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GS3 vs One X - Can you handle the Truth?

The most beautiful minimalist phone ever produced imho, Kudos to Samsung.
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Superior R&D
Superior Audio Codec
- Wolfson Micro WM1811
Superior Video Codec
- "The SGS3 is using among the best encode parameters I've seen on a smartphone to date - 17 Mbps H.264 high profile with CABAC. - Anandtech
Superior Amoled Screen
- While text all look the same at above 300PPI [unless you view your screen with a microscope at 200X] in Multimedia Samoled is King.
Superior CPU and GPU
Infinitely better Eye Tracking! Removable Battery and SD Card Slot...er wait lol
No Build Quality Issues
No Chipping
No Flex Issues
No Things rattling inside phone [seems to be "normal"]
No Screen Flickering
No Stuttering Videos
No Locked Bootloaders EVER, [HTC, don't blame AT&T]
No "First unit: Flash lens was missing. Returned for a replacement. - rpritch" wth
No "I struggled to buy a defect-less One X unit"
Superior Software & Features... not beats
Touch Wiz vs Sense
Touchwiz was one of the first if not the first to implement hardware acceleration and is one of the smoothest most resource friendly launchers. Back with gingerbread, touchwiz browser was pure butter....one of the smoothest i've ever used and definitely still one of the smoothest i've used. It's also battery efficient etc....
Sense on the otherhand is a resource hog, not very battery friendly, and mostly just looks good. Touchwiz is ugly, but there's a huge dev community for the galaxy phones so getting rid of it and flashing AOSP or anything was super simple.
As for user friendly, touchwiz is probably one of the simplest to use. Also looks kinda like iOS buttons which might help a bit but w/e. In terms of out of the box performance, samsung software > HTC software
- PewPewBangBang One X Owner
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
- Anandtech Bench -
What surprises me in these benchmarks is how close the GS2 performs to the One X. Disappointing on One X' part if you ask me.
As we showed in our SGS3 performance preview, the handset is, as Samsung described it, capable of posting "superlative" benchmark numbers with its 1.4 GHz Exynos 4 Quad SoC. It goes without saying that even with TouchWiz running atop Android 4.0.4, the SGS3 is butter smooth, everywhere. - Anandtech
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
June can't come soon enough!

boodies said:
No Build Quality Issues
No Chipping
No Flex Issues
No Things rattling inside phone
No Screen Flickering
No Stuttering Videos
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The One X has been in available around the world for a month now, and none of those are mass reported problems. Since the SIII is not released yet or even reviewed, I can't see how you think SIII will be problem free.
I like the screen on the One X over my Note (same amoled as SIII), the colour are more accurate and its much brighter in direct sunlight. As for CPU/GPU, both are more than powerful enough to make no difference for day to day use.
Overall, apart from removable battery and micro sd card, SIII and One X are too very close to call. I think both phone will do well over the next few months. The SIII is more suited to the power users, but One X have the WOW factor the SIII lacks, which will do will with general public who don't really care about removable battery or expendable storage.

Bigmille said:
Since the SIII is not released yet or even reviewed, I can't see how you think SIII will be problem free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No Build Quality Issues
No Chipping - Same Material used in Previous Galaxy
No Flex Issues - Same Material used in Previous Galaxy
No Things rattling inside phone - Never Happened and I trust Sammy R&D
No Screen Flickering - Super Amoled HD = GS2 had no issues
No Stuttering Videos - Proven Exynos CPU and Video Player Both made in-house by Samsung for superior cooperation.
There, happy? And yes I'd like both do to well and push Android further but this is a nerd tech phone forum, why not have some fun ^_^

Threads like this remind me a little bit about Top Gear, where they say a car can't be cool if you have to explain WHY it's cool.
With the one x, you can just show it to someone, and they will be "wow, that's cool". With the SGS3, they will think it looks ugly/bland but may be won over after you spend 5 mins telling/showing them why it's cool.
And yes, phones are all about being cool
Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

boodies said:
No Build Quality Issues
No Chipping - Same Material used in Previous Galaxy
No Flex Issues - Same Material used in Previous Galaxy
No Things rattling inside phone - Never Happened and I trust Sammy R&D
No Screen Flickering - Super Amoled HD = GS2 had no issues
No Stuttering Videos - Super Amoled HD = GS2 had no issues
There, happy? And yes I'd like both do to well and push Android further but this is a nerd tech phone forum, why not have some fun ^_^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The htc one x is a pos.
Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk

diehard2222 said:
The htc one x is a pos.
Sent from my iPad 2 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not a POS that's for sure. But there are some real issues and I don't think people should ignore them. Lets keep things a little more pro brother lol.

The rattling sound that people complain about is when they press a button and it vibrates. They think the sound of the vibration is a rattle
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

*Closes eyes and shakes head* -Noooo! Now you're ruining my world! I CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!!!

boodies said:
The most beautiful minimalist phone ever produced imho, Kudos to Samsung.
Superior R&D
Superior Audio Codec
- Wolfson Micro WM1811
Superior Video Codec
- "The SGS3 is using among the best encode parameters I've seen on a smartphone to date - 17 Mbps H.264 high profile with CABAC. - Anandtech
Superior Amoled Screen
- While text all look the same at above 300PPI [unless you view your screen with a microscope at 200X] in Multimedia Samoled is King.
Superior CPU and GPU
Infinitely better Eye Tracking! Removable Battery and SD Card Slot...er wait lol
No Build Quality Issues
No Chipping
No Flex Issues
No Things rattling inside phone [seems to be "normal"]
No Screen Flickering
No Stuttering Videos
No Locked Bootloaders EVER, [HTC, don't blame AT&T]
No "First unit: Flash lens was missing. Returned for a replacement. - rpritch" wth
No "I struggled to buy a defect-less One X unit"
Superior Software & Features... not beats
Touch Wiz vs Sense
- Anandtech Bench -
June can't come soon enough!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The real question is can *you* handle the truth? The truth that CPU benchmarks are a pile of useless s.it that have nothing to do with real life usage experience? The truth that tegra optimized apps will always run better on the one x and there are no whatever-samsung-called-their-cpu optimized apps and won't be for quite some time? The truth that HOX has more beautiful screen than the pentile SAMOLED? The truth that difference in performance *might* be felt after a year and a half when both these phones will be old news? The truth that that's a year and a half you'll have to live with the downright ugliness of the sg3? The truth that that's a year and a half you'll have to live with the cheapness of the shiny plastic? The truth that that's a year and a half you'll have to live with the inferior screen? The truth that after that year and a half finally passes the only apps that will show any difference will run bad on the sg3 and worse on the HOX because both will be outdated?
Can you?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

If I get a SIII I hope I don't have to see useless threads like this in this forum for the next year.

Thread will be closed i am sure in a while..These threads are not necessary. No need to make yourself feel good bro just because you are getting a new toy. Enjoy your new toy and no need to bash others just because they made another choice..Both phones are great and both have their own good points. Even though most are just gimmicks from the iphone (yes S-Voice just a copy from Siri) and really even though i love the features of the phone it still does not cry out innovating from some parts of it..anyways if i did not had my one x i would be going for the s3 cause i still believe it is a good phone but the issues you are stating about the one x not everyone has it..so best go and do your research again. Plus each time i press the water lockscreen it will probably make me wanna go and have a leak.. and on that note

First & foremost I'm an Android Fan & not brand specific and will go with who ever I believe will give me the best end user experience.
I like the One X, I also think it has a very nice display, I like sense as a UI & the unit feels nice in the hand, play with my sisters one most days even to the point where I even ordered one, which I then cancelled due to the impending SIII launch.
Now the SIII is here I have ordered one, mainly due to the larger replaceable battery, full size sim (I have other network contracts) and Micro SD Support. These three things alone kill the HOX stone dead for me and I would guess quite a number of others who have multiple handsets.
I think seriously looks a very subjective thing, but when fashion fades only style remains. In the most part these things normally end up in some sort of protective casing which renders the looks aspect moot in most cases.
In 18months time, when the you have stopped looking at it aesthetically and just use it as a day to day communication,entertainment and productivity tool, what is really going to matter?
To me it will be.
Ease of use, battery life, reliability, compatibility & decent brightness in daylight.
I'm I really going to care about the differences in terms of Screen Technology's on a day to day basis, I doubt it, its a phone at the end of the day as long as the display is good that's all the really matters personally. Not for the least part there will be something better by then the anyway.
They are both really good High end devices which will hopefully push Android even further in front of a certain fruit company.
Just my 2p

