Smartphones and Plans...

Discussion in 'Smartphones and GPS Navigation' started by xcel, Sep 4, 2014.

  1. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    As far as the S5 is concerned, I have only had two unplanned reboots since picking it up 5-months ago. With a barrage of app updates that came in about 2-months ago, I have not had a reboot since.

    Day light pics are in some cases better than the Canon 16 MP and 30X zoom Point and Shoot. Any zoom is junk but straight up shots are not bad at all!

    [​IMG]

    Night shots push the S5 beyond its capability. This pushes the Canon Point and shoot beyond in some cases as well. Looking for a solution including a DSLR with a long shutter exposure on a tripod but that is a huge hassle for as many car shots I take and upload on a weekly basis. Not sure what to do about that just yet. :(

    [​IMG]

    [fimg=left]http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Samsung_Galaxy_S5.jpg[/fimg]Samsung Galaxy S5

    The Moving jpgs from the camera to FB, twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Google+ has been almost seamless and with a solid 4G LTE connection, damn is it good! Once in a while with a poor 2G/3G connection, twitter uploads will fail.

    GPS picks up the location from deep within buildings. The S5 really has an excellent GPS chip in it.

    Apps? Everything works. Speed Graph is a little wonky but I need it for the steady state runs. If it hangs, I quit the app, restart the app and it is good to go.

    Battery life? This is where the S5 falls short for a power user. I can work the S5 hard for about 4-hours inside with brightness at about 35 percent (comfortable easy to read setting) but by then she's toast and needs a charge. From 3% or lower, you cannot take a pic. It really needs at a minimum of 3,500 mAh battery for power users.

    My previous Motorola RAZR MAXX HD would run a solid 8-hours + when pushed despite its camera being totally garbage and a lower resolution, less bright 4.7" screen.

    After using my sons LG G3 with the 5.5" screen for a little while, I might like it a bit better due to five items.
    • Larger and higher resolution 5.5" vs. S5s 5.2" display
    • Home, right and left buttons in the center on the back for better single hand operation
    • Standard built in Qi charging back vs the $35 add-on for the S5s OEM Qi back cover
    • Laser ranging camera focus feature
    • Front facing speaker(s)
    The LG G3 has a larger rated battery capacity but its higher resolution display probably leads to a shorter actual battery life. Not sure about the actual picture quality but expect a poorer output making a G3 a no go in the comparison.

    Wayne
     
    Last edited: Jan 25, 2015
  2. 08EscapeHybrid

    08EscapeHybrid Moderator

    Wayne, have you ever looked at HTC? I've been very happy with the HTC ONE M8 I picked up a few months ago. Seems to run quite a while on battery power with the screen at full brightness and Waze running. The other day I was running Waze and internet radio for about an hour before I noticed that I had forgot to plug it into the car charger. My old phone would only last about 20 mins on battery under that type of usage.
     
  3. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi Jay:

    My last HTC Thunderbolt was a complete disaster despite rave reviews from just about every smartphone site online at the time. Its Wi-Fi hotspot was a total mess. That was over 2-years ago however and the One M8 is probably much better given the technology updates over time. The One M8s 2,600 mAh battery is going to probably have slightly less life than the S5 and its 2,800 mAh unit with Samsung's mastery of low power consumption screens.

    Probably only the Note 4 and Nexus 6 make sense for battery life with their 3,220 mAh power packs. The 5.7 and 6" screens respectively are going to draw a lot however. The 3,000 mAh LG G3 may do the job but I suspect its hi res screen takes it to the woodshed. Power users using the LG G3 are reporting just average battery life.

    Wayne
     
  4. 08EscapeHybrid

    08EscapeHybrid Moderator

    Yeah, I only owned an LG phone once... for 24 hours. I had upgraded one of my Motorola phones to an LG model. I was used to my phone working virtually everywhere. At the time I lived in a basement apartment. The Motorola worked down there with no problems. The LG did not even find a signal down there. Even on the sidewalk out front, the LG could barely hold a call. I took the LG back to the store the next day and exchanged it for another Motorola.

    I've been buying HTC phones exclusively since I migrated to smartphones about 10 years ago. My dad owned a Samsung smartphone, but was unhappy with the call quality, and exchanged it for a Motorola smartphone after 2 weeks. I started buying Windows Mobile phones, and was very happy with them because I loved customizing my phones, and Windows Mobile was easy to hack. When Microsoft made the jump from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone, none of my apps were compatible. I was so disappointed with how Microsoft had handled the transition, with no consideration for the loyal Windows Mobile users that I had switched to Android. I've been using Android HTC phones ever since.
     
  5. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    The Google Lollipop 5.0 update for the Galaxy S5 on the T-Mobile network has gone out.

    [​IMG]

    My overwhelming positive review of the T-Mobile network for those living in Northern IL continues. I setup my mom's Galaxy S4 on the same and along with her 2.5GBs of Data, Unlimited talk and texts for $27.00/month all in - 5 members of of my family on my plan - she is receiving 250 MB of data, unlimited texts, and Wi-Fi calling all free from the Caribbean where they are now.

    Wayne
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2015
  6. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    Regarding Lollipop, the battery life/power management appears to be vastly improved. This S5 has been off charge for almost 18 hours and it is still at 87% with everything still turned on. I would be in the 50 to 60 percent range by now before yesterday.

