computer code on the fly and we even had it connected to the school networks so I could use my student drive as a proto-cloud for storage.

After that, I got a galaxy nexus and it’s been downhill ever since. I mess with android less and less and let the phones do the work. I have an S7 and like it, but I don’t love it like I did my original droid. That was a hell of a phone.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Tripper
07/12/2017 at 13:40

“..and hold a charge”

Yeah good luck with that with IOS. Sure standby life is decent since background apps dont really function properly but during actual use, Iphones are trash at longevity. Every Iphone user I know is constantly tethered to a wall or portable battery pack. Meanwhile with my Sony, I can go through a full day of heavy use or two days of light use no problem.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Rico
07/12/2017 at 13:45

My windows laptop is from 2009. Still works today. Sort of. Battery life is about 90 minutes (when brand new) so I dont use it unless its plugged in. But it was a $4000 laptop back then so it makes sense that it still functions now. Same thing goes for the Mac other than battery life.

Tripper > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/12/2017 at 14:06

Every iPhone I’ve owned (3G to 6s) has lasted me at least all day. I stream music and use GPS most days in addition to normal phone stuff. When it stops lasting all day (usually around the 1.5/2 year mark). I have the battery replaced (usually for free) by Apple. Didn’t even know Sony made a phone.

duurtlang > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 14:33

Good luck with that. I cannot imagine going back to Apple. I had a company phone (an Apple) and it was like a toy. I very strongly disliked the software, I felt it treated me like a child. It just wasn’t for me. And that’s before I realized how much it costs.

I’ve been using Android phones since 2010. The first one, a Samsung Galaxy Spica, was a POS. The second one, a Galaxy Nexus, was great. I used it from 2012 until 2016. I use a €150 Xiaomi Redmi3 Pro now, for over a year now. Imported it from China myself. Battery lasts multiple days with normal use, it never crashes and it does everything I want. It just works. It puts the (older) iPhone I had as a work phone to shame in every way. Even my old Galaxy Nexus did that, in many ways.

Staying away from Samsung, especially their software, is the first thing you need to do when buying a phone IMHO.

Mercedes Streeter > awmaster10
07/12/2017 at 14:43

I totally agree!

micro usb port failure (charges but no data transfer...this happened to like 4 phones

I think the Honor is healing up a bit. I opened it up and put it in front of a fan all morning. I now have file transfer back, we’ll see how long it lasts.

I don’t mind not having a headphone port. I usually never use it anyway. I tend to use bluetooth at home and in the car and at work I’m using my work computer’s headphone port. :)

Mercedes Streeter > Rico
07/12/2017 at 14:45

I have two MacBooks. One is a white one from mid-2007 (pictured with the iPhone on top of it) the other black from 2008.

Both of them are running very strong. The 2008 runs Windows 10 and Windows 7 (no OS X in sight) while the 2007 runs OS X 10.6, Windows 10, and some flavour of Linux. The battery in the white one is original from 2007 and lasts me quite a long time. The battery in the 2008 is also original, but sadly failed some years ago.

I’m probably going to use those things until the end of time...or the hardware becomes too old for me to mod out (*cough* PPC Macs *cough*)..

Mercedes Streeter > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/12/2017 at 14:52

I’ve always found my iPhones to drain faster idle than they do during use. Towards the end of my ownership with my old 6, it would drain 20% battery overnight. So if I went to sleep with 100%, I’d wake with 80%. It’s baffling how terribly iPhone batteries age.

The worst Android I’ve owned only drained 10% overnight, and it’s the Honor 5X (which doesn’t even use lithium-ion chemistry).

That said, I can buy an iPhone battery for $10 and replace it in less than 5 minutes, so I’ve never really been bothered by it.

Mercedes Streeter > TheRealBicycleBuck
07/12/2017 at 14:58

Oh yeah, like I can repair or mod any iPhone with my eyes closed, but Samsungs are absolute nightmares. Break your screen on an iPhone? No big deal. I would basically buy a $30 blacklisted phone from eBay, salvage the screen, sell it off for the same price I paid for it.

