Question Nokia 7.1 vs. Moto G7 Plus vs. LG V35 Thinq

[smitbret]

The mid-range buying advice Wiki looked pretty dated so here goes....

My 5 year old Blackberry Priv is on its last legs and has a few hardware bugs that tell me that it's time to retire it. It's second battery is starting to fail and the thing just heats up like a furnace if I do any game playing or video streaming. The old Snapdragon 808 has always been a nice hand warmer and I would like to avoid that in the future.

I set a budget of around $300 which led me to the Nokia 7.1 & G7 Plus. I am leaning towards the Nokia 7.1 because of the smaller screen (longer battery life), seemingly better build quality and the fact that it runs raw Android. I like to run my phone with Nova Launcher and customize the hell out of it.

THEN, I stumbled across the LG V35 Thinq with the Snapdragon 845 and now I am thinking that it would be a little more future proof since the other two are on the SD 636.

Additionally, I am on T-Mobile USA right now and the Band 71 thing has me all spun around. Everything I read says that the LG phones have Band 71 but I haven't seen a single spec sheet to support that. Band 71 isn't a deal killer but would be worth a few $$$ if it made it a little more future proof. There is the slight chance that we slide to AT&T in the future but it looks like that wouldn't matter much. It looks like you can grab a new G7 Thinq on eBay for less than a Nokia 7.1 but they give options for T-Mobile Locked/Unlocked. If I get the T-Mobile would I get the Band 71 and still be able to just unlock it with a phone call should I decide to switch to AT&T.

Can anyone steer me in a nice direction and/or clarify my confusion if there is any? I am also open to any suggestions.

#1 - Currently on T-Mobile with a slight chance of moving to AT&T at some point in the next few years

#2 - Rough budget of $300-$350

#3 - I like to keep my phones for several years (had the Priv since Feb 2014) so I want to future proof as much as possible

#4 - I do some gaming but nothing hardcore and stream a good amount of video. My wife's Moto G5s Plus currently does what I need just fine.

Thanks.

 

[slackerinabox]

With android "future proof" is a difficult criteria. I think timely updates are more important than raw cpu specs, I'd say go with the cheapest option with as close to stock as possible. The moto g7 pro might be a nice option

 

[smitbret]

I took the little curve and went with a T-Mobile Locked LG G7 Thinq that I found new on eBay for about $280.

After some research, I eliminated the v35 completely. WiFI Calling is a must out here since T-Mobile signal is a little patchy inside buildings. From everything I read, the V35 would lose that since it's an AT&T specific phone and I didn't want to mess with loading a Fi ROM onto it to get be able to use all of the features on the phone. I gave up 2GB of RAM (4GB vs. 6GB) but I also don't have to worry about Band 71 capability or VoLTE compatibility. If I unlock it and switch to AT&T, WiFi calling won't be important since the signal is much better in general (had it previously for about 5 years).

In the end, the Nokia 7 has a slightly bigger battery and smaller screen (longer life), NFC and Android One than the Moto G7 so it came down to the G7 Thinq vs. the 7.1. The G7 Thinq has a better, brighter screen, Snapdragon 845 (vs. 636), USB 3 and reviews seem to think it has a better camera as well. It ended up about $20 cheaper, too.