I noticed Wolfson on the your spec list. This is great! Sound quality is a major factor for me, and keeps me on my Galaxy S (AT&T Captivate). With the return of Wolfson, I may be able to upgrade this summer when it comes to AT&T.

tkolev said:
The real question is can *you* handle the truth? The truth that CPU benchmarks are a pile of useless s.it that have nothing to do with real life usage experience? The truth that tegra optimized apps will always run better on the one x and there are no whatever-samsung-called-their-cpu optimized apps and won't be for quite some time? The truth that HOX has more beautiful screen than the pentile SAMOLED? The truth that difference in performance *might* be felt after a year and a half when both these phones will be old news? The truth that that's a year and a half you'll have to live with the downright ugliness of the sg3? The truth that that's a year and a half you'll have to live with the cheapness of the shiny plastic? The truth that that's a year and a half you'll have to live with the inferior screen? The truth that after that year and a half finally passes the only apps that will show any difference will run bad on the sg3 and worse on the HOX because both will be outdated?
Can you?
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here is my opinion. I think they both will be winner. I'm not saying that to make everybody else happy, its cause its the truth. Here are facts:
The one x is the best looking device without a shadow of a doubt. It looks sexy, the screen is amazing, it is really a great looking device. But unfortunately it has horrible battery life, screen issues, lag and stutter and sense while it looks beautiful is still a heavy skin. ( about the issues if you don't believe me go check the one x forum). Still it has great potential and WILL get lots of dev support so in a couple of months its gonna be a beast!
Now the Galaxy S3, honestly I like the design a lot. It isn't as beautiful as the one x but still , people are saying that it looks awesome in person. Then you got so many pros, exynos 4 quad on board , expandable storage, removable battery all in a device that is thinner than the one x. Anadtech and many others have reported the phone to be buttery smooth as expected. On top of that the phone should be easy to root ( no S-off bull crap required) all the new features Samsung introduced look great. Dev support is gonna be HUGE just like the one x will but with a boot loader easy to unlock. My personal choice is the S3 cause after I was blown away by the S2 , Samsung has won me over as a loyal customer. They both will b great especially when development takes off but I will give the edge to the s3 cause it is a performer!!!

We dont need another SGS3vsHTC whatever thread.
All general chat goes here

SGS3 vs HOX FULL NO BS REVIEW with BOTH HARDWARES

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Bottomline
GS3
Better Photos in regular lighting, and better color reproduction
Better Audio
Better Video
Better Speaker
Better GPU/CPU
Better Battery Life
Better Software
Better Gorilla Glass
Better Screen
+ Removable Batteries
+ SD Card Support
HOX
Better Photos in Low Light
More Instagram like filters...
Better Looks (They say, but this is subjective even in this picture above the GS3 looks much better personally)
More at GSM Arena
EDIT: Made some changes and corrections

I expected as much.
I believe that the key point here is that all of those differences you've listed are marginal in most areas, but having a high quality feeling and good looking phone is very important to me.
Unless those differences were huge (let's face it, they aren't), I'm struggling to look past the One X for myself.
The amount of times I'll pick up my phone and enjoy the feel of it absolutely blow away the zero times I'll care about the camera being 1% better or the phone loading a web page 000.1 second quicker.
Why can't Samsung use some intelligent designers? They really are clueless at this stuff. They've managed to make TouchWiz look even worse as well, despite adding some nice features.

+
Better Storage
Removable Battery
Just read it
SGS3 is amazing
It's way way better than the HOX

haters gonna hate, where are everyone now?
GS III is purely awesome

The battery life test here is what is the most interesting. AMOLED screens use up more power than LCDs at bright colours, so it's expectable to see the S3 have only a slight margin over the HOX. The video test is the most interesting one; that's just pure obliteration beyond the 300mAh advantage. Expect the device to have on average a much better screen-on time than even that that if you optimize for the AMOLED screen, Samsung's default skin isn't quite nice in that regard. So much for Nvidia's +1 core.

This thing is proven again and again this year's best goes for samsung !! No more pointless discussion on which is the best.

GS3
So the GS3 won in Performance, Display, Battery Life, Sound Quality, Camera, Memory and most other things, in other words it mopped the floor with the One X, HTC fans are not going to like this,
Something else im impressed by is the Galaxy S2's performance in the benchmarks and Camera, absolutely incredible for a device released over a year ago, Samsung built an absolute masterpiece there.

lonelyw said:
So the GS3 won in Performance, Display, Battery Life, Sound Quality, Camera, Memory and most other things, in other words it mopped the floor with the One X, HTC fans are not going to like this,
Something else im impressed by is the Galaxy S2's performance in the benchmarks and Camera, absolutely incredible for a device released over a year ago, Samsung built an absolute masterpiece there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you the person that posted that comment? It made me cringe.
Fanboys aloof.

Dtguilds said:
Are you the person that posted that comment? It made me cringe.
Fanboys aloof.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol I was reading that and I thought it's either deja vu or I've read it before
Well colour me impressed Samsung, gonna be hard deciding between the two... still don't like Touchwiz though (tried it on an ICS S2) let's see if the newer version is good enough.

Always loved touchwiz, even tho i have an P990, im sure any software issue can be fixed eventually, im more concerned about the physical issues that it may bring.

LeviathanPT said:
Always loved touchwiz, even tho i have an P990, im sure any software issue can be fixed eventually, im more concerned about the physical issues that it may bring.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To me the home screen flinging didn't really respond to my touch, as in no matter how fast my finger moves, once I lift it it glides at its own pace. It's not very satisfying. Or maybe it was just my friend's phone that's like that...
About the defects (if that's what you mean) all phones will have some when they launch. I wait a couple months for them to iron things out.

It is extreme subjective. I have hold my buying decision when One X launched and waited for the announcement of SGS3. I still prefer SGS3 to HOX for switchable battery and microsd. They are with the same surface material. Sense UI may be better and I get used to it for years. Just wait for the arrival in my place to buy SGS3.

