S7 or G6?

[lakedude]

I've got a first gen Moto G on a $10 a month plan with unlimited talk, text and MMS pics.

It is fine but the phone is a bit dated and does not include much storage or the ability to have an SSD card.

I was looking at the Moto G6 which looks pretty nice for @$250 but then I notice that since the S9 is out you can pick up a Samsung Galaxy S7 for around $250 that is in new "other" condition. The G6 is presumably in new "new" condition...

Either new phone would cause my plan to double to include some data.

So stay put, S7 or G6?

 

[lxskllr]

Pretty much with all tech, the longer you wait, the better the tech you get, at a lower price. If you aren't hitting any walls with the current phone, keep using it til you are.

 

[evident]

I've had my S7 for 2 years. very happy with it still. Battery life is going south quickly, but thats pretty much expected for any 2 yr old phone.

 

[ericlp]

I picked up an new S8 on cricket for 300 bucks a few months ago. So, there are deals to be had. I'd wait for a better deal, and always get a "NEW" phone as you never know the condition of the battery. As we all know, being mobile, the battery plays a very important roll and only lasts a few years before it needs to be replaced. Why I never buy a used phone. Even a refurbished one can be iffy.

 

[spacejamz]

you can get a new ATT or Verizon S7 for $149 from Walmart (if you can find one in stock)...you have to put the phone on an installment plan to get this price, but you can payoff the phone immediately and then just cancel the account within 3 days....just google Walmart S7 slick deals to get more info...there is a link in there where you can check store inventory as well...

 

[ZGR]

I've had my S7 for 2 years. very happy with it still. Battery life is going south quickly, but thats pretty much expected for any 2 yr old phone.

How is your screen on time?

 

[MarkHenery]

well I don't have any idea about G6 as I head its not a good phone but I have personally used S7 and S7 edge both are great phone and still worth to buy in 2018. I suggest you to got with s7

 

[Raduque]

I would honestly pick a G6 over the S7. IMO, the performance is far more consistent on the G6. Having had both, I was actually underwhelmed by the S7 edge. G6's wide-angle lens is also better.

 

[lakedude]

I would honestly pick a G6 over the S7. IMO, the performance is far more consistent on the G6. Having had both, I was actually underwhelmed by the S7 edge. G6's wide-angle lens is also better.

I tried to research this and if I recall the S6 had a few steps backward on some features. I don't know, like maybe the wireless charging and waterproofing? Sounds like you had both so I'd like to hear more if you have the time.

The kid had an S5 and it was amazing but I was not about to spend that kind of money back when the S5 was new.

I need a certain model with a "U" to run it on my service...

 

[Raduque]

I tried to research this and if I recall the S6 had a few steps backward on some features. I don't know, like maybe the wireless charging and waterproofing? Sounds like you had both so I'd like to hear more if you have the time.

The kid had an S5 and it was amazing but I was not about to spend that kind of money back when the S5 was new.

I need a certain model with a "U" to run it on my service...

The LG G6 and Samsung S7/edge both share the same IP68 water resistance. I have used both in the shower and rain, and submerged both into a couple feet of water (kitchen sink). The wireless charging worked equally well on both devices, and the G6 charged just fine on both my Samsung wireless charging pads.

I like the silver G6's finish over the Galaxies' finishes. The G6's display doesn't match up, though it's slightly (5.7 vs 5.5) bigger and slightly higher resolution (2880x1440 vs 2560x1440) than the Edge, IPS LCD just doesn't compare with SAMOLED.

Honestly, if I didn't need 64gb internal, use Samsung Pay or my S-Pen, i'd probably be using a G6 still. The price is way right compared to a Note 8. Can get an unlocked G6 US997 for around $300 on Swappa or $500 new.

Edit: What service do you have? Can always get a Verizon model S7 (and up) and flash the U1 Unlocked firmware to it. Verizon phones are always unlocked, and all Samsung US models starting with the S7 use universal hardware and the only difference is software.

 

[lakedude]

Ahhh, I misread your post, G6, not S6... I use Republic Wireless. I'm on their $10 plan which includes unlimited talk and text including MMS pictures or tiny videos but no data other than WiFi. My wife is on their $25 "unlimited" plan which is really a 5GB plan. Her's is a grandfathered plan. The new plans are not unlimited and they charge by the GB which can save money if you don't use much data but would be very expensive for heavy data users.

I'm open to switching. I noticed T-Mobile has a 2x for $70 and Cricket has 4x for $100. That Cricket plan seems awesome except I'd need to get my entire extended family to switch with me at the same time. The T-Mobile plan isn't bad, especially since it includes all taxes and fees. My wife's $25 plan comes to a hair over $31 after taxes and fees.

What has me going is that even the S5 blows my Moto G out of the water and they are cheap now. I've had my phone for years now and it is actually fine but I'd like a better phone and data. Still for $10 a month the plan I'm on is the budget leader.

 

[lakedude]

I'm not going to spend $500 on a phone. I was considering the S7 because it was down in my price range at $250ish in "new" condition.

 

[Raduque]

Ahhh, I misread your post, G6, not S6...

