Database Users

[Q] Which phone do you recommend me to upgrade to from a N4?

I have had a nexus 4 for almost 2 years and I like it. Even so it has its negative points, especially after all this time. It's not as responsive as it used to be and battery life, which wasn't stellar to begin with, has decayed a lot. With this in mind I have been searching for a good phone to replace it. I was waiting for the Nexus 6 to come out but when it was officially announced that screen size and the price scared me away.
After the announcement I have been searching and comparing a bunch of phones. I was interested on the OnePlus One but the buying process is a pain in the ass. I checked the S5 but then I remembered it had the infamous Touchwiz which I had already (even though in an earlier incarnation) on a Galaxy Ace I had before the N4 and there was also the fact that it is expensive as hell on my carrier. I also checked the HTC One M8 but the camera resolution seems horrible. I have checked the Sony Xperia line but it is as expensive as the S5 in my carrier and also pretty expensive on sites like Amazon. At last I have been comparing between a Nexus 5 and a LG G3. I know they have almost a year between them but I like the fact that the Nexus 5 is cheap and receives fast updates, although I have heard battery life was not improved very much. And, on the G3's side, it is newer, has better hardware and supposedly has a good battery life(I have heard mixed views on this as some say battery is good while others say it is horrible).
So, to sum it up, I would like to know your opinions and would also like to know if you happen to know some other options I haven't considered.
Thanks and sorry for the long post and if this wasn't the right forum to ask this.

vik-sama said:
So, to sum it up, I would like to know your opinions and would also like to know if you happen to know some other options I haven't considered.
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Look at an LG G2. $400 for a new one, under $300 for a used one in good/mint condition. Beefy 3000mAh battery, very competent hardware, big screen in a not-so-big body, and a good amount of development if you want to try different ROMs/kernels. As cheap, or even cheaper, than a Nexus 5, but with a much bigger battery and better camera. With the G3 out, prices have plummeted on the G2, and have made it a veritable bargain.
The G3 is a hell of a phone. The QHD screen might drain the battery a bit more, but on this phone the battery is replaceable, so just buy a spare if you're worried about that. Not much development yet, but if you buy the T-Mobile version or one with an unlocked bootloader it's easy to root and modify with Xposed, which gives you plenty of options to tweak it to your satisfaction.
Regarding the HTC One's camera - it's not great, but it's not bad either. If all you're wanting to do is post pics to Facebook or internet forums, it's perfectly fine, since pictures will be reduced anyway. Where it suffers is in cropped detailed pics, and stuff like sweeping vistas and anything far away. That aside, the One is an awesome device.

My personal choice from what's available right now would definitely be the HTC One M8. If you don't care a huge deal about the camera then there are very few flaws to it at all. The camera on the M8 will definitely be worse in normal light than most other flagships but the pictures it takes are still far better than those from the N4 and in low light the camera performs better than most, not to mention the fact that it has good autofocus and a myriad of extra features which you may or may not find useful but they're still nice to have. Battery life is excellent, the screen is absolutely gorgeous, Sense brings extra features and (arguably) a nicer design than AOSP whilst retaining excellent performance and the phone is just generally far nicer to use than anything else I've tried.

Look for the Huawei Honor 6.
300$, full LTE, 16GB upgradable with microSD, beautiful 5" HD screen... I'm gonna buy this phone in the next week for replacement of my N4.

I went from a Nexus 4 to a HTC One M8 and hated it, hence why I'm back with my Nexus 4. That said, I'm definitely in the minority.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

HTC One M8 or G3? Help please!

I'm getting a new phone soon, and I'm stuck between the LG G3 and HTC One M8. I know this is the G3 forum but I hope I'll get honest suggestions from here.
Can someone please honestly answer my questions:
1. Since I'm coming from the Moto X 2014, I need a fast enough and future proof (duh, till 2016 Jun) phone. I sold it because the screen was fragile, display was so yellowish to my liking, camera wasn't good, no dev support, poor headphone output, poor battery and tempered glass protectors won't even fit properly. My question is, is the G3 really fast enough for the period I stated above? I don't want any lag or frame rate issues on my phone, even with games like MC5 or any other GPU demanding game.
2. How's the battery of the phone? I know about the stock figures, but with a custom ROM, and custom kernel, how many SOT can you get?
3. How's the headphone output? Is it comparable to the One M8 after some tweaking?
4. I don't mind chaging the screen resolution to 1080p, but after changing it, is the phone completely stable? I don't need bugs or any stability issues.
I really like the G3 for its screen size and camera (camera isn't a big priority though), a GB of RAM extra, bezel less design. While, the HTC M8 is cheaper, with some good Harman Kardon earphones, much better speakers, better performance.
Help me out please!

