crazzy88ss Posted December 31, 2016 Share Posted December 31, 2016 (edited) After 5+ years of iPhones, I'm sick and tired of what Apple is producing and the prices they charge; heading over to an android device now. However, I know nothing about the current phones and haven't really found any good comparison websites. I'm running around in circles trying to figure out what is best for me. What I'm looking for: 64gb internal storage or microSD Somebody has made a good external battery case for it (like a Mophie case) 4.5-5" screen, but I'm flexible HEADPHONE JACK Nice To Have/Optional: Removable battery ATT or Verizon (I haven't decided what service I'm going with yet) Great camera (which I define as on par with the two year old iPhone 6) 2+GB ram Any suggestions? Or even just point me to your favorite website that does good device comparisons. thanks! Edited December 31, 2016 by crazzy88ss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Overlord Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 Samsung, LG and HTC have some nice devices available, all capable of modern day tasks. It really depends on your budget. Camera, you're 'sotl' on android, Almost ALL of them save images at 72ppi, If a camera is a dealbreaker, and the only factor you care about, the humble, lumia 1020 is still one hell of a contender in that department alone Victor Rambo and +Raze 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGHammer Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 If you are looking at non-iDevices and want to avoid being tied down, look at non-new former flagship phones (Samsung, LG, Moto) that have solid community ROM/firmware support (Marshmallow and/or Nougat). The bigger thing is that you want to avoid any device with constrained storage. The biggest surprise THERE is the original Samsung Galaxy Nexus - despite the lack of microSD support, constrained it isn't - it has more storage space than my tablet (which HAS microSD support); it also supports Marshmallow (via CM13 and OmniROM among others) which my Lenovo A7-30F does NOT do (much to my anger and disgust) - which is because what Marshmallow and Nougat are capable of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yogurth Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 59 minutes ago, The Evil Overlord said: Samsung, LG and HTC have some nice devices available, all capable of modern day tasks. It really depends on your budget. Camera, you're 'sotl' on android, Almose ALL of them save images at 72ppi, If a camera is a dealbreaker, and the only factor you care about, the humble, lumia 1020 is still one hell of a contender in that department alone Many of newer Android phones offer RAW format for photo shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 1, 2017 Author Share Posted January 1, 2017 15 hours ago, The Evil Overlord said: Samsung, LG and HTC have some nice devices available, all capable of modern day tasks. It really depends on your budget. Camera, you're 'sotl' on android, Almose ALL of them save images at 72ppi, If a camera is a dealbreaker, and the only factor you care about, the humble, lumia 1020 is still one hell of a contender in that department alone Question on the camera... what's with all the articles I've seen for years that try and say XYZ Android has equal or better camera than the iPhone? Are those one offs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Overlord Posted January 1, 2017 Share Posted January 1, 2017 On 01/01/2017 at 6:19 PM, crazzy88ss said: Question on the camera... what's with all the articles I've seen for years that try and say XYZ Android has equal or better camera than the iPhone? Are those one offs? Depends on the user's point of view, I personally think sony's 20.1MP camera is a stinking pile of turd. My old Nokia N95 with a humble 5MP used to take better pictures. If it's really important, then I'd suggest asking a phone retailer to demonstrate what's available, and picking from what's there. (A good photographer would tell you to buy a dedicated camera anyway. This is also the reason I miss those old Symbian Nokias, they were almost as good as DSLR's for their era) RAW format's good, but with some phones, finding that setting is an absolute pita. And not to mention, on some models, you have to hold the phone steady for up to, and beyond 2 seconds, so the image could be saved. (Again, beaten by a decent camera, phone cams were good once) Victor Rambo and +Raze 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Hm ok. Anybody have any favorite websites to use for comparisons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayW Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 This guy on YouTube does some spectacular quality reviews and stuff on devices - in fact I think it was one of his reviews that finally convinced me to pick up the OnePlus 3 (which I have not had 1 issue with despite many peoples opinion). Link to a recent Smartphone "Awards" vid: Take a look through some other stuff on the channel though as he often compares devices to an iPhone. GSM Arena - http://www.gsmarena.com also does some handy comparison tables if you know which devices you're looking at. You could always find something you like on the YouTube reviews and then compare them to your current on GSMA. Welcome to the Android family! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 2, 2017 Author Share Posted January 2, 2017 Good tip for GSM Arena. Their searcher is exactly what I wanted: http://www.gsmarena.com/search.php3? Since it's called "GSM" Arena, I'm guessing none of the phones on this site will work on Verizon's CDMA network? