Choices choices

[Anonymous]

So I'm torn between a couple phones.

1. Samsung S10+ with Samsung Pay that automatically flips in/out of NFC to make the payment. That and an SD card slot and headphone jack. But a lot of money.

2. Motorola One Hyper being pure Android without the bloatware and that neato pop-up front camera not taking screen real estate. Same with the SD card slot and headphone jack. Unfortunately Google Pay doesn't do that nifty auto-NFC. But a lot less money.

What to do what to do.

Anybody with real world experience yet with the new Hyper? Anybody with a way to turn on NFC automatically without giving up all kinds of private information permissions (don't want to get into rooting either) to run macros?

[Anonymous]

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@Korth wrote:

Whatever the case may be, I would definitely call in advance before such a long drive (2-3 hours, each way). And, where specific clarification is needed, I would ask them to read the packaging numbers or send me a photo or something.

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5 hours one way.

I like that photo idea. I checked and double checked and they said and they repeated. Alas. They say ask the seller. Even asking the seller can be all wrong. It's just enormously frustrating.

And then...even the model numbers can be misleading due to maybe having been imported from other regions. Or one reference says one thing but another says another. Crap.

[Anonymous]

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@gpixel wrote:

@Anonymous lol.. there is a store in Chilliwack called "cell phones n more". maybe you can give them a call and see if they have that phone in stock. 

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Thanks for that. They have an A51. I'd prefer to keep the cost down. We'll see. It might not come with NFC either.

[Korth]

I'm in Chilliwack. There ain't nothing else in Chilliwack. I'd expect Abbotsford to have more tech stores with more tech things in stock. I'd expect Richmond to have the most tech stores with the most tech things in stock.

Whatever the case may be, I would definitely call in advance before such a long drive (2-3 hours, each way). And, where specific clarification is needed, I would ask them to read the packaging numbers or send me a photo or something.

[gpixel]

@Anonymous lol.. there is a store in Chilliwack called "cell phones n more". maybe you can give them a call and see if they have that phone in stock. 

[Anonymous]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@Anonymous good luck sir.  Please keep us posted.

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Here it is.

6 freaking weeks to the day later...I open the package and right there on the sticker that the seller couldn't be bothered to look at was the same model number that I had already found out didn't have NFC. After they said it did. After they said the model number was something else. Or at least not the full length. They say they'll take it back at their cost and refund me all my money. It's on its way. We'll see.

So I've just discovered a retailer in Richmond BC that I stumbled across on ebay. Still trying to work out details there too.

I hate mail order.

Maybe I'll go for a road trip. It's only 5 hours away.

[srlawren]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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I've just ordered up another Samsung A31 that apparently does have NFC. So we'll see. I still have uncertainty on that and it'll cost me more to return that one if need be.

Stupid mail order.

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@Anonymous good luck sir.  Please keep us posted.

[srlawren]

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@gpixel wrote:

Nexus 5 is a good phone... the legend continues 🙌

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@gpixel that's great news but how will that help anyone looking for a new phone in Q3 2020 and later??

[Anonymous]

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@srlawren wrote:

@Anonymous makes sense.  My car predates Android Auto support, but if I had that, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to lose it, either!

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 @srlawren 

I had first tried out an Android Go phone. Worked great. Until I tried using it with Android Auto. Oh. Dang.

So now reading these conflicting bits here and there makes me wary of Android One.

I've just ordered up another Samsung A31 that apparently does have NFC. So we'll see. I still have uncertainty on that and it'll cost me more to return that one if need be.

Stupid mail order.

[gpixel]

Nexus 5 is a good phone... the legend continues 🙌

[srlawren]

@Anonymous makes sense.  My car predates Android Auto support, but if I had that, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to lose it, either!

[Anonymous]

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@srlawren wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @geopublic Yeah I was all set to go with either of those brands until I saw something about limitations with One.

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@Anonymous do you have any examples?  I don't recall ever hearing of limitations with Android One.  Curious what you saw.

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 @srlawren I see conflicting reports of problems with Android Auto. Maybe it was earlier Android One. Maybe Android One 9 or 10 are fine now. Dunno. My car has Android Auto (and the other fruity thingy). Do I actually use it? Barely. But still. It would be nice to know that I can just attach it to my car and it works.

[srlawren]

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@Anonymous wrote:

 @geopublic Yeah I was all set to go with either of those brands until I saw something about limitations with One.

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@Anonymous do you have any examples?  I don't recall ever hearing of limitations with Android One.  Curious what you saw.

[geopublic]

@Anonymous  Android One is the closest thing to running pure Android. A device manufacture is prohibited from modifying or adding additional apps that are not approved by Google so it's a good choice.

[Anonymous]

 @geopublic Yeah I was all set to go with either of those brands until I saw something about limitations with One. I had previously had experience with the limitations of Go so I didn't want to do that again. But I had really liked the idea of spending less on a One phone and not having bloatware.

I'll have another look. Thanks

Dual SIM's seem a little hard to come by in person around these parts though. Back to mail order.

[geopublic]

@Anonymous  Next to purchasing a Google Pixel the Android One program is by far the best option as it will guarantee upcoming Android OS and timely security updates and offers no bloatware on the device. In fact it costs more money for a device manufacture to join the Android one program. Android go is a totally different option that allowes entry level devices to run lower power versions of Google apps.

[Anonymous]

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@geopublic wrote:

Nokia Android one models are also a great choice.

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Thanks @geopublic . Yes I've been eyeing those too and Motorola but I seem to think Android One has some limitations. Less than Android Go but more than full Android.