edios123 said:
I'm getting a new phone soon, and I'm stuck between the LG G3 and HTC One M8. I know this is the G3 forum but I hope I'll get honest suggestions from here.
Can someone please honestly answer my questions:
1. Since I'm coming from the Moto X 2014, I need a fast enough and future proof (duh, till 2016 Jun) phone. I sold it because the screen was fragile, display was so yellowish to my liking, camera wasn't good, no dev support, poor headphone output, poor battery and tempered glass protectors won't even fit properly. My question is, is the G3 really fast enough for the period I stated above? I don't want any lag or frame rate issues on my phone, even with games like MC5 or any other GPU demanding game.
2. How's the battery of the phone? I know about the stock figures, but with a custom ROM, and custom kernel, how many SOT can you get?
3. How's the headphone output? Is it comparable to the One M8 after some tweaking?
4. I don't mind chaging the screen resolution to 1080p, but after changing it, is the phone completely stable? I don't need bugs or any stability issues.
I really like the G3 for its screen size and camera (camera isn't a big priority though), a GB of RAM extra, bezel less design. While, the HTC M8 is cheaper, with some good Harman Kardon earphones, much better speakers, better performance.
Help me out please!
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Well i would suggest the G3 for the same reasons i got it, the camera is far better than the M8, the video recording is up to 4k, the screen can't be lowered in resolution so the battery might drain a bit more than the M8 but the battery on the G3 has more capacity, the phone lasts me a whole day and a bit more but i always charge it each night, the phone is bigger in screen size and overall size but the feel on the hand is quite good, im typing using one hand so that should say a lot, the phone is plenty fast and the added gig of ram future proofs the phone a bit more, i would say hold out for the g4 but if you need to buy now then get the g3 i have already owned it for almost a year and the phone has been fantastic, im currently using the stock 4.4.2 firmware because lollipop breaks root and there is no shortage of roms so you can customize away with your liking. Overall get the G3. Also a minor detail that is easily noticeable on gold and white phones are small hairline cracks on the mics and ir blaster so if that is an absolute deal breaker get the m8 and if you get the at&t version then watch out cause sometimes some phones the wireless charging stops working good thing is at&t will exhange it but you have to press that the issue is the phone not the accesories. Overall is the best phone i have had since my sgs3
Sent from my LG-D850 using XDA Free mobile app

bolillo said:
Well i would suggest the G3 for the same reasons i got it, the camera is far better than the M8, the video recording is up to 4k, the screen can't be lowered in resolution so the battery might drain a bit more than the M8 but the battery on the G3 has more capacity, the phone lasts me a whole day and a bit more but i always charge it each night, the phone is bigger in screen size and overall size but the feel on the hand is quite good, im typing using one hand so that should say a lot, the phone is plenty fast and the added gig of ram future proofs the phone a bit more, i would say hold out for the g4 but if you need to buy now then get the g3 i have already owned it for almost a year and the phone has been fantastic, im currently using the stock 4.4.2 firmware because lollipop breaks root and there is no shortage of roms so you can customize away with your liking. Overall get the G3. Also a minor detail that is easily noticeable on gold and white phones are small hairline cracks on the mics and ir blaster so if that is an absolute deal breaker get the m8 and if you get the at&t version then watch out cause sometimes some phones the wireless charging stops working good thing is at&t will exhange it but you have to press that the issue is the phone not the accesories. Overall is the best phone i have had since my sgs3
Sent from my LG-D850 using XDA Free mobile app
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Some reviews say G3 is better, some say M8 is better. So I can't decide on one.
The only thing holding me back from the G3 is the lag. I got into some G3 threads and it seems the phone really lags in gaming too. If the lag wasn't there, G3 was the better phone obviously. I can't wait for the G4 because I'm getting these for cheap.
I don't want lag in ANY game or app. :/

With stock based custom rom I don't have lag.
With aosp based rom is incredibly fast.

I have both (actually my wife has the M8).
G3 pros
1) better camera
2) better screen
3) better in hand sensation
4) more updates (about 3 in 3 months)

edios123 said:
Some reviews say G3 is better, some say M8 is better. So I can't decide on one.
The only thing holding me back from the G3 is the lag. I got into some G3 threads and it seems the phone really lags in gaming too. If the lag wasn't there, G3 was the better phone obviously. I can't wait for the G4 because I'm getting these for cheap.
I don't want lag in ANY game or app. :/
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I really dont understand why people say theres lag in games? i have this phone and dont get any lag in games at all and im on a stock rom too, personally i think G3 is a better phone than the m8, screens bigger with great screen to bezel ratio, quality of the screen is better imo, battery life maybe isnt better as this phone has a bigger screen and higher resolution screen (btw watch a high def movie on the LG G3 and it looks amazing). i bought my LG G3 for £280 brand new sim unlocked, for that price you cant go wrong.

