What phone now?

[riser4]

Been two weeks and my Pixel 3 128gb is STILL on backorder (from Best Buy). How long should I give these mofos before I pull the plug? Got a business trip coming up and I better have something new before then as my old one's been acting too screwy to rely on for travel. It's a pretty good savings going through them, so I'm willing to wait a hair longer but starting to get annoyed.

I think you are waiting on a deal they won't honor. Vaporware.

[MontuckyFried]

I think you are waiting on a deal they won't honor. Vaporware.

Starting to feel like it! Sheesh. BTW, I stopped by a Best Buy today to see what else there might be and they already have the Samsung S10 displays up, taking pre-orders. Played with the new S10E and the S10+. Those are some VERY impressive phones. Probably some of the best displays in the industry. Too bad they also came with all the annoying Samsung idiosyncrasies. But man, if you like Samsung, this new crop would be IT. Some pretty neat tech packed in there.

[Skidog]

Starting to feel like it! Sheesh. BTW, I stopped by a Best Buy today to see what else there might be and they already have the Samsung S10 displays up, taking pre-orders. Played with the new S10E and the S10+. Those are some VERY impressive phones. Probably some of the best displays in the industry. Too bad they also came with all the annoying Samsung idiosyncrasies. But man, if you like Samsung, this new crop would be IT. Some pretty neat tech packed in there.

I guess if bells and whistles float your boat Sammie's are great. I much prefer stock Android. Phone calls, browsing/social media, and email/txt. That and a smooth enough processor/ram combo to handle the OS and I'm happy as a clam.

[MontuckyFried]

Hooray! My Pixel magically appeared today! About darn time but glad it wasn't Best Buy vaporware with that deal. REALLY liking it so far. The "active edge" squeeze feature is pretty slick and something I wasn't even really aware of. Gorgeous screen and bone stock Android with no bloatware so I'm happy. Android Pie's made some pretty nice improvements and am getting used to it pretty quick. Thanks for helping me pick it out!

[RShea]

Someone want a pretty cheap smart phone, right now the Motorola G6 32 GB is on Project Fi for $99 special rate. ($4.12 per month if financed)
You have to at least purchase and activate the phone for the first month on Fi but can move it off at anytime to another carrier. So add $20 to the order for the sim and first month..

https://fi.google.com/about/phones/#moto-g6

[willywhit]

happy to report that the Galaxy S7 refurb that I bought on eBay for $109 is the SHIT ! smokin' fast and scored a refurb otter box for cheap, too. Called Metro pcs yesterday to make the swap and the kid in the philipines even comp'd the $15 service charge to switch phones cuz it was his "birthday". I was gonna get a screen protector but the gorilla glass is pretty tough, I've read.

[riser4]

Someone want a pretty cheap smart phone, right now the Motorola G6 32 GB is on Project Fi for $99 special rate. ($4.12 per month if financed)
You have to at least purchase and activate the phone for the first month on Fi but can move it off at anytime to another carrier. So add $20 to the order for the sim and first month..

https://fi.google.com/about/phones/#moto-g6

While I find my 32GB X⁴ to be somewhat underwhelming for the price I paid for it, I think the 64GB X⁴ at $199 is a better deal than the G6.

[gravitylover]

happy to report that the Galaxy S7 refurb that I bought on eBay for $109 is the SHIT ! smokin' fast and scored a refurb otter box for cheap, too. Called Metro pcs yesterday to make the swap and the kid in the philipines even comp'd the $15 service charge to switch phones cuz it was his "birthday". I was gonna get a screen protector but the gorilla glass is pretty tough, I've read.

I have an S9 and the glass sux. I dropped it from about a foot off the ground while I was picking something up and busted the corner up pretty badly. All in all it's not a bad phone but I don't think I'd get another when I'm done with this one.

[willywhit]

did you upgrade from another Galaxy ? I was on the fence about getting a refurb iphone. Big fan of android , just needed a phone that could handle more than email and texting.