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Evil Overlord Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 They usually state all the bands the phones will work on, gsmarena was just a catchy site name the trick is to know your provider's band, if for argument sake, your supplier uses band 20, then you only need to see if your desired phone supports it too.. and so on Victor Rambo and +Raze 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazzy88ss Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 (edited) A quick google found this for AT&T: --- "AT&T 4G HSPA and HSPA+ use 850Mhz(Band 5) and 1900Mhz(Band 2) bands but it all depends on area if they own a license. LTE uses Band 17(700Mhz), Band 5(850Mhz), Band 2(1900Mhz), Band 4(1700/2100Mhz) currently" --- So would Bands 2,4,5,17 be a fair answer? Edited January 5, 2017 by crazzy88ss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnelsoninjax Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I have the Asus Zenfone 2 Laser which is unlocked (will work on any carrier) it has a very impressive camera and it is selling for >$200 there's a newer version the ZenFone 3,from the website: 13 megapixels PixelMaster 3.0 camera with 1.12 µm pixel size f/2.0 aperture 2nd-gen ultra-fast 0.03s instant focus Color correction (RGB) sensor for the best white balance and natural-looking colors Real-time HDR Dual-LED real tone flash 32 sec long exposure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLien_0 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I just came from an iPhone to a Google Pixel and so far really enjoying the experience. I wanted stock android, google support and something that would get timely updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted January 9, 2017 Veteran Share Posted January 9, 2017 I would go for the google pixel as well. carry around an external battery 10,000 mah or better. ikits makes a nice small 10k mah battery. https://www.amazon.com/iKits-Qualcomm-Certified-10000mAh-Panasonic/dp/B01EMZBF6G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483978844&sr=8-3&keywords=ikits%2B3.0&th=1 get a spigen case so you don't break it. fwiw, iphone prices are just about on par with just about every other manufacturer. Their specs may not be on par though...but that really isn't fair to compare specs, the only way to compare is benchmarks as different processor and RAM combos between manufacturers produce different results. If apple gives me 2 gb of RAM and it performs the same as another manufacturer giving me 32gb of RAM, does that spec really matter? Sure more sounds and looks better, but in reality is it needed? If I had a million bananas but could only eat a dozen before they go rotten, what is the point of having the rest of the bananas (can't give them to your family or friends...eat them or have them go rotten are your only choices)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragontology Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 As a recent convert to iPhone (6s, as of April last year) after 6 years of Android... I don't really miss it. I can tell you that you'll miss the reliability and simplicity of iOS. However, what you'll gain in return is the power to mould your phone into exactly what you want. My comparison of the two platforms goes back to 2012 or so, but it still holds mostly true. That is, that iPhone offers the best out of box experience, and while Android is far less, its potential is much, much higher. Since then, Android has gotten almost as nice, or some might legitimately say nicer, out of the box. Android 5+ really is beautiful. And there is a lot you can do. With apps like Zooper (make your own widget), KLWP (make your own live wallpaper), and Lightning Launcher (customize literally everything), you don't even need root or a custom ROM (firmware) to do it. Though they add further options. If you want best camera, your best option after iPhone is either Google (HTC) Pixel or Samsung Galaxy S7 (or S7 Edge), though I'd wait for S8 if you go Samsung. The S7 (and S7 Edge) is roughly comparable in size to the iPhone 6/6s/7, maybe a little bigger, but the screen to face ratio is higher, so you get more screen (5.1" vs 4.7" on the iPhone). S8 will be 5.8" and 6.2" depending on the model, so those are going to be a bit bigger. Google hasn't supported memory cards since the first Nexus, the HTC Nexus One. Memory cards have never been great in Android and Marshmallow has made them worse. My wife's phone (Motorola Droid Turbo 2) constantly forgets it has a memory card at all, but a reboot sorts it. In any case, memory card read speeds are very low compared with the internal storage of the phone. Memory cards are great to have in theory, and maybe there's a good use case, but I'd just get a phone with big internal storage (my iPhone has 128GB) and use Google Photos to back up the pictures. Either right off the phone, or unload 'em via USB and let a computer handle the upload (for some reason, Google Photos chokes on uploading big videos on the phone, but not on the PC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Topham Hatt Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 An interesting topic that I am also looking at, although for the UK. My main concern is updates and iMessages. Recently renewed my contract with a shed-load of data, so having iMessages is much easier for sharing photos and such. Yes there's whatsapp but I don't want to move all my messaging to whatsapp. It'll be hassle to have to send photos through that app, while sending normal texts through the stock text app. But then it's not completely alien, and now Facebook has stripped their Messenger out of Facebook, then that is fast becoming a replacement for whatsapp anyway. Still hassle though. How reliable is Cyanogen? Their website currently says it's an error 503, over quota. I read recently that the main development team left and now there's all sorts of branches? Since being an iPhone user from a couple of years ago, I don't miss rooting and such, and I know many don't bother these days but I would never stick with stock whatever the phone came with (unless pure Google), as I'd want recent updates... I sort of get the feeling with most Android phones, unless you're vanilla Android, you shouldn't expect any updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted March 25, 2017 Veteran Share Posted March 25, 2017 Samsung updates frequently enough. A google pixel might be good. I don't jump on the latest band wagon for a week or so, I let the rest of the world get exposed to the bugs and wait to see if it really is a worth while upgrade as it seems revision upgrades seem to kill battery life a little bit at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newinko Posted March 25, 2017 Share Posted March 25, 2017 (edited) The Huawei P10 is a very good contender. Fantastic camera (with good bokeh and gorgeous dedicated black & white if you're into that), reasonable price, 5" screen, and a decent Android skin that will make you feel at home coming from an iPhone. Other than the OnePlus 3T (which is also worth checking out), there simply isn't a better smartphone for the price right now. (It won't work on the Verizon network, though.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Topham Hatt Posted March 26, 2017 Share Posted March 26, 2017 Just checking but the OnePlus software isn't vanilla Android is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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