Smartphone Advice — Getting A New Phone This Summer

"E. Julius" (soonerfrommi) 02/18/2015 at 13:32 • Filed to: None

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Investigating my options for a new phone when I return to the US. I've used an iPhone since 2009, initially because the android competition was shit and then afterwards because they started adding lots of iOS/OS X synergy features. If I knew I was going to keep using a Mac as my primary PC I would stick with the iPhone, but I'm likely going to do a Windows PC build this summer and it may or may not become my main computer. If this is the case, I'd consider switching to a different platform. I'm woefully under informed at the moment, and I had a few questions.

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I'm looking for something completely comparable or superior in performance and features. If it's one of those gigantic tablet things don't even bother mentioning it. Those and the iPhone plus are too big for me.

Are there good alternatives to Apple's cloud services and OS integration?

The services that matter most to me are iTunes match, iMessage, FaceTime, contact synchronizing, and Photo Stream, in that order. I also like being able to open web pages that are open on my phone in my desktop browser. Is there an alternative to that?

Should I even consider a Windows phone?

I like the look of their UI a lot, but the last time I was up to date on this stuff they were pretty much an also–ran.

When are new competitor phones released?

I know Apple has an annual update cycle with releases occurring in the fall, so if I went with another iPhone I'd probably just wait a few months until the new one came out. When should I purchased a competitor phone to avoid being outmoded in a couple of months?

Thanks in advance for your help!

sellphones2493 > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:44

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I had my Samsung Galaxy S3 which I replaced with an HTC One M8. I left Samsung because the build quality wasn't good, but the software was great.

My HTC is a piece of shit. It consistently lags, the camera is absolutely awful, and I'm experiencing some build quality issues (the HTC Logo on the back has lost the stickers on the H and the C). I've owned a lot of phones, and this one is hands down my worst. My best was my Blackberry 9700 Bold - I'd love to get that one back (with some upgrades, of course).

In the next few weeks I'm rejoining team iPhone.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:46

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Two months ago my brother got an iPhone 6 and I got an HTC One M8. Both are comparable phones, but the iPhone was $100 more. I've used both, and they seem about equal. Not $100 difference for sure.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:48

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If the HTC One M9 is anything like my M8, grab it.

E. Julius > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 02/18/2015 at 13:49

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U wot M8?

Garrett Davis > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:51

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I would definitely consider Android. I used Windows Phone for a number of years (former Nokia employee) and it was just OK. Lack of app support is still a very big thing, and it honestly doesn't offer anything over its competitors other than a unique interface. Nokia phones are still very nice devices, let down by Microsoft's software.

As far as replacement apps, Google Hangouts is a great iMessage/FaceTime competitor, but the only problem is that if everyone you talk to uses iMessage, this is not compatible. Google Play music on the other hand is excellent. I am on their All Access service and I just about anything I could ever want to listen to, even some of the more obscure bands in an already obscure genre. The radio matchmaking is pretty good as well.

Photos, contacts and other data are all backed up as well, and I think Google's Photos service is one of the best, actually. It of course automatically backs up your photos, but also puts little enhancements on them that are basically a checkbox if you would like them on or off. Mostly it just fixes the color or contrast in a washed out photo, but sometimes it does really cool things like automatically make a panorama shot from individual pictures you took.

I took a few shots while camping in the desert a few months ago, and when I got home it had already stitched them together into a seriously perfect panorama shot:

Google service integration is great. If you're a Gmail user, you'll have a great experience here.

Now as far as the phones themselves go, you have a ton of options. It really just comes down to how big you want to go. Most Android phones have gotten quite large with their displays, but most make very efficient use of that space. For instance, the LG G3 and the iPhone 6 Plus have the same size display (5.5"), yet the G3 is much smaller and easier to hold.

The Note 4 even has a 5.7" display and it's still shorter than the 6 Plus. So I guess it depends on what size you're comfortable with. You might want to go down to your local carrier store and hold a few to see how they feel.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:55

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...Umm maybe take a peak at the Droid Turbo?

I have had mine since November and it is simply beastly. And it will be even more beastly when the new Android OS drops.

(Yeah right, Acura NSX will be tooling around on the streets before then)

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > sm70- why not Duesenberg? 02/18/2015 at 13:56

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Dude the M8 is massively better than the 6. Like double the processors+double the processor speed+double the battery life+dat camera

Textured Soy Protein > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:57

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You don't want a Windows phone. They don't have even close to the same availability of apps & services as iOS & Android.

iTunes match - Google has a similar service .

iMessage - There are plenty of other messaging options out there for Android. I mostly use Google Hangouts, which can integrate your texts within the Hangouts app, but I stick with a separate texting app.

