cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

What's Your "Daily Driver"?

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Hi,

 

I recently broke my phone and will be in search of something to replace it, might just buy another one (I honestly don't know at this point). I'm wondering what you all use, perhaps that could give me ideas for myself. Do state why you use your phone if there is a specific reason you like it.

92 REPLIES 92

jluong9
Great Citizen / Super Citoyen

I would get the pixel. It has a pretty great camera but not as great as the LG. Battery is a bit better than the LG though.

 

In my opinion of you're mostly going to be watching YouTube videos then get the pixel. Even though it has the same screen size as the LG I would get the pixel for the stereo speakers. 

I would recommend getting the Pixel.  It receives the latest security patches and OS updates.  I think you get two OS updates.  It runs a stock Android so there is no bloatware.  Also you get a good camera.

@Obice  Pixel 2 XL gets my vote. Runs Android 10 and the latest security updates each month. Also you will probably get Android 11 and 12 on that phone in the future.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Hey,

 

I'm curious what your thoughts are on the phones I have in mind to get, or you can suggest something of your own.

 

  • Google Pixel 2 XL P-OLED display, 64GB Storage; 2K screen (technically), Octa-core processor, 4GB RAM and stereo speakers with a USB-C jack. Normally I'd shoot for a phone with a headphone jack but I can make the exception since it has stereo speakers.
  • HTC One M9 LCD display, 32GB Storage, 1080p screen, Octa-core processor, 3GB RAM and stereo speakers.
  • LG V30 P-OLED display, 64GB Storage, 2K screen (technically), Octa-core processor, 4GB RAM, supposedly has audiophile grade audio and a headphone jack.

 

My aim is to use the phone mostly as a YouTube watching device and possibly as my daily driver. I currently have an iPhone SE and while the operating system is very smooth it is too confined for my taste; I'd prefer a more open system.

 

If I were to get the HTC One M9 I would definitely be modifying it since it has no support from HTC. The other two phones listed are in question.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@Scoman20 wrote:

I love my Note 9... but it's a bit overkill for the average consumer...


I think it's fair to say that most of the flagships of today are overkill for the average consumer, however, give it 6 years like my Note 3 and it will be just right for the average consumer. Naturally, the Note [whatever] will be out and that'll be overkill. Man LOL

Scoman20
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I love my Note 9... but it's a bit overkill for the average consumer...

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@srlawren wrote:

@Obice wrote:

Yeah... I reckon in order for Google to dish out promo's like that to a member, the member has to have been with them for awhile as compensation.


Been a Google services customer for a number of years, but only been on paid Google One more recently.  That said, there's the old saying that if you're not paying for the product, then you are the product.  


We as customers have always been the product, whether we literally pay or not.

 

Take YouTube Premium for example.

 

You either pay $12/mo for no ads and other features or you use YouTube for free and if you are on your mobile phone which you likely are you get to see many, many, many ads... 3-4 ads per video, Google's way of saying "Ha! You don't wanna pay? Alright, well f*** you, you get to be mercily fed ads till you pay us." So you either pay Google directly or you pay Google indirectly as they feed you relevant/personalized ads to compensate.

 

Or perhaps everything I just said can be summed to semantics.

 

Sorry for the rant... Just exasperated by the giants. What I find more petrifying than ads and marketing is if there was none... Can you imagine how much the cost of living would skyrocket? J.F.C..

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Obice wrote:

Yeah... I reckon in order for Google to dish out promo's like that to a member, the member has to have been with them for awhile as compensation.


Been a Google services customer for a number of years, but only been on paid Google One more recently.  That said, there's the old saying that if you're not paying for the product, then you are the product.  


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Yeah... I reckon in order for Google to dish out promo's like that to a member, the member has to have been with them for awhile as compensation.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Triguy wrote:

@srlawren Oneplus provides great support for their phones.  The Oneplus 3 received Pie update which is rare for a 3 year old phone.  The OS is near stock Android so I find it fast and you can also customize it.  Only downside is the camera is not as good as a Pixel or Samsung.  Also with each new model, the price keeps increasing but still cheaper then flagship phones.


@Triguy Agreed on all points! 

 

I was really upset when OP decided not to sell the non-Pro 7 in North America.  The Pro is really nice but a) I don't like curved screens, b) I don't care about the higher refresh rate or higher resolutions--1080p@60 is fine for me!, c) it's even bigger and I already struggle with the smallER 5T and 7, and d) though the pop-up selfie cam and notchless screen is NICE, I use face unlock a ton and it would just slow that down a bit. 

 

I waited a bit and looked at a few other options.  The Asus Zenfone 6 was high on my list but I have a strong preference for OLED over LCD, and face unlock would be even slower than with the 7 Pro due to the flip up cam.  The large battery would have been nice but real-world results for battery life weren't as impressive as you'd expect with 5000 mAh.  In the end, I decided to risk my first AliExpress order to import a 7, and so far no regrets.  🙂  I sure hope OP never completely discontinue the non-Pro line!!

 

 


@Obice wrote:


Google One gives you membership benefits such as discount hotel pricing and reduced movie costs but that's all at the moment, they claim more benefits will be available in the future.