You can’t do that with a Samsung. Your only choice is a $150+ digitizer/screen assembly replacement or doing the glass removal trick. Ugh, the latter is so stupidly hard, and even after you’re finished you’re almost guaranteed to have gotten dust in there, the replacement glass won’t be Gorilla glass, and the phone probably won’t be anywhere close to waterproof. Nope, when my friends ask me to repair their broken Galaxies I tell them to just sell the phone and buy another or a different phone.

Mercedes Streeter > duurtlang
07/12/2017 at 15:03

I’ve actually grown to like TouchWiz after getting irrationally angry with stock Android’s bugs. For all the stupid things Samsung does with their software (and that’s many) at least their skin appears to fix Android’s core bugs.

Their hardware is where it really gets bad, break anything on a Galaxy and you might as well just throw the sucker away. Everything’s so hard to replace yourself and super expensive to have anyone else replace.

As much as I didn’t like being treated like a child with my old iPhones, at least they had rather sublime polish compared to the phones I’ve had so far.

Well, except the iPhone 5, may it burn in hell for all eternity...

arl > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 15:11

When I retire I’m getting rid of the company iPhone and going old school.

Jitterbug baby, Jitterbug!

Kinja'd!!!

Mercedes Streeter > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
07/12/2017 at 15:13

You know, that makes me wish I dipped more into LG with my Android experience. Aside from bad battery life, the Nexus 5X was a rock solid phone and apparently remains so for Miss Tesla. Can’t tell you how many times she’s dropped it and despite not having a case it still looks new.

I get that Apple is easy, but this stuff isn’t hard for you.

That is so true, though after a while it becomes a pain to come home from work, look for bug fixes, then apply them. It stops being fun too when some issues are internal to the rom or unique to my hardware and there isn’t a fix for it. I loved the idea of a phone that works because I made it work, though I guess that luster wore off over time.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Tripper
07/12/2017 at 15:23

I hate giant phones but I also hate slow crappy phones. So after much research I came across the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Decent specs for a 2014 phone, but like half the size! And since there is much less screen to power and a focus on making a good battery, the thing lasts all day with no issues. And if I bother with battery saving modes, it will last many days. I broke the screen on my first one and immediately replaced it with the same phone again because it just works for me.

I went through too many crappy low end Android phones with custom roms just to get normal functionality. And I think its insane to spend more than $300 on a phone and have it barely fit in my pocket.

That was the one thing Apple got right for the longest time. Small phones with decent specs. But people are nuts and want tablets in their pocket and dont care about battery life.

Mercedes Streeter > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles
07/12/2017 at 15:26

Reminds me of iPhone jailbreaking back in the day. Jailbreaking basically unlocked a Pandora’s Box of possibilities. You could make the darn things even look like Windows! Then iOS 7 came around and basically began the process of bludgeoning Jailbreaking into a slow death.

Speaking of which, I actually still have screenshots of my old iOS projects. I had a Liveclock before Liveclock was even a thing!:

Kinja'd!!!

And older stuff I had going on with other iPods (that start button actually worked!):

Kinja'd!!!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 15:28

My Xperiza Z3C will last 5 or 6 days on standby. I learned this because I broke the screen on one and it was still getting notifications almost a week later! Funny though that buying a new one was the same cost of buying the parts required to replace the screen.

Tripper > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/12/2017 at 15:30

The only people that I know that rip through their iPhone batteries in less than a day, are addicted to their phones.

Mercedes Streeter > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
07/12/2017 at 15:40

That therein was a problem for me, flagship Androids tend to come annoying tradeoffs. Sure a Galaxy S7 can run circles around any Windows computer I own and any iPhone I’ve previously owned, but at the expense of searing my skin and somehow still hilariously janky animations. Oh and the bloatware, the fudging bloatware!

That’s where the Nexus 6P came in. Factory fresh Android, no bloatware, no stupid skins...Yet still didn’t do much for me. It still had the same annoying bugs a cheap Android phone would have, but they were less pronounced because the better hardware. I still ended up going to a custom rom. As much as I hate to say it, stock Android really did nothing for me.

As for default apps, meh. The only true defaults I have set are Chrome and Gmail. I have no faults with Apple’s mail app or with Safari so that doesn’t really bother me.

