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HTC One announced in China. Gets dual SIM, micro-SD, removable back-cover BUT

HTC One announced in China. Gets dual SIM, micro-SD, removable back-cover, but no removable battery
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Wow even when htc include a removable back cover, they make it so that you can't remove the battery :/ they must reallly hate taking out batteries or something. For some people, if this had removable battery, this wouldve been what the htc one should've been.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

yvibes said:
Wow even when htc include a removable back cover, they make it so that you can't remove the battery :/ they must reallly hate taking out batteries or something. For some people, if this had removable battery, this wouldve been what the htc one should've been.
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it wouldnt be the one that should have been
the battery is located behind the pcb, so its sandwished in the middle, impossible to remove, you will a lot of sturdiness and introduce creaks with an open-able shell
the antenna plastic gaps on the back are not gapless in the Chinese model you can they extrude

hamdir said:
it wouldnt be the one that should have been
the battery is located behind the pcb, so its sandwished in the middle, impossible to remove, you will a lot of sturdiness and introduce creaks with an open-able shell
the antenna plastic gaps on the back are not gapless in the Chinese model you can they extrude
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yh I had a hint that these problems would arise, but I meant if they actually implemented a removable battery, for some, this may have made it their ideal phone. Obviously how the phone is now is the only way htc could achieve this supreme build quality
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium

yvibes said:
Yh I had a hint that these problems would arise, but I meant if they actually implemented a removable battery, for some, this may have made it their ideal phone. Obviously how the phone is now is the only way htc could achieve this supreme build quality
Sent from my HTC One using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have these question for LONG! really i don't think its impossible to have removable bat. and SD card and keep the ONE looks(giving up the unibody for sure). That's one of the reasons I dislike Peter Chow.

androidindian said:
HTC One announced in China. Gets dual SIM, micro-SD, removable back-cover, but no removable battery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another good reason to wait a while and not order the initial release. This is a step in the right direction to a smarter design.

people really need to stop with this removable battery non sense. its overrated. plus they have external packs that solve this problem. i use one and works very well. 2 i dont like the idea of removing the back every day to swap battery and wear out the cover. 2 sd card slots are becoming a non issue as capacity gets higher. 64 gb one i have. who needs more than that? if you do get a pc. you have issues LOL

daddioj said:
people really need to stop with this removable battery non sense. its overrated. plus they have external packs that solve this problem. i use one and works very well. 2 i dont like the idea of removing the back every day to swap battery and wear out the cover. 2 sd card slots are becoming a non issue as capacity gets higher. 64 gb one i have. who needs more than that? if you do get a pc. you have issues LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really couldn't agree more. On my Gnex SII note and SIII I had extra batteries and would remove the back covers within a month I had to purchase new back covers as they started to wear out not snapping into place securely. If you need a removable battery and SD go get a S4 or note 2 but as we all know that phone feels cheap. The plastic creaks this is because they have a removable battery. I'll admit I want my cake and eat it to but no one has made that design and when you look most solid feeling premium devices have internal batteries.

this means the battery may be removable, else why would HTC put in the screws
probably just remove the screws and can get to the internals?
it looks like the standard HTC lay out, used toown the HTC HD7 windows phone , just need a torx screwdriver to remove them and u can get to the internals eaily

A dual SIM is a really neat feature for people who travel a lot, and more importantly those who has separate business phones. Great to see this as an option to some.

Anyone knows how much it'll cost for a CDMA2000 n GSM version? I hope the Indonesian market gets the dual sim version as well.

Looks like this loses the all-metal design, are the antennas still metal?

Is this genuine? The reason that I ask is that the one doesn't have toggles in the notification area but this Chinese one does?

Guys, having been doing business in China for 15 years, I will never use a Chinese version of any Android device even if it was free. First major problem is they strip every ounce of google from the device (and getting it back on is not easy). Blinkfeed will only source Chinese links no matter what custom Rom you are on. That's good if you read mandarin, but if not that function is pointless. There are many other changes that are just straight annoying and development for these devices will be very small due to changes that require developers to maintain multiple roms for different variants. Yeah, I'm a bit bitter because I've had Chinese variants before and they are awful if you've ever used International/Euro/US versions of the same device.

jlevy73 said:
Guys, having been doing business in China for 15 years, I will never use a Chinese version of any Android device even if it was free. First major problem is they strip every ounce of google from the device (and getting it back on is not easy). Blinkfeed will only source Chinese links no matter what custom Rom you are on. That's good if you read mandarin, but if not that function is pointless. There are many other changes that are just straight annoying and development for these devices will be very small due to changes that require developers to maintain multiple roms for different variants. Yeah, I'm a bit bitter because I've had Chinese variants before and they are awful if you've ever used International/Euro/US versions of the same device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll back this up.
My girlfriend had the no google store issue on her old Note, and now I'm using my friend's Anycall Galaxy S (korean, but popular in china) until my One arrives.. this phone is a nightmare considering it isn't the international version.
Hope these chinese versions don't have these types of problems.

Don't think I'll mind though. I'll probably have nova launcher installed. Wont be needing blinkfeed. And for the other apps I need, I'd probably get them installed manually from .apk files. Unless they also disable this function then it's really gonna be bad.
I only need the dual sim functionality for CDMA2000 and GSM network. Gonna use it mostly for voice calling, camera function, and abit of browsing.
It's not operator locked I hope.
jlevy73 said:
Guys, having been doing business in China for 15 years, I will never use a Chinese version of any Android device even if it was free. First major problem is they strip every ounce of google from the device (and getting it back on is not easy). Blinkfeed will only source Chinese links no matter what custom Rom you are on. That's good if you read mandarin, but if not that function is pointless. There are many other changes that are just straight annoying and development for these devices will be very small due to changes that require developers to maintain multiple roms for different variants. Yeah, I'm a bit bitter because I've had Chinese variants before and they are awful if you've ever used International/Euro/US versions of the same device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

redder95 said:
Don't think I'll mind though. I'll probably have nova launcher installed. Wont be needing blinkfeed. And for the other apps I need, I'd probably get them installed manually from .apk files. Unless they also disable this function then it's really gonna be bad.
I only need the dual sim functionality for CDMA2000 and GSM network. Gonna use it mostly for voice calling, camera function, and abit of browsing.
It's not operator locked I hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They disable the ability to sideload any google apps. There are ways around it but like I said, it's not easy.

