New Android Phones

semipenguin

Cheeseburger Connoisseur
Oct 11, 2008
25,162
9,251
168
54
Janesville, MN
I almost bought an LG G7 ThinQ, but settled on a Pixel 2 XL.

I know I should have waited for the 3 to come out, but my iPhone 6S Plus had taken a high velocity dive into the concrete, so I needed to replace it quickly.

I really wanted the ThinQ, but the Verizon store doesn't carry them, or even display them. It's something you have to order online.

They sell them unlocked on Amazon. Sometimes as much as $100 less than retail.
 

Kryptonite

Well-Known Member
Oct 21, 2008
11,670
1,837
113
I love my Pixel 2 XL. Earlier today, I downloaded the October security update, dated October 5, 2018.

I also like how you can do stuff as updates are downloading and installing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: semipenguin

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
23,407
18,657
168
Vacationland
I have to say that Android Auto is a nice app, and the latest version displays SXM about as well as I could ask for. This is what it looks like on my phone

Screenshot_20210212-170855_Android Auto.jpg

I love how it always starts on its own when I start my car. Other than a few seconds to get going, it's like having a built-in satrad. But of course, the features are much better. And I can use OK Google voice commands to change channels.
 

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
28,632
13,303
168
40
Hyrule

My last phone was an LG. I forget the model but it was nothing special, it had a crappy screen and not much power but it did the job for me for like 2 years. When I dropped my Galaxy I used it again for about a week while my phone was getting fixed.

I'm very happy to have upgraded to the Galaxy A70. Night and day difference.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: sadchild

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
10,838
12,652
168
53
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
"...even though it is still the third most popular smartphone vendor in the United States, after Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (SSNLF)"

The third biggest seller of smartphones in the US is throwing in the towel?! Wow! If you're the 3rd biggest seller here and can't make it, will others follow suit? Samsung will have the Android monopoly.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
I know there were only a few factories that made (still make) screens. VCRs and some other things back in the day were the same way.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
23,407
18,657
168
Vacationland
I probably shouldn't mention this until the deal materializes, but on paper I've made a phone upgrade. I have a galaxy S9 that's all paid off. I like it, but as expected, the battery is weak, and it's feeling a bit slow and too small.

I'd like to move up to an S10 (Mrs. Scotch has one), but that's as obsolete as a plasma TV. There's the S20, but no deals. The new S21 has deals. Usually the deals are for adding a line, but they actually had a deal for upgrading. They'll give me a ridiculous $440 for a trade-in, plus $10/mo off the 5g plan. So my monthly payment will essentially stay the same.

On paper, the deal is done. And I've paid the upgrade charges (fee, tax, new case). The new phone is backordered until next week. So I will soon see if I actually get a new S21 5g for the same payment as my old S9. The S21 is crazy fast, has zero bezel on the display, and has a multi-lens camera.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
23,407
18,657
168
Vacationland
I probably shouldn't mention this until the deal materializes, but on paper I've made a phone upgrade. I have a galaxy S9 that's all paid off. I like it, but as expected, the battery is weak, and it's feeling a bit slow and too small.

I'd like to move up to an S10 (Mrs. Scotch has one), but that's as obsolete as a plasma TV. There's the S20, but no deals. The new S21 has deals. Usually the deals are for adding a line, but they actually had a deal for upgrading. They'll give me a ridiculous $440 for a trade-in, plus $10/mo off the 5g plan. So my monthly payment will essentially stay the same.

On paper, the deal is done. And I've paid the upgrade charges (fee, tax, new case). The new phone is backordered until next week. So I will soon see if I actually get a new S21 5g for the same payment as my old S9. The S21 is crazy fast, has zero bezel on the display, and has a multi-lens camera.
Everything is settled with the new phone. I got a ridiculous $679 total discount for trading-in my old phone. Some of that goes towards the cost of the new phone, and some goes towards the 5g data plan. It's all Monopoly money, but the result is that my monthly bill goes up by $7 - which is not bad considering I have a brand-new top-tier phone, and 5g service. The bill should've gone up by $17, if you count the realization that I was throwing away $10/mo on a 5g plan for Mrs. Scotch's 4g phone.

