What phone would you buy & why?

[bruceb58]

Unfortunately, I want the ability to slap in another battery if possible while on the road. I get sick of work-arounds the older I get and also don't like being nickel and dimed.

Get an iPhone 6 or 7 Plus and they have very good battery life unlike the Samsung Note series. Then you don't need that second battery.

I use a Samsung Tablet on planes. I just charge it from my portable battery that I carry with me.

 

[jkust]

Get an iPhone 6 or 7 Plus and they have very good battery life unlike the Samsung Note series. Then you don't need that second battery.

I use a Samsung Tablet on planes. I just charge it from my portable battery that I carry with me.

My son has the 6...the smaller screen version. His battery life is pretty poor unfortunately but he is a heavy user as most kids probably are. The Note 4's life is good for about the first year or so then the battery goes down hill. The power save mode does a decent job and the ultra power save when in a pinch is nothing short of amazing but of course you are limited to just a few functions. Whenever I travel, I swear the battery just drains a lot faster no matter the battery condition though.

 

[WIMUSKY]

My daughter has a Samsung Galaxy S6 edge plus. No complaints according to her. She's in college. She claims the battery last all day and then some. She charges it daily, however.

I'm still using a Samsung flip phone. Yep, had a bag phone prior to it which was excellent. We're in a sketchy service area so we need to keep our landline. We'll be looking into a smartphone next year mainly for traveling....

 

[gm280]

A lot of folks has suggested iphone 6s. And since I have no idea about any of them, I told my adult son about the recommendations. His reply was, "I will never buy anything from Apple". Everything has to be bought through Apple. All "apps", and even music has to be load via their propitiatory format. You have to use itunes and such. So that was why he didn't like iphones. I have ZERO knowledge about them and so I can make a honest decision.

Here is what I would like to be able to do with a new phone. Of course make calls, occasional text, music and even GPS abilities when on the road and boating. Search the web for parts from my shop, and things like that. So does that make any difference with suggestions?

 

[bruceb58]

My son has the 6...the smaller screen version. His battery life is pretty poor unfortunately but he is a heavy user as most kids probably are.

The 6 Plus has better battery life than the smaller 6

 

[bruceb58]

A lot of folks has suggested iphone 6s. And since I have no idea about any of them, I told my adult son about the recommendations. His reply was, "I will never buy anything from Apple". Everything has to be bought through Apple. All "apps", and even music has to be load via their propitiatory format. You have to use itunes and such. So that was why he didn't like iphones. I have ZERO knowledge about them and so I can make a honest decision.

Guess what...for Android you have to go through the Google PlayStore so there is no difference. As far as music goes, it's true, you have to load up the music through iTunes but you can still load up all your own MP3s that you own. You just have to do it through iTunes and it's my only real gripe about Apple is the music.

There are pros and cons to both formats but sometimes you hear the team-Appple and team-Android comments like your son makes.

 

[gm280]

Guess what...for Android you have to go through the Google PlayStore so there is no difference. As far as music goes, it's true, you have to load up the music through iTunes but you can still load up all your own MP3s that you own. You just have to do it through iTunes and it's my only real gripe about Apple is the music.

There are pros and cons to both formats but sometimes you hear the team-Appple and team-Android comments like your son makes.

That is odd. I would have figured out that by now somebody would have written a conversion program so typical mp3 could be run through a program to reformat them to iphone format to load from your computer to the iphone without going through Apple itunes.

How about typical apps for the iphone? Do you have to get them through Apple as well?

 

[BWR1953]

...Here is what I would like to be able to do with a new phone. Of course make calls, occasional text, music and even GPS abilities when on the road and boating. Search the web for parts from my shop, and things like that. So does that make any difference with suggestions?

Okay, I'll "chime" in here. :lol:

I bought my smart phone in February 2015. I'm now in the market for a replacement. I have a Nokia 635 Windows phone and I recommend against purchasing any Windows based phone. Compared to Apple and Android, there are far fewer apps available. I can't find a non-road based GPS app for it at all. The onboard HereDrivePlus GPS road app is outstanding though!

And there are more issues, like timers that alarm at the wrong time. And the phone loses the correct time sometimes and lately has stopped sounding any alerts at all. That includes text messages, timer, calendar and others. I've had to reboot it after discovering such errors and it sometimes still won't correct itself!

All that being said, I'm far happier with my smart phone than I ever was with my old flip phone. The capabilities of having a personal computer in my pocket just blows away the basic communication function of a flip phone. Shortly after getting the phone I was sitting on a riverbank, listening to music on the phone and fishing and realized that sitting on a stump sucked. So I got online and placed an order for fishing chairs. And some fishing lures. And started cruising craigslist looking for boats! All while texting with my family/friends and taking photos and sending them pix of where we were and what we were catching.

A smart phone is a Command & Control Center in your pocket.

My next phone must have a flash for the camera and a "selfie" cam as well. My Nokia doesn't have a selfie cam. I don't care about selfies myself but my wife loves 'em. :lol:

 

[bruceb58]

That is odd. I would have figured out that by now somebody would have written a conversion program so typical mp3 could be run through a program to reformat them to iphone format to load from your computer to the iphone without going through Apple itunes.

How about typical apps for the iphone? Do you have to get them through Apple as well?

You still use your MP3s. You just set them up in libraries in iTunes and load them up that way.

The Apps are loaded through Apple as well but like I said, it is no different with Android phones.

To me, the apps/music issue is a minor difference between the phones.

To me there are other pros and cons between the two types of phones that I would make my desiscion on. For example. I wish Apple had wireless charging. I have wireless chargers in 3 places at my house and one at work. I won't buy an iPhone until they have wireless charging. Everyone is different though. You may not even care about that feature.

 

[GaryKwana]

My requirements for a phone was a removable / replaceable battery and the ability to see the phone in daylight. At the time, I picked up an LG G4. Now the G5 is out

I bought recently LG4
Why? relation price / quality

 

[64osby]

We have Sprint, 4 phones, 10gigs total for $154/month. One Iphone 6, one Samsung 6S, two HTC One M-8's.

I have an HTC and use it all day long for work, emails, texts, calls and searching the web. Lots of pics for documentation. Battery usually does fine unless I'm in a metal building or using the flashlight too much.

I don't like the Apple products personally. Very happy using android apps.

My HTC cost $1 without a contract when Sprint changed there system and the old phone would not work with the "new" LTE.

I have always purchased all phones used from different sources. Never paid more then $200 for any phone. I also always get an Otter box Defender. I am tough on phones, but haven't lost one since using the Otter box cases.

The Samsung was rooted, Had to reset it to get it working on our service. Used one click root. Worked great.

 

[gm280]

Odd I thought I was closing in on a phone and after reading and doing a little more searching, I am basically back at square one. :facepalm:

I guess I need to read a lot more and educate myself on the differences and then make a better decision. I hate buying things without a basic understanding about them.