FaceTime - Hangouts also does video chats, along with many other services.

Contact synchronizing - Even when I had an iPhone, I backed my contacts up to Google instead of Apple, because this was before iCloud came around.

Photo Stream - You can set your photos to automatically back up to Google+. They don't get posted publicly.

For syncing files and notifications across devices, there are several options including Pushbullet, Airdroid and Mightytext.

Pretty much any top-level Android phone is going to be at least slightly bigger than the regular non-plus iPhone 6. But they typically have 5" to 5.5" screens instead of the iPhone 6's 4.7" screen. Some non-huge options are the Samsung Galaxy S5, LG G3, Moto X & Sony Xperia Z3.

If you want something with mostly top specs but a smaller size, there's the Sony Z3 Compact. It's actually smaller than the iPhone 6.

All these phones came out probably 6+ months ago so depending on when you're going to buy there will probably be newer (hopefully not too much bigger) versions.

E. Julius > Garrett Davis 02/18/2015 at 13:57

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Is the Google Play music a service that allows you to access their library and stream songs from it, or does it let you upload songs from your own library and stream those. If it does both that'd be ideal, but I definitely need something that lets me stream stuff in my own library.

Also, thank you for actually answering the questions I had in the post.

Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:57

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For the plus, (I know not your favorite) there is the note 4 and, better, the OnePlus One

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There are many options within google and third party apps.

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I would stay away

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They come out 2x a year, usually, in a month or 2

jariten1781 > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:58

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If it's one of those gigantic tablet things don't even bother mentioning it. Those and the iPhone plus are too big for me.

You really ought to try one. I've never met someone that wanted to go backwards after sizing up even if they were teammate prior to the change that they'd hate a large phone.

The market is pretty big. Can't really give a rundown of all the competitors. I have the latest generations of Samsung, LG, and HTC and they're all good...each with their own strengths and weaknesses. If you have more specific questions I could answer them.

There are analogous ways to handle the stuff in your OS integration/cloud section. Multiple choices for each of the things you're asking about. There'll be quirks and a learning curve. You'll have to spend time being frustrated until you get everything set the way you like it. It's the trade between ease of use and the ability to customize.

Windows phone only if you're good with it out of the box and/or are a Microsoft believer. Third party stuff is only available for the biggest programs and is sketchy even then. My sister-in-law loves hers, I couldn't stand it.

TJDMAX > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 13:59

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It does both. I use it an it imports my entire itunes library which is around 120gb of music for free. And then i can stream any of my songs that are on my google music account and choose playlists to download to my device.

Garrett Davis > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:00

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Both. You can upload something like 10,000 of your own songs to stream from anywhere as well as their library, and they have a ton. After I uploaded my library, I realized that most of it was already available, and they had better quality versions and album art a lot of the time.

E. Julius > jariten1781 02/18/2015 at 14:03

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Maybe I'd consider one if I had room in my pants!

E. Julius > TJDMAX 02/18/2015 at 14:04

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Ok, that sounds like exactly what I need then. For streaming songs you don't own, is it like Spotify where you can pick what you want and stream it or is it like iTunes radio where it's all random?

Imirrelephant > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:04

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Not sure on Android phones, but the iOS app will only stream what you've uploaded. I know that's not entirely relevant, but I moved to Google Play Music on my iPhone 6 to free up space instead of keeping the music local on my phone. Since I don't buy much of my music from iTunes, it's a nice solution.

E. Julius > Imirrelephant 02/18/2015 at 14:06

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I use iTunes match right now for pretty much the same reason. From what others are saying it looks like it will do what I need it to do.

uofime > Garrett Davis 02/18/2015 at 14:09

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how much cellular data do you use monthly streaming your music?

Garrett Davis > uofime 02/18/2015 at 14:13

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I split 10 gigs between my girlfriend and I, and I usually use about 6-7 of that streaming music and podcasts. One cool thing it does though is after you listen to a song or album, it stores it temporarily so you can listen to it again without streaming. It will keep songs until you need the space for something else, and acts like extra data isn't even on there, so it won't fill your SD card up leaving you to have to delete stuff to add anything.

jariten1781 > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:17

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LG G3 has a great form factor for fitting into front pockets of normal sized jeans/slacks/suit pants and it's got a 5.5" screen. Unless you're exceptionally tiny or into pants that may as well be tights it'll fit fine with margin.

