Need advice on purchase....

[ckl]

Hi. My G3 has been acting up recently and I think it's on the way out. The dreaded screen flickering issues that many other G3 owners are experiencing.

Anyway, I found another phone on craigslist. But here's the details:

Essential phone (bought from koodo with warranty - owner has email receipt).

Now what are your thoughts on this to prevent the warranty scam (ie. owner sells phone to me, a month later, reports to koodo that phone is stolen/broken, phone get blacklisted, he gets a new phone). He now has my money and a new phone to boot.

I'm guessing that the safest thing to do is meet him at the koodo store and then unlist the device from his account? Is that possible?

[bsperanz]

I'm an LG G4 user and 55 weeks after buying it (just after the 1 year warranty) I got the dreaded boot loop. That was last January. LG fixed my phone for free, but had to factory reset the phone losing everything. Haven't had a problem since *knock on wood*

hope your new phone is problem free 

[GreatCanadian]

Great choice. I have the Essential and love it. I'm a Google fan and came from the nexus 6p. But Google decided to price their phones like Apple this year, so goodbye Google. The essential is basically vanilla Android. I love the phone. I decided to try PM's 3g data plan. Absolutely no issue with internet speed whatsoever. I started with a 30 day plan in case I wasn't satisfied with 3g. I love it and switching to 90 day 3g plan on next cycle. Good luck!!

GC

[ckl]

Thanks for all your suggestions I took @Lg85's advice and bought the device outright from Telus. They didn't force me to join their network (although they did try to sneek a telus sim into the shopping cart, which I promptly removed).

Thanks again.

[srlawren]

@ckl actually quite honestly your wish list, other than budget, sounds a lot like a Pixel 2 XL.  Even the regular Pixel 2 (non-XL) is over budget and not QHD, so it's not really an option.  But both devices hit everything else on the list.... QHD (for XL), no bloat, AMAZING cameras, not LG....oh wait XL is LG.

[srlawren]

@ckl they pro-rate.  Actual cost would be approx ($460 + $15 SIM + a few bucks for a day or two of service you won't use) + tax.  Should still be well under your $600 cap, and give you....I think everything on your checklist of wants including NO bloatware at all, NOT LG (whom you're mad at), big highly-bezel-less QHD display, this year's Snapdragon 835.  Camera....the initial reviews were terrible, but I think it's gotten SIGNIFICANTLY better in recent times, and you can sideload the Google HDR+ camera which helps a lot too.  Oreo update coming soon, think it's in beta.

All-in-all that phone at $460(ish) really is quite a great value now.  It was an awful value at $1000, but at $460(ish), it's great.  Next closest would probably be the base 64/8GB OnePlus 5T but it's over your budget ($660 Canadian + tax) and isn't QHD.  So unless you can't stand the notch, I think it's a pretty easy recommendation.

If you can still find last year's Moto Z it should be cheap now and is QHD and close to stock.  The Z play I think is only FHD.  Not sure about the Z2 or Z2 Play but they might be out of budget?  Haven't checked in a while.

V30?  Any good deals for those?  Oh wait, it's an LG.  Dang.

[Lg85]

@ckl

For your information, the Essential phone 128 GB is on sale (no term pricing) at Telus for $460 if that fits your budget. 🙂

https://www.telus.com/en/qc/mobility/phones/essential?linktype=nav

[ckl]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@ckl you could sign up and then cancel as soon as you receive the phone.  

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That's certainly an option. It won't be $460 + tax. I would most likely be $460 + $15 + $30 (sim card + cheapest plan). Not sure if they prorate or just charge the entire month. Sim card is non-refundable. Still under my budget so a valid option.

@srlawren wrote:

@ckl How long have you had the G3?  I mean, they became availalbe in June of 2014.  If you've had it since even the end of 2014, it's done you at least 3 years.  I'd say that's a pretty "reasonable" timeframe for any modern electronic device to start develpoing issues.

I think I've had it since mid Dec. 2015. So I would say 2 years. Not that great a lifespan IMHO.

[srlawren]

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@ckl wrote:

I think this is what is happening with my G3. Although it is not boot looping, the screen is flickering when it gets hot (ie. playing games, video, etc). Numerous posts on the internet about this and some have even tried baking it in the oven to get the solder to reflow. However, in the end, it's only a matter of time before the issues come back.

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@ckl How long have you had the G3?  I mean, they became availalbe in June of 2014.  If you've had it since even the end of 2014, it's done you at least 3 years.  I'd say that's a pretty "reasonable" timeframe for any modern electronic device to start develpoing issues.

[srlawren]

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@ckl wrote:

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@will13am wrote:

Edit:  Telus has the essential phone at $460 outright.  My spidey senses say Koodo will bring it back at a lower price soon. 

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I saw that. However, it is online only - they don't carry stock in their Koodo stores, and when I tried to buy it online, I had to sign up for a plan. There was no option to just buy it.

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@ckl you could sign up and then cancel as soon as you receive the phone.  

[ckl]

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@will13am wrote:

Edit:  Telus has the essential phone at $460 outright.  My spidey senses say Koodo will bring it back at a lower price soon. 

