Help choosing a Phone.

[TheLagIsReal]

Hello. So i am currently using some old blackberry phone, So i think it's time to buy a good phone. I have been looking at the Samsung Galaxy S5 but it seems to be getting a bit of mixed reviews so i looked at a couple of other phone like the HTC One (M8) i read that it does have a few minor problems and a crappy camera compared to it's competition.

Would the Samsung GS5 be worth buying or is there better out there?

 

[MongGrel]

Personally I avoid using phones myself and inherit my wife's old ones, but someone just now did mention this.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2377900

*shrug*

*edit* looks more of a joke I guess, never mind.

 

[mnewsham]

Galaxy note 3 or LG G2 are still my go to suggestions, especially the G2 as it can be had for under $100 on contract. Both phones are top notch in specs and even the brand new S5 isn't all that much better hardware wise (slight cpu and GPU core clock increase is all)

S5 isn't worth $200 if you can get a G2 for $0-50.

Go to a store and try messing around with some phones see what size you like too

 

[TheLagIsReal]

Personally I avoid using phones myself and inherit my wife's old ones, but someone just now did mention this.

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2377900

*shrug*

*edit* looks more of a joke I guess, never mind.

lol

 

[TheLagIsReal]

Galaxy note 3 or LG G2 are still my go to suggestions, especially the G2 as it can be had for under $100 on contract. Both phones are top notch in specs and even the brand new S5 isn't all that much better hardware wise (slight cpu and GPU core clock increase is all)

S5 isn't worth $200 if you can get a G2 for $0-50.

Go to a store and try messing around with some phones see what size you like too

What do you think of the Google Nexus 5? Seems very simliar to the LG G2 apart from the camera and the UI "Nexus UI looks better"

 

[mnewsham]

What do you think of the Google Nexus 5? Seems very simliar to the LG G2 apart from the camera and the UI "Nexus UI looks better"

Smaller battery really disappointed me with the N5, I can get 1 1/2 to 2 full days of use on the G2. Also the camera quality is much lower on the N5. Still a solid phone though and worth considering.

 

[TheLagIsReal]

Smaller battery really disappointed me with the N5, I can get 1 1/2 to 2 full days of use on the G2. Also the camera quality is much lower on the N5. Still a solid phone though and worth considering.

I will either go with Nexus 5 or LG G2. Thanks for the help.

 

[Daxwax]

Really satisfied with my G2. Excellent battery life. Currently at 64hrs with 34% remaining
That is with wifi on, but moderate usage.

 

[Strk]

Smaller battery really disappointed me with the N5, I can get 1 1/2 to 2 full days of use on the G2. Also the camera quality is much lower on the N5. Still a solid phone though and worth considering.

I'm not sure what "much lower quality" translates, but I think the N5 takes great pictures.

However, my two big complaints would be the speaker is a piece of junk and the battery is mediocre, at best.

 

[Regz]

Unlocking the bootloader and rooting really helps the Nexus 5, I flashed a volume fix for both the speaker and headphone output and now they are considerably louder

Edit: using elementalx kernel also has drastically improved battery life, roughly drains about 2% an hour if screen off in my pocket.

 

[TheLagIsReal]

Really satisfied with my G2. Excellent battery life. Currently at 64hrs with 34% remaining
That is with wifi on, but moderate usage.

The G2 looks cool but i think i am going to go with Nexus 5.

I'm not sure what "much lower quality" translates, but I think the N5 takes great pictures.

However, my two big complaints would be the speaker is a piece of junk and the battery is mediocre, at best.

The camera seems good, atleast for showing people but maybe not for pro use. I know the speakers are bad but to be honest i don't use speakers on phones, my headphones are too good "Sennheiser IE 80" and i think i will buy the wireless charger ^_^

 

[s44]

The S5 isn't worth an upgrade if you already have the G2, but if you're getting it new it's better in every way... ridiculous (instead of just "really good") battery life, better camera in all situations, swappable battery, micro SD, and a much better accessory ecosystem. I'd even argue that the screen is better, though some will prefer LCD and more horizontal space to AMOLED and more vertical space.

That said it depends what carrier you'd going to use and whether you're paying extra for a subsidy device. Nexus 5 is great off-contract, but less optimal otherwise.

Btw, on Swappa you can get the G2 for less than the Nexus.

 

[TheLagIsReal]

The S5 isn't worth an upgrade if you already have the G2, but if you're getting it new it's better in every way... ridiculous (instead of just "really good") battery life, better camera in all situations, swappable battery, micro SD, and a much better accessory ecosystem. I'd even argue that the screen is better, though some will prefer LCD and more horizontal space to AMOLED and more vertical space.