This is obviously a hot topic in the One X forum also. Here's what I posted there. Keep in mind I'm deciding between the two after a week or so with the SGS3. I also came from a i9100 and have a 3G UK G-Tab 10.1 so I'm no one's fanboi.
Dtguilds said:
Reviewed - So, the Galaxy S 3 IS better, but are you keeping your X?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BarryH_GEG said:
Hmm, not really. The closing of the article summed it up best...
"Anyway, back to where we started. Two superphones, one Android crown. The HTC One X managed to come to the market first, while the Galaxy S III is a little late, but has plenty to show for it. We're tempted to play it safe and split it equal. The HTC One X: this is what a droid flagship should look like. The Samsung Galaxy S III: that's what a droid flagship should perform like. But that won't be fair to either of them. They didn't get where they are by playing it safe.
It seems obvious that the Samsung Galaxy S III wouldn't have raised as the new standard-setter without a powerful challenger like the One X. There's no consolation prize here, no second-best. A fair fight and a win-win for Android."
Some other things that struck me as relevant...
"The HTC One X is encased in a polycarbonate unibody (Gray or Black), which is matte in appearance and pleasant to the touch. The Samsung Galaxy S III is covered in glossy plastic (with Blue brushed metal look or pure white), which is durable, but not quite as nice to hold. We're not impressed by its looks either.
"On the other hand, Samsung's design allows you to change the battery allowig you to use a spare one to extend battery life or replace an old burnt-out battery with a fresh new one. Oh, and there's a microSD card slot too. Not that HTC couldn't have put a card slot into the One X, they just decided that 32GB should be enough for everyone (and it probably is)."
"Of course, not all of them are deciders. The S-Voice is a direct take on Siri, but it really fails to live up to expectations, while the NFC-based media sharing over S Beam has limited application for now. Pop-up play will rarely be used while Buddy photo share borders on useless."
So what does it come down to? Personal preference.
1) Is a removable battery and SD card slot important? Buy the SGS3.
2) Is design, construction, and feel in the hand important? Buy the One X.
3) Is low light picture and video important? Buy the One X.
4) Are more detailed pictures in bright light important? Buy the SGS3.
5) Do you like the vivid (I'm being kind) colors of AMOLED? Buy the SGS3.
6) Do you like a brighter, non-PenTile display, with more accurate color and better detailing? Buy the One X.
7) Want a better browsing experience and more audio and video codec support? Buy the SGS3.
8) Are you an avid gamer that'll be pushing the CPU and GPU regularly? Buy the SGS3.
9) Do you like TouchWiz? Buy the SGS3.
10) Do you like Sense? Buy the One X.
11) Do you listen to lossless audio over $300+ headphones or a home system that cost several thousand dollars? Pick the SGS3.
There's other differences that may matter to people but those are the main ones. I knew the SGS3 would benchmark better than the One X when I bought it. The reality is, as it stands today, the power of Teg3, S4, and Exynos-Quad are wasted because the OS and apps aren't able to tap their power. Other than bragging rights you'd be hard pressed to tell them apart performance wise; they'll "feel" the same.
My views on the main features...
1) I like the LCD2 display on the One X. After using AMOLED for a year the realistic colors, the lighter look because black backgrounds aren't used to save battery, and increased display brightness are all nice for a change.
2) The One X camera h/w is better than the SGS3's. It shows in low light settings. I'm hoping s/w tuning in future updates makes it a better all-around performer. I wouldn't ditch the One X over the camera as they don't strike me as that dramatically different from each other.
3) Audiophiles probably never considered the One X once it was announced that the SGS3 has a Wolfson DAC. An audiophile would cut off their arm before listening to compressed formats like MP3's or on anything less than high grade equipment. That makes 95% of us “non-audiophiles.” And a real audiophile would question the use of something like a smartphone as an audio output device anyway.
4) Did anyone who bought the One X not know in advance it had fixed storage and a non-replaceable battery? I'd like those features; I think anyone would. But I really like the design of the One X and if it had to look like the SGS3 in order to have them I'd pass.
5) Other than the graphics issues which are big, the One X's launch has been pretty typical from a QC perspective. I'll bet anyone here the SGS3 launch looks the same (sans graphics issues) and that display consistency will be one of the biggest *****es on their forum. The SGS2 and GN launches were far from great.
So, the short answer to OP's question, nothing in that review has changed my opinion of the One X. Look at it this way, the SGS2 crushed the Sensation. In less than a year HTC launched a phone that made GSMArena consider splitting the win. That alone is pretty impressive. Of course, YMMV and I clearly don’t expect everyone to agree with some of my comments.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I stopped posting on the one x section, after they started calling me a troll. I don't know what exactly a troll is but I posted on 3 threads with with the words "galaxy" on the title. Im not going there to start a new thread or whatever and never have. Now that the dust has settled, lets be the bigger man.

In my own opinion these guys don't realize just how many of us have mp3 collections we want to pack on our phones. Not having the ability to get my mp3s on board makes the htc piece a non starter all by itself unless it can offset this by having an apk that makes naked supermodels spill out its guts on command.

Dtguilds said:
I expected as much.
I believe that the key point here is that all of those differences you've listed are marginal in most areas, but having a high quality feeling and good looking phone is very important to me.
Unless those differences were huge (let's face it, they aren't), I'm struggling to look past the One X for myself.
The amount of times I'll pick up my phone and enjoy the feel of it absolutely blow away the zero times I'll care about the camera being 1% better or the phone loading a web page 000.1 second quicker.
Why can't Samsung use some intelligent designers? They really are clueless at this stuff. They've managed to make TouchWiz look even worse as well, despite adding some nice features.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
differences were not huge you say?
have you seen the video comparisons?htc's looked pale as compared to sgs3's.
and the most important thing that everyone waited and wanted to know was the battery life.
"here's a curious little detail about what people are saying that amoleds use more power when displaying whites compared to other screen displays.
"The two flagships were less convincing in the browser endurance test. The HTC One X shut down just 4 hours and 18 minutes into the test and the Galaxy S III went on for 5 hours and 17 minutes. We were actually rather surprised that the S III came out on top here, knowing how badly the predominantly white web pages treat AMOLEDs.""
"Audio quality
The Samsung I9300 Galaxy s III turned out to be one of the most talented musicians around and managed to edge out the One X in the audio output quality test."
not huge difference my ...

This seems to be nearly flawless victory or smackdown (for the SIII, except screen and body imo), the photo sensor even trump the iPhone 4S. Glad to see the the audio quality is decent, that is a big factor for me.
I still don't understand Samsung decision to not use 5x5 icon rows in the home screen.

can someone explain to me why the GS3 has 4+ hour difference in movie playback? That is freakin amazing!

boodies said:
can someone explain to me why the GS3 has 4+ hour difference in movie playback? That is freakin amazing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the 300mah difference can't account for those 4+ hours for movie playback. lols
let those who can only attack with "ugly design" explain why the hell that is.

boodies said:
can someone explain to me why the GS3 has 4+ hour difference in movie playback? That is freakin amazing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Might be the amoled blacks and hardware acceleration for all codecs
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

Should I get the SGS2 or the HTC One S?

I have a chance to grab any of these phones for $99 on a $20 plan.
The HTC One S has a dual core snapdragon S4 processor running at 1.5ghz and I am a fan of HTC.
But its near impossible to find this phone at any retailer
Sent from my HTC Desire C using xda app-developers app

if your a fan of htc, go for it.
One S is still fairly newer so expect more updates than the GS2
GS2 has an micro SD card slot ( One S doesn't so limited internal memory for One S )
Both phones are good, go for what feels best for you.

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HTC one S is what you will get.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Thanks for the reply and for the reminder about no sdcard! Does anyone know which display is better?
Sent from my HTC Desire C using xda app-developers app

MrToastedAndroid said:
Thanks for the reply and for the reminder about no sdcard! Does anyone know which display is better?
Sent from my HTC Desire C using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
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one s shuld have a better display and resoloution.. But s2's super amoled plus screen is not bad either

As a previous owner of 3 HTC smartphones (2 of them flagships), and a current owner of an S2, I'd advise you to stay away from them and go for the S2. HTCs are plagued with issues, both hardware and software. Also, expandable storage is a bonus and the option to add a bigger battery to the S2 is great. The only advantage of the One S is the higher resolution of the screen but don't be fooled, the One S had an amoled screen with a pen-tile matrix while the S2 has a full RGB matrix. Even though on paper the HTC's resolution is better, there is not a dramatic difference in real life.

Get one s instead
Feels better in hand, not so slippy thought as s2.
Touchwiz is deadly boring thing when compared to sense 4.
Even on ics 4.0.4 one s feels little more fluid in graphics and more responsive than s2 on leaked official jellybean.
Have not tried one s running custom roms like cm10, but s2 gives me little dissapointment on custom rooms, most of them are broken due lack of full hardware acc/ project butter support.
Hovewer if you need micro sd support, extended replaceable battery, standart slot for sim cards, S2 may be good choice over one s too
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

The S4 1,5 Ghz Krait processor in One S is paired in performance with SIII's quad, being net supperior to SII (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C661Tdorbl0 )
One S S4 has already received JB update with Sense 4+, SII still waiting.
BUT,
SII has a better screen (IMHO), has removable battery cover and a card slot of max 32 Gb. This means that you can buy a second battery for extra "stamina", or replace it if the original one gives signs of old age (prolonging the life of an S2) and extand the memory to a total of 12 GB (internal usable) + 32 GB = 44 GB :good:. Last, but not least, SII has an overall better community support as well as other small things such as accessories (you'll always easily find accessories for S2 with much more alternatives...hands-free, cases, bumpers, screen protectors, battery covers, batteries, etc).
To sum up:
If you upgrade your phone for a long period (one year or so) I would recomand SII. If you plan to change the phone in the next months, than you can go with HTC.
This is my opinion, take it as it is.

