Let's talk phones!

[Aaron]

A thread dedicated to letting us know what phone you have!

Let us know the phone you're currently using on a daily basis.

Vote in the poll above AND post below a bit about your phone! Things you could include: a rating, likes/dislikes, recommendation to others in terms of buying the same model/brand etc.

Include as much or as little as you want! Completely up to you

If you're a bit more tech-savvy and want to provide specifications, go for it!

I must admit I have a reason for making this thread: I bought a Pixel 2 XL the other day after 3 years on a Samsung Galaxy S5 (rooted, replaced Touchwiz OS with LineageOS - continuation of Cyanogenmod). I received it in the mail today and it's very neat!

Essentially what i'm hoping for is that our community will post a variety of older and newer phones and this thread will also act as a review thread for phones on the market!

Have fun


----
My own:

Spoiler

After looking around for a smartphone the past month or so, I had narrowed my selection down to two: the OnePlus 5T and Google Pixel 2 XL. In the end, I chose the Pixel 2 XL given Australian support and the fact the SAR rating was far lower than the OnePlus 5T (I am conscious of these things... radiation iz bad guys!). Anyway, I ended up paying $150 less than the marked price on the Google Store as JB Hi Fi had a sale on. I also got a free Google Home Mini so that sweetened the deal a bit more.

If you're interested in specs: https://www.gsmarena.com/google_pixel_2_xl-8720.php

It's a really nice phone. If you have an interest in Android development and modding, you'd know that stock Android is by far the best option out there as it's unmodified. Most providers add their own UI/layer onto Android which in turn makes things look.. not so great (e.g. Samsung with Touchwiz).

Plus as it's a Google phone, they guarantee 3 years of updates (first), which means that you get to update to the latest version of Android as soon as Google releases it (not having to wait for a manufacturer like Samsung to do their bs and waste time).

For the last 3 years before I bought this Pixel, I was on a Samsung Galaxy S5. I hated Samsung's Touchwiz UI so decided to root my phone and replace the entire OS with Lineage. Rooting your phone and playing around with the internals is not illegal, however it voids your warranty so highly advise against it unless you know what you're doing.

Enjoy

[snowisawesome]

I have an apple iphone
rating: 8/10
likes: easiness to fit in pocket, light in weight, good camera, doesn't take too long to charge
dislikes: not much storage space, internet is slow sometimes
I've had it for about 4 years now, and it still works pretty well

[RuiAce]

The camera on my iPhone X is a fucking miracle.

[blasonduo]

Nokia Lumia 520

I got it because it was cheap and I really needed one before uni.

I like the simplicity of it, not difficult to use, however it uses the Microsoft store which limits certain apps. The initial layout is eh

[Calebark]

HTC ZTE Blade A110

The good thing is the price didn't even reach triple digits. It's also pretty durable -- not a single crack.

The bad thing is everything else. It's slow, and crashes if you have a few apps open at once. Turning it on takes forever, and then you get a backlog of any notifications from the past 24h, causing the phone to spizz for about 5 minutes.

[Aaron]

I had an Android before and iPhone is imo better

MrNeo I have great respect for you in general, but THIS IS SO WRONG. *crying in corner*

[fantasticbeasts3]

i have an iPhone 5! i got it in early 2015, so roughly 2.5 years after it was released. i love it, and i don't think i'll replace it unless it's totally broken down, where in that case, i'll probably upgrade to the iPhone 8+ (or whatever new phone Apple releases when my phone is totally stuffed). prior to my iPhone, i had a HTC and it was awful. it was slow, the battery ran out super fast, it overheated after a few minutes of use, couldn't take screenshots on snapchat...

anyway, my iPhone 5 is a little bit slow, as it's running iOS 10, but i reckon as long as the phone can call and text it's okay. the one thing that annoys me most is the camera, where the quality isn't crap, but it doesn't fare well when taking photos in darker places and there's this random dot that always pops up in my photos. a lot of the time it's way more convenient to take photos with my phone than taking my DSLR everywhere but i guess i'm grateful i have a phone. :-)

iPhone > android soz

[HasibA]

hate to say it too but went and copped an iphone 8 plus after nearly 8 years with android and frustrating update timings mixed with random bugs and differences between OEMs forced the decision to switch and despite the egregious price tag ive never been happier : P not worth the money, in temrs of value, but no other device exists catered to my wants so i guess ill settle : P
iOS apps seem to have like 300% more time dedicated to them and frankly its kinda ridiculous how little developers care about android and its ecosystem vs iOS guess thats what market share does to you lol

[sweetiepi]

Samsung Galaxy A3, been with Samsung for at least 3-4 years now, before that I was in the HTC camp.