I think the screen on the G3 is really good. It's what I liked the first time I seen it. Not that it was big but because it looked so clear. I used to calibrate displays and I think overall its one of the best screens I've seen on a phone. It definitely lacks black level but makes up for it everywhere else. Sharpness is now modifiable.
-A modified G3 can reach the M8 in benchmarks so speed may be comparable.
-A modified G3 can reach 80fps in Quadrant benchmarks.
-The G3 has a good camera and great third party app.
My parents both have an M8 as per my suggestion. I think they are great phones but I'm not sorry for choosing the G3 for myself, except for those great speakers the M8 has. Those speakers are just awesome!
Overall the build quality is totally different between the two based on materials used but the G3 isn't as bad as a Samsung.

jhonyp said:
With stock based custom rom I don't have lag.
With aosp based rom is incredibly fast.
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Will I miss any good feature in AOSP? Is it completely stable?
diegodbm said:
I have both (actually my wife has the M8).
G3 pros
1) better camera
2) better screen
3) better in hand sensation
4) more updates (about 3 in 3 months)
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Click to collapse
How's the performance between the two?
sofir786 said:
I really dont understand why people say theres lag in games? i have this phone and dont get any lag in games at all and im on a stock rom too, personally i think G3 is a better phone than the m8, screens bigger with great screen to bezel ratio, quality of the screen is better imo, battery life maybe isnt better as this phone has a bigger screen and higher resolution screen (btw watch a high def movie on the LG G3 and it looks amazing). i bought my LG G3 for £280 brand new sim unlocked, for that price you cant go wrong.
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Are you sure that every game runs smoothly on it? I'm asking because there's even a dedicated thread for reducing the lag.
razz1 said:
I think the screen on the G3 is really good. It's what I liked the first time I seen it. Not that it was big but because it looked so clear. I used to calibrate displays and I think overall its one of the best screens I've seen on a phone. It definitely lacks black level but makes up for it everywhere else. Sharpness is now modifiable.
-A modified G3 can reach the M8 in benchmarks so speed may be comparable.
-A modified G3 can reach 80fps in Quadrant benchmarks.
-The G3 has a good camera and great third party app.
My parents both have an M8 as per my suggestion. I think they are great phones but I'm not sorry for choosing the G3 for myself, except for those great speakers the M8 has. Those speakers are just awesome!
Overall the build quality is totally different between the two based on materials used but the G3 isn't as bad as a Samsung.
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Please be honest, if you were given a second chance, which one would you choose? Can I make the G3 run flawlessly as an HTC One M8 in everything?
I have a Nexus 7 2013 with a custom ROM and while it used to be fast, now it's not satisfactory for me. It's still fast, but I see some occasional stutter and games don't run smoothly. I don't need other slow device.

edios123 said:
Will I miss any good feature in AOSP? Is it completely stable?
How's the performance between the two?
Are you sure that every game runs smoothly on it? I'm asking because there's even a dedicated thread for reducing the lag.
Please be honest, if you were given a second chance, which one would you choose? Can I make the G3 run flawlessly as an HTC One M8 in everything?
I have a Nexus 7 2013 with a custom ROM and while it used to be fast, now it's not satisfactory for me. It's still fast, but I see some occasional stutter and games don't run smoothly. I don't need other slow device.
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Yes im sure, i play graphic intensive games such as Colin McRae rally, Dead Trigger 2, Nova 3. No lag, i do use a custom kernel though.

edios123 said:
Will I miss any good feature in AOSP? Is it completely stable?
How's the performance between the two?
Are you sure that every game runs smoothly on it? I'm asking because there's even a dedicated thread for reducing the lag.
Please be honest, if you were given a second chance, which one would you choose? Can I make the G3 run flawlessly as an HTC One M8 in everything?
I have a Nexus 7 2013 with a custom ROM and while it used to be fast, now it's not satisfactory for me. It's still fast, but I see some occasional stutter and games don't run smoothly. I don't need other slow device.
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Click to collapse
M8 smoother, but I prefer g3.
There's something about it that I really love.

edios123 said:
Will I miss any good feature in AOSP? Is it completely stable?
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At the moment aosp based roms are on nightlys but stables versions are coming next days.
I miss camera quality and knock code

In all honest though you really need to ask yourself, how future proof are you these days anyway?
Chances are if you buy a new phone, it'll be outdated in a month because there will already be talks of a new model with a better processor and some revolutionary features.
Let's put it this way, I was in your situation a while ago too. I was using a Nexus 5 for a little over a year and just wanted something new. My first 2 choices were the M8 and the OnePlus one, then eventually I factored in the G3. It wasn't even on my radar to begin with!
In the end I chose the G3 because of the QHD screen, removable battery and microSD card support. Sure unibody phones look great, but I just have never liked the idea of the battery being sealed in. What if the battery you get is faulty? You'll need to replace the entire phone. Sure that's an extreme case but it can happen.
Take my post with a grain of salt because I don't value gaming performance, but with lollipop on the G3 it's plenty fast for me. I really don't think you can go wrong with either phone.