I have SGS2 and my gf HTC one S and I like both phones a lot but htc is way smoother
So if price is the same htc all the way

AW: Should I get the SGS2 or the HTC One S?
I would not get the One S, like all HTC phones there are many manufacturing errors, my Desire HD died after 6 months of usage, also HTC Support is ****, my battery Cover broke after a week and they promised me to send a new one, but it never arived.
Sent from my Galaxy S2 with Tapatalk

Okay, let me brush you through the disadvantages or limitations of the S2:
- Regardless of the ROM you use, there will always be some lag when you open the contacts app for the first time (or whenever it gets killed)
- There is a delay of 1 second when you wake the device from standby.
- Certain people (like me), have issues with screen quality (black crush, bad color temperature, yellow tint, greenish greys, linen looking texture on grey backgrounds at low brightness).
-The S2's screen is 32bit, but Android doesn't use that color depth... So you will see color banding on almost every gradient background. (if you don't know what color banding is, you should google it...) I think the Mali 400 GPU also has something to do with this. Somebody correct me on this one.
- The S2 uses a Yamaha audio chip.This is a downgrade from its predecessor's Wolfson audio chip. The Yamaha chip is outright horrid. Forget about punchy bass and that wow factor. If you enable bass boost or make any EQ modification which increases bass, you will hear horrible distortion and speaker clipping. But loudspeaker performance is great.
- The camera modules (only rear camera) on certain S2's (like mine) are defective. There is stuttering while recording videos which have dark/light lighting (extremes).
Also, there is a pink spot in the center of all photos which are having grey or white colors. (This particular issue is faced by each and every S2 regardless of the camera module, if people deny it... they just aren't as observant.
- The battery life of the S2 is mediocre (not for me). Users complain that the S2 doesn't last them even 24 hours. (I'm in a different boat for this one)
Although the battery drains super fast while gaming or leaving the display on auto brightness.
However, you can always get a larger capacity battery which will make your S2 thicker. And uglier. And heavier. OK you got it.
- You will not receive updates on time, but you'll at least get updates. Due to the pending lawsuit with Apple, Samsung is silently disabling/changing certain features. (I shall not talk about these here, as its a vast and debatable topic)
Some of these issues that I have mentioned here can be fixed or camouflaged by either getting a replacement S2 or by rooting and flashing custom mods or ROMs.
Bottom line: There are several advantages of the S2 which the other users will tell you about, but I feel that the S2 shouldn't be on your list. Either get the One S or get something even better that has no or lesser issues and will last for a while.
Cheers.
EDIT:- I forgot to tell you about these issues:
- eMMc brick-bug issue, which means that if you root and use clockworkmod recovery to wipe the device, it will never wake up again. (i haven't had this issue)
- The screen burn-in issue which is there on all AMOLED phones.
- There is no notification LED.
- There is a delay when you press the home button. (can be fixed)
That's all.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Also the S2 has got a replaceable battery.

Odp: Should I get the SGS2 or the HTC One S?
Sgs 2 on JB leak can use 64gb sdxc cards

zachwyt said:
Sgs 2 on JB leak can use 64gb sdxc cards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Higher resolution, beautiful industrial design, faster processor (significantly so) and most importantly Samsung have nothing to do with it. Why would you even consider the SII over the One S?
Ive since moved from the SII to greener pastures but owning the SII was one of the most frustrating expereicnes ive had with any item of technology (bar its predecessor, the Wave) in recent years .

Did not expect this many replies. The community that supports this phone is amazing. So a lot of posts tell me S2 is the way to go.
I really don't need a massive amount of storage (all my Top Gear episodes and Pimp my Ride series are on my 320GB PS3 Slim) but the pain of downloading a show, say a formula 1 race onto a computer then transferring the huge file on the One S is tedious then if you download the formula 1 race directly onto the sdcard then play it off the phone.
Screen size is not an issue, the pentile matrix on the One S doesn't really matter to me because I'm writing this on a device that has a VGA resolution. Higher density also is not a big deal, and since the screen is basically the same-even in size, it doesn't matter.
I do listen to music and I can tell that beats audio is a huge waste of money, and it's showing up everywhere, from laptops to a 2013 Chrysler 300C! I don't know what HTC was smoking when they decided to dump money into things that don't make any difference. I never knew about the audio chip set. I always thought that it was part of the motherboard! Shows how little I know about these things.
Camera is not an issue since I am no means a photographer and have no interest of that subject. I don't mind the SGS2's pink camera syndrome. Also, I did read in a review of the HTC One S that the display was better calibrated than the normal SAMOLED display.
I do miss the notification LED from my beloved BlackBerry 8520 and the HTC Wildfire S. It is not nesscary because the two capacitive buttons cam light up when I get a notification using root access and an app from the play store. And the notification LED on the HTC One S is barely noticeable.
So far with HTC I had no quality control issues, my sister who now has the wildfire s is careless to say the least and drops it everywhere. But it still works fine! I always get cases for everything, and I don't make any device of mine to fall 5 stories and expect it to work.
I want stock 4.0 and up look. I don't like manufacturer overlays like Sense or Touchwiz. So people tell me to root and recovery and cyanogenmod. But as with any device, all cyanogenmod ROMS have issues. I am not familiar with the issues on cm10 for this device, but development for cm10.1 for the htc one s has no working Camera whatsoever.
I do not want to upgrade again for around 2-3 years so as someone said, the SGS2 has more development than the One S but as long as there is cyanogenmod or paranoid android I will be happy. The one s seems future proof since HTC didn't release any info of its next flagship phones but you never know.
Again, thank all the posters for the advice on what to get.
Sent from my HTC Desire C using xda app-developers app

I also forgot I am in no means Bear Grylls meang someone who takes their phone with them for a 2 month trip climbing Mount Everest and expects their phone to last for the trip (exaggeration lol )
I do not need a replaceable battery, however having that feature is nice. I remember the LG Rumour2 and LG Xenon had the same battery and I always swapped them out when I needed more juice. Funny story: back in the day I was moving and didn't have access to power for the most part, so I used the car battery to charge but I had to keep the engine running so the battery doesn't die and the alternator does all the work. Leaving the engine idiling made it overheat since the car was pretty old (1990 Honda accord) and we had to wait at our old house until the engine cooled with the last bits from the old house. Sitting down for 2 hours is not fun. So after that I always try to charge my battery on all my devices so I don't need to worry.

I am a previous owner of HTC Sensation XE, had to give it up, my s2's screen has tint but service guys won't replace it, Sensation had same screen and I'd prefer that over S2's, rest, S2 has lots of issues, that guy mentioned Em in detail ^^
One S is the way to go.
Edit: One S will have less buggy CM Roms and Sense isn't that bad
Edit 2: Just checked One S forum, Go for S2 if you want stock Android , I'm leaving it soon though.
Sent from my Galaxy S2 using XDA Premium app!

I think a good device for your would be the Samsung Galaxy Nexus. Right now, you can get one for relatively cheap, from 200-260 the device is a steal. You won't be needing to worry about it becoming obsolete for another 2 years, as it is still supported by Google and has a huge developer base community. And the best thing is...... AOSP ROMS will always be bug free and stable, due to sources from Google. It comes with 16 GB of storage like the One S, but has a replaceable battery. Did I also forget to mention that the Nexus has an HD screen? I understand that it to is AMOLED, but it doesn't seem to have as many issues as the Galaxy S2. I used to have a G- Nexus, but sold it due to a display issue. Don't get me wrong, I bought the device second hand, so don't think that all Nexus phones have issues. In my short time with the Nexus, it beats the S2 or performs equally in general use, to gaming, to browsing due to properly implemented Project Butter. If I hadn't got my S2 for 150 brand new, I would have bought another Nexus. Hope this helps!