Oh, you meant to ask about the Galaxy S6? I had one of those too, bought it about a week after release, and I swapped it after about 6 months (gave it to Verizon for a Note 4). It was a terrible device when it came out, or at least mine was. It did have wireless charging, but no water resistance, no micro SD card slot, the battery was tiny and the performance was poor. Mine had Android 5.0 on it and it sucked. It runs 7.0 now, so maybe they're better - but I still wouldn't pay for one.

 

[lakedude]

Ended up with a Samsung Galaxy S8 for $199 brand new. It, is, awesome!

The list price was $750, selling price was $600 but they forgive $401 dollars if you finance for 2 years, at zero percent. Um, heck yes!

Service is $70 even (taxes and fees included) for 2 lines of unlimited 4G.

The tower for the old phone was 4 miles away, far enough we could only send texts. The cell signal was too weak to sustain a voice call so we were depending on WiFi for everything.

The cable went out and we had nothing, not even a way to make a call to get the cable back on.

Now we have a tower about a mile away which works perfectly. Couldn't be happier.

 

[evident]

How is your screen on time?

I still get about a half day of battery life, a lot of it is on wifi and playing pokemon go

 

[lakedude]

Oh, you meant to ask about the Galaxy S6? I had one of those too, bought it about a week after release, and I swapped it after about 6 months (gave it to Verizon for a Note 4). It was a terrible device when it came out, or at least mine was. It did have wireless charging, but no water resistance, no micro SD card slot, the battery was tiny and the performance was poor. Mine had Android 5.0 on it and it sucked. It runs 7.0 now, so maybe they're better - but I still wouldn't pay for one.

After we picked our service we moved on to selecting phones. At first they said we could use our old phones but they were mistaken. Their selection of new phones was typical. They had for example a Mote E 5 for $225 or so. That wasn't too bad but Cricket Wireless is giving E5s away for free. Seeing no good deals on their displayed phones I informed them that I intended to get a Samsung Galaxy S7 from eBay for $200 or so. They then said how about a Galaxy S6 for $400, to which I very quickly said NO! The next offer was for a S9 at $720. I declined this offer nearly as fast. I asked them to give me SIM cards for an eBay S7. They then mentioned something about an S8 for $199 and after some initial confusion I accepted this offer. They then started telling me how I had to buy the phone that very day to get that price so I'm telling them, great, lets go, sold! For some reason they kept trying to sell me the phone after I had already enthusiastically indicated that heck yes an S8 for $199 would be awesome.

Later in the day my wife informed me that her old phone was not going to work with the new carrier. I told her to get an S8 for $199. They then did a similar thing to her, telling her she must buy right away. I don't know what they were thinking as we were there to buy phones ASAP so getting one that day was exactly what we wanted. Maybe they were confused by my comments regarding S7s on eBay?

 

[Sunburn74]

So I recently was facing this dilemma. There was a review by ARS technica that directly compared the S7 and the moto G6 and it appears that whilst the G6 is the newer phone, performance wise the S7 is considerably faster and has the niceties of the luxury phone (NFC transfer for example). I ended up getting a refurbished S7 for the same price. I also gave a hard look at the Nokia 6.1 but came to the same conclusion.

 

[killster1]

After we picked our service we moved on to selecting phones. At first they said we could use our old phones but they were mistaken. Their selection of new phones was typical. They had for example a Mote E 5 for $225 or so. That wasn't too bad but Cricket Wireless is giving E5s away for free. Seeing no good deals on their displayed phones I informed them that I intended to get a Samsung Galaxy S7 from eBay for $200 or so. They then said how about a Galaxy S6 for $400, to which I very quickly said NO! The next offer was for a S9 at $720. I declined this offer nearly as fast. I asked them to give me SIM cards for an eBay S7. They then mentioned something about an S8 for $199 and after some initial confusion I accepted this offer. They then started telling me how I had to buy the phone that very day to get that price so I'm telling them, great, lets go, sold! For some reason they kept trying to sell me the phone after I had already enthusiastically indicated that heck yes an S8 for $199 would be awesome.

Later in the day my wife informed me that her old phone was not going to work with the new carrier. I told her to get an S8 for $199. They then did a similar thing to her, telling her she must buy right away. I don't know what they were thinking as we were there to buy phones ASAP so getting one that day was exactly what we wanted. Maybe they were confused by my comments regarding S7s on eBay?

Boy o boy that sounds liek a decent deal on a decent service (not sure about cricket as i only hear bad stories of them and the limits caps etc) but if it works for you thats good, if it continues to work for the 2 years you are locked to them even better! so you pay 8.30 cents a month payments on your s8? (8.3x24 months =200) I think you made a mistake somehow, maybe you need to trade in a old phone or just that you have to use their service for 2 years before can unlock phone? I pay 200 a year for ATT mvno with 5gb 4g unlimited 3g unlimited talk txt. ATT is not as good as verizon here tho so when traveling i take a hit on service areas.
So.. hope your deal is really as good as seems s8 is little old but def better than used ebay prices (cuz i look i think they are about 300-350 for the s8 active att version i looked at used ) But i refuse to finance anything except houses.