GTI Sprinks > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 15:42

This reminds me i need to flash an updated rom on my s5. I’m something like a year behind the ROM schedule. Running a rooted and deodexed stock marshmallow rom has kept it really stable for me. I do need to eventually get to nougat, but we’ll see what xda forums can give.

Mercedes Streeter > Chariotoflove
07/12/2017 at 15:43

Actually, the 6 wasn’t water resistant! The first foray with water resistance was with the 6S and on. And technically the seals on the 6S were more for dust than water. :3

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 15:44

I feel like because I’ve avoided the mods and roms that I’ve never had anywhere near the experiences you’re describing. I’m real crazy about doing research on things, and I did the research and both times in a row the LG has been the winner. Apparently the G4 and G5 were not great phones. I wouldn’t have bought them. The G3 and V20 are a fantastic success. I had 1 hardware issue with the G3 after 1.5 years, they replaced the phone for free direct from LG. They tried to trouble shoot it, apologized for the inconvenience and I had a new one pretty quick.

Battery isn’t the BEST in the V20, but my LG G Watch Urbane 150 is actually saving my phone battery because I can dismiss notifications without unlocking the phone. I’m at 80% at 3:41 in the afternoon. Left the house at 8:30. Yesterday I used it more heavily and was around 50-60% at this point.

Maybe you just need a V20!!!

Mercedes Streeter > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner
07/12/2017 at 15:55

But it’s weird though, things would be a buggy mess even on stock Android. A lot of times, a big broken bug on stock Android (the worst bug was a one that prevented me from using a hotspot. *Rolls eyes at Huawei*) is what would drive me to a custom rom.

The Nexus 5X is basically a G4 with a few changes. Aside from the absurdly terrible battery life (which is what drove me to Cyanogenmod) it was a very solid phone and one of my favourites...Just lord, that battery life made my old iPhone 6 seem brand new out of the box.

But nah, I think I’m done using Android as my daily phone. An Android doesn’t do anything an iPhone cannot do when it comes to what I need in a daily driver phone. I’m light on apps, I don’t even game, and even with my spiffy custom roms I don’t even use all of their best features because I don’t need them. It seems that Android (at least for me) is better as an os to play with rather than an os to live with.

The Honor’s alive, btw. I let it dry out under a fan and everything’s working again. Still going to get an iPhone though. :P That said, that’s months down the road anyway.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 16:54

Booo. I still vote V20. I honestly can’t believe how much I use the IR Blaster on it. When my son has hid the remote somewhere in the room and has no idea where he put it, I can still control the TV and soundbar and as many other devices I want to add and the second screen is crazy cool. Apple people at my work are jealous of my 2nd screen. And an Apple watch guy just said this week in regards to my new watch - holy shit it looks like a real watch! what did you buy?!!?!

Alright, Apple hater out!

Chariotoflove > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 17:20

You’re right. It is the 6s, and it’s water resistant but not really water proof, like the new ones are officially supposed to be. Still, every little bit helps.

OKcarburetor > Mercedes Streeter
07/12/2017 at 20:21

I don’t have an issue with iphones really, I’m just used to the way an android functions. My Pixel has been completely flawless for a year now.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Mercedes Streeter
07/13/2017 at 07:05

i’ve only had 3 phones in my life.

1st phone was a dumb phone (Samsung)

2nd was a Samsung Galaxy Ace GT-S5830T

3rd (current phone) iPhone SE 16GB

Slow_s10 > Mercedes Streeter
07/13/2017 at 11:19

I’m just going to throw this out there but you just basically complained about a bunch of $2~$300 devices being buggy and annoying to use then said you want to go back to a $700+ device because its better... Um, duh. There’s more to a phone than just a spec sheet and while some Android phones may look good on paper a proper flagship is going to have a software experience tailor made to fit that specific hardware. By your own admission the one actual Android flagship phone that you’ve owned was the only one you really enjoyed using. Probably because that was the only one actually on par with the iPhone yardstick that you have been comparing every other phone to.