Transferring all the data from my old phone to the new one was surprisingly troublesome. They show you 3 options: Google cloud, Verizon cloud, and Smart Switch. I don't subscribe to either cloud service, so I tried the Smart Switch - which is a nearfield phone-to-phone thing. I get it ready to go on the old phone (as per instructions), and then try to do the same on the new one. But when you power-up the new phone, it doesn't know which transfer method you're going to use, so it goes through the whole standard set of startup steps, as if you're adding a new line. The only way to get out of that startup sequence, is to choose an option that says "enable Wi-Fi". When you pick that, it says "in order to turn on Wi-Fi, you must exit setup". After screwing this up over and over, I exited setup and turned on Wi-Fi, and then the old phone recognized the new phone and started the Smart Switch transfer. Infuriating.

So the one big problem is that all my ripped music is a mix of .mp3 and .wma, and guess what? Android OS no longer accepts .wma format. Fuuuuhhhhkkk. So I'll have to use a converter, and spend some time on it.
 

HecticArt

Administrator
Oct 19, 2008
49,832
17,485
168
Toledo, Ohio
Congrats on the new phone. Moving always sucks to some extent, but the last couple of times I did it, the smart switch and whatever they called it before that worked pretty well.

Let us know how you like it after you're settled in.

I'll drop off a casserole.
 

scotchandcigar

All I wanted was some steak
Feb 13, 2009
23,407
18,657
168
Vacationland
Congrats on the new phone. Moving always sucks to some extent, but the last couple of times I did it, the smart switch and whatever they called it before that worked pretty well.
Another glitch was caused by the fact that my old phone had a removeable SD card, while the new phone did not. Instead, they gave it 128gb standard (twice my old phone's), with double that (256gb) for only $50 more. I figured the Smart Switch wouldn't futz with the SD memory, but I was wrong. It tried to put it somewhere on the new phone, but not where I wanted it.
 

sadchild

Dude
Mar 28, 2016
10,838
12,652
168
53
NH
www.asimplecomplex.com
My phone (all work cells) get upgraded next week. Anything I should consider aside from the S21? I used to like Motorola until they stopped doing the shatterproof display.
 
May 1, 2021
83
12
13
I almost bought an LG G7 ThinQ, but settled on a Pixel 2 XL.

I know I should have waited for the 3 to come out, but my iPhone 6S Plus had taken a high velocity dive into the concrete, so I needed to replace it quickly.

I really wanted the ThinQ, but the Verizon store doesn't carry them, or even display them. It's something you have to order online.

They sell them unlocked on Amazon. Sometimes as much as $100 less than retail.
I had the LG G7 and it was awesome but now they've discontinued All LG's
 

JHDK

Release Robin's Bra
Oct 11, 2008
28,632
13,303
168
40
Hyrule
Got myself a Christmas gift. I went with the Google pixel 7 pro. The gf has an iphone but kept telling me she used to have a Pixel and loved it. It was time for a new phone and that swayed my decision. I'll never be a childish macintosh person hehehe. So far I'm loving it but I just got it a couple hours ago. The review people that I like seem to dig it. One of them was raving about it and the other basically said it's just under the iPhone for the best phone you can have right now or whatever. The camera seems to be really good. Some sort of five times optical, zoom or whatever. And also I'm not writing this. I'm dictating it and it's getting it like 100% right so that's cool.

This is the first time I've had a phone that's like brand new. My last phone was the galaxy A70 that I bought in August 2019 and it was already a year old. This one came out 2 months ago. I had a month-to-month service before this and now I'm going with T-Mobile.

Maybe this is for a different thread but I also went with the T-Mobile 5G internet for my apartment. Comcast and regular internet is a giant pain in the ass to get at a public storage because they view it as a business even though there is also a residence on the property. So if you go on the t mobile site it says that the 5G home internet isn't available in my area but that's a bunch of bullshit. I didn't lie to the people I told them I'm going to give you an address where it says it works but I'm going to use it at my address and they said there's nothing wrong with that. Give it a shot. It should work just fine and they were right. It's perfect. I could stream 4k and everything's great and it's super cheap. It's 25 bucks a month.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with both the internet and the phone so far. We'll see how it goes.