dParis
Hall of Fame
You might be on to something, Sherlock. How old is your phone? Some (all?) smartphones have some built in obsolescence via the battery. Some are good for 2-3 years of cycling, then the performance drops markedly.
what phone for 2014?
- Thread starter heycal
- Start date
You might be on to something, Sherlock. How old is your phone? Some (all?) smartphones have some built in obsolescence via the battery. Some are good for 2-3 years of cycling, then the performance drops markedly.
Eager to get into a verizon store with some time to play around and get a better sense of what size I truly want. Intrigued by your phone, but yes, maybe too big for me, and not pleased to hear that Verizon may have made it worse. Also read they are coming out with a G2 Mini any day now, so that might interesting as well. Moto X is definitely on my list of ones to check out. I guess I'm really looking for a mid-size screen, slender, light, and with not horrible battery life. My current phone at 5 oz and .45 depth seems about the upper limit of weight and bulk. Love to improve on that if I can.
The phone will be 2 years old in May. Battery really started to seem horrible in the last couple of weeks, though it's been lame for awhile.
dParis
Hall of Fame
I think you can replace the battery on the Lucid for around $10. Worth taking a chance on to extend the phone's life while you see what's coming down the pike.
Yes, probably so. (EDIT: Just ordered one for 5 bucks on Amazon). Is there anything worth waiting for besides the iphone 6 and mini G2? Otherwise, I may just go for something in early May if one catches my fancy.
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LameTennisPlayer
Professional
What about a phablet? Never had Iphones b4 just Samusung but switched to a windows phone the Nokia 1520 6" works like a charm, suits my needs
Rock Strongo
Legend
The Z1 Compact is a phone that's been intriguing me for a while now. It's basically everything a top of the line phone is but in a form factor that isn't larger than most hands. Tried it for a day and I'm thinking of picking one up.
Or perhaps the camera monster of camera monsters, the Lumia 1020...
Or perhaps the camera monster of camera monsters, the Lumia 1020...
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
It could be the battery but it could also be how much stuff you're running in the background. I went through an exercise to reduce my data consumption to see if I could live with 300 MB/month (I have a 5 GB plan) by reducing stuff running in the background and I was able to go from about 1.3 GB/month to 100 MB/month by shutting off background processes and shutting off cellular when I had WiFi. There's a ton of cellular data stuff going on with smartphones (maybe the NSA is making a backup of my phone? every morning?) that was going on even when I had WiFi. The side-benefit of going on a data diet was that battery life improved considerably.
I had a power problem on Android in 2012 - I did some investigation and a weather app that I was running was consuming a lot of CPU cycles. I got rid of the weather app and battery life went back to normal. So it could be poorly-behaved Apps, background processes running, weak WiFi or cellular signal (your radios have to put out a stronger signal to send data) as well as a battery issue.
If battery were an issue for me, I'd just get a Mophie JuicePak case.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
Google usually releases their Nexus phones in the fall too. If I had to get an Android phone right now, it would be the Nexus 5. I bought one last year for my wife and I like the phone. It might be a little too big for you at 5 inches but it feels pretty thin and light to me for a 5 inch phone. My son has a Nexus 4 which is the LG 4.7 inch phone from 2012 - it's thicker and has the all glass outside which I don't like and the specs aren't as good.
Batteries often aren't a big deal - just go to YouTube and see if there's a video on changing the battery on your phone. If you have something that you like, there's no sense in spending a small fortune when it's just the battery that needs to be replaced.
Batteries often aren't a big deal - just go to YouTube and see if there's a video on changing the battery on your phone. If you have something that you like, there's no sense in spending a small fortune when it's just the battery that needs to be replaced.
dParis
Hall of Fame
OP is on Verizon, so no Nexus for him.
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Yes there are multiple vibration settings on my iPhone. Some are real quick bursts, some are long, some repeated..etc.
Also, people make a huge deal out of a removable battery. The downfall of that is the phone is not going to be as slim most of the time and many times the casing is plastic so it can be removed.
If you are super into your phone and want to replace the battery yourself, you can buy a magnet mat and tools for your device on amazon for a total of $25 or so and replace a busted screen or old battery.