People...you are missing the whole point of why people want to change the battery! So please stop suggesting its a non-issue.
Phone contracts these days are typically 2 years. If you are charging your phone everyday, the battery starts to diminish noticeably after about 1 year, with it becoming problematic often somewhere before 2 years. I wouldn't want to open it to change it all the time....but the battery is totally non-replaceable which means it may prove to be problematic to see out the phone contract before getting the next upgrade!

jonstatt said:
People...you are missing the whole point of why people want to change the battery! So please stop suggesting its a non-issue.
Phone contracts these days are typically 2 years. If you are charging your phone everyday, the battery starts to diminish noticeably after about 1 year, with it becoming problematic often somewhere before 2 years. I wouldn't want to open it to change it all the time....but the battery is totally non-replaceable which means it may prove to be problematic to see out the phone contract before getting the next upgrade!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nobody cares what you think you will need as an individual. A decision has been made for you about what you need as part of the collective, and it is up to you now to conform. You are lucky that you got expandable memory, because it has already been decided that you didn't need that either!! [/communism]

For those who are doubting, yes this is real, check HTC China site (tip, use google site translate for specs)
http://www.htc.com/cn/smartphones/htc-one/#overview
But this version has no 4G/LTE support.
It's really annoying how HTC has become inconsistent with their designs and hardware for one model

Why I won't be getting an S6

While the camera and processor of the new S6 looks amazing, the lack of external memory and battery changing is a deal breaker for me.
Let's start with the memory. Samsung's claim that they don't need to have the external memory slot is because 1.) The on board memory is faster 2.) Android doesn't really allow you to install apps to the external memory anymore 3.) They now offer 128GB models.
While all the above is true, that does not mean i don't want my external memory. Let's start with the price of the phone. A 16GB model will be the base. Then for another $100, you can get the 32GB. Another $100, you can get the $64. And then for another $100 (or probably $200), you can get the $128GB. That means, that the extra memory will cost you at least $300-$400. And remember, this is on a phone that will only last you 1-2 years before you want to upgrade it. So that is $300-$400 wasted. On the other hand, I can buy a Sandisk 128GB microSD card for $100. Everytime I switch phones, I can easily take my memory to the next phone. It's an investment that does not get wasted.
The speed or Android limitations of the external memory doesn't matter for things like movies, ebooks, comics, magazines, music, etc. I keep all that on my memory card, and it loads in less than a second on my phone. On top of that, when I need to load more items, I don't use the slow USB 2.0 interface. I pop out my microSD and put it in my $15 USB 3.0 reader and copy my multimedia over 3-4x faster. With the internal memory of the phone, I would be stuck using a USB 2.0 interface to copy multimedia which can take ridiculously long.
Oh.. and for added bonus, when I want to watch a movie on my Galaxy Tab S 10.5, I can take the 128GB memory card out of my phone, and pop it into the tablet. No muss, no fuss.
Now let's look at the battery.
Since Samsung used the glass back, you can no longer have replaceable batteries. This is my biggest issue with iPhones. I had to set up a charging station at my apartment for all my friends who came here, as their iPhones were always on low battery (or even dead). Meanwhile, I could bring a small pocketable battery with me everywhere. I keep one in my winter jacket and have one to slip into my jeans. I currently have a Note 4, and have only had to change the battery twice, but it's nice not worrying the entire night that showing my friends pics or texting with a friend, will result in a dead battery for the night.
Sure, you can carry a external battery charger.. But now you have to carry that and a cable that needs to be strapped in all the time to charge. (BTW.. if a manufacturer of these external batteries comes up with a way to utilize Fast Charging to charge the phone 50% in ten minutes, they will make some big $$$$)
I'm not even going to get into the topic of all the cracked iPhone backs I see daily... Which depending on the strength of this new gorilla glass, will probably happen.
Basically my point is, the reason I didn't make the move to iPhone (which 95% of my friends have) is due these options. By removing them, Samsung has made less options available for me to claim that my phone is better than an iPhone.
I'm going to stick with my Note 4. But Samsung.. if you do this same thing to the Note 5, I am switching brands.. or moving to iPhone. (EDIT: I am NOT moving to an iPhone.. I guess no understands my humor)

No external memory, no exchangeable battery, no way! What alternatives do we have if we limit this discussion to high end Android phones?

I agree with the all the key points made by EvanWasHere, furthermore, the reason I didn't go for the iPhone, is because no matter how much internal memory they give you, everything you load into your phone such as pictures, video, music, apps., etc......... Will eventually will impact the performance of your phone, unless you upload everything to a virtual storage, such as Drop Box, Google Drive etc...... I think I am going for the Note4.

No replaceable battery makes the AMOLED screen the only reason to still stick with Samsung. Given that a Galaxy phone is still pricey, I wonder if it is this one feature which is worth sticking to Samsung.
Looks like they don't like non-business customers to buy their devices anymore.

I'm not sure where you get $300-$400 from... There is no 16GB S6, it starts at 32GB. Also many Android phones go up by $50 per storage capacity, while a few go by $100 increments. Either way, you are looking at either $100 or $200 more for a 128GB over a 32GB, not $300-$400. Stop being so dramatic.
USB 2.0 is 480Mbps (60MB/s), and from my SanDisk 64GB MicroSD card I usually get around 50MB/s on my USB 3.0 card reader, so it's really not that much slower.

Why downgrade?
1. No micro SD slot
2. Non user-replaceable battery
3. Non user-replaceable battery cover, can't install dual sim adapter, useless unibody design specially when I travel.
4. Not water resistant. I use my S5 to take pics when inside pool, in rain, in snow, in Ocean as well. Unibody design should make it waterproof..unbelievable that its not even water resistant!
5. Not buying is the only way to show Samsung they their "Vendor lock in" strategy has failed.
I blame all the idiot tech journalists that are in bed with Apple and claim metal body as "premium feel/design". I also blame the sheep people that agree with these opinions. I do understand if some people genuinely prefer metal body, at least they got what they wanted in terms of design, not sure about features though.
Going to wait for G4 and Z4 now, or get Note 5 as Samsung will be back into their senses by then.
PS SanDisk just announced a 200GB microSD to rub salt on our wounds !

