Deciding between which Android phones is very difficult!

[riahc3]

Im kind of stuck (again) on which Android phone to get.

I watched MWC to see if anything was gonna be released that catches my eye and at my price range but (AFAIK) nothing.

My price range is maxed at 400 euros. The less the better. Also, I need a phone that has XDA development almost nonstop. I want to be able to modify the ROM whenever I want. If it doesnt have microSD, at LEAST 32GB. If it does, I guess I can squeeze by with 16GB. Besides that.....I dont really think I have much other needs.

My choices are:

OnePlus One - I was really going for this phone on Tuesday but just the horrible stories I keep hearing about customer support really push me back. Recently, I heard the story of someone waiting about 17 days since he started the issue to when they finally returned the phone to him. 17 complete days. The phone is cheap, powerful, and all that but if you have a problem...

Nexus 5 - Before the OnePlus One, I was in love with this phone. Awesome all arounder which can still hold its weight. I love that laziness factor of leaving my phone on the table and just charging it wirelessly. The 2GBs are standard with midrange phones but people tend to complain about its battery life. Im not sure if it is that bad or not. Plus, I am having trouble finding stock (I found a 32GB black for about 359.99 € which isnt bad all things considered)

I dont know which to get or if there are other options to look at. I almost desperate! If someone could help me out

 

[riahc3]

Not ONE suggestion??? Are you kidding?

 

[Commodus]

I'd honestly go with the Nexus 5 in your situation. Battery life notwithstanding, it's the definition of a blank slate for custom software.

 

[isekii]

i'd get the oneplus one. Has its quirks but its quirks outweigh the nexus 5 imo

 

[MrSquished]

Im kind of stuck (again) on which Android phone to get.

I watched MWC to see if anything was gonna be released that catches my eye and at my price range but (AFAIK) nothing.

My price range is maxed at 400 euros. The less the better. Also, I need a phone that has XDA development almost nonstop. I want to be able to modify the ROM whenever I want. If it doesnt have microSD, at LEAST 32GB. If it does, I guess I can squeeze by with 16GB. Besides that.....I dont really think I have much other needs.

My choices are:

OnePlus One - I was really going for this phone on Tuesday but just the horrible stories I keep hearing about customer support really push me back. Recently, I heard the story of someone waiting about 17 days since he started the issue to when they finally returned the phone to him. 17 complete days. The phone is cheap, powerful, and all that but if you have a problem...

Nexus 5 - Before the OnePlus One, I was in love with this phone. Awesome all arounder which can still hold its weight. I love that laziness factor of leaving my phone on the table and just charging it wirelessly. The 2GBs are standard with midrange phones but people tend to complain about its battery life. Im not sure if it is that bad or not. Plus, I am having trouble finding stock (I found a 32GB black for about 359.99 € which isnt bad all things considered)

I dont know which to get or if there are other options to look at. I almost desperate! If someone could help me out

i have a nexus 5 going in under warranty repair. should get back a refurb or new one which I could sell to you for far less than that number if you don't get a phone by then.

 

[jhu]

There are several options if you want non-stop xda support at that price range:

Nexus 4/5
LG G2
HTC One M7/M8

 

[riahc3]

i have a nexus 5 going in under warranty repair. should get back a refurb or new one which I could sell to you for far less than that number if you don't get a phone by then.

Are Nexus 5 the same all around the world or is there EU/NA/etc versions?

There are several options if you want non-stop xda support at that price range:

Nexus 4/5
LG G2
HTC One M7/M8

A Nexus 4? Not a good phone at the price range I stated.

 

[touchstone]

you constrain yourself with the xda requirement. why don't you wait a few weeks until the s6 and htc one m9 are out, and prices go down?

 

[sweenish]

Two week turnaround for service is actually not bad at all.

Of all the issues that phone and its company have, you probably picked the absolute worst example.

 

[riahc3]

you constrain yourself with the xda requirement. why don't you wait a few weeks until the s6 and htc one m9 are out, and prices go down?

Neither the S6 or the M9 are going to hit 400 euros in "a few weeks" so those are automatically discarded.

Two week turnaround for service is actually not bad at all.

Are you kidding? Previous phones Ive had at most a week, 2-3 days. Half a month is not acceptable.

Of all the issues that phone and its company have, you probably picked the absolute worst example.

Well, enlighten me then

 

[sweenish]

2 week turnaround is fine. It also typically means that you're getting your same phone back. You should also consider that you're probably sending your phone to China and back.

2-3 day turnaround is not your original phone. They sent you a blank refurb, and you're trusting that they will safely delete your personal data from the phone they still have.

It's fairly obvious that you've not had a lot of products serviced.

Yellow screen comes to mind as a far worse problem than a 2 week service turnaround. Or the whole invite system.

 

[mmntech]

I think the One's success kind of surprised OnePlus. It's a pretty small company. Still, 17 days to get a reply is unacceptable. They need to hire more customer service staff.

I still want the OPO. My only issue with it is the lack of a MicroSD slot. That's always been my big beef with the iPhone.

 

[sweenish]

I would agree that not getting a response in 17 days is horrible.

The wording made it sound like an actual service ticket turnaround.

 

[cronos]

The story mentioned by the OP is 17 days from when someone started opening a ticket until the person received his repaired phone. That's not bad at all.

 

[riahc3]

2-3 day turnaround is not your original phone. They sent you a blank refurb, and you're trusting that they will safely delete your personal data from the phone they still have.

It's fairly obvious that you've not had a lot of products serviced.

Yup, because getting a fully sealed is a refurb.

It's fairly obvious you have been duped a lot of times.