edios123 said:
Some reviews say G3 is better, some say M8 is better. So I can't decide on one.
The only thing holding me back from the G3 is the lag. I got into some G3 threads and it seems the phone really lags in gaming too. If the lag wasn't there, G3 was the better phone obviously. I can't wait for the G4 because I'm getting these for cheap.
I don't want lag in ANY game or app. :/
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Click to collapse
What kind on game are you looking to run to see if i can download it and test it out? I don't do much gaming on the phone just cause i have no time to game on it, all i have are some pick up and play games that entertaing for like 5min
Sent from my LG-D850 using XDA Free mobile app

edios123 said:
I'm getting a new phone soon, and I'm stuck between the LG G3 and HTC One M8. I know this is the G3 forum but I hope I'll get honest suggestions from here.
Can someone please honestly answer my questions:
1. Since I'm coming from the Moto X 2014, I need a fast enough and future proof (duh, till 2016 Jun) phone. I sold it because the screen was fragile, display was so yellowish to my liking, camera wasn't good, no dev support, poor headphone output, poor battery and tempered glass protectors won't even fit properly. My question is, is the G3 really fast enough for the period I stated above? I don't want any lag or frame rate issues on my phone, even with games like MC5 or any other GPU demanding game.
2. How's the battery of the phone? I know about the stock figures, but with a custom ROM, and custom kernel, how many SOT can you get?
3. How's the headphone output? Is it comparable to the One M8 after some tweaking?
4. I don't mind chaging the screen resolution to 1080p, but after changing it, is the phone completely stable? I don't need bugs or any stability issues.
I really like the G3 for its screen size and camera (camera isn't a big priority though), a GB of RAM extra, bezel less design. While, the HTC M8 is cheaper, with some good Harman Kardon earphones, much better speakers, better performance.
Help me out please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in a similar situation when I sold my Moto X due to the same issues you mentioned above, though it was primarily due to the hideous AMOLED screen on the MOTO X which had burn-in issues just after 20 days of usage. Even my replacement unit got that in mere 10 days. It was the navbar that was visible under white/grey backgrounds.
I chose G3 over M8 after trying them in Chroma and other retail stores:
1. Much better screen to body ratio. The bezels are extremely slim and the phone looks sexy. Compare that to the M8, its as tall as the G3 but that is to accommodate those boomsound speakers.
2. Though it has to power a higher resolution screen, the latter lasts me 1.5 to 2 days since I consider myself a light user. It'll easily last you a day even with heavy use.
3. Camera is awesome! M8 stands no chance with its ultrapixel cam. The focus is insanely fast due to the laser focus which may seem gimmiky unless you use it and see it for yourself.
4. Though plastic, its pretty well built.
5. Removable battery, personal preference after using the MOTO X.
6. Gorgeous screen and I'm sure you'll see the difference when you use it over 1080p screen.
7. After sales of LG is light years ahead than HTC in our country. People all over India curse HTC for opting a 3rd party vendor for its after sales service. I've had an instance when I had to deal with them and I made sure it was the last. I've used Nexus 4 and 5 and found LG's after sales to be much better and their repair cost is also reasonable.
8. LG has come a long way in dealing with S/W updates and they have bettered HTC and many other OEM's in this area. I'm pretty optimistic that we will receive an update to 6.0 or whatever they name it.
Some points to consider:
1. The lags that you hear/read about were of 4.4.4 days and LG has done a good job with 5.0 making it pretty much lag free.
2. You WILL notice the speed difference between near stock Android of Moto X over custom LG skin but its something that you'll get use to in a matter of days.
3. I've used M8 a couple of times in retail store and its a wee bit faster compared to G3.
4. Though it happens rarely, the LG screen fails to respond to touch inputs. It mostly happens in the lower bottom area and many have reported this. Since 5.0 update, this issue is almost gone and I've come across it only once after the update. No need to worry about it and its certainly not a deal breaker. I've been using the phone since Dec 2014 and have encountered this 4-5 times and only once after the 5.0 update.
5. M8 with its boomsound speakers is clearly a winner when it comes to audio quality but G3's audio aint puny either. It's got decent amount of punch and should be enough for daily usage unless you plan use your phone to watch a lot of videos/movies.
Hope the above helps you in deciding. Every phone has its own compromises/cons and eventually you need to decide which ones you can live with. Cheers! :highfive:

I owned both (M8 for a couple of months and G3 till now) and i can say G3 is clearly the winner out there.Theres a simple reason.
If you have checked the recent GMA (global mobile awards ) in category 5 (best mobile handsets ) there were 2 winners :
Apple iphone 6 + LG G3. I havent seen any samsung or nexus or htc devices . So i am glad that i kept my G3 .
The judges comments :
“Affordable excellence with winning design – its edge-to-edge screen offers the best quality mobile viewing experience around today.”

Should I buy an LG G2?

Hello, my Nexus 5 was just damaged beyond repair, and Im in need for a new phone, Im pretty tight on my budget, I considered the new Moto G or the alcatel One Touch Idol 3, but then I stumbled upon this LG G2 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/LG-G2-Factory...?ie=UTF8&qid=1439090546&sr=8-3&keywords=lg+g2, its only 225$ and it has far better specs than does mid rangers I just mentioned, it is also very similar to my old Nexus 5, and altho the software is a piece of crap (no ofense if you like it) imho and updates are lacking, I asume I can root it and put cm12.1 or some other up-to-date ROM and be happy with it like a Nexus 5 with bigger battery, better screen and better camera, so what do you think? is this a good decision? does the G2 have good dev support ROMwise?