VICosPhi said:
1. No micro SD slot
2. Non user-replaceable battery
3. Non user-replaceable battery cover, can't install dual sim adapter, useless unibody design specially when I travel.
4. Not water resistant. I use my S5 to take pics when inside pool, in rain, in snow, in Ocean as well. Unibody design should make it waterproof..unbelievable that its not even water resistant!
5. Not buying is the only way to show Samsung they their "Vendor lock in" strategy has failed.
I blame all the idiot tech journalists that are in bed with Apple and claim metal body as "premium feel/design". I also blame the sheep people that agree with these opinions. I do understand if some people genuinely prefer metal body, at least they got what they wanted in terms of design, not sure about features though.
Going to wait for G4 and Z4 now, or get Note 5 as Samsung will be back into their senses by then.
PS SanDisk just announced a 200GB microSD to rub salt on our wounds !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you on some of the points . No micro sd is a huge one. But this dramatic change is much needed for samsung because the s5 wasn't doing so well and if they came up with another s5 then it's going to be a big loss for them. I personally think this is the best decision samsung took. People got tired of the same recycled galaxies and the numbers are showing this. Sales are down apple is back things aren't looking good.
The galaxy s6 would've been amazing if it had a bigger battery and a micro sd. Otherwise, this is truly a powerful device that's much more polished than any previous iteration.

EvanWasHere said:
i am switching brands.. or moving to iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
memory cards corrupt (especially the higher capicity san disk)
do you know how many bad card readers samsung phones have had? its liabillity plus the fact the android makes copy to sd harder now.
theres wifi almost everywhere, so cloud storags is an option.
they sell phone cases that have extendable batteries built in. and u can still change the battery if ur willing to take the phone apart.
if thats all thats stoping u from using an iphone, u really dont seem to interested in what android offers over ios then

malek777 said:
People got tired of the same recycled galaxies and the numbers are showing this. Sales are down apple is back things aren't looking good.
The galaxy s6 would've been amazing if it had a bigger battery and a micro sd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing against you bro, but I just want to point out something so quoted you!
Sales are not down because of recycled galaxies...think about it for a second. Sales are down because of the saturated market, and all the super phones! I won't name them all since you can pick just about any to compare and we see the power of these devices i.e. the note 4 what CAN'T it do, the S5 the g3, I phone 6, Nexus 6...
All of the above mentioned are the reason sales are down.
Same reason why development is down also, the devs have so many choices and devices to support it got overwhelming...think HTC HD2 had so many devs they were tripping over each other cause everyone had that phone. Now not only many phones also variants like edge, active, mini further hampers this.
Sent from my SM-G900T using AllianceR(●)m
---------- Post added at 02:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 AM ----------
GreeleyXda said:
memory cards corrupt (especially the higher capicity san disk)
do you know how many bad card readers samsung phones have had? its liabillity plus the fact the android makes copy to sd harder now.
theres wifi almost everywhere, so cloud storags is an option.
they sell phone cases that have extendable batteries built in. and u can still change the battery if ur willing to take the phone apart.
if thats all thats stoping u from using an iphone, u really dont seem to interested in what android offers over ios then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I appreciate your points, this is probably how the discussion went at Samsung that led to the poor decision to drop so many of the staple features. The case argument it's the worst...7-9 hundred dollar premium phone and you need to buy more stuff to make it work like it used too (should)! TAKE THE PHONE APART??? Ya they took that feature away REMEMBER!
Sent from my SM-G900T using AllianceR(●)m

EvanWasHere said:
I'm going to stick with my Note 4. But Samsung.. if you do this same thing to the Note 5, I am switching brands.. or moving to iPhone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No external memory and non user replaceable battery is deal breaker for you for SGS6, but you will move to iPhone? On iPhone can you swap battery or you have external memory?

Some interesting points I personally could live without non removable able battery and possibly sd card forsake of a beautifully crafted premium looking phone. However I fear Samsung are going to go crazy on the price which will be a complete put off. Base price is £579 for the 32gb version and probably another £50-£100 for next model up, which is a rip off just like iPhone.
Edge will probably come in at £699 for 64gb which is crazy even though it looks fantastic.
having said all that I'm really pleased spammy finally moved away from crappy plastic which was really costing them just one more major change required get rid of TW and possibly amoled and try lcd.

Yeah, Second thing I usually do with my phone is root and flash to stock to get rid of TW.
First is to swap the microsd out from my old phone, and buy a spare battery and plastic case, so premium build is sort of lost on me, and the rest....
Setting my hopes on the G4 now.

For all of you who are ranting about this phone not having a removable battery, I ask a serious question: How many times have you actually swapped batteries out? And if you have swapped, is it because you basically let your phone die (meaning you had opportunities to charge it but didn't just because you had the battery)?
I don't think I've EVER had my G3 die on me - and this phone is not known for its battery life. I have a charger at work and a charger at home and I'm usually at one of these places so I'm never far away from a charger. Does not having a removable battery IN ACTUAL USE really make that big of a difference? If the S6 can last you from morning to night, is that not enough?

My S4 is currently carrying its third battery, the two previous ones (one Samsung, one third-party) slowly died of old age (decreasing health with increasing charging cycles). I rarely forgot to charge my phone over night. It's just that I'd like to use it until the actual hardware fades away, not just until the battery lifetime is reached.

Japultra said:
For all of you who are ranting about this phone not having a removable battery, I ask a serious question: How many times have you actually swapped batteries out? And if you have swapped, is it because you basically let your phone die (meaning you had opportunities to charge it but didn't just because you had the battery)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never switched the battery in my phone, well since my Ericsson T18. But there wasn't a phone since that I ddin't have to remove the battery to turn it off completely, because something got stuck and kept crashing. Or it was the easiest way to boot into recovery after a boot loop. Tablets without removable batteries have reset switches, but any software method you use can't reinitialize hardware as a physical power off can.

