Mobile Phone Megathread

[Mortvvs]

Besides some games with shiny graphics and no gameplay, there aren't many apps that use multicore-cpus to a considerable degree (unless you like to run benchmarks and compare e-peens). App developers have to cover a wide variety of devices and specifications, so most of the processing power is wasted.
Good luck finding a useful solution to recover your stolen phone, because anything software related simply won't work and can be disabled within minutes, especially when it's an android device. In Germany some providers offer a phone insurance, but i'm not sure if that covers theft.

[elmicker]

doesn't really matter either way, the cores are gated. if they're not being used they get turned off.

[spm1138]

I'd add k9 email client to the list of good android software. Unless the built in email client got hugely better. Also swift key keyboard is really nice.

[Apoplexy]

On topic of guarding your phone, what is the best way to get some good protection on it in case you lose/get it stolen? At the moment I have nothing installed on my phone to protect it in case it goes missing so I'm thinking about getting some apps for it. However most apps for security seem to cost money so I'm not keen on buying something without being able to try it out and see if works the way I want it to. I'm guessing some kind of remote control and or tracking is what I'm looking for.

Sounds like the avast! Mobile Security app might work for you: https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...mobilesecurity

Not tried it yet though and it looks like you have to be willing to root your phone to use all of the most useful features, like surviving hard resets and disabling the USB port.

[Itiken]

Ordered my S3 the other day as this Wildfire S is really creaking now after only 1 year of use.
It's going to cost me a bit to buy my old contract out, but fuck it.
I want Shiny.
NOW
(in blue so waiting a few weeks)

[Lana Torrin]

So speaking of phone processors..

The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 @ 1.5 GHz.. I know its new and has had shipping problems.. But what phones currently use it and how does it run?

[Navigator Six]

So speaking of phone processors..

The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 @ 1.5 GHz.. I know its new and has had shipping problems.. But what phones currently use it and how does it run?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdra...#Snapdragon_S4

AnandTech thinks the S4 is essentially comparable to the alternative (Tegra 3): Tegra has better multithreading but S4 wins on single-threaded stuff and power efficiency (i.e. battery life).

edit: for battery life comparisons, check out these charts (the AT&T One X has the S4, while the international One X has the Tegra 3):

  Spoiler:

[Rudolf Miller]

Can anyone recommend a good media player paid or otherwise for my Galaxy Nexus? I just realized that Google expects me to use Play Music for that function, and god does it do that job terribly...

[Ted Breakers]

Can anyone recommend a good media player paid or otherwise for my Galaxy Nexus? I just realized that Google expects me to use Play Music for that function, and god does it do that job terribly...

I use Power Amp, its very nice.

[Lana Torrin]

So speaking of phone processors..

The Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 @ 1.5 GHz.. I know its new and has had shipping problems.. But what phones currently use it and how does it run?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snapdra...#Snapdragon_S4

AnandTech thinks the S4 is essentially comparable to the alternative (Tegra 3): Tegra has better multithreading but S4 wins on single-threaded stuff and power efficiency (i.e. battery life).

edit: for battery life comparisons, check out these charts (the AT&T One X has the S4, while the international One X has the Tegra 3):

  Spoiler:

Cheers. I did Google first but I'm as bad at that as I am at posting. I was looking for a tegra3 phone/tab/something but the s4 ones seen to be more common. So I guess I'm jumping back in the fuck NVIDIA bandwagon.

[Mangala Solaris]

Upgraded from a HTC Desire to the S3 today. No change in contract costs (my base rate is £15 a month and has been for years despite doing a fuck ton of business calls on that package), and I got it for free. Sometimes being with t-mobile for 8 years pays off.

Should be here in a day or so then I can waste days getting all the apps I want and arranging the screens "just so".

[Cool09]

A couple years ago I bought a Nexus One from google and have been using it on the Rogers network (one of the big 3 in Canada). Unfortunately their month-to-month plan sucks, its expensive, and I don't even have basic shit like call display (extra 8$ a month trololol) or image messenging. The other big carriers don't look much better, their prices are basically the same. So I need to sign a contract to get decent a service plan.