Yes, G2 is the best deal and still have great specs.
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LRC1710 said:
Hello, my Nexus 5 was just damaged beyond repair, and Im in need for a new phone, Im pretty tight on my budget, I considered the new Moto G or the alcatel One Touch Idol 3, but then I stumbled upon this LG G2 on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/LG-G2-Factory...?ie=UTF8&qid=1439090546&sr=8-3&keywords=lg+g2, its only 225$ and it has far better specs than does mid rangers I just mentioned, it is also very similar to my old Nexus 5, and altho the software is a piece of crap (no ofense if you like it) imho and updates are lacking, I asume I can root it and put cm12.1 or some other up-to-date ROM and be happy with it like a Nexus 5 with bigger battery, better screen and better camera, so what do you think? is this a good decision? does the G2 have good dev support ROMwise?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it is defiantly a good choice. I bet f you look around on craigslist and or swappa you can find it for cheaper. This phone has amazing battery life, a strong processor for its age, and a decent but large screen. Its not amoled or anything but it does the job.
Sent from my LG-D800 using Tapatalk

I also made a similar switch from sgs3, 1 month back. IMO
Good:
+ Battery
+ Community support plenty of cm/aosp roms available 5.1.1. Although I haven't tried anyone yet, as LG based roms are quite good
+ Rear Camera
+ Screen
Bad:
- GPS: This phone has gps issues. Although there are fixes, but its hardware mod and YMMV. If you don't have dedicated gps device in your car, avoid it
- Front camera: Newer phones have better selfie camera
- 4g support: Many variants, each supporting different lte bands, so check compatibility with operator before buying
If you can afford, better buy OnePlus one 64gb, i think its price will be further reduced with launch of oneplus two.

How much bloatware is there is the G2?

Hi guys! I was planning to buy a G2 (actually I am stuck between the G2 and the Droid Maxx!) but I wanted to know how much bloatware there is in the G2 the first time it is run? For example in comparison with Samsung phones. To have a measure how much bloatware is too much bloatware for me, I think Samsung phones have too much of them. How many services and apps are going to be run when I turn the phone on for the first time? If somebody posts a snapshot of the apps and services that are running on the phone I would really appreciate it.

Definitely less than on Samsung but still, LG interface is veery bulky and lovers of stock Android will not be satisfied.
DROID Maxx is not a good choice because of veery old Snapdragon S4.

Michalko5896 said:
Definitely less than on Samsung but still, LG interface is veery bulky and lovers of stock Android will not be satisfied.
DROID Maxx is not a good choice because of veery old Snapdragon S4.
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Thanks! Can you explain why you call it bulky? Is it because it is different than stock android or it is because it gets slow and laggy in particular times? Does it ever get sluggish (for example after installing apps or normal usage for a while)?
P.S. You are right, the Droid Maxx has lower specs and lower benchmark. But my wife has a Moto X (which is pretty similar in CPU, RAM and such to the Droid Maxx) and it is really smooth. You never feel any lag and it is really fast. I know that Motorola has made some optimizations to make the device faster, and the near-stock android also has some share in this.

mmutoo said:
Thanks! Can you explain why you call it bulky? Is it because it is different than stock android or it is because it gets slow and laggy in particular times? Does it ever get sluggish (for example after installing apps or normal usage for a while)?
P.S. You are right, the Droid Maxx has lower specs and lower benchmark. But my wife has a Moto X (which is pretty similar in CPU, RAM and such to the Droid Maxx) and it is really smooth. You never feel any lag and it is really fast. I know that Motorola has made some optimizations to make the device faster, and the near-stock android also has some share in this.
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Because LG UI has tons of features. G2 is not slow phone, not at all. It is very fast. But if you are looking for 100% lag free experience, G2 might not be best choice. What about new Moto X? Or 1+1?

Michalko5896 said:
Because LG UI has tons of features. G2 is not slow phone, not at all. It is very fast. But if you are looking for 100% lag free experience, G2 might not be best choice. What about new Moto X? Or 1+1?
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I think I will be fine with the features as long as they don't stay in the way. Do they? Frankly, the only reasons I am considering the G2 are price (it is 2 years old flagship), the battery and the camera. I really don't like the tweaks they made in the OS, and for that I am open to any suggestions that somehow meet my three above interests.
P.S. One super annoying feature for me is the recent apps button which is simulated by long pressing home! I always hated this in Samsung phones and now it is every where!
P.S. 2. I have heard many good things about 1+1, but it is at least $400 CAD and I'd rather stay with a big name. About the new X, it is also a very good phone but my problem is the price. I cannot afford it right now. I am looking for a flagship device that is 2 years old since the price is really dropped. Motorola cameras are really not impressive though. At least the Maxx compensate for it with the huge battery which the X lacks.