This thread was inevitable. I mean Samsung could even make pigs fly, but there will be threads like this. The whole galaxy section is littered with such threads, which shows the sorry mental state of our society. Just relentless cribbing, crying and whining.
You know what, I get it you don't like it, you won't buy it and like some other device. Perfect. Why don't you go to HTC/LG/Sony/Apple forum and post a positive comment why you actually want to buy that phone instead of crying in this S6 forum? Saying something positive (don't mean astroturfing) is much better than reading this non-stop negative comments.
- So you feel that you should encourage others also not to buy the phone
- You want sympathy from the other members that Samsung failed to live to to your high standards and expectations
- You want to start a movement to force Samsung to stop the launch and give you want you wanted
- You feel the members are not educated enough to judge what's good for them
- Just sharing your thoughts and feel obliged to open a new thread even though the exact thing was mentioned probably 7450 times in last 2 days.
^^ These are the only options I can think about. If this is the usual 'sharing your feelings' option, I think one of the Moderators should open a "GS6 SUCKS" thread where everyone of us can go and put all our diatribe.
We have now come to a state where these comments/threads are nothing but a
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riz157 said:
Some interesting points I personally could live without non removable able battery and possibly sd card forsake of a beautifully crafted premium looking phone. However I fear Samsung are going to go crazy on the price which will be a complete put off. Base price is £579 for the 32gb version and probably another £50-£100 for next model up, which is a rip off just like iPhone.
Edge will probably come in at £699 for 64gb which is crazy even though it looks fantastic.
having said all that I'm really pleased spammy finally moved away from crappy plastic which was really costing them just one more major change required get rid of TW and possibly amoled and try lcd.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently the base model for the UK is going to be the 64gb model so I don't know how this will affect the pricing which has not been confirmed anywhere . If you go on the Samsung UK site they only have 64gb and 128gb listed .

allmine1976 said:
Apparently the base model for the UK is going to be the 64gb model so I don't know how this will affect the pricing which has not been confirmed anywhere . If you go on the Samsung UK site they only have 64gb and 128gb listed .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will save dumb buyers from buying too small of a memory size.

VICosPhi said:
1. No micro SD slot
2. Non user-replaceable battery
3. Non user-replaceable battery cover, can't install dual sim adapter, useless unibody design specially when I travel.
4. Not water resistant. I use my S5 to take pics when inside pool, in rain, in snow, in Ocean as well. Unibody design should make it waterproof..unbelievable that its not even water resistant!
5. Not buying is the only way to show Samsung they their "Vendor lock in" strategy has failed.
I blame all the idiot tech journalists that are in bed with Apple and claim metal body as "premium feel/design". I also blame the sheep people that agree with these opinions. I do understand if some people genuinely prefer metal body, at least they got what they wanted in terms of design, not sure about features though.
Going to wait for G4 and Z4 now, or get Note 5 as Samsung will be back into their senses by then.
PS SanDisk just announced a 200GB microSD to rub salt on our wounds !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like the s5 is perfect for you! No need to buy another phone....unless you're one of the "sheep" that believes you MUST upgrade every year.
The unibody design is the only real difference over the s5. A faster processor that you won't notice unless you use an app to tell you how fast it is, and some minor software tweaks. The good news is, you already have the phone to fit your needs!
Can't please everyone. The number if people crying about a removable battery is small compared to the ones who don't care. Samsung s6 sales will be through the roof with this new design...then what argument will you guys make? Keep your current phone, problem solved.

GreeleyXda said:
memory cards corrupt (especially the higher capicity san disk)
do you know how many bad card readers samsung phones have had? its liabillity plus the fact the android makes copy to sd harder now.
theres wifi almost everywhere, so cloud storags is an option.
they sell phone cases that have extendable batteries built in. and u can still change the battery if ur willing to take the phone apart.
if thats all thats stoping u from using an iphone, u really dont seem to interested in what android offers over ios then
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had multiple microSD cards. 16GB, 64GB, and now 128GB. In 3-4 years of service, swapped between 3 Samsung phones, the 64GB only became flaky once, disconnecting every once in a while. So I had it warrantied. I still retained all my data. Total cost of the cards is still less than I would be paying with a phone that essentially loses value in 1 year. And yes, Android did make it harder to use external SD, but they fixed most of that in Lollipop. It is still fine for multimedia.
Cloud storage is NOT an option. 1.) Cloud storage is slow depending on where you are. My T-Mobile phone drops from LTE to 4G for no apparent reasons sometimes. Plus, when I'm in the air, on the subway, etc, I have no service. So for me to want to watch a 2GB 1080P movie during those time from "cloud storage" is impossible. 2.) Cloud storage costs a month fee as well as has a cap on file size. Have a 8GB 1080p MKV movie.. too bad.. can't store it on your cloud provider.
I don't want a cell phone case with an extended battery in it. The whole point of having a newer phone is a smaller size. As for taking the phone apart to change the battery... No..
I was making a joke about going to iPhone. I have been Android always, but Samsung is the one making the similarities too complete.
-A-P-M- said:
No external memory and non user replaceable battery is deal breaker for you for SGS6, but you will move to iPhone? On iPhone can you swap battery or you have external memory?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was making a joke about the iPhone move. See above.
CLARiiON said:
This thread was inevitable. I mean Samsung could even make pigs fly, but there will be threads like this. The whole galaxy section is littered with such threads, which shows the sorry mental state of our society. Just relentless cribbing, crying and whining.
You know what, I get it you don't like it, you won't buy it and like some other device. Perfect. Why don't you go to HTC/LG/Sony/Apple forum and post a positive comment why you actually want to buy that phone instead of crying in this S6 forum? Saying something positive (don't mean astroturfing) is much better than reading this non-stop negative comments.
- So you feel that you should encourage others also not to buy the phone
- You want sympathy from the other members that Samsung failed to live to to your high standards and expectations
- You want to start a movement to force Samsung to stop the launch and give you want you wanted
- You feel the members are not educated enough to judge what's good for them
- Just sharing your thoughts and feel obliged to open a new thread even though the exact thing was mentioned probably 7450 times in last 2 days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh you poor thing. You had to read my post. Sorry for that. Have a cookie. It will make you feel better.
The POINT of this post is to go on record so hopefully someone from Samsung can see it, and realize that they are hurting their fan base. There are now dozens of articles now talking about this, but without giving it a voice from individuals, Samsung may continue down this path. To try and silence this with a broken record image is pointless and doesn't help the discussion. But thanks for taking the time to write that all out.
On another note, this was just tweeted: https://twitter.com/aadetugbo/status/572446586938232832 (reddit discussion here: http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/2xpld4/one_explanation_on_why_the_s6_has_no_sd_card/ )
"Another of the hidden benefits - this type of RAM. The amount of RAM - 3 GB, the system will not work in 32 and 64 bits. In December 2014, Samsung launched the industry's first production of mobile memory chips LPDRR4 density 8Gb (20 nm process). This technology allows to produce memory chips up to 4 GB, currently available chips 2 and 3 GB (8 and 6 Gbit chips). The maximum data transfer rate of this type of memory is 3.2 GB / s, that is twice higher than the chip rate DDR3, used on the PC. Such a data rate of the following tasks - recording 4K for an unlimited time, simultaneous recording of HD-video on the front and rear camera, continuous shooting at a resolution of 20 megapixels with no limit on number of images. Also, the use of this type of memory is a partial explanation for the rejection of memory cards. Why so? It is because by using slow memory cards, many operations can be problematic, and have main memory can be occupied with user data. Normal users will not understand what the problem is, because there is free memory, which means a bad phone and manufacturer".
I still don't find this explanation acceptable. Especially using 4K, the internal memory will be filled. If I was going out for a day and shooting videos, I would love to have the option of shooting 4K to my internal and moving these videos to my external card as my internal filled. And normal users will not have a problem understanding why the memory is slower as not every normal user would buy an external memory. And those that do, can have a simple pop up on the screen when the phone sees the memory that states that there may be issues or slowness due to this memory.

