Phones & apps discussion

[telstarbox]

I know there are a few gadget enthusiasts on here so I thought a thread for discussing phones, apps and other technology matters might be of interest, along the lines of the aviation thread.

Today Motorola have launched the new Moto G and Moto X phones, with a 21-megapixel camera on the X Style variant.

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/moto-x-style-play-will-change-how-we-buy-phones/

 

[507021]

I do quite like the look of the Moto X. I'm looking to change my phone in the next six to nine months (currently have a Samsung Galaxy S5 which I like) and I was thinking about getting an iPhone 6 - but I'm now giving the Moto X some serious consideration as well after reading that article

 

[Strathclyder]

If I could upgrade my phone anytime soon (STILL have a Blackberry Bold 9790 dating from all the way back in 2011. I can see the 'out-dated' comments coming thick and fast now), I'd either go for the Moto X or the S6 Edge. Have no idea if I'm due a upgrade of any kind on this contract, though (highly unlikely). Oh well...

 

[telstarbox]

One of the advantages of the Motos is the minimal additional software so you get Android as it was intended.

Strathclyder - I had a BlackBerry for a few years, loved it because it was easy to use and very hardwearing. Unfortunately the browser couldn't cope with most websites and as time went on, fewer app developers bothered with a BlackBerry version.

 

[AM9]

One of the advantages of the Motos is the minimal additional software so you get Android as it was intended.

Strathclyder - I had a BlackBerry for a few years, loved it because it was easy to use and very hardwearing. Unfortunately the browser couldn't cope with most websites and as time went on, fewer app developers bothered with a BlackBerry version.

I have an original Moto G 16GB which is quite snappy for a budget smartphone. As you say, it doesn't come laden with proprietary bloatware so it was easy to upgrade firstly from Android 4.1.1 to 4.4, then recently to 5.0.2. For me the main disadvantage is the 720p screen and the lack of MHL.
As far as a 24Mp camera is concerned, - that's just plain daft. The sensor is so small that most of the time the jpeg encoding will be busy integrating pixel output to get enough signal to keep the noise down. This will severely impair image quality. I suppose that there will be those who would buy it because it has lots of 'megapixels', possibly without even knowing what they are!

 

[jon0844]

Guess where I was today...?

http://jmcomms.com/2015/07/28/motor...ones-take-the-moto-g-and-x-to-the-next-level/

 

[GaryMcEwan]

And Motorola have now launched Moto Maker where you can design your own Moto handset.

But personally I'm looking forward to the OnePlus 2 launch and praying to high heavens I get an invite for it...

 

[Kite159]

I will probably get the Moto G in the next few months as my current phone (Nexus 4) has a semi-dodgy side power button. The original Moto G blew a lot of the competition out of the water

 

[jon0844]

The thing with the Moto G (even the very first model from September 2013) is that with essentially vanilla Android, with no heavy customisation or bloatware, the phone has always been nimble.

Having added 2GB of RAM now, an even faster CPU, plus a Sony 13-megapixel image sensor, you can really begin to wonder what you're getting extra when paying £500-600 instead of £160-200 (8GB/16GB model, each with a memory card slot that will happily take a 32, 64, 128 or 200GB card).

Sure, the LG G4 and Galaxy S6 have better cameras, but for someone taking photos to share? 13MP is ample, as long as it can work in all lighting conditions. And a dual-tone LED flash is a boon for getting the light balance correct.

I have a load of phones at my disposal, but I've always respected the Moto G and recommended it to loads of people. Often people buy something more expensive and powerful because they simply don't believe the Moto G can possibly be any good. They're convinced it will lag, yet in so many tests a vanilla Android device will usually have a smoother user interface than any customised stuff from Samsung, LG or HTC.

TouchWiz on Samsung phones seems to cause untold problems. You have an eight core phone, and it stutters when doing simple things!