Between the droid maxx and G2, I would go G2 - better 5.2" 1080p screen, smaller bezels, faster processor, better camera, no annoying soft-touch buttons...
I actually like the G2 gui with the added features and customization. A lot of it can be customized to be more vanilla. I don't care for the extra lg apps they throw in tho - luckily most can be disabled. After disabling the apps/bloat I don't use, the number of startup apps is basically the same as any motorola. I don't notice any lag and typically get 5-6 hours of sot in 50-60 hours between charging depending on how I use it - so it's hard to complain. While it may be a little heavy depending on how you configure it, it's nowhere near as bad as any garbage samsung - remember, friends don't let friends buy samsung...
With that said, there are better phones out now with with a stock android experience, Nexus 5x and 2014 moto x come to mind. But if you can get the G2 for cheap, I don't think you can do better.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I was planning to buy the G2 from ebay. By the way, is it a good idea?! There are several sellers that sell it. It is new and they offer return policy and ebay also offers money back guarantee. Is it pretty safe to buy from them? It is listed at around 210 CAD.
About other options, I seriously thought about the Moto X 2014, it has worse camera (compared to the G2), worse battery and screen. On the other hand it is smoother, and has near stock Android. It is above 300 CAD in ebay and telus offers it for 450 CAD! Nexus 5x is even more expensive right now.
Anyways, it is good news that many of the bloatware can be disabled

mmutoo said:
Thanks for sharing your experience! I was planning to buy the G2 from ebay. By the way, is it a good idea?! There are several sellers that sell it. It is new and they offer return policy and ebay also offers money back guarantee. Is it pretty safe to buy from them? It is listed at around 210 CAD.
About other options, I seriously thought about the Moto X 2014, it has worse camera (compared to the G2), worse battery and screen. On the other hand it is smoother, and has near stock Android. It is above 300 CAD in ebay and telus offers it for 450 CAD! Nexus 5x is even more expensive right now.
Anyways, it is good news that many of the bloatware can be disabled
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I don't particularly like buying phones on ebay, but If the seller is reputable and offers hassle-free returns, I don't see a risk in buying it. Quickly looking it up tho, there is only one seller that is selling it specifically as "new" at the $160/210CAD price. They are in Hawaii - I would probably pass on that one. The other sellers at that price are listing it as "new other" and "manufacturer refurbished" which really means used. I would probably get one of the sightly more expensive ones from a good seller so as to be sure that it's actually new and that it's located on the same continent.
Fyi, the 2014 moto x is a superior phone in most respects. The screen is 5.2" 1080p amoled so it's better, not worse. Both of the cameras are good but not the best, and realistically you won't notice the difference between the two. While the rated battery capacity is lower, real world performance is comparable. It has a metal midframe and soft-touch back cover(don't get the leather since it wears quickly) and feels a lot more solid and therefore more premium. It has dual front facing speakers and better button placement. The only downside is that it's a few mm bigger in all dimensions and it's more expensive. Is it worth ~$100 more? idk

You are probably checking ebay.com. I see many options in ebay.ca and the sellers have %99+ positive feedback! It is trending now at around 215 CAD. About the X, if the AMOLED is saturated as it is in the 2013 model, I really think the LCD on the G2 is probably better. The camera on the G2 has OIS and I expected it to have better performance noticeably. Have you ever had the chance to compare them? Honestly I love Motorola devices and as you said they look more solid and premium. My only problem with the 2014 X was burn-in problem with the AMOLED display and the camera. Not even the battery.

mmutoo said:
You are probably checking ebay.com. I see many options in ebay.ca and the sellers have %99+ positive feedback! It is trending now at around 215 CAD. About the X, if the AMOLED is saturated as it is in the 2013 model, I really think the LCD on the G2 is probably better. The camera on the G2 has OIS and I expected it to have better performance noticeably. Have you ever had the chance to compare them? Honestly I love Motorola devices and as you said they look more solid and premium. My only problem with the 2014 X was burn-in problem with the AMOLED display and the camera. Not even the battery.
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be careful some sellers sell the g2 as d802 and the inside motherboard could be a d800 and if you flash wrong file it will brick the phone.. best thing is to open the phone and check the motherboard model to make sure what variant you have..

Ok! Thanks. I will definitely check, although I will probably not end up flashing any rom on it.

mmutoo said:
Ok! Thanks. I will definitely check, although I will probably not end up flashing any rom on it.
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ok then whats the point in beign in xda
none othe than to flash roms LOL
just playing with you

I am here cause everybody is very nice and helpful and reply to my questions really quickly. Thanks everybody!

Overall love

Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Moto G5S Plus, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Moto G5S Plus is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!

XDA_RealLifeReview said:
Yes, yes, it's possible to love a phone. Heck, you sleep next to it, don't you? Rate this thread to indicate your love for the Moto G5S Plus, all things considered. A higher rating indicates that the Moto G5S Plus is an incredible phone that you enjoy tremendously. You love it.
Then, drop a comment if you have anything to add!
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Well Said..!
I was a pixel user. After trying this phone. I totally moved to G5S. Specifically the battery backup....loving it overall....
Hoping to see ROM's soon...

smooth performance ,
good memory mgmt ,
good display ,
bit a small battery for a 5.5" FHD display !!!
but , SD 625 helps there

rasik107 said:
smooth performance ,
good memory mgmt ,
good display ,
bit a small battery for a 5.5" FHD display !!!
but , SD 625 helps there
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So does that mean SD 820 / 825 is optimized for greater battery backup or its just the SD 625 that does the magic?
Just curious to know.