My phone is coming up on 2 years and I will probably upgrade to a 6 since I can sell mine for $200 or so and basically spend nothing on a new one. But I could continue to use this i5 for another few years I think and be fine. It's just a really solid phone that runs fantastic.
In your case I'd look for a used one on craigs, case it up and resell it when the new one comes out. Your net loss will be very small, if any.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
The 2013 Nexus 7 supposedly works with Verizon but I've heard that it's a pain to get working. Hopefully Google will someday work something out with Verizon so that their phones can work on Verizon's network.
Could the OP switch carriers?
Too big for me. I'd prefer bigger than an iphone, but I'm no size queen.
Maybe I'll run one of of those checks again, thanks. I do have some sort of juicer, but didn't think to bring it with me on a recent trip to California. Meanwhile, my daughter has some sort of miracle iphone 4, which she seemed to be on often throughout the day and she'd still have plenty of battery power left over at midnight. (She says her friends all envy her iphone's battery life, and don't get nearly the performance she does. My estranged gf needs to bring her iphone 4's charger to work with her, which I'm gathering is more the norm.)
In other words, you are saying you can not change the vibration strength itself? You can't, say, lower it to '1' to place on a church pew beside you and then crank it up to '11' later that night when it's in your pocket at a rave?
That's a desirable feature to me, but I guess not a deal breaker if I do decide on iphone.
They've got me pretty good, in that I've tied my home phone and daughter's one into the mix, and I pay electronically via automatic withdrawal and all that. Been with these clowns since 1999 and my first cell phone -- you know, back when they made phones with useful features I actually wanted and used…. But in any case, I'm inclined to stay with Verizon since I don't think I'm ready to start hating a new carrier.
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Power Player
Bionic Poster
No but my phone never vibrates loudly so the church.rave dynamic is a non issue for me. There is a quick silence button that will mute the phone and keep it vibrating. You can customize the different types of vibrations so if it is someone important, you can have long vibrations for example.
Another feature I use every night is the do not disturb feature. This silences the phone from vibrating making noise while I sleep. But I can place someone on my favorites list and they can bypass that filter and run through. I love that feature a lot, and its super easy to turn on and off via the quick screen.
Another feature I use every night is the do not disturb feature. This silences the phone from vibrating making noise while I sleep. But I can place someone on my favorites list and they can bypass that filter and run through. I love that feature a lot, and its super easy to turn on and off via the quick screen.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
> Maybe I'll run one of of those checks again, thanks. I
> do have some sort of juicer, but didn't think to bring it
> with me on a recent trip to California. Meanwhile, my
> daughter has some sort of miracle iphone 4, which she
> seemed to be on often throughout the day and she'd still
> have plenty of battery power left over at midnight. (She
> says her friends all envy her iphone's battery life, and
> don't get nearly the performance she does. My estranged gf
> needs to bring her iphone 4's charger to work with her, which
> I'm gathering is more the norm.)
Your environment matters a lot on battery life.
I work in a building where I don't have phone or data service in almost the entire building because of the construction of the building. I leave my phone plugged in all day as the battery would run down quickly as the phone tries to get a signal all day.
If you're in a building with a cellular repeater, then your phone doesn't need to do much work to maintain a connection.
> do have some sort of juicer, but didn't think to bring it
> with me on a recent trip to California. Meanwhile, my
> daughter has some sort of miracle iphone 4, which she
> seemed to be on often throughout the day and she'd still
> have plenty of battery power left over at midnight. (She
> says her friends all envy her iphone's battery life, and
> don't get nearly the performance she does. My estranged gf
> needs to bring her iphone 4's charger to work with her, which
> I'm gathering is more the norm.)
Your environment matters a lot on battery life.
I work in a building where I don't have phone or data service in almost the entire building because of the construction of the building. I leave my phone plugged in all day as the battery would run down quickly as the phone tries to get a signal all day.
If you're in a building with a cellular repeater, then your phone doesn't need to do much work to maintain a connection.
Right. And that's a problem for me. I want my phone to vibrate loudly on some occasions.
Whoa, really? While sleeping, you can set it to silence all calls/texts and noises -- other than your alarm to wake you up of course -- BUT allow certain calls/texts to make a noise and wake you up?