How has been your "Search of the incredible" so far?

It's been a while since the ZF2 is released.
ZF2 is not a flagship killer. It was never advertising as such. The selling point of the ZF2 is the biggest bang for the buck.
So, why did you buy it? Did the phone impressed you in those aspects?

blazzer12 said:
It's been a while since the ZF2 is released.
ZF2 is not a flagship killer. It was never advertising as such. The selling point of the ZF2 is the biggest bang for the buck.
So, why did you buy it? Did the phone impressed you in those aspects?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I only bought it cause I know and trust Asus as a brand and as far as updates go it's been pretty good
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

Bang for the buck, I came from S2 then S4. When the S6 came out at exorbitant contract price and no micro sd slot, I looked around and did the maths. The Zenfone 2 gave me twice the ram and 4 times the storage of my S4, it was faster, gave me the micro sd slot that the S6 lacked.
On top of that I could get it for less than half the price of a S6, that meant that going sim only and buying the ZF2 I will have saved enough on my old contract terms to cover the cost of the phone in 7 months(or 5 compared to the S6 contract).

I concur with BigDavy. This phone has such bang for the buck. The specs are better than phones at twice the price. Still loving it after 8 months.
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

found the incredible (almost literally).
i bought this phone because of a reviewer saying, that this phone has very good cell reception.
The house I live in right now (temporarily) has very thick stone walls (around 100cm, 400yrs old house) and many phones I tried, struggled to get 2G reception (Xperia Z2, Medion x5004, HTC One m8 to name a few..)
When the ASUS.. well.. I still cant believe.. it has 3 constant bars for 2g (others had barely one) AND in most parts of the house also 4G LTE. that was incredible.
I know that the Intel chipset isn't very battery friendly, but now that I tried it.. it is snappier than a snapdragon 800 series. my next phone? anything with an Intel chipset.

I moved from Galaxy S2, it had Dual 1.2GHZ (max over clock to 1.6 but it will burn the chip soon) with 1GB Ram. So you guess what, to me it felt like moving from a dying horse to a Lamborgini.

It's really incredible that I got this holy awesomeness for $200 ;D Unfortunately, there isn't too much support for the 5" models around here, so I selected the second option. I would like to see more support for it

pecholino said:
found the incredible (almost literally).
i bought this phone because of a reviewer saying, that this phone has very good cell reception.
The house I live in right now (temporarily) has very thick stone walls (around 100cm, 400yrs old house) and many phones I tried, struggled to get 2G reception (Xperia Z2, Medion x5004, HTC One m8 to name a few..)
When the ASUS.. well.. I still cant believe.. it has 3 constant bars for 2g (others had barely one) AND in most parts of the house also 4G LTE. that was incredible.
I know that the Intel chipset isn't very battery friendly, but now that I tried it.. it is snappier than a snapdragon 800 series. my next phone? anything with an Intel chipset.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The house I live in right now (temporarily) has very thick stone walls (around 100cm, 400yrs old house)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool house you live in!
i bought this phone because of a reviewer saying, that this phone has very good cell reception.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My place too has bad reception; but the dude abides with his ZF2.

I came from a Samsung S3 that was slower than a wet week
As the ZF2 isnt sold here in Australia I took a chance and it has turned out okay....I have had one problem of the camera not working but that was fixed under warranty (took 3 weeks to get it back) but the phone is powering along now...just waiting for the Marshmallow update to come to see whether I put a custom ROM on it or not...
cheers
col

I'm very satisfied. Moved from an iphone 5 to the 550ML (Z008) just after it was launched. Wanted the 551 with 4GB, 2.3ghz and 1080p but had to settle for the cheaper one with 2GB, 1.8ghz and 720p (in Japan ASUS only sold the 551 at inflated prices, and it was also a bit overpriced from importers). The 1.8ghz cpu is plenty fast enough for my needs and the 720p sceen is better than I expected. 2GB RAM is a bit short when using the stock 5.0 firmware that has memory management issues, but is plenty when using CM. I love the size, the feel of the phone in my hand and its snappy ux performance. Bang for the buck, even at a slightly high importer price, has been incredible, and going unlocked has enabled me to switch to an MNVO and save an absolute fortune every month in carrier charges (the phone had basically paid for itself in about four months). I'm now pretty tempted by the astonishing value some Xiaomi or LeTV devices offer, but have to keep reminding myself that I love my ZF2 and it still has plenty of life in it. Will use it until the battery starts going.

I was using G3 when I bought Zenfone 2 (I used Zenfone 5 before G3), and I have to say that Zenfone 2 will be my last phone made by ASUS, too much bugs, slow update (even 2 years old G3 got Android 6 for a month!).
ASUS is just promoting their new phones, they don't care about their old customers.

At first, i hesitated to buy the ASUS ZenFone 2 as it uses an Intel chipset, but after going through every review on the internet, i made my mind. This is the phone i was looking for. Best in class performance and features from a famous brand known worldwide for just under $200. I wanted to buy the 4gb ram model, but was tight on budget and opted for 2gb model. Was quite happy with my buy. Now i'm even more happy with the excellent custom rom support it has got, gets the same attention as the higher end model.
Just "IN SEARCH OF INCREDIBLE" for official OS update (MM 6.0.1) from ASUS.

