Cell Phones & Service

[kuhla]

https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2017/06/20/firefox-focus-new-to-android-blocks-annoying-ads-and-protects-your-privacy/

Trying this for a bit as my default browser on my phone.

[Malaphax]

Hmmm.  The real question is how that will work with security updates.

I feel stuck with project fi.  I'm a perfect customer for the service because of my low data usage.  But I'm not super interested in paying for an expensive pixel device considering what I use my phone for.  To top matters off, I really want a stock/near stock android experience and frequent updates, which doesn't exist outside of Google's ecosystem. 

[Malaphax]

Welp that was fast:

https://venturebeat.com/2017/06/30/lenovos-moto-x4-is-coming-to-googles-project-fi-in-q4/

Guess we'll get the motorola X4 as the mid-tier google fi phone this year.  I'm still more interested in updates and security patches at this point, so that might be the deal breaker when it comes to choosing a new phone.  I have a feeling the pixel 2 phones are going to be expensive and shitty looking.  I might sincerely consider running my 5X until it's end of life: September '18 for security updates.

[kuhla]

I hope this is a sign of more things to come but I sort of doubt it will.

[Malaphax]

At best we'll see the Project Fi platform open up to other OEMs, but even then I can't imagine that list growing beyond a few that have closely worked with Google previously: HTC, Motorola and LG.  Again, I think the bigger issue is software updates.  Since the manufacturers need to push these updates AFTER google pushes them and then it goes to the carrier, you're going to end up with a long delay at best and more likely little to no updates except maybe a version update roughly 9 months after the phone launches. 

I have no intention of buying an iPhone, but I envy their more unified ecosystem and long life of updates.  The closest we can get is the Pixel line, sadly I doubt the new pixel devices will interest me. 

[T1no]

too damn expensive. its a good phone tho.

[Malaphax]

I saw a few people mentioning the One Plus 5, and someone else briefly mentioned the LG G6, which is a very close replacement for the Nexus 5X that I currently have.  It compares well to the pixel also. 
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8466&idPhone2=7556&idPhone3=8346

There are some downsides.  The camera isn't amazing (still good), the weird aspect ratio 2:1 (18:9 reduce your fractions) although the ratio is likely coming to other manufacturers soon, so who knows.

[kuhla]

2 hours ago, Malaphax said:

I saw a few people mentioning the One Plus 5, and someone else briefly mentioned the LG G6, which is a very close replacement for the Nexus 5X that I currently have.  It compares well to the pixel also. 
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8466&idPhone2=7556&idPhone3=8346

There are some downsides.  The camera isn't amazing (still good), the weird aspect ratio 2:1 (18:9 reduce your fractions) although the ratio is likely coming to other manufacturers soon, so who knows.

If I was leaving the Nexus/Pixel line, I would probably bite the bullet and go Sony Xperia XZs

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8466&idPhone2=7556&idPhone3=8599

https://www.amazon.com/Xperia-G8232-5-2-Inch-FACTORY-UNLOCKED/dp/B06XYM38JB/

[kuhla]

article - http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/07/11/exclusive-this-is-the-2017-google-pixel-xl-with-low-bezel-amoled-display-and-squeezable-frame/

They have pictures in the article but they are just renders that they claim are very likely accurate based on some insider info that was given exclusively to them about the next Pixel phone. This is all regarding the "large" model. No info on the "small" model.

• LG-made AMOLED display, 6", 2:1 aspect ratio
• Curved glass edges on display (think samsung edge)
• Rear camera probably not flush with body.
• "...Pixel XL will have a "squeezable" frame a la HTC U11."

[Malaphax]

The display is not curved, it does have rounded corners, but the display does not have the samsung edge style curved display. 

Quote

The "3D" glass effect is also much more pronounced on this phone, though don't go confusing that for a curved display - the screen itself is flat.

Plenty of people believe the squeezable frame might work it's way into stock android, allowing for more customization.  I'm skeptical - seems like a weird control scheme.

[kuhla]

3 hours ago, Malaphax said:

The display is not curved, it does have rounded corners, but the display does not have the samsung edge style curved display.

Ahh. Ok.

[Malaphax]

More rumors of the Google Pixel 2 XL coming from our wonder friends in the phone case industry.  https://www.reddit.com/r/GooglePixel/comments/6qlkgj/pixel_xl2_cases_on_amazon/

It looks like the phone may (there have been renders to the contrary) have a 3.5mm headphone jack.  Also depending on if these screen protectors are accurate, it may also have dual front facing speakers. 

[kuhla]

"VentureBeat posts leaked image of the smaller 2017 Pixel, confirms no headphone jack"

article - http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/08/04/venturebeat-posts-leaked-image-2017-pixel-confirms-no-headphone-jack/

If I'm getting this phone I guess I better start shopping wireless headphones 

[kuhla]

article - https://androidcommunity.com/paranoid-android-makes-all-elements-open-source-code-available-in-github-20170807/

Quote

 

Paranoid Android is one of the more popular custom ROMs for Android devices out there, mainly because of the great quality of their work. Popularly known by their moniker AOSPA, the Paranoid Android project supports a lot of popular devices, especially ones powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. If there’s any criticism against them, it’s that they haven’t made the source code for their popular ROM elements available to the public. But that fact can already be considered untrue as of last week.