If so, that's a feature I've long imagined and wished I had, and if that's truly available, that's amazing. To be able to block all calls/texts, etc while sleeping from everyone but my daughter, for example, would be a dream come true.
Can other phones do this, or just iphones?
dParis
Hall of Fame
Mine does it (LG G2). I think most higher end phones have this feature. It is nice.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
There are more settings for Do Not Disturb:
Manual: When enabled, calls and alerts received while the device is locked will be silenced.*
Scheduled: Automatically enable Do Not Disturb between the hours you specify.
Allow Calls From: Allow calls from everyone, no one, your favorites, or specific contact groups stored on your device or your iCloud account.
Repeated Calls: If someone calls you twice within three minutes, the call will not be silenced.
Silence: Choose to silence calls and notifications always or only when the device is locked.*
* These settings are available only in iOS 7.
--------------
Pure Android phones don't have it but there are Apps that can do this for you.
Manual: When enabled, calls and alerts received while the device is locked will be silenced.*
Scheduled: Automatically enable Do Not Disturb between the hours you specify.
Allow Calls From: Allow calls from everyone, no one, your favorites, or specific contact groups stored on your device or your iCloud account.
Repeated Calls: If someone calls you twice within three minutes, the call will not be silenced.
Silence: Choose to silence calls and notifications always or only when the device is locked.*
* These settings are available only in iOS 7.
--------------
Pure Android phones don't have it but there are Apps that can do this for you.
Really truly? People claim their phones have various features -- like the ability to change vibration strengths, for example -- but when quizzed closely, they are often not the exact feature I'm talking about.
To clarify and confirm: Old heycal could go to sleep at midnight, turn off all noises from the phone until the phone's alarm goes off at 7am -- BUT allow an exception for any call or texts from my daughter in the middle of the night, which would ring/vibrate as normal?
(And if so, could you get even fancier, and allow phone calls to ring from a certain person, but not be bothered by any noises if that person just sends a text?)
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Heycal you just described the ios7 DND feature in your 2nd paragraph. You will like it a lot.
Yes, it sounds great. I'm gathering it's also available on non-iphones as well, at least if I'm reading dParis right.
Heck, what other cool useful features have they added in the last 2 years? I didn't follow phone developments at all during this time, so am playing catch up now. (Though I'd sure like get some of the features from the olden days back too, as mentioned previously…)
Feña14
G.O.A.T.
Yeah it's very easy. Mine is always set to one below maximum and it does make me jump sometimes! The older people in the office are known to say "someone's got traffic!"
equally you can have it low if you prefer, it's just a question of sliding your finger on the bar to turn it up or down (you can access it with one swype from the top to open settings).My phone is the original S3, the mini one is basically the same, apart from having a bit less power, weaker camera, smaller battery. Basically it's a budget version. There isn't a huge difference in size imo.
Just returned from the verizon store to check out the options… oh boy. I have a feeling it won't be my last trip there.
Impressions:
1) Less impressed with the droids and moto x's and HTC ones than i thought -- but that could be because they were not well-displayed, barely turned on, and the salesman was no help in this regard. It's too bad, because I love the idea of some of the features I've read about like the Active Display and the Voice operations from across the room. To be sold on any of these guys, I think I'd need someone to walk me through them and show me how great they are.
2) Really liked the iphone 5. Loved the light weight, slender profile, and feel of it in my hand. Also loved how easy it was to slide a cursor to make the texting message size exactly as big as i wanted it, in contrast to other ones I tried. Nice keyboard too. Even though small, it seemed like things were easier to see than you'd think given it's smallness.
3) ALSO liked the opposite end of things, specifically the big-*** LG G2 that dParis uses. I thought I'd hate such a monster in my hands, and a part of me sure did hate that, and yet…. and yet I could see everything so much better! This made me realize that if I could just get used to the hugeness factor, I could do a lot more things on my phone without reaching for my reading glasses all the time. That's so small thing to consider. (the iphone 5 will allow me to read and write short texts too without glasses as well given it's great text size options, but won't allow as many other non-glasses functions as the big screen would.)