64 bit processor + 4gb ram + 5.5 screen (optimal size in my opinion) + decent storage capacity + storage expansion + reasonable price.
Upgraded from Galaxy Note II.
Met my expectations so far (have it since Nov. 2015), only two problems - when I receive calls, people start hearing me with a delay, and the phone has been bent a little
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

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After 7 months still "okay" took some looks for an replacement, but at the moment nothing better in sight regarding price / value.
Waiting for android 6.0 and announcement of ZenFone 3
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using XDA Free mobile app

anything good (price & features) about ASUS ZF 2 except too much bloatware & rear speaker (crackling problem), so far ASUS ZF 2 is the best for the buck

Scored it 8. -2 for...
-Current gaming performance -- early videos show that this is a gaming beast for it's price. Unfortunately, I don't experience such smoothness right now, even after reflashing and playing on performance mode.
-Battery drain from the latest update -- Not sure if it's my fault or what, but I'm getting massive wakelocks from Calendar Storage. I think that's the culprit for my battery drain. **Already did factory reset and reflash, same thing**

mr_gourav2000 said:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You forgot honeycomb 3.x
Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

Yum

With this phone it was never about finding incredible - it was about finding a good phone for less than $600, and this phone is great considering the price

Is the htc 10 worth buying?

Hi guys, so I've been looking for a new phone and since I have a big contract I can choose whatever phone I want for the same price (around 60 euros)..I really like the overall design and specs of the phone and I watched a lot of reviews but I wanted to ask your opinion..Is it worth signing a 2 year contract for this to be my daily phone..I Will torture the phone beacuse I do a lot of stuff on my phone..I read a lot of stuff and I dont know what is the best choice..All opinions are welcome.Thx guys
Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

How do you use your phone?
Do you plan on flashing custom ROMs / care about root?
Is reception/battery life going to affect your ability to make money? As in, does your phone directly impact your job?
What options do you have if/when your phone becomes damaged and you need to replace it with insurance? Is this a factor that should be heavily weighed?
You might see more answers on the general htc 10 forum @ http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-10/help/

@noahjk
I use my phone pretty intense, I always root my devices and install different roms..Battery is not really that important but since I'm not home for aproximately 7-8 hours it would be great if the battery is decent (at least 3.5h SOT)..Actually I need a phone that is capable of handling anything that I need and yes sometimes I do depend on my phone when working..Insurance is not a big deal I always have temoered glass and heavy duty case..thx for the reply man, I really appreciate it
Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

If you're overseas (guessing you are based on using euros) and you can purchase the s7e with the exynos processor, it's capable of root/custom ROMs and will be an all-around better phone, as well as come with water resistance specs that the 10 misses. It'll have a better battery life, better camera, better screen, better signal. That being said, I traded in my (snapdragon) s7e for the HTC 10, and I'm (fairly) happy with the trade. I wasn't a fan of the edge screen and I didn't like not being able to root (again because of snapdragon). I don't think you can go wrong with either of these phones, and these are the two I'd suggest you consider.
Some of the downsides of the 10 in my opinion are: Slightly worse battery life, camera currently doesn't work as well - but can hopefully be fixed either by HTC or a ROM through software, signal isn't as good (most likely because of the metal construction), I'd prefer an AMOLED screen for the always-on capabilities and the truer blacks (although the screen on the 10 is nothing to scoff at), and the notification LED only shows green & amber (s7e is RGB)
Things I like better about the 10: I prefer the slightly smaller size (not small though, perfect size IMO), I like that it has a normal screen, the speaker quality is slightly better (although nothing to write home about), I prefer USB type C to the MicroUSB in the s7e. Going along with the edge screen, I find the 10 easier to use. I used to always touch the screen when I didn't want to while picking the phone up. This might also impact the type of cases made for the s7e as far as durability goes since they have to work around the screen.
I'd suggest checking them both out in a store and seeing which you like - I know that's not the best way to test them, but hopefully it'll help steer you in the right direction.
Good luck!

I'll let you know when Verizon decides to actually have these in stock in their stores in NJ so they can take my money...still nowhere to be found from Sparta to Newark...WTF??? I don't get the marketing plan on selling these things only online lol

bakemcbride21 said:
I'll let you know when Verizon decides to actually have these in stock in their stores in NJ so they can take my money...still nowhere to be found from Sparta to Newark...WTF??? I don't get the marketing plan on selling these things only online lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried Best Buy? I picked an HTC 10 on the Verizon launch date. One of my buddies picked one up 5/15, and the other guy picked one up on 5/19. On each occasion, the Verizon HTC 10 was available (only silver model) and they had plenty in stock.
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

xRogerxC said:
Have you tried Best Buy? I picked an HTC 10 on the Verizon launch date. One of my buddies picked one up 5/15, and the other guy picked one up on 5/19. On each occasion, the Verizon HTC 10 was available (only silver model) and they had plenty in stock.
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I've been to like 20 verizon stores from 4/29 through this past Wednesday....nada... LOL. I actually order through work on our state/gov't account, but I still wanted to see/hold the phone in person before taking the plunge. Though I finally caved on Friday afternoon once the Ice View case was also finally listed to order (25% discount). I have 30 days to hope for the carbon grey so I can return/exchange it!

The last few months I've gone through the LG V10 , the Moto X pure Style, and just picked up the HTC 10. I feel like the V10 in the Moto X were too big to function with one hand. I like to be able to reach all of the buttons on the screen in the top and bottom corners with one hand the htc10 it's perfect for that.
I'm big into music so I needed a phone that could satisfy my semi audiophile needs. Hardware wise I think the V10 was the best but to be completely honest I can't tell the difference between the V10 and the htc10 in the quality of the sound. The Moto X was obviously a disappointment compared to the other 2.
HTC did a very good job with their newest handset. The screen looks great much better than the Moto X and the audio quality it's on par with the V10 and I can hold it in one hand I've only had it for a few hours but I'll let you know after a week's use
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using Tapatalk

Love it so far
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using XDA-Developers mobile app

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I truly believe there is no better phone on the market than HTC 10. I laugh at my friend's s7 when he has random reboots or his s7 overheats after 35-40 min of using camera ( went to zoo with kiddos. We were using our phones to take pics when his s7 heated up and rebooted lol) HTC 10 is also durable! No overheating issue even while playing Works of tanks Blitz. And it's smooth as butter
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using XDA-Developers mobile app

bakemcbride21 said:
I'll let you know when Verizon decides to actually have these in stock in their stores in NJ so they can take my money...still nowhere to be found from Sparta to Newark...WTF??? I don't get the marketing plan on selling these things only online lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
come to ny, ithaca VZW is littered with HTC 10's

Im loving mine so far. ??
sent by my HTC 10 via Tapatalk

Now that I'm s-off running Viper Rom. The phone is even better. Battery life has improved greatly.