I don't like the Galaxy Nexus because I'm outside for long periods of time on weekdays and my friend complained about the screen being too dark in sunlight. The One s and galaxy s2 screen is brighter.
Also, I cannot get that phone for $99 on a $20 plan.
Sent from my HTC Desire C using xda app-developers app

My honest review of LG G4 (updated with photos)

So my LG G4 is with me for more than 2 weeks now and I had the time to root it first with Low Effort then with official unlock.
Coming from a long history of HTC phones and a short period of S6 I will try to be as honest as possible with my review of the G4.
Design:
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The LG G4 I bought came with both leather (black) and gold plastic(silver in reality) covers. Of course using the leather cover gives it a more premium look while the ''gold'' one is more heavy duty. I am using the plastic one for days of gym and other sports, while the leather one is for casual days like going to diners, dating...
Ok even with the leather you won't reach the high levels of premium feeling an HTC M9 can give but it's easily better looking than the S6 back glass and ugly face, also thanks to the fact the battery cover can be opened and replaced you won't have to babycare your phone with additional covers,bumpers...
I am planning to get the red burgundy color as it's more special and vibrant than both black and brown colors.
The screen is slightly curved as well as the back, it's good for handy use but the plastic cover will be a little slippery while the leather one will bounce left and right if you put it on a table and try to write a message for example, due to the extra sewing in the middle of the back.
The sides are very nice with a titanium effect that looks way more durable than the Note 4 chromes.
So all and all the design is pretty nice and the phone doesn't feel cheap specially with the leather back.
Screen:
The G4 sports a big 5.5'' screen with 1440p resolution. This is one of the main reason I switched from the M9, I had sometimes troubles reading fonts with my near sighted vision problems without glasses.
The screen on G4 is simply splendid! it's more vivid than M9, way better viewing angles and nearly closed amoled blacks. The details are amazing as expected thanks to the 1440p resolution and the high contrast ratio, I have faced zero problem reading text without glasses and playing games are a real pleasure.
Sunlight visibility is slightly better than M9 which was already very good.
The advantage of this LCD is that you won't face the amoled known burn-in problems as well as the S6 board traces under sunlight and the infamous pink tint.
So to conclude, the G4's screen is simply the best smartphone screen of 2015 as it has very high resolution, very high contrast and very good viewing angles without any problem known on other phones.
Some people faced touchscreen problems on their G4 but they claimed the latest FW updates (10f and newer) fixed it.
Sound Quality:
Sound quality and volume are important for me, specially coming from the best in that field HTC M8 and M9. I use my smartphone as audio source for my car stereo pairing it with the HTC stereoclip module (BT to AUX) or AUX, and of course for sports (gym,skiing,...) using my HifIman RE272 or my Sony SBH50.
Let's begin with the main speaker: it's very loud! Louder than both speakers on the M9, quality wise it's way superior to the Note 4 and louder than S6. The speaker is at the back but because it's curved it won't get muffled on most surfaces.
Out of the box the G4 has pleasant sound quality over my earphones hifiman RE272, the soundstage is very good but it lacks some bass, as for volume loudness it's perhaps 1-2 steps under what I would like as max volume. Weirdly enough using the BT option, the loudness is way better and even louder than the M9's BT.
Thanks to Root, using Viper4android boosting volume and equalizer I can finally reach a very satisfactory volume level and the lacking bass is fixed, some roms like Marcosuper7 have already a boosted volume.
BT in my car is pretty loud and sound quality (aptx + BT 4.0) is as good as AUX, while AUX (with root advantages) will produce even louder sound.
Conclusion: I am not missing the HTC sound quality and loudness, the G4 just need root and V4A to reach high quality sound and volume.
User Interface:
The G4 has Android 5.1 out of the box, the UI is fluid and lagless, the double tap to wake and sleep are very cool, the smartnotice widget is cool (though will cover half your wallpaper), it's much better build than Touchwiz and is closer to HTC Sense logic and added value.
One of the thing I hated on the S6 was the lack of automatic connecting BT, when I used car apps with the S6 I had to manually pair it everytime I went in my car, with the G4 like with the M9 it will autoconnect to the HTC Stereoclip, added to that I successfully run the HTC Car app on the G4 which is for me the best Car app on Android.
I can install the Sense 7 port which is as fluid as on M9 but I losed the double tap to sleep feature.
I am using the HTC gallery app instead of LG stock one as it's also better structured.
Conclusion: I was afraid the G4 UI was poor compared to Sense but it's finally very good and I can add some apps from Sense to make it perfect.
Camera:
One of the main feature that people liked in the G4 is the camera...and they are not wrong!
It has a 16mp sensor with f1.8 and OIS meaning great low light photos, compared to M9 low light photos are miles better, they have less obvious noises (the M9 used to have big yellow ones in very low light) and details are much better, compared to S6 it's sometimes as good and sometimes slightly better.
In daylight the G4 is equal to S6 in Auto mode meaning very good, but like with the M9 you can use RAW and increase much more details.
The advantage of the G4 is that it has a great dynamic range, so you won't have to use the HDR thingy too much (like on M9).
Macro shots are fantastic with the G4 and it produces natural bokeh due to the f1.8, though because the focus is very limited on macro shots due again to f1.8 if you don't want the bokeh effect you will have it anyway.
Lightroom will produce vignette if you open DNG photos directly, so it's better to use the Cornerfix software with the G4 profile given by vincent2167 here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=61360315&postcount=314 then open it with Lightroom.
In conclusion the G4 is easily on the top 2 camera of 2015 with the S6
Some samples:
Macro, low light no flash:
Macro, low light flash:
HDR:
Battery:
All 2015 Android flagship phones are suffering from the same not so good battery life, the S6,M9 and G4 will not give you more than 24h battery with normal use and 80 to 100% brightness.
The M9 I had was better than S6 and the G4 won 30mins more SOT over the M9.
I had 3.5 hours SOT with M9 and now 4 hours with the G4, but as said before it's not as good as a 2014 Z3 that have over 6 hours SOT.
In another hand all these 3 2015 phones have the Quick Charging 2.0 feature, meaning much faster charging time.
The G4 is not only compatible with this feature but it's clearly faster than M9 to charge from 0 to 100%.
I took nearly 1 hour and 20 minutes on M9 and now 50 minutes on G4 :good::good:
Of course it's better to alternate between QC 2.0 charger and the normal one for the battery lifetime.
You can also buy an extra battery as you just have to open the back cover, an advantage you won't have on M8,M9,S6,Note5...
Conclusion:
Did I finally made the right choice in swapping my M9 with the G4? Absolutely yes!
I don't miss the M9 at all, the G4 has a better screen, better camera, on par audio quality (earphones) with root, very nice design thanks to the leather and curvatures, well done UI, no faulty materials (it looks like the touchscreen problem some faced was only a software bug).
For me I can easily say the G4 is the king of 2015 in Android world (and all smartphones if you hate ios like me).
The S6 is a very good flagship too but it has build faults like board traces, very slippery back, very fragile glass back...and of course the ugly touchwiz.

I agree. I didn't take S6 because of no Raw, no manual mode as G4, no SD Card, and specially bad Ram Management !

May I ask which version of the phone you purchased and where you got it from? Also which carrier you are using it on?
I'm thinking of ordering one of the unlocked H815 models off Amazon to use on AT&T.

Was going to ask you
vegetaleb said:
Did I finally made the right choice in swapping my M9 with the G4? Absolutely yes!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
good
The S6 is a very good flagship too but it has build faults like board traces, very slippery back, very fragile glass back...and of course the ugly touchwiz.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is a 'board trace' ?