Premkrishna said:
So does that mean SD 820 / 825 is optimized for greater battery backup or its just the SD 625 that does the magic?
Just curious to know.
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both chipsets are great and manufactured on 14nm FinFET Process...
both are battery friendly also due to 14nm process !
for great performance + power efficiency we can consider 820 and ,
for mid-range performance + power efficiency we can consider 625 (625 performs well , not doubt )

Really worth of money

In Love
I am in love with this baby. Only the thing I am upset with Moto team is of the disabled LED light near the front camera. What logic is that? If that is for rooted phones then why rooting should void warranty? Nonsense! They don't want customers to enjoy the features in legal way.

Moto Singh said:
I am in love with this baby. Only the thing I am upset with Moto team is of the disabled LED light near the front camera. What logic is that? If that is for rooted phones then why rooting should void warranty? Nonsense! They don't want customers to enjoy the features in legal way.
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Why do you need LED light when you have Moto Display...?

Geogliff said:
Why do you need LED light when you have Moto Display...?
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Because moto display wakes up at the slightest hint of movement. If I place it on my bed and I sit on the other end of bed it will light up. That's going to waste a lot of battery

1 star less for the camera.

Premkrishna said:
Well Said..!
I was a pixel user. After trying this phone. I totally moved to G5S. Specifically the battery backup....loving it overall....
Hoping to see ROM's soon...
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Hi I am new to xda I would like to ask u on a scale from 1 to 10 how much would u give to pixel and how much to g5s plus.

Aayush124 said:
Hi I am new to xda I would like to ask u on a scale from 1 to 10 how much would u give to pixel and how much to g5s plus.
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Can't speak for Pixel but can speak for Nexus 6P.
I loved my Nexus. Had been a Nexus user since the Nexus 4. The 6P, when it worked, was the capstone of the Nexus range. Gorgeous big screen, well built, excellent performance. I would still be using it now if the well known battery issues (check the forums) hadn't come and bit me. Replaced the battery twice and maybe eked another 6 months out of the phone but I realised recently I needed to get rid of the 6P now if it was to have any resale value.
Looking around there was nothing that real worked as a successor. Wasn't taken with either of the first gen Pixels, and the prices of comparable current phones to the 6P is just insane. Even if I could afford £800-odd I wouldn't pay it for a phone.
For a replacement my criteria was:
5.5 inch or better screen
Half decent ram and processor (so min 3Gb and a Snapdragon 625)
Decent battery life
Ideally no more than £300 - or £400 for a demonstrably premium device.
I had been looking at importing one of the Xiaomi devices, and had briefly looked at a few of the Motorola devices. The G5 series screens were too small, and while I considered the Z Play range they didn't really hit the killer piece/performance mark for me.
When I read the reviews of the G5S Plus I thought "hmmm" - £250 and fulfils my performance, screen size and price criteria. Battery seemed acceptable if not stellar. What sold me was a video where I saw the use of the fingerprint scanner for swipe navigation and the gestures for one handed mode. I'd used a custom rom on the 6P with a one handed mode (which is essential for a big screen) and knowing the G5S Plus had this as stock was the deal clincher.
Have been running it for a little under a week and I have to say I'm impressed.
The screen is very nice. The colours don't "pop" like on the 6P but otherwise it is excellent. Clear and bright, very visible in the day even under direct sunlight. The difference in resolution (1080p v 1400ish p) is not very visible (to my eyes).
Build quality is excellent and it feels just as premium as the 6P did.
The phone runs fluidly and in daily use for email, browsing and general comms needs the experience is pretty much indistinguishable from the 6P. I am also enjoying the swipe to navigate, which is very intuitive and gives me back some of the screen real estate I lost from the 6P.
I am not someone who is particularly bothered about cameras. The couple of pictures I have taken look like the objects I was taking a picture of. The rest I'll leave to someone who cares to give a judgement on!
Overall though, I am very pleased. You get a lot of phone for your money. It is perhaps not quite as good value as the some of the Xiaomi devices, but if you are in the UK I think you'll struggle to find something that's better value and works as well without importing (with all the complications that go with it).
How much would I give the Nexus 6P when the battery is fully charged and it isn't randomly powering off? 9 out of 10 - marvellous phone, the best I've ever had. I will miss it.
How much would I give the Moto G5s? A very close honourable second with 8 out of 10. Does virtually everything the Nexus does (for me) at a much more economical price.

Moto Singh said:
I am in love with this baby. Only the thing I am upset with Moto team is of the disabled LED light near the front camera. What logic is that? If that is for rooted phones then why rooting should void warranty? Nonsense! They don't want customers to enjoy the features in legal way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is my biggest gripe with this phone too. Disabling the led notification light makes no sense. I don't like the Moto notifications. Turning on the screen again and again at the smallest movement uses a lot of battery.
Otherwise, this is a great phone. I moved from the LG Stylo 2 plus. I really like the screen, more RAM, faster processor, and fingerprint scanner on the front.

The phone was good, very good in terms of performance. But I had one only for 11 days because my screen cracked after just a 3 feet drop (!). Sold it and bought a Mi A1, and the latter one is better.