Running latest base on LeeDroid and the phone is fantastic, around 5h SOT and smooth as butter.. Great job HTC and LeeDroid
Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

So far not loving mine...
Just got it back from @jcase Friday, spent all weekend setting it up
Verizon HTC 10 Variant
LeeDroid with current Verizon firmware
Samsung Evo+ mc128d 128gb Uhs-i Class 10 Micro SD Card
Right off the bat the phone wouldn’t activate - said to call customer service. They had me go to Settings/Backup Reset/Restore Network Settings - in order to get the phone to work you must reset Network Settings then reboot, then restore Network Settings and reboot again - then 4G will come online.
2nd - the Samsung EVO+ wouldn’t work, phone reported as corrupt right from the box. I bought this card specifically for the Random speed. Card worked in the computer. Formatted card in the phone…in the computer - nothing (this was exFAT)Corrupted. Formatted card as FAT32 - bingo, that worked.
Today I notice music is skipping and hesitating…Bluetooth is not automatically connecting to the car radio - and it just randomly disconnects also.
I've had the phone lock up on me too several times. Had to hold the power and volume buttons to force shutdown - each time I lose 4G - have to do the above reset Network Settings twice/reboot twice to restore the 4G

bakemcbride21 said:
Really? I've been to like 20 verizon stores from 4/29 through this past Wednesday....nada... LOL. I actually order through work on our state/gov't account, but I still wanted to see/hold the phone in person before taking the plunge. Though I finally caved on Friday afternoon once the Ice View case was also finally listed to order (25% discount). I have 30 days to hope for the carbon grey so I can return/exchange it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got mine from the Verizon store on route 3 in Clifton.

billmcg said:
So far not loving mine...
Just got it back from @jcase Friday, spent all weekend setting it up
Verizon HTC 10 Variant
LeeDroid with current Verizon firmware
Samsung Evo+ mc128d 128gb Uhs-i Class 10 Micro SD Card
Right off the bat the phone wouldn’t activate - said to call customer service. They had me go to Settings/Backup Reset/Restore Network Settings - in order to get the phone to work you must reset Network Settings then reboot, then restore Network Settings and reboot again - then 4G will come online.
2nd - the Samsung EVO+ wouldn’t work, phone reported as corrupt right from the box. I bought this card specifically for the Random speed. Card worked in the computer. Formatted card in the phone…in the computer - nothing (this was exFAT)Corrupted. Formatted card as FAT32 - bingo, that worked.
Today I notice music is skipping and hesitating…Bluetooth is not automatically connecting to the car radio - and it just randomly disconnects also.
I've had the phone lock up on me too several times. Had to hold the power and volume buttons to force shutdown - each time I lose 4G - have to do the above reset Network Settings twice/reboot twice to restore the 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you format the card for internal too? I have the same card and i'm not experiencing any problems. My want to try a different sd-card to rule that out.

sjpritch25 said:
Did you format the card for internal too? I have the same card and i'm not experiencing any problems. My want to try a different sd-card to rule that out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wouldn't format internal storage as exFAT... Said it was too slow. Wouldn't work in the phone at all formatted as exFAT ... Internal or external
Any attempts to format in the computer didn't work either... It formatted alright / and worked in the computer... Just not in the phone.
Worked fine after formatting to FAT32
I tried half a dozen other cards at various sizes and manufacturers and they all worked... But they are all over 5 years old and FAT32 as well... I haven't taken the time to try and format one of them as exFAT to see if they would work..., maybe if I get some time I'll give it a try
I've adjusted the buffer settings and whatnot in Poweramp and I'm still getting music skipping don't know if that's the card or not

Well I think my card may be a little different. Also, are you using windows to format them? Thats not good.
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using XDA-Developers mobile app
---------- Post added at 12:55 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:53 AM ----------
This is the card I purchased https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw
Sent from my HTC6545LVW using XDA-Developers mobile app

Sent from my HTC6545LVW using XDA-Developers mobile app

Moto G4 Plus vs ZenFone 3 5.5

So here's the deal: I'm looking for a good secondary phone, and my options are the G4 Plus and the 5.5 inch ZenFone 3. They both have 5.5-inch 1080p displays, 16MP cameras, and 3000 mAh batteries, but that's where the similarities end. The G4 Plus boasts the name of a much more proven OEM behind it, stronger software support, cleaner software and for me, a better location for the fingerprint scanner, as well as a cost about $50 less where I live. The ZenFone has the newer, more powerful CPU that's leaps and bounds more efficient, likely a better camera, and a prettier design.
Software really is quite important for me, but then again, I love the idea of having a phone that doesn't need babying of its battery (a relative has the ZF3, and he can get two days of heavy use from it).

If you care about software experience, go with the G4 Plus. The ZenFone 3 has a much better SoC (Snapdragon 625) that doesn't overheat and is very efficient. From my experience, ASUS will update it Nougat but it's gonna take some time. It also has OIS.

AB__CD said:
The ZenFone has the newer, more powerful CPU that's leaps and bounds more efficient, likely a better camera
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CPU i snot "leaps and bounds" more efficient, that's just marketing, In normal usage I bet that the 625 it will just eat the battery faster. Think what you use mostly the phone for - benchmarks?
Better camera - debatable. 23Mpix means that the low light capability will suffer. Sure you have supposedly some stabilization, but that won't stabilize the movement of the people, you will still see blurriness. That's my guess...
I had the previous Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE551KL) phone and it had some issues that made me sell it:
1. Used 64 bit Android. Took more space on the phone storage and RAM memory for no good reason. Unless the device has more than 4GB of RAM (mine had only 3), 64 bit is just dead weight.
The Moto Plus that I have has 4GB and is always under-occupied (true with 32 bit the apps and OS are smaller so they take less room).
2. The phone had so much extra software that needed to be rooted and bloatware removed. It was running warm from all the processes in the background and battery life sucked. Also, some it used non-standard system code that made things difficult (unstable) for the CM developers.
3. No band 12 in US, even if the FCC registration was showing that they had approval for it. The VoLTE came only via the upgrade to the MM, but was useless without band 12.
What I didn't like at the new Zenfone 3 is the fact that the LTE bands are not universal. I do travel between US and EU often, and I swap SIM cards.
What I like is that they kept the FHD resolution. The Quad HD from other manufacturers is just stupid use of resources and brings nothing extra to the table.