Didn't have enough time to play around with the big samsung 4, or the mini, but aside from liking the physical button at the bottom, I leaned more toward the G2, possibly because the keyboard seemed more spacious. Will need to investigate further.
dParis, since I'm now intrigued by this phone of yours, can you answer a few questions about it? Specifically:
A) Can you change the text size so my text messages show up (and type out) in very large font -- and stay that way 'permanently'? (i.e. until and unless I ever want it smaller.) I thought I had successfully done this under Display>maximum, but it seemed to revert on me, and I couldn't get it super big again.
B) Can you also 'permanently' increase the size of icons/widgets thingys? They aren't even as big as the ones on the little ole iphone.
C) And of course, the fabled vibration intensity question: can you increase the strength and force of the vibration, from barely discernible to earth-shattering?
I may have some more G2 questions for you, but that's a start. I guess I also found the LG aspect of things appealing because it's familiar to me -- you know, from using my current LG phone which I hate… but at least it's the devil I know.
So there you have it -- trapped between liking a tiny iphone and an oversized phone. Not a good place to me...
Impressions:
1) Less impressed with the droids and moto x's and HTC ones than i thought -- but that could be because they were not well-displayed, barely turned on, and the salesman was no help in this regard. It's too bad, because I love the idea of some of the features I've read about like the Active Display and the Voice operations from across the room. To be sold on any of these guys, I think I'd need someone to walk me through them and show me how great they are.
2) Really liked the iphone 5. Loved the light weight, slender profile, and feel of it in my hand. Also loved how easy it was to slide a cursor to make the texting message size exactly as big as i wanted it, in contrast to other ones I tried. Nice keyboard too. Even though small, it seemed like things were easier to see than you'd think given it's smallness.
3) ALSO liked the opposite end of things, specifically the big-*** LG G2 that dParis uses. I thought I'd hate such a monster in my hands, and a part of me sure did hate that, and yet…. and yet I could see everything so much better! This made me realize that if I could just get used to the hugeness factor, I could do a lot more things on my phone without reaching for my reading glasses all the time. That's so small thing to consider. (the iphone 5 will allow me to read and write short texts too without glasses as well given it's great text size options, but won't allow as many other non-glasses functions as the big screen would.)
Didn't have enough time to play around with the big samsung 4, or the mini, but aside from liking the physical button at the bottom, I leaned more toward the G2, possibly because the keyboard seemed more spacious. Will need to investigate further.
dParis, since I'm now intrigued by this phone of yours, can you answer a few questions about it? Specifically:
A) Can you change the text size so my text messages show up (and type out) in very large font -- and stay that way 'permanently'? (i.e. until and unless I ever want it smaller.) I thought I had successfully done this under Display>maximum, but it seemed to revert on me, and I couldn't get it super big again.
B) Can you also 'permanently' increase the size of icons/widgets thingys? They aren't even as big as the ones on the little ole iphone.
C) And of course, the fabled vibration intensity question: can you increase the strength and force of the vibration, from barely discernible to earth-shattering?
I may have some more G2 questions for you, but that's a start. I guess I also found the LG aspect of things appealing because it's familiar to me -- you know, from using my current LG phone which I hate… but at least it's the devil I know.
So there you have it -- trapped between liking a tiny iphone and an oversized phone. Not a good place to me...
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movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
This is a bit off-topic but have you considered bi-focals or tri-focals? I usually use a single-vision computer lens when using computers and I wear tri-focals if I think that I'll need to use a phone or tablet or computer screen or drive. The use of tri-focals means that I can use the iPhone 5 with small fonts.
Yeah it's very easy. Mine is always set to one below maximum and it does make me jump sometimes! The older people in the office are known to say "someone's got traffic!"
My phone is the original S3, the mini one is basically the same, apart from having a bit less power, weaker camera, smaller battery. Basically it's a budget version. There isn't a huge difference in size imo.
For some reason I thought you had the mini. So you have the big one and like the size of it?
You have one too? Any other features you'd like to tout? And what of the vibration strength? Changeable or not?
Never even heard of tri-focals. I've briefly considered bi-focals, but don't think I really need/want them yet. But that aside, wouldn't be great to use your phone for many functions without any glasses at all?