Yellow screen comes to mind as a far worse problem than a 2 week service turnaround. Or the whole invite system.

There is no yellow screen issue at all. That has been debunked.
The whole invite system? Wow, welcome to 2014. You can get one now every Tuesday.

The story mentioned by the OP is 17 days from when someone started opening a ticket until the person received his repaired phone. That's not bad at all.

You are saying that day 1 "I have a issue and I want to RMA the phone" till day 17 receiving the new phone is not bad at all?

Man, some people settle for anything. Like I mentioned, when I have had to service a phone, most 2 or 3 days....Once, I had to wait for a week but that was a special case.

 

[riahc3]

Alternatives Ive been told as well are the LG G3 (€427.20) and the Sony Xperia Z2 (€359.00).

Z2 looks nice G3 too expensive for what I get.

Anything about these two over the others?

 

[cronos]

You are saying that day 1 "I have a issue and I want to RMA the phone" till day 17 receiving the new phone is not bad at all?

Man, some people settle for anything. Like I mentioned, when I have had to service a phone, most 2 or 3 days....Once, I had to wait for a week but that was a special case.

You didn't specify what happened in between. A lot of times you need to get escalated several levels until you get an RMA approved. Unless it's a globally known issue with the device that they simply just gave you RMA without asking questions, it is common for this process to take 2-3 work days. It is unlikely that the company will pay for overnight shipping, so 3-5 days shipping each way is not ridiculous, again that's work days. Taking the average, that's already 11 work days total, leaving 6 days for repair *and* two weekends (4 days), which means it's basically 1-2 day turn around. How is that bad?

 

[s44]

If you have a strict budget and want a popular/dev-supported phone, you should be looking on Swappa.

 

[v8envy]

My wife *LOVES* her OPO. No issues aside from the ever so slight yellow tint on the bottom 1/2" (every OPO has that, it's a backlight design defect), fast, battery lasts forever, responsive.

But it doesn't have an official OTA Android 5.0 yet.

 

[gadgetprostitute]

I don't know if you're coming from IOS, but if so, get a Nexus 5 or 6 so you can get the pure Android (OS) experience and instant updates.

If you get a "skinned" device, you'll get late, skipped or discontinued OS updates and the "skin" will typically just complicate and slow down Android.

Just get a Nexus 5 or 6 and be done with it.

 

[aShufflinZombie]

As another poster said, HTC One M7 or the M8. The ViperOne ROM has been very good on my m7.

 

[Snappysneaky]

If you're looking for fast, super cool feature without the hefty price,try OnePlus. Alternatively, you can also go with Nexus 5 or LG G2 or M7.

 

[sweenish]

Yup, because getting a fully sealed is a refurb.

It's fairly obvious you have been duped a lot of times.


There is no yellow screen issue at all. That has been debunked.
The whole invite system? Wow, welcome to 2014. You can get one now every Tuesday.



You are saying that day 1 "I have a issue and I want to RMA the phone" till day 17 receiving the new phone is not bad at all?

Man, some people settle for anything. Like I mentioned, when I have had to service a phone, most 2 or 3 days....Once, I had to wait for a week but that was a special case.

Defensive much?

And you honestly think that the fact they opened up their orders without an invite one day a week is a god-send? Man, some people settle for anything.

How have I been duped? 2-3 day turnaround is not your original phone. Pure and simple. If you're okay with them keeping your phone with your data on it, that's cool I guess. If you're not getting a refurb, that's lucky for you. As long as you realize that refurbs still get re-sealed (refurb != open box). Why in the world would they give you a new phone that they can sell at a higher value? That makes no business sense. Two week turnaround is your original phone back, which is usually better. Because, again, data preservation.

The amount of defense people are willing to give this one company is surprising to me. That level of blind allegiance is usually reserved for megacorps.

And yellow screen has not been debunked. See this thread. I'll trust all the other complaints I've seen about the yellow screen over just you saying it's debunked. If they've fixed the issue in the factory, that's good. That's not debunked, though. It actually was a thing that happened.

 

[dawheat]

Defensive much?

And you honestly think that the fact they opened up their orders without an invite one day a week is a god-send? Man, some people settle for anything.

How have I been duped? 2-3 day turnaround is not your original phone. Pure and simple. If you're okay with them keeping your phone with your data on it, that's cool I guess. If you're not getting a refurb, that's lucky for you. As long as you realize that refurbs still get re-sealed (refurb != open box). Why in the world would they give you a new phone that they can sell at a higher value? That makes no business sense. Two week turnaround is your original phone back, which is usually better. Because, again, data preservation.

The amount of defense people are willing to give this one company is surprising to me. That level of blind allegiance is usually reserved for megacorps.

And yellow screen has not been debunked. See this thread. I'll trust all the other complaints I've seen about the yellow screen over just you saying it's debunked. If they've fixed the issue in the factory, that's good. That's not debunked, though. It actually was a thing that happened.

I had am OPO last fall - while a decent deal, I wasn't the biggest fan. I had touch screen issues which made the phone frustrating, even if it was usable. Whenever I'd switch back to using my Note 3 (and later Note 4), I'd internally sigh in relief.

Camera is OK for 2014, though not great in low light. But I really liked CM and the price was great.

People do like them so I imagine the phones now won't have these early issues. At $200 I think the G2 is a better deal but at the $350 point, there isn't many options.

 

[Radeon962]

If you plan on rooting and flashing endless roms then you sound like you are savvy enough to fix any slight issue you may have with the OnePlus One. There is no better phone for the price.

I had one from July to January and it was a great phone.