Phone opinions

[HotShoe]

My Samsung Galaxy S4 is dying a horrible death. It has been getting worse each month and I need to get a replacement. My choices are :

LG G3 $50
Galaxy S6 $200
Nexus 6 $200
Galaxy S5 $100

All are available in my local store. I have looked at the specs and checked reviews on all of them and have basically ruled out the LG Flex, which they also have in stock. The only thing fancy that I do with my phone is to use it as a live feed monitor for my video cameras. Other than that I make and receive calls and use it for dev work and some tunes while working.

If any of you have experience with any of these, I'd like to know what you think. I need to replace this thing soon. It reboots in the middle of phone calls (only during a phone call) so it's not doing me a lot of good as a phone now. It appears to be a thermal problem, but regardless, it has to go.

Thanks,

--- Jem

 

[NJDude]

I would go for the Nexus 6, not only for the hardware but also to get the latest and greatest from Google, my second choice would be the LG.

 

[Beja]

Nexus 6 $200

Hi Hotshoe,

How can I get this animal? I want one
Is the $200 with a contract or the total price?
Thanks

 

[barx]

Not has experience as such with any of them, but just from keeping a finger in the tech world, here is my view.

LG G3 - nice device, don't think LG are to bad with updates speed
Galaxy S6 - obviously 'the' phone to have at the moment BUT, it has a sealed in battery which first reviews says isn't great. You won't make it through a day of moderate use, especially if your working (and playing them tunes). Also Samsung have proven to me with my S4 that they are terribly slow on the updates...
Nexus 6 - nice device and as NJDude stated, being a Nexus, you get the Android OS updates before anyone else.
Galaxy S5 - For me I feel this was a bit of a flop for Samsung. Some features simply don't work, especially the fingerprint scanner. It looks really nice and I was tempted at one time, but unless I were to drop on one dirt cheap I think I would look elsewhere.

So, if you can handle the mid day re-charge and have cash to spare then I would say S6.

Next, the Nexus 6 or LG G3, Both are very nice, although considered by some to be old new now. Can still handle the job though.

Lastly comes the S5. Looks nice and is nice on paper, but doesn't seem to quite hold up to it if you want those additional features, If you don't want those, then it could be a contender

 

[HotShoe]

How can I get this animal? I want one
Is the $200 with a contract or the total price?
Thanks

I am off contract with my carrier and they hate that, so those are the prices they quoted if I sign a new 2 year contract.

--- Jem

 

[HotShoe]

I would go for the Nexus 6, not only for the hardware but also to get the latest and greatest from Google, my second choice would be the LG.

That was my thinking as well. I like the price on the G3, but that nexus is pretty impressive.

Galaxy S6 - obviously 'the' phone to have at the moment BUT, it has a sealed in battery which first reviews says isn't great. You won't make it through a day of moderate use, especially if your working (and playing them tunes). Also Samsung have proven to me with my S4 that they are terribly slow on the updates...

Yeah I only had 2 updates in 2 years with my S4, so I'm a bit put off with Samsung right now. I know that any tech device can fail, and it has lasted 2 years, but I think I'd like to try the G3 or Nexus 6.

Thanks guys,

--- Jem

 

[moster67]

Why not an iPhone6?

I have had many Android devices over the years and I was never influenced by the iPhone-hysteric. I never considered buying an iOS device.
Then, upon receiving requests for porting a few android-apps of mine to iOS, I eventually got an iPhone6. In addition, Erel released B4i so my choice was made even more simple.
Now, 4 months later, I must say that the iPhone6 is a nice piece of phone and I am very pleased. It simply works without any problems whereas with my Android-devices there were always something which stopped working or did not work as expected. Everything is so smooth. I now use the iPhone6 as my main and daily device. There are things and features that I am missing from my Android-devices and its OS (and I am still trying to hit the back-button ) but on overall, at least in this moment, I don't look back. The iPhone6 is so reliable and with my moderate usage the battery lasts nearly 48 hours (never happened with my Android-devices).

Don't turn this into a hate/love Apple-post - I just stated my personal opinion.

 

[Peter Simpson]

If I was replacing my N5, it would be for the N6. I do have an N6 here that is used for testing purposes only as it's not exactly 100% mine so I do not use it as my daily driver (even though I can do).

N6 = no Touchwiz and no HTC Sense , plus the latest and greatest Android OS updates before any other device

The only thing I do not like is the size of the N6 phone, but that's my personal preference and does not detract from the quality of the phone. 5" is great for me, 6" is just a bit too big. But saying that If I didn't have the N5 I would use the N6 at a drop of a hat.

BTW I have an S5 here as well (for the moment). Nah get the N6

 

[RandomCoder]

I'm going to get slammed for this as its not on your list, but I'm really after the Note Edge. Yeah its a big phone but its got big features too
Alternatively for less money there's the Note 3 which is still a very nice phone. That said, if i was limited to choose a phone purely from the list provided it would be the Nexus. Samsung have made a mistake in my opinion with sealling the battery in the S6 and the ultra fast charge can only add to shortening the life expectance of the battery!

 

[Peter Simpson]

I will not slam you for your personal opinion @RandomCoder, well not online anyway

 

[HotShoe]

Well I settled on the LG G3. The Nexus is just too big, and I don't need the stuff on the S6 for the difference in price. I ended up getting the G3 for $24.99 and so far it works great.

Thanks all,

--- Jem

 

[susu]

Well I settled on the LG G3. The Nexus is just too big, and I don't need the stuff on the S6 for the difference in price. I ended up getting the G3 for $24.99 and so far it works great.

Thanks all,

--- Jem

Nice choice!
BTW, in my country Samsung S6 is about $800 and I only have 2 options: Buy or Not buy.

 

[socialnetis]

Well I settled on the LG G3. The Nexus is just too big, and I don't need the stuff on the S6 for the difference in price. I ended up getting the G3 for $24.99 and so far it works great.

Thanks all,

--- Jem

And how much do you pay per month for the carrier service?

In Argentina the LG G3 cost 600 dollars with a 25 dollars/month contract (which is one of the highest in here), its really expensive for the salaries over here

 

[HotShoe]

And how much do you pay per month for the carrier service?

My current plan is unlimited talk and text with 1GB of data per month for $56/ month.

--- Jem

 

[Peter Simpson]

Wow that's a lot, you Americans sure gets ripped off with your mobile phone deals...

 

[KMatle]

Here in Germany it's cheaper to own a prepaid card (since a few years there is no real advantage anymore). Except you want a new phone. A contract depends on the phone you want to have. At the end you pay it. It's more like a credit.

I prefer to buy older (not old) models and I've made some good experiences with china phones. My son has a cubot one (looks like a HTC M1) and came in for about 100€. Only 1 GB RAM but very fast and stable. In comparison to my S4 I was a bit disapointed about Samsung. 3x expensive and the "launcher" looks like the one from my old S1 :-( I'm running CM for a year now and everything is fine.

 

[Beja]

My current plan is unlimited talk and text with 1GB of data per month for $56/ month.

--- Jem

Hi Jim,
I am with MetroPCS and I pay $40 for unlimited text and talk with data that I don't how much but never consumed it (3 years now).
I bet u r using at&t.

 

[andymc]

I'm getting the LG G3 in a week. I'm paying £130 upfront, then £18.50 a month. I'm planning on sticking a 64GB SD card in it. I'll be using it as my daily phone, but also as my B4A development testing device and for google cardboard. I'm using a Galaxy S2 for cardboard right now (as my Moto G doesn't have a gyro sensor) and I'm going to get an 8x increase in resolution going from the S2 to the G3.