It's time for a new phone, and since I'm on month-to-month I can go with whatever carrier I want. First I'd like to give Rogers a chance by offering to sign a 1-2 year contract if they can get me a good deal on a phone and a good plan. Their advertised rates are completely unacceptable, if they don't throw me a bone then I leave. This way I can play the "I've been getting ripped off for 2 years" card. Am I more likely to get a better deal from someone over the phone or in person at a store?

[Lana Torrin]

A couple years ago I bought a Nexus One from google and have been using it on the Rogers network (one of the big 3 in Canada). Unfortunately their month-to-month plan sucks, its expensive, and I don't even have basic shit like call display (extra 8$ a month trololol) or image messenging. The other big carriers don't look much better, their prices are basically the same. So I need to sign a contract to get decent a service plan.

It's time for a new phone, and since I'm on month-to-month I can go with whatever carrier I want. First I'd like to give Rogers a chance by offering to sign a 1-2 year contract if they can get me a good deal on a phone and a good plan. Their advertised rates are completely unacceptable, if they don't throw me a bone then I leave. This way I can play the "I've been getting ripped off for 2 years" card. Am I more likely to get a better deal from someone over the phone or in person at a store?

Do you look convincing? It's harder to lie face to face with someone, so as a result the impact of being face to face is better. Ie, more empathy. Having said that if you are happy with them and just trying it on they will pick that up face to face (unless you are good) so phone is better.

For more classes on scamming people in eve place forward.....

[Cosmin]

I'm sticking with the s2, the s3 is way too bulky IMHO and the hardware upgrade doesn't make sense atm - same graphics accelerator and 2 more cores 300 Mhz higher (achievable on the s2 viaoverclocking should it be needed, however that's unlikely IMO).

The android devs need to sort out multicore app optimization before the hardware becomes really too advanced.

The upgrade from s1 to s3 might be considered though.

Ta pa ta pa tapa talk.

[Aramendel]

Hardware not really, but the software changes are interesting. Stuff like the phone not switching off when you look at it is very nice.
A nonissue if you plan to switch to a custom rom right away, of course.

[Cosmin]

Custom ROMs are the norm imho, as the producers tend to overload the phones with a lot of useless bloatware that sometimes dwarf the hardware progress. I know people with custom ICS on Galaxy S that works blazing fast, still no official upgrade from Samsung, with stupid reasons like...

It is because of their complex Touchwiz launcher which runs over the basic Android they are unable to update it.

Source.

Don't really know whether face recognition is ICS-only (or S3 only, for that matter, as S2 also got the ICS upgrade), but what I know for sure is that people complain how crap it is in low light (which is quite normal).

I'm sometimes amused by intensely marketed features that don't really work properly or only work properly in some situations - I used to use (still have it) an Alienware laptop that had a face recognition login feature. Well, everything fine and dandy, you got up from the desk it would lock itself and would unlock when you sat in front of it again. Next, as time went by, it bugged more and more, especially in low light and the final drop being intense memory leaks that made that software eat up as much as 1GB of RAM as shown in the Task manager. Uninstalled it and never looked back.

Yes, we're on the right track, but the new trends in game development ("here's your product, 49.99, now expect DLC in 1 month for 19.99 and another 10 during the next year for only 5.99 each"), software development ("yo it's bugged", "np, patching", "still bugged", "np patching" ad nauseam until you get X+X*3/4MB of patches that adress anything but the main problem, where X is the size of your program) and hardware development (new products that come out so fast and are often unimpressive to say the least in the new advantages they offer) make for a grim perspective. Remember when one would switch from a Pentium Pro to a Pentium II or from 16 to 32MB RAM? Huge performance increase that was noticeably there. Now if Galaxy S would've received an official ICS optimized upgrade I'm sure the S3 upgrade would've been pointless for those users.

And here you have to hand it to Apple, their iOS latest upgrade for the 4S works flawlessly on the 3GS. It's funny how the perspective changed, as Apple embraced among the first the idea that the hardware is what brings the most money, they still offer support for their obsolete offspring. They do ruin this impression by doing other stuffs which I won't go into though.