That said it depends what carrier you'd going to use and whether you're paying extra for a subsidy device. Nexus 5 is great off-contract, but less optimal otherwise.

Btw, on Swappa you can get the G2 for less than the Nexus.

I was just planning on getting it off contract.

 

[Rdmkr]

I wouldn't write of the "old" S4 either; I have one in hands right now and find it preferable to the LG G2 (which is roughly the S5's size) in a lot of respects. The difference in thickness and weight is not trivial. Speed wise they're equivalent outside of gaming. On standard display mode the colors are a bit weird, but on Movie they're very similar to LCD colors while still having a broader maximum range. The pentile grid is pretty much impossible to notice.

The LG G2 is, imo, a phone you should only get if plan to root and mod it. It is quite a flawed device as it comes out of the box (massive on-screen buttons, too high DPI setting, extremely laggy camera, etc, etc). The storage is unexpandable too and if you're unlucky your battery sucks and you can't replace it easily. No such problems with the S4.

 

[mnewsham]

massive on-screen buttons, too high DPI setting, extremely laggy camera

Too bad none of that was never really an issue, and is especially not an issue now with 4.4.2 kitkat.

seems like you're really trying to put down the G2 and promote your own Samsung device, which is fine, but you dont have to try to shame other devices to do it.

Also, the G2 was generally regarded as one of the best if not the best phone of 2013, an honor the S4 lacks.

Stuff (magazine) named the G2 its 2013 Phone of the Year and Gadget of the Year, reporting that "LG has previously struggled to make an impact on the smartphone market, but the LG G2 is as good as smartphones get in 2013, and shows the established names how it should be done."

Also, most people seem to think the camera is actually pretty good...

in a December 2013 comparison against other recent phones such as the One, Galaxy S4 Zoom, Xperia Z1, iPhone 5S, and Lumia 1020 by TechRadar, the G2 was named the best cameraphone of the six for "performing very well in terms of picture quality, ease of use and functionality, as well as post processing"

OP just so you know the LG G pro 2 comes out in a few days as well and is a phone worth considering, it's a slightly larger upgraded version of the G2 with removable battery and SD card slot.

 

[Rdmkr]

seems like you're really trying to put down the G2 and promote your own Samsung device, which is fine, but you dont have to try to shame other devices to do it.

I'm an LG G2 user. I bought the S4 second hand to be able to compare it. notice that nowhere I said the S4 is better, just to not write it off and that, imo, it has some preferable features. I consider it better unmodded, but probably slightly worse to a modded G2.

Also, most people seem to think the camera is actually pretty good...

these people, including me, don't: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2525655

are you going to believe a bunch of sloppy reviewers who tests these things on a tripod or people who actually use the phone. I mean, in most reviews I read or watch the lag problem isn't even mentioned whereas its obviously there to anyone using the phone for longer than a month. I can respect a review that mentions the lag problem and then concludes it's still a good cam, but hardly any of them do that.

 

[mnewsham]

these people, including me, don't: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2525655

are you going to believe a bunch of sloppy reviewers who tests these things on a tripod or people who actually use the phone. I mean, in most reviews I read or watch the lag problem isn't even mentioned whereas its obviously there to anyone using the phone for longer than a month. I can respect a review that mentions the lag problem and then concludes it's still a good cam, but hardly any of them do that.

I have been using the phone for 5-6 months. It was worse on 4.2 but on 4.4.2 the lag on the camera is basically gone, not to mention if it really bugged you there were camera "fixes" out there that even enabled 2160p video recording which is a feature not even included with the phone.

It's not a perfect phone, but most people would tell you to get a G2 over an S4. Now if it were G2 vs. Note 3 I'd say its more of a toss up.

 

[Rdmkr]

It's not a perfect phone, but most people would tell you to get a G2 over an S4.

I'd be among them. But I'd also immediately tell them to sit down for a day and put the proper mods on it. If that's too much to ask well, that's when my recommendation changes.

I'll have to test out my father's unmodded kitkat running G2 to see if you're right about the camera lag on that.

 

[paraskhosla]

Buy either S5 or htc one m8.Both are awesome phones

 

[TheLagIsReal]

Too bad none of that was never really an issue, and is especially not an issue now with 4.4.2 kitkat.

seems like you're really trying to put down the G2 and promote your own Samsung device, which is fine, but you dont have to try to shame other devices to do it.

Also, the G2 was generally regarded as one of the best if not the best phone of 2013, an honor the S4 lacks.




Also, most people seem to think the camera is actually pretty good...




OP just so you know the LG G pro 2 comes out in a few days as well and is a phone worth considering, it's a slightly larger upgraded version of the G2 with removable battery and SD card slot.

I know the LG G Pro 2 comes out but the Screen size is just way to big, Don't think it would fit in my pocket.