SoNic67 said:
The CPU i snot "leaps and bounds" more efficient, that's just marketing, In normal usage it will just eat the battery faster. Think what you use mostly the phone for - benchmarks?
Better camera - debatable. 23Mpix means that the low light capability will suffer. Sure you have supposedly some stabilization, but that won't stabilize the movement of the people, you will still see blurriness. That's my guess...
I had the previous Zenfone 2 Laser (ZE551KL) phone and it had some issues that made me sell it:
1. Used 64 bit Android. Took more space on the phone storage and RAM memory for no good reason. Unless the device has more than 4GB of RAM (mine had only 3), 64 bit is just dead weight. The new Asus has 6GB... what for? Just for bragging rights?
The Moto Plus that I have has 4GB and is always under-occupied (true with 32 bit the apps and OS are smaller so they take less room).
2. The phone had so much extra software that needed to be rooted and bloatware removed. It was running warm from all the processes in the background and battery life sucked. Also, some it used non-standard system code that made things difficult (unstable) for the CM developers.
3. No band 12 in US, even if the FCC registration was showing that they had approval for it. The VoLTE came only via the upgrade to the MM, but was useless without band 12.
What I didn't like at the new Zenfone 3 is the fact that the LTE bands are not universal. I do travel between US and EU often, and I swap SIM cards.
What I like is that they kept the FHD resolution. The Quad HD from other manufacturers is just stupid use of resources and brings nothing extra to the table.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not talking about the Deluxe, I'm talking about the normal ZenFone 3 with a 16MP IMX298 sensor, 4GB RAM/64GB ROM, and the CPU is more efficient. 35% according to Qualcomm. Proven by the insane battery life from the Moto Z Play.

I edited the post before you quoted me.
However... marketing. Once you will start using the Asus you will see that is not that way. My Asus was based on 64 bit, memory usage was at least 30% higher, bloatware was eating into my battery - had to constantly kill processes. Using their camera app (very nice BTW) was a huge drain, phone was getting sooo hot. Can't tell if the newer Asus will suffer from the same, but I absolutely hated the constant feeling of a warm phone in my pocket.
However the LTE bands/compatibility for me is the most important thing and it seemed (3 months ago, when I was looking) that the Moto G4 Plus was better. I am not playing games on my phone, I do that on my desktop at home (if I have tiime) and when I travel, I have a tablet and a laptop with me.

SoNic67 said:
The CPU i snot "leaps and bounds" more efficient, that's just marketing, In normal usage I bet that the 652 it will just eat the battery faster. Think what you use mostly the phone for - benchmarks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It might not be "leaps and bounds" more efficient, but it's a LOT more efficient. The 617 in G4 Plus is made with 28nm while 625 is made with 14nm. Just take a look at this
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Not to mention the better GPU and noticeably better processing speed (4x1.5 GHz + 4x1.2 GHz vs 8x2.0 GHz).

SoNic67 said:
I edited the post before you quoted me.
However... marketing. Once you will start using the Asus you will see that is not that way. My Asus was based on 64 bit, memory usage was at least 30% higher, bloatware was eating into my battery - had to constantly kill processes. Using their camera app (very nice BTW) was a huge drain, phone was getting sooo hot. Can't tell if the newer Asus will suffer from the same, but I absolutely hated the constant feeling of a warm phone in my pocket.
However the LTE bands/compatibility for me is the most important thing and it seemed (3 months ago, when I was looking) that the Moto G4 Plus was better. I am not playing games on my phone, I do that on my desktop at home (if I have tiime) and when I travel, I have a tablet and a laptop with me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. I see your point, but I don't have a very positive impression of Moto QA either, as my previous Moto phone, the 2nd Gen X, suffered so many issues I replaced it within 4 months: faulty power key that broke within a month of use, issuing a defective Android 5.1 update that soft bricked my phone on the first install, and after resetting and losing all my data but successfully installing the update, bringing a lagging camera that persisted through factory resets (it would take 3 seconds every time the camera opened to be ready for a shot, which is just inexcusable in a modern phone), battery consistently shutting off at 20-30% as well as on one occassion, lasting a whole 8 minutes from a full charge to zero percent, and getting crazy hot in the process, and then an utterly rude phone agent from Motorola UK when I asked if I could have my Singapore-bought unit replace its battery (with me paying for the battery) in the UK (not that them not entertaining the replacement is new or strange, but the completely rude agent was).

Haha... MotoX was my previous phone (still works with my kid) and I had no issues. But mine was US-assembled (had a offer for it to be customized for free, ordered from Moto directly). That's what made me go back to Moto. Ah, the Zenfone 2 Laser - besides being warm most of the time in my pocket, the camera wasn't that great in low light either, the Moto G4 Plus camera is really good IMO.
Well, if you decide for Asus please come back here (or post a link) for your observations. I am curious.

Well I think you should go for Asus......
As you said this will be your second phone.
Asus phones are pretty solid and damn hard.My sis has Asus zenfone selfie(Good Camera) and Moto G2.Both seems to be solid as compared to G4 Plus.So you can expect Asus zenfone 3 to be solid.
As far as the chipset is concerned the SD 625 is way better than SD 617.You can check that out in benchmarks.
Software updates is a problem for Asus.

That's cool, more power to you. For you, maybe the Asus 3 (ZS550KL) is worth the extra $100 (33%) price premium.
To me it was not worth it, in 6 months something else will be shiny. After all... it's just a phone. That's all.

I had a zenfone 2 and I replaced it (actually warranty replacement 3 times (once for no wifi/bad touchscreen, once for overheating, and once for no charge condition.
>>> I WILL say that the Warranty process with Asus was QUITE Delightful, and PAINLESS!!! <<<
best warranty repair process I ever had.
I replaced the ZF2 with this MotoG4Plus, and I hate both of them. given the choice, having less problems with the G4Plus.
ehh. I would have bought the new google pixel, but I believe they STILL have no external storage (drats to you GOOGLE...)
Perfect would be: Pixel xl, with REMOVABLE battery, and external storage for $400-500 USD.
.. PS.. ONE MAJOR improvement of ZF2 over this G4Plus is the fact that the 'tethering entitlement' bull**** is NOT present, and thus did not have to bypass on the ZenFone ... THIS is a huge pain for me, as I am unlimited ..grandfathered on at&t.

Why do you mean by tethering entitlement? I have Cricket and, with the unlocked phones, it just works, so I assumed that it is disabled too.
Plus I couldn't find the build.prop settings for that.
Not that I am using it, since it would be against the TOS