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dParis
Hall of Fame
heycal said:
A) Yes. When viewing a text conversation, just use the pinch gesture to adjust the size of the font. Stays that way for all past and future texts until you adjust it again.
B) Yes - kind of. If you are on the screen which shows all of your app icons (not the homescreens, but the App screen), press the menu button and the option to "show large icons" will be available. The app icons will change from the smaller 5x5 layout to the larger 4x5 layout.
If you are on one of your home screens and wish to change the icon size there, you need to long press the icon you'd like to change. The icon will buzz and be available to move. Instead of moving it, just lift your finger and the icon will resettle in its original spot, but with a little paint brush icon in the corner. Press the paint brush and you will access the customization screen for that individual icon. From there you can choose from the smaller 1x1 icon size or the large 2x2 size. I stick with the 1x1 since the larger setting makes the icons ridiculously large. The app icons on the bottom of your screen (the 3-5 that stay there even when you switch home screen pages) are not size adjustable as far as I know.
C) Yes, you can adjust the intensity of the vibration for calls and other notifications. Max intensity feels like a lot when I test it in hand, but I've missed it on more than one occasion during real-world activity.
I can also confirm the option to allow calls from certain numbers to ring even when the phone is in quiet mode. I call it the catastrophe mode because if I hear it ringing in the middle of the night, I know it's bad news. I don't think there is way to block texts but allow calls from the same number to get through, though.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I need glasses to read computer screens, ingredient lists at the supermarket, any kind of magazine or newspaper, etc. Glasses help with driving, especially at night.
At some point, most people need help (contacts, surgery, glasses) for vision for different focal points.
It would be nice to not need them but I've set up systems that make glasses quite workable.
eelhc
Hall of Fame
I've owned (and still own) both iPhones and Android phones. It couldn't be easier to replace a battery on the Samsung phones. It's only slightly more difficult to replace the battery on an iPhone (a few screws).... I've done so on both and passed them along to other family members who don't require the latest tech. I would consider neither built in obsolescence.
You can ruin a phone battery pretty quick by leaving it in a hot car/tennis bag/baking sun for a day. Best to avoid temperature extremes.
Samsung gets roughed up on the build quality (plastic vs Apple/HTC metal/glass) yet the Galaxy phones fare better on the drop and water ingress tests. IMO they actually have better build quality where it actually matters. The new S5 is waterproof up to 1m for 30 minutes. They are far more repairable as well. For someone who is rough on their stuff... I would recommend a Galaxy over an iPhone/HTC.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
It's not a good idea to leave your tennis racquets in a hot car or in the hot sun either.
I don't use a case with my iPhone 5 - I'm very careful with electronics in general but one nice thing about iPhones is that there are a ton of cases available for it. I looked for cases for my daughter's Samsung Galaxy and son's Nexus 4 and there were far fewer options at the local Best Buy store. There are a lot of interesting accessories for the iPhones as they sell so many similar models. You can get optics clipons for the iPhones for telephoto, fisheye and wide-angle lenses.
One thing that I'd really like in mobile phones is a better charging system. I'd like wireless charging in the iPhone but something better than the current methods out there that are available on many Android phones. I like Apple's Lightning port much, much better than Micro-USB but the next generation of USB should be coming soon and it will be bidirectional like the Lightning port.
If you want water resistance, then it's pretty easy to find a kiosk to get a Liquipel coating. I usually see kiosks for this outside Apple Stores in malls. You could make the argument that Apple should apply the coating to all of their products and I wouldn't disagree. I have the coating on my Bluetooth headset and it works very, very well at protecting electronics in harsh environments.
Feña14
G.O.A.T.
Oh yeah the size is fine. Whenever I'm cooking with my partner she puts Spotify on her phone, when I go to skip a song her 5S feels so tiny to me. The small size and the thin nature of the phone always makes me feel like it's going to spin out my hand if I squeeze a little too hard. Bigger is better when it comes to phones for me, but that's preference.
As for not really liking the Androids, out of the box they aren't particularly nice to look at. There are threads on websites with thousands of posts from people who have changed the way they look and each one is different (different clocks, weather symbols, layouts etc..).