E. Julius > jariten1781 02/18/2015 at 14:19

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I'll have to try it out I guess. It just seems so excessive to me.

TJDMAX > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:23

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I for one have never been a fan of Apple products of Iphones. If you look at the specs of current iphones and compare them to the android phones available right now the iphones are always a few generations behind. The android phones have more RAM, better screens, better batteries, better processors, etc.

I will acknowledge that the iOS user interface seems to grab a lot of attention and because there are so many "android" phones all running their own version of the Android OS some respond better than others. Samsung puts a cumbersome and annoying skin on their devices that make it look very different from a stock android device. And HTC is the same way. The latest Motorola's (Droid turbo, Moto X, Moto G, Nexus 6) are all running a very pure android OS.

But if you are waiting until summer there will be some new phones coming out. HTC is launching a M9 for instance that will have the latest snapdragon processor and a whole bunch of other insanely powerful hardware. By April or May we should start seeing new phones from HTC and Samsung. Motorola won't announce a new phone for a little while i would guess. More towards the end of the year.

I really like the Motorola Devices. I am due for an upgrade in a couple weeks and I am choosing between the Moto x, Droid Turbo (I'm on Verizon) and the Nexus 6.

uofime > Garrett Davis 02/18/2015 at 14:26

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that's what I was afraid of, that'd end up costing me another 50$ a month

TJDMAX > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:26

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To be honest I dont usually stream songs that I don't own so i'm not 100% sure how that works. I don't think it is like spotify where you can follow other playlists and search for music. I think it just acts as a could storage for YOUR music.

TJDMAX > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:28

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https://play.google.com/about/music/al…

Looks like google has the same thing that Spotify does. you can pay for a streaming service full of songs you don't own. As well as being able to import your own music.

Garrett Davis > uofime 02/18/2015 at 14:28

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Nah, I just use to much because I'm lazy and don't download anything ahead of time. Before you leave the house just hit the little store for offline pin and it will download it automatically. Since I have this plan from work, I can be lazy and always stream my music and podcasts when it actually just takes 2 seconds to down load them before I leave.

Where have all the lightweights gone? > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 14:36

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I would say wait a few months if you can. There's a major mobile device conference in early March (same as Geneva Auto Show), and Samsung and HTC historically use that event to launch their new phones.. They're usually for sale within a month or so after.

Who is your current carrier?

E. Julius > Where have all the lightweights gone? 02/18/2015 at 14:37

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I won't be getting one until I come back from Europe, so late May/early June at the absolute earliest. I'm currently with AT&T.

Rico > sellphones2493 02/18/2015 at 14:43

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But people here are saying the camera on the M8 is great. This is the problem with android you've got people saying the M8 camera is great and others say it's crap. Unlike the iPhone which has a consistently great camera in every iteration and it's undisputed.

Sam > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 15:42

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Check one of these out.

OnePlus One- https://oneplus.net

sellphones2493 > Rico 02/18/2015 at 15:51

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The front facing camera is great...maybe too great. I've looked a lot less flattering in my Snapchat selfies with it haha.

The back camera is an over-engineered piece of crap. Duo-Camera is cool at first, but it takes mediocre pictures, takes forever to focus, and the lens material is prone to scratch way too easy.

E. Julius > Sam 02/18/2015 at 17:11

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Looks pretty cool. So basically it's a phone with high end features but not as expensive? Or is there something I'm missing here?

Sam > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 17:16

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Yup. The specs aren't quite as good as something like an S5 or and HTC One M8, but the price/performance ratio is much better.

E. Julius > Sam 02/18/2015 at 17:19

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Do they have agreements with any carriers? Even though it's fairly cheap, it's still more than a brand new iPhone with a contract renewal. I do really like the design though.

Sam > E. Julius 02/18/2015 at 17:24

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You buy the phone straight up and take it to a carrier. As opposed to paying for the phone through your phone bill + some up front. So you pay more initially, but your monthly bill will be cheaper.

E. Julius > Sam 02/18/2015 at 17:51

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I thought the carrier subsidized the price of the phone in exchange for the two year contract, which is why the phone is locked and can't be used with other sims (which is why I'm using an old ass iPhone here in France). Regardless, I'm a spoiled brat and I don't pay my own phone bill (at least not in America—I do in France), so the different is irrelevant for me.