 

[Domh245]

I've had my first gen Moto G since December 13, an it has been very good. Yes, the photos aren't brilliant, but if you are prepared to put up with slightly longer shutter times, HDR will make it alot better. Yes, there have been times when its run out of space and I've had to delete some things to do things such as accessing emails. Yes, the phone occasionally will spontaneously discharge, and yes, it does sometimes just refuse to access the internet (but going into aeroplane mode and back usually fixes it).

But I wouldn't change it! It is withstood a fair amount of abuse (which is where some of the problems have come from) but considering that it was only £50 up front, and then £9.99 a month for 24 months (with 100mins, 100 texts, unlimited internet - t-Mobile).

I still remember being in the shop testing out some handsets, a cheap LG, and a cheap samsung, and then testing the moto and being amazed by how fluidly the screen scrolled compared to the other 2 (and the better specs!)

 

[jon0844]

The first Moto G was of course limited by having no memory card slot, and only a 5-megapixel camera (it then increased to 8-megapixels and now 13-megapixels) and with a memory card slot, you're now virtually unlimited in what you can store.

It's not perfect, as some apps won't install everything (or anything) to an SD card, but developers are getting better. And of course you can store photos, videos and other content on the card.

Cheap phones used to mean cheap, nasty and slow. The Moto G was a real game changer and it's gradually improved in many ways ever since. Today's new one was the biggest jump yet, as it finally moves from Snapdragon 400 to 410, supports faster 3G data (as well as 4G which I believe remains the same at 150/50Mbps), has the better camera and waterproofing - perhaps the only phone in this segment of the market to offer such a feature.

Motorola will also keep updating the OS quickly, unlike LG and Samsung etc. It comes now with 5.1.1 and will probably be almost as quick as the Google Nexus phones to receive Android M.

(BTW, I am not on commission for Motorola, honest!)

 

[hassaanhc]

The thing with the Moto G (even the very first model from September 2013) is that with essentially vanilla Android, with no heavy customisation or bloatware, the phone has always been nimble.

Having added 2GB of RAM now, an even faster CPU, plus a Sony 13-megapixel image sensor, you can really begin to wonder what you're getting extra when paying £500-600 instead of £160-200 (8GB/16GB model, each with a memory card slot that will happily take a 32, 64, 128 or 200GB card).

Sure, the LG G4 and Galaxy S6 have better cameras, but for someone taking photos to share? 13MP is ample, as long as it can work in all lighting conditions. And a dual-tone LED flash is a boon for getting the light balance correct.

I have a load of phones at my disposal, but I've always respected the Moto G and recommended it to loads of people. Often people buy something more expensive and powerful because they simply don't believe the Moto G can possibly be any good. They're convinced it will lag, yet in so many tests a vanilla Android device will usually have a smoother user interface than any customised stuff from Samsung, LG or HTC.

TouchWiz on Samsung phones seems to cause untold problems. You have an eight core phone, and it stutters when doing simple things!

This is what I've wondered about too . People probably have a lot of money to burn, I certainly couldn't justify spending more than £300 on a phone .

I've had a Samsung S3 for a couple of years now, and it has always been slow, even with power saving mode switched off. It is bad enough right after being reset, but after several months it can make you want to chuck it out of the window . And the newer the Android version, the worse it is. For ages I had Cyanogenmod on mine which was much faster, but I got tired of it.
My dad got a S3 about 18 months ago and he noticed it being slow as well, but I told him all Samsung phones are like that, which surprised him as they're generally well regarded.

I also have a Samsung Note 8.0 tablet, which my uni gave me less than a year ago, and it has also been having problems. Every few minutes it gives an overheating notification with light use and sometimes closes all apps automatically The battery doesn't hold charge well either, also causing the screen to flicker.

I am looking to get a new phone in a few months and I think I'll have to investigate this Motorola. Was considering HTC Desire 810 previously.

 

[Domh245]

What is the battery like on it? I don't want to be charging it illegally from sockets on or about the railway!