Another thing you mention is keyboards, the iPhone has a good keyboard, but you're stuck with it. You can download countless ones for Android so you can have a huge one, swipe your fingers to type, change the colours and after a few days they even predict accurately the next word for you.
movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
I use androidforums.com (I think that's it) when I get a new Android device. It takes a few weeks to get it running comfortably.
The one thing that I'd like on the iPhone keyboard is the option for a numbers row. I have to enter a password every day at work and flipping back and forth is a pain. I think that this is an issue for Android phones as well. You can jailbreak but I'd rather not.
The one thing that I'd like on the iPhone keyboard is the option for a numbers row. I have to enter a password every day at work and flipping back and forth is a pain. I think that this is an issue for Android phones as well. You can jailbreak but I'd rather not.
dParis
Hall of Fame
There is only so much real estate on a touchscreen for a keypad. LG's stock keypad does have a number row but at the expense of typing accuracy. I switched to swype just to see what it was all about, and I was surprised how much I liked it. Swype's AI actually makes the swiping method more accurate and faster than pecking, in my case. The time it takes for me to switch to the numeric keys is more than made up for by not having to constantly fix my errors due to a cramped keypad. Swiftkey looks like a good keypad option as well.
By the time iPhone 13S would be available, heycal would still be undecidedly discussing this topic
That's what I'm afraid of too….
So you can't change the icon size on the ones you actually use most, the ones on the bottom of the screen? That's a bummer. If you can't make important icons even as big as the ones on the otherwise tiny iphone on this brick of a phone, what the hell? (Fena14, how's about on the Samsung?)
Also a bummer that on max intensity you've missed calls/texts. This is what I'm afraid of -- some weak vibrate that doesn't do the job in key situations.
How do you like LG in general? Any glitchy problems? My lg lucid has always had issues like not going into power saving mode when I've instructed it to, and the screen sometimes not timing out but staying on endlessly. (Great for battery life!)
And the lame vibrate…
Hmm. Do I really want to go down the LG road again?…. Yes, I know the system and that's a plus, but I don't want the same problems again either...
Yes, I need glasses for all those things too. But I don't need them while walking down the street, hiking through the woods, sitting in a restaurant, watching TV, etc. Wouldn't it be nice to read or a write a text in all those situations without pulling out the glasses like I have to do now?
You're saying you did not like the LG keyboard?? Part of what appealed to me about the phone was what appeared to be large and spacious keyboard, with the letters well-spaced out. (In contrast, the samsung g4's keyboard had the letters cramped in and touching each other.)
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movdqa
Talk Tennis Guru
> Yes, I need glasses for all those things too. But I don't need them
> while walking down the street, hiking through the woods, sitting in a
> restaurant with friends, etc. Wouldn't it be nice to read or a write a text
> in all those situations without pulling out the glasses like I have to do
> now?
It depends on how good your distance vision is. I wear glasses most of the time so it's not an issue.
What I found over time is that reading things that are out of focus, whether it be a smartphone or a computer monitor, changes your vision to the point where it can be confusing or damaging. Reading things at the right focal point with glasses means that your vision doesn't change to try to respond to different focal points.
My daughter has this problem and I'm going to take her to get single-lens computer glasses so that she's at the right focal point for them. We may need to get her bifocals for reading/distance as well.
> while walking down the street, hiking through the woods, sitting in a
> restaurant with friends, etc. Wouldn't it be nice to read or a write a text
> in all those situations without pulling out the glasses like I have to do
> now?
It depends on how good your distance vision is. I wear glasses most of the time so it's not an issue.
What I found over time is that reading things that are out of focus, whether it be a smartphone or a computer monitor, changes your vision to the point where it can be confusing or damaging. Reading things at the right focal point with glasses means that your vision doesn't change to try to respond to different focal points.
My daughter has this problem and I'm going to take her to get single-lens computer glasses so that she's at the right focal point for them. We may need to get her bifocals for reading/distance as well.
Feña14
G.O.A.T.
You can change the icons to whatever you want on Android yeah. They can simply be the name of the app if that's easier for you, you can download icon packs that are alot cleaner than the original ones that you get on both iOS and Android. You can have them twice the size if that's your thing.