 

[lakedude]

Boy o boy that sounds like a decent deal on a decent service (not sure about cricket...

Thanks! We are pretty pleased with the deal which was with T-Mobile. I only mentioned Cricket because they had the Moto E5 for free.

You are correct about there being a "catch" to the $199 deal. The selling price of each S8 phone was $600, but they forgive $401 per phone over a span of 2 years if you finance (at zero percent).The total bill is $120 per month for 2 lines of service and 2 new S8 phones but that price is before the credit of $16.71 per phone or $33.42 for both. $120 minus $33.42 is $86.58 for 2 phones and 2 lines of service. This will drop down to $70 even after 2 years. The extra we are paying for the phones is $86.58 - $70 = $16.58 for both phones or $16.58 / 2 = $8.29 per phone per month. So yeah about $8.30 a month each for S8 phones which are very nice BTW.

It is kinda like having a contract for 2 years except all the prices are very reasonable.

 

[lakedude]

Where I live Sprint has good coverage at work but lousy coverage at home. Verizon has terrible coverage at work. T-Mobile has good coverage at work and at home so it is the way to go, around here anyhow. A coworker had Verizon until he heard my story. The S8 deal was over but he snagged buy one get one free S9s. The S9s are significantly more powerful phones on 3D Benchmark than the S8s.

 

[killster1]

Thanks! We are pretty pleased with the deal which was with T-Mobile. I only mentioned Cricket because they had the Moto E5 for free.

You are correct about there being a "catch" to the $199 deal. The selling price of each S8 phone was $600, but they forgive $401 per phone over a span of 2 years if you finance (at zero percent).The total bill is $120 per month for 2 lines of service and 2 new S8 phones but that price is before the credit of $16.71 per phone or $33.42 for both. $120 minus $33.42 is $86.58 for 2 phones and 2 lines of service. This will drop down to $70 even after 2 years. The extra we are paying for the phones is $86.58 - $70 = $16.58 for both phones or $16.58 / 2 = $8.29 per phone per month. So yeah about $8.30 a month each for S8 phones which are very nice BTW.

It is kinda like having a contract for 2 years except all the prices are very reasonable.

2 years stuck with tmobile. This is how they get around the contract stuff..
OH WOW Tmobile is close to the worst provider.. sprint takes the #1 spot if you live in the city and dont travel its prob GREAT. Also i hear with 5G coming (tho i didnt see the note 9 offering this new antenaa) that Tmobile and ATT will be get a faster better spectrum? shoot idk really but i only use ATT and Verizon MVNO redpocket (200 a year for each line except children get the 50$ year plan) currently.

 

[lakedude]

Verizon coverage sucks were I work and Verizon is very expensive. My coworker switched from Verizon because he had like one bar at work and he was paying a fortune. I'm able to easily stream Netflix at work and at home on T-Mobile while the coworker that had Verizon could not stream at work. I'm sure there are plenty of locations where Verizon is superior but where I live isn't one of them. I actually went to T-Mobile for the service first and ended up with a good deal on a phone second. T-Mobile's coverage where we go on vacation is not good but we can just use WiFi for the one week out of the year we are there.

T-Mobile might join up with Sprint which might improve both companies.

It is true what you say about the 2 years being like a contract. We don't mind since we plan to keep the service anyhow. It really is quite good in the area we live. T-Mobile is much better than Sprint at home and much better than Verizon at work, I don't know about ATT.

 

[lakedude]

Here has been my experience with phone companies.

ATT has the "creep" where prices go up a few dollars a month. They dropped or delayed text messages a lot when we had them. You wouldn't get any texts all day and then all of a sudden your phone would blow up with dozens. We are not planning on going back, ever.

Sprint has been good for us but they don't have a usable signal at our current home.

T-Mobile is new to us and has been great so far.

I've never considered Verizon because they are so expensive. Also in checking out their coverage they are somewhat lacking in information. Both Sprint and T-Mobile give you shaded maps showing several different levels of signal strength which is a useful tool. The Verizon coverage map just shows coverage or no coverage with no level of quality or signal strength shown. I happen to know for a fact that Verizon's signal strength where I work is poor yet they claim coverage on their map.

 

[jamesdave]

I would go for the G6 as it was released after S7 and surely packs some new tech, moreover I have heard some great things about it.

 

[killster1]

lulz he already got a s8 active.
so no need for advice anymore.

And as far as teh prices of the services. i use a mvno, pay by the year for each of the companies so not worried much. its 205 a year for the ATT 5gb 4g w/unlimited 3g after that (per month data allowance) The verizon is about the same price but i think its 1gb a month. Here in california verizon is the superior service with sprint and Tmobile being last. I do hear the next spectrum of service will be with ATT and Tmobile and increase the coverage. ( One reason i sacraficed my service using ATT instead of verizOn besides 5x the data). It comes out to 17 a month?

Only bad thing about paying by the year is if you lose the phone your toast I left one card out of the country so far 180$ plan with 6 months left ;(