Maybe I've misunderstood things.

[geopublic]

Nokia Android one models are also a great choice.

[Anonymous]

Ok so this is nice. The Amazon seller will do the return.

So now I can find alternatives. I found some on eBay. If only they could b1@@dy reply in a reasonable amount of time so I can get going.

I'm looking at Samsungs...A11, A2*,  A3*. Those sorta price points.

[Anonymous]

 @Korth 

Still haven't looked for what I read but the gist of it was that with the little geopolitical spat going on between the US and China that it would seem to me that the US told Google that some Chinese devices should be blocked from using Google services for sale in the US. You wanna buy that Huawei phone in the states.. well you can't get to the Play store.

That's what I understood from it.

[Korth]

Google is headquartered in USA but is not a USA company. It's a global company, it has to comply to local laws of the land (not necessarily USA laws) within each nation. Google in Canada must abide to Canadian business practices and legal structures. Although Canadian laws governing stuff like privacy, protectionism, and market competition are an incomprehensible corrupted gong show so our illustrious leaders usually just sign whatever EULA terms the USA puts on the table..

In terms of people numbers and raw dollars, Google actually does more business and makes more money in China than it does in America or Europe.

China supports Chinese (or even Taiwanese) businesses in preference to foreign businesses. But China's government has (so far) chosen to remain largely uninvolved - it isn't going to sacrifice a Big Chinese Company, it also isn't going to jeopardize its economic arrangements by antagonizing a Big Foreign Company - Google vs Huawei is just a "new" competitor muscling into an established market. Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung have all done this before. Google is just being whiny and hiding behind authoritah instead of drawing up strategies to compete and innovate.

[Anonymous]

 @computergeek541 

Google is a US-based company. They could get told not to allow certain devices to be able to use Google services.

But I don't know if that would apply to us or by way of a multitude of agreements that we would have to abide by it.

I guess I should see if I can find that info I read somewhere. It was on the internet so it has be true 🙂

[computergeek541]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Thanks @geopublic . Do those Chinese phones work with the Play store? What's all this I'm reading about the US blocking it from Chinese phones? Is that just the states? Does that apply to here?

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The U.S.has no juristiction in China. It also has nothing to do with phones that are made in China, or even by Chinese companies. I would dare say that most phones in the world are manufactured in China. Lenovo is a Chinese company and owns the Motorola cellular phone brand. These devices sold through official channels here do have Play Store pre-installed. I would say that It has to do with which market the device was intended to be sold in. 

Someone using the internet in China is activately blocked due to rules in China stating that that Play store cannot be used. If someone uses a VPN to successfully trick the Play Store, it will work. However, because of that, phones that phones instended for this market do not have it installed.

[Anonymous]

That's really informative @Korth thank you.

I guess I'm a little more comfortable being in somebody's sandbox. I like the Koho app and Google/Samsung Pay. I played around with rooting an older phone and I didn't really like that I couldn't just get on the Play store and get an app. That I'd have to find a hopefully reputable source and manually install an apk.

Also for a newer phone not wanting to affect any warranties or services.

If I ever do get a lower to mid level phone maybe I'll play around with rooting my S7. We'll see.

[Korth]

Huawei AppGallery is much the same thing as Google Play Store. I'd say over 90% overlap - most devs don't care who's in charge of the Android their apps run on, though some devs target Chinese market and some devs choose to be (or are stuck being) exclusively Google platforms.

One can always side-load Google apps (playstore, gmail, maps, youtube, etc) on any Android. Google gets very huffy about this and sternly admonishes all who dare. But all these apps do work perfectly fine - for now, anyways. At least from the end-user's perspective - from Google's perspective their data collection gets filled with compromised bits and incomplete holes.

Non-Google can't run the Google trust authority stuff, security certificates, etc, of course. The same services which will "break" if you root or mod a Google-certified device.

Some people are better off running inside the box which Google or Apple or Microsoft built for them (it's limited but it's still huge and robust and quite capable for most things most people do), and some people are better off running outside the box (nobody gonna make decisions for them), and Huawei is rapidly building their box but it's still open and unfinished and changing.

[geopublic]

@Anonymous  The F2 is Google Play certified in fact all Google apps work without any issues.

[Anonymous]

Thanks @geopublic . Do those Chinese phones work with the Play store? What's all this I'm reading about the US blocking it from Chinese phones? Is that just the states? Does that apply to here?

[geopublic]

@Anonymous  If you are looking at Chinese the Umidigi F2 supports NFC runs close to stock Android 10 supports two SIMs plus an SD card at the same time. Performance on the F2  is good and you can also make it quicker by debloating most of the MediaTek apps. If you can wait take a look at  Pixel 4a or Pixel 5. Pure Android and your covered with OS and security updates for the next three years, NFC, great camera good performance great features plus battery optimization. Currently I'm using the F2 and waiting until the Pixel 5 is out.

[sheytoon]

Yes, absolutely they can do that if they want from the core network. But they can't block a subset of the LTE bands. So either they give you full LTE band access, or no LTE. There is no in between option.

LTE band access for Bell subscribers is a different story. Those can be shared per band. For example, LTE B30 is only for Telus/Koodo/PM, but not for Bell/Virgin/Lucky.

[computergeek541]

@sheytoon 

I know that they don't, but in theory, Public could block customers from all LTE network connections, could they not?

[sheytoon]

That's correct. It's actually impossible to block bands for PM based on the Telus network design.