As for the keyboard, as i've mentioned you can download lots of them on Andorid and choose the one you like best. To be honest i've not met anyone who uses the default one. My choice is SwiftKey, you can change the layout, colours, size, you can swype your finger to type, it learns how you type and predicts the next word etc..
Here's my keyboard, as you can see, it's totally different to the stock Android one.
Don't be scaring me about my eyes now… I want to read texts without glasses damnit!
Bud, I think you have the impression that is is April 22, 2015, not April 22, 2014. Ask me next year what I finally decided on….
You can change the icons to whatever you want on Android yeah. They can simply be the name of the app if that's easier for you, you can download icon packs that are alot cleaner than the original ones that you get on both iOS and Android. You can have them twice the size if that's your thing.
As for the keyboard, as i've mentioned you can download lots of them on Andorid and choose the one you like best. To be honest i've not met anyone who uses the default one. My choice is SwiftKey, you can change the layout, colours, size, you can swype your finger to type, it learns how you type and predicts the next word etc..
Here's my keyboard, as you can see, it's totally different to the stock Android one.
Not a fan of downloading replacements apps etc if I can help it based on my limited experiences with that. Ideally I want the phone to be what I like well enough right out of the box.
Your keyboard looks pretty cramped to me. You like those letters so close together like that?
Then again, based on the content of the text exchanges I see on your screenshot, who gives a damn if you've got a cramped keyboard? Life is looking good anyway!
Feña14
G.O.A.T.
Fair enough, sounds like the iPhone might be best for you then. By and large it works, but over longer periods there are things that start to get annoying and you can't change them. You don't like something? Tough. You never have that problem with Android. Best way to describe it is you learn to adapt to iOS, with Android it adapts to you, which is probably part of why it's become so popular with the way modern life is and we're used to choices.
The keyboard is fine for me, the bigger screen means it's not a problem and the autocorrect is very clever, so no complaints from me. Ha you'd think that was the case yeah, it's been a long weekend with Easter so there's been alot going on!
The iphone's text size flexibility and keyboard is very appealing to me, yes, but the otherwise small sceeen is tough to stomach.
My experiences with android are that many of the things I want to change are either not changeable at all, or only by downloading some app, which I find a bit annoying. Just out of the box, I find it only slighty more flexible and adaptable than the iphone -- and the iphone's already got some of things I want so there is less desire to adapt there.
Even so, plenty to be be annoyed about with the iphone too, I suppose. It's hardly perfect even if the screen were bigger.
I guess it's all about trade offs and priorities….
Power Player
Bionic Poster
Best out of the box phone is the iPhone. It has no bloatware, no lame telco logo on it and the whole "it just works" mentality applies.
If you like to tweak and mod your phone then a droid is a better option.
If you want the best camera possible, then go with a windows lumia.
Its really that simple and you are probably overthinking at this point.
All the phones out now are good. I just prefer the iPhone and i have been happy with mine. Best phone I have owned by a mile for how I like to work.
If you like to tweak and mod your phone then a droid is a better option.
If you want the best camera possible, then go with a windows lumia.
Its really that simple and you are probably overthinking at this point.
All the phones out now are good. I just prefer the iPhone and i have been happy with mine. Best phone I have owned by a mile for how I like to work.
Overthinking? Don't know the meaning of the word!
I'm thinking my priorities are probably:
1) visibility. Iphone is strong in some aspects of this, with the adjustable text option and reasonable size icons and nice looking keyboard, but it's small screen is an undeniable draw back in this regard. It really can't compete with a bigger phone like G2 in this area overall.
2) dependable: iphone does sound good in this department. Better chance that it will do what's supposed to every time.
2) battery life: G2 appears to rock in this regard, iphone not so much.
3) slender and light. iphone is nice on this one.
Thing is, I do like to tweak on some basic levels, like having the weather on a home screen and so forth, so that's a consideration as well. And of course a stronger vibrate if available. I also noticed on the iphone that it seemed harder to adjust the time on the alarm clock, something I am constantly doing. If one day I want to wake up at 8:25, and the next day at 8:30, and the day after that at 8:45, it appears that I have to set a brand new alarm each time. With my current LG phone, I just tap on the 8:25 alarm and scroll it to 8:40 for example.
Might seems a small thing, but it could be just these small things that drive me nuts and Fena14 suggests.
