I wanted to try out an Android phone after only having iPhone (except for a few short dalliances with MSFT stuff). I want something that isn’t going to break my brain trying to figure stuff out that I knew how to do on my iPhone. I also want something inexpensive and sturdy. I’m on ATT, if that matters anymore.
I was looking at a Pixel 4 LX online. I was going to go to the store today at lunch and check them out. I know phones are all about subjective experience, but that’s cool. Does anyone have any helpful suggestions?
I used to believe the Pixel premium was worth it for an “iPhone-like” experience with Google extras when I got my Pixel 2. That isn’t the case and the 4 is a worse value than the 2 or 3.
The Samsung S10+ is the phone that made me finally leave Google Fi.
I can also vouch for the LG V35, which is a great phone if 64GB storage is sufficient and you don’t care about Android 10. Sadly I needed more storage, though I didn’t care about Android 10 until I got the Samsung.
iPhone --> Samsung Galaxy, I’ve heard, isn’t that hard of a jump. The Pixel line, though – as others have said – is really nice. My 2XL is still running strong, and I’m starting to look at the 3a XL as my next pick, since the 4 hasn’t been very well received.
I picked up an S10 after having a Moto X Pure for I don’t know, 4-5 years or something. I am happy with it so far. I also demand a memory card slot though so that left several options out in the cold.
Why is the Pixel 4 not being well received, I wonder? I suppose I could look through reviews, but it was the one they had in the ATT store and it didn’t look bad. ATT had some moronic full screen ad thing going so all I could do was basically hold it in my hand. It felt good!
I think it’s generally a “This isn’t enough of a step up from the 3 to justify the pretty high price” kind of situation. I haven’t seen anyone saying it’s a BAD phone, necessarily, but when you can get a 3 or 3a for much, much cheaper, that deliver almost the same performance, the 4 doesn’t look like a good purchase.
My current iPhone 5 has only 16 GB so I’m going to love the space upgrade no matter what I buy. I just found out that I don’t qualify for any kind of trade in deal at ATT (because my phone is worthless), so there is no cash incentive to buy Pixel. I’m sort of on a budget though, so that’s my only constraint.
Cheap! Hello? Now we’re talking. They didn’t have the 3 in the ATT store. I guess I have to buy direct from Google. I will have to look into the prices.
The other thing I have to consider is jumping out of the Apple pool of connected stuff. My whole family uses the Apple crap. I’ll be the one guy texting in green if I go Android. I also won’t be in their GPS pool, so they won’t be able to easily figure out where in the world I am anymore (unless we use a different app). Also, I wonder if I can use my Apple music subscription on an Android? I’ll probably can, but will have to do some really complex set up instruction first.
I don’t have experience with Apple Music on Android, specifically, but I know it can be tied into the Google Home, so I assume there’s a way to get it on the phone.
Life360 is a nice platform-independent GPS app.
The 3a is really a great value – solid phone for not a whole lot of money.
I have a Moto g7. It costs $100 and is 90% as good as a top-of-the-line phone like the most current Pixel or Samsung Galaxy models, except that the Moto has expandable storage, which IMO, is non-negotiable. Having 160GB in my pocket is way more important to me than having a slightly better camera or slightly faster processor. The g7 even comes in a Power model that packs 2-3 days of battery charge.
Are you locked to AT&T for some reason? My experience has been that the carriers often have substantialincentives on hardware for porting in a new line of service. The flagship deals usually require a trade-in, but there are options that will knock off a few hundred dollars from the phone price without one too.
Failing that, you could try contacting AT&T’s customer support, tell them you’re planning to switch to another carrier, and see if they’ll give you one of their “new line” promotional deals.
Anyway, if I were buying an Android phone at the moment, I’d probably go for a OnePlus 7, which looks to combine high specs, reasonable pricing, and no bloat. You’d have to order direct with no incentives though, since they don’t generally get promoted by the carriers.
Keep in mind that some phone memory on Android is reserved for the operating system, which can take 5 to 15GB of space. So on a 32GB phone, a third of the memory is often unusable.
I really like my Pixel 3a (or whatever the cheapest entry in the 3 series is called), mostly due to the camera and photo software. I use it on a Google Fi plan and don’t need a lot of data, so my monthly bill stays pretty low.