[RShea]

happy to report that the Galaxy S7 refurb that I bought on eBay for $109 is the SHIT ! smokin' fast and scored a refurb otter box for cheap, too. Called Metro pcs yesterday to make the swap and the kid in the philipines even comp'd the $15 service charge to switch phones cuz it was his "birthday". I was gonna get a screen protector but the gorilla glass is pretty tough, I've read.

I had been using a Refurb Galaxy S7 for the last few weeks. Pretty good phone over all. I too picked up a Otterbox Defender, but did not get the after market glass screen protectors that I have used on every cell phone I've carried for some time now (at least 4 or 5 phones). I have had a Samsung Galaxy S5 end up with a cracked screen (was not a defender case, but a similar cover). I also have had my Motorola take a fall from about 4 feet and it cracked the 3rd party screen protector glass over top, but the screen itself on the phone was fine. I think I have a crack again on my Motorola- but have not taken the Defender cover off yet. I have one more 3rd party screen protector for the Motorola, so hopefully it is just the $5 or whatever I paid for the screen protector.

The Galaxy S7 with the Otterbox seems to also be showing what could be a very faint sign of a cracked screen. So it it is, I probably would have been better off getting the glass after market screen protector also in addition to the Defender case...

[gatorboy]

Glass protector?
Get a Zagg.
Lifetime warranty and all you pay is shipping (about $6). In three years, I've gotten about 5 replacements.

[LightRanger]

Timely bump and discussion of the GS7.

I have an Otterbox Commuter on mine. Can't stand the Defender rubber stiction when pulling it out of a jeans pocket.

Had it since like June 2016. Prior case was a Vigen and that did well, but then the plastic started falling apart. Had the Commuter for probably 18 months. Cracked the screen in November-ish when I was riding on my trainer and using the phone with basic earbuds (like iPhone type) to listen to what I was playing on the Roku across the room. Stood up on the bars for an interval and pulled the phone off the countertop next to me. Tagged a hard edge of the metal on the trainer base right at the edge of the rubber of the case in the corner of the screen. Cracked, but still usable.

Then today. Took the case off it on Sunday on my way back from skiing because the phone was too hot to charge with the case on while it was in the airvent mount cradle and the heat blasting to dry out the car from a very wet ski day. So took the case off and temp misplaced it. Then this morning dropped it on its head and got a small spiderweb in the upper-right corner. Screen is shot. Press a button and just a couple lines of pixels show up. Phone still works otherwise. Made a couple calls with Google Assistant and being able to unlock the screen with my fingerprint.

TL;DR- Use a case on your GS7 because it's a great phone and I wouldn't be shopping for a new phone today if I hadn't dropped it with the case off.

$300 rebate on the Pixel 3 plus an additional $30 Costco gift card means I'm probably buying a Pixel 3 at Costco after work. Now I just need to figure out what to do with the GS7. Can I wipe it at home without access to the screen? Is it work the time and effort to sell it for what I'd get for it?

[willywhit]

the Defender seemed like overkill, so I got a commuter. There's a bunch of tweaks I need to look into. Bloatware, I hear is big if you're cranking through data, which I do, on wifi. Also, getting a replacement plan is iffy. $50 to sign up for first 3 months, then like $4 a month. I think I'll take my chances, paid $109 for the S7 and looks like $150 is the going rate to replace it. Worst case, I have my old bone phone as a back up.
Can you tweak the S7 to double tap the screen for on and off ? I got used to that with my old LG.

[Dantheman]

Any of the Fi users out there have tween kids? We've come to the conclusion that we need to get our 9 y.o. a phone, but certainly don't want to get him a full smartphone for a bunch of reasons. Just something we can call him on, and he can call us and a few other select people. We can add him to our plan, but the basic old-school phones available aren't supported. If I put a Fi sim in a flip phone will it work? Now that I've written all this down something pre-paid seems like the best option, probably.