[Aramendel]

Don't really know whether face recognition is ICS-only (or S3 only, for that matter, as S2 also got the ICS upgrade), but what I know for sure is that people complain how crap it is in low light (which is quite normal).

I am not talking about face unlock (which is a general ICS feature). Nor really about face recognition.

I am talking about the phone noting if *anyones* face is looking at it and, if yes, it not turning the screen off. Because a person is right now reading something or waiting for a answer-IM or SMS, etc. and even though he/she does no input he/she does not want the screen to time out. This is a S3 only feature (although it might get ported to roms) and sounds really handy. It should also be far less error prone than real face recognition because checking if a face is in view of the camera is something rather less complex than checking if a *specific* face is in view of it.

The S3 has quite a few of such small perks. The general consents of the reviews I've read is that, hell freezing over, Touchwiz actually *improved* a phone for a change. Mostly not with features you try out once and then switch off (like the "S-Voice" which didn't really impress) but small things which save you a tap or two in common actions and generally make handling the phone more fluid. There were also comments about the very welcome lack of bloatware.

So a focus on only the hardware cause one would put a custom rom on anyway isn't the right viewpoint here IMO. The S3 isn't the S1. Things change.

[Kalil]

So Megathread is larger than I want to read through. A friend is going to pick me up a smartphone on the way back from R+R, it will be my first and I need it factory unlocked. He can get me the following, Ive got a window of a couple of hours to change my mind but am currently thinking in order or preference:

Motorola Droid Razor Maxx $600
Galaxy Nexus $510
Galaxy S II $470

Am I making some awful mistake that I dont know about because of my noobiness? I have access to wifi but no 3G. Edge is really shitty out here. I want it to play around on games, be a basic organiser for my life, play music and maybe watch movies. I read a few reviews including the CNET reviews this morning. FHC please, lend me your wisdom.

Also if it makes any difference to the advice:

Looking likely to sneak through in time for Motorola's Q2 deadline, Verizon has published support documents covering an Ice Cream Sandwich update for both the Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR Maxx. This preamble is typically followed by an update just days later and features the same build number that leaked out earlier this week. The refresh adds a four-way lockscreen shortcut, refreshed notifications, global roaming, a smart actions app update and plenty more Android 4.0 holo design riffs. Hit up the source for the documents and a handful of video tours.

[Rudolf Miller]

So Megathread is larger than I want to read through. A friend is going to pick me up a smartphone on the way back from R+R, it will be my first and I need it factory unlocked. He can get me the following, Ive got a window of a couple of hours to change my mind but am currently thinking in order or preference:

Motorola Droid Razor Maxx $600
Galaxy Nexus $510
Galaxy S II $470

Am I making some awful mistake that I dont know about because of my noobiness? I have access to wifi but no 3G. Edge is really shitty out here. I want it to play around on games, be a basic organiser for my life, play music and maybe watch movies. I read a few reviews including the CNET reviews this morning. FHC please, lend me your wisdom.

Also if it makes any difference to the advice:

Looking likely to sneak through in time for Motorola's Q2 deadline, Verizon has published support documents covering an Ice Cream Sandwich update for both the Droid RAZR and Droid RAZR Maxx. This preamble is typically followed by an update just days later and features the same build number that leaked out earlier this week. The refresh adds a four-way lockscreen shortcut, refreshed notifications, global roaming, a smart actions app update and plenty more Android 4.0 holo design riffs. Hit up the source for the documents and a handful of video tours.

Take it from someone who's had two very disappointing motorola phones. MotoBLUR (their UI overlay) is the shittiest piece of software ever created by man. It takes features that are perfectly fine and breaks them for the sake of differentiation. As much as I tried, I could not make their overlay work efficiently or keep it from breaking. Way too many memory leaks, pointless features, pointless use of resources whenever the phone decides to use them. The only benefit of the MAXX is it has the biggest battery on the market.

If I had to recommend one, it would be the Nexus. It is by far and away the best phone on the list simply because of Ice Cream Sandwich. I'm sure people have nice things to say about the SII as well, but I don't have experience with which to comment.

[Aramendel]

It also has the best screen and will get Jelly Bean sometime this year. Nexus would be my pick as well.