One Twelve said:
Was going to ask you
good
what is a 'board trace' ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s6/help/weird-lines-s6-screen-t3124664
Oh I forgot to talk about the pink tint of the majority of S6 screens too that you won't have on G4

zook388 said:
May I ask which version of the phone you purchased and where you got it from? Also which carrier you are using it on?
I'm thinking of ordering one of the unlocked H815 models off Amazon to use on AT&T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the NDL H815 version not branded

LG's UI is definitely not lag free.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

barondebxl said:
LG's UI is definitely not lag free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which version of the phone did you have? I've heard that the US carrier versions have worse lag.

zook388 said:
Which version of the phone did you have? I've heard that the US carrier versions have worse lag.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the H815T. I don't deal with the US carriers, my network is cricket so I buy all my phones outright. That version of the G4 did lag quite a bit. Like exiting an app and starting to swipe though the home screen it would stutter 70% of the time. Then you have the touchscreen responsiveness issues. Don't wanna even speak about that.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

barondebxl said:
I had the H815T. I don't deal with the US carriers, my network is cricket so I buy all my phones outright. That version of the G4 did lag quite a bit. Like exiting an app and starting to swipe though the home screen it would stutter 70% of the time. Then you have the touchscreen responsiveness issues. Don't wanna even speak about that.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The touchscreen issue that some people faced is already fixed since 10f, you can't blame LG if your carrier didn't release the update yet
All OS have micro lags, it all depends on the apps you are running in the background, though I tried Note 4 for example and found it really laggy, like 3 seconds to open the app drawer

vegetaleb said:
The touchscreen issue that some people faced is already fixed since 10f, you can't blame LG if your carrier didn't release the update yet
All OS have micro lags, it all depends on the apps you are running in the background, though I tried Note 4 for example and found it really laggy, like 3 seconds to open the app drawer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That excuse doesn't make any sense. Every time someone talks about lags in a device, other say that every devices lag. I bet you you can't compare the lag in the G4 to whatever you may define as lag in the iPhone or the HTC One M8.
Those stutters in the G4 are not micro stutters.
I can't blame LG? They're the ones who shipped the phone that way no?
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

barondebxl said:
That excuse doesn't make any sense. Every time someone talks about lags in a device, other say that every devices lag. I bet you you can't compare the lag in the G4 to whatever you may define as lag in the iPhone or the HTC One M8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My rooted G4 with animations disabled is way faster than waiting on the animations that can't be disabled on the iPhone.

oldjackbob said:
My rooted G4 with animations disabled is way faster than waiting on the animations that can't be disabled on the iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great. A jailbroken iPhone can speed up the animations as well. You didn't know that though....
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

barondebxl said:
That's great. A jailbroken iPhone can speed up the animations as well. You didn't know that though....
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Believe me the iphones also lags, at least on Android phones like G4 you can change launchers, I said in my review you can install the Sense 7 port on G4 and get the exact same speed and lagless feeling than on M9.
Also ALL manufacturers without any exceptions release flagships with bugs, but the thing is that they iron out these bugs in the weeks or months that follow, LG fixed the touchscreen issue some G4 had. I used to have extreme heat on my M9 out of nowhere but they reduced it in later FWs, though there is an horrible screen wake lag when you open the dot view cover that could reach 4 seconds and I don't know if they fixed it yet.
There is something a little annoying with the G4 though I dunno if it's a Windows 10 thingy, there are some files in the G4's memory I can't see in windows explorer! When I download a torrent file with Vuze and come in Windows to see it, it won't show up at all.

barondebxl said:
That excuse doesn't make any sense. Every time someone talks about lags in a device, other say that every devices lag. I bet you you can't compare the lag in the G4 to whatever you may define as lag in the iPhone or the HTC One M8.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or a nexus or droid turbo or the xperias on tricked out roms.
Those stutters in the G4 are not micro stutters.
I can't blame LG? They're the ones who shipped the phone that way no?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are saying you can't handle it because you've got addicted to speed. Can't do without it now. Must root, jailbreak whatever.
But you will always be the slowest link. the device is waiting on your lag 99.99% of the time
Skins are always going to have these issues so ppl say give me a thin one, well there are vendors out there that do that. If what they offer meets your requirements great. But i find that does not happen often. so more choice means chances are better you get what you want.
Why are you on a G now ? its a good device but bit of a come down isn't it.

One Twelve said:
Or a nexus or droid turbo or the xperias on tricked out roms.
You are saying you can't handle it because you've got addicted to speed. Can't do without it now. Must root, jailbreak whatever.
But you will always be the slowest link. the device is waiting on your lag 99.99% of the time
Skins are always going to have these issues so ppl say give me a thin one, well there are vendors out there that do that. If what they offer meets your requirements great. But i find that does not happen often. so more choice means chances are better you get what you want.
Why are you on a G now ? its a good device but bit of a come down isn't it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No my friend no. You are making your own conclusion based on nothing really. I'm not making the lag up, I have used a lot of phones and I mean a lot. I just know good performance vs not that great performance. Compared to the M8 and the iPhone for example, the G4 stutters quite a bit. That is a fact. Now if you wanna deny that then its ok but its there. And I disagree that skins will always have these issues cause again, the M8 is one of the speediest Android devices out there and it runs with sense on top. It's about the UI and its optimizations.
I am using the Moto G3 until the IPhone is released of the nexus. Maybe the Moto X pure edition, we will see.
Keep in mind, I owned the G4, I also owned the S6, IPhone 6 and 6 plus and many other high and devices. The G4 doesn't perform as well as any of those devices in my opinion. It's a fast device that stutters more than it should.
Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

LG G4
After reading this　much clear　to know　the　LG G4, maybe 8 years ago when i walked on the street found　full　of LG ADS on my side. Honest　speaking Apply, Susamg knocked　the　off　LG, it's a　pity. however ,　i like　the　appearance!

I had the S6 too and it was slightly more laggy than the G4, I come from an HTC M9 which is the fastest phone out there in terms of UI, the G4 is perhaps just 5% slower using the LG launcher but again (and this is why you are here in XDA) once you use a launcher like Sense 7 port (thanks xpirt) it's as fast as on M9 meaning fastest UI speed possible in 2015.
People having lags on G4 have obviously branded G4 with additional bloatwares

G4 does not lag at all with me, QHD screen and no lag, so it's very cool... I put animation to x0.5, that's perfect.
My phone is unbranded
How you can get Sense 7 on the G4 ?

Great review. I agree with you completely. The best phone I've ever used.
I'm wondering where you find the HTC Car app. When I go to the Play store nothing shows up from HTC when I type that in.
Richard

Considering this phone, couple of questions and feedback from owners please...

I've been away from all this phone thing for a couple of years. In fact, I was never very much into it, I just used to buy whatever flagship there was at the moment as that would usually be cheaper - a phone that would last for a long time and be able to keep getting support. Seems like things~have changed quite a lot and flagship phones are waaaay too big and cost what they cost because of a lot of stuff I don't use or need.
I currently own an LG G2, which from my searches seems to be still very up to date. Best two things about it is the size and screen/body ratio that allows for single hand use; big battery (3000mah). It's getting old though and I was thinking of replacing it but I'm lost.
This X Play got my attetion mainly because of the price, battery life and the near stock Android which should be easy and quick to keep up with Android updates. Motorola being owned by Google made me think these would get a fast and prompt support.
But after reading and watching a few reviews, I'm no loner sure I should spend my money. A few specific questions and a more general one:
- Many reviews end up saying battery life is nowhere near the values claimed with regular use, with screen on times of about 4 hours (web browsing and such). Is that the case? Lower spec Snapdragon and over 3600mah sound like it would last a lot more.
- How are updates with Motorola and what would it mean in the future, now that it's going to Lenovo? Is Pure close to owning a Nexus or no?
- Do benchmark numbers like Geekbench mean anything? My old G2 wipes the floor with this one if they mean anything, making a lot less sense getting it. It would be a huge downgrade.
And the more general and probably more useful question for me...
- Are you happy with this phone and why? If you know the G2, is it worth replacing it for this one? I mainly use these things as phones, web browser, social media and light games when I need to kill some time (no crazy high spec FPS games or watching movies or playing music). An immediate disadvantage to me is that this phone is already a bit too big for my liking. Borderline too big though, so pluses could easily outweigh this.
Just to give you guys a bit more context, the Nexus 5x would be my no brainer choice if it had at least 3000mah battery. Like the OnePlus X for size, specs and price but I think my current G2 is clearly a better phone on pretty much everything.
Sorry for the long post but you see I don't have a real clear idea of things, so I can't really make very specific questions. Any thoughts appreciated regarding these generalities! :fingers-crossed:

- Considering the primitive specs sheet and the huge battery, the battery life could have been better. But still it is better than most of the other phones available now
- It's almost a Nexus except for perhaps the dialer and a few motorola goodies thrown in. From my past experiences with Motorola phones, the first update is quick, the second comes a bit late
- I like holding the Play in my hand better than G2, it feels more sturdy.
- If not for the Motorola goodies, it's not worth the upgrade (assuming your G2 is still holding up). The battery life is only slightly better (but much much better than G3).
- If it matters to you, there is no Gyroscope in Play. The camera on X play is slightly better but again there is no OIS.
- x Play is water repellent. I am one of those people who don't use a cover and am more than happy to take my phone out when it's drizzling or snowing
Personally i am disappointed with the screen on X play. The previous versions of Moto X had an AMOLED screen and the Moto Display was great on it, and up to the mark on the LCD screen.
Hope this helps and forgive my poor English

yekollu said:
- Considering the primitive specs sheet and the huge battery, the battery life could have been better. But still it is better than most of the other phones available now
- It's almost a Nexus except for perhaps the dialer and a few motorola goodies thrown in. From my past experiences with Motorola phones, the first update is quick, the second comes a bit late
- I like holding the Play in my hand better than G2, it feels more sturdy.
- If not for the Motorola goodies, it's not worth the upgrade (assuming your G2 is still holding up). The battery life is only slightly better (but much much better than G3).
- If it matters to you, there is no Gyroscope in Play. The camera on X play is slightly better but again there is no OIS.
- x Play is water repellent. I am one of those people who don't use a cover and am more than happy to take my phone out when it's drizzling or snowing
Personally i am disappointed with the screen on X play. The previous versions of Moto X had an AMOLED screen and the Moto Display was great on it, and up to the mark on the LCD screen.
Hope this helps and forgive my poor English
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Thanks for that and your English looks just fine to me, don't know why you would apologize! But then again, English is not my main language either, so I wouldn't know
I've been asking around but it seems I'm keeping my money and my G2. I can't really find a phone that is a solid, all round improvement over it and that justifies spending the cash. Oh well... :highfive:

Honestly dude, this is a very good value phone. Performance with the underpowered chip is really pretty good minus the occasional hiccup (I don't game, but I like a fluid ui... which this definitely has 99% of the time. Sometimes it'll hang for a bit under load but sorts itself out pretty quickly and is a very minor nuisance). The battery is a beast too. I dunno what setup the other guy has that he's only getting average BL (xposed cuts life in half I've noticed, so I stopped using it), but mine is great. Build quality feels kinda cheap and the way it rattles when it vibrates makes me cringe, but this is not a flagship phone. I got mine for 150 CAD outright on a carrier promo, but honestly I'd still be satisfied if I paid double that

I have the phone and found it an upgrade over my iPhone 6 and my wife's S6. I hate gimmicky features, which the S6 has.
Battery life is very nice on this phone in my opinion. I average 4 hours SOT and I'm mostly on cellular data and have a BT headset on all day. Even then I'm only down to around 45% give or take.
Performance is great for me. I had a Nexus 5 for a while and that was really the only other Android phone I have had that was as fluid or more fluid than this phone. The S6 and iPhone 6 had hiccups in the ui, even more than this phone.
All that being said though, if your G2 is still working nicely, I would highly recommend just sticking with it. Maybe invest in a new battery and a case to freshen it up. The new Qualcomm chips don't really seem to be that much more powerful than 2 or so generations ago. Even ram counts and storage space haven't gone up as much as I would have expected. Kinda like we have hit a brick wall. I expect that a flagship phone shouldn't start off with 16gb anymore... Looking at you Apple.
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brian10161 said:
I have the phone and found it an upgrade over my iPhone 6 and my wife's S6. I hate gimmicky features, which the S6 has.
Battery life is very nice on this phone in my opinion. I average 4 hours SOT and I'm mostly on cellular data and have a BT headset on all day. Even then I'm only down to around 45% give or take.
Performance is great for me. I had a Nexus 5 for a while and that was really the only other Android phone I have had that was as fluid or more fluid than this phone. The S6 and iPhone 6 had hiccups in the ui, even more than this phone.
All that being said though, if your G2 is still working nicely, I would highly recommend just sticking with it. Maybe invest in a new battery and a case to freshen it up. The new Qualcomm chips don't really seem to be that much more powerful than 2 or so generations ago. Even ram counts and storage space haven't gone up as much as I would have expected. Kinda like we have hit a brick wall. I expect that a flagship phone shouldn't start off with 16gb anymore... Looking at you Apple.
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Thanks guys! I was sort of doubting my conclusion... from what I was seeing, there's no real differences in usage for the perspective of an average user. Its a good thing though, a cheap(ish) phone like this would actually give me a better experience over some (all) the current flagships.
I might be getting old, apparently I'm no longer a member of the market when a company thinks about a new phone... From what I've seen, my perfect phone would be the combination of 3 current models and that combination doesn't exist: OnePlus X for size and looks, Nexus 5x for the stock Android and this Play for battery life.
I came across some Chinese phones that claim crazy insane MAH batteries(*) but, knowing how they go about rewrapping batteries and LiPo packs with absurd numbers that are impossible, I'm not even looking into those. If they are for real I'll eventually hear something about them...
(*) Google "Ulefone Power" just for kicks...

I know exactly what you mean there. It's frustrating but that seems how the market works these days.
I'm only 26 myself and I feel like in the older part of the market these days! I had been contemplating some of those cheap Chinese imported phones myself, but found the X Play in store and that's what changed my decision. I'm overall happy with it. Mobile CPUs have seemingly advance more in the midrange/low range sector than the high end chips.
I don't see any reason to buy a flagship phone any more, or if you do, buying an older generation phone for the cost savings. Especially if you unlock the bootloader and load other firmware.
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brian10161 said:
I know exactly what you mean there. It's frustrating but that seems how the market works these days.
I'm only 26 myself and I feel like in the older part of the market these days!
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Well, I guess one gets used to certain things and stops feeling the need for more. But apparently the good thing about flagships to us is that they make what we consider good gear mainstream and affordable. I had to buy a new PC the other day and I ended up with an odd looking and tinny HP Mini i5 8gb plugged into a 32' TV. Waaay cheaper than an entry level gaming rig, does everything I want effortlessly, doesn't take up room... so there's a good thing about getting old (I'm 38 btw)
More on topic though, and picking up your point about past flagships, I've just found the Galaxy S6 Active. I had never seen one of those things before, don't think it was ever on sale here in Portugal. Ugly as hell, looks like something made for the zombie apocalypse but it's an S6 with a top notch battery! That could be interesting, must check that one out better...

If it's not an AT&T exclusive and available everywhere, it would have been an obvious choice for some.