[dcpnz]

Dantheman,
We reactivated old phones on t-mobile prepaid for our kids for what sounds like very similar reasons as you want. They were “family phones” not the “kids phones” so only took them when we wanted them to have. Dirt cheap (like $3 a month) but with very few text and minutes included. Became a pain that overages ate up balance and we seemed to have to reload alot always when I really just wanted a phone that worked. Switched to red pocket mobile and got a year for ~$80 with more minutes and texts per month than my kids can use. Working well for us so far. Can get SIM and activation code off ebay to save a few bucks. Also can choose which network (verizon, att, tmobile and sprint) so depending on what old phones you have laying around and which works best in your area you are covered.

[frorider]

https://news.google.com/articles/CAI...S&ceid=US%3Aen

[riser4]

What's up with Pixl 3a???

[MontuckyFried]

What's up with Pixl 3a???

From what I've been reading, that's going to be the phone to get. I got the Pixel 3 and love it. You get that camera and a bunch of the other functionality in a cheaper version. You sacrifice some processing speed and ram (I think) along with wireless charging. Has a plastic body versus glass, which I think I'd actually prefer since it should be tougher with the plastic honestly.

If I was still in the market, the 3a would be the one I'd probably go for. Either way, having the latest and greatest Android functionality has made me realize how antiquated my old phone was just on an OS level. SO many great features baked in.

[climberevan]

3a looks really appealing, and the inclusion of a headphone jack makes it a contender for me. It appears that Fi is not super cheap anymore, though, so I'm going to stick with my rooted V30 and continue to enjoy the glory of Adaway.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

[MontuckyFried]

...and the inclusion of a headphone jack makes it a contender for me.

Oh yeah! This too! The lack of a headphone jack in my Pixel 3 is a bigger annoyance than I would have thought previously. I know many have moved on to wireless only solutions, but my dinosaur of a vehicle only has a 3.5mm aux input. On top of that, my favorite pair of headphones that I own are corded. Been forced to use my also excellent Bluetooth headphones (thankfully they have aptX) but my wired ones are still better. Same goes for my preferred earbuds. They too are corded.

If my Pixel 3 ever breaks, I think I might "downgrade" to the 3a. Wish it was out when I was shopping a few months back. Wasn't even announced then.

[Danno]

Google Fi Blog:

So, my primary credit card expired this month, and the bank sent me a new card that I never received. So they had to close the account and issue a new card/number. The now-closed card was set to autopay my Google Fi account, and I got a notice that my card was declined. I immediately went to my account and replaced the card with the new one.

My new card was never charged. I have contacted google's support twice (because there are horror stories of how google fucks this shit up royally, and cuts your service off for non-payment), and both times they tell me all is good, my card is or will be charged. The last time (yesterday) they referred to the statement that was generated the day before yesterday and will be auto-payed on the 30th. I looked at that statement, and it shows last month's balance as paid in full.

So, what is the likely outcome here?

1. They charge my card for 2 months on the 30th.
2. They never catch this glitch and I never pay for last month.
3. They come after me at some point in the future for failing to pay that bill.

How many times am I supposed to contact them asking for them to charge me before I give up?

[PNWbrit]

Just switched from S7 to a new S8 (I know not now exactly cutting edge...) but damn it's slick, fast and battery life is great.

[riser4]

3a looks really appealing, and the inclusion of a headphone jack makes it a contender for me. It appears that Fi is not super cheap anymore, though, so I'm going to stick with my rooted V30 and continue to enjoy the glory of Adaway.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

Not super cheap anymore?

[huckbucket]

wha t will happens with huwaie users google is no more partner with huwaie
its operting system is by google now huwaie is going wht to do?

[PNWbrit]

wha t will happens with huwaie users google is no more partner with huwaie
its operting system is by google now huwaie is going wht to do?

You'll get overwhelmed with messages from M series jongs.