I’m phone agnostic, I have nothing against iPhones per se (aside from the lack of an actual file system) and I have owned and used both Android and Apple phones. I don’t Root/ROM/Jailbreak phones anymore because I just haven’t seen the need to do so for a long time. These days phones do pretty much everything I I need them to without having to tinker with them at the system level. So for my money I’ll take the out of the box customization potential of an Android phone over the “ease of use” of an iPhone every day. But it just struck me as ludicrous that you should expect these budget level and mid level Android phones to directly compare with iPhones which are premium flagship devices.

Mercedes Streeter > Slow_s10
07/13/2017 at 11:44

If I may make one suggestion, I would like it if you didn’t talk down to me like one would a child. I know how phone pricing works, I repair these things for fun and my career is in IT.

If you read my multiple phone posts you’ll see that even flagship Androids (of which I’ve owned two unique models and have used/repaired many others) still leave me wanting more. As I said in other comments and/or posts, my 3 Galaxy S7s were still buggy as heck, even brand new on stock roms. And that’s before we get to the infuriating hardware like running so hot it could probably warm your hands in the winter. Or the screens that aren’t cheap or easy to replace...

That’s something I never experience even with a cheap secondhand iPhone. Well...except the pile of garbage that is the iPhone 5. That’s the only phone I’ve ever owned (multiple times because I’m me) that would make the Nexus 6P seem rock hard reliable. And while I strongly dislike Apple’s locked ecosystem, I applaud them for their unmatched stability.

Slow_s10 > Mercedes Streeter
07/13/2017 at 12:15

Please understand I meant no disrespect with my comment. If anything the point I was trying to make is that you seem very knowledgeable when it comes to phones and it seems strange that someone with so much experience and knowledge would compare a $200 device to a $700 one on a level playing field, complain that it’s not as good, and then willingly lock themselves back into Apple’s “walled garden” instead of just seeking out better quality Android hardware.

All that to say I apologize for the way I came across, but my point stands. You even admitted yourself that you have not used many Android flagship devices from other manufactures in one of your previous responses. None of the devices in your list of Android phones save for the s7 are flagships or even that good. Which is the only reason I used the S7 in the point I was trying to make. But for what it’s worth please don’t think I am even slightly defending Samsung devices. I haven’t owned one of those in probably about 4 years now because my last one was a buggy mess and I said never again.

Mercedes Streeter > Slow_s10
07/13/2017 at 13:10

Oooh, okay. I understand. Sorry about my coming onto you hard. <3 I tend to make comments elsewhere in the Kinja universe and sometimes the genuinely confused comments like yours mix together with the...less favourable comments. Side note: Who know I’d make so many comments on Lifehacker! Ha! :)

You know, you do drive home a good point with flagship devices. I’ve really only used Samung devices (of about all types) and dabbled a few times with Motorola. (Fun Fact: The 6P was considered a flagship when it was released. Its starting price was $650!) but in the end, I really don’t think Android is really my kind of daily operating system for a phone.

I adore modding Android, it’s something I would spend an entire weekend doing. The openness of Android is always refreshing. I can just connect my phone to a computer then drag some files onto it and enjoy my day. It does everything Apple locks you out from doing.

Though, I’ve been learning that in a daily phone, I don’t need any of that stuff outside of three or four hacked apps that I use.`I really only use my daily phone for Internet, music, taking selfies (ha), and emails. All these were things all my iPhones did fine without complaint. I don’t even use headphones in my phones.

In all honesty, I really didn’t want to sell my iPhone 6, but I did it for Miss Tesla (she hated that phone) and sold myself on the idea with the advantages that Android offers over iOS and a curiosity for roms. But again, I’m finding that those advantages don’t really have an impact on me. I hardly (if ever) use them.

My old style was that I had an iPhone for daily use, a random Android I toyed around with at home, and a few Android/Apple phones I was repairing/rebuilding for either fun or to flip. It was a perfect balance for me because I didn’t need my daily phone to do anything amazing and Apple’s locked system stopped me from doing OS breaking mods.

Now that I’m no longer with Miss Tesla (she’s mainly the reason I’ve been buying cheap phones rather than trying out every flagship I can) I feel like I can actually do the things I want to do again, starting with my car and months down the road, back into my phone hobbies.