Starting last week Paranoid Android has made the code to the popular elements of their ROM – these include the AOSPA-exclusive Color Engine, the PIE Controls system, Accidental Touch (prevention) functionality, Pocket Lock and the Three-Finger Swipe Screenshot feature – all available for the developer community. You can access these now at the official GitHub for AOSPA.

In an interview with XDA, AOSPA lead developer Alex Naidis said that while there are around 15 developers working on the AOSPA team right now, they are still working on the project on their free time. This is why the elements were not immediately available as open source – the team felt that they needed to get the elements ready for public consumption and for a while there, they just were not convinced they were.

Naidis also opened up the fact that Paranoid Android was indeed working with Razer (via Nextbit) with software, but that they really can’t comment on what project they are working on at the moment. But the team behind AOSPA are promising improvements on the speed of updates for the ROM.

 

Cool. They are one of the bigger groups. *sees Razer* Danger. Danger.

[Malaphax]

 

[Malaphax]

Google finally remembered about their android one project. 

https://www.blog.google/products/android/taking-next-step-android-one/

Nifty "budget" smartphone with a solid camera and decent specs for $230.  Although this might not come to the US (lol). 
I'm glad to see more budget options available - it sucks that it most likely won't come to the US.  I would also have some trepidation about using a Chinese company's smartphone.  It's still a solid looking device.  I guess Google sent over their engineers to work on this which is why it looks very similar to nexus/pixel designs.   

https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/05/xiaomi-android-one-mi-a1/

[Malaphax]

We should get the full reveal of the new pixel 2 and XL on October 5th.  But for now we get leaks, super blurred non-confirmed leaks. 
https://9to5google.com/2017/09/06/pixel-2-tidbits-slate-gray-black-model-64gb-128gb-storage-ip-68-google-lens/

• Waterproof(?)
• Stereo front facing speakers (nice)
• No 3mm jack (courageous)
• Big ass bezels (so aesthetic)
• EIS - no OIS.  I'm less worried about this considering the pixel camera is still regarded as world class, I expect the pixel 2 will be no different.
• Likely More Expensive

On the one hand I'm glad to see waterproof/resistant is a new standard, it just makes sense considering everything has sealed batteries now.  I don't personally use my 3mm jack at all, but I would make some minor use of front facing speakers.  The big ass bezels are hideous and basically a holdover from google not designing hardware from the ground up (regardless of what they say).  The more expensive part is going to be a really tough sell.  Pixels were stupidly expensive at launch for their specs and I don't think I could stomach the idea of an $800+ phone that just happens to have a really good camera and stock android.  Especially when the LG V30 is looking so solid.  Project-fi makes this all more complicated than I'd like.  I'm not sure t-mobile is worth switching to, considering my extremely limited data usage - but I'm not looking forward to the idea of getting stuck too deep in google's ecosystem. 
Here's a little comparison of the LG V30, Nexus 5X and the Pixel (original) that I've been glossing over to get an idea of what some major options are. 
http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8712&idPhone2=7556&idPhone3=8346

Sidenote: One of the reasons why I moved to project fi was the idea that I'd get updates faster than on major carriers since they have been known to hold back updates.  Recently this hasn't been the case.  Android 8.0 is out on some people's devices and I'm hearing mixed responses on the project-fi subreddit about it's release.  I'm starting to wonder if just going for an unlocked device and putting it on just about any carrier, is currently the fastest way to get updates.  I guess I should be mildly grateful considering I've heard about the mobile data and wifi glitch currently happening on 8.0 but it still chaps my ass that Google's own carrier is slower at delivering updates. 

[T1no]

yes front facing speaker. the pixel speaker sounds like ass.

i got o last week and few things i notice.

they move shit around on the menu. for the better i think. just need to relearn where shits are. not bad.

i like the lighter color on the settings.

bootup is way faster.

battery seems about the same

gps went crazy for w.e reason for few times.

 

[kuhla]

What's all this noise about Moto X4, possible US release, project fi support, android 1..... something.... dunno what it is yet....

[Malaphax]

The problem I have with the Moto X4 is that it doesn't follow the Google design guidelines.  It doesn't have a rear fingerprint sensor, which I would argue should be the standard position, especially considering the other android one phone the xiaomi mi a1 does have the rear fingerprint sensor.  It's also doesn't receive direct from Google updates, it's still running through OEMs for support and security patches.  Until I see this in practice, my bet is that it's going to run behind Google's Pixel/Nexus security patches. 

I did hear the project fi support mentioned as well, which would be nice to have an option on fi that isn't a pixel and isn't super expensive.  Again I'm not sure I want to be an early adopter on a google program that isn't super mainstream because google has a tendency to kill off random things. 

http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/09/09/android-one-edition-moto-x4-leaks-uss-first-android-one-phone/

Quote

Aside from the software, the Moto X4 Android One edition should have the same specs as its non-tramp stamped brother. That means a 5.2" 1080p display, a Snapdragon 630, 3 or 4 GB of RAM, 32GB or 64GB of storage, a 12MP/8MP dual rear camera setup, a 16MP front-facing camera, a 3000mAh battery, and IP68 certification. We're not too sure about pricing or availability, but we'll hopefully hear more about this soon.