@Obice I ordered a free* Google Home Mini a couple of weeks ago through Google One.  Was a nice little promo!  I already have one, so I gave this one to a friend--I figured someone should have it for $0*!

 

(* had to pay for the shipping but it was under $6 all-in including GST on the shipping.)


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

@srlawren Oneplus provides great support for their phones.  The Oneplus 3 received Pie update which is rare for a 3 year old phone.  The OS is near stock Android so I find it fast and you can also customize it.  Only downside is the camera is not as good as a Pixel or Samsung.  Also with each new model, the price keeps increasing but still cheaper then flagship phones.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@fatherburger wrote:

The Pixel 3a has unlimited "high quality photo storage" which means, the photos are not stored in full quality, but close enough that you won't notice the difference. The exception to that is video, though. Every Android phone has that anyway, of the ones that support Google Photos. 


I'll just stick to local storage... I paid for Google Photos briefly and didn't really feel "benefited". Google One gives you membership benefits such as discount hotel pricing and reduced movie costs but that's all at the moment, they claim more benefits will be available in the future.

 

If you pay for Google One which is like $2/mo you have plenty of cloud storage and you can just save your photos at their best quality. JPEG images are not that big in file size.

 

I got a discount after about 2 to 4 weeks of being a member, Google mailed me saying I could rent a qualifying movie for $1. This was back around May-June.

 

I'd like to try a Pixel phone out but I've been looking on and off all day and have found nowhere selling them cheap enough for me to get.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Triguy wrote:

I'm using a Oneplus 3 and 6T.  They are using an almost stock version of Android and usually get software updates faster then most manufacturers. The only downside is the camera is not as good as a Pixel or Samsung phone.  I had a Samsung phone and it was slow with the bloatware.  


@Triguy hey I totally missed this reply from you.  Another OnePlus guy, I see!  Glad to see another fan.  🙂  My first OP was the 3 as well, and then the 5T, and my 7 (non-Pro) arrived yesterday--it's very similar to your 6T but with the newer fingerprint scanner (a bit quicker as I understand it), Snapdragon 855 vs 845, different camera sensors on the back, and a slightly brighter peak screen brightness in auto mode apparently.  


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

fatherburger
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

I've installed multiple custom roms on 2 phones, and nothing happened. You have to know what you're doing though. I take no responsibility if you brick your phone. 

fatherburger
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

The Pixel 3a has unlimited "high quality photo storage" which means, the photos are not stored in full quality, but close enough that you won't notice the difference. The exception to that is video, though. Every Android phone has that anyway, of the ones that support Google Photos. 

fatherburger
Good Citizen / Bon Citoyen

A Pixel 2 XL. Great camera, great battery life, good call quality, processor, waterproof, gets security updates every month, quite loud speakers, looks nice, and is a pretty good phone overall.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

There is someone in the area selling a Galaxy A8 for $150. I might see about that, pretty good phone for that kind of money.

My ideal phone would be 7 inch screen 16 x9 format with minimal bezel, 5000 mAh battery, dual SIM, unlockable bootloader with xda community support. 

torontokris
Town Hero / Héro de la Ville

@Obice wrote:

@mh1983 wrote:

As a BlackBerry user, pretty much the new Titan Uniherz kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/titan-unihertz-rugged-qwerty-smartphone. Except I'd like it more if it weighed less.

 

Battery life, a nice screen, and a solid keyboard are the key criteria for me.


I cannot say I've owned a BlackBerry before nor a Microsoft phone, just to throw that out there.

 

A physical keyboard sounds like an interesting idea but with how phones are designed it compromises the screen and resolution.


I also love the physical keyboard but doesnt seem practical anymore with the screen sizes etc.

 

Battery life, & low price are my priorities. Not paying $1000-$1400 for a phone.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@mh1983 wrote:

As a BlackBerry user, pretty much the new Titan Uniherz kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/titan-unihertz-rugged-qwerty-smartphone. Except I'd like it more if it weighed less.

 

Battery life, a nice screen, and a solid keyboard are the key criteria for me.


I cannot say I've owned a BlackBerry before nor a Microsoft phone, just to throw that out there.

 

A physical keyboard sounds like an interesting idea but with how phones are designed it compromises the screen and resolution.

mh1983
Deputy Mayor / Adjoint au Maire

As a BlackBerry user, pretty much the new Titan Uniherz kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/titan-unihertz-rugged-qwerty-smartphone. Except I'd like it more if it weighed less.

 

Battery life, a nice screen, and a solid keyboard are the key criteria for me.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

Hi,

 

I'd like to use this thread as a means for everyone to share what their ideal smartphone would have to offer. This is all hypothetical, so answer however you like... I'll start.

 

Size and Display: 5.5 - 6 inch, 1080p 60 to 120hz, possibly 2K 60 to 120hz

 

Processor: 8 to 10 cores (I don't know mobile tech enough to be specific, something high end)

 

RAM: 6-12 GB

 

Storage: 128GB would be more than adequate for my needs, but since this is theoretical I'll go with 1TB. No expansion because honestly I don't see myself using more than 70GB. Also external storage is often slower than internal, I don't see the point when I got 1TB to work with.