    Wayne
     
  7. aca2983

    aca2983 Well-Known Member

    I agree that the battery life under Lollipop seems improved. I have had a Nexus 4 for 2.5 yrs now and while some other Lollipop features bugged me initially, the better life is better and it lasts longer throughout the day. I'm starting to think about what phone I would like next, but I really don't want a phone that is physically larger than what I have, and that might limit choices.
     
  8. 08EscapeHybrid

    08EscapeHybrid Moderator

    The Lollipop update is supposed to be available for my phone anytime now, I've been doing well on battery life, hopefully it will be even better after.
     
  9. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    Really happy with the service but I just received this notification for an update. Why would the T-Mobile “My Account” app need Camera and Mic Access?

    [​IMG]

    Wayne
     
  10. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney Super Moderator Staff Member

    Last edited: Mar 8, 2015
  11. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    Just purchased a Samsung 64 GB Class 10 - 48 MB/s - SDXC micro card for the Samsung Galaxy S5 for $26.99 shipped off Amazon. Will have ~ 75 GB of free storage space with the Galaxy S5 in few days...

    [​IMG]

    Wayne
     
    Last edited: Mar 16, 2015
  12. EdwinTheMagnificent

    EdwinTheMagnificent Legend In His Mind

    That's enormous, it would never fit into my phone !
     
  13. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi Edwin:

    The bigger the better. ;)

    Wayne
     
  14. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    Just installed the Samsung Galaxy S5 64 GB SD memory card.

    [​IMG]

    Total to date is $513.
    • $445 all-in for the new T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 last October
    • $25 for the Samsung OEM Qi charging back plate shipped at Christmas
    • $6 for the 8H/9H .5 mm glass screen protector
    • $10 for the Qi specific Galaxy S5 backed Diztronic case
    • $27 for the Samsung 64 GB SDXC 48 MB/sec memory
    Wayne
     
  15. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney Super Moderator Staff Member

    As I mentioned up-thread, late last year I switched to Republic Wireless.

    Republic Wireless has switched to pay-as-you-go at $15/GB (works by having plan data or buying data during month. Unused data refunded at end of billing cycle). It's 4G if your phone is capable and it's availlable. (Old 5GB plans are grandfathered until 7/31/2016). This really works well for me as I really don't need much data at all, but it's nice to have. The first month I had it (I participated in a lab that tested it) I used 1MB. The next month I used 19MB, as I used some data during a week's vacation in Pittsburgh, using Google Maps to help us use the city buses to get around.

    Last week Republic Wireless launched their Moto E Gen 2. $30 more expensive than the Gen 1, but more capable. Comes with Lollipop. I want to move my wife over to Republic in April 2016 when her existing contract on her old, basic plan runs out. It'll save a good chunk of money each month. Because she has lots of music I really wanted to get her the Moto E and use an SD card. Republic had sold out of the Gen 1, so I'd been waiting for the announcement on the Gen 2.

    Republic has also indicated with the shift to PAYG that they'll allow tethering, noting that it'd need Lollipop 5.1 to make it possible. It's not been made available yet, as they've only recently started a Lollipop soak test with 1,000 customers with Moto X Gen 2s . Republic has said they'll be upgrading the first gen Motos, to Lollipop with only their earliest phone missing out.
     
  16. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    Hi All:

    With Unlimited everything on my LG G4 on the AT&T network, I dropped my Samsung Galaxy's S5 plan from the 4.5 GB/mo with 10 GB of data stash back to the base 2.5 GB/month along with the other 4 phones on my T-Mobile account. $110 for all 5 plus tax of $22 for a total of $132. Trying to port my current number onto the LG G4 so I can move Marian to the Galaxy S5 on T-Mobile and she can dump the ripoff Verizon line.

    Wayne
     
  17. PaleMelanesian

    PaleMelanesian Beat the System Staff Member

    Yep. We're running 2 Republic phones at my house.

    Very interested in the tethering option. I hadn't noticed that tidbit along with the new plans. If it works that may be enough for me to cut ties with the cable company entirely - currently running internet only.
     
  18. xcel

    xcel PZEV, there's nothing like it :) Staff Member

    T-Mobile - 4 Lines - 10 GB ea. - $120.00/month

    T-Mobile - 4 Lines - 10 GB ea. - $120.00/month -- Includes unlimited talk and text and unlimited music streaming (Pandora) while on the T-Mobile network for free in the U.S.,plus calling to Mexico and Canada from the U.S. for free.

    [​IMG]
    Clickable Link​

    As mentioned above, I dropped my 4.5 GB with Data stash and now have all 5 lines at 2.5 GB for $110.00 + tax.

    Wayne
     
    Last edited: Jul 23, 2015
  19. ItsNotAboutTheMoney

    ItsNotAboutTheMoney Super Moderator Staff Member

    At $15/GB you'd need to be a very light Internet user. Unless you have WiFi opportunities at work or elsewhere.
     
  20. PaleMelanesian

    PaleMelanesian Beat the System Staff Member

    WiFi at home and at work. My typical usage is ~0.25 gb / mo actual cell data.

    Oh. But to replace my home usage it would be a LOT more.
     
    Last edited: Jul 25, 2015

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