The phone does the job it is intended too, but it isn't the best phone in the world.

I got this one halfway through year 12 (so 2016), and the main complaints with it are:
- the battery drains entirely too quickly, even when I'm not using it, I still have to carry my powerbank with me if I'm out.
- the quality of the camera isn't that flash.

(This is also my 8th phone since 2011- given that a few were either broken/fried or hand-me-downs/2G network only )

[Aaron]

- the battery drains entirely too quickly, even when I'm not using it

That could just be apps running in the background without your knowledge (it happens).

Alternatively, communications such as Bluetooth, NFC and WiFi drain the battery. Disable them if you don't need them. I know on my Samsung (this could be on my custom rom, worth looking into), there was an option to only enable WiFi when the phone was awake (e.g. screen on). Because they constantly search for a signal, it eats the battery.

Alternatively Alternatively, it could just be a crappy battery. Your phone has 1900 mAh battery which is quite.. small for a phone so that (in combination with others above) could be contributing to battery drain.

[zhen]

Had my Samsung Galaxy S3 since about late year 8. So, I’ve had it for about 4 years. It still calls, texts and goes on the internet just fine (well from the very rare occasions I use my phone to go on the internet). It’s a bit slow, but as long as I can call people, I’m fine cause I don’t use my phone for anything else. The bad thing was that the battery died (I think it was some time last year). But, instead of getting a brand new phone, I decided to just replace the battery. The battery life isn’t the best (before and after the replacement), but it lasts an entire day with a decent amount of charge left (probably cause I use it like only a few minutes a day). I’m overall content with my phone as it serves its purpose. I’ll probably stick with it until it finally stops working.

[K888]

Moto G4 Plus. Great phone considering its price. No gross bloat-y UI like you get with Samsung, just a few cool things that have been added by Lenovo.
Pretty great battery life, good storage, pretty durable, and a nice and big touch screen (admittedly perhaps a smidgeon too big, makes one-handed use difficult but I don't mind it).

Only thing is I've found the battery sometimes randomly drains. I seem to have stopped that problem by stopping using the turbo charger you're provided with, but it's annoying nonetheless. It also sometimes gets quite warm, but turning it off and on and giving it a few minutes of no use seems to sort that problem out

Tempted to go iPhone for my next phone because of the extra attention paid to developing iOS apps...like I just want a really nice photo in Snapchat, and I can't get that with Android. But I'll probably stick with Android just because it's more customisable, cheaper, and I like the range of apps on the Google Play Store.

[sweetiepi]

Alternatively, communications such as Bluetooth, NFC and WiFi drain the battery. Disable them if you don't need them. I know on my Samsung (this could be on my custom rom, worth looking into), there was an option to only enable WiFi when the phone was awake (e.g. screen on). Because they constantly search for a signal, it eats the battery.

Alternatively Alternatively, it could just be a crappy battery. Your phone has 1900 mAh battery which is quite.. small for a phone so that (in combination with others above) could be contributing to battery drain.

The 1900mAh battery clearly explains all my issues
I usually keep everything off, when I don't use/need it anyways
However, I was considering going for the custom rom to see if it helps.

(Lowkey keeping this thread bookmarked so I can come back when I get around to getting a new phone 😂I have other devices that need upgrading first)

[Aaron]

just a few cool things that have been added by Lenovo.

Good point, completely slipped my mind that Motorola was acquired by Lenovo. Have edited the Moto option to reflect

[exit]

I've been using an unlocked Telstra Buzz which is a modified  ZTE Blade Q Lux which was the most ghetto thing ever since it came with free Monster headphones which was worth more than the phone itself. Thus, I was literally PAID to use this phone, and after using a $5 unlock code from the internet, I wasn't forced to use Telstra. Hahahaha. I did use a Kogan Agora phone which was a rebranded BenQ phone for a while as a hand-me-down but I kept it with a power bank that shattered the screen RIP.

Even though spending hundreds upon hundreds on a phone seems quite stupid, I just bought an iPhone 6S Plus 64gb from eBay, which I'm currently waiting to arrive. Since this is my first 'high-end' phone I'm actually quite excited although there is nothing breakthrough about it - it still has the headphone jack!