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I saw that. However, it is online only - they don't carry stock in their Koodo stores, and when I tried to buy it online, I had to sign up for a plan. There was no option to just buy it.

[ckl]

I think this is what is happening with my G3. Although it is not boot looping, the screen is flickering when it gets hot (ie. playing games, video, etc). Numerous posts on the internet about this and some have even tried baking it in the oven to get the solder to reflow. However, in the end, it's only a matter of time before the issues come back.

[ckl]

@srlawrenI looked at the LG G6 and it looks like a decent phone for the specs, but I'm a little bit mad at LG right now (due to the internal components).

[will13am]

@ckl, if you go Xiaomi, I think third party rom is the only choice.  All the Chinese roms are a poor imitation of iOS right down to the fake looking app icons.  In that case, there is no trust to be concerned about. 

Edit:  Telus has the essential phone at $460 outright.  My spidey senses say Koodo will bring it back at a lower price soon. 

[will13am]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@ckl wrote:

@srlawrenWell, coming from a G3, it has to be a QHD display or close to it. Updated SoC no earlier than 2017. Minimal bezels around screen. Good camera. Most importantly, minimal bloatware. The only phones that I know that fit that criteria are pixel 2, oneplus, and essential. There are a couple Xiaomi phones I saw, but don't really trust that company. I don't want to spend more than $600.

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@ckl would you consider LG G6?  It is QHD+ (the 18:9 version of QHD), has minimal bezels, good camera (I'd love the wide angle lense!!), and I believe is in your price range.  The sticking point there will be bloat, unfortunately.  In that price range, there isn't a ton that's QHD/QHD+, to be honest.

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Add also the infamous LG quality.  Right now the G4 is a dime a dozen because it is bound to bootloop once the free flowing solder joints let go. 

[srlawren]

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@ckl wrote:

@srlawrenWell, coming from a G3, it has to be a QHD display or close to it. Updated SoC no earlier than 2017. Minimal bezels around screen. Good camera. Most importantly, minimal bloatware. The only phones that I know that fit that criteria are pixel 2, oneplus, and essential. There are a couple Xiaomi phones I saw, but don't really trust that company. I don't want to spend more than $600.

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@ckl would you consider LG G6?  It is QHD+ (the 18:9 version of QHD), has minimal bezels, good camera (I'd love the wide angle lense!!), and I believe is in your price range.  The sticking point there will be bloat, unfortunately.  In that price range, there isn't a ton that's QHD/QHD+, to be honest.

[srlawren]

@ckl if QHD is a must, you will have to eliminate OnePlus from your list since the 5T is only 2160 x 1080 (aka FHD+, the 18:9 version of 1080p).

[Mana]

@ckl, if you can afford pixel 2, then I would say go for it. 

You will love the google call display feature which is not available in any other android or by any app.

If you can't afford it then xiaomi. The only thing with xiaomi is, if something goes wrong or if the screen breaks then it maybe very difficult to get it fixed here. 

[ckl]

@srlawrenWell, coming from a G3, it has to be a QHD display or close to it. Updated SoC no earlier than 2017. Minimal bezels around screen. Good camera. Most importantly, minimal bloatware. The only phones that I know that fit that criteria are pixel 2, oneplus, and essential. There are a couple Xiaomi phones I saw, but don't really trust that company. I don't want to spend more than $600.

[srlawren]

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@ckl wrote:

Okay. thanks for all your replies. I'll keep looking...

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@ckl is there's anything we can do to help with suggestions or narrowing down options, let us know.  The usual questions of budget, needs, wants, preferences, usage patterns and such apply, so give us as much info as you can.  For example "I can't spend more than $X, but I need a large screen/I need something I can handle easily with one hand, I will use it mostly for calling and texting/I will be running 47 apps at a time/I will be playing lots of intense games, I strongly dislike <brand X>/I quite like <brand Y>, it needs to look fancy/it needs to perform without stutter, you know that type of stuff.

[Mana]

You can probably buy xiaomi, huawei or Samsung for cheaper. 

[ckl]

Okay. thanks for all your replies. I'll keep looking...

[srlawren]

@ckl I agree with @will13am and would avoid buying from a stranger.  Buy new, or buy from someone you know and trust to avoid such issues.

[will13am · Accepted solution]

I would avoid Kijiji and Craigslist no matter what.  Too many horror stories.  I have even read about ones where there was so called "official transfers" made at a kiosk.  It doesn't seem to matter for whatever reason.  I frequent red flag deals.  They have a buy, sell, trade forum that I have trust in.  I have many many purchases including a phone without issue.

The essential phone went as low as $360 through Koodo.  I am sure that it will come back again at that price or lower as a final clearance.  Actually right now, the best deal is the LG G4.  RFD has a few on sale right now as low as $160 asking.  I think $130-140 is a good price for new.

[ckl]

Essential phone is definitely more than a couple of hundred dollars, more like in the $400+ range.

[Mana]

@ckl how much are you paying for this phone?

if it's more than a couple of hundred dollars, I would advice you to just buy a new cell phone to save yourself from trouble.