I have the 1More Triple Driver. They’re a level above the Xiaomi Hybrids double driver (according to reviews), but obviously nowhere near as cheap. Still pretty good value. But again, not a touch on a great set of bank-breaking Etymotics. :)
Thanks for the reply. I’m sure that those are quite nice, but dang, 100 bucks? I was hoping to spend less, hopefully under $50. :-)
Are they durable, though? That might make them ones I’d consider.
I haven’t had the 1Mores that long. They’re metal with braided cable, pretty solid. But usually it’s the connection around the 3.5mm plug that gives out first anyway so most of these things typically don’t last much past a year regardless! :P
Note 8 announcement date today. Looks pretty good though I saw the battery is actually smaller than the S8+. Maybe they’re just being cautious after the Note 7 fiasco.
I need to decide to repair my Nexus 6 for $175 or get a new phone now, though part of me would rather wait for Pixel XL. I’m not a big fan of Samsung phones but would probably get used to it?
Yeah, it is ugly. The Essential phone finally gets the looks right, but is Telus only in Canada and I don’t see myself spending $1,000 CAD plus tax on a phone off contract. Also I like big phones. What do you think of the S8+ Rei?
I can’t tell any difference on mobile. In fact, I’d dare say I worry the 1more metal can scratch my screen when I toss it in the bag with phone.
The 1 more has 3 buttons, the AKG has 1 button. It pauses music. Both work perfectly well for voice conversations. AKG actually fits my ears better, even thought 1more came with 5 different size tips.
What would you all do in my boat, which is, a broken Nexus 6 that I really liked, but my contract is up anyway and I have a good corporate plan that makes flagships acceptable in terms of price:
Unlock my old iPhone 5 for a couple months for $35, so that I can re-evaluate and get the Pixel 2 XL or possibly LG V30, or (most likely not but could be enticed) iPhone 8
Repair my Nexus 6 for $200 - but then I should really hold on to it for more than a month or two, maybe until January. But, by then the Pixel 2 should be more widely available. Option 1 would suck if I have to keep waiting and using my iPhone 5.
Buy the S8+ now or LG G6 now. I’m not thrilled with either of these options but I would likely lean S8+. I don’t like touchwiz, and I want dual cameras, but like the bigger screen of the S8+ and faster processor.
Other options or thoughts. What would you do if you found yourself phoneless, today?
The S8+ I got for a good deal and really like it. I would have balked at paying 800 or whatever for it but Samsung is shotgunning out deals, I guess to get their market share up? Buy one get one free, or out the door for 450-500, etc. Check slickdeals or whatever and if you see one go for it. If this phone were reviewed as if it costs the price people are actually getting it at, I think it’d be the clear best value.
My only real criticism is that the screen is probably prone to cracks after a fall since it sticks out, and the Bixby button thing which is easy enough to remap or disable but I shouldn’t have to install a third party app to do it. There are a couple of nice benefits to the S8 I didn’t realize. You can install system-wide ad-blocking programs without rooting the phone because of how Samsung handles permissions. And the Samsung Pay feature works with every credit card read, not just readers that support Android pay. It emulated a plain old magnetic strip. Pretty cool. The screen on the S8+ is amazing and the battery life so far is not quite Moto Z Play tier but I get 7+ hours of screen on time without doing any battery management or conservation, and that includes game time, etc. Oh I did install a black OLED theme – but mostly because it looks cool.
I’m curious to see what the iPhone 8 will hold in terms of AR or some other killer feature though and 35 dollars seems like it’s worth it just to not have pressure to make a purchase.
Yeah, I’d probably go with option 1 there as well.
I’m planning to upgrade my Note 5 soonish, but none of the options so far have struck me as slam dunks. Want to see what Google and Apple come up with before I commit to anything.
And yes, the S8+ is being pushed hard right now, with $300 off at several retailers making it basically the same price as stuff like the OnePlus 5. But the screen gives me pause, both because of the abovementioned issues with curved screens, and because the screen on my Note 5 looked great when I bought it but has dimmed a bit and has some burn-in from menu bars. I’d be willing to trade off a bit of that color vibrancy to have better reliability.
How much do you use the pen on your Note 5? To me it sounds like something I could use (who doesn’t take notes once in awhile and find a phone limiting) but I wonder if I’ll end up not using it.
Otherwise, thanks all, think I’ll go get the old iPhone 5 working for now. It’s not bad but after my Nexus 6 the screen is TINY. Hard to even type on it.
Bonus I’ll get to re-evaluate whether I can live with the weird IOS limitations and stupid default of Apple Maps.
Rarely. It makes a difference once in a while, but I can usually gesture-type as fast as I could write with it, so it’s not a big deal for notes. Nice for the occasional quick-and-dirty picture or diagram to show something, but definitely not a must-have for my next phone.
So, I have an HTC One M8. It works. The camera is profoundly underwhelming, and it’s a big sluggish, but functional. I would like a better camera and snappier performance, but my biggest gripe is its utility as an actual phone. When in the car it’s fine via Bluetooth, but trying to use it as a regular phone, with it held up to my ear results in me not being able to hear squat most of the time, especially in a noisy environment. I know I can get an earpiece, but I use the phone fairly rarely in this fashion but when I do, it’s often in a place like a supermarket or something and it’s hard to hear what my wife is asking me to get (and I’d prefer not to run around all the time with an earpiece on the off chance of getting a call).
Thing is, I can’t tell from most reviews how new phones actually sound to the naked ear, or how they work as, well, phones. I realize that for the vast majority of people this is pretty trivial, as the phone is much more a connected media device than anything else, but does anyone have either recommendations on new phones that actually sound good to the naked ear, or recommendations of places that review such arcane qualities?
I’m also partial to the style/shape of the Google and Motorola phones much more than the curvy swoopy shapes of the Samsungs (my wife has an S7 Edge that looks great but I don’t really like the feel). It seems though that anything other than the Samsungs get much less stellar reviews. My knowledge (and interest in) phones is pretty low, though, so I find most of the reviews fairly useless to me.
So, I guess I’m asking as well, what non-swoopy glass-y phones are out there that would be a solid upgrade from my HTC One M8, sound good as a phone, and have a good camera?