 

Body: Metal front and back, no glass, matte black finish, removable back and waterproof.

 

Camera: I'm not too knowledgeable of megapixels although I would love to be able to record in 4K 60 FPS, so that.

 

Headphone Jack and Audio: Yup... Gotta have that! The audio would be 24 bit, 192K Khz, over 100dB (to point it out, I like my music loud and generally do not use headphones but the ability to plug into say a stereo system is what I fancy). The phone would have top and bottom front-facing speakers, kind of like what you'd see on an HTC M8 or M9.

 

I don't think I'm missing anything... Am I?

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

I've been to the store a few times in the last 5-6 months and I would put my Note 3 on the other new phones and what I was looking for is a phone to either be about the same size or bigger... that would've won me over, alas, not the case. xD

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@srlawren wrote:

@Obice wrote:

I have a lot of skepticism over using my finger for a print let alone using my face.


@Obice yeah, I know it weirds some people out.  Honestly, I'm not guarding any state secrets on my phone.  I only use the face to unlock the device; to balance that out, to get into any sensitive apps (LastPass for example), I have the OS set to promopt me for a finger print--generally considered pretty secure unless you're worried about someone using your finger when you're asleep or deceased but I think if they're doing that, you may have bigger problems to worry about.  🙂


I have no evidence of it, so it's my word against... well the authorities, I suppose, but I read or saw somewhere online that the NSA/CIA/whatever have backdoors to every phone and by accepting the EULA you as the user of the device agree to their constant spying.

 

There was a video on YouTube about this, but they have since deleted the video or something cause I cannot find it. It had to do with "deficit of character".

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Obice wrote:

I have a lot of skepticism over using my finger for a print let alone using my face.


@Obice yeah, I know it weirds some people out.  Honestly, I'm not guarding any state secrets on my phone.  I only use the face to unlock the device; to balance that out, to get into any sensitive apps (LastPass for example), I have the OS set to promopt me for a finger print--generally considered pretty secure unless you're worried about someone using your finger when you're asleep or deceased but I think if they're doing that, you may have bigger problems to worry about.  🙂


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@srlawren wrote:

@Obice wrote:

@srlawrenI base my shipping estimate on what my dad has ordered from BangGood. He has bought quite a few things. They tell him a few weeks, maybe a month... Took over 5-6 months for some things. According to him.

 

Yeah... Either have a normal camera on the front of your phone or remove it entirely. Personally I don't take selfies so I could live without. The rare, rare occasion I do I usually use the rear camera any way since it has better quality.


5-6 months, wow!  Hopefully he's a way more patient person than I am!

 

I don't take a ton of selfies either.  What I like selfie cam for is face unlock.  


He's so patient he'd probably wait till the zombie apocalypse killed everyone before he'd complain. It gets here when it gets here...

 

I have a lot of skepticism over using my finger for a print let alone using my face.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Obice wrote:

@srlawrenI base my shipping estimate on what my dad has ordered from BangGood. He has bought quite a few things. They tell him a few weeks, maybe a month... Took over 5-6 months for some things. According to him.

 

Yeah... Either have a normal camera on the front of your phone or remove it entirely. Personally I don't take selfies so I could live without. The rare, rare occasion I do I usually use the rear camera any way since it has better quality.


5-6 months, wow!  Hopefully he's a way more patient person than I am!

 

I don't take a ton of selfies either.  What I like selfie cam for is face unlock.  


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@srlawrenI base my shipping estimate on what my dad has ordered from BangGood. He has bought quite a few things. They tell him a few weeks, maybe a month... Took over 5-6 months for some things. According to him.

 

Yeah... Either have a normal camera on the front of your phone or remove it entirely. Personally I don't take selfies so I could live without. The rare, rare occasion I do I usually use the rear camera any way since it has better quality.

srlawren
Retired Oracle / Oracle Retraité

@Obice wrote:

The Note 9 is as high on the "Note" series I would go because the Note 10 has a "pinhole" camera which is a stupid design... stupider than the notch. Aha...

@Obice yeah it's funny, I hear some reviewers on YouTube saying how the pinhole is better than the notch but I don't get it, because the space around it isn't really very useful anyway, so why not black it out? The one exception to that last rule is a few 3rd party apps for the pinhole phones which use a circle around the pinhole for notification LED or for battery life remaining.  Kinda cool.  But overall I'd rather just have a notch.

 

 


@Obice wrote:


If AliExpress is anything like BangGood it quite possibly will be months.


Read plenty of reviews, and to Canada seems to take around 2-5 weeks.  It actually shipped out within a couple of days and I've got tracking info that suggests it has left China already, but the tracking is a bit confusing and I have no idea how accurate it is.  


It currently looks like this:

 

AliTracking.png


>>> ALERT: I am not a moderator. For account or activation assistance, please click here.

Obice
Model Citizen / Citoyen Modèle

@111111 wrote:

I use only iPhones


I can't blame you... simple and mostly work as intended.

 

One thing I cherish about iOS over Android is the smooth and polished feel of iOS. Perhaps this is where the OnePlus 7 Pro reigns.

Need Help? Let's chat.