In short, I feel stuck between iphone and android in my wants and desires… a hellish existence destined to haunt me for a long time to come...
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TennisAddiction
Semi-Pro
I bought the Galaxy S5 on launch day and am really torn on it. Great battery life & camera. Build quality is still very disappointing. Considering going back to the iPhone...
TennisAddiction
Semi-Pro
Most people want more than just the best of one feature... I want the build quality and fluidness of an iPhone with the customization of an android. The HTC One M8 hits on all of that but then they absolutely bombed out on the camera again! I want more than a so-so camera.
Feña14
G.O.A.T.
Yeah the HTC One M8 was so close! As my contract is coming to it's end and i've come to love Android so much, that was the one i'd set my sights on upgrading to. Unfortunately i'm a big instagram user and love taking photo's, so the camera has taken it out of the running. A friend has an S5 and i've enjoyed playing around with it so that'll be my next one.
Can you elaborate on its drawbacks? (I myself care nothing about cameras, btw.) If it's bigger, fatter, and heavier than the 4, I personally would not like that.
And is wireless charging the nonsense I think it is? It's not wireless at all!
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dParis
Hall of Fame
I didn't notice the icons to be any smaller than the iPhone's. About the same size, if not slightly bigger. Maybe they look smaller because the phone itself is larger, or maybe the homescreen I'm using has larger icons? Idk, I like the icons. Always easy to access and not busying up the screen.
Next time you are in the store, go to "Sounds" in the setting menu and mess with the vibration volume. See what you think. Maybe compare it to other phones. I think it needs a little more boogie in its butt on the high end.
If the stock LG keyboard felt good to you, then all's well. I think Swype was already loaded on my phone so I tried it and found it made me a better typer than I actually am so I keep using it. Simply a preference thing and fortunately not at all difficult to adjust. If any of the phone's features are a pain to get working right, I'm probably not using it. I've got the basics down, but I've had the phone since November and I'm still learning its capabilities. And I'll probably never max out a majority of them.
I'll reiterate that the G2 is fast and smooth. There are some minor, one-off issues that make me wonder why something happened or didn't happen but nothing I can specifically recall. I do know that after I took a Sprint software update, my battery will drain a little faster than before. A reboot will solve the issue if it comes up and even when the extra drain does happen, the battery life - while not magical - is still great.
So... I have to give a slight edge to Apple in the "it just works" department. The iPhone and iOS7 are pretty feature rich, so if they do come out with a bigger display I'll have to reassess what I would give up by going back to Apple. Right now, there is no question the G2 > i5S for my needs.
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TennisAddiction
Semi-Pro
The software still stutters from time to time (or lags if you will). It should have been given 3 gigs of RAM like the Note 3 was. Despite being only .1 inch larger the S5 feels too big (too square, IMO). The Blocking mode doesn't work very well- the LED still lights up even when blocking mode is on (dumb). The phone basically forces you to leave the GPS on otherwise almost all weather apps/widgets don't work. External speaker is weaker than the S4.
It doesn't come with wireless charging right out of the box, you have to buy the wireless charging back. So why would it be nonsense?
Can you elaborate upon what you think is better and more alluring to you about the iphone? (Other than appearance, that is.) What features of it do you envy and would tempt you to go back if the screen were bigger?
I'll take another look at the icon sizes on both these phones. Those G2 hiccups you mention do scare me some, and very possible more will occur as time goes by. But drain issue aside, the G2 battery is very appealing to me. I've read it's almost twice as good as the iphone battery, and if the days were one has to re-charge in late afternoon if going out for a late night can be dispensed with, that's no small matter. I've spent many an anxious night in the big city wondering if my battery would die….
I should probably actually try using the G2 keyboard before I praise it. It just looked good to me. And having numbers available on the same screen seems nice too. As for swype, I tried that once or twice in the past and it almost made my head explode.
I'm suggesting wireless charging seems like nonsense. What's wireless about it? You still have to put your phone on some thing that's attached to a wire that powers that plugs into a wall, right? When I first heard the term "wireless charging", I was intrigued because I actually thought it meant wireless charging…
Thanks for the additional info. on the Galaxy 5. Sounds like a phone to avoid.
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