2470mAh. About 500mAh more than my first gen model. They do claim 24 hour mixed-use life

 

[jon0844]

Too early to tell, but given it has a far more modest chipset (and a 720p display) I always found the battery to be very good, even when the battery capacity was smaller than now.

Screen on time is the ideal measurement these days, but it's going to be a few days (probably nearer a week) before I can give a good indication.

 

[DarloRich]

I have a windows phone - it is crap. Dont get one

 

[jon0844]

I've done loads of work with Nokia and Microsoft over the years to try and convince people Windows Phone isn't that bad.

But it is.

Actually, as phones they're fine. It's a very clean, fast, simple user interface. But there's sod all apps and games, and it looks and feels like an OS going nowhere. Now even Microsoft seems to be thinking that, and rumours they might just ditch the OS and go with Android doesn't seem as far fetched as it once was.

So far, Microsoft have ported most of their apps/services to Android (Bing, Cortana, OneDrive, Office etc). Arguably, many apps work better on Android.

 

[Aldaniti]

I bought an iPhone a few years ago. For a while it was great, the best piece of tech I'd ever bought. I was so impressed I bought a retina iPad, another complete joy to use. I swore I would never buy another brand of smartphone and that when my Microsoft PC expired, I would replace it with a shiny new iMac. I was so impressed, and became such a fan, that I started to get worried that my friends and colleagues might soon start to call me an Apple Fanboy.

Sadly, Apple then released iOS 8 which has caused me more problems than I can shake a stick at - and my plans to 'upgrade' to an iMac are now on hold.

Todays gadgets all of their strengths and weaknesses and I reckon the simple toss of a coin is likely to be of as much use as any analytical research into who or which is better than the other.

 

[jon0844]

I am not an iOS fan (too locked down and always seems to be one step behind Android) but I'm a true Apple fanboy when it comes to Mac.

I got the 5K iMac last year and it's amazing, but now I'm running OS 10.11 beta (I knew the risks), I'm having a range of problems. But even with release versions of the OS, I've had no end of Wi-Fi related issues and other problems in recent years.

Apple does seem to have lost the quality control that Apple once had under Steve Jobs. Perhaps the only bad thing before was MobileMe, and Steve pretty much sacked everyone involved on that and fixed most things for iCloud.

Now, it seems there's not the same level of management to keep on top of things and for the first time, Apple seems to be reacting to what others do in the industry rather than leading. Apple Pay is perhaps an exception, but the success of that is more down to how Apple negotiated with banks and stopped the operators/carriers getting a share (the primary reason mobile payment systems didn't take off before, not because the likes of Google didn't already have the technology).

 

[Aldaniti]

I am not an iOS fan (too locked down and always seems to be one step behind Android) but I'm a true Apple fanboy when it comes to Mac.

I got the 5K iMac last year and it's amazing, but now I'm running OS 10.11 beta (I knew the risks), I'm having a range of problems. But even with release versions of the OS, I've had no end of Wi-Fi related issues and other problems in recent years.

Apple does seem to have lost the quality control that Apple once had under Steve Jobs. Perhaps the only bad thing before was MobileMe, and Steve pretty much sacked everyone involved on that and fixed most things for iCloud.

Now, it seems there's not the same level of management to keep on top of things and for the first time, Apple seems to be reacting to what others do in the industry rather than leading. Apple Pay is perhaps an exception, but the success of that is more down to how Apple negotiated with banks and stopped the operators/carriers getting a share (the primary reason mobile payment systems didn't take off before, not because the likes of Google didn't already have the technology).

Yep, my thoughts entirely. I was waiting for the 21.5 retina iMac (the 27 is too large for my desk) and I might well still buy one, but iOS8 really has left a sour taste with me.

 

[telstarbox]

Any apps you would recommend?

I've found Google Keep useful as a sort of virtual notepad/to-do list, and Bonza is a fun crossword-style puzzle.