Pretty solid phone. The stock ROM is very sufficient with a non-too-shabby camera and focus features, however I found using Open Camera yielded faster and crisper results. The battery life is quite expected to last a day and charge times are usually an hour and a half with fast charge. There's a much anticipated Oero update on its way which might improve a lot of the features. On custom ROMs, this instance being Oreo, it is very much faster and succintly utilises battery and RAM to apply a wide variety of tweaks. The dev environment is quite good for the XT1806 because of its prevalence in the US, however compatability of ROMs with other NFC-enabled variants (such as the XT1805) would be appreciated. Overall, very solid phone and worth it's price tag.

Just order my 32GB Sanders, Open box from Best Buy, for $212. Its basically new and comes with all accessories, so I couldn't pass up the price. Less than I paid for my G5 Plus! Excited to get it next Tuesday and will post my thoughts on whether it was worth the upgrade over Potter once I receive it.

I could only give this phone 4/5 stars.
I'm glad I pre-ordered the phone directly from Motorola because I paid $299 USD for the 64GB US version and received it as soon as available. It seems to be worth more, now.
I'm NOT glad I ordered the phone at all, because despite having very acceptable specs at a good price, the radios seem to work terribly. It's not my area, it's definitely the phone. Both my girlfriend on her Verizon iPhone and me on my previous Virgin Mobile Moto G3 had 4G LTE all the time at home, and most of the time driving around. Occasionally my girlfriend's VZW phone would have service in rural pockets where my VM/Sprint phone lost network, so for the G5S Plus I switched my carrier to Straight Talk with a ST/Verizon SIM.
Since day one, my G5S Plus has NEVER shown full bars, at any service level. Most of the time AT HOME, I have 1 or 2 bars of oldschool 4G (non-LTE) -- occasionally it drops to 2 bars of 3G and most of the time when I'm driving around it's either a low 3G signal or a low 1X signal - even in the middle of Albany, a city well covered by Verizon, there are spots where MY phone drops to 1X! Meanwhile my girlfriend still has 4G LTE on her iPhone.
This is getting to be a real dealbreaker for me. I found a thread someone else posted about having more or less the same problem. He was using Verzion as well, through a different MVNO. Is this phone known to have poor performance when used on Verizon's network? Lemme ask a different question, is this phone known to have GOOD service on ANY particular network? For anyone?? I would love to know what experience the majority of people are having. Maybe another poll...
I've noticed this problem exists regardless of the ROM (tried stock nougat ROM, lineage oreo, gzr validus oreo - all the same result). My guess is the all-metal body wasn't designed with the pre-existing G5 Plus hardware in mind, since the only things they changed are the screen size, cameras and the chassis, maybe they goofed and the radio inside the metal body sucks. Or it's not selecting the proper APN automatically. I suppose there is a small chance it's a software issue which may be addressed with a future radio update, but for now I'm miffed.
---------- Post added at 08:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:46 PM ----------
itslels said:
Just order my 32GB Sanders, Open box from Best Buy, for $212. Its basically new and comes with all accessories, so I couldn't pass up the price. Less than I paid for my G5 Plus! Excited to get it next Tuesday and will post my thoughts on whether it was worth the upgrade over Potter once I receive it.
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I'm glad you got such a good deal. Actually back in September, Amazon had the G5 Plus 64gb (W/OUT ads) for $229 so I bought it. The phone I received worked fine and I don't mind smaller screens, but there was a sort of banding effect in the screen. It was like a transparent layer between the LCD and the backlight where every 10 pixels down, or so, there was a faint line. No matter what was on the screen, I always noticed the banding. I figured it must be a dud so I asked Amazon to send me a replacement. Second G5 Plus looked exactly the same. I returned both. A month later I preordered the G5S Plus and while I know the graphics driver and pixel output are identical to its predecessor, it is a different display panel and this one is flawless.

So my G5s plus arrived today and I've had a little time with it. Here are my initial thoughts on this as a replacement to my G5 plus.
A lot of people might think it's silly to get the G5s plus if you already own the G5 plus, but I'm glad I did. This phone is what the G5 plus should of been originally. The build quality alone is a nice upgrade. It feels so much nicer and sturdier in the hand. And the buttons feel much nicer when pressed and not mushy at all. I actually love the buttons on this device lol.
The little extra screen space is nice and the panels used in this phone are clearly of better quality then the G5 plus. Battery life seems equal to the G5 plus and the camera, sadly, is about equal too. The camera should of been a bigger improvement and is probably my only complaint. It's still a serviceable camera though.
All this added to the fact that I got it cheaper than I paid for my G5 plus, and it has 1GB more ram, doesn't having me feeling any regrets. This is an amazing phone for $214.

one of the worst phones i have ever bought slow laggy near impossible to restore to stock if you unlock bootloader either keep a rom or throw in a bin avoid the phone and motorolla in general not a good phone

I realy like this phone . Good battery backup, cant get this much battery backup from any other 3000 mah battery phone i have used. Minimal heat from screen in brightness conditions, only camera is a bit disappointed, compared to my moto x play. Sound clarity is also good.