A custom ROM usually speeds up an Android phone. YMMV and it is possible to really brick the phone so be careful. It’s not hard, just don’t skip steps. I used to love Cyanongenmod, but the last couple of ROMs have been running heavy. Since I’m keeping mine for a while, I might try a different one.
The Droid 4 won out for two reasons. The slide out keyboard means that my view of the screen will not be obscured by the virtual keyboard or by my own fingers, and it has the Groilla Glass for the touchscreen. The Photon Q was very similar in most specs, but I’ve seen how easily phone screens can get scratched even when using the approved stylus, and neither Sprint nor Motorola’s page on that phone listed anything for the display other than physical size.
Oh, naturally this would happen. I select the phone and my manager doesn’t approve it. Instead, everyone in my department gets a “you are getting a new phone but it’s only a phone and here’s the one model to select” message.
I can say that Time Warner went from Sprint Crackberrys to Verizon iPhones last year and have been very happy with the integration. They had so many problems with the Blackberrys the last two years before that that I think a Samsung flip phone would have been a welcome change.
I think we are going to finally bite the bullet and get new phones. Verizon is offering $100 per trade-in (ours are actually worth $5 each) and no activation fees, which will end up saving us around $300 when all is said and done. I’m thinking we will end up with the Droid Maxx… I just have had too many people getting angry at their Samsungs lately to feel confident… And my Motorolas always last for years…
I’ve always been happy with Motorolas, too - and I have a Droid RAZR MAXX right now.
Normal day it drops battery by 20%. Heaviest days use ever was 30%.
I got it so I could be anywhere and still take my on-call duties, including hot spotting my laptop, Bluetoothing a customer call, and not worry about running out of juice.
I’m still contemplating picking up a Droid MAXX on month-2-month and then cancelling it and putting it on my unlimited plan. Cheaper than buying it out right.
We broke down at got the MAXX this weekend. They are pretty nice. I’m sure I haven’t found all of the features yet, but it’s fast and smooth and the battery is lasting forever. And they were free, so that helped…
Of all the features I thought I would be looking for in a cell phone, I never thought I’d have to factor in what material the case is made out of. The cell phones we were issued have a smooth plastic cover which makes it near-impossible to grab ahold of it at the top to pull it out of the carrying case. Apparently LG hasn’t discovered that you need to put some texture on your products so your fingers have something to grip against. Good thing I kept the carrying case from the Blackberry. There will still be room once I add the snap-on rubberized cover so the thing won’t keep slipping out of my fingers when it goes off 50 times a day.
Yeah, the no-cost-to-sign Samsung Intensity II phones my wife and I got (before the company footed the bill for the MAXX) are metallic, and slippery as bars of wet soap.
We found some aftermarket silicone wrappers, but with a slideout keyboard, they only lasted so long.
My wife’s LG one leaps out of your hand. I’ve never dropped the damn thing, I swear I throw it every time.
Accidentally throwing an LG phone should be an olympic event.
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I just got the new HTC One yesterday. It’s pretty spiffy. One thing I liked was the fact that it let me transfer stuff from my old phone, like my contacts. There was no transferring of the SIM card.
I stayed up way too late last night configuring the thing, though.
Edit: My only gripe is the size of it. I have small hands, and all of the newer smart phones are just huge.
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Chrome mobile is lame. You can’t sort bookmarks? I can’t think of another browser that won’t let you do that.
Okay. Whatever you do, do not buy an LG Revere 2 or allow anyone you know to buy one. It doesn’t even have the most basic of multi-tasking. And by that, I mean that if it is in the middle of dialing a phone number from your contact list where you have inserted pauses and numbers to get you through an automated phone system, it will stop dialing the number if it’s interrupted.
The interruption can be an alert that you have voice mail, or that you have a text message or one of those ads that Verizon insists on pushing out to the phone at random times. The phone will not continue dialing the number until you clear out those notifications. Once you do, then it continues dialing, but the phone menu you’re trying to automatically navigate through will have gone past the point you want it to by the time you get rid of those stupid messages.
What are your options if you get another call while you’re on the phone with someone else? Ignore and send the second person a text message. But you can’t customize the text messages, so there’s no option for sending them, “I’m on the phone and I’ll call you back shortly”.
I did learn that the “keep beeping at you to remind you about the other phone call you’ve told it to ignore” seems to be coming from the Motorola H730 headset I have since I’m using the same one with the new phone. So I can no longer blame Research in Motion for annoying me with that for the past several years.
Forget about trying to have a custom ringtone. You can’t save an MP3 file to the phone and trying to record one through the microphone causes the volume to cut in and out. But Verizon will be happy to sell you a ringtone.
As annoying as it was, I miss the Blackberry. At the very least, it had a map program on it so I could get directions. I have actually had to start carrying a paper map with me again when I drive. Never bought a GPS because I had the Blackberry.
When we have the next management change, I’m going to petition for a smartphone if the new tablets we’ve been promised don’t live up to their hype.
Got the S3 mini eventually.
Good little phone. A definite plus is the 50Gb dropbox account included with it, busy filling it up with tools and utility programs. And photos of the ooklets too.
Negative point is battery life. If somebody can produce a nuclear battery with a lifespan of 2years at maximum power consumption, I’ll go for one. Camera quality is very good.
Nokia 5230 still is going strong btw.
This problem has been with the phone since I got it, but I didn’t feel like griping about it right now. That Revere 2 has a really poor design when it comes to handling text messages. When one comes in, it gives you the prompt to view it. But when you do, it only shows you about half of the message. You have to exit out of it, go into the main Inbox and pull the message back up before it will show you everything.
Work - HTC One (M7) - rarely used because work makes us carry one and I never really need it other than for mail on the go.
Personal - Moto G - because I am a cheap bastard at it was only $25 with Cricket Wireless and for the money it was the best they had, bang for the buck. I like it enough I bought an unlocked “global” one for the spousal unit @ $150
If I have to get another work phone I will get the cheapest I can because it is a waste for me to carry it.
I grabbed a Nexus 6 coming up on 2 months ago. I’m grandfathered into an unlimited data plan so off-contract for me. Not cheap, but it has almost no carrier crapware on it, performs very well, excellent camera and does pretty good on battery. Plus it’s got the new quick charger so 15 minutes on it gives me about 6 hours of use. Fully charges in about 45 minutes. It’s rather large though.That’s my only complaint with it. Feels good in your hands (note… HANDS) but not so great in a pocket.
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In 9 months’ time it’s upgrade time for me.
Current phone is a Samsung S3 mini (S-GT i8200)
Thinking of migrating away from Samsung, they’re not the same they once were. Also, crapware.
I’m starting the hunt for a new phone early so that I can compare, decide, research and many other things besides. Don’t want to land in a pitfall as I did with the S3 mini.
I saw a bit a couple days ago that there was some security issue with Samsung’s keyboard, for the Galaxy, I think.
It was mind boggling that a keyboard could have a flaw that allows strangers to hack the phone.