 

[kuhla]

With the Pixel phones coming out soon and the recent iPhone X announcement I wanted to make a point about pricing.

gsmarena - http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_xz-8313.php

amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Sony-Xperia-XZ-Unlocked-Smartphone/dp/B01M1HXWL9/

sony statement the XZ is getting Oreo - https://blogs.sonymobile.com/2017/08/31/xperia-android-8-0-oreo/

Look at the feature list for the Sony Xperia XZ. Depending on exact model, warranty, storage, etc. you can get it for right around $400 brand new direct from Amazon. It's not the perfect phone and it was released about a year ago but I have a hard time understanding the justification of some $600+ phones.

[Malaphax]

It's a twofold problem.  The first issue is market dominance and pricing power.  There are basically 2 smartphone brands that have name recognition: Apple and Samsung.  If you aren't either then you basically don't matter to Joe Public.  Samsung has been steadily increasing their prices on phones for the last 5 years, not because the tech inside each phone has become drastically different but because their dominance provides them with pricing power.  They're also currently testing for price ceilings on smartphones, right now the ceiling is $1,000 and it's entirely possible they might try for something like an $1,100 or $1,200 phone in a year or so. 

Secondly there are some cost components that are beginning to drive prices.  OLED is basically Samsung proprietary tech (and LG to a much lesser extent) which means that Apple could be paying a pretty penny for those new iPhone X screens, possibly $100+ per phone.  They also are at the mercy of Samsung's manufacturing, which means the Galaxy's will be first in line and Apple gets second pick. 
And then there's DRAM.  As you've pointed out repeatedly the DRAM prices have been increasing rather substantially, and this is mostly due to the smartphone market suddenly pushing out phones with 4gb+ of memory.  The DRAM manufacturers are actually running into supply constraints while their new production comes online, estimated in 2H2018 or later, and that is helping push up these memory prices.  While I'm not going full tinfoil hat on this, I also think the DRAM manufacturers are doing a bit of price fixing to help out the bottom line. 

I agree the Sony phones have always had really solid specs, they were one of the first phones to have full waterproofing in a flagship, they still maintain stereo speakers and headphone jacks and they even offer a compact model which I can appreciate.  However, that's a 1 year old phone and likely won't get any updates beyond 8.0, which means little to no security updates or minor patches. 
I would also look at the LG V30 as a solid contender, but with LG's history of slow (or no) updates it's hard to justify dropping $600-$700 for something that likely won't get any updates. 

At this point I'm really hoping that Android 8.0's treble will help with the software update issues that so many OEMs suffer from.  In the meantime there are two companies that provide solid update support guaranteed: Apple and Google.  Unfortunately I'm not super thrilled with the buzz around the Pixel 2 phones.  I currently have to decide to hold on to my 5x for another year (and pray the pixel 3 isn't garbage) or pony up the big bucks for a pixel 2 hoping it's not too many compromises.  I'm not super thrilled about either choice.

Sidenote - I've never engaged in the secondary market for phones, but I might seriously consider that as another option.  Using Swappa to help recoup the cost of an expensive phone might take some of the sting out of this situation. 

[Jedi2155]

The pricing for the iPhone X 256 is $1150. The ceiling has been surpassed. Wifey is already planning on that model.

Had this show up on my google home page so they're advertising.

On the comment of guaranteed support. I've been pretty happy with Samsung's software support of the Note series. As my old Note 2 (which my Dad is using) is still getting the occasional security update despite being a 5 year old device (purchased Oct. 2012). My Note 5 went through Android 5/6 and 7 in its 2 year lifespan. If you're on a non-mainstream Samsung phone though I expect support to be significantly worse though.

Loving my Note 8 though. Samsung has always made phone features that appealed to me and other manufacturers tend to always lack something that I want.

[kuhla]

If we get to the end of the year and the pixels end up being a disappointment and nothing else ends up interesting me then I should really put my money where my mouth is.... possibly even go back to the days of rootin n romin...

Sony XZs - https://www.amazon.com/Xperia-G8232-5-2-Inch-FACTORY-UNLOCKED/dp/B06XYM38JB

[Malaphax]

I briefly looked at the XZ1 since it's the new version releasing soon and a quick comparison looks pretty bad.  I'm not sure why you would you get the new XZ1 instead of the XZs?

I sincerely hope I don't have to go back to the days of rooting and romming, mostly because there's security concerns when you do root your phone.  I'm a bit more sensitive to security concerns on my phone currently. 

Sidenote: I really should consider using banking apps on my phone.  I've been acting like a curmudgeon because of it being a phone rather than a computer, but with the monthly security updates on Google devices I have much less of an excuse to try and treat my phone the way I do. 
Also I really should enable 2 factor ON EVERYTHING.  I have it on some of my services, but I should just sit down one day and enable it everywhere.