blankingblank said:
Honestly dude, this is a very good value phone. Performance with the underpowered chip is really pretty good minus the occasional hiccup (I don't game, but I like a fluid ui... which this definitely has 99% of the time. Sometimes it'll hang for a bit under load but sorts itself out pretty quickly and is a very minor nuisance). The battery is a beast too. I dunno what setup the other guy has that he's only getting average BL (xposed cuts life in half I've noticed, so I stopped using it), but mine is great. Build quality feels kinda cheap and the way it rattles when it vibrates makes me cringe, but this is not a flagship phone. I got mine for 150 CAD outright on a carrier promo, but honestly I'd still be satisfied if I paid double that
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I was comparing the X Play's battery to G2's battery
Compared to most flagship's available now, yes the battery is a Monster but with G2, it's only a slight bump (not the capacity but the actual performance) and i thought he was looking to replace his G2

pijes said:
If it's not an AT&T exclusive and available everywhere, it would have been an obvious choice for some.
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It can be had unlocked, I've looked into ebay and I can get one from within the EU but they look like unlocked and tested AT&T used units. Price is about the same or higher than a brand new X Play. And despite being checked units with warranty, that still doesn't tell me if it has a fresh battery in it or not - probably not. Getting one from the US is out of the question as with taxes and duties the price could easily be 30 to 40% higher.
That and the fact that it is an AT&T phone. My current one is also an AT&T branded unit and it's a PITA to update it. No OTA updates for me as I'm not in the US and the phone has to be registered to the network to get the updates - or something like that, don't really know that works but I have to manually flash it.
yekollu said:
I was comparing the X Play's battery to G2's battery
Compared to most flagship's available now, yes the battery is a Monster but with G2, it's only a slight bump (not the capacity but the actual performance) and i thought he was looking to replace his G2
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I sort of am yekollu, but it's not like I need a new phone because mine is about to die, it's more the capricious wish to have a new toy. My G2 is getting old in the way it has some scuffs to the body (mostly hidden by a low profile case) and battery went through many cycles already but its health is still good. I just thought that after a couple of years not looking into phones things would have leaped hugely and the most recent models would wipe the floor with the G2. Some do but only in high end games I don't play and at the cost of having to have the phone constantly charging.
I still haven't gave up on the idea of a replacement and the X Play is a strong candidate as battery life is more important to me than most things but I'm not yet convinced I'll feel like it was money well spent. I do appreciate your and other people's feedback as reviews have wildly different numbers and results, and I don't know how some of those numbers translate to everyday real usage. :highfive:

Kutusov said:
I sort of am yekollu, but it's not like I need a new phone because mine is about to die, it's more the capricious wish to have a new toy. My G2 is getting old in the way it has some scuffs to the body (mostly hidden by a low profile case) and battery went through many cycles already but its health is still good. I just thought that after a couple of years not looking into phones things would have leaped hugely and the most recent models would wipe the floor with the G2. Some do but only in high end games I don't play and at the cost of having to have the phone constantly charging.
I still haven't gave up on the idea of a replacement and the X Play is a strong candidate as battery life is more important to me than most things but I'm not yet convinced I'll feel like it was money well spent. I do appreciate your and other people's feedback as reviews have wildly different numbers and results, and I don't know how some of those numbers translate to everyday real usage. :highfive:
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If it's battery life, go for X play!! Like i mentioned earlier even though it's slightly better than G2, it's much better than most other phones available now (I still use my G2 as standby phone).

yekollu said:
If it's battery life, go for X play!! Like i mentioned earlier even though it's slightly better than G2, it's much better than most other phones available now (I still use my G2 as standby phone).
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I just got another email from GB about the Elephone P9000 Power... at 180 bucks from China (so import duties most likely on top of that), and from a couple of youtube reviews I've seen, might be something worth the punt. As fas as I can tell, it runs stock Android also. It's a big 5.5 screen but so is the Moto and this thing looks a lot more compact. Sounds and looks too good to be true, so I'll have to look more into it. If what they, costumers and reviewers are saying is true, this is the real flagship killer and best phone to beat by a country mile.
...man, 6050mah battery?? And stock Android so no more ties to a company I don't know on the update side of things?

Kutusov said:
I just got another email from GB about the Elephone P9000 Power... at 180 bucks from China (so import duties most likely on top of that), and from a couple of youtube reviews I've seen, might be something worth the punt. As fas as I can tell, it runs stock Android also. It's a big 5.5 screen but so is the Moto and this thing looks a lot more compact. Sounds and looks too good to be true, so I'll have to look more into it. If what they, costumers and reviewers are saying is true, this is the real flagship killer and best phone to beat by a country mile.
...man, 6050mah battery?? And stock Android so no more ties to a company I don't know on the update side of things?
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Dont buy those chinese phone. Their battery capacity is only good on paper. Im not even sure that they put real capacity on it

I'll post these screenshots to give you an idea of my battery usage. It's a beast in standby with MM as well my friend. I haven't modded mine much either, just rooted and gravitybox.
Oh I actually just remembered another phone that may interest you. The Alcatel Idol 3 5.5. It doesn't have the same size battery, but similar chipset. I played with it in store and it seems quite capable. I'm not sure about software updates though, haven't heart about MM for it yet.
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These are from the other day.
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Way better battery life then when I had a G2, just saying..

dangnhap01 said:
Dont buy those chinese phone. Their battery capacity is only good on paper. Im not even sure that they put real capacity on it
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Of course not... I can't even find their site. Or maybe a do but if that's their site... To make it worst, I know the brand from the electronic cigarette world, which was the only thing that worked at stopping me from smoking. They have a very cheap device with awful QC. They sound like a brand that will trough an electronic device together if they can find some NOS parts and with no clear focus or market.
brian10161 said:
I'll post these screenshots to give you an idea of my battery usage. It's a beast in standby with MM as well my friend. I haven't modded mine much either, just rooted and gravitybox.
Oh I actually just remembered another phone that may interest you. The Alcatel Idol 3 5.5. It doesn't have the same size battery, but similar chipset. I played with it in store and it seems quite capable. I'm not sure about software updates though, haven't heart about MM for it yet.
Thanks! The more I look into this, and even without an urgent need to switch phones, the more interesting it looks. What sucks here in Europe is the price. It's a good price at just under €400 but no quick charger or anything. And the phones like the G4 or the Nexus 5x can be found cheaper. All worst on battery but still hard not to think about those for the price...
The US gets much nicer stuff, no fair! The Moto Droid 2 Turbo (or something like that) looks like a beasty, including battery life. But just like the S6 Active was an AT&T exclusive, the Droid 2 is a Verizon exclusive. No Moto Maker also but that's not a real bummer with the Play, I would end up with a similar look for it anyway. Not a fan of metal or matchy matchy colours that aren't either dark grey or black.
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xtremeed2705 said:
Way better battery life then when I had a G2, just saying..
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The G2 has a great battery life only because most flagship phones suck at that. I came to the G2 from an HTC OneX, flagship for less than a month because HTC released the OneX+ right away and without warning there would be such a thing. Essentially the same thing with a bigger battery because the original would last half the time of a G2. So the LG looked amazing to me.
I now can't say for sure but I'm pretty certain I could go through a whole day of heavy use when I owned the first Galaxy. Those AMOLED displays wouldn't use much battery... you couldn't see a thing when on the outside but they were great little phones when in dark, smoky bars frequented by ladies of dubious reputation

Kutusov said:
Of course not... I can't even find their site. Or maybe a do but if that's their site... To make it worst, I know the brand from the electronic cigarette world, which was the only thing that worked at stopping me from smoking. They have a very cheap device with awful QC. They sound like a brand that will trough an electronic device together if they can find some NOS parts and with no clear focus or market.
The G2 has a great battery life only because most flagship phones suck at that. I came to the G2 from an HTC OneX, flagship for less than a month because HTC released the OneX+ right away and without warning there would be such a thing. Essentially the same thing with a bigger battery because the original would last half the time of a G2. So the LG looked amazing to me.
I now can't say for sure but I'm pretty certain I could go through a whole day of heavy use when I owned the first Galaxy. Those AMOLED displays wouldn't use much battery... you couldn't see a thing when on the outside but they were great little phones when in dark, smoky bars frequented by ladies of dubious reputation
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You can try samsung galaxy a7 2016.
Touchwiz is better now and the screen and battery is great

Thanks for the original poster for this thread, because i am actually looking at the exact same doubt. I don't own a G2 right now, but i did in the past and i achieve 8 something hours SOT. I also found the battery life reviews tricky, with some stating massive stand by times and others just getting 4.5 hours SOT.
Also... the price difference is huge right now. We can get a decent G2 for 150 CAD$, and a moto x play on Wind carrier, still sells for 450 CAD$, plus tax, which totals 500$...
Shouldn't we be all achieve at least 8 hours with moderate usage? web browsing, calls, texts, facebook?
so... USED LG G2, or NEW Moto x play?

The difference in SOT amongst users comes down down to different usage scenarios.
Battery life will deplete according to 2g/3g/4g mode.
Also whether mobile data is used or wifi is used also counts.
The brightness at which phone is used also counts.
The signal reception of area again counts.
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